'but these seconds are valuable breathe in change or let it go'

Caitlin and Cisco seem to be finding it very promising that Barry is regaining his memories, the order of which they return is apparently very random but they seem confident that Barry's speed will soon appear. He's happily participated in the various tests and scans they were keen to do and now Barry is just exhausted.

It's not even been a week since Len had left him behind without so much as a second glance; it appeared to have been so easy for the older man to just leave. Barry found it was easier to pretend that he was okay when he was busy with tasks in his lab or when he was undergoing one of Caitlin's various scans; it was the evening time that proved hardest to forget. How could he possibly forget the warm, caring, charming and considerate Len that he had stupidly fallen for?

He knew his moping wasn't going to solve anything, that getting up and getting himself back out there would be the best thing to do but he had no motivation to find anyone else. Barry was about ready to grab his bag of chilli heatwave crisps along with his chosen alcoholic beverage and retire to his bed to carry on his binge watching marathon when there were three sharp knocks on the door that startled the life out of him.

Barry was stuck between ignoring whoever was at the door and going to bed or answering the door to sort whatever it was so he could go to bed without any further interruptions when there was another three sharp knocks on his door followed by "Barry, I know you're in there."

Barry opened the door surprised mostly at Hartley standing on the other side looking very smartly dressed.

"…Uh, how do you know where I live?" he asked as Hartley walked into his apartment gazing around curiously quickly before he turned to face Barry.

"I've got sources," Hartley said "anyway get dressed, we're going out."

Barry knew his mouth fell open slightly but he was caught off guard. "We," he said as he gestured between the two of them "us two going out?" he asked slightly unsure if he had misheard the man in front of him.

Hartley looked like he was exasperated with Barry already "Yes," he said "I figured the least I owed you was a drink for pushing you out of a moving car and you look like you need cheering up so just go get dressed before I change my mind."

"I… uh, yeah okay. Thanks." He said as he moved in the direction of his bedroom.

Barry had literally just picked up the clothes he'd thrown on his bedroom floor less than an hour ago figuring they were suitable enough for a drink with a guy that had apparently tried to kill him more than once who then later on saved him from becoming under suspicion at work. He left the bedroom to find Hartley poking around his belongings, when he turned around he looked at Barry as if to say 'really?' Barry didn't think he looked that bad.

"No," Hartley said flatly "at least put some effort into it Barry, you're not going to pick any one up with that kind of attitude."

Barry frowned "I don't want to find a one night stand if that's what you're trying to do," he said.

He was hit square in the face with a cushion seconds later "Go change your clothes," Hartley said "and then you're going to come out, have a drink, flirt with some strangers and then come home feeling better about yourself. Got it?"

Barry was half tempted to salute Hartley but instead he settled with a "Got it," before retreating back to his bedroom to find something that made him look and feel half decent.

'lord, forgive me for the things i've done i was never meant to hurt no one'

Leonard sat at the somewhat crowded bar as he nursed a whiskey in his tumbler, he didn't mind being by himself as it allowed him to spend some quality time wallowing in self-pity and drinking himself numb. He wasn't bitter about Mick being too busy with this new mystery woman of his to join him in his pity party, he was happy for his friend. Mick seemed to be quite chilled out since meeting her.

Lisa had just looked at Leonard with a look close to exasperation as she declined his offer; she'd said it was his own fault he was feeling like this. Well, Lisa wasn't wrong there. Leonard mentally tipped his tumbler to Lisa, if he'd actually carried out the action it would have looked odd to the bartender who was looking like he was considering taking Leonard aside and talking about what has him frequenting his bar again.

"Snart," a deep voice said from behind him "what you doin' here lookin' down in the dumps for?" It took Leonard more effort than usual to turn around in his seat (maybe he'd already had too much to drink) and look at David Lestrange "last I heard you had a beau takin' up your time."

"Anyone ever tell you to mind your own business Lestrange?" Leonard asked "Lestrange…" he murmured to himself before he gestured for an anxious looking David to come closer "are you related to a Bellatrix Lestrange?" he asked before laughing to himself.

