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He should’ve been in English class.
The strong scent of nicotine seeped out of the second floor boy’s bathroom, and alerted every teacher and student of what was going on inside. Not that they didn’t already assume. Boys of different grades, although mostly juniors and seniors, stood in a rough circle by the sinks. Dick opted to sit against a stall. No one offered him a hit, and he didn’t ask.
He should’ve been in English with kids a grade older, but he was watching boys two or three grades older bring vapes to their lips.
—//—
“Have you ever vaped before?”
“What?”
“Have you ever vaped before? Or like done drugs, or smoked,” Dick clarified.
Wally assessed him, before responding, “that stuff doesn’t work on me—with my metabolism and all. Why?”
They were sat in some random nook—far from where their teammates sparred, which was where they were supposed to be. No one had called them out yet.
“I’ve been thinking about it. Stuff like that, I mean.”
“Drugs ‘n’ shit?” Wally supplied.
“I guess… well, more like rebellion in general.”
“Oh.” Without standing, Wally crawled over next to Dick. Their thighs touched.
“Sometimes, I forget I’m a teenager,” Dick whispered. Wally extended his leg, pressing himself more firmly against Dick.
“Me too,” Wally replied. They let a short silence take over their conversation.
“Y’know what I do when I feel like that?” Wally eventually prompted. Dick subtly shook his head, eyes glued to Wally’s jaw. His skin was rough and bore some acne. He was pretty for a guy.
“I do something really fucking stupid.”
Dick huffed and couldn’t stifle a small grin, “like what-“
Wally roughly grasped his hair and yanked his head towards his own, and their lips collided harshly. He pulled away lightly, but it barely lasted a second before Dick grabbed his jaw and reunited their mouths. He used his tongue to pry Wally’s lips open while the redhead shifted on top of him. They parted with the same roughness. His mind went static.
—//—
“Is it wrong?”
“What, kissing boys or rebelling?”
“The latter,” Dick decided.
“I think it’s natural. But that doesn’t really make it wrong or right, does it?” Wally replied. He slowly stood up and waited for Dick to join him. When he did, he started walking towards where their teammates were. Dick followed.
“Did you like it? Kissing me, because it was me?”
Dick wasn’t sure. He chewed his lip while he formulated his answer. Before he could respond, they arrived. No one noticed their absence, or shared disheveled look.
–//–
Wally texted him the next morning:
Wally
>wanna skip tmr?
Me
>sure
He wasn’t sure if he should mention what happened yesterday, or if it would happen again, or if he wanted that. But he dressed up for school, and spent just a little longer on his hair than usual. As usual, Alfred dropped him off. He thanked the man quickly before getting down and re-routing once he drove away. Dick found his phone and started formatting a text to Wally when-
“Piggy back or cradle?”
“What-” Wally made the choice for him. Before Dick knew it, he was in the other’s arms, speeding through the country, then being tossed onto warm sand.
“Wally,” he gasped, shocked and confused, “what was that?!”
The ginger stood above his sprawled out form with a wide grin. He placed a finger on his mouth and shushed, “quiet down, we’re on private property.”
Dick launched himself up and looked around: they were on a desolate beach with only a large manor in the distance.
“Where are we?” He questioned with a short chuckle, not being able to help his amusement.
Instead of answering, Wally kicked off his shoes and started stripping, “oh, come on and just join me.”
Dick’s face flushed as his red boxers and bare chest were revealed. He looked away bashfully and shrugged off his own school clothes. By the time he was in just his underwear, Wally was already knees deep in the cold water, waving to him. Compared to the sun kissed sand, the waves were chill. Dick danced around the tides, afraid of the cold. Wally laughed at him unhelpfully, before bending down and extending his hands under water.
“Wally, don’t-” a large splash hit his body and extended up over his head. Dick yelped at the cold embrace, but was quick to return an attack. They pranced around knee-deep waters for who-knows-how-long until the sun started to lower.
