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Ever since Damian had demanded that he learned how to properly ride a horse, he hadn't shut up about his 'absolutely amazing instructor that he would definitely trade for Drake any day.' It was annoying to say the least, and Tim has doubts that his instructor was that fantastic. No one even remotely close to Gotham City was that great. No one.
Sitting in the dining room, head against the table while contemplating his life, Tim could clearly hear Damian in the kitchen trying to convince Bruce, again, to get him a horse for himself. Claiming that he felt bad about using his instructors horse, while also saying how he would like to go trail riding with them. Somewhere deep within Tim felt like at least parts of it were true, but the other part that constantly reminded him that Damian was a brat told him it was all lies. Besides, the kid already had a cow, he didn't need a horse.
Nevertheless, Damian still tried until he was stomping out the door, huffing and puffing with frustration. Just like now, except all ready in his riding gear, helmet in hand with a scowl set across his face. He'd glared at Tim, taking cautious steps around the older.
"Drake," Damian acknowledged, only getting himself the middle finger in response. All the younger did was roll his eyes to the back of his head and keep moving, he had much more important matters to attend to.
Passing by Tim and out the dining room, he took quick paced steps and met Alfred at the manors front doors. He breathed in the faint, but familiar air of autumn, the trees branches swaying side to side as the wind brushed by them. He'd hopped down each step, skipping multiple on the way down.
Damian would never admit it out loud, but he was overjoyed to be able to head back to the barn. The obvious reasons for that would be was that it was away from his family, and around animals the entire time. Although, he did feel bad about leaving Titus at the manor, even if his instructor did give him the okay to bring any of his pets over, Damian was still wary of them.
Hopping in the sleek black car Alfred had gotten per Damians request, the boy hopped in the back. He'd sat patiently, awaiting for when the time would come to hop out of the car and start his lesson; for now, the boy settled with simply gazing out the window, soft music playing in the background as his emerald green eyes roamed over the many things they passed by.
From mouse greys, to dark grey clouds hanging above their heads, and all the way back to that light grey. He took notice as how they left the major parts of the city, more and more trees began to pop up until no building was left except a paved road, and autumn trees.
He perked up as the long drive way, and large pasture in the front came into view. There were at least three horses out in the pasture, two on the left and the other on the right side. It's what got Damian out of his seat, assuring Alfred he could walk the rest of the way to the large barn up ahead.
He stood near the fence, leaning his arms against it as he watched the few horses graze out under the clouds, uncaring of whether it would rain or not.
Eventually he moved on, his riding boots crunching the few autumn leaves that had fallen in the path under them. The various oranges and red looked nice pilling around the bright red painted barn, although it's paint was peeling in some spaces. He could see a few of the horses in their stables sticking their heads out, ears forward and eyes curious as he approached.
Damian tried hard to avoid the people already there, ducking his head down when he made accidental eye contact with them. He was looking for a specific person and their horse, but by the time he'd reached the stall, he'd only found one of the two.
Gently brushing his fingers against the shiny bronze metal of their name plate reading their show name, 'Amethyst's Arrow,' Damian reached forward and carefully stroked their white blazed face.
"Hello," Damian murmured to the black horse, hanging his helmet up on one of the hooks and grabbing the halter and lead. "Let's get you tacked up." He was sure [Y/N] wouldn't mind if he started without her, she knew for a fact that Damian could handle himself just fine around the barn.
The purple glitter on the side of the halter shimmered in the grey light as he slipped it on Amethysts head, making sure it was in the right place before guiding the black horse out of her stall, and clicking the stable door shut behind her.
He'd lead Amethyst to the cross ties outside, he was only here to avoid the hell that was in the manor, and would do a lot to stay away from anyone else. He'd quite honestly had only kept going to this place to avoid everyone else at his home, but then he'd gotten attached to his disgustingly nice instructor. She was the person who he kept coming back out for, along with the horses.
Picking up one of the brushes, Damian got to brushing off what little dirt there was on the jet black horse. He occasionally had to nudge her to the side so he wouldn't be crushed between the wooden poles, and her body. Amethyst would also continuously beg for treats, lifting her right front leg off the ground and then paw at it. Damian would only sigh and pat her neck instead.
