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Great Possibilities
Caitlin was not the nervous type. In fact her motto to any embarrassing moment in life was: in the grand scheme of things this won't matter, let's skip the awkwardness and move on. But today she was finding it really hard to do that. She'd never met Barry's family before and she wasn't sure if she should or could act any different for this façade. She'd told Barry that it would be very hard for her to be different than her normal and he simply told her not to worry about that, to just be herself. Thankfully, Barry had trained her on everything she needed to know about his family, the Wests, and what he knew of Iris and Eddie. She still thought this was one of the dumbest things he's ever done (and her for that matter) but her loyalty as a friend had always been strong to a fault and she would support him in this crazy adventure if that made him happy.
"Cait, we're here," Barry whispered in her ear and they began their walk to his home. Once they were in front of the door he knocked and within two minutes a beautiful woman came to receive her guests.
"My baby!" exclaimed a beautiful Nora Allen who pulled Barry in a hug but quickly dismissed him to the side and turned to the woman she had been dying to meet for a long time now, "And you must be Caitlin Snow,"
"Yes," Caitlin said eyeing Barry briefly and extending her hand to the woman, this shouldn't be too hard "pleasure to meet you Mrs. Allen,"
Nora pushed Caitlin's hand away and pulled her into a tight hug, "Nonsense, we're practically family Caitlin, call me Nora" she said ecstatic, "I'm still mad at Bar for being so secretive and just now letting me know you were officially engaged," she gave a reproachful look to her son, "but I'm glad to finally meet you. Bar has told me all about you darling,"
Caitlin turned to Barry not sure what to do as she was being pulled inside the house by the beautiful redhead.
Barry saw the exchange and shook his head, oh his mother never changed.
"I hope he's told you good things," the doctor took a seat in the living room.
"Only the best. He gushes about you all the time," she beamed at the couple in front of her, they complemented each other so well. "He's always talking about Caitlin this and Caitlin that, he's so proud of you, like you couldn't believe,"
"Mom!" She was embarrassing him!
She turned to him faking surprise, "What? It's true, isn't it?"
Barry turned to Caitlin and quickly amended, "She's blowing it out of proportion," somehow it made him flustered that Caitlin heard this. It's not like he talked about her all the time like his mom said.
Caitlin nodded, "I see," her face seemed stoic to an outsider, but Barry could tell that she was happy to hear those things. He was good at reading her micro expressions, and that made him calm himself a little. She took a sip of her water and then turned to Mrs. Allen, or rather Nora as she preferred to be called, "I've heard a lot about you too. Barry has told me that you and Dr. Allen, share a very heartwarming love story,"
Nora brought a hand to her cheek reminiscing on those beautiful memories, "It was fate I think, I was very lucky to be with my Henry,"
As much as Caitlin complained about romantic movies or books, Barry knew she was a romantic at heart. He couldn't help but smile at how enthralled the young woman looked at his mom while she told her the story. He had been very lucky to find her, or rather she found him, the point was that he would forever be grateful for her friendship. He loved many things about the young doctor: her infallible loyalty, her willingness and ability to help those around her, how she always gave of herself to others (sometimes too much), and those rare moments where she would smile at him with that special twinkle in her eyes and look at him as if he were a hero, her hero.
"Barry dear, could you go help your dad, I think he just came back from his fishing trip with Joe,"
He need not be told twice and headed to help the men.
Nora waited until Barry disappeared out of sight, "So,"
Caitlin turned to Nora, "Yes?"
"How did you two meet?" It was Nora's turned to hear their story.
"Oh," Caitlin took her a long sip of her water, buying herself some time. Would it embarrass Barry if she told his mom how they had met? They hadn't really rehearsed this part. "Well…" Maybe she could avoid a few details for his sake.
"Hey Nora!" Came a feminine voice from the entrance.
Both Nora and Caitlin turned to the source of the voice and Caitlin saw in the flesh the woman that held Barry's affections. A woman in her late twenties with perfect ebony skin, expressive brown eyes, and a confident wide grin stepped in holding a bouquet in her hands. Now she understood why Barry was so head over heels for her, the girl was perfection in a human being.
