Spirit Cold ➙ Writings

mistletoe.

Mistletoe!

SUMMARY; In which it is a wasted Christmas unless there is at least one kiss under the mistletoe.

PROMPT; N/A.

PAIRING(S): Caitlin Snow/Barry Allen.

TRIGGER WARNINGS; N/A.

NOTE(S); Set post-1x09 of The Flash, "The Man in the Yellow Suit." / Originally written November 17th, 2017 and edited and republished October 17th, 2018.

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Caitlin Snow was a lot of things. Perceptive was one of them.

She watched as everyone else slowly exited the Wests' home. Eddie kissed Iris goodnight and Caitlin wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see the way Barry looked away, feigning interest in the Christmas tree. As if the sight of them together burned his eyes. Iris nudged Eddie away, kissing his cheek and whispering a simple goodnight.

If she had to guess, she would say Barry finally confessed to Iris how he felt. Considering her comfortable state with her boyfriend, Iris didn't reciprocate his feelings. And for that, her heart broke for Barry.

She saw the way he looked at Iris. Like she had put the stars in the sky, and done so with a smile brighter than every constellation combined. Sometimes it filled Caitlin with an unspeakable pang. She wrote that off as nostalgia over Ronnie.

Emotions were, of course, all scientific reactions to stimulation.

It was just kind of hard to remember that when those emotions, scientific or not, completely overwhelmed a person.

Rejection wasn't as awful as death. She knew this. Not in a self-pitying way, but in a practical sense. She knew the death of her father when she was younger was far more painful than romantic rejection in high school.

But she also knew that being in love with someone who didn't love you back could shatter a person into a million little pieces. Not that she'd fallen in love before Ronnie. She was simply as certain of this as she was that her hair was brown, Barry had super speed, science explained everything, and Cisco had an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars.

(She wouldn't dare admit that maybe, just maybe, it was because she was slowly but steadily falling for someone who didn't love her back. Someone who had just been rejected by somebody who didn't love him back. That was irony at its finest, and she had no interest in allowing herself to feel those things.

Not openly, at least.)

Cisco and Eddie both departed within a few minutes of each other, bidding everyone goodnight while Caitlin observed from the sidelines. Iris said an awkward goodnight to Barry before darting up the stairs to her bedroom, and Joe retired to his room for the evening with a glass of eggnog.

Leaving Caitlin with Barry. Alone.

At first, he seemed startled to notice her hovering by the Christmas tree. As if he had been so lost in his thoughts that he'd forgotten her presence. Then a minuscule smile crossed his expression, filled with so much light that it made the sun at its very brightest appear dim.

"Cait. Interested in more eggnog? I'm not sure there's that much left, but--"

She shook her head, and he shut up. It was often like Barry to ramble, especially when he was stressed or nervous. But he was neither of those things now, nor did he have any reason to be. It wasn't like she made him nervous. That was territory of Iris West.