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Great Possibilities
D-3
Barry woke up later than usual. His alarm didn't go off and Caitlin wasn't next to him anymore. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed by her absence. He stayed in bed and stared at the ceiling wondering what the heck was going on between them. He didn't regret kissing her, why would he? But at the same time he felt he was being unfair to Caitlin. She deserved much better than a guy who was pinning after his first girlfriend (and had been doing so for a long, long, long time). He wondered if their, erm, kiss, would somehow put tension on their friendship. He wasn't sure how he should act next to her. Was it better to just forget about it? Should he say something? Would she say something?
Last time they had kissed she just moved on and he followed her lead. Would they just pretend it never happened again?
"Earth to Barry," his dad called from the door, "I've been calling you for the last ten minutes, everything okay son?" His dad said with a teasing grin.
Barry jumped out of bed, "Yeah, yeah, everything is fine. I was just…" what was a convincing excuse?
"It's fine. Come on, let's get some breakfast and catch up. We will meet the girls later and pick up our tuxes,"
Oh yeah, he had to get his tux too, as the man of honor, "Sure, let me just get changed."
Henry took his son to Big Belly Burger, they were guys so no need to be fancy, and they both loved the place.
"Mom wouldn't approve," Barry said mischievously.
"She doesn't have to know," and they both shared a laugh.
After placing their orders, they sat at a nearby booth and Henry couldn't help but say, "So,"
"So?"
"Your mom sent me a pretty interesting picture yesterday," Henry pulled his cellphone and was looking for the picture.
Barry just shook his head imagining what crazy antics his parents had this time for him today. In the meantime, he enjoyed his strawberry milkshake, Big Belly Burger made the best shakes hands down.
Before handing Barry his phone, Henry had the biggest Cheshire cat smile.
Barry took the phone ready to laugh but what he saw on the screen was far from funny, he ended up spewing his milkshake on his dad's phone.
In response his dad let out a hearty laugh, same old Barry, "I guess you were both too busy to pay attention to us,"
"How did she…?"
"You know your mother, she has her ways,"
Covered in strawberry milkshake was a picture of one Barry Allen and one Caitlin Snow kissing. His mom must've been a talented photographer in another life because that picture was the definition of a Kodak-moment.
While Barry was attempting to clean his dad's phone, after his little attack, he heard his dad tell him, "I was worried that you wouldn't take Iris' wedding well,"
Barry scoffed, "Why wouldn't I? We're friends," he finished cleaning the phone screen, finally.
"Precisely," his father nodded.
The CSI looked at his father expectantly.
"You're friends Barry, I know you shared a history together, but it wasn't meant to be and to be frank, you both look much happier now." There, he had said it.
Barry didn't say anything and just chewed on his burger. He didn't know how to respond to his dad's statement. There was some awkward silence, but his dad continued.
"Son, I've noticed that there's something odd about you and Caitlin," Henry said as he chewed on a fry.
Oh no, was his dad onto him too? "Odd?" the early awkwardness was replaced by mild anxiousness.
"Yes, it's like…" he struggled to find the right words, "let me try to explain myself," he took a moment and then pressed on, "when I see you and Caitlin it reminds me of your mother and I,"
"It does?" Barry asked surprised, because in his eyes his parents were the two people on this earth that were the most openly in love with one another.
"Of course," his father said with a knowing smile, "but, there's something else,"
"What is it?" Barry said at the edge of his seat leaning forward in keen interest.
"It's like you both don't know it,"
"Know what?" Barry asked not quite understanding.
"That you're in love,"
He was glad he wasn't drinking anything right now, or else he would have another spewing or choking moment, just about now.
"Of course we know we're in love!" He said with a nervous laugh. While in reality his mind was going in all different directions. They were acting as a fake couple so maybe they were such great actors that their chemistry was palpable. No, that didn't sound right. Since the moment he came up with this grandiose idea to break up Iris' wedding and pose as a fake couple he hasn't acted any different towards Caitlin than he would otherwise (save for that kiss, that was out of their normal). Caitlin was also being herself, she told him from the get go that it would be very hard for her to treat him any different (since she'd never been in a relationship before).
