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You stared at Roy who sat across from you in the dark closet, his bright green eyes watching you carefully as if he was measuring what his next move would be.
“So,” you tapped the edge of the box you sat on. “Are we gonna do this or what?”
Roy snapped out of his haze and looked around before his gaze landed on you again.
Clearing his throat, he looked at you with an expression you couldn’t decipher. “Psh, yeah. It’s just a silly little kiss, right?” he asked.
“Yeah,” you confirmed, shrugging your shoulders. “Just a silly little kiss, brought upon us by our mutual friend.”
Roy scooted closer on his box so your knees were touching, and you could feel his breath fanning over your face.
“Hey, if you don’t want to do this you don’t have to, okay?”
“You saying you don’t want to be dazzled by my mad kissing skills?”
Cupping your cheek, Roy brushed a hair out of your eyes. “I think you’re the one who’ll be left dazzled, doll.”
Carefully, Roy brushed his lips against yours before kissing you fully. His hand caressed your face, slowly pulling you closer as he stroked your cheek with his thumb.
Your hand found its place on Roy’s cheek, angling yourself to gain better access.
Suddenly a loud knock sounded through the dark closet, making you and Roy jump apart.
“Alright, better be decent 'cause we’re coming in!” came the voice of one, Wallace West. Almost immediately, the door was swung open to reveal your friends Wally, Dick, Donna, Garth, and Kori.
Each one of them had an expectant look on their face as if they were hoping something was going to happen only to be disappointed when the door opened to reveal the two of you were just as normal as ever, right?
Clearing your throat, you carefully climbed out of the closet. Suddenly the room was really warm, and you swore your face grew flushed. You had no idea why, but you felt a pair of eyes watching your movement until you took your place on the floor curling a round pillow into your chest.
A few rounds later, everyone was done. It ended with Dick and Kori going almost too far for everyone’s comfort, and the collective decision to call it a night. Roy volunteered to walk you home, claiming “You never knew the weirdos who walked around at night”, like he wasn’t a known vigilante who roamed the rooftops at night.
Walking side by side, the two of you stayed silent, not sure what to do or say. It was just a kiss, nothing more. So why did everything suddenly feel different?
Your hands were clasped behind your back as you looked around, taking in the beautiful night sky above you as Roy kept pace, admiring you from the side.
He had never noticed how beautiful you looked in low light, this couldn’t have been something new right? The two of you have had hundreds of these walks together, and until now he never looked twice at who he was walking with.
This time, he was cautious to make sure he didn’t trip or breathe too heavily– which was stupid to worry about, but yet here he was.
Stopping at your doorstep, You and Roy shared an awkward silence not wanting to meet the other’s gaze. Every time you tried to meet his eyes, Roy looked away. Roy wanted to talk to you, but it was like everything suddenly seemed not important enough to converse about.
“So–
“Do you–”
You both shared a laugh, before looking at each other finally. You had never noticed how deep of a green Roy’s eyes were, how they almost sparkled with the yellow flecks around the pupil.
“You first,” you smiled.
“So, that was exciting huh?” he asked, staring at the ground as he shuffled his feet.
“Yeah,” you chuckled. “Gotta love our friends finding other people’s misery entertaining.”
“You’re telling me you didn’t enjoy the kiss one bit?”
Rolling your eyes, you turned to walk into your apartment building. “Good night Harper,”
Roy scoffed and threw his hands in the air. “Come on, Y/N. You know you liked it,” He grinned.
“Good night, Roy,” you called, waving him off.
Watching you walk in, Roy let out a sigh and slumped his shoulders before heading home with the thoughts of your bright smile invading his mind.
Once you were safely in your apartment, you closed the door behind you and made your way to your room. Throwing your stuff to the floor, you let out a sigh. It was just a kiss, nothing to freak out about.
It's not like it was your first one, that happened in high school with a less than stellar boyfriend. Roy was your best friend, and the two of you have been in plenty of other awkward situations, what made this any different?
It wasn’t until three days later that you saw Roy again, and it wasn’t on purpose. You were at your local grocery store, in the pet aisle. Your cat needed some food, and you thought you would treat him to some new toys.
What you weren’t prepared for was a certain red-haired someone to stop beside you and stand there quietly.
Looking over, you smiled. “Hey, there board shorts,”
“Hey yourself,” he commented, glancing at you with a soft smile on his face. “What are you doing in the pet aisle?”
Scrunching your nose, you turned to give Roy a look as if to ask him if he was serious. “Did you get hit on the head too hard, or did you forget I own a cat.”
