[42]

                                    

                                          
Bruce had never been the best at communicating his feelings. He knew that well enough to be told by anyone else.
The more he started to care for the other person, the less words he found in himself to talk to them and express how he felt. He could give interviews, conduct meetings and even give an earful as well as a fistful to the known criminals of Gotham as Batman. But when it came to his family, he found himself struggling to say what he really meant.
In many cases, it wasn't his fault. Despite Alfred's nurturing, he had still grown up without his parents and had instinctively learned to internalize a lot of his emotions. As a result, he never could fully communicate with the people he valued as the constant thought of saying something that would hurt them kept him from saying anything at all.
Ever since Calmia had come into his life, he was trying to work on improving it. She helped and understood him, encouraging him to open up more and trust her and his family fully. But sometimes he felt his inability to say what he meant fully caused misunderstandings that he didn't have time to address but would become troubles for him to deal with later.
The recent Tim situation was a clear depiction of said trouble.
He knew Tim was sensitive and he should have reached out to the boy himself and assure him that whatever nonsense the press was churning out didn't matter in the least to him. He should have talked to him and perhaps if he had done so, Tim would never have to leave Gotham and go to Richard to bring himself back to normal.
Instead, the extreme silence on his part after that article led Tim to believe that things had gotten strained between them. Even though in other cases, he always stood his ground and fought for his opinion being heard and accepted, when it came to Bruce, he simply caved in and ended up blaming himself for making things go wrong.
Perhaps he was still insecure about being the only one of them who Bruce hadn't initially wanted to be a part of their family. Tim had ended up choosing that lifestyle for himself instead of being picked by Bruce as in the case of Richard and Jason. Even after all those years, it made him think he had a long way to go to prove that he was worth taking in. So he went to great lengths to ensure that which oftentimes became harmful for his health and mental well being.
Now he was in Bludhaven while Bruce was pondering on the situation, knowing that he should talk to him but not finding any words to begin with.
All those thoughts were weighing him down ever since he found out that Tim had left for Bludhaven but he couldn't bring himself to address the situation.
That night as he returned from patrol, exhausted but having a million worrisome thoughts about his self sacrificial son in mind, he was surprised to find Calmia awake when he entered their bedroom.
"Hi," she smiled, seeing him and he paused at the doorway.
Seeing her made him realize that he hadn't been able to spend much time with her that week and he felt terrible about it.
"What happened? You haven't gone to sleep yet," he remarked as he stepped in, watching her rise slowly from the chair. 
She held his hand and he carefully supported her, leading her back to their bed. She must have woken up to go to the bathroom, he thought.
"I woke up because I was feeling hungry but didn't have the strength to go down to eat anything," she replied.
"You shouldn't go downstairs, especially when it's dark outside," he remarked gently, adjusting the pillows as his pale blue eyes checked that she was comfortable, "What do you want to eat? I can bring it up for you."
She smiled at the offer, "But you're tired too."
"It doesn't matter," it seemed as if all his exhaustion had vanished and he wanted only to look after her in that moment, making sure that she got what she needed.