Cardigan
Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem Reader (version of jason isn’t mentioned but i wrote it with his original storyline death from Batman: A Death In The Family, not a later, retconned version)
Warnings: angst but also fluff, reader is a famous singer, use of Y/N, pet names (baby, sweetheart, princess, lmk if i missed any), swearing, makes references to other songs (Lover by Taylor Swift, Lucky People by Waterparks, and Favorite Record by Fall Out Boy), i reread this like 8 times but i couldve missed things so don't flame me if theres any fuck ups in there lmao
Word Count: 4,175
A/N: (yes i know cardigan is part of the teenage love triangle songs, yes i made it into somewhat fluff because i fucking wanted to, whats it to you? I was just listening to cardigan (by taylor swift if you were unaware) in the shower and had this beautiful idea of like what if rather than it being about getting cheated on, i make it about the reader experiencing Jason’s death (and resurrection)? also i color coded the dialogue which is something i normally don't do soooo fun little touch i guess.) (originally posted may 22, 2023 on an alternate account)
IMPORTANT NOTE: Italics mean it’s a flashback, bold and bigger means it's a song lyric, regular text means it's happening in real time. (with very obvious exceptions) Cool? Cool. also, real quick, THE FLASHBACKS ARE NOT IN PERFECT CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER!!!!
“HELLO GOTHAM CITY!” The crowd roared in excitement. Y/N was excited too, it was her first show in Gotham in a long time. This was her first tour in a long time. Of course, she let the public think that it was just because she was a teenager focusing on school, not because when she was 16 her first love the love of her life had been brutally murdered…
“It’s really nice to be playing a hometown show, and since this is my first one in forever, how about I play you something brand new?” Screams erupted in the audience, people pulling out their phones to get the first recording of a brand new song.
“This one means a lot to me, it’s about someone very special to me, and how he came back to me when I needed him most. This is a quieter one so I'm gonna need you all to listen, and please don’t judge me if I cry during this. Alright, this one’s called ‘cardigan’ everybody!”
Rows and rows of people buzzed with excitement as the music began to play.
~
Vintage tee, brand new phone
Y/N and Jason walked in, strutting about as if they were models in the new vintage tees Y/N had bought for them at the thrift store just days before. They strolled about the mall, eventually making the stop to get Jason a new phone, he had dropped his from a rooftop on patrol the night before. Oops.
“Jay, baby, you can’t just use Bruce’s credit card without asking all the time” Y/N smiled, knowing Jason wasn’t going to listen to her
“Says who? Besides, I told him I was taking it. If he didn’t want to pay for me to get a new phone, he should’ve given me a secure pocket in the suit for it like I asked.” Jason shrugged. He wasn’t atrociously rebellious at all times, but he knew Bruce had more than enough money for him to get a new phone, and to treat his girlfriend, and best friend, when he wanted to. “Plus, if I didn’t take his card, I wouldn’t be able to spoil you, would I?” He wrapped an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her temple as they walked out of the store.
High heels on cobblestone
Y/N’s heels clicked loudly against the cobblestone walkway as she made her way to the entrance of the Wayne gala, arm linked with Jason’s.
“Are you sure I look alright? I’ve never worn a dress this fancy Jason. Should I even be at a Wayne gala I mean–” Jason cut her off.
“Sweetheart you look perfect. And if anyone tells you otherwise I will personally ask Bruce to kick them out.”
“Jay, you can’t do that.”
“According to who? I have adopted Wayne privilege and you’re the one who’s Bruce’s favorite”
“I am not Bruce’s favorite!”
“Yes you are, princess.”
He dragged her into the gala, excited to spend a night with her, and after that, her first Wayne gala was nothing but history, as she attended every single one at her lover’s side.
When you are young they assume you know nothing
“That boy is a delinquent Y/N! I doubt you even know anything about him, has he even told you how he came to meet Mr Wayne?” Y/N’s father shouted. He’d never liked Jason, despite him being Y/N’s best friend for years before things ever became romantic. She used to be able to avoid it, but when her mom moved out of state for work and Y/N wanted to stay in Gotham… well this was her only option.
“Yes dad, I know how he met Bruce! You realize I knew him long before he was adopted by Bruce Wayne right? That I didn’t just go for him because he was rich? You assume because I’m young that I know nothing!”
