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Gotham Academy was in some sort of weird chaos that could only mean one thing- Bruce Wayne had finally decided to send his son, Damian, to your school.
“I think I’m going to start hiding in the library for the next few weeks.” You mumbled to yourself as you shut your locker and looked over your shoulder to see the hoard of people that you now associated with Damian Wayne walking down the corridor.
You felt bad for the guy, he looked very uncomfortable with the amount of people that were walking with him, but you were always trying your hardest to avoid those people, so you generally got out fast whenever you saw him coming. This was more difficult than it sounded, because he was in all of your classes and the teacher had put him right next to you in every single one of them. The weird thing was, he always seemed to walk down this particular corridor whenever you were getting books out of your locker, and it always bothered you that he never seemed to have his books when he did, and this was the last corridor with lockers, so you assumed he was just wasting his time like everyone else seemed to do in the mornings. Except today, you didn’t get out fast enough, because you’d left a book in your locker, so today, you noticed that Damian had stopped right next to your locker, and had proceeded to open the one next to yours. He seemed to let out a relieved sigh after taking a quick look around and realising there was nobody else nearby except for you.
“Weird.” You said to yourself, taking the missing book out of your locker.
“What’s weird?” Asked the boy next you, making you jump.
“Did I say that out loud?” You replied, looking at him properly for the first time, truth be told, he was really handsome.
“Yes, you did.”
“Oh well uh… I was just thinking that it was weird that I’d uh… Forgotten this book, when all I could think about this morning was what would happen in the next chapter?” You stuttered, your cheeks feeling a little warm with embarrassment.
“You must really like Science then.” Damian responded as he shut his locker and glanced around to see if the group that had been following him that morning was still around.
“Science?” You asked, before you looked down at the book you were holding and realised that it was your science textbook. “Oh, yeah. Science. It’s one of my favourite subjects.”
“Interesting.” He turned to look at you properly as you shut your locker and smiled as he recognised you. “You’re the girl that sits next to me in class right?”
“Yep”
“I’m Damian, though I assume you already knew that?” He held out his hand, and you looked at it for a second before taking it.
“Yeah, it’s kind of all anyone at this place will even talk about at the moment. I’m by the way, although you probably already knew that, considering you sit next to me and the teacher calls my name every class and from what I’ve gathered you’re really smart so…” You started, then turned to walk to your class, “I’m rambling aren’t I? We’d better get to class before we’re late or anything.”
*****
He didn’t see you again until the following week, when you had gotten to your locker looking rather flustered and didn’t notice his presence. He smiled from behind the door of his locker when he heard you mumbling something incoherent and slowly shut his locker a little so he could hear what you were saying better.
“Where did I put my Science textbook? Oh right, I left it with my History books and put them at the bottom of the locker. Duh! Too bad I don’t have History today, maybe I should stop bringing the… No, there’s always a chance that I’ll need that Science book, even if we haven’t used it in years… Wait, where is that book anyway? I left it at home didn’t I? Great!”
Damian shut his locker to get your attention and smiled softly at how you jumped and turned to look at him, as if wondering when exactly he had appeared.
“Do you talk to yourself like that often ?” He asked curiously.
“Uh… I guess so?” You responded, finally shutting your locker. “Why do you ask?”
“I was just curious.” He said with a shrug as he began walking beside you to the next class. “Besides, it’s always important to get to know the people you share a class with isn’t it?”
“Well it depends who it is that’s sharing a class with you, I for one don’t want to socialise with those people who don’t even care about learning and who are only here to play sport and make mean comments about people behind their backs” You said as you adjusted the books in your arms.
“I’m guessing you’re not fond of the people who are ‘popular’ and constantly disrupt classes for their own conversations?” Damian commented.
“That sounds about right” You replied as you walked through the door of the classroom and sat down in your seat, ignoring the looks everyone in the class was giving you when you walked in with Damian Wayne while having an actual conversation with Damian Wayne, but as soon as you had taken your seat the teacher walked in, silencing any further conversation with him.
Later in the day you were sitting in the cafeteria, eating a sandwich you’d made at home (After your first week you decided it would be worth the effort to make it if you didn’t have to wait in line, the food they served here just wasn’t worth it) and reading over the notes you’d made in previous classes. Having spread books and various papers across the table, it was no wonder you didn’t sit with people, the lack of space and your amazing aptitude for ignoring people when you were studying drove most of your friends crazy, and they eventually decided to leave you be at lunch time. It was no surprise you almost choked on your food when someone tapped you on the shoulder, at least for you anyway.
“Oh, I’m so sorry !” Damian said, hurriedly patting you on the back until you’d recovered.
“I-it’s fine” You replied, taking in deep breaths, “I’m just not used to people walking up to me at lunch is all.”
“I can tell from the state of your table,” He commented, gesturing to all your books and papers, which you hurriedly cleared away so he could sit down in front of you. “We didn’t get to finish our conversation before the first class of the day.”
