Chapter Text
And then I go and spoil it all
By saying something stupid like
“I Love You.”
Something Stupid- Frank Sinatra
To say that Tim was having a bad day would be an understatement, more accurately he would say that he was having a Terrible, awful, horrible, horrendous, hideous day. Dick would say he’s being overdramatic, and a bit heavy with the alliteration-- to which Tim would reply in a way that would probably make Alfred tsk in disapproval.
Currently Tim was stuck at Bruce Wayne's 48th birthday gala, which he thinks could be considered a type of cruel and unusual punishment. Bruce usually celebrates his birthday with a private party that consists of a small chocolate cake and no one outside his immediate family, quickly followed by patrol. This year though, it was decided that because Bruce had been gone for a year and half while being stuck in a time stream, and then recovering from said time stream. It would be better if Bruce put on a large gala to show the world he was alive and well, his birthday just happened to be a good excuse.
And because they were showing the world just how alive and well Bruce currently was, of course all members of the family must be present. So Tim put on his perfectly tailored Armani suit, the watch Bruce gave him for his 18th birthday, and his most Timothy Drake-Wayne smile and braved the crowd. This of course wasn’t why Tim was currently having the worst day in his existence. Because, while galas were never his idea of fun. Watching both Damian and Jason pretend to be normal civilized people for an entire night might be considered one of Tim’s favorite pastimes.
No, what made this night horrible was that less than fifty feet from where Tim stood. Conner Kent, dressed in a nicely fitted but less expensive suit, accompanied by a dazzling smile, and his signature gold earring that Tim had always had a strong urge to bite. Was currently sipping his champagne and talking adamantly to a group of older women, who looked like they were seconds away from devouring him whole. Tim had known for a fact that the Kents were coming, he had been there when Damian had demanded that if Bruce was going to “force him to attend this stupid gala the least he could do was invite Jon.” Which meant that Bruce extended an invitation to the entirety of the Kent family, which of course would mean Kon.
So yes, Tim knew that Kon was coming, he even had acknowledged that the Kents were coming when Bruce later confirmed their attendance. So in no way should Tim have been this thrown off by Kon’s presence at a gala, that he was for all intents and purposes invited to. Yet there Tim was, standing absolutely stock still, in the middle of the room, holding his champagne glass frozen a few inches from his lips, as he was about to take a sip before he saw the Super.
It wasn’t that Tim didn’t want to see Kon, because he did. God did Tim want to see Kon. It was just that it had been months, almost a year since they’ve had a conversation that wasn’t awkward and tense, both filled with the knowledge of all that has happened between them since they first met.
The last time Tim and Kon had talked was a little over two months ago. When Tim desperately tried to splutter through an apology about the whole ‘attempted cloning’ thing, and Kon’s equally painful apology about not being there for the ‘whole worst year of Tim’s life' thing, on the account of being presumed dead. Suffice to say that that interaction did not go well, and by the end of it Kon was practically vibrating out of his seat with how bad he wanted to flee, and Tim was right there next to him.
Since then, the most Tim had talked to Kon had been the small interactions they had in their ‘Young JustUS’ group chat. This of course wasn’t the only reason why he and Kon hadn't spoken, though it was probably the biggest. In truth Tim had kind of drifted from all his friends as he’d tried desperately to repair his very tense, and broken relationship with the bats. It had been going well, though it was taking a lot of time and effort on everyone’s part. It helped that when Bruce came back, he had done some serious self reflecting and decided that it was time for him to become a more emotionally available person, instead of a bag of angst dressed up in a bat suit.
So of course the first time Tim had seen Kon in months, it had to be when Kon looked so unbelievably hot that Tim was sure he’d never recover. Tim wasn’t exactly sure how long he stood there, staring at Kon. Watching the way he body moved under the very nicely fitted suit, but he did know that someone could classify his behavior as leering.
