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Mary West jumped in surprise from her seat in the kitchen as she heard the door close with a loud thump, the bitter voices of her son and his girlfriend stopped her from saying anything.
“How can you even think I'm going to be entertained with it? How, Wallace?” Victoria asked trying to level her voice.
“Because it means nothing, you said you knew that” Wally responded just as quick to defend himself.
“Of course I know! But you're still leading her on!” Victoria was holding herself back from flinging her shoes off instead of quietly setting them beside the door.
“Babe,” Wally sighed “It's just playful, it's not like she thinks I'm into her!”
“You are so blind!”
Wally's mom felt like she should let them know she was there, so she walked over and out of the kitchen with a grin.
“Hey, kids!” She called, and both of them looked surprised before turning to her with sheepish grins “You’re here early, how was school?”
“Hello Mary, nothing new, a lot of homework for me.”
“Yeah, we're going to hang out upstairs for a while mom, tackle homework together” Wally rushed up to Mary greeting her with a kiss to her cheek before getting back to the door and picking his backpack back up.
“Alright, do you want anything? I thought you would eat out today, but we can order pizza.”
Mary, as a knowing and concerned mother, didn't miss out on the angry glare Victoria directed to Wally, but it was gone as soon as it came and the girl was quickly back to smiling.
“That's alright, I had something on the way, and Wally already ate” Despite her sweet expression Victoria's words sounded bitter and Wally winced, a flash of guilt crossing over his features.
Mary acted innocently “Not like it’s unusual of him to want more afterward, alright then, Rudy will be coming home late tonight, tell me if you're having dinner with us Victoria, I’m making your favorite tonight.”
Victoria's smile turned softer at the woman who always accepted her under her roof, while she felt like she was making fantastic progress on making Bruce more talkative and close to Dick and her, well, the warm motherly nature Mary offered was always much more than welcome “Thank you Mary, I'll see what happens with Alfred later”
As Mary disappeared back to the kitchen, both teens awkwardly shuffled and started their way upstairs.
Once inside the room, Wally quietly closed the door behind him while Victoria threw her bag at the side of his bed. There was a tense moment of silence before the argument they were having before Mary greeted them started again.
“Look, it's not like you don't have plenty of male friends” Wally began on the wrong foot for her point of view.
“I don't care how many female friends you have Wally; it's not about that” Victoria told him for what felt like the fifth time “But I don't flirt with my male friends.”
“It's only playful banter” Wally complained.
“Does Frances even know you have a girlfriend?”
“Of course she does, she's seen you when you've come over after school.”
“So you haven't directly told her” She stated more than asked.
“It's not necessary” Wally stubbornly defended.
“Do you have any idea how that kind of thing can be misunderstood!?” Her anger was growing by the moment.
“I always tell you how my banter with her goes! Precisely for that you should be aware that it's not real.”
“I know you wouldn't do anything with her, but it is horrible that your boyfriend tells you how he is leading another girl on for a whole plethora of reasons!”
“What? Would you prefer me not to tell you? Would you trust me like that?”
“I would prefer for you not to do it at all you jerk! So you’re admitting to leading her on?”
“The-That’s not what I’m saying! This is just because I had lunch with her, I told you, I was just too hungry! I had to run earlier to help Barry and—“
“It's not about you eating with her; it’s been building up! But you and I had a date today, and if she didn't have any feelings for you she wouldn't have asked you to lunch like that, you're oblivious!”
“We could have still had lunch together! I’m sorry for going with her, but it’s no reason to have this huge discussion.”
“It’s like you haven’t heard anything I’ve told you. The problem is that your playful banter obviously makes her think you want to get with her, did you see how she looked at me when I came over to find you both?”
“She wasn’t glaring at you; you’d probably get along fine, look, I’ll present you as my girlfriend.”
“You are making me sound like a possessive girlfriend” Victoria growled warningly.
“Well, that's because you're acting like one!”
