Warrior // b.a

II // ℙ R O L O G U E

"Below my soul, I feel an engine.
Collapsing as it sees the pain.
If I could only shut it out."
─Imagine Dragons

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F L A S H B A C K

2007
September
Central City

"PLEASE come back." Barry pleaded, his voice breaking as he crouched down on the ground. Sitting down with his hands loosely wrapped around his legs, he stared at her picture on the gravestone. He missed her so much.

Barry held onto the pendant around his hand, his grip tightening as his knuckles started to whiten. Three months had passed and he was an absolute wreck. He blamed himself, he should've been with her. She shouldn't have been alone. He should've never let her leave on bad terms. He should've proven to her how much he did love her.

"Damnit Elvira, we had plans..." Barry sighed, still holding her necklace in his hand, his vision grew blurry as he let the 'I'm fine' wall drop completely. In that moment, he was more vulnerable than he'd ever been.

As Barry closed his eyes, he felt as though she was there with him. He could hear her, her dry humour, her soothing voice, her jokes that only Barry laughed at, her laugh. God, how Barry wished he could hear her laugh one last time. Her.

Barry's leg shook as he began tapping his foot on the dry grass as the heart-clenching ache burned in his chest, rapidly burning through the rest of his body.

He wished that he could see her, just one last time. Just one last moment. Just one. That's all he wanted.

A single tear ran down, a pathway along Barry's cheek as he quickly wiped it away.

The cemetery scene was much too familiar for Barry. It was all hitting too close to home. It reminded him of his mum and how helpless he felt. He was already haunted by his mother's death, his mind tormented by the unknown.

There was no doubt that Elvira's death would forever follow Barry, a constant shadow.

"Barry?" He heard a voice call out from behind him. He knew it wasn't her but if he closed his eyes, he could pretend just for a second that it was her.

"What the hell, Barry! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Iris ran towards her best friend, her heart breaking for him.

She was trying her best to be understanding and to be there for him but he wasn't making her job easy when he was disappearing without telling anyone where he was going. Iris and Joe had been searching since midday, trying to find Barry.

"You found me." Barry said, his voice void of emotion, refusing to look at her.

Iris sighed. They'd been doing the same thing since graduation day.

They were playing a game of cat and mouse. Iris was constantly chasing while Barry ran and shut everyone out. Including her.

Iris tried to be there for him, she tried so hard.

Barry just didn't want her. At least not at that time.

All he wanted was for Elvira to be alive.

Iris would try to talk to him and Barry wouldn't even look at her. Iris asked him how his day was and Barry would say 'good' not another word. Iris would ask him if he wanted to do something and he'd tell her he was busy. Iris would offer and Barry would reject.

If she hadn't been so understanding, she would've been insulted.

One of her fears was that Barry would never be the same after the recent event. She just wanted her best friend back. She just wanted to see him happy.

Iris took a seat next to Barry on the cold grass, staring at the saddening photo of Elvira. She rested her head on Barry's shoulder as he silently thanked her for her efforts at trying to comfort him.

They sat in silence as minutes passed by, each of them stuck in their own minds while thoughts endlessly roamed around in the quiet air.

"Do you wanna go home?" Iris asked softly, finally breaking the silence.

Home, Barry thought to himself, Elvira.
Elvira felt like home.

"Yes."

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A/N: So I've made some changes because I changed the beginning plot and I'm super excited! Please feel free to drop a vote or a comment pls ilysm xx

; ROZ☺ ☻