Work Through The Pain- Chapter 3

Dick groaned as he felt himself come to, his head throbbing. He slowly opened his eyes, groaning again as he tried to get accustomed to the blinding light. It took Nightwing a good few minutes to get used to the the light, however just as he did, a wave of pain hit him and Nightwing moan, waking the person next to him. Wally shot out of his seat as soon as he saw Nightwing sitting there, clutching his ribs.

"Hawk Women said not to touch your ribs until they heal," Wally said, sitting down and looking towards his old friend, his heart clenching at the look of pain on Nightwing's face.

Dick looked over to the voice of the speedster, staring at him in shock. "What are you doing here?" He asked, letting his hand fall from his chest as he began to sit up.

"What? I'm not aloud to talk to my best friend from time to time?" Wally asked him, pulling one of his small, sweet smiles. Dicke winched at the words 'best friend.' Wally hadn't talked to him in months and he left a bruise whenever he gripped his arm- unknowingly, hopefully. He gave Wally a broken half smile.

"Not really that good of a friend if I let Artemis die," Dick mumbled, looking at a spot in the horizon over Wally's shoulder. Wally's eyes widened as he realized what Dick had meant. He put his hand on Dick knuckles.

"Hey, Dick look at me," Wally said softly. Dick sifted his head a little to the side. "It's not your fault. You just didn't get there in time." Dick stiffened at Wally's last sentence and took a deep breath. He hissed one word, "Out."

Wally's eyes widened and he looked at his best friend. He had sat here for-what? Three, four days?- nearly a week just to see if his best friend was okay and now he wants him to get out?
"Excuse me?" Wally asked.

"You heard me, Wally. Get out, now," Dick said, pulling his hand away from Wally's as if it was made of fire. Wally scoffed at Dick and got up. Wally headed to the door. "You know, I was trying to be nice, Dick, but I guess you wouldn't know because you're too busy with your life where every single fucking thing is perfect. Well newsflash, boy blunder, things really aren't because I think Batman messed you up so much that you can't notice kindness," Wally snapped as he left, slamming the door behind him.

Dick bit his lip and fought back the tears. It that what Wally really thought of him? That he was fucked up? A tear fell down his cheek and ran down to his chin. Gods Dick, how stupid did you have to be to fall in love with your best friend.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. "Who is it?" he asked, his voice slightly shaky. "It's me," came the soft reply.

"Come in," Dick said, smiling as his best friend, Barbara Gordon- who was none other that Batgirl, came in. She sat next to his bed and picked up his hand, gently stroking his knuckles. They were so close that people assumed that they were dating, but Barbara didn't like Dick in that way and Dick wasn't even attracted to girls.

"I saw Wally storming out of here and I decided to see what happened. So, Dick, What happened?" Barbara asked. Dick sighed and put his head into his hands, fighting back tears.

"He said that Bruce messed me up so bad that I couldn't see his 'kindness.' Barbara, he he tried to comfort me with Artemis's death by telling me I wasn't fast enough, and he even called me his 'best friend' when," Dick stopped to take a breath. "And he's left bruises on my arm," he whispered, hugging himself. Barbara gasped, and shot up, a bat-a-rang. Dick grabbed his best friend's arm.

"Please don't," he begged. Nightwing didn't want Wally back in here trying to be kind when in fact, he was hurting him. Barbara gave him a small smile and sat back down, putting away her bat-a-rang.

~Le Time Skip~

Dick was back on his feet within a few days, however Wally hadn't talked to him ever since the incident in the Justice League Infirmary. As soon as he could walk though, Dick left for the safety of his cozy little apartment.

Dick woke up to knocking on his door. He groaned and rolled over to the other side of his large bed, and picked up his phone. The bat frowned when he saw eleven pm flashing on the screen of the iPhone.  He trudged out his warm bed and put on his simple blue slippers. Dick walked to the door in his long blue pajama bottoms and plain white t-shirt. He opened and his eyes became the size of a large pizza.

"Wally?' He squeaked, gripping the door for support. Wally was standing there in his brown jacket and gray sweatpants, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey Dick. Can I come in?" Wally asked. Dick blinked and was considering yelling at Wally, telling him he is tired of his mixed emotions and slamming the door on his face. But in the end, Dick just sighed and turned around, leaving the door ajar.

Sure enough, Wally followed him to the living room. Dick sat down on one of  his couches and Wally sat next to him,  having put his jacket on Dick's coat rack.
"So what brings you to my apartment at eleven at night?" Dick asked quietly, picking at his fingernails. Wally bit his lip.

"Barbara talked to me," Wally started. Dick stiffened and began to get up when a hand on his forearm. "Please let me finish," Wally begged. Dick pursed his lips and sat back down, though he scooted away from the speedster, to Wally's displeasure.

"Umm, remember when I asked you if you liked me, ya know from before you went and destroyed the storm?" Wally asked looked at Dick, who now had his arms wrapped around his long, slim legs. Dick nodded and Wally continued.

"So she talked to me and told me I was being stupid and IthinkIlikeyou," Wally said at super speed, but unfortunately, Dick understood every single work he said. Dick stiffened again and sucked in a breath. Wally just told him he liked him. Wally liked him. Wally liked him after all the hurtful words the speedster said to him, after all the bruises that had bloomed and disappeared because of the speedster's hard grip and yet, the speedster liked him. As in was romantically attracted to him.

"Uh, Dick are you okay?" Wally asked, nervous about what was going to happen next.

"Are fukcing kidding me, West?" Dick snarled. Wally's eyes widened at Dick's tone. "After all those hurtful words?! After calling me useless, slow, and- oh, let's not forget what you called me on my last trip to infermey! What was it again?Ah right- fucked up, you're telling me that you have a goddamn crush on me? Wally, for Hell's sake, you left bruises on my arm every fucking time you gripped my arm!"

