Work Text:
Barry was in the Cortex, studying the data of some of their recent metas, when he heard a very audible sigh come from the adjacent room. Curious, he turned his head towards the sound, only to find their resident doctor, resting her head on her hand as she looked desolately towards her computer.
He got up, making his way to the threshold that separated her lab from the Cortex. "Everything okay?"
She looked up, partially startled. "Oh, um…yeah…yeah…of course…"
The speedster chuckled as he walked further into the room. "Right, because that sounded really convincing."
She scrunched her nose up in the endearing way she often did when she was caught lying, before sighing once more.
"I think I need a change in my life. Something to make me feel like I'm beginning a new chapter instead of rereading the same one day in and day out."
His heart plummeted as his thoughts immediately went to her leaving STAR Labs or Central City all together. That's what Cisco did, afterall. He swallowed down a lump of fear. "What kind of change?"
She shrugged. "I don't know, and I think that's what is bothering me the most."
He licked his lips, resting his hands to his hips. "Do - do you need a change of…scenery? Like a different job or-"
Her eyes widened before she quickly shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing like that!" she assured him, which lessened the enormous crater of fear that had been lodged in his chest.
"I was thinking something more…cosmetic maybe? I just feel so plain."
Barry straightened up, his brows furrowing. "I don't think you're plain."
She flashed him a grateful smile. "I appreciate that, but I am. I mean, I've been wearing the same clothes for years now and most are monochromatic, boring, and safe."
"That pretty much describes my own attire too."
Caitlin let out a laugh. "It's different for women."
"But it doesn't have to be," he pointed out. "You like your clothes, don't you?" he asked, and when she nodded, he continued, "Then I think that's always the most important thing. Buy an outfit or two if you think it'll help, but I don't think you should splurge on a whole new wardrobe if your current one makes you…you."
Caitlin sighed again. "I just want to feel a little different and renewed. Something to spice up life a little."
Barry thought about it some more. "Why don't you do something with your hair?" he suggested. "You could dye it a different color or maybe even get it cut. Either way, if you end up not liking it, it's not going to be permanent."
She nodded as she thought about it. "Yeah…maybe I could do something like that."
…
A FEW DAYS LATER
Barry was at Jitters, loitering around the pick up counter, waiting for his drink to be finished. While he waited, he mindlessly scrolled through his social media. That was until he received a text from Caitlin.
"What do you think?" she texted, before an image accompanied it.
Barry immediately found himself smiling. It was a selfie of Caitlin in her lab, but instead of the long wavy hair he had grown accustomed to over the years, he now saw it ended at her shoulders with a simple bob. Along with the small and self-conscious smile she was sporting in the picture, he couldn't help but find her utterly cute.
He immediately began typing out his reply, but mid-sentence his order was called. Not wanting to hold up the barista, he shoved his phone into his front pocket and retrieved his coffee.
On his way back to the CCPD, he remembered he never answered Caitlin's text, so he fished his phone out of his pocket to finish the message. But as he opened the conversation back up, the color in his face instantly drained. Somehow his message was sent prematurely. So instead of saying "I love your hair," like he had originally planned, it got sent as: "I love you."
The speedster stopped in his tracks when he saw what he had inadvertently done, causing the person behind him to bump into him, cursing him before walking around him. Barry couldn't even mutter out a 'sorry' because his eyes were glued to his phone screen, his heart rate escalating in panic.
"No, no, no, no, no, no," he trilled when he finally found his voice. It's not that the text was a lie, but it wasn't something he had been planning on telling her anytime soon, let alone over text.
Panicking, he contemplated what he should do next. His phone showed that his message was delivered, but not read, meaning she hadn't seen it yet, which was good. Maybe he could delete the message from her phone before she had a chance to read it. With that in mind, he sped off, weaving through the streets of Central City to get to STAR Labs as fast he could.
Within a second, he was skidding to an abrupt halt in the cortex, his coffee swishing violently around the rim of his cup. But despite being the fastest man alive, he noticed just in that moment that the message on his phone changed from delivered to read and his stomach dropped.
Trepidly, he looked up through the doorway into Caitlin's lab, his eyes finding hers as she slowly looked up from her phone. "Uh," she let out with an unsure laugh and smile, her cheeks noticeably turning rosey, "I - I think you sent me the wrong text."
After putting down his drink on the console, he rubbed his free hand along the back of his neck, taking shaky steps closer to his personal physician. "Actually," he began, only to pause to clear his throat, "that - that text was for you."
Her eyes went wide, her lips round as she let out an intrigued, "Oh?"
