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"Tim."
"..."
"Tim!"
"..."
"Helloooo, commander Bart to captain Tim!"
"..."
"TIM!"
Tim looked up from the cup of coffee he was staring into. His gaze cleared a bit from the passive expression and he frowned.
"Yes?"
Bart looked at him like he was from another planet and had just told him that where he came from, things like food didn't exist.
"I was gonna ask if you were okay, but obviously, you're not."
"Uh, sorry. I'm fine, I was just thinking."
" 'bout what?"
"Oh. I actually can't remember. Happens sometimes, when someone interferes."
Bart narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew exactly that this was just Tim's way of talking himself out of sharing his thoughts. Tim was not someone who forgot stuff easily. Everyone knew that.
Still, nobody had called him out on it yet, so Bart decided he wouldn't be the first one to, either.
He took a closer look at him.
Tim's hair was uncombed and tousled, the shadows under his eyes were permanent, but they seemed to be deeper nowadays and he happened to start staring into nothing more often in the past few days.
"Are you overworking yourself again?", Bart asked, his usual childish attitude gone for the moment. Instead it was replaced by a concerned expression and a wary voice.
"No."
Bart narrowed his eyes once more.
"No, really, Bart! I'm not overworking myself! I've just had trouble sleeping the past weeks."
His friend's face softened, seemingly worried and sorry at the same time.
Tim could watch him think about something, before he spoke up again.
It was cute, how readable Bart was and how easily he knew what his friend was thinking about. Even though he had to watch closely and fast because that was how his thinking worked.
"I'll be back!", Bart said before he rushed out of the kitchen, most likely to find ways to help Tim sleep better.
He shook his head.
It was a sweet gesture, but the problem wasn't sleep itself.
Tim leaned back in his chair and sighed.
He wondered what Bart would think if he knew the reason for this was him.
He grinned. Probably would be scared that he did something wrong.
Bart had gone to the library, searched the web and asked Iris and Barry for tips for falling asleep.
It didn't take long, but it had already been afternoon when he talked to Tim, so now he just had to wait until 12 pm or so, when Tim would go to sleep.
Time passed so slowly.
Bart groaned and started tapping with his foot on the ground, getting faster and faster until it wasn't taping anymore but rather a permanent noise.
"Okay, Bart. Stop. What are you waiting for?", came Cassie's annoyed voice from across the room, where she had been reading something that looked like an instruction book for crafting.
"Wha-? Nothing. I'm bored is all. Gotta kill some time until midnight or so."
"And why is that?"
"Tim said he has trouble sleeping and I wanna help, but it's still three hours until he goes to sleep and waiting is horribly booooring!"
Cassie snorted and shook her head.
"We can go for ice cream or so, if you stop making that annoying noise. I happen to be bored, too."
She pointed at the book.
Bart's head shot up and he beamed at her.
"I'm in!"
Tim was sitting at his computer, trying to concentrate. It didn't work quite well, just as he had guessed when he chose to start up the device.
The letters swam infront of his eyes and his thoughts were everywhere but at the topic.
This was becoming unsettling and if it didn't stop soon, he'd have to take a break and THAT was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
Just when he had gotten this far with the newest updates on the city and the villains' files, damn it!
Someone knocked on his door and Tim grunted the permission to enter.
"Hi. I thought I'd make sure you weren't dead."
"Uh.. Thanks, Kon."
"Are you alright? You've been cursing for half an hour straight and then went completely quiet."
"I'm fine. Thank you."
"Okay."
Miguel passed the door just as Tim stood up from his chair.
"Carajo! You need some sleep, mi amigo! You look like Harvest got the best of you!"
Tim glared at him.
"Thanks."
"Perdón. Are you okay, hermano?"
Tim took a deep breath.
"Yes! I am fine! I'm not overworking myself again, just tired in general!"
Miguel raised his hands.
"Okay, okay! I didn't mean to offend you or anything."
"Sorry."
"No hay problema. If you need to talk about anything, I'm here for you, okay?"
