Some say that everyone has someone special for them. Call it what you want- other half, true love, soulmate... Whatever it is, you belong together.
How can we screw up something as simple as love?
Maybe it's not that simple. We might just simplify it so we understand it. Who knows.
I just know that the day I met Barry Allen, my world exploded with color. And I know he saw it too. So what went wrong?
Barry walks into the coffee shop one morning, his gray world slightly brighter than normal. It was bound to be a good day. Even if it was cooler than normal, being the middle of fall.
He sits down at a high table, the chair across from him empty. The only thing he didn't like about two person tables was that you looked unfortunately lonely when you were by yourself. Like he is today.
Cisco was supposed to get coffee with him, like they did every morning, but it didn't work out today. He was called in early to help out with a project at STAR Labs. That was something Barry could relate to. Not that he'd be on time even if he was called in early.
He checks his phone, then looks up. A woman across the room looks up at the same moment he does, they make eye contact. Barry smiles softly, noting the gorgeous color her eyes are- and then it happens.
He closes his eyes harshly, as a cup of coffee splashes on his shirt. Barry hears a sharp gasp, and opens his eyes. He finds himself gasping as well, as the world around him changes. There's nothing different about the scene itself, but it's not black and white anymore.
He remembers his parents talking about color. That's how he knew his dad really was innocent. You can't love colors that much to murder your wife, knowing they'll disappear forever. You only have one soulmate.
"-so very sorry, I swear it's on the house. I'm not normally this clumsy-" a girl with darker skin, brown hair, and pretty brown eyes looks up at him from where she picks up her tray and the remains of his coffee cup.
Chuckling to himself, he grabs several napkins, and begins dabbing at his shirt - which happened to be a very nice shade of red - while the girl keeps talking.
"-I'm so very sorry, this is not normal for me, are you okay?" she stands up as she finishes her question, grabbing several napkins to wipe off the table.
Barry puts a hand on her arm, smiling softly. She gives him a weak smile, trying to apologize again. He cuts her off, "No, it's fine. It was only an accident."
The girl laughs softly, and brushes her hair to the side with a hand. "Are you sure? I'll take care of your coffee, anyway. My name is Iris," Iris holds out a hand, an embarrassed smile still on her face.
"I'm Barry," he grins, shaking her hand. The two smile at each other, neither noticing the girl a few tables over.
Caitlin watches them interact, wondering why he isn't talking to her. She can tell that he can see in color, but she's not sure why he's talking to the other girl instead of her.
Shaking her head, she quickly pays for her coffee and leaves, but not before catching one last glimpse of Barry. Caitlin sighs to herself, before heading to STAR Labs for another day of work.
That night, when Barry closes his eyes, it's not Iris, the girl that must be his soulmate that's there. It's the other one. The girl with the beautiful brown eyes.
Several weeks passed, and Barry had the day off, because he wanted to support Cisco in one of the Lab's big projects. He had just gotten off of the phone with Iris, so he was still grinning. She had to be his soulmate. There wasn't any way she couldn't be.
Flashing back into reality, he narrowly dodges a woman in a lab coat, who promptly trips over her heels. Barry darts a hand out, catching her around the waist. He blinks, slightly surprised at how fast he moved.
The woman blushes at him, turning her cheeks a light shade of pink, and he realizes that she's the woman from the coffee shop a while back. Why do I remember her so well?
He blushes very slightly, noticing that they're still in the position he caught her in. He coughs and stands her up, blushing even more. They're lucky no one is questioning the two of them, the way they're blushing and awkwardly interacting.
Caitlin smiles, chuckling slightly. Of all the times to fall...
"My name's Barry Allen- but you can call me Barry," he blurts, rubbing the back of his neck. That's oddly adorable.
The brunette puts out a hand. "Caitlin Snow."
The two shake hands, both remembering where they first saw each other, even if only for a split second. It's funny how life works. You remember someone, and they didn't make much of and impact on your life at all... Or did they?
A couple months passed, and Caitlin and Barry kept in contact. Caitlin found herself falling in love with the quirky boy, but Barry could still only think about Iris. But it wasn't her eyes he saw in his dreams. And why did he feel a small flutter whenever he saw her?
Barry remembered the first time he saw Iris with her dad's partner, Eddie. It hurt, but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. And, above all, he was confused. Why would she be dating Eddie if they were supposed to be soulmates? The obvious, tell-tale sign that you were meant to be had already happened! He could see in color (so, immediately looked up the color names so he didn't feel left out) when he saw her. Also, it was definitely cliche for their first meeting to be her running into him. What was going on? Am I missing something?
He sighs, shaking his head. This was a lot harder than he thought it was supposed to be.
Grabbing his black coat and briefcase, Barry runs out the door. He can already hear his boss telling him he's late, and making sure Barry notes that it is the third time this week. I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again. Barry, it's the third work day of this week. Uh... I got coffee spilled on me and had to go back and change my shirt- nope, used that two days ago.
Why is it so hard to find good excuses these days? All he wanted was to not get fired - or yelled at. Again.
So, he begins running to work, hoping to at least warm up a little. It was probably going to snow later that day, and there was still snow on the ground. It was a couple days old, however, so the sidewalk was slippery, and he soon had to resort back to quickly walking.
