A/N: Okay, so this is a bit of an experiment for me as the Flash is a pretty new show and I don't really know the characters yet, but I really wanted to give it a try.

Please leave a review if you want this developed into a drabble series!

It is always the small things that catch his eyes.

A sad look in her eyes when she thinks he's not looking, a tiny smile when he cracks a joke, an occasional pat on the back or touch on the arm.

None of which should produce this kind of reaction in him. These feelings seem out of place, unusual, especially after he had thought that he was in love with Iris.

What he feels for Caitlin, however, is different. She is…

"Barry?"

He turns at the sound of his name, feeling himself smile despite the interruption to his thoughts. He can't help it - there is just something about her, something that makes him happy.

"I'm surprised to find you here, still," Caitlin continues, stepping around the desk to join him at the window. "Everything okay?"

Barry doesn't meet her eyes. How does he tell her that he had had a realization, that he had finally moved on from Iris and had somehow developed feelings for her?

"Everything's fine," he replies, unconsciously shifting closer to her. "I've just been...thinking."

"Thinking? That's new," she scoffs playfully, then looks at him to gage his reaction to her words. Joking is still new to her, and she often looks to him for reassurance.

He rolls his eyes and grins at her. "Very funny."

The answering smile she gives him, though small, rewards his efforts.

"Seriously, Barry, what's up?" she continues in a more serious tone.

For a second, he debates telling her, getting his feelings out in the open right away. However, as he opens his mouth, he says instead, "It's nothing. I just was hoping that you were okay after...well, after everything that happened today."

"Oh," her eyes fall and a frown appears on her lips. Inwardly, he curses himself for bringing it up in one of the few moments he gets to spend with her. "It was hard," she admits, "seeing you all bruised and bleeding like that, but I'm okay." She lowers her voice wryly. "I'm getting used to that part of the job, now."

"I should have listened to you."

"That's what I always tell you." They have a routine now - Caitlin tells him before every mission to be careful, to pause and evaluate the situation before jumping in, but that never seems to be a viable option in the moment.

"And I still never listen."

"Never," she agrees sadly.

"I'm sorry." He means it - he is sorry that she had to see him broken like that, had to patch him up because he had lost the first battle with today's metahuman. "I really will be more careful next time I fight this guy. Does Cisco have a name for him yet?"

"Not yet," she replies, her eyes lightening as they change the subject from Barry's injuries. "He's working on it, though."

"Good."

They stand together in silence for a moment, but a comfortable silence. Neither feel the need to be constantly talking if there is nothing to say - one of their biggest similarities.

Finally, Caitlin puts a gentle hand on his arm and asks, "Barry, how are you really doing? And I want the truth this time, not some simplified response that tells me nothing. I know today was tough for you."

"You don't know the half of it," he responds before he could think about his words.

Caitlin had found him, unconscious in a brick alley, early that morning after his fight with the metahuman. The guy's power was to absorb an substance and to change his whole body into that material. Unfortunately, the alley was made of brick, which explain why Barry hadn't stood a chance against him.

"I was there, remember?" she insists. "I saw what happened to you."

"I was already healing by the time you arrived," he protests, trying to cover up the part he wasn't telling her, the part about his feelings for her.

"You were still unconscious."

He nods his head to her, admitting that she has a point.

In fact, it was waking up to the sight of her leaning over him, tears in her eyes showing how concerned she was, that had made him realize that he felt more than friendship for her.

"Anyway, I'm feeling fine now." It is the truth, more or less. He feels fine except for the bruises still coating his body that even his rapid rate of healing haven't managed to fix yet. "And besides, who else can say that they know what it feels like to be hit in the head with a ton of bricks?"

Her lips quirk upwards in something that looks suspiciously like an attempt to control laughter. "That's not funny, Barry," she scolds him, but the look in her eyes tells him that she isn't serious.

"Oh come on," he leans towards her, "you want to laugh."

"No," she protests, shaking her head. However, now she is smiling widely, a smile that transforms her normally pretty face into something breathtakingly beautiful.

"I did it," Barry announces, holding his arms out to the empty room. "I finally got Caitlin Snow to almost laugh."

"Barry-" she tries to interrupt, but he doesn't let her.

"Hang on, Caitlin, this is my moment. Let me enjoy it."

"Fine, I'll just be leaving then," she threatens, turning to walk away.

"Wait," the word comes out before he can stop it.

She turns back to him, a questioning look in her eyes and one eyebrow arched.

"Thank you," he says simply, taking a couple steps towards her and then enfolding her in his arms. "For being there for me."

She rests her head against him and hugs him back. "Always."

This moment is the most intimate one they had ever shared.

Barry savours every second of the embrace, loving the feeling of her in his arms, of being able to hold her close for the first time.

He never wants to let her go.

So, I don't really know what that was or how awful it turned out, but please review and let me know if I should expand this or not!