Hiding Out
by angellwings
Jason was the first to get his words. It made sense, as he was the oldest. But he was younger than most. He showed it off to every one he met. He was very proud. Their parents on the other hand? Not so much. His words had a certain four letter word in it that they were too young to know. And his oldest brother was apparently even more fortunate because he had a name too.
Four years later, Shane's words appeared. His were more ambiguous than Jason's and did not give away their owner. Shane sulked for weeks. He didn't consider his words to be as "cool" as Jason's. Nate convinced himself he was never going to get a mark. That he'd be one of the ones without a soulmate. Like his Uncle Brown. Brown led the life Nate wanted to lead. It was a life all about music. Sure, it was about teaching music to kids at a summer camp. But still mostly…music.
But then Shane started to act out, and they'd dropped him off at Camp Rock for an attitude adjustment. Something about that moment must have changed things because that night he'd woken up to an itching and burning across his chest. He immediately ran to his bathroom mirror to see what had happened and found the words "Are you hiding too?" scrawled there in loopy feminine cursive. Complete with a heart over the "I."
He couldn't believe it. He hadn't wanted this. A soulmate would be a distraction. He did not need distractions. Not with Connect Three nearly falling apart at the seams. The only hope he had now was that his soulmate would take their sweet time finding him. After all, Jason's words appeared about 9 years ago and he'd yet to meet whoever this Caitlyn was supposed to be and Shane had his for five now. His soulmate had yet to appear either.
Of course, just as Nate had calmed his own fears he and Jason got a phone call from Shane.
"Dudes! She's here!" He'd yelled over speakerphone.
"Who?" Nate asked.
"My soulmate!"
"You met her?" Jason asked excitedly. "Really?"
"Um, well, not exactly. But I heard her! She sang my words! And the sound it…it reminded me of our stuff. You know? Back when music was fun," Shane told them with a sigh. "I've gotta find her."
"How are you going to do that? Audition every girl in camp?" Nate asked dryly.
"Oh man! That's genius! Yes!"
"What? I—I was kidding!" Nate yelled with a tired sigh.
"But I'm not," Shane said excitedly. "I've got to go. Talk to you guys later," he said as he abruptly hung up.
"Aw, man!" Jason exclaimed as he took back his phone. "I forgot to ask him if he met any Caitlyns."
Nate noticed Jason giving him a suspicious sidelong glance after a long moment of silence.
"Um, bro, why is your shirt buttoned all the way up?" Jason asked curiously. "You've been wearing nothing but v-necks since that stylist you have the hots for said you could pull them off."
Nate cleared his throat nervously and then glared at his oldest brother. "I—I just thought I'd try something different. That's all."
So, Shane was on the verge of meeting his soulmate. That didn't mean Nate was going to meet his. It stood to reason that they would all meet their soulmates at different points in life. Shane's soulmate coming into their lives changed nothing. Nothing. Weeks passed and no one had asked Nate if he was "hiding". His nervousness about his soulmate was easing off. He no longer felt reluctant to go out in public and meet new people.
Another week passed and then Shane sent them new music. It was a song he wrote that was inspired by his mystery soulmate, who he still hadn't found. And it was good. Very good. In fact, Nate couldn't wait to play it. It would be so much fun to actually play music they wrote again. A few days later Shane invited them to come play it for Brown's campers. Jason and Nate had been so excited to play the song they hadn't even thought about saying no. They'd arrived at Camp and started to make their way to Brown's cabin when a girl accidentally bumped Jason and several papers fell out of her bulky computer bag.
Jason bent down to pick them up, squinted at the name, and then called out to her.
"Hey! Are you Susan Gellar? I think you dropped these!"
She spun on her heel with fire in her eyes that was so bright it made Nate flinch. Jason on the other hand didn't move a muscle.
She groaned in irritation and then yelled, "It's fucking Caitlyn, got it? Just because Susan is my legal first name, doesn't mean I actually use it."
Jason's eyes widened, a grin spread across his face, and he blushed as he placed the papers in her hand. "Well, your preferred name is, um, very pretty. Unique too. Never heard that particular curse word used in a name before."
Caitlyn froze and then blinked at him for a long moment. "Wait. I—you-what exactly did you say earlier?"
He held out his hand for a shake, displaying for her the words that were scrawled in tiny chicken scratch across his wrist, and smiled. "Jason Gray, and I'm almost certain you're my soulmate."
She gulped nervously and placed her hand in his for the shake. "Holy shit. You're the reason I decided I wanted to go by Caitlyn to begin with."
He chuckled at her as they shook hands. "You're the reason I know how to swear."
