Summary: It was hard for him. It was harder for her. Why couldn't he just understand she was doing it for him? Why couldn't she just understand that she was killing him by doing it? Shane x Mitchie
"MICHELLE ELIZABETH TORRES!"
That was the greeting Michelle Torres, otherwise known as Mitchie Torres, received from her best friend, Caitlyn Geller, on a beautiful Saturday morning.
"Mitchie! Wake up! School starts in an hour!" Caitlyn exclaimed. Mitchie yelped as she shot out of bed and looked at the time. She groaned and then glared at a laughing Caitlyn.
"I cannot believe you fell for that!" Caitlyn snorted.
"Caitlyn! It's Saturday! Don't you have anywhere to be?"
"Where would I be? I always come here on Saturday!"
"Not since you started dating a certain Nathaniel Matthew Grey," Mitchie pointed out. Caitlyn rolled her eyes.
"Well, right now, Nate is busy trying to calm Shane down," Caitlyn said pointedly, looking sharply at her best friend. Mitchie avoided eye contact as she walked out of her room and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. Caitlyn let out a frustrated sigh as she followed Mitchie.
"Mitchie," Caitlyn called her best friend. Mitchie ignored her as she took a plate and sat down.
"Mitchie?" Mitchie put her bread in the toaster and toasted it. She then took the bottle of jam, still ignoring her best friend.
"Mitchie Torres," Caitlyn called in a warning tone. Still ignoring her, Mitchie turned on the TV. Caitlyn slammed her purse on the table.
"Alright, that's it! I'm calling in the reinforcements!" she screamed dramatically as she called in the 'reinforcements'. Mitchie rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what Caitlyn was talking about and continued watching a re-run of Barney and Friends, the only show in the world that could make her enjoy feeling like a kid and being care-free again.
"So, how long has he been like that, again?"
"Since yesterday," Nate replied his older brother, Jason, as he peeked at his other older brother Shane. Shane was currently having Ben and Jerry's ice-cream for breakfast. Nate had never seen Shane look so depressed. Sure, Shane had been through break-ups before but none of them had been worse than this one. His hair was messy, his eyes were red and puffy as though he had been crying and he was holding a picture of him and Mitchie.
"He really loved her, didn't he?" Jason asked sadly. Nate nodded and walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Nate asked as sat down opposite Shane and Jason sat beside the two of them.
"I'm doing great, Nate. I feel depressed. The love of my life just broke up with me and I don't even know why and I think this ice-cream's expired. So, yeah, Nate, life's just great," Shane hissed sarcastically. Nate rolled his eyes, having been used to his brother's sarcasm. Jason, however, looked genuinely confused.
"If the ice-cream's expired, then why are you eating it?" he asked, taking the bowl away from Shane and then dumping it into the bin.
"Jason, you are so – Why were you eating expired ice-cream?" Nate directed his attention to Shane. It did not seem as though Shane heard him though as he began looking at the picture again.
"I just don't get it! What did I do wrong?" he said quietly as tears came to his eyes and all Nate and Jason could do was shrug at each other.
"MICHELLE ELIZABETH TORRES!"
"What is it with you people and screaming my name?" Mitchie grumbled in an annoyed tone and then scooped a spoonful of ice-cream and stuffed it into her mouth.
"Gee, I don't know. What is it with you and Ben and Jerry's?" Tess Tyler mimicked her best friends tone as she grabbed the ice-cream away from Mitchie. After Tess had apologized to Mitchie three years ago after Final Jam at Camp Rock, the two had surprisingly grew closer and shared a close friendship.
"Teeeessssss! It's comfort food! I need it!" Mitchie whined as she struggled to get her ice-cream back. Tess shook her head and handed the tub of ice-cream to Caitlyn who took it to the kitchen.
"Well, you wouldn't need comfort food if you hadn't broken up with Shane. Why did you break up with him anyway? You two were so in love. Scratch that. You two are so in love!" Tess exclaimed as Caitlyn entered the room, this time with a piece of paper in her hands.
"Mitchie? Why was there a hospital bill on the counter with your name on it?" Caitlyn asked quietly but it was loud enough for Tess and Mitchie to hear. Tess turned to Mitchie, confused, as Mitchie suddenly found her feet the most interesting things in the world.
"Mitchie?"
Meanwhile, an hour before in the Grey mansion…
"Well, it looks like the famous couple Smitchie has officially broken up. Pictures came in yesterday of Mitchie Torres returning the promise ring that had been given to her by her boyfriend of two years, Shane Grey. It seems that this break-up has apparently been the hottest gossip topic right now in the music industry. We're not really sure what the cause for the break-up is but we sure are going to find out so stay tuned for more details of the break-up of one of Hollywood's hottest couple."
Nate grabbed the remote control from his depressed brother and turned off the television.
"Hey! I was watching that!" Shane glared at him.
"Why? It's just making you more depressed than you already are. If that's even possible," Nate said. Shane huffed as Nate rolled his eyes, looking at Jason for support.
"Ouh! Ouh! I know what can cheer all of us up!" Jason exclaimed.
"Please don't say birdhouse, please don't say birdhouse," Nate muttered.
"Let's make a birdhouse!"
"Mitchie and I first kissed when we were making a birdhouse for Jason," Shane whispered before burying his head in his hands. Nate slapped his forehead and glared at his oldest brother.
"Way to go, Jason," he put the remote control down. Immediately, Shane turned onto Hot Tunes again. Nate let out a frustrated sigh and shrugged before joining his two older brothers on the couch.
