Essential Circuitry

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Camp Rock or the Jonas Brothers. Camp Rock belongs to Disney and the Jonas Brothers belong to themselves.

Characters: Shane, Nate and Jason

Words: 1, 455

Author's Notes: sorry this has taken so long. I've just had no inspiration for this whatsoever and, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't write anything. I got some fuel back in the tank today though so I wrestled it into this as much as I could.

Also, as a side note, thank you to everyone who's reviewed my story/ies in the form of flames and done so anonymously. It's great because I can't reply and justify my decisions to you. Thanks a lot.

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"Shane," Nate said, eyes meeting his before dropping to the floor. "I'm leaving Camp Rock."

"W-what?" Shane demanded, blinking furiously in shock. "What are you talking about? You can't leave!"

"I just…" Nate ran a hand through his hair, deep, sorrowful eyes turning to Shane. "I don't want to be here."

"Why?" the older teen pressed. "Is it because we're not 'nice' to you? I mean, no offence, but you haven't been helping any."

Nate blushed, dipping his head. "I know," he whispered, nodding. "You and Jason…you don't deserve to be treated the way I've been treating you. It was wrong of me and I'm sorry."

Shane paused, confused. Nate had been acting nothing but standoffish since he'd arrived and yet now he seemed to be sincerely apologising. Something about those two facts contradicted each other. They didn't go hand-in-hand at all.

"Okay," he said slowly, meeting his cabin mate's eyes. "Tell me the truth."

Nate started, glancing up at him in surprise. "You…"

"Yes, I know you're lying," Shane snapped. "There's more to this than you're saying. Why don't you want to be here now?"

"I never wanted to be here!"

The explosive statement left a pregnant pause in its wake, Nate's eyes going wide when he realised what he'd said. No one was ever meant to know that. Shane had stiffened entirely, eyes narrowing before he reached out and grabbed Nate, dragging the boy over to his bed and forcing him to sit on it.

"Now," Shane said firmly as he took a seat next to him. "Tell me why you just said that. What did you even mean?"

"I meant I didn't want to come here in the first place," Nate mumbled ashamedly, hands twisting in his lap.

"Then why did you even bother coming?"

Nate's eyes flashed. "You know what? I don't have to explain myself to you. You might be the camp director's nephew, but this isn't any of your business."

"Whoa, whoa," Shane hurriedly cut in, holding up his hands. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, looking a tad bit sheepish. "You don't want to be here and yet you are. I guess that probably means that there's something going on. I shouldn't have been so snappy about it. I'm sorry." He waved a hand. "Tell me. I promise to listen this time."

Nate eyed him up for a few moments before turning his attention back to his hands, nodding minutely. "There isn't much to tell." He shrugged. "My mom's a single mom who works really hard. My dad's never been in the picture. I don't even know who he is. But…that's not even relevant. The thing is…" Nate ran a hand through his curls, eyes glazing over as he stared blankly at the floor. "Mom needed to go away to some work convention to get promoted. But…she couldn't…well, she wouldn't go because she didn't want to leave me alone. So I…" He shrugged once more as he trailed off.

"So you lied and told your mom you wanted to come here," Shane guessed, receiving a nod in return. "But you do like music though, right?"

Nate gave a little sniffling laugh. "Yeah," he admitted, offering his cabin mate a shy grin. "I really do. That's why I chose this place. It was easy to convince my mom that I was interested in this because, to her, it made sense for me to be."

"How were you going to explain why you wanted to come home?" Shane asked gently.

"Dunno," Nate replied. "But she'd be home now anyway. It doesn't matter why I'm home. She's probably already got her promotion."

"Probably?" Shane repeated, a frown forming across his face. "You haven't…you haven't spoken to her since you've been here? It's been two whole weeks."

"I…" Nate fumbled slightly on his words. "I lost my phone," he finally lied. "A few days into camp. I must have dropped it in the woods one afternoon or something. I don't know where it is."

Did Nate want to protect Kyle and Dylan? Of course not. Did he want to admit to Shane that he was being picked on? Another definite no.

"It's hard not hearing from your parents," Shane murmured, voice so emotional that it instantly grabbed Nate's attention. "You can't help but think something is wrong. Sometimes you…you just want to hear their voices…to hear them say that they love you."