Somehow, he managed to slip in just before his boss went looking for him. So, still late, but not in trouble yet. However, he could still see that he wasn't in the clear yet, so Barry hurried upstairs.
Immediately, he begins working on the case from a couple days ago, getting back into the smooth rhythm of analyzing evidence and programming it into the database, trying to find as many clues as he could about an unsolved murder case. Sometimes, he wishes that he could do more for the people than just stay up in his little lab, and maybe help catch a criminal. Oh, well. A guy can dream.
"Knock, knock," Iris stands by the door to his lab, and he feels that grin come over his face. The one that seems reserved especially for her.
"Hey, Iris!" Barry walks over to her, hugging her without letting his hands touch her.
They step away from each other, and he goes back to working, while Iris sits in the chair in front of his main computer. She pokes around a little bit in the stuff on his desk, but Barry doesn't mind.
They stay there quietly, until Barry breaks the silence, asking her something he honestly meant to ask someone else instead. "How do you know who your soulmate is? I mean, beside the color. That's an obvious giveaway. But I mean, is there something other than that? Something more exact that tells you exactly who it is if you screw it up?"
Iris sits back in her chair, tapping her freshly manicured nails on one arm of the chair. "I think it's mainly the color. There's not really anything extra," she lights up, snapping her fingers, "wait, yes there is. There's one thing my dad always told me, and I used that to find who I belonged with."
Barry felt confused. Weren't they supposed to be together? Didn't she just admit that she saw in color? Was he just really dense? "What is it?"
She smiles softly, as if she sees a specific memory, one that soothes her. It starts lightly snowing outside. "Their eyes," she says softly. "As soon as you first make eye contact with the one you belong with, you see the color of their eyes. It's like that color becomes a part of you, and even if you don't see them every day, you see them, or at least their eyes, at night. It's how I knew I belonged with Eddie."
Barry promptly dropped the empty glass bottle he was holding on the ground. There was only one person he could think of whose eyes he saw every night, whose eye color he could immediately name when he saw them in the coffee shop, before Iris spilled coffee on him. "W-what?"
The dark-haired girl had already jumped up, and was grabbing paper towels to pick up the glass. He ran over and began doing the same.
"So, that's just the general rule of how this works? Eye color first?" Barry can feel his throat closing up slightly.
She gets them damp, and begins picking up glass shards. "Yeah. You make eye contact, and you see their eye color. Sometimes it's hard to tell if they're super dark or light, but that's another key sign."
Barry cleans up the last of the glass after getting his paper towels damp, and throws everything away. "That's always the case? You're positive?"
Iris gives him a funny look. "I mean, there are special cases, but that's only for those who don't have traditional soulmates, like sometimes the best of friends or twins could see, not because they belong together, but because they're all each other needs. But that's only if you're really close, or have been together for a really long time. It's not all that common. Why?" She looks at him quizzically.
He quickly shakes his head. "No reason," he grins, but it's a bit forced, "just wondering."
She nods, not sure if she believes him or not, before checking her phone. "Oh, no!" Iris stands up, quickly grabbing her stuff. "I'm probably going to be late for work! Bye, Barry!" She waves before rushing out.
Still stunned, Barry sits in a chair and puts his face in his hands. "I screwed this up bad..." he moans.
Hoping he can make it work out, he pulls out his phone, and punches in the phone number he needs.
"Hey, Caitlin..."
Caitlin nearly dropped the phone when she realized who called her. Barry didn't really call people. Except for Iris. Was Caitlin suddenly Iris? She quickly checked. Nope, pale skin still pale. She was still Caitlin.
She had agreed to meet him in the coffee shop after she was done with work. It was unusual for her to feel this way. The fluttering in her stomach was kind of different, and exciting.
It hadn't felt this way since Ronnie died.
Caitlin sighs wistfully, but quickly pushed the thought aside, and takes off her lab coat, and replaces it with her regular coat. Waving farewell to Cisco, she hurries to her blue car. Time to go see Barry.
Barry waits at a coffee table, having already ordered coffee for the two of them. He's memorized their coffee orders. And the time she gets off work. Has he always been this clueless?
He sees Caitlin come in through the doors just as a waitress brings him the two coffees. He quietly thanks her, and Caitlin sits across from him, grabbing her coffee.
"I'm sorry," he blurts out suddenly, startling Caitlin.
"What?" Caitlin puts her coffee down. "I'm not sure I un-"
"I'm sorry I didn't realize you were my soulmate."
She freezes. "Oh, right."
"I know this really isn't what you deserve, especially because I didn't even think it was you until earlier today, but I swear I have been feeling something. I was just being dumb, and... And I'm really, really sorry, Caitlin." Barry looks down at their table, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
Caitlin sits there, stunned. How do you respond to this? Practically a declaration of love - and an apology - all in the same sentence.
Slowly, she reaches her hand across the table, and entwines it in his. "Barry, I understand. I really do," she smiles at him sadly. "I found someone that I thought had to be my soulmate, but I never saw color. I still don't understand what happened. After he passed, well, it hurt. I still miss him. But I can't judge you."
Barry looks up at her bashfully. "Really? Even after several months of this, you want to be with me?"
Smiling softly, she leans forward. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
He grins, the one that was reserved just for Iris until now. Their relationship had a rough start, but everything was going to work out.
They were sure of it.