Okay so this is my longest chapter written for this story so far! WOW I couldn't believe the word count it came out to! Six thousand! But alas, I couldn't bear to break this into two parts, so you guys get to have it all at once! Thank you all for your comments and especially those repeat reviewers that encourage me chapter after chapter. Thank you-or as the Reach would say-gratitude.


Chapter 9:

War.

It was when Bart saw Zatanna giggle and touch Jaime's arm again in Creative Communications that he decided he wasn't going to be lukewarm any more. Like hinges straining against the weight, he could no longer keep from reacting when Zatanna flirted with Jaime. He was going to declare war and he was going to be the victor.

"Zatanna." He interrupted her good-byes, "Can I talk to you?"

The raven haired beauty raised an eyebrow but nodded mutely, "Sure."

They waited until the students had all filed away and they were alone in the hallway. Bart paused when they reached a place with enough privacy. He was beginning to have second thoughts. Who was he to claim Jaime? Sure they were friends and Jaime liked him but it was nothing like that. He had no clue what Jaime was interested in. He didn't know if Jaime liked blondes, brunette, redheads, auburns-or males.

Zatanna watched with nonchalant interest as the auburn who had called her out was now standing before her fidgeting nervously.

"This is about Jaime isn't it?" she guessed and saw the auburn's shoulders jump in surprise.

Bart looked at her and knew she had figured him out.

"Yes." he said stolidly, "I want you to back away from Jaime."

Zatanna scoffed and Bart kept his stance.

"Why?" she inquired.

"Because he-"

"No." she said dully, then, "What's your reason for wanting me away from him?"

There was a long pause. It was then that Bart realized he hadn't really thought this through. He hadn't thought this through at all. He didn't know what to say to that. What could he say? That he wanted her away because he didn't think she was good for Jaime? That he wanted her away because she threatened his friendship with Jaime? That he wanted her away so that he could make his own moves on Jaime?

When he didn't answer she prompted him, "Is it because you don't like me or because you like him?"

Bart took a deep breath. He set his jade eyes in determination and made a decision and, answering with his heart, he stared into her ice-colored eyes, "Both."

She didn't seem insulted by this but instead intrigued.

"Would you back off if I asked you?" she challenged.

Bart didn't answer. He knew he wouldn't, he couldn't, and he suspected she knew that also.

He kept his face schooled in determination as he saw a crafty smile curve the junior's lips, "Well, I'm not backing off either." her eyes may be blue but they were burning with a fiery determination, "After all, all's fair in love and war."

"So which is this?" Bart spoke levelly as he reflected the look in her eyes, "Love or war?"

Her eyes were sparking with mischief, "Not sure but I'll make sure you're first to know when I figure it out." then "Which is it to you?" she inquired, "Is this about Love or War?"

"Neither." she raised a quizzical brow at that. He seemed serious and that confused her even more.

Bart turned around and started to walk away before he stopped and looked over his shoulder with a cocky smile.

Then, "It's about Jaime."

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"Hey her-man-oh!" He caught up to Jaime in the general crowd of people in the school parking lot. The Latino was talking to Tye and as Bart half-jogged up to them he saw Zatanna glaring at him in the corner of his eye. Heh, Bart thought, stuck in the distance.

"Hey man." Tye patted him on the back when he got in reach.

Bart smiled impishly, "Hey." he greeted cheerfully back. His mind was in an adrenaline induced rush; he had declared war and made a decision.

Tye pinched his cheeks and stretched them, "What are you looking so happy for?" he grinned at the poor auburn as he tried to squirm away from the grip on his cheeks.

"Ouch-ouch-ouch!" Bart chanted quickly.

"Look at you." Tye let go of his own will, "You're stealing my man Jaime from me and smiling while you do it." he play-pouted and Jaime laughed behind him.

"Hermano, no one is stealing me from you." He leaned his elbow on Tye's shoulder.

Not yet anyway, Bart mentally insert.

"You're both my best friends. Now quit picking on him." Jaime had that charming smile that made Bart wonder why the handsome Latino wasn't swarmed with admirers. Best friends, that made Bart fly up to cloud nine, even if he was trying to change that now it still made him happy!

