She ignored the flashing of the lights, focusing completely on her parents and a large smile on her face. She had been waiting for this moment since before Bruce had told her he was planning to ask Dinah to marry him. They had pushed the date back after Richard had been changed, not wanting her to have to deal with the press until she was ready. She had gone out into public as a female Richard a handful of times so that the press would be less likely to swarm her on the day of the wedding. Even so, there was speculation all over the news about what she would be wearing to the wedding, even more than about what her mother's dress looked like.
The most popular idea was that she was going to wear a dress much like the bride's maids whilst still being her father's best man or in this case woman. This was a thought that Wally found highly amusing and was therefore disappointed when he found out that Richard was going to wear a female, black Armani suit with a white button down shirt and black tie. Her mother had talked her into wearing heels and a hair band with a bow made of blue rhinestones.
They all knew the press was going to be at Bruce Wayne's, the notorious bachelor's, wedding, so she knew she was going to always have to deal with the lights of the cameras, so she blocked it out, only paying attention to her parents as they exchanged vows. It was clear they were both happy, for it radiated off of them in waves.
After the wedding ceremony the press, which was only allowed at the fringes of the wedding, were pushed out completely and the guests were dispersed towards the reception area. Richard and her family stayed to get photos with one another, as did the bridesmaids and groomsman. Richard listened to what the photographer asked her to do, admiring the fact that the photographer did not question her about her gender change, even though she clearly wanted to.
"Don't you look like an adorable girl," Barry jested as the groomsmen lined up for a photo.
With a smirk, Richard turned around and hit Barry's shoulder, making him flinch. "Just cause I'm a girl now doesn't mean I can't kick your butt."
Barry just chuckled as Richard went back to posing for the photo. After all the photos were done, they lined up to walk into the reception hall before the bride and groom. Richard stood behind Barry, next to Diane who was the maid of honour. She felt her father place a hand on her shoulder and lean forward, whispering in her ear.
"I forgot to tell you that you look very beautiful today."
She knew her father meant it, and thought it would be something she wanted to hear but she couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Bite me."
Luckily, Bruce could tell by her tone of voice that she was kidding. People clapped when her parents were announced before they were all allowed to sit down and have dinner. From her spot next to her father she could see Wally holding an awkward conversation with Commissioner Gordan, who came with his daughter, Barbara. Instead of coming to his rescue when she finished her meal, she instead walked over to Barbara, who had moved to stand at the edge of the dance floor.
"You look nice," Richard complemented, getting a small smile in reply.
"I have to say it would mean more to hear that if you were still a boy," Barbara admitted, making Richard shrug. "How are you? With being out in public, I mean."
"Not too bad." Richard took two sodas off of one of the drink trays the waiters were walking around with and handed one to her friend. "It would be nice if people could leave me be, but I guess I'm a hot topic for now. Dad explained everything though, about not being able to change back, having someone mess with the way my mind is formed, yada yada yada."
Barbara chuckled. "Dad actually commented that if he didn't know you he would think you were actually a girl, your friend, Wally, said that you've been acting girly too."
"Remind me to kill him."
"Do you want to dance?" At Richard's raised eyebrow, Barbara went on. "As friends. Believe me, I can tell the thing you have not told me." She moved to whisper in Richard's ear. "You're straight, and so am I so I have no interest in you romantically anymore."
When Barbara drew back, Richard smiled. "Sure, but if I fall over, it's because of the blood I have no doubt is pooling into my shoes."
"First time wearing heels?"
"Yeah, and I have no idea why women subjugate themselves to this pain."
"I don't actually know, but you get used to it." Barbara pulled Richard out onto the dance floor.
"I don't think I want to wear them enough to get used to it."
She liked dancing with Barbara, it seemed to make her blend in as one of the other teenagers there and not stand out as Richard, the girl who used to be a boy. She stayed there for at least half an hour before noticing that Wally was sitting at his table again, drinking a glass of water. Richard was fairly certain that his aunt had dragged him onto the dance floor not too long ago but clearly even a speedster could not keep up with the woman who had won numerous ballroom dance trophies.
She walked over to the red head, who looked up at her approach. "How's it going, dude?"
"Not bad, though if you didn't say dude I might have forgotten who you really were," joked the boy, pulling out the seat next to him for her to sit on.
"Let me guess, you would hit on me again?" She watched as Wally's face burnt red. "Dude, don't tell me you're embarrassed by that! Cause by all accounts I'm not a guy anymore, so it's not like you had any way of knowing."
"It's not that," he muttered, "It's just that my aunt was joking before coming here that I would most likely hit on the best looking girl here and when she saw you, well, she hadn't seen you dressed as a girl. She pointed at you and said you were the best looking and that I should 'go for it!'"
Richard processed his words for a moment before she started laughing. "Good to know I'm a knock out."
At Richard's words, Wally started laughing to. "Don't let it go to your head, my aunt also thinks Uncle Barry is good looking."
When they calmed down, the dark haired girl actually took in her friend's appearance, realizing he had not followed through with his threat to wear jeans and a t-shirt, since he hated dressing up, but had actually worn a nice suit. It was clearly not as expensive as Richard's but it was still a nice, pinstriped, black suit that fitted him well. "You actually look really good."
"Now whose hitting on whom?" joked Wally, a light blush to his cheeks. "So, um, I see you didn't wear a dress."
"Hell, no, I decided to rock a suit like only I can." She gestured to her outfit with a wink, making Wally roll his eyes and fight a smile. For some reason she found this a challenge, to see if she can make him smile completely. "I have to say though, out of all the guys here, you rock your suit the best. You should try and work it into your everyday wardrobe, and then girls would be all over you."
