A/N: See? Told ya I'd be back soon! :D As usual, this is a Snowbarry AU story (though I'm pretty sure with the season final we got, every single fanfiction is AU right now...) without superpowers (I promise one day I'll write something with them!)

So I'm trying something new here so bear with me! First of all, I'm going to put a considerable amount of flashbacks in this story, so I hope I'll manage to do it in a way that won't completely confuse you. But if it's the case, just tell me and I'll work on it. Second, as music has a huge place in my heart, I'll try to fit each chapter with a song (and write a few lyrics that I think fit the chapter) and if I manage to make you discover some music than I'll be really happy :)

This story's name comes from "Photograph - Ed Sheeran" as that song, for some reasons, makes me think of Snowbarry every single time.

Okay, enough talking! Enjoy :D

I don't own anything :)

Chapter 1. Coming Home

"I'm coming home
I'm coming home
Tell the world that I'm coming home
Let the rain
Wash away
All the pain of yesterday"

"Coming Home – Skylar Grey"

The place was buzzing with people coming from every side of the room, from every side of the country, from every side of the globe. People alone, people with families or friends, people on the phone... This simple place welcomed so many people at the same time, yet everything that happen here was pretty brief. Nobody really stopped to see what was going on around them, everyone focused on their sole purpose.

Caitlin waited patiently, arms hugging herself as she watched the baggage carousel finally being activated. A slight chill travelled across her body and she closed her jacket tighter around her. It was almost summer, but the heat hadn't settled in yet. As if it wasn't enough, the airport was going way too heavy on the air conditioning. Caitlin watched as people scurried towards their luggage, afraid that if they missed them, the suitcases would be swallowed by the black hole behind the wall. Caitlin chuckled to herself. Didn't they know that they would come back a few moments later?

But it was the same thing every single time. People would gather around the machine, pushing neighbours to get to their bags first, not paying any attentions to their surroundings, their attention solely focused on their luggage. Everybody was so stressed and always in a hurry, jacket hanging on one arm, cell phone clutched in one hand… It was painful to watch.

Caitlin tore her attention away from a mother, shouting to her kids to quickly grab their stuff, once she caught sight of her own small luggage coming up. Slowly and gracefully, Caitlin grabbed the handle of her bag and stepped away from the baggage carousel, carefully avoiding any distressed passenger that didn't find their luggage.

The 28-year-old doctor rolled her eyes. That was one of the reasons she hated flying, aside from the tiny leg space on the plane and the awful air conditioning. She hated seeing all these people stressed out and nervous because of all the things that could go wrong (delayed plane, lost baggage, passport problems, noisy neighbours… just to name a few). Caitlin was already a worrier to begin with, but seeing all of this around her kind of overwhelmed her sometimes, making her more nervous than actually needed. So each time she travelled, she tried to avoid all the drama, swiftly going through every process with her walls around her, shutting everything else out.

And today wasn't in any way different. Her walls were strongly built, especially considering the current events in her life. Her face was fixed with the blank expression she was carrying around everywhere with her lately. She didn't think she had really genuinely smiled in the past few months. She almost didn't remember what it felt like to laugh.

Pushing the disturbing thought aside, she pulled her suitcase behind her. Readjusting her handbag on her shoulder, Caitlin made her way out of the airport, passing a shield saying "Welcome to Ryker Neve – North Carolina". She glanced at it before shaking her head bitterly. Ten years ago she would've never thought about coming back here with a one-way ticket, with no plans about going back to Central City. Her younger self would've looked disapprovingly at her, asking her: "What the hell did you do with my life?"

And she probably wouldn't have a good enough reply to that. She had done everything as planned and everything had fallen apart anyway. She really didn't know where she had gone wrong. Dr. Caitlin Snow wasn't the kind of person to act on a whim. She had had a plan and she had never strayed away from it, never done anything absolutely reckless.

She had had a plan. But she didn't anymore.

Caitlin took a deep breath, pushing the painful memories away and stood outside, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. A small and very shy smile stretched her lips as she spotted him proudly standing next to his black sedan. He pushed himself off his car and went to meet her.

"Hey Caity." He whispered before taking her in his arms, hugging her intensely.

"Hi Charlie." She croaked against his chest. She didn't want to admit it, but she had truly missed him, missed her little brother and his comforting hugs. Missed his laughing eyes and unruly hair. Missed his childlike face contrasting with the really high-end suit he was currently wearing. She felt her eyes prickle a little, but she shut them tightly, effectively keeping the tears from escaping.

Finally, he broke the hug, putting his hands on her shoulders to take a good look at her. He could perfectly see the pain in his sister's eyes and wished he could make it go away. But in his opinion, coming back here was the first step towards healing. "Come on, let me bring you home, little sis'."

Caitlin playfully nudged him in the ribs. "Hey, I'm older than you, knucklehead." She protested.

"Yeah, but I'm still taller than you." He chuckled, making her smile widen itself.

