Yay! I'm so glad you all liked the first chapter so much. Well, here is the second one. And you may notice that how I spell Gray keeps changing through out. Sorry. :-) Oh, and this one is short, but when the chapter stops, the chapter stops, sorry.

Chapter 2:

I could not sleep that night. At all. Every time I had a dream, I'd wake up suddenly, gasping a bit. Thankfully, my parents were heavy sleepers and were knocked out. I found it kinda funny how they were on the sofa bed together. I guess Mom really missed Dad while we were away. I was quite grateful they were all the way across the room. All I needed was for my father to wake up and hear me moaning Shane's name or something.

Yes, my dreams were about Shane. So far, my favorite was us making out in our canoe. No, they weren't that graphic. Please. But they were getting close. I finally gave up sleep and just thought. He was right, we had a lot to discuss.

'No doubt, Connect 3 would be going on tour again soon, now that Shane's attitude was better. Yay, me. That was sarcastic, a bit, sorry. But then there would be so much distance between Shane and I. We'd almost never see each other. He'd have fan girls all over him, all the time. No one back home would believe I was dating The Shane Grey. I knew if the press really wanted to, they could turn this against Shane. I'm only 16, he's 18, soon to be 19. I won't be 17 until April. He turns 19 in two months.'

I sighed and curled up into a ball, wishing all of the problems away, and focusing on the good things. 'I'd be with Shane. Not Shane Grey the Pop star, cause honestly, he's a jerk. But Shane Grey, the boy I fell in love with. He loves music as much as I do. And singing with him was so… amazing. I still can't believe I'm the girl with the voice. Seriously? Wow.

Woah! Wait a second, did I say the boy I fell in love with? Oh my god, I did. I think I'm in love with Shane.' And I so was. Yes, my moment of realization was a bit after the fact. But the thought haunted me until the sun came up and I saw my parents stirring.

Figuring it was safe to get up, I started moving around. Mom needed help with breakfast and then we'd be packing everything up. Everything but breakfast stuff already was. Mom was definitely surprised to find me awake already and fully dressed when she woke up.

"Hey, you. How are you, today?" She asked in that motherly way.

"I'm-" I paused to think about how I really was. "Perplexed." I finally decided as she reemerged from her bathroom where she'd gotten dressed.

"Why's that?" She asked. Looking around and realizing Dad was in the room, I dragged her outside, and we headed toward the kitchen. "So, why are you 'perplexed'?

"I think-" I paused again. "I think I'm in love with Shane." I rushed my words, and bit my lip, preparing for the worst.

"I know." She sighed. "And that's what scares us." She said wrapping her arm around me.

"Us? You mean Dad?" I was confused.

"We're worried you're falling harder than he his, and that he's going to go back to his rock star ways and leave you broken hearted, or worse."

I groaned. "Mom…" I sighed, knowing this would come up. "Did you know that he wears a purity ring?"

"Does he?" Mom seemed surprised.

"Yup. They all do. Though… I'm not sure if Jason really knows what it is." I giggled think of my clueless Jason.

"They all seem like sweet boys, but he's going to be very busy, and you have school, and he's older-" And we've reached point number two.

"I know he's older. But, you're always saying I'm so mature for my age." I sighed, trying to think of another way to oust that excuse. "It'd be like… If I was dating a senior." Okay, so he's probably graduated and I still have 2 years of high school.

"Fine. Just… be careful."

"I will, mom." I hugged her. "I promise."

We walked the rest of the way in silence. We were surprised to see a figure sitting on the steps into the kitchen. Shane was not known as a morning person, at all.

"Shane?" I asked running the rest of the way over to him. He seemed to be slightly a sleep still, but he woke up hearing his name.

"Mitch!" He stood up and hugged me, dropping a light kiss on to my lips before pulling back. "Morning, Mrs. Torres. I want to spend as much time as I can with Mitchie before camp is over, and I thought you could use some help in the kitchen." Shane offered.

"I could. Most of the staff is already gone. Caitlyn was coming over to help, too."

"Caitlyn?" A hopeful voice poked its head out of the door.

"Mornin', Nate." I smiled up at him. "What are you doin' here?"

"Shane really did think your mom could use help. We left Jason in bed though. Somehow, he'd just get in the way." Nate replied.

"Well, boys, I appreciate the help. Let's go." Mom ushered us all into the kitchen. I was trying to teach the guys how to scramble eggs when Caitlyn got there.

