Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Camp Rock.
AN: On the prompts forum, we've been coming up with different ideas for challenges and I said I'd write a story for the first person who PM'ed me with a prompt and character. MusicInMySoul asked me to write for No. 34 - Water with either Nate or Caitlyn if not both. I'm sure this is not what she was expecting, so I'm sorry and I tried to include some Naitlyn, probably just not in the way she was expecting.
This is dedicated to MusicInMySoul, for giving me a prompt and for being a consistent reviewer.
She stared at the lake in front of her, sighing, as she picked up a pebble and skimmed it over the water, smiling slightly in satisfaction at the perfect ripples that marred the mirror-like surface of the lake. The sky seemed to match her mood; the dark clouds looked as though water might pour from them at any point and faint rumblings of thunder could be heard. The storm would probably be near her soon, but it didn't faze her at all.
She pulled her feet up underneath her and the upturned canoe that she was sitting on rocked slightly before righting itself. She sighed again, all the while congratulating herself for finding such a secluded spot. A breeze ruffled her hair and disturbed the water of the lake but didn't mask the sound of faint footsteps behind her and she turned quickly, almost cricking her neck.
"Calm down, Cait, it's just me," a voice said, and as he came closer she figured out who it was.
"What do you want, Gray?" she asked, sounding almost bored and turning to face the lake.
He shuffled and looked down at his feet awkwardly and she turned to look at him again. "Spit it out, Gray!"
"I just came to see if -"
"If I was okay, right? You came to see if that idiot actually succeeded in hurting me. Let me guess, either Jason or Tess sent you?"
He sighed, walking over to sit beside her on the canoe. "I'm not the one you should be angry at Cait," he said.
"I'm not angry," she stated, defiantly.
"And I'm not Shane Gray, heartthrob extraordinaire," he countered.
She looked at him, eyebrow raised. "I thought you supposedly weren't arrogant anymore?"
He shrugged. "I have my moments. So, you want to talk about it?"
She let out a humourless chuckle. "Sure, why not? Let's talk about the fact that my ex-boyfriend just got together with my best friend barely a week after we broke up. Said best friend who also happens to be your ex-girlfriend."
Shane winced. "You don't have to be so blunt, Cait."
She sucked in a breath. "I know. I'm sorry. I do sort of forget that this must suck for you too."
"Yeah, it does a little. But, it's been some time since Mitchie and I broke up. At least, he broke up with you before getting together with her," he said, in an attempt to make her feel better.
She looked at him in disbelief. "Oh, yeah, it definitely makes me feel so much better that Nate broke up with me because he liked someone else. It's even better knowing that our relationship meant so little to him, that he and Mitchie are already together, a week after he broke up with me," she said, sarcastically.
He laughed. "You're better off without him, Cait."
She sighed again. "You want to know the worst? I'm not even that annoyed at Nate. I mean, yeah it would have been nice if he had been a bit more tactful about the whole thing, but it's not that that hurts the most."
He looked at her, the unspoken question clear on his face. A rumble of thunder stooped her from answering immediately.
"Mitchie. She's my best friend and I didn't ever think that we'd lose that over a guy. She knew that I loved him, knew how much he meant to me, but it still didn't stop her from supposedly falling in love with him. Didn't she feel guilty? They basically cheated, Shane, and there's no lame excuse I'm going to take from either of them about how they waited until Nate was single."
She had spoken strangely calmly and that worried Shane more than anything. Caitlyn had been known to throw tantrums and you didn't ever want to cross her; her revenge pranks had been the worst when they were younger. He put his arm around her tentatively, afraid that she would push him away, but she surprised him by resting her head on his shoulder.
"Don't you think the water's so beautiful? It's like a perfect mirror, complete, whole and shiny," she said, startling him with the sudden change in topic, but before he could comment on it, she continued. "It's perfect, but that image can be shattered so easily," she said, demonstrating what she meant by pulling a pebble out of her pocket and tossing it into the lake, sending ripples to the edges.
Shane tightened his hold on her slightly. "Cait…"
"I'm fine," she insisted in a shaky voice. "I was perfect to him. Why did that change?"
"I don't know, Cait. But, I'm telling you, he doesn't deserve you. You deserve so much better, Cait," he finished,
"Maybe," she agreed, her voice still shaky.
"It's okay to cry, Cait," he whispered, pulling her against him and he felt her admit defeat as she let tears overtake her, rain beginning to pour down almost immediately.
She glanced at the water one last time before Shane led her back to her cabin. The rain had disturbed the once-perfect surface and now it looked far from it. The water on her skin and patter of rain around her felt strangely soothing, almost washing away her pain as she followed Shane to her cabin As they heard another rumble of thunder, she turned her face up to the sky, welcoming the water on her face that washed away her tears as the clouds rained down on them. .