'sparks will fly they ignite our bones but when they strike we light up the world'

LS – BA [I've got a something for you; meet me at the end of your street.]

Barry looked down at the message which illuminated his screen, biting his lip as he wondered what Leonard Snart could have possibly got for him. He looked around his semi-packed bedroom, he should really unpack his things at some point but seeing what Len had in store for him couldn't wait. It would be rude of Barry to leave Len sat in his car.

BA – LS [Give me two minutes.] he replied before he set his phone down and grabbed the nearest pair of shoes and shoved them on before he stood up and grabbed his coat from his wardrobe. Before he left his bedroom he made sure to pocket his keys and his phone.

Luckily Joe was on a night shift and Iris was out drinking with some girls from work, he wasn't particularly good at thinking on his feet. His mind raced as he walked at a somewhat slow pace down to the end of the street as to not seem too eager or excited. Barry was curious though. The walk to the end of the street isn't too long; it takes about a minute or so.

Under the cover of darkness, Barry can just about make out Len sitting in the driver's seat. He tapped on the passenger door window once before pulling the door open and seating himself before shutting it behind him, shivering slightly at the coldness that had seeped into him during the short walk.

"If it's a membership card to your criminal circle then I politely decline," Barry said jokingly, the whole event had been somewhat of a nightmare which had then turned into a light hearted joke between him and Len.

Len looked at him with a hint of a smile playing on his lips "Oh how you wound me," he said "and I drove all this way."

Barry chuckled softly as he rubbed his hands together feeling grateful for the heating being on "Should I be worried though?" he asked.

Len removed one of his hands from his pocket and held out a small box to Barry. "Open it and see," Len said softly.

Barry eyed the box for a couple of seconds before he retrieved it out of Len's hand, his hands were shaking slightly and he hoped that Len couldn't notice. Barry popped the lid of the box off and saw a key attached to a keyring with a lightning bolt dangling from it. "I…" Barry said "what's it for?"

"I know you missed your apartment viewing because of Rathaway, the landlord owed me a favour. You can move in whenever you're ready." Len said.

"You didn't have to do this Len," Barry murmured as he looked toward slightly older man.

Len directed his gaze away from Barry and to the road ahead of them. "I know," he said "I wanted to. Lisa thought you'd appreciate the lightning bolt. I thought it was ridiculous." He added.

Barry couldn't help the smile on his face "Thank you," he said "I think the lightning bolt would've amused me more before the whole Natalia's incident but it's sweet." He added with an overwhelming urge to reach over and hug the man.

Len nodded his head "How are you feeling now?" he asked as he moved his gaze back to Barry.

"Still a little sore," Barry answered softly "thank you for asking for the tenth time." He added (and yes he had kept count).

He could see Len's lips quirk at the comment "I should be surprised you kept count but oddly enough I expected that of you," he said.

Barry relaxed into his seat and moved his head to lean against the headrest as he looked at Len before he released a small sigh "I would invite you in for a drink but I'm guessing that would be a bad idea," he said.

Len wrinkled his nose slightly at the mention "I'd rather not be caught in a cops house," he admitted "we could go somewhere else, just keep driving and see where we end up?" he suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Barry smiled.

'every inch of your skin is a holy grail I've got to find, only you can set my heart on fire'

Barry didn't know how long they'd been driving, all he knew was it felt like it had been forever and at the same time like it wasn't that long at all. They were heading towards the edge of Central City and it was so nice to be comfortable around someone.

"Tell me something no one knows about Captain Cold," Barry said speaking above the music filtering through the radio softly.

Len frowned slightly for a second before he answered "I hate fish fingers,"

"What's wrong with fish fingers?" Barry asked slightly amused at the admission.

"They're disgusting," Len answered simply "what about you, tell me something you think I don't already know."

Barry had to really think for a couple of minutes about what Len could possibly already know "My guilty pleasure is listening to Justin Bieber," he said.

"Already knew that," Len said with a slight grin "I overheard you singing in the shower once."

