Barry and Y/N arrived back on Earth 1 in the present just before the window closed officially. Barry carried Y/N back into the Cortex and laid her down in the med bay, Caitlin followed just behind him, and Cisco behind her.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked as she unzipped Y/N's suit jacket. "The gunshot wounds reopened, but they're closed perfectly, with a technique I've never even seen before," she said sounding astonished.

"Y/N's dad is the one who helped her," Barry said.

Cisco looked up, "Wait, you met her father? What else happened over there?" he asked, looking at his friend.

Barry held up the file that Y/N's father gave him, "This is our ticket to finding Thawne, her father said that she knows what to do with it," Barry explained with a smile on his face.

"So, looks like we did it," Cisco said giving Barry a high five.

"I wouldn't say that not yet anyway," Barry corrected. "We have the solution to the problem, now we just have to use it."

"But, we don't know how to use the solution, not until she wakes up anyway," Caitlin said nodding her head at Y/N. "Lucky for us, Y/N should be up fairly soon."

Cisco nodded along, "Good, I need someone to talk to."

Barry shot him an offended look, "You can talk to me."

"No, no, no," Cisco replied. "I need to talk to her about one of my dreams, I had it while you guys were gone," he explained.

Barry was just plain confused at this point.

Cisco rolled his eyes as if it wasn't obvious, "The last time I talked to you about my dreams it was when I thought that I could be an astronaut."

"Cisco, you told me about that, and then I explained how you are not only afraid of heights, but also outer space, and small spaces," Barry defended.

"And I could've overcome it all to go to the moon," Cisco replied proudly as he crossed his arms.

Barry smirked, "I'm sure you would've," he said patting his friend on the shoulder.

"So what now?" Caitlin asked getting back to the point.

"Now, I have to head to the station," Barry said checking his phone. "Cisco, can you call me when she wakes up?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, of course," Cisco replied.

"Thank you," Barry said leaving and heading down to the station.

--At CCPD--

"I heard a certain speedster was back in town," Joe said walking into Barry's lab, giving his son a quick hug before sitting down.

"Yeah," Barry chuckled. "And back with some answers," he added.

Joe raised his brows, "You mean you found a way to put an end to our Eowells problem?"

"Eowells" Barry asked.

"Cisco came up with it," Joe explained. "Where is Y/N?"

"At the lab, she had some complications when we were there," Barry said. "The whole thing was just really hard on her, and I don't blame her, I can't blame her, I'm with her until the end."

Joe nodded along, "This reminds me of when you went back to the night your mom died so many years ago, you were heartbroken after that, if you want my advice, take it slow, don't push her, let her open up on her own," Joe said. "But this whole Thawne situation has to be hard on you too, right?" Joe asked.

Barry nodded, slowly, "Every time I look at him, think of him; all I see is my mom, lying on our dining room floor...dying. And then I think about when I went back when she died in my arms, her blood on my hands, I think about how I lost my childhood to him. Thawne ripped all of that away from me," Barry said looking down.

"Have you talked to Y/N about it, I'm sure that she can relate, or give advice a lot better than I can about this stuff."

Barry shook his head, "How do I bring that sort of thing up, I lay awake at night, or I wake up terrified that she might not be breathing, or that maybe Thawne got to her and that I was too late, just like I was too late to save my mom. Y/N already has so many things going on, I don't want to add my problems to that," Barry explained.

Joe shrugged, "I'm just saying that she's your person Barry, she needs you, and you're there for her, don't be afraid to let her be your person, let her help you for a change."

Barry agreed smiled before his phone began ringing, he looked down and saw that it was Cisco, he didn't even answer it, he just started running.

"Is she awake," Barry asked, skidding into the Cortex, Cisco stood waiting for him.

"Yeah, Cait went out for lunch. What happened to her over there?" Cisco asked sounding concerned.

Barry didn't understand what was happening, "What do mean 'happened' to her?" he asked, slowly making his way over to the med bay. He peered into the doorway and saw her crying, he let out a sigh. "I got this, just give us a minute?" Barry asked.

