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[So this...whatever they had going on, it's complicated. That's what Wally tells himself when their teammates give he and Robin weird looks, when Batman seems like he's glaring even though Wally can't tell the difference between a stare and a glare from old Bats, when his uncle's hand rests on his back and Wally thinks they just have to know.

But he's not ashamed. He's just- he doesn't know how to explain it yet. Parents first. Everyone else second.

They finally got the okay for Robin to spend the night at Wally's, which is a rare occurrence indeed. Unfortunately, Wally's parents aren't home so it's become very awkward. Usually they just hang out, do the same thing they always do with the occasional bout of discomfort but without parents? Well. Wally's not under the delusion that anything's going to happen -they haven't even kissed yet- but it's still- it's weird. It's like back in middle school when he went up to Sandy Hartford's room and he thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but apparently you have to clear that with the other person first.

It was. It's weird. Because now he's looking at Dick like he looked at Sandy, and his stomach is in knots like it was with Sandy, but it's different because it's more and that just makes it weirder.]

...Mom just went shopping, there's probably like...Cheetos or something downstairs.

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I'm just glad you're okay.

[ Dick leans lightly against Wally's shoulder. I'm here now. ]

Yeah.

[Wally threads their fingers together, and maybe he does it unconsciously because he's not looking at Robin when he does.]

...thanks. For coming over. I feel better knowing...y'know, you're not mad at me.

I was never mad, dude. I'm just not great at... you know.

[ He gestures vaguely with his free hand. ]

All this.

I know, it's not like you did anything to make me think that. It's just- [Wally sniffs and rubs his nose, leaning a little more heavily on Robin even if he can't look him in the eye when he admits this.] Y'know.

You're not the only one worried about letting people down.

Wally? Look, this is gonna sound, like, Nicholas Sparks level corny, but...

[ Dick squeezes Wally's hand, tilting his head and looking up at him. ]

I don't think you could ever let me down.

[Wally's quiet for a moment before he squeezes Robin's hand again.]

You're right.

That's Sparks-level corniness.

[ Dick nods, very serious. ]

It's okay if you need to gag. I would.

I'll probably throw up later. Right now I'm just gonna pretend it's not corny and say thank you. [Wally rests their intertwined hands atop his knee.] ...I'm okay. We're both okay.

But I am suspended.

[ That gets a wince out of him. Dick had guessed that might happen, it hadn't been pretty, but... ugh, the thought of being away from him on missions, on top of how bad Wally must feel... ]

Until?

In about a week, Canary's going to sit down with me again. [Which he's not looking forward to. If he's not completely honest with her, she won't give the green light to Batman to put him back on the active roster.] So. For a week, I guess.

You'd better call me. Like, all the time.

[ He's really past the point of caring if he sounds a little clingy. Better than than pretending everything's okay and feigning nonchalance until he snaps. And— and whatever. Wally's his boyfriend. He's allowed, isn't he? ]

Um, that's assuming I hang up the phone on you at all. I'm just gonna constantly have a phone line open, run up Mom and Dad's cell bill like you wouldn't believe.

Even when I'm sleeping or using the bathroom. Just to gross you out.

[ He wrinkles his nose, grinning. ] Y'know, I think you might be taking this relationship a little fast...

And especially when I'm microwaving pizza rolls. Especially then. The wait is excruciating and I'll need an anchor to sanity.

—oh! Dude, speaking of food, I almost forgot.

[ He pulls away from Wally just enough to grab his bag and get out the (very large) container of cookies. ]

Ta-daaaa.

Are these Al's?! [Wally grabs Robin and lays out one him before clutching the container to his chest.] Oh man, I'm so happy. [He immediately unscrews the top and takes one out to try before pretending to faint back onto the bed.] Oh my god. This is what happiness tastes like.

[ Dick does his best to keep his surprised little laugh quiet, so he doesn't wake Wally's parents. ]

They'll make anything better. I think he might actually have kitchen superpowers. No lie.

[ He hesitates a moment before he flops down on the bed next to Wally, wiggling into the gap between his arm and chest and pillowing his head on his shoulder. ]

[As proof of how much Wally likes this other kid, he shares the cookies with Robin. A couple of them. But he still manages to polish off the entire container mostly by himself as they lay together and talk about nothing, Wally's arm around Dick's shoulders, hand occasionally patting his side idly; he even shoves a knee underneath Dick's leg so they're kind of intertwined.

