Chapter Text
Everyone’s seen those movies, read those stories or watched those shows at least once. The kind of entertainment that was dedicated to facing the challenges and confusion of love, friendship and careers. It was an entire genre that people focused on and loved, claiming something about personal growth and defining our identities as the peak of human existence.
Jason thought he went through all of that shit already in high school and dealt with any straggling issues in college. When he met you, he thought you were a test of that growth.
Yet little did either of you realize that your coming-of-age wouldn’t start until your mid-20s, well into your careers, when you were reacquainted with Jason Todd.
People can change a lot after college.
“So what do you say?” He asked, blowing on the surface of his coffee mug as if what he proposed was something utterly commonplace.
You looked at him, steam from his extra hot Americano doing little to hide his smirk from you. A part of you hoped that this was all some stupid prank. As you rubbed your temples, knowing that you were due for another aspirin to take away last night’s hangover, you thought it was far too early on a Sunday to deal with Jason Todd’s bullshit.
As if to make matters worse and break you from your thoughts, he repeated his proposition again.
“I think we should fuck.”
Cool blue eyes crinkled in amusement as he watched you choke on your drink, not caring that half of it was spit out on the table, the other half dribbling down your chin. You dabbed at your mouth with a napkin. Your lipstick was definitely ruined.
His reiteration did little to change your uncertainty about it. With this current interaction aside, there was an awkward history between the two of you.
You wouldn’t call Jason Todd your friend and the relationship of acquaintance was being far too generous on your account. If weren’t for the fear of being dramatic, you’d liken him to an enemy with the animosity you shared in college.
“If you’re worried about falling in love with me,” you held little restraint to roll your eyes, “you don’t have to worry about it. We’ve seen each other at our worst so there’s no way any kind of romance could develop between us.”
Taking a final sip of your coffee, you stood up, letting him know that you would leave without giving him an answer.
“Well, I’m not gonna lie and tell you that it’s been fun. You know how to reach me if you need me.”
Seeing him grin as you gave him a final glance over your shoulder, he called out to you, cheeky as ever.
“Ya need more time to think about it. Got it!”
As you drove back to your apartment, you tried to recall the last time you saw Jason before last night. It was maybe over a year ago.
Brunch at the Diamond Club Café at 11 am sharp this Sunday
You regretted agreeing to brunch plans with Roy as you drove back to Gotham from your parents’ place. As you worried about looking as exhausted as you felt, you realized that everyone else didn’t look any better. The worst part about getting older was being unable to party like you used to.
“Glad you could make it,” you heard loudly in your right ear as Roy slung an arm around you, drink in hand in the other as he guided you towards where everyone else was at the patio.
Sharing hellos with Donna, Kory and Dick, you ignored the person at the end of the table where they were seated, instead asking Kory about her most recent trip for the UN. It was rare that Gotham U’s renowned beauty was in town. As it turned out, she had to leave at four the next morning.
An hour into brunch, everyone was buzzed, if not shitfaced at this point, the bottomless mimosas seductive as everyone basked in the rare Gotham sunshine on that summer day.
“Get ‘em partner!” Roy cheered from the sidelines as you tried to concentrate on removing that one Jenga piece so it wouldn’t topple over.
“I know you got the patience for this. I mean, you dealt with me all throughout college.”
“And if it weren’t for me,” you addressed him, eyes still focused on the block tower as you shakily pulled a piece from the left and placed it on top, “your ass would still be- fuck!”
You could still hear Roy’s quip as the blocks fell with a dull thunk onto the table top. “I can assure you that my ass is still getting fucked even after we’ve -wait, was this a trap?”
“Damn, Harper, is this your first time hearing yourself speak?” Donna teased.
As you gathered the pieces, you finally acknowledged your opponent.
“Thought you’d have a lot of free time now that you’re done carrying Roy’s ass throughout college-”
You cut Jason off, speaking your first words to him since arriving. “And you think I’d waste it playing games?”
“Seems like you love this game of cat and mouse that we got going on,” he replied, ending his observation with a smile that got under your nerves.
Huffing, you couldn’t help but childishly retort, “Yeah, I long for the day where I’ll finally fucking destroy you.”
