Catalyst (probably not going to update anymore, don't watch the show anymore)

Chapter 41

                  

                  

Barry was getting dressed to go over to Joe's house for dinner, "You're sure you'll be okay by yourself while I'm gone?" Barry asked with concern in his voice.

            I hesitated. "Actually," I asked quietly, "...Can I go with you?" Barry turned around in shock that I had actually asked to leave the house. "You don't have to take me if it's too much of a bother," I panicked.

            "No, no," Barry explained with a shy smile, "I was just surprised that you wanted to go out. Can you walk?"

            I bit my lip, "I-I I don't know," I mumbled, "I haven't tried in a while."

            Barry pulled the blankets off from my legs, and in the blink of an eye, I was in real clothes. "Alright," he explained as he picked me up from underneath my butt and I had my arms wrapped around Barry's neck.

            My feet touched the soft carpet for the first time in forever, but my fingers sunk into Barry's shoulders; he held my waist tightly. I stared down at my weak legs that hadn't been used in weeks unsure of what I had just gotten myself into.

            "Don't worry," Barry cooed, "I've got you."

            I scooted my shaky foot across the white carpet, and I smiled when I bared weight on it. Barry took a step back so I could have room, and he smiled proudly.

            Next, I weakly picked up my left foot, but my right leg was unable to bare the weight put on it; I crumpled to the ground. Barry quickly grabbed hold of my waist so I didn't hurt myself when I fell.

            He grinned hoisting me back onto my feet, "That was a good," he smiled, but then quickly noticing my unhappy face, "What?"

            "I can't even walk anymore," I huffed upset.

            Barry insisted, "Try again."

            I wrapped my arms around his neck, and stared down at my feet. Doing like before, I scooted my feet across the floor, and again, like before, I fell to the ground.

            "Damn it, Finn!" I yelled at myself, and Barry set me down slowly.

            He gave me a long hug since I was so upset at myself, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Stay here," Barry said softly, "I'll go get a wheelchair from Star-Labs."

            I sighed disappointedly, "It's not like I can go anywhere."

            Barry was silent for a second, and then he laughed, "Remember when you and Cisco went paint-balling?"

            "Yeah," I smiled, "My mom saw the bruise on my chest and thought it was from you," I laughed, "Remember when we were hunting Firestorm and I broke my nose when Caitlin slammed on the breaks too hard making me smack my face on the dashboard?"

            He smiled, "And I laughed at you when you had a bag of peas on your face."

            "Those were good times, Barry Allen," I smirked.

            Barry smirked shyly, "Now that I've got you smiling, how about we try this thing again?"

            "What if I just fall down again?" I questioned.

            "Then we'll keep trying," He smiled, and then Barry helped me to my feet once again.

            I stared at my feet while holding Barry's arms, and I used all of my willpower to move my left foot in front of my right three times; the muscles in my legs were unbelievably strained, so they completely quit after the final step.

            My head fell into Barry's chest, and he smiled proudly, "That was so good!"

            He sat me down on the bed, and I shyly smiled, "I think I'm done for today."

________

            Barry and I stood outside the front door of Joe's house; well, I was sitting in the wheelchair. The front door opened, and Iris' eyes immediately were drawn to me.

            "Oh my god," She grinned.

            I smiled shyly, "Sorry for showing up uninvited, but I thought I really—"

            Iris cut me off, "No," She was actually happy to see me, "No, I'm really glad you came. It's just that I haven't seen you since you were in the hospital."

            Barry pushed me through the door, and sitting on the couch were Joe and Cisco. Joe turned around to face us, "Hey Bar," and then he caught sight of me, "Look at you!"

            Cisco turned around, "Oh my god," he murmured, and then got up from the couch to greet me with a tight hug.

            I rubbed his back, and laughed, "Hi Cisco."

            "How have you been? Where have you been?" Cisco chuckled as Barry wheeled me into the living room before rushing to the kitchen with Iris.

            Joe pointed to my wheelchair, "What's all that for?" He chuckled, "When I heard the wheelchair I thought you were...him."

            I forced a painful smile remembering him. "Alright," I fake smiled, "Stop asking so I can answer your questions."

            Cisco interjected, "But you're going to answer mine first since I asked first."

            "I was going to answer all of them collectively," I smirked and then explained, "Alright, so you know how I almost bled to death outside of Star-Labs—"

            Joe chuckled, "I don't think anyone could ever forget that."

            I awkwardly continued, "Yeah, I can't either. After I came home from the hospital, I wasn't supposed to do much since I had...you know, gotten shot and had surgery to fix my guts; so I just laid down in bed and tried to forget everything that happened. I never really got up again until today. I asked Barry if I could go with him to dinner since he and my mom were the only people I had contact with for the past three months. I tried walking a couple times, but the muscles in my back and legs had atrophied so I'm stuck in this thing until they strengthen."

            "While you were at home," Cisco questioned, "What did you do all day? You couldn't have been staring at the wall all day."

            I sighed remembering everything, "Actually," my face quickly changed to a somber expression, "I did that the entire time...and cried at least three times a day over, um, you know—everything that happened with...him. I couldn't eat or drink anything because I was so depressed which led to me having a picc line inserted, and somedays I wouldn't say a word to anyone; my record is four days. Barry couldn't really take care of me twenty-four/seven, so my mom would stay with me during the daytime until he got home later...eventually I told her everything."

            Joe asked suspiciously, "Everything?"

            "Yeah," I answered softly, "Everything from start to finish. I told her all about you guys and how great you were, all of Cisco and I's jokes, how I was telekinetic and Barry was the Flash, what really happened that day," I held back tears, "...and how Eobard Thawne wasn't a bad person and all he wanted was to go home..."

            I held my head in my hands as I quietly tried to keep from crying. Barry poked his head from the kitchen to see me upset, so he quickly walked from the kitchen to my side.

            He held my wrists in a comforting way, and asked me concerned, "Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

            "I'm okay, I'm okay," I said quickly, and I pushed all of my negative emotions into my gut, "Let's just have a nice dinner, alright? Forget about all of this."

            I flashed Barry a smile, but he seemed shaken.
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Here in Indiana, it's officially New Year's Day, and that means that Finn and Barry's one year anniversary is today!!!!!!!
(Also, it's the day that I created the word document for this story)
If you're new to my profile, hello I'm Maddie (your benevolent God), and I remember all the anniversaries/birthdays if all my characters and everyone must celebrate.