After a successful mission, almost everyone was eager to get home considering it was getting pretty late. Given that he was still wired from the fight with their latest meta, Barry volunteered to stay back to shut everything down for the night. His teammates immediately accepted, all making beelines to the exit.

But as he sped around the facility to make sure everything was locked up and shut down, he noticed a luminous light coming from one of the hallways, specifically the one that led to the staff lounge area. Furrowing his brows, he quietly walked towards the room, wondering why the light remained on still.

Once he turned the corner, however, he recognized a familiar figure with beautiful chestnut waves, his defenses instantly lowering. As he walked further into the room, he could make out that she was nibbling on her lower lip as she stared intently into her cup of brewing tea, her mind obviously elsewhere.

"You're still here?" he said, breaking the silence.

Her body jolted up in surprise, slightly jostling her tea. "Oh...Barry...hey…yeah..."

As he got closer, he studied her face, noticing that she seemed distracted and a little apprehensive. "Everything okay?" he inquired as he took a seat next to her at the counter.

"Yeah, of course," she told him, flashing him a grin, though he could tell it wasn't entirely genuine because something else was plaguing her.

"Come on," he urged, nudging her arm, "I know you're lying. What's wrong? Did you get hurt during the fight?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing like that."

"Did Cisco cancel on our movie night again?"

"No..." she started, trailing off to bite that lower lip of hers as she searched for the right way to tell him whatever was bothering her. "I did something really stupid."

"Caitlin Snow and stupid? I didn't think two things were allowed to be in the same sentence."

A small smile slid across her face at his words as she sent him a grateful glance. "Well, it's true," she told him, shoulders slumping. "You see, my mom invited me to spend Christmas with her this year..."

Barry frowned. "Isn't that a...good thing? I thought you guys were close nowadays."

Caitlin sighed. "We are, but lately every time we talk, she keeps telling me that I need to find someone to settle down with."

"Yeah...I hate that conversation," he said with a wince.

"So...one thing led to another and I may have told her that I had a boyfriend…"

The speedster's eyes widened. "Oh…"

Caitlin immediately buried her face in her hands. "See? It was stupid, but I was just trying to find a way to get her to stop bringing it up, but now she wants me to invite this made-up boyfriend of mine to Christmas too! And if I say no, she'll know I was lying, and I can't have that, but that would mean I would have to find some random guy last minute - who isn't absolutely creepy, mind you - to be my fake boyfriend for a night."

Barry sat there for a moment, processing all the information his personal physician just dropped on him. When he walked in there moments ago, this is definitely not what he thought would be troubling his friend. It was like a plot straight out of the movies.

Taking his silence as admission of her stupidity, Caitlin took out her phone. "It's ridiculous, I know. I'll just message her back to fess up!"

However, with his lightning fast reflexes, Barry covered her hand, stalling her actions. "Wait, no, um...what about me?"

"You?" she let out confusingly. "You what?"

A wave of apprehension washed over him, and he honestly didn't know why he was even thinking this, but nevertheless, his thoughts catapulted out of his mouth without warning. "Why don't I...you know...pretend to be your boyfriend..."

Caitlin thickly swallowed as she studied him momentarily before abruptly shaking her head. "I appreciate the help, but she already knows you, and knows we're just friends."

For whatever reason though, Barry felt persistent. "So? A lot of friendships eventually morph into romantic relationships…"

"Still, I can't ask this of you."

"Then good thing you're not asking."

A small laugh fell from her lips as another smile surfaced across her face, causing him to smile too.

"Come on. We help each other out, right? Why does this have to be different?"

"Because you're going to have to act like you're romantically attracted to me?" she explained, making it sound like the worst thing in the world.

Barry shrugged. He honestly didn't think it would be that hard considering him and Caitlin already had a very touch-based relationship. It would be easy to pass off their hugs and arm caresses as romantic under the right context. Not to mention, he'd have to be blind not to admit that Caitlin was a very, very beautiful woman.