"Morning, all. Woah. Shane? Nate?" She was equally surprised to see them. I sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank god!" At her confused look, I answered, "Nate won't stop looking at the door to see if you're coming or not, and therefore not paying attention to how to scramble eggs."

"Oh." She blushed, not sure what to say, while Nate yelled at me, "Mitchie!" I just laughed, as Shane wrapped his arm around my back and started rubbing circles into it.

"That wasn't very nice." He whispered.

I whispered back, "But it worked." He just laughed.

Mom eventually told the boys to go wait in the mess hall as they weren't helping and were only distracting Caitlyn and me. They pouted but did as they were told. Once we were done, we went to find them. Jason had apparently woken up, and was sitting with them. Peggy and Ella were there too.

"Hey." I greeted, sitting next to Shane. Caitlyn sat between Nate and myself, a little flustered. For a moment, she seemed to go stock straight before she relaxed with a blush burning her cheeks. Shane grabbed my left hand in his and nodded to Nate. I smiled brightly before eating again.

"So, Peggy, are you excited to record with the guys?" I asked.

"I hate to sound like a crazed fan, but TOTALLY!" The guys laughed.

"You aren't that bad." Shane smiled at her.

She smiled shyly, but changed the subject. "What about you, Mitchie? Are you excited? Brown said you and Shane are recording your song…"

"Yeah. I am." I smiled brightly, knowing that I would at least see my boyfriend then. Then realization hit. I just referred to him as something that I don't know if he is. "Speaking of," Okay, no we weren't. "Shane and I have some things to talk about concerning that, so." I stood up, taking my finished breakfast with me. Shane obediently followed, saying good-bye to everyone.

I had walked out ahead of him, but he knew where were going and he let me walk ahead, both of us collecting our thoughts. I sat down on a canoe, followed only a minute later by Shane.

"So." He said sitting next to me.

"So." I was equally unsure as to what to say.

"Mitchie… I want to be with you. More than anything in the world. But, it's going to be hard." I know all this. I've thought all this through.

"I know. I spent most of last night thinking about it."

He nodded. "That's why you look so tired." I nodded, looking away, hoping he couldn't see the blush on my cheeks. That wasn't why I was awake most of the night. That was how I preoccupied myself. I heard him chuckle, but he let it go.

"Seriously, though. I understand. And I'm scared. And worried, and afraid, and-" He cut me off.

"Baby, you do know those are all the same, right?" He teased lightly. My heart fluttered at the pet name.

"I know. Did you mean what you said?" At his blank look I added, "About this not being a summer fling?"

"Absolutely. Mitchie, you make me, me. I lost myself and the ability to complete myself and my music a long time ago. You're the only one with that ability now."

Wow. Way to make a girl feel special. "Shane." I admit, I 'awwww'd' him.

"Don't feel pressured to be with me, either. If you think we should just stay friends, given the circumstances, then, that's cool, ya know, if it's what you want."

"No. I don't want that!" I cried, afraid he was having second thoughts. "I want, I want us to be together. I'm just afraid one of us won't be able to handle it and we'll lose everything."

He took my hands and looked me sincerely in the eyes. "Mitchie, I never wanna lose you again. It hurt so bad to think you betrayed me. I… I don't wanna say this, all prematurely and all, and I promise I won't say it again for awhile, but I think, I think I love you." And that was the greatest moment of my life.

"I think I love you, too." I whispered, blinking back tears. Shane sighed and kissed me desperately. But I pulled away quickly, before I lost my thought, "But you're right, it's a little too soon to be saying those kinds of things."

He smiled. "One time deal. Promise."

"Good. How bout you seal that promise with a kiss?" I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Gladly."

Eventually, we had to leave the lake, and got back just in time to see Caitlyn and Nate close the doors of mom's catering truck. I grimaced a little at first, but then when we saw Nate lean Caitlyn against the door and kiss her ever so sweetly, I could help but smile.

"Wow, he moves fast." I commented.

"Actually, Cait's first year, was out last. She was only 13, so he thought it would be weird to like her. But, as luck would have it, you and her became best friends, and when he saw her again, he liked her all over again." I awed a little at the story, and made my way over to where they were now making out. "Wow, a catering truck. Pretty romantic." I commented, Shane laughing as he came up behind me.

"Oh!" Caitlyn squeaked.

