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Can’t say how the days will unfold,
Can’t change what the future may hold
Barry Allen believed that everything happened for a reason. That God from the heavens above was calculating and precise, planning fate in the exact occurrence that time would soon tell out to flow. And that day in second grade when he was assigned his desk next to the kind and pretty girl with mocha-colored skin Iris West, he knew that meeting her was no accident.
He didn’t know it yet but the girl with dark chocolate irises would play a vital role in his life. He leaned back in his seat, and by the end of the day, the pair had become the best of friends.
Over the next few years, their friendship had blossomed into an unbreakable bond.
But, I want you in it.
Every hour, every minute.
When a blur of yellow and red found itself in his house and killed his mother and landed his father in prison Barry Allen’s life turned completely upside down.
He couldn’t stay in that house, not with all the bittersweet memories stored in every inch of wood. He just couldn’t. The eleven-year-old child was scared as police entered his door, speaking big words that Barry’s terrified brain didn’t want to understand.
He needed Iris, Iris and her sweet smile and her calming voice that would tell him that everything would be okay. Even if it wasn’t.
And when Detective Joe West found the shivering and trembling eleven-year-old Barry in the corner, he couldn’t help but imagine if it was the other way around. What if it was his daughter, his light of his life all alone because he was gone. Feeling pity and understanding for the almost teenage boy he welcomed him into the West house with open arms.
The first person to enter the little space that would eventually become his room was Iris. She pulled him into a hug, softly stroking his back as he sobbed into his shoulder.
She spoke in a soft, calming voice just as Barry had envisioned, “It’s okay Barry. It’s going to be okay.
The world can race by far too fast
Hard to see while it’s all flying past
If you told Barry before 2014 that he would get struck by a lightning bolt and become a super speeding hero, he would have scoffed. But waking up after all those months in a coma, he felt like an outsider. That he didn’t belong here, somehow different than his friends and family.
But deciding to embrace his heroes to do the one thing he always wanted to do-and find his father’s innocence, and spare everyone else the same pain and anguish he dealt with. And being a speedster, everything went unbelievably fast.
He was always on the edge of his toes, always prepared to take off in the event that an emergency could happen at any time. But any time spent with Iris, no matter how short those moments were felt like time itself has stopped and there wasn’t any worry or thoughts about a threat. Only Iris.
With the life he had, he never stopped to think about settling down. He did want to. He wanted to have someone in his corner where he could confess every thought, and his partner would listen and understand. Someone who could give him advice when he sought it. Someone who would hold him as he cried and would be his partner until death do they part.
Ever since seventh grade, he had a slight, tingling crush for his best friend. He wanted to make a move but being the nerdy geek he was, she wouldn’t like him. A lot of guys tried to “hook up” with her, if anything only for her appearances, but not for all her attributes.
She deserved nothing but the best. And to Barry, that didn’t mean him.
So he had buried his feelings for Iris as she introduced boyfriend after boyfriend into their house, keeping a platonic, friendly or brotherly relationship with him. He buried his feelings of love and devastation when Iris and Eddy had become “a thing”.
But nevertheless, he was happy for the two, pursuing other interests to hopefully take his mind off Iris.
But, it’s clear now,
He loved Patty and Linda, but he didn’t feel the same spark, the same lightning bolt that he did when he looked at Iris. And it wasn’t their fault. They couldn’t accept him for being both the hero and the person he was.
When you’re standing here now
I am meant to be wherever you are next to me.
No other person could make him feel the same way, so madly in love, it was sickening than Iris. And when he looked into Iris’s eyes, he could see a future with the two of them, being ultimate lovers as they fought crime and shared their passions, secrets and hopes to pursue.
Only Iris.
And when she finally confessed her love for him, he felt like a weight was lifted off of him. He felt like he could just kiss her, or scream out of joy. Both would have been unpreferable so he found himself content with the widest smile on his face that lasted the entire day. Just maybe, the heroes could catch the girl of their dreams. Wait till Ollie finds out!
All I want to do
Is come running home to you
Now having something to return home to his fights were more calculated with no room for error. He had to be the best that he could. So he could return home to Iris.
Come running home to you
Every day he woke up out of bed with the thought of seeing Iris, the love of his life, and went to bed eager to see her the next day. Or if they cuddled together, Barry would draw out every moment as if he had entered Flashtime and time was still. This was love, and how he enjoyed it.
Throughout every obstacle life threw at him, he kept himself optimistic when no one else was willing to. He focused on the one thing that meant the most to him, keeping her safe, and being able to protect her once again.
There would always be a way that the heroes could prevail. Iris taught him that. And he would forever remember it.
And all my life I promise to
Keep running home to you
Going back in time to save his mother hadn’t been the smartest thing he’s ever done. He immediately learned from the consequences. The world as he knew it, his world was completely different. He for one, wasn’t Flash. Iris was married to Thawne because in this new timeline that he had made, they never bonded all those years at the West house. Cisco, and Caitlin weren’t his friends, and Central City was more of a dangerous place than it has ever been. Not only did those consequences affect him personally, but the lives of his friends and family. He had to do the right thing and fix the timeline.
And he did, accepting full blame for each and every consequence. As angry as he expected his teammates to be, he couldn’t help but feel relief when Iris didn’t feel any harsh feelings to him. She had explained to him that he understood why he did, and why he shouldn’t do it ever again.
And throughout every moment of his life, Iris stood behind him like glue always being there to comfort him when something hit him hard, or when he felt like he could do no more.
And at the end of defeating Savitar, the Speed Force demanded he go back, to pay for his mistakes of messing with time. Barry didn’t want to leave his family and friends. He knew Central City would be in safe hands, but what about Iris.
Iris who had tears springing her eyes were begging him not to go, not to leave her again. The desperation laced in her tone made tears of his own form in his eyes and for a split-second, he wanted to tell the Speed Force no. But he couldn’t. He had to do the right thing and own up for mistakes.
He pressed a kiss to Iris’s forehead reassuring her, “Iris, I have to go. For my mistake. But I will come back. I’ll always come running home to you. Okay? Now I have to go.”
Keep running home
To you
A painful amount of time had passed but neither side refused to give up. Team Flash, or whatever was left of the small team worked day and night to somehow bring their friend back. From the Speed Force, Barry watched with a sad smile as the fiery reds, oranges, and blues depicted his love doing everything within her power to lead the team into bringing Barry back.
He had faith in them, somehow, when he didn’t know, but somehow he would get back to his love. He promised her that he’d come back running, and he would.