"But I - I didn't mean to text that," he continued, forcing out a chuckle. "I was trying to say that I loved your hair, but it got sent prematurely…"
"Oh," she let out again, but this time it came out much more quaint and solemn. Was she…disappointed?
He frowned. "Are you okay?"
She immediately plastered on a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "Of course, yeah."
"Caitlin," he let out, looking at her pointedly, "I know something is bothering you."
She went to ask how, but Barry interjected before it could even leave her mouth. "You're doing that biting your lower lip thing."
She immediately stopped doing the action as she scrunched up her nose in mild annoyance. "It's nothing. I - I think I just got a whiplash of emotions there or something. Like of course you'd meant to send me a compliment about my hair and not…well, you know, what you sent…heh…" she continued, forcing out a short laugh. "Because that would be crazy."
Barry's frown deepened. "I don't think it would be that crazy."
"That'd have to be one hell of a haircut to get that kind of response!" she joked.
"I mean, if I really was professing my love, it wouldn't have been because of your hair," Barry reasoned. "It would be for the billion and one reasons why you're amazing."
She dipped her head. "You're my friend. You have to say that."
"But that's not why I'm saying it. Caitlin…" he started, taking a step closer so he could look directly into her honey-filled eyes and really take her in, "it's impossible not to love you. I mean, you're not only one of the smartest people I know, but also the kindest and most caring. You're determined and fierce and willstrong. How you strive to help people and care for them is truly admirable. Your smile and laugh are so infectious. How animatedly you talk with your hands is charming. I stand in awe of you when you're around, even when you're singing off key or being a sore loser when we're playing Operation."
A huff of a laugh bubbled up. "And yet, no guys are lining up to go out with me."
He hated how little she thought of herself. Sighing, he took the plunge. "Maybe…maybe because I'm first in line but I've been too scared to step up," he admitted.
Her brows pinched downward in confusion. "W - what are you saying?" she asked with a nervous laugh.
Barry rubbed the back of his neck once again. "I could stand here for hours on end telling you everything that I admire about you, but what it boils down to is that I'm in love with you, Caitlin Snow, and you deserve to know that."
"But you said the text was sent wrong…"
"It was," he acknowledged. "But what I said is still true. I guess I had a freudian slip of the thumb."
She licked her lips as she took a heavy breath. "This…this is a lot to take in."
"It is," he acknowledged as he took a step back, allowing her some space. "I'm - I'm sorry for dumping this all on you. I hadn't planned to confess any of this today…otherwise, maybe it would've come out a little more eloquently, or I would have at least asked you out first...heh…"
His personal physician pressed her lips together, obviously in thought on how to proceed. "You know," she started, the sound of her heels audibly clicking on the hard floor of her lab as she stepped forward, eliminating the distance between them once more, "the salon I went to was right across the street from this nice dress store. After I got my hair cut, I went in there and I found the most beautiful dress."
Barry furrowed his brows, confused by the random tangent she was taking. "O…kay?"
"Maybe I can wear that on our first date," she said, eyeing him knowingly.
It took him a second, which was painfully too long for a speedster like himself, but when it clicked, his face split into the biggest grin he ever remembered experiencing. "Would tonight be too soon?"
She giggled, patting a hand to his chest. "If anything it's too long of a wait."
He placed his hand over hers, clutching it ever so gently as his thumb caressed over her knuckles. "We've both been unknowingly carrying a torch for each other, haven't we?"
She meekly nodded before giggling once more. "Maybe I should've gotten my hair cut a while ago," she joked.
Barry shook his head, chuckling softly. "Or maybe this is how it's all supposed to go. Everything happening as it did before so it could lead us to right here and right now with no what ifs but each other. A real chance for a new beginning, for the both of us."
"Forever the optimist," she let out, smiling a mile wide, her eyes becoming starry. "So you'll pick me up at 7 o'clock?"
"And not a second later," he promised, before wincing as he noticed the time on the clock on the far wall. "Well, as long as I get back to work like now…Somehow The Flash accidentally took an extended lunch break."
She shook her head with a laugh. "Then go ahead, get going. We'll have plenty of time to talk about everything and anything over dinner later."
His smile softened as he gazed at her. "And I can't wait," he told her as he began to take steps backward, holding onto her hand until he couldn't hold on any longer, before sprinting away back to his lab at the CCPD.
As Barry sat down at his lab desk, finally able to take a sip of his coffee to give him the boost to work, his phone pinged, indicating he got a text.
He smiled as he saw it was Caitlin, his heart flipping and somersaulting as he read the actual message: "I love you too."