Friends don't (Snowbarry)

I just noticed, your growing apart.

Iris sighed when Barry walked away. She knew in some way she had no right to be mad at him. she had kicked him out last night after there argument but she had immediately regretted it.

She tried to call him, once, twice, five times but he didn't pickup. She knew when he said that he "spent the night at a friends" he actually meant that he spent the night at Caitlin's, she hated herself for it but she knew somewhere inside she was jealous. She knew that at one point Barry did in fact like Caitlin, almost love, and she remembers the exact moment she realized it. 

It was around the time Iris began to admire Barry herself

-------------------

"Where is he?" 

Iris turned and found it was Dr. Caitlin Snow on their door looking uncharacteristically disheveled. Iris motioned to the one of the kitchen island where Barry is. 

He hurt himself fighting a meta but STAR Labs is a mess right now, courtesy of the same meta, so Barry came back to the Wests household when he was injured. 

Iris knew Caitlin for quite some time. She was Barry's doctor when he got hit by a lightning. Then after that, she became Barry's personal physician—that's what she knew, before knowing Barry was The Flash and that Dr. Caitlin Snow is The Flash's personal physician. 

With that fact, Iris slowly stood up and distanced herself from injured Barry and let the actual doctor do the checking up. Iris had spent a decent amount of time with Caitlin because of the fact that both of them are in the loop about Barry being The Flash. But she can't say they are friends. The proper term would be "acquaintance". 

She can only say good things about the doctor. Caitlin is smart, kind and selfless. 

"I warned you several times, your body may be tougher than any normal person, but so are these other metahumans." she said sternly as she patched up Barry's burnt upper 

"I know," Barry answered 

"You know and you still launch head-first to danger," she said sarcastically and annoyed. Iris silently watched and listened to the exchange as she was observing from the side.

"Well, in this case, he launched shoulder-first," Cisco intervened. Caitlin glared at him mildly while Barry smirked at that. Iris may have witnessed this kind of exchange far too many times to be familiar with the emotion she feels building up. 

She felt out of place. She stood up and silently walked to the kitchen to somewhere in the living room where she can still see and hear them. It was not familiar for her or to see Barry act like this at home aside from when he was with her and her father. And she felt left out. 

She knew it was petty and kind of selfish but she can't help it. Cisco said some excuse of fixing something in the lab. Caitlin rolled her eyes and sighed. Barry still had a goofy smile on his face as he watched Caitlin grumbled and continued to work on his burns. 

"You really shouldn't worry too much," Barry said softly. 

"It's because I'm your doctor, Barry," Caitlin said. Iris watched as a small speck of sadness filled his eyes but before she was sure, it was replaced by a smile as he looked up to her, 

"Thank you, Cait." Caitlin's eyes soften as it focused on Barry's then smiled a bit. "I'll always worry about you, Barry," With the smile that Barry beamed, Iris felt a pang in her chest seeing that look on his eyes. 

When did that happened? 

It wasn't the only time she had noticed it

=ϟ❄

Everyone is in a festive mood because Barry just defeated a meta human that proved to be hard to defeat. 

The meta had the power to transfer things from one place to another Physics genius that calculated his speed, velocity and friction. Barry hit a lot of big and hard things before they figured out his weakness. Apparently, just like Peek-A-Boo he can transfer things he can see to a location he can see. 

When Cisco ID'd the meta, Caitlin deducted something seeing the photo available. Out of 5 photos, one shows him sporting glasses which everyone brushed aside but she knew something is not right with that—which later proved true when they recovered his driver's license which had type B restriction. And they used it to their advantage. 

Cisco made a disposable heat gun, broke a water pipe and made the water evaporate which created a mist and restricted his already restricvision. They captured the meta easily after that. He was so distracted by the mist that Barry easily got to his blind side and knocked him out. 

Everyone is chatting to themselves and was drinking and eating in the West's household. Iris felt happy and very relieved that Barry saved the city once again without getting hurt.

 She was about to approach Barry when someone beat her into it. She stopped at her tracks and watched as his face lightened up upon laying his eyes on her. Caitlin had a gentle expression on her face as she laid a hand on Barry's shoulder. Barry's eyes briefly looked at her hand and then looked at her face. He had a small smile on his face and his eyes found hers. It was a small moment—not tacky, nothing so grand, but Iris felt she was invading a very intimate moment. She had to look away. Since when did that happened?

The one time she knew for sure was when she was at CCPD

 =ϟ❄= 

She guessed she doesn't have to feel surprised when others started to notice them. 

Iris was at CCPD to check in with her dad and invite him for lunch when she heard: "Do you think Allen's sick?" one officer asked. 

Iris eyes curiously and worriedly looked at the new young officer who asked. Why would he say that? The older female officer, Perez, looked amused when she smiled and answer, "Allen's not sick, Kid," she says.

"Then why does he keep seeing his doctor?" Perez shook his head lightly and motioned the officer to look at the direction; her eyes followed the motion and saw Barry, about to approach Caitlin who is standing few feet away, looking like her usual self—uptight. 

She watched as the stoic doctor smiled easily when Barry approached and greeted her with a big smile and a hug. 

"Do you see how pretty Allen's doctor is—especially when she smiles like that?" The young officer had a small blush when he nodded, 

"Yeaaah." he agreed, "I noticed that she's pretty when I saw her at the Receiving Area but, wow," he exclaimed breathless "beautiful," 

Perez chuckled and said, "Stop it, she only smiles like that to Allen," The two officers started to have a work-related conversation and moved away from her earshot, but Iris stayed glued to where she is. She only smiles like that to Allen. 

"Hey, Iris, you ready to go?" Joe's voice broke her trance. She smiled and motioned to her dad to go. While walking to the exit, she furrowed her eyebrows before asking, "Dad, does Caitlin visit Barry often?" 

Joe stopped on his tracks and looked at her. He had a distant smile and said vaguely, "I'm really glad Caitlin is there to take care of Barry, and he to her,"

_____

She snaps back into reality when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Joe smile at her.

"He'll find his way back, don't worry."

and if she was honest she was a bit worried.