Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

BANG!

Bruce is in horror. Eyes fixated on the cheap looking but durable pistol in the hands of the murderer of his—his mothers on the ground. He can’t hear anything. Not when he saw his mother’s pearls cascade to the hard floor of crime alley, or when his father screamed at the sight of his wife getting shot in her neck. The culprit has a dark blue ski mask on and is pale with dark brown eyes. That’s his new least favorite color; Brown. Oh, it’s also the color of his parents hair. And his. And his house. And his favorite swing. And his—you know what? forget it. He doesn’t like anything anymore. Not even the movie he just walked out from seeing with his parents. What was it called again??

Bruce can feel his uvula swinging as his throat burns with what he can assume is him screaming at the top of his lungs.

Bad move.

The man’s eyes turn towards him. Brown and soulless; cause one would have to be soulless to kill a kids parents in front of their face. The hand that holds the gun twitches and the boys mind goes blank. It’s the end for him. 

“stop right there!” 

The monster whips his head at a direction and Bruce does the same. cause what else was he going to do? look at his parents lifeless body? The blood splattered on every nook and cranny of the Alleyway? Yeah, didn’t think so.

anyways, thankfully for Bruce it was one of the commissioners of the GCPD at the time, Jack Grogan.

”put the gun dow-“ all Bruce sees are flashes of light and ducks—just to be safe; for he’s had too many misfortunes for the day. And fortunate he was for doing so since they were shots from his parents murderer. After a while a hand on his shoulder was felt and he opened his eyes to see the commissioner. When he looked up the killer was gone, much to his dismay.

later that evening…

”sir Bruce!” Alfred called out the moment he entered the police department. There was said boy on a chair, tears staining his porcelain smooth skin. Bruce should’ve called Alfred’s name back, should’ve jumped out of his seat and hugged him, but instead he did nothing. He didn’t even flinch. Just sat there still, broken as an old clock. “Are you alright?” Once the older man was in front of him had the scarred child looked at him. He tried to say no, tried to shake his head, tried to do something—but to no avail. Alfred hugged Bruce tightly. “It’s okay, everything’s okay..when you get older, this shall no longer haunt you..” and back then Bruce had believed it. He’d rather believe anything than that his parents were just murdered in cold blood, and that this would follow him for the rest of his life. Oh, anything but that!

so he believed it.

and what a sucker he was for that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

present day: August 21st of 2016

Bruce’s alarm clock had rung, not scaring him but doing its job of waking him up. The  summer had passed much too soon and already was the teen dreading those old, crusty school gates. And the fake, annoying personalities of the people it held. Like-

Don’t even think about him.

Right. People: just people. At least he had a few friends like Clark, Hal, and Diana. Good people he can depend on. How long has he been sitting in bed for? 8 minutes. The number of his age when his life had completely changed. He hates the number 8. He hates everything.

except Serendipity 

————————————————

After the youngest billionaire in Gotham City brushes his teeth, gets dressed, gets the yearly lecture from Alfred on not participating in drugs, alcohol, or anything that could negatively affect him, he’s ready to head out. Which car should he take? The Rolls Royce? The Lamborghini? The Aston—yeah he’s taking the Aston Martin. It’s just something about it. Maybe the slick black chic it has, or how it resembles some kind of high tech mobile. 

or maybe the only thing he’s started to like is the color black.

nonetheless Bruce grabs the keys to the car, buckles in and drives out of Wayne Manors vicinity. He feels a vibration in his pocket that holds his phone and for a brief moments thinks of what it could be. Another podcast trying to get him on their show to suck out every bit of information about his life out of him? Yeah no. been there done that. He’s never been a fan of Vicky Vale since, which is why he keeps telling Clark to drop her. To which he is just chalked up to “being moody”. What a joke.  Curiosity gets the better of him and at a red light he checks his phone. It’s a new group chat called “The Super Seven!” And right there does the teen want to swerve off the road and crash into a tree. But he doesn’t. Honestly he’s not even sure why he doesn’t.

BillyboyZAM: sup guys I made a gc!!!

scarletspeed$: omfg who keeps giving this little boy our phone numbers

canarylance: y is there a dollar sign in your name when you get no money?

Superkent: hahahahha!!!

Green_lanternn: ew wtf

superkent: what!?

Green_lanternn: why you say haha when you got laughing emojis u look dumb

superkent: we didn’t have that back at the farm…

scarletspeed$: wat

Green_lanternn: see even Barry’s confused! And that’s gotta mean something

scarletspeed$: what does that mean!?

Green_lanternn: don’t worry bout it Bar’!! ❤️

WWDiana17: shouldn’t you guys be on your way to school??

J’onzz.the.Manhunter: yes, everybody except Billy Batson.

Green_lanternn: 🤣🤣 nah he gotta be ready for DAYCARE!!!!

BillyBoyZAM: hey!!! >:(

Superkent: hahahah

Green_lantern: Clark stop playing with me

After that Bruce stops paying attention. One: he was driving. and two:just reading their messages was developing a headache in the teens mind. Though throughout the 15 minute drive did his phone vibrate violently. Thank God for Do Not Disturb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bruce is regretting taking the Aston Martin for a spin. No amount of perfect black matte paint would be worth the unwanted stares. Bruce hates being looked at, which is ironic since he’s the son of the most famous man in the city. Scratch that—of the whole county! If Bruce had to choose one thing that he would want his family to pass down to him, it would not be his fame. But Bruce believes he is the most unluckiest man in the world and has good reason to think so…

he should’ve taken the back door, or should’ve taken a ride with someone with less money—wait ew he hates people. But it wouldn’t have been horrible to catch a ride with Dinah, she’s not so bad. But her with her boyfriend, Oliver? Pass. Oliver is another person Bruce does not like, and if you haven’t already noticed; Bruce hates a lot of people. But somehow Oliver makes his top five. He’s annoying, obnoxious, arrogant, snobby, and overall a asshat. He’s almost as bad as-

“is that count drac!? Head of the brood Patrol!? The big ‘ol bat!?”

sometimes Bruce wishes the killer would’ve killed him too.

the man was so loud he heard him from in his car and at least 10 feet away from him. The teen slouched in his seat and wished it would just swallow him up whole. But sadly dreams don’t come true..

the expert swimmer swings the door open (when was it unlocked!?) and forced Bruce into an agonizing hug. “Buddy Bruce! Where ya been man!?” “Away from you-“ The billionaire is cut off for the 100th time today with Arthur hugging him tighter. Arthur. The most unaware, most unintelligent, man he’s ever met. How he’s popular is more of an enigma than Eddie Nygma, who is sitting on a bench not too far pestering a few students with some dumb riddle. Finally Bruce is let go and quickly dusts his entire body off because the boy is invested with fish flakes everywhere he goes, due to being a sea animal lover. He constantly talks about saving the whales, or how fish aren’t food, and anything else about creatures underwater. He’s like an aquatic Pamela Isley, who you’ll see later. “I’ve been enjoying peace and quiet.” Bruce curtly says before trying to brush past him, to which Arthur completely ignores and walks with him. For 5 minutes his ear is talked off about the sea-lovers summer and how he saved whales and cleaned the beaches and got a girlfriend and—Why is he listening!? This day can not get any worse!! 

“Oh Aquaman, could you at least keep your constant babbling to a minimum, at least till next week? It would benefit us all immensely.” Who was the woman who said that? Because they literally just saved his life.

“are you sure Selina? Cause it seemed like Bruce was listening and-“

Selina puts a sharp, claw-like, finger to Arthur’s lips. “Shhhhhhhh. I think your girlfriend would love to hear about it. How about you go tell her.”

”but she already kno-“

Now so instead of it being Selina’s soft padded finger, she angles her newly polished, sharp nails into Arthur’s lip. Thankfully the boy gets the hint and turns around, not without a little “I’ll catch you later” before he turns the corner and is gone. Bruce would be thankful if it wasn’t Selina.

see Bruce and Selina go way back.

it was last year—sophomore year, and Selina had peaked an interest in Bruce. They had previously before then gave each other looks when passing halls, or at lunch happening to be near each other when getting food and feeling the tense presence of one another, but neither ever made a move. Until January of sophomore year….

__________________________________

LMAO CLIFFHANGER!!! 

I am so sorry I hate to do this to people but how else will I keep you coming back!!!??

A new chapter will be up in the span of like 2-3 days probably but I just want to know what you guys are thinking of it so far? Anything you like? Anything you don’t? Anything I should add? Maybe some ships or something. Lemme know!!

I hope it was evident that this is a mix of sooo many things. The Gotham TV show, Justice league animated movie universe, the Lego Batman movie, the Batman night walker (Dc icons) book, so many!!!

anyways have a good night <3

Chapter Text

“Honestly, Vicky Vale is totally hot! I don’t know how you pull em Clark, cause let me tell you; you’re not exactly a ten out of ten.” Hal says through a mouthful of food. It’s lunch time, and Bruce would probably rather eating in the library, but his friends would never allow that. So instead he usually sits with Diana, Hal, Clark, Barry, J’onn, Dinah, Victor and sadly Oliver and Arthur. Thankfully they sit at a large table that gives him some space from the meatheads. “Seriously, Hal!? Why do you have to put down everything I do!? I have to have some kind of charm to have Vicky Vale like me!” Hal scoffs, “yeah more like boy Scout charm. You have that golden retriever look to you.” “Girls love golden retrievers! And Boy Scout? Really?” Clark grabs his phone and opens up his camera, starting to scan his face of any bad features. “Well what are you then, Hal?” Diana askes, expecting to catch the way too confident jock at a lost of words. “Me? Oh I’m a Rottweiler. Yeah, the biggest dog there is!” Hal says with a cross of his arms and a smug face expression. Bruce wants to tell him Rottweilers aren’t the biggest dog, but he’s already cut off before he can conjure up the words by Dinah. “Well surely looks don’t all matter! I mean, look at Bruce,” the whole table then turns to look at said billionaire and boy does he hate being stared at. What is he supposed to say? To be honest, he didn’t even know what Dinah meant when she said that. Thankfully she gives up an explanation, “Bruce is good looking, yet hasn’t had a girlfriend since Silver St. Cloud in middle school!” Which they obviously know the reason why since Silver said it out loud back on that dreadful day (everyday is dreadful).

It was recess time in 7th grade, everyone is running around, fighting for the swings, and playing Gaga ball. until there is a loud shout over at the hard cement of the playground floor, where there is chalk surrounding two figures; Silver St. Cloud and Bruce Wayne. Who had been dating for almost three months! Which for kids, is like being married!

“Ugh! I can’t take it anymore! All you do is sulk around and act like you’re a mute child who doesn’t know how to start a conversation! I can’t believe I even defended you when father said you were no good. Well I should’ve listened! Every time we hang out you sit on that half broken swing and look at the ground. You never wanna play, you never wanna talk, you never wanna do anything! Well I’m sick of it. We’re done.” And with that the platinum blonde walked off, leaving Bruce by himself with the eyes of every kid on that playground looking at him. And what did he do? Looked at the ground. That’s what he always does when he wants to stop time: look at the ground. And even though he always does it, he hates it. He hates the ground. And now, he hates Silver Cloud. He actually quite liked her. She did talk a lot, and against what the girl might’ve thought, he did listen. She was a great storyteller, and had some humor too!  But like everything else in the boys life, it’s only temporary. At least he can always depend on Alfred. 

Bruce is brought back to the future when Victor changes the conversation by talking about this football tournament he did not too long ago, and this makes Bruce like him. He’s always liked Victor, actually. He’s always looking out for people, incredibly smart, and the schools football team has not lost a game since he got here. Bruce’s small victory is cut short because Dinah is stubborn as hell and won’t let him get a win. “I mean we’re all at that age where starting to date people is apart of us growing up. Even Hal has Carol-“ “ehh-eh-heh,” Hal scrambles to shut Dinah up, “Don’t say that name, you might summon her!” After Hal says that he starts frantically looking around for said girl. Carol Ferris is Hal’s crazy ex who is, to this day, still crazily in love with him despite calling him names and going berserk everytime she’s in a 20 foot radius of him. They were a cute couple. she was a cheerleader while Hal was a football player. They both liked the same things and Carol was dummy rich. But as the douchebag Hal is; he cheated on her. Bruce isn’t all that sure who he cheated on her with, but there are many rumors following the at the time new transfer student, Arisia Rrab. Hal avoided all the questions about his affairs like the plague, but it’s stayed alive since it started last year because Carol is obsessed and it’s the main reason why Hal doesn’t do relationships like that anymore. Any girl he’s tried to date since then has broken up with him (obviously forced to) changed schools, and one girl named Jillian even ran away from home. Needless to say, Hal would rather not go through that. “It is true, I mean I’ve even been talking to this girl, Sarah..” Victor trails off. He’s a very private person, so Bruce guesses his love life is just as private as he is. The conversation spirals into the whole table talking about crushes and girlfriends and boyfriends and just overall love. Bruce hates love because he doesn’t hate love, he actually envy’s it. Bruce hasn’t felt love since his parents death. He doesn’t even remember how it feels! There’s Alfred, but that’s different. Bruce yearns for someone who could just understand him, even a little bit. Has he had sex? Yes, though he’s not the biggest fan of it and doesn’t get the attention it gets so frequently. After 10 minutes Bruce starts getting agitated. You’ll see he gets agitated a lot and has minor anger issues. Bruce cant look at the ground so looks at the nicely prepared and untouched food Alfred had prepared for him.

He’s not hungry.

So instead Bruce grabs the lunch, aggressively leaves the table, throws it in the trash, and stomps out the cafeteria. 

so maybe his anger issues are a little more severe than minor.

As he leaves the cafeteria, the halls are still packed with people; people he hates. He needs to get away from everybody. The library would still be full at this time, the bathroom would be full of vape addicted trolls, and the office would have to many people waiting for principle Gordon. After thinking of his options, Bruce decides the back of the school building would be best.

