Bittersweet Love

24. Treat You Better

Caitlin's POV

I watched, stunned, through the monitor as Barry's knees hit the pavement and he stared up at the dark, gloomy, sky. Joe's task force loaded the truck with Reaper and knowing the usual routine, he will be questioned by The Flash at a later time. There is nothing more I wanted to do at the moment than to hold him in my arms and comfort him. I have always restricted myself, telling myself that it is not my place. Iris was always the one to be there for him, physically and emotionally. Now look at the fickle game of destiny, even when she is out the picture, even when it would not be morally wrong to comfort him, I still can't.

I blinked my eyes and the speedster has disappeared from my screen. Wind blew my hair into my face. Even after 9 years of the daily blow dry, I have not gotten used to being assaulted by the wind. I turned around to be met by a gleaming Barry, his cowl taken off, and a smile as bright as the city. I zone out as everyone walk towards him, hug him, clap him on the back and congratulate him. But me? I can't take my eyes off that smile. The one he leisurely lost throughout the years of being The Flash. But this man right now, he is the same twenty-five year old who stood in front of me before his first run beaming with excitement and telling me that I don't smile much. Even though it left his face for a long time, I am glad it found its way back to the rightful place.

After everyone settled down, Barry walked towards me and dropped down on his knees right in front of me. Oh god. What is he going to do? My heartbeat became erratic as his eyes met mine. Relief, calm, and, serenity looked right back at me. I can tell he is glad that it is finally over. Everything around be blurred when he took my hands in his. The light stroke on his thumb on the back of my hands burned as it was lit on fire. A small gasp escaped from me, causing him to look back up. His brows frowned and he stared at me with curiosity lingering in his eyes. I still have absolutely no idea as to what he is doing, on his knees, in front of me, with everyone watching us.

"Cait..." Oh, god. I always hated the effect that name had on me whenever he said it. And for some reason, there is an unsaid rule that only he is allowed to call me 'Cait'. "I am sorry." Wait what?

And with a click, my wrists are released. Right. I forgot that I had meta-human cuffs on me. That is what he was doing, on his knees, in front of me, with everyone watching us. He was removing the cuffs he put on me in the evening. Right, I am supposed to be mad at him. Furious even. But the way he behaves makes it impossible. His thumbs stroked my unbound wrists. It is so discreet and intimate that only we feel the tension lingering between the two of us.

"When are we interrogating the Reaper?" Cisco's voice broke me out of my trance.

Barry stood up, now standing beside me, but his hand never left mine. "Maybe tomorrow, or the day after. Right now, I just need a break from him." He exhaled, probably exhausted.

"Okay, I dibs coming with you." Cisco announces.

"What are you? 12?" Harry asks.

"Hey Harry, your salty ass attitude is showing. Fix it." Cisco says.

Amidst their bander, Barry gently tugged my hand and took me to the medbay. Right, I was so whopped by his presence that I forgot to do a medical checkup. I absentmindedly went through the physical examination checking for basic reflexes, oxygen levels, glycemic index, bla bla bla. All this while, Barry does nothing but stare at me. I manage to keep the eye contact to a minimal because I cannot handle the intense gaze at the moment. I reconfirmed the statistics of is concussion and asked out any lingering symptoms to which he obviously denied. I know that he is lying but I choose to ignore it because there is no way anyone can make him admit what he doesn't want to.

"Okay, you are free to go." I say while trashing my gloves.

When he doesn't move, I turn towards him. I raise my eyebrows asking his what's wrong but he shakes his head. Just then, loud noises emerged from the cortex and both of us moved to join them.