So much of it was a blur. Her mind raced with thoughts that were deafening and yet so strangely, eerily silent. She tried to take a step to do...something - anything, but her head spun, vertigo taking over. She gripped the back of the chair in front of her just to have something ground her as her chest constricted painfully, the oxygen in her lungs feeling stolen.

Suddenly, Cisco took a hold of her shoulders, shaking her, frantically shouting at her, but so much of what he was saying was not reaching her ears. It wasn't until he forced her to look at her office that she saw Ralph gently lying Barry on the cot. Even from that distance she could see how battered and bloodied he was.

In that moment, everything seemed to snap back into reality.

How did they get here? Cisco? When did Cisco even leave? She found herself questioning, but didn't even bother asking them out loud. Barry needed her. The professional in her took over as she hurried to her office and immediately scrubbed herself in.

It took much longer than anything she had done before, predominantly because so many of his bones had been broken and fractured in multiple places. She was fighting a losing race with his speedy healing, so she had to re-break some of his bones just so they could properly heal. Not to mention he had suffered from internal bleeding and punctured lungs, among other things she couldn't even remember at the moment because her brain and hands were working on autopilot while her heart retreated.

By the time she had finished up, the Cortex behind her was nearly dark. She took a step back and had to immediately turn away from all of the wires, bandages, and casts covering his body.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Her head shot up at Ralph's voice, who was looking at her with concern, but his own face couldn't mask the fear he was displaying. Neither was Cisco's, who was not far behind him.

"He's…He's...stable, for now, at least," she started, licking her lips as she forced the emotions welling up inside her back down. "I put him into an induced coma to keep his healing speeding up uninterrupted. After that, it'll be up to Barry as to whether he wants to...wake up or not," she finished with a shake of her head, steeling herself to hold her composure for just a little longer.

She took a deep breath. "What happened?" she quietly asked, her morbid curiosity getting the best of her.

Ralph glanced at Cisco first before turning back to her. "Fistpuncher threw a refrigerator at him…"

She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments. "That...would be consistent with his injuries," she merely said, trying to stop her imagination from thinking up the incident since it wouldn't do her any good.

"I'm going to head out and check in on our victim, but I'll see you guys later," Ralph then said, laying a comforting touch to Caitlin's arm while nodding towards Cisco. "Let me know if there are any updates."

As the Elongated Man left the room, Caitlin chanced a glance Barry's way and immediately a few tears fell down her cheeks, and a couple more after that, breaking the dam that her professionalism had built up.

Cisco quickly came forward and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as best as he could. "Why don't you go home...get some rest," he softly suggested.

She pulled herself away from her friend's embrace, wiping a few residual tears from her cheeks as she gently shook her head. "He's stable, but barely," she pointed out. "I need to be here in case something goes wrong…" - her eyes took in Barry's battered form as she gently placed her hand into his - "I just need to be here with him," she whispered wretchedly.

Her friend solemnly nodded, before pulling up two chairs next to Barry's side for them to sit and wait.

…

It was almost a full 24-hours later when Barry's eyes fluttered. "Cait?" he rasped out, a low groan following it, his face pinching in pain.

The doctor immediately stood on her feet, taking his hand. "Try not to move too much, Barry. Your body is still recovering."

He minutely nodded his head as his eyes roamed over her face carefully. "How long was I out this time?"

Her eyes went downcast, all the emotions she had gone through the last two days rising up in her stomach like she was plunging down the track of a rollercoaster. "It's been 36 or so hours since you got hit."

Barry didn't say anything at first, but he squeezed her hand, and just that action - the fact that he could - nearly unraveled her. "Hey," he let out softly, "Cait, look at me."

But she couldn't. Only because she knew the second she locked eyes with him that she would further unravel. Cry from the residual anguish and fear. Cry from the relief. All her feelings were rising to the surface - all of them - and she was afraid that her true feelings for him were going to overflow, because dammit, she almost lost him!

"Did the hit mess up my face that badly?" he tried to joke.

Caitlin's face twisted in displeasure. "Please don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't joke about it," she answered tensively, her eyes watching their interlocked hands, the warmth radiating from his hold reassuring her that he was fine - that he was alive. "You could've-"

"I didn't," he cut in softly, but hasn't she heard this all before? Numerous times, at that!

"But you did!" she hollered back, ripping her hand from his and taking a step back. "When you got here, you weren't even breathing, Barry!"

Now that her sadness was displaced with frustration, she finally dared to meet his eyes. He looked lost in a sea of wires and bandages, his face tender and pleading.

He dipped his head down, his eyes searching hers. "But I'm fine now."

She knew he was trying to reassure her. She knew he was just trying to see the bright side of things. He was Barry - Freakin' Positive - Allen, but it only triggered more aggravation. "You also would've been fine if you had just listened to me!"

"I couldn't let Fistpuncher get away!"

"He got away anyway!"

He deflated, knowing she was right in that aspect. "I couldn't not try, Caitlin," he then said. "I can't stop trying to be a hero!"

"But you can stop me?" she briskly asked, the sting from his refusal reawakening.

