The final bell rang and I left class. I hurried my way to the pool room, none of us having seen Rhys since lunch.

                Sure enough, when I entered the pool room, Rhys was in there. He was racing a girl, both of them gliding through the water at impressive speeds.

                But Rhys was faster. He touched the wall first and shook his wet hair out of his eyes, rolling his shoulders.

                He spotted me and said something to the girl before climbing out of the pool. He grabbed a towel off the bench and wrapped it around his waist.

                "Hey," he greeted, coming over to me but not meeting my eyes.

                "Rhys, I'm sorry about what Josh said to you," I said.

                "It wasn't your fault, Robin," he mumbled. "I just...How can you not be judging me right now? After what he said about me, you probably think I'm the most shallow guy on the planet."

                I forced him to meet my eyes. "Rhys, I don't know if what Josh said was true. Even if it was, it's not my place to judge you. You've seen me being shallow. You didn't judge me. What the hell would give me the right to judge you? Maybe you made some mistakes. You clearly regret them."

                He chewed on his lip. "I never really talked about what happened between me and Strike. I should, though. You deserve to know."

                "No." I shook my head. "Your business is your business. If you're not comfortable talking about it, then don't. You don't owe me anything."

                He laughed weakly. "You're a good friend, Robin."

                "We're all going to Wally's house. You should come," I said.

                He hesitated before nodding. "Sure, if you guys are okay with that. Let me just shower in the locker room. Text me his address and I'll meet you guys there."

                "Sounds good," I said, smiling.

                I left and started my way towards my locker, pulling out my phone. I sent Rhys Wally's address.

                Someone caught my shoulder and I looked up at Josh. He tightened his hold as I tried to get away.

                "Just listen to me," he said.

                "What, Josh? We're over. Just let it be," I said.

                "They're lying to you," he said, shaking his head. "All of them are lying to you. Wally and Five? They're just tricking you. Wally was jealous of us but he didn't want you to catch on."

                I glared and finally managed to free myself of his grip. "This is pathetic, even for you."

                He returned the glare. "Why won't you listen to me? You played victim in our relationship, but you treated me like shit too, you know."

                "Well leave Wally out of it! He didn't do anything to you!" I said.

                "He wrecked my relationship!" Josh snapped. "You really think he wanted us to date? He was always jealous."

                "You're just over-jealous and insecure," I said. "Leave me alone, Josh. We're not getting back together. You're bad for me and I'm bad for you. We were both shitty to each other." I looked away from him, clenching my fists. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I treated you badly. But staying together wasn't going to fix anything."

                "Robin, will you just listen to what I'm telling you?" Josh said, voice angry.

                "My bodyguard fees are $20 an hour," Piers said, stepping between me and Josh. "Pay up, Robbie."

                "Let's just go," I mumbled.

                "Keep on covering for Wally!" Josh said, turning his glare on Piers now. "Fuck you, Peter. You know Wally is just jealous."

                "Dude, come on, just call me Piers," Piers said. "Also, keep your salt to yourself. I don't need that much sodium in my life, and neither does Robin."

                Piers and I walked away from a furious Josh. Once we had safely rounded the corner, Piers let out a relieved sigh.

                "Oh, thank god he didn't try to hit me," he said.

                "He's not violent," I said, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

                "Let's just get out of here," Piers said.

                "Piers." I grabbed his arm as he started to walk down the hall. "Is it true? Wally and Five, are they just pretending to date?"

                Piers heaved out another sigh. "Why would they do that, Robin? Josh is just pissed that you broke up with him, and he's blaming it on Wally."

                "I guess you're right," I said, running a hand through my hair. "Let's just go find the others. I want to get out of here before Josh finds me again."

                We wandered around until we found Wally and Five. Neither of us mentioned running into Josh.

                "I invited Rhys. I hope that's okay," I said.

                "No, that is not okay," Piers said miserably.

                Wally laughed. "Yea, that's fine. Does he know where I live?"

                "I texted him your address. He'll meet us there," I said.

                The four of us left the school and went down to the parking lot. We got in our cars and took off, meeting at Wally's house and heading inside.

                "I have gelato," Wally said as I fell into step beside him.

                I smiled a little. "Good. I need it."

