I had over 100 messages in my mail box from ff . net this morning. Lol. Thank you to everyone who has alerted/fav'd this story. :-D. I hope you like this chapter. It was a bit awkward to write. I promise the next one will be better. And drama filled. :-p

Chapter 5

I had hoped everything would get better at school, but everything seemed to get worse. Rosie would glare at me and had everyone believing Caitlyn and I were using Nate and Shane. But that was expected. The part that hurt was Sierra, my best friend since forever, had abandoned me. She got mad that Caitlyn was there and found herself new friends. Rosie kind of friends. She got upset that I spent so much time with Caitlyn and Shane, and the other guys, and never her. I tried to explain it to her, but she wouldn't listen. She told me to go live my dreams. She wouldn't stand in my way.

It's an odd feeling when you stop being friends with someone. I guess, it's like breaking up. You want the best for each other, but you know that you can't be anymore. But, like a breakup, you move on. I filled her gap quite easily with Caitlyn, who was already becoming closer to me than Sierra and I had been. But even with Caitlyn, school felt empty and cold. Like we were alienated. Not because we weren't noticed. Because we were. At least we had Shane and Nate. And Jason, can't forget him.

"Come on, come on." Shane pulled me down the hallway excitedly. We were spending the whole day in the studio today. We'd worked on a few lyrics over the last two months, but we hadn't touched "This Is Me" since Final Jam. Today, we were recording it.

"Don't be nervous." He cooed at me as we entered the room. Caitlyn made a face at me from the other side of the glass before mouthing, 'Your late.' to us. I glared at her.

"Sorry. Traffic." Shane lied to Milo as we put our head phones on. In reality, we'd been making out in his car. Dad offered to keep the car at the house when they went on tour, which had been the only reason he didn't have one. Dad was finally accepting my relationship and that it would hopefully be there for awhile. Caitlyn didn't voice her concerns again, and I never said anything to Shane about them, either.

Milo laughed at us as Caitlyn slipped the original music we used for the song into a machine I couldn't see. As the beat began, I began singing the first verse. For the first trial of the song, I was going to sing the chorus alone.

When the second verse began, Shane was singing. The lyrics were in front of him, but his eyes were trained on mine. I was amazed that he knew the words to my song by heart. After the second chorus, we sang the song the way we had at Final Jam.

"A-mazing." Caitlyn complimented us when we finished. "Kay. Milo wants you to do it again, with both of you singing the chorus."

We spent the rest of the morning recording various versions of who sang what. When we broke for lunch, Milo stayed, listening to them all while Caitlyn, Shane, and I went out to get food.

"You two amaze me. Seriously." Caitlyn insisted, again. She complimented us after every single take. Except for the slow version we sang. Our song has too much passion and emotion to be slow, apparently.

"Thanks, Caitlyn." I blushed, knowing it was pointless to argue. Somehow we'd made it to a small café without too much notice. "Are you going to tweak the music too much? Personally, I love the way it is."

"Well..." It was her turn to blush. "We might mix in the guitar from 'Gotta Find You' or we might make the opening pure acoustic and bring in the beat when the chorus hits. Which is similar to how we already have it."

As a waiter came to take our order a certain curly-haired pop star ever so gracefully plopped himself into the seat next to his girlfriend. "Hey, Caity." He kissed Caitlyn's cheek. I rose an eyebrow while she glared and blushed at the same time. "Sup, man?" Shane nodded to Nate while Caitlyn and I were making faces. "Mitchie." He nodded across the table at me. I was unsure around Nate ever since my conversation with Caitlyn. "How's the song coming?"

"They are amazing together!" Caitlyn gushed before either of us could. "This song is going to be so perfect."

"Caitlyn, please, a new word?" Shane begged, shockingly sick of being called amazing. She blushed and mumbled an apology. "It's coming along pretty good. Milo's picking the version he likes with just altering the duet aspect. When we get back we'll mess around with keys and pitches, etc."

"Sounds good. What are you gonna do with Gotta Find You though? Aren't the lyrics the same?" Nate questioned. I'd been curious about that, too.

Shane paused, uncertain. "I'm, I'm not gonna record it." I choked on my soda.

"You're what?" Nate and I exclaimed together.

"Shane, that song is am- absolute gold." Caitlyn said, confusion written in her voice.

He shrugged, grabbing my hand under the table. "I know. But, I wrote it for Mitchie. I thought about it, and you know, how it could be like the next big love song that everyone knows. And thinking about all these other people using that song just felt wrong. I want to be the only person able to sing that song to my girlfriend." I melted at his words. Nate's eyes seemed to slant a little. Great, I thought. Now he'll think Shane is throwing away an amazing song because of me.

