Barry roused to the sound of deep, gentle laughter vibrating back through his chest. He had his arms wrapped tightly around someone, and that was a nice change; Barry didn't remember the last time he'd woken up with someone in his arms. Whoever it was had a powerful frame, thin but muscled with strong hands that gripped Barry's arms that were holding close to the other man's waist.
Len… Barry thought with a groggy sigh of pleasure, snuggling his nose deeper into the short fuzz of hair at the back of Len's head. He breathed in and Len smelled like clean skin with the faint musky aftereffect of sex. Oh that was a lovely scent, and the feel of Len in his arms so comfortable, the line of Barry's chest flush to Len's back, their hips connected, and "Mmm…" he hummed aloud, if Barry pressed forward just slightly he could feel the curve of Len's ass against his—
"Barry…" Len chuckled again, his voice soft in the quiet room, amused and chiding. "Come on, kid…we've been out for almost an hour, and your stomach woke me up about five minutes ago. I think I better feed you before we make any plans to go again."
As if on cue, Barry's stomach gave a fresh growl, and he felt that awful, nauseous, room tilting sensation that was really unfair to experience when you were already lying down. No wonder he'd fallen asleep. He needed calories pronto.
Barry blinked to wake himself more fully, waiting for the room to focus, and saw the smooth line of Len's jaw first, as he continued to cling to the other man, holding him tight against him. He was so cozy and warm beneath the comforter with Len like this, on his bed, in his room, after all the wicked things they'd done to each other. Barry was particularly proud of all the times he'd rendered Len speechless.
He hummed again and snuggled Len to him. "This is the best way to wake up…ever. Except for the starving part. Urg…you may need to carry me downstairs."
Len laughed a little more loudly this time. Feeling the sensation while hearing its pleasant rumble felt so good. Barry kissed the back of Len's neck then allowed Len to turn over, shifting in his arms until he faced Barry. Barry was overwhelmed with how young Len could look sometimes—like, seriously, he couldn't actually be as old as Barry knew him to be. Len's blue eyes were half-lidded and looked at Barry with the same tender affection Barry was feeling.
In an instant Barry felt so…loved, he found himself grinning madly like he'd never stop. He had waited so long for someone to look at him like this.
Len shifted closer, and Barry reached a hand to his cheek, around the curve of his ear, and pulled him toward him until their lips met. It was lazy and slow, just their mouths touching, and then gently prodding tongues, and oh how Barry wanted to pull Len against him and kiss like this for hours, touching every spare inch of skin along Len's body…but he really needed to eat something, and he probably had some sort of responsibilities to attend to today. He honestly couldn't remember. He'd only really cared about the sparring when he woke up that morning.
His stomach gave another churning, loud grumble, and Barry groaned out of their embrace, rolling onto his back away from Len so he could steady himself. He had some power bars for emergencies in his dresser. He pointed at it mostly ineffectually, at first still caught under the covers, and then managed to free it and point again.
"Can you...grab one of the bars from my top drawer to tide me over?" he asked Len, feeling slightly embarrassed by the whole thing, but Len was still smiling at him, and that made everything better. Barry glanced sideways at him. "Then we can totally have real lunch, I promise."
A snort left Len as he shook his head in mild exasperation, and then hauled himself up, tossing the covers aside and crossing Barry's room to the taller dresser against the wall. It was such a nice sight to witness, the swagger of Len's steps across Barry's bedroom—naked.
He had the most perfectly chiseled back, dusted with scars but otherwise so flawless. He may as well have been sculpted by an artist, Barry decided. He might have hunger-brain, but he definitely liked the idea of hoarding away naughty photographs of Len—not even naughty necessarily, just tasteful nudes of Len's lean form lounging stretched out across a bed or any surface really for him to ogle whenever they were apart.
Shit, he really was hungry…
Barry managed to tear his eyes from Len's ass just as the other man turned around to toss a power bar at him. He easily caught it and then looked up gratefully—grateful for the snack and the new view with Len facing him. Because wow, his hips had the most defined grooves Barry had ever seen on a live person, so unfairly sexy, especially considering what they pointed to. Barry shifted on the bed at the sight, which of course caused Len to smirk.
