The song for this chapter is Tom Odell - Heal

IRIS' POV:

"Alright," My dad announced as he descended the stairs. "I called your parents, Cisco, and Linda. You're welcome to stay the night if you'd like."

They looked at each other and nodded.

"Thanks." They said at the same time.

Linda rose from her spot on the couch next to Barry. "I'm going to go get some clothes."

"You can just borrow some of mine," I told her.

Regardless if I was jealous of her and Barry I thought it best to have her around right now. It wasn't about me, it was about Barry.

"Cisco, you can sleep on the couch. I'll get you some clothes." My dad went upstairs.

Cisco looked at Linda awkwardly. "Where are you sleeping?"

Definitely not with Barry.

"She'll sleep with me."

Cisco made a face. "Now that I gotta see."

Linda and I stared at him.

"I'm deprived of any action, cut me some slack."

We laughed.

Linda squeezed his shoulder. "It'll get better."

He deadpanned. "I'm not gay, I'm just lonely, Linda. But thank you." The sarcasm dripped from his voice.

Barry stood, surprising us all because he'd been as still as a statue for most of the night.

"I'm going to go for a walk." He muttered as he headed for the door.

I rose from the armrest. "Okay, I'll go with you." I grabbed my coat.

He turned back to me. "Actually, I wanted to talk to Linda."

"Oh," I put the coat back. "I'll just help my dad make up the guest room." I offered a weak smile.

Linda followed him outside and it was just Cisco and I standing there awkwardly.

"You don't think they're getting back together, do you?" He asked.

I walked over to him. "Who knows."

He put his arm around my shoulders. "Well, it's just us. The only logical thing to do is bump uglies."

I playfully smacked his chest. "Yeah, right."

"Ouch. Feelings crushed."

My brow rose. "You'll figure things out with Linda."

He nodded. "Unfortunately, I think things are already figured out."

"Iris," My dad called from the top of the steps. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I found him in the guest room, putting on new sheets.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. You spent a lot of time over at Henry's the last few months."

I was trying not to think about that.

"I'm okay, dad. I'm just really worried about Barry. I can't imagine what he must be going through."

He nodded. "I think Barry is going to need some time. He'll stay with us for as long as he needs. I'm trusting that you won't have a problem with that."

"Like you want him to officially move in or something? You're not adopting him, are you?" Worry set in. I loved Barry, but I didn't want him to be my brother!

He chuckled. "No, sweetie." He smoothes the comforter down. "I have to speak with his family, but I can't imagine they won't allow him to stay with us. It's his senior year, he's already behind. We're just next door. It's the simplest option."

I helped take off the old pillow cases and put the new ones one.

"I know you two have something going on, but that's going to have to change. I don't want any hanky panky in my house, do you understand, young lady?"

My face flushed. "Yes, dad. Geez."

Besides, I don't think Barry was too worried about any of that right now.

When Barry and Linda came back from their walk I brought her to my room.

"You can sleep in my bed with me, I'm not opposed to sharing." Well...

She gave me a raised brow. "Uh, thanks."

"The bathroom's in there. I'll get you some clothes." I gave her some pj's. "Anything else I missed?"

She nodded as she sat on the bed. She patted the space next to her.

I hesitantly sat.

"You know, there's nothing going on with Barry and I, right?"

My eyes narrowed as my lips pursed.

She rolled her eyes. "Iris, you don't have to worry. I'm not here to replace you. No one could replace you."

I wasn't so sure about that.

"How did he seem when you walked?"

"Quiet," She shrugged. "For the most part. He just wanted to apologize for not telling me he was back sooner. I should be mad at Cisco. How could he not tell me?"

My defenses raised. "Hey, don't be mad at Cisco. Be mad at me, I should've told you."

She nodded. "Someone should've told me. I'm just glad he's back. Cisco really needed him."

I gave a sad smile.

"Anyway, I'm going to jump in the shower. Thanks for the hospitality."

BARRY'S POV:

It felt like everything was in slow motion, like I was sleepwalking. I couldn't believe it. How was my dad dead? How could I be orphaned at seventeen? None of this made sense. Who would want to kill my dad? He was a doctor, he saved lives. The police think it was an attempted robbery, but nothing was stolen. I shouldn't have gone to see Oliver and Felicity about letting Wells in. I could've stopped it.

Seeing Linda here, it brought back a lot of old memories. We'd been friends before we were anything else. She'd been there when I felt like no one else was. She knew things about me that I wished she hadn't. And vice versa.

All I had the energy to do right now was lay here in bed and think about how incredibly selfish I'd been over the years. I should've tried harder to have the relationship with my dad that I wanted. Now it was too late.

My door creaked open, a head popped in, her hair illuminated by the hall light. She looked like an angel.

Iris whispered, "Are you awake?"

I nodded.

"Can I come in?"

I nodded.

She came to sit on the floor by the bed, leaving a crack in the door so we could see each other. Her hand grabbed mine and I almost immediately felt better.

"I don't really know what to say," Her voice low. "Asking if you're okay seems trivial." Her eyes found mine, her big brown eyes that could understand me so well. "I don't know what you must be feeling right now, but I want you to know that I'm here for you."

Tears stung my eyes. I could see it was eating her to see me like this.

