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Eddie's hand gripped the warm handle of a Jitter's Mug, whilst the other was scrolling endlessly on his phone. It was windy outside, and the Coffee provided just the right amount of warmth to seep into his body and comfort him after a long day of hard, tedious work. He'd noticed the skies getting darker as he shrugged on his coat on his way out of the Police Department, and stopped by his apartment to pick up an Umbrella before making his way to Jitters.
Yes, he knew there was going to be a storm.
That didn't mean he had to deal with it.
So when the sea of water came pouring down outside of Jitters, Eddie took that as his cue to leave before it got any worse. He quickly pocketed his phone and thanked the Barista before pushing open the door to stand under the porch and popping open his umbrella. He was grateful for the little shelter that the Jitters porch provided outside, and was just going to make his way home when there was movement out of the corner of his eye.
Eddie also head a bit of ruffling and looked over to find none other than Barry Allen, rummaging desperately through the dark jeans that covered his gangly legs. He didn't seem to notice Eddie there, and threw his hands up in the air in what seemed a gesture that spoke 'I Give Up' to the Whatever lay beyond the sky. He Then plopped himself on the water ridden ground and folded his arms over his face, back hunched miserably.
Eddie would have done the same too if he was soaked from head-to-toe and couldn't seem to be finding whatever it is he was looking for. He glanced up at his Umbrella, a deep, striking contrast to the silver of the clouds above, and then back down at the beaten down CSI.
Eddie sighed, but couldn't help a small quirk of his lips.
Curse his hero Complex.
He walked over, boots gently splashing upon the quickly flooding concrete, and silently held half of his CCPD Umbrella over Barry's drenched head. This was his Partner's son, but that wasn't really what made Edie responsible for him. It was about how diligently the young man worked both in and out the building, mapping out a whole crime scene and finding the culprit with just a mere graze of his eyes.
Devastatingly Green eyes with a hint of yew that were just hidden in folded arms and were now raised to steadily meet his gaze.
Eddie gulped, hesitantly offering a hand. Barry gratefully latched onto it, pulling himself up off the ground and patting the back of his soaked through Jeans whilst grumbling.
"So," Barry sniffed, cocking his head- which was covered in drowned cocoa curls. "What are you up to Detective?"
"Well, I was going to Joe's house to pick up some information I had lent him," Eddie lied, his eyes darting about, "And it's raining pretty hard so I didn't want to get lost on the way..."
Barry's eyes were alight with amusement. "So..?" he prodded.
"So, I need someone to take me there," Eddie turned his nose up, trying and failing for a demanding look. He truly was a terrible liar.
Barry was biting his lip, and it seemed he were exerting as much force as he possibly could to keep himself from laughing. Whether the pink of his cheeks were from Eddie's poorly spun tale or the cold of the wind against rain, it wasn't something that should be on Eddie's consciousness right now. What he should be worrying about was taking this rain-dampened boy home to an address Eddie knew better than his own apartment number.
"Mhm," Barry played along, tapping his chin with a crooked finger. "I wonder who that could be..."
Eddie gritted his teeth and looked away. "One chance to get under this fucking umbrella, Allen, take it or leave it."
Barry sneezed in response.
"Yep, that's it," Eddie declared, laying a palm flat against the small of Barry's back and pushing him closer under the umbrella as to not let a single rain drop touch him no more.
Barry looked at him wide-eyed before smirking.
"Didn't know you cared, Detective."
"And I didn't know you'd be so stupid as to sit on the ground while it's raining yet here we are," Eddie retorted, falling into quick strides with Barry towards the house he knew so well from his time with Iris.
Him and Iris ended up not working out so well after a scramble about Eddie agreeing with Joe about wanting to keep Iris safe from police business. Long story short, Iris wanted to prove she was independent and could handle herself and therefore broke up with him. All in all, Eddie didn't really mind. Somewhere in his mind He knew they weren't going to last in the long run.
He was looking for someone more... open-hearted. Someone who can say the exact same words he says but with a totally different meaning. Eddie moved his eyes from where he was staring straight ahead to glance at Barry's side profile, the rain causing his pale skin to glisten with a soft sheen that brought out every shade and tint of pink upon his angel bow lips...
Yeah, Eddie thought subconsciously, Maybe someone with long legs and green eyes...
"Eddie?" Barry snapped his fingers in front of him. "God, I thought you were kidding when you said you didn't know the way."
"What are you on about?" Eddie questioned, Forcing himself out of his unwanted thoughts.
