Warning: Underage drinking

I am in no way encouraging underage drinking or risky behavior with this fic.

Note: This is in season two. Wally doesn't know about Barry's powers, and the two of them aren't very friendly with each other yet.

House Warming

"Man, I don't know about this," Wally said nervously to his friend, "After all that street-racing stuff, I'm kind of on thin ice with my dad."

"It's just a party, Wall," Luke said, rolling his eyes, "This is what normal college students do on a Saturday night."

"Yeah, but I turn twenty-one in less than three months," Wally sighed, "How stupid would it be if the party got busted and I got an underage right now?"

"So? You're going to just not drink for three whole months then?" Luke asked incredulously.

"Good point," Wally laughed, "I'm just saying, this party had better be low-profile or I'm out."

"Fair enough," Luke shrugged and then pointed to the left, "This is the driveway here."

The house was on the outskirts of Central City, in one of the nicer neighborhoods—not the typical party zone for CCU students. Both boys gasped when they pulled up to the house.

"This is not low profile," Wally hissed.

"Yeah, but it's a mansion!" Luke exclaimed, "You're not seriously going to pass up the opportunity to party in a mansion, are you?"

Wally glanced up at the house. It was huge, and so was the party. Hundreds of people had to be filling the residence, judging by the number of people outside the house alone. The front side of the house was made almost entirely of windows, so Wally could see the party inside. The glass windows vibrated menacingly with the beat of the music, which was so loud, Wally had been able to hear it from the end of the driveway

"Whose house is this?" Wally asked curiously.

"It was Harrison Wells' before he died," Luke explained, "Apparently, the sick fuck went and left everything to that guy whose mom he murdered, like to tease him or something. I don't know. It just seems so wrong to me. I think his name was Larry or something. No, it was Jerry. Something like that. Either way, this party looks dope! Let's go inside!"

Wally had a bad feeling about the whole situation, but he couldn't deny, he was curious. This seemed like it was going to be a pretty interesting night, and it wasn't until he was in the house, a solo cup in his hand, that he realized just how interesting it was going to get.

"Hey, everyone!" someone shouted.

The music suddenly stopped, and everyone looked up at the man who had shouted. There, standing up in the loft upstairs with a huge grin on his face was…

"B-barry?!" Wally choked, beer drippling down the front of his shirt.

Barry didn't hear him, though. He continued grinning widely as he addressed the house full of people.

"Welcome to my house-warming party," he laughed, taking a sip of his beer, "Now, no one has to worry about the cops tonight. One of them owed me a favor, and let's just say they won't be bugging us. So feel free to make as much noise as you want!"

Everyone in the crowd cheered loudly at these words. Wally simply ogled at Barry, completely dumbstruck. He was in Barry's house? Barry's mansion?! Why was Barry still living with Joe if he owned this place?!

"As many of you know," Barry continued, his voice growing serious, "This house belonged to the bastard who killed my mother."

Everyone in the house suddenly grew silent as tension filled the room. Wally stared at Barry with wide eyes.

"So feel free to break whatever you want!" Barry shouted.

Everyone cheered as the music started up again. As people danced around him, Wally stood frozen in shock. His dad had told him Barry's mother was murdered, and he had heard about Harrison Wells confessing to a murder after his death, but he had had no idea the two were related.

Harrison Wells was responsible for Barry's family tragedy?

"Dude," Luke's voice suddenly broke through his haze of shock, "What's wrong?"

Wally turned to his friend, a dumbstruck look on his face.

"I know him," he said in shock.

"Who?" Luke asked, frowning in confusion, "Jerry?"

"His name is Barry," Wally corrected seriously, "Barry Allen, as in my new foster brother, Barry Allen. The one I told you about."

Luke's eyes widened, and then a laugh escaped his lips.

"I thought you said he was a total spaz."

"I did," Wally said, frowning and looking back up to where Barry had been standing, "At least, I thought he was."

"He seems pretty cool to me," Luke shrugged, taking a sip of his beer.

Wally frowned at him.

"We should go," he said seriously, "If Barry sees me here, he'll narc on me to my dad for sure."

"No, he won't," Luke said, rolling his eyes, "If he does, then you can just narc on him. Your dad's a cop, right? How do you think he'd feel about his son throwing a huge party with a bunch of underage kids? Your brother—"

"Foster brother," Wally corrected in irritation.

