Yeah yeah, I know, I'm a sucky updater. :)
Thanks for still reading and such. You guys are lovely!
Aisha, darl, ideas me up! Contrary to what you may believe, you're way more imaginary than pea soup.
You know what conversations I'm talking about :D
On with the chapter!
MPOV
"Those are nice flowers," Brown said offhandedly as he ushered me into his office.
"Uh, thanks. Shane bought them for me," I replied a little awkwardly. As much I liked Brown, I knew he was Shane's uncle and it just seemed kind of awkward. But then again, maybe I was blowing it out of proportion. I've been known to do that on occasion.
"Please, take a seat," he smiled at me. I placed the flowers on the floor next to the chair and sat down. Did this have something to do with the hiking trip tomorrow? Did he have a problem with Shane and I? Was it something Tess had said or done? All these questions swirled through my mind as I waited for him to speak.
"Don't look so worried, hon. Everything is fine. You look like I'm about to bite your head off," he laughed. I relaxed a bit. At least I wasn't in trouble. Still, what could he want?
"I just have a couple of things I'd like to talk to you about."
I nodded, signalling for him to continue.
He cleared his throat. "First, I just wanted to say I've noticed you hanging around with Shane a lot." His voice didn't give away whether he approved of this or not, so I sat there and nodded again.
"All I wanted to say about that is: be careful. Shane's a great guy but sometimes he forgets what's good for him and hurts the ones he loves, friends and family included. He comes around after a while and feels horrendously guilty, but still, I don't want that to happen to you. Though I'm happy he's found someone level-headed like yourself to bring him back down to Earth. God knows he needs it," he added, shaking his head.
"So, you're not saying that I shouldn't see him?" I asked timidly, not sure where he was going with this.
"Of course not, silly girl! I just wanted to say to be careful, and thank you. Really. Thanks for helping him bring out the real Shane. I think everyone is sick of rock star Shane at the moment," he rolled his eyes. I smiled and nodded. Thankfully this meeting wasn't going to be as downcast as I thought.
"The second thing I wanted to talk to you about is the hiking trip tomorrow. I have a few standard forms for you to fill out as well as giving you a booklet with the itinerary." He ruffled through his desk to find the relevant information for me. The rest of the meeting was just standard stuff that all the counsellors had to go through.
"Please be careful," Brown reminded me as I left his office. I smiled and nodded at him. I really liked him; he was such a nice, genuine guy, funny as all hell as well.
It seemed Shane had been waiting for me to come out. Wasn't he sweet? I mean, I'd been in there for a good three quarters of an hour. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a log. He looked so peaceful sitting there mouthing the lyrics to whatever song he was listening to on his iPod. I walked over to him and smiled down at him.
"I'm back, you waited for me?"
"Hmm?" he questioned, pulling an earphone out of his ear.
"I asked if you waited for me," I smiled, shifting the flowers under my left arm so I could offer him a hand up.
"Well, obviously," he smirked at me. I poked my tongue out childishly at him. The teasing never got old. I have to admit, it's one of my favourite things about him.
"What did Brown want?" he asked curiously, gauging my reaction.
"Nothing much, he just wanted me to fill out the forms for tomorrow's hiking trip," I replied. He stared at me for a minute, judging whether I was telling him the truth or not.
"Is that all?"
Why? What did he know? Did I look suspect or something? Ugh, I was always so bad at hiding things. My blush usually wised people up to when I was lying. 'Don't look at him, Torres! Look down! Look down!'
"Of course," I smiled at him, trying to make my tone nonchalant. It must've worked though because he sounded less suspicious. I relaxed. Walking back to the common grass area, he found my hand and clasped it tightly in his own, locking his fingers with mine. Honestly, never ever did I think I would be holding hands with Shane Gray, but hey, I wasn't complaining.
