I came back from my cruise with a nice long chapter full of romance for you guys (did I say romance?)

Also came back with notifications from Wattpad. A lot of 'em.

379 to be exact.

WOW THANKS GUYS. I FEEL LOVED ❤️❤️❤️

Okay back to the story:

Bethany's POV

I felt warm hands on both sides of my face, warming me from the outside in. My mind was so clear. No more muddled thoughts, I was just lying in bliss. Everything was so peaceful, quiet, relaxing. There was not a single sound -

"Bethany! Please, please, please wake up!" A female voice shouted in my ears, causing me to jolt. My face scrunched in annoyance. Why were these people yelling in my head? Why couldn't they just leave me alone? I wanted to sleep! Just sleep...

"Bethany, Princess." A deeper voice softly called. "Please, wake up."

That voice sent chills running down in my spine. Why did I suddenly want to get up? Something in my heart tugged until I started to feel something spread in my chest. A different kind of happiness that spread and made my heart flutter. My heartstrings began to thrum alive at the sound of that voice and the comforting hands that warmed my face.

"Please, Bethany." That same voice begged. "For me."

Those two words 'for me.' My heart suddenly snapped and in an instant, my eyes flew open, bright lights blinding me immediately. I gasped in fresh air, glorious fresh air filling my lungs.

"Woah, it's okay. I've got you. You're safe." Dick embraced me in his strong arms, holding me until my breathing slowed back down.

I rubbed my fuzzy eyes and looked around the room. The original Team had gathered around, fearful looks on their faces. I was sitting up in one of the white beds in the middle of the training room. I guess someone must have put us here after we got sucked into another dream.

"Oh God! You didn't wake up for another half hour after us! I was so scared!" M'gann's face was almost colorless, but eventually, a healthy green color began to seep back in.

"Geez! Don't scare us like that again!" Artemis punched my arm, causing a pain to run across my body. I winced and she actually smirked. I could have sworn, she was the spawn of the devil.

"Why am I always the last one to wake up?" I rubbed the back of my head as I sat up slowly. I was still seeing stars dancing across my vision and my head was throbbing.

"It is because you are the one that the memories take its toll on the most." Martian Manhunter stepped up next to me, his glowing eyes peering curiously at me. "I am relieved that you have woken up. How do you feel?"

"My head hurts."

"It will be like that for a little bit. But it will wear off with some sleep. I suggest that you stay in your old room at the Cave until your strength returns."

"Call for me if there's anything you need." Superboy gave me a brotherly pat on the shoulder, "I have superhearing, so I'll come right away."

"Thanks, Connor." I slowly pulled my legs over the side of the bed and staggered to stand up. The floor suddenly started tilting and I started leaning to the side, almost falling over, until strong arms wrapped around me, hoisting me into the air bridal style.

"Nightwing, put me down. I'm not a baby." I groaned. My arms had automatically encircled his neck to keep my balance, but this was embarrassing, and my head still really hurt.

"No. Not in your condition. I bet you wouldn't have been able to walk three feet from the bed." He said firmly, his chest rumbling as he spoke. I leaned into his comforting chest, trying to ignore the stares we were getting from the Team.

"Wow, they just got raised from the dead in less than a minute, and they're already canoodling." Wally whistled. "Nightwing's fast. Ow!"

"Shut up." Artemis grumbled after punching Wally, her favorite hobby. "And no one uses the word 'canoodling' anymore."

Dick chuckled and carried me all the way to my old room, humming a soothing tune. He finally set me down in my queen size bed and tucked the covers around me.

I looked over at him and said, "Are you going to leave?"

"Of course not, Princess. I'm staying right here. Right by your side." He crawled under the covers next to me and grinned, causing a blush to creep across my cheeks.

"Are you tired? Do you need to sleep?" He asked me while reaching to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. He smiled at his handiwork and studied my face.

"No, I'm not tired." That wasn't completely the truth. I wasn't tired, but my head was still hurting a little.

"What do you want to do?" He quirked an eyebrow and traced a finger up my arm and then back down.

"I don't know. Whatever you want to do." My arm started to tingle.

He moved his finger to my jaw and traced over my lips teasingly. "Do you know what I want to do?"

I did, but I didn't say anything. The blush that seeped into my cheeks told him everything. He wore that smirk I'd come to love and hate and scooted a little closer until our bodies were touching and our faces were inches apart. My heart never failed to pick up speed around him.

