(no subject)
Title: Taking the Initiative
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for cursing and some really heavy UST
Summary: Tim believes he's messed things up. Kon sort of agrees
Notes: This is my first fic for these two. The scenes in this story were inspired by these drawings done by the lovely faraway_hills . I can only hope I haven't ruined them with this >>;;; Special thanks to karraparis for betaing this for me and for her encouragement that I write more Tim/Kon in the future. Please enjoy!
It would have been so easy... And absolutely wrong. Such a simplistic act leading to so many miserable nights brooding in darkness or wallowing in woe.
Tim had done plenty of questionable things in his life. Lying to your family about what you did after dark and having those nocturnal activities be the literal death of them ranked pretty high on that list. Treating pretty much every woman in his life, past or present as an experiment in social normalcy also ate away at his conscience. True he had at least made amends with Steph and Tam, but that in no way alleviated his guilt.
In any case, his actions always led to consequences, sometimes good, but mostly bad, all that with a hint of bitter self loathing coming back to torment him minutes, months, even years after the fact.
Right when things were finally, finally starting to look up in his life, Tim wasn't about to add “molesting-my-best-friend-while-he's-asleep” to that long list of regrets. Though now that he really thought about it, he probably wouldn't have regretted the act nearly as much as the fallout that had followed. Which should have bothered him a lot more than it actually did.
Kon had been out cold. Resting on his bed in Titan's Tower, a small smile ever present on his youthful face, one hand propped under his pillow while the other sprawled across his abs, anyone could have easily mistaken him for an ordinary teenager if not for the red shield covering his black tee. Kon had looked so... vulnerable. So peaceful...
Maybe just one kiss, Tim tried rationalizing to himself at the time. One small peck on the cheek-
Kon had moaned softly, brow furrowing, then softening from some disturbance in his dreams, the smile twitching, then quirking up more.
Usually when he smiled, he was all teeth. Shiny, perfect teeth that never needed braces and beamed at you naturally as to make any model on those Crest commercials positively green with envy. But this particular smile was radiant in an altogether different way. It was all about the sheen of his lips, skin not quite pink, but dark enough to outline just how small and perfect they were. And just that hint of wetness around the edges where he probably licked them in his sleep-
Maybe just one small, quick kiss on the lips wouldn't hurt, he had concluded. It wasn't like Kon would have any idea what was happening, anyway...
Tim remembered shutting his eyes, breathing in sharply, bracing his arm at the edge of the mattress, leaning in over Conner's face, hair falling into his eyes until he pushed it back. He recalled watching the steady rise and fall of Kon's chest, watching the thumb of his left hand spasm then still over his stomach. It made him freeze, and everything all at once came back to him with striking clarity.
“No,” Tim finally whispered to himself, slowly rising and shaking his head. He had scowled at his own idiocy and repeated softly but firmly. “No.”
It wasn't right. This very notion that he could just waltz right into people's rooms and have his way with them was ridiculous. Creepy. “Bat-like,” Conner would say. Why did he even consider it as a legitimately good idea?
The next thing he knew, Tim turned around and headed for the door. He must have been so busy berating himself that he missed the moment where Conner sat up and hurled his pillow directly at the back of his head.
“You ass!!!”
The force of the throw had knocked him down, and the surprise kept him from properly handling the fall. He managed to hit the floor on his side, but his right arm was stung. He knew there would definitely be a colorful bruise by tomorrow morning.
A bruise was the least of Tim's problems, though.
Tim got back to his feet and paled when Conner had thrown aside his blankets and snarled. “Dude.”
“Conner, I-,” Tim pushed himself back to his feet, still rubbing his arm, mostly for psychological comfort rather than soothing any physical pain.
“Dude!” Conner had snapped again, arms up in the air then flopping back onto the bed. “What the hell was that?”
“I...”
Oddly enough, Conner had raised a brow and looked pointedly at him saying. “Seriously, man... You're shaking.”