It was free time afternoon for the campers, so Shane and I spent it lying underneath our tree. Okay, so it was kind of lame calling the tree we first kissed under, "our tree", but it made me all warm and fuzzy inside, so I'd settle for being lame. He was lying on his back, one hand behind his head while the other was wrapped tightly around my waist. I snuggled up in his side, resting my head on his shoulder, revelling in the smell and warmth.
"Let's play that game where you have to find animals and stuff in the clouds," Shane said. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could hear the Cheshire cat grin in his voice.
"Shane Gray the pop star wants to play Clouds," I giggled at him.
"Rock star, I think you mean," he scoffed, sounding mock offended. I giggled and poked his chest.
"Whatever pop star," I teased.
"I swear you're the only person who could ever get away with calling me that."
"Why? Because I'm cute? It's because I'm cute, isn't it?"
"Very much so. But that's not the only reason."
"No?"
"No."
"Why else then, pray tell me?"
"Because your mine," he nuzzled his nose into the top of my head, sending shivers down my spine.
"Very much so," I mumbled, mimicking his words from before.
An hour later we were both in hysterics as we played Clouds. I swear, Shane was blind or something, he picked out the most retarded clouds that didn't look anything like what he was trying to pass it off as.
"That is not a freaking elephant!" I shrieked with laughter. We'd been debating over the 'elephant cloud' for the better part of 5 minutes. Shane firmly believed it was a clear elephant, personally, I couldn't see for the life of me what he was talking about. It looked more like, I don't know, any animal than an elephant. Still, Shane was adamant. God, he was cute.
"It is too! Look, there's its trunk, and its tusks," he pointed to the sky, uselessly pointing and tracing with his finger, "and there are its legs, and its tail!" he stated proudly.
"Shane, babe, I think you need your eyes checked," I patted his chest, trying to suppress my giggles, "It looks like anything but an elephant."
"Well now it does because it's changed shape because you wouldn't believe me in the first place," he said, indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever blind-y," I teased.
"Fine, I give up. You suck at this game," he said, tickling my side with his arm that was wrapped around me. I sighed and rolled my eyes. He can be such a cute little loser sometimes.
The afternoon ticked by, Shane and I remained in a comfortable silence, just watching the clouds roll by. Occasionally we would point out different things we could see. I just played along with Shane whenever he pointed one out. I swear his brain must work on a different frequency.
I could tell he'd seen what I had just seen though. I heard a soft gasp break through his perfect lips. There, right above us, was clearly a heart shape. Even Shane could see it, which surprised me. Was this some kind of sign? Or was someone up there just trying to make things awkward.
Either way, neither of us commented on it, but just stared. A thousand thoughts ran through my head. I knew I loved Shane, it's just, I didn't want to say anything in case he didn't feel the same. For a moment, insecurity struck me again. I mean, who was I? I was just Michelle Torres. Just Mitchie. The angel resting peacefully beside me was Shane Gray. Shane frigging Gray! How could he possibly feel the same about me? I sighed and Shane sensed the change in my mood.
"What's wrong, angel?" he leaned his head down and whispered in my ear. I smiled at the term of endearment. Maybe I was just being silly. I mean, I swear he started to stutter out something serious before Brown had unceremoniously interrupted our moment.
I moved my body so I was resting on my forearms. I turned my head around to look at his face.
"Nothing," I smiled at him. And it was partly true; one look at his face, his eyes especially, and nothing else seemed important anymore.
"Good," he grinned and leaned up to kiss my head. I lay back down and rested my head back on his shoulder. I doubt he had any idea just how comfortable he was. I could lie here forever.
SPOV
I knew she'd seen it too. The cloud lazily drifting directly above us. The gasp came through my lips before I could stop it. This must be a sign. Earlier, I'd tried to tell her how I felt about her, but damn my uncle calling her away. Ugh.
I felt her shoulders slump and her whole demeanour change. Wait, did I do something wrong?
I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "What's wrong, angel?"
She smiled, which was a good sign. I was also quite smug to see her ears prick up when she heard my term of endearment. It was true. She looked like an angel laying there, next to me, the mere mortal.
