"What up, Flash, my manI"
"Huh?" Barry distractedly let out as he turned away from the monitors to the person who had just entered the Cortex. "Oh, hey, Chester."
"Anything I can help with?" he helpfully offered, craning his head around the speedster's frame to see what he was looking at.
He shook his head with a sigh. "Not at the moment," the hero admitted, placing his hands on his hips as he studied the screens once more. "I saw a spike in the city's power grid earlier, but so far nothing nefarious has come from it. So maybe it's nothing."
"Cool, cool, cool," Chester trilled as he awkwardly started swaying back and forth on his heels.
Eventually, Barry noticed the behavior and turned to raise his eyebrow at him. "Is there something you need, Chester?"
"What?! No! I'm good. Super good, even," he insisted, nervously chuckling. "You - you good?"
The speedster continued to eye his teammate oddly. "...Yeah…" he slowly answered.
"Good," the other man let out, nodding to himself. "So, are you, like, doing anything this weekend?"
"Not really..." Barry unsurely answered, still skeptical of his teammate's behavior. "Probably just binge a new show and patrol around the city."
"But you did that last weekend," he pointed out. "And you did that the weekend before that. And the weekend before that. And I'm pretty sure you've done the same thing every weekend for the past year."
Barry let out a huff, crossing his arms. "Do you have a point, Chester?"
Chester shrugged, his lips teetering into a nervous grin. "Live a little?"
"Live a little," the speedster repeated with a breathy laugh, shaking his head. "If you haven't noticed, I'm still living."
"You know what I mean," Chester interjected, waving his hands around. "Ever since you broke up with Iris, you've just been doing the same thing day in and day out. You don't seem happy either."
Barry's face broke out into a sincere grin. "Listen, Chester," he started, laying a hand on the other man's shoulder, his gaze gentle, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine. Things will happen the way they're supposed to in time."
"All you do is come to STAR Labs from work and go home from STAR Labs. That's not a life."
The speedster retracted his hand to rub the back of his neck. "I - I go to Jitters on occasion too," he meekly defended himself.
"How are you supposed to meet someone new living like this though?"
"Someone new?"
"Yeah, because most of the people you meet at crime scenes are dead and the ones at the CCPD are usually criminals..."
Barry shook his head. "Who says I want to meet someone new? I'm fine," he insisted. "I have all of you guys."
"I may be one of the newer members here, Barry, but I know you are not fine." He sighed, those wide eyes of his distraught, his glasses only magnifying them. "You're lonely."
The speedster's shoulders shrunk. Was he that obvious? "Look, Chester, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not exactly in the position to date."
"Because of Iris?"
"No!" Barry immediately rejected the notion. Maybe at first he didn't want to date because he was broken up about his broken marriage, but that wasn't what was holding him back anymore. "I'm The Flash, it's a little hard for me to build a relationship without prematurely telling them my secret identity or I'd risk being seen as flaky."
"Who said you need to build a relationship?" Chester said with a shrug. "I just think you need to...blow off some steam…" he added, albeit awkwardly. "You've...you've been getting a little cranky," he quietly confessed.
Barry coughed as his cheeks heated up with a blush. "Sorry…" he apologized. "I - I just don't know how to go about any of that stuff. I was terrible at it before, but now…"
"Dude!" Chester brightly exclaimed with a clap, "that's why I'm here!"
"No offense, Chester, but I don't see you as the love guru type…"
"That is true," the other man acknowledged, "but I know all about the apps - Tinder, Bumble, Hinge - and I can totally hook you up!"
"I don't know…" Barry let out unsurely. "I'm - I don't know. I don't think I'm fit for the swipe culture."
"Leave it all to me - trust me!" Chester pleaded as he brought his hands together as if praying.
Barry sighed, but reluctantly nodded. "Fine. Set me up for one date and one date only," he bargained. "Then I want to hear nothing more about this."
