Chapter 5 Home

The final bell rung and Damian finally looked up from his drawing.

The two of them didn't say a word to each other while Damian drew. Lindsey just stared at him as he did his work. Damian enjoyed the attention for once. He didn't know what it was about this girl that made him want to act different.

"Do you have all you need?" Damian asked as he put the sketchbook in his backpack.

"I think so," Lindsey said. "Let me check really quick." She opened her backpack to look for everything she needed. Once she was done, she nodded.

"Let's go," Damian said. He walked out the door, leaving Lindsey to catch up.

She ran down the hall after him. He went out the back door where other upper-classmen were headed. Once outside Lindsey saw the parking lot full of students cars. Many were expensive and new, they were probably the rich kid's cars. In the mix were older, more beat up cars. And then there was a shiny red motorcycle propped up next to a light post away from the rest of the vehicles. That was where Damian was making his way to.

Lindsey ran after him after she had stopped to look at the expensive cars. By the time Lindsey caught up with Damian he was putting his backpack in a compartment underneath the seat.

Lindsey stared at the motorcycle. Was she sure she wanted to do this? Did she need to see this sword in person? Could she just get his number and have him send her a picture?

All these thoughts ran through her head as Damian mounted the bike. Was it a thing that if someone sat on a motorcycle they got sexier? Because in the case of Damian Wayne, it was very true.

"Well get on," Damian said as he looked at Lindsey.

"Is it safe?" she asked hesitantly.

"Motorcycles are completely safe, they wouldn't have licenses for them if they weren't," Damian said. Lindsey could tell he was getting irritated.

"Should we be wearing helmets or something?" Lindsey asked.

Damian rolled his eyes and pulled a helmet from the opposite side of the bike.

"You're going to be wearing the helmet," Damian said as he held it out to her. "I'll be fine without one."

Lindsey stared at the helmet then to Damian. "Isn't it illegal to ride a motorcycle without one?"

"Tt. Only if they want to stop Bruce Wayne's son and fight against our lawyers," Damian rolled his eyes.

Lindsey placed the helmet on her head and did up the strap. Damian didn't want to admit it to himself, but she looked beautiful, even in a clunky helmet. Maybe it had to do with the helmet being his. He shook his head when she wasn't looking.

"So I just get on behind you?"

"Unless you want to drive."

"No, I'm good."

Lindsey walked up next to him. Where she was supposed to sit was raised a little bit higher that Damian's seat. That's when she realized, she was wearing a skirt! There was no way to get on this metal machine without someone getting a peep show.

"No one is looking," Damian said.

"What?"

"No one is looking at us, they all have tunnel vision once the bell rings. They just want to get home. So no one is going to be watching you as they get on the bike. So hurry up."

"Okay, you're right. Everything is fine." Lindsey went to swing her leg over but realized she was going to have to hold onto Damian's shoulder. "I can hold onto you while I get on, right?"

"You're going to have to hold on tighter when we actually leave."

They both stopped when Damian said that. Lindsey was glad he was facing away from her so he couldn't see the blush rushing up her cheeks. She was going to wrap her arms around his waist. Lindsey couldn't up but think about what was under the school's uniform. Sure he wore it better than any other guy, but she never imagined she was going to touch him like that. Damian had imagined what her reaction might be to touching him. He had just met her, but he had already imagined what her hands on him would feel like. That's what happens when a girl won't get out of your head for a whole day after meeting her. He thought about how they were going to be in his room at the manor, which had nobody in it for the day, except him - and now Lindsey.

Damian felt his pants tighten a little bit. He quickly banished the thoughts from his head as he felt her get on the bike behind him.

Lindsey got as comfortable as possible on the tiny seat.

"You're going to want to hold on tight," Damian said. He shoved the key in the ignition. The bike roared to life below them. Lindsey jumped and wrapped her arms loosely around Damian's waist. "A bit tighter."

