Work Text:
“Does it look okay?” Hal asked because even though he’d tied and untied this stupid thing that felt like a noose around his neck about fifty times, it still felt wrong.
“Here,” John got up off the wicker chair he’d been watching Hal from, sniggering into his hand as he watched Hal struggle into his suit. “Honestly, Hal, you’re a college graduate and a pilot. You should know how to tie a tie by now. I’m not your mother.”
“No, you’re just my best man.” Hal said as he watched John’s hands go to work on the tie. In less time it took Hal to blink, it was in a perfect knot and no longer looked or felt awkward. Hal breathed a sigh of relief.
“Much to Ollie’s chagrin.”
Hal and John turned abruptly at the sound as Dinah’s voice as she floated ethereally into the room. She looked like an actual angel, with her long blonde hair splayed out across the white of her bridesmaid’s dress. “He still hasn't forgiven you for not making him the best man.”
“Uh oh,” John laughed. “Am I homewrecking the bromance?”
“He’s not mad at you, John,” Dinah insisted. “Just Hal.”
“Like always.” John countered.
“He’ll get over it,” Hal said. “Plus, I promised you first.”
“Should have just had two best men,” John replied. “Or made Barry make Oliver his best man.”
“Snart would have never let that happen,” Hal was smirking at even the thought of it. “There would have been a smackdown over it. And I wouldn’t favour Ollie’s chances in that fight.”
Hal cancelled them out for a moment and stared at himself in the mirror. He liked to think he brushed up well but he’d probably catch a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the limousine and think he looked like he’d just woke up on a park bench. All that mattered to Hal was that Barry didn't think he looked completely awful. This was Barry’s day, after all. Hal had been content to just do all of this in a registry office. He wasn't one for big, extravagant events. It was Barry that was the hopeless romantic and Barry who wanted to get married with all their friends and family there. Hal was warming to idea - John and Dinah acted as a calming presence just by being in the same room as him - but ultimately this was Barry’s wedding. Hal could only hope he didn't screw it up.
But apparently he couldn't even achieve that.
“Where’s the ring?” Hal almost yelled as he patted himself down, unable to feel the familiar box shape anywhere on his person. He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, like he’d been stabbed, probably out of fear because Barry was going to murder him. “WHERE’S THE RING?!”
“Hal,” Dinah said, wide-eyed.
“That better be a joke.”
“Barry is going to kill you if you've lost that damn thing.” John added, equally shocked.
“Help me look.”
It was only after Hal, Dinah and John had scoured every inch of the house Clark strolled into the kitchen that the trio had congregated in of the (soon to be) Allen-Jordan household holding up salvation incarnate.
“Looking for this?” Clark had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face that made Hal want to punch him but, at the same time, he had never been happier to see Superman in his entire life.
“The ring!” Dinah squealed.
“Oh, thank god, Clark,” Hal breathed, bracing himself on the counter because his heart had not stopped pounding against his chest throughout the entire search. “Thank god. Where’d you find it?”
“Front porch.” Clark said, passing it to Hal who consequently passed it Dinah. She was far better at taking care of things that were important. Front porch made sense, at least. He’d been out there earlier to calm his nerves when John had started questioning him on their future in the League and settling down (a whole different can of worms Hal would rather worry about on another day that wasn't one as huge as this was.) Barry was forever complaining at him for losing things in weird places. Don’t ask him how he’d left the remote in the bathroom, his brain didn't think tangentially.
“Not to be rude, buddy,” John said. “But what are you doing here?”
“Lois and I were on our way to the church,” Clark explained. “I heard you panicking in the car and told her to pull over. I knew Hal would have left the ring in a glaringly obvious place but having a guy with x-ray vision help you look couldn’t hurt.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Hal groaned and punched Clark lightly on the arm. “You’re going to the church already? Isn’t it a little early?”
“Well, the wedding starts in half an hour so...”
“It does?” Dinah and John asked in unison.
“IT DOES?” Hal almost shouted.
“Limousine’s outside.” Clark replied. As if to illustrate his point, the driver blared his horn.
