"at some point you became the reason i breathe,
and since then every breath becomes another
reason why i love you."
in which her world starts again on her seventeenth birthday.
lowercase intended
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CELLA WORE A STOIC FACE as she handed a man her invitation to the mayor's ball on a silver plater, not missing the way he seemed to study her as if they were familiar.
she wasn't even sure why she was invited, she assumed it was on bruce's behalf, probably some excuse to make sure he was able to keep an eye on her, that or simply wanting her to be apart of society again.
having now been 20 she inherited all her parents wealth, which left her even more stressed because she wasn't sure what to do with it, and next to that she was still letting herself ignore dick and wally's pleas for her to see him.
she was sure dick was paying wally — that or he was just an amazing friend with nothing better to do, but even with their desperate words she still didn't see him, she didn't think she was ready to, she knew it wasn't fair to deny their meeting but her thoughts wanted her to be selfish, she knew the moment she came face to face with him she would lose all sense of herself, she feared the walls she had so carefully and meticulously put together would crumble the second she found herself in his prescese.
"do you dance?" a pale man asked her, gesturing to the swaying couples, he seemed to be around her age, maybe a bit older.
cella barely glanced over his features, "no." she replied simply, feeling somewhat relaxed as she had found something to still her powers for a few hours, greatful for the small pill as she knew she would have barely made it through the entrance without it.
"you don't seem to talk much." he remarked with a soft laugh, drinking his drink.
"i don't talk to strangers." she said cooly.
"i think we're a bit old for that line," he joked, waving over a woman that looked a lot like him, causing cella to roll her eyes and turn to walk away, "i should have introduced myself at first," he apologized, gaining her attention though she didn't stand directly with the pair.
"my name is george merry," he gestured to the woman next to him, "this is my sister kelly merry."
cella gave a polite nod, unaware of the single pair of eyes that watched her from across the room.
"we wanted to speak with you some other time on a buisness matter, our father owns merry enertainment and barlow mansion is a perfect home to add to our list of production locations." cella suddenly felt like she was put on the spotlight.
george waved his hands in front of himself, "i didn't mean to alarm you, you just fit the description of cella barlow and i -- we had to get a jump on meeting you." he coaxed having seen her expression.
"i hope my brother didn't cause harm, he only speaks business like our father," kelly explained, offering a warm smile, "your name has been floating around, i would have introduced myself first but george beat me to it and for that i apologize."
cella returned her friendly smile, shaking her head in dismissal, "its fine, i'm just trying to get back into things."
kelly fished in her purse for a second before pulling out a thin white card, pulling on her brother's arm as they began to dismiss themselves, "you call me whenever you feel ready," she assured, giving a smile full of teeth before pulling george away.
cella felt dizzy and hot all at once. she hadn't realized anyone would talk about her, she didn't believe anyone cared about her story or her situation at all and now that she knew her name had seemingly been around the room more times than she knew she became frustrated with herself for being so oblivious to something that had been in her face since she had arrived.
she didn't want to know what would happen to her quiet home if she allowed the merry's anywhere on the grounds, she feared others would see it as an invitation to want to meet with her, then she'd really have to start locking the gates and uping the dosage on her medication, she didn't know how many fears and emotions she could handle without them.
she started to move around the room, having been eyeing the finger food platers circling the party, now aware of the way people seemed to stare at her when she passed, they seemed to distract her from the drunk body of dick grayson, who's eyes hadn't stopped following her since he walked into the room.
cella's breath caught in her throat as a hand came over her mouth and she was pulled into a nearby bathroom, kicking the knee of the person with her heel.
"what the hell." she spat, spinning around to see dick clutching where she had kicked him as if she had hurt his favorite pet, "dick, what the hell was that for?" she questioned, not caring about the man's pain as he stood up to meet her eyes, pain still obvious on his features but cella didn't miss the heavy smell of alcohol on his breath.
"dick." she pleaded, becoming aware that the first time in three years she was now with him and he was drunk.
"i missed hearing you say my name." he whispered, his hand moving to hold hers but he found himself stopping midway, instead resting it on the counter next to them.
"you need to sober up." cella said, dismissing his words entirely, only annoying him more. "ill take you home, bruce doesn't need to see you like this."
"forget bruce." he said, stopping her as she was moving to leave, his hand over hers on the doorknob, their chests touching, even drunk dick didn't dare to look down at cella in her dress, but his mind wandered when he saw her look down at his lips. "we need to talk."
"you're drunk, dick." she said tiredly, eager to be out of the situation yet longing to be closer to him. "no productive conversation can be had with you smelling this way."
cella struggled to keep eye contact with him, she was becoming all too aware of her medicine wearing off, their breaths mixing, his hand on hers, she swore their bodies had moved closer together but neither of them commented on it. dick looked at cella like he needed her, and in his drunken state she feared it was true, she feared she couldn't be what he wanted -- the same cella from when they were seventeen, the one so in love with him she pushed him away and hated herself everyday because of it.
"let me come home with you." dick breathed out, his voice pleading but his gaze hard and locked on hers, making her feel small yet desired.
in that moment, as dick's words hung heavy in the air, cella felt an almost magnetic pull between them almost as if she could feel their hearts beat on the same beat, she knew it was her emotions talking now because she could feel her walls chipping away, she could hear them being broken down with a sledge hammer as she found herself agreeing, her head moving up and down as her voice came out softer than she expected, "okay."
