Finally the week of insanity is over and I can get back to this! This chapter is pure fluff, and I regret nothing. I always planned for it, because I feel like the quiet moments between couples say a lot about who they are and how they work together. This was fun.
I am so glad to have awesome readers, thanks for your support and reviews!

Gold star to you, guest KyannaLashae and anyone else who recognized the kiss spoiler pictures in the last chapter. I tried not to make it overtly obvious, so well done! :)
As always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 16

"I love you."

"You keep saying that."

"Sorry. Making up for lost time."

"That's okay. I love you too."

A giggle and a laugh intertwined.

Barry and Iris were resting under a tree, still in the park by the lake. The weather was cold, but since they were wrapped together in a blanket, neither was noticing much. Barry was reclining against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out in front of him. Iris was tucked under his arm, pressed against his side with her head resting on her pillow of choice: Barry's chest. They were alone and enjoying it, since no one else was crazy enough to brave the chilly weather in the late afternoon.

It had been a very good thing that no one else was there earlier, when Barry's excitement over their kiss had exploded into activity…

"Right." Barry whispered.

Iris pulled back ever so slightly, looking up into his face with both her hands resting on his coat front. She was fighting tears.

"I love you." She murmured.

Barry had dropped his hands when she stepped back, but now they went right back to where they had been on both sides of her face. He leaned in and kissed her again. This time her arms went around his waist. When they parted, he finally replied.

"I love you too."

There was a peaceful beat of silence before Barry's excitement kicked in. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

Iris raised her eyebrows, cocking her head to the side. "What do you think?"

Barry was already grinning. He could tell that she had. And she loved him. His grin got bigger.

Iris could see it coming and took steps to bring him back to earth. "Okay, but we do need to talk-"

Too late. Barry's happy excitement took over. "Okay! Where should we talk?" He scooped her up, and before she could open her mouth they were sitting on a park bench.

"Here?"

Next thing she knew they were up a tree sitting on a sturdy branch. She was on his lap. She shrieked in surprise.

"Here?"

They were standing in the small cluster of trees; the one Iris had stood in before as a whirlwind of seedpods drifted to the ground. By now she was just laughing. He was still the cutest nerd she knew.

"Not on the water." She managed to sputter before he took off with both of them again. "I don't want to get wet."

His grin became that cocky one The Flash had bestowed on her many times. "No?"

"No!" She was laughing but still tried to make it forceful. "Barry, don't you dare-"

"Oh come on, Iris. You can air dry!" He made a motion toward her, obviously faking her out. But she still fell for it, taking a step back and countering the movement. They were both laughing now.

"Barry Allen if you get me wet I'll go back to not forgiving you!"

Barry's hands went up in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, fine." His eyes were sparkling as his grin returned. "But I do get a victory lap!"

He scooped her up and circled the park. Iris was fine with this arrangement, leaning close to his chest. He adjusted his pace to a leisurely lope, but it was still pretty fast by normal standards. He carried her higher on his chest, pulled in closer than he ever had when he carried her as The Flash. She smiled to herself. Turns out The Flash was quite a gentleman.

After three laps around the park, Barry finally came to a stop in the middle of the trees again. He let her legs down but then put both arms around her waist, keeping her close. She smiled up at him. "Show off."

Barry blushed lightly while he smiled, a little sheepish. He was just so happy. Iris knew it and was glad, because she felt the same. She gave him a quick hug. "Can we talk for a bit now? Do you want to sit in the car? It's still pretty cold out here."

The look on Barry's face said that the car was not first on his list of ideal talking spots. His expression brightened. "Wait! Be right back."

And he was gone. Iris turned in a slow circle, mouth open. She was shaking her head, slightly put out, when he was suddenly back. He wrapped a large fuzzy blanket around them both, then stood facing her, grinning like an eager puppy. She laughed. "Wait, did you go all the way to your place for this?"

Barry shrugged. "It was closer than Joe's."

She made a face, half-joking half-serious. "I'm going to have to get used to this, aren't I?"

Barry's face fell. "Does it bother you?"

She immediately shook her head. "No. It's just a lot to take in." She smiled up at him, snuggling closer. "It doesn't bother me Barry. It just makes you more of who you are."

His worried look faded. He tipped his head toward a nearby tree. "Want to sit?"

"Yes, but I'll walk there, thank you." Iris giggled…

They had been resting together in comfortable silence for a while now, actually doing very little talking besides the occasional "I love you" and other small talk. Both were busy enjoying their newfound happiness, and setting up a new normal.

Finally Iris sat up so she could see his face, looking a little serious. Barry waited.

"Okay Barry, I have forgiven you, but I need to tell you that this is not going to work if you continue keeping secrets. We can't have any more secrets between us. I mean it."

Barry readily agreed. "No problem. I don't have any left and I don't plan on getting any new ones." He spotted her eyes beginning to narrow and rushed to add, "Because if I tell you everything from now on it won't be a secret, right?"

Iris gave a reluctant laugh. "Okay. But you've been pretty good at keeping secrets. One of them you kept for years. You sure you can do it?"

Barry gave her a look of mock outrage. "Oh come on, that was totally different! It was my feelings for you, and they'd been there forever, and you were my best friend. I was afraid you wouldn't love me back and I didn't want to lose you!"

Her face was deadpan, as if she didn't believe him, but he knew she was teasing. "Uh huh. You know if you'd just got up the courage to tell me years ago I might have had a boyfriend in a coma instead of a best friend. Or both."

He laughed. "Oh please, do you really think that would have been better?"

