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After Professor Stein’s funeral, everyone went their separate ways. The Legends receded back to the Waverider, Kara and Alex wished Barry and Iris the best of luck, and they promptly went back to their earth, elbows interlocking.
“Really puts things in perspective, huh?” Oliver posed. The four of them were huddled in a circle underneath a nearby tree.
“Yeah,” Felicity agreed. She shook her head. “I think we’re needed back in Star City.”
“So soon?” Iris asked. If she was being honest, she wanted nothing more than for them to leave so she could be alone with Barry, but Please go didn’t seem like a particularly polite response.
“Yeah,” Felicity responded. She looked up at Oliver, smiling. “There’s something I want to talk to Oliver about.”
They said their goodbyes, and Barry and Iris stood to face each other, hand in hand. Iris noticed something off about Barry. Though they’d just come from a funeral of someone they’d cared deeply about, his face expressed an emotion other than sorrow. It was almost like fear.
“What’s going on?” Iris queried. He was looking at the ground, and she reached up to lift his chin so that he was looking into her eyes. “You’ve barely spoken since you got back from Earth X.”
Barry shook his head and let go of her right hand. They walked side by side, and he replied, “I almost was killed over there. Lined up in a row and threatened at gunpoint.” Tears brimmed in Iris’s eyes hearing this. “I’ve never been more terrified than I was in that moment. I wasn’t even that scared for my life necessarily. In that moment, I was scared that you would never know what happened to me, that I would never get to tell you I love you one more time, that I never got to marry you.”
With her free hand, Iris wiped the tears out of her eyes. “If I haven’t made it evidently clear, you surviving that and being here with me right now has made everything worth it.” She looked up at him, and he too was crying. “Now, I don’t know about you, but all I want to do is curl up on the couch with you and eat gallons of ice cream.”
Barry abruptly picked her up and smiled tightly. “That is exactly what I want to do right now.”
And so they sped off back to their apartment, back to their home, back to each other.
___________________________________________
“I don’t understand, where are we going?” It was two weeks later, and Barry was tying a bandana around Iris’s eyes, who was laughing. He was making such a big production out of it, even making her change out of her sweats into her favorite blue dress. Over it, he had suggested her green coat, a piece of clothing Iris didn’t often wear but undeniably loved.
“There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to tell you about and I never have,” Barry responded. He was so anxious, his heart was racing even faster than his mind was on any normal day. “And even though we don’t have a backup wedding planned, I need to tell you about this before we become official.”
“Okaaaay,” Iris dragged out. “You done?”
“Almost,” he responded. He sped upstairs and returned in just a few seconds, but when Iris asked why, he shushed her. “You’ll see soon enough.”
She felt him pick her up and his familiar arms cradle her small frame. Before she could blink, wind was racing through her hair, even blowing off the headband. By the time she was able to process her surroundings, they had stopped.
They were at the waterfront, a place where Iris had always enjoyed walking around but hadn’t visited recently. When she turned around, Barry was standing in the same tuxedo he’d been wearing during their first wedding attempt. His hands were in his pockets, and he was grinning in the exact way Iris had fallen in love with over and over again.
She moved closer to him and motioned to the waterfront. “So why are we here?”
Never losing his smile, he replied, “About three years ago, Mark Mardon was about to destroy the city with a tsunami. He had kidnapped Joe, and we came to this very spot when he threatened your dad’s life.”
Iris folded her arms and looked back out at the water. It was peaceful and serene, so much so that she couldn’t even imagine a tsunami ever having existed within those very waters. “That didn’t happen, Barry.”
Barry shook his head and took two large steps to stand right next to her. Once again, they faced each other and hand in hand, Barry divulged the secret he’d kept for years. “No, but it did. Your dad was in danger, and I had to stop the tsunami. I needed to save him but you didn’t want me to leave your side. You told me you hadn’t stopped thinking about me, and right here is where we kissed for the first time.”
Iris laughed uncomfortably. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He let go of her hands and said, “You have no idea because I erased the timeline. I’m the only one who remembers that happening, and I’ve regretting keeping this a secret from you every day since the day it happened. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to tell you, and I don’t think words can express how sorry I am.”
“Bar, I forgive you. I haven’t missed out on anything by not knowing.”
Barry shook his head again. She was almost too forgiving sometimes. “No, Iris, I kept this from you. That wasn’t fair.”
Iris let go of his hands and brushed back his hair before wrapping her arms around his neck. She said, “You’re right. It wasn’t fair. But you know something it is?”
He looked at her, just as puzzled as she had been a few moments prior. “What is it?”
