Wow, 7th chapter! I feel special! I'm uploading this tonight because I have had a few requests for it and I had it there, so I am uploading it. I won't be uploading one in the mornign because I haven't written chapter 8 yet. I'll probably upload it sometime tomorrow evening, or, failing that, Wednesday. I'm out most of tomorrow but I might just find time to write and upload it.
This isn't as long as some of my other chapters. Sorry!
"Morning, sleep head," said a familiar voice. I opened my eyes to see Chloe leaning over me. I must have fallen asleep on the sofa. I couldn't really remember much after the concert; it was just a blur of tears and a pained heart as Chloe drove me home and helped me up into the apartment.
"Hey," I said in a dull voice. Chloe laughed.
"It's Sunday today and I know you don't have work, so you wanna come out with me and my friends?" I sat up, groaning as pain shot through my back.
"It is really your friends, right?"
"Yeah, no surprises, I promise!" I grinned. "We're having a snowball fight in a park across town."
"I'll come," I promised, glancing out of the glass wall.
More snow had fallen overnight, everything I could see was white. The whole city looked strange, but beautiful, like something out of a fairytale. I could see little black dots moving around below, people out enjoying themselves in the snow. I hadn't had a snow ball fight in years, literally not since I was about thirteen.
Chloe ate breakfast, I wasn't hungry, and then pulled out several thick winter coats, handing them over to me.
"These are all my old coats, so pick a few, I don't want them!" I took them and stumbled into my room. Chloe was so awesome.
I eventually decided to wear the largest coat, a thick pink waterproof with a fluffy hood. On Chloe's slim figure, I knew it would look ridiculous and hang loosely, but with my extra weight, it looked quite natural. It almost hid the bump completely, but not quite. It just made me look a bit fat, but I didn't really care.
I pulled on a thick pair of jeans over a pair of leggings, several pairs of socks and then my boots. I knew I wouldn't stay dry for long, but I had to start off somewhere, right?
Chloe was waiting for me, somehow still managing to look thin as a rake, even with all the extra layers. She took me downstairs and into her car.
"The parks across the river," she explained. "It takes almost an hour on the bus and you have to walk a long distance afterwards." I shrugged. I didn't mind.
Half an hour later, we pulled into the park. The sign, which someone had helpfully rubbed snow off of, read 'Royal Victoria Country Park' and was right by the edge of the sea. As Chloe turned off the engine and I undid my seatbelt, something hit the back windscreen with a loud thud! Chloe spun round and narrowed her eyes.
"He did not just do that!" she hissed.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," I said, laughing at her expression. "But I think he did!" She threw open the door.
"You are dead Harry Wood!" she screamed, sprinting across the car park. I laughed and climbed out of the car more slowly. This promised to be a fun day.
"Who's your friend, Chlo?" One of the boys, Harry I think it was, asked as we paused in our frantic fight for a few seconds.
"This is Mitch-" I cute her, off warning her with my eyes.
"I'm Michelle," I introduced myself. I hated my full name, but I didn't want these people to start getting suspicious of me.
"Hey, Michelle," said a girl who was lying on the floor panting. "I'm Hattie!" I smiled at the girl and held out my hand to help her up. "Thanks," she said. I saw the small ball of snow in her hand and watched as she spun around, suddenly throwing the cold substance at a boy whose name I didn't know.
"That's Kyle," Chloe informed me as the others sprinted off. "The girl who just climbed the tree is Poppy, she's really sporty. The one who is hiding behind me," I glanced backwards and saw the boy crouched down. "Is Harry. Lily! He's here!" she screamed at a girl prowling around the field. She came sprinting over and I leapt out of the way as she started pelting Harry with snowballs.
I have now idea how idiotic we looked as we played in the field, rolling around in the snow and shoving little icy balls down each other's backs. We probably looked like little twelve year old experiencing snow for the first time, but I didn't care. I was enjoying this time while it lasted, even thought I could feel the bulge of my stomach the whole time.
My five new friends grinned at me as we sat in the little café, drinking hot drinks.
"So, why'd you move here from America, Michelle?" Lily asked, smoothing her hair absently. I hadn't told them I was from America. I guessed my accent had given it away at once.
"Long story," I said evasively.