He turned his back around for a few seconds, tossing the brush back into the bin atop the many others. He grabbed the bridle hanging up on the hook. He then turned back around to find that Amethyst already had a saddle on her back.
He paused for a moment, clearly confused. It was only when a hand was lain on his shoulder did he feel his heart rate suddenly spike, and along with his short-lived fear, he was very thankful for his years of training that kept his expression void of all emotion.
"Hey, Lil' D," a familiar voice spoke up, handing the younger teen a horse treat. "I'm glad you're here early." She said, lightly pushing him forward, a big smile on her face as she went to adjust the girth for the saddle since it appeared a tad too tight on Amethyst.
"Don't call me that," Damian grumbled in response, feeding the black horse her treat and then working the bridle onto her face.
"Alright, Lil' D," [Y/N] said, patting Amethysts long neck, and walking back in front of the horse to catch Damians irritated gaze.
Slightly annoyed, he'd taken hold of the reins and began guiding Amethyst to the outdoor arena. "I swear to hell and back, you're like a female version of Grayson," he muttered. He remembered when the two met for the first time, it was utter chaos, in his opinion it was at least.
[Y/N] shoved her icy hands in her jacket pockets. She remembered Damians oldest brother, he was very sweet, but tended to baby the teen at times. "Is that a compliment? Orrr...?" She drawled quietly, the endless fields of grazing room for the horses coming to an end as the dirt ridden arena came into view. The place littered with orange and yellow leaves.
"Both."
"Oh." [Y/N] couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she opened the silver gate for him and Amethyst. "Thanks! But, ow." She, childishly, rubbed her hand over where her heart was supposed to be under all the layers of clothing she wore. She had chuckled right after though at the look on Damian's face, holding the black horse in place as Damian hopped up on her back.
That's when his lesson began, and along with the many teasing comments. He was lucky enough that [Y/N] was a little distracted today, her focus partly on assisting him when she could, but also wondering about something on her mind. He doubt he'd be able to get it out of her since she wasn't that open with him.
She'd told him to walk around the arena at least once, reminding him from time to time to put his heels down, or to sit back up. Those words were quick to be unfamiliar again as Damian caught on, especially as he got the lazy black horse he rode to start trotting. Her midnight black legs kicking up the dirt into a light smoke as she moved.
Eventually, another had entered the arena, one of [Y/N]'s friends Damian had inferred from the interaction they shared. That's when [Y/N] checked the time on her phone, motioning for him to wrap it up.
It was only when Damian had hopped off the back of Amethyst, taking the leather reins in one hand, and began walking alongside [Y/N] did the older suddenly begin rambling about how well he did today. Damian couldn't help but to relish in the compliments as they flew at him. Only another reason why he'd come back.
"I don't know why you felt the need to have lessons, you're a fantastic rider-"
"Hey, [Y/N], good luck at the competition!" A passerby said, patting the mentioned girl on the back as he lead a gorgeous dark bay mare to the same arena. The horse wasn't Damian's main focus though, it was the other man's words that caught his attention.
"You're going to a competition next week?" Damian asked before [Y/N] could let another word slip out of her mouth.
"Oh, uh, yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck, her confidence dropping quickly, and allowing the shy side of herself to show. Even the way she walked had shown Damian how hesitant she was to speak of it.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why didn't you say anything?" He cocked his head to the side, trying to catch [Y/N]'s shy gaze, but couldn't as he didn't want to lead himself and Amethyst into one of the darkly painted fences that lined themselves up against the path.
At first, [Y/N] shrugged her shoulders. She was expertly avoiding his questioning stare by staring at the dead leaves on the dirt she crushed under her boot. "I kinda figured you wouldn't be interested," she muttered, kicking the dirt and watching it dance with the wind. "Ya know, big crowd, lots of other rich snobs and their horses. Kinda loud at times," she tried explaining, which, to be fair, did sound like something Damian would hate to attend.
He'd gone to open his mouth, but immediately clamped it shut at the next words that flew out [Y/N]'s mouth.
"I mean, not even my family was interested sooo," she trailed off quietly. Her eyes holding a certain sadness that Damian recognized all too well.
He knew he was going to partially regret what he was about to say, but he couldn't help the guilt that quickly began to surface. "I'll attend."
