[edit] Beta 1.2 aka. thanks for betaing this a second time, Naryu! idk what I'd do without you! ;_;

On another note: Always feel free to tell me about mistakes in my stories! I'm not native and one of my reasons for writing is to improve my language skills! ;)

They had been the perfect couple. At least that's what everyone said. That's what everyone saw.

But the truth had been something entire different.

Not always, of course.

When they started dating – how long ago was it again? Five years? Six maybe? – they had loved each other. They had enjoyed spending all their free time together. He had traveled all the way to Gotham every other weekend and as they finally started college and moved in together everything seemed perfect.

Everyone had thought they would marry sooner or later and get old together. Even he himself had believed it.

But they'd been wrong.

He watched Artemis carrying the last box – filled with clothes and some books – outside of their flat. Or well, their former flat.

He had started packing too. He'd have to move out himself in a week or two. But until now he hadn't really registered it was over. That they had broken up and would move to different cities and…

It suddenly had hit him – the finality of the moment.

Where had they gone wrong? What had happened?

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he didn't want it to be over.

The last weeks had been so calm and awkwardly easy. After their last and final argument, after they had agreed it was better to go separated ways from now on everything had been so much better. He felt simply relieved. It had been as if all the pressure and stress was gone. And they had talked to each other so… so naturally. There was nothing to argue about, there was nothing to be mad at each other about. They had been free.

And they had been able to laugh together again.

It was almost like the first years of their relationship…or maybe more like the time when they had simply been friends and slowly fell for each other.

Wally liked it. Suddenly he liked to live with her again. He even considered trying to date again. Maybe it wasn't too late yet?

But Artemis didn't think the same. She was okay with staying friends and keeping contact but nothing more. No matter what he said, she moved out – back to Gotham – and he had to go on by himself.

He got a new job and apartment in Blüdhaven. It sounded stupid – he even thought so himself - but he didn't want to live too far away from her and still not in the same city. He liked to be able to visit her – just in case. He didn't want to risk running into her all the time however.

So as she said goodbye he could smile at her – sincerely. Knowing – hoping – they would see each other sooner or later. And maybe get a second chance.

Reality was quite the opposite though.

After he moved to Blüdhaven he instantly had a lot of work. He was the new guy and apparently that meant he had to do all the work no one else wanted to do.

In the end he barely noticed that he hadn't talked to Artemis at all after he'd moved. As he noticed he wanted to wait for her to contact him. He felt like she might need some time to herself. If he was honest with himself he knew he was also a bit scared of texting or calling her…and getting no reply or something.

A week after a meet-up in Gotham – a final chance to see her again after two months – she just asked why he didn't show up. Apparently she had sent him a postcard about it and Wally just never got it. When he asked why she didn't just text him or called him about it she got angry and stopped replying soon.

It was that day that he realized there was no future for them. That Artemis really didn't want such a future.

To him it felt like breaking up all over again.

He felt more broken then after their first – real – break-up. And suddenly he was grateful for all the work, because it was a perfect distraction.

Somehow over the next few months he got used to living alone. He talked to Artemis ever now and then, but the more time passed the less they had to talk about. She wasn't interested in his new life and she didn't want to talk about herself either.

Somewhere on the way he started to feel the same. He started to be okay again and even tried to date some girls he met at work.

However he couldn't stop comparing them with Artemis and after a while he had to admit: It was still too early. He couldn't fall for someone else. Not yet.

It didn't stop him from flirting with every other girl he met though. He always had been a flirt. Artemis had always complained about it.

It was one of the few good things about not having her around anymore. She couldn't complain about his – obviously meaningless – flirting attempts.

Wally was sure he would meet someone really exiting soon. Someone he could fall in love with and finally forget about his ex.

If he would have been more attentive, he would have noticed this someone entering his life a lot sooner.

It started about a month after he missed the meeting in Gotham. Wally had a letter in his mailbox that wasn't addressed to him. Well to his address, but not him in person.

"Richard Grayson" was printed on the envelope.

Somehow the name sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't quite remember why. Nevertheless he just brought the letter back to the post office, telling them the letter was wrongly delivered to him.

