Author's Note: OKAY so I am sitting in front of the ice dancing and I JUST CAN'T HELP IT. I've gotta write a Snowbarry AU! I know I'm not a super AU kinda person, but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway :)
By the way- the skaters and scores I mention are real skaters and real scores. The only bits I'm somewhat making up (though I asked my dad for some facts) is what the Olympians do in their free time, like with rooms and practices. So bear with me if I'm completely off about some things :)
The 2018 Winter Olympics was something that Caitlin had been looking foreword to her entire life. Ever since she was eight, sitting in front of her tiny television and watching the beautiful, spinning, gliding, mesmerizing dancers float across the ice, she had decided that that was going to be her one day. She was going to learn to skate, learn to dance, learn to fly across the ice and she was going to get to the Olympics.
Her mother set her up with lessons, rather expensive lessons, but Caitlin made the most of them. She was competing at age 11 and winning first place awards by age 13.
When she met Barry Allen, she was 21. Both of them were coming out of broken relationships. Caitlin had been engaged, and her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, had died tragically in a fire at his office. She had been completely destroyed for a very long period of time, and sometimes she still was. On dark nights when she couldn't sleep, she would pull out one of Ronnie's shirt and bury herself in it, trying to see if she could still catch a bit of his familiar scent in it.
Barry, on the other hand, had recently broken up with his girlfriend of three years. He had been in love with her for quite a long time before that, but she had decided that the relationship wasn't working for her. He had been brokenhearted, and had come to the conclusion that he never wanted to date again.
Caitlin and Barry had met at college. Both of them were studying science- though Barry was in forensics and Caitlin in biology. One night, a few of their mutual friends had had a party at a skating rink.
Caitlin had kept up her skating, still hoping for the slightly less tangible dream of becoming an Olympic ice dancer. All of her friends were pushing her to show off her skills to Barry, but she just smiled faintly and shook her head. They were convinced that she had a crush on him.
She didn't.
When Caitlin got to the rink, Barry and their friends were putting on their skates.
"Hey, Caitlin!" Cisco called, nudging Barry and nodding at her. "Did you know that Barry likes skating, too?"
"Really?" Caitlin raised her eyebrows, instantly intrigued. "Have you done it for long?"
"Yeah, I've been skating ever since I could walk," Barry said. He spoke casually, as if that was a normal thing. Caitlin surprised a grin. "How about you?"
"I started lessons around eight," Caitlin said.
He nodded, impressed, and Cisco grinned. "Alright, you two, let's see what you can do!"
Caitlin started around the rink slowly. She had been busy with classes of late, and it had been a couple of months since she had gotten on the ice. It still felt as natural as breathing, floating across the glassy surface, one foot in front of the other.
Barry caught up with her and started skating leisurely at her side. She had to admit his form was quite good- though that was only to be expected, considering that he had been skating for as long as he said he had.
"Have you done any ice dancing before?" Barry asked, watching as she turned a neat corner and kept going.
"Yeah," Caitlin told him, spinning around so she could talk with him face to face, skating backwards. "I did a lot of lessons, and competed a bit when I was in middle and high school. You?"
Barry nodded. "I was really into it. Got a bit out of practice after I started studying sciences."
Caitlin bit her lip, considering. There was music on in the background of the rink, and there was barely anyone there...
"Want to dance?"
He raised his eyebrows, surprised. "Like, on our skates?"
"No duh," Caitlin laughed. She tilted her skate and came to a neat stop, ice flying out from underneath the blade. "I haven't had a partner to dance with in years. It'd be kind of nice."
"Okay," Barry agreed instantly. He reached for her hand and they intertwined fingers, before one of her hands came to rest at his neck.
They started slow, getting to know each others patterns and movements. Caitlin had to admit that Barry was one of the best people she had ever skated with. He reacted to her with barely a hesitation, taking her through spins and glides without her even having to ask. He was just the right hight- a little tall, hands big enough to span her waist.