"If you're uncomfortable with the idea, just tell me, Cait," he told her. "But I'm willing to help if you let me."

Caitlin groaned, and he could tell her mind was at war with itself, probably debating the pros and cons and possible consequences and rewards. She scrunched her nose before casting a long glance his way. "Okay…"

A strange warmth filled the pit of his stomach. "Okay?" he confirmed with a growing smile.

"Yeah…" she shyly confirmed. "What could go wrong, right?"

.

Barry was nervous, to say the least. He hadn't sat down since he woke up that morning, instead he was probably wearing down his hardwood floors from the constant walking back and forth he was doing as he tried to prepare himself to see Carla. He had obviously met Caitlin's mother before, but never as her boyfriend, and - fake or not - he wanted to make a good impression and look worthy of her daughter's time. He kept checking himself in the mirror, making sure his hair didn't look too messy and that he hadn't missed a hair while shaving. He must have changed half a dozen times before Caitlin announced she arrived at his apartment complex.

Once he got to the parking lot, he saw Caitlin waiting outside her car, seemingly texting someone on her phone. She was wearing a long, tan winter coat, but it was opened to reveal a beautiful green dress. Her hair was immaculate in soft waves. Her face fresh with a conservative amount of makeup with a natural red blush. She looked utterly breathtaking.

He cleared his throat. "Hey, we're matching," Barry pointed out to announce his arrival.

Caitlin's head snapped up from her phone, her eyes immediately going to the green sweater he was wearing. She closed her eyes for a brief second before plastering on a smile. "Great, we can pretend we planned that," she told him as she ushered him into the car. "Come on, we better get going if we're going to try and beat the worst of the traffic."

.

It had been a reasonable silence for the first 5 minutes of the car ride, one spent with Barry trying to find a decent radio station to listen to and Caitlin making her way onto the highway. But as it prolonged, Barry was determined to fill it.

"So...how are we selling us?"

She frowned as she quickly shot him a confused glance. "Selling?"

"Yeah, you know, like what's our story?"

"Oh," she let out, her expression turning thoughtful. "Ummm, I don't know…what-what do you think?"

Barry blew out a breath, his mind suddenly feeling blank of all words and creativity. "What if...what if I suddenly got jealous over the idea of you on a date? You immediately picked up that something was wrong with me, and after some conjueling, I admitted my feelings? And you felt the same way?"

She snorted.

"What?"

"Nothing," she said with a shake of her head, though it felt...sad... "I can't think of anything better anyway, so we're going to have to stick with that."

"Hopefully she doesn't ask a lot of questions."

"Barry," she started, a huff of a laugh miserably escaping her lips, "my mother is a scientist, and you'd be the first boyfriend I brought home since high school. There are going to be questions."

The speedster threw back his head against the headrest, letting out a groan. He wasn't sure how well this was going to pan out if he had to answer a lot of questions. He wasn't a good liar to begin with. He was surprised his identity wasn't common knowledge to all of Central City by now.

As they rolled up to a red light, Caitlin turned to her friend. "If you want to get out and speed home, you can."

He immediately shook his head. "No, I couldn't do that to you. If you're doing this, you're doing this with me. I offered and I stand by it."

Her lips crumpled, relieved. "Thanks," she said as the stoplight turned green and she proceeded. "I think we should just try to keep things as truthful as possible and embellish as necessary."

Barry nodded. Hopefully that would make things easier.

.

As they drove up to Caitlin's childhood home, Barry's nerves increased tenfold. His insides felt like they were twisted all up in knots. And as Carla stepped out the front door, arms wrapped around her center to fight off the chill, his stomach's knots wrapped themselves in further knots.

He watched as Caitlin thickly swallowed."I guess this is it…" she said as she turned off the car and got out. "Hi, mom!"