He downed the power bar at Flash speed, mostly to get it over with; they did not taste good, but were solely for those moments when he didn't have time to eat his fair share and needed a boost. He grimaced as he finished it and tossed the wrapper onto his nightstand, before pulling himself from the bed feeling at least less like he might pass out though still starved.
"Lunch," Barry said, looking around the room for their clothes, before remembering that they had been left in the bathroom, and really, Barry didn't mind; he didn't want to get back into dirty clothes. He doubted Len did either. "You can borrow some of my clothes if you want?" he said as he glanced back at Len, who was moving toward him from across the room slowly but deliberate.
When they met at the side of the bed, Len didn't pause but slid his arms around Barry's neck and pulled him in for a slow, sensual kiss. It was nice, heated, but also comfortable, leaving Barry feeling satiated even without the promise to go further. They could come back to that soon enough—very soon, Barry hoped.
Most of him was just happy he had woken up to find Len still with him.
Len tried to pull away, but Barry hung on and encircled Len's waist with his arms as he stole another kiss. He just wanted one more—for the road, he thought with an internal giggle—but as Len laughed lightly against his lips and kissed back gladly, he snuck a hand up into Barry's hair, grasped several of the strands, and tugged.
Barry moaned out of the kiss. He'd forgotten about that. He'd never used to like hair pulling, he didn't think he had, but the sensitive nerves of his changed body seemed to react differently to all sorts of stimuli. They'd have to experiment with that. Definitely.
To counter, Barry reached down and grabbed a handful of Len's ass. Len moaned in kind. Then Barry's stomach grumbled again and they both laughed.
"Later," Len said as he broke from their embrace. "And yes, please, I'll take whatever clothes you can spare, unless you'd prefer I walk around like this." He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Barry licked his lips as he took in one last good look of Leonard Snart naked in his bedroom. "Don't tempt me, because if this wasn't Joe's house, the answer would always be yes."
He turned for his closet to choose a few things as Len laughed, something comfortable preferably since it was the weekend. He grabbed another T-shirt for himself, but chose a long-sleeved black shirt for Len. He slipped on a pair of jeans, but since he was more slender of build and had longer legs, Len didn't think his jeans would fit him, so Barry handed him an extra pair of grey S.T.A.R. Labs sweatpants instead. The sweats did hug the curves of Len's ass nicely, and their slight difference in build meant that Barry's black shirt stretched tightly over Len's chest.
"Let's see what actual food we have in the house," Barry said as he threw open his door, kind of loving this lazy day feel, especially since they had both been plenty productive earlier.
"I'll throw our dirty clothes in the wash. Wouldn't want to leave it all strewn over the bathroom floor, now would we?" Len offered, turning toward the bathroom instead of the stairs.
Barry stared after him. "Sure—I mean, right!" He was a little thrown by this domestic sense of responsibility. "The washer and drier are right—"
"Beside the bathroom. I saw them." Len waved a dismissive hand over his shoulder.
Barry felt a renewed sense of love for the man as he watched Len disappear into the bathroom. It all just felt so normal, so comfortable, so much like being…boyfriends, Barry supposed, like an average dating couple, not like The Flash and Captain Cold, just…Barry and Len, going about a mundane day in their lives. There was something so strangely freeing about that.
Humming pleasantly to himself, Barry bounded down the stairs, trying to think of what else they could do to spend the rest of their Saturday, assuming Len didn't need to leave for any reason, and Barry was pretty sure he didn't remember having any—
"Hey, Barr, back from the labs already?"
Barry nearly tripped on the last step and face planted into the wall. He gripped the end of the banister as he spun to see Joe going through mail at the table behind the sofa. "Joe!" he squeaked. "I…yes. I am. Hi. You're back."
Joe chuckled, apparently amused at Barry's familiar rambling. "You forgot, didn't you? I only had to run to the station for a bit. Iris and Eddie are coming over for lunch and to watch the game. I need to change and get your help in the kitchen. I was just about to call and see if you'd finished up yet and were on your way home."