The old lady working at the counter apologized politely but didn't look concerned at all. If anything Wally wouldn't even be surprised if she just trashed the letter.

But that wasn't his responsibility, right? It was weird enough, that he got this guy's mail anyway. And hey, it was just one letter. Who cared?

Surprisingly enough it didn't stop after this one letter.

Wally felt torn. On one side he didn't want to bring the letter to the post office again. Who knew if they really just trashed it? This poor guy didn't even know he was missing some of his mail!

On the other hand he already had enough to do and worry about right now. He really didn't have the time for this. And surely he didn't have the money to send the letters back on his own account.

His mum and aunt already wrote him all those letters and expected him to reply…he didn't even like writing letters, but they insisted that he had to write back.

He knew they just wanted to distract him and cheer him up in their own stupid way. But most of the time it only annoyed him.

It was around this time that his aunt mentioned in one of her letters something interesting. Apparently she sometimes had sent his letters to a wrong address, too. She just wanted to apologize that her replies took a lot longer to get to him because of this – not that Wally was really sad about that. But it got him a bit curious.

If he got someone else's mail, maybe that person got his mail as well…?

He asked his aunt about it and about this other guy's address. And he was right. It was Richard Grayson.

Their addresses were astonishingly equal. Only two numbers in the zip code alternated and a bad handwriting were enough to get the mail wrongly delivered. Well, and most likely postman that didn't care about the name on the letter.

Still this guy lived further away from him then he had hoped.

His plan had been to walk there or something and dump the letters into his mailbox. But he would have to go half an hour by subway to get there…he surely wouldn't do this too often.

In the end he didn't go to Grayson's mailbox before December. He felt a bit bad about it, but his work didn't allow much free time, and most of the time he was just happy to relax and lay back whenever he could.

He had a small box filled with letters by now - about ten to fifteen. He intended to deliver them before Christmas at least.

He had taken a few days off at the end of December anyway. On the 19th would be a Christmas party with his friends. He would see Artemis again - after more than half a year.

Wally didn't know how to feel about it, but he was excited no matter what he tried.

Well, at least until Megan – one of their friends who told him about the party in the first place – delightedly started to talk about Artemis' new boyfriend. Megan didn't know he still wasn't completely over it, certainly. And she didn't know that he didn't know about said new boyfriend either.

Wally suddenly didn't know what to say. Or what to think.

He lied that his break was over and he had to hang up. He said he was looking forward to see all of them again – what wasn't entirely a lie – and quickly ended the call.

But surely Megan had noticed his discomfort. She always had been good at reading people.

It wasn't a surprise when Artemis called him later that day and … tried to explain. She didn't sound apologetically though. No, she sounded way more annoyed and angry.

Wally just listened and barely said anything through the whole call. What should he have said anyways?

It wasn't as if there was a need for her to explain anything. They had broken up half a year ago. It was just natural to be with someone else by now. The only wrong thing about all this was Artemis not telling Wally about it herself.

Mainly he just wished he would have a new girlfriend, too. This whole conversation would have been so much easier if he had.

But he wasn't in a new relationship. He wasn't over the break-up. He still wasn't ready to.

And Artemis knew - he was sure about that.

She wasn't even singularly angry at him about that. Most likely she was angry at herself too, because she knew she was hurting him and she couldn't do anything about it.

They had been in a relationship for so long; they knew each other for even longer. Neither of them could just stop caring. She simply cared in another way by now and Wally was still stuck somewhere on the way.

He wasn't so certain about attending this party anymore.

Sure enough he didn't want to meet her new boyfriend.

In the end he was in Central anyways and just couldn't stay at home.

Earlier he'd used the fact that he had to go to the city center of Blüdhaven to finally dump all the letters into Grayson's mailbox – oh man, this guy lived in such an expensive looking apartment block! How could this guy afford that? He had to be rich!

Afterwards he took the train to Central. He would visit his family over the following week. He hadn't been in Central since he moved to Blüdhaven, and they were really happy when he told them he would come over for Christmas.

