So I fell behind. I sorry. lol I got busy and didn't have time to write. But here's the next chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

Nearly half an hour after she hung up on Brian, she got a text from Shane, saying that he had to do something after class which was why he wasn't home yet, but then went on to say that he was on his way home and that they'd do something after he got there. It should have made Mitchie happy, because she had been waiting all day to see Shane. But now she just felt sick after talking to Brian. She wondered if she should tell Shane that Brian had been calling her, but then quickly shook off that idea. That would just cause problems all around. She could handle Brian. As long as he stayed in Baltimore. She knew it was stupid to get paranoid about him showing up, considering that there was no possible way of him finding out where she was, but still, he had so many sources and knew so many people, it was hard to know what would happen with him. But she couldn't worry about it. Her life was finally getting better, and she wasn't going to let her past haunt her anymore. Couldn't let it control her life. She had to take control, and she would do anything in her power to do that.

And of course if Brian came, that would also be putting Shane and his family in danger. She couldn't let that happen. Wouldn't let that happen. They had done nothing to deserve that, and she would just have to make sure that Brian stayed as far away from the Gray's as possible. She didn't have any other choice.

But maybe she was just overreacting. She probably was. But she could never be too careful. She would just have to be prepared for anything. That was the only solution. No use worrying about it, she just had to make sure that she had a plan no matter what happened. It was the best she could do for the moment without knowing what was going to happen. Brian would probably try to call her some more, but she knew she couldn't answer. He had to get the picture. He had to realize that she wasn't going back. That they were over. She couldn't tell him directly. That would just lead to trouble. Way too much trouble.

Overall, no matter what happened, she would do anything to make sure that the Gray's weren't in any possible danger. She owed them that much.

Shane showed up about twenty minutes later. Mitchie hadn't done much except stay glued to her desk chair, trying to calm herself down from her worry. She didn't need Shane figuring out that something was wrong. She didn't think she had it in her to lie to him. Which was weird.

"Hey," He said with a smile when he slipping into her room, making sure to shut the door behind him. She stood up to greet him, and was happy when he felt his lips peck hers. When he started to pull away, Mitchie put her hand on his cheek to try and keep him close, but pulled back when he flinched as soon as her hand made contact with his cheek. She scrunched her eyebrows and that was when she noticed that his cheek was slightly red.

"What the hell happened to your cheek?" She asked, frowning at the mark on his face. It must have hurt or else he wouldn't have flinched when she touched it.

Shane let out a dry chuckle. "After class I caught up with Rachel and ended it. She didn't take it too well." He explained.

Mitchie's eyebrows shot up when she finally realized what happened. "That bitch slapped you?" She demanded, shocked at how angry she actually was. That girl had no right to slap Shane. The whole break up thing was coming anyways, and that bitch had to have known it. Now Mitchie wanted to track her down and beat the shit out of her. It was only fair. Mitchie scowled, plotting out the girls demise in her head when Shane interrupted her planning.

"It's okay, Mitch. It's not that big of a deal. Small price to pay." He said, smiling softly, and Mitchie knew he was right.

He may have gotten slapped, but at least that girl wasn't his girlfriend anymore, which was exactly what Mitchie had been waiting for, because now she didn't have to worry about that bitch anymore. Not that she would in the first place, but at least Shane wouldn't have to feel guilty about cheating on her.

"Still, I wanna beat the shit out of her." She scowled, but it was quickly wiped off her face when Shane's lips landed against hers and she easily fell into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Shane's neck as he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

But before it could get anymore heated, a knock on the door made them jump apart as quickly as possible. Which was good, because after they did, Denise poked her head in the door, and was obviously surprised to see Shane standing there with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, as if they had some evidence that showed that he had been touching Mitchie in a way that his mother would probably disapprove of.

"What are you two doing?" She asked accusingly, making Mitchie gulp and cross her arms, trying to act like nothing had been going on.

"Me and Mitchie were just going to go and grab a bite to eat. That okay, mom?" Shane pulled off the whole innocent thing perfectly, and it made the accusation fall from his mothers face. Mitchie was going to have to learn that. Innocent wasn't exactly what she was best at, obviously. But that was a trick she was going to have to learn for sure. It might help her get away with more things. Like her thing with Shane, which obviously needed to be hidden for now.

"Yeah, that's fine. You two have fun. Oh," Just as she was about to leave, she popped her head back in. "Mitchie, did you finish your homework?"

Mitchie rolled her eyes. "Yes, I finished the stupid homework." She muttered with a scowl.

"Good. You guys have fun. I assume you'll be skipping dinner, then?"

Mitchie looked at Shane, not knowing what he had in mind for them to do, but he nodded his head, and Denise left after she got her answer.

