AN: The long was because I could NOT end this story in an awesome way. So this is what I give you, sorry about how bad it sucks, but this is the winner of five hundred failed ones.

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Chapter 10 - End This NOW

It had been an entire month since Mitchie went on her date with Shane Gray. A month of bliss and joy, with a few minor problems here there with really nice hair and a jerk-ish attitude.

First off, Lola and Sander are back to being my best friends. We talk at school and every once in a while we hang out, but not as much as we used to before Mitchie came into my life.

Jerry Smith and my mother had a meeting a few days after I met him. I invited both of them to dinner, but didn't tell them the other was coming. I didn't show up, and left them to talk things over. A week later, mom moved out of hell, and into Jerry's place. Frank never saw anything coming.

As for me and Mitchie, our relationship has been getting better. Shane Gray only comes around on the weekends when he's not "busy" (cough, screwing chicks, cough).

Now, when I say our relationship is getting better, I don't mean that she's falling for me. We've entered the friend stage, and she's not looking back. My hopes of us being together...are slowly starting to fade away.

But now, back to the present, I just finished moving all my crap out of Mitchie's place and into Jerry's. I've got my very own room with a giant bed and everything. I'm starting to think that maybe this is how it's suppose to be. I've finally got two parents who love me, and a home that I'm not scared to be in. A part of still wishes that Mitchie would actually see me...but it's starting to look like that stage in my life is ending, and a new is just starting.

Which means that this...is just the beginning of Caitlyn Gellar's quest to rule the world, er, I mean, life.

10 Years Later

"Caitlyn!" Jerry and my mother greeted me as I stepped off of the train.

"Hey guys." I laughed. I was glad to see them still happy together. Ever since I went off to college and then moved away to start my own business, they've been all alone out here.

"How's New York?" My mom asked as we walked towards the exit of the train station.

"It's awesome." I replied, my arm hooked around hers.

"Are there any future wedding plans that I should know about?" She laughed as we walked out the door. Jerry pulled out a large umbrella and covered our heads as the hard rain poured down.

"You ask that question every time I call, mom. Nothing's changed." I replied as she smiled proudly at me.

"You've grown up so nice." She told me. Aw, crap. Here comes the tears.

"Well, I had a pretty nice mom." I said as she pulled me into a hug.

"Caitlyn, isn't that one of your teachers from school?" I pulled away from my mom to see who Jerry was looking at. Standing at a bus stop, looking at me, was Mitchie Torres. I tried to stop the burning of hate I had running in my veins. I was sure I looked like I was about to cry, but I was just trying not to scream.

"Yeah, kind of." I answered, frowning.

"Maybe you should go say hi. She's already seen us. It would be rude not to go say hello." He replied, holding on to my mother's hand.

"Yeah, you guys go ahead and catch a cab or something. I'll meet you at the house." I told them.

"We can wait." Jerry shrugged as I handed him my bag.

"No, really. Go ahead. I actually want to catch up with some friends before I get to the house. I promised them I would see them as soon as I got here." I replied, thinking of Lola, Sander, and Barry.

"Well, alright." Mom sighed. "Hurry, though. I can't wait to hear all about New York."

"Right." I smiled at them before stuffing my hands in my jacket pockets and sprinting through the rain to the bus stop. It was a bench with tiny cover over it. It didn't help much, but it was better then nothing.

I stopped next to Mitchie. She had started looking at the ground the moment I left my parents.

"When I heard that Caitlyn Gellar was coming into town...I couldn't stay home." She said as I stared at her.

"Why would you care? You didn't even care enough to say goodbye." I glared at her. She didn't look at me as her soaked clothes clung to her. She shivered as the wind blew hard against us.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, looking me in the eyes. Other then the fact that I was just as tall as she was, nothing had changed much on the outside between us. "I wanted to...but I couldn't."

"The last time you talked to me was the night after graduation. I remember because you told me that you didn't ever want to see me again." I glared harder at her. "That you would never love me the way I loved you."

"I'm sorry." She said again, looking hurt.

"And then you show up after all this time to see me. What's wrong with you? Do have any idea how bad you hurt me?" I asked her.

"I'm sorry." She said again.

"Stop saying that." I told her.

"What do you want me to say?" She asked, her voice getting louder as she locked eyes with me again. "Do you want me to tell you that you were right? That Shane Gray only wanted a fuck buddy? That he never loved me? That as soon as he got what he wanted from me he told me how pathetic I am? That he left me two weeks after you did? That I never stopped thinking about you? That I wished every night that you hadn't left? That every day you were gone I hated myself for never giving us a chance? That I lost my job because I got too depressed? That I know it's too late for us?"

I was quiet as her anger died back down to sadness. She looked away from me, tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry for everything. I just wish...that we could go back to that first day we met in my old office. I wish I could do it all over again. I know exactly who I'd pick." She said in a smaller voice, looking at me. "I'm sorry."

"It's not too late." I told her after a few minutes of just standing under the little cover of the bus stop. "New York sucks. I hate my job, and I hate the traffic, and I hate everything about it. I still carry that picture of me and you at that stupid book store you liked in my wallet at all times. You were the first person I actually fell in love with. And you broke my heart. But I've actually grown up. There's nothing really holding us back from being together. And I've realized that...people make mistakes. I make mistakes. It's just like you said all those years ago...people change. Everyone deserves a second chance."

We stared at each other for a minute.

"I miss you." She said softly.

"I miss you, too." I replied, a soft smile on my lips.

Before either of us could say anything else, our lips met. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I pulled her closer to me with my hands on her hips. It didn't matter that it was raining, it didn't matter that Shane Gray is a jerk, and it didn't matter that we're complete opposites.

The only thing that mattered was us.

And I was okay with that.

THE END