You guys cease to amaze me :) And I'm really excited because one of my favorite authors subscribed to the story. Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good right now. :)

Funny story! So...I currently have Duct tape on my fingers. Can anybody guess why? That's RIGHT because I have an STD on my hand!

Okay, yeah, now you're all probably thinking WTF...but if you read the A/N at the end of this chapter, all will be explained!

Until then, READ!

I made my way into Top Ten Records and made my way to the recording studio that Caitlyn and I had booked for the day. My band had been in the day before to record the music for the song that we had decided on putting on the album. Caitlyn and I were in the studio today to finish up the vocals for my album that dropped in three weeks.

Brown had bitten my head off when I told him that I changed the track listing. He told me I was lucky that I hadn't waited another day, because he had been planning on releasing the track listing. He told me that I had three days to get the song finished and ready to be put on the album. I had agreed with him about everything because I knew that if I made one argument, Dear John would be stuck on the album.

I walked into the recording booth and found it empty. I began panicking because Caitlyn was supposed to meet me there and she was rarely late. And when she was late, she would call and let me know that she was running behind and then would tell me to just start. She and Nate had agreed to a night away from everybody, so they went to Las Vegas yesterday and promised to wake up early so they could be back by noon today. I began bouncing in place and decided to set up everything so when Caitlyn did get here, we could start right away.

As I began setting up my microphone, my cell phone began blaring Introducing Me signaling Nate was calling me. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. Why the hell would Nate be calling me? Unless something was wrong with Caitlyn. I quickly put the microphone down and pressed the little green button.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Mitchie?" Caitlyn's voice filled my ears. I sighed in relief.

"No, it's Scooby Doo answering Mitchie's phone because Mitchie is in the recording studio setting everything up," I answered, an amused smile gracing my features.

"Look, Mitchie…I'm not going to make it," she said nervously. I froze.

"Caitlyn, what are you talking about?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Mitchie! Nate and I woke up late and there is a ton of traffic! We will be there in about an hour, but I don't see this traffic letting up any time soon. I could run there faster than this," Caitlyn said.

"So why aren't you running?" I asked. There was a moment of silence on the phone before Caitlyn remarked, "Mitchie, I was being facetious." I groaned and stomped my foot in a way that a four year old who didn't get their way would.

"Don't worry though! I've already made a phone call and some back up is on the way," Caitlyn said.

"Back up?" I asked. As if on cue, Jason opened the door and walked inside. I smiled at him and waved lightly.

"Thank you Caity. But you're gonna get an earful from me later," I warned. She laughed lightly.

"Of course I will. Have fun. Record good," Caitlyn said. I told her goodbye and we hung up. I quickly went up and gave him a welcoming hug.

"Hey Mitchie. Ready to record?" he asked.

"Almost. Let me just set a few more things up and then we can get this show on the road," I said. He nodded and began looking over the lyrics of the song that I would be recording.

"So…what's this song about?" he asked. I looked at him and saw he was reading the lyrics.

"I wrote it back when I was 15 and my brother had left home and never come back. It's a song to him about how no matter how many times he would ever try to apologize, how I would never believe him. I also had Caitlyn do a bit of editing so it can fit to any kind of relationship," I said. He nodded and looked up at me.

"Don't be surprised if I start crying," I said. Jason smiled lightly and nodded.

"Just try not to break down on me," he said.

"I'll try," I said. I put on the headphones and gave Jason a thumbs up. He repeated the action and quickly pressed a few buttons. Not even a second later and the intro music began playing in my ears.

"All this time I was wasting
Hoping you would come around
I've been giving out chances every time
And all you do is let me down
And it's taking me this long
Baby but I figured you out
And you're thinking we'll be fine again
But not this time around

You don't have to call anymore
I won't pick up the phone
This is the last straw
Don't wanna hurt anymore
And you can say that you're sorry
But I don't believe you baby
Like I did before
You're not sorry, no, no, no, no."

I could feel a few tears building as I recalled writing this song. It was right after Pat had told my parents that all we were to him was a pile of shit that was keeping him trapped. Dad, being angry, had told Pat to get out and stay out. We all knew that Pat would most likely return and ask for their forgiveness like he always did, but a week passed without any notice of him.

I had written this song the night that he snuck into my room the next week. He had tried to apologize to me for leaving me alone, but I had ignored him and told him that he was being a selfish brat and I had told him to get out of my life. I hadn't meant it, but Pat had obliged and climbed out my window, not to be seen until he found me almost two years ago.

"Looking so innocent
I might believe you if I didn't know
Could've loved you all my life
If you hadn't left me waiting in the cold
And you got your share of secrets
And I'm tired of being last to know
And now you're asking me to listen
Cause it's worked each time before

But you don't have to call anymore
I won't pick up the phone
This is the last straw
Don't wanna hurt anymore
And you can tell me that you're sorry
But I don't believe you baby
Like I did before
You're not sorry-"

Without warning, I began breaking down. I quickly buried my face into my hands as feelings of regret and remorse began bubbling up. I wanted nothing more than to apologize to Pat for all of those awful things I had told him that night. I fell to my knees and clutched my stomach as I doubled over and cried.

