Disclaimer: I do not own The Flash.

Evolve: To develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complex form.

"I woke up and it was white! Completely white!" Caitlin ranted to Barry as the two of them walked to their usual study spot.

"It's the stress." Barry shook his head, "You're stressing yourself out too much, Cait. Gray hairs are proven—"

"White hairs," Caitlin corrected. "I refuse to call them gray."

"Fine, your frosted tips—"

"I hate you," Caitlin muttered in the background.

"—are because the acute stress you're facing with classes and whatnot hyper-activates your sympathetic nervous system—"

"Which in turn depletes stem cells and causes gray hair. Yes, I know, I took General Bio too."

"White hair," Barry corrected with a smirk.

Caitlin sighed as they finally reached their seats. She plopped down on the bench and ran her hand through her hair as she inspected the ends closely. "All my hair is gonna be white by the time I'm 30!" she whined.

"Some people look really good with white hair!" Barry comforted as he took off his jacket and placed it on the seat beside him. "Sometimes it makes people look sexy."

"You think I would look sexy with white hair?" Caitlin raised her eyebrow.

Barry shrugged as he began taking out his notebooks and his phone. "I suppose it's all in the attitude. You have to own the look. Embrace it." Barry quickly scrolled through his text messages and then froze as a realization dawned on him. Sheepishly, he turned to face Caitlin. "Speaking of sexy…" he trailed off.

Caitlin looked at him with her special look of exasperation that she saved just for him. "What did you do?"

Barry squinted his face to try and make himself look innocent. "I, uh, may haveinvitedIristojoinuswhilewestudiedsorry!"

Caitlin didn't think she heard him properly. "What was that?"

"I may have invited Iris to join us while we studied…sorry," he repeated slowly this time.

Caitlin didn't say a word. She just stared at him with her doe eyes of disappointment.

At that look, Barry fell apart. "I'm sorry, Cait! It kinda just happened!"

"It. Kinda. Just. Happened?" Caitlin said slowly, her voice dangerously low. She was halfway tempted to kick the boy for being so blindly in love. Study time was study time! Her time to get her part of the altruistic deal. She agreed to be his fake girlfriend for all other times. Study time was the only time she had to herself! And Barry had to go and share that with Iris.

"Look," Barry tried to explain, "Iris is struggling just as much as you are in the class, if not more! We were just talking and-and-and somehow she may have accidently invited herself to our tutoring session!"

"Accidently invited herself?" Caitlin screeched. "Barry! This is the one time—the one time—I get to benefit off of our supposed reciprocal altruistic deal. You had no right to bring Iris into this part of our agreement. I am not about to waste hours of my time dealing with you pining away and half-attempting to flirt with her while I am trying to study for an exam that is less than a week away! Less than a week!"

"Caitlin, I get it! I know I am going back on my word, but I swear we are going to use this time to study. We all have the exam in three days, okay? We're not going to waste time. We are going to study, I promise." Barry looked at her with deep, promising eyes. He truly did look sorry. At least he understood why this time was so important to her.

Letting out a breath of acceptance, Caitlin shook her head. "Fine. But no goofing off. None."

"Of course." Barry nodded his head firmly in complete agreement.

Caitlin turned to the chapter in her notes where they had left off. Nonchalantly flipping her hair off her shoulders she asked, "So when is Compass getting here anyway?"

Barry's eyes perked up at the mention of their codename for Iris. "She'll be here in about five minutes or so. She told me she's running a bit late."

"Running late?" Caitlin mocked, "It's like the two of you were meant to be together."

Barry knew Caitlin was just joking with him, but he couldn't help the light blush that spread to his face. He tried to hide his face in his backpack as he searched for the flashcards he made.

"Why is she taking this course anyway?" Caitlin suddenly asked, "Isn't she a journalism major?"

Barry looked up from his school supplies. "She is. But she also wants to minor in STEM cause she wants to be a reporter with a focus on science and innovation."

"Wow." Caitlin was impressed, "That's actually really cool. Very ambitious."

"Ever since we were kids, she's always known what she wanted to do with her life. She knew what career she wanted, what house, what car, how many kids…" Barry sighed, "Me, on the other hand, I didn't even know what I wanted for dinner." Caitlin chuckled at that. "It took me a while to even figure out what my major was. It took my mom dying and my dad being sent to prison for me to figure out I wanted to work in the criminal justice system…" Barry trailed off, "All I've ever known for sure is I've always just wanted to be with her."

Caitlin didn't really know what to say in response to that. "You will, Barry. If that's what you want and if that's all you've known, then soon she'll realize it too." She wondered if she sounded as stiff as she felt.

While they waited for the third member, Caitlin and Barry began going over biology terms that would show up on the next exam. Even thinking about the words on the exam gave Caitlin anxiety. But somehow, perhaps it was the way Barry read the words, Caitlin was able to rattle off the definitions to every vocab word that was sent her way. Plus, the look of pride Barry gave her after she got each term right gave her just the right amount of encouragement to keep going.

By the time Iris joined, Barry and Caitlin had gotten through about a quarter of their flashcards. She took a seat next to Barry and across from Caitlin.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late."

Caitlin finished going through the rest of the flashcards on her own while Barry blubbered on about why it was totally okay she was late. He really was a hopeless romantic.

Iris and Barry spent the next ten minutes or so discussing why she was late in the first place. It was something about a birthday gift for Eddie. Caitlin tried not to pay too much attention, but she figured Barry wouldn't be too happy about that reason. The conversation continued on to how difficult everyone was expecting the exam to be. Now Caitlin decided to listen up.

"Yeah," Iris leaned in to include Caitlin, "So I heard this exam is going to be twice as hard as his other exams. As if his other exams weren't hard to begin with. People who took the course last year told me that this exam had the lowest average of all time!"

Caitlin could easily agree with that statement. She had studied basically every day for two weeks preparing for the exam…and she still did not feel half as ready as she should have.

"He better curve us a 100%," Barry joked.

Iris giggled at his joke and that encouraged Barry to keep saying half-witty, half-dumb statements to keep impressing his crush. Tossing one leg on either side of the bench and putting his left elbow on the bench as he rested his head on his knuckle, Barry made sure to give his full attention to Iris as his whole body faced towards her. Both their textbooks laid out on the table, flapping in the sunny breeze, all but forgotten.

