The Flash ⚡ One Shots

Fine (Barry & Caitlin)

"Hey," Caitlin greeted. She remained outside on the porch. Barry stood in the doorway. Neither of them spoke. After a minute, she cleared her throat and tried her best to break the awkward tension. "You, uh..." She held out the coat to him, "You left your coat at S.T.A.R. Labs." The almost unreadable expression Barry had been wearing changed, a look of surprise flickering across his features. "I hope that it's okay I brought it over. I don't want to interrupt you if you're doing anything," she continued.

"No, no, it's fine," Barry assured her. He took the coat from her and stepped back, opening the door more as he told her, "Actually, I was going to text you."

Caitlin accepted the silent invitation he was giving her and walked inside the house, her heels quietly thumping on the wooden floor. "About what?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at him while he closed the door behind her. She wondered what he'd wanted to text her about. Part of her hoped that it was would be he wanted to hang out with her and the others or something, but with how he'd acting lately, she doubted it was that. "Do you need something?"

He shook his head, walking down the one step to the left and wandering across the living room. "No, I'm fine," he told her dismissively as he made his way across. She watched him while he moved, hiding a frown. No, you're not, she thought, but chose not to say. "I have something of yours and wanted to return it."

Now she did frown, puzzled. What did he have? She didn't remember leaving anything here. She watched him go into the kitchen, while staying in the entry way and searching her mind for whatever he had that hers. Caitlin walked down into the living room and crossed her arms in front of her, looking around the familiar room while she waited for her friend to return with whatever he was getting.

A minute later, she heard his footsteps and turned as he walked back into the room. "You left your salad bowl here," he said, holding a light green dish in his hands. Seeing her surprised expression, the faintest of smiles appeared on his face. "You weren't expecting this, were you?"

"I don't know what I was expecting," Caitlin answered honestly, her tone light. He laughed slightly and handed it to her. She accepted it and smiled happily. She liked that he'd laughed, even if it was small, and didn't mind that she had been the reason for it. The doctor was also happy to have her bowl back, since it was one of her favorites, as strange as that sounded. She'd completely forgotten that she'd left it at the house a few months back, when they'd had a get together and ate dinner as one big, weird family.

Barry put one of his hands in his jeans's pockets, gesturing the bowl and saying, "It's been washed and dried, so it's all clean," before he rubbed the back of his neck while Caitlin looked at the bowl. Sure enough, it was clean and dry. Even when Barry was trying to keep people away, he was a good friend.

She lifted her gaze to smile up at him. "Thank you," she said, wrapping her arms around bowl and holding it against her to keep it from falling and shattering.

He shrugged. "Don't mention it."

Caitlin looked away, her gaze wandering around the space, like she could avoid another awkward silence if she just avoided looking at him. "So, where's Iris?" She asked, trying to keep some kind of conversation going. Barry still had casual conversations with her and Cisco, but not nearly as much as he had before. So she was enjoying the small chit chat they were currently having, even though it would end in a minute when she left, and was trying to keep him talking.

"At work," he answered. "She, uh - She was granted some time off while their building was repaired, since it was kinda damaged and all." By the singularity, she knew he meant. Barry continued, "But it's been all patched up and repaired by now, so everyone's back at work, including herself."