Summary: Cisco discovers Hartley, his science rival since elementary school, crying on the bathroom floor after school one afternoon. And despite all the times Hartley's been a jerk, Cisco just can't bring himself to walk away.

Notes: For the Hartmon Bingo Card B1 - Meeting as Kids

This isn't exactly their first meeting - they've vaguely known each other since elementary - but this is the first time they've really interacted outside of class in any real sense. And Hartley's about to get a crash course in the Ramon family. (And honestly 15-year-olds are definitely still kids.)

Warnings: Panic attacks, implied/referenced homophobia

Can't Just Walk Away

Hartley Rathaway was the biggest jerk at school.

Well, okay, so Barry would say that Tony Woodward was the biggest jerk at school and he'd be right because Tony was a bully who'd as soon punch Cisco as look at him, but Hartley was up there.

Hartley was a know-it-all and a perfectionist and never had a kind word for Cisco's t-shirts. Judgy jerk. They'd been science rivals since the second grade when Hartley's science fair project on parallel circuits beat out Cisco's potato battery. (Cisco had tried to be a graceful second place winner, but Hartley was super smug about being first place and a rivalry was born.)

So... Hartley was kind of the last person Cisco expected to find crying in the bathroom after school. But there he was, sobbing on the floor between two of the sinks, back against the wall and legs pulled up to his chest. Face so blotchy red that Cisco almost didn't recognize him, if not for the glasses.

They knew each other, but not... they were barely acquaintances, even taking their in class rivalry into account. Definitely no where near friends. And, if Cisco were being honest, he couldn't think of anyone who did qualify as Hartley's friend. The dude was ridiculously standoffish.

Letting the bathroom door shut very quietly, Cisco stood out in the hallway and contemplated seeking out a different bathroom. He did need to pee and, well... he probably shouldn't disturb Hartley. Just pretend he never saw the guy crying. Hartley clearly didn't seem to notice Cisco open and shut the door.

He'd be fine, right? Right.

Cisco went to the second nearest bathroom, took care of business, and then went to the sinks to wash his hands and... could not get the image of Hartley sobbing on the bathroom floor out of his head.

Checking his watch, Cisco grimaced. He needed to start heading home now or his parents would worry. They already didn't like him walking home late alone from robotics club, his dad would not be pleased for Cisco to show up even later than normal.

Well... hopeful they'd be okay with being told a literal sob story, because Cisco just couldn't let it go. He headed back to the first bathroom and tentatively poked his head back inside.

No longer sobbing, Hartley was sniffling and breathing hard, like he was still in that panicky mode where sobbing could very easily be triggered again at any moment.

For a moment, Cisco had his own very panicked thought that he had no idea what he was doing. None. Whatsoever.

One deep breath later, Cisco walked into the bathroom and very quietly went to kneel down in front of Hartley.

"This is probably a stupid question, but bear with me here," Cisco told him. "Are you okay?"

Hartley shook his head. A clear no without having to say the words.

"Can I call someone for you? Someone who can come pick you up maybe?"

This got another negative head shake and a panicked noise. That reaction was extremely worrisome.

"Hartley, can you talk right now?" Because Cisco was starting to suspect that Hartley was having such a bad panic attack that he'd gone nonverbal.

"I..." Hartley swallowed and then shook his head again. "Sorry," he managed after a moment.

"You've got nothing to apologize for." About this anyway. Cisco wasn't going to bring up Hartley being a twerp in their shared science classes over the years right now. "However, the floor in here is really gross. Can I help you get up? The school's basically empty now, so we could maybe go sit on the front steps. The fresh air might help some." As Cisco babbled, he held out his hands to Hartley and watched in relief as, hesitantly, Hartley latched on.

Cisco stood and gently helped Hartley hoist himself to his feet. Then Hartley grimaced and massaged one of his legs. It probably went to sleep in that uncomfortable position and now had a pins and needles sensation all over. That always sucked.

Keeping up a steady babble, Cisco led the way outside and then sat back down on the front steps while Hartley sort of collapsed in on himself.

"I... I can't go home," Hartley finally said. "I c-can't."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Cisco paused, then added, "it's cool if you can't talk about it or aren't comfortable talking about it."

Hartley buried his face against his knees. "I kissed Axel. His foster parents saw us and told my-my parents and they... they..." Hartley was shaking now. "Axel won't talk to me. Said it was a big joke and to stay the hell away from him and... I th-thought he liked me. But it doesn't matter because my parents... they'll send me to... conversion... therapy..." he was sobbing again. "Always said... no gay sons..."

