Disclaimer: I do not on Wizards of Waverly Place or Camp Rock.

The Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack kept playing while I was writing this, even though I had my music on shuffle. Odd.

None of you guys played my game. Really sad about this. I was going to give the answer in this chapter, but since there were no players…Never mind.

Once again…Twitter: xxMusicxSpazzxx

The next morning Mitchie woke to find herself very warm. She tried to open her eyes, but only found darkness. Inhaling, a sweet scent entered her nostrils. It was the scent of soap mixed with vanilla, and it was so nice. She lifted her head to discover that her face had been buried in the crook of Alex's neck.

She could distinctly remember her back facing Alex when they'd gone to sleep. She must have turned in her sleep, cuddling closer to the warmth and comfort that was Alex Russo.

Alex's arms still encircled her body, as if keeping Mitchie safe from the outside world. Mitchie's own arms had somehow found their way around Alex's waist. She had no idea when that had happened.

She was still really tired and wanted to just put her head back in its previous position, breathing Alex in until she was forced to get up. With the amount of sunlight streaming through her curtains, she could tell it was getting late in the morning, though, which meant Alex would have to be leaving to go to work at her family's sub shop.

She looked upon Alex's face, the sunlight from her cream colored curtains giving her skin a healthy glow. Each time Alex took a breath, Mitchie could feel her chest rising and falling against her own. Her lips were parted only slightly, barely at all, making them slightly pouty, and she looked so peaceful. Even in sleep, Alex Russo was absolutely beautiful.

Mitchie's heart fluttered as she watched her sleep. Once again, she wondered what it was with Alex that made her such a puzzle. She still had no idea why she'd been so anxious to meet her, then so afraid once she actually did. And never before in her entire life, with the exception of Caitlyn, had Mitchie felt so close to someone so quickly. In fact, she felt a little closer to Alex than she did to Caitlyn. After all, Caitlyn had never held her all night, basically cuddling.

Mitchie had never had many friends, only one in school and only a few at Camp Rock, so she didn't know if embracing your friends while you slept was a normal thing. She was pretty sure it wasn't. This didn't seem like a normal friendship at all. Then again, Alex wasn't a normal girl, now was she? There was definitely something about her, some charm that made her stand out.

She was so beautiful and confident, something Mitchie had never felt herself to be. Camp Rock was supposed to help her find confidence and make her more comfortable in her own skin, and it did…For about three hours. She was sure if that party had never happened, she would have taken away so much more from the summer music camp. But as it was, it did happen. And all she'd gotten to bring home with her was a feeling of abandonment and eighteen years of responsibility.

Alex stirred, her eyelids slowly sliding open. Mitchie had the urge to pretend to be asleep, but what would be the point? Alex had already seen she was awake anyway. So she simply smiled at the just-awakened girl. Alex's eyelids were about to droop closed again when she realized that Mitchie was smiling at her. When she took notice of their current position, she froze. She didn't know whether she should smile back, pretend to go back to sleep, scoot away, or what. So, she did the first thing that came to mind.

"I have to pee," she said.

Alex washed her face and brushed her teeth with the brush she'd used the night before. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling incredibly stupid.

'I have to pee.' Great job, Russo, she thought to herself bitterly. Mitchie probably thought she was an idiot.

As soon as she opened the bathroom door, the smell of bacon hit her. Her mouth started to water almost instantly. She followed the smell to the living room. Mitchie's voice floated to her ears from the kitchen. She walked around the dividing wall to find Mitchie sitting at the small kitchen table, her back to Alex, while Connie stood at the stove. Bacon was sizzling in a pan and there was a small stack of pancakes on a plate on the counter.

"Morning, Alex," Connie said when she noticed their visitor.

Mitchie turned to face her friend, a smile making its way to her face. "Hey."

"Hey," Alex responded softly. She shuffled over to the table, sitting in the spot she usually sat in for tutoring sessions. Mitchie was currently seated in Justin's usual spot, which just confused the hell out of Alex. She had issues with change.

