This originally started off as an original thing, but then at the suggestion of angellwings, I blended it with a Jaitlyn I was working on. Title comes from the Lady Antebellum song "Need You Now" and follows it in a lot of ways. Angellwings also suggested the title. She's awesome like that.
Caitlyn stared dismally at Sander and Lola as they danced their first dance as husband and wife. She hated weddings. And somehow she ended up being a bridesmaid. In a pink dress, no less. And pink shoes. With flowers on them.
She took another sip of champagne and picked at the loose thread on her clutch.
Weddings were stupid. Love was stupid. Pink was stupid. Sander was stupid. Jason was stupid.
And that was the whole problem, really. Jason being stupid. If he just caught on to the fact that she had had a thing for him ever since she could remember, she probably wouldn't be in this position.
But no, Jason had to bring stupid Amanda Tyler, the star of The New Nancy Drew Case Files. Stupid Amanda, with her stupid strawberry blonde hair and stupid freckles and stupid gray eyes. Stupid Amanda who was so unfailingly nice to everyone.
Stupid was a stupid word.
She finished the glass of champagne and reached for the bottle in the middle of the table, heaving a sigh when she realized it was empty. She got uneasily to her feet (blasted heels) and set off for the bar.
"Hi, can I get another bottle of champagne? The one at my table is out," she said to the bartender.
"Sure thing, honey," he said, giving her an appraising look.
Ew.
"Thanks," she said shortly, turning around quickly before he could get a word in edgewise.
"Hey, Caity," said a voice behind her.
She sighed. Only one person called her Caity and she would know his voice no matter what.
"Hey, Jase," she said tiredly. "Hey, Amanda," she said when she noticed her. "How are you two doing?"
"We're great," Jason said happily, putting an arm around Amanda's waist.
"Aw, I love your dress," Amanda said to Caitlyn.
"Yeah, I know, it's terrible," Caitlyn said with a sigh.
Amanda furrowed her brow in confusion and looked to Jason.
Caitlyn's eyes widened. "Oh! You were serious! Yeah, uh…it's great. Pretty color." She caught sight of Jason smiling and shaking his head.
"I'm going to go powder my nose, back in a flash," Amanda said after a moment of awkward silence. When she was gone, Jason turned to Caitlyn.
"Pretty color? Caity, you hate pink."
"Well…it's just a little white lie. No biggie. Besides, it's not like Amanda really knows anyone here, so she's not going to tell anyone I said that these ugly dresses are pretty."
Jason smirked. "That's the Caity I know." His expression sobered and he looked over at Sander and Lola. "You handling that okay?" he asked, motioning towards them.
"I'm handling it just fine, Jason. I broke up with him, remember? If anything, he should be the one still pining away for me."
"Do you want him to be pining for you?" Jason asked.
Caitlyn sighed and poured herself a glass of champagne from the new bottle. "I don't know. It'd be nice, I guess…to know that someone wants me. Even if I don't want them anymore…but…you know what I mean?"
He glanced over at Amanda who was coming back towards them and smiled a little sadly. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
"Come on, Jase. Let's go dance," Amanda said when she was close enough, pulling Jason onto the dance floor.
Caitlyn watched them go and turned back to her champagne flute. She shrugged. They were all staying at the hotel tonight, so she didn't need to worry about getting drunk.
That bottle of champagne and two cocktails later, and Caitlyn was stumbling around and for sure couldn't blame it on the shoes.
"Hey, Amanda, I'll see you in a little bit. I should take care of Caity right now," she heard Jason say. His arm went around her shoulders and he led her out of the ballroom and into the elevator.
"Jason, why are you being sho nishe to me? Shouldn't you be with Amandur? You know, your date?" Caitlyn asked as Jason pressed the 'nine' button on the keypad.
"I've known you longer…and you obviously need help. Amanda's fine. She has my number and knows what room I'm in. If she needs me, she'll find me."
"Sho, she's not staying with you?" Caitlyn asked, leaning far into Jason's personal space. She fell into his chest and Jason put his arms around her so she wouldn't fall.
"No. She has to catch a flight back to L.A. in a few hours, so there was no point."
"Sheems like she's alwaysh flying back to L.A. and leaving you here in New York."
"She's the star of a successful TV series, Caity. That's where the show's located."
