a/n: Please review, as this fic has taken so much of my time/energy (which is why this ch is so much shorter than the last) and I really find inspiration to continue by reading what you guys like about it. (Also, please try not to ask when the next update will be because it causes me stress which leads to longer wait times & shorter chapters.)
pt.5: the one with the confessions
-o-
"Oh–" Wally looks from the open window to the paper in his hand "–that's convenient."
"Sure is," Artemis says, the tension in her tone ebbing as she holds the window up higher. "What are you doing here?"
Wally tilts his head before he asks, "Can we talk?"
"Nope," Artemis replies, and after a long second, she shakes her head and raises the window higher. "Not like this anyways. My mom will hear us and then it'll be a thing. Move."
He moves, stepping so far backwards that he nearly bumps into the fence behind him. Artemis climbs out of the open window to join Wally on the side of the house. She closes the window behind her softly and turns around to face He-Who-Has-A-Lot-Of-Explaining-To-Do.
A tactical error, Artemis immediately realizes. Leaving the safety of her room was not smart. On the other side of the window, she had the high ground and the easy escape. If things went badly, she could simply close the window, shut the curtains, and be done with that. Not so easy to get back in with the window closed (not to mention it'd be life-threateningly embarrassing to run away by diving through an open window to get back into her room).
She looks at Wally and waits for him to say something, but he looks as lost as she feels and neither one of them makes a move to speak. After a healthy bout of mental screaming, Artemis steels herself and gets ready to get some answers.
"I didn't mean what I said," Wally blurts in the same moment Artemis asks, "Did you mean what you said?"
"I didn't," Wally repeats, before he backtracks. "Well, actually, no, I did mean it, but not for the reason you think."
"Which reason do you think I'm thinking of? Because there are many," Artemis says evenly, her voice low. "You avoided me all day. You didn't write me back in History. And then you were telling Conner what exactly? What did you even mean when you said that it's because of what happened at the party? Go ahead and tell me what happened there because I thought we were having a good time and then– I mean, you walked me home andwhat ? What changed for you because I–" she inhales sharply before she tries again, "I thought we were–"
Okay, so she'd been talking big game earlier when she'd planned out saying all of this out loud. Thinking was one thing. Actually telling him? Harder than anticipated. Luckily, Wally also has no idea what he's doing, judging by the way his mouth keeps opening and shutting.
"Why couldn't you just tell me I was so off base to think we were friends?" Artemis finally asks, jumping to her point and taking a step forward. "I think that was the worst part, wondering how you could just drop me without having the decency to tell me why."
"This is why," Wally finally says, hastily holding up the paper in his hand. "Well, this is a lot of whys, actually, but they're all true. I wasn't trying to avoid you. I was going to give this to you in History but I chickened out and I've put my foot in my mouth too many times today so just read it, alright? It's all there."
Artemis tentatively takes the note from him and gives him one last wary look before she starts reading. Scribbled at the top in thick, black marker is a small note.
Your mom wouldn't let me in so you're going to have to read this. I have made a ridiculous amount of mistakes today and the first was not giving this to you when I should have. I hope it clears things up.
Me too, Artemis thinks before she begins to read the original note.
Hey, so I've been thinking (shocking, I know) and I have come to the conclusion that I think about you too often. ( In the margins is a star and a tiny note: *That sounded way less creepy in my head, please roll with it).
Obviously, this is an issue. At first, I didn't even notice it was happening. It was little stuff in the summer, like I'd see something funny and think "I need to tell Artemis about that" or "Artemis would love that". And I'd chuck those things into a letter, send it off, and wait for a response. Mail day was definitely a highlight of my week.
Maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal, but when I got back to HH, I was pretty bummed that I wouldn't get to send you all of the things I wanted you to know about. You've been missing out on some quality stories, trust me. And then it sucked even more because I wasn't getting a letter from you. I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I missed talking to you. (Your letters saved me from a radio-silent summer. Definitely owe you for that. When does this cap out, Artemis? I'm going to owe you a lifetime's worth of favors if this gets any higher.)
Ever increasing debt aside, I wasn't really aware of how much I Thought about you until we came back to school and I got so excited to tell you things that my brain kind of crashed whenever you were around. Okay, not kind of. It was a full blown Blue Screen of Death kind of crashing. I must have a really good autopilot or something because I don't remember half of the things I said to you the first week back and we're still friends.
Crazy, right? That's what I thought at first. I think that was just me living (comfortably) in denial. To tell you the truth, I could've stayed there had it not been for this weekend (so I guess it wasn't a total disaster). I was actually having a great time until the Eggsplosion. We did good work out there (they saw us in the window, Conner says we are not forgiven). I know I didn't say it at the party but you looked really nice. You always look nice.
