A/N: So I have been working busily on a bunch of updates, as I am 'training' for a scholarship exam. On writing. So I don't know how that works.
But good news; I have 5 Times in a Coffee Shop AU being typed (it's on refill, I did it in class. Not as a task, if you know what I mean ;)_) and Linda Park Is Not Who She Says She Is, and am halfway through 'A Very SnowBarry Christmas', which is going to be SUUUUUPPPEEEEEERRRR-LOOOONNNGGG.
So pretty much all I have to do is 'The Coma', and then I'll do a MEGA-UPDATE.
Caitlin wasn't the type to make promises.
It wasn't that she couldn't keep them, it was just that she really didn't like them. So saying she took it seriously was an understatement.
It was just another day at S.T.A.R. Labs, and Caitlin and Barry were both just complaining about their lack of love lives, which had grown into a usual thing.
Cisco wasn't there, he had run out just before lunch, claiming he needed to run an errand. Similarly, Dr Wells had skipped town, but Caitlin knew he needed a lot of rest every day. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to hit him up anytime soon. Unless he failed to show up for his regular appointment. Then she'd be on his case like a, um, well, exactly like a mad Caitlin. (There wasn't really an equal experience to that.)
Iris was getting married to Eddie, so Caitlin had brought some sweets and magazines from her own, highly personal stash, in a shoebox in the employee locker room labelled 'feminine hygiene products'. Her stuff was very organised, and her locker was no exception.
So that was how the pair were both resting on their elbows on the cramped patient bed, the metal frame backing up to allow them to lean back a little, legs almost-but-not-quite touching, making little devil horns and rotten teeth on perfect paper people.
Why?
Long story.
As a teenager, Caitlin was a younger version of herself. She didn't go out, joined a lot of clubs for academic credit rather than making actual friends, and didn't really deal with drama and boy/girl issues.
However, she did fall for the hottest boy in school, and he claimed he'd fell right back. Or so she'd thought.
She remembers the night with surprising clarity.
It was Pat Hutchens' party. She decided for once to ditch the comfortable region of nerdy prep clothes that she wore like a badge of authority, and ditched it for something, moderately put, hot.
She'd never told anyone that her mother helped her pick it out. It was low cut and slutty.
Exactly how the other girls dressed.
So she walks in, killer heels and all, and she gets wolf-whistles from boys.
But she only wanted to find one.
The party was in full swing, and she'd found him soon enough.
On a couch.
Making out with Jennifer Matthews, the biggest slut in school according to the rumour mill. Brandon (that was his name) finally came for air, and looked around, heavily hinting at what he was going to do next.
Then his eyes came to land on her, and his face drained of colour.
She'd seen enough.
She was going home.
She'd cried a lot.
Her mother came to her little nest of blankets and handed her a pen and a magazine, the glossy type that the girls she'd grown to detest always carried with lip-gloss and 'emergency mascara'.
She'd asked what to do with it.
Her mother had given an example, carefully and skilfully adding extra facial features and physical attributes.
Suffice to say, she didn't cry after that.
She also bought an extra copy of the yearbook.
She'd recounted the story to Barry when he started crying, reassuring him while trying not to feel the pain the memories of her childhood brought, knowing she'd never see her real parents again.
"I want a wedding in red." Barry said.
"What?" Caitlin replied. She'd been a bit lost in thought, and the wonky penmanship of the page only proved to emphasise it.
"White is overrated."
"It's traditional." Caitlin protested.
"Yeah. If I ever have the guts to ask the right girl to marry me-" he looked directly at her when he said this- "I am going to have a red wedding."
"Okay. Sounds rather rebellious. Let me help plan it. I'll even help you propose if you want."
"Considering how I am never going to find a girlfriend,"
"Or I a boyfriend," Caitlin cut in, but Barry is undeterred.
"Marriage doesn't look likely. But we'll make a pact if you want. In two years, if we're not in a relationship, we'll marry each other. Okay?"
