A/N: Every now and then Standard-Ang3l and I do fic swaps. Just for the fun of it. Usually always of our OTPs (Jaitlyn for her, Natella for me). So this is a Jaitlyn that she wanted to see. She said "Pet names and food". There's not much food in it, but I hope she'll enjoy it anyway! Haha.
Happy reading!
angellwings
Nicknames
By angellwings
"Jasey-wasey!" A girl squealed as she ran past security and jumped onto Jason's back.
Caitlyn coughed and gagged and looked away from the pair. Jasey-wasey? Oh God, who was this girl?
Jason laughed and set the petite blonde on the ground. "Hey, Laney." He motioned to Caitlyn and then to Laney. "Caity, our opener, Laney. Laney, my best friend, Caitlyn."
"Opener?" Caitlyn asked. "You're the first performer on the tour?"
Laney nodded. "These guys have been so great to me. I'm sure you know. From what I've heard you've known them way longer than me."
Caitlyn forced a pleasant smile. "Yes, yes I have."
Laney didn't miss Caitlyn's tense tone. She cleared her throat and looked down at her watch. "Right, well, I should go. I have sound check in fifteen minutes." She winked at Jason and squeezed his hand as she left. "See you after the show, Jasey-wasey."
Caitlyn grimaced and feigned a dry-gag again before giving Jason a bored look. "Jasey-wasey? You've got to be kidding me."
"What? You have nicknames for me too." Jason said with a shrug.
"Yeah, but not Jasey-wasey. I mean that sounds like something you'd call a puppy or a two month old."
"Are you saying that you'd seriously treat a puppy and a two month old baby the same?" Jason asked with a teasing grin.
Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "Do not sidetrack me. You know what I meant."
"I don't see anything wrong with it. In fact, I think it's kinda cute." He said hesitantly.
"It's cute or she's cute?" Caitlyn asked with a huff.
"What?" Jason asked as he furrowed his brow at her.
"Oh come on, she was totally flirting with you. And she's all short and blonde and bubbly and touchy feely. I mean I wouldn't blame you if you liked her," Caitlyn said with a blank expression and a flat tone.
Jason looked at her as if he had no idea what to say. He paused and then spoke up. "Well, I, um, appreciate your blessing." He said it in a questioning tone almost as if he didn't really want to say it.
"Does she call you anything else that I need to know about? I need to prepare myself so I don't barf all over her," Caitlyn said as she nudged his side with her elbow.
He smiled half heartedly. "Sometimes she adds 'spacey-casey' to the end of 'Jasey-wasey'."
Caitlyn glared at the concrete floor of the corridor before she looked back up at him. "That chick calls you a space case?"
He knew where this was going so he stopped mid stride and put a hand on Caitlyn's shoulder to get her attention. He smiled warmly and chuckled. "It's a joke, Caity. She doesn't mean it. Kinda like when Shane calls you a psychopath or 'Spawn of Satan'."
"I don't care what she thinks it is. I don't like it. You're not a space case," Caitlyn said as she crossed her arms over her chest and resumed walking.
Jason grinned at her and laughed lightly. "Yeah, I kind of am."
She glared at him. "No, you're not. I mean, just because you're…easily distracted doesn't mean you're spacey. There's a difference."
There was silence for a long moment before Caitlyn spoke up again.
"And to be fair, you're only easily distracted by birds and birdhouses. Most of the time you're pretty focused."
"Guitars, I'm distracted by guitars too," Jason corrected her.
Caitlyn chuckled. "Right, how could I forget?"
"And food."
"Everyone is distracted by food, Jason."
"And Camp."
Caitlyn smiled at him. "That's a given."
"And you," Jason said suddenly. His eyes widened and he winced. He hadn't meant to say that. It had slipped out. He really needed to work on his brain-to-mouth filter.
Caitlyn paused and gulped slowly. "You're…you're distracted by me?"
"Well, I…yes. You do wear some pretty bright colors, Caity."
"I distract you because I wear bright colors?" Caitlyn asked in a disbelieving tone.
Jason ran a nervous hand through his curls. "Sure?"
"But this is the first time I've seen you in months. So I can't have distracted you with my physical presence," Caitlyn said with a small knowing grin.
