Becky Cooper

It didn't take long for what had happened to get back to Iris. One of her friends had been in the hallway and had seen the whole thing. She told her she had seen Barry duck into the bathroom. Iris was quick to leave her algebra class to find Barry, not even caring if she got in trouble for it. She knew he was supposed to be in his world history class right now, but when she went to the classroom and peered in the door window, it was to see that Barry's desk was empty.

She went to the men's room next.

Iris paused outside the door, listening, but she didn't hear anything. She couldn't exactly go in, but she figured she was already breaking one rule by being out of class. What was one more? Pushing her hesitation aside, Iris boldly pushed the door open and entered the boy's bathroom.

She was thankful when she found it to be empty. Well, almost empty. One of the doors to the stalls was closed. Iris walked over to it nervously, hoping it wasn't someone else in the stall or this would be really awkward.

"Barry," she said softly through the door, "Are you in there?"

She heard someone sniff on the other side.

"Iris?" Barry's small voice replied, "What are you d-doing in here? This is the men's room."

"Are you okay?" Iris asked, ignoring Barry's question.

Barry didn't answer at first, a long silence stretching out between them.

"You heard what happened?" Barry finally asked.

Iris sighed.

"Lauren told me," she said quietly, "Can you open the door? Please?"

"I really don't feel like talking right now, Iris," Barry sniffed.

"Well, I don't feel like talking to a door," she persisted, "Just open it, Barry. Talk to me."

"Please, just go away," Barry pleaded, his voice cracking.

"Don't make me crawl under this stall door, Barry Allen," Iris said seriously, "You know I'll do it."

Finally, the door opened. Iris gave Barry a small smile, but it fell quickly when she saw how red and puffy his eyes were.

"Why aren't you in class?" Barry asked her harshly.

"Why aren't you in class?" Iris returned.

Barry sighed and wiped his face.

"Can you please just let me be alone right now?" he pleaded.

"Why won't you talk to me?" she asked desperately, "You used to always let me be there for you when Tony bullied you. What changed?"

"You don't understand, Iris," he said painfully, "You're popular. People like you."

"People like you too, Barry," Iris said quietly, "And what do you mean, 'I don't understand'? Barry, you used to always be there for me when people made fun of me."

"That was back when you had glasses and braces," he argued, "As soon as you got contacts and got the braces taken off, you got popular. I didn't. I can't just change who my dad is, not that I ever would if I could."

"Barry…"

"I just want high school to be over," he said brokenly.

"Barry, you never cared what people thought of you before," Iris said gently, "Why do you care so much now?"

"It's not aboutme," Barry said seriously, "I don't care what they think of me. It's the horrible things they say about my dad that I can't stand."

"They're just dumb high school kids, Bar," Iris said angrily, "What they think doesn't matter."

"And what do you think?" Barry asked her suddenly.

"W-what?" Iris asked, taken off guard.

"What do you think, Iris?" he asked again, his watery eyes boring holes through her, "What do you think of my dad? Do you think he did it?"

"Barry," Iris said painfully, "You know what I think. Why are you asking me that?"

"Because sometimes I doubt whether you believe me," he said honestly, "Every time I bring up my dad, you avoid the subject."

"Barry…"

"Do you really believe me, Iris?" he asked quietly, "Or do you think I'm crazy like the rest of them?"

"I don't think you're crazy," Iris said firmly, "I've never thought that you were crazy."

Barry swallowed and looked at her with his watery eyes.

"And my dad?" he whispered.

Iris didn't know what to say. She wanted to believe him, but she honestly wasn't sure what she believed.

"I don't know, Barry," she said softly.

Barry nodded and looked away from her, wiping his face.

"Okay," he choked, grabbing his books off the bathroom counter.

"Barry…"

"It's fine," he said stiffly, walking towards the door, "Thanks for your honesty."

She quickly reached out and grabbed his arm before he could leave, spinning him around to face her.

