A/N: Hi, lovelies :) Here's the next chapter! Thank you for reading and reviewing!

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Mitchie and I remain with our foreheads pressed together for another minute, before I bring my hand that isn't intertwined with hers up to stroke her cheek gently. I pull back to look into her big brown doe eyes with what I'm sure is a dopey smile on my face. Apparently my facial expression makes Mitchie giggle.

"You're cute," she says.

"You're cuter," I counter. "God, I can't believe how sappy I'm being right now," I say in disbelief as I let myself fall backwards until my head hits the pillows on my bed. Mitchie releases my hand before lying down next to me on her side. I turn my head slightly to look at the brunette to find her smiling sweetly at me.

"What?" I ask coyly.

"Nothing," she responds with an adorable smile. I roll my eyes playfully at her before reaching to reconnect our hands. A beat of comfortable silence passes between us before Mitchie speaks again. "So…about the other day…" she trails off. I scrunch my eyebrows, unsure of which day she's referring to. "What you heard on the radio," she clarifies. My eyebrows lift in surprise at her willingness to bring up the obviously sensitive topic.

"Mitchie, we really don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I try to reassure her.

"I know," she pauses to smile at me sweetly. "I want to talk about it. You deserve to know."

"Okay," I concede, squeezing her hand gently.

"Okay…it's kind of a long story, but it started this past summer. I went to a summer camp. It's called Camp Rock…have you ever heard of it?" she asks. I only shake my head in response. "Oh, well it's a camp for aspiring musicians. People from all over the country go to it to learn from professionals to kind of find their sound. Anyways, that's where I met Shane." It dawns on me that I had never even questioned why Mitchie was at the Gray's house that night we met. It never occurred to me to ask how they knew each other. I decide to remain silent though, so as not to interrupt Mitchie.

"Him and his brothers were the 'celebrity guests' this year and everyone was super stoked to meet them. Well, somehow throughout the course of the summer, Shane and I got really close. He would always ask me to sing for him and would show me special treatment. It became pretty clear that we both really liked each other…a lot." I swallow heavily and my eyebrows scrunch together in uncertainty. I'm not sure I like where this story is going.

Flashback

Mitchie's POV

"Shane stop!" I scream. "If I fall into this water, you're coming down with me!" I playfully threaten him. For the past thirty minutes the dark-haired boy had been tipping the canoe we're back and forth, almost sending me in a few times.

"Why? Scared of the water Torres?" he teases. I roll my eyes at his antics, but I can't help but chuckle a bit. "Alright, alright. I'll stop. Anyways, I wanna show you something." I smile in anticipation before we both begin rowing back to shore.

Once we reach the shore and tie up our canoe, Shane helps me out of my life jacket and removes his as well. He takes my hand and leads me to a secluded spot by the water's edge where I see a blanket laid out with his acoustic guitar and a picnic basket on top of it. He smiles down at me excitedly, and I can't help but return his grin.

"Did you do all of this?" I ask, squeezing his hand in mine.

"Well, technically I had Nate set it up while we were on the water, but…yeah," he says shyly.

"This is so sweet, Shane." I stand on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his cheek.

When we reach the blanket, Shane gestures for me to sit down. He sits across from me and immediately picks up his guitar and begins to play.

Every time I think I'm closer to the heart

Of what it means to know just who I am

I think I finally found a better place to start

No one ever seems to understand

I need to try to get to where you are

Could it be you're not that far?

You're the voice I hear inside my head

The reason that I'm singing

I need to find you

I gotta find you

You're the missing piece I need

The song inside of me

I need to find you

I gotta find you

When Shane finished his song I was grinning from ear to ear, unable to hold back my emotions.

"Shane, that's…that's beautiful."

"You think so?" he asked bashfully. I nod my head, smiling. "Well, I actually wrote it for you, Mitchie."

Wait, what?

My words get caught in my throat. I think Shane notices my reaction, and he reaches over and grabs my hand lightly.

"Look, Mitchie. I really like you. You're fun to be around and you never treat me like I'm some rock star from another planet. I feel normal again when I'm with you…not to mention, I love hearing you sing. Your voice gives me chills. And when we sing together…it's one of the most magical things I've ever heard."

"Shane, I…" I don't know how to thank him for what he just revealed to me so I just say, "I really like you too."

Later that week (FINAL JAM)

I can't believe it's finally here: Final Jam. I've been preparing all summer for this performance. Everything is riding on how well I do tonight. I could potentially get a recording contract out of this if all of the cards fall into place. It begins to dawn on me just how important this is for me.

As I watch all of my friends and fellow campers sing their hearts out in front of the judges, I can feel myself becoming increasingly more nervous. I don't know if I'm ready for this…what if I get up there and completely embarrass myself in front of everyone? What if my voice goes out right before I get on stage? Oh my god. What if I fall off of the stage?!

"Oh my god!" I gasp. I turn around to find Shane holding his hands up in a defensive position and breathe a sigh of relief. "Sorry. You just scared me," I explain.

