Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Arizona

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Chapter Fourteen – Nate The Great

Mitchie buzzed around the kitchen trying her best not to burn Shane's entire house down. She was never an excellent cook but she at least thought she was good enough to wear she wouldn't cause smoke damage to Shane's home.

The pan she was currently frying bacon in was smoking and seemed like it just wouldn't stop. She began to fan at it with her hands as she reached to turn the stove off when she heard a chuckle behind her. She turned around and saw Shane standing, laughing at her.

"You think this is funny?" She asked folding her arms over her chest.

Shane shook his head, covering his mouth with a hand to muffle his laughter. "Can I just ask what you are doing? You know, besides trying to destroy our home."

Mitchie walked over to the kitchen counter, throwing her apron on the top of it. "I was trying to cook you breakfast. I felt like doing something special for you after all of last night's drama. But, as you can see, that didn't work out too well…"

"Well while I would love to eat burnt pancakes and charred bacon, how about I take us out for breakfast?" Shane noticed the slight twitch in Mitchie's face when he mentioned going out. "We don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I do. It's just…" She trailed off, her hands instinctively hiding her flustered face. Shane walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her. After all of the drama from the previous night, he understood any objection she had to leaving the comfort of home.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, I completely understand." He released his grip on her, resting his hand on the kitchen counter. "To be honest, I'm not excited to head out either. I just know the paparazzi are gonna be out in full force trying to snap a picture of me after my 'meltdown'."

"Aw Shane," She cooed, cupping his face with her hands and bringing his lips to meet hers. "If it makes you feel any better, I thought your meltdown was adorable."

"Wow, thanks." He said sarcastically with a smile. Just as he was about to bend down and give her another kiss, there was a knock at the door. He groaned and ran over to answer it. When he swung the door open, he saw no one standing there…until he felt something wrap itself around his legs.

"Hi daddy!" Shane looked down and saw Hayley wrapped around his left leg. He looked around behind her but saw no one in sight.

"Uh, hey, baby." He bent down and picked the little girl up. "How'd you get here?"

Before Hayley could answer, Nate appeared from around the corner, fumbling suitcases and travel bags in his hands and around his body.

"Oh, no, don't help me or anything. Leave me here to suffer!" Nate yelled out to Shane. The elder Gray brother placed Hayley on the doorstep and ran over to Nate.

"What in the world are you two doing here?" Shane asked grabbing the tiny pink suitcases out of Nate's hands. After catching his breath, Nate stood up straight ready to answer.

"Long story short, dad saw you on the James Conway Show and flipped shit. I mean, if you thought he was mad that one time when that venue in Colorado tried to cancel our show…he was like a million times more pissed. He was red and yelling, gosh, it was horrible." Nate explained.

"I still don't get why you and Hayley are here…in Los Angeles."

"Look, I was being a good uncle, okay? I didn't think Hayley should be around 'angry grandpa' so I booked a flight last night and here we are!" Nate said while walking up to Hayley who was still patiently waiting on the doorstep. "Let's go inside, kiddo." Nate guided Hayley into Shane's home while Shane followed behind.

"Shane, not all of these pancakes are –"

"Mommy!" Mitchie, who was examining the degree of 'burnt' of her pancakes, turned around sharply and saw Hayley running to her.

"Hayley?" She questioned, bending down to hug the little girl. She looked toward the door and saw Nate and Shane standing.

"Gosh, I just love mother-daughter moments." Nate said wiping away the invisible tear on his face. Shane playfully hit him in the chest.

"Mommy, I have so many stories to tell you. Me and Uncle Nate had the best time with Grandma." Hayley said all in one breath.

"I can't wait to hear them, sweetie. I am so happy to see you!" Mitchie told the little girl, looking her up and down, looking for any changes.

"Hey, Mitchie." Nate waved from across the room.

"Hey Nate. Good to see you." Mitchie said, walking toward the two Gray brothers with Hayley beside her. "What are you two doing here?"

"Issues with Dad. I decided it'd be best if we were here with you guys instead." Nate explained again.

"Wait, we?" Shane repeated, catching the 'we' in Nate's sentence.

Nate nervously rubbed the back of his neck, giving a nervous chuckle. Mitchie, sensing there were some brotherly issues that needed to be straightened out, pulled Shane aside, away from Nate and Hayley.

"Shane, instead of you and I going out, how about you and Nate go out. You two need some brother time." She whispered to him.

"But what about you and Hayley?" He asked.

"You can be with us after you spend some time with Nate. Now, go." She said pushing his back toward Nate.

It wasn't like Shane didn't want to spend time with Nate. He was his younger brother after all. He just would rather spend time with Hayley and Mitchie. But even if he didn't want to admit it, Mitchie was right.

