Hey, errebody. Happy Valentine's.

This goes with LaPaige's prompts. Angellwings started me on them. This one is cheesy. Enjoy!

"Jason…you know you're my best friend, right?" Caitlyn said into the phone.

He knew that tone. That was Caitlyn's 'I want you to do something for me' tone. "What do you want me to do?"

"Go with me to The Melting Pot Saturday? Mitchie and Ella both bailed. Apparently they have to go hang out with their boyfriends."

"As the brother of said boyfriends, I am well aware of this. Because I'm being abandoned too. So, what time on Saturday?"

"Seven-thirty? Eight?"

"Do I need to get dressed up? Are you gonna wear a dress?"

Caitlyn smirked. "Short, black and sparkly."

Jason gulped. He had an inkling that the dress she was going to be wearing was the one he had seen at Ella's last time he was over there.

In which case, he was definitely going to be going to The Melting Pot with Caitlyn.

"Okay. Fine. I'll go. But you're paying. I'm going to have to change all my plans because of this," he joked.

Caitlyn scoffed. "Please. You were going to stay home and eat pad Thai and play Rock Band. I know you."

"Actually, it was going to be sushi this week. Sorry, Caity."

"Well, now you get a delicious four-course meal, courtesy of me. The parentals gave me a one hundred dollar gift certificate for my birthday. They told me to take 'someone special'."

"So, I'm your special fallback?" Jason asked with a grin.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"You really know how to boost a guy's ego, don't you?"

"Yep. It's why I'm such a catch."

"That you are," Jason said before he could stop himself.

"I…I…" Caitlyn stammered. She cleared her throat. "I just swallowed a bug, I think. I'll see you Saturday night at seven-thirty. Bye."

She hung up quickly and dropped her phone onto her dresser. Did Jason mean that the way it sounded? She looked at herself in the mirror and wasn't completely surprised to see herself blushing.

Fine. She'd wear that short, sparkly black dress. With her new heels. And she'd request one of those tiny quarter booths. To play footsie.

Then maybe Jason Grey wouldn't have such an effect on her.

(LINE)

It was Saturday night.

Jason was waved upstairs by Caitlyn's doorman and knocked on her door. He bit his lip as he twirled the single iris he had bought on his way to her apartment in his fingers.

Caitlyn opened the door and Jason's face went white.

She looked good.

Ella was going to be getting something really nice from the berries website as a thank you.

Those brownie bites or maybe the strawberries…

"Jase?" Caitlyn's voice interrupted his thoughts and he shook his head.

"Hi, Caity. You look pretty tonight."

Caitlyn smiled and gave him a one-armed hug. "You look nice too," she said as she released him. "Is that flower for me?" she asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. I figured it might be nice. You have been working really hard lately."

"Which is why I'm getting that Ginger Rosemary Lemon Spritzer. It makes me get happy. Let me just put this in some water," she said, holding up the flower, "And we'll be on our way."

Caitlyn took a small crystal vase off a shelf and filled it with water before putting the purple flower in it.

"Well?" Jason asked as Caitlyn turned to him. "Shall we tally ho? I've never been to The Melting Pot before."

She grabbed her purse and a bright blue shawl. "Really? I had my birthday there last year…oh, yeah…you were on a date with The Bitch." Caitlyn had always resented Jason's former girlfriend, Natalia just the slightest bit. She was so nice to everyone but her. But then Jason found out Nat had been cheating on him. Hence the codename "The Bitch".

"Well, I won't miss your birthday this year. Pinky promise," he said as they walked into the elevator. "You didn't speak to me for almost three months because of it."

Caitlyn chewed her lip and rolled her eyes. "Let's not talk about that whole…thing anymore, alright? We've both apologized and we're okay with each other now, right?" The elevator doors opened.

"Right," Jason said, holding his arm out to her with a small smile. "But let me just say, I will never again let a girlfriend put a strain on my friendship with you."

She smiled up at him softly. "I believe you, Jase," she whispered, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "Now let's go dip stuff in cheese."

(LINE)

Caitlyn smelled really good.

That was pretty much the first thing Jason noticed as Caitlyn slid in next to him in the tiny, two-person corner booth.

The second thing he noticed was how their knees kept bumping.

He was looking over the menu and couldn't seem to figure out what to get. Mostly because he could feel her foot knocking against his leg.

"You want to get the Big Night Out Dinner? Four courses of pure deliciousness," Caitlyn asked, lightly kicking her foot against his.

Jason looked up. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Traditional Swiss, Spinach Artichoke, or Cheddar for the fondue?"

He grinned. "Whatever you want. I'm putting myself in your hands."

"You sure? I could do something totally ridiculous. Like the Fiesta Fondue made as spicy as I want."

"Let's not and say we did, okay, Caity?" Jason asked. "I swear, I will do whatever you want so long as you don't make me eat something super spicy."

Caitlyn laughed. "Okay, fine. Let's do the Swiss. It's pretty much my favorite, anyway."

"And what kind of salad would you recommend?"

"I like the House Salad or the Spinach Salad. The dressing on both of them…" Caitlyn trailed off, a look of joy on her face.

"That good?" he asked.

"I would bathe in it."

Jason gave her a look of mild concern. "That's…nice…"

She shoved his shoulder playfully. "You'll see. Get the House. You can have some of my Spinach."

"Okay…and for the entrée?" he asked.

"I want the Pacific Rim. The duck is to die for."

"I think I want the Signature Selection. In the…" he looked down at the menu. "We have to get the same cooking style for both of ours. What do you think is best?"

"I like the Coq au Vin. It makes the food happy. And the Gorgonzola Port sauce is really good with it."

