Author's Note: Hello! Welcome to this collection of what will be one-shots or mini-stories of Belén/Barry and their world. This particular one-shot is an extension of chapter 12 (Not Alone) from the actual story (It Had To Be You) listed on my profile! This chapter can actually be considered canon within the story :)

Alright, so maybe his bedroom hadn't been left in the neatest state after moving out. Barry took in a breath after gazing at his old bedroom in the Wests' residence. Belén was downstairs, sleeping on the couch, waiting to be moved to her temporary guest room until she felt well enough to live on her own. If it wasn't for Joe using the spare room for storage, Belén could have taken that one. Unfortunately, no one could have predicted the man in yellow would be making a comeback and murdering Belén's father.

But...here they were.

Barry exhaled just before speeding around his room to leave it more presentable, as Iris had suggested before leaving for her shift at Jitters. It took him about a minute or so to make the room decent enough.

When he crept back downstairs he saw nothing had changed in the living room. The television he left on was still going on, muted of course, and Belén was fast asleep on the couch. Barry walked up to the couch and peered from the back to see Belén. She hadn't even moved.

She must be really tired, he thought.

He moved around the couch and wondered how best to take her to his room without waking her up. Speeding was clearly out of the question. He would have to do it the old fashion way: walking.

"Please don't wake up, please don't wake up," he whispered as he lowered down to pick her up. He carefully slid one arm under her back and the other under her legs and began to bring her up. His arm under her back had to somehow move closer to her neck without waking her up.

If he woke her up, Barry was sure Iris would kill him.

His heart nearly stopped when Belén suddenly breathed in just a little louder than a sleeping person would. He froze midway up the staircase and watched her head move a little. Fortunately, it seemed like she was just trying to find a more comfortable way to sleep - his arm was probably not the best place. Her head lulled against his chest, and the best part was her breathing returned to normal which meant she wouldn't be waking up (God, he hoped!).

He gently kicked his bedroom door to open wider and made a beeline for his bed. He'd pulled the covers before coming for her so he had an easy time putting Belén down. After bringing the covers over her, he made his best effort to silently walk out of the room but...he missed that small beaker on the floor (one of the countless, useless beakers he'd gotten from a flea market). His yelp of nearly tripping over and the fact the beaker actually shattered was enough to wake anyone up.

Belén gasped and immediately sat upright with wide, blinking eyes.

Now Iris is going to kill me, Barry shut his eyes.

Behind him, Belén was taking in the fact she was on an unknown bed and unknown bedroom. "Where am I?" she whispered, her eyes flickering from one side to the next.

Barry turned around and apologetically waved. My God I'm a dork, he berated himself. "Belén, you're at Iris', remember?" he walked towards the bed, motioning with his hands everything was fine (under what fit anyways). "You're staying here…"

"Right…" Belén seemed to be breathing a little harder than normal. "I just...I was...I think I was dreaming…"

Barry could assume the subject. "Your Dad?"

Belén gave a small nod. She visibly swallowed hard and brought a hand to her cheek, her fingers pressing against her skin as the images came back to mind. "I think my brain was actually reconstructing the murder even though I wasn't even there - oh my God!" her eyes widened with full blown fear. "Why would I do that!?"

"Because you're mourning, because you're mad, because...because you are just trying to make sense of it," Barry answered with full blown honesty. Hit the rewind button and this was him as a kid after his mother's murder. "Belén-" he sighed and sat down on the side of the bed, "-this is just a part of it. I'm sorry, that's not helpful, but…"

"I don't want you to lie to me either," Belén let her hand fall to the mattress. "My Dad was murdered and I've got no way to find that guy so this is how my mind punishes me. Fitting."

"Oh no, not fitting at all," Barry shook his head. "You are not going to do that-"

"-you did," she interrupted him with a quiet, yet truthful statement. "I know especially after what happened you're probably on some crusade to not only get revenge for your mom but for my dad too." Barry looking away was proof enough of her words. "This speedster really did a number on us."

"I'm gonna find him," Barry declared, proving her point but he didn't care. The truth was this man in yellow needed to answer for his crimes and now he finally had the means to catch him.

Belén's nod was passing, like she wasn't really present. It was a combination of the situation and her lack of sleep. "Who's room is this?" she noticed the fact there were no articles sprawled around like Iris usually had.

"Mine," Barry answered, and cleared his throat. "Iris figured you would probably want a room to yourself in the meantime and since Joe has the spare room as storage I, uh...I just...brought you here…"

Belén smiled lightly. "Thank you."

Feeling rather awkward, Barry began to get up from the bed. "You're welcome. Um...good night…" Belén's smile faltered, something Barry noticed. "What's wrong?"

"As a kid...when you first came to live with Iris and Joe, um...how did you get...past the nights?"

Because the nights were always more difficult. Barry was definitely no stranger to the hard nights full of nothing but thoughts about his mother and the man who killed her. He felt alone. And now, seeing Belén make circles on the mattress, he knew she was feeling like the loneliest person ever. It didn't matter that she had friends who loved her, or remaining family who loved her, because at this moment her thoughts were on her father who was no longer here.

"I'm not going to lie," he began, taking a seat beside her, "Five out of the seven days of the week I slept on the floor beside Iris' bed." He swallowed hard at the reminders of those nights. "Sometimes you just need to know that there's someone beside you, someone who's not going to leave like…"

"Like your Mom did," Belén was staring at him with sympathy. "Like...my Dad did…"

Barry met her gaze with an exact replica. They remained like this, staring at each other in silence, for a long minute. It wasn't until it dawned on Barry their closeness and the circumstances that he made a push to leave her. "You need your rest. Iris will be back later tonight if you need anything-"

"Don't go," the words left Belén's mouth before she could even think. Barry of course froze at the request while Belén processed what she actually said. Her head turned to the side, her mouth open to fix her mistake. I have to say something or soon Barry's going to start thinking I'm weird - of course I'm weird for even asking him that. Why would I say that? Why would I ever-

"Sure," Barry's answer cut her thoughts off before she entered some sort of panic attack.

Her eyes widened as she returned her gaze to him. "You...you would…?"

Barry's smile meant he wasn't thinking she was weird. Right? Pull it together, Belén! She inwardly berated herself.

"I want to be that person you know is going to be right beside you, never leaving you," he sat back down on the bed and the moment he did Belén lunged on him for a hug. He laughed and patted her back, but she'd taken his words to heart.

"You are the kindest person I have ever met," she hugged him tightly.

Barry sobered from his laughter and got serious when he heard her words. "I'm just doing what anyone else would do." This was what Joe and Iris had done for him when he was a kid, and now he wanted to do the same for Belén. He pulled away from Belén and gave her a reassuring nod that he would not leave until she was okay.

Even though it was weird, Belén felt a sense of security with Barry. He was sweet and overly kind even when one didn't deserve it. It also didn't hurt that he was actually the Flash but that wasn't what made her feel safe. It was just him and the way that he was.

"I don't want to be alone, Barry, so...thank you," she whispered.

"Of course, Bells," he held her close to him since it didn't appear she wanted to lay down on her own.

Belén never realized when she was falling asleep. When she did fall asleep, Barry stayed still for a couple of minutes until she was truly fast asleep. In the meanwhile of his wait, he noticed how different she breathed when she was asleep. It was peaceful, barely audible actually, and a stark difference from when she was waking up. With any luck, the peacefulness would translate into her dreams and she would sleep through the night.

He really hoped she would find peace in general soon. He and the rest of their friends wanted to see the old Belén back as soon as possible.