Hello again guys! So there's a lot of fluff in this chapter between Gar and Rachel. *You're welcome* Ha, anyway I am now officially on Spring Break so hopefully I'll be able to update more than once this week. Fingers crossed. I am really looking forward to all the free time I'm going to have. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Six: Parties might be Cool

Rachel was at a loss for words. How could Garfield, someone who she had just met, compliment her so easily and willingly? Sure, she had agreed to start over with him and not be intentionally rude, but that didn't mean that he was allowed to not be intimidated by her at all. Rachel considered that she must have been losing her edge before another comment by Gar pulled her back into reality.

"So how's the party been so far? I haven't spent too much time inside." Gar changed the subject. He noticed how uncomfortable Rachel seemed to be with his comment, so he let it go for the time being. He really did mean what he said though, her smile was beautiful. If he could be lucky to cause that smile to make more appearances, he'd be a very happy guy.

"I don't have much to compare it to. I haven't been to a party in ages." Rachel admitted as she slightly ducked her head, hiding a slight blush of embarrassment. She'd never been embarrassed of her lonely past, but something about Gar's demeanor told her that he had been to his fair share of parties. He was similar to Richard. Cool, calm, admittedly not hideous. Your typical popular guy. Rachel had no doubt in her mind that in a few days, if not sooner, Gar would be surrounded by everyone at school just as her brother was every day. A small frown formed on her face at the thought of sharing her new found friend, or whatever he was, with more people. She wasn't sure why she was feeling jealous over a boy she didn't even know very well, but as of now he was the only person other than Jen to make an effort with her. He was worthy of her friendship. Garfield suddenly stood up, holding a hand out.

"Come on, you should go experience it then. No fun in sitting out here all night, we can do that any time." Rachel knew Gar had a point, but she wasn't easily swayed.

"I don't know, it's pretty crowded in there and there are a lot of drunken idiots like Roy bumbling around." Rachel looked up at Gar. His hand didn't waver.

"Come on Rae, I won't let anything happen to you." He had a small half smile on his face, like that of a child trying to hold in excitement.

"My name is Rachel." She spat suddenly as she stood up ignoring Gar's still outstretched palm.

"Rachel it is then." Garfield rolled his eyes as he reached for Rachel's dainty hand and began to drag her inside the huge house. The two passed the large various rooms of Vic's house. In the front room, it seemed to be the quietest. There were couples talking and sipping on wine coolers along with a few loners staring at their phone screens. In the kitchen several guys who seemed to be on the football team were chugging as much beer as possible. Roy was along with them, cheering on a particularly huge guy that went by Mammoth around school. Honestly the kid looked like a thirty year old man. Rachel had always assumed it was because he failed his classes so many times. The upstairs was roped off, but from the various clothes spotted at the top of the stairs, well, Rachel could imagine what was going on up there. In the living room the music was the loudest as kids that Rachel knew were doing nothing but grinding on each other or making out viciously in front of everyone. Both pastimes seemed quite disgusting to Rachel. The two then passed the open door to the basement where various video game sounds could be heard. Rachel assumed that the nerds in the basement had only come to the party to use what sounded to be Vic's very expensive top of the line gaming system. After the lap around the party, Garfield led Rachel back to the living room.

"Dance with me." He smiled as he let go of her hand. Rachel's arms immediately went up to cross over her chest defensively.

"I don't dance." Rachel shook her head as she took a step back towards the wall, away from the dance floor. Gar went in the opposite direction then turned to face her.

"Come on." He grinned as he began to move in very silly motions, not even going to the beat of the music. His grin widened when he saw Rachel begin to suppress a smile. He began to make his movements even more ridiculous, pulling out every dance move he had seen his parents do in some old home videos. A small group of students seemed to be watching him now. Without a doubt he was sure that a smartphone was recording him, but he didn't pay it much mind.

"Dancing like an idiot won't chance anything, Gar." She said almost in a voice that sounded eerily similar to a giggle.

"You know you wanna." He laughed as he came close to Rachel's face before he did a small spin then faced her again.

