Mio Amore Rosso

Coping and conforming

Damian's POV

Coping with trauma was never easy. It ate at the body physically and mentally. Wearing even the strongest person down to an empty shell. Nothing good ever came from holding things in, acting like you're fine, pretending things were and are okay.

That's what Tim was doing though, holding things in. Hiding from the pain.

He had already gone through a shit ton of trauma a decade ago and now that it was happening again, there was no way in hell I was letting him go through it alone.

We're brothers. Friends. At least I liked to think so. Either way, I loved him more than words could express. He'd been given to me all those years ago, I wasn't letting him go now.

I watched him pick at his food, pushing it from one side of the plate to the other. He had probably only taken maybe five bites in total. Which, considering how amazing this food was, confused me.

I on the other hand, had already finished my entire meal and Dick was on his second plate. Although that wasn't too surprising. He'd eat anything you put in front of him.

Surprisingly enough, it seemed Jason hadn't noticed Tim's appetite as he and Dick were deep in conversation. So I took the initiative and gently tapped Tims shoulder. "Hey, is everything okay? Do your meds make you lose your appetite?"

I kept my voice low, but tried to express how worried I was, hoping maybe he'd give me some type of answer. Any answer. Although I doubted it.

He just looked at me with a soft expression. His lip twitched up slightly into a grimace. "Um...no. It doesn't I just...I'm not very hungry I guess." He shrugged and set his fork down, looking down to avoid my questioning gaze.

Getting him to talk was never easy, even if he was in a really good mode. He was just a quite person. Not that I've ever really tried before, but now seemed like a good time to.

"Tim, if somethings wrong, we're here for you. Jason is here for you. If you don't wanna talk to us...talk to him. He cares for you so deeply and seeing you like this...I'm worried about you. I don't like it. Reminds me of...of before." I looked away for a moment, taking a deep breath to collect myself.

Suddenly, Tim's hand was on mine and my head jerked back to look at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was biting his bottom lip. He looked nervous to say the least.

Sighing softly, I shook my head. "Look, please just talk to someone. What you went through, it was bad. There's no denying that...but we're here Tim. We always have been. Don't hold it all in."

Tears formed in his eyes as he listened to me. I didn't mean to get him emotional. The last thing I wanted him to do was cry.

Though, I wasn't sure if it was because I really just didn't want him to, or the thought of having to deal with it seemed overwhelming.

This was all still new to me. Being able to talk with him like this. Getting this personal. Either way, I moved my hand to his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, what are you thinking?"

He sucked in a breath, holding it for a moment before letting it out. Dick used this phrase with us all the time. It was his way of getting us to talk without asking us to talk.

By asking what we were thinking, it allowed us to talk about whatever was on our mind, whether it was the issue at hand or something else.

"I'm worried that...Jason will think I'm weak...for letting Jack affect me. For letting him hurt me." I could tell he was trying hard to hold back tears. Pushing to hold himself together. My face fell, my hand squeezing his shoulder carfully.