Once Rory and Tim got their frustration out he had called Barbara, Stephanie, and Cassandra to come and keep her occupied while he got the surprise ready. The girls were currently in Rory's room crowded around her bed as they sat there and talked.

"So, why did Tim make you all drag me in and lock me in here?" Rory asked. 

"We promised that we wouldn't tell until it was time to, and you will know in about an hour and a half. Until then you are stuck with us, what should we do while we wait?" Barbara asked, leaning back in her chair as she ate a bag of gummy worms. 

"I want to know what exactly it was Jason did this morning that made Rory so petty," Steph asked with a laugh. 

Rory's face went a little red at her words. If she told what Jason had done, that would mean she would have to explain why she was upset, to begin with, and Rory was not ready for that conversation. 

"Yeah, what did he do that made you so mad this morning?" Cass asked, crossing her legs as while she was sat on Rory's bed. 

"Wait, is she blushing?" Steph grinned. 

Quickly, Rory grabbed a pillow and threw it at her face. "Shut up Steph," she warned, her face still red.

"Wait, did he walk in on you and Tim doing something?" she grinned, leaning on the edge of the bed with wide eyes full of excitement.

Rory scoffed. "I don't have to answer any of you." she crossed her arms and turned away looking at the wall behind her. 

"Oh my god! That's why you were so pissed and Tim was so flirty!" she laughed. "He walked in on you guys doing it didn't he!?" 

Rory's face flushed darker. Even when she and Roy still lived in the same house, he never pestered her about her relationships like these three were. But then again, Rory had never really had close friends that were also girls. She missed out on that teenage girl talk that most normal girls had growing up, but Rory was never a normal girl. Even when she had her rebellious phase, Rory wasn't normal. 

It was always Roy she talked to about everything, but after moving to the manor she had gained more people she could trust with her secrets; three of them were in the room with her. They had seen Rory at her lowest when she had that scare months ago and it had brought them closer together. 

"Tim and I were not doing it," she snapped, turning to look at them. "We were just kissing. A lot," she said slowly.

The three girls looked at her and laughed. "It wouldn't be the first time it's happened here, those boys have no idea what knocking means. When Dick and I were still dating, Jason and Damian had a habit of not knocking at all. We just waited until it was just us in the Manor, but even then." Barbara chuckled.

With the knowledge that the two of them dated, Rory could see the lingering effects of their relationship. Dick and Barbara were as close as two people could be, they had grown up together and it was obvious that they still cared for each other deeply.

For Tim and Steph, it wasn't weird for them at all. They were kids when they dated, Tim was still Robin and this was before Damian came around. But as they grew, it was clear that they were better off as friends and not lovers. It was something Rory was grateful for because that meant that she and Steph would never have that kind of bad blood and heaven knows that Rory had enough of that in her life.

The girls had spent the next almost two hours just talking and gossiping about different things when there was a knock on Rory's bedroom door. Rory watched as Steph got up and answered it, seeing that it was Tim on the other side of the door.

"Hey, everythi-"

"No one sees the wizard." and Steph slammed the door on his face with a laugh. 

"Steph! Don't slam the door on my boyfriend's face!" Rory called out with a laugh as she got up to open the door, hip bumping Steph to the side.

When Tim saw Rory, his face brightened and he pulled her close to him. "Hey, how's everything going Songbird?" he asked.

Rory gave him a shrug. "You know the usual, girl talk and all. I'm sure it's very boring stuff to you." she chuckled.

"She told us what happened this morning!" Cass called from inside the room. 

Rory turned and flipped her off. "Thank you, Cass!" 

Tim laughed and kissed her cheek. "Well, the first part of your surprise is finished, if you are ready for it." 

Rory gave him a nod. "Of course! Do I need to grab anything?" she asked. 

"Just your shoes is all." he smiled.

She gave him a nod and walked back into the room to grab her shoes, ignoring all the looks and giggled from her friends. Shutting the door behind her, Rory slipped her shoes on before taking Tim's hand in her own and gave him a smile. "Alright, let's go." 

Tim held her hand tightly as the two of them walked down the stairs and out the back doors. Rory looked around, what the hell was he planning and why was it outside? She watched as he led her down the path and into the hedge maze where there was a picnic waiting for them in the gazebo complete with a full lunch and even a speaker that played her favorite music.

