Barry Allen was not the most smooth guy around. Far from it. But when someone caught his eye, he was going to make sure they fell for him. Hard. It wasn't always intentional. He just tended to hang around his crushes, and he had a sort of dorky allure about him that just made people fall in love. Or something like that. To be honest, he didn't really know it was happening.
However, the nineteen year old college student had his eye on a certain barista. Iris. He wasn't sure what her last name was, since he'd only ever seen her nametag when she was getting him coffee, but it was a pretty name. It really suited her, at least Barry thought so. And he did think about Iris a lot. He was thinking about her when his friend Felicity walked up to him in the coffee shop.
"Hey, Barry. What's up?" She asked. Barry shrugged.
"It's Iris, isn't it," She said. Felicity was one of the two people who Barry had told about his crush. Felicity had had a little romantic encounter in high school, before deciding that they would simply be each others' 'Romantic Advisors', a term that Felicity had made up. Barry nodded.
"I think you should at least get to know her a bit. I mean, staring isn't going to get you much," Felicity said. Barry laughed.
"Yeah, you should take your own advice. Go for Queen," He said. Oliver Queen was another one of their friends, who Felicity had liked since high school. It was most of why she and Barry didn't work out. Oliver was kind of more popular than most of their friends, but they had all been friends since sixth grade, so Oliver had never dumped them for more popular friends. Oliver was a good guy.
"You guys would be so cute together," Felicity said. Barry sighed. He thought that they would too.
"Hey, Felicity, Barry. What're you guys doing?" Caitlin Snow walked over to their table. Caitlin had met Barry during college, and he had introduced her to his other friends. They had clicked immediately.
"Just having some coffee," Barry said. Caitlin nodded, looking over at the bar. Her eyes lit up.
"Hey, I just saw an old friend of mine. I'll be right back," She said, walking up to the bar and striking up a conversation with none other than Barista Iris.
"Well then. Today's your lucky day. You've got yourself an excuse to talk to Iris," Felicity smiled. Barry laughed, unable to believe his luck. Caitlin walked back to the table.
"That was my friend Iris. We went to high school together. She's great. You guys would like each other," She said. Barry nodded, and Felicity laughed. Caitlin looked confusedly from Barry to Felicity.
"What?" She asked. Barry shook his head.
"Nothing, nothing. Hey, why don't you invite her to one of our movie nights?" He asked, stuttering a little. He shook his head again. He wasn't even talking to Iris! He was talking to Caitlin, his good friend. Caitlin looked at the two strangely again and nodded.
"Sure. She loves movies. Anyway, gotta go. I've got a date. See you two lonely people later," She laughed, leaving the coffee shop. Barry shook his head.
"Wow," He said. Felicity smiled at him.
"Looks like you'd better pick a good movie this week," She said. Barry's blissful expression turned to one of panic.
"Wait, it's my turn this week? What if I pick a terrible movie?" He started to panic, before Felicity placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Barry. It's the holidays. Just pick a holiday-ish movie," She said. Barry nodded.
"Wait, so if I pick a Christmas movie will you be upset at me? Because you're Jewish and everything..." Felicity laughed.
"Yeah, no. I mean, would you be mad if I picked a Hanukkah movie?" Felicity asked. Barry frowned.
"It's not your week..." He said.
"You know what I mean, Barry," She said. Barry nodded.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I guess I'm just a little nervous," He said.
"It's just a movie night. We do them all the time," Felicity said. Barry nodded again.
"You're right. Anyway, I've got to go, Cisco needs my help with his newest gadget. I swear, one day he's going to blow up our entire block..." Barry frowned, grabbing his stuff and hurrying out the door. Felicity smiled. He was such a dork.
Iris West was having a terrible week. First, her idiotic coworker Chris had spilled hot coffee all over the shop. He had extremely shaky hands, and it was a wonder that he was still a barista. Then, she'd gotten a call from one of her neighbors saying that her window was broken, and went into her house to find a baseball in her living room, sitting on a bed of broken glass. None of the neighbors had fessed up to that one. Finally, her dad had called, saying that he was coming over. She loved her dad, she really did, but her house was a mess, and that meant she had a whole lot of cleaning to do.
