Belén felt like time was passing incredibly slow, and she would know something about Time considering her boyfriend was the Flash. She checked the clock in the office set right behind her editor's desk, and saw that it had only been about three minutes. Four, max. It feels like an hour, she thought.

She was anxious to know what Evans thought about her newest article. It had to be something special because he hardly ever required his reporters to sit in while he read the pieces. He'd called her into his office almost immediately after she clocked in. He said a couple words about her article she submitted to him last night but nothing concrete about whether or not he was going to publish it. So, there sat Belén, waiting for him to finally finish.

"This is a good article..." he began suddenly, making her heart thump anxiously. She straightened up in her chair as Evans lowered the hard copy to the desk. "But I won't be publishing it."

Belén's heart stopped. Her face fell at the news and yet...she wasn't all that surprised. In fact, she was surprised that she was surprised about Scott's decision. She knew from the start that this article wouldn't be easy to pass, so why was she so shocked to hear it come true?

"It's a good article," Evans repeated as if that would lighten up his decision. "I can't publish it and much less with your name under the byline."

"But...why not?" Belén pushed her chair closed to the desk, leaning forwards over it to touch her hard copy. "You've said it was good, twice!"

"And I stand by it but I've noticed something about your work: there's a clear bias for the metahumans in this city."

"Well, considering it's because of those metahumans that I live, I like to show my support for them," Belén picked up her article and skimmed through the paragraphs again. There were no mistakes in it - she proofread it so many times that in the end Barry had to pull her away to go to sleep - and there were no marks from Evans which meant that it really was a good article.

"And there lays the problem," Evans puts his hands together on the desk. "And it's not just you. West has the same issue."

"Well, if we're being honest, you seem to have something against metahumans too," Belén pointed out, recalling what Iris had mentioned to her days ago. "You don't like them and I don't think it's fair you're putting that towards my work. I did all the research for this article, I got interviews with metahumans that this city doesn't even know about yet. It's meant to unite a specific group of metas that are terrified of Datura."

"I know the intention of this article, I do, and I think it's very noble of you to try to do something like this...but I can't have all my workers showing nonstop support for metahumans. You, especially, are geared towards the Flash and the Azalea. Take a break."

"With all due respect, this article has nothing to do with my support for them," Belén kept her tone calm despite the bubbling anger that was growing inside her. "This article is not meant to glam them up. It's meant to offer information to other metahumans, let them know that they can get support from the Azalea, from this place called the Green...it's supposed to help."

"Again, I admire your drive for this. I am aware of your passion for your work, but this is one work that I really don't think will bring any good to this place."

Belén so badly wanted to shout that it wasn't meant for 'this place', but that it was meant for other botanical metahumans. He was missing the entire point!

"Why don't you try re-writing this and gear it towards the public in general?" Evans suggested, but it only served to further agitate Belén more.

"What—"

"Try to make it as a support platform for everyone in general," Evans continued. "You have the right idea, I just think—"

"No!" Belén shook her head, her ombre-blonde curls bouncing with her. "I can write another article about that but it's not what I want for this piece! This—" she snatched the article off the desk and raised it in the air, "—is meant for botanical metahumans! They are the ones in most danger right now! It's part of the first page - did you read it!?"

"I'd watch your tone, Miss Palayta," Evans' voice sharpened as did his gaze on her. "I understand your upset with this decision—"

"I don't think you do," Belén's humorlessly chuckled. "I wrote a good piece and more importantly, I wrote it thinking about a community that, up until now, hasn't gotten a lot of support. They're being hunted down and I want to help them. This article can do it!"

Evans did not falter. "I'm sorry. Either rewrite the article using my suggestion or move onto a different subject."

Belén gritted her teeth behind her lips. Her hand gripped the edge of her article but for all the anger she felt, she managed to keep her mouth shut. She whirled around and stormed out of the office.

~ 0 ~

"I shouldn't even be surprised," Belén shook her head after telling her friends what happened to her. There she stood in the middle of the cortex, hands flapping as she got angry all over again. "I knew he wouldn't publish it and I still went ahead and wrote it! Twice!"

"Bells," Barry walked over to her, reaching for her arms that were once again all over in the air. He was angry himself with that editor had turned away the article. He had read it each time Belén showed it to him and each time it was fantastic. How could Evans turn it away?

