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This day really isn’t turning out like Barry planned.
They’d both taken the summer job at Big Belly Burger around the same time. Barry had just wanted to get some extra money to pay for his college fees (his foster father has been doing his best, but being a single father of three has got to be difficult on the funds, despite the man’s protests to the contrary), and Oliver… well. Apparently Oliver’s there to learn some self-discipline, after getting into some trouble over a drinking related mishap. Barry’s still not managed to get the full story of that one yet, but he fully intends to some day.
He’d been the typical rich kid at first, and Barry couldn’t help but roll his eyes the first day that Oliver made a pass at him.
The more he’s gotten to know Oliver, though, the more he’s beginning to understand the older boy. It’s true that there’s some douchey parts to him, but the past month at Big Belly Burger really has done him a world of good. He’s actually kind of sweet sometimes. Deep down.
What started out as merely civility turned into a tentative friendship, and soon enough, the flirty banter had followed, and… well. Barry can’t deny that it’s bloomed into more than that. At least, for him.
So he’d been planning on asking Oliver out. Probably not his best idea, but he figured that if he could at least give him the benefit of the doubt, Oliver might just surprise him.
That is, until the guy with the gun stopped that plan in its tracks entirely.
They’ve managed to lock themselves in the storeroom, and to their relief, no one’s came looking yet. He’s not sure how organised this whole thing is, really. All he’d heard was some shouting after he’d managed to get Oliver alone, some screaming, a bang, and then silence.
All he can do is hope that it was a warning shot. God, please it have been a warning shot.
It’s been what feels like an hour, and they’re both perched on one of the empty counters, frozen in silence.
It’s Oliver that breaks it first, with a shaky breath. “Are you okay?”
Barry swallows thickly. No, he’s really not okay. He’s worried. For everyone. Who knows what’s going on out there, and Barry and Oliver are hardly safe where they are right now. He’s not naïve enough to think that whoever’s out there won’t come looking for other people eventually.
But he’s not going to admit that. It’ll just make everything worse. So he just replies with a not-at-all-convincing “y-yeah.”
Of course, Oliver isn’t fooled – because why would he be? Barry’s hands won’t stop shaking, and the vibration carries its way up to the back of his throat and-
Without much warning, he feels Oliver’s palm slide over his, and he laces their fingers together. Barry’s racing thoughts slam to a stop in spite of himself, and he glances down at their joined hands, before slowly working his way up to meeting Oliver’s eyes.
God, he’s pretty sure he’s never seen Oliver look so raw. “It’s okay to be scared,” Oliver tells him quietly.
“Are you?”
Oliver seems to consider the question for a little bit, before giving him a stiff nod.
“Who even robs a fast food place?” Barry asks, because it’s been bugging him for the last hour, and he’s still struggling to come up with an answer.
“Don’t question it, Barry. Sometimes people just… do things. I don’t think there was much motive beyond emptying the cash registers.”
He sighs, because Oliver’s right, but-
“It’s just… you hear about this stuff happening in banks. You don’t come to work at Big Belly Burger and expect to be held hostage.”
“I don’t think anyone goes to work and expects to be held hostage.”
Okay, he’ll give him that.
He lets out a trembled breath of laughter, and Oliver gives him an inquisitive look. As he should, because really, none of this is funny – but he can’t help himself.
“What?”
“It’s just-“ Barry starts, before glancing down at their hands again. Oliver’s thumb runs over the back of Barry’s, and the motion drags goosebumps across his skin and makes his stomach flip all at once. “I brought you in here to ask you out.”
At that, Oliver’s shoulders seem to loosen a little, and he lets out a quiet chuckle of his own, before fixing him with the same kind of smug grin that he’d seen the other wear so many times.
Barry wants to kiss the grin right off his stupid handsome smug face.
“You were, huh?”
He rolls his eyes but doesn’t say anything more. Not that he really needs to, because Oliver’s leaning closer, and his heart’s pounding in his chest, and this probably isn’t the best time, but it’s all they can do not to think about what’s going on outside, so he leans in regardless and lets their lips touch.
It’s like fire and lightning all at once, sparks flaring through him as Oliver deepens the kiss after a few tentative nips of their lips, bringing his hands up to frame Barry’s face, and Barry threads his fingers into the hairs just above his nape in return.
They break apart, and Oliver’s eyes hold him steadily in place – the blue seeming all that clearer in the dim light.
“When we get out of here,” Oliver assures him. “I’m gonna take you out on the most romantic date you’ve ever been on.”
“Hey, I thought I was the one asking you out.”
Oliver shrugs. “I need something to do with the money I’ve been earning here anyway.”
He has a point. It’s not like the son of a billionaire has much need for minimum wage pay. Oliver’s probably just let the weekly payments build up in his bank account.
Besides, it’s not like Barry could have afforded much anyway.
“Fine, but I get to pick the place.”
“Bossy already,” Oliver teases. “Please tell me you’re like that in the bedroom, too, because-“
A throat clears, and Barry just about jumps out of his skin, Oliver withdrawing from him quickly and moving to put himself in front of Barry in one swift motion.
It’s not the robber – it’s Joe West, lowering his gun slowly, and Barry lets out a breath of relief.
“Do I even wanna know what that conversation was about?”
Barry ignores the question – but he’s not stupid enough to think that that’ll be the end of the conversation. Joe’s likely to grill him for it later. “Is… is everyone alright?”
Joe’s stance loosens, and he gives Barry a nod. “Detective Thawne’s loading the culprit into the car as we speak. Kid was all talk. I don’t think he’s ever handled a gun before in his life. No one was hurt.” His eyes flicker to Oliver. “Well, no one yet.”
Oliver gives Barry a questioning gaze.
“Um. Ollie, meet Joe West. He’s my… foster father.”
His eyebrows raise in understanding, and his face screws up into a cringe at the memory of the line that Joe had walked in on. “Nice to meet you, Mr. West. I promise, my intentions are entirely-“
Joe raises his hand, and Oliver stops in his tracks. “That’s Detective West to you, and we can save the shovel talk for later. We’re evacuating the restaurant. Time to move.”
Without another word, Barry and Oliver follow his order, and while Joe makes his way over to his partner, likely to let him know that he’d found Barry and Oliver, the two boys in question join the crowd of people gathered in the parking lot, where Barry’s promptly accosted by Iris, who immediately wraps her arms around him and babbles about how worried she’d been, and Oliver’s soon comforting a girl that appears a few years younger than him that Barry assumes is his sister, before his mother’s drawing him into her arms.
There’ll be time to arrange their date later. Right now, Barry’s just happy that everyone’s made it out unharmed.