This is going to be two days combined into one, I figured you wouldn't mind since this 30 day Challenge has been going for literally three years.

**********LINE BREAKER!**********

Jason's lips were barely there, teasing her skin every where they brushed. He laid his trail of kisses along the backs of her shoulders, up her arm, along the curve of her neck. Barbara sat on the side of the bed, her hair draped over one shoulder while Jason kissed the other. Her head was leaning over to one side, Jason's arms wrapped around her ribs and were gently swaying her body.

Barbara simply sat there. While she admitted that Jason's kisses felt nice, she wasn't in the mood regardless.

"Something tells me you're not as into this as I am," Jason said.

Barbara sighed, and Jason took the hint. He moved away from her still form, and at the chill from his absence Barbara readjusted her position as well. She turned to face him, still sitting on the edge of her bed. She crossed her arms beneath her breasts, grabbing onto each of her own biceps. Jason could see the tell tale signs that Barbara was thoroughly upset.

Grinding her jaw?

Check.

Narrowing her eyes?

Check.

Brows furrowed in concentration?

Check.

Squeezing the skin on her arms?

Check.

"Babs, you gotta tell me what's on your mind," Jason said. He rested his elbow on his knee and his chin in his palm. He watched the gears in her head grind as she considered her words very carefully. There was a small strand of fiery red hair that fell in front of her face, dangling over her forehead so delicately.

Barbara's eyes couldn't focus on anything in particular. Not until she made eye contact with Jason, that is. His eyes were piercing, bright, colors that she found it hard not to focus on. "I don't know, I've just had a rough day. I'm not in the mood." Barbara looked at Jason and noticed his concerned look. Suddenly it was hard to not roll her eyes, and she just didn't have the energy to hold it in.

They eye roll is what did it.

Jason set his jaw, furrowing his brows. "Barbara, tell me what's wrong with you. You never look so annoyed unless I pissed you off." She looked up at him, surprised by his monotone voice. "So what did I do?"

Barbara pursed her lips, rolling her eyes again. "I just don't really wanna fuck you after you got all hot and bothered with someone else." She pressed her arms even tighter across her chest, making the extra effort to keep her gaze unmatched.

Jason's mouth dropped open in a mixture of shock and confusion. It wasn't easy to fluster Jason Todd, but Barbara Gordon always seemed to find a way to surprise him. Especially when she said things like that. He could feel his eyelids straining because of how wide they'd opened in his flustered state.

"W-what?" he said. "What the fuck are you talking about? I came straight over after patrol." He backed away from her a few inches, and Barbara's face grew red with anger.

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms even tighter and pushing her breasts up. Normally, Jason's eyes would've been glued to her cleavage, but now he was also getting slightly perturbed. "Yeah, it was my night to patrol too. I saw you."

The confusion was building inside of him, only working to frustrate him more.

"Saw me doing what exactly? I checked on my clients, collected, stopped a robbery, and came over." Jason had also crossed his arms by now, and his eyebrows were furrowed together in both concentration and anger.

Barbara rolled her eyes again, a small smile playing at her lips. When she was so angry she was smiling Jason knew he'd really done something, but he hadn't been with another girl all night. He was beginning to feel falsely accused and he was growing angrier about it by the minute.

"So you call them clients?" she said. She produced an evil sounding chuckle at these words. "I mean, I know we're not dating, so you can technically fuck whoever you want. But I don't want your sloppy seconds, Jason."

The way she said his name - with venom and scorn dripping off each syllable, as if just the taste of it in her mouth disgusted her - broke his heart a little. But more than that, it angered him. How dare she treat him this way when he'd done nothing wrong. How dare she assume he'd been out fucking other girls when he'd made it clear thousands of times that he wasn't doing that. How dare she take his name, which she usually only said with the softest of voices or into the bedsheets, and say it that way. Like there was nothing left in her heart but mallace for him. How dare she.

Jason was fuming now, almost lost for words. Almost. "Yes, they are my clients. I protect them and they pay me twenty percent. You know this. You know what I do." His hands were in his hair, pulling at the white tuft on his forehead.

Barbara huffed, completely disregarding Jason's obviously growing fury. "You sure did seem close with your client." She said it as though it was a challenge, with one eyebrow raised and that same angry smirk on her lips.

He had to take a deep breath. He simply had to. Jason knew how Barbara could be, especially when she got all fired up. And Barbara knew how to push Jason's buttons, and both were aware that she would do it if she thought she could. He had to refrain from getting too angry, lest he say something he'd regret later on. "Barbara," he said slowly, trying to control his breathing. "Tell me exactly what you saw that you're so pissed about."

Her smirk was gone now, replaced by a look of angry concentration. Her eyes shifted up, and slightly to her right. "I saw you on the roof, and I thought I'd surprise you. So I was going to sneak up on you, but then you jumped off the roof." She paused, looking at him to see if any of it rang a bell.

