Adorkable - Barry Allen

Epilogue

A Week Later...

Winnie rolled down the windows all the way, allowing Frank to stick his face out of the car with excitement and bark at some pigeons flying above.

"Frank, please be a little quieter. The people here don't want to be disturbed." The girl warned him, placing a kiss on the top of his head. "Now you be good, I'll be back before you know it."

She picked up a knife along with the five flowers that she'd left on the dash and got out of the car, a cool breeze gently tossing her hair into her face.

Winnie brushed the strands out of her way and took the first steps onto the grass. Her hand brushed against her free wrist. Cisco had finally found a way to get the cuff off her hand earlier that week, everyone was excited for her to be able to use her powers again, but Winnie was mostly just glad that the reminder it served was gone.

She weaved in and out of the rows of tombstones, trying her hardest to not step over where the casket for each grave would be. It was a habit she'd had for a while now. She was almost certain it had started because somebody told her some story about zombies rising from the dead to exact revenge on the people who had stepped on their resting place, but she wasn't completely sure of that.

Her first stop was the large slab of stone sitting underneath an enormous oak tree. 

"Hi, Mrs. Allen. It's-uh... it's me again. Barry... he's been through a lot these last few weeks. I have too. It's just been hard." Winnie kneeled down, finding the specific flower she'd picked out and placing it on the ground in front of the grave. "I got you a nora blue this time, cause... well, you're Nora and it's a nora. Plus, it looks more purple than blue."

Winnie stared at the name on the grave, "Barry misses you a lot. And I'm sure that's why I can never get him to come down here. Though, he has been avoiding me. At least, that's what it feels like. But don't worry about that. There's absolutely no reason to worry. I promise I'll come back and try to get him to come... I don't know when."

She got up and moved closer to the tree, once again facing the words that marked the place that Winnie had made Bette San Souci's final resting place.

She pulled out a pink and white carnation, setting it down. Scooting over a little to her left, she kneeled in a place where she could see the two sets of carvings she'd made. She placed an orange daffodil in front of Tony Woodworth's name.

Next, she moved more to the left, finding a comfortable position to sit. She gently placed the two remaining flowers on the ground and took out the knife. 

She spent five minutes carefully carving out a name and making a small heart beside it:

Ronnie Raymond

A loving husband and friend

Winnie stared at the letters she'd scratched deep into the wood, thinking of Caitlin. 

"Hey, Ronnie. I know we didn't know each other well, but I so wish we could've had the chance to be friends. That we could've gotten to know each other." Winnie spoke, her voice soft, "Maybe you could've even convinced Caitlin to go to the Harry Potter convention with Cisco and I, this year. She loves you very much and she misses you. We all do." 

She shook her head and placed a red buttercup in front of his name.

Having laid all but one flower, she held the last yellow alstroemeria in her hands and closed her eyes, taking a silent moment to reflect on all the people they'd lost.

Once she was done, she moved over once again, her knife digging into the tree until the final name she needed to see was carved into the tree. She stared at the name, not quite believing that it was there.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't save you. I just wish I had been a little faster or... or I could've stopped you." She started off, rubbing her hand against the charm on her necklace. "I know... I know, it's not my fault. You always say... said that."

She paused, letting herself sit down on the ground in front of the name. 

"I guess you're probably wondering what I'm doing here and not at your... at your g-grave. It's just that it's hard, hard knowing that your body is there. That it's buried beneath all that dirt and everything. It's easier here."

She grew quiet once again, thinking of how she wanted to say the words. 

"I-I'm leaving." She said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Moving to Starling, so you probably won't hear from me for a while. I'm sorry, Danny. I'm sorry I have to leave. I just can't stay here anymore. Everything makes me think of you and it just... hurts." 

Winnie laid down the last flower in her hands, the alstroemeria brightening up the space in front of the tree. 

She let out a sob, "I miss you. I miss you more than anything, Daniel Connor Collins."

She waited a few minutes before she took one last look at the name, the words etched not just in the bark, but in her mind.

The day was bright when Winnie left. Her head was raised high as she looked ahead. She could only hope that tomorrow would be better. That the grief would peter out, washing the pain away like the ocean did footprints on the sand.

For now, she just had to keep on going.

And so, she got into the car with Frank and drove off. Feeling the wind in her face, she glanced over at Frank who had his head out of the window.

Together, they would try to find the beginning of a new story. Hopefully, it would be a happier one.