My eyes slowly opened to the ray of sunlight that shined through my bedroom window, being dimmed lightly by the curtains that covered it.

Barry and I were wrapped in the sheets and blankets, my bare shoulders feeling slightly cold due to the lack of cover on it. Barry's arm wrapped tightly around me, his chin resting on my cold shoulder as he placed a kiss on my neck, showing that he was already awake.

A small smile grows on my lips, as my hand goes to my neck, playing with my necklace, my other hand fixing my hair.

"Good morning." He simply mumbles in my ear, his voice raspy and low.

"Morning-" I say quietly back, a small yawn following as he wraps his arms around me tight before rolling onto his back, causing me to let out a small squeal, keeping the sheets pressed and wrapped around our bare bodies still.

"Barry- you gotta let me gooo-" I drag out as I roll back and forth, trying to get him to let go of me.

"Why?-" He asked, imitating my tone, dragging this one word question out also.

"Cause I need to showerrr-" I drag out once more, kicking my legs around lightly.

"Well- so do I." He says, sitting up, still holding onto me, holding his tight grip on my waist before picking me up, the sheets just barely around us around, as he walked into my bathroom, dragging them along.

"Barry-" I dragged him name out, followed by my own laughter, "Who said you could shower with me?"

"I did." He simply says, before planting a kiss on my head, putting me down, letting the sheets fall to the ground.

I oblige, hence taking the shower with him. Once we step out, I towel dry my hair, before slipping on a pair of sweatpants, followed by one of his t shirts, tying it up in the middle, brushing my teeth then kissing his cheek, before leaving the bathroom and walking into the kitchen.

I start to get out some ingredients to cook breakfast, as Barry walks in, dressed in sweatpants, his upper half shirtless, due to both of us not having work today. There probably will be some Flash business later, but currently there wasn't any right now.

Barry picks up our discarded clothes from last night, setting them neatly somewhere, before coming over to me, wrapping his arms around me from behind, "You can't cook to save your own life."

"That's why I'm setting these out- for you." I cover up for myself, tilting my head back, the top of my head against his chest as I looked up at him, a smile playing at my lips.

"Is that so?" He asks, a smile forming on his lips also.

"Mhm-" I hummed, as he pecks my lips lightly.

I was so caught up in this feeling of happiness that I completely forgot about all our problems. I forgot about Jay. I forgot about Zoom. But the only thing that I could think about what we were.

I slip away from him and seat myself down on the couch, laying back on it, as I watched him start to make breakfast. My eyes land on his back, as I grab one of my hair ties, shooting it from my fingers and to his back, as I spoke, "Damn- I really did a number on ya." I joke lightly.

"More scratches from you then the villains." Barry playfully says back, as flips a pancake.

A small giggle leaves my lips as I sat up, watching him continue to make the two of us breakfast. A few minutes later, he brought two plates to me, setting them both down on the table, setting down two mugs filled with coffee, the strong aroma filling my scent.

"How is it that, you can cook but I can't?" I ask him, as he lets out a breathy laugh, seating himself next to me, a shrug coming from him.

We ate our breakfast in mostly silence, making small talk here and there, and now I was sitting on the couch, holding my mug of coffee, sipping it slow, as Barry had already finished his coffee.

"I'm getting a feeling that you want to talk about something?" Barry took the words right out of my mouth, as he broke the silence.

I set my coffee down, as I barely nod, "I do."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Barry asks me, running a hand through his now dried hair, my hair slightly damp still.

"I know- this probably isn't the best time to ask this- because we're really happy- and we're not thinking about our problems- but-" I start to slightly ramble, "What even are we? I mean- one second we're at each other's throats and then our tongues are down each other's throats-" I stop myself, my hand going to my forehead, as my eyes close shut.

I blink long and hard, as embarrassment flooded my system, as I quietly say to myself, "Why does my brain think of the worst way to say things?" I clear my throat lightly, looking up at Barry, "What I mean is- I guess- we get upset at each other- then we're cool- and then- I don't even know how to explain it. We're just an entire rollercoaster ride-" I run my hand through my hair, blinking long and hard, embarrassment remaining due to how I was choosing to say those words.

A chuckle comes from him, as he rests his elbow on the top of my couch, his arm folded, his cheek leaning against his fist, "You're even cuter when you ramble."

"Barry. I'm so serious with you, right now." I say to him, meaning it, but couldn't help the smile that cracked on my face when my gaze falls upon him.

"I'm serious too." Barry shrugs.

"Barry-" I emphasize and drag out his name.

"My feelings for you- never disappeared, you know that, right?" Barry spoke, "I just needed some time to think. And I've thought- a lot."

I stay quiet, a small nod just coming from me.

