Hey there! I love your stepdad au and I've been reading all of it like a maniac! I was just wondering if you ever wrote anything about when Dick finds out Damian is pregnant? Or like just a quick summary of how Dick finds out? I probably just missed it, but I'm curious!
Hi there! I’m very glad you like it. :) I do plan on eventually writing about how Dick finds out, but just in case I never get around to it, here’s a summary of what happens:
So, I’m not sure if you know, but Damian does end up traveling for a bit and when he eventually ends up in Spain, he finds out he’s pregnant. He decides to stay there. Fast forward four years, and in this time Jason has landed his ass there and the two have kind of started developing feelings for each other. Someone realizes who Damian is, knows he’s been away from Gotham for years and no one knows why, sees the kid and mysterious guy, and immediately takes a photo and sells it to the highest bidder. Back home Gotham’s society pages explode. Bruce sees it in a magazine or online or whatever, phones Damian and tells him it’s time for Dami to get his ass home.
Now Dick pretty much finds out the same way. He’s minding his own business, getting some groceries, when a tawdry headline catches his eye. Something stupid like “WAYNE HEIR BUSTED WITH LOVE CHILD IN SPAIN” and Dick sees the pic, kind of gets tunnel vision, feels like his whole world is about to explode. He knows the “mystery man” is Jason, and he just knows, deep in his gut, that Malik is his kid. By the time this happens, Damian’s been back in the country for a few hours, so Dick speeds to the manor, demands to speak with Bruce, but Damian shows up instead and a very awful conversation follows. Things are pretty tense for a while after that. :)
Kon laughs as he dangles the ball of red and glimmering gold above Ethan's head.
His baby son is absolutely transfixed. His blue eyes, which are always so intense, locked on the ornament. Tiny hands raise up, hoping to touch and hold, and Kon carefully lowers the ornament into the palm of his son's too small hand. But chubby fingers are stretched out and eager, and when one hand fails to take hold, Ethan grabs it instead between his tiny hands.
"It has to go on the tree, sweetheart." Kon murmurs when Ethan raises the bauble to his mouth so he can suck on it like all babies want to do.
The boy turns his head to look up at Kon and blinks at his dad, as if to ask why? It's eerie, how very intense Ethan can be sometimes. A baby only eight months old shouldn't look so incredibly aware of what is really going on around him, but then what else could one expect from Timothy Drake-Wayne's son?
Kon looks over at Tim and sighs, amused, when the expensive camera in his husband's hands makes a whirring sound as Tim snaps a series of photos.
"Think you got enough photos, Picasso?"
"Picasso specialized in painting and sculpting," Tim replies, smirking as he snaps one more photo before lowering the camera onto the couch, "And not photography."
"Whatever, man, it's all the same to me." Kon laughs.
"Heathen." Tim murmurs with a smile. He lowers himself to the floor and crawls forward, smile widening into a grin, when Ethan begins to notice his approach. His son stares at his movements, but makes no sound when Tim comes closer and closer.
Kon carefully takes the bauble from Ethan when his son expresses a renewed interest in shoving the thing into his mouth. When there's no kind of displeased whine or squeal, Kon's shoulders slump, his lips forming a thin line, and he quietly hangs the ornament's string of gold over one of the tree's branches.
"Hello, baby," Tim says, voice gentle, "Can you say daddy for me? How about dada?"
The baby remains silent, pouty mouth closed and lips unmoving. Ethan simply stares up at his dad, gaze curious.
Tim and Kon share a look. The obvious concern in Tim's stormy eyes make Kon's heart ache.
"All the books say he should be trying to say something by now," there's a heartbreaking kind of quiver in Tim's voice, "He's not even making any sounds, Conner. It's not normal."
Leaning over, Ethan trapped between them, Kon nuzzles Tim's cheek. "I know," he whispers against Tim's skin, "But we're not gonna worry about that now. It's our first Christmas with him, and we should appreciate that he's even here."
Tim nods, and when Kon pulls away there's a shimmering wetness in his husband's eyes that has tears springing to his own.
Making a sound low in his throat, Tim pulls their son towards him. He folds his arms around the baby, as if Ethan is seconds away from disappearing, and buries his nose in Ethan's baby-thin hair. Breathing in, he inhales the scent that is uniquely Ethan and takes comfort in it.
