He zoomed from the sidewalk into Joe's house. Putting his bag down, he pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed the side of his head. Why did Patty do that? Their relationship was going so well. Well, he was the one messing it up. He could understand why she should do that, but he didn't understand why she would do it. Why did everything good in his life have to end badly? After all, he should understand that to every pro, there's a con, and vice versa. He wasn't sure if he was glad that his identity was safe from her. Maybe if he had been honest, she wouldn't have dumped him. Or maybe it was Turtle's fault. Maybe he scared her away from Central City.

"Barry...I'm leaving Central City," she told him. "...It's time to move on." He kind of stood there having that feeling like he was late to second period Physics and realized he had forgotten to bring his project to school. Like the world was slowly being devoid of fortune and luck. He had watched movies of couples being dumped and promised himself not to ever be the dumper or dumpee, but look how things have turned out. He knew how the process would unfold: first the relationship problems, then one of them gets dumped. After that, the dumpee would go into a state of depression and sorrow. Then came the I'm-never-going-to-love-anyone -ever-again attitude. Next step: someone comes into their lives and "awakens" them to the awesome positive world, and to all the available fish in the sea. Finally, they realize their stupidity and move on. It seemed like a long procedure but he was following the right steps so far: the depression/dejected status. According to most chick-flicks, the best thing to do was mess up your appearance, grab a tub of ice cream, and Netflix all day.

But he had survived worse things. In fact, he had survived heartbreak for a long time. You know, heartbreak over his parents, then Iris' rejections over and over, and also Dr. Well's betrayal. This was nothing. It was kinda similar to his relationship with Linda. He started to march up to his bedroom when he smelled chow mein.

"Joe? Is that Chinese food?" he questioned while walking into the kitchen. Joe was busy cleaning up and replied without looking up.

"Oh, hey Barry. Wally came by and was finally willing to talk. We ate some dinner and tried to get to know each other better. It turns out, he was just being a protective son about his mother. We don't need to speed up this father-son relationship. I think that things are going to be just fine with him. So, how was your day?" Joe asked. Barry sat down and ran his fingers through his hair. "Not good, Joe," he began, "It's about Patty." Joe clicked his tongue. "She's asked about you and it's kinda cute. I mean, she asked how I felt about you guys kissing. I told her it's none of my business! Funny, huh?" Joe looked up and saw Barry's downtrodden face. "Barry, what's wrong? Is it about S.T.A.R. Labs?"

Barry lifted his head and finally faced the truth: "Patty dumped me."

...

He didn't feel like running. He didn't feel so super. He felt like a normal human being who could get hurt. Who was vulnerable. He took the subway to Jitters and found Iris sitting there with her laptop. Sighing, he pushed open the door and walked over to her. Sinking into the seat, he pulled out his phone and started to play Flappy Bird. The little dings coming from his device startled Iris.

"Barry? Are you playing Flappy Bird? But you hate that game! You always say that the bird is biologically incorrect and that he defies the laws of physics," she reminded, "Then again, your superpowers also defy the laws." He looked up at her from his double chin in the depressingly slumped position. Iris' mouth dropped open. "She dumped you, didn't she?" Iris guessed.

"How did you know that?" Barry asked. Was it that obvious?

"I know you too well. She told me that you were being kinda secretive and closed off. How did it go down?" She propped up her head on her elbows and leaned forward, ready to listen. He sat up straighter and cleared his throat. After telling her the details of this tragic event, he sank back down.

"Maybe if I had been more open and honest…" Barry ventured.

"No Barry, it's not your fault. Didn't you hear her? She did what she had to do. She put the guy in jail and now she's done. She got into an awesome college and she can finally start her life doing what she loves. You should be happy for her."

Barry shook his head. "Yes, and she did it with my help! If the Flash hadn't stopped her from shooting him, she would be sitting in prison with no life! Besides, she could still go to college and date me at the same time, why did she have to break up with me?!" He ranted.

Iris took his hand and looked at him with pity. "You're in the anger stage of the breakup. Soon you'll be stalking her Facebook page and telling everyone that she's evil. Don't be that person, Barry. Be strong because you have survived worse. Focus on friends and your passions. It'll help you move on, okay?" she sympathized, "At least Party is still alive and safe," she murmured, thinking about Eddie. It'd been quite a while but she still had a spot in her heart reserved for him.

"So…" Barry started, "How are you?" The thing they had been talking about mostly was Wally. He informed Iris about Wally's visit with Joe the previous night and it seemed to cheer her up.

"We've been swamped lately. We should take a break," she suggested.

He looked away from the screen to her. "Like how?"

She shrugged. "Maybe we could go on a friend date. Like you did with Caitlyn." He smiled at the memory of drunk Caitlyn.

Iris burst into giggles. "You told me all about it. Did she seriously say 'my goods' to you? That's just too hilarious!" They both laughed at the phrase.

"Let's do the same thing! Let's find a club tonight!" She suggested much too excitedly.

"What?! I thought we could go bowling and have some pizza."

"What are you, ten years old? Every single time we hang out it's always Netflix or bowling. We've never done any rated R stuff before! C'mon, it'll be a nice change!"

He didn't think it was a good idea. He thought she was using partying to rid herself of the empty feeling inside of her that could only be filled with Eddie. What she didn't know was that wasting herself away like that would only increase that hollow feeling. "I don't know. It won't change the fact that both of our significant others are out of our lives now. I think we should take a break from too much social interaction and focus on getting rid of Zoom. It's driving Dr. Wells insane! If we work hard at this, we could slowly move on. The best way to keep living is to keep up a normal, safe lifestyle."

"You mean a boring lifestyle. Just one time. Please?"

He opened his mouth to decline, but what the hell. "Yeah, okay sure whatever," he rolled his eyes. Iris grinned and went over outfit ideas. He obediently listened to her until her phone rang.

"I'm sorry Barry I have to go talk to my boss. Can you pick me up at eight in my apartment? Thanks so much, see you!" Iris shoved her laptop in her bag and patted Barry's shoulder before sprinting out of the cafe and pushing the door open with her phone pressed against her face. He smiled and drank the rest of her latte thinking about what a great friend she was.