A/N: Some of you may be wondering what's happening since all of these stories are popping up in front of you, but I have a free night and my ideas are just screaming to be released, so I hope you enjoy this fic. Once again, I own nothing!!
He sat in the shadows, watching as the patrons came and went, silently examining each of them. His eyes took in every smile, every fake, coy laugh, and every jealous glance that the nightly crowd had to offer. He never said a word, and his table preference never waivered. While others preferred to be out in the spotlights, he preferred to slip into the shadows, watching the night go by.
He raised his glass to his lips, taking a sip of his Diet Dr. Pepper. Most people thought that he came here to drink his problems away, but their gazes never lingered on him long enough to notice that he never took a sip of alcohol. It was always Diet Dr. Pepper.
The barkeeper waved across the room at him, mouthing his name. He knew that Nate Grey didn't like the crowds to know that he was there. Nate nodded back, smiling slightly at the man just in time for the barkeeper to see the gesture before he was called away to serve some customer.
If someone had asked him why Nate Grey came to this lonely little bar in the middle of nowhere every night just to drink a soda and watch people get drunk, he would have shrugged and said, "I like peoplewatching." He would never have told them that it wasn't the people, but the person, that drew him back every night.
Caitlyn Gellar. He rolled the name around and around his mind as he watched her, even now. She was the reason that he came here every night. She was the mystery that kept him intrigued.
For one, unlike the rest of the waitresses, Caitlyn never wore anything mini or tight. She always wore a pair of worn jeans and a serviceable T-shirt with some smart saying on it. She usually wore her hair down, but made no effort to straighten the bouncy curls that cascaded around her face. Nate, having watched her for many nights, realized that she used her hair like a curtain. It kept her emotions in, and it kept people out.
Caitlyn had a certain air about her as well. She seemed withdrawn, stoic to all the men trying to catch her attention. She never flirted and she never gave anyone an opportunity to ask her out on a date. She seemed, in all ways, untouchable.
"Much like myself," Nate realized as he took another sip of his drink.
He watched her wipe off an empty table just as a roll of thunder resounded throughout the bar. Caitlyn shivered, and Nate did not miss the action. So she was afraid of thunder. He had pegged her for being fearless, but apparently there was more to her than met his probing eyes.
Music drowned out the next round of thunder as someone onstage began rapping. Some guy came up to Caitlyn and beckoned her to come and dance. Unconsciously, Nate's fingers tightened around his glass. His relief when he saw her shake her head 'no' was yet another thing he couldn't explain when it came to her.
People shouted, sang, and danced to the songs, and Caitlyn continued to wipe up tables, clearing empty beer bottles and napkins off the wood surface, her eyes rarely ever straying from her work. However, when her eyes did stray, they seemed to rove in Nate's direction.
"Caitlyn!" someone called over the roar of the thunder, music, and people. Caitlyn jumped, her hands tightening in fright around the rag she was using, squeezing a few drops of water out of it as she turned.
The bartender, the only other person that knew of Caitlyn's aversion to thunder, glanced at her sympathetically and then turned a hard face on her…two milliseconds after she glared at him, daring him to feel sorry for her. "You're done for tonight," he told her.
Caitlyn looked around, noticing that the bar was still in full swing. "Are you sure?" she asked, hesitating. Nate, watching the exchange silently, sipped his drink. Yet another thing he had learned about Caitlyn Gellar: she didn't want to put herself in a position to be asked out.
"I'm sure," the bartender told her, passing her a glass of some dark liquid. "Get out of that apron and relax." He opened his hand, palm up, waiting for the offending article of clothing.
Caitlyn slowly drew it over her head, passing it to him as her hand closed around the glass. "Thanks," she said, meaning the drink and not the sudden available-ness he had just provided her with.
The bartender smiled, choosing to take her snide comment out of context, though he knew exactly what she meant. "Any time," he told her, right before she whirled away from him, playfully trying to smack him with her brunette curls.
Nate took another sip from his glass, trying to savor it. He was in no hurry to get back to the world of recording and deadlines. However, he was genuinely surprised when Caitlyn's path brought her right up to his table. "Mind if I sit down?" she asked.
He looked up into her face, surprised at the openness of her question and her face. She never went up to men, the men always came to her. And now, she looked vulnerable, as though she was expecting him to refuse her. "Sure," he said, sliding over slightly so that she could slip in. His heart was beating quickly and he forced himself to revert back into his calm, cool self so that he wouldn't scare her away.
