So I fell behind. I had this written down in my journal for nearly a week and just now typed it up. But since it's so late, I made sure to make it extra long. Second longest chapter ever! lol Don't forget to review after! The last chapter didn't get so many and it kind bummed me out. lol
Chapter 9
"Is there something going on between you and Shane?" Nate asked immediately after barging into Mitchie's room.
Mitchie looked up from her homework in shock, not expecting his presence or his question. And she just got started on that damn homework too, now she'll get distracted and keep putting it off. Damn it. It had been a few days since Shane had picked her up from school, and Mitchie had been trying to be extra careful to try and hide her thing with Shane. She had thought she had been doing a pretty good job too. Looks like Nate was more observant than she gave him credit for. Damn him.
"Huh?" Was her only response, still too stunned to come up with anything better. But Nate wasn't buying it. He actually looked a little angry, which confused the shit out of Mitchie. What the hell did he have to be angry about?
"Cut the shit, Mitchie," He snapped, making Mitchie raise her eyebrows at him. What the hell was his problem? Why did he seem so mad at the aspect of her dating Shane? It's not like it was any of his business anyways. "I'm not stupid, Mitchie. I can see that there's something going on between you and Shane, so don't try and lie your way out of it!"
"Okay, what the hell is your problem?" She demanded, slamming her history book shut while she glared at him.
"My problem? My problem is that I don't want you dating my brother!" He snapped.
Whoa, was all Mitchie thought. Did not see that one coming.
"Excuse me?" Where the hell did he got off telling her who she could or could not date?
"You heard me." Nate spat, and this behavior surprised Mitchie. He was acting totally hostile towards her. "I don't want you dating my brother." He said again.
"I don't think it's any of your business who I date." She snapped back at him, not going to take any shit from him. She could date whoever the hell she wanted to date, and she sure as hell didn't want to get any shit for it.
"You cannot date my brother." Nate seethed, his face nearly turning red from rage. "Stay away from him!"
Mitchie scoffed and stood so she could size him up. "Or what?" She challenged, making the younger Gray boy fume.
He ignored her question, and instead told her, "Shane is too good for someone like you. I don't want you around him."
"What?" Was all that could come out of Mitchie's mouth. "What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, getting angrier by the second. If Nate didn't shut up soon, she was going to do something she'd regret. She knew that for sure.
"You are not good enough for him. He's better off with Rachel!" He snapped, and it made Mitchie clench her fists. "He's a good person. He deserves someone better than you!"
"Why don't you tell me how you really feel." She deadpanned. What the hell had gotten into him? She had thought he was supposed to be nice. She never expected an attitude like this from him.
"Just stay away from my brother." He warned.
"I think Shane has a say in this as well. What makes you so sure he'll agree with you?"
"Because I know my brother. You don't understand. You wouldn't understand because you don't have any brothers and your mom hates you!"
That made her snap. She knew that he didn't know about Cameron or Dylan, but still. He didn't know anything about her life, and he had no right to make an assumptions.
"You know nothing about me or my family." She seethed, glaring hard at the who who she was trying not to beat the living shit out of at the moment.
"I don't give a damn about what the hell happened to you. I never wanted you here in the first place. But I was forced to be nice to you when I wanted nothing more than for you to never have been here at all!"
He must have been one hell of an actor, because she had thought he was genuinely nice. This was why she never trusted people. How could she have missed it? Did Shane know about this? Probably not. He would have told her. He would have stood up for her. Even though she could stand up for herself just fine. She was not gonna let Nate step all over her.
"Back of Nate. Now." She warned through gritted teeth.
He took a dangerous step closer to her, infuriating her even more, if that was even possible at the moment. "Stay away from Shane." He shot back and her eyes narrowed to slits.
"No." Was all she said and that was all it took for Nate to get fed up and he lifted his hands to shove her back a few steps, nearly making her stagger into her desk.
Oh, he did not just shove her.
He was fucking dead now. No one got away with putting their hands on her and trying to hurt her.
She launched herself at him, grabbing him by the shirt collar and shoving him painfully against the wall. He didn't stand a chance against her. She was way too strong for him and they both knew it.
"Don't you ever touch me." She growled dangerously, furious at Nate.
Nate just scowled and managed to get his hands up again and push her back once more, harder than he had the first time, and it made Mitchie even more enraged and before she could stop herself, she lifted her first and hit Nate in the face as hard as she could, making him stagger back, grasping painfully at his nose before glaring up at her.
