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10. Nutella is the solution to everything

They are a few things I have learned since I've moved to Central City. One of them was to never and I mean never give Iris West the spare key to your house or this might happen.

"Wake up! Dani! Daniella Tamsin Queen! Wake the fu–" Iris jumped up and down on my queen size bed.

"I'm up! Now will you explain why you are here at–" I picked up my phone and press the lock button, "5:30 am! Iris what the fu–"

"Okay, potty mouth. Up you get! We are going to take the photo for the new article I'm gonna post," she got off my bed and grabbed my phone out of my hand.

"Iris, you are crazy. Goodbye," I said before I pulled the duvet over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

"Don't make me do it."

"I'm going to sleep and there is nothing you can do about it. Hear that N-O-T-H-I–" I was interrupted by my duvet covers being ripped away from me and the feeling of ice cold water poured on my head.

I shot Iris a deadly glare, "Run."

An hour and a half later, Iris and I were on one of the tallest building in Central City at 6:00 am with two cups of coffee and Iris with a bruised arm.

"You didn't have to punch me," Iris gritted out bitterly.

"Oh but I did," I retorted, shutting my left eye and looking through the viewfinder. I slowly panned the camera, waiting for the perfect shot. The sun came out setting the sky right. I gasped at the breathtaking sight and took the shot.

"Oh my God, Iris! This shot is perfect!" I jumped up and down in excitement. I removed the strap and showed her the photo. The photo doesn't even look like it needs editing.

"Wow, Dani that looks amazing. You have real talent. With my kick-ass article and your brilliant photography, we should be out there. So... I was thinking we should maybe... I don't know sign our names in the article?"

My eyes widened in fear, "I don't know about that... Barry said we shouldn't write about him–"

"Barry said it's dangerous, I know, but something impossible is happening in Central City and the Barry I knew would be looking into it as deep as he can. The new Barry doesn't want anything to do with it. We need to do this for ourselves," she handed me my coffee cup, "Think about it. Okay?"

I nodded and walked over to my camera bag I placed on the chair, I placed the camera in and zipped the bag closed. I took a sip of my now cold coffee and walked over to Iris who was smiling at the view.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Breathtaking," I smiled and drank more coffee. The cool morning wind blew in our face, blowing my hair back softly. I closed my eyes with a faint smile on my face.

"I'm sorry for this morning," My eyes snapped open and turned to Iris. I grinned, nearly laughing.

"I'm sorry for punching you so hard that I left a bruise," she laughed at my weak apology and softly nudged my side with her elbow. I moaned in fake pain which quickly turned into a laugh. We stared at the sunrise for who know's how long.

"Oh my gosh!" I gasped excitedly. I opened my camera bag and picked up my white Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. I softly placed the camera bag on the ground and took a photo of the view again. The photo came out, I took it out and set it down next to me, waiting for it to process. I turned the camera around and wrapped my arms around Iris's shoulder.

"Selfie!" I yelled, grinning widely with my eyes closed. The flash went on indicating that I took the photo. I took the photo out, "Let's wait and see how that turned out."

I picked up the other photo and put the two in my bag with the camera. "What was that all about?" she laughed, putting her right hand in her leather jacket pocket.

"My room looks a bit boring so what I'm gonna do is, every time I see a beautiful sight, I'll take a picture of it and also attempt a selfie. Then I'm going to put the photos up on my wall and on every photo I take a sharpie and write the date," I explained, throwing my hair into a messy ponytail.

"That sounds like a cool idea," she pulled her hand out of her pocket and looked at the time on her watch.

"Oh shoot! Since my dad has barely looked my way since I told him about me and Eddie's relationship, I thought I would get him some coffee like I used to do."

"Okay, we will drive to Jitters then the station," I picked up my bag, "Let's get going!"

✦✦✦✦

"I may have forgiven you for your little stunt earlier but don't think you're off the hook," I straightened my green military jacket. My outfit was pretty simple today, a short sleeve grey top with black skinny jeans and dark red combat boots. We had gotten the coffee for Barry and Joe and were in the elevator of the Police Department.

"Excuse me, I have a bruise on my arm, I think I'm off the hook," she raised her eyebrow. I shot her a wink as the elevator doors opened.

We walked out and saw Joe and Barry talking to each other, "Thought I would bring Central City's finest java over to Central City's finest."

Iris interrupted their conversation, holding up the coffee. Barry smiled and took his cup.

"Thanks. I'm off caffeine," Joe shot coldly before he walked away.

