100 Ways

1. Pull over. Let me drive for a while.

Barry couldn't quite believe he was sitting in the passenger seat of Eddie's car, barreling down the highway at 80mph at midnight, but here he was. This wasn't the fastest he'd ever gone, not by a longshot, but his hands gripped the seat nervously as he glanced over at Eddie's twisted face.

Just twenty minutes ago, Barry had been summoned to the door by a frantic and furious pounding on his front door. Heart racing, he'd expected—well, he didn't really know what he expected. A villain who'd discovered where he lived, an irate neighbor maybe.

Not Eddie Thawne with wide watery eyes.

"I—I didn't," Eddie gasped out, reaching up with both hands to grab and his blond spikes. "I don't—don't know. B-Barry, I...Iris."

Barry's blood froze. "Iris?" he said hurriedly. "What's wrong with Iris?"

Eddie shook his head, face marred with pain. "No, no, she—we—it's—"

Barry took a moment to reflect on what Iris had told him earlier that day. She'd had breakfast with him and Joe that morning, and he'd invited her to coffee that evening.

"Sorry, I'm meeting up with Eddie later today," she had said, which was normal, but her face was pinched.

"Something wrong?" Barry had asked.

Iris shrugged. "I'll call you later."

She hadn't. And now Eddie was at his doorstep, looking like a panicked wild animal.

"What happened with Iris?" Barry asked slowly, stepping out of the doorway onto the mat so they were on the same level.

Eddie took a rattling breath and closed his eyes. "She broke up with me." There was a weighty pause, and then Eddie looked up at him. "It's over."

Barry didn't have a chance to respond before Eddie shook his head and started backing away.

"I'm—I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to come here," Eddie stammered. "She's your best friend. I just...I didn't know where else. I—"

"Eddie," Barry said, walking forward, bare feet cold on the concrete, "it's okay. You're my friend too. I'm sorry, I didn't know this was happening."

Eddie nodded slowly. "Then we have that in common."

Something in Barry's heart broke a little at that. Sure, he'd always envied Eddie and Iris' relationship. He'd been in love with Iris for as long as he could remember, but over time he'd grown to accept their relationship. Eddie was a great guy, and it was hard to begrudge him or blame him.

"I should go."

Eddie started walking away again, and again Barry stopped him.

"I don't think you should be alone right now," Barry said.

"I'll be fine, Bar. I'm just gonna go for a drive," Eddie replied. His voice was tired.

"Then let me just sit with you."

Eddie looked at him for a long moment, and then bowed his head and conceded.

So that was how Barry had ended up here. They'd been driving along the dark highways for about an hour now, just going and going. The radio wasn't on, and they listened to the sound of the tires on the road and the hum of the car. Every now and then Eddie would let out a frustrated sigh or choke down a sob, and every time Barry would want to reach over and touch him, but he resisted.

Maybe he wasn't the best person for Eddie to be around right now. Barry probably just reminded him of Iris. But he maintained that Eddie shouldn't be alone right now.

Suddenly, Eddie let out a sharp cry and smacked the steering wheel, startling Barry.

"Hey," Barry said. "Pull over. Let me drive for a while."

Eddie shook his head.

"I won't head back to Central City, not unless you tell me to," he said. "We can drive until we run out of road."

Eddie cracked a grin at that, and Barry felt the car slow down just a bit. A few minutes later, they were on the side of the road and switching seats. As they crossed paths in front of the car, headlights illuminating their legs in the night, Eddie suddenly grabbed him and hugged him.

"Thank you, Barry," he mumbled, his face on Barry's shoulder and arms tight around his middle.

Barry smiled and settled his arms around Eddie's shoulders. "Of course."

Welcome to my first full-length Thallen fic! I was inspired to write this after seeing a "one hundred ways to say I love you" post on tumblr. Some of the chapters don't use the prompt word for word, but the gist is still there, which is what matters.

This fic begins in a canon divergent version of Season 1 where Eddie and Iris break up, Eddie doesn't yet know that Barry's the Flash, and Eobard never impersonates Wells. Just don't think too hard about it, cause I didn't when I was writing it haha!

Happy reading!

~Ki

My tumblr: kiconwrites