He quickly shot up and tackled Mitchie to the ground, trying to hit her, but Mitchie was too quick, and she jammed her knee into his stomach, but not before he managed slam his fist against the side of her face.
She tried to shove him off of her so she could get a better shot at him, but before she could, Paul, Denise, and Shane came running in after hearing the noise.
"Hey!" Paul shouted, grabbing Nate and trying to pull him off of Mitchie, while Shane wrapped his arms tightly around her and hauled her as far away from Nate as possible.
"What is going on here?" Denise demanded once Nate and Mitchie were no longer attacking each other.
"Ask them." Nate snapped, gesturing towards Shane and Mitchie before wiping the blood off his nose.
Denise and Paul glanced at Shane and Mitchie, confused. Shane looked shocked, while Mitchie scowled at Nate.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Denise asked, looking questioningly at Shane and Mitchie.
"Why don't you ask them what they've been doing together? Why they've spent so much time together! They're hooking up behind your backs!"
"Nate!" Shane shouted, appalled that his usually calm and collected brother was acting like this.
Denise eyed them, her mouth hanging open in shock at the words that just left Nate's mouth.
"Is this true?"
Mitchie looked up at Shane, who looked torn. He sighed and glanced down at Mitchie, using his thumb to gently run over the bruise that was forming below her eye where Nate hit her. Without breaking eye contact with Mitchie, he said, "Yeah, it's true. Mitchie and I are together."
Denise was silent for several moments, making Mitchie's nerves fly off the charts. This was not how she planned on Denise finding out.
"Paul, take Nate downstairs. I want to talk to Shane and Mitchie, please." She said quietly.
Shane cringed and reached for Mitchie's hand, trying to find comfort, not sure what to expect from his mother at the moment.
"How long has this been going on?" Denise questioned when Paul and Nate left. "I mean, Mitchie's only been here for a couple of weeks. When did this start?" At least she didn't sound mad, Mitchie noted.
Shane sighed. "About a week ago." He told her quietly.
"A week ago?" She repeated before sighing when Shane nodded his head in confirmation. "Were you ever going to plan on telling me this?"
"I don't know." Shane told her honestly.
Denise scoffed and shook her head. "Shane, go to your room, please." She told him. "I'd like to speak with Mitchie."
Shane's head shot up. "Mom-"
"Now, Shane." Denise ordered. Shane glanced down at Mitchie before nodding his head and reluctantly leaving the room to go to his own.
Denise didn't say anything for a moment, and Mitchie prepared herself for the yelling that was sure to come.
"Mitchie, sit down, please." Denise said, and Mitchie did as she was told, figuring it was best not to argue with anything at the moment.
"I had been wondering why you and Shane have been spending so much time together. I guess this makes sense. I'm surprised I didn't realize it before."
She still didn't sound mad. Yet. There was still plenty of time for her to get there though, and Mitchie made sure she was still prepared.
As if reading her mind, Denise said, "I'm not mad at you, Mitchie. I just wish I would have thought about the possibility of this happening." She chuckled to herself, but Mitchie stayed quiet, just waiting for Denise to tell her that she wasn't allowed to be with Shane anymore.
Noticing her silence, Denise sat down next to Mitchie. "Do you really like Shane?"
Mitchie didn't respond for a moment, not sure what Denise wanted to hear. Finally, she just nodded her head, finding no point in lying about it when it was the most true thing she'll ever say.
"Okay, then. Well, I guess I'm gonna have to set some ground rules."
Ground rules? "You're gonna let me keep dating him?" Mitchie finally said, surprise lacing her voice.
Denise seemed shocked at the question. "Of course. If you two really like each other, who am I to get in the way of that?" Denise told her. "But there will be rules set for the two of you around this house, I have to do that much at least."
Mitchie just nodded, a slow smile spreading across her lips. She could deal with that, as long as she got to keep seeing Shane, she didn't care what kind of rules there were.
"I'm gonna talk it over with Paul, and then we'll tell you and Shane together, okay?"
Mitchie nodded again.
"But, you are in trouble for fighting with Nate."
Mitchie's smile quickly disappeared. Damn. She should have seen that one coming. She was too surprised that Denise was okay with her and Shane. "Now what was the fight all about anyways?"