Her hand came to caress my face, her thumb wiped away a tear as she leaned closer. "I wasn't there for you before, but I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." She brought her lips to my forehead for a tender kiss.

My chin trembled, I really tried to hold it together. I was sick of crying, but Iris brought out every emotion in me. Silent sobs wracked my body.

She pulled me to her. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

I just needed her to hold me.

"My dad's going to find this psychopath and put his ass in jail." She promised. "You're going to be okay."

My eyes became heavy after a while once the crying stopped. When I fell asleep I would be alone and I didn't want to be alone. Everyone was giving me the space they thought I deserved. Well, that and they were all asleep.

When she thought I'd fallen asleep she started to rise. "Goodnight, Bear."

My hand reached out and grabbed hers, surprising her. "Please, don't leave me." My voice hoarse.

She nodded before climbing into bed behind me. Her arms wrapped around me. "You can be the little spoon tonight."

I cracked a small smile she couldn't see.

"I love you, Iris."

She stilled against me. "I love you, too, Barry."

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep.

CISCO'S POV:

I flipped and turned as I tried to get comfortable on the couch. It seemed impossible. Besides, I wasn't even tired. Tonight's events kept running through my mind. I wanted to be there for Barry. We weren't friends when his mom died. From my knowledge, all he had was Iris and Linda back then.

She was mad at me, I could tell. I would be, too. When Barry came back, I should've told her, but Barry asked me not to. He wanted to talk to her, but I guess with everything going on there just wasn't time. Until tonight when Iris called me with the terrible news and I had to tell her because we had to go over there.

There was an incessant poking in my back. I turned to find that Linda standing over me with that I'm about to fuck you up look she owns so well.

"We need to talk."

I turned around and sat up. "I should've told you sooner."

She flopped down beside me, her arms across her chest. But I think that was more because she didn't have a bra on than her being mad at me.

"Yeah, you should've."

"So, do you want to hit me or something?"

Her lips tilted up in amusement. "Do you want me to hit you?"

"If it'll make you feel better." I shrugged.

She shook her head. "I don't want to hit you, Cisco."

Feeling a little brave, I asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

She grinned shyly. "You're cute when you're ballsy."

Did she just say that?

She met my eyes and I didn't know if I should make a move or not. It didn't feel right. Not tonight. After a moment, she rose. "I think I should get back upstairs." She flushed.

I nodded. "I'll walk you."

She laughed. "You're going to walk me to Iris' room?"

"You gotta a problem with that?" My brow rose.

"No," Her eyes smiled at me.

She lead the way upstairs.

I stopped just outside the door as she turned to face me in the doorway. "Well, goodnight." I whispered awkwardly.

She leaned forward, her lips tugged on mine only for a few seconds before she pulled away. She grinned up at me. "Night, Cisco."

Well...that just happened.

I gave a nod.

She closed the door.

Man, I needed some game.

BARRY'S POV:

I woke with Iris wrapped around me. A smile came to my face until I realized why today was different than yesterday morning. My dad was dead. All I could do was lay there.

There was a knock on the door. Joe came in. He didn't seem all too surprised to see Iris in bed with me. If my dad hadn't been brutally murdered last night I think he would've given me a stern look and a good talking to, but he just looked at me with sad eyes.

"There's someone here to see you."

I untangled from Iris. She stirred.

"Barry, you okay?"

"Yes." I lied.

She sat up, her eyes narrowed. She looked to Joe. "We didn't do anything,"

He held up a hand. "I know, sweetie. I was just coming to tell Barry he had company."

Probably my aunt Jessie.

We all traveled downstairs. The last people I expected to see was Oliver and Felicity.

I pulled Felicity into a hug. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard the news." Oliver said.

Felicity squeezed me tight. "We came to see how you were doing."

"Well, being as you all are already here how about you stay for dinner." Joe offered.

Felicity and I both looked to Oliver with pleading eyes.

"We'd be happy to." He gave Felicity a look.

She flashed a grin at him.

Cisco just stared at Oliver. So did Iris.

"Sorry, I guess my friends already know who you are." I told him.

He held out his hand for Cisco to shake. "Nice to meet you."

"Cisco Ramon." He shook vigorously.

"Don't break the guy's hand." Joe joked.

I grinned.

Oliver turned to Iris and her eyes widened. "You must be Iris."

She let out a giggle. I gave her a look. "You know my name?"

He chuckled. "Barry talked about you enough."

My face flushed. I looked to Felicity with a tight grin.

She squeezed my shoulder. "This outta be fun. I mean, not so much because you're dad's is dead, but..." She gave a nervous chuckle. "God, I'm an idiot."

"Yeah," Iris gawked at her.

"I'm incredibly sorry." Felicity touched my shoulder.

I squeezed her hand. "I know," I hugged her to my side. "You and that mouth of yours hasn't gotten any better."

"Nothing slips by you, nerd."

Iris cleared her throat. "I'll make breakfast everyone. Come on." She marched to the kitchen.

Everyone moved to the kitchen to help.

Cisco pulled Felicity aside and whispered, "You may not want to eat your plate. She might try and poison you."

She made a face as she looked at me.

"You should probably back off of Barry," Cisco added nonchalantly. "Just throwing that out there."

Well, this should be interesting.

A/N: Thanks for all the support. Please review!