He sighed. "Caitlin…"

"The day before, you had literally said that I was doing an amazing job in training and that I could go out in the field with you, but then when that time comes, you basically forbade me from it," she recounted angrily. "Did you lie thinking I wouldn't fuck you otherwise?"

"No!" he hastily denied, his face exasperated. "I wasn't lying about that!"

"About that? So there is something you're lying about?!" She knew she was being irrational at the moment but she couldn't seem to stop herself. And It didn't help that Barry got eerily quiet, his gaze on her contrite. Her stomach dropped. "What are you hiding, Barry?"

"Cait…" he started, his arm outstretching to her, but the doctor only shook her head as she took another step back.

She was only a few feet away but it felt like a canyon had forged between them.

"Hey! Look who finally decided to wake up!" Cisco happily hollered as he entered the room, arms filled with their breakfast, only to freeze when he picked up on the palpable tension between his two friends. "Is...is everything alright?" he asked, his head turning from her to Barry and back again.

"I need some air," she said quietly before making a beeline out of the room.

She was nearing the elevator when a hand gently grabbed her elbow, halting her actions. She turned, relief flooding her when she saw it was only Cisco, but she couldn't help herself from feeling a tad disappointed that it wasn't Barry, despite knowing he was in no condition to be running after her.

"Hey, what happened in there?"

Tears were already welling up in her eyes as the last few days came down heavy on her. "He almost died, Cisco! He almost died and he's in there making light of it! Like the both of us and Joe and everyone else haven't been petrified that he wouldn't wake up for the last two days."

"You know how he is."

She sighed. "I know, but everything is still so fresh and I just...I can't pretend I didn't work hours in surgery to keep him alive and spend even longer praying to any entity that could exist for him to recover and come back to us," she said, her voice cracking at the end.

.

Cisco's eyes softened as he reached up, his hands grasping her upper arms. "Just remember, that you did save him. Okay? That he is fine now."

She let out a watery huff. "And what about next time? Or the time after that?" she questioned, her tone hopeless. "I don't think I can do this…" she whispered.

Her friend's brows furrowed. "Don't think you can do what?"

She shook her head and crossed her arms, refusing to let him further into her psych. "I'm just tired, Cisco…"

"Then go home and sleep."

"But-"

"He's awake and fine," he interrupted her. "And just like you're going to tell him to keep resting, you need to as well, because I know you haven't slept," he told her, looking at her pointedly, and she had the decency to look a little ashamed. "And while your feelings are more than valid, you being cranky on top of being emotionally wrecked and stressed is not going to help anything."

Caitlin sighed, but she knew Cisco was right, on all fronts. "Fine," she relented, "but make sure he doesn't leave that bed - I don't care if there is a meta or whatever. You or Ralph handle it. He needs to rest!"

"Yes, ma'am," her long-haired friend said with a salute.

She rolled her eyes, but the resulting smile was something she definitely needed. "Thanks, Cisco," she then said, reaching over to give him a grateful hug before leaving to go home.

.

"So...do you want to talk about your fight with Caitlin?" Cisco asked hours later as they were eating their dinner.

Since he hadn't mentioned it earlier, Barry had thought he dropped it - hoped he had dropped it - but evidently not. He finished chewing his Big Belly Burger before answering. "I made a joke in light of my injuries and she wasn't having any of it."

"You know she never likes when you do that."

"I know!" Barry insisted, before shaking his head, frustrated with himself. "But she just wouldn't look at me, and - and I don't know. I just saw that she was so sad and then I tried reassuring her, but that only got her madder."

"She was scared, dude," his friend told him. "I mean, she's always scared - we all are - when you come back hurt, but this one scared the daylights out of all of us. It was even worse than what happened that one time with your spine from Zoom."

Barry's head dropped back against the pillow, clamping his eyes shut. "I'm so stupid."

"I think that's been established, yeah."

The speedster cracked open an eye to playfully glare at his friend before sighing. "Is she coming back tonight?"

"She didn't say anything about coming back tonight, no."

He bit his lip, contemplative. "Then I need to go see her."

"I don't know..."

"But I'm fine," Barry insisted, straightening up. "Like brand new," he further elaid, even though his one arm still felt sore, but that would be better in no time.

His friend narrowed his eyes. "A certain doctor might kill me for letting you leave..."

And despite knowing he could easily zip out there without an issue, he pleaded for his friend's permission. "Please, Cisco. I really need to make this right."

The long-haired man let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, fine!" he gave in. "Darn my hopeless-romanticness."

The speedster chuckled as he jumped out of the bed, patting Cisco on the back. "Thanks, man," he said, before flashing away to his next destination.

.

Running a hand through his hair, he trepidly looked at the door before him. He switched the grocery bag that was in his left hand to his right, only to switch it back to his left. It had been hours since their fight, but he was worried that she would still be upset at him. Caitlin wasn't known for holding grudges, but she could still be...cold, for the lack of a better word.

"Here goes nothing," he whispered to himself before he knocked, letting out a deep breath after he did.

The seconds trickled by but the door remained shut. He frowned. "Caitlin?" he called as he wrapped his knuckles against the wood once more, but, once again, there was still no answer.