“Relax, Hal,” Dinah said. “You’re not going to be late. Just go upstairs, put your shoes on and take a few minutes to calm down,” that was probably a good plan considering Hal could see his hands shaking. “I’ll get the driver to wait.”
****
Barry was going to be late.
The wedding was in half an hour and he couldn't force himself up from the barstool he’d sat himself down on. His phone was going crazy and he didn’t want check it because he knew they were all going to be from his friends, asking where he was. He couldn't answer, especially after running away from them. He didn't know what to do.
As it was, he was getting a lot of stares from the people at the bar. There was some kind of sports game on and there he was, dressed in a nice suit and crying his eyes out. He ordered a glass a whiskey, only to not look completely out of the ordinary considering alcohol did nothing to him anymore unless it was spiked with magic (thanks, Zatanna, for those embarrassing photos Hal put on Instagram last Christmas.)
Hal. God, Hal. Barry felt so ashamed. This had been his idea, to have all their friends in civvies for this wedding. To fly what was left of Hal’s family out from Coast City. To have a big, fancy church wedding rather than sticking to Hal’s ever more appealing registry office idea. And he couldn't deal with it. He couldn't deal with the pressure of having so many people watching.
He loved Hal. He knew that, above anything, it would always be Hal. Everything in his life came back to Hal. It was Hal who had been the first hero he’d met as the Flash, Hal who had become his first friend in the Justice League, Hal who had been there for him first and foremost after he’d come back to life. Even after being dead for so long, Hal had still held on to him. And it was Hal, who even after all these years, he could still firmly call his home and happiness.
So why was he here, in this sweaty bar surrounded by strangers instead of with the people that loved and cared about him? He didn’t have an answer for that. He only knew that he ached all over and felt like he couldn’t breathe.
“Alright, Flash,” Two firm hands clasped down on his shoulders. “Are you going to come quietly or do I have to put you in a headlock and drag you to that alter myself?”
Barry would recognize that voice anywhere. “How’d you find me?” He asked.
“It’s not like you were hiding,” Leonard sat down on one of the stools next to Barry and took the whiskey away from him, taking a swig. “Plus, I’ve always been smarter than you.”
Barry gave him a half-assed smile. He really had no idea what to say. He’d been the one to give Leonard Snart - previously one of his most bitter rivals until him and his buddies had gone down the straight and narrow (hopefully forever) and put aside the bad blood they had with the Flash to protect the Gem Cities from the likes of Zoom and Grodd - the role of best man. It had taken them almost a decade but enemies had become friends and now Leonard was looking at him expectantly for an explanation for Barry’s completely out of character behaviour.
“What’s eating at you, kid?” Barry wished Leonard would stop calling him kid. He was only a year older than him and they were both pushing forty anyway. “Cold feet? Not sure GL’s the one?”
“No,” Barry said firmly. “I love Hal. I know that.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Leonard asked, more softly than before. “Because if you chicken out of this, my sister’s gunna be pissed. Bought a pretty dress and everything. And you've seen Lisa when she’s angry, ‘hell hath no fury’ is an understatement. I ain’t dealing with that kind of heat, she’s worse than Mick sometimes.”
“It’s...okay, this is going to sound stupid, but it’s the amount of people we’ve invited.”
“Uh, Barry, I hate to be captain obvious here but that was your idea.”
“I know.” Barry sighed, letting his head drop against the bar.
“Listen, kid,” Leonard said, probably trying to sound wise and sagely over Barry’s glass of whiskey. “I don’t know much about weddings. You know I’m seeing Rosie, but we ain’t exactly the marrying type. Sam and Lisa got hitched in a registry office. So maybe my advice is going to be a load of crap but here it is. Those people in that church? They ain’t there to judge you. They’ve come because they care about you, kid. Every single one of them. Even Axel, if I can get him to shut up long enough for you to get through your vows. No promises, by the way. And, yeah, even me which, if you’d have told me five years ago I’d be saying to the Flash someday, I would have laughed in your face. Hey, crazy world, right?”
Barry lifted his head off the bar to look at his friend. He could tell Leonard sincerely believed that and, even if Barry couldn’t fully do the same, that was enough for Barry. “Thanks, Len.”
