Chapter Text
The sun shines bright, at the highest point in the sky. The air is mildly warm. Summer is near. The park is completely empty at that time, too early still after school has just ended. Soon the place will be filled with loud children running, shouting and playing. She hopes he will arrive before them.
Stephanie absently-minded kicks her feet up, moving in the swing and wondering where he could be. His swing next to her is empty. It gently sways with the breeze.
“Tephie!” Soon enough, a little boy comes running her direction. He trips and stumbles as her approaches her.
“Barry” She mutters, forcing the swing to a halt when she notices he’s crying. “What happened?”
“They hit me again” It is then that she notices the red bruise on his cheek. “I ran”
“Are you okay?” The little girl jumps off the swing, meeting him halfway as he finally reaches her.
“Yeah... I’m okay...” He grits his teeth, averting his teary eyes from her.
Stephanie frowns at first, never before having seen him angry except for on occasions like that. Because of the bullies. In any case, she doesn’t understand why the other kids pick on Barry so much.
She then takes his hand, smiling at him, and starts running. He was just starting to recover from his own dash, but he gladly follows after her even as he huffs again.
“Where are we going?”
Stephanie doesn’t reply. She only giggles, squeezing his hand as they run through the park. They reach a small hill, patiently climbing their way to the top. They look at each other, never letting go of their hands or stopping to catch their breath. Now they’re both smiling.
Once they’re at the top of the green hill, Stephanie finally stops. Barry stands by her side, watching in confusion and curiosity. The little girl watches the clouds for a moment, craning her neck up and squinting her eyes at the bright sun.
After taking a deep breath, Stephanie lets out a very loud high-pitched shriek. Startled, Barry jumps in place. When she looks at him, that smile is still adorning her features.
“Try it!” She encourages him between giggles. “You’ll feel better”
Barry gawks at her, but Stephanie tugs at his hand. Giving in, he takes a deep breath. When he starts screaming at the top of his lungs, the little girl dissolves into giggles. He stops for a moment, glancing at her in surprise.
“I do feel better”
“Then keep doing it!”
The two of them join together in a thunderous harmony of shrieking voices. Their frustrated and boisterous screaming evolves into giggles. Soon after, their laughter has completely taken over. They laugh and laugh until their stomachs hurt. Looking at the other only causes them to laugh harder. But they don’t stop staring at the other.
They don’t stop smiling.
And laughing.
The alarm clocks startles her awake. Stephanie opens her eyes, meeting with the direct sight of her plain white ceiling. She groans, feebly sitting up and passing a hand through her messy brown hair. Her eyes are instinctively directed to the framed photograph on her beside table. The boy of her dream is looking at her through time, immortalized in that image. She smiles to herself. Barry Allen, the one and only. The little girl next to him, a younger version of Stephanie, is smiling wide. His arm is on her shoulders and neither of them could be happier.
Shaking her head, Stephanie gets to her feet. She calmly walks to the bathroom to get ready for work. Even as she combs her hair, as she brushes her teeth and gets changed from her pijamas to her street clothes, her thoughts wander.
That boy keeps running through her mind like he does every morning. Every day. He brings a dull ache to Stephanie’s chest. The sting of nostalgia. The big what ifs that make her head fuzzy. The yearning for regaining what she once had.
Like every morning, Stephanie forces those thoughts away the moment she leaves her apartment. She just takes a deep breath and ventures into the streets of Central City. She has a life of her own now. Without him. As much as she misses Barry Allen, she hasn’t talked to her childhood best friend in years. It’s best to forget about him. She probably won’t see him again.
Or at least... that’s what she thinks.
The Batcave is quiet that morning. As Barry absently walks in, he hopes it’s a good thing. Dropping his bag from his shoulder down to the floor, he glances around. Everything is in order. Bruce and Diana are sitting in a small round table, smiling as they chat over coffee. Victor and Arthur share a slightly bigger square table not far from them, playing cards in a mildly aggressive way that seems very much amusing to them both. Clark is intensely typing on his laptop, resting his back against the wall.
“Hey, everyone!” Barry greets them, making a little wave when they turn their heads.
“Barry” Bruce greets him back. “Everything okay?”
“Yup, pretty normal” He shrugs, going to stand between the two tables. “And here?”
“Everything is calm” Diana tells him with a warm smile.
“Really?”
“Yes”
“Just the usual” Clark pipes up, still not looking away from the screen. “Saving some people every now and then”
Barry nods his head in response. He has done that some days himself – moving a person away from a speeding car, helping people stuck in burning buildings, even getting kitties down from trees. Nothing ‘save the world’ worthy, but important nonetheless.
“So…” The boy begins, letting his dark eyes wander around the room. “If everything’s calm, what are we all doing here then?”
“Hanging out” Victor simply replies, brow furrowed in concentration as he stares at the deck in his hand.
“Hanging out, huh?”
“Isn’t that what friends are supposed to do?”