"Barry, you have to understand my side of it," she said desperately, "I want to believe you so badly, but on the other hand, I have my dad telling me other things. It's all so confusing, and when you ask me to decide what's the truth and what isn't, you're basically asking me to decide between you and my dad."

Barry pulled his arm from her grasp.

"I'm not mad at you," he said painfully, "I'm…sad, but I'm not angry, so don't worry. I'm used to people not believing in me."

With that, Barry turned and left the bathroom, leaving Iris standing there in numb shock.

…..

Getting through the rest of the school day was pure misery for Barry, especially when he had to go to gym class and face Tony and his friends. He hardly spoke for the rest of the day, and his classes passed in a blur; he hardly paid attention in any of them.

The only thing that Barry had to look forward to was his date with Becky tonight. He was extremely nervous for it, but at the same time, he was excited. He had never expected a girl like Becky to show any interest in him. She was beautiful and popular, and she was a cheerleader, for crying out loud! Barry honestly didn't see what she saw in a scrawny nerd like him. Her last boyfriend, Mark, was a lot cooler than him. He was a basketball player, and he was a lot bigger than Barry.

He was popular.

Sure, Mark wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, and he could be dick at times, but he was still a lot cooler than Barry. The only people who liked Barry were the people who actually knew him. Becky didn't really know him that well, so Barry didn't understand what she saw in him. He didn't understand why she didn't think he was the nut job that people made him out to be.

Barry made sure Joe was in the kitchen when he tiptoed toward the front door. He was almost to the door when a voice rang out behind him.

"Where are you going, Barry?"

Barry turned to see Iris at the bottom of the stairs, looking questioningly at him. Barry quickly put a finger to his mouth to gesture her to be quiet.

"I'm going on my date with Becky," he said quietly, so Joe wouldn't hear from the kitchen, "Will you cover for me?"

Iris crossed her arms.

"We're grounded," she said seriously.

"I know," Barry replied, "Which is why I need you to cover for me."

Iris shrugged.

"Fine," she sighed, "But he'll find out anyways. He always does."

"Thanks, Iris," Barry said before quickly slipping out the front door.

Iris sighed after he left. She was glad he was going out on a date, but she wished it was with someone better than Becky Cooper. Sure, the girl was beautiful and all, and people liked her, but Iris always found her to be really shallow and petty. She was too shallow to really appreciate how amazing Barry was. She wasn't smart enough to understand his jokes and appreciate his dorky sense of humor. Most of it would be lost on her. Becky would take Barry for granted, which was something that was not okay with Iris. She didn't want to see this girl toy with his emotions.

Iris didn't want to see her break Barry's heart.

"Hey, dinner's ready," her dad said, when she walked into the dining room, "Is Barry coming downstairs?"

"He's not feeling well," Iris lied instantly.

Her father sighed as he set the pan of pasta in the middle of the table.

"He left, didn't he?" he asked her seriously.

God, it was like her dad was clairvoyant! This would be when Iris would normally insist that Barry was home, but she didn't. Instead, she just sighed and let the pretense drop right away.

"Yeah, he went out," she said flatly, sitting down at the dinner table.

Her dad sighed and sat down too.

"Did he say where he was going?" he asked seriously.

"He went on a date," Iris replied, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

To her surprise, her father's face lifted, going from a frown to a smile in an instant.

"He did?" he asked happily, "With who?"

"Aren't you upset?" Iris asked in bewilderment.

Her dad shook his head.

"I wish he had just told me," he said, "He didn't have to sneak out. I probably would have let him go."

Iris blinked at him.

"But we're grounded," she said in confusion.

"I know," he replied, "But I would have lifted the punishment under these circumstances. I wish Barry had just said something. I didn't even know he was seeing anyone."

"Well, this would be their first date," Iris said dryly.

She didn't really know why she was so upset. She should be happy about this, the same way that her dad was. So, why wasn't she?

"Who's the lucky girl?" her dad asked curiously, and it was clear he was trying to contain his glee.

"Becky Cooper," Iris answered, her nose wrinkling.

