*Many thanks to sendtherain for beta'ing.


Chapter 4 -

Barry was going crazy with suspicion, trying to figure out what sort of game Iris West was playing. Why was she being so nice to his parents? Was she going to try to turn them against him before the week was up? Was that going to be her final revenge for the supposed wrongs he'd committed against her? He was already unwillingly working on her car, for God's sake - and he had to do a good job too or she'd be stuck here longer than a week. And he could not have that. In fact, if he wasn't such a sucker for seeing his parents' faces light up with bigger smiles than he'd seen in a long time, he would've made it his mission to turn them against her.

But when his dad walked through the door, he let the thought fall to the wayside.

"Dad," he greeted, standing up and going to him as Iris slipped around the two men and came to sit by Nora who immediately squeezed her hand affectionately. "I'd hug you, but-"

"No, no, I understand." He wiped his face with the towel he'd brought in with him. "I'm sweatin' like a pig." He chuckled. Barry laughed a little too.

"A charming pig."

Iris smirked beside Nora, amused by the dynamic between Barry and his dad. It seemed it was only her he was unfriendly with.

"Aren't they darling?" Nora sighed contently. "I'm so lucky to have them."

"Mmm," Iris agreed. Nora didn't catch her rolling her eyes.

"All right, Charming Pig," Nora said with a laugh. Henry switched his gaze to his wife.

"Looking lovely, as always," he said, reaching for her hand to lay a kiss to it.

Nora allowed it, a bit of a blush spreading across her cheeks.

For the shortest moment, Barry turned to look at Iris, still smiling from how blatantly affectionate his parents were being. The smile on her face dropped into a scowl the second she caught his gaze, though, and he inwardly scoffed and rolled his eyes. What had he been thinking, really? That they could appreciate his parents' love together, even if they despised each other in every other regard?

He was a fool.

"Go take a shower," Nora finally managed. "And you too, Bartholomew."

His jaw dropped. So did Iris'.

"Bartholomew? Am I in trouble?"

"No." Nora grinned. "But you've been working in an auto shop all day with grease and oil. It's nice you washed your face and hands, but I'm betting you could use a washing of your own."

Barry chuckled. "All right. I'll just head upstairs, and-"

"Just make sure to use the bathroom at the end of the hall. Iris is staying in your room. Let's not invade her space as long as she's here."

Barry's eyes widened, and he turned to look at Iris, who was equally flabbergasted.

"I'm staying in-"

"She's staying in my room?"

Barry and Iris answered at the same time.

"It's the biggest besides mine and Henry's," she defended. "And the only one with a bathroom attached to it besides our own." She switched her gaze to Barry's solely. "I don't know why there's a problem. This is a bed and breakfast now, Barry. Guests have stayed in your room before."

"Well, I know, but-"

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Iris joined in, glaring at him as fiercely as his mother. Though her glare was more amused. She was enjoying putting him in a tough spot.

"I just…" He pulled his shirt out a little to gesture to it. "Where are my clothes?"

Iris snorted. "Don't you have your own place?"

"Now, now, dear." Nora took her hand and patted it. "He's right. We always keep an extra pair of clothes in his old room for him when he comes over right after work." She switched her gaze to her son. "I put them in our room, in the closet. Better head upstairs before your dad hops into the shower, so you can grab them. You know how he gets…locking the door and all that."

"Right. Okay." He leaned forward to press a kiss to his mother's cheek, glanced at Iris once, who raised her eyebrows, amused, and then turned for the stairs, taking them two at a time till he reached the top.

Iris could hear the knock on Henry and Nora's bedroom door, followed by Henry letting his son inside to grab his clothes.

"Iris, dear?"

She turned to face her and smiled apologetically, realizing she'd been calling to her.

"Sorry, I was just-"

Nora smiled, and Iris knew immediately that she'd made the wrong assumption.

"You taking an interest in my son?"

"No!" She reined herself in. "No, it's not that." She cleared her throat. "I was just…" She shook her head. Why had she been so intrigued by Barry going up the stairs and retrieving his clothes?

"I understand," Nora said. "Would you like to help me in the kitchen?"

Nora didn't understand, and Iris had never 'helped in the kitchen' before. She lived in a mansion with cooks and maids and gardeners. It had been that way her entire life. And for some reason, she didn't want to embarrass herself by revealing that she was no small town, ordinary girl or that she didn't have asingle cooking skill aside from taste-testing.

"Um, actually, I'm feeling kind of tired. Would you mind if I took a short nap in my room before dinner is served?" Barry's room. Ugh. She would have to get used to that fact.

"Of course not, dear. You must've had a very long day. I'll send Barry to knock on your door when everything's ready."

Iris grimaced inwardly. She'd rather not have him do it, but she supposed she couldn't complain. Especially when it would probably annoy him also.

"Okay," she said. "Thanks."

"You're our guest. Never feel like you have to do anything other than what you want to do." She smiled.

Iris smiled back, filled with a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Thank you, Mrs. Allen."

She shook her head, dismissing the title.

"Please. It's Nora."

"Nora."

Iris smiled and turned to make her way up the stairs.

Barry hardly expected his mother to be fetching Iris from his room when he returned to the kitchen. Or her room, rather. That would take some getting used to. But his mother was right. He needed to treat Iris like she was any other guest. And he would make every effort to. At least, whenever they were in his parents' presence. When they were alone, it was another story entirely - and he intended to make that very clear.

