Chapter Ten - Making It Or Breaking It
Tuesday, September 9th 7:00 AM - Richard and Kori's house
Normal POV
Richard awoke to the sound of his alarm going off. Groaning and opening his eyes, he considered staying home. His body was extremely sore, and plus he didn't really want to face Kori after what he pulled yesterday. He was still convinced she more than likely hated his guts, and he didn't blame her for it. He kinda did as well. Finally deciding it would be best that he went, he rolled out of bed and carried himself to his closet to grab some close before heading off to the shower. After struggling to even make it down stairs after his shower he headed off to meet his friends at Huddle House, which he was very hesitant about.
He knew Kori would be there, and that all his friends were probably in the middle of plotting his death at this exact moment, so it was a little risky to show up there, but he couldn't hide forever. When he pulled into the restaurant's parking lot, he could see Vic's charger meaning that they were inside. He decided to park on the opposite end of the parking lot, so that no could see him coming. When he walked inside the restaurant, the first thing he noticed was Kori. She along with the rest of his friends were looking at him, and he could tell that she had been crying by the redness of her eyes. It hurt him more than he would ever show that he made her cry. That was the last thing he ever wanted to do. As he approached the table, his mind began to race on how to handle the situation. He didn't know rather to confront the problem head on or act as if nothing happened. He really should have planned all that before he was a few feet from the table.
"Mind if I sit down?" he asked.
Everyone shrugged indifferently, except Kori who looked down at the table. Richard sat dow next to her. He hoped she would take that as a sign he really wanted to make up for all the crap he'd done yesterday, but she didn't seem to care, which stung. The rest of the group talked about random things, only he remained quite. Kori acted as if he wasn't even there and it was killing him. He had to talk with her. Taking a deep breath, he whispered into her ear, "can I talk to you outside?"
She looked over at him, seeming thoughtful for a moment. "Umm, yes," she agreed.
They both stood from the booth and there friends instantly went silent and watched them, as they headed out the door.
"Kiss ass time," Bee joked, causing everyone to laugh.
Outside, both leaned against the back of Vic's charger. Richard was trying to find the words to say, but none came to mind, so he just said the first thing he noticed.
"You look terrible today," he commented, but quickly mentally slapped himself as soon as the words left his mouth.
Kori frowned at him, obviously not liking his the start to this conversation.
"I mean not terrible, just... sick," he corrected in a hurry. He knew she wasn't sick, but it sounded a lot better than 'it looks like you been crying all night.'
The frown faded. "Oh yes, I am sick," she replied.
He sighed. "Listen Kor, I..." Just then there friends came out of the restaurant. Could they have not waited a few more minutes?
"Ready to go Kor?," Vic asked.
Kori glanced at Richard, then back at Vic. "Yes, I am ready."
That really put Richard in the dumps. He felt like she didn't care what he had to say. "You sure you don't want to ride with me?" he asked her hopefully.
"No, I shall ride with Vic," she answered casually before getting in his car.
Richard walked back to his car with his shoulders slumped. He really didn't know what he would have to do to win her back, but he knew he just wasn't gonna show up and she'd forgive just like that, so he really wasn't surprised by her coldness.
As everyone piled into Vic's car Bee, who sat in the passenger seat looked back at Kori, who sat in the middle of Rachel and Gar. "What was that? Why didn't you go with him?," she asked.
"I spent the whole night crying over him, I do not like to cry, and I do not wish to be hurt anymore. He must not only tell me he wishes to be with me, but show it in order for me to forgive him," she explained.
Bee smiled. "I like the way you think girl," she said before facing forward.
Both cars arrived at school right at the same time. Richard walked over to Kori as she got out. "May I walk you to class?" he asked.
Kori seemed thoughtful for a moment. She glanced at Bee, who was nodding from behind Richard. "You may," she agreed. Kori knew she had to be careful just how far she pushed him. She wanted him to see what he was missing, not give up on her and move on.
A smile crossed Richard's face. He reached for her hand, but she placed it behind her back, interlocking it with her other one. His smile turned into a frown, but it quickly vanished. Richard escorted her into the building and through halls until they reached the class. Britney immediately approached him.