Bad Move.

since when had the back of the school become a delinquent hideout. Eddie Nygma, the smartest person you’ll ever meet but wastes his potential on stupid riddles, is seated next to Oswald, a man who dresses like it’s 1935 and has a thing for penguins, on a brick wall. On the ground on a plaid blanket is Harleen, who insists on being called Harley, sitting next to her best friend Pamela Isley, who everyone calls Poison Ivy because the girl likes plants more than the actual human race. Harley seems to be babbling on in on with affection in her eyes and Bruce instantly knows exactly who she’s talking about. Ivy looks like she doesn’t want to hear a bit of what Harley is talking about because she too hates the monster she’s hopelessly devoted to. Guess that’s one thing he has in common with the Anti-social plant-lover. Bruce can only imagine where He is. Then across from them is Jarvis Tech and Jonathan Crane; two absolute lunatics. Jervis lost his sister 5 years ago and ever since then hallucinates that she’s still here and always by his side, and Jonathan was mercilessly abused by his father which made him afraid of absolutely everything. He acts like anything he sees is a nightmare or something…

Bruce really didn’t want to be around the looney bin, but would he rather sit and listen to his friend’s intimate life (that goes to Hal. No one wanted to hear about what you did to Jennifer Hayden last month)? Fuck no.

”sorry hun, but I think your lost.”

Bruce turns to his left to see her. The infamous Selina Kyle. She was light-toned with sultry green eyes (Bruce now likes the color green). Her hair was short and messy but also neat. Her outfit was a tight black jumpsuit that showed of every curve and outline of her body, and sported it with a leather black jacket. High heeled black boots and sunglasses on her head were the accessories she chose to pull it all together. She looked ethereal, and Bruce wasn’t sure how he hadn’t felt the strong aura she had beforehand. “No…I came here myself.” Was all Bruce was able to say, not like he had anything else to say. Selina batted her long lashes and showed off her purple eyeshadow. “Why? Did you need an escape?” She grabbed his arm and massaged it, and while doing so Bruce noticed her sharp purple nails. “Uh, I—yes.” After the boys confirmation Selina pointed to a tree farther away from the looney bin but not off school premises. She let go off his arm and strutted over to said tree, not without a teasing glance. Bruce followed her, not entirely sure why. She screamed danger by the choker on her neck (how hadn’t he noticed that earlier? Why does he keep seeing new things on her?), being around the delinquents made her a delinquent herself, (cause why else would she be around them?), and how the smell of cigarettes followed her everywhere. Also, why was she taking him to a more private area!? 

once at the tree they sit down. It’s quiet and a little tense, and it reminds Bruce of the tree at the manor he used to sit at and have Silver talk to him. He always wondered where she went, as she left a year after they broke up. He never heard of her again and no one ever talked about her. it was as if she never existed. “So tiger, what made you want to come out back?” He wasn’t sure what made Selina want to call him tiger, but ignored it for the time being. “Wanted to be alone. Away from people.” He looked at the ground. Probably wasn’t a nice thing to say being that he is in fact, with a person. A hot one at that. “Ouch,” Selina said, putting a hand to her heart mockingly. “I guess I have to be special then.” A grin takes over the bottom of her face, and Bruce wants to do it back, but can’t. “I guess..” is all he says. He really needs to get better at conversations. and making friends. and controlling his anger. and well—there’s a lot of things he needs to work on. “So, your like a billionaire, right?” Selina asked, suddenly looking very interested in the boy. Bruce gives a nod, now on high alert. Is she interested in him because he has money? Bruce would hope not, and doesn’t think so because of the emerald earrings she’s wearing that have to at least be 20 grand. Maybe she just wants to be with someone who can keep up with her tax bracket. “Good to know…. Maybe we should hang out after school? Maybe like..the mall.” Oh. Bruce doesn’t usually hang out after school if it’s not sports related. But well, Bruce is kind of into her. Well at least he thinks he is. He’s not exactly sure how it feels to like someone. He liked Silver, he guesses? Whatever. “Okay.” Selina’s eyes twinkle. “It’s a date then,” she says as she stands up. “Catch ya later, Tiger” and with a wink she struts away the same time the school bell rings, telling all the students at lunch B it’s over. And for the first time in years,

Bruce is excited for something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So they go to the mall.

and it’s…..Fun, to say the least.

though of course Bruce pays for everything, because he thinks that’s what a gentleman does on a date with someone. They go to many stores, all super expensive. Thankfully, Bruce has the money for it. Then they go eat, and talk. They both do. Turns out neither of them have a mother, and Selina absolutely hates her father. They both also don’t have a long list of ex lovers. Bruce…likes her, he’s pretty sure. And he’s tired of not liking anyone. He’s tired of having all his friends talk about their crushes and lovers without being able to relate. He’s tired of it all. So…

”Will you..be my girlfriend?” 

her catlike eyes open wide and she smirks. And that tells him that this is the beginning of something. 

May of Sophomore year…

They are at the mall again. It’s always the mall. Bruce now knows every store, its location, what time it closes, what time it opens. In the span of a month he’s spent 450,000 dollars on purses and heels and clothes. Also, he’s 90% sure there is some kind of burglar around here; since more and more posters pushing the “do not steal” agenda are appearing. But anyways,  He can’t take being at this mall anymore. “So, where did you get those earrings from?” Bruce asks as they are walking down a long hall of stores. Selina is quiet for a moment, not turning to him and just looking straight, “My mother.” That’s weird. Bruce saw those same earrings at one of the jewelry stores they went to last week, and next to the piece of jewelry it said “apart of last years collection”. Her mother died when she was 9. Play dumb Bruce. “Oh. Okay.” “Come on, let’s go to Sephora! I need a new plum lipstick.” Selina says enthusiastically as she takes Bruce by the hand and pulls him to the direction of the makeup store. While going to said store, Bruce thinks. She lied. Sheliedsheliedsheliefshelied. His red flag sensors (which he didn’t know he even had), were going off. Selina had been a bad influence since their first date. On their way back Selina had begged to drive Bruce’s Aston Martin, and when he had she ran 6 red lights, swerved around 3 people, and was in the wrong lane on purpose. Bruce went home and thanked the Lord he was alive and well. Another time when they went out to eat at a high end restaurant, she had went to the bar and used a fake ID. Where did she get one? Bruce has no idea, but he practically ate alone since she was there majority of their date. She’s also on a few drugs Bruce presumes. He knows for a fact she smokes cigarettes and vapes, but one night when they were at a park a small bag with white powder had fell out of her pocket when she hopped on the swing. “It’s for a friend.” She said that night. And Bruce believed it. That’s what happens when Bruce cares for people; he believes everything they say. Like that horrible night when Alfred told him everything was gonna be okay. Cause everything always comes back to that night. 

It’s now 9:30 and Bruce is about two blocks from Selina’s actual house. Because she has never let him see her house. Now that Bruce thinks about it, how much does he really know about her? He doesn’t know where she lives, he doesn’t know who she really hangs with (besides Helena Bertinelli, who is NOT a good influence), he doesn’t know what she does in her free time (although he’s pretty damn sure she’s a cat stealer cause how else to you have 29 cats), and he’s not all that sure what she likes. He thought he knew her, but now that he thinks about it he really doesn’t. What’s her favorite food? What’s her favorite color? Does she like to draw? What’s her favorite movie? 

he doesn’t know anything about her…

and she doesn’t know anything about him.

so they broke up…

it was after that trip to that mall when Bruce had pulled over, 2 blocks away from her house. Selina takes this as something else. Her eyes twinkle. “Oh I get what’s going on..” she unbuckles her seat belt and leans over to Bruce. “You could’ve just said you wanted to-“ “that’s not what I want, Selina.” Fuck, he was supposed to lay it down softly. Selina seems surprised and confused, her sexy demeanor proofing into thin air. Like it was never there. “Oh. Well what is it, B?” Bruce opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He clenches the wheel and looks at the floor of his car. Never did he think he’d be on the other end, being the one to break up with the other. He wants to think Silver felt this bad about breaking up with him, but 3 days later she seemed latched around this kid named Evan Gregory. 

“I don’t think we should be together anymore..”

and that was the end of it.

__________________________________

To be fair they were still on good terms, Selina still shamelessly flirted with him, and he still allowed it. But the thing with Selina is that she only talks to you if she wants something

”thanks, Selina.” 

“No problem, tiger.”

it’s tense. Very tense. they haven’t seen eachother in 3 months and Selina looks no different, maybe with a little bit more cat fur on her. Bruce wonders if he looks different. It’s still quiet between them and Bruce needs a reason to leave the situation. His locker. he needs to find his locker. “Going so soon?” The cat-like being coos as soon as Bruce turns his foot. “I need to go find my locker.” The Cat woman pouts. “If you say so. Catch you later.” And she merges into the rest of the students at the high school. Bruce knows he’ll be bumping into her a lot this year, and he isn’t sure if he’s looking forward or dreading it. When he makes it to his locker there’s-

“what the fuck?”

is what a girl, Bruce thinks her name is Caitlin says. And for good reason, for there are about 7 lockers all next to each other vandalized with purples and greens and blacks. “Clown Prince of Crime!” It says in bold letters and Bruce knows exactly who it is. He was praying the night before the man would’ve gotten expelled, or maybe changed schools or something, but by the looks of it he was here and well. Fuck his life. The teen scans the hallway for bright, obnoxious, green hair. No sign of it so Bruce considers the coast clear and opens up his locker to.. 

to….

To confetti.

Great.

just Great.

Chapter Text

Barry. 

The Scarlet Speedster

The Flash

Hals best friend.

Seriously, what would Hal do without Barry? He was the one who reminded him to do his homework. He was the one who comforted him when no one else did. He was his first ever real friend. Honestly, who would Hal be without Barry?

there were countless times where people would say things like “wherever Hal goes, Barry follows,” and vice versa. Or “Hal and Barry are a packaged deal!” It’s like there couldn’t be a sentence with one without the other being mentioned. They were two sides of the same coin. What’s the opposite of red? Green. What’s the opposite of Blonde? Brown. Barry was the sun and Hal was the moon. Because Barry is so much better than Hal. And he hoped Barry knew that

Barry didn’t.

Barry thinks Hal is too good for him. I mean, Hal plays football and has girls fawn all over him all day. He’s popular and loved by all and has an obnoxious, but cute charm to him. Hal is never at his house, always out at a party or a game or with his friends. His many, many, many friends. If Barry died surely Hal would have a new best friend in the span of 2 days. Hal is courageous and is up for anything, even if it’s something bad like drugs or risky dares. Hal is everything.

The Green Lantern

The Jock 

 The Highball

Harold Jordan

The man who pity’s Barry Allen.

cause that’s what Hal has to be doing. They are too different. Hal hates books while Barry loves them. Barry loves staying inside while Hal practically lives outdoors. Everyone loves Hal while Barry’s just… there. I mean, come on he gets bullied! Who bullies Hal? No one. They are just too different. Barry is the moon while Hal is the Sun. Because Hal is so much cooler than Barry.  The blonde has no idea why Hal gives him the light of day. 

Nonetheless, They are best friends. Hal and Barry. Barry and Hal.

though there’s always been something a little more…

”Hey have you noticed Barry and Hal are a little….” Shayera asks one day, after school on the bleachers. With her is her Boyfriend; John. And her friends Mari, Ronnie, Martin, and Karen. None of them seem to see what she is getting at so she keeps going. “Touchy?” They continue to look at her, and Shayera isn’t the type to back down on her opinion. And she knows she isn’t crazy. She rolls her eyes and sits up straighter. “Oh come on! You saw them at study hall last week! Barry laying his head in Hal’s lap? Or-Or that one time during freshman year when Hal totally went berserk on Leonard Snart for just sending a wink his way!?” Shayera raises her brows with her arms out, desperately trying to get her friends to side with her. Mari buds in. “Well there was that one time when Iris first came to this school, and was talking to Barry in mathematics. Hal gave a death stare that would put Uxas to shame!” Mari seems to shiver a little bit remembering the incident. Karen, usually extremely quiet and shy, perks up and points in Mari’s direction, waving her index finger energetically. “I totally remember! I was sitting next to Hal and he was totally considering killing Iris!” Shayera smirks. “See I knew it!” She says, satisfied with having almost everyone agree with her. Except John. “I’m telling you Shay they got nothing going on! Hal ain’t fucked a bitch since Carol and Barry and Iris have been a thing since day one.” Shayera laughs emptily. “If you seriously think Hal hasn’t done anything with a girl in an entire year, your more insane than Jay.” “Don’t compare me to that.” John shakes his head and sucks his teeth. “Okay so maybe Hal has been with a few people, but him and Barry are still just friends” Shayera rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say.”

Hal is outside the school building waiting for Barry. He needs his protege for his first day of junior year after all!! 

Green_Lanternn: yo wya Bar’

scarletspeed$: almost there!!! Man do I regret riding with iris lol forgot she was a slow rider. 

He’s riding with Iris? What the fuck? Why didn’t he ask for a ride with him? Should he ask? Yeah. Ask Hal.

Green_lanternn: y ain’t u just ask me?? I woulda had you here on time.

Scarletspeed$: 😂 it’s okay tho it’s not like I wanna be at school on time anyways. But I’ll be sure to ride with you next time cuz man does she drive SLOW. You know I hate slow.

Yes. Hal does know that. He knows everything about Barry. Wait, that sounded weird. Does he always sound like that when talking about Barry?

Green_Lanternn: Okay well drive safe, Barry. I’ll be waiting for you outside

Scarletspeed$: oh yes TRUST me I’ll be driving safe 🙄 and okay I’ll be keeping an eye out for ya

God, Hal hopes Iris drives faster. Hal being out here without Barry is like Bugs Bunny without Daffy Duck. He hates Iris so much he should have a ring for it. She’s so annoying and fake. I mean who actually donates to charity’s? Suckers, that’s who. 

“Hey, look who it is!” Hal is not in the mood to talk right now. 

heh, he sounds like Bruce Wayne.

When the brunette turns his head he sees his buddy Guy. He immediately is thrown in a light headlock and his hair is all ruffled. “Yo, chill out man! I just did my hair!” Hal pushes Guys strong arm off him and gives what he hopes is a menacing glare before attempting to fix his now mop of a hairdo. “Oh please, no girls want ‘chu! You basically passed around the whole grade!” Hal puts a finger up. “No no no, not everyone.” “Oh yeah, how could I forget you favorite blonde haired Bimbo.”

”kara?”

”no.”

”Courtney?”

”no.”