This was just the tip of the iceberg for them. None of them were in their best states considering they only just discovered Jay was actually Zoom. It was more than difficult to process that once again, they'd been duped by their enemy. Barry had done all the screaming a few days ago and while it passed, it didn't mean he was done. He was holding himself together because everyone else managed to clamber onto some type of state that didn't make them want to scream all day.

"It's my fault," Belén walked over to the desk where Cisco and Caitlin sat. Shivhan stood off to the side, taking sips of coffee. "I knew it and I went ahead and did it anyways." She swiped her article off the desk and headed towards the trash bin where she dropped her article in.

Shivhan nearly choked on her coffee at such a terrible sight.

"Bells!" Barry exclaimed but before he could even move for his girlfriend, Shivhan dashed forwards.

"Nu-uh!" she quickly dove a hand into the bin and pulled out the article. "You did not make us all help you with these interviews for you to just throw it all away!" Belén frowned at her like a child, but Shivhan wasn't done there. "This wasn't just your work! A lot of us put our words there to help you! And you're not going to let some guy—"

"My boss," Belén reminded her.

"—ruin all your work!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do!?"

"Publish it yourself!"

Belén paused to look at Shivhan. Everyone else exchanged reluctant looks with each other. None of them were sure that was the best idea, but Shivhan was always a bit more out there than the rest of the group.

"I-I can't..." Belén was shocked by such an idea, and yet there was a itty-bitty part of her that wondered...

"Shivhan, Belén can't go doing something like that," Cisco pushed himself out of his seat. He blinked suddenly then looked at Belén. "Right?"

"I don't think so," Barry said as he watched Belén grow silent, as if she was truly considering the idea. He didn't ever want to tell her what to do about her job, but it did worry him that she might make a rash decision because of her anger. "Belén?"

Shivhan seemed to get the social clue that she'd overstepped. Caitlin was pretty good at her expressions. "S-sorry, Belén. You're upset and I'm not helping - Iris might be right about my people skills."

"No, it's..." Belén reached for her article in Shivhan's hand. She took it back and gazed at the front page, sighing. "I don't know, I'm just..." She couldn't even put together the right words to describe how she felt.

Shivhan decided to move away before she made things worse.

As she moved away, Barry moved in and took Belén into a tight hug. "Can I take you home?" he suggested to her quietly.

Belén gave a small nod of her head. He brought them back to her apartment in just a minute but from there on, he didn't know what else to do for her. There was already so much on their plate that this was just the tip of iceberg.

"I can bring you some of your favorite pasta," he offered after getting settled, or rather after he'd persuaded her to settle in. She'd taken her shoes off, her jacket off, and she was sitting on her bed. "Oh, and we can watch Netflix all day. I think it's been a while since we had a date, right?"

Belén smiled appreciatively at him. "It has."

"So, pasta?"

"You're trying to appeal to my Italian side..." Belén tilted her head, the growing smirk on her face making Barry laugh.

"Caught me!"

"I love it. E ti amo per questo," the Italian language rolled perfectly off her tongue.

Barry would never get over how good she sounded speaking her beautiful Italian language. "No idea what you said but feel free to continue."

Belén laughed. "And I love you for it," she translated and scooted closer to him. "Your attempts to cheer me up."

"Oh...you want to say something else?" Barry asked and made her laugh again. "No seriously. I'd love an Italian lesson from you."

"Something tells me you're not very interested in learning the lesson."

"Maybe so," he admitted with a careless shrug. "I just think you sound incredibly hot speaking Italian."

Belén rolled her eyes in an attempt to be casual but the truth is she was blushing as if it was the first time he said that. He always said that to her. She would say a few sentences in Italian at random moments. Sometimes they would come out when they were having meals together, or when she was mad - they were no strangers to when they were engaging in...certain activities. At those points, Barry would love it even more. Remembering that caused Belén's blush to deepen. It was not the time to remember such things.

"I'll go get you that pasta, then," Barry brought her back to the present with a kiss on the lips. "And maybe a couple for me."

"Thank you," Belén said softly as he climbed off the bed. She knew he was giving his free day up just to cheer her up.

Barry stopped by the bedroom door to look back at her with a smile. "I'll be back," he promised and left the room. Just as he was about to speed out of the apartment, his phone started to ring. He fished the phone out of his pocket and saw Iris' name over the screen. "Hey, Iris."

