I knocked on Mitchie's door eagerly. I couldn't wait to tell her about what my manager had said. Going on tour with her would be incredible. And maybe, if I was lucky, she would realize that she felt the same way about me as I did about her. After last night, I thought maybe she did. I couldn't even think of anything better. Maybe if she was excited, I'd get the courage to tell her how I felt.

Caitlyn opened the door. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, is Mitchie here?" I asked.

She looked confused. "No…she left, Nate…"

I probably looked just as confused as she did now. "What do you mean 'she left'?"

"I mean she's gone."

"Where did she go?" I asked urgently.

I thought I had two more days with her! It wasn't very long, but any time I could spend with her was worth it. She hadn't even told me she was leaving.

"Back to LA…her dad called like an hour ago…Brandon's had to go to the hospital again so she left right away to be with him," she explained, still confused. "She didn't tell you any of this?"

"No."

"Did you guys get in a fight or something?" she asked.

Maybe I should just tell her the truth. I hadn't really spent a lot of time with her, but Mitchie had told me that Caitlyn was her best friend. Maybe she'd be able to help me figure Mitchie out. She seemed cool enough not to freak out if I told her what was really going on.

"No…" I started, arguing whether or not to tell her. "We were never really dating."

"What?"

I sighed. "Mitchie thought that people wouldn't think the picture of us kissing was a big deal if we were dating…so we've been pretending, and when we went home we were going to 'break up'."

Caitlyn looked a little surprised, but not nearly as much as I had expected. "I thought it was weird that she didn't at least tell me that you two were together before a few days ago…but you were very convincing."

"Yeah, well…I don't want to pretend anymore."

"Well, now you don't have to. She's gone," she reminded me.

"No…I mean I don't want to pretend to be her boyfriend anymore," I admitted.

"You really like her?" she asked.

"Yeah. I like her a lot."

Caitlyn smiled and looked down at her watch. "Well, what are you waiting for? Her flight doesn't leave for 45 minutes. You could probably still catch her. Heathrow airport, terminal 3."

Caitlyn just became my best friend, too. I could have kissed her, if I didn't want to kiss her best friend so badly.

"Thanks, Caitlyn," I replied, but I had to ask one more question before I left. It was killing me. "Caitlyn...did she...I don't know, say anything about me?"

"Only answers to questions I asked about you," she told me.

That wasn't the answer I wanted. At all. "Oh...okay. Well, I'll see you."

I started to walk away but I heard her voice behind me. "But she was happy."

"What?"

"She's been happy," she repeated. "At least, until an hour ago. She's been really happy."

I grinned. "Thanks."

I ran down to the lobby and out onto the street. I must have looked like an idiot waving down a cab that frantically, and there were plenty of paparazzi around to document it. But whatever. I didn't have much time. I jumped into the first taxi that stopped.

"Heathrow. Hurry, please."

It only took twenty minutes to get there, but it felt like hours. I ran inside and looked around for the terminal.

"Can I help you, sir?" an employee asked me.

"Terminal three?" I asked.

She pointed the right way and I took off in that direction. I saw her standing in line to board the plane. She always wore bright colors, so she was easy to pick out of the crowd. I knew I liked her style for a reason…

"Mitchie!"

She turned around and looked around for a minute before her eyes landed on me. "Nate? What are you doing here?"

She stepped out of line as I approached her, so we were out of earshot from the other people. "Caitlyn told me about Brandon. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, Nate…but I really have to go…"

"I'll go with you," I said immediately.

Mitchie smiled and put her hand on my cheek. "Nate…you're so sweet. And I really appreciate everything you've done for me this week, but…I thought now would be a good time for us to 'break up,' ya know? Then people will think that's the reason I'm leaving early, and we can both get back to our real lives."

My heart shattered into about a million pieces. I guess the whole time, part of me really thought that she wouldn't want to 'break up' in the end. She'd see how good we were together, even if it was just pretend, and she would want it to be real. Go back to my real life? My real life would suck now that I knew what I would be missing without her in it. I was such an idiot.

"Oh, yeah…okay…that makes sense," I said quietly.

She moved her bag to her other shoulder and smiled at me again. "She's really lucky."

"Who?"

"The next girl who gets to be your real girlfriend," she explained. "I hope she realizes what she has."

I didn't have any response. Was she giving me an opening? She was probably just being nice. If I'd learned anything about her this week, it was that she was direct – if she wanted to be with me, she would have said so. I'd just been kidding myself this whole time thinking that maybe she really did like me. I just nodded and forced a smile.

"Thanks for everything, Nate," she said, and she kissed me on the cheek. "Goodbye."

"Bye, Mitchie."

By this time, there was no line anymore. She gave the flight attendant her ticket and disappeared into the terminal. My life sucked. She was leaving. I was letting her get away. And I was too big of a coward to do anything to stop it.

I slumped down into one of the seats in the waiting area. How could I just let her walk out of my life like that? I should have told her how I felt about her. What was I so afraid of? I didn't tell her, and she walked out of my life. If I had told her, she still might have walked out of my life…but she might have stayed, too. Maybe.

I must have been sitting there for about ten minutes before I realized how big of a dumbass I was really being. Sitting here feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to get her back. I ran up to the counter.

"I need to get on this plane," I told the flight attendant.

"The plane has already left, sir," she told me in a thick British accent. "We have another flight leaving for Los Angeles in an hour."

"I'll take it," I said quickly, pulling out my wallet and handing her my credit card.