I turned, looking at the window dejectedly. "Oh man," I said aloud.

'What now?'

I groaned. 'Thanks to you I have to climb out of here. This is all your fault. I hate you.'

Somehow I knew that if he were standing in front of me, he'd roll his eyes. But he wasn't the one in a skirt preparing to desert the one and only person who'd ever shown any interest in him.

'You see, I would never have that problem, Mitch. People actually like me.'

'No, it's because you're a rich bastard.'

'Oh, so I'm a bastard now?'

'I call 'em as I see 'em.'

Sighing, I bit my lip, not wanting to just leave. Though I knew Ben wouldn't exactly be devastated, I didn't want to leave. The night hadn't been the fantasy I had conjured up in my head, but it wasn't unbearable either. Ben was...well, he was Ben. The guy I thought was Mr. Perfection. The guy to date. It never occured to me that I would be the one to walk away. Or rather, climb away.

'God, you're so melodramtic.'

'Shut up. You don't know him.'

'Well apparently neither do you. He fits the profile of an asshole. You'd know that if you were a guy.'

'You mean I'd know that if I were you. Because you're an asshole.'

'Shut up. Just get out of there. Now.'

'You're not the boss of me.'

'As stupid as you're being, I'm glad.' If he had seen the look on my face, I'm sure he'd have taken back his words. 'Look, I'm in my car. I'm coming, okay? Just wait for me.'

'Right. Because I'm just so excited to see you.'

'What other option do we have, miss know-it-all? As you already admitted, we can't be apart. Not while this fucked up connection still exists.'

Did I mention how much I hate it when he's right?

I stared out the window, watching the various waves of cars swish past us. My mind kept going back to what I had just done. How could I just ditch him like that? Without an explanation? What kind of bitch had I turned into? Was it because of Shane? Or was it because of me? I sighed, closing my eyes and tilting my head back.

"Look -

"Just this once," I cut him off, "can you not be an ass? Just don't say anything."

His fingers, featherlight on my knee, felt calloused, rough, and something I couldn't even figure out. With his left hand on the wheel, he took a sideways glance towards me. "You don't have to act as if you're the only one suffering you know."

More than Shane's sarcastic asshole-ish behavior, I really, really hated his serious side. He made me feel like an insignificant child. Like I was a horrible person. Like him. "How can I not? You're just a frickin' pop star with total disregard for anyone else's feelings."

He was silent. And then, "Why do you think that?"

I laughed mockingly. "Why would I think that? Why wouldn't I think that? The world may be convinced that you're some god-like creature, but not me. You're an ass, you have the most ridiculously perverted thoughts, and you have the audacity to ask me why I think you don't care about anyone else?" I crossed my arms. "If this is torture for you, then good. I want you to suffer every ounce of misery that I am."

I knew he was getting angrier by every word I spoke as his fingers, that I had barely felt before I said a word, had wound themselves around my skin tightly, in an iron-like grip. I stared at his jaw, watching as he struggled to keep his annoyance in check. "You don't know anything about me."

"Of course I do," I replied instantly, forgetting that all I knew about him was what the media wanted us to believe.

I was shocked when he sped up the car, only to pull over on the side of the road. "Is that so?" he growled out.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was slightly frightened by his reaction. Never had I been in a situation where I was alone with a male person who wasn't a friend or a family member. I refused to believe that he would hurt me, but I was beginning to realize that rage did unbelievable things to a person. I didn't know what to say though. My eyes had widened as I struggled to get a hold of the door handle.

"You think you know everything there is to know about Shane fucking Gray?" His eyes were what scared me the most. They weren't arrogant, or even annoyed. They were full of uncontrollable anger.

"I...Shane I...I'm," I stuttered, looking into his eyes, not by choice, but because I couldn't look away.

"You're what?" he continued, the mad glint still in his eyes.

I went into panic mode. Reaching for the handle, I swiftly opened it, almost falling out of the car. Without a second thought, I ran. Tears filled my eyes as I continued on but I wouldn't allow that to stop me. 'Must...get...away."

'Damn it Mitchie, I'm not going to hurt you.'

'Shut up! Just shut up! Get out of my head!' I collapsed to the ground, my knees connecting with pavement. My breath came out loud and choppy as I choked on my tears. My hair, falling in front of my face, protected me from what I knew was Shane kneeling in front of me. I scrambled back, prepared to run again.

But he was already a step head of me, pulling me up with his arms. For reasons unknown to me, he pulled me into a fierce hug, whispering soothing words into my ear. "Shh. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

My eyes, large and still frightened, began to see spots. Before I understood what was happening, I collapsed, fainting into my nightmare's arms. The last thing I heard was, "Mitchie!"

'I'm sorry, Shane...'

If you followed this story before, I'm hoping you'll follow it now. I removed everything that came after this point, because I felt that this was the high point of my story. Then everything went downhill. So, I'm here to fix what was broken. Hopefully you'll like it. And if you're new, great. I hope you enjoy. ;)