Within Seconds // Barry Allen

This Love

Parker wasn't very awake while Barry chased after the Royal Flush Gang.

Her eyes were fluttering while Dr.Wells fired off directions for Barry. After the first sentence, her eyes shut completely. 

Jolted awake by Cisco pushing her hand out from under her chin, Parker stood to greet Barry. 

Sauntering into the Cortex, he went directly to Parker, sliding his arms around her middle. Her hands stayed on his chest, centering around the Flash symbol.

"Hi, baby."

"I'm going to assume you did well," Parker said tiredly.

Barry always loved that look. When she kept her head level and looked at him through those dark eyelashes; when the only the corners of her mouth were allowed to be raised.

His smile went from arrogance to complete adoration.

"Lovebirds! Break it up, we need a picture."

Both turned their heads to Cisco with inquiry.

"I'm pretty sure rule number one of having a secret identity is not taking pictures of yourself in your super suit without a mask on.." Barry fretted.

Parker grinned. "Aw, you're learning."

"Oh, come on, please!" Cisco begged. "This is just for us. We're documenting all this!"

Dr.Wells sighed. "Who knows? Maybe people in the future will want to know how all this happened."

"All right, well, if you want the future to have the whole story, then, we all need to be in it," Barry decided.

"First, let me put on some makeup?" Caitlin asked.

"The future doesn't care about your makeup," Cisco said.

"Yeah, I don't have make up on. Neither does Cisco. If we all look like crap, at least we're doing it together," Parker giggled.

Caitlin smiled and stood beside Dr.Wells.

Parker stood on her tip toes, her arms wrapped around Cisco's neck and her head on his shoulder.

"Say cheese.." Barry muttered.

He clicked the button, zipped behind Dr.Wells to pose, then caught the phone before it fell through the air.

"Does that count as a selfie?" Caitlin wondered.

"Absolutely."

Cisco waited until Barry walked away to look at the picture.

There was a surprisingly good picture of the S.T.A.R Labs workers, and then the real pictures he wanted to see: Barry and Parker's interactions in the last minutes. 

He was secretive about it, and at the time, both were clueless about it.

>>>>

Barry was sitting on the kitchen island while Parker twirled around the kitchen.

Like we've previously mentioned, Parker was not much of a cook. She made very basic foods.

That specific day, she felt a little spark of hope in her cooking ability. Calling it an 'exotic food,' Parker tried to make broccoli and cheese soup.

Parker was busy dancing around the kitchen, leaving Barry to sit patiently on the table and watch her.

Watching her was interesting for a minute, then Barry got bored.

A round of Questions was introduced to keep Barry from being bored, and to challenge Parker's ability to multitask.

"If you were a cartoon, what outfit would you be drawn in?" Barry wondered.

"Skinny jeans and a red sweatshirt with Central City Track Team on it."

"You weren't on the track team.."

"You are correct," Parker agreed. She dipped a spoon into the pot of soup and slipped it into her mouth, generally surprised by how good it tasted. "But I thought it was funny. You run fast.. Track team..? Get it? Because I'm apart of--"

"The team!" Barry finished, then chuckled. "You're a dork."

Parker wrapped her arms around Barry's waist, standing between his legs.

"Yes, I'm the dork," she teased.

Barry made sure his lips made an obnoxious noise when he kissed her forehead.

"Park, are we ever going to go on a date? I mean, this is a date--"

Parker waved her spoon wildly in the air, fully disagreeing. "You lived with me. I don't count anything at our houses as a date."

"Fine," Barry frowned. "One day I'll take you out on a date."

"Can't wait, sweetheart."

>>>>>

Following tradition of their nights together, Parker and Barry were tangled within each other, under an excessive amount of blankets.

The two were forced out of heavenly slumber by a pounding on the door.

"Add 'no other people' to the list of reasons I like sleeping at your house better," Barry grumbled.

"Barry!" Joe yelled through the door. He paused, then continued, "And Parker, if she's there."

Parker rolled over and curled further into Barry's tight embrace. A muffled, "What? Nooo," came from her.

"Whatever. Someone broke into Dr.Wells' house. We're needed. I figured Parker would want to come. You two can invite Cisco and Caitlin."

Halfway through Joe's sentence, Parker and Barry sprung apart.

Normally when they awoke, a cute series of "Good morning's," was exchanged, but that day there was no talk between them.

Barry was worried about the condition of his boss; Parker was excited to see what happened.

There was probably a hint of worry in her somewhere, but everyone knew she was mostly intrigued by the information.

Twenty minutes later, Parker and Barry were ready to go.

"Good morning, my love," Barry sweetly teased.

Parker bounced on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. "Sup, dawg? Are you ready to go? I'm very excited to see what happened."

"Park, I know you don't like him much, but don't be rude," Barry fretted.

"I'm kidding. Breaking the law isn't funny," Parker redeemed. She had been watching the steps she took but she abruptly snapped her head up. "That should be our first date! Trespassing? Jaywalking? Allen, we could be rebels-"

As non-romantic Barry tended to be, he did earn himself a spot in Parker's Top Ten Romantic Gestures (Done by Barry Allen) that day. What better way to shut her morning ramble up than with a kiss? And that's what he did.

Opening her eyes, Parker's puckered lips turned to a frown. "Did you just kiss me to shut me up?"

"Should I do it more often?" Barry wondered.

"Eh," Parker shrugged, wetting her lips. "But I like your style."