a/n: Hey everyone! I know I haven't posted anything on this site for a long time, nearly a year, but I have been through lots of things. My mom passed away a while back and my mind wouldn't let me write anything. I had already started this and the other day, I had the inspiration to finish it. I hope you like it, it's a bit different. Enjoy!

ABSOLUTION

Mitchie Torres had never truly been a "scene" girl. While her friends knew all the latest music, watched the most popular movies, and hooked up with hot guys at parties, Mitchie was the one who stayed at home watching Jane Eyre or listening to one of her favorite, highly underrated bands. She was, by definition, a complete loner.

Her friends weren't actually her friends. Sure, they were the people she would sit with at lunch, walk to class with, or call for homework help (when the others decided that homework was somewhat necessary), but they weren't her support mechanisms. They were just…there.

So she was in for a big shock when the doorbell rang and standing in front of her was Shane Gray, otherwise known as "most popular and sought out boy in school". She was surprised that he was even still there, because judging by his body position, he would much rather be doing Tess Tyler than be standing in front of "bookwormy". He was leaning on the doorframe, a cigarette in between his fingers on the hand of the arm dangling lazily by his slouched side.

"Um…Can I help you?"

For the first time since she opened the door, he actually looks at her. Disgust flickers through his face, but, oddly enough, admiration shines in his eyes. Unfortunately, his voice reflects his facial features. "Get dressed. We're leaving as soon as you're done." He mutters something under his breath, taking a puff out of his joint.

Mitchie stifles her cough from the cloud of smoke, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "Why?"

"You're friend Caitlyn rang me up. Told me to do her a favor since I owed her one. She said to pick you up and take you over to where the party's at." He shakes his unruly hair and looks behind him, taking in the sight of his new car. "You know, I left that thing running and it isn't very good on gas, so can you get a move on?"

"I don't even know you."

His eyebrows quirk up in either amusement or irritation, she can't tell, and he sighs. "I'm Shane Gray. I'm the most fucking popular guy in the school. Everyone knows me, and you can play innocent, but I know you know who I am." He smiles cockily and stubs out his cigarette against the doorframe. "Now could you please go change? Like I said, I owe your friend Caitlyn and if I screw this up, she won't be giving me any more favors. And I like her favors." He winks, and Mitchie blushes as she catches the innuendo.

After she mumbles something about not wanting to get him into trouble, she rushes upstairs, quickly finding something suitable to wear. She normally turns down parties, but why is it that he shows up at the door and she is suddenly up for it? Maybe it was the way that he seemed like he didn't care? Or was it the way he put out that cigarette like he hadn't had a thought in the world? No. No, it's definitely the car.

The car that is running out of gas whilst you stand there pondering every little thing!

Siding with her mind, Mitchie quickly checks over her appearance, then hurries down the stairs. She nearly trips over Shane as she closes the front door.

"Ready."

"About damn time. Get in." He strides over to his car, sliding down into the driver's seat without even thinking about opening the other door for Mitchie.

She just shrugs it off, quickly hopping in before he ends up leaving her in the driveway. Soon enough, they are on the road.

"So, uh…Did Caitlyn tell you why I have to be at this party?"

"No."

"Do you even know my name?"

"Midgy, right?"

Mitchie starts twiddling her thumbs, disappointed in his rudeness. "Actually, it's Mitchie."

"Midgy, Mitchie…what's the difference?"

"The difference is that Mitchie is my name. Midgy is what I was called in middle school."

"So?"

"I was bullied in middle school." And I still am.

His hands grip the steering wheel a bit tighter, but he keeps his demeanor the same. "What does that name have to do with anything?"

"The would use it to tease me about my height. I wasn't very tall back then. I wasn't…exactly skinny either. They would tease me relentlessly." The speed her thumbs are twirling at increases. "So that name brings back bad memories…if you could refrain from using it, that would be nice."

"Calm down, girl. You act like I'm going to be your best friend forever or some shit like that. I'm just driving you there. End of story."

Geeze. This guy really is more of a jerk than he appears to be.

All too soon, but not soon enough, a large house releasing booming music comes into view. Shane parks the car, waits for Mitchie to get out (just so he can lock his "baby") and proceeds to stalk inside, giving some girls a good spank before entering the building.

Mitchie stays by the car for a few seconds, disgusted that she can already smell the alcohol. It was so stupid of her to come. Sucking up her bad decision, she holds her head up high and walks into the house, instantly lost in the huge crowd.

"Mitchie!"

A perfectly manicured hand grabs the shorter girl's wrist and pulls her towards the party's main event.

Everything seems to slow down and blur as tears cloud Mitchie's vision. She looks at Caitlyn, Peggy, and Ella, realizing that they are laughing along with everyone else in the room.