He watched as Carla welcomed her daughter with open arms, but he couldn't help but notice her curious glance back towards the vehicle. She was probably wondering who the man in the passenger seat was. With a deep breath, Barry opened up his car door too, stepping outside.

"Barry?!" Carla hollered from her spot, a huge grin overcoming her face.

He sheepishly waved as he slowly made his way over. "Hi, Dr. Tannhauser," he greeted her, making a show of holding Caitlin's hand, trying to make it seem seamless, like this happened all the time, while also trying to stop himself from enjoying the feeling since it would be fleeting.

Barry swore Caitlin's mom had stars in her eyes as she looked back and forth between them. "When Caitlin wouldn't tell me who her new boyfriend was, claiming it was a surprise, I was hoping it would be you."

"Mom..." Caitlin embarrassingly grumbled, her cheeks flushed red. The speedster could feel a blush climbing up his neck himself.

"What?" she let out innocently with a shrug. "But alright, let's get in, I was just about to take the turkey out of the oven!"

.

They had all settled around the dining room table - Carla at the head, while Caitlin and Barry sat across from each other. On the table itself, there was enough food to fill a speedster surrounding them even though it was only going to be the three of them. It was like Carla really was banking on Caitlin's mysterious boyfriend to be Barry, for whatever reason.

As everyone started piling their plates, Barry couldn't help but look at the surrounding rooms, trying to imagine how a younger Caitlin navigated them. He saw a study room to the right with numerous books, and he wondered if that is where she did her homework after school. A beautiful, elegant piano was in the corner; he wondered if Caitlin took any lessons or if either of her parents were musicians.

"You play the piano, Barry?"

"Hmm?" he distractingly let out as he turned to Carla, who was swirling around red wine in her glass, watching him amusingly.

"I saw you looking at our piano," she clarified. "Do you play?"

"Oh, no," he abashedly admitted. "I was just admiring it, but my mother used to play though."

She solemnly nodded, and he half wondered if Caitlin had told her mother about his parents, specifically his mother, since Carla seemed to understand.

"Thomas used to play," she said, eyeing the instrument with a reminiscent glint. "He used to play and sing Christmas carols as I cooked dinner."

"Barry sings," Caitlin chimed in for the first time since they sat down.

"Oh really?" Carla inquired, looking at him appraisingly.

"I guess I'm...alright."

Caitlin scoffed. "He's modest," she assured her mom, turning back to him. "His voice is amazing."

Barry dipped his head from her praise, but the compliment left him feeling fuzzy and he couldn't contain the shy grin from surfacing on his face. He was a bit self-conscious of his singing since he obviously had no professional training, but just hearing her confidence in his abilities made him believe he could star on Broadway that second, and honestly, it was that kind of faith in him as The Flash that pushed him through most of the harder times, so it made sense.

"You're a man of many talents, aren't you, Mr. Allen?" Carla said. "No wonder Caitlin snatched you up once you were single again."

"Mom!"

Dr. Tannhauser grimaced. "Sorry," she quickly extended towards Barry. "I hope that wasn't too rude of me to say."

Barry cleared his throat. "It's - It's fine," he assured her, laughing both out of politeness and because Caitlin's ever-growing blush was amusing. And adorable.

"How long have you two been together now?"

Caitlin's eyes immediately found Barry's before she answered her mother. "Officially a week," she answered.

"Oh goodness," Carla said, pressing a hand to her heart. "I didn't know it was still so early. I wouldn't have been so insistent to have you join us."

Barry waved it off. "Dr. Tannhauser, it's really-"

"Please call me Carla, dear."

"Carla," he stressed, smiling at her. "It's fine, honestly. I already know you and have known Caitlin, so it didn't feel too weird to show up here."

A strange emotion flickered across the older woman's face. "That's right, you've been friends for years...what happened to change that?"

"Uh, well, I had a date," Caitlin fumbling started. "And - and Barry was acting very weird."

