So...I guess I have to explain why this took so long and why I haven't gotten to anything else I'm writing. Well life got hectic (usual writer excuse) and when it wasn't being hectic I was extremely lazy. Like pathetically lazy. So now Im going to try and...get out of that lazy funk and write again. I cant promise regular updates...that doesn't mean they cant happen though.

As for my other works...I'm not sure about them. My Age reversal I will definitely get back to but the others...not so sure.

ANYWAY, comment if you liked it and comment if you didn't! I like constructive feedback whether its positive or negative...as long as its good feedback :]

Gotham

October 2008

His hips sway to the hypnotic music, pallid skin reflecting all the colors of the strobe lights perfectly. From red, to blue, to green, to yellow and then back to red. Wally's mind is hazy, not completely comprehending what is happening. He let Artemis drag him here so he could have fun but instead he's dancing with Dick. A shirtless, dancing Dick who's smiling at him. It takes Wally a minute to realize he isn't moving, and just staring.

He gives the whole club a once over looking for Roy or Artemis, but he can't see either of them through the throngs of bodies. He jumps slightly when he feels hands on his hips. His eyes snap back to Dick, who's forcing Wally's hips to sway to the music with his.

"Dance!" Dick yells with a laugh, coaxing Wally into dancing.

"I don't know how!" The redhead's face is flushed, but starts swaying to the music anyway.

"It's okay Wally, no one does!" Dick flashes a brilliant smile before letting the taller boy's hips go and starts dancing. Wally moves his feet clumsily to the bass heavy music that he sometimes confuses with his own heartbeat.

He watches Dick move fluidly, swaying of front of Wally, teasing look on his face. Wally feels like Dick is putting on a show, turning in place and shaking his rear-showing off a small black tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It's of some kind of bird. Wally wants to take a closer look but Dick has turned back around. He shifts closer to the redhead until they're almost touching.

Dick's hands find their way onto Wally's shoulders, one snakes its way to the back of his neck. They begin to sway in time with each other and the rest of the club seems to fade away into nothingness. All that mattered to Wally at this very moment was the crystal blue eyes, lithe naked torso and sweaty unruly black hair that is making his heart flutter, his head swim and his pants tighten.

Dick's perfectly straight white teeth bite down on his bottom as he stares into Wally's bright green eyes.

The music peters out into something slower that didn't seem to Dick's liking. He grabs Wally by the hand and pulls him off the dance floor.

::

::

Wally finds himself outside the club in a back alley. There's a couple of guys making out further down in the Alley but Dick doesn't seem to mind. Dick seems to notice that's still the fall season and shivers.

"Where's your shirt?" Wally asks.

"Um...I think Artemis has it?" He thinks for a minute. "Does she know you're here? What…what are you doing here, Wally? Not that I'm not happy to see you! Because I am…" His cheeks flush pink and he averts his eyes.

"Artemis is the one who told me to come... She didn't say you would be here. What are you doing here?" Wally chooses to ignore the tension in his gut. He's freaking out on the inside; he really didn't want to see Dick. Not so soon. If ever.

"I like to come here every now and then... to unwind and relax. All the tests and studying stress me out."

Artemis had set him up, this meeting with Dick.

"I wish I could get Garth to come with me but-"

"Garth?"

"Yeah, Garth. He's, uh, my boyfriend." The boy fidgets. "He doesn't really like dancing. So I usually come here with Babs or Artemis." The both fall into silence, and Dick shivers again. Wally takes off his button-up and hands it to Dick.

"You never were good with the cold." Dick takes the yellow button up. He takes a moment to look at the expanse of Wally's freckled torso. Even though Wally hadn't been on any kind of sports team he never let his body lose definition. Dick stops staring long enough to put the button up onto his quivering goose flesh. The material is thin but it helps.

"Wally… How come you never... how come you never tried to contact me... any of us."

"Dick...after what I did... all that I did to you... I don't even understand how you can stand looking at me."

"Wally... I forgave you… for what you did." His eyes widen at the declaration.

"What? Dick, why would you...ever…?"

"Because the Wally that I know... the one I knew would never do that to me. Not to mention I started it. I egged you on-I kissed you. I knew what your dad was like, how he treated gays. I knew... I knew you were so repressed and I poked the bear essentially." Wally stands there, confused. Was Dick really trying to carry some of the blame?

"No, Dick. Don't you even try to say it was your fault. There was a lot I could have done differently, a lot of things I wish I could unsay but you…" He can feel his heart begin to race. "….you didn't do anything wrong. You called me out, and I deserved it." He doesn't like where this conversation is heading. He needs to get out of here before he has a minor break down.

He isn't ready for this conversation.

"Look, Dick. I have to go."

"Are...you sure? I mean…"

"No, I have a ton of homework to do...and I told Artemis I wouldn't be out too long anyway." Dick's face falls for a moment.

"Okay." He mutters. "Call me then?" He looks into Wally's eyes as he fishes a pen from his pants pocket. He grabs the redhead's hand and scribbles his number onto his palm. Wally stares at for a moment.