Rory let out a gasp at the sight before turning to look at him, Tim looked a little worried but soon relaxed when he saw the smile spread on her face. "Tim, this is beautiful." she cupped his face and pulled him down for a kiss, smiling against his lips.

"I'm glad you like it, Alfred made most of it. The only thing he let me touch was the lemonade, but even then all he did was let me stir it." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. Rory smiled, Tim had gone through so much to plan this for her. "I know you are not allowed out of the Manor right now, so I decided that I could do something to cheer you up." 

"I love it, come on. Let's go eat this wonderful meal Alfred prepared." she smiled and took his hand again, dragging him to the table sitting down. There were sandwiches, cut fruit, lemonade, and something hidden in a small container set off to the side.

Tim sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her to keep her close. He enjoyed seeing her so happy over something so simple, it showed just how simple of a person she was. Tim didn't have to shower her with extravagant gifts, he could show up with a simple rose and she would love it. But that didn't mean he wouldn't spoil her though, he wanted to give her the best and the best was what she was going to get.

He watched as she took a bite of the sandwich and tried to hide her smile at how good it was. Rory had never tasted a sandwich so good, she knew that Alfred had no superpowers but she was convinced that he was trained under Gordon Ramsey or something because his cooking was godlike. 

The two of them sat there and talked about everything under the sun from Tim's friends Bart, Kon, Cassie, and Althea. He explained how they all wanted to officially meet Rory as Rory and not as Arrowette or Grey Arrow or even White Arrow. But they were all in Jump City at the Titans Tower and were not able to come and visit.

Rory had met most of them already, the only ones being Bart and Cassie as Kid Flash and Wonder Girl, and only met Kon in passing once while she and Oliver were passing through. Althea was a new addition to the team, as the protege of Zatanna making her homo magi like her. 

The sandwiches were gone, along with the fruit and most of the lemonade had been drunk. That was when Tim grabbed the extra container and opened it. Rory's eyes widened when she saw what was hidden away inside. Of course, Tim had chocolate covered strawberries he was a sappy romantic at heart.

Rory looked up at him with an amused expression. "And I assume you want to feed them to me?" she giggled.

Tim blushed and gave her a nod. "Yeah, maybe." 

Rory took the container and set it to the side before she pulled him into a kiss once again. Tim was such a sweet person, and he was sure of himself a lot but there were a few moments when he would be really shy or nervous and she thought it was the cutest thing ever. Breaking the kiss, she looked at him. "Don't ever change who you are Tim, you are perfect the way you are," she said softly.

Tim smiled at her words. "I could say the same thing about you, I love you the way you are." 

"You're such a sap, now about those strawberries?" she giggled. Tim rolled his eyes and grabbed one, holding it up to her lips waiting for her to bite down on it. Rory leaned over and took a bite, catching the juice that fell and licked her lips as she chewed it. "Those are good. You try one."

Rory grabbed one for him to eat, she was about to put it into his mouth when she quickly turned and bit it herself with a huge grin on her face. Tim scoffed and pulled her onto his lap, trying to take the container of strawberries from her. "That's not fair, they are not all yours Rory." he laughed.

Rory laughed and tried to get out of his hold, as she tried to keep the container out of his reach. "They are all mine Timothy! You'll have to go through me to get to them." 

Up in the Manor, Dick stood watching his younger brother fight Rory for the container of strawberries laughing when she threw one at his head. He didn't even notice when Jason and the others joined him there. 

"Nice to see her throw something at his head for once and not mine. I think I have a callous forming from all the things she has thrown at me." he chuckled, rubbing the spot she always hit. 

Dick laughed and looked at him. "It's nice seeing them be happy and normal for once, who knows how often that gets to happen around here." 

Damian huffed crossing his arms. "I don't see the point in throwing food, it's wasting all that work Alfred put in to make them." he watched as Tim failed to catch one or two before they rolled onto the floor.

"It's not that they are wasting them little D, it's that they are having fun and get the chance to be a semi-normal couple. They need moments like this if they want to stay together, relationships of any kind is a lot of work. If you don't nurture them then they will fizzle and there will be nothing left." Dick explained and looked between his two brothers. "As much as some of you hate it, it's why I try to at least be part of your lives. I don't want to be that family that hates each other because no one took the time to say a simple I love you." 