Barry looked out the window as he watched street lamp posts pass by in a blink. "Okay," Barry said "I remember when I was younger I tried to be a vegetarian once, it lasted for a week and then my weakness for bacon sandwiches put an end to that." He said.

"I didn't know that," Len said "you never really spoke about your childhood when we were together."

Barry fiddled with a thread from his coat "It's painful to look back at how happy I was," he admitted softly "My mom's death and my dad's incarceration just form this big ugly cloud around my memories."

"I get that," Len murmured.

They end up at a small town just outside of Central City in a small rustic diner that had a homely feel, the diner wasn't overly crowded and had soft country songs playing in the background.

"I'm surprised Detective West hasn't called yet," Len commented as he pushed the two menus' aside after they'd ordered.

"He's working tonight," Barry explained "and Iris is out drinking with girls from work so you saved me from my own boredom."

Leonard nodded his head; he had wondered during the drive here whether West was going to call and break the small personal bubble they'd built around themselves. Knowing they had the whole evening to themselves possibly uninterrupted had him wondering how tonight could go (did it count as a date?). "We seem to end up in these situations huh," he said as he leaned back in his seat to observe Barry.

Barry smiled that smile which could light up a whole room without much effort "I was just thinking that," he said "funny how everything I do brings me back to you." He added.

"Careful," Len said with a smirk "you'll soon sound like you stepped right out of a romantic film."

Barry shook his head lightly "You know what I mean though," he said "first I run into you at the coffee shop, then I meet you doing late night grocery shopping, then I run into you when I'm out running and then your job goes sideways and I'm caught in the crosshairs. It's weird." He explained.

Len leaned forward in his seat lightly "I have a confession to make," he said slowly "that day you met me at the coffee shop I had followed you."

Barry looked surprised for a moment "Followed me?" he asked "do I even want to know why?"

Len shrugged "I was curious about you," he said "you didn't show up at one of my jobs, which is unusual for you. So I followed you and when you didn't recognise me I had my answer. The second time wasn't planned, that was coincidence."

Leonard watched as Barry processed the information, he was taking it better than Leonard had anticipated even though he wasn't sure how Barry would take it initially. Barry nodded his head after a couple seconds and shrugged his shoulders just as the waitress approached them with their food and drinks on a tray.

"Enjoy," she said with a kind smile.

"Thanks," Barry responded with an equally kind smile.

The waitress's smile grew slightly as her eyes raked over Barry, Leonard didn't realise he was glaring at the waitress until she made eye contact with him and the smile slipped off her face and she hurried away.

"You know its bad manners to scare off the person serving your food," Barry pointed out with a knowing smirk (Barry should not be smirking at him!).

Leonard waved it off dismissively "Doesn't she know its bad manners to look at you like you're a piece of meat when you're with someone?" he said.

Barry's smirk seemed to grow somehow and damn it looked good on him "Was Captain Cold-" he started to say.

"If you finish that sentence with jealous then I will not hesitate to use my cold gun on you the next time I lay eyes on you," Leonard said effectively cutting Barry off and silencing him for a minute or so.

"O-kay," Barry said laughing lightly.

Leonard found it incredibly hard to suppress an eye roll. "Shut up and eat your food," he said trying to not sound amused.

"Aye aye, captain." Barry said.

Barry's exhausted in the way where you've eaten too much food and a long drive back home is easily capable of sending him off to the land of sleep. He's holding back from falling asleep in the car because he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Len before he had to retreat back to Joe's.

"I don't know how to thank you for this apartment," Barry said before he yawned.

Len shrugged his shoulder lightly "The least I could do," he said.

Barry was going to say that Len was being ridiculous but his phone went off alerting him to a new message. IW – BA [Sorrry if wke ou, I feeell sickk.] Barry couldn't hold back the huff of laughter at the sight of Iris's drunken texting.

"Something up?" Len asked softly as they entered Barry's neighbourhood.

