Bruce was deathly quiet as we sat in the back seat of one his expensive cars on the ride home.

We were let off school early, which wouldn't have been such a bad thing if it wasn't for the fact that Bruce Wayne was very angry at us. Damian had received one week of suspension, plus anger management counselling that he had to attend fortnightly for the next semester.

Not that it would do anything, we all knew.

"Seriously, an ambulance?" Bruce finally said, his deep voice startling me. The man was intimidating enough without being angry. This was almost terrifying.

Damian was staring out of the car window. He didn't even seem annoyed or upset, he was just blank. "He had it coming," was all he said, like it was obvious. Like he didn't care that Bruce looked like he wanted to smack him into next week.

But Bruce just shook his head. The anger was evident in his eyes, I could see that brutal, cold-hearted rage in them that could make anyone shit bricks.

"You can't keep doing this, Damian. It's not okay."

I was starting to think that maybe i'd gotten off scotch-free. Most of the incident was Damian's fault, anyway. But Bruce made eye contact with me through the rear-view mirror. "Sasha, don't think I'm not mad at you, either. You know better then to let this happen."

I switched my gaze to the scenery outside, feeling rather ashamed. I didn't want Bruce to be mad at me. I didn't want him sending me back to Child Services. Not after the luxurious life I'd experienced at the manor.

When we got home, I sat in the corner of the gym and watched Damian attack a sparring dummy like a crazy person off their meds. It was not normal how much combat he knew, how fast he could swing his legs, how many fight sequences he could execute. It was extremely impressive yet impossible at the same time.

This boy is not who I think he is, is he?

"Argh!" Damian let out a frustrated growl. I flinched slightly at how loud it was. He walked toward me, rage still steaming from his ears, and picked up the waterbottle perched beside me on the bench.

"Hey," I tried to comfort him, something I was very bad at. "It's just a week. It could be worse."

Damian drained the waterbottle and dropped it back down. Through heavy pants he replied, "I don't give a shit about that."

I was confused now, and I sent him a perplexed frown. "What is it, then?"

He eyed me strangely, like he was assessing if I was a threat or not. Maybe checking if he could trust me with whatever it was that he wanted to say.

Then, with sightly furrowed brows, he spoke, "It's Father."

Ah.

I wanted to ask more. I wanted to pry inside the complicated brain of his. But Damian was now walking toward the Gym exit, and I knew he wouldn't open up to me so easily. Bruce and Damian's relationship seemed complex, but for reasons I did not know.

Seconds before he'd reached the door, Damian called out, "I'm going for a swim."

When I didn't reply, he turned around and stared at me expectantly.

"Well, aren't you coming?"

-------------------------

It turned out that I did have a swimsuit in my bottomless pit of clothes. It was a plain black bikini, and it was nothing special. However the thought of wearing anything like what I wore at the party gave me minor PTSD.

It's fine, I told myself. It's not like Damian's going to rape you. He's the last person to rape you. Stop worrying.

I walked toward the pool minutes later with a towel wrapped around my shivering body. Why the fuck was I even doing this in the first place? It was fucking autumn, not summer. And Damian had been the one getting sweaty in the gym, not me. I had no reason to be here.

A splash interupted my thoughts as Damian's head emerged from the water. He flicked his hair back, sending a spray of droplets my way.

"It's freezing," I shouted, hugging my towel extra tight.

The boy gave a small smile. "It's not that bad."

He swam to the edge of the pool and lifted himself out, the muscles in his biceps flexing. I couldn't help but stare at the very wet and very attractive guy only a couple feet away from me. Damian was hot enough without being soaked, but seeing water tickling down his neck and abs was a whole other level of attractiveness.

"Watch," he said, moving toward the wall. There was a control panel with a set of buttons and a fancy looking screen hanging there. He tapped in a couple digits, then flicked a switch.

