Chapter 20: Same Page

The night they got back from their adventure in the Steel Mill with Harley Quinn, they'd barely said a word before crashing in bed. It was a long night and they were both exhausted, but Tim still found his sleep to be a little bit restless. His dreams were filled with red hair and soft lips, and when he woke in the morning he couldn't help but smile softly to himself as he touched his lips with the tips of his fingers.

Where were they going to go from here? Obviously they both liked each other and they were still friends…. How was he supposed to act around her? Any time he had been interested in someone, it was apparent from the start. They would go on a date and both of them were on the same page with the proper etiquette. This was a whole different animal. They'd been friends first, and he didn't know if he was overthinking how he was supposed to act around her.

Would he kiss her good morning and hold her hand everywhere? Or did she want to wait a bit longer until they both got more comfortable with everything? He supposed the only way he would figure that out would be to ask, though he was a little bit nervous and awkward about starting a conversation like that.

All of his previous dates had been awkward to say the least. Even with the forthrightness of what it was, he still felt uncomfortable trying to do or say anything, afraid he might upset the balance. Dick always called him a turtle when he became awkward and retreated back into himself.

After mulling over these things for several minutes, he figured he'd face it now rather than later, and swallowed down the nerves.

Kicking the blankets off himself, Tim shuffled out of bed. He took a quick glance at himself in the mirror, wincing at his bedhead and then trying to straighten it out. His chest had a few bruises from last night, but they didn't hurt much. He grabbed a shirt off the floor and pulled it over his head.

Alright, Tim. You have to talk to her sooner or later anyway…

Bracing himself, he exited his room, looking down the hall to see that her door was open. He peered inside, seeing that she wasn't there and figuring that she probably went down for breakfast. His feet were light as he made his way down, listening for the telltale sound of her voice as she chatted with Bruce or Alfred. Instead, he heard Barbara's voice in the mix, and he stopped in the doorway as the two of them laughed over eggs and toast.

"Hey Tim," Barbara greeted, causing Willow to turn.

"Oh, hey," she said softly, her cheeks turning a light pink.

"Morning. I didn't know you'd be here today Barb," he said, taking a seat across from them.

"Just thought I'd pop over. Talk to Willow about her adventure last night."

He pulled a piece of toast from the plate in the center, his stomach twisting. "Oh? And what is she telling you?"

"Oh, just how she kicked some bad guy ass and saved the day."

Willow laughed softly, shaking her head. "Not quite what I said but I'll take it."

The two girls laughed comfortably, oblivious to the nerves slithering in his stomach. Did Willow tell Barbara about their kiss last night? What did she say about it? He didn't want to bring it up in case they hadn't talked about it, but what if they had? Instead of saying anything, he just stayed silent, munching on his toast and looking between the two as they talked. But after a few minutes of being almost completely ignored, he cleared his throat.

"So what's the plan for today?"

Barbara put her fork down. "I was actually thinking of lunch and some girl time today. Celebrate a first successful mission."

"That sounds nice," Willow admitted. "If that's okay with you, Tim?"

"Course. Why wouldn't it be?" he asked, swallowing thickly. Looks like he'd have to wait to talk to her about last night.

"Dick said he was gonna swing by today," Barbara said, finishing her orange juice. "You guys could probably do something."

"Knowing him, he probably already has something planned…," Tim sighed, rolling his eyes.

Willow laughed, putting her fork down. It was quiet for a moment as he munched away on his eggs and toast. After a moment, Barbara wheeled away from the table.

"Meet me in the foyer when you're ready, Willow?" Barbara suggested.

"Sure. I'm just going to take a quick shower and I'll be down." She pushed herself out of the chair and Tim stood without thinking.

Both girl's eyes swiveled to him and he stood there for a moment, not sure what to say. Barbara flashed him a smirk, which just made him more flustered.

"When…when you get back we should do something tonight," Tim stammered.

"Sounds nice. It's a date," she said.

His stomach twisted and he felt his face and ears heat up. But she merely acknowledged him with a smile and moved around him to head back upstairs. When she was out of earshot, Barbara chuckled.

"Smooth, Timmy."

"What did she tell you about yesterday?" He rounded on her, looking over her face.

"I should probably get ready too. Alfred, can you get the car ready?" Barbara asked, ignoring his question, and only acknowledging him with a smirk.