”Rose Wilson before she dyed it white?”

”no?—Man are you dumb?”

Hal isn’t sure how to answer that so he just gives him a “just tell me!” Look.

”Bookworm Barry.”

Hal scrunches his nose. “First off; you said bimbo. Barry is far from a bimbo. And also, he’s not just a bookworm. He’s funny, and an amazing runner, and he’s so caring and considerate, and-“ 

“Dude. Your literally just proving my point.”

Hal isn’t sure when Guy had figured out his extremely minor and on the low crush on Barry, but he hasn’t heard the end of it since. Thankfully, he hasn’t used it against him; but he mind as well! 

“Okay, Okay, you’re right. But either way it’s not like Barry’s looking at me. He literally caught a ride with Iris instead of asking me!” Hal looked like a kicked puppy after he had told Guy the events that occurred this morning, and Guy felt bad to say the least. To most people, Hal was an insensitive jerk who would date you, fuck you, then leave you. And he kinda is, unless it’s Barry. Guy thinks Barry is a pretty cool dude, but still doesn’t understand why Hal is in love with him instead of anyone else in the school. Not like Guy cares, he just wants Hal to be happy and with the right person. And if that’s Barry, so be it. 

“They’ve been talking since freshman year! If they still haven’t officially dated, then obviously they’re not into each other like that.” Guy says, trying to reason with Hal and lift his spirits

”But what if they are! And Barry just hasn’t told me!”

“Hal, Barry tells you everything. If he hasn’t told you he’s with Iris, then he’s not with Iris.”

”B-But-“

”Hey Hal!”

Both the ginger and brunette whip their heads to Barry and Iris walking up the long steps. Hal crosses his arms and furrows his eyebrows. 

and I thought he had willpower, Guy thinks. 

“Hi, Barry.” Hal says, emphasizing on Barry and making it clear Iris is not apart of the welcome. “Oh and sup Guy!” Guy decides to just give Barry a head nod, because Hal is a little unpredictable right now and he doesn’t want to lose one his closest friends over a misunderstanding. “Took you guys long enough.” Hal says flatly, obviously taking another jab at poor Iris, who is starting to look a little uncomfortable. She puts her hand up meekly. “That would be me,” she snorts, and Hal gives a disgusted face. Seriously, Guy hasn’t seen Hal look that disgusted since he put the wrong mouth-guard in back when they used to play hockey. “I’m not exactly the quickest driver.” She scratches the back of her head and Barry gives a happy laugh, seeming to not see the tense atmosphere. “‘Not exactly the quickest driver’ isn’t exactly the word! Your wayyy worse.” “Hey! I said you could drive! I trust you with my life!” Barry makes an ‘I’m gonna use that later’ look and Iris instantly wants to take it back. Their small banter seems to make Hal tip the Iceberg because he looks at Guy, and walks away. Guy obviously follows and they enter the schools building, not without hearing an “Hey, Hal! Where are you-“ before the doors close behind them. Hal stomps down the hall, and it’s just quiet between them. To be honest, Guy doesn’t want to be there no more. He’d rather go and chill with Kyle and John at the moment because practically babysitting Hal was not on his bingo card for the morning. “Stupid Iris. She’s not even that pretty!”

”She is pretty bad, Hal.”

”No she isn’t! Okay, she’s built fine. Her hairs fine. Her face is fine—everything about her is fine! Mediocre. Boring. Nothing like Barry, and nothing like me! Ugh!” Hal is practically seething with jealousy, and like the certain predicament couldn’t get any worse, Eobard Thorne merges into the same hall as them. Eobard has been Barry’s bully since middle school, and every year it’s only gotten worse. What were rude insults and excluding him at the playground turned into merciless beating and suspensions. No one knows why he hates Barry so much, but it has to be something big. Hal hates him and has beat the kid up at least 8 times. but he just keeps coming back! Hal wonders where the sicko is going, looking like mustard and ketchup all thrown around into a big mess made by a toddler. Seriously, he has a yellow shirt with bold red letters, blue pants, yellow and red sneakers, and a red and yellow headband, and of course his own disgusting blonde colored hair (it’s an ugly yellow; not perfect and light like Barry’s). Seriously, he needs to just give it up and go sit with the rest of the Looney Bin. 

Hal and Guy watch as the red head goes to his locker, installs a mirror on the door, and starts checking him self out. He pulls out a comb out of his pocket and slowly fixes any hairs sticking up, Which is his whole entire head in Hal’s opinion. Guy turns to his closest friend and can tell he’s considering ambushing the boy and stomping him down. “Yo, highball,” he snaps his fingers in front of the future pilots face, taking him out of his trance and to face Guy. “Don’t do anything stupid, it’s only the first day of school. Surely there will be more days where Eo’ will deserve an asskicking. Remember what your Dad told you: In-“ “In brightest day, in blackest night, Willpower will determine your future and if you see the light.” Hal finishes. You see, a group of kids in the 70s started a little pack. A pack of ‘Green lanterns’. A name that the man who created it so long ago had come up with due to the green railroad lantern: an accident that one of the leaders fathers had gotten into in the 40s. He made an oath that he passed down to his kids. this how the whole “in the brightest day, in the blackest night,” thing came from. The man’s children were obsidian and their twin named Jade. They created a group in their fathers path and passed it down to their kids, then their kids had formed a group for it, then their kids had formed a group. Almost a corp now. Well, back to those kids in the 70s. Kyles father was the one who was the next heir to create the group, and thus he did with the rest of his friends. Those friends happened to be the fathers of Hal and guy; as well as their friends Jessica, Kyle, Simon, John, and Abin. They all took this oath very seriously, and dedicated their lives to the sentences. Promising to follow its meaning. After the oath, Hal seemed to calm down. “I just don’t get it.” He says, not even necessarily talking to guy. The only thing the ginger can think of to redirect Hal’s train of thought is by changing the subject. “So, you doing football again?” Hal nudged Guy lightly. “Of course man, what else would I do? Join the debate club?” “Well you sure love to fight so-“ “can it.” Guy laughs, and Hal just smirks.

Fast forward to first period; which is Biology for Barry. The blonde wants to pay attention, as he loves biology and almost every class in school. But he can’t. His thoughts are clouded by a certain Brunette. Hal, if you somehow couldn’t have guessed. What was up with him? The runner had thought. I mean, the jock was almost always energized and, dare he say it, annoying. Almost nothing like today. He had given everyone the cold shoulder, even Barry! He couldn’t even remember the last time they were mad at one another; let alone disagree! Something was up. And don’t even get him started on how he treated Iris. Was his best friend the nicest to her? Hah, no. He was curt, distant, and neutral to her. Dancing on the line between rude and polite. He just translated it to the boy being a little overprotective. In contrast to the rest of Barry’s friends being people he knew back in kindergarten, he’d only known Iris for about 2 years. They had met in freshmen year and bonded by picking the same book at the library. At first, Hal was fine with him being friends with her. But as they got closer, the brunette got more and more crude to her. Iris had noticed it a while ago and always told Barry not to worry about it, but of course that didn’t stop the track star. He seriously needs to let all this out, and who better to talk to about it then good old Garfield Logan? Well, there were probably better people to tell, but on Barry’s left was Siobhan; better known as Silver Banshee (Barry wasn’t sure why). So yeah. Garfield it is.

”heyyyy, Beast boy!” The blonde said awkwardly, with a very uneasy grin. Truth be told he hadn’t talked to the vegetarian very much, but they had mutual friends like Victor, Kori, and Bruce’s younger brother, Dick. Barry stifles a laugh thinking about said name. Garfield seems oblivious to the runners body language and instead responds with a toothy grin. “Hey man! Wazzup?” He puts his hand out for a dap up, to which Barry complies (thank Virgil for teaching him how to. That would’ve been more awkward than it already was). “Haha, nothing dude! Just got a lot on my mind right now..” he looks away a little embarrassed. Garfield looks empathetic. “Aw, no worries man! Lay it down on me!” Barry’s bites his lip.” “So, like. Halmybestfriendhasbeenactingsoweirdtoday! Imeanhesusuallyweirdbutinhisowncoolwaybuttodayhesjustbeenallcoldand-“

”woah woah woah, dude! Wow. I see why they call you the flash now.” The animal like boy shakes his head with a laugh. “Mind slowing down?” Flash rubs his neck a little embarrassed. I’ve got to stop doing that, he reminds himself. The blonde takes a deep breath. “So, Hal is my best friend. And I care about him a lot. And today he’s being weird; and not in his usual funny goofball way. In a rude and sarcastic way. I just wonder what’s up with him.” After his word vomit, he feels a little shocked. He knew he was worried for the boy, but didn’t know to that extent. Garfield has a look that says ‘I wanna say I understand, but really I don’t.’ But nonetheless pats Barry’s back. “Don’t worry bro, something might’ve happened today. What about that girl—uh… Katrina?” 

“Carol.”

”Yeah!” Garfield exclaims. Barry shrugs. “I mean I guess..but I feel like he would’ve told me.” Garfield gives him a look Barry doesn’t exactly get. “Yeah…I feel the same way about Rae Rae sometimes. Like, bruh, I don’t care if your dad is in like a cult and sacrificed you to like the devil or something. I love you all the same.” Garfield says annoyed, with a cross of his arms. “But-but that’s different! You and Raven are like a thing! But me and Hal aren’t a thing. We don’t see eachother like that… I….” He trails off. He can’t say it. Why can’t he say it? Now that the speedster thinks about it,

how does he see Hal?

He thinks Hal is smart and courageous. And happy in a way that could spread his happiness to everyone else, like a disease. Barry also thinks Hal is good looking. Like really good looking. Like scarily good looking. Barry loves Hal’s hair, and his eyes. They are a very nice dark brown, in contrast to his bright blue ones. They are kind of like the Ying-Yang, Barry briefly thinks. Two sides of the same coin he guesses. Harvey would love to hear that. What does Barry not like about Hal?

……

…….

nope, nothing.

He wonders if Hal doesn’t like anything about him. 

The bell rings, and Barry is thankful it’s only the first day. Surely the work couldn’t have been that important. “Thanks for the chat, Gar’” “no problem dude! Catch ya later!” And with that the beast like man zips out the classroom. That’s when the blonde notices Hal standing there waiting for him. He smiles. 

He is perfect, Hal thinks as he sees his best friend smile with his perfect white teeth. He loves that smile. Just like how he loves everything about Barry. His thoughts are broken when someone comes over.

“Hey Barry you wanna walk to our next class together?”

”oh, sure! You coming Hal?” 

“sure.”

and the three walk off. Well, basically Iris and Barry walking together while Hal trails from behind. He has to recite his oath over and over again to not do something he’ll end up regretting. He might love everything about Barry, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate some of the people he hangs out with. Like—oh he doesn’t know,

Iris West.

Chapter Text

“like my surprise, Brucey?”

And as if the teens day couldn’t have gotten any worse, it did.

”No.” he responds bluntly, knowing that regardless what he says the wild card would not leave him alone. He’s been through this way to many times. The jokester laughs his annoying and teeth-grating laugh, and Bruce wants to do nothing else but punch him dead in his face. But he doesn’t. He can’t. yet, at least. 

“Aw, why so serious Brucey? It’s almost as if you’re with someone you hate! And you don’t hate me, nope. Never have, never will.” Bruce clenches his fist. Do not hurt him. “It’d be pretty hard not to hate you when you just stuffed my locker with confetti.” Jay puts a hand to his chest and makes an innocent face, that would be pretty convincing if you didn’t know what a monster he was. “And what makes you think i did it? You can’t just accuse me because i look different. Because I have bright green hair, and love the color purple, and have a bag of confetti in my po—oops.” The green-haired man says with a shrug, before exploding into another one of his cackles. Bruce cringes. Out of all the things he hates, he hates that laugh the most. He needs to get away from that laugh before he turns as crazy as him and starts sitting with the rejects. “Don’t you have somebody else to annoy? Maybe like Lex or Eddie or anyone else besides me?” Bruce asks, desperate to just get the boy to leave him alone. Just looking at him is giving him a headache. He has almost paper white skin, in contrast to his neon green hair that you could see about 3 miles away. He has a white shirt with a bat symbol on it (he totally doesn’t know why), covered a little by some suspenders that lead to purple striped pants. He has old but polished black boots that show his obnoxious neon purple and green socks. He actually looks like a walking biohazard. Oh, and did he forget to mention the bright red lipstick the clown puts on his lips? He didn’t. Of course he didn’t. How could he forget!

”yeah, I guess I do,” the lunatic puts a finger to his mouth and looks up. “But you’re the funniest to mess with!” He laughs and puts an arm around Bruce, to which he immediately tenses up before flinging Jays scrawny arm off of him. 

Jay Napier.

He seriously doesn’t even deserve an introduction. 

Bruce and Jay met each other in the third grade. Back then, Jay looked normal. He had more pigmented skin than he has now, and had soft brown hair. Around his nose were a little bit of freckles and his irises were emerald green . Back then he was quiet. And bullied. That’s probably what made him quiet. He used to come to school with bruises and scratches and instead of his classmates helping him out, they laughed at him and made him an outcast. Despite being the laughing stock of the class, he and Bruce were friends. Bruce talked to him a lot, more than he usually did with other people, and he was actually quite funny back then. He told him he wanted to be a comedian, and Bruce gave him positive words of encouragement. They were good friends.

”so why do you like this tree so much?” Jay had asked one day, when he had practically followed Bruce to his house to play. They were at that tree with the swing.  My parents used to play with me. Before…” back then his parents had only been deceased for about 5 months, and the wound was still fresh. Jay didn’t exactly react to it. “Oh. Well that sucks..” he says. “But anyways, did you see the face Mr. Maroni made when he sat on that whoopee cushion!?” He laughed loudly. And back then it was genuine and normal. Bruce knows he should laugh, but he didn’t see the humor in the prank. He gives a smile instead. Jay didn’t like that response. “Ugh, come on! That was funny! Do you ever laugh!?” The boy asks. Bruce supposed he does not. At least not since his parents died. He shakes his head. “I’ll make you laugh. One day.” 

He never did.

and never will.