"Where exactly was this?" He asked. The only reason he would've gotten off the roof would be to fight or to talk to a client. And he only fought once tonight.

"35th and Broadway," she responded. "When you jumped off the roof I figured you might be working a case so I kept watching to see what was up. And you went and talked to some prostitutes on the corner, handed her some money, and followed her down the block and inside an old apartment building."

She was looking at him now, her big, beautiful emerald eyes brimming with tears as she finished her tale.

Jason's mouth dropped open. He finally understood the entirety of the situation. He was still angry, but he could also understand Barbara's anger better and that lessened his own frustration.

"Babs," he said, reaching an arm out to touch her. She flinched away, making it clear that she didn't want to be touched. "It's not what you think."

"Don't you give me that bullshit, Jason Todd." She jabbed her index finger at him angrily. "You keep that cliched, stereotypical bullshit to yourself. I didn't think you were one of those guys, you know. But you're too much of an asshole to have a soft side and I should've known that." She was standing now, towering over Jason's sitting form. Her fist was clenched at her side and her finger was mere centimeters from Jason's nose.

Granted, he could've picked a better way to phrase that.

However, now he was really mad.

His jaw clenched. He stood, forcing Barbara to move backwards and get her finger out of his face. Now, it was him towering over her. "She works for my client, Barbara." Jason's teeth were grinding around the words. I control drug dealers, and I protect prostitutes. It. Is. What. I. Do."

Barbara gulped, now forced to look up into the livid face of Jason Todd. The light of the room was behind his head, making the furious expression on his face look even darker than it was. There were lines across his forehead where his brows were pushed together, and more at the edges of his lips where they squeezed into a tight line. His nose was scrunched up and his eyes were rapidly switching back and forth between both of her eyes.

"Maybe, if instead of rushing to conclusions and blindly accusing me of things, you should've fucking asked." His tone was scathing, making Barbara want to cave in on herself and hide. But she didn't, she kept her anger on the surface and stood her ground. "Oh, and might I add that the ONLY REASON we are not actually dating is because you were unsure that that's what you wanted!" He was stepping closer now, and Barbara had to keep backing up to maintain a few inches of distance between the two of them. "You just wanted all the perks of dating without having to tell all your Bat-family that we were a couple. So don't you dare come at me with all these batshit crazy accusations and misplaced anger when I have done nothing wrong. Even if I had been seeing a prostitute, it's not any of your business when you won't just admit you want to be more than fuck buddies."

He paused.

His eyes looked over her face for a moment. She was backed up against the wall, and he could see the panic underlying her fierce demeanor. He almost regretted ranting to her like this, judging by how scared she was trying not to seem.

"Do you really think that's what stopped me? That I was embarrassed to tell Bruce and Dick that we were together?" Her words took him aback for a moment, though his expression remained the same. "As if those two assholes opinions matter in the decisions I make about my personal life. I don't do things because I think it'll make either of them happy. And those guys are certainly not the only people I hang around with." She paused, watching him listen to each word, waiting for her to get to the point. "Jason I never said yes because I wasn't sure I wanted you."

His eyes softened, a deep sadness reawakening within him. If Barbara hadn't known how to read him, she never would've seen it. He kept his expression and demeanor completely steeled. An untrained eye never would've known that her words had hurt him. How deeply, she'd probably never know. But they had, and she would be willing to bet they'd hurt him right down to his core.

Jason backed away, before looking at her with hurt in his eyes and turned around.

Now it was Barbara's turn to be surprised. "What are you doing?" she said. He reached to the ground and picked up his white V neck off the floor.

He didn't respond - or even look at her - while he slipped the shirt over his head, covering his muscles and mildly scarred skin from her sight. Then he walked over to the door and grabbed his boots from the floor and his mask from the dresser.

His shoulder narrowly avoided shoving hers as he made his way back to the bed, plastering the mask on his face as he walked. Suddenly his eyes were gone and only the red domino mask remained. Sitting down on the bed, he leaned down to pull his boots on and fasten the laces.

Barbara fumed. "Jason," she said as she extended a hand towards his shoulder. Before she reached him, however, he flinched away. Unlike Jason, she didn't take the hint and continued extending an arm towards him. He finished tightening his laces and caught her by the wrist.

"Do not touch me, Barbara." he said, his teeth gritted. If anything, the mask made him look even more angry.

Her face fell for a brief moment, before tightening up once more in anger. "Tell me what you're doing." She managed to shake her wrist free of his grasp as he walked away.

He made his way back to the dresser, where his fingerless gloves laid next to his leather jacket. Draping himself in the jacket first, he turned as he put the gloves on. "If you hate having me so bad, then fine. I'm leaving."