Three more songs passed before they came to a stop in the center of the rink again. Caitlin was breathless, and Barry realized he had never quite understood the expression "sparkling eyes" before that moment.
Cisco, Wally and Jesse all stared at them from the edges of the ice. Caitlin blushed, not having realized that they had an audience.
"Wow," Jesse breathed. "You guys were amazing."
"Dude!" Cisco cried, stumbling foreword on his skates and looking like a baby bird before he found his rhythm and slid over to them. "You guys- Dude!"
Caitlin turned pink, moving away from Barry slightly and twisting her hands in front of her. "We didn't- we've never practiced or anything."
"Wouldn't have guessed it," Wally snorted. He joined Cisco in the center of the rink. "You two ever considered giving up your science careers and pursuing competitive ice dancing instead?"
"Yes," both Barry and Caitlin said simultaneously. They stopped and stared at each other.
"Really?" Caitlin breathed.
"Yeah..." Barry whispered. "Ever since I was a kid."
And that was how Barry and Caitlin started ice dancing together.
Once they both graduated from college with their respective scientific degrees, they began to devote their time to their shared dream: the Olympics.
So here Caitlin was, standing in her patriotic jersey beside Barry and the other skaters who would be competing in the Korean 2018 Winter Olympics. She had been buzzing with nerves for a week; the plane ride spent in anxious anticipation and responding to the many "good luck" texts from her friends, family, and fans.
Barry had been fairly calm, but then, he had always been calm. In fact, their dynamic hadn't changed much in the seven years they had skated together.
Except one thing. Caitlin was now fairly certain that she had fallen in love.
She had never thought it would be possible to move on from Ronnie. But as she and Barry spent more and more time together, dancing and talking and making their dream come true, she had realized that maybe moving on wasn't such a bad thing. Ronnie would have wanted her to be happy, and there was no place she was happier then on the ice, dancing with Barry.
She hadn't said anything, of course. A rejection, or even a dating-then-breakup, could ruin their career forever. Caitlin could never see herself spending copious amounts of time with someone who she knew she could never be with in the way she wanted to, and copious amounts of time was exactly what she and Barry needed to spend together.
Barry reached down and squeezed her hand. "You ready?" he whispered in her ear, sounding excited.
She squeezed back, hard, ignoring the tingle that sparked up her arm. "Yes."
The followed the rest of the American Olympians out into the center of the stadium, grinning and waving as people exploded in cheers. Caitlin wasn't sure how she felt with all of the cameras poking in her face... used to it, maybe, but not quite comfortable.
There were so many people in the stadium. More then Caitlin could have even imagined; more then she had ever seen in one spot before. She was reminded of a concert she had went to with Barry, Cisco, Wally and Jesse one night when they had a break from their classes. But even that concert hadn't been this huge.
After the opening ceremonies were over, the high that had been rushing in Caitlin's blood faded a bit. She felt exhausted and jet-lagged from the flight, ready to crash in her hotel room and get a good nights sleep.
Barry and Caitlin took a taxi back to their rooms in Olympian Village, stopping on the way to grab some takeout. They brought the pizza into his apartment and collapsed on the couch.
"Netflix?"
Caitlin nodded, taking a huge mouthful of pizza. "Just not too late- I want to get a good sleep before the competition tomorrow."
"Agreed." Barry hit a few buttons on his computer, propped on the table in front of them, and they settled down to watch a couple episodes of Grey's Anatomy.
By 9:00, Caitlin was yawning so much so could barely even think straight. "I'm going to bed," she excused herself, standing up even though they were halfway through one of the episodes. "See you tomorrow?"
"I'll walk you to your room," Barry offered, shutting the lid of his laptop and standing up with a stretch.
She didn't refuse, knowing there was no point in arguing with him now that he was already up. Barry followed her out the door and across the hallway, where her room was located.
