Chapter 2: Disastrous Days

They never found a body and eventually the search was ended. It was believed Shane had drowned in the local river and, as the chief of police explained, his body would most probably have drifted off to sea and never be found.

Sooner than she liked Mitchie found herself preparing for a funeral she never expected she'd have to attend.

"You have everything you need?" Nate asked, sticking his head into the room. After they'd realised Shane was never coming back, Mitchie had started talking about moving out. But Nate refused to let her. In his view, just because she moved in to live with Shane, didn't mean she had to leave because he had. Though he hadn't admitted it, Nate really didn't want to live alone at the moment. If he was honest, he really enjoyed Mitchie's company and would do anything to keep her around. She helped distract him at the worst moments.

"I'm not sure I can do this Nate." She said as she stared into the mirror, adjusting the smart black dress she had forced herself to buy days before. It was one shopping trip she had not enjoyed.

"In just a few hours we can start moving on, all this stuff for other people will be over."

Mitchie stopped and spun on her heel. It was then that Nate saw the tear stained streaks down her face.

"I don't want to move on." Mitchie stated, the anger clear in her voice. Shane had been her first love and at that moment he was the only love Mitchie ever wanted. He had changed her life and she thought she'd changed his, but with recent events she was realising that perhaps her impact on him wasn't as dramatic or permanent.

"Mitchie...I..." Nate tried to excuse his word, but she wouldn't give him the chance.

"He isn't dead, you hear me Nate, I won't believe it until I see his body. He can't just be gone! We're going to go there today and all sit looking at an empty coffin. That's not him, today has nothing to do with him. It's just so people can sit there and admit they've given up, admit they don't want to search anymore. But I love him and I'm not ready to give up, unlike you." The last bit sounded harsher than she meant, but it was true. Once the police had shown Nate the suicide letter, he clearly stopped trying, and Mitchie had yet to forgive him for it.

"I'm sorry Mitch. Maybe you're right, maybe one day he'll walk back into our lives and say this is all a big misunderstanding. But right now I can't believe that's going to happen. I'm sorry I've given up, I wish I could remain as hopeful as you have, but I just can't. Today I have to say goodbye to my brother and no matter how much I wish I didn't have to, it's going to happen."

Mitchie's tears stopped. In the time she had known Nate, she had never once heard him refer to Shane as his brother. It was almost as though the fact they had hidden it from the public meant they had ended up hiding it from each other. She'd been so focused on who Shane was to her, she'd stopped considering who he had been to everyone else. She wrapped her arms around Nate. They needed to stick together at this time, not fall apart and she realised that the way she'd been acting wasn't helping that. She wiped the tears from her eyes and glance back into the mirror to ensure her hair wasn't totally destroyed, ignoring her makeup (she knew there was no hope for it today). Then she took a deep breath and grabbed Nate's hand with her own.

"Let's give him the send off he deserves." Mitchie said, with as much confidence as she could muster. Nate gave her a sad smile, thankful that she seemed to understand it was just as hard for him, even if he didn't show it. The pair of them walked down the stairs and out into the waiting hearse, joining Nate's parents, ready for what they all expected to be the worst day of their lives.

GNG-GNG-GNG

"Ah Mr Byrant, just the man I was looking for. Can I see you in my office please?"

"Could it wait sir? It's just..." He had seen the girl disappear into his boss' office and really didn't want to end up in the same room as her. He wasn't sure that would end well. But he had no excuse. "I...erm...but..."

"Now." The boss seemed unlikely to budge so he put down the manuscript he had been trying to edit and, with his head hung slightly, followed his boss into the slightly larger, more excessively decorated office across the corridor.

There she sat, her attention focused on her hands, clearly nervous. Tyler almost laughed when he realised that was exactly what she had done the last time they spoke. How little people change, he pondered.

"Mr Byrant, this morning I mentioned to you that the new star writer would be joining us. Well, I'd like you to meet her. Ms Torres, this is Mr Byrant, you're new agent."

'No.' He thought. Nothing could seem worse to him in that moment than having to work with her. Being a literary agent meant spending hours with the writers you're representing and that was something Tyler really dreaded having to do with this client. Whilst inside he was panicking, outside he pretended to be as calm as possible.

"Nice to meet you." He stuck his hand out, expecting her shocked realisation any second.

"You too." She glanced up nervously, unsure what to expect.

"I'll let you two get better acquainted." Mr Boxer said, though instead of leaving the office, he indicated that Tyler should escort Ms Torres back to his own office, which he obediently did.

"So, Ms Torres, tell me about you're novel." He said as he took his seat, relaxing for the first time all morning. If she didn't recognise who he was, then this could be okay.

"Well, firstly call me Mitchie. And it's a drama." She explained as she handed over her manuscript as Mr Boxer had told her to do. "It's about a teenager who loses his memory and has to try and piece his life back together, but finds there are people deliberately trying to stop him."

Tyler had to admit, it actually did intrigue him, something a synopsis had not done for a while. And Mr Boxer was usually right when he chose stories as their 'star reads'.

