Iris never thought she hated a sound so much as she did now. The clinking of silverware against plates, every chew and crunch, and heavy breathing could be heard in the dining room, and Iris had enough. Well, it was more than one sound, but it was the sounds of a group of Neanderthals feasting away at Grandma's Esther's noodle dish, making as much noise as possible to distract themselves from the tension in the room. On top of it all, the reason for the silence and awkward stares was because of one particular guest, sitting right across from Iris. He was the only one who did not look like he wanted to murder someone, instead focusing on his food as he ate in awkward silence. Occasionally he would look up from his meal and glance around the table, giving Iris a half-assed smile and throwing compliments towards her father about the food or the house, who would just stare back at the man as if he was told something cruel.

Wally was the only one unphased by the uncomfortable silence and awkward glances as he would ask Barry questions every once in a while, evening smiling as he got to know the guest, much to his father's annoyance. But it seemed Wally ran out of things to say or ask and the dinner continued on without a whisper of a word.

"So," Someone finally spoke, and Iris looked up to see Eddie glancing around the room at everyone. "We're just gonna ignore the fact that this man sitting next to me, that was for some reason invited to dinner, raped my girlfriend?"

"EDDIE!" Iris was furious and she could hear her father groaning at the end of the table.

Eddie, out of frustration, threw his napkin on his half empty plate. "Well excuse me, Iris, for finding it a bit inappropriate that you decided to invite your rapist to your home, let alone for a family dinner."

"Barry is NOT a rapist. He never raped me. We, we were both forced to have sex to get out of that fucking place. What part of that do you not understand? Look, I get it! You're angry at what happened and at what I did but we both had no choice!" Iris was standing at that point, her hands balled into fists at her side as she argued with her boyfriend.

"Maybe I should go…" Barry says, as he rises from his seat.

"Yeah, man, I feel like this is a conversation I don't need to be a part of." Wally was in the process of getting up but was pushed down by his sister as she glared at both him and Barry.

"Sit down. Both of you. We are going to talk about this like adults. No one is leaving the table until we're done."

"Iris." Joe scolded, but his fatherly tone was no match for his daughter.

"Oh dad, we have A LOT to discuss. Why didn't you tell me there is a sex tape or whatever you call it of me and Barry online?"

"Iris, I-," Joe then turned his attention to Barry and the young man knew he was in trouble. Before Barry had a chance to reply, her boyfriend interjected. "We were just trying to protect you, Iris. We thought, I thought you needed time to deal with what happened. When we found you, you were so fragile and hurt. You had these bruises and for a second I thought you might have been dead. I didn't know until later what happened to you until I saw the tape and..."

"You saw it?" Iris asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I-I had to see it. We needed to make sure it was you. Iris, I…I…when I saw what he was doing to you…" Feeling defeated by his emotions, Eddie slumped back on his chair, his eyes distant and emotionless on the contrary.

"Iris, I'm sorry we didn't tell you. We didn't know how you would take it if you found out. When you were being questioned and I saw how heartbroken you looked when you had to recount everything that happened, I knew I needed to protect you from the truth. Until you were ready." A tear fell from Joe's eye as he spoke and it was at that moment Iris saw how badly these events affected her family as much as it affected her. It was enough Joe was working on the case, and she couldn't imagine how much harder it was for him, as it was his own daughter who was the victim.

Iris sighed and looked tearfully at her father. "I-I'm sorry, dad."

"Don't be sorry. You have every right to be angry."

After dinner, Eddie was called in again at the police station so he left for the evening, but not without reconciling with Iris and promising to talk more when he got back to his apartment. She promised to be waiting there once she finished helping clean up.

Barry, was quiet for most of the night and he later offered to help Iris in washing and putting away the dishes, much to Joe's objection. He was still wary of Barry and his intentions with his daughter but just like the other night, Wally convinced him the two were fine alone.

"Sorry about all that before. Shouldn't have brought it up while you were here." Iris apologized, as she was running a soapy plate under water.

"It's ok. I think you all had a lot to talk about. Eddie…seems nice." Iris found a tiny smile on Barry as he was putting the dishes on the rack to dry. It took her a few seconds to realize he wasn't serious.

"Yeah sorry about that. I understand him being uncomfortable around you, knowing that we…" Iris trailed off as she continued her work on the dishes. There was an awkward pause as both continued their task. From next to her, Iris heard a sigh and a small noise, as if Barry wanted to say something, but instead she turned to him shaking his head slightly with a small smile stuck on his face.

"What?" She questioned, curious to know what was on Barry's mind.

"Nothing," Barry picked up a wet dish just to put in back on the counter, before turning to Iris. "The whole situation is weird and awkward. Like…where do we go from this? Because to be honest I can't just walk away and pretend like all of that shit didn't happen. And you…" Iris's heart stuttered for a moment and Barry turned to look her in the eyes. "I don't know, I can't just walk away from you. I know what happened was not within our control but every time I look at you…I think about it."

Iris's heart thudded faster even though she wasn't entirely sure what he was referring to. "Think about what?"

Barry's eyes lingered softly to her lips, as if weighing in his mind whether he should kiss her or not, and a part of Iris hoped he would. "About being with you. About touching you and kissing you everywhere. I think about it a lot and the worse thing is I feel guilty about it."

Iris didn't know what inspired her boldness, but before either one really had a chance to process it, she stepped closer to Barry and reached her hand out to cup his cheek in her palm. "Then do it."

Barry's eyes widened slightly before turning a slight darker color. Before either could protest or weigh in the consequences, their lips crashed together.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter but I plan to pick this story up again soon.