Wally wasn't even sure about going to the Christmas party when he arrived in Central City. He went to his parent's place first to dump his bags but no one was home yet. He still had his own key to the house so this wasn't a problem in general. But he got bored - really, really bored. It was impossible to think of anything else then Artemis and her new boyfriend and he just couldn't stand it.

He left for the city center - walking there to waste some more time. He still wasn't sure what to do.

On one side he felt bad for not showing up. He knew some of his friends really wanted to see him and talk to him. He hadn't seen some of them in years.

On the other had he was so…frightened. He just didn't know how to deal with this kind of situation.

He reached the café near the City Hall around 7.30 p.m. and…he just couldn't bring himself to go inside. Instead he walked up to the big window side.

It was really easy to look inside thanks to the darkness outside.

It was even easier to spot the group of his friends.

Everyone looked so happy. Artemis looked so happy.

Wally hadn't seen her like this in a long time.

The guy next to her had his arm around her shoulder and barely looked at anyone else then her. He smiled the whole time and…just looked like a really nice guy. And like he truly loved and cared about her.

To his own surprise, he wasn't as mad as he thought he would be and he wasn't even all that sad. He was glad to see she was fine and enjoying her life - although it happened without him.

But mostly he felt strangely numb. Seeing her again after all this time and seeing how truly happy she was – that she really had moved on – was weird and put some kind of finality to it he couldn't quite describe.

Suddenly Wally noticed a guy – about his age – sitting close to the windows and staring right back at him.

Just now he got aware of how bad he must look right now. Standing out there and watching some people in a café like that. He felt really awkward about being caught staring and wanted to get away quickly. But when the guy suddenly stood up and shook his arms eagerly he stopped and turned back slightly.

The other mouthed something - but Wally never had been good at lip-reading. It only confused him and he wanted to leave even more.

Then the guy looked around quickly – what for? – and mouthed something again.

Wally still didn't understand what was going on, but he knew for sure he didn't know this guy. He shook his head no and retreated quickly. This was getting too awkward anyway.

He waited for a car to pass by and crossed the street. He wasn't capable of entering the café in any case, so he would get to the next tram stop and go home. Before he could walk away all too far however, he suddenly heard a car honking behind him.

Wally stopped and turned around in surprise – only to see the stranger from the café running up to him. Did this guy just almost get hit by a car only to follow him…? What the-

"You… you are Wally, right?" the guy asked carefully.

If he was confused before he didn't know how to explain his level of confusion right now. How could this guy know his name? Wally took a closer look at him. He had short black hair, bright blue eyes and Wally was barely taller than him. Nope, he was sure he had never met him before.

He considered not answering and just running off for a second but the other looked so hopeful and unsure at the same time that Wally couldn't do it. Although he kind of wanted to know what was going on.

"Uhm…yes…?" he finally replied still sounding as puzzled as he felt. The other's face lit up immediately. He looked so overly excited that Wally felt even more put off and slightly scared. Why was this guy so happy to meet him…?

"I have something for you," the ebony said and handed Wally a few postcards, smiling widely all the time. He took them utterly perplexed and blinking accordingly. He spread them in his hands and looked at their fronts while the other continued to explain. "I got some of your mail over the last half a year. Most of it I could send back to whoever wrote it. But, well … not those three, obviously."

He looked up for a short moment searching the other's face for any hints that this was just some stupid prank or whatever. But he only smiled at Wally happily.

Not hesitating any further he turned the postcards around and started to read.

The first one was from Artemis and it actually told him about a meeting with his friends in Gotham months ago. Wally had highly doubted by now this postcard ever existed. It didn't lighten his mood to get this card right now though.

The second one was from Artemis too but only a few weeks old. Artemis must have sent this card about a week after Wally found out about her new boyfriend. He hadn't replied to any of her texts and – to be fair – his phone had been turned off most of the time since then. It was just natural she accused him he'd have broken it. But no, it wasn't broken at all. And Wally was quite sure Artemis knew that. He could almost see her air-quoting the "you got your phone "broken" again, didn't you?" statement.

Not to mention the whole message sounded so very annoyed. He just tried not to think about it and hoped the last card was not from Artemis. Luckily it wasn't.

