Christmas At the West House.

The Longest Ride

Previously...

Eden was wearing a black midi skirt and a lime green criss-cross crop top; which allowed some a portion of her skin exposed, giving the whole outfit a very fierce vibe. Her long red hair was curled and she had on brown heeled sandals.

"Thanks Barry, you don't look so bad yourself." She responds with a smile so sincere.

Eddie then hurriedly walks up to them, "4 tickets to ..." He stops short at the sight of Eden.

"Eddie Thawne?!" Eden asks shockingly.

"Eden?!" Eddie poses surprisingly.

THE LONGEST RIDE

Iris and Barry are colored with surprise. They watch as the apparent reunion unfolds in awe and surprise. Eddie and Eden are now hugging. Eddie then slowly turns to Iris and notices the surprised look on her face.

"Eden and I were next door neighbors growing up... that is, until I went off to college." Eddie explains with a nonchalant smile.

"Yeah, Eddie was basically the boy next door every teenage girl in the neighborhood wanted to jump." She declares as she nods and smirks at Iris and Barry.

Iris couldn't help but laugh. "It really is a small world huh?" She says as she rubs Eddies shoulders.

At the sight of this, Barry awkwardly diverts his attention elsewhere. He had tried his hardest to bury that gut wrenching – cringe worthy jealous feeling in the depths of his essence. Unfortunately, it had a mind of its own.

He quickly announces, "The movie's going to start any second now. We better... get inside." It comes out way too nonchalant that even Eden could sense Barry's discomfort in the moment.

"Yeah, I've been dying to see this movie. Shall we?" Eden turns to Barry and offers her arm to him with an engaging smirk glued to her face.

Barry links his arm with hers as they escorted each other down the movie theatre hallway.

As she witnessed the two, Iris felt a little jolt in her stomach. It felt a little like butterflies. No. Butterflies are supposed to feel weird, but they also feel exciting and ... kinda nice. This feeling was different. It was completely new to her and she hated how it made her feel. She didn't understand Barry is her friend and she wants him to move on and be happy. She reassures herself a few times in the hopes that this disgusting feeling would go away but it keeps barking for release inside her.

Barry could practically feel Iris watching them as Eden; out of nowhere, delicately snuggled up into his shoulder as they walked away. Barry had to admit; at least to himself, that it felt good. It felt really good knowing that she was watching. It felt nice that this time, he wasn't the one who was watching from afar. It was nice knowing that there was the slightest possibility that she might actually care that he was getting close to someone other than her. A certain relief washed over him as he realized the possibility that Iris might have had those feelings all along.

He swiftly came to the assumption that all it took to pull them out was the possibility of him moving on with another girl.

When they finally got to theatre 7, the girls where sandwiched between the guys as they settled down. Eddie on Iris right and Barry on Eden's left.

There was an instant of silence before Eddie cluelessly cracks the ice.

"Alright, I'm just going to come right out and ask the question that's probably on Barry's mind as well."

Those words seemed to put a giant stop sign at Iris' windpipe. It felt like her survival instinct to breathe was no longer at her disposal. Simultaneously, chills and shivers went down her skin and spinal cord. She would've sworn her heart stopped for a few seconds.

Barry, just inches away from her turned his gaze towards her. She didn't have to look to know he was staring intensely at her.

Eddie leans forward to face Iris and Eden. His face painted with curiosity and confusion takes a deep breath and poses.

"Can you girls pleaseee explain to us what on God's green earth you find fascinating or ... ummmm ...sexy, about cowboys?"

Iris could feel her respiratory system rebooting and her heart pounding once again. Relief washed over her as she attempts a casual giggle but fails drastically. It plays out as pretentious and it seemed only Barry of the three had noticed.

"I mean, first of all, their accent is so pretentious, and they are always covered in dirt, they probably smell like farm animals and produce. They're always sweaty, and on a lucky day, their shirts are in one piece. Oh and don't even get me started on those ridiculous boots and hats. The flannels, I dig – pun unintended but..."

Eddie rants on. He still can't believe Iris convinced him to watch The Longest Ride after he had been so thankful to all his gods that she hated The Notebook.

No one could ever understand how amused and surprised he was when she had told him, "Hate it!" after he had attempted to converse about the sole common interest all his past girlfriends seemed to have. Counting all his past relationships, he could confidently admit to sleeping through the movie about uh ... umpteen times.

"Honestly, it was a challenge trying to stay awake for the first 30 minutes." Iris had continued.

Iris found Eddie smiling uncontrollable. She couldn't help but smile as well. "What?" She giggled. She loved the vulnerability he had in his eyes whenever he got elated.

"Shit, I think I might love you Iris West." Eddie thought to himself as he flashed a huge grin and giggle at her.

"Nothing." He had replied, as he took her hand across the table and continued to stare straight into her soul.

He thought he had dodged that bullet; well, that is ... until now.

"Okay, name one movie that did not live up to my hype." She questions Eddie. "Sweetheart, its only part of what I do every day at my job so, you trust me now?" Iris reassures him.

Eden turns to Eddie and sees that he's still hesitating. "Eddie, try this. Imagine everything you described about cowboys... but this time, imagine all those qualities on cowgirls." Eden proposes with a smirk all over her face.

The epiphany hits Eddie right there. "Wow! I never quite thought ... I never thought about it that way!" He is so intrigued by this discovery that he starts to picture Iris in a cowgirl outfit / costume. He tries but he can't hide his grin.

Iris notices and turns to Eden playfully, "Uhhh.. Eden, don't go putting unrealistic ideas in his head."

Barry too found himself starting to imagine iris in daisy dukes, knotted up flannel shirts, cowgirl boots and cowgirl ha..."NO!" He caught himself in the act. "She is your best friend and you need to move on. No..." he paused his thoughts. "You HAVE to move on." Like a wounded dog, all he could do was allow the pain to explore every inch of his being.

Luckily, the movie began and everyone began to quiet down. He prayed that no one witnessed this vulnerable side of him. But to his dismay, someone did.

The look on Barry's face was one Eden could not have described to save a life. All she could see when she looked at Barry was pain and brokenness. She thought it best to allow him the space he so clearly needed.

Five minutes into the movie, she gives up. She tries focusing on the movie. But displayed before her eyes was Barry's earlier countenance.

Out of the blue, she slowly reaches over and holds his right hand which was settled on the armrest. She doesn't look his way but instead pretends to be focused on the movie.

Barry turns to her. But all he sees is a very nonchalant look on her face.

S?$po-