Well that sucked.

Wally arrived at his apartment in Palo Alto around one am, his usual lively emerald eyes tired and dull as he walked to his lone bedroom, dead in every aspect but the literal. The intervention by he, Nightwing, Green Arrow, Jim Harper, and Black Canary on Red Arrow had proven to be a total bust. In all honesty, Wally hadn't been expecting it to fully work, but he had at least hoped that RA would listen. Though he logically knew that it was no one's fault that Roy had decided to go down the path he was on, Wally couldn't help the guilt stirring in his gut at being unable to help. Even if this Roy wasn't the original, he was still his friend. Wally just wished he knew a way to get through to him somehow.

Upon entering his room and seeing his bed- his beautiful, sacred bed- he hardly took the time to kick off his shoes before ungracefully collapsing face first in it. His unarranged pillows and messy sheets cushioned his fall as the mattress springs creaked loudly under his weight. Wally paid no mind to it though, eyes already closed as he gratefully and unhesitantly accepted his welcome into the sweet world of oblivion.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

His fist slammed down onto his alarm clock with an intentional unnecessary amount of force. Groaning, the 21 year old opened a sleepy green eye, turning his head to groggily glance at the time. 5:30, it read. Wha...? Hadn't he just laid down like a minute ago? And anyway, why was his clock even set- oh. He looked at the date also displayed on his alarm clock, it was a Friday, which for Wally meant an early 7:00 Physics class at Stanford University. He moaned miserably, briefly contemplating the pros and cons of ditching his first class of the day. In the end, the cons out weighed the pros and Wally begrudgingly decided to get up. It took him twenty minutes to get ready instead of his usual ten, considering his quick (and involuntary) catnap in the shower that was supposed to wake him up. Wally even drank coffee (drowned in cream and sugar, of course) which was usually something he'd never do since in Dick's words, caffeine made him act like a "crazed squirrel hyped on a thousand types of energy drinks and drugs". It didn't do much for him today though, well aside from helping him feel a little less on the verge of passing out with each step.

Throwing on a coat to shield him from the cool late winter breeze, Wally made his way out the door, beginning the short trek to Stanford. He was just about there when he realized that he hadn't locked the door behind him and he had forgotten his bag and his laptop. With an exasperated sigh, and all the while questioning his intelligence, he turned around and made his way back to his apartment, grabbing the aforementioned items and locking his door behind him before making his way back to the university. He had to sprint (normally) that time, since the walk there was about twenty five minutes. He made it in about 15 minutes, just five minutes before his class started.

Attending his Physics class turned out to be practically pointless, since he ended up sleeping through the whole lecture. At 10 he had French, which- surprise, surprise- had a written test he didn't study for and probably failed, miserably he might add. All in all, it was turning out to be a pretty fan-friggin'-tastic day. The rest of his classes passed in a blur, probably because everything he heard today went in one ear and out the other and at 4 he was finally, finally done. He went to walking straight to his apartment, fully prepared to pick up right where he left off in terms of sleep when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Wally glanced at the caller ID and saw the image of a young, beautiful, dark-haired Asian-American woman, her red lips curled in a shy yet attractive smile. Underneath the picture, was the name 'Linda Park'.

Wally smiled, his mood lightening as he answered the phone, "Hey, babe," he greeted his girlfriend of two years, "What's up?"

"Wally." Linda sounded relieved and slightly annoyed, "I've been calling you. Are you on your way here?"

Wally furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What? No, I just got out of class. On my way where?"

"Wh-" Linda paused and sighed on the other end. Wally could imagine her pinching the bridge of her nose, a habit she usually did with him. "Dinner, Wally. Remember? We got reservations at this new Italian place I wanted to try at 4:30 because it was so booked for any other time."

Wally blinked, none of that ringing any type of bell for him.

Linda sighed again, this time with more exasperation, "...Valentine's Day?"

A bulb went off. "Oh!" Wally exclaimed, "Valentine's Day! That's- that's today, isn't it? Of course it is! I-I totally remember that! And the reservations at 4:30! Right!"

"...You forgot again, didn't you?" Linda asked, resigned.

"What-pft! Pft! No! 'Course not!" Wally lied unconvincingly, "I was just making sure that-that you remembered!...As you always do. Anyway, yeah. I'm uh, I'm heading there right now with, with flowers and...um, chocolates!"