"Hey! Just calling to make sure we're still on for lunch today," Iris said, immediately confusing Barry since he had already made his plans with Belén. "I told Wally we'd do 4 o'clock and I really hope that you won't be late. Actually, I'm placing all my faith on Belén because I know your track record."

"Lunch?" Barry repeated, scratching the back of his head. "With you and Wally?"

"Yeah, why are you asking me? We agreed - all of us - to do lunch today!"

"Right..." Barry closed his eyes when he remembered that they had. "Um, listen Iris, I think we'll have to—"

"Barry?" Belén's whisper caught him off guard. She had come out the bedroom and leaned against the door. She heard the entire conversation and remembered that they did make plans with Iris and Wally. "Tell her we're still coming."

Barry pressed his hand to the phone as he turned to Belén. "But you're not feeling—"

"I'm fine," Belén offered him her best smile. She leaned off the door and took the few steps necessary to take the phone from him. "Hey, Iris. We'll be at Jitters at 4."

"Make sure Barry's ready," Iris chuckled.

"Of course, don't worry." Belén hung up the call and turned around to face Barry, holding his phone out to him. "Iris doesn't know what's going on. It was her day off and she's sort of seeing him."

"She's what?" Barry blinked.

"Yeah so I would really like to keep my personal troubles away from her, at least for now."

"I get that but are you sure that you don't want to stay at home? You're not feeling up to it—"

"Iris is waiting for us," Belén took his hand and placed his phone on his palm. "I'm going to go get ready." She made sure he held onto his phone and headed back for her room.

~ 0 ~

An hour later, both Belén and Barry were at Jitters having lunch with Iris and Wally. If one looked at Belén, no one would be able to tell that she was upset. She was laughing and keeping up with the conversation just like she always would on any other day. Barry didn't know if he should be happy that she could pull such a stunt or be upset that she felt like she needed to pretend to be happy.

"Honestly Wally, sometimes you make me miss college," Belén said after hearing Wally retell a story about a frat party he'd gone to just last week. "I used to go to some of the sorority parties myself and they almost always ended up going wild."

"You went to those parties?" Iris threw her a disbelieving look.

"Yeah, well, sometimes my friend Hilary used to make me but they were so much fun!"

"I didn't go because I wanted to, my friend took me," Wally chimed in before Iris got the idea that he was wasting time at college. He didn't need that getting back to Joe.

"Right," scoffed Iris. She crossed gazes with Barry and wondered why he was so quiet. "I guess you and I are the only ones who didn't go to those parties, huh?" she had asked in hopes of getting him to join the conversation, but all he did was nod and mumble a 'yeah'. His awkward smile didn't help either.

Belén studied Iris and realized she was beginning to notice Barry's odd behavior. She was just too smart to fool sometimes. "Hey Barry, you think you can get me another matcha tea?"

Of course he would. "Be back," he excused himself as he got out of his stool.

"Is he alright?" Wally asked, having noted Barry's strangely quietness throughout their lunch.

"Yeah, um...just things about work," Belén quickly dismissed it and changed the topic of conversation. She wasn't interested in throwing the blame on Barry when he was like that because of her.

"I'm gonna get another refill," Iris excused herself a few seconds later and grabbed her mug off the table.

"So, uh, Iris told me you were working on a new article about metas," Wally said not a moment after his sister was gone. Belén almost choked on her own saliva but managed to pass it off as a regular cough. "I thought it was a pretty cool idea what you were trying to do."

"Yeah, um...yeah," Belén shifted awkwardly in her stool. Leave it to Wally to bring up the very thing she was trying so hard to forget. All this time she shouldn't have concerned herself with Barry and Iris, she should've kept her eye on the quiet one!

"Do you actually know them?" Wally purposely lowered his voice. He leaned on the table a bit, his eyes eagerly looking at her for the answer. "Like...like the Azalea and the Flash?"

"Well, uh...I wouldn't say p-personally..." Belén wasn't sure how much she could say without sounding suspicious. None of them had really talked about whether or not they wanted to let Wally in on the STAR Labs secret.

"The things you've written...you pretty much establish that you know both of them."

"Is that what I established?" Belén awkwardly chuckled. "Oh me..."

Wally gave her a look asking her not to treat him like he was stupid. "Seriously. It's not like I'm going to ask who they are. I just think it's cool that they would let you constantly interview them for your work. Kind of makes them sound...normal."

