*Disclaimer*

I do not own Camp Rock or any of its characters but I do own up to the fact that I am VERY, VERY sorry for not updating in a long time.

Chapter 11: Crawling Back To You

Slowly but surely my senses began returning to me. I vaguely remembered walking back to my seat and thanking the campers and staff alike that came to congratulate me on a great performance. I remember assuring Benji and Lena that I was fine even though they noticed my weird behavior.

My mind was still spinning from Shane's kiss and his words. Why? Why did he kiss me?

Luck… Really?!

He needs me…

Why is he telling me all this now?! Didn't he know I was determined to forget him?!

Silently I sat down in my seat and continued to stare in a daze not even really paying attention to Connect Three's performance.

Caitlyn was the only one not fooled.

"What happened, Mitchie?"

Yes, what did happen, Mitchie?

Again, instinctively my fingers touched my lips as if I could still feel Shane's lips pressed upon mine.

"He kissed me," I said softly.

"HE DID WHAT?!" Caitlyn exclaimed causing a few heads to turn and look in our direction.

I blushed in embarrassment while Caitlyn muttered an apology for disturbing everyone.

Then she turned back to me and leaned in closer so she could whisper loudly, "Shane? Shane kissed you?"

I nodded.

"Why did he do that? What game is that jerk playing at?" Caitlyn began rambling furiously but I was no longer listening, my eyes instinctively looking up to find Shane.

He was truly born to perform as he poured his heart and soul into the song. There was a presence about him that drew people into the performance with him and I was no exception. Unconsciously I found myself getting sucked into the performance singing along to the lyrics and tapping my foot along to the beat. I had almost forgotten how much I loved watching him onstage.

Soon I heard Jason and Nate strummed the last note of the song and the audience was up on their feet cheering once again. Caitlyn and I stood as well clapping for the guys.

"That jerk! Just you wait! Once he gets off that stage I'm gonna have a few words with him. I can't believe him! Who does he think he is? I otta-"

"It looks like you're going to have to wait Caitlyn," I pointed out as we watched Shane approach his mic once again.

Nate handed off his guitar to a stage hand and seated himself at the drums while Jason now had an acoustic guitar rather than the electric one he had earlier.

"So how's everyone doing tonight?" Shane asked addressing the audience and grinning out at the adoring crowds.

The audience cheers louder in response.

"I hope you guys don't mind that we stick around to do one more song."

The cheers reached to ear splitting levels.

"Good. So we're gonna slow things down with this next song. We hope you like it," Shane said.

His eyes swept over the audience once more before his gaze met mine. He looked intently at me for a moment as if he was trying to tell me something but then a small smirk appeared on his face and he winked at me.

Smug bastard.

A dead silence fell upon the camp as Jason began strumming the opening chords and then Shane began singing.

"Everybody knows that I was such a fool to ever let go of you
Baby I was wrong
Yeah I know I said, we'd be better off alone
It was time that we moved on
I know I broke your heart, I didn't mean to break your heart
But baby here I am."

Nate and Jason's voices came to join Shane's for the chorus.

"Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you."

"Oh. My. God… Mitchie," I heard Caitlyn gasped out as a realization hit her just as it had me.

I couldn't agree with Caitlyn more.

Shane was singing about us! Why was he doing this? Why now?!

Nate took over for the second verse and I broke my gaze away from Shane's to momentarily watch Nate.

"I know you're in there and you can make me wait
But I'm not gonna wait
It's the least that I can do, just to tell you face to face
I was lying to myself, now I'm dying in this hell
Girl I know you're mad, I can't blame you for being mad
But baby here I am."

A few squeals escaped from some of the female audience members as Shane and Jason came to stand near Nate at the drums to sing the chorus together.

"Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and now I'm crawling back to you
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in?
I was running from the truth and now I'm crawling back to you

Halfway through the chorus Shane suddenly broke away from Nate and Jason and moved closer and closer to the edge of the stage.

Whether it was for a more dramatic effect for the song or he was literally getting on his hands and knees, Shane nonetheless dropped to the floor on his knees to sing the next part of the song.

He was now directly at eye level with me and tried as I mite I couldn't seem to find the will to pull away from his gaze.

"If you could see these tears I'm crying
Touch these hands that can't stop shaking
Hear my heart that's barely beating
You will see a different man"

His eyes had never been more readable till now as he allowed me to see everything he was feeling at the moment. I saw the pain he had felt over the last few months that we had been apart and the fear in his eyes that he could lose me again. There was desperation as his eyes silently begged me to forgive him and not leave but that was the problem.