"Oh god," she said as she snatched her hand back from his. "No, no, no! I'm freakin' 15. I'm not supposed to meet you now. Nope! No, I refuse. Let's do this again in, say, three years, okay?"
Caitlyn looked frightened and panicked as she turned and sprinted away from them. Nate expected Jason to follow her but instead he stared at her retreating form with a goofy smile for a lingering moment and then turned to finish their walk to Brown's cabin.
"You're not gonna go after her?" Nate asked him curiously.
He shrugged and smiled serenely. "No need to. She's my soulmate. I'm gonna trust that it'll happen in it's own time. Whenever she's ready, I'll be there. And, besides, now I know what she looks like. I have a face to match the name. Finally."
He'd been freaked out before but now two of his brothers had met their soul mates. His time couldn't be far off. He was in full blown panic mode as soon as their performance was over. He bolted off stage and hid out behind a vacant cabin. He and Jason were supposed to head back to Los Angeles in a few hours. He could hide out until then and no one would miss him. They were all too distracted by some commotion involving the Cook's Daughter, Shane, and Tess to look for him.
"Are you hiding too?" a feminine voice asked from the door of the cabin he'd thought was empty.
Those were the words. His words.
He froze and spun with a wild stare to find a beautiful raven haired girl smiling kindly at him. He recognized her. She was one of Tess Tyler's back up singers. She bit her bottom lip nervously as his stare lingered longer than was polite. She blushed prettily and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she waited for him to answer her. He opened his mouth to speak but he couldn't find the words. He felt his face flush and he brought a hand to the back of his neck and awkwardly scratched. She was so pretty. He swallowed thickly and watched her for a moment. Why was she so pretty? It was awfully hard to talk with her big brown eyes staring at him. And her voice earlier had sounded like music to his ears. Yes, he was freaked out, but he was also inexplicably attracted.
How was he out of words? He was a writer! He always had words!
The next thing he knew his feet took off down the path back toward camp. He didn't stop until he'd reached his uncle's cabin. That's when he realized what he'd done. He'd run from his soulmate. He'd left her there alone and ran off like a spooked deer. Who did that? God, she probably hated him now! And she didn't even know! He hadn't said anything! He hadn't told her she'd said his words! What was wrong with him?
"Hey, man," Shane said with a furrowed brow. "Where were you? I'm in crisis mode here!"
Nate gulped and nodded quietly as he tried to process what had just happened. Had that actually happened? Or did he dream it? That moment felt so surreal. He didn't even know her name! He'd met his soulmate and never got her name!
"Nate?" Shane asked in concern. "You okay, dude?"
He shook himself out of his thoughts and then focused on his brother. "What? Sorry. Yeah, I'm fine. I needed a minute. So, what happened with this girl exactly? Was she the girl?"
"At one point I thought maybe but-she lied to me, Nate," Shane said with a sigh. "Would my actual soulmate make finding her this difficult?"
Yesterday he would have said no, but after what he just did to his soulmate? Who really knew?
"Maybe," Nate said with a shrug. "Fate might enjoy messing with us."
"Yeah, well, Fate must be a bitch," Shane said with a huff as he collapsed on Brown's couch. "I hate Fate. I really hate it."
"Ditto," Nate agreed as he sat down next to Shane.
"I don't know what you two are whining about," Jason said with a dopey grin as he sat down in the left over space on the couch. "Fate's been pretty kind to me so far. My soulmate is adorable."
Nate gave his brother a confused look. "Adorable? You mean the girl that cursed at you and then ran away? You call that adorable?"
He smiled wistfully and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I do."
"Well, at least things are working out okay for one of us," Shane said dryly with a roll of his eyes.
Jason and Nate left a few hours later. Nate stayed tucked away in Brown's cabin until their ride back to Los Angeles arrived. He didn't want to risk facing her. He knew it would happen eventually but he needed time to recover and find his words. Next time he'd be ready. He'd know exactly what to say and those words would be worthy of a soulmate.
He tried to focus on other things once they were back in L.A. but there was nothing else to focus on. Work was at a pause, thanks to Shane. So, really all he had to distract him was music. And the memory of a voice that was so melodic it caused his chest to ache. He'd written more sappy love songs in the weeks since his visit to Camp Rock than he'd written in his entire life.
What was happening to him?
The next time they came back to Camp was for Final Jam. He had a speech prepared for when he ran into her. He'd been practicing it for weeks. But, as luck would have it, he didn't run into her. There were twenty minutes until show time and he was sick of waiting. He was sick of being plagued by guilt. She'd been looking at him hesitantly with just as many nerves as he felt and he ran away. He felt terrible. He was tired of feeling terrible and terrified all at once. So, instead of waiting for her to find him, he went off looking for her. It was very difficult considering he didn't know her name.
