Caitlin spent the next few days, recovering and just going to work. She avoided Barry and any place that Barry could go. Sometimes she would go to their place and spend some time there, with her memories of a happier time, when Barry loved her and trusted her. Would Barry ever trust her again she wondered? It's not like she had lied, she was being punished for telling the truth
She had just gotten home when her brother handed her a letter. She opened it and read it. She gasped as the letter fell to the floor
"Caitlin, what's wrong?"
"It's iris"
"What about her? Why are you so bothered about her?"
"She's inviting me to her engagement party"
"So? Just don't go"
"It's with Barry"
"Wow. That escalated quickly. Are you going to go?"
"Why should I?"
"Why not? If Barry has that much strength and courage to get engaged to iris, and invite you to witness it, surely you have enough strength to go and witness it. Show Barry that you no longer need him"
"I can't. My feelings have returned, no matter how much I tried to bury then. Or no matter how much I run away"
"You still love him? I thought you said you were over him"
"I tried to. I wanted to believe it. Imagine if you have a child and that child is taken away from you. Your never going to stop praying for them or loving them, no matter where they are'
"And that's you?"
"That's me and Barry. I tried to not care, but I still do. It broke my heart walking away and pretending to not care"
Caitlins brother hugged her
"I'm here for you, no matter what. Just remember that"
"I know. You've always supported me no matter what"
"And I always will. Your my baby sister. We have to stick together"
Caitlin walked slowly to their place. It wasn't much, but for them, at that time, it was perfect. It was a little house in the woods, that they had found and fallen in love with. They had redecorated it, and told no one about this. It was their place, just theirs. They would go their to cool down after an argument, or when they just needed some space. Caitlin had kept the key, despite everything, because she loved the place. She had worked hard on it, and it was as much hers as it was Barry's. Caitlin let herself in and just walked around. Everything was exactly the same. Barry hadn't changed everything. She could still smell her perfume everywhere. She went upstairs to inspect, and lay down on her and Barry's bed. It was like stepping back in time. Nothing had changed. She didn't know who to be angry at, herself for listening to them or Barry for believing them, or fate for letting them be happy for two seconds before everything came crashing down. She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, she was being shaken and being told to wake up
"Barry, what the hell do you think you are doing?"
"Time to wake up sleeping beauty. You need to get home. Everyone is worried about you"
Caitlin looked at the alarm clock, surely it hadn't been that long? She gasped as she saw it was early evening
"I need to get home. I just came to get my stuff"
"Caitlin, can we talk?"
"Talk? You want to talk? Their is nothing to talk about. You begged me for the truth as to why I left you. I told you, you didn't believe me. End of story" said Caitlin, grabbing her things and putting them in her bag
"Look, just stop shuffling about and sit down" Barry shouted
Caitlin dropped everything in her arms. Barry had never raised his voice at her, how dare he now? Barry looked stunned as he realised what he had done
"I'm sorry Caitlin. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you"
"No, you shouldn't have. You never raised your voice at me when we were together, so what gives you the right to start now?"
"Look, I'm just trying to get my head around this. The girl I love is telling me that my parents were responsible for her leaving me. How would that make you feel?"
"Barry, I tried but we failed. Maybe we're not meant to be together after everything. Oh and Barry, I'm the girl that you loved, you don't love me anymore"
"What if I do?"
"No, you don't. Because no man who loves me would ever get engaged to someone else. No matter what happened. If he truly loves me, he would wait and we would sort it out together"
"Caitlin"
"No barry, you are not the guy that I thought you were. Your not the person I fell in love with and loved more then anyone"
Caitlin ran downstairs
"Forget my stuff. I'll collect it another time. We wouldn't want iris, coming here and finding my things, knowing how insecure she is"
Caitlin went to open the door and found it locked. She tried her key but her nothing
"Barry, what have you done? The door won't open"
Barry came downstairs to open the door. He saw something that terrified him
"Get away from the door now"
Barry went rushing to the door and pulled Caitlin to the floor
"Barry, what the hell?"
"Just be quiet" he said, covering her
Caitlin went to speak, but couldn't as the house went up in flames. Caitlin clung onto Barry as he covered her and tried to calm her down
"I'm going to die" she wept
"Hey, listen to me. I'm going to get you out of here. Just trust me" said Barry, still shielding her from everything
Caitlin went to answer but fainted
Duff duff duff. Oh no, what have I done? As always, feedback appreciated
