Well, peoples, I've been shouldering that Shaitlyn pairing lately. I went and checked to see how many stories there with that pairing and…well….I didn't read any because most of them were mine….So Naitlyn it is this time!
This is dedicated to Poet On The Run. Just 'cause she's awesome. ;)
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING. Except the plot, as usual. Oh, and the random middle aged man, too.
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The cool air brushed against Caitlyn's warm skin as she swung higher and higher on the park swing. The sun was in the process of setting, shooting colorful rays of light across the sky in a view that was literally breathtaking.
Softly humming to herself, she smiled slightly and breathed deeply, her smile widening at the sweet scent of nearby honeysuckle. After a few moments, Caitlyn jumped off the swing and landed roughly on the ground.
The park was empty except for her and Caitlyn stood and brushed herself off, taking in the peaceful silence around her. Finally, she'd been able to get away from everything for the evening after such busy weeks recently.
"There you are!"
The voice made her jump and Caitlyn rolled her eyes automatically, irritated that someone had to come interrupt her peace. There was always someone looking for her and usually it was for work. She did not want to think about anything responsible for that evening. She wanted to let loose for just a few hours. Was that so much to ask?
"Unfortunately…" she muttered to herself, spinning to come face to face to whom had "found" her, "Yeah, here I am." Caitlyn admitted glumly. His brown eyes seemed much too bright and she sighed, feeling badly for her immediate hostile reaction.
"I've been looking for you." Nate commented, a small smile gracing his lips but Caitlyn only watched him blankly, not returning the cheerful expression.
"Hasn't everyone?" she sighed, running hand through her disheveled hair but not caring what it looked like. Nate's smile faltered and Caitlyn felt a little guilty at her bitter tone but didn't take the words back.
"I'm guessing you guys needed me to do something for the record? Tweak a song? Record a few more background instrumental pieces? Edit the ending to one of the songs?" Caitlyn let the words flow, wishing she didn't sound so unenthusiastic. Sure, she loved her job, but this was supposed to be her evening.
"No." the smile was completely gone from Nate's face now and Caitlyn let her shoulders slump. The hurt look on his face made the guilt quickly fill her and she opened her mouth to take the words back and apologize, but he spoke first, "I just wanted to see you…What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing, Nate, I just expected someone to come gallivanting into my one evening off needing some sort of favor." She admitted, waiting for the smile to return to his face, but she was disappointed.
"It's your evening off. Why would I come looking for you to do me a favor?"
"Because why else would someone be looking for me?" Caitlyn scoffed, "It's what I do, Nate-producing, remember? Someone always needs something from me, not excluding Connect 3."
"I'm sorry you feel that way, Cait," Nate's clipped tone met her ears, "I didn't realize we didn't have a friendship outside of work." He turned to leave, but Caitlyn caught his arm and jumped in front of him.
"Nate-Nate, wait." She rushed, "I didn't mean it like that, I just…I'm in a bad mood. I'm sorry." His steady gaze watched her carefully, probably trying to decide whether or not to believe her.
"Don't believe me? Fine." Caitlyn snapped, shoving him in the chest and rolling her eyes before stalking off. Could the night get any worse? First her evening was interrupted, and then she upset Nathanial of all people. Maybe she just failed at life. No, life definitely failed at satisfying her. That was much more accurate.
He surprised her by catching up to her on the sidewalk a few minutes later on her walk home. Neither of them said a word, but Caitlyn knew he had forgiven and forgotten. That was one reason they got along so well together-she always got angry and said things she didn't mean, and Nate, being as forgiving as he was, always forgave easily.
"You want to go do something?" he asked softly, sounding uncertain if she was in a good mood again or not.
"Like what?" Caitlyn asked with a shrug.
"Go see a movie?" Nate suggested, raising an eyebrow in question and she couldn't help but smile at the cute expression on his face.
"Just get with him already!" Mitchie giggled, the sound making Caitlyn have to take a deep breath. Mitchie was nice enough, but sometimes she just got on her nerves. They were friends…sorta kinda…
"Get with who?" Caitlyn asked tiredly, trying not to sound as distracted as she was, not even glancing up from her computer screen. Her eyes were tired and had been stinging from the strain for nearly an hour now, but she couldn't quit yet.
