What Would I Give Up?- Snowbarry High School AU

Chapter 18

After a few days, Caitlin was still staying with Barry. Her parents had made no attempt to contact her yet and she'd only been back at Snow's Landing once to get some of her things when she knew they were both working. 

As nice as it was being with him every day, she knew it was making his parents a little bit concerned. Of course, they felt sympathy for her situation but having her in their son's bed every night was a little nerve-wracking. They knew that they were in a physical relationship- they have one small child in the house already and they are certainly not wanting to become grandparents just yet. But they could hardly turn her away and it wasn't her fault that she was in this situation in the first place. 

Because of this, the couple spent a lot of time in town to calm their nerves and if they were at the house then they passed the time playing with Grace. The little girl enjoyed playing dress-up with Caitlin or watching her favourite cartoons with her and Barry. It was also a pleasant distraction for the couple, it meant that just for a little while they could forget completely about all the things that were happening.

Though today, nobody was home other than Caitlin. Barry's parents were going out to lunch in town with some old friends and Barry was taking his sister to another birthday party. Although she was alone now, she was happy that once he returned they would have a little time to themselves. She was sat in the sitting room, curled up on the couch in sweatpants as she watched some daytime television. Every so often, she would glance at the front door hoping to see car lights through the opaque glass in the door or see it swing open. 

It took a short while and a snack but eventually, he did return. When he closed the door behind him, she smiled and stood to greet him with a hug and a quick kiss before taking him by the hand to sit back down and next to her on the couch. She rested her head on his shoulder and leaned into him with a soft sigh as he draped an arm around her shoulders. 

"Hey, is that my jersey?" Barry asked curiously after eyeing up the red basketball shirt.

"Maybe... It's comfy and it smelt like you. Why do you want me to take it off?" she replied with a soft tone and a teasing smile.

"No... it looks pretty good on you actually" he shook his head, kissing the top of her head quickly. 

She giggled and looked up at him with a small smile. Her cheeks flushed a rosy pink as he traced his index finger down the bridge of her nose and she looked down, feeling familiar butterflies from his touch. He took her chin between his fingers and gently pulled it up so he could look her in the eyes. Watching as she blushed even deeper, he leant in and placed a quick little kiss on her lips. He hadn't seen her blush like this in a very long time and it was a perfect sight to see after all that had happened. 

"I love you, Cait, I love you so, so much" 

"I love you too... I know we keep on saying it but we'll get through this, I know it. Even if they refuse to pay for our flights and try to make me go to law school, I'll say no and once I finish at Harvard I'll come straight to you even earlier than we expected. Three years isn't so long I suppose and we might not see each other as much because we'll have much less money for flights but we can see each other every day on the holidays and we can video call any time we want. I have no doubt that we'll make it no matter what happens... maybe other people might say that long-distance never works and we are basically doomed but I know how I feel and how we feel about each other. I have faith and you should too" Caitlin replied hopefully with a smile.

"I do have faith. After all, that's happened this year, I'm not about to let you go now. Nothing is going to stop me from being with you and, hopefully, your parents will realise that and know that we're going to be together no matter what. Maybe when they see that, they'll see how happy we make each other and we're not bad matches for each other after all. Though I'm not sure my determination is going to impress them" he smiled, taking her free hand and squeezing it.