speed ↯ barry allen

Flash-Misunderstanding

Barry walked inside Central City Picture News, heaving and immediately heading towards Haylee.

"Hey, I am here. So sorry again."

Haylee turned around in her chair, a smile on her face as she stared at a heaving Barry.

"Well, you get a pass considering you're never late." she paused, chuckling before asking the one question that had been on her mind, "Hey, what's going on with you lately?"

"Nothing.."

"Come on, give me a little credit here."

Barry sighed, as he searched for the right words to tell Haylee. He knew he wasn't ready to reveal who he actually is.

"I've just been dealing with a lot of things lately. I like you, Haylee, and we really get along--"

"Relationships should be more than just getting along. Your heart should ache for me. Does it?"

Barry sighed as he looked down, ashamed at the fact that Haylee knew the truth: he wasn't committed to the relationship.

His mind had been wandering toward Iris and the kiss they had shared in an erased timeline. It was gone.

Haylee put her hand over Barry's and smiled.

"You're not upset with me?"

She shook her head.

"No one did anything wrong."

"I really do feel a lot for you, Haylee. It's just.."

"Just not as much as you feel for someone else. Go get her."

Both Haylee and Barry looked over at Iris, smiling as Barry turned to Haylee.

"It's okay."

She gave him one last kiss on the cheek as Barry walked over to Iris.

"Hasn't been heard from in nearly a year--"

"Hey, Iris. Mr. Bridge, hi."

"Do I know you?"

"Oh, no. We haven't met. Yet. Fully."

Barry turned to Iris, his gaze going back to Mason for a couple glances.

"Uh, Iris, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"We'll catch up later."

"Yeah."

"Nice meeting you, strange young man."

Iris walked with a very giddy Barry as he had a smile perched on his face. Somehow his intrusion had been very... confusing, considering what had been in his mind all day.

"Is everything okay with you and Haylee?"

"Uh... no, that's done."

"Oh, I am so sorry."

"No, no, no, it's okay, we're gonna be friends. Yeah, no, it's gonna be awesome. Uh, anyway, are you--? Are you free tomorrow? Do you want to get some coffee? And we can just talk and just tell each other stuff. I don't know, stuff we got rolling around in there. You know, I don't know."

"Okay, yeah, sure, sounds great."

"Okay, great. Great. All right, I'll see you."

Barry texted Cisco, asking where he was, since he had some good news about what had happened. Getting a reply, he headed towards the closest bar, and walking to a sitting Cisco.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey, man. Thanks for meeting me here. Even though, um, you can't get drunk."

"No worries."

"So, how was your day?"

"Great. But Haylee and I did break up."

"That's the first time I've heard anyone use the word "great" to describe a breakup."

"I have a feeling that I'm about to move forward with someone really special."

Smiling, Cisco nudged Barry and chuckled.

"Okay, go ahead, Barry."

A girl approached the group of friends, making them both turn around, confused but surprised.

"Hi. I don't normally do this, but I was watching you and.. can I buy you a drink?"

Cisco turned to Barry, a smirk on his face as he realized he had scored himself a date.

"Um, wow. I'm really flattered, but I--"

"Actually, I was talking to him."

She motioned to Cisco, Barry turning around and mouth agape.

"Uh, I'm sorry. You said you were talking to me?"

"Yeah, I just told my friends over there that I thought you were cute and they dared me to come over here and talk to you. So.. please talk to me."

Barry smirked, looking at Cisco who the girl was still talking to.

"Yeah, yeah, I suppose I can talk to you for a little bit." Cisco turned to Barry, a smile on his face as he mumbled, "Dude, get out."

"Yeah, I was just leaving." doing the same, he turned to Cisco, "Make me proud."

Barry turned and walked away, leaving Cisco with someone he thought might be perfect for him.

The next day, Barry was waiting for Iris, sitting inside Jitters with two coffee cups on the table. As soon as she walked in, his smile broadened, as he motioned for her to sit down.

"Hey. One incredibly heavy cronut and one Americano with an extra shot."

"Just the way you like it. Yeah, I know. I know you, Iris."

"So, um, what is going on with you? You're acting like Christmas came early."

"Yeah, no I guess it did, kind of."

Barry looked down at Iris' hand and took it into both of his. Smiling, he turned to her, and explained exactly what he was feeling.

"Iris, I still think about you all the time, and I know you've been thinking about me too. So, let's just stop thinking and start doing."

"Barry.."

"I know, I know that we both have awful timing, but we're meant to be--"

"Barry, what are you talking about?"

"You and me. We like each other."

Iris took her hand from his intertwined, crossing her arms and looking at a very confused Barry. She knew what he meant, but he just had a big misunderstanding.

"Barry, we've been over this. Okay? Nothing has changed for me."

"No, but it has."

"How do you know that?"

"I just.. I just know some stuff. Somehow. I don't know, maybe it's like ESP or something--"

"Barry.. I love Eddie, okay? I'm sorry but nothing has changed for me since Christmas. And you can't keep springing this on me, okay? It's not fair that you keep making me the bad guy who keeps telling you no." 

Iris walked out of Jitters, leaving a confused and rejected Barry at the table. He was love-crushed, as he stayed there, contemplating what exactly had happened. Everything he had thought was real, had been erased by the timeline. Rejected, Barry left Jitters and headed towards S.T.A.R. Labs.