AN: Thank you all for the incredible response to the last chapter, it means a lot to me. Here's a new chapter to finish off the weekend!

Chapter 10: Unexpected Guests

Over the next week Shane and Mitchie's daily lives developed a routine. They would sit and have breakfast (which Shane would help make) with Connie and Steve; Mitchie would then go to school leaving Shane to have the day to himself. When Mitchie returned from school she would do her homework, sometimes with Shane's assistance, no matter how distracting he was, then after dinner she would sit at her piano and Shane would grab his guitar and together they would work on her song for the talent show. By Friday they had all of the music in place and had moved their focus to the lyrics.

"Alright, so where do we start?" Mitchie asked. They agreed to play the first verse through once to see what they could think of.

"My brain's blank." She complained as no lyrics came to mind. She was used to writing the lyrics first and then shaping the music around them but had agreed to try it Shane's way.

"We'll figure it out." Shane said, knowing it took a while to get the right words. They sat thinking quietly but couldn't come up with anything. "Okay, let's try this, it's something Jason always makes us do and it works surprising well." Shane explained, "We play it through again but we sing 'la' where there would be words." Mitchie laughed at the idea, not seeing how it could help. "Trust me, it works." She reluctantly agreed to give it a try and together, on their individual instruments, they played the song 'la'-ing along. As they played Mitchie kept cracking up with laughter.

"This isn't helping!" She exclaimed as they stopped play, laughing too much to continue. "Now I can't think of any words and when I hear the song I'll just think of the 'la's and laugh."

"Maybe you should just perform it like that, you know, sing 'la la la la.' Shane joked.

"What keep it as a melody with no words?" She'd meant it jokingly but as the words left her mouth they connected with Shane's, forming into lyrics. She spun around on her piano stool, playing the piece she'd thought it would fit in, singing the words quietly so Shane could barely hear them. She stopped, writing the words above the music.

"Do we have our first lyrics?" Shane asked, seeing her rapidly scribbling away.

"Sort of." She responded before playing the piece again, singing louder this time.

Like a melody with no words

Until we figure it out

We sing la la la la la la

"It's not much." She stated.

"But it's a start." He replied encouragingly. They shared a smile, glad to have gotten somewhere.

"I'm still not sure I can do this Shane." Mitchie sighed as she thought of standing on stage in front of a massive crowd of people, competing against Steffi and her drones. She'd managed to avoid them for most of the week, apart from a few awkward moments, particularly with Tia.

"You'll be amazing Mitch. I believe in you." Shane told her as he put his guitar away. They'd decided to stop for the evening.

"Thank you Shane, you've been the best friend a person could ask for. Nate and Jason are lucky." She felt like she knew the two other band mates very well after Shane had told her all about them. They'd spent every day discussing Camp Rock and his friends, yet nothing had clicked for Mitchie. She wandered over to her window, staring out at the sky. "Let's go outside." She decided, grabbing her jacket and then his hand, pulling him down the stairs and into the back garden. She lay on the grass in the centre of the lawn, staring upwards. "Feel free to join me." She said as Shane stood staring down at her. He smiled, laying on the ground beside her, interlocking his fingers with hers without even thinking about it.

As they lay there together under the stars, Mitchie's head started to pound. She focused on the stars, trying to ignore the pain coursing through her brain. Shane felt her grip tighten on his hand and glanced at her, only to notice a few tears dropping from her eyes.

"Mitch are you okay?" He asked, concerned. She was silent for a moment before whispering;

"We've done this before." Whilst Shane hated seeing her in pain he couldn't help but smile a bit, she'd remembered something.

Flashback

"Wait, give me a sec." Mitchie said into her phone as she slipped out of the house and into her garden. It had been almost a week since she had spoken to Shane due to his busy schedule rehearsing for the tour. It was nearly midnight when he rang, she'd been about to go to sleep but couldn't resist hearing his voice.

"You sure you're okay to talk?" He asked. He still wasn't used to the time difference and whilst four in the afternoon was a good time to talk for him, thanks to an eight hour gap, he'd realised, just after dialling her number, it may be bad for her.

