Title: Need You To Follow

Author: .Mind or Kenziii

Pairing/Ship: Shane/Mitchie, Smitchie

Author's Note: I've been trying to brainstorm something to write lately, and this is what happened in the process. Not exactly what I'd been hoping for, but oh well. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.

Quote Courtesy Of: Photobucket

"Some people run away just to see if anyone cares enough to follow." - Unknown

I am running faster than I ever imagined I could.

My lungs are burning, searing with pain, but in comparison to the heart behind them, it is nothing.

My dark hair mats, wet, to my face as the rain beats down in sheets around my body.

I don't know where I'm going, just anywhere but here. What lies in front of me cannot possibly be worse than the hurt that I'm fleeing from.

My legs are threatening to split from the pressure, but I run, because I don't know what else to do. The sobs rack my body as I remember the simpler days, when Shane and I could just be together without any of the recent complications.

It was unbelievable that our first meeting was only a few short months ago, at Camp Rock. We kept in touch, as best friends, though I knew that in my soul I wanted more. I advert my thoughts from 'what could have been' because it only hurts worse.

I'm on a railroad now, an abandoned station across the field. The planks just add more aches to my throbbing, Converse-clad feet.

The gray sky seems fitting for my state, my vision blurry and impossible to see anything through the pouring rain.

I stagger under myself and finally fall to my knees. I am gasping for breath, lungs on fire.

The ground is hard and I long for him, the only him I ever needed. I should have told him, confessed when the opportunity conveniently presented itself after Final Jam. But instead, I now live in regret, settling for a friendship.

I should not have been surprised, in no state of shock, when he brought a girlfriend back from his month long tour. She is blonde, curvy, outgoing, and to top it all off – a movie star.

Everything I'm not.

Everything Shane wants.

I should not have let myself get so heartbroken, but I never could control these things. I cried for days, Caitlyn consoling me and cursing the 'slut', and Shane Gray never had to know. I did not want to trouble him with my petty feelings when he had more important things to worry about.

Then effectively, I closed myself back up and commanded myself to move on. In a sense, I did. I will always love Shane, but I allowed someone else to take center stage.

I met Cedric in school, the new kid, and we hit it off. We didn't have much in common, and he was not musical, but we looked cute together and I let him in. Shane found an unprecedented hatred for him, one sign I knew I had what my road to recovery called for.

We've been dating as I try to ignore Shane and Angela. I had thought I had gotten over Shane Gray, until now. This was a sign I'd lost all progress. Shane would be tearing apart my heart until the day I died, no matter how much my logical mind argued.

I am nearing unconsciousness, the accumulation wearing on me. I'm watching the cloudy skyline shift unnaturally as my head falls to the pebbled railroad track. Will anyone find me? In the morning, will my parents send for me?

As I slip into the abyss, I hear something. Far off in the distance, it puzzles me enough to hold my curiosity.

"Mitchie! Michaela Torres!"

I know the voice. It fills my dreams and haunts my sorrow, and yet it's the only one I long to hear. Even through my pain, I remark the way my full name echoes off his gasping voice

The pounding footsteps reverberate in my ear, the vibrations through the metal tracks. I can't move; my body is stiff.

"Mitchie!"

He is so close I can hear the desperation, the terror in his voice. I want to reach out to him, comfort him. I realize I am in no state, yet I feel the pathetic requisites to care for him first.

"Mitchie, oh my gosh," he is crying and his voice cracks in effort. My heart tears itself into a jagged edge.

Suddenly the ground is gone from underneath me, and I am enveloped into his chest. I am shielded from the rain as my sobs continue to rack my frame. I feel safe, concealed from any danger, while my thoughts untie themselves.

"Shane," I whimper with all the strength my body can condone.

Shane pulls me tighter, rubbing his palms over my shoulders, as though obeying my unspoken desires. I hadn't realized how cold I was until I feel the tingling shock of his skin embracing me.

This is only one reason why I love Shane, he's hasn't asked questions yet, he's just holding me. But as I think this, he releases me and I feel a deliberate absence, only until he wraps his thick jacket around me.

In my nature I open my mouth to protest, but even through my bleary eyes I can see his no disputing composure. His appearance courses a wave of admiration and affection through me – his soaking hair, blood-shot eyes, and trembling lips. I can only imagine what I look like.

"Mitchie," he whispers, pulling me back into him as I inhale his scent, "please, tell me what happened. Why are you out here? Why did you run?"

I settle my cries, into an effort to steady my breathing. "Sh-Sh-Shane…h-he s-said…I f-f-found h-h-imm…"

I cannot even finish a sentence and as the words return to the surface of my mind, I shaker harder, uncontrollably. I hate him, with more passion than I've ever had before.

"Mitchie, breathe, everything is going to be okay. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you." I can hear the fear I am inflicting in him, but his air of protection and confidence overshadows it.

I am once again overcome by the feeling of security. I want to tell him all the truth, but I know that would be foolish and would only cause us both more pain.

Shane buries his nose into my wet hair, nestling my head further into the shelter of his stature. For a split-second I could swear that he kissed it, but even if he did it would have meant nothing more than a sensitive gesture.

"Start from what brought you here. I need to get you somewhere warm; you'll get sick." He begins to release me, while also wrapping his coat tighter around my shivering body. I resist, grasping his sopping cotton shirt in my trembling fingers.

"N-No. S-Stay. I h-have to…to t-tell someone," I measured my breath through my mouth, escaping in hollow clouds of warm air.

Shane deepens his panicked brow, concern driving his arms to me again, where I belong. I can visibly see battle of complying with my proposal, or assuring my health. Apparently, my eyes locking with his are convincing enough, although I am experiencing a conflict in myself.