The two of them leaned into each other and laughed, sharing inside jokes and overall making Caitlin feel all squeamish inside. She did not know what this feeling was, but she hoped it would go away. Maybe she caught a stomach bug. Caitlin prayed to all the deities above to just let her get sick only after the exam.

As Barry shifted his position while he looked at Iris, the watch that rested on his wrist reflected the light of the sun and shone it right into Caitlin's eyes. Doing practice problems was not easy when it felt like the full force of the sun was trying to burn off Caitlin's pupils. Every turn of his wrist sent a bright flash right at Caitlin. That annoyance, plus the betrayal she felt after Barry betrayed the sanctity of her study time, finally pushed Caitlin over the edge and she couldn't keep her anger in any longer.

"Will you stop flashing me?" Caitlin growled as she looked up from her worksheet, her lucky pink #2 mechanical pencil clutched tightly in her hands.

Barry looked surprised at Caitlin sudden outburst and immediately adjusted his body to sit properly on the bench. "Sorry, Cait," he said. Noticing which problem set she was on, Barry quickly found the right papers and started to work, encouraging Iris to begin as well.

That lasted a good five minutes before conversation started again.

"You know, I'm kinda glad we're taking Stein." Iris commented. "Like this class is hard enough, but I heard that Wells's class literally makes people want to switch majors and then just curl up and die, not my words."

Caitlin awkwardly coughed, remembering getting straight A's on all his tests while Barry snorted in amusement.

Iris turned to Caitlin as she realized her reputation. "I took his class for a week before I dropped out, but you stayed for so long and I heard you were at the top of the class. Why did you drop it?"

Caitlin felt herself growing more annoyed by the second as Iris kept talking. "I just did, okay? So can you just drop it? Let's actually study for once."

Iris didn't say anything, but Caitlin could tell that her feelings had been hurt. Barry threw her a side glance that looked like a mix between anger and disgust. Caitlin felt a twinge of guilt prick at her heart. Iris had done nothing wrong the whole time and Caitlin was sitting there stewing in her bad attitude. Even she could admit she was acting a little irrational. She wished she could explain why.

Maybe it was the mounting anxiety from the upcoming exam. Maybe it was the leftover sadness from her fight with Felicity. Maybe she was just getting a damn stomach bug.

The memory of her fight with Felicity struck her as she remembered the reason behind it in the first place. If she didn't open up to people, then no one would open up to her. Biting her lower lip, Caitlin faced Iris. "I was in the class, but I…I dropped it because I…didn't like it…"

The sound of new information and juicy gossip sparked the inner Journalism major in Iris and she perked right up. "Didn't like it? Caitlin, the class is literally everything you want in your job. And a letter of recommendation from the Harrison Wells could literally get you any career you wanted!"

Noticing how Caitlin was growing more and more uncomfortable, Barry tried to change the subject and move on. He knew Wells's class was a touchy subject for her. "Stein's class is just as difficult, Iris. I'm sure Caitlin just wanted to challenge herself. Right, Cait?" He looked at her reassuringly.

Withdrawn into herself, it took Caitlin a second or two to break out of her reverie and agree with the boy. "Uh huh, yeah. Something like that." Her throat felt dry and Caitlin wanted to be anywhere but here at her favorite study spot.

Too bad Barry beat her to the punch and announced his leaving before she could. He got up and started putting all his study materials back into his backpack, leaving with an excuse about a club meeting.

Before he left, however, he placed an impromptu kiss on Caitlin's cheek and leaned in close to her ear so Iris wouldn't hear. Thank you, he whispered.

Caitlin felt like she couldn't breathe. Like a bubble of air was caught in her throat. They had discussed Rule 12 extensively. She knew cheek kisses were allowed…but it still caught her by great surprise.

Did Barry not realize that was the first kiss he had given her? Because Caitlin certainly had.

Still not being able to say anything coherent, Caitlin managed to give the brown-haired boy a weak smile while Iris bid him adieu.

After he left, it was just the two of them: fake girlfriend and future girlfriend.

Caitlin unconsciously put her hand to her cheek to feel the last remaining heat from the kiss. Was it getting hotter out here?

Iris definitely noticed the kiss, but didn't say anything. In fact, after Barry had left, conversation had quickly dwindled down because their common ground had left. Caitlin could use no other words to describe it other than "awkward". Iris must have felt the same way because it didn't take long for her to get up and announce that she better get back to her dorm as well.

The two of them stood and began packing their things when Iris noticed something beside her. Picking it up and ruffling it out, the two of them realized that Barry had accidentally left his jacket on the bench.

"Typical," the duo commented simultaneously. When they realized they had said the same thing, they looked at each other and laughed. "Jinx!"

"I'll take it to his apartment and drop it off," Iris offered, folding it up neatly.

"Um, that's okay." Caitlin said, stretching her hand out to take the jacket. She wondered why she wouldn't just let Iris deliver the jacket. She knew Barry would be elated if Iris cared enough to drive to his dorm to give him his jacket, but something was holding her back. "I live closer to him, so it would be easier for me to…"

"Really, it's okay," Iris argued, and suddenly Caitlin could feel the air getting thicker. "It's not a big deal."

"Exactly," Caitlin agreed. "So just give me the jacket." Without another word, Caitlin had taken the item of clothing from Iris's hands. "I can just bring it to him," she said, bringing the jacket to her chest. "After all, I am his girlfriend." She made sure to stress the last word.

Iris smiled, gritting her teeth making it seem more like a grimace. "Of course. Right. Um...see you around I guess."

Caitlin suspected jealousy in Iris's tone and wondered if she should inform Barry on the new prospect. She honestly couldn't imagine why anyone would be jealous for Barry, of all people, but to each their own.

Holding the jacket closely, Caitlin brought the fabric to her face. The smell was intoxicating. It was just so…Barry. Like pine and nutmeg and…what was she doing? She shook her head and began her trek to Barry's apartment. All she was doing was dropping off a jacket. No biggie. But it was a biggie and Caitlin felt guilt in every step at the way she shut Iris down. Caitlin was the worst when she was stressed…which was basically all the time.