"No, I really don't." She smirked as she jutted out her hip, putting all of her weight on one leg.

"Fine, have it your way."

After many failed attempts of trying to get Rachel to dance with him, Gar finally accepted the fact that Rachel was too shy of a person to completely let go and have some fun. That would be okay for now, but eventually he vowed that he would somehow get Rachel to really relax for once.

"Hey, wanna go in the backyard? It's probably the best place to be." Gar said into Rachel's ear as he finally stopped dancing, hoping that she would hear him over the blasting music. He respected that Rachel might not be the whole "get drunk and dance like there's no tomorrow" type of girl. If he was completely honest with himself, he wasn't like that either. Rachel held back the urge to flinch at the sudden feeling of Garfield's breath on her ear. She simply nodded after realizing that Gar's head was too far away for her to whisper back to. He really did make her feel short. Out in the backyard the vibe was much more to Rachel's liking and less hormonal. There were many small tables set out with candles and flowers on top surrounding the pool. While there were a few others sitting at the tables, there were plenty of Rachel's peers standing up and dancing to the music blasting from inside. It wasn't nearly as loud outside, but it was heard well enough for the teenagers outside to dance around each other. Rachel noticed that Garth was still swimming laps around the pool. He seemed to be the only one not bothered by the cool autumn night. Girls were surrounded by the edge of the pool, literally drooling as he flipped around carelessly in Vic's large pool. He seemed to be paying no attention to them. He just seemed content to be in the water. Garfield pulled Rachel over to an empty table and pulled out her chair.

"Thank you." Rachel mumbled as she watched Gar seat himself across from her.

"So. You don't dance, you don't talk to people other than Jen and Richard, you don't go to parties," Gar listed off as he counted on his fingers for emphasis. "What do you do, Rachel?"

"I read a lot."

"I read comic books." Garfield offered brightly.

"We've been over this." Rachel reminded him quietly.

"Well excuse me for trying to relate!" Gar sighing in a slightly whiny voice. Rachel smirked at his childish actions. "Well, tell me about your family then. Any other siblings?"

"No, just Rich."

"What about your parents? What do they do?"

Rachel thought out her response quickly but logically. "My mother died some time ago and my dad works for Bruce Wayne Enterprises." She decided that a half lie was better than a whole one. After all her mother did die and her father did work for Bruce Wayne Enterprises. Sort of.

"Sorry about your mom, that must have been terrible." Gar said quietly, looking Rachel right in the eye. She responded completely honestly this time around.

"She wasn't exactly mother of the year. Plus it was forever ago, Richard and I barley remember her."

Gar nodded, not sure what to say from there. "Uh, hey, you want a drink? I'm kind thirsty." He said as he stood up.

"Just water would be fine, thanks."

"No problem. Be right back." With that, Gar headed to the other side of the backyard where multiple coolers were filled with various drinks. Almost as soon as Gar was behind Rachel, Jen seemed to come out of nowhere and sit in his seat.

"So how's it goin' with Gar? You guys seem to be hitting it off." She winked as she leaned close to Rachel from over the small black table.

"Everything is fine Jen."

"Fine or fine?" Jen whispered, once again with a sly wink.

"Jen I'm not sure what's in your eye, but maybe you should get that checked out." Rachel said in a mock serious tone as she widened her eyes for effect.

"Rachel you know what I mean!" She whined.

"Yes, I do and I would prefer if you went away now. I can tell you about this later."

"You'd better." Jen grumbled as she quickly got up and stormed back over to where Wally was waiting for her. Rachel rolled her eyes at her friend's antics but quickly recovered as Gar returned with the drinks.

"What did Jen want?" He asked casually as he handed Rachel her ice cold water bottle.

"Oh nothing. She's just being a little nosy." Rachel said nonchalantly as she sipped on her drink.

"Ah alright." Gar smiled smugly as he glanced down.

"What are you smiling about?" Rachel asked, becoming somewhat defensive.