"Well it's going to be a long time before I trust Poppy not to attack me once we leave, so spill," Kyle said. I sighed.
"I… had a few secrets that I didn't want anyone to know about…" I admitted. I didn't want to lie, but surely I could twist the truth a little bit, right? "My boyfriend and I fell out and I couldn't keep seeing him, so I ran away and the first plane I could afford was to here."
"Huh? That wasn't a long story!" Harry complained. I laughed.
"That was about three months ago, it's been a while." Poppy opened her mouth to say something when a little tune played from inside her pocket. She pulled out her phone and I tried not to wince as I recognised one of Connect 3's songs.
"Hello?" she said in her happy little voice. "No, I'm out!" she was silent for a second, and then she laughed daintily. "Seriously? I feel so sorry for him, he really loves her. God, you'd think he'd have gotten over it by now… I guess so, look I have to go, see you." She hung up. "My sister," she explained apologetically.
"What did she want?" Kyle asked.
"Well apparently Shane Gray has written another song about his girlfriend," I choked on the tea I had been sipping.
"He sung it at his concert last night," Chloe said, throwing me a worried look.
"No, another one that he's releasing today." Lily rolled her eyes.
"I don't know much about this Mitchie girl, but she must have been pretty awesome for him to be this obsessed with him. I wonder why she left, she must have fallen out of love with him or she'd have told him where she was by now!" I looked down.
"You never know," Chloe said. "Maybe she had her reasons; maybe she had a secret she didn't want him to know about!" The others laughed and I looked thankfully at Chloe, she had tried to stand up for me.
"Seriously, I think she was cheating on him and ran off to be with a new boy," Hattie said.
"Yeah, she's probably just a slut who was using him for fame," Kyle agreed. I felt my breath catch in my throat and I screwed up my hands so hard that my nails made little dents in my palms.
"Probably," Hattie agreed. "I wonder why the hell he thinks she's in England? She might be anywhere, why would she come here? If she's run off to be with another boy, she could be anywhere!" I felt tears rolling down my cheeks.
"Guys, you don't know her!" Chloe protested. "She could have left for any reason! You don't know her; you can't judge her by what the paparazzi are saying!"
"What and you do know her?" Lily asked sceptically. I couldn't listen to any more, so I leapt up and ran from the café, turning left and sprinting into the little building that held the loos. I locked myself into a cubicle and cried my eyes out.
After several minutes, I heard the door open. A sharp breeze blew around my ankles.
"Mitchie, I know you're in there!" Hattie called, knocking on the cubicle door. I looked up sharply. Why was she calling me Mitchie?
I opened the door very slightly and saw Hattie standing a few feet away, uncomfortable.
"I'm really, really sorry!" she said sincerely, her voice barely more than a whisper.
"What for?" I asked automatically.
"Everything I said…" she trailed off.
"Why would I care-?"
"Because I know who you are. I mean, I didn't then, but Chloe just told us and I really didn't mean it. I just read too many fan magazines and that's what they're all saying!" I shook my head slowly.
"I forgive you, Hattie. I know you didn't know. It just hurt, that's all."
"So why did you leave?" she asked as I wiped my face.
"I thought Chloe told you,"
"She told us who you were, nothing else." I sighed, internally debating whether or not to tell her. I finally gave in, who cared now, it wouldn't be long before you could see it, even through my clothes.
Ever so slowly and carefully, I unzipped my coat so that she could see my red top. I pulled the zip right to the bottom and she gasped as my stomach came into view.
"You're pregnant?" she said. I nodded, fighting the urge to start crying again.
"You have to promise not to tell!" I begged, zipping the coat back up again.
"I promise!"
As we walked back into the café a few minutes later, smiling and chatting like old friends, I couldn't help wondering.
One more person knew, one more person who could accidentally let something slip, one more chance for Shane to find me.
That didn't worry me as much as it should.
Shane's POV
I was sitting on the bed in my hotel room with my guitar when I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," I called, knowing who it would be.
"Hey dude!" Jason said eagerly, flying in and jumping on the bed. I threw a hand out to grab the paper I had been scribbling on before it flew off.
"Morning," I said as Nate and Caitlyn came over at a more civilised pace.
"You okay, man?" Nate asked.
"Yeah, just wondering if she, you know, was there." I knew Nate didn't know because he looked frustrated.
