That was one of the hardest ones yet, in all honesty. How does someone even get shape shifting powers from a particle accelerator explosion? You know what, I don't even care. I'm just glad he's locked up. But then again, with our luck he's probably gonna get out soon enough anyway…
"Hey Caitlin."
"Hi."
Okay that was… weird. She didn't even look at me. She said it faster than I can run. She's been acting weird ever since Bates got away from her and Iris…
"What's wrong?"
"What? Nothing's wrong why would you think something's wrong? I just said hi to you like a second ago nothing is wrong."
Sometimes I forgot I think faster than everyone else too. I feel like no time passed whatsoever in between her saying hi and me asking what was wrong. And probably not a lot of time has passed now either.
"Something's wrong. Ever since Bates got away from you and Iris you've been… distant. Is it about Wells?"
I know she's hesitant about trusting us in our suspicions about Wells, but I feel like this is something else.
"Umm… yep."
"Don't lie to me Caitlin. Please."
She stopped typing and looked defeated. She took a deep breath, but she still didn't say anything. I walked over and I sat down on the table in front of her.
"Okay, after Hannibal Bates started impersonating you, he was acting really suspicious but I didn't think anything of it because I just figured it was you being weird like always, but then…"
"Then what?"
"He kissed me, Barry."
Whoa.
"Umm… he kissed you? As me?"
She looked down and then moved her eyes up to meet mine. She bit her lower lip like she always does when something's bothering her and she nodded.
"Okay, well, it was just him trying to screw with us, right? So I don't really see what-"
"I kissed him back, Barry!" she shouted, standing up out of her chair. "I thought he was you, and I kissed you back!"
Whoa. Again.
"I…"
"I'm supposed to love Ronnie, Barry. What do you think this means? I'm a horrible person."
"No, Caitlin, you're not a horrible person. You're one of the best people I've ever known. It was just in the heat of the moment, okay? It didn't mean anything."
She started pacing. It's so cute when she does that. Wait, what? Why did I just think that? What the hell what am I thinking?
She walked back over and sat down, staring me in the eyes. I looked back into them, they were as vibrantly blue as ever, and I felt like they were staring into my soul.
"No, Barry. I think it did mean something."
"What? What about Ronnie?" Damn I'm really good at pushing every girl away from me. I feel like that's my real super power.
"That's the part that makes me a horrible person."
"Go on…" where is she going with this?
"Ever since I thought Ronnie had died… I'd had time to adjust to life without him. And just when you woke up and everything started getting insane, I finally felt like I was getting over him. I felt like I was finally beginning a new chapter in my life… without him. And then he came back, and of course I was happy, who wouldn't be? But, the spark we had before… it just wasn't there anymore. I tried to ignore it and focus on being happy but I just couldn't. I don't love him anymore and when Bates kissed me as you, I just felt a wave of emotions crashing over me, and before I could even think… I was kissing you back."
Okay wow. That was a lot to take in at once. I'm gonna need a long time to process that. Like longer than I usually have in between seconds.
"Look, none of that makes you a horrible person. People change. People drift apart. Just look at me and Iris." Stupid move, why would I mention Iris? Caitlin's starting to have feelings for me and I bring up the girl I've been in love with my whole life. God I am such an idiot.
"Do you not love her anymore?"
"That's the thing I have no idea. I keep telling myself I need to move on from Iris, and I keep trying to do that, and every time I think I have something happens that pulls me back in and I am sick of it! I know she's never going to feel the same way, she's probably going to end up with Eddie, leaving me in the dust. I've been ready to move on for a long time, and I needed something to just snap me out of it, but even getting struck by lightning couldn't do that for me! All I needed…"
We were staring into each other's eyes. I looked down at her lips. We both leaned in a little closer. I could hear her breathing heavily. What happened next, I couldn't explain. All of a sudden we were kissing. And nothing else mattered. The entire world slowed down to a stop. The only things moving were the two of us. This was something that was entirely normal for me, but this time it felt like something entirely new.
As Barry and Caitlin continued to kiss, a figure sitting in a wheel chair completely obsolete was present in the doorway, watching them. He muttered to himself "This… is new…"