Tim kept confined to his room even after dinner, refusing to open the door until all of them just let him be. They knew he needed time to himself to figure things out and come go terms with what he had just discovered, however, they were also worried that he could do something to hurt himself.

He was unpredictable especially whenever he got troubled.

But Tim knew better than to cause the others any more trouble so he simply tried his best to push those words out of his head, struggling to focus on the work he had been doing earlier. But it was to no avail as his head throbbed and the unwanted memories of that time he had been taken captive by the League swirled in his head.

Frustrated, he shut down his laptop and stood up, hand running through his hair as he grabbed his jacket and bike keys. He creaked open the door a fraction and checking that the path was clear, he silently descended the stairs and went to the garage, taking his bike out.

He knew at least someone from the family would have noticed that he had left his room so before they could come and ask where he was going, he revved up the engine and sped off.

After miles of aimless wandering, he finally came to a halt in front of Dora's Coffee Haunt.

Whenever he felt lost, he always found his way back to Dora. But right then he was thinking whether or not to go to her. He did not want her to find out about Mona but he also knew that he never kept any secrets from her.

Just seeing her made him want to confess everything.

He was pacing underneath the balcony when her soft voice called out to him, "hey, come up. What are you waiting for?"

He looked up to see Dora standing behind the rails, features set in a breathtaking smile.

"Come up, Timmy," she repeated, holding her hand out towards him.

He took in a deep breath and nodded, climbing up to the balcony and took her hand as she pulled him over the rails. Her arms had wrapped around his neck as she hugged him, her comforting scent settling around him that worked a lot on soothing his frayed nerves.

He held her close, burying his head into her shoulder and closed his eyes. Dora noticed that something was off with him as he hadn't spoken a single word to her yet. But she didn't ask him outright, letting him ravel in the comfort he felt when he was with her.

"I love you, Dora," he mumbled softly.

Even if everything else was clashing in his life, that one sentence was what he was perfectly sure about. He loved Dora and nothing could change it and he felt the feeling get even stronger each time he confessed to her.

She was his beacon of light that he found his way back too each time he got thrown in rough waters. And right then he was extremely grateful for her comforting presence because if she wasn't around, he might have lost himself to eternal darkness.

"I love you too, bird boy," she replied, tilting her head slightly to kiss his cheek, "now you wanna stay out here in the cold or shall we go in?"

He pulled apart slightly but didn't let go of her hand as he nodded.

Dora led him inside then locked the grills of the balcony. Turning to face him, she asked, "have you had dinner?" He shook his head and she sighed, tugging him towards the stairs that led down to the kitchen, "I knew it. Come on."

"I'm not hungry," he resisted but gave in to the small pout that her lips had puckered into, her eyes daring him to refuse her.

"I had made pasta today, your favorite. And do you know, I haven't had dinner either," she lied because she knew he wouldn't eat if she told him she and Alex had eaten already, "I was hoping you'd drop by so that we could dine together."

He couldn't possibly refuse to that offer so he followed her down to the kitchen, his hand entwined through hers.

Dora took the pasta out from the fridge and placed it in the microwave, fetching a bowl and two forks which she handed over to Tim. When the pasta was heated, she brought it out as well and placed it on the dinette, making Tim sit down on the chair as well.

The food smelled delicious, Tim assessed, and his stomach grumbled as he hadn't eaten anything since afternoon. 

Dora laughed lightly, "see, you're hungry too."

"I'm not."

"Your grumbling stomach says otherwise," she remarked, filling up the bowl and fixed the fork in, "now don't be a stubborn little baby and just open up."

She had rolled up a fork filling it with pasta that she held close to his mouth.

His eyes softened and a smile broke out on his face at last as he leaned forward and let her place the fork in his mouth. It tasted delicious as well and he saw her smile widen upon seeing him enjoy the taste.

"So shall I do the honors now?" He filled up the other fork and watched her laugh again.

"Sure," she nodded, smile widening as he kissed her first then placed the fork of pasta in her mouth.

***

Dora opened her eyes as sunlight washed over the entire room, turning over to see Tim sound asleep beside her. The frown lines had faded from his forehead and he looked at peace which made her feel relieved as well.

She knew he had been very troubled about something last night but couldn't bring himself to tell her so she hadn't pressurized him.

Instead she had tried to take his mind off it by distracting him temporarily. She knew when he woke up, he would recall all that was troubling him again so she let him sleep, knowing very well how much he needed to rest at the moment.

She sat up and stretched looking down at his shirt that was slightly loose on her, a smile spreading on her face as she bent down and very lightly kissed his cheek.

He mumbled something incoherent, a soft smile creeping up on his pristine features but he didn't wake up just yet.

Her brown hair were in tangles that she worked on loosening first with her fingers then with the brush. The smile on her face hadn't yet faltered because after a long time, she had felt a heavy burden lift off her.

Last night, she had taken the decision she was so hesitant about earlier and finally allowed things to go back to how she and Tim used to be before the whole unexpected pregnancy situation. 

He had been surprised at first, slightly disbelieving even for he had asked her multiple times if she was truly okay with it or not. But Dora knew some day or other she would have to take the first step so she chose that time herself.

She placed the brush back in the drawer and stood up to go to the bathroom but felt Tim's arms wrap around her and he pulled her down on the bed again.

"Don't go," he mumbled, his voice heavy with sleep, "stay..."

"Good morning," she cooed, bending down to kiss his cheek again but he had turned his face so that he caught her lips with his own.

Blue eyes looked up in a coffee brown as he mumbled amid the kiss, "very very good morning."

She laughed, pulling apart but he still hadn't let go of her, "you do know I have to go and prepare breakfast before Alex wakes up, right? He came home late last night and I don't want to burden him with anything right now."

His lips puckered into a small frown, "Dora..."

"You can come too, I will let you make the batter today."

She knew the incentive was too high as Tim nodded and sat up at last, "great."

The two freshened up and descended the stairs to the kitchen, finding the whole building very silent because Alex hadn't yet woken up. He must have gotten very exhausted for him to still be sound asleep even though he was the kind of person to rise like a cheerful skylark on the first ray of sunlight.

"You know where everything is, right?" Dora asked as she took the bread out from the fridge, craning her head over to see Tim fetching the ingredients for the batter.

"Of course, I know it like the back of my hand."

While Dora prepared breakfast, she watched him whip up the batter without making even a single mistake, though he would occasionally taste some of it when she wasn't looking.

"Alright enough, you'll eat it all up," she took the bowl from his hands and pushed him towards the oven, "set it to preheat, will you?"

He did as told while Dora poured the sweet batter into the cupcake molds, setting them on the baking tray. Breakfast was laid out on the table so when Tim returned after setting the oven's temperature, she gestured him to sit down and eat.

"You coming?" He asked, standing by the chair.

"Of course, just give me a minute," she smiled, placing the tray in the oven and scooped up the remaining batter in a small bowl that she placed beside Tim's plate.

He looked up at her, blue eyes shining in delight, "is this for me?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

She interjected, "but you have to finish breakfast before you can eat this, okay? 

He readily agreed, "as you wish, Dora."

She sat down across from him and focused on eating her own share of breakfast though her mind was still deviating towards what could have been the reason to his troublesome state last night.

She knew she had to find out but chose not to ask him just yet because he was in a much better mood and she didn't want to ruin that. So she left it for later while she changed the topic of their conversation, telling him about Alex's latest visit to Chinatown.

***