35

Barry and I were the only ones in the cortex, both sitting, him in his wheelchair, and myself on the ground in front of him, refusing to grab a chair for myself, as I leant against the wall.

We both knew why we wanted to talk, we wanted to figure out what we were. But neither of us knew how to start to conversation. I play with my hands as he glances around the room, just sitting in silence.

"Are you okay?" Barry asks quietly, his eyes landing on me, "You've been pretty quiet."

"I should be asking if you're okay." I say to him, my voice whispered, as I referred to everything that happened with Zoom.

"I'll be okay- you don't need to worry about me." He pauses, "What was Zoom referring to- when he said what he said to you?"

"What did he say?" I ask dumbfounded, trying not to go back to that, but asking that just made it harder. "That you knew how it felt- watching someone you care about die, right in front of you."

"He was talking about my mom, Barry." I speak weakly, "I don't understand how he knows about it, though. He doesn't know me at all- how would he know my family life?"

Barry stays silent, not knowing how to answer my question, as I fall into silence too. We both sat there in silence once again.

"We never made it official." Barry speaks, breaking the silence. I look up at him right when he spoke, blinking once. "I guess we were so caught up in everything happening, we didn't really think about what we were." I reply quietly, sitting up, folding my hands together.

He looks at me, his face serious, but a grin still playing on his lips, "You make me happy, Zee. I've- been so- pinned over you."

My heart stops due to what I was hearing right now, trying my best to hold back a smile, not believing that this was coming out of his mouth. "I've had these- feelings. for a while- I just didn't know- that they were those type of feelings. The day you came to my lab- and convinced me to go to the Flash Day Parade, I realized that- I value what you have to say about everything- more than I knew."

"That was the day I realized I had these feelings for you. But then- you told me you were with Peter- and I decided I was going to try and move on from it- because it was probably just a phase." He pauses, "It wasn't just a phase."

He continues to speak, "That's why I started to try and- be with Patty. Cisco basically called me out one day about how there was someone right in front of me, who actually likes me, but instead I was pinning over a girl that I couldn't have. He meant Iris- but. I knew that it was about you." He pauses yet again, just spilling everything out, "I'm happy around you. No matter how horrible my day gets, you somehow make me feel better- I find myself laughing or smiling whenever I'm with you."

A small smile appears on my lips, as he speaks one last time, "I wanna make this official."

My eyes widen slightly, "Official? As in boyfriend and girlfriend? As in you being my boyfriend and I being your girlfriend? As in- a couple?" He stops me from talking, seeing that I was now rambling, a small laugh leaving his mouth, "Yes. As in boyfriend and girlfriend."

Before I could stop myself, I jump up to my feet and grab onto his face, pressing my lips into his. He kisses back for a second then mumbles, "I guess, I got my answer."

Joe, Iris, and I stood by the speed lab as Barry ran on the treadmill, finally on his feet. Joe encourages him as I stood by Iris, watching him.

"So, you gonna tell me what's up with you and Barry?" Iris nudges me, my head snapping in her direction, a smile playing on my lips.

"We're- together, now." I say quietly, as she gasps lightly, a smile covering her lips, "Finally!"

I smile, then look back at Barry, who was now running faster, but something clicks in him as he stops, falling off the treadmill.

A gasp leaves my mouth as Iris shouts Barry's name, as we all run in by him.

"Are you okay?" Iris asks, as he groans, my hands grabbing onto his forearm, helping him up. He lightly shrugs me off, his hand going to his back as he steps back onto the treadmill, "Oh, yeah, you know, I'm not great, right now."

"What happened?" Joe asks, as Barry bends over then crouches, his hand going to his hair, "Its nothing- I'm good- all right? Just forget it."

"Barry, you're not good." My voice comes out threaded with concern, "You snapped out of focus- you were thinking about something- you can talk to us about it." I say.

"I wasn't thinking about anything." He snaps at me, causing me to shut up, knowing he wasn't doing good, so it wasn't best to say anything else.

"Barry- talk to us. We can help you." Iris speaks, but Barry speaks again, "No- you can't help me, not this time, I'm sorry." He says, not making eye contact with us.

He slowly stands back up, "You wouldn't understand." He sits down onto the treadmill.

I sigh quietly before Iris grabs my arm, the two of us leaving the room.

Hopefully Joe can get something out of Barry.