Tess Tyler stands in the center of the room, clinging to a very poker face Shane. Her eyes shine in pure delight.

There are pictures of her everywhere. Not only are they pictures of her in her unattractive phase, but someone has put profane things on them, hurtful things.

Ashamed, she runs up the stairs, just trying to escape from the peels of laughter, the jesting. At the top, a Tess wannabe attacks, stepping up in Mitchie's face, delivering more hurtful things. She just gets closer and closer and closer, close enough to break Mitchie's personal bubble, causing the crying girl to take a step back…

Into thin air.

Shane's heart stops as the laughter in the room comes to an abrupt halt. He's already pushing through the crowd forming at the end of the stairs as Tess starts screaming at her follower. He drops to his knees at the sight of the shy girl that has caught his eye for months lying unconscious on the floor.

"Don't just stand there, someone call an ambulance!"

He curses as he feels a very slight pulse in her neck. Yelling at everyone to get back, he picks up the damaged girl and stalks out of the house.

"Shane! Shane, where the hell are you going?"

After securing Mitchie in his car, he turns around to Caitlyn, wanting to slap her in the face. "I'm taking your friend to the ER. She could be dead before anyone in that house is sober enough to remember the number for an ambulance."

"Shane, I-"

"Just shut it, Caitlyn. Don't pull the innocent bullshit with me. I admit I knew what was going on tonight, but I thought you would have stopped it before we got here."

"You still brought her!"

"You're right. I did. So now I'm trying to compensate my horrible decision." He spits on the ground before hopping into the driver's seat and speeding off.

Glancing at Mitchie every other minute, he drums the steering wheel nervously. How could he have been so stupid? To know what his friends had planned and then agreeing to help them execute such a cruel idea? Especially after listening to Mitchie talk about being bullied on the way? God, he is such a jerk.

He's going to change that.

Everything seems soft around the edges as Mitchie walks around a strange place. She knows she's in trouble; The last thing she remembers is foolishly taking a step backwards on a flight of stairs. She just wanted to escape so badly…she wanted to get away from the mocking.

For the majority of her life, Mitchie had been bullied…after awhile it became too much. She might even be…glad that she took that step backwards. It may actually have been her step forward. If she's dead, she doesn't honestly care; She's better off in the clouds where no one can hurt her. But then again…

She wanted to do so many things in her life. Once out of high school, she wanted to fly out to L.A. and put some use to her voice. Or at least become a counselor at a public school…so she could help kids going through what she has experienced.

But alas, she's here now, wherever 'here' is, and she will make the most of it. She wonders briefly if she looks down, will she see the land of the living? If she sees Tess Tyler, she might decide to spit. It's her fault that she's even in this predicament. Tess Tyler was the one that started it all.

The thought of Tess leads to the image of Shane…he looks different. Is she just imagining things, or is he seated right in front of her? She reaches out a quaking hand, only to shoot it back when it dissolves into the image of Shane. Confused, Mitchie sits down, examining the projection-like Shane. Her heartbeat quickens as he looks up, his face red and puffy from crying.

He looks up at something, she can't see what (but she's guessing it's a who), and his hands grip the chair beneath him tightly.

"I don't understand…I-I brought her here quick enough, didn't I?"

His broken voice echoes in the silence of Mitchie's reverie. A muffled voice in the background says something that causes Shane to growl.

"Don't give me statistics, old man. Just tell me…Will. She. Be. Okay?" His usually cold, concealed eyes are filled with fear and vulnerability.

Mitchie is immediately hooked onto the scene happening before her, like a teen girl watching her favorite show intently.

And just as quickly as it appeared, it vanishes into thin air.

He can't believe what the quack in front of him is saying.

"-and even though you did bring her in quickly, that doesn't change the damage that was done. Mr. Gray, you must understand that Miss Torres fell down a flight of stairs. That is a seriously dangerous accident. Most victims of a fall like that would have been dead on the spot. You should feel lucky that she's still breathing. After all-"

"But she isn't awake. Don't you understand? I want to talk to her."

"You can still talk to-"

"No!" He jumps from his chair and kneads the back of his neck, agitated at the lack of this man's understanding. "I want to converse with her. Talk to her and have her answer me! I want her to hear and understand how sorry I am for acting like a jerk when really, I've been in-"

"Where is my daughter?" A shrill shriek interrupts the thought that Shane almost just admitted to himself and the doctor.

Said doctor approaches the very distressed Mrs. Torres, who looks just as bad as Shane thinks he looks. As the M.D. talks with her, Shane flinches as he notices her husband, Mitchie's hulk father, staring intently at him. The man excuses himself from the discussion and walks over.

"You the kid that drove my daughter here?"

"Yes, sir." He hears his voice shake and, for once, he doesn't care how small it makes him feel.

