Chapter 10

As I knocked on his door and waited for him to open up, I pondered whether I'd been in that certain room before. Certainly the one next door, but not the one which Shane was occupying. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised this. Man, that would have been awkward. Sitting there remembering the events that had happened. I was so glad I was no longer a prostitute; that was just a bad lifestyle. And though I may not have been one of those people who preferred to only sleep with people they knew they would spend the rest of their life with, I certainly didn't like fucking random men who weren't getting the right stimulation from their marriage.

He slowly opened the door and grinned down at me.

"Hey Mitchie, you're right on time." He said before slowly placing his hands on my hips. His hands then moved to my back and pulled me into him. For a split second I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead, he pulled me right against his body, rested his head on top of mine and squeezed gently. I rested my head against his chest (which was like a brick wall. Jeez, that guy must pump some iron) and sighed. A guy hadn't hugged me like this in years (apart from Gus, of course). It was such an innocent hug. Just his way of saying he was glad to see me. Last time any guy had hugged me was Jack, and his hugs were no way near innocent. They always led to something, be it making out, heavy petting, or even sex. I knew that when Jack hugged me, it meant he wanted something. I wasn't much a fan of hugs with guys because of that. I could hug girls fine. I loved hugging Nicole and Laura, because they knew that when I hugged them it was my way of saying I loved them. I was a proper bear hugger. With Shane, not so much. I wrapped my arms around him because I didn't want him to take offense or to question me on it. I didn't put much effort into it though. It built up some of the walls he was breaking down; simply because I was scared he would pressure me or something. I knew he wasn't the type to do that, but my trust in all men was shattered because of that bastard.

I breathed in his smell. I picked out the cologne and the oranges, but there was no sweat. Instead, there was the smell of soap, indicating that he had had a shower within the hour. It was then that I noticed his hair. I had never really noticed it, apart from on the night we first met. On that night he had it straight: his signature style. I thought back to the second night; he had left it curly. Not curly like Nate, but wavy. This was what it was like now. It was like his way of showing that he had let his guard down.

After what I felt what a sufficient amount of time, I pulled away from the hug.

"So, what are your plans for tonight's date?" His hands were clutching my hips, not able to let go of me.

"Well, since last night I did the whole extravagant thing, I thought tonight we would just kind of hang out."

"So we're just going to hang about in your hotel room?" I was slightly wary of this. Spending the night in his hotel room. Did he have ulterior motives?

I really hated how I second guessed and analysed everything. It made it so hard for me to build relationships with people. I would always be wondering if what they were doing was going to lead to them hurting me purposefully. I tried to push my paranoia aside most of the time, like right now, but sometimes it just ruined everything.

"Yeah, I was thinking we could watch a few DVDs, get room service, talk a little." He said sincerely. I could tell by his tone of voice that what he said was exactly what he meant.

"That sounds great." I smiled sweetly. He led me into his room. It was a nice room, not much different from the rest in the place. It was pleasant to see that he didn't try and claim privileges because of who he was. I noticed that there wasn't much furniture, only a double bed, a TV, a wardrobe and a table. I was guessing we would be watching the DVDs on his bed. Surprisingly enough, this information didn't make me freak out. I did wonder why he chose such a small room though. There were other hotels which had bigger standard rooms.

"Sorry that it's so small. I just needed a place to stay. I didn't think I would be staying here for long." He said as if he had read my mind.

"No, its fine, I'm used to cramped spaces. I'm just surprised that because of who you are that you didn't pick somewhere with more space." A hurt look flashed across his face. Shit, that didn't come
out right. "I just mean because it's not like you need to save money or anything."

"Don't worry, I knew what you meant." He laughed.

I slapped him on the chest. "Jerk, I was panicking." He gazed down at me.

"I'm sorry, forgive me."

"Hmm, so what DVD are we going to watch?"

"It's your choice. I only brought my favourites." He pointed to the pile of DVD cases on the table. I had a quick look through, noticing some films I loved.

"Okay, we have to watch House of Flying Daggers. I haven't watched it in so long."

