Five times where Barry almost asks Caitlin out, and then the one time he actually does.
i.
This is it. The annual CCPD ball is coming up this year, and I have someone from STAR Labs I have my heart set on asking.
I'll give you two clues as to who it is.
It's not Harrison Wells, or Cisco Ramon.
I woke up early this morning, especially for today.
I have my bouquet of flowers behind my back, and I see her, locking her car, before looking up and spotting me.
Caitlin Snow.
Cue my dreamy sigh.
And oh-mi-god because she's actually coming over here right now, and its your time to ask her Barry, don't be an idiot and dither there, ask her!
I can't do it.
I know that if my mouth opens, the chance of vomit coming out of it is a lot higher than I'd like it to be.
"Hey Barry," she says.
That is the exact moment I lose my nerve.
"Hey, Caitlin."
I'm almost more dejected than I would have been if I'd asked her and actually gotten rejected.
Thankfully, she starts talking about an experiment.
I sigh, and continue as normal.
ii.
The next occasion to ask Caitlin to the CCPD ball is at lunch, the very next day.
I'm doing food rounds, and, as Caitlin is coming with me, this seemed the perfect opportunity to ask her.
The ball isn't for a week, so I have plenty of time to ask her, my mind tells me, and we continually struggle all the way through the run there.
Of course, that isn't very long, but I (being in two minds) have already decided to ask her again on Friday, when she goes out with Cisco and I (ie. to the cineplex- that's what she calls the movies- the bar, etcetera etcetera.)
She leans across the counter to grab a couple of napkins, and I detect a whiff of coconut and vanilla honey under her signature perfume, through half-lidded eyes almost delirious with desire.
"Barry, you okay? You seem a little preoccupied."
There she goes again, saving me from a dark pit of thoughts that it would be best not to fall into with her concern and heart, and the way she wore her emotions on her sleeve-
God, its the attack of the cliches.
You would think I'm in love with her or something-
Wait.
Hang on.
Am I in love?
Of course not, is the immediate, automatic response my brain gives.
"Barry?" Caitlin frog-marches me from my prison of thoughts.
"Huh?" I see her looking at me expectantly, and I curse my unintelligent outburst.
In an attempt to recitify my mistake, I blurt out something else.
"You sure?" I nod earnestly in reply, not quite passing Caitlin's lie detector, but I guess she trusts me enough to let me run back unassisted.
Or maybe she just wants lunch.
So I lift my cargo and run back to STAR Labs.
Dr Wells and Cisco accept their lunch eagerly ("Chilli fries? YESSSS!") and I sit down on a park bench three seconds later.
Failed again.
iii.
Bang.
Bang.
A bullet hits me, and the force is like getting kicked in the chest by an all-powerful mechanical donkey.
"Caitlin," I cough, lying on the pavement in pain.
"Yes Barry?" She sounds so concerned.
There's probably a better time to ask her, but I'm not very focussed on the specifics.
Suddenly, I black out.
What a way to go.
iv.
I open my eyes sleepily.
Caitlin is there, slumped in a chair, using my arm as a pillow.
I see my other arm wrapped in gauze, attached to a morphine drip with a light blue liquid in it.
Drugs, most definitely very powerful drugs, enough to dull the throbbing pain.
I close my eyes and rest.
v.
I don't fully recover till Thursday the next week.
Tests, tests and more tests.
I sigh just as Caitlin comes back into the cortex.
"You feeling okay?"
"Yeah. Um, Caitlin?"
This is it. I'm going to do it.
"Yes Barry?"
She gives me a small smile, and I get momentarily distracted, and lose my courage.
vi.
Inspiration strikes on Friday.
We've finally caught the meta-human who shot me.
I'm taking Caitlin out to dinner to celebrate, since Dr Wells has research to do and Cisco has a family dinner to attend.
We go to a nice Italian resturant.
After we leave, I spot some flowers that I buy from a street vendor who is closing up shop.
A quartet play music under the streetlamp by the waterfront. I wait till we're right against the railing and then give her the flowers.
"Will you go to the CCPD ball with me?"
A second passes.
I'm so nervous.
Then she breaks out into a beautiful grin.
"Yeah. Okay, yeah."
"Cool," I say, and I lean in slowly and kiss her.