"Yeah!" Bart grinned, unable to contain his ecstasy.

Tye went to pinch his cheeks again but this time Bart saw it coming and ducked in time, then put some distance between them.

Jaime chuckled as Tye shrugged his amused friend off, "Whatever man." he grumbled. He looked away from the two petulantly before his eyes caught a beautiful blonde from one of his classes walking by, his eyes followed her for a few seconds before he turned back to his friends.

"Do either of you losers have a date for homecoming yet?" he asked.

Bart quickly looked to Jaime and felt instantly relieved when he saw Jaime shake his head no.

"Nope. I'm not even sure I'm going this year." Jaime confessed.

"Dude." Tye intoned, "Don't be so lame." then, "I'll get you a date. I know some hot girls from business math that don't have a date yet. They'd totally love to go with you."

Bart felt his heart fill with dread. Nononono! He stared at Jaime while trying to not show his internal distress.

Jaime chuckled good-naturedly, "Nah." he answered easily, "Blind dates aren't my thing."

Tye tsk-ed then turned his eyes to Bart, "How 'bout you pipsqueak?" his husky voice was teasing. Bart had learned from Jaime that teasing meant Tye liked him. He didn't know how to feel about that yet.

Jaime turned his eyes to the auburn beside him and watched as a myriad of emotions flickered across his face. It was always interesting to watch his face, he mused. The younger teen was like an open book for all to read.

"Me?" Bart questioned nervously, his eyes flickering to Jaime's for a second and making contact before he returned them to Tye, "I, uh, don't know if I'm going yet." he confessed. Because I don't know if Jaime is going yet.

Tye sighed exasperated, "Both of you." he shook his head.

"Hey, I don't see you with a date yet." Jaime verbally poked.

"That," Tye's husky voice answered smoothly as he made a point of looking at the girls in the parking lot, "is because I haven't decided which one yet."

Jaime rolled in eyes, "Whatever ese."

The school buses started rolling in and Tye picked his backpack up off of the asphalt, "See you later." he said and then parted towards where the buses were stopping.

"I thought he rode his skateboard home?" Bart questioned as he watched the future Indian chief board the public school transport.

"He does," Jaime answered, "but I guess he just felt lazy today."

Bart chuckled, "I guess."

Bart turned to face Jaime when the buses departed "Anyway," he said and it had the definite tone of a topic change, "Where are you going to watch the meteor shower?"

"Huh?" Jaime asked before he remembered the announcement that the AP Biology teacher had made about there being a meteor shower Saturday night and it being mandatory that all the AP Biology students watch it, "Oh, I was planning on going out of town and camping."

"Wow." Bart was going to suggest that Jaime come over and watch it from his house but that sounded so much cooler, "Do you have a tent?"

Jaime smiled sentimentally, "Yeah. My dad and I used to go camping a lot."

He looked at Bart and recognized the look in his eyes; he had worn that same look when his dad had first gone camping without him. Bart wanted to go with him, and, he realized, he wanted Bart to go with him too.

"Do you want to, uh, come? There's enough room in the tent for two." Jaime offered and saw Bart's bright green eyes light up and a open-mouth grin take his face.

"CRASH!" Bart exclaimed and-"Oof!" Jaime grunted as Bart suddenly hugged him. Jaime smiled fondly when the initial shock had disintegrated. Little did he know two pairs of ice-blue eyes were jealously watching the exchange.

"Whoa, easy hermano." he wiggled his arms out of the auburn's grip and gently pushed at his shoulders until they were a manly distance apart.

"Heh," Bart looked up at him in a suddenly bashful way that was cute, even to Jaime, "So when do I come over?"

"How about five, that's when I plan on heading out anyways."

"Crash!" then a thought struck him, "How are we gonna get the tent and stuff-"

"I have a driver's license hermano."

"Really?" Interesting.

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Bart shuffled his feet on the Reyes family's welcome mat, "Bienvenidos!" it read. He repositioned the duffel bag on his shoulder. He didn't know what he was supposed to bring camping so he'd asked his grandparents and they'd said to take a pillow, flashlight, blankets, a change of clothes, and food and he'd be good. He didn't know if things had changed since their time but it was the only advice he had to go by so it was that or nothing. He had even bought three bags of chicken whizees for the trip.