“Aw, Arthur… you consider me your friend?”
Arthur glares at Barry, fighting a smile, and shakes his head at him. “I take it back”
“Fine, okay, um…” Barry fidgets in the spot, having lots of nervous energy at the start of the day. “I’m going to get to the store, anyone want something?”
“A sense of purpose” Victor replies sarcastically, causing Arthur to chuckle.
“Yeah, I have like… 3 dollars” Barry says, digging some wrinkled bills from his pocket.
“No, thank you” Diana kindly says, playfully tilting her head at Victor in response to his comment.
“A new member to the team would be great” Arthur smirks too. “Maybe that way it’d be easier to deal with you”
“That’s it, mister” Barry points a finger at him. “I was gonna get donuts for everyone, but you’re not getting any”
Everyone chuckles, including Arthur, and they all continue with what they were doing before Barry came in. Slightly restless still, the boy sighs and picks his bag back up.
“Be right back” And he speeds off, setting the wheels of destiny in motion.
Stephanie takes a deep breath, trying to concentrate in the present. The investigation is leading nowhere, and so that dull and routinely day becomes something even worse: a waste of time. When she moves away from the microscope, Stephanie’s eyes are directed to the corridor outside the room when they detect movement.
Her smile, which had been missing, returns like the sun on a cloudy day when she sees Ben walking towards the lab. He seems to be the only dash of color in her usually gray days.
“Sorry I’m late” Ben says as soon as he walks in, dedicating her a smile that spreads warmth within her. “I had so much to do this morning”
“It’s okay” She takes her glasses off and stands away from the table.
“Any luck with the samples?” He absently asks as he puts his white lab coat on.
“There’s no change” Stephanie sighs in defeat. “The molecules have been exposed to that force field for days now and there is no reaction”
“That’s odd…” Ben frowns and approaches her. “Is the computer still glitching?”
“I haven’t touched it this time” She jokes, even if her tone holds more irritation than playfulness this time. “I don’t think it has an effect on the results in any case”
Her partner quiets for a moment, typing and reading the screen. After he has checked and introduced some commands that will alter that force field, he turns to her.
“Do you think we’re doing something wrong?”
“I don’t know…” She pinches the bridge of her nose, feeling the start of a headache forming in her forehead.
The silence settles for just a second. It falls on them forcefully, heavily.
“Why don’t you go get some coffee?” Ben kindly touches her shoulder. “The fresh air might help”
“You just want me to get you some coffee” Stephanie smiles in spite of herself.
“I didn’t say that” A cautiously playful smiles draws on his lips. “But if you insist…”
“Fine...” Her smiles lingers even as she jokingly rolls her eyes. “The usual?”
“Yes, please” Ben innocently replies, even if he’s observing the experiment.
Stephanie shakes her head to herself, taking her lab coat off and leaving the lab.
The wheels of destiny start spinning faster and faster.
The hubbub fills the establishment. Stephanie taps her foot, trying to distract herself while she waits in line. The queue isn’t moving. The other costumers also scoff, sigh and roll their eyes at whoever keeps them waiting like that.
“I know I’m twenty cents short! But c’mon, it’s just twenty cents!” A loud voice comes from the counter, at the very start of the line. “I’m craving that donut so much! Can’t you like… I don’t know… make an exception or something?”
“I can’t let you take them if you don’t pay, sir” The clerk replies in the most bored voice Stephanie has ever heard. “Give me all the money and you can have your food”
“You don’t understand” The more she hears that voice, the more Stephanie thinks it sounds familiar. It’s not exactly the tone, but the cadence and fidgety hint to it. “I have been, um…. Running... around all day, I need to eat something!”
Why is that voice so familiar? Just as she is leaning to the side to try and get a look at him, Stephanie’s heart skips a beat when she places where she heard that voice before.
It can’t be...
Her heart is now thumping inside her rib cage. The butterflies coyly start to unleash in her stomach, but she tries to keep them at bay. She shouldn’t get her hopes up.
Cutting in line, she quickly moves to the start of the queue to take a look at that person. A tall thin boy with dark hair is leaning against the counter and impatiently drumming his fingers against the glass. He passes a hand through his short hair. That second in which he hasn’t noticed her presence yet feels like an hour before she finally pipes up.
“I can’t believe it” She grins when she sees him, even if she’s shaking with excitement. “Barry? Barry Allen?”
He turns his head in her direction. His dark brown eyes are awfully familiar to her, and that’s how she knows it’s really him. The smile that appears on his lips next, sweet and bright, is the last proof she needs to confirm his identity.
“Stephanie? Is that you?” The boy squints at her, forgetting about the food. “Stephanie Williams?”
“Yes!” She chuckles, bouncing in the spot. “It’s me!”
“Steph!” Without thinking twice, Barry throws himself to hug her. “Oh my gosh!”
A big feeling of warmth envelops her as he presses her against him. Several years have gone by, but it feels like time hasn’t really passed at the same time. Stephanie feels like her ten year old self again as she is squished by one Barry Allen’s bear hugs.
