i do dumb things like that

[whenyourenotaround]

i can stop this from happening / You Cannot Stop Protecting This City To Save Me / i won’t let that happen / How Long? / this is not gonna happen / I Can’t Hide From The World, Because Of What You Saw / i can’t lose [you] / Everyone’s Gotta Go Sometime, Right? / i won’t let you die / I’m Not Afraid To Die / the flash is gonna save you / I’m The Only One Who Doesn’t Get The Flash / everything i do is for you / nothing’s gonna take [you] away from me / My Life Isn’t Worth It, If That’s The Cost To Save Me / i love you more than anything / i love you, iris / 

You Lose, Barry. 

[whenyourenotaround]

scenes that never happened (based on this tweet)

[whenyourenotaround]

And that was why. That was why every time Barry looked at her a little longer than he needed to, or stood closer than would have strictly speaking been necessary to see whatever she was showing him, or smiled at her like she was the only thing on earth that had ever been worthy of being smiled at. That was why every time he treated her like more than a friend, but different than a sister, or she caught him watching her when she wasn’t paying attention, or he seemed like maybe he was trying to work up the nerve to say…something. She suspected it could be – but never let herself think just maybe – he could have feelings for her.

It wasn’t that Iris was oblivious. It’s that she was quite observant. And she had been here too many times before to be fooled again.

Ten Words by for-a-small-fe

[whenyourenotaround]

Because both Dad and Barry want you to lay off of it. The phrase "death wish" got tossed around a lot...

[whenyourenotaround]

...it feels like The Flash is this guy my boyfriend becomes when he runs off to save other people. Like I'm the only one who doesn't get The Flash. He felt separate from you.

[whenyourenotaround]

“You have to stop blaming yourself for things you can’t control.”

“You’re always telling me that.”

“Because you never listen.”

She finally allowed him to kiss her and he reasoned with her;

“It was so close though.”

She smiled wickedly as she asked;

“To the boob?”

He could’t find humour at her joke. She could have died and he wouldn’t have been fast enough to save her.

“To the heart.”

Her grin dropped as she pulled him away by the hair and ordered;

“You have to let go, Barry”

He feigned pain as he asked;

“Wow! Ok! Can you let go of my hair?” and as she did he informed her; “By the way I love your other scars too.”

She rolled her eyes to it, shaking her head, and he kissed his way through them, saying;

“The appendicitis one, the one from the time you fell off the skate”, which was on her inner thigh. Iris had landed on a tree branch that day, and Barry had never yelled as loud as he did when he called Joe, who was back inside the house, petrified by amount of blood that suddenly filled her clothes, not knowing if he should leave her to get Joe or stay with her, and all Iris did was whine about the hole that had ruined her favourite shorts while the thing was stuck inside her thigh.

“The chickenpox one”, he continued, she had given it to him when they were in 4th grade and they both spend the week itching like hell while his mom, who took care of both of them while they couldn’t go back to school, kept telling them they were going to scar.

That last one was barely visible. It had faded to nothingness during the years, which she pointed out now. But it was right by her upper lip, so he took gladly as an excuse to kiss it. “And I was there every time”, he concluded.

She smiled back at him, as something sweet filled her eyes, brushing his hair off his forehead, and for a moment there was no room for guilt, just gratefulness as she confirmed;

“Yes, you were.”

Skin by iriswestthings

[whenyourenotaround]

[whenyourenotaround]

All I ever want is for you to be happy

I have everything I need

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scenes that never happened (based on this post)

[whenyourenotaround]

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“You are the most adorable nerd,” she would say, her nose scrunching up as she laughed at him. She’d nudge him and smile as his face warmed up all over.

Cisco would interject, most likely, but Iris would quickly shut it down. “Sorry Cisco,” she would insist, “Bear’s degree of cute is unparalleled by even you.”

what it was like by nicdelenf

[whenyourenotaround]

“Your heart rate is at 90 beats per minute.” Her voice sounds strange and thin in the wide expanse of the S.T.A.R Labs main building, and she feels self-conscious beneath the inquisitive eyes of the engineering tech. Swallowing the shaking in her voice, she presses on, “For real though Barry, that’s...that’s too fast. Am I just taking your breath away or something?”

