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“So, you got married to my husband.”
“Iris,” Hal turned to see her in the doorway next to Barry in a red dress and a set of earrings Hal had given her for her birthday. “I swear, Barry did not mean for this to happen.”
“I know, we talked before it started.”
“Before?”
“John came to get me, you thought I would let Barry get married without me?”
“I tried explaining, but-”
“Hal,” Barry said. “You said this is important, that is good enough for us both, that is not what this conversation is about.”
“Would you believe me if I said I meant it platonically and it had nothing to do with the fact we just got married in space and I kissed you in front of your wife.”
“If that’s what you tell me I should believe.”
“Hal, this whole situation is a mess,” Iris said. “Ideally all three of us would have sat down before the wedding and talked and you could have made it very clear what you have decided this means to you.”
“It means nothing because you two are married.”
“And if you want it to be just a funny story you tell at the next League meeting that is fine, but you need to be honest right now.”
“It’s a funny story,” Hal said. “What else would it mean?”
“What do you want it to mean?” Iris asked.
“I’m sorry,” Hal said. “You went to get your wife so I could tell her what I just told you.”
“Did you think I would be angry?” Iris asked. “He’s Barry. I don’t understand how people can meet him and not fall in love with him. I’m glad you told him, it’s about time.”
“He’s your husband,” Hal said. “Me having unrequited feel-”
“They aren’t unrequited,” Barry said. “That’s why I needed to get Iris.”
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you think I panicked so much? If this was anyone else it really would mean nothing and I could just go home and tell Iris and we’d both laugh about it later, but it wasn’t anyone else, it was you.”
“I have screwed up enough of my own relationships. I am not going to screw yours up to.”
“Why would you screw it up?” Iris asked. “Harold, listen to me. We both care about you a lot. You are family, you have a home with us however this conversation ends, you are too important for us to lose. Neither of us are going to push you into anything you are not comfortable with. Do you understand?”
Hal nodded.
“Good. I have loved Barry for a very long time, and nothing is going to change how we feel about each other. I also know that you’ve always been special. You got to know Barry and the Flash, and you were the first person who knew they were both him. You knew before Wally; did you know that?”
“Wally was Kid Flash before we met,” Hal said.
“And he was the second person to know after you,” Barry said. “I actually talked to Iris before she knew, there was a thing, the whole world found out, Wally helped with that, I did talk to Iris about her not forgetting or about me talking to her to tell her, but she said she would wait until we were married so we talked about it again then. Not right away exactly.”
“But I worked it out right away because he talks in his sleep,” Iris said. “You haven’t told me about that time yet.”
“I’ll get Wally and we can go through the whole thing later,” Barry said. “I got accused of treason. There are other people who know, but I trust you, Hal, I have since we met, and you’ve never let me down. You’re my best friend, and I fell in love with the last best friend I had too.”
“Have you told August yet?” Iris asked and Barry rolled his eyes.
“You know I mean you. Hal, it’s okay.”
“And if you want, we can figure this out,” Iris said.
“How?” Hal asked.
“Things did not work between us and Patty, but you already half live at our house when you’re on Earth, Wally calls you Uncle Hal, half the Justice League thought the two of you were already together when you first met them all, you do know half of Central are convinced the two of you are already married. I’m pretty sure if there is anyone we can work this out with, it’s you.”
“A funny story isn’t your only option,” Barry said. “We can just forget the whole thing if you want. Or, if you wanted to try, you could go on a date”- he glanced at Iris and she nodded- “with us.”
“Or just Barry,” Iris said. “If you want. We can figure that out too. There’s a lot we should talk about.”
“Doing it over dinner might be nice,” Hal said. “With both of you.”
Barry and Iris both beamed.