Mitch woke up the next day, his eyes full of unshed tears. He sniffed as he hugged the bear Travis gave to him a couple months back, holding onto it with all his might. Why did Travis have to leave?

I received a student teacher job in New York. I can't stay. I'm sorry, Mitch.

Mitch hugged the bear tighter as he sat down on the couch, crying harder this time. He could feel his chest heave with each sob, not knowing how loud his cries were. He felt the couch dip down and a pair of arms wrap around him gently, putting his head on their chest. He could feel Scott's fingers run through his hair as he began to cry harder, inconsolable now.

I'll do anything to make you happy, Mitchy.

Scott laid himself and Mitch down, hugging his younger brother tightly as he could feel the tears soak his shirt. The brunet gripped onto Scott's shirt tightly, sobbing louder each time. Kirstie walked in, frowning at her emotional brother.

"Did he breakup with Travis?" Kirstie asked, sitting down on the coffee table. Scott nodded as Mitch let out another sob. "Poor thing. What happened?"

"Travis was offered a job in New York and he couldn't deny it. He was told this a couple months ago and he didn't tell Mitch about it until last night," Scott replied, hearing his brother's sobs die down a bit. Mitch whimpered quietly, not wanting to let go of his brother's shirt. "Are you ready for school?"

"Yeah, I guess," Kirstie answered, adjusting her skirt. She frowned once more, looking at Mitch. "Is he going?"

"I don't think so," Scott answered, sitting up. He took Mitch up with him, wiping the tears away. *Are you going to school?*

*No. He's going to be there.* Mitch signed back, his lip quivering. More tears ran down his face as he sobbed again. *Why does it hurt so bad?*

*It's going to hurt, buddy. All breakups do.* Scot answered, wiping away the excess tears. He stood up, stretching a bit. *I need to go to work. If you need anything, Avi and Kevin are next door. I'll ask them to come over.*

Mitch nodded as he laid back on the couch, refusing to look at his siblings. Kirstie sighed as she kissed Mitch's forehead, frowning at him.

*I love you, Mitchy.*

*I love you too, Kirst.*

Kirstie stood up, smiling at her older brother. She hasn't fought with her brothers for the longest time and she honestly couldn't be more proud of herself. Scott smiled back as he wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders, thinking back to old times.

He wants nothing more than for those moments to come back. He misses them, but he knows that they will never come back.

If only he knew the truth.

~~~

"Why have you been hanging out with Ariana?" A girl asked Kirstie, throwing an apple away. "Are you friends with her now?"

"No, we're just in the play together. That's all."

"That's so gay," a boy yelled, getting the next table's attention. Kirstie rolled her eyes as she shook her head.

I am too. What's the matter with that?

"What are you?" Jeremy asked, his eyes wide. Kirstie realized that what she thought was said out loud and covered her mouth in mouth in embarrassment. "No wonder why you broke up with me! You're gay!"

"I broke up with you because you cheated on me, idiot," Kirstie hissed, shaking her head. "Besides, I meant it like I'm happy. I do not like girls."

Denial is just not a lake in Egypt.

Kirstie rolled her eyes once more as Ariana came in the cafeteria, a leap in her step. Kirstie didn't notice, but she was smiling the entire time. One of her 'friends' noticed and laughed loudly, hitting Kirstie's knee.

"Little Miss. Kirstin has a crush on Grande," he exclaimed, laughing loudly. Kirstie glared at him and slapped him on his head, wanting to smile when he yelped loudly.

"I. Do not. Have a crush. On Ariana Grande!"

Kirstie made eye contact with Ariana and she could have sworn that her heart broke in a million pieces. Ariana looked at her with sad eyes and she quickly left, not wanting to look at Kirstie anymore. Kirstie sighed sadly, shaking her head.

What did I do?

~~~

*Hey, kiddo." Kevin signed, setting ice cream down in front of Mitch. The teenager smiled weakly but went back to frowning immediately. *I'm sorry about the breakup, kiddo. You obviously deserved better if he didn't tell you until now.*

*We broke up on good terms though.* Mitch replied, sitting up. He took his ice cream and took a bite, sighing sadly. *I just can't believe he's not the one anymore. We were going to get married right after high school because that was when were allowed to date again. We were going to have kids by the time I was twenty four. We were...*

Mitch stopped right there as tears rolled down his cheeks. He set his bowl and cried into his hands, burying his face into Kevin's shirt when the older man hugged him tightly. Kevin remembered how Tori had her first breakup and how he and Avi burned all the pictures of her and her ex in hopes to comfort her. Kevin gasped happily as a thought came to mind, smiling as bright as the sun.

"Avi, I know what to do to help Mitch with his breakup," Kevin called out, his smile wide. Avi knew immediately what he was going to say and he smiled back. "Let me get Mitch. *Mitch, do you have an album full of pictures of you and Travis?*

Mitch nodded and sat up, too emotionally wrecked to stand up. Kevin helped Mitch up and helped him upstairs. Mitch sighed as he lead the two men to his room, wiping his eyes as he picked up an album, flipping through it.

*All my happiest moments are in this book.* Mitch explained, biting his lip as more tears rolled down his cheeks. Avi wiped them away, his heart heavy for the teenager. *I miss him so much.*

*We're going to do something fun.* Kevin signed as he led Mitch back downstairs. Mitch looked over at Avi in a confused matter, but the bearded man did not look back at him. *Have you ever burnt a picture before?*

Mitch gasped as he shook his head, holding onto the album. Avi sighed as he put his hands on Mitch's shoulders, his eyes full of seriousness.

"Mitch, Travis isn't your prince," Avi began as Kevin signed for him. "He swept you off your feet, but anybody is capable of doing that. He isn't the one that is meant to make you happy.

"You are going to find the one who takes your breath away whenever you see them. You are going to blush whenever they compliment your body. You are going to cry when they tell you how much they love you for the first time. You are going to realize the real meaning of passion when they make love to you. You are going to be angry whenever you don't know were they are because you don't want them to be hurt. You are going to realize the true meaning of ecstasy whenever they kiss you deeply for the first time. Mitch, you are going to find that person. Travis isn't that person. They're out there somewhere. Just keep looking."

Kevin smiled to himself as tears welled in his eyes. Avi told their same exact words to Tori when she had her heart broken for the first time. He remembered how seriously she took love afterwards and never took it for granted ever again. All of that was taken away from her unfairly and Kevin just wants her back so she could experience that.

*Thank you, Avi.* Mitch signed as he wiped his eyes from how breathtakingly beautiful the words were. He sighed as he looked at the album, a smile on his face. *Let's get to burning!*

*Now we're talking!*

For the rest of the time they were there, Kevin and Avi helped Mitch burn all the photos that the teenager took with Travis. It was hard at first, but Mitch finally learned something that Travis never taught him.

The art of letting go.

A/N: Travis and Mitch aren't getting back together, I'm sorry.:( I don't know who to ship him with now.xD Travis won't be in the story anymore either. Also, I will just like to say that Travis did not abuse Mitch, both in this book and in real life. He's seems like a really nice guy. Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter and remember that I love you all.:)

P.S: Who cried at Avi's speech towards Mitch? I'll admit it and say that I teared up a bit, lol. Also, Kevin signed for Avi so Mitch could understand what was being said.:)

-Maddie🐧🐧🐧