A/N: This is loosely based on an Irving Berlin song from an old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical. The song is called "Change Partners" and the movie is called "Carefree". Enjoy!
Change Partners
By angellwings
Jason didn't know who the heck this guy was that was with Caitlyn, but he didn't like him. Yeah, okay, so it had been a while since Jason had seen her. That didn't mean she could show up to Shane's birthday party with a date! It didn't help that the guy was hogging her. Jason hadn't even had an opportunity to say hello because Mr. Random had kept Caitlyn out on the dance floor all night long.
He didn't like it when Caitlyn had a date. Granted this was the first time he'd been around to witness one of her dates, but he'd heard about them. The Camp Rock gossip chain was very long. Jason leaned against the wall and glared at Caitlyn and her date as they danced. How could she dance for that long? Did she never need a break? A glass of water, time to breathe, anything?
Finally, he gave up on waiting for her to stop dancing. It wasn't going to happen. He joined Shane and Mitchie at one of the tables and sighed mournfully.
Mitchie arched an eyebrow at him. "Problem, Jase?"
"Your best friend. That's my problem."
"Caitlyn? What about her?"
"She won't stop dancing!"
Shane laughed. "That surprises you? She's Caitlyn."
"I was hoping I'd at least get to say hi."
"If you want to do that you're going to have to cut in," Mitchie said with a grin. "I'm sure Shane won't mind if you borrow me for a minute. I'm in the mood to dance a little."
Shane huffed. "Fine, go ahead. Steal my girlfriend. Why not? It's not like it's my birthday or anything."
Mitchie rolled her eyes and chuckled. "You're such a baby. Come on, Jase. Let's find a way to get you out there with Cait."
Mitchie pulled Jason out onto the floor as he protested. "No, really, Mitch. That's okay. I would feel really awkward interrupting Caity when she's on a—"
"Oh hush," Michie commanded. "If you don't at least talk to her you'll be miserable all night. You're doing this."
Jason gulped nervously. "I really should have just kept my mouth shut."
"Maybe you should have, but you didn't and now I'm meddling. Deal with it," Mitchie said with a smirk. The two of them slowly made their way toward Caitlyn and her date, and reached them just as whatever remix was being played ended. The initial chords of a slow song began and Mitchie smiled at Jason. "Perfect, make your move, Mister."
"I don't know—"
Mitchie glared at him sternly. "Tap him on the shoulder."
Jason sighed and hesitantly tapped Mr. Random's shoulder. "Hi, can I cut in?"
"Um, yeah, sure man," the blonde said in a confused tone.
"Come on, Jerry," Mitchie said with a smile. "Why don't you sit down with me and Shane for a while."
"Hi," Jason said as his eyes landed on Caitlyn.
"You said that already," Caitlyn said in a bored tone.
"To, um, Mr. Rand—Jerry, was it? Not to you."
"Well, that's okay. It's not like you've said much to me lately anyway," Caitlyn said with a glare.
Ouch. "Caity—"
"Don't you Caity me, Jason Daniel," She told him angrily before she paused and crossed her arms over her chest. "Look, are we gonna dance or what? Because if we're not going to dance than I've got a date waiting on me who would—"
"No," Jason answered hastily. "We're going to dance."
"Then let's dance," Caitlyn snapped as she held out her arms for him to take. Jason cursed himself under his breath and put his hands on Caitlyn's waist.
They danced in silence for several seconds before Jason finally spoke up.
"Caitlyn, I never meant to—"
"Completely ignore me?"
He sighed, "If that's what you want to call it."
"That's the only thing I can call it, Jerk."
"I just didn't know what to say."
"How about, 'Hey, Caity, how are you? Having a good time at school? Life treating you well?' It's not hard, Jason. It's really not."
Jason bit his lip before taking a deep breath. "Yeah, but talking to you on the phone or online would have just reminded me that I couldn't actually see you. And I really hate that I can't see you."
"See, there's the problem, Jason, because my not being able to see you hurts worse when I can't, at the very least, hear your voice. Not to mention, they have this thing now…it's called Skype. It's completely and totally free and you download it to your computer. I'm sure you've heard of it—"
Caitlyn's words were stopped short. Jason had suddenly pulled her closer and her hands had automatically adjusted. They'd wrapped themselves around his neck. She'd also been struck by the smell of him. How was it possible for a guy to smell that good? Irish Spring, and laundry detergent should not be this intoxicating. She couldn't even make herself form words around him anymore.