He didn't know how to feel about this. It's not like he could outright correct his dad and say It's not like that! Why was everyone telling him these things? It just confused him more. Yes he liked Caitlin, no scratch that, he loved her. But he loved her as a friend. They were only friends, very close friends who could tell each other anything and everything, so why did everyone keep seeing something that wasn't there? Or was he missing something?
"Right," Henry said somewhat unconvinced, "what does this old geezer like me know anyway?" he said with a self-deprecating smile.
Barry smiled in kind, "Dad, you're not an old geezer,"
"I know, I just like to hear you say it," he said with a wink.
{-}
Caitlin had purposefully avoided waking up Barry, she didn't want him to get flustered so early in the morning. She had an idea of how Barry would react in the aftermath of their kiss, but they both needed time to settle down, think clearly, and come back to the security of their friendship.
"Thank you Caitlin for coming with us," Iris said excitedly. Today she would be finalizing all the small little details on her wedding dress.
"Thank you for having me," she was fortunate Nora included her in this outing, she wasn't sure what she would do if she was left alone with Barry.
"Another set of eyes will do us well," Nora sad while lacing her arm with Caitlin's, "especially the eyes of a detail oriented doctor,"
They entered the dress shop and while Caitlin wasn't the girliest girl out there she was utterly impressed with the wedding dress selection. There were more than she had ever seen in her life.
"You're going to love the dress that I chose," the bride-to-be couldn't help but say.
"Oh it's lovely," Nora agreed.
Iris left to formally try her dress on and come back to receive all the compliments the future bride was due.
"I remember when I was getting married," Nora sighed, "such a wonderful memory,"
"I'd love to hear that story," Caitlin said with a sparkle in her eyes.
"One day, one day, I'll tell you all about it Caitlin. Why don't you tell me a story?" Nora asked innocently.
"I'm not a good storyteller, but I can try,"
Nora smiled deceptively at her, "How did you fall in love with my Barry?" This was a story that Nora needed to hear. Those two should've known better than to try and one over her.
Caitlin looked ahead at the empty spot surrounded by mirrors where Iris would make her appearance any moment. Sadly it wasn't soon enough, "To be honest, I don't know," she wasn't a good liar and figured an ambiguous answer was the best way to go.
"It's hard to pinpoint the exact moment," Nora wouldn't give up easily, she had a plan of her own, "but one day you wake up and realize that things aren't the same as before,"
"Is that a bad thing?" Caitlin asked with hesitation, her friendship with Barry was one of her most treasured things in the world.
Nora shook her head, "It doesn't have to be. Actually, many times it's a wonderful thing,"
"Okay, so what do you think?" Iris said beaming from the platform and twirling her beautiful fitted bridal dress around.
"Oh wow, you look so beautiful Iris," Caitlin said with admiration.
Iris grinned, "Thanks, I had to diet and workout like you wouldn't believe, but it was well worth it,"
"Why would you? You look amazing," Caitlin said sincerely.
Iris swelled at the compliment, "The price of beauty, Caitlin," the doctor was so nice. While there was still this ugly feeling gnawing at her from time to time when she saw Barry and Caitlin together, she couldn't bring herself to dislike her. Iris turned to the seamstress to give her further instructions on some adjustments.
"That will be you one day," Nora whispered to Caitlin.
Caitlin internally sighed, she felt horrible for making Nora believe that, and only nodded.
"I'll be right back," Iris said as she walked away with the seamstress discussing ideas.
"Would you like to try one?" Nora asked barely disguising her excitement.
"One what?" She wasn't liking where this was going, Nora couldn't possibly mean…
"A wedding dress, of course," Oh the young doctor won't be able to get out of this one.