"But you two are dating and you don't spend any time together…that's not fair…"
"To her or me?" Jason asked seriously.
Caitlyn looked up at him. "To both of you," she said, as if it should be obvious.
Jason opened his mouth to say something, but the elevator arrived at her floor. Caitlyn stumbled and fell as she walked out the door, and when she got back on her feet, she winced in pain.
"You hurt your ankle, didn't you?" Jason asked.
"No…that'sh shomething drunk peoplesh do. And I," she said with a slight hiccup, "am not drunk."
"Caity, babe, I hate to break it to you, but you're drunk," he said, lifting her up and unlocking her door.
He carried her in the room and set her down.
"I don't like being called 'babe'…it makes me want to vomit…"
"You're just being drama—" Jason started, but was cut off by Caitlyn suddenly pushing him aside and clumsily running for the bathroom.
"I rest my case!" Caitlyn said a few minutes later.
Jason walked towards the bathroom. "Feeling better now?" he asked.
"Sort of?" she said with a groan. "I can totally tell that I'm going to have a massive hangover tomorrow the likes of which I haven't seen since my twenty-first birthday…"
"Coffee, water, aspirin and a massive breakfast in the morning. You'll be better."
"Could you make me coffee now?" she asked weakly. "I'd do it myself, but…I don't think I could handle it at the moment."
"Sure. You want the aspirin now, too?" he asked, turning around to face her as he left.
She nodded. "Thank you."
Jason left and Caitlyn smiled as she heard him fumbling around in the kitchenette, trying to make the coffee. She kicked off her evil heels and pulled her hair out of the ridiculous twisted bun thing, dropping the bobby pins into the soap dish. She washed most of the makeup off her face and was debating whether or not to change into a different outfit, but Jason came back with the coffee and a couple of aspirin at that moment.
Caitlyn hopped onto the counter and held out her hand for the coffee, but Jason shook his head.
"Have you seen your feet? Soak them in the tub. I mean it. I'm withholding the coffee until you do so."
"Jasonnnnnn. Noooooo. Why are you being so mean? I just want the coffee…"
"And I want you to be able to walk tomorrow. Soak," he ordered.
Caitlyn rooled her eyes, but hobbled over to the tub and started it.
"Jase, there's some soaking salts in that little basket by the sink. Mind tossing them over here?" she asked.
"Put your feet in the water first," he said.
She heaved a sigh and perched on the edge of the tub, as she sunk her feet in the water up to her ankles.
"Coffee and soaking salts now?" she asked.
"Fine," he said, making his way over to her and sitting opposite of her as he handed over the soaking salts, coffee and the aspirin.
She leaned her head on his shoulder as she took a sip of coffee.
"I'm sorry," she said softly.
"For what?"
"For ruining your night."
"Don't be silly, Caitlyn, you didn't do that."
"I feel like I did."
"Why?"
"Because…you totally left Amanda to help me out," she said. "You really didn't need to do that…I mean, she's leaving soon…and you two don't get much time together anyway…"
"Caity. Don't worry about it. Amanda and I are fine. We're good."
"You promise I haven't messed anything up for you two?"
"Promise," he said, smiling gently at her. He offered her his pinky and Caitlyn rolled her eyes good naturedly before she linked hers with his. Their arms were pressed together, fingers to elbows and Caitlyn felt far warmer in that moment than she ever had before. Which was something, because she usually kept the thermostat in her hotel rooms way, way cold. Because she liked to burrow under a huge pile of blankets.
She let go of his pinky and turned her attention back to her coffee.
"Caity," she heard Jason whisper in a low voice. She turned to face him and her eyes widened when she realized how close he was. She was moving towards him of her own accord and they couldn't have been more than a few inches from each other when Jason's phone rang.
"Oh, hey, Amanda," she heard him say. She tried to tell herself that that was not disappointment in his voice when he picked up. "Oh, you want me to go to the airport with you?" he asked. "Okay, be there in a few minutes."
He hung up the phone and sighed. "Got to go and see Amanda off. Last time we'll see each other for at least two months…"
"Ah. Okay. Then you should go," she said, trying to hide her hurt. She saw Jason biting his lip and looking at her uncertainly. "I'll be fine. Go have a mushy goodbye with your girlfriend," she ordered, waving him away.