We turned around and walked to Barry's lab, "My dad's been mad at me ever since I told him about me and Eddie," Iris explained Joe's cold reaction.

"No, you mean he's mad at you because you didn't tell him," Barry corrected smugly, sipping his cup.

"Uh, first, that sounds like you're taking his side, and second, do you know how he does this whole, 'I'm not talking to you, but I have a whole bag full of judgmental looks I'm gonna try out on you later'."

"Yeah, I've been on the receiving end of those a few times," Barry mumbled, looking away.

"Speaking of communications, or lack thereof, after all of these journalism classes, I got an idea," Iris announced as we reached the top of the stairs.

"I started a blog," Iris smiled proudly. I cleared my throat, "We started a blog."

"Alright, what's it about? Your crazy brownie obsession? 'Cause, you know, you two probably shouldn't broadcast that," he laughed at his own joke.

I smiled, rolling my eyes playfully, "No silly, something she found important."

"Something that Central City needs to know about," she stopped us from walking and stood in front of us. "The Streak," Barry's smile dropped.

"He's out there, Barry. Rumor has it, he stopped an armed car robbery earlier. I was hoping that I could take a look at the file, and..."

"What? I'm not at liberty to discuss an ongoing police investigation with you," Barry said, walking away.

"Since when Mr. Blabbermouth," I spoke up.

"Take it from someone who's been investigating the impossible since they were 11. Blogging about this is only gonna bring the crazies to your front door," Barry said.

"Our blog is anonymous," I pointed out.

"All right, well, anonymous or not, it's not safe. You never know what kind of weirdos are out there trolling on the internet," he argued. His eyes gave off a stern look. One that was almost identical to my older brother.

"I can vouch for that. The internet is full of weirdos and nerd rage... Lots and lots of nerd rage," Felicity Smoak rambled from Barry's Lab. She had her famous ponytail and hot pink dress with a white blazer and heels. I ran over to her, pulling her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Good to see you, Felicity," I slowly pulled out of the hug and smiled at her. Barry chuckled from behind me and stood next to me.

"Hi, Felicity Smoak!" she smiled, introducing herself.

"Iris West!"

"Barry Allen!" We all stopped and stared at him. Barry's huge smile faded, "But you both already knew that. Felicity is..."

Iris cut him off, "The girl that you met in Starling City, the computerer, right?" They nodded, "You two worked on one of Barry's unexplainable cases."

"Which, long story short, was definitely explainable," she walked over to the sunroof, "So the lightning came through here?"

"Yeah!" Barry grinned like an idiot. I gave him a questioning look but he shrugged it off. Focusing all his attention on Felicity.

He walked past me, roughly brushing his shoulder with mine, "Sorry," he mumbled quietly, walking to Felicity. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and stormed over to Iris.

"Are you okay there, Green Eyed Monster?" she smirked, throwing away her coffee cup in a nearby trash can.

"I'm not jealous..." I trailed off, looking everywhere else but into her eyes. I could feel her stare on me. My eyes met hers and she smiled.

"I think you're jealous of Felic–" I slammed my hand on her mouth practically slapping her.

"They are other people in the room who also have ears," I hissed at her. Her eyes lit up, her hand pulled mine off her mouth.

She gave me a weak smile, "Dani, you can trust me with anything. I know you have feelings for him whether you like it or not sooner or later you have to admit them."

"I need to go to work now but I want you to come to the Trivia Night were having at Jitters," I nodded and gave her a hug. She pulled away and walked out.

"So what are we going to do?" I asked the pair behind me, I spun on my heels and sat on a chair. They ignored me and continued talking in hushed tones.

"Wow, okay well I'll just leave then. See you later," I walked out of the room and headed downstairs. I didn't have work today and I didn't want to go home because I would be bored out of my mind. I scanned the room, looking for any familiar faces and my gaze fell upon Eddie. I faked a smiled and walked to his table.

"Eddie! How've you been an old friend," I greeted, sitting in a chair near his desk.

"Daniella? Are you okay?"

"I'm absolutely fine! How's your day been?"

We talked about things like our family and our likes and dislikes. I felt like I got to know Eddie a bit more and I got a chance to restart my friendship with him. As Eddie told me the story of how he mistakenly set their Christmas tree alight when he was young, I saw Felicity and Barry leave the building. I sighed and looked down at my lap.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his excitement vanished. I looked up and gave him a weak smile.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot!" he leaned forward, almost trying to make sure he wouldn't miss a word.