Tim groaned as she wheeled herself out of the room, knowing that she wasn't going to budge. She had her own stubborn streak, especially when it came to teasing him and Dick. Now he would be left to think about what they were talking about. All day.

"Don't think too hard, master Timothy. You might strain yourself," Alfred said, making his way to the doorway.

"Very funny, Alfred!" Tim called after him.

The two girls were ready in less than twenty minutes, and Alfred drove them off, leaving him to watch and worry as they left the driveway.

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Tim nearly left his body as Dick's voice echoed behind him.

"Dammit, Dick. I almost clocked you," he muttered breathlessly, clutching his heart.

Dick laughed, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. "Good one, Timmy. So, tell me all about how you and Willow kicked Harley Quinn's ass."

Tim couldn't help but blush slightly at the thought of last night, and Dick's face split into a grin. Huffing, he motioned for his brother to follow him, wanting at least a little bit of privacy in case Alfred or Bruce were lurking around. They stopped in the living room and he sat down, taking a deep breath as he recalled the events of last night.

"She…she did a lot better than I would've thought," he started, leaning back. "I tried to keep her on the sidelines as much as possible."

He launched into greater detail, telling about how she helped him get the head start on Harley's henchmen until he was able to capture her. Then it was the fight with all the bots and having to split up in order to save everyone. He got a little quieter when it came to the part when the building burned to the ground, and Dick listened.

"But obviously she got out. I bet you felt relieved," Dick said, tilting his head.

"Yeah about that…." Tim coughed, squirming slightly. "I sorta kinda maybe kissed her."

Dick nearly sprang out of his seat, a large grin plastered on his face. "Holy shit! In front of everyone too? Damn I'm proud of you, Timmy."

He clapped him on the back and Tim had to smile a bit.

"I thought I screwed up but… she kissed me again. Aaaand we haven't talked about it since."

Dick's grin didn't waver and he merely chuckled, shaking his head. "You haven't really gotten the time to talk about it."

"Yeah but we would've and then Barb wanted to go out with her and… I feel like she's up to something. She gave me a look and you know how she is."

"I bet she wants to talk to Willow to get the details. You know, girl stuff."

Tim shrugged a little. "I guess….but what if Willow's trying to get help on how to let me down….what if the kiss was just a spur of the moment kinda thing and she really doesn't like me that way? What if she's telling Barb how shitty of a kisser I am or something….?"

Dick snorted, giving him a shove in the shoulder. "Dude, I know you're hopeless with girls, but come on! She definitely likes you. She kissed you! And if she likes you as much as you like her, I don't think she cares about your kissing skills, just the fact that you're doing it. Barb just wants to hear everything from the source. You'll have time to kiss and tell later."

Tim's cheeks flushed and he huffed. "I guess you're right."

"I usually am."

With a roll of his eyes, Tim leaned back and put his feet up on the coffee table. "So….what do I say to her when I talk to her? How are we supposed to act like…do we still act like friends or…?

"Of course you still act like friends. Dating doesn't mean you aren't friends. You just get the added bonuses that come with the territory," Dick said. "Don't change anything about what you've already done except…you know, hold her hand and kiss her and shit."

"Yeah I guess that makes sense. Thanks."

"Any time little bro. Now we have a couple hours before they're back. Whaddya say I destroy you in a game of Call of Duty?"

Tim chucked. "Alright, you're on. But don't cry when you lose."

And the next few hours they spent repeatedly destroying each other. Both of them were pretty evenly matched with each other, so they swapped turns winning. It eased his mind and took it off the nerve-wracking conversation he was anticipating later. Dick had a point, there was no reason for him to be afraid. However, he still couldn't shake the anxiety. Not to mention, he still had to talk to Bruce about it, because he just knew his mentor would have something to say about it.

It was around four when the girls finally returned, arms full of shopping bags, acting like they had always been best friends. Tim had to admit that he liked seeing Barb enjoying girl time with someone. She tended to keep to herself and spent a lot of time here instead of at her own place.

"Hey guys," Tim greeted, waving them over to the living room where they'd paused the game.

Willow pushed Barbara into the room and smiled slightly. "Hey. Have you guys been playing all day?"

"Maybe," Tim said sheepishly, while Dick leaned over to his girlfriend with kissy lips.

Barbara rolled her eyes but obliged him.

"What did you girls get today?" Dick asked, resting himself on the back of the couch.