Immediately, my gaze was torn to the pool. Steam rose above the water, and little bubbles began forming from the jets. It was a goddamn jaccuzzi, wasn't it? The fricking pool was a turning into hot tub.

Damian glanced at me with a smirk. "Pick a color."

I blinked stupidly. "What?"

He rolled his eyes, but the grin never left. "I said, pick a color."

I had no clue why he was asking me that, but I responded anyway. "Um... red?"

An explosion of red light erupted from the pool's surface. I couldn't stop the delighted laugh that escaped my lips. "That is so cool."

Damian walked back to the pool and stepped in, his eyes never leaving me as he entered. I eventually realized that he wanted me to join him. Suddenly, I felt a wave of anguish wash over me. I was having slight regrets about doing this.

Come on, you stupid bitch. A hot guy is currently waiting for you to swim with him in a heated, light-up pool, and you're standing there like an idiot.

Moving toward the glass fence that encased the pool, I reluctantly removed my towel and hung it over the ledge. Damian was still staring at me expectantly, and it was making my nerves even worse. The last time I'd gone swimming had not exactly ended well. And the last time I'd worn a swimsuit in front of a guy had resulted in sexual assault.

Nevertheless, I placed one foot into the steaming water. It was beautiful, and immediately I felt relaxed. This must be what heaven feels like.

As I walked down the pool steps slowly, I noticed Damian was still staring. He hadn't looked away once, and it was making me extremely self conscious. I wished he would stop looking at my body. I'd never liked how I looked.

The lovely warm water now reached my neck, and I let out a deep sigh at the feeling of it. "This is so nice," I told Damian, who had swum closer to me.

"Tell me about it," he replied.

The red coloring from the lights illuminated Damian's face in a way I'd never seen before. The dark angles of his features were more accentuated, and the lighter parts were more highlighted. It was almost like I was looking at an incredibly attractive Devil; the lights had a hellish effect on him.

By now, the sky was nearing nighttime. The red looked even brighter against the dark, and the heated water was a great contrast from the cold air outside. I spread my arms and leaned back, letting myself float. The warmth enveloped me like a blanket. This was definitely one of the best moments of my life.

Damian was leaning against the pool wall, watching me again. He was always watching, whether that be me or others. It was like he was analyzing everything, taking in new information constantly, never giving his mind a break.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked, breaking the silence with my voice.

He quickly looked away, jaw clenching ever so slightly. "Nothing."

I knew that was a lie, so I stopped floating and swam closer to him. "Bullshit. Tell me what's up."

His eyes met mine again, and I felt an odd sensation in my gut. There was the devil-look again, and it was definitely affecting me. Why did he have to stare at me like that? Why was it making me feel so weird?

I noticed now that I'd swum closer then I thought. Damian was only a couple of inches away from me. I backed up, making sure I was at least three feet away. That was our unspoken rule, wasn't it? Three feet at the minimum.

His eyes flicked over me, examining every little detail of my face. He responded with, "Like I said, it's nothing."

I shook my head and laughed. "Fine. Just trying to make conversation."

I pushed myself away, the water rippling between my arms and fingers. Then I took a breath and plunged beneath the surface of the pool. Warmth surrounded my face and flowed though my hair. When I emerged again, I gasped and inhaled air.

Refreshing.

"You know," I began, feeling the need to fill the silence. "I never thanked for you beating up Drake. I know you didn't do it for me, but still, thank you."

Something flickered across Damian's face, like a pebble being tossed into a lake. He'd momentarily let his mask fall, and revealed some sort of emotion to me. I had no idea what, though, as he recovered instantly.

"It's no big deal," he replied, running a hand though his hair. He began to move toward the deeper end of the pool, allowing only his chin to touch the surface of the water.

I followed him, tracing my hand against the pool's edge to hold myself upright. Then, quietly, I added, "Sorry about the suspension."

I felt like I needed to say that. It was partially my fault he'd gotten into the fight, technically.

But Damian shook his head. "Don't apologize. You didn't force me to hit him."