Mr. Torres looks him in the eye for several moments before gesturing over to the chairs. "Let's have a chat."

It's not a suggestion. It's a command.

"I want the truth about what happened."

Before Shane is even sitting down, it seems that the firing has begun. "Well, sir, I…I, uh, was asked by Caitlin to bring Mitchie over to Tess's house…So I did, I brought her over. We went separate ways, but before I knew it, we ended up in the same place…The living room, where, uh, were Tess Tyler had set up a…prank."

Understanding clouds the older man's eyes; Shane can tell that Mitchie's father knows exactly what prank Tess had pulled. "You knew that something terrible was waiting for her there…and you still brought her?"

Shane looks down, ashamed in most full sense of the word, completely aware that Mr. Torres has every right to hit him or something. "Yes, sir, I did."

"So why are you here?"

Twiddling his thumbs, it seems to be becoming a habit, Shane admits to Mitchie's father that he feels more responsible for what had happened rather than the girl who had caused Mitchie to fall down the stairs. He had known what was going to happen, yet he went against his better judgment and brought Mitchie to the party anyways. So now he feels like he must be there when she wakes up…to tell her how sorry he is.

And that everything they've ever said to her is a lie, because all she is…is pure beauty.

He keeps that thought to himself and glances up and the solemn face of the man next to him.

"Well, son, I should be punching you around right now for playing part of my daughter's pain…but…" He pauses, a glint his eyes that makes Shane squirm around in his seat uncomfortably. "I know something you probably don't, kid. And that something is the only reason why you're here."

Confused, yet relieved, Shane nods and shakes Mr. Torres' hand. "Thank you, sir. You won't be sorry."

A sad smile appears on the gentleman's face as he stands up. Before he walks back towards his wife, he says one last thing. "I might be, someday."

It's terribly boring up here. Mitchie knows that it has probably been days since she saw that strange projection, and she yearns to see another. She has sat in the same spot for hours on end, trying desperately to figure out a way to escape this newfound haven. Alas, her brain fails her and she is still in the cloudy place with no way back home.

She does feel a presence, however; it's been there for quite a while. At first she was a tad bit scared of it, but she now feels used to it and wishes that the connection would be stronger.

A coughing sound startles her, and to her delight, another image of Shane appears. She has chills. This time…he's looking straight at her.

"I'm so sorry. I knew what was going to happen…and I still took you over there. It's all my damned fault. You should be at home studying for that Bio test tomorrow, not lying in a bed, unconscious." He stops for a second to look down at something and Mitchie immediately feels a pulsation in her right hand. "When you wake up, I really do hope that you'll forgive me. I hope that you'll give me a chance to be your friend. Not that that's what I really want, but…" He keeps his gaze down for several achingly silent seconds, then looks back up. His eyes are filled with something that Mitchie has never seen anyone look at her with before…and he lifts his free hand towards her, and suddenly Mitchie feels a feather-like touch on her cheek. "I'm in love with you, Mitchie Torres. I'm not afraid to say it anymore. I've…admired you from afar for a long time now…I'm…I'm in love with you. That's really it. I'm in love with you, whether you like it not."

Mitchie's mouth drops open the minute he says it. She suddenly becomes angry, but the feeling fades as soon as her surroundings begin to change. She looks back at the projection, seeing Shane's face move closer and closer…

Until everything turns black.

The minute he pulls away from her lips (he should not have done that), the monitor next to her bed starts spazzing out, causing him to spaz out. He runs out into the hallway, yelling for a doctor and in a matter of minutes, there is a mob of white coats heading towards Mitchie's room.

Now Shane had never been a religious man, but he sure is praying to whoever is up there now, hoping, wishing that the monitor coming alive was foreshadowing Mitchie's fate. If he could just see those beautiful brown eyes once more. Even if they will be filled with anger.

The head doctor comes out of the room, looking much older than before, and after a dreadfully stifling silence, he smiles at Shane and claps him on the back.

"Go on in, son."

"Maybe, uh, maybe I should wait and let her parents-"

"Mr. Torres spoke with me before they left. He said should Mitchie wake up and they aren't here, I should let you in. So go. Apologize for real or whatever it is you wanted to do." The old man's eyes crinkle as he smiles.

"Thank you, sir. Really." Shane shakes his hand and ever so slowly walks back towards Mitchie's room.

Neither one is prepared for the conversation about to be held.

The moment all the clouds turn to coal, Mitchie felt everything come back to her. And boy, her body aches. She would do anything to go back to that personal heaven now. A sound bounces towards her ears as someone enters the room. Shagged breathing comes closer to her, and she decides to face the painfully bright light.

Shane stops halfway to his chair once he notices that his reason for entering has become aware of him. He looks down at his hands and takes a deep breath.

"Hey."

