quiver - barry allen

28.

"I will not judge you"

Quiver

Chapter 28; The Nuclear Man

Charlotte pursed her lips at the group in front of her. Barry was talking about the amazing date that he had with Linda and how he also stopped a bank heist and a man who was about to commit suicide. Cisco continued to cheer him on, and Caitlin laughed at the two boys. She stared at the trio who were a few steps ahead of her.

"Dude, you are a crime-fighting lady-slaying machine," Cisco grinned at the speedster. Charlotte glared at Cisco as she hung back from the group.

"Oh, God, it was so cool. She was so cool. We're going on another date tonight," announced Barry. Charlotte didn't understand the feeling that she had in her chest. It was a sudden pain, like someone took a knife and stabbed her with it and slowly twisted in. 

"Tonight?" Caitlin asked, after taking a glance back at her blonde friend who looked like she was about to cry. "Really?"

"Aren't you worried about moving too fast?" Cisco questioned as the four walked up to the second story of the coffee shop. 

"No. What do you mean? It's a second date." Barry stopped halfway up the steps and turned back to face the other three.

"No, no, no, no, I meant going too fast, hurrying. Look, I mean, you're fast, but there's fast, and then there's fast. Am I being subtle enough?"

"You're really not," answered Barry as he ran up the steps to the second level.

"Cisco's right," Caitlin agreed. "With your increased blood flow and increased heart rate, theoretically, your speed could cause you to..." Caitlin trailed off as Charlotte looked at her two friends in shock that they were talking about something like that in public.

"You're gonna need to think about a lot of dead puppies," Cisco cut in. "Like, we're talking a whole kennel. And baseball. Cold showers. You know what? Nuns."

"Are we really having this conversation now?" Charlotte groaned, putting her face in her hands. 

"It is just a second date," Barry scoffed in disbelief at his friends. 

"A second date?" Iris, who was at another table, asked after listening to their conversation. "With who?" 

"Uh, with Linda Park, the sports reporter." Cisco's phone started to ring and when he saw who it was, he walked away from the group to answer it. Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows at Cisco before turning back to the conversation. Charlotte looked between Iris and Barry and frowned. She noticed the look on Iris' face and noticed it as jealousy. Charlotte could relate.

"Hey, I gotta go," Cisco announced as he walked back over towards the group. I gotta help out a friend."

"Everything okay?" Charlotte asked, her blue eyes swarming with concern. 

"We just got here."

"Yeah, I'll see you guys later." Cisco rushed away from the group causing Charlotte to follow him. She could tell he was lying. She called out his name as he neared the front door, and he turned around to look at her. 

"Where are you really going?" Cisco shuffled his feet before he answered her. 

"I'm going to go meet with Joe," he answered truthfully. Charlotte crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She decided not to ask why he didn't say that in the first place, yet. Instead she insisted on going with. "What? Why?"