Chester rapidly nodded. "Yes, boss!" he hollered with a salute before dashing out of the Cortex with a brilliant grin plastered over his face.
.
"Allegra! Allegra! Allegra!" Chester excitedly trilled as he rushed up to her in the lounge. He was shaking like he just had 10 espressos. "Guess what?!"
"You finally learned how to tie your shoes without the bunny ears?"
His smile waned. "Uh...well, no," he answered as he dejectedly looked at his shoes before brightening back up again, "but I did get Barry to agree to me hooking him up on a date!"
"He must be desperate," another voice chimed in. The two turned to see Frost sauntering into the area, expression amused. "No offense," she then added toward Chester as she went over to the bar for a drink.
"Uh, none taken?" he unsurely assured to the back of her form.
"Well that's great," Allegra praised Chester, which caused the latter's face to widen even further. "So what are you planning on doing?"
His grin faltered again ever so slightly. "Uh, well...that's the thing…"
"You have no idea where to start, do you?"
Chester hastily nodded. "Pretty much, no," he admitted. "Like I know the apps to use, but since I have yet to be on a date in a while, I don't think my profile game is on point, if you know what I mean? So, can you help? Please?" he asked, clasping his hands together, pleading.
Allegra tried diverting her gaze from his endearing puppy-dog eyes but ultimately sighed, caving. "Fine. Fine! But only because I'm just as worried about Barry as you are."
From across the room, they heard Frost snort.
"What's so funny?" Allegra asked.
"Oh, nothing...nothing," the white-haired woman amusingly said back, eyes twinkling with mirth as her gaze went from Allegra to Chester and back as she walked over to the couch area, cocktail in hand.
"Isn't it a little too early to be drinking?" Chester innocently asked, eyeing the drink.
"Five O'Clock somewhere, right?" she merely stated, lifting her drink in a silent toast before taking a hefty sip. "Speaking of dating though, if you're going to be playing matchmaker for Barry, could you do Caity next? The woman hasn't been on a date longer than the whole team combined."
"She never showed to be bothered by that though," Allegra said with a shrug, to which Frost rolled her eyes at.
"You guys don't live with her!" Frost insisted. "If she's not watching This is Us, it's the Bachelor or those disgusting Hallmark movies. Trust me, she's been dying for a new boyfriend."
Both Allegra and Chester looked at each, silently conversing before turning to Frost. "I guess we could do that, but Caitlin still has to agree."
"Oh, trust me, she'll agree."
.
"Hey, Caity, we're gonna sign you up for some dating apps!" Frost shouted as a greeting as she entered their shared apartment.
Caitlin, who had been cooking something on the stove for dinner, sharply turned around to face the brass woman. "Huh? Wait, what?! And we?"
Allegra popped out from behind Frost, lips spread wide with guilt. "Sorry," she mouthed.
The doctor turned back to her sister. "Frost, what are you going on about?"
"Either become a nun already or finally start dating again, it's really getting pathetic."
Caitlin's head jolted back, affronted. "Excuse me, I don't need to date. I don't need a man to make me whole."
"She has a point there," Allegra meekly pointed out. Frost sent her a glare.
"You say all of that, but you and I both know that isn't the truth," Frost volleyed back. "I've stood idly by for years not saying anything, but I was literally sharing your brain for most of it. I know what you want."
Caitlin looked as if a blush was rising up her neck. "Well...that's...changed...since we split bodies and all," she lamely said, but no one in the room believed it.
Frost snorted as she crossed her arms. "Yeah, sure. Also, dinner."
"Dinner?" Caitlin confusingly repeated before her eyes widened. She turned around as fast as The Flash himself to the frying pan that was on the stove. "Dammit, Frost," she hollered as she tried to salvage it.
The other woman merely shrugged as she casually leaned against the counter next to the stove. "Maybe if you...had a boyfriend...he could've cooked you something now…"
Caitlin narrowed her eyes. "Or you could just cook too, you know."