Iris laughed as she thought about it. "No it wouldn't have been better." She looked at him for a moment, thinking. She had grown up with Barry. She wasn't sure what would have happened if he had never been struck by lightning, but part of her thought it wouldn't have ended as well. Being The Flash had given him a new confidence he hadn't possessed before. His activities as The Flash and his visits to her had drawn them together in a different way. One she couldn't have guaranteed would have happened if he hadn't gotten his powers. He had always been destined to be her best friend, but maybe it had needed to happen this way for them to fully realize their feelings for each other. She smiled at him.

The lightning had changed everything. And it was good.

Barry was waiting for her to say something. When she didn't he looked her in the eye, suddenly more serious. "I don't want to keep secrets from you anymore Iris. I swear."

She nodded. "No more secrets, agreed?"

"Agreed." Barry lifted his arm up so she could settle back in next to him, but she didn't move. She was studying him as if a thought had just occurred.

"Barry, who is The Arrow?"

His eyebrows shot up while his mouth dropped down. "Umm, I'm not sure that's a secret I'm allowed to share."

"Barry Allen, did we or did we not just agree to no more secrets between us?"

Barry's jaw dropped as he realized how neatly she'd boxed him in. But he was also quite impressed by it, so he was smiling. He ended up with a huge open-mouthed grin on his face. "Seriously, he was mad when he found out that I knew. He said something about putting an arrow in me. Which he may or may not have done later. Two, in fact. Three if you count the tranquilizer one."

Iris sat back and folded her arms. "I'm going to need details on that story later but for now, you can just tell me the identity of The Arrow."

Barry squirmed, realizing half the reason he was so reluctant to tell her. But he knew there was no hope for it. He sighed. "It's…Oliver. Queen."

Now it was Iris's turn to gape. She practically whispered next, just in case the trees were listening in. "Oliver Queen is The Arrow? Wow. Oh that kind of makes sense doesn't it? He's pretty muscular isn't he?"

Barry rolled his eyes. He couldn't keep the grumbling tone out of his voice. "Yeah, I know, his arms are twice the size of mine." He tried to show that it didn't bother him and ended up failing miserably.

Iris giggled. She'd forgotten she'd said that. She took in his demeanor and made a sad face. "Aw, Barry." She cuddled up next to him again. He willingly allowed it, but she could tell he was still dwelling on arm size. She lightened her tone. "You know, I don't really go for arms anymore."

Barry looked down at her. "You don't?" She shook her head. He was trying to gauge how truthful she was actually being. "What…do you go for nowadays?" He was sure he was going to regret asking that.

Iris turned her face up to his. Her fingers walked up his chest to his chin. "Abs." She grinned at him.

Barry couldn't hide his pleasure. "You noticed my abs?"

"Barry. In that suit, everyone notices your abs. But I go for other things besides arms and abs even more. Like heart." She put her hand on his chest. "And wanting to help people."

Barry flushed as she smiled up at him. He deliberately avoided mentioning that Oliver helped people too.

"You know," he murmured. "I really go for that too." He looked her straight in the face to make sure she understood what he was saying. She got the compliment loud and clear. She grinned happily and gave him a quick kiss on the mouth.

They had just settled in again and were discussing what to do for dinner when Barry's cell phone interrupted.

"Sorry." He apologized as he pulled it out and answered. "What?"

It was Cisco. "Barry! Joe found the concrete company! Cameron Mann's dad used to work there when he was a kid! I'm sending the satellite in that direction to see if we can find him. We need you over there right now!"

Barry's eyes flicked towards Iris. "Are you sure? You don't even know if he's there yet."

There was a moment of silence on the other line, and Barry could imagine Cisco's face easily. Right down to the sly confidential smile and slow approving head nod. "Duude, glad to know things are going okay with you two. But seriously we need The Flash and we need him now. You need to get this guy. This is the first major break we've had and we don't want to blow it now."

Barry sighed. "Fine. Be right there." He could tell Iris knew what he was going to say as he put his phone away, but he said it anyway. "I have to go. I'm sorry."

Iris nodded, hiding her disappointment as much as possible. "It's okay."

They stood up, collected the blanket and headed to the bush where Barry's duffel bag was still hidden. When they got there, he was reluctant to let go of her hand. He made a slight apologetic gesture. She smiled reassuringly. He slipped behind the bushes and emerged dressed in his suit in seconds, mask and hood in place.

Even though she had seen Barry in his suit since she had realized he was The Flash, this time it was still a bit jarring to see him that way, when she had just been standing with Barry minutes before. The whole feel of this felt very much like the last time he'd received a call, after he'd returned her to the rooftop of Jitters. Right before he'd entered an alleyway and been attacked by a brick wall. Her worry must have shown on her face, because he took a small step forward, looking more nervous than ever.

"I'm sorry. We need to get this guy. He's killed one person already." She nodded, doing her best to smooth out her face. He wasn't convinced. "Iris." He looked like he was searching for the right words. "This is part of who I am now. I can do something. So I will."

She realized he was worried that she couldn't accept his Flash identity, now that it meant he'd be regularly leaving her suddenly and running into who knows what. But she knew what she'd been getting into when she'd asked him to meet her. Her dad was a cop; she'd been living with this kind of occupational hazard for a long time. She just hadn't expected the worry to be so overwhelming once he put his suit back on. Her fears of losing him hadn't really gone anywhere since the coma. Now they had a different kind of danger to fixate on. She forced down the fear and gave him a warm smile that she hoped showed him how proud she was.

"Go get 'em tiger."

He smiled back, almost timidly. She blew him a kiss. His smile got bigger and became more assured. He winked. "Be back soon."

And he was gone. Iris realized how dark it was becoming as she watched the golden lightning speed quickly away. She waited until she could no longer see him. Then she collected the blanket and Barry's duffel bag and headed to her car.

Hopefully she wouldn't get pulled over as she headed to S.T.A.R. Labs.