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It all started off as a joke, really.
It was during one if the times that Tim was selling his candy contraband, he was working on making it faster when doing it face to face. He tosses you the candy and Tim's tossed the money, a simple system that was going well. Then came Charlie Newman, that bastard couldn't do anything unless he was given a 34 step manual on a silver platter.
"Drake!" Charlie strolled over, clicking his shoes on the pavement as if he was begging faculty to come.
"Newman." Tim sighed, he about to wrap up sales today, of course Charlie had to show up now.
"My usual?" Charlie stopped in front of Tim, running his hands through his brown hair he still claimed was blond.
"Well, Charlie." Tim grit his teeth, "Every time it changes, last time it was peanut butter cups, that the week before you'd claimed to be allergic to. So? What's the usual today?"
Charlie sighed, as if all his problems were Tim's fault. "Great, just great. Give me a chocolate bar, actually make that two, and get me some white chocolate drops."
Tim sighed, snatching the stuff, he'd be charging up for this, he wanted that chocolate bar. "3.25"
"What? But last week-"
Tim cut him off, "Last week you claimed to speak German, not so true is it? 3.25 or nothing."
Charlie grumbled, probably getting his money together when Tim heard somebody call his name.
"Timbo!" Buzz called out from behind, Kip and Ali bickering not too far behind. At least he'd get to groan about his latest interaction with Newman to them. Tim waved them over, and suddenly felt the candy be snatched out of his hand, Tim whipped around, half ready to tackle Charlie.
But the second he did, something nailed him square in the forehead, knocking him down as Newman took off sprinting.
"You little bastard!" Tim screamed, or tried to before Buzz's hand clamped down over his mouth.
"Drake! You trying to get our asses caught by the Dean?" Buzz tugged Tim up, wiping his hand on Tim's jacket.
"What'd he throw at you?" Kip prodded, Ali jogging over.
"I dunno..." Tim rubbed at his face angrily, he was going to murder Charlie.
Buzz popped back up with something silver, shiny, and thick in his palm. Ali snatched it up, pulling at what seemed to be an outer wrapping.
"Foil." Kip added in.
"Thanks captain obvious."
"Buzz."
"What? Come on Tim he started it!"
"I didn't start shit Cohen." Kip sneered angrily.
Buzz covered Ali's ears hastily, "Yeesh! Careful Kettering, we got royalty here! Can't spoil his mind rotten with our peasant talk." Buzz finished with a snicker, the joke earning him a chuckle from Kip. Ali slapped away his hands and turned to Tim.
"Quarters, he threw quarters at you." Ali dumped them into Tim's waiting hand.
"How much? We could hit the claw machines at Jumbo's, or or-"
"3.25..." Tim cut Buzz off.
"He threw-" Ali couldn't even finish the sentence without laughing.
"3.25-god, 3 dollars and 25 cents at you?" Buzz joined in the laughter, wrapping his arms around his stomach.
"How much did he owe you?" At least Kip wasn't laughing.
"3.25" Tim recounted, and, oh fuck Kip, he was laughing too.
"C-Change Hurts, don't it Tim?" Kip barely got it out.
"Yeah, yeah laugh it up! Go on! Be asses about!" Tim grumbled, he shoved the coins in his pocket, no need to waste good pocket money.
"Wha- What? You can't even be mad Timbit! He paid ya!" Buzz was damn near rolling on the ground now.
"It cannot be that funny!" Tim huffed, Ali was wiping tears, Kip was really committing to the 'knee-slapper' bit, what the hell was Buzz on?
"It wasn't!" Buzz wheezed, "Then you, the ever greedy, shoved it in your pocket!" Ali choked on his own laughter and Tim shot him a glare, he would be suffocating his 'roomie' tonight.
"Says you!" Tim crossed his arms, "Know what, screw you three, Imma see if Jace wants to hit Jumbo's with me."
That got them out of it, all three snapping up and chasing after him, like moths to a flame, if Jumbo's was involved, well there wasn't a crime they wouldn't commit.
