Maybe this isn't as fake as we think(Birdflash)

To tell the truth

Dick had known Wally half his life. It often felt even longer, so he was pretty sure when he was right in saying Wally was moping.

Not to dis Wally, he put up a pretty good front. Laughs, smiles, jokes- he went the whole nine yards, but it was the little things like the way his smile fell when he thought no one was looking and never quite reached his eyes in the first place. But what really gave it away was the fact that Wally couldn't even look at Mark.

Which is of course, how Dick realized Wally probably knew.

Dick definitely wasn't feeling the aster.

He hadn't even thought to worry about his ex. Mark tended to stick out, yeah, but they generally ran with different crowds and Dick had kind of hoped Mark would stay away. He still wasn't sure why Mark hadn't.

As it was, Dick had started talking to Mark and it had all just come back. How well they clicked, how fun it was to push himself and banter without a history, years of sorrow, or the fate of the world in the way, to be a goddamn teenager and... and to forget a different red head.

That was the heart of it wasn't it? Mark had been a distraction in so many ways. A distraction so no one questioned him being a play boys son. A distraction from Dick's crush on his actual best friend. A distraction from the fate of the world that had been on Dick's shoulders since he first put on the Robin costume.

They hadn't been at the pool that long, maybe two hours, when Dick detached from Mark (With great difficulty and, to Dick's dismay, a promise to play chicken again later.) and pulled Wally aside. It spoke volumes that Wally's brow furrowed in irritation before smoothing out again.

"We can probably leave now. I don't usually stick around anywhere too often, so nobody would think twice about it."

Wally nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

The walk back was silent and conspicuously lacking in any form of touch. Mentally, Dick tried to prepare to say something. Anything. But he was coming up empty handed. His mind was just too cluttered. He needed a minute to focus, meditate, breath- something.

When they finally got back Dick had barely closed the door when Wally asked, "Do you want the shower first?"

Dick blinked, acknowledging the evasion mutely, then quickly, "Yeah. Thanks man."

And that was it. Wally nodded a few times and busied himself with something in his suitcase while Dick grabbed his stuff and entered the bathroom. Not like he had more important things to do or anything.

Over the course of his Bat training, Dick had learned how to deal with frustration. It was part of the package. He'd had to learn how to do things like clearing his mind, focusing, resisting telepaths, shoving emotions so deep down even Batman would never find them- not that that part was hard, and dealing with frustration. Normal mental balancing skills.

He tried to use a few of those now, in the safety of the bathroom, to detach himself from the situation enough to figure out what was going on and what he could do about it.

Using a few breathing techniques and some scalding hot water, Dick managed to clamp down his anxiety. Once that was done, he tried to think about this rationally- like a detective.

Why was Wally upset? Because he met Dick's ex. Except, Wally and him weren't actually dating so why would Dick's ex be a problem? Maybe Wally felt like Dick had lied to him. Hadn't he though? Had Dick been lying by omission about... everything? Was he becoming like-

Dick shook his head hard as if to dislodge that thought. He loved his adoptive father and he knew Bruce did his best, but Dick couldn't stand the thought of being like Bruce in that particular way. Batman's lies had threatened to rip apart the dynamic duo as well as their little family too many times.