The House of El

3

           

"Tessa Conway." He says, and I look up from my phone to see Barry Allen smirking at me.

"Barry, hey." I say, and he sighs.

"Eight years of nothing, and all of a sudden you're back in town, but you don't drop by. What's that about?" He asks, and I shrug.

"Spending time with my family, getting my mind off of things over in National City." I say, and he nods. "Hey, uh, my folks are finally dating, and at first it was cute, and exciting, but now it's obnoxious and a constant reminder of what I don't have, would you like to get a coffee or something with me at Noonan's?" I ask, and he grins, nodding.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He says, and I nod, so we walk to Noonan's together, where I order a sweet tea, and he orders his usual coffee, and we sit at the bar, talking as we drink our drinks.

"So, how are you and Iris? Still together?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yeah, yeah, we're still going strong." He says, and I nod, taking another sip as I look at the texts Kara's sending me, talking about how Alex keeps freaking out about Eliza, Kara's adoptive mom, just blowing up on Alex about Kara coming out as Supergirl. "What about you?" Barry says, and I slip my phone into my pocket to focus on my friend. "Anybody in your life?" He asks, and I shake my head.

"Nope, single still."

"And your parents." He says, and I groan.

"Yeah."

"The same parents that always swore that there was nothing going on between them."

"Yep."

"Are now happily together, and it's making you miserable." He says, and I nod.

"Like, it's not like I'm not out there, it's just, I haven't had that 'Wa-pow' moment. Y'know?" I say, and he nods.

"You'll see her and it'll hit you, like-"

"Wa-pow." Barry and I both say, smiling at each other.

"Ugh, man, who said that?" I ask, and he thinks for a moment.

"Was it Joe?" He asks, and I make a face. "No? I could've sworn it was Joe." He continues, while I just shrug.

"I'm going to make the biggest mistake of my life, and trust you, Barry Allen, with that." I say, and he laughs.

"So, it's a mistake to trust me?"

"Yes!" I laugh out. "Sophomore year, semester exams, right before Christmas Break, you remember that? I had to retake that class over the summer, and my folks were pissed. My sister almost murdered you." I say, and he shrugs.

"You shouldn't have trusted me on that."

"You told me to!"

"Okay, yeah. I did."

"Did what?" We hear, and I turn to see the one and only,

"Iris West. What a pleasure." I say, and she grins.

"Hey, Tessa, how are you?" She asks, giving me a quick side hug.

"I'm alright. What about you?" I ask, and she smiles, kissing Barry's cheek.

"I'm great." She says, and I grin.

"That's good."

"Hey, uh, my dad is hosting this huge Thanksgiving at the house. If you'd like to come, you're more than welcome to." Iris says, and I sigh.

"I wish I could, but my family is going over to my Mom's house tonight. I'll see if I can slip away and go say hi though." I say and Iris nods.

"Well, I just came to get my lunch." Iris says, taking the to-go order that's handed to her. "I'll see you after work." Iris says, kissing Barry and I take another sip of my tea. "And I'll see you later tonight, even if it is a five-minute visit." She says, and I chuckle, waving to her as she walks away.