"He shoved me first." Mitchie defended pathetically, just trying to put that fact out there.
"I don't care who started it. You're both going to get in trouble for it either way. I just wanted to know why it started in the first place."
Mitchie sighed. No use in lying now, especially if she was going to get in trouble no matter what. "Nate told me that he didn't want me to be with Shane." She mumbled and then had a scary thought. What if Denise didn't believe her? After all, the things Nate said to her seemed out of character for him.
"Why did he say that?" Denise asked, clearly confused.
"Because he doesn't think I'm good enough for Shane."
"Is that why you two started fighting each other?"
"No." Mitchie sighed. "He said that I didn't know what it was like to have brothers. That the only reason I'm with you guys is because my mom hates me." Mitchie hated having to repeat it, but Denise was probably going to get it out of her eventually, might as well make it easy for her.
"I'm going to have to talk with Nate." Denise sighed. "I'm sorry, Mitchie. I should have warned you that he was going to be difficult. But he promise he was going to be nice."
"What?" So Denise knew that Nate didn't want her there? Why the hell hadn't this come up before? Did that mean Shane knew too? Wouldn't he have told her? He better have, or she was going to have to kick his ass too.
"When I told the boys that I was bringing you home with me, Nate didn't like it too much. Said he didn't want someone like that in the house. I told him that he didn't have a choice, but made him promise to be nice. I though he would eventually warm up to having you here. I guess I was wrong. I really am sorry, Mitchie. I'll make sure this won't happen again." She promised. Good. "But his behavior doesn't let you off the hook for fighting. You're grounded."
Well, shit.
An hour later, Mitchie was laying on her bed with an ice pack over her swollen and bruised eye that hurt like hell. That little bastard had gotten her good. She hoped she had gotten him even harder. She felt stupid for believing that Nate had been nice. He was so damn convincing. Whatever, as long as Shane wasn't the one lying to her, she didn't give ashit. All she knew was that she was going to have to find a new ride to school every morning, because she sure as hell wasn't going with Nate.
A quiet knock had her glancing towards the door with her good eye, smiling when she saw Shane enter, leaving the door open behind him.
Paul and Denise had given them the rules, one being that the door was always open when they were in the same room together. Mitchie hated it, but accepted it because it could have been a lot worse.
"You're not supposed to be in here. I'm grounded, remember?" She smirked.
Shane chuckled. "Don't worry. I had permission from the warden so I can talk to you for a sec."
Mitchie grinned and motioned for him to sit down. "What's up?"
"How's the eye?"
Mitchie shrugged. "I've had worse."
Shane nodded and stayed silent for a moment. "Did Nate really say all those things to you about your family?"
Mitchie hesitated, already sensing that he was on the verge of being very angry at his younger brother. But she couldn't lie to him. That wasn't exactly the smartest thing to try and do anyways. "Um, yeah. He did."
Mitchie watched as he sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I can't believe he said that to you, I can't-" He huffed, and Mitchie could feel his anger rising.
She sat up, placing the ice pack down and scooting closer to him. "It's okay, Shane. It doesn't bother me." It did at first, but then she punched him and that had made her feel so much better.
"It's not okay, Mitchie." Shane insisted, shifting slightly so that he was facing her better. "And he actually punched you!" He frowned, using his hand to gently stroke the bruise that was now under her left eye. "I should kill him for hurting you." He hissed.
"No, Shane. He's your brother." Mitchie told him. She was pissed at Nate, but the last thing she wanted was to cause a riff between Shane and his brother.
"So? He still has no right to hit you. He needs to know that I can date whoever the hell I want to date."
"Shane, don't let this be a problem. He's still your brother. Trust me, that's more important than anything."
Shane frowned and looked her in the eyes seriously. "You're important." He told her and leaned into kiss her.
Mitchie gave into him. She wouldn't let him be mad at his brother, it was a waste of time and would only end up hurting him in the end.
He was important to her, too, and she didn't want him to fight with his brother and end up like her. Wishing she still had her brothers in her life.
After the fight, Nate and Mitchie kept their distance from each other. Nearly three weeks had passed and not one word was exchanged between her or Nate. And no matter how hard she tried, there was still tension between Shane and Nate. She finally gave up when she realized there was nothing she could do to make things better between them, especially since Nate seemed to hate her so much.
