stranger things | dick grayson

forty

word count: 2.1k

a/n: this chapter is very found family and I love it so much

NOT EDITED

~

The battle to open her eyes was a long and tough one. Eleanor was unsure of how long she sat there attempting to pry her eyelids apart, but she was eventually successful.

'Hey... You slept long enough.'

Raising her eyebrows to help open her eyes wider, Eleanor craned her neck to her left to see who the voice belonged to. With a wave of emotions washing over her, Eleanor bit back a small cry and sat up, allowing Dick to help her. He stood in front of her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she leaned into his stomach, wrapping her arms around his waist.

It was the first time she had seen him in a month and Eleanor never realised how much she had missed him until that moment.

'I'm sorry,' she said, as her vision grew blurry with tears.

'It's okay. I know why you left. It's okay.'

She sat back and looked up at him, watching him nod and look down at her. His lips were pulled together tightly into a small pout and his misty eyes matched hers. He gently dragged his hand down both of her cheeks to wipe her tears, causing her to let out a small laugh.

'I really am sorry,' she said as he sat down next to her. The mattress sank at the weight and Eleanor slid into him slowly, their knees knocking together. 'Dealing with things has never been my strong suit. The smallest inconveniences will have me moving across the country and changing my name.' Eleanor joked, and they both laughed, but they understood that Eleanor still needed to adjust to having people around her who would support her through anything.

'Well, I won't let you do that... Jason's been worried about you. He's been making himself sick over everything,' Dick said quietly, looking down at their hands as they interlocked.

'I know... You know, I love the kid, I do, but he has a real discipline problem,' Eleanor said and grinned. 'How's Zoe, is she okay?'

'Almost as bad as Jason. She's been sleeping with either Bruce or myself. Slept in Bruce's bed the night we brought you in. You uh, you weren't in the nicest shape, it really scared her... Strangely enough, Bruce is good with Zoe.'

Eleanor sighed and let go of Dick's hand to bury her face into her palms.

'What am I doing, Dick? I don't know how to take care of a kid.' She dropped her arms and looked at Dick with a perplexed expression. 'I'm supposed to be protecting her. Raising her. Instead, I'm exposing her to the life I promised to get her away from.'

'She's doing fine, Eleanor. She was just worried about you that's all,' Dick said, placing his hand on his thighs as Eleanor slowly stood up. 'You're doing a great job with her. You've set boundaries in this life and you're sticking to them. El, you can't protect her from every little threatening thing, but you can show her between what's right and wrong. We both grew up under shit circumstances but look at what we achieved later on in life. If you can give her the best this life can offer, imagine what she's going to achieve when she's our age.'

Turning around to look at Dick, Eleanor wondered how he was able to see the positives of the situation that in her opinion was hopeless to begin with. Their relationship had grown to the point Eleanor sort of forgot what it was like to be awkward desk buddies who would share sandwiches and have their own little inside jokes. They didn't have that anymore and she missed it in a way. They were so invested in the lives of everyone else, that they really didn't have time for each other, and that meant less exposure to the support from the other person, which is what they both needed.