“The one about getting to know people in your classes?” You asked, tidying up some of the papers and closing a few books. “You know we started that conversation because I talk to myself right?”
“I’m very aware of why we started the conversation, but I was serious about getting to know people in my classes, and of all the people in my classes, you seem to be the least annoying.”
“I’ll… Take that as a compliment?” You responded, writing something quickly into an open notebook. “Honestly I think there are way more people in the class that are less annoying than me, you gotta remember that I talk to myself.”
“But you’re also smarter than all those people who you think are less annoying than yourself.” Damian said with a gesture towards the people who were throwing paper planes across the cafeteria. “And I’d prefer to have one friend who is smart and has an interesting habit of talking to herself than multiple friends who throw paper planes around and gossip about each other.”
“Alright then Damian, I see your point now. I certainly wouldn’t want friends who throw paper planes at people, I’ve had one of those hit my head before and it was actually kinda painful.” You said, laughing a little at the memory. “So what exactly did you want to know about me?”
“The general things that friends would know about each other, like your favourite food or your favourite colour, I believe your favourite subject is Science?”
“Well, my favourite food would be and my favourite colour would definitely be , but I don’t really have a favourite subject, I just really liked that Science chapter we were reading.” You said with a smile, remembering how you’d made up that excuse with your science textbook the first time you talked to Damian.
The two of you continued talking for the rest of lunchtime, mostly about random things, like things that you liked and exchanging funny stories.
“… And you should have seen the look on my father’s face when he walked into the room!” Damian said between laughs as he finished the story.
“I can’t believe you did that, you really are crazy aren’t you?” You asked, wiping the tears from your eyes when you had finished laughing.
“Actually he thought it was rather funny too, I think the only person who didn’t appreciate it was Alfred,” Damian responded “I really thought-“
The bell rang and you picked up your pile of books as you stood up, then walked with Damian back to the lockers that were next to each other and exchanged the books you had for the ones you’d need, while also putting the ones you’d need after school into your bag.
After the final class of the day was over, you both walked out of the school together. While he stopped to wait for a car, you began your walk home, as your house was only a 10 minute walk from the school.
“Are you sure you don’t want a lift?” Damian asked, noticing his car driving towards the school.
“Yeah, it’s only a 10-minute walk Damian, I’ll be fine.” You said, waving at him just as you began turning around. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“A friend of yours, Master Damian?” Asked Alfred when Damian got into the car and put his seat-belt on.
“Yes Alfred, now I believe we have a Charity dinner tonight and I have a lot of homework to get done.” He said, looking through his bag at all the books he had brought home with him.
Every day from then onwards went much the same for you and Damian, you’d meet at the lockers, talk on the way to class and then talk again at lunch and make your way to the front of the school together before you began your walk home and Damian got into his car only minutes later. A few times Damian managed to keep you out the front of the school until his car showed up, where you would politely excuse yourself and then begin your walk, and one of those times Bruce was in the car to see the new friend that Damian had made.
“So that’s the mysterious who you’re always talking about” Bruce mused when Damian got into the car that day.
“Yes.” Damian replied, taking a book from his bag and opening it, “She has a locker next to mine and she’s incredibly smart.”
“I can see why you’d like her then.” Bruce mused.
“I thought you wanted me to make friends, wasn’t that the whole reason you sent me to that school?” Damian flipped the page of his book, looking up briefly as he did so.
“Yes it was one of the reasons, and I’m glad you’ve done what I asked you to. As long as you haven’t told her anything about our nightly escapades.”
“I have not. She may be a good friend, but I haven’t found a reason to tell her about that.” Damian closed his book when the car neared Wayne Manor, and put it back into his bag just before getting out of the car.
“Well the next thing I’d have to ask is when you’re going to bring her over to study or try Alfred’s famous Nachos.” Bruce commented as he closed the car door on his side, and walked up to the doors of the Manor.
“We’ve only known each other for a few weeks. Perhaps I’ll invite her next month when she’ll be madly preparing for that Science test we have.” Damian said as he climbed the stairs to go to his room.
*****
You barely noticed Damian take his usual spot in front of you at the table at lunch, already completely finished with lunch and completely absorbed in reading every word from the past 3 chapters in your science textbook four or five times to make sure that you remembered every detail you could. You looked up suddenly when Damian snatched the book from your hands, and you reached up to grab it back from him a little sleepily.
“Hey!” You cried, “Damian, I’m trying to study here!”
“You and I both know that you’ve studied enough for now, you need to take breaks every now and then, .” He said, holding the book away from you and giving you a stern look.
“I’ve been taking breaks every time I get up to move to a class or to lunch” You mumbled, drawing random things onto your notepad for lack of a better thing to do.
“Are you really so concerned about that Science test that you would risk your own health?”
“I… Guess so?” You responded quietly, then shaking your head and rubbing your eyes to ward away the sleepiness you felt. “Ugh… You’re right, I have been studying too much”
“Precisely why I’m making you take a break.” He said, taking your book of written notes and reading them. “If you really want to continue studying for this, perhaps you should come over to Wayne Manor after school tomorrow and we can study together?”