Memories overwhelm her. Hot summer afternoons in the park. Movie marathons that turned into sleepovers. Chilly autumn evenings. She is even reminded of their pirate phase. All those thoughts fill her with a nostalgia that, for the first time in a decade, isn’t filled with melancholy.
“You look great!” Barry exclaims as he breaks away, much too soon for her taste, and takes her by the shoulders. “You have the same face”
“Thank you” She laughs a little, taking it as a compliment. “You have changed a little”
“It’s the jaw, isn’t it?” He jokes, passing a finger through his own face. “Makes me look older”
“I’m so happy to see you, Barry” Stephanie grins, clinging on to him and hoping the moment can last forever.
“Why, what’s wrong?” He fondly squeezes her arm. “Are you having a bad day? Who do I have to kill?”
“Same old Barry...” She laughs, shaking her head in amusement.
“Excuse me” The clerk’s voice reminds them that they aren’t alone in the establishment. “Are you paying or not?”
The both of them pause, bearing similar embarrassed expressions as they glance at the queuing crowd that stare at the pair in annoyance. When they realize they are still tightly holding on to each other, they awkwardly step away.
“Um… I’ll pay for that” Stephanie offers, politely smiling as she picks up her purse.
“Oh, thank you!” Barry effusively replies, clapping his hands together. “You’re my hero”
She laughs a little, endeared by his comment. The clerk finally hands him his donuts and the rest of his order and Barry grabs it with an excited little bounce. Then he turns to Stephanie once more, smiling from ear to ear.
“Look, I gotta run” He mumbles, fondly staring at her. “But it’s been great to see you”
“Oh, uh… yeah…” The girl sheepishly smiles, putting her hair behind her ear. “It’s been great to see you too”
Barry must have noticed the disappointment in her voice, because he frowns as he observes her. Then, after a brief pause, he places his hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, since you saved my butt back there… I could uh…” He stutters for a moment, ultimately clearing his throat and blushing under Stephanie’s amused gaze. “We could go out for a coffee sometimes, I’m paying”
“Y-Yeah!” Her face instantly lights up. “That would be great!”
“That way we can catch up!”
“You’re right, it would be lovely!”
Barry looks over his shoulder for a moment, bothered by the people that still crowd around them. Then he gulps and stares at her in expectation. Seeing as Stephanie just stands there, grinning, he insists.
“When are you free?”
“Oh” She chuckles in embarrassment. “Today I’m all booked, but tomorrow after lunch I’m free”
“Great!”
“Great”
“See you here tomorrow at… let’s say… 4pm?”
“That sounds great”
“Cool”
“Cool”
Barry and Stephanie still stand there, staring at each other. It feels as though that invisible string that had been so taut, keeping them apart, now won’t keep them separated any longer. Like they are physically incapable of moving away.
A wave of emotions has taken over them. All those feelings that they had forgotten, that they were once so used to when they were children and saw each other every day. The excitement slowly bubbling in their chest that spreads down to the stomach and groww bigger and bigger, the way they couldn’t stop smiling and their faces end up hurting from the big gesture, the pleasant nervous butterflies in the stomach...
“Well” Barry finally makes the move, resting his hand against Stephanie’s upper arm and lovingly squeezing. “I would love to stay, but I really really gotta go”
“S-Sure, of course” Hiding the pain in her heart, she steps to the side. “I have to go back to work too”
“See you tomorrow!” He waves goodbye and hurries to the door.
Stephanie stays there for several more seconds, watching the spot from which he disappeared. She sighs. Before the sadness can overcome her, however, she tells herself that she will see him tomorrow. After years separated, Stephanie and Barry will finally be together again.
When she returns, everything is the same at the lab. Oddly enough, it feels completely different at the same time. With her chest full and the stomach suffering the remaining of the butterflies, Stephanie walks inside. She puts her lab coat on and approaches Ben.
“I’m back!” Seeing as he is still busy with the computer, she only leaves the small plastic tray in the table beside him. “Here’s your coffee, Ben”
The young man absently turns to her and has to do a double take. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise when he takes a better look at her.
“Look at that smile…” He says, putting a hand on his hip.
“What?” Stephanie scoffs, rushing to pick up her coffee to have something to do. “It’s not like you haven’t seen me smile before...”
“I know, but that smile feels different…” A sweet grin slowly makes its way to Ben’s face. “More genuine”
“Maybe…”
“So why the change?”
“I don’t know” She lies, feeling herself blushing.
Ben peers at her for a moment longer, but ultimately gets back to work. Stephanie sighs in relief and absently returns to the experiment herself.
She does know the reason behind that change... Barry Allen. That constant presence in her life even in his absence. That boy she could never forget and that, she is happy to realize now, she doesn’t have to. Stephanie has been reunited with her beloved childhood friend, and the best part of all is she will see him again very soon.