When Caitlin called her that Thursday to tell her about her friends' movie nights, and she had said she would come, she immediately regretted it. She really didn't have the time, what with work and repairs and cleaning to do, not to mention cooking, since her dad and brother were coming over. But if there was one thing that Iris West takes seriously, it's her own word, and so she resolved to work hard and pull through.
On Friday, she made her way to the address Cait had given her. Apparently one of Caitlin's new friends was pretty rich, and his parents owned a huge mansion with a built in theater. She was really impressed when she pulled in. Caitlin came out of the house to meet her.
"Iris!" She said, giving the woman a hug.
"Hey, Caitlin. So, introduce me to your friends?" Iris asked.
"Alright. This is Cisco, he's really into robotics. Lenny-"
"I hate it when you guys call me that. It's Leonard," A guy with short and obviously dyed hair said.
"Fine, Leonard, resident cynicist. Mick, he basically just tells crude jokes. My boyfriend, Ronnie, who you probably recognise," Iris waved to Ronnie. They had met before, when Caitlin and Iris had seen each other at a party.
"Felicity, who's basically just the uber-nerd," Caitlin said.
"Okay, that's coming from you. You tried to genetically engineer a guy to take you to prom," Iris said, and the whole group laughed.
"Ha, ha, I get it. Anyway, there's Oliver. This is his house. He's not that big of a jerk. That's Ray, he's working on his own super suit. And there's Kara and Barry. They eat basically all of our food and stay skinny as twigs," Caitlin laughed.
"Hey. I know you from Jitters. Thanks for always being so, you know, polite..." Barry trailed off. Iris laughed. He was kind of adorable.
"Anyway, let's get inside. It looks like it's about to start raining," Oliver said. They followed him inside, and down a hallway. Iris had to admit, the place looked pretty good. It was really fancy, and she kind of felt like she would break things just by looking at them.
"It's crazy, isn't it?" Kara asked. Iris nodded. They walked into at room, and Kara laughed as Iris' jaw dropped.
"Yeah, that was my reaction too. The Queens are crazy rich," Kara said. Iris found herself sitting in between Barry and Caitlin.
"Alright, Bear, so. Which movie are we watching tonight?" Felicity asked.
"Um, Felicity? I thought it was your week," Cisco said. Barry looked at her in disbelief.
"You made me pick the movie! You told me it was my week," He said, feigning anger. Felicity shrugged.
"There are no good Hanukkah movies," She said. Oliver laughed. Yeah, he was totally into her.
"Well, what is it, since Smoak didn't do her job..." Leonard asked.
"Oh, uh, I decided to go with a holiday classic. Home Alone," Barry said. A few cheers erupted across the room. Iris laughed. She had loved Home Alone.
"Nice pick," She said to Barry, before relaxing in her seat.
"Hey Haircut. Go get us some snacks, will you?" Mick asked. Ray got up and headed out of the theater.
"Dude's like a puppy," Mick said. Caitlin shook her head sadly.
"Anyway. Oliver's got a ton of food, and we just ordered some pizzas. It's a little downtime after crazy weeks," She said. Iris nodded. Ray came back with a ton of snacks and passed them out. Oliver grabbed Home Alone from Barry and started up the movie. Iris leaned back and relaxed. This was something that she could get used to.
Iris From Jitters had talked to him. Him, Barry Allen! His heart was pounding so hard that he was sure Iris could hear it. At least Felicity could. She elbowed him, grinning, as the movie started. He raised his eyebrow, subtly jerking his chin toward Oliver and accidentally hitting Iris in the forehead.
"Oh, my gosh. I'm so sorry. Are you alright?" Barry asked, turning completely to Iris. The woman looked flustered.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," Iris smiled. Barry smiled back. He was glad she was okay.
"Yeah, really sorry about that..." He said again.
"Hey Allen, stop your fawning and let us watch the movie," Leonard said. Barry and Iris looked startled. Barry frowned and ate some more popcorn as Felicity laughed silently. Barry elbowed her, making her choke.
