The next day, Shane found Nate by the lake, strumming his guitar.

"Better,"

Nate jumped and looked up with a soft glare.

"Thanks," he replied with a sigh.

"Now what's up?" Shane asked.

Nate shook his head. "Just... Remember how it felt when our old label didn't let us play our sound? It feels like that. Now especially Caitlyn's in my life again."

Shane smiled and nudged his shoulder. "Someones lovestruck then. Just tell your boss and I'm sure he will consider it. That's how it worked last time, especially with your professional charm or have you lost that?"

Nate hung his head. "I lost myself, Shay..." he whispered. "I don't even know who I am anymore."

"Trust me, I know exactly how you feel." Shane replied, inwardly grinning for his brother's use of his pet name.

"I just and I'm sure that Caitlyn's the answer to everything in my life as weird and obsessed as that sounds,"

Shane chuckled. "I get you, Nay," he replied, using his brother's pet name. "I forgive you by the way."

"For what? I've done a lot of things to you."

"You'll know when you know. Just know that I forgive you in advance and-"

"Nate, you have a call." Leon cut in, handing him his phone.

Nate turned to his brother apologetically before standing up and going off to answer his call. Whilst he was gone, Shane spotted Caitlyn walking down the trail towards him.

"Gellar," he acknowledged her.

"Jerk Gray," she replied, taking a seat next to him. "Nate seems to be happier when you talk to him."

"We can both relate to something."

Caitlyn nodded. "I still haven't forgiven you and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing here sitting beside you."

"Same. Could have just left but... I don't have the strength to fight any more. I'm nearly thirty, not closer than Jason is but I'm heading that way and it's a little scary."

Caitlyn chuckled. "Trust you to find ageing scary, Shane. I'm scared that everything I know is changing..."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing. I gotta go help Connie in the kitchen but tell Nate where I am, yeah?"

Shane nodded. "Sure..." he replied as he watched her leave.

He was going to find out what she meant.

...

"Hey, Connie!"

Connie turned around and grinned, hugging Caitlyn. "Hello, sweetheart! Come to release me from my boredom?"

Caitlyn giggled, nodding. "Yeah. I'm also here to bring an extra pair of hands. Got something for them to do?"

Connie smiled. "Peel the potatoes then chop them into slices. I'm making home made fried fries!"

The red head grinned, accepting the large bag of potatoes.

"So, how was the tour?"

"It was great! We went loads of places and I really enjoyed myself. It's probably the only time I'll ever be myself, that I'll have with Mitchie."

Connie turned to face her, concern written all over her features. "Caitlyn... Is there something wro-"

"Mrs Torres! Our shipment of taco shells has broken down on the highway."

Connie sighed, smiling at her kitchen assistant. "I'll get right on it. Tell Brown that I'll be just a minute."

Caitlyn faced her. "I'll be okay!"

Just then, Nate came in with a large smile and a box of chocolates in his hand. "Never fear, chocolates are here!"

She giggled and gave Connie a look who grinned and left, the concern still eating at her.

"Thanks. Can you help me? Just gotta peel and slice these," she said, gesturing to the bunch of potatoes.

Nate placed the box down and stood right beside her, picking up a potato. "Can't remember having a home cooked meal-ish."

Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. "What do you eat? You look all buff and you're diabetic!"

Nate smirked. "Salads mainly. But the occasional Meat Feast from the pizza restaurant back in BH."

"Hmm, nice."

"So, what about you, Miss Skinny-Dancer?"

Caitlyn blushed. "I'm not vegan like Mitchie is... Or is trying to be like. I'm just a let loose and eat all. Just last week, two Big Macs from McD's and I still had enough for desert! And I manage to maintain my figure. Did you see my dance video where I wore gold? Dance Fusion are thinking of hiring me as a choreographer or judge!"

"Wow, that's amazing! Are you going to take it up, now that you're in LA for a whole year?"

Caitlyn shrugged. "Probably. I don't want to rush into anything though... I also got a singing contract from our label..."

"Wow! Caitlyn you should be glad! It's-It's amazing! You can sing, dance and produce your own music. Isn't that sweet?"

"Yeah, but Nate... What about Mitchie? I can't ditch her. She's my best friend for life and it's always going to be me and her, The Singer and The Producer."

Nate shook his head, stopping his slicing of his batch of potatoes. "You're crazy, babe. A music career? A dance opportunity? Why not do something beyond just Mitchie? She's a big girl, she can handle her stuff, trust me, I know. You... you need to live your dreams."

"What if they're not my dreams? What if Mitchie is my dream?"

Nate blushed. "Then I'd think you're really a lesbian behind my back."

She giggled. He loved that sound.

"No... I meant what if being Mitchie's music producer is my dream? I did originally want to become a music producer but then I found out that singing and dancing were also my strong suits. But producing music is better for me because I can still hold on to a sense of normality."

"I understand... surprisingly." Nate replied, continuing to slice the potatoes. "I wish I had your job. At least I wouldn't have stalkers everywhere."

Caitlyn sighed. "Dating Nat Larkin was no walk in the park either. Plus, I'm Mitchie's other half, of course I would have stalkers. Did I tell you about the time some guy broke into our apartment to ask me on a date? He was like proper obsessed with me and I was actually a little flattered but mostly crept out."

Nate laughed. "You have it bad! Some girls have tried to grope me but breaking in and dating? Never had it."

"Yeah, it's a perk to come with being a music producer." she grinned. "Hey, after camp, do you wanna hang out? When we get back to LA, I mean."

"Thought you'd never ask." Nate grinned, giving her brief side hug.