"Hey handsome," she greeted.
Kori scowled at him, and crossed her arms over her chest.
Richard completely ignored the girl made and his way to his seat, which Kori was very pleased by. She walked over took her usual seat in front of him, but did not face him like she usually did. It frustrated him, but he had no right to complain about anything right now. For Kori, class consisted of turning in the project on Italy Richard and her had spent the last two weeks working on, listening to Britney flirt with Richard, and hearing him say nothing in response.
After class he walked her to art, before heading off to his next class. She knew he was trying, but he wasn't going to get anywhere until he voiced his feelings to her. Regardless of their current relationship, or lack there of, Kori continued her work on the painting of Richard and his parents. About another week or two and it would be done, then she could give it to him. She couldn't wait to see his face when he saw it. After art, Richard once again walked her to class. She still wasn't letting him touch her, and wasn't saying much of anything. He was really becoming irritated pretty quickly, but he kept his mouth shut.
'You deserve this and a hell of a lot more,' he kept telling himself, but it still wasn't making things any easier. In lunch she talked to everyone at the table, but him. Irritated was quickly becoming pissed. He knew he messed up, but if she wasn't going to talk to him how was he supposed to make things right? Despite his growing fury, his outside appearance remained calm. If Kori knew how mad he was becoming, her cold shoulder would have probably warmed up some. After seventh period he met her at her locker. He snuck up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist like he always used to before everything broken-down between them. Well before he broke it down.
She didn't even turn around to look and see who it was, she didn't have to. The sensation she got every time he touched her was burned into her brain. "Richard, let go of me, and do not touch me unless I give you permission to do so," she said in a cold tone.
She felt the arms slide off her waist, and saw Richard lean against the locker next to hers. He sighed, but his face suddenly became bitter. "You know what? Whatever. This whole day I been trying to show you that I'm sorry, that I screwed up, that you're the one I want to be with, but if you're not gonna forgive me, then I'm wasting my time. I'm done." he said, angrily before storming toward the school's exit.
Kori stood there stunned. She hadn't expected that to happen. She knew she had pushed to far, exactly what she didn't want to do. If she had any tears left cry she would be. She felt like she really messed up, especially considering he just admitted that he wanted be with her. She slowly walked into the class and went right up to Vic. "May you take me home?," she asked, in a weak voice. She would have flown, but that requires her to be happy, and she was far from happy at the moment.
"Sure little lady, what happened?, he asked picking up on her distress
"Richard, he is... I did the pushing him to far, and now he says he is done," Kori explained, now somehow finding tears.
All her friends looked a mixture of shocked and sympathetic. "Do you know where he went?" Gar asked.
"I do not know. He left through the front door," Kori replied, not caring who seen her cry.
"He's probably throwing passes on the football field," Raven informed. Everyone in the group knew she knew and just added the probably because Kori was there.
"Alright, let's go," Vic, said. All her friends stood and walked her straight out the door. Lucky for them the teacher wasn't in the room yet, so they wouldn't have to explain.
As they headed out to the parking lot, Bee asked, "You sure you don't wanna go back to me and Vic's, Kor?"
"No, I wish to go home and wait for him. I must fix this. He admitted he wanted to be with me and said he did the screwing up, but I messed it up by ignoring him all day," Kori whined.
"It's not your fault Kor," Vic assured. "If Dick hadn't pulled that shit he did yesterday everything would be fine."
"He made the mistake, and I saw that he was trying to do the fixing of it. I should have forgiven him, but he wants nothing to do with me, and that is my fault," she reasoned.
"Look Kor, no matter who's fault it is you two need to work things out before both of you go crazy. Dick's not far off from a mental break down as it is," Raven replied, as they reached the car.
"I do not know if he will talk to me," she sniffled.
"He just needs to cool down," Gar said, trying to calm her, as they got in the back seat.
