Chapter Text
"You've got to be shitting me."
Jason looked at the surprised man with eyes narrowed suspiciously and his lips drawn back into a sneer. Of all the people he could have possibly ran into, it just had to be his ex-neighbour. Just great, exactly what he needed right now.
"Are you still stalking me?" He asked, miffed at his current predicament. Jason crossed his arms, tilted his chin slightly upwards, and straightened his back to reach his full height in order to look more intimidating than he already was. His fists clenched from restraining himself from immediately punching the man.
Dick's eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell open as if he hadn't been expecting to see Jason. What a load of bullshit , Jason scoffed.
"N-no!" Dick replied quickly, sounding taken aback from such an assumption. He opened his mouth, but Jason quickly cut him off.
"As if I would believe that," He hissed, uncrossing his arms as he took a step forward. "Why else would you be here in Jump City?"
Jason had moved across the continent that night six months ago, wanting to get away from all the bullshit in Blüdhaven. He had broken up with his long term on-and-off abusive boyfriend after coming home to find him openly cheating on him with another and then had the gall to try and push the blame on Jason. It had already been a difficult week after finding out that his neighbour had been spying on him for god knows how long, using him for nothing but his own pleasure - just like his ex. Seemed that was all he was good for and something inside of him had snapped.
Drowning in his own anger and misery, Jason had wanted nothing more than to forget. That, in turn, had led him straight to his neighbour for a quick fuck, already knowing that the stranger had to be somewhat attracted to him and desperate enough to jerk off to Jason. Looking back on it now, he supposed he had been naïve to think that would be the end of it, that his neighbour would finally leave him alone after that. Clearly that wasn't the case. Life seemed to work like that though, offering only misery as his companion (and his roommate and best friend, Roy, but that was a different matter entirely).
"I got transferred here a month ago," Dick meekly offered, gesturing to his outfit. Jason allowed his eyes to take in the man's uniform for the first time, from the well fitted black trousers to the blue button up shirt when he spotted the still shiny badge on his chest. Dick was a police officer and that fact nearly made Jason laugh out loud. Of course he was a police officer - a pig that thought him above the law. He had fitted right in with all the other scum back in Blüdhaven. "Honest to God that I didn't know you were here."
Jason heaved a sigh, running his hand through his hair in irritation. It was much too hot outside to deal with this. He could just take his word for it as he really didn't want to move again. Jason had finally settled down, and even landed a good job where he earned twice as much as he had back in Blüdhaven. It could have been worse, Dick could have been his neighbour again.
"Whatever," He ended up saying and his sharp eyes met with the officer's. He took another step closer, their bodies almost touching and he watched as Dick's Adam's apple bobbled when he swallowed. Jason quickly drew his attention away from the man's neck, ignoring that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach as memories from that night came flooding back into his mind, and he jabbed the man's chest with his finger. "But if you stalk me again," Jason began, taking a sharp breath through his nose, "I will break you. I don’t care that you’re a cop, I'm done being used."
"I wasn't trying to stalk you to begin with," Dick responded, his deep blue eyes wide with emotions that Jason couldn't exactly pinpoint. Jason didn't believe him. After all, police were all the same: arrogant liars who abuse their powers for their own selfish gain.
"Then what would you call what you did?" Dick didn't answer, his eyes averted, suddenly finding his shoes much more interesting. Jason took a step back, satisfied. "That's what I thought."
"I already told you, I'm sorry. How about I take you to dinner to make it up to you?" The gall of this man.
"No. Now be a good piggy and leave me alone." He gave a quick pat to Dick's cheek, enjoying how they flushed with anger at the nickname. Without another word, Jason drew away and walked away without a second glance. Hopefully that would be the last he would see of that man.
As fate would have it, however, that would not be the last of their encounters.
Jason groaned in exasperation as he threw his head back against the brick wall, the dull thud making it sound more painful than it actually was. He had been enjoying a smoke when that all too familiar, stupidly handsome face showed itself again. "What are you doing here?" He bit out.
He wasn't in the mood of feigning any form of politeness, cranky from the lack of sleep and the long hours of work. Not that the man before him deserved any courtesy. After his first run in with Dick, Jason was left on edge. He had barely slept a wink that night, checking every corner of his room for any sign of a peephole or other tell-tale signs that someone could be watching him. Of course he had found nothing, adding some truth to Dick's story. Still, that had done little to ease his growing paranoia. Back in his old apartment, the old cracks in walls had meant very little to him - it was Blüdhaven after all and the worn down walls were as normal as the fog that choked the city. Now, Jason would eye the cracks in the walls with wariness and fill them up as soon he spotted them. Roy fortunately never commented on it, happy that their apartment looked rather well kept.
