Shane sat in a chair next to Kaylie's bed. He wasn't sure how long they'd been back at the hotel, but he expected the other guys to be back soon. She'd fallen asleep almost as soon as he set her down in her bed and pulled the covers over her body, but he was too afraid to leave her side. If anything happened to her, he didn't know what he would do.

He missed being able to crawl into bed next to her and wrap his arms around her waist. He just wanted to tell her that everything was going to be okay, and he wanted to mean it. To be able to take all her pain away. To make her see how beautiful she was. To tell her how much he loved her.

"I love you, Kaylie," he whispered. He knew she couldn't hear her, but he needed to tell her anyways. He wouldn't get the chance when she was awake.

There was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it, not surprised to see Jason there.

"How's she doing?"

"She's sleeping," he replied simply.

Jason looked at him uncomfortably for a moment. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, I guess," Shane agreed reluctantly.

"Let's go to my room so we don't wake her up," Jason suggested, heading for the elevator.

Shane followed him. When they reached Jason's room and stepped inside, he stood awkwardly near the door. He wasn't even sure how to act around his best friend anymore. He resented him for keeping them apart, but he needed a friend now more than ever.

"What's up?" he asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn't think he really wanted to hear what his friend had to say. Lately, it seemed like whenever they talked, he ended up getting hit. But Jason had already taken Kaylie away from him, so nothing else really seemed to matter.

Jason sat down in a chair and rested his head in his hands. He didn't say anything for several minutes, which only made Shane more uncomfortable. He wanted to walk out of the room and go back to Kaylie, to make sure that she was still okay.

"You know why I didn't want you to date her, right?" he finally said.

"Because I usually just hook-up with girls and she's been hurt by guys like me before," Shane replied, not sure where this conversation was going.

Jason nodded. He was quiet again for a moment. "It's different now. You care about her."

"It's been different from the start," Shane promised. He looked his friend square in the eyes. "I love her."

"I was afraid that this was going to happen…that she was going to stop eating when I made you break up with her. But I thought I would be able to be there for her and make sure she was okay…that she would come to me, like she always has. But after you broke up with her, she came and started screaming at me, and then she wouldn't talk to me. She was doing so well…I thought it was over. God, it was such a nightmare when it was bad. You don't understand. Seriously, be glad you don't understand. I thought if I could just protect her, everything would be okay…but I can't protect her from everything. I don't want to see her get hurt again. I just want her to be happy. You, too…you're my best friend. I know I haven't been a great friend to you for the past few months. I should have just listened to her," Jason admitted. "She's in love with you."

Shane's eyes widened. His heart started pounding. He hoped he had heard that right. "Did she say that?"

Jason nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah, she did."

"So…"

"So…I guess you should be together," Jason sighed. "It's okay. I don't like it, but it shouldn't be about me. I want her to be happy, and you make her happy. After I saw you take care of her today, I realized that you really care about her. I've never seen you like that with another girl. But I swear to God, if you ever hurt her…"

"I won't," Shane grinned. "Never."

"And you can't protect her from everything, either," Jason reminded him. "But you still better try to."

She grinned and nodded. He stood, looking at his friend for a moment. He wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next.

"Are you waiting to be excused or something?" Jason laughed. "Go. Make my sister happy. And then make sure she eats something."

Shane bolted out of the room and down the stairs to Kaylie's door. He still had her key in his pocket from when he had opened her door earlier, so he slid it into the card reader and pushed the door open.

He sat down next to her on the bed and nudged her gently. "Kaylie, wake up. Come on."

"Hmm?" she mumbled groggily, her eyes fluttering open to meet his.

He kissed her. When he broke the kiss and smiled down at her, she looked up at him, confused and surprised.

"It's okay," he grinned. "Jason said he's okay with us being together."

"Really?" she asked excitedly.

He nodded. He touched her cheek gently. "Kaylie…I'm in love with you. I was so afraid that I'd never get to tell you that. I love you so much."

She grinned. "I love you, too, Shane."

"I want you to talk to someone, about the eating," he told her seriously.

Kaylie shook her head. "I'm fine, really, I just…"

"You're not going to do that thing you always do and get your way," he interrupted her. "Not this time. You need to talk to someone. I want you to be healthy."

She bit her lip nervously. He could only imagine what kinds of memories were running through her mind at that moment, but he wasn't going to back down. She sighed. "Okay."

"Now I'm supposed to feed you," he told her, handing her a room service menu. "It was part of the deal."

She laughed and pulled his face towards hers, pressing her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. Sure, she was stubborn. And she almost always got her way. Yeah, she'd probably still be flirty around other guys, and Shane would be a little jealous. Yes, he'd probably always watch what she was eating carefully when she was even a little bit upset, just to make sure that they would never get back to this point. She wasn't perfect, and he knew that.

But she was perfect for him.

A/N: The end! Please review! Thanks for reading! I kind of love them, but I feel like I write too many Shane stories and I usually fail at sequels, so I might write a Jason or Nate story and have Shane and Kaylie be secondary characters. We will see.