He gave her a quick, one-armed hug, pressing her against his chest, and allowing her to smell him. Cologne and coffee and something that was just undeniably Jason no matter what else he smelled like.
"Bye, Caity. I'll be back in an hour or so. Call me if you need help," he said as he left the bathroom. The click of the door a few seconds later told her he was gone.
Caitlyn stared down at her feet for a few moments before she realized she was out of coffee. She swung her legs around to the other side of the tub and dried her feet off. Then she left the bathroom and poured herself another cup of coffee, settling onto the couch and turning on the TV.
A few hours later, she woke up to the sound of someone knocking loudly on her door. Glancing at the clock, she noticed it was well past three AM.
Who in their right mind would be knocking on her door at this time?
With a groan, she got up from her curled-up position on the couch and limped to the door. She blinked tiredly at Jason for a few moments before she really realized who it was.
"Still in your dress, I see," he said.
Caitlyn blinked. "What do you want?" she asked grumpily.
"I broke up with her," he said quickly.
"Broke up with who?" she asked cluelessly.
"Amanda. Who else?"
Caitlyn rubbed her forehead. "Why?"
Jason stared at her as if the answer should be obvious. "You know why."
She crossed her arms. "No, I don't."
His eyes narrowed. "Caity, I realize you were dating Sander for a while there, but I know I haven't been imagining this thing that's been between for nearly the past decade."
"Well, maybe you should have done something about this so-called thing sometime over the past eight years."
"Well, sorry that it took me so long to figure out the feeling was mutual. In case it's escaped your notice, you can kind of be a bitch," he said harshly.
Caitlyn's mouth fell open in shock before her face hardened into a snarl. "And you're kind of a jackass, trying to kiss me while I'm drunk and breaking up with your girlfriend because of it, then coming here and calling me a bitch. Get out and good riddance," she said, slamming the door in his face.
She blindly ran for her bed, stumbling over her suitcase and throwing herself onto the mattress as she burst into sobs. After an hour, she found she couldn't cry anymore and sat up, wiping her tears away.
"Caity?" she heard Jason's voice call through the door. She jumped. She should have expected that Jason would have stayed outside her door after an episode like that. "Caity? Are you asleep? I don't hear you crying anymore."
"Jason?" she said softly as she leaned against the door. "Could you just go away? I feel awful about what I said to you, but I don't want to deal with it right now…"
"Okay," Jason said resignedly. "But I want to talk about this tomorrow, alright?"
Caitlyn nodded before she realized he couldn't see her through the door and sighed. "Alright. Tomorrow, then."
It took all of five minutes after she heard the elevator doors close that she couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk about this.
She ran out of her room and stabbed the elevator button repeatedly until the doors opened. The two floors up to Jason's level seemed to take forever and when she got there, she couldn't remember the room number.
Was it 1154 or 1145? She couldn't remember for the life of her. 1145 was closer though, so she went there first, hoping to God that she had picked the right number.
She knocked loudly on the door, hoping he hadn't just gone to sleep.
When the door flew open, she let out a startled shriek before covering her mouth quickly.
Jason was not in room 1145.
However, an old, greasy, hairy Italian man was.
"S-s-sorry," she stammered. "Wrong room number. My apologies for disturbing you."
"Caitlyn?" she heard an uncertain voice ask. She spun around.
"Jason!" she exclaimed loudly.
"Mind keeping it down you two?" said the old guy angrily. "It's nearly five AM."
"Sorry, I'll be taking her to my room now where she won't disturb you any longer."
"What makes you think I'd go anywhere with you after what you just called me outside my room?" Caitlyn asked Jason.
"Because I'll call security on both your asses otherwise," said the man.
Caitlyn gave Jason a long look. She sighed. "Fine. Your room. But I swear, you try anything and I'll beat you."
He held his hands out in front of him. "Unless you grant me express permission, I swear to keep my hands to myself."
"Sure you will," Caitlyn said. "What were you doing out here, by the way?"
"Ice," he said, holding up the bucket. "For water."
"Don't you have an entire minibar at your disposal?" Caitlyn asked as he held the door open for her.
"Yes, but you're not getting your hands on it," Jason said.
"Why not?" she whined.
"Do I really need to say?"
"Yes," she said, pushing on his shoulder.
