AN: I know this is supposed to be a humor/romance story, and it still is. But I couldn't fit drama in as a third category, so…you understand what I'm saying.

Disclaimer: I own Connect 3. Only in my dreams ;-). And I'm pretty sure I own Birds Monthly. But just in case I don't, then I don't, OK?

Chapter 29

"OK, everyone, today we'll be working on our individual songs. Just write whatever it is that you feel, and try to get your emotion in. In the lyrics, in the notes themselves, you know what I'm talking about," Mitchie instructed her class, not really paying attention. She barely noticed as her class settled down, and turned her attention out the window.

Halfway through her class, Mitchie was interrupted by Brown running in. Mitchie had been writing down random lines, only to cross them out or crumple her paper into a ball, only to take out a fresh piece of paper and do it all over again. She hadn't been able to write anything since Shane had broken up with her.

"Mitchie, may I please have a word? Outside?" Brown looked desperate, then annoyed as the class watched him, wondering what he was going to say. "All right gang, work on your songs for the rest of the afternoon. Mitchie expects a complete original from you next time you meet. Class dismissed." He smiled as the class cheered and ran outside. Brown waited until Mitchie finished gathering her things, then accompanied her out.

"What's up?" Mitchie said, trying not to think about Shane. It was hard, seeing as his uncle was standing right in front of her.

"At the moment, not much," Brown tried to smile, but failed. "What happened?"

"What do you mean?" Mitchie looked confused.

"You know what I mean," Brown looked serious. "Shane's been skipping his classes, which means I have to find another teacher. Caitlyn's been yelling at her class for not keeping up with her, and Nate's students hate him for piling on a week's worth of homework every day. And now I come into your class and see you staring into space while your class does whatever they want?"

"They were working on their songs," Mitchie defended herself.

"Right," Brown said slowly, not sure whether to believe her. "So, how's Shane?"

"I wouldn't know," Mitchie said, unable to keep her tears from falling.

"All right, all right," Brown said soothingly, his eyes full of concern. "Come with me. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

Mitchie and Brown walked over to her cabin, where Caitlyn was throwing out Mitchie's things.

"Hey! Don't touch my stuff!" Mitchie said, just as Mitchie's luggage went sailing over her head, almost hitting Brown.

"Freeze!" Brown said, striding into the cabin purposely, only to find Caitlyn rearranging the room.

"Hi, Brown," Caitlyn said, before glaring up at Mitchie. "Oh, she's here."

"I'd hate to say this…all right, lay it on me," Brown said, sitting down on a bed.

"She cheated on Shane. With Nate!" Caitlyn flung her hands up in the air in surrender as she paced back and forth. "I never want to see or speak to her again!"

"Is that so?" Brown's eyebrows rose and he looked at Mitchie in surprise. Before Mitchie could answer, however, Caitlyn ranted on.

"How can you let her come back in here? She should move out! She tried to steal my boyfriend!" Caitlyn continued. "Not that I'd talk to him anymore, but that's…"

"No buts!" Brown roared, standing up. Both girls froze, then fell silent.

"I don't really care what happens in your love lives. OK, I do, since you're camp counselors, and you both have classes to teach, and I hope I don't need to remind you that you can't take it out on your students. Or each other. I expect nothing less than the utmost civility between you two. In here, and out there," Brown said. "No more fights. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Brown," Mitchie and Caitlyn answered in unison.

"And no glaring at each other, or your pictures on dartboards with lots of holes in them, or missing patches of hair on either of you, or either of you badmouthing the other, or insulting each other, or…"

"Brown, we get it. Do I really have to stay with her though?" Caitlyn pleaded.

"Since we have no extra cabins, yes, unless you want to sleep outside with the ants, the bears, and the wolves," Brown said suggestively.

"OK, I guess I'll stay in here then," Caitlyn said quickly, her eyes big.

"Me too," Mitchie said, glancing at Caitlyn. "It's like you said. It's not like I have a choice."

"Good girls. And please try to work things out. You two are best friends, and I'd hate to see you throw your friendship away," Brown said, winking at them. "Or your relationships with the guys."

