Crisis On Earth-1

Face The Music

[Authors Note: Boom, back for Chapter 3, Face The Music! This is where the plot really kicks off, and I hope you all enjoy!]

It had been a ridiculously long day for the Scarlet Speedster. Of course, running around the city at superhuman speeds would be tiring on a good day, but Barry was about to collapse under his own weight. It was absurdly far into the night, far enough that even Oliver would perhaps scold Barry on his sleeping habits.
But the Scarlet Speedster wasn't torturing himself for no apparent reason.
Grabbing his jacket, Barry tossed it onto the couch and collapsed beside it, an audible groan escaping his lips violently. He ran a hand over his tired eyes, and the rest of his face. Another day, another meta-human causing problems in Central City. Sometimes Barry wished he could actually make an example of one of them, but that wasn't in his blood. He wasn't a killer, and if Thawne didn't deserve to die, no one did. But some days it would be easier to just kill them all, and prevent them from harming anyone else, but Barry was better than that. He had to be better than the bad guys.

A sudden knock on the door startled Barry out of his falling into a deep sleep. At first he considered ignoring it entirely because if it were Cisco or Caitlin they'd obviously text Barry ahead of time. Seeing as whoever was knocking clearly wasn't holding anything important to say, Barry took his sweet time to stumble back towards the door, the muscles in his legs aching. A good night sleep, and his healing factor would fix that right up by morning but for now, Barry just wanted to curl up in bed and spend the rest of the night watching Netflix until he fell asleep out of nothing but pure exhaustion.

As Barry opened the door — it's creaking nearly deafening due to the building being warped by the cold — the Scarlet Speedster was beyond shocked to see no one else but Kara Danvers standing in the doorway, he face lighting up like a Christmas Tree at the sight of Barry, despite his appalling state. Shaving had escaped his mind and as such, Barry was rocking a shaggy beard, and his hair was a lot longer and less well kept. He looked awful, but Kara didn't seem to mind. She grabbed him by the collar and into a kiss, the two of them instantly losing themselves in the embrace they'd yearned for for months. Long distance relationships weren't all they were cracked up to be but they could still work, and Barry and Kara had tried their hardest. At least until Barry practically ghosted her, and worried Kara sick. That was probably not one of the things and long-distance boyfriend should do, but Barry never made good decisions when he was stressed.

But none of that matter. Kara was still a little worried, but the fact that Barry seemed so energetic upon seeing her made the Kryptonian smile into the kiss, deepening it slowly. After a few more seconds, Kara and Barry both decided it was time to break the kiss, despite the whine escaping Kara's lips as Barry's warmth left her.

"Kara! I uh, I wasn't expecting to see you tonight. But I'm so glad I did... I just... What are you doing here?" Barry was thoroughly confused but not at all annoyed by her presence. Too be honest, Barry could use the comfort. It'd been a rough few weeks, and Barry had pushed away pretty much everyone else besides Team Flash. His eyes went wide as moons and rubbed them swiftly afterwards, realisation hitting him like a ton of bricks all at once. How could Barry have been so stupid? He knew exactly why Kara was there. Barry's pushing everyone away had worried the poor woman half to death.

"Oh my God, Kara... I'm so sorry, I... You don't need to explain why you're here, I already... Yeah I know, I know." He sighed in defeat and stepped away from the door, Kara merely chuckled sheepishly and stepped into the apartment, pushing her glasses further up her nose.

"I don't think I've ever been here, it's a really nice apartment." Kara smiled genuinely, slipping her glasses off her nose and putting them down her cardigan. She was (of course) trying to make small talk, but she meant the words.
It was a wonderful apartment, and the entire place smelt like Barry. She took a deep breath in and let a wide smile appear on her face. She wanted to cuddle up into the blankets on his couch and just sleep, but first they had an awkward conversation to have. Kara knew communication was one of the foundations of a healthy relationships.