"Shove it in then, but don't play it yet, we've got to get food." I sat down on the edge of his bed after putting the DVD in the machine and he handed me the room service menu. I glanced at it. I already knew what food I was in the mood for and it was on the menu.

"I'll have a pizza. Just cheese, I'm not a fan of random toppings. I kick it old school." He smirked at me, before picking up the hotel phone and calling in the room service.

"Now we can watch the DVD. Feel free to stretch out on my bed." I did just that before realising I was sitting on crumbs.

"What's with the crumbs?"

"I kind of ate a packet of biscuits there earlier." He said whilst scratching the back of his neck. I laughed at him before brushing the crumbs off the bed.

After our food came we talked whilst watching the masterpiece. We didn't really talk about any deep stuff. It was everything and nothing. Nothing like the conversations we had previously. I enjoyed myself incredibly; I was laughing more than I had done in ages. It was different to the first date. I knew what I was doing this time. At one point Shane tried to do the weird, not-so-subtle move of putting his arm around my shoulder. I grabbed his arm and put it around me quickly when I noticed what he was doing. I didn't drop my hand, leaving us holding hands. My exhaustion from work caught up with me.

Next thing I knew, I had woken up next to Shane. I panicked. What the hell happened? I looked down and realised that I was still wearing last night's clothes, so I knew we hadn't done anything. I looked at Shane. He was gazing at me intently.

"You fell asleep." He said after noticing the confusion in my eyes. I quickly remembered closing my eyes for what I thought would be a few seconds.

"Sorry, it's not your fault though. You weren't boring me or anything. I was actually having a lot of fun."

"You should cut back on your work hours." Oh, trust me, I'm trying. Speaking of work...

"Fuck, what time is it?"

"Ten."

"Shit! I'm an hour late for work. You should have woken me up."

"Well I would have but you sleep so beautifully. I ended up falling asleep whilst looking at you." I blushed at his comment. I quickly got out of the bed. So he had been able to pull the covers over me but not wake me up. I took a quick look in the mirror. Yikes. And he had seen me like this. I was surprised he wasn't thrown off completely. I looked like a yeti.

"Well, I've got to go. I think Gus is going to kill me. I had an amazingly fun time last night."

"Okay, bye." He said, seemingly sad that I had to go.

"Bye." I quickly walked out.

I walked sheepishly into the diner half an hour later.

"Oh, look who it is." Laura said, Nicole and her popping out from nowhere. "Someone's late. And where were you, huh? We saw you scurry upstairs in last night's clothes."

"Fun night with Shane?" Nicole asked, meaning the innuendo which came with the question.

"Nothing like that happened. I fell asleep." I said. I tried to get past them as they were blocking the door to the kitchen. I needed to talk to Gus, they just wouldn't move.

"You really expect us to believe that you simply fell asleep?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, because that's what happened. We ordered room service, talked, watched a movie on his bed and I fell asleep."

"So, you slept with him?" Nicole pressed.

"Yes, technically. Now will you please move, I need to go make sure I've still got a job." They slowly moved out of the way whilst eyeing me curiously.

Thankfully, after explaining the whole thing, Gus let me off with a warning. He had a soft spot for me. After I explained to him what happened he warned me not to get in too deep with Shane. I knew this already though. I already knew that he was slightly unstable and I couldn't put too much into anything with him because he wouldn't be able to give a lot back due to his career.

Whilst I was working my thoughts kept straying back to a certain dark haired rock star. I had never thought of a guy this much. Sure, when I was with Jack I thought of him from time to time. Those thoughts were always 'is he going to want to sleep with me tonight' or 'does he love me as much as he says he does?' But my thoughts on Shane, they were different. I was wondering what he was doing, and if he was thinking about me. I was wondering what he was wearing – no not in that way you perves. I was thinking about all the stuff he talked to me about and our dates. It was just constant Shane. Why was I thinking about him so much? Sure, I liked him, but I never thought of guys I've liked previously as much as I thought of Shane. Was I feeling something deeper than just liking him? Was I falling for him or something? Sure, I thought about him a lot, I always anticipated when he would come into the diner and just seeing him made me happy. But that didn't mean I was falling for him, did it? Did it? Oh fuck, it did. I was falling for Shane Gray. I didn't know what to think - apart from the constant thoughts of Shane which plagued my mind. I'd never felt like this before. Was I ready for this? Could I really handle letting him in, because in the long run I would have to. Could I really handle making myself completely vulnerable for a guy again?

