I've Found You

By Jeune Ecrivain

Rating: K+

Summary: The duration of Camp Rock's summer 2008 session has been extended in celebration, leaving Shane and Mitchie with some more time to spend together. Nate finally gets fed up with Shane's lovesick behavior and convinces him to take action.

Disclaimer: The movie Camp Rock and all related trademarks belong by rightful copyright to the Walt Disney Company. This story is written only for entertainment purposes out of respect for Disney's work. No profit is being made from it, nor is it the author's intention to do so.

A/N: Well, once again, Disney deprived us of the traditional end-of-movie kiss between the two protagonists, so it looks like it's up to the fanwriters again, at least for now. Please forgive the rather obvious advertising of my Spanish lyrics for "This Is Me," the complete version of which is posted in my profile for any interested fans out there. Also, you'll see in my scene separator that I've coined the suggested ship name "Mitchane." Hilariously, the first idea that popped into my head was "Sh-tchie" (the hyphen represents an 'i', since the site automatically deletes asterisks), which due to its unfortunate resemblance to a curse word, I quickly surmised was highly unbecoming to something as sweet and noble as a romantic ship. Anyway, I'll shut up now and move on with the story.

No me voy.
Ésta soy.
En mi propio nicho yo ya estoy.
¡Y brilla esa luz
En mi hoy!
Es verdad.
Es me ser.
No me puedo detener.
No esconderé más quién yo soy.
Ésta soy.

"OOF!"

"Sweet nibblets!" exclaimed Nate Black, having just thrown a pillow directly into his bandmate Shane Gray's face to stop another random solo rendition of the song that had mysteriously captured the latter's fancy so thoroughly it seemed to be all he thought about…besides the very girl who had written the admittedly catchy tune. "She's got you singing it in Spanish now?! It was amusing at first, but it was already starting to get old even before you went bilingual with it! You've been randomly humming or singing that song for two weeks now! I even caught you singing it in your sleep one time!" He rolled his eyes and laid back in exasperation on the sofa. "Besides, since when do you even know Spanish?"

Shane tossed the pillow back at Nate, who easily caught it. "You'd know some of it too if you paid attention during school!" he retorted. "And anyway, Mitchie's grandparents are Mexican, and she told me that they've been sure to keep her in touch with her heritage. So she wrote a Spanish version, and I was lucky enough to catch her singing it by the lake." He shook his head in awe. "I thought the song couldn't sound any better, but when she sings it in Spanish, it sounds even prettier! Especially with that awesome voice of hers!"

"So she basically cast her spell on you all over again," Nate interrupted.

"Hey, she's actually pretty smart doing what she did!" Shane defended. "The Hispanic market isn't getting any smaller, and being able to sing even a few songs in Spanish is becoming more and more of a competitive advantage in the record business! Mitchie was telling me how the lyrics don't mean exactly the same as the original version because then they wouldn't fit the music or rhyme scheme, but the goal is to come as close as you possibly can." He chuckled. "I never would've thought of that, but it makes perfect sense now! That's the thing about her! She's smart, talented,…"

"And beautiful?" Nate interrupted again. "Go on, say it. You know you want to."

"I was going to say 'down-to-earth,' but yeah, she's that too."

Nate rolled his eyes once more and rose lazily from the leather couch on which he had been lounging. "Who the heck do you think you're kidding, dude? Half the time, if you're not singing her song to yourself, you're talking about her somehow, and you spend at least a couple hours almost every day now down by the lake swapping songs and bouncing new tunes or lyrics off of her!"

"That is a two-way street," Shane clarified.

"Whatever, man!" Nate replied. "I'm starting to think you're more in love with the girl than the song! And if you are, you need to do something about it before you drive both Jason and me insane with your lovesickness!"

"I've only known her for about a month. Don't you think you're being a little over-dramatic?"

"Okay, maybe it's a little soon for the 'l' word, but any idiot can see the potential in this bond you guys are developing. Even Jason can see it, for cryin' out loud, and that's saying something. And deep down, I think you both want to explore that potential. At the risk of sounding sappy, I'm going to tell you: it'd be a shame not to! But until one of you makes the first move, you at least are probably going to keep acting like a dork, and based on what I've heard on the Camp Rock grapevine, I'm suspicious that she's acting up in her own way too."

"You realy think so?" Hope colored Shane's tone.

Nate sighed. "Yes."

"But what if you're wrong? What if she doesn't feel the same way? I don't want to lose her as a friend…"

"Oh, sweet nibblin' nibblets, are we actually having this conversation?!" Nate interrupted for the third time before pointing a finger firmly towards the cabin's front door. "Just go! Right now! I get that you like this girl. I do. But I refuse to give some clichéd speech that's going to make me sound like I stepped out of some cheesy teen romantic comedy! You have to talk to her anyway about our next CD, so now's the perfect opportunity! Go!"

Shane stammered in protest for a moment. What shocked him most was not Nate's words themselves but how accurate they suddenly seemed. Had he been in some sort of denial? He still felt slightly confused and oddly apprehensive, but intuition told him that the best course of action was to follow his companion's advice. So, he stood up with a heavy sigh and headed on his way.

