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Previously...
Right away, he saw her slender silhouette walk out of the back room. He just froze in place as he watched her struggle with putting on her black apron. For some reason, he found her to be absolutely sexy in her Jitters apron. There was just something about how it hugged her lean frame that he couldn't get over.
Really, it was amazing how often he still got mesmerized by her beauty.
"Haaaaryyy, is it?" The sound of a slightly familiar voice broke him out of the trance he so clearly was in.
Barry turned to see a tall brunette smiling at him. "You're Iris' friend right?"
Barry looked confused.
"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Kendra. Kendra Saunders. We're coworkers; Iris and I." The brunette extends her hand with the widest smile plastered on her face.
Worried that she might have noticed him obviously checking Iris out, he nervously shakes her hand "Nice to meet you. And... it's actually Barry." He lets outs a nervous chuckle.
"Oh! I'm so sorry," she apologizes, "Barry. Got it!" She paused for a second before offering. "Would you like me to let Iris know you're out here? It's Saturday, which is basically our slowest day of the week. I'm sure she can spare a few minutes." She kindly proposes.
Barry struggled to find a possible excuse as to why he could have been loitering outside of Jitters.
"Or ... you could come back in a couple of hours. She's in charge of closing shop today." Kendra suggests clearly noting his uncomfortable countenance.
Of course Barry knew that. Before the coma, he usually stopped by after work to help her close shop. Sometimes, he would make sure to finish his lab work early just so he could stop by Jitters .
Still unsure and nervous, Barry responds. "I'll probably just stop by later then. Thanks."
"No problem! I'm gotta get back but, it was really nice meeting you, Barry." Kendra smiles as she opens the door and slides into Jitters.
Fast forward 2hrs later, here he was.
Feet dangling off the edge of the roof as he watched all the cars in the parking lot slowly drift off to blend into the night traffic. Except for one.
As he got up, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out to just to see a text from Cisco which read,
"God speed brother, or dare I say, Flash speed... doesn't matter. YOU'VE GOT THIS BRO!"
Barry shoved the phone back in his pocket. He knew Cisco's intentions were purely good but honestly, the text only added to his nerves. It just reminded him that he was keeping this huge secret from her. He felt bad for blatantly looking her in the eye and lying to her face the night she made him promise he wasn't and wouldn't keep anymore secrets from her.
"Keeping my Flash identity from her keeps her safe." This was the mantra he constantly repeated to stop himself from telling her. He would repeated the mantra several times until he completely convinced himself it was true. The truth of cause was he didn't want to think about what he would do if she was ever in danger. The truth? It was more about his sanity than it was about her safety.
In a flash, he was back at the entrance of Jitters. He peeked in just to find Iris struggling to carry a huge tray of what looked like pastries, to the back room.
He decides to count down. As a kid, he used this method numerous time. It helped him make hard decisions and do scary things without pondering too hard on them. In a way, it was like ripping off a bandaid. He shut his eyes and began whispering, "five, four, three, two o-"
He was interrupted by his phone abruptly ringing. He growls in frustration "Cisssccoooo!" He opens his eyes as he struggles to take it out of his pocket. He finally succeeds. He speedily reaches for the off button but freezes.
CALLER ID: "IRIS"
He looks up to see Iris coming out of the back room with her phone to her ear. Meanwhile, his phone was still ringing alarmingly loud. Was it too late to run? He debated.
To his dismay, Iris had already heard the sound coming from the front and had immediately recognized his ringtone. She wrinkled her forehead in surprise as she dashed towards the door and reached for the lock to open it.
She smiles, "I thought I heard your "Asgard" ringtone." She then motions with her head as she holds the door open for him. "Come on in! I could really use the muscle."
Barry gives her a sly smile as he entered the store.
"You're late." Iris casually mentions since Barry wouldn't utter a word.
He forces himself out of the shocked state he was in and replies, "um, I just had a couple of things to take care of." He vaguely disclosed.
Iris walked past him and went behind the counter. As if things weren't bad enough, Barry could tell she was trying to avoid having any eye contact with him.
She starts, "Sorry I didn't call or text all day. I've-"
Barry cuts her off, "It's fine. Now, what do you need me to do?"