He reached for the doorbell and his hand was practically vibrating with excitement as he pushed it and heard the classic ding-dong followed by the tell-tale "Coming!"

This time it was Milagro, "Hola!" she greeted cheerfully, "Jaime is-" "Right here!" he spoke over as he appeared behind her, keys in his right hand and smile in place as he ruffled her hair. She swatted at him but he laughed as she playfully pushed him.

"Mom!" He called into the house, "We're leaving now!"

"Okay, have fun!" his mom responded from what seemed to be the laundry room.

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Jaime had the radio playing on a station that only occasionally played mainstream songs. It was nice riding with Jaime, the car had all the windshields rolled down and when a song came on that they recognized Jaime would unconsciously sing along to it, his voice seductively dipping in and out of his accent. Bart was content with either singing along or listening to Jaime.

"So," Bart started and Jaime glanced at him before turning the music down enough for it to still be background music but just enough so that Bart didn't have to raise his voice to speak, "Uh, do you have anyone in mind for the homecoming dance?" Bart asked in the most casual voice he could manage. He felt stupid asking but he had to know.

"Nah." Jaime responded easily as he turned the steering wheel. That was a relief.

"Why not?" Bart asked, "I-mean, uhm, isn't there any girls at our school that are your type?"

Jaime glanced at Bart with an amused look before quickly returning his eyes to the road and a moment later turning the wheel again.

"My type" he said and his lopsided smile made Bart feel like a middle school girl with a crush instead of a mature, high school boy, "changes on a person by person basis." something about the way that Jaime said that made Bart want to curl his toes, maybe it was the exotic flick that Jaime gave it or maybe it was the burst of hope that the sentence gave but either way it made him stomach flip with glee.

"What about types that you don't like?" he inquired.

"Hmmm," Jaime hummed and Bart flicked his eyes to the window so that he didn't stare at Jaime; the nervous, hopeful, aching bubble in his stomach made it impossible for him to keep from showing the nervous I-have-a-crush-on-you look on his face.

"I guess," he finally answered, "I mean, there are certain people that I would never consider dating, like uh..." he paused, then, "Oh-like Tuppence." Bart's face pinched at the female Terror twin.

"Dude. That means practically nothing. No one in our school likes her."

"Not true. Cameron seems pretty into her."

"Yeah and so does Tommy."

"That's sick."

"Then come up with a better example of what your type is-slash-isn't."

Jaime groaned and Bart felt a small thrill at the sound.

"Fine." He paused and collected his thoughts. He had talked about girls with Tye before but Tye was always interested in the physical, and that wasn't really Jaime's thing. Don't get him wrong. He liked a hot body as much as the next guy but he didn't want to be someone who looked at only the surface.

"I don't know. Someone who I can hang with and laugh about stuff with, watch movies with, and who doesn't mind that I switch to Spanish all the time...my last girlfriend didn't like that." he confessed.

Bart found himself smiling uncontrollably as he stared out the passengers window. He fit all of those.

"What's with the sudden interest in my love life?" Jaime broke him from his reverie.

Sufficiently pleased still Bart looked at Jaime and couldn't hide the blunt adoration held in his eyes, lucky for him though Jaime had to keep his own eyes on the road and couldn't see the way Bart was contentedly staring.

"Curiosity." He answered simply, a grin taking his lips.

"Alright," Jaime allowed, "What about you? Any love interest for Bart Allen?"

"There is someone..." Bart was smiling impishly as he said this.

"Yeah? Who is she?"

You.

If Jaime could look at him he'd see who Bart was talking about. Jaime kept his face casual as he asked but there was something unsettling about the thought of Bart having a crush on someone. He didn't know why but his stomach felt at unrest.

"It's someone who is attractive, fun to hang out with, smarter than they know," Bart listed each of these things with a raised finger, "kind of shy, brave, kinder and more gentle than anyone I know, and super caring."

Jaime glanced at Bart but the teen was smiling to the window again, "You're not going to tell me who it is, are you?"