"Normal?" Belén couldn't help the genuine laugh that came out of her mouth.

"Everybody sees them like Gods - you should hear the students at my school. Most of them claim that they're in love with them and others put them on these high pedestals saying that they can't be beat."

"And you think they can be?" Belén asked, choosing not to focus on the fact some people were out there saying they were in love with the Flash. He's mine so back off, she almost rolled her eyes at herself.

"They're humans, aren't they? I don't know, I thought they were kind of lame but after reading your work...it sounds like they actually care about people like us. You know, the non-metas?" Wally smiled at her. Belén almost felt sorry that he was thinking they were part of the same club. "And then Iris told me that you got the Azalea to do this big-deal interview along with other metas like her? That's cool! I can't wait to read it when it comes out."

Belén's smile slowly became strained. "Yeah..."

Barry and Iris had just finished ordering their refills at the counter when Iris turned to him demanding to know what was wrong with him. Sometimes it was just too scary how she did that.

"Nothing," the speedster tried playing it off but he forgot that he basically grew up with her. She saw right through him.

"You haven't said two words back there," Iris gave a nod at their table. "And you have a face..."

"It's not about me, alright?"

It then took Iris only two seconds to change gears. "What's wrong with Belén?"

"How do you...?" Barry looked at her like she was some psychic because sometimes it felt like she wasn't just a regular human.

Iris rolled her eyes at him. "Barry Allen you better tell me what is going on right now." There was a sharpness in her tone that always, without fail, made Barry wince as if he'd just gotten in trouble.

"I really can't. Belén said it would upset you and that editor of yours. The one you're apparently dating - thanks for letting me know, by the way!"

"What?" Iris didn't seem as surprised as Barry thought she would be considering no one knew she'd been seeing the editor. Instead, she looked confused. "I'm not dating..." she shook her head with a sigh. "I'm not dating Scott."

Now it was Barry's turn to be confused. "What? Bells told me you were having coffee dates with him."

"Yeah, like 2 or 3 times but that's not happening anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because..." Iris looked away. She didn't want to get into that right now. She had only just recently decided to stop those little dates and if she explained it to him or even Belén, she would have to bring in the reason. She didn't know if she was ready to talk about him yet. "That's not important right now. I want to know why you're so quiet and why Belén is, apparently, pretending to have fun right now."

"Iris—"

"I swear to God if you don't tell me I will embarrass you in front of your girlfriend. I do have untold stories. Shall we go back to freshman year?"

"Stop!" Barry ordered her instantly. "It's that...that article you helped her rewrite, remember? Apparently, your editor decided not to run it because Bells has some bias towards metas, specifically the Azalea and the Flash."

"Oh no," Iris sighed. She knew that would always be a risk, they all knew it, but like Belén she had hoped that Scott would see past his own bias against metas to realize how helpful Belén's article could be.

"I'm pissed, honestly," Barry admitted and it felt good to be able to express it too. He hadn't done much because he wanted to help Belén and the last thing she needed was an angry boyfriend. "I read that article and if it did get published, a lot of botanical metas would benefit from it. The Azalea could potentially bring together an entire community. And Scott—" he spat the editor's name viciously, leaving Iris stunned that he could even be like that, "—decides that Belén has a problem. He has the problem if he can't see what this article could do."

"Calm down," Iris said, patting his arm and nodding to the barista who was now a bit nervous to approach them with their refills. Barry turned away to gather himself up. He rarely went into states like that in public. Usually it was around STAR Labs or by himself, but like Belén he was tired of everything going wrong for them.

"It's not fair, alright? And the only reason I haven't marched down there myself is because I know how much Belén loves her job." He grabbed his mug from the barista.

"We'll find a way to get it published," Iris assured him.

"Hey," Belén suddenly joined them at the counter. She took her mug from Barry's hands and looked between them. "Wally and I have been waiting for you two. How long do refills take?"

"Drop the act Annah-Belén," Iris promptly said, startling Belén for a moment. "I know everything."

"Dammit Barry!"

"I couldn't help it!" the speedster raised his hands in defense. "Plus, she's not even dating the editor anymore."

"Oh, it doesn't - wait, how come?" Belén fixated a concerned, yet puzzled, gaze on Iris.

The reporter groaned, throwing her head back. "That's not important right now!"

"Yes, yes it is. What happened?"

