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Barry was a little nervous as he made his way into the woods to the stone circle where they had agreed to meet up. Sometimes kids will use the place to hang out, to do drugs or to have parties. But it’s winter now, and Barry didn’t think anyone would want to hang out there in this cold. Meeting at the stone circle had seemed like a solid plan, but the deeper he went into the woods, the shakier his legs got.
It was too late to back out though, and when he arrived at the clearing and found it empty, he convinced himself that choosing this place had been the right thing to do.
The closer it’s getting to the time they were supposed to meet, the more he is starting to doubt this whole thing though. He didn’t exactly think it through when he had made the profile on his laptop - when he had been safe at home. But being out here, when it’s real - when they are about to meet - it’s making him shiver with nerves.
It’s too late to leave and pretend this whole thing never happened though, because he can hear leaves rustling and branches cracking, and when he looks up he spots Leonard Snart making his way over to the stone circle through the trees.
He obviously hasn’t spotted Barry yet - probably because Barry is hiding behind one of the stones - but when he takes his phone out of his pocket to check the time, Barry knows that he has no choice but to reveal himself.
“What the…,” Leonard blurts out, the look of shock on his face quickly turning into a look of anger. “What the hell are you doing here? Is this some kind of a joke?”
“It’s not.” Barry shakes his head. He had thought about this meeting for weeks, and he had figured out exactly how he was going to tell Leonard that he was the one behind the ‘Adam’ profile. But none of those words are coming out now, and instead he is just standing there staring at him.
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I’m…,” Barry tries, but talking to Leonard had been so nice. Finally getting to know him, after having had a crush on him for months, if not years, had been so nice. Once he admits to having lied to him all this time, all of that will be over.
“Don’t tell me,” Leonard sighs. “You’re Adam? Why?”
“Because I like you?” Barry admits, but his voice is shaking, and it comes out sounding more like a question. He had always been fascinated by the bad boy living across the street from them, but because Joe had warned him that he was trouble, he had kept his distance. Then one night, a few months ago, they ended up at the same party, and it turned out Leonard wasn’t the horror Joe had made him out to be. It was love - or lust - at first sight for Barry, and after having heard him mention this new dating app at the party, he had stupidly made the Adam profile the next morning.
He clearly hadn’t thought it through; what he would do if Leonard would want to meet up, or about the fact that he could be hurting him. He had only been thinking about himself. But when Leonard suggested they’d meet up today, Barry knew he had to agree, if only so he could finally come clean. He had, however, decided on this place, just in case Leonard would lose it and he would start screaming at him. At least out here there would be no witnesses.
But, as Barry now realizes, out here there will be no witnesses if he does something worse to make him pay for what he did either.
He steps back, his foot getting caught on a branch, and it makes him fall backwards. Leonard grabs him by the arm and manages to pull him back up though. But having him so close, when a second ago he considered that he might be about to beat him up - or worse - makes him flinch, and Leonard can tell.
Leonard lets go of his arm and he holds up his hands to show that there are no weapons, that he is not here to hurt him. Hell, he came here thinking he was about to meet up with the guy he’s been talking to for months. Not the boy living across the street, who has only once or twice said hello to him, but who otherwise walked into the other direction as soon as he saw him come out of the house.
“Why are we here, Barry?” Leonard asks, still waiting for an explanation. Not sure if he should be hurt or angry. Or maybe both. It feels like the younger man has played a trick on him, but if he did, wouldn’t he be out here with his friends, laughing at him right now? He doesn’t look like he ‘won’. He looks nervous and scared, and Leonard almost feels sorry for him. Even if he was the one who was lied to all this time.
“Because I wanted to tell you the truth,” Barry tries to explain. “That I’m ‘Adam’. I made that profile to talk to you.”
“To talk to me?” Leonard scoffs. “We live on the same block, Barry. You didn’t have to lie to me, or…” He realizes he is raising his voice, and he doesn’t want to be shouting at the teenager, so he takes a breath before continuing. “You didn’t have to pretend to be into me. Why did you want to talk to me anyway? Does Joe know that we’re… does he know that you’re here?”
