Disclaimer: See previous chapters. Oh, and I don't own the song "Hello, I'm In Delaware". Dallas Green does…lucky guy.
Arizona
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Chapter Thirteen – Promises Are Broken
"Shane, I'm going to puke. I just know I am." Mitchie said resting her hand on her stomach. "I'm not ready for this."
Shane waited for the stagehand to finish placing a mic on him before walking up to Mitchie, grabbing her hands in his.
The two of them were minutes away from giving their very first interview as a couple. Rich had set it up weeks ago and they spent the time leading up to today preparing Mitchie for the various questions that could be thrown at her. Even with all the preparations, she still didn't feel confident about giving the interview.
"You're not going to puke, okay? You're going to go out there with me and we will charm America into loving us more than they love YouTube videos of babies doing stupid stuff." Mitchie couldn't help but smile at Shane's words. "Ah ha, there's the smile I love."
"Okay fine, maybe I'm not going to puke but I don't think I'm going to talk much once we get out there."
"You don't have to. I'll do all the talking. All this interview is for is just a way to introduce you as my girlfriend in grand fashion. Its not big deal, really. This whole thing will go smoothly, I promise." Shane said nonchalantly. Before he could say anything else, a stagehand came into the greenroom and informed them that it was their time to go on. Shane felt Mitchie grip his hand tightly as they exited the room and walked down the long hallway to the stage. They stood in front of a black curtain where they could hear everything that was going on: the host, James Conway, introducing them and the roar of the crowd which sounded like teenage girls excited to see Shane.
"…And now, my next guests, please help me welcome Shane Gray and Mitchie Torres!"
Shane took one last look at Mitchie, giving her a wink and a smile, before he lead her out from behind the curtain and to in front of the cameras and the audience.
When they walked out, Shane waved to the crowd before shaking hands with James. Mitchie simply smiled at the crowd, mainly because she didn't know if it was appropriate to wave, its not like she was famous or anything, and then exchanged cheek kisses with James. She and Shane walked over to the guest couch and took a seat, ready to get this interview over with.
"So, Shane, its great to see you again!" James said in that signature overly excited voice he was known for.
"It's great to see you too man. It's great to see everyone. I'm really glad all the fans could come out." Shane replied with a smile. Mitchie watched him, amazed. He was so good at this but its not like she expected him not to be.
"Well of course they came out! They're all so excited to meet Miss Torres!" A cheer from the audience accompanied James' words. Mitchie smiled politely and tightened her grip on Shane's hand. "So, please, Mitchie, tell us about yourself."
Mitchie stared blankly for a second forgetting her entire life story. Once she snapped out of her daze, she shifted on the couch and prepared to answer. "Well, I'm twenty-four, I'm from Phoenix-"
"Wait, Shane, isn't that the stop on Connect Three's world tour where you left?" James interrupted to ask.
"Uh, yeah it is." Shane answered coolly.
"So does Mitchie have anything to do with the 'illness' you caught that caused you to leave the tour?" James slyly asked.
"Okay, let me just ask the guys in the audience something." Shane turned his body away from James to face the audience. "Look at her, would you leave a world tour for her? I mean, come on, she's gorgeous."
Shane's question earned some claps and whistles from the men in the audience, which made Mitchie really hope she wasn't blushing too much right now.
"Alright, alright. I think we can agree with you there." James said. "And, I don't want to put you on the spot but I have to ask, are you two in love?"
Shane turned and looked at Mitchie, a huge grin growing on his face. "Absolutely." He answered surely.
"Huh, I see. So is it real love or is it obligated love seeing as how you two have a child together." The smile from both Shane and Mitchie's faces fell and the crowd gasped. "You two look like you've just seen a ghost! I mean, surely you had to expect me to ask about little Hayley."
The cocky smirk on James' face was angering Shane. He was balling his free fist as he tried to think of something to say. All he could come up with was, "How'd you know about Hayley?"
"Come on Shane, this is Hollywood. Nothing stays a secret for long." James said matter-of-factly. "Now, tell us about little Hayley. Do you have pictures? We'd love to see-"
Without warning, Shane stood up, bringing Mitchie with him. He reached down his button-up shirt and pulled on the microphone wire. There were some static noises before he was sure he had completely disconnected the device. He walked offstage, taking Mitchie with him. He didn't bother to turn back to look at James but he was sure he looked just as stunned as the audience did.
When the two got backstage an in the greenroom, they were greeted by a very pissed off Rich.
