A/N: This is for my friend Anna's birthday! She asked for a fic about Jason having a bad dream and seeking comfort in Caitlyn. So here it is! I hope she likes it! And I hope you guys do too!
Happy reading!
angellwings
Just a Dream
by angellwings
I had a dream last night
That you weren't in my life
It felt so real, that I
Woke up reachin' for you baby
What would I do, if ever I lost you?
-"Just A Dream" by Jimmy Wayne
Jason woke up on a couch in the recording studio without having remembered when he fell asleep or how he got there. His brow furrowed and he yawned. He stood up and stretched before he walked over to the control room.
"Hey, Caity, how far along are we on the song?"
The girl in the chair turned and gave him a strange look and his eyes widened.
"Um, you're not Caitlyn," He said.
"Who's Caitlyn?" The girl asked in confusion.
He blinked at the red head. "Um, our producer?"
"Nope. I know all of your producers and not one of them is named Cailtyn," She told him with a pointed look.
"And who are you?" Jason asked.
"Brown's assistant. Lilly," She said as she rolled her eyes. "You'd think you guys would have learned my name by now," she said as she stood up and walked away.
Nate nodded at Jason as he walked into the studio. "Hey, man, you ready to get started?"
"Yeah, I guess, where's Caitlyn? Isn't she supposed to be here?" Jason asked.
"Who?" Nate asked as he pulled his music out of his bag.
"Caitlyn," Jason repeated. "She's about 5 foot 3, has brown hair, big brown eyes, and snark that tends to stab you in the face? Remember?"
Nate shook his head. "Can't say I do. You sure you're okay, Jase?"
"Me? Me?" Jason asked. "You're the one who can't remember Caitlyn."
"Who's Caitlyn?" Shane asked as he suddenly appeared in the room.
"You don't remember her either?" Jason huffed. "What is going on here? Where are the girls? They'll remember her." Jason turned and sprinted from the studio. Ella's office was just down the street and when he entered he found her pinning up a dress on Mitchie.
Mitchie smiled brightly at him. "Hey, Jason. Aren't you supposed to be recording?"
"Yeah, but I need to find Caitlyn first. You guys saw her before you left the apartment this morning right?" Jason asked as he pulled out his cell phone to find Caitlyn's number.
Ella stopped and turned to face him. "Who?"
He froze. No one remembered her. He stopped where Caitlyn's number should be in his phone and frowned. It wasn't there. "What the hell? It was in here yesterday."
"Jason?" Ella asked as she touched his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He gulped as he looked up. "No. No, I don't think I am."
"What's wrong?" Mitchie asked.
"You mean to tell me that there is no one named Caitlyn Gellar in our lives? At all?" Jason asked as he frowned.
"Not in my life," Ella said with a shrug. "Did you meet a girl you like somewhere?"
"Have you asked her out?" Mitchie asked. "I can't remember the last time you had a date. So, you should totally get on that."
"I would except I can't seem to find her," Jason muttered.
"You didn't get her number?" Ella asked. "Well, that was smooth."
"I—I gotta go," Jason said with a sigh as she left Ella's office and headed toward his car.
Where was Caitlyn? How could she have just vanished? This had to be some sort of joke they were playing on him. Caitlyn was probably hiding out in her apartment waiting for him to knock on her door so she could laugh at him. That had to be it. He got in his car and drove over to Caitlyn's building. He headed up to her apartment she shared with Mitchie and Ella and knocked on the door. He stood there for several minutes and waited. But no one answered. He knocked louder and gulped.
"Caitlyn? This isn't funny anymore," Jason said loudly. "Open the door please?"
He was met with silence and he took a deep calming breath. No, no. This wasn't happening. Caitlyn wasn't gone. She couldn't be gone. People didn't just disappear from existence. That wasn't possible.
"Caitlyn?" He asked one more time in a softer tone. "You have to be in there. Caity?"
He leaned his head against the apartment door. No, no, no. She had to be somewhere. Maybe she wasn't in California, but she had to be somewhere else. He'd look for her. He would track her down even if it meant searching the entire planet and swimming the oceans. He'd do it. A world without Caitlyn wasn't a world he wanted to be a part of. He turned and rested his back against the door and then slid down to the floor. He burried his head in his hands and took a deep shuddering breath. This could not be his reality. He wouldn't let it. He needed Caitlyn. He said a desperate prayer in his head that God would find her and bring her back to him. He closed his eyes and felt himself drifting off to sleep. Maybe she'd come back to her apartment and if she did he'd be there waiting on her.
Jason's eyes slowly opened as he heard someone calling his name.
"Jason? Jase? Hey! Birdman!"
His eyes widened and he sat straight up. His eyes landed on his favorite brunette and he couldn't help but shout excitedly. "Caitlyn!"
She stepped back from the couch at the sound of his voice and her eyes widened.
"You're here! You're alive! You came back!"
His arms wrapped tightly around her as he jumped up off the couch and he felt her tense in his arms. "I-I never left, Jason. This is my office."
"No! No you did!" Jason shouted as he pulled back from the hug. "I woke up in the studio and no one remembered you! You were gone and I was the only one who noticed! I—People were treating me like I was crazy!"
Caitlyn smiled softly at him. "I think you were dreaming, Jason."
He blinked and then blushed before he smiled sheepishly. "That would make the most sense, but…if it was a dream it was a terrible one. A nightmare, really."
