Author's Note: I know, I know, I took too long to get this one up. I'm sorry. (Although really, this is nothing compared to the wait for an update on most of my stories. You all have it insanely good.) I'm sure a few of you want to kill me right now, but I'm almost positive that once you read this latest installment, you'll change your minds. So how about I get off the screen already and let you read it? Yeah, that sounds good.

Chapter Three

Tess was lying on her back on her bed, enjoying some rare free time. The past couple of days had been a whirlwind of rehearsals, but Luke had twisted his ankle the night before and was on strict orders from the camp doctor to rest it today. Her other cabin mates were all off in clinics or classes, so she was all alone.

She yawns, and stares at the clock – a little after one o'clock. Because of Luke's ankle, Axel had canceled rehearsals for the day, but they were supposed to meet him after dinner to discuss costumes and set design, or something like that. That left about four or five hours for Tess to do whatever she wanted to do. Plenty of time to squeeze in a nap.

You really should be working on the music with Dana, a voice in her head says. Just because there's no official rehearsals today doesn't mean you get to slack off, if you want to win.

Tess knows the voice is right, but as she yawns again, she decides to ignore it. The late-night rehearsals on top of a full day of work are starting to take their toll on her. Four or five extra hours would be very much appreciated right now.

Just as she closes her eyes, the door to her cabin bangs open. Tess groans and rolls over onto her side, preparing for what she assumes will be a confrontation with Luke about why she's taking a nap in the middle of the day when she should be rehearsing.

Instead, soft footsteps make their way to her bed, and then the end sinks slightly under the weight of something. The crisp, clean scent of green apple and cucumber fills her nostrils – DKNY Be Delicious.

Dana's perfume.

Tess opens her eyes and sits up straight. Sure enough, there's Dana sitting at the foot of her bed, looking uncharacteristically casual in a pair of black yoga pants and a faded gray T-shirt under a maroon hoodie. The expression on her face is so miserable that Tess forgets all about her nap. "Oh sweetie, what's wrong?"

The words all come out in a big rush. "I know this is wrong and I shouldn't be telling you this because you'll probably just go tell my dad and get me in trouble but you're the closest thing I have to a friend here and I think I just had a fight with the boy I really like and screwed things up forever between us which would be pretty hard to do considering the circumstances so that means I'm really screwed and I just need someone to talk to!" A tear trickles down the side of her face.

"Okay, Dana, breathe." Dana takes a few deep breaths, until she seems to have composed herself a little better. "Now tell me again what happened. And don't worry – I'm not going to tell your dad anything."

She takes another deep breath. "Okay. So, um, you know Nate Gray from Connect 3?"

"How could I not?" She has a sinking suspicion where this is going, but doesn't say anything. "Anyway, go on."

"Well, the night of the bonfire, I kind of hit him in the eye with my bracelet, and we started flirting when he returned it to me. And then he snuck over to visit me a couple times, so I today I went to see him, but then he was all close-lipped and I realized, like, how much do I really know about this guy? So I kind of said that, and he got all defensive, and then I think we had a fight, because I kind of left all upset. Except now I really regret it and want to take it back, but at the same time I don't, you know? Because, like, I should know things about him if we're going to have a relationship, right?"

"Okay, I'm not going to lie, I only caught about half of that, but I think I get the gist. You and Nate had a fight." Dana nods, and Tess slides off her bed and opens the bottom drawer of the night table by her bed.

"What are you doing?" Dana asks, watching Tess rummage through a pile of old notebooks and assorted tubes of makeup.

"Looking for something… aha! Found it." She brandishes two long yellow boxes in the shape of a pyramid, with red letters spelling out TOBLERONE on the sides. "My secret stash. Mom goes crazy if I eat these at home, so I hide them all over the house in places she'll never look, for those moments when a girl just really needs her chocolate, not some fake carob health bar substitute crap that tastes nothing like chocolate. I bring a few with me every year to camp, just in case one of those moments happens while I'm here. And this is definitely one of those moments." She hands one box to Dana, then opens the other one and breaks off a piece.