Kori didn't reply. She just leaned her head on Raven's shoulders. As much as Raven wasn't a fan of contact, she wasn't about to move, not when Kori was in the state she was in. She hated using her powers to control people's... or alien's emotions but it seemed necessary. She laid her hand on Kori's, but Kori continued to cry. Apparently Tameranians emotions were much harder to control than humans, so she did the only other thing she could think of. She grabbed her hand again, but this time put her to sleep. When they arrived at Richard's Raven put her thumb print on the scanner and the door unlocked. Vic then carried Kori upstairs and laid her down in her bed. Before he left he wrote his cell phone number down on a piece of paper, and left a note that read, 'If you need anything give me a call.' He then exited the room and headed back to the car, before driving off back to school for practice.
Tuesday, September 9th 3:05 PM - football locker room
Vic and Gar walked into the locker room to put on their equipment and immediately saw that Richard was standing at his locker, in the middle of putting on his shoulder pads. His back was turned to them, so they could not see his expression, but they could guess he still wasn't very cheery. They glanced at each other before approaching him. Vic was still angry at him, and had no problem letting him know it. "Nice job Dick, you made Kori cry again."
Richard showed Batman like stoicism. "She ignored me all day. Did she expect me to just wait around why she talked to everyone else but me?," he said with no tone in his voice.
"No Dick, what she expected you to do was not make out with some other chick, just day after you made out with her. What she expected was for you to care for her," Vic Barked.
There was no change in expression from Richard. "I followed her around all day like a lost puppy, I carried her books to class, and I even ignored Britney, but she still didn't talk to me. I didn't expect her to forgive me, but I couldn't tell her how sorry I was if she wouldn't give me the chance to. I'm not gonna beg her to be with me. If she doesn't want to I can't force her," Richard said before walking off out of the locker room, leaving Vic and Gar to trade looks.
Richard was on in practice, like really on. His well hidden anger was fueling every throw. He even was knocking some of the lighter receivers over with the ball. After practice he headed straight to the locker room without a word to Bee or Raven. He didn't know where Kori was, and even though he couldn't honestly say he didn't care, he wasn't about to ask them. He knew they were probably just as mad at him as Vic was, and he wasn't gonna take the risk of Raven sending him to hell. He managed to dress back in before anyone else could even back in the locker room, but before he could exit, the alert on his phone went off. He quickly checked it and found that Cinderblock had broken out of prison and was wrecking havoc downtown. This was the wrong day to start some shit with him, he wasn't in the mood for it. He ran from the locker room, passing by Vic and Gar on the way. They didn't have time to ask what was wrong. When he made it to the parking lot, he saw that Bee and Raven were leaning against Vic's car. "Why are you in a rush?," Bee asked as he came flying in.
"Cinderblock," was his only response as he got in his car and quickly drove off, leaving the girls behind to look on. He decided to take one of the underground tunnel to the Nightwatch instead of driving all the way back to his house. For one it took to long to get there, and two, Kori was probably there. When he arrived at the Nightwatch, he quickly changed into his uniform, making sure to bring extra exploding disks, before mounting his N-cycle and taking off to release some of his frustration on a very unlucky Cinderblock.
Tuesday, September 9th 8:00 PM - Richard and Kori's house
Normal POV
Kori awoke to find that she was in her dimly lit bedroom. She didn't even remember going to sleep, but she figured she must have passed out on the way back. She looked over at her nightstand and noticed a piece of paper laying there. She read Vic's note before getting up and exiting her room. She looked in Richard's room, but found that it was completely empty. She hoped that he was downstairs, but as she walked down the stairs, she heard nothing, so she knew it was unlikely. After searching the first floor, she confirmed that he wasn't home. She returned to her room and sat down on the bed. Glancing back her nightstand, the picture of her and her friends in the photo booth at the mall caught her eye. She picked up the picture and looked over it, specifically the part with her and Richard. She wondered how they had went from looking so happy in the picture to how they were now. "Love is most complicated," she reasoned aloud. Placing the picture back down, she began to replay what Richard had said in her head. She felt tears begin to form in her eyes once again. She needed some fresh air, so she moved to her window and opened it. Closing her eyes, she remembered the kisses she and Richard shared at the beach. Suddenly she lifted off the ground, floating. Focusing on that memory, she flew out the window and straight up into the air, not really sure where she was headed.