He chuckles lightly before saying, "I was just coming to wish you luck." He pulls me into a tight hug and whispers in my ear, "You're gonna do great out there." I pull back and smile up at him, already feeling much better knowing that Shane will be in the crowd rooting for me.

"Thank you," I say sincerely. Shane leans down and pecks me on the cheek before smiling and walking away.

Just as I turn back around to face the stage again, one of the stage managers taps me on the shoulder and says, "Mitchie Torres? You're up next," and hands me a microphone. I take a deep breath and wait for my cue. When I hear my track playing in the background I step onto the stage and can feel the nerves melting away as I begin singing.

I've always been the kind of girl who hid my face

So afraid to tell the world what I've got to say

But I have this dream bright inside of me

I'm gonna let it show, it's time to let you know

To let you know

This is real this is me

I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now

Gonna let the light shine on me

Now I know who I am

There's no way to hold it in

No more hiding who I wanna be

This is me

My confidence has come back completely as I walk down the stage stairs to begin my second verse, which goes by without a hitch. When I finish singing the second verse, I hear something: a male voice singing. I look up to see if I can locate the familiar voice and find Shane standing at the end of the walkway, singing the same song he played that day by the lake.

After I get over the initial shock and the butterflies that suddenly appeared in my tummy, Shane and I finish the song together ending up standing together in the middle of the walkway. I hear the crowd going insane around us, but I can't bring myself to look away from Shane. It feels like there's nobody else here but us.

End Flashback

"That night started out as one of the best nights of my life," Mitchie continues. "It even managed to get better when I was announced as the winner of Final Jam." She pauses and smiles at the memory, which in turn makes me smile. "Everyone was congratulating me and hugging me, and I just felt like all of my dreams were coming true all at once…" Mitchie trails off and her smile quickly fades. "But my emotional high was short lived. After all of the commotion had died down I finally got a moment to myself to let it all soak in, when Shane walks backstage. I was so excited to see him that I just ran up and threw my arms around him, expecting him to do the same, but he didn't even hug me back. He pushed me away." I see Mitchie's brown eyes fill with moisture and immediately feel an uncomfortable twist in my stomach. "He proceeded to tell me how basically all summer he had been leading me on, so that the vote for Final Jam would be swayed in my direction. In his words, 'It's not a big deal Mitchie. You have the best voice out of everyone here and your tight little body will help us sell this single with no problem.'" The tears that Mitchie had been so desperately trying to hold back break free of their confines and stream down her porcelain face. I feel rage welling within myself as I witness firsthand the pain that Shane put Mitchie through.

"He told me that everything between us was a business transaction and it would be better if it stayed that way," Mitchie manages to say through her tears. The anger I feel turns into sympathy at the sight of the seemingly strong, levelheaded girl nearly sobbing in front of me. I bring my hand up to gently wipe away the droplets, wishing I could stop them altogether. The brunette doesn't say anything else for another minute or so. I stroke her arm while she tries to collect herself.

"Needless to say, I was pretty heartbroken at that point. But I had already signed a contract and was forced to record the song with him. I had no choice in the matter. The label even offered me a record deal, but I turned it down because that would've meant that I'd have to see Shane's face more often. That…asshole managed to ruin my dream and soil my trust. It's been almost an entire year and I still can't listen to that stupid song without wanting to burst into tears."

Silence falls over us and I can sense that Mitchie is done talking. I very carefully lift my hand to rest lightly on her cheek. I lean in slowly and press my lips to her soft, unsuspecting ones. She reciprocates gently and I allow myself to linger in that position for few moments. When I pull back, I only do so slightly leaving our foreheads touching. My eyes remain closed so that I can take in the intimacy of this moment.

"Thank you for sharing that with me, Mitchie," I whisper. I feel her nod her head against mine. I pull back now wanting to look at the girl. She opens her tear-stained eyes to meet mine and I smile appreciatively. "Mitchie, I need you to know that I would never ever hurt you that way. You deserve so much more than some self-serving, egotistical boy who only cares about his career. You deserve honesty and kindness and someone who will encourage your dreams…you deserve love. And if there's one thing that you can believe, it's that you can trust me." I make sure not to break our eye contact once while I speak. I want Mitchie to hear and see the sincerity in my words.

"I do trust you, Alex. You're my person."

Those words ring through me, nearly shaking me to my core. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Mitchie to open up to anyone after what Shane put her through. So, for her to openly admit that she trusts me…I couldn't be more grateful than I am in this moment. All I want is for Mitchie to be happy. If that means simply being here for her when she's ready to talk about things, then that's exactly what I'll do. No more pushing, no more badgering, no more pressuring. Just patience.

I find myself smiling from ear to ear at the girl, and can't help but to reciprocate her words.

"You're my person too, Mitchie."

A/N: There ya have it folks. Think of this chapter, since it's pretty short, as Part 2 of the last chapter. What would you guys like to see happen in the next chapter? I'm open to suggestions! Please review and tell me what you think :)

Until next time, xoxo.