The next day was sunnier and brighter and Tess and Ella finally arrived, making their way to Brown's cabin as the office was closed.
"He better be in here," Tess muttered. "It's 6 AM and I want to sleep."
"Same. I haven't even put on my kiwi and avocado face mask in 24 hours!" Ella gasped, checking her face out with her compact mirror. "I have bags under my eyes and now I'm going to get frown lines and wrinkles!"
Tess rolled her eyes but she understood the troubles of perfection and flawless faces and figures as she was a model herself.
"Seems like he's in." she said, seeing a silhouette in behind the window blinds.
Tess ditched her things with Ella and walked up to the door, knocking firmly on it.
Soon after, it opened.
"Mrs. Torres?" Tess and Ella asked, shocked.
Connie smiled widely. "Girls! Brown said we were expecting you! A day late but that doesn't matter. If you're looking for Brown he is on stage, preparing the welcome announcement for the campers today with Dee. And if you're looking for your cabin key, here you go." she said, unhooking a ring from beside the door and handing it to Tess.
"Thanks so much! We'll see him later because we literally got no sleep." Ella said, already struggling to manoeuvre hers and Tess's things away.
Connie nodded in sympathy. "Well, be careful and we hope to see the both of you for lunch?"
"Yeah, definitely!" Tess grinned.
...
Nate woke up with a start, Shane and Jason towering over him.
"You okay, bro?" Jason asked, helping him sit up.
"Yeah. I'm fine..." Nate mumbled.
Shane sighed, taking a seat beside him. "You can tell us anything, you know? If it was about your near death experience then it's okay to feel frightened. Heck, Jay and I were scared to death about the thought of losing you. It was like our lives flashed in front of my eyes and I remember the moment you camr home from hospital when you were born and I asked when they were taking you back. Basically, our lives would have stopped if you weren't there. And I'm sure that we can say the same for mom, dad, Amy and Felix."
"Yeah. It was about... you know. I had a nightmare that Caitlyn did actually fall and I never got the chance to restart our relationship."
"Well, she's alive and tomorrow is her birthday." Jason smiled. "If you don't remember, she loves people making a big fuss about her on her birthday."
"Then what are we waiting for? I'm going to take a quick shower then we can plan out what we're going to do for the most beautiful girl in the-"
"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves here." Shane chuckled. "Just go and shower, we'll meet in the Mess Hall."
As Shane and Jason left, they smiled at each other.
"Our gift arrives tomorrow. Mara gave me the details." Jason said.
"Great. And just in time. Although, I do seriously wonder what Nate's got her since he's the one fighting for her love."
Jason laughed. "Did you quote Cheryl Fernadez-Versini?"
"Yeah and so?" Shane playfully retorted. "It's a good song!"
"Yeah, yeah."
...
"How you feeling?" Mitchie asked Caitlyn who seemed much brighter.
"Fantastic, given yesterday's events!" Caitlyn replied, tying her up as she dug around her suitcase for her swimsuit. "Hey, have you seen my polka dot navy bikini?"
Mitchie giggled. "You packed it in my suitcase, remember? So you could have space for your short daisy dukes."
Caitlyn giggled in reply as she dug through Mitchie's suitcase. "Can you believe it? I'll be 24 tomorrow!"
"Yeah, you will!" Mitchie said just as enthusiastic as her friend. "I've requested to leave for a spa nearby but Brown said that lessons start tomorrow so that plan was shut down."
"That's fine. We can go after camp."
Mitchie sighed. "If we can find the time to."
Caitlyn bit her lip, closing her eyes. "Mitch, don't do that. I know you're bursting to get another album done but... you've actually neglected our friendship. I've felt like a personal assistant or something because you were always busy to hang out."
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to..." Mitchie sighed, pulling her friend to sit down beside her. "I promise you that the first four months leading up to Christmas are ours. And Mara's. And probably Nat's."
Her friend grinned, giving her a tight hug. "Look, I'm going to see if I can find Nate. We really need to talk after what happened."
"Yeah, you do. He was worried sick and I don't think I've ever seen him cry before. He was desperate to get to you but we had to tell him to let it all sink in before he did anything."
"I was fine anyway. Your mom took good care of me."
Mitchie fidgeted, realising the slight pause. "And...?"
"Promise me you won't be mad or freaked out or... hate me?"
Mitchie became alarmed as she fully turned to face her best friend. "Why? What is it? Are you sick? Are you pregnant?! Oh my God, you're pregnant! Is it Nate's? Wait, you guys haven't been together that long unless you've been sneaking around behind my back for months. Gosh! It's Nat's! Nat Larkin! That's why you guys needed to talk-"
"Bitch, breathe!" Caitlyn giggled.
