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Barry spent most nights at David's in the week since their reunion. If he wasn't doing Flash business or at work he was with David. He wasn't sure if he was reassuring himself that David wasn't going to leave him or David that he wasn't going to leave. Other than Barry's rather large secret, things had settled nicely.
David feeling more confident in their relationship had stopped holding back his soft affection. He was attentive and thoughtful. Barry, now knowing what he was looking for, could see how deeply David loved. And how much he'd been holding back when things were strained between them. David made a point of being more and more communicative when they were at home.
And it was starting to feel like home. Barry's lease wasn't up on his apartment and there were sometimes when he was exhausted from Flash duty, he stayed there. Mostly because at the gentle press of David's hands on his back or a soft kiss hello, Barry would give up the game. On those nights Barry wished David knew, and that he was wrapped up in arms that loved him, instead of dealing with the pain and frustration alone.
Barry knew he could trust David with it. But he was more concerned about David's job. He and Joe were already walking a very fine line. And Wells, Cisco and Caitlin agreed with Joe that David should be kept out of the loop. Barry agreed, if reluctantly.
Barry hadn't realized just how tense things had been at work. But there had been a palpable sense of relief when the first time David went up to the lab to get Barry for lunch. Neither man noticed but it felt like the whole precinct let out a sigh of relief. Things had been tense and David's already short fuse had been shorter. And Barry had always felt he was on the defensive. Now he could just relax at work and put his focus on his speed.
Things were ramping up at STAR Labs as Barry tried to increase his speed. This Reverse Flash thing was weighing on him. Wells and Caitlin had designed a whole set of workouts to get faster. Barry was glad he had Joe, and his friendships at STAR Labs were so helpful. But not talking about it with David had him feeling like he'd lied to his husband.
Barry rehearsed what he was going to say to Joe as he left STAR Labs. Wells was right, Snart wasn't a meta, the CCPD was capable of handing him. And Barry could focus on what he needed to do to beat the Reverse Flash. Barry was pretty sure it was going to be him convincing David to let STAR Labs consult. He trusted them with his life, but he knew David was more wary.
But he had trusted them with Barry. So maybe he and Joe could convince him. Joe was a little concerned, a little disappointed when Barry was prioritizing STAR Labs. But to Barry's relief, he didn't say anything.
“I'll mention it to the captain, but you might have to convince him,” Joe said as he clapped Barry's shoulder.
“That might be hard,” Barry grimaced.
“Well son, if anyone can do it it's you,” Joe said as they headed towards David's office, “especially since you've been getting along better. You two finally talk?”
Barry couldn't stop his smile, “Yeah, we did. You were right, we needed to clear the air.”
“Good, now like Iris and Eddie, I don't want details.”
In David's office Joe, as promised, was the one to bring up STAR Labs consulting. David's whole body stiffened when it came up. He fired off questions and Joe did most of the answering. Barry was waiting for his moment.
It came when a weary David asked, “why should I trust them when they've blown up half the city and caused this situation?”
“Yeah, they made a mistake, captain,” Barry said with a soft smile. Not use being unprofessional at work. “but they're trying to make it better, isn't that all anyone can do?”
Joe snorted, amused at the way David's body softened as he looked at Barry. The captain's reaction was immediate, he turned his sharpest glare in Joe's direction and the detective put his hands up in mock surrender.
“You're dismissed, Detective.”
Knowing Barry had this in hand, a smiling Joe left the two men in the office.
It wasn't quite an unmitigated disaster, no one died. But several of Barry's coworkers had been taken to the burn unit. Joe was fine and David was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. After checking in with Joe, Barry slipped into David's office.
David smiled softly as he looked up, “I figured you'd be at home.”
“I heard about what happened, I wanted to check on you and Joe.”
“Joe was at more of a risk than I was,” David said as he finished signing some paperwork. “Want to grab something to eat before going home?”
Barry felt warm whenever David referred to his place as Barry's home. Barry wanted that so much, “Okay, but you can't stop at Big Belly Burger.”
“My own husband, colluding with my doctor,” David said, amusement in his expression, “I'm feeling betrayed.”
Barry pushed himself up so he was sitting against the headboard. He checked his phone, it had been an hour since he'd last checked. His mind was racing a mile a minute and not just about the disaster at the airport. The taunting of the Reverse Flash, the fact that Barry wasn't fast enough. Every thought or doubt he had played through his mind.
It was one of the things that made it okay that Wells was training him nonstop. He didn't have time to think. But at home, at David's home, it was quiet, calm and he had time to think. David's breathing was even and in time with the dog that was snuggled on his other side.
After he sat up, David had rolled on to his side facing Barry. He wrapped an arm around Barry's thigh and pressed his face into Barry's hip. Barry could help the soft smile as David sighed out Barry's name.