--M&S--MITCHANE--M&S--

"I got your text message."

Shane emerged abruptly from his idle revelry and stood up to face Mitchie. He had sent her a message on her cell phone asking that she meet him at their favorite locale by the Camp Rock lake. He smiled warmly at her. She looked smiled back and looked at him expectantly. A brief, slightly awkward pause followed before he blurted, "I want you to sing with me."

She stepped closer to him, still smiling but looking a little confused. "Huh?"

Deciding to buy himself some time before saying what he somehow knew he should say, he proceeded telling her the original reason he'd needed to talk to her. "I talked to Margaret, and she agreed to do a duet with Nate instead of me. She was actually quite understanding really. She almost had this…knowing look on her face." He shook his head, realizing that he was stalling. "Anyway, Margaret's great, but the only girl I can see myself singing with is you. That song of yours means alot to me. It helped me realize that I had sort of lost myself since I was a camper here. I lost sight of who I was and what was really important, and you helped me find that again."

By now she was staring at him in awe. "Shane, I…don't know what to say."

Shane nodded gently. "I just…wanted to thank you, first of all, for teaching me to be myself again. I think that's a lesson we both learned this past month," he said with a chuckle accompanying that last statement. "But more than that, that song is really special, and it would mean alot to me if you'd share it with me just this once." He smiled at her again before continuing. "So I want to adapt 'This Is Me' into a duet just for you and me. No mixing it up with 'Gotta Find You,' no matter how well it turned out at the Final Jam. I want the song to be all yours."

For a moment, Mitchie was speechless. She gazed at him in awe, and her eyes threatened to shed a few tears. "Wow, Shane! I'm really happy my song helped you so much, and I would love to sing it with you on your CD! Are you sure Nate and Jason will be okay with it? What about your agent or your producer?"

"I don't think Nate or Jason will be a problem, and as far as my agent and producer are concerned, they won't object once they hear how great you are. If they don't, I'll talk them into it one way or another. This is something I really want to do," he answered seriously.

Mitchie blushed, somehow convinced merely by the determination Shane displayed. "Then I'll do it…on one condition."

"Anything."

"We do the same thing with 'Gotta Find You,'…because that song is special to me too, especially since I found out it was about me." She stopped and looked at him earnestly. "I mean, not that it wasn't wonderful before, but…"

"I get it," Shane reassured her. "I'm glad you think my song was that good."

"Are you kidding? It was lovely!"

"Thanks. So, do we have a deal?"

Mitchie grinned and held out her hand. "Absolutely!"

Shane grinned back and shook it, but his gaze soon turned bemused.

"Was there something else?" asked Mitchie.

Shane sighed for the third time that day, and his initial apprehension returned. He did not know how exactly to approach this, so he decided to try the relatively honest approach. Looking once more at her beautiful, caring face, a surprising urge began to arise within him. So, he threw caution to the wind. "Mitchie,…" he began. "…have you ever wanted to do something that might have been kind of premature but also felt sort of overdue at the same time?"

Mitchie furrowed her brow in contemplation for a moment, forming an expression that Shane could only inwardly describe as cute. "No, I can't really think of anything. Why?" she replied quizzically.

"There's something that I want to do, and it's risky,…but I think it's something I need to do, just to see where it goes."

Mitchie looked at him with concern and curiosity, and hoping to relieve whatever pressure her new and dear friend seemed to be facing, gave him the best advice she could give him. "I think you should do it."

Shane pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully, avoiding her eyes for a moment before he raised his gaze to look straight into them. "Then I hope you don't blame me if I do this." Before he could over-think his actions, he gently took both her hands in his. He then leaned in cautiously, pausing with mere millimeters between their faces before pressing his lips tenderly upon hers. Mitchie stiffened slightly in surprise, but her eyes instinctively fluttered shut, and she soon returned the kiss with little hesitation. After a few seconds, Shane withdrew, but he didn't get far before Mitchie defiantly initiated a second liplock. She slipped her arms around his neck and parted her lips. Shane's arms found their way around her waist, and he gladly deepened the kiss, which escalated in passion until they finally parted.

"Wow!" breathed Shane, smiling broadly. "I'll take that as a 'No, I don't blame you at all.'"

Mitchie grinned back, her eyes conveying happiness. "Actually, that's a 'Shut up and keep doing it.'"

Shane laughed out loud and happily obliged.

From the window of Shane's cabin, Nate and Jason watched the scene distantly, each holding a small bowl of popcorn. "This is such a chick flick!" exclaimed Nate. "And yet I can't look away!"

"I know what you mean, dude," agreed Jason

" We've lost him," Nate said with a small, bemused smile on his face "He's gone," he restated. "It's a law of nature. Except for family, a man's best buds are the most important people in his life,…until he gets a girl."

Jason's expression now mirrored Nate's. "Well, if ever there was a way to lose yourself,.." He gestured towards the distant kissing figures. "…that's it."