"Walking home," Dick replied with a huff. Jason made a doubtful sound, earning him an eye roll. "Look, I know what I had done was wrong-"
"Wow, really?"
"-But I am not here for you. I live in that building over there and this alleyway is a shortcut to the grocery store." He finished by shaking the grocery bags in his hands. Jason gritted his teeth. The officer did seem to have a valid excuse as much as the younger man wanted to deny it.
"Whatever," Jason mumbled as he averted his eyes, taking a deep drag of his cigarette.
"Those cancer sticks will kill you."
Jason rolled his eyes and took another, deeper inhalation of his cigarette in defiance. He looked straight into the shorter man's eyes and blew the smoke into his face. To Dick's credit, he didn't react other than the slight frown adorning his face.
"That's the plan." Jason thought that would be the end of their conversation - why was he even engaging with this man still?? However, Dick remained planted there much to his dismay.
"If not dinner, how about coffee?" He suddenly asked and Jason let out another groan. Man, this guy was persistent.
"How about no?"
The man merely gave a small shrug and a lopsided smile. "Then perhaps next time," He said and he turned to continue his way down the alleyway. Jason frowned.
"There won't be a next time!" He yelled after the officer who merely waved him off. Jason huffed, flicking his cigarette to the ground before stomping it out with his boot. Whatever.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked, his voice dripping with disdain as if he was addressing something disgusting. He glared down at the man sitting casually on his couch. The man in question stared back, his gorgeous blue eyes wide with bewilderment as if he hadn't been expecting to see Jason. Roy, who was sitting on the armchair, paused the video game he had been playing and turned to give a questioning gaze.
"This is Dick."
"I know who he is, I am asking why he's here." Jason hissed through his teeth, talking as if Dick wasn't even there.
"You guys know each other??" Roy laughed. "What are the chances?"
Jason didn't find this amusing and Dick wiggled in his seat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable to be there. Before the youngest man could open his mouth to make another angry demand, Roy smiled and indulged Jason. "This great man here," he drawled, gesturing to Dick, "Is my childhood friend. Went to the same school for a time and our adoptive parents are friends."
You got to be fucking kidding me.
Jason stood there, dumbfounded. Whatever answer he had been expecting it clearly wasn't that.
"Childhood friend...?" He repeated as if the words were foreign. There was absolutely no way that could be true. The chances were just too astronomically absurd. But that was exactly why it had to be true. Life just fucking loved him.
"Yup!" Roy grinned like the happy, oblivious idiot that he was. Clearly he couldn't read the room cause he quickly added, "And since you already know each other, why not hang out with us?"
Jason shared a glance with Dick, who looked back with a small, hopeful smile. Like hell he would hang out with him. Stupid pretty boy was still a Peeping Tom that had spyed on him for all those months.
"Yeah, no. I'm heading out." Jason grabbed the keys that he had thrown onto the table walking in and headed back to the door.
"Why don't we go with you?"
"Nope!" He quickly shot Roy down and the door slammed shut.
Jason spent his time in a bar just down the road well into the night, until he was sure that Dick wasn't there at his apartment. It was two in the morning when he came stumbling through the front door and instead of going into his room, he decided to crash on the couch after a quick, suspicious sweep of the room to confirm that the officer had indeed gone home. When he finally woke up, his groggy head pounding with a nasty headache, a cup of coffee and painkillers were waiting for him.
He silently thanked the gods for Roy being an occasionally thoughtful roommate and gratefully took a sip from the now room temperature coffee, moaning at the exquisite taste. It was definitely fancy coffee, something Jason rarely treated himself to, which made him all the more grateful. With the next sip, he took two pills. He was tempted to take another, but decided against it and just as he leaned back against the sofa, Roy walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair.
"Do you think my hair’s getting too long?"
"Good morning to you, too," Jason replied, his voice hoarse. "And do whatever you want. You'll look terrible either way."
"Such a good friend you are," Roy grumbled as he walked to their small kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. "There's leftover pizza if you want."
"Hmm," Was the only reply. Roy rolled his eyes but grabbed the food nonetheless.
"Does it hurt to say a clear yes or no?"
"Yes it does. By the way, thanks for the coffee, ’twas good."
Roy paused putting the slices into the oven, and looked over his shoulder at Jason.
