Hi there! This originally started out as a one-shot inspired by the AU-prompt listed below but due to positive reviews (and a strange urge to continue this), it kinda turned into a full-fledged story. I hope you'll enjoy it!

A big thank you to everyone who sent in title suggestions! This title was primarly inspired by Jero1331, although I tweaked it a little, thanks! :D

Prompt: "I lost my little brother [nephew] at the grocery store and you found him and now it seems like you two are best friends and he doesn't wanna lose contact with you so it seems like i'll have to get your number - at least your hella cute" au

The Meeting

It was Friday in Central City, late afternoon. The supermarket was brimmed with people, bustling through the aisles, shoving full shopping carts in front of them.

"Aww man, do we really have to, Aunt Iris?" A gap-toothed 8-year-old boy, wearing a baseball hat from the CC Museum of Science, whined, sending a pleading look towards a beautiful young woman who let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, Wally, we have to. I'm really sorry but there are still a couple of things we're gonna need for dinner with your grandpa," she tried to appease her nephew, "I made a list with everything we still need. We shouldn't take too long, I promise."

The boy grimaced upon hearing that reply, shoulders slumping, but compliantly trudging behind his aunt nontheless.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," Iris reassured him, digging the grocery list out of her handbag while pushing the shopping cart forward, "we will be out of here sooner than you think."

"Mh-hm," Wally grunted miserably, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Suddenly, his face lit up: "Y'know, I bet the Flash can do grocery shopping in a matter of seconds! That would be so practical, don't you think?"

Iris couldn't help but grin at Wally's sudden enthusiasm as he talked about his idol, Central City's newfound hero.

"Yeah, I guess that would be practical. Though I doubt that his super speed would be of any help when he has to wait in line to pay for his groceries," she winked at her nephew, then continued to inspect the peppers.

30 minutes later, Iris desperately wished that she could have the Flash's superpower. Thanks to the sheer masses of people, finding everything took twice as long as usual.

"I think we earned ourselves some ice cream," she declared decidedly, while double-checking if all of the needed groceries were in the cart. "How about you choose a flavor?"

No response.

"Wally?" Iris looked up from the grocery list, a feeling of dread emerging. She glanced around anxiously but no sight of the 8-year-old boy. Iris felt herself break out into sweat:

"Wally?!"

While Iris was fretting about the absence of her nephew, the boy in question was engrossed in the magazines near the exit of the supermarket. He had spotted them at an parallel aisle while following his aunt and was immediately drawn to them, completely forgetting about Iris's instruction not to leave her side at any time. Blending out his surroundings, Wally ventured off to the shelf and took in the enormous collection, eyes wide with awe. His glance came to linger on the science magazines. The 8-year-old grabbed the closest one in reach and leafed through it, enraptured. After browsing a couple more magazines, Wally began wondering if he could somehow persuade Iris to maybe buy him one... and came to the sudden realization that he had no clue where his aunt exactly was. Wally only now became aware of how packed the supermarket actually was, his eyes wandering about anxiously, a feeling of panic slowly creeping in.

"Hey, are you okay? Are you lost?" A concerned voice broke Wally out of his terror. The boy looked up, a young man around Aunt Iris's age eyed him worriedly.

"I... I lost my aunt," Wally stammered helplessly, tears forming in his eyes.

A look of sympathy dawned on the man's face. "Hey, don't worry, you'll find your aunt... I'll help you," he said in a soothing voice, trying to calm down the boy in front of him. "I think it will be for the best for us to just stay here. We are close to the checkout counters and the exit, so your aunt is bound to come by here. You'll both find each other in no time!" The man smiled at Wally encouragingly, before he realized that he had never properly introduced himself to the kid: "Oh, and I'm Barry, by the way."

"I'm Wally," the boy replied, flashing a small, tooth-gaped smile towards Barry, clutching the magazine he most recently flipped through closer to his chest.

Barry's green eyes flickered to the magazine, then to the baseball cap on Wally's head, a smile forming on his lips as he found the perfect way to distract the kid from his despair: "So, Wally, you like science?..."

In the meantime, Iris was running around the supermarket frantically, asking everyone who crossed her path if they had seen her 8-year-old nephew... But no one answered affirmatively (if they answered at all – people were particularly grumpy as they were rushing through the store). After another curt, unhelpful response, Iris came to a halt, people shoving past her. Distraught, she made the decision to head for the exit, to maybe ask one of the cashiers to call out for Wally... A nervous wreck, Iris forcefully pushed the cart ahead until she caught a glimpse of a familiar looking baseball cap -

"Wally?!"

