A/N: Hey everyone! I realized that I had something I needed to clear up. In this fic, Barry and Iris had just admitted their feelings for each other, but had never started officially dating or anything, so he's not cheating on her or anything like that! Anyway, this is probably the last official chapter, but I could be persuaded to write an epilogue… Anyway, enjoy!

Caitlin stirred slightly in her sleep, feeling herself start to wake up and regretting the sensation. She was so comfortable and warm and… Why was there an arm across her front? Then, memories of last night flooded her mind and she relaxed again.

Last night had been like a fantasy, one that she had never imagined would come true. Barry had showed up at her door, told her that he liked her, and then had kissed her. The memory of the kiss took her for a moment, and she savoured the reminder of his soft lips on hers. Then, they had stayed up half the night, talking and stealing the occasional kiss, before falling asleep on the couch in each other's arms. It had been perfect.

"Finally awake?" Barry's voice mumbled in her ear. "I thought you were going to sleep forever."

"What time is it?" she asked, twisting slightly in his embrace so she could face him. He was watching her with a soft look in his eyes.

He grinned. "Almost 11."

Caitlin's eyes widened. "I haven't slept that long in...years, probably."

"It's not every day that you get seriously injured and have to recover," Barry pointed out, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered on her face and she closed her eyes, leaning into his touch.

"Did last night really happen?" Caitlin asked dreamily, afraid that if she opened her eyes again she'd realize that it had all been a dream and Barry had never kissed her.

Barry was quiet for a moment, but then she felt the gentle pressure of his lips on hers. Her breath caught in her throat and she kissed him back, winding her arms around her neck and pulling herself against his body. The sheer tenderness of his kiss took her by surprise and touched her deeply in a place she had thought no one could reach after Jay and Ronnie. However, Barry managed to make her open up again, to believe in love again. Eventually, he pulled back, and she slowly opened her eyes to find him grinning at her reaction. "What do you think?" he asked amusedly.

She blinked in confusion before remembering her question. "I'll go with 'yes,' it was real," she responded with a smile, dropping another kiss on his lips. "Now," she started, hearing her stomach growl loudly, "I think I'm ready for some breakfast. Do you think the team can wait a bit for us?"

"They'll be fine," Barry muttered, bringing up his hand and tracing the curve of her lips with his thumb. "Are you sure you want to get up?"

At that moment, getting up sounded like a terrible idea. Being wrapped in Barry's arms with his fingers on her lips was comforting, but her stomach gurgled loudly again in protest. "I think," she mumbled against his thumb, "that my stomach's not going to give me much of a choice, despite what I want."

Barry chuckled, but sat up on the couch. "Waffles? Toast? Eggs?"

"Waffles," she decided immediately. "With fresh strawberries."

"Done." He sped off in a blur. While he was gone, Caitlin rushed to the bathroom as quickly as possible with her bandaged leg and groaned when she saw how much of a mess she looked. Her brunette hair was almost half-white - she was going to have to dye it - and it was sticking up strangely from sleeping in Barry's arms. Her face was flushed and there were bags under her eyes. In short, she looked like a mess. Grabbing her hairbrush, she forced her snarled hair into a respectable ponytail and washed her face.

The sound of the door and the enticing smell of fresh waffles announced Barry's return. By the time she left the bathroom and hobbled back to the couch, he had already set the coffee table with two waffles loaded with syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream along with two cups of what smelled like hot chocolate. Her stomach rumbled eagerly.

"Careful there," Barry rushed over to her and swung her into his arms. "Don't want you pushing that leg too hard."

"I'm fine, Barry," she rolled her eyes.

His eyes danced. "Maybe I just wanted an excuse to hold you." He tugged her tighter against his chest and carried her very slowly over to the couch.

"So…" Caitlin started after digging into her waffle, "what exactly are we, Barry?" She knew it was early in...whatever it was between them...to put a label on it, but she wanted to know where they stood when they went back to the lab. And she also wanted to make sure that there was nothing going on between him and Iris, either.

Barry took a bit of his waffle and chewed and swallowed before answering. "What do you want us to be, Cait? I'm all in - seeing you hurt like that made me realize how deep my feelings for you went. We can make it official right now, if that's what you want." The sincerity in his voice was wonderful to help soothe her nerves - at least about everything but Iris.

She smiled and bit her lip. "What about Iris?"

Barry took her hand in his. "I thought I loved Iris, for many years," he admitted, "and a part of me will always love her. But she's like a sister to me - I didn't realize it for a long time, and it probably would have saved me a lot of heartache if I'd figured it out earlier."

Caitlin nodded, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders at his words. "And you're willing to be with me, despite everything?"

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, pausing and turning to her.

"I'm a little broken," she admitted. "Between Ronnie and Jay and Killer Frost…"

"Then we'll fix you together," Barry interrupted her immediately. "I don't care how long it takes. I'm here for you, Cait."

"Thank you," she murmured, leaning forward to kiss him. Her words felt insignificant next to what he was promising, but she didn't know how else to tell him how grateful she was and how excited she was for a future with him. He made her forget all her worries and just feel like everything was going to be okay.

They finished breakfast with smiles on their face and fingers intertwined.

…

Barry couldn't contain his smile as he walked into Star Labs that afternoon, hand-in-hand with Caitlin. He'd had relationships before, but this felt different. Right.

"Dude, called it!" Cisco hollered as soon as they entered the Cortex. He winked at Barry. "Didn't I call it?"

"You called it," Barry laughed, pulling Caitlin closer and draping his arm around her shoulders. "Any luck with the power nullifiers, man?"

"Don't you try to change the subject! Are you two...official?"

"Knock it off, Cisco," Caitlin said teasingly. "But, yes."

The answering grin on Cisco's face made them both laugh. "Anyway," Cisco said, gesturing grandly to a strange looking device on his desk, "after working all night, my genius came through and I managed to make a power dampener. I'll need to test it, but I'm confident it'll work."

Barry and Caitlin approached the desk and regarded the device. "How does it work?"

"It's like a bracelet," Cisco told them eagerly, gesturing for Caitlin to hold out her wrists so he could snap the thin bands on. There was a thin chain that connected each bracelet to a small ring that Cisco slipped over both her thumbs. "Sorry it's a little bulky, but I'll work on the design later. For now, see these buttons on the bracelet? They control the intensity of the dampening. The furthest on the right cuts off your power completely, while the furthest on the left only dampens it a little. That way, you can use your powers, but if you start to lose control, you can block your powers completely."

"Cisco, this is amazing!" Caitlin gasped.

"Powers without Killer Frost? That's incredible, Cait," Barry enthused, pressing a kiss on the top of her head and then another kiss on her lips.

"Yeah, uh, I'll leave you two alone for a moment," Cisco muttered, backing away with a knowing look. "I'll be in the...yeah, you guys aren't listening…"

"How do you feel?" Barry asked, looking deep into her eyes.

She grinned. "So happy. It's such a relief," she touched the bracelets, "to know that I won't go all Killer Frost and try to kill everyone anymore."

"I'm happy for you, Cait," Barry muttered, tangling one of his hands into her hair. "And you make me incredibly happy."

Her lips parted slightly. "Barry, I know it's soon, but I think I love you."

He kissed her gently, tenderly, before pulling back and responding. "I love you too, Cait."

What did you all think? Should I flash forward a couple years and write an epilogue?