𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐘 ― d. grayson ¹

⤿ twenty-five

Dianna pushed a bit away, tilting her head to look back into his face. She shook her head, biting back her lip. Her doe eyes glistened with held back tears, which threatened to spill as she spoke. "Don't know. Don't care."

"But―" He held those words back, allowing them to get lost in the air. Dianna was right, they should not care how she had made it back with the living. What mattered was that she did. He would not waste any of their time together with those questions, it would only steal away the contentment.

In a blink, the girl had stepped away from him, flashing one of the brightest smiles he remembered seeing. She looked gleeful to be back. He tried to reach out to her one more time, the thought of her walking away and never coming back passed his mind. But she was still there, standing with all the vitality in the world. Her eyes moved to the left, urging him to do the same. That flashy smile twisted into a knowing grin.

He caught sight of a jittery Artemisia Robin. She was making her way back from Zach, arms extending as a warning of her following movements. Sooner than he anticipated, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his neck. "Dick!" She breathed over his shoulder, her breath causing something strange to his skin. Was it goosebumps?

Dick shook it off. He was still sensitive from his unexpected reunion. Hell, he even wanted to glance in Dianna's direction just to make sure she had not evaporated.

A slight tremble under his grip annihilated that need. It took him by surprise. He pushed her away, maybe a bit too harsh ( he guessed so by the pained expression on her face ), both of his hands rested on her shoulders, scanning her face. "Are you okay?" He suddenly remembered the entire deal. The cause of Dianna's comeback. "Is Rachel okay?"

"We're fine." Artemisia Robin's fingers curled around his wrist, offering a gentle squeeze to reassure her statement. Her head tilted to a side, lips tugging into a shy smile. "If anything, better. I feel like I could punch a hole in the sky."

Dick chuckled. Like, actually chuckled. It reverberated through his ribcage like it hadn't done in a long time. No one had made him laugh like this. Even with a silly comment like hers. At the thought, he looked down with a ghost of shame. This was so unlike him. It was as though seeing Dianna again had unlocked a part of him that enjoyed life.

"What's stopping you?" He asked after a while, daring to peak through his timid angle.

She frowned and wheeled her eyes dramatically, suggesting the answer was obvious. Nonetheless, she responded to his, apparently, stupid question. "My inability to fly."

"Right," he let out another chuckle, more airy this time. Robin imitated his emotion, reaching with her free hand for his other wrist, holding them both with care. He stared at her for a few more seconds, his posture straightening as he gained confidence by just looking at her eyes. "There had to be one thing you couldn't do."

Artemisia's face finally broke into a beaming smile, shattering those barriers that held her back. He had been wrong before. When he said Dianna's smile was the brightest he had ever seen. Back then, he had only focused on the relived girl, but now that he had been freed from his worry, he saw the truth. It had tagged along with him for weeks, uninvited at first.

Dick had started to smile back, easing into her touch and the moment. But then her smile had faltered for a second, her grip on his wrist dropping. A flash of embarrassment tinted her dark eyes as she took a step back from him, peeling away her warmth. His chest was begging him to move forward, have her back with him.

The job was done by an external force. More confident than the two adults. A growing teenager that forced them back together by linking her arms around them both. As her pale arm touched his back, Dick saw things in slow motion, each detail imprinting into his brain.