Archive of Our Own

They had been playing for quite some time when things certainly took a turn.

Bruce had muttered something about childish games when Oliver had suggested they play a drinking game but Clark had said something about team building activities and Bruce had figured that it would still be better than a treasure hunt.

The game had quickly evolved from general remarks to personal attacks.

"Never have I ever been on the front cover of a magazine as a civilian." Hal said.

Bruce and Oliver both threw him a dark look that promised swift and terrible revenge and drank.

“You’ve never been on the front cover of a magazine as a vigilante ever.” Oliver retorted snidely.

"Never have I ever slept with a coworker." Jessica said when it was her turn.

Clark threw her a betrayed look which would have made a Disney villain cry. Jessica looked away.

“Wait, teammates are not coworkers ?” Barry asked, looking oddly at the young Lantern.

“No !” Jessica said, supported by Dinah and Diana - who clearly had vested interests in this semantic dispute.

"Alright, I’ll settle the matter. Never have I ever slept with anyone in this room." Arthur said.

There was a collective groan.

"Seriously ?" Arthur rolled his eyes at no one in particular when everyone else but him and Victor emptied their glasses. “Did I miss the initiation ceremony ?”

The rest of them ignored him as they refilled their glasses. Some of them looked intrigued, clearly wondering who had slept with whom and if there had been some overlap.

“Never have I ever been married.” Victor said, quite proud of himself.

He could be. More people drank than he had expected. He was nice enough not to comment on it, filing the information in a corner of his mind. Others weren’t so kind.

"What are you doing ?" Oliver asked Hal when he saw him emptying the contents of his glass.

Hal had tried to be discreet and had been especially careful not to look at Bruce as he brought his glass to his lips.

"Um, drinking ?" he said, chosing to play dumb.

It would give him the time to check with Bruce how much he could share with their teammates.

"Hal, you only drink when you've actually done the thing." Barry reminded him.

"I know how to play this game." Hal said.

He had caught Bruce’s gaze briefly and read all he needed to know in it before he answered. Bruce didn’t care one way or another, as long as Hal was cool with it.

"So, you were just thirsty ?" Oliver said.

"No, I am just married." Hal answered confidently.

"What ?" Arthur said, gaping at him.

He wasn’t the only one. Apparently, Hal drinking hadn’t been enough to convince them.

"You heard me." Hal said,

"Oh God." Dinah said faintly, and Hal caught her watching Bruce, whose glass was empty.

"But…" Oliver said.

Hal could feel the headache coming. He couldn’t get out of this one with an evasive reply. The cat was already half out of the bag.

"Bruce took a sip too." Jessica said hesitantly. "Does it mean that you're married to him ?"

"Hal's not gay." Oliver chipped in.

Hal only kept from saying he was here to avoid a discussion on his sexuality he really didn’t look forward to.

"You haven't noticed that they were getting along better these last few years ?" Dinah said.

She didn’t sound that surprised, now.

"But the fights !" Oliver said, pointing at the both of them.

Hal would have loved some help but Bruce had stubbornly stayed seated.

"We fight all the time." Dinah pointed out.

Hal shared a look with Bruce and they reached a satisfying decision - if Oliver and Dinah insisted on it, they would let them argue it out without intervening.

Well, that would have been great but Dinah dragged Hal into their conversation, pointing at his neck. Hadn’t she been told as a kid that pointing things was rude ?

"I've noticed the chain. At first I thought you were wearing your dog tags but the chain is high quality and obviously a gift, you wouldn't pick something as expensive for yourself.”

Hal touched it automatically. He was so used to it, he didn’t think about it most of the time.

“Really high quality.” his friend added. “It had to - well, I figured out you two could have been sleeping together.”

Her cheeks were a bit pink and Hal was quite certain his own were probably turning an interesting shade too. Dinah had thought he was a kept man. Hal’s hand clenched into a fist at the thought. The simple thought that Bruce and him could actually really like each other without ulterior motives was apparently not one either of them had entertained.

Well, most of them probably hadn’t had a clue about them being together in the first place, so there was that.

“I’ve just not given much thought to the pendant until now." Dinah said, and her voice had become sweeter.

As if maybe, just maybe, she was starting to understand how it was.

"How -" Hal started asking, wondering how she had guessed the chain wasn’t just a chain on its own.

The chain poked out of his shirts but he had always been careful to keep the ring from anyone’s view.

