What's with the lack of love for the last chapter? haha
Anyway, here is the new one for you all. :)
Nine
Waking up in Shane's arms the next morning is unexplainable. Mitchie cannot pinpoint what she loves the most about it. Whether it was his arms around her, him being shirtless or the fact that he was the first thing she got to see when she woke up.
She is able to just watch him sleep for a good ten minutes before he begins to stir. He lets out a yawn before saying good morning, rubs his eyes.
"Morning." She greets him and Mitchie doesn't need anything else right then and there.
"I love you." He says softly and she leans up to kiss him, just wanting to stay with him like that forever without the media being able to say anything about them, "I wish you didn't have to go to school tomorrow." He says, their foreheads touching.
"I know." Mitchie agrees because she really does not want to leave him, not now.
"At least we have the Children's Choice Awards tonight."
"My first red carpet event." Mitchie smiles, truthfully she was nervous but all she had to do was stand there while the media took photos and then watch the show.
"You'll be fine."
"I'm going to go make some breakfast." She decides, getting up. "All you really have is bread and cereal though, so don't expect anything too fancy but I'll bring it to you so you can have breakfast in bed." Shane smiles and the look in his eyes says it all.
"I love you too." She grins.
Tommy was in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal when Mitchie comes out and he gives her a smirk as he sees her walk out of Shane's room.
"Well, good morning." He says teasingly.
"Nothing happened." Mitchie laughs, grabbing some bread out of the pantry.
"Are we making breakfast in bed? Damn, I wish I could get that from my girlfriend. I doubt she'd do it if she stayed the night though." He chuckles.
"Well, I'm just too nice." She giggles as she places some bread in the toaster.
...
Later in the day, Shane drops her off at a salon where they professionally do her hair and make up for the show. She protested initially but Shane insisted so she could look that little bit more special.
When he picks her up he kisses her forehead and tells her she looks beautiful, Mitchie smiles as she was so happy with how things were right now.
When they get back to the apartment, she gets dressed into a strapless form-fitting black dress with some black heels.
"Are you dressed?" Shane calls out, knocks on the door.
She yells back that she was and Shane comes in wearing a grey suit with a white v-neck shirt.
"Well hello beautiful, you look stunning."
She bites her bottom lip and can feel herself blushing, "Honestly?"
"You are beautiful." He affirms, reaching forward to bring her into a hug.
"Thank you for being so good to me."
And he studies her for just a moment before kissing her chastely, affirming he meant what he said.
It's an hour later that they get out of the limousine with Nate, Jason and Hayley. Nate still didn't want to go public with Dana and Mitchie wasn't sure how she'd feel if Shane wanted things to be that way with them.
He grabs her hand as they make their way onto the red carpet, Connect 3's publicist are with them telling them where they need to stop and pose for photos.
This is all still so new to her but she puts on the biggest smile she can muster as they slowly make their way down the carpet. The photographers want a photo of Connect 3 first so Mitchie moves aside to stand with Hayley.
"It's kind of crazy isn't it?" She comments and Mitchie looks at her.
"It is." Mitchie affirms and Hayley links an arm with her own.
"I've only been attending these things the past year. Jason and I have been together three now and most of the time we kept things hidden because his label wanted him to appear single to all his fans."
"You love him right?"
"More than anything." She beams as the boys called them over.
Mitchie stands between Nate and Shane, Hayley on Nate's other side between him and Jason. Posing for so many photos was tiring and Mitchie was starting to dread it by the time they wanted couple shots of her and Shane.
"We're going to miss the show at this rate." She jokes through her smile.
He laughs and pulls her in closer to him, his arm protectively around her waist as photographers gain their attention to look into their cameras.
Taking their seats, Mitchie is surprised her name is actually on the seat and that it hasn't been left blank next to Shane's.
She can't help but smile to herself and sit down, noticing all the celebrities among them that are casually walking around.
"This is kind of crazy," She admits softly so only Shane can hear her, "That guy off 'Teen Heartthrobs', I was in love with him when I was twelve and now he is only ten metres away from me."
"And how about me?" Shane asks seriously, staring into her eyes. And Mitchie can barely contain her breath, because that look just sends her heart into flutters.
"Having you right next to me is enough to make me want to kiss you in front of all these people and all the cameras."