"I was jealous," Barry supplied, internally cringing because how he said it felt so scripted. Carla cast him an amusing glance, before settling back on her daughter who was continuing their tale.

"I obviously noticed he was acting weird, went to confront him about it, and he eventually told me that he had…" - she trailed off momentarily to look at him, and a sizzle of something filled the air between them before she quickly diverted her eyes - "...that he had feelings for me," she finished.

"And you always had feelings for him, so you told him you felt the same?"

All the blood that had been rushing to Caitlin's face prior seemed to drain in an instant. "Mom," she muttered, eyes bulging ever so slightly.

Barry frowned, trying to gauge what was wrong, but Carla was already tapping at his arm for his attention. "When Caitlin and I first started talking again, she used to be 'Barry this' and ' Barry that'."

"Mom!" Caitlin hollered again, pointedly not looking at Barry, which confused him further.

Carla merely chuckled. "I get how you guys initially got together, but what I was asking Barry was what changed for him?"

Barry gulped, suddenly on the spot. They hadn't rehearsed this in the car. He desperately glanced over at Caitlin, but she looked just as lost. Stick as close to the truth.

Taking a breath, the speedster looked at Carla. "Um...I actually haven't even gotten around to tell Caitlin this," he started, and that seemed to pique Carla's interest if the raised brow was any indication. "Cisco, our friend - all three of us usually have a movie night the first weekend of every month. But this month, he had to cancel, because his girlfriend had gotten invited to some Christmas party and he had to be her plus one.

"Well...Caitlin and I decided to still have the movie night, but with just us, and we decided we'd watch Grease," Barry said, a smile surfacing at the memory. "See, we have an inside joke of sorts involving Grease, so I had looked over at her to gauge her reaction when one of the songs came on...and...and I just found myself finding it hard to look away…" he confessed, cracking a shy grin at Carla, his smile turning softer as he looked over to Caitlin to find her features just as soft, and even enraptured by his tale.

"It was then that I finally allowed myself to see Caitlin as Caitlin and not just another best friend or my attending physician, and truly let myself feel, and I felt something so much more than friendship…"

"And I guess her going out with some other guy not long after that felt like a punch to the gut?"

"Huh?" Barry let out, before recognizing their made up get-together story. "Oh, yeah, yeah, completely."

Carla's smile morphed more into a smirk. "So Barry…"

"Uh huh…" he hesitantly answered, fearful that maybe she saw right through their whole facade.

"Do you cook too?"

The tension nearly dissipated in a second as he laughed. "Um, a little. I've been trying to get into baking too."

"He's still working on pie lattice though," Caitlin interjected with her own giggle, causing everyone else to laugh too.

.

"Oh, I had such a wonderful time with you two tonight," Carla said as she walked them to the door. "Are you sure you can make the trip? I'll be awfully late once you get back to Central City."

Caitlin merely shook her head. "If I get too tired, Barry can drive. We'll be alright," she assured her mom.

"You positive?" the older woman insisted. "I even made up the guest room just in case for you two."

Both of the heroes blushed, avoiding the other's eyes, until Caitlin eventually spoke. "Sorry, mom, but the villains might have taken off for Christmas, but we can't promise tomorrow. So we should really be getting back."

Carla sadly nodded. "I understand…"

"I'm going to start the car," Caitlin told them before scurrying over to her vehicle to do just that, leaving Barry alone with her mother for the first time that night.

Rocking on the back of his heels, he turned to Carla. "Everything was delicious."

Her eyes crinkled. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also, I'm really glad you came here with my daughter."

"Heh," Barry let out, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...she's quite remarkable, and I'd do anything for her."

"Which is why you pretended to be her boyfriend this evening, isn't it?"

Barry let out a strangled noise, as if he somehow forgot how to breathe. "Wha - no! I mean, we're - we're really together!"

Carla crossed her arms and stared him down in the no-bullshit way her daughter often did. "You could be if you just told her."

