Chapter 10 Advancing

"Are you sure I have to do this?" Damian asked.

"Yes, and you promised you would keep these conditions," Lindsey said. "Unless you don't want to be friends."

Damian sighed and made his "Tt" sound.

It was the Thursday after the Homecoming dance. Lindsey had to remind Damian of his promise to sit with her friends once a week, which he begrudgingly said he'd sit with them today. Now the two of them were standing outside the cafeteria, getting ready to go in.

"Let's get this over with," Damian said.

"At least be nice," Lindsey said. Damian gave her a look. "Okay, then be tolerable."

"If they are," Damian muttered.

"Come on," Lindsey grabbed Damian's hand and pulled him to the table with all her friends. Damian looked down at their entwined hands. He wanted to continue holding her hand the rest of the day. Unfortunately, she let go of his hand when they reached the table.

"Just think about it," Noah was saying, "the spacebar is an empty space of nothing."

"Noah, what are you even talking about?" Kelsey asked.

"The spacebar, you know, on a keyboard," Noah explained.

"Noah, no one knows what you are talking about," Juliet said.

"Yeah, you weirdo, just stick to eating your heart out," Logan said.

"If Wayne were to hear you say that he is going to think you are insane," Ryeanne laughed.

"I believe it's too late for him then," Lindsey said.

Everyone looked up at the two of them. Damian standing next to little Lindsey. Together they looked really cute. If Damian would only look a little less scary, they would be a perfect couple.

"Hey, Wayne," Ryeanne said.

"Girl," Wayne said.

"How nice that you remembered my name," Ryeanne hissed.

"Am I supposed to?" Damian asked.

"Why don't we sit down?" Lindsey said quickly.

They sat down right beside each other at the end of the table. Ryeanne sat across from Lindsey and glared at Damian. The two brought out their lunches and began eating. The rest were staring at both of them. Silence consumed the table. Ryeanne and Noah remembered the cute altercation between the two at the dance and couldn't believe this was the same guy who begged Lindsey not to leave him.

"I can explain what I was talking about," Noah said quickly, trying to break the ice.

"Explain to me, then," Damian said leaning closer to him.

"I – I actually can't," Noah whispered to himself.

"What's your name?" Damian asked Noah. He then glanced around the table before saying,

"What are all of your names?"

"The name's Noah Philips."

"I'm Blaine Curiel."

"Juliet Rosen."

"I'm Logan Mckenna."

"Giovanni Donati."

"I'm Abigail Horton."

"I'm Kelsey Buchanan."

"And I'm Ryeanne Lewis."

"Right," Damian said before going back to his lunch.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Abigail asked down the table.

"Why should I? It seems you all know everything you need to know about me," Damian said. He started eating again slowly.

None of them could believe how cold Damian was being. Especially after Ryeanne and Noah told them how cute they were together.

Ryeanne pulled out her phone under the table and started typing.

Who thinks this is a bad idea to have Wayne sit with us at lunch?

Everyone in the group chat agreed quickly. Lindsey pulled out her phone when she noticed her group of friends all on their phones. When she saw the group chat she frowned.

Lindsey typed to reply to their texts, He needs friends. He wants me to be his friend. The least you all can do is try to be polite.

"If you all have something to say about me you can say it out loud," Damian muttered.

"We don't want you being friends with Lindsey," Ryeanne said. "You have to prove to us that you're a good friend for her."

"And if you don't deem me worthy, then what are you going to do," Damian glared at Ryeanne.

"We're going to make sure that you stay away from her," Blaine said.

"I didn't know Lindsey's parents were reincarnated as teenage girls," Damian snapped. "I'm sure if she wanted another pair of parents, she wouldn't want you two."

The entire table fell silent. Lindsey could fell the eyes of her friends shifting to her and away quickly.

"You ass," Giovanni spoke up. "Do you know how sensitive that topic is?"

"Lindsey doesn't talk about her parents," Abigail said.

"Do you know why she doesn't talk about her parents?" Damian asked. "Because she cherishes the memories she has and wants to keep them to herself. That's why she doesn't talk about her parents."

"Look, it's obvious we all care about Lindsey, let's just calm down," Blaine spoke up.

"You all care about her?" Damian said with a scoff. "Okay then. What's her favorite color? What's her favorite season. What are the names of her friends from New York? What college does she want to go to? What is her dream job?"

"What is this going to prove?" Juliet snapped.

"Answer the damn questions," Damian growled.