Tim looked at him, confused for a moment and questioning if Miguel knew.
"Sure, thanks."
Miguel nodded, then patted Kon's shoulder.
"Now. Has anyone of you seen Raven or Cassie?"
Bart had seen Cassie.
But that wouldn't help Bunker at the moment, seeing as both of them sat outside a café and ate ice cream and slushies.
"Green car, I win!"
"No, you don't. You're supposed to search for yellow cars, Bart."
"Oh. Well, yellow car! NOW I win."
"Damn it."
They continued to sit in silence for two minutes, until Bart got bored of that, too.
"I'm worried about Tim."
"I've noticed."
"He never takes enough care of himself and always thinks he's above things like food and sleep."
"Yeah, one day he'll work himself to death."
Bart looked at her with a panicked expression.
"It's a figure of speech, Bart. I don't mean it like that."
"But it's possible! He literally works until he collapses!"
"True, but that's why we're there, to help him out with that and kick his ass if he needs it. Don't worry too much about it."
"Maybe you're right and I shouldn't."
Cassie raised a brow.
"Excuse me, I AM right."
Bart sighed and tapped his foot on the boardwalk again, this time as a nervous tick.
The blonde next to him smiled.
"You really like him, don't you?"
Bart frowned in confusion, stopping the tapping again.
"Huh? So do you and Kon and Miguel and Raven, don't you? Isn't this why we're a team?"
Cassie laughed.
"Yeah, but I'm not talking about that kind of liking. More like... Romantically?"
He paled and looked like she just told him she was going to end his life.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"What? Bart don't be like that. I know you do and it's nothing bad! It'll be fine!"
"No, it won't! I mean... I still don't know what... Oh, fiddlesticks."
Cassie raised a brow. "Fiddlesticks?"
"Found the word online and thought it was funny", he mumbled, while looking into the other direction.
"Bart, look at me."
He did, carefully and wary.
"Why are you so scared?"
"I..."
He took a deep breath, preparing to actively think about the topic he had avoided for almost two months now.
"I'm not used to liking ANYONE in that way, especially not guys! I don't know how to approach it, how to react to stuff and let's be honest, if I tell Tim he won't act the same around me anymore! It will be awkward, he'll start ignoring me and then at some point... he'll... he'llthrowmeofftheteambecausehe'llbetoouncomfortablearoundmeandnevertalktomeagainomgIdon'twantthisIjustwantittogobacktonormalohgod-"
"BART! Stop speed talking!"
He stared at her with wide eyes, actual fear on his face, while his chest went up and down rapidly.
"Listen, Bart: Breathe. Deep and slowly."
He tried to follow her orders and after a short time, it worked.
"Now. Repeat what you were saying. Slowly."
"I-I said he'll throw me off the team because he'll b-be too uncomfortable around me and never talk to me again and that I just w-want it to go back to how it was without the dumb feelings", he told her, his voice higher and throaty because of the tears that were bubbling up now.
Cassie was suddenly really glad they talked about this, the boy very obviously needed to adress this problem, especially since it scared him this much.
He looked away and sniffed, wiping his nose on the napkin before him.
"I'm fine!", he choked, when Cassie asked about it.
She nodded.
"It'll be fine, Bart. Tim wouldn't kick you off the team because of that, we're not kids anymore and we all know how to act when that stuff happens."
"You think so?"
"Trust me, Tim would never. He likes you too much for that. He's a lot closer to you and Kon than he is to us others and he wouldn't even throw us out. Think about it. We even had a thing once and got over it."
"True. But that's another point... Tim is very straight."
He sighed.
"How did you even find out? Does anyone else know about it?"
"I would say female intuition, but that wouldn't be true. I actually noticed two weeks ago, because I saw you two sleeping in Tim's bed together. So I started paying attention and if you know what you should look for, it's easy."
"Two weeks ago...? We never sleep in a bed together... Oh."
That was the time when Tim had fallen asleep on...
