A/N: First, I want to thank you all for reviewing on the last chapter, it means a lot to me ! I don't always have the time to reply, I'm trying to use most of my free time (which is not much) to writing this story. But I read all of them, so thanks!

Second, I'm glad my little cliffhanger surprised you (makes me kind of proud :P)

Third, I'll let you discover what happens next. Remember, Ronnie's at Cailtin's ? ;)

I don't own anything :)


Barry looked back and forth between Ronnie and Caitlin, both standing side by side on her doorstep. Ronnie was still smiling at him, one arm on the door almost like it was around Caitlin's shoulders. Barry looked back at her. She was flushed and was looking at the floor. He couldn't decide if her shade of red was due to gilt, embarrassment, or shyness.

The only thing Barry knew was that he should have called before dropping by unannounced. It would have saved him this awful feeling he had in his stomach right now.

"Sorry, I didn't know you two had a date night. I was leaving anyway." Ronnie looked at Caitlin. "Thanks for the stuff Cait." He winked at her and then turned back towards Barry. "It was nice seeing you Barry. We should definitely go out sometimes again, last time was fun."

Barry and Caitlin both nodded and watched Ronnie leave, in silence. Barry looked back at Caitlin when her ex boyfriend was gone. He felt suddenly angry, like he had caught her cheating on him. He knew he shouldn't feel like this. Caitlin wasn't his girlfriend; he had no right to be angry. But he was. And on top of that, jealousy showed itself. He could feel his jaw clenching and his whole body tensing up.

She still wasn't looking at him directly, but she opened her front door wider. "You want to come in?"

"Sure." Barry followed her inside. She showed him the way to her couch. He dropped the food on the small table in front of the TV. She left for about two minutes to fetch glasses and some water. While she was gone, he looked around, observing her living room. There were a few photos of her family, a lot of books and some small plants. Next to her couch were two pictures frames; one with a group photo in front of the S.T.A.R. labs and the other one was turned face down. Making sure Caitlin wasn't about to come into the room, Barry lifted the frame to see the photo it was protecting. It was a portrait of her and Ronnie. A rush a questions flowed his brain. But before he could search for any answers, he heard Caitlin come back, so he quickly put the frame back were it had been, face looking down.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

Barry looked at her with disbelieve. How could she pretend nothing had happened?

"For real?! Well, last time we saw each other, you left a bit angry, remember?"

She nodded. "Right, sorry about that, I had a bit too much to drink."

"That's alright. What I really want to talk about is the fake dating we are doing in front of our friends."

Catlin flushed at the mention. But before she could say anything, Barry talked again. "I'm sorry for my behaviour. I know I should've asked you before pretending to be your boyfriend. But obviously, it makes you angry, so we should probably stop before it goes out of control."

He head shot up and her eyes finally met his since Ronnie left. "What? No we can't stop now."

"Why not? You obviously still have feelings for Ronnie and he for you … What am I supposed to do in the middle of this game?" His voice rose a bit. "I don't want to ruin our new friendship over some game you play with your ex."

Caitlin had the decency to look a bit ashamed. "We're not playing any game." She murmured.

She was acting so calm and he could feel the fire burn inside of him, which was to complete opposite of their personalities. She was usually the more passionate one and he was supposed to be calm.

"Well, tell that to Ronnie. He seemed quite satisfied coming out of your apartment with that smirk of his." He pointed to the frame he had in his hands a few moments ago. "And turning a photo down doesn't make feelings disappear." It was out before he could stop himself from talking. He was now acting out of pure jealousy and he sounded mean.

"What is that supposed to mean? Nothing happened with Ronnie today. And that picture is none of your business!" Now she was acting angrier, standing up from the couch and raising her voice too. "I didn't sleep with Ronnie, if that's what you were implying. Who do you take me for?!"

"Well, I don't know … What am I supposed to think about it?"

"Nothing at all! You have no right to come here and tell me how to behave."

Barry sobered up. "You're right, I'm sorry. I'm not your boyfriend and that's why I think we should stop pretending like I am."

Caitlin sat back on the couch next to him. "Ronnie just came back to take some stuff he had left here when we broke up. Nothing happened and I don't want anything to happen either." She looked down at her hands. Her voice was calm again, very soft. "I'm really trying to move on, but he's not letting me. I love that picture because it holds a lot of good memories. But the mere sight of it hurts, so I turned it down."

Barry could see a tear roll down her cheek. "Hey there, it's going to be alright, I'm right here." He put one arm around her shoulders and she buried her face in his neck, silently sobbing. "It will get better, you just need some time." He said softly, stroking her hair.

After a few minutes of silence, she extracted herself from his arms. "You brought food, right?"

Barry grinned and took out the Italian food he had bought. Her face lighted up when she saw what kind of food it was, murmuring "My favourite".

After finishing their food, they settled back down on her couch with a beer. Barry watched his bottle with a contemplative look. "I'm sorry about earlier."

Caitlin glanced at him and smiled. "You already apologised."

"Still, I overreacted."

"It shows that you care, and I really appreciate it."

Barry glanced back at her to see her eyes still fixed on him. He could see so much into them. There was pain, but also joy and curiosity. And he could not quite look away from them. He thought he could stay like this forever. But they still hadn't solved their problem. "Anyway, I still think the whole fake dating is a bad idea. Even if I started it." He added when he saw she was about to retaliate.

"You're probably right. But we can't break up now."

"Why not?"

"Because! First, we'll have to pretend being mad at each other and we won't be able to hang out together like before."

Barry smiled. "You know, not everyone has big fights before breaking up …"

"Still, people will get uncomfortable if they hang out with us, thinking we don't get along anymore."

"You have a point. And while I want to break up, I still want to be your friend." He joked and Caitlin let out a clear and soft laugh that sounded like music to his hears.

"Second, I don't want Ronnie to think we broke up today, after his visit."

Barry groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "You've got a point. It really looked like you had just cheated on me."

She looked apologetically at him. "That's my third point. I don't want you or me to be the bad guy in this story."

Barry sighed. "And admitting it was all fake is kind of embarrassing."

"Plus, everyone will think I did it to get back at Ronnie."

They both stayed silent for a few minutes, sipping their beer. They were in some kind of dead end. On one hand, they couldn't keep pretending they were dating, and on the other hand, everything would change if they told the truth.

"So if we are really going to do this, we have to settle a few crucial points." Barry finally said after a long moment of silence. "Like how we met or how long we've been together, to avoid some awkward situation. We need a story, you know?"

"I see what you're talking about. And there has to be some boundaries. I don't intend to actually act like a couple."

Barry's eyes went wide open. "Of course not! It never crossed my mind. We won't overdue our public display of affection." He winked at her.

Caitlin looked gratefully at him. They began inventing their story together. How they met at work when CCPD temporally joined their forces with the S.T.A.R. labs for an investigation. How Barry had immediately asked her out for a drink and how they soon began dating. They were making themselves memories, little story they could tell their friends. And while doing so, they had a lot of fun.

Time flew by for the rest of the night, both of them still sitting on Caitlin's couch. She had brought ice cream from her freezer and he had put some background music. At some point, Caitlin ended lying on the couch with her head on his knees while he was coming up with new anecdotes he had really lived, trying to include her in his memory. They soon had invented a whole new life for the past few months.

Barry left just after midnight when he saw how late it was. They were both relieved their friendship was still in place, stronger even. They had no idea what mess they were putting themselves in.