Caitlin shook her head and hands wildly, "I couldn't possibly do that,"
"Why not?" The matriarch tilted her head ever so slightly and gave Caitlin a hurt look.
The girl felt a stab to the heart, she couldn't possibly deny Mrs. Allen this request, but she didn't feel comfortable giving her more false hope, "Maybe next time…?" She tried.
"It would make me truly happy if you did it today,"
"This is Iris' time, I couldn't possibly ruin that for her," hopefully that would work.
Nora nodded thoughtfully, the girl had a point, but she won't be cutting her any slack, not today, "I don't think she'll mind, she will still be with that seamstress for another hour. But if you don't want to…" her eyes were downcast and she frowned pitifully.
"I'll do it," Caitlin said with a defeated sigh.
"Excellent!" Nora clapped to herself and dragged the girl towards a whole selection of wedding dresses. "Is there a style that you have in mind darling?"
Since Caitlin didn't really believe she would ever get married, she had no preference, "I'm open to your suggestions,"
"Wonderful. Take this, this, this, oh and that one in the back," The matriarch pulled dresses that she had eyed as soon as she stepped inside the store and handed them to her future daughter-in-law.
"Let me get started with these," Caitlin almost drowned in the all the dresses Nora had handed her, but if that made her happy, Caitlin would try as many dresses as she wanted.
Dress 1
It was an ivory dress with long sleeves and a mermaid style cut with an intricate pattern on the fabric –Caitlin could barely walk with it.
"No, that's not the one," Nora didn't approve.
Dress 2
The dress was beige with a sweetheart neckline. It was comprised of a fancy corset at the top and a relaxed skirt with a layer of lace on top. It was lovely...but it wasn't the one.
"It's an improvement but it doesn't have that glow, that spark, where you just know…"
Caitlin nodded, not really understanding what the woman meant.
At least she could walk with this one.
{-}
He had spent a great time with his dad. They talked a lot about the little things that they've missed out on each other's lives. He definitely missed him, even when they lived in the same city there was still a considerable distance between their homes and he couldn't come visit as much as he would like. Henry would tell stories about his work at the hospital and the sea of patients that would brighten up his day. There were also these funny anecdotes of him and Joe getting lost while going to Kansas City for a Car Convention and how Nora never let them hear they end of it, since they didn't listen to her when she asked them to confirm the directions.
Barry laughed, "Mom never forgets when you don't listen to her,"
His father nodded, "Believe me, I know,"
They were walking slowly, very slowly, making their way to the wedding dress shop to meet with the girls. Sadly, Joe couldn't join them because he was pulled away for a case. Both Allen's thought that was a very lucky coincidence, as they were not fond of dress shopping. What man would be?
"Have you guys talked about a date?" Henry looked at Barry out of the corner of his eye and then looked ahead once again.
"A date for what?"
"For your wedding," The older Allen said with a grin, "Sometimes I wonder if you're actually engaged,"
Uh-oh, this was not good. His dad was the oblivious one, he couldn't know… "Of course we're engaged!" Barry said quickly, "Come on dad, you've been saying a lot of weird things today," he ran a nervous hand through his hair.
Henry shrugged, "I could be wrong," he hummed to himself, "I mean, I can see that you guys are head over heels for each other, but…"
Head over heels for each other? Ha! They were just friends. Very good friends, that was all. "Look, we're here," Barry said overjoyed, never being so thankful for a wedding dress store than now.
Henry shook his head, "I'm so glad, we only have to wear traditional black tuxes," women were so complicated.
"You and me both dad," Barry agreed emphatically.
They entered the store with a long sigh, only God knew what they would face in this dreadful place. What neither of them was expecting was a Caitlin Snow in a wedding dress twirling around much to Nora's delight.
Caitlin had a dazzling smile, she was so openly and purely happy right now. She could care less about the dresses, but it was the rather the Allen matriarch that made her smile. She would tell her such pretty words that for this brief moment she truly wanted to believe she was engaged to Barry and was having the time of her life with her mother-in-law. In the back of her mind she imagined her mom would've been just as happy to see her as a bride and go dress shopping. She could already envision their disagreements over dresses: lace or no lace? A-line or fitted? Sleeves or no sleeves? And Caitlin would surely go with whatever the elder women preferred, because she would just want to make them happy.
