A/N: Hey guys! If you follow me on twitter (SnowbarryTalk) you would already know how devastated I am at the state of The Flash after the Season 4 finale. Danielle does not deserve the abuse she's getting from the writing team, she is the strongest actress on the show with the most interesting character. It appears not much has changed with the people in charge. I don't see being invested in Season 5 is going to help. The producers and writers have lied to us countless times about Caitlin and the state of Team Flash, I just don't bother anymore with it. Danielle, Grant and Carlos deserve better. As a tribute to Snowbarry I will be continuing my rewrites of episodes that I feel need to be rewritten in terms of where the important stories are. Expect a lot of one shots coming up including the one I started last week that will be a finale rewrite. Really need feedback on that guys. Thank you for coming back to read this story. I hope you like this chapter, let me know in the reviews what you think and what you want to happen. I haven't been getting much responses and I would really like to hear more people respond. Until we meet again. Bye all! :)
Barry and Caitlin came back a little after sundown. Barry told Maggie she could watch TV in the living while he and Caitlin were in the kitchen about to start on dinner.
Caitlin observed Maggie as she took off her coat placing it inside the closet. She smiled as she watched Maggie lay down on her stomach, about a foot away from the screen, watching a cartoon program. She wasn't having a care in the world. No responsibilities, no major obligations, Caitlin found it hard not to envy her slightly. She almost forgot how easy it was being a child.
"Hey, are you coming?" Barry said, speaking near her ear quietly.
She was almost startled as she nodded and followed him into the kitchen. She looked around for a moment realizing this was the first time she had been inside their home. Strange, in the past she was under the impression that people wanted to see their homes first before offering the job.
"Oh wait..." Barry snapped his fingers, he just thought of something. "Hey, I'm sorry; did you want a quick tour of the house? I feel like we did everything out of order."
"OK, sure." She smiled as Barry led the way.
After he showed her the basic things like the bedrooms, bathroom, his work study office they came back to the kitchen as Barry began pulling out the kitchenware for tonight's meal.
"How long have you guys lived here?"
Barry listened as he poured some water inside a saucer pot. "Umm, a year after Maggie was born. We moved here on my dad's connections. He just helped with the credit and securing Escrow. But we've put our personal theme on it over the years."
"It's nice, having a home like this..." Caitlin said, letting her voice trail off, or any home. She thought.
"Yeah, it needs a woman's touch though." Barry said, smirking and looking behind his shoulder as he placed the pasta inside.
Caitlin said nothing. He can't be talking about her; it must be Maggie's mother. Maybe Barry still cared about her and wanted her back in their lives. Adele made it pretty clear where she stood in the matter. But Caitlin wasn't sure how Barry really felt about it.
"So what can I do? What do you need me to do here?" She said, standing closer to Barry near the stove.
"You can get the cheese and other stuff out. We have tomato sauce in the back. I'm gonna keep it simple tonight."
She gathered the items and placed them on the counter. "I don't mind. So, what next?"
Barry smiled, almost blushing, "You know, there isn't a whole lot here to do."
"It's not a big deal though, I should help out more, doesn't matter how small."
He smiled again, wider this time, stifling a laugh he made himself suppress. She was making him laugh and it wasn't good. He had to remain to himself and keep away from getting close. This should be a working relationship, not what it felt like, something else. Something real...building...different...
"Alright, here, you can get the spatula and the big knife, er, butcher one. Aka the big one."
It was Caitlin's turn to laugh. "Well you clearly took a cooking class. I'll remember that for next time. The big knife," she paused, handing him the knife by the handle, "OK then."
Barry threw his head back in another laugh but clearing his throat when he realized his behavior. He took the knife from her hand and placed it down.
"Sorry. I don't normally narrate when I cook. It's actually very therapeutic. I normally make better meals than this, trust me."
"I'll take your word for it," she said with a smile. "So far it smells nice. I like a home cooked meal."
"So do I. Grandma is usually found in the kitchen, she likes to say it's because I don't belong. More than likely she is probably right."
"But this isn't too simple; you're doing more than just heating something up. I'm glad it's nothing too instant, reminds me too much of my college days."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Caitlin blushed, almost thinking she confessed more than she should. "Oh no, it was the standard of living in the dorms. Caffeine and salty soup, after a while it grows on you."
