#caitlin a fandom nerd

[afantasyoffiction]

listen i support all irrational character dislike as well as all irrational character likes but like you cant deny eddie is conceptually the funniest fucking character ever? and therefore so is buddie?!

like wdym he grew up in the south and now represses his emotions and calls himself straight and we all pretend those things are unrelated

wdym he’s gets panick attacks when thinking abt long term girlfriends but literally baby trapped his best friend in a matter of days

wdym he takes all his anger out by fighting physically but he’s literally a paramedic so he has to heal everyone he hurts (except himself)

wdym all he wants is to be understood and his bestie makes it his life mission to understand the whole world wdym his whole thing is learning not to run away from his boyfriend who is learning not to hold on too tight and now we’re trying to see who wins this awful tug of war bc their son is elsewhere?!!!!

what the actual FUCK so you mean tim minear

eddie diaz is actually such a fun character. he's had three girlfriends in his whole entire life but still carries unimaginable drip. he was a teen dad but instead of seeing his son as a burden or regret he flourished under fatherhood. he's serious but also very very silly. his government name is edMUNDO. he doesn't believe in curses but has been plagued by saw traps for basically his entire adult life. he loves his bestfriend enough to give him his son. he wear chanclas around his house. he's the princess of LA. he's maybe even gay. imagine being racist enough to dislike this guy.

[afantasyoffiction]

it’s actually gotten to the point where i can’t hear pink pony club without physically seeing eddie diaz dance across his living room in a pink shirt and underwear…

idk if this is what chappell roan intended, but tim minear should be taking notes

[bronx-bomber87]

Hello my wonderful fandom family :) Thanks for being so patient with me. I know I have till January but I am moving/slash road tripping at the end of Sept to a new state. Which is a HUGE change. Going two time zones ahead and everything. So wanting to get it out there before I move and have even less time LOL Also thank you for wanting to take this journey with me. S6 was hard on all of us.

Haven't had a show rock me this hard in a very long time. So I'm forever grateful for the love and comments these in depth reviews get. Never want to take that for granted. This was a ROUGH season to say the least. But I’m excited to dissect it with decompressed eyes and somewhat healed shipper heart. Be lying if I was saying it was fully healed. But was a much needed break for me. Let us begin shall we?

6x01 Strike Back.

Premiere starts off with a literal bang. They’re all trying to figure what is actually happening. The mastermind clearly not the man they just took down in Luke Moran. Also loving how scruffy Tim is in this first shot of the premiere. The stubble all over that gorgeous jawline of his. Mmm. Delicious dusting. Love to break me off a piece. Wouldn't be a review if Feral Caitlin didn't make an appearance would it? ha God he's beautiful I can't help myself. This is his fault really.

Anyway back to matter at hand.... Lucy points out Luke may have been a patsy for the real crime. Diverting all their resources to this this one spot instead of their real target. Our girl always being the brains and Tim being impressed by it. They go hand in hand. You know that man loves her brain. Her intelligence is just one of many reason's he fell in love with her. Fun to watch her flex it I have to say.

There’s so much to love about these shots in the shop with them. The Metro call sign being one of them. It does things to me. It’s just sexy. Also the automatic way she’s paired with him in this moment. Like anyone else would be in that car with him but still. Ever the packaged deal. Just the little things I always love so very much. They don’t share shops anymore. So this is a treat. Riding together, brainstorming, and just being the bad ass team they always are in the field. Makes my shipper heart happy to see it.

After the Federal Reserve mayhem we skip 6 weeks into the future. I always wondered what happened in those six weeks with our ship. Probably nothing massive tbh. But be fun to know what shippy goodness could’ve occurred. I imagine they had some time off after that. Spent it together and decompressed from the madness. Just a nice thought to think about is all. *cough fic writers cough.*

We start off our cuteness with Lucy in Tim’s office studying. There’s so much to love about this scene it’s unreal. Let’s start with Lucy taking residency in his office like it’s hers. Knowing it’s a quiet place for her to retreat to. Also I’m sure Tim offered it up long ago for her. Which makes me giddy to no end. He’s not the least shocked that she’s using it. Only that she’s not out on patrol. Married status continues to level up in this moment.

Lucy explains she’s fallen way behind in her studies. OT is killing her atm. I can’t imagine how stressed she feels. Lucy is our resident academic. Not having the time to nerd out on her studies has to be killing her. It’s why she reaches out to her man for help. To pivot this in a different direction. Something that worked for Tim when he needed studying time. Asking if she could ride with him today? Could quiz her between calls.

Getting flashbacks to 2x02 when she helped him study between calls for his exam. I always love the callbacks they do for them. Continuity is ship crack for me. I eat it up. He accepts and Lucy is beaming. Their smiles in this scene are so adorable. Couldn’t be more in love if they tried tbh. I remember thinking how much I missed our idiots in love so much. I'll be this way for S7 too. I miss them.

Tim looks excited for this challenge. You can see it in his face above. But he is also letting her know how hard it’s going to be if she wants him to do this. That it’s probably not going to solve her problem. But he’s willing to expand her knowledge base on wildcards. This way she can take any curve balls Primm has to throw. Lucy’s smile is everything when she thanks him. Relieved her man is gonna help her her out. I mean of course he would. Nothing he wouldn't do for her and she knows it.

I remember seeing the funniest post for this moment before it aired. How it was her basically asking ‘Babe, please be mean to me.’ LOL Lord knows this woman is well aware he wasn’t gonna take it easy on her. Just like the old days. It's where she learned the most. So it makes sense she would wanna dip her toe back in that pool.

Tim is ready to roll. Starting his ‘boot’ engines back up. Don’t tell me it's not a little bit of a kink for Tim. That man is too damn excited to be able to boss her around again. That being said says she learns best when she’s pissed off. I mean he’s not wrong…No one knows how to teach her better than he does. Lucy counters by saying does she? Or is this is just giving him permission to be an ass?

Tim letting her know if that’s really how she feels she doesn’t actually want his help. Lucy backtracks and is desperate for him to guide her with this. Saying she needs it. Tim is lighting up like a Christmas tree. You know that man LOVES her needing him professionally. It’s been awhile since she has. He’s excited. Lucy has been a self sufficient cop for long time now. Hasn’t needed his guidance for quite some time. So for her to come to him with this he is a happy camper.

Tim is thrilled to put his T.O. hat back on for her. They have such married energy through out this scene. Lucy telling him she doesn’t like his excited smile. Tim deflecting saying it's just his smile haha The absolute wifey look she gives him is hilarious. They just be flirting freely in the hallways. Like they aren’t completely married at this point. Even though he’s driving her insane she follows him out with an 'in love' smile. She loves her ass of a boyfriend haha

They hit the road and Lucy is still questioning her decision. Oh my girl. Saying maybe should’ve chosen Harper or Lopez instead…Tim makes a joke how Angela just got back. Her cop brain is just booting up. Which earns a smile out of Lucy. She loves this man sitting next to her so very much. Written all over her face. Doesn’t take long before Tim triggers a Lucy rant though.

Poor man is just trying to help the woman he loves get through this. Wasn't expecting the time bomb he received. He sets her off by saying no matter who teaches her they all have the same database. That there’s only a 8 percent difference between ranks. This is what ignites the Lucy meltdown above. That Primm is going to use that eight percent to trip her up. His face above when she starts is priceless. Tim is just bracing for impact at this point LMAO Ain't no stopping what's coming his way.

The flood gates have opened and phew lord what a meltdown it is LOL Holy hell. She is the queen of them. I adore how Melissa can shoot off so much dialogue in one breath. It’s impressive af if you ask me. Also makes me cackle so much cause I’ve been her. So many times when I’m under immense stress I do the same. You prattle on until you run out of steam. I can’t believe there isn’t a gif set of this rant so I made one. It’s too good not to have in this review.

It’s the look on Tim’s face that has me ROLLING. It’s been awhile since he’s had an epic Lucy rant thrown at him and it shows. Eric the King of facial expressions is at it again. I’m laughing so damn hard. I remember having to pause cause I was laughing so much at his expression. He most definitely wasn't expecting the rant that he got. If you can look at him above and not laugh you're made of stone. Hang in there Tim lmao Your girl Is worth this intense stress/anxiety vomit she just spewed all over you. It's like he doesn't even know where to begin after she's done. So he just doesn't....

The married energy continues once Lucy has wrapped up her meltdown. Tim being the smart man he is doesn’t say a word. He’s learned a thing or two from this relationship. Lucy though takes his silence as saying everything for him. With her ‘Please don’t.’ Tim trying not to start anything telling her he’s said nothing. He truly wasn’t expecting the explosion he got. Was happy to be a passenger princess today, while he quizzed her through out the day. And instead got an epic freak out right out the gate.

Tim can’t win for losing in this scene. (or this episode really) Lucy telling him she hear him thinking it. I remember there being a Chenford Bingo of some sort before the premiere. And exasperated husband was on there. This delivered that in spades. His reaction after her saying this is gold. Haha This is the woman you’ve chosen to love Timothy. LMAO You know he loves her to death neuroses and all but good lord ha.

Their banter never fails to hit and the marriage vibes on top of this is top tier. I am here for it all damn day. One of those 'When did they get married again?' moments. His look at the end is like he’s chanting to himself . ‘You love this woman…you love this woman...’ Lucy tops it off saying she just won’t sleep till the exam. Leaving Tim to shake his head more and not say a word. Only look out the window as he rolls his eyes. Primo banter and chemistry here. *chef kiss*

They roll up to their first wildcard. I adore the Metro call sign as they do. Tim assigning the crime scene to Lucy as he does. *fans self* I can’t explain why the call sign so sexy. Just is. Also them sharing it on the scene also gets me all in my feels. Tim is telling her that he is there as a resource for her. But she is the one in charge. Asking her what’s her first move?

The Plain Clothes Day vibes are all over this scene and it's fantastic. Another callback I am so happy they touched on. Lucy confidently strides onto the scene and explains her move. Tim tells her to call it in. Love the way she looks at him the entire time she does. Tim asks her what else? This is where Lucy’s confidence starts to wain sadly.

Where that panicked rookie from all those years ago begins to resurface. The way she is talking at Tim trying to figure it out oh my lord. The PCD vibes are so strong. Only this time Tim is helping her out a lot more. Unlike back in S1 he was there to watch her flop around, second guess herself and drown. It’s much different this time around. He truly wants her to succeed and let's her know as much in his responses. Lucy doesn’t see that in this moment though unfortunately.

Tim telling her the obvious boxes are checked but what’s her wildcard? The spiraling is so real for her in this moment. It hurts to watch the anxiety build in Lucy. Tim testing her knowing she can do this but her confidence is eroding in this moment rapidly. He is trying to get her there faster by saying she doesn’t have a minute. Which she really doesn’t when we know how this scene ends…

One of my fav parts of this scene is the line above. The kindness and gentleness Tim has. Because he wasn’t in love with her during PCD like he is now. Here he is trying to be supportive and gently guide her to the answer. Even give her an out for it. S1 Tim never would’ve said there’s no shame in not knowing the answer. Not this directly anyways. Doing his damn best to support her through this. But also help her get to the answer so she learns. Lucy takes it the wrong way though.

Reason being it has nothing to do with the man next to her. That man would die first before not supporting her. Level headed Lucy would know that. Sadly she is not here with us at this crime scene. Who she really is mad at is herself at this point. Because she should know the answer and her brain is stalling out in this moment. Tim told her he wasn’t gonna take it easy on her. But breaks a little with his kind reply. Giving her an out if she wants it. Lucy can’t handle it though...Because she is being far harder on herself for this than Tim could ever be. I can relate so hard to this it's unreal.

I do love the way she says ‘Sergeant Bradford, please.’ Lucy feels like she’s suffocating in her own thoughts. The panicked rush to get this right and hitting a wall. The anger building towards Tim at the same time. The confidence she has built since S3 just melting away the more she stresses. All the while taking it out on Tim. Why you ask? Because in this moment she is projecting that anxiety and stress onto him with her reply. Defense mechanism thy name is Lucy Chen.

Doesn’t take long after that line for the sprinklers to come on….The wildcard revealing itself on its own. We watch as the evidence literally gets washed away and the bullet down the drain….Lucy rushes to chase it and watches as it goes down a storm drain. A reflection for how she feels about her hopes of passing this test…It’s a rough scene to watch unfold for her. The devastation on her face when she realizes that bullet is gone is very rough.

They return to the station and Lucy is as defeated as she can be. Hoping no one knows about it as as she rubs her tattoo. They start to play clown music as she enters. SMH. Tim trying not to laugh. Aaron doesn’t help when he also laughs at her misfortune. Not a good day for our girl….Lucy gets distracted by Wesley being there with the baby.

We get a small sweet departure from her anxiety in this moment. While she has him she wants his legal opinion on her crime scene. He too laughs. These men in her life are the worst right now. Not helping her building anxiety and loss of confidence. Wes telling her she fatally ruined that scene. That she’s gonna need a straight up confession to convict someone. And that’s only if she finds the killer…oof.

We rejoin our beautiful duo staking out the crime scene. Lucy grasping at straws to fix what she so royally screwed up. Her heightened state of spiraling continues on in this scene. Lucy admits she wants to skip the exam. Her face breaks my damn heart. Killing me here Melissa. I do love the way he says her first name in response. Still gets me he can. After years of Officer Chen and ‘boot.’ Just hits differently and makes my shipper soul happy.

Tim tells her she is ready. That man would not tell her she was ready if she wasn’t. Relationship or not that man doesn’t hold back. Wouldn't send her head long into failure. If Lucy was in a better place emotionally she would’ve heard him. Heard the confidence in his tone. Seen the empathy he was exuding for her. This man has changed so much in his time with her.

It sky rocketed when they got together. Tim couldn’t have been more supportive if he tried in this scene. Hell this entire episode. But she is so very stuck in her head. A place Tim could normally shake her loose from. A specialty of his really. He can’t gain an inch of ground in this scenario. Lucy has dug her heels in so to speak that she’s gonna fail. Nothing he says is getting through.

Our girl is experiencing massive amounts of anxiety and self doubt. The panic attack is real. The fact that the one person she would’ve sold her soul for, in order to get his support back in the day, isn’t getting through is a problem. Lucy goes on to say she knows herself. That if she takes this test right now she will fail. Her confidence will die along with it. That it’s better to wait. Tim steps from one minefield to the next with this convo.

When he once again is just trying to be supportive and says ‘Then wait.’ Not only is he being in her corner he gives her something she can do in meantime. Something he hates the idea of. Her going UC while she waits this anxiety/doubt out. If that isn’t him supporting her idk what is. He is also still learning how to be there for her emotionally and she isn't giving him the grace for that. Sadly Lucy isn't in the right mind to see that though. She is just stuck in the mode she's been trapped in all ep.

I get it I really do and empathize with her. I’m the same way when my emotions are in a heightened state. Nothing gets through. I'm frozen in place emotionalIy. I get very doom and gloom as well. Lash out at anyone who isn’t going to be positive and reassuring. Which Tim is doing his best to be. But Lucy is in such a dark state of mind she doesn’t see it. All she sees right now is he doesn’t believe in her and is kicking her while she is down. She needs reassurances right now. To her he isn't delivering that the way she is wanting at this point. Him agreeing with her that she should wait is only making matters worse.

Anxiety is a cruel cruel master. It makes you believe things that aren’t true. Amplifies them to the point that you’re so wound up you’re lashing out at everyone. Even your person. Which is exactly what’s happening with Lucy in this moment. Her accusing him of making it worse with how bad she already feels. When Tim is professing words of encouragement all she hears is him saying she can’t do it.

Tim is desperate for her to know he’s in her corner after this display. Asking her if she heard him? Lucy is distracted by someone showing up to the crime scene. Tim asks her what? Lucy replying that woman was looking at the crime scene while crying. Tim is so sassy in his reply I’m proud of him. ‘Or maybe she just had a frustrating fight with her girlfriend’ heh love this. Calling her his GF always gives me the feels.

Lucy gets a last minute win with this case. Catching this lady trying to get her bracelet back after tossing the gun. Her cop gut serving her well. Sadly Lucy doesn’t see this win as such and it bleeds into this final scene unfortunately. Once again the music is absolute perfection. I’ll post some of my fav lyrics at the end of my analysis of this fight. But first let us witness the incredible chemistry that is Eric and Melissa in this final portion. You know your ship is amazing when even their angst is lightning in a bottle goodness.

This fight I will say when I watched it originally excited me. Because it just showed they’re human. Real. The both of them. They make mistakes and aren’t perfect. How healthy this was for them to get off their chest. Because honestly the UC/detective tension has been building for a long while. This was the boiling point for it IMO. This scene hurt so good to watch. I rewound it a few times before I could process it the first time.

