Couple

She had gone mute.

No words would come out of her mouth. She just sat in her room and stared at her wall, completely silent.

She wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't talk. And no one knew why. Not even him.

He had asked her numerous times, had tried to comfort her, kiss her, talk to her, nothing worked.

She just sat in her room. All day. Doing nothing.

It was like she had just one day decided to shut down. Shut down and let the world forget about her.

He was worried, to say the least. It was bothering him that he didn't know why she was like this, why she wouldn't speak to anyone.

She had closed herself off from him, physically and mentally. He would try to break through the barrier in her mind, but always would end up getting pushed away.

As of right now, he was in her room, sitting in front of her in one of her chairs.

He had his hands clasped together and his head down, and leaned on his thighs.

"Raven, it's been a week. You haven't eaten anything. You're paler than usual."

Robin looked her up and down, taking in her horrible appearance.

The empath had bags under her dull eyes, her hair was limp and lifeless. She looked thinner, and her hands would occasionally twitch.

It looked like she at least changed her outfit everyday, her hamper full of her leotards and cloaks.

Raven didn't look at him. She didn't even acknowledge him. She just stared at her wall by her bookshelf.

He sighed heavily, his hand on his chin for a moment.

"If you don't get something in your system, I'll be forced to put you in the infirmary."

Her hands twitched, and it looked like she actually moved a little bit towards him on her bed.

Robin brought his chair closer, only a foot away from the bed now. He removed his gloves, placing them on the floor next to his chair.

He reached his hand forward, feeling her forehead with the back of his ungloved hand.

He was concerned of how cold her head felt. Almost as though she had lost a lot of blood.

He removed himself from the chair, settling down next to her. His arm went around her shoulders, but he pulled away quickly when he felt something warm and wet on his hand.

Raven, for the first time in a week, looked down. Her whole body did a small twitch as he examined his hand.

Robin rubbed the liquid between his ring finger, middle finger, and thumb. He looked at the color, noticing it was crimson.

"Raven....?"

She closed her eyes, swallowing the lump in her throat. She exhaled slowly, a searing pain going through her back.

Robin turned her body so her back was facing him, and her downcast head was in the direction of her headboard.

She didn't stop him from reaching for her zipper. She continued to stare at her hands in her lap, breathing deeply.

He unzipped her leotard slowly, stopping at her lower back. He then rolled the fabric down her shoulders, just enough so that he could see the whole upper part of her back.

"Christ, Rae...."

His eyes widened at the injury on her back, feeling her shift under his gaze. There were two huge knife marks that crossed to form an 'X'.

They started from the backs of her shoulder blades and went all the way down to her bra, a little bit below the endings of the straps.

There was a lot of blood, mostly where the two lines crossed. It looked like she had tried to put gauze on the wound, because there was a piece of medical tape still on her shoulder.

He touched the middle, pulling back when he heard her sharp intake of air. She clenched her teeth, her bra strap rubbing against the left part of it a bit.

Robin noticed and pushed the strap down so it wasn't in the way. He went ahead and did that to the other one, not wanting her to be in so much pain.

He removed himself from the bed, making his way to her bathroom for the first aid kit.

He opened her medicine cabinet, pulling out the box. He also grabbed a glass of water, knowing she kept a cup in the bathroom when she needed it.

He walked towards her, handing her the cup, which she hesitantly accepted. Robin placed the kit down on the chair, sitting behind her and getting to work.

"It's from Red X, isn't it?" He asked while he poured some alcohol onto a piece of gauze.

Raven nodded slowly, raising the glass to her lips. She let the cool liquid slide down her throat, her mouth gladly accepting the water.

"This is going to hurt. Normally I'd say only a little, but this wound is pretty nasty."

He pressed the gauze to the middle first, wincing at her very small cry of pain.

Her breathing was shaky while he finished cleaning the 'X'. When he was finally done with that, he covered it with antibiotic cream.

His fingers were warm on her skin, and she found herself shivering under his touch.

While he was applying gauze to the area, he spoke to her, his voice concerned.

"You know you could've asked any of us for help."

She swallowed more water, parting her lips to say something for once.

"I know."

It was small and raspy, but it was still a reply. He smiled sadly, happy that she was actually speaking.

"Why didn't you?"

She thought about the question, not wanting to answer, but also not wanting him to ask again.

"I don't know."

He shook his head, sighing while he applied more gauze.

"Don't do that, Raven. You do know. Now, tell me."

She sipped more of the water, trying her best not to flinch while he worked on her.

"I didn't want any help. Not when it was my fault in the first place."

Robin stopped working for a moment, looking up at the back of her head. She thought it was her fault. That she deserved the pain inflicted upon her body.

"Raven, you can't protect yourself from everything. As a human, I've learned to accept that. What you can do is depend on your family to help. Trust them."

She tensed as he pulled down her leotard more, feeling uncomfortable being so vulnerable.

He secured the gauze on her lower back and shoulders, leaving a white canvas. His hands smoothed out the wrappings, making sure there would be no complications.

"You can't dodge every bullet. That's not how life works. You're going to get hurt sometimes, and all you can do is take care of it with some help and move on."

He got up from the bed, closing the kit and returning it back to its rightful place. He grabbed her a big t shirt and a pair of sweatpants, placing them in front of her.

When she looked up at him, confused, her leotard zipped up, he gestured to the clothes.

"The shirt won't constrict you, and will be better for allowing air. The pants, well, unless you want to walk around in your underwear all day, you should put them on."

He smiled, helping her up off the bed. She motioned for him to turn around and he did, hearing her unzip and change into the civvies.

When she tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around to look at her. She looked a lot more comfortable and even a bit happy.

He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, places his hands on her shoulders lightly, and holding her against him.

"You want to go get something to eat downstairs?"

She buried her head into his chest. She had missed his warm embrace and beating heart.

"Okay."

Raven gripped the back of his shirt tightly, feeling his breath on her head. She felt him place a small kiss on her forehead, soon making his way to the kitchen with her.

She was starting to feel better, starting to realize she could depend on him, could always go to him, and couldn't keep blaming herself when she got hurt.