Cisco gave Barry a subtle nod before leaving the area, giving the two speedsters some space.

Barry didn't even say anything, he just walked in and sat on the bed next to Y/N, she had the file from her father, it was open, inside were not only research papers, but also photos. Barry looked up and saw Y/N staring down at them, the tears slowly cascading down her cheeks.

"I didn't even get to say goodbye," Y/N whispered, barely audible, she looked up at Barry, meeting his gaze, tears pooling in her soft eyes. "I got a second chance, a chance to go back and see him again...and I didn't even to get to speak to him."

"That isn't your fault," Barry said quickly denying her, "You want someone to blame, then blame me, blame Thawne, Wells, whoever he is, but don't you dare blame yourself for this," Barry said.

"All I can think about is that night, I keep replaying the scene in my head over and over again," Y/N said still looking down at the photos in her lap.

"I never told you about the night my mom died," Barry said taking Joe's advice, and also taking her attention away from the photos. "I told you how Zoom killed my dad, but I've never told you about how Thawne killed my mother."

"Barry you don't have to-"

"No," Barry interrupted. "I've been through this before, I was 11 years old, I was asleep in my room and then I heard a noise and ran down into the living room and I saw what I thought to be a whirlwind of lightning, it took me a while to realize that there were two people in that whirlwind, and in the middle of all that was my mother, scared out of her mind. Thawne stabbed my mother in the heart, blamed it on my father. Several years later I learned that I was one of those people in the whirlwind, and the other one was Eobard Thawne."

"I've replayed that scene hundreds of times, each time thinking that I could have done something more, that I could have saved her, but I couldn't. And when I first got my powers I got to go back, I got to go back and see her, I talked to her and held in her in my arms as she took her final breaths, but I couldn't save her. You couldn't save your family that night Y/N, sometimes things just don't end up the way that we want them to."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I've been through this same thing, and you are not alone," Barry said cupping her cheek in his palm, gently running his thumb across her jaw, she leaned into his tender touch. "I know it's hard, but I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."

Y/N slowly nodded, the tears still falling, the pain still very present, though Barry being here helped her, he was her rock, and she was his. "Kinda regretting this now aren't you?" she asked, holding up her wedding ring.

"Never," Barry said putting her hand down and holding it, "I'm not afraid of your past, because it is what made you who you are today, my everything. And I don't know if you've noticed, but my past isn't so pretty either," Barry joked. "I love our story, sure it's messy, but it's the story that got us here."

Y/N could only smile as she stared at the man she loved. "Barry, you have seen the worst parts of me, and trust me, there is plenty of that, but yet you stayed. You also somehow manage to bring out the good parts in me," Y/N said looking at him.

"Y/N, you are one of the best, but also the most complex people I know. And I wouldn't be half the person I am today without you right there supporting me the whole way. I love you," Barry said meeting her gaze.

"For better or worse?" Y/N replied holding up her ring. "This is real, isn't it. Still no regrets?"

"You should know better by now, I am with you until the end," Barry told her, grabbing her hand, and touching her ring. "This should show you that I'm not going anywhere. Ever. No matter what happens. You and I are in this thing for the long haul, okay?"

"You promise?" she questioned, although she already knew his answer. Even though Y/N could never truly understand what it was that Barry saw in her. She knew, deep down in her heart, that they were supposed to find each other. But, Y/N also knew that she got the good end of the deal, Barry, on the other hand, drew the short stick. Her crazy past, crazy present, Y/N knew that she would never be able to completely bury what Thawne had down to her and that the same went for Barry.

"Promise," Barry told her, leaning in and kissing her gently. Y/N felt her heart flutter, knowing that she didn't deserve the man sitting in front of her.

-----

Barry Allen deserves the world, but the world doesn't deserve Barry Allen...

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Okay, so I want to know what you, yes you, want to see in the upcoming chapters of this book. I want to include some of what you guys want to read in this book, and the ones to come. I'm trying to make this book more personalized for my readers. Feel free to comment or to message me ideas! (I may or may not shout you out.)