Disclaimer for entire story: nothing at all recognizable is mine, except any original characters and the plot line.

Picks up directly from Mitchie & Shane's conversation in the canoe, and continues on from there. Includes everything from the movie, but fills in the missing time in between, and continues afterward.

* * * first few lines in italics are NOT mine; they've been taken directly from the movie "Camp Rock" as a reference for the starting point of the story * * *

Shane: It must be the same for you too huh? Because of your mom and her job at Hot Tunes, people are probably always fake around you.

Mitchie: Uh, yeah, right. Totally.

Shane: You know, it's nice talking to someone who gets it.

Mitchie: Yeah. You too.

There was silence for a moment, and Mitchie wracked her brain, trying to come up with something to say to get them off of this topic. Her eyes lit up as she landed on something she knew would set Shane off in a completely different direction. "So I thought I was going to have a song sung for me?" she asked with a smile.

"Oh, so that's the only reason you came out here?" Shane asked, his face falling in pretend disappointment.

"Pretty much," Mitchie said with a grim expression. "You were being all suave about needing me to tell you if your voice sounds better over here. So prove it, hot shot."

"Ooh, bringing out the big words now," Shane said, a smile creeping onto his face. "Alright," he nodded, "but it's going to be a little hard to do, considering I have no lyrics yet."

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "So you lure me out here with the promise of hearing an original song, and then you back out?" She shook her head. "Gotta say, not too impressed right now," she crossed her arms, but her smile betrayed her angry words.

Shane rolled his eyes right back at her. "Come on," he said. "Isn't a guy allowed to have a few problems while writing his next hit single?"

"Wow," Mitchie said, dropping all pretenses of being angry in favour of her laughter. "That's not assuming much, is it?"

Shane smiled. "I was joking," he admitted. His face lost its humourous look, and he looked down toward the bottom of the canoe. "I think the reason I don't have the lyrics yet is because I'm worried about this being a flop. It's… different than our usual sound."

"But that's what you said you wanted, right?" Mitchie asked, fully invested in the conversation about his music. She liked the way that he talked to her about his music and his feelings on where it was taking him, because it made him seem less like the arrogant jerk she'd heard so much about and more like a regular guy who was unsure of himself. Mitchie realized that maybe he did have that clue after all.

"Well, yeah, of course I want to sing the songs that make me happy," Shane said. "But it's hard to put my soul on the line like that when everything Connect 3 is known for is the typical pop stuff."

"That song you sung me the other day was amazing, Shane," Mitchie said, trying to reinforce what she'd told him before. "You said it wasn't finished, but it should be; it's great the way it is. And if the one you're trying to write now is anywhere near as good as that, you've got the beginnings of another guaranteed platinum album on your hands."

"Thanks," Shane said, a slight redness making itself known on his face. He'd put a lot into the song 'Gotta Find You'. It was fueled by his passion to find that girl with a voice, but it could be taken as a metaphor for so much more. It made him happy to know that someone else enjoyed the personal element he was starting to feel he needed to add to his lyrics. "You heard a little of the music for this song, right?" he asked.

Mitchie nodded. "A little, yeah. You were playing it when I walked up."

"It's also the one I was playing that day we talked on the dock."

"Talked? You mean when you went all egotistical celebrity and bit my head off just for walking past you?"

"Well that's the one that needs to have the lyrics written," Shane said, ignoring her jibe at him.

"You don't have any idea what you want it to be about?" Mitchie asked. "You don't have any lyrics written for it yet at all?" She found this hard to believe; with the amount that she'd seen Shane either playing his guitar around the camp or carrying it around, she had to figure he'd been working on his music at every available opportunity. Which, considering he was only instructing a few classes at a summer camp, should have resulted in a lot of free time.

"Not really," Shane said, not quite meeting Mitchie's eyes. When she didn't answer, he looked up and caught the look she was giving him. "Okay, so I have a few lines written," he admitted. He grew defensive as she rolled her eyes at him again. "Hey! I just don't know how to fit them in."

Mitchie pondered that for a second. "And what do you want the song to be about?"

Shane thought for a moment, before answering with surety, "I've started to find my love for music again, and I'm beginning to realize it doesn't have anything to do with the perks I get from doing it. I want the song to be about getting that connection back, and how nothing else really matters."

"Sounds like you've got a pretty decent base for the lyrics right there," Mitchie said, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. "The music's more upbeat than 'Gotta Find You' is, if I remember correctly, and you want to sing about how badly you want to play, and how much it means to you to get back to the simplicity of it all. It sounds to me like it's coming from your heart and soul, Shane, and if you just think on it, I'm sure you'll come up with a great way to say it."

Shane just looked at her, amazed. "Sounds like you understand the process."

Mitchie gave a small smile. "I guess you could say I've messed around with writing songs before," she admitted. "It's like a therapy for me; I write what I feel at the time, and I know that, for me, the words come right from my heart. So if you do the same thing, you'll be fine. I know it."

"I'd love to hear one of yours sometime," Shane said.

"Well," Mitchie said, sitting up straight again. "That's a privilege few get."

"Um, you're in a canoe listening to Shane Gray talk about his song lyrics with you. And you want to talk about privileges?" Shane said teasingly, as if that were the best possible thing imaginable.

"Pretty high opinion of yourself, don't you think?" Mitchie said, catching on to his self-mocking tone.

