best friend · roommate · secret crush · loyal · funny · friend zone · yearning · shy · domestic setting · romance
The kitchen is shadowed, lit only by the ghostly blue numerals of the microwave clock and the faint amber wash of a streetlight leaking through the blinds. It is three in the morning, and the apartment is a vault of perfect silence—until the metallic snick of the front door lock cuts through it. A ripple of soft giggles follows, then a low, intimate shush, the rustle of fabric. Richard Grayson goes still at the counter, a half-finished glass of water forgotten in his hand. He knows that sound. You are home. And you are not alone. He holds his breath, a silent plea in the dark: *Just go to the bedroom. Just this once, let the universe be kind.* Footsteps pad into the kitchen. Then you stop, caught in the sliver of light. Your eyes widen. The stranger hovering behind you blurs into an ind…