“Clearly you don’t know anything if you would choose to be with a boy who is a thief! He tried to steal Mr. Wayne’s tires!”
“He was trying to steal them because he was living on the streets and needed money to fucking eat, Dad! Clearly you’re the one who knows nothing here!”
She stormed out of the house, furiously texting Jason and trying to will away the angry tears.
Sequined smile, black lipstick
Y/N grinned at Jason, her black lipstick fresh as they prepared to go to a party. Bruce had cleared Jason of Robin duty for the weekend and they’d decided to take time to enjoy being normal teenagers.
“What do you think?” She asked, still smiling
“I think… I’m really tempted to kiss that lipstick right off of you”
“Come do it then.”
Sensual politics
“Do you ever think about sensual politics?” Y/N looked up at Jason, her head in his lap as he read a book.
“What the fuck do you mean ‘sensual politics’?”
“Like the politics of being flirtatious or like building a relationship with someone, but like also kind of a play on sexual politics and people’s perception of the difference’s between men and women and the politics of it, you know? Like they’re both very different things but you can name them the same thing”
“And you’re calling that sensual politics?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“I wish I could understand what’s going on in that brain of yours. You’re such a nerd, princess”
When you are young they assume you know nothing
“Jaybird, if you hurt her, I hope you know I’ll have to break your legs” Dick shrugged as if this was common knowledge.
“I won’t hurt her, Dickwad. She’s the best thing to happen to me.”
“Okay, but you’re young and stupid, anything could happen.”
“Just because you knew nothing when you were young doesn’t mean I’m stupid.”
But I knew you
Years ago, Y/n was 11 and Jason was 10. Y/N was on her way home from the school when she saw someone she recognized.
“Hey! You’re the boy from the library! You showed me my favorite book!”
Jason flushed, unaware that she’d remember him, or that she’d take the recommendation he’d once given her seriously
“Yeah uh, hi. My names Jason, Jason Todd.” He stuck his hand out to shake.
She placed her hand in his and shook. "Y/N."
Dancin' in your Levi's
Y/N and Jason slow danced in her room, her record player spinning some old collection she’d snagged from Wayne manor.
“I was unaware that Levi’s were ballroom attire, Monsieur.”
“And I was unaware your bedroom counted as a ballroom, Mademoiselle”
Drunk under a streetlight, I
“Jason you’re drunk.”
“No I’m notttt. Please Y/N pleeeeaaassseee be my girlfriend.”
“You’re drunk Jay, if you weren’t then you’d remember I already am.” She laughed, watching her lover shoot up in excitement
“Really? That’s so cool!”
I knew you
"Y/N what do you think? Do you think he'd like this for his birthday?"
"Why are you asking me? You're his brother!"
"Yeah but you know him better than anyone else"
Hand under my sweatshirt
"Jason Peter Todd get your cold ass hands out from under my sweatshirt!"
"What do you mean princess?" He dragged his freezing cold hands further up her back
"Eek!"
Baby, kiss it better, I
Y/N carefully finished wrapping the bandages around Jason's waist.
"I can't believe you got stabbed!"
"Kiss it better?"
"Dork." She pressed a kiss to his bandages, before making her way up to his lips.
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan
Under someone's bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
“What’s got you down princess?” Jason quirked an eyebrow, the moment Y/N entered the manor there was an unhappy energy on her, like she was faking her smile. He knew her all too well. “Come here”. He opened his arms to her, gesturing that she should come lay with him on the excessively large couch (rich people bro) and she happily obliged, latching onto his side like a koala with her head on his chest.
“It’s just… I don’t know, sometimes I feel like an old cardigan, under someone’s bed. Just… forgotten.”
“I could never forget you. Sometimes people lose things that are important to them. If you’re an old cardigan then I’m finding you and putting you on because the whole time you were my favorite.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.
“How poetic” She could feel his chest shake as he laughed.
“What can I say? I’m a man of literature. Speaking of which! Do you want to watch Pride and Prejudice?”
“Again?”
“Yes, AgAiN”
Y/N looked up at her boyfriend, beaming. “Always.”