Tim had just convinced himself to look away, when Kon let out a loud laugh. Tim watched as his entire face lit up and his attention was instantly drawn back in, only sparing a thought to wonder who had made Kon laugh like that and why it wasn’t Tim himself?
He was so caught up in staring at Kon that he completely lost all awareness of his surroundings. So when Jason all of the sudden appeared at his side, Tim couldn’t help the tiny embarrassed squeak that escaped him. To which Jason responded with a very amused eyebrow raise and his mouth twitched as he tried not to laugh.
“What’s up Timbo?” Jason asked, letting his classic shit-eating grin grow impossibly large. Immediately Tim could feel the heat rise to his cheeks at being caught, and made an attempt to turn away from Jason in an effort to hide. Unfortunately, Dick was standing on his other side, his grin less shit-eating but equally pleased looking. As if he had just successfully got away with stealing one of Alfred’s freshly made chocolate chip cookies.
“Aww he’s blushing!” His oldest brother said, his smile grew slightly softer which only served to make Tim’s blush deepen. Just when he was sure that this situation couldn’t get any more mortifying, Damian, who was standing slightly behind Dick decided to make his presence known.
“Of course Drake would be unable to control something as inane as his ability to blush, I continue to fail to understand as to why we continue to keep him around.”
While the words were harsh, Damian’s tone was far gentler than anything he’s ever used to speak with Tim in the past. Damian and Tim had worked especially hard on their relationship over the past couple of months. Something that the brothers were especially resistant to at first, but both eventually wore down through Dick’s insistence. Dick being someone who neither of them could stomach to disappoint. It helped that while Tim was gone, Damian had softened considerably. It helped even more when Dick and Tim had a heart to heart about the past year, and Tim felt like he had his brother back again.
“Now then, who exactly was our little Timmy staring at like he was seconds away from creaming his pants.” Jason said as he swung an arm over Tim’s shoulders and pushed himself closer to try and look at where Tim was staring.
“tt, disgusting as always Todd.” Daimian said, turning his nose up as if he smelled something unpleasant.
“Oh hush demon brat, I'm trying to focus.”
Tim felt like his face was on fire with how hard he was blushing, and the only reason he had not already walked away was because he was terrified of what would happen if Jason saw Kon. That and Jason’s arm over his shoulders was keeping him practically glued to his spot. Tim couldn’t see if Kon had walked away as Jason’s head was blocking his line of sight, so he sent up a silent prayer that fate had decided to be kind to him today.
A few silent and tense seconds passed before Jason practically shouted “Oh shit! Really?”
Evidently fate had decided it hated Tim.
“Shut up” Tim whispered ferociously, while shoving his elbow deep into Jason’s ribs. If Jason noticed that Tim was currently trying very hard to shove his own elbow so deep into Jason that it killed him, he didn’t react. Instead he let out a low whistle before finally moving out of Tim’s space.
“Damn baby bird, didn’t realize overexcitable puppy dog wearing spikes was your type.” Jason said his head tilted slightly as he continued to examine Kon. Kon, (who unfortunately just got hotter in the moments that Tim had been unable to see him) was still engrossed in conversation with the group of women from before. Though at some point Jon had joined them and was now taking up the majority of the attention from the women, who were practically stumbling over themselves to pinch his cheeks.
Tim could only hope that Kon was too distracted and far away enough that he was unable to hear anything his brothers were saying.
“Excitable puppy?” Dick asked while scanning the crowd, moving his body in a way that made it obvious that he was looking for someone. For highly trained vigilanties, you’d think that Tim’s brothers would learn the meaning of subtle.
Jason shrugged, “I don’t know, all the Supers kind of remind me of big golden retrievers.”
Tim scoffed, Kon was not a ‘golden retriever’. Even if he could sometimes imagine a tail wagging whenever Kon got excited about a new Wendy the Werewolf Slayer episode.
Tim could tell immediately when Dick spotted Kon, his eyes widened before flicking down to look at Tim, then back once more at Kon, and then finally back at Tim again.
