Cisco Ramon: Heyyyy good morning Park! today is the day we trap opposite Flash. u coming?

Parker's eyes flickered between the street and her cell phone.

To: Cisco Ramon:

If you rlly need me. i planned to spend a day at Jitters..

Parker's feet padded across the puddled sidewalks, her ears filled with honking and angry cab drivers. It was noisy and loud, but that was her home, and she had gotten used to it.

The door to Jitters opened as she approached. Surprisingly, out came Caitlin Snow, with a few papers in her hand.

"Hey there," Parker greeted.

"Hello, Parker," she said, trying to casually stuff the papers into her bag. While doing so, one fell out her grasp.

Parker snatched it up and shook the water from the puddle it fell into, buying her time to scan over it.

The Burning Man by Iris West

Parker averted her eyes quickly, thanking closed captioning for her quick ability to read. She handed the paper to Caitlin, politely smiling.

"I've got to go. We're supposed to be capturing you-know-who today.." Caitlin said.

"Good luck," Parker sang.

Her eyes lingered on Caitlin as she scurried away. With a last suspicious glance, she entered Jitters.

"There's my best friend!" Iris chimed, walking past with two cups of steaming liquid in her hand.

"There's my favorite dweeb," Parker muttered.

Iris came back, her hands on her hips. "How can I help you?"

"I would enjoy an apple cider."

"I think I can do that," Iris joked, grinning. "No work today?"

"Nothing important at S.T.A.R. Labs. So far, nothing from the Police Station. I think I'll just spend the day here, actually," Parker decided.

Jitters was relatively quiet. She had food, her sketchbook and a phone full of great music to last her the day. 

"Great. Pick a seat and I'll bring you a drink."

Parker sat in the back corner to avoid being bothered. Earbuds playing music, Parker drew the first thing that came to mind. 

Iris had silently slid Parker's apple cider onto her desk and continued her work day, without another word. Apparently wearing headphones was a universal sign for isolation. 

She filled every inch of the page with small sketches of arrows and lightning bolts. Within the clatter of symbols, two figures (one colored red; the other green) standing across from each other. 

Another drawing was split in half diagonally, the background of one colored green and the other red, an arrow head and Barry's lightning bolt drawn through their respective colors.

Parker tried to seem unaware of Iris' constant glances. Each hour, Iris refilled her drink or brought a little snack for her. Each time she did that, Parker saw her hesitating feet, like Iris wanted to say something but was afraid to. Parker decided to ignore it and kept drawing.

>>>>>>

Barry

His heavy foot steps through the doors of Jitters made Iris (as well as other workers) aware to his entrance. It was simply more angry than all their other customers.

"Something wrong?" Iris asked.

Barry shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands into his pockets.

With a glance at the cafe, Iris hooked her hand around Barry's elbow and pulled him away from the entrance. 

"I think something is wrong with Park.. I know she draws and that's her thing, but I mean, in all the years I've known her.. She's never spent this much time silently drawing.."

Barry scanned the room for said girl.

Parker had her head dropped, completely indulged in the drawing she was working on. Like always, Barry smiled at the face she made. Crinkle in her forehead; the scrunch of her nose every few seconds.

"They do say that expressing feelings is common through excessive art.." Barry concluded, "I'll talk to her."

Iris let his arm go as he walked away, desperately hoping that if anyone could get through to her, it could be Barry.

>>>>>>>

Parker

A shoe tapped her calf under the table. She expectantly looked up, her fingers crawling through the air to pull one bud from her ear. Her eyebrows furrowed. She began to swing the bud around her finger.

"Aren't you supposed to be-" she tried to start.

"They kicked me out. Said I was, 'too close to this case,'" Barry quoted shamefully.

"It's hard to disagree with their logic, because that's probably what I would have done. But I get your point. It's a shame you can't be there," she sympathized.

Parker swiped her fingers across her phone screen, cutting off the music to talk to give him full attention. She pulled both buds from her ears.

"I don't really want to linger too much on it. I'm just going to be bored for the rest of the day," Barry predicted.

Parker gulped down a sip of her apple cider, finishing it off. "You don't want to tell Father Allen the news?"

Barry snapped his fingers, shooting up in his seat. "Great idea. I'll meet you at home when I'm done!"

Then, with the signature crack, he was gone.

Parker paid at the counter, waved at Iris, and started to walk back to her apartment. 

She was doing better. Every time she had to plug in an electronic, she was hesitant, in fear of getting shocked. It didn't happen once.

Parker was tired of living like that, in the state of mind where if she was alone, everything about that night came back to her. So she cried. And she cried, and her pillow got soaked with tears.

Unfortunately for Parker, her Skype was on the setting where whenever she received a call, it automatically answered. Since her laptop was beside her on the bed and already active, Cisco Ramon's face popped up on her screen.

"Parker! You missed it! It was so cool! Well, wait-- Barry got beat up by Man in Yellow and so did Dr.Wells, but other than that, it was amazing! Barry was just about to get pummeled, but Ronnie Raymond came in and shot fire at Opposite Flash! Then he turned his whole body into a flame and flew away!"

Parker couldn't help but give a small giggle at his excitement. "I really missed out. What a shame."

With Cisco's excitement toned down, he noticed her using part of her blanket to wipe under her eyes. "Have you been crying? You've been crying. Why have you been crying?"

Parker shook her head. "Nothing. Is Barry-"

"-home?" Another voice shouted. "And kind of injured? The answer is yes!"

"Got to go," Parker said. 

"You haven't told me why your crying--" Parker hung up, although, not fast enough to stop Barry from hearing that.

Her laptop lid shut, and the door had already opened. There was no escape from the conversation about to happen.

Barry carefully sat on her bed. His hand was wrapped around his waist, his forehead creased in pain and in confusion. "Parker, I'm worried about you."

"You should be worried about yourself there, Barry. I'm fine," Parker said.

"You haven't talked to anyone about the night--"

"--I almost died? Yeah, because I don't have to."

"Why are you getting defensive? Park, if there's something wrong, please let me help.."

Parker scoffed and pushed her hair out of her face. "All you need to know about that night is that it opened my eyes. You leave it at that, or you leave me alone. Do not push me to tell you. I tell you a lot, Barry, but hat is one thing I will be keeping to myself."

Defeated, Barry stood. "I want you to come to me when you need me. I will always be there, Parker."

"I know," she sighed. "Same with me. Just not for this, okay? I'll handle whatever I can on my own."

Barry trudged to the door, his hand clenched on the edge. He was steps away from exiting, but he stopped. "Sometimes isolation isn't the answer." 

The house remained eerily quiet and for the first time, Barry spent the night on the futon, in his own bedroom.

Both of them spent the moments before sleep took over their bodies hoping that soon, Parker would be all right.