Her father nodded and started eating his dinner, a smile on his face.

"Well?" Iris said, "Aren't you going to rush off to run a background check on her or something? That's what you did with Brandon for me last year."

Her dad laughed and shook his head.

"No, I'm not going to do that," he chuckled.

"Why not?" Iris asked angrily.

Her dad blinked at her.

"Because…I don't know," he said awkwardly, "It's Barry."

"So?"

"So, it's different with boys," her father said with a shrug.

"That is so not fair!" Iris said indignantly, "What if Becky is a total psycho?!"

Her dad raised his eyebrows at her.

"Iris, do you have a problem with Barry seeing this girl?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"W-what? No," Iris sputtered, "No. Of course not. I'm happy for him."

"You don't seem too happy," he pressed, a small smile on his face.

Iris sighed and crossed her arms.

"I just think Barry could do better, that's all," she said.

Her dad sighed.

"I think this will be good for Barry, Iris," he said seriously, "It'll be a good distraction for him and help him get his mind off things."

Iris deflated a little bit then, her shoulders hunching.

"I know," she said quietly, "I just wish he was going out with someone who's actually going to appreciate him."

"Like you do?" her father asked, a knowing smile on his face.

Iris gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Her dad just laughed and shook his head.

"Never mind," he chuckled.

…..

This wasn't necessarily Barry's first date—he had been on a few dates before—but he had never been in a serious relationship before. In the past, all of his relationships had just sort of fizzled out or hadn't really gone anywhere. Barry was nervous as he held the restaurant door open for Becky. He hoped this time everything would work out and it would actually turn into something more. He was tired of being alone all the time.

"Such a gentleman," Becky giggled as she walked through the door he was holding open for her, "It's nice to know chivalry isn't dead."

Barry smiled at her, his nerves lifting slightly.

It was a little awkward when they sat down at the table and picked up their menus. Barry always hated the awkwardness of a first date, but it was necessary to get through it to see if it leads anywhere.

"Yuck," Becky laughed as she looked at the menu, "I didn't know they served oysters here. That's disgusting!"

Barry laughed.

"You know, oysters are one of the most well-known aphrodisiacs?" he blurted, "It's because they're high in zinc, so men often spend tons of money to buy them for women in the hopes that they'll get lucky, which is really just stupid if you think about it because what on earth is attractive about slurping back oysters on a date?"

Barry's eyes widened then.

"Not that I'm—" he said quickly, "I'm not trying to—"

"Barry," Becky laughed, cutting off his rant, "It's fine. I know what you meant."

Barry let out a breath of relief, his cheeks tinting pink.

"So," Becky said, leaning forward with a small smile on her face, "I guess the rumors are true."

Barry's heartrate sped up.

"What rumors?" he asked nervously.

"That you're super smart," Becky giggled.

"Oh," Barry said, letting out a sigh of relief as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess you could say that."

"It's refreshing," Becky assured him, "My last boyfriend wasn't too bright, wasn't much of a gentleman either. He never held doors open for me."

Barry blushed when Becky winked at him. Maybe this date wasn't going to be so bad, after all.

…..

Just have to say, Barry's rant about oysters during the date is something I think I saw in a movie once. I want to say it was Easy A, but I'm not sure. Just throwing it out there that it came from somewhere else! It seemed like the kind of thing Barry would ramble about.

AN: I'm putting this message on all of my stories. I now have a list on my profile that says which stories I'm currently working on and which ones are on hold. It's my attempt to be a little more organized for you guys because I always feel guilty about how sporadic my updates are. I hope it helps a little!

Also, I need everyone's help with something! I've written a letter to the writers of the Flash, and I need help spreading the message so that it gets to them. If you have a moment, please look me up on Twitter at RedQ051 and see the tweet pinned to my profile. If you agree with what I say in my letter, please retweet it or share the letter on Facebook so that it can spread and eventually get to the right people. Although it's too late to change season 3, I strongly hope that my letter will be taken into consideration for season 4. Thank you!

RedQ