So this is the sequel to 'The Missing Piece of Me'. You might want to read that story first if you haven't already... you don't have to, but this story would make more sense if you did.

I hope you like it!

3 Nikki

Catch Me: Chapter 1

The morning dawned bright and clear. I was still half asleep, lost in a wonderful dream in which Shane and I were together. There was no way that I wanted to get up yet.

"Miiitchie," I heard a voice calling.

"Mmm?"

"Wake up! It's the last day of camp." That was Caitlyn's voice.

"No," I mumbled, rolling over and burying my head in my pillows. "Don't want to."

I heard Caitlyn sight and flounce out of the cabin. "Well, don't get up then!" The door banged behind her. I closed my eyes again – peace at last.

Then the door opened again. I groaned mentally. Who was it this time? I heard footsteps coming closer and then they stopped at the top of my bed.

"Mitchie." My eyes popped open. THAT was not Caitlyn's voice. Standing beside my bed was Shane, a laughing grin on his face, eyes twinkling merrily. "Morning sleepyhead."

I grinned back and sat up, pulling the covers around me and leaned back against the pillows. "So how are you this morning?" Shane asked sitting down next to me. He bent down and kissed me gently on the cheek. "I didn't tire you out too much last night, did I?"

"No. I'm a little tired, but other than that I feel fine."

"Good," Shane smiled, satisfied. "Will you be ready to get up soon? I'm just on my way to breakfast."

"Oh you go ahead. I'm don't really feel like anything to eat right now."

"You sure?"

"Positive," I said firmly.

"Well okay. I'll bring something back in case you're feeling hungry later."

"Thanks," I smiled at Shane and he squeezed my hand before getting up.

"I'll see you in a little while."

I lifted my hand and smiled. "Later." The door closed and I lay back, still smiling. It wasn't a dream! Truthfully, I was feeling fine, but I wanted to stay in bed a little longer so that I could think about everything that had happened over the past few days.

First there was the shock of finding Shane and Tess kissing (or rather, what looked like it) beside the lake. I shook my head ruefully. How could I be so foolish as to believe that Shane had really wanted anything to do with that? Then I had stupidly gone out on the lake in a canoe despite the fact that there was a storm coming in. Shane had come after me and had eventually found me unconscious on the other side of the lake, having been washed in after the canoe had capsized.

Tears came to my eyes as I thought about how he had carried me all the way back to camp, even though he was wet and exhausted. I had had to spend a night in hospital because I was hypothermic. They let me come home on Monday afternoon and I spent the week quietly in my cabin recovering.

I started to smile again as I thought about last night. Because I had not been allowed out of the cabin, my new friend Caitlyn and I had spent the week polishing off a song for me to sing at Final Jam last night. When I had got up to sing Shane had realized that I was the one he had been looking for all summer and he had come on stage and sung with me. Later that night we had walked down to the lake and Shane had told me that he had loved me all his life, but had only just realized it when he thought I was going to die a week earlier.

I smiled again. So I had got my happy ending. I got up slowly out of bed, flinching slightly as I bumped against the dresser – I was still sore and bruised. I forgot quickly though and began to sing happily as I got ready for the day. This truly had been the best summer of my life.

I was dressed and sitting at the window seat when there was another knock at the door. "Come in."

There was a shuffling noise and then the door opened slowly. Shane came in holding a tray. There was orange juice, toast, eggs and a plate of fresh fruit – grapes, oranges, rock melon, pineapple and banana.

I laughed. "Goodness! How hungry did you think I was?"

"Hungrier than you thought you were obviously!" Shane laughed too and sat down with me. He held the tray out and I put it on my lap, starting to nibble at the grapes.

"So my sweet, summer's almost over." Shane picked up my hand.

"I know, in only a couple of hours we'll be leaving."

"Yes," Shane's face sobered. "And I'm afraid I have some bad news."

I looked up from the grapes. "What is it?"

"Well, you know how we have a new album coming out next week?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm going to have to go back to the city and stay there for the next two or three weeks. I have so many interviews and TV appearances that I really don't think that I'll get a chance to come and see you. I'm so sorry," he said, seeing the look on my face.

"It's okay," I replied, trying to be brave.

Shane looked at me.

"Really, it is." I nodded unconvincingly. Shane just continued to look at me. I looked down, but he put his finger under my chin and lifted my face so that I was looking at him. My eyes filled with tears when I saw the tender look in his eyes, "Really," I whispered.

"It's okay, you don't have to be brave," Shane whispered back bringing his face close to mine so that our foreheads were touching lightly.

I stifled a sob. Shane brought his hand up to my face and kissed my cheek where a tear had rolled down. "I," he paused and kissed my other cheek. "Am," another kiss. "Going. To. Miss. You. So. Much." Each word was punctuated with a kiss.

I buried my face in his chest. "I don't want you to go away."

