Of Band-Aids, Bedazzlers, and Breakdowns

By angellwings

"When I get nervous I sparkle things!" -Ella Pador, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam

Nate's brow furrowed as he walked by the wardrobe cabin. He could hear the distinct sounds of someone scrambling around inside. He glanced down at his watch and frowned. It's was four in the morning. Who, besides himself, would be up working at four in the morning? Out of curiosity he approached the door and glanced through. Ella was furiously searching through sequined fabrics, and glittering beads.

He watched as she picked up whatever it was she was working on. He squinted as the light reflected off of it and nearly blinded him. There were so many shiny things on that top that it was practically glowing.

This couldn't be good.

He quietly knocked on the screen door and winced as Ella jumped.

She grimaced and immediately dropped the top. "Ow! Dammit! Oh no, no blood! No blood on the shirt!"

She sprinted for the bathroom sink.

"Sorry!" He said as he followed her. "I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's okay. Nothing got on the shirt. We're good."

"Ella," He said slowly. "You're bleeding."

"I know," She told him with a nod. "But the shirt is safe."

Nate shook his head and sighed. "Okay. Are there first aid supplies in here?"

She reached a hand up to the medicine cabinet in front of her, but Nate stopped her. "I got it. Stay still for a minute."

She huffed impatiently as Nate fumbled with the band-aids. He couldn't seem to be able to pull apart the wrapper. After about a minute of this a grin began to spread across Ella's face. "Nate? Would you like some—"

"No!" He snapped. He took a breath and gave her a small smile. "I mean, I got it."

"Are you sure? Cause if you're not careful you could—"

As if on cue Nate attempted to rip it open, but ripped the band-aid in half.

"Do that," Ella said with a chuckle.

Nate made a frustrated noise and reached for the next band-aid in the packet. Ella put her hand on his to stop him. She blushed and pulled her hand away. "Why don't you just let me? It's a small prick. I can open a band-aid."

He sighed. "And apparently I can't."

He watched as Ella opened the band-aid with one hand and only a few fingers from her other hand. Why couldn't he do that? He had two good hands. "So, why are you working at this hour?"

Her eyebrow lifted and she turned to face him. "Why are you working at this hour?"

"I work when the inspiration hits," he said with a shrug.

"So do I," She said as she turned away from him and applied the band-aid.

"But that's not why you're working now," He told her. "If it was you wouldn't be so jumpy."

"How do you know I'm not just jumpy when I work?" She asked.

"I've had fittings with you, remember? I know how you are when you work, and usually it's the only time you're completely calm."

She sighed. "I just like working when the wardrobe cabin is empty. That's all."

He laughed. "Sure, I'll pretend I believe that. But that doesn't explain all the…sparkles."

She bit her bottom lip and glanced back at her work station. She groaned and picked up the shirt she'd previously been sewing. She grimaced as the light bounced off of it and angrily threw it into the trashcan with the rest of her scraps.

"Hey!" Nate protested as he quickly pulled it back out. "What are you doing?"

"I sparkled it to death! There's no way that I can let anyone where that in public! I'll be responsible for blinding half the camp."

"Okay, I'll admit it's really shiny. But don't throw it out. It's not a lost cause."

"Are you kidding me? I can't show that to…" She trailed off thoughtfully before continuing. "I just can't! She'd laugh and throw it back in my face!"

His brow furrowed. "Who?"

Ella blushed again. "Tess told her mom about my designs and she wants to see my portfolio. She also asked for a few sample outfits."

"El," Nate told her with a grin. "That's awesome."

"I know," She said with a smile. "B-but…all of my outfits are crap!"

Nate rolled his eyes. "They are not."

"They are too! I mean, yeah, they're great for all of us, but this is TJ Tyler!"

Nate smirked at her. "So basically what you're saying is that you're okay with putting crap outfits on Connect Three but not on TJ Tyler?"

Ella paled. "Oh God, you think those outfits were crap?"

Nate's eyes widened. "What? No! I was—it was a joke!"

"A joke? About my outfits? Now?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I thought it would lighten the mood."

"Just an observation, Nate," Ella told him. "You suck at lightening the mood."

"So I've been told."

Ella glanced down at her watch, "Oh my God! It's 4:15! I've lost 15 minutes. I need to get back to work! I've got three complete outfits to make and about four and a half hours to do so."

Nate shook his head. "Ella, I'm sure something you've already finished is—"

"No, no it's not."

"All right, you need to sit down and take a break."

"A break? I've only got four hours left! I can't take a break!"

"Ella, you're freaking out. If you don't sit and take a breath you're going to have a nervous breakdown. Besides you're so full of nerves right now that all you'll succeed in doing is bedazzling a pair of jeans or a jacket or something, and not that that's a bad look, but I think TJ Tyler's already done that at some point in her career," Nate said slowly as he put his hands on Ella's shoulders and guided her to a chair. "Now, sit down."

