Hot and Heavy

By Duchess Emma

"I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wraps my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one."

-Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Chapter 1

"So tell us, man, are you and Patty hot and heavy yet?" Cisco asked with a suggestive wiggle of his dark eyebrows.

The large sip of her fourth vodka tonic sloshed around in her mouth, burning her tongue before Caitlin finally swallowed it. The very last thing that she wanted to discuss, let alone think about in her drunken haze was Barry and Patty…having sex.

She thought she saw Barry's eyes briefly shift to her before he responded, "Geez, Cisco, where are your manners? Since when does my sex life, or lack thereof, fall under the purview of Team Flash?"

She breathed a small sigh of relief. Right, because she wasn't interested in knowing the sordid details of his time with Patty…not because he said "lack thereof"…

"Come on, man, details. I get weird vibrations every time I touch my most recent date…girlfriend…metahuman hottie. I'm trying…we're trying" he gestured between him and her, "to live vicariously through you."

"We?" she finally spoke, loudly and a bit slurred. "I don't think so. Barry's right. Keep your lecherous inquires to yourself."

"Thank you, Dr. Snow," Barry replied, his eyes twinkling a bit as he leaned back in his chair. It's just the dim lighting in the pub, she told herself as she clinked around the ice in the bottom of her glass.

It wasn't as if she was immune to Barry's considerable charm. He was attractive, after all. That thick hair, those green eyes, the bright smile. She wasn't frigid, despite what some people might think. He was hot, a metahuman hottie in fact. But he wasn't…that is, she wasn't interested in him that way.

It was merely a crush. An innocent crush at that. Something maybe a little deeper than her brief flirtation with Jay. Right. That's what this was. Barry was always there. And they were friends. Good friends. Best friends, at least he was one of her best friends. It was only natural that she develop feelings for him at a certain point. So what if she thought about him a bit more than usual? Worried about him more than she should? He was special to her. And if maybe at night she thought about him in less than…innocent ways, well, that was normal too. Then why did it make her feel guilty? Why did she feel like she was somehow betraying Ronnie's memory? And why did her breath catch and her heart pound just looking at him across the table now?

"Besides," she continued as she waved down their server, anxious to drown her tormented thoughts with more libations, "Barry's a nice guy."

She knew that she said something wrong when both Cisco and Barry furrowed their brows.

"Nice guy?" Barry asked, a frown on his lips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Yes," Cisco inquired amusedly, "do tell us, Dr. Snow. What exactly do you mean by 'nice guy'?"

Turning to Barry, she responded, "I only meant that you're sweet. Kind. You just aren't that type of guy. You're not really the hot and heavy kind."

Cisco sat back and looked between them, eyebrows comically raised and bottom lip pushed out in interested surprise. Barry continued to frown.

"Are you suggesting that I'm some type of…eunuch? "he asked softly. There was an undercurrent of anger, disappointment even in his words.

Cisco muffled a chuckle at her reaction, but Barry's crestfallen face made her anxious to clarify. "What? No. Obviously not. I mean, I know you aren't because I've seen" as if its own volition, her hand gestured to his groin hidden below the edge of the table. "…I mean, in my capacity as your personal physician…." She felt her face flame red, the alcohol making her even more awkward. Oh God, she sounded like Felicity. This was bad. Very, very, very bad. Vodka did not make her articulate. It only made her dumb.

Gathering herself before she continued with more of her embarrassing commentary, she said with a sigh, "What I meant to say is that you are sweet. Kind. Chivalrous, even. You're not the type of guy to like rip a woman's clothes off in the heat of passion and ravish her against a desk. You're respectful, gentle, not some alpha-male right out of a trashy novel." Except for in my wildest fantasies where you do exactly that and more…that I don't think about late at night…

If anything he looked even more puzzled. "Fine, I'm sweet. But are you suggesting that I'm passionless?"

She shifted uncomfortably. He had passion. It was just controlled, directed towards things that mattered. Running faster. Family. Getting his father released. Revenge. He didn't need to waste his energy on unnecessary things. Women were attracted to him, both as Barry and the Flash. But he'd chosen to watch and wait for Iris from afar. Sure, he was passionate about her—something that still unsettled her now-but not in a can't-eat-can't-sleep-can't-breath kind of way. It was a muted passion, contained for maximum endurance.

Not that she was an expert in passion. She and Ronnie had never been excessively passionate. They'd skipped over the whole dopamine-induced sex sessions. And the day he'd returned last year they'd spent the time chatting, not in bed. Their relationship had been built on mutual respect and love. It was a lovely, special, and deep connection but it was not lust-filled. Which was fine by her. She wasn't sure that she could even inspire that type of passion…that type of lust in anyone. Maybe in Everyman when he'd appeared as Barry? But that was weird. And awkward to have been kissed by a person who was not actually that person. Besides, Everyman was a horny jerk, not exactly a quality example.

"No. You're passionate about a lot of things," she replied, thinking of Everyman Barry again. "I only meant that you're not…like Christian Grey or some other nefarious guy who likes to seduce women for sport."

"That dude is pretty creepy," Cisco interrupted. "If he wasn't a billionaire, he'd be on an episode of Criminal Minds."

Ignoring him, she continued, "I mean, I suppose that's exciting and all that, every now and then, of course. But you've got a good heart, Barry. You're not that type of guy."

She paused. "Patty's lucky to be with you." And she meant it. She was happy for Barry. He deserved happiness, especially after having his heart broken by Iris. She couldn't be jealous of that.

His eyes lingered a bit too long, making her feel uncomfortable. But then, maybe he was trying to gauge her drunkenness-it was about at 7/10- because he smiled easily and said, "Did Caitlin ever tell you about her karaoke debut? The night where she sang this terribly off-key rendition of 'Summer Loving'? Or how afterwards she practically stripped for me? But I was nice enough not to 'look at her goods.'"

She laughed heartily along with Cisco as Barry recounted her blunders. It was a memorable night, one that she'd forgotten most of.

Yet why of all the things that she forgot, did she not help but remember the heat of his hand on her thigh? His heated eyes raking her as she entered the dive bar?

FINIS

A/N: This is the third story that I've begun about these two and the only one that's published. I have a bad reputation for not completing my stories, so I thought it only fair that the one I do post is one that can actually be completed in 2-3 chapters. Did you enjoy it? Well, review it then. Wink,wink. Tell me why you adore Snowbarry because seriously, I could talk about my adoration for this ship for a long, long time.

Also, to anyone directed here from my Merlin stories, let me assure you that I am very much alive. My updates have been nonexistent because..a lot of things happened in the last 18 months. I did finish my Ph.D. (yeah, it's Dr., er, Emma now), moved to North Carolina for a teaching job, moved back from North Carolina for another job and because I found out I was very unexpectedly pregnant, then had a baby boy at the end of May. You know, a pretty tame time.