I had to stop being so selfish and just try it out. Shane didn't seem like the kind who would consciously break my heart. I was going to have to trust him no to anyway.

Shane rolled into the diner about an hour before the end of my shift that night. I knew that he would come in. I realise that sounds pompous, but he was always in the diner, why stop now? What I didn't expect was the curly haired teenager behind him. I noticed that Shane looked aggravated, telling me I wasn't the only one not expecting a visit from Nate.

Shane pulled up a seat at the bar. Nate took one next to him, causing Shane to shoot him a disgruntled glare. As I poured coffee into someone's mug Shane caught my eye, begging me to keep him from being alone with Nate. I sighed after finishing pouring the coffee before I walked behind the counter.

"Twice in one day Mr. Gray, I hope you're not making a habit of this."

"Wouldn't dream of it. So, considering you fell asleep last night and you left so fast this morning, I didn't get to ask you something I've wanted to ask you since our first date." what the fuck did he want to ask me? I wouldn't normally freak out about him asking a simple question, but this was different. He was nervous. I saw his leg jiggling when he first came in. His breathing was slightly unordinary. And his pupils were dilated. Now, normally I would think he had been doing something I didn't approve of, but I believed that he hadn't. I trusted him not to.

"Ask away."

"I would but I'd rather do it in private," he said shooting a look at his curly-haired companion, who I had just realised was smirking like an idiot. Shane sent a disapproving look Nate's way, before he sighed. "I guess I should introduce you guys."

"Shane, dear, in case you didn't notice, I'm not a guy. I should hope that you know this, unless you're gay." Nate snickered.

"Shut up Mitchie. So anyways, Mitchie this is Nate, Nate this is Mitchie." I stuck out my hand and Nate grabbed it with a tight grip and shook vigorously.

"It's nice to finally meet the girl my band mate cannot stop talking about." I blushed whilst Nate got a severe elbowing treatment by the man I was falling for. Jeez, this was difficult. It was hard to be in a room with him and not jump him. My God, did I want to. I don't think it was quite appropriate though.

"So, not to seem rude, but why are you here?" I asked my new acquaintance.

"I can answer that." Shane said. "He can't trust me to be here on my own much longer. So he just had to come and join my impromptu holiday."

"Nate, you didn't have to worry. I've been looking after him fine."

"Oh I bet you have." He muttered.

"Nate, don't be a dick." Shane scolded.

"Sorry, but I couldn't miss the chance, it was like a 'that's what she said' moment."

"Whatever virgin boy."

His eyes widened. "How do you know I'm a virgin? Did Shane tell you?" He said frantically, shooting death glares at the person in question, whilst letting a blush creep onto his cheeks.

"No. I can just smell it." He raised his eyebrow at me in a silent question. "Raging, sex-deprived hormones just exude from you."

"Shane, your girlfriend scares me." He said in a stage whisper. Girlfriend? Girlfriend? What? Both Shane and I looked at Nate at that point; Shane in anger, me in confusion. Then I looked at Shane, he shot me an apologetic look.

"Yeah, um can I talk to you in private?" He asked.

"Oh, my bad." Nate said sniggering.

"Yeah, is the afro boy going to be alright leaving him alone?" I asked. Before Shane could answer, Nicole and Laura popped up either side of me.

"I'll keep him company." They said at the same time before introducing themselves at the same time. "Hi, I'm – insert name here -." And then they glared at each other across me. Oh dear.

"Come on then." I said to Shane. I walked out from behind the bar and headed to a cupboard with Shane following me.

I flicked a switch and the lights came on in the cupboard.

"A cupboard? Are you going to try out some of your kinky thoughts or something?" Shane asked with a smirk.

