Disclaimer: None of the characters mentioned belong to me, as was probably obvious but still~

A/N: I feel like I was really productive last night, (Correction: I was very productive last night), and so I wrote two Birdflash one-shots…the other of which will turn up on here once I get it on my computer!

So this was inspired by the song, which I seriously cannot stop listening to:

"Inhale, breathe steady, exhale, like you're ready, if you're ready or not.
Just a boy and a girl gonna to take on the world, and we want to get caught.
In the middle of a very happy ending, let's see what we've got, let's give it a shot, let's give it a shot.

- Happily Ever After- He is We

Enjoyyyyyyy

Dick Grayson had taught himself from a young age that fantasies and dreams never came true.

Nobody ever got what they truly wanted in life, no one ever had perfect families, or perfect friendships, or perfect relationships. They were impossible. Everyone has faults, every family has problems and every friendship fades over time.

Dick Grayson thought- sorry, knew- that was the way the world worked, and he wouldn't let himself believe any differently.

Wally West had believed from an equally young age that anything was possible.

Some people would call him naïve, but he'd never listened to those people enough to actually care what they thought. He believed that every person was perfect, until you decided that their flaws actually mattered.

He believed that anything could be perfect, as long as you let it- and no was going to change his mind.

Wally flopped down on the bed with a soft sigh, his face looking- as seemed to be common around that time- smitten. "Dude, I really think she could be the one."

"You've said that about five girls over the last few months," Dick told him, flicking through the geography textbook on his lap without really concentrating.

Wally looked at him. "What's your point?"

"When are you going to stop believing in this stupid fantasy that you might actually find the perfect girl? News flash, Wally: she doesn't exist!"

Wally's expression shifted slightly, a tiny frown appearing on his forehead. "Well, you got to keep hoping, don't you."

"Or you could just accept that you're going to have to settle for a person that isn't perfect," Dick muttered, so quietly Wally almost didn't hear him.

"But what if she's out there, dude. If I don't keep looking I might miss her."

"She doesn't exist."

Wally sighed, turning over onto his side and staring at his best friend. "But what ifshe does?"

"She doesn't."

"Dick," Wally whined.

Dick turned at looked at the older boy. "Yes?"

"You have to admit that there couldbe someone out there."

"It's not logica-"

"In six billion people, you honestlybelieve that there isn't a single person that has a personality that is perfectly compatible with yours?" Wally demanded, raising an eyebrow sceptically. "I would say that's more illogical."

"When you put it that way, it would be possible. But still, it's highly improbable that you would actually find someone totally perfe-"

"I'm looking for someone that's perfect for me, not perfect in general," Wally quickly intercepted.

Wally smiled then and flopped back against the bedcovers, leaving Dick to stare at the wall and glare at it, cynical thoughts flooding his mind before any of what Wally said could take hold.

"Wally?"

"What?"

"How many years do you reckon our friendship will last?"

"Forever."

"...that's impossible."

"No, it's not."

"Is there anything that you don'tbelieve?"

"Is there anything that you do?"

"I believe facts."

"Well, here's fact for you: You will be stuck with me as a best friend forever, whether you want me here or not."

Dick blinked slowly, hopelessly- for half a second- believing him without any doubt.

Dick heard the door open.

He ignored the extra presence in his room, preferring instead to focus on the periodic table poster on the opposite wall- still curled up in the foetal position with his arms wrapped tightly around himself.

He didn't react when Wally sat down on the bed beside his head, and only responded to the fingers softly running through his hair by shifted his head towards Wally's hand by half a centimetre.

"What are you doing up here all on your own?" Wally asked quietly, not wanting to fully break the silence that had shrouded itself over the room.

"Thinking."

Dick heard Wally sigh slightly, and he briefly wondered how Wally managed to put up with him all the time. He wasn't exactly the easiest best friend to have, but Wally never seemed to show any signs of wanting to leave him.

"What about?"

"My parents."

Wally frowned. "Figures."

"They died today."

"I know."

"I'm never going to get them back."

"No."

"I'm never getting my family back."

"And yet you're refusing to let the only family you've got help you."

Dick's face immediately turned to look at Wally's, anger shining in his blue eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Wally barely reacted to Dick's outburst, calmly continuing to stroke his fingers through Dick's hair. "Bruce and Alfred."

"They aren't my real family."

"Maybe not by blood, but they are still your family."

Dick rolled over- away from his best friend- and ducked his head under the covers. "My family are gone."

Wally sighed, but merely stood up. "I didn't think you'd be one to cling onto something that you used to have."

"I'm not," Dick growled, his fist clenching into his bedcovers.

"Just because Bruce and Alfred aren't conventional a family, doesn't mean that they're not a great one," Wally said, moving towards the door. "And at least they're here."

As Wally left the room, Dick couldn't help but follow behind him, because maybe- but only maybe- Wally was right.

"Wally, I have a question."

