Title: Tipping the Balance

Author Name: OneShotWonderment

Rating: PG

Warnings for: None

Notes:

- Takes place during the Smitchie lake scene.

- The first bold statement is a direct quote from the movie.

- The nurse/doctor thing is what we called the nurse when I went to camp.

Disclaimer:

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of OneShotWonderment. OneShotWonderment is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

"I take that back, you are a jerk." Mitchie joked back at him. It was weird how easy it was to joke with him. She wasn't very good around people. When Mitchie first met Tess she introduced herself twice and that was just Tess. Here she was in canoe with a pop superstar and she should be making blunders left and right. But she wasn't. Hence the weirdness. Shane grinned at her and in "retaliation" reached over the side of the small boat and splashed her with some lake water. She gave a little shriek as the cold water hit her and then laughed. He smiled. She had a beautiful laugh. She reached over the side, cupped her hand, and threw some water on him and laughed at his look of surprise.

"Oh, it's on." He declared and splashed her again. They fought like this for a couple of minutes before Mitchie decided she was going to finish it and be declared the winner. She leaned over the side of the little canoe with both hands so she could get as much water as possible.

"I wouldn't lean over so much. You could-" Shane started to warn her, but then the canoe tipped to the side dumping them out into the cold lake, and then flipping all the way over. A few second later Shane's head broke the surface thanks to his ability to swim and the assistance of his life vest.

"-tip the canoe over." He finished as he pushed his wet shaggy hair back out of his eyes. He turned and scanned the lake surface for Mitchie. He didn't see her anywhere. Certainly, she should've resurfaced by now, right? Fear gripped Shane when her head still failed to appear above water. He took a deep breath and dove under again. His eyes moved quickly around the surrounding water. Where was she?

There! She was dangling upside down from the canoe. Shane swam as quick as he could to the overturned canoe. He went above once he got there just for a second to pull in some much needed air and then went under again. Her left boot was caught under the seat in the canoe that she'd been sitting on. Not that it really matter. It appeared she was unconscious. He figured she must have hit her head on the side of the canoe when it turned. He grasped her shoe and yanked it. She was free! He grabbed her by the waist and dragged her to surface. He tried to ignore the fact she wasn't breathing. It won't do either of them any good if he started panicking now. He climbed out of the water and onto the grassy land just beside the dock. He quickly placed her on her back on the soft grass and placed two fingers on her pulse point. There was a faint pulse beneath the skin.

He'd have to remember to thank Jason for making the three of them get certified in First Aid. He carefully but quickly started through the steps. He tilted her head back and opened her mouth. He pinched her nose and sealed his lips to hers just like he'd been instructed. He breathed into her mouth twice and then pulled back. He looked down at her from his position kneeling on her left side. He waited the tense five seconds and then repeated the action.

Mitchie jerked up and coughed the water out of her lungs. After the first five coughs water stopped coming, but she continue to cough feeling as though water was still there. Shane moved so he was behind her and allowed her to lean back into him as she coughed. After the cough fits stopped she felt absolutely exhausted. Her eyes started to close.

"No! Mitchie, you can't sleep yet. You might have a concussion." Shane shouted and Mitchie jumped startled into being awake again. "We have to get you to the nurse. Do you think you can walk?" Mitchie tried to pull herself into a standing position, but found her muscles were all ache-y and much too tired to move. She fell back against him.

"Sorry." She replied and he gave her a light smile. She sounded so sleepy and he hoped she would get to sleep soon, but not before the nurse could get her checked out.

"I'll carry you, but you've got to promise me that you won't fall asleep, okay?" He asked and, without waiting for an answer, stood with her in his arms. She nodded.

"I need to talk to me, Mitchie, so I know you're keeping your promise." He told as he started to the nurse's station. It had never seemed that far away before so why was it so now?

"Okay," She yawned. "What do you want me to say?" She asked and blinked. She had to keep her promise. She looked up at his face. She must have really scared him back there. She had to keep it, but gosh was it hard. She was SO tired and it would be so easy to simply fall asleep in his arms. He was defiantly comfy. Yes, very comfy.

"Tell me about yourself. I hardly know anything about you." He replied careful not to jostle her as he stepped over a speed bump in the road that led into the camp.

"That's 'cause I'm trying to be mysterious." She replied in a serious voice and he laughed. She smiled slightly and blinked forcing her eyes open again.

