LOST AND FOUND | A Camp Rock Story |

Chapter Fifteen.

Caitlyn's breath hitched.

It was just what Nate had been afraid of.

She brought the article up on her own phone and grimaced further. It even went as far as to name her in the article.

Caitlyn Gellar, long-time friend of the Gray brothers, alumni of Camp Rock and dance professional.

"Good to know they got their facts right." She laughed bitterly. "They don't know anything about me, or you, or us. Okay?"

It was an easy enough thing for her to do, to nearly shrug it off, by tomorrow there would be new gossip and that picture wouldn't even cause a drop in the ocean.

But glancing at Nate, she knew that he wasn't even listening to her.

He was collapsing into himself as they walked, back to the ghost of himself that he was the first day of camp. His eyes were stormy, his shoulders hunched with sudden tension and his hands were tensed around his phone. The glare of the screen flashed across his face.

"Nate." She said, clasping her hand to his arm to stop him walking.

It was like waking from a trance, he stopped and tore his eyes away from his phone and his eyes focused on hers.

"It's okay. It's not that big of a deal. If anything, at least Dana will think you're moving on?"

"Caitlyn." He said her name and his voice nearly broke. "I didn't, I never, wanted to get you involved in this. This is relentless. The paparazzi, the media, everyone will fixate on you. I didn't want you in the middle of my and Dana's media catastrophe."

"Nate, it's not..." she tried to reassure him but he continued on.

"You don't deserve this. Your name is going to be dredged up all the time, they'll tear you down, and they'll pit you and Dana against each other. What if it affects your career, I couldn't live with myself if I'm the reason the media won't get off you're back. You wanted a break this summer too and this is going to explode into a big story..."

A breeze was whistling through the trees in the dim light of the footpath, Nate's voice was strained and Caitlyn's phone kept buzzing in her pocket.

She just wanted everything to be quiet, she just wanted him to listen, she just wanted everything to go back to how wonderful they had been a few minutes before.

"Nate, listen to me." She placed her hands on either side of his face to get him to listen. Something that she knew she would probably regret doing, but in the moment she didn't care.

"This isn't you're fault. We were caught out, someone got a picture of us hanging out and they're spinning it. You're not the one spinning it and I'm not spinning it. Let the media get all jazzed up about it for all I care. All I care is that you and me have a great summer, and get to hang out and play music. Don't worry about my career, one picture isn't going to do any harm."

She wasn't Dana.

She wasn't going to use Nate or the media like that, and he had to know it.

She didn't know when he had stepped closer, but she could feel his shallow breath on her skin. His eyes were so intensely focused on her own that it nearly made her dizzy.

"Don't worry about me in this, these things blow over. We'll be fine."

That was the difference wasn't it, Caitlyn thought bitterly, she wouldn't make a fuss over the media, but Dana and her Dad would milk it for all it was worth.

He pulled her into a hug, his arms curling around her waist and pulling her even closer, to rest her head at his shoulder.

"Thank you Caitlyn."