I'll Be There in a Flash

49

We get to the house and I look at them, "Alright. You guys can stay in the guest room upstairs, third door to the left." Barry says and we walk into the living the living room to see my dad walking in and looking at me, Barry, Caitlin, and Ronnie. "We have guests?" my dad asks and I walk up to him. "Yeah, we do. I hope that's ok. Their apartment is being fumigated, so I told them that they could stay here. Is that ok, dad?" I ask him and he nods. "Thank you, dad. I promise you won't regret it." I say and kiss his cheek. "Care to introduce me to them?" my dad asks and I look at Barry.

"These are our friends Caitlin and Ronnie." Barry says and my dad shakes their hands.

"I hope you find it comfortable here." my dad says and they nod.

He walks away and I sigh in relief then he comes back in, "Tori, it's your turn to make dinner." he says and I nod. "Considering you almost burned down the house when we were 12, I always had to make dinner." I say and he laughs and walks away. "Any of you want to help me with dinner?" I ask and Barry nods. "You guys can go unpack." I say and me and Barry walk into the kitchen. "That was close. I wasn't expecting my dad to come home early today." I say and Barry nods. "So, what are you making?" Barry asks and I smile. "Scallop and chorizo pallela." I say as I grab the rice and the ingredients for the sofrito and after that was done I add the rice. Me and Barry actually went to cooking class when we turned 13, so we know how to cook some sophisticated stuff. I seared the scallops and sautéed the chorizo and as the rice was done I swerve the pan around to form the curst on the rice. Then I reach for the scallops and put them on the rice. The I reach for the chorizo pan and I feel Barry's hand touch mine reaching for the pan too and I pull it away and look at him. "You can put it on if you want." I say with a blush and he puts the slices of chorizo on. Soon we called for everyone to come down and they did and we all ate. I couldn't take my eyes off of Barry though and it seemed like he couldn't keep his eyes off of me either. I just wanted to tell him how much I still love him, but I can't.

*~*~

After dinner, I went to my room to listen to some music. After a while, I got bored and decided to go to Barry's room and talk to him. I didn't want to bother Caitlin because she was with Ronnie and I was afraid I'd walk in on them making out or something. I see that Barry's door was open and I see him laying on his bed staring at a picture of him and his mom. "Bar." I say and he looks over to see me and motions me to walk in. I walk in and he scoots down a little and pats the spot next to him and I lay next to him. "Should Joe had not shown you the 3D photos of the night?" I ask him putting my hand on his and he shakes his head. "No, I had to know." Barry says putting the picture on his lap. "We've been through so much. With all the saving the city thing. And you and me. And the Reverse-Flash coming back and trying to fight you." I say and Barry shuts me up by interlocking our hands and grabbing my chin and making me look at him. "I'm gonna be fine fighting him. I just need to go faster." he says rubbing his thumb on my cheek and I blush.

I look into his green eyes and he looks into my brown ones. "Barry, about what Professor Stein said to us when he was still merged with Ronnie. I-" he interrupts me by crashing his lips on mine and I was shocked for a minute but I kissed him back. I pull back, but Barry pulls me back in. I want to keep kissing him, but I know that he's still dating Linda and this is bad for his relationship with her. I pull back and just look at him. "I can't do this." I say and I get up quickly and run out the door and to my room. I lock the door behind me and I slide down. I covered my mouth and started to cry then I hear a knock on the door. "Tori, open up." I hear Barry say and I shake my head and hug my knees bury my face. "I don't wanna talk." I say and I knew that he wouldn't leave. "Tori, you know I won't leave until I talk to you." Barry says and I stand up, wipe the tears away and open the door to see him standing there.

"I'm sorry I did that." he starts to say.

"Don't be. It's my fault. I should've never walked into your room." I say looking away.

"It's not your fault-" he starts but I cut him off.

"Don't. I admit it, ok. Professor Stein was right about us. I still have feelings for you, but your dating Linda now and I can't stop you if you do love her. And I'm sorry if your mad at me for telling you this, but I couldn't hold it in any longer and-" he cuts me off by smashing his lips on mine again.

I admit I missed the feeling of his lips on mine and the way his arms would wrap around my waist, but I knew it was wrong. I pull away and look at him with tears pouring out of my eyes. "Stop that!" I yell not caring if Caitlin, Ronnie, or my dad heard me. "Tori, I-" I stop him by pushing him out of the door and slamming it in his face and I lock the door. "Leave me alone, Barry!" I say sliding down the door again and crying. "Barry, what's going on?" Caitlin asks and I knew that I needed to talk to someone. And since Iris is living with Eddie, I don't want to bother her. "We heard Tori yelling and thought something was wrong." Ronnie says and I stand up and wipe the tears. I unlock the door and open it and I see the three of them and they stare at me. I grab Caitlin's wrist and pull her in. I slam the door again and lock it. "Go away, Barry!" I yell sobs in between. "I'll be out later, Ronnie." Caitlin says to her fiancé and she looks at me.

I know Ronnie probably told Barry to give me some space and I just break down in front of Caitlin. "What happened, Tori?" she asks me enveloping me into a hug and I collapse on the floor to my knees with my hands covering my face. "He kissed me!" I say sobbing as she rubs her hand up and down my back. "Isn't that good?" she asks and I shake my head. "No. I feel horrible. He's still dating Linda and yet he's kissing me." I say. We stay on the floor like this until I've calmed down slightly and Caitlin went to get us some coffee in the kitchen. She comes back with two mugs filled with coffee and I grab mine. I see that she mixed my coffee exactly how I like it and it tasted like how I like it. "Thanks." I say and take as sip.

"I'm sorry about my breakdown. I don't really like to do that in front of friends or public." I say.

"It's ok. I did the same when I lost Ronnie." she says and I smile at her.

"I just wish he didn't do that. It made me feel guilty inside that I was letting him cheat on Linda." I say.

"I think it means that he still hasn't gotten over you either, Tori. It means that you both are still madly in love with each other." she says.

"But then why would he date Linda if he still loves me?" I ask.

"I think it was because you were dating Jake and when he met Linda, he thought that he'd try to get his mind off you. But he couldn't"

"I couldn't get my mind off of him while I was dating Jake either. Every time I kissed Jake I wouldn't feel those sparks that I felt with Barry. And when I kissed Barry again today, I felt those sparks again and it felt right, but wrong."

"I say you just let him decide what he wants to do. Give him some time to think." I nod.

I take a sip of my coffee and Caitlin stands up. "I gotta go to Ronnie.  I'll see you tomorrow, Tori." she says and I nod. She walks to the door, unlocks it, and shuts it behind her. I grab the picture on my nightstand of me and my mom when I was 11. There's not a moment that passes by in my mind that I wish my mom was with me, and right now I need her more than ever. I could never go to my dad for boy advice when I was younger. I just wish that my mom was still here, or at least here for a moment. Just so I could tell her what was going on right now in my life. I know that something is up with Wells, but I don't think Joe's on my side about it anymore. I remember what happened to Bette last year. There's gotta be a reason she went after Eiling like that. I remember she was gonna tell me and Barry something about Wells, but she died before she could tell us. I kept wondering what was up with Wells but I can't put a finger on it. I would go to Oliver, since he's suspicious about it too, but I don't want to bother him. I just hope I can find out what's up with Wells soon.