"Let's see. What's to tell about me? I love to sing and I write my own songs." That was it. That was all there was to her life. "He must think I'm so lame." She thought miserably. A summer wind blew over them and they both shivered as it made them colder than they were before. She unintentionally snuggled closer to him in a vain attempt to get warmer.

"Really? How come I haven't heard you sing?" Shane pondered out loud. He sung in front of her more than any other single person (besides Nate and Jason). He even sung to her once. If singing was her craft why wasn't she belting it out with the others at the competitions? In his Camp Rock camper years, he certainly had.

"I'm a little intimidated. Everyone else here is just SO good at what they do." She blushed slightly. She hadn't meant to admit that to him. He nodded.

"Everyone here is good at what they do, but you have to be to get in here. So you have to be good at what you do too, Mitchie." He responded. The nurse's station grew larger and larger. The number of people looking at them grew as they walked as well. He ignored them. He had to keep her awake and get her to the nurse.

"I suppose, but it's still a little…" She trailed off unable to finish her sentence. He looked down at her quickly in fear she'd fallen asleep in the middle of her sentence. She smiled at him in reassurance and he turned his attention back to the trek.

"So, tell me something about the girl behind the singer." He really was curious. He just wanted to know her. There was something about her that attracted his attention. Something he couldn't put his finger on.

"Well…at school my homeroom class is in a closet" Mitchie felt stupid, why couldn't her life be exciting instead of boring?

"A closet really?"

"Yeah, it's really crowded there."

"It makes sense I guess. China is overpopulated."

"Yep. Overpopulated." Mitchie flinched when he mentioned China. She hated that lie. If there was any one she wanted to know the truth it was Shane. She couldn't tell him now though she was too deep in the lie. Who knows what he'd think if he found out the truth now. She didn't even know why she lied in the first place. Yeah, she wanted to be popular, but now she was popular for all the wrong reasons.

"Let's see…what else? I'm claustrophobic." She supplied knowing that he was going to more information to keep her awake with.

"Okay, so I won't lock you in a closet." He replied as if he'd been planning to do that all along. She laughed and then coughed again. It really hurt to do that.

"I appreciate it if you didn't."

He opened the door to the nurse's station with his foot. The receptionist stood and led the two to one of the two rooms in the little building. She gestured to the rubber bed with the paper cover and then departed saying that she'd go find the nurse/doctor. Once she was gone, Shane set Mitchie down on the bed. She started to lie down, but he placed his hand on her back and forced her to remain sitting. The danger of her falling asleep was considerably less if she were sitting upright. She yawned again and Shane could see she was about to fall asleep in seconds if he didn't do something.

Mitchie sat on the comfortable bed and fought to stay wake. Where the hell was the nurse/ doctor? In a few seconds, they'd be able to tell if she had concussion without a nurse/doctor. "You can't sleep. You promised, Shane, remember?" She thought. She blinked her eyes open again, but two seconds later they were closed again.

"I can't stay awake any longer." She informed her inner voice sternly.

"You have to. If you have concussion you could die."

"Well, then I'll be dead and won't know it." She replied snippily to her inner voice.

Shane saw her eyes and knew that she won't open them on her own this time. Desperate to keep her awake, he did the only thing he could think to do anymore. He moved so that he was sitting on the rubber bed next to her. He reached out and gently pulled her to face him. Slowly, he lowered his lips onto hers. He poured everything into the kiss, hoping to whoever was listening that this would keep her awake.

Mitchie's inner struggle was cut off by the feeling of his lips on hers. MMMMM…he tasted like icing. And lake water, but that didn't taste so yummy. Her lips buzzed with the delightful feelings kissing him caused her. She was all tingly and float-y. She realized he was probably waiting for some sort of response from her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and dragged herself closer to him. She put as much fever into this kiss as he was. The wonderful feelings this was causing in her delicious and she never wanted them to stop; never wanted the kiss to end. Logically, she knew that he was just kissing her to keep her awake, but she just wanted to pretend for a little while that he was kissing her of his own violation.

Shane relished in the fact she wrapped her arms around his neck because it meant she was as invested in this lip-lock as he was. He knew that after this kiss the chances of them kissing again were slim. Anymore kissing would lead to wanting to be in a relationship together, at least on his part. Which won't be so bad but it would change her life in a not so great way. People would treat her differently. He didn't want to ruin her life that way. He couldn't want a relationship with her. So he couldn't kiss her again. No matter how much he wanted to and god did he want to. So for now he'd have to settle for making this kiss last as long as possible and as meaningful as possible.

