100 Ways

90. You can tell me anything.

"I need to tell you," Barry said quickly. "I need to tell you what I've been keeping from you."

Eddie was silent for a long moment, and Barry ran some gentle—by his standards—laps around the building while he waited. "Okay," he finally said.

"I don't…I don't quite know how to tell you," Barry said. "I don't know how you'll react. Probably anger. But just know, it's something I don't tell anyone. Only Joe, Cisco, and Caitlin."

"Not even Iris?" Eddie's attempt at teasing had too bitter an edge. "Sorry."

"No, not even Iris."

"Barry, you can tell me anything," Eddie said. "I can't promise how I'll react, but I can promise I'll try to be as understanding as possible."

Barry nodded to himself. "Okay."

"Are you still coming over?"

"Be there in a flash."

Barry raced into the building and up the stairs, then paused briefly outside of Eddie's door. What was he going to do? Just bust in as the Flash? God, he really should've thought this through more. He ran back out of the building and did some more laps around the structure, thinking quickly about how he was going to do this. Then he figured the only way to do it was to just fucking do it. Clean break, so to speak. Fuck, he hoped there wasn't a real clean break tonight.

He raced up the stairs to Eddie's floor, then phased through the door. Eddie was sitting hunched over on the couch, the cell phone on the coffee table, and his hands massaging his temples. When he saw the Flash, he stood up so quickly he fell over backwards onto the couch again.

"F-Flash?" he stuttered.

"Detective Thawne," Barry said, but without disguising his voice.

"I…I don't—what are you—"

Barry reached up, sliding his thumbs under the edge of his mask. Eddie only stared incredulously, clearly not understanding what was happening here. Heart pounding, Barry pulled the mask off, staring at the floor. He heard Eddie's soft intake of breath, and he slowly looked up as he lowered his hands to his sides.

"Barry," Eddie whispered, rising to his feet. "It's you?"

"It's me," Barry confirmed, raising a hand and vibrating it so it became nothing more than a red blur. "So you see, I wasn't just keeping it a secret from you. I was keeping it from everyone. To protect everyone. Caitlin and Cisco help me train and fight crime. Joe helps too. But they're the only ones who know."

"You're the Flash." Eddie was moving painstakingly slowly toward him.

"Yes," Barry said, looking down. "That's why I've been late to things or skipped out on them. I've—"

"—been saving the city," Eddie finished for him.

Barry nodded helplessly. "Yeah, something like that." He looked at Eddie's stunned face, which was still taking everything in. "Are you mad?"

"Am I mad?" Eddie repeated. "Am I dreaming, more like."

Barry laughed. "No, you're not dreaming. But seriously, are you mad? I've been keeping this from you the whole time."

"For good reason!" Eddie exclaimed. He was close now, standing in front of him. Eddie reached out and put his hands on Barry, feeling the costume's texture as he ran his hands down Barry's arms.

"So…you're not mad?" Barry asked, and it was like a huge weight fell away from him.

"No, Bar, I'm not mad," Eddie replied, his hands now exploring Barry's torso, tracing the insignia on his chest. "I thought—I don't even know what I thought. I was just worried and upset. But now…now I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah," Eddie breathed.

He stepped closer and slid his hands around Barry's waist. Barry's breath hitched, and he found himself blushing. Eddie examining him like this felt so intimate. In some ways he felt more exposed that he had the first time they were naked with each other.

"I have such a hard on right now," Eddie breathed against his neck.

Barry's whole body twitched, and he put his hands on Eddie's shoulders. "Yeah? I didn't know you had such a thing for the Flash."

"I have a major thing for the guy who happens to be the Flash," Eddie retorted. "But I may also have a thing for spandex and leather."

Barry laughed, but Eddie shut him up by pulling his head down and kissing him roughly. Barry kissed him back, then—quick as lightning—picked up Eddie and to the couch and laid him down. Eddie gasped and stared up at Barry, eyes wide.

"Oh my god," he said huskily.

"Was that okay?" Barry asked.

Eddie kissed him in response. They ground against each other as they kissed, and Barry's gloved hands started working at the buttons on Eddie's shirt.

"Can you have sex with this on?" Eddie asked as he wrangled the shirt off of himself, then smoothed his hands down Barry's leather-clad ass.

Barry laughed. "Ah, no, sorry. I guess I could ask Cisco to make some modifications, though."

"Cisco made the suit?" Eddie took a moment to marvel at it again. "Would you ask him? I really want to suck you off as the Flash."

Barry flushed and could already feel his hard on straining against the tight fabric. "Uh, ah, I—he'd never let me live it down."

Eddie grinned and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Guess I'll have to settle for getting you out of it."

"What, you don't think it'll look better on the floor of your bedroom?" Barry teased.

"The suit? Hell no," Eddie said, sliding a hand up Barry's back to cup the back of his neck. "But you? Are always stunning."

Barry closed his eyes and reveled in the pure bliss of the moment. He leaned down to kiss Eddie again, thinking that this was most definitely not how he saw the night going. But as Eddie whispered for him to take them to the bedroom, he found that he couldn't have cared less.