"Iris! Please come take a seat, I want you to meet someone,"
Iris stepped in putting away a big bouquet of flowers for her wedding. She sat next to Mrs. Allen and looked at the new person in front of her with curious eyes. She couldn't deny that there was a certain charm behind those hazel eyes. While the woman didn't look too expressive, Iris would be a fool not to notice her beauty. "Hi I'm Iris,"
Caitlin stood up and extended her hand, "I'm Caitlin,"
Iris turned to Nora with a questioning look and Nora nodded, then she turned back to the auburn haired woman in front of her, "You're Caitlin Snow? As in Dr. Snow?" Oh boy, she was the girl Barry would always talk about.
"Just Caitlin is fine,"
Iris squealed and got up to hug the woman, "I finally get to meet you! Barry has told me so much about you!" she would tease him to no end once she saw him. She had heard so much of the doctor from Barry, sometimes too much, but it was great to finally meet her in person. Admittedly, there were times where Iris would get this tiny-itty-bitty jealous of hearing so much of the accomplished doctor and how big of an influence she was in Barry's life. While she was the one that broke things off with the CSI, it didn't mean that their history together and the feelings Iris had for him weren't there anymore. She will forever have a place for Barry Allen in her life.
Caitlin hugged her back, with less intensity. She wondered why everyone would say that Barry talked about her a lot. Perhaps he talked a lot about his friends in general. However, hearing others say that he talked about her made this unknown warmth spread through her body. It was a little strange, but not unwelcomed.
"Where is he?" Iris released Caitlin and started to look for her friend.
Caitlin pointed to the door, right as Henry, Barry, and Joe made their entrance.
"Barry!" The ebony beauty was ecstatic to see her friend, they hadn't seen each other in months. She ran to him and hugged him for dear life. She couldn't contain her happiness at seeing her best friend once again, Barry would always hold a special place in her heart.
Neither Henry nor Joe were surprised by Iris' display of affection, what did surprise them were the hazel eyes in the room. That woman was new.
"Hi, I'm Henry Allen," the older man said politely. Both Caitlin and Nora walked to the group and Caitlin shook Henry's hand.
"Hello Dr. Allen, I'm Caitlin Snow," she answered just as politely.
Henry looked at Nora, then at Joe, then back at Caitlin, "Caitlin Snow, as in Dr. Snow?"
The woman nodded.
The elder Allen gave his son a mischievous grin, "I've heard so much about you! It's great to finally see you in the flesh Dr. Snow,"
"Likewise, Dr. Allen,"
"I'm Joe West," the cop introduced himself as well, boy would they tease the younger Allen. "Great to finally meet you doctor,"
"Just Caitlin, please," she urged them.
Meanwhile, Iris still held a possessive arm around Barry's waist, this was their normal. Barry could have many other friends, but Iris was used to being his number one, that's how it had always been and she wouldn't have it any other way.
Nora noticed Iris' arm and for the first time didn't feel comfortable, she coughed to clear her throat and make an unexpected announcement.
"Caitlin is Barry's fiancé," she said with an ear splitting smile.
She was the only one that Barry had told and now was the perfect time to break the news.
Iris, Joe, and Henry turned to look at Barry with shock and gasped. Since when was he engaged?
"Son, did you forget to tell me you were engaged last time you called?"
Barry slowly extricated himself from Iris' grasp and she frowned. He took his rightful place next to the doctor, "It was sudden, but we are madly in love," he turned to look at Caitlin with the most heartwarming smile and loving gaze, which stunned her momentarily. She'd never seen this look on him, not even when he talked about his dream girl that was just a few feet away. "Isn't that right, Dr. Snow?"
For a moment she forgot the crowd around her and returned his smile with one of her own, those very special ones that Barry loved, "Yes Mr. Allen,"
Nory approved.
Henry chuckled.
Joe was dumbfounded.
Iris didn't know what she was feeling.
{-}
"Mission accomplished," Barry said happily as he dug for his pajamas. This had been a great day. He thought his family would take some time to get adjusted to the idea of his engagement, but his parents were very accepting and welcomed Caitlin with open arms. Speaking of the doctor…Caitlin never ceased to amaze him. For all her worries about how to act with his family, just by being herself she had one them over -just as he had predicted. After everyone's initial shock, his dad had engaged in friendly conversation with the doctor, where they shared their stories in the ER and complained together about medical politics. It didn't take long for the older Allen to be smitten with the girl. His mom liked her just as much if not more, they talked about literature, science, and food, a love that both of them shared. To Nora, Caitlin became another daughter in just one day. This was even better than he expected.
