A/N: And it's another week gone by! How fast time flies when I haven't been writing. Whoops, sorry guys. I feel so grateful to all of you who took the time to open this and continue on reading, and I feel like by you guys doing so, we're practically all friends now. Please, don't hesitate to shoot me a message because I love, love hearing from all of you and getting to know you guys better.

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PS: I feel like I've missed some people, and really, no one looks at that huge chunk of text but I still feel bad haha

Chapter 13: Blizzard

In a span of seconds, Artemis was assaulted by the smell of the ocean and the feeling of weightlessness followed instantly by a sudden, lurching stop. Her arms circled around Wally's neck tightly as the world seemed to rock back and forth around her. The archer thought she was clutching onto the couch she had been sitting on just moments before, except when she finally let go, she saw the structure line of Wally's jaw and felt the warmth emanating from his arms pressing against her back and knees.

The speedster grinned down at her bewildered expression, his green eyes meeting her wide grey orbs as the freezing air finally crept into Artemis' skin. The little hairs on Artemis' exposed skin stood on end, and as if her brain had stopped and restarted itself again, she let out a loud gasp/gurgling sound that made Wally burst out laughing.

"Shut… up," she managed to force out and she looked around their surroundings, finding themselves in thick snow, and the shore not far away. "Do… that again, and…" She mimed slitting her throat with one slim finger, but her teeth chattered too much and her finger was jerking up and down through the chilly hair.

"Are you cold?" Wally asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he unconsciously pulled her closer to him. She was about to answer, "No shit, Sherlock," when the movement made the archer realise she was still nestled in his arms, and she wriggled violently for him to drop her. But Wally only let out a small 'oof' and gripped tighter.

"You're freezing, Artie."

Artemis crossed her arms in front of her. "I… W-wonder why."

"You should've grabbed a coat."

The archer shot him a heated look, hot enough to melt the snow around them. "I w-will ki-kill you… in y-your sleep-p."

"But you can't," he grinned down at her. "Too bad I won the bet now, didn't I?"

Artemis tried to raise her eyebrow as her teeth chattered.

"Three seconds. I won," he beamed, before noticing the scowl that formed on Artemis' trembling lips. "Too bad, losers can't be beggars."

The freezing blonde elbowed his ribs sharply and he cringed, inhaling sharply. "Okay. Ow, that hurt."

"T-take me back-k," she growled, but Wally shrugged.

"Losers do what winners say. And I say we stay out here and enjoy the view and crisp, fresh air."

Artemis glared at him, wanting to wave her arms to gesture at the continuously growing layer of snow around them and the ocean view that was slowly being smothered by a white haze, but she was still tucked in his arms.

"P-put me down," she said in a monotone.

The speedster's green eyes looked brighter in the snow as he stared down at her for a moment longer, and he shifted his weight to his other leg awkwardly before placing her carefully on her feet.

"Here," he said, slipping off his parka to hand it to her. "I'm not that cold anyways."

Artemis raised her eyebrows at him, considering his nose and ears were bright red, but he was still giving her that half-smile of his.

Wally's lips curved upwards no matter how hard he tried to straighten them, and his smile only widened when Artemis put on his jacket.

As soon as it was zipped up, the archer turned to him, her hands on her hips as she gave him a blank stare. "Okay. What gives?"

"What?"

The blond shook her head. "It's freezing, and I can barely see you in front of me. Why are we out here?"

Wally chewed on his lip as he considered whether or not to tell her. He didn't want to make things awkward between them, but friends felt this way all the time right?

He looked down at his boots and shrugged. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Artemis' face felt hot despite the blizzard brewing around them, but she told herself that it was purely platonic. "Are you serious? I'm freezing my ass off here because you missed getting your ego shot down?"

Wally's green gaze snapped upwards as he grinned at her. "Yup."

"L-look," the archer felt her gaze travel towards the silhouette of Mount Justice behind him instead. "How about we do something else not in the middle of a snowstorm?"

"What?"

Artemis gritted her teeth together and felt as though her embarrassment would melt the snow below her feet. "Someplace warmer, idiot."

"Oh," was all he responded before stepped forward. The archer realised a little too late what he was going to do, and when she finally opened her eyes again, they were in front of a café not far from Happy Harbor High.

She groaned as her vision spun in front of her, and she slapped his shoulder roughly. "A little warning would be nice next time."

Her words rung in Wally's head. 'Next time', it echoed round and round in Wally's head as they entered and found a booth near the window. Along with the words, 'friends' and 'rejection', they all jumbled together into a huge mess that loomed over both their heads.

When they had ordered their hot cocoas, chocolate cake and two cookies, they sat staring out the window in silence. Although it wasn't awkward, there was still a buzz of nerves that lingered in the atmosphere.

Wally was the first to break the ice. "So, how did your exams go?"

The archer raised and eyebrow at his choice of question, but shrugged nonetheless. "Fine. How's your family?"