“Conner?” Dick asked before tilting his head slightly and staring consideringly at Tim. “Ya Know what? I see it, you two would be cute together.”
In an effort to escape everything Dick had just said, Tim looked down at where Damian was standing. “You’re not offended? Jason just compared Jon to a dog.”
“Regrettably I have to agree with Todd on this matter, Jon does tend to remind me a bit of a puppy.” Damian said as he tried hard to keep an air of disgust around him, though Tim saw the slight smile directed at Jon, who’s cheeks were slightly pink from being pinched.
Unfortunately Tim’s distraction did not last long, because soon enough Dick was trying desperately to catch Tim’s gaze again. Tim tried his best to avoid Dick’s stare, though no one could resist Dick’s puppy dog eyes for long. With a heavy sign Tim gave in and met Dick’s gaze.
“Yes Dick?” He asked, already regretting giving in so easily.
“You should talk to him, tell him how you feel.” Dick said with an encouraging smile. Immediately Tim could feel the panic well up in him just at the thought.
No no no no no no. Absolutely not, Tim thought viciously. His and Kon’s relationship was already rocky as it was, there was no way Tim was ruining it even further by doing something stupid like confessing his feelings.
“No! Listen, whatever you guys think you know, you’re wrong. I am not going to confess any feelings for anyone, because there are no feelings to confess. And even if there were feelings to confess, I would not ruin my already stained relationship with my best friend because I was unable to withstand peer pressure from my supposed brothers.” Tim said in one breath, taking in a large lungful of air when he was done. Thankfully his blush had finally died down and instead a firm glare had taken its place.
All three of his brother's eyes were wide as they stared at him before each expression quickly morphed into something that resembled sympathy, or slightly disgusted pity in Damian’s case.
“I cannot believe you have chosen to be infatuated with the clone. Surely out of everyone you know, there has to be someone better than him.” Damian said, seemingly having ignored everything Tim had just said about not having feelings for Kon.
“Oh please, is that the pot calling the kettle black I hear? Your current crush is literally no better.” Tim sneered at Damian. Apparently their new found amiableness had its limits. Before Damian could stab Tim like he so obviously wanted to, Dick was there putting a calming hand on Damian’s shoulder.
“Both of you knock it off.” He said, giving them both his best stern look that went largely unnoticed as the brothers continued to glare at each other.
“Listen Tim, we’re not going to push you to do anything you don’t want to do, but for what it’s worth I think you should talk to him.” Dick said, immediately holding up a hand to stop Tim’s protests.
“Not to confess, but just to talk, I know how much you care about Kon. I was there when you first met him and you thought you hated him, so sure you would never like the guy, and I was also there to watch you break when he died. Don’t punish yourself by letting yourself lose him. Not when you just got him back.” Dick said, taking a moment to pause before speaking again.
“If we’ve learned anything in this family, it’s that no matter the circumstances, we shouldn’t waste second chances. Not when we are lucky enough to get them.” Dick’s eyes flicked briefly to where Jason was standing next to Tim, before settling back on Tim again.
Tim hated that he knew Dick was right. It’s one thing to have been too distracted by all of the emotional turmoil at home to make much of an effort to reach out, it was a completely different thing to see Kon and willingly walk away.
It was just that Tim was scared. He felt like ever since Kon had come back, every feeling or thought Tim had ever had about the Super had increased dramatically. Sometimes just the thought of Kon was enough to stop Tim’s breathing, thrusting him back to the day Tim learned Kon was dead. Every horrible, ghastly, despondent thought swimming back to the surface so fast that Tim was sure it would drown him.
He knew that Kon noticed it too. Kon had once confessed to Tim many months ago that sometimes he couldn’t stand to be around him, that when Tim looked at Kon it felt like Tim was looking at a ghost. It was just one of the many reasons why Tim was sure he was hopelessly losing his best friend. Try as he might, no matter what he did he was convinced that Kon being back was some sick dream that he would wake up from at any moment. So Tim kept his distance, he resisted the urge to interact with Kon in any meaningful way in case he was right, and Kon was ripped away from him once again.
