They really didn't mean for anyone to find out this way. They had planned to tell their friends, really, but it never seemed like the right time. Besides, they had been busy, with Zoom, meta-humans that wouldn't stop attacking, and of course, every day drama. Really, the past few months had been busy.
Flash Day rolled around again, and Barry was still busy. It didn't matter that Flash Day was his day; he still had to run around saving the city. In fact, being Flash Day, the bad guys seemed to be out in even higher numbers. Joe had convinced Captain Singh to increase police patrol to give the Flash part of the day off, but that could only help so much. Barry didn't mind that much. It wasn't like he could mingle amongst the crowd in his Flash uniform, so this was a way to keep busy until he was actually needed.
Dr. Stein was running his coms today, which he didn't know if he liked or not. Joe needed Cisco at the Flash Day rally, so Barry didn't have the jokes in addition to the running commentary. Dr. Stein would just go on about a scientific topic, which Barry didn't mind too much, being a scientist himself, but there were only so many times Dr. Stein could run his theories of the universe by Barry before he actually missed Cisco's bad jokes. Barry did like discussing the different universal theories, but there was a reason he was a forensic scientist.
"Barry, I think that's enough for now. Cisco just sent me one of those text messages saying that it's about time for your part in Flash Day celebrations. I'll let you know if anything big happens." Stein's voice came over Barry's coms. Barry had just stopped a bank robbery and deposited the bad guy in the back of a police car.
"Great." Barry muttered, and began to make his way to the rally. He was honored that the city felt the need to honor him, but he didn't need it. Barry didn't need thanks for saving his city; it was just the right thing to do. It kind of embarrassed him that they held an entire day just for him.
Barry arrived at the rally, on the back of the stage behind a curtain that would drop when the mayor introduced him. He took a deep breath, and paced. Not his super speed pace, but the normal speed. Barry didn't really like being the center of attention, so being introduced on stage kind of terrified him.
"Hey hero." A soft voice said. Barry turned to see Caitlin walking towards him, lab coat still on.
"Cait, I thought you had to work today." Barry said, surprised that his girlfriend showed up.
"Lunch break. I hurried over here to see you before you could go on stage. I know you don't like crowds, so I thought I would give you something that would calm you down." Caitlin said, stepping closer to Barry.
Vaguely, Barry heard the mayor get up on stage and begin to address the crowd, but his main focus was on Caitlin. It always was when she was around.
"And what would that be?" Barry asked, a smirk on his face.
"Just this." Caitlin said, and kissed him. Barry felt the familiar fireworks that happened whenever they kissed, and Barry let himself get lost in it.
So much so, that he forgot where he was, what he was wearing, and what was happening. If he had thought about it, he probably would have paid some attention to what the mayor was saying, and would have noticed when the mayor introduced him. If he was paying even any attention, he would have noticed when the curtain dropped, and the crowd that had been cheering went quiet. But no, he was too involved with kissing Caitlin. That was until something actually caught enough of his attention to make him stop.
"Oh come on! You guys couldn't have waited until next month to hook up! I had money on this!" Cisco's voice rang out over the crowd. Barry broke the kiss and looked up to see a silent crowd and reporters flashing their cameras.
"Shit." Barry said, and looked at Caitlin. While they had been kissing, she had her back to the crowd, for which Barry was grateful. He couldn't have a reporter capturing her face and his enemies using her as a hostage. She was looking at him, slightly terrified.
"Hold on!" Barry muttered, grabbing her, and flashing her back to work as quickly as he could. Barry was back at the rally within ten seconds, but the damage had been done. Reporters were shouting questions at him, all with the same idea. Barry just flashed them an awkward smile and walked up to the mayor.
"Well Flash, I won't ask who the lucky lady is, unless you want to tell us?" The mayor joked in the microphone in an attempt to calm the reporters and bring the crowd back. Barry gave a nervous chuckle and shook his head. The mayor nodded with a smile and moved on with the hope that the crowd would too.
"Because last year we honored the Flash by giving him a key to the city, this year I talked to one of his known associates to see if we could honor him in any other way. He told me to get him something very specific, and I laughed when he told me." The mayor said. "This year, Flash, to thank you for saving the city again, we would like to give you this red mug!"
The mayor pulled a plain red mug from the podium, and Barry laughed. He shot a glance at Joe, who was leaning against a police car in the back with a smirk on his face.
Barry thanked the mayor, took the mug, and showed it off to the crowd, continuing to ignore the reporters who were still clamoring to know who the girl was.
"Barry, we have an emergency." Dr. Stein's voice came over his coms. Barry's smile dropped and he placed a hand on his ear.
"What's up?" He asked, vibrating his vocal cords incase anyone was close enough to recognize his voice.
"Huge fire, Fifth and Main. It's an apartment complex and the fire department can't handle it alone." Stein said briskly.
"On my way." Barry said. He turned to the mayor. "I have to go. Crime doesn't stop just because I'm not there."
With that Barry turned and left, stopping by S.T.A.R. Labs to drop off his mug, and went to go save people, because that is what he did.