[Y/N]'s steps faltered, causing Amethyst to stop with her, which she then stopped Damian in his tracks as well. "Seriously?" She asked incredulously.
"I don't see why not." Damian shrugged his own shoulders this time. He'd turned his head at a bad time though as he caught a familiar black car in one of the many parking spaces. And it wasn't Alfred in the front seat.
It took a minute for [Y/N] to process that, and that Damian's ride was back. "Wow, okay. I'll see you there then." Smiling, [Y/N] took the reins and told Damian to go on ahead.
Hesitantly, Damian did, saying his goodbye to both Amethyst and [Y/N] before trudging his way to the car. He'd glared at his adoptive brother through the drivers window as he approached. Of course, once he was in, Damian had slammed the door shut as hard as he possibly could out of sheer spite.
"Good to see you too," Tim groused, clearly unhappy with the situation he was placed in. At least he caught sight of two pretty creatures before driving off.
***
Loud wasn't necessarily the word Damian would've used as he entered the indoor arena. Maybe some of the people there were rude, but loud was not the term to ever use when discussing such a high ceilinged arena.
There were a bit more polished floors upon entry, but that was quick to change to nothing but sloppily swept concrete with dirt piling up in each corner. It's walls were clean and the small makeshift stable up ahead held only a few horses at the moment, the rest were tacked up and taking their time with their riders to practice.
Kicking up the dirt with each step while narrowly avoiding each other. Some riders even stopped what they were doing and talked to one another under the swaying yellow lights.
It was one in particular that caught Damian's eye, forcing his father and his other two siblings to hurry it up so he could greet her.
She'd held the reins in one of her gloved hands, a shy grin on her face as she greeted Damian. It took her a few more seconds to build her confidence up, but eventually she turned her attention to the rest.
"Mr. Wayne, it's finally a pleasure to meet you," [Y/N] said, nervously, but still bent over in the saddle to shake the mentioned man's hand.
"You as well," Bruce replied smoothly, catching his youngest sons gaze who had rolled his eyes at him whilst happily stroking the jet black horse. Bruce's smile only broadened before he let go of [Y/N]'s hand, allowing the other two that he'd dragged along to get a better view.
[Y/N] turned her gaze to another girl around her age with short black hair, and a boy who was far too into his phone to care about what was happening. "And you must be Cass and Tim!" She had to reach a little further down to offer her hand to- who she desperately hoped was- Cass, giving the girl a much gentler smile. Amethyst pawed at the ground out of her own impatience.
Hesitantly, Cass took her hand, discreetly nudging Tim as she did so. Tim looked up at his sister, and then to the woman on the horse, and practically mentally curled up on himself as he tried to stutter out a hello. Neither one of his family members appeared to be impressed with him at the moment. Maybe he was overthinking it, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.
He'd took [Y/N]'s hand and shook it quickly, trying not to take note of how gorgeous she looked atop a horse with the light catching her vibrant eyes. She reminded him of an angel who's wings were long before clipped, so to get around she rode a midnight black horse. And oh lord he was staring. Immediately, Tim avert his eyes, taking his hand back to his side. He could feel Damian's glare burn through his very skull. He hoped that it would set him on fire, that would've been much less embarrassing.
"I've heard a lot about you both," [Y/N] said, glancing over towards Damian as she sat up correctly in the saddle again. Tim already missed her touch.
"Good things, right?" Tim asked, shoving his phone in his pocket. He was trying to regain his stoic posture, but was ultimately failing at doing so. Good god, he was a disgrace.
A grimace of a smile spread across her face as [Y/N] rubbed the back of her neck. "Sort of," she chuckled, there was an apology in her eyes though, which meant Damian had been talking shit about the entire family to her. He wondered where the love went cold.
It was at least another minute of light chatter between them all until [Y/N] encouraged them to go get a good seat before they were all taken. The [H/C] bidding all four them a quick bye before steering her steed back around to start their walk around the ring.
Where Bruce had hurdled his children up and lead the way with Cass to the main arena. Tim trailed right behind them, nibbling on his bottom lip out of embarrassment from beforehand.
Damian snatched Tim's bicep in a firm grip, forcing the older to lag behind with him. "Keep your hormones in check, Drake," he snarled quietly so neither Cass or his father would hear his venomous voice.
