She must have stood there for several minutes until Shane's actions sunk in and she was actually able to think. She stared into the empty passageway for a moment before silently closing the door behind her and entering back into the dark room. Dana held a look of curiosity on her face, paying no attention to the ongoing movie on the television, just waiting for Mitchie to say something. Mitchie slid into her still warm bed with the ring still clutched in her hands and lay with her arms around Dana's waist.
"He returned the ring." Mitchie said almost inaudibly.
"Oh, honey.." Dana gasped, sliding down to lay next to Mitchie. "..I'm sorry." She said, wrapping her arms around Mitchie and gently holding her.
Mitchie awoke earlier than usual the next morning, mostly because of the lack of sleep she received throughout the night. When she went to the ground floor restaurant at the hotel, several dancers and Jason and Nate were already waiting for breakfast to arrive. Nate offered her an enthusiastic wave and smile when he spotted her, gesturing for her to come over and sit with him at the table him and other members of his family had occupied. Mitchie was relieved to see that Shane was still no where to be seen even though part of her was aching to see him and yell at him. She just wanted to get all of er frustration out.
"Mornin' Mitch. Glad to see you up and about this early." Nate smiled as Mitchie took a seat beside him.
"Hey, Kid." Mitchie mumbled. She looked around the table, noticing Jason's attention diverted towards her for a fraction of a second, looking up from his phone and giving her a slight nod. Mitchie's eyebrows furrowed at the thought od Jason Gray acknowledging her existence where there were no press around and where he didnt need to put up a facade and merely shrugged. Danielle greeted Mitchie and it was obvious that she had spoken to Jason, hence the sudden change in demeanor.
By the time Mitchie had given her order to the waiter she noticed Nate's hopeful eyes on her. "What?" She asked. "I'm pretty sure my face is zit-free, why you staring, my friend?"
Nate chuckled and shook his head. "No no, you just, you called me Kid." He pointed out. Mitchie's eyebrows rose and she shrugged at the nickname she hadn't called Nate by in a while.
"Tomorrow, we can record the last song and then we'll be all packed up." Nate gathered all the paper from the table him and Mitchie were sitting at, placing them all in one neat pile, ready for the next day and holding the ones he needed in his hands.
"What time is it, Kid?" Mitchie yawned, holding her empty cup of starbucks in her hand and looking inside as if the caffiene would magically appear again.
"I'm the co-producer of your next record, Miss. Torres you should be addressing me as Sir." Nate said in a serious tone before casually looking down at his watch and saying " Seven minutes to three by the way."
"Dang... Mitchie rose her eyebrows alarmed at how late it already was. "And shut-up Nate! You're still younger than me even if I sometimes think you're a 40-year-old in disguise so shut-it. I'm never losing the nickname I have for you, Kid" She smirked. She had been working on finishing the tracks of her second album within the one week break she had from tour and she was on LA. It was easier seeing she had already recorded most of the songs and a couple were only left, but her and Nate had spent nearly fourteen hours in the studio and to say Mitchie was tired would be an understatement. But it was to her relief that it was nearly over. "...it's late." She checked her phone for any message from Shane and tucked it back into her pocket disappointedly "Shane said he's pick me up at two." She sighed.
"He probably just fell asleep." Nate shrugged. "Don't worry, I'll drop you home Mitch, or you could just spend the night here with all the mice I mean, we're gonna be back in the morning. I like to save fuel you know." Nate joked.
Mitchie slapped Nate at the back of his head as they walked towards the door, leaving the studio. "I'm gonna hijack your car and drive home and make you sleep with all those mice before you leave me here, mister." She stated as they left the room. She gasped in surprise and a huge grin plastered in her face when she saw Shane waiting for her outside the studio. He was leaning against the wall with one of his feel flat against the wall, his knees bending and his eyes suddenly bulging open at the sound of Mitchie and Nate's conversation. His hands fell from his chest to his sides and his lips held the same Mitche's held.
