Chapter Text
Timothy Drake was lying on the living room floor.
He was holding a cup of coffee in his hands, resting on his stomach,— it was his first cup of the day, which was strange since it was already past two in the afternoon. For anyone wondering why he was lying on the floor holding a cup of coffee and staring at the ceiling, the answer is a little more complicated than that.
But it could be summed up in one name: Bernard Dowd.
Don't get me wrong, he loves his boyfriend, he really does! They've been together for almost eight years, they've been through a lot together, Tim never imagined he'd find someone who would be so accepting of being Batman's son-in-law and still have to deal with all the emotional baggage that comes with dating a Wayne, but he did! Dowd didn't hesitate to meet his family or introduce his partner to his parents, even though Ben didn't like them very much.
He had sewn Tim onto the sofa in his house more than once, and that means a very high level of love, trust, and care. So why was he freaking out about his boyfriend? Well, Tim can't quite react rationally to the idea that Bernard might want to propose to him. He had proof, okay? The events they did on special days were becoming more and more frequent, the little surprises that were already part of their routine were becoming almost daily, Bernard was really trying to make every millisecond they spent together even more special.
Well, that could just be because their eighth anniversary is a week away, right? It could be, but what happened yesterday stuck in Red Robin's mind and wouldn't go away. He came home after an exhausting meeting at Wayne Enterprises, and Bernard was at Wayne Manor, not waiting for him or talking to Stephanie or Duke, but talking to Bruce Wayne. — It was scary, one of the most terrifying sights he could have imagined, but the fact that as soon as Tim arrived, the conversation stopped and Ben left shortly after, already activated Drake's alert mode, which was quickly replaced by panic mode when Bruce Wayne uttered the following words: "I like him, he's a good kid."
So that's why, and specifically why, Timothy Drake is lying on the living room floor without showing any reaction. And he stayed that way until Damian came home from school and stared at him with furrowed eyebrows and a look of what the hell is this on his face.
"Was that my plan for after school? Can I join in?" Damian's question caught him off guard, but hey, a man needs to have a crisis lying on the living room carpet from time to time, so why not?
"Feel free."
His younger brother lay down beside him, and as much as they hated the comparison, they really did look very similar at that moment. They stared blankly at the ceiling as they sighed and muttered something to themselves. But Tim realized that something was really wrong when the current Robin bit his lip. In all the years he had known his brother, he had never bitten his lip before.
"What's going on? His first question was ignored, the only response he got was the Arab rolling his eyes and then squeezing them shut. In a childish provocation, Tim poked his brother's face, right where the seasons are. "What's wrong with you?"
"You," he replied, holding his brother's fingers. As much as Tim wanted to tell him to go to hell, something told him that finding out what was wrong with the vigilante would be a good distraction, and his brotherly instinct was slightly concerned. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong with you?" He looked at the cup in Red Robin's hands. "I told you all that caffeine would kill you."
"Coffee is the least of my problems," he grunted, running his fingers through his hair and trying not to pull it out. "Do you really want to know?"
"Not much, but I don't have much to do at the moment, I'm trying to process something." The two stared at the ceiling again, trying not to get too involved in seeing who looked worse at that moment. "But I'll listen... if you tell me."
"Bernard wants to propose to me, at least I think he does." Tim's voice came out as if it were being projected from somewhere far away, probably where his logical reasoning had gone.
Damian turned his head and stared at his brother, his wide eyes seeming to want to analyze whether there was a joke in his tone of voice. "A marriage proposal? Like, a ring, down on one knee, and all that cheesy stuff?"
"It's not cheesy," Tim wrinkled his nose. "It seems like he's very determined to surprise me, cook my favorite foods, play my favorite songs, and let me choose the movies on Friday nights. He's even letting me choose what we eat these days, which is the only thing he insists on having the final say about."
"You're a good detective, Drake, you're probably right." Damian said almost in a whisper, because it wasn't like him to praise his brother, and Tim was surprised by that too, but it didn't last long. "But I'm better, so tell me, what are you hiding?"
Drake pushed his brother's head again, and this time he got a slap on the hand. "He was here yesterday, talking to Bruce, and when I arrived, he left quickly. What's worse, yesterday Bruce told me that he's a good guy and that he likes him."
"Yeah... he's definitely going to ask you to marry him," Damian adjusted his shoulders, lying on the floor for too long wasn't the best idea, even if there was a rug. "But Father's right, Bernard's a nice guy, I like him, you two look good together."
"You like him? I never thought you liked Ben, and speaking of which." He raised his body slightly, looking at his younger brother more closely, "Why do you call him by his first name and I still use his last name?"
