The song for this chapter is The Civil Wars - I've Got This Friend

.CAITLIN'S POV:

Ronnie ran away frantically. I followed him behind a nearby house to find him sitting in a ball with his ears covered as he repeated something silently. I didn't know what happened. One moment we were all standing outside, trying to find out what the hell happened to the windows, and then he was running away from it all.

I carefully crouched down in front of him. He jumped at another car alarm going off. Fear in his blue eyes. My heart thumped in my chest as I reached forward.

"Ronnie?" I whispered, afraid to make any loud noises.

His body shook.

"What happened?" I leaned forward.

He squeezed his head. "I can't make the voices stop."

I wet my lips before saying, "Are you okay?" It sounded stupid asking, but I didn't know what else to say. "You can tell me. It's okay." I gave a forced smile while my hand reached out to take his away from his head. I winced and pulled back. My eyes went to my hand, blisters forming in across it.

"I can't make them stop, Cait." His voice wavered.

I quickly looked around before I gathered him up. "Come on, let's go back to my place."

After a long shower, he came to join me in the kitchen. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Thank you."

I nodded. "Do you need anything?"

Quite honestly, I was scared. Not of him, but for him. There was no way his hand should've burned mine. I wiggled my gauzed wrapped hand as a reminder.

"No," He leaned against the counter opposite of me. "I'm sorry about earlier. I don't know what that was."

"You didn't mean to hurt me. It's fine."

His eyes shot to mine before they found my hand. Guilt took over his face. "I didn't mean to, Cait. I don't know what's going on with me."

I offered a supportive grin. "We'll figure it out. You don't have to go through this alone, okay?"

He nodded, sadness in his eyes. "It's just this isn't the first time I've burned you."

I knew he was referring to Amy and I breaking up. Well, it was more like Amy dumping me and not wanting anything else to do with me. I couldn't really blame her. Ronnie had been inside me and I hadn't stopped. I should've stopped it, but it was too good to be stopped.

I waved it off. "We got past that. We'll get past this. I promise."

He nodded with a huff. "Do you mind if I crash here? I don't really want to deal with my brother tonight."

"Of course." I grinned as I pulled him to the bed.

FELICITY'S POV:

"Well, if Iris didn't know Barry was The Flash before, she definitely knows now," I muttered.

As always, he ignored any statement when I talked about Barry. To his credit, he was quieter than usual.

I huffed. "What did you want my advice on or whatever?"

He turned those closed off blue eyes on me. "Did I make a mistake with Thea? Not telling her about me, about what I do?"

I could feel a frown form on my lips. "Why would you think that?"

Granted he kept a lot from Thea and he was away for five years, he was still a great big brother.

He looked away. "I see how much support Barry has. And I'm happy for him, but I want..."

"More?" I caught his gaze. "I'm not enough?" I joked.

He cracked a grin. "You're more than enough."

Being that I was on the pale side, when I blushed you could clearly see it. So when his mouth raised in a knowing smirk I turned cherry red.

IRIS' POV:

There was a knock on my door.

"Come in." I peeped around the corner.

Barry stood there in black sweats and a grey shirt that fit him well.

"So are we going to talk about what happened the other day?" I asked while I twisted my hair in front of my bathroom mirror.

Barry came to stand in the doorway. "You mean when we kissed?" He rose his brow.

"What are you doing to your hair?"

"Yes and I haven't twisted my hair in a few days. If I want it to look presentable then this is the process."

He came to stand by me, his hip on the counter. "What are you putting in your hair?" He picked up the bottles. "Leave in conditioner, coconut oil, and hair grease." He grinned. "You put a lot of stuff in your hair, Flower."

Pink stained my cheeks. "You wouldn't understand."

Honestly, having Barry living here, he would have to see me with my hair like this and my scarf on. Not the most attractive look.

He took some of the conditioner and worked it into my hair and twisted it. "Am I doing it right?" He asked nervously.

My heart fluttered.

"Uh, yeah." I blinked back tears as I focused on getting this done with Barry's help.

"Your hair smells like candy." He put it to his nose and sniffed. "But does it taste like candy?"

I laughed as I rolled my eyes. "Don't do you dare eat my hair, Bear."

He chuckled. "Where's your scarf?"

I turned on the sink. "I'm not putting on my scarf in front of you." I wasn't that brave.

He took my hands in his and lathered them in soap before shoving them under the faucet. My eyes met his in the mirror. He winked at me.

"A year ago, who would've thought we'd be here." He muttered against my neck as he planted a kiss there.

A smile took over my face. "Definitely not me. I'm pretty sure I wished you dead a few times."

He turned me toward him. "Have I told you how sorry I am about that?"

I shrugged. "Not nearly enough."

"Well, I'm sorry I was a dick. I was really bad at deflecting my feelings back then. And if it's any consolation, I thought about every day. That's a long time to think about someone."