His heart was beating a mile a minute, he actually had to do a double take to make sure that the person in front of the vanity mirrors was Caitlin, the same Caitlin he'd known since he was a freshmen at college and thought was a guy. Sure she was a far cry from that time, but still! Who was this lovely woman in a snow white princess dress giggling and smiling as if there was no tomorrow.
"Caitlin?" Barry asked in awe.
The woman in question stopped mid-twirl to look at the person that was calling her, "Barry?" She had completely forgotten that he would be coming. "I forgot you would be coming," her demeanor immediately went back to her neutral expression. However, Barry knew better than to be put off by the sudden change, her flushed cheeks were telling. She attempted to get down from the platform and go change quickly, she wasn't here to have fun anyway. Unexpectedly, she missed her step and was about to fall head-on to the floor.
"Caitlin!" Nora practically jumped from her seat, but wasn't fast enough to catch her.
Thankfully, she didn't need to be.
"Are you okay?" Barry, who had safely secured his fake fiancé in his arms, asked.
The doctor let out a relieved sigh and looked up to her savior, "I am, thank you,"
"Good," he slowly helped her stand up but didn't take his arms away, "you look beautiful as a bride," Barry told her with a faint blush. He didn't understand what compelled him to say that, but he felt he couldn't live with himself if he hadn't.
Why was her heart beating wildly again? This was just Barry. He'd told her she was pretty before, or that she looked nice. Although he'd never called her beautiful, not that she remembered anyway. But none of that explained her erratic heartbeat.
They couldn't stop staring at each other and Caitlin began to feel a familiar pull, just like yesterday before they kissed. She closed her eyes hard and gently pushed herself away from Barry. "I'll go get changed," she ended up saying.
He felt her warmth leave him and he instantly missed it, he sent one wistful look after his hazel eyed friend.
The exchanged didn't go unnoticed by his parents, who shared knowing glances at one another.
"What did I miss?" Iris asked while walking in from the other room and seeing Nora and Henry sharing complicit stares and Barry looking wistfully at a closed dressing room.
"Nothing darling," Nora said quickly, "will they have your dress ready on time?"
Iris grinned, "Absolutely,"
Barry just now noticed that the woman he'd have a crush on for over ten years was in the room. He slowly turned to her, and while his reaction wasn't as strong as he would've thought, he was stunned by the woman in front of him. Iris was wearing an intricate wedding dress, much more sophisticated than Caitlin's. Iris looked immensely pretty and radiant in her wedding gown.
"Iris you look…" he struggled to find the appropriate words.
Iris twirled in front of him, "Majestic, wonderful, the most beautiful creature you've ever seen,"
"You look amazing," he said with a warm smile.
Iris suppressed a gasp. While there was no doubt that Barry was smiling at her and she could feel his sincerity, for the first time she recognized that there was something missing in his stare. Those green eyes that she knew well were warm and loving, but they didn't have that special spark that Iris remembered.
{-}
He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. This was a night like any other night, they've been sleeping in this same room for the past three days. He's slept at her apartment and vice versa before. So why in the world would this be any different?
"Barry do you have a minute?" Caitlin called from the other side of the door.
"Yes, yes, I'll be right out," he put his shirt on quickly and stepped outside, "what's up?" he said as he smoothly leaned on the door frame, trying to act suave.
The woman, however, was oblivious to his attempts. Instead she chewed on her bottom lip and Barry was instantly alerted that something wasn't right.
"I think we need to talk about something," she said firmly. As if finally coming to terms with that statement.
Oh no, something akin to fear started to settle into Barry's stomach, "What is it?"
