A/N: Forgive me, for my lateness. This and Relaxing on the Last Day did not want to be written, and I was just staring at a blank screen for a long time. I've said it before and I'll say it again, writer's block sucks.
Disclaimer: I would be relaxing in a nice country villa watching Young Justice's third season if I owned it or Naruto
"Artemis, what's going on?" Wally asked bluntly.
He had just gotten in from taking his last exam - he even had his backpack on still, and he had to finish what little packing there was for him to return home for the holidays. Artemis was sitting on the couch - Wally might as well call it his bed - her own books scattered across the coffee table and a laptop out on her lap to study for her own classes. She looked up, her eyes clearly detached and slightly annoyed. Surprisingly enough, Wally couldn't bring himself to care.
Exams had drained him, even more so than they should have, and he had finally managed to realize something. He was miserable in his relationship. Completely and utterly miserable. Wally should have honestly admitted this a long time ago. Perhaps, he wanted to believe that things would get better, and that the woman he had fallen in love with would come back around. She actually had him believe things were.
"What are you talking about, Wally?" she asked.
Wally pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, "You know what I'm talking about," he lowered his arm and gave his girlfriend a serious look, "Artemis, I love you, but this..." he gestured to the tense air as well as bedroom - just as the couch might as well be his bed, the living room might as well be bedroom, "Is becoming too much. I've learned to put up with it because maybe I thought you would realize that I would never do anything to hurt you. Obviously you're still not getting it, so I'm going to ask again. What's going on?"
His breathing was picking up by then, and Wally's green were focused on the girl before him. Artemis didn't say anything for a while, but Wally could see her jaw clenching as she just clicked a few things on her laptop and then closed it.
"Wally, I love you, more than anything else, but for a while I've been thinking," she placed her laptop on the coffee table alongside her books, "I know we both retired from the superhero business together, and I did want that in the beginning, but..."
"But now you don't want to stay in retirement. Why didn't you just tell me, Artemis?" Wally snapped, throwing his arms into the air.
"How would you have reacted?" Artemis spat back, shooting up from her seat, and glaring daggers at Wally, "If I were to tell you that I was thinking about coming out of retirement, how would you have reacted?"
Green eyes narrowed, Wally began pacing, his backpack thumping lightly against his back. He felt his thoughts running faster than he ever could, and he was not liking it, "I won't lie. I would have been upset, especially since we worked so hard to build this type of life, which I know isn't easy considering what he had been doing before then. But did you think I would be so unreasonable as to blow up if you wanted to go back?"
"Actually, yes, Wally, I thought you would," Artemis stated too calmly for Wally's liking. He watched as Artemis ran her hand over her face before looking him dead in the eye, "You nearly flipped when Dick asked if I could help out in a mission two months ago!"
"Because he knew we were trying to get out of that life," Wally growled and then stopped to take a few deep breaths, "We were trying to get out of the business, and he called. I had a reason to be kind of upset, Artemis."
"Upset yes, but you actually looked as though you were ready to find Dick and punch his face in!"
"You know that's how I look when I'm upset. Dammit, Artemis, I thought you knew me better than that!" Wally began pacing now. His muscles were tense with energy, the urge to run or even just punch something was strong in him, "And if you knew me, you also know that I wouldn't you back if you wanted to do it. Would I worry about you, yes, but I wouldn't stop you; and I knew you well enough to know that I wouldn't have even if I tried!"
Artemis let out a yell, her arms being thrown up in the air while her face was completely red from her anger, "You keep saying that I don't know you! Of course I know you, Wally, but I do! I know you're okay with trying to be normal when in reality, you're not! I know you're okay with being in the background when stuff is going on when I'm not! I know you're okay with just letting yourself get close to a girl and be oblivious to the fact that you're actually falling for her! Believe or not, Wally, I know you!"
Wally stopped pacing, his hands clenched into white-knuckled fists, and his eyes narrowed on Artemis, "Nothing's going on between me and Hinata."