Unfortunately Dick was staring at him expectantly and Tim could not for the life of him figure out how to get out of this. He knew he wouldn't be able to handle Dick’s disappointed look if Tim didn't talk to Kon, but on the other hand Tim was pretty sure having to face the guilt he felt about Kon and their slowly failing friendship would be even worse.
In the end Tim decided that his best bet would be to make a break for it, so he opened his mouth as if he was going to respond, before sidestepping to shove through the crowd as fast as he possibly could. Regrettably Tim failed to take into account a very major variable when planning his quick escape strategy.
Usually Jason, who was almost as good at avoiding an awkward conversation as Bruce was, was always happy to help Tim escape uncomfortable situations that would end in Tim having to talk about his feelings. So naturally Tim had assumed that as before Jason would simply let him run and make no move to stop him. What Tim had failed to take into account was that as much as Jason hated confrontation, he loved contributing to chaos more.
So almost as soon as Tim sidestepped from Dick, Jason grabbed the collar of Tim’s suit and yanked him right back again.
Great, now Tim would have to deal with both Dick’s disappointment and the culpability he felt about Kon. Tim didn’t try to fight Jason’s grip, knowing it would be futile, and could only swear silently that he would pay Jason back for this one day. Tim wondered briefly if Jason would murder him for messing with his bike, and then quickly decided if it would get him out of this mess he didn’t care
“Tim.” Dick sighed and Tim couldn’t help the way he flinched at the disappointment that coated Dick’s voice. When he met Dick’s gaze though, Tim was surprised to find that Dick didn’t look all that upset, instead he looked at Tim with eyes that screamed he understood Tim’s hesitation. They stared at each other for a while before Jason (who was still holding Tim by his collar like a mom cat would hold their kitten by its scruff) dragged Tim closer to him.
“Listen Timbo, you need to man up and talk to Kon about anything at all, because if you don’t you’ll just stand here looking pathetic all night, and I would hate to have to make fun of you for being a loser.” Jason said from behind Tim, hand still clenched tight around Tim’s collar as if he was prepared for Tim to run at any second.
“You already make fun of me for being a loser.” Tim responded with such a deep scowl that he was sure he had never looked more like Bruce then in this moment.
“Well yes, but anymore and it would just be sad. Now buck up and go get your man.” Jason said before promptly shoving Tim in Kon’s direction so hard that Tim almost fell flat on his face. Tim squeaked loudly as he was shoved and instinctively grabbed onto the nearest thing to balance himself. Which of course had to be the arm Mrs. Pierson, one of the more memorable citizens of Gotham city’s upper crust.
This of course startled Mrs. Pierson enough that she loudly shrieked causing all of those in her immediate area to turn to look at her, and therefore look at Tim. Which of course meant that as soon as Tim caught his balance enough to fully stand, he was met with Kon’s almost unnaturally striking blue eyes.
Well fuck.
Tim watched as Kon took in the scene, his eyes catching on Tim and then drifting down to where Tim was still holding onto Mrs. Pierson’s arm. Tim yanked his hand back as soon as he realized and gave Mrs. Pierson the most apologetic look he could muster.
“Are you alright dear?” Mrs. Pierson asked her worried expression, looking more weary than anything else.
“Yes, I do apologize my brothers-” Tim cut himself off, as he turned back to look at where his brothers and him had previously been standing. The spot was completely empty, making it obvious that all three of them fled as soon as they realized Tim’s fall would make a scene.
Bastards. Tim thought bitterly before turning back to Mrs. Pierson with another apologetic smile.
“I'm truly sorry, my shoes are a bit slippery on the floor and I guess I lost my balance. I hope I haven't hurt you or scared you too badly.” Tim said, giving Mrs. Pierson his most blinding smile. Mrs. Pierson blushed softly before reaching out to pat the top of Tim’s arm, squeezing it slightly.
