Always Traught

Broken Promises

She had grown familiar to the empty side of the booth across from her. It usually lead to a too big bed, too many blankets, and anger. It lead to her asking the waitress for the check and apologizing for wasting her time. It definitely lead to receiving glances of second hand sorrow from other customers. She was more than sick of it. It was embarrassing and hurt her more than she could admit. He made a promise, and had broken it all too soon.

Artemis looked up at the clock that was across the room and sighed. She had been in the diner for nearly two hours now. It was almost eleven. She had gone through more than a couple of milkshakes and fries. It was as if she ate her heart out. That's what she wanted to do anyway. Dick had ditched her ... Again. He had done it so many times that she had lost count. What was it? The sixth time?

Dick told her that he would make it up to her. Artemis understood that work came first. She had to leave him hanging on a few dates in the past, too. But the amount of times he left her was ridiculous. Patrol was different than a mission. They scheduled their dates on the one day he wasn't supposed to patrol. He would ditch them, spend all night busting down criminal joints, and she would sleep alone. During the day, Dick took an extra shift too. Artemis would clean up, take care of bills, and friends/family all by herself. Most of the time she took care of the team, too.

"Miss," The waitress' voice pulled the archer out of her thoughts, "We're closing in a few minutes." The worker looked at the blonde with pity. Artemis hated nothing more than pitiful looks directed at her.

"Okay, I'll just pay up front," Artemis put on a fake smile.

"No, it's on the house tonight. The staff and I just want you to get home safely," The waitress gave her a comforting smile before she turned back around to tend to other customers. The archer placed her head in her hands when she was gone. She could feel her lip quivering. She was so pathetic.

Artemis was up later than usual. When Dick was home, she was the one to get up first and the one to go to sleep last. She did anything to distract herself. She studied, she watched TV, showered, did homework, looked at pictures, had a glass of wine, even brushed her teeth two more times than recommend. Eventually she put on her pajamas. She didn't bother to wear one of his shirts that night.

She looked up from her textbook when she heard the window squeak open. She saw the former Boy Wonder kneeling down to slide the pane up. When he slid through it, Dick didn't seem to notice her on the bed. He was smirking to himself, clearly pleased on the justice he had served that night. She was sure the Blüdhaven police department was too.

"Had a good patrol?" She said in a all-too cheery tone.

"It was great! I busted a gang leader, a few drug rings, a bank robbery, and-," Dick stopped talking when he turned around. She was pissed. Her knuckles were white from how hard she gripped her textbook and her eyes were full of fury. "You're mad."

"I'm pissed, aggravated, and hurt. Not that you would gave a fuck!" She yelled the last sentence, "Not that you have ever give a fuck!"

"What are you talking about?" He raised an eyebrow at her. Dick took a couple of steps towards the bed. His hands were up as a form a surrender. It was stupid to piss off a trained assassin, including his girlfriend.

"What am I talking about!? Are you kidding me!? You ditched me again! You made a fool out of me again! I've been sleeping in a bed alone for the past week! You hurt me again!" She kneeled up and threw her book against the mattress. Dick flinched.

"Artemis, I would never do anything to hurt you. I promised I would never hurt you," He reached up and removed his mask. He wanted to her to see his eyes. He wanted to be forgiven. Artemis had enough of forgiving and forgetting.

"Cause you wanted to protect me from all the other disgusting men out in the word!? Trust me, all my other ex's were ten times more of the boyfriend you ever were!" Dick's eyes went wide and his fingers curled up into a loose fist. Artemis was the complete opposite. Her whole body was tensed. She was shaking as she tried to control herself from crying and smacking him. Part of her yearned to reach out to him. Part of her wanted to tell him that she constantly worried about him, to tell him to try to make time for her. But this stemmed way past worry at this point. She wanted him to stop hurting her, making a fool out of her, and to get out of her life. More than half of her hated him, and the only person she ever hated was her father.

"Artemis, what are you saying? God, Mai, I promise I try! I promise that I would never hurt you!" This made her more aggravated. He looked like he was about to cry. He had no right to. He didn't give a fuck about how she felt. He hadn't told her that he loved her in more than a two weeks.They hadn't gotten intimate in god knows how long. Artemis cursed herself for being so stupid. Why didn't she leave him sooner?

"I'm over you," Artemis snapped at him, "I'm over every single part of you! I'm over your lies, anything that you have to say, and I'm over you making a fool out of me. I'm tired of you thinking I'm going to stay. I'm an idiot to even trying to keep whatever love I thought we had! You've never loved me!" Artemis was crying now. Tears streamed down her face harder than she thought was possible. She hadn't cried since she was ten. She fell hard for Dick Grayson. Now it felt like all her bones were broken. Artemis truly hated him.

"Don't do this, Art-

-Just get out of my home! God, I hate you! I hate everything about you!" She screamed at the hero. Dick swallowed the tears that were building up. His eyes were glossier than hers. His face looked broken and unnatural. He slowly stood up, eyes never leaving her. "Just go," Artemis whispered as he stalled. She sat back down against the bed and brought her knees to her chest. She hugged herself tightly, feeling like she would unravel if she didn't.

When he reached the window, the acrobat choked on the sob. Artemis couldn't look at him. She would lose all sanity if she did. That part of her from earlier would win and would take him back in heartbeat if she even glanced at him.

"Mai, I love you. I love you more than anything, and I promise I'll make it up to you." When he left, Artemis laid down against the mattress they used to share just a few moments ago. She held herself in fetal position and cried into her knees. She felt more broken than ever. That part of her wished Dick could keep that promise, but he had broken so many before.

A/N: While I was writing this, all I could think about was that 3LW song lol. Sorry chapters are slow. I have state testing going on, projects, and graduation coming up. All while battling for my health, cause my immune system is nonexistent lol. I have no life anymore. Yeet. Thank you guys so much for 1k reads :)