"Do you want to run our number tomorrow?" he asked as they stood outside Caitlin's door before she went in. "I think our slots around 9:00."
"Yeah, sure," Caitlin agreed. She smiled up at him, noticing, not for the first time, how green his eyes looked even in dim light. At times, Barry was so handsome she couldn't breathe, and now was one of them. Standing in a giant sweatshirt, his hair mussed and a faint smile on his lips, she wanted to kiss him more then anything in the world.
She settled for a quick hug, feeling his arms loop around her lower back and his cheek press against her hair for a moment before he pulled back.
"Goodnight, Caitlin," Barry murmured, gaze lingering on her in a way that almost made her wonder if the same feelings were running through him, too.
"Goodnight, Barry."
Linebreaker
The next morning, Caitlin pulled herself out of bed at 7:45. It was much later then she usually woke up, and she wanted time for a cup of coffee and breakfast before she had to meet Barry. She would take her shower after they practiced, before they had to compete.
A surge of nerves shot through her stomach and Caitlin bit her lip. This was actually happening. She was going to preform at the Olympics.
She took a deep, slow breath, trying to calm herself down. There was no point in stressing about it now. She would go downstairs and have a nice breakfast, and then meet Barry to practice. Then she could start getting nervous.
Caitlin found that nerves helped her to think clearly. They all filtered away once she was on the ice, but before that they forced her mind into overdrive. It made her think about each moment, each thing she would be dancing, and she found that she performed better because of it.
After a breakfast of oatmeal and banana, Caitlin went back to her room to change into something she could dance in. She met Barry at the practice rink at 8:55 wearing sweatpants and a wicking shirt, with her hair in a loose ponytail. There were a few other people already wizzing around the ice, but other then that it was empty.
Barry was on time, for once. Being late was something he was rather notorious for, but by this point Caitlin was used to it and it no longer annoyed her. Any time he was late he made up for by putting that much more energy and devotion into his dancing, and she liked that. He was never halfhearted about anything that he did.
Barry waved her over with a grin. He was stretching on the mats in front of the rink, skates lying ready beside him. Caitlin joined him with a quick, "good morning," and they went through their routine wordlessly.
By the time they got on the ice, Caitlin was feeling awake, alert, and totally hyped. They had an almost-perfect run through, the only problem being that they were a bit off on their twizzle sequence.
As they stepped off the ice, Caitlin turned to her partner. "Do you really think we can do this?"
Barry looked over and smile, resting his hands on her shoulders and staring seriously down into her brown eyes. "Yeah," he said. "I think that we can. And even if we don't win gold- or silver, or bronze- we still made it. We got here. We got to the Olympics and even if we do horribly, no one can take that away from us."
She nodded, and he wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you for everything you've gone though with me for the past seven years," Caitlin whispered into his chest. "I couldn't have done this without you."
Barry smiled, squeezing her tighter. "Me neither. I wouldn't have even wanted to."
Linebreaker
It was twelve minutes before Caitlin and Barry were due to start their performance, and Caitlin was not feeling great about their odds. The four ice dancing pairs that had gone before them had been beyond amazing- perfect twizzles, perfect synchronization, perfect form- and she was so worried that they wouldn't be as good that her hands were practically jumping against her legs.
Barry's leg was bouncing as he sat beside her. He didn't seem to be able to control it, even as he took repeated deep breaths and shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall behind him.
"Caitlin Snow and Barry Allen from the United States of America," the announcer read off.
The crowd went completely crazy and Caitlin hopped to her feet. She grabbed Barry's hands before they went on and turned him to face her.
"Whatever happens, I want you to know that I have had the time of my life, and I don't want anything in these last seven years to have been different."
Barry nodded, and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. Caitlin felt butterflies erupt in her stomach, not just from the nerves.
"Go!" Harrison Wells, their coach, gave them both quick pushes toward the ice. "You guys gotta get out there."