Mitchie let out a breath, relieved that Denise was now gone and she didn't have to worry about hiding what she and Shane were doing. "So, what exactly are we going to do?" She asked him.

"Thought we'd go get something to eat, and then just wing it from there." He grinned and she laughed.

"Not much for planning, are you?" She smiled when he laughed and shook his head.

"Nope, not really. Unless I put some serious effort into. But it's not like I had all that much time."

"Whatever. I'll be expecting more next time, just so you know." She teased, playfully nudging him before exiting her door, ready to get out of the house and spend time with Shane.

He ended up taking her to a cool restaurant that overlooked the beach. Obviously he remembered that she liked the beach enough to get distracted the first time she ran away. Except now it was under better circumstances. Much better circumstances. The food was good, but she was just liking that she got the chance to get to know Shane a little bit better without having to worry if his family was going to accidentally find them doing something they weren't supposed to be. There weren't exactly any ground rules set about hooking up with one of the boys, but still, it made it seem like it was just an obvious rule. That they were supposed to be like her brothers or something. She cringed at the thought of having to treat Shane like a brother, especially since she hadn't done so well with her other actual brothers. She much preferred to continue hooking up with Shane.

"So, you ever gonna tell me more about what your life used to be like?" Shane approached the subject carefully, which was a good idea, because that was so not the ideal conversation topic. But he looked like he really wanted to know, and that freaked her out. There were some things that he really shouldn't know about what her life was like in Baltimore. She didn't want to run him off.

"Why do you wanna know?" She tried to make it sound teasing, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. But he also needed to get the idea that she really didn't want to tell him. Because he wouldn't like what he would hear.

He sighed and looked back down at his plate, picking at his food with his fork. "I'm just curious. I mean, you're so on edge sometimes. You're defensive, and you're so rough. And...intimidating. I just...wanna know how you got to be that way."

Okay, that definitely wasn't what she was expecting. She didn't know she was all those things. It certainly didn't feel like she was. Especially when she was back in Baltimore, it didn't feel like she was that way. She always felt scared and in desperate need of drugs or alcohol. That's all she really remembered. Always watching her back, on the look out for other gangs, getting ready to run as hard as she could if she had to.

She sighed. "Have to be that way. If you lived in that area it was all a game of survival. You had no other choice. If you were weak you were dead. All there was to it."

Shane frowned at that. "What all went on?" He pushed, not sure if he wanted to hear more, but felt more like he needed to. He had to know what she had been through. He just had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't there anymore, that whatever she had been through couldn't hurt her anymore.

"A lot of turf wars. Mainly. Drive-bys happened all the time. You ran into the wrong gang at the wrong time, you better run like hell or hope your gang comes and backs you up, otherwise, you're screwed. A lot of drug trafficking too. And if someone wanted something, they basically had to steal it or go without it. Or get your hands on some drugs and sell it for cash."

Shane poked at his food some more before trying to think of something to say. "And you've been through all of that?" He hated the idea of that, absolutely despised it. But if that was how life was in that area, what choice did she have?

She shrugged. "Yeah, I had to. That was all that went on and there was no way to avoid it. When I met Brian, it only got worse." It was probably stupid to bring up Brian, but she had to say it because it was the truth.

"What about your mom?" She held back a wince, knowing that was coming. No way to avoid it.

"She didn't care." She scoffed. "She didn't give a shit about what happened to me. All she cared about was getting her drug fix."

Shane frowned some more. "She was an addict?" He sighed when Mitchie nodded her head in response.

There was silence for a few minutes, Shane trying to process what Mitchie had just told him. He hated that she had gone through so much. Hated that anyone had to go through something like that. No one deserved that. It made Shane happy that Mitchie no longer had to go through that. But she still had the scars. And would always have the scars. But at least now her life could get better. Be better.

"Who's Dylan?" Shane asked suddenly, making Mitchie drop her fork and freeze up, looking up at Shane with wide eyes.

"Where the hell did you hear that name?" She snapped, making Shane sit back at her sudden hostility. But through the anger that had suddenly made an appearance in her eyes, he could see the pain and sadness behind that. And he instantly knew that he had approached a very tough subject for her.

"You talk in your sleep." He said quietly. He immediately regretted bringing up the subject when he saw tears brim her eyes. It made him feel bad, but he was still so curious about who this Dylan was. She always talked about Brian, but that was the only person she had ever talked about. No one else. And then he heard her say Dylan's name in her sleep and it baffled him. He had to know. But if she didn't want to tell him, he would just have to deal with it. But he really needed her to open up to him.

