A/N: Longer than usual. Thank you again for reading! Let me know what you all think, but most of all please enjoy! :)

I do not own Flash or Characters.

Chapter 17

Waking up next to Caitlin was quickly becoming one of Barry's favorite things. He smiled looking down at the woman in his arms. She looked so peaceful and comfortable. He loved watching her sleep. Glancing at the clock on her night stand, he sighed. Time for work.

He rolled over, gently disentangling himself from Caitlin. "Barry." She mumbled, "go back to bed."

He couldn't help but let a quiet chuckle leave his lips.

"Baby, I have to go to work." He whispered.

She grumbled in response. Her head still resting on his chest, she placed a kiss where her lips could reach before rolling away from him to let him leave. Barry sped through his morning routine in record time. Just before he walked out the door, Barry leaned down on the other side of her bed coming face to face with Caitlin. "I'm leaving Cait. I'll call you at lunch. I love you, babe." He kissed her forehead.

She sighed in response, a smile blooming across her face. Barry walked out of her apartment and headed to the precinct with the same smile on his face that Caitlin continued to sleep with on her face.

Things were good for now. It has only been a week since Iris and Barry broke up. Barry went over to Caitlin's apartment every night and cuddled up to her small frame. He was still uncomfortable staying at his apartment. Caitlin's taken to calling him during her lunch break just to hear his voice and he is just awful with time. They sent cute little text messages throughout the day bringing smiles to their faces. For a few days, that was all they needed.

As promised Barry had called Oliver, only to discover they were coming to Central City this weekend for business and wanted to know if they could meet up with them for dinner. Caitlin beamed when he had told her they were coming into town. Cisco decided Saturday night was a good night that worked with everyone's schedules. Caitlin had called Thea during the week to invite her and the rest of the gang from Star City.

As promised, Barry picked Caitlin up for dinner. Barry had wanted to go all out with flowers, a fancy restaurant and all the romantic quirks of an over-the-top first date should have, but she just wanted a quiet, familial place tonight. He agreed, tucking his ideas away for their real, official first date.

Jay had gotten to the club early, eager to spend time with Catlin outside of STAR Labs. Cisco had told him that she would be arriving with Caitlin. He knew but it still angered him when she walked into the club hold his hand. He quickly shook that overpowering anger away and focused on how she looked.

Caitlin had decided to doll up a bit for the night out. She wore a long sleeve short black dress. There were sparkles and the shimmering material caught the lights in the club only making her more beautiful. Even though she wore heels every day, she wore black heels that were definitely going to hurt her feet by the end of the night, if not the morning. Her hair was done in long curls and only subtle hints of make up on her face but more than enough to catch the eyes of men with only four steps into the club.

Jay's eyes darkened with a sharp satisfaction as his eyes raked over her body. His eyes followed all over her body, craving to see more of her exposed skin. But he didn't just want to look, he wanted to touch, to feel, to ravage. He took two steps toward her when a tall, blonde, brutish looking man appeared in front of her. Jay had previously seen him with a bouncy blonde earlier, although she was now seen talking to Cisco.

"What the hell are you wearing?" The man asked placing his hands on her shoulders. Barry excused himself from the two to get drinks.

"That's the first thing you say to me when you see me? Not 'Hey, Baby girl! Missed you so much! You look absolutely stunning! You're the best person in the entire world!'" She mocked in Oliver's voice.

"Fine." He sighed, giving her a small smile. "Hey, Caity! It's so nice to see you again!" He gave her a fake smile.

She laughed loudly, "Hi, Ollie!" She threw her arms around his shoulders as he hugged her waist.

Jay felt an over powering jealousy. He walked over to the two and was close to ripping the man off her. But Oliver pulled her away from her hug.

"I do not sound like that by the way. That was just horrible." Oliver teased. "And of course, I miss you! Felicity has been dying to come visit you for a while. She said she really needs to talk to you about something. You know how she gets."

"Hmm… I wonder what she wants to talk about. We never have any secrets between us." Caitlin looked thoughtful for a moment and Oliver's eyes twitched for a second.