"That's for earlier," He whispered, making her laugh harder.
"Honestly, people, shut up," Ray said, making everyone laugh because he was so not tough. Ray even laughed a little.
Iris was a little confused. Was that Barry guy flirting with her? If he was, he wasn't very good at it. Or was he? She wasn't exactly sure. He was kind of adorable... Okay, yeah. He was cute. She sighed.
"Psst. Iris," Kara called as they left the theater. Iris turned to see the girl running up to her.
"Yeah?" She asked.
"Barry totally likes you," Kara said.
"Really?" Iris asked. Kara nodded.
"Yeah. He's been watching you at Jitters for months," Kara said. Iris looked at the brown haired guy.
"Seriously?" She asked. Kara nodded nervously.
"Sorry, I probably shouldn't have told you that. He hasn't told me or anything, I just kind of saw him doing it, so..." She trailed off. Iris nodded thoughtfully.
"It's fine. Thanks for telling me," She said, getting ready to leave.
"Wait! Do you like him back?" Kara asked. Iris shrugged.
"I don't really know him too well. I guess he's cute. I'd be open to a date," She said. Kara nodded. Iris said goodbye to Caitlin and her friends, and got in her car.
"Should we invite you to the next one?" Cisco called.
"Sure! See you guys!" Iris said. She had work the next morning, so she had to get going.
Kara was a woman on a mission. She had talked to Caitlin, who said that Iris and Barry would be a cute couple, and she had decided to play matchmaker. She walked up to Barry, who was laughing with Oliver and Felicity about something.
"Hey, Kara, do you think that Felicity should have to pick the movie next week? Because she totally pawned it off on Barry this week," Oliver said. Kara nodded.
"Yeah, probably. Anyway, Barry, I was just talking to Iris, and she said she'd be up for a date with you. She said you were cute," She said, and walked off.
"Whoo! Nice! Go Kara!" She mumbled. If only she could find someone...
"Wait, what? You mean, the same Iris you've been crushing on for months is open to a date with you?" Cisco asked. Barry nodded.
"At least, that's what Kara said. I don't know whether we should trust her," Barry said. Felicity shrugged. The three of them were at Jitters, having a coffee.
"Trust her. It's Kara. Not a mean bone in her body. Go ask her out, Barry!" She said. Cisco laughed.
"Yeah. What's the worst that can happen?" He asked. Barry frowned.
"Well, we barely know her. She might say no and come to movie night, which would be awkward. Or she might not come at all, even though she said she'd be there. Or she might say yes and tell Caitlin, or say no and tell Caitlin, and then Caitlin might tell everyone-" Felicity cut Barry off.
"That's not going to happen. I mean, I guess they might, but most of those are really unlikely. Caitlin's not going to tell everyone. She's Caitlin. I mean, again, I guess she could, I'm not her, but she's our friend, so she's probably not going to. I am not helping, am I?" Felicity asked. Cisco shook his head.
"Come on man, just do it. You'll regret it if you don't," He said. Barry nodded and walked up to the bar.
"Hey, uh, Iris? I was wondering if you wanted to grab coffee sometime? I mean, maybe not here, because you work here, that might be awkward... Coffee place of your choice?" He asked. Iris laughed.
"Sure, I guess. How's this Wednesday?" She asked. Barry laughed in amazement.
"Really? Sure, sure. I'd love that. Here's my number, uh, we can pick the place when you're not working..." He scribbled his number onto a napkin. Iris laughed at his dorky-ness. He walked back to the table smiling.
"I take it it went well?" Cisco asked.
"Yeah. I've got a date!" He said, and left the coffee shop. Felicity and Cisco high fived.
"We just have to get ourselves out there now. So, here's how you're gonna get Oliver..."
A/N: Hope this was good! I might make this into a series, you know, detailing their dates, getting the other characters into ships. I definitely plan on having another oneshot out about their first date, because that would just be adorable. Please review! I love seeing that people are reading my writing, even if they don't like it. Thanks!