"Tacos," Barry said as he remembered Joe mentioning something about that last night, when he was exhausted and frazzled and had eventually tumbled into bed—and then locked his door for other activities before bed, he tried so hard not to remind himself. The information had fallen right out of his head, but as it came back to him now, he realized the dangerous situation developing. "Right!" he said more brightly, pulling on a smile, still hovering at the base of the stairs so he could wave Len away as soon as he caught sight of him. "You need my mad chopping skills."
"Good thing I didn't ask you to pick up anything." Joe shook his head and tossed the rest of the mail on the table to worry about later. "Anything come up at the labs? You seem distracted. Or just hungry?"
Oh, something definitely came up at the labs, Barry thought deviously, but refrained from actually smirking. Len would be down soon; he had to think fast. "I'm starving actually. I may need to kill a bag of chips before lunch. But I'm fine, nothing…nothing bad happened at the labs, just a busy morning, you know. Let me just, uhh…" he edged back up the stairs, hoping to intercept Len, maybe flash him out of the house before anyone noticed, "grab my phone! Yes, that I left upstairs, and I'll…"
"Okay, Scarlet, all set," Len called down the stairs before his appearance as he uncaringly came down to join Barry, then stopped short halfway as he realized Barry was standing there with wide pleading eyes. "Why are you still at the bottom of the…" he trailed as his gaze darted over the banister to where Joe stood looking up at him.
"Snart," Joe said with the usual touch of venom in his greeting, as well as mild surprise as he glanced to Barry and then back up at Len.
"Detective," Len greeted back, more slowly descending the remaining steps until he was parallel with Barry, though they lingered together on the landing. Len looked at Joe and back at Barry with a grimace. "We…"
"If that's a lie you're about to spout, you can save it," Joe cut Len off, a sigh in his voice and defeated sort of slump to his shoulders.
Barry didn't know what to say to fix this insanely awkward moment, but it wasn't as if Joe didn't know about Barry's feelings for Len. Barry had actually made it plain to Joe a couple of times over the past few weeks that yes, he really did intend to pursue Len, and was it really so bad when it was clear now that they could all work together toward the same very legal goals?
Actually having Len in the house, wearing Barry's clothes, coming down from upstairs where there was no doubt about what had gone on between them was vastly different, however, from grudgingly telling Barry that the only thing he wanted was for him to be happy.
But that was still a very true sentiment, Barry knew, especially when Joe's expression softened and he looked at Len a little more steadily.
"So...would you like to stay for lunch?" he asked without another moment's hesitation. "I can never guarantee enough food with Barry around, but I think we can manage."
Barry could have hugged Joe just then. He would later, just envelop his father when he least expected it, because giving even mild approval of your adopted son dating a former criminal was definitely Father of the Year material. Barry looked to Len expectantly, hopefully, because he really didn't want to have to part ways just yet, and this was a huge gesture on Joe's part.
Len looked as startled as he had when he first noticed Joe downstairs and took an extra second to recover. He met Barry's hopeful gaze though and smiled before turning back to Joe. "If you're offering…I'd love to. Need any extra hands in the kitchen?"
"Barry can put you to work," Joe nodded, a reluctant but inevitable smile on his face, because well, Barry was beaming now, and Barry knew firsthand that his father could not resist seeing him happy. Len couldn't either. "I hope you're a Diamonds fan," Joe added as he moved toward the stairs, and Barry pulled Len along with him away from the landing so they could let Joe up past them to go change out of his work clothes. "We'll be watching the game."
"Not to worry, Detective, I'm a big supporter of all our local teams," Len said before shrugging and offering a sly grin, "though to be honest, I'm hoping the Cubs take this one."
Joe groaned, but he was smiling almost easily now—far easier than Barry would have expected. "Now you're just trying to upset me," he said as he headed up the stairs. "Get things started in the kitchen, will ya, Barr? I'll be right back down."
"Sure thing, Joe!" Barry called after him. He looked to Len again and could almost feel his cheeks starting to hurt with how widely he was smiling. "Sorry, I forgot we were having Iris and Eddie over for the game. I've had a lot on my mind lately."
