A MISSED ENGAGEMENT
Contains: being stood up, Bruce Wayne is a good dad, sibling banter, I think that’s it???
NOT PROOFREAD
PART 2
You glanced at your phone screen, 9:37.
You huffed, sliding your phone back in to your purse. He was supposed to be here over an hour ago—you quickly redid the math in your head—2 hours and 17 minutes ago. Maybe you shouldn’t have waited, you know he gets busy. You understand, of course you do. You knew what you were getting into when he told you about his nighttime activities.
Ducking your head in an attempt to avoid the waiter’s heavy stare. After the first hour had passed, he’d asked if you wanted to order but you turned him down—saying your date would be here soon. By the second hour you’d done all you could to shrink in your seat, not wanting to attract his pity or judgement.
You sigh again, heart heavy in your chest, as you stood and pushed in your chair. Sliding the strap of your purse onto your arm, you set two hundred-dollar bills on the table.
As you left the building you crossed your arms, cursing yourself internally as the wind bit into your skin. The sound of car alarms and shouting rang out in the distance. You wrapped your arms further around yourself as you took a deep breath—cursing yourself again as the acrid smog of Gotham filled your lungs.
You turned, deciding you should at least start heading home while the streets weren’t entirely empty.
Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad to be stood up if it wasn’t your anniversary. Three years. That’s a big one.
You looked up at the rooftops lining the street, hopefully he’s okay—wherever he is.
—
“She’s going to kill you.” Jason huffed, ignoring the heavy feeling in his chest at Dick’s words.
“She’s not going to kill me…yell maybe, kill no way. She likes me too much.” He grinned despite their current situation—all of the bats, minus Babs, were stuck in a laboratory a couple hours outside Gotham with impenetrable walls and a self destruct system in case anyone attempts to leave or enter the building.
“No way, she’d kill him! Especially after she finds out he was in danger.” Steph wiggles her eyebrows at him from across the room. Duke laughed from beside her.
“Yeah! She’ll just be worried.”
“Regardless of how she feels, he should at least get her flowers. It’s the least he could after standing her up for—what do you guys think? How long have we been here?” Dick piped up again.
“4 hours and 28 minutes.” Babs spoke into all of their comms.
“Yeah! Four and a half hours! I just hope she’s not still at the restaurant.” Jason groaned, dropping his head to his chest. Dick nudged him with his elbow, “Hey, she’s not gonna be mad forever. And there’s no way she stuck around the restaurant this long.”
“I’m surprised she stuck around you this long at all.”
“Robin.” Batman growled from the corner.
“What? We were all thinking it.” Jason shot him an unamused glare as he stood up. Ignoring the mixture of laughter and reassurances from his family, he spoke into his comms again.
“Any luck?”
“Not yet…but I’m close.” He could hear the clacking of computer keys from the other line. He sighed, shoving his hand into his pocket. Guess this is as good a time as any.
“I was going to ask her to marry me.” He pulled a small box from his pocket.
“Tonight?” Tim.
“Babs, you gotta get this door open.” Dick.
“You have terrible timing.” Cass.
“Maybe this is the universe’s way of telling you not to because she’s way too good for you.” Damian.
“Your luck is terrible…but we knew this already…because you died.” Tim again.
“This is great news!” Steph.
“Congrats, man!” Duke.
Everyone spoke up at once, except for Batman. Jason could feel his pulse begin to rise, as much as he didn’t want to—he craves Bruce’s opinion, his acceptance. He turned to him. It was quiet for a moment as the sound of his siblings’ chatter was drowned out by his racing heart.
“I’m proud of you, son. She’s good for you.” Jason exhaled quickly as Batman wrapped his arms around him—hugging him. He hesitated, hands hovering above his back before slowly settling on it.
It was brief, as they both quickly pulled away—but it was enough. He approves. Jason couldn’t help the small smile that formed behind his mask.
Coughing, he put a few feet of distance between him and the Bat before speaking.
“I was going to do it tonight but,” he gestured around the room, “for obvious reasons, that’s not happening.”
“Don’t fret man, O will get up out of here in no time.” Dick popped up behind him and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Right?”
“I’m almost there. Just a few more minutes guys, hang tight.” With that she went radio silent again.