Now both are 12. And their friendship changed. For the worse.

it was a Friday and Bruce was in his last class. He still missed his parents, but was desperate to be normal again. So he started talking. 

he became friends with these other boys: Michael, Tatum, and Joey. They were liked by almost every kid in the school, so of course Bruce went to them first. Although they were popular, they weren’t exactly the best students. “Hey,” Tatum greeted Bruce while they were seated next to each other. “Wanna do a prank with me, Mike, and Joe?” Bruce had a feeling. A feeling that he shouldn’t participate. But, well, Bruce made his first dumb decision.

”Sure.”

so the bell had rang, and near the school was a park that usually all the kids went to to play after. Bruce never went, he never felt the need to. Not until now. Once the boy got his belongings, he started walking outside with his friends. “So, what are we doing?” He asks, proud of himself for not stuttering or having his voice crack. “We’re gonna dump green paint on somebody!” Joey yells excitedly, to which he is shushed by Michael and Tatum. “Yo, chill man! You tryin to get us caught?” Michael asks, jabbing Joeys arm. “Of course not dude! Just wanted B-man to get the hint!” Michael rolls his eyes. “Whatever, let’s do this!”

The paint was in Joeys backpack, and the boys were all a little nervous. It was as if they had a gun on them. Once at the playground, Bruce examined all the kids there. He saw one of his friends, Harvey Dent. They go way back because of their parents being friends. He also sees these two kids in his class; Hal and Barry. He’s seen them together a lot, but has never talked to them. Maybe when he gets older. He sees a lot of faces he recognizes, and this is when he’s happy he came. He’ll be able to show everybody that he is, in fact, a normal kid who does bad things! “So, who’s gonna do it?” The three boys are silent, all looking at Bruce. He gets it.

”oh.”

”yeah man, come on! You got this!” Tatum says as he pulls out the green paint and holds it out to Bruce, tempting him to take it. He hesitates. “Dude. Stop being scary.” “Fo reals! Don’t be a pussy.” Pussy? Like I cat? Ohhh like a scaredy cat! Bruce gets it. “Okay. I’ll do it.” He says as he takes the paint. He needs to do it to someone who’ll know it was all fun and games. And that’s when he sees Jay. He’s at the top of a play set waiting for his turn to go down the slide. Jay will know it’s a joke. I mean, he loves jokes! He loves pranks, and dares, and anything that could make someone laugh. Yeah, he’s going to prank Jay. He has a smile on his face as he goes up the top, ignoring the faces he’s getting. No ones seen him come here. What a way to make an appearance! He finally makes it to the top behind Jay.

”Bruce? No way you’re here! I never thought you’d-“

SPLATTTTTT

He hears laughter. So he laughs too. It feels a little weird, but it does start to be a little genuine. I mean, this is what Jay wanted right? He wanted him to laugh. He wanted him to be happy.

so he didn’t understand why he had tears in his eyes when he looked at him. 

The next week on Monday, he sees Jay. He walks up to him. “Hey, Jay. What happened on-“ “Don’t even talk to me! How dare you—you—you asshole!” And he stomps away. Bruce has never been called an asshole, for he’s never done anything to be called one. He is so confused. It was all just a joke,

Right?

Now  they are 13. And Jay looks…

Different.

He comes to school on the third month, missing the previous ones. Bruce wonders what happened to make him miss it. When he does appear, he has bright green hair. Almost the same colored green Bruce had spilled on him a year ago. He’s wearing purple. Purple and Green. It’s eye soaring. There’s one thing that stands out though. He has blood red lipstick on. What the hell happened? The teenager had thought. When he walked to his seat the whole class watched him, disgusted. Bruce didn’t. He  was more concerned than disgusted. He sat a few seats away from him, and when they locked eyes Jay had winked at him.

He looks at the ground.

Skipping to lunch, Bruce has made some friends this year. After his hard work over the summer of reading articles on how to be more friendly and in other words; normal. His hard work had paid off when he looked at the little group he had made. Sitting with him was Hal, who actually wasn’t that bad. He was pretty damn annoying but also pretty funny, and that has to mean something if it’s coming from Bruce. Barry also sat at their table, because wherever Hal went Barry followed and vice versa. Also sitting with them was Terry, who was absolutely terrific. Seriously, Bruce didn’t know how else to describe him. He was insanely smart, so Bruce had asked him to help him in math (not because he needed help, but it was a way to talk to him without seeming weird.). Bruce also liked his perfectionism, because it came in handy when doing a school project. So yeah, Terry was terrific. Next at the table was Clark, who was Bruce’s closest friend. And still is. Clark was extremely kind, caring, and overall a cool dude. Bruce kinda idolizes him a bit, just because of things he went through and how he still turned out a great person. Clark never met his real parents, they died when he was a few months old. He was adopted quickly though and grew up on a farm. When he had moved to Gotham he was ridiculed for being “a stinky farm boy”. Clark hadn’t ever been to a city before he moved, so it was as if he came from a whole other planet. When Bruce asked him one day what kept him from breaking down, he said he just pretended like they were supervillains that he defeated. Wow. What a way to see the world. Clark really was a super man. Sitting next to Clark was Diana, who was extremely strong for a girl and was also from out of town. She just moved from somewhere (as for some reason she wouldn’t tell us where) and wasn’t discreet about it. Wherever she was from, they had a very strict way of living. Diana was almost perfect. Straight A’s, good at everything, kind, and strong. Did Bruce mention she was strong? Cause she is. One day during gym when they were playing dodge ball she had hit a kid so hard with her ball their arm got dislocated. Sheesh. Poor Carter Hall. 

Last at the table was Zee Zatara. Zatanna Zatara. She made it clear her full name needed to be said whenever she was introduced to someone. Zee was very extravagant. She dressed elegantly despite coming to school and spoke proper and to the point, but nonetheless was super goofy.  Her and her father were magicians and moved around a lot due to their business. Zee said that they would be staying in Gotham for a while this time, but Bruce didn’t exactly believe it. Either way, Bruce thought she could use a friend since no one else in the class made an effort to befriend her on the first day of 7th grade. So yeah, that was his little friend group. Bruce was proud of himself. 

The feeling didn’t last for long.

Jay had loudly stood on top of a cafeteria table, right in the middle of the room. Everyone there had looked at the man in repulsive clothing. What the hell is he doing? Bruce thought. Whatever it was, Bruce had a feeling it wouldn’t be good.

”Oh don’t worry you little background characters! You will all get back to eating your disgusting lunch once I’m finished with my little game..” Jay makes what Bruce can only describe a mischievous face. He faintly gulps. And also feels second hand embarrassment. He’s making himself look like a fool. Which he might be, Bruce adds. “What is this game, you ask? Well it’s a guess the person game! Pretty easy am I right?” He cackles that ear-bleeding cackle, and Bruce hates it. It quickly makes its way to top 5, right before his fear for bats (which he will not explain why he fears that). “Well let’s start! Clue number one: he has brown hair. Well actually it’s looks black—but in the sunlight you can tell it’s brown. So it’s like a dark brown. A darkdarkdarkdark brown. A dark-brown-black! Yeah, we’re gonna go with that. He has dark-brown-black hair!” He crosses his arms satisfied with his description. Bruce for some reason participates in this boys game, or maybe it’s the detective in him. 75% of the cafeteria people has brown hair. Oh, but he said he. What a rookie mistake. Bruce snorts in his head (never out loud. Hah!). Jay seems to think this at the same time. “Fuck,” he groans, and Bruce wonders where all the teachers are to catch this little kid cursing. But then he remembers this is Gotham middle school; they could seriously care less. “I accidentally said he. No biggie! Hah, that rhymed. Just pretend like I said they. Hehehe-“ he giggles at the end. “So, does anybody have any guesses!?” Despite having the whole grade watching him, no one answers. Except idiot Hal Jordan. “Carol Ferris?” Jays eye twitches. “Carol who?—are you.. Are you dumb? I said he you absolute moron.” He stomps his foot against the metal table “Well technically you said they so…” He drags his hand along his face and mutters “Of course the one kid with a guess is the dumbest kid in the grade…” Carol Ferris was a pretty girl in their class who dressed like an absolute princess, always wearing expensive poofy dresses and spoke like she was the queen of England. Bruce is pretty sure Hal has a crush on her, but when he asked Barry (because I mean, that’s his best friend. Surely he’d know) he just gets a bunch of incoherent words and stomps away. Maybe Barry is just upset because Hal hasn’t told him either. Anyways, back to the present. (Or past cause this is a flashback) “Alright, next clue!” Jay laughs loudly, and Bruce cringes. “This person—oh this person,” Jay can’t contain his laughter and explodes into an ear-deafening screech (cause whatever sound he just made it was not a laugh). “This person has a fear of BATS. Oohoohahahaha” the jokester laughs so much there are tears in the corners of his eyes. Bruce’s heart stops and  he knows something bad is about to happen.

hes talking about him.

Thankfully nobody else knows of his embarrassing phobia, but it doesn’t even matter because soon enough the game would be over and the whole grade would know. Bruce wants to leave, but if he does everyone will know. Everything Bruce had worked so hard towards is going to shatter into a million pieces. Bruce is on the verge of hyperventilating, but he can’t. He won’t. Seriously, why was Jay doing this? What did he do? “This kid is nuts,” he hears Terry whisper, and the rest of the table nod their heads. Everyone except Bruce. He is too busy trying not the have a panic attack. “Okay. So you guys still don’t know? Well, time for the main event.” He grins, and it reminds Bruce of the Cheshire Cat from that one movie he watched with Silver St. Cloud one day. What movie was it? He can’t remember. He never remembers anything when he’s under pressure. 

“This person has no parents.”

Everyone knows who it is in an instant, and before he can see all eyes on him, he looks at the ground. This is when he developed his hate for having people’s attention on him. He can faintly hear Jays laughing in the back as he tries not to cry. “I…I gotta…” Bruce just runs out the cafeteria, tears in his eyes. 

he hates Jay.

he hates him.

hehateshimhehateshimhehateshimhehateshim.

and he wants revenge.

”Tell Jay to meet me at Gotham playground.”

”Are you sure, Bruce? Maybe this isn’t the best-“

”Tell him.”

”…….Okay.””

It’s a big deal. Of course it’s a big deal. Two kids fighting in middle school was like Dwayne Johnson and John Cena fighting in a WWE match. So word had spread quick, and once Bruce walked near the park he could see almost every kid in the school there. Some not even from their grade. There was a crowd in the middle of the playground that he had pushed through. and there he was:

The Devil.

”Hiya Brucey! Heard ya wanted to fight me. I just can’t imagine what I could do to make you hurt me.” He says with that grin. He hates that grin. “No. What I can’t imagine is what I could have done to hurt you.” Jay doesn’t like that answer. In fact he looks angry. “Seriously? Wow. Your head must still be in that alleyway where your parents were kille-“ Jay just misses a punch from Bruce. the billionaires eyes were now clouded by anger. How dare he bring up his parents death! He was so angry, he almost missed him look sadly at the top of the play set where some slide was.

As time went on they had started a rivalry. Bruce was the good guy, and Jay was the bad guy. If you stuck with Bruce, you were against Jay and seen him as a lunatic who should get expelled for all of his many, many “pranks” that he did to Bruce over the years. And if you sided with Jay, you were crazy too and were entertained by the pranks Jay ensued. It was like an endless game of cat and mouse, and Bruce seriously wished he would just stop. At first, Bruce had tried making amends with Jay,  to which he always declined, saying “It was too late” and Bruce to this day doesn’t know what he means by it. 

He guesses only time will tell.

                           ……

Clark was stuck. Like really stuck. Because well…

He liked two girls.

and they both liked him back. 

those two girls were Lois Lane and Vicki Vale. Both extremely nice and pretty, and were kinda interested in the same things as him. Clark wanted to be a journalist, so he was in the school club for it which was where he met the two girls last year. He had met Vicki first only because she was more outgoing than Lois, who was in the corner of the room with numerous papers around her as she typed on her little laptop. When he had asked shyly what she was writing about, she said it was about the death of the Wayne’s and how she thought there was a little more to the story then some guy just randomly shooting the family. He left her to it, but suggested she didn’t personally interrogate Bruce on the subject (because he isn’t sure if Bruce only punches guys. Clark thinks he’d hurt anyone if he was mad enough). Eventually she opened up, and he found out she was very stubborn. If she had an opinion, she stuck with it—no matter how many people disagreed. She reminded him of Shayera. He should introduce them to eachother one day. Anyways, over the months they had formed a little trio. Him, Lois, and their mutual friend Jimmy. When they worked together, they were sure to have a great essay and when they hung out after school it was cool too. He might’ve even liked them more than his little league of friends, just because they were more calm and less energetic (he can only be with Hal, Arthur, and Oliver for 3 days a week at most before he feels like shooting them with laser eyes. Hah, imagine being able to do that. Cool). In all, Clark couldn’t think of a single thing he didn’t like about Lois,

But with Vicki it was a little different. She was a flirt, that was one. There were plenty of times where she would say something and Clark’s brain would go haywire trying to say something back. He’d usually just awkwardly laugh and utter a little “thanks” before changing the subject. Vicki is also very controllingpersuasive. Let’s say she wanted to go to to Mama Macaronis while Clark wanted to just stop at a subway and get a hoagie; best believe they were going to Mama Macaronis. Clark isn’t sure how she does it, but she is an amazing guilt tripper. Clark doesn’t like seeing her sad. He doesn’t like seeing anyone sad—not even Jay! So yeah, there was that. Vicki is also boastful, in contrast to Clark. She thinks she is better than most people and makes sure people know that. She’s pretty mean to students, now that the boy thinks about it. He hazily remembers her cursing Casey Krinsky out because she “bumped into her and spilled her anti-social freakness all over her perfectness”. Vicki is also a gossiper, and will dish out anything and everything you’ve ever said to her. Clark knew this because she had told everybody about J’onns fear of fire, which is why J’onn does not like her. Actually, a lot of people don’t like her. Bruce doesn’t like her because she constantly asks him about private information (likely his parents), and Diana doesn’t like her because of her ripping her feminist posters of the walls. Hal doesn’t like her due to her being one of Carols friends. Barry doesn’t like her cause Hal doesn’t like her. Dinah thinks she’s pretentious. she said Victor was built like a cyborg, Arthur pouts everytime her name is mentioned because she said he had a fish dick (Clark has no idea what that means), and Oliver doesn’t give a shit. But Clark still likes her because she’s actually pretty cool! At least he thinks so…After the first day of school him and Vicki were eating lunch at some bridge, where they just looked down at the water and tried pointing out things they saw. After a while, Vicki had asked Clark if he would’ve rathered been with his parents even if he didn’t really know them, over his adopted ones. It was a tricky question for the Boy Scout. What if his parents were bad people? What if they were bad parents? Should he play it safe? Honestly, Clark had no idea why she asked the question. It had nothing to do with the water under them. Clark, being the forever kind and gullible person, answers her question. 