"She probably wasn't but I bet she watched it on TV," Caitlyn said.
"Caity, just tell me what city she's in!" I begged. Caitlyn shook her head, a determined expression on her face. "Fine, then leave. You lot go enjoy the three inches of snow while I write this song,"
"Four inches," Jason corrected.
"Whatever,"
"I'm gonna tell the press you're writing another song for Mitchie!" Caitlyn suddenly said, disappearing out of the room.
"Seriously, are they still obsessing over me?"
"Dude, of course they are. You're Shane Gray!" Nate told me. I sighed. Sometimes I wished I wasn't.
My brothers left me alone and I spent a few hours working on my latest song. When I was finally happy with it, I decided to play it through.
I never thought I would, did it
Never thought I could
I did it like that, did it like this
Did it like everybody knows
That we got something real, shorty
I know what I feel
Shout it like that
Shout it like this
Listen up, everybody knows
But you, so here it goes
Cause I never really noticed
Took a while for me to see
Playing back the moments
Now I'm starting to believe
That you could be at the show and know everyone
But it's you who makes me sing
And I know where we are and I know who I am
Baby, I'm your biggest fan, oh
Every time you smile for me
Takes me a while to bring myself back
Cause your all that
And I just had to let you know
That I'm screaming out in the crowd for you
I can be too loud cause I don't care
I let 'em all stare
I just want everyone to know
The truth, it's only you
I never really noticed
Took a while for me see
Playing back the moments
Now I'm starting to believe
That you could be at the show and know everyone
But it's you who makes me sing
And I know where we are and I know who I am
Baby, I'm your biggest fan
That was all I had so far. I trailed off.
The song was so true. I was Mitchie's biggest fan and everyone apart from her seemed to know that. Mitchie was the reason I was singing, the reason I was who I was. Without Mitch, I would still be a stuck up jerk, probably a stuck up jerk that looked like a member of that band who got dumped by the record label because of his jerkins behavior. Mitchie had walked into my life two and a half years ago and nothing had been the same since. Now I was trying to live without her and it wasn't working. I just couldn't make it happen.
I put my guitar down and sighed. I needed Mitch back, where was she? For the first time in days, I thought about the papers, the headlines… they couldn't be right, could they? Mitchie wouldn't have left me for some other guy, we had been so happy together; we hadn't had a fight for ages. Where was she?
I suddenly noticed a phone lying on the bed. Mine was in my pocket, so it must be Jason's. When he threw himself onto the bed he must have dropped it without realizing. I glanced around and then picked it up. I opened the contacts.
If they were all still in contact with Mitchie, he must have her number, right? I scrolled through with trembling fingers, but I was disappointed when I didn't see her name in the 'M's'. I went back to the top and started scrolling through; in case he had deliberately stuck an 'A' in front of her name to hide it from me or something.
After half an hour, I gave up. I couldn't see her name anywhere. I dropped the phone and seconds later it started vibrating. I answered it quickly.
"Hello?" I asked, my voice shaking.
"Shane?" came a girls voice, confused.
"Caitlyn?"
"Yeah?"
"What?"
"Why're you on Jason's phone?"
"He dropped it in my room,"
"Oh," she shouted something to Jason and then put the phone back to her ear. "Jase is on his way, just warning you!"
Ten minutes later the door banged open and Jason appeared.
"Looking for something?" I asked, waving his phone in the air. He took it thankfully.
"So how are you?" he asked me, unusually thoughtfully for Jason.
"Great, Jase, just great. The love of my life ran away from me to a foreign country where I chased her. Three months after she leaves, I still have no idea where she is, or even why she left. I am sick of this stupid country with its snow and rain and I just want my girlfriend back, but my best friends and brothers won't help me, so I'm stuck alone. I'm doing great!" Every word dripped sarcasm. Jason sighed.
"You were fantastic at the concert," he told me. Then he left and I was left alone with my own thoughts.
Mitchie's POV
I was sitting in the apartment with Hattie, Lily and Chloe. Poppy wasn't here, she was shopping with her sister.
All the girls knew my secret now, even more people I was trusting. Now though, I wasn't as bothered abut Shane finding out. At least he would know the truth, right? And I wasn't as certain he would leave me. My friends were trying to convince me to go and see him.