"Well, I know this girl who's a tough cookie and doesn't like talking about her feelings often," Eddie nodded, "And recently her close friend, who's a guy, is hanging with another girl and he's been almost neglecting my friend and she feels hurt. What should she do?"

"Well, does this friend have a name?"

"Yes. Daniela. With one 'l'. We're completely different," I blurted out, lying straight through my teeth.

"Well, I think Daniela, with one 'l', might have developed feelings for her close guy friend. She might not have realized this until the other girl came along. It might be hard for her to accept it but sooner or later she might have to embrace it. I believe we only get on soulmate. One person that we really connect with and feel like you can tell them anything and everything but if we don't take that leap of hope, we might never get that chance again," he cleared his throat, straightening up in his seat, "I hope that was really helpful for Daniela, you know, with one 'l'."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to pass the message," I softly spoke. I thanked him and asked if he was going to the Trivia Night.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Okay, see you later Eddie," I got off the chair and walked towards the elevators.

"Wait, Daniella!" I stopped and turned around. Eddie briskly walked to me.

"Make sure to tell Daniela, with one 'l', to try bond with her guy friend more, if she feels uncertain about her feelings."

"I will! Try not to miss me too much!"

✦✦✦✦

"Party people, who's ready to get their trivia on?" the MC shouted into the mic, causing the crowd to applaud and cheer. Iris, Eddie, Barry and I were sitting at a small rectangular table. Iris and Eddie on one long side while Barry and I on the other. The couple in front of us were kissing and touching each other while me and Barry were busy mocking them.

"Put your tongue down her throat why don't ya?" Eddie pulled away from Iris and smiled at me. I gave him a questioning look before shaking it off.

"Okay, everybody, welcome. We've got some new challenges. Please, welcome E=MC Hammer!" I turned to Barry and laughed, mentally asking why he chose the name.

"No, you see, I did it because E=mc squared is Einstein's formula for kinetic energy, right? And, you know, can't touch this," he laughed, dancing a little in his seat. I chuckled at his joke.

"That's great, Barry," Eddie said, looking like he didn't understand.

"So where is Felicity?" Iris asked, smiling at Barry. I looked down at my smile slightly dropped and in the corner of my eye, I saw Eddie smirk.

"I'm not sure. I told her it started at..." Everyone was staring behind us like they were in a daze. I turned around in my chair and saw Felicity all dolled up. She wore an appropriate revealing black dress with heels. Her hair and makeup was perfect.

"Feel free to buy yourself that dress," I heard Eddie whisper to Iris. I quickly turned around, gave him a disgusted look before turning around. Felicity spotted us and slowly walked over to us, a huge smile on her face.

"I totally overdressed for trivia night," she said with a laugh. Barry turned to me and gave me a pleading smile.

"Dani, would you mind moving to the other seat please?"

My heart and smile dropped for a brief second before I faked a smile, trying to not let my disappointment show. I smiled bitterly,"Yeah, sure."

I picked up my bag and moved to the chair at the end of the table. I sat down and crossed my arms like a little 4-year-old who just threw a tantrum.

"E=MC hammer," Felicity read aloud, "That's funny," she laughed. Everyone at our table laughed while I rolled my eyes. We started with some question, all were answered by Felicity and Barry. It was almost as I Iris, Eddie and I weren't even here.

"Three is Pasteur."

"Mm-mm. Three is Erdel, and four is Pasteur."

"Right. Five?"

They said in unison,"Descartes."

"Are they even speaking English?" I laughed when Eddie said that.

"And the points go to E=mc Hammer," The MC announced, frankly a bit annoyed.

"I knew you two would make a good team," Iris complimented them. I couldn't control my anger and kicked her under the table. She shot me a glare and I returned it.

"So, Felicity, what do you do?" Eddie asked, starting a new topic of conversation.

"I work in computer sciences at Queen Consolidated."

"Queen Consolidated? Daniella isn't that your family's company?" Eddie questioned, dragging me into the conversation. I nodded with a grim expression on my face.

"So, do you have a boyfriend in Starling City?" Iris smiled.

I grinned evilly a sudden thought in mind, "Yeah, How's Oliver?" I snapped angrily.

"Oliver and I aren't together. No man in my life in Starling City," Felicity's smile dropped. I have so much rage and anger pent up inside me and I just don't know what to do, so I had to take my anger out on somebody. I'm not jealous, right?

"I'll go get us some drinks. Daniella's coming with me," Eddie said, getting up from his chair and grabbing my hand. He dragged me and made me follow him. He ordered the drinks and gave me a disappointed look.

"What?"