Tim starts off with congratulating her on her 4th quarter win. He’s genuinely so proud of her for bouncing back. Felt like she NEEDED this win. So he makes sure she knows. But like I said earlier Lucy isn’t viewing it that way. Her perception is more than a little skewed atm. Her building anger at Tim has reached it's peak. She is cold to him and brisk as hell. Tim immediately picking up on her clipped ‘Thanks.’ Like she was going to be able to hide her anger and frustration from him. Girl no. Tim asks her what? Lucy shrugging him off once again.

Tim pulls on her arm gently and parrots her own damn words back at her from 5x21. That they’re not gonna work if she’s going to lie to him. Lucy conceding immediately to that. I mean they have a lot to work on communication wise, but they’ve also come really far in this aspect too. Don’t wanna disregard that. Look at Tim confronting this right away and communicating effectively. There are causes for excitement with that growth. That being said they have a ways to go. This fight is proof of that.

Lucy pulls zero punches when she asks if he undermined her today so she wouldn’t make detective? The absolute look of hurt painted across his beautiful face kills me. As you all know I relate with Tim so very much. He is so deeply loyal and loving. That any of his motives are to help those he loves around him. He truly thought he was helping her out today. Being supportive and helpful. So for her to come at him like this is leaving him stunned and extremely hurt.

His person the one person who knows him better than anyone, accusing him of something he would never even fathom doing. I was hurt for him watching this. Last thing he would ever do would be to hinder her intentionally. Loyalty to a fault is having someone else hurt you first before you’d ever do the same. That’s Tim. It’s why he is so defensive the rest of this scene. And rightfully so. I'm proud of him telling her it upset him she would even think that of him. Because IMO he did not undermine her. That man did what was asked of him.

All of Lucy’s pent up anxiety, anger, and frustration comes out full force at Tim in this scene. And my boy didn't deserve it. I was on his side the first time I watched it and I am now. I didn’t see that changing though lol. Do I understand what Lucy is going through? Yes. Good god yes. I've been her. I feel so much for what she's going though. I want to make that very clear. But Tim didn't deserve this barrage against him. Wanna also note i’m so proud of the writers for tackling mental health from the jump with this season. Both our babies got issues and this was the precursor to the season really. We just had no idea at the time....

Lucy assumed all day he was undermining her. Instead of just confronting that fact she sat in it. Stewed in it really. ALL. DAMN. DAY. Which isn’t like her. She is the type to face it right away and voice that to Tim. But didn’t this time. Giving us a little taste of their communication problems early on this season. There’s that saying. 'When you assume you make an ass out of you and me.’ And by the end of this convo Lucy is feeling like an ass. I guarantee you that .

Lucy continues to dig herself a hole when she bring up that maybe it was "unconscious". Not deliberate but also that he couldn’t help it. Which doesn’t make Tim feel any better. Nor would it make me feel any better either tbh….Basically saying he has no control over things he does. Which just insult to injury at this point for him. Then Lucy goes for her next punch below. One I still feel was unfairly delivered.

Does Tim still carry those issues? Of course he does. 100% that is still a weight on him. It’s reflected in the next ep when the subject of UC comes up. But does it belong in this fight with him? No. It has zero place in it. But like I said before she is feeling a loss of control and confidence in herself. So she is projecting her insecurities and feelings onto Tim. By bringing up his and using them to stabilize hers. It's a low blow she is dispatching to him.

She is running from her own feelings about this. She is also protecting herself by making it about Tim and his problems. (Which he has for sure) Because she isn’t ready to face the fact that she’s afraid of UC and all that will come with it. How being a detective on top of it is going to pull her from him even more.

She voiced these concerns in 5x19 when she was originally studying for her exam. It’s easier for her right now to hide in and blame Tim for his problems, than deal with her own right now. Tim’s reaction is so valid in this moment. Because to him all he did was have her back from the jump. He is feels sucker punched by this explosion and it's written all over his reaction.

Lucy asked him to help her. He did. Even told her it wouldn’t be easy and he wouldn’t be soft on her. She accepted the terms of this situation willingly. Tim supported her best he could through her meltdown. Did his damndest to not comment on it. He knows it’s her process to spiral a bit then right herself. Because he knows her so well. He had her back in trying to help figure out her wildcard. She rejected it and drowned.

Tim was calm and kind even if she didn’t recognize it about the exam. When she was doubting herself he built her up letting her know she can do it. Did his best to be in her corner if she truly felt she wasn’t ready. Then congratulated her when she got her case win. To Tim all that was him having her back.

It’s why he’s so blindsided and hurt by her words. Lucy is basically kicking him while he down in this moment and it hurt to watch. Because her anxiety and immense stress has blinded her. Making her act so very not like herself. She came at him with a one-two punch. First punch accusing him of undermining her and second being an unfair Isabel punch.

The K.O. punch really is him reading her face above. The way she looks at him when he says ‘But if you can’t see that then…’ Doesn’t even finish his sentence. He can read her just as well as she can read him. Lucy cannot see that right now. Too clouded by her extreme anxiety and stress to see him and his intentions clearly. So he ejects out of the convo. She has knocked him down for the count.

Tim can’t take the way she is looking at him right now. The way she is making him feel. Tim has always held how she viewed him in high regard. Nothing means more to him than what she thinks of him. So for her to level him with this is heartbreaking for him. So he reverts back to old Tim and clams up. Tells her he’s tired and for them to take the night off. Then walks away from her with no way for her to retort.

Lucy is a block of ice until this line of his. She was fully expecting him to apologize and go home with her. And he did not. He ejected out of the conversation to go lick his wounds. The look of shock on her face is everything. She wasn’t expecting that at all. You can see the panic on her face. That raw panic of her being left behind by him. Of Tim leaving her. The tears building in her eyes as he does this. Oh the painful foreshadowing that is this moment…..

The lyrics for this scene are so poignant and perfect. As is the entire musical lineup for this season. Perfectly encompasses Lucy in this episode and especially this scene. Here are some of my favs.

‘I think I’m losing my mind. I see you’re losing your light. Drowning out the decibels. Do you wanna find the antidote? Trying to watch my obstacles, see how fully I’ve been broke.’ Lucy is so broken in this episode and doesn’t reach out to the one person, her person to help fix her. She was drowning and went to him for the antidote and then refused it the entire time. Then gets consumed by it all.

Just a glaring look into how they both deal with being emotionally overwhelmed and vulnerable. And it’s not a good look for either of them this season tbh. But we start out with Lucy’s where I side with Tim before we go head long into Tim’s and I side with Lucy it's balanced at least lol. Damn good premiere though. I was buzzing with excitement after it.

As always thank you to anyone who read this. To all the likes, comments and or reblogs I may receive you are the best. I shall see you all in 6x02 :)

