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“When was the last time you and Barry went out?”
Caitlin looked up from her laptop, quirking an eyebrow at Iris, who was standing in front of the desk Caitlin was sat at. “Excuse me?”
“Seriously,” Iris barreled on, walking around the desk to stand next to Caitlin. “You’ve been married a year, and yet you haven’t done anything alone together since you walked down the aisle.”
“We’ve both been busy. Especially with all the stuff with Cicada going on, we haven’t exactly had time to ourselves,” Caitlin excuse, turning back to her computer screen.
“Well you’ll be okay for one night. If anything, we still have Cisco and Ralph to cover,” Iris said, turning Caitlin’s chair so the woman faced her once more. “Go, Caitlin. Barry’s still at CCPD, if you wanted to catch him before he left.”
Caitlin let out a soft sigh, but she was smiling anyway. As she stood up, she couldn’t help but notice Iris’s victory smile. “Thank you,” she said softly, resulting in Iris’s smile widening.
Caitlin made a quick stop to the loft to get changed out of her work clothes into something a little nicer. She met Barry just as he was walking down the stairs to head to S.T.A.R. Labs.
“Cait?” he asked surprised, giving her a quick kiss. “What are you doing here?”
“Iris kind of kicked me out and told me we needed to go out,” Caitlin said with a laugh. “It was also implied that we not come back until we do, knowing her.”
Barry chuckled. “That does sound like her. Let me swing by the loft and get changed. What were you thinking?”
“Well I kind of wanted to see Into the Spider-Verse,” Caitlin admitted with a laugh. “We could get dinner before or afterwards, if you want.”
“That sounds amazing.” Barry wrapped an arm around Caitlin’s waist as they walked out. “Do you want me to meet you there, or do you want to wait for me to get dressed before heading there together?”
“Knowing how quickly you can get dressed, I’ll just wait.”
Barry grinned, kissing Caitlin once more before running home. Caitlin pulled out her phone, texting Cisco and checking up on things while she waited. Cisco playfully scolded her, telling her to enjoy herself before she put her phone back away. By the time she was done, Barry’s usual ozone scent filled the air and he was standing right next to her.”
“You clean up well,” she said with a smile, grabbing her husband’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “I should thank Iris for getting us to do this. I was thinking about how we hadn’t had a date night in a while.”
“Any time spent with you is enough for me. Regardless if we spend it with others or ourselves,” Barry said, gently squeezing Caitlin’s hand.
Caitlin’s cheeks colored pink as they strolled down the sidewalk. She took a soft breath of the cooling autumn air, smiling to herself as she gazed around Central. She turned her head and found Barry watching her. “What?” she asked, smiling at him.
“I just...I love you so much,” Barry answered, making Caitlin’s blush deepened. “I’m so glad I married you.”
“I’m glad you married me, too,” Caitlin said, laughing, blushing lightly when Barry laughed along.
When they got to the closest theatre, they noticed that the next showing of their movie wouldn’t be for another hour and a half. To waste time, they headed to a nearby restaurant to have dinner. The meal was delicious and the conversation flowed as easily as it usually did between them. With each laugh they shared, the more Caitlin was glad Iris pushed her out the door. It seemed like every step of the relationship, Iris was always there to encourage them to do something. It was Iris herself that had set the pair up back when they were still dealing with Zoom.
They missed their initial showing staying too late at the restaurant, so they decided to stroll around town. Despite Caitlin’s silent agreement to Iris about neither of them stopping any crime while out on the town, Barry still stopped a mugging before they made it to the movie.
When they got back to the loft, it was late enough to not need to head back to S.T.A.R. Labs unless there was an emergency that required either Barry or Caitlin’s attention.
“I needed tonight more than I realised,” Barry said, changing into a pair of sweat pants.
“Me too,” Caitlin replied, kissing Barry’s cheek before heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed.
When she re-emerged, Barry was sitting on the bed waiting for her. Blushing softly, Caitlin walked over and sat on his lap.
“I love you, Caitlin Snow-Allen,” Barry said softly, making Caitlin grin.
“I love you, too, Barry Allen,” she replied before pulling Barry into a slow, soft kiss.