Len chuckled at him in bemusement. "I'll bet."
They headed toward the kitchen, and Barry couldn't deny that he loved the way Len so naturally touched a hand to his back as they moved through the house, just a light, tender connection. It made Barry shiver.
Barry got the supplies they'd need from the fridge and told Len to start browning the hamburger while he moved the vegetables to the kitchen table. He liked to have extra space to set up the cutting board, so he was out of range of slicing anyone's fingers while he sped through dicing everything. He was done with all of the various vegetables neatly separated into bowls before Len had even finished breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon.
He looked so adorably domestic at the stove in Barry's shirt and sweatpants, his feet bare, swaying slightly as if there was a song in his head. Barry snuck up behind him and kissed the back of his neck, just a small passing peck so as not to be in any compromising position when Joe returned, and reached over to turn on the radio. Len smirked over at him.
I'm tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don't know where to go from here
Barry hadn't heard this song in ages, but as the familiar chorus played, he hummed along.
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you
He definitely caught Len humming with him as he pulled the tortillas and taco shells out, and grabbed a block of cheese for the grater. Then there was laughter and voices at the door as Iris and Eddie let themselves in. Barry decided he'd just enjoy this when Len raised an eyebrow at him for a cue as to how to react. No one had been on the receiving end of Barry's equal gushing and complaining about Len as much as those two; they'd play things—Barry snickered to himself—cool.
"We're in the kitchen!" Barry called out.
He sped through grating the cheese and had that in a bowl on the table with the vegetables by the time Iris and Eddie came through the door carrying a couple of six packs.
"Oh!" Iris exclaimed when she saw Len at the stove, surprise and then a mischievous twinkle sparkling in her eyes as she glanced at Barry. "Snart. We didn't know you'd be joining us."
"Hello again." Len looked over his shoulder with a cordial smile. "There was a change of plans. I hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," Iris said, moving swiftly for the fridge to deposit the beer, and leaving Eddie to stand a little awkwardly in the doorway.
"Does Joe know about this?" Eddie said bluntly, but seemed to realize his lack of tact when Iris glared at him. "I just mean—"
"He's upstairs changing," Barry saved his friend, unable to banish the smile from his face. "He invited Len."
Eddie blanched a moment, knowing only too well how difficult it was to earn the approval of Joe West, though this was a slightly different situation. He didn't show any sign of jealousy though that Len had managed to wrangle a spot at family dinner in a shorter span than he had, just fell into a genuine smile for Barry's sake. "That's fantastic. Diamonds or Cubs fan?"
"Cubs," Len said simply.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Iris snickered, automatically moving to take over her usual job of heating the shells and tortillas, and placing an unabashed hand on Len's shoulder as she moved past him. "Eddie's a Cubs fan too."
"You don't say," Len stirred the meat a moment more, then turned to face the kitchen. He crossed his arms and glanced from Barry at the table to Iris prepping the microwave. "Joe must be so disappointed in you both."
"For bringing blasphemers into this house?" Joe called as he entered briskly, dressed casually now with his black beanie pulled over his head. Everyone laughed at the teasing tone in Joe's voice. He crossed to snatch one of his own cold beers from the fridge and turned with a ready smile. "Nah, not too bad. But you better not be a Rangers fan too. I don't think I could handle that."
"Oh no," Len held up his hands, "when it comes to hockey, I am solely devoted to my home town."
Joe nodded. "We'll redeem you yet, Snart. Beer?"
"Thanks."
Joe handed his own off to Eddie, got one for Len, then went back for one for himself and Iris. Barry didn't even feel left out this time. He'd never imagined the day would turn out like this when he'd first headed off to the labs to spar with Len.
He reached back into the pantry, grabbed up a fresh bag of tortilla chips, and shoveled a few into his mouth while the kitchen continued to bustle with activity as everyone moved around to finish helping get everything laid out on the table. They'd make their tacos in the kitchen but eat out on the sofa to watch the game. Eddie even helped Len track down the seasoning for the meat, and they started talking Cubs players. Barry hadn't known the Cubs were Len's favorite team, but he'd known for some time that it was Eddie's. Joe never let him live it down. Now at least he had some backup.