Which was why he had gone to the upstairs hallway and knocked on Iris' door.

"Just a minute!" she called out, sounding aggravated.

He took some joy in that, but he was also confused. He turned the knob and walked into the bedroom.

"I said, wait a minu-"

Barry leaned against the doorframe, taking her in. Her hair looked fine, make-up looked fine, but she was wearing a different dress now and looked to be struggling with buttoning up the back.

He'd been planning to lead with 'We need to talk', as opposed to his mother's suggested, 'Dinner is ready', but he found himself spilling out something different entirely.

"Need some help?"

Her eyebrows narrowed immediately.

"Not from you."

He rolled his eyes and crossed the room. She moved around so he couldn't catch sight of her bare back.

He came to a stop.

"That's my aunt's dress. I know how to button it. What's more…" He caught a glance of her back. "The buttons you've managed to do are in the wrong holes." He gave her a knowing look. She scowled.

"You're enjoying this."

He sighed. "Let me help you. Then we can talk."

She scoffed. "I'm not talking to you," she said, reluctantly turning so he could unbutton and then re-button her dress. The buttons went down to the small of her back, and she gasped when she felt his fingers brush her warm skin.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Why'd you change anyway? You looked fine before, and I doubt you did any work in that dress."

She frowned, turning around as soon as he'd finished. He was so close though that she could hardly catch her breath. He smelled good. Really good. If she didn't hate his guts so much…

No. Stop it.

She huffed.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, putting distance between them.

"Well, first of all, I'd like to know what game you're playing." He folded his arms across his chest.

She scoffed. "Excuse me?"

"With my parents. You're being so…nice."

She rolled her eyes, folding her arms as well.

"I can be nice."

"Yeah? I didn't get that impression at all before I came here."

"We just met. You don't know me."

"You don't know me either."

"Clearly not. Though for all I know, you're only nice to your parents and no one else."

"This is my town," he said. "I grew up here. I'm nice to everybody."

"Except me."

"You don't live here."

"Oh, so you're only hostile to tourists then?"

"We don't get many of those." He paused. "Besides, I wasn't the one who pulled out a middle finger after I tried to give you some decent advice."

"You thought I was just some rich girl who knew nothing about cars!"

He raised an eyebrow as if to say, "Was I wrong though?"

"Which is besides the point! You were mean."

"I was not-" He raised his hands. "Okay, look, we're obviously not going to get along. Ever. And I don't even know if I totally believe that you genuinely like my parents. But you put on a good show at dinner, and I'll try to avoid you as much as I can while you're here. Deal?"

He held out his hand for her to shake, and her nose scrunched in disgust.

"I'm not touching you."

"I just took a shower," he defended.

"I don't care." She crossed the room, stopping only a moment after she'd opened the door again. "But, deal." She shrugged. "If you can believe that."

He sucked in an aggravated sigh and followed her out of the room.

"You never told me why you changed-"

"I napped in it. It had wrinkles."

He raised his eyebrows, amused.

"You might run out of dresses that way."

"I'm sure your mom will assist me if I do."

"Yeah, by handing you an iron and an ironing board." He paused, malicious now. "Oh, wait, you probably don't know how to use those, do you?"

She ground her teeth and walked faster down the stairs, nearly tripping over herself if Barry hadn't steadied her by grabbing her around the waist just in time. Iris freed herself immediately, and Barry shook his head.

"Iris!" Nora said happily. "I was wondering when you'd come down." She smiled, glancing at her son and then back to her guest. "Were you sleeping pretty deeply?"

Iris cleared her throat and smoothed down her dress.

"Yes, I was."

"Pretty dress you picked out. Amazing how you were able to get those buttons though. My sister always needed my help with that one." She glanced over at his son, waiting for him to chip in.

"I helped," he offered.

"Just a little." Iris was quick to add.

"Mhmm."

Nora's "knowing" look was starting to get on Iris' nerves, but she tried her best not to let it show.

"Well, come sit down." She gestured towards the kitchen table filled with food. "Henry should be in at any moment."

"I'm surprised he's not now," Barry said. "He was finished before I was."

"He just went to check the mail, honey," Nora said, and seated herself at the table.

Barry and Iris sat at the table across from each other, a fleeting glance or two but nothing substantial. Nora, however, was watching them like a hawk.

"This looks delicious, Nora," Iris said. "I can't remember the last time I've had such a…delicious-looking home meal."

Barry suppressed a snort.

"It does look good, Mom. You've outdone yourself."

"Thank you. Both of you."

She placed her hand on each of theirs just as Henry was coming through the door.

"Anything?" Nora asked.

Henry shook his head. "Just bills. Oh, and a flyer for the upcoming festival."

"The festival!" Nora nearly jumped out of her seat. "Oh, you must take Iris, Barry. You must."

Barry could hardly form words.

Iris looked at him amused.

"We'll see, Mom…I'm going to be working all week."

"Not at night you won't. Your place closes at six. Promise, promise you'll take her. It's a once in a lifetime experi-"

"Okay, okay." He laughed, then promptly avoided Iris' amused gaze. "If she wants to go."

Iris folded her hands beneath her chin and grinned sardonically.

"I'd love to."