"Cait?" he hollered a little louder, pressing an ear to the door to see if he could hear any movement, but nothing.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself, hand going back through his hair, but he fought the urge to panic. Instead he tried to rationalize it. Maybe she wasn't even home. He'd phase through to check, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't bode well with Caitlin if she was, in fact, home.

Whipping out his phone, he then tried calling her, but that went straight into voicemail too.

He knocked one more time. "Cait!" he shouted, before gazing furtively at the surrounding apartments, hoping none of her neighbors would come out to yell at him for disturbing the peace.

The speedster waited, and he waited a little longer, before dropping his head in defeat. Whether she was home or not, she didn't seem like she wanted to talk to him right now. So, resignedly, he turned around to walk towards the elevator.

But just as he pressed the button to signal the elevator, he heard a soft "Barry?"

His head whipped around as fast as his speedy reflexes allowed him. And the sight he was met with tugged at his heart strings. Because there she was, head poking out of her door, eyes squinting and hair slightly tousled.

"Caitlin," he breathed out with relief as he jogged back to her door. "I - I wanted to see you, but you - you weren't answering your door...or your phone…"

Her brows furrowed. "Wait...what time is it?" she muddingly questioned, her eyes immediately going to the watch on her wrist to find out for herself, eyes widening as she saw the time. "Oh, wow! I guess I was more tired than I thought."

Barry's stomach pinched knowing she was only tired because she had stayed up to take care of him.

He licked his lips. "Cait, about earlier," he started, but stopped when Caitlin held up her hand.

"Wait, come inside," she insisted.

She opened the door further to allow him in, and by doing so, Barry saw that she had been sleeping in his CCPD hoodie. A warmth took over him, and suddenly he felt optimistic about what he was there to talk about. Because surely she wouldn't be wearing his clothes if she was still mad at him, right?

"Barry?"

He snapped out of his trace, clearing his throat as he looked from the hoodie back to Caitlin's face. "Right, inside. Will do," he said as he walked past her and into her all-too-familiar apartment.

As Caitlin closed her door and locked it, Barry placed his grocery bag on her coffee table and waited for her to finish up. As she turned to him, she crossed her arms, her eyes fixated on her floor.

"Barry about earlier…"

"I'm sorry," they both said at the same time.

Her eyes lifted to his before each of them ended up laughing, and suddenly feeling apprehensive about talking to Caitlin felt so silly. They've had other arguments over the years, but they were so often on the same wavelength that the fights could never last too long.

"I am sorry though, Barry," Caitlin eventually said again after their laughter subsided. "I underwent so many emotions at such high levels in the past couple days, and looping that in with lack of sleep was not a pretty mix, and I took it all out on you."

"I deserved it," he told her. She shook her head, poised to refute, but he continued before she could. "You were right; I should have gotten out of there the second Fistpuncher took the steroid."

She bit her lip. "Then why didn't you?"

The speedster sighed. "Fear," he said simply with a shrug. "I wanted to end it then and there because I didn't want him hurting anyone else, especially anyone I care about."

Barry stepped forward, reaching out to untangle her crossed arms so he could hold her hands. "Cait," he started, his voice strangled as he recalled the horrific images of his nightmare, "that - that morning, I had a nightmare that he killed you," he shared, and her eyes widened. "And him coming out of hiding and you wanting to go and needing help with your suit, it was all so eerily familiar to my dream and -"

"It freaked you out," she surmised.

"Yeah," he breathily answered, his hold on her hands getting a little bit tighter, a little more desperate. "It felt like - like some premonition or something and, while it doesn't excuse my behavior, I - I just couldn't shake it, and I didn't want to risk it, so I didn't want you anywhere near him."

Caitlin quietly nodded her head in understanding "It just felt like...it felt like you didn't believe in me as much as you claimed the other night…" she confessed before her big brown eyes looked up at him, and he suddenly felt struck by that refrigerator all over again.

"No, no, no," he softly assured her as his hands went to cup her face, his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks. "I never wanted to prevent you from being a hero," he assured her. "And I'm sorry if, even for one second, I made you doubt your abilities and growth. I was just afraid to lose you."

Her face crumpled. "It was just a dream, Barry," she told him gently.

He swallowed down a lump of emotion, nodding his head. "So, we're okay?" he questioned.

Her lips slowly widened. "Always," she answered, and relief flooded his system, before her eyebrow suddenly arched. "Hey...wait a second. What are you doing out of bed?"

A cheeky smile overcame his face as he slowly backed away. "Well...um...I may have asked Cisco for permission…"

"Cisco!"

"Don't - don't be too hard on him," Barry quickly interjected. "I would have come running here with or without his permission."

"Barry!"

The speedster lifted the grocery bag from the table, plastering on what he hoped was an innocently sheepish smile. "Ice cream?"

Her lips twitched; he could tell she wanted to smile but was trying to keep up appearances. She folded her arms again. "Barry, you need to rest to ensure you'll heal properly."

"I'm fine," he told her. "You can even inspect for yourself if you must," he added with a wink.

