A/N: Here it is!

Chapter 11

I was the first to get to the dock we'd agreed to meet at, and sat waiting in nervous anticipation. I hadn't seen Shane since last night, and wasn't sure what to expect. I'd gone to all my classes and all meals, but he hadn't shown up for any of them. I had to admit, I was a bit worried.

I swung my feet over the edge of the dock while I hummed quietly to myself. I didn't hear Shane when he approached behind me, but felt his presence almost at once. I turned the tiniest bit to acknowledge him, and he sat awkwardly beside me.

"So…" I snapped the thread of silence stretching between us.

"So…"

More silence.

"We should… um… we should get to work…" Shane mumbled, pulling his guitar from behind him. I nodded my agreement as he started to strum absently.

After another few minutes of not speaking, Shane abruptly stopped playing and turned to look at me properly for the first time since we'd been here.

"Mitchie, look. I know you can't or don't want to forgive me-"

"Can't," I interrupted.

"Can't forgive me," Shane corrected, holding back a sigh and barely concealing the roll of his eyes, "But we need to put it behind us, or at least to the side. Can't we just be professionals here? Deal with it maturely? We're not going to get anywhere unless we can talk freely and openly about ideas. Can't we just put our personal issues aside and try to be friends?"

I contemplated this. He had hit the nail on the head, really. We weren't getting anywhere, and we weren't exactly shining examples of mature young adults. Adults had to deal with people they didn't like all the time, but I didn't see any of them sticking out their tongue and stomping their feet.

"Okay," I agreed.

He looked surprised, "Okay?"

I nodded firmly, "I'll put this aside if you will."

He half-smiled hesitantly, almost as though he was afraid to, and held out his hand for me to shake on our agreement, "Friends?" He asked hesitantly.

I held in a scowl. Friends was not the right word at all. I would not be friends with him.

"Professionals," I amended, placing my hand in his for the briefest period possible, ignoring the slight tingle that resonated in my fingers from the touch of his skin.

For some reason, a temporary truce seemed to be exactly what we needed. After our agreement was made, it was like most of the tension in the air ebbed away, leaving only a trace of it in the air hanging between us. We were still careful to maintain our distance, both physical and mental, but being alone together was no longer as uncomfortable as it had once been. Of course, as soon as we were through, things would just go back to normal. Just because I'd put aside my anger and hurt for a bit didn't mean it would disappear.

Something occurred to me as I was walking alongside Caitlyn to dance class.

"Caitlyn, I've never heard you sing before," I commented as we trekked through the trees.

"Yeah… I don't really like to sing if I don't have to."

"So then why'd you sign up for Duet Jam?"

"I dunno. I guess I thought maybe it was time for a change."

"It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you could possibly impress Nate?"

Caitlyn looked down quickly, caught. I saw her lips spread into a smile she tried to repress. "Not even a little."

I knew she was lying.

The next few times Shane and I got together to work on the song we would play in the Jam, the tension seemed to be nonexistent. I was surprised how quickly it faded when all our issues were set aside. I hadn't expected it to seem this natural… Almost like he never kissed someone else…

No. I wouldn't let my thoughts go there. I couldn't start trying to convince myself that it had never happened, because it had.

However, this didn't stop me from forgetting about everything that had happened between us, if only for a little while; to lower the walls a little. Not completely, of course, but low enough that I could laugh with freedom and not have to worry about being guarded around Shane. It was nice to pretend that our relationship was normal for once, instead of feeling the usual strain.

Nobody really knew what was happening, since Shane and I kept to our agreement and our professional attitude only lasted when we were working. Outside of that time, we were cordial, but it wasn't the same. The walls were back up, the tension once again thick in the air.

A full two weeks after our first meeting, I lay in my bed. I was attempting to sleep but couldn't due to all the thoughts swirling in my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about my changing relationship with Shane. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't expect to feel this way. I wasn't supposed to be feeling this way. It was like my memory of everything I went through because of him was being slowly wiped away. I could feel myself falling, and I couldn't see a rope to grab on to stop it.

A/N: So that's the end of a very short chapter, but I have a pre-written one ready to go next. I wrote it a really long time ago and have been dying to get it posted. I didn't want to drag it out anymore than it already is, so I skipped over writing dialogue scenes of Shane and Mitchie. More will come next chapter!