Title- Flutter by, butterfly…

Author- a2.MI.Pride

Fandom/Pairing- High School Musical/Jelsi

Rating- K+

Summary- One-shot. He loved her, but he had to let her go… For both their sakes.

Disclaimer- All I own is the story.

Notes- Bittersweet kinda one-shot. This story is probably the one that came most easily to me, and it's one of my faves. Dedicated to the guy who's been the only one to truly capture this butterfly.

.o.O.o.

Kelsi was, in every way, a butterfly. His butterfly. Everything from her shy, flighty nature and her fragile beauty to her delicate butterfly kisses made him realize this. And, oh, Jason loved butterflies.

He was walking down the dark, empty hallways. Basketball practice had ended a while ago. Usually, he would've walked home with his friends, but not today. He had to clear out his locker today. And he would see them all later, to say goodbye.

He walked more slowly than ever, taking in the hallway, memories from each place surfacing in his mind. There, next to the chemistry lab, they had told their friends how they had gotten together two days before. And, in front of the doors to the auditorium, was where they used to meet up every morning. And to the right of those doors, in a forgotten corner where the wall receded, he would pull her in and kiss her hello because she didn't approve of PDA. Now he was walking past her locker, a place he would often pause by to slip a note in through the ventilation slots. It all seemed so long ago. Only one thing hadn't changed. The music room, where he would always find her curled up on the tuba cases writing, or sitting at the piano, lost in her own world.

He reached the front doors and pushed them open. Outside the air was heavy and wet and the sky was filling with clouds. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket, he began to walk down the pathway across the school's front yard. He strode quickly down the sidewalk, pausing under the old oak tree at the very edge of the school property. He gazed up at the thick, rugged bark of the tree's trunk and ran his fingers over the many carved inscriptions sprinkled over it. TB + GM 4 life; SHARPAY hearts Z and his cookies; Chaddy + Tay-Tay; JC & KN…

After caressing the last pair of initials, he stepped back and continued to walk. Now, in the distance, he could hear the faint rumblings of thunder. Here, he'd have to turn right to get to his house. Instead, he turned left. A while down this path, he stopped to pick a violet-blue flower: a butterfly pea blossom. He carefully slipped it into his pocket and quickened his pace.

Now he stood just a hundred yards away from her doorway. The windows of her house were mostly dark and it looked empty. He turned, looking for her parents' car. Then, the sound of a door opening came from behind him. Swiftly, he circled back and saw her standing on her porch, soft blue eyes looking curiously at him.

"What…?" Her half-question faded away. A drop of wetness rolled down the side of his face. He looked up and saw that it had started to rain. He looked back at her and spread his arms.

"Dance with me." He half-shouted over the rumbling thunder, smiling. She walked to him, hesitant. When she was standing in front of him, he shrugged off his backpack and took her hands, drawing her close. "Dance."

He spun her away, watching as she twirled and stepped. He touched her briefly, lightly, afraid that if he touched her too tightly, he would crush her. But he touched her often, afraid that she would fly away.

She spun, skipped, leapt, her somber, curious expression soon fading into a bright smile. She danced her flighty, delicate dance to the rhythm of the rain and thunder, illuminated by flashes of lightning. She laughed as she danced with him and tilted her head back to feel the rain.

Again, he drew close to her. She was soaking, as he must be. The raindrops rolled down her face and body as she stood, eyes closed. He raised a hand to her hair and tucked the flower he'd been careful not to crush behind her ear. Slowly, she opened her stain-glass eyes and looked back at him, a smile playing around her lips. Those eyes asked the question she didn't voice.

He lowered his gaze to his feet, dropping his hand.

"My dad… He finally got offered a good job, on that he'll actually like." He paused. "We're moving to England in a week. I won't be coming back, so today was my last day at school. Kels…" He looked back up into her eyes. "I don't think we should see each other after today."

There was no expression, no emotion in her eyes. After a while, "We could make it work. Long-distance—"

"No. Kelsi," he interrupted her. "It wouldn't work. We can't do long-distance. Not how we are now."

She didn't protest.

He smiled gently. "We were good together. They said we were, and we thought we were. But it's not there anymore. We've grown apart." His voice softened. "Do you remember it? How much time we spent together? All the note passing? The secret kisses and handholding?" She nodded slowly. "And now we're both too busy; too different. I can't even remember the last time we did something alone like this."

She looked down quickly, breaking their gaze.

"But it's okay." He forced himself not to hug her. Not yet. "I learned so much from you, and the memories we made aren't ones I'll be forgetting in this lifetime." He hesitated. "But maybe it's time to let go. Before it hurts anymore."

She was still frozen in the same position. Gently, he took her hands, now icy cold, and pulled her up to her door so she wouldn't get any wetter. He put his hand under her chin and tilted her head up so she would meet his eyes. She grasped the hand covering hers tightly. He put his other hand on the back of her head and leaned down to kiss her. As they pulled away, he slipped a wet, crumpled piece of paper into her hand. Smiling sadly, he mouthed, "I love you, Kelsi Nielsen" then turned his back to her and walked away.

She was left standing on her porch, watching in silence, as the first by she'd ever loved slung his backpack back onto his shoulder and strode off in the rain.

She stood for minutes even after he'd left her sight. Finally, she turned around and stepped into her house. All of the sudden, she felt so lonely. Still in a daze, she held up the note he'd slipped her. Her cold eyes scanned the words he'd written on it. The room was suddenly very blurry. She put the sodden piece of paper down on the table beside her door and laid the violet flower that had fallen from her hair down on top of it, and then turned and left the room.

She never looked at his note again, but the words stayed with her and found its way into her songs.

"Flutter by, my butterfly. Maybe it's time we both fly away."

.o.O.o.

A/N: Thanks a million to xFreaky Piccolo Girlx, larabaybee, zoe.xo.LiFE, HSMxPiratesoftheCaribbeanxHSM, XxTinkyBlondieBellxX, Amalta, HSMandChelseaFCfan, Rizmu, xXxzanessa-jiley-4lifexXx, and jtaveras for their reviews. My reviewers are the best. Anyway, I always reply to my reviews personally, but since FanFiction was kinda wonky when I posted my last chapter, I'm not sure if you guys got my reply. Realllly sorry if you didn't, but know that I loved reading them all and thanks again!