A/N: If I own CR, I'm very unaware of that fact. The song is "Never Gonna Leave This Bed" by Maroon5
For Anna, who loves Jaitlyn more than Mountain Dew.
You push me
I don't have the strength to
Resist or control you
Take me down, take me down
Most days, Jason would just let Caitlyn have her way. They both worked long hours, and sometimes, it was just easier to let Caitlyn win or be right. He only dug his heels in on the important things, like living together, being exclusive, and not saying 'love' until they were both sure that they meant it so that it wasn't devalued.
It had been a game of guess and check for Jason. When he brought it up, Caitlyn had stood there and her mouth floundered for words. When had she not had someone tell her that they were in love two months in? So at first, she thought he was just being ridiculous, but he never mentioned the 'L' word until they were at camp and nine months into their relationship. But Caitlyn found that she couldn't forget the moment.
The newest 'it' couple, Jaitlyn, were walking hand-n-hand to the bonfire rally. They had both deemed it safe, despite all the mini-Tess Glares from the pre-tween campers. It was s'mores night and Caitlyn's favorite night activity at camp. They were savoring the moments away from prying eyes of the public and small children that sometimes forgot to filter their mouths.
"I wish that we didn't have to go to the bonfire." Caitlyn pouted, giving Jason's had a light squeeze. Jason raised an eyebrow. "Caity, are you feeling okay? You adore s'mores night." Caitlyn sighed and nestled herself into Jason's side. "Yeah, but I can have those anytime. I enjoy these moments more, where we're just Jason and Caity." Jason grinned and kissed the top of her head. "Me too."
They untangled themselves when they reached the fireside, but opted to sit together on one of the wooden logs. Connie grinned, handing them their unwound hangers and a small bucket full of s'more goodies. She held a finger to her lips and then handed a second bucket to Caitlyn who gave a small dance of glee and thanks. The night had been wonderful, Caitlyn showed Jason how to roast the perfect marshmallow and had happily chowed down on three of her own treats.
"Geez lady, don't you think you've had enough?" A Tess Wanna-be did her best glare at Caitlyn, who just sank her teeth in to the s'more and chewed to her hearts content. "Lighten up kid, you're only young for so long." Jason paused and observed Caity for a minute. There would have been a time that she just would have told the kid to "get a pacifier and suck it", but for some reason... she hadn't.
He didn't bring it up again until their walk back to the cabins.
"What do you mean, why didn't I chew her out?" She laughed, throwing her hair into a messy bun. "It never does any good to yell at Tess-Clones. They thrive on that shit. If you just act like you're more mature than them, you win." Caitlyn shrugged and laced her fingers with his. "Plus, I didn't care much. As long as you're with me, that's all that really mattered in that moment." Jason stopped in the middle of the trail and turned Caitlyn to face him. He searched her eyes in the moonlight and he knew that they were ready for this.
"Caitlyn, I love you." It was like a whole set of sparklers had gone off in her eyes.
"Thank you, I love you too."
You hurt me
But do I deserve this?
You make me so nervous
Calm me down, calm me down
One sided screaming matches happened, and while they weren't frequent, Caitlyn would draw out the big guns to wound. Jason could have shrugged it off with a smile and said "My parents fought all the time, why are we any different?" But he didn't want to be miserable. He'd seen Shane's parents and how much they loved each other and even Nate's quirky no-PDA parents even showed their love through their playful banter or by doing things for the other. Jason hadn't been so lucky with his family. An abusive alcoholic of a father and a mother who was almost as bad didn't make for the best home to grow up in. So, when they fought, Jason never yelled at Caity but tried to talk as calmly as possible. He was so afraid of bringing out those traits that his father displayed and lashing out at those that he should love the most. But he'd never talked about it with her either. And probably wouldn't have, if it wasn't for that damned phone call.
"Hello?"
"Ju-ju-Jason?" Caitlyn felt like she could smell the alcohol through the the phone, but she ignored it anyway.
"No, he's at practice right now. This is Caitlyn, can I help you?" She heard a clacking of metal and a loud grunt.
"Lettin' hookers a-an-answer his f-f-phone huh? That dumb piece of-" Caitlyn bristled.
"I dare you to finish that sentence." The man at the other end of the line let out a chuckle.
"He g-ot 'em self a a fisty one? Ha! Just like his ma', gave her a c-couple of smacks a-cross the face an' she never talke' back." Her brow furrowed and she held the phone closer to her ear.
"I'm sorry, who is this?"
"I-i'm that lazy sunofabich's fa-ther." She heard retching in the background and her whole body quaked in anger. "y-you tell him to wir-e me mo- money."
"No, he won't. Good bye." Caitlyn pressed the end button and slammed the phone down, drumming her fingers. Who talked to their own kid like that? How did he think that he had any right to demand anything of Jason? She knew that she'd have to ask Jason about it later, but when? She decided to wait until after the concert.
