He wouldn't admit it, but he was jealous. 

It wasn't a sharp, bitter kind of jealousy. Not the type that made him resentful. No, it was quieter, sitting deep in his chest like a weight he couldn’t shake off. 

He had been so excited when you came back to Gotham. He didn’t even try to hide it. The moment Bruce told him you were coming home, he was counting the days. He imagined what it would be like—getting to be your big brother again, catching up on all the lost years. Sure, you had changed, but that was okay. He would’ve taken anything if it meant having you back. 

Then Jason happened. 

It wasn't like Dick wanted to take anything away from him. He knew better than anyone what Jason had gone through—what he had gone through losing Jason. And it made sense that you two bonded so quickly. You both had lost time to make up for. But watching you lean toward Jason, seeing how naturally you fell into that sibling dynamic with him… it stung. 

Because it used to be him. 

He wasn’t blind. He noticed how you always sought Jason out, how your conversations with him felt easy in a way they weren’t with Dick. He noticed how your guarded expression softened when Jason was around. 

And yeah, maybe he was being selfish, but damn it, he missed you. 

He missed the way you used to talk his ear off about everything, how you'd run to him first whenever something happened. He missed being your safe place. Now? Now, it felt like he was standing just outside a closed door, knocking, but never getting an answer. 

So he watched. He made his usual jokes, ruffled your hair like old times, But he couldn’t shake the feeling that no matter what he did, he’d always be just a little too late. 

And that maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t your big brother anymore. 

"So," he finally said one night, watching as you leaned against Jason’s bike, laughing at something he said. His voice was light, but there was something careful behind it. "Is there a reason you’re choosing Red Hood over Nightwing?or it just a phase?"