Just then Caitlin stepped into the room with her suitcase in tow, "Your mom sent me here, despite my insistence to stay in another room. Parents are much liberal nowadays," she set her suitcase on the side and started to look for a change of clothes.
He knew his mom wouldn't budge, "Told you," he went inside the bathroom to get changed and came back to find Caitlin pulling her shirt over her head revealing a lot more than he was used to, "Ca-Caitlin," he stammered as he turned the opposite way out of respect for the girl.
"Yes?" She pulled her shirt off and turned to the CSI noticing how his eyes were avoiding her. She looked down and saw her pajama bottoms and her shirtless state, "Oh, sorry, didn't think it would bother you,"
"It doesn't! I mean, uhm, well…" It wasn't that it bothered him, he was a guy after all and she was pretty...very pretty –but still.
"You can look now," she was now brushing her hair and fully covered.
He released a breath of relief, he knew her for eight years and she's always been this way, nonchalant about things that would embarrass the average person. Then again the girl was far from average.
"I'm surprised,"
"Why?" He opened a water bottle and started gulping it down.
She tilted her head to the side, "You've seen me with less clothing before,"
He started choking on his drink, trust Caitlin to be that forward.
She rushed to his side and started patting his back letting her doctor instincts take over, "Slow and steady Barry,"
After a couple of more coughs he started to regain his composure, "Thanks," after a beat he added, "You caught me off guard back there,"
Caitlin nodded, "I see," she didn't think she had said anything out of place though.
"The circumstances were different before though,"
And just before any of them could elaborate on said circumstances, a certain scratch on the door interrupted their conversation. Both of them turned to the source and Barry got up to open it letting a furry intruder in.
"Krypto!" Barry exclaimed happily he forgot all about his hairy friend this evening, "where were you buddy?" he knelt and started ruffling the dog's fur, to which the Labrador responded by wagging his tail crazily at his master. Krypto sniffed the air and suddenly stopped. There was a new scent. Who was this stranger with his master?
Caitlin looked at the dog intently, she's never had dogs before but she liked them –a lot.
Krypto took careful steps towards the woman and only stared at her with big eyes waiting for her next move.
Barry looked at the exchange wondering what would each do.
"Sit," Caitlin said.
Krypto barked twice but complied happily. The doctor's eyed shined with adoration towards to golden Labrador and she knelt to hug him, "Oh, you're so smart, yes you are," the dog barked even more and wagged his tail just as wildly as before. He liked this girl.
Barry smiled, Krypto was a great judge of character, and he couldn't agree more with his assessment.
"Can he stay?" Caitlin asked with her big doe eyes. She didn't know this but that was one of his greatest weaknesses. Or maybe she did and that was why she was using her lethal weapon?
Krypto gave him those same puppy dog eyes too.
"Of course,"
{-}
"Those were some big news today," Henry told his wife as he settled on his side of the bed.
"Absolutely," Nora said not taking her eyes away from her book. Despite her easy going appearance she was wise beyond her years and knew that the news her son shared today were not only big but certainly unusual. This wasn't Barry's usual MO. She didn't say anything before but she suspected there was more than what met the eye between those two.
"Though to be honest, I love the girl, she is…" he struggled to find the right word her.
"Adorable? Cute? Kind?"
Henry chuckled, "I was going to say smart, but that works too," he let out a satisfied sigh. Things were looking much brighter for his son and he couldn't be happier.
While her husband was surrendering to sleep Nora thought back on the events of today. Clearly Dr. Snow and her Barry were awfully close, but were they close enough to be engaged? Her son had been madly in love with Iris since he was 14 years old and it seemed that Iris hadn't forgotten about that either, if her possessive display and big frown towards Barry's engagement earlier today were anything to go by.
There was a long week ahead of them and all that Nora hoped for was for no one to get hurt.