"What the hell was that Shane?" Rich asked angrily.
"What the hell was that? Are you seriously asking me that?" Shane released his grip on Mitchie's hand to rub his face with both of his hands. Mitchie, completely overwhelmed, took a seat in a nearby chair. "Rich, I want to know how he found out about Hayley and I want to know now."
There were rare times Shane got angry but he was beyond angry right now. His face was flustered and his hands were balled in tight fists. Rich read his body language and held his hands up in defense. "Look, Shane, I don't know how he knew okay? But I will find out-"
Just as Rich was about to finish his sentence, James came storming into the greenroom. He grabbed Shane by the shoulder and spun him around to face him.
"Hey, Mister Rock Star, who do you think you are to leave my set when the interview isn't even over?" James asked. Shane couldn't help but laugh even though he was thoroughly irritated with this man.
"Who are you to ask me questions about my daughter? Not only did you tell America that I have a daughter but you gave them her name too. I don't even know how you're gonna sleep tonight." Shane said coldly.
"Oh I'm gonna sleep like a baby. You disappeared for months without telling your fans your whereabouts and I just think they deserve to know the truth."
"Who are you to decide that? I'll decide what I want people to know and what I don't want them to know!" Shane was yelling inches away from James' face now.
"You know what? I don't blame you. If I had a bastard child with some unknown bar skank from Arizona I'd be trying to hide it too."
Before Rich could jump in the middle, Shane's fist had already connected with James' jaw. The TV host dropped straight to the floor as Rich stepped in front of Shane and backed him away from the fallen interviewer.
Mitchie, who was still seated, felt her eyes start to burn. She didn't know why she was crying but she couldn't stop the teardrops from rolling down her cheeks. Shane looked over to her and hung his head in shame.
"Rich, can you have our stuff sent over to my house?" Rich nodded even though Shane couldn't see. The younger man walked over to Mitchie and held his hand out to her, helping her up. The two of them walked out of the studio in silence.
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The car ride home was completely silent. Neither one of them didn't know what to say about what had just taken place. It was a lot to comprehend. When Shane pulled into his driveway he noticed the crowd of paparazzi already outside of the gates of his home. He opened the drive-in garage and parked his car there instead to give he and Mitchie an escape from the paps.
When he stopped the car, neither one of them exited. They both just sat in their seats, staring forward.
"I'm so sorry." Shane said, his voice dry. Mitchie looked over to him with tear-stained cheeks as if to ask 'for what'. "I promised you that the interview would go smoothly and it didn't."
"Shane that wasn't your fault. That guy is an ass." Mitchie said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Yeah but I can't help but feel responsible." Shane said banging his hands on the steering wheel.
"How can you feel responsible? He did some snooping and found out about Hayley. You couldn't have prevented that." Mitchie's understanding words made something in Shane's brain click. He straightened up in his seat, jumped out of the car, pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
He entered his home, angrily stomping his way to the living room waiting for an answer on the other line.
"Hello?"
"You told James Conway. You told him everything. You told about Hayley, you told him how I met Mitchie. I trusted you," Shane said, his voice laced with hurt. "How could you do this Ashley?"
There was silence on the other line before he heard some movement. "I'm sorry Shane. I did it out of anger. If I could take it back I would."
"You promised you wouldn't tell." He reminded her.
"Shane, I can't say sorry enough. I never meant to hurt you-"
"Of course you didn't. You meant to hurt Mitchie." Shane said with a dry laugh. "I get it now. You want her gone. You want me all to yourself. I would've stayed friends with you Ashley. Nothing would've changed between us but now you've gone and messed that up. Do me a favor and just stay away."
Shane didn't even give Ashley a chance to explain herself before he hung up his cellphone. He was so wrapped up in his conversation he didn't hear Mitchie come in.
"You told Ashley about Hayley?" Her voice surprised him. He turned around and saw her standing with a look of confusion. "Why would you do that?"
"Well I knew I could trust her," Shane stated.
"Obviously you were wrong because she went and told." Mitchie said, her voice sounding a little irate.
"What happened to what you said in the car, about none of this being my fault?" Shane asked defensively.
"That was before I knew you told some girl something that was supposed to be just between us."
"She was going to find out sometime, Mitchie! The whole world was! What, did you think when Hayley got here people weren't gonna ask?" Shane yelled.