Caitlin nodded and pulled the caps off of her skates, before she and Barry slid out onto the ice. Her heart was pounding so hard she could see it moving her dark red, sparkly dress. The outfit was short, shorter than what she liked to wear, with two, inch thick straps on either shoulder holding up a lacy red bodice. Her lipstick matched the color, as did the ribbon french braided into her hair.
Caitlin slid to a stop at her spot and exchanged one last smile with Barry. She saw him take a deep breath before he ghosted his hands on her shoulders and they both waited.
The theme for the short dance was Latin music. Barry and Caitlin had debated for a long time what they should dance to, before settling on a remix of a popular song. It didn't mean much to them... they had saved that for the free dance.
The music started and almost immediately they started moving. The next three or so minutes was a blur of spins, lifts, and the sound of people clapping in Caitlin's ears. Caitlin felt exhilarated; blood and adrenaline was pounding through her veins, and the only steady thing in her sight was Barry.
Barry dipped her to a stop as the music ended, and the crowd exploded into cheers. Caitlin grinned widely, and she and Barry collided in a huge hug. He spun her around and then let her go long enough that they could take their bows and wave at the crowd.
They skated across the ice to Coach Wells, who greeted them both with reserved nods and pats on the back. He wasn't one for exclamations of excitement... at least not until a gold was won.
Barry's father, Henry Allen was there to give them giant hugs, however. Caitlin's mother hadn't been able to make it down to Korea, but Caitlin liked to believe that she was watching via television, even if that wasn't necessarily true.
She felt Barry take her hand again as they sat and waited for their score.
They got a 77.82, which put them above the Shibutani siblings by only a few decimals of a point, and also into second place. Caitlin grinned widely and she and Barry collided in another hug. Then they sat back to watch the remaining two performances.
At the end of the performance, they had slipped to fourth place, but Caitlin was still triumphant. They were in a pretty good spot, not the best they could be in, but good enough for Caitlin. If they completely rocked their free skate, there was still a chance for the gold.
She and Barry went out for a rare treat after they preformed and finished their interviews: ice cream. Caitlin hadn't had ice cream in around eight months- hadn't had much desert at all, for that matter- and the first bit that hit her tongue nearly made her moan.
"This was a very good idea," she said to Barry, grinning as she stuffed another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
She had gotten vanilla, dipped in a chocolate coating and positively covered in sprinkles, (why not indulge?), and Barry was eating his favorite: mint chocolate chip.
"I happen to have good ideas, occasionally," Barry agreed, grinning. He had gotten a cone, and it was starting to drip on one side.
Before she could stop herself, Caitlin had reached over and scooped the drop up before it fell. "Sorry," she said immediately. "It was melting."
"Suuuure..." Barry said in a teasingly skeptical tone. "I just think that you are regretting your decision in getting just vanilla."
"I'll have you know that vanilla is quite good," Caitlin huffed. "And your ice cream seriously was dripping."
"If you say so," Barry shrugged, before a plop of his desert landed on the table. "Okay, fine, you win."
She giggled, using her napkin to wipe it up. Barry watched her with a slight smile on his face. "You did great today."
She smiled happily up at him, feeling good and relaxed for the first time in awhile. "You did, too. I don't know if I've ever seen you so strong on that sweep."
Barry grinned, looking pleased with himself. "It's always nice when your best run is the run that everyone sees."
linebreaker
Two days of stress, more sleep then she had gotten in weeks, and so much practicing, Caitlin found herself back on the ice in front of the cheering, excited crowd.
It was the day of the free dance, and Caitlin was beyond ready. She and Barry had practiced both on ice and off (the latter multiple times), and had run the same few tricky moments in their free dance so many times that Caitlin felt as though she could do them in her sleep.