A friend to all is a friend to none
“You can’t keep acting like nothing is going on Jason. You love her, so why are you friends with someone like the asshole who ruined her reputation?”
“Dammit Dick, I didn’t even know that he was the one who did that until a like week ago!”
“And you’ve hung out with him twice since then! A friend to all is a friend to none, Jaybird.”
Chase two girls, lose the one
Surely all of Gotham had heard them arguing from their favorite spot on the roof of the library.
“Jason I understand that you want to go meet your birth mother, but why does that mean you have to not be in touch for an undetermined amount of time? I don’t understand why finding her means leaving me!” Y/N hadn’t meant to shout. She wasn’t actually mad at him. She understood why he wanted to go, but that didn’t make him leaving hurt any less. Why should she have to lose contact with him, let him run off to another continent without any knowledge of if he was okay?
“Sweetheart I’m not leaving you, I’m just trying to find my mom…”
“Yeah, at the expense of me! Jay I will never prevent you from doing something this important to you but that will not change the fact that this hurts me. That I’ll be lying awake at night not knowing if you’re okay or if you’re even going to want me when you come home! Not even being able to ask Bruce if you’re okay because you plan on doing this without his knowledge! For fucks sake Jason do you realize how that would feel?”
“God dammit Y/N why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“Because you’re LEAVING ME. You know what, go ahead and go Jason. You’re choosing to chase two girls and you’ve lost this one.” She made her way down, trying not to let her hands shake from all the emotional turmoil, at least not until she was on the ground again. There was no way she would know how much she’d regret saying that to him.
When you are young, they assume you know nothing
“It’s your first heartbreak Y/N, you’ll get over it. It was teenage puppy love, something was bound to happen.” Her father had no clue. It had been days and she hadn’t heard from Jason. Last she checked with Alfred, Bruce had followed him out to the middle east somewhere.
“This was, this is so much more than that. You’re doing it again, assuming that because I’m young I must know nothing.”
“Clearly you don’t know anything.”
But I knew you
“When were you gonna tell me that you being a literature nerd was knowledge Dick wasn’t supposed to get his hands on?” Y/N gave him a look. The look that says ‘i didn't know this was a secret so you can't be upset i spilled’
“Shit, princess, please don’t tell me you told him… he’ll never let me live it down!”
“Oops?” She shrugged. He started to say something else but she kissed him before the words could escape. “It’s alright Jay, it makes you a romantic. And it means I know you better than him.”
Jason smiled. “I guess you’re right…”
Playing hide-and-seek and
“Do you wanna play hide and seek?”
“Sweetheart, aren’t we too old for that?”
“Who said that? Come onnn"
“Y/N.”
“Hm?”
“You know I can’t say no to you.”
Giving me your weekends, I
“You know we don’t have to spend every weekend together right? You can hang out with your friends or your family if you want.”
“Why would I do that when I could give you all my weekends?”
I knew you
"How did you know to tell Bruce I wanted adjustments on the Robin bike?"
"Because I'm just cool like that. And i know you. Now come on, let's take it for a spin!"
Your heartbeat on the High Line
Y/N pressed the side of her head to Jason's chest as a stranger took their photo on the High Line. The trip to New York had been spontaneous, something they'd decided to do for spring break.
After taking her phone back from the kind stranger and thanking them, Y/N turned to her dear boyfriend.
"I could hear your heartbeat you know."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, you'd think it was our first date or something." Y/n grinned.
"Because you make me feel... I don't know, like Pip if Estella was actually good for him?"
"Did you just reference Great Expectations at me as a way of expressing your feelings?"
"Maybe?"
"Kiss me."
Once in twenty lifetimes, I
Y/N often thought of how her mother had once told her that true teenage love like the one she had with Jason only came once in 20 lifetimes. Although, in retrospect maybe it's twice in two lifetimes, or once in one, for the partner who didn't die.
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan
Under someone's bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
"Would I still be your favorite person if I was a worm?"
"Well no cause you wouldn't be a person anymore, but you'd be my favorite worm-"
"You know what? I'll take it."
"You'll always be my favorite."
To kiss in cars
"Jason Todd, you are a menace to society."
"What? How?"
"You brought me out to Bruce's Rolls-Royce to make out."
"So?"
and downtown bars
"Who would've thought the boy wonder had a fake ID?"