“Of course not my dear, as long as you are alright.”
Mrs. Pierson gave another slightly stronger squeeze to Tim’s bicep before letting go. Tim, who was so bewildered by the entire interaction, forgot about his current predicament and turned around only to be met directly with Kon’s look of concern.
Kon’s gaze flicked to the back of Mrs. Pierson’s head and he stared at her with an expression Tim couldn’t quite discern before looking back down at Tim. Kon gave him a very thorough once over that made Tim flush all the way down his chest before giving him a very smug looking smile.
“I didn’t realize you went after older women. If I had known I would have never introduced you to Ma. She’s a married woman ya know.” Kon said his smile was so wide that Tim could practically see his larynx.
“Shut up” Tim said, too flustered to think of a good response. This entire interaction had been mortifying enough that Tim was already planning his life as a hobbit. He was sure Bruce would understand once he explained the circumstances.
Kon gave a small chuckle before the smile slowly started to fall from his face.
“Hey Rob.” Kon said, his voice was low and soft. His loud and beautiful smile now resembled something closer to a grimace. This is what Tim was scared of, It was like they were both too broken to go back to what they were before, and he hated it.
Because even though Tim was hopelessly in love with his best friend, and was well aware that there was no way Kon could possibly return his feelings. What Tim missed most of all was having his best friend in the first place. Dick was right, he couldn’t waste this second chance, no matter how difficult and terrifying this all was.
There standing in front of him was a man whose death broke Tim, someone who Tim loved in a way he had never loved anyone else.
Tim remembered the week after Kon had died, right before Tim broke fully and tried to clone him. He had been sitting on his bed at Wayne manor with one of Kon’s old shirts clutched tightly in his hands. He had been wearing it for the past couple days because it still smelled faintly like him. Eventually though, the smell had been replaced with Tim’s own scent, and so he had taken it off to clutch at instead.
It was there, sitting in the dark of his room, clutching a Superboy shirt so hard his muscles ached that he had realized he loved Kon. It was a heartbreaking realization of course, as there was absolutely nothing Tim could have done about it. The next thing Tim knew, everyone he cared about was dead and he had failed to clone his best friend ninety-nine times. Then none of it mattered because Bruce wasn’t dead he was just missing, and no one believed him, and Kon came back anyways.
Suffice to say that Tim felt like he had spent the past year and a half teetering at the edge of Wayne tower waiting for a harsh breeze to push him off.
“Hey Kon” Tim said hesitantly, hoping his face wasn’t betraying the turmoil of emotions that were swimming around in his gut.
Neither of them spoke for a while, and the awkward air around them grew so intense that Tim couldn’t stomach it. So when he saw Mr. Broadstone attempting to flirt with a young woman who was so much younger than him, she could have been his granddaughter. Tim took it for the distraction it was.
“Oh my god, why does he keep getting invited to these things?” Tim said out loud, hoping that saying anything would be enough to save them from the horrible silence that sat between them. When Kon quickly turned to look at where Tim was looking, Tim knew he had succeeded.
One of the best things about stuffy galas like this, was that there was always something to gossip about. They were designed that way of course, what better way for the privileged upper crust of Gotham to feel good about themselves then to get them to talk shit about each other. Supply endless amounts of alcohol and dull conversation, and something interesting was bound to happen.
After Tim pointed out exactly where Mr. Broadstone was standing, Tim and Kon watched the disaster that was the old man’s attempt at flirting. The silence between them had transformed from stifling to something more comfortable, and for a second Tim forgot all about the cumbersome feelings that rested between them.
Eventually though, the distraction ended, the young woman had enough and left Mr. Broadstone with nothing more than a quick farewell and a faint look of disgust on her face. Tim turned back to face Kon, expecting for the silence to turn sour once again. Thankfully though it didn’t. The boys spared each other one quick glance before they were both laughing so hard they had doubled over, clutching their stomachs while tears ran down their faces.