All the tiredness in Mitchies body washed away at the sight of Shane. She felt like she was on a sugar high and had enough energy to run a marathon as she jumped into Shane's arms, her legs automatically wrapping around Shanes waist. "Hey, baby..." Shane smiled as he softly kissed Mitchies lips. "How was the recording?" He asked eagerly. His hands moved to her face, tucking in the strand of hair that had covered Mitchie's face behind her ear.
"It was great, Shane!" She exclaimed, kissing him again and slowly placing her feet back on the ground. "I thought you forgot or something." Mitchie told him honestly. "Nate here.." She pointed towards the third wheel in the situation who was standing back watching the duo "was gonna drop me. We thought you fell asleep." The smile on her face seemed uncontrollable as it still washed over her face even with the passing seconds.
Nate waved nonchalently at his brother who nodded at him over Mitchies shoulder. "Ofcourse I didnt forget, honey" Shane said, wrapping his arms around Mitchies waist. "..I have actually been here " He looked down at his watch. "for one and a half hours now. I know you told me to pick you up at two, but I figured you might finish early seeing you guys were in there the whole day."
"Well.." Mitchie laughed, her fingers tugging at the end of Shane's hairline on his neck causing a small growl to escape his lips. "we were in there the whole day doing very productive things, but why didnt you just knock or call me? Why were you out there all that time? Geeze you could have sat down inside at least."
"We could spend the whole day tomorrow doing very productive things you know?" He whispered hoarsly into Mitchies ear. "Ans plus, I didnt want to disturb you guys." He shrugged.
"Ew, please save my ears!" Nate exclaimed. "I don't want to hear this." He said shaking his head as Mitchie and Shane both laughed. "Just make sure there is protection involved in whatever productive things you do."
"C'mon, Mitch lets get you back home." Shane interwined his fingers with Mitchies and gave his brother a small wave. "See you at home, Man."
Mitchie hummed happily as her and Shane walked in the empty parking lott, towards Shane's car. Shane's hand was placed gently on the small of her back, guiding her as they walked while she let hers, more boldly fall to his ass, giving it a gently squeeze as they finally reached his car. Shane laughed loudly at her gesture, shaking his head at his girlfriend. "What?" Mitchie asked, innocently. "You have a mean package down there."
"I'm glad you know." Shane whispered huskily, letting their lips meet and sucking her bottom lip in his mouth before safely strapping her up in the passenger seat. Mitchie sighed adoringly as she watched Shane walk over to the drivers seat, a smile still painted on her pink lips.
They sat in Shane's car, outside Mitchie's home for a while, neither of them wanting to go to their own homes, neither of them wanting to part ways for the night. "I don't want you to go.." Mitchie admitted, wrapping her arms around Shane's neck and nuzzling her face into his muscular shoulder so that half of her body was on her seat while the other half was cuddled up next to Shane. "I only got to see you for so little time today, Shaney." She whispered sadly, kissing the side of his freckle clad neck. She loved his freckles and his olive skin, his thick eyebrows and his hark hair. She loved the way he held her and made her feel like there was no other place in the world she'd like to be in other than his arms and she loved the way his presence was enough to bring a smile to her face.
With one hand wrapped around Mitchies torso, Shane's other hand went down to the back of Mitchie's thigh, helping her over to his seat so that she was straddling him. "Mitch.." He whispered, holding her chin so that she would face him. "I'm gonna be back in the morning to drive you back to the studio anyway." He reminded. "I missed you too today, though." Shane gently kissed her again which was urgently returned by Mitchie, deepening the kiss within seconds. Her hands tangled themselves in his thick locks, pulling at the back of his head at the place where she knew would earn her a groan. "Don't go tonight." She pleaded. "Stay. Everyones sleeping, you can leave in the morning before they wake up." Shane looked breathlessly at Mitchie as their foreheads touched and their ragged breaths mixed. His thumb stroked the side of Mitchies face as he kissed her again, this time more harsher, biting down at her bottom lip before letting go. Mitchie's moan caused shivers to go down his spine, his lips parting before he could answer "Okay."
