A quick reminder on Tim and Adelaide's friends:
Jake: Tim's best friend and the moral, kind voice of the group.
Aiden: Bambi's boyfriend, quiet and chill.
Bambi: Adelaide's best friend, Aiden's girlfriend, energetic and loud.
Brett: The idiot. Friends with everyone.
Milan: The third girl, worships Adelaide, prioritises popularity, dating Lucas.
Lucas: Crushing on Adelaide, dating Milan to get close to her, kind of a joker.

∞

Sometimes no matter how far you were
I'd find myself trying to catch up
But now I'm
I'm frozen
Still holding on for dear life
To stop myself from
From running towards him
A falling for the thousandth time
∞

It reminds me of the old days. Tim is laying on his back, propped up slightly by the pillows against the headboard. I'm the same, but instead of the pillows I'm propped up against him. 

Happily, I'm nestled in the gap between his arm and torso. His right hand is a welcomed comfort, gripping my upper arm. It feels like he's keeping me grounded.

"What should I say?" He begins. I can't see his face, but I know he's wearing a reluctant expression. We're composing his break-up text to McKenzie.

I debate with myself on what to say. I've been there. I remember getting that text. I remember losing control of my powers and sinking into the floor, breaking my heart and phone in the process.

"Be gentle," I say decidedly.

He shuffles, likes he's looking down at the top of my head, "I didn't expect you to say that."

"Neither did I." I glance at the hand on my arm. "But I've been there before. Be nice to her, because she's getting the...um, is it 'short end of the stick'?"

Usually he'd give a soft chuckle and a straight answer, when it comes to my confusion over English terms. There's no laugh this time.

"Yeah, that's right."

After that, the only sound in the room is the soft clicking of Tim typing away on his phone. I stare at the dainty little pasties Alfred had brought up, as well as two glasses of juice.

I sit up, allowing Tim to type with two hands. I climb off of the bed and walk towards his desk, which by the why is quite a walk because of the vastness of his room.

Skipping the pasties I grab the juice and take a sip. Mango and orange, my known favourite. It makes me smile that Alfred remembered.

"You should try one of Alfred's pasties. They're amazing," Tim comments. I pretend not to hear him, because I can understand the tone behind it.

He has noticed. Of course he has. I never eat anything at school.

"Read to me," I say, approaching the bed. He sits up with a sigh.

"I'm sorry that I won't be able to say this to your face. It's a weakness on my part, I know. I'm sorry, but I can't do this relationship with you anymore. It's not fair to you that my heart isn't in it, because it's with someone else. You're an amazing person with strong morals and intelligence. I hope that you find someone who makes you happy."

I nod slowly as I listen. When he finishes he spends a few seconds staring at the screen, before looking up at me for the verdict.

"Apology, reason, it's not you it's me, compliment, good wishes. That's about all you can do. It's good," I smile. He doesn't return it.

Tim is a good person. He's so pure and sweet and I know this will do nothing but kill him for the next month.

Instead of telling him to do it, I move behind him to sit on the bed. His fingers tap gently around the edge of the phone like he's afraid to send it.

Without a word I reach around him. He doesn't flinch as I hover over the send button. I give him the chance to say no and he doesn't, so I press it and the message sends.

I lean in and kiss his hair, moving to stand up again. I need to get started on my homework, beginning with Biological Science.

"Adelaide."

He must be following me to his desk, because he sounds closer. I turn around and blink at him curiously when I find him standing there. Unsettlingly, he walks with no noise.

"What is it?" I ask.

His expression shifts from blank, to an almost coy smile.

"It's just...I haven't asked you yet."

It takes a moment for me to put two and two together and understand what he means. He hasn't asked me yet, he's right. We just fit together so well that I just assumed.

"Oh," I return the smile, clasping my fingers in front of my skirt. "No, you haven't."

It's a perfect few seconds as he edges towards me. I expect him to grab my hands or something like that. Instead he bypasses that and reaches out with one hand to fix a few strands of hair, messed up from laying down.

All I can really do is stare at him in anticipation as he leans in towards me. I try to fight down a shiver and the urge to kiss him as he leans in to whisper in my ear.

"Will you..."

Yes. 

"...Help me with my chemistry homework?"

