Leah's POV

"You guys were awesome!' Cisco told us as Ronnie and I stepped into the cortex.

I giggled before throwing myself at him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, he wrapped his around my waist and pulled me against him. I buried my face into his shoulder as I felt him nuzzle his nose against my neck. I breathed him in, missing his scent of sweetness- literally, sometimes he smells straight up like candy as if he rolled around in some jolly ranchers. And he was warm, just as I remembered. I fit perfectly in his arms and my body seemed to mold perfectly against his as he held me as close as possible.

"Hey now, watch where you put your hands on my sister," Ronnie lightly threatened before swooping Caitlin up into his arms.

I watched them giggle as he twirled her in the air with a huge grin on my face. He deserved to be happy, they both did. I buried my face into Cisco's neck this time, pressing a light kiss to his skin and grinning when he shivered at the feeling.

He chuckled before quietly telling me, "Hey, your brother has already threatened me to keep my hands off you, don't make it harder on me to follow orders."

I laughed into his shirt before kissing his cheek.

He gave me his cheeky grin, the one that reaches one ear and travels to the next, where he squints his eyes to show the laugh-lines all over his face and exposes all of his teeth. My heart fluttered at the sight of it. It gets me every time.

"I like that, though." He told me before kissing each cheek and then my forehead, and then my nose. He continued to do this, going faster and faster, peppering kisses all over my face. I laughed and tried to lean back, but his hands on my waist held me close.

"That suit looks great on you, by the way," he added as the kisses came to a stop.

"Why, thank you," I smiled before teasing, "My boyfriend made it for me."

"Your boyfriend seems awesome."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my forehead against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat under his shirt and I smiled. "He is."

"He's pretty lucky to have someone like you, too."

The whole cortex was filled with chatter and laughter. It felt like we had all won for once and we were all happy. I leaned in to kiss Cisco, but the rush of wind that sped by caused us both to jump and forget what we were doing. And the light atmosphere died as soon as Barry zoomed in. He took his mask off and faced all of us with a solemn expression.

"Barry, we won!" Caitlin informed him, trying to remind him that it was okay.

Barry used his speed to change out of his suit. He still looked unhappy and I had a good guess why. Especially since Ronnie and I had just got back, it was an odd, sinking feeling to know that Harrison Wells was the bad guy that had been terrorizing the city for so long.

"I want to speak with him." He deadpanned. The circles under his eyes were never as clear as they were in that moment.

"Barry, we just caught him." Joe pointed out, "I think we all deserve a break, especially you."

"I need answers."

"Tomorrow." Iris suggested. "For now, I think we all deserve some rest."

I took a deep breath and that's when I noticed the aches in my body; my back and ribs both hurting every time I breathed in. Any movement in my neck caused a throbbing sensation where Wells had curled his fingers around my skin.

Just as I thought about it, I felt a pair of cool fingers brush against where it hurt most. I winced and almost stepped back before I realized Cisco was just looking at it.

"Caitlin, perhaps you should check them for injuries first?" Cisco mumbled, still observing my neck. His eyes hardened and I could see him clench the muscle in his jaw, before he stated, "Looks like that's going to bruise."

I shook my head. "It's alright. That's the only thing that really hurts, and I can handle a bruise or two."

"Can you move your head for me? Like this?" Caitlin asked, rolling her head back and around in a circle. I copied her motions, fully able to do it but wincing during the whole thing. Caitlin shook her head, "Well, it isn't broken." She stepped a little closer. "However, it does look like its already bruising. You should put ice on it when you get…" She hesitated then and I knew what she was thinking. If I came back to live with her at her apartment for a few days, her and Ronnie won't get much alone time.

"I'll have her ice it back at my place," Cisco assured her, one of his arms still around my waist.

I couldn't wipe the smile off my face, so I leaned up and pressed another kiss to his soft cheek. The cheeky smile was back as he engulfed me in both of his arms, pulling me back to his chest once more.

"I missed that," he admitted.

"Me too," I told him before resting my head on his chest.

"Mmm, 'kay, lovebirds," Barry sighed, trying to sound annoyed, although the smile on his face betrayed him. "Let's all go home."

"Aww, we haven't had a movie night in forever!" I giggled as Cisco handed me a pint of ice cream and then made himself comfortable on the couch next to me. "Unless you consider the video-chat-movie-nights we had."

"Which I don't," he told me, taking a bite of his mint chocolate chip.

"Why not?" I squealed, trying to sound offended. I briefly held the tub of ice cream to my throbbing neck. I saw him flinch at the sight from the corner of my eye, so I was quick to distract him, "I loved our video dates."

He smiled then, his eyes so soft that if it was possible for a heart to melt, than mine would've. "You know…" He set his ice cream down, "I almost forgot something!" I watched as he quickly dashed into his bedroom. I waited with no idea what he was doing, but too indulged in my cookies and cream to go and see. It wasn't long before he came back, a red box in hand. "Um…" His cheeks were tinted a light shade of pink as he sat down and held the box out to me. "I know we couldn't get together at the time, but… I still wanted to get you something, so…"

I took the box and read the card on the outside, "To My Love, Leah. Happy Six Months." I gasped and turned to face him again. "Cisco…"

"I-I know, I…I know we've been together for eight months now, but I made this for our six month anniversary, so I waited until you got here to give it to you."

As he was explaining the mysterious red box, I was busy opening it and tossing the tissue paper aside. Inside was a large silver book and as I set the box aside, I noticed how heavy it actually was. When I opened it, my eyes watered immediately and my heart fluttered. The gift was a scrapbook filled with pictures: pictures from before we were dating and while we were dating. I had never known we had so many pictures together.

I looked up at him with tears at the corners of my eyes. Noticing this, he began to panic, "I-is it not good enough?! I could get something else! I thought of buying you flowers and chocolate, and even a necklace- I really did- but then I saw all these pictures, and-."

Not knowing how else to get him to stop, I pressed my lips against his. He tensed up at first, probably confused, but I couldn't tell with my eyes closed. I smiled into the kiss as I felt him relax and run a hand through my hair, pulling me closer to him.

"I love it." I whispered to him once we pulled apart, nuzzling my nose against his.

He leaned his forehead against mine with another cheeky smile that I'll never get over. "I love you."

"Oh, yeah," I shrugged my shoulders as I placed the scrapbook on the table before curling up closer to his side, almost on his lap. "I guess I love that, too."

He laughed, the brilliant sound echoing in the otherwise silent living room. He pinched my side, "Hey!"

I quickly took his face in my hands and brought his lips back to mine. I had missed the way his lips molded against mine, the way his hands wrap around my hips and pull me up onto his lap, and the sound he makes in the back of his throat when I run my fingers through his hair. The heat radiating off his body and warming up mine was so familiar, my heart ached at how much it had missed it. I pulled him as close as I could, deepening the kiss as much as possible.

We spent the next few hours kissing and chatting, laughing and making up for the months when we were apart. When we curled up in bed to fall asleep, I forced myself to stay awake and watch as his body slowly melted into the mattress. His arm around my waist grew heavy, along with his snores. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and he leaned into my touch, his forehead falling forward to lean against mine and his breath lingering over my skin and keeping me warm.

I got a text from my brother that night about how he hoped Cisco and I got home safely.

That's the last text message I ever got from my brother.