Mitchie shivered as the kiss continue. It puzzled her when he started shaking a little bit. She began playing with the little hairs at the back of his neck. He shivered and she grinned against his mouth. Now he was feeling what she was feeling.

"Ahem!" The two broke apart quickly too quickly. Mitchie started to fall backward of the small doctor's table. Shane wrapped his arm around her waist and kept her from falling. Mitchie glanced back at the nurse/doctor standing rather awkwardly in the doorway. Mitchie blushed and ducked her head forward to hide the blush. Shane looked embarrassed too. Mitchie noticed as she glanced up at him from under her bangs.

"Why are you two soaked?" The nurse/doctor asked. Both teens were glad she hadn't forced them to explain why they were kissing in her examination room.

"I…ah…tipped the canoe over." Mitchie admitted blushing again. She was blushing an awful lot today.

"Yes, and the stupid one here, managed to get herself caught in the canoe by her ankle, knock herself unconscious, and drown." Shane added, feeling the need to speak. Mitchie poked him in the side at the stupid one comment and he grinned at her.

"I am correct in assuming you saved her life?" The nurse/doctor asked as she shined a light in both of Mitchie's eyes looking for signs of a concussion. Shane nodded, ducking his head. He just did what he had to; he hadn't realized that meant he saved her life. He looked over at the soaking wet girl as the nurse/doctor continue her search for anything physical wrong with Mitchie. He was glad he saved her life.

"I don't see any signs of concussion. However, your ankle is swollen. I'm going to prescribe rest for the rest of the day and try to stay off that ankle as much as possible for the next two days. Don't…you know…go on a hike or anything." Mitchie gave a small laugh and accepted the conditions. Shane nodded at the requirements as well and Mitchie had to wonder what that meant. He wasn't planning to stalk her for the next two days, was he? Although, the idea of spending two days with Shane sounded more than pleasant, there was no way she'd be able to explain her kitchen duty or her mother's reaction to her predicament to him without revealing her for the liar she'd become this summer.

"Would you like me to inform your mother of what's happened?" The kind nurse/doctor lady asked.

"NO! I mean, that's okay, I'll call her myself." Mitchie responded and the nurse/doctor gave a weird look, but nodded and left the room again. The second she was out of the room, Shane was off the table and had scooped her up in his arms again.

"Come on, Sleepy Beauty; let's get you to your cabin to sleep." He started out of the examination and out of the building. Just as he reached the main door, Mitchie unfroze from her shock.

"Shane, put me down. I can walk, you know." She informed him. She tried squirming out of his arms, but he just held on tighter.

"Nope. Sorry no dice. The nurse said to stay off that ankle as much as possible. This means no standing on it unless necessary. This is not necessary." He replied and used his back to push open the door. She rolled her eyes. He was twisting the orders around.

"I'm going to have to walk across campus tomorrow to get to and from my classes, Shane. What's one additional time?" She inquired of him as he started in the direction of the female cabins. He grinned and glanced down at her. She groaned. Damn. He had taken that as challenge. She could see it in the way his eyes were glittering.

"No, Shane, whatever you're thinking, no."

"I'm not thinking anything." He said innocently and even batted his eyes at her.

"Yes, you are." She objected and pointed to her cabin, as it came into view, though it was probably obvious. He knew she was rooming with Tess and who else would decorate the windows with hot pick lacy curtains.

"Nice curtains." He commented, diverting the subject.

"That was all Tess. I hate the color pink. I think she only puts them up so the cabin will stand out as much as she does." She yawned as she finished the statement. Any energy she'd gained from the kiss, meeting with the nurse, and ensuing argument about being carried across campus, was officially depleted. Shane struggled to open the door and keep holding onto a very sleepy Mitchie, but he managed to do it. Shane glanced around the cabin and grimaced. Could it be anymore stereotypical girl cabin in here? Geez, most of the room was covered in pink frilly things. Except the one bed that was surprisingly barren, especially compared to the other three beds, it also had no pink around surrounding it. Shane tugged the sheets down, gently laid Mitchie on it, and pulled the blankets up around her chin. He thought, perhaps she shouldn't be sleeping in wet clothes, but he didn't think it would be appropriate for him to assist her in that matter. He decided he'd find her friend, the mixer one, and get her to help Mitchie, after he made sure she was settled. He looked down at her and was shocked to see her already sleeping. He gave a small smile. She had been extremely tired, but he supposed anyone would be after drowning. He leaned down and planted a small kiss on her forehead.

"Sleep well, Mitchie."

A/N: Hope you like it! Please review.