A/N: Another disheartening chapter I'm afraid. I hope enjoy either way. I'm sorry I took so long to update. I created another story (so if you like Twilight go to my page and check it out :D) so I was working on that and I also had no inspiration to write this story. But I finally forced myself cuz of you guys. And for those of you who are waiting for Cyber Trouble…SORRY! I'll try to start writing that again! My last day of school was yesterday and since I'm a senior I have no major exams so im done with school! So hopefully now that its summer I'll be writing more.

And a special thank you to : failedaborshunn for giving me a name for Shane's father!

In response to 'Bee's' question: I can understand how you got that confused lol. Shane's father left his family when Shane was five and shane is now eighteen, that's where I got the thirteen years from. But when Shane was 10, his father came back once for a few hours, left again for four years, came back when shane was 14 drunk off his mind and that's when he abused Shane and threw him up against the wall and almost chocked his mother to death. After that time, Shane hadn't seen his father since he was 14 until the time after Final Jam and then of course, the attack. I hope that cleared it up.

So read and enjoy and don't forget to review!

Just as promised, about an hour later, Shane allowed Mitchie to go and tell everyone his status. He still didn't seem too pleased about it. He would never admit it, but Mitchie knew he was afraid of talking to his mom and his sister. She remembered when they were at camp and he had that meltdown of guilt. He was probably still feeling that way. She didn't blame him though. If she had hurt someone that she loved greatly, she would have trouble facing them.

She kissed his forehead softly and he reluctantly let her go. At the scowl on his face, she gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright Shane, you'll see."

He huphed and stared intensely at the white wall across from him.

Mitchie didn't know what to think about his attitude. She knew that he changed, there was more than enough proof for that, but right now he was acting like his old, spoiled pop star self. But she also knew that he went through a lot recently and jerky pop star or not, being stubborn was who he was.

And plus, from what she knew of Shane, he didn't like to be secluded to one area so staying in bed for that long must have been killing him.

She gave him a quick kiss to the side of his face, close to his lips but not quite there, before leaving. And she bit back a giggle when she saw his lips curve up in a smile. She thought she might be finally grasping how much of an effect she has on Shane.

On her way to the waiting room to get Danielle and Caley, she stopped off at the bathroom realizing that she hadn't gone in a few hours and her bladder was about to burst.

She exited the bathroom a minute later and headed down to the waiting room. She saw Nate, Jason, Caitlyn, Sierra and even Caley on one side of the room talking and laughing. Her parents and Danielle were on the other side. Connie and Danielle were engaged in conversation while Steve was still watching the game on the TV.

She walked over to the adults to inform Danielle that she could go and talk to Shane. Connie spotted her first, smiled and waved at her daughter. Danielle looked over to where Connie waved and smiled. Mitchie smiled back and walked over to them.

"Hello honey, did you have a nice sleep?" Connie asked, grinning cheekily and Danielle's smile soon matched hers.

Mitchie's eyes widened and she looked between them. "How did you know I was sleeping?"

Danielle chuckled. "We went to check on you and we found you and Shane sleeping."

Mitchie blushed heavily. They saw her and Shane snuggling in each others arms? Mitchie bit her lip and glanced down at the ground, shuffling her feet.

"It's alright sweetie." Danielle replied happily. "You both looked very content."

Mitchie blushed further but glanced up and smiled.

"Do did you want something Mitchie?" Connie asked kindly.

"Oh," Mitchie nodded, remembering the reasons he was out there, "Shane wants to talk to you." She looked at Danielle. "You and Caley."

Danielle looked up in surprise. "He does?"

Mitchie nodded in confirmation. "He does." 'Sort of…'

Danielle rose from her seat next to Connie and nodded. "Thank you." She looked to Connie. "We'll continue talking later."

Connie nodded and smiled. "Alright."

Danielle gave her a small smile and then called Caley over. Caley walked over to her, Danielle explained that Shane wanted to talk to them and then the both of them headed towards Shane's room.

Mitchie watched over her shoulder until they disappeared down the hall. Then she turned to her mother and smiled.

Connie smiled back and then asked, "Are you hungry?"

Mitchie then realized the deep feeling of hunger in the pit of her stomach. She placed her hand over her stomach and nodded. "Starving."

Connie laughed. "Round up everyone else, I'll take you out."

Mitchie nodded and turned to call over to the other side of the room. "Hey guys, we're going out to eat come on!"

Immediately Jason popped up from his seat and raced towards Mitchie, chanting, "Food, food, food, food, food!" Nate rolled his eyes at his behavior, took Caitlyn's hand and followed Jason, while Sierra quietly followed behind them.

