A/N: This oneshot is based off of a line from another one-chapter Camp Rock story by someone whom is greatly talented; however, I cannot find that oneshot or the author's name anywhere in my database, though I'm POSITIVE I saved both, so whoever owns this phrase, or something close to it, as the exact words have escaped me, please contact me: 37) Young: Shane would tell the media over and over again as many times as they needed to hear it; age was no question when it came to Mitchie Torres.
Disclaimer: Camp Rock and anything associated with it is the property of Disney, and I have nothing to do with, nor do I own, anything of the sort.
Ethics and Standards
Not one of them would listen, not a single one. No matter how many press conferences he held, even with Mitchie right beside him, it all seemed futile.
Shane didn't give up; he swore he'd keep fighting until someone believed this was real. If only one person finally understood, just one, he'd take that; if that would be all the support they'd receive, he could live with that.
Why? Such a simple answer for such a simple question: He loved Mitchie Torres. She would tightly, hopefully, nervously grasp his hand in hers during the press's 'field days', praying along with him that someone would, after long last, accept them.
What was so horrible about their relationship, you ask? To be thoroughly truthful, nothing at all, if all anyone cared about was the love between the two adolescents, and that aspect was more apparent than any other.
Except the one that rapidly became their worst nightmare, the one the media adamantly refused to let slide: Age.
Shane Gray, lead singer of Connect Three, currently the top-of-the-charts rock band worldwide, was seventeen-almost-eighteen, while Mitchie Torres, only child of hardware store and 'Connie's Catering' business owners Connie and Steve Torres, as well as being an aspiring musician and performer, was fifteen-almost-sixteen.
No big deal, right? Wrong.
Apparently, being separated in age by two years and five months sends a warped message to the paparazzi, and when that happens, they won't get off your back. Even after seven months, neither Shane nor Mitchie had heard a single inkling of acceptance, but they hadn't yet given in.
There was another press conference scheduled today, but this time, it was personal. This time, Shane had made sure that every news station and tabloid/magazine's top reporters were present, each assuring him they would truthfully print and broadcast the event live.
Backstage, behind all of the eagerly nosy interviewers and anxious photographers, Shane waited with Mitchie, Nate, and Jason.
He'd been through approximately two hundred and ten days of the same old story, hearing and refuting the same old abuse, but that didn't mean he wasn't scared.
It appeared, however, that Mitchie was even more frightened than he was, what with her breaths being broken and shaky as her heart beat furiously, and her legs were barely able to sustain her weight as she quaked.
She'd never been accustomed or introduced to the limelight prior to the revelation that she was dating rising star Shane Gray, and pushing these last several months into a different perspective, had never been so ready for or petrified of this day.
Nate and Jason stood on either side of them, their arms strung along the couple in the middle's shoulders, trying their best to add comfort and support before their best friend and closest thing either of them had to a sister were going to give it their all in this final attempt to display to the world what fueled their hearts.
From across Shane and Mitchie, who were holding hands in the midst of the 'good luck' circle, Nate gazed at Jason, he staring back just as solemnly, neither having to speak in words the things their eyes depicted clearly enough. They were afraid for them, too; if the world hadn't believed in them after so long, they worried even this enormous gathering may not succeed.
Nonetheless, when Connect Three's manager, who was almost impossibly fond of Mitchie, announced the young Gray and Torres, the pair departed from the safeguard and answered the call of their harts, the busy body and free spirit watching in hopeful silence.
Mitchie's hand was laced with Shane's; their palms were sweaty and trembling, obviously portraying how terrified each was feeling. Shane sat directly on the left-middle seat at the table, Mitchie taking the right, still clutching each other's hand as they settled them on the white tablecloth.
Before adjusting the microphone in front of him, Shane glanced at Mitchie and soothingly squeezed her hand as she breathed deeply and exhaled shakily. She squeezed back harder, closing her eyes and opening them slowly in an attempt to calm down and offer assurance at the same time. They smiled weakly at each other, and when Mitchie nodded to communicate she was ready, Shane pulled the microphone to where was proper and came to do as he had come.