She flushed, but tried to hide it with a fond roll of her eyes. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she said, tsking him with her finger as she made her way towards. "I'm not rewarding you for disobeying your doctor's orders."

He playfully pouted, but it morphed into a serene smile as she got closer to him. "At least accept my ice cream apology?"

She sighed as she reached for the bag. "Only if you help me eat some of this."

His lips spread wider. "Gladly."

.

Something trivial was on the TV as background noise while the pair quietly chatted in between, sharing the tub of ice cream back and forth. However, it soon came apparent that Caitlin was distracted when she didn't respond to something he had said, her spoonful of ice cream hovering mid-air for a prolonged period of time.

The speedster eyed her before asking, "Hey, you okay?"

"Hmm," she let out before shaking her head, her eyes coming back into focus before looking at him. "Yeah, yeah. Just...thinking…"

Barry took the ice cream from her hands and placed it on the coffee table so they had each other's full attention. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She sighed, but turned to face him fully. "I just…I hope you know that I would never want to prevent you from being a hero either."

"I know," he told her gently, because he did.

"It's who you are, and I know how much that means to you. I would never want to take that away."

He covered her hands with his. "Cait, I know," he assured her. "You, probably more than anyone else, understands why I do what I do. Because you know me, but also because you have that same inclination too - to help and save people."

She nodded. "I just only want you to be safer. To not take unnecessary risks..."

His heart felt heavy, his guilt weighing it down. "I know, I know," he told her, hanging his head down in shame. "I'm so sorry I scared you. Trust me, it's the last thing I ever want to do."

"Barry?"

He looked back up at the call of his name only for her lips to attach themselves to his when he did. The suddenness of it was a bit surprising, but he soon reciprocated, unable not to. He groaned as her hands dug deep into his hair, his fingers gripping her hips with a growing need that was building. He may have been asleep for the majority of the past couple days, but his body definitely felt the time away from her.

"What was that for?" he breathily asked over a chuckle when the kiss dwindled down, his eyes focused on her plumped lips, the inclination to just steal one or three or a dozen kisses more so tempting.

"A thank you for the ice-cream," she distantly said, her eyes too busy roaming all over his face, watching him intently but with care.

"I think I need to get more ice-cream then," he joked.

She playfully rolled her eyes at him. "You could get me a freezer full of ice-cream, but you're still not getting lucky tonight, Mr. Allen," she teased him, though her voice sounded soft with affection. "I don't need you straining or breaking anything when your injuries literally just healed."

"What crazy acrobats are you imagining us doing?" he asked with a wiggle in his eyebrows.

She laughed, a tint of red already fanning her cheeks. "Wouldn't you like to know…"

Barry groaned, his head falling to her shoulder. "Yes, I would," he gruffily said.

She laughed again, her fingers playing with the hair on the back of his neck absentmindedly. "Not tonight though, I'd be too worried..."

He let out a hum of acknowledgement as he closed his eyes under her lazy touch. Even though he had gotten a little worked up from their kiss, he could deal. Plus, he was content to just being by her side, revelling in her presence. Just the way her fingers were combing through his hair with such a delicate and loving touch made his heart swell up like a balloon in his chest.

He always felt the most secure and content with Caitlin nearby. When his life was upside down, she kept it on its axis by just being there and being her. She didn't coddle him, but she still took immense care of him. She didn't always agree with him, but she understood him. He really didn't know why it took him so long to realize his feelings for her, because now that he was aware, every day only made it harder to keep it from her.

"Are you staying tonight?" she quietly asked, breaking him from his thoughts.

He opened his eyes, taking in her sleepy form once more, his heart clenching with the most purest and innocent desire. He wanted nothing more than to hold her safely and securely in his arms as they cocooned themselves in her bed, forgetting about Fistpuncher and all of the world's other problems for just a few hours. But he couldn't.

"I - I can't…"

She ridgedly nodded before retracting her hands and letting them rest unsurely in her lap. "I see."

"It's just that Joe stopped by the lab earlier to check on me, and while he knows that I'm fine, he was still talking about cancelling his trip to meet up with Cecile and the baby…"

"Then I guess you should really get going since it's getting late," she told him, flashing him a smile, though it felt strained, as she picked up the ice cream and headed to the kitchen to put it away.

The speedster stood up to follow her. "I'm hoping that if I go home tonight and show him that everything's fine that he'll reconsider."

"Well, Joe definitely deserves the time off," she measuredly answered, turning to him as she closed the freezer door, crossing her arms.

She was being perfectly cordinal, but he somehow felt her slipping through his fingers, but he didn't understand why. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" he asked, watching her closely, trying to gauge how she was feeling.

She hugged her arms around herself a little tighter. "Yes, I'd like you to come in around lunch so I can run followup tests to ensure you've fully healed."

He nodded. "Okay," he confirmed, but stayed rooted to his spot, idling by the threshold of the area, unsure of himself and how this visit was ending. "I'll see you tomorrow during lunch, if not sooner then."

When she said nothing, he flashed her a grin, hoping it would ebb away some of the unsettling feeling that was stirring in his stomach, but her miniscule grin back did not quell his worry.