"Not really my style," she quipped. "But, come on, I know you miss someone cooking for you. I know you miss going out to somewhere fancy once in a while. I know you miss all the traditional happy-sappy stuff that comes with being in a relationship too."
"Frost, seriously, I'm fine. My needs are being met without being in a relationship."
The colder woman snorted. "Oh really now? Is that why you stole my copy of Uncaged Desire?"
Caitlin flushed and refused to make eye-contact with anyone as she desolately stared at her burnt dinner. When she let herself stop to think about it (which is precisely why she refrained from thinking about it as much as she could), she could admit she was lonely. She did miss going out and being doted on from time to time. And she did miss having someone to hold hands with and say something corny to and - yes - she was also a little touch deprived.
She sighed. "How are you somehow more intrusive now than when you were inside my head?"
"It's a gift," Frost answered with a wicked grin and shrug. "Is that a yes?"
"I swear if I get set up with another psychotic killer, I'm going to kill you!"
"Hell yeah!" Frost celebrated, turning to Allegra with glee. "Told you she would agree."
Allegra absentmindedly nodded, her attention though distracted by the last thing Caitlin said. "Wait, what do you mean by another psychotic killer?"
…
Caitlin walked up to the bar where her date was supposed to be held. Swallowing, she watched patrons flood in and out of the establishment, the music fading in and out as the door opened and closed. Her stomach was in knots and she felt like she had something lodged in her throat. Her feet fidgeted from one side to the next as she tried to convince herself to go inside.
It's true she hadn't been on a date in years, but she never got nervous for dates. She hadn't even been nervous for her first date with Ronnie! The only time she remembered being so anxious was when she went to a bar with Barry years ago and...yeah, she was going to have to make sure to stay far from the liquor this time...
Knowing she couldn't stand her date up, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Inside, it was a bit musky and the music coming from the live band was loud, but at least it sounded good. She scoured the room, trying to find the man that Frost matched her with, but he ended up finding her.
"Caitlin, right?" her date asked, though it was essentially hollered so she could hear him over the music.
She nodded her head. "Todd?" she asked/shouted back.
He smiled, causing the dimples that Frost and Allegra both swooned over to surface. And she had to admit, he was attractive. From the dimples to his general physic and surfer blond hair, he was turning a lot of the women's heads as they walked to an empty table farther away from the band.
"So your bio said you were a doctor?"
"Yes," she answered proudly. "Yes, I am."
"That's cool." He then put his elbows on the table, leaning in close to her. "Do you like to incorporate that into the bedroom?"
Caitlin blinked, her head jerking back. "Excuse me, what?"
He then had the audacity to smirk and wiggle his brows as he repeated what he said, only louder, like the volume was what the issue was with that statement.
She abruptly got up. "Yeah, this...this is not going to work out," she told him before weaving herself through the crowd of people, not even giving a glance back at her date, despite hearing him calling out to her.
Stepping outside, the fresh and slightly chilled air fizzled away some of her frustration. Her stress decreased tenfold, knowing it was over. She knew this date was bound to be a nightmare. She didn't know why she let Frost pick out her date in the first place, knowing their tastes were so vastly different in pretty much everything, especially when it came to romantic partners. But Frost's sincerity made it hard to say no.
With a sigh, she knew she needed some of her favorite comfort drink - hot chocolate. She took one step in the direction to head back home, but hesitated. Despite the date being horrendous and lasting record-breakingly short, she didn't want Frost to know it ended that soon or else she might make her go out on another date, and that's truly the last thing she wanted.
Taking in her surroundings, she realized she wasn't far from Jitters. Might as well, she thought.
.
Barry was sitting at a table not too close to the front, but not too far towards the back. His legs were both shaking and his hands were thumping against the table in his wait. Each time someone walked in, his head would abruptly turn towards the entrance to see if it was his date. He was lucky he hadn't gotten whiplash from the many times he's done it by now.