"Give me five minutes to throw some sweatpants on and you and I are going out to breakfast." Shane said to Nate whose face lit up at the mention of breakfast with his older brother. He knew breakfast wouldn't be as pleasant as he would like it to be due to the fact he had quite a bit to tell Shane but still, it would be nice to spend some 'bro-time' with Shane.

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Shane sat watching Nate scarf down the last of his pancakes. Even though he was the smaller of the two, Nate ate way more than Shane did. When he was finished, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and turned his attention to Shane.

"Phew, that was delicious. We should do this more often." Nate commented rubbing his full stomach.

"So what's the real story? Why are you and Hayley really here?" Shane asked bluntly, not trying to make polite conversation with Nate.

Nate shifted in his side of the booth. "Why does there have to be some alternative reason as to why we're here? Why can't I just be a responsible Uncle and –"

"Nate," Shane interrupted in a warning tone.

"Fine," Nate held his hands up in defense. "Dad just can't seem to get over the fact that you and Mitchie are for real. He still hopes that you guys will break up and I just got tired of him saying all these rude things about you and Mitchie in front of Hayley. He already acted like she didn't exist, which was messed up because let me just say, you and Mitchie did an awesome job at creating one kick-ass little kid. Anyway, after your little breakdown on Conway's show, Dad went off. I'm talking cursing, throwing stuff…it reminded of me of back when he would get mad at you for breaking curfew. Yeah, well, he just wouldn't shut up so I told him off and he kicked me out."

"What do you mean 'told him off'?" Shane repeated unbelievingly.

"It was something along the lines of, 'You're just pissed because now that Mitchie's around, Shane has someone else to worry about pleasing rather than pleasing you.'" Nate said nonchalantly.

"And that made him kick you out?" Shane asked. "I've said worse things to him and he's never even threatened to kick me out."

"Well I might have also told him to fuck off but…" Nate trailed off. Shane ran his fingers through his shaggy hair and relaxed in his side of the booth.

"Nate…" He said, sounding like he was preparing a huge speech.

"I know you're gonna say I shouldn't have done it but it was with good intentions, I swear."

"No, you shouldn't have done it." Shane's words caused Nate to lower his head. "But I'm glad you did."

Nate's head popped back up in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"You were looking out for me and my family and I appreciate it. You've done a lot for me, looking after Hayley, making sure she doesn't get too exposed to Dad's tirades…if you need a place to stay, for however long, you're more than welcome at my house." Shane said with a smile.

"Thanks man," Nate replied with a smile of his own. "But that's not the only reason I'm here."

"There's more?" Shane asked horrified.

"Like I told Dad, you and Mitchie are the real thing. You guys are in love, right?" Shane nodded slowly unsure of where the conversation was going. "Then why is she not my sister-in-law?"

Shane's lips twisted into a confused smirk. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. He had only ever tried to propose to Mitchie once and that was because he wanted to piss off his dad, not because he wanted to propose. And the only other time the topic of marriage came up was usually during arguments Shane and Mitchie had so it had become somewhat of a sour subject to him.

"I don't know. I don't see why we have to get married. Just being boyfriend and girlfriend works fine. Why do we need a piece of paper to validate our love?" Shane finally answered.

"Do you not remember anything from the lectures Mom used to give us? You and Mitchie are living in sin right now. And I could be wrong but, don't you want to make it to heaven?" Nate reminded him.

"Do you realize how much of a hypocrite you are right now? You're criticizing me for living with someone I'm not married to yet you just told your own father to 'fuck off'." Shane pointed out causing Nate to slump over in his seat. "Besides, I don't think Mitchie really wants to get married either."

"Shane, Mitchie is a woman. All women want to get married. It's been scientifically proven. If you don't believe me, Google it."

"Okay fine, maybe she does want to get married but…I haven't even met her parents!"

Nate scoffed at his older brother. "Okay, now you're just searching for reasons not to marry her. Look, bottom line is, you love her and she loves you. You two were meant to be together so make it official and just marry her already." Shane didn't respond to his words. "Like Beyoncé said, if you like you better put a ring on it. If you don't, don't get mad once you see that some other guy want it."

Shane threw a balled up napkin at Nate. "Alright fine, I'll…I'll put a ring on it." He said mocking Nate's earlier comment.

"Good. Now, we have some planning to do." Nate said standing up from the booth.

"Planning?" Shane repeated.

"Yeah. You have to know the kind of ring you're gonna get her, how you're gonna propose, where you're gonna do it –"

"It's really scary how you know all that." Shane commented interrupting him. Nate silently mocked him and waited for him to stand as well. The two brothers left the diner, buzzing about Shane's imminent proposal to Mitchie.