The music that she and Barry had chosen for their free dance may have seemed a little strange to most people, but to them, it was impossibly special. They had picked two songs (one would start, the other would join in, and then the first would come in again to end out the performance). One of them was the Breakeven/Fast Car medley by Colbie Caillat, and it was the first song that Barry and Caitlin had ever danced to together, on the ice of the public skating rink back in 2011.
The second song, You Ruin Me by The Veronicas, was the first song that Caitlin had ever ice danced to, period. Barry couldn't remember the first song he had skated to, considering he had been extremely little and hadn't made an effort to remember, so they went with Caitlin's. It was a slow, smooth, heartbreaking piece and Caitlin loved it, even after hearing it played again and again during her and Barry's practices.
Both songs, of course, were slightly remixed to fit each other and the time frame better. The medley transition to Fast Car came at the very end of their performance, which just gave it a nice, tied in feel.
Caitlin took a deep breath, smoothing the fabric of her blue dress. It looked like a flower- deep, dark blue at the bottom hem (which fell to just above her knees), and then an ombre up the dress to light blue. The straps wrapped around her neck, and it was completely open in the back until almost her navel. It was modeled after Tara Lipinski's dress at the 1998 Olympics, as was her hair, which was in a tight bun with a blue ribbon wrapped around it.
Caitlin stationed herself on the ice, one hand on Barry's shoulder and their fingers clasped between them. They had decided, probably nostalgically, to start this dance the same way they had seven years ago. It still somehow gave Caitlin butterflies, and the feeling of how they were finally going to be doing their first dance ever together on Olympic ice almost made her want to cry.
"Good luck," Barry whispered.
"You too."
The first plucks of guitar started, and Caitlin spun away from Barry. The dance was much slower then some of the ones before them. They were the second to last to go, and Caitlin knew that even if they got first place on this dance, there was no guarantee that they would get gold. But she was ready to do her best and make absolutely sure that she would not be looking back on with any regrets.
The part that Caitlin was most worried about came after their twizzle sequence during the chorus of Breakeven. It was when the song transitioned to You Ruin Me. It got more fast paced, and as soon as the words started, she and Barry went through the hardest part of their performance.
The piano signifying the beginning of the new song started and Caitlin took a deep breath. She kept a smile pasted on her face as she slid foreword two steps and stepped up onto Barry's thigh. He dropped into a lunge, the toe of his back foot just barely touching the ice, and Caitlin extended herself so that she was parallel to the ground. She had fallen more in that in practicing that one move then she had on anything else she had ever done.
They only had one point of contact, other then Caitlin's foot on Barry's thigh. Caitlin felt Barry's wrap around her calf as they glided for a moment and then gently spun back to their feet.
The crowd went completely crazy, and Caitlin couldn't help but grin. They had done it.
She and Barry slid across the ice as the song broke into it's chorus, spinning around and around and keeping a tight grip on each other's hands. Caitlin extended her leg so she was balancing on only one foot, and the two of them broke into three quick spins.
By the time the song changed back to Fast Car, Barry and Caitlin were back in the center of the ice, Caitlin twisting herself over Barry's shoulders for their big finale.
The song ended, and the cheers of the crowd reached Caitlin's ears. She broke into a grin, barely able to stop from screaming in excitement, and the block that had been holding back all of her emotions broke.
Barry fist pumped the air with a triumphant cry and they collided in a hug. Then he pulled back, cupped her face, and kissed her.
Everything in Caitlin went deathly still.
Then it exploded again in an even more intense flurry of emotions, different then the one's before. She kissed him back, hard, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
The hoots and whistles from the audience finally broke them apart. Caitlin pulled back, breathless and exuberant and happier then she had been in her entire life. As she and Barry took her their bows and skated off the ice, she came to the conclusion that no matter what their score was, no matter what medal they got (if they got one at all), this was the happiest day of her entire life.
They gave triumphant hugs to Coach Wells and Henry Allen, and then sat down to await their score. Barry's leg started to bounce, and she took his hand, intertwining their fingers.
