chapter fifteen ; reunion of sorts

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Caitlin and Chris walked up to Natalie's porch together while Barry trailed behind with the suitcase. As Chris chattered on about the events of the train ride, Caitlin, using the spare key Natalie gave her, unlocked the door and swung it open.

"Natalie? We're here," Caitlin called out as the three stepped through the door.

Barry set the suitcase down after he shut the door behind them, "Hey Nat, can you hear us?"

"I'm here, I'm here," Natalie said as she bounded her way down the steps, her hair flying behind in wet strands, "Sorry, I was in the shower. Now where is my little brother."

Once she spotted Chris, she immediately pulled her brother into a tight hug. "I've missed you so much," Nat mumbled into Chris' chest since he was taller than her.

"I've missed you too. Nice place, sis," Chris said as he pulled back.

"Mi casa su casa. Anyways, I better call mom and tell her you're here. Your room is upstairs and the 1st door on the left. Don't break anything and dinner will be soon," Natalie said, mentally checking things off on the list in her head.

Chris nodded his head, grabbed his suitcase, and headed upstairs while Natalie turned her attention to Caitlin and Barry. "Thanks you guys, so so so much. And thank you for staying for dinner too," Nat said as she gave each of them a hug.

"There's no way I wouldn't have come," Caitlin said smiling, "I miss my family."

Barry rocked on his heels, unsure of what to say and just settled with a 'you're welcome'.

"Where's Cisco?" Natalie asked as she headed to the kitchen to look for her phone.

"He left earlier to help out a friend. We haven't been able to get in touch with him," Barry said as he and Caitlin followed her.

"Oh..well I hope he's okay," Natalie said, a small frown forming on her face. "We'll save some food for him. Meanwhile, Barry, can you call for pizza and Caitlin can you take all of this," opening up the fridge to reveal a small number of various cans and bottles of alcohol, "to your car. Barry you too. I don't want it in the house while he's here. And you guys can keep some, just not all."

Barry couldn't help but crack a smile in his face, "I thought you were gonna hide it in your stomach."

As Caitlin and Barry stared moving the alcohol, Natalie followed behind, "I was going to but then I figured me throwing up and having a huge hangover wouldn't be the best memory for Chris." The three carries the alcohol to Caitlin's car, clearing out the fridge.

"Anyways, Barry get any pizza you want and get maybe three or four. I'll pay. I have to go call my mom," Nat said as she went back inside.

Barry nodded and closed the trunk. Caitlin started to walk back towards the house, only to be stopped by Barry grabbing her wrist.

"We need to talk," Barry said in a hushed voice.

Caitlin glanced back at the house before stepping back towards him.

Barry kept an eye on the Josie before he continued, "Dr. Wells, he told me that he doesn't think we should tell her about the Flash so quickly."

Caitlin glanced down at her feet, pulling her thoughts together, "I-If Dr. Wells thinks we shouldn't-"

"He said that..we should bring her to S.T.A.R. Labs, so he can see her. He said that he can't trust someone he's never met. But Wells said we have to come up with an excuse, make sure she doesn't know anything," Barry said hurriedly, cutting her off.

Nodding her head, Caitlin took in every word before turning on her heels and heading back towards the house.

Barry huffed and ran after her, "Wait. Caitlin."

Caitlin kept walking, "Not now. We can talk about this later. I have enough to think about with Ronnie..Stein"

The two went inside and headed to the kitchen, the two siblings nowhere in sight.

Barry leaned against the counter, his head settled on his hand, thoughts running through his mind. Thinking of different ideas on what to tell Natalie to get her to S.T.A.R. Labs.

A clearing of a throat pulled him out and he cocked his head to see Caitlin staring at him, "Aren't you supposed to be ordering pizza?"

"What? Oh..yeah," Barry said sheepishly as he headed into another room to make the call.

"Hey Cait. My mom says hi and to tell you that she loves and misses you," Nat said as she walked by Caitlin and retrieved a glass from the cabinet.

"Aww that's sweet of her," Caitlin replied, checking her phone. "Cisco said he would be here in 10-20 minutes."

"Funny, pizza guy just said the same thing," Barry said as he walked in, and as always, a smile on his face.

Nat smiled at Barry before she filled up her glass with water, "Well..I have no idea what to do now. I've never really hosted a dinner before."

"Be entertaining, sis," Chris said as he walked down the stairs and headed straight for the living room.

Natalie furrowed her eyebrows and mumbled, "I'm pretty sure what's entertaining to a 15 year old is different to a people in their 20s."

"I don't think what I think is fun would interest him. Or anyone," Caitlin said as she tilted her head to the side.

Barry moved closer to Natalie and nudged her with his elbow, "Just wait till Cisco gets here. He'll keep the kid busy."

Natalie cracked a smile, "God I hope so. Why are we all just staying in here?"

"Because we have no idea how to take care of a teenager," Caitlin quipped.

Natalie walked to the living room and motioned for the rest to follow, the three discovering Chris angrily pressing the buttons on the remote.