'Oh god, this girl has me talking like a sap. Nate and Jason better not find out.'
She shifted up on to her forearms and I was hit with the full beauty of her face. Her full plump lips curved up into a smile that made her eyes bright.
"Nothing." She unleashed the full power of her smile on me. I was momentarily dazzled. I had noticed, somewhat smugly, that she smiled differently at me than she did at everyone else. I couldn't tell what was different about it, but something sparkled in her eyes. I loved it.
"Good," I grinned and leaned up to kiss the smooth skin of her forehead. She smiled lazily at me and lay back down, moving her head back to my shoulder. I wonder if she knew how comfortable this was for me. I could lay like this with her forever. I decided that tomorrow, tomorrow was going to be the day I actually told her. The hiking trip seemed like the perfect time. It was an overnight trip, so we were going to be camping under the stars. Perfect.
MPOV
I couldn't wait for the camping trip tomorrow. I decided I was not going to let myself chicken out, and I would tell him how I felt. Even if he didn't feel the same, it didn't matter, he needed to know how I felt.
There was an excitement in the air as the kids went to dinner. They knew that tomorrow night, there was going to be a big proper campfire in the middle of the woods, rather than eating out in a hall. The mood was infectious and everyone seemed to be smiling or laughing at one thing or another.
There were four of us at the table. Sam and Nate were yet to show. Ruby seemed giggly and even more touchy-feely with Jason. Jason and Ruby were now 'together' as they called it when I'd asked what the big change was. I pointed out that they were already joined at the hip before, so since when were they not been 'together'. Ruby just blushed as she cuddled into Jason's side.
Even over all the noise, I heard the door to the cafeteria open. I looked over to see Nate coming through it, Sam in tow. From where I was I could clearly see their hands clasped together. I'm sure I'm not the only one that saw that. They made their way through the crowd and sat down at the table and were met with 4 pairs of very curious eyes. Sam and Nate blushed at exactly the same time. Sam's eyes wide at the looks she received from us.
"What?" she whined, hiding her face in Nate's shoulder.
'Bad move, cousin dear. More fuel to light this baby up with,' I smirked to myself.
"Hi Sam," I greeted her loudly and obnoxiously. I fixed the biggest grin I could muster on my face and stared at her without blinking. "What's new?"
I don't think neither her nor I knew it was possible, but her cheeks went even redder than they were. I looked quickly to Nate who was having a moment with his boys. My guess was that there were mental high fives all around. All the people at the table with a Y-chromosome looked extremely pleased with themselves.
"Yeah, Sam," Ruby said, following my lead, "anything to share?"
She was so shy, and as much as I loved her, she was so funny sometimes.
She shot a quick glance at Nate who was talking quietly to Shane and mumbled, "NateaskedmeouttodayandummIsaidyes."
"Didn't catch that dear," I smiled at her, my eyes silently egging her on.
"Mitch, please," she begged with her eyes, though she was still smiling so I knew she wasn't upset. Just embarrassed. Hey, I think it's cute.
"I know, I'm sorry," I apologised. I covered my mouth and whispered dramatically, "but congratulations." I sent a wink in her direction and watched her lean into Nate's shoulder again. I looked to Ruby and laughed. She copied my "coathanger grin" - as Shane had affectionately nicknamed it - and was giving Sam an intense two thumbs up. Sam caught sight of her and lost it. She drowned in her giggles as she tried to pry her eyes from Ruby.
Ruby, who didn't give it up, eventually got us all laughing like hyenas, gasping for breath and clutching our sides. Only then did she relax and laugh along with the rest of us. These were my favourite people in the entire world. I felt a little stab of guilt that I hadn't talked to Sienna in a while, but she wasn't much of a 'fun' kind of friend. More of a 'study' kind of friend. I loved these 6 immensely. They made camp what it was.
Brown cleared his throat and the noise in the hall dropped.