"The way the chain hangs from your neck. It's obvious it's supporting something." Bruce’s familiar voice reminded him as the man let his hand fall on Hal’s shoulder and let it brush against his collarbone.

Hal hadn’t noticed him moving. From Dinah’s discreet jump, she hadn’t either. He must have reacted to Hal’s tenseness. Hal absolutely didn’t shiver at his touch.

"It’s something a lot more valuable than a mere pendant, am I right ?" Dinah asked.

Hal had wondered if they had forgotten about the ‘married’ thing, instead focusing on the ‘Bruce and Hal’ thing. Apparently, Dinah hadn’t. There were murmurs in the room. Oliver and Barry weren’t saying anything anymore, looking at Hal and Bruce alternatively. The hand on Hal’s shoulder tightened its grip.

Hal looked up at Bruce to convey to him that it was okay before he tugged lightly at the chain around his neck, showing them all his wedding ring.

There were a few gasps - apparently some of them had been drunk enough not to follow Dinah’s reasoning.

"You don't wear yours." Jessica asked Bruce a bit shyly.

"Only at home. I can’t wear it in public." Bruce said with a note of regret in his voice.

Hal covered the hand on his shoulder with his own. They had talked about it at length. Hal had told him he didn’t care but Bruce had a hard time accepting that. Well, he would be able to wear it when they were hanging out with their friends, now.

“Oliver and Dinah’s living room isn’t exactly a public setting.” Arthur remarked.

Hal was glad no one else lingered on this thought.

"Wait, you've been wearing this chain for a while." Barry intervened.

"Nearly two years." Hal nodded.

Maybe it wasn’t something he wanted to discuss either. Couldn’t they go back to playing a few more rounds ?

"You kept that from us all this time ? Why didn’t you tell us ?" Barry asked, sounding disappointed.

For longer, Hal didn’t say. He doubted it would be well appreciated.

"It didn't come up." Hal said.

He should have let Bruce talk - he would have smoothed things over instead of making them worse. But Bruce was taking his time analyzing the situation and Hal couldn’t stand the silence and the glares.

"You know why it didn't come up ? Because usually people tell their friends they're getting married and don't wait for them to figure it out, asshole !" Oliver shouted.

He looked furious. He was quite red in the face, which Hal would probably find less funny if he was a bit sober himself.

"What's the fun in that ?" Hal said.

"You're serious ?" Olivier asked, and Dinah put herself between him and Hal.

Hal doubted Oliver would have looked for a physical fight, though. Well, he was a bit drunk, but probably not that drunk. Hal was not completely sober himself but he had Bruce at his side. It would dissuade most people.

"No. No, he isn't." Bruce, who wasn’t looking forward to a fight despite his husband’s belligerent mood, said and he moved a chair to sit right next to Hal and took his hand into his.

Hal relaxed a bit at the contact, which was probably Bruce’s intention. His husband knew him too well. Maybe that was the point of marrying.

“The subject is just a bit sensitive.” Bruce added and glared all of them into silence before one of them asked how speaking of your marriage could upset you.

Before he could say more, Hal had intertwined their hands and spoke up.

"We got married during the mission on Nemoria as Bruce was bleeding out in my arms." he revealed, his free hand closing over his ring, and his other hand tightening around Bruce’s.

He focused his gaze on the wall. Mercifully, it wasn’t red.

"Bruce was hurt in the altercation before the signing of the treaty. Badly hurt. Of course the idiot didn’t say a thing until the papers were signed and he almost collapsed as we were walking back to our ship.” Hal said, shaking his head.

"There was a hospital close by but it was a Lantern one. You need to be related to a Lantern by marriage or blood to get admitted into that kind of place. The nearest hospital with professionals able to deal with humans that wasn’t a Lantern one was several hours away. I couldn't know if Bruce would die before reaching Sinaa's interspecies medical unit. I decided not to take the chance. See, Bruce and I have been seeing each other for a while and I was starting to really like him.”

“Hal.” Bruce sighed.

“He married me for my humor.” Hal said, smiling at Bruce.

“I didn’t marry you for your maladaptive defense mechanisms. I married you because I was bleeding out.” Bruce said, but he brought Hal’s hand to his lips for a few seconds until someone cleared their throat.

Bruce didn’t jump but Hal could tell that he had forgotten that their friends could see them. It happened some time when one of them answered a phone call when they were both at the Manor. The other would get a hand entangled into their hair, or kiss their nose and they would both forget about the person calling.

