Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice
Author's Note: Two more chapters to go! We're getting there guys, we're very slowly getting there. The next two chapters might take from time because I'm going to write them together, so bare with me.
"Come on, Wally, cheer up! It's a Christmas party!" Megan said, pulling on his hand. The girl had been trying to get him to dance for the past ten minutes with no success. "It will do you some good."
"Megan is right, Wally. You cannot brood about this forever," Kaldur said. The two boys were sitting on a couch in Dick's 'party room'. The ginger wasn't sure if this was the actual party room, but considering the boy lived in a freaking mansion, he didn't really care. "Go have fun. She is not even in this room right now."
"This isn't about her, I just don't feel like fun. I hate fun," Wally said, trying to sink into the couch more. "Leave me here to hate fun."
"Right, you hate fun. Got it," the ginger girl said, finally releasing him. Sighing, she patted his shoulder before heading over to Conner.
Dick had invited a bunch of people from their high school, so it was a lot easier to avoid people if you wanted to. Which Wally did in fact want to do. It had been about a week since their failed mission and he hadn't said a thing to Artemis yet. And he wasn't really planning on talking to her again. Partially because he was still really angry with her, but there was also part of him that was worried that if he spoke he'd just make it worse. Even he could admit that he has a knack for pissing people off sometimes. So his plan was to avoid. If they weren't near each other they couldn't talk. So far things haven't gotten any worse… They just aren't getting better.
Eventually Kaldur grew tired of his moping and went to go find something to do. Wally sat continued to sit on the couch, staring mindlessly off into the crowd and watching the people he went to school enjoy themselves. He waited for the girl to finally grow bored of waiting and chew him out for being like this, but it never came. He couldn't hold it against her; she probably was just done with him. He was kind of done with himself too.
"So you're really just moping here? Jesus, you're extremely lame. How are we best friends?" Dick asked, jolting the ginger out of his thoughts. The younger boy sat down next to his friend and began to watch the crowd as well. "Seriously though, moping?"
"Dude, let it go," Wally groaned, rubbing his face.
"Or I don't and I help you fix your relationship with Artemis so that you can actually have a relationship with Artemis," the boy said.
"There isn't going to be anything between Artemis and I, okay?" the older boy said, looking to the other side of the room to completely avoid his friend.
His friend shrugged and pulled out his phone. The ginger glanced over briefly before turning his attention away again. He watched the people in the room move around having fun. He glared off into nowhere before giving up and leaning his head back. He stared up at the ceiling and waited for the couch to just swallow him up; that would be a lot easier than waiting to accidentally bump into Artemis. Everything around his was a blur and he wasn't aware of who went by and if anyone stayed to try and talk. Everything around him meant basically nothing. He just sat there in self-loathing (and loathing for other things as well).
"Okay, dude, this is getting ridiculous," Dick said, cutting into his feigned concentration. "Please just go talk to her. This sucks for both of you, this sucks for everyone else. It's been a week, suck it up already."
"Well obviously if she wanted this fixed, she would have talked to be already," Wally said. He gestured around to the crowd around them and looked at his friend. "But, as you can clearly see, she isn't here and she isn't trying to talk. Let. It. Go. Dick."
"Are you calling me a dick or just using my name, I really can't tell," the dark haired boy asked, pushing his friend's shoulder. The older boy groaned but couldn't help but smile a bit. "But seriously, Wally, just go talk to her."
"Dick, it's too late. What am I supposed to say? 'Wow, sorry I blamed you for everything going wrong and oh, also I may have considered you being the mole. Want to go on a date?'" the ginger mocked. He shook his head and looked back out at the crowd.
"Wait, you thought she was the mole? Some boyfriend you are," the younger boy said.
Wally glared at his friend, "First off, we never started dating so no boyfriend crap. Second, yeah, maybe for a second I did. I don't anymore. Now I'm just angry."
"Yeah, maybe don't mention the doubting her part when you talk to her," the agent said.
"Who said I was even going to talk to her? Pretty sure I said that wasn't happening," the ginger muttered.
"Yeah, but I know you better than that. You're going to probably try and talk to her tonight."
"Shut up."
Dick shrugged before standing up. He waved to the boy on the couch before making his way out of the room. Wally once again found himself alone, angry, and confused.
Okay, so maybe he did really want to go talk to Artemis. And okay, maybe he was really hoping they had a chance at something. And there was a really good chance that the boy hated that his friend knew him so well. It was possible he had been thinking about whether or not to talk to her. He also hated that his thoughts couldn't stay away from the blonde.
