“I still don’t know how to deal with everything,” Bruce mumbled, his voice lower than usual. You could hear the heaviness in his words, the struggle to keep it all inside. You had known Bruce long enough to understand when he was keeping something from you, but tonight, he seemed almost… vulnerable.

“You don’t have to figure it all out tonight, Bruce,” you said softly, sitting beside him. “No one expects you to have all the answers.”

Bruce looked at you then, his usual walls softened for a fleeting moment. His gaze was intense, the space between you charged with a silence neither of you had expected. He was so close, his warmth radiating toward you, but neither of you moved. There was something different in the air tonight. Something unspoken.

And then, as if instinctively, Bruce leaned closer. His lips brushed against yours in a soft, tentative kiss—quick, unsure, but undeniable. It was like the world around you paused for just a beat, and when he pulled back, neither of you spoke.

Bruce’s breath was steady, his face just inches from yours, his eyes searching yours as if trying to make sense of what had just happened. For a second, neither of you knew what to say or how to act.

Bruce ran a hand through his hair, still a little lost in the moment. “What does that mean? Us? I mean… we’ve been friends for so long, but that—”

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” you interrupted gently. “But it also doesn’t have to mean nothing.”

Bruce took a breath, his eyes meeting yours again. “I don’t know what I’m doing, but I—I don’t want to lose you.”

You smiled, a soft chuckle escaping your lips. “You won’t lose me, Bruce. No matter what.”

In that moment, it felt like the weight of the world lifted just a little. The line between friendship and something more had been blurred, but neither of you knew exactly where it would lead. All that mattered was that, in that quiet moment, you were together—and for the first time in a long while, Bruce Wayne didn’t feel so alone.