Tuesday, September 9th 8:30 PM - Jump City
Normal POV
After Nightwing had successfully dealt with Cinderblock, turned him over to the police, and filed the necessary paper work, he decided to go ahead and begin his patrol. He was running along to roof tops, until he came to the tallest building in Jump. Figuring its height would give him a better view of the city's streets, he shot his grappling hook to its ledge, and in is seconds he was standing on its large roof. As his feet planted, he noticed something very strange. On the other end of the roof, a girl sat with her feet dangling off the edge. It was to dark to really make out in details about her, but he knew he needed to inform her it was very dangerous to be here up this late, so he slowly began to approach her, briefly wondering to himself how she'd gotten up here, but then he dismissed that when he remembered a fire escape on the side of the building he'd just came from. As he approached he, could hear that she was sobbing, rather loudly at that. Was she suicidal, and come up her to jump? If so things just got a lot more serious. He paused about ten feet behind her and realizing she had yet to hear him, he spoke up.
"Excuse me, miss," he said, making his voice deeper that it usually was.
The startled girl turned quickly. and Nightwing's stoic expression almost broke when he saw that it was Kori. What was she doing way up here? And more importantly she was still crying, which really hurt him, knowing it was his fault.
"Wow relax, my name's Nightwing, I'm not gonna hurt you," he assured, raising his hands to show he meant no harm.
Kori was a little shocked to see Nightwing standing there, even she knew an encounter with him was a big deal. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she replied. "Yes, I am aware of who you are."
Nightwing gave her a light smile, and slowly approached. "Mind if I sit?" he asked, pointing to a spot beside her.
She shook her head in response.
He sat down, and looked her over, mainly focusing on her watery eyes. "I was kinda wondering why you were sitting on the edge of the roof. It's dangerous to be up here this late," he said.
She just looked at him before returning her gaze to the ground.
"You wanna tell me why you're crying at least?," he asked like he didn't already know. "I'm a superhero after all, I'm pretty good at helping people."
Kori sighed. "I do not believe you wish to do the girl talk."
"I had to fight a ten ton walking brick wall a few hours ago, I'll gladly do girl talk with you," he half joked.
She looked over at him and gave small, yet sad smile. "Very well."
"So what's on your mind?," he questioned.
She paused for a moment, as if deciding where it would be best to start from. She guessed the beginning would be smart, so she continued. "I am not from here. When I first moved to this country, I did not understand the slang words or the culture at all. Because of that I was made fun of a lot. I must admit, I was most lonely and sad. My home was not what most people would find nice either, but one day in school, I was paired with this boy on a history project," she began, deciding to leave his name out, due to him being so well known.
"I had the crush on him beforehand, but so did every girl in school. I believed he would do the making fun of me like others, but he did not. The same day we were paired together for the project, he approached me at my lunch table, where I sat by myself, and he was most nice. He invited me to his table to sit, and then his home. When he took me home that night, he saw where I lived and refused to let me stay there, so he moved me in with him and gave me my own room. Ever since then we have been together all the time. We watch movies late at night or sometimes we just talk. He gave me this," she said motioning to her necklace.
"He said it reminded him of my eyes. He is the most amazing person I have ever met, but lately things have changed between us. We did the making out at the beach, and I believed we were going to be together, but the next day he did the making out with another girl. It hurt to see that, but it hurt worse that I believed I was just another girl to him. He tried to fix things, but I was not going to make it easy. I ended up doing the pushing him to far, and he said he was done and left. I fear that I have lost him, and...," she broke down into a fit of tears again, but calmed slightly when she felt Nightwing's hand on her shoulder. "And I love him and I do not believe I could handle the loss of him. He my best friend, my love, my life," she concluded.
Nightwing's mouth was slightly open when she finished. She really did love him, and the thought of losing him was ripping her apart. Ashamed of himself, he dropped his eyes to the ground. "He really hurt you, huh?"
"Yes, it is not easy seeing the one you love with another," she replied, tears still rolling down her face.
"I won't claim to be an expert on love, but I bet this guy cares about you just as much about you as you do about him. Us guys tend to get scared when we begin to fall in love," he said, and cupped his hands together, something he always did when he was thinking hard. "I think the best thing to do is to have a talk with him in the morning, and maybe you two can sort things out.