He was right. That was a long time to have someone in your mind, but not really in your life.

"I have to ask, so be honest with me." He started. "Did you kiss The Flash on the roof because you knew it was me? Did you want it to be someone else?"

I bit down on my bottom lip and sighed. "I wanted it to be you."

He looked sort of lost for words, but a moment later they came to him. "I don't want to rush this. My dad just died. I don't know how long it'll take me to move on from it. It might take a week or a month. Or a few months. And I don't want you to wait around, I don't expect you to."

"Who said I was now? I have a date tomorrow. We both agreed we're working on our friendship."

His jaw hardened as his brow rose.

"I'm kidding." I brought his arms around his shoulders. "And you can't tell me what to do. If I want to wait for you then I'll do it, Allen." My mouth went to his neck.

He groaned and it was the sexiest thing I've ever heard.

"Hold fast, hot pants. We're supposed to be working on our friendship, remember?"

"You know, whenever I want some action it's always a thing, but whenever you want you just go kissing people in costumes." I propped my hands on my hips.

He pursed his lips. "Not my best moment. That's definitely not how I wanted our first kiss to go."

My brow rose. "I thought it was pretty hot."

He blushed with a short laugh. "Thanks." He looked down like a shy schoolgirl.

I followed him into my room.

"Why does it seem like I'm always the one turning you down?"

I chuckled. "Maybe because you are."

He pulled me towards him. "You and I both know it's not that simple." He brought his forehead down to mine. "I want to do this right, Flower."

"Because you're in love with me?" I went out on a limb that he was trying to convey that at dinner earlier.

He grinned. "Yeah."

I pushed him down on the bed, my hips mounted his as I crushed our mouths together. His mouth shocked mine as he tried to back away, but I stuck to him like glue. Like the first one, this kiss brought out a feeling of clarity.

He shrugged then flipped me over on my back. I felt him harden against me. His hand went to my stomach, slowly slipping underneath my shirt. His eyes met mine as if to ask for my permission. A moment of hesitation was he needed to pull away.

"We don't have to do anything, Iris. In all honesty, we shouldn't be doing this anyway." He pulled me to his chest. "I think we should start over." He held out his hand. "I'm Barry Allen, nice to meet you."

I shook his hand. "Iris West, Badass Motherfucker."

He laughed. "You are pretty badass."

"So, are you single?"

He shook his head. "I'm very taken at the moment."

"Do you have any special talents? Anything cool that will hold my interest?"

He shrugged. "I'm pretty good at making birdhouses. What about you?"

My lips pursed. "I know The Flash. It's not a big deal, but we've gone out a few times. Secret rendez-vous and all that." I waved it off. "I shouldn't even be talking it. We like to keep things quiet."

He stared at me with that unmistakable love. "You're a goofball."

"Hey, guys." Cisco called us downstairs. "You might want to come down here." Alarm in his voice.

Barry and I shared a look as we headed for the stairs. Leonard Snart stood in the doorway.

"I need your help, kid."

WIth every session with Spencer and Toby I became stronger. They pushed me harder. My muscles ached and my eyes watered.

"Get into a headspace," Toby told me once when we were warming up. "The reason you're doing this, keep that in the front of you mind. When you want to give up, when you want to quit, use that to dig deeper."

I nodded. "What's your reason?" My eyes looked out for Spencer, but she wasn't in sight.

He gave a sad smile. "I had a not so good upbringing. My parents weren't great at being parents. They focused more on my step-sister than me." He shrugged. "I can get my frustrations out here."

"Any of those frustrations about Spencer?"

He stilled as his blue eyes met mine. "Why would you think that?"
I gave a half smile. "I see the way you look at her when she's not looking. It's pretty adorable."

He waved it off. "We're just friends."

"Okay."

I really enjoyed working with them. They were not as scary as I once thought. Now that I was getting extremely comfortable with these moves I felt like I needed more. I needed a challenge. But being that the gym was closed at this time of night I had to get my muscles moving with a run.

As usual, I ran on autopilot. There really was no better feeling. Well, besides being around friends. Being around Barry. I wasn't sure what it was, but there wasn't as much sexual tension between us as there used to be. We were working on our friendship, he was letting me in a lot more. I could tell he was just as scared as I was that one of us would leave. It was hard to shake that fear. He smiled when he saw me, we hung out. We talked. It was nice. At one point in my life, I didn't ever think I could know so much about a person.

Whether he believed in reincarnation. Whether he wanted the last piece of pizza or if he wanted to share. Whether he thought he was a good enough of a person to get into Heaven. The things that mattered. The tiny details. I cared about him deeply, whereas before I held onto the seven year old boy. Him living with us helped a lot. On the weekends, his Aunt Jessie would come down and spend time with him. Whether he admitted it or not, I think she was growing on him.

