Action: Solving the mystery of the magically appearing bouquet of flowers.

Shane. It had to be Shane. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did. It was like Lauren said, maybe I'd already found my Prince Charming, and now he was trying to prove it to me.

I quickly threw my hair in a ponytail and flew out of my room, dashing past various members of my band and management who warned me to start getting ready to leave because I'd slept in. I basically ignored them and kept running until I came to a screeching halt outside of Shane's ajar hotel room door. I raised my hand to knock excitedly on the door, when I heard voices coming from inside. My heart involuntarily twinged in jealousy as one was obviously female.

"It was so lame and cheesy," I could hear Shane groan.

"Calm down, I'm sure she'll love them," came the breezy Australian reply.

"You don't get it, Lauren, she's going to think I'm the world's biggest dork," he sighed, and I could mentally see him running his fingers though his dark hair.

"I think you're forgetting you're actually in the presence of the world's biggest dork," Lauren chuckled. "And Mitchie isn't that far off behind me. We're all universal dorks at the end of the day."

"But what am I supposed to say to her?" was his frustrated reply. "Oh hey, Mitchie, I heard that your bus was a bit smelly so I got you these flowers to freshen it up?"

I covered my mouth to muffle my laughter as Lauren let hers ring out. "She's going to know it's more than that from your card."

"Oh god, you're right," Shane moaned, and I heard the crinkle of couch cushions so I imagined he'd thrown himself on them exaggeratedly. "I did not think this through. What do I do now?"

"Tell her how you feel," Lauren said simply.

"But what if it doesn't work out the way we want it too?" the desperation and confusion in Shane's voice resounded in me because I knew exactly how he felt.

"Nothing in life ever does," Lauren stated matter-of-factly. "But why wouldn't you take the risk of being happy before you lose the chance, and either you or her move on to someone different?"

"I don't want to move on to someone different," Shane growled. "You don't get it, Lauren. No one lights up my world like she does."

"So tell her that," I edged in the door to take a peek at Lauren throwing her hands in the air in frustration, while Shane was looking at her from the sofa with his back to me.

"I don't know how," he sighed meekly, twisting his fingers together nervously.

Lauren huffed her side fringe out of her eyes and took a step forward. "Okay, pretend I'm Mitchie."

"What?" Shane spluttered, staring at her like she was a crazy person. "No, I'm not doing that. You don't look anything like Mitchie."

"What are you talking about, pookie?" Lauren drawled in a terrible imitation of my Texan accent. "Of course I'm Mitchie!"

Shane laughed and stood up to face her. "You're an idiot."

"That's no way to address a lady," she flipped her hair and stuck out her hip in an unimpressed manner. "Didn't you have something you wanted to tell me?"

"Fine," Shane chuckled, leaning over and mock-whispering to Lauren. "But Mitchie doesn't call herself a lady, you should know that."

"Whatever," Lauren rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips, continuing her charade. "Please, Shane, go on. What do you have to say to me?"

Shane folded his arms across his chest and looked down at the ground. "Well, I sent you the flowers."

"Why?" Lauren cooed sweetly, and I wrinkled my nose. I hope I didn't sound like that to everyone else when I was talking to Shane.

"I know sometimes I can- I can be a jerk, and I don't let you know how, um, special you are to me every day," Shane stammered uncertainly. "But… I think meeting you was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" Lauren exclaimed, her phony impersonation forgotten.

"Yeah, well, it's the truth," Shane scuffed the toe of his shoe awkwardly.

"Oh, Shane!" Lauren took a couple of extra steps forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You are just too cute!"

"Thanks, I think," he mumbled, just as Lauren glanced up and caught my eye as I leaned just a little bit too far around the door.

I froze in panic and guilt for a second as her gaze narrowed at catching me eavesdropping, before her expression relaxed and morphed into something a little more devious.

"And what else would you say to me, if I was Mitchie?" she pressed, looking over his shoulder at me meaningfully.

He pulled back and gave her a weird look. "Are we still going with this?"

"Just say something else," she snapped impatiently.

"Okay, okay, sheesh," he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh, Mitchie, you're great?"

Lauren groaned and flicked a look in my direction that clearly said 'bloody boys'. "Wow, you'll knock her dead with that one."

"Gimme a break, okay, Lauren?" Shane retorted sharply. "I can't pretend that you're her because you're not. Nobody is like her. She's her own amazing person and she makes me feel things I didn't even know I could feel until I look at her, and everything is just so right. And ever since you asked me if she was dating Nate I've been trying to imagine my life without Mitchie in it, like what if she got tired of waiting for me and fell for someone else, like Nate, for example? How I could I live with myself if I let that happen? But if I'm going to fight for her then I need to fight for her, not you masquerading as her, or our band bugging me to stop chickening out, or for Jason who is continuously planning our wedding. This is between the two of us. If Mitchie ultimately doesn't want to be with me, then at least I'll know that I gave it absolutely everything I had, because for me, there is no one else but her."

"Do you really mean that?" I breathed, stepping into the room, and he spun around to face me in surprise.

