Chapter 21
EPOV

I…cannot…believe this! I leave Caitlyn alone for three hours and she goes and sleeps with someone! GAH!

"Caitlyn, if you had admitted it we wouldn't still be here," I hissed. "How could you even think about doing this?! You have a job! A job that is probably one that will impact not only yourself, but the entire U.S.A! These boys are insanely famous, and if they die…and it's our fault…" I shook my head, grabbing my hair in my fists in anger. "Gosh darn it!"

"Shut up."

Caitlyn's voice was deadly quiet…and wavering. I froze in surprise and turned to her.

If I hadn't drank twelve cups of coffee with Jason an hour ago, I would have sworn I was dreaming. No, not dreaming, more like sucked into some kind of parallel dimension.

She had tears in her eyes.

"You…are the biggest…" she started, then spoke something in French that I understood perfectly. I won't even repeat it. Not one part.

My mouth was hanging open in utter horror, shock, anger and pure fury. Before I could think, my hand flashed out, and a loud, painful sounding "SLAP" echoed around me.

My hand stung and I heard Caitlyn gasp. Her head snapped to one side, the side of her face red…in the shape of a hand print. She didn't look at me, but instead took deep, full breaths, sounding like a bull about to charge.

Then she looked at me, and her eyes were red.

Her eyes were filled with tears of anger, sadness, and pain.

I stepped back. Her hand crept up to her cheek and she slowly straightened, looking at her hand as if it were covered in blood.

Then, her gaze slowly traveled up to mine.

"Caitlyn," I gasped. "I…I'm so…"

A single tear slipped down her cheek. I bit my tongue. Caitlyn touched the tear and looked at her finger. Her jaw clenched, and her hand curled into an airtight fist. Then, moving so fast I barely saw her, she pushed past me and ran out of the room, into her own, slamming both doors behind her.

I stood motionless in shock for a moment, then looked down at my stinging hand.

"What…just…happened?" I asked the air, staring stupidly at the wall and a very ugly painting. It stared silently back and I finally turned around, crossing my arms over my chest and inhaling deeply. Finally, I shook my head and decided to go down to the pool. I grabbed my towel-robe and pulled on my bikini, grabbing a pair of flip flops from my closet and calling towards Caitlyn's room "Cait, going to the pool."

There was no answer, so I bit my lip. "Hey…I'm sorry, okay? Come on, come to the pool!"

No answer. Sighing, I walked out of the suite and wandered to the elevator.

I was still pretty ticked off at Caitlyn…I mean, sleeping with Nate, come on!!...but I felt bad for hitting her.

I walked into the sunlight of the pool…and smack into a wall of flesh.

"Oof," I grunted. A hand grabbed my elbow and steadied me.

"Sorry," a voice I knew so well said. I smiled at Jason, who grinned sheepishly down at me. "I wasn't looking where I was going," he continued.

"It's okay," I said. "Neither was I."

He smiled, then sighed, running his hand through his hair, in the process smoothing it back against his head, only to have it flop back into his hazel eyes. I stifled a giggle, and noticed his expression. It was a bit exasperated.

"You okay?" I asked. "You seem a bit…tense."

"It's Nate," Jason sighed. "He ran out of the hotel room a while ago and I can't find him…and Shane and Mitchie ran off somewhere, I don't really want to know where…" He looked almost ready to cry…or scream. Whichever was first. He bit his lip and looked around.

"Nate left?" I found myself asking. "Here, I'll help you look."

"Thanks."

We went back inside and checked around.

Nate wasn't in the arcade, curled in a corner.

Nate wasn't in the ballroom, playing away at the piano.

Nate wasn't in the pool, trying to drown himself.

Nate wasn't in his room, or Caitlyn's, for that matter.

Nate was outside…and Caitlyn was with him.

Jason and I had just stepped outside the hotel to see Caitlyn standing in front of Nate, talking gently. She looked down and mumbled a few things, then Nate spoke, putting his hand under her chin and lifting her face, so she'd look at him.