"Nathaniel, of course." The brunette scoffed at the obviousness of the statement, jumping only a moment later when Caitlyn spun around quickly in her computer chair, now setting Mitchie with a sharp glare.
"If you say anything like that ever again, I swear I'll ransack your closet and sell ever item with bows or glitter to your fans." She stated coldly, turning slowly back to facing her computer again.
"Like a date?" Caitlyn asked carefully, not wanting to jump into anything that she wasn't aware of. There was enough stress and craziness in her life without having a boyfriend, or even a potential boyfriend.
The surprised look Nate tossed her answered her question before his words, "Of course not." He murmured. Something in his tone sounded almost defensive and Caitlyn raised her eyebrows.
"Sheesh. You don't have to make me sound so repulsive-I was just making sure." She shook her head slightly as they walked along a little further in silence, by now the streets were getting very dark.
"C'mon," Nate spoke up suddenly, grabbing her elbow and leading her hurriedly down the sidewalk and pulling her into a store, despite her protests of being pulled. Just as the door closed behind them, Caitlyn heard the rain begin to patter slowly against the glass windows.
Looking around, Caitlyn noticed they were in some old, dusty bookstore. It was very small and there was only one other person there, the middle aged man leaning against the counter, reading a book and waiting for the nonexistent costumers. He didn't even glance up when they entered. If she had come alone, Caitlyn would think the store rather creepy.
"Nate, what're we doing in here?" she hissed, trying to hide her amusement at the single employee glancing lazily up at them and going back to his book without a word. Nate only nodded at the man before smiling down at her.
He gestured for her to follow him as they wandered down one of the narrow aisles of books until they were out of sight of the stranger, "Taking cover from the rain-you didn't feel it?" Caitlyn shook her head and then shrugged, absently running her finger along the bindings of several old books next to them.
"Cait?" Nate's voice sounded so timid and uncertain that she looked at him quickly, worried that something was wrong. His eyebrows were furrowed with thought and she waited for him to speak. It seemed to take forever for words to pass his lips.
His fingers brushed against her cheek and Caitlyn was sure her face turned red at the contact but she couldn't get herself to move away. Mitchie's words flashed through her mind a moment, but quickly faded away.
"I've never told you before, but…I think you're beautiful." Nate whispered, sincerity shining in his face and eyes, taking Caitlyn's breath away easily, "Shane has pointed it out on many occasions, trying to get me to ask you out, but I've never had the nerve. Seeing you having so much fun with that guy last week made me realize just how quickly I could lose you."
Caitlyn tried to speak, but no words would leave her mouth. "I realized just how easily you could be swept away, without me even getting a chance to tell you how I feel. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to lose this chance."
Her mouth was agape and Nate's face was flushed as he watched her expression and waited for her to say something, anything. The silence drew out, though, and Caitlyn saw him shift his weight nervously.
"I know it's ridiculous, Cait, you might even want to laugh at me, but I wanted to be honest. I couldn't let you slip away without even trying at least to tell you and see-"
She cut him off by resting a finger against his lips, his whispered words dying quickly and Caitlyn took a shaky breath and watched him as he watched her. This was quite a random moment and place for him to be admitting these things and she had been caught quite off guard.
"Whoever dubbed you the quiet one was sadly mistaken." She whispered, smiling slightly despite the knowledge she was still blushing deeply. Caitlyn glanced around to be sure they were still out of sight of the store clerk before tracing Nate's lips a moment, watching his eyes close contentedly a moment.
"Cait, I-"
"Don't talk." She demanded teasingly, but all jokes came crashing down when Nate pulled her hand away from his face and kissed her softly on the lips. Caitlyn responded quickly enough, a fleeting thought hoping the store clerk wouldn't come to check on them anytime soon.
Took me forever to write the author's notes for this because it's difficult to type and sing Selena Gomez songs at the same time….
Review, maybe?! :O