To be honest, Tim hadn't even noticed. He had been busy reminding himself about how stupid he was and how he could never even begin to repair the damage that had been done. Tim just hung his head, eyes on the floor.
“I'm so sorry, Kon...”
“Sorry for what?” The other pressed on.
Conner had sounded so... disappointed in him. He couldn't handle that. Letting the people he loved down like that. Especially after everything was getting back to normal. Especially after getting a second chance to see them again.
He thought back to how he struggled to inhale for a moment before saying the only thing he could at that point in time under those circumstances. “I understand if this... I mean I-” His eyes were burning as he turned away, back to Conner, staring blankly at the wall. “I shouldn't have done that.”
Behind him he heard Conner pause. “Wait what?”
“I completely understand if you never want to talk to me again,” Tim continued, each and every sentence was killing him right now, but he owed Conner that much. He owed it to his best friend to take responsibility for ruining their relationship. “I'm sorry Conner.”
“Hold on, are you-” Tim could hear Kon stand up, process him moving to the doorway, but had refused to turn around. He could almost feel the disgust rolling off of him. He didn't need to see it in Kon's gaze. “Tim, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I'll go back to Gotham early,” Tim replied as levelly as he could. “I'll just finish that file I was working on and leave as soon as it's humanly possible.”
“Hang on a second-!”
“Goodnight, Kon.”
Before the other teen could grab him, Tim had taken off down the hall to his room, Conner's voice calling after him. He didn't even bother to apologize to Gar for bumping into him, didn't return's Bart's “Hey Tim.” He slammed the door, ordered it to lock, and sank to floor breathing hard and burying his face into his arm.
That's what he got for getting ahead of himself. If life was trying to make a statement about not messing up the few good things going for you, point made. The only thing Tim thought to do in the wake of that disaster was to sleep it off, and worry about getting out of the Tower and back to the manor the next morning...
Which was why it had to be a dream when he woke up sometime around one am with Superboy leaning over him.
He had to be hallucinating. Because there was no other way to explain the phenomena that was Conner Kent looming over his bed with the most gentle look of determination and barely concealed annoyance Tim had ever seen.
“Conner?” His voice croaked, sore from earlier tears and hoarse from slumber.
“Tim...,” Kon's hand came down to brush his hair out of Tim's eyes, trailed his fingers along his hairline and cupped his neck. Tim's heart was pounding.
“Conner, what are you doing here?” Tim blinked through the dimness, groggy, but alert.
Kon snorted his other hand slipping slowly around Tim's waist before suddenly jerking him up and awake.
“Isn't it obvious?” Kon breathed, the hand supporting Tim's neck moving to his shoulders, bringing their faces together. “Finishing what you started.”
Tim would have demanded further explanation. Only Conner was kissing him.
A surprised gasp escaped him, but went unheard as Kon took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss, drag his tongue over Tim's-
Conner. Was. Kissing. Him.
And then he wasn't. When he stopped exactly, Tim didn't know, but he was panting hard, and were he not in the arms of a meta-human, he would have flopped back onto the mattress and dragged Kon with him. And now, Kon was doing something like what he did to Tim's mouth on his neck.
“Like that?” Kon laughed as a whimper escaped Tim involuntarily.
This wasn't... It couldn't be happening. It all felt real enough. But this scenario itself was so... unlikely, Tim had to be certain. Had to assure himself.
“I'm not dreaming,” Tim stated, blinking and frowning over Kon's shoulder in confusion.
“Nope,” Conner was breathing, still kissing his neck. “Not a dream.”
Tim sighed heavily, wanting Kon to stop what he was doing for a moment so he could just think... Then again that would require Conner to stop kissing him. “I don't believe this.”
He could practically hear the smirk growing on Kon's face when he asked, “What me to prove it?”
He didn't even wait for Tim's answer, slipping the hand on his waist down-
“Ouch!” Tim jumped, smacking Kon's arm away and glaring up at the chuckling super feeling vaguely offended. “Did you just pinch my posterior?”
