The first time Wally has a crush on a girl, he's in the first grade.

Her name is Myah and she's an angel; dark brown hair, eyes to match and always, always wearing the coolest socks.

And Wally-

Wally's confused.

When he looks at her there's an ache in his belly that doesn't quite feel right even though it's not hurting. He's not sure what to do when she smiles at him or laughs, usually making fun of his vibrant red hair.

He's not sure what to do about this feeling, butterflies, people tell him, so he does the first thing thing that comes to mind when her two nearly identical, chestnut-colored pigtails come into his sight.

He pulls.

The first time Wally has a crush on a boy he's ten.

He's ten years old and the boy sitting on the bench at the park down the street from his Aunt Iris's place looks lonely.

Okay, not lonely. Just-

Interesting.

When Wally finally gathers enough courage to approach him, the boy with honey blonde curls that bounce while he draws intensely, passionately into his sketchbook, he's nearly stunned into silence by the sight of his eyes.

His eyes. They're blue and they remind Wally so much of the ocean that, for a moment, he thinks he might drown in them.

Wally isn't sure what to do about the sudden ache in his heart, or the redness- the extra redness- in his face, so he sits.

He sits and he blushes and he tries his best not to stumble over his words and he-

He watches. He watches this boy as he talks, with a voice that Wally swears could be a song all on it's own. He watches this boy as he draws; pigeons, people, Wally.

Later, with bright eyes and a sad smile, he watches this boy as he walks away.

Wally is fourteen, a freshman in high school, when he finally says the word out loud to himself.

Bisexual.

It leaves a weird taste in his mouth and it's not something he's sure about saying to someone else. But it's a start.

Now, at sixteen, Wally watches Artemis. Or rather, watches Artemis and Zatanna. Artemis tries her best to be subtle, but he doesn't miss the longing glances and the barely audible, yet crushingly pathetic, sighs. She argues with him halfheartedly about pineapple not being an appropriate topping for pizza and she glances, every so often, towards the corner of the Cave's lounge where their raven-haired magician just happens to be.

He confronts her about it later, away from the prying eyes and ears of the team. She blushes and stutters and, even though there's almost no hope for feigning nonchalance at this point, she still tries, again, to pretend she isn't head over heels for Zatanna, for a girl.

Wally places his hands, carefully, with precision and determination, on his hips and gives her a pointed stare in an attempt to emulate his mother at her most stern mom-edness.

It-

It works.

Her face is weird, blotchy and almost as red as his own can be, and she looks like she might cry- no, she is crying- and her shoulders have turned slightly, as if she's one wrong move, one wrong breath, away from running away, maybe moving away. Wally can tell her mind is racing, a mile a minute, and he almost, almost falters, almost apologizes for crossing the line, for putting her on the spot like this but-

She sighs. There's a tightness in her posture that remains and the tears haven't really stopped but Wally can tell, Wally knows, he's won.

She doesn't make eye contact with him yet and chooses, instead, to stare at the ground.

"I'm bisexual."

When she finally looks up at him, there's something akin to anger in her eyes, a resolved hardness.

"I have a crush on Zatanna."

Her fists clench as if she's waiting for him to say, to show that he has a problem with it. Before she can say anything else, though, Wally blurts it out.

"Me too."

This is the moment she relaxes. The tension seems to ooze out of her body, her eyes brighten, and the corner of her mouth tilts upwards. It's only a split-second before she's fully grinning at him.

His smile matches hers and, even though he really, really wants to, he doesn't pull her in for the hug he's sure would get him a punch in the arm.

This is cool, he thinks.