Blank Space [Barry Allen/The Flash]

c h a p t e r : 13

"You fight me, flat on my lonely face I fell
Finding in the end I live well
In the light of the life that I have found
It's coming down."
-Breaking Benjamin, You Fight Me

Nothing is worse than distance.

But as it seemed, Barry wanted to be nothing but distant. Maybe Iris told Barry something. Maybe Lilli did something wrong. Lilli didn't know.

At their lunch date at Big Belly Burger, Barry didn't talk. Her just sat with a blank expression and slowly chewed his cheeseburger.

"Bare, are you okay?" Lilli asked before taking a big bite.

Barry shrugged and nodded slightly.

"I'm fine. Just... busy at work."

"Well..." Lilli trailed off to finish. "I hope work gets less busy. I don't like seeing you unhappy. Gives me the willies."

Barry forced a smile and peered into her eyes.

"That means a lot. Really."

Lilli wasn't sure if it was distance. If they were growing apart already. Or, what Lilli hoped, Barry had something else going on in his life. His past was shaky, and anything could've set it crumbling. She wanted to help him figure it out. No matter what it was. But Barry sat, chewing on soggy fries in his own bubble of distance.

And Lilli hated it.

---

When anything popped up on the news about some bad guy, Lilli was already on top of it. Being Obsidian took her mind off things. It helped her clear her head of all thoughts. Today, the tight black suit seemed a little too tight and the dark purple wig seemed itchy.

The alley was filled with shadows and the young redheaded woman grunted as she pinned a young man to the wall. Lilli appeared in the shadows and walked forward to grab the woman's shoulder. She shoved the ginger off the man, and he took off running out the alley. Lilli turned around to face the redhead when the Scarlet Speedster decided to join the party. The Flash barging in on Lilli gigs had become a regular thing. Lilli tried to ignore it, but Obsidian wanted to scream. So Obsidian did.

"You know what Flash? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of you coming in here all hero like, when clearly, I have the situation under control. You're not the only one who wants to do good in this city you know! Guess who's here too? Me! Obsidian! And I can do some pretty cool tricks too."

The Flash took a step back and his voice boomed like thunder.

"If you have everything under control, where is this mugger of yours?"

Lilli turned around in frantic circles looking for the missing criminal. There was nobody there anymore.

Obsidian stomped her foot angrily.

"This is your fault, Flash! She probably ran away scared from your ultra tight leather suit."

The Flash stifled a laugh. "Oh really? Why don't you go get her then."

Obsidian let out an angry scream, and slammed her fist into the speedster's jaw. The Flash stumbled back.