He attempts to drive the conversation off the tracks that would lead to the night before. Did he want to find out if Iris felt the same way he did when she kissed him goodbye? Did he want to confirm once and for all that it all wasn't just going on in his head? Yes. He really did want to know if there was a trifling chance that Iris had feelings for him. But he had to admit to himself that the thought of having those feelings not reciprocated by Iris was scarier than anything he could imagine. This same fear has crippled him since they were kids and it still had its shackles on his brain till this day. To him, he could easily handle the doubt of not knowing; for heavens sake, he's done it all his life; than the possibility of losing the love of his life.
Morbidly, he loved not knowing.
Iris lifted her head to meet his eyes for a second before quickly diverting her attention to the sink next to her. "I'm almost pretty much finished but you can help dry the blenders after I wash."
She starts pumping dish soap into the blender. Barry makes his way behind the counter and stands next to her.
He hadn't noticed before but now, he became fully aware of the indie music playing on the overhead speakers.
I can't believe I wasted all of this time on you.
I can't believe I have to sit around and watch what you do.
That all changed when I met Lucy.
That all changed, you'll see.
"So, last night. You & Eden sneaking off into a dark theater... all alone..." Iris broke the silence as she playfully smiled & nudged Barry in the ribs. He could tell she was hinting for him to tell her more.
The image of Barry holding Eden's hand still haunted her. Unlike Barry, she was aching to know if they had done ... you know? More.
Was she Jealous? Barry couldn't help but question the faint look of fear hidden behind her eyes.
A normal guy would have straight up asked if she really was jealous. Only, that just wasn't Barry Allen. Although it damn near killed him not to, he knew he had to respect her relationship with Eddie. He knew, he had to respect her wishes. He did not want to increase the already extremely palpable awkwardness between them. Or even worse, scare her away. He just wasn't going to take that chance.
He had done the hard part; at least that was what he thought. She knows how he feels. But looking back, a huge part of him wishes he hadn't because now, he lives everyday with the gut wrenching fear of loosing her. He viewed every second he spent with her as a possibility for him to maybe say or do something he would regret forever. So, he took some time to carefully curate a response to her question.
He turned to face her but noticed she had shifted her attention to the dishes she was now intensely cleaning.
"We had fun hate watching the Hunger Game. You were right. She's really nice." He utters.
A few seconds passed as he waited for her to say something.
"Isn't she?!" Enthused, Iris finally added. Only, all her focus was on cleaning.
He waited a few seconds before adding.
" Yeah, she really is. Also, she ... sort - of - kissed me." Barry found himself disclosing.
The blender she had been rinsing dropped to the floor as she turned to face him.
He intensely held her gaze. None of them acknowledging the now wet and soapy floor.
She said "Hurt People Hurt People", yeah.
She said "Hurt People Hurt People", yeah.
She said "Hurt People Hurt People", yeah.
The overhead speakers kept playing in the background as what felt like 8 seconds passed; with the two still locking eyes fiercely.
"But, I stopped her. I uh... I told her I was still trying to get over..."
"...someone."
She didn't know what to do; let alone what to say . The music seemed to have stopped as silence creeped in.
She was first to break eye contact.
"Forget I said anything." Barry added without moving his gaze from her.
"Barrr...-" She started, not really knowing what was going to come out of her mouth.
"-no, really." Barry interrupted. "I don't even know why I just told you that." He backed up and leaned against the counter as he rubbed the back of his neck.
She stood still, closely watching her best friend beat up himself. And worst of all, she realized it was all because of her. Barry was broken all because of her. One thing Iris was sure of was that she was ready to do anything to take it all away.
"I should probably leave now." Barry said as he picked up his jacket and started walking past her.
As he brushed past her, she immediately turned and wrapped her arms around his waist as she hugs him from the back.
She pressed her left cheek against his back in silence.
Barry stood there for a couple of seconds before turning to face her. She doesn't lessen her grip on him. Now her cheek took rest on his chest.
He gently embraced her. Thus, bringing her frame closer to his.
They stay this way for a couple of minutes; taking in each other's warmth and scent. Their hugs were special to them. All the guilt, all the pain and all the awkwardness seemed to slowly evaporate.
"I just want us to get back to normal." Barry quietly whispered in her ear.
"Do you think thats possible?" He continued.