After one long sigh the doctor said, "That kiss yesterday,"
"Oh,"
Caitlin took Barry's hand and led him to the bed where they both sat facing each other, "Barry I…"
Barry looked intently, he was waiting for her to say something, although he wasn't sure what exactly he wanted to hear.
"Last night," she hesitated with her words, which was unusual.
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry," was all Caitlin could say.
Barry blinked at her in surprise, why was she apologizing?
"I know that you came here for Iris and it seems like I haven't been so helpful," she said with a determined gaze. "What happened yesterday will not happen again," she couldn't allow her heart to waiver for even a second.
Somehow he felt disappointed, but he wasn't in love with Caitlin, he was in love with Iris West. So why should he say any different?
She smiled at him relieved by finally clearing the air, "Thank goodness, I was scared this might've strained our friendship,"
Barry gave her a small smile, "Never," internally he felt relieved but somehow disappointed. Would he have preferred that the kiss pushed their friendship to something more? No, no, of course not. They weren't like that. What he felt last night was...he didn't know what it was, but it wasn't love, not the romantic kind anyway.
"So can we move past the awkwardness and just be ourselves again?" She looked at him with those warm hazel eyes.
"Of course," he opened his arms for her and she didn't hesitate to jump into them and embrace him tightly.
This was perfect, she thought to herself. His arms were her home and she hoped he would the there for her for as many days she had left to live. Barry was her home.
Barry rested his chin on her head. They were back to the way they've always been but why did it feel different? Something wasn't right…
"Hey Barry," she said softly
"Hm,"
"Are you still trying to get Iris to change her mind?" In her heart she knew that his efforts would be futile. Although, she hadn't been oblivious to Iris' reactions to Barry. It seemed that there was something that still needed to be said between those two. Like a chapter that wasn't completely finished. But Caitlin was no fool and as much as Iris wanted Barry's attention, she wanted Eddie's heart much more. What broke the young doctor's heart was that her friend would get hurt in the process.
"Yeah," he said softly, even though his tone was much different than the enthusiastic one he had used when he came up with his plan.
"I see," her friend still wanted to go through that road. She slowly pulled herself away from him and looked into his deep green eyes, "there's something else I want to tell you,"
Without missing a beat Barry asked, "What is it?" For some odd reason his heart beat sped up. What would she tell him this time? The seconds that went by were never ending for him, until Caitlin's voice was heard once again.
"Your shirt is on backwards,"
Barry just gaped at her and saw her settle onto her side of the bed.
"Good night," she said while turning on her side and turning off her night light.
Great, this was just great. He pulled off his red shirt and put it on properly this time. Why did these things happened to him? No wonder people couldn't take him seriously. He went to his side of the bed and sat with his back leaning against the bed rest. He glanced at Caitlin briefly and not for the first time thought about the level of trust she had in him. She was already sleeping soundly in bed knowing well that there was a man next to her. Not that he would do anything to her, he wouldn't! Really. However, any other woman would at least feel uncomfortable. Then again Caitlin wasn't like any other woman.
Ugh, why did she confuse him so much!?
His phone buzzed notifying him of a text message. Who would text him at this hour?
It was a message from his mom. How weird, she was in her room upstairs…
He opened the message and couldn't believe his eyes. He opened them so wide that it was a miracle they hadn't popped out.
You can thank me later sweetie : ) –Mom
He wouldn't just thank his mom, he would be her slave if she wanted him to. This was a heavenly gift! He smiled warmly at the picture on his screen. There she was in all her splendor the woman that had been with him for the last eight years.
Staring back at him through his screen was his favorite doctor wearing the same wedding dress that he had seen on her earlier in the day and was smiling dreamily at him. He enlarged the picture and brushed his thumb over her cheek.
Whoever married his Caitlin would be one lucky, lucky, man.
{-}
Henry took off his reading glasses and saw his wife giggle madly on her side of the bed.
"Everything okay love?"
Big mischievous eyes looked back at him, "Everything is perfect," she handed her husband her phone to show him what she had been up to.