"I want to do this." He gently pressed his lips to mine, sending a warm race of electricity rushing through my veins, taking away some of my headache.

He backed up and looked into my eyes and whispered, "And this."

He pressed his lips more firmly to mine and started to move them. I responded, giving him my all and my heart. After all, he'd stolen it two years ago.

He was passionate in the kiss, pushing deeper and deeper until our bodies were molded together under the sheets. I wrapped my fingers through his slightly overgrown dark locks. Even though his hair was messy, I still loved it. He looked good in anything. Finally, he slowed down, pressing slow deep kisses to me and then he pulled back, breathless, and examining his handiwork. I saw a lust in his endlessly blue eyes, one that had me squirming under his gaze.

He moved back in and pushed a kiss at the corner of my mouth and then around to the other side, venturing further out and down my neck.

"I know this isn't the time to ask," he said in between kisses, "but what happened back there in the memory?"

Moment over.

I jerked back from him, putting some nice distance between us in the bed. Did he suddenly suspect something?

"Nothing happened."

"Really," he moved his hand out to rest his palm on my face. "Because if nothing had happened, then you wouldn't have pulled back like that."

I took his hand in mine and pulled it away from me. Think, Bethany! Think of an excuse!

"I-it was the, um, pain from the knife in my arm, so I started to lose my control on the memory." I responded. I pulled the covers up to my chin, like it could somehow conceal all the secrets that lay between us. My secrets.

"Are you sure? Because as I recall, you lost the grip on the memory and then you started to be able to feel the pain, not the other way around." Nightwing responded. He gave me a knowing look, one that let me know that he knew something was up.

Why didn't I tell him? Why couldn't I just let him know my weaknesses and let him in on the secret. I couldn't, I realized, because my pride wouldn't let me tell anyone. One of the leaders of the Team had such a big weakness? It's not that I didn't trust any of the other teammates to use this weakness against me, it's just that I didn't want them to view me as any weaker. What if they replaced me as leader because they thought my weakness was too great?

I shrugged my shoulders and acted casual. "You're just being too cautious. I think you're over examining things."

There was silence. A long and deadly silence. His crystal eyes were critical and they examined every inch of my facial expression. Although I kept my face blank, I felt exposed under his gaze. I knew that no matter what, Dick could see anything. He could see everything. He knew me too well and even if he didn't, he knew how to read people in general. But I held on to that slim possibility that he would just ignore his own instincts and just -

"Damnit, Bethany!" Dick sat up sharply, making me jump. "Just break down your pride already!"

I jerked to sit up and scooted away from him, surprised that he'd suddenly raised his voice, the indecision of whether or not to tell him was clearly in my eyes. Of course he knew. What had I expected? Dick knew everything about me, and he always found out.

He had only raised his voice once, and that was two years ago when I'd taken on Klarion the Witchboy by myself. He had never yelled again, but now he was angry.

"Why can't you just confide in me? What's so bad that you can't tell your own boyfriend, after all that we've been through?! Why can't you just-" Dick started to raise his voice and I couldn't help it anymore.

"I have anxiety!" I blurted. A huge weight came off of my chest, making me breathe out a sigh. Tears started to form at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill over the rims.

He was silent, shocked, so I took that moment to continue.

"There!" I yelled at him, "Are you happy now? You pushed me so hard that I revealed something so close and personal about myself by force to you! Are you happy? Now you know Bethany's big bad secret!" I continued to yell at him. I was just angry, making me spew out all my anger.

"It's so stupid!" I continued, "Why does it have to be me?! Out of everyone in this world, it had to be someone who fights crime! Someone who has to be tough and strong all the time! It's ridiculous and stupid! I hate myself! I hate... I just don't know what to do...!" I stumbled, refusing to let that darn water fall from my eyes.

Dick was completely silent for a moment and then he shook his head and held my hands between us tenderly.

"Bethany, I'm sorry that I forced you to tell me. That was not the proper way." He sighed like it pained him to continue talking. "But you're hurting. Your family has made you like this, and you won't confide in anyone else. It's even worse to keep it bottled up without telling anyone. It festers inside of you and then you become rotten with secrets."

"I've confided in Batman! He's helping me!" I blurted. Whoops. The look on Dick's face told me that that was the wrong thing to say. He let go of my hands, letting them drop into my lap.

"You told Batman?" He asked slowly, his voice cold. I backed up a little, almost scared of him. His shoulders towered over me. He was the epitome of strength and power, his dark locks hung over his shadowed eyes as he said "But you didn't tell me?"

