Hello everyone! I know that I said I would be waiting until Monday (for some of you who aren't from the United States like I am, then this is right on time for you all!) but I just wanted to give a shout out to NverSayNver who has been by my side for so long now! She read my previous story Speak Now and supported me through that whole story and was so excited when I announced that I was making a sequel and stuck by me after I announced that I couldn't write a sequel and I just wanted to thank her from the bottom of my heart. She is honestly one of the reasons I keep writing. It's readers like her that encourage and show genuine interest that make this whole writing thing worth while.

I mean, tons of you are writers, and you know that we don't get paid to do this. We do it because we love it. And over time, it's more than just the writing we love. We grow to love the readers who stick with us through it all, both online and offline. So NverSayNver, thank you for sticking by my side through everything. Your opinion means so much to me and I'm so glad that you stumbled upon my story. :)

Enjoy the chapter!

I awoke the next morning, pressed against a warm mass. I opened my eyes slightly and saw Shane's sleeping face. I smiled lightly at the peaceful expression. I looked up at my clock and saw that it was almost 7:30 in the morning and knew that the kitchen staff would be preparing the breakfast and meals for the day for the campers. I slowly slid out of bed and quickly threw on a pair of underwear. I looked around and noticed that Caitlyn hadn't come to the cabin last night. I was extremely grateful, because the last thing that I needed was someone to hold this above my head. It was a moment of passion that I wanted to stay between Shane and I.

I finished dressing and quietly left the cabin, not wanting to wake Shane. I didn't bother leaving a note because the kitchen was only a few cabins away. I would be gone and back before Shane even came out of his deep sleep. I entered the kitchen and looked around.

"Can I help you?" a man called. I looked up and saw a tall, blonde haired man with a big nose looking at me. He kind of reminded me of Owen Wilson, but his eyes weren't blue.

"Um, I'm just looking to get a couple cups of coffee," I said quietly, wrapping my arms around myself self-consciously. The blonde man nodded and pointed to the two coffee machines. I wordlessly fixed myself and Shane two cups of coffee. Taking a moment to recall how Shane liked his coffee, I heard two familiar voices drift my way.

"I don't know what she was even thinking coming back here! After she shoved us all out of her life, she doesn't seriously think she can come back and pretend to be our friends again, right?" I heard Tess say. I knew immediately that she was talking about me.

"I don't know Tess. Mitchie seems different. I don't think she's here to be friends," I heard Peggy say. I bit my lip. Had I really changed that much? Sure, I had black hair and dressed a bit different than my previous two years, but did I really change?

"Yeah, I don't think Mitchie even wanted to come back. I think Connie may have made her. I mean, yesterday when I first saw her, I didn't even recognize her, and after she left, I saw that she was carrying a razor. I mean, I think I did," I heard Caitlyn say quietly.

"Who cares? The point is that she's back and she's not to be forgiven easily," Tess demanded. I felt my blood boil and I just wanted to pour this coffee all over them, but I bit my lip hard as a distraction.

"What if there's a reason she quit talking to all of us?" I heard Ella inquire. I smiled lightly.

"Like what?" Tess demanded. Ella shrugged.

"I don't know. But if something really bad happened to me, I would kind of detach from everyone. Especially the people I don't see very often. Mitchie sees us once a year. I'm sure part of her thinks you all abandoned her when you all stopped trying," she said quietly. That was true. I would have never answered their calls, but I would have at least known that they cared. The only ones who had tried keeping in contact were Ella, Jason and Nate. Even a week ago, they were still calling me, trying to find out if I'd be at camp or not.

"Look, the worst thing that could happen to Mitchie would be a broken nail, and I don't think that justifies shutting us all out," Tess said. I quickly threw a couple of lids on the coffees and quietly made my way out of the kitchen before they could notice me. I quietly made my way back to the cabin and quickly wiped any negative thoughts from my mind and painted on a smile. I opened the door and looked to my bed to find it empty. My smile immediately fell. I felt my heart beat begin increasing. I quickly made my way to the bathroom to see if he was in there, but found it empty. I looked around and noticed all his clothes were gone. I looked around and caught a figure walking away from my cabin. Shane. I angrily threw his coffee down and ignored the burning feeling on my foot. I quickly turned and stormed out of my cabin. I began my pursuit to his cabin which I could see him enter from my twenty-foot distance.