"...my computer. I must have. I remember doing some homework from school and being tired and the next thing is waking up in my bed next to Bart. He must have carried me. He even did the rest of my homework for me. Anyways, waking up was nice and comfortable and all until he woke up, too. I should've gotten up as soon as I woke up, but it was so comfy and Bart was really warm and... Anyways, I didn't, so it was awkward and we didn't talk about it again."
"Why was it awkward?", Kon asked and Miguel snorted.
"Waking up to a close friend with... what's the english word... help me out here, Tim. What's 'erreción matutina', hermano?"
Tim died a little bit inside, because Miguel was right, but kept a cool facade.
"Morning wood", he said between slightly clenched teeth. Kon snorted.
"And yes. It's quite awkward, eventhough it shouldn't have been. It's normal, isn't it?"
"So you got hard and realized u were crushing on him?"
"No! That was NOT how I realized. And I'm not even sure I'm crushing on him!"
"Let's sum this up. You say you can't sleep, because every time you rest you have to think about him and what it means, you get nervous and have a hard time concentrating whenever he's around and all you want to do is kiss him whenever he's, and I quote, "being cute". Also you have trouble sending him on missions lately and your bed feels cold since the time he slept there. Si eso no es amor..."
Tim sighed and buried his face in his hands.
"Yeah, alright. I am crushing on him."
"I can't believe you needed our help to get that right, mi amigo."
"What do you suppose I should do?"
"Just kiss him? That's what everyone in Cassie's movies always does."
"I can't just kiss him, Kon!"
"Why not, hermano?"
"Because it would be rude! What if he doesn't want to!"
"Then you apologize."
"Oh my god..."
Bart breathed in deeply, before entering the Titan Tower. Cassie gave him a pat on the back.
"Don't forget. Talk to him about it. He'll understand."
He straightened up a bit more and nodded, before entering and zipping up to his room to get all the stuff done he got for Tim to help him sleep.
Tim was sitting on his desk and transferring some paper notes to his computer.
He closed it hastily, as soon as he noticed Bart.
"Hi!"
"Hey", Bart replied confused about the enthusiasm in Tim's voice.
"I'm here to help you sleep."
"I did expect that."
"Uh, cool. I guess."
"Yeah."
Somehow this was even more awkward than two weeks ago.
"What do you have there?", Tim finally asked and Bart jumped to the stuff.
"Okay so, I read a bit up on stuff and asked Barry and Iris, and Hal but he didn't help a whole lot, and this is supposed to work. So..."
Bart grinned widely and held up Tim's favorite mug.
"Here's hot milk with honey, drink this."
He gave it to Tim and then zipped around the room, collecting every clock he could find and hiding them, while Tim drank his milk, watching him curiously.
When he was done, Tim put the mug on the table.
Bart searched for something in the bag he brought and then proceeded to pull out a hideous pair of thick, fluffy socks.
"Warm feet are important! It's an indicator for safety or something?"
Tim laughed.
"I'm NOT putting those on, I hate sleeping with socks!"
"Fine, no socks then."
He threw the socks back in the bag and got out a hot water bottle.
"This instead then!"
"Fine."
Tim grinned and Bart pointed at the bed.
"You have to be in bed to sleep, you know?"
Tim snorted, but did as he was told, laying down. Bart started hanging up little bundles of lavender in the room.
"What are those for?"
"Not only does lavender smell lovely, but the aroma of this flowering herb may also relax your nerves, lower your blood pressure, and put you in a relaxed state", Bart quoted, named the source, which was a webside called 'Huffpost', and continued to put them up everywhere.
When he was done he looked at his phone and searched for something.
Tim lay in bed and watched his expression as he silently cursed his phone for being too slow for his typing speed. It was cute how his brows furrowed and how he chewed on his lower lip, one hand keeping his hair out of his face.
He was trying and even though Tim knew most of the sleeping advice already, he let him continue. It was sweet how hard he tried and Tim couldn't help but feel flattered.
"There!"
