A/N- Alright, so this one and probably the next one, will be kind of serious. I do love me some serious spread about the humor. You can thank the quick-ish update on 'Some Nights' by Fun. I found my writing song for the next three days!

Chapter 3/5

FRIENDS: Will ask why you're crying
BEST FRIENDS: Will already have a shovel to bury the loser that made you cry.

He kept telling himself that those weren't tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. He promised himself that the pressure building in the back of his throat wasn't from suppressing sobs. He wanted himself to believe that he was sitting on the curb outside his school to rest, not take the pressure off what he assumed was a broken bone in his foot. It was only too bad that he couldn't lie to himself being a deception expert and all.

He should have told someone what was happening, but he thought he could handle it. It was just one bully against one of the best acrobats in the world. Not to mention he was the partner of Batman, he didn't need help dealing with his troubles.

He could handle the taunts, the bruises, and having his parent's deaths thrown back in his face every time he turned around. His plan was to wait through the harsh wave of attacks. They always seemed to pass after a week or two, but this time, it hadn't stopped. It had been a month, and Dick knew that fighting back could prove disastrous for everyone. It was the only think that was keeping him from breaking everyone bone in his tormentor's body.

If he was caught fighting, he could be suspended, be exploited by the school system to get more money out of Bruce, have to pay for the jerk's medical bills, and be outed as Robin. The list of negatives was staggering.

"Dick?" A voice cut through his thoughts. It pulled him out of his reasoning, and into the present. He wasn't exactly being covert with the whole sitting on the side of the road in his ruffled uniform.

"Dick? Hey, are you okay?" A breeze ruffled his hair, and his best friend crouched beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You really shouldn't use your powers in public." He reprimanded, but his heart wasn't in it. The last beating had taken it out of him, and he knew that he should have been stronger. He had gone up against the Joker, life should be a cake walk at this point.

"Shut up, and tell me what's wrong." Wally ordered, sitting on the curb beside him. He had slipped into what Dick could only describe as therapist mode. It wasn't what he was suspecting when he called and asked the red-head to pick him up.

"That seems a bit impossible. How does one shut up and speak at the same time?"

"Dick." Wally didn't need to say anything else to convey his seriousness.

"It's nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing."

"Well it is." He insisted. He didn't want his best friend to know. One day his pride was going to get him killed, but as long as the day wasn't soon, he was content with lying to Wally.

"So, does that mean that I brought my shovel for nothing?" Wally asked with an arched eyebrow, leaving Dick stunned into silence. He couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"What?"

"A shovel. You know, those things used to move dirt, normally for holes? They have a metal part on the end that is kind of shaped like this." Wally said and he brought his hands out in front of him and traced the bottom of a shovel in the air.

"I know what it is, but not why you brought one." Dick lied. He had a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach concerning what his friend was talking about.

"How else was I supposed to hide your new friend's body."

"You know?"

"I always knew, and I was waiting for you to ask for help. Stupid of me with the whole hard-headed thing you Bats have going on." Wally sighed, and he rose to his feet, dragging Dick with him. "Now, let's get you cleaned up and talk about possible body disposal sites. Sloppy murders are no fun."

With what seemed like the first real smile in weeks, Dick let Wally support most of his weight, and drag him to his truck. The entire way there, plotted with Wally.

Both of them thinking of what to do with the shovel in the back of the truck.

FRIENDS: Will comfort you when the guy/girl rejects you

BEST FRIENDS: Will go up to them and say 'its because your gay isn't it?'

He couldn't believe that he had been rejected again. It was starting to get on his nerves. He wasn't looking for a relationship. He just needed a date to the school formal. Only a few hours where he would take her to the dance, get a picture taken, and take her home with the awkward feeling of one of her parents watching her through one of the windows.

If the school would allow him to bring a girl from outside the student population of Central City High School, then he wouldn't be in his current situation. He had been looking for a way to ask out the team's archer for weeks, but as much as he liked her, there was no way he was going to show up at another dance with no one by his side. He was already the unwanted center of attention with his bright red hair and his ability to trip over nothing.

It didn't help that a ninja had been secretly following him around the entire day, because Gotham Academy had been closed for a week because of an attack on the school. He was having to yell at Dick to not get caught and, as was expected, the Boy Wonder was too good for that even without being warned. Every time he told his friend to watch it, he looked like he was talking to himself. Now, he was considered a dork and crazy.

He was more than happy to put the day behind him, and when the final bell rang, he was out the door as fast as he could without raising suspicion. His plan was to make it outside the school and wait for Dick to show up from where ever the little troll had gotten off to. While he waited, however, he was going to ask Sarah Jannes to the formal. She was his friend to some degree. He had helped her pass the last semester of advanced Biology, and he figured that if he asked her as a friend, he could get her to say yes. He knew she wasn't going with anyone, so he figured things were looking up for him.

That was until Sarah finally showed up at the front of the school surrounded by the normal cluster of girls. Why females couldn't function alone was beyond him, but that didn't mean he didn't have to fight his way through a cluster of girls before he could get to Sarah. It wasn't going to be pretty when he came out the other side of the mess, that was of course, he made it out.

Steeling his nerves, he went in. The air smelled strangely of perfume and hand lotion, but he focused on talking to Sarah. That was his mission.

"Hey Sarah." He greeted easily with a wave, earning a smile from the brunette.

"Hey Wally."

"I wanting to ask you something." He said nervously, and he resisted the urge to rub his neck.

"Okay, shoot." About this time the group of girls surrounding Sarah had turned away from one another and their various cell phones. They were completely tuned into the conversation.

"I was wondering if you would want to go to the dance with me as a friend."

Hoping for the best, he watched her carefully, but all his hopes crumbled when she eyed him like a specimen in a petri dish. He knew he was going to fail whatever test she was putting him under.

"Sorry, no." She said gently and she walked around him, leaving him silent and stunned on the steps of the school.

There went his chances of having a good formal, and it was then that he decided that he wasn't going to the dance at all. He would be under a lot less stress if he hung out with Dick at the cave or at Uncle Barry's. Maybe it was the rejection taking over his mind, but he was so sick of occasions where one was supposed to show up with some form of date. With a sigh, he abandoned all hope of fitting in the mold that the upcoming formal had made for him.

He was just going to collect his ninja and go home. The day had been way too long. All he had to do was find Dick, which was easier said than done.

It should have been at least, but when he turned around, he knew exactly where Dick was.

Dick had stalked up to Sarah with an angry expression on his face, and if he didn't know better, Wally would have thought that Dick was going to hit her. He may have actually preferred it to what the younger teen had really planned.

As clear as bell, and with his voice ringing across the school's lawn, Dick said only one thing to Sarah.

"You rejected him because you're gay, didn't you?"

A/N- New chapter! There you go! By the way... I enjoy your suggestions, they make me smile.

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