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Mitchie sat on the couch watching some lame reality TV show on MTV but it was mostly on as background noise. She was actually more concerned with watching Hayley sleep. After the little girl had informed Mitchie of all of the fun things she did while away, she ate a small box of animal crackers that was packed away in her carry on and fell asleep next to Mitchie on the couch. She missed doing this, watching Hayley sleep. She had been away from the little girl so long she had missed the little things she used to be able to do with her. Interrupting her watching, there was a knock on the door. She figured it was Shane and Nate coming back from their breakfast outing. She quietly moved off of the couch and went to answer the door. She opened the door and only saw Nate standing in front of her.

"Quick question, how fast can you pack a suitcase to go stay somewhere for, I don't know…a week or so?" Nate asked. Mitchie furrowed her brows at him.

"Nate, what are you talking about?" She asked.

"You know what? I think it's better if Shane tells you. He's in the car. You go talk to him while I go pack." Without letting her get a word out, Nate pushed her outside towards Shane's Range Rover and swiftly ran inside, shutting the door behind him. Mitchie, extremely confused, walked over to Shane's car and hopped in the passenger seat.

"Shane, what's wrong with Nate? He's acting–"

"I want to meet your parents." Shane interrupted.

"Excuse me?" Mitchie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you've met mine. I think it's about time I met yours." Shane explained with a hopeful smile on his face. Mitchie folded her arms over her chest and stared at the dashboard. "Oh no, you're biting your lip. You always bite your lip when you're trying to think about how to tell me no. Mitchie…" Shane said in a whining tone.

"Why do you want to do this all of a sudden?" She asked.

"Because when we get married, I want to at least have met the guy that's walking you down the aisle." Mitchie's heart sank. There were some things that she knew she probably should have told Shane about her family but she just never did. Now he wanted to meet them and it just sounded like a disaster waiting to happen.

"Wait, married?" She repeated, completely forgetting her thoughts about her family issues.

"Well, yeah," He smiled, grabbing her hand in his. "You do want to marry me, don't you?" He questioned.

"Yeah, of course I just didn't think you wanted to get married." She admitted sheepishly.

"Truth be told, I didn't but Nate kind of convinced me." Shane admitted with a small smile. "Speaking of Nate…"

The two looked out of the windshield to see Nate juggling two suitcases towards Shane's car. Once he reached the driver side window, Shane rolled the window down and Nate rested on the window seal.

"Okay, I packed for the both of you. Shane, I packed you lots of sweats, some jeans and hoodies so you're good. Mitchie, I packed just some jeans and t-shirts, I hope that's okay. Oh and while going through you guys' drawers for underwear I saw that little purple number you got in there. I packed that too. You're welcome Shane." Nate said with a wink.

"You went through my underwear drawer?" Mitchie asked horrified.

"Well did you want underwear for the duration of the trip or not?" Mitchie rolled her eyes at him. "That's what I thought. Now, you two go get a flight to Dallas and I'll take care of Hayley while you're gone. You two crazy kids have fun, okay?"

As Nate turned around to walk away, Shane grabbed his wrist stopping him. "Hey man, I know I told you this already but thanks again for everything. You are truly an awesome brother."

Nate smiled warmly at Shane. "No problem, bro. I'm always here for you. Just call me, Nate the Great!" He yelled out as he walked back into Shane's house.

Shane and Mitchie sat in the car for a few more moments in silence before Shane started it up. Mitchie put her hand over his, which was about to put the car in gear.

"Wait," She spoke, letting her eyes meet his. "I know we've had some issues with promises lately but I need you to make me one more promise."

"Sure, anything." Shane agreed.

"This trip can't change anything between us, okay?"

"Mitchie, you're starting to scare me. Why would this trip change anything?"

"Shane, just promise me, please." She looked at him with pleading eyes. He held a hand up in defense.

"Alright, alright. Nothing will change. Nothing will ever change the way I feel about you." He said before leaning over, kissing her on the cheek. She gave him a somewhat fake smile before he backed out of his driveway and headed for the airport. Sure, he said that nothing could change his feelings but that's easy to say when you haven't seen the thing that could possibly change them.

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Okay so was this chapter a lot of dialogue? I felt like it was a lot of dialogue. I'm going to be honest, this chapter was totally a filler…it was kind of pointless besides these important facts, 1) Hayley and Nate have returned. 2) Eventually Shane WILL propose. 3) Shane and Mitchie are going to go meet her folks! So, yeah, that's all I was trying to get across in this chapter.

And remember how I said this story was close to being over? Yeah, well, I lied. It's not. I think I can still get a lot out of it so this story shall be going on for a little while longer. Yay! :] Anyway, thanks for reading! I can't wait to post the next chapter; it was really fun to write! So, if you want me to post it faster…REVIEW! :D

Thanks for reading! :]