“I don’t know. Probably not. I don’t remember them, therefore I don’t know how they acted. They could’ve been bad people so…I’d rather just stick with my adoptive parents.” Vicki had looked at Clark with wide eyes. “You’ve..never met your parents?” Clark doesn’t make eye contact with her and looks up at the clouds. He wishes he could just fly away, cause then he wouldn’t have to answer this question. For the 100th time. “Uh, no. I kinda thought you knew that.” Clark had hinted at him not knowing his parents, but he guesses he wasn’t clear enough. Vicki stutters. “Well—I—I like knew you were…a-adopted but-“ she rakes a hand through her beautiful black hair, “I didn’t know you never met them. I just thought they died or something like… You know…” From the corner of his eyes he can see Vicki look at him sympathetically. Clark doesn’t hate a lot of things, but he definitely dislikes being pitied. Okay, his parents are dead. What’s new? Nobody in their school has two, healthy parents. Not one. He sees Vicki’s frown turn into a smirk, and Clark thinks she is smiling to make him feel better but Clark just wants to go home. “Are you ready to leave? I can drop you off.” Ouch. Hopefully he didn’t sound so mean. Clark doesn’t like being mean. “Oh, yeah. We can leave.” She grabs her purse that was hanging on a lamp post and follows Clark off the bridge and to his car.

When Clark gets to school the next day, people are looking at him. And it’s a weird look. He can’t quite explain it, but it’s like they all know something and know that he doesn’t know it. When he gets to his locker he sees Jimmy running down the hall to him. When finally in front of the country boy, he puts his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath. Clark raises an eyebrow. “Are you okay, Jimmy? You came over here like you needed to-“ “follow me.” Jimmy walks past Clark and, okay. Now he’s really confused. He doesn’t like to curse; but what the fuck is going on? He eyes the people staring at him and follows Jimmy as told. He is lead to the back of a staircase that smells of marijuana, and Jimmy sits down. Clark does the same. “Dude. Like, the whole school knows about your parents.” Clark smiles and chuckles. “Are you playing a prank on me, Jim? Of course everybody knows about my parents! It’s a fact-“ 

“They know about you not knowing them.”

Im sorry, what? Clark definitely didn’t hear him right. “Come again?” He tilts his head in a golden retriever-like way. Jimmy bites his lip like he doesn’t want to repeat it. “Dude. Like-I don’t know who you told. But now the whole school knows that you never met your parents and think they are bad people who are killers and dropped you off because they-“ “WHAT?” Clark yells. He never said that. Never would even think that? Who would even come up with this? This is definitely up Jays alley, but he’s not interested in messing with Clark at all. And it definitely wasn’t his friends, no one would out him like that. Who else could’ve known? He doesn’t talk to that many people-

He sees Vicki’s frown turn into a smirk, and Clark thinks she is smiling to make him feel better but Clark just wants to go home.

That smirk wasn’t to make him feel better. It was an “I’m gong to use this later” smirk. What the heck? He thought him and Vicki were friends. A little more than that actually. Why would she do this? He needed answers. Now. 

A nd he was gonna get them. 

Chapter Text

It is now the second day of school, And the first day went off without a hitch for Jay. He did his daily prank to Bruce, jabbed and distracted Lex all throughout Algebra, and snorted a quick line without getting caught. So yeah, yesterday was a good day for him. Until he got home at least…

He decided to start the morning off with going to the back of the school with the rest of his friends. Jay hung out in the back most of the school day, because it was calming to him. He oddly felt safe around people like him, who had one bad day. Well sadly for Jay he’s had a lot of bad days, which is why he personally thinks he’s the oddest out of them all. When he comes out from the back door he instantly sees Selina Kyle staring at him, perched at her usual spot near the wall. Kicking one foot up and crossing her arms, it makes Jay want to laugh really! She thinks she is hot shit when really she isn’t even relevant. When was the last time she was talked about? Oh yeah, last year when she called it quits with Bruce. Bruce. He doesn’t know why she had to date Bruce so bad, because simply she did not deserve him. She is nowhere near his intellect, no where near his morals, and just nothing like him! Seriously, what did they even have in common? Daddy issues? Ugh, he hates that stupid cat. But he’ll put on a facade. For now. “Hey kitty cat! Whatcha doing? Waiting to get saved from a tree?” Jay laughs, though it’s not as loud as usual since he’s less joking and more mocking. Selina rolls her eyes and lights a cigarette. “Oh, yes. Good way to cover the disgusting Oder of cat piss.” Jay taunts. He’s never really smelt cat pee on her, but still. It was a pretty good one. “Oh shut it, clown.” She inhales the nicotine before tilting her head up to blow it out of her system. Jay doesn’t take her warning. “Oh, someone’s in a bad mood? Aw, how sad—GET OVER IT.” He gets in her face. There is no way she has a little attitude over something so minuscule. Because it has to be miniscule. What’s the worst the brat could’ve been through? Definitely wasn’t enough to be a drug attic. Like I can be talking, Jay thinks. But then he scratches that thought. He can talk. He’s been abused, ridiculed, bullied, abandoned, and almost every horrible thing you could do to a person. Jay has had a really shitty life. And when he thought he had finally gotten a real friend, they poured green paint on him in front of everybody. He remembers the day like it was yesterday.

Jay had decided to go to the park because he didn’t want to go home, and if he was going to get beaten regardless he mind as well wait till later. He hates his dad. The stupid alcoholic thinks it’s Jays fault for his mom leaving him, instead of just looking in the mirror and seeing how big of a douchebag he was. There were a lot of kids at the park that day, and not one tried talking to him. The kid probably would’ve felt hurt by it if he wasn’t so used to it. He decided to just go down the slide, cause he liked feeling the short rush it gave. It made his mind blank for a moment, and he didn’t have to think about the kids that bullied him at school, or having to go outside and find a stick to give to his father to beat him with, or where his mom was. There was usually a long line for it though, which Jay was willing to wait for. After about 3 minutes it was finally his turn, but before he went down he could’ve swore he’d seen Bruce in the corner of his eye-

No way. 

Bruce was here! For the first time! He wondered what made him want to go, and felt a little fuzzy when he thought it was because of the numerous times he’d asked the boy to go, to which he never did. Until now! Wow, he was so excited! 

”Bruce? No way you’re here! I never thought you’d-“

SPLATTTTTT

he had closed his eyes as a reflex, and felt something cold and slimy. Then there was laughter. A lot of it. Jay decided to open his eyes. Maybe they weren’t all laughing at him. Nope, they were all laughing at him. He started breathing quickly as he stared back at all the eyes staring at him, but then stopped. When he had heard a certain persons laughter.

it was Bruce’s 

Bruce was laughing. For the first time since Jay had met him in 3rd grade, he was laughing.. and what caused him to? Jays misery. And that’s when it hit him:

He was just like the rest of them. 

How could he be so stupid? Why would anybody ever like Jay. Who would ever talk to him? Who? Who? Jay didn’t understand. Why did God do this to him? Why did he have to be so unfortunate. Was it him? Did-did something need to change? What was wrong with him? All he wanted to do was make people laugh.

Make people happy.

and he couldn’t even do that.

He was useless.

On Monday Bruce had the audacity to walk up to him like nothing happened. “Hey, Jay. What happened on-“ “Don’t even talk to me! How dare you—you—you asshole!” Jay had quickly cut him off. What was he trying to do? Gaslight him into thinking what he did was just a joke? Some-some prank? He would’ve slapped him across the face if he wasn’t focusing on not making a fool of himself and bawling his eyes out right then and there. So he just walked out the classroom and went to the bathroom. He didn’t care about whatever bullshit the teachers would say to him about “not asking for permission”, he just needed to get away. Wait.

He should just run away.

And he did.

He was free for three months. Three glorious months. It was on the last day of summer break, because he could not stand school. His father was a different story. His addiction had only gotten worse and worse and nowadays he just sat passed out in front of the Tv. It was great. Nonetheless he still needed to leave. He was sick and tired of taking care of the whole house by himself, without the help of his father. If he had a roach crawl on him one more time he  would just light the whole house on fire. He had grabbed only a few things; the little bit of food on the counter, a few bucks from his father’s wallet (it wasn’t much. Maybe like $25), and some clothes plus deodorant. He had went downtown and was kinda homeless. He would go to little campfires with other people and chill there; he even made some friends. Well kinda. If you count just sitting there looking pissed off while some lunatic talks your ear off. Heh. Good times. Miss ya David. He would absolutely hate aquaman if they ever met, because they were two opposites. But anyways, his paradise had came to an end when the cops had found him trying to rob an ATM. “Jay Napier! Stand down! We are not here to hurt you. We have bad new-“ 

Nope. Jay did not give a Fuck. He spinned on his heel and dipped. “Get em!” He heard one out of the two cops yell. Jay was skinny and flexible, so he had hopped on top of a car and climbed up a ladder that lead to the top of an apartment. From below one of the cops were following him from their cop car, while he was jumping from house to house. It was exhilarating. Jay could do it for the rest of his life. It was like him going down the slide times 10! “Jay! Jay Napier! Your father! He’s dead!” ….

what?

Jay had slipped and almost went falling like 40 feet down. His father was dead? Like, dead dead? Like R.I.P dead? Like, no consciousness dead? This isnt funny. It shouldn’t be funny. Jay can’t laugh. He can’t-

“pftttthahahaHAHAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA”

Jay couldn’t contain it. The bastard had finally bit off more than he could chew and ended up biting the dust instead. Oh, this was gold. Pure comedy! He laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed when the Cops put handcuffs on him. He laughed when they escorted him in a jail cell. He laughed when they asked him questions like “why did you run away” or “did you know your father was an alcoholic”. He did stop laughing though when the cops said his mom had bailed him out. Jay didn’t even think she was alive, but when he saw her she was the most alive he had ever seen her. Her blonde hair had grown and was less thin from less stress, her wrinkles had decreased and her smile was genuine. Jay almost thought they were playing a prank on him and she was actually some other kids mom. The cops told him he would be staying with her, and at first he was fine with it.

Until he wasn’t being the perfect son she had been expecting.

Jay has no idea why she thought of that in the first place. You don’t leave a kid with an abusive father for 6 years and expect him to come out acting like a good lick Charlie character! Now that his father was gone, Jay was going to do whatever he wanted. He had been chained down for too long. So fuck what his mom said, and fuck what her stupid ass boyfriend thought. He stole $30 from her and went to a drugstore to get some hair dye, and then went to the mall to steal some clothes, before going back home and laying all his stuff down on his bed. This year was going to be different.

this year he was going to be himself.

Jays first day of school was in mid December. And he knew he needed to look eccentric. So he did exactly that. He wore a purple long sleeve button up with a diamond pattern on it, and a green vest on top of it. He also wore green pants to match. On his feet were his father’s fancy black shoes, that he had taken while furniture movers took out all of his belongings. To him, he looked like a million bucks. And he felt like it with his new green hair and bold red lipstick. Oh yes. 

this year was his year.

he struts in the building with all eyes on him. And this time he likes it. He has a sly grin on his face as he continues to walk with his hands behind his back. His first class is on the second floor, and instead of taking the stairs he takes the private elevator. Because Jay always wanted to go on the elevator, but never did because he knew it was wrong. Well now wrong is right, and right is taking the elevator that has a bold sign saying “STAFF AND DISABLED ONLY”. For some reason the elevator didn’t need a key. What dummy’s, Jay had thought. The elevator was slow and poorly designed but he still felt empowered by it. When the door opens he glides out the ascending room and turns the hall to his class; which is room 271. When he enters, he stands right at the entrance. Just so everybody would have a moment to look at him. He slowly walks down to the back of the class and sits down, ignoring the teacher asks for him to introduce himself and crossing his arms. He turns to see Bruce. He looks more handsome this year, though he’s not sure why. He gives him a wink and basks in the feeling of flustering him if him quickly looking away and at the ground tells him anything. 

Cute.

But not cute enough to make him forget what he did. 

Jay had a plan. A good plan at that. Like Eddie Nygma level IQ plan good. He was going to get revenge on Bruce Wayne for the horrible prank he put on Jay. If the little orphan wanted to play games, Jay was going to show him a real one. And it went off without a hitch! Well, except for dumb ol’ Hal Jordan. But what’s new? HAHAHAHAHA!! The look on Bruce’s face was perfect. Now he knew how it felt to not be in on the joke. This is what Bruce had deserved. He had betrayed him.

So why did he still feel bad?

about two hours later in art class when Jay had been painting a beautiful portrait of a cave full of bats, Clark had walked up to him. Jay wasn’t close to him, but knew he was really kind. Obviously not kind enough to talk to Jay, but he still didn’t bully him so Jay was okay with him. He looked at the boy suspiciously though as he fidgeted with his fingers. “Um, Jay,” Clark had said shyly. What a sucker. “What, farm boy?” He said harshly, because he was really getting in the way of his art and he couldn’t focus on making perfect bats. The Boy Scout stood there quietly, finding the best way to say whatever nonsense he was going to spit out. He was seriously blowing Jays high of humiliating Bruce. Speaking of him, “Bruce told me to tell you to… Meet him at the park because he wants t-to,” he breaths in. “fight you.” Jays eyebrows raised up to his hairline, and slowly a grin spread across his face. Aw, looks like Bruce is really hurt! Serves him right. Perhaps I should go, maybe even take the beating to make him feel more special. It’s not like it would really hurt him, for Jays been hit by people way stronger and way older than Bruce. An arm for an arm, a leg for a leg. Bruce will win their first fight, but to Jay it was only guaranteeing many more to come. Oh, yes. This was the beginning of something exhilarating. Jay was feeling the rush again, and this time he wouldn’t let it end.

