Words: 1,771
Disclaimer: hahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Notes: I promised myself a little bit of Spitfire fluff because after all of this [good] pain (thanks, Darkest) I've been going through for the show for the past few days, I needed a break. I need sweet, fluffy college!Spitfire goodness. In fact, Melissa Black13 demanded that I write something incredibly fluffy to make up for To Have and To Hold and for killing off Wally (ahahahahaha) so I guess this is it! Hope you guys find this even the slightest bit enjoyable and a good breather from all the drama and angst from the actual show!
Really Got A Hold On Me
It's four minutes to two o'clock in the morning and all Wally can think of is how good a pepperoni pizza sounds right now. As if it's agreeing with him, his stomach rumbles loudly; a thunderous kind of croak that echoes in the living room. He kind of stares at his middle for a few seconds and turns to Nelson, who's lounging in the chair next to him. Nelson's picked his head up after Wally's little stomach song and his head is tilted in a questioning manner.
"What do you think? Order in?" Wally asks Nelson, reaching over to scratch his white ears lazily. Nelson starts to pant happily in response and Wally lets the smirk on his face grow into a grin.
"Knew you'd be on my side, buddy," Wally mutters affectionately. Turning to his other side, he reaches towards the edge of the table for his cellphone. He makes a quick order and relays their address contently as he continues to scratch Nelson's head and ears. After making the call, he lays the cellphone back on top of the table and shuts off his laptop, releasing a long, relieved sigh.
Okay, maybe Stanford wasn't the place for fun and games after all. Don't get him wrong, he's still totally jazzed about the fact that he, Wallace West, is attending Stanford University (and with his hot girlfriend, too, can't forget that), but honestly, the work load just kills him sometimes.
Tonight, he's had to read two chapters from his Economics textbook (which is a great textbook, really; it explains the basic concepts of price floors, price ceilings, elasticities of demand and supply, and how to attack an analysis for the theory of the firm, but at the same time, he's counted, like, seventeen typos and errors already). He's also had to finish a chemistry lab assigned two days ago and due tomorrow, as well as a biology lab that really isn't that hard but just takes so much freaking time. Add in the fact that he's taking both Spanish and Vietnamese Literature along with his obligatory English Literature class, two classes of which have essays due in the next few days.
But wait, he isn't even done yet, he has a math quiz in two days - something calculus-y - which their professor says is just a check-up but last time he said that, the "check-up quiz" they took caused a huge plunge in everyone's grades so obviously studying for this thing is mandatory.
Wally takes a film class too, but their teacher's a cool guy (Asian, kind of short, hipstery, glasses and all - Wally thinks he's Filipino but the guy's never uttered a word about his background. He's almost as secretive as Batman) who lets them watch old 80s films all the time and when they've finished whatever movie he's chosen for the day, they kind of just sit around with glasses of Coca Cola and chocolate bars from the vending machines around campus and talk about the film. So far, they've watched The Breakfast Club, The Outsiders, the first Star Wars film (and they'll be finishing off the rest soon) and Dirty Dancing. Apparently they're starting the Jaws series or the Indiana Jones series next and Wally can't decide which one he's excited for more.
He loves school, alright? It's grand, everything is perfect, he's learning thousands of new things about his favorite subjects and about himself every day and nothing has felt more right in the world.
To top it all off, there's a gorgeous blonde-haired archer snoozing in the bedroom just seven feet away from the dining table and his world just lights up like a thousand stars blinking on when he remembers the fact that that girl chose him, that girls loves him, that girl belongs to him. Why, he'll never know, but he isn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The only thing missing from the picture are the late nights of crime fighting, instead of late nights studying for ridiculously challenging math quizzes that shouldn't have to be so challenging.
Sometimes he and Artemis talk about those days.
Those days. It makes Wally sound so old, or as if he's matured so much from that naïve fifteen-year-old who knew nothing except how to save a little girl from her crazy uncle. In reality, he hasn't changed that much. He's still Wally, same ol', good ol' Wally West. The team can and still do count on him to crack a stupid joke, be overly annoying and flirtatious with Artemis (and only Artemis) every now and then, and to be his generally inappropriate self. He's the same. He's still Wally.
