Work Text:
When he woke up in the morning, he felt surprisingly well rested. Looking around, he gave the room he was in a confused look because it wasn’t his bungalow. He sat up in bed, eyes wide with horror when he realized he must have gone home with someone. He looked down at his clothes and was surprised and thankful to see them still on. He climbed out of bed and crept into the living area. He found Barry cooking in the kitchen, and he froze. He didn’t know if he should feel mortified or thankful that he’d woken up in his bed.
“How’d you sleep, sleeping beauty?”
“Fine. Did we get drunk last night?”
“No. We took the girls hunting.”
He looked down and didn’t see any injuries, which would explain why he was in Barry's house.
“Why am I here?”
“We were going to go over our notes last night, but you fell asleep on the car ride over.”
“Sorry.”
He gave his friend an embarrassed look.
“It’s fine.”
Barry gave him a plate of American breakfast, and that's when he noticed the jacket he was wearing.
“Is this yours?”
“Yes. I let you borrow it yesterday because you were cold.”
Barry wrinkled his nose at the outfit he was wearing underneath.
“It’s not my fault, Blue had a vendetta against my clothes this week. I’m going to have to replace my entire wardrobe at this point.”
“You should replace that shirt as well.”
He smirked, teasing his friend.
“What? Don’t like it?”
“Your shirt is basically see-through, and your pants are so tight I’m surprised you could ride your motorcycle without them ripping.
“In my defense, both of these are really old, and I swear when I was younger, it wasn’t quite so see-through or tight.”
“Righttt.”
Barry gave him a skeptical look and, under his breath, muttered.
“At least it's not those shorts.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know those shorts are amazing.”
“Our girls didn’t feel the same way.”
He winced, remembering how they’d gotten their claws on them and eagerly ripped them up with glee.
Barry laughed, and he shoved food into his mouth to stop himself from saying anything dumb. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, and his face was turning a bright shade of red.
“Are you going to wear that to work today?”
He looked down at his outfit and shifted in discomfort.
“I’m still waiting for my new clothes to arrive.”
“I’ll let you borrow some of mine.”
“But your pants don’t fit.”
“It won’t be jeans or anything, but I think my sweatpants will fit you.”
“Honestly, it's fine. Anything to get out of these uncomfortable clothes.”
He grimaced, already planning on getting rid of them. Barry laughed, and he found himself smiling.
“Go take a shower. I'll have them out by the time you're done.”
“Thanks, Barry.”
He got up after finishing breakfast and went to his bathroom. Looking at the shower, he had a little difficulty figuring out how it worked and fumbled around until it eventually turned on.
Stepping inside, he involuntarily groaned at the hot water. It felt nice against his stiff muscles. His mind drifted to Barry, and everything began catching up to him. He slept in his bed last night. He didn't remember Barry joining him, which meant he'd taken the couch. He'd woken up to him making breakfast, and now he was in his shower and going to wear his clothes. He felt slightly dizzy from it all and leaned against the shower wall.
His heart beat rapidly in his chest, and he turned on the cold water, startling out of his thoughts and away from dangerous territory.
He heard a knock on the door, and Barry opened it enough to set clothes on the counter. He turned off the shower and dried himself off before pulling on Barry's clothes, which smelled like him.
He didn't sniff them like a weirdo, but the smell was so strong he couldn't help but notice. He suddenly felt unbearably hot and knew he needed to get out of there before he made a mistake. Leaving the bathroom, he found Barry waiting for him with keys in hand.
He sagged a little in relief when he saw them and followed Barry to his car. Climbing inside, he sat there silently as they drove to the raptor padlock. He was lost in thought, panicking over how weird he was being and wondering if Barry noticed.
He didn’t know what was happening to him, and he didn’t like it. When they arrived at the padlock, Barry gave him a worried look.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“Are you sure? You’ve been strangely quiet. Are you sure you didn’t catch a cold last night?”
Barry reached over and felt his forehead, causing a blush to spread across his face.
“I’m fine.”
He squeaked out and threw the door open, desperate to escape and get fresh air. He looked at the raptor padlock and felt himself relax slightly. He noticed his girls were already up and waiting for them, which wasn’t unusual. They had an amazing sense of hearing and probably heard the car long before they saw it.
“I’m going to go feed the girls.”
He practically ran inside and gave a quick greeting to his girls before grabbing their food. All of them pressed against the bars, eagerly accepting his pets and smelling his hand.
“Good morning, how are my beautiful girls doing?”
They waved their tails, looking happy to see him, and Blue nudged him a little.
“Let me go get your food.”
He grabbed their food from the freezer and went to the catwalk, where he threw it down. His girls were already waiting for him, and he watched as they sniffed the air, looking excited. He threw down their food and then escaped into his office when he saw Barry.
Closing the door, he paced back and forth in a panic because he was catching feelings for his best friend. He kept trying to remind himself that he liked Claire and that he wasn’t gay. He’d never even hooked up with a guy before. Sure, sometimes he’d find a guy handsome, and maybe once or twice when he was younger, he had a crush, but that meant nothing. He was straight. There was no way he liked his best friend, not when he liked Claire.
He kept pacing, trying to will the feelings away by reminding himself that he was straight and not in love with Barry. His freak-out was cut short by the familiar sounds of a car pulling up. Based on his girl's growls, he could already tell who it was, and he found his mood getting worse. He sighed and forced himself to go see what Hoskins wanted.