"Thanks," she said softly as she sat down, setting her drink in front of her. She nodded towards Nate's partially hidden glass. "What are you drinking?" she asked.
"Diet Dr. Pepper," he responded. "I never drink alcohol."
Caitlyn actually smiled. "Me neither." She held up her glass, as though saluting him. "Dr. Pepper rocks," she told him, taking a sip. Over the rim of her glass, her eyes sought his, seeking to understand him, to pick him apart and see what made him tick. "I know you've been watching me," she said over the music, which had died down slightly, though not much.
Nate gave a start, unsure what to say to such a comment. Her tone wasn't accusatory. It was…almost humorous. "Sorry?" he said, asking whether or not he should apologize.
Caitlyn smirked at him. "You don't have to be," she said. "I've noticed you since the first night you came in, and I've always wondered about you. Why do you come here all the time?" She gave a slightly nervous laugh. "I mean, it must be easier to go to the store and stock up on Diet Dr. Pepper."
Nate smiled back and nodded. "True," he admitted, "but I don't really come for the soda."
Caitlyn took another sip of her drink and asked him squarely, "So what do you really come for?"
What to say? Did he tell her the truth, or did he give her the generic "peoplewatching" excuse? "I come here because of you," he told her honestly.
Caitlyn seemed to have anticipated his answer, because she didn't run away screaming, or anything. "Why?" she asked calmly.
"I like trying to figure people out," Nate said, noncommittal.
Caitlyn actually leaned forward, her elbows on the table, and asked, "And what have you come up with?"
Nate leaned forward as well and said calmly, "You shut people out constantly, you use your hair as a curtain when you're embarrassed, you don't like being the center of attention, and you're very afraid of thunder storms." As if to punctuate his statement, thunder boomed loudly, heard by the patrons even over the jarring music.
Caitlyn's eyes twitched uncomfortably as she tried not to let her fear show. "You're right," she said frankly, amazing both Nate and herself as she spoke completely honestly. However, after a moment, her eyes darkened and she pointed a finger at him. "You tell anyone about this conversation and I swear, it'll be the last thing you ever say." Her tone chilled Nate slightly, but then she smiled. "I'd hate for your pretty voice to go to waste."
Nate raised his eyebrows teasingly. "You think my voice is pretty?" he scoffed slightly.
Caitlyn glared at him and asked, "What do you want me to say? Your voice is smooth, terribly sexy, and completely hot?" She could feel the blush welling up on her cheeks, but she refused to back down from a challenge. That wasn't her style.
Nate covered his surprise with a grin. "It's a start," he told her, smiling as she smacked him playfully on the arm.
Caitlyn's face suddenly changed as she caught sight of the couples dancing out on the dance floor. "Do you really want to know something about me?" she asked.
Nate noticed the change and nodded solemnly. "Yeah," he told her.
"I stick around here because of you."
If the lightning outside had just struck Nate, he couldn't have been more surprised. "What?" he asked, swallowing hard.
Caitlyn smirked at him. How many girls actually got to say that they had stunned Nate Grey in their lifetime?.....Exactly. "I said," she told him humorously, "that I stick around here because of you." She sighed and leaned closer so that she could speak comfortably over the music. "The first night you came in here, I'd been working as a busgirl for a week and I was about ready to give up. But then, you seemed to be watching me, and I felt, I don't know, safer?"
Nate couldn't manage to say anything.
"I've been watching you almost as much as you watch me," Caitlyn told him. "I don't know your feelings, but I really like you and I've just been waiting for you to talk to me and ask me to dance."
Nate could hear the strain in her voice, the almost certain assurance in her facial expression that she was explaining her feelings without them being reciprocated. She moved to stand, but he caught her hand and gently pulled her back to him even as he stood up so that he looked down at her. He honestly didn't know what his feelings towards Caitlyn Gellar were, but he knew that there was something different about her, and he would go with the flow as fearlessly as possible.
He pulled her even closer and smiled down at her. "Would you care to dance?" he asked, just as thunder rumbled. Caitlyn, however, didn't flinch that time and only placed her hand trustingly into his with a small smile.
After all, Caitlyn Gellar was fearless.
A/N: Well? I hope you liked it! Please review! I'm missing all your awesome reviews. Also, the poll winner, Soulbinder, is up, if you've been waiting for that. Please go check it out! :D