"Mitchie!" he squeaked, before coughing and spluttering into a more manly tone. "I mean, uh, hey there, Mitch."

"Hi," I smiled softly, leaning on the wall and waiting for him to continue.

"Were you, um, standing there the whole time?" he cringed.

"Affirmative," I raised my shoulder up and let it drop in a nonchalant shrug.

"What's that?" Lauren cupped her hand to her ear. "I think I hear Darcy calling me. Coming, Darcy!"

Giving me a smug little smile, she dashed out of the room, leaving Shane and I alone in silence.

"Yes!" he blurted out.

"Yes what?" I wrinkled my forehead in confusion.

"Yes, I meant every word."

His eyes were flitting around the room, looking at anything but me. He finally looked at me, opened his mouth, then closed it again, before staring determinedly at the TV remote like it was the fascinating thing in the world.

"Shane, look at me," I decided that taking the indifferent approach wasn't going to get us anywhere, so I walked over and stood right in from of him, so close I could smell his aftershave and blueberry pancakes, which I guessed he had probably eaten for breakfast, they were his favourite.

He did look at me, his gaze was concentrated and fierce, and he could see me. He knew everything there was to know about me and still thought the sun shone out of my ass, and all I could think about is how on earth did I get so lucky? I curled my toes before raising myself up on the balls of my feet and brushing my dry lips across his soft, warm ones.

I felt him smile into the kiss, slipping his hands around my waist to rest in the small of my back, pulling me in closer to him, pushing his chest against mine as I placed my hands on either side of his head, enjoying the sleek texture of his hair in between my fingers.

"You know how I feel about you, right?" he pulls away briefly to frown at me distractedly.

"Of course," I nodded, gripping his biceps tightly. "I've always known."

"Well, I was just thinking, you know, that I've never actually shown you. I think you're a really special girl and I just feel like I've been losing you," he glances down shyly and it's the first time I think I've ever seen him so vulnerable.

"You weren't. If anything, you've only found more of me," I meant it. Everything he said only made me realise nobody knew me like he did, nobody could ever understand my actions and reactions more than he could. Sure, Nate was a great guy, and I knew I'd always be friends with him. But Shane made me feel so much more than I ever knew I was capable of, something that Nate just couldn't compare to. At the end of the day, it was the easiest decision in the world.

"I love you," he whispered, resting his forehead against mine.

"I love you too," I sighed happily, kissing him again, more fervently this time.

"Hey, Shane, it's nearly call time and Darcy can't find Mit-OHMYGOSH, I KNEW IT!" came a loud squeal from behind us.

"Shut up, Jason!" another voice reprimanded him as I spun round to see Jason's shining eyes and wide, goofy grin, Nate rolling his eyes behind him.

"Yay, yay, yay!" Jason jumped and down, clapping his hands. "I hate to say I told you so, Shane, but I totally told you so!"

"Will you shut it?" Shane's words were meant to be harsh, but his face was too bright for them to have any impact, so he winked at me as he threw his arm around my shoulder.

"Way to go, man," Nate smiled warmly at him, and exchanged a resigned glance with me, like he knew that this was inevitable anyway. "So you finally got the guts, huh?"

"Yeah," Shane grinned. "You're going to have to go and collect your ten bucks off The Hammer."

"Wait, what?" I shrugged Shane's arm off my shoulders and look up at him indignantly. "You let them bet on how long it would take for you to kiss me?"

"I observed them betting on how long it would take me to kiss you," Shane pressed his lips to my forehead boldly. "Nate bet it would be before the end of the tour. The Hammer thought it would take me another ten years."

"I had more faith in him," Nate chuckled, punching his shoulder lightly. "I knew he'd grow some balls eventually."

"Thank god it didn't take him ten years!" I exclaimed. "You should have just bet him 50 and then come and talked to me! We could have split the profits!"

"Nah, it was better that he did it his own way," Nate squeezed Shane's shoulder supportively, and his genuine sincerity made me feel so lucky to have such good friends.

Speaking of good friends, Jason was still jabbering on to himself in the doorway. "And you have to choose between either chocolate or vanilla, and how many cake tiers you want, and what kind of little bride and groom people you want on the top…"

"Mitchie! There you are!" Darcy exclaimed from out in the hall. "For frick's sake, girl! I have been going abso-frickin-lutely insane looking for you! Where the frick have you been?"

Just when you thought you could walk all over her, Darcy proved why she was hired in the first place. She was damn good at her job.

"Frick on a stick!" she cried, looking at her watch. "Never mind, we don't have time to explain! You need to check the frick out in ten minutes!"

"Crap!" I yelped, pulling away from Shane to meet her in the corridor. "Sorry, I was kissing Shane."

"You were what?" Darcy stopped short and stared at me.

"Kissing. Shane. In there?" I pointed towards Shane looking sheepish, while Nate and Jason laughed.

Darcy stared blankly at me before a few more seconds, before she cracked a wide smile. "Awesome. The Hammer owes me twenty bucks."