"Maybe his girlfriend who's cousin made it for him"
"What? Which one?"
Jason smirked at her, knowing it was going to eat her alive not knowing yes im projecting how nosy i am onto the y/n "Sorry princess, that stays a secret"
Was all we needed
You drew stars around my scars
"Jason, it's just an old scar from scraping my knee a little too deep, it's no big deal!"
He continued drawing small stars around any scars he found on her, gently dragging the red marker along her skin. "I didn't say it was!"
But now I'm bleedin'
When Jason hadn’t come back, Y/N had done one of the only things she promised him she would never do: taking up vigilantism. She told Bruce it was only temporary. She told herself it was only temporary. But the longer she was in the game the more attached to it she became.
"FUCK!" Y/N yelped as she sat on her bathroom counter, pressing a damp rag to her wound, carefully wiping it off. "God dammit, I used to be patching up Jason's stab wounds, not getting stabbed..." She picked up her phone, dialing the only number she cared to call anymore.
"Yeah, Dick? Can you come over real quick? Need you to make sure this stab wound doesn't kill me..."
The audible "WHAT" echoed throughout the bathroom, despite the phone not being on speaker.
'Cause I knew you
"How'd you know I'd be here?"
Y/N found Jason at their spot on the roof of the library after Dick informed her that he'd had a particularly rough argument with Bruce.
"Because I know you better than anyone else."
Steppin' on the last train
Jason dragged Y/N towards the last train of the night, what they never knew would be their final date before everything went astray.
"Come on! The last train is the best one!"
Marked me like a bloodstain, I
The image of Jason, dead, being carried away by Bruce was forever marked in Y/N's head. He was dead. There was nothing else to say.
I knew you
Speaking at Jason's small memorial was never something Y/N saw herself doing.
"I uh- I really don't know what to say. You all always said I knew him better than anyone else, and I just wish I could've known the way to prevent this."
Tried to change the ending
Y/N tried so hard to change the ending of her story. Make it so she wasn't just the girl who lost herself in grief. But until unless she saw Jason again, nothing was going to happen.
Peter losing Wendy, I
As she sat there writing 'Cardigan' it occurred to her that Peter losing Wendy was a choice, and her losing Jason never was, but it fit. Their love was a magic only to be found in Neverland.
I knew you
"Hey Red, do I know you from somewhere in civilian life? You seem familiar..."
"No way, too new in town, sorry."
She knew she knew him. She just couldn't place why...
Leavin' like a father
Even though she'd told him just to go, Jason still stopped by Y/N's house before he left to find his mother.
"Please don't leave me, Jay." She cupped his cheeks, pressing his forehead to hers as tears streamed down her face
"Don't cry, baby, I'll be back before you know it."
Running like water, I
Of course, Y/N hadn't known the identity of the Red Hood the first time she'd spotted him. All she had time to think was wondering why such a large man, with guns nonetheless, ran from her like she was out to get him.
And when you are young, they assume you know nothing
"Why do people love to assume that because I'm young I must know nothing about love or heartbreak?" Y/N had asked one day. No one answered. No one knew. They only knew that they were all too aware of just how much she truly knew about both of those things.
But I knew you'd linger like a tattoo kiss
"I want a blue jay on my forearm. Full color. Can you do that?"
Y/N had walked into the tattoo parlor like she owned the place. She needed a way to let him permanently linger. The kiss of a needle in her skin the only way to physically represent him.
I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs
"What if I had made him stay?!"
"Y/N there's nothing you could've done that would change things."
"But what if—"
"There was nothing any of us could do."
The smell of smoke would hang around this long
"Thought you told me that you quit smoking years ago Red."
"Yeah, well, old habits die hard."
"Rough day huh?"
"Yeah. Girlfriend from before all this almost saw me in the library today. She doesn't know about me."
"About you being a vigilante?"
"She thinks I'm dead."
"You know, maybe I'll do this and be totally mistaken and realize i'm delusional, but I swear to whatever fucking god is listening if i tear off that domino mask and Jason Todd is under there I will be pushing you off this rooftop."
"If I've been hanging out with Y/N this whole time I'm throwing myself off."