Kon stopped laughing and blinked in befuddled amusement. “Dude. Who says that? No wait, never mind,” he cut off, waving his hands up, nodding. “Genius talk. It's all good.”
For now Tim choose to ignore the jab, just peered imploringly up at Conner, his voice suddenly smaller and less forceful. “Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why would you- How can this be happening? I though you wouldn't-” Tim stopped, biting his lip. This wasn't making any sense. All of this was too much for him to properly take in.
Conner didn't interrupt, just listened and waited. A small sign that he was no longer fooling around, that he was taking this just as seriously as Tim was. That was new, though not unwelcome.
“...I though you were angry with me,” Tim finished lamely.
“I was,” Kon chuckled, then paused, squinting his eyes in thought. “Actually, yeah, I'm still pretty pissed, dude.”
“I mean with what happened. My trying to-” he could actually feel his face heating up and now he really, really missed the cowl to conceal his expression.
He heard Conner huff in frustration. “You know, for someone so smart, you really don't have a clue.”
“What are you talking about,” Tim asked crossly.
“Want me to spell it out for you?” Kon groaned, using his hand to motion. “I” He pointed to himself. “Like.” His hands made a cheesy heart sign. “You.” Tim felt himself being poked hard on the chest, looked up and found himself staring back into the deep, warm blue of Kon's eyes.
“But you... I thought you were interested in women.”
“I was,” Conner said, then amended. “Am. I mean, boobs are awesome, and girls are really soft and smell really nice-” The look Tim was giving Kon must have been one of his “shut-up-I-get-it” faces, because he cut off mid sentence and added. “But yeah, I definitely still like chicks.”
“Noted,” Tim answered trying not to look too dismayed.
“That doesn't change the fact that I think I'm in love with you.”
Of all the things he anticipated out of this conversation, declarations of love were the least expected.
“...You... what?”
Kon sighed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Look, don't freak out and run away again, ok? But I've been thinking. About a lot of things, actually. But most of those thoughts have been about you.”
Tim just stared, raising an inquiring brow prompting a blush and a stutter out of Kon. “A-and not... not those kind of thoughts! Not all the time, anyway. Most of the time, actually, but I mean-”
“Conner,” Tim whispered, sitting up and pushing up his bangs. “I'm sounding ridiculously repetitive right now, but why me? Why now?” He took in a shuddering breath then exhaled. “I thought you were... and Cassie was the one you really...”
“Tim, look at me.”
The tone was firm, but there was a tenderness there, too that compelled him to comply, to look back up into Conner's face. Two strong hands cupped either side of his face effectively holding him there, thumbs stroking absently over his cheekbones.
“I do love her... But I'm not in love with her. Cassie will always be my friend, my teammate. But you... God Tim, you don't even know. You're not just a friend to me anymore. You haven't been for a while.”
Tim felt light-headed. In a very different, yet wonderful way. “Since when?”
“I really don't know,” admitted Kon, with a slight chuckle. “But I do remember when I first realized how hot you were.”
“Oh really,” Tim challenged wryly. “Let me guess. Was it my obsessive compulsion to clone another you? My winning personality?”
“It was when you finally took off the damn cowl for the first time.”
Tim flushed and looked away. “You just told me I a needed a haircut.”
“Deflection.”
“Ah...”
“And you are totally deflecting now with the 20 questions game,” Kon grinned.
“I am no-,” Tim stopped himself, realizing that Conner caught on to his antics and sighed in resignation. “This is... a lot to take in.” He finally conceded.
“Preaching to the choir, dude.”
“I just think... You could honestly do better than me,” Tim murmured, still refusing to look back up.
“Oh, no you don't,” Conner growled, shaking him a bit. “Do not even start the self-loathing crap. Is it that hard for you to be happy?”
It was, actually, but Tim just shook his head. “It isn't that.”
“Then what is it?” Kon pressed.
He couldn't believe his life right now. Really, he couldn't. Tim sat up and brought his hand up to Kon's tugging them down away from his face.
