A nice ending to a crappy day
„I'm gonna save my mom!"
He smiles his happy smile, it's twinkling in his eyes, but he registers the struggle on Joe's face.
"What?", he asks his guardian and the older man looks away for a second.
"What is it, Joe?", Barry asks again and this time there's no smile on his face. He wanted to share this with Joe, believed he would completely support him, but now it looks like Joe isn't thinking along the same lines.
"I'm not a scientist, never been, Barry. I mean, I was completely lost even looking at your middle school chemistry homework." He swallows, but then meets Barry's blue-greenish eyes, not letting his gaze waver. "But I think I'm a logical person, so I believe I'm onto something."
Confused, Barry looks at him. "What are you talking about?"
"Your mother's death was actually the reason why you became so invented in science. You wanted to become a forensic scientist so one day you'd be able to find her real killer. If you had not been where you were that night the particle accelerator exploded, you wouldn't have become The Flash and therefore…," he trails off, but Barry feels his face falling as the truth of what Joe's saying dawns on him.
"My mom can't be saved," he says brokenly, can't believe how he could not have seen this sooner.
Joe puts his hands on Barry's shoulders, shaking him a little to make him look at him. "We don't know that. All we know is that it won't be this way. I never liked all those science fiction movies you and Iris watched together, but I always got the conclusion: changing the past is never a good thing. Maybe we'll find another way, Barry."
He shakes his head, stepping away and making Joe loose his grip. "No," he says, tears streaming down his cheeks, "there won't be another way. You're right, Joe. She can't be saved. No matter what, I'll change the past and it might lead to me not becoming the one I am today."
His heart feels like it gets broken all over again.
"I-I think I need to be alone right now," he says tear-stricken and in a flash, he's gone.
After the day she's had, Caitlin really doesn't feel like going home. Even if she's told Cisco the truth about how Ronnie's leaving didn't mean the end of the world, she's still sad though.
She slowly walks into the dark lab rooms. At least she doesn't feel so alone in here, even if she's indeed alone.
Turning on the light, she cries out, nearly having a heart attack when she sees someone sitting right in the middle of the room.
"Sorry, it's me," Barry says upon realizing he scared her half to death.
Panting, she has got a hand on her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. "God, Barry, are you insane? What are you doing here, creeping in the dark?"
She sits down next to him. "Crappy day?"
He snorts a bit, flashing her a brief smile and nods. "You could say that."
"Yeah, me too. You see, I've had this really amazing boyfriend who actually proposed and before we could get married he kind of exploded and I thought he was dead. Turns out he's not, instead now he's off with some old guy doing whatever and I…"
"You what?", Barry softly asks, gently taking her hand and entwining their fingers.
"I'm not even sad about it. It was actually weird having him around again. He kept talking about how he wanted us to go away from here, away from metahumans, away from…"
"From me," Barry finishes for her and she nods.
"Yes. Away from StarLab and you and I just couldn't do it. Didn't want to. While I was so heartbroken when he died, I managed to make myself a life again and I don't want to give that up. I guess…I'm no longer in love with him."
She smiles watery at him and Barry pulls up her hand and presses a gentle kiss to her knuckles. "I'm glad," he says.
"What has you sitting here in the dark," Caitlin asks then and Barry sighs.
"Joe clued me in on that while I might be able to go back in time, I mustn't because if I actually managed to save my mom, The Flash would cease to exist because her death made me become what I am today."
Caitlin inhales deeply, nodding. "I can definitely see why this would make you depressed."
Barry laughs at that and puts his arm around her. "I'm glad you're here with me, Caitlin."
She smiles shyly up at him. "Yeah, me too."
They stay quiet for a few minutes until Barry takes a deep breath. "So I've been thinking…since you're not hung up on Ronnie any longer and I am almost completely out of love with Iris…would you like to go out again? On a real date this time?" He notices how he blushes and swallows and Caitlin stares at him for a second.
"Uh..yeah, I guess. We could do that."
"Great," he says, smiling again and then he decides that he should just go for it. The day has been shitty, he's lost hope again and Caitlin had to watch her love go again and who knows, with their luck they might not be able to have their date after all.
So he quickly throws caution to the wind, leans over and presses his lips gently against Caitlin's.
She surprised and stiff at first, but seems to warm up to him in no time and kisses him back.
It's soft, lovely and tingly, like a really nice first kiss should be. It doesn't take long and when they part, they both blush and giggle even a bit.
"That was nice," Barry says and Caitlin's smile widens. "Yeah, it was."