"It doesn't matter!" Iris ultimately snapped to silence them both. "I don't want to talk about it, alright? But what I do want to talk about is this article. We need to figure out a way to get it published."

"Well you never know, I might just end up publishing it on my own," Belén muttered, earning herself wide-eyed looks from the two siblings. "What?"

"Bells, I know that's what Shivhan said but even she realized that wasn't a good idea."

"I just don't know, Barry. Maybe it's time I stopped acting so much like me and pick up a little something from Datura. She wouldn't take this crap! Why shouldn't I publish my article on my own?" she waited for one of them to answer her, but neither could come up with a decent response. "Exactly. I work hard every day to make sure my articles are good but something always goes wrong with me. I can't catch a break and I'm tired of it." She gazed down at her mug and shook her head. She moved up to the counter and left the mug on it. "I think I need to go home. Tell Wally I'm sorry, I...got a headache or something."

"Bells..." Barry couldn't even touch her arm with how fast she moved away from them. "Great!"

"We'll figure it out," Iris promised him again. They always figured everything out and this wouldn't be an exception.

~ 0 ~

Belén had planned on going directly home after such a lunch, but her mother called her midway asking her to stop by her place instead. Even if Belén wasn't sure she could take more conversations, she changed directions. Her mother wouldn't be accepting 'no'.

"Auntie Belén, look!" Axel called her over the moment she walked into the house. He was sitting at the dining table, animated over a drawing he was working on. As she walked over, he flashed a picture of a bright orange fish inside a fish bowl. "I made it for show and tell tomorrow."

Belén laughed as she studied the drawing. "It's wonderful."

Axel beamed with his aunt's compliment. He stood on the chair and leaned on her so he could tap a finger over the paper. "It's my pet fish - Goldie."

Belén had to suppress her hard laugh at the name. Goldie. "So, um, why don't you bring in the actual fish to school instead?"

Veronica emerged from the kitchen, loudly clearing her throat and making a cutting motion across her neck. Belén didn't understand what she'd said wrong until she noted Axel's entire mood changing. He glumly took his picture back and sat down on the chair again.

"Grandma says I can't because I could break the fish bowl glass…"

"Way to go, Belén," Veronica muttered.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Axel," Belén kissed her nephew's head. "Maybe we can find a better fish bowl for your next show and tell."

"Axel, go upstairs while I talk with your aunt," Veronica promptly ushered the boy off his chair. Axel grabbed his crayon box and went towards the stair case.

"Belén," Veronica said as soon as Axel had gone. Belén immediately noticed her mother's strange expression. "I've been thinking about our situation with Zoom and Datura..."

"You and me both," sighed Belén. She collected all the sprawled papers on the table that Axel left behind.

"I decided that this place isn't safe for Axel anymore." Veronica watched her daughter freeze in the middle of shuffling papers in her hands. "I know it's hard to actually believe it but-"

"No, it's not," Belén said quietly. Of course she knew that Central City was no longer as safe as it once was. It was just one of those things that she would push to the back of her mind.

Veronica was relieved that she could at least slip the arguing concerning the safety levels of the city, but she wasn't sure if she'd have the same luck with the next part. "Leaving Axel with Mrs. Andrews doesn't really make me feel secure. I could potentially be putting an old woman in danger."

Another valid point, Belén sighed at. She could see her mother struggling to put her next words together, probably assuming that she would get angry at her for it. "Mom? What is it?"

Veronica exhaled and went for it. "I want to send Axel away...to your father's family in Italy."

Belén's eyes widened like dinner plates. "To Italy!?" she exclaimed louder than she'd intended to, but the idea was a bit much too handle easily. "You want to send him to Italy!?"

Veronica had prepared herself for this type of reaction. She wasn't going to yell at Belén to listen to her, but she would make a damn good argument on why it was the best option for Axel. "I know it's far away—"

"Try 'on the other side of the world'!" Belén exclaimed, turning away from Veronica. Tears were stinging inside her eyes. Their family was already separated enough and now Axel would be in Italy!?

"I know that it's far but that's the point. Zoom and Datura wouldn't waste their precious breaths trying to find a four year old in Italy. They'd forget about trying to use him against us. He would be safe, Belén. Isn't that what we want?"

Belén's legs seemed like they wanted to stomp but she controlled herself and instead turned back to face her mother. Of course that made sense. It made absolute sense. It just didn't mean it would be easy. "Italy...?"

