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Tim was bitter to say the least. It was currently 3 am, he had two papers due and an exam tomorrow and here he was on his way to a party in the suburbs outside of Gotham to pick up a drunk, Dick. The first two years of University, Tim was use to the middle of the night/early morning wake up calls to pick up his roommate from some random party or night at the bar but for some reason the last six months he hadn’t been contacted once by the older male – not that he was complaining. Of course the one night Dick decided to resume his old habits happened to be the one night that was most inconvenient for Tim. Dick was going to owe him big time for it, he still had to finish the conclusion of one of his papers before heading to bed.
Tim could hear and feel the party two blocks before he even saw it. The music was so loud the bass was vibrating the windows of Tim’s tiny car. Drunk college students were stumbling down the street in different directions, some still holding onto their solo cups. Tim stared at the front of the house for a couple of minutes after parking. He really didn’t want to have to go into the house to find his more than belligerent friend, but Dick’s phone had either died or been shut off so there was no way from him to contact the guy. With a heavy sigh, Tim stepped out of his car and made his way up the front steps, avoiding all the students as they stumbled around unaware of their surroundings.
The state of the party was much worse on the inside. Despite having the majority of the lights on, the house was dimly light which made for a harder time trying to find anyone. Luckily Tim didn’t have to go far before hearing someone mentioning Dick’s name over top of the music.
“I’m looking for Dick!” Tim heard being shouted from somewhere to his right. He pushed his way through the crowd until he found the conversation he was looking for by the doorway to what looked like a living room.
“That’s pretty forward of you, Todd. But I don’t think I can give you what you want,” a red headed guy said laughing. Wally West Tim thought. That’s who Dick said he was going to the party with. Something about needing to get his mind off of something… or someone. He couldn’t quite remember, he was already deep into work mode.
The man with the black hair clenched his jaw and glared at Wally.
“No, you shithead. Grayson. I’m looking for Dick Grayson. I know he came here with you. The Dickhead phoned me to pick him up and I’ve looked all over this fucking party and I cannot find him.”
If Tim was bitter before, now he was pissed. Had Dick called everyone in his contact list to get a ride home. “Are you kidding me?”
The dark haired man turned his glare onto him. He must have spoken out loud. “What the hell do you want?”
“Nothing. Just… Grayson called me to pick him up too.”
“Fucking perfect.”
Just then Wally began to laugh again. “Oh yea. Hey Tim, sorry man I was supposed to text you. Just after Dick called you… your brother came and dragged him out of the party.”
“So Dick isn’t here?” The guy… Todd (is that what Wally called him?) said, while Tim was still processing Wally’s sentence.
“Wait… Damian came and got him?”
“Yea, I mean that’s pretty much the whole reason why we came here was because he and Dick got into a fight and Dick was feeling down because Damian hadn’t talked to him for three days.”
“Why would that matter?” Tim questioned. He was confused, why should it matter if Dick got into a fight with his brother? The guy was an ass, so it wasn’t hard to do.
Both Wally and the other guy gave Tim a dumbfounded look.
“If my boyfriend didn’t speak to me I’d probably feel pretty down too” Todd said just staring at him as if it was the most obvious answer.
Wait… Boyfriend?
“Tim… how did you not realise your roommate and your brother have been banging each other for the last six months.”
“I’m… confused. You guys are telling me that Dick is in a relationship with my brother?”
Both males nodded their heads.
“Damian? The guy who spent his childhood trying to make my life a living hell? The kid who continuously reminds me that I’m adopted. The literal spawn of satan, acts as if the world is beneath him…” Tim rambled on, trying to piece together any coherent thoughts. “Dick… who eats cereal for literally every meal… who is obsessed with the circus and is too happy for his own good… they’re dating?”
“Yup,” Wally said with a pop of the p.
“And I have somehow missed this?”
“Clearly you need to pay more attention babybird,” Wally laughed, using Dick’s nickname for Tim.
Tim rolled his eyes and made his way back through the crowd of college students not bothering to say goodbye to Wally - he didn’t have time to overthink his roommate’s relationship with his brother, he needed to finish that paper before going to bed. It was a struggle but eventually he made it back outside to his parked car. His parked car which was now sporting two flat tires.
“Look’s like someone’s having a shittier night then me,” the same voice from inside said from behind Tim.
Not bother to look back, Tim glared at his car and growled out, “I’m going to kill him. First I’m going to make him pay for my tires and then I’m going to kill him.”
“Look kid, how about I give you a lift home? I’m headed that way anyways.”
After letting out a deep sigh, Tim turned around and looked up at the boy - correction - man towering over him. “I don’t even know you.”
The man raised his brow. “We’ve met… like over a dozen times.”
“We have?” Tim questioned furrowing his brows to think. “I feel like I’d remember that.”
Tim knew for sure he’d remember meeting someone as good looking at the man in front of him. He gave a new meaning to the saying tall, dark, and handsome.
“I’m pretty sure we have,” the guy replied with laugh. At least he was finding the situation amusing. “I’ve been over to your apartment plenty of times. I’m in the majority of Dick’s classes.”
“Wait what?” the short male exclaimed.
“Guess you really were to busy to notice. I mean anyone with functioning eyes could clearly see that Dickie boy and your brother were bumping uglies.”
“Ugh,” Tim sounded at the mention of the supposed relationship. “I don’t have the capacity in my brain to think about that right now. I just need to get home to finish my paper.”
Ten minutes later Tim was sitting awkwardly in the strangers car as he drove into Gotham. Tim kept glancing at the man from the corner of his eye as he tried to rack his brain on whether or not he remembered meeting him but he kept coming up short. The man had “You never said your name.”
The man made an amused nose in his chest and with a little smirk on his face replied, “Jason Todd.”
Right, Dick had mentioned a Jason on numerous occasions. Tim couldn’t think of anything to say and choose to stay quiet. Perhaps it was best to let Jason drive in silence rather than try to force a conversation. Besides there was no way a guy that looked like Jason would be interested in someone as quiet and dorky as Tim, there was obviously a reason why he was friends with Dick.
Tim was lost in thought and before he knew it the car was coming to a stop and sure enough when Tim looked out the window they were in front of his apartment building.
“Um… Thanks for the ride?” Tim said, sounding as though he was asking a question.
“No problem kid, I was expecting to drive someone here tonight. Kind of glad I didn’t have to deal with a drunk Grayson.”
Tim laughed at that, he probably knew more than anyone what it was like dealing with Dick when he had been drinking. He was out of the car and about to head to his door when Jason rolled down the window and was leaning over to talk to him. “Listen I know it’s a weird time to ask this but do you maybe want to go get coffee with me sometime? Dick says you practically live off the shit.”
Tim gaped at the older man. Did he really just ask him out? “I… I.. uhm. What? Yes?”
“Great! I’ll text you tomorrow sometime,” Jason replied with the biggest grin on his face.
“You don’t even have my number,” Tim muttered skeptically.
“Don’t worry about it, Dick owes me for driving all the way to that party, the least he could do is give me the number of his gorgeous roommate.” Jason laughed and with a wink he was pulling away from the curb.
The next day after his exam, Tim pulled out his phone to find a message from an unknown number.
Hey Gorgeous, how ‘bout that coffee date?
Tim almost dropped his phone in shock. He really thought he had made last night up. But then again, Dick still owed him new tires and he didn’t even want to think about his relationship with Tim’s brother. He could put that off for a little while longer.
I’d love that.