Out of breath, I stopped near a mail dropbox. I heard a shriek from nearby. Taking my headphones out, I looked around. A muffled cry drew me forward. I peeped down the alley to find a man pressed against a woman with a knife to her throat.

"Scream again and I'll cut your fucking tongue out." He threatened.

Fear spiked through me as I walked forward. "Hey!"

They turned toward me.

"Stay out of this." He warned.

"Please," The woman begged. "Help me."

He punched her in the face. She cried out as she fell to the ground.

My fists tightened at my sides. Anger filled me. How dare he hit a woman like that. Lord only knows what he was planning to do with her.

"I suggest you keep walking, little girl." He pointed the knife at me as he picked up the woman.

"Let her go." I stood a few feet from them.

He chuckled. "Or what?"

"Let her go and I won't hurt you."

"Do you really think you could hurt me?" He swiped the knife out and sliced my chest.

I cried out and stumbled back. Get the knife away from him, my mind instructed. My hand knocked his away. I roundhouse kicked his ass a few feet back, then swiped his feet from under him. He fell to the ground. I grabbed the knife from him.

"Go!" I yelled at the girl.

The guy tried to get up. "No, that bitch owes me money."

My hand flashed out and hit him in the face. He was out cold. I slowly rose.

What do I do with him now? Call my dad? No. I'd never heard the end of it.

I reached for my phone. "I have a situation."

Five minutes later Eddie walked down the alley with worried eyes. "What the hell happened, Iris?"

I shrugged. "He was trying to hurt someone."

He took me in. "You were out running and you just heard him?"

I nodded. "I didn't know what to do after, so I just called you. My dad would've freaked."

He sighed. "Iris, what am I supposed to say in the police report? I found him in an alley and arrested him?"

"I didn't think of that. I'll just call Barry."

"Maybe we shouldn't involve, Barry. He's had a lot going on lately."

"Fine," I called Cisco. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

My eyes narrowed. "The only person we have in common. Where's Barry?"

"Oh, Barry." He gave a light laugh. "I don't know, out."

"Cisco, I need him to meet me. Now."

He huffed. "Already have your location pinged. I'll let him know where you are."

My lips pursed. "Kind of creepy."

"Not really." I hung up.

A large wind made us stumble back. The Flash stood before us.

"What happened?" He took in the body laying on the ground. He stepped forward. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "He tried to hurt someone."

His gloved hand touched the slash on my chest. "He cut you."

I winced at the stinging in my chest. "I'm fine. We just need to take care of this guy." I moved closer to Barry. "Can't you just flash him into the station or something?"

"I could," He looked around. "Where's the knife?"

The cold blade pressed to my side, tucked inside my shorts. "I don't know. Maybe the girl grabbed it when she ran." I avoided his eyes. "Please, don't tell my dad. I don't want him to freak out."

He placed his hand in my shoulder. "So you just single handedly beat him up?"

I gave him a pissed off look. He didn't know my moves.. "Is that so fucking hard to believe?"

"Yes, because you're not supposed to be out here fighting crime. This is my job."

My eyes couldn't roll hard enough as I crossed my arms. "You think I'm so weak I couldn't help someone being abused? I can take care of myself."

"And look where that got you." He pointed to the gash in my chest. "Good luck explaining that to Joe."

"I shouldn't have called you." I pushed past him. "Next time I'll leave you out of it and take care of it myself."

He flashed before me, his eyes stern. "There's not going to be a next time, Iris. You need to stay away from this. Let me handle it. Let Eddie handle it."

"You know, I didn't peg you for sexist, Barry."

He grabbed my bicep before I could get away, bringing me closer to him than I wanted to be right now. "This isn't about your ability to kick ass, Iris. This isn't the world you need to be a part of. You just graduated high school. You need to focus on college, on whatever you want. Just not this."

"Whatever." I started forward.

He pulled me back to him. "Promise me you'll stay out of it. I don't want to have to get anymore calls like this."

"Fine, I promise." I shrugged him off.

This was the price I payed for having a best friend for a superhero. He constantly worried about me. He was turning into my dad and I didn't need anymore of those.

"I'll drive you home." Eddie offered, steering me towards his car.

I slammed the door shut and huffed as I glared out the window.

The drive was fairly quiet until Eddie decided to break it.

"Barry's doing the best he can."

Whatever.

"He just wants you to be safe. We all do."

My eyes rolled. I could take care of myself.

"What's going on between you two?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"Iris, there has to be som-"

"I don't know, Eddie!" I yelled, irritated as I turned to him. "I don't know. Okay?"

He turned back to the road without a word.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."

I thanked him when he dropped me off.

The next day I made my way to a place I didn't think I'd ever be. I entered the semi empty club. A tall, thin brunette came from behind the bar.

"Hey, could I help you?"

I offered a smile. "Yeah, I'm looking for someone."

"Who?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Oliver Queen."

A/N: Please review and let me know what you think.