Their son is something of a miracle, Kon realized while Ethan was growing in Tim's belly. For years Ethan was but an impossible dream; something longed for in the back of their minds as life continued on without him, and now, even if there are problems, or if something is wrong with him, Kon will never forget how lucky they are to be this little boy's dads.
Jason bends down with an exaggerated groan as he scoops the three-year-old up into the safety of his arms. He finds himself wondering, heart stuttering painfully, when exactly Evette stopped being a baby while, with one hand, he helps the eager toddler carefully put the star on top of the decorated tree. Her breathing hiccups on excited giggles as the ornament slips onto the top branch, and as always, Jason feels himself fall more in love with this little princess.
Back when he'd been killed and resurrected, damaged goods no one wanted anymore, Jason doubted he had much room left in his heart for anyone, and now he can't stop loving his family more and more every day.
When the star is up - a little crooked, but he'll fix it when Evette is asleep in her warm bed - Jason spins her around. Her giggles becoming louder, and soon morph into excited squeals. He grins, breathless, when their spinning comes to a slow stop, and there Evette lies, bones heavy and elated, in his arms. She's grinning too, aquamarine eyes glimmering they're so damn happy.
Looking into her eyes, they're so adoring and so trusting, Jason promises himself he'll only ever make her happy.
A loud squeal followed energized laughing breaks the spell. Jason tears his gaze away from Evette, barely has time to move out of the way when his son, Javed or Darin, Jason can never tell, comes running by with his twin hot on his heels.
The boys chase each other around the living room, running in circles, the tinsel they're covered in turning them into figures of red and green. There's a very displeased, "hey!" from Malik when the two little hyperactive boys stumble over wrapping paper and red ribbons. He's sitting cross-legged on the floor with Damian, happily wrapping up presents for the extended family while having a conversation in Arabic that is simply too fast for Jason to catch more than a word or two.
The twins giggle through an apology, but seem intent on continuing their game. Or they would have, if Damian weren't so much faster than them. When one of the boys is scrambling up to get away, Damian is already reaching for him, grabbing the boy and pulling him into his lap. There's a renewed wave of giggles as Damian wraps his arms around the boy, and goes about peppering kisses all over his face. The boy soon begins squealing, resisting only because it makes the game more fun, but loving the attention being showered on him by his baba.
His twin doesn't simply stand there watching for long. Soon Damian has another boy spread over his lap, howling with happy laughter while in his arms.
Evette observes the playing for a minute, curious, before she too begins struggling in Jason's arms, eager to get in on the action. Jason reluctantly lowers her to the floor and watches, still grinning, as she waddles over and lunges herself at Damian and her two brothers.
"Oh, I see how it is!" Jason calls after her. "I'm not even my own princess's favorite!"
Jason's indignation isn't serious and they all know it. There are few things Jason loves more than watching how wonderful Damian is with their kids. He adores seeing the kindness and warmth only they can ever really bring out of his husband and mate.
"Don't worry, Jay," Malik laughs as he comes to stand beside Jason, having given up on wrapping presents while his younger siblings play with their baba, "You're still my favorite."
"I better be, kid." Jason replies, grin broadening so much his cheeks actually begin to ache. He pulls the teen into an embrace and loves how easily Malik melts into his arms, like he'll never get tired of hugging Jason.
Damian looks up at him with a smile settled on his gorgeous face. His husband looks so at peace, here in their home with their family. Jason will never really know how they managed to get here, but he's so grateful that they have.
It was once upon a time that Tim would have gone to Dick to be comforted; for advice. To be held and reassured and, most importantly, loved. Times have changed, though, and Tim isn't a little kid anymore, idolizing his eldest brother and eager for the man's warm affection.
Oh, he loves Dick and knows Dick loves him too. They would bleed - die - for each other without a moment's hesitation. They're family, and nothing will ever change that. But when Dick made Damian the center of his world, his new little brother, his Robin, Tim turned away and found sanctuary somewhere else.
Tim realized he had another brother he could depend on. A brother who wanted to be counted on, even if his sometimes brisk attitude, the harsh syllables of replacement dancing on his tongue, made it seem otherwise.
"So what's up, kid?" Jason asks, bringing Tim back to the present.
He glances up at Tim as he dumps the two packets of sugar in his cup. He stirs the warm, brown liquid with a spoon before bringing the cup up to rest against his lips. Taking a sip, not bothered by the scalding nature of the liquid, Jason makes a face and grabs another packet of sugar before dumping that, too, into the contents of his cup. "Never enough sugar in these damn things." He murmurs. It brings an amused smile to Tim's face.
