Within Seconds: Sylas & Allen

Dope

No destination in mind, no point of stopping, Parker walked through Central City. She walked mindlessly, too deep in thought to focus on the now of the situation. She didn't know for how long she trudged in the city. She did know that somehow she ended in the park. Sitting at the nearest bench, she smiled slightly. It was the exact same bench her and Oliver had fallen asleep on way back when.

When things were simpler, thought Parker sadly. When I had patience. When I had Barry...

As she sat there, staring at the night sky, listening to the busy roads of the city, she wondered if perhaps that was it. Barry, the Barry in the future, had implied things in their lives were destined to become worse before they lost Parker for good. She, for a second, thought Jay's death and the unofficial split of the team could have very well fit into Barry's hidden message. It could have meant they finally reached the weeks leading up to her death. 

That alone caused her to slouch profusely against the wooden bench. To the sky, she whispered, "Rip Hunter, Rip Hunter... Maybe if I had taken you up on that offer..."

"We wouldn't have made it a day without you."

"We," scoffed Parker under her breath. 

Barry took a seat at the opposite side of the bench. He didn't look at her. She didn't look at him. "Jay told me not to get attached on Earth-2, to not get attached emotionally. I failed."

"Is that supposed to be surprising?" 

"I deserved that one," he sighed. "I saw Joe, I saw Iris... Iris and I, on that Earth, were married. I was pretending to be my other self and she saw me... And she, well, she kissed me."

"And you kissed her back."

Barry proceeded to ramble for several seconds about how he didn't enjoy it or try to kiss her back, but he pleaded to ears that weren't listening. He quieted and turned away from her. Anxiously jiggling his leg, he awaited a reply. It didn't come for a while.

"On this Earth, on that Earth, you and Iris are married," she whispered at last. 

"The future isn't set in stone," he tried weakly.

"Not my point. No matter where you've been in time, no matter what Earth you end up on, you're meant to be together. I don't care that you might have enjoyed it, Barry, I don't even care that she kissed you. I care that no matter what situation we're in, I mean nothing to your love life. And I think it's time I stop interfering with two people who are clearly meant to be in love." 

It was Barry's turn to slouch. Following her lead, on accident, he didn't speak for a bit, gathering his thoughts. He exhaled an irritated sigh. "Have you noticed that all of our fights are either because I take too much alone time or because of West-Allen?"

"They're valid reasons to be angry," she defended.

"Wasn't saying they weren't," he admitted. "Look, Park, Iris and I are endgame, I guess, yeah. You're supposed to leave me. Accepting that I will, eventually, move on, isn't just hard for you. Right now, you're my life. You haven't always been. You won't always be. What we have here, right now, you mean everything. I cherish what we've had up until this moment. I want to fulfill us before I even think about what destiny's supposed to do to us." 

Parker looked to him. "Barry, you're admitting it," she breathed.

"I think it's time to accept you're leaving me, too." 

"It's not by my choice."

"You were about to," he said. He silenced her defensive glare with a pointed head tilt. "I let our relationship crash, the team isn't together... You had nothing tying you to Central City anymore, except your family. Don't pretend like you were going to stay just for them."