"Just some clothes, stuff you wouldn't care about," Barbara snorted, folding her arms. "Thought it would be nice to get Willow some of her own stuff since she's been staying here without much variety."

"It was nice to have someone give me advice. Not really good with fashion," Willow laughed.

Tim's stomach twisted. "You'll have to show me. Give me a whole fashion show."

He was teasing, of course, but she shrugged and smiled. "Yeah sure. Tonight after dinner?"

He didn't really care much about clothes, but he wanted to spend time with her, and talk with her, and it seemed like a decent way. "Yeah, sure. Dick, Barb, are you staying for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah why not? I'll probably leave right after because I have work in the morning. Aren't you guys going back to school tomorrow too?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, forgot about that," Willow admitted, sighing.

Tim had been enjoying the free time to train Willow and just do his thing, so he was definitely not excited. At least graduation was just around the corner.

With the promise of dinner in an hour from Alfred, the four of them spent the time taking turns on Call of Duty. Willow was the surprise video game expert, claiming it was because of growing up with a brother. She gave him and Dick a run for their money.

Alfred was nice enough to bring them their assorted nuggets and pizza rolls when they were ready. Barbara and Dick left shortly after, and then Willow's "fashion show" began.

Tim had settled himself on her bed as she changed in her bathroom, growing slightly nervous of the conversation he wanted to have with her. But he only had a few minutes to think about it before she was coming out with her first outfit.

This one was simple, just some jean shorts with an AC/DC shirt half-tucked. It definitely seemed to fit her well.

"I know it's simple but I wanted some stuff to just wear to school," she said, spinning slightly.

"No I like it," he said sincerely, clapping softly.

She smiled and turned back around to model the next outfit. There were a total of five new outfits, most of them were grunge shirts and various jeans, but one of them was a cute and casual black dress that he was excited to see her wear somewhere. Maybe on their first date?

It was a little weird to him that they had already kissed and they hadn't gone on their first date yet. He wasn't sure where to go from there and how to get them to that place that Dick was talking about, between friends and more.

"Hey are you okay?"

Her voice jolted him out of his thoughts and he realized she had finished changing back into her pajamas.

"Yeah! Sorry I was just thinking," he admitted.

She plopped down on the bed next to him. "About what?"

Well, it was now or never.

"I guess just about last night and what our next steps are…. Like do you want to go out on a date, are we holding hands and kissing now….?"

His words were quick and run together, but he couldn't help it. This was new for him.

Willow looked down, her cheeks flushing a light pink. "Well I was actually talking to Barbara about it today…. That's why she wanted to go out."

"I had a feeling."

He waited anxiously for her to answer, but she stayed silent, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before turning to look at him. The two of them sat cross-legged across from each other, but the distance felt almost too far. Her chocolate eyes were glimmering.

"Now I actually expect you to take me to a five-star restaurant, with four courses. And afterwards you're going to bring me to the top of Wayne tower to watch the sun set and drink wine and eat cheese," she rambled, causing his nerves to flare.

She stopped to look at him, watching him for a moment, before bursting out with laughter. He stared at her, unsure of what to even say or how to react.

"I'm kidding, Tim. God, you look so afraid."

"Yeah because I've been nervous about this conversation all day!" He covered his face and groaned.

"Why?"

"Because I really like you. And I want to do this right, you know? I don't wanna screw up. I'm not really good at this sort of stuff," he sighed.

"Hey, hey…" She reached out to touch his arm. "I really like you too. Here, let's see…. You can hold my hand whenever you want. And when you think of something fun to do for a date, you know I'm there. And the kissing thing…."

He swallowed thickly, eyes widening slightly as she leaned forward. Her breath fanned his face and his eyes fluttered shut out of instinct as her lips pressed softly against his own. He couldn't calm the flips that his stomach was making inside of him.

She pulled away gently, whispering, "you can kiss me whenever you want. Does that cover everything?"

He grinned, letting out a relieved breath. "Yes. Yes it does."

A/N: Hi all it's been a little while! Sorry this chapter is mainly filler, I just wanted to get the two of them on the same page before we delve further into the story! I think we are about half-way to the end! The next few chapters will be setting up some stuff to lead into Arkham Knight events, which I will be adding some of my own things to as well so it won't just be copy and pasting the plot. I'm super excited for the next phase of this story, a lot of the fun things I have planned are coming next. A lot of action and angst and some fun spicy stuff ;) Thank you guys so much for your patience and support!