After their laughs had finally tapered off Kon straightened himself up and wiped the tears from his face before turning to face Tim fully. His expression while still amused had fallen into something slightly more serious than before, and Tim could feel his heartbeat start to pick up in anticipation.
Kon watched Tim for what felt like the most antagonizing few moments of his life. Desperate not to start squirming under Kon’s gaze, Tim let himself watch Kon back. Kon looked so similar to how he did before he had died that Tim had to fight back an onslaught of grief that threatened to drown him. As Tim continued to look though, he could point out some of the small changes that proved time had passed, that that Tim wasn’t staring at a ghost.
He looked a bit older, both physically, but also in the way that someone who had experienced heavy hardship would look older. Kon had also let his hair grow, the undercut having grown long enough that you wouldn’t be able to tell it had been there in the first place. Kon’s body had also grown too, in a way that suggested that he had spent most of his time back being dead training.
All of these tiny changes only served to make Kon more attractive and by the end of Tim’s impromptu inspection, he was feeling far more flushed than what was probably appropriate for the situation.
Finally after what felt like years of silence, Kon spoke.
“I missed you Tim.”
The admission was so honest and open that Tim almost couldn’t handle it. Instinctively he wanted to hide, Tim had never been good at emotions, especially with honest ones. He couldn’t run from this though. Because it was Kon, and the least Tim owed him was a chance for them to be honest with each other.
“I missed you too.” Tim replied, because there was nothing else to say. Tim had missed Kon, he missed him so desperately his bones ached. Tim missed Kon like lungs miss oxygen or the sun misses the moon; intrinsically and with every fiber of his being.
Kon’s smile grew at Tim’s words and Tim could feel himself relax, he could have this again. Tim didn’t need Kon romantically, he just needed Kon, in any way he could have him.
“Listen, I don’t know if you saw in the group chat, but Cassie, Bart, and I were planning to have a show marathon in like two weeks. I know Bart and Cassie have missed you just as much as I have, so if you want, you're welcome to join.” Kon said running a hand through his already messy curls.
The invitation sat heavy in both Tim’s heart and stomach. Tim hadn’t seen the plans in the group chat, hadn’t really looked at the group chat for longer than two seconds in fact. Just enough to make sure all of his friends were not dead again. Tim knew he had grown apart from Cassie and Bart just as much as he had from Kon. Lately Tim had been feeling like he had drifted so far out into the sea that it would be impossible for him to find the shore again.
But here Kon was, floating above him in the middle of the ocean offering him a way back to land.
“It depends, we’re not just going to watch Wendy the Werewolf Stalker again are we?” Tim asked, it was a legit question, Tim felt like that show was burned into the back of his retinas with how much Kon forced them to watch it during his time with the Young Justice team.
“No, Cassie already ruled it out, said we could only watch things that we haven’t already watched together.” Kon said sheepishly.
“Well, as long as we uphold the rule, I guess I could come. Maybe I can get you guys to watch some Star Trek, there are still some we haven’t seen yet.” Tim said already planning out how he would get Cassie to agree, knowing she would be the hardest to break.
Kon laughed loudly at Tim. “If I can’t suggest Wendy, then you sure as hell can’t suggest Star Trek. There’s no way we haven’t already watched all three hundred episodes like fifty times.”
Tim was a little offended that Kon thought there were only three hundred episodes. There were nine hundred, and the fact that Kon didn’t know that meant Tim hadn’t been doing his job properly.
The rest of the evening was spent in familiar camaraderie, poking fun at both each other and those around them. They had spent hours standing together talking and laughing when Clark eventually found them. Jon was standing against Clark’s legs practically sleeping where he stood, and Clark's hand was buried deep in his son's curls massaging, his head in a way that definitely wasn’t helping Jon stay awake.
“Hey, Louis and I are going to head back, you ready to go?” Clark asked only glancing over at Tim to give him a polite nod hello.