The coffee shop is a small one. Cozy; never too busy. Kon brought him here once, which is surprising since Gotham is Tim's territory and if anyone should know about obscure coffee shops tucked away at the end of a quiet street then it should be Tim.
Thinking about Kon sends a gentle stab of pain through an already bruised heart. He hears the echoes of their last conversation in his mind. It was a fight, actually. A bad one.
Kon's words were brutal and designed to hurt him. Tim hears his own response - it's malicious, as venomous as possible. It's intent was to destroy Kon and not just maim him.
Tim discretely wipes at his eyes. He loathes the way they burn; he hates how close he's been to crying - bawling, really - since Kon flew off that night. He hasn't seen Kon in weeks. They haven't spoken in that time either, a first since they became genuinely good friends. Kon hasn't answered his calls; even the many texts Tim has sent have gone ignored.
A desperate call to Cassie reassured Tim that Superboy hadn't picked a fight he couldn't win; that he wasn't injured, or worse, dead. (To this day Tim still shudders, cold, haunted, terrified of Kon being taken away from him again.) He simply needed space, she said. Her voice was gentle. Tim still hates how gentle it was.
Space. From the person he once shared everything with.
Jason's always been perceptive, it comes with the territory. He doesn't make a big deal about the obvious tears Tim is holding back, or desperately trying to without much success. He leans forward, hides Tim from the other patrons, the lone waitress giving them curious looks. "Okay, kid, what happened?"
"I think Kon's going to break up with me." Tim breathes a laugh, and it feels more like a dry sob. "We might have already broken up and he just hasn't bothered to tell me."
Blue eyes drowning in green narrow. "What happened, Timbo?" He asks again. Patient, kind, so unlike the angry young man everyone else believed him to be.
"We had a stupid argument." Tim replies. His voice trembles, his lips quiver, and those damned tears slip, uninvited, down pale cheeks. "He said some stuff," Tim adds, wiping at his cheeks, "And you know our family - we always have to have the last word."
"So you said some stuff back."
It's not a question. No one knows the flaws and quirks of their twisted family better than another member of said family.
Tim nods. "I said he was wasting his time trying to impress Clark," Tim hangs his head, ashamed, "That he would never live up to him."
"Harsh."
"I was so angry at him, and all I wanted was to hurt him." Tim breathes out, shakily, heavily, feels like his entire soul has been exhaled with that breath. "I didn't mean it. I don't think he isn't good enough. He's more than good enough, Jay. I'm lucky to have him. I'm so lucky to know him."
"Have you told him that?"
"He won't let me." Tim buries his face in his hands. A few more tears escape and Tim squeezes his eyes shut, and wishes they would stop. His emotions exhaust him.
"Never known you to be the type to need permission to do something." Jason replies carefully.
Tim looks up, sees Jason flash him a teasing grin. But Tim only sighs, knows it really isn't that simple. You can't force someone who can literally fly away to talk when they don't want to, and it's obvious Kon doesn't want to.
Maybe Kon really does want to end things. Maybe Kon has wanted to for some time and this is the excuse he's needed.
Tim feels his heart clench, like someone's pushed their hand through his chest, skin, sinew, bone, to squeeze all the blood pumping out of his heart. Mentally shaking his head, Tim backs away from those thoughts. If Kon wanted to end their relationship then he would say so. He wouldn't put them through this emotional turmoil if he didn't want things to work between them.
"Look," Jason pokes Tim's nose with his finger, getting a halfhearted smile from Tim, "I can count on one hand the positive romantic relationships I've had and still have fingers left, so from where I'm sitting, you two kind of have something special going here, something worth more than," Jason waves his hand, "this."
"Never knew you were a romantic, Jay." Tim says, grinning despite his puffy eyes.
Jason snorts, sits back in his chair. "Yeah, well, don't go spreading it around or anything."
His big brother is right, Tim thinks as he watches Jason drink his coffee. They do deserve more than what they're currently doing. He'll fix it. Kon means too much to him, and Tim knows he means too much to Kon for them to end things this way.
"What you said about your relationships," Tim begins as Jason looks up, "You'll find someone one day. Someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved."
Blinking, Jason snorts, looks a little embarrassed, makes Tim's grin broaden because who knew Jason could still be so shy? "It's not like I'm looking, babybird."