"Why a teenager?" He asked as he picked up the manuscript, reading the title. 'Forgotten' – simple yet descriptive, telling you all you need to know, but not too much. Tyler had to admit she was already impressing him.

"I started writing it when I was nineteen. At the time I could only think how a teenager would feel. As I grew up I didn't see the point in changing the age, as by then the rest of the story had been shaped around the lead being that age." Mitchie replied, becoming more confident. Everyone had warned her that her agent may be a bit of a nightmare, but it seemed she had lucked out. Mr Byrant seemed a genuine guy, hopefully he would just focus on getting her career on the right track. It had been a long time since she'd put her career in someone else's hands.

"What makes you want to be a writer Mitchie?" That was the question most new writers fell down on. They could sound completely at ease and confident about their own work, but when faced with a question about their careers as a whole, most didn't have a clue what they wanted or why.

Mitchie sat and thought for a while. It was something she'd never considered, not about writing anyway. If she was honest, a few years ago she would never have expected herself to have a chance at a writer's career.

"I've always written, for as long as I can remember, just in different forms. Then this idea for a story came to mind and once I started writing it, I couldn't stop. I didn't at first consider it as a career option, just something to spend my free time doing. But eventually I became so dedicated to it, and those who I showed it to claimed it was good, so I took a chance. If you don't put yourself out there, you may never get anywhere." Tyler just nodded, not giving away any opinion. He wanted to see how she'd react when he put the pressure on. It was how he usually worked out which writers would do well and which would be successful.

"How long did it take you to write?"

"About four or so years, on and off. I know that's a long time but I wanted to get it right." Mitchie tried to excuse her delay.

"Four years is a usual amount of time." Tyler replied. He opened the manuscript. As he read her words, his opinion of her only improved. For months he'd been reading utter rubbish, yet after only a few pages his interest was caught. He suddenly put the manuscript down and looked directly at her.

"It's good. Come back on Friday. I'll read it and make notes which we will then discuss."

Mitchie thanked him before rushing from the office, taking a sigh of relief as she exited the building, glad the first meeting was over.

GNG-GNG-GNG

"Thank you for coming." Nate never thought a phrase could get so boring when repeated over and over again. He was positioned at the exit to the church alongside his parents and Uncle Brown. The funeral was over and everyone was moving into the churchyard to look at the thousands of flower bouquets donated by friends, family and fans. Nate thought it was ironic. One of the final things he and Shane had discussed was gifts from their supporters and Shane had mentioned then how he never understood why they were sent flowers. Nate had tried to argue that it was the thought that counted, but Shane had not agreed.

As the last person left the church, Nate looked out over all the people who had attended. There was a large mix of people, from family who really knew Shane, to friends they'd been in touch with since they were babies. Then there was the hangers on, those who they'd met through their career and who, no doubt, would offers magazines a comment on their sadness at the loss of 'a great Grey' (as Nate had heard one attendee refer to Shane.)

He eyes landed on his best friend. Even at such a sad event, when she'd spent hours crying, Nate couldn't help but think she was beautiful. He watched her and Caitlyn make their way to the cars, stopping briefly to talk to their fellow camp mates on the way.

"Nate?" For the first time in all the years he had known Jason, he actually wanted a hug. When Jason embraced him Nate felt oddly calm, as if something's would never change. Nate hadn't seen his band mate since they were last in the studio and was unsure whether it was a result of the circumstances, or just the time they'd been apart, but to Nate, Jason suddenly seemed older, no longer the innocent and immature kid he had been for so long. "It was a lovely ceremony man."

Jason had noticed that Nate was reaching his limit and so made the move to extract him from his parents, give him a chance to escape, at least for the journey back home. He led his young friend to a spare car, which he had arranged to be kept to just them. "Are you okay?"

That question surprised Nate. For the last few days people had told him everything would be alright, asked if he was coping and whether Mitchie was okay. But no one had asked if he was okay, they'd all just assumed he wasn't and Nate hadn't stopped to question whether they were right. Was he okay? If he was honest he didn't feel okay, he just felt numb.

"I will be." He replied, knowing that eventually that would be true. "It's weird, you know. This isn't something I ever thought I'd be dealing with and now that it has, it's all come in a rush. I've not really stopped and thought about any of it yet. I'm sort of scared that when all this is over tomorrow morning there'll be nothing to distract me from thinking it all through." That's what worried Jason. He knew only too well his friend's ability to think about things in too much depth. While it helped when they needed a few good song lyrics, with real meaning behind them, he knew it was never good for Nate's own mind.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm never far away, just remember that." He wanted Nate to know that no matter what he was someone to be turned to. Then something happened that shocked Jason. Nate started crying and then hugged him, something he swore he would never do of his own accord. Looking down at his friend, Jason noticed just how young Nate seemed. Jason didn't know what to do, so he hugged him back and they stayed like that until the car pulled up at the house for the wake, yet another event Nate didn't want to face.

AN: What do you guys think? Do you like where this story is going? Please review and let me know.