Kon looked at Tim with hesitation written all over his face. It was clear he wanted to stay, and Tim equally didn’t want him to leave, but he could see the bags heavy under Kon’s eyes. It had gotten quite late, it was already past nine when Tim and Kon had started talking, and Kon wasn’t as much of a night owl as Tim.
So Tim gave Kon a reassuring smile before nodding his head towards Clark.
“Go home and sleep, i’ll see you in two weeks, yeah?” Tim asked, to which Kon gave a nod of confirmation in response.
“Alright, good night Rob.”
“Good night Clone Boy.”
After Kon and the rest of the Kent’s left, Tim let himself drift over to where Cass was standing by the refreshments. He enjoyed the comfortable silence with Cass for a while before he saw Dick making his way over to the table.
Instantly Tim was bracing himself for how insufferable Dick’s ‘I told you so’ face was going to be. The worst part about Dick always being right, was that he could never handle it with grace.
Sure enough, when Tim saw Dick’s face come into view his smile was so large and smug it matched that of Jason’s from earlier in the night. As soon as Dick was within hitting range, Tim was going to punch him so hard he'd be feeling it for weeks.
As if sensing his younger brother’s current murderous intent Dick stopped an arm’s length away in front of Tim. Far enough away that Tim would have to lunge for Dick, giving his oldest brother enough time to evade, damn him.
“So how’d it go?” Dick asked, his smile growing impossibly larger.
“Shut up.”Tim responded knowing the command would fall on deaf ears.
“Awww come on baby bird, you two were attached at the hip for practically half the night. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
Dick was right, it hadn’t been bad. In fact it was the first time in months that Tim was able to have a conversation with Kon that didn’t end with Tim wanting to tear his hair out and sob. Something must have shown on his face because soon enough Dick was sweeping him up into a tight hug, no longer deeming Tim a violent threat.
Tim, of course, was helpless when it came to Dick’s hugs and went boneless in his arms almost immediately. Sometimes there was nothing more embarrassing than being touched starved. After a while Dick pulled away and met Tim’s gaze, his blue eyes searching Tim’s thoroughly. It was always hard facing Dick head on, the oldest had this innate talent for being able to stare straight through your soul. It was all Tim could do to keep his gaze on Dick and not look away.
“I'm glad you talked to him, and I won’t push if you don’t want to confess. Though I would like to point out that Kon couldn’t keep his eyes off of you all night.” Dick said as he wagged his eyebrows in a silly, suggestive manner.
Tim fought hard to stop the blush that threatened to take over his face. Dick must have read something wrong, because there was no way that Kon was looking at him in any other way than strictly as a friend. Afterall, it hadn’t been that long since him and Cassie had broken up and Tim would eat his shoe if Kon was anything other than straight.
So Tim leveled Dick with his most unimpressed stare before letting out a disbelieving laugh. “Yeah okay, Dick. You really shouldn’t drink so much at these things, you start saying the weirdest shit.” Tim said, Dick gave Tim a look that he couldn’t quite understand before shrugging his shoulders and placing his hand on the top of Tim’s head.
“You both just looked like you were having a good time is all.” Dick said, running his fingers through Tim's hair. Tim fought hard not to slump into the touch, already feeling the way his body drifted closer to Dick.
“Yeah well, it was nice. So thanks I guess, you were right, I don’t want to lose him. Not when I just got him back.” Tim practically mumbled, struggling to stay awake. The feeling of Dick’s fingers in his hair was enough to lull him to sleep in the middle of the day, let alone when exhaustion had been pulling at him for hours already.
“Yeah well, I'm always right so I can’t say I'm surprised.” Dick responded before pulling his hand back. Tim bit back a whine at the loss before scowling at Dick’s poor attempt to stop from laughing at him.
It wasn’t long before the gala ended, the night was bleeding into the early morning and Gotham’s elite was starting to sober up.
By the time Tim pulled himself into bed, he was so exhausted that he could barely keep his eyes open. His last thought before drifting off to sleep was of Kon’s eyes and just how much he had missed them.