If You Can't Be With the One You Love

He Makes Sense to Me

Barry watched Oliver as he shuffled through the crowd, not making eye contact with anyone as he maneuvered his way to the door. He couldn't help but allow guilt to set in. He knew he could not blame himself for Oliver's actions. His feelings were evident yet Barry still managed to force this wedding onto him.

He started to chase after Oliver but Iris held him back. The attention had went away from the couple as guests started to venture and socialize amongst themselves again. She pulled Barry aside and away from the large crowd of people.

"You cannot leave this room, Barry." Iris told him stately. "These are our guests."

Barry shook his head. "I just need to check on, Ollie. Make sure he's okay."

"Can you focus on this wedding for once this week?" Iris started. "If he doesn't want to be here, that's his problem. Not ours."

"I'll be there and back in under five," Barry assures her.

Iris sighs. "We are having a conversation about this tonight."

Barry acknowledges her request with a smile before running off to catch up with Oliver. He saw him walking towards their rental car, his head down with his hands resting in his pockets.

"Ollie!" Barry yells, catching his attention.

He stops in his tracks, not looking back at Barry. "Why can't you just let me brood alone?"

"I wouldn't be a good friend if I did, now would I?" Barry retorts as he approached Oliver's backside.

Oliver turned to him and smiled. "That's debatable."

"Are you alright?" Barry asks with concern.

"I just needed to get out of there." Oliver tells him. "I can only take so much."

"Ollie. . ."

Oliver puts his hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Barry. This is what you deserve. I'll be alright."

"Oliver-"

"I'll see you in the morning." Oliver says with a grin before walking away. Barry tried to get his attention but he continued to walk in the opposite direction. He got into the vehicle and drove off, leaving Barry alone on the sidewalk. He watched him as he went farther and farther from him, nearly symbolizing the trajectory of their relationship at the moment.

He had so much he wanted to say. He had so many words that remained trapped in his mind, begging to come out. They were screaming at him, tearing at his heart. Yet he couldn't speak them. They would only complicate things.

Oliver would not accept them either. He would continue to push. He wouldn't listen to his pleas for him to understand how he felt. He insisted this marriage more than Barry himself. And that made no sense to him.

He walked back into the restaurant, putting a facade on for his guests that displayed contentment. Yet every feeling inside of him remained the opposite. He longed to speak with Oliver. To see Oliver. Yet, he was nowhere in sight. Instead, he had to continually talk about his life and the new life he was about to begin with Iris.

His mind continued to be on one thing, one person. As it had been for the past twenty four hours. Things got complicated quickly. Suddenly new feelings were thrown into the picture. But in the midst of the complications, everything became abundantly clear for Barry as well.

It was Oliver. It was always Oliver. Every doubt, every fear, every second guess Barry felt about the wedding stemmed from his feelings about Oliver. It all made sense now. But there was nothing that he could do about it. He just allowed the thoughts to consume him and eat away at his sanity.