Halbarry: the Origin

5: The Wedding

Six months later, Hal had figured out what the annoying feeling in his stomach was.
Turns out, it actually was jealousy. The strange thing was, Hal wasn't jealous of Barry. For the first two months, Hal had decided to play it off as anger at Barry's ability to stick with one woman for so long. It was reasonable enough, and also made sense as Hal wouldn't get to see Barry as much once they were married. Hal had /hoped/ he was only wanting to keep his best friend nearby.
Hal soon realised he was dead wrong.
See, it was during a rather eventful battle in which Hal came very close to dying that he realised the true meaning of his feelings. When he'd seen that alien's sucking face coming toward him as he lay defenceless on the ground, Hal had seen his life flash before his eyes.
It wasn't the memories of his childhood and all the mistakes of his youth and adulthood that brought on this majestic epiphany. No, it was the shocking amount of memories that concentrated on speedster Barry Allen. In a half a second, Hal realised the number of times he had been saved by the Flash, and by Barry. Barry never grew angry at Hal, even when the entire rest of the League was. Barry was always there to help.
And so he helped again. Hal did not die from an alien attack that day, as Barry had scooped him up and brought him to safety before such an event could occur.
It wasn't so much Hal's sudden /profound/ feelings for a man as it was that the feelings were for Barry. Hal had known since he was small that he was bisexual. It was just another part of him. A part he had not shared with the Scarlet Speedster or the rest of the Justice League. Hal just didn't see the importance of it.
Hal had never expected to fall for his best friend. Sure, the guy was hot.
And funny.
And extremely patient.
And kind.
And caring.
And trustworthy.
So what? They were friends and they would stay that way.
But after Hal's near death experience with the alien, he found himself specifically searching the news for Barry. He always sat next to him at JL meetings. He even went to Central City more often, all to have the slimmest chance of seeing his best friend turned crush.
Barry had no idea, of course. He was completely oblivious.
Hal noticed he was frowning and shook his head. He couldn't do that. The wedding was about to start, and Barry needed him to be happy.
The wedding.
Now that Barry was standing next to Hal on the alter, Hal wished more than ever that it were the two of them about to be wed and not Barry and Iris.
Screw that, Hal wanted to fuck Barry right there in front of God and everybody.
Literally.
But, he couldn't. He couldn't even tell Barry how he felt.

"I saw the way you were looking at him," Bruce said. He had come out of nowhere, and nearly scared the shit out of Hal. Nearly.
"The way I was looking at who?" Hal responded, keeping his gaze on all the happy couples dancing on the dance floor. Barry did love to dance.
"Don't play coy, Jordan, you're still looking at him. Why don't you tell him you're in love with him?"
Hal whirled around to find the Batman smirking at him. Hal was not pleased. "Look, buddy, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. Unless you're here for a good reason like, I don't know, your friend is getting married, I suggest you get the fuck out of here right now before I break your face."
Bruce glared at Hal for a second before launching into an extremely fast-paced rant. "You're sweating, your heart rate is elevated, and you haven't taken your eyes off of Barry since you got here. Every time you sit near each other, your pupils dilate and you start tapping your fingers on your knee. To top it all off, you didn't bring a date to a wedding."
"Speaking of dates, where'd your floosy go, Bruce? Freshening up?"
"Hal, listen to me. You don't have a date. You. I know what's going on and I just wanted to say you have to tell him. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't."
Hal suddenly dropped his gaze. He knew Bruce was right. "You act like you're facing the same problem."
"You'd be surprised."
"Really?"
"Really."
Hal raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like the Bruce Wayne I know."
"That's because you don't know the real Bruce Wayne. You know the one you see on the E! network."
With that, Bruce walked away to find his date. As much as Hal hated to admit it, Bruce was right. For once. Hal needed to tell Barry how he felt, even though it was already too late. At the very least, he needed to tell him he was bisexual.