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“Remind me why we’re here again,” Mick said gruffly, glaring out over the track.
“Cause Lenny’s here to see his boy,” Lisa cooed, pinching Len’s cheek.
Len swatted her hand away. “Shut up. It’s a school event. I’m here to see a lot of people.”
“We never go to school events,” Mick countered. “Not until you started locking lips with the track star.”
“We’re not -” Len ground his teeth. “Barry and I are not locking anything.”
“Barry huh?” Mick smirked. “I didn’t realize you were on a first name basis.”
“I said shut up,” Len buried his face in his parka, glaring at nothing.
Mick and Lisa both snickered but didn’t say anything more on the subject.
“Oh look, there’s Cisco!” Lisa said, standing and waving fiercely to the side.
Cisco and Caitlin stood at the steps to the bleachers, both holding copious amounts of food.
Cisco brightened when he saw Lisa, though it faltered slightly when he caught sight of Len and Mick.
To their credit, they still made their way over, smiling tentatively as they got close enough.
“Hi you two,” Lisa chirped, sliding over Len to sit on his other side, patting the spot beside her for the others.
“Hi,” Cisco said, a blush on his cheeks as he sat, pulling Caitlin down beside him.
“Are you excited?” Lisa purred, smiling at them.
Cisco nodded quickly, cheeks still pink. “Yeah, Barry’s been gearing up for this race for a long time.”
“Oh, is Barry running?” Lisa blinked innocently. She turned to grin at Len. “Lenny, did you hear that? Barry is running!”
Len grunted, not looking at her. Mick, on his other side, laughed uproariously, frightening some freshman behind him into scattering like pigeons.
“Oh look, there he is.” Caitlin pointed into the distance, where a group of Central City High’s track kids had gathered.
Barry stood with them, stretching one of his legs as he spoke. His lean muscles were exposed in his red tank top and far too tight to be decent booty shorts.
Cisco, Caitlin, and Lisa waved and yelled for his attention, whooping his name at the top of their lungs. Len rolled his eyes, particularly at his sister, and buried deeper into his coat.
Obviously hearing the spectacle, Barry looked up, spotting the group. His gaze travelled over the line; when it landed on Len, his smile split into a sunny grin. He waved back furiously, hand practically a blur.
The others went crazy over it, hollering and waving their arms.
After a moment, Len raised a hand low, gaze flickering from the track to Barry quickly, waving quickly before lowering his hand to his lap.
Barry beamed, looking far more pleased than he ought to at the brief wave Len had given him.
The coach, Harry Wells, whacked Barry on the arm with his clipboard, getting his attention back. Wells was the notoriously short tempered physics teacher who’d gotten roped into coaching track. He had a soft spot for Barry, his track star, and Cisco, his star pupil, but he’d never admit it.
There was a loud click from the speakers and the announcer’s voice rang out.
“Runners in position! Spectators find your seats! The race is about to begin!”
Len grumbled at the others cheering again, the racers jogging over to the beginning of the track, stretching and jumping in excitement.
Wells came over with a critical gaze over the runners, stopping to whisper a last minute encouragement to Barry. Barry just grinned and nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Len kept his gaze on barry, try to remain surreptitious.
Catching Len’s eyes on him, Barry gave him a shy smile.
Seeing the exchange, Lisa grinned wide and pinched Len, hard on the arm. He swatted her away, scowling.
“Take your marks!” the announcer called.
The runners crouched.
Barry’s thighs went taut and his features hardened into a determined focus.
Len licked his lips.
Someone raised a starter pistol, drawing out a long, tense moment.
It fired.
They took off, Barry immediately pulling ahead of the rest, Eobard Thawne, in his bright yellow uniform, hot on his heels.
Thawne, the cousin of Iris’s boyfriend Eddie, was the real reason this race was such a big deal. When Barry’s fame as the fastest runner around gained him the nickname The Flash , it wasn’t long before Eobard had started challenging him.
A rivalry was born and now every match seemed to be over something much bigger than running.
Len had heard more than a few rants about Eobard from Barry, which was truthfully enough reason to dislike him alone.
“Run Barry,” Len whispered, gaze following Barry and Thawne down the track. “Run.”
Concentration was intense on Barry’s face while a smirk paid on Thawne’s smug face even as he obviously pushed to keep up.
“They’re pushing too fast,” Caitlin gnawed at her lip as she watched them run down the track. “It’s too soon, they won’t be able to keep this pace up.”
“Barry can do this,” Len said firmly. “He’s gotten his time a few point seconds faster on his miles."
Cisco and Caitlin stared at him and Lisa giggled. Len steadily ignored them, staring down at the track.