"Shane…" Nate breathed, taken aback. "What…?"

"Nate," Shane said, meeting his gaze, eyes full of unshed tears. "My parents are dead."

Nate's breath caught in his throat, eyes widening. Shane saw his reaction and waved him away as dismissively as he could, considering the circumstances.

"They died when I was eight. Just went away for a holiday together and left me with Uncle Brown. Every night they'd call me and then…and then they didn't. Two days later Unc gets a call saying they were dead. Their…their car slipped on an icy patch of road, crashed straight into a tree. Apparently they died instantly."

"Shane," Nate whispered, shifting closer. "I'm so sorry. I…I didn't know."

Shane offered him a weak grin. "Don't worry about. It's not like you could do anything about it. But anyway," he said, taking a deep breath and rearranging his face. "Here," he murmured, holding out his phone. "Call your mom. Ask her how she is, and tell her you're staying."

Nate went to protest before giving a feeble grin. "Okay," he conceded, reaching out to take the phone.

"Nate!" Shane exclaimed, grabbing his cabin mate's hand and yanking it closer when he saw the deep grazes that covered his fingers and palm. Inspecting the other hand, he found near identical marks. "What happened?"

"I…I fell over," Nate mumbled, trying to draw his hands back despite Shane's firm grasp. He wasn't overly keen on telling Shane he'd been pushed over by Kyle and Dylan, trying to do everything he could to prevent his older cabin mate from seeing him as 'weak'.

"Nate," Shane deadpanned. "I've seen you in dance class. You have the best balance out of everyone. You don't just 'fall over'."

"Yeah, well," Nate snapped, pulling his hands away. "Maybe I did."

Shane studied him a moment longer before rolling his eyes, holding out his cell. If Nate wanted to play this game, then so be it. Nate had the grace to look guilty upon finding Shane still being so generous despite his attitude. Muttering an embarrassed 'thanks', Nate took the phone and dialled his mother's number, pressing it to his ear eagerly. It rang for a moment before there came the heavenly sound of someone picking up.

"Courtney Anderson."

"Mom!" Nate choked out, face splitting into a massive grin, Shane smiling softly at the reaction.

"Nate? Baby, why haven't you been answering my calls?"

"I…why haven't you been answering mine?"

"You called me once," Courtney pointed out, moving to explain when all she heard from her son was silence. "I'm sorry mister. I was so busy at the conference – you really have no idea – and I will admit that I thought you might be calling to demand me come pick you up. I thought I'd wait for you to make some friends before calling you back because I can't bear to hear you upset and if you'd asked me to pick you up, you know I would have come in an instant."

Nate scratched his neck nervously. Yes, he did know. That's why he'd already packed his bags. "Okay," he finally said. "I'm sorry. And I'm sorry I haven't been answering. I lost my phone. My cabi-…my friend is letting me use his."

Shane beamed at being referred to as a friend, something that had Nate smiling back shyly. A few more words were exchanged before Nate ended the call, not wanting to send Shane bankrupt with an extensive phone bill. He handed the cell back carefully.

"Thank you," he whispered, voice overflowing with gratitude.

"You're welcome," Shane said, matching his serious tone before swinging to his feet, a devilish grin on his face. "So…you wanna come owl-hunting with me and Jason?"

Nate did a double take. "You…you want me to come with you?"

"Of course!" Shane told him with a roll of his eyes, lunging forward and grabbing his arm. "Now, come on! If we take too much longer, I might never be able to find Jason again! I swear, he sees a bird and follows it without thought. It could lead him all the way to Alaska and I don't think he'd notice."

Nate giggled quietly and followed along obediently. As he did he found himself wondering; if he had been open from the start, how different could his camp experience have been?

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A/N: so there you have it. Churned it out in about thirty minutes, followed by a quick proof-read. So we see a bit of Shane and Nate and them starting to get along. And for all Jason fans; don't worry, he comes back next chapter.

Also, someone in a review said something about it being a camp and yet they've been there for like two weeks. Now, don't quote me on this, but I think American summer camps can go for really long times. I think even in Camp Rock they're there for over a month (there's some scene with a calendar with X-ed out dates). So, for the purpose of this, Camp Rock is about eight weeks long – go with it, no matter how unbelievable it is! Thanks! :)

DG777