Cisco made a distressed noise himself because... his parents had made sure to tell Cisco and Dante and Armando that no matter what their orientations were or if any of them decided they weren't actually a boy, they would always be loved no matter what. Hartley didn't have those reassurances. He had the exact opposite.

"Come home with me," Cisco said, the words just popping right out of him.

"What?"

"You said you can't go home. But you can't stay here either. You'd be welcome at my house, though. My parents would be glad to have you stay and we can put the guest futon out." Cisco waited, ready to override any objections Hartley might have with patience, kindness, logic, and persistence.

But Hartley was apparently too tired from all his crying to do anything more than nod affirmatively. So Cisco stood up and offered Hartley a hand up again.

"It's a bit of a walk, but not too bad. We've got two busy streets to cross, though, so we've got to be extra careful of drivers not paying attention to pedestrians," Cisco chattered. And though his throat was sore by the time he got home, he kept up that low level buzz of sound the whole way back. He couldn't recall the words he'd said at all afterwards, just that he kept Hartley calm and grounded and walking alongside him the whole way home.

Cisco very quietly explains what's going on with Hartley once his parents get home. His papa is absolutely incensed at the idea that Hartley's parents would dare be so hurtful to their son.

Mama insists they wait until after dinner to call the Rathaways and she has Cisco go get the futon out with Dante while Armando shows him to Cisco's room where Hartley is going to stay the night.

Or more than just the night, if Cisco's reading between the lines properly.

Dante lets Cisco eavesdrop a little while Dante wrestles with the futon rolled up in the closet. Cisco can't listen in for long, and doesn't get to hear anything of note really save for his mama's most furious tones, because the futon nearly knocks Dante to the ground.

But the two of them get it onto the floor of Cisco's room and they clear space to unroll it while Armando fetched some spare sheets and blankets and pillows. Hartley sits very still, and more than a little dazed, on Cisco's bed. He mostly just mutters apologies every time someone tries to talk to him.

Once the futon is set up, they all do their homework in Cisco's room. Dante bringing his physics because Cisco gets it better than him and isn't even in that class yet and Armando grabbing his spelling lists for the pop quiz he's really sure his teacher was hinting at earlier in the day.

Hartley is even coaxed into focusing on his homework too, though certainly Cisco is distracted. He stares at the same algebra problem for ten minutes without seeing it before finally jotting down the answer and then wrinkling his nose as he back fills in the long-form 'process' he took to arrive at the answer, which looks nothing like what actually happens in his brain but will lose him points if he doesn't add it anyway.

Eventually Cisco's mama shows up in the doorway and tells Hartley that he'll be staying with them for a while, if he's okay with that, and tomorrow Hartley's going to be excused from school to go pack some things at his parents house with Cisco's papa.

Hartley just nods, numbly, and Cisco makes an excuse about getting a glass of water in order to scramble after his mama.

He intended to ask questions, but somehow it turns into him desperately hugging his mama in the kitchen and sniffling softly as a few tears of his own suddenly spring to his eyes.

"I love you very much, Paco," she says as she rubs his back. "I'm so proud of you."

"What's going to happen with Hartley's parents?" Cisco finally asked.

"I don't know. But I'm going to call Joe in the morning to find out what we can do about them. They told Hartley not to come back home this morning." She sighed. "Telling a fifteen-year-old boy not to come home. Some people should not be allowed to be parents."

She ruffled Cisco's long hair. "You did good, bringing him home with you today."

"I couldn't just leave him crying there," Cisco muttered, ducking his head against her shoulder.

He paused a minute as something else occurred to him. "What about Axel? He's the guy that Hartley kissed and his foster parents are homophobes too." No matter how awful Axel's response to Hartley today was, Cisco knew it was 'cause Axel was probably terrified of going home too. And unlike Hartley, Axel really did go home tonight.

"I'm so proud of you," his mama repeated, giving him a tight squeeze before finally letting him go. "I'll make sure to bring Axel up to Joe too. Now, lets get you some water and you can go finish your homework. An early night to bed, I think? Hartley probably needs it, even if you don't."

Cisco yawned and then blushed. "Once my homework's done," he agreed, a touch sheepishly.

That night, right as Cisco was starting to drop off to sleep, he heard Hartley say sleepily, "thank you, Cisco."

Notes: So basically, the story starts with Hartley mid massive panic attack because his parents said he could either agree to go to conversion therapy or he could just not come home. And now that school is out for the day, he's got nowhere to go, not enough money for food for the night, and no phone because his parents took his before booting him out the door with only his school things. And he's scared to ask for help because who would believe him over his parents. (What they've done is super illegal and Joe is going to absolutely relish tearing them apart for child endangerment.) Hartley pretty much spends the rest of the story in shock.

And, yes, they're gonna get Axel away from his foster parents.