(Author's note: This is the first fanfic I've written, so please be gentle. Constructive criticism is always welcome! Thank you Winchester-With-Wings for Betaing!)
Barry's hands were sweating. Today was the day he would tell Iris how he felt. He sat at a table in Jitters waiting for her. He had asked Iris to grab some coffee and he had hoped they would be able to go for a walk at a nearby park where he would confess his feelings for her. Barry wiped his hands on his jeans for the third time in the past 15 minutes. He glanced at his watch and bounced his knee. He had gotten there uncharacteristically early, 20 minutes before he asked Iris to meet him. He had spent the time mentally rehearsing what he would say to her.
What could he possibly say? 'Hey Iris, I know you're still grieving for Eddie and you're kinda dating this other guy, but I was hoping you'd give me a chance?' Barry grimaced, shaking his head. He had come to the conclusion that there wasn't a way to tell her how he felt without embarrassing himself and, possibly, her. The door to Jitters opened and Barry quickly looked at it. Once again, it wasn't Iris.
He ran a hand over his face. He picked up his cell phone and started fiddling with it and scrolling through different apps. He went to check Iris's Instagram account. He smiled as he scrolled through her photos. Some were of her alone, others with Joe and Wally. Even a few of him and her, which made his heart do a little jig.
He had been so engrossed in scrolling through Iris's photos that he didn't notice her approach the table.
"Barry?" Iris said.
Barry jumped and looked up. "Hey Iris," he stuttered as he fumbled with his phone and attempted to close out of the app. When the app seemed to freeze, he held down the power button and shut it down. He looked back at Iris who was looking at him with a smile and raised eyebrows.
Barry cleared his throat and said, "Wanna grab some coffee?"
Iris nodded and said, "Yeah, I could really go for a chai latte."
Barry stood up and shoved his phone in his back pocket. He smiled at Iris, "Awesome! It'll be my treat."
After they had received their coffees, Barry turned to Iris and said, "So, uh, I was wondering if you'd like to like go for a walk around Central City Park?"
"I mean, it's nice out, so I figured why not-" Barry trailed off.
Iris spoke, "That's a great idea!"
Barry and Iris were slowly walking around Central City Park and chatting for the last 10 minutes. He spotted an empty bench ahead of them. 'It's now or never,' he thought.
"Hey, look there's a free bench," Barry thought nodding towards it. "Why don't we sit for a bit?"
Iris said, "Sure. These shoes are killing me anyway," gesturing to the red high heels on her feet.
Barry sat on the bench and Iris plopped down, grimacing.
"I can't believe I thought these were a good idea to try to break in today," she said while removing her shoes.
Barry let out a nervous chuckle and sat his cup of coffee down on the sidewalk. Iris leaned back into the bench and lifted her face towards the sunny sky, smiling. Barry felt his heartbeat pick up and his hands started sweating again. She was so gorgeous.
"It's such a beautiful day today," Iris sighed happily and continued to smile at the sky.
"Yeah, yeah you are," Barry managed to murmur despite his dry mouth.
Iris looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"
"Huh? Oh nothing," Barry stammered and scratched the back of his neck.
"Actually, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," Barry said hesitantly.
Iris tilted her head, "Of course. You can talk to me about anything, Barr."
Barry rubbed his damp hands on his jeans, "Okay, so, I know-" He shook his head, cleared his throat, and started again, "I care about you a lot and I know you're currently seeing that new editor guy-"
Iris interrupted, "Scott?"
Barry had no clue what the guy's name, "Yeah, sure." He continued, "Anyway, I know you've been dating him and-"
Iris chuckled, "Barry, I'm not seeing Scott anymore."
"Oh?" Barry perked up. This made things a bit simpler.
"Yeah, things just weren't..." Iris trailed off, "well I have feelings for someone else."
Barry's heart dropped. Of course, he was, ironically too slow to make a move.
"Oh," he said.
Iris laughed nervously, "Actually I wanted to talk to you about that."
Barry felt his stomach knot, but smiled at her, "Uh, sure," he said.
"Well what did you want to talk about? We can talk about what I wanted after," Iris said.
"Uh ok, well," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, what I wanted to talk to you about is my feelings for you." Barry turned to face Iris and continued, "Iris, I have loved you forever."
Iris bit her lip and nodded.
Barry continued, "I wanted to see if you wanted to go out sometime."
"Like on a date," Barry rushed to include, his voice going a few octaves higher than normal.
Iris laughed and Barry suddenly felt very foolish.
Barry swallowed and spoke, "I mean if you'd like. If not, if I'm just weirding you out, maybe we just forget about this whole-"
Iris interrupted him, "Barry, yes I'd like to go out on a date with you."
"Really?" Barry asked warily.
"Yes, that's actually what I wanted to ask you!" Iris exclaimed.
Barry let out a sigh of relief and he scooted closer to Iris taking her hands, "Awesome! I mean this is great!"
Iris pulled one of her hands free and touched Barry's face. She leaned forward and said softly, "I've waited a long time to do this."
Iris wrapped her hand around the back of Barry's neck and pulled him close. Barry's heart was hammering against his chest as he leaned forward. Iris's eyes had just fluttered shut and Barry's followed soon after. Iris tilted her head right and Barry tilted his left. Their faces smacked together. Both pulled back slightly looking surprised then they both started laughing.
"Let's try that again," Iris said, still laughing.
"Okay, so I'll go left and you'll go left," Barry said, "well, you'll go my right and-"
Iris kissed Barry, cutting him off.
Barry smiled against her lips and murmured, "That works, too."