"Her favorite color is obviously pink," Juliet snapped.

"Her favorite season is fall," Kelsey spoke up.

"She's going to go to Gotham University," Logan said.

"Her dream job is an artist," Ryeanne said.

Lindsey could feel her cheeks burning up. She knew she was a more quiet person compared to her friends, but these were simple questions. But she didn't want to tell them that they were all wrong.

"Her favorite color is lavender, because it was her mom's. Her favorite season used to be fall, now it's spring because this fall was the worst in her life. Her friends names from New York are Gavin and Emy. She wants to go to the New York School of Arts. And she doesn't have a dream job, because she doesn't know what she wants to do yet," Damian said before grabbing his things and leaving.

The group all looked and Lindsey.

"Was he right?" Juliet asked.

"Yeah," Lindsey whispered. "I'm sorry I didn't know he was going to react like that."

"What happened to him?" Ryeanne whispered.

"What do you mean?" Lindsey asked.

"Noah and I saw you with him when he took you outside of the dance," Ryeanne said.

"You saw that?" Lindsey asked.

"It was really cute," Noah muttered before shoving a forkful of food in his mouth.

"If you saw how he was with me, then why are you being like this?" Lindsey asked.

"We're just looking out for you," Ryeanne whispered.

"I'm going to go find him," Lindsey said. "Can you watch my stuff?"

"Go get your man," Juliet said.

"He's a friend," Lindsey said before walking out of the cafeteria.

Lindsey looked all over the school for Damian. Lunch was coming to an end by the time she found him in the courtyard. He was sitting at a table, his back to the school.

"I'm sorry about them," Lindsey said as she made her way to him.

"Why are they your friends?" Damian asked. "They know nothing about you."

"There's more to friendship than knowing information about someone. It's enjoying time with the other person," I said. "I enjoy being with them. They make me smile. They let me join their group. They want me to be around them."

"Don't I do all of that too?" Damian said.

"Are you jealous?" Lindsey asked.

"No. Tt."

Lindsey sat next to Damian. She bumped her shoulder against his arm.

"It's okay, we don't have to talk. The best of friends don't have to talk," Lindsey said with a smile.

Damian tensed up. Being called a friend hurt him for some reason. He didn't like those words coming from her mouth. He wanted to take those words and shove them back where they came from.

Damian looked down at Lindsey. She had placed her elbows on the table with her chin resting on her palms. She looked so peaceful. He felt the sudden urge to press his lips to her soft cheek.

"Next week, I'll try to be peaceful with them," Damian said quickly looking away from her.

Lindsey smiled to herself. All that mattered was that he was here with her and willing to try.

{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}

It's been a month since that day. Damian still ate lunch once a week with Lindsey's friends. He mostly stayed silent and only made angry faces. The group started being more friendly to him, to Lindsey surprise. She also ate lunch with Damian two days of the week, just the two of them.

Little did the both of them know, Lindsey's friends saw everything going on between them. They saw the flirty glances, the touching, moving closer together. They were all just waiting for them both to realize.

It was one of the days when Lindsey was eating with Damian.

Lindsey couldn't help but watch as Damian ate. It was intriguing. The way his mouth moved, how he looked like he savored every bite. She couldn't look away.

"I can assure you, Lindsey, there something more interesting than me to watch." He didn't look at her as he took another bite.

"You really have no idea how attractive you are, do you?" Lindsey asked as she leaned her head to the side.

"No, I know," Damian said. "I just don't care."

"Well at least one of us has some confidence," Lindsey whispered to herself. Damian heard her and looked at her. She wasn't looking at him, but he looked at her. How could she not see the beauty she had? He looked back to his lunch and began eating once again.

Silence fell between the two of them. Lindsey started peeling the orange she was given in her lunch when Damian spoke again.

"Friday night, Father and I were invited to a gala. I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me."

Lindsey shoved her finger into the orange peel harder than she meant to when he said those words. The juice squeezed onto the collar of her uniform's shirt.

"Damn," she whispered as she looked at her shirt. She grabbed a napkin and started patting her shirt. It was too late. The orange pigment of the juice had already stained the shirt collar.

"Here," Damian said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a scarf. He handed it to her. She smiled at him and took it from him. She wrapped it around her neck to hide the new stain.

It was close enough to her nose to smell the scent of him. It was enticing and fresh. It was unlike any other guy's cologne. She imagined the two of them lying in bed, clothed - mind you, and he had his arms wrapped around her to pull her close to him. She imagined the scent of him surrounding her.