Jason stumbled up to the front of the bus and gave Caitlyn a lopsided grin. "Looks like my bus legs haven't settled in yet." Normally something like that would cause a measily chuckle, but she only offered a small grin.
"Hey can we talk for a bit?" Jason's brow furrowed and the cogs in his head went into full gear, her tone sounded serious and he nodded his consent. She crossed her legs Indian style and tugged at a bit of hair that had gone awry. "You had an interesting phone call earlier."
Jason did NOT like the sound of this. Caitlyn chewed on her lip and rolled her thumbs, treading on ice and hoping for a shot in hell that this would go well.
"It was your father." The look of mortal furry that crossed his face caused her to flinch. He closed his eyes and tried to count to ten, but his nose flaired telling Caity that he was more than just a little upset.
"And, what did he say?" His voice shook, trying to keep his desperate calm.
"He was drunk," He let out a scoff, what else was new? "and he asked for more money." His hands trembled and she tried to take one of them in hers, but he pulled away.
"D-don't Caity." He stuttered scooting away from her.
"No Jase, I want you to know that I'm there for you." She took his hands, despite his protest. "You're not your father. You'd never hit me." His eyes went blank as he tried to process what she'd just said.
"What?"
She bit her lip again and pulled him close to her for a hug. "You. are not. your father."
His arms circled around her waist and he buried his head in her shoulder. "You can't know that." She kissed his neck.
"But I do Jase." And just like that, he broke down and sobbed into her shoulder. She didn't know all the bits and pieces of his childhood, but knew that this was what he needed. "Shh, shh, I promise that I trust you, Jase. You're not your father. I love you."
Wake you up
In the middle of the night to say
I will never walk away again
I'm never gonna leave this bed, oh
Jason wasn't sure why Caitlyn stayed with him through everything. He wasn't the most attractive man in the world, nor the smartest, and he had to fight a death grip for his guitar title; but Caitlyn was an unwavering force. During the band's fights, Nate's sarcastic remarks on his intelligence, Shane's snide comments about his looks; even the more intense things like his biological parents, Caitlyn never cared about that as long as he came home to her. His arms wound around her waist as she buried herself even closer to him in her sleep. He tried to sleep, honestly, but seemed to be entranced by the delicate woman he held in his arms.
She would have skinned him alive if she knew that he referred to her as delicate. But that's what she was to him. This glass figure that looked sturdy, but if you dropped it, the cracks would surface. He knew that the same could probably be said for him, and it wasn't like that bothered him. What really disturbed him was how dependent he was on Caity. She was like a drug in his system that would never go away and he'd let her so close into his life, he even showed her the physical scars that his father had left on him while she gently tried to repair his emotional ones. It was addicting, this love, and he found that he wasn't sure if he could walk away... if he had too.
His thumbs gently brushed circles on to the small of her back and her eyes slowly blinked open and met his. She ran a hand through his hair and kissed his cheek, silently asking him what was wrong.
"I'm scared." He whispered, she placed a feather of a kiss on his lips. Of what?
"I don't know if I could ever walk away from you. It's like you've become this-this part of me." He closed his eyes, ignoring the exposed feeling in his gut. "If you left me," He didn't finish, so Caitlyn squeezed as close as she could to him.
"Silly man-child, you woke me up for that?" She gave a light chuckle and kissed his forearm. "It's not fun being the Tin Man, so why would I throw away my own heart?" He looked at her in confusion. "Jase, you have to have figured it out by now." She took his hand and placed it on her heart. "You are my heart. I wouldn't exist without you, so how could I ever run away?"
So come here
And never leave this place
Perfection of your face
Slows me down, slows me down
Jason wasn't very good with cameras, but he liked to mess around with them. He never owned one that was super high quality or bothered to learn photoshop. When would he have the time for that anyway? But he did have one favorite photo from his collection of blurred facsimiles. It was during one of the Camp's Super-Soakers war. Caitlyn was the last person standing and she'd claimed a pile of fire wood as her mountain top. She was just holding her water blaster at her hip, shrugging like it was no big deal that she'd just kicked everyone's butts, with a devilish grin that dared him to say otherwise.
It was the first moment that Jason knew that he had to have her.
So fall down
I need you to trust me
Go easy, don't rush me
Help me out, why don't you help me out?
As often as Caitlyn told Jason to trust her, she wasn't very giving of her own. No one seemed to notice her lack of trust in anything, but she had this way of bending everyone to see her way or to alter it to where it was what she wanted it to be. Jason noticed that right off the bat, and not that he tried to change her but he tried to change her perspective. But this was a serious test of their relationship.
"Just do it, Caity."
"No."
"It's just a trust fall. Don't you trust me?" He gave an irritated sigh and crossed his arms.