Tim nearly choked on the thin air around him at those words, eyes wide, and his expression panicked. "What?" He squawked softly, heat quickly spreading to his face until it was flushed pink.
"I know that dumbstruck look in your eye," Damian continued, "I do not want you corrupting her." Finally, he let go of Tim, walking with an expression that could be deemed a scowl in Tim's book.
"Corrupting her-" Tim started, cutting himself off as his face contorted to one of utter confusion, and something else Damian couldn't quite recognize. "I literally have no idea-"
"Shut. It," The younger hissed, hearing enough of what Tom has to say, even if what was very little.
He'd easily caught up to his father and Cass after that, leaving Tim to rot in the dust that trailed behind him. Damian only glanced back once before turning into the large area called the arena. He could hear his older brothers footsteps from behind, but chose to ignore them completely; instead choosing to focus on the sandy center with a set of large bleachers on each side. It's old blue paint fading away with time and use.
As Damian had taken a seat beside his sister, Tim reluctantly taking the open one to his right whilst father on the far left, he'd taken notice of the large obstacles that had been laid out in the sandy arena. Some of them obviously lower than the others, decorated with a few bushes or plants of some sort to make the old poles appear fancier. It was like looking at an antique store, but a bit less old and more just worn down.
As the seats began to fill up, the competition began. The first competitor came out on a graceful grey horse, it's legs lifting high in the air as it trot. Damian, to say the least, was easily pulled in. Tim on the other hand just whipped out his phone and began asking around for advice, trying his hardest not to be too specific about the situation.
Competitor after competitor had come and completed the course in all varying times. Some knocked over a pole or two, others were spot on. The competition seemed never ending. With each rider taking the same route over and over again, Tim, and most likely Cass as well, was growing bored.
Although as he managed to pull his attention away from his phone, he heard one of the announcers say a familiar name, and judging by how Damian perked up, he knew that it was most definitely her.
He'd placed his phone down beside himself, giving his undivided attention as an anxious Amethyst stepped into view of everyone. A loud cheering noise could be heard from behind Tim, the noise brief, but enough to get [Y/N] to bow her head. Both he and Damian had assumed that it was a friend.
Leaning forward more in his seat, Damian watched carefully as the two quite easily leapt over each obstacle placed in front of them. He was impressed, to say the least. He could see that Amethyst's back hoof brushed against one pole, but otherwise, they were clean.
He could even see a tiny twinge of how truly impressed Cass was. Although the girl may be more focused on her surroundings than what was happening right in front of her.
Along with most of the crowd, Tim couldn't exactly take his eyes off her for many different reasons. One of them being that he didn't know a horse could jump that high, and because he loved the look of determination on her face. It seemed to have completely broken apart that shy side to her, her eyes set forward with her mind only on one thing. And he was doing it again. That thing where he picked up on every little unimportant detail about someone. He cursed himself.
By the time the competition was over, and the four of them had all traveled back to where the makeshift stables were to complement her on her riding, Tim had found that he desperately wanted to know more about [Y/N]. And that he found he only hated himself more for it since they'd only met a few hours ago.
He'd admired her from afar, drowning in his own embarrassment as he hung around an old brown horse in its stall. It's head stuck out, big brown eyes in the same direction as Tim's, but was staring at Amethyst instead. At least if the horse was caught staring, they'd have a higher chance of not being rejected.
She held a helmet in her free hand, the reins that kept Amethyst still in the other. She was speaking with Bruce like they were old friends while letting Damian and Cass crowd Amethyst's personal space. The black horse didn't seem to mind too much, she was getting a few treats out of it.
The horse beside him sighed deeply, speaking for both themself and Tim.
"You and me both," Tim sighed himself, turning to gently rub the horse's soft muzzle. He had been so distracted doing that that he hadn't noticed how the lovely conversation Bruce and [Y/N] were having had ended.
For some reason, while standing farther away from the the group he'd come with, the world had blessed- or possible cursed- him when [Y/N] approached him, Amethyst by her side.
"Hey," she said sweetly, 'causing something in Tim's stomach to twist nervously.
"Hi." Tim cocked his head to the side, quickly checking the time on his phone just in case. All he found was the millions of texts piling up on his lock screen.