"They're great," Wally chirped with a smile. "Your mom?"

Artemis actually offered him a smile in return. "She's good."

The speedster grinned as he watched her turn back to watch the snowfall outside. Being unable to sit still, he reached for the salt shaker to sprinkle a light dust on the table.

After a while, he felt her eyes on him, but he didn't meet her gaze.

"I missed being at the Cave too," she finally said in a soft tone, and Artemis was torn between wishing that he could understand the depth of what she'd said and not.

Of course, Wally was incredibly dense. But for some reason, his ears had flared up when he had heard her mutter, and he put down the salt shaker slowly.

"Earlier. Back at the Cave…" He started, but he couldn't bring himself to finish. All he could see in his head, was how Artemis had been almost draped across Superboy's lap when she had been reaching for the remote, and he bit his tongue sharply.

"What?" Artemis questioned, drawing a figure into the thin blanket of salt on the table. Wally watched as her thin fingers traced a line with a triangle at one end: an arrow.

"Nothing."

She looked up at him then, and he offered her a small smile, but was forced to drop it when their food arrived.

It was nightfall when they both headed back towards the Cave, the archer preferring to take the long walk instead of 'flashing'- as Wally so eloquently put- on a full stomach.

"Why are you staring at me?" She demanded, her voice steely as she turned to him and her eyes were as dark as the night around them.

"What- you- I wasn't staring," he said vehemently, though he hadn't even moved his neck to turn away from her intense stare.

"Right."

Wally exhaled and shot her a glare before turning away to look at the lights that lined along the street.

"Artemis. Listen…" He tried again, what he had pictured earlier still chewing at his thoughts.

The girl in question stopped abruptly, and turned around to face him square on in the middle of the street.

"I… I just want you to know that M'gann and Conner-"

Artemis rolled her eyes, knowing where this was going. "Oh, please. Save me this talk, Wally. I'm sixteen, not six. I know when I'm rejected," she replied harshly and Wally avoided her glare when she kicked a pebble aggressively.

Wally sighed and looked up at the silver circle in the sky above them. "Just let me finish. I was about to say that… about Conner. I know you were interested."

Artemis snorted, but still hoped he wouldn't see her flustered in the dark. She did not want to conversation. Especially not with him. "It wasn't like I was in love with him, Wally."

"Just let me finish," the speedster reiterated before pausing for a second to glance at her out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you'll hate me, but I just want to say that… It wasn't you. As in-" Wally cleared his throat and hoped Artemis wouldn't catch the red shade of his face in the dark. "You're beautiful, Artemis."

Slowly, Wally turned around to stare at the stunned archer who had inhaled sharply at his words, her refined lips parted- as if to say something- but they closed again as she blinked at him wildly.

"And-" Wally chewed on the inside of his cheek. "If Conner doesn't like you, someone else will."

He turned away then, feeling his face burn all the way up to his ears. Wally didn't know what he was expecting from the archer. A whole-hearted thank you? A hug? A smile? Maybe even a slap?

The archer was as shocked as Wally was when a laugh burst out of her lips. All she could think about was how maybe, maybe for just that one small moment, maybe for just today, that she could let herself think that Wally did care about her that way. She liked to entertain the idea, and she almost forgot what was holding her back when she realised what the sudden aching sensation in her chest was.

Guilt.

And even if Wally did care, it suddenly didn't matter anymore, because she knew that he would never know who she was, and she would never let him know. Suddenly, the insignificant words her dad had said months ago echoed ominously in her ears. 'They'll never trust you, just remember that.'

He was right. Artemis thought she would be able to handle it, but he was right. She thought that she could do good, and despite being on a team- that she could keep to herself, and she was wrong.

So, she laughed. And laughed and laughed until she knew Wally's red ears weren't because of the cold, but of humiliation. Because she couldn't risk it. She couldn't risk losing his trust and his friendship. Because she knew, that if he got any closer, he would find out everything. And she would willingly tell him everything if he'd only asked.

She averted her gaze as she patted his shoulder, hating herself for the warmth burning behind her eyes and the liquid that was pooling in them. "No one will, Wally. Because I don't care about anyone. I'm not a damsel in a distress who needs saving. I like my isolated tower."

"You're lying."

Her grey eyes snapped to his in shock, and she ducked her head just as quickly, hoping the speedster hadn't seen her tears.

Wally hadn't, but there was no triumph to be relieved about, no win to celebrate. The archer inhaled slowly as she turned her back on him. "I'm not. And you're not the knight I'm looking for."

Then, she quickened her speed, leaving the redhead behind her. The speedster could have easily caught up, but all he could see was the back of her head, and her silky hair covered in specks of small snowflakes under the dim light of the street lamps. It cast an ethereal glow around her, and for the first time since his science experiment, Artemis felt too far away. So far away that Wally felt he couldn't ever catch her, not matter how he fast he ran.