Bart clicked on something and the kind of music you would find on YouTube under 'Chillstep' started playing.
"Bart, I can't sleep with music on."
"Oh. Sorry."
He was about to turn it off again, but Tim held up his hand.
"Leave it on, I like that song. Come here."
He sat up and patted the spot next to him.
Bart hesitated.
"I still have some stuff to try out."
"I know most of these already. They never helped me, Bart."
"Oh."
He sounded disappointed.
"It was great that you tried, though! Thank you."
"That's the lil' bro of 'nice try', Tim."
"Yeah but it's less rude. Now sit down."
Bart did.
As soon as he was sitting, Tim slumped against him, head on his shoulder.
"Ah, much better."
"Are you okay?"
"Right now, I'm peachy."
"Okay...", Bart stretched the word.
There was a short silence, in which Bart's thoughts raced, but so did Tim's.
"Listen, I have to talk to you about something."
"Oh... funny, because I gotta, too."
Bart's voice didn't sound amused at all. Rather strained actually.
Tim looked up, causing Bart to do the same.
"You want to start first?"
"Not really."
"Me neither."
They grinned at each other and some of the tension disappeared.
Tim thought about what he was going to say some more, but as soon as he realized that Bart was getting more and more anxious with every passing second, he decided it wasn't important how he said it. Whatever Bart wanted to say, he was overthinking it and panicking the more time he let pass.
"Bart."
His gaze had been getting passive and it had hastily wandered from one place to another, but the deep golden eyes stopped to focus on Tim's blue ones as soon as he heard his name.
"Yeah?"
The word suddenly seemed too loud, everything around them weirdly far away, blurry.
It seemed like eternity passed while Bart waited for an answer that never came.
Instead, Tim mumbled a quiet "Sorry" and leaned in.
Bart's heart stopped. He was going to kiss him.
Tim was going to kiss him!
But right before their lips touched, Tim stopped, looking at him unsure and a bit confused himself.
"Uhm, you can pull away if you don't want this."
"Okay."
A second passed.
"Are you going to pull away?"
"N-no."
Bart could feel Tim's breath against his lips and it smelled like chocolate.
Weird.
Tim never ate chocolate, besides when he was being nervous and preparing for something that took a lot of courage.
Oh.
Tim swallowed.
"Okay. I'm, uh, I'm going to kiss you now."
Bart nodded.
And then Tim did.
It was awkward. The position they were sitting in was not the most practical one for kissing and neither of them were entirely sure how to act.
While neither Tim nor Bart were inexperienced, they didn't know if the other would like it.
But that didn't matter.
As soon as Bart actually realized what they were doing, his heartbeat sped up to the impossible and he felt like something in his stomach had exploded and flipped it around. It was mesmerising.
Tim didn't feel much different.
Seemed like Miguel and Kon were right.
Kissing him made explaining a lot easier.
They pulled away and Bart gestured him to wait, while he turned and sat up into a kneeling position.
Tim watched him confused and when Bart seemed comfortable he grinned at him and took a deep breath, before leaning in again.
Tim snorted against his lips, when he understood why Bart had changed positions, and carefully lay his right hand on the back of Bart's neck, holding him in place.
This second kiss was easier, better and more fun.
It didn't last any longer, though and they broke off again soon.
"This was surprisingly difficult and easy at the same time", Tim mumbled, while Bart beamed at him.
"Does this mean you like me back?"
"If it means YOU like me, then yes, it does."
"THANK GOD!"
Tim laughed when Bart let himself flop down on the bed.
"Now, while I would love to talk about this right now, I'm dying of sleep deprivation. Would you mind actually helping me sleep?"
Bart looked at him, confused.
"I... couldn't sleep because I thought too much about this. Also I missed you in my bed... sorta..."
Bart laughed.
Outside the room, Kon grinned and held up his thumb to the others.
A relieved sigh and a high five from Miguel and Cassie followed, since the idiots had finally made it.
Kon just hoped his best friends would be fine and that Tim would finally get some sleep.