Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

Forming a Hypothesis I

Hypothesis: A supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.

***

I'm doing this for my grade. Caitlin repeated the mantra in her head as she stood in front of the door.

My grade depends on this. Barry's hand held it open for her, she just needed to walk inside.

I need an A. She took a deep breath. What's the big deal? They were just going to walk in to class together.

I am doing this for my future. She took one step through the door.

My happiness. Second step.

My—

"Nope." Caitlin turned around at lightning speed (Barry should be impressed) and walked out. "I am not going to do this."

Barry let go of the door handle and raced after her.

"Hey." He grabbed her hand, keeping her from running away any farther. "We can do this."

He looked so certain... so encouraging. Like she was running a relay race and finishing the final lap. Everything depended on her.

Barry's eyes stared deep into her own and at that moment, Caitlin understood where the girls from her university were coming from... his eyes were beautiful.

"We can do this, Caitlin. We have to." His voice was soothing and calm, but also commanding. Like he was trying to talk down a panicked animal.

"Maybe you can, but I have no idea how to do this fake relationship thing!" Caitlin felt her heart rate rapidly increasing. "I've only had one boyfriend in my entire life. Unless you count Julian. He was this new British student in my elementary school. We kissed on the baseball field in the fourth grade. It was pretty great. I mean, I don't remember it that well, but all the girls were totally jealous of me and—"

Barry snapped his fingers in her face, the barest hint of a smile gracing his face. "You're rambling."

"No, I'm Caitlin." The response came out of her mouth before her brain could slap her upside the head.

"Seriously? Now is not the time for dad jokes, Caitlin." Barry looked like he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"So you're going to be the mom in this relationship?"

"There is no relationship, okay? You don't have to worry about that," Barry stressed. "That's the deal, remember? Tutoring for a fake relationship."

Caitlin nodded her head slowly.

"Look," Barry said, scratching the back of his head in a way that would have made her every girl in the near vicinity swoon, "you want to be a scientist... doctor... smart person, right? So let's think about this scientifically."

Barry scrunched his eyebrows together in thought and then continued, "Let's say we look at this like an experiment. It can either go right or wrong. Hopefully it goes right. In an experiment, the first step is to form a basic hypothesis using..." he trailed off, gesturing with his hands to allow Caitlin to continue his statement.

At her silence he rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Come on, Caitlin! We learned this in like fifth grade biology."

"We form a basic hypothesis using 'If-Then statements'," Caitlin concluded resignedly. She played with her fingers nervously, just realizing how sweaty they had become.

"That's right, my star pupil!" Barry clapped his hands together. "I will come up with the first hypothesis, ready?"

Caitlin simply gave him an annoyed look.