The one with the Importance of Midnight
Caitlin wrapped her scarf around her neck and pulled the collar of her coat up to meet it. It was such a lovely scarf and was very gentle to touch, making it comfortable to wear and so soft against her skin. She hadn't been able to help herself from wearing it today. Not only did she want Barry to see her wearing it and know she liked it but it was now officially her favourite scarf and she wanted to honour it by wearing it as much as possible.
She wasn't usually so sentimental about clothes but this gift definitely brought it out of her.
"You know it's still kind of early," Cisco said, glancing at her from the edge of his eye.
Caitlin snorted. "I think it sums up how crazy we've been lately that leaving work before 11 can be summed up as early."
"Agreed," Cisco said easily. "And as we both think it's early, how about we go for a drink? A night cap, shall we say?"
"How about we go home and catch up on the sleep we've been missing out on?"
Cisco sighed. "You're no fun. Barry, tell her she's no fun."
"Hmm?" the speedster said, tearing his gaze away from her neck.
Caitlin couldn't help her small smile even as Cisco huffed at not being listened to. She'd caught Barry a few times throughout the day watching her with the scarf; when she put it on at lunchtime to head out to Jitters, when she'd been stroking it just as something to do when waiting for the printer, and when she'd felt a draft in the Cortex and put it around her shoulders.
She hadn't managed to verbally thank Barry today, but she liked to think she had done it non-verbally by showing him how much she adored it.
"Are you at least up for something?" Cisco asked Barry.
"I dunno," Barry said with a shrug. "Like Cait said it would be nice to be home and get a proper night's sleep. Besides it's only an hour until midnight and I-"
Caitlin looked up quickly at Barry as he suddenly stopped talking and looked away from her.
"Midnight and you… what?" Cisco prompted.
"I uh- I turn into a pumpkin."
"Really," Cisco drawled whilst Caitlin pressed her lips tight together to stop a laugh and Barry blushed.
She thought she had heard something last night, or this morning really. But when she'd opened her door all that was there was the box with her scarf gifted inside. She'd quickly forgotten anything else as she'd been so excited to see what it looked like on her and had rushed back inside.
What would she have done if she had caught him? She'd lamented not being able to thank him but it had been slightly easier with Cisco around so she didn't have to go into detail of how and why the gifts meant so much to her.
If she caught Barry giving a box would they be able to talk about it? And what would the talking lead to?
"Really," Barry confirmed, seeming committed to his blatantly false story. "So I will see you guys tomorrow."
And with that he flashed away and Caitlin spent the next fifteen minutes repeating to Cisco that she really wasn't going anywhere but home.
She cooked herself dinner and drank a bottle of wine before losing herself in a favourite book. The next time Cait looked up it was quarter to one. Biting her lip in indecision for a moment but not able to hold out any longer than that, she quickly hurried to her front door.
There on the mat was a small box. Opening it up she found a beautiful leather bookmark, a dark blue with silver edgings. A light blue thread was worked into the top and hanging off the end of the thread was a small crystal snowflake.
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