Author's note: Not beta read. Mistakes are all my own.

Barry was nervous to say the least. He had planned on telling Iris how he felt for years, but something always came up. She would be dating someone. He had been in a coma after the particle accelerator exploded. She had a boyfriend. Her boyfriend died. He had a girlfriend. Not to mention the continual metahuman crisis. The right moment had just kept slipping through his fingers.

It was now 30 minutes until midnight on New Year's Eve and he had planned on telling Iris how he felt that night. He wondered what made him think telling her how he felt tonight was a good idea. Oh yeah, he thought wryly. After Iris had suggested they all ring in the new year together and as soon as Barry was alone Cisco had said that the little party would be the perfect opportunity to let Iris know how he felt. Barry had listened then agreed with him without hesitation.

Two days previously, following the capture of a yet another destructive metahuman by the S.T.A.R Labs team, Iris had asked everyone what they planned on doing for New Year's Eve.

Caitlin had shifted uncomfortably and said, "Work?"

Iris waved her hand in Cisco's direction and asked, "And you? Do you have anything planned?"

"Unlike my workaholic partner here," Cisco said eyeing Caitlin, "I planned on having fun."

Iris questioned, "Oh?"

Cisco replied, "Um, yeah!"

"I'm gonna be marathoning not only the The Hobbit movies," Cisco continued, "but also all of the Lord of the Rings movies with a few brewskies of course."

Caitlin and Barry laughed.

Iris chuckled, "Of course."

Iris turned to the older man and asked, "What about you, Dr. Wells?"

Dr. Wells, who had been fiddling with a device, looked up at the young woman briefly and huffed out, "Work."

Iris turned to Barry with her eyebrows raised.

Barry's mouth opened and closed, "I mean, I had no plans." He then nodded towards Cisco who was standing near him, "Though I mean marathoning some Lord of the Rings movies sounds pretty awesome."

"Hell yeah!" Cisco exclaimed, raising his hand for a high five.

When Barry high-fived him, Iris rolled her eyes.

"Well I think we should actually go out and celebrate for New Year's Eve," Iris said.

Dr. Wells made a sound in the back of his throat.

Caitlin frowned at Iris and said, "But it will be so crowded."

Barry chimed in, "Caitlin's right. It'll be crazy busy."

Caitlin nodded and added, "And I have so much work to do…"

Cisco spoke, "Not to mention those movies aren't gonna watch themselves."

Iris said, "Okay okay!"

Iris sighed and asked, "How about we celebrate New Year's Eve here in S.T.A.R. Labs?"

She looked around at the group and continued, "That way there are no crazy crowds to deal with and we can just hang together."

Cisco had immediately spoken up, "Um, this doesn't exactly seem conducive to me completing my movie marathon…"

Barry looked at Cisco and asked, "How many times have you seen those movies, though, Cisco?"

Cisco looked at Barry offended and said, "I thought you were on my side?!"

Caitlin spoke up, "I'm willing to have a little get-together here at S.T.A.R. Labs."

Dr. Wells stopped tinkering with the small device and said, "Count me out. I have work to do."

Cisco was still eyeing Barry like he had been betrayed. Barry looked between Iris and Cisco. "I think we should celebrate here," he said.

"Unbelievable," Cisco mumbled.

Iris had clapped her hands and said, "Great! I already have some ideas for what we could do!"

Thinking back on that evening, Barry realized had he protested and stuck to doing a movie marathon with Cisco, he wouldn't be in his current predicament. So really, he could only blame himself.

Barry was trying to figure out how to get Iris alone to tell her. The party had started at 10:00 and here Barry was over an hour and a half later still obsessing about how and when to tell her. He had thought maybe he should wait until just before midnight or maybe he should wait until after midnight. He had spent the night chatting and playing games with the team (minus Dr. Wells) and he still hadn't decided which would be ideal.

On one hand, he mused, if he told her within the next several minutes and she felt the same then maybe there would be a New Year's kiss, Barry thought wistfully. That option was particularly tempting. If he told her after, well when exactly was after? If he waited too late, she may be too tipsy for him to talk to her. He figured sooner was better than later. Cisco had nudged him a few times and nodded towards Iris, but Barry ignored each attempt his friend made to get him to talk to her.

Barry heard his name, blinked, and looked at Cisco who was looking at him in question. Barry realized he had spaced out at some point listening to Cisco talk about some changes made in the recent patch of World of Warcraft.

Cisco sighed, "You didn't hear anything I said about the increase in damage for feral druids, did you?"

Barry chuckled, "No. Sorry, man."

The speedster glanced at his watch and frowned. Had he really zoned out for 10 minutes?

Cisco sipped some beer and said, "Just rip the band aid off, dude."

"What?"

"Rip the band aid off," Cisco repeated, "Just go for it. Tell her!"

