Barry awoke the next morning feeling rested and warm. He rolled over, stretching his arms out as he searched for the familiar warmth that Caitlin gave him. However, he was met with emptiness as he realised that she wasn't in the room. He stood animatedly, panic surging through him as he sprinted out of the room. His anxiety died down when he saw Caitlin standing at the kitchen sink, busying herself with cleaning the counter top of leftover food from the night before. Her hair was in a messy bun atop her head and her bed shirt was wrinkled and hanging down to her upper thighs, covering her bed-shorts that she had thrown on haphazardly before she and Barry cuddled up together to watch a STAR WARS marathon.
He stared, not meaning to for as long as he did. He stumbled over towards her in his usually clumsy way. His hands came to rest on her small shoulders, not missing the slight tremor that passed through them when his hands made contact with them. She turned, facing him head on as a shy smile graced her lips. A blush arose across Barry's cheeks, causing Barry to avoid Caitlin's eyes.
"I need to talk to you, Caitlin." Barry said when his eyes finally made contact with hers. The confused expression on her face made his chest tighten but the issue that had slowly arisen after the many nights they had spent together made his expression harden in a mask of seriousness.
"I know that it's difficult to talk about but we need to talk about... us. We've spent a large portion of our nights together throughout the past few months and we can't just keep avoiding the fact that we have slowly developed feelings for each other." Caitlin stepped back slightly, causing an expression of hurt to flash across his face.
Caitlin's hands grasped Barry's as she pulled the two of them towards the living room. Her small feet pattered along the floor as she walked while Barry's were slightly less graceful, his feet creating slight smacking sounds as his feet came into contact with the wooden floor. She sat down on the closest love seat, dragging Barry down with her.
"I understand your concern, Barry. I just... I don't know. It's just that, after Ronnie left, I was just scared of becoming too attached to someone who could possibly leave me again. I know that Ronnie had to leave but I never want someone to leave me again. Especially not you." Her breathing came out shallow and ragged as she tried to catch her breath. Barry's eyes searched hers, seeing the unseen words that threatened to come out. She was scared, lonely and heartbroken.
Barry knew that she had already gone through so much over the past year; constantly having to worry over Barry, ward off meta-humans who could pose as a possible threat to Central City and to STAR Labs and the ongoing emotional battle with Ronnie Raymond. She was tired and she had had enough of all the trauma and stress and found a source of freedom in Barry Allen. His arms were always open wide for anyone who needed him, constantly helping those in need of saving or a constant support system for those who needed comfort and that's what she loves about him. But not only was she in love with him because of his ability to help those in need of it, he was a friend, an ally, a confidant and overall fun-loving guy. She fell in love with his passion and sarcasm, his need to see happiness all around him and his selflessness.And frankly, it frightened her to no end.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of two strong arms wrapping around her. The familiar feeling made her physically melt in his arms, drawing her face closer to his shoulder as she breathed in the welcoming scent of Barry. He smelled like the metallic scent you could sense after a lightning storm, like Vanilla scented body wash, like his signature aftershave that was so intoxicating she would often have to physically remove herself from the labs so she could breathe properly once again and the nutty scent of the cinnamon latte he often ordered from Co-Jitters before making his way into work each morning.
The hug was warm and inviting as she wrapped her arms around his middle. They both physically relaxed into each other as they slowly lowered themselves into a comfortable cuddling position that was worryingly familiar for the both of them. Though their mutual fear of attachment was strong and somewhat uncomfortable it was momentarily put to the back of their minds as the television was brought to life by the press of a button on the remote. The screen glowed brightly as a cooking show graced their vision, engulfing them in the familiarity of their usual nigh time shenanigans of binge watching and the intoxicating warmth of their bodies pressed flush against each other.
If they later awoke in the late afternoon to Caitlin curled up into a ball in Barry's lap with his lips brushing gently over her cheek, they would blame it on the romance show that was previously playing before they drifted off.
However, if the previous encounter led to a full-on make out on the kitchen island only minutes later, then there was no one to blame but themselves.
