Hey

Hey! I had so much fun writing Nate/Caitlyn that I decided that I wanted to do another one-shot. Hence this D. Dedicated to everyone that likes it, of course! And Sophie, if she reads it! Everyone read her stories! You're amazing, and I hope you enjoy this! And of course, everyone else, enjoy (

"Cait, I need your help."

I looked up from my notepad at the familiar voice. I smiled instantly as Nate sat down beside me.

"I like a girl." Nate explained. My smile dropped, but when he looked at me I tried to look reassuring.
"That's great, Nate!" I lied, praying he wouldn't notice my annoyance. He didn't. Or if he did, he didn't mention it.

"And I don't know what to do." He added.

"Well, what's she like?" I asked.

I wasn't sure if I asked this to help Nate, or to get clarification on who the girl was so I could throw something at her.

"She's super pretty."

I felt like banging her head on something.

"And she's great at practically everything. She doesn't sing, but I bet she's awesome at it."

As well as banging my head on something (preferably hard), I also wanted to punch Miss Nate-Likes-Me in the face.

"And I think about her all the time."

I bit my lip to stop myself from shouting.

"And her hair is so beautiful."

Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I chanted to myself. Unfortunately, Nate was making it hard to not think about it.

"And her smile is to die for." He continued.

I was sure he didn't even notice me sitting there. He was staring straight ahead, and all I could do to distract myself from declaring my hatred for this mystery girl was to close my eyes and listen to the sound of the water in the lake. Nate continued to talk, but I blanked it out.

I waited for about three minutes before Nate finally stopped describing her.

"And I want to tell her I like her without making an idiot of myself." Nate finished.

My eyes flew open, and I was met with Nate's chocolate brown ones. My heart rate quickened, but I forced myself to stay calm. He was talking about a girl he liked, and all I could think about was his eye colour, for god's sake.

"Well. You know what she likes, right?"

Nate nodded in confirmation.

"So use that. If she likes surprises, surprise her. Give her flowers that she likes, or write a song about her. Stuff like that."

"It'll work?" Nate asked, a little worried.

"Yeah, it will. Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll go … plan." Nate said the last part, still sounding a little unsure. I smiled at him, almost to reassure him. Or to make him back out of telling the girl he liked her. Whichever worked fine.

I sat there a little longer, sketching in my notepad and thinking. Mostly about the best way to find the girl and get her to change into something Nate didn't like. Not that I'd go through with it. Nate's happiness meant a lot to me, and I wouldn't want to make him hurt. This didn't mean I would stop thinking the horrid thoughts though. No matter how much I tried I couldn't get his words out my head.

"I like a girl."

The words bit into me deeper and deeper. I tried to concentrate on my drawing, but I gave up, throwing it down in frustration.

"What's up, Cait?" I looked up to see Mitchie staring at my in confusion and worry.

"Nothing." I sighed, throwing my arms around my knees.

"Yes, because when people have nothing wrong with them they sound depressed."

"I don't sound depressed. I'm just … tired."

"Keep believing it." Mitchie replied, sitting down beside me.

"Sorry, Mitch." I apologized, feeling the need to. Mitchie was probably one of my only friends except Nate, Jason and (sometimes, if I was in a good mood) Shane, so it probably wasn't the best idea to annoy her.

"It's fine. You want to tell me what's up?"

"Not really."

"But you will anyway, right?"
I went silent, and I knew Mitchie was rolling her eyes.

"Okay, let's play the guessing game." Mitchie said after some more seconds of silence. "If I get the right answer, you have to tell me, okay? I don't want to do this for nothing." Mitchie was talking to me like I was five years old. I knew she was deliberately doing this, so I didn't get that annoyed.

Normally Mitchie was optimistic, but when I was like this I normally put a damper on her constant happy mood. I didn't mean too, but I lost my temper easily, and I normally tried not to show it. And it worked, mostly. Mitchie and Nate were the only two that could tell when I was holding my anger in.

I nodded, telling her I was up for playing her version of a guessing game. I didn't feel like talking. Probably because I would cry. And I never cry. Crying is a weakness.

"Right." Mitchie paused, trying to think of a reason for my depressingness (which isn't even a word, let me point out).

"Is it Tess?"

"No."

"Something went wrong with your music mixing?"

"No."
"Your parents?"
"Surprisingly, no."

Mitchie ran out of ideas, and I was glad. I didn't want to tell her how I felt about Nate. Unfortunately for me, Mitchie was smart. I knew she was going to get it sometime, anyway, so when she did I wasn't exactly that surprised.

"Nate?"

I didn't say anything, so Mitchie knew she was right.

"Ah." She said, and I looked at her through the corner of my eye. She wasn't laughing, but I knew she wouldn't. Mitchie was too kind-hearted to laugh.

"What happened, Cait?" She asked softly. I knew I didn't have to tell her, but if I had to tell one person, it would be Mitchie. She would understand, wouldn't she? She was Shane's girlfriend, and Shane couldn't keep a girl for longer then three days. Then again, he'd been dating Mitchie for a week, and they were still going. Though he knew that if he broke her heart, I would break his face.

"He likes someone." I said, my voice wavering.

