In Any Other World

Choose Me

Earth 1, two days ago:

"Moira?" She heard her name but did not register who was speaking. Her mind was in so many places at once she felt like some how gravity had gotten ten times stronger, and all she wanted to do was run. Run, and run, and run, until nothing mattered anymore,until she wasn't being faced with such an impossible decision.

"Moira!" She blinked, snapping out of her own thoughts at the sound of Barry saying her name, his eyes full of concern as he looked at her, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Look, I know I can't tell you what to decided, and I know that whatever you decide is your prerogative, but you have to know that you have a family here, and a life here, and no matter what you choose, you will always be my sister, ok?"

Moira stared back at him, her brain unable to form words for her mouth to speak in reply. It had been only two hours since Cisco had told her she might be able to go home, two hours since the happiness she'd found had been tainted, one hundred and twenty minutes since she last felt that maybe she was finally going to be alright....

"They need me," she whispered, her eyes moving to focus on the floor as she wrapped her arms around herself, "on my world so many things happened, we lost so many people....they'll think they lost me to..."

Barry nodded, rubbing slow soothing strokes over her arm, "Yeah they probably do think that," he agreed quietly, "and they do deserve to know that they didn't really lose you after all,"

Moira nodded, "But if I go back I lose him," she still stared down at the floor, but Barry knew who she meant, "even if I stay I could lose him, he still doesn't know....I still haven't told him..."

"About your world's Cisco?" Barry asked. Moira nodded again, and Barry sighed, "Moira I don't think you could lose Cisco by telling him about his doppelganger; He's a great guy, and he loves you very much-"

"How does he know?" she interrupted, suddenly looking him in the eye, a bright spark of fear shining in hers,"Barry how does he know he loves me? How does he know it's not just because I've been showing him the same affection I did with his double? How can he be sure his feelings are real if I'm the one who put them there in the first place?" she was shaking now, her eyes filling with tears as she began to hyperventilate.

"Hey, hey woah," Barry gently guided her to a chair and knelt down in front of her, "Moira look at me, ok, listen to my voice alright?" he took her hands in his "Cisco loves you, all on his own, ok? You said yourself that you were keeping things strictly platonic on your end because you didn't want to confuse him, and yet he still came to me for advice to ask you out, he still got nervous when he saw you up on the roof, Moira...what Cisco feels for you is not because you tricked him into feeling it, its because he got to that point on his own,"

"I really hope you're right Barry," Moira sobbed,clutching his hands for dear life, "I can't lose him again, I just can't!"

"I know Moira, I know," Barry moved forward then and embraced her. He felt so bad for her, being forced to make such a major decision like this, but at the same time he wanted her to hurry up and make it, his own nerves on the subject wearing on him as he silently hoped she would choose this world over hers, this life over the other.