A/N: I originally started writing this as a birthday fic to myself, but my birthday came and passed and I never finished it, but here it is now. I wanted to write a Nitchie that concentrated on the effects such a relationship would have on Shane and Nate's friendship.
Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock or anything you recognize from it.
"Alright," Nate sighed, checking his watch, "make your goodbyes quick. We're back on a busy schedule after this and we've got a long night of driving ahead of us."
Shane groaned but nodded. "There are only a few people I need to say goodbye to."
Nate nodded and moved over to some fans that'd been waiting nearby and started signing autographs and chatting lightly. Shane quickly took off to find the few people he'd met that he cared to say goodbye to. He was just saying goodbye to Andy when he spotted Mitchie and her friend Caitlyn, both frowning slightly. He grinned and moved closer to them.
"No need to be upset. I have arrived!"
Mitchie giggled and Caitlyn rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Oh good," Caitlyn quipped back, "We were getting worried."
Shane's grin widened - he was pretty sure he would have gotten along well with this girl if he had taken any time to get to know her. Mitchie lightly nudged her and, in a whisper, scolded her.
"Caitlyn! Be nice to him!"
"It's alright," he laughed before Caitlyn could respond. "I appreciate a good sarcastic comment more than most guys."
The three stood there in silence for a minute before Shane saw Nate making his way over and knew it was time to go. "Well, I guess I've got to say goodbye now. My wrangler's coming."
Both girls looked confused until Nate called to him. "Shane! We have to hit the road!" He looked around for a minute before adding. "And do you know where Jason got off to?"
"Haven't seen him," Shane called back. "And I'll just be a minute."
"Alright," Nate sighed as he reached them and came to a stop. "I'd better go find Jason. He always manages to disappear."
Nate sent a quick, polite smile to the girls before turning the other way. He was in the middle of taking a step when he turned back. Shane, who had still been looking at Nate, noticed the differences in him right away. Nate's face went from forced and business-like to relaxed and interested. Shane laughed inwardly as he followed Nate's gaze over to the two girls. So, Nate was interested in Caitlyn, he thought. This could be a good thing. It took a moment for him to realize the problem. Nate wasn't looking at Caitlyn like Shane had imagined he had been. Nate was looking at Mitchie. And she was looking back.
Anger coursed through him. Didn't Nate know? He had been in the room just hours ago when Shane sang on stage with her. Didn't he realize that had meant something? Nate wasn't an idiot. He had to know that Shane liked her – even Jason had to know. The anger quickly gave way to jealousy. Didn't Mitchie know they had something? She flirted with him all through camp. And tonight! Tonight she sang with him and smiled at him and even held his hand. How could she be smiling that smile at Nate now?
Before he let himself get too carried away he stopped his train of thought. Maybe he was just over-reacting. Maybe they were just being friendly. Maybe Nate hadn't realized until he was walking away that this was the girl his friend had liked; it wasn't like he'd gotten a very good look at her before. That had to be it. They were just being friendly with each other. It would be good if they became friends. With this new thought he gave a half smile and introduced everyone.
"Nate, this is Mitchie and Caitlyn," he said gesturing to each in turn. "Mitchie and Caitlyn, this is Nate."
"Huh," he heard Caitlyn say and looked at her to see her head cocked to the side contemplatively, "your hair looks less curly in person."
"Oh come on," Mitchie laughed, reaching a hand out unthinkingly and touching Nate's head. "How could this look less curly?"
Nate smiled wider at her and Shane scowled slightly.
"Thank you," Nate said.
"Oh see Shane," Caitlyn spoke up. "This is why Mitchie said be nice, not everyone gets a joke sometimes."
Shane smiled. He was happy Caitlyn was here as well. She would help ease the tension growing inside him.
Nate looked over to Caitlyn questioningly and Mitchie was quick to speak up. "Caitlyn can be very sarcastic. I just said something to her about it."
"Oh, right" Nate nodded. "Good thing Shane's always had a soft spot for sarcasm."
"Yeah, they'd probably get along great if they knew each other," Mitchie laughed.
Nate laughed back. "Maybe we'll have to team up and work on getting them to be friends then."
"I don't usually like to meddle in people's lives," she smiled, "but I just might have to jump on board for this one."
Shane grew less comfortable with the conversation as it went on. He looked to Caitlyn, also silently watching the interaction and wondered if she felt as out of place as he did. Probably not, he figured. It's not like she had something going on with one of them before. He wondered if Nate and Mitchie realized what they were doing or if they were both totally unaware of it themselves. It hurt, but he was fairly certain they weren't aware of it. That made it worse. He half wished they were just so into each other that they were knowingly flirting in spite of him. The fact that they weren't aware of it meant it was a natural reaction - something they did unthinkingly - and that hurt because that's how he thought things had been with himself and Mitchie before. At least on his behalf his actions were natural.
