The Reason [Snowbarry]

Sorry

Sorry (adj.) feeling distress, especially through sympathy with someone else's misfortune.

Caitlin pov:

I look at myself in the mirror, I have a dark circles under my eyes, my lips are cut and bleeding, my torso and arms are covered in bruises. I back myself in a wall and slide down it. I bring my knees up to my chest and hide my face in my hands. I wipe the tears off my face and try to calm down.

"Caitlin? Hello are you in here?" I hear someone say. I don't respond. "Caitlin, the principal wants to see you." I bite my nails and pinch my ankle with my other hand. "Caitlin?" I pinch myself harder which stops me from crying. "You're not in trouble."

I listen to her footsteps coming closer to me. I consider running but decide not to.

"There you are," she says "come on let's go." When I don't move she pulls me up. "You aren't in trouble,"

She leads me into the principals office.

"Hello Caitlin," I keep my head down. "Caitlin," I start to pinch myself again. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," I say.

"Really?"

"I'm fine okay, I'm just really tired." I say.

"Caitlin,"

"What!" I snap at her, I look up. "Can I go now?"

"You have two options stay here and talk to me which means telling me what's going on or, you can walk out of this office and have detention for the rest of the week. I get up as quick as I can and leave. I'd rather have detention.

Barry pov:

"Hey Caitlin," I say as I enter the cortex.

"Hi," she says not looking up from what she is doing.

"Can we talk?"

"About what," she says nervously.

"I was a dick." I say ignoring her question.

"Okay?" She says sounding slightly confused.

"I was a dick... in high school."

"Oh," she starts to pay attention to her computer.

"I was-"

"Go kill yourself," she mumbles.

"What?"

"Then you dropped a stack of books on my chest bruising three of my ribs."

"Oh,"

"You don't remember that specifically... I do tho." She says. "Have you ever had books dropped on you, or have you ever been thrown into lockers?"

"No-"

"I'm not finished." She snaps. "Have you ever had to had bruises from your parents? In one we you told me to kill myself 347 times. And for the rest of my life I wondered why you hated me so much." She says tears come into her eyes.

"Caitlin-"

"Why do you hate me so much?" She whispers a tear falls down her face. She wipes it away as quickly as she can.

"I-I don't know," she nods and looks down. "I'm sorry,"

"Why now after all these years?"

"Because today, I recognized your pain in my daughter's eyes."

"Brooke?" I nod. "She's being bullied?"

"I think so,"

"By who?"

"I'm not sure exactly, but her friend Natasha came yesterday and she seemed super guilty."

Caitlin pov:

My phone rings, I grab it. I don't recognize the number but I answer it.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hi, is this Caitlin?"

"Yes, may I ask who's calling?"

"This is Natasha,"

"Natasha okay, why are you calling?"

"I found Brooke's phone on the floor while I was walking to school, and you were the first contact I found."

"Oh okay,"

"There's something else... Brooke never showed up at school today."

"She didn't?"

"What is going on?" Barry hisses.

"She didn't come to any of her classes." Natasha says.

"Do you know any reason why she wouldn't show up?"

"I don't know,"

"Has she been getting bullied?"

"Why do you ask?"

"When I got bullied in high school I wouldn't go to school a lot." I say.

"Oh, well when high school started I started being mean to Brooke."

"Like how mean?"

"Like ignoring her, but other girls in our class started being rude to her and then I realized that I was being mean."

"Okay, thank you I'll go find her." I say "bye,"

"Bye," I hang up.

"Barry go to your house and look for Brooke."

"What?"

"Just go!" He nods and leaves. I run out of cortex and to my car. I drive to jitters and enter the coffee shop. Last time Brooke ran away she showed up here. I scan the coffee shop and see her sitting in the back with her computer. I walk over to her. "Can I sit here?" She looks up.

"Sure," she says, I sit down.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure," she says looking back at her computer. Slowly I close her computer.

"Why aren't you in school,"

"I don't want to go,"

"That's always what I said when I didn't go to school however, I didn't want to be bullied." I say.

"Mhm,"

"Brooke is someone bullying you?"

"No," she says. "No one is bullying me, end of discussion."

"Okay," I say. "Have you bought anything yet?" She shakes her head. "Lets get something then." She nods.

A/n: this is longer than literally all of the other chapters.