Cold silence answers him back and he looks up to see a broken girl glaring at him intensely.

"What do you want?"

As he slowly walks towards the chair, he clears his throat and quickly comes up with a response. "I, um, I've been checking up on you for the past couple of weeks and I-"

"Weeks?" As he looks up to see her face, her eyes are frozen in confusion. "I thought it had only been a day or two." Tears begin to occupy her eyelids. "It's all your fault."

Guilt punches him from inside once again, this time with more force. "I know…and I know that there is no way I could ever possibly make it up to you. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and to let you know if you need anything, to let me know."

"Does my father know you're here?"

"Um, yeah…Yeah, he told the doctor to let me in if he wasn't here."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Silence lingers for what seems like forever.

"I was in a weird place. I…remember seeing you there, you were telling me something. Something important. But I just don't remember what it was."

Shane's heart flutters in sudden panic. She was never supposed to hear what he had told her. It would never work.

"What-what are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure. Just forget it." She pauses and scrunches up her nose. "You smell like cigarette smoke."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. I'm not the one you're killing."

They both cringe as the statement leaves her lips.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that-"

Shane clears his throat and stands up, quickly shuffling towards the door. "I shouldn't have come, it was a bad idea. I'll see you around."

As his hand clasps the doorknob, Mitchie finally musters up her courage. "Do you really love me?"

Shane feels his heart drop to the floor as he turns around. "What?"

"You know what I said. Do you really love me? I heard you say it. Don't deny it."

"I…but how?"

Mitchie smirks innocently, in fact it's the most innocent look Shane has ever seen. "I guess God wanted me to know. But why?"

"I don't know. Dude must be high or something if he thinks we belong together."

"Why would you say those things if you don't actually feel that way?"

Shane stands still, evaluating the situation. He isn't quite sure what she wants for an answer. "I do feel that way. It's just-well, I'm not good enough for you. You deserve better."

"How so?"

"You're a genius. You're the smartest girl in our class, you aren't mean to a soul even though you've been put through hell, and dammit, you're beautiful." He pauses when he sees the glimpse of uncertainty in Mitchie's eyes. "Don't think you aren't just because those bitches told you so. You're gorgeous, Mitchie. But me…I'm failing half my classes, I've been an asshole to everyone since freshman year, and I'm a walking ashtray. I'm trash compared to you."

Tears prick at Mitchie's eyes as she understands what he has just said. He thinks she is beautiful. She remembers seeing him in the hallway one day, staring at her. Then, she had felt sick, thinking he was judging her, but now she realizes that he had been admiring her. It seems too good to be true.

"Well you can't be complete trash if you think I'm beautiful. It takes a good person to see that." She smiles sadly. "You know I never thought anyone besides my parents would call me that? You've given me a breath of fresh air."

"It's true."

"Thank you. You aren't that bad, you know. Yeah, you put on the asshole, badass persona, but if you were really an asshole, you would have left me at that party to die."

Shane walks back next to the bed and sits down. "I would never have forgiven myself if I had. Seeing you in this bed is bad enough…a casket would have been ten times worse."

"Okay."

"Okay what?" His eyebrows raise in confusion.

"We can give this a try."

"You're actually going to give this jerk a chance?"

"Any jerk that drives me to a hospital and stays with me deserves a chance."

So when Mr. and Mrs. Torres walked in, they found Shane and Mitchie smiling and holding hands.

5 Months Later

"So it's an anachronism?"

"Yes, exactly. Good job!"

Mitchie Torres and Shane Gray sit on the living room floor of the Torres household, studying for their English exam. Since that day in the hospital, Shane had shed his bad boy image and dedicated himself to making his life something to be proud of. Mitchie had been a tremendous help and he thanked God everyday that she had looked past his mistakes and grown to love him.

"Shane! How are you, son?" Mr. Torres comes into the room with a large smile on his face.

"I'm good. Mitchie is doing a good job helping me out here." Shane smiles in return, knowing that Mitchie's father is also proud of the change in his daughter's boyfriend. "I think I'm gonna ace this one."

"Well that's spectacular! I expect you'll be staying for dinner? Wouldn't be a good study date without one." He winks at Shane, glancing at Mitchie just in time to see her blush.

"Dad, of course he's staying. So can you leave us to get back to work?"

"Sure. You kids have fun."

Shane smiles softly at Mitchie as she tries to dissipate her blush. "You shouldn't be embarrassed. Your dad is awesome."

"I know. But you're my boyfriend and it's still embarrassing."

"Say that again."

Mitchie smiles, having been though this with Shane before. "You're my boyfriend."

"I like the sound of that."

"Me too."

So if Shane Gray found absolution, can't anyone?

a/n: Incredibly long, right? Haha. Hope this was a good comeback fic for me. Please leave reviews and let me know what you think!