"OK, I'll try," Mitchie said, glancing over at Caitlyn, who did the same.

"Me too," Caitlyn said.

"Oh, one more thing," Brown said before leaving.

"What's that?"

"A few, actually. No more screaming, crying, yelling, or throwing things. Or whatever else girls do when they get mad at each other. Am I understood?" Brown tried to look at them sternly, but he couldn't help let his amusement show a little.

"Yes, Brown," Mitchie and Caitlyn replied automatically.

"Good, now for the guys," Brown shuddered, as Mitchie and Caitlyn tried not to laugh. "Hey, it's not funny! I hate having to lecture Jason. His hugs make it hard to stay mad at him…" Brown trailed off, not wanting to give away any more than he should. "Never mind…"

"So…" Caitlyn was the first to break the silence after Brown left. "I guess we should get your things back in here."

"Yeah," Mitchie said, walking toward the door with her bags in hand.

"Wait, I'll help," Caitlyn said, following her, picking up some of Mitchie's things.

"Why would you help me? I thought you hated me," Mitchie turned around, confused.

"I did, but it's like Brown said," Caitlyn explained. "It's not like we have a choice."

"Right," Mitchie said sadly. "So…what are we then?" She was hoping that Caitlyn would say they were still best friends, but at the moment, she wasn't sure.

"I don't know," Caitlyn shrugged. "Roommates, I guess." She picked up some of Mitchie's things and headed back inside.

"Right, roommates," Mitchie said gloomily, following Caitlyn inside.

Meanwhile, Brown had gotten to Connect 3's cabin, and was expecting his nephew to be there, either sleeping or arranging his hair in front of the mirror.

"Hey, guys," Brown said, knocking on the door before walking in. "Is Shane here?"

"No," Nate said bitterly. "It's just us."

"Hi BROWN!!!!" Jason leapt up from his bed, and threw his issue of Birds Monthly to the side. "GROUP HUG!"

"I don't need a…" Brown mumbled as Nate looked annoyed. The two of them were squished by Jason's exuberance.

"Ah, much better," Jason said happily.

"Can you let go now?" Nate said irritably.

"What's the magic word?" Jason said happily.

"JASON!" Nate and Brown roared.

Jason frowned. "Fine…You don't have to be so mean about it."

"All right, mates, where's Shane?" Brown wondered.

"I don't know," Jason flopped back down on his bed and picked up his magazine. "Probably with Tess."

"JASON!" Nate groaned as Brown looked interested.

"What? I know things," Jason boasted.

"Shane's with Tess?" Brown wondered. "I didn't see that coming."

"Don't know, don't care," Nate said grumpily. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have lesson plans to make."

"Dude, it's summer," Jason said, as Nate gazed at him. "Take a break, will you?"

"I'm with Jason on this one," Brown smiled sadly as Nate looked incredulous. "Nate, take it easy on the campers. Give them some time to catch up?"

"Fine," Nate said grumpily, tossing his papers aside and crossing his arms. "I'll go…work on my own songs for Spotlight Jam then."

"That's my overachiever," Brown smiled at Nate's retreating back. "And what about you?"

"I'm going to build a birdhouse!" Jason announced. "No one will make me one, so I'll make it myself."

"Maybe you should get more bandages while you're at it," Brown suggested. "On second thought, why don't you write Liz a song?"

"I'm not really good at writing songs," Jason looked sad. "I'd ask Nate, but he'd just yell at me for disturbing him. And Liz hates me."

"Why? What happened?" Brown said before he could stop himself.

"Don't you remember?" Jason said. "Ella's my ex-girlfriend, and she wanted to get back together with me. And Liz saw Ella and me together, and she got mad, and we broke up."

"Jason," Brown said, slightly amused. "Ella was never your girlfriend."

"What?" Jason looked confused. "But she…"

"NO BUTS!" Brown roared, annoyed. Jason looked like he was about to cry. "Oops, sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to…"

"WAAA!!!!" Jason bawled, then stopped. "YOU'RE MEAN!"