Wally himself felt like he had just crossed a line, but they were both stubborn, and the fight had escalated, he was too proud to take it back.
Victoria felt like yelling but decided against it; she stood up from the seat she had taken on his bed and grabbed her bag “What you've been doing feels like showing off how you could change me whenever you wanted”
Wally faltered a little “You know I wouldn't—“
“Again, it's not about that Wally” She interrupted “Try to put yourself on my shoes, how would you feel if I flirted with one of my friends, then went back and told you every detail because clearly, it doesn't mean anything anyway?”
She opened the door, but Wally was immediately in front of her “Vic, seat down please, let's talk it out.”
She shook her head “We’ve had too much, we’re on edge because this has been building up for a while, we can talk it out later.”
“No, look, we can be—“
“I've had too much Wally” She glared and walked past him.
He followed her down the stairs but none of his words made it to her thought process, she got her shoes and closed the door behind herself.
Wally covered his eyes with his hands while letting out a heavy sigh at the horrible fight they just had; they hadn't even been home for long. When he uncovered them, he saw his mother looking at him worriedly from the end of the hallway.
He smiled sadly at her “Vic's not having dinner with us tonight, I'll be upstairs.”
«•••»
“You’re not coming on patrol tonight” Bruce stated as he went into Batmode, that’s what Victoria liked calling it, for a while now Bruce had been more careful, she’d dare say happy while being Bruce with both his wards.
He’s always cared for them of course, but he’d been gaining a warmer nature, back on Batmode though it was same old severe Bruce. She was though definitely not expecting him to take her off patrol tonight.
“Why not?” She asked hesitantly “Do you have something else to do?”
“Alfred told me you got back from Wally’s earlier today, then both he and Dick warned me about how ‘pissed’ you were” The man simply stated
She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest “A bad mood never stopped you from going out on patrol before.”
“No, but I saw the recording of you training earlier” Raising his hand, and with the press of a button the Bat-computer presented the video of her before Bruce got home, the poor sandbag and dummies had done nothing to her. “You’re acting too violently, and if I know you well, then I am worried about whichever petty thief you might find on your way out tonight.”
She sighed, hating to be stopped from going out that night and slightly resenting Batman for it, but he had a fair point. Instead of answering she threw her cowl off and fell against the chair. Damn her making Bruce a softer parental figure which had grown more worried about her with time.
Satisfied the man leaned in to place a hand on her shoulder, a reassurance, meaning they’d talk about it when he came back, then walked over to the Bat-mobile just as Robin swung down the staircase to follow him, not before the younger boy had sent her a sympathetic look though.
Just as Victoria was thinking about blowing off some steam on another training device, Alfred appeared behind her, a tray full of his wonderful cookies and favorite hot beverage had her smiling for a minute, her surrogate grandfather smiled back at her, making her company and avoiding more destruction.
«•••»
By the age of 18 years old, you have experienced plenty of things, basics. You don’t become very wise at that age, but hopefully, you started to mature and realize your past mistakes, how silly you were. If you’re not somehow ashamed of your past self, then you probably haven’t grown at all.
At the age of 16 years old Wally and Victoria were beginning to experience their first mistakes on a romantic relationship, and boy, they’d have many, but they were fixing them, learning together with time.
Wally wasn’t used to this silent treatment though, ever since they started dating, they decided they didn’t want any more misunderstandings to happen between them, so they’d make sure to clear things up by the end of the night if they had any trouble. Never leaving a problem to be dealt with on a different occasion.
How terrible can you feel when your girlfriend ignores that agreement because she is fed with you?
Well, maybe those words were a little strong, but Wally couldn’t help it if they kept crossing his mind. He had finally managed to distract himself when Barry called him for help. Two supervillains in a row today? Maybe they didn’t get the memo that this was Central city and not Gotham.