"Sleep well, girls?" Connie asked, flipping the pancake she was busy making.

"Fantastic," Mitchie said, not taking her eyes from Alex.

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "Like a baby."

Mitchie, relieved that Alex didn't seem freaked out by the way they'd slept, got up from the table.

"I'm going brush my teeth and wash my face," she announced.

Before she left the room, she reached out and ruffled Alex's somewhat messy hair. This went unnoticed by Connie, but Alex sucked in a breath, holding it while she watched Mitchie walk away.

"You can make yourself a plate and get started eating if you want, Alex," Connie said, turning off the stove. She placed the final pancake on the stack and the last of the bacon into the plate with the rest.

"Thank you," Alex said, standing. She picked up a plate off the counter and helped herself to a few strips of bacon and three pancakes. She sat back at the table and immediately picked up the syrup. She drowned her entire serving in the thick, sweet liquid. Then she sat there and stared at her masterpiece.

Connie fixed herself a plate and sat at the table. She lifted her fork and was about to dig in when she looked up and saw that Alex was staring at her food.

"Alex?" she asked, tearing the girl's eyes from her steaming plate.

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you eating?"

"I'm waiting for Mitchie," Alex said.

This impressed Connie. She hadn't expected Alex to have such good manners. Most teens just dove right in, forgetting their friends when it came to food.

"She's probably going to be a while." Connie smiled a little. "Go ahead and eat. She won't be offended."

"I don't know…" Alex stared at her food longingly. Eating did sound pretty good.

"Alex, eat." Connie picked a fork up from the table and handed it to the girl.

Alex took it. "Okay." And that was all she needed. She attacked small, steaming pile of pancakes first. She nearly moaned in ecstasy. These were the best pancakes she'd ever eaten. They were so light and fluffy, with a hint of cinnamon. "These are amazing," she said to Mitchie's mom once she'd swallowed her mouthful of heaven.

"Thank you," Connie said. She picked up the cartoon of milk from the table. "Milk?"

"Yes, please."

When Mitchie walked back into the kitchen, she found her mother pouring a glass of milk for Alex. That was odd. She'd never poured milk for Sierra the times she'd come to visit. Then again, her mother had never really liked Sierra. She didn't even remember her name. But last time Mitchie checked, her mom wasn't too fond of Alex either.

Mitchie disregarded the interaction between her parent and friend and set to work loading her own plate with food. It all smelled so good. Her stomach was churning like crazy. She was just glad it wasn't making noise. That would have been embarrassing.

As soon as she sat at the table, she loaded her pancakes with syrup and started shoveling the food in her mouth, unlike she'd ever done before. She was usually much more poise and proper when she ate. But this morning she was starving.

"Slow down, Mitchie," Connie warned her. "You're going to make yourself sick."

"Sorry, Mom." Mitchie wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I'm just really hungry."

"Why?" Connie asked. "Did you not eat a big supper?"

"Actually, we didn't eat supper at all," Mitchie said, realizing. "We just had popcorn at the movies."

"Mitchie! That is so unhealthy!" Connie scolded.

"That's my fault, Mrs. Torres," Alex said quickly, not wanting Mitchie to get in trouble. "I should have planned in more time for us to get something to eat. Or at least have stopped for a hotdog."

"It's not your fault, Alex," Mitchie said. "I should have told you I hadn't eaten, or ate before we left."

"Well no matter whose fault, you need to start eating three meals a day," Connie said. "It's bad for the baby if you skips meals. And, healthier meals, too. Starting now." She grabbed Mitchie's plate and tried to take it away.

Mitchie took hold of it. "Can I start at lunch?" She offered a shy smile. Her mother gave her a stern look. "Your pancakes are my favorite," she defended with a pout.

"Fine." She let go of the plate. "But I'm making you a doctor's appointment. We need to start taking care of this."

"Thank you," Mitchie said, leaning over her plate to finish eating quickly before her mom could change her mind.

Alex just kept eating and tried to remain quiet. She felt really awkward being in the middle of this.