Caitlyn, luckily, came to our rescue. "If they broke up, I don't think Shane would want to hear that song ever." Shane glared at her a little for even thinking that he and I could break up.

"The lyrics are still in This Is Me." Nate argued.

Shane was quick to explain the difference. "That's not my song. It's not the one I wrote. For Mitchie." He paused. "And I'm singing it with Mitchie. Therefore, it'd be harder for some random guy to sing it to his girlfriend. It'd be like," He searched for the words to express what he wanted to say. "Like, someone's song. You know how people go 'oh, it's our song!' If people can relate to what Mitchie and I are singing, then that's different." It wasn't that different, but I understood what he meant. I don't know if Nate did, though. Once Caitlyn awed, however, I'm pretty sure Nate understood a bit better.

"Look at you, a romantic, who knew?" I teased.

He pouted. "I thought my amazing girlfriend did." I giggled, kissing him lightly as the waiter brought out our food. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nate smile a bit. I was hoping maybe he'd see I was as serious about Shane as he was about me.

Caitlyn dragged Nate back to the studio to hear the duet for himself when we headed back. Surprisingly, Milo liked the first version the best. Apparently, he had been comparing the rest to it since he heard it.

"I know, I know. You're thinking, then why did I make you sing all those other versions..." He said rolling his eyes and huffing comically. "We had to explore all the options. This just proves you two know what you're doing with your music."

We took the compliment and headed back into the booth. I saw Nate's jaw drop as we began belting out the song. After the first take, Nate spoke into the mic. "Wow. Your voices... they just... naturally harmonized. Caitlyn and Milo didn't touch anything." Shane smiled at me, and I smiled at Caitlyn, a thankful look in my eyes.

"Alright, we'll play around a bit more today, then tomorrow I want to bring in the band to record the music." Nate seemed surprised, but didn't say anything as Shane and I began singing again.

It was pretty late by the time Shane dropped me off. I was very happy it was a Saturday. My throat was going to be hurting tomorrow, not used to being used so much. I was also immensely tired. Caitlyn and I collapsed into our beds, both still fully clothed and curled up.

Shane wouldn't say how it went with the boys on Sunday, so Monday morning in school I asked Caitlyn, who'd gotten home late again the night before.

"Well," She began. "Amazing." She laughed as I glared at her playfully. "No, seriously, it was good. Jason almost cried when he heard the song. Nate had taken a copy of the song home and worked on the music. Shane was amazed when he heard it. It fits perfectly. You'll love it."

I started pouting, "But when do I get to hear it?"

"Soon, Mitch." She laughed at me.

I did love it. The two days later, Milo had gotten all the music together and he and Caitlyn spent hours mixing it. When they finally added our voices over it, they made Shane go pick me up and bring me to the studio immediately. Milo seemed to be enjoying working on this as much as us teenagers were.

"Well, there we have it." Milo said after he played it for me. "Connect 3's second single off of the new album."

"Oh my god, really?" I was so excited.

Milo laughed, "Yup. They're releasing Play My Music as soon as they get the music video done. Two weeks later, fan club members will be able to listen to a sample of This Is Me. It'll be released in January just in time for Valentine's Day." Milo laughed even harder at the look on my face. I was stunned.

"I'm still having trouble believing this is real." I said still in full disbelief. Shane just kissed the side of my head while wrapping his arm around me.

It was late in November by now, and the boys would be leaving the day after Thanksgiving to film the music video. It was going to be the first real test of the our relationships, and Caitlyn and I were nervous. We didn't know if we'd be able to handle not being with them or being able to talk to them as much. Of course, I was more nervous that Shane would get aggravated and throw a fit at some point, and Nate would blame me. But they were hoping it'd only be two weeks, if they were lucky. The label was concerned that their normal director wouldn't be able to pull off the 'new Connect 3' image, and that they'd have to restart with a new director. Which would keep the boys longer.

But, on a happier note, Caitlyn's parents, Shane's family, Nate's parents, and Jason's parents, as well as Brown, would be joining us for Thanksgiving Dinner a la Connie. Mom tends to go over board with Thanksgiving dinner. I was quite nervous about having all these people in my house. Especially Shane's family. Not just his parents. His younger brother and sister as well. He talked about them all the time, and I was afraid if they hated me, he might reevaluate everything. I know, stupid, right?