Ugh, that thought had reminded him of Vic, he had wondered how he could bother her about how his mentor could make his city much safer because of his speed, whereas Gotham was full of lunatics. Maybe it was just a silly thought, a dumb thing, but still, being aware that he couldn’t share it with her at that moment was making him feel terrible.
After Mirror Master had been stopped and on his way back to Iron Heights Flash turned to his protegé with a concerned expression “So, what’s got you in such a mood kid?”
Kid Flash groaned because he knew his mood was reasonably obvious, heck, Mirror Master had mentioned something about it too “Vic” He stated dully, the man looked at him sympathetically, girl problems were something he could understand even if he didn’t have the details.
“Come on Kid; you’re too down in the dumps, I’m taking you with me, if anyone can give you any proper advice that’s Iris.”
«•••»
Back at Wayne Manor, Victoria was back upstairs, diving on the last cookie before Bruce came to sit beside her, it was weird how much comfort she could take from the man’s presence despite the talk she was bound to have with him.
At the same time Wally was tapping his leg impatiently while sitting on his uncle’s couch, soon the woman he waited for, one of his favorite people, came over with three mugs of warm chocolate. Rude. Those also reminded him of Victoria.
“So, what did he do?” Bruce asked her; she was pretty amused about how the man just assumed Wally had done something wrong, not that he was off the mark, on her point of view.
“So what did you do?” Iris asked him; Wally was offended.
So they both retell their stories and encouraged by their family blurt out all they have been feeling, sometimes you just need someone to listen, and decidedly, having an older person you admire tell you they have been through similar things may help out a lot if you actually let them.
Victoria admits how jealous she had really been; Wally accepts he could have handled things differently. Victoria complains that Wally was insensitive, Wally claims Victoria was too proud to admit she might have misread the situation.
Victoria sheepishly states she has been thinking about the situation worriedly all this time; she shouldn't have talked to Wally like that.
Wally realizes he should have taken her worries more seriously, instead of pridefully excusing himself an apology would have been the best.
They both feel stupid because things could have been better resolved if they had listened calmly to each other and thought about how it had felt for their partner.
When we are young we’re sometimes too awkward to understand our family may have good advice for us; we think we have the world on our hands and don’t reason they may actually understand. Wally and Victoria had to their advantage the fact that their heroes were the ones giving them advice, and for Wally also his aunt Iris who he considered a best friend.
“Hasn’t what she said been running through your mind all along?” Iris asked Wally who looked back at her guiltily, aware of what she meant “How would you have felt in her place?”
He sighs because he has thought about it, he is well aware now.
Victoria has a similar conversation with Bruce; he looks at her knowingly as she fiddles with her fingers, she knew she had taken it to a whole new extent, if she had told Wally about it earlier and calmly instead of being infuriated at once then things would have gone differently.
She knows she should apologize, but is also well aware that the biggest apology must come from Wally because what she did wrong does not excuse what he did wrong.
Bruce stands up and ruffles her hair, picking up the empty mugs and tray from the table, “Don’t stay up too late” He says before disappearing into the kitchen, slightly out of character for a man who helps her and Dick stay up as late as possible some days, but she understands.
She reaches out for her phone because waiting for the next day isn’t something she thinks Wally would be able to handle. Honestly, though, she doesn’t think she would be able to wait.
«•••»
She is sitting outside of the mansion on the steps to the door. She doesn’t have to wait for long, a strong wind hits her side, and the blur of red is suddenly sitting beside her on the steps. They don’t look at each other, just remain silent for a moment.
“I probably shouldn’t have walked out on you like that earlier,” She admits “But I think that was better than letting the discussion reach a whole new level of anger.”
Wally nodded in agreement, still looking far away from his place “I know why you did it, we were out of control and” He paused for a moment “If our discussions ever go too far again maybe that’s the course of action we should take”
“To walk away from the other in a flurry of anger without resolving anything?” Victoria had a ghost of a smile on her face
“To stop before we make things worse and take a little time to relax and organize our thoughts” Wally’s lips curled up slightly before he went serious, “I’m sorry for what I said, in all honesty, I don’t think I would have handled it better if it had been you.”
