Secrets Make the World Go Round (BirdFlash)

2 - Who Knows When It'll Happen Again?

'Sure you will :P' And with that last reply they didn't text each other for the rest of the night. It wasn't really necessary for them to constantly text each other. Maybe the occasional text here and there, but other than that, nothing. They worked well like that, knowing that they didn't have to talk all the time and things would be okay, but with that also came the reassurance of knowing that if the other boy were needed, they would be right there to help.

-----

The next day Wally went to go pick his younger friend up, just as he had promised. And just as was expected, Dick was waiting on the other side of the gate for him. The ginger teen watched as the gate slowly creaked open, followed by Dick stepping forward to slip past them. "Morning, Wally." Every time Wally saw his best friend he swore his stomach flipped in the best of ways. It was like the feeling of anticipation just before getting onto a roller coaster. Despite the fact that Dick was simply dressed in the most casual of clothing, just a simple hoodie with some dark blue jeans, his appearance managed to make him feel nervous, flustered, and ridiculously happy. It always amazed Wally the affect that Dick could have on him without even trying.

"Morning!" Wally exclaimed with his usual wide smile once he had shaken away that fluttery feeling that had settled in his chest. Wally's smile was one that always made Dick smile a little as well. It was like his smile was contagious. He was energetic, even in the morning, and it never failed to make the younger boy smile even if sometimes it was just a slight upturn at the corner of his lips. After all, who could resist such a bright smile coming from the ginger? It was nigh impossible to ignore such a brightly shining star.

Wally turned and began to walk. He could hear the soft barely there shuffle of quick footsteps as Dick caught up and fell into step beside him. With that, the pace was set, Dick in step beside him as they walked. And so their routine began. Their walk was silent at first, as it always did each morning. For the first five minutes neither boy said anything, however once those five minutes had passed Wally would begin talking about whatever random thing came to his mind.

This was how it was every morning and this was how it would continue every morning. Weeks passed, which slowly bled into a month, and nothing had changed between them. Dick was still secretly crushing on Wally and Wally had finally come to terms with the fact that he had a crush on Dick. But neither boy dared to take it a step further. Neither of them confessed or flirted or anything of the sort to give away their feelings. That was, until one faithful day when everything seemed to change.

*****

Wally was waiting in front of the school for Dick, as he always did, when it happened. A bubbly blonde, one he didn't often talk to but recognized from a few of his classes, walked up to him after being urged by her friends. "H-Hey, Wally..." she began with a seemingly shy smile, twirling a strand of her long, curly hair. The blonde was stunning. She was beautiful in the most subtle ways with big bright green eyes that twinkled in an innocent nature.

It was obvious she was attempting to flirt, but Wally, being as oblivious as he was and having eyes only for Dick, was unaware of her intentions. "Hey." He replied with a slight nod and a small smile, head tilted to the side a little as he waited for her to continue. "Are you free Friday?" She asked, stepping just a bit closer to him, another thing that Wally overlooked.

"Friday? Well, after I drop off Dick at home, yeah." For a moment the blonde seemed incredibly angry, a look of annoyance and absolute disgust running across her once innocent face before that sweet smile returned. It was yet another thing that could be added to the list of things Wally had yet to notice.

"Well...would you want to...hang out with me?" Wally seemed to contemplate it for a moment, thinking several things rather quickly. Did he have a Young Justice meeting? Was he hanging out at Dick's? Was he supposed to do something? When all questions came out as a firm no, he shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

His nonchalant answer made her question if he'd actually understood her intentions. When she saw him looking around, knowing that he was looking for Dick, she knew for sure he didn't catch what she meant. "Wally, I mean hang out as in go on a date, you know like soon to be boyfriend and girlfriend." She huffed with a well placed pout. It was amazing how one boy could be so ridiculously oblivious to the obvious.

Her explanation surprised the redhead, his green eyes going wide as he turned his full attention on her now, her intentions clear with her blunt statement. "Wai-I-wha-you...-" Dick, lucky for the stuttering airhead, arrived during her explanation of 'hang out'. "Sorry, he's taken." The raven haired boy said simply, grabbing Wally by the wrist and pulling him away, leaving behind a fuming blonde girl who was on the verge of possibly throwing a tantrum as her friends ran over to calm her down.

"Man...thanks for saving me back there, dude." Wally said after they'd walked almost five minutes in absolute silence. Dick laughed a little and shook his head. "You should get better at reading signs. If I hadn't been there to save you, you'd have ended up saying yes to her without thinking." Wally pouted, a look too childish for a boy his age but somehow cute on him anyway. "Yeah, well...what if I wanted to go out with her?"

This made Dick freeze, his heart pounding so slowly it became a physical ache in his chest. He dropped Wally's hand, unaware until that very moment that he'd even been holding it still. "Did you?" Hearing the slightest tone of hurt in his friends usually rather neutral voice, Wally panicked a little. "No, of course not, I was just joking." He assured quickly, relieved to see the visible relaxation in Dick's shoulders.

Was there a reason he was suddenly so upset by his words? Did it mean he might have a chance? Despite his desperate want to be optimistic, he squashed any sense of hope he had. He'd rather not hope and be disappointed than hope and be disappointed.

*****

The rest of the walk home went on in a somewhat uncomfortable silence. Unlike the usual comfortable ones that Wally filled with his random ramblings every once in a while, this one was different. There was something unsettling in the air between the two friends, something that made them both nervous and uneasy.

Soon enough, they had arrived at Wayne palace and were standing in front of the gate. "Tomorrow, same time?" Wally asked, the first words he'd said in nearly ten minutes, a feat in itself. "Yeah, same time." There was no joke of leaving him behind, which only served to worry Wally even more. Had he done something wrong? Dick showed no signs of being worried or uncomfortable, but that didn't mean he wasn't just as worried as Wally was. If anything he was more worried considering he may have just unintentionally presented his feelings for Wally.

There was no way Dick could keep calm when something like this had happened. There was no telling when the next girl would confess to Wally and when that happened he would be methodically cut out of the picture. He had to tell him how he felt, even if he was rejected, Wally had to know. He just needed to get it off his chest so he could come to terms with the fact that it wouldn't happen and he could move on.

Dick heard the gate rattle open behind him, finally looking up to meet Wally's eyes, or sort of meet them from behind his dark lensed sunglasses. "Wally, I like you, and before you get confused and take this the wrong way, I like you the way that girl likes you." He stated simply before turning and walking inside the gate.

To Wally it would seem like his friend had made a cool and simple confession, one that made his cheeks turn as bright as his hair. But to Dick it was something much more difficult than that. He was nervous when he confessed, and still feeling nervous, his cheeks such a bright red he was starting to resemble a cherry. He'd been shaking when he'd confessed, and when he couldn't face him any longer, he quickly retreated past the gates. But Wally didn't notice any of these things, too wrapped up in his own shock to notice those little signs.

Even on his run home, where he'd arrived home a minute later and received the usual text fourteen minutes later, he still hadn't noticed it. 'You home?' He received and he couldn't help but smile a little. 'Yeah, I'm home'. To his surprise, that was the last text of the night. He'd expected something more, or maybe it was that he hoped for more, but he shrugged it off. Maybe Dick would just rather talk about it in person the next morning. That seemed logical...didn't it?