"Yet," Artemis pointed her finger at him as if to punctuated what she said, "Wally, I also know that you're one of the most loyal guys out there, so I know you wouldn't cheat on me. I also know the signs you have when you're attracted to someone. I saw you guys on one of your "lab sessions", and I recognize that same goofy grin you gave me when you wanted to ask me out. Also, you're calling her pet names like "gorgeous", something you haven't done to any girl in the last few years."
Wait a minutes, Artemis actually saw them at one of their sessions? He didn't even think Artemis knew where the chemistry was located. Wally shook his head. That wasn't important right now.
"And don't you dare try to deny it, Wally West!" Artemis spat out again. Her face wasn't so red, but her brown eyes were narrowed, and she was in that defensive stance Wally had known her for back when she first joined the team, "I won't try to deny it, maybe you two did start out as just friends! Heavens knows you missed someone to geek out with! But did you ever stop to think that maybe it came to something more! Wally, how much you wanna bet that that day she went to that study party, you weren't worried like you were a big brother but you were worried because you were jealous!"
"Worried like I was her friend, Artemis, and you can clearly see I had every right to be!" Wally again tried to ignore that nagging voice that was telling him Artemis was right with this one. His eyes lowered, thinking back to how he thought what made that guy so special. Apparently nothing because he was nothing more than scum and a wannabe rapist.
"You can keep telling yourself that, Wally," Artemis' arms once more flung up and she turned so her back was to him. Wally growled a bit, not like the gesture, "I didn't want to believe it, either. I'll admit that I've been a bit on the bitchy side, and you just needed a new friend that you could go to when you're girlfriend became too much. I trust you to be just friends with another girl. You've done it with M'ghann and Zatanna. And then I actually met her and saw how you are with her. It's funny how girlfriends who desperately want to believe their boyfriends are innocent will be denial while the guy completely takes advantage of her feelings, but this time I completely know what's going on and the boyfriend's in complete denial."
"I'm not in denial, Artemis, I know my feelings!" Wally blurted and then let out a growl. Yes, he remembered how nice it felt when Hinata kissed him on the cheek - it also led to him thinking how nice it felt when she was in his arms, but Wally always squashed that thinking - but he knew it was nothing. He knew it was just a friend being grateful.
"Yeah, you so do," Artemis stated sarcastically before turning around and looking Wally in the eye, "Wally, I love you. I really do, but I don't want to live like this..." he gestured to the living room. The apartment that they have made their own when they both graduated high school, "anymore, and we both clearly don't want to live like this anymore," again she motioned, and Wally knew it was the intensity that had existed between them.
Wally was shaking now and he felt his fists clenched so tight that it was starting to hurt. He took in a few deep breaths while looking away from Artemis. Anger and hurt were clearly swirling around him, and he honestly couldn't handle it anymore. He knew something like this was going to happen when he decided to confronted her. At the very least, it was going to be the nastiest fight in the history of their relationship. The worst, what was happening now, was going to happen.
"Fine," he growled and turned around on his feet, his backpack swinging just a bit before thumping again, "I'll be back later to finish packing. You can keep the apartment. I'll find a new place to stay while on break."
He didn't even give Artemis a chance to respond and just left. It was freezing outside, even more so when he came home. Suddenly the thick, red coat wasn't warm enough, and he felt himself instantly shivering. Taking a few shallow breaths, Wally began walking, his feet crunching against the snow. He thought his blood boiling would be enough to keep him warm, but it wasn't helping. As a matter of fact, he felt his face freezing even more, parts freezing just bit more.
Wally didn't have to touch his face to know he was crying. Going on, Wally didn't stop until he reached his safe haven. Forcing on just a small smile, he stepped inside and headed for the lab. He plopped down at one of the tables before pulling out his cellphone.
-Hey, can you meet me at the lab?- he typed with shaky fingers. He doubt he could trust his voice to remain calm if he called.
Hinata's reply came in only two minutes.
-Sure, is everything okay?
Wally didn't even try to hide it when he typed in no, the tears coming down without restraint.
A/N: There, Artemis and Wally have broken up. Why was this so hard to write? Hope you liked it.