"You're not going to go too fast are you?" Lindsey asked above the sound of the engine.

"Tt, you are kidding, right?" Damian barked looking over his shoulder at her. Lindsey shook her head. "This is a sport bike, Lindsey. It's meant to go fast."

Lindsey gulped as Damian revved the engine. And without another word from either of them, they were off out of the parking lot.

Lindsey squealed and hugged tighter to Damian. Damian looked over his shoulder to where Lindsey shoved her face. He couldn't help but smile a little. He had never called anything cute before, but this he would make an exception. He pushed the bike faster when he reached the street.

Lindsey could feel the wind around her move faster. She heard the motorcycle's engine growl louder. How could people enjoy this?

She felt the motorcycle stop beneath her, but she knew they hadn't reached Wayne Manor.

"You know, it's more enjoyable when you look around," she heard Damian say sarcastically.

"I don't think this is enjoyable, period," Lindsey shouted.

"When you feel like it, look up," Damian said. Lindsey could tell he was smirking at her, even without opening her eyes.

She wasn't going to risk it, not when Damian could kill her and make it look like an accident. He wouldn't do that though, right? He seemed to know what he was doing when it came to maneuvering the machine.

Lindsey opened one eye and looked out. She saw cars, building, everything passing by. Everything was a blur. She lifted her head from Damian's shoulder blade and opened the other eye. She looked around slowly taking everything in. Damian was weaving them in and out of cars. There was something freeing about going so fast and passing by cars. Damian and Lindsey reached another stoplight and Damian pulled them up to the intersection.

Next to them was a black convertible filled with students from their school.

"Hey, Wayne!" one of the guys in the back shouted. "That's a hot piece you got."

"Are you talking about the bike or the girl?" Damian shouted back.

"The girl," he shouted. "She shareable?"

"Fuck off," Lindsey shouted. "I'm only on this metal death machine, so we can get a project done for our art class. And I'm not a lunch that can be shared. I'm a human being unlike you."

The girl sitting next to the guy laughed. "I like you, new girl!"

The light turned green and Damian shot off. He wanted to punch the guy in the face for making a comment like that about Lindsey. He was glad when she fought back. He proud, but he was never going to admit that. She was something different. And Damian wanted to find out how. He found out everything he wanted to about those he wanted to know about. Most people were open books, but this girl was more difficult to read.

After the incident with the boy in the convertible, Lindsey kept her eyes open, watching everything pass by. She was still pressed close to Damian's back, but he didn't seem to mind. He didn't have a choice either.

Lindsey watched as buildings became more scarce. They were going to the outskirts of Gotham. She didn't expect anything else. All the Elite lived outside of Gotham, it was safer. Especially with Batman on the prowl at night looking for villains, gangs, or crime in general.

They were on the road leaving Gotham for a while before Lindsey saw a wall in the distance. As they got closer she knew it was Wayne Manor. There was ton of foliage around it, when on the way there, it was bare. There were tall tree, probably hundreds of years old. When they pulled up to the gate, Lindsey saw the Wayne crest in the metal of the gate. Next to the gate was a pin pad to put in a code. Damian leaned over to put in the code to open the gate as Lindsey stared past it.

What she saw of the Manor through the gate was huge, and expensive looking. It had two main floors, with a third floor, towering over it like towers. It must be easy to know if anyone is coming. It was a crème color up higher, but more tan closer to the ground. And there were windows everywhere.

The gates moved open slowly, but Damian didn't wait for them to open all the way. As soon as the crack was large enough for the motorcycle, he went through. They went up the driveway and Damian parked right in front of the two staircases. Damian shut off the engine and kicked out the prop stand.

Lindsey got off first and stared at the manor. She took off the helmet and to look at it better. Her mouth fell agape when she saw the size in a whole.

"I thought my grandparents' manor was huge," Lindsey said. "This is like a castle."