Damian looked up at Dick before looking out the window with a thoughtful expression. Dick was right, even though he would never say it out loud. His mother had never pushed to have that kind of relationship with him, deep down he knew that she cared for him and he cared for her as well but all they ever did was work on his training. When he came to live with his father, his whole life was turned around. All of a sudden he was surrounded by people that wanted to get to know him, even though he was not the easiest to get along with they still tried.

The three of them watched as Tim and Rory sat on the bench curled up and ate the remaining of the strawberries before cleaning up and bringing the stuff inside. 

Tim held Rory's hand the whole way, he never wanted to let her go. She was the best thing to ever happen to him and would do anything for her. Once they had dropped off the lunch stuff, they had walked to the home screening room with a bucket of popcorn and watched My Fair Lady along with a movie of Tim's choosing. 

Five hours later, it was getting time to get ready for dinner. Rory was about to get up to go wash when Tim grabbed her hand. "What's up Timmy?" she asked.

"I have one more thing planned, you are to go to your room and change into whatever the girls laid out for you and not come out until I come to get you," he explained. 

Rory raised a brow and took a deep breath. "Really? Again? Tim, how many things are you hiding up your sleeve?" she asked with a chuckle.

"You'll never know, now get your cute butt upstairs before I drag it there myself." he chuckled and kissed her cheek, ushering her out of her room. Rory rolled her eyes before she walked out and headed towards her room, pushing the door open where she saw the girls standing there waiting for her.

"Are we going to do this again?" she asked with a laugh. The three of them nodded with a laugh as Steph held up a dress. 

Seeing the look on Rory's face, they let out a laugh. "Don't worry, this dress is modest and it is not white this time." Steph unzipped the bag and Rory saw a dark royal blue, lace design. She liked this one right off the bat and took the dress from them and headed towards the bathroom before she slid it onto herself.

Once the dress was on, she called in Cass who helped her zip it up on the back. Looking in the mirror, Rory saw that it was a high-low knee-length dress with a sleeveless, O-neck design. Out of all the dresses she had worn, this one was her favorite. The two of them stepped out before she was attacked by Steph and Barbara who began to do her makeup and hair. 

They had decided that it was better to go with a more simple look, she was not going into public, and with this dress, a more simple hairstyle was better. Barbara was sat in front of her, doing a smokey-eye look as Steph stood behind her pulling the bangs and top half of her hair back into an inverted ponytail. 

Looking at the shoes, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was a pair of nice flats inside the box this time and not a pair of heels that made her want to cry. Rory slipped the shoes onto her feet and smiled, looking at the black diamond on her finger, remembering the day he gave it to her.

Rory assumed that she was wearing the daisy necklace he had also got her, but apparently, the girls had other ideas. She watched as Cass pulled out a velvet box that Rory knew held yet another necklace Tim had bought her. With a playful sigh, she took the box and opened it a smile crossing her face as she saw what was inside of it.

Inside was a golden necklace, the charm was a red rose with a gold stem to match the chain. There was a note tucked inside the box this time, and she pulled it out to see what it said.

To my Briar Rose,

Happy six months, I was meant to give this to you a month ago but with everything that happened, I didn't get the chance. The second I saw this, it reminded me of you and I had to get it. Once you are ready, meet me on the roof.

~Your Dragon Boy

Rory tried to hide her smile the best she could, noticing the others were trying to get a peek at what the note said what the necklace was. They were given explicit instructions to not open the box, and seeing the determined look on his face the girls made the decision to wait until Rory saw it for herself. 

Folding the note, she set it aside and slowly pulled the necklace out and gave it to Cass so she could put it on her. Once it was on, Rory touched the rose softly with a smile. Turning to the others they gave her a thumbs-up as Steph snapped another picture.

"Really, Steph? Again?" she laughed.

Stephanie gave her a grin. "Hey, I want pictures in case someone manages to almost blow you up again. I'm still pissed at Harley for ruining that dress with her antics. Besides, this is something to show the kids one day you know?" she teased.