Wally, do you remember this chick I mentioned like, a few times lately? Okay, okay, the chick I won't shut up about and totally wanna bang. Well, I was so drunk on the party last Saturday I accidentally puked on her. She refuses to talk to me now. What a shame, right? :(

You should have puked on you-know-who too - she would have deserved it anyway. Oh wait, I forgot. You did that a few years ago already, nevermind. :D

Call me, dude. Bros for life, through puke accidents and everything, okay?

Red Arrow

Wally actually had to smile after reading the message -especially about Roy calling himself by this stupid nickname. He really should call him more often. Honestly, he had been afraid to annoy his friend with his moods and whining. But of course Roy would have dealt with it all the way through.

Well, to be fair, Wally had called him a few times – even without getting the postcard in time – and Roy had been a big help. Knowing now that he had even offered his help in such an open way made him quite happy nonetheless.

"Well, thanks…I guess", he finally replied and directed his smile to the stranger. He felt less awkward about this whole situation by now - but still not quite comfortable. A complete stranger just ran after him simply to hand him a bunch of postcards. Not to mention said stranger looked at him like he had wanted to meet him for ages.

Actually, Wally couldn't remember when the last time was someone looked so happy to see him…

"Sorry for those rude cards from Artemis," the other babbled on. "I really thought about not giving them to you…but it felt wrong to just keep them. They are yours after all…" It was surprisingly obvious how much he wanted to keep talking to him. He looked so excited and nervous.

Wally couldn't hold back a small laughter. He started to like this guy – and seriously it wasn't hard to tell the other was really nice and cared about him.

Someone he never met before, who knew him only due to a bunch of postcards, cared more about him than the girl he wanted to care the most. Life could be very amusing sometimes.

"You can keep them if you want to," Wally said and held out the two postcards. He surely wouldn't give away Roy's card, but he couldn't care less about the ones from Artemis right now. His mood was finally lighting up a bit. He wouldn't waste this by thinking about her.

The ebony took the cards looking straight at Wally, unsurely.

"Are you sure? The picture on this one is really good," he asked to make sure it was really okay. Wally just smiled back and nodded shortly.

"Yeah, it's better this way. I'd just trash them."

He didn't even bother lying. He would have dumped them in the next best trashcan. If the other really wanted to keep them though, he certainly could.

Slowly Wally turned to move on to the tram stop – he still didn't feel like walking back home all the way. One way was definitely enough.

The other followed him and walked up beside him. He looked at Wally inquiringly – obviously wanting to make sure it was okay to walk with him. He smiled reassuringly at the ebony in return.

"Trashing such a nice picture of Gotham, tsk. That really would have been a shame," the other continued after a moment. Wally could hear in his voice that he was only partly serious though. Still, he couldn't hold back a slightly bitter remark.

"Not considering who sent the postcard it's on…"

He tried his best to continue smiling - acting as if it wouldn't be a big deal. Sure enough he failed at least halfway. The other smiled back at him sympathetically and nodded slowly.

"She…she's your ex, right?"

Wally was a bit surprised about this question. He nodded back nevertheless.

Thinking about it … how much did this guy actually know about him? Probably way more than he had guessed until now. But maybe it wasn't that hard to get a few things after reading those postcards. Wally could only guess. He had never been good at playing detective himself. His friends on the other hand sometimes only looked at him and knew immediately if something was off.

As far as he could tell the other studied his face quite carefully and most likely could read him like an open book. It barely made him feel uncomfortable by now though. It was more like … making him laugh again.

The other looked slightly put off as he suddenly started laughing.

"You know. It's kinda funny and creepy at the same time how you know like everything about me and I don't even know your name," he elaborated cheerfully.

The other smiled back at him - certainly seeing Wally's point.

"I don't know everything about you," he defended himself still smiling brightly. "I haven't even know what you look like until a few minutes ago!"

Wally couldn't hold back to laugh at him again. This was just too cute!

"But… I wouldn't mind knowing more about you," the ebony continued way more seriously. He looked Wally straight in the eyes and for the first time Wally noticed that this whole being-exited-to-meet-him could mean something more.