Barry motioned to his phone "Iris is home," he said "all spelling goes out the window when she's drunk but weirdly enough the commas and full stops are still intact."

"Journalists for you," Len commented sounding equally as tired as Barry felt.

Barry closed the front door behind him quietly as to not disturb Iris, he knew she'd set up camp on the bathroom floor. In the spirit of being a good brother he slipped his shoes off, moved to the kitchen to grab some tablets and a glass of water for her. After he gathered the tablets and water, he turned the kitchen light off and navigated the stairs in the dark which wasn't as difficult as anticipated when both hands were full.

"Iris?" Barry called out softly.

A small groan came from the bathroom like he had predicted. He pushed the door open slightly before he moved to sit on the bathroom floor beside Iris who looked worse for wear. "I come baring gifts," he said as he placed the glass of water on the floor beside her and placed the two tablets in her hand.

"Thank you," Iris groaned again before she put both tablets in her mouth and took a large mouthful of water.

Barry smiled softly at her "Good night?" he asked already knowing the answer.

"Too many shots," Iris sighed as she rubbed her eyes with her hands "Linda and Caitlin are lethal together."

Barry chuckled "Drink some more water and then when you're feeling better we'll chuck something in the oven to sober you up."

"I want a shower," Iris said pouting in the dark.

"You can have a shower after you've drank some water and eaten something," Barry said "I don't want to worry about you falling over and hurting yourself."

Iris moved so her head was resting against Barry's shoulder "You're the best brother ever," she said sounding close to tears "I know things are shitty for you right now but you've just pushed on and not let it bother you. I don't know how you do it."

"C'mon, finish your water." Barry said as he placed the cool glass into Iris's hand.

"I still have one more name on my list; don't make me add you to it." There's a big green fog in front of him. It's coming closer. Green fog is bad; it's going to hurt him. His hands turned in the bedsheets gripping them tightly. It's in him, in his lungs. Oh god, he can't breathe, he can't breathe.

Coughing. Need oxygen. Can't breathe. Oxygen, he needs oxygen.

He tried to take in oxygen, he can't breathe. Why can't he breathe?

"Barry!" Someone's shaking him "Barry!"

"Can't," Barry coughed "breathe."

Ow! His eyes open finally and he sits up in bed, drenched in sweat with a pounding headache. One of his cheeks sting.

"Barry?!" Iris asked looking concerned, phone in hand.

Barry looked around his room feeling slightly disorientated. He's in his bedroom, there's no big green fog. He can breathe. His bedsheets are all over the place. The duvet is on the floor and the bedsheet is pulled off the edges of the mattress and he's tangled up in them.

"What happened?" Iris asked softly, concern written all over her face.

Barry could feel his heart racing in his chest "I…" he said as he took in another big deep breathe "it was a nightmare." he didn't know what it was but it felt so real.

"Barry you were making these awful noises, it sounded like you were choking on something and then you were saying you couldn't breathe and you wouldn't let me anywhere near you. I… I slapped you but it did the trick, you woke up!" Iris said.

Barry heaved in another breath and the relief shooting through him was so strong he almost felt like he could cry, oxygen was a beautiful, beautiful thing!

"I'm sorry," Barry said "I… I don't even remember what it was." He lied. He didn't know why he lied. It slipped out.

Iris placed her phone on his bedside table "Don't apologise," she said "it happens."

"I didn't mean to wake you up," he said "especially when you are so clearly sporting a hangover."

Iris raised her eyebrows "Do you want me to hit you again?" she asked. If the stinging in his cheek was anything to go by then no, he most definitely didn't want Iris to hit him again.

"Seriously though, you scared the shit out of me!" she said.

"I'm sorry," Barry apologised.

"don't make me add you to it," ran through Barry's mind and he took in another deep breath to remind himself it was a dream, it had only been a dream!

A/N: I've been so busy and i felt so bad about the lack of updates recently so here's another chapter for all you lovely reviewers

xoxo