Barry, the smug bastard, grinned at him with a raised eyebrow and pointed right. Eddie followed his finger and noticed that Joe's house was on the other side of the road from which Eddie was taking them. Eddie facepalmed and wanted to dig a hole in the sidewalk and bury himself right there.
As Barry led them across the street, Eddie couldn't help but notice that he never removed his hand from Barry's back. He blushed wildly but managed to pass it off with a little cough.
Barry glanced at him. "You ok?"
Eddie gave him an 'are you serious' look. "Says the one who looks like they were just buried in an underwater grave and came back to life."
Barry laughed, a pleasing juxtaposition upon the jagged harshness of the downpour.
They arrived at the yard, and Barry ran up the couple of stairs that led into the house to take shelter under the porch. He turned around to face Eddie, who was still standing on the soaked, muddy grass and fiddling with the Umbrella handle.
"Hey-"
"Barry-"
They both spoke at the same time.
Barry scratched the back of his neck. "Um, you go first..."
"Alright," Eddie rubbed the side of his jaw, "Uh, what were you looking for? Y'know, back at Jitters, you were digging in your pockets for something..?"
"Oh," Barry grinned, "Silly me left my phone at the Station. I was supposed to call Cisco for a ride home, and I was working on this case Singh wanted on his desk by tomorrow morning so it was all just frustrating and I didn't think to borrow someone's because I was drowning- pun intended- in stress."
"But," Barry continued, "I guess I didn't need to think too long since my detective in shining armor showed up with his mighty umbrella." Barry winked.
"Oh lord," Eddie said, rubbing a hand over his face. "God forbid Cisco's rubbing off on you."
Barry chuckled, and leaned against the doorframe, swiping at some wet hair that stuck to his forehead.
"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Eddie asked, squinting against the rain which was falling even harder now.
"What?" Barry yelled, his voice bouncing away in the noise of the large rain drops.
"I said-"
Eddie was interrupted by Barry crooking a finger at him to join him on the porch. Eddie leapt up one foot after the other on the stairs and blinked the wetness of his eyelashes away before speaking again.
"What did you wanna tell me?"
Barry seemed to contemplate his answer once more, before opening his mouth, closing it, and opening it again.
"I was gonna ask if you wanted to stay here... you know until the storm is over... and I also wanted to say thank you, Eddie."
Eddie stared at him, lips parted in surprise. So surprised, in fact, that he closed the umbrella on his head. Barry chuckled and stretched a hand out to lift up one of the lapels that covered Eddie's face. Eddie would have rather been left like that so Barry couldn't see how awkward and embarrassed he was right now for a reason Eddie had no clue about.
As Barry appeared back in his line of vision, something changed. Eddie's heart was beating and making a strange sort of bass noise against his chest and he only prayed Barry couldn't hear it. Maybe it was from seeing the blackness of the umbrella and then suddenly coming face to face with pure, refreshing green. Or maybe it was in the way his dampened hair fell in clumps like a tawny curtain. Or maybe... maybe it was the unadulterated urge to lean in and taste every shade of pink that adorned beautifully shaped lips. But that was just a maybe.
Barry smiled, a strange quirk of his lips from his spot under the umbrella.
"Hi," Barry spoke softly.
Eddie swallowed, his mouth suddenly very dry.
"Hi."
Barry bit his lip, trying to stifle his oncoming smirk. "So have you accepted my offer, or do you need something else detective?"
Thunder rolled above the same time Eddie answered.
Barry leaned closer. "What did you say?"
Eddie's breath stopped as he threw caution to the ferocious wind, and tilted his head to press his lips against Barry's own moisture-laden ones. He tasted the slight acidity of the fresh rain, mixed with the shit-eating grin he, unfortunately, loved so- far too- much.
Barry's hands gripped Eddie's own on the Umbrella handle, as the front door squeaked open to reveal Joe. Eddie backed up slightly but Joe just shook his head.
"What is it with you and my children, Thawne?"
"No, Joe," Barry grinned toothily, resting his free hand on Joe's shoulder. "You should be asking what is it with your kids and your partner."
Joe rolled his eyes and shut the door back, leaving Barry and Eddie alone on the porch once again. Eddie shoved his hands in his coat pockets.
"While I am Joe's partner," Eddie chuckled nervously, "I would also like to ask you to be mine...?"
"You are..." Barry started, a sincere look in his eyes, "One heck of a sap." He finished.
Eddie stuck his tongue out. "You love it, though, don't you Allen?"
"What you can't prove isn't true. You learn that from CSI work, honey," Barry said, leaning back in for another kiss under his- their Umbrella.
The rain was still falling harder than ever outside, but not as hard as Detective Thawne was falling for CSI Allen.