Fire Phoenix

Chapter 36

"Was it that weird guy again?" Jason asked Dick and Gar after grabbing his coffee and joining us in the dining room.

"Yes, I swear he pronounces our names wrong on purpose." Gar spoke, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Whose name did he pronounce wrong today?" Jason asked, taking a seat next to me on the table. "Mine, he said Gerfald." Gar joked, making everyone laugh their heads off.

We couldn't stop laughing, then we proceeded to tell each other our worst nicknames he has called us.

It was weird never in a million years would I have thought I would be laughing with my new family the same day my parents died 5 years ago.

A part of me wanted to ball my eyes out and just cry the day away, but I couldn't. I needed to live life and not cry over their death every second instead of laughing with my family about dumb nicknames.

Yes it's sad and it's okay to cry, I know. But I need to see their death as a way to start a new life, become something my inner self would love to see me like. A hero, maybe even a Titan.

After laughing a little to hard, Dick decided to change the subject, "I see you two, are better now." He pointed out.

"Yea, we both kind of realized we were both idiots." I smiled, looking over to Jason who was also smiling.

"I'm glad, the awkward moments were not fun." Rachel joked, I mouthed a sorry to her feeling bad for the amount of times I left her alone with the boys.

"Well, I have training with these two." Rachel added, pointed to Gar and Dick.

They all left, leaving both me and Jason alone. "You know I love your smile." Jason joked, making me turn my attention to him.

"It's good to see you smile, especially on a day like today." Jason added, moving closer to my face.

"Movie?" I questioned ruining the moment on purpose to piss him off. "If that's how it's going to go, I call picking the movie." He joked before running to the living room and turning on a movie.

I followed behind, taking a seat right next to him, watching as he picked a movie. It was some weird, action movie. I leaned my head on to his shoulder, watching the movie.

It wasn't the worst movie but it kept me distracted which I appreciated.

Eventually we ended the movie, and the other finished their training. We ordered take out but before it arrived we played a quick game of cards.

The entire game it seemed like they were letting me win or at least not get mad at me. It was like they were going soft on me just because of today, yes any other day I would have loved this but it was like they saw me as glass and that I could break any minute.

"Can we not?" I finally spoke, grabbing everyone's attention.

They all looked at me confused on what I meant. "Look, today may be hard for me and all, but don't act differently, please. If we just act as normal it will distract me more than you all seeing me as glass. All day today, you have been so careful, and yes it's nice and all but I don't want today to be a reason for you all to think of me as fragile."

"Em, we don't think that." Rachel comforted reaching for my hand, but I pulled away instantly not really wanting comfort at the moment. "I am going to be in my room for a little...alone. Please go on with your day, I would hate it if I ruined it. I'm sorry." I spoke before leaving the room, not looking back.

Did I just ruin that moment? No, I needed to let it out. Did I though?

These thoughts ran through my head for a while, as I sat on my bed, trying to hold back my tears.

I decided to read for a little to distract myself. It was nice, just quiet time with myself, while reading a little. Surprisingly I didn't get a knock or my name called the whole time, which was the best part of this alone time, I needed it.

That was until Jason knocked on my door and let himself in. "Want to train?"

"It's like you read my mind." I joked about putting my book down and grabbed my workout clothes. "Actually that's Rachel's thing." He joked, making me laugh, "You better know?" Jason questioned.

"Yea, sorry about that. I was tired and messed up in the head a little there." I spoked grabbing the rest of my clothes. "It's okay, we all have those moments. Anyways, meet me in the training room at 5." Jason smiled before closing the door and walking away.

I was so glad he asked to train, I needed to get out of my room for a little, yes the quiet time was wonderful but I was getting so bored of it, I needed to do something else.

I met Jason in the training room, all ready to beat his ass in fighting. "Hey look, don't go easy, I want to actually try today." I said setting my water down.

With my back turned he tried to throw a punch at me, but I dodged it and threw one right back. "Nice try, pretty boy." I smiled now on top of him.

"Pretty?" Jason questioned, "Don't get cocky now Todd." I smiled, as I continued to fight him.

This went on for a little while, after a few rounds we ended up tied. "Winner takes all." Jason joked as we both took a break to get some water. "Deal" I added setting my water down.

I started to get the lead in the fight soon after, feeling very confident in myself, but then my heart started to race, my breathing became faster.

I let go of Jason's arm moving myself on to the ground, wrapping my arms around my knees. I looked up at Jason who seemed very concerned with my random behavior.

"Em, What's wrong?" Jason questioned kneeling down to my level, "It's fine, let's get back to where we were." I said trying to get up but still in a panic mode.

"No, we are going to sit here until you are okay." Jason demanded pushing me back down to the ground. He seemed to notice my tears forming in my eyes, since he just gave me a hug and told me to let it all out.

And I did. It was like this thing in my body just told me my parents died again, that 5 years ago my life changed for the worse and that I lost the only people I loved in a matter of minutes.

I cried so much I felt a pool starting to form under me, and the other thing I could feel was Jason's comforting arms wrapped around me and just him letting me cry and let it all out.

I calmed down a little bit, finally catching my breath and feeling my heart rate drop down. "I love you." was all I could hear Jason say, he let go of me and turned to face me, resting his hands on my shoulders.

"I-I love you too." I hesitated, he just looked at me a little confused as to why I hesitated.

"Jay, I love you, I just hate saying I love you because every single person I have ever loved has left me or died, and I can't lose you too." I cried, getting another hug from Jason.

"I promise to never leave you, Em." Jason spoke staring into my tear filled eyes, giving me a kiss on the lips and not letting go of the hug.