Shane held up his hands and shook his head. "Hey, I'm only basing it off of what I know about myself." He paused. "Based off of what I've read about myself, of course," he added with a smile.

Mitchie laughed. "Well, there is definitely no shortage of information about you floating around in the media." She liked that they were able to do this, this bantering thing. She also liked that Shane was able to make fun of his image, because it showed that he understood there were problems with acting the way he was portrayed. And, if she allowed herself to admit it, she also liked the way Shane made her feel when he shot that adorable smile her way. She shook the thoughts from her head, and came back to reality just in time to hear Shane's answer.

"I know, I like to read about what I've been up to in the nightly paper with my supper," Shane joked.

"Oh, my God! What time is it?" Mitchie asked suddenly, her eyes growing round.

Shane looked down at his watch. "Umm, about quarter to four. Why?" he asked, glancing back up at her.

"I'm supposed to be at practice for Final Jam! Tess is going to kill me," she moaned, throwing her head back and leaning back on her arms.

Shane smiled. "Can't piss off the princess," he said sarcastically.

Mitchie rolled her head back around to the front and raised an eyebrow. "I'd love to dissect your tone, but unfortunately, I have to get back to shore." She paused. "That's if you can manage to figure out how to help me paddle us back." She grinned and reached for her paddle.

Shane opened his mouth in mock surprise. "Ugh," he scoffed, dipping his paddle into the water and splashing Mitchie with it. "Who's the jerk now?"

Laughing, Mitchie unsuccessfully tried to shield herself from the water she was being bombarded with by Shane. "Um, considering how uncalled for this is, still you," she said with an attitude and a smirk.

Shane just laughed and stopped his splashing. "Okay, okay; I'll stop. Let's get you back," and with that, he dipped the paddle back in the water and began to expertly guide their canoe back towards the beach.

As they hit land and Shane jumped out of the canoe and pulled it on shore, Mitchie raised her eyebrow. "Pro paddler much?" she questioned, accepting his offered hand to help her out of the canoe.

Shane grinned at her. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Mitchie Torres," he said, trying to be mysterious.

"If you're trying to be mysterious so I'll stay and ask questions, it's working," Mitchie grinned, before her voice turned somber. "If it weren't for Tess, that is," she added.

"Bit presumptive of you, thinking I want you to stay, isn't it?" Shane bantered.

"Well, if I read the signals wrong, I'll just be going," Mitchie nodded her head, and turned around, hiding her smile as she started to walk away from him.

"And now you're playing unfair," Shane smiled as he caught her arm and spun her back around to face him. He looked into her eyes for a second before turning serious. "I had a lot of fun this afternoon, Mitchie. Thanks for listening to my song," he paused. "And my rants."

Mitchie laughed. "Everyone needs an outlet," she said, before she too turned serious. "But that song, Shane? That song is going to be amazing. It was my privilege to listen to it," and with that, she mock bowed down to him, making them both laugh again.

They started walking up towards the cottages in companionable silence. As they reached the fork in the path where they would go their separate ways, Shane turned to Mitchie. "Can we do this again?" he asked.

"What, paddle out to the middle of the lake and pretend that you suck so much you can't get us back?" Mitchie grinned, poking him in the chest.

"Ow," Shane gasped as he pretended he was hurt by that. "Your words hurt almost as much as your hands."

Mitchie smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that," she answered, referring to his original question. "It's too bad I have practice, because I was having a lot of fun, too."

"Well…what are you doing tonight?" Shane asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"I'm pretty open after eight," Mitchie answered, thinking of helping her mother in the kitchen after supper. "Unless Tess pulls me into another practice," she rolled her eyes.

"Well make sure she doesn't."

Mitchie raised her eyebrows back at him. "Why? Do I have plans?"

"You sure do," Shane answered, nodding his head with a smile on his face.

"Ooh, right! I was supposed to meet Caitlyn for a walk! Thanks for reminding me," she grinned, and pretended to leave up the path to her cabin.

Shane rolled his eyes and laughed. "Do you want to hang out with me or not?"

Mitchie turned around, hands crossed over her chest. "Who's being presumptive now?" she said, mocking his earlier words.

"Hey, I just thought we had fun today is all," Shane said, mistaking her attitude as serious instead of the joke she meant it as. "It's nice to be around someone normal," he said softly, looking down towards the water again.

"Hey, Shane, I was just joking," Mitchie said seriously as she uncrossed her arms and moved back towards him. "I'm definitely up for hanging out later."

"Yeah?" Shane asked.

"As long as you're not a jerk to me anymore," Mitchie said, and this time she knew Shane knew she was joking.

"Can't make any promises, babe," he said in a British accent, a playful smile on his lips as he backed away from her up the path to the food hall. "It is a part of the rock star image after all."

Mitchie rolled her eyes, and moved up the path towards the cabins as she yelled, "Fine, rock star, I'll see you at eight."

She'd just begun to wonder where on earth she was supposed to meet him, when she heard a voice yell through the woods, "By the lake! Dress warm!"

Mitchie didn't answer. She simply smiled to herself as she hurried towards her cabin before Tess flipped out at her for being late.

A/N: Okay, this was started literally the day after the movie first aired, and a lot of it has been written for a long time now. It's just taken me a while to psych myself up to post it, but know that it's going to be a long one! Sorry if the idea's been done!

Please review :)