Just then Jay walked up to Caitlin. "Hey, Caitlin! You look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you, Jay." She thanked him awkwardly, "Oliver, this is Jay. A colleague of mine from STAR Labs. Jay, this is Oliver, he's my brother, of sorts." She introduced them.

Oliver held out his hand to shake Jay's, putting on an intimidating glare. He has heard of some of the things Jay has done to make Caitlin uncomfortable in his brief calls with Barry. One look at the man and Oliver already didn't like him.

"Nice to meet you." Oliver greeted, pleasantries.

"It's a pleasure!" Jay smiled.

Barry came waltzing back over towards the three of them. His arm wrapping itself around Caitlin's waist, she naturally responded to his touch by leaning into him.

"Jay! Hey, nice to see you again." Barry gave him a smile.

Jay glared at him briefly before smiling and nodding his head in acknowledgement.

"Cait, our drinks are back at the table with Felicity." Barry mumbled into her ear. "Speaking of Felicity, Oliver you wife is looking for you."

"C'mon, Barry." Caitlin said pulling Barry towards their table by his hand.

Barry didn't object but entwined their fingers together with a smile.

Oliver gave Jay a smirk before following the couple.

Caitlin had separated herself from Barry to catch up with the rest of the girls. Thea had invited Laurel and Sara as promised. The girls had all hugged and laughed catching up on things that have happened. Laurel and Tommy were talking about a next step in their relationship. Thea had taken up managing Verdant's business with Tommy because Oliver was just too busy. When Caitlin asked what he was so busy with they all stared at her for moment before Sara jumped in that he was taking extra responsibilities at Queen Consolidated. They all nodded fervently agreeing but never speaking. Felicity was the one to change the topic.

It was when Laurel's favorite song came on that she pulled Sara and Thea out to dance. Caitlin had every intention of joining them when Felicity asked if she could talk to her alone.

"What's wrong, Lissy?" Caitlin asked sitting back down closer to her.

"Oliver and I have talked about… having a baby. And I know I want to but he doesn't. At least not right now, but with him going out there every night and I-I just don't know how–"

"Out where?"

Felicity's eyes widened in her mistake. "Uhh… out… out at the Verdant!"

"But I thought Thea took over to help lessen his stress load. He should be free at nights now that he is working at Queen Consolidated." Caitlin scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.

"Never mind. Just ignore that. I need some advice. Should I try talking to him again or should I just wait? What if he is never ready? What if–" Felicity began to ramble off her worries.

"Lissy, just breathe. I think you should be honest with him. It is still early in life but if that's what you want then go for it and talk to him about it. It's Ollie, Lissy. He adores you in every way. I'm sure he will hear you out. All it takes is a talk."

"You're right."

"I usually am." Caitlin smiled at her best girl friend. "And you can always call me if you need me."

"I know, Thank you!" Felicity gave her a quick hug. "Now tell me, what's been going on with you and Barry? I noticed he didn't come here with Iris. You want to tell me what that is all about?"

"Oh jeez. Where to start? Okay, so Iris and Eddie have been sleeping together behind Barry's back. They broke up. He has been staying at my place."

"Aww I'm so happy!" Caitlin lifted an eyebrow and waited for the information to process in the young blonde. "Oh! I didn't mean happy for Iris cheating on Barry! That is just horrible! Or rather whorable, if you know what I mean. Heh. I know that was rude and I shouldn't be saying that. I take it back. But! I am happy for you! You and Barry deserve each other." She ended her long babble with a smile and a squeeze of her hand in Caitlin.

"The thing is, I don't hate Iris. I don't know her well enough. And Barry has loved her. She is an amazing woman and I am happy for her to finally be with Eddie, but I hate the fact that she had to hurt Barry so badly for that to happen. He loved her. He will probably always love her. We are still figuring things out right now between us. But I don't want anyone else. Barry is it for me. But he needs time to heal from the pain Iris caused."

"Caity, if you can't see how that boy looks at you as if you are the only woman in the room, then you are blind." Felicity smiled as she saw Barry's eyes drift yet again back to Caitlin as he talked with Oliver and Cisco. "He is even looking at you now."