Satisfied, he smiles and kisses her forehead before wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
She tries to pay as much attention to the show as she can when it begins but Shane's other hand has reached over to grab hers and is playing absentmindedly with her fingers. Swallowing deeply, she leans her head onto his shoulder wondering how he will react. To her surprise, he kisses the top of her head and asks her if she is enjoying the show.
"I am." She lets him know because she truly was.
The final award of the night is the one that every musical artist is after and she knows the boys are all extremely nervous, wanting to win it so badly.
Shane is on the edge of his seat and nervously is fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, looking to her other side she can see Nate doing the same.
"Tonight, the song of the year goes to...Connect 3's 'Play My Music'."
The boys all leap up out of their seats as the crowd erupts into applause, Mitchie stands up clapping and Shane wraps his arms around her in a tight hug before pecking her on the lips and rushing up to the stage with his brothers.
She is so happy that they won, they more than deserved it and she can't seem to push away the fact that Shane just kissed her on television. But she really was truly happy for them and wonders if quite possibly she could be up on that stage one day winning an award.
…
Back to reality the following day at school with minimal make-up and normal hair, she is surprised to see Sierra waiting at her locker for her.
"Hey." Mitchie says cautiously, unlocking it to grab her books.
"You looked good last night, I saw you on the television."
"Thanks, it was a good weekend."
"Yeah?" Sierra asks.
Mitchie doesn't want to keep on talking but she knows she has to, "Yeah, I helped Shane move into his apartment with one of his band-mates and we told each other 'I love you' for the first time."
"Oh, Mark told me that ages ago. It's amazing when they say it first." Sierra gushes.
Mitchie wants to roll her eyes, "I've just known him for so long now that it just feels so right to be with him." Sierra pulls out her cell phone and begins texting, Mitchie had a fair idea who it was.
"Uh huh." Sierra says, only half paying attention. Mitchie sighs to herself, this was how it was always going to be now.
"I'm just so glad that I am in love with my best friend." She adds with emphasis on the last part, thinking maybe that would make Sierra actually pay attention. She slams her locker shut and walks off, not even bothering to look behind her.
...
The first weekend of December, Caitlyn comes to stay the night and Mitchie is glad as she had missed her.
"Shane wanted me to come over tonight but I told him I needed to see you." Mitchie admits as Caitlyn rather dramatically drops her bags and pillow on the ground.
"Well I feel special, you ditching the pop star for me." Caitlyn grinned.
"Tell me how your boy is." Mitchie says, wanting to know the details.
"He's great, too great...but I don't think it's going to work out." She says softly, looking over at the Connect 3 poster on the back of Mitchie's door.
"Could a certain curly-haired pop star have something to do with it?" Mitchie asks seriously, although she knows what the answer is.
She waits patiently as Caitlyn looks away and then finally back at her again as she nods her head, "Maybe...but he has Dana."
Mitchie doesn't know what to say so she pulls her into a comforting hug, "One day he'll realise what he's missing." She finally decides.
In the morning, Caitlyn's stirring wakes her up and she cannot help but think about the times she would wake up with Sierra after a sleepover.
"You awake?" Caitlyn mumbles into her pillow and Mitchie can't help but let out a small smile.
"Yeah, I am."
Caitlyn's neat curls are drastically different to Sierra's once frizzy ones that she now straightened every day, yet she was happier every time she saw Caitlyn. She couldn't even consider the fact that Caitlyn would ever treat her like Sierra was.
"Nice tweet." Caitlyn grins, looking at her phone referring to Mitchie's tweet the night before about spending the night with her favourite person, "I feel loved."
"Feel loved." Mitchie laughed, throwing her pillow at her, "You want to just stay in bed all morning and watch more movies?"
"Sounds good."
"Let's go eat first and come back up."
It's as Caitlyn finishes her pancakes that they hear a knock on the door.
"Is that your mum or dad?"
"No, dad is working and mum is at a catering job...plus why would they ring the door bell?" Mitchie laughs getting up, "I'll go see."
"You better hope it's not the paparazzi knocking on the door with you in a tank top and shorts." Caitlyn calls out as Mitchie makes her way through the living room.
"Shane." She gasps, opening the door, "What are you doing here?"
She is in complete astonishment to see him standing in her doorway looking as gorgeous as ever.
"Thought i'd surprise you. Well are you going to let me in?" He asks, folding his arms across his chest.