And he knows he left the life behind – he knows that both he and Artemis left the life behind because it was time to move on – but that doesn't mean he can't still dream about donning the red and yellow and sweeping children and damsels in distress off of their feet and into the safety of his arms, away from incoming danger. That won't stop him from looking out the classroom window and onto the track field of Stanford's campus, just wondering what people would say or think if all of a sudden Kid Flash appeared and started lapping even the fastest athlete in the entire university. It won't and hasn't stopped him from wondering what life would be like - what he would be like had he not left the life. If he'd stayed and led the team with Dick, just the two of them (with Artemis butting her cute little face in whenever she could, of course). Kid Flash and Nightwing (and Artemis). They would have been unstoppable.
But no, this is the life he chose and despite the absence of heroism, he's alright with it.
In fact, he loves it.
Especially when sleepy blonde archers have just made their groggy way out of the bedroom and into his lap at the dining table. She latches onto him in a tight hug, and for a minute, Wally's reminded of a koala bear. A really yellow koala bear with really sharp claws. He smirks and quirks an eyebrow up but doesn't complain when Artemis starts to litter kisses down his cheek, under his jaw, and onto his neck, lingering there, breathing in his scent and just being there with him.
"Are you ever coming back to bed?" she mumbles against his neck and Wally has to gulp down a shiver that threatens to surge up his spine.
"Why? You up for round three?" he teases, nudging his cheek into her hair. One hand comes up to circle her waist tightly, holding him close to her, and the other hand reaches up to tuck a strand of gold away from her face and behind her ear. As soon as he pulls his hand away, the strand falls back in front of her face and it dangles in the light, a bedazzling streak of yellow.
Instead of berating him, Artemis snorts softly and plants a quiet kiss on his lips. That's the best way Wally can describe it. Quiet. It's not rushed, wet, desperate, hot, heavy – no, it's unlike any of the breathtaking and toe-curling kisses they're used to. This kiss is one of satisfaction, contentment; a simple joint of lips. Swift contact, just like the wind Wally's used to whenever he's running those few thousand miles at top speed, nothing to hold him back. It's like a whispered I love you at two o'clock in the morning and he realizes that if this were his life until the end of time, he wouldn't want it any other way.
They talk as quietly as they kiss for the next thirty minutes and his fingers entangle themselves in her hair in an old dance he learned five years ago. The gentle massage almost draws Artemis back to sleep and the warmth that radiates naturally from Wally's skin lulls her with its soothing hum to fall asleep in his arms, but she's brought back to reality when the doorbell rings.
"Did you order food?" she asks incredulously. Wally smiles lopsidedly at her.
"C'mon, babe, you know how I am," he says, standing up with her still in his arms, bridal style, just the way they both like it. She doesn't even yelp or exclaim anymore - she's so used to his spontaneity and she doesn't mind it one bit.
(The poor pizza delivery boy isn't sure what to make of the couple but places the pizza box in Artemis's waiting arms, anyway.)
Wally lays Artemis on the couch and positions himself so that his elbows support him above her. He kisses her soundly for such a long time that she wonders if she's learning how to breathe without air. Every kiss with him is like that; she grows stronger with every second she spends with him.
(And for that, she is so thankful.)
(For him, she is so thankful.)
When Wally finally pulls away, it's a little bittersweet, but there's more to come and he'll never be done with her. She learned that pretty quickly a few years ago.
"You want some?" he says, gesturing to the pizza. She shakes her head no and stands up from the couch.
"Are you done working, lover-boy?" she asks, nodding towards his work on the table. Wally looks over at his laptop and at Nelson, who's fallen asleep after their little lover's show at the table.
"Yeah, for the night," he confirms, mouth full of pizza. "Why?" Artemis arches a thin eyebrow, a smirk peeking at him from the corners of her lips. She leans over towards him, her oversized shirt really leaving nothing left to Wally's imagination, and closes her lips over the spot right next to his ear.
"After you brush your teeth, I'll be seeing you for round three," she purrs, and before he can react, she's whisked off like wind Wally can't stop chasing - doesn't want to stop chasing - and he catches her shadow on the floor at the open door of their bedroom and he hears the shuffle and rustle of clothes and suddenly the oversized shirt she had previously been wearing to cover herself up is flung outside the bedroom, landing on top of Nelson, who doesn't even wake up, and Wally knows for a fact that she was wearing absolutely nothing under that and he has never abandoned a fresh, hot plate of pizza so fast before.
Seriously, if this is what his life is going to be like from now on, how could he say no?
Wally and I are taking the same classes. Except while he has an archer girlfriend to bang all night, I only get to do the rest of my homework. Lucky bastard.