The doctor saw a lovely picture of his future daughter-in-law and grinned at his wife, "Let's hope Barry wasn't drinking a strawberry milkshake this time,"
"Huh?" Nora was confused, what did strawberry milkshakes have to do with this?
Henry just shook his head and turned off the lights. As they both settled in bed Henry took his phone and looked for a very special picture, Nora had given him a great idea. He found the picture and sent it to his son.
Barry would have a great memory to wake up to.
He could thank him later.
{-}
You're Beautiful...It's True
This was the year after Caitlin finished med school and they were driving to Star City for Felicity's wedding and to meet their friend Cisco, who they hadn't seen in over a year.
"Aren't you excited? We'll be meeting the CEOs of Queen Industries and Palmer Tech," Barry couldn't contain his excitement.
Caitlin nodded, "Yeah," she was more excited to see Cisco and Felicity, "I'm just happy to see Cisco and Felicity again,"
"Me too!" He had so many movies to discuss with Cisco and he wanted to ask Felicity how she ended up marrying the CEO of Queen Industries in less than three years working at the company. "How do you think Felicity and Oliver get together?"
Caitlin thought about it carefully, "Great question. I guess love just happens," she shrugged, not being an expert on the matter.
"What's this, stop the presses, Caitlin Snow just talked about love," he teased.
"I'm not opposed to it," she defended herself.
"You just never talk about it,"
Caitlin rolled her eyes, "Some of us have better things to do than to fall in love and pin after people,"
Barry flinched, that had hurt.
Caitlin realized her mistake and quickly apologized, "Sorry, that was not what I meant to say,"
Barry's playful demeanor was gone, "It's fine,"
She felt horrible, how could she say something so thoughtless? They stayed silent for the next hour until Caitlin found the courage to speak up again.
"Ronnie asked me out," she said out of the blue.
Barry immediately hit the brakes and pulled to the side. They were lucky they were the only ones driving on that road right now.
"He did!?" Why that sneaky engineer, he had been after Caitlin since they met at STAR Labs. Barry told Caitlin as much and she didn't believe him.
"Please don't break like that ever again," she almost had a heart attack, "and yes, he did,"
"What did you tell him?" His big brother instincts were flaring up. Poor Caitlin was still too innocent in the realm of dating.
"I didn't say much,"
He didn't know whether to be relieved or worried. "Why?"
"I was busy with my thesis," she shrugged. "I told you, I have better things to do than get into a relationship," she was slightly terrified of them too.
Barry nodded, okay he could live with that. Let the poor girl finish her thesis first, then she could think about dating.
"Besides, I might've told him that I already have a boyfriend,"
He did a double take, "You WHAT!?" his voice was too high pitched for his own ears. Who was this boyfriend he didn't know about? Why had she neglected to tell him? What did he do for a living? Should he look into his criminal record now that he worked at CCPD?
Caitlin began to fidget with her shirt, "Yeah," she gave him a sheepish smile, and this worried him to no end, "I might've told him that you were my boyfriend," she didn't have time for relationships and she's already pretended to be Barry's girlfriend before to get him out of bad dates.
Ah, Barry let out a sigh of relief he wasn't aware he had been holding, "Phew, you scared me back there,"
"I hope you don't mind," she gave him her special doe eyed look.
Ugh, how Barry hated her when she did that. She was just too adorable, "No, no, it's fine," if that kept the vultures away it was fine.
"I'm glad," she ended with a relieved smile.
{-}
At the party Cisco found Barry amongst the sea of guests.
"Glad to see you again man!" they shared a man hug and took two glasses of Champaign. "Where's our leading lady?"
"Caitlin? Oh, she spent the day with Felicity helping her with all the last minute stuff,"
"Cool," Cisco took a sip of his champagne and then looked curiously at his friend, "I hear that you guys got together finally,"
Barry almost choked on his drink, "What? Who?"
"You and Caitlin, duh!" Cisco had the widest toothy grin.