David looked confused "Never heard of her," he said "could be some relation down the line I guess…"

Leonard couldn't help the laugh that came out at David's words. "Well… if there is she could always pass a message on to you-know-who," he said attempting to whisper.

"No," David said slowly "…who?" he asked.

"David, please tell me you know who Bellatrix Lestrange is." Leonard said as he made a grab for David's jacket not believing that the man didn't understand the so obvious Harry Potter reference.

David looked uncomfortable as he moved to pry Leonard's hands off his jacket "No clue man," he said before he frowned at something over at the other end of the bar "eh, is that not the guy you tried it on with a while back?" he asked as he pointed out Barry.

Barry was at the other end of the bar with Hartley; Leonard downed the rest of his whiskey barely feeling the burn anymore before he placed the glass down on the bar top firmly. "'nother!" he demanded before gesturing to David "he's buying."

Leonard didn't want to have to watch Barry flaunting around the bar so he turned to sit sideways in his seat which might not have been a good idea because he almost toppled out of it due to the lack of back support, David had luckily foreseen something like that happening and used an arm to steady him. "Seriously though," David said "who's this Bellatrix chick?" he asked.

Leonard frowned "Oh David," he said "you should pick up a book every once in a while, you could possibly learn a thing or two… or three or four… or you get it right?"

"I think you should go home Leonard," David said as he tried to manoeuvre Leonard out of his bar stool "you've had far too much to drink and Lisa would kill me if I didn't make sure you got home okay."

Leonard hoped he didn't remember any of this tomorrow because he full on whined "No," before he sighed and added "one more drink?"

"You don't need it," David said and felt quite tense when he tried to manoeuvre Leonard out the seat as he said sounding cautious "dude this guy keeps glaring at me whenever I touch you, let's just get out of here and get you back to Lisa okay?"

Leonard yawned as he closed his eyes suddenly feeling sleepy, normally he'd be in this state by the time he'd gotten home so this was quite new to him. "I want to go," he said "let's go find Lisaaa!" he suggested.

Drinks with Hartley had a disastrous start as they entered a bar that Barry knew Len frequented and wasn't surprised to see the man sat at the bar with his gaze trained on his drink before a man approached him and then Len was all over him. They'd managed to grab a free booth and sit down.

"Why'd you bring me here?" Barry asked "Did Len ask you to do this?"

Hartley looked offended "I'm here to help you two get back together," he said "that's David, he's a bumbling buffoon so I wouldn't read too much into him and Snart. I brought you here to show you how much of a mess he is without you."

Barry eyed Hartley for a moment "I thought we were here because you were making it up to me about pushing me out of a car," he said "look," he sighed "I told Len I loved him and he still walked out on me, how can I fix something with him when he doesn't even want to fight through the obstacles?" he asked as he looked down at the dirty booth table.

Hartley tapped his fingers along the wooden table for a minute or so allowing them to sit in silence as the sounds of inebriated men filled the bar drowning out any music that could possibly be playing in the background. "Snart's got barriers," Hartley said "I don't know how much you know of his background but if I went through half of what he did then I'd have some pretty tough barriers up as well."

"I understand he's got barriers," Barry said immediately "I do but at the first sign of trouble he just dropped everything like it didn't matter. It wasn't a side of Len I'd seen before and I think I've seen about every side to him, especially when he wanted to rip your head… off." He finished slowly at the look on Hartley's face.

Hartley looked startled before he nodded his head and pushed his glasses up his nose a little awkwardly. "I guess I'd have deserved that," he said.

Barry smiled slightly as he moved his gaze to out the grungy bar window to watch passers-by. He moved his gaze back from the dark dreary streets and to the gaze of Leonard Snart. It takes a second for it to fully sink in that Len is sat opposite him, staring back at Barry with a slight smirk

"Barry," Len said "you're in my neck of the woods, I was just curious. Last time you were here, you were asking for my help." He added with a quirk of his lips.