{-}
Iris was having an out of body experience. Barry was engaged? The Barry she'd known since forever, the one who gave her her first kiss; who was with her when her mom passed; the one that had a whole future planned out for them, was getting married. She didn't know how to feel. She wanted to feel happy for him, she really did, but somehow there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach that was far from happiness.
"Babe, I'm so happy to see you," Eddie hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek.
"Eddie! I'm glad you're home. How was work?" She was thankful for the distraction
"Same old, you know how it is at the precinct," he took off his coat and was changing into more comfortable clothing, "sorry that I couldn't take time off to help you with the wedding, I'm trying to save as much vacation time as possible for the honeymoon," he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and his future bride to be rolled her eyes while lacing her hands behind his neck.
"What am I going to do with you…" she wondered while kissing her fiancé senseless.
This is how things should be. She made her choices and Eddie was the man for her.
She only wished her heart didn't waiver in the next few days.
{-}
The Night of the Evil Dress
Barry and Caitlin had been friends for 8 months now and decided to celebrate that they were done with finals. Caitlin was hesitant of going out at first but after much prodding from Barry and Cisco -a mutual friend of theirs- she said why not?
They decided to try out a new karaoke bar not far away from campus and were set to meet at 8:30. Barry and Cisco were already there catching up on the latest Marvel movies and discussing ideas of how the next hero would be introduced.
"Whoa!" Cisco exclaimed as he noticed a girl with auburn hair, a black dress, and matching black heels enter the room, "Look at that,"
Barry turned to look and almost choked on his drink. Entering the room was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen before. Her long slender legs, that air of confidence and warmth around her, her long curly auburn hair, and those intelligent hazel eyes. Wait a minute... she actually looked familiar. And then the two young men noticed that she was making her way towards them.
"Pinch me, I think she's coming here," Cisco said.
Barry did as he was told without taking his eyes from the girl.
"Ow!"
The femme fatale stopped in front of them, "I hope you're not having too much fun without me,"
Just then Barry and Cisco gaped at her incredulously, "Ca-Caitlin!" Cisco practically shouted and everyone turned to the trio.
Caitlin placed a lock of her behind her ear, "Yeah,"
Both Barry and Cisco eyed her from head to toe. Where was the girl with sweatpants and oversized hoodies? This certainly wasn't the same Caitlin they knew that wore oversized clothing preferring comfort over anything else.
"Did I over do it?" She asked while looking at herself as well. She was never good at these social outings, she should've known better than to listen to her roommate.
"No, of course not," Cisco said after a few seconds of shock. Who knew that his friend was that pretty? "I'll go get us some drinks," Yeah, he needed to shake this off.
Barry was still trying to find his voice. This was the same Caitlin he thought was a guy when they met?
"Should I go change?" She didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable.
Barry shook his head, "No, not at all. You look different, is all,"
"Oh," She was still hesitating on this being a good idea, she looked down.
"You look nice...really nice,"
To that she slowly raised her head and gave him a dazzling smile, one he had never seen on her before, "Thank you Barry,"
And at that moment Barry's heart skipped a beat. This was probably the first time he saw Caitlin as a girl. She was usually one of the guys, who didn't care about girly stuff and went with them to action movies, arcades, and robotics competitions. Where did that Caitlin go?
The night went on uneventful, save for some bad karaoke being sang by the people at the bar, and one little hiccup that evening. Cisco had boasted on his most recent development, a drink that tasted like alcohol but shouldn't have its after effects. Key word shouldn't. Boy was he wrong.
Caitlin was the first and only to try it, the drink had the complete opposite effect. She only took a small sip out of camaraderie and immediately felt its effects. She was drunk.
"Uh oh, I think I'm going to have to re-think the formula," he said as he saw a drunk Caitlin talking to a coat hanger.
"Ya think!?" Barry exclaimed.
"Next time I'll try it myself first," he paid for the bill, "want me to help you take her back?"
"No, our dorms are close to each other, I can take her,"
Cisco nodded gratefully, he actually commuted a good 30 minutes every day to campus. "Okay, I'll see you both Monday, but keep me posted,"
Barry nodded and went to help Caitlin walk steady, or at least tried to.
"Oh look Barry a puppy!" she said happily pointing at a rock, "But why isn't it moving," she hiccupped.
