Nightwing Oneshots

Robin XXIX

⚠️PTSD | Slight Mention of Self Harm | Mention of Death | Mental Health Struggles | Implications of Suicide⚠️

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

I groaned softly, rolling over in my bed and feeling for my phone on the table next to me. When I found it, I slowly picked it up and lifted my head to squint at the bright screen. 

'Hey, Dick, can I vent?'

I closed my eyes, pursing my lips and feeling a heavy weight press down on my chest. Of course Barbara wanted to vent again. I always tried to say no, but she wouldn't listen no matter what I said. 

I slowly opened my eyes again, texted a quick 'go ahead babe' and settled in for a long night of comforting her.

***

"You need to break up with her, Dick," Artemis said, giving me a concerned look. 

I frowned, staring out the window of the coffee shop and keeping my cold hands on the cup of my hot coffee. "I don't know how to. She always guilt trips me into believing that she'll like... I dunno, kill herself or something if I leave her. I don't want it to be my fault."

"She barely even cares about you!" she exclaimed, poking my hands with her finger. "She only seems to care about you when it benefits her. To me it just sounds like she has something wrong with her head."

I looked at her, raising my eyebrows. She rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant, Dick. You've gotten help for it and you've learned how to meet your needs in a..." She paused, before saying hesitantly, "...Healthy way. Barbara just needs to take a break from relationships and seek some professional help, not ask her mentally unstable boyfriend-" she put the word in air quotations, "-for advice. And even if she did, for whatever reason, kill herself, it wouldn't be your fault. You're a person too, and she needs to realize that coming to you everytime something bad happens isn't good."

I rubbed my eyes. "Okay, you have a fair point. But what if I'm just-"

"You're not being a bad boyfriend," she said. "She's the one being the bad partner. She never asks how you are, or if it's okay for her to vent, and she ignores you every time you say that you can't handle her venting right then. Dick, get it through that thick skull of yours that this isn't a healthy relationship. You keep saying you're not happy being with her, so break up with her."

I took a sip of my coffee and ran my hands down my face. "You're right, you're right. I just... don't know how to. She always ignores me when I say something she doesn't like. And then when I try to say it again, she starts screaming and crying and..."

I stopped, pursing my lips for a brief moment before saying, "Can we talk about something else really quick?"

"Have you gone to the new flower shop down the road yet?" she asked, immediately understanding what I was hinting at. 

I shook my head and took another sip of my coffee, trying to focus on what she was talking about.

"Yeah, it's huge," she continued, her face lighting up in a smile. "And its color coordinated, so if you're looking for like, yellow roses, you just go to the yellow section and look for roses! It's super pretty and it smells amazing in there."

"Yeah, we should go there," I said numbly, beginning to dissociate and stare at my cup. "Flowers are nice."

She chuckled and stood up. "Okay, lets go then."

"...Now?" I asked, the feeling beginning to recede as I peeked up at her.

"Yes," she said. "You said that we should go there, so we're going there."

I stood up and followed her out of the coffee shop and towards the new flower shop that had just opened up last week. I could feel my panicky mode begin to fade and I tapped Artemis gently on the shoulder as we walked. 

She glanced over and I said, "Thanks."

She nodded. "Of course. I'm glad you said something, I probably wouldn't have caught on until it was too late."

I nodded. "I've been trying my best to avoid them when I can. I mean, I have them all the time now so it just gets exhausting having to deal with them when they can be avoided, y'know?"

"True, true," she mused. "From what you just said I'm gonna assume you still have them from... Wally?"

I frowned and took another sip of my coffee. "Yeah. It varies, though. Just depends on what the topic is."

She nodded. "Okay. Is it easier for you if I, like... ask you about it when it's happening? Or would you want me to keep doing what I did just barely and keep talking about something else?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I think it just depends on how bad it gets. If it gets to the point where I'm like, almost in the flashback and I'm seeing things, then I think you should probably ask if I'm okay or something. But other than that, what you just did was great. Thank you."

We walked into the flower shop and began looking around for flowers. We had to tell multiple workers there that we weren't a couple and that we were just friends, but lots of them looked like they didn't believe us.

"I swear if one more person asks if we're a couple I'm going to come out to them and say that I'm gay," I mumbled to Artemis, gently touching the petals of some flowers.

Artemis looked over at me with her eyebrows raised. "Oh, you're gay now?"

I rolled my eyes and moved along in the section that we were in. "No, not really. It's just easier to come out to strangers that way instead of explaining everything."

She chuckled, then stopped and gave me a serious look. "Wait, but what actually are you then? I mean, I know you like guys and stuff but like...?"

I turned away from her, pursing my lips and staring at some daisies. "Um, I don't know, actually. I don't feel like there's really a label that defines what I feel, if that makes sense."

She walked past me and purposely bumped me with her hip, almost making me fall over. "Mhm."

"You're such a b****." I muttered, kicking the back of her knee and making her leg collapse. "But I dunno, really. I mean, I feel like I don't really care about the gender of who I date but I don't really know what I'm attracted to. But I don't feel comfortable with being labeled as bi or pan or something like that. I'm just... me."

She hummed softly. "Yeah, that makes sense. So... you're unlabeled in a sense? Or have you just not found the right label for you?"

"These flowers are nice," I said absent-mindedly, lifting up the petals of some flowers I didn't know the name of. "But yeah, something like that. Maybe I just won't ever have a label. I kinda just wanna like who I wanna like and not have to be labeled for it."

She nodded, pulling the flowers out of the holder and looking at the price. "And I'm completely fine with that, Dick. I was just curious if there was a certain label you identified with, that's all."

She smirked at me. "I payed for the coffee, you're paying for the flowers."

I rolled my eyes, taking them from her hands and stepping on her foot as I walked towards the register. "Whatever."

(I can't get over this pair, I have such a huge headcannon that after Wally's death they just grew so close together because of the trauma and now they're besties and tell each other everything, I love them so much. It also reminds me of like a healthy brother/sister relationship, its great)

Don't forget to vote and comment! Constructive criticism is welcome!

-ziakalar