The older male lifted his head to look at the younger, for once finding the situation important enough to pause his eating for, and placing his burger back on his plate.

"Shoot."

"Why do never get mad at me when I get all annoying?"

Wally raised an eyebrow. "I do get annoyed at you when you're being annoying. Have you forgotten that I locked you in the closet for an hour earlier because you kept distracting me from doing homework?"

Dick bit his lip and shook his head a little. "I didn't mean that kind of annoying."

"You mean whenever you start being cynical? That kind of annoying?" Wally asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Dick nodded slightly, gaze falling to the floor.

Wally smiled a little, wanting to reach out and take Dick's hand, but knowing he was too far away to reach. "Because all I want to do it help you."

The younger boy's eyebrows furrowed, and his gaze lifted again, latching onto Wally's. "How can you help me?"

Wally shrugged a little, leaning back in his chair. "Because you once told me that you didn't believe that life could possibly turn out like a perfect, happy ending; and I'm just waiting for the right moment to show you that life doesn't have to be your version of perfectto still have a happy ending."

Alfred had stood outside Dick's for the past hour, at first trying to coax him out the room but now just waiting patiently for him to leave in his own time. Dick considered giving in- for Alfred's sake- but the thought of going to the Cave and facing him was almost enough to make him cower in his room forever.

Dick had messed it up again.

He had let himself believe. Just for little moments. Tiny split seconds that were seemingly harmless at the time, but ended up breaking down the entire wall he'd managed to build up- a wall that could never be broken without consequences.

It was Wally's fault. Wally and his unintentional ability to make Dick wonder. Wonder what was possible, wonder what would happen, wonder whether there was a future for them. Dick should've known, should've thought, should've realised- letting himself wonder only ever ended with him getting burnt.

"Hey, Alfred," he heard a voice a little lower than his own say. "Is Dick in there?"

No. No, no, no. Not him. Not here.

There was a silence, and then his door began to open.

Dick considered hiding, but there was really no point. He was in a room with only one exit. There was nowhere to hide and no way to escape. So he just sat.

Wally didn't look angry like he had before, but he didn't look sad either. He just stood there, at Dick's doorway, his expression unreadable, his hair and clothes a mess, the toes of his shoes scuffing along the carpet awkwardly.

"What do you want?" Dick eventually managed- the sound coming out more like a squeak than a sentence.

"To talk to you," Wally murmured. "About…stuff…"

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time, then fell into silence.

"Are you going to leave me, now?" Dick blurted out before he could stop himself, and he felt his heart ache as pain crossed Wally's face for a brief moment. "I mean, are you going to just...make a new best friend."

"I told you I would be your best friend forever," Wally reminded him.

"I didn't believe you though. I knew better."

Wally shook his head. "You believed it at the time. I could tell."

"Well, then I was just stupid," Dick amended quickly. "I should have known better."

Silence clouded over them like a fog. Thick, and confusing, and scary.

"You can go now, if you'd like," Dick said quietly.

Wally made no move backwards, instead taking two steps in Dick's direction- to which the younger boy's eyes widened considerably. "I'm not leaving you."

"Why not?"

"I promised I'd be your best friend forever," Wally said, repeating his earlier sentence. "I have no intention of breaking that promise to you."

"Why?"

Dick could feel his body freezing up, his tense muscles giving up on movement and his bones weakening rapidly the closer Wally got to him. He wanted to run- from what he wasn't sure- but at the same time something in the back of his mind was telling him not to move an inch. So he froze.

Wally stepped right up to Dick's bed. His knees pressed up against Dick calves as he sat cross-legged on the covers. Wally looked terrified, a look that didn't appear on the boy's face very often, and never this clear. Dick would almost admit to being mesmerised if he hadn't have been too busy wondering why Wally was so scared.

Then the older boy leaned over, one hand resting on the covers by Dick's leg and the other moving to rest of Dick's hip.

They were so close together that Dick could see Wally's neck move as he swallowed slightly, and could feel Wally's breathe against his face as he exhaled.

When Wally's lips brushed against Dick's lips, there weren't any sparks like were often advertised in books and magazines. There was just...peace. With Wally's lips on his there was no worry, no panic, no hope, no fear, no wondering, no disappointment. There was just peace, and calm, and comfort, and Wally.

The feeling continued as Wally broke away and leaned his head against Dick's, swallowing and breathing harder still, a blush dusting across his freckled cheeks. "Because, I think you might be perfect for me."

It didn't matter if people could actually be perfect for each other. It didn't matter if they were perfect people, or if they would be best friends forever, or if they would have a perfect happy ending. Because no matter what either of them believed, they could both agree that this moment- with the flushed cheeks and the mingling breaths, and the sweat on their foreheads and the chapped skin on their lips- this moment was perfect.

A/N: My goodness it's cheesy, and at some points I feel like it's really repetitive- but I quite like it, for some reason. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and…have a nice day!