Reality Check : : Barry Allen/The Flash

25

"Sweets for my swee--"

"Hello?" My morning voice sounds horrible. I've always hated it. So scratchy and gross.

"Cara, hey. Did I wake you?" It's Cisco. No surprise.

"Yeah, but it's fine. My alarm was gonna go off any minute." I lie. I don't have an alarm. I run a hand over my face tiredly, immediately noticing my hair is a mess and my eyes are still puffy from crying. Yay.

"Oh good. Uh, are you planning on coming to STAR Labs today? If you are, we can start work on the plans for that piano I promised you." Cisco suggests excitedly.

"Cisco, I'm so sorry but Ben and I are spending the next few days together. I won't be able to come in for a while." I say sadly. Unfortunately, it's true; Ben told me last night as we ate that he's planning on spending every second he can with me before his final exams. I had to prompt him so much to get him to actually tell me that he's attending the Police Academy, and now he's decided to spend his exam preparation days with me instead of studying.

"Oh." Cisco's disappointed. No surprise there. "Well let me know if anything changes... Or you could just show up at the lab; chances are, I'll be there."

"Of course France." I smile. "I have to go, but I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah sure. Call me whenever." Cisco tries to hide his disappointment, but it's really not working. I hang up before either of us can get any more sentimental.

I can't afford to be attached to these people now that I know what I have to do to them. The only bond I'll have with any of them will be purely fictional, just like they as people are.

Which means I need to get over my Barry Allen crush.

Which will be very, very hard.

~§~

"Okay, is that everything?" Ben asks me. I nod, looking down at the list on my lap. We're grocery shopping, and it's taking forever. Cara's a health nut, so that's easy to shop for, but Ben is just so damn picky.

We've been in this supermarket for over two hours now, and the trolley is only half full.

And I want to be at the apartment watching movies and eating junk by myself.

But I can't.

Because in many ways, nice Ben is turning out to be just as annoying as mean Ben.

Shopping with him is hell.

I try so hard not to scream for joy when we leave the torturous grocery store and head home in this horrible minivan thing that Ben traded his car for after the accident.

"What do you want for lunch when we get home?" Ben asks as we pull out of the supermarket's parking lot.

"I feel like going out. There's a nice coffee shop on the way." I say, referring to Jitters. I really just want to stay out of the house and maybe get my brother distracted so he'll stop fussing over me.

"I don't think that's a very good idea. We should go home where you'll be safe." He says.

Oh my god.

"Are you kidding me?" I frown over at him as he shakes his head.

"Cara, you've always been too shy to stand up for yourself, and now that you're in a wheelchair it just makes you more vulnerable. I'm going to keep you safe. I can't lose you too." Ben tells me.