Poison Ivy

6.

Badge and I sat in his car in the parking lot next to the park my dad used to take us to when we were kids. It was a little past nine and I still hadn't entirely gotten over everything that happened. Badge seemed to detect my mood, and didn't try to force any conversation out of me. Either that, or he was just as mad as I was. And why wouldn't he be? My dad accused him of looking like he belonged behind bars. I always knew my dad wasn't going to be pleasant toward the first guy I introduced him to, but I had no idea it was going to be like this. If I had brought someone like Justin, I'm almost sure my dad would have been on his best behavior.

As soon as we left the restaurant, Badge seemed to know that I needed to cool off. He drove around town for a while, stopped to get us some food since we never got the chance to eat, and then ended up here. All in silence. We had to have only exchanged five words the entire time. I felt so bad for what my dad did, and embarrassed beyond measure.

"Badge..." I managed to say. "I...I'm so–"

"Don't." He interrupted. "It's okay."

I shook my head. "It's not okay. That was not okay." I disagreed. "I can't believe he would say something like that. Unashamed!"

He gave a nonchalant shrug. "So your dad's a dick." He stated. "I thought you sort of already knew that."

"I just...I don't know what I was expecting from him." I admitted, leaning further down into the seat. I wiped a small tear that had escaped out the corner of my eye, then took a slow and steady breath. "What are we doing here?" I asked, peering through the front window at the abandoned park in front us, illuminated by some spooky streetlights.

It took a moment for him to answer. "This is where your walls were first built because of your dad right?" He questioned.

"Yes." I said slowly. "I mean, I guess so. I don't know."

He reached for something behind his seat, and then placed a small red object in front of my face. "Then let me help you tear them down."

I looked at the ball that he was holding, and it took a lot of strength to not break down and cry. I remember telling Badge how my dad used to take us to this park and basically ignored me while he played with Clark and Katarina. Badge was right, this is where everything really started. When I first realized that there wasn't a special place for me in my dad's heart, and so it made me wonder if I was capable of being special to anyone.

I wiped away another tear. "Where'd you get the ball from?" A small smile.

"I told you I'm full of surprises." A small grin. "Come on." He nodded his head toward the park, before getting out of the car.

Despite the warmer afternoon, the night was a little chilly. It made me regret wearing nothing but shorts and a tank. The park was at the end of the neighborhood, isolated from all the houses, so not many people came here often. Especially now when kids don't even play outside much anymore. The park gave off this deserted and mistreated feel. Which was ridiculously close to how I was feeling right now.

"Hey, is it safe for us to be out here? All alone?" I asked after a moment as we were walking over to a clearing.

He smirked. "I make you nervous?"

"That's not what I meant." I half laughed.

"I know what you meant." He grinned. "We're safe."

"Why is that?" I pressed. "Did you...did you take care of it?" I lowered my voice even though we were the only ones around.

"That's a story of its own."