I suddenly wanted to hug him and cry and apologize, but I thought he would push me away, even though I was the one that had pushed him away first.

"I'm sorry, Dick. I'm sorry. I don't know... I just didn't want to seem weak... Or something like that..." I mumbled.

"Bethany," he said much softer. His eyes were a swirling blue, a pattern I hadn't seen in his eyes before. This was Serious Dick. He wasn't angry, he was just upset, or was that disappointment? "We may be heroes that save the world from intergalactic threats and criminals... But we aren't Gods. We're not immortal, we're just human. Even M'gann and, God, even Superboy. They may be aliens, but they're all humans on the inside. We all have flaws, but those flaws make us stronger when we use them, or when we make ourselves grow more to overcome those flaws. Your anxiety, it's from your family. If your family hadn't been like that to you in the past, then you wouldn't have grown so strong. You wouldn't have even come here or had been so good at martial arts or fighting."

"What, so it was a good thing that my family was abusive to me?!" I felt my temper rising. I was getting defensive again.

"No!" Dick yelled again. "Just - ugh!" he stopped and closed his eyes and let out a frustrated breath. Once he was calm, his eyes opened and they were a cold blue. "Just listen. I was just giving an example of how our flaws have made us stronger. You just have to be willing to admit them. No one is able to go through these things alone."

I was about to say that I had been alone when I was had gone through torture with my old family, but I caught myself. I didn't want him to yell at me anymore.

As if reading my mind, he addressed my unsaid statement. "You may have been alone during those times with your family, but were you happy? I doubt that."

"I was suicidal." I whispered.

There was a spark of sadness in his eyes when he heard that, but he continued talking. "It's hard to go through hard times alone, otherwise, you feel like dying. When my parents died," he paused, as if to regain his posture, "I almost died from sorrow, but Bruce came. He understood everything I'd been through. Everyone needs someone. That's why I'm here. And that's why I was upset when you didn't tell me.

"How could you confide in Bruce and not me? We've been together for almost two whole years! Sure, we've had our rough patches, but we've always gone through them and come out stronger." He moved forward and grabbed my hands and moved my face to look back up at him. "So why didn't you tell me? There's more than just 'you didn't want me to worry.'"

I looked at the floor. I hated this. I hated how we were fighting. Why? Why did I do it? It was because of my pride. These two years my pride has grown because of all the villains I've put away. I've been away from my step family and momster for so long that I'd grown so cocky. And with Nightwing and Aqualad already being leaders, I was about to become a leader very soon. The fact that one of the teams future leaders had an anxiety disorder would just make me sound weak. I just didn't want people to know I had this weakness. It just... Made me weaker... But now was when I needed to break down my pride.

I sighed and started to tell him from the beginning.

"I only just found out about my anxiety after we ran into Ash on the street a couple days ago. I hadn't experienced anything like that since two years ago, when I first woke up in the medical room after you had rescued me from Devastation. Now, I realize, every time I see my old family, I start to have these stupid panic attacks that render me helpless!" I continued confessing all the events and the happenings of this anxiety and my fears for the future with it.

"And Dick," I started hoarsely, "I'm sorry for not telling you. I'm sorry. I was only thinking of myself, not how you would see it."

Dick didn't once tell me how he felt about my anxiety. He didn't once tell me that it was okay, because we both knew it wasn't. Instead, he scooted closer and wrapped his hands on both sides of my face, encasing me in warmth.

"Bethany, I'll always be here for you. I'll always support you because we are in this together." I began to choke on some tears and he wiped them away and said, "We chose to be together, so now you have no choice. We have to be in this together."

I couldn't help the over pouring feelings of gratitude and love I had for him. They overwhelmed me and pushed me forward to press a deep kiss against his lips.

How could I have ever wanted to keep something from him? All he had ever done was support me from the beginning.

We lay next to each other, my head resting on his chest, and soon I fell into a safe sleep to the sound of his heartbeat. This was real, not some kind of memory or dream. He was real, and we were real.

Thanks for the patience. Next chapter to be posted sometime during the week... 😅 I decided that instead of three chapters, I'd give you one really long one and then another good one during the week. Hehe...

Well I'm going on a Spring class trip and hopefully I'll be rooming with some people that I'm friends with so u can spend every night writing the chapter.

Underwhelmed, Overwhelmed, Whelmed.

-traught monster