Kiss Me Slowly || olivarry/flarrow

Six

The break-up happened near the end of September.

Barry was getting into the hang of things being in his third year of college, so he honestly wasn't paying much attention to anybody he didn't see on a daily basis. It was Iris who had mentioned it to him, and it took Barry by surprise.

"Felicity and Oliver broke up? I thought they were a match made in heaven," Barry said, a tightness in his chest loosening at the news. Both Barry and Iris had recently gotten more shifts at Jitters, so Barry was taken off guard when he realised he hadn't seen Felicity at work much lately.

"Yeah. Ever since the whole incident when you got back with Hunter, they've been fighting a lot. Oliver didn't like the way she handled things with you, and she didn't like how he was getting so defensive about you." Iris snorted as she made a coffee for a customer. "You cause problems wherever you go, don't you?"

"I don't try to," Barry said with a laugh. He was quiet a moment as he rang up the customer in front of him. "It isn't my fault I just so happen to be what they fought about." Once the customer left, Barry turned to face Iris fully. "If I'm why they fought, then how am I the last to hear about it? You'd figure Felicity would come storming in to yell at me or something."

"I honestly don't know. She's been weird around you lately since you admitted you had feelings for Oliver. I'm not surprised she requested to not share any shifts with you."

Barry's head snapped up, eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, what? Is that why I haven't seen her around?"

Iris nodded. "Since Felicity can't be your usual work partner anymore, Jill's having us work together now."

"I figured, I just...why? Is this whole thing the reason why Felicity hasn't been answering any of my texts?"

"Probably. Did you know she didn't sign up for any classes this semester? I think Caitlin mentioned something about her moving back home to Starling, but I can't be certain." Iris sighed, wiping her hands dry with a random towel they had laying in the back. "Honestly, Barry, I wouldn't worry too much about Felicity anymore, she's made it clear where her priorities lie."

"Well, yeah, but still. I'm losing a friend over a guy. That's something I never thought would happen once we left middle school," Barry stated, quirking an eyebrow. "Hell, even high school would be more normal than having this happen in college."

"I know. But just think, if this hadn't happened, who knows if we ever would've known what she was really like. I'm not trying to say she's a bad person, because she's really not, she just has some...skewed points of view. One of which being her stance on your feelings for Oliver," Iris tried explaining, her face twisting up in a bit of confusion afterwards. "Ugh, I confused myself. Bottom line: Felicity is not a bad person, she just makes bad decisions."

Barry bit his bottom lip in thought before releasing it with a sigh. "Oliver's single now, and I'm with Hunter. Why does the universe keep screwing things up for me? I'm starting to be convinced that it just hates me."

Iris chuckled softly, lightly bumping Barry's hip with her own. "I know, I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I think Dad's starting to lighten up a bit around Hunter. Neither him nor I exactly trust him yet, we're both still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under you, but things are...better."

"I don't think Joe will ever fully like Hunter again."

"Can you blame him? Us?" Iris asked, chuckling a little. "He cheated on you, we can't exactly ignore that. Plus the whole saying 'once a cheater, always a cheater' doesn't help. Granted, that's not always the case, but I know for a fact that Dad mumbles it whenever he hears news about Hunter."