Karma.
Summary : When you broke the "it" pair last summer, you were relieved that you'd never see him again. What will you do when he barges into your life after a year, demanding a reason?
Okay, so, here's my first attempt at ShaneTess. :) I'm not sure how I feel about this, so feedback will be greatly appreciated. :)
There's something more in the air than the smell of heart-break and rejection and you think you just might be able to put your finger on it, but you can't, and maybe that's what gets on your nerves the most as you walk towards the familiar lake in front of the cabin you share with Mitchie, where the sunset is as close as you can imagine.
It's refreshing, you conclude; the smell of water and sand beneath the broken leaves and trees and for a second you've forgotten about the girl in your cabin who's crying because she got in a fight with Nate again. And you're tired of it all because it's a game; on-again, off-again. It feels nice to take a break from it once in a while, and the lake is the closest to silent you can get.
Suddenly, you hear some shuffling behind you and you sigh because that's exactly what you need: to have Mitchie come and start crying again. She's a good friend but sometimes it's just hard.
Instead, you hear a husky voice from a little distance away.
"Tess," he says.
You don't have to turn to recognize the voice, nor do you have to think about it twice. You know him; you just didn't think you'd meet him again after last year. But Nate was here too, so it all made sense.
"Shane," you reply in some sort of curious wonder, and you hear him chuckle,
"Didn't think I'd see you here again."
You chuckle too, "I could say the same."
There's something more between the lines of this one sentence conversation you're having, but neither of you want to think about it. Maybe, you conclude, it's some sort of reminder that the past always comes back, since you thought he'd been gone for good.
Karma, you decide, is an absolute bitch.
You wince when you think back at everything you did last year. From breaking 'Smitchie' up to setting Mitchie with Nate, just so you could have a glimpse of broken Shane. You did, though, and the most troubling part was, you disgusted yourself when you saw him like that. Sometimes, you can't believe yourself.
He breaks you out of your thoughts with a simple, "haven't changed, have you?" and you reply with a smile, "no. You'd get bored." And to your surprise, he doesn't laugh or roll his eyes. Instead, he just blankly looks at the lake, before whispering, "Yeah. I guess I would."
It's weird and different because isn't he supposed to be the broken boy who'd forever and more be pissed at the mean girl who unfortunately, in this case, is you. The silence around you is drowning you in guilt and you hate yourself because the worst part is that he's not yelling at you or screaming or anything of that sort. Instead, he just stands in front of you like nothing is wrong. And that, you conclude, is the most dreadful feeling.
Suddenly, with amazing timing, Mitchie shows up. You turn when you hear her sniff and suddenly your eyes are full of worry at her state: messed-up hair, mascara stained eyes, and before you can ask, you glance at Shane who only looks surprised to see Mitchie like this, and she looks up at him a little sadly before she turns to you.
"Tess," she whispers, "he called. It's over," and your heart breaks as more tear falls from her eyes and you don't realize it as you reach out to hug her that you're crying too.
"It's okay, Mitchie," you repeat softly as you keep rubbing her back, "it's fine. Stop crying. Shh, it'll be fine."
After a few minutes, her breathing calms down in your embrace before she pulls away and smiles at you.
"Thank you, Tess," she says thankfully, "I'll see you later," and she turns to walk away.
You're going to follow her right away, but as you take your step past Shane, you feel his rough hands on your soft wrist which he holds tightly; your pulse throbbing on the contact, but you silently pray he doesn't notice. After unsuccessfully attempting to pull your hand away, you whisper,
"Let go, Shane."
"No," he says in determination, "not until you explain everything."
"What everything?" you ask, very well knowing his answer.
"Last year." He says, but his words don't register through the tears and the pain in your head.
You turn back to look at him, your eyes trickling with tears at how much his touch is hurting you; his fingers burning against your skin.
"Please, Shane," you beg, your voice full of desperation, "You're hurting me."
His eyes soften on that, hurt clearly visible across his face, and he slowly releases his grip on your hand. You look at him gratefully and run behind Mitchie, wiping the tears from your eyes with the sleeve of your sweatshirt as you run.
When you get inside, you don't go to the window to see him again. Instead, you're with Mitchie who's broken once again, and you're comforting her and whispering things to her like how guys are a pain in the ass anyway and they're not worth all the pain.
And somewhere between those words, you're trying to convince yourself too.
So, this is officialy my first chapter fic for Camp Rock. :)
Review for more?
Thank You.