Mitchie looked at Alex's plate to see how much she had left to eat.

"You put syrup on your bacon?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Yes," Alex said. "Don't you?"

Mitchie shook her head. "No. It seems like it would be gross."

"It's not gross!" Alex frowned a little. "It's the perfect combination of salty and sweet. Here, try." She picked up one of her strips of bacon and handed it to Mitchie.

Mitchie looked at it skeptically before taking it. Hesitantly, she brought it to her mouth. She bit off a small piece, tasting it. When both flavors hit her taste buds, she lifted her eyebrows in surprise. She popped the rest of the piece of bacon into her mouth and chewed happily, a smile on her face.

Alex chuckled. "I told you."

Mitchie swallowed. "Yeah, you did. Who knew you could actually be right about something?"

"Keep talking, Torres." Alex smirked at her.

A half hour later, Alex had changed back into her clothes from the night before and was standing by the door, ready to go. She had to work in the sub shop all day. She didn't know what time she was supposed to be there, and her dad hadn't called looking for her yet, but she didn't want to push her luck.

"I'll see you Monday," Alex said as she and Mitchie stood in the doorway awkwardly, saying goodbye as Connie cleared the table of their breakfast plates.

"Yeah." Mitchie nodded. "Text me when you get home so I know you got there safely."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Mitchie, you do know I've been living in this city my whole life and know it like the back of my hand, right?"

Mitchie's face went a little pink. "Just do it, okay? Please?"

"Alright, I will." She smiled slightly. "Bye." She put her hand on the doorknob to leave.

Mitchie reached her arms up and put them around Alex's neck. Alex froze momentarily, then removed her hand from the doorknob and wrapped her arms around Mitchie's waist. She closed her eyes and squeezed as tightly as she could without hurting Mitchie, inhaling her scent one last time before she would be away from her for a whole day.

"Bye," Mitchie whispered, pulling out of the hug.

Alex gave her a small smile and a nod before turning and leaving. Mitchie stared at the closed door, not focusing on it. Her stomach felt hollow, even though it was nothing of the sort, what will at the pancakes she ate and her unborn child. But she felt sad, depressed. She missed Alex. Her absence was palpable.

In the past, whenever she'd had a friend (really only Sierra) over, she couldn't wait for her to leave. But with Alex, she didn't want her to. She'd never had Caitlyn over−they'd only interacted over the phone and at Camp Rock−so she wasn't sure if it was one of those feelings specific to Alex, like she'd realized that she had. But at the moment, all she wanted was for Alex to walk back in, announce that she was ditching work, and spend the whole day with her. But she knew it was useless thinking that. It wasn't going to happen.

"I hate to admit when I'm wrong," Connie said, "but I may have judged Alex too quickly."

"Hmm?" Mitchie asked, tearing her eyes from the door. She looked at her mother in surprise. "Did you just admit to being wrong?"

"Yes." Connie nodded, wiping the grease from the pan in which she'd fried the bacon. "I actually kind of like her."

"You like her?" Mitchie asked in disbelief. The only one of her friends that Connie had ever liked was Caitlyn. All the others she either didn't care for or had bad feelings about, like Tess and Shane. And she was usually a pretty good judge of character and was never initially wrong.

"Yes," Connie repeated. "She was very polite and had an air of confidence about her that I really liked." She put the pan under the faucet to rinse it off. "And she seemed to really care about you. I told her to fix herself a plate, and she did. Then she just stared at it when she clearly wanted to devour the entire thing because she wanted to wait for you to get out of the bathroom."

"Really?" Mitchie had to stop herself from going awe. Instead she just smiled. "That's really sweet."

"I know." Connie smiled as well. "Thank you for making me give her a chance."

"No, Mom, thank you…For giving her one."

"I'm sorry I'm so late!" Alex said, rushing into the kitchen of the sub shop.

Jerry, who had been busy setting up the ingredients to get him through the morning, looked up. "Alex, it's only," he checked his watch, "nine thirty. We don't open until ten. And I wasn't planning on calling you in until the lunch rush at eleven."