Caitlin glanced over her shoulder making eye contact with Barry. A smirk forming on his lips as he nodded to her turning back to the conversation with the guys.

"You two will be just fine. I know it." Felicity gave Caitlin's hand another squeeze before pulling her towards where Laurel and the other girls were dancing.

Barry had given Caitlin a sweet kiss on the cheek as she left to join the other girls for a bit of gossip. He knows Caitlin has missed Felicity and with her lack of female friends in Central City she was craving some girl talk.

He sat at the table with Cisco, Oliver, Diggle and Jay. There were vaguely familiar faces surrounding the area. Other members of STAR Labs that had come to join the celebration but veered off into their own groups.

"It's too bad Dr. Wells couldn't make it. Apparently, Jesse's sick. He gave us a few days off so he can go visit her on campus. She is loving it." Cisco said with a roll of his eyes.

Diggle snorted in laughter. Barry just grinned. He had met Dr. Wells a few times before. The man was brilliant in every possible way. Barry greatly admired him. He lifted his glass to take a sip when Oliver started talking.

"So apparently mom wants to meet you." Barry choked.

"She does? I didn't think she would."

Oliver gives him a pointed stare. "She wanted me to formally invite you to a Queen family dinner. She goes all out. So, bring an appetite. It'll be in two weeks."

"Okay." Barry felt very nervous to meet Moira. He has heard so many things about her, good and bad. She is very opinionated and picky, or so he has heard from Caitlin. "Yeah, that's fine, I guess."

"You guess?" Oliver questioned.

"To be honest I'm a little nervous to meet her. I mean I got lucky, I already know Carla and her new husband. I didn't think I'd have to meet another parent. One that Caitlin has such a high opinion of..." Barry trailed off.

"Yeah, she is a tough one. She disapproves of just about everyone. Hated Ronnie when Caity dated him, hated Laurel when I dated her, hates Felicity now. Clashing perspectives; or so she says." Oliver nodded, "But if Felicity and I can work, so can you and Caity."

This made Barry feel better. He smiled. He can clearly see how in love Oliver and Felicity are together. That gave him the bit of hope he needed to make it through an evening with Moira Queen.

"So rumor has it we start work on the PA next week." Cisco whispering loudly to the entire table.

"Cisco, that's top secret!" Jay exclaimed.

"Oh please, guarantee Caitlin already told them about it." Cisco shushed him.

Barry smiled in acknowledgement to what Cisco just said. They told each other everything. Oliver nodded in response, "That's the reason she was asked to work at STAR Labs." Diggle seemed to be lost to all the science behind the particle accelerator.

"C'mon, Dig. Come with me to get everyone drinks. We are celebrating here! And I will explain the science behind STAR Labs." Cisco said as he and Diggle headed toward the bar. An upbeat tune started playing from the speakers.

"Oh no." Oliver said turning towards the crowds to watch the girls dance. Sara was on her way back from the DJ an excited smile on her face. Laurel and Thea had their arms up in the air.

"What?" Barry said, his eyes following Oliver's line of vision.

"'Girls Just Want to Have Fun' started playing from the speakers. This is usually the song they do crazy things to. Usually Sara's fault. She's a dare-devil."

Barry just laughed as his eyes lingered on Caitlin, her hand in Felicity's as they swayed and jumped to the music. A wide smile spread across her face. She never looked more beautiful to him.

Jay finally had the chance to talk to Barry without Caitlin around.

"Hey Barry," Jay called his attention.

Barry nodded his head in acknowledgement but his eye never left Caitlin. "Yeah?"

"So, I was wondering, are you and Caitlin like… a thing now?"

Oliver turned his head to glare at Jay. No one was ever good enough for his little sister. Except maybe Barry. He still needs to decide if he approved of Barry. He definitely made her happy and that was enough for now.

This question caught Barry's attention. He finally turned to look at Jay, eyebrows furrowed. For once, he wasn't jealous.