Rory narrowed her eyes and flipped her off, before laughing as she turned to walk out the room and made her way towards the roof. Truth be told, Rory had never been to the roof of the Manor but it must be a regular occurrence in the Wayne Household because one of the doors on the top floor was labeled roof.

She opened the door and walked up the stairs, her heart beating so hard it wanted to jump out of her chest. It was needless to say that Rory was nervous and excited about whatever Tim had planned. What the hell could he get accomplished on the roof?

There was one more door and she pushed it open to see that there was a table with a candle-lit dinner there waiting for her. Tim stood by the table, and a huge smile spread on his face once he saw Rory. Quickly he walked over and offered her his arm, "You look beautiful." 

Rory blushed and kissed his cheek, "You look just as amazing yourself Timmy, don't knock yourself on it." 

"I see that you got my gift, do you like it?" he asked, as he led her towards the table.

She nodded quickly "I love it, Tim, the rose is beautiful." 

Tim stopped and took her waist, looking down at her. "I'm glad you love it." he leaned down and kissed her softly, his hands pulling her waist closer as she ran her fingers over the fabric of his top softly stroking his chest.

"I also see that you have brought me up here for a candle-lit dinner under the night sky." she smiled, "It's lovely." 

He led her to the table and pulled out her chair so she could sit. "Well, I had other plans but I decided that I would rather keep you safe here at the Manor. I can still treat you while we are here, there is no rule saying that I can't." 

Rory sat at the table and watched Tim lovingly as he lifted the tops of the plates to reveal her favorite food, beef stroganoff. He really was trying to make up for not being able to take her out, but she preferred this. To her, a simple dinner like this was more intimate than going somewhere fancy not that she didn't enjoy going out places. 

They sat on the roof as they talked to each other about many different things that they didn't get to talk about earlier at lunch. Rory laughed at every lame joke he made, and he showered her in constant compliments and praise the entire nights from how she looked to just telling her how much he loved her.

The moon had come up and was shining down on them once they had finished eating. Tim wiped his mouth and stood up, offering his hand to Rory. She gave him a confused look as she took his hand stood to meet his gaze as he led her over to an empty spot. He hit play on something and music began to fill the air. "May I have this dance?" 

Rory laughed softly and took his hand as he began to lead her around in a waltz. Bruce had galas and parties often and they danced together quite often, but it was different when it was just them. They weren't acting for cameras, and neither of them had to worry about someone trying something on Tim or Rory because they were famous. 

He held her close to his chest, as he looked into her eyes that shone with the moonlight. "I love you Aurora Queen, never forget that," he whispered.

"How could I when you are always here to remind me? I've never loved someone like I love you Tim, and honestly, it scares the hell out of me. I'm not perfect, I'm far from it and yet here you are constantly telling me that you do and that you'll never leave me." she said, looking up at him. They had stopped dancing now, but Tim still kept her close to himself.

"I will always be by your side to tell you that I love you, Rory. You're the love of my life, and I am thankful every day that you came back into my life so I got the chance to fall in love with you. I would never want anyone but you, you're it for me Briar Rose." he smiled.

Rory wiped away the stray tears as Tim leaned down to kiss them away. "I will never love anyone else the way I love you." With that, he pressed his lips to hers kissing Rory with all he had in him. His arms wrapped around her waist as her hands snaked up to cup his neck pulling him impossibly closer. 

Tim pulled away from the kiss first, with a smile on his lips. "We should clean up our mess Briar Rose," he muttered. Rory looked up at him, a small grin playing on her face.

"We should, but we could leave it for the others to clean up and we go back to my room and you help me get this dress off." she bit her lip, watching Tim's eyes shift down to her lips. His grip on her tightened as he took her chin, pulling her into a kiss once more.

"I like that idea much better." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have no words to describe how much I love these two, this is my favorite couple I have written so far behind Katelynn and Dick and I adore them so much. I'm loving all of these moments they are having, but alas the show must go on.

The next chapter is going to be exciting! We'll get more plot development! The length of this book is looking at maybe fifty chapters, possibly fifty-five depending on what happens. We have the whole thing with Slade to resolve and the case with Ivy and Harley to finish and some more character development left before we officially get to book two. 

But I dropped a hint to book two-ish in here. It's very small but someone might catch it. Anyway, I hope you all have a good day!

Until Next Time,