She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. "But I don't want to—"

"Sit!"

She glared at him but reluctantly did as she was told.

"Where's your portfolio?" He asked.

"Why?" She asked with a pout.

"I want to see it."

"No."

He quirked an eyebrow and spoke up sternly, "Ella."

She muttered something violently under her breath before speaking. "It's on the table. Next to the sewing machine."

He picked up the plain black binder and looked back at Ella. "This is it?"

"Yes, what were you expecting?"

He shrugged. "Just something a little more like you, I guess."

Nate drummed his fingers along the edge of the binder as he opened it and began to flip through it. He knew she was talented. He'd seen the clothes she'd made for the various jams and performances, but some of the outfits in her portfolio were truly genius. He could tell that some she'd design for dancing and some she'd designed specifically for quick changes. He could also tell which ones she'd successfully made because she had scribbled in notes and adjustments. He found a performance outfit that she'd originally designed for Tess.

"You made this one right?" He asked as he turned the binder around to show her the picture.

Ella nodded. "Tess wore it at the Beach Jam this year. Why?"

"Why can't you show TJ Tyler that one?"

"Because I designed it for Tess."

"So?" Nate asked. "Have Tess model it for her, and you could point out all the amazing breakaway things you added for Tess's quick change."

Ella's brow furrowed thoughtfully as Nate continued.

"And this outfit you designed for Caitlyn? You should show her that one too. TJ Tyler needs light outfits like this she can dance in. Plus, this dress Mitchie wore for the Camp Wars thing a couple summers ago…show that to her too. See? There, three outfits. Problem solved."

"That, um, might actually work."

Nate smiled smugly at her. "Not might, will."

"You think you're such a genius, don't you?"

"Most of the time, yeah."

"Well, genius boy, why couldn't you have stumbled across me working three hours ago?" Ella asked with a sigh. She stood up and started to gather her things together.

"I'm a genius. Not a mind reader or a time traveler. What are you doing?"

"I'm packing up," Ella said plainly.

"Why?" Nate asked with a furrowed brow.

"Um, so I can go sleep," She told him. She thought that should have been obvious.

This was a problem. His whole focus had been on getting Ella to stop working so she could calm down and relax, but now she was relaxed…and she was leaving. He hadn't thought about her leaving. He should have, but he didn't. He didn't want her to leave. He was enjoying this time with just him and Ella.

"You're going to sleep?" Nate asked.

"Yes, wasn't that the point of what you just did?" She asked as she gave him a confused glance.

"Well, yeah, but don't you want to give those outfits a quick once over first to make sure they don't need any repairs or adjustments or anything?" Nate asked as he cleared his throat and blocked Ella's path to the door.

Ella's eyes widened. "Oh, you're right. I haven't looked at those outfits in a while. What if—what if the moths got them? I don't think Brown put mothballs in the wardrobe room closet!"

Nate smiled at his success as Ella sprinted into the wardrobe cabin's large walk in closet. He heard Ella's sigh of relief, "Nevermind, he did! He remembered mothballs! I'll just give these outfits a look and then I can—"

Nate peeked his head in the door of the closet when Ella stopped talking. She was staring in horror at the dress she made Mitchie for Band Wars.

"Ella? Is everything okay?"

"Th—there's a stain. A big, purple stain."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Purple?"

"Yes! Purple! And who knows how long it's been there! I haven't looked at this dress in nearly a year!" Ella exclaimed as she ripped the hanger off the rack and stormed toward Nate. "Look at this! Look!"

She thrust the offending stain into his face and he took a couple of steps back. Once he saw the stain he winced. She was right. It was a very large, dark purple stain.

"This stain has completely set. There's no way I can get this out now! I swear the minute I find out just who has been in here with some sort of purple soda I will give them a very large piece of my mind!"

"You sure it's soda?" Nate asked. "Could be grape juice."

"I guess it could be," Ella said as she studied the stain again. She shook the thought and pushed past Nate into the main room. "But that's not important. This dress is useless now!"

Ella collapsed into a near by chair and threw the soiled dress on the floor. "I give up. I just give up. I'm tired, I'm a nervous wreck, and I feel like I'm about to explode."

Ella leaned forward in the chair and rested her elbows on her knees before burying her face in her hands. She said something that was muffled by her hands, and Nate leaned closer to hear her.

"What was that?" Nate asked.

She pulled a hand down and let out a disgusted grunt. "I'm such an idiot!"

Nate glared at her. "Stop talking."

"No, really! I am! How could I ever think that I could—"

He grabbed the hand she'd dropped from her face and used it to pull her into a standing position. "Stop talking. You're not an idiot. And you can do this. Look through your portfolio and find something else that you've got ready to go. I'm sure you have another dress that will work just as well, if not better."

