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“I need you to come over.”
Julian sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. If he had a penny for every time Barry Allen has said those words to him, he’d be the richest man on earth.
Not that it’s all that tedious spending time with Barry, now that they’ve managed to work out their feelings for each other, but still. Doesn’t Barry have other people he can ask? He glares at the phone, before placing it back over his ear.
“Just because we’re dating now doesn’t mean that you can call on me for every single drama you have, Allen. I don’t have that kind of free time.”
There’s a few seconds’ pause, in which he’s certain that Barry’s rolling his eyes, but then he goes on.
“Well, I just- Cisco’s working on something at the lab, and Caitlin’s got a date, and Iris… well, it’s for Iris, so I can’t exactly ask for her help, and Joe-“
Julian sighs over Barry’s babbling, even if it is adorable. Not that he’ll ever admit that out loud. “Okay, fine. What do you need?”
“You know how to bake, right?”
Julian groans.
***
When Julian gets to Barry’s house, it’s hard not to be amused and a little bit enamoured with the sight of Barry covered in flour, tufts of his hair spiking out in all sorts of directions, and a sour look on his face.
And the fact that the snort that escapes him only seems to make Barry scowl harder is a bonus, really.
“Not funny,” Barry grumbles, but he opens the door further to let Julian step inside.
“Do you want my help or not?” Julian asks, brushing past his boyfriend to examine the mess that he’s created in the kitchen. Four burned pies are lined on the counter, and his lungs almost cave in on him when he inhales the smoke.
“Yeah, I- I tried opening a window, but it still won’t go away.”
“How could you have possibly burned a pie that badly? They’re practically charcoal!” Julian chokes out.
Running his hands through his hair, Julian considers the situation carefully. Clearly they’re not going to be able to do anything in the kitchen until the smoke clears, so he takes Barry’s hand and leads him into the living room, sitting him down on the couch. “What the hell happened?”
“I was trying to bake a pie for Joe and Iris. Because we always have a sort of… family thing, around this time of year., and I was going to invite you, actually, but then the pie happened, and I panicked,” he replies, gesturing to himself. “Anyway, long story short; I suck at baking.”
“No shit,” Julian chuckles, running his thumb over Barry’s bottom lip and swiping a way a patch of excess flour. He files away the fact that Barry considers them established enough for Julian to join them for family time for when he can properly process the thought. “Did you pour this stuff over you, or did you get into a fight with it?”
This time he can actually see Barry rolling his eyes. “I told you, I panicked.”
“Well, we have some time to kill,” Julian says, edging a little closer and pressing his lips against Barry’s, who immediately sinks into the kiss with a relieved sigh, tension flooding out of his shoulders all at once.
It never ceases to amaze Julian just how reliant on touch Barry is. For example, he knows after three months of dating the man, that in moments when he’s worked up, the best thing for him is to take his mind off it by running his fingers through his hair, and pressing feather-light kisses along his jaw, up to his ear. Barry’s back arches into the touch, and the quiet appreciative noises coming from him makes Julian’s skin tingle.
Because, yes, his boyfriend is basically a puppy in human form. How could he have ever considered Barry anything but this, really?
Barry tastes like cherry and sugar, and his lips, though slightly chapped from the cold weather, are soft and welcoming and it’s almost too easy for Julian to forget that he came here for a reason, as is often the case with Barry Allen.
Still, after a while, he’s certain the kitchen should be clear enough for them to start again without choking in the thick air, so after a brief period of hesitation and failing to pull away fully when Barry leans back in to taste him again, they finally part, Barry’s hand still tightened in his shirt and his own hand still thread through Barry’s chestnut hair.
“Come on, let me show you how it’s done,” Julian says, giving Barry one more peck before standing to his feet and holding out his hand for his boyfriend to take.
***
Julian has to admit, he’s a little bit terrified.
It’s just that, in the three months he and Barry have been dating, he’s never been with him in this context. With family. On a night that’s supposed to be ‘family time’. Despite Barry’s assurances that Joe had suggested he come, and that all they’re doing is eating, snacking and watching Halloween movies, he can’t help but feel like he’s intruding, and it’s still a little weird to be around Detective West, his co-worker, in this kind of environment. Is this really his life?
As their gravel path crunches under their footsteps, Julian doesn’t realise how tight he’s gripping onto Barry’s hand until he hears his boyfriend let out a hiss beside him. “Okay, you’re gonna have to calm down before we go inside,” Barry tells him, exasperated.
“I am calm,” Julian lies.
“No, I’m calm. You’re stubborn,” Barry retaliates, stopping them in front of the door and resting a palm over his chest. “It’s just Joe, Julian. And Iris. You’ve met Iris.”
He has met Iris. She’s been around the station several times, and once he and Barry had started seeing each other, she had taken a keen interest in Julian. It’s obvious to anyone that Iris is protective of her best friend, and she hadn’t been too shy to show it under her firm questioning of how he was treating Barry. The only thing that had saved him was the man in question managing to call her off and assure her that Julian was a perfect gentleman.
It was only a white lie, really.
He takes a few seconds to breathe, rests his forehead against Barry’s, and then follows the other inside.
And it’s nothing like he’d expected. Joe and Iris greet him warmly, and Iris even envelopes him in a tight hug when Barry mentions that Julian had been the one to save the pie. The night is spent with them all huddled around the television – Iris curled up on one couch with her legs tucked underneath her, Joe sprawled on his armchair a pizza box in his lap and Julian and Barry occupying the two-seater, Barry’s head rested on his lap and long legs dangling over the edge.
Wally shows up an hour late, and Joe only chides him lightly before Iris nudges over to make space for him and Joe passes him a slice of pizza.
The only thing that he can describe it as is… well, domestic, and for the first time, he begins to think that wouldn't really mind if it became a regular thing. The Wests are laid back, welcoming, and if nothing else, they’re important to Barry… and, well, it turns out that Barry’s pretty damn important to Julian, too.