“Anytime,” Leonard threw back his head and chugged the last of the drink. He put the glass down and scrunched up his face. “Ugh, awful. Just the way I like it. So, anyways, kid, how about we blow the craphole and head downtown. I hear there’s a wedding on, wanna crash it?”
Barry couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his face. “Oh, really? Isn’t that illegal, I thought you’d put that life behind you.”
”You know me, kid, ‘rebel without a cause’ and all that crap,” Len replied and then sobered suddenly. “We going or what? Because your groom’s going to think you left him at the alter if we don’t bounce now.”
*****
“He’s not going to show up.”
Hal was slumped on the alter steps, head held in his hands. No one could find Barry. He’d told the Garricks he was planning to walk the short fifteen minutes from their home to the church alone but he’d never actually made it. John was talking a small circle of Barry’s friends trying to deduce where he could be and Dinah was talking to the minister and they were both looking at him with sympathetic eyes. Diana had come to sit with him and squeezed his shoulder as she spoke comforting words, “If he’s going to be late, he’ll have his reasons,” Diana assured. “He wouldn’t just stand you up Hal.”
Hal wasn’t too sure about that. He knew how Barry could get when he was stressed, maybe this was just too much for him.
“Len just called!” A shout came up from the back of the church and Hal looked up to see Lisa Snart (who had been invited against Hal’s better judgement) waving her phone frantically in the air. “He’s with Barry, they’re on their way!”
A sigh of collective relief filled the church. Hal would have to remember to buy Snart a six pack of larger or something for corralling Barry. He’d never been a fan of the Snarts or the Rogues in general, even after their reform, but they were slowly changing his mind. Diana smiled at Hal and said, “See? Everything’s going to be fine.”
“Thanks, Wondy.” Hal probably ruined the moment because at the use of the nickname Diana glared at him and punched him hard in the arm and went to take her seat next to Lois.
Barry took approximately seven minutes to get his blonde ass to church and every single one of them became more painful and longer than the last. Finally, Barry arrived with his best man (which Snart was really living up to) in tow to a sea of expectant faces. Barry stalled at the door for a moment but Snart leaned in and said something to him that obviously restored his confidence.
“Thought you weren’t going to be late?” Hal yelled, causing most of the church to turn and stare at Barry, something Hal wished they wouldn’t do. “Now I’m starting to know how David feels.”
“Sorry. Did I miss much?”
“Oh, you’re old news now Barry,” Hal said. “I’m marrying Ollie instead.” That caused some laughs to go up through the crowd, including Dinah. Oliver didn’t laugh, however. He just glared at Hal, probably still sulking over not being the best man.
When Barry finally reached him, Hal’s heart skipped a beat for a moment. Barry really did brush up well but that wasn’t what had caused his breathing to go funny for a second. It was how natural this felt. To take his fiance’s hands and look up into those familiar baby blue’s, that round face and boyish grin. He had memorized every inch of this face, Hal realized, every blemish and scar and laugher line. The thought of not knowing Barry was impossible now and in that moment Hal knew, truly and deeply within him, that Barry was his soulmate.
The minister cleared his throat and ended the moment where it had seemed like nothing else had existed except Barry. “Are we ready to begin?”
Hal just looked at Barry, as if waiting for his approval. Barry turned to the minister and nodded in confirmation. “More than ready.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today...”
Hal didn’t really hear the rest of the minister’s speech, he could only focus on Barry. Barry who was smiling and squeezing his hand and looking as young as he had all those years ago when he’d first kissed him under the mistletoe as a drunk dare at the Watchtower. He’d known then, Hal thought, that Barry was the one. He’d never felt so magnetised towards someone in his whole life. That might not be saying much considering Hal’s past habit of being the bang-and-bail bad boy but it certainly explained why his relationship with Carol had never worked out. Not that he harboured any bad sentiment towards Carol, hell, she was at his wedding.
Barry’s unconstrained joy was the main reason for the huge smirk on his face and also the reason why Hal screwed up his vows. Something about the way Barry rolled his eyes in mock exasperation and whispered, “You mess.” under his breath told Hal he had been forgiven.
It was only when the minister said, “You may kiss the groom.” Did Hal snap back to reality.