"You don't have any video games and your movies are boring. And there's nothing on tv," he muttered as he continued to scroll through the channels.

Natalie leaned forward and plucked the remote from his hands and turned the tv off, "Okay first of all, I don't have video games because I don't play them. Second of all I have great movies."

"All you have are sappy ones like Letters to Juliet, Step Up, and Maid in Manhattan," Chris huffed as he sunk back on the couch seat.

"Those are great movies," Natalie retorted. "And I have the Maze Runner, the two newest X-Men movies, the Amazing Spider-Man movies, and the Blind Side. You would like those. You know, superheroes, football, mazes."

"I like all of those," Barry added.

Chris stared up at him with a blank expression, "So?"

Barry smile dropped and he tilted his head from side to side, "Well I..uh.."

Natalie turned her head back to her brother, "Also you need to be unplugged. You came here to visit to spend time with me so you are going to do that. No coming over here just to spend your time staring at a screen. Got it?"

"Fine, but you don't have to be so harsh," Chris replied as he shifted his position.

Natalie furrowed he eyebrows and spoke hesitantly, "I'm being..authoritative.

A small silence settled over the room before Nat whispered to Barry, "Um..Barry? Why don't you two talk about guy stuff."

Barry looked up startled and pointed to himself, "What me?"

"Are you Barry?"

"Yeah.."

"And you're a guy?"

Barry snapped his head towards her, "Of course I'm a guy."

Natalie couldn't help but giggle and have him a small shove, "Then go talk about guy stuff. With him."

"What, why me?" Barry asked, taking a small step backwards.

"You're the only guy here and my brother needs guy time. I don't think he wants me coddling him."

Barry took a long hard look a the kid before he spoke again, "He kind of scares me. He kept asking me questions-"

"Hey, you two. What are you talking about?"

Natalie and Barry both looked to see Chris talking to them.

Barry opened his mouth to say something but only a series of 'ums' came out.

Chris cracked a sly smile, "I actually wanted to talk about the two of you."

Caitlin laughed as she watched the expressions on the pair's faces.

"Well, uh..What-what did you want to talk about?" Barry asked as he scratched the back of his neck.

Chris opened his mouth but stopped short when the doorbell rang.

"That must be the pizza. C'mon Barry," Nat said quickly as she grabbed the crook of Barry's arm and pulled him towards the front door.

"I told you! I swear your brother has it out for me," Barry said in a loud whisper.

"He does not. He just wanted to embarrass you and figure out who you are first."

Nat opened the front door as she dug through her wallet, "How much is it-Oh. You're not pizza."

"Glad to see you too," Cisco said as he pushed through the door.

"Well at least we have 7 more minutes until the pizzas are free," Barry said as he rubbed his hands together.

"Cisco, can you keep my little brother entertained. Apparently we bore him," Nat said as she closed the door.

"Sure thing. Where is he?"

"Living room with Cait. He's trying to interrogate Barry so we are going to stay here," Nat said as she leaned against the wall.

A smile gradually formed on Cisco's face, "Now that is what I wanna see. I'm liking this kid already."

As Cisco headed to the living room, the doorbell rang again.

"You're pizza right?" Nat asked as soon as she opened the door.

The guy gave her a strange look and simply held up the boxes and then handed them to Barry. "That'll be $29.74."

Barry took the pizza to the living room while Natalie thanked the man and paid.

"We have one regular cheese pizza, one meat lover's, one pepperoni pizza, and one delicious pizza with pepperoni, olives, and jalapeño," Barry stated as he set each box down on the coffee table and side tables.

"Who ordered he last one?" Chris asked as he grabbed three slices of the meat pizza.

"That one was for me," Barry said as he grabbed the whole box, "It's my favorite."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," Natalie mused as she joined the group and set a bottle of ranch down in from of her brother. "Here you go, and it's our favorite brand too. I have red soda in the fridge if you want that too."

Chris eagerly grabbed the bottle and poured ranch on his plate to dip pizza in, "Cool. Thanks sis."

"No problem bud." Natalie replied, picking up a plate and heading over to Barry. "I think I might just steal a slice of yours."

Barry smacked Natalie's hand playfully before she could get one. "Hey, you have to ask first," he mumbled, his mouth filled with food.

"May I please have a slice of pizza?" Natalie asked, sticking out her bottom lip to make a puppy dog face.

Barry laughed and swallowed his food, "If you must."

"Thanks, Bare." Natalie ruffled his hair after he gave her piece and went to go sit by her brother.

Chris glared at Barry, causing him to shift in his seat.

Caitlin, noticing the tension, spoke up, "Aww we missed the sunset. But uh..Cisco! What were you up to all day?"

Cisco looked up from his plate, pizza slice hanging in hand and his mouth open, about to take a bite. "Not much.." Cisco chewed his slice slowly, his actions weighed down as his events of the day rolled by. He had been helping Joe search Barry's old house to investigate Nora Allen's, Barry's mother, murder. Joe made him promise not to tell anyone.