I smacked his arm. "Shut up. Now what did you want to talk about? And does it have anything to do with what your friend just said?"

"Yeah, about that. See, I was going to ask you last night, but then you fell asleep and this morning you were in such a rush. So, I figured that I would ask you next time I saw you, but then Nate came. I told him everything and then he said he wanted to meet you. This brings us up to us coming in the diner." He sighed and grabbed my hand, looking me right in the eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Aw shit. I couldn't say no, I really couldn't. I wouldn't be able to say no and watch his face show how he was heartbroken. But could I say no? Could I be with him when I had kept my job at Victrola's a secret? I wasn't sure if I could be in a relationship with someone when I had kept something like that from him. Sure, I wasn't properly lying, but it was a lie of omission. And did I really want to lead him into a relationship with a train wreck like me?

I bit my lip before saying slowly, "will you let me think about it?"

"Is that a no?" His face dropped.

"No, it's a maybe. I just have a lot to straighten out in my head before I give you a straight answer. You know that I haven't been in a relationship since high school."

"Actually, I didn't know that."

"Did you not? I swore that I told you. Anyway, regardless, I still have a lot to sort out. But don't give up faith." I gave him a peck in the corner of his mouth before leaving the cupboard.

Shane's POV

Mitchie Torres. What a girl. What an incredible girl. When she kissed me two nights ago, I saw a whole future with her flash in front of my eyes. That's how deep I was with her. I know, pretty stupid after knowing her about a week, but she was just magnificent. I didn't ever want to lose her. I don't think I could let myself lose her. I realise that I have to go back to torturous Hollywood at some point, but I couldn't think about that when I was around her. All I could think about was staying here with her forever.

Jesus, I'm such an idiot. How could I fall for someone so fast? Especially when we had such conflicting lives. I'm such a tool. I couldn't expect her to love me back. She had been through far too much to love me back. And yes, I realise that I just admitted to loving her. Well, it's true. I love Mitchie Torres. And I wanted to shout it to the heavens.

This was how I could be found telling Mitchie's best friends, Nicole, exactly how I felt in the exact same diner I met the beauty who captured all my thoughts. She stared at me.

"You love Mitchie?" She said in a disbelieving tone.

"Yes. Completely."

"Well then, there's some stuff you need to know. But she has to tell you." She sighed. What? What did she have to tell me?

"What are you talking about?" I asked. I was so confused now.

"There's some stuff about her that you need to know, before you're actually able to make a judgement on whether you love her. It could change your whole outlook on her."

"I already know that she was a prostitute."

She chuckled bitterly. "Oh, it's not that. I don't know whether it's worse or not in your eyes." What the hell? Why hadn't Mitchie told me? "And before you start getting pissed off at her, she does want to tell you, but she's scared. So don't jump into anything unless you're sure you know everything about her." Nicole spoke about Mitchie quite bitter sweetly. And she was her best friend. She obviously didn't approve of her keeping secrets from me.

It was then that I saw her out of the window, rushing down the street. She wasn't in her usual attire. She was wearing a black and fuchsia corset with black short shorts and those stripper heels I saw in her bedroom two nights ago. What the fuck? Was she still a prostitute? She quickly pulled a black trench coat over the outfit and was out of my sight. I looked over to Nicole quickly and she looked at me with an apologetic look.

She sighed. "I didn't want to be the one to do this, but I have to now. There's something you really have to see."

AN: DUN DUN DUN! You know what's next don't you, and if you don't you're not very imaginative. So this is dedicated to my big sis Sandy (she isn't really, but I wish she was), my lovely future sis in law, Laura (who is sending me some stuff in the post at some point), Aleeshya because she's awesome, and to xxHeadInTheStarsxx who technically was the 200th reviewer (it was Laura, but it was her second review.) Yeah sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it. Went back to school today eugh. So yeah, not as many updates now. Also, there a banner for this done by the lovely Laura, found on my page, if you can find it. And I started a JBFF, called Ignorance, link also on my page, if you can find it. I love you guys seriously, so many reviews, I don't deserve them. R&R