A/N: Sorry for not updating earlier. I got a bad score on a test and my mom banned me from writing. The situation has not changed. On another note, I will start attending a support group in the next term.

"Let's build a blanket fort!" He grins, like this is an actual thing people do at ten o'clock at night.

I don't even contemplate the idea.

"How does anything you just said have to do with anything I just said?"

"I have no idea. But we're doing it. I have superpowers, end of discussion."

That is not a valid answer.

Probably one somewhere in some alternate universe, but not in this one.

"Barry, please, go to bed. It's ten at night, and I probably have to work tomorrow." My tone is pleading, and I hate it.

I hate how it shows so much vulnerablility, reminding me how much I've been spun around today.

"Come on, Caitlin. It's just a blanket fort. What harm could it do?"

I remember a ghostly echoing, a 'What harm could it do?', and suddenly struggle to keep my emotions under check.

Ronnie said that.

A lot.

My throat goes tight, and all I want to do is run and hide in my room.

And cry.

Definitely cry.

"Barry, you can build a blanket fort in your room. I'm going to bed." I read somewhere that making an example might encourage others to do the same.

"Fine. Can we do it tomorrow then, together?"

It might as well be a victory, my tired mind says.

"Okay. But you have to stay in bed tomorrow. Non-negotiable."

"But Caaaaiit-" His tone is familiar, like he does this everyday.

Maybe he did, in his comaverse.

"No. You've just been in a coma."

"Well I didn't ask for this."

The words sting a bit, adding to the emotional hurt locker my body was building, but I muster up the courage to look him in the eye with my coldest stare.

"Neither did I."

Then I pull the movie heroine stunt and storm off to my room. I make sure to lock the door before I change into my sweatpants and baggy shirt, then crawl into a nest of blankets and allow myself to break down.

There goes setting an example.

Sometime during the crying, I must've fallen asleep, because I was woken up by a scream.

I bolt upright, heart pounding.

I think I must have imagined it, and lie down to go to sleep again, but then another scream forces its way into my eardrums.

"CAAAAIITLIN!"

I run, not thinking about, well, anything really.

All I know is I have to get to Barry.

I burst into his room.

He's in a nightmare.

I go to his side, but not before he lets out a scream.

"Barry!" I urgently shake him awake.

Nothing happens.

"Barry, it's Caitlin."

This seems to take effect, for he finally wakes.

"Caitlin?" He pulls me close. I awkwardly hug him too.

"You're okay, you're okay." He repeats over and over, as if I was the one who needed comforting.

I kiss his cheek, guessing he needed physical closeness. "Barry, do you want anything to drink?"

"Um, no."

He suddenly turns shy.

"Could you- Um, if you didn't mind-"

"Do spit it out, Barry." I go for exasperated.

"Could you stay with me?" His innocence is so blatant I feel like an overprotective mother.

"Sure, okay." I let go of my inhibitions, reminding myself that this is Barry (which doesn't help at all), and he's just been in a coma, and he's not okay.

I crawl into the other side of the bed, mentally hitting myself for buying a bed only suitable for fitting one person.

Why, oh why, did I not use $50 to buy a bigger bed?

He cuddles me, tears soaking the shoulder of my shirt, and we shift so that we both fit right, like a puzzle.

Made for each other, a voice echoes.

"Cait?" He sounds like the child needing protection, and so my reply is swift.

"Mm?"

"M'sorry."

"It's okay Barry. Go to bed. We'll talk in the morning. Make sure you don't hurt yourself."

And here comes the mother hen.

"Kay Cait."

And just before I drift off, I swear I hear a whispered 'love you'.

I woke up to a quiet, rhythmic breathing and a fast tempo of a meta-human heart.

Wha- Oh.

Oh.

Kay.

Erm, how do you get out of his arms without waking him up?

I decide there's no other way to do it, so I try break out of his embrace.

His grip tightens on me, and he opens his eyes.

"Hey Cait," his sleep-weary voice says.

He kisses me on the forehead, intimately, and I blush redder than his suit.

"Where are- oh. Oh."

I think he's finally cottoned onto the events of the previous day.

I give him a tired smile. "Want breakfast?"

A twinge of something works its way into my stomach.

I want nothing more in this moment to kiss him, and enjoy the peace created by the moment.

But I know he'll regret it when he comes out of the coma. He'll blame me, and I'll have to move amidst all the pain of heartbreak, and it'll be worse than when Ronnie died, because he doesn't want me.

He wants Iris.

It repeats in my head like a mantra, sucking the sunshine out of what should be a tranquil moment.

"Cait?" Barry's voice snaps me from my thoughts.

"Sorry. I just drifted off for a bit there."

"I can tell. So, what do you want for breakfast?"

"I have no idea. But you are staying in bed today, mister."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. I don't care if I have to put you in the meta-human prison with a bed, you are officially on bed rest."

"No."

I see this going nowhere, but under no circumstances am I willing to admit defeat.

