Those Summer Nights

Chapter Six

"Are you sure you don't want to come? It's not too late, you know" Felicity said, raising an eyebrow at Caitlin as she held out the extra prom ticket. Her blonde hair had been done in simple yet elegant curls. A refreshing change from the ponytail she was notorious for.

The pair of teenage girls had been standing on Felicity's front porch for nearly an hour arguing over whether or not Caitlin should attend. The debate was only ever put on hold when Donna insisted on pictures.

"I'm sure. Now go. You don't want to keep your prince charming waiting" Caitlin chuckled, dismissing the ticket with a wave of her hand.

She then nodded towards Ray standing by the limo, looking rather dapper in his raven black tuxedo with a red bow tie; which complimented Felicity's choice of prom dress. A backless A-line, ruby red satin dress.

"This is going to be no fun without you" Felicity said, engaging the brunette in a hug before she officially left.

"You'll be fine. Besides, I've got some homework to do" Caitlin replied as her thumb pointed to the front door. Inside Felicity's room was a stack of books Caitlin had bought that were on the reading list from Barry.

This time she was reading The Perks of Being A Wallflower and Tuesdays with Morrie. Both were fairly quick reads, so Caitlin decided to tackle both at the same time. Barry said the author's writing style in The Perks of Being A Wallflower was the inspiration behind the story he had been working on since the day they met; which she still had not been allowed to read.

An hour had gone by since Felicity and Ray had left. Caitlin was so deeply immersed in her stories that she could no longer hear the faint sounds of Donna watching TV in the next room. The world around her ceased to exist until she was startled back to reality by a knock at the door. She shrugged, thinking nothing of it as she heard Donna answer. Caitlin had barely gotten back to the last of Charlie's letters when her name was called.

"Caitlin, honey, it seems like someone sent us your mail by mistake. Could you come here for a second?" Donna asked.

"Coming" Caitlin called as she marked her place and raced down the carpeted steps. She stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes welled up with tears. Barry stood on the threshold in a white dress shirt, dress pants and his dad's old blazer from college.

"What are you doing here?" she asked over his shoulder through a sea of joyful tears. "You're not taking me to prom are you? Because I told Felicity that it's really not my thing".

"No. I'm not taking you to prom. We're going on a little adventure of our own" Barry smiled mischievously as he held up the keys to Ray's truck; revealing that he had been in Starling City for a week but hiding at Ray's.

"Does my mom know about this?" Caitlin asked, looking worriedly at Donna.

"Not in the slightest. Your secret is safe with me as long as the two of you are safe" the older blonde answered. "Now you two have fun. But not too much fun".

Caitlin exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She breathed a grateful sigh as she remembered that her mother was working late tonight, plus she usually preferred to be alone on a day like this.

"Where are we going, exactly?" she asked as Barry held the passenger side door open for her.

"Well, I remember you telling me that Keystone was one of the colleges on your list. So, I did my research and discovered that it is home to some pretty great stuff. I thought maybe we could check it out. It's only an hour from here. What do you think, Snow? Up for a little adventure?" Barry asked as he took his place in the driver's seat and prepared to put the key in the ignition.