Robin one shot part 3!

You forgot me pt 3

TW: BLOOD

Nine months had gone by without a word from Dick. On the news, they saw him occasionally pop up, but he wasn't consistent enough to know where he was or where he was heading. Dick's home had been a welcomed escape from Bruce's parenting and in their time apart, his siblings often found themselves heading to the empty apartment only to remember that he was no longer there to offer them comfort. Family dinners were tenser as everyone tried to ignore the empty seat at their table and they could all tell that Bruce was praying for the chance to see where his ward had gone. They supposed it reminded him of the Titans days and he was struggling with the lack of media giving him at least a few hints as to if his son was safe. Right now, Dick could be anywhere whether that be willingly or unwillingly. It was so tempting to try and track him down but they weren't going to. They understood that he needed this time away and it was working as a test. If they passed, he'd come home eventually. They'd just have to wait for that day they got a call telling them that. 

School was boring and tiresome but Damian was forced to go. The only thing he could do to make it less dull was to imagine his brother standing by the steps. He always had the window seat in his last class of the day so when he became disinterested, he began daydreaming. There were usually a few people walking past and on very rare occasions they would resemble his big brother. He'd imagine one of them was his brother who'd finally come back from travelling. When he felt particularly morbid, Dick would stumble up to the steps and lean on the wall as he hid an injury poorly. Then Damian would imagine running out to save him and they'd go home, exchanging stories from their time apart so Dick would be too occupied to pass out. He'd find some comfort in knowing that Dick would have to stay with them so he could recover and in that time they could work everything out. On the less morbid days, he'd imagine Dick in the most obnoxious outfit he could find, usually a bright Hawaiian shirt paired with some God-awful skinny jeans, and have him looking through the windows. When the older would spot him, he'd wave and be overall embarrassing. Damian would pretend to hate it and scold him for drawing attention to himself. He wouldn't hate it though. He missed the absolute trainwreck that was his brother's fashion sense. He missed how excited the guy was just to see him. Damian didn't have to do anything. He'd just be there. 

Today, as he looked out the window to escape the last boring ten minutes of class, he noticed someone standing by the steps. He knew the regulars that stood by the school, often parents or nannies picking up a kid, so he was quick to notice this wasn't a regular. Perhaps they were a new nanny or something. They were around average height and had a muscular build that wasn't too bulky, more so athletic than anything. They had a black curly mullet that was just past shoulder length and wore dark clothes aside from the bright blue shirt that was unbuttoned a bit to show their chest. Damian's eyebrows furrowed as he got a sense of deja vu upon seeing the shirt. He'd seen that blue shirt before but he couldn't remember where it had been. Currently, their face was turned away and slightly obscured by the shadow of the building so he wondered if the shirt had belonged to some designer brand he couldn't care less about. Then they turned and his eyes widened with recognition. Damian immediately got up out of his seat, snatched his backpack from underneath his desk and ran out of the room much to the dismay of his teacher. He ran through the empty halls and ignored the receptionist yelling at him as he shoved the front door open. They didn't matter. "Grayson!" he exclaimed, tears welling up in his eyes as he got closer. Dick smiled at him and opened his arms as the teen jumped into them, almost knocking them both to the floor and winding the acrobat. 

"Don't you still have ten minutes of school?" the older asked. Damian didn't respond as he held onto him for dear life. He was back. He was real. The first words he'd said to him in so long had been done with a smile and a joke, a stark contrast to the last words he'd said. Those ones haunted the teen to no end and he was so glad to replace them. "Hey buddy, you're kinda crushing me here." He stepped away and punched him in the arm. "Ow!"