"Still." Tim says, pauses for a few seconds before whispering a grateful, "And thanks, Jason."
Jason nods, grins again. "What are big brothers for?"
Hi ! I want to know Dami's age timeline in Stepdad!AU because Malik older than Ethan for 5 years and Tim have Ethan when he just 18 yrs. So, Dami will be around 12 yrs? or you changed Dami's age to made him older than 12 ? Thankkk P.s. I LOVE THIS AU ITS MADE ME CRY A LOT
Nono. Tim only has Ethan when he’s something like 29. He and Kon struggle to get pregnant for a long time. :) The two timkon drabbles happen waaaaay before the dickdami stuff happens.
Damian is 18 when he and Dick first sleep together, and he’s 19 when he finds out he’s pregnant/gives birth to Malik. He’s 23 when he goes back to Gotham. Damian is about 26 when he has the twins. :) I hope that helped?
The elevator doors open and what awaits him immediately has Bruce sighing heavily. The evening has already been a painful one, with Lucius Fox somehow convincing Bruce it would be a good idea for him to have a long and awkward dinner with the Taiwanese trade delegation. This, of course, meant missing out on patrol, and leaving it in the hands of his two youngest sons.
"What the hell is your problem!?"
Tim's voice echoes through the cave, sounding a little too hysterical for Bruce's liking.
"You are my problem, Drake! You attacked me!"
"I stopped you from beating a man to death."
"I wasn't going to kill him."
The two of them are still in their Robin and Red Robin gear; Tim's cowl and Damian's domino mask still in place.
"What happened?" Bruce asks with a sigh. He should have gone straight to bed, Bruce thinks as his headache continues throbbing merrily behind tired eyes.
His sons are old enough now that petty jealousies and misunderstandings are no longer really a factor in their relationship, that whatever has them arguing is something they should be able to work through on their own. If something happened on patrol, well Bruce wouldn't be a very good Batman if he didn't demand to know.
"Damian broke Two Face's jaw. He would have done more if I hadn't stopped him." Tim explains, crossing his arms over his chest. Damian growls something about Dent deserving it, which has Tim's mouth twisting downward with displeasure. "He's been using excessive force on everyone, Bruce."
"Tt." Damian finally pulls his mask off, clenches his hand around it.
There is no attempt from Damian to defend himself or his actions. Instead the teen continues staring at the mask in his hand, blue eyes dark and stormy. His shoulders are pulled back tight, tense, from the rage stinging underneath his skin.
Bruce hasn't seen Damian quite so angry in years - not since Damian was a child constantly on the bitter edge, wondering where or even if he belonged in this new family of his. Bruce knows he needs to step in quickly and do something before Damian snaps and years of progress become undone in seconds.
"Damian, Follow me."
"Father!" Damian cries, finally looking at Bruce. A terrible pain is bleeding into his eyes, taking Bruce by surprise.
"Now." Bruce snaps, feels guilt churn deep in his belly, and makes his way back to the elevator.
The walk to Bruce's study is quiet, uncomfortable. The journey there feels longer than it actually is and when the door finally comes into view, Bruce has to swallow a sigh.
Damian wastes no time, quietly takes a seat in one of the chairs opposite the desk. He waits - obviously apprehensive but patient - while Bruce goes about pulling his jacket off, loosening a tie that has been strangling him since he put it on.
Throwing his jacket over the back of his chair, Bruce walks around his desk to lean up against it.
"You have been off for weeks now." He says, wasting no more time.
"I have not." Damian has gone back to scowling.
"Damian, you're acting like a wounded animal." Bruce keeps his voice low, hopes it will keep Damian calm enough to actually talk to him. "Tell me what happened so I can help you."
"When have you ever been interested in helping me?" The teen hisses, lashing out despite Bruce's attempts.
The words cut so much deeper than Bruce would have liked. No one knows better than Bruce that he has not always been the best father, to any of them, but he has long been under the impression that he and Damian were in a good place.
"Damian, you know I would--,"
"I know." Damian sighs. He looks ashamed, shakes his head and lowers his gaze. "Forgive me, father, that was unfair of me."
"Is this because of Dick getting married?"
The scowl comes back within seconds, but Damian still can't look at Bruce. "Of course not."