He finally spotted someone he knew. Caitlyn.
"Hi, um, Caitlyn?" Nate asked hesitantly.
"Yeah?" she asked with a suspicious glare.
"I'm looking for someone," he said as he nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Dark hair, big brown eyes—" he stopped and then held out a hand up to a few inches shorter than himself. "And about so tall. She's got a voice that sounds like music?"
Caitlyn grinned at him and he could tell she was biting back a chuckle.
He cleared his throat and blushed. "You—uh—you know anybody like that?"
"Almond shaped eyes?" Caitlyn asked knowingly.
He nodded and avoided her gaze.
"That's Ella," Caitlyn told him.
He smiled softly to himself and repeated her name. "Ella. That's good. It sounds…"
"Like music?" Caitlyn asked teasingly.
He pointedly ignored her jab. "Any idea where I can find her?"
Caitlyn shrugged. "Find Tess and you'll find her. Usually."
"Okay," he asked with a huff. "Have you seen Tess?"
Caitlyn pointed toward the back corner of the back stage area. "Tess and her clones usually congregate over there somewhere."
"Thanks," Nate muttered as he walked passed her. He found Tess shouting at Ella and the taller girl about their movements and choreography. Nate winced at Tess's tone and wondered why she or the other girl took that kind of treatment. No one should be treated that way. The taller girl went off on Tess and stomped away and then Tess turned to take out the rest of her frustration on Ella but judging by the look on Ella's face he could tell she was done.
"Your lip gloss is so not glossy anymore!"
He smirked to himself as he watched her storm off and then discretely followed her. She went out the stage door entrance and then hid around the far corner of the theater. Nate leaned against the adjacent corner and cleared his throat to let her know he was there before he spoke.
"Are you hiding too?" He asked as he purposefully repeated her words to him. It wasn't the speech he had planned, but it felt better. It felt right.
She pushed off from the wall and came around the corner to stare at him with the same wild look he imagined had been on his face after she'd said those words to him.
"You?" She asked as she absently stroked the inside of the pointer finger on her right hand. "You're my soulmate?"
He could see her words etched on her finger in his own handwriting as she stroked across them with her thumb.
He grinned apologetically and then shrugged. "Surprise?" He asked weakly.
"You ran away from me!" She yelled. "Is your soulmate supposed to run away from you?"
"Jason's ran away from him," Nate told her. "Shane knows his is here but can't seem to figure out who it is. So, it doesn't seem to be simple for anyone."
"I never expected simple," she said honestly. "I just expected you not to run away."
"If it helps I've felt terrible about it from the moment I did it," he told her. "It's just…you said the words and you were looking at me with those big beautiful eyes and I couldn't—I couldn't think. I didn't want my first words to you to be stupid. So I panicked, and I ran. I shouldn't have and I'm sorry. But you surprised me."
She blushed and smiled sweetly at him. "You think my eyes are beautiful?"
He chuckled at her and nodded. "I do."
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and then held out her hand for him to shake. "Ella Pador."
"Nate Gray."
She giggled and nodded. "I know."
"Right," he said with a nod and a nervous chuckle. "I'm famous. I forgot."
She laughed as he returned her handshake and then hesitantly released his hand. "That's okay. Modesty is good."
"So, are you performing with Tess?" He asked curiously.
"I was going to but…I'm tired of being a door mat," she told him as she swallowed thickly and looked down at her high heels. "So, I guess I'm out of Final Jam."
He quirked a brow at her. "Why? You can perform at Final Jam without being a doormat. I'm sure you're talented. You wouldn't be here if you weren't and then there's your speaking voice…"
"What about it?" She asked him with a furrowed brow.
"I can tell you sing is all," he told her with a warm smile. "It's very musical. I'm sure there's someone performing who'd let you perform with them."
Her eyes lit up and she gasped as if she'd just remembered something and then launched herself at him in a tight hug.
"Oh my God, you're brilliant!" She yelled excitedly. "Barron and Sander!"
He blinked at her as he returned the hug. She fit against him much too perfectly. He almost couldn't let go. "Who?" He asked.
"They—nevermind," she said with a chuckle. "You'll see." She backed out of the hug and then pulled his wrist to her line of sight so she could check the time and winced. "I should go! I have ten minutes and I need to change!"
She turned to go inside but paused and turned to face him with a warm smile. "Will I…see you after?"
He nodded and smiled back at her. "Absolutely."
"Thanks for coming out of hiding," she told him with a grin and a chuckle.
"You're welcome," he said with a light laugh. "It was nice to meet you. Properly this time."
"No more running away, okay?" She asked with a teasing smirk.
"Promise," he said with a grin. "No more running."