"Please, Barry," I move my face closer to his, and he sucks in a bated breath, "You just came out of a coma. Please can I look after you?"

"Grr...Fine."

I smile widely. "We'll be making blanket forts tonight anyway. I need to go grocery shopping, and you will be hooked up to all the machines we brought home."

"Fine. But can I request something for breakfast?"

"Depends on what it is, but I see a range of perfectly acceptable foods for you to eat that you like."

"Can I have waffles?"

"I admit, I expected something more like Big Belly Burger, but it's okay."

"I'm not that unhealthy."

"Whatever you say. Now, be a good patient, and lose the shirt so I can hook you up."

An awkward moment ensues.

"That came out wrong."

"Ya think?" Barry says, and we both sit up, Barry pulling off his shirt and me stretching to attempt to get up.

I get off the bed, remember something, and facepalm. "I'm an idiot. And possibly the worst medical practitioner ever."

"Why?" Barry leans back on his elbows.

I rush into my room, pulling a dress from my closet.

"I LEFT MEDICAL EQUIPMENT IN MY CAR!" I pull it over my head and run, grabbing a pair of heels and my keys, flinging open the door.

I should've known he would have done something.

A second later, I'm sitting next to Barry on his bed with the medical equipment in a neat pile by the door.

"Wow. Um, normally I would yell at you, but thank you." I say breathlessly.

"You're welcome. Now get these machines on me, because the faster you do so, the faster I can have waffles!"

"Okay. Um, get comfy. You probably won't require any needles."

I retrieve three small units.

"What do they do?" Barry asks, surprising me. I'd always assumed he knew what they were, or didn't care to know.

I hold up a small white unit that Cisco has dubbed 'The Toaster TV'.

"This is a modified version of a pacemaker. It measures heart rate and stuff, but it is attuned to your usual statistics."

I hold up another machine, light green in colour with a holographic display flashing at the top.

"This measures your calorie intake, your body mass index and your glucose levels."

Finally I hold up a small white machine.

"This is a sedative I've been toying with for a while. It's enough to kill an elephant, but in your case should put you to sleep for a good four days. I couldn't adjust the dosage, otherwise you'd feel the pain. I worked it out with a simulation."

"So what's the heart rate that triggers it?"

"Uh, 360." Cisco was 98% sure that any higher would have disastrous consequences.

I affix them, then retrieve the last couple, placing them on the bed before opening the large med kit on the floor by the foot of the bed.

I then turn my attention to the last two. A small thing resembling an ordinary timer I stuck onto his heart, and checked my tablet to make sure the data corresponded.

It did, so I turned my attention to the last device. It was a waistband, similar to the one used when I was sceptical of Barry's powers.

Barry arched his back as I enclosed my arms around his well-defined shape, and tried to focus on putting the waistband on.

I adjusted it to his ribs and pulled out my phone, concentrating on the data flowing wirelessly.

That's when I be come aware of the loud, erratic beeping of the heart monitor.

"Barry?! What's the matter?" My cheeks warm when I realise why it was beeping so erratically.

"Okay. I-" I point at myself, pulling the cover from under then over Barry, "Amd going shopping, and you-" I point at him, "Will be sleeping when I get back."

"Okay."

I inch my eyebrow up.

"Okay, fine." He adjusts the covers for a second, then turns over exaggeratedly to the side.

"Kay." I smile, then go to my room and get dressed. I come out, yell a quick 'bye' at Barry, and then I'm off.

I get into my car and hit the grocery store.

Unfortunately, I have to circle around for ages for a parking space.

I get out, patience wearing thin.

I grab a trolley and accidentally collide trolleys with a handsome guy.

"Sorry," we say at the same time, and I note he has a British accent.

Correction to the above: handsome British guy.

And I'm a sucker for an accent.

"No really, I'm sorry." I say, cheeks tinging with pink.

"I'm Ben." He comes around the side of the trolley, and shakes my hand.

"I'm Caitlin."

Weird.

I usually introduce myself as Dr. Snow.

He places a kiss to the back of my hand, and butterflies, similar to the ones I have with Barry- wait, no- rise in my stomach.

"I'm sorry, this is weird, but would you- Um, will- Would you please accompany me somewhere?"

I pause for a beat, then shake off my remaining doubts.

"It's not that weird. And okay, where to?"

He shows a nervous smile, and a hot liquid pours into my stomach. He holds my hand, and looks back into my eyes.

"Now, come with me, Caitlin Snow, and you'll find out."

"Okay." I giggle like a schoolgirl.

Why shouldn't I go?

A little wriggle of doubt pounds my brain incessantly. Why couldn't I leave and spend the rest of my life with him?

Then suddenly, Ben touches my back and all the doubt goes away.

I abandon my trolley and walk with him.

I sit in the passenger seat of his car, and don't even notice the needle go into my neck.

The next thing I know, everything is black.

A/N: So everything is scary-like now, but I cannot give away the ending. Though I am considering killing off Caitlin.

How's that for a possible spoiler?