Prompt from Guest. At the end of episode 7 Eddie isn't under as well Joe and Barry thought he was and remembers.

Riiiiing, riiiiing.

Barry looked at his clock. 3:47.

Who died? Barry thought pessimistically then looked at his phone. It was the station someone probably did die, and now he felt kind of bad.

He answered his phone and was told he had to get to a crime scene in ten minutes.

Barry used his speed too get ready and across the city then he waited ten minutes to make what he did seem believable.

"Oh, Mr. Allen, I didn't really need you for another fifteen minutes. We're still cordoning off the area. I expected you to be later than this." The captain said as Barry walked into the alley that did not yet have the usual yellow tape around it.

"I'm working on it." Barry said a little indignant.

"I can see that. Good job." Somehow that still felt condescending.

Joe and Eddie were discussing the case in Barry's office. Eddie kept looking at Barry as if he was waiting for him to do something out of the ordinary.

"Eddie? You okay?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, partner, you keep looking at my kid as if he's an alien."

"I'm not a fan of pain killers."

"What does that have to do with me being an alien?" Barry asked joining the others at his desk.

Eddie pushed Barry's lamp of his desk and Barry ran to catch it out of habit. Eddie gave Joe a look that said, That's why.

"Still not an alien." Barry said weakly as he watched Joe and Eddie's faces.

"But it does mean that you are Iris's 'Flash.'"

"Yeah." Barry sighed.

"How? How did I not notice before now? I'm a cop! Why did it take you using your powers in front of me when I was drugged to notice that you were a . . . a –"

"We're called metahumans."

"'We'?" Eddie's eyes widened. "There are more of you?"

"Yeah." Barry winced.

"How many?"

"We're not sure. We've run into a few so far."

"How many is 'a few?'"

"You don't want to know the answer to that question."

Eddie was silent for a while. "This is why you tried to convince Iris to stop her blog. What am I supposed to tell her? I don't know if I can lie to her."

"I thought the same thing when this first happened. Then I thought 'lie to her, or kill her,' and I chose lie." Barry kept his head down. He agreed with Eddie on this point. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up the charade. Whether or not she saw him as more than a friend, he couldn't keep lying to the woman he loved.

"Yeah, okay." Eddie said still a little skeptical.

"It's not easy, and I would hate you if it wasn't, but . . . I would rather lie to her and see her everyday than tell her and say goodbye. I know you care about her, so I know you agree. Keep her safe."

"You're right. I do want to keep her safe, but I can't look her in the eye and not tell her that this impossible hero that she truly believes in is her best friend." Eddie looked confused. Barry felt horrible that he was in this situation. He had too good of a heart to wish for his misery to have company, but now he had no choice.

"So, what are you going to do?" Joe asked his daughter's boyfriend.

"I don't know yet. Don't worry I won't tell her. Safety or not, it's not my secret to tell." Eddie left the room. He came right back. "Is that DNA test done yet, Barry?"

Barry gave a small laugh. "I'll go look."

WAS I IMAGINING IT OR DID BARRY SAY FEELS LAST NIGHT! HOLY CRAP! Fanfiction was also mentioned. Then it just had to go and break my feels. This show was made specifically to destroy fangirls.