Barry shared a look with her behind his shoulder as he stirred the pasta that was beginning to welt down in the steaming pot. The more he got to know Caitlin, the more he wanted to know. Even though he felt like he knew everything he needed to know, there were so many more questions he wanted answers to. The more he looked at what he was doing, the less distracted he got. He realized his staring problem and turned back around to prep the sauce pan with the remainder of his full meal plan.
"This just needs to set; I'll cover it and let it simmer when it's all ready. The pasta should be ready by now. You can have a seat; do you want something to drink while we wait?"
Caitlin took a seat at the kitchen table. "Maybe green tea, if you have it."
Barry tossed the tiny tea box in the air, "Good choice, I probably should be drinking more cups of this than bold coffee in the evening."
Caitlin watched as Barry set up the mugs and turned on the electric kettle. "Do you have to work?"
"Yeah, sort of, I know I can't even enjoy my days off without turning my work brain off. Sorry if I...get called away."
Caitlin wanted to say something, but held her tongue back. She watched his tense body language and felt for him. Barry seemed like he took on more than he can bare, she got the feeling Adele has helped but only made things worse. Caitlin was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn't notice Barry sitting down beside her, he seemed to have something on his mind and this time, she didn't hold herself back.
"Are you alright?"
Barry gave a reassuring smile as he tapped his fingers against the place mat. "Yeah, so...did you have fun today?"
"Yeah..." Caitlin turned around to glance at Maggie's eyes glued to the TV screen. "Maggie sure did, it's been a while since I have gone to a kids restaurant before."
"You get used to it. I know all 5 of Maggie's favorite places, but she always wants the same things. I try to get her to more mature places but she likes playing those games and jumping in that ball pit."
Caitlin sighed, lifting her brows slightly with a far off look. "I don't think she wants to leave it anytime soon."
Barry followed Caitlin's eyes staring down, he sighed, thinking she wasn't only referring to Maggie. He wanted to know more but he held back gave a silly grin her way.
"You can't blame her I guess. I blinked and now I'm a father. I miss those times too."
Caitlin slowly brought up her eyes to meet his, wanting to know what he meant by that but jumped slightly at the kettle shutting off.
"Do you want me to uh—?" She gestured, moving to stand.
"No, it's OK, let me."
Barry politely smiled and stood up to the counter. As he poured the tea she was meaning to remind him again to stop staring. Or at least avoid lingering in his staring. Not that she would think he was looking at her that way. Let's hope she didn't think that, he thought.
He brought the mugs to the table, placing hers in front of her and his beside him. Barry felt the nerves creep up and he was worried he was going to slip up and embarrass himself. He definitely didn't want to scare her away; she was the only person that he trusted with Maggie.
"Barry? Are you alright?"
He smiled thinly, staring up from the ground, not realizing he was in a slight daze for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, was just, thinking about work. My mind won't leave it."
Caitlin bit her lip, watching Barry touched his temples as he rubbed his eyes. "You really don't have to deal with everything alone. I know it's maybe different but I can share the burden with you."
Barry winced, partly understanding what she meant, "What do you mean?"
"I mean I could finish everything here that needs to be done. Do you wanna rest or something?"
Barry's brain reacted to her saying those words; almost instantly his nerves went in cool down mode. It seemed like the best thing for his body. As much as he wanted to keep up his attention for Caitlin, his strong reaction to resting made the answer pretty clear.
"You sure? It's not a big deal; I'm trying not to be so obvious here."
"Of course, do you want me to walk you to your room?" Caitlin asked, blushing slightly.
"Take me to bed? Don't feel like you need to babysit me now." Barry said, smirking through his hands covering his face.
"I guess, I could clean up if you need it." She lifted her brows. "Are you ready?"
Barry nodded, standing up to place his empty cup and hers in the sink. "Yeah..."
Caitlin watched silently as Barry led the way upstairs to his bedroom as she followed behind. Caitlin briefly spotted Maggie lying on her belly on a bunch of large pillows, her big eyes stuck on the TV screen. Caitlin shook her head and walked the rest of the way to Barry's room in the far corner of the house.
Barry switched on the overhead light before walked inside and turned to Caitlin, "Sorry for the mess, I don't really clean, just saying that right now."
"Good thing I came then. Go ahead, just relax, I can start on this."