Caitlyn's excitement, at meeting Nate's parents and seeing her own, though, was contagious. By Thursday afternoon we were too excited to do anything. The guys were in their apartment making sure everything was parent proof, while we were supposed to be helping Mom make dinner. Eventually she kicked us out of the kitchen and told us to go set the table, knowing that would occupy us for a while.

It was a very big table. We moved the living room furniture into the dining room, and placed the a bunch of rectangular tables into a giant square like table.

"Do you know what you're gonna wear tonight?" Caitlyn asked as she followed me, placing bowls onto the plates I was placing.

I shrugged. "Honestly? I have no idea." I paused, grabbing a handful of glasses. "I was thinking, this black shirt that I've never worn-"

Caitlyn interrupted me excitedly, "Ooh, the one that has the silver design on the bottom with the lace on the edges?"

"Yeah. How'd you guess?" I asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "Saw it in the very back of your closet when I was hanging up my stuff. I've been wondering why I've never seen you wear it." Shrugging again, she moved on. "What else are you gonna wear?"

"Probably my gray skinny jeans, with my black boots." I placed the last glass around the table. "What about you?"

"I don't know!" She complained, groaning slightly. "I want to make a good impression on Nate's parents, but I don't want to not be me. Otherwise my second impression will not be favorable."

"Well," I paused to think. "What about... oh! Do you remember that gold tie your wore at Final Jam?"

"Yeah..." She didn't seem to catch what I was suggesting.

I rolled my eyes. "Work around that. That way you can be you, but still look presentable to for the occasion."

Suddenly light bulbs went off in her head. "You are a genius!" She said hugging my side. I just laughed. We finished setting the table with minor chit chat before heading to get dressed.

Caitlyn slipped her tie on as I zipped my boat up. The door bell ringing caused both of us to run down the stairs, laughing and grinning. Mom had answered the door before we could, and Shane's parents and Brown were staring up at us as we stopped short on the stairs. Shane looked a lot like his Dad, except his fathers hair was very short, unlike Shane's. Brown was definitely from his mother's side.

"You must be Mitchie and Caitlyn." Mrs. Gray said smiling warmly at us. Mr. Gray looked very amused at the site of us.

"Yes. It's nice to meet you." I said offering my hand. "I'm Mitchie."

Mr. Gray shook my hand laughing, "There is no way of mistaking that. Shane's described you enough times for me to paint you without ever seeing you." I blushed, remembering that Mr. Gray was in fact a painter.

"Oh, look what you did. You made her blush!" Mrs. Gray scolded her husband who merely laughed.

Mom ushered them into the house, "Let's get you out of the cold." A moment later I heard Shane's car pull into my driveway. Sad as it was, I knew the sound of his Mustang. He didn't bother to knock, he just walked in, his siblings in tow. He kissed me lightly to say hello before turning to his brother and sister.

"Mitchie, this is my brother Kevin and my sister Nicky." He pointed to two curly haired twins. One had Shane's dark hair, the other was a lighter brown. They looked more like their mother, but you could see the resemblance. Their curls perplexed me, though. "Kev, Nic, this is my girlfriend Mitchie." They smiled tightly at me and said hello.

"Nice to meet you." I replied, smiling just as strained. "This is Nate's girlfriend, and my best friend, Caitlyn." I took the pressure off of me, only to throw it on Caitlyn, who received the same tight smile. Thankfully, Nate and Jason arrived then, also not knocking.

"Hey." Nate kissed Caitlyn's cheek, causing her to relax. "These are my parents and Jason's parents," He indicated the two sets of adults who had just entered behind them. "Mom, Dad. This is my girlfriend Caitlyn." They smiled at her a little apprehensively at first. Though I noticed their smiles brighten as they took in her appearance. I think they were relieved she didn't look like Tess in anyway.

"And this," Jason threw an arm around me, "Is Shane's girlfriend, and our friend, Mitchie." They shook my hand as well.

"Alright, we're just waiting for Caitlyn's parents, so I guess have a seat." I smiled at them. Everyone but Caitlyn, Nate, and Shane sat down. I noticed Caitlyn and Nate slip into the hallway where Caitlyn let out a huge breath before Nate kissed her forehead.

"My parents seem to like you." Shane said quietly, gesturing to them.

I nodded. "They're nice." My smile slid off my face. "Your siblings don't though."

"They're... a lot like me." He said by way of explanation.

I chuckled. "That's not reassuring."

He grinned. "I don't care what they think anyway. I love you. And that's all that matters to me. If I listened to others we wouldn't be together." He kissed me, silencing the questions I now had burning in me. Who didn't want us to be together?

Finally, Caitlyn's parents arrived and everyone sat down for dinner.