.

"Joe?" Barry hollered out as he closed the front door behind him. "I'm home!"

Joe then walked out from their kitchen area, eyeing him curiously. "What are you doing here? I thought you were put on bed rest until tomorrow."

"I'm fine now."

"Barry," Joe sternly started.

"It was Caitlin-approved for me to come home," he quickly assured the older man as he took a seat on the couch. "I promise."

The detective looked him over, no doubt trying to sense if Barry was telling the truth or not. "Well you do look a helluva lot better than even this morning when I saw you," he admitted, taking a seat next to him and giving him a fatherly slap on the back. "Surprised that with a clean bill of health that you didn't scurry off to your girlfriend's place though."

Barry cheeks heated up. "She's technically not my girlfriend," he meekly interjected, causing Joe to laugh.

"Regardless, by how frequent you all see each other, I'm sure she was worried that she didn't hear from you all day yesterday."

Rubbing the back of his neck, the speedster sighed. "She was worried."

"I bet," Joe agreed. "It's just a damn shame I don't know who the girl is. Otherwise, I could've filled her in and saved you some trouble," he pointed out.

Barry chuckled. "I get it, Joe, you want to meet her."

"Damn right, I do!"

He shook his head amusingly. "Speaking of meeting, are you going to meet up with Cecile tomorrow?"

Joe's eyebrows furrowed. "I already told you I wasn't - I'm needed here more," he answered.

"But don't go changing the subject, Barr."

"I'm not changing the subject," he insisted. "But I'm obviously fine, and you deserve a getaway, even if it's just for a couple days."

"Barr," he started, before his eyes lightened with a hint of mischief, "ooooooh, you wanted to bring your girl here this weekend, didn't you?"

The speedster's head jolted back. "What? No."

"Which is why you want me out of the house…" the seasoned detective continued.

"Joe, that's not why."

He looked at him knowingly. "Oh okay," he said, though his voice dripped of disbelief and sarcasm.

Barry rolled his eyes. "I just don't want you cancelling plans you were looking forward to just because I was reckless," he explained. "I'll even promise to take it easy this weekend - no Flash unless absolutely needed," he vowed.

Joe narrowed his eyes. "Fine. If you promise to take it easy and be cautious this weekend, I will go."

"I will, I promise," the younger man said, grinning proudly since convincing Joe ended up being easier than he thought it would be.

"Just make sure you and your girl don't get too wild here…"

"Joe!" Barry hollered, his hands quick to hide the fact that his face was turning beet red.

The detective let out a belly laugh, obviously enjoying his foster son's discomfort. "I'm just messing with you, Barr," he said, knocking into his shoulder playfully as Barry lowered his hands. "But on a more serious note, this complicated other of yours is welcomed here any time."

Awkwardly, Barry nodded. And while he had been truthful when saying he had no intentions before to bring Caitlin over while Joe was away, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe just maybe this was the chance for him to plan for something special and brave up.

"You want to watch some basketball before we go to bed?" Joe then asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Knowing their bonding week had been disrupted because of his injury, Barry smiled, handing Joe the remote. "Yeah, sure. The 2nd half should just be starting."

.

When Barry eventually flashed himself home the night before, Caitlin had turned to rest her arms against the counter, trying to steal some of the granite's strength as she took in deep breaths. She had wanted him to stay, so badly. After almost losing him, she wanted nothing more than to keep him close, to hear his heart beating under her ear as they fell asleep.

But he couldn't.

Or wouldn't.

She sighed, wondering, and not for the first time, if he genuinely had to see Joe or if it had just been a polite excuse to leave. Because even though she liked to think Barry still liked spending time with her even when sex wasn't on the table, she still kept wondering that if she had let things progress the previous night, if he would've stayed.

She quickly shook her head at that, trying to bring herself back to the present. Thinking of 'what ifs' was not going to make her feel any better.

A soft knock then made it to her ears, making her turn from the paperwork she had been milling over to see Barry watching her with a grin, and despite herself, butterflies swarmed around her stomach. "Hey," he greeted as he stepped further into the room.

"Hey," she greeted back, getting up to pull together some of the equipment she would need for the evaluation as Barry took a seat on the patient bed. "How did it go with Joe?" she found herself asking as she approached him.

His smile widened, and by reflex her lips spread into one too. "Great! He was just about to leave when I came over."

"Well that's good," she commented as she lifted up his shirt, leading Barry to automatically lift it over the rest of the way.

"Just had to promise him I'd be more cautious and that I would take it easy this weekend," he shared.

Caitlin rose a brow, eyeing him. "You should be using more caution all the time" - to which Barry's smile turned meek - "but I think that's a good idea anyway, just to give yourself time to recover."

Now it was Barry's turn to raise a brow. "Am I still not healed?" he worriedly asked, frowning.

Caitlin finished checking over some of the wounds she had remembered him having yesterday, but thankfully found them all gone now. "Well, I still have a few tests to run, but just because you physically recovered doesn't mean that you've mentally recovered."

