Mitchie fell to her knees on the pavement. Sobs shook her and pain gripped her, holding her fast.
He was gone.
She knew that he was trying to protect her by leaving her, but he wasn't. He was hurting her more than anything else could.
Finally, she looked up. How much time had passed? She didn't know. The wind was blowing harder now. She shivered in her lightweight jacket and pulled it closer to her as she stood and started to walk back up the street. Suddenly, she heard an engine not that far off. She looked up and saw a car coming towards her. It was her car. As it pulled up beside her, she saw that Nate was at the wheel. He looked at her; his face full of pain and regret.
"I brought you car back," he said, trying to smile. Mitchie reached up with her jacket sleeve and rubbed the tear stains off of her face.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"I'd like to talk. Hop in?"
Mitchie thought for a minute and then ran around to the other side of the car and got in.
"Shane told me. What he said to you."
Mitchie put a hand up to her face. The tears started to fall again; slowly, but steadily. The pain was still fresh, no matter how long or short a time it had been since it had been made. Nate looked over at her and gasped.
"Oh, Mitchie! I am so sorry," he said, a tear trickling down his own face. "Me and my big mouth!" he whispered to himself.
"No, no. It's ok, Nate. I'm sorry. I should be able to control my emotions better than this."
"No," Nate said. "Don't you dare think that for a second. You have every right to ask like this."
"Oh, Nate," Mitchie said, her throat choked with tears. "It's just that….I….I love him so much and now he's gone."
Mitchie put both hands to her face now and started to sob once again. Nate put his free hand on her back and rubbed it.
"I know you could never…well, I mean….I could….be with…you…if…," he stuttered after Mitchie had stopped weeping.
"No one could ever take Shane's place, Nate," Mitchie said.
"No, of course not," Nate said, shifting uncomfortably. "But I'll always be there for you when you need it," he said after a moment, turning his head slightly to look at Mitchie. "Always remember that."
"I will," Mitchie said, smiling slightly. Then, she reached over and gave Nate a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."
Nate bit his lip to keep from smiling.
"You're welcome," he said.
Mitchie looked ahead at the road. It was then that she decided. She wasn't going to let Shane do this to her. She was going to get him back.
"Do you have your cell phone with you, Nate? I forgot mine," she said.
"Sure," Nate said, grabbing it out of his pocket. "Here you go. Who're you calling?"
"Shane," Mitchie stated, punching in Shane's number.
"What's going on?" Nate said; puzzled.
"I can't live without Shane, Nate. It's impossible. I'm going to try and get him back."
Nate looked over at her, smiling. Deep inside him, he loved Mitchie. But he knew that she should be with Shane.
"I'll do anything that you need," he said.
"Thanks," Mitchie responded, putting the phone to her ear. After a few rings, the answering machine picked up. She pressed end and tried his cell phone. There was no answer there either.
"Is no one picking up?" Nate asked.
"No," Mitchie answered, down heartedly. "I think I want to go home and lie down. Do you mind?"
"Of course not. In fact, I've only been circling around your block and the next. Here you are," he said, pulling up the curb by her driveway.
The same place Shane parked when he gave me the car, she thought to herself, but she then pushed it from her mind.
"I'll put this in your garage and catch a bus," Nate said. "I'll try my best not to get run over too." Mitchie nodded, expressed her thanks for the short ride, and went inside. Her mother greeted her at the door.
"Mitchie?" she asked, concern clouding her face and voice. "What's wrong? Did something else happen."
"No," Mitchie lied. "I'm fine. I just want to take a nap."
"Ok," her mother responded, doubtfully. "But you still look very pale. I'll come in and check on you later."
Once more in her room, Mitchie got in her pajamas and fell into her bed. She desperately wanted to sleep; sleep and forget, but sleep would not come to her. She tossed and turned beneath her covers, but she could neither sleep, nor get Shane off of her mind. His voice echoed in her head like a thousand bells.
'Just forget me,' it said, over and over again. She got up and started pacing about the room.
"I can't forget you," she moaned aloud to herself. Finally, she decided she would go and see him.
Twenty minutes later, she was standing in front of his house, looking up at the great door. A large, dark, wooden plank that stood between Shane and herself. She plucked up all her courage and knocked.
A moment later, the doorknob jiggled, and then the door started to open. Mitchie's heart sped up, and then there he was. Standing in front of her.
"Hello," she managed to say.
"Mitchie," Shane started to say. "I thought I told you not to-,"
"I know, I know," Mitchie interrupted. "You told me to not come and see you and to forget you. But I can't. You occupy my every thought. I can't push you from my mind, no matter how hard I try. I love you."
"Mitchie," Shane said, shaking his head. "I could never have the same relationship with you that I had. We'd have to begin all over again."
"I don't care!" Mitchie cried. "I love you. It wouldn't matter to me."
"Mitchie, I…" Shane started to say; then he stopped.
"Well, then," Mitchie said, a moment later. "Can I at least kiss you? One last time?"
Shane thought for a moment, and then sighed.
"Sure," he said, lifting half of his face into a smile.
Mitchie reached up and touched her lips to his. Suddenly, to her astonishment, she felt Shane's arms closing around her; pulling her closer to him. She gave in and they stood there together in the twilight, holding each other.
Wait, what's going on? What's going to happen!? You'll just have to find out in the next chapter. OH! And, important note. I'm pretty sure this is my second to last chapter. Which means, this next one will be my last one (and, the first chapter story I have all the way finished!! (((that in itself is both amazing, astonishing and WONDERFUL!!)))))
Anyway, but I LOVE this subject, and have really enjoyed writing this particular story. What should I write next? I like to write stories that seem really sad, and have a lot of emotion and stuff in it and are cliffhangers at most every chapter (like this), but have a happy ending. I REALLY would like some suggestions. Otherwise, I guess I'll just kinda' disappear from FanFiction for a while. PLEASE message me with ideas for more stories or send me a review. PLEASE!