Barbara hated that she couldn't quite see what facial expression he was making, despite years of trying to figure out how to read a masked face. "Don't leave, we're not done here." She meant to sound less angry than she did, but she couldn't take it back now.

It was Jason's turn to smirk now. Even a chuckle escaped his barely parted lips as he turned and walked to her window. "Yes, we are."

And then he was gone.

**********LINE BREAKER!**********

Barbara cleaned up her apartment, still furious. It had been roughly an hour and a half since Jason left through her bedroom window, and for a while she hadn't known what to do. Her anger had come and gone in waves, each time it seceded it was replaced with guilt and a fear that Jason might not come back.

In a feeble attempt to even herself out, she had just begun deep cleaning the whole apartment. She had finished her bedroom, and was now moving onto the kitchen, but her anger and guilt continued their war in her head.

On one hand, Jason always came back. For fucks sake, he even came back from the dead. They couldn't get rid of him.

Bad time for humor, Babs.

Jason always came back. He didn't give up on his family no matter what. He could hate them and he could stay away for years at a time, but he hadn't ever given up, and she was certain he'd be back. He'd been far more furious and far more hurt by members of the Bat-clan than he had been tonight.

But why had she even hurt him? Why had she wanted so badly to win this fight?

Since they'd started having sex, Jason and Barbara hadn't gotten in a single fight. They'd obviously sparred and had sarcastic arguments, because that's just the kind of people they are and they wouldn't enjoy their time together if they didn't do those things. But a real fight? Not even one. So why was it so important that Barbara win this particular one? Especially since even as she said those things she knew she had no real right to be angry. Jason had been right, she'd turned him down and then acted like a crazy girlfriend on a hunch that proved to be wrong. A simple conversation could've put her to ease and instead she decided to start a fight.

In hindsight, it wasn't even close to worth it.

She wanted him to come back. What if she'd blown it?

Logically, he had no reason to. They'd had real fights before, before their relationship became the adult variety. Jason knew that Barbara often said things she didn't mean. He also knew she hated apologies.

The thought of apologizing was awful. Barbara hated saying she was sorry. She didn't like to feel guilty, let alone admit that she was guilty. She found that apologies often did nothing to resolve the guilt she felt. And since she was so stubborn, she didn't enjoy admitting she'd been wrong about anything. But another part of her knew she owed Jason an apology, because she'd been acting like a bitch and that wasn't okay.

How could she apologize if Jason wasn't here?

He had to be somewhere. And like she said, Jason always comes back…

Although, going in on the fourth hour since Jason had gone out the window with no word from him was a bit strange. He usually had texted or called or something by now. The last time they'd gone this long without talking was before he'd officially moved back to Gotham. Barbara began to worry that maybe she'd crossed the line, and that maybe there was no going back from there.

**********LINE BREAKER!**********

Jason sighed, the air cold and crisp around him. He usually thought that it was hard to stay angry when you were cold, because in his mind he associated anger with heat. It made sense to him, but any time he'd ever tried to explain it to someone else they'd just look at him like he needed more schooling.

Technically he did because he'd died when he was only 16, but that was besides the point.

He had already smoked three cigarettes, and he was craving another. But he resisted the urge, not wanting to over do it tonight. He'd gone to a safehouse that only Bruce knew about, because on the off chance that Barbara decided to apologize, he didn't want her to be able to find him. Jason didn't think he had it in him to see her right now. So here he stood, on a balcony in the dead center of Gotham in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else, trying not to think too hard about his predicament.

The less he thought about it, the less he had to admit that Barbara had hit a nerve that she knew was exposed. And if she'd done that, then maybe this time she wasn't just saying things because she was angry. Maybe she'd decided she didn't really love him. Maybe she decided that she didn't need to worry about hurting him.

Again, Jason sighed. He didn't typically have lots of girl problems. Most of the relationships Jason found himself involved in weren't very emotional, making them easy to cut off and walk away from. Barbara was different. Barbara and Jason had been best friends practically since they met, and since technically no one knew that they were involved, it would look suspicious if they just stopped being friends.

An easy solution would be to just walk away, disappear again and travel the globe with Roy and Kori.

Probably just Roy, since Kori is married now and trying to keep it in one location.

That could be fun. Travel with Roy, work as hired guns.

It wouldn't be nearly as fun as staying here and being with Babs. Nothing against Roy, there were just some things they really couldn't do together that Jason really enjoyed doing with Babs. Pizza night, for example. Roy made a rule against eating pizza with Jason after they had their first food fight and Kori made them clean it up themselves. Barbara also didn't steal money out of his wallet like Roy did.

The list goes on, but that's not the point.

Jason didn't really want to leave Gotham again. He'd just gotten back into the swing of things. But if it was between that and ruining his friendship with Barbara, he'd walk away any day.