"Oh, Cait." Mitchie said, pulling me into a hug. Against all my better judgement, I started to cry. I hadn't cried in years, and knowing this just made me cry more. The reason for my crying was because of guy.

"Cait, it's okay." Mitchie said, and although she sounded reassuring I knew she was lying.

"It's not okay. The one guy I like will never like me back. I haven't liked any guys as more then friends since I was thirteen! That was almost three years ago, Mitch!" I sobbed, feeling guilty for loading this all onto Mitchie, though I knew she didn't mind.

"There are other guys, I promise. If he doesn't like you back, regardless of who he is, then he isn't worth it."
"But he is worth it! He makes me happy, Mitch. And with my disastrous love life that means everything!"

"Shh, Caitlyn. It'll be okay, I promise."

"Promises don't mean anything." I whispered, but I was starting to calm down. Maybe Mitchie was right. I wasn't going to change for a guy – so if he didn't like me for me maybe he wasn't worth it. But then I remembered Nate. His eyes, his smile, his jokes, the way that when he smiled his eyes crinkled at the side, his wit, his charm and the way he was such a gentleman. Mitchie and I sat in silence. With me leaning on her shoulder, waiting for the tears to stop, and her whispering words of comfort that I appreciated so much.

"Thank you, Mitchie." I said, and I meant it. She was an amazing best friend. She didn't have to sit with me and listen.

"Any time, Caitlyn." Was her response.

It took a long time, longer then it should, for my tears to finally stop. I wiped my eyes, knowing I must look a state. I'd never worn waterproof mascara in my life (I'd never had too, I never cried, so what was the point?), so I must look like a crazy panda.

"Mitchie? Caitlyn?" I heard the voice and winced. The voice of the guy I'd been crying over flooded my ears. I felt Mitchie tense, and I knew she thought I was going to start crying again. I didn't want to look at him, so I stared straight ahead. I lifted my head off Mitchie's shoulder, from where I'd been crying, and leant against the tree. Nate was in the corner of my eye, though I forced myself to stare ahead.

"I have to go, Cait. You'll be okay, won't you?" Mitchie asked, concern etched into her voice.

I nodded an affirmative, and heard her leave.

"Caitlyn, what's wrong?" I heard Nate ask. He sat beside me, and I broke my gaze from the wall I'd been staring at previously to look at him. He was holding a bunch of white roses. I sighed. They were my favourite flowers – and I knew they'd be for the girl he liked. So now even my favourite flower had been taken from me by this girl.

"Nothing's wrong." I said, my voice sounding exactly like a girl who'd just been crying.

"You've been crying." Nate said, and it wasn't a question, but a statement. I knew there was no point lying to him, so I nodded.

"Did something happen? Did someone do something to you? Who was it, I'll go and talk to them."

I laughed at his serious expression.
"What?" Nate asked, sounding defensive now.

"It'd be a bit hard to talk to yourself." I responded.

He frowned in confusion at first, but then he remembered his previous words.

"You were crying because … because of me?" His voice sounded shocked and confused at the same time.

"What did I do?" He asked me, concern in his eyes. I felt my heart break. I didn't want to cause him pain.

"Nothing. I was crying because you're so … perfect."

"I don't understand." He whispered.

"No." I replied. "You wouldn't."

"I'll explain." I said after a few moments of awkward silence.

Nate just nodded, playing with the flowers in his hand.

"You know you said about the girl?"

A worried expression passed over Nate's face, but he nodded.

"Well, I … don't like her."

"What?" Nate asked, completely confused now.

"Well, you like her, right?"
Nate nodded.

"So I don't like her." I didn't want to say my feelings outright. I wasn't that type of person to express my feelings. It was hard for me, even if it was Nate.

I think he understood what I was trying to say at that moment though, because understanding passed over his face for a brief second, before he started laughing. I thought this was because he found me saying this ridiculous, and to my horror I felt tears pricking in the corner of my eyes.

"No! Don't cry, Cait!" He said, his laughter coming to an abrupt halt. "I'm laughing because it's you!"

"What is me?" I asked, frowning. Did he mean he was laughing at me? Because if he did that wasn't helping.
"You're the girl!"

I much have looked shocked (I felt it, that's for sure) because he laughed again.

"These are for you." He said, handing me the bunch of roses.

And before I could thank him, he kissed me. It was a very sweet kiss, exactly how I'd imagined it to be. Not that I'd ever tell anyone that I'd imagined it, of course. I smiled, realising just how much a gentlemen he was, even when he was kissing me. And that, for me, was perfect. We both stood up, not breaking the kiss. He gently wrapped his arm around my waist before we both broke the kiss. I certainly didn't want to, but my lungs were protesting for air.

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say, Caitlyn, is … will you be my girlfriend?"

I couldn't believe that those five words could ever make me so happy. Instead of answering him, I pushed my lips back onto his. My heart soared, and I could have sworn I heard applause from somewhere (was it that bush?) but I didn't stop kissing Nate. My hand dropped the roses to the floor so I could wrap both my arms around his neck.

And I didn't care that everyone was watching. Because, even though I hated to cry, I was. But this time, it was different. I was crying with happiness. And that's the only way I'd have it.