I draw back and whack him in the arm as he laughs. I can't help but giggle too, shaking my head. He's such a dork. A perfect dork.

"Knock knock," the onomatopoeia comes from the bedroom door. There's a rule that the door must stay open when we're both in here. I have the same at home.

Tim and I turn around to see Bruce Wayne standing there, looking uncomfortable having interrupted.

"Sorry to intrude, you two," he says sheepishly, "It's nice to see you, Miss Jackson." 

Tim sniggers softly beside me, set on humming the tune to the song Bambi loves to scream when people call me that. I elbow him.

"Same to you, Mr Wayne," I respond. I know why he's here though. He needs Tim so I have to go home.

"Bruce, please," he tells me. I just smile and nod before moving towards my stuff at the foot of Tim's bed. "I'm sorry to do this, but I need Tim right now."

"No no, it's okay," I say politely, as I pick my stuff up. "I should be getting home anyway."

"Of course. Alfred will take you home," Bruce says, before turning his attention to Tim. "Soon as you can Tim," he says lightly. Almost too lightly, like he's hiding something.

I reach for my backpack after getting my blazer on, but Tim beats me to it, swinging it onto his back. He smirks charmingly and I roll my eyes.

As I start towards the door, he reaches out and catches my arm.

"Hey," I turn around to look at him. He's smiling warmly. "Will you be my girlfriend again?"

The two of us end up staring, lost in each other like dorks. 

"Of course I will."

Perfect. 

"Gotham's power couple is back at it again!" Bambi screeches the next day, when Tim and I meet with a hug. We've just finished ballet and he and Jake have finished Mathletes.

The people around us all turn to stare, either surprised or indifferent towards the outcome. I flick Bambi in the forehead and she winces, rubbing the spot as Aiden comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist.

Honestly, they're almost a perfect couple.

Making a big deal out of Tim and I is a trend that continues into the first class of the day; physics. Myself, Tim, Aiden, Bambi and Brett are all in one row in the centre of the class.

Lucas is absent, which is curious.

Bambi being Bambi is discussing the new coupling with our teacher, Miss Dalmida, who is young and therefore easy for us to get along with. She and Bambi, occasionally Brett as well spend half the class talking and joking about the relationships in our year group.

Normally I'd tell them to stop, and they would, but I'm happy to sit here and soak it up. If only McKenzie were in this class.

After that, we have to separate with the others going off to separate classes. I know Tim has Business. Brett, Bambi and I head off to art.

Whilst we're sitting there, drawing on our graphic art tablets, I can feel them staring me down. I pretend not to notice and continue to work on my project.

We have to draw a character based off of our star signs. Mine is Scorpio, so I'm creating a wicked looking Queen with a scorpion crown.

"So, Brett," Bambi starts off

"Yes, my friend?" Brett responds fakely.

"Did you notice a little skip in Timmy-boy's steps today?"

"Why yes Bambi, I did."

"And did you notice the absence of something as well?"

"I noticed the absence of a someone. How about you?"

"Why yes, I did. Adelaide? Did you notice who was missing today?"

Their gazes turn on me again. My eyes flicker up at them for a mere second, holding a death stare, before I look back down to the stylus in my hand.

"Really? Nothing?" Bambi complains, dropping the act.

"Amber, that's enough chatter," Mrs Marsh calls out from the front of the room. Bambi shudders at the use of her real name.

"Yes, Lucas is away today. Does that have anything to do with Tim and I? No. The end," I say, continuing to colour in the scorpion with different grey and black shades.

"I bet he's lying in bed nursing his broken heart," Bambi continues.

{I'd rather be lonely, than end with you again}

"Did you ask Milan what excuse he gave her?" Brett questions.

"He just told her he wasn't feeling well. Hey, do you think he'll dump her soon? I still remember when he asked her out. Still shocks me that she said yes."

I press the stylus too hard and the line comes out thick. Rolling my eyes I place the tablet down and use my macbook to fix the error.

"That's right! We were all about to go down the waterslide. Tim wasn't there because him and Addy had just broken up. You and Aiden went down the slide, then me and Adelaide and last, Milan and Lucas. He asked her out while they were going down the slide. She thought it was some sweet, eccentric thing he planned for her," Brett recalls.

"When really," Bambi grins, lowering her voice after a shrill look from Mrs Marsh, "Seeing Adelaide in a tankini prompted some feels."