"If I help you build a birdhouse, will you forgive me?" Brown couldn't believe what he was offering.

"That's OK, I already have Nate to help me," Jason said, Brown's insult forgotten. He was grinning from ear to ear just thinking about his birdhouse.

"Well then, what about helping you write a song? I can't do it myself, since I'm the director, but I can ask Nate to help you," Brown smiled as he imagined Nate having to help Jason with his birdhouse and his song while teaching his classes. He loved seeing Nate get overly stressed, because Nate always took on too much at once all the time. "And I'm sure you'd be good at it," Brown encouraged Jason. "Go on, give it a try."

"What would I write about?" Jason wondered.

"Well, what do you like?" Brown asked patiently. "Besides birdhouses, that is…"

"I want to write about birds, or superheroes, or…" Jason thought aloud.

"Being free?" Brown suggested.

"Or flying?" Jason ignored Brown's comment.

"That's a start," Brown smiled. "And I'll ask Nate to help you right now. He's awesome at writing songs."

"Thanks, Brown!" Jason said happily. "BROWN HUG!"

"I thought it was a group…" Brown said, as Jason squeezed him tightly.

"Why would it be a group hug?" Jason said, still holding onto Brown. "It's just you." He smiled happily, then said, "Much better."

"Jason," Brown grunted, as Jason took the hint.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," Jason let go, as Brown straightened his shirt. "I guess I should go ask Nate now."

"And I'll ask Shane what's going on," Brown said, leading Jason out the door.

Brown made his way down to the lake, where he knew Shane loved to be.

As he scanned the waves, he saw his nephew walking by the water's edge, but he wasn't alone.

"SHANE!" Brown roared, as his nephew caught sight of him.

"Hey, Uncle Brown," Shane grinned moments later, walking up with Tess. "What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Brown smiled politely. "Tess, would you please excuse us?"

"Sure," Tess glanced between them, shrugged, then sauntered away.

"What's up, Uncle Brown?" Shane said, staring at Tess.

"You, and Tess, and you missing class?" Brown folded his arms, looking stern. "What's going on? Start from the beginning."

"OK, first, Mitchie…" Shane began, as Brown cut him off.

"You know this has nothing to do with Mitchie," Brown said. "This isn't like you, and you know it. And speaking of your attitude, what's with you and Tess?"

"That's none of your business," Shane stood his ground. "I can date anyone I want to. Especially when your ex-girlfriend cheats on you, with your ex-bandmate."

"Shane, just talk to her. You know, clear the air?" Brown suggested, doubting that Mitchie would do such a thing. "Maybe get her explanation of what happened?"

"Let me see…NO!" Shane spat out angrily. "It's not worth it. And neither is she."

"How would you know? Have you actually talked to her?" Brown said gently.

"I don't have to," Shane decided.

"So you just jump to your own conclusions? Believe whatever Tess tells you?" Brown smiled. "That's not like you at all. You're direct, so why don't you get the truth. From the actual source?"

"Don't tell me what to do," Shane was getting angry now. "She made her choice, and now I'm making mine."

"Shane, I may not be your father," Brown began, noticing Shane ignoring him. "All right, look at me. Just because people mess up the first time doesn't mean you shouldn't give them another chance. Get the picture?"

"You're not giving me a choice, are you?" Shane scoffed.

"Not a chance," Brown smiled. "Now go on. And don't you dare hurt Mitchie. She's a sweetheart, and you know better than anyone that she's perfect for you."

"Fine, but if she's wrapped around Nate, or any other guy, I'm not giving her another chance," Shane sighed. "It'll be over."

"Fair enough," Brown said. "Mind if I come with you to settle things?"

"Not a bit," Shane shrugged.

"That's my pop star nephew," Brown laughed.

"It's rockstar!" Shane said, annoyed.

AN: Was it good? Bad? Let me know in a review (hint, hint ;-)! )

Next up, more Smitchie. Or whatever else you'd call Shane and Mitchie having it out.