Dana stares down at the chocolate for a minute, before doing the same. After each girl has eaten a few pieces and they're in a considerably better mood, Tess offers some advice. "I'm probably one of the worst people to come to for romantic advice, but I do know Nate Gray, and if you two are defying your family to see each other, he probably really likes you too. He just gets shy and nervous sometimes, and says awkward things. He's the 'shy, sensitive one' – and yes, I know that's his market in all those stupid teen magazines, but it's really true. I'd say wait a day or two and see if he comes back – he should make the first move after all, being the guy – but if he doesn't and you still really miss him, then take the initiative, go over there, and talk to him yourself." She laughs. "And if that doesn't work, I'll go over there and beat the crap out of him."

Dana laughs too, a smile lighting up her pretty face for the first time that afternoon, and Tess smiles. "I hope that won't be necessary," she says, popping another piece of chocolate into her mouth. "Okay. Thanks so much, Tess." She leans over and gives Tess a quick hug.

A warm, gooey feeling spreads through Tess's entire body. "You're welcome," she says.

"I've gotta go now – my dad wants to see me." Dana stands up and adjusts her clothes, taking the remains of her chocolate bar with her. "But, um, I'll see you later, I guess."

"Totally."

"And Tess?" Dana turns around as she's halfway to the door. "Thank you. I mean it. For everything."

"No problem. What are friends for?"

Dana smiles, then walks out the door.

Tess lays back down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and thinking about what just happened. That kind of feeling – girl talk with a good friend, discussing boys, eating chocolate – that was something she hadn't experienced in a long time.

(And it didn't take a genius to figure out why.)

She pushes that thought out of her mind and tries to focus on other things. Like the new discovery of Dana and Nate. Who'd have thought the Connect 3 drummer and Axel Turner's daughter would be Camp Wars' own Romeo and Juliet? She wonders who else at Camp Rock knows – Nate didn't seem like the type to gush about his girlfriend, but then again, as long as Tess had known him, she'd never known him to have a girlfriend.

Eventually, her brain still processing the Dana and Nate love story, Tess drifts off to sleep.

Dear God, please, just kill me now and put me out of my misery.

A day of having to sit out and do nothing has made Luke even more irritable than usual, and he's picking fights about everything – her harmonies, her dancing, her clothing choices. She's hogging the spotlight. She's flat on that chord. She turned right instead of left in this dance move. Her bracelets jingling distract from the music. It's like she can't do anything right. And Axel just sits there and doesn't say a word.

"I'm just trying to stay on the right pitch," Tess argues. "You're screwing things up in the second verse–"

"Every single time I'm trying to sing my high note, I keep getting lost behind her big head!" Luke exclaims.

"Oh no, you didn't! But now that you mention it, I–"

"You couldn't stand in the spotlight for two seconds, so you–"

"Oh my gosh, I was just trying to–"

"Enough!" Axel intervenes. "We'll run it again in three minutes. And this time, remember – it's not amateur hour!"

Tess turns around and gives Luke a withering look. "He means you." Then she stalks off.

She's fully aware of how snotty she sounds, but right now she honestly couldn't care less. Luke has been driving her absolutely crazy all day. It seems to be getting worse the closer they get to Camp Wars.

The rest of the musicians and back-up dancers involved in their Camp Wars piece are already heading down to the amphitheater, but out of the corner of her eye she sees Dana – who's looking much prettier and happier today, in a gray jacket over a black camisole, a black and purple print skirt, and black gladiator sandals – talking to a curly-haired boy in a plaid button-down shirt holding a guitar. Tess squints, trying to figure out who he is; he doesn't look like any of the people working on their number.

Then it hits her, and she feels like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

Nate.