They'd exchanged a few words, both of them stumbling over the words a bit as they spoke. Other wise, the two managed to make light conversation.
"So... you maybe wanna, I don't know, go grab coffee some time, or something?" [Y/N] asked, wincing at her own attempt to ask someone out. It'd been awhile since she did something like this, but she found that Tim wasn't really at all Damian had said he was.
Tim, mentally, took a step back, a little more than surprised. "Me?" He pointed to himself, incredulous at the thought that someone actually liked his dumb self. Not even he liked himself.
"Well I'm not asking the wall out," she joked nervously, scuffing her expensive riding boot against the dirty old floor. She held a firm grip on the reins to keep an impatient Amethyst from wandering off.
"Yeah, I'd like that," He said, cheering inside his mind as he hadn't stuttered.
"Great!" [Y/N] beamed, matching Tim's grin with a brighter one. She handed him a small piece of paper before walking away, her black horse in stow.
Upon opening the folded piece of paper he'd found that it contained her phone number. He held it close to his chest, glancing around the almost empty place, and at his family a little ways away. Now all Tim had to do was keep this out of reach of his family- specifically Dick and Jason- unless he wanted to be teased. Which, for your information, he didn't. They were relentless.
***
So, to put it simply, there was a snitch in the family. It was him. He rat himself out on accident. And to his two older brothers no less, and now he had to deal with the consequences.
They teased him without mercy and took every chance they could to do so. Tim just barely made it out of the manors front doors without either noticing, and he couldn't have been more thankful for that.
He hadn't bothered asking Alfred for a ride, or stealing a set of keys to one of many of Bruce's cars. They would track him. They always did. They all sucked like that.
So he walked, all the way there, without uttering a single complaint about it. He would just have to avoid nosy paparazzi and the curious gaze of others as he walked along the sidewalk.
Of course, with Tim's luck, the streets were crowded today, inevitably making him late for his date. He'd run his hand through his hair, brushing the black strands from his face.
As his patience slowly dwindled, he'd resorted to lightly pushing people aside. He'd heard a few 'hey!' and 'watch it!' as he did so, but Tim didn't care at this point in his life. He was tired as hell and half the people in his way were criminals anyways.
One thing was for certain, Tim regret not stealing the keys to a car. It would've made this situation so much better. Luckily, through the many colorful jackets and over the chatter, he had spotted [Y/N] leaning against the icy wall of the coffee shop with her phone in hand.
They'd locked eyes as she looked up, placing her phone in her back pocket as she met him halfway, greeting him with a friendly smile. [Y/N] took his arm and dragged him into the welcoming warmth of the shop, the sweet aroma of pastries and other baked goods wafting through the air.
On their way over to one of the cushioned booth seats in the back, Tim was able to rid himself of his own jacket. He tossed it to the side once he took his seat across from [Y/N], fiddling with the end of his shirt as she did her best to get the conversation going.
Tim couldn't really stop himself from staring at her lips, and how her movements were so smooth and graceful, and not as clumsy or messy as his own. He was surprised he was even able to take his eyes off of her to order. He was a mess, already. Completely enthralled by her. Bruce was probably looking down upon him and shaking his head. How could he have possibly grown to like her so much already? All [Y/N] did was ride a horse, talk a bit about herself, and Tim was whipped.
The ebony was so deep in his own mind that he'd failed to notice the signs [Y/N] gave off was that she was in the same exact boat.
By the time they'd got their drinks, it had fallen silent. [Y/N] taking small sips despite the way her drink burnt her tongue, and stole a few glances at Tim when she thought he wasn't paying attention.
"You haven't done this sorta thing in awhile, have you?" [Y/N] asked over the rim of her coffee cup, internally smiling as Tim's face alone answered her question. He was far too adorable.
"That obvious?" He chortled, keeping his eyes down focused on the white swirls in his cup.
"Little bit," she admit, leaning back in her seat whilst casually glancing around the shop, "it's alright, I haven't either." She smiled reassuringly, or tried her best to at least.
Tim let out a breath he didn't he was holding, his heart rate slowly calming down. "Glad to know I'm not the only one," he breathed, his once tense shoulders relaxing.
Unbeknownst to the the two of them, but that was where their relationship took off.