BREAK IN ; [ damian wayne ]

x. charlotte

11/06/22
8:55 p.m.

The apologies were beginning to feel like a broken record.

Scratchy and abrasive, it's something you dread hearing rather than enjoy. He's bailed on her for the fifth time in less than a month. He was busy and had obligations, so she was patient at first. He was as dazzling as the sun, and he ascended with great importance. She was more like a flower, writhing beneath the attention yet easily plucked by the stem.

It started with a family emergency, then homework, then something at work came up, then he had to do something, then he forgot he had other plans. By then, she had realized that the excuses were just that: excuses.

Hannah agreed but Evan was still hopeful for his sister's happiness.

"He's an asshole." She would say

"He's a billionaire." Evan would counter.

Then Hannah would argue, "That's one and the same," and Evan would remind her that the Waynes were the reason he was able to afford college. Hannah would yell that they only sponsored ten kids per year and that they should do more. Charlotte would let the squabbling fade away like a record with no more grooves.

The gala was fast approaching, two weeks away and Charlotte had yet to get anything. Damian had offered to pay, almost insisted, but she refused. He had money, but Charlotte didn't want a power dynamic to build like it had between her siblings.

He tries again that night at the roller rink, this time wearing sunglasses and a beanie that reminded her of Tumblr boys, she says.

"I invited you; it's only fair that I pay for your dress." He remarked this as he laced his red roller skates. He'd never gone to a roller rink before and like most things; he assumed he'd succeed.

When they got onto the plastic floors he discovered out he would not. Like a disco ball, the neon lights danced across their faces. People in skirts giggled and twirled as pop music blared from fizzing speakers. It smelled like greasy burgers and crunchy fries.

Damian had let her choose where they went, most likely to make amends for missing their movie date the week before.

"I can't have you paying for everything." She glides onto the floor with ease, halting herself with the rubber stopper on her bejeweled skates, "Relationships need to be 50/50."

"Relationship?" He asked, not teasing or flirting, as she had expected. His voice was as fluttery and gentle as Juan's feathers, whom Damian had made a point of buying food for and visiting whenever he saw Charlotte. He seemed to prefer the bird to her at times, she swore.

"Yeah, I mean, not like we're dating, but you know, something?" She stutters out her words. Charlotte would be much more embarrassed if it weren't for the boy's uncharacteristically shy expression.

"Would you like to?" He inquires.

She answers quietly.