Side notes-Non Chenford

~~~~

Scruffy Tim in this ep has my ovaries in overdrive. Mmm just wanna nom on his jawline like corn on the cob.

Nyla Harper being a bad ass in a tense situation is primo. Can always count on her. The aftermath sucks for her though.

Angela being more excited to see a burrito than her husband is hilarious and so on brand haha

Main baddie gets eliminated at the end of the ep. Not sure I remember why tbh haha Things got hazy at the end of the season for me with the SL.

[icedteaandoldlace]

1, 7 and 12 pleaaaaase for the choose violence ask :))

Choosing more violence today than usual because the ask list calls for it. You've all been warned. 😅

1. The character everyone gets wrong.

Patty Spivot. I'm a Westallen fan till my dying day, but there are some catty Westallen fans who cannot let that thing with Mark Mardon go, and insist that she is the embodiment of everything wrong with real-life law enforcement, solely for wanting to do the thing that 99% of the fandom is frustrated with Barry for not doing, which is killing the person who killed one of her parents. She didn't even go through with killing him, she did things by the book in the end. Plus it was one guy and it was personal, it's not like she was out here power tripping just for the heck of it. Also, I'm not 100% certain how the Spallen shippers characterize her, because I don't really hang out in the Spallen side of the fandom, but I feel like people tend to forget that she's a nerd and make her out to be some cool it-girl instead. Patty is not a cool girl. She is a very very pretty nerd girl. I mean that in the best kind of way.

Caitlin is also horribly mischaracterized (in different ways) by both the Snowbarry fandom and the diehard Westallen fans. The only people who are right about Caitlin are the people who like both her and Iris. Everyone else is too biased to think clearly.

And of course Iris is the most mischaracterized, but everyone already knows how and why people get her wrong. And people getting her wrong is the reason why they get the other two wrong, and everyone is doing it on purpose, and it's a mess, and it's super annoying, and if everyone could just be NORMAL about these girls, things would be swell! But as it is, people are racist and petty and vindictive, so things are ridiculous.

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because of how the fandom acts about them?

So I hate to say it, because I do actually like this character very much when she's onscreen in front of me, but my word, the fandom made me so sick of Cynthia. (She would also be a good answer for that first question, because she's so mischaracterized as someone way more straight-laced than she actually is, but in her case it seems like a genuine case of Wow People Really Don't Pay Attention, Do They?) Is it weird that I hate fanon Cynthia because fanon Cynthia is a better girlfriend and a better person in general than canon Cynthia is? (yet still working for the collectors??) Because that's where I'm at. Tbh I blame the hiatus between seasons 3 and 4, 'cause I feel like headcanons and fanfiction about Cisco dealing with losing both his best friends by leaning on his girlfriend gave people expectations for what their relationship was gonna be like, and then they just...didn't register when it didn't turn out like that. Like, at all. Now, I enjoyed her time on the show for what it was, I still enjoy rewatching episodes that she's in, and would hardly be bothered to mention any of the issues I have with her if people would just see her for how she is. But for whatever reason, she's put on this pedestal and viewed as the person Cisco should have ended up with, even though every storyline they have together is loaded with examples for why their relationship would never work out in the long run. Cynthia was not the love of Cisco's life, she was something he needed to get out of his system. He wouldn't let himself date Golden Glider 'cause she was a criminal, but Cynthia being technically "team good" because she's in law enforcement gave him the inch he needed to pursue a relationship with the kind of bad girl he thought he wanted to date. But she turned out to be his Morgan Harris (which will mean nothing to anyone who hasn't watched the '80s Anne of Green Gables miniseries, but whatever), because he finally got what he wanted, only to realize that what he really wants is something else. So it's frustrating to me when people take a girl who clearly didn't want the same kind of relationship that Cisco wanted, and whose personal values clearly didn't align with his, and warp her to be some Iris-level, supportive-girlboss-wife material, who's totally never made an unethical decision in her life and works for a good upstanding organization committed to Justice™️—and insist that the writers were wrong to break her and Cisco up, because everything was ~Fine~ (insert dog in house on fire meme), when clearly breaking them up was what was best for Cisco. Because he was floundering trying to make things work with her, and they just didn't. They could never be fully happy together because either one or both of them would have to change their entire personality to make it work—and neither of them was willing to ask the other to do that. They're star-crossed. They have always been star-crossed. It just took them a while to accept it. And it's taking the fandom for-freaking-ever.

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them.

Obviously I stay raving about why everyone should love Kamilla. I'm sure you all know the spiel by now.

She's sweet, she's smart, she has style, she can keep her head in a crisis, she's gentle but knows how to tell someone off when she needs to, she has no superpowers or combat training of any kind, and yet willingly joins in several dangerous missions because she cares a lot about helping people, and protecting the people she loves. Despite being seriously underutilized, she actually has much more development than people realize, but folks insist on saying she "doesn't have enough personality to be interesting/to take from canon and build off of for fanfiction" JUST BECAUSE SHE'S NICE AND SOFT-SPOKEN AND GIRLY, AND PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT TF TO DO WITH A NICE GIRL CHARACTER WHO DOESN'T ALSO PUNCH STUFF. Not that she's not badass when she needs to be, but that is entirely beside the point! Now I understand that some people tapped out of the show early and didn't get to know her. But the way people who lasted 7 whole seasons just write her off as flat and boring drives me up the WALL. She's a photographer! She's a bartender! She reads comic books! She likes Star Wars and Fantastic Four! She cooks! She organized an art show! She subbed in for the rest of Team Flash when they were unavailable! She knows how to operate a satellite! Because she's watched Cisco and Caitlin do it, so clearly she's got mad observational and fast learner skills! She's maybe, possibly vegan, but also possibly not? She has at least one sister, and she made friends with all of Team Flash very fast, and it's no wonder, because she's shown to be thoughtful and a good listener several times! There are SO MANY little details about her slipped into canon that you can easily take and run with and develop further in fun ways, and that's part of why she's one of my favorite characters to write for! Also, HELLO, the supportive, attentive girlfriend everyone projects Cynthia to be? Kamilla actually IS! Literally WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE????

[afantasyoffiction]

i have officially posted my eddie pov ficlet inspired by (aka basically narrating) this edit!!!! thanks so much @hurtingbuck and @scrambledgrapes for the inspo <3

you’ve haunted me, so stunningly (2312 words) by a_fantasy_2 Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV) Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV) 'hey, what do you remember about getting shot?' Eddie swallows, looks back up at Buck. His best friend in the whole world sits before him, soft and tired in grey sweats and messy hair, curving his broad shoulders into the sofa like he wishes it would swallow him up. Eddie knows the feeling. “No bright white lights, no trippy mind puzzles. Just thought I was dead, and then I wasn’t.” And it’s the truth, or part of it. or Buck asks Eddie what he remembers about getting shot, and Eddie can only tell him part of the truth. because the real truth, the whole truth, is that he remembers falling - to the ground, in life, in love. Eddie remembers everything, remembers Buck, and it haunts him.

And that was it? That was it.

[ncisfranchise-source]

It doesn’t take a team of federal agents to figure out that if you picked up this magazine, you’re probably one of the 300 million people from around the world who watched some version of NCIS last year. That’s just a smidge under the entire population of the United States.

The massive fandom around the military procedural, which reigns as the most watched drama on broadcast TV, began in 2003 with a spectacular series premiere from cocreators Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill. The episode, inspired by the 1997 movie Air Force One, introduced what would become the show’s signature recipe of action, emotion, and a dash of humor when agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum) investigate a mysterious death aboard the presidential plane.

We fell in love with Gibbs’ gruffness (OK, his good looks didn’t hurt either) and Ducky’s intellect. We were intrigued by the twisty case and fascinated by an agency we’d never heard of: the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which solves crimes involving the Navy and Marine Corps.

The distinct characters back at HQ sealed the deal. The original cast included a roundup of agents with lovable quirks: by-the-book profiler Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander), flirtatious Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), and tech geek Tim McGee (Sean Murray). In the lab, we got the unexpected goth/nerd forensic specialist Abby Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) and Ducky’s dedicated and sensitive assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen).

Over the years, NCIS built a reliable world that we could return to every week. It was governed by “Gibbs’ Rules,” practical guidelines for successfully solving cases and living life (new ones popped up all the time). We got to know our beloved characters better through eye-opening backstories, sometimes revealing tragic incidents. There were in-office rivalries and romances. (Tony and Ziva [Cote de Pablo] forever! — their story will continue in a new spinoff) Recognizable baddies kept coming back for more until the agents took them out—as we cheered them on from our sofas.

And those agents handled it all with the qualities expected at the real-life U.S. Naval Academy: “competence, character, compassion.” In a tumultuous world, it was a comfort to hang out at Navy Yard HQ in the bullpen, aka “the big orange room,” with decent folks like that.

As with any workplace, people have come and gone. Some we lost tragically. Others opted to move on. Saying goodbye to Gibbs when he retired in 2021 was the hardest. But NCIS has a way of reinventing itself. The new team leader, Alden Parker (Gary Cole), is more gregarious than the taciturn Gibbs, but as we’ve learned since he arrived, like his predecessor, he’s got plenty from his past that haunts him.

Bringing to life the multilayered characters of NCIS are writers, producers and crew, many of them with the show for decades. (Some even worked on JAG, the military legal drama from which NCIS spun off.) They’ve expanded into multiple spinoffs: NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans and NCIS: Hawai‘i. The latest, NCIS: Sydney, debuted in November 2023.

Speaking to the deep staying power of not just the format but the characters, a forthcoming prequel, NCIS: Origins, will tell the story of a young Gibbs. Mark Harmon’s son Sean played the junior Leroy in NCIS flashbacks, but the new series will cast a different actor. Both Harmons will serve as executive producers.

The possibilities for the future of NCIS are endless. Bring on the milestone 1,000th episode of the franchise, coming in April!

[badass-at-fandoming]

hello! so: i'm fairly new to vtm and i wanna read through the books, but i've heard that not all of them are worth reading, so i was wondering if you have any recommendations? thank you so much!

Anonymous!!! This question made me so happy! I love recommending books! Welcome to Vampire! 💜

For starters, some caveats. First, anything touched by White Wolf Publishing is going to be some level of Awful. The best approach to World of Darkness, I find, is that of a vulture. Scavenge, pick the bones, find the delectable meat among the rot, and use that good stuff to fuel your imagination. VtM is horror, and all that horror entails. BUT the writers ALSO have a lot of unexamined bigotry they didn't put in the stories with intent. Yes, sometimes harmful content is there on purpose. A good example would be in the Coteries of New York visual novel. No matter which PC you pick, Baron Callihan says something tailored to insult them, to show off his gross character. So, to start, a general Content Warning for racism, sinophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and misogyny. Geeeeeeennnneerrraaaalllllyyyy, the more modern the book the less this sort of bullshit appears.

My second caveat is way funnier. Uh, when I was in your position, starting my VtM books journey, I was equally overwhelmed by where to start. With some encouragement from fandom friends, I decided I would become the Beckett Fandom Elder. I focused all my reading on this feral nerd. Now I lounge in the decadence of pristine Beckett knowledge, such as he's Bride of Dracula.

Okay, enough caveats! I don't know how familiar you are with Vampire: the Masquerade to start with, so I'm going to assume you know nothing! Links to my reviews, when applicable.

The Victorian Age Trilogy by Philippe Boulle. This trilogy is a stellar introduction to the world of Vampire. Boulle does a fantastic job slowly revealing the world, its rules, quirks, and characters. The final novel doesn't quite stick the landing, but it's overall p fun. Highly, highly recommend.

The Book of Nod by Andrew Greenberg & Sam Chupp is an in-universe collection of myths centering Caine, the first vampire. Despite some hiccups, the writing is beautiful and presented like actual historical source, with footnotes, scholastic arguments, and introduction!

The Seduction of Goratrix and The Sword in the Tower by punk_pseudo are smutty romps that will make you smile and laugh! Gold-tier! Also that's TOTALLY the canon beginning of the Tremere Clan. :D :D :D

Vampire: the Masquerade - Corebook, Fifth Edition by Karim Muammar et al - after reading the above, I would read the Corebook. It's not a novel, but it will clarify any remaining questions about VtM.

Beckett's Jyhad Diary by Myranda Sarro et al. This is the Motherload for Beckett fans, and VtM fans. There's just SO MUCH. One podcast I listened to recommended the Diary as the first book to read, but I disagree. The Diary assumes you already know the basics and swims in the very deep end of lore. While reading, I had the White Wolf Wiki open beside me, because the writing would constantly reference something I didn't know.

Other books I heard were good but I haven't read myself:

Dark Ages Clan Novel Saga, Book 13: Tzimisce by Myranda Kalis centers on Sascha (then, Myca) Vykos and I've heard much goodness about it from @ryttu3k

Walk Among Us by Genevieve Gornichec, Cassandra Khaw, and Caitlin Starling. Audiobook only. Khaw is an incredible, award-winning writer so super looking forward to this.

Haunting Shadows: A Wraith 20th Anniversary Fiction Anthology is not Vampire, but my colleague Catherine Lundoff has a story in it and she's awesome :D Also she has a MILF lesbian werewolves series.

Now, those are a lot of recs. You can purchase them on DriveThruRPG or find them here. However, if you're looking at the first caveat and grimacing, if you read A Morbid Initiation and it is no, DITCH IT. a03 has mass troves of VtM fiction, and they're more in line with slick modern sensibilities like "hey maybe gender and racial minorities are people." Below are fanfiction that stand very well on their own, without serious prior knowledge of VtM. You might have to still look up some terms on the White Wolf Wiki, and again, these are very centered on Beckett.

Labyrinth of Blood and Silver Scales by AsunderWolf aka @lairofsentinel - meshes together Vampire and Mage into a twisty tale of gay time travel and very important handkerchiefs. Reminded me of the beauty in grief.

The City That Never Sleeps + Radio Silence by Martin Iceworth aka @robotslenderman - these center on New York City and the Nosferatu. The second one chronicles the NSA breaching SchreckNET, the vampire internet. Oops.

The Wolf and the Unicorn by alchemagician- a sweet adventure of Beckett and a Salubri woman who could step on me and I'd say thanks

The Creature Known as Emma Blake by DraculaBackwards aka @draculabackwards69 - rewrite of the Victorian Trilogy with ALL the good bits and ZERO of the bad bits. Unlike the above, this one's not all posted, but the first few chapters already have me swooning.

Other fanfic is Very Good, but they tend to require knowledge of what they're based on. For example, the every skyline was a kiss upon the lips by @ryttu3k needs to be stapled into the Diary. @draculabackwards69's wrote up some very important, missing plot beats of Anatole/Beckett and Beckett/Dracula. Retellings of Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines are popular. (Let's Play here. Antitribu Mod here. Final Nights Mod here.)

Wherefore Means Why by Sloane aka @meteormemoirs - a re-telling of Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines with an extra special Malkavian twist :D Not quite finished, but close.

A Traitorous Affair by @missn11. Truly, any of missn11's re-tellings are my comfort reads. :D

The Many Clans of Sebastian LaCroix Challenge has produced many awesome fic, such as Sweet Corruption into Enlightenment, Crown, and Diviner Bureaucrat.

Goodbye to Sleep by hartstrings aka @its-sixxers - Mary is best girl

Wormwood by Elysiummm - are you ready to have your goddamn mind blown

Embrace the Night by @lost-toreador-in-la - comes with much fanart!

@vampire-the-askerade has lovely little snippets and scenarios for all your VTMB needs :D

I've written fanfic as well, but again, they more fill in gaps than serve as standalone stories. I think Bad Idea and A Monastery stand by themselves the most.

Oh my goodness, that's more than enough to get you started! Hahaha, welcome to Vampire: the Masquearde! It's a place. :D

If anyone else has recs, add them! :D

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

hey, first of all, thank you so much for the effort you put in this account, it's super helpful! i wanted to know if you know any fics where stiles is oblivious to derek liking him bc he thinks derek is way out of his league? thanks!

Sure thing.

Almost, But Not Quite by hazelNuts

(1/1 I 2,205 I Teen)

anonymous asked, "hi i want to say that i really love your stories because you don't have cheating in them. which right now is something am so thankful for because when it happens to you right out of the blue you really hate even the mention of the word. i really need some happy sterek fluff maybe containing my favorite sterek situation high school derek jock and stiles nerd. as wired as this request sounds at the time my fanfiction pairings are the only people i feel i can trust as they can't hurt me."

Stiles and Derek are dating, but they are also awkward dorks who need to learn to use their words. Sometimes, happy accidents can help with that.

Double Date Me by CaitliNation

(1/1 I 3,014 I Teen)

“I was wondering if you’d go on a double date with me,” Derek says, rushing all the words out at once.

Stiles freezes, scanning Derek’s expression and wondering how exactly he’s going to get out of this mess. He doesn’t want to spend a whole night watching Derek and Erica stare lovingly into each other’s eyes.

But Derek has this hopeful expression on his face that makes Stiles surprisingly incapable of saying no.

“Who’s going to be there?” Stiles asks as he closes his laptop. There’s no way he’s going to be able to focus on his schoolwork now.

Derek looks at him with a careful expression. “Well, it would be us, and then Erica and Lydia.”

Stupid Say What? by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella)

(1/1 I 8,437 I General)

Stiles shoved another bite into his mouth, glancing over at Boyd and Erica. Boyd was smiling down into his eggs benedict and Erica was grinning at Stiles.

He frowned in confusion, his chewing slowing. Tucking the food into one cheek, he asked, “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just nice. I like when the four of us come out together. Our little double dates,” she teased, stabbing her fork into a strawberry and putting it between her lips.

Stiles snorted at her comment, since this wasn’t a double date—he wished—but didn’t comment on it because he liked their outings, too. Even if he whined incessantly about it until he got there, it was always a good time.

Navigating This Space Between Us by Omni

(1/1 I 9,641 I Explicit)

Derek gets forced to watch some sci-fi show about a surly, secret prince and the sarcastic young spaceship captain hired to aid him on his quest. Strangely enough, he finds himself hooked on it. So much so that he's even drawn into the fandom. There he meets a popular fanfic author with an oddly endearing attitude, and he gets rather smitten. Maybe this mystery guy could actually help get him to stop pining for Stiles...

Like a .... Faerie! by 1lostone

(6/6 I 15,027 I Explicit)