That’s not funny, and she hears a spluttering noise of disapproval (she assumes) from the engineering tech. She considers shutting up and sitting there in her folding chair for another hour in silence, but the idea of doing nothing for so long, of trying to be a good human and holding Barry’s hand while hating every second of it absolutely horrifies her.

She tries taking it slower. “I’m trying, Barry.” It feels strange to call the motionless, immovable figure on the bed by her best friend’s name. ‘Barry’ is the word for excitement, for happiness, for laughter, for brownies and smiles, too much coffee and not enough beer. There is none of that in the person she is directing her words at.

Angels Watch Me by MockingBlue

[whenyourenotaround]

“You come here an awful lot,” she said when he appeared in front of her. “I hope that means you like your coffee, Cisco.”

“Well, Iris,” he said, and she paused for a second before breaking out into a huge grin. “I like other things about this shop, too.”

She wrote his name on his cup and passed it along to the girl working the latte machine. “Oh?” she asked. “What other things?”

You, he thought. I like you. Iris the barista. I like you. “Your muffins,” he said. “Top notch baked goods up in here.”

Untitled by journalistiriswest

[whenyourenotaround]

[whenyourenotaround]

“You remember the first time we drank together?”

Barry snorts when he remembers, “yeah, we were 13 and we snuck that beer and drank it together in the linen closet during the Christmas party your dad threw.”

Iris laughs loudly at that. “No, I mean, after then. The first time we drank for real.” She leans in close and lets her shoulder brush his. “We were - it was college. And I’d just finished my finals, and we were going to drive home together the next day, and we got drunk on those hard lemonade things you had - ”

“Oh yeah!” Barry recalls happily. “I remember that night.”

“You told me I saved your life. You said the fact that I believed you - when we were kids - saved your life.” Barry’s eyes went soft and Iris smiled. “You said it meant a lot. Knowing I believed what you believed.”

“It meant everything,” Barry insists genuinely.

“Well, that’s why. Why I need people to believe in him. Because somewhere, out there - ” Iris stands up and looks out over the rooftop into the city and Barry does the same and follows her gaze. “Somewhere out there, Barry, there’s a little…Barry.” She grins up at him with boundless affection and he can’t help but smile back. “And he’s seeing his very first impossible. A man who can turn himself into iron or set himself on fire or run at the speed of light. And I hope he has an Iris to believe in him. So he can keep believing. So that he’ll learn he’s worth believing in. So that he can trust what he sees with his own eyes, even when it’s impossible. Especially when it’s impossible. That’s why I have to make sure people believe in him, Barry. For all the Barrys out there who don’t have an Iris.”

“I hope every Barry has an Iris.” Barry breathes.

The Very First Impossible by for-a-small-fe

[whenyourenotaround]

[whenyourenotaround]

The door to her room stays shut.

“I just wanted to say,” Barry's voice is low, quiet, on the other side, and she has to strain to hear. She can hear a soft thud, like he just leaned against the door. She could just open it. Forgive him. End this now. But that’s not how they work. They don’t do this. They trust each other, tell each other everything. He didn’t trust her then, and she can’t trust him now. Equal opportunity betrayal. She’s not the forgiving type. Never has been, “that it’s the worst mistake I’ve ever made."

She fills the pause with memories. Far too many to keep count of.

“Worse than the time you accidentally bleached your hair?”

She didn’t at all mean to-

He's silent for a moment. She can hear the undertone of hope in his voice when he says next, “pretty close.”

She doesn't know what to say. She wants to, still. Something. But she doesn't know what. How could you do this and please come back to me sound too melodramatic, and she can't think of anything else. She's never had to think of anything before.

"It's okay if you don't want to forgive me," he continues, when the silence stretches. The hope replaced with resignation. It sucks to know someone so well, she decides, "never want to forgive me. But I'll wait anyway. I'm always here. Around. Anytime you want- need- me. I can run faster than sound, Iris, so all you've got to do is call.”

winter, spring, summer, or fall. all you have to do is call.

He's always loved that song.

"Hey," she says, and it's so ridiculous and so cheesy and so Barry, she can feel something inside her spill over with warmth, "don't push your luck."

"Sorry."

your dirty mouth, full of honest lies by youcallitwinter