"Hmm… no not technically. I just broke things off with Iris. Things are still fragile right now. She's just a friend, my best friend."

Jay smiled in excitement. "So, you wouldn't mind if I asked her out?" He eagerly asked.

Barry opened his mouth to reply but Oliver was too quick.

"He might not but I certainly do mind!" Queen growled out.

This made Jay angry. "I don't believe you have a say, Mr. Queen."

"Out of every man here, I have the most say in who she can and cannot date. I would like to think I know Caity well enough to know that she can do a hell of a lot better than a 2nd rate science geek like you when she can get a 1st rate science nerd like him." Oliver pointed to Barry.

Barry smiled at Oliver's approval. "I was going to say you can ask her out, but I am 98% sure she will say no. And that other 2% says she would say yes just to get under my skin if she was mad at me. Which she's not so, yeah. You can ask her but she'll say no." He shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't being cocky; he was being confident. He knows Caitlin that well. Any uneasy feelings he had about her relationship with Jay was squashed earlier this week. He knew where he stood with Caitlin.

The girls started heading back to the table just as Jay stood up and punch Barry in the jaw. Oliver quickly pulled Jay off him and threw him away from the group. Diggle and Cisco on their way back with drinks saw the commotion and quickened their pace.

"Barry! Oh my gosh!" Caitlin rushed over to help Barry up. "Are you okay?" Her fingers brushing against his reddened skin.

"I'm fine, babe." He said taking her hand in his, "I'm okay. He just got a little angry at the way the conversation was headed."

Caitlin had an idea of what it was about, her. She knew Jay had a strong dislike of Barry. He had begun saying rude things about him during the work day. Times when Barry would be late to call her during lunch or when she would come to work with a frown on her face because she had forgotten something at home and he would immediately think it was because of Barry. It was really hard to keep herself in a professional place when he would make a remark about him. But they weren't at work anymore.

"Jay! You have no right to throw punches at anybody you want. You need to control that anger, not let it control you!" She reprimanded him firmly.

"Caity!" Oliver said holding her back by the shoulders as she attempted to step towards Jay.

"Caitlin," Jay lightened his voice ignoring her words entirely, "I like you, go on a date with me." He begged.

"Jay," she released an exasperated sigh, "listen, no Barry and I are not together, together. But he has been and always will be the number one man in my life since my father died. I don't know what happened here, nor do I care. But you hurt him, intentionally! And that is not something I can forgive lightly. You want me to choose between you and Barry? There is no choice because I will always choose Barry every time. Every. Single. Time. So, no. I will not go on a date with you. Quite frankly, I don't even want to be friends with you if this is how you act in public. I think its best if you leave Jay." Caitlin exploded. Every insult to Barry fueling her fire.

Silence filled the moments after Caitlin spoke. Jay was left speechless and humiliated. He left with a grumble and a glare in Barry's direction.

"Woah!" Felicity broke the tension.

"Way to go Caity!" Laurel cheered.

"Damn, I felt the heat from that fire!" Thea laughed.

"Now that's rejection with girl power." Sara congratulated proudly.

Barry walked forward and wrapped his arms around Caitlin, hiding her from the compliments she felt she didn't deserve. "I love you." He whispered quietly in her ear so only she heard. She blushed before hugging him back tightly.

"My, my Caity. You leave home and suddenly think you can fight all the big bads that target you. What's the point of having an older brother then?" Oliver let out a small laugh before taking Caitlin's face in hands and giving her a short kiss on the forehead. "They grow up too fast."

She swatted his shoulder. "I blame Felicity!" She smiled.

"Me! For what?" Said girl frantically questioned.

"For making Ollie so soft." Laughter erupted all around the table.

Cisco and Diggle passed out the drinks they got for everyone. Sara chugging down Jay's extra drink. The music started to slow down, signaling closer to the end of the night.

Barry pulled Caitlin's hand as he ushered her to the dance floor. "Dance with me?"

"I already am." She replied as her arms wrapped around his neck. She leaned her head on his chest. They fit perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. Caitlin lifted her hand to his jaw, a bruise already was already forming.