"Welcome back. Well, apparently, Torres, who turned eighteen two months ago had been seen in the San Francisco General Hospital a week before she had broken up with Shane Grey. Pictures of her leaving the hospital showed that her mother, Connie Torres, and her looked like they had been crying. Could something be wrong with one of our favourite singers? She was known to be diagnosed with cancer last year but she had been cured of it. There are apparently lots of rumors of Mitchie being pregnant going on. However, information on Mitchie going to the hospital is restricted only to her family."
Shane's jaw dropped as he listened to the new piece of news. Mitchie had gone to the hospital? Why hadn't she told him? Was she really pregnant? If she was, then it would mean that she was cheating on him because they had never done anything more than a make-out session before. No, of course not! How could he even think that? Mitchie loved him. He could tell that the break-up hurt her too.
"Whoa, dude! You got Mitchie PREGNANT?! WHAT ABOUT YOUR PURITY RING? ARE YOU INSANE?" Jason screamed. Shane snapped out of his daze and rolled his eyes, constantly being used to his brother jumping to conclusions. Nate was still absorbing the information. Always being the calmer one out of the three of them, despite what people thought of him, Nate silently waited for Shane's explanation.
"Dude! Mitchie's not pregnant! We never did it! And she couldn't have cheated on me! I mean, think about it. Would Mitchie really cheat on me? She loves me dude. She wouldn't do that."
"I guess you're right. But then, why was she at the hospital? And why was she crying with her mother?" Nate asked, clearly confused.
"That's the part I don't get. Wait a minute. The week before she broke up with me, I knew something was wrong! I mean, whenever I called her, her voice sounded shaky like she was crying and she never wished me luck for my performances. You think the visit to the hospital has got something to do with it?" Shane asked Jason. Jason nodded, seriously thinking about something for the first time in his life.
"I think that visit has got everything to do with your break-up, Shane."
"Jason, get the car. We're going to Mitchie's whether she wants to see me or not."
"Why didn't you tell us earlier, Mitchie?" Caitlyn whispered as she felt hot tears in her eyes. Tess was still in shock as she stared at the brunette.
"I just found out last week, Cait. I needed time to think. Time for myself. I had to accept that I have to leave my friend and family behind. I had to accept that Shane and I may never get married and have our own kids like we plan to one day. I had to accept the fact that I only have two years to live. That my cancer is back and it's more serious than before," Mitchie's voice croaked, letting he tears to stream down her cheek freely.
Tess choked back a sob as she hugged her friend, Caitlyn joining in soon after, all three of them holding on to each other and crying their hearts out. Mitchie because she was afraid of losing her life, Caitlyn and Tess, because they were afraid for their friend. Mitchie had always been there for them. Why her? She was always the most forgiving. Heck, she had forgiven Tess and the two soon became very close, surprising almost everyone with their friendship. Mitchie had been the one who brought Caitlyn and Nate together. She was the one who was trying to get Jason and Ella together. What were they going to do without her?
"Is that why you broke up with me?" a new, yet very familiar, voice asked, startling the girls as they looked at the living room entrance. There, in front of them, were the members of Connect Three, all of them not believing what they were hearing. Mitchie's eyes widened. How did they get in?
"The door was unlocked," Nate answered her unasked question. Mitchie gulped, focusing all her attention on Shane. She felt Tess and Caitlyn release her and watched as her ex-boyfriend walked closer and closer to her.
"Is it true? It's really back?" he asked quietly as he cupped her face. Too emotional to speak, Mitchie just nodded.
"Is that why –" Mitchie nodded to his unfinished question. Shane shook his head slowly at her stupidity and gently pressed his lips onto hers.
"I'll always be here for you, you know," he said. Mitchie shook her head and took his hands from her face and held it.
"Shane, I'll just be holding you back. No, listen," she raised her voice, knowing he was going to interrupt her and then continued, "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I'll always be grateful for everything you've done. But I can't be selfish, Shane. I need you to get used to life without me. I need you to move on."
"Well, what if I don't want to move on, Mitchie? What if I don't want to get used to life without you? Damn it, Mitchie, I almost lost you once, I'm not going lose you again! I'll get the best doctors to treat you. You'll be fine," he said fiercely, mad that she could even think that he'd be able to live without her.
"Shane, if my time is up, there's nothing you can do to stop it. I'm sorry, Shane, but we're over," she cried as she ran to her room and slammed the door, leaving behind a very broken-hearted Shane Grey. Shane felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to face Tess with Jason, Nate and Caitlyn by her side.
"Just give her some time, Shane," Tess advised.
"I just don't get it. She's letting you guys get closer to her but why not me?" he asked, breaking down again. He felt his brothers hugging him and cried harder.
"She's afraid that you might not be able to move on. Shane, think about it. She knows you too well and she knows you'll never move on from her. We're just her friends, she loves us, yes, but she loves you even more and she wants what best for you. Of course, she wants what's best for us too, but she knows we'll have each other but you won't have anyone after she… after she…" Caitlyn stopped, unable to continue as Nate got up and rubbed her back soothingly.
"So, you're saying she's sacrificing our love because she's afraid of how I'm going to cope without her after she's gone?" Shane's voice shook at the last word of his question. Caitlyn nodded.
"I need to clear my head." With that, Shane Grey walked out of the house, leaving behind his brothers and friends to feel helpless.
A/N: So, what do you guys think? Should I continue? Review!