"But you said I had to work all day," Alex said. "And usually you make me get up at eight to start setting up when I have to work all day or in the morning."

"Yeah," Jerry said, crossing his arms and leaning against the metal table where he made sandwiches. "But since you were at Mitchie's, you probably stayed up late, so I let you sleep. And I thought you could use a bit of a break anyway. You've been doing so well with your school work lately, and haven't gotten into any trouble, so you deserve it."

"Are you serious?" Alex asked in disbelief. Was her dad actually cutting her some slack?

"Yes." Jerry nodded. "In fact, if you keep it up, I might even lift your magic restriction."

"Thank you!" Alex exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her father's midsection. "I'm just going to go upstairs to take a quick shower, but I'll be down in time for opening. I promise!"

"Take all the time you need." Jerry smiled as he watched his daughter run from the kitchen, towards the spiral stairs leading to the Russo home.

Alex took them two at a time as she ascended them. When she reached the living room, she stopped to say hi to her mother.

"Hi, Momma," she said, giving her a smile and a wave.

"Momma?" Theresa said. "Hold on there. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm great." Alex smiled wider.

"Well, did you have a good time with Mitchie?"

"A blast." She started climbing the stairs. "You know, now that I think of it, her mom kind of looks like you," she said as she made her way up.

In the hall, Justin ducked and covered his head when he saw Alex coming his way.

"Morning, Justin," she said as she brushed past him.

Justin looked up, surprised. He stared in disbelief as Alex walked away from him, right to her room, without so much as calling him a single name, let alone cause him physical pain. Hadn't she been mad at him the day before? And was that a smile he'd spotted on her face?

"Max!" Justin caught his younger brother as he came out of his room.

"Yeah?" Max asked, his brown eyes taking in his brother's almost panicked state.

"Have you seen Alex yet this morning?"

"No." Max shook his head of short brown curls. "But I can go check her room if you're looking for her."

"No, don't!" He darted a glance at Alex's bedroom door. "There's something weird going on with her."

"Is she growing a second head?" Max asked excitedly. "If she is, she's so lucky! I've been trying to do that for almost a year now! I really want to eat something spicy with one mouth and drink something with the other to see if it won't burn. Or eat a peanut butter sandwich in one and a jelly sandwich in another to see if it would mix the tastes! I'd name my second head Jimmy."

Justin stared at Max, deciding it was best to ignore his odd little brother's babbling stupidity. "Just run in the other direction if you see her coming, okay?"

"No way! I want to poke her second head!" Max smiled goofily and started to walk away.

"She doesn't have a second head!"Justin called after him, but his exclamation fell onto deaf ears. Max had left the building (figuratively speaking, of course; in all actuality, he just went downstairs).

Alex gathered the clothes she would be wearing that day and made her way down the hall towards the bathroom. She felt weird taking a shower this early, even just being awake this early. It was rare that she woke up before noon on a Saturday. Then again, she did go to bed pretty early that night. Before midnight, as she recalled from the clock on Mitchie's desk. That wasn't like her at all, but she went to sleep because Mitchie did.

Alex turned the shower on and undressed, allowing the water time to warm. She placed her hand under the stream of water until it was a decent temperature and climbed in.

The water was refreshing and wonderful. She stayed under the stream for a good ten minutes, just enjoying the feeling of the water droplets rolling over her skin. Hell, her dad had told her to take her time, so she would. Her mind went blank as she shampooed her hair, massaging her scalp gently. Her brain flashed back to earlier in the kitchen when Mitchie had ruffled her hair, how that little action caused her to catch a breath.

She'd already admitted to herself that she was attracted to Mitchie, and yes, she knew she was falling for her, but she knew she couldn't let herself fall hard. It was just a little crush, that's all. Nothing more. She could flirt with her a bit, just have fun. It would be a little innocent fun. She wouldn't let herself get her hopes up.