“I refuse to believe you own a cat for the simple fact that I have never seen nor heard a cat at your place.”
“That’s because he is much like his namesake, quiet and broody.”
Roy snorted, “What, did you name him after Bruce or something?”
Chewing your lip, you turned to look back at the cat food. “Or something,” you muttered.
“Holy shit, you named your cat after Bruce.”
“His name is Broosh Wen, thank you and he is nowhere as emotionally constipated as his human counterpart.”
Roy couldn’t hold it in any longer, he bent over laughing at the idea you named your cat after Bruce Wayne, the Batman, and a spoof of his name no less. He had to tell Dick, and you were never going to let it down.
You crossed your arms and frowned as Roy continued laughing in the middle of the pet aisle, attracting a lot of unwanted stares. This couldn’t be that funny to him, there had to be something wrong with Roy to make him laugh this hard.
“All right, ease up board shorts, this really isn’t that funny.” you huffed.
Roy managed to calm himself, and wipe the tears of joy from his eyes. “Oh, it is when you imagine the vein on Bruce’s forehead popping when he finds out.”
Okay, you had to admit that would be a sight to see especially because your cat is named after a memed version of his name.
Just how were you supposed to tell Roy that this cat didn’t exist until two weeks ago when you caved and adopted a black cat and promptly named it Broosh Wen.
That was a problem for another day, especially since Roy so unceremoniously invited himself over to finally meet this elusive cat of yours. Which led to where you were now, leading Roy up the steps to your apartment while he carried the large bag of food and you had the little toys and treats you wanted to stock up on.
Unlocking your door, you kicked it open to be met with the soft meowing of your precious boy Broosh waddling his way towards you.
Roy watched as you set the bags down and picked up Broosh, rubbing his ears and chin.
“Who’s a good boy? Does the kitty want love?”
Narrowing his eyes, Roy knew something didn’t add up. You’ve been saying you owned a cat for over six months now, but this one didn’t seem more than two months old.
“Hey, uh, Y/N?” he asked, setting the comically large bag of food for such a small kitten. “How old is Broosh exactly?”
Not paying attention, you smiled as little Broosh began purring and kneading your chest obviously enjoying the affection he was receiving. “He’s just over two months old, why?”
“Didn’t you say that you had him six months ago when Kyle asked if you could house-sit for him?”
Well shit. What you didn’t count on was Roy actually using his brain today.
“Well–I–um–”
Roy started laughing again, before rolling his eyes. “I’m just fucking with you,”
Frowning, you stepped closer. “Alright then Harper, you’re on baby duty.”
Roy held his hands out and shook his head, “Yeah, no. I’m not a cat person Y/N,”
“Oh, well you’re about to be.” you grinned and set Broosh on Roy’s shoulder forcing him to stabilize the little kitten so he wouldn’t fall off of Roy and rip his shirt.
Immediately grabbing onto the kitten, Roy froze on the spot and tried to support Broosh as he traveled across his shoulder, over his neck, and to the other side where he could get a good look at everything from this higher vantage point.
Crossing your arms, you smiled as Roy slowly warmed up to the little furball. “I think Broosh likes you,”
At the sound of your voice, little Broosh turned to look in your direction and started meowing.
Letting out a giggle, you walked over and pulled Broosh off of Roy’s shoulder only to realize how close you actually were.
You were so close you could smell his aftershave, the rough cedar smell accompanied by the scent of the cheap coffee from the diner down the street. One inch closer and your lips would be touching and it didn’t click until now how much you wanted to kiss Roy Harper again.
And from the way he was looking at you, Roy was feeling the same thing.
“Can–Can I try something?” he asked, reaching up to brush your hair out of your eyes.
Setting Broosh on his cat tree nearby, you nodded slowly not taking your eyes off him.
Reaching over to cup your face, Roy slowly moved into your space.
“Stop me if you don’t want this,” he muttered, centimeters from meeting your lips.
Before he could change his mind, you pressed your lips to his. Roy seemed hesitant at first, but then he cupped your face with both hands and pulled you closer, savoring the taste of your lips against his.
Letting out a giggle, you felt something wrap itself around your leg. Looking down, you saw Broosh weaving through yours and Roy’s legs, looking up and meowing at you both like he was jealous of the affection you were giving each other.
“You know, this would be a little easier without the screaming child at our feet.”
“So how about dinner tonight at that new place downtown?” you asked, looking up at him.
“Sounds perfect,”