Jason stared at Caitlyn for a long moment.

She blinked. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

He smiled. "Nah. You just…seem to know a lot about food. It's just…different."

"Jase. I've always known a lot about food."

"Yeah, but this is the first time I've seen you in a restaurant, acting all authoritative."

She laughed lightly. "Yeah, well…maybe we should do this more often," she said, bumping his knee with hers.

"Maybe we should," Jason said softly.

They looked at each other with soft smiles for a moment, and Jason began to inch his hand towards hers.

"Good evening, you two. What can I do you for?" said their waiter as he walked up to their table.

Jason exhaled and flipped to the dessert section. They did need to agree on something for that.

They placed their orders and agreed on the Special Event dark chocolate fondue spiked with Bailey's.

When the first course came, Caitlyn clapped excitedly and picked up a long fork before she stabbed a piece of bread and dipped it into the hot cheese.

"I take it you're happy?" he asked wryly.

She nodded her head and smiled. "Mhm. Come on, eat. Put a food in the food goo."

He blinked at her. "Twenty minutes ago you were sounding like a chef…now you sound like…Shane when he's been up all night."

Caitlyn glared at him for a second before she stabbed a piece of broccoli, dunked it in the cheese and then forced it into Jason's mouth.

He was silent for a moment as he ate and then he smiled. "Can you learn how to make this and give me a gallon and stock the tour bus with it and—"

She laughed. "Jason…you're adorable, you know that?"

He smirked. "I've been told once or twice."

She elbowed him. "Don't go getting a big head. Eat. The apples are especially delicious in the cheese. I swear."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, picking up his fork and spearing an apple slice.

When they finished their fondue, the salads were placed in front of them and Caitlyn smiled again.

"I love this salad. It has bacon," she said, stuffing her face with spinach.

Jason smiled and reached for her glass. "I think you've had enough of that spritzer of yours, Caity-did."

She gave him a dangerous look and put her hand over his. "Do not get between a girl and her spritzer, Jason Allen."

He leaned towards her. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"So why do you want to take it away from me?"

"Concern for your well-being," he said.

"As long as I have you, I'm pretty good, I think."

"Well, I think you'll always be pretty good, then."

Caitlyn blushed and suddenly became very interested in her salad.

Jason felt rather stupid for being so blatant about his feelings when it was fairly clear from her reaction that Caitlyn didn't return them. They ate in an awkward silence for a few more minutes when the waiter came by to serve their tableside-prepared entrees. When the food was cooked and put on their plates, the waiter left and Jason and Caitlyn were once again alone in an uncomfortable silence.

"If I give you some of my pork or duck or potstickers, would you give me some of the salmon or filet mignon?" she asked shyly.

Jason smiled. "Sure. We can share whatever it is you want."

"Well, you can have one of my potstickers free of charge, but I'll give you a bite of the pork and the duck in exchange for the salmon and filet."

"Sounds fair," Jason said, cutting off good-sized bites of the fish and beef and putting them on her plate.

"This is really good fish," she said.

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "Now where's my pork and duck?"

"You're so demanding, Rock Star," Caitlyn said with a long-suffering sigh. She grinned and kicked his foot again. "I'm just joking with you. You're really not demanding…"

"And you're really not difficult," Jason said, reaching across the table and stealing another bite of her pork.

She gave him another glare. "You're such a jerk."

"And yet…you're the one who asked me here tonight," he said, taking a sip of his Blackberry Sage Lemonade.

"Because everyone else was busy," she said, spearing another bite of Jason's filet.

"You're so cruel," he said dramatically. "You cut me down, Caity."

She took one look at the overly-pained expression on his face and burst into giggles.

The waiter appeared again and cleared away their dinner plates and replaced them with the chocolate fondue and the fruit and other dessert items.

Jason gave Caitlyn a strange look when she ignored the brownies, strawberries and cheesecake and went straight for the pineapple slices.

"What? Don't look at me like that. Chocolate and pineapple is delicious. Seriously." Caitlyn forked another piece of pineapple and dipped it in the chocolate before she slid it into his mouth. "Taste. Chew. Swallow." She paused as she waited for Jason to finish. "So? What'd you think?"

"Good," he admitted. "Tart and sweet and rich."

"Sounds like you and me," Caitlyn mumbled under her breath.

Jason paused and nearly let go of his fork mid-dip. Did he hear that right?

"Anything else you want to feed me?" he asked with a smirk, scooting closer to her.

Caitlyn froze. Jason watched her carefully as she slowly breathed in and out and spun her fork between her fingers. She finally turned to him with a grin. "You pick. But can you get me a bite of cheesecake? It's across the table from me and I can't exactly reach it."

"Cheesecake, huh? Okay," he said, smiling as he dipped a cheesecake bite into the chocolate and brought it to Caitlyn's mouth.

Caitlyn opened her mouth without protest and sighed happily as Jason's callused fingers brushed against her cheek. She leaned against his hand and closed her eyes.

And instead of chocolate-covered cheesecake meeting her lips, she felt something very different.

Jason was kissing her.

She smiled as she slid her hand up his arm to rest on his shoulder and scooted closer to him.

When he finally pulled back, he grinned at her.

Caitlyn, however, frowned. "You stopped. Why'd you stop?"

"Because…you wanted cheesecake?"

"I liked the kissing better, I think."

"Caity…your dress is making it really hard to stop kissing you already. Plus…we have all this food to dip in chocolate. Do you really want to let it all go to waste?" Jason asked, waving his still-cheesecake'd fork in the air in front of Caitlyn's face.

She shrugged and took his fork from him. "I can think of something else I'd rather dip in chocolate."