"If that includes me getting to know you better, too," he said in a half-hearted flirting attempt. He hadn't thought much about his reply and simply went with the first best thing. He didn't regret it in the slightest as the other laughed happily in return, most likely really in for the flirting.

"Maybe" was the cheeky reply.

Wally did his best to look sad and sulky but his opponent just laughed even louder. He must have failed really badly – he didn't care at all however. This whole conversation was way too enjoyable and cheered him up so much!

When was the last time he couldn't stop smiling like right now?

"I'm Dick. Dick Grayson," the other offered his hand. Wally took it without any hesitation.

Suddenly it hit him and he froze stopping them both from walking on.

What. Grayson…?

No. Way!

"Wait," He couldn't believe he hadn't thought about this earlier. This guy was getting his mail. He had been getting someone else's mail. It was so frigging obvious! "Dick, like, in short for Richard?" He still had to ask. He already knew he was right. There couldn't be any other way.

Dick nodded slowly in return looking very confused. "Yeah, why?"

Wally threw his hands up in the air and almost shouted in return. "I was getting some of your mail too, dude!"

The other gaped at him in return.

"What?"

Wally nodded eagerly to show how absolutely unbelievable he found all this himself.

At the same time he started to regret he hadn't brought Dick his mail far earlier…and might have met him and…jeez. This was way too big of a coincidence!

Suddenly the ebony started to laugh and after a second Wally couldn't hold back either. This whole situation was just too hilarious. And … he couldn't deny he thought this was a super romantic way to meet someone, either. It had something … destined.

Thinking about it, maybe it wasn't that bad he hadn't met Dick earlier. He probably wouldn't have been ready to see this opportunity as he saw it currently. Right now he really wanted to give this a proper chance and judging by the way the other looked at him all the time he surely wanted the same.

All of a sudden Wally felt quite confident about facing Artemis and this new boyfriend.

"You know, there is this Christmas party I'm kinda late to," he started and Dick already smirked back at him knowingly. "I didn't want to show up without a date so ... you mind accompanying me?"

He offered his arm and already turned around to walk back to the café – smiling broadly all the time.

Dick laughed cheerfully in return and linked his arm with Wally's.

"Sure," was his short reply and they started to walk back slowly.

"So," he continued after a moment "What did you do with my mail?"

Wally grinned widely and barely held back his laughter.

"Actually, I just dumped them into your mailbox before I went to Central this morning."

He wasn't surprised at all when Dick stopped walking abruptly and gaped at him again.

"You knew where I live?"

He actually snickered in return. So Dick didn't find out his address, for real?

"Well, yeah. Aunt I told me about you getting my mail, so I figured there would be a connection. I simply asked her for your address," he explained as if it was no big deal.

"B-but…!" Dick started and he was obviously at a loss for words. "That's cheating!"

Wally laughed at that and pulled slightly at the ebony's arm to make him move on.

"How's that cheating?" he asked in amusement as they continued their way back to the café.

Dick clutched his arm slightly tighter and didn't move his gaze from Wally – not paying any attention to where they were going.

"You can't just ask for it," he continued eagerly – not looking as serious as he tried to sound. "I not asked for your address purposefully - because it felt wrong. I wanted to find out myself AND it worked in the end, right?"

Wally snickered quietly in return. He tried to take this a bit more serious, but knowing the other wasn't fully severe about this himself didn't help much.

"Well, you don't know my address yet, to be certain…"

Dick snorted and halfheartedly punched his upper arm.

"You really should consider telling me then!"

This turned out way longer than planned, to be honest! xD I wanted to write about as much as for part one of this story and now look at it..almost twice as many words Dx

Buuut I really wanted to describe what Wally went through and show you guys the big difference to when he (finally) meets Dick aaaaand I hope I got this done well...? :'D

Anyways, I really love this story, although it's (only) AU and it was lots of fun to work on it! x3

And maybe - just maybe! - I will write more. Depends on if people want me to write more and if I have time for it. (I certainly have more to this story in my head, no worries about that XD) But for now I have 2-3 other YJ-Stories to work on so I will focus on those first.

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! :3

Sara~