Day 1 – Let's Go Out

"Well you seem awfully chipper today," Caitlin remarked, seeing her speedy friend waltz into the cortex, a wide grin on his face. Her expression slowly but surely morphed into a smile; Barry's good mood was infectious.

"It's almost Christmas!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. She giggled. He was remarkably cute around Christmas time. "Come on, perk up! This is the best time of year!"

He's remarkably cute all the time she thought, staring at him as he walked over to examine his superhero costume. She smiled to herself, watching him practically bounce up and down in excitement. She wished she could work up the energy to be that excited about something.

"Let's go out," he said, making her yelp. The hero had sped right in front of her desk, blasting her with wind and blowing a bunch of papers into the air. "Oops, sorry," he added sheepishly, walking over to her and helping pick up the papers. Caitlin's heart was racing.

Let's go out? What, like go out go out? Like…

As she followed that train of that, the poor doctor accidentally collided heads with her friend, both of them recoiling with an "ow."

Stop it, Caitlin. You're acting like a high-schooler. It's just Barry asking you hang out.

She reprimanded herself as she rubbed her forehead.

"Sorry," she muttered standing upright as the pair got the last of the pages back onto the desk in (approximately) the right place. Barry smiled as he turned back to her.

"It's fine. Let's go out," he repeated, moving a bit closer to her. She gulped.

"Go… out?" she asked as if it was a foreign concept.

"Yeah… y'know… exit this building," he said, giving her an odd look.

"Oh, right," she said, feigning understanding. In reality she was disappointed; she thought that maybe he was finally asking her out.

"Maybe going for coffee or go shopping or… something," he said, rocking back and forth on his heels. She looked up at him, unable to help the small smile forming on her face.

"Sounds good, let me grab my jacket," she responded, accidentally sounding unenthusiastic. She was trying to compensate for how ecstatic she was. As she walked away, she noticed his grin falter slightly, and the doctor couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Why was she trying to hide her excitement?

A few moments later the pair reached the elevator, Barry jogging ahead to hit the button before she could reach the door. They walked inside.

"So… where do you wanna go first?" he asked excitedly.

"Um… I don't really care," she said, unsure. His grin faded again, and she hastily added, "I mean, I don't know. Not that I don't care; I'm really glad you asked me out and… stuff."

The two stood in awkward silence for a few moments, Barry confused and Caitlin uncomfortable.

Is it too late to correct myself? Ugh, probably is. He's gonna think I misinterpreted the entire thing and-

"I'm glad you said yes," he said, turning and smiling as the elevator doors dinged open again. Caitlin smiled back and they walked outside.

"Want to go to Jitters' first?" he asked.

"Sure, my car is-"

*fwoosh*

Caitlin yelped as Barry's arms were suddenly around her. She felt motion-sick as he carried her through the streets of Central City at high speed. After a few moments, they were in an alley a few blocks away from the coffee shop. Caitlin stumbled as he set her down, nearly running into a wall.

"Oh god," she said, holding her head in her hands as she tried not to vomit.

"Agh, sorry!" Barry exclaimed, rushing over to her and holding her steady so she stopped spinning. "I got carried away, I should've asked you, and I shouldn't have just grabbed you and run I'm so sorry let me get you some aspirin or… wait do you take aspirin for motion-sickness? No, that's like… wait no I have no idea I-"

"Barry, it's fine," she said, a small smile on her face. She had gotten over the dizziness for the most part. "I would appreciate a bit of warning next time."

"Will do," he said, offering his hand to help her stand up. She gladly accepted.

The duo walked out of the alley, admiring the beauty of the season around them. Kids ran through the streets wearing silly Santa and elf hats, some with jingling bells sewed onto them; families walked together, smiling and laughing and hugging; happy couples strolled around, hands permanently intertwined. Caitlin smiled. This was wonderful.

Barry began swinging his arm back and forth. Caitlin normally wouldn't have noticed something like this, but she came to the realization that the two of them had been holding hands ever since he helped her up a few blocks prior. She panicked for a few moments.

Do I let go? Does he even notice that we're still holding hands? If he doesn't, that'll just make it awkward, right? Plus, his hand is really nice and warm…

She didn't let go.

They reached Jitters, Barry holding the door open like a proper gentleman. She was glad that his hand was still firmly wrapped around hers. It was unspoken, but at this point both of them were fully aware of their intertwined fingers, and they were perfectly content with it.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" the woman at the counter asked, face cheery and eyes weary. She had evidently been working a long shift.

"Two tall hot cocoa's with extra sugar please," Barry said, holding up 2 fingers with his unoccupied hand. Caitlin gave him an inquisitive look.

"Why do you assume I'd want hot chocolate?" she asked.

"It's Christmas!" he exclaimed cheerily. The barista chuckled as he handed her money. Caitlin rolled her eyes.

He's such a dork… such a loveable dork…

The pair sat down at a table, waiting for their hot cocoa. Barry rested their joint hands on the table, using his other hand to play with her fingers. She giggled.

"Thanks, Barry," she said, adding her other hand atop his. Barry cocked his head to the side, smiling inquisitively.

"For what?"

"Getting me out of that lab," she said, and he grinned even wider.

"Thanks for agreeing to come. I was worried you would say no," he said.

"Well, I mean you didn't really give me a choice," she said jokingly. "I would have said yes if you'd asked though."

"Good to know," he replied with a chuckle.

"And a pair of tall hot cocoa's with extra sugars for the happy couple," the barista said, bringing them their orders. Their hands immediately separated and their eyes went wide.

"Oh we're not-"

"We're just-"

"This isn't like-"

"You're mistaken-"

The worker chuckled as she walked away from the pair, both of whom were still babbling incoherent defenses at the same time. After a few moments they stopped, resting their hands in their laps awkwardly. They avoided each other's eyes.

"Pretty good hot cocoa," Barry commented after a bit, taking a sip of his beverage. Caitlin tentatively took a drink for herself, shuddering happily as she felt the warmth course through her veins. She hadn't realized she was cold until Barry had let go of her hands.

"Quite," she said, trying to be nonchalant as she put it back down on the table.

Thanks a lot barista lady… way to kill the mood.

"Hey, Caitlin," Barry said, resting his elbows on the table and putting his hands near her hot cocoa.

"Hey, Barry," she responded teasingly, mimicking his position. Her fingertips danced atop his as she cocked her head to the side.

"Do you wanna go out?" he asked. Her expression morphed into one of confusion.

"Uh… we're already out," she responded, entirely oblivious to what he meant. He blushed, looking down.

"I mean um… you said if I'd asked, you would say yes and uh… I thought you meant…" The penny dropped and Caitlin' eyes widened.

"Oh," she said, fingers (quite ironically considering her powers) freezing atop his.

"Sorry," he mumbled, retracting his hands. Before he fully could, she locked their fingers together. He looked up at her nervously.

"Why are you apologizing?" she asked, a smile gracing her features.

"I um… I thought I made you uncomfortable," he admitted, hands still stiff. She played with his fingers.

"No, you didn't," she assured him. There were a few moments of silence. Caitlin's heartbeat increased.

"Well… uh… I guess we should probably be getting back to STAR labs," he said disappointedly, glancing at the watch on his wrist.

"Yes," Caitlin said.

"Yeah… so could you… maybe let go?" he asked awkwardly.

"No, Barry, yes," she emphasized, and his eyes widened.

"Yes?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Barry sat there, looking awestruck for a few moments before the smile rushed back onto his face.

"This is gonna be a great Christmas," he said, getting a giggle out of Caitlin. He wasn't wrong.