Stiles is about half a year from graduating and just about has managed to work up the nerve to tell Derek exactly what he’s been missing. It just goes to show you... making a wish on New Year’s while drunk off your ass was probably NOT the most intelligent of ways to ring in the New Year

Its a Stiles Thing by M4nEat3r

(18/? I 22,183 I Explicit)

“Is no one gonna bring it up?” Erica demanded, practically bouncing out of her seat in Boyd's lap.

“Bring what up?” Derek murmured, taking a gulp of his soda.

“The fact that you smell like a whore house whenever Stiles is around.”

Derek promptly choked.

Wolves with a Spark by AMatchInWater

(12/? I 53,794 I Explicit)

Talia lets out a shocked gasp, "your eyes. They're purple." The Alpha is practically oozing with excitement. Stiles hisses, as the fingers touching the Nemeton start to sting as markings etch themselves into his knuckles and a small one on his wrist that looks like a Y but the stem goes up between the v part. "What the-?" Stiles yells out in pain, yanking his hand off the bark, the back of his left forearm feeling like it's been set on fire. A white fox with vibrant blue eyes burns into his flesh. "Mom?" He asks again, she died when he was young, but the Omega remembers what she looked like fully shifted. The spitting image of the tattoo forming on his skin. "What's happening?" Frantic eyes meet Talia's and Derek's. "You're a spark." Talia whispers in wonder. "You have magic, Stiles."

OR

Stiles moves in with the Hales after his father passes away. Presenting as an Omega and then a spark years later. He's hopelessly head over heels for Derek and wants to be his mate, but it almost certain the Alpha doesn't feel the same way about him so he says nothing and pines from a distance. Talia asks if Stiles would like to train to be an emissary to the Hale pack and Stiles agrees.

The New Normal by midnightcas

(27/27 I 63,392 I Teen)

After Stiles gets hurt...again, Derek puts him on the metaphorical supernatural bench. Meanwhile, Stiles tries to have a normal life and make normal friends. But when a new pack comes to town and the Hales start getting threats, things start to get a little....not normal.

run and hide by whiry

(36/36 I 174,966 I Teen)

"Unlike Derek, Stiles still remembers the first time they met. He remembers the confusion at the pull in his chest, tugging him to the boy with big ears and light eyes. He’d been in the grocery store with his mother and Derek with his, and they had all been minding their business, but Stiles had a niggling in the back of his head directing him toward Derek. And when their eyes met for the first time? Stiles’ heart about exploded. He remembers grabbing his chest and gasping and his mother running over and Derek’s mother running over. The boys didn’t even say anything, and poor Derek looked so confused, and Talia and Claudia simply looked at their boys, looked at each other, and immediately set up a time to meet. And that was how it started."

or, stiles and derek suck at being mates, a new threat comes to town, and stiles has to desperately try to save everything he's ever loved from total destruction all while trying to get through his sophomore year unscathed.

[afantasyoffiction]

i have made it my mission to get as many people as i know into the things i’m into

not because they’re good, but because i’m selfish and thrive on chaos

i am not in a single fandom i recommend people get into for fun but i will tell everyone to consume every piece of media i do!!!

Funniest fandoms are where the fans are like, "I'm obsessed with this. I don't recommend it even slightly."

[ashboy-3]

He's One Cool Kat

Prompt: Written for ColdFlash BigBang, never got put onto Tumblr accidentally Fandom: CW's Flash Words: 18,706 Summary: Barry is a typical 1950’s nerd with no friends and is a loner, not by choice of course, while Snart is a greaser who rolls with his gang, the rouges. The two are forced to work on a science project together and although they have many differences the two begin to learn things about each other that they would have never guessed.

Ao3 Link

Barry Allen was just a nerd as he walked into the school building in central city. He was wearing his white button up shirt, with a pair of black slacks, and a pair of black suspenders on his shoulders to keep his pants up. He didn’t feel like putting his contacts in earlier this morning, so he wore his big thick black rimmed glasses. The last part to complete his look, besides his black shoes, is his bow tie. He decided that he didn’t want to wear a tie today and he already had a bow tied from the other day. This was how a normal day went for Bartholomew Henry Allen, but he preferred it when people just called him Barry.

Besides him walked a smaller brown skinned girl who wore an orange blouse with sleeves that came down to the elbows, a brown pencil skirt that had a small pattern of dark yellow flowers on them. The skirt also had a thick brown belt to go around the waist, for shoes she wore a pair of brown penny loafers that had a small bow of string tied on the tip of the toes, with matching socks of course. Last to complete the look she wore a small necklace of white beads around her neck and one small bracelet on her right wrist. This was Iris West, Barry’s stepsister.

School was just getting back on track after Christmas break let out and Barry, like always, was nervous. He liked school, especially science class. What he didn’t like were the other kids at the school. They often picked on him and messed with him, the only one who could truly stop them was his sister. Barry on the other hand, usually did the only thing he’s known how to do his whole life. . .

Run.

He would run from the bullies, from the other kids, from the teachers, his adoptive father, his problems. If something was going wrong, he would just run. He knew that wasn't healthy, but what else is he supposed to do? He's not good at anything else but schoolwork.

As he was just about to lose track in his thoughts Iris looked over at him and started to talk to him, “Barry are you even listening?” She finally asked him.

“Uh sorry no,” He admitted.

“I said that I’m going to catch a ride with Caitlin after school and I think that Cisco is coming with us. I need to know if you're staying after school later or not, so I know if he needs to give you a ride. Dad said he’s working late tonight,” she informed him.

Barry just shook his head in agreement, knowing Iris was ready to leave him behind to meet up with her friends, they were in different grades after all. They talked for a few more minutes before they parted ways and Barry walked to his class.

As he walked in the first thing, he noticed was that some of the rogues were in his class and that meant bad news for him. Not only were they the bad kids of the school, but one of them was super-hot and distracted Barry easily, not that he would ever let anyone know that, especially that rouge, no matter how nifty he was.

Seeing as he was the first person to walk into the class, they just stared at him and what Barry would give to run away from there, but he would never dream of skipping class.

To add salt to the wound the two rogues in his class were none other than Leonard Snart and Mick Rory. They both wore roughly the same thing; in fact, all the rouges did. They all wore a white shirt, with a black leather jacket, a pair of white or black socks, and a pair of black shoes. The only thing that really differed their outfits was their pants. They all wore jeans, but it varied in different dark colors. Their shoes were all different from everyone else's as well. They were black with a white outline and a white shoelace.

Barry was a lucky one to never be in a class with one of them, but he always admired from afar now, however, it seems like he’s going to be a main target.

He rushes to take his seat, hoping that the teacher doesn’t decide to move him in the future as he sat the furthest away from the two and waited for class to start.

Earlier that Day

As Leonard Snart walked to school, he made a point to stop by one house that held a certain Mick Rory. He was pulling a cigarette out of a new deck of luckies right when Mick walked through the door. Without a word Mick lit the cancer stick for Len, but he was happy to not partake in the substance, he was happy to just watch it burn.

“We can always skip school today,” Mick suggested, clearly not wanting to go. Mick hated school the whole thing was hard and stupid. The only class he really liked was English and even that was only when he was able to free write. School is just too hard for him to understand.

“My dad will turn me red if I skip the first day of school,” Snart told him, ending the conversation making the two walks in silence, not that they minded. After all, the two have known each other practically their whole lives.

Snart knew everything about Mick and vice versa, and boy did the two have problems. If it wasn't for Snart’s father Mick would be in juvie by now, or worse an asylum. All for loving fire, Snart himself thought that it was stupid, but he can’t be one to judge. If his father ever found out that he didn’t like girls and instead liked boys, he would be killed on the spot.

Before the two knew it, they were at school. They walked to the office to receive their schedules, after all they always take the same class and most of those were one block courses. After that it was revealed that their first class of the day was science. Of course, they would be the first ones there, not that they cared. It usually put the teachers in a false confidence when they showed up and acted like angels for the first week and became hellions the rest of the school year.

The two, with no hesitation, walked to the back of the classroom in the far corner, climbed on the top of the desk and sat down, clearly not in the seats. The two talked about any and everything. They didn’t have anything to catch up on, they saw each other every day during break. There are only two things that Mick currently didn’t know about his best friend at the moment. If his sister made it to school okay, and who his crush is. The first one Mick didn’t really care about as she usually got a ride to school by Len’s ass of a father. The second one, however, bugged him greatly.

Mick knew that his friend had a crush, he’s known since they entered high school. Just not who it is. Just when Mick was about to bring up his favorite topic of conversation to tease his friend with the nerdiest kid in the whole school walked in... well almost, that Ramon boy was nerdier by at least .01 percent. 

The second the brown-haired teen noticed the two his eyes widened, and he decided that the perfect place to sit was in the front of the class next to the door, the farthest seat from them possible.

The boy seemed to keep quiet and not want any attention, but as Mick watched his friend and saw Snart’s eyes widen he could tell that this was the boy that his best friend was crushing on and by the looks of it he was crushing hard, but of course Len will never admit it, without help of course.

Mick hit Snart on the shoulder as a way to get his attention and pointed at the boy, “Look at the candy ass,” Mick told him as he laughed.

“He definitely ain’t no cat that’s for sure,” Len agreed as the two laughed, but Mick could tell that his friend was hurting inside at not wanting to reveal his feelings.

Sadly, the two didn’t have time to laugh at the nerd for much longer as the warning bell rang, and the class started to fill up. As more people walked in you could see that they were visibly uncomfortable by the fact that the leader and second in command of the rogues were in their class.

Not a minute passed after all the teens took their seats that their teacher for the class walked in the classroom, slamming the door as he entered.

“You will all be quiet and sit down. No talking, no fighting, no using ridiculous slang in this class. I will introduce myself and then it will be all of you. My name is Mr. Wells. I do not care for you, but each and every one of you will behave in this class, and if you are lucky you just might pass,” Wells said to all of them. 

It took up the first ten minutes of class, but eventually everyone introduced themselves, not that Wells was going to care enough to remember their names.

“Now that, that is done. I will explain how this class will work. I will split all of you into groups of two. This is your partner. You will sit next to this person and do all of your work with this person. The only time you do your work by yourself is for a test.  You will each do one big project that is due then end of the year. You will work on it starting today with your partner. This will count for sixty percent of your grade, and before any of you ask, yes, I will be picking the partners. Now when I call your name you will be moving seats,” Wells explained. 

At the end everyone instantly gained anxiety as to not know who they were going to be with for the next few months, but everyone except the two rogues had the same thought, ‘please don’t let me be partners with them.’

“Barry Allen, Mick Rory. . .” Wells droned on until he had half the class standing. “Now I will tell you who your partner is starting with Barry Allen. You will now be sitting with Leonard Snart,” Wells directed as Barry’s eyes went wide with disbelief and Len’s eyes as well.

When Barry didn’t move in the first five seconds Wells yelled at him, “Well are you going to take your seat or not! We do not have all day!”

“Sorry sir,” Barry said as he ducked his head and rushed his seat over to the taller teen with the cold piercing stare.

Through the entire class period neither one spoke to each other, but they both knew that they would have to talk and figure out what their big project was going to be. It was after class that Len decided he would have to take the initiative and talk to the other first.

“Listen, Barry,” Snart spoke as the other squeaked at being spoken to.

“We will have to work on this project together. I don’t care much for school, but my father however does. I’m also not about half assing things and leaving one person to do all the work. Tell me when and where and I’ll pick you up and we can work on the lame project,” Snart told him, glad that he was able to look cool as he spoke, even when he can feel Mick’s eyes on his back.

“Um okay,” Barry agreed, until Snart motioned for him to continue to speak, “I mean yeah of course. I can’t work after school directly today as I need to go home and tell my father where I’ll be, but if you want you can pick me up at my house in about an hour after school,” Barry told him, happy that he was able to get a full sentence out, he even wrote down an address for the other boy.

Throughout the rest of the day the two didn’t speak to each other. At lunch Barry told Iris that if she could just drop her off at the house that would be fine, and she luckily agreed. For Snart, however, was cornered about his best friend, before they met up with the rest of their friends.

“I saw you talking to the brown-haired nerd at class earlier today,” Mick started to say but he was instantly stopped.

“Mick I’m not having this conversation at school. We can talk as we walk back home. For now, can we please just go hang out with the rest of our friends?” Snart asked, knowing that his friend can get anything out of him if he really tried.

“You owe me a full explanation after school,” Mick said as he glared at his friend for blowing him off, but kept his word and kept his mouth shut as they talked to the rest of their friends, after all out of the whole group, Mick is the only one who knows about Snarts secret.

After school Barry got a ride from Iris and was dropped off at school, as she and Catlin drove off to do whatever girls do. He walked inside his house and noticed that his adoptive father must’ve still been at work. Noticing this made Barry smile as he could get ready and look at least decent with no questions. He really didn’t want to think about what his adoptive family would think of him if they found out that he liked boys, especially Leonard Snart, the worst of them all.

It didn’t take him long, but he was sure to grab a quick snack and anything science related with him before he walked out the door and waited on the street for Snart to pick him up.

Snart on the other hand had to walk home with Mick, as he decided to not drive to school that day and for that he had to endure more of this embarrassment for a lot longer than necessary. 

“So, is that the one that you’ve had your secret crush on for a while now?” Mick asked.

“Mick I’ll tell you again and again I don’t have a crush. He’s just some stupid nerd,” Len tried to say, but his best friend just laughed at him and boy did he laugh hard.

“Snart, I know everything about you. I know your secret, so you don’t have to hide from me. Just tell me the truth,” Mick said to him, knowing he was right.

“I don’t know. I mean I want to kill this study session, but I know I’ll mess it up. He’s already scared of me because of who I am,” Snart told him.

“Don’t be so low man. You got this and you will kill it,” Mick encouraged him. 

It made Snart have a smile on his face the rest of the walk home, and it helped that Mick didn’t mind hearing Snart babble on about all of the little things Snart noticed about Barry from just one class.

Once Snart got home he made sure to freshen up, after all his main goal was to impress Barry, but first to find out if he even liked guys, of course that goal may take a while. 

It wasn't long before Snart got in his car and pulled out headed for the street that he was told to meet Barry at, a little disappointed that he wasn't trusted with his actual address.

It was a little less than an hour, but finally Barry was waiting around the corner for the car that would pick him up, and Snart was just down the street looking for the brown-haired teen. Both were nervous, and both had no idea what to say or do, but they both silently agreed that they would make this the best study session ever.

Barry waved his hand our as he saw Snart through the windshield of a 1954 black chevy corvette. It didn’t look new, in fact it looks really broken up, but Barry had a feeling that it was one of the things that, like most guys, Snart took great pride and joy in.

“So, where did you have in mind for us to go and work?” Barry asked a little nervous. No matter how much of a catch Snart may be he’s still a Rouge and Iris would kill him if she knew he was out with him right now.

“I was thinking that we could go to the park. I feel like it would be more comfortable for you then rather an inside space,” Snart answered, he for sure wasn’t going to go to his house. “Did you have any ideas for this big project we’re supposed to be doing?” Snart asked Barry in return as he continued to drive through the city.

“I was thinking that we could do a project on measuring vibrational frequency with light, or one on Molecular Scissors, or maybe even one about devising an algorithm for solving a Rubik’s cube, or even-“Barry was going to continue but he was cut off.

“I’m all for those Ideas Allen, but I don’t think I’m as smart as you, maybe we could lower the IQ level a little bit for something worthy of a high school senior?” Snart asked him as Barry started to blush from being called out.

“Sorry! I sometimes get carried away,” Barry explained to him as he looked down at his feet and started to fiddle with his hands, unbeknownst to him Snart had a small smile on his face as he watched him out the corner of his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. I get it that you’re some smart kid, but really ya gotta loosen up a little,” Snart told him, as they drove into the parking lot and he parked the car.

“I...,” Barry didn’t really have anything to say to that.

“What?” Snart asked as the car was now parked and just running as he looked at Barry.

“It’s nothing! Don’t’ worry about it!” Barry tells him as he gets out of the car, grabbing his backpack of science stuff with him as the two go sit at a public table.

Barry ranted on ends about science and Snart was even able to put a few points in here and there, but it was mainly one sided, not that Snart cared that much. He learned very quickly that even if he has no idea what Barry is talking about, he could still listen to him talk forever. The bad thing is that the more Barry did talk, the less he understood. It was after twenty minutes of talking with no response that Barry finally snapped his fingers in front of Snart’s face to get his attention.

“Sorry!” Snart said loudly and it made Barry stifle a small laugh.

“If I was losing you all you had to do was say something. I tutor my sister in science all the time and even she can’t keep up with me,” Barry told him.

“Ya gotta sister?” Snart asked him, this was news to him.

“Yeah Iris West,” Barry said.

“The Negro?” Snart questioned, but quickly regretted it as Barry glared at him, and Snart has never seen the nerd so mad. Snart might have found one of the few things that could get the nerd to actually stand up to someone.

“If we have to work together on this project, I would thank you to not call her that. It’s disrespectful,” Barry chided him.

“Ey I’m sorry man. I meant nothing by it. If you don’t want me to call her that then I won’t. All you have to do is say something,” Snart told him, holding his hands up to defend himself.

“I-sorry that I did that,” Barry quickly apologized after he realized who he yelled to.

“Really. I already told you that we’re cool man. If you don’t want me to use certain words or anything like that then just let me know. I might be a jerk but I’m not an asshole,” Snart told him.

“I-thank you,” Barry decided on as he looked down. When he did this, he also caught a look at his watch and finally started paying attention to the time. “I gotta get home,” Barry told Snart with wide eyes. “It’s almost eight! I bet their worried about me,” Barry started to freak-out, but all Snart did was let out a small laugh.