Nothing could happen, this much she was sure of. If it would, it would be a fluke. She knew she and Mitchie had connected and bonded, that much was obvious to anyone with eyes. She could feel herself getting very attached, a little too much. She already felt closer to Mitchie than she'd ever felt to Nikki. Last night had been the best sleep of her entire life. The one night she spent with Nikki didn't even come close in comparison.

"Nick, stop." Alex stifled a giggle as Nikki continued to kiss her neck.

"Come on, Russo." Nikki protested, but stopped anyway. She, just like her younger brother Dean (Alex's current boyfriend) had a habit of calling Alex by her last name. "You're killing the mood."

But that's exactly what Alex wanted to do. Kill the mood.

Dean had gone to a car show with his dad over the weekend and Nikki and Dean's mom was spending the night at their grandmother's house, so Nikki was going to be home alone. She'd asked Alex to spend the night, for an obvious reason. Alex, not wanting to make Nikki angry, agreed and told her parents she was spending the night at Harper's. The plan was foolproof because Harper was spending the weekend at Nana Franny's so she wouldn't be around to spoil the plan.

Now, Alex and Nikki had been meeting in secret for about a month when Nikki invited Alex for the night. And Alex knew exactly what Nikki wanted when she asked Alex to stay over.

Nikki was older, more experienced. She'd slept with a few girls, even a couple of girls before she figured out she was a lesbian. Alex, on the other hand, had only kissed one girl, and that was Nikki. She'd never slept with a boy, either.

"Can't we just talk?" Alex asked. She was lying in Nikki's arms, lying with her in her bed. "We never talk."

"You don't seem to mind that when you're sneaking in here when you visit my kid brother." Nikki smirked and kissed Alex.

Alex allowed the kiss, enjoying the feeling of the older girl's lips on her own, but when she felt Nikki's hand going up her shirt, she pulled away.

"What is it with you tonight, Russo?" Nikki asked, a little angrily.

"I just feel like talking, that's all," Alex said. What was she doing? Why was she being so stupid? She'd wanted this, hadn't she? She loved Nikki…Or at least liked her a lot. She knew she didn't love her, but this was the closest thing she'd ever felt to love, and she wanted to get her first time over with, so why not with someone that she liked and was experienced and could make it as good as possible because she knew what she was doing?

"Are you wimping on me, Russo?" Nikki quirked a dark eyebrow.

"Not at all." Alex grabbed Nikki's face and pulled it towards her own. She let Nikki kiss her, wishing to take over the dominance roll, but knowing better. Then one time she'd tried, Nikki bit her tongue. When Nikki's hand made its way up her shirt, she let it stay, even though it made her feel very uncomfortable. It wasn't under that hand went to cup her breast that she pulled away.

Nikki sighed and moved away from Alex completely, turning over to face the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Alex said, covering her face with her hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You're not ready, that's what!" Nikki said with her thick New York accent.

Alex removed her hands and turned so that she was looking at Nikki's back. "No, I am. Really!"

Nikki snorted. "Could have fooled me."

Alex racked her brain, trying to come up with an excuse. "I'm just worried about you. What if someone found out? You're nineteen. I'm underage. You'd go to jail."

"I told you I don't care about that!"

Alex sighed and looked at the ceiling. For someone who was supposed to be so mature, Alex thought Nikki was acting like a toddler that had been told she couldn't have ice cream for dinner.

"I really like you, Russo."

"I really like you too, Nikki," Alex said, looking at the girl's back.

"But I don't know how much. You won't show me." Nikki turned over and looked at Alex.

Alex felt tears pricking her eyes. This time it was her turn to turn away. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, tears slide down her face, one falling on the bed sheet and the other not passing over her nose.

"I'm just fifteen," she said, her voice shaking.

She felt the bed dip as Nikki scooted closer to her, her arms snaking around Alex's body. Nikki brought one hand up and stroked Alex's hair.

"Oh baby, I'm sorry," Nikki cooed. "I didn't realize how scared you were." She pressed their bodies together. "Don't worry. We can try again some other time, when you're ready."