His heart felt like it was ready to beat right out of his chest. "Huh? Told her what?"

"I can detect a lie very easily, Mr. Allen, but the way you talked about my daughter was not. You care about her, and I've sensed that since the first time I met you."

The speedster's mouth was slightly agap with shock, but he stayed silent, unsure if it was a good idea to confirm any of her claims or not.

"Car's ready and warm," Caitlin said as she came back up to his side, her arm hooking with his. "Thanks again for having us, mom."

Carla plastered on a smile. "Of course, and you're both welcomed back any time," she told them, though her gaze lingered on Barry. He gulped.

"Bye!" Caitlin said with a wave as she pulled the speedster to the car with her.

.

After getting through the backroads and onto the main road, Caitlin turned to the speedster.

"Are you okay?" she questioned, probably noticing how quiet he had been since they got in the car and his rigor demeanor.

"Y-yeah…" he let out, trying to loosen up and breathe.

Caitlin snorted. "Really convincing, Barry."

He sighed. He may have kept quiet with Carla, but there was just something about Caitlin that made him want to tell her things. And with the way the moon and the dashboard lights were illuminating her face, it took him back to that night watching Grease in the darkness of her apartment and he could only feel himself falling even harder.

"You know how I talked about our movie night?"

"It sounded legitimate, if that's what you're worried about," she told him with an approving nod. "You did a good job with coming up with that on the spot."

"I didn't make it up though…"

"Oh, I know," she told him. "I mean, we obviously did watch Grease a couple weeks ago, but the thing about seeing me for me and all that was obviously a lie..." she said with a laugh, trailing off to look at Barry when he didn't join in, only to see him hesitantly shake his head.

Her brows furrowed as she turned back to the road, hands a little tighter on the steering wheel. "Did my mother put you up to this?" she questioned with a tinge of annoyance. "I knew I shouldn't have left you two alone."

"What?" Barry let out surprisingly. "Cait, no," he said, stopping only to take one of her hands off the steering wheel to hold. "Cait?"

She swallowed before turning off the nearest exit, quickly putting the car in park once she found a place to pull over. She took a moment to compose herself, before turning to Barry and then to their conjoined hands. Caitlin bit down on her lip, her doe eyes so confused and lost but, dare he wish, hopeful as she looked back up at him.

"What are you trying to say, Barry?"

"That when I volunteered to be your boyfriend for tonight, that I was doing so selfishly, because...because that's what I want, Cait," he confessed. "I want you."

Her breath hitched, but the hand that was in his moved to interlock their fingers. "I - I was being selfish when I accepted your offer, because it's what I've wanted too…"

A huge smile easily sprung to his face, inciting an identical one to appear on hers. He reached over the center of the car, hand going through her luscious brown locks as he gently pulled her into a head dizzy kiss. As they pulled apart, foreheads leaned against each other's fondly, immense happiness and joy erupted from their souls in the form of laughter before they kissed again, and maybe a little more.

"We should probably get back home," Caitlin said eventually, eyeing the clock on the dashboard and noticing the late hour.

Barry playfully whined. "I guess you're right…" he said as he sat back into his seat, knowing if he stayed too close to her that they'd be going nowhere any time soon. "At least now we can tell your mom our relationship is real."

Caitlin, who had started driving again, jerked the wheel at Barry's comment. "Wait...she knew it was fake?!"

Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeahhhh, she might have mentioned that when you went to start the car…"

"She always knew when I was lying, ever since I was a kid," Caitlin grumbled, shaking her head. "I don't know why I even thought I'd try…"

"Hey," the speedster said, reaching out to caress her arm, "at least something good came out of it, right? Who knows how long we could've been circling around each other if your mom didn't make us face our truths."

A smile replaced the frown she had been wearing. "Yeah…" she admitted, chancing a quick glance at him as she drove. "But now my mother's never going to let me live it down either," she said with a groan, and Barry could only laugh.