"I'm sorry he fought you over me."

"Trust me Cait. You are more than worth it." He whispered, his eyes gleaming with honesty.

Her eyes were shining in appreciation. She leaned up and kissed his jaw where the bruise was forming. "You are too good for me."

He just smiles as they continue to sway for a few more songs. Soon after she let a small yawn slip by her lips. She tried to stifle it but Barry saw it clear as day.

"You're tired? Let's get you home." He pulled away and took her hand leading her back to the table.

"Caitlin's feeling a little tired so we are going to head home." He pulled his jacket from the seat and placed it over her shoulders. Her eyes were starting to droop. Alcohol and exhaustion catching up to the young bioengineer.

"You're just dropping her off, right?" Cisco asked teasing his two friends.

"Oh, shush you! If he wants to sleep with Caity, let him sleep with Caity!" Felicity replied for Barry, holding her husband's hand as he looked ready to protest the idea of him sleeping with Caitlin.

Barry shook his head in amusement. "I just want to take care of her."

Oliver hummed approvingly. Finally he relented to Felicity's insistent pulling of his arm in the direction of the dance floor. A quick, "Goodnight guys! We'll meet up tomorrow for lunch," over his shoulder.

"Sounds good." The two said their goodbyes to everyone before heading out of the club and onto the streets of Central City.

The walk back to her apartment was short but took longer than normal with Caitlin dozing off here and there, while heavily leaning on Barry in order to stand upright. He found it adorable more than annoying.

"Barry, I'm really tired." She mumbled to him.

"we're almost home. Just a few more minutes and you'll be in bed."

"And you'll be with me?" He tightened his arm around her.

"If you want me to, I will. I can always take the couch."

"If you're gonna stay at my apartment, you might as well stay in my bed. Besides, I like waking up next you."

Barry didn't reply, he just smiled at her. He leaned down and kissed her hair, pulling her up the stairs in her apartment building.

Once they made it through the door, Caitlin stumbled her way to her bedroom. Barry followed quickly behind, making sure she didn't fall and hurt herself. When he did enter her bedroom, she was already stripping out of her beautiful black dress.

She was tired, slightly drunk and in her struggle to remove the dress she was having trouble with the sleeves.

"A little help please." She sighed frustrated and exasperated hanging her arms in defeat.

Barry barely registered her request. He was distracted by her lack of top. Her chest was exposed besides a simple black bra. He shook his head, trying (and failing) to focus on her words rather than her body.

"Hmm?" he mumbled in question before realizing she needed help taking her dress off. "Oh. Right. Yeah. Sure. Of course." He stumbled around to unzip the dress the rest of the way down her back. The dress pooled to the floor and Caitlin stepped out of it.

"There you go again. Saving me from that evil dress." She said pointing at the dress.

Barry couldn't comprehend anything she was saying. He tried so hard to remove his eyes at her indecent appearance. He turned around in search of something for her to cover up in. When he turned around she had already fallen onto the bed. He shook his head. "Cait, you need to put something on." She grumbled in response.

"Shirt." She reached up to him. "Gimmie shirt." Her eyes were heavy but she smiled playfully up at him. So, endearing.

He sat down next to her on the bed, but he couldn't contain his laughter. She was just too adorable. It should have been sexy her asking for his shirt but she asked so innocently, he couldn't refuse.

He unbuttoned his dress shirt and handed it to her. She shuffled to put it on.

"I'm okay now, Barry. Just tired."

"Don't go to sleep yet, Cait. You still need to brush your teeth and all that."

She groaned in protest before shuffling out of bed and heading straight for the bathroom. He shrugged his shoes off and picked up her dress up throwing it in the hamper. He puts her heels back in the closet. When he came back out, she was in bed again. He rushed through his nightly routine before following her into bed.

"Goodnight, Caitlin." He kissed her forehead, while wrapping his arms around her stomach.

"G'night, Barr. I love you." She sighed, satisfied, and let sleep happily take her.

"I love you too." He smiled, before he too fell asleep.

Hope you all enjoyed! All feedback is welcome. Until next time!