I give in with a sigh, finally looking up at them to join the conversation. They grin like they've won cash and high-five, only for it to be the last straw for our teacher.

"Miss Hunting! Mr Furlon! That's enough! One of you move here-" she points at an empty space close to her desk "-And the other there!" She gestures to another on the far side of the room.

Bambi and Brett share a look before both scramble for the seat on the far side. I grin, knowing it won't be the last time Lucas is a topic of discussion.

During recess there is no talk of him apart from Milan stating that she misses 'her boy'. The entire table glance around at each other with different looks. Tim doesn't look to happy about it, staring down at his food instead.

I manage to obtain a look of indifference, unlike Bambi who has to bury her face into Aiden's shoulder to hide her grin.

In world history afterwards I cop it big time. Aiden, Bambi, Brett and Jake all make jokes and innuendos as we look through a PDF together on Art of the Ancient World.

"Look at this one!" Brett says pointing to an image of a dot painting from Australia. The dots form a family of birds; two parents and three babies.

"This one is Adelaide," Jake says, pointing to the 'mother'.

"That's Tim," Brett continues, pointing to the other big one.

"There's me, you Brett, you Jake," she lists, pointing to the babies. Aiden just laughs at his girlfriend. "And down here, this little dot in the corner that's all alone. That's Lucas, watching from afar."

Brett and Bambi high-five again.

"Geez if I knew that's where this was going I wouldn't have joined in," Jake says, straightening up and walking around the table to sit beside me.

"Really? You couldn't guess that it was going that way?" I ask. 

Jake looks at the book I'm reading. We're allowed to research any art history around the world, so naturally I look up the most perfect performance art in the world; ballet.

"I'm being serious though," Bambi says, moving into her seat properly, "Is he going to stay with Milan? His plan is ruined."

Jake frowns at her, "And his plan was what, exactly?"

The answer comes from Aiden, surprisingly, "To get close enough to Adelaide to charm her. Dump Milan, get the girl."

"Wasn't going to happen," I answer without looking up.

"We tried to tell him that," Brett snorts. They all go quiet, which prompts me to look up. Everyone is staring at whoever is standing behind Aiden. His height blocks a lot of things from view.

When Cole steps out from behind him I instantly feel the pang of awkwardness.

"Hey Cole!" Bambi exclaims, breaking just a little bit of the ice. He gives the loud idiot a charming smile, then extends it to everyone.

"Hey guys. I just wanted to come over and congratulate Adelaide on getting Tim back," he says politely, gaze settling on me. I stare at him indifferently.

"Thank you. It's sweet of you to think of us," I tell him. 

The others seem to notice the tension. Bambi grabs Aiden's hand and they walk off to inspect the other books that were handed out. Jake and Brett go in the opposite direction.

"I'm sorry nothing came of our date. The truth is, I never got over Tim. I think we all knew that. We're just perfect together. For not speaking to you after, I am sorry."

It's genuine, when I say it. I really mean it, because there's nothing worse than someone you like ignoring you.

Cole just nods slowly.

"Yeah, you and uh, Tim. Pretty perfect. I guess you two are so perfect that you're okay with letting him walk his ex-girlfriend to her locker after recess, huh?" I freeze, looking up from my laptop to him. "They were both laughing about something. Then she let him open her locker. He knew her combination. Say, does he know yours? Do you know his?"

The words aren't even processed in my mind before he's turning around and walking away, back to his friends on the other side of the class.

Bambi gives me a concerned look, but I hide the distress and the concern by looking back down at the ballet images.

Ballerinas are so perfect. So perfect. And I tell myself; so is he. 

The words are repeated in my mind all day as we sit together in Calculus and Literature and Biology for the next classes.

I have to keep telling myself that it's fine, everything is just fine. Just perfect. Cole's a liar. Tim wouldn't do that. He's the perfect boyfriend.

In the car on the way home, at my desk hunched over my homework, in the studio as I leap on my solo, in the book I read my little sister as she lie in her coma that night.

I fight the monster. Fight it and fight it until I've convinced myself again.

He's perfect and Cole is a jealous liar.

∞

I never meant to cross the line
But you don't want me so never mind
I called your name a thousand times
But my mistake, can we rewind?