"Mitchie.." She heard Shane whine her name from her bedroom where she was busy taking off all of the accessories that had adorned her though out the day. She placed her purse and phone safely on her dressing table, checking for anything else that might have been left in her jean pocket before taking the garment off her body. She felt relieved as her legs were sprung free from the tight fitted material and neatly folded them, placing them on the white sofa that sat against the beige walls. "I cant find my clothes.." Shane let her know as the sound of drawers and wardrobe doors opening filled her room coming from her walk in closet. "...and why do you have so much lingerie and how come I haven't seen you in any of them?" He spoke loudly so that his voice could be heard from the adjoining room. "Is there a secret boyfriend that gets to see you in these?" He held up a matching set of dark purple lace lingerie, smirking at his girlfriend. "What ever have I been doing wrong?" He pouted.
"Don't get your panties in a knot Shane." She cooed, walking over to one of the wardrobes, swiftly taking out what Shane was looking for. "Here.." She said, handing Shane his clothes. "..and maybe you will...one day...when you deserve it." She whispered, her lips on his ears. She bit down on his ear lobe before sucking on the sensitive area and allowing her hot breath to fan over the wet skin. Shane growled at her actions, pulling her half clothed body into him. "You dont know how you make me feel." He said in a low voice to which Mitchie looked up at him sheepishly. "Oh Shane..I do. Trust me, I do." She patted his chest lightly. "Now get dressed, I want to go to sleep you know." Shane nodded as Mitchie got into a pair of shorts and an old T-shirt and she jumped into her bed suddenly feeling tired again. "Come here Shane...come to me." Mitchie called. Shane emerged from her walk in closet with a smile on his face and slipped into his side of Mitchies bed - the side he usually slept in when no one knew he was over and was actually sleeping in Mitchies bed. He wrapped his arms around Mitchies shoulder, pressing his lips down to the back of her neck and turning off the bedside lamp on his side of the bed, the room turning pitch black for a second before being illuminated by nothing but the moonlight.
Mitchie leaned into his touch, closing her eyelids and tried to calm her breathing. She knew it was impossible with him around and she liked that only he was able to make her feel that way. "You know, mom found your clothes in my wardrobe the other day." She spoke slowly. Shane ran his hand down te length of Mitchies arm until he met with her fingers and intertwined them, encouraging her to continue. "I think she knows that we are...but she didn't say anything about it instead, she booked an appointment for me at the hospital - to get on the pill, but she couldn't get one until after we come back from South America so till then we're gonna have to be careful.."
"I always thought you were on it." Shane said softly. Mitchie shook her head "No. but you should have seen mom's face." She laughed at the memory. "I think she was lost with what she's supposed to say."
"I can imagine." Shane chuckled. "Do you want me to go with you?"
"No. I can go alone, besides if the paparazzi see us going together then they'll question."
"I guess."
"Yeah.." Mitchie yawned, sinking more into Shane's arms. "Goodnight, Shane."
"Goodnight, Sweetheart."
Mitchie slept well in Shane's arms that night. She felt comfort in him and she needed to re-energize for the long day ahead. It wasn't until the sun rushed through the wide windows in her room and the light chirping of birds could be heard that she started to feel uneasy. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead and she suddenly sat up from her slumber, dizzy and breathless. Her feet found contact with the cold tiles in her room and she dragged them to her bathroom as fast as she could with one hand covering her mouth, trying to keep the content of her stomach where they belonged but it was only seconds before everyhing was released into the toilet.
Shane awoke from the sounds he could hear coming from the open bathroom. He looked over to the empty space next to him on the bed and his feet immediately took him to the source of the sound."Mitchie are you alright?" He asked, his voice raspy. "Hey, Mitch.." He said worriedly. Mitchie looked up at a concerned looking Shane and felt the nausea hit her again, her face moving back to the toilet seat. "Hey, hey..Mitchie." Shane ran upto her, holding her hair. "Stay calm...breath in...wait let me get you water." Shane came back seconds later with a bottle of water from the mini fridge in her room and she gulped a little of the liquid down, feeling a little better. Shane rubbed slow circles on Mitchie's back as she leaned against the bath tub letting her head dangle backwards. "Hey, sweetie are you feeling okay now? What happened?" He asked, taking the open bottle of water from her hands.
"I think it was that cipatole Nate and I had for lunch yesterday."