It's nice, to know he's not alone. And sure, it's nice to know that Robin will miss him while he's banned from the team too.

Wally leans over Dick to put the container on the ground next to his bed, and he's completely aware that doing so means he's nearly wrapped around Robin and his heart does a little flutter at that, though not as much as it would've a few months ago. The butterflies are still there, but they're starting to become more manageable, which is such a relief.

Wally settles back down on the pillow, turning onto his side so he can throw his other arm around Robin too. His brow scrunches.]

...you sure you're okay? I mean...you fell, dude.

[ Dick feels his stomach do a little swoop when Wally wraps his arms around him. He wonders if that'll ever stop making his heart beat faster. He kind of hopes it won't. Not entirely. But he settles in with Wally just the same, resting a hand lightly on his side. ]

I'm fine. [ He ducks his head. That's a lie, and he knows it. ]

—okay, I'm not. Not yet. But I think... it was more than just what happened to me that was bothering me, you know?

Yeah, I know. I'm asking about that too. [Wally closes his eyes and nudges Robin's forehead a little with his chin to try and get him to look up.] I'm gonna be okay. I promise. Hey- look at me, dude. [Wally waits until he does, then he shoves a hand through Robin's bangs to pull them out of his face, a little rough but gentle at the same time.] I'll be good. I'm better already.

[ Dick looks up at him, still feeling strangely exposed without a mask as a buffer — just a few inches of air between Wally and his emotions. It still feels strange and dangerous and a little raw, but— but he doesn't mind so much, if it's them. ]

I was worried that what happened had... messed things up with us, or something.

Dude, me too. [Wally pulls Dick a little closer, like he can just squeeze the fear out of them both if he tries hard enough.] I'm really, really glad I didn't wreck this.

We're okay. We're always gonna be okay.

[ He slides his hand around Wally's back, drumming fingertips lightly in time with his quick heartbeat. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum. ]

You're my best friend. Nothing's gonna change that. And I— I don't want to change the rest of it, either. The boyfriends part, I mean. [ That had sounded a lot smoother before he actually put it into words. ]

[FFFFFFFFFFFFFF he said it he said the b word]

R-right. [Wally is bright red can you see it? Of course you can you're like two inches away from him.

And then Wally looks down at Robin and he's all black hair and blue (Jesus they're really blue) eyes and serious expression, and he'd just passed into his fifteenth year recently and he's really filling out, shooting up like bamboo and Wally's seventeen so his growing is starting to slow and they're almost the same size, even if they're not nearly the same weight but that's changing because all Wally does is run while Dick throws himself around the training room and probably does pullups with his pinkies or something, and

just

Wally shoves his face against Dick's neck, squeezes him and he's just so glad and happy he met this person, he's so glad he blew himself up and met his (second-most favorite) hero and became best friends with him, and he's glad...one of them (he can't remember which) finally nutted up enough to ask the other on a date date, a real thing that wasn't just "heterosexual life partners" BS but an actual "so I was wondering if we should prove all the rumors true" sort of way.

And Wally can't help but wonder why Dick, Richard Grayson of all people would think he's cool and great and awesome when he's the clumsiest, slowest speedster of the lot and he's crap at so many things, and his own mentor didn't want him in the first place and he's never going to be popular in school, and from there he's just kind of kissing Rob's cheek and then his temple and his forehead and everywhere he can get, going,] Dude, dude I love you like, so so much, like a whole lot, dude.

[The 'love' word's always been there for him, always there for Robin and Wally doesn't have much of a problem saying it aloud. He's actually kind of amazed he hadn't done it until now.]

[ If Wally's red, Dick's just as much so. It takes him a moment, and another, and he's replaying Wally's words in his head while he recovers from it like a bird that just flew into a window, stock-still while Wally kisses his face. ]

Dude—

[ And then he's squirming, trying to give Wally an actual kiss kiss but it's hard to aim when Wally's covering as much ground as he can, like his lips are trying to run a marathon on his face or something. He manages, somehow, sliding his hand up to cup Wally's cheek and just hold him still for a second, two seconds, three, and he loses count.

When he finally pulls back, cheeks flushed, the most he can get out is: ] Dude, I wanted to say it.