Veronica nodded her head. "I can call your Nona and set it all up. I just want you to be on boars with this. I won't send him if you don't agree. No more fighting."

Tears rolled down Belén's face but it wasn't all for Axel. Time was she had battled it out for Axel's custody with her mother and now, despite having full custody over him, Veronica was giving her the power to decide his fate.

"I'd love to argue to keep him here but you're right. It's not safe for him to be around us," Belén sniffed. A deep anger crossed her face when she remembered all those times they allowed Jay to be around Axel. They couldn't let that happen again. "Italy will be good for him. He'll have fun and-and he'll be around the family."

Relief filled Veronica's face hearing Belén agree. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Belén wiped the tears off her face. "Kind of jealous. I haven't been to Italy in forever. Miss my Nonno Maxi."

Veronica chuckled. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"Alright," Belén exhaled with resignation. She nodded at her mother. "Let's do it. Let's send Axel away to Italy."

"Thank you," Veronica walked up to her and hugged her.

"It's just so hard having to let him go," Belén hugged her mother tightly. She didn't want to keep losing family members.

"I know," Veronica sighed. "But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It might not be easy, it might bring some problems, but if you're doing it for the right reasons...then it has to be done."

Veronica's words struck a chord she hadn't intended on. Belén started thinking about her article. It would never see the light of day even when it was really meant to help many people.

Do what you gotta do.

~0~

When Barry came back to the apartment, he expected to have some trouble persuading Belén to talk to him. Instead, she had shouted that the door was opened and the moment he walked in he was met with the sweet scent of chocolate. It took him a moment to realize that she was making cookies.

"Hey!" she emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of chocolate cookies. "Want a Chocolate Amaretti?"

"Wh-what? How...what...you're making cookies!?"

Belén nearly laughed at Barry's adorable confused face. "Yes, I am. My Nona Enger used to make these for me when I was younger. She taught me how to make it—" she took a bite into one of the cookies, "—but I don't think I could ever make them taste the same."

If Barry was confused before, now he was bewildered. "I thought you were..." his hand gestures didn't exactly make sense but Belén knew what he was trying to say.

"I was upset, but I fixed it," she set the bowl on the table, along with her half eaten cookie. "I visited my Mom today. We, uh...we decided to send Axel away to our family in Italy."

Barry blinked, his body lurching forwards as if his feet forgot how to stand. "What?"

Belén looked up with saddened, but resigned, eyes. "It's not safe for him anymore, Barry. We all know that Zoom and Datura will eventually come back and when they do, I'd rather not have Axel around. Mom's arranging things to send him as quick as possible."

"Bells, I'm sorry," Barry walked over to her and kissed her temple.

"No, don't be. It's the best thing we can do for him. He's four, you know? He shouldn't have live surrounded by our meta troubles. Where my Dad's family lives...it's a small town, it's lovely. Axel will love it there." But as she spoke, Belén's tears pooled in her eyes. It was truly going to be so hard to let her nephew go, even if it was for a temporary period.

Barry wrapped an arm around her waist. "You are making a good decision. I know it hurts—"

"It does," Belén turned to him, taking in a deep breath for what she was about to say next. "I agreed to it because it was something I had to do, something that I needed to do...just like my article." She licked her lips nervously and stepped away from him. "I...published my article."

Barry stepped towards her but she quickly retracted the same step back. "You got Evans to publish it?"

"Not exactly. I...published it on my own. I, uh, made a blog - like the one Iris used to have - and I published my article there. With my name and everything."

"Wh-wh-why...what!?" Barry exclaimed, giving her a look that begged her to take it back, to say that it was just a joke. "Belén, tell me you didn't actually-"

"I did!" Belén raised her head high, making it clear that she wasn't ashamed of it. "I had to do it—"

"You didn't have to—"

"I did!" snapped Belén as she moved past him in a determined stride. "And I didn't do it as a rash decision, like some little girl who was mad! I did because I had to! I needed to!"

"But you could get into trouble with your editor!" Barry turned around and watched her pace to and from him. "Belén!"

"I'm listening!" she stopped pacing to face him. "I had to! Datura is coming back and when she does I want every botanical metahuman that's afraid of her to know that they're not alone!" Her shouts increased in volume each time she said something new. " That there's so many of us out there! I needed them to know that so they won't be as scared as I used to be!"

