Bravery Requires Fear

6. Numb

A/N: See end of chapter for notes on possible triggers.
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It had been a week since Barry passed out in her cousin's apartment. Elaine didn't know what to do.

He had gone three weeks not eating enough, three weeks, and she didn't even know until he passed out. She was scared, so fucking scared, and she didn't know why. All she had done was save his dying ass, give him food and shelter, welcome him in her home and introduce him to her family; none of that warranted her concern. But for some reason, she was concerned. The little twat had the nerve to keep the fact that he needed to consume roughly twenty-thousand calories a day with his super-speed metabolism hidden from her for three weeks. Three weeks!

Elaine couldn't figure out why it bothered her so much. Here she was at their local supermarket getting three times her normal amount of food for the week because somebody didn't let her know in advance that she was buying for the group that week and the only thing she could think about was that he had purposely kept that from her. It was a serious health concern and he had kept it from her. All Barry Allen had to do was say 'oh yeah I have to eat a hell of a lot more than the average adult because of my powers' and she could've saved him from passing out and getting constant migraines for three weeks but no, he had to keep that to himself because in his stupid little brain it wasn't important enough.

" That'll be three-hundred fifty dollars and sixty nine cent ma'am." Elaine grimaced, buying food for five people was fine until that little detail slipped.

She had planned and set aside around three hundred and ten. Elaine bobbed left and right on her feet, removing little handfuls of items from the check out line, and looked up to find three people waiting behind her. The scrawny teenager behind the register was looking at her sympathetically and hurriedly scanned his badge against the scanner, he looked back up at her with his sweet little face, " It's only three thirty-two now, if that helps."

She hated that, hated that he felt the need to push in and help, but shoved those feelings aside and gave him a small smile.

" How much is it without those things?" He could probably hear the anxiety in her voice, the little tremble of her chin that said she'd start crying soon. The boy glanced over at the screen behind the register and frowned, " Three fifteen."

Dammit. Even just taking off her things hadn't helped. She had decided that she could go without for a week until it wasn't her turn but apparently even that wasn't good enough. She'd only gotten necessary things and still it wasn't enough. With a shaky smile, she nodded, and started moving to take more things off but a hand on her wrist stopped her. Her head snapped up to and she saw her old friend Darrin from the bar pushing her things back into the pile, along with a roll of twenties.

" You don't have to do th—"
Her voice shook when she spoke and she had gone back into her purse for her wallet to tell him off when someone else dropped a hand on her shoulder. It was Darrin's twin brother, Clark, and he shut her up with a look. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen either of them and now they were both there buying her groceries. Darrin turned back to her from where he had started pushing her cart, when had they moved away from the register, " Now what reputation would it give us if we didn't help out our old pals sister every once in a while."

Clark was right up on her, helping her step down from the sidewalk, when had they made it to the sidewalk, and had quickly looped his arm around her shoulder, " What would Uncle Kenny think if we'd just let you walk out without your favorite things yeah?" A quick glance and she found the doors to Bryce's car, he'd let her borrow it because a motorcycle wasn't really the best fit for grocery shopping, was open and that the interior was quickly being filled with her things.