"You're a peach Timmy!" Buzz spoke.
"Eugh, close your mouth when you eat mongrel." Kip complained, tossing a fry into his mouth. Ali was busying himself with his sub and milkshake, Tim poked at the undercooked wings on his plate, a little illness never hurt no one, right?
"I," Buzz swallowed, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, "don't know what that word means, but I'll assume not something good."
"Bingo."
"Thank you Ali," Buzz nodded, "as I was saying, fuck off Kip."
Kip stuck his tongue out at Buzz, Buzz made a grab for the coins on the table but Kip was faster, Kip launched one at him. However, Kip's aim is worse than a blind man, and instead it hit Tim, the cold metal sldiing down his collar and into his shirt.
"Kip!" Tim writhed, wriggling the coin out of his shirt and tossing it back at Kip, this time it hit Kip's glasses, bullseye.
Ali snickered, "Change hurts don't it?"
"Is this going to be a thing? Please tell me its not."
Ali, Buzz, and Kip shared a look, before all turning to Tim an grinning.
"Fuuuuck."
It became a thing, it became such a huge thing.
"This is the worst score I've gotten on a test!" Kip was going near insane at the red 87 marking his page, "Points off Mr. Kettering, your answers are too black and white, involve more creativ- What the hell!" Kip raked a hand over his face, moving his glasses off his nose.
Tim patted him on the back, before it dawned on him, "There, there...Change hurts?" Tim prepared to run the second it registered with Kip.
"Yeah, wait.." Kip turned to Tim, stopping as they walked, Buzz skidding into them. "Why you little-"
"Tim! Kip! Come on man I have a game after this!" Buzz called out to no avail, Kip chased Tim for the next 10 minutes insulting Tim and threatening to snap Tim's glasses the second he caught him.
Buzz slammed his locker open, yanking off his shoes and throwing them in, snatching off his jersey and bundling it up, it made a 'thump' when it hit the metal back of the locker. Buzz kicked the locker, regretting it without any protection and he fell back onto the bench, nursing his wounded foot.
Tim strolled into the locker room, hands in his pocket, hair messy, and that same stupid jacket.
"Buzz?"
"Buzz off Tim," Buzz groaned burying his face in his hands, Tim slide onto the bench next to him.
"Oh Cohen, it's alright, change hurts sure but-"
"I am going to choke you I swear to god!" Buzz tackled Tim.
By the end of their tussle, they were both laughing and sporting a new bruise each, Tim's glasses with a broken lens that Buzz was definitely paying for.
But sometimes, change hurt, and hurt more than you wanted it too.
Like when Ali had to leave the school, that hurt, that change hurt them all.
Tim lost a roommate, and all the boys lost their friend.
"Change hurts, huh?" Tim mumbled, trying to lighten the mood as Ali loaded into the car.
"Yeah..." Ali responded, turning to face Tim, shoving his hands in is jacket.
"Hey buddy," Tim rested a hand on Ali's shoulder, "don't you dare forget me, forget any of us. Alright?"
"I hear you Tim..I hear you." Ali wrapped his arms around Tim, sighing into the red sweatshirt. "You may not forget me either."
"I won't Ali, so long as I've got this-" Tim raised his left, the yellow and orange thread bracelet tied around his wrist, "I won't ever forget you, your majesty."
Ali laughed, shaking his head and wiping at his eyes, raising his right to show an identical bracelet, "swear?"
"I swear."
Tim stared after the car left, kicking a pebble as he walked back to the dorms.
"Change hurts Wes, its gonna be weird." Tim patted Wesley's back.
"It's Wesley, I swear Tim." Wesley groaned, swiping a hand through his hair, lying on his back on the bed.
Tim flopped down next to him.
"I hate you, correction, I loathe your existence, Timothy." Wesley elbowed Tim.
