Within Seconds // Barry Allen

New Years

Six days later, Parker was stuck in bed. At a glance, or just hearing her moans, you would have thought she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. If there was one word described about her behavior while she was sick, it was dramatic.

"My nose!" she cried. "My watery eyes, my poor congested nose, and my itchy throat!"

"Stop talking and maybe one of those problems will be solved," Barry suggested.

He had been such a good boy. He brought her soup and set up a station next to her bed with honey, cough drops and a cold water bottle. 

Barry sat on the edge of her bed, watching the television with her, wanting to be near in case something happened.

"You're too good to me, Barry Allen," Parker sighed, nudging his back with her foot.

"I want to say I told you so."

The reason she was sick was because of her stupid game of Truth or Dare. During the Christmas party, Cisco bet Parker that she was too much of a wimp to dive into the snow face first with just her sweater and jeans, no coat allowed. She did it of course, and in return, got a cold.

That was Barry's girlfriend, but he would admit any day that she was an idiot.

Parker groaned. "Just do it after I'm sick."

Barry and Parker stayed in her bed most of the day, watching movies on Netflix. She had told him a thousand times to leave her, considering it was New Years Eve and he deserved to party, but he kept denying.

"My party is wherever you are," Barry promised, every single time she told him to leave.

"I'm not much of a party.." she admitted.

Barry crawled up the bed and lay his head on her stomach. Parker set her hand on his chest and instantly, their hands found one another's.

"You are the best party I could ever ask for. I want nothing more than to spend the last day with you and the first day with you as well."

Parker used her free hand to pull her blanket over her face, hiding her ecstatic expression from Barry's eyes.

"You're such a romantic loser."

"But I'm your romantic loser," Barry concluded.

>>>>>

Three hours later, Parker had to turn to a regular channel in order to watch the ball drop.

Barry scooted up the bed and swung his arm around Parker's shoulder, letting her snuggle into his chest.

"It's been a good year, Parker Sylas," Barry mumbled.

As the countdown began and they reached ten seconds, Parker sat up with a realization. "Dude, are we going to kiss? Because I'm sick..."

"I don't really care that you're sick," Barry confessed.

He was smiling so big, his eyes were almost shut. He loved the sound of her voice when her nose was stuffed. It made her sound so cute. His eyes flickered behind her, where the countdown was on three. Barry let out a laugh and grabbed Parker's waist, bringing her body on top of his.

Their lips connected just as cheers sounded from the television. The first kiss shared between them was on New Years Eve, and it wasn't even a good one.

It would have been amazing, Parker had admitted, if she wasn't sick.

His lips met hers, but she had only a second to respond before she had to pull away. Luckily, she buried her nose into a tissue to sneeze and not ooze her nose germs all over his face. After she pulled the tissue away, a frown took over her entire face.

"That was so not cute. I'm sorry."

Barry's head was tilted back, laughing at the encounter. Their first kiss was so predictable for them. He wasn't that surprised when it hadn't turned out to be sexy or romantic. It was lame, and he loved it.

"So cute," he chuckled, "You're so cute."

Parker grabbed a few more tissues and snuggled up into his chest again, the tissues balled in her hand just in case she had to sneeze once more. She promised herself there would be no more kissing while either of them were sick.

The lights were turned off and they held each other tight. Parker couldn't believe how lucky she was to be able to spend the next year with the dork she was cuddling with.

The last words said that night was Parker's quiet, "You sure did change my mind, Barry Allen.."