Things with her and Shane had been perfect, though. They sometimes managed to work their way around his parents rules, and most of the time he spent the nights in her room.
Mitchie was finally in the process of getting her own drivers license, but for the moment, Paul was the one driving her to school. Shane sometimes too when he didn't have an early class.
It had also been awhile since she had heard from Brian, which she took as a good sign. Maybe he finally got the hint and would just leave her alone. It just seemed like there was no need to worry about it anymore.
Her past in Baltimore was slipping away with every day that passed, and Mitchie was glad to see it go. She liked focusing on where she was now. With Shane and the Gray's. With the exception of Nate, the Gray's treated her like she was part of the family.
She had never been so happy in her entire life. She didn't want it to end, and she felt as if it just couldn't. That she was always going to be this happy.
She should have known better.
Friday was always the best day of the week, considering it meant she had the whole weekend ahead of her. Which meant more time with Shane. He had been making a habit of taking her out on a date every Friday, and he never disappointed her.
He'd been running a little behind on this particular Friday though, saying one of his classes were running a little alte and that he would be home as soon as possible. So Mitchie distracted herself by doing her homework, it always tended to keep her busy.
In the middle of her English homework, Denise came in, clutching her phone in her hand, looking slightly distraught. Mitchie immediately panicked, wondering why she would be looking so upset. Did something happen to one of the guys? To Shane? She couldn't handle the thought.
"What's wrong?" Mitchie demanded, her grip tightening on the pen she was holding.
Denise let out a slow breath and sat down on Mitchie's bed. "I don't know how to tell you this, Mitchie."
Mitchie's fear heightened. "Tell me what?" She couldn't stand not knowing. What the hell was going on?
"I got a call from your social worker today."
Mitchie frowned, not expecting that to be part of the conversation. "About what?"
Denise sighed. "Your mother."
Mitchie cringed as the words slipped from Denise's mouth. Where was this going? "What about her?" Though she wasn't sure she wanted to know. "She's not trying to take me back is she?" The panic and fear made her stomach tighten.
"No, that's not it. You're not going back there."
"Then what the hell is going on?" She demanded, tired of playing games. Why couldn't she just tell her?
"Mitchie, your mother overdosed. She didn't make it."
It hit Mitchie hard, which she didn't expect. Her mom was dead? Mitchie wasn't surprised. How could she be after seeing firsthand all the things her mother had done to herself. But somehow it still caught Mitchie by surprise. Was this really happening? Was her mother really gone for good. She was surprised at how much the thought made her heart hurt.
Her mom had been her last link to her real family. Now she really had no biological family left. The ones left alive were her and maybe Dylan. But it had been so long, she wasn't sure if he was even alive or not.
"Mitchie, I'm so sorry, I know this must be a shock."
She didn't even realize she was crying until she saw Denise look at her with sad eyes.
It was a shock and it wasn't a shock. She just wasn't sure how to react. A part of her wanted to be relieved, because now she really didn't have to worry about going back to that apartment that she still had nightmares about, but the other half of her was heartbroken that she had lost her last piece of her family. She had still been her mom, no matter how horrible she was to Mitchie.
"Would you like to be alone, Mitchie?"
Mitchie just nodded her head, not fully knowing what she wanted. But she didn't want to cry in front of Denise, even though she already was.
Denise stood and placed a comforting hand on Mitchie's shoulder. "I'll be downstairs if you need to talk." And then she left Mitchie alone.
Mitchie felt numb. Beyond numb. She didn't know how to react to this news. How was she supposed to? It was obviously different for her considering her situation, so she had no idea how she was supposed to really feel.
Physically, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her, and her heart was aching painfully at the loss.
Her mother was dead. Gone forever.
More tears leaked from her eyes as Mitchie staggered towards her bed and landed face down on it.
Her heart felt heavy and she felt the beginning of a headache hit her.
She didn't know how long she stayed that way, but some time later, there was a knock on her door and Shane came in, looking slightly confused.
"Hey, is everything okay? I saw mom downstairs and she was acting pretty weird." He finally noticed the tears on her face and immediately rushed over to her side. "Mitch, what's wrong? What happened?" When Mitchie just sniffled, Shane laid down next to her and tried to brush her tears away with his thumb. "Baby, you can tell me." He whispered, looking softly at her.
"My mom." She whispered, her voice cracking at the end.