"It's none of your business, Shane." She told him through gritted teeth. She couldn't do this. Couldn't tell him. Couldn't get herself to talk about it. Could barely get herself to think about it. Before Shane could say anything else, Mitchie jumped up from the table and stormed out of the restaurant. She could feel the tears coming, and she didn't want to cry in front of Shane, didn't want to cry at all, but it was unavoidable at this point. She was already worked up to that, and there was no stopping it now.

She stalked out to Shane's Hummer as the tears finally fell down her cheeks in streams, not able to find the strength to hold them back.

It was a few moments later that Shane came running out after her. "Mitchie," He ran up to her and turned her to face him before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, I'm so sorry."

Mitchie tried to stop crying, but it was too hard, because now Dylan was at the forefront of her mind. And she couldn't push it back.

After a few moments she calmed down, finally and pulled back wiping at her cheeks to get the moisture off of them. Embarrassed, she glanced down and avoided Shane's gaze. That was practically the second time she had broken down in front of him. At least he was handling it like a pro.

"I'm sorry, Mitch." He whispered, wiping away the tears that lingered on her cheek that she missed.

She shook her head. "Don't be. I overreacted."

She sighed and just leaned against Shane, trying to get herself together again.

"Why don't we go take a walk on the beach?" Shane suggested, pulling away from her and holding his hand out to her while gesturing towards the beach that was just in walking distance.

Mitchie just nodded and grabbed his hand and let him lead the way to the sand and waves.

They walked in silence for several moments, Mitchie mesmerized by the waves, and still stuck in her thoughts that were plaguing her when she wanted nothing more than to just forget them and never have to think about them for the rest of her life. She was glad Shane didn't press on about the subject, even though she could just tell he really wanted to. Maybe she needed to get it off her chest. Maybe it would make it feel better. She knew she could trust him. It's not like he would tell anybody.

"Dylan's my brother." She told him quietly, making sure he heard her over the sound of the waves.

Shane's step faltered, but he regained his composure a moment later and they kept on walking. "You have a brother?"

Mitchie took a deep breath and nodded her head. "Yeah, I do."

Shane waited, but she didn't offer anything else. "What happened? Where is he?"

Mitchie gulped and tried to prepare herself. "He left. When I was twelve. He had just turned eighteen and was ready to get out of there as soon as he could. He left me all by myself with my mom. We were really close, that was when things were somewhat okay. He always looked out for me, made sure I was fed and comfortable. He did his best to watch out for me. He was the only person I had. And then he just left. He promised he would come back for me. But he never did. He never came back."

More tears leaked from her eyes, but she ignored them, and instead focused on the feel of Shane's hand in hers.

"Mitch," He finally spoke, not knowing what to tell her, what he could say to help ease her pain. That was impossible. She had scars that cut so deep that there would always be pain no matter what. And he hated that for her. He couldn't stand it.

"He left me at the worst possible time. I couldn't deal with it anymore. With life. That's when I started cutting. After a few weeks, I realized that he wasn't going to come back. That I was stuck. After everything that happened, I had to focus the pain somewhere else. My heart hurt too much." She whimpered, the wounds opening up and the pain coming back full force. She had to tell him the parts she left out. She needed everything out in the open. "And after what happened with Cameron," She whimpered out his name. "I couldn't take life anymore."

Shane could practically feel her pain, and it was killing him. But this new name intrigued him. "Who's Cameron?" He asked carefully, not wanting to set her off.

"My brother." She choked out before taking a deep breath, needing to get this off her chest and out in the open. "Four months before Dylan left, Cameron was caught in a drive-by shooting. He was killed." She whimpered. "Shane, he was only ten. He was just a little boy." She couldn't continue, that was all she was able to get out. It hurt too much to try and give Shane any details. He knew, that was it. He didn't need all the details.

"Oh, Mitch." He whispered, pulling her into him and hugging her tightly, letting her sob into him. He couldn't imagine all the pain that she has been put through in her life. It wasn't fair for someone to go through all that. It just wasn't right. "I'm so sorry." He didn't know what else to say. Had no idea what he could do. There was nothing. He could just let her get all of her emotions out and be there for her, and that had to be enough.

It was several moments later when she finally calmed down and they were able to start walking again. He didn't say anything, letting her make the first move in what they needed to do next.

Another few minutes later, she stopped and turned to face him. "Thanks, Shane. For listening."

He offered her a small, sad smile. "Anytime, Mitch. I want you to know that you can trust me. With anything. I-"

But he got cut off when she placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to hers, making sure to show him just how grateful he was that he listened to her, and put up with her. That's all that she needed, and he gave her everything he needed and more.

Once again, sorry I fell off track, but ya know, no one's perfect. lol Please review anyways.