Barry sagely nodded his head, but his eyes were zeroed in on her and every movement she made. "Sooo," he began not long later, his voice wavering slightly as he watched her draw his blood, "do you - do you have plans tonight?"

Removing the syringe from his arm, the doctor looked at him briefly before taking the vial of blood to her work station. "No," she answered.

He took a deep breath. "Well then, what if...what if you came over to my place tonight?"

His place? He wanted to invite her to his place? She thought to herself, her heart jumping at the idea. However, she was torn. After all the conflicting feelings she's been getting and the mixed signals from Barry lately... "I don't know…" she voiced.

"Please," he added, even puckering his lip and sending her his best puppy pout. "I'll even make dinner," Barry further offered, hoping to sweeten the deal. "And it won't be microwaved!"

But maybe she was only overthinking everything. He was inviting her to his place - that was a step in the right direction, right? "Fine," she caved. "But the food better be worth it, Mr. Allen."

"Only the best for you, Dr. Snow."

.

Biting down on her lower lip, Caitlin slowly walked up to the West family's residence. Due to the sun setting earlier now, the porch light was already on, alighting the home and welcoming her like it always had. But despite the welcoming feeling, she still stood in front of the door, unsure.

Although she and Barry had numerous dinners together over the last handful of weeks, this one felt different. Maybe it was just the change in location, and that moving their 'meeting' out of her apartment was forcing her out of her comfort zone. Or maybe it was because he was cooking the meal and seemed to be making an effort that was getting to her head. Whatever it was, she was not sure what to expect, and that uncertainty was hard to shake.

Mustering up the courage, she timidly knocked.

"Cait?" Barry let out in surprise as he opened the front door, eyes widening. "What - what are you doing here already?"

She shrugged. "Wasn't much left to do at the lab today...and Joe's house is closer than mine…" she trailed off. "Am I not allowed in right now or something?" she questioned, noticing that he seemed panicked by her early arrival. "I didn't think I was that early," she murmured, looking back at her watch to double check.

"No, no, you're fine," he was quick to assure her. "It's just that a case kept me at work longer so I just got home and I thought I'd have at least a little more time before you came to get everything in order," he explained, wringing his hand over his neck. "I - I haven't even started the meal yet," he admitted with a sheepish grin.

A weight of nervousness lifted as she chuckled over his typical Barry-ness. "Barry, it's fine. This is me, not the Queen of England. No need to impress."

A stunted and nervous kind of laugh stumbled out of his mouth. "Right, but um, you know, I promised you a finished meal, and I'm a mess and smell like chemicals," he said, pointing to his slightly wrinkled shirt, "and - shit," he suddenly cursed, "it's cold out and I haven't even invited you in the house yet!"

"Barry," she started, the breath she carried his name with intermingling with humor as she reached out and touched his arm, "it's fine. I don't get cold very easily."

"Just at night and in bed, huh?" he said reflexively as he opened the door to allow her in, only to then shew his eyes shut as he processed what he had said. "That - that sounded bad out loud…"

She licked her lips, feeling a blush taint her cheeks. "Again, Barry, it's fine," she assured him as she stepped into the house.

He cleared his throat, his face blotchy with embarrassment. "I'm - I'm going to change real quick, but just make yourself at home," he said, gesturing towards the living room before literally speeding up the stairs.

Caitlin chuckled to herself as she hung up her coat, before slowly stepping down into the living room. She made to take a seat on the couch but paused when a beautiful arrangement of flowers on the dining room table caught her eye. She smiled as she walked over to it, touching a few of the petals delicately and admiring them. A pair of tall, unlit candles stood on either side that she hadn't seen before at the house, but she did remember Cecile telling her about adding more femine touches, so she shrugged it off.

She then found herself wandering into the kitchen. Joe usually kept it sparkling clean, but right now there were various ingredients littered across the counters.

"As you can see, I didn't get far."

She turned to find Barry rubbing the back of his neck again, eyeing her shyly. He was now wearing a deep red, crew neck sweater and appearing even warmer and softer than he usually did. It made her want to snake her arms around him and skip the pretenses that were dinner.

To distract herself, she turned back to the ingredients, eyeing them thoughtfully. "You're making...French Toast?"

"And bacon," Barry added as he opened the fridge and took the aforementioned bacon out. "Told you I'd make breakfast for dinner one of these days, specifically French Toast..."

Caitlin nodded her head, remembering him saying it not that long ago "That you did."

He eyed her and then looked back at the ingredients. "Unless - unless you don't want it, because I could make something else," he offered, already opening the refrigerator to look at their options, but Caitlin walked over, pushing the fridge door closed.

"French toast with bacon sounds amazing," she told him, and a tenseness she hadn't even realized was there left his shoulders as he let out a breath of relief.

"Good, and you won't regret it," he told her, flashing her an infectious grin as he got out an oven pan.

"So…" she started, sidling up to his side, "what's the first step, Chef Allen?"

He laughed, the crinkles by his eyes prominent as he turned to her, smiling. Her heart definitely skipped a beat there. "Well, first, I'm going to preheat the oven, because I'm going to make the bacon in there," he told her, while hitting a few of the buttons on the oven to do just that. "It tastes the best there, in my opinion," he further shared with her, adding a wink.