Silence hung in the air afterwards.

Barry stood in his spot and watched her try to calm herself down. Her chest heaved up and down until she was able to speak in a normal volume.

"I used to be so afraid of Datura back then. I still am but with reasonable amount. Back then, before I knew about the Green, I thought it was a lost battle," she swallowed thickly. "And when I finally learned that I wasn't alone...Barry you have no idea how I felt. It was..."

Barry strode up to her for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her so tightly one would think he was afraid that she'd slip away. "I didn't know," he murmured over her head.

"Of course you didn't," Belén moved her hands up his back. "I didn't even realize it myself. I thought it through, Barry, and I know the risks that I'm taking. I needed to do it so that others won't have to live in fear."

"You are incredibly brave, you know that?"

"Hardly, they're words."

"Still. It takes a lot of courage to do what you did, and no matter what happens...I'll be here for you."

Belén smiled up at him in relief. She'd been nervous to tell him what she did. It wasn't something to take lightly but she wouldn't backtrack. "Thank you," she kissed him on the lips.

"Always together, right?" Barry tilted her chin upwards, giving her reassuring smile.

"I'm really lucky to have you," she sighed and leaned on him. A little part of her wondered to herself how Datura had gone on the way she had without her Barry. Maybe that's why she went psycho. She couldn't imagine what her life would be if she couldn't be with Barry. She wouldn't go 'psycho' but she definitely wouldn't be able live happily either.

"Sooo...we're making cookies tonight?" Barry let her go to turn back to the table. They smelled really good.

"Well since Axel's leaving to Italy, I'm kind of nostalgic for my family. My Nona Enger used to bake these with me."

"If this is our dinner then I'm definitely sleeping over," Barry drifted towards the table and grabbed a cookie from the bowl. Belén watched him happily munch on her cookies, almost laughing when he moaned on the second bite. "Oh yeah," he said in-between bites, "I'm definitely staying tonight."

A new thought suddenly popped into Belén's head. It made her feel stupid for not thinking about it before, and she meant way before. "Why don't you just stay?" she asked.

Barry was too engulfed in the pieces of heaven that were the cookies to understand Belén the first time. "If you continue baking these, I'll stay here for days!"

Belén rolled her eyes and tried to make her words more clear. "I meant, why don't you just move in?"

This time, Barry understood. He stopped just as he was about to drop the last bit of cookie into his mouth. "What?"

Belén would ignore the heat in her face as she went on with her proposal. "You're here for most of the week anyways. I mean, really, you're only at Joe's and Iris' to do like, laundry or something. I'd love to have you here every night with me, all day with me. Wouldn't you?"

Barry didn't need to think twice on the answer. "Of course!"

It was easy to become excited with that kind of answer. "So...so you want to move in? For real?"

"Yes! I'd love to."

Belén beamed and rushed up to him for a hug. Barry caught her with a laugh and gave her a little spin. When he set her back on the ground, he reached for another cookie in the bowl.

"But you're going to have make more of these," he warned her before dropping it all in his mouth.

Belén laughed. "Moderation, Barry!" He tried to say something along of 'I'm trying' but Belén couldn't understand him. "So, you obviously can't stay in Axel's room because he's, well, four…"

"Obviously…" Barry said after swallowing.

Belén cupped her face, chuckling as she cleared the crumbs off his lips. "So...I guess you'll just have to stay with me in my room…our room."

"That sounds fair," a roguish smile etched across Barry's face. "I should get my stuff, then..." With his speed, it'd only take a few minutes after all.

"Nah, let's wait until tomorrow," Belén grabbed another cookie and held it to him. He gladly took another bite and watched her drop the remainder in her mouth. "I've got another batch in the oven..."

Barry's eyes widened as a gleeful expression took him over. Belén dared say it almost won over his reaction about moving. She burst into laughter, having to move away from him to really get it out.

A part of her realized, in the midst of everything, that she truly wouldn't be able to live without her Barry.

Author's Note: This chapter was a bit of a roller-coaster buuuuuut...nope, yeah, it's just a roller-coaster. Sometimes I feel like I put Belén through so much crap but at least she's surrounded by people who love her right? Makes up for it?

To the reviewer:

mreddy1603: Awww, this is really sweet! It totally made my day when I read this! Thank you sooo much! I hope you stick around for the next chapters and stories to see more of Bells!

P. S: I created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.