He took a deep breath. He knew he shouldn't worry, shouldn't focus on the future and what he didn't control. But being the Flash had made it so he felt he was always in control and it was annoying when he wasn't.
But this moment was too quiet and he couldn't shut off his mind. So he tried to focus on it. He ran his fingers through David's hair and couldn't help but remember the look on Cisco's face after he got back from his demonstration at the precinct.
“Dude,” Cisco said sitting next to Barry in the hub. “Your husband is terrifying.”
Barry laughed, “what, David?”
“Yes, him, unless you have another super scary husband.”
“David's mostly bark,” Barry grinned.
“I agree with Cisco,” Caitlin said, leaning against the desk, crossing her arms as she smiled at both of them.
“I bet you thought he was terrifying before you were sleeping with him.”
“That was part of the attraction,” Barry grinned. Barry really hoped once things settled down, once they figured out how to beat the Reverse Flash. He'd be able to get his friends to properly meet David and get to know him.
Barry's thoughts slowed to a manageable level and he moved David just enough to slide back down in bed. David stirred as Barry settled next to him, “sorry.”
“It's okay,” David mumbled as he pulled Barry close, he pressed a kiss to Barry's shoulder, “can't sleep? Want to talk about it.”
“No, go back to sleep,” Barry insisted.
“Kay, but you can talk to me about anything, baby.”
“I know,” Barry whispered before finally letting David's steady breathing lull him into sleep.
The next morning, David slipped out of bed to let Max out while Barry slept in. Before leaving the warmth of the bedroom he glanced back at Barry. His husband was curled up, wrapped in most of the blankets, and David was just glad he got some sleep. They didn't work today so David let Barry sleep.
He knew Barry was still keeping things from him. He didn't know if it had to do with Barry's health, or something else. Joe was in on it. Not much happened lately to Barry that Joe didn't know about. David wasn't going to push, not now that Barry was committed to their marriage.
Barry would tell him when he was ready, was the refrain David kept telling himself. He kept making sure that Barry knew he was always there to talk to. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused. On his morning routine.
He was hoping that because neither of them had to work, he'd be able to convince Barry to spend the day with him. Barry had been spending more and more time at STAR Labs, and David wasn't necessarily jealous, he just wanted more time with Barry.
He started on breakfast while Max was outside. He was lost deep into his thoughts as he stared out of the window after putting biscuits in the oven. He didn't didn't hear Barry walk into the kitchen. Not until Barry's strong arms wrapped around his waist and Barry murmured good morning into his shoulder.
“I thought you were still sleeping.”
“It was too cold without you,” Barry said and David could hear his sincerity, “what ya making?”
“Biscuits and gravy,” David told him. Barry reluctantly pulled away when David had to return to his cooking. Barry went to let Max back in. And he sat in the kitchen giving Max attention as David finished up. Once David started dishing up the food, Barry quickly washed his hands and grabbed the cold brew David kept in the fridge. He poured them both some coffee and went into the living room. Max was curled up on the loveseat by the window.
“I figured we'd eat in here,” David said from where he was sitting on the couch. Their plates were on the coffee table. Barry grinned and handed David his coffee, he made it just the way David liked it.
They talked as they ate, it wasn't anything deep or serious, but it was comfortable. They had a lot to work out and they both knew it. But the first step was just keeping open communication and sometimes that was shallow conversation.
This was their first day off together since they started talking. Barry knew he should go to STAR Labs, and should be working on getting faster, but he also needed to make sure his marriage stayed intact. David was as important to him as being the Flash.
Nervously, Barry asked, “any plans for the day?”
“Normally Max and I go to the farmer's market by the river,” David shrugged, “you're welcome to join us.”
“That sounds great,” Barry grinned, excitement coursing through him.
It was clear to Barry that David was a regular at the farmer's market. Everyone seemed to know Max and the dog practically preened at the attention. And Barry counted several handsome vendors that seemed very attentive to David's needs. At least one incredibly tall blond tomato farmer didn't seem to get the hint that David was off limits. The worst part was David didn't even seem to notice. He gave Barry a puzzled look when Barry practically glued himself to David's side as Barry used every single pet name he could think of to get the hint across.
After what felt like way too long to describe tomatoes Barry and David finally made a purchase. Barry could only follow along as David meandered through the market hitting up his favorite vendors. Barry felt out of his depth. This was a part of David's life he didn't know about. He should have, but their fight, the coma, his powers, had made it so he didn't get to see this until now. While David was talking to the couple selling honey, Barry got a call from Joe about a high speed chase. Barry cursed who had a high speed chase before ten in the morning on a Saturday.