"We know you still love him," Chloe said.
"Yeah, your eyes light up every time we say his name,"
"Tell him!" Hattie begged. "He loves you and he is this baby's father, he deserves to know the truth." I shook my head.
"He might be its father, but either he would leave me when he found out or ruin his whole career because of me. I'm not sure which one's worse." Chloe opened her mouth to objects when the doorbell rung.
"Pizza!" We all shouted, laughing. We hadn't eaten properly for the three days they'd all been staying here. We had just lived on snacks and crisps.
Chloe went to get the boxes while I grabbed some plates and a pizza cutter out of the cupboards. I glanced out the window and saw the sun setting on the horizon, the red light reflecting off of the snow still covering the city and making everything seem bright.
We finally managed to go to bed, about one in the morning. When I had turned up at work the day before with my bump on display, Gary had suggested I go on maternity leave. He said he would still pay me full wages because the café was doing so well and he could afford to right now. I agreed I would.
So it didn't really bother me when I slept in past lunchtime.
Everyone else was up, sitting at the glass dining table reading the paper.
"Morning," I said, blinking to wake myself up.
"Hey Mitch," they all chorused, hiding the paper.
"What is it guys?" I asked, preparing myself for the worst. If the paparazzi had found out where I was, it was tough cookies and I was going to have to live with it. If Shane had decided to go back to America, I couldn't do anything about it.
"Nothing," Lily said innocently.
"Show me!" I demanded. Chloe slid the paper across the table ever so slowly, not meeting my eyes.
I gasped. The picture on the front was of Shane, teary eyed and messy haired, standing outside the hotel he was staying at. He looked so torn up; I wondered if he felt like as much of an empty shell as I did. The headline was printed in big black letters: I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I'VE FOUND HER.
The headlines sent shivers of fear and delight through me. The thought that he loved me enough to stay in England was comforting, but disturbing because I couldn't spend my whole life hiding from him and he would find me eventually, if he was that desperate.
I went back to my room without another word and sat cross legged on my bed for a long time, my hands resting lightly on my bulging stomach. I finally gathered up the courage to pick up my phone.
"Hello?" said a familiar voice.
"Hey, Caity!" I said in a strained voice.
"Mitch! Are you okay? You sound really ill!"
"Not ill, just confused, Have you seen the latest headlines?"
"Which one?"
"The one where Shane says he's not leaving until he finds me!"
"That one…" I sensed more to the story.
"What about it? Is it true?"
"Yeah, he really means it. He won't go back home until he has you, Mitchie. I'm serious; he spent hours the other day sitting in his room writing another song for you. It's all he ever does. He's love sick." I wiped a tear out of my eye.
"I'm love sick too, Caity! I can't stop thinking about him and my stomach is so huge! I know I'm only like a third of the way through this pregnancy thing but I feel like a balloon that someone's blowing up and I'm not even half way there yet!"
"Mitch, just tell him!"
"I can't Caity!" She growled.
"Then I will!"
"What? No!"
"Mitch, it's not just him that's affected. Do you have any idea how worried Nate is about him? Dating a boy who's obsessed with his brother is kind of strange. I seriously think they're both going to get ill! If you don't let him know about your problem, I will!" I sighed. Caity was right; I couldn't tear apart everyone's lives for my own.
"I will, I promise. I just need time!"
"You have three months!"
"Three months?" I squeaked.
"If I think either of them is going to fall apart before that, I'm reducing it!"
"But Caity-"
"No buts. If you don't tell Shane that you're pregnant in the next three months, I'm telling him myself!" And she hung up.
I threw myself backwards, my head crashing onto my pillow. I couldn't talk to him, I didn't know how! What was I supposed to do, walk up to him in the café and go 'Hey, babes, thought I'd let you know, I'm going to have your baby!'? I couldn't do that. If you run away from the person you love, how do you go back and tell them they're going to be a father? It wasn't that simple. I was going to have to do some serious planning, and for that, I needed girl power.
So what did you think of chapter 8? Read and review, please!
Thanks to the 23 people or so who've actaully taken the time to review, I love you all! also thanks to the people who's added it to alerts, it really makes me happy!
Thanks for staying with me this far,
~Spwarkle