"I really miss you being my girlfriend." Barry says, as a smile forms on my lips.

"I think you said that to me when I was drunk, the other night." I tell him, the memories of it still foggy in my mind.

A smile appears on his lips, "I did." He pauses, before leaning in, lightly pecking my lips, "I personally think we should get back together."

"Is that so?" I say, a small giggle leaving my lips.

"Mhm." He hums in response, the smile on his lips not leaving.

I spoke, "Well, in that case, I completely agree with you." I move my hands and hold his face.

"Glad we're on the same page." Barry leans up and kisses me lightly, as I kiss back, melting into the kiss.

He pulls away, "Hey- I'm gonna head to star labs for a bit- okay?"

I give him a sly nod as he gets up, going into the guest bedroom, where his clothes were and came out in a pair of jeans and a button up, putting on his jacket, placing a kiss to my temple before leaving me alone in my apartment.

-

I walked into star labs that afternoon, dressed in a plain black long sleeve, that was tucked into a light wash jean skirt that had its rips here and there, my feet covered in black ankle boots, the heels that made me a few inches taller, the laces on it keeping them tight on my feet. My hair was straight, and I had a cup holder filled of many cups of coffee from Jitters, as I set them down on a desk once I walked into the Cortex, greeted by Barry writing on the white board, and Cisco holding a few books.

"I brought coffee-" my voice rang, as I walked over to Barry, my arms crossed.

"Life saver." Cisco says, grabbing himself one.

My heels clicked against the floor as I walked behind Barry, wrapping my arms around him, as he continued to write on the clear board, his white marker making marks of number, different letters, and equations. "So, this is what you've been doing all day since you left? Speed equations?"

"I need to get faster. I need to get faster to beat Zoom." Barry tells me, and continues to write on the board.

"Maybe take a small break?" I suggest.

He barely shakes his head as he continues to write his speed equations, as a small sigh leaves my mouth, as I let go of him and take a few steps back, as Cisco speaks, after dropping a few books that were in his hands, "Can we please get rid of Jay's helmet?"

Barry turned at the sound, then turned back around, "No, sorry. It keeps me motivated."

"Well, it's giving me daymares." Cisco exclaims, as he bent down, grabbing the books he dropped, holding it up, "This is everything I could find even remotely related to increasing speed."

Barry walks over and grabs one book, before walking back to his board as Cisco speaks again, "How are these supposed to help apply the speed equation to you?"

"The answer's gotta be here somewhere." Barry started at the speed equations on the board.

Caitlin walks in, "I think I found something interesting."

"Good interesting or bad interesting? 'Cause that word could go either way." Cisco spoke.

"After running some comparative details, it appears that you, Reverse Flash, and Zoom are moving your les at essentially the same speed." Caitlin spoke, as we all walked over to her, staring at the screen that showed the proof she had.

"Then why are they so much faster than him?" Cisco asks for all of us.

"Best I can tell, with each stride their feet spend less time on the ground, this propelling them forward much faster." Caitlin explained.

"By almost 30%. Great." Barry sighed, handing Caitlin the book he had in his hand, staring to head back towards the board, "All right, well I got to make up that difference somehow."

Caitlin slowly walks up to him, "Barry? Look, after what that monster did, I want to stop Jay just as badly as you do." She spoke, "But, what if the reason you haven't been able to run as fast as him yet is because you just can't?"

Barry's head snaps up as he just looks at her, not knowing how to reply.

We all stood there, silent, not knowing what to say to Caitlin.

-

"You mean the old Harrison Wells? As in Eobard Thawne? You want him to teach you how to run faster?" I heard Cisco's voice as footsteps came closer to the cortex, "Oh that's rich."

I turn, to see Caitlin, Barry and Cisco walk in, as Caitlin speaks, "How are you gonna do that?"

I was all eyes and ears in this conversation as Barry looks at the three of us, "By running back to a time last year."

Cisco pulls out another problem, "And what about the other you- the other one from that timeline?"

"I'll knock him out with something, I mean, it's not like he'll see me coming." Barry tries, "And then I'll have Wells teach me."

"Barry, that's crazy." Caitlin told him.

"Nothing I've read is pointing me towards a solution, and if here's anybody that's figured out the key to getting faster without V-9, it's him." Barry explained.

Barry spoke again due to our silence, "What do you guys think?"

Cisco scoffs, as Caitlin stays silent.

"Barry-" I spoke up, running a hand through my hair, leaning back against the desk, my eyes trailing from Caitlin, to Cisco, then back to Barry, "Wells has travelled back in time before. You already know- what's happened- he doesn't. He's still in the process of making you faster and-"

He cuts me off, "That's exactly why he could help me. He's trying to make me faster."

I put my pointer finger up, the look upon my features throwing off a warning, "I wasn't finished."

