(A/N) - At the end of The Mutant and Me, I threw in a little bit about how Caitlin thought Cisco had grown up kind of hot, because it's me and there has be at least a touch of Killervibe in everything I write. But then I realized they were going to be going to college on the same campus, and . . . well. Yeah.

Barry and Iris's Engagement Party - 28 and 26

They still needed ice, so Caitlin grabbed an ice bucket in either hand and went into the kitchen to fill them. One of the bags was still all full of loose cubes, but the other had partially melted and refrozen into lumps of ice. She was smacking them apart with a meat tenderizer when she heard a footstep that made her heart skip a beat.

She looked over her shoulder. "Cisco. Hi."

"Hey."

"When did you get here?"

"Just now. Came early to help. Umm, your mom sent me in here to get the second batch of pastry shells started?"

Her heart, which had been beating fast, thunked to a standstill and sank. She pointed. "Freezer. In big gallon bags."

He opened it up and poked his head in. "Aha." He read the directions carefully printed out and slipped inside the bags. "Cookie sheets still in the same place?"

She moved aside to let him at the cabinet, taking the opportunity to turn the oven on at the same time. She'd typed up the directions herself, so she knew what to set it at.

He washed his hands and opened up the ziploc bag. For a minute or two, they worked side by side in silence.

The first time they'd talked in person in two years and it was about frozen dough. She smacked the ice bag again, trying to think of something else to say.

"You look nice tonight," he said without looking up. "That's a nice color."

She smoothed a hand down the flouncy skirt of her forest-green dress. "Thank you. So do you."

He looked unexpectedly formal, wearing a sport coat and a shirt that actually buttoned up, even if it wasn't entirely buttoned up. No tie. But his hair was pulled back, and for him, that along with everything else was Buckingham-Palace level attire. It said something about his friendship with her brother that he would sacrifice one of his beloved geek t-shirts for Barry's engagement party.

"I didn't know you were in here," he said. "By the way."

She gave the bag one last whack and the lump fragmented. She set the tenderizer aside and opened it up to shake the contents into a bucket. "Okay."

"Just saying. I didn't follow you in here."

"Fine." She tied the bag off and stashed it back in the freezer.

"It's just - you, me, the kitchen during a party," he said. "Dangerous."

She started to bite her lip, then stopped herself. "We're both adults."

"Yeah, that's the problem."

She didn't know what to say to that. She tucked an ice bucket in the crook of each elbow, ignoring the chill against her skin, and took them out without saying anything.

Well, god, she thought, grabbing a glass of wine and smiling at one of Barry's friends from work who'd just arrived early. She'd screwed that up.

Caitlin's High School Graduation Party - 18 and 16

The first time, at her high-school graduation party, was completely innocent.

She wanted everyone, especially herself, to be absolutely clear about that.

Cisco came into the kitchen, a skinny, undersized boy with a mop of overlong hair and a vintage Ghostbusters t-shirt that hung off his narrow shoulders. "Hey," he said. "Hey, it's your party. Why aren't you partying? There's, like, a cake with your face on it. If you don't get out there, Barry's gonna eat half your head."

She had her head - real, not cake - down on the table. "Why did I invite Ronnie?" she asked. "Why?"

As comfortable in their kitchen as he was in his own, Cisco opened the refrigerator and rummaged around until he found the orange soda they kept for him. "I can think of, like, six different reasons. Because he's your ex-boyfriend and you're still friends? Because you're nice? Because he wanted to celebrate with you? Because you wanted to get another card with a big fat check?"

"Because I'm stupid," she whimpered.

He popped the tab and took a gulp. "Okay, I wasn't going to include that one."

"He's dating someone else. Already! Someone from school."

He hopped up to sit on the table, with his feet in the chair next to her. "You broke up at New Year's, and it's June. And you went to prom with Jason Black."

"That was my senior prom. I had to go with someone." She pressed her fingers to her eyes. "You know what? You know what? Never, ever, ever get in a long-distance relationship. Never agree to one. They end in pain."

"Okay," he said.

"I'm serious. Save yourself. Learn from my suffering. They never work."

He slurped more soda. "You thought you were gonna get back together when he came back from college, didn't you?"

She gave him a baleful look.

"You know I'm right."

"So what if you are," she mumbled.

"You guys tried the long-distance thing and it didn't work and you broke up. It happens. You need to move on."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, Dear Abby. Obviously you know all about the human heart at your advanced age."

"Hey, I've been there. I got dumped this year by a guy because he wasn't ready to come out of the closet. Twice! Same guy! You'd think I'd learn. It happens. Your heart gets stomped on. Pick it up and dust it off. You'll be fine."

She sighed.

"Come on! You've escaped the event horizon of the black hole that is high school. You should be par-tay-ang." He hopped off the table, then grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet with surprising strength for a kid that had all the body mass index of a grasshopper. "Look, out there? Right through that door? There's cake and cards with big-ass checks and music and enough food to sink a battleship and enough drink to float it again. It's a party! It's your party. Go party."

She looked out the window.

"Hey," he said, and she looked back at him. "Look. Ronnie's a nice guy. Do you really want him to think you're hiding in here, from him, and missing your own big day? You know he'd get all guilty and do, like, the eyes - " He gave her puppy eyes, wide and brimming with sadness.

She shook her head. No, she didn't want that. If Ronnie gave her those eyes, she might throw herself at him. And then she'd have to hear him say, again, There's kind of someone at school . . .

"Then come on," Cisco said. "Cake!"

"Fine," she sighed, rolling her eyes so he would know she was doing this under protest. He just smirked at her and dragged her along.

"Wait," she said before he could open the back door. "Thanks."

"No prob. You've had a rough year. You deserve to enjoy yourself."

She pulled him into a hug, and he hugged her back. He was a sweet kid, she thought. A ridiculous nerd, of course, but he was Barry's best friend so what could you expect, really. But he had a very, very good heart, and for a moment, she hated the boy who'd dumped him because he didn't know what he wanted.

Impulsively, she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

At the same time, he turned his head - to pull away? To say something? - and their noses bumped, and then their lips pressed together.

His mouth was soft and tasted like orange soda, and for a moment she could swear he kissed her back.

She jerked her head up and took a step back. He stepped back too, and ran into one of the kitchen chairs, sending it skidding across the linoleum to clunk into the table. He stared at her.

"I'm sorry," she said unsteadily. "I didn't mean - I meant to kiss your cheek, honestly - "

He swallowed a couple of times and managed a smile. "Hey, it's fine."

"No, I did not mean - I am so, so, so, so sorry - "

"C'mon. I understand. All this blazing sexual magnetism, you couldn't help yourself." He tossed his hair like a shampoo model. "I don't blame you. Come out and get some cake, okay?"

She followed him out the door, too dazed to argue. Kissed her back? Of course he hadn't kissed her back. Cisco didn't even like girls.