Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

Life Coach/Tutor/Therapist IV

She wanted to call Felicity immediately. Or race to Oliver's and confront Felicity in person. But then she decided that giving Felicity a couple of days to cool down would be the best option.

With a couple more hours before her study session with Barry, Caitlin thought about using that time for a quick nap, but then considered studying a little more to catch up and even be ahead in her coursework for her other classes.

Maybe she was addicted to studying. It wasn't like she enjoyed it, she needed it to do it to better her grades. She wondered if that was how addicts felt. She decided she needed to talk to her life coach/tutor/therapist about that.

Caitlin smiled to herself, yawned, made herself a cup of coffee, and got to work.

Her eyes started to droop, but she persisted on.

When she finally made it through and it was time for her Life Coach/Tutor/Therapist session, she made her way to their bench outside the library and took a seat to wait for the track star.

She waited minute after minute and usually she would have spent this time preparing for the chapter they were going to review, but her eyelids were starting to droop...and the breeze was just right...and the sunset cast a warm glow over her... and the birds chirped in the background.

Caitlin yawned and pulled out a piece of paper and wrote: Barry, if you're reading this that means I am sleeping and you are incredibly late. This breaks rule 42 on our relationship agreement which officially makes you the worst fake boyfriend ever. Now, at least be a somewhat decent person and wake me up so I can go home and study some more.

Then she put her head to the comfiest book she could find and hoped that through the power of osmosis, all the knowledge would diffuse into her head before taking a long needed nap.

It only felt like she closed her eyes two seconds ago, but Caitlin felt someone shaking her awake.

Caitlin struggled to open her eyes, heavy with sleep, and was met with Barry staring at her with deep concern.

"Hey, Cait," Barry had a hand on her shoulder and was shaking her slowly, "Wake up."

"Huh?" Caitlin asked, her mind struggling to wake up.

"You need to get some sleep in an actual bed. Not enough sleep is basically the same thing as not studying at all."

"Says who?" Caitlin yawned.

"Who's the life coach slash tutor slash therapist here?" Barry took her face in his hands and examined the dark circles under her eyes which revealed the lack of sleep she was getting.

Catlin swatted his hands away. "Not you. You didn't even show up."

"I'm sorry, Cait. But Iris was—"

"Frankly, I don't really care where Iris was or what Iris was doing or anything about Iris, Barry." Even in her sleepy state, Caitlin still felt a twinge of annoyance when Barry mentioned Iris.

"Right, I'm sorry and I will try my hardest to not be late again."

Caitlin smiled but her tired eyes made it look pained. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Bare."

Barry smiled back, but still looked worried. "Can I take you home? It's dark out now and I want to make sure you get home safe. You look like you might pass out again."

"Rule 13 of our agreement says that we can't go to each other's houses."

"Fine," Barry argued in exasperation, "I'll stand outside your door then."

Caitlin thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. "Alright then, thanks."

What's the worst that could happen?

As the two of them started walking to Caitlin's apartment, Barry kept glancing down at Caitlin to make sure she wouldn't just faint in the middle of the sidewalk. Catlin decidedly ignored him. She didn't need him to look out for her like that and it wasn't like she was going to do a trust fall right into his arms.

"Rule 17," Caitlin stated, "Don't stare."

She honestly couldn't remember if that was a rule or not, but she just wanted him to stop looking at her with so much worry.

"You really love rules, don't you?" Barry asked.

"They keep us grounded," Caitlin explained, "Rules are the foundation that civilization itself was built upon. Rules—"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Barry conceded, "You're horny for rules."

"I am not!" Caitlin protested vehemently.

"It was a joke, Cait."

Caitlin crossed her arms. "I know."

"It must be tough for your roommate if you're constantly harping about rules in your apartment," Barry joked, "Do you have a roommate agreement contract thing for her like the one you have for me?"

Caitlin looked down and tried to muster a fake laugh, remembering her and Felicity's argument. "Ha ha, maybe."

Barry noticed how downtrodden she looked all of a sudden, but decided not to push it.

Changing the subject, he asked, "Have you figured out the answers to my questions from yesterday?"

As Caitlin looked at him with confusion, Barry elaborated, "Finger sized legs or leg sized fingers? And never be able to lie or never be able to tell the truth? You said you needed time to think, so what's your answer?"

Caitlin sighed. "I don't know about the body parts, but I know that I would rather never be able to lie. I hate lying."

"Even if someone asks you if their dress makes their butt look big and it does but technically you're not supposed to say that, and then when you do, you don't get spoken to for a week?"

"Speaking from personal experience?" Caitlin asked.

Barry shuddered. "Let's just say Iris and I were ten years old and it was not a good day at the West household."

Caitlin giggled. "Yeah, I would rather be able to tell the truth even in those situations. Because when you tell the truth, you are being yourself. Who are you if you live a lie?"

Barry raised his eyebrows. "That was deep."

"Thanks," Caitlin said, "What about you?"

Barry thought for a second before answering. "Leg sized fingers. So I can walk around on my fingers while my body is horizontal."

Laughing, Caitlin clarified, "No, I meant about the lying and telling the truth."

"I don't know, cause if I am never able to tell the truth and then people figure out my secret, then the opposite of whatever I say will be the truth and then everyone will know what I mean. It's a lose-lose situation, if you really think about it."

"So is leg sized fingers or finger sized legs!" Caitlin argued, "You just have to choose the better one out of the two bad scenarios."

"Then I'd rather lie," Barry stated.

"So you can lie to Iris about your fake perfectness for each other?" Caitlin mumbled to herself.

"Woah, where is all this hostility coming from?" Barry asked, surprised at how the conversation turned, "Are you still mad at me for ditching our tutoring session for Iris, because I am sorry."

Caitlin wasn't really mad at Barry. She was madder at herself, if anything. Mad and sleepy: meepy. Not a good combination.

After her fight with Felicity, Caitlin didn't want to start anymore arguments that she would regret in the morning.

"It's alright, Barry," Caitlin said, "I don't know why I said that."