merry christmas! i partcipated in the game grumps secret santa, and my secret santa was @an-actual-cabbage :) i wrote a little bit of barry/reader for them! if barry’s mischaracterized, i’m super sorry. i havent written him before. hopefully you like it! merry christmas gideon and everyone else :D
Barry was always there when you fell. It seemed to be that he was always there, a good, close friend of yours. You couldn’t really say you were attached to anyone the same way you were with Barry. Dan was like an older brother, Arin was like a close friend, Suzy was like a mother, Ross was like an annoying younger sibling, Kevin was like a quiet cousin. Barry fit into a different part of your life. He was sort of like all of the others put together.
Barry was your older brother when you were crying after a breakup, handing you some ice cream and a shitty movie, sitting under the blankets with you and holding you close. He just wanted to be there and help you through your heartache. He was your older brother when he was always around when you needed him, when you didn’t feel like getting up at the Grump space so he’d grab your drink off the counter in the kitchen where you’d forgotten it. He would always be an older brother.
But Barry was also your close friend, probably your closest. He knew how your head worked, knew what you were thinking, finished your sentences. He didn’t need prompting to know what you were trying to communicate. Barry was able to say what was on your mind if you were too shy to say it on your own. He never hesitated, didn’t have the same hesitation you did to say things as you saw and as you felt them. He never minded, and that’s why he was your closest friend.
Barry, as weird as it was, was like your mother too. He would remind you to grab a coat, because it was raining. He would remind you to take medication and rest, darnit, when you were sick. He would nurse you back to health as best as he could, and even if he caught the same cold after you got over it, he’d do anything to make you feel better. It meant all the world to you that he was so willing to drop everything for you, the way a parent would.
He was an annoying sibling too. Barry was sweet and kind, but he could also rub you the wrong way. He’d find ways to irritate you, push your buttons, but never on purpose the same way Ross did. Though he was an annoying sibling, joking at the wrong times at some points, he’d still apologize. He was kind enough to recognize when he’d done wrong, and Barry would certainly do his best to make sure you were aware he was sorry and that he was trying to fix it.
And Barry was like a quiet cousin. You knew he cared about you, knew he really wanted to make sure you were happy, but at the same time, he knew when to leave you to your own devices. Just as a cousin can only be around so often, because of work, school, living out of town, or anything else, Barry knew when to let you go. He knew that he can’t be a brother and do everything for you, can’t be a mom and force you to learn important lessons without letting you experience the mistakes, can’t be a friend and speak for you all the time, can’t always make up for his mistakes when he pushes your buttons. Barry knew, and he understood that.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to try to make things right.
And you couldn’t help but start to feel a little hint of love for him every time he’d do something nice for you. Today just happened to be the day that it really hit you how actually interested you were in him.
He held the door for you, smile perking up on his face when you caught his eyes, “After you.”
“Thanks, Bear,” you said, grateful and walking in, holding two cups of coffee.
Ross looked sleepily at you, and held his hand out for the cup you’d brought him, “Thanks, (y/n).” He was grateful, but in his sleepiness, he couldn’t help himself from being a little bit rude.
Barry let you walk away before turning to Ross, “Hey, dude, that was a little rude.”
“Was it?” he asked. “I didn’t notice.”
“Yeah, you just kind of….demanded it from them,” Barry said with a shrug. “Maybe next time wait for them to give it to you?”
Ross nodded slowly, taking a sip from the cup, “Gotcha. Will do. Thanks, Barry.”
Barry then followed you further into the office space, finding you seated at your desk, stretching and drinking your coffee. He forced his eyes away from your waist when your shirt rode up from the stretch. “Hey, (y/n).”
“Oh! Hey,” you responded, smiling at him again.
“You finish the episodes for next week?”
“Yeah, I put ‘em on the drive,” you answered.
“Good! I’m glad you’re such a hard worker,” Barry said fondly.
You laughed and shrugged, “Same could be said about you. You finish episodes in a flash.”
He batted his hand at you, as if saying ‘oh stop it, you’ before answering, “I guess so….” He trailed off, avoiding what he came in here to do.
“You look like you wanted to say something,” you said, trying to prompt him to finish what he’d started.
“I…uh, I wanted to know if you wanted to go out to lunch later with me?”
“I’d love to!” you responded, not realizing he meant it as a date.
Barry just accepted that. He figured you weren’t interested.
You were, but you didn’t think he was interested.
Around noon, you stretched again, standing from your seat, “Hey, Bear, ready to go to lunch?”
He pushed his headphones down, and nodded, “Yeah, yeah, just gotta save this thing.” Even though episodes were ahead of schedule as far as editing went, Barry was still working hard on more. Once he saved it once-twice-three times (he’s anal about saving his work, and for good reason), he stood, “Alllllright, let’s go. Where d’you wanna go?”
“We could go to Panera?”
“Dan just went there and it would be awkward for us to go if we hadn’t invited him,” Barry forced out quickly. Mostly he just wanted it to be the two of you.
“Ohhh, yeah right. That makes sense. How about that Chinese place down the street?”
“That actually sounds pretty good,” Barry agreed. “I’ll drive?”
“Okay!” You followed him outside to his car, and slid into the passenger seat. After a couple minutes, you arrived at the Chinese place.
Sitting down, and taking menus, you both sat in a comfortable silence looking at the options. “Man, I don’t really want sushi today.”
“I feel that,” Barry agreed, “Not feeling the raw fish vibes.”
You laughed quietly, and then he was laughing too. It made a warm feeling spread in your chest, and you realized then and there that you really really did like him.
Your giggle was like music to his ears, and he couldn’t stop a flush from creeping up his cheeks.
“Bear, you’re blushing,” you pointed out.
“Am I? It must be hot today!” Barry lied.
“You’re joking. You think you can lie and I won’t notice?” Your voice was teasing, but there was hurt in it because he was lying to you.
He didn’t realize he’d be caught in the lie, and he was embarrassed until he just sighed out. He had to admit his feelings, and even if it was what he’d been planning, he was still embarrassed. Dan’s pep talk rang in the back of his head, when Barry had asked him for help on how to admit it.
Just say how you feel. I think if they’re interested, it’ll work out just fine. Trust your gut and go with what feels right. Ask them to lunch and see what happens. If you say something, go with it. If not, ask about lunch tomorrow and try then. Just keep going until you tell them how you feel. But seriously, just be honest. Honesty is the most important part.
He sighed out again, clearing his head. “I…don’t know how to say what I’m trying to say. (y/n), I…uh. I really like you.”
“I like you too, Barry,” you said, still denying in your head that he meant that he liked you.
“No, no, like. I like you. I want to be with you,” he said, admitting it openly. The honesty in his face and the pureness in his eyes told you this wasn’t some sort of cruel joke.
“You…mean it?” You couldn’t help but doubt even then.
“Yeah, yeah. I mean it.”
“I like you too. I want to be with you too. Everything you just said,” you said, awkwardly. “Maybe we could go to a movie this weekend?”
“Sounds good. That new Star Wars movie is still in theaters right?”
“Oh duh, of course. They’re gonna keep that thing in movies for like a year to milk all the money they can out of it.” Barry laughed and then you laughed too.
Everything felt right now.