"Okay, sure…" He doesn't sound very sure.

"Promise me?"

"Yeah, I promise." He leaves. Through the alley, past the couple who have moved on from making out to drunken groping, hands underneath shirts and unzipping zippers. Dick doesn't relinquish his shirt, keeping it as "collateral." Wally catches a taxi, shirtless but he isn't cold. His body feels warm.

::

::

It's a few days later wally finds himself sitting at his desk in the corner of his small dorm. His phone is in his hands, trembling slightly as he types up a message. He's far too nervous to make the call. His thumbs ghost over the letters but his trembling causes him to misspell almost every word causing the simple three sentence message to take nearly twenty minutes to compose.

'Hey Dick...I know I said I'd call but a text is just as good right? I was kind of wondering when Id be able to get my shirt back, it happens to be my favorite. This is Wally by the way.'

He looks at the message he's managed to get together. He flushes a deep red and deletes it. It shouldn't be nearly this hard. He opts for a single "Hey." and hits send.

'Who's this?' is the quick reply. Wally groans. His phone buzzes again, another text from Dick. 'Im joking Wally. I thought I said to call! Don't be such a chicken shit!'

Wally's eyes widen. His phone buzzes again, letting him know that there's an incoming call from Dick. He pauses for a moment, unsure if he should answer.

He presses accept.

"Wally! I am so sorry, that wasn't me. Jason took my phone!" He hears Dicks rushed explanation and Jason, who ever that was, snickering in the background.

"O-oh," is all the redhead can manage.

"Yeah, sorry." There is a brief silence. Wally wonders what he should say.

"So, uh...what's up?"

::

::

Wally isn't sure how he got talked into this. Probably the enormous guilt that has been eating at him since he first got back to Gotham, but here he is. In his small dorm room, alone, with Dick.

The black haired boy is laying on his bed, legs dangling off the edge and shoes discarded on the floor. Wally himself was sitting at his desk, on the opposite side of the room nervously looking around unsure of what to do or say. Clad only in a pair of gym shorts and a muscle shirt that's probably dirty. He tries not to think about that too much.

"So...when are you going to stop being awkward?" The sudden question catches Wally off guard.

"Huh?" He replies dumbly.

"Wally, you are literally as far away from me as possible in this room." He has a point.

"I..uh…" His eyes drop to the floor.

"Wally, you don't have to be awkward around me. I promise." He gets up from the bed.

"Dick...I didn't think...I still don't think I'm ready for this. For you. I never stopped thinking about you." Dick makes his way slowly over to Wally. "I never stopped thinking about what I did to you and how much I hate myself for it..." He stops when Dick's toes come into view. Looking up, he sees the frown on Dick's face. "I'm so sorry Dick…"

"Wally, I already said I forgive you. I could never hate you...as much as I wanted to. As much as everyone around me told me I should hate you and want to hurt you just as badly as you hurt me...I didn't. I couldn't ever hate you Wally. You meant too much to me-you still do." He wraps his arms around the still sitting Wally, pulling him into an awkward hug. The redheads face pressed into Dick's chest while Dicks face is buried in unruly red hair. "I missed you so much Wally."

The redhead's arms wrap around the brunets torso, squeezing tightly.

"I missed you too."

::

::

It's a few weeks later that Wally and Dick lay across the redhead's bed, both pairs of eyes glued to a small screen. A laptop that Wally uses as entertainment since his small dorm room can't really support a television.

Both their bodies under a thick blanket to protect them from the creeping cold of the season. Occasionally a snicker or a giggle could be heard as the antics of Jason Segel or Russell Brand got particularly ridiculous. Dick couldn't believe that the redhead had never seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

"It didn't look all that interesting to me." Wally had said.

"Dude, it's super funny!" Dick argued.

The brunet eventually won out and here they are. Watching a RomCom in very close proximity. Every now and again Wally sneaks a look to catch Dick's smile. He lets a lazy smile of his own creep onto his face when something happens and Dick giggles. He'd forgotten how much he loved the other's laugh. It hasn't changed at all.

Dick pauses the movie and fishes his phone from his pocket, arm brushing against Wally's side. Pulling it out, he looks at the screen. A message from Garth. It's the third one since Dick had gotten to Wally's. It's also the third one he's ignored.

"Are you sure it's nothing important." Wally asks nervously.

"Nah, he's just being clingy. Don't worry about it Wally."

"Okay…" He puts his phone away and unpauses the movie.

::

::

It's the first time they're all together. Roy, Dick, and Wally. Along with Artemis and Roy's roommates Miguel and Harper. Wally likes them, he really does. Miguel is nice and slightly goofy and as it turns out is going into architecture. Harper is a smart mouth who often crossed wits with Roy. They seemed to get along well. It reminds Wally of Roy and Jade...pre-dating. It's kind of odd to watch. Artemis is having a "girl's day" with Barbara and Harper told him that she doesn't do "girl's day". Roy makes a lesbian joke and is promptly punched by Harper and Miguel. Wally had chuckled. It was nice knowing Roy's mouth still got him in trouble.