Was I ready to forgive Shane?

"What is he doing," Caitlyn whispered frantically looking at Shane as if he were deranged.

However I wasn't even listening to her and I was still reeling in shock.

"But baby here I am
Banging on your front door
My pride spilled on the floor
My hands and knees are bruised and I'm crawling back to you (Come on)
Begging for a second chance
Are you gonna let me in? (Let me in)
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you

Banging on your front door (Darling)
My pride spilled on the floor
I was running from the truth, now I'm crawling back to you, yeah
Now I'm crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you
Crawling back to you"

Just as the last note faded the audience erupted into loud cheers and the guys bowed before leaving the stage.

A quick glance at Caitlyn showed that she was just as shocked and blown away by their performance as I was.

I stood up numbly along with Caitlyn and clapped for the guy's great performance but still somewhat in a daze.

"I wanna go say congrats to Nate. Do you wanna come with me or would you rather not face him yet?" Caitlyn asked me unsure.

I shook myself out of my daze.

Better get this over with Torres. No better time than the present.

"Yeah, sure. I'm gonna have to talk to Shane sooner or later."

Caitlyn and I got Ella and Lola to watch out for our campers before the both of us made our way backstage to greet the guys.

The guys were standing close together talking to Brown when we arrived and immediately silence fell upon the backstage area.

Caitlyn looked between Shane and me before grabbing Nate, and Jason dragging them off elsewhere.

"Umm…Mitch… We're gonna go, okay? Don't worry about the campers. We've got them. I'll see you later back at the cabin."

Jason looked as if he were about to protest but a death glare from Caitlyn immediately shut him up. He pouted as Caitlyn and Nate dragged him off. Brown discretely managed to leave us alone as well.

Now it was just us two and a couple of stage hands.

"So…," Shane began slowly, "what did you think of the song?"

"It was beautiful Shane," I answered with sincerity.

"You've come a long way from your cookie-cutter PopStar days," I said teasingly earning a small grin from him.

"You know it was for you right?" He asked looking directly at me all traces if humor gone.

"Look Shane… It doesn't change anything between us."

"It changes everything Mitchie."

"No it-"

"Why are you trying so hard to push me away?" Shane asked cutting me off. "I know my apologies aren't enough but I'm sorry Mitchie. I'm sorry for hurting you, for not telling you about Evelyn. I'm sorry for pushing you away and I'm sorry that I don't know what to say to make it up to you. What more do you want from me?!"

I sensed the anger rising within him as his shoulders tensed, his whole body rigid, and his jaw clenched tightly.

The old me would have probably backed down and take him back, but now I was pissed.

Did he really think that it would be that simple?

"What do I want," I hissed out at him and walked right up to face him seething with my sudden rush of anger.

"You are unbelievable! Did you really think a couple of apologies and a nice song was going to fix everything Shane? That it was going to erase the way you tore my heart out and ignored me for nearly a year?! Guess what Shane, it doesn't!"

I saw Shane's gaze soften and I decided to take a few calming breaths before continuing.

"Look Shane… I don't want to fight with you anymore. I know you're sorry and I really did like the song…but there's too much that's been done. What I want… What I need is time…space… Away from you."

I saw Shane flinch and I immediately wanted to take back my harsh words but I knew that they needed to be said. I needed time to myself, away from Shane to sort out my thoughts and feelings.

For a moment it looked as if Shane was going to argue back. An internal battle seemed to go on in his mind as he stared at me hard but then the fight seemed to have left his face and his expression softened. Tentatively he reached out a hand to cup my cheek, caressing it with his thumb.

Against my better judgment I leaned into his caress having missed the familiarity of his touch. The warmth of his hand could be felt all the down to my toes. It was amazing that I didn't start purring as well.

It was with that thought that made me freeze.

Damnit. I was doing it again. I was letting Shane get to me again, letting him toy with my emotions. I had to get away.

I forced myself to grab his hand that was caressing my face causing him to stop and looked at him dead in the eye showing him that I was serious.

"Okay Mitchie," Shane said reluctantly while dropping his hand and backing away slightly.

"I don't like this but I'll give you the time and space you want. See you around Mitchie."

Then with a nod he started off in the direction the others had left in earlier.