A/N: OMG, I have missed you all so much!

And I'm really sorry for the long wait. =(

Hopefully you all haven't forgotten about me and this story!

Here's Chapter 16. =D

Shane hesitated in front of Caitlyn's cabin.

It was just after midnight.

Maybe barging inside and demanding to know where Nate was wasn't the best idea.

Caitlyn was bound to be asleep, and it was pretty unlikely that Nate would be in there anyway.

Shane sighed in resignation, shoving his hands in his pockets.

What was he supposed to do now?

Just as he was contemplating returning to his own cabin, a strange sound came from the darkness.

Goosebumps prickled his neck.

Someone was crying.

Shane moved noiselessly towards Caitlyn's cabin door and knocked softly.

"Caitlyn?" He murmured, his voice soft with concern. "Are you ok?"

Shane tried the door.

It was locked.

Another sob filled the air, and Shane's knocking become more urgent.

"Caitlyn! Open the door."

There was a brief silence in which Shane debated whether or not to bust down the door himself, when the knob finally twisted.

The door creaked open to reveal a shaking figure gazing up at him.

Her brown hair was cut short, falling in limp curls to her chin.

She was running her hands through it nervously.

Crying.

Barely a shadow of her former self.

It took Shane a second to recognise her.

"Caitlyn?" He gasped, staring at the slight girl in disbelief. "What happened to you?"

Caitlyn bit her lip and looked away, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She choked out. "I thought you were at the hospital with Mitchie."

"Yeah, I was. I came back to get some sleep."

Shane reached out gently to touch one of the curls that lay against Caitlyn's cheek.

"You cut your hair."

There was a forlorn silence before Caitlyn nodded.

"Why?" Shane asked, watching her critically.

She seemed so unlike herself; her usual smile and vibrant personality had vanished.

The way she shrugged her shoulders made her seem almost nonchalant, but the red-rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks gave her away.

"Caitlyn," Shane whispered. "What have you done to yourself?"

He was almost afraid to touch her in case she might crumble into a million pieces.

As if to echo this, Caitlyn moaned suddenly and Shane watched with concern as her face drained of what little colour there was left.

"What's wrong?" He asked her, his eyebrow creased with worry. "Are you OK?"

When she looked as though she was about to pass out, he grabbed her arm and led her firmly over to the bed inside the cabin.

"You need help, Caitlyn. I'm calling a doctor."

"No," She mumbled, her eyes strangely wild in a face devoid of all emotion.

"Yes. Lie down, alright?"

Once Shane had made sure she was warm and covered with a blanket, he made his way to the door.

"Stay there, and don't move until I come back with someone, OK?"

He flew down the steps without waiting for a reply and disappeared into the night.

"Now, what's been bothering you lad?" Brown asked with a calculating look.

Nate squirmed under his scrutiny, clearly uncomfortable.

"It's complicated."

"You can tell me."

"I don't know if I can."

Brown frowned.

"Look, I don't know what's up with you Nate, but I know it's not like you to be pacing around outside in the middle of the night. And before you come up with some ridiculous excuse, let me tell you that you're not the only one around here who's been acting strangely. Have you been talking to Caitlyn lately?"

Nate gulped.

But before he could reply, Brown continued, looking suddenly thoughtful.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with your girlfriend coming to visit soon, would it?"

Nate's mouth fell open, and Brown couldn't resist a chuckle at the horrified look on the Connect Three members face.

"Who told you about Emma coming?" Nate asked, his voice dripping with suspicion.

"Jason."

A groan escaped Nate's lips.

"Figures. He's probably told half the Camp by now."

Brown's eyebrow creased in confusion.

"So all this worrying is because of Emma, then? You're worried about your girlfriend coming to see you?"

"Well, yeah.. I guess."

"Why?"

There was a tense silence.

"Me and Caitlyn-"

Nate paused in frustration, unable to find the right words.

"We kind of.. Umm.."

"Nate."

Brown's voice was firm.

"It's well after midnight. Are you going to tell me what the trouble is, or are we going to sit here procrastinating for the rest of the night?"

Nate fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, trying to think of a good reply.

Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the ring of the telephone.

Brown glanced at his watch and cursed under his breath.

"Why the hell is someone calling at this hour?"

He picked up the phone, looking at Nate in exasperation and covering the receiver.

"Hold on a second lad, this won't be a minute."