"Thanks for helping my mom, guys." I smiled at them before leaving them alone again. When we looked back again, they were kissing again.

"Some people." Shane commented in a fake disgusted tone. I giggled in response. Not something I'm known for, by the way.

"Mitchie, there you are. We need to get going soon. Sorry, Pop star." Mom smiled at Shane. She was accepting, that was more than Dad could say.

Speaking of, "Where's Dad?" I asked looking around.

"Oh, he headed home already, since I had Caitlyn, Nate, and Jason, helping me." Ah. So, boyfriend's friends, check plus on the Daddy Chart.

"Oh, sorry, we lost track of time. We were, uh, discussing, things." I replied,

"That's fine. Nate said Shane said you two had a long talk ahead of them." I sent Shane a look. He talked to Nate about us? That was too cute for me at the moment. I leaned over and kissed him. Mom cleared her throat.

"Sorry." I laughed.

"Well, I'm ready. I'll go wait in the truck." Mom said. "Don't be long." She called out after us. We heard a small squeaking, meaning Mom had just interrupted Caitlyn and Nate, too.

"I don't wanna say good-bye." I pouted.

"Then don't." He said softly. "Here, give me your phone."

I looked down, slightly embarrassed. "I… I don't have one."

"Okay, that I am fixing. I need to be able to talk to you twenty four seven!" He joked, but I could tell he was serious. Instead he pulled out his own phone and started typing into it. "What's your house number?" I recited my number, address, and screen name for him.

We heard the horn, and realized we spent a lot of time on that. "Well, this is I'll see you later, kay?" Shane said, tilting my chin up to look me in the eyes. "And if either of us starts missing the other, too much, I'll just throw a hissy fit, and they'll let me come see you. They've seen that you calm me down, a lot." He smiled at me.

"Okay. We can do the heartfelt goodbye next to the truck. We can't do the kissing next to the truck." I remind him. He complied and kissed me until I was sure I couldn't have walked straight without him. After that I said good-bye to the others.

"We are totally coming to visit, Mitchie." Jason swore, and looked like he was going to cry. "I'm so going to miss you." I had to laugh. That's how Jason was. Despite the fact that I'd only known him a less than 24 hours.

When I hugged Nate good-bye, I was shocked by what he whispered in my ear. "Thanks for bringing him back, Mitch. I didn't think he'd ever be able to love someone more than himself." I laughed as my eyes welled up.

"That explains why hell froze over, then?" He nodded laughing, too.

Caitlyn was the hardest to say good-bye to out of the 3. She'd became my best friend here. When the whole Tess-exposing-me-Shane-hating-me drama occurred, she was right there with me. She happened to go to a private school not too far from my town, so we were determined to keep in touch. We didn't say anything, just cried together.

When I hugged Shane again, he whispered 'I love you', again, and Nate's words came back to me. "You promised." I pout at him playfully. He kissed my pout away and then helped me into the van.

"I know. I couldn't help it. I might not see you for a while. I don't want you to forget, okay?"

"Believe me, I won't." We kissed one last time through the window and then mom pulled off.

I was sad watching them all get smaller and smaller in the mirror, but felt a great deal of anticipation for what was to come.

When I got home I was exhausted and went straight to bed. I woke up pretty late the next morning. Mom had obviously brought in the mail, and there was a package sitting on my dresser. Nervously, I opened it.

I wanted to cry. In my hands I held a brand new cell phone. And not just any phone, like the top of the line cell phone. He had to have order it as soon as I pulled away and then sent rush delivery on it. I saw a note at the bottom of the box. It wasn't Shane's handwriting, though.

Dear Mitchie, it read. I couldn't write this myself and get it to you, so thank you to the kind clerk at the phone store. I think I'm going to lose my mind if I don't talk to you soon, so go turn the phone on and text me, letting me know you got it, okay? And don't even think you are paying for this. This is my apology for not hearing you out when I should have, and for making you date someone who's going to be gone a lot. You have everything on this phone, so enjoy. Just don't get it taken away in school, kay, babe?

Love, your jerk.

PS. Your parents know about it.

I smiled, knowingly. I didn't waste much time turning on the phone and laughing that his number was already programmed in. As well as Nate's, Jason's, and Caitlyn's, though her number was the only one with a real name.

Life seemed to be getting better by the day.

Hope you enjoyed. R&R, please :D