“No…”
“He’s going to kill me, isn’t he?” Leonard rolls his eyes, before kicking at a pile of leaves. “You better explain to him that I had no idea that I was talking to you. If I had known…”
“I’m not going to tell him,” Barry quickly says, “He doesn’t even know that I’m… you know…”
“Lying to guys online, before luring them into the woods?”
“Bi,” Barry mumbles, and the blush on his face is enough for Leonard to soften.
“Is that why you’re doing this?” he asks, still more than a little frustrated at the fact that he has been lied to. But it’s obvious that the young man meant no harm, and that he is feeling bad enough as it is.
“I just told you why, didn’t I?” Barry tries again. “I like you, and I knew you wouldn’t talk to me, so…”
“So you pretended to be someone else.”
“Yeah…” Barry nods. “I know it was stupid, but…” He shrugs. “I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”
Leonard cocks an eyebrow, because he didn’t mean for it to go this far? But he meant for it to go as far as for them to exchange pictures? The kind of pictures that if Joe were to ever find out about them, Leonard would definitely have to flee the country?
“How old are you anyway?” he asks, getting a little nervous now.
“Eighteen,” Barry chuckles, because he can tell what the other man is thinking about. “But those weren’t my pictures.”
“Then who…”
“I found them online,” Barry admits. “Sorry.”
Leonard can’t help but laugh at the stupidity and the absurdity of the situation, and part of him still expects Barry to admit that it was all some elaborate joke. But bigger part of him knows that Barry just made a stupid decision and that he got himself too deep in to know how to get himself out.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Barry says. “Or… I mean, I’m not saying I hurt you, or… just that I didn’t do this to hurt you. I just wanted to get to know you, that’s all. And I know it was stupid, but…”
“Stop.” Leonard holds up his hand, because he truly thinks that the younger man will continue rambling if he doesn’t stop him. “It’s fine.”
“It is?” Barry asks, sounding a little too shocked. After the stories he heard about Leonard, he wasn’t sure what to expect. But this reaction definitely wasn’t it.
“Just promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t do this again. Not just the fake profile, but this. Meeting up with guys out in the woods? It’s not safe,” Leonard says. “Joe would kill you if he knew you were doing this.”
“Probably,” Barry nods nervously. “And I won’t. Do it again, I mean.”
“Good, then let’s pretend this never happened.”
Leonard turns to leave, but after talking to him for months, Barry isn’t ready for it to end like this. Sure, he was talking to him as Adam, but everything he said was real, and the feelings he has for him are real.
“Wait, Len?”
Leonard turns to face him again, the hint of a blush visible after hearing what 'Adam' used to call him.
“I still like you,” Barry admits. “I only lied about my name, and about what I looked like. But I’m…”
“You’re not him, Barry,” Leonard cuts him off, not sure how to feel anymore. He had had his fair share of bad dates, and ‘Adam’ had been the first guy to treat him right. To say the right things and to make him feel like he deserved more. But Adam wasn’t real, and even if Barry says that that was all him, it still feels like all of it was a lie.
“Okay.” Barry nods, knowing full well that they could have had a chance if he hadn’t lied. But he messed this up, and he has to accept the fact that Leonard wants nothing to do with him. “I’m sorry.”
Leonard wants to walk away, but the conversations they had, and all the nights they spent getting to know each other flash through his mind.
“Maybe we can go for a coffee some time,” he says, and when he sees the shy smile forming on the younger man’s face, he can’t help but laugh. “Just a coffee, Barry.”
“I know.” Barry quickly nods.
“No more lies though,” Leonard adds. “If I find out you’re still using that profile…”
“No more lies,” Barry agrees. “I’m deleting the profile as soon as I get home.”
“Good.” Leonard smirks. “Now go home before it gets dark.”
Barry almost steps up to him to try and go in for a kiss, but after Leonard’s forgiveness and after the possibility of a first date, he doesn’t want to take it a step too far and ruin it again. So he just gives an awkward wave, blushing deeply when he nearly stumbles over his own feet again.
“I’ll call you, yeah?”
“Go home, Barry.”
