a\n: Wow, it's been a long time since I updated this. Sorry to all those who have been waiting patiently, and thanks for all of the adds-- seriously, those were great reminders to get back to this. This is pretty much the end-- there's a fluffy little epilogue I might add on, haven't decided yet. But for now, enjoy, and thanks for reading!

How To Woo A Ghost

Chapter Four: Big Date

Annie was avoiding him. Mitchell had tried to tell himself that wasn't the case, but after three days of not seeing her when she never left the house, it wasn't difficult to piece together what was happening. Annie regretted their kiss, their friendship was ruined, and he might never see her again.

It was turning out to be a fantastic week.

"Are you and Annie in a fight?" George asked him the fourth morning of silence.

Mitchell looked up at him in surprise. George had been so lost in his world of Nina and babies and sympathy hormones lately that he hadn't seemed to be noticing much else. Turned out the guy could still occasionally surprise him. "Sort of," Mitchell admitted.

Folding his arms, George looked at Mitchell sternly. "What did you do?"

Well, Mitchell could bluster about why George would assume it was his fault, or lie about what had happened, but frankly, he was too tired. "I told her I was in love with her."

George's face blanched and his eyes became the epic size usually reserved only for cartoon characters. "You what?"

Sighing, Mitchell settled back to listen to George's freakout, managing to zone out most of it aside from a few key phrases. "What were you thinking?" "Ruin your friendship..." "Think with your head for once instead of your--" Hey! Now that was just insulting. Finally, George seemed to tire himself out and leveled a finger at Mitchell, puffing out his chest. "If you hurt her, I swear, I will kill you."

It was said in all sincerity, so Mitchell tried his best not to luagh but couldn't keep a little smile from creeping out. He quickly sobered, though, as the reality of the situation came back to him. "I don't think you have to worry. Annie's made it pretty clear she doesn't feel the same way..."

He swallowed, losing himself in the memory of their kiss. She'd responded, hadn't she? He hadn't forced himself on her. She'd been the one to pull him closer and moan his name like he was God's gift to women. So what had he done wrong? How had he scared her off? If only she would talk to him...

When he looked back up, George had a hand pressed over his mouth, and his eyes were unusually shiny. "Oh my gosh," he breathed, "you really are in love with her." He pumped a fist in the air. "Mitchell is in love!!!"

Mitchell raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, these mood swings are making you seriously batty."

But nothing seemed able to knock George off his high. "I have been waiting our entire friendship for you to actually genuinely care about someone, and now you finally do. It's so... human!"

He pulled Mitchell into a hug. Mitchell gave in, laughing, though once again, Annie's face flashed before his eyes, sobering him. "Well, if it's human to have your heart broken, no wonder they're all such bastards."

George stepped away, leveling Mitchell with a stern gaze. "Just don't become a sappy, broody Edward Cullen, all right?"

Mitchell started to nod in agreement, then caught himself. "Hold on-- you've read Twilight?"

Eyes widening in panic, George swallowed. "Well... you must have read it, too, to know what I'm talking about!"

The two men eyed each other warily. "Let us never speak of this again," Mitchell said finally, and George nodded in fervent agreement.

#

Up in his room, Mitchell listened to music, trying to avoid anything from the '40s that might make him think of Annie, though of course that was a lost cause. She was all he could think about, and she wouldn't even let him talk to her, or see her for that matter. He'd thought he spotted her up in the hallway earlier, but by the time he'd managed to call out her name, she was gone.

Despite his promise to George not to become a romantic sop like Edward Cullen, Mitchell couldn't help but think how much easier Edward had things with Bella. At least she couldn't disappear into thin air whenever she got angry with him. Though in truth, if Mitchell was going to identify with any fictional vampire, it would be Angel. That guy could kick some serious ass. Though of course, Mitchell had only watched Buffy because Sarah Michelle Gellar was hot. He hadn't cried at the finale or anything...

The ringing of his cell phone thankfully interrupted him from his current train of thought. Mitchell answered, surprised to see it was George calling. "George? Where are you?"

"I'm downstairs with Janey Harris," George hissed into the phone, "and she won't take no for an answer!"

Bloody hell. What had he gotten into with this woman? Sighing, Mitchell made his way downstairs.

To his surprise, he found Janey in the kitchen with George, pressing him up against some cabinets, running her acrylic nails along his face. "So just how involved are you and Nina, anyway?"

"Very," George gulped. "We're happily in love-- engaged, actually."

"Oh, I don't mind that..."

Mitchell stared in flabbergasted shock. "You picked George over me?"

"Mitchell!" George yelped at the sight of him, attempting to evade Janey's claws. "Save me!"

Janey whirled to face Mitchell, giving him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Mitchell. You're cute, and everything-- really, really cute-- but I can't stop thinking about George's rolls."

Mitchell wrinkled his nose. "I hope you're being literal and not using some kind of creepy euphemism."

It was Janey's turn to wrinkle her nose at him. "Loofah-what?" She shook her head, a coy smile spreading over her face. "I always did have a thing for smart guys." She looked back and forth between the two men, ignoring their mounting expressions of horror. "Maybe the three of us could--"

"No!" George and Mitchell shouted at once, emphatically.

Janey pouted. "Oh, the two of you are no fun--"

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

All three turned to see Annie storming into the room, eyes ablaze, looking for all intents and purposes like some sort of vengeful goddess. She planted her hands on her hips, glaring impressively at Janey. "You aren't welcome here anymore."

Managing to look both taken aback and affronted, Janey blinked back at Annie. "Jeez, Fanny, take a Midol or something."