“Calm down Allen. I’ll bring you home. We can decide on a project tomorrow,” Snart reassured him as the two started to gather their things.

It didn’t take long and Barry was back in Snarts car as the two were driving around the city. It only took a short ride and Snart was dropping Barry off at the same place he picked him up from. It was as Snart was getting ready to drive away that he yelled through the passenger window, “See ya Barry!”

Barry waved by as he was shocked into standing for a minute. “He just called me Barry,” Barry said to himself. He ended up walking home with a smile on his face just going over the scene in his head, “He called me Barry!” Barry cheered for himself as he walked inside, but his happiness was short lived as Iris stomped over to him.

“Where have you been Barry! Dad and I have been worried sick! You’ve been gone for a long time and all you told me was that you had to go and study! You could’ve missed dinner” she lectured him.

Don’t get Barry wrong, he loves his sister. It’s just sometimes she treats him as if he’s still in elementary school and that he doesn’t know anything.

“I was out,” Barry answered her, last thing he wants to do is reveal who he was with, even if it was the best time he’s had out in days, weeks, months. . .years?

“Where were you? Were you with someone? You were I can tell that you were!” She questioned him as she walked closer and closer to him, until he finally had to shove her off.

“I wasn’t with anyone. If you must know I was at the library. I had to study for a big project in science class. Not like anyone who’s paired up with me is going to help with the work,” he told her as he looked down, kind of feeling guilty, that he’s making her feel guilty.

“Bear,” She started to apologize, but Barry really was not in the mood.

“I’ll be in my room,” Barry said as he ran up the stairs.

It was the next morning and Snart was not happy at his bastard of a father.

“Get up you ungrateful leech,” his father said as he kicked him to wake Snart up. “I’m bringing your sister to school today so make sure you get there to,” his father said as he walked out of Snart’s room, slamming the door.

“Lisa was always your favorite,” Snart said to himself, not that he was mad at Lisa for it. As long as Lisa is his favorite, he won’t harm a hair on her head, and she gets everything that she needs. She doesn’t have to suffer like he does, and Snart will make sure that it stays that way.

Snart really didn’t feel like driving, so he walked to school again that day and made sure to walk by Mick’s house. Mick soon joined him and of course the first thing he is going to do is tease his best friend.

“So, how’d the date go,” Mick asked him with a smile.

“It wasn’t a date. We just worked on the project together,” Snart told him, with a blush on his face as he remembered the mistake he made at the last second.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a date, your blushing face would like to tell differently,” Mick said as he made fun of his friend.

“I just made a mistake is all,” Snart told him, and at Mick’s questioning gaze Snart sighed as he answered, “I called him Barry right after I dropped him off instead of Allen.”

It was silence for a few seconds before Mick busted out laughing. It made Snart glare at him and finally when Mick was almost done laughing, he patted his friend on the back to help regain his strength. “you my friend are quite the jokester.”

Snart just glared at his friend as he tried to retain his dignity, that wasn’t going to happen. “Can you stop laughing at me for five minutes?” Snart asked his best friend.

“Not a chance. Maybe when you get your shit together ya riffraff. Are you gonna meet up with him again?” Mick asked.

“We have to. We have that huge science project that we have to do,” Leonard told him, getting defensive.

“Yeah but you don’t have to meet up with the nerd every day after school, but if you want to, is a whole different story,” Mick suggested as he got closer to his friend to make love eyes at him.

“Shove off,” Len said as he pushed his friend away, the two slowly coming up to the school, “You know I want to meet up with him again, but I won’t leave the gang without me for long. Plus, I don’t think he enjoys spending that much time with me, after all I’m a bad Kat.”

“yeah I know. I say you go on another study date tonight. Me and the boys can handle another night without our fearless leader there. You can skip school with us tomorrow and we’ll make sure that ass you call a father never finds out,” Mick suggested as Snart smiled, after all the two always looked out for each other.

“Thanks Mick,” Len said as the twos conversation ended, after all they were now at school and the two agreed long ago that, that conversation topic was banned in public.

The two dragged their legs as they walk inside towards the science classroom and were not surprised to see Barry Allen already seated and looking extremely nervous as Snart sat down next to him.

The two were surprised when they could sense that Barry was trying his best to not be angry at Snart as he sat down. “Did I do something wrong last night?” Snart asked himself, deciding to keep quiet for now.

Earlier that Day

Barry woke up as usual to Iris banging on his door yelling at him to get ready for school and to come down for some breakfast.

Once he was dressed Barry ran down the stairs starving, after skipping dinner last night.

“Here ya go Bear,” Joe West, his adoptive father said, as he put a plate of eggs and bacon in front of the teen.

“Thanks Joe! I’m starving!” Barry said happily as Iris sat down across from him, glaring at him.

“You wouldn’t be so starving if you didn’t skip out on dinner last night,” she said passive aggressively.

“Now Iris be nice to your brother,” Joe lightly scolded her, after all he had a hard job ahead of him being the first black police officer in Central.

“But he’s been weird ever since he came home yesterday!” Iris accused Barry as she pointed at him.

“I have not!” Barry shouted back.

“Then where were you. You told me you had this big project, yet when I get home you’re not here!” Iris shouted at him.

“I do have a life outside of this house ya know!”

“You have no frien-!” Iris started to yell back but stopped as she realized what she was saying. She wanted to apologize as Barry got up from his seat, not even finishing half of his food, and walking out the door.

“Barry wait I didn’t mean it!” Iris yelled after him as she opened the door.

“Clearly you did!” Barry yelled back. “Don’t worry about giving me a ride! I’ll walk to school,” Barry yelled at her as he angrily walked.

Iris walked back inside, her hunger gone as she sat back down and put her head in her hands, trying to stop the tears that were threating to come out.

“It’s okay Iris,” Joe comforted her as he patted her back, and she finally let her tears spill.

“I didn’t mean it. I just-!  I’m so worried about him,” Iris tells Joe as she tries to calm her tears.

“How about I give you a ride to school today. I’ll even pick you and Bear up after school,” Joe offered her.

“I don’t think Barry will want to see me for the rest of the day,” She said as she lifted her head up, finally able to fully wipe away her tears.

“Iris the kid doesn’t have a choice. He lives here just as much as you do,” Joe told her, and it made a small laugh come out of her mouth. “Sure Dad. I’d like a ride,” she told him and the two got finished getting ready for the day as they left the house.

Present Time

Barry really didn’t want to go home later that day, but what Iris had said was the truth. He really didn’t have any friends. Sure, he could count Cisco and Catlin, but they hung out with Iris more than him. The only reason they hang out with him in the first place is because of Iris. They weren’t his friends.

It was when the bell rang and Snart started to tap his shoulder repeatedly that he realized he didn’t pay attention to the entire science class, not that it would matter for him.

“Allen ya good?” Snart asked as Barry snapped his heads up, finally paying attention to the situation.

“Yeah! Of course,” Barry told him with a smile as he was getting up to leave for his next class, but before he did, he took a deep breath and took a stand for himself. “Do you want to work on the project after school today?” Barry asked him.

“Sure,” Snart calmly agreed while on the inside he was freaking out. He had no idea the cute nerd could take a stand for himself like that.

With an instant true smile on his face Barry said, “Pick me up at the same place!” as he walked to his next class.

It was after school and Barry decided that It wasn’t worth it to go home, he didn’t even stop for Iris when she tried to tell him something, he didn’t want to listen to her right now. He just walked to the meeting spot and made sure to hide when he saw Joe’s car coming toward him and realized why Iris was trying to talk to him, Joe was going to give him a ride home.

Barry decided that he would rather spend time with the cool kat who has the cold look in his eyes. He didn’t even walk back to the house to get his stuff for the project. It was around thirty minutes later that Barry saw the black car pull up and with no hesitation he jumped in, surprised at himself that after one day he had no fear of the teen before him.

As Snart started to drive he decided that he had to bring up Barry’s strangeness, “You don’t actually want to work on the project today. . .do you?” he asked.

“Not really. No.” Barry told him the truth as he began to feel guilty for dragging Snart out here.

“It’s no trouble Allen. You’re not the first one to ask to hang out just to get away from your home life, your other friends, or-,” but Snart never got a chance to finish because Barry repeated the words that Iris told him earlier.

“I don’t have any friends.” He made sure to look away from Snart as he said that, not wanting tears to spill from his eyes in front of his crush.

Barry didn’t notice the car park, but he did notice when a hand was placed on his shoulder and Snart looked at him with worry in his eyes. “Ya got a friend Allen,” Snart told him, trying to get the message through to the nerd that he would gladly accept him as a friend.

“You don’t have to pity me and turn me into a pity friend for your whole gang to make fun of when you have nothing better to do!” Barry shouted at him, not believing a word that Snart was telling him, and if Barry decided to look a little closer, he would’ve noticed the sad look in Snart’s eyes.

“Barry, I promise you that we don’t want to make fun of you. If we wanted to do that, we would’ve done it by now. We don’t hang out we people to bully them, that’s too much work and is a jackass move,” Snart told Barry as he grabbed his face to make Barry look in his eyes.

“i-I,” Barry couldn’t form a coherent sentence as he looked at Snart’s eyes and saw only truth in them, so unlike all the other people whose walked in his life.

Without any hesitation Snart pulled him in for a hug. It didn’t matter that he had a massive crush on the boy. It didn’t matter that he didn’t even know Barry that well yet. It didn’t even matter that Snart couldn’t process what he was doing in the moment. It didn’t matter that he called Allen Barry in the moment. What did matter at that moment was that Barry needed a friend and a shoulder to cry on and Snart was going to give him that.

“It’s okay to cry,” Snart told him as Barry finally freely let his waterworks run with no hesitation and Snart comforted him. It was in this moment that the two formed a bond and went from acquaintances and science partners to friends.

As Barry’s tears turned to sniffles, turn to hiccups, turn to silence, Snart finally had to take a look, only to find that Barry cried himself to sleep.

“Shit,” Snart said to himself as he tried to contemplate what to do in this situation. He can’t take Barry back to his house, he very much doubts that Barry wants to go back to his house right now, and he has no idea where the other teen even lived. Their’s not many other options out there.

‘I could always wake him up,’ Snart thought, but completely wiped that thought from his mind when he saw how calm and cute Barry was sleeping.

“I guess we could always just sleep in my car,” Snart finally decided on, not like it was his first time sleeping the night away in his car and it certainly wasn’t going to be the last, as he gently and quietly laid Barry down in the back seat and through his jacket over the brown haired male to keep him warm. He on the other hand decided to just sleep in the front seat.

As Snart closed his eyes to help him sleep he couldn’t turn off his brain about, well anything really. If Barry didn’t have any friends, then that left only a handful of reasons of why Barry didn’t want to leave. He was out of it at Science class, the first class they have. That means it’s something that happened before school. That leaves only three options left. It was either his adoptive dad, his sister, or both. Barry talks to highly of them for this to be something that goes on regularly, which means he didn’t want to be in the house because they don’t fight as often as he does with his dad, “Lucky guy,” Snart said aloud, not really jealous of him, just happy.

“I’m not gonna get any sleep like this,” Snart finally decided after laying down for twenty minutes. Finally coming to a decision Snart did his best to quietly get out of the car and climb up so he was laying down on the roof of it to look at the stars in the night sky, a newly lit cigarette in his mouth.

“Much better,” Snart said as he finally let his mind go blank, they only thing he’s focused on is the stars in the night sky. “I bet Barry would love to see these just how they are,” Snart said to himself.

“Love to see what,” a tired voice said beside him, and Snart almost jumped ten feet in the air when he saw Barry staring at him, with curiosity in his eyes.

“The stars in the sky,” Snart said as he noticed that Barry was wearing his jacket with something akin to pride.

“I won’t say no to that,” Barry agreed as Snart went a little closer to the edge to give Barry some room as he was finishing off the cancer stick.

“Those are bad for you ya know,” Barry told him.

“Nothing I haven’t heard before red,” Snart said, not noticing the nickname he gave Barry, or the blush on Barry’s cheeks. “Why’d you wake up anyway?” Snart asked.

“I heard noise on the roof. Ever since I was little I would wake up or not be able to sleep if too much noise was being made near me,” Barry answered honestly. He didn’t know why, but when Snart is like this, with nothing on his shoulder just calm and relaxed, Barry felt like he could tell him anything.

“Don’t mean to pry, but any reason as to why that it?” Snart began to ask but quickly added a second part, “If you don’t want to tell me then you don’t have to.”

“No, it’s fine. When I was seven my mother was murdered inside my house in our living room. I saw who did it, but no one believed me, so my dad took the blame. That’s why I’ve been living with Joe and Iris ever since. He was good friends with my dad, so I already knew Iris way before. I had to go see a therapist for years after it happened and she said it had something to do with the trauma of watching my mother be murdered in front of me,” Barry told him, a few tears in his eyes as he looked up at the stars.

“I would say I’m sorry for your loss, but I know that’s not what you want to hear. My mom died a few years back as well, at least I think she did. For all I know my bastard of a father just kicked her out and told us she’s dead, but once word spread around the neighborhood people kept on telling me how sorry they were for me. I hated it. They were sorry my mother died but weren’t sorry for anything else. It’s stupid,” Snart shared with Barry.

“Hey Snart?” Barry said in a questioning tone after a few minutes of silence passed between them.

“What is it red?” Snart asked back, using the nickname that makes Barry blush.

“Did you meant what you said earlier. That you were my friend?” Barry asked, his face going redder from even asking that question.

“Of course, I meant it. I bet if I bought you to the rest of the gang, they would be your friends to. We all look out for each other after all,” Snart said as he looked towards Barry’s face to see the other teen has started to wear a proud smile.

“Thank you,” Barry told him, not realizing that he grabbed Snarts hand, and Snart deciding not to say anything. If his crush wanted to hold his hand, then so be it.

With that the two laid in silence for what felt like hours, but knew that they had school in the morning, so finally Barry decided to look at his watch.

“Can you drop me off at my house,” Barry said as he sat up suddenly.

“Yeah of course,” Snart answered back, sitting up a lot slower then Barry, “any reason why?”

“It’s three in the morning! Also, I don’t want them to think that I’m still mad and the best way to do that it to go home and eat breakfast with them,” Barry answered with a smile.

“You’ll still hang out with my group at school, right?” Snart asked, not wanting to lose his crush to the school norms.

“Yeah of course cold,” Barry said, giving the other man a nickname as well that made the teen blush. “I’m just worried about what Iris will say or do. She can get really overprotective of me. I think that’s why she flipped out on me when she asked where I was, she was just worried,” Barry told him.

With that done the two got back inside the car and sat in a peaceful silence as Snart drove him to his house, the only sound being Barry’s voice as he gave directions.

“Careful Red,” Snart said, as Barry gave him a questioning look, “You’re hanging out with the bad kids. Don’t’ start causing trouble,” Snart said as Barry gave a small laugh, getting out of the car, but not before waving bye to Snart and saying he had a good time, trying to not make it oblivious that he really liked the other male.

Barry sighed as he saw Snart pull away and he walked up the driveway, shoving his hands in the pockets of Snart’s jacket.

That made Barry stop in his tracks, “I still have his jacket,” Barry said to himself, not knowing what to do in this situation. Snart’s never been to school without his jacket before, that Barry can remember, and now here he is wearing that said jacket as he walks into his house with the family that will remember that he has never owned that jacket.

“I can figure this out,” Barry said to himself as he took a few more steps towards the door, but then suddenly stopped.

“No! I can’t go in there. When I walk down the stairs for breakfast their going to know that it’s someone else’s jacket. On one hand they love me, but on the other hand they are never going to accept this side of me. Maybe I can just put it in my backpack till I get to school and then put it on. No! I can’t do that either. Then Snart will know that I made a sure decision to wear his jacket around the school, but I also don’t want to give it away,” Barry stressed over the jacket, until finally he came to a decision.

“I’ll wear it, give it back to Snart when I see him and if anyone ask then I was borrowing it from a friend, not that Iris will believe that, cause according to her I have no friends, but I do!” With his master plan formed Barry walked inside his house, now close to four in the morning to get a few extra hours of sleep.

Barry woke up, not to Iris telling him to get up, but of his alarm clock that he sets up in case Iris forgets, not that she has ever forgotten. With Barry now awake he dressed himself, being sure to add Snart’s jacket to his outfit and with both calm and confidence he walked down the stairs to see Iris sitting at the table eating breakfast and Joe, once again cooking breakfast. Joe looked happy to see him, as Iris looked a mix of apologetic, surprised, and happy.

Without any warning Iris jumped up from her spot to hug him, “I’m so sorry that I said those things! I didn’t mean any of them! Please forgive me,” she said to him, a few tears rushing down her face.

“Iris I forgive you. You don’t have to worry,” Barry said happily as he hugged her back, but the hug soon stopped as Iris pulled away from the feel of the new material that Barry was wearing.

“Barry what is this?” she asked him, knowing exactly who at school wears the leather jackets.

“a friend let me borrow it last night,” Barry told her, emphasizing the friend to get his point through, but felt a little guilty about it as he saw Iris look down. “sorry about being harsh. My friend just wanted to make sure that you knew that I wasn’t a loner and yes, I do have friends. He felt like me having his jacket would help prove that. I’m supposed to give back today anyways.,” Barry informed her as she took the apology, after all she just made up with her brother, she certainly didn’t want to fight again.

“Well I for one am glad that your making friends and patching things up with Iris Bear,” Joe told him as he gave his son a supportive pat on the back.

If Barry was being honest, he didn’t like that he was calling Snart his friend, he wanted to be more then friends with the cold teen, but knew that, that was highly unlikely to happen, after all who could love him. Snart would’ve never been friends with him in the first place if it wasn’t for this stupid science project.

The conversation soon came to a stop however when all three of them heard a car honk outside their house. All three went to check it out, and why Iris and Joe were confused as to who could own that car, Barry’s face lit up with a smile as he grabbed his stuff and raced out the door with a smile on his face, saying that he has a ride to school.

“I didn’t know you were going to start picking me up to school,” Barry said as he got in the passenger side of Snart’s car.

“and I wasn’t expecting my jacket to be stolen,” Snart said back in a joking manner, and Barry didn’t feel threatened at all, in fact a smile grew on his face at the banter Snart was giving him.