"You got drunk earlier tonight and I had to take care of you after you barfed."
She huffed and went for the minibar, grabbing a Sprite to appease Jason. He raised a brow at her.
"It's for my stomach," she said primly, sitting down on the couch.
"Fine, fine," he said, sitting down next to her. "Now, let's discuss this thing, alright?"
"Sure, let's start with the most important part. Why didn't you just tell me instead of not letting on at all and being nice to every single girl, ever?"
"Well, you were always mean to me, so I figured why not kill you with kindness?"
"That's how I am with guys I like. Did you not see me with Sander at all during the year and a half I was with him?"
Jason's upper lip curled in distaste. "I tried not to pay attention, thanks."
"You still could have said something. But no, you discovered Amanda Williams and fell head over heels in love with her and her damned niceness."
"I was not...I was not in love with her...and her niceness was part of the reason I broke up with her." He hesitantly admitted.
Caitlyn looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?"
"You remember when you said that thing about wanting to know that someone wanted you, even if you didn't want them anymore?"
"Yeah? What of it?"
Jason looked as if he was considering something. He sighed before saying, "That's why I was with Amanda the last couple of months."
"What do you mean?" Caitlyn asked, confused.
"Well, I did really like her and all, and it was great when we first started out, but…the longer we were together, the more I realized that…" he took a sip from the glass of water in front of him and started over. "Amanda's great and all. She's smart and funny and gorgeous and nice and everything like that, but…that kind of started to be the problem."
"Please clarify," she said.
"She's…she's…she's too nice, alright? She kinda just lets me do whatever and doesn't nag me to get anything done, really. She sort of…enables my ADD tendencies…and that's not really good."
"So…you broke up with her because she's too…nice?"
"And you're mean….and I need mean. I need someone to nag me to do stuff and boss me and help me keep my life on track."
"Jason, you're twenty-six years old. If you can't take care of yourself on your own, there's something to worry about other than the fact that your girlfriend is too nice," Caitlyn said acidly.
"And you're twenty-four and got shitfaced at your ex-boyfriend's wedding tonight," he retorted.
"Well, you weren't making it any easier on me with all the twirling you were doing with Amanda!"
"I'm sorry I was dancing with my date at a wedding!" he exclaimed in frustration. "I'm sorry I brought her, I'm sorry I indirectly made you get drunk, I'm sorry for every single thing I've ever done that has hurt you, I'm sorry I've never told you how much I love you, okay? So stop yelling at me!"
"I—what?" Caitlyn shouted.
"I asked you to stop yell—" he started but was cut off by Caitlyn throwing herself at him.
Her lips were pressed hard against his and she had wrapped her arms so tightly around his neck, he was concerned about his ability to keep breathing, but not enough to stop her.
He locked his arms around her waist, pulling her flush against him as he quickly deepened the kiss, scared that if she had any time to stop and think about what she was doing, she'd freak out again and refuse to ever speak to him out of embarrassment for the rest of their lives.
That was the exact opposite of what he wanted from her.
The next morning when Caitlyn woke up, she was just a touch confused.
When had she gone to Jason's room…and why was she in his bed, curled up on his chest?
Oh.
She blushed as she sat up and brushed a curl out of his eye.
He stirred slightly and groaned before slowly opening his eyes.
He smiled when he saw her.
"Hey, Caity."
"Morning," she responded.
"So…last night…" he started as Caitlyn looked at the clock and cut him off with a groan as she fell back onto the pillows. "Yes?" he asked with a sternly raised brow.
"It's nine am...I've only gotten two and a half hours of sleep…" she complained, trying to pull the blankets on top of her.
"As I remember, you're the one that pounced on me…therefore, it's your fault you were up so late."
Caitlyn fixed him with the same stern stare he had used on her moments earlier and Jason smirked evilly in response, leaning towards her.
She tried to scoot away, but Jason grabbed her wrists and pinned her to her pillow.
"Don't be rude, Caity. I like waking up in a pleasant mood," he said, nuzzling her neck.
She giggled and squirmed away from him. "Jason…you need to shave before you do anything else…you have nine AM shadow and it's scratchy…I don't like it…"
He ignored her and kissed her neck when there was a knock at the door.
Caitlyn groaned again. "Whoever it is, send them away."
