"I can't do this. We can't do this!"
Oliver remained plastered on STAR labs chair, watching his boyfriend pace up and down the lab fiddling with his hands, his face pale and glinted with sweat. He consistently repeated that very mantra until Oliver practically exploded.
"Would you stop that? You're making me agitated!" Oliver said humourlessly.
Barry immeadiately stopped what he was doing, stopping and spinning on the spot, unsure of what to do next. "Sorry Ollie, I just-"
Oliver stood up from the chair and approached his boyfriend, cupping his face and forcing him to look into his eyes.
Any need for personal space was not acknowledged. "Hey, look at me Bear, it's gonna be okay."
"What if they don't accept us?" His boyfriend breathed shakily.
"They will. They're our friends. Our family. Look at me, Bear. Even if they don't, we'll still have each other, okay? I'm not leaving you. And you're not leaving me, I won't let them do that to us. To you." Oliver soothed the panicking hero.
"I love you." Barry whispered. Oliver repeated the words back so he could lean down and kiss the younger man passionately. His hand moved to Barry's hair, while the other moved to his hip. Barry held Olivers' waist momentarily before pulling away. The green vigilante frowned in protest.
"After we tell them, please." And Oliver obliged.
Minutes later, both Team Flash and Arrow showed up, walking in cautiously.
"You... called?" Felicity said slowly.
Barry looked at Oliver pleadingly. At the desperate look in his lovers' eyes, he hesitantly took charge.
Yes, he was terrified too.
"Um, why don't you all sit down. Barry and I have something we both need to tell you."
They all hesitantly either found a place to sit or lean on, all trying to get comfortable. After a few moments, Oliver continued.
"So, something has changed for me and Barry. And we figured we should tell you guys in order for you to understand out recent behavior. I'm going to tell you straight, and if you don't like it, to be honest with you, we don't care. See, the thing is," Oliver grabbed Barry's hand from beside him, knowing the younger was filled with anxiety, "we're dating. Barry and I, we're dating."
Everything was frozen for a moment. No one dared to breathe. Everyone stared at the two heroes while they stared back. Tension thickened before Felicity, Caitlin and Cisco stood up simutaneously and walked towards each other, still staring dumbfounded at the two men. Then, the two girls reached in their pockets, sighing in defeat and rolling their eyes as they handed Cisco $20 each, while Cisco laughed smugly.
"I knew it baby! Olivarry for the win!" He laughed.
"I seriously thought SnowBarry would work out!" Felicity pouted.
"WestAllen was totally it for me, but this works too." Caitlin shrugged, concealing her inner disappointment.
Barry shuffled on his feet before gesturing to the scene, "W-what is this?"
"Oh, we had a bet about who you would end up with. I said Oliver. Caitlin said Iris and Felicity said Caitlin." Cisco said casually.
"You bet on my relationship life? Without asking me?"
All three looked at each other, then back to Barry, before shrugging and saying, "Yeah."
Barry rolled his eyes in disbelief, before looking at the others. "So..."
Iris stood up, Thea following, "I'm so happy for you two! I'm so proud of you Bear!" Iris hugged him and kissed his cheek, then moved to Oliver, "and you Ollie!"
Thea repeated the motions.
Joe was next, he approached the men with an unreadable face. Barry's eyes widened in slight fear, "Uh- Joe it's-"
He was engulfed in a hug before he would finish his sentence. "I love you, son."
He relaxed in his fathers' arms and smiled, "I love you too."
Joe released the boy before turning to Oliver, "I have a gun. And I'm a cop."
Oliver nodded in understanding.
The rest of the people there nodded at them, congratulating them and supporting them. Barry believed this night couldn't get any better. Oliver squeezed his hand, grabbing his attention and smiling at him. "I'm proud of you, Bear."
"Well then!" Sara shouted. "Let's get this party started!"
Everyone smiled in agreement, and they left to head towards Joe's house.
About 45 minutes of music, champagne, cider and beer later, most of the crowd were drunk. Sara, Felicity and Caitlin were on the dancefloor (aka: the space where the sofas and coffee tables were) with Cisco whipping his hair around like a maniac. Jesse was with her Dad, both slightly tipsy and more lighthearted than usual. The other team members (aside from Oliver, Barry, Joe, Iris and Wally) were at the table playing a poker game, all screaming in celebration or defeat and clapping.
Oliver stood by the kitchen, silently drinking his champagne as he watched his boyfriend laughing along to something Iris was telling him and Wally. He smiled to himself, he hadn't seen Barry smile like that in a long time. The way which showed that for now, there was no weight on his shoulders. Oliver couldn't be happier.
"What makes you think you deserve him?" A low voice said behind him. He jumped slightly and whipped around. He was shocked that he had been so focused on Barry that he hadn't noticed the approaching footsteps of Joe West.
"What?" He asked as politely as possible. Before Joe would repeat himself, a light, innocent laugh echoed across the room. Both men looked in the direction it had came from, finding Barry laughing as Wally made gestures with his hands, seemingly describing an explosion of some kind.
Still looking over, Joe asked once more, "What makes you think you deserve him?"
Oliver watched as Barry laughed, smiling at the pure sight. Barry looked up, obviously feeling eyes on him, and his eyes found Olivers. They held a silent conversation with their eyes, the younger man unknowing of the amount of love Oliver held for him.
If Oliver lost him, he couldn't imagine living.
When he first realised he was in love with Barry, it was in one of those moments. They had teamed up to fight a metahuman, and Barry had been hurt. Oliver had failed to protect him that night and he could still feel his own heart in this throat when Barry wouldn't respond.
The moment his eyes fluttered open, it was like Olivers' World became full of colour again. He had loved Laurel, Sara, and Felicity. But God, Barry was most certiantly his soulmate.
Ever since that day, Oliver had forever sworn to protect Barry in everyway possible, even if it meant losing himself.
He watched as Barry made his way over, holding his bottle of beer (his 13th one, and he wasn't even tipsy, he never really would be) still smiling that amazing smile Oliver could stare at for the rest of his life and nor get bored. The younger man stopped in front of the two men, shuffling slightly and looking questioningly at them, "Everything...okay?" He asked lightly, worried that Joe had played Dad Cop.
Oliver, lost in the mans' green eyes, smiled and said, "I don't think I do."
Barry's eyebrows scrunched in confusion, "What?"
Both boys turned to Joe, and Oliver repeated, "I don't think I do."
Joe smiled at him, his consent silently given. As long as his kid was happy, then he was happy. He chuckled, and walked away, leaving the couple alone.
"What was that about?" Barry turned to Oliver.
Oliver considered answering truthfully, but thought that the conversation would be better kept betweent the cop and the vigilante. He shook his head, "Nothing, Bear. Nothing at all."
The younger man smiled, reaching out a hand for Oliver to take, "Come on, you gotta hear about what Wally and Iris accidently did in STAR labs." He smiled.
Oliver grabbed on to Barrys' hand, warm and gentle shocks tingling through his body. Again, he dazily watched his boyfriend smiling and laughing throughout the story Oliver didn't even bother listening to, he just laughed when Barry did.
Yeah, Oliver decided.
He most definately didn't deserve Barry Allen.