“In all fairness I had no idea that I even had your jacket until after you dropped me off. You should be more careful about giving it to people to use as a blanket,” Barry told him.

“Touché Allen,” Snart told him as he started to drive away, but Barry glared at him as he put a lucky in his mouth.

“Really again, Barry said as he yanked it out of his mouth. “Didn’t we have a talk last night about how these are bad for you,” Barry told him.

“I’m not forcing you into trying them,” Snart said in his defense, as he tried to get it back. If Barry ever started his bad habit, he would kick it right out of him. He was already gone to his demons, no need for perfect Barry Allen to get warped up in it as well.

“Fine,” Barry said dejectedly, not wanting Snart to continue, but letting him. “Just be more careful,” Barry said in a sad voice.

“I promise,” Snart told him, not knowing at the time how much that promise meant to him.

“Thank you!” Barry said as he turned around to face the window, his arms crossed and his nose turn up, in order to look like he was fighting but it only made him and Snart laugh.

“We’re not heading towards the school,” Barry said calmly as he watched the roads Snart was taking.

“Not yet. I have to go pick up another person. I think he wants to meet you,” Snart said, hoping that Mick doesn’t embarrass him in front of Allen.

“Oh! That reminds me,” Barry said as he turned towards Snart “Do you want your jacket back?” Barry asked, starting to take it off, after all he wasn’t planning on keeping it, no matter how much he wanted to.

“Nah,” Snart said as he tried to keep the red off of his face. “You can keep it for now, besides I need to get another one anyways,” Snart said, trying to cover up the fact that he enjoys how Barry looks with his jacket on, especially knowing that it’s his jacket that Barry is wearing.

Finally, the car came to a stop as Snart rolled his window down to point to the backseat, making Mick left an eyebrow. Front seat has always been his and as far as he knows only one person can take it from him, a smile began to form on his face as he opened the door to the backseat to sit in the middle to find he was right. In the front seat was none other than Barry Allen and, Mick’s eyes widened when he saw what he was wearing, he was wearing Snart’s jacket.

Barry looked nervous as Mick got in, not so good with new people, and he might get along with Snart, but who’s to say Mick will be as nice.

“Snart finally got to ya?” Mick asked as Barry looked confused and Snart glared at him from the rearview mirror. “Mick,” Snart said with warning in his voice.

“I was just curious is all,” Mick said in his defense as he leaned into the seat. “So, are we skipping today?” Mick asked to change the subject, but the question put Barry in a panic as he glared at Snart.

“You didn’t tell me we were skipping!?” Barry yelled at him.

“Calm down red,” Snart told him, “Everyone needs a break every once in a while. Skipping one day of school will not kill you and if anything, it’ll get blamed on us and you’ll get away with a slap on the wrist,” Snart told him.

“But that wouldn’t be fair to you,” Barry pointed out, not wanting someone to take the blame for something that he did.

“Allen just relax,” Snart told him, trying to calm the other male down. “We’ll all be fine and if you don’t want to skip again after this then we won’t make you, but you did have a stressful day yesterday and you need to rewind,” Snart told him, and well Barry couldn’t argue with that logic. “Plus, we’re going to meet up with the rest of the gang,” Snart added with a smile on his face that made Barry go into a whole other mode of panic.

It didn’t take long until they were at the park that Snart took Barry to for them to do their science project. As Snart was parking Barry could make out three figures, who he could tell from a mile away, are a part of the Rouges.

Snart parked the car as he and Mick got out, Barry following close behind, scared that he was going to get ditched at the last minute.

“Finally, are strong and fearless leader deciding to grace us with his presence,” one of the younger teens who looked to be in a lower grade said, he had dark brown hair and wore glasses, but fit right in with the group.

“ooohhhh! Who’s this? A new friend?!” another one of other teens shouted as he ran up to Barry to wrap him up in a hug, but he seemed to be older.

“uh- hi,” Barry introduced himself, feeling a little awkward as the older teen hugged him. This one had blonde hair that looked to go in any direction, but he didn’t seem to care.

“Would you two please calm down,” Mark said to the other two, but he was as just curious as who this new person was.

“Where’s Digger?” Snart asked looking at the other three.

“How should we know! He’s always late,” Hartley complained.

“Ay I heard that ya ingrate,” Digger yelled as he walked up to the two, and Barry could clea.rly see that he was also a senior along with him, Snart, and Mick.

“Well if ya don’t want to be made fun of then start showing up on time,” Hartley yelled back.

“We didn’t agree on no time,” Sam said, and as he spoke Barry could hear an accent.

“Would the two of you stop,” Mick finally said as he got out a flask to take a swig from it, not really caring about the consequences and that only made Barry sigh in defeat.

“If you would all please be quiet, I would like to introduce you to a new member of our group,” as Snart said that they all looked at him in confusion, even Barry. He didn’t agree to be a part of the group, but he sure as hell isn’t going to say no to it. With that decision made in his head Barry smiled and went along with Snart.

“This is Barry Allen and he’s now going to be a part of our fun little group. Barry this is as you’ve already met, Mick,” Snart said as Mick just dipped his flask towards him and Barry waved. “The shorty over there is Hartley, but don’t let his size fool you, he’s a genius. In fact he skipped two grades and is now junior,” Hartley looked at Barry with distrust in his eyes, but gave him a polite smile and a wave anyways, “Don’t feel bad he doesn’t trust easily,” Mick added in to the conversation as Hartley glared at the alcoholic and the two started to fight. Snart just ignored them as he went on with the introductions

“This asshole who is always late is Digger,” Snart said as Digger took a sip from his energy drink and waved, giving Barry a nice smile to show that he trust him if Snart trust him. “he’s a senior like us, but I doubt you’ve seen him around school. He normally sleeps in,” Snart explained.

“The serious one looking over the blonde,” Snart said as he pointed to a taller male that was standing next to Hartley and the blonde, “He’s the babysitter, you’ll find out why soon enough, but his name is Mark.”

“Finally, is the blonde who hugged you earlier. He doesn’t really know what personal boundaries mean sometimes, so sorry about that. This is James and he’s actually older then us, he graduated last year, but let’s just say that his family didn’t want to deal with him and we volunteered to look after him,” Snart finished as James looked at him with stars in his eyes at his new friend.

“We can play darts with him later! Right Lenny?” James asked as he ran back to Barry.

“If Barry wants to,” Snart said as he looked at Barry.

“I’m not that good at it, but if you want me to play a game with you later then sure,” Barry agreed happily as James smile grew wider, he demanded that they keep him.

Eventually they were all talking and laughing, but Barry felt like he needed a small break from all the interaction he was doing and decided to walk towards the back of the car to catch a breather.

He sat down and was staring at the ground lost in thought until he heard a voice, “You know he’s only letting you hang out with us because he feel sorry for you,” the voice said and Barry knew that it was directed at him, so he lifted up his head to see Hartley standing above him.

“He’s not doing this because he feels sorry for me,” Barry told the younger teen, after all Snart assured him that he wasn’t a pity friend.

“Of course, you are. You’re just like everyone else he brings to hang out with us. Something isn’t going right in your perfect life, so you decide to join the bad kids and tears us all away from each other! Well guess what! We don’t need some perfect nerdy freak to ruin our perfect friend group. You might as well give that jacket back, after all he doesn’t need you running it,” Hartley said, not caring how sad Barry felt. “Just go home. No one wants you here and we never did. After all Lenny is just taking pity on you. He would never want you for a friend,” Hartley would’ve continued but at the same time two things happened. Barry got up to run away, back to the same place he would run to when he was a child and Len heard what Hartley was saying to his crush.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Snart yelled and it made Hartley turn around in shock and fear. “Barry wait!” Snart yelled, but he wouldn’t stop.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Snart said with a glare as he chased after the upset teen.

Hartley walked back to the group looking down, but he knew that none of them felt sorry for him, even if he was the youngest.

“You really messed up kid,” Mick said to him.

“He doesn’t belong in this group. He’s a nerd. He wouldn’t fit in anyway. I don’t know what Len was thinking! Bringing him into our group!” Hartley ranted, as James looked sad that his family was having a fight, the other two glanced at each other and then stared at Mick, waiting for his answer, after all he knew Snart better than all of them.

“Listen kid,” Mick started as he saw tears filling up Hartley’s eyes, “you don’t know what Allen has been going through, or what Len’s been doing for him. The two are helping each other and if Snart wants Allen to join then Allen has a right to join,” Mick explained, but only got a glare from Hartley.

“But you do know what Len is going through! You know better than the rest of us, after all he tells you everything,” Hartley accused Mick, and Mick can’t blame the kid he was right.

“I do know a little bit more about their situation then you, but I don’t know Allen’s side just Lens’” Mick told him as he looked away from Hartley.

“Then why doesn’t he tell us!” Hartley complained.

“Because he doesn’t want to lose you,” Mick said confidently, and this shocked all of them, except James, Mick knew that no matter what they told James he would always be a part of their group.

“He can’t get rid of us that easily,” Digger said with his arms crossed and Mark agreeing with him.

“I’m not going to tell you guys what’s going on, but I will tell you this. If his dad found out, then he would put Snart six feet under. You understand,” Mick told them with a glare as they all became aware of how serious this was turning out to be. “When Snart is able to get Barry to calm down Hartley you have to apologize,” Mick said with a serious tone and glare.

“What!” Hartley tried to fight, but quickly took it back as he looked down at his feet guilty, “Alright I’ll apologize.”

With that the conversation ended, but around the same time their conversation started Snart was still chasing after Barry, trying to find out where he ran off to.

“Barry!” Snart shouted as he turned down another road, not expecting to get a replay, but hoping none the less.

“Go away!” Barry shouted back from inside an old word down fence that Snart took a few minutes to find the entrance to. When he did he saw that he was in another park, but this one was a lot more run down, with a busted swing set, Barry sitting on the only good one, and a slide that looked like it would break if anyone tried to climb it.

Snart walked towards Barry sitting down on the ground next to him, considering the other swing was broken.

“I’m sorry about Hartley. He just gets overprotective about us. He doesn’t like new people when they first show and usually does something like this to make them run away. He did the same thing to Sam at first as well, and now look at how well the two of them get along,” Snart explained, not wanting Barry to cry anymore. “Please don’t cry,” Snart said as he looked up towards Barry’s face, seeing him trying to dry his tears. “I don’t like it when you cry. It makes me sad as well,” Snart said with a small smile on his face, trying to get Barry to cheer up.

“You’re not a pity friend. I told you before and I’ll tell you again. I’ll tell you as many times as I need to. Also, I don’t really bring new people into the group that often, like I said Hartley just doesn’t like new people so he tries to keep them out so they can’t ruin us,” Snart told him, looking down at the ground again.

“You sure?” Barry asked, trying to keep his tears down.

“Yeah! Of course, I’m sure red!” Snart told him with a reassuring smile.

“Their you go calling me red again. What is it with you and that nickname?” Barry asked, his tears gone.

“You don’t think I see you blush as often as you do,” Snart teased as Barry blushed more.

“I don’t blush,” Barry tried to fight but it only made Snart laugh.

“You’re doing it now,” he said as Barry fell off the swing making Snart stop, until Barry busted out laughing and Snart soon joined him.

As their laughter died down Barry stared at the sky, a happy smile on his face as he spoke, “Ya know, I haven’t had this much fun in a long while.”

“I think that I might have to agree with you on that,” Snart said as he rolled over on his side to stare at Barry.

“You’ve changed my life! My whole world view! You gave me hope again!” Barry said happily as he sat up and spread his arms wide, only to fall down on the ground and roll on his side so he can face Snart as well.

“I’m glad I could give you that,” Snart said happily as he closed his eyes and when he did he was not expecting for Barry to choose that moment to smash their lips together, making his eyes go wide with a brief hesitation, before he closed his eyes and pushed into the kiss.

Snart decided to take control and push Barry fully on the ground as the two broke apart for a brief second to breath and Snart pushed his lips back on to the other male’s.

Snart positioned one of his legs to go over Barry’s and the other to go between Barry’s thighs, getting a soft moan from Barry, but he wouldn’t dare go farther than that.

“Barry Allen dare I say that I love you,” Snart said and it made Barry’s eyes go wide.

“You l-love me!” Barry shouted, not knowing how he should feel about that. On one hand he was crushing on Snart hard and he still is, but on the other hand he just found out that Snart was gay and loved him, which means he’s been crushing on Barry for a while now to.

“Arry-!” Barry heard his name being shouted and he got back to what he was to stare at the cold and calculating teen.

“You don’t have to say it back yet, so get out of that calculating brain of yours and just relax. For now, just let me be your boyfriend?” Snart asked and Barry could live with that. A smile on his face he wrapped his arms around Snart’s neck and bought him in for a kiss, but Snart had to pull away to be snarky.

“Does that mean yes?”

“What do you think?” Barry asked back and Snart took that as a que to bring Barry back in for another kiss.

“We should go back before they come looking for us,” Snart decided after another minute had passed.

“Do they know about you?” Barry asked, worried that the gang was going to like him even less now.

“Only Mick does. In fact, once I tell him about us, he’s probably going to punch me for taking so long. Then he’s going to punch me again when he finds out that you kissed me first,” Snart said as he got up and then helped Barry up, but what he said only made Barry laugh.

“What about you?” Snart asked and it made Barry freeze.

“I know that Joe and Iris will always love me, but I haven’t gotten up the courage to tell them. I really think Iris will accept me, but I think if she finds out that it’s you, I’m dating, well she might kill you,” Barry decided on as Snart gave a nervous laughter.

“I want to tell them, just as I’m sure you want to tell your friends, well their more like your family, I’m just nervous about what will happen,” Barry said as the two cleaned themselves up.

“I know what you mean. If my dad ever found out he would put me six feet under,” Snart said and Barry looked at him worriedly.

“Len are you okay in that house,” Barry asked worriedly, still not knowing much about Snart’s home situation.

“I’ll survive the rest of the year Red. You don’t have to worry about me,” Snart reassured, but wasn’t expecting Barry to hold out his pinky finger and give him a serious look.

“Promise you’ll be careful,” Barry said, and it made Snart think back to when Barry last made him promise this, but this time it felt more serious.

“I promise,” Snart said as he intertwined their pinkies, not expecting Barry to give him a peck on the lips, “and we seal it with a kiss,” Barry said as he let go. “That way if you break the promise you also break my heart.

That felt like an arrow going right through Snart’s own heart. He didn’t care about what happened to him, but Barry he cared. If him getting hurt would break Barry’s heart, then he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that his dad never finds out about them.

It took the two boys a few minutes to get presentable again, after all they did have Snart’s, and well now Barry’s, group of friends to face.

As the two got closer and could start to see an outline the others Barry would be lying if he wasn’t a little bit scared of what, not only Hartley, but the others might think of him as well.

Snart on the other hand would be lying if he wasn’t a still a little pissed at what the youngest Rouge did, but he would do his best to keep his temper in check.

“Hartley has something he liked to say,” Mick said as the two got closer and he pushed Hartley forward, making the younger boy feel even more guilty.

“I’m sorry for what I said to you and for making you run away. You can come hang out with us any time,” Hartley said, the first part was a little forced, but the second part was genuine and that’s what made Barry smile.

“It’s no problem,” Barry said happily, even if the kid didn’t fully accept him yet, he would slowly warm up to Barry as they see more of him, especially around Snart.

Mick saw a difference in his best friend as he saw the small, barely noticeable, smile on his leaders face and that was all Mick had to see to know what was going on.

“Bout time,” Mick whispered gruffly to Len as he elbowed the said teen.

“Ow! Was that really necessary?” Len asked him, trying to not alert the others to what was going on, they failed however as Digger noticed and alerted Sam, who got James, which then alerted Barry and Hartley, but they kept it low that they were watching.

“Yes. You’re such a dumbass sometimes. Can’t believe it took you this long,” Mick spoke as he took a sip of his drink.

“I’m sorry if what I was trying to do wasn’t exactly normal!” Snart complained as Barry went to stand next to Mick, slowly making his way over to his boyfriend.

“Does this mean we finally get to know what’s up with you?” Sam asked and it only made Snart sigh in defeat as he looked towards his best friend and boyfriend for help.

“I didn’t tell them anything,” Mick said as he shrugged.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t want to cause more trouble,” Barry said, which made Snart sigh in defeat once again.

“Wait he knows what’s up with you!?” Hartley asked in a shocked surprise.

“Trust me kid. When he decides to tell you what’s up with him, why Barry knows is going to make perfect sense,” Mick said with a smirk as it made everyone else think about what it could be.

“Why don’t you just tell them?” Barry asked him, and it made Snart stare in a pleasant shock. “I’m not telling you that you have to or anything, but after Hartley made me runaway because he didn’t want me messing up your group, I knew that they would accept you for anything, but it’s your decision.”

“But it’s not just my decision anymore. If I tell them then it involves you as well,” Snart told him, worry clearly on his face.

“I gave you my permission when I bought the idea up,” Barry told him softly, and in that moment Snart knew exactly how he was going to tell his friends.

“gosh I love you,” Snart said as he bought Barry in for a short kiss.

“Yay! Lenny found a prince,” James cheered as the two separated with a smile.

“I guess you decided to tell them after all,” Barry said with a smile as they looked towards the rest of the group.

“I fucking knew it,” Diggory shouted as he pointed at Snart, “and you didn’t tell me! That hurts man,” and Snart knew that Dig accepted him, even in his weird way of showing it. That left two.

“This is why you invited Barry into our group. To become one of us?” Hartley asked, not in a menacing way, but an angry way.

“I wasn’t planning on hiding from you all forever. I guess I just needed someone who could give me that final push to tell you, and Barry gave me that. Mick knew for a while because he found out in middle school. The jerk just out right asked me as we were walking home one day. Caught me completely off guard and I couldn’t deny it,” Snart explained.

“he was a dumbass then and he’s. dumbass now,” Mick said in a serious tone, but it didn’t last long as he busted out laughing at his own joke.

“What does this mean for us?” Hartley asked, as he still glared at Barry.

“Barry is joining us unofficially because I love him. Is it really that bad?” Snart asked him back.

“It’s not the fact that you love someone,” Hartley defended, “It’s the fact that we know nothing about him. He could be using you for all we know!”

“Hart you need to calm down. Barry isn’t using us. These two have apparently been crushing hard on each other for years,” Mick said as he gave Hartley a supportive pat on the back.