“I just couldn't stand it if I lost you again.”
“You won't,” Kon promised.
Tim shook his head. “Not just death, Conner. This... these feelings. They change everything. I've seen friendships go from romantic to cold in a matter of months. It's happened to people I love. I don't want us to be like that. It makes things complicated.”
And surmising Dick and Barbara's relationship as such was putting it very lightly. He sighed. “It makes them miserable...”
“Hey.”
A simple word, but Tim found himself glancing up at it. Kon was smiling that warm and gorgeous smile of his and Tim knew whatever the other boy was about to say, that smile would make him believe those words.
“I won't let it get like that, ok? I know you won't either. You're too much of a control freak for that.”
Tim coughed in mild amusement.
“And even if it doesn't work out, we'll never not be friends, Tim,” Conner sighed. “I couldn't handle it if we weren't.”
“Neither could I.”
They both fell into a sort of not uncomfortable silence. It was better than uncomfortable, but not quite relaxed. Kon naturally broke it first.
“But I meant it. When I said I was in love with you.”
And just like that, everything sunk in. It all came together in Tim's head. It was... surprisingly enlightening. “Hn.”
“Hey, don't give me that “hn” crap, dude!” Conner groaned, misunderstanding him. “I'm serious!”
“I believe you,” Tim smiled, a small, genuine smile he rarely let anyone else see these days.
Kon relaxed, his own face breaking into a beam. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” affirmed Tim, leaning in just enough so Kon's eyes closed, mouth opened partly in anticipation of a kiss. Tim pulled back, trying to stifle the snicker threatening to break his cool, though greatly enjoying the way the other teen's eyes popped back open in comical alarm. “Mostly.”
“Oh that's it-”
Tim outright laughed when Kon dove at him, lifting him up from the bed again to steal another kiss.
And the way Conner kissed him right now, a simple motion of his lips brushing hotly against Tim's, it made everything seem so easy... And absolutely right.
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for cursing and some really heavy UST
Summary: Tim believes he's messed things up. Kon sort of agrees
Notes: This is my first fic for these two. The scenes in this story were inspired by these drawings done by the lovely faraway_hills . I can only hope I haven't ruined them with this >>;;; Special thanks to karraparis for betaing this for me and for her encouragement that I write more Tim/Kon in the future. Please enjoy!
It would have been so easy... And absolutely wrong. Such a simplistic act leading to so many miserable nights brooding in darkness or wallowing in woe.
Tim had done plenty of questionable things in his life. Lying to your family about what you did after dark and having those nocturnal activities be the literal death of them ranked pretty high on that list. Treating pretty much every woman in his life, past or present as an experiment in social normalcy also ate away at his conscience. True he had at least made amends with Steph and Tam, but that in no way alleviated his guilt.
In any case, his actions always led to consequences, sometimes good, but mostly bad, all that with a hint of bitter self loathing coming back to torment him minutes, months, even years after the fact.
Right when things were finally, finally starting to look up in his life, Tim wasn't about to add “molesting-my-best-friend-while-he's-asleep” to that long list of regrets. Though now that he really thought about it, he probably wouldn't have regretted the act nearly as much as the fallout that had followed. Which should have bothered him a lot more than it actually did.
Kon had been out cold. Resting on his bed in Titan's Tower, a small smile ever present on his youthful face, one hand propped under his pillow while the other sprawled across his abs, anyone could have easily mistaken him for an ordinary teenager if not for the red shield covering his black tee. Kon had looked so... vulnerable. So peaceful...
Maybe just one kiss, Tim tried rationalizing to himself at the time. One small peck on the cheek-
Kon had moaned softly, brow furrowing, then softening from some disturbance in his dreams, the smile twitching, then quirking up more.
