Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Camp Rock.
AN: This one is for ArielMooreFan who requested No. 9 - Broken and Tess although I turned this into a Jason/Tess. It was insanely hard to write and I had a whole lot more than this written in a different style but it didn't work so I re-wrote...and it's still not quite right and Jason isn't particularly his usual happy self. Sorry, Claire! Anyway, thank you for reading!
EDIT: 30/04/2010 Had to insert the page breaks because FF decided to reformat my stories because it felt like it. This doesn't look pretty. Sigh.
Jason never was comfortable dealing with emotional girls. Even Shane, in full jerk mode managed a better job than he did.
It was completely ironic. He had left Nate and Caitlyn alone because Caitlyn had been crying about a fight that she had had with her Mom. All he wanted was to get away from the crying and all he managed to do was walk into it in a different situation.
He heard her sniffles before he saw the tears and he found himself debating on whether the sniffles were quiet enough for him to pretend he hadn't heard them. He sighed before making his way over to her. It would be an uncomfortable situation but he wasn't going to be an idiot about it.
Her blond hair had been pulled back roughly and when he sat down next her, he noticed the bloodshot eyes that looked as though they hadn't closed all night. She looked as though something had defeated her, ruined her spirit.
"What do you want?"
"To check that you're okay."
She glared at him as if to say "are you stupid?"
He shrugged. "I don't deal with emotional girls very well, so I'm going to be honest. I'll sit with you until you stop crying, give you a hug and we'll leave it at that."
She stared. "That sounds kind of good."
And they sat there.
"You can talk if you want. I'll just shut up and listen."
And it all spilled; her feelings towards her Mom, how she had alienated her friends and 'ruined' Mitchie's life.
He had laughed. "I don't think you quite ruined Mitchie's life – she got together with Shane anyway."
She had smiled faintly and he couldn't explain why his heart had soared at seeing that smile.
"I feel broken."
"No-one's ever really broken, Tess."
She had looked at him curiously.
"Being broken implies you can't ever be fixed. People can always be fixed, Tess. They just have to find that glue."
She smiled, and he knew she would be okay.
That was the last time he had seen her and now, two years later, he was holding an invitation to her album release.
He laughed when he saw that it was called 'Broken.'
He went along with Nate and Shane anyway. The other members of Connect 3 had heard great things about Tess Tyler's first album. He just wanted to see her again and he spent most of the night trying to get her attention.
It was only when he gave up did she find him, holding out her hand and pulling him towards the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around her and as he listened to her talk about how the last year had been, he felt strangely content holding her.
He was about to leave, and turned back to say goodbye to her when she surprised him with a kiss.
"Hey, Jase? I think you're my glue."