March 2nd, 2005
It was strange how when someone you loved died, you think your life would come to a stand still, but it doesn't. You go on. You take your trash out and help buy groceries for your mother. Going to work is sort of bittersweet, but you still do it. Death of a loved one isn't death of your own life….Well, it wasn't in Brendan's case.
He knew people stared at him every single time he walked into the house. They were judging him because he carried the Finney name. Or maybe they knew what had happened, but they understood why he and Davis did it. There was one person he knew understood and didn't judge him.
"Finn, you have a visitor." Ty said as he walked into the locker room, "And she's looking mighty hot." Brendan closed his locker.
"Shut up." He zipped his jacket up. He didn't need anyone checking out his woman. His woman…Lord, she wasn't his. She was barely his girlfriend. She was his…Grace. He stepped out of the locker room and saw grace standing by the desk. Her brown hair was wind tossed. Her cheeks were rosy. It was a blustery day outside. She glanced over at him and began to smile.
"You ready to go?" She asked rubbing her hands together. Brendan nodded.
"No gloves?" He asked.
"Gloves are for wimps." She winked. Brendan chuckled as he took her hand. God, they were cold. He glanced at her face to see if she would flinch beneath his touch, but no. She had accepted his hand round her. "We're getting food right?"
"Sure." Brendan nodded. He was kind of hungry. He had to admit it. Grace looked at him and bit her lip. She sighed.
"You had a hard day didn't you?" She asked. Brendan shrugged his shoulders.
"No more than usual, I suppose." He told her. Grace shook her head.
"You have that look on your face." She said; Brendan smirked.
"What look is that?" He asked her. Grace thought to choose her words slowly.
"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Brendan." She said, "I don't like when you look like that. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Just have dinner with me and I'll be fine." he told her. Grace nodded.
"I can do that." She said.
Brendan sat there poking at his carrots as he watched Grace. She was talking about work and a patient she and Holly had. She really was gorgeous. Grace tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked at him.
"Well, I guess I will stop my story since I can see you are not listening." She said to him. Brendan smiled at her.
"I'm sorry. I was just-"
"Staring? I see." Grace said with a chuckle, "What's so interesting on my face?"
"Your nose. Your lips. Shall I go on?" Brendan asked. Grace groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Please no." She said, "You'll make me throw up." Technically she wouldn't throw up. She liked hearing his compliments. It made her feel good. It had been a long time since she had felt this good.
"Okay. I won't say anything more then." Brendan said. He liked telling her things though. Grace wiped some sauce off of her lips and put her napkin down.
"How's your food?" She asked. "Or should I ask, how was it?" Brendan ate his last carrot and looked at Grace.
"It was delicious." He said pulling out his wallet. Grace pushed back her seat and stood up. This was the moment of the evening that always made her nervous…Although she wouldn't let anyone know it. Brendan would put his hand on the small of her back and led her outside. Then there was that question. Would he walk her home or just go home himself. "Ready?"
"Got my jacket on so I would say yeah." She said walking out. There it was…His hand was on the small of her back. Grace's heart quickened. Why did he do that to her?
"Do you have work tomorrow?" Brendan asked her. Grace shook her head.
"Thankfully no. I need a day off." She said, "What about you?"
"I have a day off too." He said. Grace's lips curled into a smile. "Come on. It's cold out here." Brendan began to lead her down the street. Okay, so he was walking her home. It was one of those days. They were silent for awhile as they walked down the street. Brendan looked at Grace and smiled. "I like you."
"I like you too." Grace smiled. They were silent once again. Why was this so hard? He made her giddy. Why couldn't she just chat with him and tell him she wanted to sleep with him and wanted more? She was being ridiculous. She couldn't open that can of worms.
"Do you want to do something tomorrow?" Brendan asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Like what?" Grace asked. Brendan knew she would ask that.
"Well, it's too cold to go to the beach and Coney Island isn't open yet." He said, "How does a movie night with warm popcorn sound?"
"It sounds perfect." She said stopping in front of her apartment building. She pulled out her keys. "Thank you for dinner. It was good."
"It was nice to have good company while eating." Brendan said looking at her apartment building. "May I come in?" There was that question. As much as she wanted him tonight, she couldn't let it happen.
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Grace told him. He sighed deeply.
"Why?" Brendan asked.
"I'm not ready for that yet." Grace bit her lip for a moment. Brendan sighed, but nodded.
"We don't have to do anything Grace." He said. Grace couldn't help but to chuckle.
"If I'm alone with you in my apartment, things will happen." Grace told him.
"What kind of things?" Brendan smirked. Grace smacked his shoulder.
"You know what kind of things, Pervert." She said to him. She took a step up. "Good night, Brendan." He smiled.
"Good night, Grace." He leaned up and gave her cheek a kiss. "I'll give you a call tomorrow and we'll set something up."
"I'll pencil you in." She winked playfully going to her door. "Bye."
"Bye." Brendan stood there and watched her walk in. He had to make sure she got in safely. He knew she would probably hate that but he didn't care. As much as she tried to push him away, Brendan wouldn't go away. He would be here and when she would be ready, he'd open his arms for her.