"I'm going to talk to dad, can you tell the waiter to sent my food over to his table when it arrives?" Mitchie left the table even before Nate could answer, greeting her father who had just entered the restaurant and took a small table for themselves.
"What's wrong, honey?" Her father, Steve asked as she silently took a seat in front of him.
"I don't want to do this anymore, Dad." Were the first words that left her mouth. She looked down at the silverware on the table and started fiddling with her fingers. "I don't want to be here, I want to go away."
"Do you want to go back home?" Her father asked gently. Mitchie looked up at her father silently, not really knowing what she wanted.
"I don't have a home now, Dad. I don't even-" She breathed frustratedly, stopping her sentence mid-way as the waiter approached with her food.
"Don't be ridiculous, Mitchie." Steve said. He felt so useless at such moments when his daughters face held nothing but sadness. He would do anything to take that away from her. He wished he knew what to do.
"Franchesca and Shane, they're moving in together." Mitchie could feel the burning at the back of her eyes, the feeling of being replaced suddenly too much for her to handle in such a public place. She didn't want to cry, definitely not for everyone to see and she sat back on her chair, slipping the hanging sunglasses from the front pocket in her jeans to her eyes. She knew it was ridiculous to wear then inside, but they were better than people seeing her weak.
"You're going to live with us." Her father stated firmly. "The house you left will always be your house, sweetie. Don't ever say you don't have a place to live. Me and your mother won't let you stay away from us ever again, in fact I talked to her today and she told be how excited she was to be seeing you next week."
Mitchie picked up her mug of coffee and stared at her father, trying to form the right sentence to explain how she was feeling. "Dad, I don't want to go back to LA..." She started, taking a deep breath. She watched her father as the words lef her mouth. His expression remained unchanged, as if he were expecting them from her. "I don't want to do this anymore...I just...I want to run away, Dad. I don't want this anymore...I don't want to be here...anywhere but here." She pleaded desperately.
"Mitchie, I am no one to stop you from doing what you want. Your mother and I never have and we never will, but honey you can't keep running away like this. Running away won't make it easier, it never will. Instead, it's just going to make it harder for you when you have to return because lets face it, you can't run forever can you?" He asked. Mitchie stayed silent as her father talked, she didnt want to hear this, she just wanted to go away somewhere far where no one knew her, where no one looked at her like they did here, where she could hide in her own hole and no one would come after her.
"You cant change what happened, Mitchie and you cant forget it, but you must learn to put it past you, honey and you should move on like Shane has. I know he doesnt show it, but he is just as broken as you are. You both went through a lot together, but you didnt stick by him till the end."
"I didn't run away, I was promotion my CD." Mitchie spoke urgently, defending herself.
Steve shook his head at her and pursed his lips before continuing. "He was hurting as much as you were, and I'm not saying I approve of him and his new relationships, no of course not, you're my daughter and I will never approve of anything hurting you, but you have to understand that you are both young and you both went through so much so soon in your lives and its not easy under the limelight, but Shane stayed and he dealt with it. When you were gone he would come home and sit with us for hours, so worried about you. He felt so helpless, you wouldn't listen to anyone. He's moving through, but you're still there, in that state of mind. You have to move on."
Two weeks had passed and Shane and Mitchie had yet to exchange words after that night. He could never look her in the eye after that and the feeling of guilt he got at returning the ring never left him. Mitchie got the good news that her second CD, released a week before tour started had gone three times platinum which resulted in a huge celebratory party held on the last day they were in New York by the lable. She didnt feel the happiness she should have and it made her angry. It made her angry that she forgot how to feel happy when she truely earned it.
"Shane, Mitchie.." The brunette presenter said and both sat up straight at the mention of their names, bright smiles placed on their lips. Shane's father nodded approvingly from behind the camera. He always felt nervous everytime the press directed a question towards the two once love birds. He felt like they would no longer be able to keep up with the facade they had been pulling. He felt like some time something was bound to go wrong. Everything was working too perfectly, it wasn't right.