'Cause I knew everything when I was young
Y/N was playing a show in Los Angeles, touring at age 15 was insane, but then again, she never thought anyone would listen to her music.
"Alright everyone, I may be young, but I also consider myself to be quite versed in romance, who knows, maybe it's my lovely boyfriend, or the fact that I'm a hopeless romantic, but either way, this one's called Favorite Record!"
Even at a young age, she'd known everything she needed to about love, because it encased her every moment she spent with her favorite person.
I knew I'd curse you for the longest time
She sat at Jason's grave in the Wayne family plot for more hours than she could count, swearing at his headstone
"God dammit! Why didn't you come home? Why didn't you come back to me?" Sobs wracked her body. "I was waiting for you to come home."
Chasin' shadows in the grocery line
Every once in a while Y/N would see someone and think someone was him. Maybe it was her brain's sick way of coping. She reached towards the stranger in front of her.
"Excuse me-"
But when he turned around Jason was gone. It was just another high school boy who had vaguely reminiscent hair.
I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired
A knock came on Y/N's bedroom window. She opened it warily before the Red Hood came clinking in.
"Thrill of letting me think you were dead over?"
"Y/N please-"
"Did you sit and watch as I grieved? Stand by while I lost my mind because I thought I'd lost you?"
"Sweetheart, just let me explain–"
"Don't fucking 'sweetheart' me. Get out. Get out of my fucking room."
And you'd be standin' in my front porch light
"Get off my damn porch Jason." He was standing in civilian clothes, shuffling his feet nervously as if he was a little kid again.
"Not until you let me explain!"
"Fine. You get to come in for five minutes. See if you can explain to me how there is any way you can justify this."
And I knew you'd come back to me
Y/N sat with her jaw slack in shock after hearing Jason's story. How saying he died wasn't even a lie, how he'd been brought back, the madness he'd experienced, the resentment for nobody killing the Joker. (she flat out told him she would've if she thought she could do it without getting herself killed in the process)
"i'm such a fucking asshole."
"No you aren't"
"No you went through this whole traumatic experience and I've just been a dick to you!"
"And it's been totally justified! You should've been the first person to find out I was back. Honestly I'm surprised Dick or Bruce didn't tell you..."
"I'm going to ignore the urge to castrate both of them and just be happy you came back to me."
You'd come back to me
"I'll always come back to you."
And you'd come back to me
"Make sure you come back in one piece?" They were on the same mission, much to Jason's dismay, but they had to be split up.
"When have I ever not come back to you?"
"...."
"Don't answer that."
And you'd come back
They'd made it out of that atrocious mission. It all worked out in the end but it certainly had taken longer than they planned.
"hey, you came back in one piece, just like I asked."
"I always do, just for you."
And when I felt like I was an old cardigan
Under someone's bed
You put me on and said I was your favorite
Y/N heard Jason coming in. His duffel bag clunked loudly against their closet floor, and she assumed he changed out of his gear at a safehouse before returning to their apartment. She flipped over the edge of the blanket, making room for him to crawl in bed with her. Once sufficiently comfortable behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Jason spoke.
"Hey Y/N?"
She turned around in his arms so she could face him. "Uh oh, you didn't call me any kind of pet name, just my name, whats up?"
"Nothing I just... I just wanted to let you know you're still my favorite."
~
The tears were flowing freely by then. The audience screamed, cheering at the sweet song. “My favorite person didn’t get to be around for a while, but… he came back to me, and that’s all that matters. Now that's enough crying, I’ve got some much more fun songs, ARE YOU READY GOTHAM CITY!?” And with that, the show went on.
Hours later, Y/N made her way backstage, where she was immediately enveloped by the arms of a mystery man. She wasn’t scared though, she knew who it was. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he spun her around.
He sat her down gently, beaming. “You wrote a song about me?” “Jay… baby a lot of my songs are about you.”
“What?”
“I’m going to ignore the fact that you managed to not know that even though I’ve told you before.”
“I just assumed you weren’t serious!”
“... You really think that Lover or Lucky People or Favorite Record, could have possibly been about anyone else?”
“And if I just like hearing you say it?”
“Then I’ll tell you forever.” When their lips met, it was a promise, one that this, this feeling in this moment, was real, and that it wouldn’t ever go away, because they knew everything when they were young.
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