AN: Thanks to AlexaJ and Angie-Ange for reviewing. Your reviews meant a lot to me .
Chapter 2: Making Plans
Mitchie slowly climbed out of the canoe, her tears still stinging her eyes. She tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. She started running toward the kitchen, where she knew her mom was still at work, but on the way, she ran into Caitlyn.
"Mitchie, what's wrong?" Caitlyn said, noticing her friend's red, puffy eyes. She was talking with Lola.
"It's…Shane," Mitchie said, beginning to cry again.
"What happened?" Lola asked.
"Caitlyn, you were right…Shane wanted to be more than friends, but I'm so not ready for that. I mean, he's a popstar, and millions of girls would do anything to date him. What if it doesn't work out? He'll be on tour eventually, and I don't know if we'll be able to keep a long-distance relationship," Mitchie worried.
"Mitchie, calm down. I'm sure Shane wouldn't ask you out if he didn't really like you," Lola said, hugging her. "He wouldn't have asked you out if he didn't think the two of you could survive being apart, with you starting school in 2 weeks, and him being on tour for the next several months."
"I don't know, guys," Mitchie said, still doubtful. "I don't know if I can handle it…and the media..."
"Like you said to Shane before, you won't know unless you try," Caitlyn reminded her. "You asked Shane to take a chance with his music, and recreating his sound, but you won't take your own advice and take a chance with him."
"I know…but I'm sure Shane hates me now," Mitchie sighed.
"Not if I can do something about it," Caitlyn smiled secretively.
Meanwhile, with Shane, Nate, and Jason…
"Dude, what's your deal?" Nate was playing guitar in Shane's Uncle Brown's cabin, where he had graciously allowed them to stay. Shane had stormed in and slammed the door.
"Girls…" Shane muttered.
"Gotta love 'em," Jason piped up. Nate glared at Jason. "What?" Jason wondered.
"Having girl troubles again?" Nate asked Shane.
"Yeah, I told Mitchie how I felt, and she threw it back in my face," Shane said, his temper flaring. "Me, Shane Gray, the guy who can get any girl he wants, can't even score with the girl of his dreams."
"You mean the girl with the voice, right?" Jason corrected.
"Dude, what's your deal? Why don't you go build a birdhouse or something?" Nate was tired of always making sure Jason knew what was going on.
"Because I want Shane to build me one," Jason said defensively. "I need a birdhouse, because I want to see the birds…"
"Go build one yourself already!" Nate exploded.
"OK, OK," Jason said, holding his hands up in surrender. He went out.
"Anyway, what did you and Mitchie say to each other exactly?" Nate changed the subject.
"I told her I wanted to be more than friends, and she said she wasn't sure she wanted to do that just yet," Shane said. "And then I told her that I knew she knew if she wanted to be with me or not, and that maybe we needed a break from each other."
"That's harsh, man. You should've given her a chance to explain. Maybe she does want to be with you, but look at it from her perspective. She has a chance to date one of the biggest popstars on the planet, meaning any relationship you two have will be completely public, and you're used to the media, but she's not. Plus, you'll be on tour most of the time, and away from her, and long-term relationships usually don't work out. Not to mention you'll be away for a really long time, and by the time you see her again, maybe she'll have changed into someone completely different," Nate said. "And maybe Mitchie won't be the only one who's changed."
"You're wrong, man. I know Mitchie as well as I know you guys. She's different. A good different. She's not shallow, she doesn't like me just because I'm famous. She's what brought me back down to earth, and she helped bring us back together, stronger than ever," Shane reminded Nate, then said firmly, "A girl like her is exactly the kind of girl I'm looking for, and now that I've found her, I'm not gonna just let her go, not without a fight."
Shane walked out the door, amazed that Nate wasn't being supportive of them. Nate knew him better than most people did, so he went out to stop him before Shane made things even worse.
AN: What's Caitlyn up to? What's Shane going to do? Will Jason ever get his birdhouse? Next chapter will reveal more, with some surprises you weren't expecting…but only if you review! 3 reviews, and I'll post the next chapter faster.