A/N: The response I get to these things are amazing! Some of you in your reviews have expressed an interest in them getting together officially before Christmas, but you know me, I'm intent on dragging this out as long as possible.
My family (which unfortunately includes me) have decided to go up, yet again, for an impromptu vacation, so I possibly won't have internet till Monday.
In the meantime, I have decided to issue an actual challenge, because five or six reviews are usually completed within the day.
Fifteen? I'll be gone for three days or so, so it's possible.
An upside is that I'll have more time to work on it. Okay, so I'm holding the next chapter ransom for fifteen reviews.
Caitlin's POV
No, he doesn't. Does he?
What if he does? What then?
What if he doesn't, but I think he does, and say so?
Man, it's going to be awkward then.
Okay. Keep your cool.
I can't keep my cool!
Yes, you can. So, this never happened, you never stumbled upon this thought.
It's amazing how much can change in a day.
I am shaken out of my thoughts by a warm hand on mine.
"Stay," Barry says, opening his eyes gently.
"Okay, let me go grab a book first." I whisper, and he nods in acknowledgement.
So I pick two old favorites, 'Much Ado About Nothing', and 'To Kill A Mockingbird'.
I admit I have an old taste in books. Things that women of my age liked didn't really appeal to me. But so what?
I like hypnotic language. As long as I can find it, and immerse myself in the story, I'm fine with it.
But the new reads, some of them seem so- otherworldly.
Anyway, I sit back down on the couch, giving Barry some room, and wincing when it creaked.
Barry opens his eyes a crack, and gestures for me to come closer. I move about two inches.
He shakes his head, almost imperceptibly, then gestures for me to come closer. I move the same length.
Impatient, he gently takes hold of my hand, and pulls me closer.
I am practically sitting on his lap.
Well, this is awkard, because there is no way that Barry Allen, of all people, would have a crush on me.
I also realise that today, yesterday, I correct myself, checking my watch, awkward seems to be cropping up a lot more in my vocabulary.
But I snuggle closer (yes, I can snuggle), and he puts his arm around my shoulders, resulting with my head on his shoulder, and Barry's breathing evens out. It's impossible to read like this, because the blanket is covering my hands and if I move to get my books from where I left them on the arm of the couch, he'll wake up.
So for the moment, I'm going to be content.
And I yawn, quietly, and Barry's arm is as good as any pillow, so I let go of my inhibitions, and simply fall asleep.
It's nighttime, and I'm running down a street. The buildings are all apartment complexes, and some of the lights are on.
My purse is swinging wildly about my person.
I stop for a minute to catch my breath, reasoning that I've probably gotten far enough away from whatever I was running from.
An evil cackle rebounds across the building, multiplying, then fading. Nope, I was wrong.
Run!
Another evil cackle tears it's way around me, making it impossible to ascertain where it's coming from.
My world goes black.
I wake up and smell gasoline. I see a dark figure in the shadows, flicking on a cigarette lighter.
I try reason with them. "No! Please, no. Please, help me! Don't do it!"
The shadow looks speculative for a moment.
Then he drops the lighter.
The flames explode into existence, racing faster and faster in the clever spiral of gasoline, burning and burning away at it's captors.
The fire reaches my bare feet, and it's pure agony. I realise my coat in made of wool, and my legs from my knee down are sloshed with gasoline.
The flames dance for freedom up and down, and it's hypnotic to watch, despite the pain.
"Aaaaaahhhhhhh!" I scream.
"Cait? Caitlin? Love? Please wake up! Caitlin?"
I groggily open my eyes to find a concerned Barry about two inches from my face.
"Hey, welcome back," he says, giving me a hug.
"Sorry for waking you," I say, somewhat sheepishly, near his ear.
"It's okay. I like you better in real life anyway."
"Wha-" I don't have time to process that statment because Barry lifts me up, like a reverse piggyback, and I giggle and protest, "Barry! Lemme down! Come on!"
"Get your winter gear on, we're going outside. The storm has lessened a bit."
"Depends on what you mean by winter gear," I admit, embarrassed.
"What do you mean?" Barry asks me.
"Um, I don't exactly have 'going outside in special gear so I don't freeze my butt off' kind of gear." I reply.
"Hang on tight," he says, and in a flash, we're in a bedroom. There are a lot of pictures everywhere, and I realise with a jolt this must be Joe's house.
"Barry!" I hiss, quietly, lest the other occupants of the house hear me.
He laughs, and disentangles me from him.
He searches through the closet, and randomly chucks clothes at me.
Soon, I am almost covered in a mountain, and Barry looks back at me. "Whoops," he says apologetically, then flashes them all back into the closet.
He grabs me, and some clothes, and flashes back to my place.
My hands go immediately back up to my hair, to smooth it down , and suddenly, he lets go of me and pushes some clothes into my hands.
"I'll be waiting on the balcony." I stumble to the bathroom, then get dressed.
It's a winter wonderland out is a heaping pile of snow everywhere, with small flakes still making the perilous journey to the ground.
"Barry?" I ask cautiously. I can't see him anywhere.
I see a disturbance in the snow up ahead, and go to investigate.
It looks like someone scooped up a handful of snow, and
-SMACK!-
A dull thud hits my coat, and I hear laughter.
I scoop up a large handful of snow, and hit him with it, only to find he's no longer there anymore.
"I swear to god Barry, if you use your powers, I'll go inside!" I playfully threaten.
I see his sillhouette, scoop up some more snow, and I aim, then fire.
Fortunately, my aim is awful, and he ducked, so it hit him in the head.
-An Hour Later-
We're relaxed in front of the television, steaming mugs of hot chocolate in our hands, my shopping list from before (the one written on the tablet) completed, and we are both wearing the awful traditional sweaters that accompany the festivities.
We're watching 'The Polar Express', and I'm cuddled into his side.
Once we got out, we were frozen to the bone, which is bad for Barry, so we got dressed and went outside to go shopping again. The mall had only some select stores open, and the shoppers were far in-between, so I may have had to pay more than I usually would have in different stores.
So we're here.
On the screen, we're getting to the bit where the boy loses the bell.
A weight suddenly falls onto my shoulder, and I look to see Barry with his eyes closed. I take another sip of my drink, and my attention is back on the screen.
A/N: So that's it! I really must go and pack.
See you in three days, and the first six reviewers are:
-Mairrenn-
-Fran Stark-
-Airsay (the movie was Easy A)-
-Stresses-
-Guest-
-Guest-Also who reviewed:
-ahwsoccerstar-
-Thegirlwonder09-
-Guest-
-brico4899-
-snowbarryshipper (Guest)-
-Guest-
-Nelura-
And also a very big not thank you to the producers of the Flash, because episode ten doesn't come out till February or March here. (Blows raspberry)
/\[)|0$ (In case you can't read it, that was my awful attempt at adios)