Barry thought a lot of things in his life were odd. He could run at the speed of sound. Odd came naturally to his life. But that all seemed so small in comparison to the oddity of one thing.

Change.

Of all the things in the world, Change was the strangest of them all to him. The way things shift with time. Be it within moments, or maybe over years. They way opinions change. Seasons, trends, cloths, politics. They all seemed to change slowly. Maybe it had something to do with the way he moved. When you're gifted with super speed, time seemed to just crawl by at times. Before all of his heroics and world altering and time traveling antics, he'd been plain old Barry Allen. And life was easy. Easy and perfectly slow. He had time to be himself. To be 'young and dumb' as his father used to say. And recently, something had shifted for him.

Standing in the cortex, as the clock ticked just past eight o'clock, and the smell of coffee and medical supplies filled the room, it dawned on Barry exactly what that was.

It was that Caitlin Snow was different. Kind of a weird thought, especially since nothing had changed about her physically. At least as far as he could tell. More like a peculiar feeling in his gut that made his perspective shift around like leaves in the wind. He'd come to pick up the phone he'd forgotten on the computer table. He'd expected to just be alone, to zip in and out. He hadn't thought he would find Caitlin still sitting at her desk. It made these thoughts that he had been quite focused on burying rush back to the forefront of his brain. But Barry tamped that thought down when he realized that she was speaking.

"Yes, mom, I know. I will be there."

Barry froze in the doorway. Mom? Barry suddenly felt like he had stumbled upon something intimate. Something private. Barry didn't think he had ever heard Caitlin talk about her family, let alone even make a phone call. Now she was huffing, and giving her mother what Joe affectionately called the 'Yes Factor.'

"Yes mom, I know it's going to be cold. Don't worry." She paused, and ran a hand through her chocolate hair, sighing. "Mom, we have the reunion every year." Barry cringed inwardly, suddenly feeling every bit the intruder.

He could just zoom through the room and snag his phone and be gone, and Caitlin would never even have time to pause her conversation. Or he could announce himself, but the sudden fear brought on by the thought that she might take that as he had been eavesdropping made him feel guilty. Especially since he kind of had been eavesdropping.

"I know, Mom, no need to remind me."

The exasperated huffing and stressed out tone her voice took on made him smile. Caitlin was always at her most adorable when she was stressed. In fact, the two seemed to be directly proportional to each other. Not to say she didn't always have her charm. Barry cocked his head, taken back a little bit. Now that was a weird thought. He wondered when he had become so acutely aware of Caitlin's attractiveness. When had that changed?

"Yes mom, I've got plenty of summer clothes. We do have warm weather here sometimes." She paused, listening to the voice on the other end, "Yes I'll get some new bathing suits. Don't stress mom."

Barry leaned against the wall, smiling. He knew he should have flashed out of the room. Should have been giving Caitlin her privacy. Should be actively trying to be less of a creeper. But this was so new. The chance to see this side of Caitlin and the novelty of the experience kept him glued to the spot. Smiling like he was watching a puppy roll about in the snow. He took a sip of his coffee and watched as Caitlin's head sink low, one hand coming up to rub her temple.

"Mom…" Caitlin said, the warning evident in her voice, "I know what you're doing."

Silence followed, and Barry could hear the faint murmurings of Caitlin's mother on the other end of the line. Caitlin rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Yes mom, I know...I know I need to get out more."

Caitlin made a small noise in the back of her throat. Something between a huff of annoyance and a sign of frustration. "Mom it's not that simple. I'm not exactly the outgoing type."

Barry cocked an eyebrow. He disagreed, but remained quiet, sipping his coffee.

"Mom, maybe I'm just not good at dating." She said, "I know it's been two years since Ronnie. Trust me. Maybe I'm just taking my time."

Her shoulders sagged. "Maybe next time I'll bring someone. Who knows?" She stood up abruptly, and spun on her heel, and yelped. Her hands came up in a twitchy little gesture, and her phone went flying. Barry watched as her eyes fell on his shoes, and traveled their way up to his face. Her face was bright pink, highlighting the little white ear buds. She snatched up the cord and waved it at him. "Oh my god, Barry. Hasn't anyone ever told you not to sneak up on people?"

"Sneaking?" Barry grinned, "Who's been sneaking? I've been just standing here."

"You scared the pants off me."

Barry couldn't help but laugh, "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you."

"Interrupt?" She blinked, "Oh crap!"

And just as she spun around, scrambling to find her flung phone, a little voice chimed through the din of the Cortex. "Hello? Caitlin?"

