Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Chipotle Date

Somewhere after Parker and Caitlin finished their ice cream eating contest, after Parker won and they were both sprawled out on the floor, holding their aching bellies, a deep conversation took place. It went something like this:

"Parker," Caitlin mumbled. "The night we got kidnapped, you were coming to talk to me about the Burning Man, right?"

"Indeed I was."

"You're a very curious girl, Parker. I assume you've done some research on your own? Connections he might have had, possible names or sights he's been at.."

Parker craned her head to see the sad sounding girl. For once, her heart was weighed down by sympathy for Caitlin.

"There's no other reason for you to care about a meta-human other than if it was someone you know. I found a picture on Iris' blog and zoomed in. It's Ronnie, isn't it?"

Caitlin twiddled her thumbs slowly. She broke eye contact. A faint smile raised her lips.

"Yeah.. That's Ronnie. But it's not."

"The Accelerator did something to him. Just like Barry, just like Piper, just like the Mist. He's in there Caitlin, and it is our responsibility to find him and help him."

"That's not the Ronnie I fell in love with."

"People change. In this case, extremely."

"What if he doesn't want our help? What's the chance that Ronnie doesn't want us?"

"Then you have to be okay with what we might have to do."

Parker thought that maybe too much truth had been expressed by her, and that's why Caitlin left.

She couldn't blame her-- losing her significant other and having him as a meta-human was kind of heartbreaking.

That's the night Parker decided she was going to track down Ronnie and talk to him herself instead of letting Caitlin do it. At least if Ronnie turned out to be a not-so-nice meta-human, Parker could shield Caitlin from the metaphorical blast a little bit.

Meanwhile at the West house, Barry was drowning in clothing. He tried on outfit after outfit, raced downstairs to show Joe, who glanced up then shrugged to every single arrangement.

Black pants and a collared white shirt-- too formal. Blue jeans and a red shirt--too casual.

He ripped apart his closet, searching for the best outfit. He wanted to impress her, but refrain from looking like a try-hard.

Barry found two pieces of clothing and quickly changed. He darted downstairs, spun around and proudly held his hands out.

Joe hadn't looked up when he said, "If you change one more time I'm going to shoot you."

Barry grinned. He tucked his white shirt into his pants and ran his fingers through his hair one last time. 

There was a crack as he left his old home and raced to Parker's apartment building.

He arrived just as she was slipping through the revolving doors. His shoes slid across the sidewalk as he came to a stop in front of the stairs.

Parker patiently waited for him to steady himself, her eyebrow raised.

"Nice night," she said.

However, Barry was at a loss for words. Perhaps because it was simple and to him, she made everything look beautiful.

She wore a navy blue skirt that fell to the middle of her thigh; a white long-sleeved shirt with horizontal navy stripes across the torso. Her hair was in a ponytail and her bangs were swept to the right.

"Well?" Parker wondered anxiously.

Some part of her told her to stop worrying-- she knew she was attractive (at the least) but another part of her cared about what her boyfriend thought of her. She didn't know what side to join.

"Gorgeous. As always. But particularly gorgeous on this night," Barry said.

He gave a light shake of his head, wondering why he was so inexperienced with girls, and held his arm out.

Parker strung her purse over her shoulder and slipped her other arm into his.

Their steps were in sync as Barry led her to a surprise restaurant. Parker squealed when they arrived.

"Chipotle?! Babe! You shouldn't have!"

"Feel free to order guacamole," Barry said as he held open the door. "I know it's extra."

Parker did just that. Barry watched in complete admiration as she scurried to the start of the food bar and stood on her tip-toes, peering over the glass to speak to the worker. Her smile was so large that it was making her eyes scrunch up.

"Guacamole?" the worker wondered.

Parker glanced at Barry. "Gosh, I feel like such a rebel. Yes, please!"

After Barry swept the tray and graciously paid for their food, they took a seat in the back corner.

As usual, Parker stole the seat facing the door.

It was habit Barry had noticed, but never commented on. He thought that maybe it was time to.

"You know something?"

"What?" she asked.

Her mouth was full, but she pushed the food to one side of her mouth to speak. He just shook his head. Eating and talking was a bad habit for both of them.

"Every time we go out, you sit with your face towards the door."

Don't think that Barry was stupid enough to miss her eyes slightly widen.

Parker let her eyes focus on her chicken bowl instead of him, a.k.a. sign number one that something was wrong.

"Strange. Old habit maybe. Past life thing? I don't know."

That was also key for dropping the subject. Barry wanted to know, but he also didn't want to push her. She told him a lot of things she wouldn't tell their other friends. The last thing he wanted was to abuse that privilege.

"So.." Barry trailed off when they finished eating. He basically scarfed down his food in order to rid the silence. "Let's talk about your list of things I do that are hot.. We've got singing, wearing the suit without the mask.."

"Salmon ladder. I'd love one of those installed in my bedroom," Parker not-so-shyly admitted.

When Barry's cheeks reddened, Parker winked.

"Am I allowed to have a list?" he asked.

"If you want to? I don't know that I do anything that makes someone think, 'Wow, so cute.'"

"Give me like a week and a half. I'll have a list of ten things I like about you."

"Wasn't that a movie?"

Her question was cut off by Barry's cell phone ringing. Parker's mouth dropped.

"Dude, really? What happened to the no cell phone rule?"

Barry cringed. "But it's Cisco."

Rolling her eyes, she waved her fork for consent. "God damn cock-block.."