"Damian, I know..." Bruce swallows hard. He finds himself wondering if maybe he should have had a drink before attempting such a painful conversation with Damian. "I know your feelings for Dick aren't platonic."
How could he not know? In the years since he arrived, Damian has always been the most fond of Dick. That fondness has only grown since then. When Bruce came to the conclusion that his son's feelings were no longer what they once were, Bruce wasn't as surprised as he supposed he should have been.
It is awkward, of course, knowing his youngest has romantic feelings for the man who should only be a brother to him. Bruce had hoped with enough time that Damian would move on from his crush. Of course Damian would instead go a different direction; of course he would instead stubbornly cling to his romantic feelings, even if it could end up hurting him more.
"Crushes are normal, Damian." Bruce continues. He hopes he doesn't sound as awkward as he feels, knows that he does sound ridiculous. Heart-to-heart conversations have never really been his forte. "And I'm sure Dick would never intentionally lead you on."
"Stop." Damian whispers, voice strained.
"Damian, you aren't like other teenage boys." Bruce continues on, knows Damian needs to hear it. "You feel everything with such intensity, but if you give yourself enough time you will move on."
"Stop, damn it!" Damian snaps finally. He glances up, and the pain flashing in his eyes again is so bad that it takes Bruce's breath away. "Do you really want to know, father? Do you really want to know how your precious Grayson fucked me over both literally and figuratively?"
There have been too many times in Bruce's life where the ground has seemingly disappeared from underneath his feet, and he's falling with no idea how to react. His ears are ringing, vision swimming a little as his mind takes a moment to process the new revelation.
"What?" Bruce breathes after a few seconds of agonizing silence. Bruce winces at how shaky his voice is, and wonders why, in all the outcomes he expected, that something like this was never one he expected.
Damian squeezes his eyes shut, shakes his head. His mouth opens, closes before opening again. And then it all comes out. There are no sordid details, but Bruce knows enough. His own mind is more than able to fill in the gaps; to paint a picture of clandestine meetings and feelings too strong to be buried away forever.
Bruce wonders, mind still spinning violently, how he never saw quite how deep this went. How did he not know that they were walking down a dangerous road, hand in hand?
When Damian is done, his head lowers again, heavy with shame. His arms cross over his chest, and in that moment he looks so damn small. Like the small boy who was once worried that no one would accept him. Damian is in pain, so much pain, that Bruce swears he can feel it in his own heart, ripping it to shreds.
"Grayson is determined to go through with the wedding." Damian whispers. "And I can't... I can't watch him do it."
"You don't have to, Damian." Bruce pushes himself away from the desk to kneel before his son. His movements are careful, hesitant, but he dares and is relieved when Damian doesn't pull away when Bruce's hand circles around his wrist. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."
"What do you mean?"
What does he mean? Bruce knows there is no escaping the wedding. Despite Dick's protests, the whole manor is slowly being turned into a place fit for fairytale weddings. As long as Damian remains here, he will always be reminded that the man he loves is marrying someone else. Even when everything is over, the reminder of it all will haunt the halls of Damian's home every time he walks through them.
"You don't have to be here, Damian." Bruce says, and he knows there is really only one way. "You're so young, Damian. You should be able to live your life. God knows I never gave you the chance when you were a child."
"But Robin--,"
"You can't be Robin forever, Damian."
"Being Robin saved my life."
Bruce nods. "It also took your life." And even now, years later, the thought of it tears holes into Bruce.
"Are you telling me to leave?"
"No." Bruce quickly shakes his head. "I'm saying you can if you want to. It's an option you have, if you want it. You can travel, you can do anything you want." Bruce squeezes his son's wrist, and tries not to show his surprise when Damian's free one folds over his own. "Just get away from everything, from Dick, until you've worked through your feelings."
"What if I never do? What if this never stops hurting, father?"
"It will." Bruce reassures. "You just need to give yourself time, and space."
Damian sighs, and his shoulders finally sag under the weight of his sadness. "Can I think about it?"
"Of course."
They're both taken a little by surprise when Damian throws himself at his father, arms wrapping around Bruce's neck, holding him tight, like Bruce is the lifeline he never knew he needed.
Bruce holds his son close. He wishes he'd known about this sooner, and above all else, wishes that he could have saved Damian from this terrible pain.
Oh boy, anon, can I. You’ve opened a can of worms now.