"What about you, Cait? What have you been up to?" Natalie asked, wanting to keep a conversation going.

"Just some work..at S.T.A.R. Labs.." Caitlin said, trailing off as she began to think about Ronnie.

"Didn't you finally get a job sis?" Chris asked as he stuffed another slice, rather messily, into his mouth.

Natalie cleared her throat and set her plate down, "I work at CCPD as Barry's assistant."

"Huh..so you are coworkers," Chris said to himself and then turned to Barry, "And what do you do?"

"I'm a CSI. Forensic Assistant," Barry said.

"So you don't get to see all the action," Chris muttered.

"We get to go to crime scenes. Went to my first one earlier," Natalie piped up.

A slight grin grew on her brothers face, "So what happened?"

"We can't give out that information. It's still an ongoing case," Barry said seriously.

"It was terrifying," Natalie said softly, leaning closer to her brother.

Chris laughed before he cracked his knuckles, "So do you guys have like a coworker-with-benefits thing going on?"

"Woah. This just took an exciting turn," Cisco exclaimed and focused all of his attention on the scene unfolding.

"No no," Barry said, waving his hands in front of him and shaking his head to get his point across. "We've only been on one date so far, I told you that."

Natalie buried her face in her hands, "Here we go again."

"What exactly are your intentions with my sister?" Chris pushed.

Barry's Adam's apple bobbed as he looked around at his friends, "Well I like her.."

"I really like this kid. Nat you got any popcorn?" Cisco asked as he snickered at Barry and Chris. Natalie lifted her head and stated darkly at Cisco, who shrunk back, "Okay. I'm gonna take that as a no.."

"And what else?" Chris pushed. "Is that it? You just like her? You better not be leading her on."

"You know, I thought this was the job for an older brother and I thought I was saved cause I didn't have one. But no, I get an overprotective little one," Natalie muttered as she hid in her hands.

Caitlin stood up and walked over to Nat, kneeling down so she could talk to her face, "I have to go, I have work tomorrow. I'm so sorry for all of this."

"It's okay. God this is so embarrassing. But I knew if he doesn't get this out now he'll do it later," Natalie huffed.

Caitlin rubbed her back, "Barry will be fine. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Love you."

"Love you too."

"We haven't even kissed!" Barry exclaimed running his hands through his hair.

"You haven't? Well that's good," Chris said. "You ever been arrested? Can you take a drug-"

"Okay that's enough. You're done. You're done, you're done. You are not scaring away another guy from me, okay?" Natalie said as she stood up.

"Chris, I get you are trying to protect me, but this is a bit much. I love you, always will. But this has got to stop, here and now. There will be no more interrogating of Barry. Barry is good. I like Barry. I'm grown up and I can take care of myself. It's you who we should be worried about. High school and teenage heartbreak. Lets talk about that, shall we?" Natalie said, trying to release some frustration and plopped back down on the couch.

Chris took a long hard look a her before he turned to Barry, "Sorry dude."

Barry gave him a nod and sighed in relief as he leaned back in his chair. His stomach clutching when it sunk in that Natalie just admitted to liking him. In front of Chris and Cisco.

Cisco walked over to Barry and rubbed his shoulders, "Dude, you survived the brother interrogation, and you aren't even officially dating her yet."

"I'd rather face metahumans than go through that again," Barry muttered under his breath as he watched Natalie talk with her brother.

Barry's phone chimed and he unlocked to reveal a text from Dr. Wells revealing one word: FIRESTORM. The alias that Ronnie/Stein go by. Barry held up the phone for Cisco to see and stood up.

"I am so sorry Nat but I have to go. It's important. Really really important," Barry said as he grabbed his jacket and took fast steps backwards towards the door. "It was nice meeting you, Chris!" he shouted as he got closer and closer on the front of the house.

Natalie leapt up after him, "Barry wait."

Barry stopped for Natalie as soon as he reached the door and was engulfed in a hug.

"I'm sorry about all of that," she muttered into his chest.

"It's okay. I get he's your brother and doesn't know me. But I really have to go," Barry said hurriedly as he reached for the doorknob and stepped into the porch.

"Okay great. Oh wait!" Nat exclaimed as she walked out after him.

Natalie placed her hands on otherwise of Barry's face, pushing up on her toes, and bringing her lips to his in a small soft kiss. It took a moment for Barry to register what was happening but he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

Natalie pulled away, stepping back and bit her lip, "To make up for my brother?"

"Wow," Barry said under his breath and quickly looked up an smiled.

"You have to go, I know. I'll see you soon, Barry." Natalie said as she stepped back inside an shut the door behind her.

Barry ran to Martin Stein's house, where Caitlin and Dr. Wells were waiting for him, having spotted Ronnie. Barry, fueled by emotion, felt more powerful than ever.

As Natalie shut the door behind her, she leaned against the door, running her tongue over lip, remembering what just happened, and couldn't help but smile.

Cisco walked up with a lazy grin on his face, "I watched from the kitchen window."

Natalie giggled and playfully shoved his arm, "Oh shut up."