"Yeah, I'm just going outside to get some privacy and avoid keeping my parents up." She said, taking a seat on one of the garden chairs, staring up into the sky. It was a perfectly clear night and she could see all the stars.

"Is it cold?" Shane asked as he settled onto the sofa in the living room of his apartment, staring up at the ceiling. During his 'diva' phase he'd bought himself somewhere private, moving out of the house he, Nate and Jason had shared since they got signed. He'd loved living alone before, but since the summer he'd grown to hate it, tempted to ask his friends to let him move back in.

"No, the weather's been surprisingly nice, sunny even. Turns out it doesn't always rain." For the two months she'd lived in England barely a day had passed when raindrops hadn't fallen. To have a completely dry day had been quite a surprise.

"I've never noticed how beautiful stars can be. I should spend more time looking at them." Mitchie commented when their conversation lapsed into silence.

"You know, I've never sat and looked at the stars?" Shane admitted.

"How? What about when you've been at Camp Rock?" She was shocked.

"When I was a camper I was either performing at jams or spending time inside cabins." Shane explained.

"Well you should take some time to do it, it's worthwhile." She said, watching the shapes she could see outlined in the sky.

"Maybe tonight I'll lie in my garden and stare up at them, then it'll be like I'm doing it with you, just later." He suggested, wishing he could be with her, seeing what she could see." What constellations can you see? Just so I know what to look out for."

"Will the sky be the same in LA at night as it is here?" Mitchie asked. Despite studying physics for most of her school life, she had no idea.

"I don't know, maybe."

"Well, I can see Orion's belt I think, three stars in a row. Oh and Capricorn, it's like a triangle. There's a group of stars that looks like a musical note too, but I'm not sure that's an official constellation." She explained. Shane vowed to spend time later looking for them all.

End Flashback.

"You text me later saying you'd found the belt." Mitchie recalled, her voice shaking as she realised just how big a step forward this was. She closed her eyes, taking a few shaky breaths as the pain in her head eased. Shane turned away, wiping the happy tears from his eyes as subtly as he could.

"I can't believe I remembered something." Mitchie said, pulling his attention back to her.

"You did good Mitch." He said encouragingly, proud the first full memory she had involved him. She was getting better and it made him determined to stay as long as he could and help her remember it all.

'Every star that I stood under, when you were under it too, did you ever think about us?' Mitchie sang quietly as the lyrics came to mind.

"What's that?" Shane asked, "It was good." Mitchie blushed at the compliment.

"I think it would fit our song." She explained, pulling out her phone to note down the words before she forgot them.

"Sing it again." Shane said once she'd finished typing. She obliged and when she was done Shane continued;

'I hope you do cause I can tell you, that's something I'll never forget.' He suggested with a smile. "It's the one thing you remembered after all." She added his words to hers, happy with their achievement.

"That's half a verse done." She said, before glancing back up to the stars. "It's amazing the things which give you inspiration."

"Yeah." Shane agreed, unable to tear his eyes off his biggest inspiration. Lying there in the moonlight Shane realised he had never seen anyone look as truly beautiful as Mitchie did right then.

CR-CR-CR

"I'm sorry!" Shane sprung awake hearing her yell. He remained in bed, trying to judge what was going on. It was three in the morning; he doubted she was arguing with her parents at this time.

"Please!" She screamed, the sound travelling clearly down the hallway and to his ears. He leapt from his bed, grabbing his dressing gown on the way out of the room. He had to know what was going on.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He heard her muttering as he reached her closed bedroom door. He wasn't sure whether to knock, not wanting to interrupt if she was with her parents.

"Shane?" He spud round, hearing Connie's voice, to see both of Mitchie's parents walking towards him looking worried. If they weren't with her, then who was she talking to?

"What's going on?" Steve asked, assuming Shane and his daughter had been arguing.

"Don't leave." They heard her say, clearly distressed.

"I don't know. I heard her yelling, it woke me up. I was coming to check she was okay." Shane explained before knocking on her door. "Mitch are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm sorry!" She yelled again.