Tess's heart melts; by the looks of things, he wrote a song for Dana. She bites her cheek to keep from squealing, making a mental note to grill Dana later.

"What's wrong with you today?" She's still caught up in the epic adorable-ness that is Nate and Dana that it takes her a moment longer than usual to process Luke's words. When she realizes he's talking to her, she jumps and whirls around to face him.

"Nothing's wrong with me. What's wrong with you?" she snips back. It almost scares her, how easily she falls back into her old ways when she's talking to him.

He scoffs. "Maybe this kind of substandard performance was alright back at Camp Loser, but here, we play to win."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. Why don't you try it sometime?" She can almost see his blood boiling. But as he opens his mouth to shoot back another retort, the guy with the megaphone – whose only job seems to be to bark commands through the megaphone so Axel doesn't have to – says, "Come on, get a move on! We don't have all day!"

Luke turns to her and says, "Try not to suck this time, okay?"

"It's not me you should be worried about," she replies. His response is just to roll his eyes, like she's a silly little kid compared to him.

"What's taking Dana so long?" he asks impatiently after a minute, and Tess's breath catches in her throat. Dana's probably still with Nate, but under no circumstances can Luke find out about the two of them.

"I don't know. Why don't I go find her?" She's gone before Luke can say anything in response, hurrying back to the benches where they left Dana earlier. With every step, she prays that Nate's already on his way back to Camp Rock. Seeing him again would be incredibly awkward.

…But not as awkward as that.

Tess skids to a stop, watching the scene unfolding before her in abject horror. Standing only a few yards away from her are Dana and Nate, along with a third party – Axel Turner.

And judging by his expression, he's not happy.

"Why don't you save the theatrics for the competition?" Even with his dark sunglasses, Axel looks just about ready to spit fire.

"It's okay," Dana says, turning back to Nate. She plucks something out of his shirt pocket, smiles, and says, "Thank you," in a voice so soft Tess can barely hear it.

"We'll talk about this later," Axel says, as they start walking away. He turns around to give Nate one last icy look before they leave.

Tess turns around and starts running back to the amphitheater, but she's not quick enough. "Miss Tyler? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others, rehearsing?"

She freezes, then turns around to face him. "I… was just going to look for Dana. We can't rehearse without her, you know." It's a weak story – even though it's true – but she's betting on the fact that he's too pissed about finding Nate with Dana right now to really care why she's not where she's supposed to be.

Fortunately, he seems to buy it. "Well, alright then. You girls go back to rehearsal. Dana, I want to see you in my office before dinner."

"Okay, Dad." Dana practically sprints down the pathway to Tess, where they start walking back to the amphitheater at a slightly faster pace than usual.

"How much of that did you see?" Dana asks, once they're a considerable distance away and Axel is safely out of earshot.

"Enough to know that you owe me some serious girl talk," Tess replies. "I want all the juicy details, so spill. Oh – and you're welcome; I totally saved your Nate-Gray-loving butt from Luke earlier."

Dana sighs. "Thanks for that, then. And I'm sorry in advance – my dad's probably going to be even tougher than usual on you guys tonight because of what just happened."

Now it's Tess's turn to sigh. "Whatever," she says after a moment. "It's worth it, to see you smiling again. So I take it you and Nate made up?"

"Better than that." Dana's expression is practically blissful as she gushes about how Nate wrote her a song, all about little things nobody else knows about him. Tess is practically green-eyed with envy by the time they reach the amphitheater; no one's ever cared about her enough to do something like that before.

"Took you two long enough," Luke snaps as they approach the stage. "Would you mind saving your girl talk for after rehearsals?"

"Oh, shut up, Luke," Dana bites back bitterly, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she walks across the stage to her keyboard. "Let's just get going already." Tess bites her lip to keep from smiling. Dana's the only one who can put Luke in his place, being Axel's daughter and all, and it's times like this when she really appreciates having the brunette on her side.

The music starts again, and Tess slips back into rehearsal mode.