I didn't bother knocking as I stormed into his cabin which he shared with Nate and Jason.

"Um, excuse me! I don't care who the hell you think you are. Nobody just walks out on me in the morning," I exclaimed arrogantly, despite my crumbling ego. Shane looked at Nate and Jason who were both eyeing him skeptically. Shane quickly realized the scenario and became defensive.

"Who walked out on who Mitchie? I woke up to an empty bed!" he exclaimed. I growled and pointed to the jeans that now had a coffee stain.

"I was getting you some coffee!" I exclaimed. I watched Shane's face fill with embarrassment and regret.

"You were getting me coffee?" he asked softly. I nodded, angry that he thought I would just leave.

"And you couldn't have written a note why?" he asked.

"I didn't think I'd be more than five minutes!" I defended.

"Then where were you exactly?" he asked. My mind went back to the hurtful plot that I heard Tess conspire.

"I heard Tess. She was telling Caitlyn, Ella and Peggy that they weren't supposed to talk to me. I ignored them, therefore they get to ignore me," I said sadly. Shane noticed this and glanced at Nate and Jason. He walked up to me and took my hands in his.

"Let's go talk about this somewhere else, okay?" he said. I nodded and opened my mouth to say something, but the rumble of my stomach cut me off. Shane chuckled lightly.

"Correction. How about we talk about this over breakfast, deal?" he asked. I bit my lip lightly, not sure if I should drop this bomb now or later.

"I'm not going to be at breakfast," I said quietly, wordlessly telling Shane what situation I was in. Shane's smile fell and he looked at my sympathetically.

"We'll eat in your cabin. I'll get you a bit of food, but I want you to at least try to eat," he said quietly. I nodded. I would eat if he wanted me to eat. He still had me wrapped around his finger after all this time.

I sat quietly with a plate with some eggs, bacon, and pancakes looking back at me. I felt my stomach lurch at the sight, but I had promised myself and Shane that I would try to eat. Shane sat on the other end of my bed, happily eating his pancakes.

"So how much of this do I have to eat?" I asked uncertainly. Shane glanced up at me and then at my plate.

"Eat at least the eggs and a pancake," he said. I nodded and carefully scooped a mouthful of eggs onto my fork. I put it in my mouth and hesitantly ate.

"So what made you stop eating?" Shane asked. I stopped eating, feeling my stomach drop.

"Um, I'm not quite ready to talk about it yet," I said quietly. Shane nodded and resumed eating. I felt sick from the mouthful of eggs.

"Shane, I can't eat all this. I'm done," I said simply.

"Um, no you're not," he said simply.

"Um, yes I am," I said in the same tone. Shane chuckled lightly.

"I forgot how stubborn you were," he said gently. I flashed him a small smile before I heard the door swing open. I looked and saw Caitlyn, Tess, Peggy, and Ella all enter. They all hesitated and looked between Shane and I.

"Shane, do you know where Nate is?" Caitlyn asked, turning her attention away from me. Shane shook his head.

"No. I last saw him before breakfast in the cabin," Shane said. It was true. Since I had busted into his cabin, Shane had been with me the whole time.

"No offence, but what are you doing in here by yourself?" Tess asked. I felt my heart pang in betrayal.

"I'm not by myself. I'm with Mitchie," Shane defended.

"Wow, you mean, she's actually talking to you? Wasn't it just last week that you were complaining about how much of a bitch she was for leaving," Tess stated. My heart tightened, but I knew I deserved this.

"Look Tess. Things have changed since then," Shane stated.

"Like what? It's been a day. How much could things have changed?" Peggy demanded.

"It's really not anybody's business until Mitchie feels comfortable explaining," Shane said.

"And when is that going to happen? When is she suddenly going to feel comfortable talking to us? I mean, she cut us off without so much of a two-week notice for crying out loud!" Tess exclaimed.

"Tess, come on. Let it go," Ella said quietly.

"No! I want some answers! Mitchie, you claimed we were all friends and then you just go MIA and then you come back here and expect everything to be all good again? Did you ever think that maybe we needed you?" Tess exclaimed.

"I went through my first heart break this past year, and I would have loved to get through it with my best friend, but she wouldn't answer her phone. God, I thought you died Mitchie!" Caitlyn exclaimed.

"You guys, just give Mitchie some space," Shane urged.

"My father died," I blurted out, causing all four girls to pale to sickly tones.

