A/N: Written for Day 10 of my 25 Days of Westallen Fanfiction event - and for barryslightningrod's birthday! The implication here is a sort of 'what if' scenario. What if Barry had stayed in the Flashpoint SL instead of erasing it, even though it was a risk to Wally's life and ensured he lose all his memories from his previous life. Barry and Iris still end up dating, and this fic is about Barry taking Iris out on her first birthday since they became a couple. I hope you enjoy!

*Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.

*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.

Iris West sat at the small table by the window at Jitters and told herself to be patient.

It wasn't something new, Barry being late. He always made up for it once he got there, and she was sure this time would be no different. She couldn't help her fingers madly tapping on the table though, or her foot bouncing underneath it, one leg crossed over the other. She was excited. Today was her birthday – her first birthday since she and Barry had gotten together – and he'd told her he was planning something big.

She'd had to work, but she'd rushed home, put on a simple yet fashionable dress and the drop earrings he'd bought for her for Christmas, curled her hair, freshened her make-up, and sat herself down at the same table where she and Barry had their first official date. Since then she'd gone through two regular cups of coffee and a piece of coffee cake. She'd gone to the bathroom twice to make sure her lips were void of all crumbs and reapplied her lipstick. She couldn't wait to stain his skin with her lip prints. It made him blush a bright pink, especially when she applied it to his forehead.

"Property of Iris West," she told him the first time she did it. He blushed but did not deny it.

She let her mind wander now to help her with her impatience.

The beginning of her relationship with Barry had been complicated to say the least. He'd literally asked her out during their first meeting – and in the most adorable, nerdy way he possibly could. She'd had guys ask her out on the spot before, and it never made her cave. In fact, she'd started to think of particularly clever ways to reject them. But with Barry…she just couldn't. And when she went to meet him for their date, she couldn't stop smiling. And he was smiling right back at her. Her dad's instant disgust at the idea hadn't thwarted her in the slightest, and it obviously hadn't change Barry's mind either, which she loved.

Some guys got so intimidated by Joe West's overprotective glare that they decided she wasn't worth it. Not that it made any sense. She and her dad hadn't spoken more than two words to each other for years. Over the last few months, Barry had made several attempts to mend that rift, which impressed her further, but for the time being he'd ceased. She was fine with that. It gave them more time to focus on each other, in particular for him to focus on her.

She wasn't ashamed to admit it. She was a glutton for Barry Allen's attention. He gave it easily, and she ate it right up. Despite the odd mess of him saying he was a speedster from another timeline, she had found herself drawn to Barry and never once feared that he was crazy. He had actually wound up saving her brother's life. even if Wally had fallen into a coma for several months before coming to. Plus, in this other timeline the two of them had been in love. It wasn't hard for her to imagine, since every minute she spent with him she was falling harder and harder.

After a series of crazy events spanning just the couple days after she met him, Barry Allen lost whatever memories he'd claimed to have before. She'd been so concerned for his well-being that she took him to the doctor and informed his parents. Aside from being a little out of it, nobody else appeared overly concerned. So she, along with Mr. Ramon, Dr. Snow, her brother, and herself swept it under the rug. It was not as if Barry could explain himself. He no longer remembered anything he'd told them before the incident that nearly took Wally's life.

Sometimes it bothered her, what those first couple days all meant. But she still found him to be very similar to the person she'd just started to know. And she still felt a pull towards him. He was a little less confident than he'd been before, but after she hesitantly initiated a few dates – and their first kiss – his confidence grew until it was nearly boundless. He made her feel so alive and so wanted that she stopped thinking about those first couple days and what it all meant.

He had warned her what was happening before all the memories faded and told her he hoped she still felt the same about him when they finally went, because he was 100% certain he would still feel the same way about her. In every timeline, in every version of reality, of himself and her, he was positive he would love her and that they would belong together.

Quite a thing to say to a girl he'd just met. But she supposed for him, they hadn't just met. They'd known each other for decades, had been best friends and then were on the brink of being lovers. And those precious memories had been on death's door for him.

She remembered asking him why he'd want to lose those memories when he could keep them, and he'd told her it wasn't that he wanted to lose them, but he was willing to sacrifice them if it meant keeping all that he'd gained – his parents, her, a life of peace and just being normal.

She didn't know what he meant by all that, but he didn't have time to explain – and maybe she wouldn't have fully understood if he'd tried – before the memories disappeared entirely. He was a little panicky at first, because he couldn't remember anything. Not his own name or who she was or what he was doing on the steps of a house he didn't recognize. But after a few days, memories started to surface. He remembered everything he'd told her that had seemed strange. He remembered being a speedster, but he couldn't remember why or how he'd been able to do those things. She'd reassured him that as long as he was okay now, they didn't have to talk about it. He'd taken her up on that offer.

Now, eight months since the day he'd awkwardly shown up, Barry Allen was late to her birthday date. Or maybe she was early? It suddenly didn't matter, because the door swung open, and in walked her boyfriend, looking nicer than usual and actually pretty nervous.

She waved to get his attention and the corner of his lips twitched in a smile.

