SNOWBARRY: Sometimes Runs, Sometimes Can't

Chapter 15 - What Did You Do?

Later that night, Barry found himself outside her door. 

He shouldn't have come; he knew it. 

But the words had gnawed at him until he couldn't breathe. 

When she opened the door, her surprise was quickly replaced by something softer, wearier.

"Barry," she whispered, stepping aside. "Come in."

He hovered just past the threshold, nerves taut. "About earlier... what you said."

She cut him off, shaking her head. "Listen, Barry, I shouldn't have said it." Iris' voice cracked, but her eyes wouldn't meet his. "I wasn't myself. I don't even know what got into me. I love Eddie, Barry. I shouldn't have..."

"Don't do this," Barry said, sharper than he intended. "Don't say that. Don't pretend it didn't mean anything. I know you, Iris. You meant every word."

Her arms wrapped around herself like armour. "And what if I did?" she whispered. "What good does it do? You're always keeping things from me, Barry. Whatever it is you're working on at S.T.A.R. Labs, it's just another secret you'll lie about. Another piece of you I'll never get."

Barry's chest tightened. He wanted to tell her everything, to strip away every lie, every promise he'd made Joe. But the words stuck, heavy and impossible.

"Iris..." His voice broke. "It's not what you think."

She shook her head, blinking back fresh tears. "It's always not what I think. That's the problem."

The silence between them ached. Finally, she stepped closer, her hand trembling as it reached up to his cheek.

"I don't want this," she whispered. "I can't want this."

And before he could respond, she leaned in and kissed him. Soft at first, then desperate, like she was pouring every contradiction, every buried feeling into that single moment. 

Barry kissed her back, his hands hovering at her waist, terrified to let go, terrified to hold on.

When she pulled away, her lips were trembling, her breath uneven.

"You should go, Barry," she said, voice breaking as she stepped back.

Barry stood frozen in the hallway, her kiss still burning on his lips, knowing he'd just lost something he never had.

***

Barry, Iris, and Caitlin each carried their own kind of pain in silence.

For Caitlin, it felt like breaking in slow motion, over and over, watching the man she'd let her guard down for, fade from her life. 

For Iris, the inescapable fear of betrayal and the realisation of being in love with the person who kept things from her. That was a weight she couldn't put down.

And Barry. Caught in the middle, his heart split between the two women he cared for the most, knowing that no matter what, one of them was bound to be hurt.

They all searched for a light in the tunnel, for something to ease the heaviness. But the truth was, there was no easy way forward.

***

A day had passed since Kevin had turned their world upside down.

Barry couldn't sleep. Avoided Joe like the plague. He hadn't spoken to Caitlin since that night either.
They'd escorted Iris after giving her a tonic. Cleaned up the mess, Caitlin explained to both Cisco and Barry what the the meta triggers were, and once they sorted out a transfer and had sent Kevin to a guarded facility, they finally left. Each headed to their own cars. No further chats. No goodbyes.