A/N: A follow-up to the fic "A Partial History of Lost Causes" by inksmudge on AO3 (and on tumblr). Please go read that one first if you haven't. However, if you're feeling too lazy…essentially, in her fic, Barry & Iris individually tell their twins about their first kisses – only Barry tells Don about his real first kiss with Iris & Iris tells Dawn about the one she knew as their first kiss. In this fic…the twins connect the dots. ;) Enjoy!
DEDICATION: To the lovely inksmudge herself, who gave me permission to write a follow-up to her perfect fic and helped me along through to the end so that our stories could be seen simply as two parts to the same story. This woman is flawless, super talented and an absolute sweetheart. Please go read her story.
*I own nothing. All material that inspired this fic belongs to inksmudge. Some of her exact dialogue and events are contained within this story. I tried my very best to keep it in line with everything she had created.
…
He came downstairs, feeling both happier than he'd expected and confused at his father's lack of details.
He wondered if this was how his friends felt when he went off on a tangent about something he greatly admired that didn't necessarily involve scientific statistics.
"Dawn," he said, startled by her presence in the living room. Last he'd heard, she'd been planning to go out with their mother for nearly an hour – girl time, she'd insisted.
At the time he hadn't thought much of it, because he'd planning to use the time to corner his father, but now it occurred to him that he'd failed to consider the implications of her unplanned hang out with their mother.
Especially given the look on her face that showed a mixture of the emotions likely spread across his face only moments earlier. The fact that they were there for a few beats after she recognized he was in front of her was even more suspicious. Dawn had an excellent poker face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She blinked and shook her head.
"What makes you think something's wrong?"
"Oh…I don't know..." He dropped onto the couch next to her. "Something about the look on your face and how your perfected poker face wasn't in place the second I said your name."
Her face smoothed over and the superiority she always enforced when she was about to remind him those two seconds older than him she was allowed her to not have to ever explain herself.
"As the older sibling," she began; he rolled his eyes. "I am not required to tell you anything."
Not interested in enduring her occasional bouts of all-knowing philosophy, he abandoned his course of action for another.
"I thought you were out with mom," he said.
"I was," she said without further explanation. He stared at her, waiting. "We came home early." Her voice wasn't rising. Controlled as always – like their mother – unless it was something really serious.
"Ok…"
"What were you doing? She asked, idly inspecting her nails.
He sighed and leaned further into the couch. After two very long seconds of deliberation, he decided to go with the truth.
"I asked dad about his and mom's first kiss."
Her eyes widened and she turned toward him so fast he had to grip the arm of the couch not to rock his position.
"What did you say?" she demanded.
He took a deep breath and prepared to defend himself.
"Look, I know it's not very manly to ask about stuff like that, but I was curious."
Her mouth hung open, and it annoyed him.
"It's not that weird," he grumbled.
She smiled wide, her lips pressed together in a smug grin.
"We are definitely twins," she announced. "Although, I'm sure I thought of it first."
Don rolled his eyes, keenly aware of how his sister proceeded to pull her knees up to her chest and wrap her arms around them, looking as eager as a little kid waiting for their bedtime story.
"What is up with you?"
"Well…" she began, looking off into the distance at nothing in particular, stars in her eyes. "It just so happens that when mom and I were out, I asked her about their first kiss too."
When Dawn looked back at her brother, smiling wildly, his mouth was hanging open.
"So…" she prompted.
"So, what?" he asked confused.
"Tell me the details!" she said, as if it were obvious.
"You already know them," he stated matter-of-factly.
She rolled her eyes. "From mom's point of view. I want to know dad's." She pushed her pointer-finger into his chest, which annoyed him. She had a habit of doing it when she wanted something, which was a lot. He was sure he'd have an indent there before he graduated high school.
"Alright, alright." He scooted an inch away from her and searched his very recent memories for what his dad had told him. "Dad said…" he glanced at her. "And I quote, 'It was…solace. It was comfort in the midst of chaos, a source of warmth from the freezing air around us, safety between the throes of danger'," he said with great dramatics.
He didn't have to look at his sister to see the annoyance and disappointment written all over her face.
"Anything else?" she nearly whined.
He chuckled. "That was my sentiment too."
"He totally pulled a dad on you." She turned and let her legs slip to the ground, frowning.
He nodded.
"I guess Papa Joe was in trouble though."
"Papa Joe?" she asked, confused.
Don knew that tone. It meant his sister was genuinely confused, which was a rarity.
"Yeah. Why? Didn't mom say something about that?"
She shook her head.
"No. She said dad was still sad about Grandpa Henry dying and wasn't ready to be with her."