"That was quick," he mused.
A hundred of so eyes peered up at him expectantly. Everyone was waiting on what tonight's activity was going to be.
"Alright, so tonight, we've decided it will be…" he trailed off, a wicked gleam in his eye. The atmosphere was tangible, everyone wanted to know. Night time was where the most fun activities took place.
"Movie night," he finished. Cheers and whoops could be heard from the kids. Although I had to admit, movie night sounded pretty damn fantastic.
I've never seen the mess hall cleared away so fast. Everyone was so excited for tonight that they just wanted to get back to their cabins and get ready. The mood was infectious again, I found myself excited like the rest of them. Brown told us that the dress code was pyjamas. I found the cute ones that Shane said he'd liked and slipped them on. I knew Shane slept without a shirt on, but that territory was mine. As much as I wanted to see him without a shirt, I hoped he'd the sense to wear one. The last thing I needed was to be fighting bitches off him with a stick.
'Whoa, Torres, a little violent, aren't we?'
I smiled at myself and went to brush my teeth. Making sure they were super, extra clean, I shuffled my girls out the cabin and headed over to the main hall.
Oh good. Shane did have common sense. Still. Oh my god. How the frick did anyone look so goddamn sexy in long grey drawstring pants and a black wifebeater. Oh wait. He's Shane Gray. That's why. Sill, he should be arrested for being able to go out looking that hot. His hair was wet and shaggy around his face. I tried not to think about the fact that he'd just been in the shower; I would have told him to screw movie night and go back to the cabin and …uh …hang out …instead. Ahem.
'Down girl! There are people around,' I had to remind myself.
"You wore your cute pyjamas," he scrunched his face up into a cute smile, "for me?"
"No, for Mike over there," I jabbed my finger over my shoulder, poking my tongue out.
A poked his tongue out back at me and picked me up around my waist, throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed half with delight, half with embarrassment. His bare arms curled around me, keeping me safe. I was hyper-aware of his forearm resting against my lower back where my shirt had risen. He smelt of clean boy – my favourite. He threw me down onto one of the many couches that littered the room. Realising we should probably keep our situation PG13, he sat down and threw the blanket he'd found over us. I threw my legs over his and rested my head on his shoulder.
Most of the campers had decided to slum it and bring their sleeping bags for the floor. That was fine with me. They couldn't see behind them.
The movie Brown had chosen was Romeo and Juliet. The Leo version. Psh, as if there was any other version. I had to admit, I had a celebrity crush on Leo, but then again, who doesn't? Usually I get right into this movie; it's one of my favourites, but it was hard tonight, what with Shane whispering most of Romeo's lines into my ear.
Whoever knew, Shane Gray, the Shakespeare buff.
I commented on this after the movie was over.
"I just remember things," he shrugged. I grinned. He was my sexy Romeo. My personal Romeo. Better than Leo himself I must say.
'PG13, PG13, PG13,' I chanted in my head.
"Night, Shane," I planted a kiss to my fingers, and put them against his lips. I was well aware of Brown watching our every move. Shane seemed to have sensed this too.
"Night, Mitchie." His eyes smouldered at me. I felt weak in the knees. Damn it! Tomorrow night come sooner!
'Quick! Turn before you faint!'
I gathered my girls and walked towards one of the sliding glass doors.
"Mitchie?" I heard Shane call behind me? I turned around, but then, so did all my girls.
He blew me a kiss, all the while his intense eyes never leaving mine. I couldn't let him know how much he affected me. It would make him win this nonexistent game we were playing.
I coolly caught it in my hand in placed it in my pocket, winking at him. He waved back and turned to gather his campers.
Barely conscious as to where I was walking, I led them back to the cabin, before falling asleep, wishing Shane was there beside me to cuddle up to. Tomorrow night was going to be great.
Sooo, also, if you guys missed it, I posted another one-shot. Go read it and tell me what you think!
Love you all
Bree
xx
