Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Camp Rock.
AN: This is a follow up to 'Water' dedicated to applepips16 who requested it and read over it for me. I think you do need to have read 'Water' for it to make sense - applepips16 requested Mitchie's thoughts on the situation and if she regretted anything or not. A thank you to camirae for convincing me that the idea could work. Anyway, this is for applepips16 because she requested it and because she's an awesome writer and reviewer - check out her stuff!
A loud knock on the door snapped Mitchie out of the vivid dream she had been having, and she glanced at the clock groggily before dragging herself out of bed. Once she had gained her balance, panic immediately began to set in. No one would stop by so early in the morning unless there was something wrong and her mind began racing at a million thoughts an hour. She stopped herself as she heard another knock on the door and she ran over to it.
She pulled the door open and before her brain had even registered who was standing there, she launched into a tirade. "What's happened? Is Caitlyn okay? And Nate? I just know it, something's happened, hasn't it?" She finished, looking up at Jason who was watching her, a small smile playing on his lips.
"Hey, Mitchie. Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?"
She stared at him and nodded, standing aside to let him through. She was so shocked that he had come around so early that she didn't even return his hug. She followed him back into the apartment and saw that he was busy making coffee in her kitchen. She yawned and raised an eyebrow at him when he looked up at her.
He shrugged. "We need to talk about some important stuff and you need to be awake."
Mitchie frowned. Important stuff. She knew exactly what that meant. Caitlyn. Her best friend, although she wasn't sure she had the right to call her that anymore.
"Let's go and sit, Mitchie," Jason said, shaking her out of her thoughts. She took a mug from him and followed him out to the living room, taking a seat next to him. Her eyes landed on the unwritten birthday card lying on the coffee table and she felt a pang in her chest.
"How are you, Mitchie?" Jason asked, looking worried.
She shook him off. "I'm fine, how's Caitlyn?"
He frowned at her. " Mitchie, I came to see how you were doing."
"I know, Jason, but I need to know. Did she pull an all nighter like last year?" Mitchie asked, recalling the previous year when she had stayed up with Caitlyn.
Jason nodded. "You know Cait, not wanting to miss one second of her birthday. I take it that's who the card is for?" He asked, gesturing to the birthday card, and Mitchie felt a lump rise to her throat.
"I didn't know what to write," she said, honestly.
He looked at her intently as though trying to read her thoughts before talking again. "She really is okay, Mitch. And I'm saying that honestly and confidently for the first time in two months today. Tess wasn't feeling well last night so we couldn't join her but Shane went over to hers last night. They looked like they were having a pretty good time when I stuck my head in this morning," he said.
She looked down at her coffee, trying to avoid his gaze. How had this gone so horribly wrong? She was supposed to be staying up with Caitlyn not Shane. She wasn't supposed to be sitting here trying to figure out what to write in her best friend's birthday card. She blinked back tears.
"Mitchie?"
She shook her head. "I'm fine."
Jason sighed before putting his mug down. "You need to talk about this Mitchie. Nate's worried about you, everyone is. Do you regret it?"
She snapped up to look at him. "I love Nate, Jason. I wish everyday that he hadn't been with Cait at the time, but I just can't change that."
He frowned. "Are you happy, though?"
"With Nate, yeah. Sometimes, if I try hard enough, I forget that my best friend hates me. I miss her, Jason."
"Mitchie, did you honestly expect her to be okay with everything?"
She flinched. It was hard enough hearing this but coming so bluntly from Jason made it worse.
"No, but she's my best friend. I thought, eventually, she'd be okay around me, but she hasn't even called recently and whenever we do talk, it's about really general stuff. I didn't want to bring anything up because I thought I should wait for her to bring it up if she's okay with it, but she hasn't even done that," she said dejectedly.
Jason sighed and she looked up just in time to see a look of annoyance flash across his face.
"Mitchie, you hurt her. And I think you need to understand where she's coming from. You can't just expect her to forget everything and you have to be ready for the fact that you might never get back to how you were."
She looked down at her coffee and couldn't stop the tears that were rolling down her face.
"Mitchie, whenever Caitlyn has an argument with someone, she's always the person to try and sort things out. Maybe you need to do that this time," he stated.
She wiped at her face with her free hand and stood up as soon as he did.
"I'm sorry, but I've got to go. Just…think about what I said," he said, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.
She showed him out to the door and as soon as he had left, sat back down on the couch scrolling through her phone. Her fingers paused at the familiar name and she wiped at her eyes again before pressing 'call.'
A bright voice answered at the other end. "Hello?"
Mitchie sighed before replying. "Caitlyn? Happy Birthday," she managed, in a small voice.
"Mitchie? Thanks!" There was a brief pause before she carried on. "Mitchie? Is that the only reason you called?"
Her heart sank. There was a time when they didn't even need an excuse to talk and they would talk for hours on end for no reason. Jason's words rang in her ears once again.
"Actually, I wanted to see if you wanted to meet. I think I owe my friend her usual birthday ice cream," she said, a smile on her lips.
She could almost hear the change in Caitlyn's voice as she answered. "That would be great, Mitch. I can meet you in about an hour and half if that's okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Shall we meet at the place near yours?" She was surprised that Caitlyn had agreed so quickly and sounded happy about it.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you then?"
Mitchie hesitated before replying. "Yeah…and Cait? I'm sorry," she said softly.
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "It's…we can talk when we meet, Mitch. But thank you. Bye!
"Bye." She hung up, somewhat pleased with the progress. Jason was right. They might never get back to what they had, but she was going to try her hardest to get them as close to it as possible.
