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“Hey, Tim!”
Tim looked up from his computer, the library was quiet and the sudden call caught some attention. Tim saw the source and gave a polite smile to Bernard, who was walking his way. Bernard took a seat opposite to Tim.
“I was a bit too loud, wasn’t I?” Bernard gave a sheepish grin.
“A little but no worries,” Tim chuckled. “What’s up?”
“Oh nothing, just wanted to see if you were coming to Sandra’s party.”
Tim titled his head, “I’m sorry?”
“Sandra Grey? Her parents are out of town and she’s throwing this huge party on Saturday,” Bernard wore an amused smile. “I’m sure you got an invite.”
“I think I would know if I got an invite,” Tim scoffed.
“Dude, I’m 99 percent sure I saw the invite being put in your locker,” Bernard countered, and immediately saw Tim’s guilty demeanor. “Did you even check your locker today?”
“No…”
Bernard just shook his head, “Don’t be late on Saturday.”
“Who says I’m coming?” Tim narrowed his eyes.
“Just for your satisfaction and ease, I’ll ask Sandra to let you bring a few friends,” Bernard gave an easy smile. “Don’t be late.”
Tim scoffed to himself, as he saw Bernard make his way out the library. Tim shook his head while packing up his things. His main goal of his last year of high school was to get good grades, do good work as Red Robin and stay low. Going to a party contradicts his last goal.
Tim was not going to that party.
—
“You’re going to that party.”
Tim groaned. He knew telling Cassie was a bad idea, she’s always pushing him to go for more social events that didn’t include galas. Of course she would tell him to go. If Tim should blame anyone, it's himself. And maybe Bernard. Tim is wondering whether the way Cassie was going to beat him up if he cuts the call on her would be worth it.
“Cassie, I’m not going.” Tim said with a firm tone.
“Yes, you are,” Cassie countered with a strong tone of her own.
“I’ll be all alone,” Tim tried but Cassie shut him up quickly.
“Didn’t you say Bernard said you can bring a few friends,” Tim could hear the smile in Cassie’s tone. “I’ll be there on Saturday with Bart and Kon, we can get dressed and go together.”
“No, wait!” Tim tried. “I have…..patrol.”
“Tell him you’re gonna spend the night getting wasted, I’m sure Brucie Wayne will understand.”
Tim deadpanned, “Funny.”
“I’ve been told, see ya!” Cassie chuckled and hung up.
Tim flopped onto his bed, groaning into his pillow. Tim knew what this was, this was karma was all the time’s he was a stubborn fuck who can’t mind his own business.
“Cassie, why?” The muffled groans went throughout his room.
—
On Friday night, Alfred made an amazing caramelized onion pasta. The family were all in the dining room, enjoying the food while catching up. Duke and Bruce were conversing about school work, Damian was showing Cass his newest artworks. Tim thought this was no better time to announce he won’t be on patrol tomorrow.
“Uh, I wanted to say something,” Tim blurted out.
“Oh?” Bruce looked at Tim, urging him to go on.
“I won’t be on patrol tomorrow,” Tim spit out, cringing internally.
Alfred looked at Tim with concern, “Are you sick, Master Tim?”
“I think he’s lost his mind,” Damian said, looking bored. “You’ve never missed patrol, at least never on purpose.”
Are you making a joke? Cass signed. It’s not a very good joke.
“No, none of that,” Tim yelped. “I just have an event tomorrow night.”
“Oh, are you going to Sandra Grey’s party?” Duke said absent-mindedly, having a bite of his pasta.
“No,” Tim gave a tight-lipped smile. “Whatever made you think that?”
Bruce chuckled, “It’s okay if you’re going to a party, just keep me informed, in case you need help or a ride.”
Tim sighed. “Yeah, besides Cassie, Bart and Kon will be there with me.”
“Well, I do trust Cassie,” Bruce grunted. “The remaining two, on the other hand.”
“Bruce, chill,” Duke intervened. “They don’t call Kon the ‘mom’ of the group without reason.”
Bruce just gave a low hum. Tim gave out a slight breath of relief he didn’t know he was holding in. This was the easy part, the real problem came tomorrow night. Tim continued to eat his dinner. Finally, he went up to his room and immediately began to work on his current case. About an hour later, he picked up his phone, which was buzzing for the last 10 minutes. His siblings were blowing up the chat.
JUSHTICH IN GOTHAHM11!11!!