Barry admired the line of Len's body as he stood there at the stove, but it was far more than just lust that stirred in him whenever he looked at Len. He hummed to himself, having almost forgotten that the radio was still on as the song faded out.
'Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose
And it's you and me and all of the people
And I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off of you
"Barry," Iris whispered in passing, pointing at Len and Eddie, "are those your clothes? Because that is not what he was wearing when we saw him at Jitters this morning."
Barry felt himself blush, and tried to laugh it off as he scratched the back of his head. "Let's just say it's a good thing we came downstairs when we did, or this could have been a whole lot more awkward."
Iris snorted and smacked him playfully in the chest.
When Joe caught Barry a bit later, after they'd eaten and were up for the seventh inning stretch, his aside was more subdued, but there was no malice in his eyes when he said, "Just be careful, Barry."
Barry expected that much from Joe, and that was fine. He'd be disappointed if either of his fathers ever stopped worrying about him. So he just reassured Joe, "I know," even if he doubted he'd ever be able to be anything but head over heels and in too deep when it came to Leonard Snart.
Joe cast an unreadable glance at Len on the sofa beside Iris, laughing at something Eddie had said. There had always been a slight tension whenever Barry saw them around Len these past few weeks, not that there had been any lengthy encounters, but suddenly things didn't seem so strange. Maybe Iris and Eddie had just been waiting for Len to get his head out of his ass before they passed approval. And Len, well…relaxed like this, unguarded, he always reminded Barry of the sweet man he'd met who for a time hadn't even known his name.
"As long as you're happy, Barr," Joe said, squeezing his shoulder.
All Barry could do was smile. Because he really, really was.
There was nothing quite as surreal as having a family afternoon. Family dinners, a gathering to watch the game, good times and laughter—these were things Len had only ever known with his sister and Mick, and even then there was always an edge to everything, nothing as homespun normal as the West household. But while it had felt strange initially, Len had been able to relax rather quickly, if only because Barry looked so happy to have him there.
It became a regular thing after that—any time Barry had family dinner with Joe and Iris, since Eddie was always invited along, so was Len. He made a point never to miss it.
Eventually, there were nights that Iris dubbed 'extended family dinners', because all of Team ColdFlash was invited—Len had finally accepted that the name was never going away—even including Professor Stein and his wife. There wasn't quite enough room in the West house for everyone, so it often ended up being hosted at Stein's, or just in the labs. It wasn't often everyone could get together, but that's why they made the effort. Saving the city, and maybe the world on occasion, meant they deserved a break whenever they could get it.
If he was being honest, Len felt more comfortable at S.T.A.R. Labs, sitting on one of the tables having a heated discussion with Cisco, who lounged back in one of the roller chairs with his arms crossed defiantly, than he could ever imagine feeling tinkering alone with his cold gun in a safe house.
"What are you trying to convince me of here, kid?" Len said, smirking amusedly. "Because I think most true Trekkie's would agree that DeForest Kelley was a national treasure."
"I'm not saying he wasn't," Cisco defended, "I'm just saying you can't dismiss how awesome Karl Urban is in the role. He channeled Kelley with an even more expressive face for just how done he was with all of Kirk's shit. He totally reinvigorated my love for Bones!"
"For Leonard McCoy," Len reiterated, which he always had to do whenever Cisco said Bones, because it was a point of pride now.
"Doctor McCoy, but if you want me to start calling you Leonard, I totally will," Cisco threatened.
Len glowered at him.
"Well, Urban is nicer to look at," Lisa said as she breezed into the room helping Caitlin with—something. Len wasn't exactly sure what they were doing because he'd gotten caught up in his discussion with Cisco.
Cisco gestured after Lisa as if to say, see? Then scowled and pulled his arm back. "Wait, that's not the point I was trying to make…"
Lisa snickered.
"He is though," Len had to agree, which only made Cisco scowl harder, even though it technically gave point to his side of the argument. "But Kelley…that beard and cream jumpsuit pretty much trumps everything."