"Feels like a prison sometimes," Damian said. Lindsey turned around. He had gotten his backpack from the seat and had it over his shoulder and was staring up at it. He felt her eyes on him and looked down at her. "Mind if I have the helmet back?"

"Right," Lindsey said handing the helmet to him. He grabbed it and hung it on the handlebars.

"We might want to go inside," Damian said.

"Right," Lindsey said. She went over to the left staircase and made her way up. Damian followed her up the stairs and to the door. He took out the key chain from his pocket and pushed the key into the lock. There was a huge click sounding off that it was unlocked. Damian pushed open the door. Lindsey looked in then back to Damian. He motioned her to go in first.

She hurried inside and waited for Damian to walk in. It was completely dark and she didn't want to fumble around looking for a light switch.

"Lights on," Damian said. The lights automatically turned on, making Lindsey jumped. "Blinds open." Lindsey heard the blinds open by themselves.

Damian made his way past Lindsey, leaving her to stare around herself. Everything seemed to have a place, and everything seemed so expensive. There were vases, paintings, and trinkets all around her. The furniture even seemed expensive. She didn't want to touch anything in fear that she might break it.

"Lindsey," she heard Damian call from another room, "do you want anything to drink?"

"A water would be fine," she called as she went searching for the source of his voice.

She made her way across the manor to where she thought she saw him go. She was very wrong. Instead Lindsey found the back door, two more hallways, and two more staircases.

"Hey, Damian!" Lindsey called out.

"What, Lindsey?" she heard him call from somewhere behind her.

"I think I got lost," Lindsey called back. She started walking back the way she came. After a few seconds, a door opened and Damian walked out carrying two glasses. Lindsey jumped back a few feet. She clutched her heart and bent over to put her hands on her knees.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Damian said.

"It's fine, I wasn't expecting you to come out of there, is all," Lindsey said. "I should expect it by now, my grandparents' staff always come out of places at random times."

Damian nodded as he watched her. Lindsey finally straightened back up. "So where are we headed?"

"Upstairs," Damian said nodding his head to the stairs. "Here's your water. I put some ice in it to keep it cold. We may be up there for a while and Pennyworth isn't coming back until tomorrow morning with Father.

"And Pennyworth is?" Lindsey asked taking the water.

"He's the butler, he became Father's guardian after his parents died," Damian explained. "He does the cooking, cleaning, and everything else like that."

"Oh."

Damian started walking to the stairs and Lindsey followed him. "Pennyworth lives in the servants quarters behind the manor. After Father became an adult and started having more - friends - over, Pennyworth thought it would be best to live out of the house." They made it to the second floor. Damian started walking down the hallway. "Lights on." The lights flipped on and Lindsey could see where they were headed. On the walls were tons of pictures. "Father likes to take pictures of all the people who have liked here. He also likes putting the photos of the person outside the room they live. Dick," he pointed at the first door to the right. On the walls were pictures of a good looking boy and more of him growing up. Dick had pitch black hair and dark blue eyes. "Tim is the next room." The few picture were of another good looking boy with black hair and greyish blue eyes. "Jason was across from Tim." Lindsey almost didn't want to look at the pictures. She did anyway. The boy was smiling in all the pictures. He again had black hair, but it was messy. His eyes were a light shade of blue with a little bit of green in them.

"And I'm guessing the last one is you?" Lindsey asked. Damian nodded and walked further down the hall. That's when Lindsey saw the pictures. She could tell they were of Damian. She could see Damian in the pictures. She got closer and looked at then. They had his dark brown, almost black hair. The green eyes. He wasn't smiling in any of them, he was smirking in a few of them. There were some pictures of him with some people she had never seen before. But there were a lot with one kid. The boy had jet black hair, blue eyes, and glasses. The boy had a huge smile on his face, while Damian still did not smile.

"Who are these people?" Lindsey asked pointing at the pictures.