“Dying men can’t be choosers.” Hal said, kissing Bruce softly, refusing to get embarrassed.

Someone choked in the background. Hal hoped it was Oliver.

"I am not sure you know it but all Lanterns are granted the ability to perform marriages on the spot." he went on, throwing a side look at the rest of their party.

They were waiting for him to continue. He looked at Bruce.

"We got married by a sympathizing Lantern patient in the waiting room of the Lantern equivalent of a military hospital. Bruce was barely conscious. The short trip to the hospital had worsened his condition. He had a hole in his chest and I had managed to stop the bleeding with a construct for a while but he was bleeding again by the time I got him to the hospital." Hal said quietly. “My hands were red with his blood.” looking down at them as if they still were.

But there was not a drop of blood on them. Hal looked back at their friends. They were all hanging onto his every word. You have a gift with audiences. Bruce had told him once. Hal had laughed because of the person it was coming from but he was forced to admit that Bruce may have been right.

"Bruce passed out right after my colleague finalized our marriage. He stayed unconscious for nearly two weeks. We were lucky to have access to alien technology, I doubt anything else could have saved him. I spent days at Bruce's side wondering if I was going to become a widower. So yes, I didn't think about the invites. Sue me." Hal said.

He had tried to skip this part as quickly as possible. Definitely not his favorite.

"Oh Hal." Dinah said, in a tone far too compassionate for his comfort.

“Well, Bruce lived. And we got rings when we came back.” Hal said uncomfortably. “Bruce got me the chain for our first anniversary.”

“So it’s been three years ?” Barry said, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Have you ever been told that you’re good at math ?” Hal retorted.

Bruce had put a calming hand on his arm.

“We’ve been married for nearly three years. We’ve been together for a total of five years.” he explained.

“I don’t even know what to say.” Arthur remarked.

“Congratulations ?” Hal suggested. “That would be a good start.”

“Which one of you didn’t want us to know ?” Diana asked.

She had no right, Hal thought. She and Clark hadn’t been very forthcoming about their own relationship a while back.
But he could see what she was trying to do. What he hoped she was trying to do, anyway.

“Both.” Bruce said.

“Me.” Hal said a millisecond after.

Diana nodded when he caught her gaze. Yes, it hadn’t been a malignant question. She was just a good friend, trying to protect Bruce. She had tried to coax Hal into telling them what she had suspected - Bruce wasn’t the one who had pushed for them not to be out in the open.

“At first, I needed the space to figure out what was happening between us in peace. After, it was kind of a habit. Look, I would have told you before we got married if it had happened differently.”

He didn’t tell them he had also done it for Bruce. There were so few areas of Bruce’s life that were private and Hal had wanted him to have this, this thing that was just their own and no one else's. Bruce had probably already figured it out ages ago.

He also had known that their friends might need some time to… adjust to their relationship and he had known he wouldn’t like it and that it would likely hurt Bruce, because they would manage to imply a lot of unpleasant things while trying to figure out how Bruce and Hal worked as a couple.

“You know what ? Fuck it. This is the most meaningful relationship in my life. If you don’t like it, I fail to see how it’s my problem.” Hal said as Arthur opened his mouth. “I am happy. Happy as I haven’t been in a long time before Bruce and I got together. Bruce ?”

“You know that I feel that way too.” Bruce said softly.

“I think I am happy too.” Jess said, giving her glass a lopsided smile and Hal had to wonder if she was drunker than she looked, but he didn’t say anything, smiling at her instead.

Nevertheless, Hal appreciated the support.

“I guess I am happy too.” Victor said, shrugging.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of voices expressing similar feelings. Hal felt like he was breathing more easily. Bruce’s hand was still firmly resting against his.

Soon enough they all had all spoken up. All but one.

“Ollie.” Dinah said in a indignated tone, elbowing her husband not too gently.

“Alright, alright. To happiness. Yours, mine, Bruce and Hal’s, yada yada yada.” Oliver said.

Afterwards, Hal pretended hugging Oliver was a drunk impulse.

As Hal sat back next to Bruce, his husband wrapped an arm around him and Hal leaned into him, letting his tired head rest on Bruce’s inviting shoulder.

“To happiness.” they all repeated, as an impromptu toast and they all raised their glasses one more time.