The seconds turned into minutes. And those minutes turned into even more minutes. Barry took a look at his watch, wondering if his speedster-sense of time was making it seem longer than it was, but no, his date was an hour late...or she wasn't coming…
The ring of the bell on top of the door signaled that someone new had entered again. Desolately, he looked up to see if it was his date once more but was elated for the first time to see that it wasn't. It was Caitlin.
After overcoming the initial shock of seeing her there, he raised his hand, waving it around, to get her attention. Eventually out of her peripherals, she saw the movement and her eyes soon found his, her beautiful smile slowly taking up her face and springing one to his own.
"Hey," she let out as she reached his table, her tone soft and kind as always. "I thought you were supposed to be on a date tonight."
"I could ask you the same thing," he lightly countered with a raised brow.
She scrunched her face, and the speedster couldn't help but find it adorable. "The guy was a total creep. You?"
"She was a no show."
Her face faltered as she reached a hand out to cover his, the coldness of it weirdly comforting. "I'm so sorry, Barry."
He shook his head, already inclined to move past it. "I'm sorry your date didn't pan out well for you either. Does The Flash need to kick his butt?"
Caitlin giggled, and just the sound of it warmed his entire insides. "No, it's fine. Truly. He wasn't really my type anyway."
"Well on behalf of my gender, let me buy you a drink," he said, gesturing to the counter up front.
"Okay," she agreed, following him as he went to get in line, "but only if I get to buy you a muffin or whatever pastry you want, on behalf of my gender."
Barry chuckled, but nodded his acceptance, knowing she wouldn't let him decline even if he wanted to. He'd ask for the last cinnamon bun that was in the display case, the very thing Caitlin was covertly eyeing as they stood in line, since he knew she wouldn't get it for herself despite loving them.
After getting their drinks and the cinnamon bun, they settled back at the table Barry had once been occupying.
"That cinnamon bun looks really good," she commented, eyeing it up further as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"Would you like some?" he offered, brandishing two forks from his coat and offering her one to take.
"You knew I was going to want some, didn't you?"
He shyly shrugged, a grin threatening to crack through his nonchalant facade. "Maybe."
She let out a laugh, shaking her head at him, but took a fork nevertheless and cut herself a piece. "Mmm," she said as it reached her taste buds. "So good."
The speedster grinned, happy to have been able to bring some joy to her day after having such a bad date. Just having her there with him was enough to dramatically change his night for the better.
"So, why was your date creepy?"
A look of displeasure took over her face. "I know that sex is usually on people's minds when they go out on dates - even I think about it -" she confessed, making Barry sputter into his coffee, but luckily not enough for Caitlin to notice, "but it was literally the 3rd thing he brought up. Way too forward!"
Barry cleared his throat, trying not to think too much about Caitlin and sex and the inevitable next thoughts of Caitlin having sex and...yeah... "Offer is still on the table for The Flash to kick his butt."
A grateful smile slowly made its way across her face. "Appreciate the offer, but it's alright. He's not worth anyone's time."
"I guess that's what my date thought too," he joked, though there was an obvious tinge of misery laced in his words.
Her face crumpled with a frown, empathetic towards him. "Maybe she just had an emergency."
"Or she saw me in person and went the other way."
"Well, if that's what happened then it's her loss," she stated matter-of-factly. "You're a catch. Such a sweet, caring guy who is also so smart and so funny. You're easy on the eyes too."
His heart might've skipped a beat there. "Yeah?"
"Of course," she further affirmed. "If I saw you on one of those apps, I wouldn't hesitate to swipe right," she told him, before pausing and backtracking. "That's the correct direction, right?"
A hearty chuckle rolled through him. "Honestly, I have no idea. I think?"
They both dissolved into laughter, before poking fun at themselves for how out-of-date they were with the dating apps. That conversation then morphed into another and then another as they blissfully and slowly drank their drinks and shared their dessert. The night pleasantly flying by with good company.