Mitchie rehearsed all the answers to the questions that could be possibly asked to her in her head, each one asked over and over until the answers became memorised at the back of her mind. She was sure she'd be able to recite them in her sleep, the questions overused and answers too boring for the press to spice up. But she was unaware that this would be different. "Even though the two of you have shared a very public split, with obviously the fans taking sides and now you, Shane.." the presenter said looking up at him "dating Franchesca Lenningham you and Mitchie have always been seen with your engagement rings even after the split, but now Shane, you have opted to no longer wear your ring while Mitchie yours is still there in your finger, why so?"
Suddenly Mitchie felt embarrassed, so embarrased on national televison. On live telivision. The four of them sitting in one line, all tensed up. Shanes fathers face turned red and Nate placed a reassuring hand on Mitchies knee giving it a comforting squeeze, not knowing what else to do under the question of so many cameras and so many lights, knowing a nationwide audience had their breaths held in anticipation for the answer no one knew. Jason fumbled with his words, unprepared for such a obvious question, something that had never been brought up before, but then again Shane had his ring on two weeks ago until he had returned it that night in the New York City hotel and they had had not such interviews, busy with their shows during that 14 day period all until today.
Shane didn't want this, he didn't want to embarrass Mitchie in front of the world. He didn't want to feel the guilt all over again and he didn't want to be there with everyone waiting for an answer from him. Mitchies voice surprised him. He was sure that she was close to walking out of the studio, he didnt expect her to answer. "Because I promised I'd never take it off and I don't know about others, but I like to keep my promises."
Mitchie sat under the unbrella, the soft sand comforting under the fabric she was sitting on. Her hands dug into the golden grains and she closed her eyes trying to forget the day, trying to block various sounds that stung her ears in the over crowded beach they were in in Florida. She didn't care that people were staring at her. She didn't care that people were staring at Shane and Franchesca just a couple of feet away from her or at Nate sitting beside her. She didn't care paparazzi were in various hiding positions taking their pictures, she just didn't care. She didn't want to care anymore. Let people think what thye want, all they do is make up shit when they know nothing but lies. She didn't care about what the next days headlines would be, they were ought to be breaking since Mitchies accusations on national televison about Shane breaking promises. It was actually the first time anyone from their camp had commented on the break up. Stories came and went, but no one confirmed or denied anything and people were left to decide in their head about what had actually happened until they heard her speak for the first time about something everyone was so eager to know about.
After the interview no one had said a word to her about what she had said not even Shane's father. Everyone was too afraid she would blow up and they didnt want to bring it up again. Mitchies eyes opened as she felt something cold brush against her skin. She looked down to see Danielle offering her her bottle of sunscreen to which Mitchie politely denied.
"Mitch, you wanna go for a walk?"
"Sure, Kid, but you sure you're not scared of all those fan girls ready to rape you?" Her eyes pointed towards the sea of people staring in their direction.
"Six..." Nate mumbled, loud enough for Shane to hear along with a confused Mitchie. She stared at Nate trying to figure out why he and Shane were throwing out numbers as they enjoyed the walk they were taking on the crowded Brazilian beach. Their body guard followed closely behind, trying to keep the hounds of people that were following and photographing them away. "Four..." Shane declared, looking straight ahead. Mitchie followed Shane's line of vision and rolled her eyes finally understanding what the two brothers were debating about. "Pa-lleeze I'd give her a three, but the girl next to her is definitely a seven in my book. Have you seen her? Look - she's smokin' hot..."
"Shane.." Nate spoke. "Please remind me to keep your girlfriend away from Caity, I'm afraid Mitchie's turning lesbian and she's gonna take my girlfriend with her." He joked.
Instead of giving Nate some witty reply, Mitchie stayed silent- the sun, the crowd and all the noise making her feel uneasy. She tugged at Shane's shirt, leaning into him as they walked. He looked down at his girlfriend, bringing his face down to her hair "Baby, are you alright?" He asked, wrapping his arm around Mitchies shoulder protectively. "I don't feel too good, Shane. I'm gonna ask Bog Rob to walk me back to the hotel, kay?"
"No, wait..I'll come with you."