“Get a room!” Dick called from the shade.
You scoffed, picking up a piece and blinking twice as you looked at the hand you brushed up against. You recoiled as Jason dropped the last wooden block in the box, mumbling a ‘thanks’ before walking away.
“Dude, what are you looking at? ‘Fraid you got some cooties?” Roy teased, slapping Jason on the back and pulling him towards the bar.
Jason took one last look over his shoulder but you weren’t looking back at him.
It wasn’t the meet cute of a Hallmark movie that reconnected you to Jason a year later. It was a meet humiliation as you looked for someone you knew aside from your boss, Angie, at the Wayne gala. This time Bruce Wayne was hosting a charity for children.
Your eyes searched the crowd and tables for the sight of someone you knew. At first you jumped at the opportunity of attending the gala with your boss, knowing that it’d be another three years and two job promotions before the opportunity arose again. But as you saw her chatting up some other individual -incredibly wealthy based off their suit and watch-, you realized that your fantasy about finally meeting your sugar daddy here was stupid.
That was until you saw Roman Sionis stroll through the open doors of the entrance. He had a reputation of being one of Gotham’s sleeziest businessmen and Angie always recommended that you doublecheck the contracts he offered to ensure he didn’t sneak in any clauses that would be detrimental to your clients or WE.
The face of his Rolex watch blinded you as he straightened out the lapels of his Hermès jacket. His eyes met yours and you wondered if he recognized you. He probably didn’t.
You bit your lip and smiled at him. His returned grin was slow and creeping. You knew that if you were ever desperate enough, you could always rely on Roman to take care of you. Spending absurd amounts of money on women was one of his less frivolous expenses. You weren’t sure if you were his type but he seemed to have a preference for-
“Jason?”
He didn’t hear you call his name but rather felt your stare from a few feet way. You rolled your eyes as he straightened his belt buckle to align with his pants. You didn’t want to think about his mid-gala rendezvous.
You were certain he would ignore you. He had no reason to talk to you, especially with the way you treated each other in the past. But you didn’t care. You took twelve quick strides towards him and clung to him for the rest of the night.
“You’re surprisingly tolerable tonight,” you told him, the two of you out on the balcony, overlooking the city. You felt hot from being inside for too long.
“But maybe that’s because of the alcohol.”
Jason snorted and you told him he wasn’t cute.
“I don’t care what you say,” he told you.
“Let me guess, sticks and stones?”
He turned to you with a grin and you had a sinking feeling that he set you up for something infuriating.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I know you wanna fuck me.”
You felt a familiar heat rise up in you, something that arose from your chest to your head and you could feel it pulse in your veins. It was a special type of annoyance that was reserved for Jason only.
Taking a deep breath with a slow inhale, you remembered that you told yourself you would be a different person this year. You’d be calmer. You’d show more grace.
“What makes you think that?” There was that familiar shrill to your voice that Jason remembered from college. It only came out a few times after graduation, mainly when you were buzzed or when the two of you were alone.
He laughed, making you huff in annoyance. You wondered if it was too late to add an exception to your New Years resolution.
“Because you’re getting all defensive about it.”
You looked him in the eye, ready to retort, but closed and opened your mouth like a fish instead. What you said didn’t matter. Jason would find some way to twist it.
You changed the subject instead.
“You know, you really helped me by hanging out with me tonight. Angie would have been pissed to see me sitting alone and on my phone. Some shit about disrespecting our lord and savior Bruce Wayne.”
He snickered. “Loser.”
“Yeah, the big man kinda is, huh?” You said without thinking.
He blinked at you and you realized your mistake. Because Jason Todd wasn’t legally Jason Todd. He was Jason Wayne.
His brows furrowed, letting you know that he took offense. “Hey, that’s my dad. C’mon now.”
You fumbled over your words and tried to backtrack, hoping all of the multiple ‘fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck’s in your head wouldn’t actually be spoken, making things even more complicated.
He gave you another snort. He was always laughing at you, looking down on you.
“He’s my dad, so I know more definitively than anyone that he is in fact, a loser. A complete and utter fuckin’ dweeb.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, you tried to play off your nervousness but Jason was never one to let you off the hook.
