"Hey." Shane snuck up behind his girlfriend at dinner, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck gently. "Don't make plans for tonight after lights out, ok?" he whispered in her ear. "And wear a dress, I know you have one."

"What do you have in mind?" she asked, turning around to face him, kissing him before waiting patiently for his response.

"If I told you then it wouldn't be much of a surprise now, would it?" He grinned. "Don't worry, you're going to love it, I think that it will really be something. Tonight's going to be a good night for you and I, I can feel it."

"Are you finally done spending so much time with Maxxie?" She asked, tilting his head to the side. "I think he's great, don't get me wrong, and I know that you're working on a surprise for me, but I just can't help feeling that I've come all the way back here with you and I'm hardly ever getting to see my boyfriend!" She smiled her wide smile, kissing him on the cheek.

"If tonight goes well," Shane returned her smile, trying to hide the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him that the night would not go well. "Then I'm all yours for the rest of the summer…and afterwards, of course."

"And if tonight doesn't go well?" Mitchie frowned, trying to figure out what he meant. It was clear from his tone that he wasn't telling her something, but she couldn't make out what it was.

"Then I need more work before I can be all yours," he shrugged. "Don't worry babe, it's all going to be good, I really think that tonight is going to be perfect – at least I'm working hard to make sure that it turns out to be that way. Just come to the lake at 10:30, wear a dress and be prepared for the best night of your life."

"That's a lot for this date of yours to live up to, now I know that you're a rock star, but the greatest night of my life? That's not shooting for the stars a little bit?"

"Baby," Shane held her close. "When it comes to you, even the stars are in reach."

"Alright, Casanova," Mitchie rolled her eyes at how cheesy his statement was. "You've got me all excited now, you had better deliver."

"I will, don't worry." Shane grinned. "I planned this all for you and I just know that you're going to love it. Now I have to run and get ready." Shane grabbed a roll off of Mitchie's plate. "I have to make sure that everything is perfect. See ya." He kissed her on the cheek before dashing off, eating the roll quickly as he made his exit.

"Ok, even for Shane that was weird…" Nate admitted, frowning slightly.

"Yeah, I mean today he's all over you with this spastic energy when last night he was talking about how-" Nate kicked Jason under the table. "How tired he's been all week!" Jason corrected himself quickly, hoping that Mitchie wouldn't notice.

"I guess that you just bring out that special energy in him," Nate shrugged, inwardly glad that he had managed to stop Jason before he said anything too awfully detrimental to Shane and Mitchie's tabloid pleasing relationship.

"I hope so!" Mitchie grinned as she took a bite of her chicken. "He's a really special guy."

"I know," Nate nodded. He couldn't help but feel bad not telling Mitchie what Shane had confided in him and Jason the night before, but Shane was one of his best friends and he had only known Mitchie for a year – for now, at least, he had to trust that Shane would tell her everything when the time was right, and he was hoping that Shane would have a good explanation for why he had done what he had with Maxxie.

***

"Wow…Shane…" Mitchie let out a gasp as Shane led her into the studio. He had dimmed the bright studio lights and decorated the room with tiny white lights and cleaned the whole thing up, making it look like a real, romantic location. "Shane, this is beautiful."

"We haven't even gotten to the best part yet." Shane smiled, grabbing the remote control to the iPod speakers. He had transferred the song from Maxxie's computer to his own, making sure that he had the one that he had been practicing to. He hit play and put his hand on Mitchie's waist, taking her hand in his free one.

"Shane, this is-"

"A tango." He grinned, leading her quickly into the dance as the music started.

"Oh wow," Mitchie breathed, grinning as she followed Shane in the dance. She wasn't new to the tango, but Shane couldn't push from his mind the thought that she wasn't as good as Maxxie. Then again, there had been no reason for him to suspect that she would be better than Maxxie and he wanted nothing more than for his head to be rid of the blond, especially right now – this was his time with Mitchie and he didn't want Maxxie in his head, screwing with him. As he dipped her low he couldn't help but notice that, even though she was a girl, her back didn't arch in the same, flawless manner as Maxxie's, and as he pulled their bodies together at the end, just as he had done the night before, he couldn't help but feel that everything was all wrong. Still, just as Maxxie had been trying to tell him yesterday, as the dance ended, he pulled her in to a deep kiss.

As they pulled away from the kiss, Shane felt like crying. The fire wasn't there. He had been so sure that if he did everything that he could, he would be able to pull the passion back to him…but it had failed. If Maxxie was correct, and at this point, Shane was sure that he was, this was it. The tango hadn't worked for them, and as Maxxie had said, when the tango fails, it's time to move on. He didn't want to move on, he didn't want to hurt Mitchie – she had been nothing but wonderful to him, nothing but fantastic for his career, and as much as that meant to him, he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up this charade much longer.

"Shane," Mitchie grinned at him. "That was amazing! I mean…just wow!" She breathed heavily as she looked at him. "I didn't ever expect you to go out of your way to learn something like that – especially for me!"

"You're worth it," Shane smiled, kissing her lightly again. It was true, he did feel that she was worth the trouble of learning the dance. Just because he didn't feel the same intensity towards her romantically as he once had didn't mean that he didn't still think she was a fantastic person. She was gaining status as her single, Who Will I Be quickly rose to number one, alongside their This Is Me duet. She would be a full on star once her album came out and then she would be able to get anyone and anything that she wanted. For now, she was Mitchie Torres, girlfriend of Shane Gray and starlet on the rise, but a year from where they stood, Shane knew that she would have made a name all her own. She didn't need him, she never had – it had been him that had needed her, but he had taken all that she could give him and now they were ready to be nothing more than friends…or at least that's what Shane was ready for. Unfortunately, thinking something and acting on it are two different things, and Shane had no idea how to tell Mitchie what he was thinking