The next thing I knew, I was being picked up and put into somebody's lap. I wrapped my arms around their neck and began sobbing into their shoulder. Soft words of comfort along with the hand rubbing my back began soothing me and my sobs grew softer and softer until they turned into hiccups. I breathed in the calming scent of Jason's cologne and relaxed against him. I pulled away slightly and looked up into his eyes.

I saw the spark. The look that Caitlyn had informed me of awhile ago. I saw it every time I looked into his eyes and I was finally ready to admit that I had the same spark in my eyes. I closed my eyes as I felt his minty breath on my face. It invaded my senses and made my mind go fuzzy. I hadn't realized how close our faces were getting until I opened my eyes and saw straight into his eyes.

I leaned in hesitantly, not sure if I was ready for what I was about to do, but as his lips touched mine, I felt a thousand butterflies erupt in the pit of my stomach. My eyes fluttered closed as I began kissing him back. I had forgotten in the past year what it was like to kiss somebody and feel a spark. I felt my hands making their way through Jason's curly hair as the passion began growing. I felt him wrap his arms around my waist in a protective way and I immediately felt safe. I pressed myself closer to him to deepen the kiss when suddenly he pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. He moved me off of him and stood up. I watched him was confusion flooded me. I watched as he quickly began gathering up his stuff. The door opened to reveal Caitlyn and Nate, Jason looked at them and then looked back at me.

"I'm sorry Mitchie," he said again before brushing past Nate and Caitlyn and leaving the booth. I looked at Caitlyn who was giving me a suspicious look.

"What happened?" she asked. I looked at the door where Jason had quickly walked out of.

"I'm not quite sure."

"So wait…you kissed him?" Caitlyn asked me for the millionth time.

"He kissed me!" I protested.

"And you kissed him back!" she exclaimed. I sighed again for the millionth time and looked her straight in the eye.

"Yes Caitlyn, I kissed him. And I loved it!" I admitted. Caitlyn and I had been a deep conversation for the past three hours about what had conspired in the recording booth. She was ecstatic to hear that something had happened with Jason and I. She had really been pushing me lately to get off my butt and get back out into the dating world. She firmly believed it was my one way ticket to getting over Shane.

"Are you guys going to start going out?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Do you love him?"

"I don't know."

"Are you guys going to-"

"Caitlyn! I don't know!" I exclaimed, laughing lightly at her never-ending questions.

"So…what are you going to do?" she asked. I sighed and laid my head against the back of the couch.

"I don't know. I think I'm going to go write for a little bit," I said as I pushed myself up off the couch. I began walking towards the stairs as I watched a huge grin break out on her face.

"Is it going to be about Jason?" she asked, a slight teasing tone in her voice. I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Duh!"

Okay...so...about the whole STD on my hands thing. It all began back in gym class!

*FLASHBACK MODE*

In gym class, they decided that it would be great if we all learned how to SQUARE DANCE. Thank you gym teachers! I still hate you all!

Anyways, one of the boys that I was forced to dance with had warts on his fingers...and I, unfortunately, had a couple of nasty paper cuts that I had neglected to cover with a few band-aids. I just want to set the scene. Sweaty hands. Smelly wrestling room. Uncooperative boys. Warty fingers. Uncovered paper cuts.

*END FLASHBACK MODE*

Now...if you do some fancy-shmancy GOOGLING...then you will know that Warts are caused by viruses of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) family. Now...for those of you who don't know what HPV is, it is a sexually transmitted infection/disease (STI or STD) and so if you put all this together, you end up with "I have an STD on my Hands!"

Yeah...weird...but I just felt like explaining that! :D NOW, back to the story! What did you think of it? Did you like it? Was it shocking? I know, most of you aren't happy about it, but no worries, Smitchie things are coming up! ;)

Okay, be honest with me, especially for those of you who don't live in my part of the world. Do you guys like that I update multiple times a day, or should I slow down a bit on the updates? I mean, this is the 38th chapter. Next is the 39th. Before we know it, we're going to be finished. Granted, then the sequel can start going into the works and being written, so...what do you guys think? Do you guys like waking up and seeing that there are 2-3 updates in just a day, or should I slow down on the updates? Tell me your thoughts! :) If you guys want me to continue the multiple updates in a day kind of thing, let me know! If not, SOUND OFF! :) I only live to serve you! Okay, that's a little dramatic, but you get my point. So...we're going to go with the old rules..."MAJORITY RULES!" This is not a dictatorship, this is a democracy. We'll take a vote! :)

Review Goal: 4

Enough rambling from me!

LOVE YOU ALL!

XOXOXOXOXOXO
Tianna