"Thanks for hanging out with me tonight," Barry told her as they walked down the hallway that led to her apartment, and maybe he was purposefully walking much slower to put off having the night end just yet. He had always liked spending time with Caitlin, yet tonight was something else. It was like his eyes were finally open for the first time, allowing him to realize just how she made him feel.
"You're more than welcome," she said, turning to him with her sweet smile as they inevitably reached her door. "Thank you for walking me home."
He smiled back, nodding. However, as she moved to open her door, he let out a sound of protest. "Cait, wait…"
She turned back to him curiously, amusingly raising an eyebrow at him.
"Um," he started awkwardly, his stomach squelching and his hands sweating as he thought of what he was about to say. "I - I just wanted you to know that, for what it's worth, I'd swipe right for you too."
The most endearing blush blossomed along her cheeks. "Oh?"
"You're everything amazing and a million times more," he added, feeling his own face burning. "Any guy would be the luckiest to be with you."
Her eyes were so starry with gratefulness. "So we both would have swiped right, huh?" she noted with a laugh, before nervously biting down on her lower lip. "...I think that means we would be a match," she joked, but her eyes felt genuine, if not also slightly petrified.
He let out a staggering breath, a tightness in his chest slowly unraveling. "Yeah, I think we are."
…
The next morning, Allegra found herself at STAR Labs trying to finish up an article. She tried writing it at her apartment, but the walls were mighty thin and the couple next door had kids that seemed like they were literally bouncing off the walls. Consequently, it was hard to concentrate. But despite the odd meta attack here or there, STAR Labs proved to be a quiet reprieve. Not to mention there was free coffee and great wifi.
"Morning, Allegra!" she then heard minutes later, the clack of heels hitting the room's tiles. She turned to find a rather chipper Caitlin pouring herself a cup of coffee, her red lips wide with a smile, even as she took a sip of her drink.
For the years she had known Caitlin, she had never appeared this outwardly happy, but then she remembered that both Barry and Caitlin had their Tinder dates the night before. That explains it.
"Looks like you had a good night last night," she lightly teased, moving across the room to sit at the bar closer to Caitlin, hoping for some juicy details.
Allegra was amused to see a faint blush surface on the doctor's cheeks, her demeanor turning a tad timid. "I did," she quietly answered, her smile more reserved but still full of bliss.
"So Mr. Dimples was a good match?"
Caitlin shook her head with a snort. "Oh god, no. He was such a creep. The date didn't last long."
The other woman frowned, confused. "Then why are you acting so...cheery?"
"Am I?" Caitlin asked, voice high and seemingly surprised.
Allegra chuckled. "Uh, yeah. You haven't stopped smiling since you got here."
"Oh…" Her blush deepened as she consciously tried to contain her grin. "I guess I, uh, just got a good night's sleep."
Allegra squinted her eyes, feeling something was off. There was something she wasn't telling her.
"Anyway, I think I'm going to take this to go," she said, making a show of picking up her coffee. "I have a lot of work ahead of me in the Speed Lab, making sure all of the health equipment is calibrated and in working order and what not," she continued as she walked towards the exit. "Good talk, Allegra!" she then said right before exiting the room.
"Yeah...good talk…" Allegra puzzledly mumbled, but pushed it to the side as she went to finish her article.
.
Chester was anxious to see Barry. He had sent him a good luck text the night before, but the speedster never got back to him. He didn't know if it was because he was too busy having a good time on his date or if he had such a bad time that he didn't even want to talk to Chester ever again.
However, the techie's fears of Barry hating him melted away as he saw Barry waltz into the Cortex with a bounce in his step, humming a tune from that old movie Grease as he poked his head into Caitlin's office.
"Good night?" Chester asked, not able to stop himself from prying.
"Hmm?" Barry distractedly sounded as he turned towards him, a wide smile intact. "Oh yes, it was a great night. I really enjoyed it!"
Chester beamed. "So my match-making skills were on point?!"