"Mitchie, sweetheart, we're coming in okay?" Steve said, cautiously opening the door. As they entered they could heard her crying.

"Mitchie, baby what's wrong?" Connie asked rushing to her daughter's bedside.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." She said again, as if she was desperate for them to believe her.

"What for?" Shane asked, but received no reply. The room was silent, apart from the occasional sob and the sound of deep breaths.

"Steve, can you turn the light on?" Connie asked her husband who was closest to the switch.

"Please." Mitchie whispered. She sounded so sad it broke Shane's heart. He sat on the opposite side of the bed to Connie, taking hold of Mitchie's hand, but got no response to the action. The lights came on, illuminating her face.

"She's asleep."Connie said as she saw her daughter's closed eyes, her chest rising and falling steadily.

"Was she all the time?" Steve asked, confused.

"I think she was talking in her sleep." Almost as if to prove her mother correct Mitchie spoke again, though her eyes remained closed, only her mouth moving, making it clear she wasn't awake.

"Don't go." Whatever she was dreaming about was distressing her.

"Should we wake her up?" Shane asked worriedly. He was never sure what to do when people were having nightmares.

"I'm so sorry!" This time she screamed it as if she was in the middle of a huge fight, and it was quickly followed by tears. Connie reacted instantly, shaking her and calling her name. Shane held her hand tightly in his and leant down to her ear, whispering;

"Mitch, it's Shane. I'm here. You need to wake up. You're dreaming, whatever is happening isn't real." To his surprise, when he sat back he found her wide awake, staring at him in confusion.

"What's going on?" She asked as she glanced around her room to find everyone stood around her.

"You were having a nightmare. Can you remember what you were dreaming about?" Connie asked, hoping to get an understanding of what had caused her such distress.

"I can't remember." Mitchie said, any memory of her dream had vanished as soon as she'd woken up. "I'm sorry." Shane assured her it was alright before they all returned to their beds, hoping to drift back to sleep.

CR-CR-CR

Mitchie found herself woken on Saturday by the sound of the doorbell ringing. She groaned when she rolled over and noticed it was only nine-thirty am. That may not be late on a weekday but Mitchie was very fond of having a lie-in at the weekend. She heard her mother talking enthusiastically to whoever was at the door as she got out of bed, deciding she may as well get up now she was awake.

"Hey Mitch, you up?" Shane called through her door. She confirmed she was, her voice giving away how tired she was. "Can you come downstairs soon?" She promised she'd be down just as soon as she was dressed. "So in an hour then?" He teased, having grown used to her long morning routine.

CR-CR-CR

"Well this is a pleasant surprise." Connie said as she moved away, allowing the two new guests to enter.

"We're sorry we didn't ring first Mrs Torres, it was a rather last minute decision to come." The guy explained, glancing at the slightly guilty looking girl stood beside him.

"The more the merrier." Connie said as she led them into the living room.

"When I heard what had happened I just had to see she was okay." The girl explained.

"That's very sweet of you." Connie said. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?" They declined, informing her they'd had breakfast on the plane a short while earlier.

"Mitch said she'll be down shortly." Shane said as he entered the room, taking a seat beside them. "So where are you staying?" He asked.

"We've got a hotel booked nearby." The guy explained.

"You can stay here, we have the room." Connie said, feeling bad that these two had travelled here to see her daughter and were having to pay for accommodation as a result.

"It's honestly fine Mrs Torres, we didn't want to impose." The guy said in his usual tactful manner.

"Well you will at least allow me to feed you, surely." Connie insisted.

"Will we get famous Torres burgers?" The girl asked excitedly, making Connie chuckle.

"If you would like them I'm sure I can make some." The girl smiled brightly, she'd missed Connie's cooking.

"See, I can get ready in a short space of time." Mitchie claimed as she walked into the room before freezing as she noticed the two people sat on the sofa.

"Mitchie, you remember Nate, you met him after the concert." Shane said, re-introducing her to his friend. "And this is his girlfriend..."

"Caitlyn!" Mitchie squealed in excitement, flinging her arms around the girl who hadn't been expecting that reaction.