So as time went on sides had formed. Bruce’s side were full of stupid goodie goodie two shoes, who never had a bad day in their lives. They looked down upon the “looney bin” because they think we’re crazy, when really we’re more in touch with reality than they are! Jay can hear them now, thinking that his side were as crazy as him and were entertained by the pranks Jay ensued. What bullshit! Jay pranked and messed with Bruce because he deserved it, them being fun is just a perk! Jays side was actually full of people who were aware life wasn’t all fun and games, and that they were the poor unfortunate souls who were left for dead by the world. I mean, why do you think Vicktor Fries never leaves his freezing cold house!? Bruce’s little “Justice League” think they’re the good guys, but what if their morals are fucked up? No ones ever thought of that, because they’re all blinded but their heroic ways. Pfftttt, HEROIC. Jay barely thinks they’re good. Bruce has anger issues worse than atrocitus, Wonder Woman is a wanna be woman rights activists (how about you go back to the 1960s and see what they do to you there), Clark thinks he’s a happy soul when really he’s just some some schizophrenic freak who hallucinates him fighting monsters and shit (Jays gotta get him a drug that does that), Dinah wants to be her mom so bad (she should die like her too), Hal’s problem is that he secretly hates himself and thinks everyone is better than him (he’s right lol), Victor knows he’ll never amount to anything except football and even that won’t get his fathers attention, Aquaman will never let go of the fact that he never met his mother, and when he did she died like 2 days later, and Oliver is just a dumbass! They’re all idiots, every single one of them! Jays not an idiot, no matter how many people think he is. He knows he’s observant and keen, strong (believe or not) and flexible, talkative but knows when to tone it down. He’s not crazy. He’s just aware.

Once Jay is out of his flashback, he backs out of Selina’s face and watches as she blows out the cigarettes nicotine one last time before dropping it on the ground and smashing out any ignition that was still on the cancer stick with her expensive (and definitely stolen) boot. Once she looks back up at the jester she barks out a “Get up in my face like that again, and I’ll rip off your face.” In a way that she probably thinks is intimidating, but to Jay it was just a poor excuse of a threat. Jay laughs in her face, and she backs up with a disgusted face as a bunch of spit comes out of his mouth. “Oh I am so scared of a girl who has more cats than she has friends! Ohahahahaa!!” Selina rolls her eyes and turns around while muttering an “like you can talk.” And truthfully, Jay can talk! He practically made an empire in the school! He was at the top of the food chain, and no one could hurt him. Not the teachers, not the students, definitely not little old Selina, and not Bruce’s little Justice Society. Bruce may hurt him physically, but there was no heart left in Jay to be hurt mentally. So he was pretty invincible! 

The schools prince of pranks turned on his heel and walked down the steps to where he saw some of his friends. It was Harley, Ivy, Eddie, Oswald, Magpie (Jay never learned her real name. Probably Margaret), and Roman Sionis. “Hiya, freaks! What are you guys talking about?” He asks while sitting down. “Oh Hiya, Puddin’!” Harley greets in her usual bubbly voice. “We were just talking about little Boy wonders orphan issues!” Jay was caught by surprise. “Uh..what?” He deadpans. There were so many boy wonders in the school he seriously didn’t know which one she was talking about. Little dick? Wannabe hardcore Jon? His doppelgänger Clark?

They had to be talking about Clark. Robin was two grades below them and honestly Jon has been pretty irrelevant ever since he got his anger issues together. But why would they be talking about Clark’s parents? Everybody know his parents died in probably some car crash when he was like 6, and that he was adopted not too long after. Oh boohoo, Jay could care less!

”Clark Kent! Turns out he’s never met his parents!” What? That’s—that’s surprising. Usually good kids have a perfect life. Two parents, a cute little dog, a nice big house. Clark was a good kid and didn’t have any of that. Hm. “Yeah, and like his actual parents are killers-“ “you don’t seriously believe that shit, do you?” Jay asks while cocking his head to the side a bit (something he does out of habit). Jay scoffs and puts his hand to his temple. “Clark Kent’s parents are not fucking killers. If he’s never met them how the fuck would he know?” Jay looks at his crew exasperatedly, and also gave Eddie a ‘your smarter this’ face. “I guess Mr. Jay is right. What do you think ivy?” Harley says looking up at Pamela while laying in the grass on her belly. “Honestly, I don’t care.” Pamela responds bluntly, more interested in running her fingers through the grass. Stupid crazy plant lady. Seriously, what was up with this school and students being in love with things that aren’t important. “Maybe that’s what has the farm boy thinking he’s allergic to green jewels. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Roman says before snickering, sharpening his pocket knight with a rock. “Where’d you even get the news from, Harls?” Eddie says, finally deciding to have an input on the conversation. Oswald takes a guess, “Gossip Gertie?” magpie laughs. “I haven’t heard about that girl since her podcast! Geez, what happened? That was in like, 8th grade.” “Eh, I heard she got like cancelled on social media for lying about something big. She’s been on the low since.” Jay shrugs. He remembers the incident because he had caught her crying in the boys bathroom stall, before banging hard on the door and yelling “you fucking dumbass! Wrong bathroom.” Looking back it was a little harsh, but he had a hangover that day and had decided to spread his bad mood to everyone else.  

Harley had looked up to the sky and bit her lip. “Well, I heard it from captain boom.” “I heard it from Clock king.” “WHAT? You still talk to that arrogant asshole!?” Oswald buds in loudly. Ugh, he really needs to stop pining for Eddie. It’s seriously annoying. Eddie, being so smart it made him dumb, doesn’t understand the obvious reasons to Oswald’s outbreak. “Uh, yes? He’s cool, and we have a lot in common. What’s wrong with it?” Oswald just grumbled and crossed his arms. “Anyways,” Roman says, steering the conversation back to its original topic. “I heard it from ZsasZ who said he’d heard it from Carol talking to one of her cheer friends. And Carol is close to-“ “Vicki Vale!” They all, except Oswald, say in unison. Jay snaps his fingers with a grin. “Of course! Her and Clark have been messing with eachother for months! What a poor little boy, not knowing what a snake Vicki is.” Jay can do nothing but snicker, the boy didn’t deserve it but at the end of the day a loss for the good kids is a win for the bad ones! “I almost feel bad, Vicki most definitely exaggerated the whole story.” Magpie says, getting a nod from Harley. “Told ya his parents weren’t killers,” Jay says, looking around before pulling out a pill with a smiley face on it and swallowing it dry. He’s gonna need that to get him through the day. “Yeah, your always right Puddin’.” Harley says lovingly, swirling a strands of her blonde hair. Jay thinks it would look better dyed Red or blue, or red and blue! But Harley Keeps saying her dad won’t let her. We’ll see how long that lasts. 

Oswald is first to stand up. “Bell rings in five minutes. I’m just gonna go early….” He grunts before walking away with his funny penguin-like walk. Once out of hear, Eddie turns his head from where he was watching him look away. “What’s his problem?” Jay just smiles and lays on his back while Harley whistles, Ivy just ignores the question and is now reading her plant fertilizing book, Roman stays quiet and puts his knife up into the light to check if it was sharp enough, and Magpie just shrugs with a hum. Eddie scoffs. “Fuck all yall then, I’m out.” And with that he stands up and walks away too. “Cya Riddla’!” Harley waves happily. “Oh now you wanna talk!” Eddie yells back without turning.

its quiet for a moment before Harley grabs her backpack. “Let’s get to class Ive’, it’s on the whole other side of the school after all.” Pamela just stands up and starts walking slowly. “Bye, clown.” “Catch ya later, Ivy! Tell the plants I said hi!” Pamela sticks her middle finger up as Harley yells “hey, wait up!” Before running after the red head. They would make a cute couple, Jay thinks as he sees them walking up the steps together. It’s now just him, Magpie, and Roman. “You skippin first period, Maggie?” Jay asks, turning his head to look at the girl since he’s still laying on his back.  “Of course! I hate Mrs. Waller. I’d kill her if I could.” “What’s stopping you?” He smirks, to which Magpie smiles. She has sharp, monster like teeth, and Joker wonders how she got them to look like that. You would actually have to eat nail filers to get that outcome. “You’re right. I’ll have to plan that later.” She laughs. Jay likes magpie. They both act alike. “Well if you ever need help, I’m a call away.” “And a getaway driver?” “If you want to have me run over 10 other people, sure!” They both laugh together. It’s quite normal if you ignore exactly what they are talking about. “God, you guys are crazy.” They both turn to Roman, who is finally finished sharpening his pocket knife and puts it in his pocket. “Yeah look what you were just doing for the past 20 minutes and get back to me.” Magpie deadpans while Jay sits up. “Yeah! Don’t act like you don’t have the urge to peel people’s faces off. Your crazier than us!” Roman looks caught off guard as he tenses up. “How do you know about that!?” “You told me when you were drunk at Oliver’s party last year.” Roman fumbles as he tries to stand up. He clears his throat. “I have to go to class.” He says walking away, and as the bell rings he walks a little faster. “What a sucker.” Jay says as both him and Magpie watch the man walk into the building. As he examines the rest of the back of the school, he notices it’s just him and Maggie. “Want a happy pill?” “Oh ima need a little more than that,” Maggie says and they both cackle.

                             …… 

For Lex, today was perfect. 

Not only was the one person he lovedhated being gossiped about, but he was also benefiting off of it. A lot of people were coming back to him saying “I guess you were right” and things like that, because in sophomore year he had tried telling everybody Clark couldn’t have been with his parents for so long because he hadn’t known anything else out of his farm life! He never talked about anything he did with them, unlike Bruce who at least had a few memories with his. Everyone had brushed him off calling him crazy, because his “obsession” with Clark wasn’t exactly low key, but turns out he was right the whole time! He couldn’t wait to run into him and see that ho-stupid. Stupid smirk—of his face and instead watch it be replaced with a frown. Lex had walked into the building with a smile that would put bachelors to shame. When he had got to his locker he swiftly put in his locker combination and opened his door, in one try! This day couldn’t get any better. “Well someone’s happy!” He turned to see his locker neighbor, Sinestro say. He chuckled. “Well of course, did you hear the news! Little boy wonder is finally on the other side of the fence. No more am I the one who has to be seen as a weirdo, a lunatic, and a fraud. Well looks who’s been one all along!” He yells out the last part and watches as everybody looks at him. “Never met his parents? His parents who are also killers?” He slams his locker. “What a combination.” He raises his brows with a grin. Sinestro stares at him. 

“Am I missing something?”

”It was a joke! Combination? Locker combination? You know what, forget it.”

he walks away. He’s not gonna let stupid Sinestro fuck up his perfect day. 

“oh, sorry man! It’s just that you don’t usually make jokes-“

Lex puts a hand up as he walks away, hinting at him to stop talking. Sinestro does for some reason. He hates when he does that. Sometimes Lex thinks he’s the shit. He watches at girls look at him and whisper to their friends giddily.

maybe he is a little bit.

Chapter Text

Eddie never was a dating kind of guy. He had never had a girlfriend—or boyfriend, ever. Barely even crushes! He liked this girl, Julie, but that was in like 5th grade, and he kind of forced himself to like her just so he could be normal. At least for a little bit. Acting normal never really worked out for him since he was way too smart for the kids among him. Just some of the cons of being the smartest man alive. Eddie is now a junior, and this year he is fine with being somewhat aromatic. He has his riddles; what else could he need! He’s also made a nice amount of friends in the past few years. (Guess he can thank Jay for making the ‘weird’ kids come out of hiding), like his best friend Oswald! Eddie almost doesn’t know what he would do without him. They’ve spent their high school and upper middle school years together and were actually his first ever friends. And the weird thing was that they weren’t even all that alike. For being a freak, Oswald was quite outgoing and was a party dude; he even says he wants to own a club (the iceberg or something, a pretty ass name if you ask Eddie, but whatever makes the guy happy), while Eddie was more reserved and usually had his nose in a book or a puzzle. Nonetheless, they were best friends and loved each other!

So he couldn’t understand what his deal was lately.

To be honest, Oswald always had a deal, whether it was an attitude or downright blackmailing. Eddie really isn’t supposed to be telling anyone (even his own mind), but Oswald’s phone holds crucial information on just about everybody in the school. Even some of the teachers! With that stuff he can blackmail anyone—and he does. He is like the godfather of a whole entire mob due to him having all the students at practically his feet. Thankfully Oswald doesn’t have anything on him, at least not on his phone. That is one perk to being the guy's best friend; he knows everything too. Like how Shayera is dating both Carter Hall and John Stewart, and also how Diana Prince is from a village in Europe called Themyscira that no one knows about because they have barriers all around it that makes it hard to get in (Oswald only knows this because he saw some of her things being shipped to her house with the address.), Ed also knows that Bruce Wayne has a fear of bats because when the manor was getting some of his parents belongings cleared, he had gone into the basement (basically a fucking cave) and had been ambushed by like hundreds of bats. Eddie still isn’t sure how Oswald found that one out.

Okay! Sorry! Eddie is getting sidetracked. His mind races so quickly that he has trouble focusing on just one topic. But yes, Oswald’s been acting differently. He usually is very grumpy and frustrated, but not directly to him! Now it’s like he’s holding a grudge against him, and everyone knows why except him! And for some reason all the uncles won’t tell him! Like, what the hell is going on? This reminds him of a riddle...

”My presence is a moody swing, from manic peaks to a depressive spring. What am I?”

”Pfft. Bipolar Disorder? Ed, what the hell?”

Ah, Will.

Eddie actually lied when he said Oswald was his first ever real friend.

William Tockman, better known as Clock King, was Eddie's oldest and best friend.

Their parents were friends, so obviously they were introduced to each other at an event. Eddie didn’t really like him at first. He spoke like he was the smartest man alive—when he wasn’t. Everybody knows that title belonged to Eddie, even when he was only 5. So yeah, that already set them off on the wrong foot. William was also extremely pretentious. He swore he was like a miracle or something. Eddie thought he was barely even a blessing. He was probably even an accident, with the way his parents just let him do whatever while they flew to different places for fun. Which is why their son turned out a total weirdo who started reading books about time, the god of it, Cronos, and the ancient civilizations who created it. These were all things Eddie had seen him as. A weirdo. A lunatic. An asshole. 

