Cisco/Caitlin The Flash Sunflowers in September

Sunflower

It was a cloudy night, but the bistro lights strung above the patio of the restaurant shone brightly. Couples and small groups sat comfortably at metal round tables spaced out and separated by flowering potted plants. Fairy lights wound around the fence that separated the patio from the city's sidewalk.

Caitlin used her fork to pick at her kale salad as she began awkwardly, "So... did you have fun?"

Cisco raised his eyebrow at her as he sipped his wine. He placed it back down and smacked his lips. "Huh? Course I had fun, Snow Patrol."

Caitlin chewed her lip as she continued to poke a perfectly round cherry tomato. "But you fell asleep half-way through the show," she said softly.

Cisco snorted as he stabbed into his roasted chicken breast. "Which was not easy! You would think after the price of those freakin' tickets that they'd put a cushion or something on those benches." He pointed his fork at her and added, "And not them ones they wanted to rent out. Scam."

She put down her fork and blinked. Cisco was literally wearing a hat and scarf with the exhibit's logo and a Vincent van Gogh sunflower on them. She almost said something about the expensive gift shop items, but the waitress walked over to refill her glass of water.

"Thank you," Caitlin smiled half-heartedly as the waitress moved on to the next table.

She tapped her fingers on the glass as she watched Cisco eat. She didn't know that she wouldn't have an appetite when she made the reservation. But a gnawing feeling had wormed its way into her gut and she wasn't sure how to address it. It had started during the beautiful projection of sunflowers at the van Gogh exhibit. She was delighted by the rich golden colors and pale blue. In her excitement, she had turned to Cisco to find him snoring lightly on the bench beside her.

"You really didn't have to go again," Caitlin said as casually as she could muster.

"Meh. I didn't mind," Cisco said between chews. He glanced at her full salad. "You want some of this chicken? It's good."

Caitlin tightened her lips as she stared at her friend. He had said several times that he didn't mind going to the art show even though he had already been with someone else. But she knew for a fact that he didn't fall asleep when he went without her because the next day, he called her and said he had a great time. She had been able to hear the smile in his voice.

Cisco paused his putting of roasted chicken slices onto Caitlin's plate. He leaned back slightly in his seat and said, "Uh oh. What's that look?"

Caitlin couldn't avoid addressing the issue anymore. She gave way to the gnawing and her eyes immediately watered up. "You like Frost more than you like me!"

"What?" Cisco whispered. He leaned forward and reached across the table to place his hand over hers. He erratically shook his head. "No, no! Caitlin, you are always the main homie."

"But you think she's more fun," Caitlin argued. She sniffled but no tears fell from her eyes. "She and I have the same phone, Cisco. You guys took pictures with the sunflowers in the background. Tonight, you were asleep! And I saw the text messages. The jokes all night. I mean, I didn't understand them, but I know they were about the art show."

Caitlin paused to take a breath. She knew sharing a body with Frost was hard, but it was much harder when Caitlin felt like the boring one. Especially when she had worked so hard to prove that she was as fun as all of her other friends. She knew it was ridiculous. But even though she was a grown woman with an important job and plenty of accomplishments, she wanted to fit in with the cool kids. Cisco, the life of the party. Iris, the charming one that everyone wanted to befriend. And Barry, the guy with a heart of gold and who was literally The Flash. Now with Frost, where did Caitlin fit in?

"I shouldn't have said anything about the tickets after she asked you to go," Caitlin sighed.

Cisco let go of her hand. He picked up his chair and sat it beside hers so he could put his arm around her shoulders.

"Hey. Look at me," he said softly. "Caitlin, you are my best friend. Frost is awesome, but there is now way she is more fun than you. Do you know how many dope late-night projects you and I have worked on to save the world? How many crazy brunch stories you and I have? I already told you, you're the main homie."

Caitlin could see the sincerity in Cisco's eyes and it made the gnawing feeling go away. She gave him a small smile, "We have made some pretty cool gadgets together."

"You know it," he nodded. He leaned closer and whispered, "Stuff that the government should be tracking us for."

Caitlin chuckled and nudged his side with her shoulder. He laughed whole-heartedly and then took his chair back to the other side of the table. He picked up her glass of water and dumped it on the pavement before pouring half of his wine into it.

"Thanks," she said as she took the glass. She sipped it and smiled. "I wanted wine. But I was in a mood."

Cisco added some more chicken from his plate to hers. "Well, the mood was my bad. And I didn't mean to fall asleep. But I was up late last night tracking that meta-human. And you know I'm like okay with art, but it's not my thing. Besides, Frost and I got high before we went. It's a much different experience."

"What?" Caitlin said with her fork half-way to her lips. She thought for a moment. "Was that the smell in my apartment?"

"Oh, yeah," Cisco chuckled at the memory. He gave her a soft look. "But I'll take falling asleep on your shoulder over anything else, anytime."

Caitlin grinned as her face heated. She believed him. She took a bite of her chicken and nodded at her friend.

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