"One second, mom!" Caitlin called out, hair darting this way and that as she fumbled around the room.

"Hold these," she commanded, stuffing her headphones into his free hand. After a few more seconds of searching, Caitlin let out a triumphant "ah-ha." She snatched the phone up off the floor and fixed her hair. "Hi mom, sorry."

Barry caught the briefest of glimpses at the face on the screen. Brown hair, like Cait's. Strong features, sharp and angular. Glasses, horn rimmed and proper.

"Caitlin? What happened?" Her mother asked. Barry felt a little guilty for a moment. The sound of her mother's voice had a hawk-like quality to it. Almost scholarly. On all things Caitlin. As if she could spot a lie from miles away.

"Nothing. Nothing. A co-worker showed up."

"This late?"

Caitlin cleared her throat, "There's a revolving door policy here."

Barry opened his mouth to speak, maybe to help with the lie, when he caught Caitlin's eye. He knew that icy glare. She had used it whenever he'd run off to have his nightly "interviews" with Iris. His mouth shut with a click.

"Anyway, listen mom, you can just RSVP for me. Whitney won't mind. She's easy going like that."

"Yes but you still haven't told me if you're going to be having a plus one or not."

"Mom, I-"

"You have to move on sometime Caitlin." The way she said it felt distant, cold. Colder than the way Barry imagined a mother would say it.

If it was possible to shrink down in size. To recoil away from a video call, Caitlin did. Her face fell. Barry took a few steps towards her, cautious, probing just how close he had to be to lend his support, but far enough to respect her space.

"I know," Caitlin said, her voice small and lacking its usual confidence.

"I know you've been trying to date," her mother said, her tone losing some of the icy edge, "Why not bring one of your dates? It's just a week."

"Mom I haven't been on a date in 6 months."

"And why is that?" Her mom asked.

Barry felt that intrusive vibe his presence had taken on double. He was definitely not supposed to be privy to this turn of the conversation. Surprisingly he wasn't sure he wanted to be. The thought of Caitlin dating made him feel strangely protective. Barry hadn't told her that of course. She was perfectly capable of protecting herself, and she was smart enough to know when a bad situation had presented itself. But the extra eyes couldn't hurt. At least that's what he told himself.

Caitlin stammered, floundering. Even from this distance Barry could see her mother wasn't buying it. Her mother's eyebrow shot up.

Part of him wanted to jump and shout 'because she's been helping me' but he clamped that thought down in a vice. That would only lead to more questions. Questions he was sure neither of them could answer properly.

Caitlin cast him a sidelong glance. He met her eye and smiled as confidently as Barry felt he could. He hoped that confidence would transfer over.

"I've been busy..." she said slowly, feeling out the pseudo-lie.

Barry felt a small pang of guilt sound out in his gut.

"I know I might not be the number one advocate of this advice but, Caitlin, work can't be everything."

Caitlin rubbed her temple and whirled around to face Barry, maybe to shoo him away, but then she froze.

Barry looked around. There was no one behind him. So why was she leveling him with that look? He knew it. It meant she was formulating an idea. A plan.

"Mom, I'll call you right back."

"What? Caitlin-"

"Two minutes, Mom. I promise I'll call right back."

And without waiting for a response she hung up. She counted to three and took a deep breath. Then her eyes came up to rest on his.

"Barry..."

"Caitlin..." Barry said, noting how cautiously she had said his name and responding in kind.

"I have a favor to ask." She said slowly.

"Sure. Shoot."

Caitlin folded her fingers together. She braced herself with another deep breath. She made a few nervous movements and then said, "this favor I'm about to ask you can totally say no to. I won't mind. Like at all. Totally okay. I would absolutely understand-"

"Cait," Barry said, chuckling, "what is it? Just tell me."

"My cousin is getting married."

Barry blinked. "Oh well...uh, congratulations."

Caitlin smiled weakly, "And uh, well, the wedding is next week. The seventh to the fourteenth."

Barry laughed, "Caitlin if you're asking for time off you know you don't need to, right? Like I'm definitely not your boss. If anything you're the boss of me."

"No I know that. I know you can handle yourself if I'm gone for the week."

"A week? On second thought I might die without you hear to patch me up."

Caitlin laughed, " Hush," she cleared her throat, "The thing is, my family is going to be there. And they've all been pressuring me to get out and date."

"Have you?" Barry felt himself inwardly cringe. For whatever reason he didn't really think he wanted to know the answer.