"Give me the green light

I'm ready to go

Hit up the start line

I'm breakin' the roll

I'm gonna take you

(I'm gonna shake you)

No one's gonna lose

(Walkin' in my shoes)

I'm stopped at a red light

I'm on a roll

Turn up the music

I'm out of control

I'm gonna take you

(I'm gonna shake you)

No one's gonna lose

(Walkin' in my shoes)

Walkin' in my shoes."

This song wouldn't be her first choice by any means – "Tear it Down" is much better – but after doing it countless times in rehearsals, it's starting to grow on her. (At least in this one, she gets a real part – in "Tear it Down" she's essentially a glorified back-up singer.) As always in rehearsals, she and Luke sing and dance side by side, like they don't hate each other when the music stops playing. The back-up singers dance behind them, and the fireworks graphics pop on the background screen, as the pulsing lights flash colors onto the stage. It's pretty spectacular, if she does say so herself.

Yet when the music stops, and they hit their final pose in the center of the stage, Tess finds herself dreading Axel's verdict. "Well?" she asks, dropping her arm.

Still in his signature black sunglasses, despite the fact that it's almost nine o'clock and pitch black, Axel is as intimidating as ever. "Good. Maybe great. But this competition isn't about maybe."

"Okay, fine, but can you tell her to stay out of my light?"

"Well maybe if you would stay out of my way, it wouldn't be a problem." Tess never understood why Axel insisted on having these late-night rehearsals – they were never as productive as the ones that took place during daylight hours, since everyone was always so tired from their full day of work. Plus, it was freezing – so cold she could literally see her breath in small clouds in front of her face. (Or maybe that was just the smoke machine? Either way, it's unnerving.)

"Let me see "Tear it Down" instead." Everyone groans, including Tess. As much as she likes that song better, all she wants to do now is curl up in her bed and go to sleep. "Let's reset, people! Come on – move! This has to be perfect!" A few people throw up their hands in complaint, but eventually they all turn around and start heading backstage, Tess and Luke included.

Then she hears Axel say something that makes her stop: "Camp Rock isn't gonna know what hit 'em."

Tess isn't sure which is more unsettling: Axel's insane determination to beat Camp Rock, or the fact that she finds the first thing unsettling.

"Alright, everyone, you're free to leave. Go, get some sleep. I'll see you all again tomorrow morning at ten-thirty." Tess breathes a sigh of relief; it's eleven o'clock at night, and they've been working on "Tear it Down" for two hours. She curses Dana for getting a free pass from her dad to skip tonight's rehearsal, leaving her to walk back to the cabins alone. (Of course, he's probably still mad about the whole Nate thing, but still. Totally unfair.)

Since she hadn't been expecting rehearsals to take this long, Tess forgot to bring a flashlight with her, so she finds herself blindly wandering around in the dark, trying to find her way back to the path that leads to the rest of camp. A flash of silver catches her eye, and she follows it into the darkness, eventually running to catch it before it disappeared.

"Ow!" Tess collides with another person and goes sprawling onto the dirt. Immediately, she leaps up and brushes off her outfit, praying there aren't any stains. "Watch where you're going!" She looks down to see who she's bumped into, then sighs.

Luke.

"Are you trying to put me out of commission again, Tess?" he snaps angrily, picking himself up and dusting off his silver suit. (That would explain the flashes of silver…)

"It's not my fault it's so dark I can't see one foot in front of my face. Blame Axel for making us rehearse so late."

He rolls his eyes. "Here – we can share my flashlight." He picks up something shiny and red off the ground and hits a switch, instantly illuminating the path in front of them.

Tess is stunned, although she doesn't show it. "Thanks," she mumbles under her breath, so quietly she's not sure he can even hear it. Luke gives no sign of having heard her, and just keeps on walking.

They walk in silence for a moment, until Tess shivers. "You cold?" he asks, turning to her.

