A ton of people requested this, actually.

Rating: T

~J.H.

Barry was in a bad mood. Yes, carefree, happy-go-lucky, enthusiastic Barry was pissed. And the worst part about it was that he didn't really know why. He was sitting in the corner of the room—another first; Barry liked to be near people—and he was sulking. Drinking and sulking. And, once again, cursing the fact that he couldn't get drunk. His eyes were drawn to the dance floor, where Caitlin—yes, his very own Doctor Caitlin Snow—was dancing. With none other than Pretty Boy Eddie himself. Truly, tonight was a night of firsts.

Cisco clunked down next to him, sloshing two beers. "Whoops!" he slurred slightly, already a little drunk. Barry grabbed one of them and chugged without paying attention to what he was doing, his eyes still on Caitlin. Cisco followed his line of sight, "Dude, you should ask her to dance."

Barry scoffed, "She's already dancing." Which was true. She's hand-in-hand with Eddie, laughing and talking. Barry told himself it's just the alcohol—she wouldn't really be laughing and talking with Eddie if she were herself.

"So ask her to dance after she and Eddie are finished," to Cisco, this was the simplest thing in the world. You like a girl=ask her out. She says yes=she likes you back. Why did people have to complicate things so much?

Barry just sulked some more and downed the rest of his drink.

Cisco looked at Barry, and then at Caitlin and Eddie, who were now slow dancing, and back at Barry again. "Dude, are you jealous?" Cisco asked, just now getting it.

"What? No!" Barry answered a little too quickly to be taken seriously.

Cisco just shrugged, unwilling to argue, "Okay, man, whatever you say."

"Why would I be jealous?" Barry said, "I mean, that's ridiculous. I don't even like Caitlin, not in that way. I mean, she's beautiful and—and talented, and smart, and kind, but I don't even like her like that. Why would I be jealous?" His eyes were still on Caitlin and Eddie. "Cisco?" Barry prompted when Cisco didn't answer. Barry looked over to reveal that Cisco wasn't sitting next to him.

"Cisco?" He stood and looked around the bar for him, only to find that Cisco seemingly vanished into thin air. Barry suddenly felt like he needed advice from him, or at least needed someone to talk to.

With a grumble, he sat back down and turned his attention back to the dance floor, where Caitlin and Eddie were…gone?

He stood again, craning his neck to make sure that they weren't on the dance floor. Not that he cared if Caitlin was dancing with him. She's a grown woman, and she could dance with anyone she wanted. She could dance with Eddie if she wanted. What woman wouldn't want to dance with Eddie. It's not Barry's fault the two most important woman in his life were both seemingly head-over-heels for Eddie.

Two most important woman in his life? Why had that just run through his head? Iris, yes. He'd always consider Iris an important figure in his life. Always had, always will. But Caitlin? They were just friends. Important friends, true, but…

He's suddenly concerned—where the hell was she anyway? She wasn't on the dance floor, nor at the bar. Annoyed that this night—which was supposed to be fun—turned out to be such a disaster, Barry grabbed his coat and stalked toward the door, deciding to make a quick stop in the bathroom before he went home.

The hallway that lead to the bathroom was stuffy and dark, so dark that Barry could only see an outline of where he was going. Blocking his way to the bathroom was a couple making out. Barry tried to push past them without them noticing, but the guy did. He surfaced from the girl's neck for a moment and said gruffly, "Watch it, buddy."

Those three words were enough: Barry recognized Eddie's voice. And, he took a closer look to reveal that the girl—pushed up against the wall by Eddie's large body—was Caitlin. Without thinking, Barry grabbed Eddie's shoulder, pulled him back, and punched him on the nose. He realized that he may have punched a little too hard, or moved his hand a little too fast, because he could feel Eddie's nose break underneath his knuckles.

"Barry!" Caitlin scolded, but Barry can already hear the slurring of her words and smell the alcohol on her breath—she was drunk, probably too drunk to realize what was really happening.

As if to confirm his suspicions, she tried to take a step and teetered dangerously, only to fall onto him. "Why'd you do that?" she asked crossly, "We were having fun!"

Eddie groaned on the ground, "Dude!" he pinched his nose, but Barry decided not to stick around to. Hoisting an unstable Caitlin up, he led them toward the door, waiting until they were out of sight to pick Caitlin up and speed home.

He set her down on the couch and goes to make her a cup of coffee, hoping it'll sober her up. By the time the coffee's finished and Barry walked over to the couch, Caitlin was fast asleep. Barry set the coffee down on the table and picked her up carefully, trying not to wake her. He carried her slowly up to the spare bedroom and pulled back the covers before setting her down and tucking her in.

He made sure she has a glass of water and a trash can nearby before he left the room, just in case she needed it. As he closed the door as quietly as he could, his only thought was Thank God I got there in time.

Thank God he got there before someone could hurt his Doctor Snow.

Sorry, Eddie was really out of character in this fic! (I really believe he cares for and loves Iris, and would never take advantage of any woman like this!)

~J.H.