It felt good – to smile, to be back here, to see him. She was too stubborn to admit it, but she needed this more than she thought. She wished she had come back here more often in the past few years.

Charlie took her suitcase from her and together they made their way to his car.

"Nice car! Did you steal it?" Caitlin teased as they reached it.

Charlie rolled his eyes as he put her stuff in his trunk and faked a laugh. "Ha-ha, real funny Caity. I do make good money, you know?" He added, showing her the very, very, nice and expensive suit he was wearing.

The young woman smiled proudly at her brother. "Uh-huh, I heard." They both got inside the car and she spoke again right after he pulled away from the curb. "How is it going, by the way?"

Her brother took a deep breath, keeping his attention on the road, before shrugging. "Well, to be honest, it wasn't easy taking over after dad… But he did teach me everything I had to know before… before…" His voice cracked and Caitlin laid a supportive hand on his shoulder, knowing what he meant. "Anyway. The firm is going great, if that's what you're asking."

Caitlin gave him a sad smile before nodding. "I'm glad." She simple said, before turning her attention back on the road. Gradually, the well-known streets of her hometown stretched themselves around them. Caitlin enjoyed the simple feeling of recognising most of the stores and places, like the small town that was Ryker Neve had been frozen in time and nothing had changed ever since she had left.

Except so many things had changed.

She had come back here since she had left for college ten years ago, but it had never been for more than 4 or 6 days. It had always been a few days to visit her family before going back to her life in the big city. And here she was again. But this time, she didn't know for how long. She knew she wouldn't go back to Central City any time soon.

She couldn't.

It would be too painful.

Her mind wandering was interrupted by the sound of gravel rolling under the wheels of the car. Caitlin looked outside the window to see her childhood home and her heart clenched. They stopped and she stayed a moment in silence admiring the mansion before Charlie put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, mom is waiting for you." He said softly.

Caitlin nodded and got out of the car. As soon as she set foot outside, she heard the front door of the house being opened and someone scurrying towards her. She looked up to see her mother almost running towards her, gathering her in her arms as soon as she was within arm's reach.

"Oh Caitlin, honey, I'm so glad you're home." Her mother whispered in her hair. The tears Caitlin had managed to control at the airport finally escaped as she hugged her mother back. After pulling away, Evelyn swiped the tears away from her daughter's cheeks. "Hey, you're home, everything will be okay sweetheart." She said in a soothing voice, making the flow of tears more intense.

Caitlin hated feeling that weak. She was stronger than that. She wasn't supposed to break down at the mere sight of her mother. But she couldn't help it. She hadn't cried ever since his funeral. At that time, she had been pretty sure she had shed every single tear available in her body. And she had promised herself to never put herself in that state again.

But she didn't really have a choice, did she? Tragedy always seemed to be knocking on her door.

"Come on Caity, let's get you inside. You must be exhausted." Her mother led her to the house while her brother took care of her bags.

Once inside, her mother told her to go up to her room, change into something more comfortable and to come back down for a cup of tea and some cookies. Caitlin wordlessly agreed and made her way up the stairs. When she stepped inside her room, she was immediately overwhelmed by memories of her childhood. It was like stepping inside a time machine. The smell, the photos, the colours, the books, the decoration. Everything was as she had left it ten years ago. Every time she had come back to Ryker Neve, she had never had the heart or the time to change things in her bedroom. But it had never affected her this way. Everything meant something special to her and she felt as if she were about to break down all over again.

"Caitlin, get a hold of yourself, you're stronger than this." She muttered to herself and somehow it helped to calm down the tears. She took a deep breath and went to her closet, finding there some old sweatpants and a high school T-shirt from her teenage years. She felt immediately better as she put them on.

Caitlin went to sit on her bed and took a moment to think about her current situation, trying to organise her thoughts to find the rational way to deal with everything. She shouldn't put herself in that state, but she had absolutely no control. Which was a terrifying thought for a control freak like her.

Nine months ago, her fiancé Ronnie Raymond had died in a tragic accident at S.T.A.R. labs where they had both been working. The particle accelerator they had been working on had exploded during its activation. During an attempt to lessen the consequences of the explosion, Ronnie had left his life, saving the majority of the city in the process. Caitlin had been absolutely heartbroken. But she had bitten the bullet, had shut herself out after the funeral and had carried on with her life, diving head first in what was left from her job at S.T.A.R. labs, accompanied by Dr. Wells and her best friend Cisco Ramon.

Things had been relatively normal – as much as they could be after losing your fiancé – until a few days ago. Out of nowhere, she had met an old colleague from the lab: Hartley Rathaway. And what he had told her had turned her world upside down. He had revealed to her how Dr. Wells had known all along that the particle accelerator would explode, how he perfectly knew there would have been great consequences. How he had basically signed Ronnie's death certificate.

