In A Blink ➳ Barry Allen/The Flash

01.

chapter one ; welcome to central city

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Central City.

It was an odd choice for Natalie Reed to choose to live, but it felt like home.

As she stood in the lawn of her new home, watching the movers place her boxes inside the house, she remembered what it was like several years ago when she first visited the city.

Her mother had taken her and her two brothers to visit their cousin. They had only stayed a week, but in that week she'd felt like she was truly home. It was an odd and confusing feeling to describe.

Where she grew up, it was a nice place, but it was like it didn't fit for her, she was an outsider. But in Central City, she felt true to herself and happy. Natalie had always felt drawn here, as if it had always called her to be here. So it was an odd choice, but it was a happy one.

"Well ma'am, that seems to be the last of the boxes," a mover said, pulling Natalie away from her thoughts.

She pushed her brown hair behind her ear and gave a smile of gratitude, "Thank you so much. You saved me from having to go through that trouble. Now do your movers help with unpacking?"

The mover laughed and shook his head no while he closed the back doors of the truck, "You have a nice day ma'am. And welcome to Central City."

She waved goodbye to the movers before walking inside her new home and shutting the door behind her. It was a simple two-story house and it was bare, but this would be fixed in a matter of time. All Natalie had to do would be to unpack and settle, but right now she wasn't feeling up to it.

Before she had even step foot back out of the door, her phone rang. She hit accept and locked the door behind her before she started walking down the road to wander around the city and explore her new home.

"Hello?" she asked, not bothering to look at who was calling.

"Nat! Have you moved in yet?" Instantly, Natalie recognized the voice of her cousin, Caitlin Snow. She still lived in Central City, even after she lost her fiancé, Ronnie Raymond, to the particle accelerator, something the couple had both worked on. Caitlin was the closest thing Natalie had to a sister and she was also one of the reasons Natalie moved to Central City.

"Hey Cait! The movers finished moving the boxes in the house so now I'm just walking down the road. You know, exploring," she said with a laugh into her phone.

"You don't have a car yet do you?" Caitlin asked.

Natalie scrunched her eyebrows, "No.. Why?"

"Just wondering. Since you're out, call a cab and tell them to take you to Jitters," Caitlin said. Natalie could hear her cousin rummaging through something and could hear the clack of her cousin's heels on the floor.

"Jitters? What's a Jitters?" Natalie asked while stopping.

"It's a- Just meet us there, okay?"

"Wait us? Who's-"

"Okay great! Bye!"

Natalie pulled the phone from her ear and stared at the screen in confusion. But she did as her cousin asked and hailed a cab.

"Where would you like to go, miss?" the driver asked as Natalie scrambled into the back.

"Umm.. Jitters?" she asked, doubting her cousin.

The driver smiled at her request. "Good choice."

She smiled back and stared out the window as the buildings sped past. This was her new home.