Dickwing
TIMMY WHTAS WRONG WHY ARENT YOU COMING ON PATROL TMR?!?
zombie
Has all the caffeine finally caught up to you?
angry bird
Timothy, if you have truly lost your mind, you must give me your PS5 before you die.
ninja
😦🙅⚰️
I’m not dying, cass and damian, i would never give you my PS5
It is my true legacy, the people will know me for my fortnite skills
flashlight
So like, can you get the gossip from the party? I have nothing going on in my life and i need to keep izzie entertained
I can do that, hey you heard about that kid from the 10th grade
got caught vaping nd shit
flashlight
Ohhhh yeahhh, heard he got suspended and his dad wreaked havoc
dickwing
wait so your okay?
Yup, just got invited to party, which some
might say is worse
zombie
you’re the only one who thinks that
barney
pls jason, you dont get to judge, when was the last time
you even had a social interaction?
Timmy, im with duke, i need rich kid gossip
On it
barbie
Don’t die, kid
Tim sighed and kept his phone and went back to staring at yet another bright screen.
—
Tim looked at the mirror yet again, he picked a pretty neutral outfit. A band tee, oversized jeans, and to bring it all together, he finished with a layered necklace, some chunky rings and a bracelet on his right hand. Tim quickly took a pic and sent it to Cassie, who approved and said she’d be reaching soon with Bart and Kon. Tim sighed and quickly put on his sneaker. After grabbing his necessities, Tim went down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. Getting a lecture about drinking from Batman was the last thing Tim needed at the moment. But as usual, luck wasn’t on his side and Tim found himself standing right in front of Bruce. Tim mentally braced himself.
“I wanted to talk to you before you left, Tim,” Bruce said. Tim knew he jinxed himself.
“Bruce, you don’t need to worry, I probably won’t be drinking, and even if I do, I have Kon to drop me home and trust me, I’m not even thinking about doing any drugs so no need to worry about that either,” Tim rambled out.
Bruce gave a small smile, “Tim, I actually wanted to tell you to enjoy yourself. I know you’ll be careful, I trust you tim.”
“Oh,” Tim said, a bit surprised. “Yeah, I’ll enjoy myself, I have Cassie, at least.”
Bruce nodded, “She’s responsible, the other two, I have doubts.”
“You've said before and i'm telling you, I’ll be fine,” Tim’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “I gotta go, I think Cassie’s here.”
Bruce waved Tim good-bye as Tim left the house. Tim saw his friends standing at the gate of the manor, each of them ready and dressed accordingly. Cassie noticed him first and waved at him.
“Nice outfit,” Bart grinned. “Didn’t know what exactly is the vibe for the party so i just went for a white hoodie and big jeans.”
“It's good, Bart,” Tim grinned. Cassie was wearing a tank top, jeans with a nice belt and a button up. Kon looked good , he was wearing his signature leather jacket but he wore a tucked in white shirt with fading black jeans.
Cassie whispered to Tim, “If you’re done drooling, we should go.”
“I wasn’t,” Tim sputtered. “Let’s just go.”
Tim tuned out Cassie’s chuckles as he walked.
—
The house was packed with the stench of sweat and alcohol, the lights were dimmed and loud music blared. It seemed overwhelming, but Tim was enjoying the chaos of it. Everyone was too busy dancing, drinking or talking to actually pay attention to him. Yes, he had a few people come up to him and start up some small talk but it wasn’t anything new from the galas, and at least they were talking about something remotely interesting. Company shares get boring after a little. And an added bonus, drinks and good music.
Bart came running to Tim and Cassie, “I got weed!”
“Dude, we’ve been here 20 minutes, how’d you even manage to do that?” Cassie chuckled, slightly impressed.
“I’m just that good,” Bart held up the joints, “Wanna smoke?”
“Sure, but where’s Kon?” Tim questioned, ignoring the look Cassie was giving him.
“Oh, last I saw him he was talking to some girl,” Bart said. “And with the way she was giggling, they were probably flirting.”
Tim’s demeanor changed and Cassie noticed it. “Let’s go have a joint.”
The three found a spot near the pool. Considering the amount of people outside, they weren’t the only ones who managed to get some weed. Taking in a deep breath, Tim passed the joint to Bart. The three smoked, Tim was silent while Cassie and Bart kept up the conversation. Tim noticed Bernard walking up to them.