Once more, the young hero sighed. He turned to enter the apartment, leaving the cold air in favor of a warm bed.

As he lay down and covered himself up, he realized how truly exhausted he was. The sheets felt good enough against his bare chest to make him fall asleep almost instantly. He would've too, had his mind not been plagued by thoughts and self doubt.

It had been hours since he had left Barbara's. He assumed that she had come to her senses by now, and was battling with herself over whether or not an apology was necessary, or whether he'd just get over it. She'd probably choose the latter in favor of not saying out loud that she was actually wrong about something, and after a few days Jason will have called Roy and already made plans to go elsewhere. And by the time Barbara realized that she did have to apologize, Jason's cell phone will be disconnected and he'll be gone without a trace. Even Barbara couldn't use her computer skills to track him. Jason already knows all her tricks. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost didn't hear the sliding glass door to the balcony slide open.

Almost.

There was no sound after the door creaked to a halt. Jason kept his breathing steady, hoping to surprise any intruder that might have simply picked the wrong house to rob. But the room was silent, save for his own breathing and that of someone else. The strange breathing was unsteady, nervous. Jason had his eyes open, searching for a shadow to help determine who was in his bedroom. But the room was void of all light unless he turned over to confront the person head on. He'd wait until he heard them move closer to the bed, and then reach for the knife under the pillow on the other side and-

"I know you're awake Jason I can hear you breathing."

Barbara.

Jason shot up in bed, his face expressionless. He could see her form standing in the open doorway, completely still. For a few moments, they remained this way. Jason propped up in bed, Barbara standing rigidly in the doorway. Both starring, both waiting.

And then she moved, taking long strides to close the gap between her and Jason. At first, he prepared for a blow to the face, for her to sit down once she reached the bed, or something of that sort. What he did not expect, however, was Barbara to climb onto the bed and crawl to him without pause. She flung her arms around his neck and threw one leg over both of his, burying her face in his neck. He could feel her tears. They were fresh, she hadn't started crying until just now.

At first, Jason was surprised. He was frozen in his shock, unsure what to do. But as he felt Barbara's muscles relax on top of him he realized this was her apology. "I do want you, Jason," she whispered between her sobs into his neck. "I do."

He wrapped his arms around her, equally tight. One hand rubbed circles on her back and the other gripped her neck. In this moment, Barbara couldn't have been close enough to him.

"I want you Jason, I want you to be mine." She was still crying, repeating her mantra through her own shaky breaths.

Jason shifted his head, moving so he could kiss Barbara's temple as his hands continued rubbing relaxing circles on her back. "I love you Barbara Gordon." he said.

Her fingers dug into his back, holding him as if he was slipping through her grip. She tried to slow her breathing so she could plant tiny kisses up his neck, along his collarbone, along his jawline, up his cheek, and in the corner of his mouth. She paused, looking into those deep sea green eyes she loved so much. "I love you, Jason Todd," she said. There was something about the sureness in her voice that made his chest swell with an absolute joy that he hadn't ever known before. "I love you and I'm so sorry."

She leaned in and kissed him passionately. Before now, they'd never kissed without that sexual hunger behind it. Every time their lips had touched there had been some kind of sexual tension, some kind of yearning behind it. Something that ignited a fire in their bellies and tingled their skin and made them want more. But this… This was a whole new kind of kissing. This was the kind of kiss that made them want more, but in a different way. It was affection, not hunger that drove this kiss. Instead of a fire in their bellies, they felt love. They felt like they could fall apart right there in each other's arms so long as they could keep kissing like this forever.

When had Jason started crying?

He pulled out of this kiss, and planted his own face in Barbara's neck. It was her turn to rub circles on his back while her fingers toyed with the hairs on the back of his neck. Usually that would set his skin on fire and make him want to rip her clothes off. But now all it did was reassure him that she was there, and she wasn't going to leave. And that was all he needed.

"Don't you ever say that to me again, Babs." he whispered, so low that she barely heard him.

Her breath caught in her throat at the way his voice sounded. As if he was a child again waiting for his mom to come home and she just never did. Barbara inwardly cringed at the thought that she'd made him feel this way. "I'm sorry, Jason… I was wrong."

Several moments passed like this. Jason rubbing circles on Barbara's back and Barbara rubbing circles on Jason's back. It was soothing, it was loving, it was affection like they'd never known before. It was in these several moments that they realized they'd do anything to stay in each others' lives. That no matter how angry they became with each other, or how things played out, they'd always come back to each other and make it right. As friends or lovers or a couple, it didn't matter. No one could fill the void that Barbara left in Jason's heart, just as no one could fill the void Jason left in Barbara's. It was in these moments that they experienced the true meaning of love and they realized that all these years they'd been saying it, but here in these few moments, it had finally become true.