Frozen Hearts

Chapter 14

OK so this chapter had a bit of a lasting reaction with the AO3 shippers so I thought I'd just let you know. You might not like what's coming
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[Iris]

The sound of his voice sent a fearful chill through her, coating her skin in petrified goosebumps. She hadn't been that close to him since the day of the accident, the prick didn't care enough to check up on her after and she wouldn't have had it any other way. She wanted to remain as far away from him as she possibly could. But there he was, in the flesh with the same nauseating voice and overly expensive cologne. Thankfully Barry stepped infront of her giving her a small sence of security and a menacing laugh emanated from Eddie forcing her to close her eyes. She took deep breaths, remembering her PTSD management techniques and tried to calm herself down.

"What's wrong honey? Scared you're gonna fall in love with me again?" he taunted taking a step towards her but Barry shifted blocking his way.
"Don't you dare speak to her that way." He warned in a low voice and she heard Eddie give off another chuckle.
"Who's gonna stop me? You? You could barely keep your own bitch in check, you think you can afford to take on a side piece?" He mused, "Your lucky my brother didn't sue your ass for assault."
"He's lucky I didn't send his ass to the emergency room." Barry spat back.
"What on earth is going on here?" Patti's voice cut through the tension as she pushed through the crowd towards them. Her features furrowed into a look of annoyance when her eyes landed on Eddie and she folded her arms across her chest as she said,
"Oh heck no. What the hell are you doing here Eddie?"
"Stay out of this Patti." Barry growled and Eddie let out a laugh of disbelief.
"Holly shit this is priceless. You actually took the team slut back. My, how the mighty have fallen." he guffawed.
"Get out Eddie. You're not welcome here." Barry demanded and Eddie answered with an arrogant grin.
"I'll leave, I'll go. But only if Iris escorts me out." he negotiated and Iris felt her stomach lurch at the prospect of being alone with the freak.
"I'm not letting you anywhere near her." Barry stood up for her and her heart swelled with gratitude.
"Then I'm not going anywhere." Eddie stood his ground.
"You better get the hell out or I'll throw you out myself!" Barry's voice rose in volume as his anger significantly grew and when Iris looked down she noticed that Barry's hands had tightened to fists at his side. The room had gone quiet and all eyes were on them. She spotted a number of camera phones pointed at the three of them and if footage of Barry in a fight got out he might tarnish his reputation for good and it would all have been her fault. Iris couldn't live with herself if that had to happen so she put her game face on and turned around, placing her hand on Barry's shoulder to calm him down.
"It's OK Bear. I can handel this." She said and stepped out from behind him to face the brut before them.

Barry's hand clamped around her fore arm in a firm but gentle gesture of protection.
"Trust me Iris, you don't know this guy like I do. He's not your average kind of dick." He warned. She looked back and searched his eyes, realising that Barry didn't know about her relationship with Eddie. It was either that or he simply didn't want to believe that it was true but if they were going to be partners (and to a certain extent friends) again he would have to find out sooner or later.
"Considering the fact that for a brief and regretful moment of my life we were actually an item, I find that hard to belive. If any one here knows what he's capable of it's me." She responded embarrassed, then watched as the colour drained from Barry's face.
"Aww, glad to see that I was that memorable to you." Eddie teased and Iris shot him her best  'shut the fuck up' glare.
"It's hard to forget your greatest mistake Eddie." She retaliated then looked back at Barry as she felt his hand let go of her arm. He was backing away from her with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
"You OK Bear?" She asked reaching for him in concern but he snatched his arms away before she could reach him, his face twisted with disgust. Iris felt a sharp stab go through her heart as he looked at her with sickened eyes.

"You...You actually..." he couldn't seem to bring himself to finish the thought.
"What? Dated me? Do you believe me now you wuss?" Eddie taunted and Iris addressed him with her back still to him.
"Shut up you idiot you've done enough damage as it is."
"Iris why? Why would you stoop so low?" Barry asked, his pained confusion clear in his voice.
"I'm not really in the mood to discuss my past relationship errors Barry. Let's just say that I was in a dark place and shit happened." she answered, growing a little irritated. Who was he to judge? Walking around with an over produced Barbie doll.
"I thought you were better than this. I fought for you. There were countless times when I was on the verge of losing everything just to defend your honour. Because I belived in you. I couldn't bring myself to believe that you had turned into a partying, shameless whore, but I guess I was wrong. All that was for nothing." Barry confessed. He wasn't angry. He wasn't hurt but his voice was coated with a genuine disappointment which made it seem like he believed, every word he had just said.

Iris looked at him in disbelief. She had been shocked silent. After all that they had been through together and all he had put her through when he left, he still had the nerve to question her integrity. Her already broken heart acquired a new crack but the pain was so familiar to her that an outburst wasn't necessary. Though she felt the tears stinging the back of her eyes she maintained her composure and simply looked at him dead in the eye.
"You know what Barry, I'm sorry, I'm such a disappointment to you OK? I'm sorry that you left me heartbroken, promised to call then ghosted me for seven straight years...."
"Ghosted you!" he interrupted.
"You were the one who wouldn't return any of my texts. I tried for years and then I simply got tired of getting my hopes up when you were clearly never gonna reply!"
"Lying isn't a good look on you Barry." she stated.
"I'm not the liar in the room Iris and as heartbreaking as it is I'm glad you're finally showing your true colours. Saves me the trouble of finding out when it's too late." he spat. Iris let out a sound of unbelieving desperation before she shook her head and slung her hand bag over her shoulders.
"You know what I didn't come here to get insulted. I came because I thought that it was a genuine invitation from a friend." she professed, keeping her voice steady despite her desperate need to cry.
"Guess we were both mistaken." Barry shrugged bitterly.
"I'm out of here. I'll see you at practice. Hopefully by then you'll have regained your senses." she turned around and made her way out but not before she heard Barry say,
"Don't bet on it and do me a favour, take your pimp with you."
She stopped dead in her tracks, unable to process what she had just heard, but decided that it wasn't worth the fight and simply carried on walking. To her relief, Eddie didn't follow and as soon as the elevator doors shut she let her frustrations run down her face.