Nikki moved Alex's hair, exposing her neck. There, she placed a kiss, then brushed her nose against the skin on Alex's neck. They lay together like that. Every time Nikki breathed, her chest pressed against Alex's back, and Alex hated it. After a while, Nikki's breathing slowed, and Alex knew she was asleep. Sleep never came for Alex. She was too uncomfortable. She hated being held. She wanted to hold. She didn't like feeling this weak and powerless with someone. With Nikki's body pressed against her, her body temperature went up. She was on fire. Yet, she still felt cold.

Alex quickly finished her shower and pulled the shower curtain back. She did it so forcefully that she ripped a bit of it from the metal rings.

"Shit," she muttered angrily. "I'll get Justin to fix it later."

She dressed quickly, the memory of that night with Nikki still playing in her mind. That was the night her infatuation with Nikki ended. That night, for the first time, she saw just how manipulative that girl could be. She'd tried to guilt Alex into giving her what she wanted. She was no better than a guy. And to this day, Alex was thankful she hadn't fallen for it. Instead, she left in the morning, only allowing Nikki to give her a peck on the lips. When she got home, she'd showered. Later, after ignoring all texts from Harper, Dean, and especially Nikki, she finally called her not-girlfriend (as she referred to the older girl) and told her to meet her in the park. There, Alex ended things. Nikki just shrugged and said she'd rather find someone more mature anyway.

"You don't know the first thing about being mature," Alex said aloud to Nikki's memory as she gathered her discarded clothes from earlier. She balled them up and put them under her arm, hanging her towel on the rack, then going back to her room.

She immediately started drying her hair. She was still angry at herself for letting herself get angry in the first place. What happened with Nikki was over a year ago. It was in the past, and it was done with.

When her hair was dry, she tied it up into a loose bun and checked her phone for any messages.

She had two texts from Mitchie. One asking if she'd gotten home alright, and another asking if she was dead. She was about to reply when she got another from Mitchie that said she was calling the cops.

Alex chuckled to herself at Mitchie fretting over her so much, but still felt guilty for forgetting to text her friend to let her know she was safe.

No need! Call off the man hunt! I'm fine. I was in the shower. I forgot to text you. I'm sorry. I promise to text you when I finish work. And this time I won't forget. I swear!

She sent the text, smiling to herself. She brought her phone up to her smiling lips, holding it close to her face. For what reason, she didn't know, but she did it.

Seeing the pile of clothes she'd worn the night before still rolled up in a ball, she set her phone down and sat on her bed. She plucked her shirt from the pile and looked down at it. Hesitantly, she brought the clothing item up to her nose and inhaled deeply.

It smelled just like Mitchie's room, and it was magnificent.

She held a content smile on her face as she recalled the night she'd spent with Mitchie. They'd cuddled. Hell, they'd spooned. And Alex had finally gotten to hold someone. It only proved was she was pretty sure she'd already known: she wanted someone to take care of, not to be taken care of. She'd hated being held by Nikki. She'd loved holding Mitchie. Then again, the person could have had something to do with it, too. All she knew was that Mitchie had spent the night in her arms. Despite what she wanted to believe, she knew that she'd enjoyed it, that it'd meant a lot to her. And she was sure it meant something to Mitchie, but not nearly as much. And that was okay with Alex. When she really thought about it, she knew she'd rather have a friendship with Mitchie than a relationship with Nikki any day.

Alex's phone buzzed as another text came in. She flipped it open and read the message.

Okay. I had a great time last night, by the way. We have to do it again some time! TTYL :)

Alex smiled again, widely.

There was no comparison. Mitchie won by a mile.

Okay, I have so much stuff going on. Don't expect an update for a while. Seriously. I need to focus on school. Sorry about that, but I can promise that next chapter is LONG.

So yeah. Go follow me on twitter if you want to know what's going on. I usually post when I'm writing something and am more than happy to answer questions. xxMusicxSpazzxx

REVIEW! No, seriously, do it.