Wally just sat there, holding his breath and watching Dick rant. His eyes widened when Dick told him that he had left bruises on Dick arm. He had physically hurt Dick, his best friend, his crush. Dick opened his mouth to speak, but Wally heard enough. He jumped up and wrapped his arms around Dick's waist, kissing the bat, hard. Dick's eyes widened and he froze. Wally's heart fell when Dick didn't kiss back. Just as Wally was about to pull away and apologize for kissing him, Dick unfroze and wrapped his dl arms around Wally's neck, pulling him down into the couch.

"You bastard," Dick whispered when they broke away. Wally laughed softly and placed a hand on Nightwing's cheek. Dick gave Wally such a sweet, small smile that he felt guilty for not kissing the boy- well, man- sooner. "Why am I such an idiot?" Wally whispered to himself.

"I guess we both were," Dick told him. Wally smiled at him and then he looked at the clock. He should get going and let sleep, Dick might have college lectures tomorrow.

"I should get going now," Wally said. "Wait," Dick began. "Stay with me?"

"Don't you have lectures tomorrow morning?" Wally asked. Dick shook his head. "It's Sunday. I don't have any on Sunday," Dick explain. Wally laughed and picked up Nightwing bridal style and laid him down in his bed. Wally flopped down next to him, his shoes left at Dick's door. Wally wrapped his arms around Dick and smiled fondly as the shorter man snuggled into his chest.

Nightwing fell asleep in a few mere minutes, making Wally wonder how much sleep the poor bird had been getting. Wally carted his hand through Nightwing hair gently. With a final kiss to Dick's head, Wally managed to fall asleep at around one in the morning.

~Da Next Morning~

For once, Wally woke up earlier that the first boy wonder. He trailed a hand down Dick arm, wincing when he remembered that he had given the man bruises there. Wally sighed at his past actions. He was just the the same as his father, hurting the ones he loves most.

Dick slowly opened his eyes and gave Wally a soft smile. "Morning beautiful," Wally whispered. Dick blushed and buried his face in the older man's chest. Wally laughed heartily at this, which probably made Dick blush even more. Dick mumbled something  incoherent.

"What was that, Dick?" Wally asked. Dick pulled his head out of Wally's chest.
"I asked what time was it," Dick said. Wally looked at the clock next to Dick's bed. The numbers flashed ten o'clock.

"About ten o'clock," Wally answered. Then he thought for a second. "Wait, how come you don't have lectures on Sunday?" Wally pondered. Dick looked at Wally like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm going for an Architectural Design major and the course I'm taking doesn't have a lecture on Sunday, nor does the minor I'm taking with it." Dick answered. Just then, Dick's phone rang. Wally groaned and looked at it, the screen flashing the name 'Tim.' He handed it to Dick who sat up, letting the blanket pool around his waist and answered it.

"Hey Tim, what's wrong?" Dick said. His smile fell and he dropped the phone on the bed in shock. Wally sat up too and picked up the phone and ended the call. "Babe," He said. "Babe, are you okay?" Wally asked again. Dick buried his head in Wally's chest and began to sob. Wally wrapped his arms around the crying bird. He kissed Dick's hair.

"What happened?" Wally asked. "Barbara was shot," Dick sobbed out. Wally hugged Dick tighter and let the bird cry.  Wally gently rubbed his back as his heart broke at the sound of the bird crying. Wally was shocked, to say the least. Batgirl- one of the most badass chicks he knew- was shot.

Wally forced himself not to cry, for he still had to be strong for his new love. He tried to comfort the bird the best he could. Wally looked down to see that Dick had stopped crying and was just sniffling now.

"Hey," Wally said, catching Dick's attention. "We need to get your mind off this. Come on and get dress. I'm taking you out."Dick's eyes widened. "Like right now?" He squeaked."Well, as soon as you get dressed." Wally said. Dick nodded and pulled Wally to the living room. "Stay here," he told the speedster.
"Wasn't planning on leaving, babe," Wally said, making the son of Batman blush. Dick waved a hand over his shoulder and disappeared to his room, closing the door.

Wally shook his hand and looked around the house. It was quite neat, which might have to do with the fact that Dick was a neat freak. Not a stain was on the floor or the robin (heh, pun) blue curtains or the beige couches. Nothing was out of order and there was no trash or clothes on the floor- unlike Wally's apartment, which was messy beyond the definition of messy.

"Okay, let's go," a voice said, making Wally whip his head to see Dick standing there, looking very... flattering to say the least. He was wearing some type of skinny jeans- which were hugging his thighs like his old Robin suit. Nightwing wore a Marvel shirt, the Avengers adding to the look and of course, Dick wore his signature sunglasses, completing the look.

Nightwing just gave him a smile when he saw Wally's mouth drop open. He walked towards the large plastic box where he kept all of his shoes, closing Wally's mouth with his left hand. "You don't want to catch any flies now do you?" He said as he walked past him. Wally just stared at the man pulled out his black converse. How the hell had he not notice this person in the past few months?

"So where are we going?" Dick asked once he had his shoes on. Wally gulped and answered. " I figured we could just wing it?" he asked. Dick laughed and threw on one of his Nike jackets.  

"Fine by me," he said, lacing his fingers with Wally's. Wally smiled and lead Dick out the door. Dick gave Wally a smile that he had reserved for someone special and Wally gave him a smile only Artemis used to see. Maybe it was time to move on from Artemis. After all, she did want these two to end together, though she didn't expect Dick to have to work through the pain of loving Wally.