"I know sweet, I don't want to go away either. But it's just the way things have to be right now." He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. After a while he pulled back and took my face in his hands again, "Shhh, we're going to be okay," he murmured. He caressed my face lightly and then brought his lips to mine, gently kissing me. Tears were still rolling down my face as I brought my hands up to his neck, letting him kiss the pain away. He didn't pull back for several minutes.

When he finally did he looked me at me kindly. "I'm going to tell you what though."

"Hmm?" I murmured, still with my head on his chest.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Will you," Shane looked slightly bashful, " I mean would you like to go on a date with me when I get back?"

I smiled, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He laughed at my enthusiasm. "So, in three weeks time it's your birthday. How about if I come back and pick you up about 5 or so and we go into the city."

"Okay, where are we going?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

I elbowed him in the ribs, "Jerk!"

He smirked, "You know you love it."

I grinned back, "Yeah, I guess I do."

He laughed too and then glanced down at his watch. "Well, my darlin' I better get packing as it will be time to leave in only a couple of hours."

"You will come back and see me before you leave won't you?"

"Of course." He kissed my forehead and then got up. I got up too and stood at the door as he loped off towards his cabin. Just before he got out of sight he turned back and winked at me, raising his hand and kissing it towards me. I giggled and waved back before sitting down to pull on some sandals so that I could go and look for Caitlyn.

I found her in the kitchen helping Mom pack everything up. She was at the sink scrubbing some pots when she looked up and saw me, "Mitch!" she said, a grin lighting up her pretty face. "You're up!" She came over and gave me a soapy hug, dripping dirty water all over the floor. I grinned and hugged her back.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, no, honey," Mom cut in. "Just take it easy."

I groaned, "Mom, you don't need to baby me – I feel fine."

"Well, okay," she looked somewhat doubtful. "How about you finish the dishes off with Caitlyn and then we can get some of the guys to help us take everything out to the van."

"Sure." I slipped on an apron so my clothes wouldn't get wet and went to stand by Caitlyn at the sink. She turned and saw that Mom was just heading towards the door, her arms filled with boxes.

Caitlyn leant towards me and whispered, "So how'd it go last night?" She had already been asleep when I had got back from the lake after my walk with Shane after Final Jam.

I giggled, "Well…" I paused and Caitlyn looked at me.

"What? What? Tell me everything!"

I glanced at her and said slowly, "Well, he kinda told me he loved me."

Caitlyn was grinning madly. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed and hugged me, before pulling back quickly, "What did you say?"

"I kinda told him I loved him too and then… then we kinda kissed." I finished in a rush.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!" Caitlyn grabbed me again and I laughed, dancing around the kitchen with her, soapy water flying everywhere.

We were still laughing when Mom came back into the kitchen. She smiled at us, "What are you two so excited about?"

I looked and Caitlyn and Caitlyn looked at me. "Well…" I began and then stopped. I looked at Caitlyn again and she raised her eyebrows at me. I nodded.

"What Mitchie's trying to say Mrs Torres is that Shane and Mitchie are kinda an item."

Mom looked at me. "Really Mitchie?"

I nodded, not quite sure how she would take it. Any doubts that were in my mind were immediately swept away when she smiled broadly. She came over to hug me, "That's wonderful honey." She pulled back and looked me full in the face. "It's about time he asked you out anyway. A blind man could have seen that he's liked you for years."

I blushed, but Caitlyn nodded in agreement. "It's true Mitchie."

I nodded slowly, "Yes, I guess so. Only he said that he never realized it until I was sick."

Mom smiled at me again, "Well, I'm proud of you hon. You've really grown up a lot this summer."

* * *

The rest of the day fairly flew by as we finished packing up. I barely saw Shane as he was busying getting things ready to go back to the city. Nate and Jason had come up for Final Jam last night so they too were packing up.

Finally the time came to say goodbye. Mom packed the last things into the van as I went to see Caitlyn. She lived in California and wasn't really close to her parents, so instead of coming to fetch her from camp they had sent a car with a driver to take her to the airport. From what I had heard, I had gathered that her parents were fairly wealthy.

When I saw the dark car pull up to the curb and the uniformed chauffeur climb out, I started over to see Caitlyn. She was standing on the curb, wearing a green Camp Rock shirt along with some skinny jeans. A matching green barrette held her light brown curls out of her eyes. She was laughing with the chauffeur as he put her bags into the car. When I got close she turned and smiled at me, holding out her arms. I hugged her tight. When we pulled back tears had come to both of our eyes. I was going to miss her so much. In just a few weeks she had become one of my best friends.

"Promise me you'll call me every day," I said looking at her.

"Promise." She grinned at me.

I was confused, "What are you so happy about?"

"Oh nothing."

"Well," I said. "I guess I'll see you next summer?"

"Yes," she agreed, "Maybe even sooner."

"What?" Now I was even more confused.

"Well," she grinned impishly. "You never know what might happen."

I grinned back. Her cheerfulness was definitely contagious. "Okay, well I'll see you when I see you then!"

"It's a deal." She started to say something else but was interrupted by the chauffeur.

"Excuse me Miss Gellar, but it's time to go."