What has gotten into him? She wondered, but stood up and joined him halfway across the shop anyway.

"Hey," she murmured after pulling him down for a sweet birthday day kiss. "Nice of you to show up."

He grimaced. "I deserve that. I'm sorry, Iris."

"It's okay. I was just teasing anyway." Still holding onto his lapels, she pulled him down to her for another kiss. "I'm glad you're here."

She felt the tension leave his shoulders.

"I'm glad too," he said, then pulled a small bouquet around from behind his back. It was filled with irises and some baby's breath. The greenery fanned out the flowers in an attractive, beautiful way. "I know the irises are cheesy, but it felt fitting for your birthday."

Her eyes sparkled as she took the bouquet from his hands. She lowered her face to inhale the scent and felt a warmth spread all the way to her toes at the sweet fragrance.

"Thank you, Barry," she said when she lifted her head. "I love them."

A smile spread across his face, his dimples making her weak in the knees as he offered his arm to her and they walked out of Jitters to stroll down the street.

"Where are we going?" she asked when they were halfway down the block. She didn't really care all that much, but she was a little bit curious. "The park? The lake? Your new apartment?"

She heard his breath hitch when her voice lowered on the last suggestion. She loved when he got flustered, and he got especially flustered whenever she hinted at their sex life in even the slightest way, which often took place in his new apartment since he'd gotten it a month ago.

"Ah, none of the above actually," he said.

"No?" She pouted.

"Don't worry." He grinned, fully recovered. "You'll like it."

She didn't doubt it.

Barry hailed a cab, quietly gave instructions to the driver, and within a matter of minutes – which went by fast with Iris' head on Barry's shoulder in the back seat, their fingers intertwined – they'd arrived at their destination.

"What's this?" she asked, but Barry only smiled in silence.

They stepped inside the average looking building downtown, only to ride the elevator up to the tenth floor and find themselves on a rooftop café overlooking the city and the lake in the distance.

Iris gasped.

"Barry."

She turned to look at him, clutching at his jacket sleeve.

"You remembered."

He shrugged innocently and nodded to the waiter who quickly guided them to their seats.

"Of course I remembered," he said.

In an old journal of her mother's she'd found in the attic in high school, there had been detailed the first date Francine had been on with Iris' father, Joe West. Her father had never taken her, though she'd begged and pleaded. She hadn't told him why the sudden interest, but he had probably suspected. Either that or he didn't want to relive the memory of when he'd last been there, or a significant time in which he had.

"It's too expensive, Iris," he'd said as an excuse, but he'd never made an exception for any birthday or graduation, either from high school or college.

She gave up asking after a while, but apparently it was never far from her mind, because she'd offhandedly mentioned it to Barry on their first date – and he'd remembered.

"You're a better man than my father is, Barry," she said, lifting a glass of the white wine poured to toast to her marvelous boyfriend.

"How about we toast to you instead," he suggested. "It is your birthday after all."

She smirked. It was ever so Barry-like to avoid directly putting blame on Joe West for the estrangement between father and daughter. But he didn't put it on her either, so she let it slide.

"All right, what about me, Barry Allen?" she teased, leaning in. "What's so great about Iris West?"

She could think of a million things she was proud of about herself, but she liked to hear him flatter her, and she liked to reward him later for his efforts by pleasuring them both.

He smiled sensually, and she was instantly turned to goo.

"What's not to like?" he asked. Lifting his own glass, he continued, "Iris West is beautiful, stunning, smart, talented, a vision in that creamy number she's got on right now-" If she could blush, she would. "And I'm the luckiest man in the world to have fallen in love with her."

Her heart nearly stopped. All the oxygen inside her instantly escaped her lungs.

"You… You love me?"

Because, yeah, it was the first time he'd said it.

He smiled softly at her.

"You don't have to say it back, Iris. I've just been waiting to say it for a while, and I thought your birthday would be the perfect occasion." He lifted his glass up further, intending to meet hers halfway, but hers lowered, and he frowned worriedly. "Iris? Is it…too soon? I didn't mean to ruin-"

"Too soon?" she asked, shock and he couldn't tell what else plain on her face. "It's been eight months, Barry."

He lowered his glass, unsure where this was going.

Iris set hers on the table and got to her feet, walking over to him and pulling him to his, or at least far enough so they were at eye-level.

"Iris, I-"

And she kissed him.

"I love you, too, Barry Allen."

He melted, pulling her upright with him.

"Yeah?" He stroked her cheek.

She was dazzled by the green in his eyes and the tenderness in his touch. She was so, so in love.

"Yeah."

They came together for another kiss and smiled shamelessly.

Iris heard people whispering for a nearby table, wondering if a proposal had just happened and unsure if they should clap – they hadn't seen Barry going down on one knee or a ring being exchanged anywhere. So, she figured they should sit back down, let Barry finish with his toast and continue with their romantic dinner.

Besides, she was nowhere near ready to say yes to an engagement ring.

But a confession of love from the man she'd been falling for the past several months?

That was pretty much the perfect birthday gift.

Happy Birthday to me.