"Nope. Only two other people know and if I had my way even they wouldn't know."

"Well, while we're putting our hearts out on the table, I guess I can admit that I used to have a crush on Barbara Gorden, ya know, before she got a boyfriend."

"Barbara Gorden?" Bart checked his mental file of student names and drew a blank on her, "Who's that?"

"Do you know that red-head senior on our cheerleading team? Best friends with Gar's older sister?"

"Oh." Bart felt his heart sink before he realized-red-head, "Does that mean you have a thing for red-heads?" he asked daringly, secretly hopeful.

"Uhh." Jaime glanced at Bart and saw a strange look in the auburn's eyes that made his stomach feel weird, "I don't know. I haven't had many crushes." he felt like he was fumbling for words, "I mean, I had one girlfriend and she was a brunette."

"What was she like? What happened between you and her?" Bart asked curiously.

Jaime smiled fondly, "Heh, she was always gloomy. Sighed at everything and thought the world was dull." a slight frown replaced his smile, "Her dad didn't exactly approve of her dating an average guy like me. Guess I didn't fit the lawyers-and-doctors-only requirement. He broke us up. The next summer they moved to New York and last I heard she's already a business intern." Jaime shrugged, "But that's all in the past, right?"

"Yeah." Bart answered automatically. His buzz from earlier sufficiently killed.

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The light was already dimming outside when Jaime parked the car. Bart hadn't noticed that he'd dozed off until the older teen shook him lightly, "Grab your bag." he commanded and unbuckled his own seatbelt before leaving the auburn to follow behind a moment later.

"So," Bart rubbed at his eyes and looked back. They were parked in a tiny, desolate, parking lot that had weeds growing in the cracks of the asphalt. He looked at his surroundings and noticed there were some trees and a large cliff nearby. Literally, they were in the middle of nowhere. "Is this it?" he didn't know what he was expecting but this wasn't exactly it.

Jaime chuckled, "There's a trail. Just follow me." his smile made it easy for Bart to take any command given. Bart waited as Jaime went around back and grabbed the tent bag and his own duffel bag, which he slung across his torso, while he held the heavy-looking bag in his right hand.

"Here, I'll help with that." Bart reached to grab the bag but Jaime jerked it from his reach.

"I got this." he gave a smile that showed his teeth a little, "Here," he handed Bart his sleeping bag that had his pillow tied to it and a small icebox. It was light and easy. Bart wanted to help carry the heavy stuff but he couldn't bring himself to argue with that smile. So he just followed behind dumbly as they started up a dirt path. The path was narrow and more grass-non-grass than he would like and the fact that it dispersed into different trails made him hope that Jaime knew exactly where they were going.

Jaime was silent as he led the younger teen through the old trail in dimming light. The only sounds to be heard were the rustling of grass around them and crunch of dry grass and dirt beneath their shoes. The silence wasn't suffocating or awkward like some were but was instead pleasant and calm; it was comfortable. But, talking and being social was an Allen family trait that Bart had received, so after about five minutes the silence was unceremoniously broken.

"So-do you have dinner in that duffel bag?"

"Don't worry. You won't starve." Jaime promised and they returned to their comfortable silence.

Jaime didn't know what was wrong with him. He couldn't talk to the younger teen without thinking about it. And he'd thought about it the whole ride up, and it was distracting. Bart. That's what. That was what was so distracting. He didn't know what was going on with his mind but ever since Bart had confessed that he liked someone Jaime's mind has been churning in a myriad of emotions that left him ultimately confused. He didn't know what was going on or why he was feeling so unrightfully-it can only be described as-jealous. Jealous. The word sent his stomach plummeting to the bottom of the sea and made him want to flee from the source of it.

Friends didn't feel jealous, which had made Jaime consider something he never thought he'd ever consider before.

On the ride over while Bart snoozed he had analyzed his actions over the past few weeks since meeting Bart and realized that there were some moments that he had noticed things about Bart that weren't normal-like the shape of his lips for a perfect example. He'd even thought upon a few occasions that Bart was cute, surely that wasn't a normal thought for a male to have towards another. He thought of the strange protectiveness he had towards the younger teen; though the pragmatic side of him ruled that such was a side effect of seeing Conner harass Bart. It was only natural to be more protective after that, right? Of course.