She watched as he put a few bacon strips on the pan for each of them.

"Do we start on the french toast while we wait for the oven?"

"Yes, my young Padawan," he answered with a small bow.

"You do know that I'm about 2 weeks older than you, right?"

"Right, right, so... my old Padawan…" he teasingly amended, laughing as he easily side-stepped her playful slap. "What? You even have the silver hair sometimes…"

She let out a soft gasp. "You know," she drawled, taking an exaggerated step towards the exit, "I could leave right now and not have to put up with this."

"Nooooooo," he whined, immediately rushing to her side and wrapping his arms around her. "You gotta stay," he told her as he began rubbing circles on her lower back. "I promise I'll make it up to you…"

Her eyes immediately fell to his lips. "Oh yeah?"

She saw him nod, and as she glanced up, she noticed his beautiful emerald eyes were nearly eclipsed by his dilated pupils and that his attention was fixated on her mouth. Her stomach twisted pleasurably and her nether regions pulsed at the thought of what might be going through his mind in that moment.

"Do you think I could get a little...preview then?" she breathily asked, inching her face closer.

His lips twisted into a smirk before closing the gap and capturing her lips in a way that left her mind feeling a little muddled. She had to grip that soft sweater of his just to keep herself standing up rather than melting at his feet.

As if knowing her dilemma, he hoisted her up and onto the counter. The sounds of some of their ingredients falling barely registered with him in between her legs and his tongue slipping into her mouth. It wasn't until a minute or so later when a beeping noise finally penetrated through her clogged up senses.

"Mmm," Caitlin let out as she tore herself from their kiss, eyeing the oven that just beeped, all the while Barry's mouth attached itself to her neck instead. "Looks like...looks like the oven is all heated up..."

She felt Barry's chuckle against her throat. "It's not the only thing," he murmured along her pulse line before peppering more kisses up her neck. "You know, we're already having breakfast for dinner, so maybe we should have some dessert before that," he said, looking at her knowingly with a pop in his eyebrows.

Caitlin snorted as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "We might spoil our supper with dessert too early, don't you think?"

"Is dessert the new code word now?"

She laughed. "I don't know, you were the one that started it."

"Hmmm, well the idea of having you feels a whole lot sweeter and more indulging than coffee right now," he gruffly replied, and the doctor found herself flushing from the desire she could practically feel emitting from the speedster, doubly so when his lips fell to the underside of her chin and his hands ghosted over the sides of her breasts.

Giving in, Caitlin grabbed the back of his neck and guided him back to her awaiting lips. She wrapped her legs around his waist, forcing him closer, cooing as his hands slid up her thighs. Playfully, she bit his lip, smiling as he let out a feral groan from the action.

"Should we - should we take this to my bedroom?" he raggedly asked through heavy breaths.

She playfully bumped her nose against his. "I think Joe would appreciate that, yes."

Barry groaned, his head falling to hers fondly. "I really need to move out," he lamented with a chuckle. "That way I could have my way with you wherever..."

Despite everything they've been through, she still found her face heating up under his twinkling gaze. But she could barely pay the involuntary action any mind when he began sucking on the sensitive skin near her ear, making her eyes roll back into her head and a gasp escape her lips. "Barryyy," she playfully whined, which only enticed a chuckle from her companion.

It was then, however, when their ears picked up the front door opening. "Dad?!"

Both Barry and Caitlin turned to each other, wide-eyed. Dread filled her.

"What do we do?" he manically whispered.

"Go!"

"But I-"

"Go!" she mouthed, pushing him into the direction of their visitor.

The speedster turned back to her, his body rigid with unwillingness before he took the plunge and walked out of the kitchen. "Iris!" she heard him greet his ex-wife. "What...what are you doing here?"

There was a brief pause, and Caitlin could only assume it was filled with the duo looking at each other uncomfortably. If she remembered correctly, this would be the first time they've seen each other since they signed their divorce papers many many months ago.

"I - uh...I was just dropping off something for Jenna and was hoping to catch Dad before he left," she explained.

"Sorry, he - he left earlier…"

"Oh…" Iris breathed out, and Caitlin could practically feel the awkwardness seeping between them despite being in a completely different room. "So um...how have you been?"

"Good...really good actually," Barry answered. "You?"

"Yeah, same. You know, the newspaper has kept me busy and is doing pretty well…"

"Right…" The floorboards creaked, and Caitlin could only imagine Barry endearingly shifting his weight from leg to leg and anxiously rubbing the back of his neck.

The reporter cleared her throat. "You look good, Barr," she said softly. Earnestly. Caitlin's stomach pinched.

"Oh," the speedster let out in surprise, but he seemed pleased by the comment. "Well, thank you...You too..."

There was another lull of silence, one that left Caitlin uneasy as she found herself squirming on the countertop.

