"Safe and Sound"
Taylor Swift ft The Civil Wars
~~~
~ Wally's POV ~
It had taken a bit of coaxing, but eventually, Aria and I were nestled in her bed together, the lights out and the nothing but the sound of the light pouring rain outside as our company. We were quiet for the most part, aside from the occasional hiccuping in between each of Aria's tiny sobs. She'd been like this since we'd gotten into her room. As soon as I had closed her bedroom door, Aria had fled from my arms and retreated to her mattress pillows.
"Shhh, you're safe, babe. I promise," I murmured in her ear gently, holding her close to me as she sniffled into her pillow. She looked up at me just the teeniest bit and smiled a little.
"I love you, Wally." She whispered hoarsely. I smiled lovingly at her and kissed her forehead as she cuddled closer to me. She didn't tilt her head up to kiss me like usual, though I couldn't blame her. Not after what Blake has done tonight.
"I'm sorry that asshole did that to you..." I found myself saying quietly as a light roll of thunder sounded outside, causing Aria to hide her face in my chest. I ran my fingers through her long black hair in an attempt to calm her.
"From now on, I'll always be here for you. I won't leave your side." I promised to her, holding her closer and kissing her hair as she looked into my eyes shakily. Stupid thunderstorm, I thought in irritation, don't you know that you're making my babygirl even more upset? If I could I would totally beat up the thunderstorm just to make my babygirl smile again...
"Thank you... for being here. And for loving me the way you do," Aria suddenly murmurs softly, sitting up and rubbing at the streams of tears that streaked her cheeks. I sat up as well, giving her an Eskimo kiss.
"Of course, angel," I whispered, "I'll always be here for you, now and forever. I'd do anything for you." I swore, my heart pounding in my ears as we shared this intimate moment together.
"...do you think my brother is mad at me..?" She whimpered softly, crawling into my lap and resting her head on my shoulder. I looked up at the ceiling, my hands tracing circles into Aria's back as I thought about how Dick had tried to scold Aria before we left the crime scene.
"Nah," I said softly, looking back at Aria after a moment, "Dick is just worried about you. You're his little sister, aside from Addison, and he's just trying to look out for you," I paused for a moment to intertwine my fingers with hers delicately. She let my answer soak in for a few moments more before she smiled a little and cuddled against my chest. I love when we sit like this... in silence with nothing but each other.
"I guess I'm really stupid, huh..?" She murmured darkly, looking down at our intertwined fingers. I frowned in concern.
"What..? You're not stupid, babygirl, who called you that? I'll beat them up," I swore, pressing our foreheads together so that our eyes met.
Aria giggled and pulled away, getting out of my lap and walking over to the window. A faint flash of lightning lit up her side profile from the window as I approached her. She looked so small and fragile in this light... it hurt to see her at her lowest moments like this... I pulled her into a gentle hug as she broke into a fit of tears.
"I'm so stupid..." she whimpered, "I should've never left to go to that party in the first place... maybe Dick's right.... Maybe I am irresponsible..." she trembled in my arms as she began to sob into my chest.
"Hey,..." I murmured, brushing her hair out of her face, and tilting her head up so that I could meet her eyes, "You're not stupid, stop calling yourself that. This isn't your fault. It's Blake's." I told her passionately, kissing her hands and pulling her close as she flung her arms around me.
"But it is my fault!! I wore that stupid outfit and I just-!" She cuts herself off with a loud hiccup and I lead her over to the mattress once more where we sit on the edge in unison.
"Babygirl, hush... what happened to you tonight could've happened any other night. It's completely normal, even though it makes me sick to think that a person like Blake would pull a move so shitty on any girl. Especially my girl," I glared at the floor, imagining how good it had felt to punch him in the jaw for trying to rape Aria. She blushed softly and hid her face and I smirked gently, raising her head.
"What? What did I say?" I chuckled as she giggled and hid her face again.
"You called me 'your girl'," she breathed gently, pressing a hand to her chest, as though to still her racing heart. I laughed gently and we laid down together once more.
"Well, yeah! You are my girl, so why wouldn't I call you that?" I chuckled softly. Aria smiles softly at me and shakes her head in amusement as she puts a hand to my cheek and kisses my lips gently.
"I love you, Wally Rudolph West," she whispers as we press our foreheads together gently.
"I love you, Aria Michelle Grayson, and I always will," I whisper back, holding her hand to my cheek gently as we close our eyes contentedly.
****
~ Jared's POV ~
Acacia trembles as I hold her crying form closer to me.
"Man, that little bastard is so dead. I hope the cops have him locked up already, because if not, I'll sure as hell kill him myself. Because not only did that creep hurt my girlfriend, but he hurt my baby," I was in the middle of venting so I didn't realize that Acacia was actually sobbing until I felt her hiccuping.
"Hey, are you alright, love?" I suddenly asked her, snapping out of my angry ranting. She always had this effect on me. I'd get so angry, and somehow... well, somehow being around her would calm me down.
****
~ Nightwing's POV ~
It had taken forever for me to finally finish up with filing the reports about Blake's incident with my sister, but eventually I'd gotten everything filed appropriately. After placing the files on the chief's desk as ordered, I grabbed my things and headed out. My head was throbbing from tonight's events and I couldn't wait to get back to the hideout for once.
*
I was greeted by Deanne waiting in the main room, flipping through the tv channels while occasionally stifling a few yawns here and there. I smirked softly as I quietly approached her from behind. She never changes, it's always so easy to catch her off guard, I affectionately thought as I crept closer.
"Not gonna work this time, sneaky~" Deanne's voice threw me off and I let out a soft cackle as I gave up and walked around the couch before sitting beside her.
"Aww, I guess tonight really did wear me out? I'm usually able to sneak up on you undetected," I chuckled softly, relaxing against the couch cushions as De snuggled closer to me.
"Oh, well if you're too tired we could just go to bed instead of playing with your handcuffs~" she giggled, playfully running a hand over my chest. I smirked at her coy statement and grabbed her hand before she could trail it any lower.
"Didn't say I was that tired, did I?" I replied mischievously, pulling her into my lap and kissing her neck gently. She laughed softly and pulled away, her lips claiming mine. Suddenly a clap of thunder sounds outside and Deanne yelps in surprise, nearly falling out of my lap and I chuckle in amusement.
"Maybe we should just go to sleep instead~" I offered gently and she nodded after a few moments.
~TBC~