Jason cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't seem to find the words. He tried a few more times, but nothing was coming to him. He sighed and winced. "Do you want to know the truth?"
"That would be refreshing, yes," Caitlyn said blankly.
"I don't like Laney's nickname and I only think of her as a friend. I can't even entertain the possibility of flirting with her because all I can think about is you, Caity. Just you. I don't like her that way, and I don't want you to support me liking her that way. Because…because if you support me liking other girls then you can't possibly feel for me what I feel for you. That's the truth," Jason said quickly. He'd barely taken any breaths while he spoke and he'd never once looked up to see Caitlyn's reaction to his words. He waited several minutes before he looked up, and when he did he found nothing to give him any indication of how she felt about his confession.
She was lightly biting her bottom lip and twirling a strand of hair around one of her fingers. He wasn't even going to think about the many ways those two actions tortured him (she just had to draw attention to her lips that looked extremely kissable and her hair that smelled like lavender and vanilla.) He waited anxiously for her to speak.
"Well, Caity?" He asked expectantly. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
She shook herself like she'd forgotten he was there and then locked eyes with him. She grinned shyly at him and took several deep breaths. "That's one hell of a 'truth', Jase."
He cleared his throat and gathered his courage before he asked her the question he was dying to hear the answer to. "Yes, but…what do you think about it?"
"I think…"
Her sentence trailed off and Jason held his breath as he anticipated her answer.
"I think that I didn't want to support you having feelings for Laney, but I didn't want to push you away in case you were interested in her. I think that I want you in my life as more than a friend, but I didn't want to risk making things awkward between us. And I think Jasey-Wasey is a horrible disgusting nickname that needs to be done away with before I punch your new little friend in disgust. That is my truth," Caitlyn said as her shy grin grew into a bright smile.
Jason sighed in relief and immediately wrapped his arms around her. Her arms went around his neck as he buried his face in her hair and held her close.
"Your nicknames are way better than hers anyway," Jason whispered with a smirk. "You're much more creative."
Caitlyn laughed as she pulled back to look at him. "You think so, huh?"
Jason nodded slowly and continued to smirk. "Curly Bird is my favorite."
"Personally, I like Guitar God the best, but to each his or her own," Caitlyn said with a wink.
Jason rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Caity, I'm not that good with a guitar."
"Oh, do not even play the modesty card with me, boy," Caitlyn told him as she too rolled her eyes. "I swear you make me melt every time you touch a guitar. Besides, you've had the high score on Guitar Hero for years. No one can beat you. Ever."
"That hardly makes me god-like," Jason said with a chuckle.
"Fine," Caitlyn said with a playful sparkle in her eyes. "I guess I'll just give that nickname to John Mayer then if you don't want—"
"Don't you dare," Jason said quickly.
Caitlyn laughed and pulled his face closer to hers. "Or what, Curly Bird?"
His eyes drifted to her lips and Caitlyn grinned.
"Just what are you going to do to stop me, Gray?" Caitlyn asked in a challenging tone.
"Oh, I can think of at least one way to keep you quiet," Jason told her with a smirk.
"Do tell."
"How about I show you instead?" Jason asked as he lowered his lips to hers. Caitlyn pulled him closer as Jason deepened the pressure of the kiss. Her lips parted and Jason took full advantage. Caitlyn let out a soft whimper as he continued to kiss her. This was probably the best kiss she'd ever experienced in her life. She doubted that anyone else would ever be able to kiss her and make her feel like this. Jason finally pulled away to give them both a moment to breath and Caitlyn gave him a dreamy smile.
"Yep, that'll do it."
Jason smiled warmly at her and took her hand as they walked down the corridor toward his dressing room.
"I have a feeling you've got a lot more nicknames coming your way, Mister," Caitlyn said with a bright smile.
"Oh God, I do?" Jason asked nervously.
"How do you feel about 'Luscious Lips'?" Caitlyn asked with a smirk.
Jason's eyes widened and he blushed. "Caity…"
"What? It's true. Your lips are very luscious."
"Fine, but not around my brothers, okay?" Jason said as he cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red.
She chuckled and quickly pressed her lips to his cheek. "Luscious Lips it is then."