Alright, so, anyone who follows stepdad!AU (you, me, we, us) should know who Malik is, and I think people are starting realize who Ethan is? Anyway, Malik is about five years old when Ethan is born, and so Ethan grows up in awe of Malik. The twins are two years younger than Ethan (seven years younger than Malik) and Ethan really becomes their friend, so Ethan spends a lot of time at their home, being babysat by Malik.
As a kid he basically hero worships Malik, who is just so cool (the twins disagree, but anyway) but about thirteen/fourteen, Ethan’s crush on Malik develops. Now as I mentioned in the introductory ask, Ethan is very quiet and reserved (until you let him sing) so Ethan spends a lot of time just liking Malik from the sidelines.
Now Malik, bless him, is kind of unaware of Ethan for such a long time. Of course he knows Ethan exists (Ethan is technically his cousin and they do spend a lot of time together when the family gets together) and the thinks the boy is so sweet and always feels sorry for him when the twins drag Ethan into their messes (which happens a lot) but Ethan isn’t on his radar. They’re also so different, because unlike Ethan, Malik quite enjoys being in the spotlight, so he ends up making friends with people who like that, too (other celebrities, in other words). And Malik has a lot of boyfriends, most of them just aren’t serious at all and don’t last longer than a month which is oh so deliciously scandalous. As a result, Malik is so often on the cover of some sort of gossip magazine, headlines wondering how long this new romantic entanglement will last. The paparazzi become so obsessed with him that they’ll follow him when he’s on dates, and yeah Malik actually makes a bit of a show out of it. He doesn’t feel enough for his romantic partner to worry about protecting their relationship, and they usually get a career or status boost by dating a Wayne so it’s not like they give a fuck about being private.
Ethan is so on the opposite of the spectrum, the less people know about him, the better. The fact that he’s in a band is actually kind of funny, but during this time Ethan is very :/ about Malik’s love life, so he writes a lot of songs about it, which actually end up being quite popular among their fans. Anyway, after Ethan graduates high school, he has no real idea what he wants to do. He loves the band, but he isn’t sure if he actually wants to try and make a career out of it. Plus Ethan really doesn’t like Gotham very much; he hates how the city feels, how it makes him feel. So because Ethan spends many summers in Smallville, he decides to go live with Ma Kent for a year and help her out. The farm is struggling and she can really use his help. The twins are, of course, really upset that Ethan is leaving. They are really attached to him.
Anyway, fast forward a year and Ethan comes back to Gotham. It’s cliché, but when Malik sees Ethan again, a switch inside his brain is flipped and he’s kind of oh my god Ethan is hot when did this happen? Now Malik is extremely influenced by what happened between his parents, and he does not want to follow in their footsteps and hurt Ethan because he isn’t sure if this is just a physical thing (also Ethan isn’t like him - can’t just fuck and get it over with and move on). But he finds himself constantly thinking about Ethan, and when Ethan ends up rejoining the band (to many people’s delight) Malik goes to their shows as often as he can, and they end up spending a lot of time together. Damian is extremely unhappy about this, because even now he’s scarred by Dick and kind of projects what happened to him onto Malik and Ethan, and Damian doesn’t want Malik to be like Dick or to hurt Ethan in any way. This is kind of the only time Damian and Malik don’t get along very well.
But Malik understands Damian has a point, so when they do kind of start becoming a couple, Malik is the one to decide they shouldn’t be physically intimate for a while, just to make sure this is as much an emotional thing as it is a physical thing. And it definitely is. So when enough time has passed, and they have sex, Malik kind of screws things up by trying to force Ethan into his world (the glitz and glamor) and a lot of people they hang out with happen to be Malik’s exes, which makes Ethan super uncomfortable. The funny thing is that Ethan’s not really the jealous one, Malik is. So they have a really bad argument (that’s been brewing for weeks now) when Malik finds one of his friends draped over a very freaked out Ethan (the friend tells Malik that he never minded sharing before, so why does he mind now?) and Ethan decides he can’t do this anymore, he can’t try to be something he’s not or fit in a world that makes him feel uncomfortable and like he doesn’t belong, so he actually ends up breaking up with Malik.
While they’re both heartbroken, it really is Malik that takes it the hardest. He’s devastated, and will have to be the one to try to fix things because Ethan retreats so far back into himself again that he won’t even consider trying to be the one to rekindle something between them. And I’m going to stop here because this turned into absolute word vomit, I’m so sorry anon!
