A/N: Written for Day 6 of my 25 Days of Westallen Fanfiction event. Enjoy!
*Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.
*I own nothing. No copyright infringement intended.
Chapter 2 -
It was still dark when Barry's consciousness returned to him. His eyes opened a sliver, and all he could make out from the nearby window was a medium shade of blue trying to crack through the blinds. Still, the knowledge was enough to make him register other things. Such as his feet hanging off the edge of the bed, the walls being bare, the room being smaller than the one he usually slept in, and a warm body sleeping next to him.
Slowly, he turned to look who it was and fought to hold in the gasp when Iris was in plain sight.
He fell off the bed instead. He lay low, pinned to the floor when he heard the sheets rustle and Iris moan a bit, no doubt at the absence beside her. She didn't wake up though. When Barry realized he was dressed in only his boxers, he began a desperate search for his clothes, which had ended up in a pile near the door.
He reached for his pants, intending to use his speed to put them on and race out of there, try to figure out what had happened later. But when no electricity sped through his veins, and his movement forward ended in a low-to-the-ground plop, the events of the night before came racing to the forefront of his mind.
Zoom kidnapped Wally. Barry gave up his speed for Wally. Zoom, now twice as fast, kidnapped Caitlin. Iris kissed him.
Iris kissed him.
He hadn't gone home to Joe's. That much was clear. But he'd – oh my God.
He'd gone home with Iris, and –
He spotted her heap of pajamas in another pile and glanced over the top of the bed to see the dip of cleavage from the blanket slipping down Iris' sleeping form. For a moment, his mind went completely blank.
Then – Did we use a condom?
No. No, no, no, no, no. He could not have possibly lost his speed, lost Caitlin, kissed Iris, had sex with Iris, and gotten her pregnant all in the same night.
No.
This was the worst time for any of that, but especially, what if –
No.
He stomped down the possessiveness over a possible child growing in Iris' womb – their possible child. With him powerless and Zoom as relentless as ever, the timing would be –
Clumsily, he gathered his clothes, dressed, and snuck out of Iris' bedroom. He needed to get some air. He needed to figure this out. Maybe Iris was on the pill. She did say she was going on a date with Scott the other night. Maybe she'd prepared.
A nasty feeling flooded his stomach at the idea of her having sex with someone that wasn't him. It was bad enough when it was her longtime boyfriend – Eddie Thawne. But her boss? A guy she didn't know that well? A guy who hated the Flash?
He felt the urge to punch this guy, whoever he was. And then he remembered he lost his super speed. Which mean he probably wasn't too good at punching and definitely wouldn't be able to dodge very well if the guy tried to punch him back. Maybe the guy would even call the police to arrest him.
"Possessive, Barry," he muttered to himself once he was in the small little kitchen. "Too possessive."
He heard vibrations nearby and realized he'd left his phone on the end table in Iris' bedroom. Panic set in, but he figured he needed his phone. If anyone had any ideas concerning Zoom and Caitlin, if Singh was annoyed he was taking so long to get to work – what time was it anyway? He didn't know. He just knew that he couldn't speed in and out of Iris' bedroom without being caught if she was anywhere near awake.
He glanced down at the little table in front of the small loveseat sofa and spotted Iris' phone.
Don't do it. It makes no sense. It will make things even more awkward later. Just go in, and –
He snatched up Iris' phone and exited her apartment.
…
The knock on the metal door frame was a welcome relief to Barry after the hours he'd spent agonizing over forensic science in the lab. He hadn't lost his love for being a CSI. Of course he hadn't. But sometimes the work was time-consuming, and as a speedster… Well, it hadn't been.
When he saw who was standing in the doorway though, he almost wished he could use his work as a means to wish him away. He knew it was bad. Joe was only there out of concern for him, because he'd never called or texted to say he wasn't coming home last night. But the only sentence that blared across his mind when he looked into the older man's eyes was: I had sex with your daughter.
"Hey, Joe."
Calm, smart, level-headed. Good job, Allen.
"Can I talk to you for a second?"
Crap.
"Uh, y-yeah, of course, what's-"
"You didn't come home last night," he said, taking a seat across from him. He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned forward. "And you said you needed to talk."
Barry's brows furrowed. "I-"
Joe held up his phone, showing a text from Barry – really from Iris – asking if they could talk.
What a girl his best friend who kissed him and then had sex with him was.
"Right." He cleared his throat and momentarily avoided eye contact. "I…I stayed with Iris last night." His fingers rolled a pencil back and forth on his desk, unintentionally sending it flying across the room on his last word.
"Oh," Joe said, worrying more about his mental health than his sleeping arrangements. "Are you okay?"
Barry met his eyes. Am I okay? I slept with your daugh-
"I know last night was rough for you," Joe continued. "But I just want you to know we're all here for you. We're going to figure something out."
Barry tried to focus on his words, to get his mind off Iris and what had happened with her, to focus on the other very real problems at hand. Defeating Zoom. Rescuing Caitlin. Restoring the Flash to superhero of the city.
But that weighed him down, made him feel lost and alone, no matter what anyone else said. He felt like a failure. As embarrassing as the situation with Iris was, it was easier to focus on how to deal with that than to remind himself that he'd failed the city once again. He'd let his ego get the best of him and been too sure that Zoom wouldn't outsmart him. He'd been wrong.
But he couldn't let Joe know what had happened between him and Iris. He'd been rooting for them since day one, but there were some things a father shouldn't know about his daughter, even if they involved the man he would've handpicked for her.
"I know," he said, nodding, fighting the inner turmoil inside himself, pushing the flimsy lid down as hard as he could. "We'll think of something."
"Are you going to tell me why you didn't come home last night?"
Barry met his eyes. "Wally doesn't know," he admitted, the inner lid almost slipping from his grasp.
Joe's eyes widened knowingly.
"I couldn't go home and pretend I was all right with him there. I needed a safe place where I didn't have to worry about keeping up appearances. Harry's at STAR Labs and is probably madder at me than I am at myself. And Cisco…he must be devastated over Caitlin. There's no way I could…" he trailed off, then pursed his lips. "But Iris-"
"I understand," Joe said, cutting him off.
Barry glanced over at him. "You do?
Joe nodded. "She's your safe space." Slowly, he got to his feet. "Next time just let me know, okay? I was worried about you."
"Joe, I'm-"
"It's all right. Just, next time?"
"I'll let you know. I promise."
Joe nodded his thanks and headed out the door. Barry nearly fell out of his seat. He'd been honest with Joe, and that was important. But there was no way he could get around this. Either deal with Iris or deal with Zoom. The latter seemed almost impossible at this point, but he had to try. Iris could wait a while.
She was certainly easier to think about though. Memories of their night together had returned gradually throughout the morning, and his lower regions were eager to repeat the experience.