Rites of Passage | Damian x OC

19. Confessions

cw: death

~~~~~~~

"All my skeletons out for the takin'

I don't even know if I'ma make it

I'm afraid of myself, and I hate it

All my skeletons out for the takin'

Somebody take them"

~ keshi, "skeletons"

Chapter 19: Confessions

When he saw that both his father and Dick were in the large study, it felt even more than ever like he needed to confess his feelings... because not only did Damian need to tell Bruce, but he also knew his older brother had to know. It wouldn't have seemed right otherwise.

He'd been the first one to fill the role anyway, and to announce his desire to leave it meant Dick had to hear the decision.

After his unfortunate outburst last night, the teen had spent nearly every waking moment from then on reciting how he would approach the situation. It had been several weeks since he'd paid much attention to this part of his life that had bothered him for so long, but the pressure was becoming too high for him to keep his feelings bottled. Losing Titus had certainly made things significantly worse, pushing these thoughts and needs up to the surface. Though he wasn't fond of admitting it, Damian was losing his grip on himself and who he thought he was.

So who was he going to be after hanging up the suit?

They were discussing Tim's upcoming graduation when he arrived, Bruce saying something about having already scheduled time off for December as he sat behind his large desk. Dick was standing at one side of the room, arms crossed as he peered out the window at the bright though cloudy sky.

"Speaking of school, you ever decide if you're going to try out Gotham U, Damian?" Dick asked when he saw the teen enter the room, tossing him a curious look.

"I decided," Damian responded as he lingered at the door, splitting a glance between both men, "and my answer is no."

"Told you."

Bruce almost rolled his eyes at Dick's words before meeting his youngest son's gaze. "That's fine, Damian. I wasn't expecting you to."

He could've made some kind of remark but his mind was elsewhere. Out of all the approaches he'd come up with the previous night, was the best way to bring up the subject that would yield desirable results? Both his father and brother seemed to be in relatively good moods despite today being Dick's last day in the city before he went back home.

That had been another obstacle. Damian was reluctant to unload such heavy news on the man with such poor timing, but he also knew that waiting any longer would only make things worse.

Tell them.

"Well, I guess I can't really blame you let alone say anything," Dick was saying as he moved towards one of the chairs in front of Bruce's desk and sat down. "You know, considering I have less than a year of uni under my belt."

Bruce was chuckling then responding, but his words didn't make it to Damian's ears, not when his heart was beating hard within his chest and that voice in his head wouldn't stop urging him to speak up.

Just say it.

'I don't want to be Robin anymore.'

A short burst of static interrupted them, followed by Alfred announcing via the intercom system that Selina had arrived.