"I've missed you," Iris eventually voiced. "I think this is the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other…"

She heard Barry sigh. "I've missed you too, Iris…"

Caitlin's heart dropped. She knew it was too good to be true. She placed her hands down on the counter next to her to give herself some balance while she hung her head low, trying to even her breathing and fight the sting in her eyes. All she wanted was for Barry to be happy, and for one second she thought maybe she could provide that, but evidently not enough.

However, Caitlin didn't notice that she had bumped into the cinnamon container until it was too late. As if in slow motion, she watched as it rolled off the edge and onto the kitchen floor with a small cladder.

Her breath stilled, eyeing the fallen spice with panicked eyes before quickly looking in the direction where she assumed Barry and Iris were, wondering if they had heard it or not too.

"What was that? Is someone else here?"

Yup, they heard it.

"Uhhhh…" Barry let out unintelligibly.

Figuring she was about to be found out either way, Caitlin eased herself off the counter. "Hey, Iris," she meekly greeted, slowly stepping out of the kitchen.

The reporter's eyes widened at the doctor's sudden entrance. "Caitlin…" she let out with surprise before her eyes swiveled back to Barry. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, no...no!" Barry insisted, shaking his head quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Caitlin is...she's just helping me put together some dinner because, you know, Joe's not here and I'm helpless at it," he said, letting out a self-deprecating laugh at his lack of cooking skills.

Iris lightly laughed too, her lips turning up wistfully. "He's not helpless, that would be me," Iris joked. "He can make a mean breakfast, especially pancakes."

The doctor let her own smile spill. "Oh, I know," she admitted fondly.

Iris' one eyebrow merely lifted before Caitlin realized what she had said, her eyes widening ever so slightly at the implication that they could carry. She turned to Barry who was looking at her with wide eyes too, trying his best not to panic.

"Barry has actually brought his signature pancakes to STAR Labs a couple times now," Caitlin quickly fibbed, and Barry turned to smile at Iris as if that would help convince his former spouse.

"Right," Iris said, chuckling nervously. "Well, I'll just leave this stuff for Jenna right here," she said, dropping the bag she was holding on the couch, "and I'll get out of you hair…" she continued, already making her way back to the front door.

The two scientists politely followed and saw her out with friendly smiles and a wave. And as the reporter left and the front door closed, Barry fell against it with a relieved sigh. "Well that went well, right?" he asked, looking up at Caitlin with a satisfied grin.

She groaned as she walked back towards the living room with her shoulders slumped. "She so knows something is going on…"

"What?" Barry let out in a panic, genuinely baffled. "How?"

"She's a reporter! She can smell that stuff from a mile away!"

"Well...well maybe she didn't," he tried in an effort to remain optimistic, but Caitlin was already shaking her head and worrying about what this could all lead to.

With the exception of Cisco, they had tried so hard to keep this agreement of theirs under wraps, but now that might all be over. All it would take would be for Iris to tell Joe what she saw and everything they had built over the last few weeks would come tumbling down like a house of cards.

Suddenly Barry's hands were on her shoulders, his head dipping down to meet her eyes "Hey," he let out gently, thumbs rubbing soothingly over her shoulders. "It's going to be fine," he tried to assure her, offering her a smile to further persuade her. "Let's just finish up dinner and have a good night."

"I can't do that, Barry…"

He frowned, shaking his head, puzzled. "Why not?"

She felt like scoffing but refrained. "I - my friend texted me while I was in the kitchen. She's having more relationship issues," she fibbed, unable to tell him anything that resembled the truth right now.

"And you need to go right now?" he questioned in disbelief, his hands falling to his sides as he watched her move past him.

"Yes," she confirmed monotony as she threw on her coat. "She needs me. I would've left earlier but I didn't want to interrupt you and Iris," she explained, trying her damn hardest not to sound too bitter.

His green orbs grew big and started to get that puppy gleam to them. "But what if I need you too?"

"Barry…" she let out tiredly, hand on the door knob. "I think your libido can sacrifice one more night."

His brows furrowed. "Cait, that's - that's not…"

"I need to go," she interrupted him and then walked out the door before her could persuade her otherwise.

A/N: Alright, so the scene with Iris was actually the first scene I had written for this story WAYYYY back when I first started it, so it's really insane that I'm just now getting to it. Lol. Sorry for all the angst, but definitely let me know your thoughts! If you're reading this, REVIEW. I don't care if you think it's too short or not, I love hearing from your regardless :)

Thanks you for reviewing LightX2, Kalixshiper, fdms85, Anonymouse, Kpolk87, AGuyWhoUsedToWrite, PETE DUDE 44, Sunshine-Midnight123, gundamseeddestiny and DeathCrawler.

REVIEW REPLY:

Fallenhero57: I'll continue to ship them no matter what – they just have that natural chemistry that is hard to ignore. And I'm glad you enjoy my writing; I try very hard to keep them in character. Thanks for reading and especially for reading.

RandomLurker: Thank you so much for reading (especially twice). I hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Thanks for also reviewing!

ShanouNash: I loved your "Uh, Ashley?" xD But you have to know I wouldn't kill Cait/Barry. I just couldn't do that lol. Glad you enjoyed last chapter. Thanks as always for reading/reviewing!