Or, his seventeen-year-old mind argued, the fact that you want to put your arm around him every time you sit together might be a warning flag.

He'd felt a nagging feeling growing in his subconscious these past weeks that he had ignored before but now he brought under close scrutiny. He knew this feeling well despite only feeling it once before. It was how he had first felt before he'd asked out his previous girlfriend. It was a problem.

Jaime took a deep breath in his nose and let it out slowly through his mouth as he guided Bart through the taller grass and into the path that led towards a slight upward sloping which would slope harder in the future. It had gotten darker, he noted vacantly.

He had hoped to arrive at the spot before nightfall but it seemed like they'd left too late. Not that it was much farther though...

Jaime didn't think he was gay (he liked girls way too much for that) but was he bisexual-or at least attracted to Bart? Maybe.

Jaime had grown up in a very open-minded, loving family and though he wasn't about to drive home and announce to his sister and mom that he was starting to wonder if he was bisexual, he also knew that his family wouldn't reject him if he did make such an announcement.

The worse part of this wasn't facing the possibility-though that was hard too-it was the doubt and second guessing. How could he know if he was experiencing friendship or attraction?

Attraction was physical: so the question was did he want to have sex with-

Jaime definitely wasn't prepared for that thought.

Okay, he reorganized his thoughts, maybe that was too far.

Did he want to kiss Bart?

Jaime thought about it and couldn't come up with an answer.

Deciding to rearrange the question he asked himself; would he like it if he kissed Bart?
He tried to imagine it. He saw himself next to Bart just talking like always, then he dipped his head in closer and the auburn's excited chatter hushed as green orbs widened. Jaime closed the distance slowly and the green orbs half-lidded in anticipation. He saw the auburn waiting for him to close the distance, then he saw himself taking the smaller boy's soft lips against his own. Jaime was going to end it there but his imagination decided a walk was too slow and it sprinted to Jaime sucking the auburn's neck and eliciting moans from the willing green-eyed teen. The auburn was calling his name with shallow breathes and Jaime was answering those calls with gentle sucking and teasing flicks of his tongue.

The nervous flip in his stomach and slight jump in his temperature told him yes; yes he would like that. Even further, he might even want that. Jaime forced the fantasy out of his mind before it went too far.

When his mind was cleared he realized that they were almost at the spot he had chosen for star-viewing.

"We're almost there." he had to force his voice to function and it came out sounding strained to him. He hid it though by clearing his throat right afterwards, "Careful of the tree branch." he commented as he ducked under the outstretched wooden arm.

Bart silently followed.

Before he was able to think about it any more they were there. He didn't know if he was relieved about that or not...

Bart looked around as the slight sloping suddenly stopped and the trees cleared to reveal a giant half circle shaped around flat, level ground. He squinted his eyes to see around through the now dark air. He could see the whole sky from here, the trees had cleared out and offered a distanced comfort. Bart looked up to the sky and his eyes widened in wonder. This far from the city he could see stars that he'd never seen before. He wondered what it had been like for young Jaime to come here as a child with his father. He looked around the dirt and pebbles as if the past was written in them. Of course it wasn't; only some boulders unnaturally surrounding some smaller boulders which were lined in a fire pit were the proof that this land had even been touched by man.

A light beamed past him and Bart looked back to see Jaime struggling to lay the tent out, flashlight now tucked under a armpit and awkwardly pointed towards his work.

"Hey, ayudame por favor." Jaime called without looking towards Bart. (help me please)

"You do realize I have no clue what you just said right?" Bart started walking towards the Latino, who was smiling craftily.

"Yeah but I still get my way." he was grinning and even in the flashlight's scattered rays Bart could make out the teasing glint in his eyes.

Bart grabbed one side of the tent and the rest of their conversation dissipated into Jaime pointing and telling Bart what he had to do. It was almost an hour later that the small, barely big enough for two people, tent was pitched up correctly (after many failed attempts). After it was pitched the two threw their sleeping bags and pillows in to be set up later.