He went and got her portfolio from the table where he left it and handed it to her. He heard her sigh and sniffle as she began to flip through the pages. She stopped flipping and jumped up from her chair. He watched curiously as she sped through the clothing rack and victoriously pulled out another dress. She examined it closely as she walked toward him with it.

"Who's was that?" He asked with a grin. It was very subtle, and obviously made for some one taller than Ella, Caitlyn, or Mitchie.

Ella's eyes stopped on him briefly before returning to the dress. "Dana's. It's actually one she hasn't used yet."

"Oh."

It's not that his relationship with his ex-girlfriend was awkward. It's that talking about it was awkward. Camp Star had only survived one more summer, and after that Axel Turner had given up. He'd washed his hands of it and walked away. If the man had to choose between beating Brown and making money, he would always choose the money. Dana had somehow convinced him to let her attend Camp Rock. Nate still wasn't sure how she'd accomplished that, but she had and she was now an official Camp Rocker.

They'd dated for almost a year before they'd realized what had happened. They'd somehow become nothing more than friends. He loved her, but not in a romantic way. He was still her friend, and they'd somehow managed to come out of their relationship with very little awkward tension. The awkwardness suddenly appeared when either of them had to explain their friendship to other people.

It seemed most teenagers couldn't understand being friends with their ex.

Ella cleared her throat, and set the dress aside. "I think this one will work. Dana's style is more subtle than TJ Tyler's but sort of similar."

Ella walked away to retrieve the other two out fits and a garment bag. Nate followed her.

"Hey, Ella?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think it's weird that Dana and I are friends?"

"Weird?" Ella repeated thoughtfully. "No. Uncommon? Yes. I think it's great that the two of you can still hang around each other, but it doesn't happen that often. It should happen more often, but a lot of people aren't mature enough to deal."

"You realize that none of the girls here at camp will even look at me because they still think I'm somehow attached to Dana, right?" He asked.

She tensed for a moment before nodding. "Like I said some people aren't mature enough to deal."

An awkward silence stretched out between them, and Nate believed it was because he brought up Dana. He wanted to know how Ella felt about his relationship with his ex. He wanted to know if she was different than other girls. He frowned as the silence continued. Apparently, his relationship with Dana weirded her out too.

"What girls are you wanting to look at you?" Ella asked stiffly. There was a little bite to the way she said 'girls' and Nate gave her a strange look.

"I don't know, just…girls."

"Girls like…Caitlyn?"

He laughed. "What? Caitlyn?"

Ella bit her bottom lip and continued nervously as she shoved the three outfits inside of the garment bag. "Well, you two have a lot in common, and you ask her opinion on your music all the time, and—"

"Ella, there's nothing going between Caitlyn and myself."

"You're sure? Because—"

He took a step closer to her. "Positive."

"What about Peggy? Is she one of the 'girls' you want looking at you?"

He hid a smirk with his hand. He could see where this was going. He removed his hand to speak. "Peggy's nice and very talented but I can't say there's any spark there at all."

Ella nodded, but he knew she wasn't finished. "And Tess?"

Nate laughed again. "Tess? You do realize I would probably kill her right?"

"But you have to admit she's pretty, and talented, and ambitious, and—"

"High maintenance," He added. "Not my type. I'm no where near patient enough to deal with Tess Tyler."

"Well I think we've just run out of the girls that you actually know. Unless there's some random new girl that you spotted across the room…or the lake or something," Ella said as she started to gather her things again. Nate reached out a hand and stopped her.

"No, I believe there's one person you forgot."

He heard a tiny gasp escape her lips as she stared at his hand on top of hers. "There is?"

He nodded. "You forgot to include yourself."

"Well, of course I didn't include mys—"

"Ask me," He told her.

"What?"

"Ask me if I want you to 'look' at me."

"Nate—"

"I'm not letting you leave until you ask me."

She gulped nervously and blushed. "What about me, Nate? What do you think of me?"

"What do I think of Ella Pador? Well, I think she's beautiful, talented, and ambitious just like a lot of girls here at camp, but she's got a little something extra," He said as he pried her hand off of her tote bag and held it in his own.

"And what's that?" Ella asked with a shaky breath.

"A little piece of my heart, I think."

Ella smiled brightly at him. "Wow, what a line."

"Did it work?" He asked with a small smile.

Ella laughed and nodded. "It did."

"Good," He said as he closed the space between them. "Because it's true."

Suddenly Ella felt his lips on her own. She smiled against his lips before responding to the kiss. Her tote fell to the floor and the garment bag slipped from her hands as Nate wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Her hands instinctively worked their way up and sank into his curls. They slowly pulled apart, but kept their arms around each other. As the dawn sunlight began to stream lightly through the windows Ella pressed her forehead to Nate's.

"There's no way I'm going to get any sleep now," She told him with a grin.

He chuckled and held onto her tighter. "Good, cause I don't really feel like letting you go right now."

Thanks to Sweetgalsab for all her help! :)

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

~angellwings