"A little, but I'm fine," she says automatically, wondering why he's even trying to make small talk.

But he's already shrugging off his suit jacket and handing it to her. "Here. Can't you have getting sick on us, now can we?" he offers by way of explanation.

She takes it slowly, still wondering why he's being so… nice to her. This is the first time they've talked all summer – since the first morning they met – where neither of them has spat barbs about the other's lack of talent.

They walk in silence for a little while longer, until they start to approach the rest of the camp. Tess can see a few lights on in the cabins (although who would still be up this late is a mystery), along with the outline of the mess hall and a few of the music buildings in the distance.

"You gonna be okay to make it back to your cabin by yourself?" Luke asks, as they stop at the central courtyard that connects all the buildings.

"I'm fine," she insists. "And here – take your jacket back."

"Keep it. It looks good on you."

Tess couldn't have been more shocked if pink flamingos had fallen out of the sky and started tap-dancing with polka-dotted umbrellas right there in the courtyard. Luke gave her a compliment?

"Um… thanks?" She starts to leave, but then stops and turns around to face him again. The words slip out before she can censor herself. "Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?"

After a moment, when he doesn't respond, Tess sighs and turns around again, intending to go back to her cabin. She only makes it a few steps, though, before Luke grabs her arm and pulls her back towards him.

He's switched off the flashlight, so the only light left comes from the moon and the few surrounding cabins with their lights still on. Everything looks all shadowy and mysterious, and she can barely see him in front of her anymore. She tries to move, but he has her wrist in an iron grip.

And then he cups her face in his hands, bringing his lips down to hers, and her head spins.

Oh. My. God.

Tess's eyes slide closed, as her arms wrap themselves around his neck seemingly of their own accord, pulling him down closer to her. He nibbles on her bottom lip, asking permission to enter her mouth, and she lets out a soft moan as his tongue touches hers. His lips are warm and so soft. She feels like she's melting into this kiss – this amazing, wonderful, perfect kiss…

Tess is so dazed that it takes her a moment to realize Luke's pulled away. She opens her eyes to see that he's turned the flashlight back on and is already walking off, his silhouette faintly visible against the darkness from the light of the flashlight. A moment later, he's completely disappeared from her sight.

She brings two fingers up to her lips – which are slightly swollen; proof that she didn't just imagine their kiss – and inhales deeply, letting the cold night air fill her lungs and bring her back down to Earth. She can almost still feel his lips against hers.

Despite the time and the cold, Tess stays put in the courtyard, until her heartbeat slows down to a more normal rate. One thought stands out in her mind:

What the hell just happened?

Author's Note: Okay, show of hands - how many of you want to kill me for making you wait this long for an update now?

I went back and watched the bits of the movie that coincide with this chapter like a zillion times, just to get everything right. (Side note: I absolutely love "Walkin' In My Shoes" - so pissed it didn't make it into the movie!) I know it really doesn't matter, but I'm a perfectionist like that. So please tell me if all my hard work paid off.

I'm also curious if that Tess/Luke kiss at the end seemed to come from nowhere. (If it did - I'm sorry, but it was sort of supposed to be like that.) We'll see the after-effects of that in the next chapter (which is very short, and all original material - nothing from the movie at all). There is a reason I threw that in there (and not just because this fandom desperately needs some Tess/Luke action already, lol), which will become more clear later on. (Let's just say that without this, a big twist I'm throwing in towards the end would be really out of left field.)

Like I said: next chapter = short, and all original. Then the chapter after that is Camp Wars, yay! I have this story all planned out, and I'm sad to say, the end is most definitely in sight. Just a few more chapters. But you'd better believe they're going to be nice and long and meaty. The end is the best part, after all. :) Not to mention my surprise pertaining to the reason I threw in their kiss. Ha ha, I'm evil, I know.

Reviews = lifeblood... do I really have to go over this ah-gain? (Lol)

Catch you on the flip side,

- Authoress