"Barry Allen and Caitlin Snow from the United States of America," the announcer spoke. "Scored 128.01 on their free dance."
Caitlin's eyes widened as she stared at the board. This score, added to their 77.82 in the short dance, put them at 205.83 points.
First place.
Caitlin let out a squeal, and Barry spun her around in another hug, the two of them buzzing with excitement. No matter what happened -even if the Canadians got a higher score then them and won gold- they were going to go home with a medal.
As they waited for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to start their dance, Caitlin and Barry made their was to the enclosed area where the Shibutani siblings, Maia and Alex, were sitting. The two of them had been pushed down to silver by Barry and Caitlin's score, and Caitlin honestly didn't expect them to be very friendly. But they just smiled in greeting and nodded at another bench for them to sit.
"You guys did really good," Caitlin complimented. "I mean, you always do really good but today was especially good."
Barry nudged her and she fell silent, realizing that she might have been gushing. She couldn't help it- she was a huge fan of Maia and Alex's. At least it wasn't as bad as that time she had run into Tara Lipinski at one of her competitions. She was the American gold medalist of the 1998 Winter Olympics, and the woman that Caitlin had seen on television when she was eight that inspired her to start figure skating. She had nearly started crying she was so overwhelmed.
Caitlin wondered if she would ever be that much inspiration to another young girl, watching her on television as she danced with the man that she loved.
The Canadians had an incredible dance. Caitlin had the feeling deep down that they were going to win gold, and to be completely honest, she believed that they deserved it.
As they sat with Alex and Maia, Caitlin felt Barry take her hand again. She squeezed it, smiling at him excitedly. The announcer read off the scores.
Canada won gold, but Caitlin couldn't have been more excited if it had been her. She watched Tessa and Scott jump around and hug their team, before Barry's arms wrapped around her and they were a bundle of triumphant excitement, too.
As she stood with him on the silver medalist podium, Caitlin couldn't help but think that she wanted this moment to go on forever, with the stadium lights glinting off her shiny, new silver medal and Barry's hand firmly wrapped around hers.
linebreaker
After the awards ceremony, there came the interviews. Caitlin wasn't particularly good at this part. She never got nervous enough about them to use any brainpower thinking about them when there was a performance to be concerned about, and then she never knew what to say.
There were the usual questions: How does it feel to win the silver? How long have you two been skating together? What's been the best part of the Olympics so far?
Then came the question that Caitlin had sort of expected.
"Did that kiss at the end of your performance mean that you two are officially dating?"
Caitlin and Barry exchanged glances. Caitlin kind of wanted to put the question on Barry, to make him answer for the both of them, but that wasn't fair. After all, he had done his fair share of initiating when he had kissed her that afternoon.
Caitlin leaned towards her mic. "Uh, yes, we are-"
She stopped for a moment. She and Barry had kissed, but they had never dated. Unless, of course, you counted movie nights, eating out at ten o'clock when practice went too late, and countless hours dancing together, on and off the ice.
Alright then. Maybe they had dated.
"Yes," she said again, taking Barry's hand and smiling at him. "We are dating."
There were a few whoops and a smattering of applause from the crowd. Barry laughed. "Yes, we know, about time."
The questions continued after that, the last one being, "Will you be returning for the next Winter Olympics?"
Caitlin tilted her head and smiled, nodding her chin at Barry. He grinned. "Well, you know... I still want to try going for gold."
Caitlin giggled. "Sounds good to me."
linebreaker
The adrenaline from the last couple of days had faded, and Caitlin was completely wiped. Barry hailed a taxi and the two of them got in, Caitlin resting her head against Barry's shoulder and shutting her eyes for the duration of the ride.
There was a surprise party waiting for them when they walked into Caitlin's room. There stood Cisco, Wally, Jesse, Henry, Wells and -Caitlin's eyes widened with surprise and delight- Dr. Carla Tannhauser, Caitlin's mother.