Barry's smile strained. "Oh, well, no. Actually, the woman you set me up with never showed."
His whole body faltered with dismay. "You got ghosted?!" he disastrously exclaimed. "Oh damn, I'm so sorry, boss!" he apologized, but stopped as he realized something. "But wait, if you didn't end up on the date with the Tinder girl, how did you have a great night?"
Barry's lips twitched back into a smile, his demeanor strangely shy. "Um...Caitlin actually ended up at Jitters and we...hung out…" he paused, the wrinkles by his eyes doubling as his smile widened. "Anyway, it ended up being a really good night. So don't worry about it."
"You sure?" Chester questioned. "I can easily set you up with someone else."
He shook his head. "Nah, it worked out for the best in the end," he assured him. "By the way, has Caitlin come in yet?"
Confused, Chester just nodded his head. "Yeah...I think I saw her going towards the Speed Lab…"
"Great! Thanks, man!" Barry said, slapping him heartedly on the back before speeding into the direction of the Speed Lab, leaving Chester mighty confused.
.
"Uh...Allegra…" Chester uncertainly spoke as he entered the break room.
Allegra looked up from her laptop to see Chester adorably scratching his head and walking towards her as if in a daze. She tilted her head, eyeing him in concern. "What's up, Chuck?"
"So, I just saw Barry..."
"And does he hate you?" she asked, knowing from his frantic texts the night before that he was fearing the worst.
"No."
"Then that's good, right? So his date went well then?"
"Actually, Barry's date never showed up, but he seems oddly fine with that. Like really fine with that."
Allegra furrowed her brows. "Uh, well Barry isn't someone who really holds grudges or would get mad - namely at you - for such a thing."
Chester shook his head. "You don't get it. He was like smiling and humming when he came in and was like totally okay with being ghosted last night. That's weird right?"
"Definitely weird," she confirmed, now thinking back to Caitlin's similar behavior. "Caitlin was acting oddly happy too when I saw her, and she told me she had a horrible time with her date."
Chester was thoughtful. "Barry said Caitlin met up with him at Jitters. Do - do you think they both got whammied by a meta while there?" he fearfully asked.
Frost snorted as she entered the room. "They weren't whammied by a meta. More like whammied by each other."
"Huh?" Allegra confusingly sounded.
"Barry and Caitlin boned," she answered bluntly. "What's there not to get?"
Allegra looked like she was disoriented from the new information. "Like everything," she remarked. "Like how do you know this?"
A huff of laughter fell from her lips. "I saw Barry sneaking out this morning. Evidently they are trying to keep it hush-hush for now," she said, using air quotes around 'hush-hush'. "We'll see how long that lasts with how badly they are at keeping secrets."
"But...why would Barry and Caitlin...you know…?"
"You two are new-ish, so I don't expect you to fully understand, but the feels have been there and they've just been circling around each other for years, being so stupidly oblivious to them," Frost recounted, before gesturing at them. "Kinda like you two."
"Huh?!" - "What?!" both Allegra and Chester said in sync. They caught each other's wide eyes, watching closely for a moment for any truth, before shaking their heads, talking over each other with excuses.
Frost rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Stay in denial, I don't care right now. Anyway, they finally did the deed thanks to my brilliant plan. Thank God!"
"Plan?"
"What plan?" Chester continued, taking the words right of her mouth.
Frost took a seat at the bar, leaning her elbows back, causally smug. "The plan to get them together, of course," she simply replied. "I make the rest of you geniuses look like Beavis and Butthead."
Chester just shook his head. "If you planned this, how did you know Barry's date wouldn't show up? Because I for sure sealed that deal. She was gonna be there!"
Her smirk turned wicked. "That was me."
His eyes bulged. "What?! No! No it wasn't!"
"Oh, but it was," she further insisted. "For a techie, you are quite easy to catfish."
Chester's cheeks puffed out, holding back his irritation.