Shane knocked hurriedly at his Uncle Brown's door, and waited impatiently for him to open it.

It was now nearing 1AM.

Caitlyn had been alone in her cabin for over 15 minutes, and Shane couldn't help feeling nervous.

There was no doubt in his mind that she was emotionally unstable, and there was no telling what she would do if left to her own devices for too long.

But what was he supposed to do?

It was far too late to call the doctor, it wasn't serious enough to take her to the hospital, Nate was missing and Jason was sleeping, so he couldn't ask for their advice…

Suddenly the door swung inwards, and Shane looked up, expecting to see his uncle.

"Shane?!" Nate gasped.

"Nate?!"

There was a stunned silence.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at the hospital with Mitchie."

"What are you doing here?! I've been looking for you everywhere, man. Jason said you guys had a fight and-"

"Yeah," Nate bit his lip, looking guilty.

When he saw Shane's questioning glance, he continued. "I kinda went off at him when I found out that he invited Emma to Camp Rock…"

"After you cheated on her with Caitlyn."

Shane's statement was bland, yet it hit Nate like a slap in the face.

"No, dude, it wasn't like that, ok? Me and Caitlyn were just-"

"Just what? Mucking around?"

"No! We just.. I dunno," Nate finished lamely. "It wasn't meant to happen."

"Yeah, well whatever. You need to go see her."

"Who?"

"Caitlyn!"

Nate sighed.

"I.. I've tried, but.. She just.. She doesn't want to talk to me."

"Well make her talk to you! She's not well, Nate."

When Shane met Nate's gaze his eyes were deadly serious.

"And, I mean really not well."

"What? She's sick?"

"No. Look, you just…" Shane winced. "You need to see it for yourself."

Nate felt his stomach clench into a knot.

"Where is she?"

"In her cabin. I think we should call a doctor or something in the morning."

Nate paled and nodded.

"OK. I'll go see her."

He swept passed Shane and down the steps, but stopped suddenly and turned around.

"Oh, Shane?" He called suddenly. "Brown's on the phone, but he should be done in a second. Could you thank him for me?"

"Uhh.. Yeah, sure."

"Thanks."

Nate picked up the pace, his worry for Caitlyn making his heart thump loudly in his chest.

Shane watched his band mate vanish around the corner, and gratefully stepped into the warmth of his Uncle's cabin.

He was not at all prepared for what happened next.

"We'll be there as soon as possible, Connie. Thanks for calling."

Shane entered the room just as Brown was wrapping up his phone conversation.

"Hi Uncle Brown."

"Shane! This is a surprise. It's after 1AM. What brings you here?"

Despite his cheery manner, Shane could tell instantly that there was something bothering his Uncle.

"What's wrong?" He asked nervously.

Brown dropped the vibrant front. He frowned sadly and strolled over to his nephew.

"That was Connie on the phone. There's been some trouble at the hospital."

"What? When?"

"This-"

"Is it Mitchie?" Shane interrupted, unable to keep his steadily increasing heart rate under control. "Is she OK?"

"Well.." Brown hesitated and gave Shane's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze.

"I'm gonna go down there now. A nurse just discovered that.. Mitchie's life support was unplugged."

She deserved it.

There was no use in pretending anymore.

Everything that had happened was all her fault.

Caitlyn eyed the razor gripped tightly in her hand.

The shiny blades made her feel dizzy, but she knew that she had to it.

In one quick flash she brought the razor down on her wrist, sinking to the ground and weeping as she felt the sharp pain.

She deserved it.

The blood now covering her hand brought her a kind of sick pleasure.

A release from it all.

She swiped the blade slowly across her skin again, thriving in the agony that she knew she had brought upon herself, yet despairing in the fact that it might never be able to end.

A/N: So it's getting quite dark, and still full of soap opera like drama =)

If any of you missed Tess, you'll be pleased to know she will be in the next chapter ;)

Once again, I'm really sorry about how long this took.

For the last few months I've been getting really bad migraines, and if you've ever had them, you'll know how difficult it is to concentrate and do anything productive.

But I really missed FanFiction (Sorry if I haven't been reviewing your stories like I usually do, I'll have to catch up) and I'm glad to be back :)

Hopefully you guys are still here with me and it'll make me feel so much better if you click that pretty little review button below.

Cookies for everyone, hopefully it'll make up for everything! ;)

My apologies... =(

Lots of hugs,

Kacee

xoo