Mitchie and Connie both laughed at Jason's excitement over food.

"Alright, lets go everybody." Connie said, waving her hand towards the door. When she was halfway to the door she stopped, frowning. "Oh shoot, I forgot I don't have any way to go any place." She turned to the five teenagers. "I'm sorry guys; I guess we're stuck with hospital food."

There was a collective groan among them but Nate pulled out his cell phone. "No problem Mrs. Torres, I've got it covered." He speed dialed his limo driver and told him to come pick them up at the hospital. After he hung up he turned to Connie with a smile, "All taken care of."

"Thank you Nate." Connie replied with a smile and he nodded.

"Man I love being famous!" Jason exclaimed loudly. That got the attention of the fans in the room who had forgotten both Nate and Jason were there. They all gasped and Nate and Jason's eyes widened. A grin broke across their faces and they all let out a squeal.

"RUN!" Nate and Jason cried as they all jumped out of their seats. Nate, still holding onto Caitlyn's hand ran with Jason, pushing Connie with them for she was in front of them. Mitchie saw Sierra just standing there watching the rabid fan girls rushing at them. She grabbed her best friends hand and tugged her. "Come on Si we have to go!"

Sierra looked at her, her eyes widened and they both took off after Nate and Jason until they all safely reached the limo in the parking lot.

Danielle and Caley walked down the quiet hallways of the hospital to Shane's room side by side. Neither of them knew what to expect from Shane. Both of them believed he's changed but there was still that doubt.

The last time either of them saw him (outside of the hospital that is…) was nearly a year ago. He didn't come home for the last Christmas or any of the other major family holidays. They weren't too sure what he did in that time considering Nate and Jason went home to their families during that time. But the last time they saw Shane, they didn't leave off at a good note.

Connect 3 took a break from touring to visit their families. It was an order from their manager. Nate and Jason were more than happy to go home and spend a few days with their family. But Shane, it took about five times to explain to him that it was an order and not a request.

Shane was cold the entire stay with his family. Caley, at that time, had heard about her brother's bad attitude but didn't quite believe that he was really like that. She thought it was just an act for the media. But she was in for the surprise of her life when he came home acting mean and so un-Shane like. Danielle welcomed him home with open arms, smiling at the chance to see her son. However, he didn't hug her when he walked in, he barely even said hello. Danielle dismissed it as being tired though. Caley ran down the stairs to greet her brother. She threw her arms around him and told him she missed him. His only response was "Get off" and he pushed her off, heading up to his room. And that's where he stayed for most of his visit. They managed to get him down for one family meal together but it wasn't the same. Without Shane smiling and laughing with them it would never be the same. Shane barely interacted with them that night and would answer their questions with snide remarks. He seemed impatient as if he had somewhere better he needed to be.

It was on the last day that he was there, right before he left that they had the big falling out. Danielle decided to tell Shane that she wasn't too happy about his attitude and this was not who he was. Shane rolled his eyes and dismissed it mostly. It wasn't until she kept going and going that he finally snapped. He told her (more like yelled at her) that he was forced to come there by his manager and that if he didn't, he'd be kicked out of the band. He told her that he didn't need her or Caley or anybody else. He said he was 'Shane Gray for crying out loud' and he didn't have to be in that stupid little town. He seemed completely unfazed by the shocked look on her face and the tears in her eyes. He stormed past her and out the door towards his limo.

From that day on, Danielle and Caley had not heard from him only on the news reports. Danielle couldn't stop watching them whenever they were on. Caley was bitterer though and either turned off the TV or walked out of the room whenever a news report came on about something else he did. She banned her Connect 3 obsessed friends from talking about him when they were in her presence and took down every picture she had of him in her room.

However, no matter how hurt and how angry they were at Shane, the minute they got that phone call from a hysterical Brown saying Shane was shot and being rushed to the hospital, they burst into tears.

Danielle had to force back tears at the memories. She took a deep breath and Caley looked up at her. "Mom?" She asked quietly.

Danielle looked down at her and gave her a reassuring smile. She placed her arm around her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

They came to Shane's room and stood in front of the closed door. "Are you ready?" Danielle asked her.

Caley nodded. "I'm ready." She replied quietly.

Danielle nodded and knocked on the door to alert Shane to their presence and then opened the door. They both walked in until they could see Shane in the bed. He was sitting up in the bed and staring right at them. From the last time they saw him the day before, he had a bit more color in his face but the bruises on his face still made him look miserable.

The three of them stared at each other in silence, no one knowing what to say. Even with the bruises and cuts all over his face, there was something different in his eyes and the expression on his face then when they saw him a year ago. He was frowning but it wasn't the cold frown they last saw on him. He looked like he was struggling within himself. It was a mixture between guilt, pain and sadness.