Barry looked over at the woman he'd been in love with most of his life. Iris was talking to Caitlin and they were laughing about something. God, he loved her laugh.

Barry sighed and nodded, "Okay. Alright. You're right, man."

Barry glanced at his watch again, he felt that was all he had been doing today. It was five minutes until midnight. Barry bounced on his toes a couple of times, preparing himself to approach Iris. He glanced at his watch again. He looked up and saw Caitlin walk away from Iris towards their makeshift bar.

Barry took a deep breath and walked towards Iris. Iris was holding up her phone and seemed to be taking a candid picture of Caitlin. He waited for her to finish.

Iris looked up from her phone and asked, "Hey Barr, think I could get a pic of you?"

Barry chuckled nervously and replied, "Yeah. Yeah, sure."

Iris raised her phone ready to take a picture of him, "Now make a funny face!"

Barry contorted his face and crossed his eyes. Iris laughed and took the photo. She laughed again reviewing it. She turned the screen for Barry to look.

He said, "I dunno who that is, but I think he's a keeper."

Iris smiled down at the picture on her phone and said, "He sure is."

Barry felt his face get hot and he rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced at his watch. It was now one minute until midnight. He stepped closer to her and said softly, "I think we need to talk."

Barry realized the mistake in his wording as soon as Iris's eyes widened slightly. Barry opened his mouth to continue, but Iris raised a hand to stop him.

"I need to tell you something first," Iris said. Iris cleared her throat and spoke, "Barr. Barry, I'm-"

She stopped pushing hair out of her face and huffed out air. She took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Barry, I'm in love with you."

Barry stood stock still and asked, "What?"

Faintly, he heard Cisco and Caitlin loudly counting down until the ball dropped but Barry couldn't tear his eyes away from Iris's face.

Iris quickly glanced back at Cisco and Caitlin for support. Both were looking at her and Barry while counting down. Cisco was giving her a double thumbs up and Caitlin was smiling widely with her hands clasped together in front of her. Iris turned back to Barry who was still looking at her with his mouth slightly agape.

Barry felt like his brain had short-circuited. He had a plan, a script. What Iris had just said didn't fit the script he had mapped out. Oh, he had hoped she would say something like this in response to his declaration but her saying it first had completely thrown him.

Barry managed to stammer, "I-I am with you too?"

Iris beamed at Barry. When Iris heard Cisco and Caitlin loudly yell, "Happy New Year!" and let off poppers. Iris threw her arms around Barry's neck and pressed her lips to his. Barry didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her waist and lift her. Neither heard the clapping from their audience.

When Barry and Iris separated, smiling at each other. They both heard Cisco say, "Finally!"

Caitlin smacked Cisco's shoulder then said, "You both owe me 20 bucks by the way."

Cisco fished in his pocket grumbling about Caitlin cheating, he didn't know how she cheated but she did. He handed a twenty to the grinning woman.

Barry turned to see that Dr. Wells had joined them at some point and was frowning as he handed two ten dollar bills to Caitlin.

Caitlin smiled wider and said, "What is the saying," she pretended to think deeply, "bitches get stuff done?"

Cisco and Barry gaped at her.

Caitlin saw a strange look on Iris's face, tensed, and quickly amended, "Not that you're a bitch, Iris!"

She continued, "I just meant that-"

Iris's face wobbled and she laughed, "I understand, Caitlin."

Caitlin visibly relaxed.

Barry's brain had seemed to start functioning again and he realized what had just taken place.

Barry looked between the three and said, "You bet on us?"

Cisco started, "Well, you see, Caitlin thought it would be fun to-"

Caitlin pinched Cisco's arm and exclaimed, "Me?! I thought?!"

Backtracking Cisco said, "Ouch! Okay." He rubbed his arm, side-eyeing Caitlin.

"I thought it would be fun to bet to if Barry would confess his feelings to Iris tonight," Cisco said.

Cisco jerked his thumb towards Dr. Wells, "Harry overheard us making a bet and he decided he wanted in."

"As a matter of fact, it was Harry's idea for Caitlin to talk to Iris to try to convince her to confess her feelings tonight also," Cisco continued.

Caitlin looked at Iris and said sheepishly, "I just thought that, you know, it would be a good time for you to tell him and-"

Cisco waved his hand and said, "Yeah, yeah. Save it."

Barry spoke, "I can't believe you-"

Iris interrupted and said, "Thank you."

Barry frowned down at her.

"They kinda did us a favor, Barry," Iris said smiling, "even if they managed to make it about money."

Barry looked into her eyes and smiled. He turned back to the smiling S.T.A.R. Labs team or what was left of them. Dr. Wells had seemed to disappear again. Barry grinned at Caitlin and Cisco, "Thanks guys for helping us start the new year right."