Barbara Dunkelman x Reader

Part 2

After sometime had passed since you were rescued from Margaret. You were sitting with Barbara, and your hands were laced with hers. Your head rested on her shoulder, and the two of you were watching the sunset. " Hey (y/n), I don't want to ruin the moment, but I had a kinda serious question," she says.

You ask her what it is, and she gives your hand a soft squeeze. " Are you going to press charges," she asks. " When we helped you get away from Margaret, they didn't have any evidence on her. If you don't press charges, then she'll go free."

" I don't know Barb," you tell her. " Like you said, there's no evidence. If we do press charges, she'll probably go free. And on top of that, I don't want to ruin her life."

She looks at you confused. " (y/n), she shouldn't go free. We have eye-witnesses. Me, Micheal, Lindsey. We all saw her beating you. She hurt you. Of course she should have to face the consequences for it."

When she says this, your heart starts racing. You remember all the beatings, and shudder when you think about what Margaret would try to do to you if you pressed charges. " Barb, it's fine," you say, trying to get her to drop the subject. " She only did it when she got angry, or if I did something wrong."

Barbara pulls you closer to her, and kisses you on the forehead. " It doesn't matter how angry she got," she says. " There's never an acceptable reason to hit your partner. And there's nothing you could have done to deserve it."

You sigh. " Please, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to press charges against her, so we can we please drop it?" Barbara looks at you confused.

" No," she says. A hint of anger creeps into her voice, startling you. " I'm not gonna drop it. I found my best friend being beaten by someone who should have loved and cherished him. You call me crying in the middle of the night because she scares you. (y/n)...she's hurt you. Her actions can't just go without consequences."

Her anger surprises you, and scares you. Barbara would never hurt you, but you said the same thing about Margaret. But still. " Barb, I'm sorry," you say. " But, I just don't want to press charges."

" Why?!" Her questions is phrased with anger, concern, and sadness. The outburst startles you, and you fight to avoid trembling. " There has to be some reason you're okay with her just being free, and just walking around, having gotten away with beating you."

At this point, you can't help but tremble. Her eyes soften instantly, and all her anger fades. " I'm sorry Babs," you tell her, your voice breaking. " It's just...I get why she hit me. I just...make people angry. I deserved it. You want to hit me right now, don't you? I just make people so angry."

- Her Pov-

Hearing (y/n) say this breaks my heart. I wrap my arms around him, and pull him into a hug. He starts to sob a little bit, and I rub his back. " No, I don't want to hit you," I tell him. " I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm not gonna let anyone do that to you again."

He keeps crying, so I rest my chin on his head. He loves it when I do this. (y/n) told me once that it makes him feel safe. He buries his head in my chest, but it's not sexual at all, he just goes for the warmth and comfort. " Focus on my heartbeat sweetheart," I tell him. " It's going to be all right. Just keep breathing. I'm not going anywhere."

Eventually, he manages to stop crying. I keep holding him, and placing kisses on his forehead. " If you don't want to press charges, I won't press the issue," I tell him. " But, I will tell you this. I need you to be really listening here okay?"

I feel him nod, so I continue. " No matter what she said, or did to you..made you want to believe...you didn't deserve to be hit. You're not responsible for any of that okay? She is. It isn't your fault."

" Thank you," he mutters. I can tell that he's blamed himself for what she did to him. Hearing me say that probably freed him of any misplaced guilt. " Thank you," he whispers again. I pull him closer to me.

" Your welcome." We hold the hug for awhile, before he lets go. His face is stained with tears, and I wipe them away with my sleeve. The two of us go back to watching the sunset together, and I reach for his hand. He takes it, and I squeeze reassuringly.

He rests his head on my shoulder again, which makes me smile. I sling an arm around him, and pull him as close to me as I can. " Hey Barb," he says. " I just...thank you. For everything. Being my friend. Saving me from Margaret. Loving me."

I smile, and pull him in for a kiss. " The first two were something I chose to do. Falling for you was out of my control," I tell him. " But, I'm glad it happened. I love you (y/n)."

Every time I say it to him, his face breaks out into smiling and joy. He absorbs it, and then says my favorite words. " I love you too Barbara."

( Shorter chapter, but I wasn't actually going to continue this. but, life is funny. I might work on this some more actually. Let me know what you all think.)