"Caity?" He asked softly when she didn't continue.
"What was that?" She asked.
"What?"
"Um, did you not notice that we went from being nearly a foot apart to being right on top of each other?"
"Did we?" He asked.
Caitlyn glared at him suspiciously. His tone sounded far too casual. "You are not going to make this go away by laying on the charm and…smelling really fantastic. Sure, it's distracting but it's not going to make me forget—"
"You think I smell fantastic?" He asked with an amused grin.
"I—no. No," She lied. "Did I say that out loud?"
Jason didn't say anything. He merely gave her a knowing smirk.
"You did that on purpose," Caitlyn said accusingly. "You pulled me closer to throw me off balance!"
"I would never."
"You are way sneakier than people give you credit for," Caitlyn told him with a glare.
His hands were on the small of her back now. She could feel his thumb rubbing small circles on her back through the fabric of her dress. It was making her heart beat do strange things.
"Caitlyn," He said in a low tone.
Oh God, there went her heart beat again. Why did he have to say her name like that? Like he wanted nothing more in the world than to be close to her at the moment. He couldn't completely ignore her for weeks and then pull this. He just couldn't!
"I never meant to ignore you. I just missed you so much that I didn't know what to do with myself."
Oh no, he couldn't say that. She was supposed to be mad at him. Why was he making it so hard for her to be mad at him?
"Forgive me?" He asked as he whispered the question into her ear. She shivered involuntarily at the feeling of his breath on her ear.
Was the boy trying to kill her? He pulled away from her ear and her breathing quickened as his lips hovered over hers.
"I—Jason, I—"
The song ended and Jason felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Caitlyn couldn't stop the panic she felt when Jason released her waist.
"Your dance is over, man. I believe it's my turn again."
Jason glared at Jerry. Of course, Jerry would ruin the moment. Why should Jason be allowed to finally have a moment alone with Caitlyn?
Jason sighed hopelessly, "Yeah, I guess it is, man. After all, she is your date."
Caitlyn called after him as he released her and walked away. "Jason—"
He turned and smiled weakly at her. "Don't worry about it, Caity. We'll finish this conversation later. I promise."
Caitlyn glared at him. "No, we won't. We'll finish it now."
"Cait—"
"After all of that build up you think you're just gonna get to walk away and put everything on pause? I don't think so. First you pull me close, and have the audacity to smell amazing. Then you say my name and make it sound like the best thing to ever cross your lips and your hand was rubbing circles in my back and my heart did that weird thing—and you—and then I…you can not just walk away after that!"
A small smile spread across his face. He nodded slowly and stepped closer to her. "Okay, Caity, I'm not walking away. I'm not."
"Good!" She yelled. "Because I forgive you. It's impossible to not forgive you. But if you ever go weeks with out calling me again—"
He reached for her hand and nodded. "I know, I'm a dead man, right?"
"Yes, a very dead, very attractive man. Now, tell Jerry to scram."
"Hey!" Jerry protested.
Caitlyn sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am, but you had to see this coming, didn't you?"
Jerry shrugged in defeat and nodded.
"I thought so."
"Sorry, man," Jason said apologetically. "I totally didn't mean to steal your date. Okay, that's a lie, but I'm still kind of sorry."
Mitchie tapped Jerry on the shoulder and smiled sympathetically at him. "Don't worry I was totally prepared for this. Have you met my friend Lola? I think you'd really like her."
Mitchie dragged the guy off toward the opposite end of the room toward the place where she knew Lola was chatting with Ella.
"So does this mean that I'm your date now?" Jason asked her with a grin.
"That depends, are you going to finish that moment you started back there?"
"You mean the moment where I almost kissed you?" He asked with a cheeky grin. "You think I should?"
She growled. "Jason…"
He smirked. "Was that a yes or—"
"Just shut up and kiss me, jerk."
He swiftly leaned forward and captured Caitlyn's lips with his own. She sighed contentedly against his lips and Jason took that as his cue to deepen the kiss. Her hands traveled up and buried themselves in his curls. They pulled apart hesitantly and Jason grinned at her.
"So what was this Skype thing you were telling me about?"