And then preceded to shamelessly eat Barry’s face in front of the entire congregation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Oliver’s mouth pull up into a small smile but it was gone by the time he untangled himself from Barry.
The back of the church was where the cheering was the loudest. Wally, Kyle and Jason had climbed on top of the pews and were banging against the wood violently and cheering so loudly they were overpowering the rest of the church combined. They were getting filthy looks from the minister and some of the other guests but Hal was smiling so damn hard because the three of them reminded him of what Hal used to be like when he was their age. God, he was getting old.
“Kids.” Barry rolled his eyes at them and waved for them to sit down. They promptly flipped him off.
“Yep. Kids, alright.” Hal laughed.
****
The reception wasn’t much but it was a welcome break after forcing everyone to pose for the photographers. After Hal had stepped all over Barry’s toes during their first dance and he had managed to excuse himself from the constant stream of questions from Hal’s brothers, Barry had retired to the buffet table only to watch a small hand snap out from underneath it and take an entire tray of devilled eggs. Barry glanced to the other end of the table and noticed a discarded wheelchair placed suspiciously beside it. He ducked down and pulled the tablecloth up to reveal an ensemble of Bruce’s kids (even the big ones) hiding beneath it looking like deer in headlights.
“Uh, hi Mr Allen.” Cassandra said.
“Mr Allen-Jordan.” Stephanie corrected.
“Hey, kids,” Barry replied, more than a little confused. “Um, what are you doing under here? And how did you all fit?”
“We’re hiding from Drake’s little rag-tag team of losers,” Damian explained, earning him a dirty look from his brother. Damian merely waved his hand dismissively and shoved two devilled eggs in his mouth. “I believe it’s called hide-and-seek and I believe you’re ruining our game.”
“Don’t be rude, Damian,” Barbara scalded, who was propping herself up on her elbows. “We’ll leave if you want us to.”
“No, it’s okay,” Barry said. “You might want to move the wheelchair, though.”
He left the kids behind to a heated discussion about the wheelchair situation and when Bart, Kon and Cassie cornered him at his table, he did his best to deny having seen any sign of them. They didn’t seem very convinced, but they left him alone.
“Hey, Barry!” Dinah called, probably noticing he was sat by himself, and waved him over. “What’s up? You shouldn’t be alone on your big night.”
“Just starting to get tired.” Barry replied, stifling a yawn. The song changed suddenly, the music of his childhood replaced by some cheesy pop song. Barry didn’t mind, it had obviously gotten to that part of the night where people were sick of slow dances and wanted something they could really shake to.
The batkids, apparently bored with their game of hide and seek, dominated the dancefloor and Barry turned away laughing when Jason started twerking.
“So, what are you going to do for your honeymoon?” Dinah asked, peering over her glass of wine.
“I’m not sure, actually.” Barry hadn’t thought about it much. He worried every time he went on vacation that something terrible was going to happen to the Gem Cities in his absence, even with the Garricks and Wally and Bart and now even the Rogues protecting his home. It stopped him from enjoying any real downtime.
“Maybe you should try San Francisco or Los Angeles,” Dinah suggested. “Or New York. Ollie and I honeymooned there. We stayed at the Giraffe Hotel. It doesn’t sound very romantic but it’s beautiful. Maybe stay away from Gotham, though. It’s not exactly what I would call honeymoon material.”
Barry laughed. “Tell that to Bruce and Selina.”
“When I get through to either of them, I’ll let you know.”
“What about Pittsburgh?” Oliver said, breaking his silence for the first time since Barry had joined the table. “What? It’s beautiful in the summer.”
“Sorry that you didn’t get best man,” Barry said tentatively. “But Hal did promise John first.”
“Hal and I will have words,” Oliver replied, with a scary look in his eye. “Don’t you worry.”
“Ollie, stop being such a drama queen,” Dinah rolled her eyes. “Where is John anyway?”
“Had to leave early,” Barry told them. “His kid’s got a fever.”
“Or maybe Hal’s being such a huge pain in the ass that-”
“Ollie!” Dinah cut him off. “Enough, already. Single Ladies is playing and I’m not missing this for anything. Come on, dance with me.”