"Leave, right now, before I throw you out myself," Annie continued, nostrils flaring. "Mitchell doesn't belong to you and he never will, so buggar off."

George timidly held up an index finger. "Actually, for the record, she came for me, not Mitchell."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "You came for George?" Janey shrugged and nodded, and almost immediately Annie's anger visibly deflated. "Oh, that's fine. You can take George."

Sputtering, George held up his hands. "No, no, she cannot take George. George is engaged!"

"Yeah, that's right," Annie remembered aloud. "Jeez, Janey, what is it with you and engaged men?"

Janey shrugged. "Dr. Rubenstein says it's 'cause Daddy never let me play with dolls as a girl, and--" A sudden thought seemed to strike her. "Wait, how do you know about my history with engaged men?" Another thought occurred. "And why are you wearing the same outfit as yesterday? The same outfit that..." Janey's eyes widened in horror, and she clutched inexplicably at her ankles, crying "Don't chop off my feet!" as she raced out of the house.

A moment of silence followed. George cleared his throat. "So, care to explain that last bit about the feet, Annie?"

Annie shrugged. "Not really, no."

Mitchell watched Annie carefully, hardly breathing-- okay, so he didn't need to breathe, but metaphorically speaking-- afraid that even the slightest move would spook her off. But finally, he could bear it no longer. "Annie," he said quietly.

Her gaze snapped up to his and just as quickly snapped away. "I should go--"

He reached for her. "Annie, please, we need to talk about this--"

George cleared his throat, making a bee-line for the living room. "I think I'll just--"

"George, don't go!" Annie instructed, still avoiding Mitchell's gaze.

George froze in place.

"George, get out of here," Mitchell growled, glaring at him.

George looked plaintively back and forth between them a moment. "Sorry, Annie," he said finally, "bros before hoes." And he ducked out of the room.

The air was tense, charged. Mitchell forced a smile, venturing a step closer. "Thanks for trying to save me from Janey."

"I didn't come to save you," Annie snapped, "I came to spite her. You were purely incidental."

All right. So clearly she was still a little angry. Mitchell took in a deep breath, charging in. "Listen, about the other night--"

Annie shook her head vehemently, holding up her hands as if to block her ears. "I don't want to have this conversation!"

Something inside of Mitchell snapped. "Well, too bad, because we're bloody well having it!"

One of the mugs on the counter burst. Mitchell ducked as shards went flying everywhere. "Jeez, Annie, control yourself. I don't even know what you have to be upset about. I'm the one that put myself on the line--"

"Oh, really?" Another mug shattered. "You tell me you're in love with someone else and then kiss me and you don't know why I'd be upset?"

Mitchell furrowed his brow. "I said what?"

"Last night," Annie reminded him, "in the toilet. You said you didn't care about Janey, that you're still in love with Shelly."

It was such a silly, simple mistake that Mitchell wanted to laugh out loud. "I'm not in love with Shelly."

He tried to reach for her, but Annie shrunk away, blinking back angry tears. "I don't want to be your rebound, Mitchell." Two mugs shattered this time.

"Annie ." He let out a frustrated breath, running a hand through his hair. "You're not the rebound girl, especially not to me. You're..."

But he felt too ridiculous saying it. Annie's dark eyes finally ventured up to meet his, curious. "What?"

Mitchell shook his head. "I can't say it. It's too cheesy."

"I'm what, Mitchell?" Annie pressed.

He closed his eyes, too embarrassed to say it straight to her face. "You're... the once in a lifetime girl. And believe me, I'd know. I've lived enough of them."

When he finally ventured to open his eyes, Annie was staring at him with a look of wonderment on her face, like she couldn't believe this was happening. Taking courage from this, Mitchell closed the distance between them, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry if I was too cryptic before," he murmured, "but I'm in love with you. Not Shelly, not Janey-- definitely not Janey. You're it for me, Annie."

He'd never seen a smile so radiant as hers was in that moment. She pulled him to her, kissing him soundly, and it was so searing that all the remaining mugs in the room shattered simultaneously. "I love you, too," Annie murmured when she pulled away, smiling against his ear, "you idiot."

A knock at the door interrupted the moment. Unable to stop grinning, Mitchell glanced over his shoulder. "I wonder who that could be?"

"I imagine it's Andrew," Annie said.

Mitchell's grin faded. "What's he doing here?"

"He's taking me to the zoo," Annie informed him, squeezing his hand as she pulled away.

Mitchell stared after her. "But... you're not still going?"

"Of course I am," Annie returned. "I told him I would, didn't I? And I need the chance to break it to him gently, face-to-face." She grinned at him. "This is a once in a lifetime girl he's missing out on, after all." She stepped in closer to Mitchell, lips teasing his ear as she added, "Besides, consider this payback for inviting Janey Harris into my bloody house."

And with one parting, teasing smile, she was gone.

A stunned Mitchell wandered into the living room, where George was watching the tely on high volume. Seeing Mitchell, he muted it, looking up expectantly. "So, how did it go?"

Mitchell pondered it a moment, a slow grin spreading across his face. "She loves me," he said happily.

"Mitchell, that's brilliant!" George rose to his feet, stretching happily. "I'm going to make something to celebrate. Fancy anything in particular?"

Remembering Janey's earlier words, Mitchell shuddered. "Anything but your rolls."

George grimaced along with him. "Agreed." Clapping Mitchell's shoulder, he made his way toward the kitchen.

Mitchell sunk down on the couch, a content smile on his face as he prepared to settle in front of the the tely for the afternoon, waiting for Annie to come home. Annie, who loved him. Did life get any better than this?

From the other room, a squeal interrupted his reverie, followed by a, "What the hell happened to all the mugs???"

The End