Shane's eyebrows scrunched. "Your mom? What about her?" The last thing he expected was for her to bring up her mother.
Mitchie's face scrunched and a new round of tears welled up in her eyes. "Dead." Was the only thing she could get out, but Shane understood immediately.
"Oh, Mitch," His words cracked while his heart broke for her. She had seen so much death, and dealt with so much loss. It wasn't fair. No one deserved to go through that. "I'm so sorry, baby."
Sobs wracked her body and Shane wrapped his arms around her, letting her lean into him and take his comfort.
"I don't know why it hurts so much." She gasped through her sobs. "She hated me. She didn't treat me like a daughter and she didn't act like a mom. Why does it hurt so much?" She sobbed.
"Because she's your mom." Shane replied simply, and Mitchie knew he was right. No matter what, she had still been her mom. This pain was never going to fully go away.
At least she had Shane.
There wasn't going to be a funeral. It was too dangerous for Mitchie to go back to Baltimore and try to attend any type of thing. Denise wouldn't let her anywhere near Baltimore again. She wasn't sure she would have wanted to have gone anyways. Not sure if she'd be able to stand it or not. At least now she didn't to worry about it. No one else cared enough to have anything done. For some reason, that made her heart ache even more.
Shane had been great. Leaving her alone when she needed to be and comforting her when she needed him, which was often. She didn't like to be without him. Denise had been understanding, and let Shane be with Mitchie whenever she needed him. It's not like Mitchie was much up for doing anything that would break Denise's rules anyways.
It had been a few days, and Mitchie still seemed unusually distraught. Getting worse instead of getting better.
Finally, Denise got her alone and approached the subject carefully.
"Mitchie, I think wee need to get you some help. Find someone who can help you work through everything."
Mitchie blinked. "What, like a shrink?" The though of having to share her life story with a total stranger terrified Mitchie. There was no way in hell she was going to do that. She knew Denise meant well, but absolutely fucking not going to happen.
"Mitchie, just someone who can help you. You've been through a lot, and it's not healthy to bottle it up. I won't make you do it if you really don't want to, but I think you should at least give it a shot." Denise encouraged, making Mitchie scowl.
Mitchie really didn't want to, but obviously Denise did, and Mitchie wasn't sure if she could get out of it or not.
"Fine, but if I don't like it, I won't do it again." Mitchie told her, and Denise nodded in understanding.
"That's fine. I just want you to get through this as easily as possible."
The therapists office was dull and boring. It had a few paintings on the wall, and framed psychologist degree. Mitchie sat in a rather uncomfortable chair with her arms crossed stubbornly across her chest, waiting for the whole damn thing to be over with.
"Michaela, my name is Meg." She sounded way too sympathetic, and it made Mitchie sick. She did want sympathy. She wanted help. Actually she didn't even want that, but apparently she needed it or she wouldn't be in this damn place to begin with.
"My name's Mitchie." She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. After all, the lady hadn't done anything wrong yet. But Mitchie was just waiting for it.
"Okay, Mitchie." She corrected herself. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about your mom?"
"She's dead." Mitchie sneered. Her heart constricted as the words left her mouth though. She made sure not to show it. She didn't trust this lady. There was no way in hell she was telling her anything.
"Yes, and I'm terrible sorry for your loss."
Mitchie scoffed. "Whatever."
"I understand if it's hard for you to talk about. You've been through a lot."
"You have no idea." Mitchie scowled.
"Then why don't you tell me about it?"
"I don't want to."
Mitchie was not gonna make this easy, that's for sure.
"How'd the session go?" Shane asked when he got home from class and found Mitchie in her bedroom.
"Stupid." Was Mitchie's response. It was a huge waste of time to Mitchie. That lady stopped at nothing to try and get Mitchie to open up to her. "It was a wast of time."
Shane sighed and pulled Mitchie into his lap while sitting on her bed. "Baby, we just want you to get through this." He said while leaning his forehead against hers.
"A shrink is not going to get me through it." She said, running her fingers gently through his hair. "I just need you." She whispered.
Shane let out a small breath before leaning in to kiss her, a slow, tender to kiss to reassure her that he was there for her.
He pulled back and looked her in the eye. "You have me."
I know some of you guys wanted Denise to find out while walking in on Shane and Mitchie. But it's no fun if I'm predictable. lol Please review!