"I didn't get you coffee. Dick came by this morning, said he wanted to apologise to you or something. He even bought painkillers as if he knew you were going to be hungover. You know what that's about? I mean, I know he's kind and all..."
Roy continued rambling as he continued to work in the kitchen but Jason wasn't paying attention anymore. His body tensed, his one hand digging into the couch cushions whereas the other tightened its grip around the cup as he stared into the coffee as if it had been poisoned. Coffee was one thing, but painkillers? How the hell could he have known Jason was going to drink? His automatic hunch was that Dick had been lying and that he was indeed stalking him.
Putting down the coffee, no longer interested in drinking it, Jason quickly got to his feet as he marched to his room. He immediately checked every corner of the room for any bugs and was stumped when he had found none. Then, he quickly patted himself down in fear that Dick had somehow bugged his person the previous night despite not being anywhere near the man. Again, he found nothing.
Jason swallowed hard as he sat down, running a trembling hand through his hair. He felt numb, unable to come up with any answers. If he wanted answers, then he would have to demand them from the man himself but that wasn't what he wanted to do. Not now. Not when he felt this vulnerable.
When Jason re-emerged from his bedroom and plopped back onto the couch rather dazed, Roy gave him a concerned look as he handed him a plate of pizza. Jason accepted it, not even tasting the food as he mechanically chewed away.
"You okay, man? You look like you just saw a ghost."
"Yeah, 'm fine." It was a lie and he knew that Roy knew that, too. But he wasn't in the mood to talk about feelings or what had happened in the past regarding his ex-neighbour.
"Just how exactly do you know Dick?" Roy wasn't buying into his lie and it didn’t seem he was going to let this go until he had an answer. Unfortunately, the ginger was smarter than he looked, much to Jason's chagrin.
Jason sighed, putting down his food. He supposed he didn't have to tell the whole truth. "Dick used to be my neighbour."
"...and?" Roy obviously already knew there was more to this story.
"I may have made the mistake of sleeping with him."
Roy guffawed and leaned over to give a hard, congrats pat on his roommate's back. "Oh man, nice! If I wasn't straight, I'd totally be jealous. Dick is very handsome and from what I hear, the man’s very generous in bed."
Jason only offered a hum in response much to the dissatisfaction of Roy.
"What? His prowess ain’t as good as people claim it to be?" He wagged his brows and smirked, hoping that Jason would grab the bait. He did not. Instead, Jason averted his gaze and shrugged.
"No, it's not that," He mumbled quietly under his breath because that was the truth. Dick wasn't bad in bed, in fact, he was quite skilled. However, that didn't excuse him for what he had done. In the end, Jason couldn't blame anyone but himself for sleeping with the man during his moment of weakness.
"Then why so hostile to him?" Roy inquired, having unfortunately caught his words. His eyes then widened and he nearly jumped from his seat. "Don't tell me you were still with that asshole-who-shall-not-be-named?! Don't feel bad about cheating - that filth didn't deserve you to begin with! So -"
"I had broken up with him right before." His voice wasn’t as firm as Jason wished to be, wavering slightly.
"Oh," Was all Roy could say as he sank back into his seat. "Rebound sex," he added dumbly after a moment of silence. That wasn't the reason, but the younger man wasn't going to let his friend believe otherwise.
"Yup," Jason replied rather awkwardly, tapping his leg as anxiety crept up on him. Suddenly the room felt too cramped and he didn't want to be there anymore. Jumping to his feet, he grabbed his infamous black leather jacket with a red hood and shrugged it on. "I'm gonna get some fresh air."
He didn't wait for a response as he quickly left the apartment. He had no destination in mind as he wandered through the streets listlessly until Jason found himself in the city park an hour later. With shaking hands, he lit a cigarette to calm his nerves. He couldn't phantom why this was getting to him this badly. Perhaps it was because Dick had been part of the past that he had so desperately wanted to leave behind along with his ex (basically his entire duration in Blüdhaven, which had been as shitty as the city itself). Or perhaps it was the mere idea that he was being stalked again, used for someone else’s pleasure.
His thoughts were interrupted by someone sitting next to him. The very person he did not wish to see at that moment. Dick didn't say anything immediately, he just sat there quietly as Jason smoked.
"You okay?" He eventually asked and Jason heaved a sigh.