"Urg," Cisco groaned. "Don't talk to me about The Motion Picture, okay, once was enough to watch a slow ten minute pan of The Enterprise. I love The Enterprise, I have scale models and plush toys of The Enterprise, and that was too drawn out for me."
"So Into Darkness? You want to talk about Into Darkness?"
"It wasn't that bad…and Urban still stole every scene he was in."
"So did Kelley, even in Star Trek V."
They had a moment of silence for the sheer atrocity that was The Final Frontier.
Lisa giggled at them again as she walked back through with Caitlin from the other way, this time with their arms full. "Oh, you boys," Lisa said, "can't you just agree that they are equally wonderful actors who played the same role superbly, with Urban having a slight leg up by being such a fine piece of ass? Though to be honest, he's a little too tall for me…" she said a little leadingly, and winked at Cisco as she moved back out of the room.
That was Len's sister; she could turn any conversation into an excuse to flirt. It worked too, because Cisco's jaw went slack as he blushed and grinned after her, completely forgetting his train of thought until Len moved into his line of sight with a raised eyebrow.
"Undiscovered Country does not get enough love," Cisco conceded.
"Thank you," Len said. "And the first reboot film was spectacular. Made me feel like a kid again. We should watch it sometime. With Lisa."
"And Barry?" Cisco picked up on where Len was going with this.
"He hasn't seen the original films. We're starting from square one."
Cisco grimaced. "Call me after you get through The Motion Picture, and we'll talk."
"Hey, where'd those two go?" Mick's gruff voice broke into the room. He stood at the entrance behind Len, his fire gun held limply, with his newer gear on that Cisco had made much more satisfactorily flame retardant than it had been before.
"I think they were loading equipment into the elevator," Cisco said, "probably just missed them. But don't worry, Ronnie and the professor aren't here yet."
Mick nodded. Now Len remembered what Lisa was helping Caitlin with: another experiment with Firestorm. Mick always got excited on those days. Of course Mick excited was a slightly more manic glint in his eyes, not necessarily a smile, but it was a start. He nodded and headed back out of the room.
It was a busy day ahead, nothing terribly pressing, but experiments and odd jobs and patrol later, with the possible take-down of a new crime syndicate that Joe had some leads on who were daring to step foot in Len's city—well, their city. Just a regular day at the office, he smirked.
A moment later, the detective himself, along with Iris and Eddie, walked in carrying armfuls of bags.
"Lunch!" Iris declared. "We figured since everyone was going to be in and out all day, we'd make things easier. Barry's right behind us, he just stopped to talk to Mick." She smiled brightly before hurrying on with Eddie toward the kitchen.
Joe paused in following them with his own armful of bags to walk up to Len and Cisco. "I've got several uniforms on standby for tonight if we manage to nab any of these guys. You know the rookie, Shannon? She volunteered again after you saved her life last week. I think she has a little crush."
Len scoffed. All he'd done was push her out of the way of an incoming laser beam from the meta of the week, and shot his cold gun at the attacker's feet to knock the guy down before he could fire again; nothing all that impressive. "And here I thought The Flash got all the fans," he said with a shake of his head. "How do you keep getting these collars, Detective, without someone catching wise to you working with The Flash and Captain Cold? With all these young cops in on the game, you'd think someone would slip up. Isn't vigilantism still illegal?"
"It is," Joe nodded seriously, "must be why you're so good at it." He eyed Len a moment before cracking a smile. "And hey, if anyone does suspect, and I think they more than just suspect, seems everyone thinks it's best to just look the other way until there's reason not be glad Team ColdFlash is out there."
Len shot a glare at Cisco for the name. The little punk snorted at him.
Joe headed off to join Iris and Eddie in the kitchen. "Better hurry up and let the others know grub's on or no one will have time to eat before we hit the streets tonight."
"On it!" Cisco said, and dialed down to the floor below to tell Lisa and Caitlin to come back up.
Len sighed at how routine it all was, how familiar now, a couple more weeks gone, and yet, still…it was never boring. Life was always a challenge for Len, every night as Captain Cold, and every day too in his new life. He got to play his games and have fun doing what he loved most—attaining that next big score—it just happened to be achieved in seeing a lesser criminal get put behind bars rather than getting away with a heist of his own.