"You know I hate Valentine's Day chocolates, Wally."

"Flowers and teddy bears then!" Wally amended, "Well bear, teddy bear. Not plural."

"Wally..." Linda groaned.

"Babe! I'll be there! Listen, I gotta go now. Not I'm in any rush or anything just- you know what? I'll see you in a bit! Bye!" Wally hung up before Linda had any chance of a reply and mentally berated himself as he took off in a normal sprint towards his apartment with a new burst of energy. Great, now he had to change, buy flowers and a teddy bear, and meet Linda at the restaurant in less than half an hour.

...Never before had he been more grateful for superspeed.

He made it to the place with exactly 30 seconds to spare, walking in through the glass doors to see Linda arguing with the reservationist.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but if all members of the party aren't here then we'll have to give up your table." the reservationist said calmly, seemingly unphased by Linda's rising irritation.

"But he'll be here! It's not even 4:31 yet, so technically he's not even late!"

Wally walked up behind his girlfriend, gently clearing his throat as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Linda turned around quickly, her dark hair hitting her face from the whiplash. She glared at Wally half-heartedly as she tossed her hair back over her shoulder, it's ebony color contrasting perfectly with her long elegant form-fitting rose red dress.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't we?" she said, though her tone had more relief than bite in it. She turned back around, smirking triumphantly at the reservationist, "All members of my party are here." she said, almost mockingly.

The reservationist stared at Linda with what could've been a glare, had he not been so professional before pulling out two menus from his stand, passing it to an awaiting waitress who gestured for Wally and Linda to follow her. She led the two to a white clothed table, clearly suited for two with the silverware wrapped neatly in an identical white cloth napkin on either side of the table and a scentless candle lit in the middle.

"Thank you." Linda said, the waitress clearly taking this as her temporary dismissal as she nodded once before heading off to check on other customers. Wally smiled cheekily as he handed Linda a bouquet of red roses and a small brown teddy bear holding a red heart that had 'I love you' stitched into it.

"Happy Valentine's Day...?"

"Mm. Flattery has stopped working for you long ago, sir." Linda replied, though she gave Wally a peck on the cheek as a commemoration of thanks. She sat down, Wally doing likewise adjacent from her.

Placing the bouquet and teddy bear aside, Linda leaned forward, resting her head in her slender hands as she looked at Wally. Her black gazing deeply into Wally's green.

"So..." she began, "What's up with you? You look like the dead." she stated blatantly.

Wally sighed, running a hand over his face as he didn't even try to deny it, "Yeah. Well I feel ten times worse."

Linda furrowed her eyebrows in concern, leaning back and fiddling with her dress, "Hey, if you want to go home-"

"I'll live," Wally cut her off, "Trust me, I've had worse."

Linda met his gaze once again, amusement dancing in her eyes as a corner of her mouth tilted upward, "Well I certainly don't want to see what worse looks like."

Wally smirked at the jab, raising a hand to clutch at his chest in feigned hurt, "Ouch. That's harsh."

Linda's expression grew serious once more, "But really, Wally. You look terrible. What happened?"

"School's been...rough." Wally lied easily, a small pang of guilt coming to his chest that was easy enough to ignore.

"Like you've been getting jumped or...?"

"Har, har. No, no it's just...the workload is crazy, you know. Especially Professor Thompson's class, whew. And I'm just having trouble catching up after my...illness last week." His "illness" being an overseas mission to Italy to stop some sort of crazy plot from happening, but Linda didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, well. Wish I could say I could help but college isn't really an issue for me." Linda had gone straight into an internship for a news station after graduating high school, now trying her very best to work her way up the ranks to a full-blown news reporter. "If you need anything else though, call me or I will cause you bodily harm."

"Noted."

The waitress came back then, apologizing for the delay and asking if they were ready to order their meal and drinks.

"Um yes, actually." Linda replied, browsing through her menu, "For the drink, I'll think I'll have a glass of Cabernet Franc and I'll try the um, Chicken Fettuccine." She neatly closed her menu and handed it to the waitress.

Wally, who had been looking through his own menu as Linda spoke, looked at the waitress as she drew her attention to him, "Yeah. Um, I'll get a water and a Spaghetti." He flipped his own menu closed and gave it to the waitress.