"Honestly, I don't know. But, I'm not going anywhere Barry Allen." She then lifts her head to look up at him. "Don't you forget that."
She then turns her back to him. "Apron." She motions to the ropes.
Barry helps her undo the knot. He then moves the hair falling on her back to one side to easily remove her apron. Iris could feel his warm breath grazing over her neck. Before she knew it, she was tilting her neck further to the right. From the back, Barry could see the hairs on her neck rise for a second.
Did HE do that? He couldn't help but grin.
Iris quickly caught herself. She turned and gave him a quick "thanks!" before seizing the apron and and running to the back room.
*Iris' phone starts ringing*
Barry locates it on the counter and picks it up. He sees the Caller ID - Eden.
"Who is it?" Iris comes out and starts walking towards him.
"Eden." He hands it to her.
Iris puts it on speaker. "Hey Eden! whats going on? I'm here with Barry and you're on speaker." She gives Barry a reassuring smile.
"Heyyyy you two." Eden responded slyly.
Although she was embarrassed for a quick second when Barry didn't reciprocate her kiss, she now fully understood why. He was madly in love with her best friend. She respected Barry for not using her as a rebound.
She knew Barry was one of the good guys and she was more than supportive of him winning over her best friends heart. She had nothing against Iris' relationship with Eddie. But compared to Barry, the way Iris talked about Eddie just didn't par up. Anyone with two eyes and a working brain could easily tell she was blindly in love with him.
"Isn't it a little too late in the evening to be in an empty restaurant with another man other than your boyfriend Ms. West? Now, what would Eddie think?" Eden couldn't help but tease viciously.
"Shut up Red!" Iris giggled nervously as she fired back calling Eden by her least favorite nickname; and looking anywhere but at Barry whose cheeks were now almost crimson red. "What do you want?" Iris added.
"Alright West." Eden gave in. "You forgot to email me the invite list. Again!"
Her eyes quickly flickered open. "Sh!te!." Iris cursed in distress as she rested her hands on her waist and paced back and forth. "Eden, i'm soooo sorry, I'll send it first thing in the morning. Promise!"
Confused, Barry inquired. "Invite list?"
Sensing the drama that was to come, Eden interrupted, "Annnndddd, that's my cue. Good luck with this one West!" She whispered the lather and quickly hung up.
Iris slowly lifted herself to sit on the cold marble counter top. When she started twiddling her thumbs, he immediately knew she was scared to tell him whatever was on her mind.
"Uhh, It's Eddie." She paused. "Eddies birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks." She explained as she gently lifted her head to look at him. "I thought it would be nice to you know, throw him a little surprise soiree for the big day." She then quickly adds, "I swear I was gonna tell you about the party."
"That sounds very fun." Barry lied.
"Barry, you don't have to come if you don't want to. You know, if its gonna be uh... I totally understand if-."
Barry interrupts, "No, I want to." He lifts himself and sits next to her on the cold counter top. He then turns to face her and replies. "Besides, Eddie and I have are slowly but definitely becoming good friends. I'm talking slumber parties and braiding each others hair. The whole shebang. We're getting there." Barry tries to prove to Iris that he was fine with attending by attempting to lighten the mood.
Iris playfully smacks his shoulder as she bursts into laughter, "Yeah,... right!"
Barry loved the sound of her laugh. It sounded like a heavenly harp being played by a new born. So, he decides to keep going.
"I'm telling you Iris, he'll notice if I don't show up and, probably shut down the whole thing. And, you wanna avoid that because I'm warning you, it won't look too great on your part."
Still trying to contain her laughter, she nods. "Nope, you're very right. I could never recover from that." Another burst of laughter erupted between the two.
"The best friend and the boyfriend running off together? Now that's a movie I'll pay good money to see!" Iris jumps off the counter and stands in front of Barry and looks him in the eye.
"Iris, I'm totally fine." Barry reassured her.
"Whatever you say Allen. Let's get outta here." Iris pulls his arm as he jumps off.
Iris grabbed her jacket from the coat rack and led the way as they locked up and drove home.
Barry was left with the million dollar question of his life;
What kind of present does one give their best friend's (whom he's in love with) boyfriend.
Clearly, he did not think this through.
Thanks for reading!
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