"Hate me all you want, I'm not having a drunk for a roommate, and your stuck with me now. Sorry I poured out all your alcohol, but you'll thank me in 20 years when you're still alive." Tim covered his ribs.
"You sound like my mother."
"Well, that's were you're wrong Wes-"
"It's Wesley-"
"Wes, you're mother didn't get you to quit, but you will listen to me and you will quit." Tim spoke carefully on the last part, he meant it.
They got up and got dressed shortly after that, they were late to class by 18 minutes on the premise of Wesley waking up sick.
"Change hurts, huh Tim?" Danny's voice wasn't a joke, wasn't lighthearted. This was it.
Tim thunked his head on Danny's shoulder, "It hurts like hell."
Danny sighed, hugging Tim tightly, it helped a little, not on the inside, but out.
"I'll see you again, someday. I swear Tim." Danny whispered.
"Yeah? And how will that go?" Tim straightened up, looking Danny dead in the eyes, looking for something, anything.
"Well, I won't be here with the Kobras-"
"Then leav-"
"-after I've fixed them, and you won't be Robin anymore." Danny held out his pinky.
Tim took it with his own, a promise was a promise, but Danny was an actor and Tim was a liar.
And they're both damn good at that, good at what they do, and both of them broke the promise made at their last goodbye.
Change Hurts
Tim Drake has learned that over and over again, but he's found value in change.
Change is what helps the world, things can't stay the same forever, and everyone has their impact.
Sometimes you can wish and pray all you want, but Tim's found that an atheist's prayers don't go very far.
Because here he is, staring at the three dollars and twenty five cents in his palm, and it feels like they weigh a pound.
He can hope, and pray, and wish, and try everything to forget. But Tim knows he won't, and although part of him wants to.
Wants to act like Brentwood wasn't something big, wasn't something that mattered, wasn't something he was glad happened, he can't.
Tim's learned what change is, and no change is ever not going to hurt. Change is meant to hurt, because you're supposed to feel those chains that held you down snap off. You're supposed to feel like a weight is off your shoulders but also that you're sore.
Tim, as much as he wants to, doesn't regret how his life ended up.
He wouldn't change a thing about his life, even if given the chance. Because while he could make things better, he could make them worse for himself and for others, and that isn't something he can risk. Sitting here and eating this burger in a rundown shack in the middle of London, the burger is overdone and the milkshake wasn't properly mixed as the chocolate sticks to the sides of the cup.
Tim finds that he is content.
The burger tastes a bit better with some ranch on it, the milkshake is a nice contrast, even if it sticks to his teeth, and the fries are too salty but balance out the flavor of the milkshake. Tim can live, he can and will handle it, not the bad food, but everything in his life.
His dad may be dead, Tim may have been too late to save his own father. But he's thankful that through Brentwood he got to know Star, and got to save her life.
Kon and Bart might be dead, he might not be able to bring them back, or bring a clone of them. But he's glad to know there will always be a certain snake-like fellow who'd help him, maybe two if the brothers are on good terms by now.
God so many others are gone, and the last two years have been a rollercoaster....
But Change Hurts.
It has too, it's meant too, without that biting pain you won't know that you ever changed anything.
God only knows where Tim would be right now if he was never Robin, and as the good aethist he is, and as the good son he is.
He will leave these $3.25 for someone else, somebody who might need a little change in their lives. Maybe they'll go out and get something good, or maybe something bad.
But who's Tim to say. He will handle, and he will change, if Tim has ever been anything, it's because he adapts.
And just for tonight, as he walks down wet streets with his green hoodie tugged up and tightened to hide his face. As his black sneakers begin to soak as it rains, and his blue jeans turn an ugly gray in the rain, as all of it starts to look just a little worse.
Tim has never felt better.
For tonight, and only tonight.
Tim will change, and Tim will believe, will believe that there is a god out there, someone who is watching over him and others.
Just for tonight, Tim will allow himself to pray for the next person to sit at that sticky table to take those 13 quarters and enjoy them.
Oh, and would you look at that? It's already 12:03...