Now Don was confused again. Looking back on what his dad had said…there had been elation paired with that memory, not sadness.
"That's…not the impression I got from what dad told me."
"What else did he tell you?" she asked, the crease in her forehead still visible.
Don sighed. "Not much. Just that she told him something he'd wanted to hear for a long time. I'm guessing that she loved him."
Dawn thought about what her mother had told her.
"Yeah…that could make sense…but…"
"It's weird she didn't talk about Papa Joe," he finished her sentence.
"Equally weird that dad didn't talk about Grandpa Henry. And that he actually sounded…happy. I mean, the first kiss is bound to make you excited, especially since he had to wait so long for her, but still."
"It doesn't add up." He stood to his feet.
"Where are you going?" she asked, surprised at his sudden leap to his feet.
"I, dear sister, am going on a quest to find out the truth of our parents' first step into the magical oblivion that led to us," he declared.
Dawn raised her eyebrows. "You're going to ask them which one was lying."
He frowned.
"Mom or dad?"
He debated complaining that she took the fun out of everything, but thought better of it.
"Both."
"At the same time?" Her eyebrows raised further.
"What would be the point of going to them separately? They could just lie again. If they're forced to answer simultaneously, they'll have to answer to each other's reaction, as well as ours."
"Dad's probably lying." She jumped to her feet.
Don frowned. "Why do you say that?"
"Think about it. If he was still devastated over his dad dying, why would he choose the kiss right after that to tell you about?"
"You think he made it up?"
"Maybe he just told you about their second kiss. You know, the one after he decided he was ready to be with her."
"What would she have told him then? If he was the one to decide he was ready, what could she have said?"
"I love you?" she offered up, given that was what her brother had suggested earlier.
But Don shook his head now.
"No…that's not it. I mean…maybe, but…" He was clearly aggravated.
"You get dad. I'll get mom. Meet back here in five minutes. We're getting to the bottom of this."
They shared a look and a nod and headed in separate directions – Don upstairs and Dawn to the backyard where their mother was working on a story at the table on the patio.
…
Iris raised her eyebrows, but followed her daughter into the house for the 'urgent talk' that supposedly had to be done in the living room. Dawn had seemed satisfied with their talk earlier. She couldn't think of any reason she'd need to have a serious talk right that second. Maybe this was about a boy after all…
She nearly stopped right at the entrance to the room when she found a confused Barry and an awkward yet clearly irritated Don waiting for them.
"Uh…" she tried, but her daughter interrupted.
"Great. Everyone's here."
"What's this all about?" Iris asked.
The twins shared a look and then looked at their parents, arms folded across their chests.
"One of you is lying to us, and we want to know who."
Barry gawked.
The mischievous sparkle in Dawn's eyes made Don very grateful he hadn't bet on who was lying.
"I knew it. Spill, dad. Why were you lying?"
"Your father was not—what are we talking about anyway?" Iris looked back and forth to each of her children, and then at her husband, mystified as to how he somehow knew. At least she assumed so, since he didn't appear to be confused at all. He swallowed hard and that made her even more suspicious.
"Your guys's first kiss," Don said, some red creeping up his neck. "You're not talking about the same one," he said a little sheepishly.
Iris laughed. "That's impossible." She paused, admiration momentarily filling her gaze. Don knew she was somehow proud that he'd broached the subject with his father. Barry Allen's son to the core.
"Nothing is impossible, mom," Dawn insisted.
She then proceeded to share all the information both she and her brother had gained from each of their conversations with their perspective parents. By the end of it, Iris was as confused as they were and Barry's arm was wrapped around the back of his head in the way that almost always suggested he was nervous.
"Barry."
He looked up, trying to keep eye contact and failing.
"Why don't you look confused?" She crossed her arms across her chest.
"What?" he squeaked, and her eyebrows narrowed further. "I'm confused. I'm totally confused. I mean, we only had one first kiss."
The emphasis of that one word that nearly stole his voice laid the answer in front of her as if it'd been there all along.
"Oh my god… You erased our first kiss."
"Now, Iris—"
Dawn and Don's jaws had dropped.
"I can't believe it. Here I've been thinking all these years how this memory was so precious to me, to us, and it wasn't even our first! Not yours at least."
Iris's arms were flying about. Her uncharacteristic emotional state made even the twins a little nervous.
"Maybe we could talk about this in private," Barry said through his teeth.
"Uh-uh," the twins said simultaneously.
Barry and Iris looked at their children, as if just realizing they were there.
"They deserve to know," Iris finally said.