"What do you think?" The snark response made Dick rub the back of his neck, whether out of frustration or nervousness Jason didn't know. They fell into silence again, heavier and more tense than before. It agitated Jason and he began tapping his foot as he became more restless with every passing second. Why wasn't Dick leaving him alone? Why was he even here? How had he found him? Eventually it became too much and the last remnants of Jason's patience snapped.
"How did you find me? How'd you know I was drinking last night?" Jason turned to look at the man, his eyes narrow and calculating. Dick looked surprised and Jason immediately regretted opening his big, fat mouth. He should have pushed Dick off the bench and left instead of actually attempting to converse with this imbecile. As if he would get an honest answer out of this man.
"It was more of a hunch after seeing how distraught you were finding me in your apartment last night," Dick answered with a small smile that almost looked sad. Jason gave him a blank look and so he added, "You know, being a police officer and all…"
And when Jason continued to stare at him incredulously, Dick sighed and put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, I may have spotted you in the corner of my eyes while walking by the bar on my way home. Your jacket isn't exactly inconspicuous, you know."
Jason huffed a breath of air and focused his attention to the sprouting fountain on a small lake across from them. As much as he wanted to accuse him for stalking him, he held his tongue. He was still feeling rather exhausted from last night and emotionally drained due to the brewing paranoia caused by the very man sitting next to him.
"So… who moved next door? Someone as good looking as me?" Jason said instead. Gods, he didn't know why he was suddenly teasing the man. He blamed it on the hangover and totally not something else lingering deep in the back of his subconsciousness. Dick snorted and gave a wide smile, his eyes shining bright with amusement.
"Nah, I patched the hole up soon after you left." His smile became smaller, somber even. "What I had done was wrong, and for that I'm sorry, Jason."
"Yeah, no kidding."
"But," Dick continued and his smile grew into a grin, "Someone did move into your old apartment."
"And? Strapping young man?" Jason leaned in closer, enjoying the way the early afternoon sun reflected against the cool blues of Dick's eyes and the way his soft pink lips stretched with silent laughter.
"God, no." Dick's shoulder shook against Jason's as he chuckled. "He looked like he came from one of those old stereotypical movies of an Italian guy that owns a pizzeria and most likely had a connection with the Italian mafia. I swear the man’s closet only contains white tank tops with permanent grease stains. And the only way I could tell it was a new shirt was the location of the stains."
Jason couldn't help but to laugh at the image painted in his mind. "Are you sure he isn't your type?"
"No, my type is more of the strong and rugged look with black, curly hair and vibrant teal eyes," Dick murmured in a low voice, his eyes never leaving Jason's face. It was then that Jason realised how close they were, how they were having a real conversation as if nothing bad had ever happened between them. His laughter died down and his smile vanished, replaced by nervousness. Dick seemed to have noticed the change and leaned back to give the younger man some space.
"I - I should go," Jason quietly mumbled as he looked away, fidgeting in his seat. He didn't want to wait any longer for a response and got up, but before he could leave, a warm calloused hand grabbed his wrist.
"Wait - would you like to go for dinner or a coffee sometime?"
Jason froze. "I-"
"It's okay." Dick's face softened, "I'll ask next time. We seem to bump into each other quite often."
"And you're friends with Roy." Jason pointed out blatantly. This meant that Dick would most likely show up at his apartment to hang out with his roommate.
"I don't have to hang out with Roy at your place. You clearly aren’t comfortable with that," He replied softly.
Jason sighed, "No, it's fine. Just - just as long as you stay out of my room."
"I would never! I mean, yes I peeped on you before but I… I have boundaries. Besides… I don’t do that anymore..."
"Mhm, boundaries. Like how you somehow know my name."
"Okay I may have looked at your file, but that's it!"
"Are you sure you didn't follow me here either?" Dick face contorted to that of horror, his mouth flapping open and close like a fish out of water only able to produce inchorrent choking sounds.
"I - no, I-"
"It's fine, I'm only kidding."
Dick relaxed slightly though he still had a wary look. "Okay," He replied quietly. "As long as you know that I am not like that… anymore. After that night, it had been a wake up call of how far I had strayed from who I want to be in life. Hence why I accepted this transfer to Jump City to, you know, change my life."
Jason nodded, understanding what the man meant. Funny how they both seemed to have left Blüdhaven for Jump City to better their lives. If Jason wasn't such a pessimist, he would have believed this to be the start of some Hallmark movie. Dick let go of his wrist and smiled.
"Well, I'll see you around."
"Yeah," Was all Jason said before he walked away, his heart pounding and there was a weird warmth blossoming in his chest.