He tapped on David's elbow and held up his phone, “it's Joe, I got to take this, I'm, uh, going to head over there where it's a little quieter.”
“Okay,” David said with a soft smile.
Barry hurried over to a spot he could disappear. He ran as fast as he could to the highway. He quickly got to the driver and opened the door switching places with the driver, he pulled the car over and sped away as it was surrounded by the CCPD. He got back to the farmers market a few minutes later. Making sure nothing was on fire, he stepped back towards where he'd left David.
David had moved on to a different produce vendor. Barry noticed immediately that the man was standing way too close to David. Seriously, Barry was gone for less than five minutes, and how could David not see how many people flirted with him. David's belief that he just wasn't cut out for romance blew Barry's mind. Because it seemed like half of Central City would be more than willing to take Barry's place. With a bright smile, he walked over and took David's hand. David turned as smiled at him.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, got what we need?”
“I do,” David said as he paid. They stepped away and headed towards where they parked. “We just need to hit the butcher or the fish market. Do you have a preference?”
“Yeah, whichever one isn't going to flirt with you.”
David looked at Barry, the confused expression on his face was so endearing. “What!”
“Everyone at this farmer's market was flirting with you.” Barry was pretty sure he sounded petulant, but he didn't care. He had a lot of ground to make up.
“No one was flirting with me.”
“That tomato guy was.”
“What? He was not,” David insisted as he unlocked the car. Once he opened the back seat door Max jumped in and Barry put the bags in on the other side.
“He totally was,” Barry insisted as they got in the car. “I have never seen anyone work that hard to flirt using tomatoes.”
“He was not, he's just helpful,” David said, Barry snorted. “Just keep telling yourself that,” Barry teased.
“The butcher it is,” David said as he turned on to the highway.
“How come?”
“She won't flirt with me, so you don't have to be jealous.”
Life just never seemed to settle down for Barry the way it used to before he became the Flash. It seemed like for every day he got with David two more seemed to be dedicated to the Flash. It felt like Wells knew exactly when Barry wanted to be with David and set up training for then.
It wasn't just Wells, Barry knew that. And he was right, Barry had a lot of work to do. He had to get faster, he had to figure out a way to stop the Reverse Flash. He was a danger to everyone in Barry's life. Things had turned sideways when Caitlin found Ronnie alive. They threw everything they had at the problem to figure out what had happened to him.
It had been worth it, to see the hope Caitlin had, the joy in Ronnie's return even if it was complicated by the whole FIRESTORM thing. But it led to a lot of long nights at STAR Labs. Barry didn't mind. Not really, but it was just another complication in his already complicated life.
David was worried about Barry, well, more than usual. Barry had been trying really hard to be open with David. They both were putting in a lot of work for their relationship. They'd been dangerously close to it ending because they couldn't talk to each other. Because they assumed things.
But Barry had been acting strange at the morgue. Stranger than normal. David didn't have a lot of time to puzzle it out before he had to deal with Joe West and the return of the other Mardon. David hadn't been able to touch base with Barry, because the younger man hadn't come home. Barry had texted him about a late night at the office and that he'd just stay at his apartment.
The next day at work didn't make David less worried. After Joe and Eddie plead their case to go find Mardon, David refused while they were so hot headed. After they left the office Barry slipped in. Before David realized it, his blinds were down and Barry had him pressed up against his door.
David kissed him back as ardently as Barry kissed him. David's hands came up to hold Barry's jaw as Barry's pulled at his shirt. He untucked and slipped his hands along David's back.
David pulled away slightly when he noticed Barry's hands were trembling, “Barry? What's wrong?”
“Nothing, just a long day,” Barry said.
David's brow furrowed, “baby, it's not even ten. Do you want to talk about it?”
Barry shook his head and kissed David before pulling away, “it's nothing, I just couldn't sleep. I missed you.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” Barry smiled and David wanted to believe him, but he was going to trust him. He kissed Barry a little longer. He normally wouldn't allow this at work, but he'd missed Barry too. And his concern had chipped at his resolve. While Barry was kissing his neck, David gently pushed his partner back, putting a little space between them.
“We've got a lot to do,” David said as he pulled his tie off to button his shirt.
“You're no fun,” Barry's eyes sparkled.
“I'm aware.”
Barry could hardly look at David without remembering David lying on the floor of the precinct or his unconscious face as Barry ran to the hospital or him lying in the hospital bed.
He fixed it, he stopped Mardon, but it didn't make everything better. David wasn't hurt, but Barry still had nightmares about it. Snart and Rory returned and kidnapped Cisco and his brother. Wells was right that something bad still happened.
Time travel probably wasn't the answer to most questions.
But when Barry looked at David he couldn't regret it.