Swearing under his breath, Wally slowly stood up and headed out of the room. He wandered aimlessly around his friend's house, trying to figure out where she could be. It was almost impossible. He began to wonder just how many people were invited; it really shouldn't be this hard to find some in this mansion.
He had given up after about ten minutes searching and was heading back to the main room of the party when he glanced down a hallway. Artemis and Megan were sitting across from each other and happened in be within earshot.
"I don't care if he's beating himself up over this, Megan," the blonde said, hugging her knees to her chest. "He doesn't trust me and that's that."
"Just talk to him. Tell him whatever it is your hiding and it'll work out," Megan implored. She reached out, touching her friend's leg. "You two can work this out."
Artemis laughed bitterly as she looked down the opposite end of the hall from where Wally stood, "Yeah, I don't think so. You know how quickly he reacts. He'll find out and end up calling me the mole. No thank you."
Wally took a step back at her words as if they had been thrown at him, almost knocking him over. He gritted his teeth as he continued to listen.
"He didn't trust me back when we meant, and now that we're here again… It's probably better. No one wants to be in a relationship with a person who keeps secrets and lies. So no, I don't think it's going to work out," the blonde continued.
"Artemis-"
"Can we drop this? Look, I get you just want me to be happy, and yeah, a week ago Wally surprisingly did make me happy. But how am I supposed to be happy if he doesn't trust me?" the young girl interjected.
"You know, I'm on your side right?" the ginger girl asked. She scooted across the hall and placed both hands on the younger girl's arms. "I do just want you to be happy but this isn't about you dating Wally. This is about you moving on, with or without him. Got that?"
The two girls looked at each other before quickly moving into a hug. Wally slipped away, trying to wrap his head around what he had just heard.
Of course she didn't trust him anymore. He left her when she needed support from her teammates, let alone friends. He couldn't blame her at all for not wanting to reach out to him, to try and make amends. He didn't blame her for any of it. She could end up hating him and he would probably just join her in it, or would she be joining him?
He slinked off to an empty room, not wanting anyone to find him and try and tell him how to proceed from here. He knew this was a lost cause now. Thrown away by a stupid act. How many mistakes had he made over the years? Was it was so few that he was allowed to judge so quickly? Wally hated the feeling that was consuming him. Every second that past he hated himself more.
But he was still angry with her. Sure he didn't trust her, but she didn't trust him first. It was a juvenile way of thinking but there was no way around it for him. He couldn't shake the anger he felt. He did tend to let his temper take over but he couldn't help but accept it this time. He knew it was foolish but for once he couldn't fight it.
Artemis didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone on their team. They didn't know anything about her and she seemed to be keen on keeping it that way. How was he supposed to trust her if she didn't trust him?
But at this point it didn't matter. There was the unspoken agreement between them now to avoid and ignore. To sit in the anger and wallow in self-loathing. They both saw no other option at this point. It was a game of repeating hurt feelings that they had fallen into, neither knowing how to win.
He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear someone enter the room. It wasn't until they sat down in the chair next to his own was Wally pulled from his thoughts.
"So, how did your talk with Artemis go?" Dick asked, leaning into his chair.
"It didn't. I heard her talking with Megs, she doesn't want anything to do with me," the ginger muttered, avoiding his friend's gaze.
"Did she say that or did you just hear it?" the young boy inquired. "Because those are two different things."
"What does it matter? We don't trust each other, it's basically the same thing," he answered, shrugging half-heartedly.
"Maybe if you talked to her you'd find out why," his friend supplied.
"Drop it, okay? I'm done. Look, not every crush works out to be more than a crush. Not every friendship lasts. This is just that. We didn't make it so I'm just going to deal," Wally said.
"This is stupid. Both of you are being stupid," Dick groaned. He leaned forward in his seat, causing the older boy to look up. "Do you want to know what's going on with her? I'm tried of being the only one who knows."
"Wait, she told?" the ginger yelled, standing up abruptly.
"No, relax. I found out on my own," the dark haired boy said. Wally flopped back down into his chair, looking away from his friend. "Do you want me to tell you?"
Wally crossed his arms but didn't answer. Of course he wanted to be told what was going on. He wanted to know more than anything. But would knowing change anything? And it still wouldn't mean Artemis trusted, it would just confirm how little he trusts her.
"No. If she has something to tell me, she can tell me herself. I think I've done enough damaged without going behind her back," he mumbled.
"Fine, suit yourself. But just remember, she has her reasons," Dick said. He stood up and lightly punched the ginger's shoulder. "Geez, you guys are both so stubborn. You really would be great together."
"Whatever," the older boy grumbled.
He watched his friend leave before sinking into the chair. He closed his eyes, wondering if this mess will ever fix itself. Dick was right, they both were very stubborn.