'why don't we just run away?'

"Thank you all again," Barry said as he smiled appreciatively at Joe, Iris, Cisco and Caitlin as they all bundled out of Barry's new apartment. Everyone was thoroughly exhausted with cleaning, moving in numerous boxes and setting up furniture. Barry guessed Cisco had missed his super speed if his protests had been anything to go by.

Joe turned to look back at him with a somewhat sad smile on his face "Call if you need anything, son." He said.

"Will do," Barry said as he watched the four of them disappear around the corner.

He'd thought it'd feel weird living by himself after staying at Joe's for such a long time but he needed to get on with his life, he still felt bad about Cisco and Caitlin still working at STAR labs when there was no Flash to keep them there any more. He leaned back against his front door once it was closed and looked at his surprisingly clean living room. Barry barely had a moment to himself, one of his windows was being tapped on and Barry legit almost jumped out of his skin upon seeing the dark silhouette outside his window. The tapping on the window continued before the man removed his hood. It was Len. Barry made his way across the living room to open the window.

"And you couldn't have used the front door like a normal person because?" He asked before he quickly shut the window again, the cold air making him shiver slightly.

Len shrugged off his coat "I thought it'd be different if I walked up your fire escape," he said "and West was here, didn't think you'd be able to come up with a believable story as to why I was visiting you." He added with a smirk.

Barry felt slightly offended at that "I could have come up with a believable story," he said.

Len raised his eyebrows as if to suggest that he didn't believe Barry, they'd both moved to the couch in front of the television. "Barry you once text me to say that you couldn't think of an excuse as to why you were late so you admitted to still being in bed," Len pointed out.

"That doesn't count," Barry said as he angled himself so his whole body was facing Len on the couch "I don't remember that so how can I be sure that happened?" he asked with a grin.

Len looked like he wanted to roll his eyes at him "You can't play the amnesia card," he said "that's not fair."

"What?" Barry asked laughing "how is that unfair, it's a valid explanation because it actually happened."

Len shrugged lightly "How can I be sure it happened?" he asked "I wasn't there to witness it; this could be a whole charade."

Barry shook his head laughing softly "You're ridiculous," he said.

"Maybe," Len said "dinner is on the way, I ordered on my way over."

Barry is warm, full and comfortable. It's a good combination after a long day, he really could drift off to sleep but that would be considered rude when he had a guest over who looked as equally warm and comfortable. It's after they've eaten a pizza that the two of them are sat closely together, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders and a film playing on the tv.

"Do you ever wonder how different your life would be in a different world?" Barry asked softly, genuinely intrigued by the answer.

Len hummed softly for a moment "Do you always get this philosophical on a Friday evening?" he asked just as softly before he added "occasionally I've wondered if things would have turned out differently if I had made different choices."

Barry turned his head slightly so his smile was hidden from view by Len's shoulder. "Yeah?" he asked "what would be different?"

Len was silent for a moment and Barry wondered briefly if he'd pushed too far.

"I don't know," Len murmured eyes trained on the television "I would have finished high school, maybe would have gone to college."

Barry moved his head to lean on Len's shoulder as he pondered his own question. "If things had been different, I don't think I'd of been a CSI." He admitted "I only ever joined the force to do my bit to help justice be served."

"What would you be doing then if things had turned out differently?" Len asked sounding intrigued.

That was a good question and it had Barry thinking, what would he be doing if his mum was still alive and his dad wasn't currently locked up? It was hard to imagine doing anything different right now. "I don't know," Barry admitted "I doubt I'd be running around as the Flash."

Barry was quickly growing to enjoy these spontaneous intimate moments with Len, he found himself idly wondering when he was at his lab what Len would be doing or if Len wanted to meet up in the evening…

"Do you miss it?" Len asked softly.

"Can't miss something you don't remember," Barry sighed "there are moments when I feel guilty though, when I'm at work and we catch a meta-human case or Cisco and Caitlin sitting at STAR labs running tests and analysing the results to only get the same result."

