And here we have just a little drabble series. It's not really anything important, but it was fun to do. This is actually from my Tumblr, so I figured why not share? Hope you enjoy!

Tim is actually glad to have dropped out of high school when all is said and done.

It's just become so hard to keep up the act. Like Bruce wasn't missing (not dead, never dead). To pretend like his friends there were still actually his friends and that every word that came out of his mouth wasn't a lie. And it just got harder after Dick took the only thing that ever cemented his place in the family.

High school was just really… lonely. Everything was lonely.

He knew it all anyway. And he'd be doing everyone a favor. No one really wanted to deal with him. Bruce had been the only one and Bruce was dea-

Missing. Bruce was missing.

And it was like he'd told Tim before. The mission first. Right now, high school wasn't Tim's mission.

Tim is super awkward in social situations. Not high-society stuff. Not CEO stuff. Definitely not superhero stuff. Regular stuff. Everyday human stuff. Like talking to a cashier.

They ask about his day and he'll go off onto a ten-minute tangent on barometric pressure. He's not sure how to answer normal questions like that and doesn't know when to stop. The cashiers don't want to listen to him just as much as he doesn't want to be talking to them. But they can't tell him no because they're scared of him (the billionaire's son, adopted or otherwise).

Tim doesn't like physical affection.

It's not being touched that bothers him, it's being touched in a positive way that bothers him. He didn't have to worry about that after becoming Robin. Any touching is during spars, and even though it's not meant to harm him and it's all just for practice, it's not exactly positive physical affection.

Then he starts working with Dick.

Dick gives him a side hug after they complete their first mission together successfully and Tim flips him through the air. Dick laughs it off luckily and accepts Tim's explanation that he'd startled him. Even offers a story where he'd done a similar thing to Wally West.

But in reality, Tim had freaked out and being touched in a positive way and done the only thing that came to mind.

Tim gets better at just accepting physical affection. It doesn't mean he likes it though. Well, okay, kissing is okay if he's the one who starts it and so is any other physical affection, but he almost never starts it (except kissing, and he's not doing that with Bruce or Dick).

He still hates it when they hug him or ruffle his hair. But he lives with it. Pretends it doesn't bug him when his friends do the same. And it's probably not healthy, but it's better than admitting he's broken to everyone. Better than admitting he doesn't have a single memory of his anyone hugging him until Dick had.

And all in all, it's just another way his parents hurt him, unintentionally or not.

Tim never gives up, and this means he accomplishes a lot. Break through Jason's defenses and make him a brother? Check. Reconcile with Dick? Check. Have a life as Red Robin and Tim Drake? Well, he's still working on that but it's getting there.

The point is, Tim's very good at making his life better. Everyone's life better. And that means he's very good at telling when someone's life isn't good.

The point is, Tim gets really good at helping people, and not just as Red Robin. Sure, he's a little cold, but some people have broken through his defenses and those people are the people who always need the most help. Like Damian, which was a surprise, but now that he knows the kid better he's not exactly mad.

Tim's life is better because he doesn't give up. And he's proud of that.