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Part 6 of Neuqe's Flashvibe week '17
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Published:
2017-06-20
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1,919
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1/1
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Just can we dance forever?

Summary:

Cisco accidently vibes Barry during his high school reunion, and ends up finding out something unexpected.

Notes:

Not an au, because I still don't know how to follow these prompts exactly, so here you have canon compliant high school reunion fic

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Cisco never thought himself to be the type of person to attend to high school reunions.

There were various reasons not to attend. High school had not been the best experience of his life, and there were many people from his high school years that he would have not cared to see ever again.

High school had been endurable, hideous and atrocious, and he had never been truly happy there. Always feeling like an outsider.

Yet, there he is, in the middle of his old high school’s gym hall that had been transformed into a dance floor with few tables with snacks and drinks.

The decoration is rather pathetic, some colourful paper decoration hanging from the ceiling combined with ridiculous amount of fairy lights and balloons, which happen to be the ugliest shade of blue and yellow he has ever seen.

The music is playing quietly on the background, and it sounds as if it is a Spotify advertisement rather than actual song.

Cisco is still quite convinced the gym still has water damage somewhere based on the stuffy smell.

“You okay?” Barry asks softly and nudges his arm.

Barry had insisted coming for moral support as soon as Cisco decided he would attend the reunion. Somehow, Barry looks more comfortable than he does, in his tuxedo and grinning brightly his megawatt smile at everyone who they meet.

“Yeah,” Cisco whispers wryly, and sips the remaining champagne from his glass, “just thinking about water damage.”

“They definitely have one here,” Barry agrees with slightly disgusted expression.

Cisco hums, hands Barry his empty glass, and takes his glass, which is still full.  Barry does not complain, probably understanding he needs it more than him. Besides, with his metabolism it would not affect him at all.

Barry looks him with a mix of amusement and softness. “Just say a word, and I can get us out of here,” he whispers.

The advantages of dating a speedster include swift escapes of uncomfortable situations. He would be able to get them out of there by himself by creating a breach but he appreciates the sentiment.

“It’s not that bad,” Cisco says, and gives him a meaningful glance, “yet.”

He does not hate it nearly as much as he would have imagined. In a way, it is nice to share a part of his life with Barry, and there were people, who were his friends in high school, but universities separated them, and it is fun to catch up with them.

It turns out even the major jerks have maturated a little and are now less jerks, but Cisco does not trust this evening to be completely good. It already was almost ruined by running into Theresa and her wife.

Theresa had been one of the worst people in high school. She pretended to be a friend, and then managed to make one feel like worthless piece of garbage. It seemed she had not changed at all. She had instantly started inquiring why Cisco was still stuck in STAR labs, and why he was not accepting any offers from better physics laboratories.

That conversation had included lot of clenched fists with faked and stranded smiles.

Yet there are still lot of people he has not talked with and there is huge potential for uncomfortableness and embarrassment.

“Do you want to dance?” Barry asks, gesturing towards the half-empty dance floor with his empty glass.

“Sure,” Cisco says with a smile, and dumps their glasses to the nearest table.

The song is slow, which means they do not even have to dance, just slowly swaying back and worth. Barry has his arms around Cisco’s waist, and he is resting his hands on Barry’s shoulders. Cisco feels peaceful for the first time during the night, and it is incredibly nice.

“I’m sorry,” Barry whispers, and he seems to be genuinely sorrow.

“For what?” Cisco asks confusedly, staring at Barry’s face, trying to deduce the reason of his sudden change in the mood.

“Never considering that you have other options,” Barry says vaguely, and refuses to look him in the eyes.

Cisco sighs deeply. He should have known that Theresa’s questioning about his career prospects got under Barry’s skin.

“I’m a genius, everybody wants me to work for them,” he says with a chuckle.

Theresa had not been wrong about the offers. Ever since the explosion of the particle accelerator, various laboratories had offered him positions, and they had kept offering throughout the years, even though he kept declining all the offers.

“I know,” Barry says seriously, and finally looks at him, “and any place should consider themselves lucky to have you.”

“Damn right,” Cisco confirms with a grin, but Barry still seems upset. “So what’s the problem?”

“I feel like-- I think I never considered when I started the team how big impact it had to everyone’s lives, and now I feel like I have taken something away from you. Something that you would have without me being the Flash,” Barry says slowly and he sounds rueful, and he seems truly to believe it.

Cisco moves his hands from Barry’s shoulders, and wraps his arms around his neck instead, and their dance position resembles more of a hug.

“Theresa isn’t a good person, so first of all, you shouldn’t listen to her. Second of all, you never forced us to work in the team. We all chose it. We still choose it, every single day. I love our team, and everything we do,” Cisco whispers, and he means every word of it.