Lisa always had some new toy from Cisco to keep her interest, some adjustment to her gold gun, some new gadget he would impress her with as he explained it in detail with all of his technical knowledge, which for whatever reason always seemed to make her blush and eventually kiss him, even if he was mid-sentence. And Mick had a way to let out his aggressions and passion for fire simply by working so closely with Firestorm, if not also the team at large. These days he was often the one putting fires out.
Iris had gotten it right—they were an extended family now. And there were still a few more members out there that Len had yet to meet, including Barry's actual father, but that would come in time. He wasn't in any rush, as long as Barry wasn't—well, as rare as it was for Barry Allen to not rush into anything. But a new kind of normalcy was actually pretty peaceful, Len had discovered, even if he'd be in the thick of battle by the end of the night.
When he thought of the moment when all of this had started, he always pictured himself alone. Even when he'd had Lisa and Mick, he was largely alone. But he'd been sucked up into the whirlwind of The Flash in so many varied and wonderful ways, and they'd come along with him. With him…and that darn kid, Barry Allen.
Barry walked into the room wearing a teal button down that brought out the blues and greens in his hazel eyes, and a dark blazer. Effortlessly adorable, though he never believed that when Len mentioned it. "Hey guys. Is the food already in the kitchen? I'm starved." He grinned as he came up to them and bent toward Len to snag a kiss, just a brief press of lips, a pause to linger and enjoy the connection, and then he pulled away, still grinning madly.
"How was your day, dear?" Len teased him.
Barry chuckled. "Better and better. What were you guys talking about?" He turned to Cisco, who spun his chair back and forth like some form of pacing and looked only too amused by them, despite his scowl.
"Don't get him started," Cisco accused. "Also, we're having Star Trek movie nights. You two can watch the first one alone. Then we're making it a group thing."
"Wait…why?" Barry frowned. "What's wrong with the first one?" He looked at Len with an edge of accusation in his gaze.
Darn Cisco. "Don't ask," Len said. It wasn't that bad of a film, just a little…slow. Shit. Maybe it would be worse for Barry than he'd thought. But nope, the kid had to see all of the films at least once. "You can dictate everything else about the date, how's that?"
Barry shook his head and giggled—that wonderful giggle—before tugging Len off of the table. "Fine, whatever. Come on though, let's have lunch. We can plan our next date night afterwards."
Len allowed himself to be willingly pulled along, Cisco rolling his eyes at them as he got up to follow.
Date nights, family nights, and good deeds abounded around Len. He had been thoroughly domesticated by this lovable fool leading him by the hand to have lunch with two detectives and a very talented young reporter, among several others, and he couldn't even be bothered to be upset. He was just happy…whatever might come next.
THE END
A/N: I'm not prepared to talk about this, to just gush with love for you all and how amazing this whole ride has been, from amazing comments, the sheer awesomeness of this fandom at large, especially over this pairing, all the other amazing writers out there, the tumblr crowd...god, you just make a gal feel so welcome and happy. You make me want to do nothing but write ColdFlash, but sorry, I have to get back to my original work now.
Of course...I also have this little fic for coldflashtrash's birthday, that was inspired by one of the prompts I got for my birthday, coming soon, and I have all of the little bonus chapters for the Out Cold epilogue that will be coming, starting with Oliver and Felicity, as I promised, so it's not like you won't hear from me, but it won't be at the insanely fast rate of twice a week posting.
The song in this chapter was a selfish one, because it's my song with my husband, but still fitting I think here at the end for these two. After we were engaged, I realized we didn't have a song, and we were at our friends' wedding, and he just went...hang on. And went up to the DJ and requested You and Me by Lifehouse, and it was so...romantic and perfect. We danced at our wedding to a mix of that, Three Libras by A Perfect Circle, and Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin...coz we're cool like that. They're all waltzes so my husband learned to dance for me. :-)
Okay, enough personal gushing. While I can't thank you all enough...thank you! And see you next time! I truly hope this has been as amazing a ride for all of you as it was for me to write.