"Shane." He muttered. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

He should have known that sooner or later, Jason would come to find him. Ever since their reunion early in the morning, he and Mitchie had been clinging to each other.

Apparently, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Yeah." Shane replied. "Of course, man."

He stood up, pausing as he did so to reach out and ruffle Nate's hair. The gesture earned him a half-glare/half-smile from the sixteen-year-old, who was still reveling in the fact that the long lost Shane Gray had finally found his way back. Before his transformation, the two teens had only argued day and night: Nate had had a problem with Shane's attitude, Shane had just wanted both of his band mates to leave him alone, and let his own life.

The old Shane was back, and Nate had yet to stop thanking Mitchie for her beautiful voice.

Mitchie.

Jason and Shane shared a small smile as they both strained to hear the fifteen-year-old, upstairs in her bedroom. After unpacking, she'd figured out how to use Skype, and she had been video chatting with Caitlyn, Tess, Peggy and Ella for the last two hours.

She was finally starting to relax.

Shane followed Jason out of the room, suddenly feeling worried. He knew whatever his longtime friend was about to talk to him about, it had to do with Mitchie.

The conversation would go one of two ways.

Jason would either threaten to quit the band, and move out, taking Mitchie with him.

Or...

Jason would give consent to the relationship, but not before warning him what would happen if he ever broke Mitchie's heart.

Shane was praying for the second option.

Jason let the back door fall shut behind him before turning to face his band mate. The older boy's expression was unreadable.

"Jase?" Shane muttered, reaching out to rest a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"I always imagined doing this someday." He replied distractedly. "Look, man. I know I've only had her for five minutes, but... She is my sister."

The lead singer nodded in understanding. Even during his few years as a jerk, he'd been the one to console him on the day that Michelle had disappeared, as well as her birthday.

Jason had never given up on finding her alive.

And now that he had her... Shane knew that he wasn't going to stop protecting her. Ever again.

"Jase..."

Jason held up a hand to cut him off. "Look, man, I know who you are, and I know that you would never do anything to hurt Mitchie, because... If you did..."

"Connect 3 would become Connect 2?"

"Or Mitchie would take over as lead singer."

The two boys laughed, the oldest reaching out to rest a hand on the younger one's shoulder.

He knew that Shane would never hurt Mitchie.

He'd seen the way that his band mate looked at his sister, the way he hadn't stopped looking at her since she'd stepped out onto that stage during Final Jam that fateful day. Mitchie looked at him the exact same way, her eyes lit up any time she saw Shane.

Who was he to try and take that happiness away from her by not allowing her to date Shane?

What they had was real.

It reminded him that his parents had once looked at each other in the exact same way, before the slamming doors, before the late night arguments started, before he had been left to raise Mitchie like she was his own kid instead of his kid sister.

"Just... Promise me that you'll look out for her."

Shane glanced over at Mitchie's bedroom window, a smile on his face. "Count on it."

Jason reached out to ruffle the younger boy's hair, which he had taken to wearing in his natural form, because Mitchie liked it curly, before walking back inside. He offered Nate a smile as he headed towards the stairs.

He could just barely hear the end of Mitchie's conversation.

"No, Tess! I will not send you a picture of my brother while he's sleeping!"

Jason couldn't hide the smile on his face. Mitchie had just referred to him as her brother.

"Because... I don't know, that's weird!"

Slowly, he raised his hand to knock on the door. In a soft voice, she called for him to wait for just a minute, before turning back to her computer.

"Yeah, Cait... Okay. I'll send you a picture of Nate sleeping." Mitchie laughed. "I've gotta go, I've got a visitor. I miss you guys!"

"We love you, Mitchie!"

"I love you guys too!" She blew the four girls a kiss. "We'll talk soon. Bye!"

Jason wrapped his hand around the door knob, waiting until he heard her call for him before swinging the door open.

Mitchie glanced over at him, a smile appearing on her face. "Hey!"

"Hey." He laughed, dropping down onto the edge of her bed. "Good conversation?"

"The best!" She replied, still smiling. "Um... Just a heads up, the girls aren't going to stop hounding me until I send them a picture of each Connect 3 member sound asleep."

"That's... That's a little creepy."

The two siblings laughed, and Mitchie moved to sit beside him. They sat in silence for a few moments, until Jason cleared his throat and shoved his hand into his pocket.

"I wanted to give you something."

It was one of his prized possession.

He'd been carrying both pictures around in his back pocket since the day she'd disappeared. One thing that Shane and Nate didn't know was that he always kissed the picture of Michelle, taken a month before her disappearance, before going out on stage every night. Just like on her birthday, he always made the exact same wish.

Please let this be the year that I find you.

Slowly, he unfolded the old photo and handed it to her.

Mitchie began to laugh. Vaguely, she remembered that day.

One of her favorite things to do at the age of five had been for Jason to grip her hands in his own, as he swung her around in circles. She didn't know who had taken the picture, but she did remember the day that picture had been taken. Her parents, her biological parents anyway, had been fighting all afternoon. It had been Jason who snuck into her room during her nap time, she couldn't sleep with all the fighting going on, he'd led her outside with a firm grip on her hand.