"Me? Why do I have to?" Jason whined.
"Because it's your room and the only clothes I have in here is that stupid dress. Like hell am I putting that thing back on. If I could find it in this mess," she said, looking around the room. "You certainly are a slob, aren't you?"
"Hey!" he exclaimed, getting out of bed.
Caitlyn rolled over and spread out in the middle of the mattress, sighing happily. She smiled as Jason kicked at piled of clothes, trying to find something to put on.
"Those oh-so-sexy Guitar Hero boxers are right there," she said, pointing at the foot of the bed.
"You liked them well enough last night," he grumbled, putting them on. He turned to her and frowned suddenly before muttering under his breath, "Just in case it's a guy at the door…" as he tugged the blankets up to her shoulders.
"Aw, it's cute how you're jealous of a hypothetical man at the door," she said.
"Well, he won't be cute if he tries anything."
"Just…go answer the door, alright? It's been getting more frantic by the moment."
Jason rolled his eyes and made for the door as Caitlyn relaxed into the pillows once again.
"Jason, oh thank god. I was beginning to think you weren't here," said a familiar voice. Too familiar for Caitlyn's liking.
"Mitchie…" she heard Jason say tiredly. "What's wrong?"
"Have you seen Caitlyn since you took her up to her room last night?"
"Um…why do you ask?" he said casually.
"Because no one can find her…She's not answering her door or her phone and I'm worried she might have done something stupid since she was drunk last night."
"Well, when I left her room, she seemed fine…"
"So you haven't seen her since last night?" Mitchine asked, coming into the room.
Caitlyn jumped up and closed the door halfway, blocking Mitchie from her view as she attempted to find her dress.
When she finally found it, she noticed the zipper was broken. She narrowed her eyes.
She'd be having a little chat with Jason about his…excitement last night. True, it was an ugly dress, but if this was how he was going to be treating all her dresses…well…she'd hide all his pants until a truce was declared.
While she continued looking for something of Jason's to wear while Mitchie was in the room, she tripped over a pair of jeans and fell with a loud squawk.
"Okay, I know that couldn't be Amanda because she's back in L.A. now…and it sounded like Caitlyn…spill it, Jase," Mitchie said.
He stammered and Caitlyn heard him run for the bedroom door and try to shut it, but Mitchie pushed past him and threw the door open wide.
Caitlyn shrieked and dove for the far side of the bed.
"Caitlyn! There you are!" Mitchie said.
"Hi!"
Mitchie looked relieved for a moment before she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Caity…Are you…shirtless?"
"What? Me? Nawww…" she said, ducking briefly behind the bed and shrugging into a button-down of Jason's she had found.
"So…why is Jason walking around in his underwear and you're in his shirt? And your dress is thrown on top of the TV…"
"Well…Jason was very briefly single last night…"
"How? He didn't…" she turned to Jason. "You broke up with Amanda?" she asked.
"Yeah…" he admitted.
"So…then…and the dress…and your boxers…and her in your shirt…" Mitchie said to herself. "What…exactly did you get up to last night?" she asked, sounding as if she really didn't want to know.
"Tequila and Barry White?" Caitlyn suggested. "I can't really remember…It might have been vodka and Frank Sinatra…I really don't know…and it was technically this morning…"
Mitchie gave them a look of shock. "Right. That's where I was heading. Sorry to disturb you. I'll be leaving, don't do anything stupid, all right? I'm not ready to be an aunt."
She ran out of the room and left Jason and Caitlyn staring at each other.
"So…" he said with a lazy grin. "I think you should wear my shirts more often."
Caitlyn glared at him. "I wouldn't be wearing it if you hadn't broken the zipper to my dress."
He shrugged and pulled her down onto the bed, facing her as he lay next to her. "You hated it anyway. I figured I was doing you a favor."
She hit his shoulder. "You can buy me a breakfast as payback for the dress. You said last night it'd be good to fix my hangover. Ad you can serve it to me in bed. Because I don't want to get out unless I absolutely have to…"
"Your wish is my command," he said, kissing her cheek. "Anything you want that is in my power to give you, I'll do."
Caitlyn looked at his strangely. "That sounds like a line from a song."
"Can we just stop talking for a while?" he asked, pulling her close.
"We can do whatever you like," she said.