“It’s our anniversary. It was supposed to be tonight. It’ll be too late by the time we get out of here, so it’s useless anyways.”
“It’s not useless, she’ll understand. It’s not like it’s your fault we got stuck in here.”
He scoffed, “Yeah but I shouldn’t have been on patrol at all tonight. I knew what today was but I still went out.” He sighed, sitting down on the table behind him. “You should’ve seen her, she was so excited this morning. Kept texting me too, ‘bout how much she was looking forward to tonight.”
“She’ll understand. There’s no way she’d say no.”
“There’s several ways she could say no. She knows at least 3 languages.”
“Not helping, Damian.” He just tsked and turned back to his phone.
Dick went to reassure Jason but was cut off by the doors to the lab clicking open.
“You’ve got 1 minute before the doors seal again.” With Barbara’s words, they all rushed for the exit—Jason moved the quickest.
—
You woke up to an empty bed. Huffing out a sigh as you slung an arm over your face, attempting to block the offensive sunlight streaming through the gaps in your curtain.
You stayed like that for several moments before your stomach growled—urging you to get up and eat.
You padded softly to the kitchen, deciding you’d brush your teeth after breakfast. Humming quietly as you made up a batch of pancakes, you sipped on a glass of the juice Jay had bought from the store just for you. You frowned as you checked your phone. No response.
You’d sent him 57 text messages and left 17 voicemails. You winced at the number—clingy much?
You shook that thought from your head. Of course you’d reach out after he stood you up, especially with how he chooses to spend his nights. Even more reasonable because he hadn’t explained his absence.
You ate your pancakes quietly as your stress continued to rise. Glancing at your phone every 30 seconds—waiting for a message you knew you wouldn’t get. Dick was more likely to message you than Jason was. Despite your insistence that you worry, Jason would rather apologize in person than over the phone.
After rinsing your plate in the sink and setting it out to dry, you decided to get dressed. You were still in your dress from last night, makeup smeared, hair knotted. You’d fallen asleep waiting for Jason to come back, but he never did.
You stared at yourself in the mirror, mascara streaked down your cheeks from all the crying you did last night—worried for Jason, angry at him, then worried again. You just wanted him to be safe.
You were interrupted from your contemplation by three harsh knocks on the door. Spitting out the toothpaste in your mouth, you rushed to open it—paying no mind to your current state. It didn’t matter though, when you opened the door to see Jason standing on the other side—wearing his usual jeans, tshirt and leather jacket combo, with a bandage going across his nose and a bouquet of flowers in his hands—any care for how you looked left your mind.
“Jason.” He said your name softly back to you, hesitantly. You jumped towards him, arms wrapping around his neck.
“You scared me. I thought you were—that something had happened…text me next time.”
“I should’ve called.”
“Yes you should’ve.” You pulled back slightly, his arms tightening around your waist. “But you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I just got caught up with something.” He was breathing heavy, eyes locked onto yours. “I’m sorry.”
You were looking at him still, hands wrapped around his arms. Staring up at him, almost reverently. You always looked at him like that. He felt his nerves settle a bit—you still looked at him the same way.
“I’m so sorry.” He repeated, hands squeezing your hips.
“I know.” You nodded, accepting his apology.
“You deserve better.” You smiled at him, not agreeing, not disagreeing either. “You could do better.”
“I want you. I love you. I knew what I was getting into when we started this.” You rubbed your hands up and down his arms soothingly, feeling him relax beneath your touch.
“I love you too.” His voice was quiet when he spoke, but firm. Steady. You smiled at him.
“Where were you?”
He huffed out a laugh, pulling away for the first time since you opened the door. “Got stuck in a lab. It was gonna blow up if we tried to open a door. Didn’t wanna risk that happening again.”
You swatted his chest, “Don’t even joke, mister.”
He mock-saluted you, a grin covering his face, “Yes ma’am.” You sighed, settling back into his hold.
You knew he’d want to talk again later, make sure you really were okay with him missing your date. But for now, it was enough that he was here. He was home. He was safe.
Should I make a part 2?
Yes!!!!
No :(
Let me know if you want to be tagged if I make a part 2!!!!
EDIT: Taglist is closed because part 2 is already posted :)
PART 2