Jason had practically raised her.

At the age of ten, he'd somehow balanced the role of a brother and a parent perfectly. He had woken her up every morning, he'd braided her hair, he'd fed both of them breakfast, he'd helped her choose an outfit for school, he had made sure that her teeth were brushed, and her face clean. He'd even risked being late to his class, as the middle school was a mile away from her elementary school, just to make sure she got to school on time.

"How did we manage to do that without pulling my arm out of socket?"

Jason stifled a laugh. "Hell if I know."

Mitchie glanced down at the picture again. Memories of her childhood were far and few, but by the look on her face in that photograph, at one time, she had been happy, and she had loved Jason.

Not that she didn't love him now.

She just felt awkward saying it when they hardly knew each other.

"I..." He began, glancing nervously at the floor. "I had my 'older brother' talk with Shane."

She turned to look at him, her eyes widening slightly. She knew that Jason had seen the two of them together, holding hands, hugging, kissing, and she had also known that it was only a matter of time before he confronted her about it.

Jason seemed like the protective type.

Was he about to tell her that she couldn't date Shane?

Jason reached out to take her hand. "I warned him about what would happen if he ever broke your heart."

Mitchie couldn't help but laugh. Her brother raised an eye brow in confusion.

"I thought you were coming to tell me that you and I were moving out!" She explained. "Or that you were going to kick Shane out of the band, and you were coming to ask me to be your new lead singer!"

It scared him how much Shane and Mitchie could think alike.

Jason squeezed her hand, a small smile appearing on his face. He wasn't sure how he felt about his sister's growing relationship with his band mate, but he would never be cruel to her.

If she was happy, then so was he.

"You'd better get changed, Mitch."

It was Mitchie's turn to raise an eye brow. "What? Why?"

"Because." He stood up, ready to leave. "Shane's going to knock on your door in exactly forty-five minutes, to take you on your first date."

A blush rose to her cheeks. Her first date with Shane!

"Jay?"

Jason stopped at the doorway. "Yeah, Mitch?"

"Thank you." Mitchie muttered, holding up the picture. "For reminding me that I used to be happy."

"That's all I have ever wanted for you, Munchkin." He replied. "For you to be happy."

Though the paparazzi already had a photograph of him holding her hand, Shane was determined to protect their privacy for as long as he could.

Which was why he had been forced to have his first date with Mitchie in his own backyard.

"Shane!"

She squealed as he once again swatted her hand away. He'd insisted on blindfolding her, and he was taking advantage of that situation as often as he could. He'd poke her waist, snap his finger right next to her ear, he'd jerk her to the right, only to go left a second later, he'd cradle her bridal style and spin her around in a circle. Or, his favorite thing to do, he'd press his lips to her cheek, before kissing her full on the mouth when she was least expecting it.

He couldn't help himself, she looked absolutely beautiful.

Mitchie was wearing a green dress that flared out just above her knee, which she'd paired with black ballet flats. Around her neck was the necklace Jason had given her. While he was holding her left hand in his own, the moon shaped pendent was gripped up in her right.

"Can I take this thing off yet?"

Shane chuckled. "What's the matter, babe? Not a big fan of surprises?"

Underneath her blindfold, Mitchie rolled her eyes. Shane knew better than anyone that she had had enough surprises in the previous month to last a lifetime.

"Sorry..." He mumbled, guessing her thoughts. "I didn't mean it like that."

She giggled. "Please?"

With a dramatic sigh, Shane's quick and gentle fingers set to work on untying to knot on the tie that he had wrapped around her head. As the darkness faded away, Mitchie gasped.

It was absolutely beautiful.

Sometime before he'd retired to the living room to watch TV with Nate, Shane had spent a few hours stringing lights across the trees, out by the pond in Connect 3's vast backyard. It was dark, but the entire area out by the water was lit up.

It was perfect.

"Shane..."

"I know we have to lay low for a little while." He whispered. "But after everything that's happened... You deserve an amazing first date, Mitch... Dance with me?"

Mitchie nodded, tears brimming her eyes as she slipped her arms around his neck. He held her close, a melody she had never heard before began to play in the background.

Being in Shane's arms, she had never felt safer, and she never wanted that feeling to end.

Jason watched them from the window, a small smile on his face.

Eventually, he would get used to the idea of Shane and Mitchie dating. But even despite his initial wariness towards the new relationship, he had to admit...

He was glad that Mitchie had Shane, and he was glad that Shane had Mitchie.

Nate was snoring at the couch, and Jason began to silently debate on whether it would be a good idea to wake him up, or if he should just throw a blanket over the sixteen year old, and head upstairs to go to bed himself.

His phone began to buzz, loudly blasting music. He glanced worriedly at his sleeping band mate, before looking down at his still-ringing phone.

When he saw the name and number flash across the screen, he paled almost instantly.

"Jase?"

Nate was staring at him, his eyes full of confusion. Jason hit ignore, and shoved the phone back into his pocket before plastering a fake smile on his face.

"Sorry, man. I didn't mean to wake you."

The sixteen year old rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Who was that?"

"Um..." Jason turned in time to watch Shane twirl Mitchie around in a great circle. "I... I have no idea."