Bruce blinked, startling out of his book as he felt a familiar presence standing above him as he was laid down comfortably on his couch. Duke was standing above him with a grin on his face, waving down at the man and pulling out his earphones.
“Whoa, sorry B-man, didn’t mean to startle you.” Duke chuckled, holding up a pastry and a cup of coffee as a peace offering.
Bruce chuckled softly and shut his book, getting up from his reclined position on the couch and patting the leather cushion beside him. Duke flopped down beside the man with a small "oomph" and handed over the pastry.
"I thought you were hanging out with your siblings? What are you doing back so early?" Bruce questioned, pulling out a chocolate eclair and raising an eyebrow at Duke.
"Hey, Dick told me they were your favs. If you don't like 'em, blame him and not me. It got a little too crowded at the cafe, so I decided to bounce." Duke shrugged, taking a sip of Bruce's coffee before scrunching his nose in disgust and setting it down. "Gross. I can never understand how you drink black coffee."
"I don't drink it for the taste, only its ability to keep me awake." Bruce chuckled, handing Duke a napkin to wipe his mouth with. "And eclairs? I don't mind. It's more of an inside joke between the two of us."
Duke nodded in understanding, leading the two to sit in silence for a while.
Duke hesitated for a second, turning over what he wanted to say in his head for a bit, before deciding to just spit it out. “You’re a good Dad Bruce. You try… really hard, and I think that’s the most important part of being a good Dad.”
Bruce blinked in confusion, his nose scrunching up as he stared at Duke. “But… I’m not your Dad?” Bruce said slowly as if Duke could somehow forget that little tidbit.
“Yes, I know- ugh” Duke groaned and put his head in his hands. “Fuck, they were right. This is hard…”
“Who was right? About what?”
“Bruce, you dense fool.” Duke shook his head, ignoring the offended expression on Bruce’s face. “You are… a very important parental figure to me. You’re not my Dad, you’re not my mom, but you are important.”
Bruce just chuckled and shook his head, taking another bite of the chocolate eclair. “Alright Sunshine. Whatever you say.”
Duke narrowed his eyes. "You're very important," Duke said again, carefully watching Bruce's facial and body expression. "I, and everyone in this house, care about you. I love you lots, Bruce." No matter what Duke said, Bruce just looked like a single word wasn't getting through to him. Just like the others had said.
"Why don't you believe us when we say we love you?" Duke huffed out in frustration, grabbing what little was left of Bruce's pastry and throwing it down on the coffee table, forcing the older man to actually look at him.
Bruce let out a sigh as he looked Duke in his eyes, searching for something and frowning as if he couldn't find it. "Are... are you having a prank contest with your brothers?" Bruce dug his nails into the palm of his hands as he frowned harder.
“Or maybe a competition to see who can pull a reaction out of me?” This was said as Bruce bit the inside of his cheek, chewing on his flesh and letting go just before he started bleeding.
If Duke had longer hair, he’d be pulling it out in frustration. “Bruce-“
“Oh… I understand.” Bruce breathed out quietly, a soft look in his eyes as he gently took Duke’s hand into his own. For a second, Duke naively believed that Bruce did understand. “Duke, I don’t know what may have happened, but no matter what, I’m happy to continue fostering you until you want to leave.”
“You don’t have to worry about me kicking you out or some other ridiculous notion. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want until you inevitably become sick of me.” Bruce smiled softly, gently patting Duke’s hand. “Jason did the same thing when he was younger, trying to use sweet words as a way to convince me not to ‘return him’. His words, not mine.” Bruce chuckled.
Duke simply just stared at Bruce, unable to come up with a single thing to say.
“I know-“ Bruce let out a harsh huff, his face twisting into the self-deprecating expression that Tim told him to watch out for, “I know that I’m the reason why you’re here in the first place. Why you can’t be with your parents. I know you must resent me for that, you have to hate me.”
“And I’m okay with that. I deserve to be hated for taking away your parents.”
“But no matter what, I’m going to love you and see you as one of my own. After all, you fit right in. Everyone in this family has a valid reason to despise me.” Bruce laughed, like it was funny, like somehow Duke was supposed to agree with the bullshit spouting out of his mouth. “It’s a bit cowardly of me to think you’d allow me to love you. Selfish…” Bruce whispered the last word, pulling his hands away and once again digging his nails into the palm of his hand.
And really who was Duke to judge? Wasn’t he even more of a coward by not being able to say a word against Bruce? To comfort this man who so generously decided to open his home, his life, and his love to a stranger?
Duke’s eyes focused on a singular red crimson drop slowly making its way down from Bruce’s clenched fist and splattering on the couch. Alfred would throw a fit later.
He wanted to surge forward, take Bruce’s hand, and stop him from hurting himself any further. But he was stuck. Frozen with the weight of the guilt Bruce has decided to put on his own back.
“You don’t have to bring me pastries and coffee, you don’t have to sit and talk with me, and I especially don’t want you to think that you have to lie and say you love me.” Bruce smiled stiffly, patting Duke once on the back with his other hand and pressing a kiss to his forehead before standing up from the couch.
“Alright Sunshine, I’ve got some work to do in the cave. I’ll see you later?” Bruce nodded, not waiting for an answer before leaving the living room.
Duke blinked and glanced over at the half-eaten eclair before snatching it and shoving the rest in his mouth. “Shit.” Duke cursed, crumbs flying everywhere. “Of course, he blames himself for my parents… I'm a fucking idiot.”
Duke groaned and scrubbed his eyes, willing away the familiar pressure of tears before whipping out his phone and texting the group chat that excluded both Alfred and Bruce.
Gotham’s Nightlight: Guys… I think I made it worse somehow…?
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