Within Seconds // Barry Allen

Change My Mind

The heavier shift on one side of the bed was a strong indicator to Barry that she was there. He noticed the shoes against his thigh, the hand nudging against his calf. His hand twitched until it collided with her ankle. 

"Oh," flinched Parker. "Barry!"

"The Streak lives," teased Cisco. 

Barry opened his eyes. He did his best to smile at her. 

Caitlin approached the bed. "You'd be dead if your lung cells didn't regenerate so quickly," she admitted. 

"My chest feels like that one time I had a cigarette," muttered Barry. He chuckled at their surprised glances. He went on to joke, "Yeah. Teen me lived for danger."

"This isn't funny. You could have--"

"I didn't," interrupted Barry. 

Caitlin continued to frown. 

"Now that we have a sample, we'll get to work. Analyzing it, figure out the make up of the poison, maybe get a clue as to his human identity," said Dr. Wells. 

"Or at least a way to stop him from transforming into a mist," said Cisco. He stopped. "The Mist! Okay, that's his name, end of discussion!" 

"Where was the start of that discussion? I protest. That's lame," said Parker. 

"Hey, he said 'end of discussion,'" muttered Barry. 

Parker rolled her eyes. Curiously, she eyeballed him when he swung his feet over the edge of the bed. "Whoa, kid, what do you think you're doing?"

"I have to get to the station," said Barry. 

"No, sit. You saw his face, let me draw him," insisted Parker. 

Barry ignored her. Ungracefully, he bent down, kissed her cheek, then started to limp away.

Dr. Wells shamefully watched him leave. "You should be resting," he sang. 

"I have to talk to Joe."  

Parker

Hours later, on her cheek, she continued to feel his lingering lips. Parker sat alone in her apartment. She stared at the television, stretched across the couch. For the rest of the night, Barry hadn't been seen, but she sure thought of him. She couldn't distract herself from him. 

Her cell phone went off. 

"I know you're probably busy," started Cisco. 

"Not at all. What's up?"

"Oh, wow. You sound terrible. What's wrong?"

"Just confused. Barry's... I don't know," sighed Parker. 

"Well, speaking of Barry, he's about to go after The Mist."

Parker shoveled ice cream into her mouth. "I think he'll be just fine without me."

"Oh, Parker, come on. Would you just grow up? So what if he doesn't feel the same? It doesn't mean you have to shut him out. He still needs you, even if it's not in a romantic way."

She would have been the first to admit that shedding some truth on the dilemma was nice to hear. She liked having another point of view. But, as opposed to what Cisco thought, Parker didn't avoid helping Barry because she was afraid to see him. She simply didn't want to waste money on a cab to be there for less than twenty minutes.