Caitlin ran foreword and her mother pulled her into a hug. It felt nice- her mom wasn't one for very much emotion or physical contact.
"You did very well today, Caitlin," Dr. Tannhauser told her daughter with a fond smile. "Congratulations."
Caitlin was tugged away from her mom by Cisco, Wally and Jesse, who all wanted to smush her in hugs and who were exclaiming loudly how they always knew that she and Barry would end up together. Caitlin grinned, looking back over at her partner (boyfriend?) and watching as he hugged his dad and clapped hands with Coach Wells.
"There were, of course, a few things that you could have improved upon during that dance-" Wells started, but Henry clapped him on the shoulder, discreetly rolling his eyes at Barry.
"Why don't we talk about that tomorrow?" he suggested. "Tonight is the time to celebrate."
Cisco brought out an ice cream cake, decorated with, "CONGRATULATIONS" in big, swirly font.
Caitlin tilted her head, eyeing the cake. "Okay, here's the question: what would you have done with this if we hadn't won?"
Cisco shrugged, handing Jesse the knife so she could cut the frozen treat into pieces. "We just figured we'd give it to you anyway."
They all took slices and sat around the small couch and chair set up in Caitlin's temporary living room. The cake was refreshingly cold and delicious, though it didn't wake Caitlin up quite as much as she had wanted it too.
She curled up on the couch, head against Barry's chest, and yawned. The others exchanged knowing looks. "We'll put our bowls in the kitchen and leave you two alone for a bit," Jesse said, herding Cisco and her boyfriend away and leaving the older adults to follow.
Caitlin loved her friends, she really did, but she was relived to see them hurry quietly out the door and leave her and Barry alone. They needed time to talk just the two of them, and Caitlin was perfectly fine with saving the silver-medal celebration for tomorrow.
She looked up at Barry, smiling as she saw his eyes starting to droop. "Hey," he murmured. "We should probably talk about today."
"Yeah," Caitlin agreed, placing her empty plate on the coffee table and curling her legs under her. "We kissed."
"That we did." Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you... okay with that?"
"Yes," Caitlin said vehemently. "Goodness gracious yes I'm okay with that. Heck- I've been wanting that for years."
"Seriously?" Barry grinned. "Glad to know I'm not the only one."
Caitlin smiled and cupped his face, leaning up to kiss him.
They had a lot of lost time to make up for.
linebreaker
The plane ride back home to the US was quiet, but triumphant. Caitlin talked with a few other Olympians that she had met over the past couple of weeks, ones who were also traveling home after the games. She and Barry had taken their not performing or practicing time to explore the Olympian Village, go see a few other competitions, and meet athletes from all over the world. It had really been one of the coolest experiences of Caitlin's life.
The plane touched down at the Central City airport, and Barry and Caitlin unloaded their bags. The time difference was once again making Caitlin's eyelids heavy, and she almost fell asleep in the rented van on the ride home.
Barry was heading back home to his apartment, and Caitlin to hers, so they said goodbye at Jitters before they split up.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Barry said, giving her a long hug. "Just no earlier then 11:00."
Caitlin giggled into his shirt, hugging him back tightly. "These last two weeks have been amazing. Thank you."
"Hey, you know," He pulled back and kissed her softly for a moment. "it's a two way street. I couldn't have done it without you."
She smiled up at him, copying the words he had said to her after they had practiced their short dance on Olympic ice for the first time:
"I wouldn't have even wanted to."
Author's Note: AAAAH I FINISHED IT! I really didn't think I'd be able to before the Olympics was done but I DID!
Gee, it's nice to be writing Snowbarry again. Tell me what you thought of this AU in the comments! And yes, I used real figure skaters, real scores, and real research (I checked my dates- Caitlin was eight when the 1998 Winter Olympics was one, and Tara really did win woman's ice dancing. Her performance is pretty good- I recommend checking it out)