“I’ll admit that Len is a good excuse to not be at home when me and Iris get in a fight, but he was there for me when no one else was. I’m not big when it comes to the whole friend’s category, but Len changed that for me. He gave me a new light in my life,” Barry explained, and Hartley had to admit that he was a little bit disgusted at the hearts that are shining in the brown-haired teens eyes.

“Okay okay! I’ll give him a chance just don’t get all lovey dovey around me. You know I hate that crap!” Hartley said as he pushed Barry towards Snart and let himself flop onto the ground as they laugh at their youngest member.

It was three hours after school was supposed to get out and you find Barry and Len in his car as he drives to drop Barry off at his house, dropping Mick off five minutes earlier.

“Thanks for the wonderful day. I didn’t know I needed this until now, I feel . . .more relaxed I guess would be the right word for it,” Barry said as he looked towards Snart who was trying to look serious, but was actually holding back a blush and it only made Barry giggle.

‘Fucking giggle!’ Snart thought as he failed even more at looking cool. “Everyone has those days. They just don’t know they need them until it’s all done,” Snart answered the brown-haired teen.

“Wise and brave,” Barry joked to himself, but only made Len bring his free hand to wrap it around Barry’s shoulders, and Barry willingly leaned in, making it easier for Len to drive the car.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” Barry said in a whisper.

“Me to red but every good thing has to come to end at some point. If you get in trouble then you can blame it on me,” Snart said as he pulled up and parked the car outside of Barry’s house.

“With any luck they won’t know a thing, but that’s only wishful thinking,” Barry said as he looked at the house in dread.

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow,” Snart said with a cheeky smile.

“We don’t have school tomorrow, it’s Saturday,” Barry pointed out with a confused look.

“Exactly,” Snart said as he leaned in to give Barry a peck on the lips as a goodbye.

“Alright tomorrow,” Barry agreed as he got out of the car with a smile, wearing Len’s jacket with pride as he walked towards his door and hearing the rev of Len’s car leave.

“Barry! We have to have a talk!” Joe screamed from the other room as he could hear his teenage son walk through the door. Barry only sighed as Joe came into view, he knew this conversation was going to happen.

“Sit!” Joe demanded as he pointed to a spot in the living room and Joe sat in the chair across form him. “Why were you not in school today?” Joe asked, waiting for Barry to come up with an excuse.

“I just needed a break from everything. It was getting to be too much for me. I’ve always had perfect attendance and straight A’s! I don’t know why missing one day is such a big deal!” Barry defended himself, and Joe was shocked at his answer.

“You needed a break?” Joe aske, but Barry didn’t respond so he continued, “from what Bear? Iris? Me? School?”

“All of it! It’s not like this is gonna become a habit! I took one day off! What’s the big deal!?”

“I’m just worried Bear,” Joe finally admitted as Barry looked confused, feeling guilty for yelling at the man who took him in.

“’Of what?” Barry asked.

“It’s your new friends. Ever since you met them you’ve been coming home late, fighting with Iris, skipping school,” Joe pointed out and Barry sighed at how much he must’ve been worrying the older male.

“Joe I’m sorry. Iris and me. That has nothing to do with my friends. The whole reason the fights started was because she said I had no friends then when I finally found some, she was judging me for it. I’ll make up with her over it. I promise. I was angry with Iris and I didn’t want to come home that’s why I was out so late. On the whole skipping thing, I didn’t know I was skipping till it was already done. They promised not to force me to skip again unless it looked like I needed it, like today, even then I’ll do my best to convince them to wait till Saturday.”

“Why don’t we just clear up this whole mess and invite your friends over for dinner?” Joe suggested and Barry had to think on that. On one hand it would be nice, but would they accept. It would also be Barry introducing Len to his family, without coming out to them, but he also knew that Joe wouldn’t let this go. Barry sighed as he thought of a decision.

“I’ll ask them next time I see them, but I’m not going to promise anything. Some of them don’t trust easily,” Barry said as he thought back to earlier that day.

“That’s all I can ask for Bear. Do this one thing for me and I won’t ground you,” Joe said as he patted Barry on the back and walked away from the chair he was sitting in.

Barry smiled in delight at how Joe was being. He had to make up with Iris, which will be easiest to do if he says sorry.

“Iris!” Barry called out as he knocked on her door.

“Come in!” She shouted as Barry walked in the room to see Iris laying on her bed, textbook and notebook open with a pencil laying down as Iris sat up on her bed to glare at him.

“I just came to talk, no fighting,” Barry said as he sat down in a chair and she sighed, losing the glare.

“I’m just worried about you Barry. I didn’t mean to start this big fight. Just tell me what’s going on. Talk to me like how we used to back when we were kids,” she said as she closed her books and set them on her desk, grabbing Barry’s hand forcing him to sit on her bed.

The two got in a comfortable position as if they were children again. “Where do you want me to start?” Barry asked, prepared to tell her any and everything, no more secrets before them.

“Let’s start slow. I’m sorry for saying you have no friends. It’s just. I thought Cisco and Caitlin were your friends, but I guess they’ve been more of mine then yours,” Iris apologized to him.

“I haven’t had many friends since junior high. It wasn’t until I got stuck with this science project that I was able to gain some friends,” Barry told her with a smile.

“Are you gonna tell me more, especially cause that jacket has been bothering me since you came home wearing it, and this is the second time.

“The first night we did the project, then we got in a fight so he helped me not think about it and I accidentally fell asleep, it wasn’t until way later in the night did I realize how late it truly was, then today we skipped and not counting all of the fights we’ve been having it’s actually been a really good week because of him,” Barry said, and Iris could see a light in her brothers eyes that she hasn’t seen in a long time, then a thought struck her.

“You’ve been saying him or he, not them? I thought you made multiple friends?” Iris questioned him.

“I did! It’s just he was the first one,” Barry answered her, but Iris wanted to know what that light was about, not that she wasn’t happy, she was just curious and worried. Last thing she needs is for some “friend” to break her brother.

“There’s something that changes about you when you speak about your friend. What’s his name?’ Iris asked and she could hear Barry take a gulp, but he answered truthfully.

“Leonard Snart.”

“Barry! He’s bad news!” Iris started to lecture him.

“No! You’re not going to do this. Listen to me speak then you can make judgements all you want, but I’ve talked with him. We have common interest and he’s a friend,” Barry told her, feeling guilty for not being able to tell her his true feelings, as Iris shook her head for him to go on. “He let me hang out with him when I lied about wanting to work on the project, he said I could always come to him if I needed a shoulder to lean on. He let me borrow his jacket when I fell asleep and let me keep it afterwards. He defended me against one of his friends after he made me cry. Len for all the bad rumors about him is actually a decent guy, but no one gives him the time of day,” and as Barry continued to speak Iris finally recognized what the light was that she saw in Barry’s eyes and had to stop him.

“Barry?” she asked, and her brother stopped and looked at her, worried that something was wrong, “You love him. Don’t you?” she asked, and she almost regretted asking as she saw fear replacing the light. Iris never wanted to see fear in her brothers’ eyes and will fight anyone who thinks they should scare him.

“Barry you need to calm down,” Iris told him as she could feel his breathing quicken. She calmed Barry down as she matched his breathing and slowly got him to match her slower pace, but the downside is that his cheeks were filling up with tears.

“Barry don’t cry,” she told him, but he had a hard time stopping it.

“I wanted to tell you so badly, but I didn’t want you to hate me. I felt guilty every time I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to be able to tell you myself, but I guess you beat me to it,” Barry said, trying to stop his tears with a laugh.

Iris laughed at his silly joke, but instead of saying anything she decided to bring her brother into a hug and as the two hugged Barry knew at this moment that his sister accepted him for who he was, and she would have his back through thick n thin. “I love you Iris.”

“Love you to ya big nerd,” she said back and the two laughed as they pulled away from the hug. “So are you dating him?” she asked, eyeing the jacket her brother was wearing.

“We started today actually. . .”he trailed off with a blush forming on his face.

“But. . .?” Iris asked.

“But we’ve kind of been crushing on each for at least a year now,” Barry said awkwardly, but it only made Iris laugh.

“I’ve never been happier for you Barry,” She told him as he started to get up.

“Same here Iris, but I’m gonna go and get some sleep,” Barry said but before he could even get up Iris stopped him.

“What did I say earlier. Like we were kids. Sleep with me in here and we can stay up as late as we want telling each other stories,” She said with sneaky smile, and Barry couldn’t stop the smile from his face forming.

‘Just like when we were kids huh?’ Barry asked himself but agreed.

The two actually weren’t able to stay up much later as they both passed out on the bed laughing, but when Joe went to check on them a smile formed on his face. He knew his son wasn’t telling him the full story, but he was okay with it for now. His kids are getting along again, and Barry will tell him what he’s hiding when he’s ready. When Barry decides to tell him Joe will listen with an open mind. With that done Joe went to his own bed to get some sleep for himself.

Snart was having a less fun night. Once he got home his dad was pissed that Snart wasn’t at school and while Snart wasn’t going to run and hide he was yelling back, but he was also trying to calm down his father because Lisa was right in the next room.

“You’re just an ungrateful Brat!” his dad yelled at him, but Snart yelled back.

“You’re a drunk who’s wasting his life savings on alcohol instead of helping his children!”

“Punk!

“Drunk!

The two shouted insults and swears at each other, but it was right before Lisa entered the room that ended the fight. It was at this moment that Lewis took a final swig to empty the bottle of alcohol and punched his son in the left eye.

“Fuck you!” Snart shouted at Lewis, but grabbed his eye and walked towards Lisa, to stop her from seeing the damage their father had done not only to his son, but also to himself.

“You okay Lenny?” The eight-year-old asked.

“I’m fine Lisa. You and me we’re going to go and hang out with my friend’s tomorrow. Okay?” Snart asked her, putting her to bed thanking God that Lewis had enough father decency to feed her.

“Okay Lenny!” She said excitedly. After all, Len always takes her to have a fun time when his friends are involved.

“Good night Lisa” Snart said as he leaned in and kissed her forehead as he tucked her in.

“Goodnight Lenny!” She said as she saw her brother walk to the other side of the room and tucked himself in his pallet of blankets on the floor.

It was the next day when Barry had just got done eating breakfast that the house heard a honk outside and the same car as last time was outside in the driveway.

“Remember what we talked about Bear!” Joe called as Barry confirmed while running out the door.

The confusing thing to Barry when we got in the car was in the front, the middle, was a small elementary girl whose black hair was in pigtails as she wore a red dress, a white shirt under it, a pair of pumps, and white socks on her feet. She looked really happy to be where she is, that’s for sure.

Barry just put a smile on his face as he sat next to her and talked to her. “What’s your name?”

“My Name’s Lisa and I’m eight years old!” she said happily, to the point of jumping up and down.

“Lisa calm down! I told you that you can’t jump around when I’m driving!” Len shouted at her, but the weird thing was he made sure to keep all the anger out of his voice.

“Sorry Lenny.” The girl said disappointed, but Len just smiled and ruffled her hair with a smile.

“I know. I’m just worried about you. Now I know you haven’t met my new friend yet so let me introduce you to Barry Allen,” Snart told her.

“So, you’re Lenny’s new friend! Hey, Lenny, are we going to pick up Micky as well?” Lisa asked him and Barry raised an eyebrow at all the nicknames this happy girl seemed to give.

“I thought it would be a good idea if we only hung out with Barry today. We can bother Mick some other time,” Len told her as she started to pout, but it was when Snart took a look at Lisa that Barry caught, very briefly mind you, a glimpse of a dark colored spot on his left eye.

“Len what is that?” Barry asked, but Once Snart felt like he was being caught he turned his head to hide it again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Len tried to defend himself, but this is the bad part about having little siblings.

“Lenny and Daddy got in another fight,” Lisa spoke sadly making Barry glare at Snart for trying to hide it.

“Len turn the car around. We are going to go back to my house, and I am going to clean up that bruise. With the way it looks it can get infected if nothing is done,” Barry said demandingly.

Snart wanted to fight his boyfriend on the subject, but he felt like a worse fight could break out if he did, after a minute of thinking Snart decided to take the car around the block and brought it back to Barry’s house. He parked the car and helped Lisa out, but anytime he looked at Barry’s face he saw anger in his brown eyes, and that did scare Snart, because he had no idea where that anger was directed at.

“Joe! Iris! I’m back. I have a few guests with me as well!” Barry shouted as he entered the house.

“That was quick,” Joe said as he greeted him, a cup of coffee in his hand as he walked out of the kitchen, it was when he saw Snarts face did he give Barry a questing glance.

“Is this your new friend you’ve been hanging out with?” Joe asked.

“Yeah. Joe meet Leonard Snart. Snart meet Joe,” Barry introduced them.

“And who’s this cute girl?” Joe questioned, sensing the anger radiating off of Barry and knowing it has something to do with the bruise now sporting the other males face.

“My name’s Lisa and I’m 8!” She said happily.

“My sister,” Len explained before more questions could come in.

“I’m sorry about this Joe but could you or Iris watch over Lisa for a few minutes for him. I have to yell at an idiot and get him fixed up,” Barry asked, but Joe had a feeling that something more was going on between Barry and Snart, but didn’t voice his opinion and instead got Lisa to the kitchen to feed her when he found out she had yet to eat that day.

Once they were out of sight Barry grabbed Snarts hand and dragged the other male up the stairs towards his bedroom and told him to stay as he grabbed the first aid kit.

It was as Barry was fixing him up that the two finally talked. “You promised me you were safe in that house,” Barry started. “You told me you were being careful! I knew I should have done something, but do I ever listen to my gut when it’s right!? No! Never!”

“Barry, I think you need to calm down,” Snart said bravely, and after he said it, did he find out what a mistake that was.

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! I have a right to be pissed off! Any closer and this could’ve seriously hurt your vision in your left eye! But you’re right let’s just calm down and not worry about it!"

“Okay I see your point. I just didn’t want you to worry about me,” Snart defended himself.

“I was worried about you since you hinted that your house wasn’t that good of a place to be. I don’t want you or Lisa to go back to that house. You can stay with us and I’ll talk to Joe. At least for a week. Please just give it a try and if it’s better than we can talk to Joe and he can help you.” Barry told him, but Snart was just in shock.

“Help. . .me?” he questioned.

“Yes! Joe is a fucking police detective! He’s well liked amongst the community, even with all the critiscm he gets! Believe it or not, but yes, he can actually build a case for you. Aren’t you almost 18?” Barry ranted and ended with a question.

“In a few months yes, but what about Lisa?” Snart questioned.

“Joe can get custody of her until you’re eighteen, then he can grant full custody to you. All I’m fully asking from you is to not go in that house and if you do to not get hurt,” Barry said the last part quietly as he leaned in to Snart.

It was as the two took this moment to kiss gently, that Snart felt the tears running down not only his cheeks, but Barry’s as well.

The two pulled away as Snart answered his question, “Okay. As long as I have Joe’s permission, we’ll stay with you.”

The next kiss was happier as Barry was smiling into it and practically throwing himself at Snart in happiness.

It didn’t last long however as a voice came from Barry’s doorway. “Isn’t this a surprise.”

“Iris!” Barry shouted as he jumped away from Snart and the two looked guilty at being caught, but Lisa, who was right next to her ran towards Snart with her hands in the air!

“Lenny has a girlfriend!” It would have been funny, and Len would correct her on the term, but being caught by Iris was different.

She strode confidently over to where Barry was, and with Barry shaking and scared of what she would do as she lifted her hands towards him, and Snart was ready to pounce on her, female or not Barry was his love and he won’t let anything or anyone hurt him, but both boys were wrong to be scared as all Iris did was bring Barry in a strong hug and whisper quietly in his ear, “I accept you and still love you. You’re my brother after all.”

It was after those words that Barry broke down into tears and hugged her back, “I love you to sis.”

“Now to you,” Iris said as she released Barry from the hug, her emotions doing a 180 as she got into protective sister mode. “If you even think about hurting Barry for a second I will hunt you down and castrate you, especially if you make him do something he doesn’t want to do,” she threatened as Snart gulped in fear.

“Don’t be mean to Lenny! He didn’t do anything!” Lisa shouted at Iris, but she only smiled and leaned down to Lisa.

“That’s our jobs as the siblings. We go to whoever our sibling is dating and threaten them, so they don’t break our brother’s heart,” Iris explained to her as Lisa caught on and walked away from Snart towards Barry.

“Don’t hurt Lenny!” Lisa shouted as she jumped up and landed on Barry’s foot, making the teenager grab his foot in pain and the other two teens in the room laugh at his misfortune.

“You should tell dad about Snart’s home life, you know he would let them stay here until their situation get better,” Iris told Barry and he agreed, but Iris wasn’t finished, “I also think you should tell him about you and Snart. Dad is a really accepting person. He’s not going to say no and he’ll be able to help Snart and Lisa better.”

“I’ll think about it. It’s not just me I would be outing. Len has to be okay with it as well,” Barry told her.

“And I am okay with it,” Len said, getting tired of the talking as if he doesn’t exist.

“Are you sure?” Barry asked him.

“I’m having some weird déjà vu,” Snart said with a smirk as Barry looked at him confused. “This is the same conversation we had in front of the boys; the only difference is that we swapped places. Right now, I’m the voice of reason. I told my friends; you can tell Joe.”

“We can tell him together,” Barry decided as he grabbed Snarts hand.

“We’ll be there to support you,” Iris said as she grabbed Barry’s shoulder, holding Lisa’s hand.

Once the group had made their decision, they all went downstairs to greet Joe, Barry making sure to let go of Snart’s hand for now. He was now dressed in normal clothes; no longer pajamas. Barry was just lucky Joe didn’t have to in to work today. Iris pushed him and Snart fully into the room, saying Lisa and her will be listening, but not in sight. Barry was glad his sister did that for him because it gave him comfort.

“Something you need Bear?” Joe asked as he put his book down to see his son and friend standing in front of him, the former looking much better now that he was cleaned up.

“I have something to tell you,” Barry said nervously, and Joe saw the other male put a comforting hand on Barry’s shoulder. Now he was curious as to what his son has to say to him.

“Is this about your attitude recently, or how you skipped school? We already talked about that and I told you I’m not mad. Just don’t let it become a habit and if you do then at least let me know before hand,” Joe told him.

“Sorry sir, but that was my fault that he skipped. I didn’t let him know until it was too late,” Snart apologized and Joe just smiled, but didn’t get a response as Barry stepped I, “But I still agreed to it.” Now when Barry defended the other male is when Joe raised an eyebrow, that wasn’t like his son.

“Barry what was it that you wanted to tell me?” Joe asked him, putting the conversation back on track.

