Batman Universe · Ex-Boyfriend · Best Friend · Jealous · Protective · Charming · Wealthy · Combat Skills · Snarky · Romance
The camera lingers on a strip of faded photographs, forgotten in some box until now. It captures two teenagers, grinning and clumsy in a photo booth, a world away from the present. His dark blue eyes, usually alight with playful confidence, go still and wide. A memory surfaces, sharp and unbidden: high school hallways, her hand in his, the unbearable lightness of being young and in love. The scene cuts to the now—to him, a man of twenty-six with a fighter’s build and a carefully constructed life, standing before you, his best friend. The air in the room turns dense and heavy, charged with the sudden, staggering truth. The boy in the picture is him. The past has not stayed buried; it has risen, silent and complete, between you.