I supposed he had a point. That had been his decision, not mine. But I still felt responsible in some way. I knew deep down that I'd caused too many problems for Damian in the past couple of days. He deserved a break from me.

More silence followed. We were both stuck in our own thoughts, our minds elsewhere. I pushed myself back along the wall until I was toward the center of the pool. It was shallower here, and now my chest was above the water.

Suddenly, Damian's body stiffened. He stood up straighter, his eyes turning as hard as stone

"What are those," he demanded.

I blinked at him a couple times, highly confused with what he was saying. But as I followed his penetrating gaze, I realized they were directed at my neck. It had previously been covered by my hair, but now it was completely exposed.

Fuck.

He pushed himself off the wall and swam toward me. I felt my heartbeat quicken out of fear, and I threw my hands up to cover myself. Admittedly, Damian was scary when he was mad, so seeing him coming at me with such force scared the shit out of me.

Now he was inches from my face, prying my hands away. My breath hitched as his fingers traced the purple markings on my neck. His cold eyes scanned every inch of my skin. I'd completely forgotten about the hickeys after i'd smeared them with makeup. Obviously, that makeup had worn off in the water, and now Damian was turning the same color as the light-
up pool.

"Why didn't I know about this? I thought Henderson was just teasing you," he growled, clearly furious.

I had no clue what to say. Why did he even care that much? Did it really matter to him what Drake did to me?

"I... forgot," I stuttered, my voice quieter then ever. I didn't know why I was being like this, all nervous and anxious. I shouldn't have been so shaken up. They were just hickeys, it wasn't such a big deal. Was it?

I watched as his finger trailed down toward my collarbone, then further toward my chest. When he realized the markings went lower than that, he stopped and pulled away.

"I should've been there," Damian muttered, unable to look at me anymore. He appeared frustrated with himself now, rubbing both hands around his neck. "I should've fucking been there."

His touch still lingered on my skin, sending shivers all throughout my body. Damian had never touched me like that before. It felt so foreign.

I pulled my hair across my neck, trying my best to cover the hickeys. Fucking idiot, I mentally cursed. You should've used the goddamn waterproof foundation.

"It's fine," I spoke, wanting desperately for him to calm down. "I'm fine. It doesn't even matter."

But Damian did not agree. "No, it's not fine, Sasha. It's not fucking fine. Why didn't you show me? Do you even know what he did to you?"

Did he think I was dumb? Of course I knew what Drake had done to me. Sure, maybe my memory was a little patchy. And maybe I was completely wasted at the time. But I still knew what had happened.

I placed my hands on my head, feeling a migraine coming on. This was too much for me right now. I couldn't deal with another drama. "I said I'm fine, Damian."

He stared at me in disbelief. "No, you're not."

Now I was growing frustrated. "I've been through way worse situations then this, okay? Trust me when I say that this doesn't matter."

But Damian just shook his head, never breaking eye contact with me. He knew I was lying to him. He knew that this had effected me in some way, even though I had said otherwise. I hated how easily he could see through me. I absolutely hated it.

Suddenly, the doors leading back inside the Manor opened, interrupting our little fight. Tim was standing there, wearing workout clothes and covered in shiny sweat. "Bruce wants you guys back inside," he said.

Why?" Damian questioned, obviously irritated. We'd only been in the pool for maybe 30 minutes.

Tim just shrugged. "I don't know. He's still mad, I guess. He said he wants to talk to you."

I couldn't get out of there sooner. I swam to the ledge of the pool and lifted myself out quickly. Glancing at Damian, I saw him do the same. I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me. Then I ran to my room and locked the door, tightly.

This was too much. I couldn't do this anymore. I needed to get away.

thank you so much for getting this book to 4.8k reads im so happy that people actually like what im writing.

this chapter got a lil bit steamy... who wants more romantic scenes between these two? after the whole drake incident im considering amping it up a little with the chemistry

love u all xx