Okay so let's clear some things up, in this chapter the ages from oldest to youngest go: Alfred, Bruce, Jason, Damian, Dick, and then Tim. This is the first time Tim meets Conner and yes I do realize Tim's too young to meet him yet but that's how I want this chapter to happen. Enjoy!
Fourteen Years Old…
The sound of the bell makes me want to drop to my knees in gratitude.
"Alright class, remember to read chapters three to fourteen." Mr. Chapper mumbles as we all make our way out of the classroom.
I make my way past the other freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors until I finally reach my locker.
"Hey Richard." I smile at Maggie as she grabs her stuff for the weekend form her locker.
"Hey Maggs." I greet and shove my stuff into my bag.
"You're in a hurry…is a certain red head coming over today?" she teases as I slam my locker shut.
"Maybe. I'll see you on Monday." I walk away and head to the front doors of Gotham Academy.
"Hey Pip squeak!" I don't get very far though.
When I reach the front steps of the school someone grabs the collar of my blazer and yanks me back roughly. I land on the concrete and feel the palms of my hands scrape nastily against the floor.
"Leave me alone Vic." I mutter and stand up to try and escape the 6'4 bully.
"What's that Grayson? You want more?" he shoves his hand onto my chest and I slam against one of the pillars that line the front wall of the school.
"Hey! Leave the guy alone." In utter shock, I look up to see Wally walking up the front steps and towards Vic.
"Wally. No!" I find the energy to get up and place a hand on Wally's chest to try and calm the red head down.
"Let go Dick." He growls and glares at the much taller boy.
"No! Wally come on, let's- whoa!" I gasp at the sudden movement and find myself now standing behind Wally rather than in front of him.
"You've got a bone to pick, pick it with me not him." Wally growls out and clenches his fists.
"You? Seriously?" Vic laughs loudly and all the other kids that are standing around stop to stare.
"Maybe this will clear things up for you." With that, Wally reels back and lets his fist connect with Vic's Jaw. "You've hurt him one too many times." He screams.
"You just made a huge mistake." Vic punches Wally and he stumbles back.
"Wally stop please!" I catch his arm but he only yanks away and steps even closer to Vic. "Wally!" I scream when Vic punches Wally so hard that Wally's sprawls out on the floor.
"Dick come on." I look up to see Conner standing worriedly beside me. "I'll handle this, just go." he nods over towards the spot where Megan and Artemis are standing.
"No!" I pull away when he tries to pull me back and step forward until I'm right by the two fighting teens.
"That's enough!" I scream and pull my fist back before letting it snap against Vic's temple. The junior only gasps before collapsing.
I look up and see most of the school watching in utter shock.
"Richard." I look to my right and see Maggie starring.
To my left, Wally's sitting up and leaning on his elbows while Conner tries to get him to stand up.
"Let's go." I growl and step over Wally.
"Dick." Wally mumbles and stands up quickly before following me.
"The kid can't even fight his own battles." I hear someone say when I walk past them.
"He has to have some poor kid hold Vic down just to get in a punch." Another one mumbles.
"Dick will you hold on?" I hear Wally calling out as I march my way out of Gotham Academy's gates and towards Wayne Manor.
"I can't believe you just did that Wally!" I turn and glare at him when we reach the front door to the Manor. "Why were you guys even there! I was supposed to meet you at the mountain!" I scream and watch him wipe away some blood before sighing.
"We wanted to surprise you." He mumbles and rubs the back of his neck.
"Surprise! Well guess what! That was the absolute worst birthday surprise ever!" I scream angrily. But I wasn't done yet; oh no. "Everything was fine but you had to butt in!"
"Nothing was fine about that Dick! That guy's been torturing you since your first day of High School!" Wally argues and frowns.
"I don't care Wally! I just wanted to be normal!"
"Normal? Being that guy's punching bag doesn't make you normal Dick!"
"Well now things are going to get even worse! Why do you even care?"
"Because I care about you!" he bellows out and fumes. "You're so obvious to the world around you Richard! Even Megan can see what's going on yet you don't notice anything!" he starts pacing on the porch and mutters under his breath.
"What are you talking about?" I cross my arms.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to suddenly realize that the guy you've loved since you were eleven is being bullied? Do you realize what it feels like to see that person bruised and bloody because of some jerk? No you don't!" Wally stops right in front of me and takes a ragged breath.
"for the past five months I've watch you come to the mountain with black eyes, bruised ribs, busted lips, and worse; not because of the joker or any of those guys but because of some high school punk! And what hurts the most is that you could have stopped him but you didn't!" he screams and I suddenly feel the anger flow out of me as I listen to Wally confess.
"Wally calm down." I say softly and place a hand on his chest.
"No! Don't tell me to calm down Richard!"
Oh no. I watch him breathe heavily as he paces. His figure vibrates with anger and every time he says my name he says Richard.
"Wally?" I stop his pacing and take a shaking hand in both of mine.
"I wanted to protect you Richard" he whimpers softly as he finally lets tears slide down his freckled cheeks.
"Wally I just wanted to be able to leave the Robin life behind for a few hours. And if being bullied was the only way I could do that I was going to take it…but not anymore. I promise. Just please don't cry." I find myself lifting my hands and pulling the sleeves over my fingers before brushing away the tears with said covered finger.
"Swear to me you won't let that guy touch you ever again." He says and grabs my wrists tightly.
"I swear Wally. Now come on, it's my fourteenth birthday and I want to have some fun." I say as I try to pull my hands free. But Wally will have none of that. Instead of letting me pull away, he pulls me closer and…smashes his lips onto mine.
Only when I lean into him does Wally finally let go of my wrists. I find myself wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.
Only when we hear clapping and cheers do we pull away form each other. Wally's smiling widely and I'm looking over in shock to find my three brothers and the rest of the team responding to what just happened.
"I knew it!" Jason screams and points with a wide smirk.
"Dick has a boyfriend?" Tim asks with wide eyes.
"eww…and with Wally." Damian scrunches up his nose with a chuckle and tries to act serious about this but eventually smiles slightly.
"About time you two came around!" Artemis smirks and nods in approval.
"They are so weird." Wally whispers as he stares them and I nod in agreement. "Happy birthday." He turns back to me with a small smile and pulls out a foils wrapped box from his jacket pocket.
"You didn't have to do this Wally." I groan and attempt to push the box away but he only takes my hand and hands me the box.
"Please just open it?" he asks and smiles.
"awl!" Megan squeals happily and Artemis chuckles as I tear away the wrapping paper.
Inside I find a clear box with a red MP3 player inside.
"I loaded it with all your favorite songs already." Wally says with a proud smile.
"Wally I don't know what to say." I mumble softly and take the small rectangle out form the box.
"Just kiss him and get this over with." Damian groans as he walks back inside with Jason close behind.
"I wonder what Bruce is going to say. Do you want to play with me?" Tim looks up at Conner and smiles cutely at the larger boy.
Conner glances at us with a raised eyebrow and sighs after we all nod encouragingly.
"Sure." He mumbles and the six year old eagerly drags the much larger male into the Mansion.
"I'll go make sure Conner isn't killed or something." Artemis mumbles and follows them inside. After a few seconds the others nod and quickly follow.
"He has a point you know; what will Bruce say?" Wally mumbles and sits us down on the steps.
"Let me worry about that." I say and chuckle when he nods and leans down to catch my lips in his again.