Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock, its characters, or the song 'Here Comes Goodbye' by Rascal Flatts. That would make me uber rich, which I am most definitely not.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nate sat frozen on the stairs in his house. His eyes burned as he stared at the small object in his hands. He jumped and was snapped back to reality as he heard the front door click shut. The tears that had been threatening to fall for a few minutes finally made their way down his cheeks and he tightened his fist desperately around what she had left: her engagement ring. "No," he whispered.
His eyes widened and he rushed down the steps and out the door, into the street. "No! Caitlyn, come back!" he shouted, "No! Please!"
But it was too late; she was already what seemed like miles away as he tried to catch up to her car. His legs gave out from under him and he sat on the curb for a few minutes, trying to process what had just happened. This couldn't be happening. They were supposed to live happily ever after.
Nate eventually made his way back to his house and up to his music room. He sat down at his desk and got out a pad of paper and a pen. He felt like he needed to write a song; writing was how he dealt with things. If something good happened to him, he expressed it through music. If something bad happened to him, he expressed it through music. He was Nate Thomas; music was kind of his thing.
It took a few seconds for him to find the right way to write out his thoughts, but once they started flowing, they didn't stop. He remembered back to an hour ago, to when things began to happen, to when his life seemed to fall down around him.
Nate heard someone pulling into his driveway as he put the last plate into the dishwasher and turned it on. He looked out the window and saw Caitlyn's car, and immediately went into worry mode. He hadn't heard the radio playing. Caitlyn always had the radio turned on, no matter what. His worry only increased when he heard his doorbell ring. She never rang the doorbell; she would just use her key and walk right in.
Nate sensed that something had to be very, very wrong. He didn't want to assume the worst, but a little voice in the back of his mind was whispering for him to get ready for something that would break his heart.
He slowly opened the door and saw her standing there, head bowed. Caitlyn didn't say a word as he stood to the side to allow her in. She hadn't wanted to see the look on his face. "Nate, I need to talk to you."
Nate's heart dropped at those seven words. Those words, along with the look on her face that said something bad was about to happen, told him everything before she even said anything else. "Y-yeah?"
Caitlyn sat down on the staircase and put her head in her hands. "Nate, I…we…this…"
"You're not breaking up with me, are you?" Nate asked in a quiet voice.
She didn't answer.
"Cait, please tell me you aren't breaking up with me."
The only response he got was silence. "Caitlyn?"
"I am so sorry, Nate," Caitlyn finally whispered, crying. "I really don't want to be doing this."
"Then why are you?" he asked, voice quivering.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I…I don't know."
She stood and walked over to him, placing something in his hand, before whispering one last time, "I'm sorry."
Nate sunk down to where Caitlyn had just been sitting and stared at what she had given him. He didn't even look up when he heard her draw a shaky breath and silently shut the door on her way out. She had given back her engagement ring. It was really over. She hadn't even given him a reason.
Nate didn't understand. He couldn't. Just yesterday they were telling each other they loved each other like nothing was wrong. How could it all be crumbling away just like that? It felt like someone had stabbed him in the chest and he couldn't do anything to stop how much it hurt. Caitlyn Gellar was his everything; he never pictured his life without her right there next to him.
As much as it hurt to know she was gone, he wondered if he had done something in the last twenty-four hours to upset her so much that she would even consider ending their relationship. He couldn't think of anything or any reason that everything they had would slip away like a fallen leaf in the wind.
Writing down the last few words, Nate walked over to his piano. He sat down and gingerly ran his fingers over the keys, feeling another tear roll down his face. He pushed middle C and let it ring out for a few seconds before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He was greeted by the smiling face of Caitlyn but tried to ignore it as he dialed the number he wanted. After the fifth ring, she finally picked up.
"Caitlyn, I know you probably don't want to talk to me now, but I just…I don't know why you're doing this. Did I do something wrong? Just tell me what I did and I'll fix it? Just tell me what to say and I'll say it, I'll do anything, Cait…I love you."
"Nate, I-"
"I…just do me one favor? Just listen to this? Please?"
When she didn't answer, he took it as a signal to go on. He put the phone on speaker, placed it on top of the piano, and started playing.
"I can hear the truck tires coming up the gravel road.
And it's not like her to drive that slow, nothing's on the radio.
Footsteps on the front porch, I hear my doorbell.
She usually comes right in, now I can tell.
Here comes goodbye, here comes the last time,
Here comes the start of every sleepless night,
The first of every tear I'm gonna cry.
Here comes the pain, here comes me wishing things had never changed,
And she was right here in my arms tonight.
But here comes goodbye.
I can hear her say, "I love you," like it was yesterday,
And I can see it written on her face that she had never felt this way.
One day I thought I'd see her with her daddy by her side,
And violins would play Here Comes the Bride.
Here comes goodbye, here comes the last time,
Here comes the start of every sleepless night,
The first of every tear I'm gonna cry.
Here comes the pain, here comes me wishing things had never changed,
And she was right here in my arms tonight.
But here comes goodbye.
Why's it have to go from good to gone?
Before the lights turn on, yeah and you're left alone,
All alone, but here comes goodbye.
Oh, oh.
Here comes goodbye, here comes the last time,
Here comes the start of every sleepless night,
The first of every tear I'm gonna cry.
Here comes the pain, here comes me wishing things had never changed,
And she was right here in my arms tonight.
But here comes goodbye."
He waited for a reply, for her to say something, anything. All he heard were muffled sobs before his phone beeped, indicating that the call had ended. She had hung up. That was what it took for it to really sink in for Nate. That was what it took for Nate to realize that this was the real end for him and Caitlyn.
He closed his eyes as he stood and drug himself out of the office and into his bedroom. He shut off the lights and dropped onto his bed, not bothering to change into his pajamas. What was the point? He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. He wouldn't be able to get the sleep he so desperately wanted, so that he could dream her back.
Nate was alone now, and there was nothing in the world that could make the pain go away, except for one thing. That one thing was the same one that had put him here in the first place. Even though he absolutely didn't want to be, he was stuck with goodbye.