Prompt- They were never happier than when they were arguing.
Pairing- Jason Todd/Tim Drake
They were never happier than when they were arguing.
Tim knew that wasn't normal, but for them it was just another Saturday night. They were always over something small too. Like a mismatched boot or a bottle of vodka under the bed or how Tim should lose the damn cowl and get back to the mask because it made him look stupid. Tiny things that normal people wouldn't bat an eyelash at sent them into scream matches for hours on end.
It would all escalate to deeper things after a while.
How Tim's perfectionist habits drove Jason over the wall.
Jason's inability to see where a line was set and when not to cross it.
That Tim still freezes and pushes away from Jason's touch after all this fucking time.
When Jason's bitterness actually cuts Tim deep.
Tim's fear of death and being left on his own again clogs his vision so damn much that he fights off any one who he thinks could die at any moment—which is everyone.
Jason's misunderstanding that leads him to believe he's as immortal as the gods and makes him so reckless it rattles Tim to his bones.
Tim's eternal belief that he's cursed.
Jason's unbreakable idea that he's unimportant.
Those locked away feelings erupt between them when they argue. Their yells are so loud they reach high holy heaven and the angels which resign there. They scream until they can't speak any more, their voices disappearing with every hateful word spilling out. It makes them exhausted when it's over—when they've spewed all that was within them out on the floor.
Then someone cracks.
There's a huff of air.
Or a whimper.
Sometimes even a sob.
"Jason."
"Tim."
And suddenly Jason is in front of him, pulling him into his hard chest and tugging his arms around him. And Tim fights. He pushes and punches, his feet shuffling under him in an attempt to get away. But Jason's still and his stone hands hold Tim until he loses his will to fight. They fall to ground—hitting whatever stops them on their way down—staying there in a mess of weak limbs and dry cries.
These are the moments which bring them the sickest of happiness.
Because it reminds them that this is all real. It's all possible, too, whatever they're trying to make out of this thing they have. Their doubts and their fights remind them they aren't perfect. They still have their problems. Tim still has his fears which make him want to run and run until every person is far from him. Jason still wishes he was dead in his grave, never alive to see that he—in his opinion—was forgotten to an ever changing world.
It makes them believe they have a chance to be together in a world where 'perfect love' never lasts for very long.
It makes them hope that a relationship built on yelling and fighting and fear and all the feelings in between could be able to last. Last until one or both met their end.
Arguing makes them happy. Their doubts keep them bound to each other.