Peachy

FOUR

It had been a week since he and Len had shared that kiss in Saints and Sinners and it kept getting harder to keep it a secret. Especially with Len flirting with him when they had to face each other once again that week. Cisco was getting way too suspicious and Iris kept asking about his mystery guy. This was really getting out of hand, but he couldn't really tell them. Barry could only imagine how that would go. Hey guys! I'm dating Captain Cold a thief and not to forget murderer.

Yeah, that wouldn't go over well. Especially not with Joe.

So here he was at STAR-labs, being interrogated once again. By Cisco. Barry could swear that the latino was onto something. And he didn't like it one bit. Len had kidnapped Cisco and his brother Danté. They had threatened to kill Danté if Cisco hadn't told Len who the Flash was. So maybe he kind of had Cisco to thank for this...weird but amazingly thrilling relationship.

"So, Barry," Cisco started. "I thought you said that you would never ever flirt with freaking Captain Cold again." He accused Barry.

The brunette sighed. He really had tried that day, to resist the flirting and the looks Len had thrown his way. But he had caved in. Barry felt weak for that and it had only brought him more trouble. Yet, the sneaking around kind of gave him a thrill, a rush. Barry knew it shouldn't, but it kind of made him feel like when he was back in high school again and Iris made him sneak out with her to go to parties.

Barry liked that Len made him feel ecstatic, and he loved it that he could make the thief genuinely happy.

"Can we just drop it?" Barry asked pleadingly. And that was what gave him away.

"OH MY GOD! Nope, this is not happening, you cannot like Leonard Snart!" Barry was sure Cisco would've said, or rather, yelled some more but he cut his best friend off.

"Can you shut up?" He snapped. "Or at least, you know, yell quieter?" He added, feeling bad for snapping at Cisco already.

"No, I can not!" Cisco said, still yelling loudly, ignoring the pleading look on his best friend's face. "Barry, he is evil!" He argued.

"No, he's not!" Barry defended Len. "He might be a criminal, but he's not evil. And yes he may do some things I don't agree on, but I made a deal with him and I'm not going back on that. Neither is Len for that matter."

Cisco snorted sarcastically.

"You're goddamn defending him and calling him Len, good god this is worse than I thought." He commented.

"Yes, I'm defending him because how is this different from you and Lisa. You're being a total hypocrite." Barry told Cisco.

"This is totally different from me and Lisa! She hasn't killed anyone!" The latino was right, Len had killed multiple times, but it was more complicated that Cisco thought it to be. Though Barry found it best not to argue Cisco on that.

"So turning someone into a golden statue isn't killing them?" Barry scoffed.

"Not to mention Lisa isn't twice my age!"

"Neither is Len and we're both adults so what should age matter?!" Barry said, getting a bit exasperated now.

Cisco was about to open his mouth when Caitlin walked into the room.

"What are you two yelling about?" She asked them, clearly annoyed.

"Barry is dating Snart!" Cisco called, slamming his hands down on the iron worktable in front of him as if to prove a point.

That seemed to break Caitlin.

"Great, well you try to fix Caitlin, I'm done here," Barry grumbled before rushing out of the room.

•*•*•

Barry had tried so hard to keep it a secret and now it had all backfired on him. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded going public with Len if it wasn't for the risks attached. He would probably lose his job if it ever got around at the station. Joe was a cop and probably wanted to kill the thief for numerous reasons. His friends would judge him, try to break them up most likely.

Those were the reasons the speedster had now ignored calls and text from his friends and loved ones for the remainder of the day.

Barry looked over at his phone as the screen lit up again and he was embarrassed to admit his heart had skipped a beat when reading the name on the display. Well, not really a name. He had put Len in his contacts, however, instead of entering a name, he had entered a snowflake emoji.

He quickly unlocked his phone and read the text.

❄: Hey Scarlet, about that date, meet me at this address.

Barry looked at it and saw it was way out of town. Smart. Of course, Len wouldn't take him out here in Central City, where he was the most wanted man by the police force. Though Barry doubted they would be able to catch the thief or detain him in Iron Heights if they were to arrest him.

Barry: Alright, on my way.

He texted back, only to realize he wasn't dressed for a date. He quickly changed his clothes using his speed and then sped off to where he was supposed to meet Len for their date.

When he arrived his shoes were on fire. Barry stomped out the fire surrounding his sneakers rather ungracefully. Earning him a chuckle that nearly gave him a heart attack. Barry turned around to see Len.

"For a speedster, you're rather clumsy on your feet," the older man pointed out.

"Yeah, well, grace isn't a job requirement," Barry said with a halfhearted smile.

"What's wrong?" Len asked him, clearly picking up on Barry's mood.

"Cisco and Caitlin found out about us. So Joe is probably going to kill you, I might lose my job, and maybe even my friends" he sighed.

What Len did next surprised him. He hadn't expected the thief to pull him close and hug him tightly, burrowing his face in the fluff of his parka in the process. It had been precisely what he needed and Len has somehow sensed that.

"That's not going to happen, I won't let it," he promised Barry. "And I am a man of my word."

"That's a big promise to make" Barry noted, looking in the icy blue depths that belonged to Len.

"It's one worth keeping," the thief smiled slightly, before giving him a brief but sweet kiss.

Shit, the thief might have just stolen his heart.