"Yes, that is if he will talk to me," Kori responded, as she wiped her eyes
He smiled softly at her. "I'm sure he'll be happy you wanna see him. Now let's get you down from here and get you home." He pulled out his grappling hook and attached it to the roof before turning to look at Kori. "Do I have permission to touch you?," he asked.
She nodded and he wrapped his arm, around her waist, finding the feeling she got strangly familiar. Before she could think anymore about it, he jumped, coming to a smooth landing on the ground, and Nightwing instantly took out some form of device, that had a single button on in it. He pressed it, and within a minute the N-cycle came riding toward them, stopping just a few feet short.
Kori was amazed that the motorcycle had just driven itself, but she didn't voice it. Nightwing got on and looked at her waitingly. She got the hint, and got the back. "What's your address?," he asked sounding oblivious. Kori had memorized it by now and couldn't forget if she wanted to. "Hold on," he instructed after she'd given it to him, and he, just for the sake of it, put it in the GPS system on the N-cycle.
Kori wasn't sure where to hold on to, so she just placed her hands at his sides, The N-cycle speeding off down the ally shortly thereafter. As they rode, Kori watched the back of him. Something was so familiar, but she just couldn't figure out what. Was it his smile? His hair? His complexion? Possibly his build? His voice sounded kind of familiar. Whatever it was, she couldn't be sure, but there was definitely something.
Nightwing dropped her off at the gate. He didn't instantly take off, which she was grateful for, wanting to thank him for having a conversation with her. "Thank you for listening to me, you were most helpful," she smiled.
"Anytime, just not on the roof of the tallest building in Jump, when it's pitch black outside," he replied.
She giggled.
"If you ever need to talk again, try the park. It's much safer," he added.
"Very well," she nodded with a smile.
Nightwing returned the nod before revving up his bike and darting off, quickly disappearing in the night.
Kori turned and made her way through the open gate. When she got to the house she opened the garage to find Richard's car was still gone, which likely meant he was as well. She walked around to the front door and pressed her thumb to the scanner. The door unlocked and she headed inside. As she had suspected, everything was dark, so she followed Nightwing's advice and headed upstairs to lay down, but not before checking Richard's room and stripping down into just her under garments. She laid their for hours, unable to sleep. Around one she heard footsteps coming from Richard's room. It was followed by the sound of his shower running, meaning he was home. That gave her a little comfort, but she still couldn't sleep, despite how insanely tired she was.
She laid there a few more hours, just listening to the sounds of the crickets outside. She glanced over at alarm clock. It was five, and technically that also meant it was morning. She couldn't wait any longer, she had to talk to him. Scampering out of bed, she exited her room and made her way to the front of his door. She took in a deep breath of air before knocking. She could hear the sound of him moving inside, and as the footsteps approached the door, she became extremely nervous. Richard opened the door, and raised an eyebrow at her, more to the fact that she was half-naked, than the fact that she was there. "Kori?," he questioned as he rubbed the tiredness from his eyes.
"Richard, we must talk," she replied.
"At five in the morning?" he asked tiredly.
"Yes," she replied surely.
"Umm, okay. Come in," he agreed, moving out of the doorway.
Kori entered the room and made her way to his bed, where she sat down on the side of it. Richard joined her, and he spoke up before she had a chance to. "Listen Kor, about yesterday in the hallway, I'm really sorry, I let my temper get the best of me and I said some things I didn't mean," he began, the sorrow audible in his voice.
"So, you are not done?," she asked hopefully.
"No... are you?," he asked.
"You hurt me very badly, and I do not believe you understand how hard it was for me to see you with another girl," she sobered and looked down.
"I know, I'm a coward. I got scared. I was afraid I'd lose you, but I realize now that I am going to lose you anyway if I keep treating you like I am. I never wanted to hurt you. I can't say enough how sorry I am," he replied, matching her tone.
She looked back at him. "You are not a coward. I understand why you did it, but that does not mean it hurt any less."
"I know," was all he could say in response.
"I do forgive you though," she said after a moment.
A smile crossed his face for the first time in what seemed like forever. "Really?"