Mitchie cannot believe he came out all this way to surprise her and throws his arms around him, bringing him into a close hug.
"I'm sorry," She apologises, although she doesn't know why she is, "I missed you."
And he lets go of her to walk inside, shutting the door behind him, "I did too, more so when I saw you tweeted about being with your favourite person last night. I haven't seen Caitlyn for a while so I thought i'd come hang if she is okay with it."
"I thinks he will be." She smiles before leading him into the kitchen.
"Love your shorts by the way." He whispers in her ear as they walk in, and Mitchie let's out a massive grin.
"Gray!" Caitlyn exclaims, jumping up and rushing over to Shane to give him a hug.
"Gellar! It's been a while," He responds, "Thought i'd come hang with you two if you don't mind."
"Of course not, Mitchie and I have a whole bunch of chick flicks lined up to watch though." She smirks and his face falls a bit.
"We can't watch anything else?"
"Nope," Mitchie is adamant, "This is Caitlyn and my time together, if you want to hang you got to put up with our girlishness."
"Fine." He sighs over dramatically and Caitlyn slaps his arm playfully.
"You didn't even let Mitchie tell you we are watching them in bed."
"What are we waiting for then?" His attitude suddenly changes and Mitchie can't help but burst into laughter as he drags the pair of them upstairs.
"I think we should make Shane watch from the floor." Mitchie teases as she closes her bedroom door and Caitlyn switches her television on.
"Mitchie." He pouts as he pulls his shoes off.
"I don't know Caitlyn, should we let him share with us?"
Caitlyn pretends to think it over for a minute before giving in, "Fine." She sighs, "I guess you can share the bed with us."
Mitchie felt so relieved that Caitlyn seems so at ease with Shane and she didn't want him to change their time together at all, which is why she would not let him change their plans to watch more romantic comedies. She didn't want to be like Sierra, she could not and would not do that to Caitlyn.
Placing the DVD in the player, Mitchie gets into her bed first followed by Caitlyn who gets in on her left and Shane on her right. It was a bit of a squeeze but it was comfortable and Mitchie was glad she could spends hours with two people who meant so much to her.
'With two of my favourite people, watching movies.' She tweets and reaches under the blankets to hold Shane's hand when she sees that he has retweeted her.
Mitchie wakes up a few hours later, realising the three of them had fallen asleep in the middle of 'Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion'.
All she can see is Caitlyn's hair and hear her heavy breathing, indicating she was still asleep.
"Your mum was just in here, she took a photo of us." Shane speaks softly in her ear. She rolls onto her other side to face him and cannot believe she is waking up to him in her very own bed in the bedroom she grew up in, "I pretended I was still asleep."
"What time is it?"
"A little after one in the afternoon."
"Caitlyn has her hip-hop class in an hour and a half, I better wake her up." She yawns.
After Caitlyn has left, Shane puts in another movie and somehow before she knows it, it is six o'clock.
"Shane, you are quite welcome to stay for dinner tonight." Her mum says with a smile, knocking on her door and Mitchie smiles back at her, grateful for the offer.
Her dad is oddly silent during dinner half an hour later and Mitchie does not know why, he does not say much at all so after dinner she helps him out cleaning the dishes. He seems annoyed if anything and the way he won't even look at her upsets her.
"Dad, what's wrong?" She finally asks.
He lets out a heavy breath, "Shane."
"What are you talking about? I thought you liked him?" She asks, completely confused and bothered by the fact that he is having a problem with Shane.
"Your mum told me he was sleeping in your bed with you today." He says coldly and Mitchie's heart sinks in her chest.
"Dad, nothing happened."
"Mitchie, he is an adult and I know you are seventeen but he is under my roof and I want to be respected in my own house."
Just like that, Mitchie's eyes start to water, "Nothing happened." She repeats herself.
And the tears begin to stream as he gets angrier, "That's not the point Mitchie, he is a good guy but I just don't feel comfortable with you in a bed with him. He is three years older than you which I know isn't a big age difference but with you being seventeen, it is for his career and yours for that matter which has only just started."
"We're not going to do anything with Caitlyn in the bed with us, we're not going to do anything period." She says adamantly, throwing the dish cloth on the kitchen bench, "We were watching movies and fell asleep, that was it. Nothing more." And she is too scared to admit she had shared a bed with him at his apartment previously, because he would be even angrier with her and she did not want that.