"As all of you know, exactly seven months ago today, I announced to the world that I was dating fifteen-year-old Mitchie Torres, while I myself was seventeen, making us two years and five months apart. Since then, there has been an inexcusable amount of public fire surrounding our relationship, and it all resulted because of an age gap. I'm here today saying it has to end.
"I'd like to meet the first guy to fall in love and ask him if he and the woman he cherished were ever shunned as we are now. I imagine the answer would be an undaunted 'yes' because it was absolutely new and unheard of in that time, but not this one.
"There are people who marry with twenty-four years between them, and they are soon faded into the background once again, perhaps forever, never a second wasted on their ages. I'm not sure if what you have against us has to do with our history together, contrasting backgrounds, or even because of Connect Three's fame, but the bullfighting has to stop.
"You may not approve of us, but whether you like it or not, I'm going to love Mitchie with all of my heart for as long as time allows! Nothing's going to change that, much less criticism from all over the globe, and most definitely not an age difference.
"We met at a summer camp, yes, but while there, she transformed me from a self-centered jerk to someone who cares; she helped me find my heart again, the real me, with whom I'd lost touch when I thought both my talents and I were worthless.
"She revived my passion for music, which brought all of you and your kids music loved; would you really let a birth gap as small as ours ruin all of that? If so, I'd call you crazy." He laughed quickly before turning serious again, his voice sounding weary.
"Honestly, I can't see where you are coming from in this situation. I don't believe love has anything to do with age, and I know Mitchie agrees with me," He turned his head to her and she nodded, joyous tears streaming down her face, which was adorned with a brilliant smile. "Love is love, and no matter what happens, I know that what Mitchie and I have will never just disappear. We're going to love each other, and that's all I have to say."
Returning the microphone to its starting position, Shane sat down, breathing an enormous sigh of relief, Mitchie taking his hand and hugging him tightly around the neck in wishfully grateful congratulations, he returning it instantaneously.
When they pulled apart, they finally turned to observe the crowd's reaction, and they, in turn, were stunned by immense, total silence. Even the paparazzi couldn't utter a single inquisition.
What had them even more shocked was the fact that nearly every being in the room was staring at them, eyes glistening as the tears traveled in multitudes down each face, both male and female.
Finally, their faces revealed shameful apology, along with what they'd been hoping to achieve since that fatal announcement: acknowledgment and acceptance.
Abruptly, the silence was broken by a loud, veracious series of claps in succession, and the source was found when an elderly man in the row furthest from the table stood and continued his jolly noise, tears flooding his face.
This act, complete with waterworks, was followed by a middle-aged woman and a cameraman mounting his equipment on his tripod in order to pursue the pattern, and within seconds, the entire studio was up and clapping, occasionally pausing to dab their more-than-damp faces.
Shane and Mitchie slowly stood from their seats, too amazed to speak and deafened by the noise, so much so that Mitchie brought a hand up to her mouth to cover her shock, salt water droplets swiftly coursing down her cheeks before swerving directions when coming into contact with her hand.
At the commotion, Nate, Jason, and Halley, Connect Three's manager, made their way from backstage to the couple, who were still rendered speechless by the cheers they feared they'd never hear.
Unexpectedly, as if broken from a trance, Shane let out a cry of delight as he picked Mitchie up by her waist and spun her around in the air, both of them laughing and crying due to their long-awaited victory. As he brought her down to touch the floor, she lunged at him, hugging him so lovingly it sparked more tears to traverse down his face, he embracing her back just as securely.
They pulled away after a long while, gazing into each other's eyes and affectionately locking their hands onto the other's lower arms, beaming just as they had at Final Jam all those months ago.
The two heard the cheers, whistles, and heartfelt sobs of the onlookers, felt the hugs they were receiving from Nate, Jason, and Halley, particularly Jason, but all of that faded away as their love took hold.
Now, here, finally in a world where they were accepted as two people in love, they felt complete. Here, finally, they could be together without worry or the need to guard themselves against insults and uncertainty, against anything anymore. Here, finally, was where their hearts came into play.