"You've still not remembered anything?" Len asked.

Barry's mind took him back to his dream from two weeks ago. "don't make me add you to it," and the not being able to breathe. He'd done his best to keep his mind occupied.

"Nothing," Barry said, again it just slipped out of his mouth. He wanted to change the subject. "So when do I get to meet this sister of yours?" he asked "Well… when do I get to meet her again?" he added. He knew a bit about Lisa mostly through Cisco who clearly had a bit of a crush on her.

Len moved so he was looking at Barry, he had a strange look on his face for the briefest of moments. "You want to meet Lisa?" he asked.

"I still need to thank her for my keyring," Barry said "and you never got back to me about thanking Hartley." He added as he poked Len in the ribs softly.

If Len had a strange look before he definitely had an odd look on his face now. "Are you being serious?" he asked "Barry you're practically talking about meeting and thanking members of the Rogues. Rathaway almost got you killed and blew your identity to the rest of his team, what exactly do you want to thank him for?"

Well Barry certainly hadn't anticipated this reaction from Len; he didn't understand why the man was so against any of it.

"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hartley may have thought I was there to mess up their job but when he found out I was involved with you then he wasn't too bad. As for his team, that was partially my own fault too. Len, I'm fine and Hartley and his team made sure I wasn't implicated in any of it." Barry said.

Len shook his head lightly "I never thought I'd hear you defend Hartley Rathaway," he commented.

"Barry!" Caitlin said when he walked into STAR labs "Are you okay?" she asked.

Barry smiled at the stunned looks on Caitlin and Cisco's faces; it was very rare for him to drop by unannounced lately. He only dropped by when Caitlin needed to run some tests.

"I'm fine," Barry said "I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something." He added as he moved to stand in the middle of the room.

"Sure, man. What's bothering you?" Cisco asked, lollipop in his mouth and an empty packet of sweets beside him.

Barry wondered briefly how he was going to word what he wanted to say, he hadn't really thought about it until he was stood looking at the two of them. "I appreciate you guys maintaining STAR labs on the off chance that I might regain my memories and my speed," he said "but I shouldn't be holding you two back."

Caitlin was the first to look like she didn't agree with a word Barry said. "You're not holding us back Barry," she said.

"You guys should be somewhere that provides you with a stable income and recognition for your amazing work," he said.

Cisco stood up from the chair he was sitting in "Working with the Flash has given us amazing opportunities Bear," he said "we've been in talks with CCPD about joining the meta-human task force behind the scenes of course, Caitlin will do her tests and I'll do what I do best and build amazing tech to stop them."

"And we get to do our work right here," Caitlin said "you're not holding us back Barry, you've given us a window of opportunity to continue saving people's lives and stopping the bad guys."

Barry fiddled with a button on his jacket "Doesn't that put you in more danger than before? People know you know who the Flash is." He pointed out.

"No more than before," Caitlin said "only a handful of people know and this way we earn money doing what we do best… stopping meta-humans." She added smiling at him.

Barry nodded his head "I just, I didn't want you guys to stay here because of me." He said softly. It definitely eased his mind somewhat to know that Caitlin and Cisco were not sacrificing their careers because of him.

Leonard was stuck in a rare moment of being alone, no Barry, no Lisa, no Rogue business – it was just him sat by himself and it was peaceful. It had felt like he hadn't stopped in the past couple of weeks. He'd barely seen his own sister and he knew Lisa would be rounding on him soon because of this.

"There you are," Lisa said from the doorway "It's been two weeks Lenny, two weeks."

Leonard let out a breath "I know," he said "I've been… busy."

Lisa had her hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised at him "Doing what exactly?" she asked.

"Just busy Lisa," Leonard said "drop it, okay?"

"Lenny you've been ignoring my calls and dodging my texts," Lisa said sounding slightly hurt "I didn't know if you were hurt or in trouble or-"

Leonard cut her off before she could continue jumping to outrageous conclusions. "It's not my fault you decide to call or text when I've been busy with Barry," he said.