On my way back to Megan's, I had a lot of time to Think and in case you haven't guessed by now, I spent most of that time thinking about you. I know we didn't exactly get along back in the day (there were better ways of getting my attention than throwing an apple at my head), but we've come a long way, right? I know you better now. You're practically my best friend, and that's great, but at the party, between getting irrationally jealous of Kaldur (please tell me it was irrational, I can't compete with that guy) and walking you home, I realized that I don't want to be your friend, even if you are the best friend anyone could have. You're always there for your friends (even if you do like to fake it's all because you like being owed favors). You are incredibly kind, and funny, and smart, and even kind of dorky (in a good way). And after everything that went down this weekend, I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize that I like you. Like you like you.
Maybe this is all in my head, but I think you like me too.
I thought returning to our preferred method of communication would make this easier (considering you're amazing and I am but a mere mortal) but it turns out I ramble just as much on paper as I do out loud.
Now, back to the issue. I'm thinking a solution for all of this Thinking might be for us to spend more time together, as more than friends, you know, so I'm too busy being with you to Think about you. That's just a suggestion. A theory really. We should test it. Step one is me giving you this note. Step two is on you (last favor, I swear).
Go back and read the first letter of every paragraph. (Please).
?
"Oh," Artemis says, quite eloquently, as she slowly folds the note in half. Homecoming?
"Oh?" Wally asks.
"Oh," Artemis repeats smartly, sending him a slow-growing smile. "I'd say you should have given me that earlier but then I'd be a hypocrite. One sec."
Artemis takes a step back and opens her window.
She turns to Wally and asks, "Hold this?"
Wally obliges, holding the window open as Artemis climbs back into her bedroom.
Artemis tosses Wally's letter on top of the shoebox on her bed before she heads straight for the trash can. The note she wrote for Wally before History class is crumpled and sticking to a piece of gum, but it's the content that counts, right? She picks up the note, tosses the gum into the trash, and tries her best to straighten out the note as she makes her way back to the window to present him with it.
"This is for you," she says, trading the note for holding the window. "I was going to give it to you in History, but I chickened out."
Watching Wally's face as he reads the note is oddly anxiety-inducing considering he basically wrote her what she wrote him (from Eggsplosion to the confession to the Homecoming offer). She had strung her thoughts together in a far less coherent and methodological way than Wally did, but the sentiment remained the same. I like you, he'd written. Like you like you. It takes a massive amount of willpower to keep from laughing, as she'd included those exact words in her note too.
Wally doesn't hold out long. He laughs, hard, tossing his head back –woosh– and then he looks at her with an incredulous grin that she mirrors.
"Telling someone how much you used to hate them isn't exactly a great way to tell them you like them, you know?"
"Well, I had to start somewhere," Artemis says, defending her note. "You didn't leave out the apple either."
Wally laughs fade out as he folds her note and stuffs it into his pocket. He takes up the responsibility of holding the window open.
"So?" Artemis asks.
"So," Wally starts slowly, leaning forward and very clearly enjoying himself, "if my debts are paid, I'm assuming we're all square for the dance?"
"All right angles." Artemis answers, unable to rein in her smile.
"Great," Wally says, tentatively adding, "it's a date then."
"It is," Artemis affirms, nodding.
And for a long moment, they silently revel in the light of their new understanding, or as Jade would say, they stand there smiling at each other like complete tools. Either way, Artemis can't help but feel like everything and nothing has changed at the same time.
"One more thing," Artemis says, leaning closer, "how did you get here so quickly?"
Wally nods his head towards the front of the house. "Conner's waiting in the driveway. He drove me here."
"He's been out there this whole time?" Artemis asks, quickly poking her head out the window to try and see.
"I told them not to wait up, but they refused," Wally answers, unable to move with Artemis half-out the window.
Artemis stands up straight and looks at him with wide eyes. "Them?"
Wally slowly admits, "Megan and Kara are also in the car."
"Are you serious?" Artemis says, shaking her head. She definitely should have answered her phone.
"I had no say in this. I was walking here when Conner drove up behind me and told me to get in. They were already there."
"Oh my god, okay, time for you to get out of here," Artemis says, and in the second it takes for Wally to move an inch backwards, Artemis makes another decision. "Wait–"
Artemis, half-leaning out the window, takes Wally's face in her hands and kisses him squarely on the mouth, and the same feeling that'd stunned her in the halls that first day of school returns in full force. This time, she embraces it. By the time they part, they're both breathless and it takes a moment to return to reality.
"Okay," Artemis says, backing into her room with a clearer head, "now you can get out of here."
Wally blinks himself out of his daze before he grins, steps back, and says, "Should've done that a long time ago."
"No kidding," Artemis laughs, taking hold of the window. "I'll see you in the morning."
Wally nods, even as he walks backwards towards the front of the house. He disappears around the corner with a wave, but Artemis waits for the sound of Conner's truck pulling onto the road and heading down the street before she shuts the window and closes the curtains behind her.
Her hand comes up to her lips as she tries to wrap her head around the last few hours of her day (even as her thoughts keep replaying the last few minutes). Two knocks at her door pull her right out of her thoughts .
"Now that he's gone, can I ask how that super important project is coming along?" Her mother asks through the door.
Busted, Artemis thinks, wincing, but her smile returns the instant she glances at the letter on the box on her bed.
Totally worth it.