“Hey, how’s the party going?” Bernard asked.
“Pretty good, got some weed and some gossip.” Tim said with a soft smile.
“Best of both worlds,” Bernard chuckled. “Well, I’ll go now but I'm glad you came, Tim.”
“I am too,” Tim said, and he meant it.
Tim turned back to Cassie and Bart, who focused on their debate of which went better with ramen, sunny-side up or omelets.
“But the runny yolk is what makes it best, dude!” Bart whined.
“I refuse to believe that, Ramens filled with broth anyway, why do you need more liquid?” Cassie argued. “Omelettes go better, anyday.”
Kon took a seat next to the three, “What’s up guys?”
Tim handed him the joint, “Done flirting?”
“Flirting?” Kon looked truly confused. “You mean that blonde? I mean, I guess she was flirting with me, but I was trying not to lead her on.”
“Kinda looked like you were,” Bart replied, taking the joint from Kon.
“Well, fuck, i wasn’t trying to flirt with her,” Kon groaned.
“Why not? She seems pretty nice?” Tim said with a passive tone.
Cassie looked between the two of them, “Hey Bart, how about we go get a drink?”
“Sure,” Bart got up and left with Cassie.
Kon turned to Tim, “She’s pretty, just wasn’t interested.”
“And what are you interested in?”
Kon froze momentarily, before smiling and looking at Tim, “Why? Trying to play matchmaker?”
Tim cleared his throat, “Something like that.”
“For starters, I already have someone I’m interested in, I just don’t know whether they would like me too,” Kon said, in a genuine tone.
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Tim said in a low voice.
Kon laughed, “Well, I’m not really trying to broadcast it around.”
Tim cracked a small smile, “Fair enough.”
Kon offered the joint to Tim, who took it with a soft smile.
—
The four walked out the party, the cold air hitting as soon as they started walking on the street. A new joint was being passed around, the four taking their turns and keeping up the conversation.
“Guys, should we be walking back right now?” Bart asked. “I mean, it’s half past midnight and its Gotham, not to mention, we’re high as shit.”
“True,” Tim nodded. “You guys should head back, I can get back on my own.”
“You’re crazy if you think we’re leaving you,” Cassie said, but Tim knew she had something else planned, he could see the glint in her eyes. Tim silently prayed it wasn’t something drastic.
“Kon, how about you speed over to the Wayne manor, and drop Tim off?”
Tim was going to kill Cassie.
“I can do that, but what about you two?” Kon said, a slight blush on his cheeks. Tim thought it was from the cold.
“We can manage,” Bart said, finally having caught on. “Bye guys, be careful.”
Bart and Cassie zoomed off without another word, leaving Kon and Tim by themselves.
Kon turned to Tim, “Shall we?”
Tim groaned and got onto Kon’s back, “Just so you know, I hate doing this.”
“Just so you know, I don’t really care.”
In a second, Kon was standing in front of the manor. Tim jumped off and turned to Kon.
“Thanks for dropping me off,” Tim said. “You can make it back home on your own?”
“Yeah, don’t worry.” Kon replied.
Tim nodded and turned towards the gate.
“Hey, Tim?”
Tim turned back, to see Kon fidgeting with his hands.
“I just wanted to um tell you,” Kon said nervously. “The person I was talking about tonight, the one I wasn't sure liked me back? I was talking about you.”
Tim stared at Kon with surprise, but Kon went on, “You might not like me back but I’ve felt like this for so long, I just couldn't keep it to myself anymore, and I understand if you don’t like me back, I just wanted to tell you and get this off my chest. I hope you know, you have no obligations to say anything right now, and telling you right now was probably a horrible idea but here we are so I can’t really do anything right now-”
Tim cut Kon’s rambling by kissing him. It ended before he knew it. But Tim had just kissed Kon.
“I like you too,” Tim replied. “I should probably get inside soon, but maybe we could meet up later, for a date, say next weekend?”
Kon nodded immediately, “Yeah, of course, yeah, anytime!”
Tim nodded and sneaked another peck before turning towards the manor, “Fly safe.”
Kon nodded and grinned, as he shot off into the sky.
—
The door softly clicked as Tim entered his room. As soon he was certain that he was alone, Tim smiled uncontrollably, burying his face into his hands and jumping onto the bed. Tim couldn’t do much but think about the moment the whole night.
Safe to say, Tim got a blissful night of sleep that day.