"What do you mean what? Daniella, you're acting crazy! That's what!" I rolled my eyes. He was completely over-reacting.

"You can't say that. Maybe this is how I always act. You don't know that."

"You're jealous!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" I thanked the barista, grabbed two drinks and walked back to our table. I placed a drink in front of Iris and sat down. I felt eyes watching my every move so I looked up to see Iris and Barry staring at me.

"What?" I asked a little calmed down. I chugged almost half my drink.

"Are you okay? Are you mad that I made you move because I'm sorry I realized how stupid I sounded-"

"Let's get back to the questions!" the MC's voice boomed from the speakers. Barry huffed in annoyance, 'We're not done here' he mouthed before Felicity and Eddie came back. After rethinking things and calming down a little, I was far more relaxed than earlier. Everything will be fine.

I hope.

Buzz

"I'm sorry. I thought I knew it, and I got excited, and I... I just hit it," Eddie sheepishly said, looking guilty, "No, I mean, maybe they'll get it wrong too."

"Oh, yeah. I am sure that the team named Pride and Padawans doesn't know the name of Han Solo's ship," Felicity snorted. She is so nice, pretty and smart. I hate that I don't have a solid reason to hate her.

"Oh, honey, you are so cute when you're confused," Iris grabbed Eddie's face and planted a small peck on his lips. They looked so happy together. Eddie picked up his beeping cell phone and looked at the screen.

"Someone spotted Snart. I gotta go."

"Snart? That doesn't sound sexy." I laughed at the name. It sounded like another name for mucus.

Eddie picked up his jacket and left. Barry soon got up and left with Felicity on his tail.

"And then there were two, Iris didn't smile or laugh. Instead, she looked at me with a frown on her face.

"Why were you acting like that earlier?"

"What I'm about to tell you is something I have been denying and lying to myself for a while now and I'm fully realizing it now," I took a deep breath and exhaled quickly, "I think I have a crush on Ba-"

"Barry had to go use the toilet at home because," my eyes squinted curiously, "Because he has diarrhea," Felicity said, sitting back down in her seat. Does Barry have diarrhea?

"Is it bad?" Iris asked. Was she really buying this excuse?

"Explosive," I scrunched my nose in disgust at Felicity's response. I really didn't like the picture in my head right now.

"Well I hope he's okay," Iris said. Suddenly I felt pain on my left shin.

"Ow!" I snapped my head to Iris, who not-so-subtlety jerking her head in Felicity's direction.

"I'll go get us more drinks," she got up and walked away. This is going to be super awkward.

"Look, I'm sorry," we said in unison. We both paused and laughed.

"I don't know what came over me. I just felt very angry like violent angry but that never usually happens over little things like if you really piss me off then I'm going to attack you with my knives but tonight it was–"

"Your crush on Barry?" she cut my terrible apology short.

"Am I am open book because I thought my tough girl, no filter exterior was really hard to bre–"

"Dani, are you hearing yourself? You sound like me," I sighed. What is going on with me?

"I could see that you liked Barry not by how you gave me death stares but by how–and I'm about to say a very clichéd line that I wanna kick myself for but I finally realized it and experienced it with my own four eyes but–" she sighed, "–You have feelings for him," I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Iris placed our drinks in the middle of the table.

"Dani is finally embracing her crush on Barry."

"Shut the front door! Finally!" she squealed obnoxiously loud. I grabbed my drink and chugged it down. Maybe if I don't say a word and stay still, I'd be invisible.

"Don't worry Dani, your secrets safe with me," she placed her hand on my shoulder, "Iris, on the other hand, looks like she's about to pee her pants because she's so excited."

"How can I not? I've pushed for them to be together for over a year now. Of course, I'm going to be ecstatic!" Iris defended herself. She was probably planning our wedding in her head right now.

"Oh and by the way Jelly Ellie is scary," Felicity added.

"Don't call me Ella or Ellie. Only call me Dani, Daniella or don't talk to me at all," I complained at the nickname. My ex-boyfriend, which I hid from my parents, called me Ellie and the name just reminds me of the asshole and dick he was. They nodded, trying to keep their smiles from appearing on their faces. Apparently, they couldn't help themselves and burst out laughing.

"Haha, very funny," I laughed wryly. We chatted, had a few laughs and it was really fun to hang out with the girls.

"I should really go back to my hotel now and pack," Felicity giggled, grabbing her stuff and stood up.

"Do you want me to drop you there?" I offered kindly after I finished what might have been my fifth drink of the night. I have been pretty nasty to her so it was the least I could do.