There were really only two options for him here - step up and make them remember that he liked Mitchie first or step back and let his friend take this chance with her. He looked at Mitchie and laughed to himself. What good would it do to declare he liked her? She was into Nate; she'd barely even looked at him since Nate showed up. Could he really sit back and let Nate have the girl he liked though? Could he put up with seeing them together? Holding hands? Hugging? Kissing? It didn't take long for him to decide what to do.
"Mitchie?" he interrupted. "Can I talk to you for a second? Alone?"
"Oh, um," she cast an unsure look at Nate – who gave her a small smile – before looking back to him with a small smile of her own, "sure, Shane."
He decided to ignore the fact that she hesitated and lead her several steps away, out of the others' hearing range.
"What's up?" she asked, standing back just out of reach.
He took a deep breath, reassuring himself this was the right thing to do before answering her. "Do you like Nate?"
"What?" she asked and he couldn't tell if she was surprised or nervous. "Nate?"
"Never mind, don't bother answering that," he sighed. He hadn't realized when he asked that it would be weird for her to tell him the answer. "I can tell you like Nate. And don't bother denying it," he added when she opened her mouth to respond. He took another deep breath – he couldn't believe he was going to say this. "I just wanted to let you know its okay."
"It's… okay?" she asked confused.
"Yeah. Its fine," he nodded. "I mean, there was kind of something going on between us before, so I didn't want you to worry about hurting me or anything." He watched a look he could only call shame flash across her face. He hated being responsible for putting it there, but at the same time he was glad she wasn't just happily ignoring his interest. "We're good. We can just be friends – we will be friends."
"Are you sure?" she asked slowly.
He took yet another deep breath and nodded. "Absolutely."
"So we'll be friends?"
"If you want to be," he said awkwardly. "I mean, you like one of my best friends and that means we'll be around each other or whatever. Besides, we're already friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "We are."
"Good. That's settled then."
"But Shane?" she asked.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. I've liked you all summer," she said blushing at having to admit it. "I don't really know what just happened though."
"It's okay Mitchie," he said kindly. "You don't have to explain anything. These things just happen sometimes."
"I just wanted to you know," she persisted. "It wasn't even until you pulled my attention away that I realized what I'd been doing. I wouldn't do this to you intentionally."
"Alright," he smiled, having been thinking as much of the situation. "I believe you."
"Okay," she nodded.
"Let's get back then. I need to talk to Nate."
As they returned to their friends together Shane silently acknowledged the pang in his chest that he was certain was a direct effect of Mitchie's beaming smile. He'd made her happy at least. When they reached their friends Shane didn't stop walking. "You're up Nate. Let's talk quick."
He didn't wait for a response; he knew his friend would follow him. Sure enough when he was far enough away from the girls and finally turned Nate was two steps behind him. He wasn't sure where to start with Nate. He was mad, but the last thing he wanted to do was throw a fit. He'd learned his lesson that summer that overreaction was not a route he should take.
"So," Nate said eventually, crossing his arms. "What's going on?"
"I have a question for you." Nate nodded and Shane looked him in the eye before asking his question. "Did you see me get up on stage and sing tonight?"
"Yeah," Nate rolled his eyes. "It was kind of hard to miss. You hopped right up there with that girl and started belting out lyrics to her."
"With that girl?" Shane asked. And then he started laughing.
"What's so funny?"
"Do you know who that girl was?"
"No," he answered slowly, shaking his head for emphasis.
Shane laughed harder. Of course he would say that. How could he doubt Nate? "Mitchie," he breathed out between laughs. "That girl was Mitchie."
"Oh," Nate said suddenly, looking very surprised and very unsure what to do.
"How did you not recognize her?" Shane shook his head, finally done laughing.
"Well you were blocking my view," he defended himself. "I guess I should have seen her before you got up there, but I wasn't really concerned with whom she was and then I was too busy trying to figure out what was going on."
"You really didn't know it was her?" he asked, just to make sure Nate wasn't trying to just save himself from a fight.
"I had no clue," he shook his head. "And I was starting to flirt with her over there like an idiot. Shit Shane, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Shane said clapping him on the shoulder to show he meant his words. "You didn't know."
"That doesn't make it right," Nate frowned. "I should have realized when I saw you talking to her."
Hearing Nate's sincere concern about having wronged him, Shane couldn't help but feel like he'd made the right choice. Nate was a good guy and he deserved to be happy with Mitchie. What did Shane ever do to deserve her? Get in trouble and shipped off to shape up? That's not exactly something he was proud of. Nate, on the other hand, stood by his friend and did what he had to, to help get him back on the path he'd veered from. In a way, he felt like he owed Nate for sending him here. Really though, something just felt right about stepping down.
"Honestly Nate, I'm not upset. I just talked to Mitchie and we're going to be friends." He smiled at Nate's skeptical look and pressed on. "And I know you like her – you said yourself you were flirting so don't deny it. She likes you too. You should go for it."