Caley wanted to be mad at him for what he did to her and their mother a year ago but just seeing him alive made her forget about that. In that instant, he was not the jerky pop star that was mean and cold to her, he was her older brother who would comfort her when she was down, who would play dolls with her when she was bored, who would help her with her homework, who started to teach her to play the guitar and the piano, and who would sing stupid kiddie songs with her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran toward his bed.

She hopped on the bed next to him and threw her arms around him gently. Shane looked surprised to say the least but his arms immediately surrounded her and held her tightly. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against her shoulder. Caley buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried into him.

After about a minute, Caley pulled away and looked down at Shane. His eyes opened and met hers. Caley's eyes were bloodshot from crying and she noticed that Shane's eyes were glossed over. She had only ever seen Shane cry once and that was the time their father abused him.

Shane reached up and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. Her lip quivered at that because that's what he used to do all the time whenever she cried.

Danielle walked up to the other side of her bed and Shane turned his gaze from Caley to her. Caley turned her head to also look at her mother. She realized then that she was still on Shane, so she moved off of him to sit next to him.

Danielle looked like she wanted to move closer but there was something holding her back. Like at any moment, Shane would snap at say he didn't want her any where near him.

"How are you feeling Shane?" Danielle asked awkwardly. She felt horrible that she had to be awkward around her own son, afraid of what he might do.

Shane winced at the tone of her voice. He saw her hesitating to go near him. That alone hurt more than the wound in his side did. Knowing that he caused that, he got his own mother to be afraid of him, hurt him so bad.

"Alright." He replied with a light shrug. "In a little pain but it's not bad."

Danielle nodded. "That's good." She answered quietly. She stared at him for a few moments and then looked down at the ground.

Shane looked at Caley, she looked back at him. He couldn't read the expression on her face. He frowned further and looked back at his mother. It was now or never.

"Mom?"

Danielle glanced up at him. "Yes sweetie?" She asked quietly and innocently. Another stab at his heart. That was how most of the people who he forced to wait on him talked to him so he wouldn't get angry at them.

"I'm sorry." His voice cracked with emotion.

"Shane-"

"No," He cut her off kindly, "Please, let me talk." He swallowed. "I'm so sorry mom. I'm sorry to both of you. But there aren't enough sorry's to excuse what I did to you. I was a monster, a horrible, horrible monster. You don't know how guilty I am for everything I've done and everything I've said. I can't believe everything I've done to hurt the people around me. Especially you two. You are my family; you've done nothing to me except love me. And I turn around you and stab you in the back, treating you like…dirt. No one deserves the way I talked to the world the past two years, especially not you." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I feel like such a horrible person. I wish I could go back and take back every hurtful thing I've said and done to you. I know that what I said to you will be embedded into your brain forever because it will forever be embedded into mine." His voice cracked again as a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I want you to know that none of it is true. Nothing of what I said to you is true. You're my family, and I love and need you in my life." He took a shuddering breath. "I wouldn't blame you if you hated me, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't forgive me because I will never forgive myself." He let out a breath as he shook his head. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

The next thing he knew he felt the familiar, warm embrace of his mothers arms. He sat up more so he could hug her back and she sat down on the bed next to him to get into a more comfortable position. He let his ego and his male pride go and let himself melt in his mother's arms. He felt like a five year old who just scraped his knee and was sitting on his mother's lap as she rocked him back and forth to calm him down. Except he was an eighteen year old boy who made a huge mistake by breaking his mother's heart instead of making her proud like he should have been. But he would beg on his knees to get her forgiveness, to get both of their forgiveness.

He rested his head on her shoulder and felt her rubbing his back. No, he told himself, that wasn't right. She shouldn't be the one comforting him. HE hurt HER. He pulled back and stared at her. He didn't need a mirror to know that look on his face was absolutely pathetic. "Mom."

"Shh…" She gave him a tearful smile. He noticed then that tears were pouring down her cheeks. Another painful surge coursed through his heart when he saw another picture of her tear stained face in his mind of when he last saw her in person. "It's alright Shane."

Shane furrowed his brow and shook his head. "No, its not. Its not." He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Shane, honey, look at me." The mothering tone in her voice just made him want to listen and he opened his eyes again to look at her. She placed her hands on either side of his face and wiped away tears that he didn't even know were there. "Shane, you made a mistake. A really big mistake but that's okay you're only human. And you're right, you did hurt us very much but we're family. You're my son, you're Caley's big brother, we're going to love you no matter what. Especially when you're so obviously sincerely apologetic. I've heard from Mitchie, Connie, Brown and I see it in your eyes, Shane, you've changed. You're not that jerky Pop Star anymore. We have no reason to be mad at you for the things you've done in the past."

