Chapter Text
Jason stood in the middle of his kitchen, one of Alfred's cookies hanging out of his mouth, staring at the headline. TIM WAYNE COMES OUT! Get the whole story on page 6. Jason nearly tore the newspaper trying to find the page. There it was in black and white, what Tim should have told Jason in person that night on the roof.
If this writer was surprised to get the call from Tim Wayne's secretary on Monday morning, she was even more surprised to hear what Mr. Wayne had to say. I walked into Mr. Wayne's office soon after I got the call to find him sitting behind his desk, dressed in an immaculate suit, as always. When I walked in he got up and offered me coffee before we started the interview, always the good host. Once we had our coffee and had taken a seat on the couch in his office, we started the interview.
I started out by asking why Mr. Wayne chose now to come out. I meant with his secret, whatever that was, but my question made the young man laugh, and when I asked what was so funny, I was surprised by the answer. "Your word choice is fitting, I'm gay." I must admit, dear reader, that was not what I expected to be writing about in this article and it took me a second to think of another question.
"What made you decide to tell the world?"
"Well I've told my family and friends already..."
He didn't tell me. Jason was shocked, where had that thought come from? He had not right to be put out that Tim didn't feel the need to tell him. He'd pointed a gun at the boy the last time he'd seen him for God's sake. Maybe after they talked, Jason thought they were at least friends, but that didn't mean Tim had to tell him he was gay. I mean he did seek him out to tell Jason he didn't think he was a bad person, but that didn't mean anything.
Jason read the rest of the article in a bit of a haze, nothing really jumping out at him until "I'm a coward." That brought him up short. Tim was many things but a coward was not one of them. Jason went back to find out why Tim would say something so ridiculous.
"Is there anyone special in your life at the moment?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Why not? A good looking young man like you, I'd think it would be easy to find a date?"
"I'm a coward."
When I tried to get Mr. Wayne to elaborate on what he meant he never really gave a straight answer and the interview quickly wrapped up shortly after.
Jason felt like he had been hit in the head by a baseball bat. It couldn't be. Was that why Tim had come to talk to him that night? He had thought the conversation was a little bit weird, but it couldn't be. Jason had to find Tim and get answers. He didn't want to get his hopes up by jumping to conclusions; he had to find the little bird.