"Right. Your foster brother has a lot more to lose here than you do," Luke pointed out, "You said he worked for the cops, right? I'm pretty sure he'd probably lose his job if anyone found out about this. You have the upper hand here."

Wally raised his eyebrows, his wheels turning as he took a sip of his beer. His friend had a point. He had some serious dirt on Barry now. That is, if anyone would believe him. His dad and Iris seemed to think Barry could do no wrong. He was perfect, the golden child who never broke the rules.

Just wait until they heard about this.

"Sup, Wally?"

Wally jolted out of his train of thought and turned to see Barry standing there, a beer in hand.

"Glad you could make it," Barry grinned.

"I didn't know this was your party," Wally said stiffly, "Or your house."

"Yeah, I've been wallowing over it for months," Barry laughed, "Ever since that sicko left it to me, I haven't known what to do with it. I've decided to stop sulking like a baby and finally use it. I had half a mind to torch it, but this seemed like the better option."

"I didn't know Wells was the one who killed your mother," Wally said seriously.

"Well, I don't exactly lead with that when I meet new people," Barry dismissed.

Wally nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well," he said slowly, "I should probably get going."

Wally set down his beer and gave his friend, Luke, a significant look. He just wanted to get the hell out of here.

"Relax, Wally," Barry laughed, "I'm not going to tell Joe you were here."

"Well, you can't anyways," Wally pointed out seriously, "If you did, you'd have to explain to him how you threw an underage party."

Barry laughed and shook his head.

"It's not a secret," he chuckled, "Of course Joe is going to find out about it. Besides, not everyone here is underage. Half the people here are out of college and are closer to my age than yours. Either way, I'm not going to tell your dad on you."

"Why not?" Wally demanded in irritation.

Barry had to be messing with him or something. Of course he was going to tell his dad on him.

"Because I'm not as much of a stickler as you think," Barry said seriously, "Also, for real, Wally, I'm twenty-six years old. I'm a little too old for the childish alpha-male games you've been trying to play with me. I understand why you're doing it, but I'm not going to participate. I know you're only doing it because you're insecure."

Wally stared incredulously at him.

"I'm not insecure," he said gritted, "I think you're taking yourself just a little too seriously, Barry."

Barry shrugged.

"Okay," he said calmly, "Maybe I'm just imagining it then. Either way, maybe now you'll see that I'm not as perfect as you think. I make mistakes—big mistakes. I'm as messed up as they come, and the only reason Joe and Iris talk about me the way they do is because they think I'm a broken, fragile flower. I've always just been their charity case. You, on the other hand, are their blood. You don't have to worry about some white shadow taking your place."

Wally stared at him, a hint of guilt swirling in his gut at those words. His dad and Iris wouldn't have told Barry about that, so how did he…?

"I overheard you at the precinct," Barry told him calmly, "I was going to help Joe give you the tour. I was actually kind of excited to show you my lab, since I had heard you were interested in science. But then I heard you talking…."

Barry let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm not going to lie," he said, "I've been avoiding you ever since. Joe's been forcing us to spend time together, but I seriously don't know what to say to you ever. I'm done avoiding you, though. I'm done putting up with your petty challenges. The way I see it, we can either try to just put up with each other and coexist or we can actually try to get to know each other. I'm always going to be around, Wally, so you can either leave my party now and run to tell Joe on me, or you can stay here and take a few shots with me. The choice is yours."

Wally stared at him, at a loss for words. He hadn't expected Barry to ever call him out like this. Barry had always been more soft-spoken, too polite to instigate a confrontation like this. Wally couldn't deny it, though. He had been competing with Barry for Joe and Iris's love, but it wasn't something he was ever going to admit. The truth was, it always frustrated Wally that he tried so hard and Barry didn't seem to try at all. Barry didn't ever compete back. He constantly one-upped Wally without even trying. It was infuriating.

That wasn't Barry's fault, though. Barry didn't ask for Joe and Iris's praise all the time. In fact, judging by his "charity" comment, he seemed to somewhat resent it. If Wally didn't know any better, he'd almost say Barry felt like he didn't belong there—in their family.

Maybe he and Barry weren't so different after all.

"Okay," Wally said quietly after a moment, "Line up some shots."