"You have every reason." Shane answered stubbornly.

She smiled softly and shook her head. "No we don't. Shane, if it had been any time else, it probably would have taken us a little bit longer to forgive you but given the circumstances…sweetie, we're just glad to have you alive. If we lost you, jerky pop star or not, we would have been devastated. You are my only son, my first born and I love you so much." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"Yeah Shane." Caley agreed. "I was mad at you last week but I can't be mad at you now." She laid down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad to see you alive and now that you're back to being your old self, there's no reason to be mad at you."

Shane looked at both his mother and his sister a few times. "So…you guys really forgive me? You don't have any hard feelings at all?"

Danielle shook her head. "None." She and Shane both looked at Caley and she nodded once to say she agreed with her mother. Shane looked back at Danielle and she gave him a smile. "As long as you don't pull anything like that ever again…"

Shane shook his head and replied seriously, "Never. I will never go back to being that jerk. The real Shane Gray is back and here to stay."

"Good." Danielle replied happily. "I'm very glad to hear that."

"I've missed you Shane." Caley said as she snuggled into her brothers side.

Shane looked down at her and gave a weak smile. "Don't worry Cal, I promise you'll hear from me a whole lot more. I'll visit whenever I can."

"Well I don't think you'll be going on tour for quite a while." Danielle gave him a pointed look and as if on cue a sharp pain shot through Shane's side. He winced, closing his eyes and he clenched his jaw. He let out a breath, waiting for the pain to pass and then opened his eyes once it faded. He saw Caley and Danielle staring at him in concern and he offered them a small smile.

"I think you're right."

"You still have no idea who did this to you?" Danielle asked quietly.

A dark looked crossed Shane's features and he scowled. "I know very well who did this to me." He replied coldly.

Danielle's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You remember? Who? Who Shane?"

Shane took a breath and clenched his jaw and his fist. He stared at the foot of his bed hardly for a few moments before turning his gaze to his mother. "Shawn."

A look of shock and horror crossed Danielle's face. Her face went pale white and she gripped the sheets. "Shawn?" She whispered. "THE Shawn?"

Shane nodded once and Danielle's hand flew to her mouth as tears sprung to her eyes. "Oh My God…" She whispered. "Shane." She shook her head and took her son into another hug. "Shane Oh My God…" She kissed the side of his head. "You must have been traumatized oh my baby I'm so sorry."

Shane rested his head against his mothers shoulder as he stared off at the wall. He caught sight of Caley looking at them with a mixture of concern and confusion. He figured he must not know him by his first name. His mother never talked about him and the only reason Shane knew his first name was Brown talked about him sometimes and he saw their wedding album with their marriage certificate before their mother hid it in a locked chest.

Caley gave Shane and their mother a few more minutes of silence before she asked, "Mom, whose Shawn?"

Danielle pulled away from Shane, wiping her eyes and sniffling softly. She looked at her daughter and then looked at Shane.

"Tell her mom, she should know."

Danielle nodded and let out a breath. "Shawn is…he's…he's your father." She finished in a whisper.

Caley gasped and her eyes went wide. "Our father…our father did this to Shane?"

"Yes he did." Shane answered.

Caley whimpered quietly. "Why?"

Danielle looked at Shane. He was the only one who could answer that question. Shane shrugged. "I have no idea….he didn't say."

"So he just…shot you?" Danielle asked her voice breaking as Caley let out another whimper. Shane grabbed her hand and held it gently.

"No." Shane replied. "He beat me up first. I don't know why…I tried to fight back but he…got me in a weak spot and that's when he…"

Danielle shook her head, fury crossing her features. "Unbelievable, that man is unbelievable." She got off the bed. "I'm going to call the police. I'm going to have that man locked in jail if it's the last thing I do." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and stared out the room, dialing the number.

"Mom!" Shane tried to call after her in protest but she was already out of the room. Shane sighed heavily. He did want Shawn locked up in jail but he didn't want to talk to the police. Not when he felt so weak and vulnerable.

Shane looked at Caley and saw that tears were threatening to fall out of her eyes. "Cal." He called and held his arms open. She looked over at him and immediately went into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and he rested his head on top of hers. He felt her tears soaking through his hospital gown and to his chest but he didn't care. He wanted to take himself, Caley and everyone he cared about out of this hellish nightmare.

But it wasn't a nightmare.

This was real.

This was his life.