A/N: This one was requested by TrueNorth (Guest).

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Prompt #13: "Kiss me."

Characters: Barry Allen/The Flash & Iris West from The Flash.

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Iris West sat cross-legged on her bed, a lavender fuzzy pillow resting in her lap. She wore a pair of gray cotton pajama shorts and a teal blue long sleeved shirt, her figures absentmindedly plucking at the soft fabric of her pillow. She had been thinking about this a lot lately, and she knew it was something she had to do, but that didn't do anything to ease her nerves. And now Barry was on his way home and she had no idea how she was going to form her feelings into proper words once he arrived. She loved him, she was sure of that. Ever since he had told her about how he felt she had not been able to stop thinking about him, and initially she had thought it was because she felt guilty about hurting him, but she soon enough realized that it was actually because she didn't want to. And the more she thought about Barry the more certain she became that she loved him.

It had been two months since she had come to the realization that these feelings she for her best friend were very real, and here to stay. It had been two months since she had broken up with Eddie. Two months that she had given herself, both out of curtesy to what she and Eddie had once had, as well as to figure out the words to say. Yet in those two months, what ever words she had planned always ended up sounding scripted—as if she was writing a story about two non existent characters. And maybe that was her problem. This was still Barry, her Barry, and she knew him like nobody else did. They had grown up together, been best friends since they were nine, and she had never had a hard time sharing things with him in the past because it had just come naturally.

But now she was over thinking, over analyzing every little detail like she did with everything else. She was trying to plan it out the same way as she would plan out one of her articles for CCPN, but this wasn't some article. This was Barry Allen, his life and hers. This was their story, and she had to stop trying to plan it out. She needed to tell him, she had waited long enough, and so today she would speak from the heart and tell him how she felt—no planning, just doing.

Iris's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of their front door opening and closing. She heard footsteps shuffling around downstairs and the sound of the refrigerator door closing, the shuffling footsteps turning to stomping as the houses new occupant came up the stairs. It didn't take long for the tall and slender figure of her best friend to appear in her doorway as he walked by, seeming to head to his room. "Barry." She abruptly to get his attention. If she was going to do this, she had to do it now or she would lose the small amount of nerve she had built up while sitting on her bed this past hour.

"Iris?" He asked, pausing and turning towards her door mid step. "Hey, you're home early."

"I worked from home today, I didn't really feel much like going in. Could I talk to you for a minute? Its kind of important."

"Yea, of course." He said, seeming to notice that something was bothering her and instantly turning on his 'protective Barry' expression. "What's up? Is everything okay?"

He entered her bedroom, setting the two water bottles he had been carrying down on her desk before taking a seat on her bed. "Iris, what's wrong?" There was clear worry evident in his eyes as she spoke.

"Nothings wrong, exactly. I've just been thinking lately, and I've been thinking about it a lot. I've probably been thinking about it too much if I'm being honest, but I'm not really sure how to put it into words. I mean, I have to try though right?"

Barry nodded, waiting for her to continue so that he could hear what she had to say. Somehow, looking into his green eyes both calmed her nerves and amplified them at the same time. His eyes were familiar, gentle, and comforting. She had been looking into those eyes sine they were nine, but the words she needed to say were something foreign and new. She wasn't sure how he would feel once she opened up her feelings to him. Still, she knew she needed to do this, just as he had needed to confess his feelings for her this past Christmas. Even if Barry's feelings for her had changed, she still needed him to know that hers had changed since then too.

"Do you remember, during Christmas, when you sat me down and told me how you loved me?" Iris began, after a long pause of silence between them.

He was looking at her in confusion now, nodding his head. "Yea. Yea, I remember. Why?"

Iris reached out and took both of his hands in hers, and for a moment they both just sat there in silence on her bed, looking at their hands resting in each others where they rested between them.

"I have not stopped thinking about what you told me that night Barry. At first I thought it was because I felt guilty about hurting you, but the longer I thought about it and the more time I spent with you, I knew that the real reason I couldn't stop thinking about what you said—about you—was because maybe I didn't want to stop."

Taking a deep breath she forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. "I didn't want to stop thinking about you, Barry, because I love you too."

His face visibly softened as he listened to her words, his lips parting in surprise at the words "I love you too." He appeared to be shocked by her confession, and she knew that this was the last thing he was expecting to hear from her.

"I'm sorry it took you're confession for me to figure out my feelings for you Bar, and that it took me so long to tell you once I did. I didn't really know how to tell, I kept trying to plan everything like it was some sort of article or short story I was writing instead of living."

"So, I'm not planning it anymore, I'm just doing it. And I know its been almost four months since you told me how you felt, and I know that your feelings have probably changed by now. Hell, you're probably even at the point of wanting to move on with some other now, but I do love you and I—I just needed you to know, even if you don't have those same feelings for me anymore, I had to—"

"Iris!" Barry said, cutting off her nervous ramblings. He had let go of her hands now, and moved his hands up to cup her face, his green eyes locked dead with hers. "Iris," he repeated, a smirk playing on his lips, "Just shut up and kiss me already." He laughed playfully.

Barry was so close to her face now that when he spoke and laughed she could feel his breath against her skin. She laughed softly, leaning closer to him, and in an instant he had closed the small remaining distance between them. Iris felt his lips press against hers, they were softer than she had thought they'd be, and he kissed her gently. Closing her eyes she leaned into the kiss, allowing her lips to part in response to him as she returned the gesture. He kept both of his hands on either side of her face throughout the entirety of the kiss, a gesture that signified how much he cared for her and respected her. Iris knew that this wasn't a story, that this was real life—her life. But still, as she sat in her best kissing Barry Allen, her hands moving to rest on his wrist, she couldn't help but feel like she had just stepped into some kind of fairy tail. And this was a fairy tail that she hoped would end with the two of them living happily ever after together.

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A/N: I jut really love the idea of Iris being the one who's nervous in regards to her feelings for a change. And Barry's waited like 10 years for her to confess her love for him, I can totally see him being both amused at her nerves and slightly annoyed to have to wait even longer to kiss her now that she's put her feelings out in the open. I also think that since they're already best friends, him telling her to shut up in a teasing manner isn't that far of a stretch—after all, the best relationships are often forged in friendship first.

Anyway, I really hope you guys liked this short little WestAllen oneshot. Leave me a review and let me know what you think. :)

XOXO,

WallFlower.