“It’s history.” Iris looked into his regretful eyes. “I want to marry you to make new memories with you. Forgotten timelines are a thing of the past. We’re the future.”
A wave of relief washed over Barry. With a relaxed sigh, he repeated, “We’re the future.”
She nodded curtly at him with an equally giddy smile. “So now that you’ve told me your deepest, darkest secret,” which she said in a deep, mocking voice, “Is there another reason you’re wearing your wedding suit?”
“Of course,” he replied, picking her up again and speeding off to a new destination.
When they arrived, Barry set her on her feet and covered her eyes. “Keep your eyes closed, I’m going to see you really soon.”
“Barry, wh-”
“Keep them closed!”
When he removed his hands, she kept her eyes closed, despite her curiosity itching to know where they were and what they were doing. The moment a set of sturdy hands set something that felt like a flower bouquet in her hands, Iris knew. She opened her eyes and saw her father by her side. He too was wearing his suit from their failed wedding.
Looking around, she had no idea where they were. They were outside and a few stories up, she could tell that much. “Dad, wh-”
Joe smiled, shaking his head. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
When Iris heard the opening notes of “Runnin’ Home to You” start to play from around the corner, Iris’s mind went blank. Her father ushered her towards the music and when they turned the corner, she was overwhelmed by what she was seeing.
Christmas lights were dangling above them, creating a pseudo-ceiling in the evening sunset. A red-carpet aisle was laid out across the ground of the Jitters rooftop, and at the end stood Barry, who was looking at her like she was the only person in the world he could see.
To Barry’s left stood Wally, who had returned more than happy to help out with a redo-wedding. On Barry’s other side stood Cecile, who was holding a paper in her hands. Iris suddenly remembered hearing Joe say something about her getting ordained, but she’d never imagined this would be the reason why.”
With each step down the aisle, another tear escaped Iris’s eye, and by the time her and her father had reached Barry she was a sobbing mess. Her father gave her a kiss on the cheek, and went to stand next to Wally.
Iris could barely hear Cecile say the traditional wedding ceremony. Her ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, but when she was able to make out the word “vows” she shook her head.
Looking at Iris with an invaluable amount of love and passion, Barry took a deep breath. “I tried to write my vows, but then I realized that I didn’t need to. My entire life has been marked by two things: first one is change. From when I was a kid to when I was an adult, things were always changing. But no matter how different things became, or what new challenges I had to face, I always had the other thing my life was marked by, and that’s you. You’ve always been as a friend, as a partner, as the love of my life. You’re my home, Iris, and that’s one thing that will never change.”
“Oh my…” Iris replied, shaking. Barry was crying a bit too, and that made it only harder for Iris to say her vows. “I…um…” She thought for a moment, trying to recall the vows she had been practicing in her head the past several weeks. “When I was 9 years old, I wanted to be a ballerina, remember? And no, I was not a very good dancer. And the day of the recital, I froze, I couldn’t move, and I wanted to die, and then I looked into the audience and I saw you. And you got up, and you climbed on the stage, and you did that whole routine with me, and we killed it. I mean, we brought the house down.” Barry chuckled lightly, and Cecile shared a smile. Iris continued, “And from that moment, I knew that with you by my side, anything was possible. The Flash may be the city’s hero, but you, Barry Allen, you’re my hero. And I am happy, excited and honored to be your wife.”
“Now, if you’d like to exchange the rings,” Cecile asked. Wally handed Barry over Iris’s wedding ring, which was somehow more gorgeous than the engagement ring already on her finger. He slid it on top of that one, and Iris’s heart stopped.
“Bar, I don’t have your ring with me, I left it at the loft, I…I’m so sorry.” She started crying even heavier.
“Hey, hey, now,” Barry consoled. He wiped her cheek and said, “Check your coat pocket.”
Inside of the green coat’s pocket, the one he had picked for her to wear today, was a cold, small piece of metal. Upon feeling the ring, she peeked up at Barry, who looked at her like she was the only moon in a place that only saw sun.
He whispered, “I saw you fiddling with it the other day.”
Iris sniffled and took the ring out of her pocket. She slid it on his lanky, pale finger with a soft giggle.”
“And now, Bartholomew Henry Allen, do you take Iris Ann West to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
“And do you, Iris Ann West, take Bartholomew Henry Allen to be your-”
Iris jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She responded, “Oh god, yes.”
They shared in a kiss, wrapped up wholly in one another.
In between laughs, Cecile called out, “You may now kiss the bride.”
This is how it was mean to be, Iris thought. I’ve never been happier than I am right now.