It was pitch black by then and the stars were all present. The distant mountains were blurred shadows against the velvet-black of the sky.

Jaime leaned down and picked up the flashlight that had been placed down while they were setting the tent.

"So, how long until the sky starts falling on us?" he began to walk towards the circle of small boulders that made up the potential fire pit. It had larger, flattish boulders circles around it for makeshift seats.

Bart looked at his phones time and did the math aloud, "It's ten now and he said that it would start around one, so three hours."

Jaime poked at ashes in the pit with a stick that he'd picked up, "Well." Jaime poked again as his face, shadowed in night as it was, stared pensively, "...I'll start a fire. Can you get the hot dogs out of the icebox?"

Bart nodded, then when he realized that Jaime couldn't see it he quickly corrected himself to verbally saying yes.

Half an hour later they were huddled around the contained fire with metal sticks slowly twirling to evenly cook their dinner. The sun had completely disappeared long ago and the temperature had dropped with its disappearance. The fire was their only source of light and heat, the flickering flame casting eerie silhouettes on the closer tree trunks.

"Uhh...this could take a while." Jaime mumbled as he turned his shishkabobed hot dog for what must have been the hundredth time.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Bart pushed his hot dog closer to the fire, orange flames now licking at the mixed meat.

"So..." Bart drawled after a second, "How are we going to pass the time?"

"Favorites game?" Jaime suggested.

"Alright." Bart consented.

"Favorite fruit?" an awkward question to start but Bart could tell this was going to be fun.

"Pineapple." he answered.

"Apple." Jaime answered readily, "Favorite song?"

"Currently? Um...'Zero', Varsity Fanclub."

"I thought you'd have better taste than that," Jaime shook his head disapprovingly and tsked at him, "Apocalyptica's 'Not Strong Enough'."

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Two hours into the game it was almost time for the meteor shower to begin.

As could be expected from two hours time of talking about their favorite things they learned a lot of things about each other.

Bart loved science, loved all types of music except rap, hated waiting in lines, loved cherry ice-cream, hated watching sports, loved swings, hated raisins, and wanted a big dog.

Jaime loved roller skating almost as much as skateboarding, hated rodents, loved the beach, hated hospitals and needles to the point of phobia, loved super sweet food, his favorite animal was a wolf or tiger, his favorite flower was bromilliad (a cactus flower), and his favorite smell was vanilla.

Bart had been on the track team for a few years in middle school and had won gold before he went to high school and decided not to rejoin, when he was little his parents used to make up stories for him at bedtime about superheroes and villains, and when he first moved in with his grandparents he didn't know them that great.

Jaime hated the rain because his socks always got wet, had watched every Disney movie ever made when he was little, had never joined any sports, and almost always went to his little sisters soccer games.

They weren't sure if there was much else to learn by the time that it was almost time for the meteors to fall. Bart was the one to interrupt the game and announce that they should start looking up at the sky.

"Welp," Bart popped the 'p', "It's about time. Shouldn't we lay down or something?"

"Yeah." Jaime agreed and reached behind his boulder-seat and produced a cushiony looking blanket big enough for a mattress.

"What's-" but Bart's question was answered by Jaime snapping the blanket out and spreading it down on the ground. Jaime motioned for Bart to lay down and the auburn complied, slowly walking over and sitting down before laying back and looking up at the night sky. His green eyes watched as Jaime went back towards the fire and a second later the fire was smothered by dirt.

"Why'd you-?"

"We'll see better without the fire." Jaime answered before Bart even needed to finish the question. Once he was sure the fire was out he headed back towards the blanket and took his place right beside Bart, their shoulders down to their pinkies touching.

It was a new moon and with the fire gone Bart only had the star's light to depend on. He felt Jaime more than saw him. It was deafly silent as they stared up with wonder at the number of stars blanketed over the night sky.

Jaime took a deep breath as the first short jet of light sped across the diamonds and velvet-black sky. He smiled fondly as he saw the shadow of Bart's arm rise instantly to point at where the star had been, "Did you see that?" he whispered excitedly.

"Yup." another one shot across, "Another one." he pointed also.