“Do you even need to study Damian?” You asked with a yawn. “I’ve seen your test grades, you basically get a perfect score on every test, and I’ve never once seen you study outside of class.”
“Maybe I don’t need to study, but based on your notebook there are a few topics here that you could use a hand with, and I’d like to help you with that.” He gently placed your notebook onto the table with your science textbook and smiled softly when he saw your head drop onto your arms.
“OK, sure I’ll go over to Wayne Manor tomorrow after school, just… Tell me what time I’ll be going home…” Your eyes closed from weariness and you fell asleep, leaving Damian to write down everything you’d need to know for tomorrow and place it on top of your books.

The next day you found yourself in front of Wayne Manor, standing next to Damian and nervously adjusting the straps of your backpack. You smiled at Alfred as he opened the door and welcomed you into the house and you stepped in cautiously, watching Damian for what to do. You followed him into a spacious room with a large table and a couple of couches, he motioned for you to sit down and when you did he opened his bag and took out some books.
“Father normally uses this room whenever he has guests but I think he has some late meetings, so he probably won’t make an appearance today.” Damian sighed as you took out your notebooks. “Now… You needed help with chapter 3 didn’t you?”
The two of you studied for a while, taking frequent breaks so the information could sink in. After an hour of studying and homework the two of you began talking about nonsense, and sharing funny or interesting things you’d seen over the past week or so.
“… So this picture’s captioned ‘Everyone needs John Cena in a tutu on their blog’ and by this point I’m dying of laughter because a wrestler is wearing a tutu and he seems completely fine with it!” You giggled when you saw Damian trying to hold back a laugh and put a hand to your stomach as you laughed, and took a deep breath when you finished laughing.
“So this is what kids these days get up to when they’re meant to be studying.” Called a voice that, when you turned around, belonged to Bruce Wayne and you jumped up from your place on the couch, pushing your science textbook closed and smoothing down your skirt.
“I thought you had a late meeting?” Damian asked with a frown.
“I did, but then someone cancelled and I thought I’d come home early to meet your friend.” Bruce replied, walking towards you and reaching out a hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you .”
“I-it’s nice to meet you too Mr Wayne.” You stammered as you shook his hand, “we were studying before you got here, we were just taking a break-“
“It’s fine , from what Damian’s told me, you study a lot at school anyway, so I’m glad you’re taking a break.” He said, giving you a pat on the shoulder, “But make sure you don’t take a break for too long, I think I heard Alfred beginning to prepare his famous nachos.”
“Uh… Thank you but I should probably get going, I don’t want to worry my parents.” You said quickly, picking up your bag. You stopped and looked up timidly when Damian put his hand onto yours.
“It’s not that late , your parents won’t be too worried if you stay.”
“Oh no, I really should get going.” You gently pulled your hand from his and slung your backpack over your shoulder and making your way past everyone so you could get to the door of the house. “I promised my parents I’d be home for dinner.”
Damian followed you outside, shutting the door behind him and grabbing your wrist, pulling you back to look at him before you could protest.
“You didn’t really promise your parents, did you?” He asked, taking your other hand with his free one so he was holding both of your hands. When you noticed this you blushed a little bit.
“How’d you know?” You looked down at the ground, hoping to hide your blush. As much as it hurt to lie to Damian, you just didn’t know how much longer you could have stayed in that house with him without revealing your feelings for him.
“I’m very good at reading people,” He squeezed your hands a little bit, and you looked up to see him with a smile on his face.
“I really should get going…” You murmured, feeling a little flustered.
“Why?” Again with the smile, your heart fluttered a little just looking at him.
“B-because I…” You swallowed, what could you possibly say to him? “I think I’m in love with you and I don’t think I can stay here any longer without ruining our friendship?”
“What?” He looked dumbfounded, which was an unusual look to see on his face. You almost wanted to laugh, but then you realised what you’d said to make him look like that.
“Did… Did I say that out loud?!” You put a hand to your mouth before you could say anything else, then started a brisk walk towards the front gate of the manor.
You’d almost gotten to the gates when Damian’s hand grabbed yours, and he pulled you to turn around to face him. Before you knew it, he had pulled you into a kiss and your face heated up with a blush when he pulled away. There was that charming smile on his face, and you were speechless.
“What? You weren’t expecting that?” He seemed happier than he usually was when he asked you that question.
“I…” You faltered for a second. “Why me?”
“Because you’re smart and beautiful and nothing like anyone I’ve ever met.”
“Yeah… I doubt you’ve ever met anyone who talks to themselves and is prone to saying things out loud when they really shouldn’t.” You laughed a little bit.
“But if you weren’t prone to saying things out loud without realising, none of this ever would have happened.” He wound one arm around your waist and began pulling you back to the doors of the Manor. “So I’m glad you are prone to it. Now, those nachos from Alfred are waiting…”
As it turns out, Alfred’s nachos really are amazing.