                Wally went to his kitchen and got each of us a bowl of gelato. We went down to his basement, seating ourselves on the couches down there.

                I watched Wally and Five. They were sitting next to each other, Five crossing her legs over Wally's lap as she leaned against the arm of the couch. Wally rested his gelato on her legs, laughing when she complained that it was cold.

                They looked casual and at ease. They didn't look like they were just pretending. Josh seemed so convinced, but maybe that was because he was determined to blame our breakup on Wally.

                "Put on a movie," Five said, lightly kicking Wally.

                "What movie?" he asked.

                "Batman: Bad Blood!" I said.

                "You love that movie too much," Piers said.

                "Probably because Batman is barely in it," Wally said.

                I pointed at Wally. "Exactly right. Nightwing and Robin fighting together is all I need in my life."

                Wally nudged Five's feet off of him and set up the movie. My phone buzzed and I checked the new message.

                "Rhys is here. I'll be right back," I said, getting up.

                I went upstairs and pulled open the front door. Rhys smiled at me and stepped into the house.

                "Thanks for inviting me," he said. "Where are the others?"

                "Wally's basement," I said.

                "Before we join them, can I talk to you?" he said.

                I nodded and texted Wally quick to let him know we'd be a minute. I led Rhys upstairs to Wally's bedroom and shut the door.

                Rhys glanced around. "He draws?"

                "He's working on his own comic," I said. Wally had sketches hung up around his desk, the rest of his room covered in superhero posters.

                "He's good," Rhys said, nodding at one of the sketches.

                "He is," I agreed. "He's been practicing anatomy and poses for a long time so he could make this comic he's working on."

                Rhys sat in Wally's chair and I sat on his bed. Rhys was chewing on his lip, nervously reaching up and tightening his bandana.

                "I should've figured Josh knew what happened," he said at last.

                "Rhys, you don't have to tell me," I said. "What happened between you and Strike is your business. We're friends. You don't owe me an explanation."

                Rhys slowly shook his head. "I do, though. What I did to Strike was awful. He was my best friend. And it's going to affect our relationship."

                I stayed quiet, letting him think for a moment. Finally, he pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded to himself.

                "Strike and I were friends since we were little. We balanced each other out nicely. He was, well, I guess you could say reckless. I kept him from getting into too much trouble and he kept me from staying too isolated. We were like that for years. Until last year, that is." He bit his lip again. "I, uh, I met someone. Someone on Strike's soccer team. We'd been friends before, but we started flirting."

                He leaned back in the chair, looking down at his hands, which were clasped together in his lap. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and forcing himself to look up at me.

                "We got close. Really close. I started spending less time with Strike. I started forgetting about him, actually. If I was supposed to have plans with him after practice, I'd forget and go off with this guy. Or sometimes I'd just straight up ditch Strike. It made Strike feel like shit, but he was trying to be happy for me. I...I ditched him a few times to..." He pressed his hands tighter against his lap. "Look, I was shitty okay? Josh wasn't lying. I ditched Strike just for some blowjobs."

                I just gave a slight nod. I understood. I wouldn't judge.

                "The thing you have to understand about Strike is that he's got a really strong personality. He's bossy without meaning to be. He's selfish without meaning to be. If you point it out to him, he feels terrible about it. But if you don't point it out, he doesn't even realize he's doing it. He was the star of the soccer team, but he was a one man show. He wasn't a team player. It's not because he wanted to show off, it was just because he was good enough that he didn't need to use his teammates to win."

                Rhys' eyes slid past me to look at Wally's drawings as he tried to think how to continue. I remained silent. This wasn't a discussion. It was a confession. Rhys needed to get this off his chest and I was going to let him do it at his own pace.

                "Strike is short," he said at last. "He's one of the shortest players on the team and usually that works to his advantage. But the team they were playing the day I yelled at him had a player who was similar to Strike. He was short, fast, and physical. They set him on Strike. The team's goalie was incredible, too. Strike couldn't get himself in a good position to shoot on him because of the kid they had marking him. And he wouldn't pass the ball. He just didn't think to do it because he'd never really had to. The guy I was hooking up with, he was a senior and this was his last game."

                I had a feeling I knew where this was going now.

