Two Birds; One Stone (Titans Dick Grayson Fanfiction)

Chapter Five

A scream lodged itself in my throat as my eyes snapped open and I flung myself out of the position I was lying in. A few tendrils from my braid were plastered to my face from sweat. Suddenly, arms wrapped around my middle, and I immediately started to struggle. All rational thought left as I tried to escape from whoever had me in their grasp. My chest constricted and my breaths were gasping through my body; the telltale signs of panic attacks that I haven't suffered from in years. Tremors shot through my entire body until I could barely move.

 It wasn't until the person started talking that I realized it wasn't an intruder. 

He whispered softly into my ear and his hand brushed over my head, and I sagged against his chest. I should have felt claustrophobic, but instead, I felt more at peace than I have in a long time. He was always so warm. A warmth that my body craved like a flower craving the sun for nourishment. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. 

 Slowly, my breathing returned to normal, and I turned around to see Dick staring at me intently. His brown eyes shining with a concern that I didn't deserve. "They've gotten worse," he stated after a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes. 

Instead of answering his unsaid question, I closed my eyes and leaned against the back of the couch. Scrubbing my hands against my face, I stared at him wearily. "You're not the only one who's broken, Grayson." 

Eventually, the tremors ceased and I finally had control over my body again. I opened my eyes and stared at the living room. I couldn't have been asleep for long. Maybe one or two hours. The room was shrouded in  darkness which made the moment I had with Dick feel that much more intimate. 

My mind went back to the times when we were right next to each other at Wayne Manor. I would wake him up with my screaming and he would just hold me until I got my emotions under control. Sometimes I would accidentally shock him, but he would take the pain just so he could comfort me. I think that was when I began to have feelings for him.

"Did I do this?" Dick's voice pierced through the silence. 

Confused, I cocked my head to the side and looked at him. His hair was messed up like he had been raking his hands through it, and his face held so much guilt that it made my heart hurt. It radiated off of him in waves, and it stole my breath from my body. "What makes you think that? Unless you are a clown in your spare time I don't think you are the cause of my nightmares."  

He chuckled slightly, but then sobered up. "We didn't exactly leave things on the best of terms, Sky. I said some things that I shouldn't have and I am truly sorry if I caused the nightmares to get worse. That was never my intention." 

Dick Grayson stunned me. I was convinced that he held no remorse for the things he said a year ago, but they might have been weighing on him just as much as they were weighing on me. Unfortunately, his actions still hurt me, but I was slowly on the way to forgiving him. "What's done is done, Grayson. We can't change the past, we can only move forward." 

He nodded once before enveloping me in a hug. Shocked, I just sat completely still like a deer in headlights before thawing out and returning the gesture. Immediately, his guilt slammed into my chest and left me breathless, but for some reason, I still have my doubts that his guilt was genuine. If he truly felt bad for what happened a year ago, then why has he never apologized before this point?

Another emotion shocked me though before I could think too much into that. Love. Dick Grayson was feeling such a large amount of love that I could feel it all the way into my bones. What did this mean? Was there really hope that we could ever become something more? Or I might be getting my hopes up for nothing, and all he sees me as is a friend.