A/N: This one was requested by Mario (Guest). They didn't specify the show or characters, but based on the story they commented on I made an assumption on what they were wanting. I hope I assumed right, and if not please let me know and I'll write another one with the proper characters and show. I hope you enjoy this Mario! R&R! :)
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Prompt #5: "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"
Characters: Barry Allen/The Flash & Iris West from The Flash
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If there was one thing predictable about Barry's life since he became The Flash, it was that nothing in his life was ever predictable. Somedays he could go to work like a normal person and go out for lunch with his best friend without anything going wrong. Other days he had to speed off to save someone and pray that Iris wouldn't get herself into any danger while trying to get a good picture of him or a quote for her blog. Sometimes the bad guy was just your normal everyday criminal with a gun trying to rob a bank—those were the easy days. Other times the criminal was a meta-human who could move objects with his mind—those days sucked. And then there were days like this one, where the most unusual thing to happen was not a super powered meta-human.
It was almost time for Barry to leave his day job when he heard the familiar ping on his phone, the one that told him Iris had updated her blog. Sparring a quick glance at his phone he read the message.
"Meet me tonight? Ten o'clock. You know where."
Rolling his eyes he stuffed his phone back into his pocket and returned to packing up his bag readying to leave. He loved being able to talk to Iris as The Flash, it meant being able to flirt with her and not needing to worry about wrecking their friendship. But it also meant that one of his enemy's might be able to make a connection between the two of them if they kept meeting like this. He hadn't even planned to keep returning as The Flash for their late night randevú . But he had always had a hard time saying no when it came to Iris, and he definitely couldn't just ignore her. His other big worry with these meetings was the fact that Iris was flirting back. Not that he minded her flirting with him, it was just the fact that she wasn't really flirting with him that bothered Barry.
It was The Flash that Iris was flirting with, and while they were technically the same person, she didn't know that. For some reason, that bothered him. Maybe it was the fact that she was flirting with him, that she liked him, and he could never tell her the truth. Or maybe it was because he was worried that she would be disappointed if she ever did find out the truth, disappointed that her mysterious hero was nothing more that her nerdy childhood best friend. Barry wanted Iris to like him as more than a best friend or a brother. He wanted her to like him, Barry, in that way. Not just his alter ego, but all of him. Knowing that the love of your life liked your alter ego in that way, but not you, was actually maddening. It was enough to drive anyone insane, really.
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At precisely ten o'clock in the evening Iris heard the bell on the front door at Jitters chime before she was left standing on the buildings roof trying to regain her balance. He had carried her up here several times now but she still always felt slightly disorientated for a few seconds. She supposed that she always would feel that way, and then began to wonder if he felt it too.
"Does that ever make you disorientated, running like that?" She said voicing her thoughts.
"No, not really." He replied from behind her, "Why? Is it really that bad?"
He was disguising his voice again, and not for the first time Iris found herself wondering why. She spun around to face him as she gave her response, and as usual, his form was cloaked in the shadows that the building and street lamps cast off along the roof.
"Only for a second or two." She told him with a gentle smile. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything." The Flash answered in a teasing tone, "I can't guarantee I'll answer though."
Iris gave a small laugh before asking. "Why do you always mask your voice like that?"
"For your protection. Secret identity, remember?"
"And I suppose you'd have to kill me if I knew it?" The girl teased.
"Who, me?" The Flash said pretending to be hurt. "Why, I would never hurt you Iris."
The pair shared a brief laugh before he became serious again and gave her a less comical answer. "I would never hurt you Iris, but my enemies would. They'd kill you if they had to, to get to me."
"I know they would, Flash, but its not like I'd recognize your voice. I don't even know your name."
For some reason, he seemed to find that comical because even through the shadows and his blurred face she could see the slight smirk that appeared on his face as he replied. "Its just a precaution. You can never be to careful."
"Well then I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming about what your voice really sounds like." She told him.
"I guess you will." He told her as he took a step out of the shadows.
"And I'll have to keep dreaming about what you really look like under that mask too, I suppose?" She teased taking a step forward.
Her roof top companion laughed taking a second step forward. "Oh, so you're dreaming about me now?"
"Hmm." She hummed in response taking another step. "Maybe just a little."
To Iris's disappointment he didn't take a third step closer. "Really?"
"Yes, really." She laughed as she moved a step closer still. "Is that a bad thing?"
Apparently she had gotten too close to him for his own comfort, because The Flash sped to the other side of the roof before responding. "Not at all. I just never realized I had that kind of effect of you."
Iris spun around to face him, "Maybe I'm just intrigued by a little mystery. I guess my curiosity gets the better of me sometimes."
"You know, curiosity killed the cat, right?"
"Yea. But satisfaction brought him back." She said finishing the quote.
"Touché." The Flash laughed.
The next thing Iris West knew, she was standing in the now fully cleaned dinning area of Jitters, and her mystery superhero was nowhere to be found.
