Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

"What?" Shane looked over his shoulder. "I don't see… oh shit." He trailed off, then hunched down, covering his face with his large hands. "Awkward." He squeaked.

"Do they know we're here?" Alex pulled her hair out of its bun, and slipped on her oversized pair of white Ray-Bans. "I can't be seen with them now!"

"Oh wait. It's okay." Shane sat up straight again. "They're sitting across the aisle. Nate's on the right. Mitchie. Uhh, Mitchie is on the left. They probably haven't seen us."

"Just lie low. You don't want to arouse any suspicio-" Alex's packet of iced tea came crashing to the ground, along with her frozen yoghurt. "Well isn't that just fantastic…" She growled as a teenage waitress ran over, frizzy red hair tied into a tight ponytail. The waitress looked bored, mopping up the spilt desert.

"I'm sorry!" Alex forgot herself for the moment, bending down to help.

"No problem miss… OH EHM GEE ITS ALEX RUSSO AND SHANE GRAY!"

"Crap." Both Shane and Alex snapped, and then quickly caught themselves, offering to sign an autograph for the trembling waitress. This alerted the paparazzi – They had been waiting for Dakota Fanning or someone like that – who turned around and started flashing their fancy cameras.

"Hey Alex, what do you think about Hannah Montana hooking up with Johnny Depp?"

"Alex, Shane, are you two dating?"

"Shane, kiss her!"

"Hey Alex, give us a smile, love."

"Shane, is it true that Nate and Mitchie are engaged?"

"No!" Shane finally snapped. "What the hell are you dumb-asses bull-shitting about? Mitchie and Nate are just friends, and they're sitting right over there, okay? RIGHT OVER THERE!"

"Let's go." Alex pulled him away, and shielded herself from the cameras. Their attention soon turned to Mitchie, who had somehow smuggled herself through the door. Shane barged through the crowd to help Mitchie, and Alex found herself struggling with the reporters herself. "Excuse me." She hissed politely, though they refused to let her through.

"She said let her through."

Heads turned, and Nate, pushed in front of Alex, his strong arms making a path for her. "Move." He demanded, and the startled paparazzi instead concentrated on snapping photos of Nate Gray Assisting His Ex-Girlfriend as Nate tugged gently on her sweater.

Once Alex was through, she snapped. "Let go of me."

"I was just trying to help."

"Thanks, but I don't need your assistance. And I bet you're the one messing with my stuff. Well guess what, hands off, ass." With a final stormy glance, she hurled herself into the nearest cab, and slammed the door. "Please. As quick as possible," she sighed.

---------------------------------

"Holy crap." She muttered to no one in particular, and collapsed –again- onto her bed. She had been doing a lot of collapsing these past few days, and realized that the Alex she knew was slowly disintegrating. Get a grip, Russo. She decided to reach under her bed and pull out her guitar, strumming the nylon cords slowly, without any tune in mind. It would have been the perfect time for a song, but her brain was just too scrambled up, and she needed to take a rest – or lose her mind. And Alex Russo never liked to lose anything.

Diing. The doorbell rang just minutes after Alex had shut her eyes, and she wrenched herself from the comfort of her mattress to open the door an inch.

"Shane… I told you… Mitch?" She quickly swung open the door.

"Alex ohmigosh Iamsosorry and IswearIonlydid thosethingsbecauseIwas soangry atyouandimsofreakingsorrypleaseforgiveme IamevenconsideringtherapyIswear."

Alex brushed a curl away from her mouth, and slowly processed everything Mitchie had just spat out. "You did that stuff to my phone, and BlackBerry, and…"

"I'm so so so so so so sorry." Mitchie cried, and pulled Alex close to her in a tight hug. "I swear I will make it up to you. You can even keep my Jimmy's."

"I would never take your lucky Jimmy's!" Alex tightened the hug. "And I'm so sorry too! I shouldn't have been such an ass."

"So…" Shane cut in. "Are we friends again?"

"We never were not." Alex hugged Mitchie again, and the two girls laughed.

"Okay. This is way too much estrogen. Can we go for a drive or something?"

"Oh my gosh! Let's go shopping!"

"That's genius, Mitch!"

"I am definitely out of here." Shane rolled his eyes as the two friends continued to ignore him.

"I saw the hottest skirt yesterday!"

"The Stella McCartney?"

"Yes! Oh goodness, let me just use the bathroom and we can leave right now!"

"Hello?" Shane held up his hands in mock surrender as Alex shut the door to the bathroom.

---------------------------------

Alex turned the bathroom door handle, stepping out. She was delighted that she and Mitchie were best friends again, and go for the first shopping trip in what felt like centuries.

"I love you so much, damn."

What? She decided to wait for a few minutes till there was silence again. When silence finally came, she turned the corner, only to find Shane and Mitchie with their lips pressed firmly against each other! Alex's mouth dropped open, and she did all she could- scream.

A/N: Ohmigoodness! Hahahaha. Hmm. What's going to happen?

Anyway, it is the 15th of July, and I want to wish you a very happy early birthday, bluebubble112! I hope you liked this chapter!

Special thanks to Hayley, my wonderful wonderful beta and all you super cool reviewers! You mean the world to me and I would even trade my vintage Marc Jacob's tote for you guys!

Hugs, Rin.