"What?" Caitlyn asked.

"Mitchie, it's not nice to lie about stuff like that," Tess exclaimed.

"I'm not lying!" I exclaimed, not wanting them to think I was a liar.

"Oh please! You'll do anything to have the spotlight on you! It's always been that way!" Tess yelled at me. I felt my heart fall. Tess wasn't my friend. Not really. She never would be. She never could be.

"Get out Tess," Shane said as my breathing began to become shallow.

"Shane, come on. Can we go talk?" I heard Peggy ask.

"Later hun," Shane said. My heart stopped. Hun. He called her hun. He had called me hun back when we had been dating. I watched as Shane leaned down and pecked Peggy's lips. I felt sick. I felt like I was sinking and couldn't swim to the surface. I watched as Peggy, Ella, and Tess left the cabin, leaving Shane, Caitlyn and I. Shane looked at me, his eyes full of guilt and fear.

"Mitchie, I know what you're thinking. It's not like that," he started.

"Not like what? You're dating her. Wow," I said, my voice hoarse with unshed tears. I sat on my bed, unable to breathe. I gripped the sheets and closed my eyes. I needed to just concentrate. I decided to count backwards.

"10…9…8…"

"Mitchie, you have to understand. I didn't know if you were ever going to speak to me again," he explained, "I had to move on."

"7…6…5…4…"

"Mitchie, did your dad really die? How did it happen? What the hell happened this past year?" Caitlyn questioned.

"3…2…1…"

"Mitchie?" Caitlyn whispered, trying to gain my attention. Without warning, I took off. I began flying towards Brown's cabin. I could barely feel the ground beneath my feet as I flew there, not caring about the campers I was running into. I had one destination in mind and I just needed someone who understood. Without any warning, I slammed the door open. Brown looked up, shock and concern written in his features.

"Mitchie?" he asked cautiously.

"I want my dad," I cried out. Brown immediately embraced me, knowing that what I needed now was a father figure to hold me and tell me everything was going to be alright. Would things be alright? I wasn't so sure anymore. My world was coming crumbling down. Nothing seemed to be happening in a specific order. Nothing was right.

I know, kind of short, but I couldn't make this chapter any longer. I just had to stop there. It's 2,041 words, which isn't as long as my average, but I think 2,000 is an appropriate sized chapter. Do you agree?

So...HOW MANY OF YOU THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE PEGGY?

Anyways, I still would like to update in the next 36 hours, so I'm gonna put the goal at...8 reviews. Can we get 8 reviews by tomorrow night or Tuesday morning? (or whenever 36 hours is from where you live!) I think we can get there! :)

Now, I want your honest opinions. Do you guys like getting little snippets from the next chapter? Or do you think it just spoils it a bit? Be honest! Tell me in a review or PM me if you feel more comfortable doing it that way. Your call! Until I have a consensus on how everyone feels of that, here is a snippet from chapter 5!

"Brown…how could he find someone new?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," Brown said quietly.

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked. He nodded.

"I'm in love now," he said honestly.

"And if the person you loved dropped off the face of the Earth, what would you do? Would you move on?" I asked.

Brown seemed stuck. He knew that if he answered yes, he'd be picking Shane's side, possibly betraying my trust. He also knew that if he answered no, he'd pick my side, betraying is nephew.

"I would wait for them…but I wouldn't close myself off to the possibility of a new love," he answered. I smirked at him lightly.

"Are you a politician now Brown?" I asked. He smiled lightly.

"Only when I've got to, Love," he said.

So there you go! A small bit of Chapter 5. I think you're going to like it, but it's more of a filler chapter. You'll get a bit more background on Caitlyn and there's no Smitchie goodness in there, but you'll get a bit of some information on other key characters' love lives.

Also, another thing I want you to weigh in on is whether or not you think these little authors notes before and after the chapters are too long, too irrelevant, fun, insightful, etc. I want to know if you think that I should move all of these to my tumblr blog or if it's okay staying here! Let me know!

Don't forget to check out my Twitter (at) TiannaMRamirez and check out my tumblr blog for more information on certain things like WHY PEGGY IS HIS GIRLFRIEND! :) You can find the blog at bubblegumpenguinsfanfiction. tumblr. com. Without the spaces of course! Please check it out for behind the screens information! :D And yes, I did just come up with that pun. Feel free to use it!

Love you all! Don't forget to review!
Tianna