Caitlin smiles. "Okay."
"Come on, I believe a pact-sealing hug should be in order." Barry holds his arms out, and Caitlin fits, perfectly as always, as if she's made for him.
As if they're made for each other.
-2 Years Later-
Things had changed.
Iris and Eddie had gotten married, and were now expecting their first child, a baby boy, and Barry had found closure. He had also revealed his secret identity to the both of them, and Iris, though mad at first, became cool with it like her husband was from the start.
Joe had been promoted to Captain and Cisco had appeared in some scientific journals for some of the less dangerous inventions he had sold. He was busy with a new invention which he wouldn't tell anyone about, saying, "It's not that I don't trust you, well, some of you, but I can't risk it getting out."
Dr Wells could walk now, and used a cane as he got rather tired. He had established ties with the community of Central City and was revered as a hero again, creating a charity for those who had been affected or affected by the particle accelerator explosion.
Barry and Caitlin, however had changed. Barry had the odd fling, but Caitlin could never find the right guy.
However, Barry knew the day was approaching.
They had grown close.
It also helped that they were secretly in love with the other.
So a week before the date, Barry gathered everybody except for Caitlin.
"What are we doing here?" Cisco asked.
"Okay, so I want to ask a girl to marry me." Barry fiddles with his fingers, pacing slightly.
"Okay, where is Caitlin? Shouldn't she be helping you with this?" Joe asked.
"That would be problematic, since she is the girl I am asking."
A loud 'oh' choruses throughout the group.
"Am I missing something? Why did you never tell me she was your girlfriend?" Iris asked, hands with Eddie's over her stomach.
"We were never dating. Um, long story short, two years ago we made a pact that we'd get married in two years if we didn't have anyone to be with. I am asking her tonight, and the wedding is in exactly a week. I just...need some help, and I want you guys to attend the wedding."
Eddie looked around the room, and seeing no disagreement, spoke up. "We're in."
Barry was relieved. "Okay. Hopefully she says yes," he checks his watch, "and I have to run. I'm not going to make it on time if I don't go now."
With a flash of light, he was gone.
"What exactly does he want us to do?" Dr Wells asked.
"I have no idea. Really. None." Joe said, staring at the floor of where Barry had stood roughly a minute ago.
-MEANWHILE-
Everything was perfect.
They were at her favourite resturant, and she was looking like a goddess.
Barry's throat dried, and eventually he signaled to the manager, who turned almost all the lights off.
"Barry? What's going on?" Caitlin asked.
He squatted down and grabbed both her hands from the red-covered lap.
"Caitlin. I'm not going to lie. I had a speech all planned out, but you're looking so beautiful I unfortunately seem to have forgotten about half of it, of which I will improvise.
Two years ago, we made a pact. We'd marry each other if we didn't have anyone. But I don't think whatever god or higher power up there wanted us to find anybody else, because we're supposed to get married. You've been there for me, through all the hurt, all the tears and pain and through all the happiness and joy. You complete me. I don't want just anyone to marry me either, and I understand if you say no, but," he gets on one knee, producing the ring from his back pocket and opening the box to reveal it, all the while thinking, 'This is it.' "Caitlin Snow, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
"I'm pretty sure there is a doctor in there somewhere," she jokes. "And yes, I will marry you. As long as you don't die within the next week or so. I wish I had something more elegant to say, but all that is running through my head right now is 'Let's carpool on the ride of life, and if we take the highway to hell, so be it, because I'll be with you."
He puts the ring on her finger, and she throws her arms around his neck amid the clapping from everyone in the room.
"Let's begin our life together." He whispers in her ear.
And so they did.
A/N: Can I have ten reviews for a sequel? Also, irrelevant notes:
1. I have used a 'Fault In Our Stars' reference. I'm not sure anyone noticed, but I did.
2. Dr Wells isn't the Reverse Flash in this fic universe.
Until next time?