Coldflash and Legends One-Shots

Passing Through (Rated PG13)

Summary:

Six months after breaking up with Len, Barry is trying to move on and have a normal life. But that's a little difficult to do when said ex comes back in town and decides to stalk your every move.

Notes:

Written for the ColdFlash Week 2016 prompt Day 7 - Domestic Life, because what else screams 'domestic life' than having a big ole fight with the ex you're still in love with? xD Explores the head canon of Barry giving up being The Flash to have a life with Len as opposed to Len giving up being Captain Cold.

***

"And then he said, "Well, if you wanted avocado, why didn't you just say so? But, just so you know, I'll have to charge you twenty-five cents extra!" And I said, "Duh! I said that to begin with!""

Laughter follows and doesn't stop.

Barry laughs politely, and finishes first.

The story wasn't all that funny.

A sullen Barry perks up as they approach his house. Home sweet home, and it's about time. It wasn't a bad date. Far from it. Dinner, movie, and an impromptu trip to a carnival just outside of town. They rode the Ferris Wheel and the Merry-Go-Round, ate funnel cake and threw darts at balloons. It was pleasant. It was normal. It was picturesque and ... safe. It's not the kind of date Barry's used to, everything going off without a hitch. He hasn't been on one like this in a long time. Not since high school. It's the kind of date he'd always pictured going on with the right guy.

But Michael Currden, the man sitting next to him, isn't that guy.

Michael parks by the curb and kills the engine.

Ugh, Barry thinks. That's not a good sign. It tends to make things so much more complicated.

"I had a really nice time tonight," Michael says.

"So did I," Barry replies on rote, because that's what he's expected to say. When he and Carl, the optometrist, got stuck in a torrential downpour while playing outdoor mini-golf last week, Barry said he'd had a "nice time". When Shelby's (his date before that) Volvo broke down on the side of the highway (after she'd talked his ear off for forty-five minutes about how Volvos are the most reliable cars on the road) and they had to wait two hours for a tow, he'd said he'd had a "nice time". And he did have a nice time tonight. It's just that somewhere towards the middle, he would have rather been alone ... or with someone else. "Thank you so much for taking me out. I really needed this." Barry sighs as if relieved, as if a date with this man had been the cure for a long, difficult day at the CCPD. But it's all for show.

And he's a bad actor.

"I'm glad." Whether Michael realizes that Barry is lying or not, he forages ahead anyway. He tries to take Barry's arm, but Barry manages to slip out of reach in a blink. Michael looks at his own hand hanging in the air, an inch from where Barry's arm had been. Unsure what to make of that, he puts his hand back on the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry," Barry says, "but it's getting late, and I need to get up early tomorrow."

"Alright," Michael concedes. Barry had been distant most of the night. Michael had a feeling things would end this way. "Will I be seeing you again?"

Barry looks down at his keys to keep from looking at Michael. He's a nice guy - kind, compassionate, respectful, educated. He has a good paying job, and he seems to like Barry a lot.

But Michael isn't him. He doesn't even come close.

"You know what? Why don't you give me a call tomorrow, and we'll flesh something out. Okay?"