"Oh nothing, I'm just having a lot of fun. We should hang out like this again Rachel." Garfield genuinely smiled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

…

After what felt like countless hours of talking to Gar, Rachel was actually enjoying herself more than she expected. Garfield managed to get some laughs out of her and she felt almost as relaxed as she did when she was with Richard, and that was a big deal. After just one night together Rachel had felt considerably closer to Gar. She was surprised at how quickly she was making friends lately. First Jen then Gar, all in the past few days. Rachel forced herself to keep her excitement of new friends in as she kicked the water her feet were dangling in. Her and Gar had migrated to the pool after finishing drinks and began to talk to the others at the party. From left to right on the side of the large pool it went Wally, Jen, Richard, Rachel, Gar, Vic, and Bee. Garth was still in the water, only now he was simply floating on his pack as he spoke with his friends.

"Dude, I don't know how you're not freezing your tail off in there." Gar pointed out to Garth surprisingly.

"I don't know either man, I think the water feels great." Garth shrugged as he kicked himself a small foot further into the pool.

"I knew you'd be the only one in the pool." Victor shook his head as he watched Garth.

"Good lookin' out man." Garth nodded thumbs up to Vic as he closed his eyes peacefully. "Gar, come on in. The water is fine."

"No way I'm going in there man."

"What, you scared of some water Logan?" Jen laughed as she popped her head into the conversation from beside Richard. Garfield rolled his eyes.

"No I am not scared for your information, Jen."

"Then go for it. You go in, I'll go in." Jen smiled mischievously.

"Come on, I'm not even in a swimsuit like fish boy over here." Gar scoffed.

"Hey, if you guys are gonna make fun of me I prefer the name Aqualad." Garth commented as he dove into the water.

"Sounds scared to me." Richard added to the conversation. "Hey Wally, how much you want to bet Gar can't jump in the pool."

"Fifteen says he doesn't do it."

"Dudes, I can hear you." Gar snapped. "Anyway that's such a-" Before Gar could finish his sentence he felt a small hand on his back that forcefully shoved him into the water. The cold was not as shocking as he expected it to be, but still terribly uncomfortable as he swam his way back to the surface of the water. He looked for the one who had pushed him, but was met with an unusual sight. There was Rachel, hand covering her mouth, laughing. No, this wasn't a giggle or a scoff, but an actual genuine laugh. By far it wasn't loud or the most joyous laugh, but it was probably as close to a laugh that Rachel could get. After what felt like a long few moments of shock, Gar muttered under his breath.

"Oh it is so on." He grinned as he made a quick grab for Rachel's ankles and pulled her into the water with him. Unlike what anyone was expecting, Rachel did not yell for being touched or immediately attack Gar. She simply giggled as she called out to Garth.

"Hey, it does feel pretty good in here." She smirked at Gar's playful expression and splashed at him with two hands pushing on the surface of the water. The remaining dry teenagers simply stared and took the scene in, still in shock over what had just gone down.

"Welp. A promise is a promise." Jen shrugged, getting over the shock of Rachel actually acting like a normal teenager first. She slipped into the water and began to splash Garfield as well. Seconds later Wally dived in, figuring he was already getting wet enough from all the splashing going on around him. After all, it seemed that Gar was in some serious need of backup.

"Real mature guys." Richard smiled as he shook his head. He the rest of his friends sitting on the edge of the pool simply smiled as they watched the splash war in front of them unfold, but his smile was the widest. Rachel was having fun. Rachel was having fun with people. Rachel was having fun with people at a party. He had no idea what Gar had done to get Rachel to open up, even just a little, but he was glad that he did it. He made a mental note to thank him later.

Awh so cute. Rachel is starting to open up to the gang! Not saying that she'll be a head cheerleader anytime soon but this is a start. Anyway thanks so much to all of you who are still reading this story. Big thanks to all of my reviewers! Feedback is much appreciated. Please, tell me what you think of my story so far. I'm even open to suggestions as to what should be next for Rachel and Gar! Or even an idea for another story. I am open to anything. Once again thanks for reading guys. Til next time! :)