"Maybe I wanted them to find out when I was ready for them to-"
"So what, you were going to keep Hayley in Jersey until you were ready? She's already been there for nearly a month!" Shane interrupted. He walked closer to her, stopping about a foot away from her. "You know you never once asked me how I felt about this whole situation? I don't want Hayley at my parents' house. I want her here with us. I want us to be a family but no, we have to do what Mitchie wants. You know, I think you're ashamed. You're ashamed to be with me and you're ashamed that we had Hayley-"
"Don't you dare try and imply that I'm ashamed of my daughter because I'm not." Mitchie said wagging her finger in his face.
Without thinking, Shane slapped Mitchie's hand from out of his face. "I wouldn't have to imply anything if you'd just pretend that you want to actually have a family with me. You know, I'm starting to wonder if going back to see you, giving up on the tour, pissing off my dad and a lot of other people was really worth it."
Mitchie stared at Shane with a blank expression. She wasn't angry with him, she wasn't upset, and she wasn't crying, she was just numb. She didn't feel like she was looking at Shane anymore. She felt like she was looking at Ken and she had learned to keep her feelings numb around Ken.
"I knew all this was too good to be true. Good things just don't happen to me." Mitchie said, tears now rolling down her face. "I worked in a stupid bar. I stupidly slept with some guy I barely knew. I had a kid before I was ready to be a parent. I fell in love with a guy who used to beat me and then fell in love with the same guy who dumped me in a hotel room two years ago. You know maybe the people around me aren't the problem. Maybe I'm the problem."
Shane blinked the tears that were forming in his eyes away and immediately felt a kick in his gut. He really didn't mean to say all those things. He didn't mean to slap her hand away, all those things just happened. He was just so angry with James and Ashley he took it out on the one person he loved.
He reached out to grab her but she stepped away, her arms folded over her chest defensively.
"I have enough money to get a flight to Jersey to get Hayley and then to Texas so I can stay with my mom while I work out the rest of my life." She said quietly. Shane stared at her in disbelief. He swiftly ran up to her, wrapping his arms around her. She looked away, avoiding eye contact.
"Don't do this, don't leave me, Mitchie. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to take out my anger on you. I just…just please don't leave me." Shane was full on sobbing now.
"What are we doing Shane?" She asked, reluctantly letting her eyes meet his. "How can we be a couple when-"
"Don't question us. We're a good couple, okay?"
"Shane, don't lie to yourself. We're anything but good. We're not married but we have a kid. You have a career that I'm basically ruining for you. We just can't work out…"
"Mitchie, please don't give up on us. Everything that happened in Phoenix, everything with Ken, don't let that be for nothing. I love you and I know you love me. Please, babe, don't give up." Shane pleaded resting his forehead on hers. "If getting married will make you feel better, we can go get married right now. And forget my career. You and Hayley are the only important things in my life-"
"No, I'm not about to let you ruin your career for me." Mitchie protested.
Shane released his grip on her and wiped his face free of tears. He composed himself quickly before running into his bedroom. He opened his closet and grabbed a shoebox that was tucked away in a corner underneath piles of shoes. He went back into the living room and reoccupied his place in front of Mitchie.
"Shane what are you doing?" She asked seeing the strange look he had on his face.
He opened the shoebox and threw its top on the floor. He turned the box over, emptying its contents on the floor. What seemed like hundreds of pieces of paper fell onto the floor.
"Three hundred. Since the day I left you in that hotel room I have written three hundred songs about you." Mitchie bent down and picked up one of the papers from off of the floor. The words 'Hello, I'm In Delaware' scribbled across the top.
"My body aches, and it hurts to sing, and no one is moving, and I wish that I weren't here tonight but this is my life." She read off of the paper.
"I wrote that one after a concert in Delaware, seventeen days before I knew we were going to Phoenix." Shane explained. "We're not the perfect couple, I get that, but we love each other and we love Hayley and-"
Shane was interrupted by Mitchie embracing him in a hug. "I'm sorry for even thinking about leaving you. I just got scared, you know? Everything that happened tonight just happened so fast so I just stared making irrational decisions and…I'm just so sorry."
"Its okay, Mitchie." Shane said hugging her closely into his chest. "My promises may not mean much anymore but I promise from here on out things are gonna get better. I promise."
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Well, I just felt like that entire chapter was lame. HAHA I literally rewrote this entire chapter eight times. EIGHT. It had all kind of crazy endings and junk…it was a hot mess. Haha. I don't particularly like this chapter but I wanted to update and this kind of gives me something good to work with for the next couple of chapters. (There might only be two left! D:) Yeah…this story is kinda coming to a close…very sad. :(
Thanks for reading! :]