Barry/Cal fluff. From what I understand Central City is in Ohio, I'm placing it at a location near Columbia for the distance.

Also, I decided to give Arrow another shot because of how much I ended up love The Flash, and it's worth watching if only for all of the ridiculous excuses Oliver feeds Felicity to get her to test random shit for him. ("If it's an energy drink, why is it in a syringe?" "I ran out of sports bottles.")

I don't own the Flash, OneRepublic, or any of OneRepublic's songs. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

"I had a dream the other night
'Bout how we only get one life
Woke me up right after 2
I stayed awake and stared at you
So I wouldn't lose my mind"

Barry smiled as he listened to Cal singing softly on the other side of the room. They had gotten together only a little over a week ago and so far things in his life were going more smoothly than they had been in a while. He had worked things out with Iris, and the rest of his odd little family had been happy to welcome her fully into the fold as one of their own. He was suddenly struck with a thought.

"You know, we haven't actually gone out on a real date yet."

Cal stopped singing and looked up at him from her computer. "No we haven't. Not that I'm complaining about how we've been spending our evenings," she smiled.

Barry grinned back unembarrassed- he had spent more nights in her bed than his own, and not much sleeping had been accomplished.

"Neither am I, but I'd still like to take you out. As a matter of fact..." he trailed off, pulling out his phone and running a quick search. "It's a Friday night, we get off work in 30 minutes, and OneRepublic is playing in...Pittsburgh in a few hours. Wanna go with me? I can run us there after work in plenty of time."

Cal sat up a little straighter. "Pittsburgh? You want to run us to the next state over to take me to a concert?"

"And dinner, I'm a serious date here! Come on, it's not even 200 miles! That's a quick jog at best."

Cal laughed. "Alright B. Dinner and a concert in Pittsburgh it is."

Dinner was an incredible hole in the wall cafe with homemade croissant buns and hand sliced meats to make the best sandwich Cal had ever eaten.

"Where did you even hear about this place?" she gushed, licking the last swipe of honey mustard from her thumb as they left the cafe.

"An old friend from college is from here, I called him to ask for a good place," Barry smiled, pleased she was enjoying herself. "And we're only a block from the bar, so it was pretty perfect."

"Perfect is right," Cal agreed, looping both hands around his waist as he brought an arm around her shoulders. "I'm having a really great night, Barry. Thank you."

"Anytime, Cal," he smiled, kissing her forehead.

The reached the bar shortly, both having to pull out their IDs to prove their baby faces.

Barry's was inspected and handed back, but Cal's gave the bouncer pause. "What kind of name is Calpurnia?"

Barry's jaw dropped as Cal slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Oh fuck me. The pre-emptive punishment kind, apparently. Look, I'm 25, okay, can I get my license back?"

The bouncer handed it back, laughing, before waving them through.

Barry leaned down to laugh delightedly in her ear as she dragged him by the hand. "Calpurnia! Cal is short for Calpurnia?!"

"Yes, ugh!" Cal nearly growled. "My parents made me promise that I'd never change it. My paternal grandfather died right before I was born, apparently he was obsessed with Roman history. His dying wish was to name me, and I ended up with Calpurnia." She practically spat the name.

"Caesar's third wife, Calpurnia?"

"Yes, Ceasar's third wife, Calpurnia! No one else knows this, B!" she practically hissed at him, whirling to stare him down. Still laughing, he held his hands up in defeat.

"Okay, okay! My lips are sealed!" He leaned down to kiss her quickly. "To be honest I kind of like it."

The glare turned to wary disbelief. "...you do?"

"Yeah!" Barry insisted. "I like that I'm the only one who knows, too. I could call you Nia when it's just us."

To his surprise, her cheeks turned pink. "Oh. No one's ever called me that before. I actually like that."

"Alright then. Nia," he said once more for emphasis, taking her by the hand and pulling her towards the stage. They were far enough back in the crowd to have some space, but close enough to have a clear view of the musicians. The opening band had just closed and the headliner was about to go on. Barry wrapped his arms around Cal from behind, chin resting on the top of her head - he had mentioned that he enjoyed her in flats and hadn't seen her in heels since, which brought a smile to his face. He could sense her own smile as she hugged his arms to her, leaning back against his chest and molding herself to his body. As the band began to play, he leaned down to speak into her ear.

"This is really nice. Thank you."

"What for?" she asked, craning her head back to look at him. "You're the one who took me out."

"For letting me take you out, for being with me. It's nice to be a normal guy out with his girlfriend on a normal date."

"You work hard, Barry, harder than anyone I know. You deserve to take breaks and just be a young adult, no matter how many bad guys you have to catch - that's what you have friends to back you up for."

He smiled, leaning down to kiss her again, then shifted so he was singing softly in her ear.

"Oh oh oh oh
Well this is life in color
Today feels like no other
And the darkest grays
The sun bursts, clouds break"

He saw her eyes drift shut in contentment as his lips gently moved against her ear and the rhythm thrummed through their bodies. He grinned again and held her more tightly against him as they swayed.

It was late when Cal and Barry walked through the front door of her apartment, though they were full of energy from both the concert and the exhilarating trip home.

"I would love to see them again sometime, what a great show," Cal said, heading for her tiny kitchen to put the kettle on. "Tea?"

"Please." Barry had flopped down on her couch, head hanging over one end to watch her. He had grown comfortable here over the past few months over sporadic visits, especially in the last week. "I agree, though the company may have played a pretty large part."

"Still laying on the charm," she grinned. "You sure know how to treat a girl, B. Wanna put a movie or something on?"

"Sure," he said as he stood and walked over to her DVD collection. "Do you mind if I stay the night? Going back to the house I live in with my foster-dad at 25 after a date is kind of weird."

"Of course you can. Popcorn or cookies?"

"Uh, both?"

"Yeah, that was a silly question." She was bringing over the tea and snacks as he put in his chosen film. "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? Good choice. Fun to watch if we're paying attention, easy to ignore if we're so inclined."

Barry laughed as they settled onto the couch. "I didn't choose it for those reasons."

"I would have," she eyed him over her glasses, smirking. He only grinned and shook his head.

"I haven't seen these teacups before, is this china?" he asked, indicating the cups on the table.

"Yeah, they were my great-grandmother's, they were passed down to me when I turned 18. I have full settings for 10 people, but I only ever use the teacups. I don't usually let other people use them but I trust you - it's not like you won't catch them if we drop them."

"That is true. Shh, the movie's starting."

"Oh, excuse me," she snarked, though a grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. He tugged her into his side, wrapping both arms around her and kissing the crown of her head.

"I said shh, Nia."