"Okay, but please Mitchie, you need to get to my car quickly. You're scaring me," he admits softly, his voice lowering to my ear level and his hand smoothing down my wet hair.

I have to tone down the tizzy of my spiraling thoughts, and calm my erratic heart and chest. It amazes how pitiful I am that such a small motion can spur so many complicated emotions in me.

I take a breath, leaning away in the slightest so he can hear me. "I was supposed to meet Cedric for a date this afternoon."

I watch as his eyes narrow. He doesn't often try to hide his distaste for my boyfriend, if that's even his title now.

"Watch did that jerk do? I swear, if he hurt you—" Shane harshly begins his rant, but halt as the impulsive tears well up again in my milky eyes. His temper deflates and he moves the hand supporting my head to wipe one unconfined liquid streak among the shadows of the others.

"I got to his house a little early – too early," my voice counters his as only a whisper. By the undertone in his eyes, I know he presumes the events. "I found him in his room, a half-naked girl under him…they were…"

I shudder in disgust and his eyes darken with malice. "I thought he loved me… He told me he loved me. But, when I walked in on them, he didn't even make excuses. He just started yelling at me and calling me things…"

Shane grips me rigidly, his muscles tensing at Cedric's vile deeds. I know he must want to kill him, but I can't let Shane bruise his reputation by acting on impulse and anger.

I don't know if I can continue, for the rest of the story involves Shane, and the love I can't seem to lose. If I tell him all the reasons behind Cedric's insults, I will lose the friendship and I couldn't take that. I couldn't.

"Shane," I whisper, treading tentatively through the waters. Maybe, hypothetically it wouldn't seem so justified to be named as those hurtful things. "If someone is dating a person, but that someone is love with someone else, does that make them a whore if they do not tell the person? Or a slut, or a…female dog?"

I don't cuss, but I had found Cedric did. It bothered me, just like it did remembering the exchange of not an hour ago. I feel Shane's arms shake as he meets my eyes in utter disbelief and exponential rage.

I did not know he was so protective of me.

"Did that insufferable idiot call you those things!? I cannot believe him! You know, actually I can. I told you he was bad news, didn't I? Why did you even date him in the first place?" I listened as Shane exploded in expression. The rain still poured, sheets of it hazing my vision except for his face, so close to my own.

I shake my head, lips quivering in the cold, but also the urge to cry again. He was extracting another vital piece of this puzzle from my mouth that seemed to abide by his whim. "Everyone was paired off, I needed someone to love me…"

As the words slip from my lips I know I have said too much. He seems confused, which I suppose is better than if he knew the truth. At least now all he is left to do is ponder my sadness.

"Don't you think on those things for one minute, Mitchie." His eyes were still intense, still bearing into me like an x-ray. "You are not a slut, no matter what anyone thinks or says to try to convince you. You're beautiful and compassionate and the best person I've ever met. Cedric was an imbecile to even think of cheating on you."

I try to avoid the small smile forming on his luscious lips from catching to mine. I shake my head once more, forcing my tear ducts to dry up. This is wrong, despite the feelings exploding inside me to hear him compliment me like that. He must still be faithful to Angela.

I reach up to meet his hands that are holding my moist cheeks. His eyes are hopeful, but one more dagger cuts my heart as I remove his hands from me, stepping away. My body recognizes the rash independence and so does my heart, as his eyes fill with perplexity and hurt.

"You're not supposed to say those things, Shane," I barely say above the storm and sheets of freezing rain. "What about Angela? She's your girlfriend, Shane, not me."

In less than a second he is by my side again, lifting my embarrassed chin with his hands. His eyes are ablaze and one hand leaves my face to embrace me again in warmth. "No, Mitchie, no. You've got it wrong. Angela… Angela means nothing to me, she never did. In my eyes, she was only a replacement for someone I was too much of a coward to share my feelings with."

My heart is loud enough to echo in my ears, now. I pray sincerely, if I have any chance Lord, to be with me.

"But things are different now. Angela and I broke up today, and it made me realize how I really feel about someone. I love you, Mitchie Torres, and I hope you can forgive me for acting so cowardice. If you don't feel the same way, I'll understand. But I wish you would consider how much I feel for you. I can't even explain…"

I am literally frozen in shock. He's finally meeting my eyes and there's an emotion there that is so foreign to me – love.

"I didn't know… Shane, I'm in love with you." I felt a huge weight soar from my heart as he grinned, blinking the rain away from his face. "The only reason I dated Cedric was because I was trying to get over you. I thought you loved Angela."

Shane hand slides under my hair, somehow heated in this frigid downpour. His fingers raise the hair on my neck as he edges my face closer to his perfect features. I is so near; I can count the individual eyelashes on each of his chocolate orbs.

"Never. It has always been you, Mitchie." As I bask in his loving voice, he seals the distance, lips meeting mine in a burning sear. At first he is tentative, sweet, but our mouths are moving in tangent, deepening to find all the crevices and emotions.

My head spins and I can't think straight. Shane is getting wrapped up in the moment, supporting me with one hand and leaning me backwards slightly and my fingers roam up his chest to play with the hair on the back of his neck.

I break it off, completely breathless and laughing. Shane smiles at me, a signature smirk I have not seen on him since Angela haunted. It feels so great to know that everything has fallen into place, where it should be. Shane is mine, and I am his and I'll never run again.

I look up to the clearing sky, "Huh, the rain stopped."

When I look back to him he isn't staring at the sky. Instead, he's gazing at me in a way I'm sure to become familiar with.

"Mitchie, why did you run in the first place? You could have just come to me." He took my hands in his own, bringing them to his lips and pecking them gently.

I glanced down at our intertwined fingers, a smile etching its permanent frame. "I ran, because I needed to know that someone would follow me."

I've never written anything like this before, so I hope everyone's pleased. R&R for me, please!

.Mind