She smiled softly and nodded, as she fiddled with her fingers in thought. "Richard, yesterday you said I am the one you wanted to be with. Did you mean it?"
He grew serious and nodded. "Yeah, you're the one and only one I want to be with... that is if you will have me?"
She wanted scream yes, and tackle him onto to the bed, but she still had her reservations. "You are certain this is what you want? I could not handle waking up tomorrow and find that you have changed your mind."
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life." He reached for her hand and lightly clutched it in his, while he stared deep into her eyes. "I want you to be my girlfriend."
Kori smiled brightly and tackled him, so that he was laying flatly and she was lying on top of him. She hugged him tightly, as nuzzled her nose into his chest for a moment, before raising her head and looking at him with a questioning expression. "Wait, if I am the girlfriend we may still do the late night movie watching and talking, yes?," she asked. That was a must. It was the her favorite part of the day, and she always looked forward to it.
Richard smiled, as he ran his hands trough her hair. "Yeah, the only difference is there may be more kissing involved," he informed.
Kori beamed. "I believe I shall enjoy being the girlfriend."
"So, that's a yes?," he asked with a grin.
Her response to lean back down and kiss him sweetly, Richard kissing back with no hesitation. When they broke away, he pulled her fully onto the bed. "C'mon let's go back to sleep," he yawned.
"But we must be at school in a few hours. Should we not just stay up?," she reasoned.
Richard laid down beside her and pulled her in tightly against him. "I think we'll just stay here today," he said, before planting a kiss on his new, and hopefully last girlfriend.
She giggled as his hand rubbed against the tickle zone on her side, but she nodded anyway. "Very well, but we shall watch the movies, yes?," she questioned.
"Of course."
"And the snuggling?,"
"Doing it right now."
"Oh, and the making out, yes?"
"Absolutely."
"And we must mmmm."
Richard chuckled and covered her mouth. "We can do whatever you want, but first let's start with sleeping. I'm exhausted."
She smiled sheepishly. "I am sorry, I just am most excited that we are together."
Richard leaned in a kissed her forehead. "Me too."
"Pleasant rest, boyfriend Richard," Kori said closing her eyes and snuggling into him.
Richard smirked at her language before following.
They slept nearly three hours before the sound of Richard's phone buzzing stirred both of them awake. Groaning, Richard reached for his it to see that it was a phone call from Vic.
"Hello," he answered.
"Where are you and Kori at?," he asked.
"In bed," Richard mumbled
"In bed together?," Vic shouted loud enough for Kori to hear.
"I wish to tell our friends the news," Kori exclaimed.
Richard gladly handed her the phone before plopping his head back down onto his pillow.
"Vic, I have glorious news. Me and Richard are doing the dating," she informed gleefully.
Richard knew that Vic's phone was on speaker by this point, and all there friends were listening.
"How did that happen?," he could hear Bee ask, confirming his thoughts. She was followed by Gar asking if they were coming to school.
"We did the making up, and no, we were both very tired, so we are taking the lazy day," Kori replied.
"Kori, can I talk Dick real quick?," Vic asked.
"Of course," she responded, before handing Richard the phone.
"Hello?," he answered once again.
"Two things," he began, and Richard could imagine him holding up two fingers as he talked. "One, you ever hurt her again, and you better call the whole damn Justice League to come save your ass, because we're coming for you, and two, congrats, we're happy for y'all."
Richard smiled. "Thanks, Vic."
The next voice he heard was Bee's. "Let me talk to Kori," she requested, or rather demanded.
Richard sighed and handed to phone back to his girlfriend.
"Girl, you got to tell me everything when we come over this afternoon," Bee said quickly, before Kori even had the phone to her ear.
Richard knew the conversation could go all day if he didn't end it.
"Very well, we shall do the girl oooh," Kori moaned softly as Richard began to suck her neck.
"Huh?," Bee asked.
"I... I must ooh... I must go, Richard and I are about to perform the making out," she said, hanging up and dropping the phone onto the bed, before cocking her head to the side to allow him better access to her neck.
Richard smirked slightly to himself as he continued to work. The future for them was looking very optimistic, to say the least.