When she reached Barry's apartment, she knocked three times and waited. She hoped his club meeting was over and he was actually there. Otherwise, she wasted the walk here for nothing. Luckily, Barry was home at that moment and opened the door wide after just a minute.

He grinned a huge Cheshire cat smile as he greeted her. "Caitlin!"

She took in his relaxed state and looked him up and down, noticing he was wearing Pokemon pajamas with the tiny little characters all over his blue bottoms. "Nice PJs," she commented, a smirk gracing across her face.

Barry stuck his tongue out at her. "What's up?"

"You left your jacket at our library bench." Caitlin all but shoved the article of clothing into his free hands. "And now, I have to come and drop it off at your house. See, you made me break rule—"

"—13 of the relationship agreement, I know."

"Wait, you memorized it?" Caitlin was taken aback by the fact that Barry had actually read everything she had written.

"Of course I did. It was part of the agreement to memorize it. Rule..."

"36." Caitlin finished. They both laughed.

The sounds of whirring and teleportation caught Caitlin's attention and she looked past Barry and into his apartment. "Is that Doctor Who I hear playing?"

Barry scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Yep, own them all. I watch random episodes all the time when I'm bored."

"That's awesome." Caitlin smiled wistfully. "I haven't had time to watch it past the Tenth Doctor."

"You mean, you haven't gotten to Eleven?" Barry gasped. "He's one of the best! Come watch it with me…that is if you're willing to break our fake relationship agreement." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Caitlin shifted on her feet back and forth as she considered her options. Rules were so important to her. She had to follow them. On the other hand, she did walk all this way to drop off a jacket. If she went back to her home now, she would have been greeted by nothing but the gaping absence of her best friend.

Noticing her apprehension, Barry put in his two cents. "You don't have to come in, Caitlin. I know you're a stickler for your rules. It was just a suggestion."

"I…break rules…sometimes."

The corner of Barry's lip quirked upwards. "Do you now?"

"Yes, I do. I can be fun and spontaneous." I can be like Iris, she thought to herself. That thought was enough to bring her to her final decision. Walking past him, Caitlin entered his apartment and took in her surroundings.

Welcome to my humble abode," Barry introduced, his arms stretched wide, "oh, fun and spontaneous one."

His home felt both cluttered and organized at the same time. Nobody else would have been able to navigate through the maze of his room except for him. He knew where everything was placed, even if it was in the wrong spot. It felt very homey and nice and overwhelmingly Barry.

He jumped onto the couch and patted the seat next to him, inviting Caitlin to sit in front of the television screen.

Caitlin did so, sitting so she was on one side of the couch while Barry was on the other, but before she could fully get comfortable, she turned to him with determined eyes. "This is just a temporary suspension. After tonight, we go back to the normal rules. Understand?"

Barry nodded, his face mock serious. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Now tell me what happened to Ten. Did he end up with Rose?" Caitlin cozied up on the couch and wrapped one of his blankets around herself.

Barry smiled softy as he looked at Caitlin. "In a way…"

They watched quite a number of episodes before Caitlin realized it was getting late…too late. She needed to get home before her night with Barry turned into a sleepover.

"Barry," Caitlin said, her voice sounding a little rough from tiredness and disuse. She turned her neck slightly to look at him and realized his head was leaning on her shoulder and his eyes were closed.

It seemed that during each episode, Barry and Caitlin had moved closer and closer together as they pushed each other, joked around, and threw pillows at each other. The two of them had moved to the center of the couch and were leaning against each other without knowing it.

She hoped she didn't look creepy just watching Barry sleep, but Caitlin couldn't help feel warm inside as she took in his relaxed state. His head was curled up against her, his brown hair all mussed up, and his mouth was slightly open leaving a little drool on the side. Caitlin thought it was the cutest thing.

He looked so innocent and peaceful. He wasn't thinking about any of his problems. He wasn't thinking about his dad in prison, his unrequited love for Iris, his track meets, his future…

All this time, Caitlin had been loading her problems on him and her stress about her grades, but she never took a moment to realize the stress Barry faced in his life, especially with his dad. Both their dads were in desperate situations where their kids wanted to help, but had no actual power to do so.

In a way, they were both stuck in the past.

Not wanting to disturb the rest Barry was getting, Caitlin quietly replaced her shoulder for a pillow and rested his head against it. She picked up her backpack and made her way to the door.

"You're leaving already?"

Closing her eyes and realizing she woke him up, Caitlin turned around. "It's 3 am, Barry. I didn't want to wake you up."

"You're going home this late?" Barry sounded groggy; he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. "It's not safe."

"I'll be fine." Caitlin held something up and waved it. "I have pepper spray and a Taser." A haunting thought crossed her mind. "Can't be too safe out there."

"If you don't want to stay, let me walk you home." Barry stood up from the couch and stumbled forwards.

"You're a true gentleman, Bare." Caitlin held a hand up to his chest when he tried to get to the door. "But I'll be fine. I called an Uber. I'll be outside for two minutes tops."

Barry finally seemed to accept that Caitlin wasn't going to let him come. "You'll call me as soon as you get home?"

"Yes, sir."

He gave her a sleepy smile. "Today was fun."

Caitlin's own smile faltered slightly. "About that…"

"Iris?" Barry knew.

"It's just that she—"

"Distracts me?"

"And we didn't really get any tutoring done…" Caitlin trailed off, looking up at him through her lashes, hoping she didn't sound like a jealous fake girlfriend. "I don't want her to join our other tutoring sessions."

A silent second passed before Barry nodded resignedly. "You're right and I'm sorry that we wasted a day of studying. But hey, on the bright side, we still have three more days till the exam! We…I... just have to be even more on track."

Caitlin looked at her watch and corrected him. "Two more days now." She bit her lower lip. "You're not mad at me?"

"Of course not." Barry reassured her. "I totally understand where you're coming from and I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner."

Caitlin suddenly felt warm again and looked at him with a shy smile. "Thank you."

An idea struck her. "Plus, you can tell Iris about me seeing some deep chemistry between you and her and that I am so jealous of the two of you together." She poked Barry's side teasingly and he jumped as she unintentionally tickled him.

Barry grinned as he rubbed his side. "Like she would believe that."

She shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

He chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Deep chemistry…" he repeated.

Caitlin checked her phone. "Uber's here."

"Oh, before you go." Barry gave her a teasing look. "How was our first kiss?"

Caitlin felt her heart racing at just the thought of his cheek kiss. So he did know. She had to play it cool. "It was so steamy and hot. Best cheek kiss I've ever had. My grandma would be jealous."

Barry nodded as he acted serious. "I kiss better than your grandma. I believe that is the highest accomplishment any fake boyfriend could achieve."

"Congratulations, Grandma Kisser."

Barry crinkled his nose in disgust. "You make it sound like I just go around kissing random grandmas when you and I both know these lips are only for kissing the cheek of one old person stuck in a young person's body."

"I am not an old person in a young person's body!" Caitlin protested, hands on her hips.

"You're right," agreed Barry, "You're not an old person in a young person's body…you're an old person in an old person's body. You even have the gray hairs to prove it!"

"White hairs, asshole!" Caitlin shoved him playfully, and she could hear herself laughing.

"Language!" Barry yelled as he doubled over in laughter himself. "You kiss your grandma with that mouth?"

Maybe it was the high one gets at 3:30 in the morning. Maybe it was the stress. But even as Caitlin reached the Uber and went off to her apartment, the grins and the giggles just wouldn't go away. Even as she changed into her pajamas and laid her head on the pillow, the thoughts of another apartment with cluttered tables and Doctor Who DVDs refused to fade away.

The next morning, Caitlin awoke with renewed energy and a determination to right her wrongs. That meant making up with the one and only Felicity Smoak.

Even though she called a million times and left thousands of voicemails, the blonde haired girl continued to ignore her. There was a wall between the two of them that Caitlin didn't realize she was building. Enough was enough; it was time to break down the barrier.

Making her way to a certain mansion, Caitlin couldn't stop the jittery nerves that took over. She stepped out of the vehicle and made her way to the door, holding a very large basket in her hands. Balancing the bulky gift with one arm, Caitlin used the other to ring the doorbell.

The door opened a few seconds later and Caitlin was greeted by the face of Oliver Queen. "Hi, Caitlin," he said, a welcoming smile on his face. "Felicity is downstairs. If she has an attitude at first, just ignore her. She really does miss you."

Grateful, Caitlin made her way inside and to the stairs. "Thanks, Oliver."

"Wait, Caitlin." Oliver's now hesitant voice made her stop in her steps and she knew what was coming. Turning around, she faced him cautiously. "How are you?" He asked.

"Fine." She cleared her throat. "Better."

"Have you told—"

"Uh, no. Not—not yet."

"Caitlin." Oliver pinched his nose and looked at her with firm eyes. "You promised."

"I will." Caitlin dug her fingers into the basket and almost broke through the plastic wrap. "I just haven't had time."

"It helps to talk about it, you know."

"I'm fine, Oliver," Caitlin retorted harshly. "I'm going to see Felicity now."

Oliver didn't argue and let the secretive girl join her best friend.

In the basement, Felicity was hard at work on the computers. Hearing the ruffling of Caitlin's friendship basket, she looked up and took in the sight of her best friend. "What are you doing here?" she asked with a twinge of annoyance.

Caitlin sighed as she put down the basket. "I tried to call you and talk to you, but you were doing all you can to ignore me, so I had to see you in person. Plus, I made you a Ramen basket." Caitlin pushed the large gift towards her as a sign of a peace offering.

Felicity took a packet from the collection and began to rip it open. Caitlin watched while she looked around for the microwave. "Does this mean you forgive me?"

"No," Felicity said forcefully, "It just means there's nothing to eat in this mansion except caviar and lobster and sometimes a girl just wants to overload on sodium."

"I'm sorry, Felicity," Caitlin said sincerely, "I'll do better! I just can't stand the thought of you being mad at me."

"Honestly, Caitlin, I was never really mad at you." Felicity said resignedly as she set the dried noodles down. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes tiredly. "I just wanted you to tell me what was on your mind. I feel like I'm always telling you everything about my life and what's going on, from work to any problems with Oliver, which there aren't any more thanks to your advice, and I just want to be there for you, but I can't if you're not willing to tell me anything. I can't if you don't trust me."

"I do trust you!" Caitlin said forcefully. She didn't understand how her best friend did not know that she meant the world to her.

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong? I know something is wrong so don't deny it. And I know that it's obviously about Barry. After every study date you have with him, you always come home with a dopey grin and then you always get sad. And-and even before Barry, there were nights you woke up screaming."

"It was just nightmares," Caitlin muttered.

"Nightmares that just started coming out of nowhere. Nightmares you won't talk about—"

"I've stopped having them!" Caitlin interrupted. She paused and took a breath. "They've stopped. I don't know I think it was just a phase. Maybe it was the stress, but after I've started studying with Barry, I've been sleeping fine. Great actually."

"Fine, then we won't talk about the nightmares. Can we talk about your problem with Barry?"

Caitlin mulled over what she was allowed to tell Felicity. "It's not about Barry," Caitlin finally admitted.

"Then what is it?"

"It's me, okay? It's me!" Caitlin felt a wave of emotion wash over her, "I'm insecure. I'm crazy. I'm neurotic. I'm jumping into this crazy commitment with Barry and I don't know if I can handle it anymore. I just spent all of yesterday being completely mean to Iris for no reason because…well, I don't really know why!" Caitlin released a crazy laugh. "I have a test in Stein's class coming soon and I don't know if I can handle it. I feel petrified every time I see Ronnie, like he's judging me for dating someone else. And Barry! He's great. Super funny and nice and we get along so well and I have so much fun with him and I feel like we're not on the same page and I am moving too fast for him and I think I'm getting feelings for him that I can't explain and I don't really want—"

Caitlin's eyes widened quickly as she took in the last few sentences she said. No way. No way, no way, no way. Caitlin certainly didn't feel that! Why did she say that? She just blurted it out, but it wasn't true! Was it? She couldn't breathe. Why did she say she had feelings for Barry?

Felicity put a hand on Caitlin's shoulder. "Breathe, Cait."

One breath in. One breath out. One breath in. One breath out. Caitlin could feel her body begin to slow down again and return to normal function. Or as normal as a constantly stressed out person could get.

"How does that feel?" Felicity asked.

"Better," Caitlin choked out.

"Now, sit down and we're gonna break down everything you said, starting with the last thing." The two of them sat on the comfy couch in the basement and settled in for a long conversation. "You think you're getting feelings for Barry? Isn't that what was supposed to happen? I mean, you are dating the guy."

Caitlin realized she had revealed too much, but felt it was totally worth it if it meant having her best friend back. She chose her words carefully and felt she was revealing more to herself than she was to Felicity. "I think my feelings for him are greater than the ones he has for me."

That statement felt completely true and saying it out loud only confirmed it. Talking about it really helped her to understand herself and unload.

"So, do you…love him?" Felicity asked cautiously.

"What? Love him? Hell no," Caitlin scoffed.

"Well, I mean the logical step from liking someone is to love them."

"But I don't love him! We barely know each other!"

"That's the thing about love, Cait. You never see it coming…and you can never plan where it'll come from."

They talked for hours after that, breaking open that ramen bouquet and eating unhealthy noodles till dawn.

"Thanks for opening up to me, Cait," Felicity said softly as they leaned against each other. Caitlin was reminded of a similar situation she was in with Barry just a few hours before.

"If I knew how much better I would feel afterwards, I would have done it a long time ago."

"Why do you think I always rant and go into my long, drawn out tirades?" Felicity joked.

"Thanks for listening." Caitlin smiled as she stood up and stretched. "You ready to go home?"

Felicity hesitated, "About that…"

Caitlin looked worried as Felicity didn't immediately agree to go back. Maybe their friendship wasn't as fixed as she believed.

"When I was staying here…Oliver asked…" Felicity looked conflicted, her eyebrows scrunched and fingers tapping against the couch arm. "Oliver asked me to…move in with him."

"That green bastard." Caitlin squinted. She was only joking, of course. She would be sad and hopelessly miserable for a while as she lived alone, but she would have to get over it. Oliver and Felicity had dated for a while, it was about time they took the next step in their relationship. Besides, the mansion definitely had space for one more.

"I said no, obviously." Felicity tilted her head from her seat and gave Caitlin a cheesy grin.

That took Caitlin by surprise. "Really?"

"Of course. I couldn't leave you. You need somebody to stay and help pay rent!"

"Right, and that's the only reason?"

"Duh." Felicity stated as a matter of fact.

The two girls looked at each other and giggled.

"Ollie and I have all the time in the world." She hooked her arm around Caitlin's and they both made their way outside. "I want to spend a little more time with my best friend."

In a way, Caitlin was glad they had their fight because now, she felt their friendship had reached another level. There had been an added layer of trust that brought them together once more and they had evolved to become stronger than ever before.

Now that her friendship was in the clear, Caitlin's head felt clearer as well. Sharper and ready to take on the world…or at the least, Professor Stein's killer exam. The next two days had Caitlin completely cut off from the world and she rotated from her apartment to the library like clockwork. Even her interactions with Barry were kept to a minimum as they studied together in comfortable silence, encouraging each other to keep going (Caitlin's job) and forcing the other to take a break once in a while (Barry's job). The two of them worked well together and Caitlin realized that even as the test grew closer, her anxiety hadn't been completely debilitating. With Barry's help, she was able to utilize it and work her hardest…without completely breaking down and losing it.

The day had finally arrived. The dreaded exam date. Caitlin lay paralyzed in her bed. Afraid to get up and face the lecture hall. The stiff blue seats. The ticking clock.

She tried to pull an all-nighter like she had for her previous exams, but Barry would not have it.

"If you pulled an all-nighter for the other exams and bombed, why would you think it'll work this time?" he argued. "Trust me. You need sleep." And he stayed outside her window, just like their first study date, to make sure she was really going to bed.

Caitlin went to sleep after much tossing and turning, but now she couldn't get up. She considered faking sick and skipping. Then she realized Stein had prepared an even more difficult exam for people who skipped. She would not want to take that exam.

Sighing, she pulled herself out of bed and got ready, making sure to eat a healthy breakfast as Barry had constantly reminded her to do the day before.

When she finally reached the building she was going to take her exam in, she was met with the crowd of her classmates standing outside the locked door doing as much last minute cramming as possible before the doors opened. There were open textbooks, open notes, and open quizlets as each student used their own method to study. There was also the sound of hyperventilating, something Caitlin could relate with on a spiritual level. She tried looking around to find Barry, but he was lost in the crowd. Caitlin did however see Ronnie, who she had tried to avoid until this point. Ronnie did not agree with her sentiment.

He approached her with all his fit and beautiful glory. "Nervous about the exam?" he asked casually.

We dated for years, Caitlin thought to herself. What do you think?

"Just a little," she replied.

"You'll be fine. Stein said as long as we prepared, the exam should reflect what we've learned."

"Did he now?" Caitlin muttered.

Ronnie breathed deeply and Caitlin watched his chest rise and fall. "So I heard you're dating Allen."

Caitlin shut her eyes. "Can we not talk about this now?"

"You know he does track and he's part of a bunch of extracurriculars. You broke up with me for having a life outside of yours, so I don't understand why dating him would make much of a difference."

"That is not why I broke up with you and you know it," Caitlin seethed. "How dare you make it seem like I was preventing you from having a life. I just wanted to be a part of it. I just wanted a part and you clearly didn't want that."

"Stein and I were—"

"Attached at the goddamn hip. You were so invested in your work and your project, you literally didn't notice anything else. Anything that was happening to me. Anything I was going through—"

"What were you going through, hmm?" Ronnie asked.

Caitlin was startled by Ronnie's forwardness, but she came to her senses pretty quickly afterwards. "It's a little too late for that, isn't it?" she responded coldly.

"Caitlin!" At the sound of her name, Caitlin was greeted by the body of her lovely fake boyfriend. He jogged up to her with a great grin on his face, a bright contrast to the panicking and petrified looks on the faces of his classmates. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Barry continued talking. "Nervous about the exam?" Without even waiting for her to answer he went on, "Course you're not, because Caitlin Snow is going to KILL IT!" he announced that statement loudly and proudly to everyone.

Despite her argument with Ronnie, Caitlin still smiled softly at Barry's antics.

"The doors opened." He noticed as he looked at her. "Ready to go in?"

Caitlin gave a firm nod. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Barry gave a nod to Ronnie as he and Caitlin walked into the lecture hall. Caitlin gave no such indication that acknowledged her ex-boyfriend. "What was that all about?" Barry whispered in her ear once they were out of Ronnie's field of vision.

"Later," Caitlin whispered, still painfully aware of Barry's arm still around her.

Later was right, because it was now the moment Caitlin had dreaded for so long. The students had to sit in every other chair to avoid cheating, so Barry sat in the seat right in front of her so he could boost her confidence till the very last second before they had to start.

He turned to face her, a smile still on his face. "You are going to do amazing. If you feel your heart racing, remember the calming exercises we googled. You just gotta breathe through it, alright?"

Caitlin nodded, gulping as she noticed Stein and his TAs walking in with the stacks of blank exam papers. Barry noticed too, but paid them no heed.

"Barry," Caitlin squeaked. "I can't do this. I can't—"

"If you can't do it, I can't do it," Barry stated, the smile dropping from his face. He turned even more in his seat and leaned towards her. "If you freak out and bomb this test, I'm not even going to attempt to take it. I'll hand in a blank exam and get a zero. Is that what you want?"

Caitlin's eyes widened. "What? No. What the hell are you talking about?"

"You need to save me, Caitlin." Barry's face was serious. "You can fail all you want, but I'm going down with you. So take the damn test and if you finish, I finish. Deal?"

"You're insane."

"And you're insanely smart, so I know you've got this in the bag. So can you get me that A+?"

Barry tried to make her taking the test seem like an act of saving his life (or his grade) and after all the work he put in with her by tutoring her and studying with her, maybe it was. If she sank, he sank with her so now the test was not just about her…it was about Barry and saving Barry. Caitlin was always better at helping others than helping herself. Barry knew that and he used it to help her.

He knew her better than she knew herself.

"I can do it," she confirmed, her lucky pink pencil clutched tightly in her hands.

"Mr. Allen!" Stein's voice called from the front of the room. "Eyes forward. Exams are being passed out."

Barry gave her one last wink before turning around. When the exam finally reached her seat, it was like time sped up and slowed down all at once. Her pencil moved on its own accord and even though she felt like her brain was empty, something in her knew what it was doing. The mountains of flashcards she built popped into her mind. The many, many practice problems she did and redid came to her attention. It was all coming together.

Mostly it was Barry's voice in the back of her mind giving her tips and hints to calm down that kept her going. Every time a TA walked past her seat and glanced down at her paper, she heard Barry's voice tell her to count to ten. When her eyes started to water and her pulse quickened, Barry's voice told her to not get stuck on one question and keep moving through it.

The timer went off and the end of the exam was announced. Caitlin jumped in her seat taken by surprise. She had worked slow and steady and had barely finished in time. But she did. Caitlin felt like she could breathe for the first time. She actually finished the exam. She did it!

Giving the exam a quick once-over, Caitlin prepared herself to hand it in and finally push it out of her mind forever.

"Thank you, Ms. Snow," Stein said as he took her exam. He then continued to take the other grumbling students' exams, not giving her any attention even though this was the most momentous occasion to Caitlin. She had gotten through the exam without any panic. Alright, maybe a little panic, but not enough that she couldn't get through the exam.

She packed her backpack slowly as the students trickled out complaining about how unfair and hard the exam was. Her pretty pink planner was out and Caitlin was finally able to check off Biotech Exam from her To-Do List. The list that haunted her for weeks.

Confident in herself, Caitlin walked out the doors and was pleasantly surprised to see Barry still waiting for her outside the building. Her smile faltered a little at the sight of Iris standing by him as the two of them chatted together. Barry leaned against the wall speaking to Iris in a sort of flirty way. Caitlin felt her heart clench in her chest and immediately looked away. This was Barry Allen. The weirdo who was in love with the same girl since he knew what the word love meant.

He was no Romeo, especially to her. Then again, Romeo wasn't even that big of a hero. A wimp, really. Undeserving of the title of a "real" man...maybe Barry was Romeo.

Iris caught Caitlin's eye and walked over to her, leaving Barry behind. "The exam's finally over!" she said, her eyes bright.

"Yeah, it is!" Caitlin smiled.

Iris gently grabbed her forearm and squeezed. "I just wanted to let you know that…" she paused to consider her words. "Barry is like my little brother. He's my friend. So you don't have anything to be jealous about and I'm sorry if I made you feel like that."

Caitlin never felt more awkward. "Oh…"

Patting her shoulder, Iris smiled. "Trust me, there is no deep chemistry between the two of us."

Deep chemistry? Caitlin wondered. Then the realization struck her. Those were the words she told Barry to tell Iris so she wouldn't come to their study dates.

"Okay, thanks Iris." Caitlin didn't really know what else to say in that situation. Please have deep chemistry with my fake boyfriend so we can fulfill our altruistic arrangement? Was that too forward?

After Iris made sure Caitlin knew exactly where she and Barry's relationship stood, she went off and joined her friends who were going out to celebrate the end of the exam. Caitlin just wanted to take a nap.

"What was that about?" Barry asked approaching Caitlin as Iris left. He had just finished a conversation with Cisco in which the two of them had mutually agreed to not judge each other when they received their test scores of 15%.

"So you told Iris about the deep chemistry, huh?"

"Did it work?" Barry countered.

"It worked in embarrassing me," Caitlin said while the two of them began walking to their next class (a class most people decided to skip after the terror of the Biotech exam). "She's probably going to tell all her friends how much of a jealous monster girlfriend I am."

"Iris wouldn't do that," Barry defended.

"You know, I feel like I'm putting a lot more effort into this fake relationship than you are," Caitlin commented off-handedly.

"That's not true! I planned this whole operation! This was basically all my effort."

"But I have to actually do it and convince Iris that I like your weird face."

"My weird face?" Barry questioned, not at all affronted, "I'll have you know, plenty of people think my face is perfectly proportioned."

"Who? Your grandma?"

"Yes, my grandma. My beautiful face is the only thing on her Facebook."

"Grandma Kisser," Caitlin sang.

"I love my grandma and there's nothing wrong with that."

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with that." Caitlin replied.

"You're making fun of me!" Barry exclaimed, his voice going a pitch higher.

"I'm not!" she laughed, pulling out her smartphone. "I'm sure your grandma is a wonderful lady."

"She is." Barry reminisced about his grandma who was currently having a good time in a retirement home in Florida. "What are you doing?" He watched Caitlin scroll through her phone.

"I'm finding your grandma on Facebook. I have to know who's on the receiving end of Barry's famous grandma kisses."

"You and you alone, my fake love. Her name is Dawn," Barry added. He took out his own phone and handed her it with his grandma's Facebook page already opened up so Caitlin didn't have to search anymore.

"Woah," Caitlin said as she went on Dawn's Facebook page. "You weren't kidding. These are all pictures of you! Oh and lots of minion memes. Grandmas sure do love those yellow Tic Tacs. Aw, look at your cute little bum!" Caitlin zoomed in on a picture of a cute and chubby one year old Barry lying down on a blanket, all dimples and smiles.

"Okay, that's enough Facebook for today." Barry grabbed his phone back and held it over his head so she couldn't reach.

Caitlin jumped up to try and reach his device. "Oh come on, Barry! Now let me see your Facebook page."

Barry grunted, not being able to resist Caitlin's requests and pulled up his page. Caitlin gleefully scrolled through, but ended up a little disappointed. "You're very boring. It's just pictures of your track team and like one family picture. Your grandma's page is way better."

"Sorry my life doesn't consist of minion memes," Barry stated dryly.

"I don't think I can forgive you for that," Caitlin replied in the same tone. "So you like Lady Gaga?"

"Psh! What? No!" Barry vehemently denied, "No, I don't!"

"According to your Facebook page," she showed him his post, "ya do."

"First of all, I was twelve. My taste in music has matured now."

"It's okay, Barry. Even coma patients can jam to 'Poker Face'. It's a bop, you don't have to be ashamed."

"I'm not ashamed! I was twelve!"

"Actually you posted your love for Gaga when you were fifteen, but still...no judgement here."

"You sound judgey," Barry muttered. "You know what, fine. Lady Gaga is amazing and I'm not going to deny it. Ask Cisco, he would agree with me."

"We all know Cisco loves Lady Gaga with all his being. Wait a minute." Caitlin squinted her eyes as she faced Barry. "Freshman year, Cisco went to a Lady Gaga concert with a friend... Was that friend...?"

Barry dropped his head as he admitted, "Yes, I went to a Lady Gaga concert my freshman year in college."

Caitlin breathed through her nose and bit her upper lip to keep from laughing.

"It's okay." He sighed. "Let it out."

At that, Caitlin burst out laughing, still holding Barry's phone in her hand. "I'm still not judging." She wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

"Uh huh."

"Alright," Caitlin continued, "Let's check out the rest of your page. When was the last time you posted on your timeline? 5 years ago! You said 'Going to Baskin-Robbins!'"

Barry chuckled. "That was when my team won the Science Olympiad."

"Nerd," Caitlin joked.

"Oh, so you didn't do Science Olympiad?" Barry raised his eyebrows, knowing her answer without her even having to say anything, which was good because Caitlin tastefully chose not to reply.

"And look at your Relationship Status. It has never changed from 'Single'." Caitlin looked at him teasingly as she scrolled through the relationship options on his edit page. "Check it out, should we change it to 'It's complicated'?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"I haven't even been on my Facebook in years. Nobody uses it anymore."

"Dawn does."

"I meant people in my generation don't use Facebook. I'm sure people in yours and my grandma do."

Caitlin scrunched up her nose and pursed her lips, pretending to be offended. "You know, if you were actually committed to this fake relationship, you would have changed your Facebook status to 'In a relationship'." Caitlin pressed the button that selected it.

"Is that what you want?" Barry teased, taking his phone back.

Caitlin put her hands up. "I just wanna know you're committed."

"Oh, I'm committed." Barry's finger went to the Save button to change his status from 'Single' to 'In a relationship'.

"No, wait!" Caitlin stopped him from going any further. "I was just joking. Oh my god. Could you imagine what would happen if you actually changed it? All the people we knew in high school and middle school and all our distant relatives would know. It's hard enough keeping this lie to the campus."

"Relax, Cait." Barry grinned. "I wasn't actually going to do it. I'm not that dumb." He put his finger down to press the gray Cancel button, but his finger slid a centimeter and he ended up pressing the bright blue Save button instead. Exactly what he said he wouldn't do.

Caitlin's eyes went wide as she saw the saved changes. "What did you just—"

Barry looked just as shocked. "I didn't mean to!"

The two of their heads slowly turned to look at each other as reality dawned on them. Their situation just got much worse and now, more than a few people would know about their relationship. Everyone they knew now knew.

"This is your fault!" Barry exclaimed.

"My fault?" Caitlin said, completely affronted.

"You were the one asking to see my Facebook and looking at my relationship status!" Barry's phone buzzed and a quick glance at it made his face pale tremendously. "It's a Facebook message from my grandma."

"That quick?"

Barry looked at her and squinted his eyes. "It's your turn." His voice sounded deep and gravelly.

"My turn?" Caitlin said queasily. She had a feeling she knew where this was going and she was not looking forward to it.

"Change your Facebook status to 'In a relationship' too. I'm not doing this alone."

"Uhm, I don't think so."

"If my grandma has to know, then so does yours!"

"Fine, if it makes you be quiet." Caitlin quickly changed her status and waited for all the congratulations from her third cousins twice removed. She showed him the change on her phone screen. "Happy?"

Barry chose not to answer, but rather wrapped his arm around her waist as they continued walking the final stretch to their next class. "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"We are so screwed," Caitlin sighed as she fit right into Barry's side and rested her head against him.

Barry simply laughed and gave her a swift kiss on the side of her head. It was crazy how comfortable he was at doing that. He gave her affection so quickly and briefly, Caitlin barely had any time to process it. She didn't even have time to realize that Iris was nowhere to be found and all of it came from Barry's freewill.

Everything happened in a flash.

"Ms. Snow." Caitlin's head jerked up at the sound of her name, her heart involuntarily pounding harshly in her chest. Her whole body chilled and it was like she was suddenly doused with cold water from head to toe.

Barry and Caitlin turned around to greet the voice that announced her name. At the sight, Caitlin felt herself curling into Barry's side more. Her arms gripped his shirt tightly and she could feel her palms sweating.

"Dr. Wells." Caitlin said.

"I've missed you in my class," the professor said casually as he wheeled over to the two of them. "I heard you moved to Stein's."

Caitlin cleared her throat, or at least she tried to. "Um, yes. I just…I had to rearrange my schedule for…um, yes."

"Ah." Professor Wells tilted his head to the side. "Is that so?"

She wanted the earth to open up and swallow her right then and there. She wanted to run away and never look back.

"Uh, hi," Barry said. He stretched out his hand for Wells to take. "I'm Barry Allen. I've heard really great things about your class and your work."

"Thank you." He returned the handshake and after a second or two of awkward silence, Wells continued. "I'll see the two of you around campus then. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Allen." He gave Caitlin a nod. "Ms. Snow."

She stared straight ahead, even as Wells's wheelchair moved past her. The scent of his cologne overtook her and she felt as if it was a poisonous gas that was suffocating her. She couldn't breathe it in. She wouldn't. When Wells was finally gone, Caitlin realized how strong a grip she had on Barry's shirt and released her hold on him. Barry fixed his shirt slightly to release the wrinkles, but made no complaints about her death hold.

"That was awkward," Barry commented, scratching the back of his head. "He probably felt insulted that you chose Stein's class over his," he joked.

"Whatever," Caitlin said, her heart rate returning to normal after the whole fiasco, "He's gone now and we're Facebook official!" She turned to look at Barry and grinned. "You know what that means."

"Now my grandma knows we're together!"

"You're gonna get so many grandma kisses the next time you visit her." Caitlin interlocked her arm with Barry's and leaned against his shoulder as they finally made it to their next class's building.

"Oo, I can't wait."

They entered the classroom to find it a lot more empty than usual. Most people had skipped that day to go out and celebrate finally finishing Stein's exam. The rest of the students in the classroom had luckily never had to take a Stein exam before. Iris and the rest of her posse weren't there as they had also taken the day off and Caitlin just realized that Barry chose to come to class with her. She supposed he just didn't like to skip class.

In this class, Barry usually sat in the back with Iris and the rest of his friends, but since they were all gone that day and Cisco wasn't around either, he decided to plant himself in a desk next to her.

After experiencing Stein hell, Caitlin's mind was completely worn out and she could barely pay attention. She might as well have skipped because she was learning nothing. The same applied to Barry as his head drooped against his desk and his fingers lazily drew doodles on the corner of his notebook.

The hour long class and the boring drone of the professor set the perfect stage for Caitlin's mind to begin to wander. And it just had to wander to the boy who sat beside her.

She remembered what she had accidentally revealed to Felicity about her feelings for Barry being stronger than the feelings he had for her.

While Caitlin's feelings had evolved to view Barry as more than just a tutor, Barry still viewed Caitlin as his ticket to Iris.

Evolution was a normal part of life. Microbes evolved, animals evolved, and even humans evolved. It was important that things didn't stay the same. It was important for survival and natural selection. Everything had to adapt and grow and become a better version of themselves. The fastest gazelle escaped the lion, the tallest giraffe got the food, and the most camouflaged frog resisted being caught.

Humans evolved too. There was macro-evolution, but that's a whole other story. Humans evolved in a micro form every day as they adapted to their surroundings. They evolved everyday as they learned more and more about the people around them. They evolved to love and build deeper connections. They evolved to develop relationships and families.

Evolving emotions simply grew stronger. The more one knew and understood another, the stronger the feelings for that other becomes, whether it be love or hate. There was simply no way to escape the power of evolution.

She had witnessed it with Felicity. Her bond with Felicity grew tenfold in a matter of a weekend and Caitlin had been best friends with her for years before. Felicity and her relationship with Oliver had evolved to the point where the once self-proclaimed playboy had asked the love of his life to take the next step with him and move in together. While Felicity hadn't completely evolve to that point, she still had a deep love for Oliver and was still willing to eventually reach that point, even if she was scared at the moment.

It was scary: evolving. And actualizing the change in feelings. Everything felt different with Barry, even though to him it was all the same.

The world felt brighter now. Whenever Barry grabbed her hand and held her close…whenever he kissed her cheek, even if it was just a façade, Caitlin could feel sparks of electricity fly between them. Her spirit lifted higher and lightning coursed through her veins.

But it didn't mean anything. At least not to the person it needed to matter to.

Caitlin put both her arms on the desk and rested the side of her face against it. Her head turned to watch the boy she had been thinking about slowly rest his pencil on the table, his eyes drooping slowly, his focus going in and out, as he drifted off to sleep.

No, she couldn't think like that. Barry's heart belonged to someone else. It was not fair of her to try and take it.

The sparks she felt weren't real…and they never could be.

Author's Note: Okay, so lots of Iris interactions and a little bit of Ronnie. I tried not to make them too hate-able, even though Ronnie was kind of a meanie in this chapter.

I really did love Ronnie's character in the show so just remember this is an AU and Ronnie wasn't actually like this. In this story they're college students and they're young and dramatic (I say this as a young and dramatic person), so just cut him some slack cause I really don't want to bash his character. They're just at different points in their lives and Ronnie isn't ready for a relationship at the moment. There is nothing wrong with that.

Also, I love love LOVED Iris in season one Flash when she was happy and cheerful and absolutely in love with Eddie. I tried to reflect that Iris in my chapter, but since this is written from Caitlin's point of view and Caitlin's currently a little peanut butter and jelly of Barry and Iris's relationship, Iris may not be portrayed in the best light either even though she's just a sweetie who wants to be a reporter and change the world. I am, of course, talking about season one Iris when she actually used to be like that...*cough-and the show was good-cough* Whaaat? Who said that?

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know if you would like to see more of Grandma Dawn!

Love you guys!