She nodded and once she left, Linda gave Wally a look.

"What?" he asked.

"Water and a Spaghetti?" Linda said with a raised eyebrow.

"They were the cheapest things on the menu!" Wally replied defensively, "I mean, a red wine and fettuccine? Did you even look at the prices?"

Linda snorted, "Wally, you're younger than me. Stop sounding like an old man."

"Two years is hardly a difference!" Wally replied, "And besides, this old man likes cash in his wallet and on his card."

"We'll be fine." Linda replied. The two spent the next twenty minutes engaging in small talk until their food arrived.

Wally ate his meal eagerly, only just then remembering that the only other thing he'd had for sustenance that day was an overly sweetened cup of coffee, while Linda picked at her plate, taking a few small bites before placing her fork with a small clank on the table.

"This tastes awful." she declared.

Wally agreed through a mouthful of food, "I don' know how 'ey messed up 'agetti." he said.

Linda wrinkled her nose at his poor manners, "Wally, that's gross." she said but nodded in agreement, "The chicken in my fettuccine has a weird texture and the pasta itself is just gross. Heck, even the wine doesn't taste right. I'm calling for the check."

Wally nodded again as he swallowed his food and chugged down his glass of water as Linda got the waitress' attention. Fifteen minutes later, the two were out of the restaurant and walking towards Linda's car.

"I can't believe you walked all this way." Linda said as she fished in her purse for her keys, pressing the button to unlock her vehicle after retrieving them.

Wally shrugged, "Eh, wasn't too bad."

"How'd you manage to make it on time?" Linda asked incredulously as she climbed into the driver's seat and shut the door behind her. Wally got into the passenger's seat and did likewise, "I may have done a bit of light sprinting on the way too." he replied.

"Unbelievable." Linda started her car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Where to?" Wally asked.

"McDonalds." Linda replied, "After this disaster, I just want a bacon cheeseburger."

"I'm not a religious man babe, but amen to that."

Linda chuckled and swatted at Wally's arm playfully, "God, you're so stupid."

Their second dinner of the night at McDonald's turned out to be much better than the first. Linda, as promised, enjoyed a bacon cheeseburger and an Oreo Mcflurry while Wally had two Big Macs and a chocolate milkshake. He was working on his third burger when he noticed Linda's appalled yet amused stare on him.

"Wha?" he said through a mouthful of food.

Linda smirked, resting her head in the palm of one hand, "It's a wonder how you haven't yet been the star of an episode of My 600 Pound Life."

"...Shu' up."

It was a quarter till nine when Wally arrived back at his apartment, feeling even more drained than before. He collapsed on his couch first thing, too lazy to even make it to his bedroom. Sparing a quick glance at his backpack where he knew he had the syllabus for that paper in French he needed to finish by the following Monday and the notes for that test in Government next Friday he needed to study for, Wally stuffed his face in his couch pillow. Honestly, he just felt so done with it all right now and only wanted at least a solid eight hours of rest. His eyes to slipped closed as he allowed his mind to drift slowly back into oblivion when-

Ding, dong!

Wally opened his eyes, letting out a small growl of frustration as he got up, walking over to his front door and not even bothering to peep through the eyehole before opening the door.

He blinked upon seeing no one there. Then he sighed, frustrated as he began to close the door, "You've got to be kidding me." he grumbled.

"Um...excuse me?"

Wally paused in his actions and shocked, he glanced down to see a girl, who looked to be really young, about four years of age if he had to guess. She stared up at him with wide emerald eyes, the light dusting of faded freckles on her cheeks and the bridge of her nose mostly concealed by her light olive skin tone. Her hair was blonde, falling in a golden cascade to her mid-back from its high side ponytail.

What really alarmed Wally however, was the small pink duffle bag she held onto.

What the...?

"I'm Arlynn. My mommy told me to give this to you." She recited, holding up an enclosed envelope.

Wally blinked. What was going on?

You know, it only occurred me just now after writing this chapter that February 14th, 2016 (which is the date this first chapter starts on) was on a Sunday instead of a Friday. So, yeah, that little discrepancy bothered me but, you know, it's called Fanfiction for a reason so we'll just pretend. Anyway, hope you guys liked the (rewritten) chapter!