“Kinda reminds me of the first couple of times we met.”
The first few times you met Jason and spoke to him, you didn’t think he was too bad. He seemed more reserved but he answered your questions and did his part of the group work for your creative writing class. Back then, you didn’t think he was bad at all.
You and Roy searched for an empty spot in the library to work on your assignment. His eyes lit up when he saw the guy from your writing class and called out to him, earning a loud ‘Shh!’ from the librarian.
“Oh, you know Todd too?” You asked as you smiled and thanked him for sharing his table.
“Todd?”
Roy’s confusion made you doubt yourself, but you knew for a fact that the other man’s name was Todd. It was written on the files he sent you and he responded whenever you called him by that name. He had it written on the back of that hockey jersey he sometimes wore and that’s when you realized it.
“That’s not your name,” you accused, feeling yourself heat up with embarrassment. You went a whole month of calling him that and not once did he correct you.
“Were you not planning on telling me? Did you want me to look like an idiot when we did our presentation?”
The redhead took turns looking between the two of you and caught himself in his laughter. The librarian gave him a stern look before shushing him again.
Jason shrugged. “I mean, it technically is my name. Or rather was. I was adopted by Bruce Wayne.”
Bruce Wayne. Bruce Wayne. Your mind tried to think of why that name sounded familiar and you hated how he said it, as if you were supposed to automatically know who he was.
“The DILF,” you remembered but your smugness at your recollection faded as Roy howled with laughter, squeezing out something that sounded like ‘she’s not from Gotham, dude.’ Jason’s cheeks were tinged pink. You felt even worse.
Anger faded to awkwardness as both of your project partners sat there laughing at you. You pretended to look at your phone before gathering your things, mumbling about how your roommate locked herself out of the dorm.
“It’s Jason by the way!” You heard him call out to you. “Jason Todd!”
“How was I supposed to know who he is? That was my first month in the city.”
He shrugged and guessed his father’s name wouldn’t be that recognizable to a non-native Gothamite.
“There you are!” You heard your boss say, making you look towards her. Angie looked drunk off her ass and you sighed. It was your sign to go.
She grabbed a hold of your arm for support and tried to whisper in your ear but her voice was too loud and you pulled away from her slightly. “Ooh, he’s cute. Oh no, was I…? Did I interrupt something? Were you two trying to f-”
“Forget about him. He’s just an acquaintance from college,” you told her. She looked back at Jason and squinted at him as he gave her a small wave.
“Huh, it didn’t seem like you were trying to ‘forget’ about him with the way you two were talking.”
Angie could get obnoxiously talkative when she was drunk. You hoped that she would drop it by the time the cab arrived.
“Speaking of talking,” Jason called out to you, making you pause. “I gotta ask you about something. Same number?”
Jason followed up with you three days after your meeting at the coffee shop, making you realize he was actually serious about what he said.
“Well?” He asked impatiently.
“If you need a release so badly, I’m pretty sure both your hands are working.”
He sighed. “You gotta stop playing hard to get. I already asked you twice, so tell me your answer.”
You ignored him. “It’s just weird,” you mused and Jason asked why.
“Because you’re gay.”
“Gay?” There was complete offense in his voice. “I’m not gay,” he said with a definitive tone.
“I’ve only seen you date men,” you pointed out.
“So?”
“So it means exactly what I said.”
Jason’s voice was getting snippy. “Bi people exist.” You held your tongue about both of you being friends with Artemis.
“Bisexual men exist too.”
Jason was… bisexual? It never occurred to you that that was a possibility. He’s never made any comments about women or dated them from what you could remember.
“But-”
“But did you ask? That’s right, no you didn’t. You just assumed like you always do.”
Like you always did. Like the icebreaker game during the second semester of your freshman year.
“Alright,” Dr. Michaelson said, clapping both of her hands together. “Two truths and a lie. Get to know your classmates!”
Things were a bit awkward between you and Jason after the library incident and you groaned when you saw that you had another class with him.
He turned to you and your friend Kory.
“Hey, I’m Jason,” you couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “So two truths and a lie. I’m adopted. My favorite color is red. I’m straight.”
