Books With Bullets | Jason Todd Fanfic

Bella's pov:

Standing in the aisle, one hand resting lazily against a bookshelf. That same worn hoodie.That same maddening smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he glanced at me and back to the shelf.

"I thought dogs weren't allowed in here," I said without looking directly at him. The smirk only tugged further up slightly before he faced me completely.

"Dogs like myself enjoy the scent of worn out books." The smugness dripping from his voice as he looks at me.

I roll my eyes, but a grin tugs at the corner of my lip at his response.

"I see. As long as you don't leave muddy prints or chew the corners of the books." I tease him lightly.

"I'll try my best not too. I'm still working on not chewing the corners." He replies with the same amount of amusement.

"So your a rare breed? News paper trained and literate?" I glance up and down at him and raise my eyebrow.

"Only on the weekends. I mostly work and make plans during the week nights." He says mockingly.

"Almost sounds like your telling me your availability." I playfully say back.

"Depends. Are you asking?" He says with a smirk on his face as he leans against the book shelf, relaxed, but alert. His eyes trained on me. Almost as if he's trying to read me.

"Nope. Your not exactly an interesting book to read." Liar, I say inside my head. He's one of the most difficult, enticing, mysterious people to read making him one of the most interesting.

"Ouch. You wound me." He pushes himself off the book shelf and takes long yet fast steps towards me until he's right infront of me. So close that I have to tilt my chin to meet his gaze, theres a small scar on his chin. I catch a faint smell of smoke, leather, and a city breeze on him.

"But if I'm such a dull read... why are you still trying to read me?" His voice low and rough yet steady.

I raise my chin holding myself under his intimidating stare. "Maybe I'm just trying to figure out whether or not your a thrill or tragedy." His eyes flicker for a moment before turning distant and icy.

"Maybe it's a book you shouldn't read into." He mumbles gently before turning his head away and taking a few steps back.

My gaze on him intensifies, his body is tense and alert, almost as if he's waiting for something or expecting something. His eyebrow furrow as he looks into the carpet of the library. His hands clench into fists. His knuckles turning white from how hard he's clenching his fist.

I clear my throat gently before turning my back to him. I'm not sure what he's went through but from his reaction I can tell it's greatly affected him. I know when people shouldn't be pushed past their limit, and this is one of those cases. We've met through brief encounters, I certainly am not in the position to judge or ask questions of his past. So it's probably best to not openly express that I noticed his reaction especially if he may be sensitive on that.

"Anyways, is there a specific book you are looking for?" I look back at him and smile gently at him. His body is no longer as tense as it was before, it's almost as if he wasn't tense before at all. Like when we were playfully teasing each other.

"Not exactly, do you have any recommendations?" He asks while reaching for a random book on the shelf.

"Multiple, as long as you promise to read the entire book, no skipping pages and don't skip to the end of it." I tease him while giving him a pointed look. He immediately looked at me with a smirk on his face that turned into mock offended.