"One of these days," she told herself, once again trying to regain her balance, "I'm going to find away to get use to that."
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It was Saturday, which meant Barry had the day off work—at least from his day job—and Iris had a late morning through early afternoon shift at Jitters. By the time Iris's shift came to an end, she had seen The Flash three times on the café's television screen. She would have to write about it on her blog, but The Flash news was just going to have to wait until later, because she had plans with Barry. He was going to meet her at Jitters when her shift ended and the pair was going to get lunch together before heading to the movies. The girl was just clocking out for the day when she caught sight of her best friend walking through the door. When he spotted her he gave her a brilliant smile that made his entire face light up, and when ever Barry Allen smiled at her like that, Iris's heart melted.
She felt the corners of her mouth tug upward in an involuntary smile as she gave him a wave and walked out from behind the counter. He returned the wave and began walking in her direction as she walked in his so that they met in the middle. "Hey Iris." He greeted as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug which she gladly returned.
"Hey Bar." The barista grinned before releasing him from her grip.
"How was your shift?" He knew the answered, but she seemed to enjoy venting to him, so he always asked her anyway.
"Lots of rude customers, as always. I had one guy knock his coffee off of the table because he was too busy on his phone to notice where he was sticking his elbows while he ate. And he had the nerve to blame me for his spilled coffee." Iris complained as the exited the café.
Barry scoffed, "And what excuse did he find to blame you with?"
"He said that I put the cup to close to the edge. I mean, can you believe that guy?" She said loudly, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"Stupidity at its finest." Her friend agreed as they walked down the street.
"Right?" The girls ask, not waiting for an answer before changing the topic. "Oh, hey, I wanted to tell you about something!" She began excitedly.
"What's that?"
"The Flash." She knew he didn't care about the hero, and he hated that she ran an entire blog about him, but she was ready to burst with excitement if she didn't tell him. "I talked to him last night."
"Did you?" Barry asked, his voice tight.
"Yes!" She was practically squealing with joy. "And I know you think that my blog about him is dangerous, and you probably think that this is dangerous too, but its just so nice knowing that there is somebody out there protecting people. People deserve to know that he's out there, that he is real."
"Yea, but—" he began before Iris cut him off.
"He does so much good Barry. I mean, just today I saw on the news that he took the time to help a little girl get her cat out of the tree in her back yard, stopped a robbery, and saved a family from a car crash. You can't tell me its not amazing what he's doing."
"I'm not saying he's not helping people Iris." His voice was still tight. "I just don't want your obsession with this guy to get you hurt."
"My obsession?" She laughed. She had never thought of it as an obsession before. Iris had always viewed it as more of a hobby.
"You're obsessed Iris. And the way you right about him on your blog, its like your romanticizing him or something. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were in love with the guy or something."
"What?" Iris laughed in surprise. Of course she didn't love The Flash. She liked him, she liked him a lot actually, and sure they flirted. But she didn't love him. She loved Barry, not that she'd ever tell him that, of course.
"Don't be ridiculous, Bar, I am so not in love with The—" she paused as if realizing something. The way he was acting whenever she mentioned The Flash, it was almost like—
"Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" She asked him before she could stop the words from coming out of her mouth. Maybe it was her own hope that he could feel the same way towards her that coaxed the words out, but now that they were out she was almost scared of what the answer might be.
"Uh, what?" He said in disbelief, he let out a nervous laugh and snorted. "What? No. No way. No. Me? Jealous? Of you and The Flash" He let out a puff of air that mimicked the obscene noised all of the boys use to make in the fifth grade. "No way. Absolutely not. Not at all."
"You're rambling Bar." She pointed out.
And of course he knew that he was, but her question had taken him off guard. She had unknowingly asked him if he was jealous of his alter ego. How was he suppose to anticipate that one? But the sad thing was, once she had asked him if he was jealous of The Flash, he realized that he was. Even though it was him in the suit, she didn't know that. She flirted with The Flash all of the time, but never him. And he envied having her flirt with him that way.
"I know." He said at last, letting out a heavy sigh.
"So, you are jealous?" She smiled at him, teasingly.
"No, I—" he pause and corrected himself, sighing in defeat. She knew him too well and was sure she would know he was lying if he tried to deny it now. "Maybe just a little."
She was smiling at him now, in that same playful and flirty way she smiled at The Flash. Barry—rather awkwardly—tried to return the smile, but it came off looking just as awkward as he felt and he knew it.
Iris gave a soft laugh at his attempted smile. "Don't be." She said as she leaned over placing a soft and gentle kiss on his cheek. "If any, I think The Flash should be jealous of you."
At her words, his awkward smile turned into a bright and genuine one. And as the two walked to lunch, their arms now linked together, Iris thought that maybe someday she could tell Barry that she loved him after all.
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A/N: Yay! Another prompt complete! I love writing these prompts, so keep sending me more guys. R&R! :)