By a half-finished, frankly pathetic sand castle, Dick’s phone repeatedly buzzed, to his ignorance.
The two teens eventually exited the ocean and made their way to the dry sand, sprawling themselves out by their discarded clothes. The sun tanned and dried them, but dampness didn’t leave their thick hair.
Dick propped himself up on his elbow, watching the relaxed redhead. His eyes were closed and he was steadily breathing. Carefully, Dick placed a hand on his chest, making sure to not put his weight on it. Wally’s eyes fluttered open and flicked down towards Dick’s lips. Taking this as confirmation, He lowered himself over the other and gave him a firm, confident kiss. They parted with a giggle, neither being able to hold back their amusement. It was fun, if not for the butterflies racing through Dick’s stomach, or the way they both turned red. For the paler boy, it was probably a sunburn setting in, Dick reasoned.
Wally suddenly pushed Dick, initiating a playful wrestle. Sand got all over their wet backs and in their hair, so Wally offered to clean the other with sea water if he’d do the same in return. Dick nodded and let the older boy splash water down his back and slowly massage it in. His hands were cold and rough, but Dick didn’t mind. He was happy to return the favor.
Eventually, after they got back in their clothes, and knocked over their sand castles, and messed up the words they scribbled in the wet sand, Wally let Dick mount his back. In a flash, he was by the side of the manor where his bedroom window stuck out. He and Wally didn’t say bye, but instead exchanged earnest smiles. Carefully, Dick made his way up to the window, where he had left it ajar that morning, and slid through.
Creeping down to the living room, Dick was surprised to see Bruce aggressively conversing with Superman. Suddenly being aware of his presence, both heads snapped towards him and Bruce exclaimed, "Where have you been?”
Dick remained silent. Was his father worried to the point of sending Superman to find him? The man growled at his silence but Superman placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Dick was grateful because that seemed to have calmed Bruce down.
His father sighed and scanned over him. There were no obvious injuries but his hand was damp and salty, and his clothes were messed up. Bruce sighed and ordered, “go take a shower. We’ll talk after.”
Dick nodded and did so. As warm water hit his body, he could only think of Wally, and if he was showering too. His mind didn’t go anywhere weird. Dick couldn’t imagine doing anything past kissing, not even Wally.
Once he exited the bathroom and changed, he bee-lined to his phone and sent a quick message:
Me
>ive decided
>that i liked it
>kissing u
>bc it was u
Instead of waiting for a response, he threw his phone onto his bed and turned out of his room. By the time he went down, Superman was gone. He couldn’t help but feel a slight disappointment. Instead, Alfred was tidying up the living room.
“Master Bruce is expecting you in the Batcave,” he informed, face showing slight concern.
Dick nodded before taking a deep breath and heading down. He couldn’t help but feel a little worried. In the cave, Bruce was sitting with his eyes glued to the complex screens. Dick tiptoed past him and sat down by the jagged wall. He waited, and waited, and eventually, the man turned around.
He took off his cowl with a sigh, then clasped his gloved hands.
“What’s been going on, chum?”
“Sorry… for skipping.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Dick bit his lip and fidgeted with his fingers. He gave Bruce a shrug.
Bruce sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. He readjusted himself, and said, “look, Dick, I know a good counselor I want you to try to talk to. It’s okay if you don’t like her, but-”
“I don’t need a shrink, Bruce,” Dick retaliated.
“...Okay.” Bruce sighed once more. He did that a lot, and usually because of him.
Unexpectedly, his father got out of his chair to crouch in front of him and pulled him into a hug.
“Go sleep for now. Don’t worry about patrol or practice tomorrow; you need rest.”
Dick knew Bruce meant he was benched. Like he had been doing recently, he didn’t plan to listen to him. But that night, he resigned to his room without complaint. In his bed, he found his phone. Dick sat down and picked it up, reading a notification displayed on the lock screen.
He smiled.