"What about Caitlin?" Allegra inquired, cutting in. "How did you know she'd leave her date early?"
"Oh that? I made sure to set up Caity with a creep-"
"Wait, you purposely sent your sister out on a date with a creep?" she scandalously asked Frost. "Especially after it has taken her years to go out on a date again!"
"Relax," the white-haired woman said with a wave of her hand. "I knew the guy; he's friends with Mark. He was playing up the creep card so Caity would ditch him quickly."
A bit of relief settled within Allegra at that fact. "Okay, so she leaves the date early, but how did you get her to Jitters?"
"Knowing Caity as well as I do, I knew she wouldn't want to come home right away because of me. And considering the area her date was conveniently near and knowing Caitlin likes to drink hot chocolate when she's stressed, I knew she'd end up at Jitters. Just like I knew Barry would still be there waiting for his date."
"Why didn't you just ask us to help you arrange the date? Why the whole scheme?" Chester asked. "We could've just said we got them matches and put them on a blind date with each other."
Frost groaned. "For one, neither of you can keep a secret. And two, if they had any inkling that we set them up, they wouldn't have gone through with it and they'd still be circling each other like a dog with its tail," she boredly answered. "Barry and Caitlin can be complicated, but they're also very predictable. I knew that just with a little shove and them thinking it was serendipity that they'd finally see what has been right in front of them the whole time, and they did."
"Awww, Frost," Allegra let out, placing a hand to her heart, "who knew you were such a romantic?!"
Frost scrunched her face up before sticking her tongue out in disgust. "Trust me, this is purely so I have to watch less This Is Us and The Bachelor. Caitlin was getting out of hand and something needed to be done."
"Mmhmm," Allegra unconvincingly hummed.
The white-haired woman scoffed. "Whatever, I've done my good deed for the year. I'm heading to the bar. Holler if the world's ending again!"
Allegra snorted as she watched the frosty woman exit, knowing that despite her protests Frost had a big ol' softie heart.
"So I guess my whole plan for Barry to meet someone new was for nothing," Chester dejectedly said as he slumped over the counter.
"Hey now," Allegra let out, patting him gently on the back, "if it wasn't for your initial plan, Barry and Caitlin might've still been miserable. You did good, Chuck."
A small smile overcame his face as he pulled himself up. "Yeah?"
"100 - no, 1000% percent yes," she assured him, causing them both to laugh. "Your only miscalculation was thinking he needed to meet someone new... when really he just needed to see who was right in front of him all along…"
"Yeah…I guess that's the case for some people..." Chester let out, his soulful eyes captivating hers until the attention became too much, forcing her to turn away to hide her blush.
She cleared her throat. "Right, uh, well, I have work things to do," she said, picking up her computer. "So I should get going."
"Right, right, you...you do that...reporter...ing thing," Chester awkwardly added, though she could tell he instantly regretted it as he winced.
"Yeah, well, bye," she said as she hastily made her way to the exit but found herself stopping at the threshold, becoming thoughtful. She liked Chester, despite her best efforts to keep things platonic. He seemed to like her too. So what was really holding them back? She didn't want to wait like Barry and Caitlin, especially if it turned out to be the legit thing. "Hey, Chuck?"
He quickly turned around to face her, almost falling over his own feet in the process. "Uh, y-yeah?"
"You want to play some D&D tonight?"
His face broke out into the cutest grin she had ever witnessed. "Uh, yeah, um, of course, I'd love to!"
She smiled back, saying goodbye for real this time, but now looking forward to their plans later that night. Maybe meeting someone new was overrated, especially if you had someone really special already right in front of you.
A/N: Soooo, I hope you all enjoyed this. This is my first time really writing Chester and Allegra (I think I'm the first to use their ship tag too, which is shocking to me since I think they are so cute) so I hope it sounded like them. I loved writing Frost in this - I love how she has no filter! lol. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! I thrive on feedback lol!
Also, special thanks to Karla for helping me out tremendously for this story! :)