Barry felt bad for her in that moment. She was meant to just take care of the main parts of the house, not really his bedroom. But then he remembered that is the job but he really didn't feel comfortable with her picking up after him. His body almost started to help her but then he held himself back. He yawned as he began taking off his shoes. Normally he rested in a minimal amount of clothes but since Caitlin was present and he just didn't feel like changing he opted out of stripping the rest of his clothes.
Caitlin picked up clothes strewn on the ground. Barry pulled open the covers of his already unmade bed and nearly collapsed as he lay back. His head wasn't sure if he hit the pillow but he didn't care. Caitlin made eye contact with Barry as she moved his hamper out of the way. There wasn't a lot to clean, sure there were things to organize but Caitlin only wanted to keep things simple. She didn't want to get personal with anything, just simple picking up.
She looked to the bathroom and it seemed more or less fine. She closed the door to bring the shade in the room so Barry could find it easier to close his eyes.
"Thanks...Caitlin, thank you." Barry whispered.
She nodded slightly coming toward him barely on his mattress. He looked like he was about to fall off. She smiled almost laughing at the sight.
"Are you going to be OK, like that?"
Barry looked down at his state and saw what she was getting at. "Oh yeah, doing great."
Caitlin let out a small laugh. "You don't need any help?"
"It's not like I'm tired or anything, this is just how I sleep." He grinned sheepishly.
"Good to know. Well, if there's nothing else, then enjoy your rest." She said, about to turn away when she heard him make a noise.
"Wait, Caitlin."
She turned around, finding it hard to hold in her laugh. "Yes?"
"Come here."
Her brows creased together, the humor went away for a moment as she heard the serious timber in his tone. She came forward so he could see her face.
"Can you help me out here?"
Caitlin laughed softly, "Sure." She came closer to the bed and knelt down beside his bed.
Barry smiled as Caitlin was extremely close to his face, he knew this was against the rules but he didn't care. Having her this close was making him even more curious than he thought. Caitlin opened the covers up firmly as Barry did the rest of the motions to get inside. She brought the covers to his shoulders; her breathing sped up before she knew it. Barry had cologne that was waving in front of her nose and she was feeling hypnotized by it.
She didn't realize her face was right in front of Barry's, not realizing she was staring directly into his green eyes. She stopped breathing for a second before taking another breath, swallowing roughly.
"Sorry." She apologized.
"It's OK, thank you." Barry spoke as Caitlin watched his mouth.
He felt cold as she began moving away from releasing the hold she had on his hand. He didn't even know they were holding hands on the side. Regret hit him between the eyes as he saw Caitlin looking uncomfortable and awkward.
"Have a good rest." She said in a small voice, walking away from him, forcing herself to put distance between them.
Caitlin closed the door and leaned against it. That was a close one. She blew out a chunk of air she was holding and finally relaxed after coming back to reality. She could have ruined everything if she took it further. But even so, she thought for a moment he saw what she was seeing too. Why did she think that Barry might not have minded? Some small part of her thought he would have allowed the gesture to linger.
Caitlin decided to push it away from her mind and step downstairs to see what Maggie is up to. She watched as the 5-year-old was in the same position she saw her in before.
"Hi Maggie, what are you watching?" Caitlin asked, coming near to knelt down beside her, watching the screen.
"Mickey's Clubhouse." Her large eyes never tearing away from the cartoon.
Caitlin nodded, "Can I watch it with you?"
"OK...where is my daddy?"
"He is asleep for now." She paused to smell the aroma from the kitchen, moving to stand up, "Dinner is almost ready. I can go check on it and come to watch the show with you, is that OK?"
Maggie took her attention away for a second to look at Caitlin, "OK, are you coming back?"
Caitlin smiled as she saw the child's curious eyes stare back at her. "Yes, I'll be back. You can tell me about the show. We could play games, do whatever you want to do."
Maggie gave a toothy grin and Caitlin saw that as a sign to go check on dinner.
She adjusted the stove, made sure to turn off the pasta and strain it then place it back in the pot. She wasn't sure how Barry normally prepared dinner so she left it as inside the pot and placed a tiny bit of butter to loosen the pasta. All those times she watched those cooking segments had paid off only slightly.
As she finished the remainder of the checks she smiled contently. This is what it feels like to be a part of something special. She felt like she was member of their family, almost wanting to cry at the notion that it may be true. She was starting to believe they were accepting her in their world. Maggie is so innocent. She needed someone in her life to nurture her. Barry can't do everything alone. She glanced toward the stairs and nodded calmly, feeling like she belonged somewhere.