Barry Allen was convinced that the universe was conspiring against him, either that or he just had extremely bad luck when it came to an issue such as love.

Especially when it involved the pining after of someone who was happily in a relationship with someone else.

Stupid Eddie.

Groaning into his pillow, the images of his coffee run from earlier that day flashed through his mind. The mindless kisses and looks of desire he saw replayed throughout his head, taunting him endlessly.

And then surprisingly his thoughts had managed to wander somewhere else, to someone else. Or maybe it was just his obvious desperation talking. The fact that Iris West would remain only a friend to him, always a friend to him and that thought killed him slowly. So for once he let this thoughts wander, and the sight of Kara Danvers' blinding smile evaded his thoughts.

~

"Oh my god! I-I..."

Barry watched as an extremely flustered Kara came crashing into him and his coffee with full force. He was fortunately able to rescue the coffee from spiraling onto the ground but that didn't stop a mess of papers from flying all over the floor. He watched as she threw herself onto the ground, her glasses falling off her nose and her hands flailing around grasping for the sheets.

Barry soon followed suit, moving quickly to help clean up the mess. He stacked the papers up in his arms and handed them back to a now smiling Kara.

"Thank you for the help."

"It's no problem."

She nodded at him in appreciation before running out the door of the cafe.

~

Barry blinked slowly before checking to look at the clock hanging high on the wall.

12:00am

He wanted to scream out at himself in sick frustration for sleep hadn't been able to consume him yet despite the feeling of utter exhaustion being there.

Closing his eyes tightly he tried to clear his mind but the attempt to stop his wild thoughts only seemed to make things worse for now a certain someone had crept into his mind once again.

So Barry continued to lie in his bed, staring absent mindlessly at the ceiling, still absolutely convinced that the universe hated him, for it seemed as if he was always destined to love and lose.

First it was Iris, now it was Kara. His once good friend who was now keeping him from closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep with her stupidly contagious smile.

~

"I-I'll talk to you tomorrow James..." Kara nodded slowly, her face falling slightly. "...Of course, it was no problem. You guys are good for each other...yeah," she laughed nervously into the phone. "Goodnight."

With a sigh Kara hung up the phone quickly, tossing it lightly on her bed, disappointed in the fact that she was just too nice. Giving James Olsen relationship advice wasn't exactly what Kara had in mind when he called her earlier that evening. With her heart beating loudly in her chest she was quick to accept the call, too eager at that. But it seemed as if she was doomed to just remain a friend in James' eyes, considering how happy he seemed to be with Lucy.

Good for them.

As she went to climb into bed Kara glanced at her phone on last time noticing the time.

12:00am

Less than a minute her phone screen faded to black she saw the device vibrate slightly, the once dark screen lighting up again.

"Barry Allen! Do you realize how late it is?"

"Yeah...but —"

"You woke me up from my sleep!" Kara lied, letting out a clearly exaggerated yawn into the phone.

In response he simply laughed before speaking again, "we both know that's a lie? Having trouble falling asleep as well?"

"I guess you can say that..."

~

Barry's heart surged for a moment and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. It was a spur of the moment decision to call Kara but maybe just maybe calling her and realizing this now materialized attraction to her was just because of Iris would relieve some of the tension in his mind.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"It's James."

"I see," Barry bit the side of his cheek in anticipation. "I can relate to that."

"I'm guessing you're talking about Iris?" He heard her laugh nervously into the phone after the question escaped her lips.

"I guess you can say that...well uh..." Barry ran Kara's name in his mind repeatedly waiting for a reaction. Maybe something to hint that his feelings were something fake, something for his heart to bounce up from after the fall. Nothing happened and Barry should've expected it.

"Yes?"

"It's late and we should probably get some sleep you know? Um, goodnight Kara."

He hung up the phone before she even got a chance to return his goodnight, and took a deep breath in, letting it out into the empty air.

Despite not having a previous reaction to the mere mention of her name, Barry's stomach was still filled with the same nerves and it seemed as if that feeling wouldn't be going away anytime soon.

He glanced back at the time once again.

1:00am

So then, at exactly 1:00am on a Sunday night Barry Allen concluded something, something not even a scientific equation or logic would be able to easily solve.

Maybe just maybe Kara was more than a cushion to break his fall, maybe she was more than his friend.

And with that thought Barry drifted off to sleep, knowing somewhere deep in his mind that he was set for heartbreak.