"A mistake I won't be repeating," Barry sniped back.

"What?"

"I'm sensing some disappointment…" Len said slowly with a hint of amusement in his tone. That smirk was driving Barry crazy on the inside.

Barry crossed his arms tightly over his chest "I have a feeling you're familiar with people being disappointed in you," he commented knowing it was a low blow.

"Well this took a turn for the weird,"

"Ouch, kid." Len chuckled softly "look, kid if you're upset about-"

-about-"You're being weird again Barry," Hartley said as Barry took in his surroundings, the only thing that was different was it was Hartley opposite him instead of Len.

Barry shook his head lightly "I'm sorry," he apologised "I just remembered a… a conversation I had here."

"So you really are remembering stuff now then?" Hartley asked.

Barry nodded his head "It comes in bits and pieces," he said "sometimes it's triggered by something but they seem to come back in a random jumbled up order."

'The brightness of the sun, will give me just enough, to bury my love, in the moondust, I long to hear your voice, but still I make the choice, to bury my love, in the moondust'

Leonard groaned at the loud volume of Lisa's music filtering through his floor from the kitchen and from in his room he could hear Lisa both singing and being extra loud with washing the pots and the pans. He wondered briefly if the loudness of her actions this morning were some form of punishment for whatever he did last night.

Leonard frowned as his hand connected with a bit of paper still half sticking to his face. He pulled the sticky note off his forehead to see the words 'you're an asshole – David.' scrawled in black marker pen. He thought back to what he'd done last night, he remembered going to the bar and ordering a couple drinks and then… then David must have showed up.

"Who's this Bellatrix chick?" Leonard is pretty sure he remembered David asking him that at some point during the night.

There are two taps on his bedroom door before it's being shoved open to reveal Lisa standing with a cup of coffee in her hand "Good you're awake," she said "now you can explain what the hell last night was about!"

Len groaned again "I've just woken up no thanks to you," he said "I don't even remember much from last night so I doubt I can help you out."

Lisa placed the cup of coffee on Leonard's bedside table "Seriously Lenny this can't keep happening," she said "I had David asking me who Bellatrix Lestrange was! He thought I was fucking with him when I told him she's a character out of a book, said you kept asking if he knew her and if he was related to her."

Leonard threw an arm over his eyes as he groaned, he definitely remembered that part of the evening then.

"I know you miss Barry," Lisa said softly "but you're a fucking mess right now and it's down to you. Luckily for you I'm an amazing sister and charged your phone for you and you have two missed calls from him and a text."

"What!?" Len exclaimed.

"Check it out for yourself," Lisa smiled at him as she handed over his phone and left his bedroom.

Leonard checked his notifications to see she hadn't been lying and then moved on to unlock his phone.

BA – LS [Hey, I know you probably don't want to hear from me right now but I found some of your belongings. Did you want to come and pick them up or I can drop them off at yours later?]

Leonard let out a sigh as he reread the text over again. He'd been an idiot hadn't he?

LS – BA [I'll come by- I think we need to talk.]

LS – BA [I'll come by- I think we need to talk.] Barry looked at the text and then looked at his apartment, it wasn't awfully messy and it definitely didn't give away any signs that he'd had a complete meltdown days ago. That was something at least. Oh great now he was nervous about seeing Len again after last night and was curious as to what Len would want to talk to him about.

"Alright," Barry said to himself "pull yourself together. It's only Len."

Barry looked down at himself and decided that he didn't want to have this talk with Len while still in his pyjamas.

He figured he had some time to get sorted judging by the state Len had appeared to be in as he left the bar, Barry had watched as Len had been practically dragged out the bar by that man Hartley referred to as 'David' last night. Barry briefly wondered if he would be sporting a hangover and if so should he get a pot of coffee brewing for Len?

A/N: So I had some free time and as I'm acting as Santa tonight alongside my mum I decided writing a chapter for all you lovely people would be a good use of my time! Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year :) xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo