Author's Note: This is so random, but you can blame my sister. She thought of this weird prompt after I was so devastated that there was no Snowbert at all in 3x16, and I decided to write it.

Not only that, but this was my parents first-kiss scenario, which is just as unromantic as they continue to be... (no, I'm kidding, they're really cute) But, anyway, I figured it would be good to use for Caitlin and Julian.

When Julian got Caitlin's text, he had to text back to make sure she wasn't joking.

Hey Julian, going couch shopping, wanna come?

Caitlin Snow was probably the only person in the 21 Century that used commas when she texted. Julian found it, like all her other quirks, strangely endearing.

Ur serious? Couch shopping?

Yeah, I've been putting it of for about 2 years... figured I might as well do it now.

Julian laughed allowed. 2 YEARS?!

He waited for his response. Instead, his phone rang. Dr. Snow. He needed to change the contact to Caitlin, but he just hadn't gotten around to it yet. "Hello?"

"I can't have a proper conversation with you over text messages." Caitlin said. "So I'm calling you. Do you want to come couch shopping with me or not? Because I can ask Cisco-"

"No, no, I'll go!" Julian said, too quickly, too obvious of how much he wanted to spend alone time with Caitlin. "Really." He added, placing his well tuned air of arrogance back into his tone. "Someone's got to make sure that you don't buy the wrong couch and completely wreck the look of your apartment."

"You haven't even seen my apartment." Caitlin reminded him, laughing. "How would you know what looks good?"

Julian considered for a moment, weighing his options. It was true, he had never been to her apartment, and couches were important things... he better be a little bit foreword. For the sake of the couch. "I may need to come to pick you up then. You can give me a tour, and I'll see what I can do in helping you pick up your couch."

"Great!" Caitlin said happily. "Great, I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah." Julian was grinning, even though she couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'll be there in 10."

"Ok." There was a long pause, neither of them wanting to hang up the phone. "I will... see you then."

"Yes." Julian nodded. "Cheerio." He quickly hung up the phone before the conversation could get anymore awkward, then took a deep, steadying breath. 10 minutes. He had to get driving.

15 minutes later (and frantic, because he was never late), Julian pulled up at the small apartment building that Caitlin called home. He sprinted up the steps, composing himself in the hallway as he attempted to get his heart rate down, then knocked.

"It's unlocked, Julian." Caitlin called from inside.

He turned the knob and walked in. "That's not very safe you know, especially in this-" Julian stopped, amazed by what he saw, because the whole apartment was just so Caitlin it was startling.

It was very, very neat, just brushing the line of uncomfortably so, but Julian had grown up in a mansion with maids, and nothing was very dirty or messy in his house for very long. Her bed, just barely seen through an adjoining door, had plain, tan covers, neatly made, a dark pink throw pillow resting on the top

The hallway he was in held a light green chair with a matching throw pillow to the one on the bed, and a bureau, lit up by a small glass lamp. The art on the wall was surprisingly impressionistic (Julian had always seen Caitlin as a landscape painting sort of person), with leaves and flowers in neutral colors.

Books and paper stacks were on nearly every available surface- the bureau, the vanity in the hall, and Julian could see that trend continued into the rest of her apartment. He noticed a bookcase poking out from around the corner.

"Hi!" Caitlin head popped out from the kitchen, and she smiled when she saw him not-very-discreetly taking in her living space. "You're late."

"Yes, sorry." He wrenched his eyes away from another wall, this one covered with more personalized photos, mostly of her, Cisco and Barry (though he did happen to notice one of the two of them, which made his insides tingle). "I wasn't sure exactly where you lived, but I had a general idea. I still had to scare the receptionist into telling me which apartment was yours. She seemed to believe that you wouldn't have a 'gentlemen just as myself'- her words, not mine- coming to visit you."

Caitlin laughed, finishing up whatever she had been doing in the kitchen. "Terra can be... difficult at times, but she is a good person, deep down. She just doesn't really understand the concept of visitors."

"Why is she a receptionist, then?" Julian asked.

She laughed again, and he was pleased to make her so amused. "I've got no idea."

They stood for a moment, simply looking at each other. Julian coughed. "Should we...?"

"Yes!" Caitlin nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes, we should go."

As he always did, Julian stuck out his arm. Caitlin, smiling, grasped his elbow, and they walked out the door together.

"As you probably saw," Caitlin spoke up as they left the building, "My couch is a little bit.. beaten down."

Julian, to his slight embarrassment, hadn't actually noticed much about the couch. He had been more consumed by the picture of the two of them. Searching his memory of the room, however, he could remember the the couch hadn't looked particularly pleasant. "Yes, I do seem to recall that."

She sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes as it blew in the slight wind. "It's been needing to be replaced for, as I told you before, 2 years now." Noticing his raised eyebrow, she immediately went on the defense. "I know, I know it's ridiculous! I just, you know, never got around to couch shopping, with my STAR Labs job, and Zoom, and now Savitar..." She glanced down at her feet. "And... the last time I went to the furniture store, it was with Ronnie, after we moved into together."

Julian was silent for a moment. He wanted nothing more then to pull her into his arms and hug her like there was no tomorrow, for everything that she had been through, everything that she had lost. He refrained, however, and settled for, "I can see why you would want someone with you, then."

They walked in silence for awhile, the only sound being the rush of cars on their left, and a few people pushing busily past, each with their own lives and problems. Julian had his own to think about- Savitar, dead family members, and not being able to tell a girl how much you liked her just to name a few.

Caitlin, out of the blue, took his hand in her own and squeezed it. "Thank you, Julian." She murmured.

He blinked at her, surprised. "What for?"

"For being there. For always knowing what to say. For understanding all of the stuff I'm dealing with right now, and not letting it scare you away."

Julian smiled, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand. "You could never scare me away, Caitlin Snow."

It was declarations like that that scared both of them, just a little, even though neither would ever admit it. Too many deep feelings, and they thought they would lose the other person. Caitlin believed everyone that she loved was cursed. Julian believed that he was.

The furniture store came into view as they turned the corner. Julian held open the door for the young doctor, letting the jingle of the bell ring into the quiet store. It was surprisingly large from the impression he got from the outside, but Julian figured it was just one of those works of architecture that some people would always reference a certain police box about.

Caitlin walked straight toward the desk, forcing Julian to increase his speed to catch up with her. "I thought most people waited as long as they could to talk to store workers?"

She sent him a playful smirk over her shoulder, tapping her necklace. "I thought we had already established that I'm not 'most people'?"

He shook his head in awe of how wonderful this woman in front of him was, and joined her at the counter.

"Hi, how can I help you?" The woman (Terri, unless her name tag was wrong, which would be weird) said.

"Uh, hi!" Caitlin gave her a friendly smile. "I'm, uh, looking for a couch."

"You've come to the right place, then." Terri responded, looking slightly amused. "We don't have a separate section for couches, sorry, but if you look around our store, you should see some."

"Oh." Caitlin nodded, blushing slightly. "Right, thanks." She practically ran away from the counter, Julian once again struggling to keep up. "I'm so embarrassed!" She hissed once they were out of earshot. "What did I think- that they were going to have a couch line up?"

Julian tried to smother his laugh, but failed. "I do believe that that is one of the reasons why people tend to avoid talking to store workers."

She lightly slapped his shoulder, and moved a little quicker, trying to get away from the counter. Once they were partially hidden behind a twisty lamp stand- one that was tall and particularly unattractive- Caitlin took a deep breath. "Ok. Ok, couches. Couches that would look good in my apartment." She wasn't really talking to him, she was more just reminding herself what she was doing. It was immensely cute.

"Couches." He repeated. "That look good in your apartment. Not that one." The one closest to them was of a dark purple color, with garish spots on the cover.

Caitlin visibly flinched. "That couch is awful."

As she said it, an older couple stoled by. "Oh, look at that nice couch." The man said, peering through thick glasses at it.

"What a nice color sequence!" His wife agreed. They moved on, leaving Julian and Caitlin to stare after them with open mouths.

"That did not just happen." Julian muttered. "Either he is color blind, or tastes get considerably worse as you get older."

"Julian!" Caitlin slapped his shoulder again. "That's so rude. Just because you don't like the couch doesn't mean that they can't."

He shrugged, not nearly as repentant as he should be, and offered her his arm yet again. "Shall we?"

They strolled leisurely through the furniture store, Caitlin shooting every one of Julian's ideas for a couch, and he, in turn, shooting down every one of hers. By the end of two hours, they had still gotten nowhere.

"Come on, Julian. Seriously, what's wrong with that one?" Caitlin asked in exasperation, pointing at a beige couch with pink flowered pillows.

"Nothing." He smirked. "It's just funny seeing you get so worked up."

She punched him, hard, on the arm. "We are getting this couch. No arguments."

"Yes ma'am." Julian nodded, a smile covering up his feelings on how much it sounded like they were getting the couch to share. Did he want that? Yesyesyesyesyesyes... No. No that was rash and much too fast. They didn't have the opportunity for relationships right now, with Iris and Savitar and Killer Frost and Alchemy.

The paying process took longer then usual, what with the store worker being entirely unhelpful, and nobody having a pen to sign the delivery forms, until Terri (the story woman, if you'll remember) finally remembered that she had one in her desk drawer.

After much more hassle and tassel then seemed strictly necessary- they were just getting a couch!- they got out of the store and back onto the street.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Caitlin took Julian's arm again and allowed him to lead her down the steadily darkening sidewalk. Later night shoppers were coming out, stragglers taking advantage of the last rays of light to pop into a few more stores before going home.

"Care to go to dinner?" Julian offered as they passed an Italian place.

Caitlin's stomach grumbled audibly as the delicious smells of melted cheese and crust wafted out at them. It was followed by a yawn, however, and she amended his offer. "Thank you, but I'm really quite tired tonight. How about we do takeout? If you don't mind sitting on my cruddy couch to eat it."

"That sounds fine with me." Julian smiled, and took care of the ordering. They had gotten pizza enough times before, -so Julian knew what to order for her- when nobody felt like going home and making dinner, and had eaten it straight out of the box on STAR Lab's pristine white floors, using napkins as plates.

They walked home (or, to Caitlin's house) quietly, breathing in the cool spring air. It was dark when they got to back to her apartment.

Yawning quietly, Caitlin trudged upstairs, too tired from shopping to even be the proper hostess she usually was. "Are we eating pizza now, or should I stick it in oven? Oh, and come on in, make yourself at home."

Julian hesitantly walked in, still feeling a little out of place in the homey apartment. His apartment didn't look like this. His apartment felt cold and distant, more of a living place then a home. It didn't make him feel this warm inside- and even though he had just been to Caitlin's place for the first time today, her's did.

"Let's eat now." Julian decided, stomach rumbling like her's had, earlier. He placed the box awkwardly on her small wooden table. "Uh... where do you keep your plates?"

"Oh, sorry, I can get them." Caitlin apologized, halfway through taking off her necklace.

He smiled at her relaxed attitude, and watch her reach up to get her plates, her cupboards neatly organized, just like most of her seemed to be. Most, but not all. Some bits were still crazy, unpredictable. They way she smiled at him. The way she impulsively squeezed his hand. The way she let him into her heart.

Caitlin put a plate down in front of him. "Wine or water?" She asked. "Or seltzer, because I've got that, too."

"I'm fine with just water." Julian told her. "Is there anything I can do to help you? I don't particularly like just sitting here uselessly."

"You're not useless." Caitlin shook her head, laughing. "You're like my grandmother."

He feigned offense as she put his glass down. "Your grandmother? Just because I'm proper?"

"No, because you insist on helping, even when you don't know where anything is." Caitlin teased.

He shrugged. "Again. Proper."

Caitlin let out a real laugh this time, nothing holding her back, and he had to smile at the sound. It warmed him from the inside out, and he realized that, more then the cozy apartment, it was Caitlin's laugh that felt like home.

They ate quickly, both hungry, and the conversation stopped save for "Could you pass me another piece?" "Need more water?". It was still pleasant though- more a tired silence then an awkward one.

Caitlin cleared the plates, even with Julian's instance that he should do something to help. Then they both threw themselves unto Caitlin's "cruddy" couch. "Care for some Netflix binging?" She asked, eyes drooping as she leaned into his side, full and warm.

Julian felt a tug on his heart. He wanted to stay, he really did, but... "It's a work day tomorrow. I'm sorry. I just know I'll be annoying at work and STAR Labs if we stay up all night watching Netflix and then I have to get up to go to the precinct early in the morning."

Her face twisted, disappointed. "Yeah, yeah, that's fine."

"How about tomorrow?" He offered, unusually spontaneous. But hey, he didn't have any plans, so why not?

Caitlin blinked up at him. "Really? Yeah, that sounds great." She smiled, and got to her feet. "I'll walk you to the door."

"I'm really capable." Julian said, but let her lead him out anyway.

"Yes, but I'm just proper." She teased, opening the door and stepping outside her apartment.

Julian gazed down at her, and took a deep breath. It was time to be spontaneous again.

There lips actually met in the middle, though both of them would argue that they were the one to insinuate the kiss. It didn't matter, though, because, whoever started it, it was still amazing.

Caitlin pulled back, breathless. "Ok. Can't say I was expecting that."

"Me neither." Julian admitted, blushing. "Liked it, though."

She giggled, and reached down to squeeze his hand. "So, movie night? Tomorrow?"

"It's a date."

He left with a smile on his face.

Author's Note: Yay! I love them SO MUCH.

Also! EVERYONE READ THIS: The title of this story is AWFUL and pleasepleaseplease give me some ideas, if you've got any. Thank you!