"Do you want to use up your question of the day on that?" The answer was quick, sharp as a cut.
"No, I want to use it to ask what's wrong with you?" Timothy swore he could see Robin's shoulders slumping at that moment. "What's wrong?"
He sighed, somewhat tired. "Jonathan."
For a while, that was the only response. Damian opened and closed his mouth as if trying to gather the courage to say something, but gave up halfway through. And when he did, it was said quickly, almost as if he didn't want anyone else to hear. "He said he's in love with me."
"Excuse me?" That caught his older brother off guard. Jonathan Kent? Superman's son and Damian's childhood friend? He might be a great detective, but he didn't see that coming. "How did you find out?"
Damian bit his lip again and frowned. "He confessed last night, he said with every damn word, I think he wanted to kiss me too." His eyebrows furrowed even more. "I think he's wanted to kiss me for a while."
"Are you afraid of losing his friendship when you reject him, or don't you know how to keep him in the friend zone?" Tim raised his body slightly, resting his head on his hand, watching the younger man's reactions closely.
"I don't know if I want to draw those boundaries, I mean..." he grunted in frustration. "I don't know if I want to keep him in the friend zone, because I'm not sure that him confessing his feelings to me was a bad thing."
"Oh, that makes sense." Although he never imagined he would be the one to have this conversation with Damian, he knew how to handle it. After all, who better than a former young man unsure of his sexuality to advise a young man who is still unsure of his sexuality? "But are you feeling this way because it was nice to have someone who likes you like that, or because it was someone you care about and he likes you?"
"I never had an existential crisis when other people confessed their feelings to me," Drake remained curious about who these people were who were bold enough to confess their feelings to Damian Wayne. "It's just that staying on the sidelines is comfortable, but not in the same way it is with Lizzie, Connor, or Liam. It's different."
"It's more like recharging after your battery has run out?" Damian agreed. "You've been friends for years, Damian, and you're teenagers, it's normal for you to start realizing that not all affection feels the same."
"I've taken biology classes, Drake, but that doesn't tell me how I'm going to respond to Jonathan later." He shrugged. "Hey, let's do a battery of tests to see if I like you or if my hormones are messed up."
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea, argh!" Timothy sat up, feeling all the muscles in his back pull at once. "Go on a date with him, hold his hand, kiss him, and find out if you feel butterflies."
"Do you really think that will work?" Damian also sat up, hugging his legs. "I mean, give his feelings a chance?"
"No, I think it's a good idea to give your feelings a chance. You've been best friends for years, teammates for just as long, and no matter what happens, you like each other." He smiled, seeing his brother's thoughtful face, helpless, in a clear invitation to mess up his neat hair. "You just have to figure out how."
This time Damian didn't react. "But what about you? It's already a given that you love Bernard, so why are you so afraid of a marriage proposal?"
"He loves me, and that scares me a little. When I think about all the things that can go wrong, not just when we get married, but in the process of planning one, it scares me."
Damian watched him silently for a few moments. The kind of rare silence that wasn't loaded with judgment or sarcasm. It was just silence. "What if you don't think about planning it? Just think about the idea of spending the rest of your life with him?" he finally said.
"I like that," he said with a smile so genuine that he didn't even notice it until Damian teased him about it.
The idea of planning a wedding was daunting, full of emotional pitfalls and stress. But the idea of being with Bernard, waking up with him, laughing at bad jokes, arguing about what to order for dinner or letting her boyfriend venture into the kitchen late at night, watching him dance awkwardly around the kitchen while he cooks — that was... comforting.
"By Allah, you guys are disgusting." Damian crossed his arms and turned his face to the side, trying to keep his expression indifferent.
Tim laughed, "Sorry, I keep forgetting that happiness and love give you hives," he said as he continued to laugh. "So what are you going to do?"
"Well, to reject him or reciprocate his feelings, I have to call him anyway." Despite his indifferent tone, he didn't seem to feel that way. In his older brother's opinion, Damian seemed excited and almost hopeful.
"But make sure you take it slow, hold hands and go on dates first, I don't want to know about Kent defiling you so soon." Tim laughed as he was slapped on the shoulder.
"You're ridiculous," the younger boy's ears burned red. "Go see your boyfriend, Drake, you've had enough of meddling in my life."
The boy got up and went to the stairs. Even with his tough stance, he noticed that the boy seemed excited as he took his cell phone out of his pocket,— he wasn't going to waste any time. So Tim wasn't going to either. Bernard would never let him face a battle alone, so there was no reason for him to overthink it when they always thought about everything together.