Wally dropped his head to try and hide the proud but bashful smile that had spread across his face. "You've gotten into the wine!"
"Have not! I'm as sober as my dad is whipped."
With a snort, Wally started laughing at Richard's statement, drawing a few eyes from adults at nearby tables, especially when tears started appearing in his eyes. "That thought is so friggen funny." Clearly many others, even if they had heard the statement, would not understand that he was actually laughing at the idea of Batman being whipped.
"Will you be staying at my place?" Richard asked, wondering if Wally was still going to keep her company. They had planned for him to stay over after the wedding since Bruce and Dinah were going to stay in one of the rooms of the hotel they were currently at before going on their honeymoon at noon tomorrow. However, this was planned before Wally had started acting unusually towards her. It hadn't been anything tangible like him blatantly avoiding her, but instead he made sure any physical contact they had were short and he seemed to prefer if they were at the mountain, where the others talked around and Richard dressed as a boy.
"You know, you actually look like a girl," Wally stated, ignoring her question for now.
"I am a girl," Richard retorted, rolling her eyes. "Are you coming over tonight?"
Wally took a deep breath, almost like when he was preparing himself for a fight. "Yeah, we can hang out, we're still bros after all."
"Why wouldn't we be?" Richard asked in confusion, getting a joking smile in reply. They were both silent for some time before Richard asked a question she had been wondering for most of the night. "Do you wish the others were here? That dad and I had told them our identities so they could be here?"
"No, you're enough for me."
Richard smiled and for some odd reason she felt a light blush come across her face. "I'm glad to hear that."
It was around midnight when the reception started to wind down, Barbara going home with her father at least two hours before. Wally got his bag out of Barry's car as Richard made her way over to the newlyweds to say goodbye. The two smiled at her as she drew closer to them.
"Try not to miss me whilst you're on your honeymoon, and bring Wally and I back a souvenir," Richard joked as she hugged her mother.
"Will do," Dinah promised before smiling with amusement. "How's the shoes?"
"I'm fairly certain I've permanently lost feeling in my feet, and this is classed as your wedding present." Richard was pulled into a tight hug by her father, which she found comforting.
"You did really well today, with the media and everything." He released her, giving her a stern look. "Don't stay up to late even if Wally wants to verse you in a game."
Richard just rolled her eyes. "Ruin all my fun."
"Are you ready to go, Miss Richard."
The dark haired girl looked over to see Alfred calmly waiting for her. When she nodded, the English man turned to Bruce and Dinah. "Congratulations again, Master Bruce, Mrs. Dinah. I must be getting the two children home."
"Hey!" yelled both Richard and Wally, who had appeared beside Richard with his bag. "We're not children!"
Alfred just smiled at them, starting to ferry them towards the exit as they yelled a quick goodbye to Bruce and Dinah. On the drive back to the Wayne manor, Wally and Richard discussed what they would be doing through the weekend. As they talked, Richard started to yawn, feeling the length of the day hitting her.
"Tired?" Wally asked, noticing that her eyes were half-lidded. When he received a nod, he patted his arm invitingly. "You can rest against me if you want."
Although she had seen Wally offer the same thing to other female friends that he had no romantic feelings for, she still found it an odd request that caused an unusual feeling to form in her stomach. "No, it's alright, we're not too far from the manor anyway." She shifted uncomfortably, hoping that this fluttering feeling she had would go away, it was making her heart feel both heavy and light at the same time as it beat rapidly. She didn't understand it and that was something she didn't like.
"Well I'm tired too. Is the mattress already set up in your room?"
Richard raised an eyebrow at the red-head before realizing she neglected to tell him. "Dad doesn't want you sleeping in my room anymore, so we have one of the guest rooms set up for you."
Wally thought about it for a moment before he shrugged, clearly not caring about the new arrangement.
Once they got to the manor, Richard showed Wally to his room, allowing Alfred to retire for the night. There was no worry about Wally getting lost when leaving his room, since it was only two doors down from Richard's own but she thought it was only polite to walk him to his door. When they reached their location, Richard leant against the doorframe as Wally put his bag at the end of the queen bed he was meant to sleep in.
"I am beat and I can't wait to get out of these damn shoes," she declared, resting her head against the hard wood of the doorframe.
"I can relate," Wally walked towards her. "Except for the shoe part. I'm going to head to bed and I'm guessing you want to do the same." At Richard's sleepy nod, he chuckled before pulling her into a hug. "Goodnight, Rickie."
Wally's breath brushed her neck as he spoke, creating that unusual feeling again. She returned his hug, the whole time hoping he could not feel her heart pounding, even though she could feel his much steadier heart beat. That never normally happened when they hugged. They had never been this close and usually they were one armed hugs that last only a moment. This time, Wally's arms circled her waist, one of his hands sitting on her spin, not to far under her shoulder blades whilst the other sat on the small of her back. Her own arms were wrapped around his shoulders, which were actually broader than she had originally thought, putting their chests flat against one another. Richard was the first to pull back, hoping her face was not burning red.
"Goodnight, Wally." She tried to not look like she was fleeing as hurried to her room. Once in the safe confines of her bedroom, she allowed herself time to relax and steady her breathing that had became erratic. "What the hell was that about?" she wondered before shaking her head, figuring it was the stress and exhaustion of the day. With that, she changed and went to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
Hope you like. I wrote this in-between writing uni essays so if the writing style changes to more factual style instead of my usual, it's because that's the way I write essays.
There have also been a lot of fires in NSW Australia, and I hope that if any of my readers are in this area that they are safe. So far my area has avoided any real damage, just smoke and hopefully it's the same for all my Aussie readers.
R and R if you want, though I do appreciate it.