Honestly, Eddie was just self-projecting.

cause can the boy who had gone to the library every other day, to play puzzles and read about technology and what is can become. Clearly he had also lost some screws when coming out of his mother. But anyways, as time went on and William, alongside Eddie, had grown up, their two unorthodox interests had mixed together. Turns out time and puzzles and technology and ancient history all hold each other hand in hand. Eddie and Will had run into each other at the library one day when they were 14, both noticing the other but having a silent and unspoken dislike for each other. They passed each other, shoulders centimeters away. Eddie remembers feeling Will's body heat when walking by him. Unlike the clock geek, he was cold with bony fingers that reminded people of Edward Scissorhands and a vibe that gave off he didn’t like people, which was true. William liked talking to people, but only to talk about himself. Or, that’s what Edward had gotten from him. He’d never had a super long conversation with him. Just like, “Oh, happy birthday, “ and “Bye,” whenever his mom made him visit his. This day was different, though. Eddie had read almost every book about puzzles and death traps and mathematics and science—and anything educational. There was one last book, though. It was mostly red, with a blue box that held the text in bright yellow letters: The creation of Riddles.  There was a caption below it too that said, “Dates back as far as 1400 BC. Wow! Eddie had known a little bit about the roots of riddles being invented but didn’t exactly know a whole lot. 

As Eddie got to reading, there were, as he hated to admit it, some words he didn’t understand. Despite being the smartest 11-year-old in the world, he didn’t know some words like epoch, protracted, and whatever the hell tempus fugit was. He tried continuing to read the book without knowing the definition of those words, but they occurred so much in just one chapter that Eddie couldn’t read it without having them in his vocabulary. Edward was (and is) an extremely stubborn person. He would rather die than ask for... help. So as Eddie was getting ready to close the book, he heard a familiar and unwanted voice.

”I love that book! What chapter are you on?”

It was William. He was walking around with a red wagon filled with books. Eddie pretended like he didn’t hear him and instead kept the book open and skimmed it. For some fucking reason, the boy sits beside him. Eddie immediately tenses up. “Hey, Ed! I noticed you were reading the creation of riddles. It’s a book I really like.” He smiled, showing his huge gap but otherwise nice, straight teeth. Eddie did not maintain eye contact like the other boy. “Wanna read it together?” Eddie's eyes widened, and he stared at him in disbelief. No one's asked to read with Eddie. Not that he ever wanted to. Will for sure knows the words in the book that Eddie doesn’t, thanks to his weird obsession with time and, more specifically, clocks. Eddie moves his lips, but no words come out. He shuts his eyes tightly, because now he just looks like an antisocial, weird, riddle-loving freak! Which he kind of is, but it's not exactly something Eddie likes about himself. And showing it to Will? Someone who is pretty normal despite having interesting hobbies. He would tell everyone how weird Eddie was! His social life would be more in the dumps than it already was!

”Okay, cool!” He points to the word “tempus fugit.”. “The reason why it looks weird is because it isn’t really English. It’s Latin, which is an ancient language that the Romans spoke. Most of our English words are rooted in Latin. Tempus fight specifically means ‘time flies.’. That’s literally it.” Eddie snorts. “Seriously? And here I am thinking it’s some code for a generation-altering time phrase.” Will laughs. “Yeah, same! What a coincidence!” Eddie bites his lip once there’s a pause. “Can you…”

Will looks at him extremely interested, and Eddie's pretty sure William has never met somebody with the same interests as him (which Eddie doesn’t). But Will probably thinks he does. 

“Can you tell me what this word means?”

And boom! Every Tuesday after school, the pair would walk to the library together, rambling on and on about nerdy topics. Will was the only person Eddie actually liked talking to, and what do you know? They had a lot in common! Eddie finally had someone to sit with him at lunch, to come over to his house for hilarious sleepovers, and to talk about things nobody else liked! It was amazing. And great for their parents, too! Ed's parents were so glad to see their son finally make a friend, and one of their own close friend's son at that! Eddie found himself smiling way more now that he could finally use the term 'best friend' for someone.

And, Will was pretty cute too.

Not that Ed would ever admit it out loud anyway. He was perfectly content with his and Will's friendship status and would never want to ruin that.

So why was he so mad when he got a girlfriend?

Kaitlin Snow was a pretty, polite brunette. She was charismatic, outgoing, and kind. She didn't have any enemies and had great grades (not as good as Eddie's). Will had mentioned her before, since when they had hit 13, the guy had started liking girls. Eddie stayed the same with no crushes (except maybe one). He would always be like, "Did you see Kate today? Her hair looked so soft. I wonder how it feels" and other disgusting things. He would brush him off with a snarky remark. "Pfft. It looked alright. A little tangled if you ask me." He shrugged. Will would respond with a snort and push his shoulder. "Yeah, right. You're just a hater, Ed." "Or just not on cloud nine." Eddie would mutter, a hint of disappointment in his voice. Other than that, though, he would keep his mouth shut. He would let his best friend go on and on about the girl, and it was cool with Ed. 

As long as it never got farther than that.

But it did! On the day Will turned fourteen, he asked Kaitlin out. And guess what? The board said yes. He should've expected it, especially with his large IQ. But he just didn't. When Will had rushed up to him with the news, Eddie gave his best fake smile and a thumbs up. I mean, it wasn't that bad. And she wasn't! That was until they started spending too much time together. Seriously, he never got to see Will anymore! It was always some excuse about how he was already busy with her. Hurt, Eddie had eventually stopped asking. Stopped walking to the library with him after school. Stopped having hilarious sleepovers. Stopped having a best friend.

The word sounded so foriegn--even more than back when he never had one. Will started gaining more friends, while Eddie stayed in the shadows. He could've even gotten past all that, as long as Will just said hi to him while passing each other in the hall. And he did that! So, that's what they did now. They would say hi to each other, maybe have a brief conversation, before going back to their completely different lives. And thankfully, Eddie had started getting closer to Oswald. They had quite frequently spent time together since they had been in the same classes since they were young, but Ed's antisocialness kept him from talking to him for too long. Now that he had gotten slightly better at that skill (and in deep need of a friend), he had become good friends with him. And now best friends! They knew so much about each other, and it was nice to know someone else other than yourself to Eddie. 

But, back to the present. Eddie had rolled his eyes. "Not my best, I know. I was just thinking of it because it reminds me of someone." Will arches an eyebrow. "Oh? And who might that be?" he asked. Eddie bit his lip. Should he really be telling his problems to someone he hasn't been really close to in years?

"He's just been acting so stupid lately. Giving everyone, including me, an attitude! I usually wouldn't mind, since he's always in a mood. But it’s been like a week and a half. At this point it’s not even fun being near him." He rants, totally annoyed. Will just listens inventively and nods. "Mhm," he hums. "Maybe it’s something at home?" "Trust me, it’s not. I've been to the guy's house; he seriously has the nicest mom in the whole world." Eddie says. organizing his books, but ends up dropping them. He bends down with a curse, but his hand lands on top of Wills. His breath hitches as he looks into the man's eyes. "Heh," he chuckles. "Looks like we both had the same idea." "Ha. Yeah, yeah, haha, ya!" He scatters, totally out of it. He stands and just lets Will pick up his books and hand them to him. "Hey, we should totally hang out again sometime. We haven't geeked out on a Harry Potter movie in a while." He puts his hands in his pockets. "Maybe you could come by like this Friday—" He sees Eddie's shocked expression. "If you want." He adds. Eddie is supposed to be going bowling with Oswald and the rest of their friends, but screw that! He didn't want to be with the passive-aggressive penguin anyways! He nods furiously. "Yeah! Sounds cool! We could even walk there together, like, "Like old times." They say it at the same time. And Eddie pushes his glasses back up to his nose with an awkward grin; . Will just smiles. "Can't wait, Ed. Gotta get to class now, so I'll see you later." And with that he turns on his heel so casually, even though he just made Eddie's entire month. The riddler can believe it! Let's get this day over with so it can just be tomorrow! He thinks, rushing to class. He hasn’t had something to really look forward to in months!

Meanwhile, Oz was getting his ear talked off by Basil Karlo—who many called Clayface for him being known to have very obvious expressions. You could tell every thought the man would think of in a matter of seconds. He was a blabbermouth, always going on about either theatrics or some other bullshit. Oswald could absolutely care less—and did. He wasn’t afraid of hurting people’s feelings and would’ve simply walked away if he hadn’t been waiting for Edward. Every day they would meet up in the exact hall Oswald was in because their lockers were on two different sides of the building. And Eddie would always arrive first, for he was really good at timing. So why had it been 5 minutes without the geek showing his face? Oswald had checked his old watch again, tapping his foot and instinctively drawing out Clayface's new choice of topic. “Where could that little bastard be?” He muttered. Their first class started in 10 minutes, and the penguin-like man at least wanted to purposely be insufferable. It was his thing! And as much as he hated to admit it, his morning felt pretty stale now that the guy isn’t next to him spitting out a bunch of dumb riddles. 

In fact, this entire week was going badly. 

Since a few days before the school year started, Oswald had started dropping hints to the riddle freak, but he just couldn't get a clue (get it?)! The blackmailer had done just about everything short of gripping the skinny man by his shoulders and yelling, "I love you!" right in his face. And he was getting fairly close to doing just that. On Monday, he had done something he's never done in his entire life: compliment someone. It was so out of the ordinary for Oswald that he was sure Eddie was going to put two and two together. But all he did was roll his eyes and say, "Haha. Very funny, Oz," with extreme sarcasm, before flipping him off and walking away. Oswald stood there, jaw slack, as he watched the nerd's back. There was no one; the guy was so dumb. Oh well, he had thought at the time. It's only Monday, so there was plenty of time to put his plan in place.

Tuesday wasn't any better.

Oswald decided to put all his knowledge about Eddie to good use and took him to a library far away on the outskirts of Gotham. He smiled at how his eyes lit up as he frantically looked around the place, snatching Oswald's hand and slinging him all around. "Wow, there are so many books I have never read before! How did you even find this place, Oz?" Eddie asked with an adorable smile, and it took a moment for Oswald to answer. "My uncle owns it." He says blatantly, more focused on Ed's face. It was half the truth, even though he left out how his uncle was in a mob family that owned just about everything in these parts of Gotham and had mentioned it last weekend at one of his cousin's Bar Mitzvahs. "No way," Eddie gasped, eyes never leaving the racks of books. "I wish my uncle owned a library; I would never leave! Thanks for taking me here." He smiled, maybe even a bit shyly. It was rare for the genius to share his non-asshole and snarky side. It was a nice break. "Pfftt,' Oz brushed off, casually wrapping his arm around the skinny man's shoulders. "No worries, friend. It's the least I could do for cancelling our plans the other day. I would never do that without a good reason." He said with as much genuineness as he could. Eddie's eyebrows raised. "Wow, thanks, Oz." He laughed. "What would I do without you?" he said, sarcastic as usual. Oz would have loved for it to be said with a little more honesty. They spent hours there, with Oswald being more than bored out of his mind. But when they were finished and walking out, they made sure to open the door as well as his cars for Ed. Much to his shock. "Quit the gentleman act." Eddie snapped once Oswald had entered the driver's seat, much to his surprise. "What?" he asked, utterly confused. His mother had always told him to open the door for whoever he was on a date with. Eddie stared at him, skeptical with his arms crossed. "Mmmm," he hummed, glaring and shaking his head. "I'm not buying it." He finalized, turning to the window. Oswald turned the car one and gripped the wheel. What the fuck.

Wednesday was a waste of time.

They sat together during lunch, Oswald bringing lots of snacks and drinks. He told the rest of the gang to leave them alone without giving a reason why, though they still listened. "Why aren't we sitting with them again?" Eddie asked as they walked to the blanket with their food, watching Jay, Harley, Roman, Ivy, Magpie, Viktor, and, surprisingly, Eobard sitting all together. "I just don't feel like being near them, that's all." He laughed dryly, sweating bullets. "But you could stand being near me?" Eddie asked, sitting down and instantly grabbing a croissant and eating it. Oz smiled, knowing it was one of his favorites. He sat down with him. "Of course. You're different," he muttered, choosing to take a sip of water to calm his nerves. "My best friend." He choked out. Eddie smiled. "I know. And thanks for grabbing some food. I definitely wasn't going to eat lunch today with them serving sloppy joe." He scrunched his nose while Oswald cackled. "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if some kind of John Doe was incorporated in it." Eddie laughed at his joke, covering his mouth with his hands, and Oz wasn't sure why. He thought his smile was beautiful. It was quiet for a while while they both ate, until Oswald cracked the question. "Wanna come over after school? My mom's making lasagna!" He asked cheerfully, only to be answered with a deep frown. "What? In the mood for something else? No worries, I'll--" "What's up with you, Oz?" He asked, with a hint of concern. "Uh, what do you mean, Edward?" "Don't call me by my full name," he sneered, and Oswald instantly kept a mental note of that. "All week you've been acting weird. Inviting me out all the time to actual thoughtful places, like it's a special occasion or something. And being nice!? Something's got to be up." Oswald tensed up. Looks like the guy actually decided to use his brain today. Ed's stern face dropped, being replaced with a concerned look. He leaned forward. "Is everything all right?" he whispered. Oz shook his head 'yes' frantically. "Of course! If something was, I would tell you. I swear!" he said with a big smile. "Okay," Eddie said, obviously not convinced. "I'm going to head to class early. It's on the whole other side of the building." Ed uttered, snatching a quick croissant and shoving it in his mouth. Oswald could barely get a word out before the guy dashed away.

They hadn't talked for the rest of the day.

To not be suspicious, Oswald decided to not do anything with Eddie on Thursday and go out on Friday with the whole gang so Eddie wouldn't suspect anything. There was nothing that could get in the way now! Oswald was going to be officially not single! With someone he trusted with his life, and made him smile, and made him a better person. Someone who would never betray him

ping!

Oz checked his phone. It was a message from Ed, and his heart instantly skipped a beat. He was in his last class and was excited to go to the mall after school to pick out a nice outfit tomorrow. Oz was thinking purple.

Ed: Hey, Oz. I've got bad news.