Oliver didn’t look too thrilled about the idea but allowed himself to be pulled up by the Canary. Dinah glanced back at Barry. “You want to join us, Barry?”
“I’ll pass,” Barry replied politely. “I’m going to try and call Iris.”
Iris had wanted to come to the wedding but had caught flu off a co-worker at the last minute. She’d extracted a promise from Barry to call her when the night was winding down and tell her how everything went. Barry was shuffling towards to the back of the hall when he was caught off guard by a loud cheer that went up from a shadowy table as he walked past. He turned to find the Rogues slumped over it. There were several bottles of beer both on top of the table and around it. It was the table that was furthest away from the party, where you could actually hear yourself think. Typical.
”Well, if it isn’t the blushing bride!” Len slurred, holding his bottle up high. “Three cheers for the Flash!”
Barry tried to shush their drunken cheering, considering there were a few people at this wedding (including Hal’s brothers and their wives) who didn’t know about their supposed-to-be-secret alter egos.
“I think you’re enjoying yourselves a little too much.”
“Hardly,” Mark replied. “This party blows.”
Well, Barry appreciated honesty in all forms.
“What he means,” Len said, trying to recover for his friend. “Is this isn’t exactly our crowd. We’d be better off at the Keystone Saloon.”
“Well, go, if you want. There’s probably not much for you here anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Len asked. “If you want me to stick around for moral support or whatever, I can.”
“It’s alright,” Barry said. “Just don’t steal anything.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Lisa said.
“Will you call Rosie for me and tell her not to wait up?” Len asked. “I dropped my damn phone again and I don’t trust any of these assholes to do it.”
“Sure.” After Barry had called both Iris and Rosie, the night was pretty much over. A lot of the guests had congratulated them, left their wedding presents and disappeared in the night. On of the only few who hadn’t, ironically, was Bruce. Either he was getting the most out of every spare minute away from Gotham or he was determined to run his kids into the ground so they didn’t annoy him on the flight back. Probably both.
“Hey, you.”
Barry shivered as Hal kissed the side of his neck and his hands went to snake around his waist. “The stars are out.”
“Outside?” Barry said, reading his mind. Hal nodded and took Barry’s hand in his own as they snuck out the back door, feeling like teenagers at prom.
The community centre was situated on a hill which was a bitch to get a limousine up but worth it for the view. The grass was warm beneath him but Hal was warmer beside him. Barry laid back on the grass and stared up at the sky. He could see the Lyra constellation burning brightly. He’d known all of them before meeting Hal - he’d taught Hal most of them - but Hal was the one who got to see them close up. Barry had gotten far too close to some of them on the odd occasion Hal needed his help and had teleported him out to Oa or some other planet. It sounded so casual when he thought about it now when to most people it should have been mindblowing. That was just the life of the Flash and he was grateful for that.
“Did you tell Kilowog sorry for not inviting him?”
“He understands.”
Barry turned to stare at Hal. He looked so beautiful, face set in childish glee even though he’d probably passed those stars a hundred times before. That was something else extraordinary about Hal. His ability to get excited about things that were so trivial. Nothing ever got old for him. He still laughed at jokes his dad had told him as a kid, still babbled to Barry over his communicator about his day even if all he’d done was grocery shopping (until Batman barked at them to shut up, that was.) Hal must have noticed his gaze because he turned to him with that old, familiar smile. His thumb reached out to caress Barry’s cheek gently.
“Did I ever tell you how much I love you?”
“Funnily enough it’s never come up.”
“Nerd.”
Barry grinned and leaned towards Hal, “You love it.” He whispered.
Under the light of a thousand stars, Barry was kissing Hal and everything was perfect. For a couple of seconds, nothing mattered. They were suspended in that moment. Only Barry, Hal and the endless stretch of galaxy that Hal helped protect.
Barry was hot and red-faced after a couple minutes of locking lips. The day had started off bad but the night had been amazing. He never wanted it to stop. Yet, at the same time, he was ready to fall asleep right there on the grass.
“Dinah was asking about honeymooning.”
“I hear Graxos 5 is nice this time of year.”