Usually when he smiled, he was all teeth. Shiny, perfect teeth that never needed braces and beamed at you naturally as to make any model on those Crest commercials positively green with envy. But this particular smile was radiant in an altogether different way. It was all about the sheen of his lips, skin not quite pink, but dark enough to outline just how small and perfect they were. And just that hint of wetness around the edges where he probably licked them in his sleep-
Maybe just one small, quick kiss on the lips wouldn't hurt, he had concluded. It wasn't like Kon would have any idea what was happening, anyway...
Tim remembered shutting his eyes, breathing in sharply, bracing his arm at the edge of the mattress, leaning in over Conner's face, hair falling into his eyes until he pushed it back. He recalled watching the steady rise and fall of Kon's chest, watching the thumb of his left hand spasm then still over his stomach. It made him freeze, and everything all at once came back to him with striking clarity.
“No,” Tim finally whispered to himself, slowly rising and shaking his head. He had scowled at his own idiocy and repeated softly but firmly. “No.”
It wasn't right. This very notion that he could just waltz right into people's rooms and have his way with them was ridiculous. Creepy. “Bat-like,” Conner would say. Why did he even consider it as a legitimately good idea?
The next thing he knew, Tim turned around and headed for the door. He must have been so busy berating himself that he missed the moment where Conner sat up and hurled his pillow directly at the back of his head.
“You ass!!!”
The force of the throw had knocked him down, and the surprise kept him from properly handling the fall. He managed to hit the floor on his side, but his right arm was stung. He knew there would definitely be a colorful bruise by tomorrow morning.
A bruise was the least of Tim's problems, though.
Tim got back to his feet and paled when Conner had thrown aside his blankets and snarled. “Dude.”
“Conner, I-,” Tim pushed himself back to his feet, still rubbing his arm, mostly for psychological comfort rather than soothing any physical pain.
“Dude!” Conner had snapped again, arms up in the air then flopping back onto the bed. “What the hell was that?”
“I...”
Oddly enough, Conner had raised a brow and looked pointedly at him saying. “Seriously, man... You're shaking.”
To be honest, Tim hadn't even noticed. He had been busy reminding himself about how stupid he was and how he could never even begin to repair the damage that had been done. Tim just hung his head, eyes on the floor.
“I'm so sorry, Kon...”
“Sorry for what?” The other pressed on.
Conner had sounded so... disappointed in him. He couldn't handle that. Letting the people he loved down like that. Especially after everything was getting back to normal. Especially after getting a second chance to see them again.
He thought back to how he struggled to inhale for a moment before saying the only thing he could at that point in time under those circumstances. “I understand if this... I mean I-” His eyes were burning as he turned away, back to Conner, staring blankly at the wall. “I shouldn't have done that.”
Behind him he heard Conner pause. “Wait what?”
“I completely understand if you never want to talk to me again,” Tim continued, each and every sentence was killing him right now, but he owed Conner that much. He owed it to his best friend to take responsibility for ruining their relationship. “I'm sorry Conner.”
“Hold on, are you-” Tim could hear Kon stand up, process him moving to the doorway, but had refused to turn around. He could almost feel the disgust rolling off of him. He didn't need to see it in Kon's gaze. “Tim, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I'll go back to Gotham early,” Tim replied as levelly as he could. “I'll just finish that file I was working on and leave as soon as it's humanly possible.”
“Hang on a second-!”
“Goodnight, Kon.”
Before the other teen could grab him, Tim had taken off down the hall to his room, Conner's voice calling after him. He didn't even bother to apologize to Gar for bumping into him, didn't return's Bart's “Hey Tim.” He slammed the door, ordered it to lock, and sank to floor breathing hard and burying his face into his arm.
That's what he got for getting ahead of himself. If life was trying to make a statement about not messing up the few good things going for you, point made. The only thing Tim thought to do in the wake of that disaster was to sleep it off, and worry about getting out of the Tower and back to the manor the next morning...
Which was why it had to be a dream when he woke up sometime around one am with Superboy leaning over him.
He had to be hallucinating. Because there was no other way to explain the phenomena that was Conner Kent looming over his bed with the most gentle look of determination and barely concealed annoyance Tim had ever seen.