"Who told you that?"
"You know...I have ears everywhere,"
Barry rolled his eyes, "Cisco," he started.
"Okay, so here's the deal. I heard Felicity who was telling Thea, who heard it from Diggle when he was talking to Oliver, who's actually -"
"Wait, I'm confused already. How do all these people that I just met, know about this?"
"As it turns out my dear oblivious friend, Ronnie Raymond who had the hots for our mutual friend Caitlin, is Oliver Queen's cousin,"
Barry couldn't believe it. What were the chances? "Wow, small world, huh,"
Cisco nodded, "But it was our lovable snitch Felicity who told everyone and their mothers, that finally, FINALLY, you two had gotten together. We all saw it coming," his two friends were just so dense. If only they could see themselves.
"You got it wrong," he chuckled.
Cisco blinked in confusion.
"Caitlin told Ronnie I was her boyfriend because she's too busy to be in a relationship right now," Ha! Joke's on them.
Cisco eyed him suspiciously, trying to figure out if Barry was lying to him, but it didn't seem to be the case. "So you're not dating?"
"No, of course not!"
"Okay," Cisco said nodding to himself, "so I guess it doesn't matter that Ronnie is here too…"
"What? Where?" Barry started to look wildly at the crowd, he needed to warn Caitlin about this.
Cisco snickered, his friend was so transparent. "I don't know, I just heard he would come,"
He needed to tell Caitlin pronto and they needed a plan of action like yesterday. He was texting Caitlin furiously but before he could hit send he felt Cisco tap his shoulder, "Look over there,"
Barry pulled his eyes up and held his breath, this was like their karaoke night all over again. Walking next to Felicity was a radiant Caitlin wearing a fitted midnight blue dress that wrapped around her shoulder with a silver statement piece. Her eyes were smiling mirthfully as she helped her only female friend Felicity walk down the stairs.
"Pretty isn't she?"
"Beautiful," Barry said barely above a whisper, but then caught himself and cleared his throat, "wait. Don't tell Caitlin I said that," they weren't like that despite what everyone else believed.
Cisco grinned mischievously, "I was talking about Felicity, but sure,"
Ah, great. Give Cisco more ammunition to tease him, "Yeah, so was I," he was starting to blush, dang it.
"Suuuure,"
Barry glared at him briefly and then headed to congratulate the bride and stick to Caitlin like glue. It was his duty as Caitlin's best friend to protect her honor. Who knew when this Ronnie guy would appear? Better to be safe than sorry.
If Caitlin noticed Glue-Stick-Barry she didn't say anything. In fact this was one of the greatest evenings of her life. She was having a lot of fun with her friend, she felt more comfortable with him than with all these strangers.
Meanwhile Felicity went to see Cisco, they had an important matter to discuss.
"So...any progress?" She asked as she saw Barry and Caitlin attempting to dance, poor Barry his feet were getting a beating from Caitlin's heels.
"Still as clueless as ever,"
They simultaneously took a big gulp from their drinks and sighed. They had seen those two do this weird dance around each other but never take the leap.
"You think we were wrong?" Felicity asked. She'd been witness to those secret glances, intimate smiles, and their overall concern for one another. Yet, those two still insisted on being great friends and nothing more.
Cisco smirked, "Look at that and tell me we were wrong,"
Felicity turned once again to the couple and saw Barry with the widest grin as he held Caitlin by the waist and the auburn haired girl laced her arms around his neck responding with an amazing grin of her own. Barry had given up on teaching her the dance and asked her to simply put her feet on top of his, he would lead. She complied without resistance, but took off her heels in an effort to avoid hurting him (more). They slowly swayed to the sound of the music and smiled away the rest of the night.
{x}
Some people can be so dense sometimes…Anyway! Sorry if you were waiting for the chapter this past Monday. I'm working on a big project for class and might be delayed on my updates for the next few weeks (but I'll try not to).