Not believing him at first, Caitlin had gone to her boss to seek some answers, expecting him to refute everything and to ease her doubts. But to her great surprise, Dr. Wells had admitted everything, how he had planned all along to make the activation fail, how he had expected great things to come out of the explosion – he had spoken about mutations and incredible things and superpowers… Dr. Wells had admitted having failed his project. None of the consequences he had expected from the explosion had actually happened.

In a fury, Caitlin had given her resignation on the spot, leaving S.T.A.R. labs without even looking back. Her boss had killed her fiancé in his quest for greatness, in his quest for unbelievable things. She had lost all faith in him in a matter of seconds, considering him crazy for his actions, hating him for putting all of their lives in jeopardy. He had betrayed her. And at the same time, she had completely lost faith in herself. Everything had just been a lie. The last nine months had been the worst of her life and it had all been a lie.

The first things she had done, once back in her apartment, was to call her brother and tell him everything. The revelation had brought all the memories of Ronnie's death back up. She still hadn't quite accepted his death, maybe because it had been all of a sudden. And now learning that her boss had been the reason she had lost him… It had been the final straw. Bringing back all the pain. Drowning her. She had nothing left. No fiancé. No job. No dreams. No future. She was simply heartbroken and alone.

So Charlie had suggested that it was maybe time for her to come spend some time at home with him and their mother. It hadn't taken much to convince her. She was lost and maybe going home would help her find her way back. So Caitlin had taken a few days to tie up loose ends in Central City before hopping on a plane and there she was.

Back in her room in her childhood home, in her hometown.

Back in Ryker Neve.

Back in North Carolina.

With the back of her hand, she chased away the tears strolling down her cheek. She could get herself out of this mess. She was 28 years old; she would manage to get her life back on track. She just hoped it wouldn't take her too long. Because as much as she loved this small town, she knew Dr. Caitlin Snow was made for the big city life.

"You have that brightness inside of you that's just waiting to come out to dazzle the world."

A photo on her dresser caught Caitlin's attention and she stood up to grab it. It was a photo of her and some of her high school friends standing near the school's library – where she used to spend way too much time. Younger Caitlin was beaming at the camera and her eyes were shining with so many dreams and so much passion. Her smile was huge and Caitlin couldn't remember the last time she had smiled like that.

She couldn't help but feeling like she had failed her younger self, being back home, alone, without a job, with a broken heart and a weak smile. She was pretty much the shadow of who she used to be. A shadow hanging out with ghosts.

Before she could continue to wallow in self-pity, a soft knock on her door brought her out of her trance. Charlie came in with her bags after she called him in. "Hasn't changed a bit, has it?" He asked as he stood in the middle her bedroom.

Caitlin shook her head with a shaky laugh. "Nope. I guess I should probably tell mom that my 'no adults in my bedroom' rule doesn't need to be applied anymore, huh?"

He chuckled; glad to see that his sister was still able to joke. "Hey, how are you doing?" Charlie asked with a touch of worry in his voice.

She shrugged and gave him a grateful smile. "It's going to take some time, but I'll be okay."

He rubbed a hand against her back before glancing at the photograph in her hand. He then asked what part of her had been dreading to hear. "Are you going to see him?"

Caitlin took the time to look at the person she knew he was talking about. The person responsible for younger Caitlin's beaming face in the photo. The tall dark haired boy with his right arm tightly draped around her shoulders, a goofy smile plastered on his face, the fingers of his left hand forming a peace sign, his hair messy as ever. She remembered him telling her and their friends some dumb science joke and they had all burst out laughing just as the photo was taken.

He was the boy that had told her how bright her future would be. He was the boy that had made her believe great things were in store for her. And she had believed every single one of his words with all her heart.

"Well, it is a small town so I'll probably cross his path one of these days." Caitlin tried to answer very casually, even is she could feel her heartbeat picking up its pace.

Charlie frowned at her, seeing right through her. "I know that, but are you going to avoid him?"

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat without success. "I don't know…" She breathed out and Charlie put a comforting arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick side hug.

"Come on," he said softly, changing the subject, "mom made you some tea and she's waiting for you. She got lots of things to talk about to take your mind off things!"

Caitlin nodded with a weak smile, doing everything in her power to keep the tears away. "I'll be down in a second."

Charlie glanced one last time at her before leaving her alone again.

Caitlin eyed the picture she had in her hand again, her eyes never leaving that angelic face she knew all too well, those green eyes piercing through the photo and staring straight into her soul. That had been one of her fears about coming back here after all these years. Seeing him again. Speaking with him. She had absolutely no idea how she would react when the moment would come to see her High School boyfriend Barry Allen again.

And it terrified her.

A/N: So this chapter is really just to set the story, there's not much going on yet but I hope you liked it anyway and that you like the idea. Let me know!

As usual, I'll try to update every weekend ;)

[Also, I chose North Carolina because Danielle was born in Georgia and Grant grew up in Virginia. And North Carolina was kind of the state in between, so I thought… Why not? And I have to thanks Haelover on tumblr for the cool name that is Ryker Neve (Ryker: Fast Stride, Neve: Latin for Snow)]