“He’s right...” Cisco said thoughtfully. “Last test we did, Barry beat his own time.”
Len humphed, resisting the urge to tell Cisco he knew he was right, thank you very much.
As Thawne drew closer, Len’s fists clenched and unclenched, trying not to lean forward and look too eager. Behind him, Mick reached over and grabbed a handful of popcorn from Cisco. Cisco’s protest of “Hey!” was dimmed as Len focused solely on Barry, urging him forward.
Mick elbowed his ribcage. “Jeez loosen up Len. You look like you’re about to burst out of your seat and chase Thawne down.”
Len knocked his hand back without looking. “Shut up.”
Barry and Thawne rounded the curve, Barry’s face twisted in concentration, with a tinge of anger. Thawne meanwhile, had the smuggest smirk even as he clearly struggled to stay inches behind Barry.
Maybe Mick was right; Len might have to jump down to the track to beat that look right off his face.
But that might get Barry disqualified.
How could time be moving so slow? About an inch of the seat remained under Len’s ass as he inched forward. He wasn’t sure how long he could take the suspense, as fun as watching Barry’s lean legs stride along was.
“No, no, no, no!” Caitlin gasped, leaning forward.
Len’s gaze snapped to Thawne, momentarily distracted by Barry’s long legs. The motherfucker was making a break for first, his legs pumping faster to try and overtake Barry.
“No!” Len echoed Caitlin’s sentiment, standing abruptly and gripping the railing. “Run Barry! Run!”
How he was able to hear Len’s cry over the screams of the crowd was beyond him, but something powerful renewed on Barry’s face.
As Thawne raced to match pace, Barry burst into a sprint.
The others stood beside Len, clutching the rail, urging Barry forward. Suddenly, the whole crowd was on it’s feet, screaming their Flash on. The noise was deafening, shaking the stands.
Barry and Thawne were neck and neck, racing for the ribbon so fast they were blurs.
Just as it looked like Thawne was going to pull ahead, something electric surged through Barry’s legs, practically filling the air with the crackle. He shot forward, leaving Thawne looking shocked behind him.
The ribbon snapped over Barry’s chest and the stands exploded.
Without thinking, Len screamed along with them, ecstasy bursting in his chest and widening his cheeks into the widest smile of his life.
Barry kept running, past Harry patting him on the back, past his teammates cheering him on, past the starter with the pistol, right for the stands. His smile was exuberant, never faltering as he pushed forward still.
Len couldn’t stop smiling back, his grin splitting his cheeks nearly painfully. He was so ecstatic he didn’t realize that not only was Barry headed for the stands, he was headed for him .
Barry grabbed the rail and swung himself up, right in front of Len.
And then, before Len could say a single word, not Congratulations or What are you doing? Barry kissed him.
In front of everyone.
Another scream surged through the crowd as they watched the track star kiss the resident bad boy.
Len’s eyes were about as wide as they could possibly get as he clung to the railing tighter than ever, turning his knuckles white. He could hear Mick roaring with laughter on his one side and Lisa squealing on his other.
Len let his eyes close briefly, giving Barry as good as he was getting. If they were doing this thing, he was going all out.
When Barry pulled back, his smile had not dimmed, staring at Len brighter than the sun.
Len swallowed dryly, struggling to tamp down his smile, trying to turn it into his signature smirk. “Congratulations.”
Barry cocked his head, still grinning. “Thanks. You helped, you know.”
Despite his efforts, a blush heated Len’s cheeks. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You came to cheer me on,” Barry said earnestly.
“So did we, you know,” Cisco grumbled off to the side.
Barry laughed, flashing his bright smile at his friends as he thanked them.
Over Barry’s head, Len saw Thawne fuming at the display from across the track, standing with his own teammates and glaring right at Barry.
He grinned back cockily and Thawne’s scowl deepened.
“Flash,” Len said with a smirk, raising his voice slowly with each pronouncement. “Flash. Flash. Flash!”
The crowd around him slowly picked up the chant, until it was vibrating in the bleachers beneath them, rocking the stands, a war cry at their rivals.
A shocked, thrilled laugh burst from Barry’s mouth and he stared at Len with adoration, the chant thundering in their ears.
Thawne looked ready to explode into a thousand jealous pieces.
Len bent down, close to Barry’s bright smile, his voice low. “You. Me. Tonight. Saints and Sinners.”
Raising an eyebrow, Barry smirked at him. “A real date huh? You must be really proud of me for something that special.”
Len gave Barry a soft smile, one that not many people got and one that he was glad only Barry could see, the fluff of his hood hiding it from the others. “Yeah, you could say that.”
Then he kissed him.