She nodded slightly, her hand reached out on the sidewalk for his, and their fingers intertwined, laying there lazily “I understand how you thought it wouldn’t matter, but please never do that again.”
“You kidding? After all this, I’d never dare” Wally chuckled “Honestly, I was too scared about having you being fed up with me.”
“I might be mad at you, but I love you too much” She grinned turning to look straight at him “We are both going to keep messing up, I just need to know we can work through these things.”
Wally leaned over to kiss her forehead “Always.”
They stayed there for a while, discussing the whole situation calmly, setting up some ground rules over it and offering apologies as they went through everything that had gone wrong.
There are many different kinds of relationships, but when you’re with someone you care so much about their mere presence is comforting, laughing with them feels like the cure to everything that was wrong with the relationship. But you can’t let yourself go over this, you can’t dismiss the problems on a relationship just because talking with this person makes you feel better, but use it to calm yourself down and have a proper talk on what went wrong.
That’s what they did until finally Wally went home and Victoria upstairs, eventually falling asleep calmly.
«•••»
Wally waited impatiently outside of his school for Victoria, she had insisted on at least a day in which it would be her turn to pick him up since he went to her school most of the time, and though he loved it he was also too impatient a person.
“Are you waiting for someone?” Came the sweet voice of Frances Kane from beside him.
Wally turned to her startled and then grinned “Yeah, my girlfriend’s coming over, we’re going to hang out with some friends and then she’s staying for dinner at my place” to say they were hanging out was an easy way to avoid telling people they were training at the cave to beat supervillains.
France’s expression went from happy-go-lucky to confusion, and it slowly slipped to realization “I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.”
Oh, oh geez, she had wholly misunderstood hadn’t she? Wally winced as he realized Victoria had been right all along, had he practically been playing with Frances’ feelings all along? Gosh, he hoped it wasn’t as bad as he thought.
“Uh, yeah, you know, Victoria, you’ve met her” He spoke and saw Frances nod slowly at the realization.
Wally was so friendly she had merely thought Victoria was a friend he had outside of school, she had never seen them together that much anyway because Wally was out of school as soon as it was over most of the time.
“Wally!” Victoria’s voice called as she walked over calling the attention of both teens, she stiffened a little at the sight of Frances, but it was quickly covered. Besides, she knew she could trust Wally.
“Hey, babe!” Wally rushed over at her without super speed to kiss her on the cheek before turning awkwardly back to Frances “So, you’ve met Frances before, she’s my biology partner” He started turning from one to the other “Frances, this is Victoria, my girlfriend.”
Victoria had nothing against Frances, really! But she had to use the Wayne grin™️ as she offered her hand for a greeting “Hey, I’ve heard about you from Wally, how do you deal with him for entire class periods?”
“Hey! You deal with me for more than that, and you hadn’t complained” Wally glared acting offended.
Frances felt more at ease with the comment “It is really hard, but someone has to manage” She answered shaking Victoria’s hand.
«•••»
“She is nice,” Vic told him on the way back to the cave “She also seemed surprised” She looked at him with a look he knew meant ‘I told you so.’
Wally groaned “Yeah, you were right” He accepted, “I think she just realized why I had been avoiding our usual banter for the past week.”
Victoria smiled and hummed satisfied "Hey, I am not going to pick you up next Thursday"
Wally looked at her confused “Why not? What do you have to do that day?”
“I’m setting up to hang out at the café a few blocks from your school with Frances” She calmly told him, soon Wally realized she was quickly typing on her phone with her free hand.
“Wait, you’re abandoning me for her?” He called out loudly “How did you suddenly become close?!”
Victoria grinned up at him “You’ll see me at the cave later that day, Frances is nice, and I want to keep in contact with her”
It was good to remember that there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings with Frances anymore, it was a chapter of their story that was finally over, and they were both grateful for it.