                "Strike wouldn't pass to him, even when he was in a good position to score. They ended up losing the game, and the guy I was hooking up with was heartbroken. He came over to me all upset, crying even. I was so mad for him. So I went down and I yelled at Strike. I told him he was a shitty, selfish person. I told him they lost because of him. I told him he'd never be good enough and he should just quit if he was going to drag everyone else down with him. I said worse things than that, and yelled at him every time he tried to say something back to me. He was so shocked by the end that he just dropped to his knees. I walked away when he started crying, I ignored him when he called my name, and I never said another word to him."

                Rhys looked horribly sad. "I realized how shitty that was of me when it was too late. So I cut off ties with that guy and promised I'd never do that again. But it haunts me, Robin. Any time I start to get close to someone, I just replay that horrible day and feel like I'm betraying Strike all over again."

                "What you did was shallow," I said. "But it isn't something you should keep beating yourself up over. You're trying to make yourself a person who would never do something like that. I can see that, Rhys."

                He got up and started pacing in front of Wally's bed. "I wasn't even dating the guy. I mean, technically we were dating. We went on dates and we kissed and held hands and did...more. But we never called each other a boyfriend or anything. And when I cut off ties with him, I explained why I was doing it, and a month later he was talking to a new guy. How awful is that? I lost my best friend over a guy I was hooking up with."

                I stood up, placing my hand on his shoulder to stop his pacing. "Rhys, calm down. Yes, you made a mistake. But everybody makes mistakes. You're learning from it. That's what counts."

                He stared at me for a moment before folding me into his arms, hugging me tightly. "Thank you for not judging me. Thank you for not telling me it's okay. I know it's not okay. A true friend tells the truth, even when it sucks."

                I hugged him back, unable to help as I laughed a little. Wow, good job Robin, way to ruin the serious moment.

                "What?" Rhys asked in confusion.

                "You're just so tall," I said, lightly banging my head against his neck.

                "I'm not that tall," he said, cracking a smile. "I'm pretty average height. Wally's pretty short, isn't he?"

                I pulled away from Rhys' arms. "Yea, Wally's pretty short. He's just a little shorter than Five."

                Rhys rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I pulled you away from your friends and dropped all that on you."

                "Rhys, don't worry about it. That's what I'm here for. Anytime you need to get something off your chest, I'm here," I assured. He had listened to all my problems. The very least I could do was listen to his.

                "Josh isn't bothering you, is he?" he asked.

                "Of course he is," I said, sighing. "It'll die down, I'm sure."

                "Let's get back to the others. It'll get your mind off of it," he said, slinging an arm around my shoulders.

                The two of us made our way downstairs to the others. Wally looked up and frowned, a question in his eyes as he looked at Rhys' arm around me.

                I gave a slight shake of my head at him, letting him know it wasn't like that. Rhys smiled and gave a short wave.

                "Hi guys. Thanks for letting me come here," he said, dropping his arm from my shoulders.

                "Please tell me you're off duty," Piers practically begged.

                "I swear I'm not here to recruit you. That's in school only," Rhys said, grinning. "The team will get on my ass about it if I don't at least try to get you to join."

                Piers groaned and slid down on the couch. Rhys and I sat down together and Wally turned the volume of the movie up. I glanced at him curiously, but he wasn't looking at us. His eyes were fixated on the TV.

                He hadn't even greeted Rhys, but neither had Five. Shit. I hope Five's distrust of Rhys wasn't spreading to Wally. They didn't know the whole story like I now did.

                Not that the whole story exactly cleared up the issue, but Rhys could confess to what he'd done and be sure not to make the mistake again. That had to count for something.

                I let my attention wander to the movie. I'd have to talk to Wally later, when we were alone. I wouldn't go spilling Rhys' dark moments to anyone, but I'd at least make sure Wally knew there was more to it than what Five had seen that day. I wanted Wally to get along with Rhys. I liked Rhys, and Wally was my best friend. It'd be nice to hang out with both of them at the same time.

                Rhys slung his arm over the back of the couch, fingers brushing against my shoulder as he got settled. I folded my hands behind my head and shifted so that I was resting against Rhys' shoulder. He grinned down at me, probably mocking my height. What an ass.

                Still, I felt comfortable and at ease as we watched the movie. With my friends beside me, I could get through this until things settled with Josh.