Ed: I, sadly, will not be able to attend our group hangout tomorrow. I am very sorry.

What! Oswald huffed and started typing furiously. What could the genius possibly have to do!?

Oz: WAT!?!?!?! Y? r u O K

Ed: Yes. I just got grounded, so I can't go outside for about a week. 

Oz: Eddie wat da fuq. You knew we had plans, so why would you do something to get yourself in trouble?

Ed: Not my fault, Birdie! I promise I will make it up to you! :')

Oz: Not gonna cut it.

It took a lot of Oswald's very little self-control to not throw his phone against the classroom. Trying not to make a scene for the first time in his life, he tried to just focus on whatever the fuck the teacher was teaching.

Eddie had bit his lip as he returned his phone to his back pocket. He felt terrible about cancelling on Oswald, especially after how nice he's been this week (though he still has no idea why). But he hasn't really talked to Will in forever and doesn't want to miss the chance. So... Sue him, he guessed. He and Will were currently walking to the aforementioned man's house, talking like they never stopped. The whole time Eddie felt a warmth in his chest at the familiarity, not necessarily noticing he missed the times like these. Nowadays, all the riddler thought about was how to get through life without listening to his many dark thoughts. "Have you seen the matrix?" Will asks to break the silence, and Eddie immediately perks up. "Are you kidding!? I love the Matrix!" Will smirked. "Good to know, especially with the new one coming out. We should go together." He suggested, a twinkle of hope in his eyes. Eddie was shocked at the sudden invitation. Will wanted to go watch a movie with him. He would've thought the man would ask Kaitlin before him. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. "Uh, sure. I shouldn't be too busy." "Great! I'll be sure to let you know." He smiles before stopping in front of his house. Eddie started at it with a great wave of nostalgia hitting him. He looked at a patch of grass that he and Will would play at and also wondered if he still had that mutt Ed loved. He was big, furry, and warm, and Eddie would always lay on him. When the pair entered the house, it was warm and cozy, and Ed saw Will's mom in the kitchen. Her eyes lit up, and she stopped stirring a big bowl and set it on the table before walking into the living room and going in for a big hug, to which Eddie awkwardly responded, to--patting her back slowly with his whole body stiff. She backed up a little bit and put her hands on his shoulders, examining him. "Oh, Eddie, it's been so long! You look just the same!" she laughed with a kind smile. Eddie didn't really see that as a compliment but still chuckled dryly. "Thanks…" he said. "And thanks for letting me come over." He added, remembering the manners his parents had taught him. She shook her head and turned to head back into the kitchen. "Oh, please! You're like family! And it's nice to have a face around here other than Kat's. "Mom! What did I say about talking to her? Will shouted, giving Ed a look before simmering down. "Whatever. Come on, Eddie." He said, and Eddie followed him up the stairs with his lips shut. "Sorry, honey!" was the last thing she heard before he entered his bedroom.

Will collapsed on his bean bag while Eddie politely sat on his bed. It was quiet for a moment while Will flicked through TV channels. "So," Ed started cautiously. "Did something happen between you and Kate?" He quickly backtracked when he saw Will's eyebrow twitch. "I mean—sorry if that was—" "Nah, it's cool." He said before getting up to sit next to Eddie. Very closely. "We kind of broke up." He said bluntly, and Eddie was stunned. Actually, he's been surprised a little too much today for his liking. "Oh. Shit. Sorry about that." "It's cool," he said again, this time like he's telling himself it more than Eddie. "She's just having another one of her little bitch fits. She'll pipe down." Eddie scrunched his nose up. That sounded a little misogynistic, but he was willing just to chalk it up as Will being upset. "Still, you guys have been together for a while." He tried not to let bitterness drip out in his tone. "It's gotta hurt." He tried to say sympathetically, but it probably came out more strained. "Yeah. I guess it did." Will breathed out. After a moment of silence, he said, "But that doesn't matter. It gave me time to get back with my best bud!" he laughed, putting Eddie in a headlock, which made his glasses fall. "Oh come on, Will! Get off me!" he yelled, trying to push the man off but failing miserably. "Still scrawny, Ed? Get some meat on your bones!" Will jabbed, easily pinning the man to his bed. "Hard to compete against a guy who's played about every sport on the planet." Ed said, sarcasm oozing out. They tussled a little longer, Eddie being able to get the upper hand and rolling them both off the bed before continuing to throw soft punches. After a while they both stopped to catch their breaths. And it was then that Eddie noticed how close they were and that he could feel Will on top of him. His face grew extremely hot, and he started to squirm—noticing how blown Wills's eyes were. "Will, I—" His hand trained up Eddie's vest. "I gotta say, Ed," he chuckled darkly. "You really grew into your features." Continuing to touch Eddie in many places. Ed shut down, feeling like he could not do anything other than sit and watch what Wills plan with him was. In his mind he was freaking out. What the fuck is happening!?!? He thought. His arms instinctively wrapped around Will's neck when the man leaned down to pepper kisses on his neck. The grumble of his laughter soliciting a while of Eddie. He's never done anything like this before, and suddenly all his senses were heightened, and he could feel the cool of the wooden floors under him and the uncomfortable digging in his butt from his phone. And most importantly, the soft, warm lips of Will on him. The man gripped Ed's hip tightly and squeezed his thigh. "W-Will..." Ed spoke softly, entirely too overstimulated to even cohere words. "What, Baby? I'm not going to hurt you. just..." He put his hand under his buttoned shirt and ghosted a finger on his nipped. Flicking, he finally touched Eddie's parted lips with a low hum. "This can't be happening." Eddie gasped, earning a groan from Will when he started to grind from under him. "Believe it, Baby." He grumbled as he unbuckled his pants. Ed's heart rate spiked. This was wrong and right in so many ways. Will just broke up with Kaitlin, but this wasn't the first time something like this happened. They would be back together in less than a week. On top of that, Will and Eddie hadn't been close for over 2 years! They finally do, and this happens!? Eddie's head was spinning, and of course, at the same moment, he had a 6-inch penis in his face. That's when everything hit him. "Whoa. Whoa, whoa," he shrieked, eyes wide. "Heh, yeah. It's big, right?"

Okay, first off—ew. And second, WHAT THE FUCK!? Why is Eddie here? He should be at the bowling alley with Jay, with Solomon Grundy, and with Oswald. Not some asshole looking for a quick fuck while he's on a dry spell by his girlfriend! Wait...

"Get the fuck off me!" Eddie yelled, pushing Will back with all his strength. "H-Huh? Ed, what the hell? Are you intimidated?" He smirked. "Oh, I get it. It's your first time, isn't it?" He cackled. "Well, don't worry; I'll make it your bes-—" Eddie threw a pillow at him. "You're such a dick! Who do you think I am!? Some gullible, touch-starved dummy?" He huffed. And by Will's face, it seemed he thought just that. "Ugh!" he stomped before opening his door. "I'm out. And don't even think about texting me." And with that he slammed the door.

"Oz, for fuck's sake! Can you get your head out of your ass and play the game?

That was Jay yelling at Oswald after his bowling ball went in the gutter for probably the 8th time. He sighed and sat back at their group's table. "Can you just leave me alone!" he squawked at the green-haired man, who just pursed his lips and flipped him off. "Whatever. Harls, what score are we at?" Jay yelled. "First place, Monkey-face!" She squealed, pointing at the big TV. "Hah! You know what that means, Romeyy~" Jay snickered. Roman rolled his eyes and pulled out 100 bucks from his pocket and shoved them in the madman's face. "Yee-fucking-haw!" He whooped. "Come on, Harls," he said. He watched as Harley smiled at Pam and huffed. "And Pammy too, I guess. Victory drinks!" he shouted, running over to the bar with his fake ID already in his hand. Roman just shook his head as he watched Grundy and Magpie continue the game. Oswald thought it was weird how nonchalant the man was, almost like Bruce Wayne. Almost. Nothing was beating that emo boy. Oz continued to sulk in his chair. What did Eddie do for him to get grounded? I mean, the kid was a straight-A student! And the only time he left the house was when he wanted to make a quick stop by the library or if Oz forced him to. And for a week? Sounded more like a blessing for the nerd than a curse. Something wasn't up, but for now he would give the man his space and instead suffer in silence. That was until a guy with sleek black glasses and ruffled clothes burst through the doors. He was leaned over on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. He looked familiar, but his hair was covering his face. Oswald didn't care that much, so he went to turn around. That was until—

"Riddler! Aye, glad you could join the party," Jay exclaimed slyly, before turning to the bartender and saying, "Bird-brain was seriously going crazy without him," before laughing an ear-bleeding laugh. What a signature move. Oswald whipped his head around to see the nerd. He's nerdy. "...What?" The bartender asked. "Eddie? What are you doing here?" The man instantly burst into tears, attracting the attention of everyone in the bowling alley. Harley skated over (Why the fuck does she have skates on?) and leaned over to him. "What's his deal?" She asked, popping gum in his ear. "And what makes you think I know!?" Harley gives him a look before planting a drink in front of him. It was purple, blue, pink, and overall unappetizing to him. "On me, Pengy." She smiles, and Oz growls. "Don't call me that. And I'm not drinking your dumb drink." He mumbles before standing up, leaving Harley by herself, who shrugs. "More for me!"

"Ed, what happened?' He asked. They were in the bathroom, and the penguin-like man watched as Eddie wiped snot out of his nose with a paper towel. He looked at himself in the mirror and splashed water on his face. "Its..." His voice wavered. "It’s a lot to talk about right now. I just wanted to see you, I guess." He chewed the inside of his cheek. Oswald's heart beamed. Eddie wanted to see him! He cleared his throat and tried to play off the butterflies thrashing in his stomach, walking closer to him and laying his hand on his back. “Will.” Eddie suddenly said. Oz’s nose scrunched up in disgust. He was not very fond of the ‘clock king’ due to his close former relations to Eddie and how, from what he’s heard, he had Ed dry and high for the cold-blooded Kaitlin Snow. Kaitlin has only lived in Gotham for a few years, and from Pswald's infamous blackmailing business, she knew of her past activities. 8 months in juvie for attempting to murder her own parents and barely making it out of a prison sentence from her very deceiving lies, and moving to Gotham for a clean slate. She seemed to have many other disorders like bipolar, a narcissist, and anger issues. Of course she covered it up and acted like a saint, but every now and then she would crack and let out some of her true self. Such a killer frost, she was. 

“As in the guy you used to be buddy-buddy with?” He grumbled through clenched teeth. “Yeah.” He stated bluntly, looking a lot more than a little out of it. “Turns out over the course of like 3 years he turned into a complete asshole!” He shouted, smoothing out his vest and pants. “Or maybe he always was.” Oz muttered under his breath. How did he come to terms with this without a phone? “What happened?” He questioned again, trying his best to sound like he felt something other than triumph. With no other guy in Ed’s hindsight, he wouldn’t have any competitions! Suddenly the riddler's demeanor changed to something more guilt-like. “I... I lied to you!” He exclaimed with tears welling in his eyes. In rushed words he said, “Will finally said something to me more than ‘Hey Ed!’ Or, ‘Have you seen the new Lord of the Rings!?’ He invited me to his place, so like the idiot I am, I decided to go even though we already had plans!” He took a gulp of breath, hands on his head. “He and Snow were on a break, so he—“ pants “—he pinned me. And kissed me. “ “And—"sob"—then he tried to f-fuck me!” He covered his eyes while Oswald stood there like a statue. 

“Hey, I didn’t ask for tea!” Jay joked from a few feet away from the two, sitting on a bar stool and sipping on a shot glass next to Magpie. Oswald shot daggers his way, and the clown grinned before spinning on the seat and flirting with the bartender, who looked like he was about to just risk losing his occupation and booking it out of the establishment. The penguin was seeing red and decided quickly he would be giving his uncles a call soon. But for now, his attention was on Ed. “Hey, look at me.” Oswald said, tipping Ed’s tear-stained face to his. The man sniffled but obliged, eyes locking with Oz's through tears. “Don’t worry about that jerk. He was never worth your time, you hear me?” Oswald reassured with a faint smile. “You think so?” Eddie asked, full of doubt. Oswald reluctantly backed away a little bit, patting Ed on the back and switching his demeanor. “You kidding? I know so!” He quacked. Eddie's lips twitched upward as he straightened his posture. He took a glance at the bar and looked at his best friend knowingly. “The night is still young, Oz. How about we make the most out of it?” He snorted, deciding to forget about the previous events of the day and spending time with his best friend. “That’s more like it. I’ll even pay!” “Oswald Cobblepot not being stingy? This is a Vicky Vale worth report, Edward snorted. “Only for you, Ed.” Oswald replied while walking away. “Only for you…” he repeated while his back was turned. 

How sad he wasn’t able to see the faintest blush on Edward’s face.

Chapter Text

Hi everyone reading this! I wanted to make this a chapter instead of a note just to make sure it would be seen by just about everyone. 

I wanted to clarify that future chapters are going to be much better grammar-wise, with pacing, with vocabulary, and altogether quality.

I’ve reread all my chapters and I can say it is by far not my best. And it’s not because I’m not as motivated, or I’m not as into DC as my other project fandoms—I am actually into DC the most. I’ve been a fan since I was a little girl (we’re talking like 5th grade lolll) I just feel as though I’ve really put in the effort recently to work on my writing skills and learning new ways to captivate my audience.

Nowadays, I do proof reads to everything—making sure to minimize typos. And I always rough out the plot before I write. I feel as though I’m really maturing (I am now 19! Woohoo!!) with my writing style and just how I live overall. I notice that a lot of plot points in this story have changed, not fully connecting, and I want to make sure that doesn’t happen in the future. I am taking full accountability for it!

And I am sure I am being extremely hard on my self, and that most don’t even care that much. Writing and reading has been my safe space my whole life and I really take it seriously. So as I said, chapters moving on will be much better! The one next up has been drafted for like 5 months (yall I’ve had a busy year so far haha) and I cleaned it up a little so yeah. Expect something soon! I’m working on a lot of different projects right now so just hang on

Anyone who is reading this still—thank you so much. I love to write and I love to see people into the same thing as me, sending kudos and comments. It feels my heart up with joy. Thank you so much!!!!!!!