"It's a rock Caitlin," he was fighting the urge of recording her and using this as blackmail later.
"Is that my house?" she said pointing at a big oak tree in the middle of CCU's plaza.
"No, but we're close to the dorms,"
"I want a piggyback ride!" She almost choked the poor guy.
"Ok-ay," he said as he got in position and carried her on his back.
"Woohoo! Horsie!" For a whole ten seconds she had the energy of a five year old and then her body slowly started to go limp.
"Caitlin," Barry called after her, but in response he only felt her head rest on his shoulder, "are you sleep?"
"Mhm," she hummed softly.
He smiled to himself, maybe the effects were wearing off. The rest of the trip to her dorm was silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable. He heard her relaxed breathing close to him and he somehow felt content just being close to her. The night started off with shock, but this was the same Caitlin that saw him cry over Iris less than a year ago and was there to listen to him when he felt he had no one else.
They got to her dorm and Barry used fished for her key to get inside. He was lucky her roommate wasn't there.
"We're here," he said softly, as he knelt so she could get off of him.
The girl slowly woke up and stepped away from him wobbly. It was strange, but for some reason he missed her warmth.
"Thanks," she said with her eyes barely open.
"Any time," he said with a smile.
Caitlin turned around and started fiddling with her dress only pulling down slightly, revealing her torso and part of her dark lingerie. Barry blushed furiously and turned the opposite way.
After more fiddling Caitlin got frustrated and called after her friend, "Barry...a little help please?" she said with her eyes closed and still a little tipsy.
"Uh, uhm," Caitlin was his friend, he was only helping a friend. He slowly turned to her and saw her with her eyes closed just waiting for him to help her from her evil dress. He took a deep breath, he could do this. He placed an arm on her naked shoulder and started to lower her dress ever so slowly, admiring the small of her back. He slowly pulled her long sleeves and purposefully avoiding looking at the rest of her body, he was a gentleman. Meanwhile, Caitlin used his shoulders as support and stepped out of that dress. She would have to avoid evil dresses from now on.
"Thank you," she said through half lidded eyes, and Barry only nodded but allowed his eyes to linger just a few seconds before quickly turning around. He hadn't even seen this much of Iris before. He heard her pulling something out of her drawer, and by the time he turned back around she was wearing an oversized hoodie that rested just above her knees. "Remind me to never trust Cisco again," she said grumpily as she walked over to her bed with Barry assisting her every step.
"You and me both," he said with a small chuckle.
As she settled into her bed Barry started to make his way to the door. When he was reaching for the door knob…
"Could you stay with me until I fall asleep?" she said softly.
Had it been anyone else Barry probably wouldn't, but this wasn't just anyone. This was Caitlin.
"Sure," he turned around and sat on her bed gently patting her until she fell asleep.
{x}
The plan was to update this story this Wednesday, but the impossible happened and here we are today. Please note that the last snippet is actually a flashback.
Even though the premise is not new, I hope the approach is. 3
Many thanks to those of you that have favorited/followed the story and an even bigger and special thanks to those that have taken the time to review: Shyesplease, Guest 1, Guest 2, Maya, ShanouNash, Nienke Whovian, and TieDyeJackson.
TieDye Jackson: Nice to see you here! Stay tuned and enjoy the ride my friend.
Nienke Whovian: Well let me know what you think of this chapter. Any theories you may have?
ShanouNash: Hope you've liked the story so far. This story was published in great part because of your support, please enjoy it. You're right, the plot really isn't that original, but I think that the development of the story will not be too predictable. Or maybe it will, who knows.
I think you meant that Barry seems convinced he's still in love with Iris, right? Yeah, that's Barry for you. Eek! I don't want to spoil too much, but I think that the flashbacks will be key in understanding more about our protagonists.
Maya: Loved the excitement! Thank you for your review!
Guest (2): I wish I could personalize the response more, just in case you want to throw a nickname out there lol. You're so kind, I hope you've liked the story thus far. Ugh, university is both great and awful at times, you just hang in there it will be worth it and over before you know it.
Guest (1): Let me know what you think for Chapter 2.
Shyesplease: I completely agree with you Barry needs to open his eyes and see what's right in front of her. Let me know what you thought of this chapter :)