Mitchie stared at the stick placed on the counter, her hands too shaky to hold on to it. The nausea had been familiar to Mitchie for the past couple of weeks, but she condemned the idea of consulting a doctor because she refused to be the one falling sick on tour, specially this being her first big headlining tour. She thought it was just a stomach bug that refused to go away, she didn't want to think of what it could really be. There was no way, but still she stood there in her hotel bathroom, staring at a stick that would define her future in many ways. Clara had gotten her the pregnancy test because, being around Mitchie she saw how she would throw up a couple of times a day, how her mood seemed to change within seconds and how often Mitchie would be in the need to go to the bathroom. She noted everything, after all she was Mitchies assistant and they were all the symptoms she herself had during the time of her pregnancy a couple of years ago.
Mitchie had thrown the pregnancy test somewhere in her luggage, laughing when Clara even brought up the topic, but this had gone too far too long. She just needed to be sure. The beeping sound assured her that her future had been sealed. She looked up, the blood in her body running cold.
It was positive.
Before her mind could register anything she was brought back to reality by Shane's voice. "Mitchie, hey, are you alright in there? It's been a while...I'm worried. What are you doing?"
She had completely forgotten about Shane who she had told to sit on her bed while she went to the bathroom, totally unaware of what she was doing in there. "Shane.." She called, her voice shaky.
"Yeah, babe I'm here...do you want me to come in?"
"Um..okay."
Shane warily opened the bathroom door which Mitchie had forgotten to lock in a rush. 'Hey, are you o-" he stopped in a second, eyeing the stick in Mitchies hand. "Is that a-"
"Hey, don't touch it, I peed on it!" Mitchie yelled quickly, moving the stick away from him.
"I don't care!" He stepped forward, cornering her so that her back was pressed against the sink and he was standing in front of her. "Mitchie, is it a-what does it say, Mitchie?" He asked nervously.
"Shane I'm sorry I-I didn't even...I don't...when, I..how-"
"Mitchie.." He said calmly, bringing his hand to the side of Mitchies face, cupping her cheek. "baby, what does it say? Am I going to be a father?"
"I'm so sorry, Shaney-I yes...it's, it's positive..I- you're...I'm pregnant." She said urgently, trying to get the words out, hoping as they left the huge weight she felt in her heart would go too. It didnt. She leaned into Shanes chest, fisting his shirt as tears left her eyes.
"Shh Mitchie, baby..." He cooed, wrapping his arms around her body and rubbing circles on her back to calm her. "It's okay, shh...don't cry. This is great news..." He stated, sounding enthusiastic, but Mitchie was sure it was only because he wanted to calm her now sobbing state. "I'm gonna be a father, we're gonna be parents." He kissed her wet cheek, holding her face. Mitchie refused to meet his gaze. "Hey, baby, look at me-" He ordered softly. "Mitchie.." She looked up, her vision blurry. "This is good news.." He stroked her cheeks, rubbing his nose against hers. "...we're gonna be the best parents in the world. We're gonna-"
"Shane you're twenty one, I'm eighteen...I dont think...I'm not ready for this." She finally spoke.
Shane felt his heart shatter at Mitchie's words. She was upset- he knew that, but this child was a part of both of them. It was a living, growing little baby. He could never think of getting rid of it. He could never hurt it.
"We'll do whatever you want." He assured, holding her close. He could feel her ragged breath on him. Her heart was beating so fast, and eventhough he had managed to calm her tears, her breathing was still uneven. "Just please, please don't cry." He begged.
So...it was an engagement ring, she was prego, she still has the ring on (what do you think about that?), what do you think happened to the baby? and well...what do you guys think od this chapter as a whole? I wanna know what you guys think...plus, I updated much sooner than usual :P I dont want to say much more because I dont want to let you guys know anymore right now...more in the next chapter :P
Thank you for all the reviews guys...I literally jump every time I find one and do the happy dance...literally, except I'm a miserable dancer lmao
Anyway please please do tell me what you all thought...and I'm going out of town on friday for a couple of days so the next chapter wont be so soon, but I'll try to post it before christmas if not then def before new years for you guys! :D
But tell me what you guys thought of this and how do you all like Joe's new hair? Couldnt resist asking :P
I just have a feeling Im not gonna get a good response from this chapter...prove me wrong!
review and let me know guys :D