"Sorry. Went off on one then. So, tell me!"
Caitlyn took a deep breath in, holding Mitchie's hands in the process. "I'm ill."
Mitchie's heart sank. "Ill? In-in what way?"
Caitlyn smiled a little, brushing a strand of hair from her friend's face. "I'm bipolar. I've known for months but... I couldn't let it sink in. Until now. When... I nearly died, my whole life flashed before me and I had to tell you before it was too late but I'm still the same-"
Mitchie jolted away from Caitlyn, almost falling onto the ground. She steadied herself using the bedside table and shakily stood up. "Why... why did you tell me?" she tearfully asked. "Was this when you had 'food poisoning' and you requested to see your family doctor instead of the doctors on tour?"
Caitlyn nodded, wrapping her arms around her, tears falling down her face. "I wanted to tell you then but my mother forced an appointment on me. It was short notice and she had to know if she gave me her illness."
"And those-those pills! I thought that they were birth control pills because you and Nat were active in the..."
"I lied. Nat and I only had the first time. I stopped taking birth control and switched them with my bipolar control pills." Caitlyn shakily admitted.
Mitchie shook her head. "I genuinely feel sick, right now. I'm your best friend! Practically your sister! We've been living together for years and you-you kept this from me? I-I need some time."
With that, Caitlyn watched her friend leave and fully broke down, her sobs filling her trousers, drowning her in sorrow.
...
Nate happily hummed a tune, pretty glad with himself that he had managed to get his future-girlfriend the best birthday gift ever.
"What's got you singing, birdie?" Lola asked, joining him in step.
Nate chuckled. "I got a birthday gift for Caitlyn. Where's yours?"
Lola gasped before smirking. "You think I wasn't prepared? Who do you think gets her hair dye? Tomorrow's colour is blue."
"Nice," Nate drew out, fist-bumping her fist.
"So, what's yours?"
Nate smiled. "She told me something a couple of days back. So, I got her..." He looked around cautiously before leaning into Lola's ear. "Her first guitar for her first single!"
Lola grinned. "Oh my Gods, that's great, dude! Damn, you're making the rest of us look like sh-"
"Mitchie? What's wrong?" Nate asked, spotting Mitchie storming off towards the lake.
"Ask your girlfriend!" she hissed back, running her hands through her hair as she storned off.
Lola frowned. "They never argue,"
"Yeah. I'll check on Caitlyn. You follow Mitchie and see if she's okay."
Lola nodded. "Yeah, sure. See you around." she called out, following the distressed superstar.
Nate rushed towards the girls' cabin and stumbled in, seeing Caitlyn's crying figure.
"Caitlyn?" Nate whispered, sittiny beside her and bringing her to his chest. "What's wrong? What happened?"
"I thought she would understand. I thought she would see that I'm still me!"
"What are you talking about, babe?"
Caitlyn shrugged. "Promise me you won't think any less of me?"
Nate kissed her head and rubbed her shoulder gently. "I promise but now you're scaring me."
"I-I told Mitchie a deep and dark secret and she didn't take it too well so you have to be there for me if you want us to make a go of whatever we are."
Nate finally kissed her lips. "I promise."
"I'm ill. I'm bipolar."
Nate looked down in shock as his grip slackened a little. "Why are you scared to tell me?"
"Because... you'll see me differently." Caitlyn sighed.
Nate shook his head. "You'll be surprised to know that my mom and my little sister are bipolar. I won't think any less of you because you have an illness. It's part of nature, to be different. I should have been the person you were the least scared about telling because I'm aware of it, I live with it. You should see Amy... She's still that firecracker you met ten years ago."
Caitlyn grinned a little. "So she didn't change?"
"She did but she grew with it. She's more mature than she would have been if she was considered normal. How about I give you her phone number and you can talk to her about it."
"That would really help. Thanks." Caitlyn smiled, kissing him. "But what about Mitchie?"
"I think she was just upset that she missed the signs. She blames herself for being a crap friend."
Caitlyn nodded, turning her head to view a picture of her and Mitchie in Mitchie's first year at camp.
"Enough about this situation. We have to talk about last-"
"Will you be my girlfriend?"
Caitlyn laughed, her laughter ringing through Nate's ears like a melody. "Yeah, alright! Mr. Get-to-the-point."
Nate grinned, tackling her with kisses just as Mara walked in.
"Oh, God!" she screamed. "I'm needed somewhere which isn't here apparently. And if you guys do come up for air, we have a group meeting in the Mess Hall in about ten minutes... Make that fifteen." she grimaced.