"No!" she shouted a bit startled, "I mean no, it's fine. I would like to be alone."

"Okay? Bye?" Iris wished her farewell and with that, she turned around and basically sprinted for the door. Iris looked at me as if she was asking for an explanation of some sort.

"Don't even ask. I have no idea what that was but hey it's Felicity Smoak we are talking about. She is the queen of rambling and making situations more awkward than they already should be," Iris merely nodded and tried to stand up but she couldn't get her balance and ended up face-planting the floor, giggling like crazy.

"I think I'm drunk. Just a little," she held her thumb and index finger at least 3 inches apart. I raised my eyebrow and laughed at how drunk she was. I helped her up from the floor and threw a couple of bills on the table for the drinks we had ordered.

"Let's get you home missy," I grabbed my stuff and lead Iris to the car. She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. Once I made sure she was safely fastened, I closed her door and went to the other side before doing the same. I started the engine and drove to Iris' house. She kept on rolling her window down and screaming 'hello' at the poor pedestrians. I rolled up her window and locked it before she starts shouting negative comments to people.

"Why did you do that?" she pouted and crossed her arms under her chest. Before I even got the chance to reply, she was knocked out. I smiled and switched off the radio. When I got to her house, I cut the engine off and reached over for her purse to take out her keys. I jumped out of the car and ran to the door. I unlocked it so I could carry Iris to her room or at least into the house, one or the other. I lifted her up and placed her over my shoulder so that her face was facing my back.

"I can definitely feel all those cronuts," I finally got to the door and realised that I still had the strength to carry her to her room. Fortunately, I got to her room without falling down the stairs. I had a few drinks but made sure to also drink lots of water to drain out the alcohol. I threw her on her bed and took off her shoes and jacket. I pulled her blanket and placed it on her so she wouldn't get cold. I quickly ran downstairs to get her a glass of water and some Advil for the killer headache she was going to have the next morning. I may or may not have hit her head on the wall a couple of times, by accident, while I was walking up the stairs. Downstairs was pitch black so I suspected that Joe had either gone to sleep or wasn't home yet.

"Detective Joe West! Put your hands where I could see them!"

"Ah damn! I thought you wouldn't find out what I did last summer," I laughed, putting my hands up as instructed.

"Dani?" Joe's curious voice said before he switched on the lights.

"Last time I checked, that was my name," I lowered my hands and grabbed the Advil and a glass for the water.

"What are you doing here?" Joe asked, placing his gun on the table and getting a cup for himself. I opened the tap and filled the cup with water.

"Your daughter got crazy drunk so I brought her home and took her to her room," I set the glass the sink and took Joe's cup from him, filling it up as well.

"What are we going to do with her?" I joked, giving him his glass of water. He laughed and took a sip of his water. We were silent for a few seconds before he spoke up again.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"I didn't do it!"

"I know you didn't do anything bad, Dani. I was just," he shook his head, "Nevermind."

"Tell me!" I insisted. I was beyond curious now.

"No, it might be too early to ask. Think of it as a question for the future," he finished his glass and put it in the sink, "Goodnight. Make sure to lock the door on your way out," and with that, he left.

I huffed and picked up the tablets and glass of water for Iris. I waked up the stairs and placed the items on her bedside table. I looked around and found a pair of sticky notes and a pen on her desk.

You got crazy drunk so I took you home.

I am not responsible for any bruising you may or may not find on your head.

Call me when you wake up the next morning.

Just so I can scream at you with your hangover.

Kidding, I want to make sure you're not dead.

Love,

Dani x

I tore it off and stuck it on the Advil. I slowly crept out of the room and drove home. I was so tired that I just wanted to change and go to sleep. I changed into my pajamas and quickly went downstairs for some Nutella. There was a knock on the door which made me groan out loud.

"No, I don't want to buy your cookies," I said, not looking at whoever was at the door, "Barry?"

"Were you about to sleep because I could just go."

"Yeah I'm not in the mood for your Barry-ness," he laughed which caused me to do the same, "No, I'm kidding. What's up?"

"Well I thought I acted like such a jerk at Jitters so I thought we could have like a movie marathon," he said, bringing up a bunch of snacks in a plastic bag. I grinned and opened the door wider.

"I guess we could compromise," he walked inside and we watched about 5 movies from different genres, munching on different snacks. As the last movie ended, I slowly fell asleep. I heard the TV switch off and shuffling before a blanket was draped on me. And then the craziest thing happened.

I felt Barry place his lips on my forehead, pecking it.

"Sweet dreams Dani."

✦✦✦✦

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