Barry sighed and gestured for them to all take seats on the living room furniture. Over the next five or so minutes, he proceeded to explain the situation; how the last thing he'd wanted to do was erase that kiss; how he'd been devastated that it had been but had been advised telling anyone details of a day that no longer existed was a bad idea. At this point Iris reminded him that it was the evil Doctor Wells, who happened to have also killed his mother in the past that gave him this excellent advice. She also reminded him that every other time he'd changed time, he'd told her every detail of it.
He'd sighed then and said, "I'm sorry, Iris. But…I wanted our love story to be what you knew. That memory is special for me, but what good would it be for you to know that there was a time when you'd realized how you'd felt and told me way sooner than you eventually did? Don't tell me you wouldn't feel guilty that we could have been together a whole year sooner."
Iris's mouth had opened and closed, no words emerging.
"I was still with Eddie, and you were still with Linda. Who knows if…"
"No," Barry said, and shook his head. "I liked Linda but I'd been in love with you since I was eleven years old. I would've broken things off and hoped you do the same. Which is exactly what happened, only…"
He didn't need to say anything more. They both knew what had happened. Iris hadn't realized what she felt deep down and she'd rejected him. Again. She'd chosen Eddie. She chose him until she couldn't choose him anymore.
Don's face was awestruck by his father's feelings and emotions. Dawn's was saddened by the situation they'd been in. Suddenly they both felt like they were intruding on a very private moment meant only for their parents, and that it would either end in a fight or them making out. Neither were particularly appealing, despite each having asked about their first kiss earlier.
The Allen children watched as their mother stood up and walked to their father, who looked sullen on the least comfortable chair in the room. Iris placed her hand on his face and made him look up at her.
"I still wish you'd told me," she said softly.
He nodded.
"Eventually. At some point." A smirk slid onto her lips. "Before our kids got conflicting stories."
She flicked a glance their way and they both blushed, as if they'd been caught spying.
"I didn't want our first kiss to have regrets," he said before she had a chance to refocus on him. That caught her attention though. "It was in the heat of the moment, and we were both technically cheating. I didn't think it at the time, but there was probably a good chance you'd try and take it back when you remembered you were still with Eddie and that you loved him."
Her face was filled with absolute heartbreak. She leaned down and kissed him gently. Don and Dawn shifted uncomfortably but made no attempt to leave.
"It was always going to be us, Barry," she whispered. The words washed away the guilt, sadness and loss that had come to rest in her husband's eyes.
She straightened, eyes sparkling now, smile back on her face.
"No more secrets though, not even good ones. Especially not good ones." She glanced at her children and then her husband and started to leave the room. She stopped just before going into the next room and added, "Though, I'd like to hope you'll keep all the good memories from now on."
Barry smiled at her, looking as awestruck as he had the day he met her, and every day after that, every time it felt like it was just the two of them and not another person in the world, not even their children.
Then she was gone and he was still smiling. He stood up and started to leave too, but stopped to look at his kids.
"We good now?" he asked.
They both nodded, smiling as much as he was. Barry nodded in return, following in the direction his wife had gone. The twins didn't dwell on what his intention was.
When he was gone, Dawn let out a dreamy sigh.
"God, our parents are so in love."
"Yeah…" Don sighed just as dreamily.
A beat later he realized just how lovestruck he was acting and glanced at his sister. She was too far gone with stars in her eyes to notice. For that he was glad. He was also amused, given how uncharacteristic it was of her to show such blatant emotion, much less swoon at the prospect of something romantic.
It was, he decided, the perfect opportunity to shake his sister out of her ever present state of smug superiority. With a devilish grin she also couldn't detect, he brushed her a little too hard when he stood to his feet, knocking her off the ottoman they'd been sitting on together.
She squealed as she tumbled to the ground.
"Don," she gasped, but he was already on the other side of the room. With a devilish grin she got to her feet. His smile was infectious. She could barely contain her laughter.
"You know I'm faster than you," she dared, noticing how his feet had started to twitch a little in anticipation.
He didn't dignify that with a response, just sped out the door in a blur of red. Dawn was a beat behind him, overtaking him before they got to the end of the block where she pushed him to the ground and laughed.
"That two seconds makes all the difference," she declared, still giggling.
Don took advantage of the distraction she'd made for herself and sped off to the park nine blocks away. When Dawn got to him he was waiting on one end of the teeter-totter. Aside from the two of them, the park was completely empty. Instead of showing more dominance, she casually walked over to the park toy and climbed atop, enjoying the joint-effort ride as much as they had as children.
In the same place their parents had met.
…
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Happy reviews are love.