Bart's mouth opened in wonder and his eyes widened and scanned the sky greedily, trying to predict where the next one would appear. Jaime stared languidly at the sky as his mind relaxed. He silently appreciated the view before him and the memories it would later be.

The meteor shower began to pick up as more and more blazing balls of light fell into the abyss.

"Aren't we supposed to make a wish?" Bart whispered.

"Alright, so what are you going to wish for?" Jaime turned his face toward the auburn.

Bart was conscious that Jaime was now looking at him and he knew if he turned his head too he could kiss Jaime so easily, almost as if it were an accident. Maybe he could even play it off as one. He chuckled nervously as he remembered he needed to answer Jaime.

"Sorry, but I want this one to come true." his voice was trembling in a weird funny-nervous way as he said that.

A smile tugged at the corner of Jaime's lips as he turned his eyes skyward again, "Yeah."

Another shooting star crossed the sky, this one's tail long and bright. Bart closed his eyes quickly and made his wish. He remembered one time when he and his parents had been in the backyard looking for shooting stars. His father, who back then had his natural hair color other than the pepper grey that would come later when Bart started his teen years, had told young, nine-year-old Bart, that if he wanted his wish to come true he couldn't ask for anything unrealistic. Young Bart had been offended by the limitation and demanded to know why he couldn't ask for big things. His mother who had been standing behind them chuckled softly, in her sweet motherly voice, and said that shooting stars have only short lives and can only grant wishes as long as their tail.

So Bart didn't ask for a miracle; just a hint.

When he opened his eyes again the star was gone, burned out into Earth's atmosphere, it glowing streak and lingering trail faded into the black abyss of night.

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Bart shivered as the cold got the best of him. They'd been out there for more than an hour now and the night cold had slowly sapped the heat from the left side of this body; the other side of him being warmed by Jaime's side. Bart moved his arm away from the dark-skinned boy and started rubbing at the exposed, now stinging with numbness, skin of his left arm in an effort to warm it up.

Jaime was snapped from his reverie by the sudden movement of the body beside him. He turned his head towards the source of the disturbance and saw the smaller teen rubbing at his arm for heat. Jaime felt a small flutter of affection and protectiveness and without though lifted his arm and wrapped it behind the younger teen's head (to which the auburn automatically lifted his head in confusion at the contact) and in one smooth movement tucked his arm under the teen's head and, along with pulling him closer, began rubbing at the cold skin.

Somehow to Jaime it didn't seem unnatural or strange to share his warmth like this; he had excess heat and Bart was cold.

Bart's reaction was initially shock. He didn't know how to interpret the action. From the look on Jaime's face (his eyes had adjusted well in the dark) it was a thoughtless and casual action to the handsome teen.

Bart's mind was running a thousand miles an hour as his heart went into cardiac arrest. Jaime was straight! He didn't think he'd do something like that! This was a dangerous position for Bart. Jaime was so tempting. No one else could have done that so naturally. He was an innate seducer, it was the only explanation.

Bart forcefully settled the nervousness in his stomach and looked up at the stars. After a while a blissful sigh escaped Bart's lips, barely audible and missed by Jaime, but answered by the wind that caressed their skin and allowed Bart to burrow a little closer to Jaime.

Well, he had asked for a hint and he got a slap to the face. There was no way this wasn't a sign. But for tonight he would just enjoy Jaime's friendship. Tomorrow onward he would work on changing Jaime's way of viewing him. He would start to make Jaime notice him like that. He might have to ask for Gar's help a little more now that Zatanna was at war...

The soft scent of cactuses, ashes, nature, night, and Jaime pushed all future thoughts out of Bart's head and made him focus on the present. A very pleasant present.

Jaime, meanwhile, felt conflicting confusion as his body told him that he liked this, that he liked Bart being so close beside him. He liked this. And that scared him. Jaime was intimidated by this feeling that was threatening to crush his sanity and push him to do things that he feared would lead him to heartbreak. He didn't know how to react or what to do when he had pulled Bart towards himself. He didn't know if he had a right to be confused like this and happy like this when Bart had no clue what he was thinking.

Dios mio. Bart. What is going on?