Chapter Text
"Oh my god..." Felicity said, staring at the screen in front of her.
"Oliver," she said loudly, holding back a laugh, "Come look at this."
Oliver stopped what he was doing, looking at her in disbelief. "Is it important?" He asked her.
Felicity, laughing out loud at what was playing on the laptop screen, just said, "Just... Come here and watch this. I think you'll find it quite funny."
Oliver sighed and walked towards her so he could see the laptop. He watched the video with a look filled with confusion and humor. "What the..."
****
Barry sighed as he saw what Felicity made him watch.
He groaned, "I thought I deleted all those videos."
Felicity said, "It was posted pretty recently on Youtube by someone named Warblers Nick and Jeff?"
Barry groaned again, but this time it seemed fondly, "I know the. They were my friends in high school."
They; Oliver, Barry, and Felicity, watched as a younger Barry danced and sang on stage with some other boys in school uniforms to the beat of Glad You Came. Barry, the one not on screen, had a faint blush as he watched his old Glee performance with his boyfriend and his friend.
"So," Oliver said, smirking slightly, "When were you going to tell me about this?"
"Never," Barry said seriously, "I wanted to put all of this-" he gestured to the laptop, "-behind me. I don't... I don't exactly like what I did in high school."
Felicity said with a small laugh, "I don't think being in a glee club is that bad."
Barry sighed and muttered to himself, "I really didn't ever want to explain this," before he said louder, "It wasn't just that... I did a lot of things I regret when I was part of that group. I regret my whole high school experience in general."
"I think everyone regrets high school," Oliver said comfortingly, "even me. Especially me."
"No I was..." Barry started to say before he was interrupted by his phone ringing.
Felicity smiled shyly at him, "I kinda forgot to tell you but I told Caitlin and Cisco..."
Barry groaned, putting his head in his hands, "Guess I need to tell them too."
Oliver patted the younger boy's shoulder, trying not to laugh at his misfortune.
****
Barry looked at the right people in front of him, one of them being his boyfriend. He looked to Joe and Iris, who already knew what he was about to say. They gave him small smiles, giving him confidence. Iris took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. He looked at the people in front of him, Caitlin Cisco, Joe, Iris, Eddie, Diggle, Felicity, and Oliver.
"So," Barry started, "You've all seen the video now, right?"
Everyone nodded so Barry continued, "So-"
But Diggle interrupted, "I read the description of the video and it said 'sung by Sebastian Smythe, Captain of the Warblers of Dalton Academy'. Who's Sebastian? You told us that you sang that."
Eddie interjected, "Dalton? That's a private school... In Ohio."
The speedster looked at him, wondering how he knew that, but ignored him. "I'll explain. But no more interruptions."
Barry was quiet for a moment, daring anyone to speak. When no one did, he answered, "Diggle; I was honest when I told you that that was me singing. Eddie: Yes, Dalton is a private school in Ohio that I went to."
Oliver questioned, "Why'd you go to Ohio?"
"Let's just say, kids really did not like someone who's father was accused of murder and someone who talked about a man in the lightning that wasn't even there, according to everyone. So, the bullying got super bad and I moved with in with my uncle, Richard Smythe. He was my mother's brother, and he offered to adopted me for a while. At least, until high school was over."
"So, that's why the last name was Smythe, but why change your first name?" Felicity asked.
"With a name like Bartholomew, why wouldn't you change it?" Barry chuckled.
He went on to ask, "Anything else before I explain the rest?"
Everyone shook their head no. Barry took a deep breath, hands clenched and vibrating, before he calmed down and said, "When Richard first adopted me, we lived in Paris for a few years. It gave me time to create a new personality, one that wasn't so nerdy. I learned how to play lacrosse and when I went to Dalton, I became captain of the lacrosse team."
Cisco laughed and said fondly, "Barry, you trip over everything. How did you become captain of a sport?"
Barry knew he meant it lovingly, so he didn't feel offended. "I was like, a completely different person back then. Sebastian wasn't clumsy at all. But anyway, after a few years in Paris, we moved to Ohio, obviously, and Richard put me into Dalton because-"
Eddie finished, "Because of the no-bullying policy."
Barry cocked his head, "How do you know all this?"
Eddie almost blushed, "I looked at that school once. Just to... Just to try, I guess. But I chose not to go, instead I stayed here."
Barry nodded in understanding. "I got a roommate named Thad, who was really cool when Nick and Jeff, the guys that uploaded the video, were around. Otherwise, he was just kinda boring," Barry admitted.
"But he was a pretty good roommate. But he caught me singing under my breath one day-"
Caitlin interrupted this time, "He's really good, by the way."
Oliver raised an eyebrow, "How do you know this?"
Caitlin blushed, "It doesn't matter. Barry, continue."
Barry laughed at Oliver, who reeked of jealousy. "So Thad caught me singing and told Jeff and Nick. And they're all part of the Warbler's, so they made me try out and I got in."
"Okay, but you didn't really explain why you regret high school so much? You told me and Oliver you didn't like what you did, but what you've told us so far doesn't seem that bad," Felicity pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm uh... I'm getting there. So, I told you about how I created a new personality for Sebastian, right?" They nodded so he went on. "He was a really cocky, self-confident guy, that was very comfortable with his bisexuality. He was actually a major jerk that almost blinded his crush because of a joke that went too far."
Everyone, except Joe and Iris, seemed surprised by this information. "What did you do, exactly?"
"I- well, first you need to know about the New Directions. They were a rival glee club, and neither club liked each other. Oh, and by this time, I was captain of the Warbler's, so the rest of the group kinda idolized me, which I still think is weird, and basically did anything I asked." Barry blushed when he realized he was almost rambling, so he hurried to shorten his explanation.
"So the guy I use to like, Blaine, actually had a boyfriend named Kurt. Me and Lady Hummel," he didn't even realize he used the nickname until after, but he kept going, "really didn't like each other and we got in fights a lot. Me and the Warbler's went to prank him by throwing a slushie filled with rock salt on his clothes, but Blaine jumped in front of him and it got in his eyes. I felt really guilty, but I couldn't exactly show that at the time, so the Warbler's and I just left. And that's just the beginning of what else I did."
Oliver could tell that Barry felt really guilty about what he had done, so he reassured his boyfriend. "It's in the past, Barry," he said, "No one judges you for your past mistakes. And anyway, you feel bad about it so at least you're not an asshole."
Barry smiled at him. Cisco chimed in, "Yeah! You save people now, so I think you have redeemed yourself like, 20 times over!"
Barry smiled at him too, "Thanks guys."
Joe interrupted, "Okay, I think that's enough for tonight. Barry can explain more tomorrow, if he wants to."
So, everyone except Joe, Barry, and Oliver left. Right before he went to bed, Joe told them, "Behave you two. Just remember that I'm in the room next to yours and I'll be able to hear you guys if you get up to anything."
Barry turned red as Oliver laughed, "We won't, Joe. We'll be good."
Joe gave them a look before he went upstairs. Barry and Oliver following him a few minutes later.