"I'm still not happy with it, but just promise me there is nothing like that going on with the two of you. I don't want you to wind up pregnant at seventeen when you are only beginning your career. I don't want you pregnant at all until you are older."
"He has a purity ring." She says simply and immediately by the look on his face, she knows he was not aware of this, "He doesn't believe in sex before marriage and neither do his brothers."
"This makes me feel better." He admits and pulls her into a hug, "I'm sorry...I probably did overreact a little."
"It's okay." She says softly.
Shane knows something has happened when she walks out the kitchen and she mouths 'later' to him, not wanting to tell him in front of her mother.
Her parents watching them makes her feel so uneasy and she cannot help but notice Shane's concerned glances.
"We're just going to go for a walk." Her mum says, clearly sensing the tension in the room.
Mitchie watches as her parents grab their coats and leave the house and immediately she gets up and walks out the backyard. As soon as she is out there, Shane's arms are wrapped around her tightly and she cannot help but let out a heavy sigh.
"My father got pissed off that you were in my bed," She states, "We argued and I know it's just because he wants the best for me...but it just hurts."
"I can understand where he is coming from...he doesn't know that you were in my bed at my place does he?"
"No, i'm not stupid enough to tell him that." Mitchie laughs lightly, looking up to meet his eyes and she is shocked to see that he has a sad expression on his face, "What's wrong?"
She can feel his heartbeat and he presses his lips to her forehead, "Nothing." He affirms.
"Shane." She protests simply and just like that Shane gives in.
"I don't want to be on your father's bad side, i'm just going to go home."
And just like that Mitchie can feel the tears brim against her eyes because she does not want him to leave. She doesn't want anything to come between them, she doesn't want any of there moments together to be picked apart by others. Whether it's in his car, his apartment, or even in her very own backyard; she just wants it to be them. She honestly just wants to be back in bed with him and Caitlyn, watching movies and simply laughing with each other.
"Please don't." She says softly.
Just like that everything is okay, because Shane tells her he will stay, running his hands through her hair. By this stage, he clearly knows how much Mitchie loves this, how much she loves him playing with her hair.
By the time her parents have returned, Mitchie has calmed down and her mum is the one now who seems concerned for her. She sits on Shane's side on the couch and her dad mutters something under his breath before heading upstairs.
"Shane, feel free to stay tonight. Mitchie has the day off school tomorrow, three-day weekend lucky for her."
"I don't want to impose." Shane objects.
"We do actually have a spare bedroom upstairs and I understand what it's like to date someone you don't get to see very often. I dated a boy in a band when I was eighteen and he was all over the countryside trying to make a name for himself." Mitchie looks away at this, knowing exactly who her mother was talking about, "Stay up late, watch some movies but make sure you go to separate rooms. I'm trusting you both."
For some odd reason Mitchie can only think of Sierra that night in bed, even though only a wall is separating her and Shane. It's after midnight and her father has already been in to check on her twice.
"Mitchie?" Her mother knocks on the door and opens it slightly, "I'm just saying good night, your father has fallen asleep and left me awake from coming in and out the room."
"Night, mum." She says softly and once she is alone she grabs her phone of her bed side table and scrolls down her contact list to Sierra's name. She leaves her name on the screen for a few minutes before switching her phone off for the night when her tears have stopped falling.
Before she can stop herself, she has gotten up and crept silently into the spare bedroom, "It's me." She whispers, seeing Shane's outline in the darkness. He pulls the blanket back, welcoming her in the bed and she instantly buries herself into his side, "My dad is asleep, he has already checked on me twice."
"It's normal for father's to be protective of their daughters." He reasons.
"Yeah, even if he is my step father technically...not that I really think of him that way." She explains, "My real dad abandoned my mum and me when I was five and I haven't seen him in about four years or so." Shane doesn't say anything to this, he simply plays with her hair so she can go on, "Steve is my father as far as I am concerned though, he has been there for me since I was six and has treated me like a daughter more than my biological daughter ever has. The guy my mum said she dated that was in a band was him, he gave up after a couple years and that's when he finally came home and they got married and had me."
"I had no idea."
"I think maybe that's why he is even more protective of me, he's been the only stable man in my life. I think the idea of you coming along scares him a little in case you hurt me too."
"I never will." He promises.
She believes him.
What did you think?
Let me know what you think. :)
xox