I don't know if this has happened to any of my fellow writers, but the last three days I got this sudden urge to write…the ending of this story. Interestingly enough, there are two chapters in the middle (as per my outline) that I haven't even begun writing. On the bright side, beware of the overload of sweetness at the end, because that's just how I roll.
With all of that being said, I send you all a big tropical smoothie (for those of us experiencing hot summers) and thank you for reading!
Many thanks to those of you that have favorited/followed this story, but an even bigger thanks and a bear hug to those that take the time to review: daydise, icekrim91, ShanouNash, Guest, TieDyeJackson, Nienke Whovian, Maya, jdcocoagirl, Amelia, Raquel, Awesomeness2502, Augusthippie1993, and Shadow9841.
Daydise: You're so sweet! And yes this such a cheesy plot…I love my cheese, in writing and in real life lol. Thank you for your kind words, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.
Icekrim91: Sometimes we need to let it all out and I think that Caitlin's backstory helps explain part of her personality. Ah Barry, isn't he so cute!? Thank you for reading!
ShanouNash: The kisses are short and sweet but so full of meaning. I hope I didn't disappoint with the aftermath of their kiss. I just thought that their reaction fit their characterization so far. Slowly but surely they're getting closer to the realization that maybe the person you're meant to be with has been there all along.
Oh the first night! Hahahaha (cue evil laugh)…just wait until you read about that.
I love Nora, in a way I feel she's us in the story. And to me mothers ARE that clever…they know too much.
I never thought too much about where the greatest love stories come from, I'll have to research that. In my humble opinion, I really like Spanish for romance, it's a very descriptive language (and my native language as well).
Let me know your thoughts for this chapter…and Nora strikes again!
Guest:I'd love to have a more personal way to address you : ) but thank you so much for your heart melting words. I'm ecstatic to see this is a favorite fanfic of yours!
TieDyeJackson: A double wedding huh? Hmmm… who knows? I'm so happy that you enjoy the depth and layers of the story. Oh my! The words! I really tried to contain myself in this chapter and tried not to overdo it lol.
Aww thank you so much! You're awesome!
Nienke Whovian: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, it was one of my personal favorites : ) I'm dreading the wedding, I don't think I've ever been to one…so I'm going by what the media portrays as weddings lol.
Thank you for reading!
Maya: I promised and I delivered. There is more from Cait that we need to see (but more about that in the next chapter). Are you reading my story before I actually publish? Eddie will be a "guest star" of sorts for the next chapter.
Jdcocoagirl: Love your profile pic! My favorite character from Yu Yu Hakusho is Kurama… Our Barry is not there yet, but he will be…soon.
Let me know your thoughts on this chapter : )
Amelia: My dearest Amelia, we cannot hurry true love. I know this is a slow burn romance, but it will pay off, I promise.
Haha, how did you know? Of course Nora and Henry were onto Barry. Parents…gotta love'em.
Thank you for your supporting words! I'm glad you like this story it warms my heart.
Raquel: Thank you so much for spending your time reading and leaving a review. Time is our most valuable resource, so whether it's a word, a sentence, or a paragraph, it doesn't matter girl. You do what you gotta do!
Awesomeness2502: Phew, glad to hear your view on lame jokes –we're on the same page there.
I have so much to catch up on! And I see we share a love for Chlark too…are we FF soulmates?
Expect my reviews soon, I just need to get these projects out of the way and then I can have some time to read quality fan fiction. By the way, I am already jotting down my picks for superhero baby names ; )
Ugh, yes. I cannot reconcile seasons 3 & 4 Barry, with the sweetheart we got for seasons 1 & 2. He's changed SO much, and many times for worse. But yes, Grant is the only likeable part about the Barry we are seeing nowadays.
Augusthippie1993: Aww thank you! So happy you liked it!
Shadow9841: That's what I love about reading that you can get so immersed in the words that you get transported another world. I'm just happy I can contribute to your experience. Oh yes, mother's intuition is amazing and completely real (I've confirmed it many times over the years).