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All the lights in the apartment were off, so it was pitch black. His whole damn body ached, he lifted his legs regretfully to walk and his arms carried a black bag from which his suit was sticking out.
Today had been a heavy night, some Arkham thugs had escaped again and he had taken a few good blows all over his body, he would probably have some broken ribs but he would deal with those later, now he just wanted to get to his room and lay down on his bed to never see the light of the damn day again.
As he continued walking down the large entrance hallway he heard some murmuring in the hall, which made him go on guard. He reached the end of the hallway and stopped and looked around the room, he tried to see in the dark but he still hadn't developed his super vision. Maybe it would be a good idea to turn on the switch, and he was about to turn around when all the lights in the house suddenly came on.
Suddenly cries of 'Surprise!' and 'Happy Birthday' erupted behind him, colorful confetti falling on him. His friends had jumped on him before he could realize it, knocking his bag off his arm. Kon and Bart were one on each side of Tim hugging him by the shoulder and then Cassie appeared wearing one of those typical birthday hats, she was also holding a strawberry and chocolate cake, and on top was misspelled 'Happy Birthday Tim' with a few colorful candles.
He had forgotten, with all the mess of the week (and month) he had completely forgotten that today was his birthday, plus no one in his family had mentioned it either. He looked at the cake and then at Cassie, saw her happy face warp to one of concern, and wondered why.
"Tim, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Oh... He hadn't realized of tears. "Is everything okay, are you okay...?"
God, I really couldn't believe I was crying right now. She wanted to speak, she wanted to say a few words but all that came out of her mouth were sobs. Cassie put the cake down on the coffee table and walked over to Tim again, he had buried his face in his hands as he continued to cry.
Kon and Bart behind him probably looked confused and worried as did Cassie. She wrapped her arms around Tim and hugged him as he buried his body on top of her. After a few seconds Bart and Kon moved closer to them, joining in the embrace.
They stayed like that for a long time, and it felt so good, the warmth of his friends on him made him feel so safe, like he had nothing to worry about.
He lifted his head from Cassie's chest and wiping the tears that were still falling from his eyes, he spoke.
"Me, I'm so happy." Bart behind him probably looked even more confused, he couldn't see his face.
"Then why are you crying Tim?" Kon spoke behind him.
"It's just that... No one had remembered my birthday, not even myself, and the fact that you were the only ones who remembered it reminded me, how much I love you." Cassie's worried face was replaced again by a smile.
"And it also made me remember all the times we had together at Young justice, when we were kids, when we met when we were 15, and now I'm turning 18. And all those anti lows we had, the death of Kon and Bart, the fight I had that Cassie." He had stopped looking up and this time he looked back down at the cake.
"All that shit we went through.... And yet, we're still friends and I'd really hate for us to stop being friends at some point, I just wish we were still together for the rest of our dumb lives."
He lifted his face again when he heard a choked sob, and found Cassie with tears in her eyes.
"You silly, silly, idiot... You didn't have to make me cry too." She hugged him again and this time, so did he. "This was supposed to be a party of happiness, not one of tears and cheesiness."
"Sorry... Just..." Before Tim could speak again Kon appeared behind Cassie to hug them both.
"Just shut up, because the one who's going to cry is going to be me." Tim laughed a little as he hugged them both.
They stayed like that for a long time until Bart finally spoke.
"So... Who wants cake?" He said holding up the cake in something as the other three broke away from his embrace.
"First Tim should blow out his candles." Cassie behind him appeared with a lighter and lit the candles. "We'd sing you that silly birthday song, but we know you hate it just like we do, so we'll stick to a 'Happy Birthday'" the three said at the same time as they waited for him to blow out the candles.
While still looking at the cake, he realized that there were 18 candles, he also saw some fingerprints that probably had been Bart's so he didn't resist to try it. After a few seconds of silence, he blew out the candles and his friends clapped their hands over it.
"You're officially part of the adult club now, lots of shit about life and stuff, congrats buddy." Kon showed up with some plates and silverware so he could split the cake.
"I guess adult life has long since consumed me, thanks anyway."
"Sorry it's just us, we really didn't know who else to invite." Cassie was splitting and serving the cake onto the different plates. "Really your crazy superhero family wasn't an option."
"Conner had suggested inviting that blond guy, the one who is your boyfriend and whose name I can't remember." Bart said as he stuffed his mouth full of pie.
"Shut up you..." Kon jumped on Bart shutting his mouth. "Just kidding Tim, you didn't hear anything." Tim chuckled a little.
"We actually texted his number, which we stole from your phone, but he said he didn't want to be a bother at a gathering of friends." Cassie had given Tim her piece of pie and then sat down next to him to eat hers. "I like him anyway, and nice name. Bernie."
Right now her friends were making fun of the nickname he had saved his boyfriend with, and it was embarrassing. His cheeks were red as she buried her face in her piece of pie.
"That nickname sounds like that dinosaur Barney and.... Oh my..." Bart paused before almost shouting. "That means... You're dating Barney and you didn't tell me?!!!!"
"What? I didn't..." Tim was abruptly interrupted by Conner.
"Oh god, you're dating that fat purple dinosaur?" He paused and more dramatically, holding a hand to his heart said. "I can't believe you prefer that dinosaur, purple, over me? God I... I don't know how to feel."
"No hey, wait..." And Tim realized it would be silly to try to be rational with his friends, so he just fell over for the first time and watched his friends laugh at him silly.