"If only they could see you like I do... then they would see a stranger too"
- Hilary Duff
<Jason's>
"What's up with you?" Roy questions as I glare at him.
"You know what you did." I retort as I down a glass of water, which is about the only thing I have downed since last night. I don't want a repeat of last night. I doubt she does either.
Roy breaks into a smile. "I didn't know you two were together." He says nudging me. "Congrats!"
"We aren't." I defend before adding, "She is going through some crap and the last thing she needs is some player messing with her feelings." Especially when her father's been messing around in her head too.
"Then why is she dancing with that guy?" He questions, his eyes glancing to the center of the room.
My eyes snap to find her in the body of masses, only to find her dancing very closely with a tall, tan blond.
"That's Harry Pennington." Dick says coming up beside me. "Don't worry, he is harmless. Barbara probably introduced them; he went to our high school." He supplies before adding, "He is a bit of a brag, though and also a playboy, but who isn't in Gotham?"
"Time to go." Roy says patting my shoulder before going to visit with some of the other guests. My eyes, however, are still on the dance floor with Hazel.
Dick stand beside me for what feels like forever as we watch the two dance, Hazel's eyes shining with discomfort as she tries to distance herself from this 'Harry' guy.
I almost move to get her away from him before I stop myself. Me stomping over there will only make matter worse for her; I need to distance myself from her.
"I've changed her." I say, my eyes not leaving her figure as I put my hand in my pocket. Dick doesn't say anything, he just lets me continue with, "She is stressed out, and emotionally drained, and I keep leaving her alone because I don't know how to deal with it even though I know she hates being alone. Dick, I got drunk and ended up in her room, so drunk that all I remember is telling her she is beautiful and then passing out." I pause for a moment, thinking he is going to make fun of me, but to my surprise he doesn't. "I'm only making everything worse for her. The closer I get, the easier it is for me to hurt her."
Dick doesn't speak for a while, long enough for us to watch Harry say something stupid and for Hazel to stomp on his foot, causing a small smile to edge into my face. Her face turned red as she did so, turning around at a speed that would make Wally jealous.
"You are in love with her."Dick says so suddenly that I almost jumped. He said it as if he were worried to would upset me. And it did. Just not in the way that he thought.
He thought I would turn red and threaten him, but I only let out a humorless laugh and turn my gaze to the floor before looking at him. "Impossible, Dickie-Bird. Besides, love is overrated."
It's not. I, Jason Todd, the same Jason Todd that reads classic literature as a hobby, know it's not. But it is in this situation. Love isn't going to help her right now, and me loving her sure isn't either. It's only going to come back and hurt her.
Dick only shakes his head before saying, "Wait who is that?"
My eyes snap back to Hazel as another person pulls her back to the dance floor.
"You don't know who that is?" I ask him in confusion. "It's not someone you and Barbara know?"
"No."
YOU ARE READING
dove in the darkness ⋘ jason todd ⋙
Fanfiction"Hazel." "What?" "My name." I swallowed hesitantly, afraid to shatter the silence between us anymore than I already had, "It's Hazel." The silence of the night made it seem as if someone breathing too loud could make the silence shatter into a milli...