Barry remains quiet, which prompts him to continue. “Sure, being a superhero or a superhero tech support wasn’t on the top of my dream jobs list when I was in college, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. I’m damn good at what I do, and the team would crash and burn without me, so I’m not stuck. I’m where I want to be.”

Barry seems to relax, and chuckles softly. “We wouldn’t last a day without you.”

“True and no one has ever complained about anything I have built for them. Except Oliver and Felicity when they almost died in the bunker when they couldn’t get out, but that ordeal basically fixed their relationship so all I deserve is a wedding invitation,” Cisco jokes, but as soon as he says it, everything goes black.

It takes him a moment to realise he is having a vibe. Usually, he tries his best not to vibe Barry, because most of the time the vibes will reveal something about his or their future, and knowing too much about one’s own future will just mess with his head.

He is not completely sure why he is vibing him right now. Barry’s emotional distress may have something to do with it. He knows he should try to pull himself out, but he is too curious even to try.

The vibe feels more vivid and vivacious than usually.

He sees their bedroom, which is dimly lit, indicating that it is night-time. He sees himself sitting on the bed in his pyjamas in the middle of the duvets, and he looks exhausted, but he is smile is beaming, and he is laughing. His laughter is light and joyous.

It never becomes less weird seeing himself in his vibes, but he is more focused on the fact that he looks genuinely happy.  

At first, Cisco does not realise that Barry is in in the vibe, too. He does not notice him because he is on the floor next to the bed. Cisco feels his breath hitching in his throat as he realises that Barry’s on one knee and he has a small black box in his hand.

Barry is grinning widely, even though he looks thoroughly exhausted, and his hair is complete mess. He is in his pyjamas, too, and he looks as if he was radiating happiness.

He is struggling to say something, and he is not able to say it, because he starts laughing every time he opens his mouth. His gaze is lingering on Cisco.

Cisco throws a pillow at Barry’s face, which does not help Barry to control his laughter.

“Just ask, or I’m gonna take the ring and put it on my finger without you asking the question,” Cisco says, but it seems that Barry’s laughter is contagious as he falls on his back on the bed as he starts laughing again.

Cisco does not know what happens next as the vibe disappears, and he finds himself staring at the floor of the gym hall.

“What you vibed?” Barry asks with amusement, immediately knowing what happened.

“You, proposing,” Cisco blurts out, and he is convinced he could not have kept it as a secret even if he tried to. He still experiences the overwhelming happiness from the vibe.

“Damn,” Barry says softly against his hair, “that certainly takes the edge of surprise away.”

Cisco feels as if his heart skips a beat. “You knew you are gonna do it?”

The thing with vibes is that he is never sure when they will take place. It could be anything from hours to months.

“Yeah,” Barry chuckles, “I have a ring and a plan.”

Cisco feels a little numb. It is not as if he does not want Barry to propose, he just did not expect it. His heart aches as he recalls the vibe. They both seemed so content with everything.

If Cisco really thinks about it, it is not that different from what he is feeling right now. A wave of warmth spreads in his chest as he thinks about it. He cannot stop himself from grinning and he feels little giddy from pure happiness. He has been faking smiles all evening, and now smiling is the most effortless thing. He is so in love it almost hurts.

“You could say something,” Barry suggests, and he tries to make it sounded light-hearted, but his voice breaks a little in the end.

“Like you wouldn’t know my answer,” Cisco mutters softly against his shoulder.

Barry chuckles. “I wouldn’t have enlisted half of the team to help me to plan everything if I wasn’t a nervous mess.”

Cisco pulls out of their embrace to see Barry’s face. He places his hands back to his shoulders. Barry looks him with mix of hopefulness and excitement.

“You are gonna get a deliriously happy yes as soon as you ask,” he answers with a beatific smile, and as soon as he sees Barry’s enamoured smile it feels like rest of the gym hall disappears. It is just them, existing in their small and serene bubble.

“Great,” Barry breathes out, and his smile is radiant, “I’m gonna propose you in a proper way because I have a plan and everything, and you deserve better than pungent water damaged high school gym hall.”

Cisco chuckles, and glances around the room. Other people are slow dancing around them, completely oblivious to their bliss. The decorations still look horrible, and the ancient disco ball hanging from the ceiling looks like it might drop from the ceiling at any given moment. He cannot bring himself to care.

“At least I have one good memory from a gym hall,” he laughs before pulling Barry into a kiss.

He has no heart to tell that if the proposal happens like in the vibe, it probably does not go according to Barry’s plan.

***

Turns out, Barry asks as soon as they get home because he cannot wait any longer.    

 

Notes:

I couldn't bring myself to write any fluffy high school au because it hasn't been that long since my own high school experience and that wasn't the best time of my life, so I wrote this. The title is from a song called Candlxs by Angel Haze.

I'm gonna post space au (it is an actual au this time yay) as soon as I find the time and inspiration to actually finish it.

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