Six months. In the grand scheme of things, six months was not a long time.
But as far as Iris was concerned, six months changed everything. And as hard as she tried to pretend things were normal…
Barry knew they weren't.
At first, when he returned from the Speedforce, he was so overwhelmed with existing simply in the same space as his love that everything seemed the same as before he left. Well, at least the few hours of normalcy between defeating Savitar, mourning H.R., and the oncoming apocalypse had afforded them.
Time moved and felt different in the Speedforce. In some ways it had felt like he had only been gone a short time, but most of the time time slowed to a crawl and Barry was excruciatingly aware of the time he was losing being Central City's savior, a teammate, a mentor, a friend, a son, and most importantly a fiancée.
His reunification with his friends, family, and most importantly Iris had been the first time Barry felt like he could breathe in so long. As long as he lived, he'd never be able to thank Cisco for never giving up on him. He and Joe and held each other in an embrace for so long the people around them began to laugh.
It was either that or cry.
His whole team had been there for his return: Joe, Wally, Cisco, Gypsy, Julian, and even a subdued Caitlyn; newly learning what life was going to be like now that she was no longer simply Caitlyn, but Killer Frost too.
But there was only one person his heart physically ached for.
Barry could see Iris in the periphery of is vision as he greeted and hugged everyone else first. It had been the same before he had gone into the Speedforce. He had to acknowledge his friends first because Iris would soon eclipse anything else for him.
After lastly shaking Julian's hand, Barry had finally turned to Iris. His Iris. His everything. He could already feel the tears brimming in his eyes and he had yet to even approach her. In the midst of the tears he couldn't stop the all-encompassing grin from stretching over his face.
He was back with his other half, and their lives together could finally move forward.
He was so ready to make her Iris West-Allen.
Barry was torn between wanting to simply stand and stare at his love; soaking up the beautiful sight of her and closing the distance between them.
The second option won out.
Without conscience thought, Barry sped the remaining four feet to Iris. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered that it seemed slightly odd that she had chosen to hang back from the group, and that his speed in getting to her had startled her enough to cause her to moved back a few steps. But none of those detail mattered. Barry simply closed his eyes for a second and forced himself to take a deep breath. He wanted to remember everything about the moment and wouldn't be able to do that if he sped through the moment like part of him longed to do. There was nothing he wanted more than to speed Iris away to their apartment and kiss her over every inch of her beautiful body.
Barry breathed deeply again, halting his train of thought before he embarrassed himself in front of their friends. He slowly opened his eyes and refocused on a still surprised-looking Iris. His eyes softened and a wave of tenderness swept over him; stronger even than the ever-present ache he possessed to reconnect with her physically.
He stepped to her slowly and he could fee his smile broadening with every step closer to her he took. Once again, in the back of his mind a red flag arose when Iris remained glued to one spot, looking at him with a swirl of conflicting emotions, but the warning was so minor that Barry pushed it aside and attributed any awkwardness between them to being in front of a group of people. Their closest friends and family, but still.
"Iris," was all his broken voice would croak out. His hands reached for her and solidly gripped her arms that hung limply by her sides. His left hand slid down her arm while his right gently cupped her face and tunneled gently into her soft hair. His brain may have been stalling out on the right words to express the joy he felt, but his hands knew exactly where they wanted to be.
Barry scanned her gorgeous features; his left hand joining his right to cup Iris's face when he noticed her bottom lip begin to quiver. "I'm back, baby," he gently pressed his forehead to hers and whispered hoarsely, "I'm here."
The close contact seemed to jolt Iris out of the stupor she had been in and she gasped brokenly before lifting up on the tips of her toes to wrap her arms around Barry's neck. "B-Barry," she sobbed into his neck, totally falling apart at the feel of Barry's arms wrapping tightly around her back and lifting her off her feet.
"Shhh," Barry nuzzled into Iris's neck and gently rocked her back and forth, "I know, baby, I know."
Somewhere in the corner of his mind Barry was aware that their friends and family had quietly filed out of Star Labs to give them privacy, but he wasn't about to from his girl.
Not now, not ever again.