Chapter Text
Barry Allen has a lot of accomplishments he can list in his twenty five years of life. Excellent grades, a musical or two during high school, a heart of gold, unfairly effective puppy dog eyes and even super speed.
The two things he cannot boast of, would be his ability to be on time – which, when a guy has super speed and still manages to be late, can be considered a lost cause – and his dating life.
It’s only natural then, that his mystery boyfriend would be a topic that everyone is interested in.
IRIS
She knows Barry like the back of her hand. She might have missed the big event of him being the Flash and all that, but Iris West still knows her best friend better than anyone – which is why she is the first to corner him.
She opts to go the traditional route, take out and ice cream on the couch with a variety of sci-fi movies of Barry’s liking, all laid out in an inviting trap for him to make himself comfortable in before he succumbs.
As usual, Barry shows up ten minutes late, hastily rubbing a hand against his neck and greeting her with his most apologetic smile. Her general quip about his tardiness however, eludes her mind when she notices the already disappearing hickey on her friend’s neck.
She wouldn’t have even noticed it had he not accidentally drawn her attention there with his hand, but even though it had entirely faded out by the time he took his seat next to her, Iris was glad for the confirmation of…someone in Barry’s life.
She bid her time though, waiting and watching and studying him carefully; pretending to not notice him speed text in the middle of their movie marathon.
“See that? That kinda tech babble is exactly what always goes right over my head” She interrupts halfway in and sees Barry’s indulgent smile as he does what he always does, break down science into clear, understandable English for her.
“How much do you have to explain things on your dates?” She asks curiously, wondering if, like Caitlin or Felicity, Barry’s mystery girl understood his scienc-y babble.
“Wha – what?” Barry stammers, turning his attention away from the screen for the second time in as many minutes.
It never ceased to amaze her that, for all his brains, Barry never, ever saw her assaults coming, no matter the fact that she always went about things the same way.
“Your new girl Bear, the one you’ve been sneaking off with these past couple months?” Iris throws out non-chalantly, popping a spoon full of mint chocolate chip innocently into her mouth.
Barry groans then. As though he finally just realised that this set up was, like always, meant to corner him and get him talking.
“There are no dates” Barry mumbles.
“You’re a terrible liar Barry Allen” Iris chides, unperturbed and knowing he will soon crack. “What’s her name?”
“Honest Iris, there are no dates. And there’s no girl” Barry assures, eyes wide and earnest.
That surprises her for a moment and had she not seen the disappearing bite mark from his neck earlier, she would have believed it. But since she did, Iris thinks it over for a moment instead, accessing the archive of files stored away in her mind about Barry, until she remembers his college – experimentation phase.
“It’s a guy?” She asks, voice hushed, because suddenly it felt more like a secret.
Barry looks hesitant for a minute but his hang dog expression has already given him away and she’s already gasping by the time he nodded.
“I thought you said it might not be your thing after all?” She checked and when Barry only shrugged, she continues "So is that why you didn't tell me? You thought i'd care?”
“Iris please, I can –“ He begins to plead but she’s having none of it.
“You listen to me Barry Allen, we agreed, no more secrets. Just because it’s a guy does not make it a valid excuse” She clarifies.
She holds her glare steady until she sees Barry melt into the couch in surrender, before asking “What’s his name?”
Suddenly, colour rises up his cheeks and he speaks softly when he says “Len”
The clear adoration in his answer tells her everything she needs to know. Well, okay, maybe not everything. But the hour she spends afterwards, grilling for details, gives her enough information.