Cisco/Caitlin The Flash Sunflowers in September

Warm Drink

Caitlin wrapped her hands around her cup of coffee as she sat across from her twin sister. They had made it a regular thing to meet up at Jitters late on Saturday mornings to talk about their weeks in person even though they called each other every day. Caitlin always looked forward to their time together after long shifts at the hospital during the week. Her sister, Crystal, had said it was because Caitlin lacked a social life.

"So, how are things in the art world? Did you finish the mural for the restaurant opening?" Caitlin asked as she held up her cup.

"Art takes time Caity," her sister replied in a bored tone as her eyes scanned the coffee shop. Suddenly, her eyes brightened and she smirked. "No way. Is that your nerdy little crush from high school?"

Caitlin furrowed her brow and looked over her shoulder to the direction her sister was staring. Caitlin felt heat flood her face and her stomach drop. She quickly turned away and tried to make herself as small as possible at the table, leaning forward and hunching her shoulders. She hadn't seen that face in over ten years.

"No," Caitlin stammered. "Of course not. I never had a crush." She looked up from her coffee to her sister and added, "Besides, you know I dated Ronnie Raymond all through high school."

Her sister sipped her own warm drink and then leaned back casually. "How is Mr. Perfect, anyway?"

"Are you serious? I've told you a million times, Crystal."

"Refresh my memory."

Caitlin resisted the urge to look over her shoulder and see if the guy at the ordering counter was gone. She relaxed her shoulders a bit. "Ronnie is happily married to a wonderful woman." She held up a finger. "Whom I adore, so don't make fun of her."

Her sister rolled her eyes, tossing her dyed-grey hair over her shoulder. "Uh huh. And did Mr. Perfect ever find out you were cheating on him with nerdikins over there our junior year?"

Caitlin sat up straighter in her seat and narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Crystal, you know that I would never cheat on Ronnie."

"Which you can thank me for," Crystal said before taking a bite out of her scone. "If I wouldn't have walked into our room to get my gym bag, you horn dogs would've been awkwardly making out on my bed. You perv."

Caitlin opened and shut her mouth as her brain failed to come up with a clever response. Even as an adult, sometimes she wished she had been born an only child.

"I'll prove it," Crystal said with a sly smile before waving her hand in the air. "Hey, you with the hair! Yeah, you! Come here!"

"Oh, my goodness," Caitlin muttered as she tried not to sink into her chair.

Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to determine if she had time to escape this awkward situation. She tried to calm her nerves by telling herself that it was a case of mistaken identity and that Cisco Ramon was still living his best life somewhere on the other side of the country.

"Um, hey," a familiar voice spoke.

Caitlin nearly spilled her coffee as she jumped slightly in her seat. His voice was deeper than she remembered, but just as friendly as always. She looked up to the handsome man standing beside their table and it was like she had traveled back in time. He still had those same dreamy eyes and that beautiful head of hair from the days they were geeky lab partners.

"Hi, Cisco," she greeted him shyly.

"You remember me?" He smiled with a slight awe in his tone.

"Duh, champ. You look exactly the same. Mildly attractive face and the need for lifts in your shoes," Crystal smirked. She loosely crossed her arms and asked, "Hey, Francisco, do you remember that time you tried to get in Caity's pants back in eleventh grade?"

The heat Caitlin had felt went cold as she sent her twin an icy glare. Crystal was too busy keeping her eyes on Cisco and sipping her drink as if she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary to notice.

Cisco let out a chuckle and shook his head. "Same Frost as always."

"Frost," Crystal grinned as she put down her cup. "I haven't been called that in years. Man, I was such a great kid."

Caitlin rolled her eyes and relaxed her shoulders. "Everyone called you that because you were mean to them and they were afraid of you."

"And that time she used liquid nitrogen on the rival football team's mascot," Cisco added. He tapped the side of his latte. "Which I do have to admit was kind of awesome."

Caitlin couldn't fight her own smile at the memory. "It kind of was," she murmured.

She chanced a look in Cisco's direction and her breath caught in her throat. He was looking at her with those eyes and that smile. She knew little about his life through social media, but every now and then she found herself trying to look him up. She glanced at his hand holding the latte and noticed there wasn't a ring on his finger.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head out," Crystal said abruptly. "Francisco, take my seat."

"He doesn't...Where are you... Crystal," Caitlin started and stopped. She gave her sister a pleading look not to leave her.

"He's not going to bite you, Caitlin," her sister said as she shoved Cisco toward the empty seat. She gripped his shoulder and leaned forward to whisper loud enough for Caitlin to hear, "Unless you ask."

He pushed some stray hair away from his face and chuckled as he looked down at his warm drink.

"Why," Caitlin murmured as she hung her head down in embarrassment.

"It's Saturday, Caity. You should ask," Crystal whisper-shouted to her sister, clearly amused.

Cisco laughed as he watched Crystal walk away from the table. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder and said, "I thought she'd grow out of being so brutal."

"Nope," Caitlin said, lifting her head but unable to make eye contact. "Um, sorry about... her."

"Don't be. I'm glad she waved me over. I mean..." He looked away bashfully and tapped the side of his cup again. "I saw you when I first walked in and I couldn't think of a good excuse to come over and say hi."

"You did?" Caitlin asked, finally looking at him.

He lifted his shoulders as he stared down at the white lid of his cup. "Yeah." He lifted his eyes to hers. "I didn't think you'd remember me. But... I definitely remember you. And, uh, eleventh grade."

Caitlin felt like a love-struck teenager again. She smiled at the only guy she had ever wondered 'what if' about. Yes, she had loved Ronnie Raymond from fourteen to nineteen years old. But for a semester during AP chemistry, her heart belonged to Cisco Ramon. And she knew that if Crystal hadn't walked into their shared bedroom that day years ago, Caitlin would have closed the distance between her and her cute lab partner as they sat too close on Crystal's bed reviewing their notes on stoichiometry.

"Me too," she said as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"There's only one thing I would've changed that year," Cisco admitted. "Instead of being all pissed at junior prom because you looked beautiful dancing with Ronnie, I would ask you to dance. Just one, because I knew you guys were serious. But at least for three minutes... I could've pretended that you were mine. Sort of like I did Monday through Friday in Mrs. Young's class."

Caitlin blushed from the sincerity in his voice. She bit her lip and laughed lightly as she looked down at her hands. "If it makes you feel any better...I thought you looked beautiful at junior prom, too. And I would've really liked a dance."

Caitlin didn't think a smile could possibly be as bright and genuine as the one Cisco gave her as he sat across from her in the coffee shop that late Saturday morning.

End note: This oneshot was based off the prompt warm drink from the September OTP Prompt Challenge posted by lavendarotpprompts.tumblr. Thank you for sharing prompts, person from the internet.