Caitlyn blushed. "Your nightmare was about me going missing?"
"You make life worth living, Caity. I thought you knew that," Jason said as if it were obvious.
Her eyes widened and she beamed at him. "I—I do?"
Jason nodded. "You do."
He stepped forward and slowly wrapped his arms around her again. He held her tightly and then felt her arms wrap around his torso. She rested her cheek against his chest and sighed contentedly. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of having her close.
"Caity, I need you to promise me something," Jason said softly.
"Okay," She said quietly.
"Promise me, that you'll never leave me? And…if you do, you'll take me with you?" Jason asked nervously.
Caitlyn smiled softly and nodded against his chest. "Only if you promise the same in return, Curly."
"Oh, I promised you that years ago," Jason admitted. "I just never told you."
"Well," Caitlyn said with a grin. "A little notice would have been nice. What would have happened if I'd taken that job in New York instead of this one?"
"I would have gone with you," Jason said simply.
"I don't think your brothers would have liked that very much," Caitlyn said with a soft smile. "It would have made writing and recording very difficult."
Jason shrugged. "They would have gotten over it."
Caitlyn chuckled. "I don't think any potential girlfriends are going to like that you're so attached me."
Jason pulled back to look at her. "What potential girlfriends? There's really only one that I care about."
Caitlyn bit her bottom lip. "Oh? And who's she?"
"You, Caity," Jason said honestly.
Caitlyn gulped and took a couple of steps back from Jason. "Me?"
"Please, don't be scared, Caitlyn," Jason told her as he took one step toward her for every step she took away from him.
"Scared? Why would I be scared? I mean, it's not like you just told me you don't want to live without me or that I'm the only girl you really care about or anything," Caitlyn said sarcastically. "No reason to be scared."
He smiled warmly. "Exactly. It just means that I love you."
Her eyes widened even more. "You—you love me?"
"Caitlyn, I just had a nightmare that I couldn't find you anywhere. It scared me to death, and do you know how it ended?" Jason asked with an emotional gulp.
Caitlyn wordlessly shook her head to answer no.
"It ended with me swearing to find you," Jason told her. "You didn't exist in that universe and yet I was determined to spend my life finding you. If that doesn't tell you something about how I feel then I don't know what will. I don't want to waste anymore time, Caitlyn. I don't want to have to really lose you to admit how I feel. In my dream I was afraid I'd never find you. In reality I don't have to find you. You're right here in front of me. I know now that I should enjoy that. My normal excuses aren't gonna cut anymore. I don't know what I would do with myself if I lost you, Caitlyn. I don't think I'd be…me."
Caitlyn took a deep shaky breath and swallowed thickly. He took another step toward her and she held out a hand to stop him. He watched her plop down on the couch he'd just finished napping on and rub a hand over her face. "Okay, okay. Just…give me a moment to…breathe."
Jason nodded and leaned against her desk. "Whatever you need, Caity."
She looked up at him when he said that and stared at him for a long moment. "You are far too sweet for me, Jason. I—I'd break you."
"I'm not as fragile as I seem, Lady," Jason said with a small grin.
"I never thought this would happen. I never once thought that you would be…that there would even be the possibility of a we or an us. It changes everything," Caitlyn said quietly. "From here on out this could change our lives, Jason. You realize that, right?"
He nodded. "I do."
Caitlyn felt goosebumps rise on her arms at the certainty of his tone. He was acting like he knew something she didn't. He seemed so sure that this would work out. It was like he was looking into the future and knew exactly how everything would turn out. "Aren't you scared at all? What if it doesn't work out?"
"It will. I know it will."
"How do you know?" Caitlyn asked.
"Because I could never feel for anyone else what I feel for you," Jason admitted.
"Why do you say these things?" Caitlyn said with a groan. "You're seriously killing me, Jason."
He smirked at her. "Given the context that sounds like a good thing."
She glared at him playfully. "Oh, shut up."
"Caitlyn, you know as well as I do that we're perfect together. No one else will understand you the way I do, and you're the only person who actually likes my quirks," Jason said with an affectionate smile. "We treasure the things about each other that no one else gets."
Caitlyn smiled softly at him. "That is true."
"Plus," Jason said as he winked at her. "You know you want me."
Caitlyn smiled and laughed loudly. "Wow, we have been spending far too much time together. I'm corrupting you."
"Corruption for the better, I think," Jason told her with a grin.
"There's still lots more corruption to come, Mr. Gray," Caitlyn said slowly as she stood up and slowly sauntered over to him. Jason smiled brightly as he felt Caitlyn's arms loop around his neck.
"Oh really?"
"Oh, yes," Caitlyn told him with a smirk. Her fingers dove into his curls and Jason closed his eyes. He let out a groan and immediately wrapped his arms around Caitlyn's waist. He snatched her to him and held her against his chest.
"You're teasing me," Jason said knowingly.
Caitlyn chuckled and nodded. "It's what I do. Shouldn't you have figured that out by now?"
"I'm not sure you realize who you're playing with, Caitlyn," Jason said as he backed her into a nearby wall.
She smirked at him. "Oh my, that sounds dangerous." She paused and then moved her hands out of his hair and down the back of his shirt. "I like dangerous."
Jason pressed his body flush against hers and pushed Caitlyn further back against the wall. She heard him growl softly before he attached his lips to the curve of her neck. She sighed happily and arched her neck.
Oh, he was totally going to leave a mark…and she couldn't wait to show it off.
