Hanging with Sorrow

Chapter 10

     Raven paced the floor, muttering. What would she say? She had never done this before, and she was extremely nervous.

     She had been thinking earlier about Bruce asking her to help Damian, and she had finally come up with a way to cheer him up.

     She went to his door and knocked repeatedly. They were still at Wayne manor because Dick was still recovering. As soon as he could leave, the would probably go back to the tower.

She kept knocking until Damian answered the door. It was only seven, but he was already in his pjs. Bruce had banned him from all Robin duties for a month. But Damian knew that he deserved it... and when he first tried to argue, Bruce threatened to get him a therapist. It was an empty threat, but Damian didn't have to know that. It shut him right up.

Damian glared at Raven. Although on the inside, his heart fluttered. But he didn't let his face betray him.

"What do you want?"

"Go get changed. We're going somewhere."

Damian's heart fluttered again. Was this Raven's way of asking him out?

"Where?" He asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

"Out." Raven replied, just as nonchalant. Two could play at that game. "Go get changed." Damian pretended to be irritated, but in reality he was super excited. As soon as he closed the door behind him, he giddily smiled and raced to get changed.

       Getting dressed in jeans and a long sleeved black shirt, he met Raven outside of her doorway. She threw his motorcycle keys at him, and with swift reflexes, he caught them.

They walked down to the garage together. As they put helmets on, (safety first) Damian thought back to the last time he had been in a garage as he and Raven got onto the bike. He and Dick had had that argument, and it had led to his... injury. Damian shuddered, and Raven knew exactly what he was think about, she knew him so well. She put her arms around his waist in a reassuring gesture. That, and she did not want to fall off. Raven blushed at how bold of a move that was, and Damian was also blushing at the close proximity of the two.

"Hold on tight!" Damian said, going fast out the garage into town. Raven nodded, then feeling slightly stupid because Damian couldn't see her.

"Ok!" Raven yelled over the wind. Damian smirked. Raven was so close to him, he could feel that her first response had been a nod instead of a verbal response. But since they were going somewhere, he decided to be nice and not make a snarky comment.

Realizing that he had no clue where he was heading, Damian slowed down a little so he could speak over the wind without yelling.

"Where do I go?"

"Just follow my directions." And so he did. When Raven said left, he went left. Right, right. They made a very good team.

They finally arrived at the place that Raven had been directing him to. It was a quaint cafe, and it wasn't too busy. Damian wouldn't have to worry about anyone recognizing him, or anybody who would care if they did recognize him, because the cafe was filled mostly with elderly people at this hour. It didn't look like the type of place that teens or young adults would hang at.

     They hopped off the motorcycle and hung their helmets on the bike. As they started walking up, Damian looked over at Raven and tentatively slid his hand in hers. She looked up in surprise, but smiled and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. They walked into the cafe, hand in hand.

When the door opened, a pleasant bell tinkled to announce their arrival. A pretty lady walked out from the back. She had gorgeous long black hair, that went almost halfway down her back, but it was braided to keep out of her way. She had dark eyes and an angular face, but she had a friendly smile. She looked to be in her twenties, which was way younger than anybody in the cafe except for Raven and Damian. She smiled brightly at Raven.