"I don't know Shane," he sighed. "I don't think I'd be comfortable going after her knowing you liked her."
"Hey, Mitchie's a great girl," Shane said seriously. "Don't miss out on her over something stupid like that. I told you it was okay."
"Are you sure it's okay though?"
"No," Shane rolled his eyes. "I just thought I'd tell you it was three times for the heck of it."
Nate smiled a little. "And people always think I'm kidding when I say you love sarcasm."
"Come on," Shane grinned. "We've got to get going soon and you've got a number to get."
Without waiting for him to answer he went back over to where Mitchie and Caitlyn were waiting for them. Mitchie quickly turned away from them as they approached but Caitlyn did nothing to hide the fact that she'd been watching them very intently. Shane smirked at her and she smiled shamelessly back. He had to hand it to her – the girl was something else.
"Well," Shane clapped his hands once the four of them were standing in a small group again. "I guess I better try and find Jason if we want to leave on time."
"We're already late," Nate sighed looking at his watch. "We were supposed to be on the road fifteen minutes ago at the latest."
"Not my fault you got interested in something," he winked, making sure all three of them knew he was referring to Mitchie. "Hey Caitlyn, how do you feel about helping me find Jason?"
"Oh could I?" she asked with fake excitement.
He laughed and gestured away with a jerk of the head. "Come on."
The pair walked in silence for several minutes, each looking in different directions as they tried to find Jason, before Caitlyn spoke up.
"Well if you're not going to bring it up I will."
"What?" he blinked caught off guard by her angry tone.
"I thought you liked Mitchie," she glared over at him.
"I do," he glared back defensively.
"Well you've got a funny way of showing it," she laughed dryly.
"What did you want me to do?" he demanded. "Anyone could see she that liked Nate."
"So?" she threw her hands up in the air, giving up on walking and turning to face him. "So she looked interested in Nate the first few minutes they met. She was interested in you all summer. Doesn't that mean anything?"
"Exactly," he crossed his arms. "She was interested. Now she's not. And frankly I don't know why you think you have any right to be mad at me."
"Are you stupid?" she asked. "I know I have a right to be mad at you because you just quit. Who the hell just gives up when they like someone?"
"Look," he said, barely holding back his annoyance anymore. "They like each other and I'm not getting in the way of it. They deserve to be happy and that's the end of the story."
"What about you?" she demanded.
"What about me?"
"What do you deserve?" she raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know," he shook his head, "but not that."
"You're an idiot," she glared, turning and stalking away in search of Jason.
It wasn't until after they found Jason – who'd been with a puffy eyed Tess – and the three guys were getting in their limo that Caitlyn said anything to Shane again.
"You deserve to be happy too," she said quietly, not wanting to be overheard.
"Is that what we were fighting about?" Shane questioned in disbelief. She nodded stiffly and Shane smiled at her. "I appreciate it then. And I will be happy."
"You better be," she threatened. "You deserve some sort of happiness after your summer," she smirked. "Maybe it'll keep you from being a jerk again."
He grinned and winked at her. "I wouldn't go that far."
Nate popped his head out of the limo and called over. "Let's go Shane! We're already way off schedule."
"One sec," he called back. He pulled a marker from his pocket and grabbed Caitlyn's arm, ignoring her protests. He jotted his number down on her wrist and smirked up at her. "Keep in touch."
She rolled her eyes but agreed as he climbed into the limo.
"So how did things go with that girl now that you found her?" Jason asked Shane excitedly.
"Good," he nodded. "We're friends."
"Friends?" Jason pouted in disappointment. "I thought for sure it'd be more than that."
"Not for me," Shane shook his head. "Nate on the other hand…"
"Nate?" Jason half gasped, looking to his other band mate. "You're more than friends with Shane's girl?"
"No," Nate frowned. "We're friends."
"Nate," Shane groaned. "I told you to go for it."
"I just met her Shane. And I don't have any clue when I'll see her again."
"Wait a second," Jason held his hands up. "You told him to go for your girl?"
"She's not my girl," Shane rolled his eyes.
"You spent all summer looking for her!" Jason nearly shouted in his attempt to understand.
"And now I found her and we're friends. End of story."
"But you liked her," Jason told him, not quite ready to give up.
"A little yeah," he shrugged, "but so did Nate."
"But Nate just met her."
"Sometimes when you first meet someone you just know you'll like them though," Shane reasoned. "Apparently that's what happened with them."
"I don't understand this," Jason said, frustrated. "I get that it happens, but why are you okay with it?"
Shane didn't want to get into his real reasons for surrendering. It would cause a long talk about feelings and emotions – and probably self worth – and he wasn't up for that. Instead he settled for something he was surprised to find wasn't quite the lie he thought it'd be.
"Someone else caught my interest as well this summer."
A/N: My Shane's so different than he used to be. Does anyone who has read my older things remember my self-centered, immature Shane? I miss him. I'll have to bring him back for a visit sometime. Thanks for reading!