Reaction: Finding… well, not exactly my Prince Charming. But close enough.


Nate. It had to be Nate. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did. He hated disagreements, so being his naturally competitive self, he was trying to prove to me that a Prince Charming did exist.

I quickly threw my hair in a ponytail and flew out of my room, dashing past various members of my band and management who warned me to start getting ready to leave because I'd slept in. I basically ignored them and kept running until I came to a screeching halt outside of Nate's hotel room door. Making a fruitless effort to look a little bit more reasonable, I smoothed down my hair and straightened my wrinkled t-shirt before rapping on the door excitedly.

"Hmph?" Nate opened his door with half a breakfast muffin shoved in his mouth, which he nearly choked on as I hugged him tightly around the waist.

"Thank you!" I gushed into his chest.

"You're welcome?" he managed to form through the half-masticated muffin.

"They're so pretty!" I smiled, pulling away and beaming up at him.

"What are?" he drew his eyebrows together in confusion.

"You didn't send them?" my delighted expression faltered.

"Send what?" he swallowed and looked at me incredulously. "Did you wake up still drunk or something?"

"No!" I pouted, folding my arms across my chest. "The flowers in my room. They weren't from you?"

"Nooo," he drawled, raising an eyebrow that asked the question why on Earth I thought that.

I frowned and bit my lip. Well if it wasn't Nate, then it had to be…

"Shane," I breathed, a new wave of excitement rushing through me.

I turned and ran down to the opposite end of the building, leaving Nate yelling behind me "You know we leave soon, right? Mitchie!"

I slowed down to a jog as I approached Shane's room, but I noticed his door was half open and I glanced in uncertainly as I heard voices coming from inside. My heart involuntarily twinged in jealousy as one was obviously female.

"But… I think meeting you was the best thing that's ever happened to me."

I put my hand to my mouth to hold in the gasp that rose in my throat. It sounded like some sort of feelings confession, like Shane had feelings for someone. Who wasn't me.

"That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard!" a light Australian voice exclaimed, and my stomach lurched.

What the hell was Lauren doing in there? Please, please don't tell me Shane likes Lauren. No. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Shane meeting me at Camp Rock was supposed to be the best thing that ever happened to him. What the fuck about me? I could feel my cheeks burning in fury and so stuck my head around the door to see visual evidence of their exchange.

"Yeah, well, it's the truth," Shane scuffed the toe of his shoe awkwardly as Lauren smiled dumbly at him. Dumb bitch. Who the hell did she think she was? Just waltzing in here, in the middle of a tour, pretending to be my friend, milking more for information about Connect Three and then totally disregarding my feelings by seducing Shane.

"Oh, Shane!" Lauren took a few steps forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You are just too cute!"

"Thanks, I think," he mumbled, just as Lauren glanced up and caught my eye as I lost my balance and tripped into the room. The commotion made Shane break away from her and turn to face me. His eyes lit up for a moment before he saw the livid expression on my face.

"Mitchie…"

"Fuck you," I snapped, brushing my straggly hair out of my watering eyes. "I thought you liked me, I thought you really liked me! You're such an asshole!"

"What?" his face crumples in confusion and hurt.

"Mitchie, this isn't want you think," Lauren steps forward in his defence, but she shrinks back slightly as I send her a withering glare.

"Don't even get me started on you," I hissed. "You know how I feel about him. How could you do this to me?"

"I didn't do anything!" Lauren protests, and I let out a bark of cynical laughter.

"Yeah, like I believe that," I scoffed, looking back at Shane. "Have fun with the best thing that's ever happened to you. I hope you're very happy together."

Wiping away the hot tears that were stinging my eyelids, I turned on my heel and sprinted out of Shane's room as fast as I could, pushing past concerned voices and hands of comfort. I didn't want anybody's pity. I didn't even want to pity myself. My rage and disappointment had taken over all of my senses, but I couldn't suppress the sickening feeling of hypocrisy bubbling at the pit of my stomach. Why did I care? It wasn't as if I was so different to Shane. I'd developed feelings for someone else on this tour too. But at least I'd had the god damn decency to keep them under wraps to prevent myself from hurting anyone. It was a good thing, too. If this was what it felt like to know that you're not wanted by someone you thought always would, then I wouldn't have wished it on anyone. It was the worst feeling in the world.

"Mitchie? Mitchie, what's wrong?"

I felt my throat close up as I spun around to come face to face with worried brown eyes and a warm hand grab hold of my own. "Nate…"

Reaction: Betrayal, anger and something that felt suspiciously like heartbreak. But maybe there was somebody else who could pick up the pieces…


Asdfghjkl;! I love you guys. Seriously. I was expecting a couple of messages being all like STFU YOU WHINGER. I forgot that most people have exams etc. before your summer starts. Sorry for freaking out on you. I'll defs try to finish it. I don't think I could live with myself sending out a bunch of messages going "Mitchie chooses…" Anyhoo, same old, same old, I would really, really appreciate some feedback in the form of a review if you're not too busy :) Next chapter is the last chapter ahhh!