Tim was the first customer at Dora's Coffee Haunt the next day. When Alex came down for breakfast, he was surprised to see Tim standing outside, waving enthusiastically at him.

It was six in the morning, two hours before the crew arrived and three hours before shop timings started. But it was expected to see Tim outside the shop that early so Alex went to open the door and let him in.

"So finally you're back," Alex remarked, ruffling his head affectionately as he stepped in, "and the first place you decide to come in the morning as usual is our shop."

"Well, you make excellent coffee and I've been craving it since the past two weeks." Tim looked around the shop, "no one else is here yet?"

"It's six, Tim. Shop hours start at nine."

"Oh... And your crew?"

"They will come at eight," he remarked, "by the way, where's Dora?"

"Dora's at home," Tim replied, a smile playing upon his lips as he followed Al to the kitchen, "I'll bring her here after dropping Mona off at school."

"Alright."

Alex knew Tim probably hadn't had breakfast either so he put double the amount of bread in the toaster without even asking him about it. And just like that he put some coffee to brew as well.

"Al, no need to make that much toast. I'm not hungry, just coffee would have been great."

But the elder was having none of his excuses as he took the toast out, applied butter and placed the plate in front of him, "shut up and eat. At this rate you'll starve yourself to death and I don't want my sister to live a widow."

His blue eyes widened in alarm, "excuse me...? What did you just say?"

Alex laughed at his flabbergasted expression, it was always priceless to catch Tim off guard like that, "I was kidding, Tim. But on a serious note, you've really got to eat properly. Coffee isn't food, y'know."

Tim knew it was futile arguing with Alex on that topic so he took the buttered toast and sunk his teeth in, "thanks. It's delicious."

"Coffee's ready," he poured out the dark liquid in two mugs and handed one to Tim who gratefully accepted it.

"You Beaumonts truly brew the best coffee in the world," he complimented as he took a deep gulp, not caring that it burnt his throat since he had gotten accustomed to it.

"One of us Beaumonts is now a Drake," he corrected him.

"True that and I feel especially lucky to have her around," Tim laughed lightly, placing the empty cup down, "may I have some more?"

"Of course," Alex knew just one cup of coffee could never be enough for him so he poured him another cup. "How did your trip go?"

"Excellent," Tim's bright smile lit up his face as he spoke, "we came back last night but it had gotten late so Dora and I thought it wouldn't be okay to disturb you then since you must have been tired. So here I am now and I will bring Dora too soon."

"Yeah that's fine," he replied, sitting down for breakfast as well, "I am glad you two enjoyed. You really needed a vacation."

"Exactly," Tim nodded, "it was fun, really, staying away from the gloomy weather of Gotham as well as two weeks of not dealing with any criminals. But then all of you people are here so we couldn't possibly stay away for long."

"I see."

A short while had passed in silence until Tim spoke up again, "Alex, how's Tyler been these days?"

Alex wasn't expecting that question but replied nevertheless, "he's good, why do you ask?"

"Ah nothing. I just felt it has been real long since we last met. He has probably made new friends by now," Tim remarked as if he was joking but in fact he was hoping Al would tell him about what new friend Ty had made recently.

Unfortunately for him, Alex was always too busy in the kitchen to pay heed to what else was going on around him so Tim didn't get the confirmation he was looking for.

"Perhaps," he replied vaguely, "he has learnt a lot and is a great help in the kitchen. By now, he can handle half of the orders by himself."

"That's great," cerulean blue eyes flickered towards the clock once again, realizing that in his haste he had come too early and would now have to wait an hour and a half for the rest of the crew to arrive.

"Since you're here and are definitely getting bored, why don't you help me out until the rest of them show up?" Alex suggested and Tim looked back at him, readily agreeing since he was getting bored otherwise.

Time passed breezily and he didn't notice until he got a phone call from Dora asking him where he had been to which he had replied that he came to see her brother and handed Al the phone. A while later, the door knocked so Tim went out to check and finally the crew had arrived.

"Tim, hi!" All three of them cheerfully greeted him and the smile on his face widened seeing Tyler.

He was this close to solving the mystery now that Tyler had finally shown up.

Since there was still an hour left in the shop hours to start, Tim knew he had plenty of time for his subtle interrogation. So while the girls had gone to the kitchen to look after the baked items and help Alex out, he stayed in the shop area with Tyler and helped him set up the table.

"Hey, you don't have to," Tyler spoke up, "I am used to it."

"It's not a problem," Tim replied, "let me help."

With two of them, it didn't take long for all the tables and chairs to be set up like usual. A light conversation was maintained between them in which Tim had intentionally mentioned Damian quite a lot of times, all the while keeping Tyler under close observation.

Obviously, Tyler didn't know what Tim was up to so he didn't find it odd but he couldn't help but ask, "are you really that fond of Damian as it seems by you talking about him so much or am I mistaken?"

"Oh no, he's my favorite brother," Tim didn't hesitate to answer though deep down he knew if Jay ever heard him saying that Damian was his favorite instead of him, he would be starting a lot of drama right then and there.

"Okay... Great."

Tim had noticed that Tyler listened to everything closely and once or twice his heartbeat had gotten uneven when Tim mentioned how Damian almost got himself into perilous danger due to his own recklessness.

It was hard not to see that the boy cared and by then Tim was hundred percent sure that his assumption was right about the two.

"Wait, why are you looking at me as if you just figured out a clue?" Tyler spoke up, realizing that Tim seemed too focused on him and that could only mean he was intentionally observing his expressions throughout his chaotic retelling of the family dinners and the chaos Damian got himself into on a daily basis. 

He couldn't stop the triumphant smile that had taken over his face as he remarked, "care to tell me what's up between you two?"

"Who two? What do you mean?"

The smile widened, "stop denying it, Tyler. It's too late." Pausing for a dramatic effect in which he watched Tyler's fingers twitch out of nervousness, "how long have you and Damian been together?"

Ty knew the cat was out of the bag and Tim would never listen to any excuses because he had figured things out already, "well..."

"It's alright, I am not going to tell Dami I know," Tim resumed, an arm casually flinging over the younger boy's shoulders, "I understand he wouldn't want anyone else to figure it out and he can get scarily determined to keep stuff about himself strictly personal. That's why probably no one in the family except Mona knows."

Tyler had started to gradually overcome the nervousness since it didn't seem Tim would go and annoy Damian about it, "I think Duke knows too."

"Wait, what? Duke knows?"

Tyler smiled as well at the shocked look on Tim's face, "yeah. He found out at the wedding, all thanks to Mona."

"And he didn't tell me? The audacity..." But then Tim realized he was still in the shop so he stopped himself before Alex would come up and ask him if he was alright, "anyhow Ty, you don't have to worry about me because I am totally rooting for you guys. A bit surprised Damian could find someone other than Satan to share some love with but happy for you two nevertheless."

"And where are you off to now?"

"I have some brotherly bonding to look after with Duke now," he winked, "oh and it's time to drop Mona off at school and bring Dora here so gotta go."

A smile played upon Tyler's lips as he spoke up, "oh and Tim..."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Tim was about to dash out of the shop but paused and smiled back at Tyler, "oh come on... Keep in mind if the gremlin ever gets overwhelming with his scary stuff, I am just one call away. I will handle him for you."

And with that he had left because he knew Mona would be waiting for him and he had to drop her off at school before classes started.

***