Reciprocal Altruism || Snowbarry College AU

Practice Makes Bestest VI

She missed it more than anything. She missed her wacky science experiments in the backyard. She missed family game night, when her family was actually together and happy. She missed her dad's hot chocolate, the kind he used to make when he had the strength to reach for the cupboard and—

"You were right," Caitlin admitted.

"Huh?" Barry asked, "Right about your uptightne—"

"I do have a pet," Caitlin interrupted, changing the subject before she could fall deeper into a hole of memories. "A cat."

He had asked if she had any pets so long ago, he had most certainly forgotten, but she hadn't.

Her cat. Something current. Something she hadn't lost yet and wasn't planning on losing.

Barry nodded, allowing Caitlin to change the subject without any argument, to which she was eternally grateful. "It's why you're so good at petting," Barry said. "What's its name?"

"Her name is Frost," Caitlin said wistfully. "She is absolutely beautiful with the most gorgeous silver fur." She chuckled. "When I lived back home, she would always bring us dead rodents and squirrels from the yard and drop it at our feet like it was a present."

"Gross." Barry crinkled his nose in disgust.

Caitlin shrugged. "It was her way of showing love. Dad nicknamed her 'Killer Frost'."

It hurt to talk about her home, but it also felt cathartic. This time, she had control over what she could tell Barry and she could control the memories that came with it.

"Out of everyone I knew, Frost was probably my best friend when I was a kid. I know it's sad that a cat was my closest friend."

"No." Barry shook his head. "It think it's sweet."

Feeling encouraged, Caitlin took out her phone and showed him a picture of Frost. She swiped and revealed another picture of Frost being held by the most important person in her life.

"Is that your dad?" Barry asked as Caitlin handed her phone off to him while she went to get her backpack and other belongings off the floor.

"Yeah."

"He seems nice," Barry noted.

"Yeah."

If Barry noticed her strained voice in an effort to keep her voice level, he didn't say anything.

"Oh," Barry said suddenly, "I almost forgot!" In his hurry, Barry stuffed Caitlin's phone into the back pocket of his khaki-colored pants and rushed past her to get to his bedroom.

Just as quick as he left, he popped back out with a bundle of flashcards in his hand. "I made us relationship flashcards!" he announced excitedly like he just found the cure for ALS.

Caitlin shook her head. There was no point in worrying over her dad at a moment like this. Rather, she asked, "Relationship flashcards?"

He shuffled through them quickly to find the example he was looking for. Pulling it out of the pile, he showed her, "Turtle!"

On the back was the definition: Affectionately play with the fignificant fother's hair.

The number of questions she had only continued to grow. "Fignificant fother?" She realized she may have heard him use that term before, but dismissed it as a lisp.

Barry shuffled through the cards again before he handed her the card that read, Fignificant Fother: Also known as "Fake Significant Other".

"Nobody says that!" Caitlin protested. "I've literally never heard anyone use that term. This is even worse than 'bestest'!"

"Obviously you haven't been studying your flashcards." Barry wagged his fingers. "Shame. For a moment, I thought you were my star pupil."

"I'm your only pupil and isn't making flashcards for our relationship a little over the top?"

"You make giant textbook sized rulebooks, I make flashcards, star— I mean, only pupil," Barry contended.

"I'm not your star pupil anymore?" Caitlin asked, tossing the flashcard she was handed behind her and ignoring Barry's protest.

She didn't know what overcame her at the moment, but this was Barry and he felt no attraction to her whatsoever. She knew that. He asked if she had any pets after Caitlin had tried to be physically affectionate with him! Barry was understanding, knowing when to ask questions and when to hold back. He knew that she had her limits and stayed away from them. There was a certain sense of trust after sharing a secret that only belonged to each other. At the same time, she didn't mean anything to him... so she decided to have a little fun.

She was a cat and he was a ball of yarn.

Trying to make her voice lower and more sensual, she took a few steps closer to Barry, fluttering her eyelashes and biting her lower lip for added effect. "Why am I not your star pupil anymore? Wasn't I a good student?"

Barry took a hesitant step back and laughed nervously. "You- you didn't know the vocabulary and- and by the way, you're a terrible flirt."

"A terrible flirt?" Caitlin laughed daintily, still walking forward, driving Barry backwards until he hit a flat surface.

With his back to the door and Caitlin still approaching, Barry had nowhere to go. He couldn't do anything but watch what would happen next. Caitlin trailed her fingers lightly up his button-down shirt. She kept going up, her fingers going past his heart and collarbone before meeting at the nape of his neck. Interlocking her fingers behind him, Caitlin stood on her tiptoes and blew lightly into his ear.

"Tell me when to stop," she whispered seductively, her lips pressed to his ear and her body pressed against his.

He didn't say a word. He didn't even dare to take a breath.

Slowly, her fingers trailed down once more. Past his collarbone, past his heart, past each and every button lining down his shirt until she reached his khaki pants.

With one finger pointed out on each hand, Caitlin curled them into the belt loop of his pants and used those two fingers to pull his whole self forward. She could have sworn he did a full body shudder at that moment.

Once Barry's back was away from the door, Caitlin's hands went to the back of his body, lower and lower, before she stuck a hand into one of the back pockets of his pants.

She leaned in and whispered, "You still have my phone."

With the speed of lightning, she grabbed the device from his back pocket and jumped away, holding the phone up in victory with a wide grin covering her whole face.

Barry blinked owlishly for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out what the hell actually happened. Those few moments seemed like an eternity to Caitlin and it suddenly dawned on her that she might have crossed a line. Her grin began to drop as her mind began to fill with regret and—

Barry squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Letting out a huff of air, he opened his eyes again, giving her a look before saying, "You tease. You absolute—"

Caitlin's grin returned once more, stronger than ever. "Not bad for a terrible flirt, now is it?" she asked, hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side.

"That..." Barry chuckled, still seemingly in disbelief at what just happened. "That was just cruel."

"Hey, I'm just playing the game."

"Alright then, you may have won this time... but just you wait," Barry said mischievously, before his pitch changed and he sang, "Just you wait."

Caitlin moved past him to get to the door and open it. With her backpack tossed over her shoulder and her newly acquired relationship flashcards clutched in her hands, she turned and sang back with a smile, "In the words of Aaron Burr, 'I'm willing to wait for it!'"

"I'll see you tonight, star pupil."