Author's note: I do not own The Flash or the characters. These are just my thoughts on how a season one snowbarry relationship could have happened. Please review.

It happened the way it always happens, two people become friends and then one day something changes and it's like they were struck by lightning. (They try not to make this joke seeing as how one of them already was). It happened that night in the karaoke bar. Even drunk there was something about Caitlin that drew Barry in, made him want to know more. And something about Barry made Caitlin want to share. It all changed when he took her home and she asked him to stay. When she woke up he was lying on the floor at the foot of her bed, and she knew he would always take care of her. From that moment on things were different between them. They relied on each other, needed one another to focus, to tackle problems and keep protecting their city.

There was no definitive moment when the balance shifted from just friends to something more. He had started staying at her place. They usually fell asleep on the couch watching Netflix together. Cisco had been right about neither of them having much of a life, but it was more fulfilling together. Barry, ever the gentleman, waited for Caitlin to make the first move. Their first kiss was sweet and warm and they smiled through it. He spent the night on the couch again, but this time he was holding her. They decided not to tell anyone. With the knowledge that the man in yellow was out there, they didn't want to distract the team. They also didn't want to hear what they thought, they knew there would be reservations. In the cortex they were the same as ever, friends that understood each other. No one questioned the bond they shared, assuming it was because they each understood the pain of a loss that shouldn't have happened.

Iris was the first to really notice anything was different. Barry wasn't around as much for her to talk to. He couldn't grab lunch, didn't come into Jitters as often, and it seemed like he was always with Caitlin. Iris was convinced something was wrong, maybe a complication from the lightning strike, since he spent so much time with the doctor. Joe insisted everything was fine, afraid to give away the secret he desperately kept from her. Eddie believed it had to do with the move, and that Barry just wanted to give both of them their space. He had said as much when she asked.

Joe noticed next. Barry thought he had been quiet, unnoticeable as he flashed back into the house to pretend that he had woken up there. Joe accused him of doing after hours patrolling. Kept insisting that even superheroes needed to sleep and that he was going to end up getting himself hurt.

Diggle was the first person to really know what was going on. He had called to let Barry know that Oliver had been killed. Barry had been at STAR labs when he took the call, he had been training on the treadmill, when he came into the Cortex and the pained expression on his face had been all she needed to know something horrible had happened. He explained that he and Caitlin would be there in a few hours. Joe and Cisco stayed behind, to keep watch for the Reverse Flash. Caitlin stayed with him the entire time they were there, never more than an arms-length away. While they were in the Arrow Cave, mourning their mutual loss, John had asked Barry if something was different. He answered the best way that he knew how, that Caitlin was his Felicity. John and the rest of team Arrow didn't need to know anything more to understand exactly how much Barry loved Caitlin or how much she loved Barry.

When they returned home things were different. Everything felt more serious, more dangerous, as though every time Barry flashed out of STAR he may not come home. They also knew what Oliver had lost by not being honest with Felicity about how he felt. Which is why neither of them did a very good job of hiding things when the Reverse Flash took Eddie. Barry had run out of the Cortex to find Iris, leaving Caitlin behind with a feeling she was familiar with, dread. When Barry returned to the lab it didn't register that Cisco and Joe were there, watching as he reached out and kissed Caitlin. Neither noticed the shocked looks as she cried with relief while he promised that he would always come back to her.

Cisco and Joe were both understandably shocked, but given the situation they were all facing while needing to locate Eddie, Cisco glossed over the situation with a joke and Joe advised everyone they would discuss it later. Iris found out as she snuck into STAR labs, while Barry was explaining what had happened when he was fighting that morning. After describing the fear he had felt to Caitlin, Cisco had excused himself from the med bay, not yet comfortable with the couples recently disclosed relationship status. As Caitlin promised Barry that she would always be there to put him together again and that no matter what came in the future they would face it together, Iris decided it was time to reveal herself. She just hadn't expected them to be kissing. She added it to the list of reasons she was disappointed with Barry, yelled at him for keeping secrets, that in trying to protect her he had only hurt her instead.

To Barry and Caitlin none of it mattered. The only opinion of their relationship they valued was each other's, and she felt the same. They knew, no matter what was coming, that they could face it together. He would always come back to her, and she would always put him together again.

Author's note: So that's it. Please review and let me know what you think.