Closer Than Your Shadow

Shared Cigarette

December 10th 4:26 p.m.
Gotham
Dick's apartment

It was a long 47 minutes waiting for Dick to come back home, and I sat through every second of it with bouncing knees and jittery fingers.

When he pushed through the front door with a plastic bag and a pizza box I couldn't help but perk up like a dog when it's owner came back after a long day of work.

His hair, like usual, was disheveled and laying in his eyes and as soon as he closed the door his scowl turned into a soft smile.

"Hey," he greeted as he pushed the pizza box onto the counter.

"Hi."

"I just got you mediums in everything," he said. He pushed a plastic bag towards me. Shorts, shirts and some leggings, all in black.

"Thanks." I gave a small lift of my lips and zeroed in on his eyes. I stared at his dark circles and I couldn't help but feel a little responsible.

"I'm sorry about Donna just showing up. I couldn't warn you in time but it made me realize you had no way to contact me, so I got you a burner. It's in the bag."

I nodded and tied a knot with the handles. I leaned against the counter and he pulled a slice of pizza out.

"You should eat," he said as he dropped my gaze again.

"I'm not hungry. I wanted to talk about-,"

"Can we just go a minute or two without talking? I just got home." The vein in his neck was thumping and I had to tear my gaze from his skin.

My fingernails dug into my palm.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"What?"

"You're pretending we don't have a hundred things to talk about." He took a bite of the pizza and avoided eye contact all together. "What is it? Do you not want me to stay here? I can go to one of the other apartments. I know you didn't plan on any of this happening."

"You're staying here."

"You're avoiding the point."

"I'm not avoiding anything. I'm just not doing the back-and-forth thing with you. Not everyone wants to fight Claire," Dick grumbled and left me in the kitchen. I expected his door to slam, but it was barely audible. A few seconds later, the shower turned on. Instinctively I closed my eyes and bit down on my bottom lip. Nothing could ever just be easy with us, I either said to much or too little. But what the fuck?

How was he upset with me? How could he think he even had a foot to stand on after everything he did?

I paced his apartment a few times before I sat down and ate a slice of pizza. 20 minutes later Dick was coming out of his room with a towel around his waist. It was hanging off his hips and the contours of his stomach dipped every time he took a step.

He got to the counter and grabbed the pack of Camels. He tipped one out and put the filter between his lips.

Drops of water fell down his arms, chest and about every other part of his body. My eyes flicked between his v-line and his eyes covered with dripping hair. Before he brought his hand out to grab my lighter, he flashed me a quick glance. Silently asking for permission, but he didn't bother waiting for it.

The small sizzle sent chills down my spine and I stared at his back as he walked back into his room.

We weren't even talking now. Good.

He came back out with a tee shirt and sweats. He looked comfy. And I didn't know why I thought he looked better like this than when he wore his suits, but he did.