Her eyes widened as she gave him another drink, but the smile quickly vanished from her face. “I wanna ask, but I don’t wanna get into your personal life so I won’t. Let me know if you need that to be stronger.”
“It wasn’t anything serious. I’m not a criminal. I’m actually a pretty decent guy, or so they tell me.” He laughed, taking his third shot. His face twisted as the liquid burned his throat.
“Of course that’s not a rope burn. It doesn’t look anything like a rope burn, Cisco. But fine, then how do you explain the present I left?” Hartley was started to get agitated. Cisco thought he was stupid. That was the only explanation.
“Present? What are you talking about? I haven’t been here in weeks.” Cisco completely forgot about the leopard printed underwear. “You sound like you’ve been through a lot. Why don’t you come inside and have a seat? I’ll get you something to drink.”
“Sure. Why not? Getting out of jail, I suppose?” Jail was just about the only thing he could call it. There was no other need for celebration, he was just happy to be out and going home…eventually.
“Another.” He said, setting the shot glass upside down.
Hartley looked utterly broken. “You got me in bed because you said you liked me.” Hartley took off one of his gloves, reaching out with a shaking hand and gently pushing back Cisco’s hair to see if the mark he’d left was still there. The faint but notable outline was there, right where he had placed it. “I was the one that gave you this,” he said softly, brushing a thumb lightly over the mark before withdrawing his hand sadly. “You’re a good actor, Cisquito. Your look of confusion looks authentic. But please, save it for the stage. I already understand that it was a joke to you. Please don’t kick me when I’m down.”
“Are you delusional?” Cisco said, pulling away from the touch. “That’s just rope burn from when I was taken in by Oliver. I realize we weren’t the best of friends at STAR Labs, but I wouldn’t purposely try to hurt you emotionally,” He was genuinely beginning to worry for the man. “Hartley, seriously. Are you okay?”
Cisco: I’ll drag you there myself if I have to, Vi. I care about you. Even if you just go to a therapist to talk it would be okay. They legally can’t say anything. I think. Or maybe that’s priests. who knows. somebody can’t talk.
Violet: I can’t talk about dating the Flash to a rando, Cisco. Come on. You know that. Nor can I talk about you or the metahumans or Oliver or Len.
Cisco: You can talk to me. I feel like we haven’t talked much lately.
He was genuinely suprised when there was a knock at the door. “Violet, if you lost you key I might have to make you do chores.” Cisco laughed, opening the door to see Hartley. The smile disappeared from his face as he looked at the man who’d been his rival all these years. “Hartley? What the hell? How do you know where I live?”
When the door opened, Hartley felt all of his breath leave at once like he had been punched in the chest. All of the bravado he had been storing, left all at once leaving nothing but the angry tears and a defeated expression. “Cisco.” His voice broke. “I just… I want to know why you did it. Why you left. I thought we… I thought you were different than the others and it ended just the same and I’ve been going over all of the different probabilities and I can’t figure it out. Was it just to make fun of me? Was it just to see if you could get me in bed? Because I’m used to people leaving me. I’m used to waking up to an empty bed. But for some ungodly reason I thought this was different. And now you’re looking at me like I’m dirt beneath your feet. And I just want to know what I did wrong.”
“Hartley, what are you talking about?” He said, a puzzled look plastered on his face. “I haven’t seen you in a /long/ time. I didn’t get you in bed. Why would I get you in bed?” Cisco was completely and utterly confused. Was Hartley delusional, or is this yet another thing Cisco doesn’t remember? He was hoping for Hartley being delusional.
Violet: See, I was considering going to a therapist to get some drugs to make me normal, you know? But the problem is that they get you to talk and then they’ll find out all of the secrets I know and kill me so I was like mmmm better not.
Cisco: I’ll drag you there myself if I have to, Vi. I care about you. Even if you just go to a therapist to talk it would be okay. They legally can’t say anything. I think. Or maybe that’s priests. who knows. somebody can’t talk.
It had been 8 days since Hartley had enjoyed the best night of sleep in his life. And it had also been 8 days since Hartley woke up to an empty bed. The shame and the sadness boiled up again, just like it always did when he was lured into a false sense of affection. Usually he was ushered out of whatever shack or hotel or apartment or house he had been in by the partner almost immediately after release. The rare cases when a more nurturing partner took him in and suggested he stay the night, nearly always the abandonment would come by the next morning. Sometimes they left notes, most times they didn’t. But this time had been different. They didn’t have sex. They kissed a couple times, yes, and the chemistry was there. But for some reason it wasn’t the time. It was Cisco, the unprofessional, whiny, ablist little dough ball that had stolen the man he loved right out from under him. But it also was Cisco, the caring, scared, affectionate genius that had believed in him enough to let him try to help. Hartley was so swept up in the touches and affection and kisses that he so desperately craved that he actually tricked himself into believing this one was different. Hartley stared at the small piece of paper that Cisco had left in his shoe. No goodbye. No clues. Just a phone number. 8 days, he kept repeating in his head. 8 days he had come by the apartment and no answer. Why would today be any different. The phone had been off for the first 5 days so what was the point of calling anymore. Why should Hartley make any more of a fool of himself than he already had. They were laughing at him. They had to be. Barry Allen and Cisco and maybe even Caitlin, all sitting around the lab laughing at how stupid Hartley had been to cuddle. It was all just a prank. It was all just a sick joke. Without meaning to, his fists suddenly clenched, crumpling up the paper and he stood up, kicking at the chair he had been sitting on. He had to prove that he was strong. He had to make that stupid gorgeous nerdy malicious man pay for playing him.
With angry tears in his eyes, Hartley loaded up, donning the ridiculous hood and priming his gloves. This is what Cisco Ramon wanted, right? A big display to prove just how stupid Hartley Rathaway was to have fallen for Cisco Ramon. Cisco wouldn’t be home, that was clear from the last 7 days of no answer. But he would knock anyway before destroying his apartment. It was only proper.
The pavement thudded as his boots picked up speed. It wasn’t a run. No, Hartley was too sophisticated for that. But as the anger surged through his body, the world became a blur. Without really any knowledge of how much time had passed after being in his head for so long, suddenly he was standing at Cisco’s door, his pulse racing and his hands shaking even while wearing the gloves.
Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.
He was genuinely suprised when there was a knock at the door. “Violet, if you lost you key I might have to make you do chores.” Cisco laughed, opening the door to see Hartley. The smile disappeared from his face as he looked at the man who’d been his rival all these years. “Hartley? What the hell? How do you know where I live?”
Cisco backup