He nods for me to continue, as I spoke again, "And- if you already know exactly how to take down- whatever meta you've shown up in the timeline for- or you egg him on to give you more than you already know- your entire cover could be blown. What if that Barry from that timeline shows up? More importantly, what if Wells figures it out and practically reveals himself to you- and you have absolutely no reaction because you already know? You won't be able to lie your way out of that one."

Caitlin spoke on my side, "She does- sorta have a point."

Barry opens his mouth to speak, but Harry's voice comes in before his, causing us to turn and look at the hall, where Harry stood, "Your plan is asinine."

He walks in, as Cisco stutters out, "Did you find Jesse?"

"Does it look like I found Jesse?" Harry puts his bag down, and turns, facing us, "How many times have you travelled through time?"

"A few." Barry answers.

Harry steps closer, "Do you have any idea how many things you can screw up?"

Barry reasons, "All I need is one conversation with Dr. Wells."

"He's not Wells." Harry puts out in slight frustration, slamming his coat onto the chair.

"Thawne." Barry corrects himself.

"I'm Wells! This man has been studying you for 15 years- for 15 years- and you don't think he's not gonna know who you are?" Harry says.

"Thank you." I say, clapping my hands together once, Harry pushing my point out further.

"Barry's pretty good at impersonating himself." Cisco spoke, pointing to Caitlin and I, "You should've seen him there on Earth Two, I was like "Somebody get this man an Oscar.""

A small chuckle comes from Barry as I couldn't help but let a small smile from on my lips as I listened to Cisco.

"He will know, Allen. He will know." Harry says, walking back over to where he set down his stuff.

"All right, well what am I supposed to do? I mean, how am I supposed to stop Zoom? Do you know the answer to this equation?" Barry argues, a another chuckle at the end of his sentence, as he points to the board he was previously writing on.

"If Thawne figures out that it's you, the timeline will be altered." Harry explains, "People can die. Others could live, and no one will know, who or what will be altered but I promise you, when you come back things will be different. And only you will know what those differences are."

"Well, if that's what I have to do to stop Zoom, then so be it, because if I don't, and Zoom gets my speed before I learn how to stop him, everybody I care about- everybody in this whole city- their world will never be the same anyway." Barry states his argument, showing us all that he had set his mind to this and wasn't backing down.

Harry stays silent and just walks out of the cortex with his bag.

A sigh leaves my lips, as Caitlin speaks, "Do you really think you can do this?"

"Yeah, I do." Barry said, "When I went back last year and I saw my mom die, it didn't affect the timeline."

"Yeah, but you haven't really time travelled on purpose like this before." Cisco told him.

"I have to do this, you guys." Barry looked at all of us.

"Okay, lets go of it." Caitlin spoke for all of us, as we all nod.

We erased the entire white board and placed pictures of meta's of last year, choosing when was best for Barry to return to.

We crossed out a few meta's, then decided on Hartley Rathaway.

We wrote down a few notes, as in do's and don't's, what didn't happen yet, what they didn't know about in that timeline, and other information that was needed. Caitlin had given Barry a dart that would knock the Barry of that timeline out for approximately six hours.

Barry gets into his suit, as he stood by the three of us, looking at us for finally notes.

"It's gonna be hard to course correct if anything gets altered, so get what you need and come back, preferably to this moment, this exact time you're leaving, or else you might set off some kind of "12 Monkeys" loop you'll never get out of." Cisco explained.

Barry hums in response, as Cisco spoke again, "No pressure."

"Yeah. Cool." Barry nods.

"So, we'll see you in like. two seconds," Cisco chuckles lightly, "Time travels so weird."

Barry hugs Cisco, before moving to Caitlin, as she speaks, "Godspeed, Barry." She reminded him.

"I'll be fine." He hugs her, then pulls away, turning to me.

I wrap my arms around him tight, as he holds me equally as tight, as I looked up at him, "Don't mess anything up, okay? I need you back in one piece- don't need to lose you when I just got you back." I smiled weakly.

"Got it. Don't worry. I'll be fine." He pressed his lips into mine, kissing me for a second, as I kissed back, before we both pulled away from each other.

"What could go wrong?" Barry says, backing away from us, a small shrug coming from him, as both Caitlin and I gave him a look.

He turns and gives one last look to Harry, before running off down to the particular accelerator, through the pipeline.

Caitlin, Cisco and I moved towards the computer screens as we watched him run in circles until he went through the wormhole, and vanished.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I thought to myself, instantly regretting even pushing away my own opinions and letting him do this, as I stood in the cortex with Caitlin and Cisco, awaiting Barry's arrival.

authors note:

ahhh they're back togethersjejebekfbjef

uhm wow this book hit 5k ??