"Am I...George Washington?" Harper asks exasperated. There's a headband on her brow and a card with a name on it attached to the headband. She's been stuck on the same card for five rounds.

"Nope!" Dick chirps.

"Am I Lincoln?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Fucking shit!" She curses.

"You have fifteen seconds." Roy reminds her.

"Uh...uh...Ronald Reagan!?" She cries out as the last particle of sand joins the collective in the lower chamber of the timer. There's a chorus of "Yes!" from the other players. "Whoop!" She cheers, standing up too quickly and causing her chair to fall back. Yanking the card off her headband she slams it down into the table in front of her. "Suck it Reagan!"

"Alright, Alright. Calm down."

"Don't break the table chica."

"You're still losing."

"Cram it Harper!" Wally watches them all exchange words with each other, deciding to stay quiet. He still doesn't feel like he really belongs, so he watches. Dick watches Wally watching. Watches the nostalgic smile slowly form, the way his head tilts slightly when he's enjoying himself. He honestly didn't think Wally would show, but he sure is glad the redhead did.

A harsh knock on the front door causes everyone to quiet down. Dick hops up to answer it, knowing who it is. Wally swallows hard when he hears the door creep open, letting Garth entered the warm house from the harsh cold outside. Dick wraps his arms around the taller man and Garth kisses him on the lips. It's then that he and Garths eyes meet. They harden almost immediately into an annoyed sort of glare. Garth pulls Dick closer.

"How was work?" The smaller brunet asks after he pulls away.

"Tiring," he lets out gruffly, letting his staring contest with Wally end; focusing now on Dick who was still in his arms, whose smile had dropped slightly.

"Sorry you had a rough day. But you're here now! We're playing headbands." Dick motions toward them. Harper, Roy, and Miguel wave. Wally sort of gulps and he hopes it wasn't audible.

"Actually I was hoping we could talk." Garth pulls Dick a bit further away from them so all they can hear are murmurs and whispers.

"Okay so!" Roy announces trying to break the silent tension. "Harpers' at two, and everyone else is at six." Harper gives him an annoyed look. "It's Wally's turn again." They all turn to him and Wally has honestly forgotten any progress he's made in the previous round.

"I'm a...person right?"

"No, Wally you're a thing." Roy grumbles. Wally hates things.

"Hey, hey! Only yes or no answers! That's what you told me!" The only girl at them table complains.

"She has a point amigo." Miguel chimes in.

"No Dick!" The sudden outburst from the other side of the room caused everyone to quiet down. "I'm tired of this!" Wally eyes Dick's face as it morphs from tense to alarmed when he realizes everyone can now hear them.

"Garth please…"

"No. I'm done with this. You've been ignoring me, my calls-messages! Because you're hanging out with him!" Wally feels his stomach drop. "You didn't even tell me he was here? Are you kidding me? After all he's done to you? After all I've done for you? You're still in love with him!?"

"Garth!" Dick shouts, trying and failing to make him stop. The color drains for Dick's face and Wally's heats up. Dick was in love with him? At some point? At any point?

"Dude, Garth. Calm down!" Roy stands up from his chair and tries to move toward the arguing couple.

"No Roy. I know this guy is your old butt buddy from high school but-"

"I'll leave!" Wally hears himself shout over the cacophony of the room. It immediately plunges into an even louder silence. Dick's mouth forms a thin line, Garth's eyebrows furrow and Roy frowns. "It's fine." He speaks again. "I'll leave."

The redhead grabs whatever he had brought with him and heads for the door. "Wally it's…" Roy calls after him but he himself isn't sure what to say. His words linger in the air, helpless to stop him.

Wally moves passed Garth and Dick and out the door into the cold evening air. He runs a hand through his hair as he makes his way to the sidewalk.

"Wally wait!" Dick's voice roots him to the ground. He quickly intakes a quick breath, hoping the cold air will calm his insides down. "Wally…" Dick walks around to the redhead's front since he refuses to turn around. In truth Wally's afraid that if he lifts his foot again to take another step in any direction at all, he might book it. "Wally… about what happened in there…"

"No, Dick. It's fine." Wally starts before Dick can find the words to finish. "He has a point...y'know? You've been spending like...a lot of time with me. And it's awesome but you kinda have a boyfriend. Who hates me-for good reason! I can't even blame him." It's then he notices Dick rushed out without his jacket. He looks cold there shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Dick bites his bottom lip before he starts. "No Wally, we've been through this! What happened wasn't-"

"My fault. Yeah, I know. It's what you keep saying but Dick...I have to take some of the responsibility for it. I have to. And just because you've forgiven me...doesn't mean everyone else has….or has to. Look. Today was fun. Really it was. But your boyfriend wants to be with you and he can't stand me. So go have fun with him...We'll talk later."

Dick opens his mouth to respond.

"I promise." Wally says before Dick can make him. The brunet doesn't look happy about it but he nods solemnly and heads back inside. When he hears the click of the door behind him he lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He watches his breath billow out of his mouth like steam 'till it dissipates before he starts on his journey back to his lonely tiny dorm room, regretting not asking Dick to join him.