KISS!!! I found myself wanting to scream suddenly. I was shocked, but come on. The moment was so perfectly cliché not even Jason ruined it! The sun was setting behind the Hollywood hill, the golden glow reflecting off Nate and Caitlyn's skin, and a breeze was gently playing with Caitlyn's long hair. Her outfit was perfectly romantic…the front of her hair pulled back with a flower clip (I know she stole that from me…I can prove it), her shirt was a shimmery blue strapless one, her shorts were rolled perfectly up…gah it was insane.

No kiss however. Instead, Caitlyn gave Nate a hug and he pulled her to him, stroking her hair and closing his eyes. After a moment, they pulled apart and began to walk down the sidewalk, Nate's arm wrapped around Caitlyn's back, Caitlyn's head resting against his side.

Jason looked at me and we both went back inside. I was still in my towel-robe and bathing suit, and Jason finally seemed to realize that.

"Oh, sorry, were you heading for the pool?" he asked. "Sorry I kept you from that."

"No, no, it's fine," I said quickly. Thinking fast, I added "Hey, why don't you join me? Show me you're awesome swim skills, pop star."

He grinned. "Sure, why not. Meet you there in five."

"Okay."

I let him go…I had a waterproof tracker that beeped whenever he left the hotel property.

I put the tracker around my neck (it was disguised as a guitar pick with my fake name on it), put my robe down and kicked off my sandals. No one else was in the pool, so I smiled and went to the diving board.

I looked down at the calm water, laughed, took a running start and…

"WHOOOHOO!!"

SPLASH!

…Cannonballed into the pool.

The water welcomed me, but it was pretty chilly. It sucked me down, down, deeper, until I reached the bottom. Everything was blurry. I forced my eyes open. Everything was a blue wonderland. Uncurling myself from the ball I was still in, I stretched myself out along the bottom of the pool, letting a few bubbles escape my lips. I was a great swimmer, and could hold my breath for six minutes…yes, six minutes.

…Missions in some countries are really good practice.

Closing my eyes, I let a few more bubbles drift lazily out of my mouth.

All of the sudden there was a gurgled crash and a blanket of bubbles near me. The bubbles subsided and I felt two strong arms envelope around my waist. I was pulled to the surface and felt the fresh air christen my face. The sudden change in the atmosphere for me, not to mention the water that had gotten in my nose, made me start to cough...hard. A masculine hand collided with my back and patted heavily, attempting to make the coughing cease.

"Ella, are you all right?!" a frantic voice asked, but I was too busy trying to hack up the water in my throat to answer. My back was suddenly connected with the cold, hard surface, making shivers run through my spine. My teeth chattered, and Jason's face peered down at me.

"Ella. Ella, breathe!" he said brushing the wet hair from my face. I coughed again, rolled over and spit up the chlorine filled water onto the tile. He patted my back. "Oh, thank god, I was so sure you were dying," Jason gasped. "Are you all right? What happened?" He began to go on a long, frantic speech and I watched him silently. "Oh, my god don't scare me like that! I was so sure you were dead! Or dying! What happened, did you hit your head? OH MY GOD ARE YOU SUICIDAL?! ELLA! Gosh darn it, are you all right? Come on, talk to me, please, are you choking again?" He rolled me over so I was staring right at him and leaned down, listening to me breathe. "Okay, come on, you gotta say you're okay. Okay, you're not speaking WHY NOT? Okay, I'm getting an ambulance, don't move, try to stay alive, please, please, ple-"

He was cut off by me…laughing my butt off. He froze, looking hurt and I tried to make it better.

"J-Jason, I'm s-sorry," I said. "But I was f-fine…"

"What...what do you mean?" he asked softly.

"Well, I kinda meant to-"

"SO YOU ARE SUICIDAL!" Jason exclaimed. "Why?? What has life done to you?" He was speaking all in one breath, pacing back in forth in front of me, his face a mask of pain. "I thought you loved me Ella. I thought you cared, I care about you and you do this to me! I thought you were seriously hurt! But, no, you do it on purpose!" He stopped and buried his face in his hands. "Why, woman, why?"

I blinked. "Jason…"

"NO, don't speak to me," he moaned. "I don't want to hear your lies." He sniffled and with a shock, I realized he was crying.

Oh, perfect.