“Conner?” His voice croaked, sore from earlier tears and hoarse from slumber.
“Tim...,” Kon's hand came down to brush his hair out of Tim's eyes, trailed his fingers along his hairline and cupped his neck. Tim's heart was pounding.
“Conner, what are you doing here?” Tim blinked through the dimness, groggy, but alert.
Kon snorted his other hand slipping slowly around Tim's waist before suddenly jerking him up and awake.
“Isn't it obvious?” Kon breathed, the hand supporting Tim's neck moving to his shoulders, bringing their faces together. “Finishing what you started.”
Tim would have demanded further explanation. Only Conner was kissing him.
A surprised gasp escaped him, but went unheard as Kon took that as an invitation to deepen the kiss, drag his tongue over Tim's-
Conner. Was. Kissing. Him.
And then he wasn't. When he stopped exactly, Tim didn't know, but he was panting hard, and were he not in the arms of a meta-human, he would have flopped back onto the mattress and dragged Kon with him. And now, Kon was doing something like what he did to Tim's mouth on his neck.
“Like that?” Kon laughed as a whimper escaped Tim involuntarily.
This wasn't... It couldn't be happening. It all felt real enough. But this scenario itself was so... unlikely, Tim had to be certain. Had to assure himself.
“I'm not dreaming,” Tim stated, blinking and frowning over Kon's shoulder in confusion.
“Nope,” Conner was breathing, still kissing his neck. “Not a dream.”
Tim sighed heavily, wanting Kon to stop what he was doing for a moment so he could just think... Then again that would require Conner to stop kissing him. “I don't believe this.”
He could practically hear the smirk growing on Kon's face when he asked, “What me to prove it?”
He didn't even wait for Tim's answer, slipping the hand on his waist down-
“Ouch!” Tim jumped, smacking Kon's arm away and glaring up at the chuckling super feeling vaguely offended. “Did you just pinch my posterior?”
Kon stopped laughing and blinked in befuddled amusement. “Dude. Who says that? No wait, never mind,” he cut off, waving his hands up, nodding. “Genius talk. It's all good.”
For now Tim choose to ignore the jab, just peered imploringly up at Conner, his voice suddenly smaller and less forceful. “Why?”
“Huh?”
“Why would you- How can this be happening? I though you wouldn't-” Tim stopped, biting his lip. This wasn't making any sense. All of this was too much for him to properly take in.
Conner didn't interrupt, just listened and waited. A small sign that he was no longer fooling around, that he was taking this just as seriously as Tim was. That was new, though not unwelcome.
“...I though you were angry with me,” Tim finished lamely.
“I was,” Kon chuckled, then paused, squinting his eyes in thought. “Actually, yeah, I'm still pretty pissed, dude.”
“I mean with what happened. My trying to-” he could actually feel his face heating up and now he really, really missed the cowl to conceal his expression.
He heard Conner huff in frustration. “You know, for someone so smart, you really don't have a clue.”
“What are you talking about,” Tim asked crossly.
“Want me to spell it out for you?” Kon groaned, using his hand to motion. “I” He pointed to himself. “Like.” His hands made a cheesy heart sign. “You.” Tim felt himself being poked hard on the chest, looked up and found himself staring back into the deep, warm blue of Kon's eyes.
“But you... I thought you were interested in women.”
“I was,” Conner said, then amended. “Am. I mean, boobs are awesome, and girls are really soft and smell really nice-” The look Tim was giving Kon must have been one of his “shut-up-I-get-it” faces, because he cut off mid sentence and added. “But yeah, I definitely still like chicks.”
“Noted,” Tim answered trying not to look too dismayed.
“That doesn't change the fact that I think I'm in love with you.”
Of all the things he anticipated out of this conversation, declarations of love were the least expected.
“...You... what?”
Kon sighed and rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Look, don't freak out and run away again, ok? But I've been thinking. About a lot of things, actually. But most of those thoughts have been about you.”