"The class is over, just let it go!" Caitlyn pleaded, while backing up to the door. Jason caught her hand in his and reeled her back.
"Do you trust me?" His asked softly and Caitlyn's head bowed.
"Y-yes, I do. But it's hard." She whispered, resting her head on his chest. She always felt so small when she curled into him, in his arms, safe and warm. He pulled back a little and took her face in his hands tilting her up slightly. "I know it is." He placed a sweet kiss on her lips and backed up again.
"Just once." He opened his arms. "Just for me." So she turned her back to him. Taking one long breath, extending her arms and palms turned up, Caitlyn summoned the courage to fall. She ignored every spiteful thing that had ever happened to her and focused only on Jason, the man she loved. She felt like her nerves were on high gear and she could almost hear the wind rushing by her ears, or maybe it was just her blood. She trusted Jason, wasn't this what this was about? But she was also scared. What would happen if she hit the floor? What if he didn't catch her? And it wasn't just about the stupid trust fall anymore. What if he stopped loving her?
The air rushed out of her lungs as pair of warm, strong, and loving arms caught her.
"I'd never let you fall."
Take it, take it all
Take all that I have
I'd give it all away just to get you back
And fake it, fake it all
Take what I can get
Knockin' so loud
Can you hear me yet
Try to stay awake but you can't forget
Once, and only once, Caitlyn had let Jason go.
It wasn't even so much her choice as it was the label's forcing hand. So many lies, rumors, and the distance from LA to Prague seemed like to much. She had sobbed into the phone the entire time she tried to break up with him. Because as strong as she could be, Jason was kryptonite. The label had told her that he was picking her over his music. That he was wasting his time with their romance, and the record just didn't have time to deal with piecing him back together. It was better to end it sooner rather than later.
Both ideas horrified her, but she thought she knew what had to be done. After all, Jason had given up so much for her already and had given her more than anything she could give back. She would never make him choose, she just couldn't take that part of him. The part that loved to jump around on stage, or the way his eyes lit up when he was struck with a song or even just a few chords. Caitlyn could be needy, immature, and selfish; but she was no Tess Tyler, and could never ask for Jason to give up something that she loved about him.
They had been friends before, right? But again, Caitlyn was selfish. She knew how amazing it was to love, felt her heart race when he touched her, and couldn't even begin to count the ways that she would miss loving him. This was something she had to do, for him.
Nate listened to Caitlyn's voice recording. It was obviously meant for Jason, but apparently in her crying haze, she had dialed him instead. He was confused to say the least. Things weren't adding up. Caitlyn loved Jason, that much was evident from her sobbing. So he took out a notebook and pen, trying to decifer what she was saying.
Label. Not. Us. Together. Miss you. Harder than I ever though. Hurts so much. Nate was able to piece together what had happened, so he woke up his bandmate. He explained what was going on and Jason seemed to snap out of his sleepy stupor as soon as the voicemail was played back to him. Swearing loudly, he sprung out the bed and dialed Caitlyn's number. She answered on the third ring.
"N-nate, I don't really want to talk right now."
"Don't you hang up on me, Caitlyn." He growled out and he heard her shaky inhalation. "What is this shit about the label?"
Caitlyn repeated the script that the company had fed her and cried the whole way through. Jason could hear how much she believed in what they were telling her, how much the distance was really straining them, and how much she loved him. She was trying to distance herself for him, and he didn't know may girls who would be willing to do that.
"I- I just couldn't be that selfish. I love you so much, and music is such a huge part of you. I-i know that I s-sound like a b-broken record, but I couldn't... I just couldn't..." She sniffed. Jason squeezed the bridge of his nose, letting out every swear he'd ever heard.
"I'm coming home."
"Wh-what? You can't!"
"Watch me."
"You have fans that need you."
"They want me, you need me. I want them, I need you."
"Bu-but your tour, the label-"
"Fuck the label, I don't have shit if I don't have you."
"Since when do you swear so much?"
"One of the many things I've learned from my amazing girlfriend, who is being an idiot. It's also about two in the morning and I'm upset." They talked for just a little bit longer before he finally hung up.
"You know that you can't actually leave, right?" Nate spoke from his post at the night stand. Jason sent him a glare.
"I'd like for someone to try and stop me."
Take it, take it all
Take all that I have
Take it, take it all
Take all that I have
Take it, take it all
Take all that I have
Take it, take it all
Take all that I have
The ring was perfect. Silver with a Celtic knot engraving, it even had a 'worry disc', which allowed the outer band spin around the base. It stayed in it's case, waiting for a moment that was just as amazing at its self.
"We've been so much through the last few years together."
Breathing, becoming harder.
"It's just been so... amazing."
Hands, shaking.
"God, I'm screwing this all up, aren't I?"
Confused look, acknowledged.
"Look, I know that this isn't very traditional but..."
Down on one knee.
"Jason Allen Green, will you marry me?"