"Jason, are you crying?!" I asked incredulously, getting to my feet. He didn't answer. I groaned. "You know, sometimes it may actually help to actually listen to the other people's side of the story..." No asnwer. Then I got an idea. "Jason, answer me or I will go right back into the pool...and I'm taking you with me," No answer. "Three..." I counted. "Two...one..." Quick as a flash, I grabbed his arm, spun around and yanked him into the pool after me, causing a huge splash and a geyser of water to follow.

I surfaced to meet a grinning Jason. We waded to the edge of the pool. I pulled myself out of the pool and Jason followed suit. I shivered as I sat on the concrete ground.

"See, you're going to get sick now, what did you do that for?" Jason demanded.

I shrugged, "You didn't answer me back, I told you I was going to do it. In my defense you had a good warning,"

"What?! For like...three seconds," Jason slug his arm around my partially bare, wet shoulder, "But you're right. I should have listened to your side of the story before jumping to some ridiculous conclusion. I mean seriously, drowning. I panicked, I'm sorry...but what were you doing?"

"Yes Gray, you should have thought...it...through...Damn," I hissed.

What a waste of a complete wit moment. Damn, I should have listened to Caitlyn's side of the whole sleeping with Nate thing. Now
I just feel like a complete jackass, with extra jack.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"I was a bitch," I confessed.

Jason gave me a half hug, I rested my head on his head.

"You could never be one," Jason whispered, kissing my wet hair.

"I totally was Jason, I slapped Caitlyn, for God's sake,"

Jason suddenly pulled away.

"What did you do that for?!" he demanded.

"Because I was a bitch, keep up with me babe," I said, snapping my fingers.

"Yeah, I could have given Nate some slack," Jason agreed regretfully. "But we're the oldest, aren't we allowed to worry about these things?"

"Jason, we're their siblings and/or friends. Not their parents, no. We should go apologize,"

"Or," Jason began, pecking my lips, "We could go back to my room, dry off, and lie on the sofa...in the dark," he finished, trailing soft kisses down my jaw line and neck.

"As much as I hate to ruin a good make out mission, we really should go patch things up,"

"Right," Jason murmured.

"Or we could wait for later..." I added, brushing his wet and now curly hair out of his face. "Besides..." I shivered as a light breeze chilled my skin. "I think they went for a walk..."

"Mmm..." Jason mumbled. "So what were you doing at the bottom of the pool?"

"Seeing how long I could go with holding my breath," I answered, then sighed. "Hey, wanna get back in? I'm kinda cold."

"All right."

I slid into the water and Jason jumped in after me, wrapping his arms around my waist, as soon as he neared me. I spun around so I could see his face. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, making tiny gem like sparkles gleam out. He looked into my own eyes and slowly cupped my chin in his warm, wet hand. My breath caught slightly. He smiled gently at me.

"Still cold?" he teased, wrapping his other arm around my back, pulling me against his body.

I shook my head. He smiled again and lifted my chin. I bit my lip and couldn't help but smile. He leaned down and gently kissed my mouth. After a second, he deepened it. My breath became ragged and my hands found first his shoulders, then his neck, and then his hair. I pulled him closer and his hand left my face and his arm wrapped around my upper back. The water swooshed around us as he pulled me closer…

Suddenly, flashes of light lit up the night. Exclamations filled my ears as people with big, expensive , Hollywood cameras ran into the pool yard, surrounding the water.

Jason and I pulled apart and I instantly ducked under the water. I heard Jason curse and his hand grabbed my shoulder. He yanked me from the pool, out of the water and then we were running.

Alyssa: Ooh...the paparazzi are evil! Poor Jella : ( Haha Jase...thinking she was suicidal...poor boy : ( LOL review!

Jade: Damn! Just when it was getting good :/ Anywhooo Who's seen the Jonas Brothers World Tour Poster??? -raises hand- Isn't it just to die for =P...REVIEW please!

Mya: Jella is getting frisky yo! And Jason is ten times smoother than butter, I mean...look at him. And Naitlyn was cute too...sorry for the severe lack of Smitchie in the chapter. But we'll work on it. Loves you! :P

And Angie has pulled a Diva and dropped out...anyone else miss her? ...didn't think so JK! Review!