Episode 2: Jitters

Joe gave Krysten a steaming mug, where she sat on the couch. She took it gratefully and carefully sipped, as to not burn her tongue. Joe had a fire going in the fireplace, and he glanced at it once before sitting next to Krysten with a sigh. "So tell me what happened," he said. Krysten set the mug on the coffee table and sat back. "I got a call from the hospital," she started, her voice trembling. "They said that my mom died."

"Oh, Krysten," Joe said, with a sympathetic expression. "I'm so sorry. I know how much you loved her." Upstairs, Barry had heard noises and decided to see what was going on. He walked down the stairs, running a hand over his face groggily. "Joe, what's-" He stopped himself on the landing, words and motion, when he saw someone sitting on the couch next to Joe. It was girl, wearing a red jacket, her auburn hair glowing in the firelight. She looked familiar, but with the shadows it was hard to see who exactly she was.

"Barry, you remember Krysten, don't you?" Joe said.

"Krysten Carter?" Barry asked, in disbelief. "I thought you moved?" He walked down the rest of the stairs as Krysten spoke. "I did. But something came up," she said. Barry walked around the side of the couch and stood in the open space of the room. "What brings you back here?" he asked, crossing his arms. Krysten's face fell. "Her mother passed away this afternoon," Joe said, looking at Barry. "She came to talk to Iris."

"Oh, yeah, she doesn't live here anymore. She moved in with her boyfriend," Barry said, adding annoyed emphasis to the word 'boyfriend'. "Do you need a place to stay? Because, we have a spare room."

"No, no, that's okay," Krysten said, wiping at her eyes. "I don't want to intrude."

"You aren't intruding," Joe said. "Stay as long as you need. You are more than welcome."

"Thank you. Both of you. I know this must be awkward—me just showing up here in the middle of the night. I didn't know where else to go," Krysten confessed, timidly. Joe put a hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze with a small smile. "Barry, why don't you show her up to the guest room?" he said. Barry nodded. "Yeah, sure," Barry said. Krysten stood, grabbing her duffel off the floor, and then followed Barry up the stairs. He led her down the hall and to the last room on the right.

He opened the door and let her walk in first. "Casa De Krysten," he said, standing in the doorway. She tried to smile, dropping her duffel bag on the bed in the corner. "Look, I'm sorry about your mom. I know what that's like." Krysten nodded numbly, remembering when they were kids and Barry would rant and rave about the man in the lightning. "It's good seeing you again," Barry said, leaning into the door frame. "You look taller."

"Yeah, a whole two inches," Krysten said, nodded with fake enthusiasm.

"Wow, insane," Barry said, sarcastically, with a cheesy grin. Something about Barry's grin made Krysten chuckle. "Well, I'll let you get some sleep. We can go to Jitters and see Iris tomorrow, I mean, if you want."

"Yeah, that sounds great. Goodnight, Barry," Krysten said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Goodnight, Krysten," Barry said, shutting the door as he went. Barry went back downstairs, and Joe stood from the couch. Joe walked around the couch and met Barry at the base of the stairs. "This was definitely unexpected," Barry said, to which Joe nodded. "I didn't think she and Iris were still in touch."

"They aren't, as far as I know," Joe said.

"So why would she come here to see Iris?" Barry thought aloud. Joe shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "But let's try and get some sleep, and think it over in the morning." Barry nodded, and they headed up the stairs.

In the morning, after taking a shower, Krysten dressed in a pair of blue colored jean-leggings, a dark brown T-shirt that said 'Keep Calm and Shake It Off', sneakers, and her red jacket. She left her hair down, and went downstairs. "Good morning, Krysten," Barry said, from where he sat at the dining room table near the kitchen, smiling. She smiled back a little and Joe walked out from the kitchen carrying a pitcher of orange juice. "How'd you sleep?" he asked her.

"Good, thanks. I hope you don't mine, but I think I'm gonna skip out on breakfast," Krysten said.

"Oh, are you feeling alright?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, yeah fine. I just don't feel like food," she replied.

"I wish Barry didn't feel like food," Joe commented, walking back into the kitchen. Barry sat upright, looking slightly offended. "Hey, I burn a lot of calories on the job," he said, holding his hands up. "I can't help it." Krysten wished she could laugh, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. In fact, she felt rather depressed. "Wanna go see Iris?" Barry asked, getting up from his chair and walking to her. "Maybe it will, I don't know…cheer you up a bit."

Krysten nodded. "Sure, let's go," she said, glumly.

"Do you mind walking? I don't really have a car," he said, a bit awkwardly. She shook her head. "I'm fine walking," she said, as they headed for the door. They walked out of the house and down to steps, and then started down the sidewalk. Barry felt weird just walking. Normally he'd run. But he couldn't, not with Krysten there. Krysten crossed her arms as she walked, taking in the familiar scene of the city. It seemed to take forever to get there, but they finally arrived at Jitters.

Barry jumped around Krysten and grabbed the door, pulling it open and holding it for her to walk in. She mumbled a quick thank you and walked inside, and Barry followed in after. Iris was bringing coffees to a table when they walked in. She sat the coffees down to in front of their respective drinkers, and then headed back for the counter. "Hey, Iris," Barry called. Iris stopped and turned, and saw Krysten. Iris's face went from happy, to surprised, to curious, and then finally to excited upon seeing her best friend.

Iris hurried forward and Krysten met her halfway, both girls wrapping their arms around each other. "Oh my god!" Iris squealed. "I can't believe you're here!"

"It's good to see you, Iris," Krysten said, stepping back.

"Wait…why are you here? Did something happen?" Iris asked, quickly. Krysten's face fell and she nodded, biting her lower lip. "Oh god…Krysten, I'm so sorry." Iris pulled Krysten back into a rib-crushing hug. When Iris finally stepped back, she looked extremely sympathetic. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I mean, no…I don't know. I think so, for the most part," Krysten stammered. Iris nodded. "Okay, um…here, come sit down. I'll get you a drink," Iris said, leading Krysten to a tall standing table. Krysten slid up into one of the tall chairs whilst Iris scurried for the counter. Barry walked over to the table, but stayed standing. "I'll let you two talk," he said.

"Okay. Thanks, Barry. I mean it," Krysten said. Barry nodded with a smile, not expecting her to be so polite. "Yeah, sure. Anytime," he said, before Krysten nodded and he left Jitters. A second later, Iris hurried back over to the table carrying two steaming mugs. "Large Caramel Latte with extra syrup and only half a shot of caffeine," Iris said, setting a large mug in front of Krysten. Iris sat in the chair opposite her. "Just the way you like it." Krysten stared at the coffee a minutes before looking up at Iris. "You remembered after all this time?" she asked, puzzled.

"Kind of hard to forget. You used to be the only customer to trip me up. You won gold on most complicated order," Iris said. Krysten stifled a small chuckle. "So, how did you get here?" Iris asked, after sipping her drink.

"I took a train. And, bonus, I got a guy's phone number. But, down side, I don't have my phone. I left it in Faucet City," Krysten said.

"How did you forget that?" Iris asked.

"I lent it to a girl at the station." Krysten took a sip of her Latte and nearly melted in her chair. "It's perfect, Iris." Iris smiled. "Of course it's perfect. I made it."