Barry paced back and forth across his lab, unbothered by the irking squeaking noise his converse made as he did so. He was unaware of many things happening around him, for he was deep in thought. He was considering and reconsidering and building up confidence, but then it was settled. Tonight, would be one of the most important nights of his life, not only because the particle accelerator was turning on, but tonight was the night he would confess to Iris. It would perfect, they would be alone, minus the hundreds of people there. Tonight, was the night that everything would change. He couldn't lie to her anymore and all this time he had assumed she hadn't felt the same way, but he wouldn't know for sure until he confessed. He stopped for a second and looked out the window. He basked in the warmth from the sun and tried to calm himself. The worst that could happen would be that she didn't feel the same and maybe they could still be friends, right? Either way, he would take any life he could get with her cause a life without Iris West, now that was hell.

...

Later at Star Labs,

Barry was nervous, given what he was planning to do tonight, but somehow Iris' presence calmed him. They walked with their arms looped through each other's and Barry felt comforted by her smile, and the sound of her voice, her talking and laughing. Which reminded him how all of this could go away. Would the risk be worth it for a chance of something better?

"So, you know I've been thinking recently." he said, turning his head towards her. "You know I'm single and you're single."

"I know what you're going to say."

"I don't think you do." She gazed up at him, confused and intrigued by what he was saying.

But then before they could finish talking the man of the hour began speaking, they were too engrossed in their conversation to even notice his entrance.

"My name is Harrison Wells. Tonight, the future begins. The work my team and I will do here, will change our understanding of physics, will bring about advancements in power, advancements in medicine and trust me that future will be here faster than you think." The crowd roared with cheer; people admired the brilliant scientist. Phones and cameras were raised in the air recording his life changing speech. Barry gazed at his mentor in awe, astonished to even be so close to the great Harrison Wells. During his speech for just a second he could've sworn their eyes met, out of all the people he could've looked at, he looked at Barry Allen.

So caught up in the moment, Barry almost didn't notice that a mugger stole Iris's bag. He of course valiantly went after him, chasing him around to the back of the building only to be assaulted by the mugger, leaving him clutching at his stomach keeled over behind the building. Iris as well was chasing after them, but the mugger didn't get far. Once he scaled the fence, he was stopped by none other than Keystone transfer, Eddie Thawne. A prideful man who was new to the precinct but not the force. Through all the commotion they had almost forgotten about the accelerator, making its debut tonight.

Back in his lab, Barry texted Iris

Hey, can we talk?

Iris, had seen the message, wondering if it was about what he was trying to tell her earlier, what if? No, she thought, quickly suppressing the idea she got, that idea being, what if Barry felt the same. Nah, she thought, maybe he wanted to tell her more about science or this revolutionary life changing accelerator, but a girl can dream. She'd always had a crush on Barry, but constantly dismissed it. She was in denial for a while, but it wouldn't explain why sometimes her heart raced around him, or how he could make her feel nervous and safe at the same time, or even just the happiness she felt around him that she never felt around anyone else. It was like Barry lit up her world. She loved listening to him talk about science, not because she thought that science was cool, but because she loved seeing him so passionate about something, like he found his true calling. She often acted like she didn't care too much because she didn't want him to see how happy she was when he was happy. She just didn't want to give anything away cause if he knew that every time, she looked at him or every time they cuddled, she was dreaming about kissing him, he would think she was crazy, right?

The buzz of Iris' phone brought her back to the present.

Iris?

Oh no, she had been zoned out for almost ten minutes and he could see that she read the message. What if he thought she didn't want to talk to him? Or that she was avoiding him? Which she was unsure if Barry knew, but she could never avoid him, he was her weakness. No matter how mad they got at each other she would always forgive him, how could she not, when forced to look at his sweet smile and puppy dog eyes.

Yeah, on my way.

Iris immediately got up and was on her way to Barry's lab.

Thank goodness, Barry sighed collapsing back into his chair. He thought maybe she was mad at him for... well he didn't know what but something, which she wasn't. It was unlike Iris to not respond quickly or to leave him on read. She usually answered Barry mere seconds after receiving a text; she didn't really care about sounding desperate. Upon arriving at CCPD Iris speed walked out of the elevator and ran into Captain Singh.

"What's the urgency Iris?" He asked, sounding curious but also worried.

"Oh, nothing." She said trying to distinguish her flustered appearance, "I just have something important to talk to Barry about."

"Okay then." He responded, not totally convinced, but he stepped aside.

"Barry, you wanted to talk?" Barry stood up right away upon hearing Iris' voice and he shoved the napkin he had been writing on in his desk.

"Yeah, I- Iris, I- " He was stuttering jumbling his words and realizing that there was no amount of practice that could prepare him for this.

"Are you okay Barry." Iris said, worried by his flustered appearance, he was sweating and blushing and stuttering, it was like he was afraid to say what he was going to say next. She walked over to him and began rubbing his back. "You know you can tell me anything."

"Iris," he turned to her, a sense of urgency in his voice, "I love you."

"Aw Barr, I love you too." She was kind of surprised that this was what he had to say, she knew that he loved her, she loved him too.

"I loved you before I even knew what the word love meant." Iris' heart fluttered, maybe some dreams did come true. "There were so many times that I wanted to tell you, but I just kept it in, all this time, but I can't anymore."

"Barry I- " but before she could confess, before she could say that she felt the exact same way and maybe they could get their happy ending, her phone rang. Of all the times this could be happening. of course, it was now. She reluctantly answered the phone since it was her boss. Stacy, her co-worker had gotten into an accident, and they were extremely short staffed.

"I'm so sorry," she said tears welling in her eyes, but before she left, she kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "I feel the same way." into his ear. This had caught him extremely off guard, he was glad she had left as to not see his reaction.

"Oh my god-, she I, what just, did that really..." He wasn't even formulating full sentences and was pacing around again. He stood still for a moment, running his fingers lightly across where she had kissed, sighing with happiness. It had been raining for a while, but suddenly it went from lightly raining to pouring down and the roof of his lab began to leak. He wasn't fazed by it as this wasn't the first occurrence, but slightly when he peered over at his computer which showed a news station with reporter Linda Park reporting an anomaly with the particle accelerator. Through the window Barry saw bright orange light beaming into the sky, illuminating the clouds above it. The chemicals in his lab began floating and he couldn't remember anything after that except for the feeling of electricity all around him and in him, almost as though it was coursing through his veins.

To be continued...