Christmas Eve at the West House.

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 Chapter 1

Christmas Eve at the West House.

Its 11:52pm on the eve of Christmas. Joe has headphones in as he tries to block everyone out while he watches the game he had missed between Manchester and Chelsea on his laptop. Cisco and Caitlin are trying to convince Barry, Iris & Eddie to participate in their annual CCKB - Christmas Carol Karaoke Battle. Cisco thinks the name needs some improvement but he has yet to come up with one after 3 yrs. Also he thinks having everyone join in will help Caitlin forget just for the night what her fiancé has now become.

 “Come on you guys, it’s gonna be fun. Tis the season to be Jolly after all right? So why is everyone standing in the way of my attempts at spreading some good’ ol Christmas Cheer?” Cisco argues.

Eddie chimes in, “If it’s going to get Iris to sing, count me in.” He says charmingly as he smiles at Iris. “I’ve actually never had the pleasure.” He continues. Iris nervously gives him a sly smile that only last’s a few seconds.

Barry watches from across the room and tries to contain the gut wrenching jealousy he’s trying so hard to hide with a giggle. He’s actually heard Iris sing once at their middle school talent show where she came in second place. Her voice was... something. After her mom left, it seemed like she took Iris’ will to sing with her.

Barry always assumed singing reminded her of her mom; someone she’s tried so hard to forget for years. Ever since he heard her sing it, he knew Wonderwall was her favorite song. Sometimes when she’s alone at Jitters working the night shift, Barry would walk in on her humming the tunes.

What’s truly sad is she’s not smiling like she was when he first heard her sing it. And when she realizes Barry’s presence, she immediately stops and tries to avoid the topic by being the cheerful, witty, selfless Iris she’s known to be. And Barry truly gets it so he doesn’t confront her about it. He knows talking about her mom is the Bermuda Triangle in their relationship. A topic to never be discussed. Ever. And he respects that because he knows she’ll open up when she’s ready.

This sudden realization about what Eddie was trying to make her do caused him to chime in and say, “Iris is a horrible HORRIble singer. Did I put enough stress on the horror part? Its Christmas Karaoke let’s keep it Merry and spare our ears from... ” He stops then looks at Iris for a few seconds. She looks at him and then looks down. He then turns to Eddie and says with a tone that can only be described as serious yet concerned. “Please, just... don’t make her sing.”

 Eddie laughs it out by saying, “Okay, Okay … dude, it all depends on if Iris wants to or not.” He says turning to her. Everyone is now looking at her and she looks quite tense for a second then she breathes and says, “As much as I hate to admit it. Barry’s right. If there was a TV show that appreciated my kind. I’d be the first to sign up. Don’t be rude Barry, because when I win, your name is gonna be excluded from my winning speech!” Iris says daringly with a smirk as she directs the last few words to Barry.

 Barry turns to everyone, “See what I mean, you all should be thanking me.” Eddie clearly surprised at this revelation turns to Iris and whispers, “Wow, something you’re actually not good at. Well, that’s a first.” Iris giggles and says to everyone.

“Eddie’s going to sing for both of us and ... I’ll be the judge. I might be tone deaf to my own lousy singing but I know good singing when I hear one.” She says smiling and turning to Eddie. They both giggle for a moment and Iris realizes Barry might be looking at them and what kind of person would she be if she flirted with her boyfriend in front of her best friend after he just confessed his love for her earlier that day. “Gosh, I’m a bitch!” She thinks to herself. She looks his way and he immediately avoids her gaze and starts setting up the mic. She feels even guiltier.

10 mins later everything is set up and Cisco has decided the order in which they’re going to sing. “Me-Caitlin-Eddie (Iris) – and last but not least, Barry” Cisco says out loud. Eddie jokingly says, “Barry, since you were too quick to judge Iris, I’m thinking you’re a pretty good singer huh?” Iris has heard Barry sing before.

They used to sing together all the time when her mom was around. But he never sings anymore and now she’s wondering why. She assumes Barry has nothing to sing about after the tragedy that happened to his parents.

The show starts and Cisco sings, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Everyone is shocked at his excessive energy, vibrancy and theatrics. He makes his voice as deep as he can and moves with the beat. Caitlin can’t help but laugh and cheer for him. Everyone else is just shocked. In the end, they all burst out laughing as they clap. Cisco finishes with a bow and takes a seat.

Caitlin goes next and sings “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” She’s really good too and everyone finds comfort in her voice. Then Eddie goes next and sings, “All I want for Christmas Is You”. The entire time he sang he was looking at Iris, she just didn’t know how to react. Why didn’t she know how to react? Iris thinks to herself.

This is her boyfriend for heaven’s sake. They’re freaking moving in together. Iris thinks to herself. And OMG Barry! This must feel like hell to him. How can she get herself out of this juxtaposition? Eddie keeps singing, “All I want for Christmas is you… you … baaaabayyy.” Iris nervously smiles at him and then turns to face Barry.

                                                     FIN.

I hope you liked my attempt at Fan Fiction. Please ignore my grammatical errors.

Let me know what you think!! I’m open to constructive criticism so Hit me! Lol

Should I write another one or continue this? I’d really appreciate feedbackJ

Thanks for reading!!!!

xxxx  splendidjanie xxxx

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