A/N: An extension of westallen's last scene in the episode. Enjoy. :)
*Many thanks to sendtherain, my ever faithful beta.
*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.
...
Barry lingered on her lips, hovered in the little space between them, and blessed her with another eskimo kiss before finally pulling away.
"What?" he asked, grinning like a fool when he saw she was smiling.
Iris shook her head, trying to lessen her smile enough to form a coherent thought, but it was extremely difficult.
"Noth- I just…I…" She couldn't stop.
"Yeah?" Barry drawled, enjoying her reaction far too much.
"I-" She stopped, licked her lips and closed her mouth, telling herself to stop smiling for one second.
But she couldn't. So she laughed.
"I can't stop smiling!" she cried out and he laughed with her. "You just-" Tears came to her eyes, so she lifted her fingers to wipe them away. Barry swiped from one side while she did the other. Then she huffed, her bubbling laughter subsiding. "You and your eskimo kisses."
She shook her head, but the action only emboldened him further. Barry leaned in and brushed the tip of his nose against hers again. This time she gave only a single short laugh and then angled her head to kiss him.
"I like eskimo kisses," he mumbled after they parted. "They make me feel close to you." He wrapped his arms tighter around her so she was literally almost in his lap. "I like feeling close to you."
Gentle smile on her face, stars in her eyes, Iris initiated her own eskimo kiss.
"I like feeling close to you too, Bear." She sighed contently and nestled her head in the crook of his neck. "My big tall, skinny, palest Bear I ever saw."
He smirked. "And here I thought you'd abandoned my childhood nickname for the standard variations of lover pet names."
She laughed. "Never."
"No?"
"There's a time and a place for everything, love."
"Yeah?" He raised his eyebrows and looked down at her.
"Mhmm," she nodded. "Bear was my go-to nickname for you since forever, because I chose it myself when we were kids. It just seemed to fit for everything. But now I have options."
He chuckled. "Yeah?"
"Several. Don't think I'm unaware of how your libido goes from zero to sixty when I whisper 'babe' in your ear."
She felt him tense slightly and smiled.
Barry swallowed and straightened a little, wiggling his fingers for a moment to disperse of the sweat.
"My libido is always at sixty when I'm around you, Iris," he said, almost losing his voice near the end of his sentence.
"Maybe," she allowed. "But…" She lifted her head, drew his to her mouth, tugged lightly on his ear lobe and whispered hotly, "Baby."
Barry shivered. "Iris," he gasped, unexpectedly rolling the 'r' and extending the 's'.
Iris laughed, jolting him out of his state of ecstasy. He blinked, looked at her, and blushed beet red, not daring to speak.
"See."
His lips twitched.
"Different pet names for different occasions."
Miraculously he was able to move past the embarrassing incident.
"So why Bear in this particular one? What's the occasion?"
She smiled softly and ran her fingers through his hair.
"Because you're my Bear." She continued before he could interrupt her. "You're my best friend, and right now you make me feel safe. And because today…" She sighed, letting her arm drop back into her lap.
"What?" he asked, brows furrowed in concern. He lay his hand on her arm and squeezed gently.
She forced a small smile.
"Thanks for not coming down on me too hard, for the risks I took for my story."
He shook his head, gazing at her adoringly.
"You were smart about it, Iris. You took Wally with you for back-up. After the way Joe went off…you didn't need to hear it again."
She shrugged. "I heard it a little."
"Just as a reminder, I hope. Since, you know, you'd rather not be put into a position where you're forced to lie straight to your dad's face?"
There was a glint in his eyes, but she saw the serious intention that lay beneath the surface.
"You mean the way I lied to yours?" she asked, feeling guilty for the first time all day.
"Iris…" He ran has hand gently along her arm. "I had a feeling you weren't going to go that easy."
She pouted. "I thought I was very convincing."
"Ehh…" He couldn't stop the smile from spreading.
She rolled her eyes. "Point taken."
He smiled.
"Thank you, Barry, for not pushing too much."
"Thank you for being smart. Though I do think you scared Wally a little."
She closed her eyes and groaned. "Don't remind me." She shook her head and then opened her eyes. The knowing look on Barry's face connected the dots for her. "Probably why he tattled, huh?"
Barry nodded once. "Yep."
"Oh, God. You know, if all of you would just—"
"Stop caring so much?" His lips twitched. Iris's jaw dropped. "Guess that must mean you matter."
Her building defense dissolved. She smiled tremulously.
"Yeah, guess so."
"And…" He reached for the laptop and returned to the article he'd read five times. He turned the computer so it was facing her and pointed to the everchanging number in small print beneath the title.
"If this view count is any indication, your friends and family and I aren't the only ones who think so. You made a difference today, Iris."
"Thanks, babe," she whispered softly.
"You're going to keep making a difference for many years." Her lips parted, but before she could say a word, he lifted her hands to his lips and kissed them the way he'd done earlier. When he lifted his head to look into her eyes, tears were shining there.
"Barry…"
She lost her breath, wondering how it was possible to feel so much pain; for Barry at the prospect of losing her and for herself, staring her mortality in the face and trying to believe it could be pushed farther away.
But then his face was drawing nearer and his nose brushed against hers and she smiled, because she loved how he could do this. He could stare death in the face for both of them and make her forget it just by loving her.
"Eskimo kisses," she said, fighting a giggle, unable to suppress a smile.
"A cure for a whole manner of things," he informed her.
She smiled, pulled away ever so slightly, then tilted her head and kissed him.
...
A/N: I hope you enjoyed! Happy reviews are love. :)