Tim just stared, raising an inquiring brow prompting a blush and a stutter out of Kon. “A-and not... not those kind of thoughts! Not all the time, anyway. Most of the time, actually, but I mean-”
“Conner,” Tim whispered, sitting up and pushing up his bangs. “I'm sounding ridiculously repetitive right now, but why me? Why now?” He took in a shuddering breath then exhaled. “I thought you were... and Cassie was the one you really...”
“Tim, look at me.”
The tone was firm, but there was a tenderness there, too that compelled him to comply, to look back up into Conner's face. Two strong hands cupped either side of his face effectively holding him there, thumbs stroking absently over his cheekbones.
“I do love her... But I'm not in love with her. Cassie will always be my friend, my teammate. But you... God Tim, you don't even know. You're not just a friend to me anymore. You haven't been for a while.”
Tim felt light-headed. In a very different, yet wonderful way. “Since when?”
“I really don't know,” admitted Kon, with a slight chuckle. “But I do remember when I first realized how hot you were.”
“Oh really,” Tim challenged wryly. “Let me guess. Was it my obsessive compulsion to clone another you? My winning personality?”
“It was when you finally took off the damn cowl for the first time.”
Tim flushed and looked away. “You just told me I a needed a haircut.”
“Deflection.”
“Ah...”
“And you are totally deflecting now with the 20 questions game,” Kon grinned.
“I am no-,” Tim stopped himself, realizing that Conner caught on to his antics and sighed in resignation. “This is... a lot to take in.” He finally conceded.
“Preaching to the choir, dude.”
“I just think... You could honestly do better than me,” Tim murmured, still refusing to look back up.
“Oh, no you don't,” Conner growled, shaking him a bit. “Do not even start the self-loathing crap. Is it that hard for you to be happy?”
It was, actually, but Tim just shook his head. “It isn't that.”
“Then what is it?” Kon pressed.
He couldn't believe his life right now. Really, he couldn't. Tim sat up and brought his hand up to Kon's tugging them down away from his face.
“I just couldn't stand it if I lost you again.”
“You won't,” Kon promised.
Tim shook his head. “Not just death, Conner. This... these feelings. They change everything. I've seen friendships go from romantic to cold in a matter of months. It's happened to people I love. I don't want us to be like that. It makes things complicated.”
And surmising Dick and Barbara's relationship as such was putting it very lightly. He sighed. “It makes them miserable...”
“Hey.”
A simple word, but Tim found himself glancing up at it. Kon was smiling that warm and gorgeous smile of his and Tim knew whatever the other boy was about to say, that smile would make him believe those words.
“I won't let it get like that, ok? I know you won't either. You're too much of a control freak for that.”
Tim coughed in mild amusement.
“And even if it doesn't work out, we'll never not be friends, Tim,” Conner sighed. “I couldn't handle it if we weren't.”
“Neither could I.”
They both fell into a sort of not uncomfortable silence. It was better than uncomfortable, but not quite relaxed. Kon naturally broke it first.
“But I meant it. When I said I was in love with you.”
And just like that, everything sunk in. It all came together in Tim's head. It was... surprisingly enlightening. “Hn.”
“Hey, don't give me that “hn” crap, dude!” Conner groaned, misunderstanding him. “I'm serious!”
“I believe you,” Tim smiled, a small, genuine smile he rarely let anyone else see these days.
Kon relaxed, his own face breaking into a beam. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” affirmed Tim, leaning in just enough so Kon's eyes closed, mouth opened partly in anticipation of a kiss. Tim pulled back, trying to stifle the snicker threatening to break his cool, though greatly enjoying the way the other teen's eyes popped back open in comical alarm. “Mostly.”
“Oh that's it-”
Tim outright laughed when Kon dove at him, lifting him up from the bed again to steal another kiss.
And the way Conner kissed him right now, a simple motion of his lips brushing hotly against Tim's, it made everything seem so easy... And absolutely right.