#thallen

Since Barry had joined Iris and Eddie's relationship, he'd learned two things: One, he was so lucky. Being with both of them made him happier than he ever thought possible. And two, he's horrible at keeping secrets. Like, embarrassingly bad.

Barry had been trying to balance his new relationship—a polyamorous one at that, which was a first for all of them, and it had its bumps—with being the Flash, and being a CSI. It was a lot, and he was finding he was getting worse and worse at making excuses. Then he'd brought Eddie into it. And now Eddie had to keep his secret for him, too.

Thankfully, Caitlin had saved his ass with Iris by coming up with lightning dissociation, and she said that the lightning messed with his sense of time and that was why he couldn't keep his head straight and he was late all the time. Barry was pretty it was a lame repackaging of his ADHD, but he couldn't complain when it'd worked, though he felt horrible for lying to her. But, like Joe had said, keeping his identity a secret from her was the safest option, right?

Apparently not.

Eddie had been taken when he was supposed to be proposing to Iris—Barry knew, ofcourse he knew. and Barry couldn't even be there for Iris because there'd been a robbery. He'd been getting checked out by Caitlin after something had gotten into his head when Iris walked into STAR Labs—they really needed more security—and told him that she knew.

Because of a jolt of electricity.

"I can only imagine how angry you are.." Barry ran a hand through his hair. This was it. He was going to lose both Eddie and Iris in 24 hours, and he couldn't even defend himself because he'd chosen to be the Flash, chosen to hide it from them, chosen to only tell Eddie and keep his promise to Joe. And now he couldn't even get Eddie back. Barry had no clue where he was.

"I'm not angry, Barry." Iris said softly. "I'm just.. disappointed."

They'd talked so much about the importance of communication in their relationship. She had every right to be disappointed with him. He mumbled an okay under his breath. Barry wished she would be angry. This calmness was worse. Iris should be furious with him. But instead, she was hearing him out, and Barry had no explanation that would make it better. There were no words for them.

"Does Eddie know?"

The one question Barry didn't want to hear. He froze, squeezing his eyes shut to ignore the tears forming. He could lie. He could lie and not make this worse, but Iris deserved the truth.

"Yes," he whispered, forcing himself to look at her. "He does."

She didn't look at him. The look on her face reminded him of when they were kids, when she'd lost her mothers ring. But that disappointment was pointed at him, and it felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest (well, maybe not the best comparison to make when that had literally happened to Cisco).

"Was he going to propose?" Iris' voice shook as she asked.

And that was a question worse than the last. Barry hadn't even considered her asking him that. He didn't know how far Eddie had gotten before Wells had shown up. Barry looked away from her as he felt himself begin to cry. This wasn't his moment to be upset. He didn't deserve to be upset. If only he'd left sooner. If only he'd been a bit faster, maybe he would've gotten there before Wells. Maybe Eddie would be here right now, comforting Iris as Barry's world crumbled around him. "Yes," he whispered.

"I would've said yes," Iris voice cracked, and he could tell she was crying too. "I didn't even get the chance to tell him—"

Barry turned, kneeling in front of her. He put his hands on her shoulders. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mirroring his own. "You will. I promise you, if it's the last thing I do, I will get him back. And you'll tell him yes."

Iris nodded slowly. She put her hands on Barry's chest, whether to keep him close or keep him away, Barry couldn't tell. "Oh, Barry.." she sniffled. She curled her fist up and lightly punched his shoulder, though he knew she could've hit him harder. She did it again with a bit more force, a loud sob taking over her. He didn't move. Iris sniffled again. "I want to be mad at you. I want to be so mad at you."

Barry nodded. "I know. I—I know. You can be. You can hate me."

"No, I can't. I could never hate you, Barr," Iris whispered, a sad smile on her face. "I need you right now, okay? No more secrets, no more lies.. just, we have to get him back. We have to."

"We will." He said confidently, even if he didn't a hundred percent believe it himself. "I'm right here. I love you."