Lisa's face immediately morphed from hurt to slightly repulsed "Oh my god Lenny! Too much info!" she said her face going slightly red.

"No!" Leonard said immediately when he realised how that could have come across "Not like that, no. I meant I've been helping him with his apartment." He added.

"You're so into him aren't you?" she said with a massive grin.

Leonard chose to ignore her statement "He wants to meet you…again," he said "and he wants me to thank Rathaway for him."

"I think I need to sit down," Lisa said as she moved to sit on the couch "because I could've sworn you just said Barry wants you to thank that asshole. I hope you told him how much of a self-indulgent jackass he is."

Leonard lifted a shoulder to mimic a shrug "He had none of it," he said "just wants me to thank him."

Lisa had a scowl on her face; it appeared whenever Hartley Rathaway was mentioned in her presence.

"You should set up a date for dinner," Lisa said out of nowhere.

"Why?" Leonard asked.

"You said Barry wants to meet me," Lisa said "set up a date for dinner and I'll be there. Make it Italian."

This was all Leonard needed, Lisa encouraging Barry's want to be more involved with people from the Rogues. Before he knew it Mick would be buddy-buddy with Barry too.

"Fine," Leonard said "but just don't be full on, he obviously has no recollection of who you are."

Lisa rolled her eyes at him "Oh please," she said as she flicked her hair to the side "you worry too much Lenny, it'll be fine. Your boyfriend will love me."

"He's not my boyfriend," Leonard corrected quickly.

Barry was quickly becoming accustomed to living alone, it was somewhat peaceful and a nice way to wind down from work. The added bonus was that Len often visited in the evenings so he was never truly alone. It made meeting up with Len a lot easier too, he didn't need to sneak out or sneak back in.

LS – BA [Saturday evening- keep it free.]

Barry looked over the text before replying.

BA – LS [Sure but why? & you not coming over tonight?]

Barry had to wait a whole minute and thirty seconds before a reply come in.

LS – BA [Dinner with Lisa at an Italian place. I'm at the store picking up something for dinner, won't be long.]

Barry was aware of the goofy grin on his face; Len had this effect on him.

BA – LS [We could have just ordered in…]

The response was instant.

LS – BA [We order in way too much.]

Barry withheld his comment about how domestic Len was being by shopping for groceries for dinner; he'd probably be threatened with the cold gun again. Barry didn't take those threats too seriously though. Barry moved off the couch reluctantly as he moved to the kitchen to start setting the table, he had quickly learnt that if there was one thing Len upheld then it would be eating at a table.

There was knocking at his door and Barry had to say he was impressed, Len hadn't said how long he was going to be. The knocking continued as Barry made his way across to the front door and thought Len was being pretty impatient.

"Alright, Len, no need to bang the door dow- Iris. Hey." He said as he opened the front door to Iris who stood with a take-out bag in hand and a raised eyebrow.

"Who is this Len you speak of?" Iris asked as she walked past Barry and into his apartment "you set the table? It's almost as if you knew I was coming." She added with a grin.

Barry turned to look at the space where Iris had been standing to where she was bustling around in his kitchen. "I… uh… what are you doing here Iris?" he asked.

"I thought I'd surprise you with dinner," Iris said as she motioned to the take-out bag again "but I'm more interested in this Len you were talking about." She added.

Barry had no words. None. This had to of been a joke, Len was out getting stuff for their dinner and here Iris was with take-out for dinner. He hadn't even thought about telling Iris about him and Len yet, let alone plan on the two colliding coincidentally.

"It's a bit of a long story," Barry admitted as he glanced at Iris again, still stuck to the floor where the front door was.

Iris looked up at him with a smile before it fell off her face.

"Barry, why is Captain Cold stood at your door with a bag full of groceries?" she asked.

A/N: Thank you all for being so patient with me! I had no idea what to write so i thought i'd have a bit of a break and taa daa! I was meant to post it last night but i was so tired! Enjoy :) xoxox