"So, the gala?" Damian asked breaking Lindsey out of the fantasy she found herself in.

"Is it the Manware's Charity Gala?" Lindsey asked.

"Yes."

"My grandparents were invited, they managed to get my name on the guest list. I can just meet you there," Lindsey said. Her grandparents had told her earlier that week to not have any plans for Friday night, so she could attend with them.

Damian looked at Lindsey. Of course, her grandparents would force her to go to the gala. They probably wanted to dangle her in front of rich Gotham boys, like a worm on a hook. They would have probably gotten a catch, if only Damian hadn't gotten to her first. He was happy that she actually took the scarf. Now other boys at school would know to back off, that Damian had already claimed her.

"That is okay. Right Damian?" Lindsey asked when he hadn't answered.

"Of course," he answered quickly. He didn't want her to think that he wasn't interested.

"Then I will meet you there," Lindsey said. "You wouldn't mind if I went to sit with Ryeanne and the others?"

"Go ahead," he said. He acted like it didn't bother him, but in reality, he wanted her to stay with him. He wanted to be like other boys with girlfriends at the school and walk her to class while holding her hand. He wanted to kiss her forehead before she entered class or kiss her in general.

He watched as she walked to the table with the curly haired girl and her other friends. Lindsey greeted her friends with a smile.

"Well, look who got out of the clutches of the demon," Juliet said.

"He's not, that bad," Lindsey said. "He's just very straight-forward. But he can be very sweet."

"Like when he gave you his scarf?" Kelsey asked.

"Why did he give you his scarf?" Logan asked.

"I got juice from my orange on my collar. He gave it to me to cover it up," Lindsey shrugged.

"Why did you really come over here, Lindsey?" Ryeanne asked as she leaned forward to the girl.

"Well. Um – he . . . uh. He asked me to accompany him to a gala Friday night," Lindsey said looking down at her hands.

All the girls jumped up and squealed. Ryeanne launched herself across the table to wrap her arms around Lindsey's neck. The girls settled and pushed the boys further down the table, so they could surround Lindsey.

"You are the luckiest girl in the school!" Blaine said. She had somehow perched herself on the edge of the bench to Lindsey's right. "Probably all of Gotham. Tons of girls have tried to sink their nails into that boy. And it ended up being you!"

"What are you going to wear?" Abigail asked from the right of Ryeanne. "Is the event black tie? Or is it formal?"

"What's the difference?" Ryeanne asked.

"Black tie is where every woman has to wear black or white and men, black suits," Abigail explained. "And formal mean they can wear whatever color they want as long as its formal."

"I don't know. I'll have to ask my Grandmother," Lindsey shrugged.

"Your grandmother is going to be there?" Juliet asked. She situated herself, so she was sitting half on Ryeanne lap and the other on the bench

"That's one way to kill the mood," Giovanni chuckled from down the table.

Ryeanne threw a spork at his head, which he easily caught.

"Are the two of you going to dance?" Kelsey asked with a whimsical look on her face. She was on Lindsey's left and partially leaning into her.

"Damian Wayne is many things, but don't think he would invite a girl to an event and not plan on dancing with her at least once," Ryeanne said.

"What if he doesn't want to dance and just needs someone to keep him company?" Lindsey asked. "Should I treat this more like a date or more like hanging out?"

"Treat it like a date," Kelsey said. "Even if he's just making sure he's not bored the whole night, it is still technically a date."

"You girls are way overthinking this," Logan said staring at the girls with wide, bored eyes.

"Yeah, if he asked you to go with him, he likes you," Noah said before stuffing his mouth. "It's that simple. There's no misleading. Why do girls make everything so complicated? He does like you."

"Which is really surprising, since this is Damian Wayne," Giovanni said.

"If a guy asks you out, no matter how or where he does it, he likes you in some way," Logan said.

"There's no reason to overthink it. And it doesn't matter what she wears. He's going to be staring at her the whole night, anyway. And if he doesn't dance with you, I will personally fight him."

All the girls stared at him. That was probably the most honest thing they heard a guy said.

"Oh, Logan you're so sweet," Juliet said. She ran over to him and hugged him.

Lindsey couldn't help but think they looked cute together. A cheerleader and a bad boy singer. Lindsey could have shown that she saw Logan's ears turn red. Maybe she could talk to Ryeanne about getting them together.

The bell rang loudly announcing that everyone had to return to class. Lindsey couldn't focus on the rest of the school day.