afterthought || d. wayne (2)

SIX

KING'S APARTMENT
JUNE 10TH
12:15 PM

Silas sits on the barstool, leaning against the small cube of a bar in Noelle's kitchen. Noelle isn't paying attention to the way he nearly falls off the stool in favor of focusing on the grilled cheese on her pan.

He's rarely seen his friend like this; mopey and distracted. Her boyfriend's been gone for, what, ten days now? Without warning? It sucks and it's clearly bothering his best friend a lot more than he thought it would.

"So...he just left?" Silas questions a little bluntly, leaning against his hand. "What happened to our best summer yet?"

Noelle shrugs, struggling to keep her gaze away from Silas. It's getting more and more difficult to keep her worries from Silas.

As much as she loves her best friend, he isn't the brightest: that was made obvious when he fell for a psycho. To Silas, it was merely a coincidence how Robin slept on her couch for a few months and how she started dating Damian Wayne of all people.

"He's going on some trip to help people," Noelle says. Hopefully, she isn't lying. "But that's not gonna stop us from having a great summer."

"Did he say where he's going?"

"No."

"Did he say why?"

"No."

"...Do you know when he's going to be back?"

"Jesus—Silas, I know nothing, alright?"

Silas pouts. "I just find it suspicious is all." He switches from leaning on the counter to his hand. "Trynna look out for you, Noel."

She knows he's just trying to help, but it's hard to help when you don't have all of the facts. Noelle wishes Silas could just figure it out so she wouldn't be at fault.

She slides the grilled cheese off the pan and onto a plate before placing it in front of Silas. Noelle stirs the small pot of tomato soup before ladling enough into two bowls. She sighs before finally giving an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes, "I've just been confused lately about the whole Damian situation. It's been nearly two weeks since he left and I'm...worried."

She places one bowl of soup beside his plate before putting the other in front of her. Silas grins, getting ready to dig in. He grabs the grilled cheese and dips the edge into the soup before taking a bite.

"Thisf is sho good, Noelle," Silas groans into another bite. "Sfo—" he swallows his bite. "So, is there a reason he left a note?"

"You mean the note he only left for his dad?" Noelle scoffs. "I don't know. He shut off his phone, so I bugged his dad about it."

Silas's eyes widen. "You bothered Bruce Wayne about his son going on some impromptu missionary trip?"

"It's not a missionary trip," Noelle scoffs. "But yes, I did. I thought it was ridiculous he only left a note without any warning so I wanted to check if his dad knew anything else."

"Did he?" Silas asks before taking another bite.

Another heart pang. Soft, but still there. "No."

Silas frowns before giving a dismissive wave with his grilled cheese. "Screw him," Silas sighs. "He sucks."

Noelle rolls her eyes. "He doesn't suck, he's just...not as communicative as I'd prefer." She stirs her soup absentmindedly. "But he was working on it. I know Alfred's death really did something."