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It's summer in Metropolis; the sun is beginning to set, slowing down over the horizon to bathe the world in a pink, hazy glow. You, Kon, and Tim are slouched on the couch of your new apartment, boxes piled high around the three of you.
"You know…" you begin, sagging against Tim.
"We can always unpack tomorrow," Kon finishes for you. You hum in agreement and roll your head over Tim's shoulder to look up at him.
"Yea," he huffs tiredly, "yea, I'm good with that."
"We should go out," you say, sitting up and ignoring the grumbled complaints of Kon as you jostle him where he was settling in against your shoulder. "The fair is best this time of day. Come on, please?" Kon and Tim exchange a love-struck glance as you look up at them - a glance that maybe you would notice if you weren't so busy pouting at them. A glance maybe the two of them would be aware of if they weren't so busy each trying to hide the fact that they're so in love with you.
"Alright," Tim says, pulling himself off the couch. "I'll figure out which of these boxes we put our boards in…"
By the time the three of you were skateboarding down to the boardwalk, you were all trying desperately not to think of the mess you'd left while you tore through boxes trying to find what you needed, and you were giggling quietly to yourself at the whole ordeal.
"Stop laughing like that," Kon says, but his voice gives away his own laughter, "it's not funny, we're going to have to clean that up later."
"Yea, yea," you say, waving your hand dismissively. " Tomorrow , though. Tonight I get to just eat funnel cakes and drink slushies until I can't stand anymore and need you to carry me home." Tim snorts at your words.
"Oh, yea, that's romantic," he says sarcastically, but neither he nor Kon misses the blush that spreads across your cheeks at his words, although you do your best to hide it as you pull up to the fair on your boards.
"Hmm, nope, not quite. Try again - you never know, maybe the eighth time it'll work," you comment lazily, taking a bite out of your funnel cake as you watch Tim and Kon fail spectacularly at one of the fair games.
"You try it then," Kon quips back, trying to shove the ball at you. You dodge him, though, moving to hide behind Tim.
"Nuh uh… they're rigged , Kon. That's why neither of you can win." You laugh as Tim scoffs at your words, snatching the ball from Kon and aiming at the stack of pins.
"We'll win," he says stubbornly. When the ball misses yet again, he turns to you, hands on his hips. "How many of those have you eaten?"
"Beautiful subject change, Timmy. This is my last one, I promise ," you say, curling your hand around Tim's elbow so that you can drag him away from the game, Kon following behind. "Here, Kon, help me finish this. It's almost dark out and we need slushies." Kon grins at you and takes the rest of the funnel cake from your hand, letting you continue to pull the two of them through the fair.
"Cheer up, Tim," he says, mouth full. "You know this next part is the best."
"You were right, Kon… this is the best." Tim's words are quiet, his eyes trained on the horizon where the last light of the sun dips over the water, blanketing the three of you in darkness. You rub your hand on your jeans, the condensation from your slushie making your fingers cold.
"Aw, you getting all sentimental on us?" Kon croons, slushie straw still in his mouth as Tim scoffs and jostles his shoulder, mumbling a shut up under his breath. You lean back on your hands, feet swinging over the edge of the pier as you listen to the other two.
"Do you really think this is a good idea?" You ask softly. The other two look at you.
"We said we'd do this when we all finally moved in together. We sat right here on this pier when we agreed that the next time we all met up in Metropolis, it would be to build a home together. Of course this is right," Tim says pointedly. You huff, keeping your eyes focused on the rippling water underneath the three of you, watching the way the waves hit the wooden supports and dissolve back into the darkness.
"No, I mean… are we doing the right thing? Like, being here, I mean, and - and doing all of this together… how do we know we're growing up right?" The two of them are silent in response, Tim frowning, eyes forward, while Kon stares intently at you. "I feel like we're standing on our own feet for the first time," you continue, "and if we trip ourselves up - or, even worse, if we trip one another up… I just - I don't know if we're doing this all wrong."
"I don't know if there's a right way to grow up," is Kon's quiet response, his voice more serious than you're used to. "I know that's… not the response you want. I know you take a lot of pride in squaring your shoulders and planting your feet and knowing that you're doing the right thing and headed in the right direction - and that's something I love about you. You always know… you know who you are and what you're doing and where you're going. Honestly, I… I really envied you for a while because of that. But… I think this might just take some stumbling. That's why we're doing it together - if you fall, we'll catch you. If one of us falls, you'll catch us. We've got each other." Kon smiles after his speech and you think, for a brief moment, that the sun's come out again, reversed time just to shine on you one last time before you're all adults. But it's just Kon - Kon with his sunshine smile and unwavering faith. Kon, with his feet planted so firmly and his posture so steady - and you realize that you envy him for the very thing that he envies about you. Funny how that works.
"What if we do trip one another up?" Tim says, hands clenched in his lap. "What if you're right and when one of us stumbles, we just take the other two down with us?" You reach over at Tim's words - at the tense strain in his voice, and tangle your hand in his so that you can silently coax his fingers to relax.
"Maybe Kon's right…" you say softly. "I'm sure we will mess up. We'll make mistakes and we'll argue and then we'll make up again. None of this is going to be perfect - we're not perfect, despite our best efforts. Maybe it's time we learn to make some mistakes." You smile gently, squeezing Tim's hand in your own. Kon grins at your declaration and Tim sighs, tipping his head back to stare up at the sky, the stars beginning to shine ever so slightly through the haze of the city lights.
"Yea…" he says wistfully. "Maybe it is time for us to learn how to make some mistakes."