He saw Barry close his eyes as he took a deep breath. He opened his eyes a second later and grabbed Snart’s hand with his own and looked Joe straight in the eyes and spoke, “Joe I want to reintroduce you to my boyfriend Leonard Snart.”

Joe didn’t say anything for a few seconds, he just closed his eyes put his hands together and took a few deep breaths, but the longer he was silent the more worried Barry got.

When Joe opened his eyes he also stood up in his chair and walked closer to Barry, taking notice on how Snart looked ready to pounce on him, but all he did was grab Barry’s free hand and spoke to him, “Barry Allen. You are smart. You are intelligent! You have the brightest eyes I have ever seen! You are gay! But most importantly is the fact that I Joe West am proud of you. You might not be mine by blood, but hell! I’ve raised you since you were just ten and I couldn’t be prouder of you. I just ask that you be careful with who you tell. After all our sad world isn’t that accepting of a place and the only thing I want for you kids is to be safe and happy,” by the end Joe had not only Barry, but Snart as well wrapped in a hug and tears streaming down both the father and son’s eyes.

Once the two pulled apart is when Barry looked serious again, “can I ask you for one more thing?”

“Whatever you need son,” Joe answered with a smile.

“Len and his sister need a place to stay,” Barry said as Lisa ran towards her brother and he wrapped his sister in his arms, Iris following behind the younger girl.

“Please sir! Our father. . .he won’t take kindly to Barry, or me for that matter. I just need a place to stay for a few months until I turn eighteen and then I can try and get full custody of Lisa. I just need a few months,” Snart said, ending the last sentence in a repeated whisper.

“I want to know everything, and I’ll do my best to help you.” Joe demanded as he sat down and offered a spot for Len next to him, Barry sitting next to Len for moral support.

It took a few hours, but Snart finally came clean to everything that his dad has done to him since his mother died. It made Barry cry, but Len always held him and told the brown-haired male how he was fine now. Joe was in detective mode since they started the conversation, grabbing a notepad and writing everything down. Then it was too the hard questions.

“Did your father ever lay a hand on Lisa?” Joe asked.

“Never! If he did I would’ve killed him. That was the deal he messes with me and leaves her alone,” Len said with fierce determination.

“Did your father ever sexually abuse you?” Joe asked and in all honest he hated asking these questions to the kid, he didn’t deserve the life he was given. He should be in a loving household with a loving dad.

“He tried once,” Snart said as he looked down ashamed, but Barry’s grip on him kept Snart in reality as he took a deep breath and continued, “but he didn’t get fair as he was really drunk and I kicked him in his sweet spot,” Snart ended with a glare in his eyes that everyone, but Lisa, could tell was directed towards his father.

“Is that all the question?” Snart asked, not really wanting to answer anymore, but knew he had to for Lisa.

“Yeah that’s it. I’ll go talk to the captain about it and you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need, Lisa as well. I’ll do my best to get full custody of her until your eighteen, on your feet with a place, a job, and a high school degree,” Joe told him.

“Joe’s not gonna let up on the degree, it’s mandatory for him,” Barry explained to him as Joe got up to put a jacket on along with his keys so he can get to work.

“I’ll be gone for a while I assume. Be safe and make good choices,” Joe shouted as he walked, receiving a chorus of goodbyes.

The three teens and one child entertained themselves until it was seven around four when Iris started cooking, she then made sure to feed everyone by six. After this Snart took Lisa to get ready for bed, wearing one of Iris’s pajama shirts as a sleep dress, she was in bed by eight, sleeping in the chair in the living room. Iris wasn’t far behind, leaving only Barry and Len up in the house, with Joe still not home yet.

They were talking about anything and everything in Barry’s room as they cuddled, well Len had his arms around Barry as Barry faced him and snuggled into his chest. Their conversations didn’t last long however as Barry soon fell asleep in Snart’s arm, but the older male only looked down and smiled softly, he wished he could stay like this forever.

A soft knock and Joe entered in the room, “I thought I’d find you in here,” he whispered as he gently sat down on the bed, making sure to not wake Barry.

“Sorry. I know I shouldn’t be sleeping in the same bed as him, we were just talking,” Snart quietly rambled, but was stopped by Joe’s hand and laugh.

“It’s okay Snart. As long as you two don’t do anything under my roof that kids should not be doing, I don’t mind. I’ve never seen him look that peaceful as he slept,” Joe told him.

“He doesn’t usually sleep well?” Len asked truly interested.

“He has nightmares often ever since he saw his mom die. I’ve tried doing everything I could to help him, but he really trusts you, so don’t break his heart okay kid,” Joe said to him.

“Yeah I never planned on it. How did it go?” Snart asked.

“Well they are building a case for you now. They know nothing about you and Barry dating, but you are forced by law to live here until this case is closed, at the very least,” Joe explained.

“So, Lisa and I, we don’t have to go back to that house?” Snart asked, just to be sure.

“Even if your father shows up and threatens you, he can’t legally make you leave. It’s the same for school. I’ll be dropping Lisa off tomorrow to give them the paperwork. I told them how you were an emergency situation. It’s also why I was gone all day,” Joe explained. “Well I’ll let you get some sleep,” Joe said as he stood up and started to walk away but was stopped by Snart.

“Joe.”

“Yeah kid?” Joe asked as he turned around to look at him.

“Thank you.”

“No problem Len. Get some sleep the next few months are going to be hard on you,” Joe said, ending the conversation.

A few months passed after that and the two new tenants to the house got into a routine easily. After Joe and his partner walked up the steps to Len’s house and give his father the paperwork, as well with collecting a few of their important things that they requested such as clothes and toys for Lisa.

It’s easy to say that their father did not take it well, losing not only his precious princess but his anger and stress relief. Snart and Lisa on the other hand were happy to never see the man again for as long as they lived.

At Joe’s Snart was able to stay in Barry’s room while Lisa was happy to share a room with Iris. Every morning they all woke up and got ready for school, Len no longer skipping and getting better grades. Once dressed and ready they all had breakfast together. Joe will then be proceeded to drop Lisa and Iris off at school, but Iris will sometimes ride with Snart and Barry, if she felt like it.

All four of them will go to school then they come back, Joe picking Lisa up and sometimes Iris. Once home they will grab a bite to eat and all help each other with their homework. Once homework was done Snart took that as a cue to head out for his part time job that Joe helped him get to save up money for a place where he and Lisa could stay.

Saturdays was spent with Len working all day and the others either laying around the house or hanging out with friends, but Len was always sure to take Sundays off to hang out with his boyfriend and friends no his family, cause that what all these people in his life are to him, they are all his family.

One Sunday it was just Barry and Snart as the two went to the place they both truly started to fall, looking under the starts. Snart was smoking again, no matter how much it annoyed Barry, but he noticed that this was something different Snart was doing, it even smelled different.

“What is that?” Barry asked.

“Just something to help my body relax,” Snart answered as he lit it and started to puff from it. It took a few minutes, but Barry noticed that Snart was really out of it and wondered what the hell he just did to himself.

“Can I try?” Barry asked, not really wanting to put smoke in his body, but at the same time he wanted to know what his boyfriend is doing.

Even out of his mind Snart contemplated for a moment and told Barry he’s going to get it second hand, just be sure to blow it out. Snart talked Barry all the way through it and once Barry was sure he was knowing what he was doing did he trust Snart enough to let him try it.

Snart took a big huff of the rolled up smoke and kissed Barry, letting the smoke float into his own mouth and Barry held it in for a few seconds before releasing. Barry will admit that this hobby is not right for him and he would never actively do it on his own, but as long as he can shotgun it off of Snart he would happily do it again.

They had many days like this one up until it was the second to last week of school and Barry and Snart just finished their presentation, happy that they both got a strong A, but that wasn’t the only good thing to happen on this day. As the whole household made it back home Joe was there with a smile on his face as he showed adoption papers for Lisa written in his name and a contract that stated custody will be handed over to Leonard Snart once he turns 18.

It was the start of a perfect chapter. The next thing to happen was when school officially ended and three of them were all part of the graduating class. They all waited to celebrate it so they could celebrate Snart’s birthday at the same time.

It took one week and as Snart was happy that he would be able to raise Lisa in a happy home life, he was worried about Barry. He kept on looking worried, stressed, and kept disappearing at weird times, but Snart wasn’t able to do anything at that moment as Joe wanted to go for a ride with him.

“Where are we going?” Snart asked him, truly wondering.

“I need to pick something up for Iris, I didn’t think you would mind keeping an old man company,” Joe answered smoothly.

“Yeah, no problem,�� Snart said, not really knowing how to respond, but to agree.

The drive wasn’t long, but Joe told him to close his eyes and even though Snart was beginning to feel a bit of anxiety, he listened and closed his eyes as Joe led him into a store, it had a strong coffee smell, but that was all he could tell about it with his sense of sight blocked.

“3. . .2. . 1,” Joe said as he uncovered Snarts eyes and everyone from the rouges to the west jumped out from different counters and hanging from the celling was a sign that said happy graduation and happy birthday.

It was a good party all together, but what made the party really special to Snart was when the night was closing to an end and Joe was able to make all the workers disappear, years later Snart would ask him how he did it and Joe would just laugh and say Iris worked their and they let her close that night. The night calmed down and Snart had to catch Barry as he was pushed towards him.

Snart smiled as he saw Barry blush and it was at this moment that Barry got on one knee and Snart’s eyes widened.

“Leonard Snart I Barry Allen love you with all my heart. I’m not asking for your hand in marriage that will be determined by our government instead I’m asking you for something different and better. I’m asking you for a promise that you will always be there for me and I will always be there for you. I love you so much and never want to be without you. I neve want to be apart whether it be for days hours or seconds because I love you. Instead of marriage I want you to take this ring as a promise to love me for the rest of your life and in return I will love you. Through the good. Through the bad. Through the sun. Through the storm. Through all the stars in the sky that we have yet to seen I promise to love you if you promise to love me.”

“I-“ Snart was doing his best to not cry, but at the same time he couldn’t get the words out without the tears spilling so he did what he knows how to do best. He worked through his actions not his words. He lifted Barry up and kissed him as cheers erupted around them.

“I’m taking that as a yes?” Barry asked.

“Yes! Yes! And Yes!” Snart shouted as he kissed Barry again.

Their story wasn’t over in fact to them their story was just beginning, but they will get through everything together and face all their problems with ease. Times might be hard for them, but they will always hold on to that hope that things will get better.

[afantasyoffiction]

when are we as the fandom gonna start talking about the odysseus chants tho,,,

like maybe it’s just the choir kid in me but every one sounds faintly latin? but it’s the only latin pronunciation in a musical about greek mythology and that cannot just be coincidence. instead of oh-DISS-ee-us like how ppl say his name normally the chants in the song Odysseus sound like they’re OH- dee- SAY-us do u know what i mean??

at first i thought they were saying deus. like. the latin word for god. it feels INTENTIONAL OK

also bc i keep thinking about this i started noticing some OTHER things about the song polyphemus. has this been said before? it’s the same riff. it’s the same sound. has jorge explained this to us yet??? why are we saying odysseus’ name like the cyclops’ name???

[frostygar]

If the writers planned to have WestAllen as endgame, there should have been a better build up. Having Barry pine over his adopted sister makes him look like a creep, and Iris suddenly fancied him out of the blue was wierd. They are the definition of a forced couple. What exactly do they have in common besides being siblings? I'm surprised no one found the pseudo incestrous relationship strange.

Okay, here’s the thing… the show may have had Joe calling Barry his son and Iris mentioning Barry being like her brother, but according to the show they aren’t step-siblings or even adopted siblings (as much as it pains me because I used to go hard core for that statement). Joe fostered Barry—the difference between adopted and fostered is length. Adopted=forever, fostered=temporary. But again, the show kind of dabbles between the lines and refuses to clear anything up for some reason which incites chaos between fandoms so…

Sorry, I just had to get that out there, because I do agree with you I just felt I had to explain.

I am well aware that WestAllen is comic canon and I can’t argue with it, but their build up was non-existent simply because Barry liked her because she was nice to him growing up while others weren’t, and she viewed him as a brother much like her father viewed him as a son. Iris liked Eddie all of s1 until he sacrificed himself (which I understand but he was such a great character and him and Iris were so good together I wish we had more time with him), and Iris didn’t start “having feelings” for Barry until she found out he was the Flash. It seems she only started to like Barry when she realized he wasn’t just a cute nerd who gave her all of his attention.

I mean it is a bit weird how Barry was in love with someone who was a essentially his sister, but I don’t find it CREEPY. This poor kid lost both of his parents in different ways and a family friend took him in and his daughter was nice to him whereas other people made fun of him and he sort of latched onto that. So it makes sense, but then having the endgame be him with her doesn’t because why make them so close to siblings—it should be him growing over it and realizing it was weird and just, like…. a fantasy, clinging onto the good. I know Westallen will be endgame because they’re too afraid of their fanbase to change anything (unless they pull a Riverdale Barchie), but if that’s the case, why NOT let Barry and Iris date other people? I know Barry had like two other relationships and while Iris randomly decided to butt in and ruin one, they really set up Barry and Caitlin only to give them a simple kiss and get scared and leave it behind…

Also a lot of people find the pseudo incest strange, it’s just that WestAllen’s drown them out or they’re bullied/scared into silence.

Sorry this is a mess I’m so bad at articulating my thoughts but thank you for the ask asdfghjkl;

[afantasyoffiction]

*slides the epic concept album onto your plate the way a cat leaves a dead mouse at your door, as food and protection but also for approval for my hunting skills*

screaming, crying, throwing up, frothing at the mouth and running in circles because i'm not currently obsessed with a piece of media and my creative juices are running dry

[fanfictionfaberrycentral]

Chapters: 1/11 Fandom: Supergirl (TV 2015), Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers & Nia Nal, Caitlin Snow & Iris West, Alex Danvers & Lena Luthor, Barry Allen & Kara Danvers, Kara Danvers & Kate Kane, Barry Allen & Kara Danvers & Oliver Queen, Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Maggie Sawyer, Barry Allen & Oliver Queen Characters: Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor, Alex Danvers, Samantha "Sam" Arias, Barry Allen, Iris West, Wally West, Kate Kane (DCU), Oliver Queen, Kelly Olsen (Supergirl TV 2015), Nia Nal, Querl Dox, Brainy, Winn Schott Jr., J'onn J'onzz | Hank Henshaw, Maggie Sawyer, Felicity Smoak, Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Earth-2 Harrison "Harry" Wells, Harrison "Sherloque" Wells, Lex Luthor, Curtis Holt, Nate Heywood, Dinah Drake, Mar Novu | The Monitor, Eobard Thawne, Caitlin Snow, Killer Frost, Cisco Ramon, Reverse Flash, Ruby Arias, John Constantine, Malcolm Merlyn, John Diggle, Agent Vasquez (Supergirl TV 2015), Lucy Lane (DCU), William Clayton (Arrow TV 2012), Lyla Michaels, Anti-Monitor (DCU), Astra Logue, Jesse "Quick" Wells, Jay Garrick, Gary Green, Gideon (DC's Legends of Tomorrow), Ray Palmer, Zari Tomaz | Zari Tarazi, Joe West, Thea Queen, Rene Ramirez, Earth-2 Laurel Lance, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, Nyssa al Ghul, Ralph Dibny, Mick Rory, Earth-X Leonard "Leo" Snart, Roy Harper Additional Tags: my take on Crisis on infinite earths, Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover Event (CW DC TV Universe), Lena Luthor Finds Out Kara Danvers is Supergirl, kinda angsty, Lena's salty, one big epic crossover, Kara kinda almost dies, Lena Luthor Loves Kara Danvers, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, everyone is big sad, nerds get to nerd, Supergirl (TV 2015) Season 4, lena's in her feels, damn this is all about lena, Lex Luthor is a pain in the ass, Minor Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Minor Barry Allen/Iris West, Minor Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak, Minor Querl Dox/Nia Nal, Established Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe, mention of Bruce Wayne - Freeform, people die, lots of feels, i'm sorry for the insane amount of tags Summary:

Kara didn't imagine it would go the way it went. The way Lena stared at her. The silence that filled the apartment. The chill that went down her spine. The emptiness of her eyes.

The deeper they get into it, the more terrible things get. Because their friends Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, and Kate Kane come from Earth-1, requiring their help because of an impending crisis.

The longer it goes on, the more tension there is. Yet the more that happens, the less confusion there is eventually.

Someone's going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice. But if it's one of the two destined lovers, then what will one do without the other?

AKA Crisis happens and Lena finds out Kara is Supergirl and she's really hurt and there's some angst and plot

[themetaphorgirl]

sooo I know u did the gang’s favorite musicals, but I’m out here wondering what their favorite MOVIE musicals are because that’s important

THESE ARE THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. My little theatre nerd heart is pleased. 

(also oops this now includes my commentary)

David: Singin’ In the Rain (ONE OF THE BEST. I miss watching the trailer for this 84 times a day and driving by the animatronic of Gene Kelly. Remind me to tell the story about “do the Gene Kelly)

James: Hans Christian Andersen (a CLASSIC from my CHILDHOOD. Also contains an absolutely GORGEOUS ballet sequence.)

Alex: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (a classic. one of my all-time favorites. contains the best dance sequence EVER IMMORTALIZED ON FILM.)

Hotch: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (fun fact: Dick Van Dyke was blacklisted from Disney for a while because of this movie. also, Hotch still has a lingering fear of the Childcatcher.)

Emily: Moulin Rouge (she. cries. every. time. this movie holds up surprisingly well. also the new stage version’s updated music selections are *chef’s kiss*)

Derek: Newsies (his sisters used to watch it all the time and he was OBSESSED and tried to learn all the dances because those guys were so cool. Sidenote: this was baby Caitlin’s first ever fandom.)

JJ: The Red Shoes (THE RED SHOES. I keep thinking of A Chorus Line. But yeah this is one of the best classic films with a ballet sequence.)

Penelope: Cinderella (the 1997 version. SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FILM. CANNOT BELIEVE IT WAS TELEVISED AND NOT A THEATRICAL RELEASE.)

Spencer: Carousel (my favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein, albeit problematic. the LOVELIEST score. a BRILLIANT ballet sequence. Spencer likes it because Diana used to play the cast recording all the time.) 

[afantasyoffiction]

u gotta. u gotta pass the vibe check ok. rn the faeries are just making sure everything is ready before they let you into faerieland i know it’s annoying but it’s worth the wait :) they gotta make the fanfiction magic

Nobody told me that I had to wait to finally have an AO3 account, I just wanna publish my lil stories there 😂

Who woulda thought I'd have to sacrifice a dove, dance in a circle and meet a wanderer in a desert just to get an account