When Dick woke up that morning, he certainly wasn't expecting to run into the girl he'd fallen in love with so long ago. He'd tried time and time again to convince himself that he'd moved on. He'd dated other women, even enjoyed their company. But there was always something missing. Was running into Barbara some sort of sign?
He could tell she was going through a myriad of conflicting thoughts that were probably similar to his own. Should he hug her? Should he engage in conversation? Should he just help her up and be on his way? If she was going to be in town, then there was no way he wasn't going to run into her again. The town had like five streets.
"Oh, um, yeah," he said, and let out a little laugh -- why did he laugh? Where had that come from? He'd gotten shy all of the sudden and that felt weird. Was he nervous to see her? It felt kind of like he should impress her somehow. She'd gone off to do a great many things and he'd stayed here. What did he have to show for it?
"I mean, taking over for Gram wasn't what I was expecting to do but it's been good," he said. "You look good too, I mean, I'm sure you've had a lot going on out there in the world." He felt so dumb. Why was it that Barbara Gordon had the unspoken ability to render him so stupid?