#and len just raises an eyebrow until barry takes the receipt and leaves in a huff with the back of his neck bright pink

[qlala]

made an enormous mistake (rewatched notting hill last night despite knowing full well it would make me immediately want to throw aside my coldflash nanowrimo project to write my coldflash notting hill au instead)

#chomping biting i WILL give len a little bookstore that lisa inherited from an uncle she never met when she was seven #and 22 year old len pushed through his guardianship application immediately with the promised income and apartment upstairs #give me len being able to raise lisa safely on the other side of the city in this shitty little home the two of them made for themselves #it’s barely a shop they have breakfast at the cash register because the coffee pot only works in the first floor outlets #but there’s technically an open sign on the door and barry ducks in one day because he’s going to have a mental break if he stays on set #for five more minutes #and it’s just *suffused* with this sense of sanctuary #it’s in the scuffed floorboards it’s in the dusty shelves it’s in the coffee cups cluttering the register #he watches len stop a skinny kid with a book stashed under her ratty coat at the door #and when she hands it back he puts a ten dollar bill inside and hands it back saying she forgot her change #barry pipes up that he’s out of the money and the price of the book now #and len hasn’t looked at him twice but drawls back that he doesn’t tell him how to do his job. but now that they’re on the subject— #and roasts his latest movie so thoroughly barry is torn between walking out and giving him his number on the spot #he goes for neither and buys something just to get a receipt #len hands it over and barry hesitates before taking it and len asks if he’s allergic to paper receipts #and barry is bemused and admits he kinda thought len would write his number on it #len asks if barry’s asking for it #and barry says no #and len just raises an eyebrow until barry takes the receipt and leaves in a huff with the back of his neck bright pink #barry’s bi but he’s not out and he’s got an agent that is always promising just one more year just one more role to really get established #he’s still berating himself for being so obvious when he turns around to go offer to buy another book if len won’t tell anyone he was there #and pulls the door open just as len is pushing it from the other side to step out and len's coffee ends up all over both of them #and barry’s supposed to be back to make it better and not worse #but len's offering him a clean shirt from upstairs and barry's mouth is saying yes for him before he can stop himself #and len's too old to be letting a high-strung little closet case brush their fingers together as he accepts the shirt len's offering him #but lisa chooses that moment to let herself into the apartment and barry bolts like a startled deer anyway #and lisa is halfway through teasing len for finally bringing a guy home before she realizes who just ducked past her #and len spends the next three days regretting every decision he's ever made #until lisa answers the phone in the shop and her grin goes feline sharp and she holds the phone out to len and says it's for him #...not that i've been thinking about it a lot. or anything