The boy's face brightened instantaneously at the familiar voice, eyes searching for hers immediately.

"Aunt Iris!" He cried, running into his aunt's arms, hugging her tightly.

"I have been worried sick about you!" Iris muttered into the kid's t-shirt, returning the embrace equally strongly.

"I'm sorry, I got distracted and then I lost you," Wally apologized meekly, eyes glued to the floor and shoulders slumped in shame.

"Well, luckily we found each other again," Iris soothed her nephew, whose guilty conscience was weighing on him, "But promise me to never, ever do that again. I'm too young to suffer from a heart attack, okay?"

Wally gave her a faint smile, nodding eagerly. He nervously rolled a battered issue of a science magazine in his hands. "It was Barry's idea to wait here at the exit for you; he said that you would just have to come by!" The boy exclaimed, pointing towards a tall man just a few feet away from them.

Iris examined said 'Barry' closely; he appeared to be around her age, was tall and lanky, had brunette hair and pretty green eyes and was currently blushing under her glance – he was actually pretty damn cute.

"Barry Allen," he stammered nervously, holding out his hand in greeting.

"Iris West," Iris introduced herself, smiling brightly while shaking his hand, happy to have found her nephew again, "thank you for keeping an eye on Wally."

"It was nothing, really," he smiled back, a dazed look on his face.

"Guess what! Barry works at the CCPD!" Wally chimed in excitedly, "He's a police scientist!"

"Oh, really?" Iris asked surprised, nose scrunched up in thought. Then her face lit up in recognition: "Ooh, you are that CSI who is always late, right?"

Barry flushed bright red at that comment, a puzzled look on his face.

"My dad is Detective West," Iris explained, amused by his reaction.

"Oh," the CSI spluttered, dumbfounded, face still glowing crimson.

"Barry said that he could show me around his lab sometime!" Wally threw in, eyes shining with exhilaration.

"If your aunt is okay with that," the young man added, smiling nervously.

Iris grinned appreciatively: "Well, we have two more weeks to kill before school vacation is over and I'm certain Wally would enjoy it tremendously, so... as long as you're up to it, sure," her grin widened as Wally beamed at her, obviously happy with her response.

"Let's exchange phone numbers so we can arrange a date!" Iris proposed. "For the lab tour, I mean," she clarified with a chuckle when she saw the baffled expression on Barry's face.

"Oh, yeah, sure," he stuttered – was it just her or was he looking kind of disheartened? – fumbling for his cellphone.

They quickly swapped their cell numbers and – after Iris assured Wally that she would buy him the already-crumpled magazine – said their good-byes (not before Iris casted a disbelieving look at Barry's incredibly full shopping cart – how could he be that gangly and eat like a horde of 5-year-olds?!).

Barry had just managed to carry all of his grocery bags home safely (a rather impressive feat considering the amount of food he had bought) and was just putting milk, cheese and the like in his refrigerator, when he received a text message. He froze when he read who had sent it. The text was from Iris:

"Hey Barry! I definitely wouldn't mind arranging another not-lab-related date... if you're up to it ;) Iris"

Barry was literally buzzing with excitement while hastily typing his response.

When Iris sat down in front of her laptop to check for new Flash sightings for her blog the next day, her in-box was filled with a lot of messages. The Flash had apparently been busy dealing out little pleasantries, everything from retrieving your typical cat in the tree or other lost pets to their rightful owner to painting fences or house walls. Several eye witnesses (or rather ear witnesses, considering that Central City's personal superhero moved so fast that most people could barely see him) had reported that the usual 'whoosh' sound that was associated with the Scarlet Speedster had also been accompanied by cheerful whistling.

"Seems like I wasn't the only one who was having a great day yesterday," Iris thought smiling, already looking forward to the lab tour she would go along with Wally tomorrow (not to mention the date she was going to go on with the adorable nerdy Barry the day after).

Fin.

So, I hope you liked it :) I hope I did little!Wally justice (I only know him from the Young Justice Series and JLA cartoon and a couple appearances in Nightwing comics and the like, so I don't really know him as a cute little kid - but he was described as having his head in the clouds as a child, right?).

As always, reviews are very much appreciated ;)