A/N: Hey there, readers, Lizzie here. I heard the full version of "Before the Storm" by the Jonas Brothers featuring Miley Cyrus, and I loved it. I kind of thought this idea up in the past half hour, so bear with me. I probably won't put it up until I've fine-tuned it anyway, haha. Don't know why I always write sad stories, though =P
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. And by "anything," I mean ANYTHING. Except the major plot.
Caitlyn
Nate
Both
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Caitlyn took a deep breath as she pushed the button for the elevator. She didn't even know why she was here. She'd gotten a text from Nate asking her to meet him at the studio this afternoon, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary had they not been broken up for two years now. 'Why did I even show up? It can't be insanely important,' she thought.
Are you here yet? -Nate
I'm on my way, calm down. You know, there's this little thing called TRAFFIC in LA. -CG
Okay. I'm sorry. -Nate
She heard a ding and saw the doors open so she stepped inside and pushed the button for the sixth floor. The doors closed before anyone else could get on. To be honest, she was glad to have the time to herself; she needed to calm herself down before whatever it was that Nate had asked her here for.
"I really don't want to be here," she said to no one. 'Because that means seeing him again, and I don't know if I can handle that.'
She was never quite able to tell him "no."
Before she knew it, Caitlyn was on the correct floor and stepping out of the elevator. She realized that there was a slight problem: she didn't know which studio Nate was in.
You forgot to tell me a studio number. -CG
Oh, right. 3C. -Nate
3C? That's C3 backwards. Funny. -.- -CG
Hey it wasn't my choice. It was the only studio available on short notice. -Nate
Be there in 2 seconds. -CG
Sure enough, Caitlyn quickly found herself in the studio and looking right at her ex-boyfriend. A sudden rush of emotion came over her at seeing him again and she felt her chest tighten. She held back the minute tears forming in her eyes and gave him a small smile. 'You can do this.'
"Hey, Caitlyn," Nate said, giving her a hug, "Good to see you. That was three seconds, by the way."
Another smile and she was hugging him back. "So what did you want?" There was no point in her suffering any longer than she had to. Caitlyn still loved Nate, and having to be with him but not with him wasn't something she would consider easy. She had never wanted to let him go.
"Oh, uh...well, you sure don't beat around the bush, do you? You never have, really. That's Caitlyn Gellar, never one to waste time, just get straight to the point. You know, I remember this one time when-"
"Nate!"
"Sorry," he mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.
"Look, Nate," Caitlyn sighed as she sat down on the small couch in the listening area, "I just want to get whatever this is over with. It's nothing against you, I promise. Why did you ask me to come down here?"
Nate's face fell a little with disappointment. It sounded like she didn't want to see him, but he wanted to see her. He still loved her and he missed her; but he couldn't tell her, she'd never feel the same. They were over, and that was the way things were.
"Well, um, I kind of wrote a song, but I thought about it and wanted to ask you to help me re-write it a little bit and record it."
Caitlyn was confused. "Why would you want my help, Nate? Why not just ask Shane or Jason? They're your band mates, after all."
'Because they're not you,' was what he wanted to say, but it came out more like, "Because I think it would be better as a duet between a guy and a girl. Plus, I thought that..."
"You thought that...what?" she urged him to continue.
"I thought we could kind of tell...our story."
They stared at each other for a few minutes; Nate hoping that Caitlyn would say yes, and Caitlyn thinking about what this could mean.
Finally she took a deep breath and nodded. "All right, I guess. Let's get to work. What do you have?"
Five seemingly forever-long hours later, the two musicians had finished the song and laid down all the instrumental tracks. All that was left were the vocals, which they decided would be best to record at the same time, to give the song a more unified flow. They set themselves up so that they were facing each other and began the backing track.
Yeah
Woah
I know this isn't what I wanted
I never thought it'd come this far
Just thinking back to where we started
And how we lost all that we are
We were young and times were easy
But I could see it's not the same
I'm standing here but you don't see me
I'd give it all for that to change
And I don't want to lose her
Don't wanna let her go
I'm standing out in the rain
I need to know if it's over
Cause I will leave you alone
I'm flooded with all this pain
Knowing that I'll never hold her
Like I did before the storm
Yeah
Before the storm
With every strike of lightning
Comes a memory that lasts
Not a word is left unspoken
As the thunder starts to crash
Maybe I should give up
I'm standing out in the rain
I need to know if it's over
Cause I will leave you alone
I'm flooded with all this pain
Knowing that I'll never hold her
Like I did before the storm
Trying to keep the lights from going out
And the clouds from ripping out my broken heart
They always say a heart is not a home
Without the one who gets you through the storm
Standing out in the rain
Knowing that it's really over
Please don't leave me alone
I'm flooded with all this pain
Knowing that I'll never hold you
Like I did before the storm
Yeah
Like I did before the storm
By the end of the song they were both trying to catch their breath and looked into each other's eyes. They exited the booth and listened to their finished product, both happy with the result. It was bittersweet for both of them, reminding them that everything between them really was over. The pair sat in silence, both lost in thought.
"Caitlyn?" Nate asked quietly.
"Yeah?"
"What happened to us? Why did we break up?"
Caitlyn lowered her gaze to the floor. She wished she knew. "I...I don't know, Nate. I think that...I don't know...the stress? The distance? Having to try to ignore constant rumors that tried to betray our trust in each other? I think that all of it combined just...finally wore us down. Finally broke us down."
Nate rubbed his eyes and put his head in his hands. "You know, I never ever meant to hurt you. That's the last thing I ever wanted. I'm so sorry if I did."
"I know, Nate. That was the last thing I'd ever want to do to you. But maybe...maybe we weren't meant to be together forever like we planned. As much as we may have wanted to be together, some things just happen. We don't know why, it doesn't make sense, and we don't like it, but...maybe we were never supposed to get our happy ending."
"I don't want it to be that way," Nate said.
"I don't either, Nate."
"Can we give this another try?" he asked, looking up at her.
"Nate, we got the song, it's as good as it's going to get, there's-"
"Not the song. Us."
Caitlyn saw the desperate look on his face. As much as she wanted to tell him yes, she knew that it would just end up the same way. Two broken hearts, shattered all over again. She couldn't do that to herself again. She couldn't do that to him again. She wiped away tears and barely managed to whisper, "No, Nate, we can't."
She got up and quickly gathered her things, preparing to leave. "Do whatever you want with the song, Nate, I don't care. Think of it as the last thing I did for you. I'm so sorry, Nathan."
Nate stood, heartbroken. As she shoved the door open and left, he spoke words he wasn't sure that she would hear. "I still love you, Caity."
Caitlyn rushed to the elevator and tried to calm herself down so she wouldn't break down in sobs. The doors shut quickly and she was once again on her own. Nate's words rang through her head: I still love you, Caity.
She pulled out her phone and shakily sent a text message, hoping he would understand someday, if not now.
I still love you forever, Nate. Be happy.
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The end. What did you think? Check out that song, it's awesome. Thanks! =)