Red Strings [JayTim]

Thorn

Tim mentally cursed himself for getting so upset in front of Jason. He didn't want to show weakness and yet when it came down to it... he was weak.

The red string on his finger annoyed him to look at.

He hated it.

The pain in his chest swelled- he felt like choking on air- it hurt to just even breathe in. Tears pricked his eyes, "why does this have to happen to me..?" He wondered before sniffling and wiping the tears away to look presentable. Tim Drake never let anyone see him cry.

Except...

No. Shut up.

"Why are you still in your pajamas?" A haughty exotic voice asked.

Tim turned around and saw Damian- who was wearing a sweater that obviously didn't belong to him.

"Why are you wearing clothes that aren't yours?" He smirked, "steal them from a certain boyfriend?"

Tim took great pleasure in watching Damian's face darken in color before he spluttered. The only time the brat could be rendered speechless.

Damian huffed after a moment and stomped his foot, "he's not my boyfriend!" He insisted- still brightly shaded, "he doesn't even like me like that anyways..."

You two have a red string connecting to each other... Tim couldn't really say that to assure Damian so he just kept his mouth shut. He didn't really know what to say when all his own relationships failed.

"Boyfriends suck anyways."

Damian looked surprised at that response, but hw actually cracked a smile, "yeah... they do suck." He sat down on the couch and tucked his knees under the larger shirt so he just looked like a ball.

"How'd you even get his sweater?" Tim asked as he himself sat down in the opposite love seat.

Damian shrugged from in his ball where only his head and toes was visible, "it wasn't hard, just said I was cold and stole his sweater. He's so dumb." He scowled.

"Ah, you're mad he doesn't notice your efforts?" Tim mused. He didn't know he could talk to Damian this much without wanting to throttle him.

When he was only a teenager when Damian came around and was only ten, Dick- his idol- spent all his time with Damian. He doted and babied the mean little boy.

Well, now that Tim was nineteen and Damian fourteen he saw that Damian wasn't actually mean or a demon child that his brothers often called him.

He was just so socially inept it was honestly impressive yet sad.

Damian snorted, "I bet if I even told him I liked him he would just be like 'I like you too! Im so glad we're friends!' He's like a golden retriever..." he had rolled his eyes in a dramatic way.

"Then tell him you love him," Tim offered, sipping his nearly lukewarm drink. Talking made him forget about it- And the author who had to reread the last chapter a couple times to get the details right.

Damian blushed a deeper shade of red, "I feel... that would be too early... he's not like me... I feel like I would just scare him off that way..." he said sadly.

Oh no. He's sad now- Tim be a good brother!

"Do you wanna hang out?"

Wow you sound dumb. Tim mentally facepalmed as he saw Damian giving him an 'is you dumb?' Look.

"Aren't we hanging out right now?"

"Well yeah- but I meant... I dunno. I feel like we haven't ACTUALLY hung out before. We could go walk around the city?" Tim explained awkwardly. He wanted Damian to know... he's not alone. And he's sorry for being such a bad big brother when the little one needed him to be there.

Damian actually looked surprised and his eyes warmed, "oh... uh... if you want to that sounds nice..." he said and undid his ball, standing up, "I'm going to go get dressed. You should too, pajamas freak." He said as he ran out of the room.

Tim smiled faintly. Well... if I can't fix my romantic relationship I can fix my familial one.