I elbowed her playfully, "Yes, Miss Gellar, time to go."

She shoved me back and grinned, "See ya Mitch." She got into the car.

"Yeah," I choked up, and just waved back. "Bye Cait."

I watched until the black car was out of sight and then headed over to the van. When I got there I stood looking around for Shane when I saw him come out of his cabin lugging a suitcase. He placed them in the trunk of the shiny black limo in the parking lot before coming over to me.

He took my hand and I looked up at him. "So this is it, huh?" I asked.

He smiled a bit sadly, "It's only for a few weeks Mitch." He paused, his eyes suddenly looking a bit unfocused, "Shall we go for one more walk? For old time's sake?"

"Of course."

I intertwined my fingers with his and we started towards the lake. When we got there we stood facing the water, hand in hand. Eventually Shane broke the silence.

"I used to love this place so much when I was younger."

"It was where you got discovered wasn't it?" I said softly.

"Yes," he looked at me. "But then it just became a symbol of a dream that didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. And I couldn't stand coming back here because it made me remember all I had lost." He looked back out to the lake.

"It's not that like anymore though, is it?" I asked.

A smile came to his face and he looked down at me. "No. You've given me a reason to love it again."

I blushed and he grinned. "Truly Mitchie." He looked at his watch. "Come on, we better get back or your Mom will get impatient."

I leaned my head on his shoulder, "I don't want to leave here. This has been the best summer of my life."

He smiled, "Mine too Mitchie." He put his arm around my shoulder and we walked back to the van. When we got there he took off his jacket. "Look after this for me will you?" he said, wrapping it around my shoulders. I smiled back, tears coming to my eyes once again.

"Mitchie." That was Mom's voice – she wanted to leave now.

"Coming Mom," I called back, my eyes still locked with Shane's.

He leaned down and kissed me gently. "I miss you already," he murmured, stroking my hair back and giving me one final kiss.

Tears spilled down my cheeks as I turned towards the van. "See you in a few weeks." I got into the van and wound down the window. Shane grasped my hand through the open window. "Love you Mitch."

Mom started the van up and Shane let go of my hand as we started to move. I wound the window up and pressed my face against the glass. "Love you too," I mouthed. He smiled and lifted a hand in a final goodbye.

I kept my face against the glass until camp was long out of sight. Mom glanced at me once we had been driving for a few minutes. "You okay hon?"

"Yes," I said softly.

She looked at me sympathetically. "You've had a great summer haven't you?"

"Yes, the best ever."

"It won't be long 'til you see him again honey."

"I know, it just feels like forever right now."

She patted my knee and then turned her attention back to driving. I curled up in the corner of the seat, pulling Shane's jacket tighter around me. I buried my face in the collar. It smelled like him.

I fell asleep like that and by the time I woke up the sun was just beginning to set. "We're almost home Mitchie," Mom said quietly rousing me. I opened my eyes and she smiled at me. "How are you feeling?"

I smiled back, "Fine thanks, I –"

I was stopped by the sound of my phone beeping. I quickly opened my purse and flipped my phone open to read the message.

In NY – sooo lonely without you.

-S

I smiled and quickly typed a reply.

Almost home. Missing you already.

-M 3

The reply came back quickly.

I miss you too. Have radio interviews this evening but will call tomorrow.

-S

I sighed. I missed the sound of his voice and tomorrow felt like an eternity away. I had to try and be patient though.

Can't wait. Talk to you then. Goodnight.

-M

Just before I put my phone away there was one final message.

Sweet dreams. Sending you hugs and kisses. 3

-S

I smiled at this and just as I looked up from my phone we pulled into the driveway. "We're home!" Mom announced happily.

I quickly jumped out of the van and ran towards the front door. Before I got there it opened and there was Dad, standing in the doorway.

"Daddy!" I squealed, running up and throwing my arms around him. He picked me up and spun me around.

"Mitchie! I'm so glad you're alright!" Dad had been away on business so he had been unable to come and see me after I had gotten sick.

"So am I!" I giggled. He smiled at me and put me down before kissing Mom.

"How was camp?" he asked me.

"Great great great!"

"Good, now I'm sure you're tired from camp, so it's probably best if you have an early night okay?"

"Okay dad."

"And there just might be a surprise for you when you wake up in the morning."

"Really?" I asked, surprised. What could it be?

Mom grinned, "Yep. But we're not giving you any clues."

I pretended to pout, but then smiled. I was in too good a mood to be mad at them for long! I gave them each a hug before heading up to bed. Once I was changed into my pajamas I stood at the window looking out at the Grey's house and thinking about everything. So much had changed in just a few days.

I got into bed, still thinking about Shane. It truly had been the best summer of my life. I smiled as I thought about it and rolled over, snuggling into my pillows. It was great to be home, I thought, dreamily as I started to drift off.

Just before I was completely asleep a thought popped into my tired brain. What on earth could Mom and Dad's surprise be?

Please review and tell me what you thought!

Love you guys. :D