Away // Snowbarry

XX

"Barry!" I yelled I'm a fit of laughter after he flung his ice cream off his spoon at me.

To get him back, I smeared a whole handful of ice cream I had grabbed out of the container on his face. His response was to lick it off and say, "Mmmm, yummy."

As he sat down in the booth across from me, Joe apologized for being late. He apparently got held up at work trying to explain to Singh why he stopped showing up to work. I couldn't blame him, if I didn't go into work for almost a week, my boss would have had my head.

"So how have you been? How are you and your husband?" Joe asked.

"Good, good. Life without danger and crime is oddly refreshing. It's nice to not have to be worried for my husband's life everyday," I answered.

"This guy treats you right, right?" Joe asked suspiciously to which I nodded, "you know it's weird not having Barry around. It's gotten more normal, but not having his energy in Star Labs, at work, or at home is something that will never feel normal."

I agreed with him but didn't provide further detail. It was hard to talk about things like this because I had no idea what he was going through. One wrong word or sentence and I could end up revealing the whole scheme.

"How has it been here? Fighting crime with Wally and everyone seems like fun," I tried to change the subject.

"It's been good. There's a bit of a dullness without Barry some days but overall we have a good time. Iris has been harder to get through to. She's been so serious, not really opening herself up to anyone," Joe explained.

"She seems a lot better than she was in the few weeks following Barry's death," I mentioned.

Joe agreed. He really wanted Iris to find someone new but she is still being as hesitant as she was after Barry and her broke up. I said something about how it took me time to find someone and just hoped that he would buy it.

Joe being a detective really tested my lying abilities. I had a small hunch he could tell I was lying but I couldn't tell if that was real intuition or anxiety. Barry has always been able to tell right through any lie I've ever tried to tell and he was raised by Joe who no doubt taught him everything he knows.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to visit you. I've been trying to place what happened in the back of my mind," Joe apologized and I could tell he truly felt really bad about not making time to become a part of my new life.

"It's okay, you know you're always welcome," I smiled.

Our conversation was stopped when he received an urgent phone call from work. Joe hurried out of the restaurant as he apologized ferociously to me. I assured him it was okay and watched as he left. Part of me was relieved because I could stop lying to someone I love. The other part of me, however, was sad because spending time with him was fun.

I paid the check with the money Joe had left in his run out and thought about leaving tomorrow. My life with Barry was perfect. At one point in time my life at STAR Labs was but things changed. Ever since I had been back in Central City, I realized that normalcy is what I need to prosper for the rest of my life. 

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