"Raven is the girl, that one is Jaime. She's Kori, and the one in the hoodie is Garfield. And that one, is Jon Kent," Damian said pointing to each one in turn. "Jon and I have been friends since I was dropped off here. We don't see each other as often, but he's the only one I can count as a friend. The others I met when I was dropped off at their place by Dick for a summer. We became close, they text sometimes, but not often."

All the kids at school said he didn't have friends. He had these people who he doesn't see often, maybe that's why he doesn't want friends, so he won't loose them. Lindsey stared at him as he stared at the pictures.

"Should we start on the project?" Lindsey asked as she grew increasingly more uncomfortable staring at Damian's old pictures.

"Yeah, you can head into my room," Damian said gesturing to the door.

Lindsey did as she was told and walked in. She was shocked to see it didn't look like how she imagined it. It looked quite the opposite, it looked homey.

"You look surprised," Damian said.

"I wasn't expecting a teenage boy's room to look like this," Lindsey said looking around. That's when she caught sight of the sword she was supposed to draw. It was unlike she had seem before. And she saw why Damian treasured it. It looked so expensive and lethal. "This is the sword?"

"Is there something wrong?" Damian asked.

"No, I wasn't expecting it to be so . . . pretty I guess is a good word," Lindsey said.

Damian looked at her shocked. He never looked at it more than a weapon that he could use, it looked at the sword in a new light and decided, in a way, it was pretty. He looked at Lindsey who had sat on the floor in front of it and got out her sketchbook. She started drawing and he couldn't help but think, It will never be as beautiful as you though.

Damian shook his head and walked to the desk in the corner of the room. He stacked some of the drawings he had and moved them to the side so he could place his sketchbook down and work on the drawing of Lindsey's parents' rings.

The two worked in complete silence with the only sound being pencils and erasers until Lindsey announced she was done with her drawing.

"Do you need me to take you home?" Damian asked. "Or can your family's driver come pick you up?"

"I can most likely get a ride, but thank you for the offer," Lindsey said. She pulled out her phone and quickly texted her grandparents to let them know she needed to be picked up.

"Let me walk you to the living room," Damian said. "I don't need you getting lost again."

Lindsey got her things together and followed Damian to the front of the house.

"Tell me in class if you need anything else for your drawings," Damian said.

"I will," Lindsey said. "And thank you for letting me come over. It was nice to be in someone's company for a change."

"Don't you have friends?" Damian asked.

"I'm new in town, remember? All my friends are strictly inside school, unless they ask me to hang out with them outside of school. That's how friends work, or that's how it is in my case."

"Sound lonely."

"And at home, my grandparents' manor is about this size, but there's people all around, but none of them talk to me or anything. So I'm even more lonely and pathetic than I already seem."

Damian looked at her with a strange look.

"Here," Damian said. "How about I give you my phone number. That way, if you get lonely, you can text me. I have nothing better to do with my life, so I might as well text someone."

Lindsey couldn't believe it. She may be the only person in the school to receive Damian's phone number.

She pulled her phone out and typed in his number.

"I'm going to send you a text right now so that you know it's me," Lindsey said.

As she did so, a loud buzz sounded from next to the door.

Damian walked over and pressed a button. "Yes?"

"I'm here to pick up Lindsey," the voice sounded through the speaker.

Damian pressed a different button and Lindsey heard the gate at the entrance open.

"I'll see you around Damian," Lindsey said.

"Yeah."

Lindsey opened the door and walked out the door. She saw Samuel getting out of the car as she walked towards the car parked in front of the door.

"Did you have fun?" Samuel asked.

"More than I thought I would," Lindsey replied as she got into the backseat.

Damian had sat on the floor against the wall as soon as the door closed behind her. He pulled out his phone and checked it. There was a call from Father from earlier in the day. And then there was the message from Lindsey.

It's Lindsey ;P, it read.

Damian couldn't help but smile as he saved her number into his contacts. His brothers should be proud of him. He got a girl's number.