Caitlin laughed, "There's not much time for dating when you're either being the Flash's personal doctor or helping save the city."

"If it makes you feel any better my social life is pretty much-"

"Being the Flash and Netflix. I remember. Not much else from that night but I do remember that," She said. They shared a secret smile. That night had become their own little inside joke.

"So no date? Why not just go alone?"

"Because my family will just ride me for it the entire time. Being a technical widow and all doesn't buy you the free pass you'd think it would."

Barry felt his heart sink sadly for her. He wanted to wipe away the look that had covered her face and replace it with the smile she'd worn just a minute ago.

"Listen, I know it's a lot to ask but I have a plus one on my invitation and I was thinking that maybe you could be my plus one?"

"Me? Wouldn't you be better off with Cisco? If you go won't people think I'm your-"

"Boyfriend?"

Barry blinked, then nodded.

"Well..." she said, drawing out the word, "Yes. That's the idea. Or well, the idea that I've got some kind of male friend in my life and I'm not just sitting in this lab twenty four/seven. We wouldn't have to even tell them anything like that. I just need the..." she paused, searching for the right word, "Support. But forget it. Really. Look, I know it's stupid. Forget I asked."

"Caitlin-"

"No Barry, really it's okay. It was selfish of me to ask. I'm sorry." She shook her head and laughed at herself. "I just wanted my family off my back about this for the weekend. The Snow family is a pretty raucous bunch. You'd be surprised. If I were you I wouldn't want to spend a weekend with my family either."

She strode back to the computer table and leaned against it. Caitlin made for her phone. She eyed it for a moment, ran a hand through her hair, and then tapped the screen. Barry watched her. The quiet resignation to a less than pleasant weekend, probed by queries from her family about how she hadn't moved on. Barry didn't actually mind the idea. The thought of spending time with Caitlin was never something he thought of as unpleasant. In fact quiet the opposite. The sound of a vacation also had a pleasant ring to it. Despite how Barry was almost positive he had seen this kind of scenario in one of Iris's romantic comedy movies from yesteryear. Ignoring how he knew full well there was a decent amount of holes in the plan and he knew all the ways this could go south, he couldn't say it sounded unappealing. So he crossed the room in a burst of speed, and came to snatch the phone from her hands.

"Caitlin," Barry took a step forward, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I'll do it."

"What?" She said, eyebrows raised, bewilderment spreading across her face like wildfire.

"I'll go. Sounds like fun if you ask me."

"Really?" She asked, "You're not just teasing me?" She eyed him with suspicion.

"It'll be like an undercover mission."

She laughed, "You've been spending too much time with Oliver."

Barry shot her a sly smile and shrugged, "I mean if you'd rather your family know your life does actually consist of being my personal physician and working, then I can take that back."

"Please, god no." She said, and then paused, "Are you positive?"

"Of course. Where's the wedding?"

"Palm city. About an hour or so away from Coast City."

"Palm city? Seriously?" Barry said, "You're cousin is really going all out."

Caitlin bit her lip, "Well it's actually on one of the island resorts off the coast of Palm City."

Barry gawked. He'd seen one of the island resorts on the Internet before. One of the top vacation spots in the world. Also, forever out of Barry's budget.

"Big budget wedding," he whistled.

Caitlin nodded and shrugged her shoulders, looking displeased. "Her fiancé is an investment banker. He likes to show his affection with dollar signs and expensive purses."

"No kidding. The Islands are intense."

Caitlin blew a strand of hair from her face, "It's a gross display of wealth. Weddings are supposed to be personal and intimate. Not glorified showing-off sessions." She waved her hand, her displeasure growing more acute. "Ronnie and I knew better. Our wedding was so..." and she stopped, catching herself growing wistful and nostalgic.

Barry reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. He gave the faintest of squeezes.

Caitlin cleared her throat and put on a smile. Barry knew it was a brave face but he said nothing. "Right, well, we didn't share the same views as my cousin when it came to weddings."

"I'm sure yours was all the better for it."

Caitlin gave him slow, shy smile. "Thanks Barry."

Barry nodded to her phone, "Better call your mom back. Let her know you're bringing a friend. Of the male persuasion."

Caitlin let out the smallest of giggles and nodded. "I'll text you all the details."

"I'll start making a packing list tonight."

Caitlin beamed with relief and dialed her mother's number. Barry snagged his forgotten phone from the medical table. On his way out he heard Caitlin say, "Hi mom, sorry. About that plus one..."