Those were loaded statements and you bit your lip, side eyeing Kory and hoping that she would answer first about which one she thought was the lie.
“You’re not adopted!”
“I am,” he told her. You found it annoying how easily he gave up personal information to her.
“I’m straight.”
But it seemed like he was only speaking to you, as if he was trying to gauge your reaction to how he played the game.
You hoped your face stayed neutral but you couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Jason wasn't straight. Despite the asshole move with his name, you actually thought that Jason was kind of cute. But now you knew you didn’t have a chance with him.
“Oh, that’s cool.”
Jason wasn’t sure of what kind of reaction he wanted from you but the one you gave him didn’t seem to please him though he couldn’t say why. He couldn’t tell if you’d respond with enthusiasm but he supposed it was better than you answering with disgust.
You were quiet as you let Jason’s sexual orientation sink in, thinking it was best to let him speak instead of asking more questions that would make you look foolish and ignorant.
“But just because I’m bi, that doesn’t mean I’ve had equal experiences with men and women.”
“So, you wanna try being with a woman and that woman is me?”
He gave you an annoyed ‘yes.’
Your mind had more questions. Why you? Wouldn’t it be better to actually date someone instead of having a friend with benefits? Shouldn’t he actually choose someone that he considered a friend?
“Look, this whole dating thing? Kinda bogus. We waste our times going on dates with people we sort of like to hopefully have sex with after a few meet-ups. If we’re lucky, maybe we can waste some time together for a few months, a few years or maybe forever.”
You hummed. Jason wasn’t wrong. The dating scene was tiring in any big city but it seemed especially so in Gotham.
“I’m just trying to get laid, have fun and do some kinky shit. Maybe even have a few good memories to look back on when I’m old and my dick isn’t working anymore. And -don’t let this get to your head now- for whatever reason, I feel comfortable doing this with you.”
His proposal was a bit rough around the edges but answered most of the questions that made you skeptical about accepting it. With a final weigh in of the pros and cons, you gave him your answer.
“Fine, I’ll be your friend with benefits.”
“Jeez, don’t make it sound like I have a gun to your head. No one’s forcing you to fuck me, sweetheart, though I’m sure once you’ve had a taste of the Todd, you might find yourself begging for it.”
You groaned as he laughed over the phone. You wondered what you were getting yourself into.
Over the weekend, you were surprised that Jason invited you to his apartment. You knew what you agreed to but you didn’t think it would start so soon.
As you knocked on the door, you fiddled with the edge of your dress, hoping that what you wore was acceptable.
You were surprised and thought it was a mean prank when Dick answered the door. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You just come back from a hot date or what?” He teased as he led you to the kitchen table where Jason, Roy and Barbara were seated.
You looked down at the table, wooden tiles for Scrabble scattered across it.
Your eyes locked with Jason and he realized your mistake.
“Nah man, I bet it’s some new strategy of hers. Trying to distract the other players with her skin or something. Better watch out, Roy.”
Roy slid the sunglasses that he turned into a make-shift headband back over his eyes. He called out your name. “Hey, I’m tryna do No Nut November here. You scheming with Jason to take me down or what?”
“Something like that,” you told him as you took a seat next to Babs, watching as they scattered the tile and set everyone up for a new game.
Roy squinted at the word you put down, sounding it out loud. “Ta-ma-ran… uh what? Can someone look that up? I don’t think that’s a word.”
“It’s temerity,” Babs corrected him.
“Define that, please.”
Jason butted in. “Excessive confidence. Synonyms include gall, chutzpah-”
Dick interrupted his brother. “Let me say this in layman’s terms,” he told Roy, giving Jason and Babs the side eye. He hated games like these where it seemed they enjoyed flaunting their intellect at the expense of others. “It’s the audacity.”
“Oh, I get it now,” he said, nodding.
Now Roy addressed you, snickering and hardly able to get out his sentence. “Like how Jaybird has the temerity to be sneaking glances at your ass every time you get up.”
You looked at Jason scandalized but he was throwing tiles at Roy instead.
“Dude, seriously?”
Babs sighed and Dick shrugged, though it was clear that he was amused by the situation.
“At least he used it properly in a sentence.”