It was approaching the end of summer, which meant back to school shopping. Wally was going to be in fifth grade, and he'd grown like a weed over the break, so that meant all new clothes and shoes. He also had a giant supply list from Central Elementary to buy as well as a new backpack. Barry wanted to get it all out of the way in one day, so he just dragged the family to the mall Saturday afternoon.

They'd just dumped their first haul of clothes off at the car and were heading for the office supply store. The mall was pretty crowded with families having the same idea and tourists making the most of their last couple weeks before school started up again. Wally led the way through Central's largest mall, his head whipping back and forth from all the distracting storefronts and people offering samples from kiosks. Barry could tell that his son was actively making an effort to smother all the excess energy he had from his powers. As long as no one else noticed, they were fine. To onlookers, Wally would just appear to be a normal, hyperactive child.

Hal had his hands in the pockets of his flight jacket and was somehow navigating the crowds with his eyes closed and feet dragging in boredom. He hated shopping almost as much as Barry did, but the Lantern was being a great sport about having to come along. Hal bumped Barry with his elbow and flashed him puppy dog eyes, "Are we almost done?"

"Yes, dear," Barry said patronizingly with a roll of his eyes. "I just want to hit up the sales before they end. Today's the last day."

"We don't need sales," Hal groaned. "What's the difference between the notebooks here now and the ones that'll be here a week from now?"

Barry held up the sale ad with a raised eyebrow, "They're five cents each today, and tomorrow they'll be two dollars. We're getting them today."

Hal's eyes widened marginally in surprise, but he tried to play it off, "Eh. We can afford it."

"We can afford it right now," Barry agreed. "But, neither of us knows what'll happen in a year. I'm planning for the future – mainly when Wally goes to college."

"I thought Ba-" Hal eyes skirted sideways to see if Wally noticed the almost slip-up. "-Uncle Bruce already has a scholarship set up for when Wally graduates."

"I'm not taking Bruce's money," Barry rolled his shoulders uncomfortably at the mention. "We're not that hard up. I'm just being fiscally responsible."

"Ooh, say that again," Hal leaned in and sent a lascivious leer at him before laughing and slinging an arm around Barry's neck. "I'm pretty sure it's already done, babe. Plus, aren't scholarships tax deductable? See, that's helping his company."

"Still not okay with it," Barry made a face.

"Oh, Bruce has done much worse," Hal was laughing wryly. "Have you noticed that we haven't had a mortgage payment taken out for five months?"

Barry stopped and frowned at the revelation, "You're not serious… How did he get our bank information? No, nevemind; ignore that question…"

Hal snickered to himself as Barry sighed helplessly. Bruce was so stubborn that there really wasn't any point in trying to ask him about it. He'd just deny everything.

They were about to head into the office supply store when Hal did a double take at a barbershop a few doors down. He nudged Barry to get his attention and jerked his thumb at the storefront, "Hey, I'm gonna grab a haircut while we're here. You don't need me in there, do ya?"

"No," Barry shook his head. Wally was already eyeing the superhero themed merchandise in the display windows. Since going public with his own alias, Wally always had an eye out for Kid Flash things.

"Alright," Hal gave him a quick kiss and split off in the opposite direction. "I'll catch up with you two in a few minutes."

"See ya," Barry broke out his list and wrangled Wally away from a Green Arrow backpack. A good bit of the list was already crossed off. He grabbed a shopping basket and started loading it up with Wally's pick of notebooks, pencils, pens, markers, ruler, loose leaf paper, folders, book covers, the whole lot. It only took twenty minutes to gather everything they needed and get through the checkout line. Wally was practically buzzing with excitement over his new supplies, and Barry was seriously falling in love with couponing. They left the store loaded down with bags and headed for the main section of the mall.

Barry was just beginning to look around for Hal when he felt a hand start walking up his spine. He turned around, opening his mouth to greet his boyfriend, and froze when he caught sight of him.

Hal was grinning at him and running his fingers through his new haircut a little unsurely, "What do you think?"

Barry continued to gape at him in shock. Hal had gotten the sides of his head shaved close but left the top longer. It was brushed back from his forehead, and his usual bangs were completely gone. Barry's throat went dry. He looked…so hot.

Wally gasped excitedly and started jumping in place even though the bags were weighing him down, "Pop, you look awesome!"

"Yeah?" Hal put his hands on his hips, pleased with Wally's reaction. It really did look good. Hal always exuded a faint air of danger, and the new edgy hairstyle suited him ridiculously well. Barry wanted to touch it; his fingers itched with the need. Hal winked at his stunned expression, and the flirty look slammed Barry's heart into overdrive, "What about you, Bear? You like it?"

Barry was nodding eagerly before he even had the words to answer, "I love it. What made you cut it like that?"

Hal's smile stretched wider, and he stepped forward to take some of the bags from them, "No idea – spur of the moment thing."

"It's definitely one of your better ideas," Barry gave in and ran his hand along Hal's scalp, unable to help the delighted smile on his face. The shaved sides were unexpectedly soft. He kept running his fingers along the fuzz while Hal stood still for him. "I think we need to pawn Wally off on Oliver and Roy for the night, what do you say?"

"So you can show me off around town?" Hal teased him with a devilish smirk.

"Something like that."