Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 80th cycle. Now cycle 81!

"Walk & Smile"
Nora (AU!Beth)/Grace (OC), Emily (OC; Nellie V.)
Sunshine Girls 2 series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

There was no room left for them to wonder it anymore. They were dating, they were girlfriends… as far as they knew. They hadn't yet reached a point where they felt comfortable sharing this information with the rest of the school. Never minding the fact that there were still very few people who realized Grace Mackenna was now dating a girl, there was still the dreaded Francesca Factor. How were they supposed to know when it would be alright to put their relationship on display? Francesca had been their friend before she'd been Nora's girlfriend, had continued to be as the relationship had begun and gone on… but it was over now, and it was leaving them to try and be as out of sight as possible. But it couldn't go on forever. Especially once the talk started.

Being discreet at school was one thing, but Nora and Grace had been more than one 'out of home' date, and on those dates they didn't shy away from hand holding, or sitting comfortably near, of kissing… and over the weekend they had been sighted. The rumors had started from this, further helped by the 'helpful' hand of their fellow Glee Club member, Bailey. It seemed now that, without being able to hold anything over Nora as she had once done, she would resort to hold it over Grace. If this should happen to hurt anyone else, then that wasn't her problem.

"Well isn't she just a… charming girl," Emily edited herself, frowning as she watched Bailey, off with her friends, sniggering in their direction.

"Is it wrong that I kind of hope one of her wheels just pops off?" Nora looked ready to bypass that idea all together and send the small blonde careening into the lockers.

"Nora, it's alright," Grace shook her head, taking hold of her arm. Nora looked back at her. "It only matters so long as I let it matter. I learned that from you," she gave her a smile. Nora looked back down the hall, to Bailey still looking in their direction. "Give me your hand."

"You sure?" Nora asked, looking her in the eye. Grace held out her hand, waiting, so Nora slowly nodded. "She's going to need to get a new hobby."

She took Grace's hand, and with Emily by their side, they walked on down the hall, past Bailey and her friends and around the corner. Already they were having to resist smirking, and as they rounded the corner they were still smiling, the memory of the look on Bailey's face enough to keep them amused for the rest of the day… and then they came to an abrupt stop, the smiles faltered, and Nora let go of Grace's hand at the same time Grace let go of hers.

"Hi…" Nora blinked.

"Hey," Francesca greeted her back. They stood there for a few more seconds before the trio carried on their way and Francesca carried on hers.

"So… she knows," Nora breathed.

Emily and Nora had first period together, while Grace was off on her own. Sitting in class, she wished she could be remembering the look on Bailey's face, but instead all she could see was the look Francesca had when she saw them. As much as the other girl might have tried to hide it, Grace was all too familiar with it herself not to recognize it when she saw it.

This was exactly the thing she had dreaded to see. As much as their situations had their differences, it was the similarities that stood out. Grace remembered how she'd felt, seeing Francesca, seeing her with Nora, in the halls, in Glee Club, in class… Finding out about them had lasted all of a second, but then she'd had to see them, day after day, and it had hurt like hell. Some days, if it got to her bad enough, it could wreck her and make her distracted all through her classes.

She could tell herself as much as she wanted that there had been no way around this, that one way or the other someone was going to get hurt, but it wasn't going to…

She sat up straight when Francesca walked in and took her seat. How had she forgotten they had this class together?

Their teacher arrived, the period had started, but it was no use. All Grace could think about was that girl sitting a few rows behind her and what might be going through her head. When the class ended, she debated as to what she was supposed to do now, if she should get up and leave first or let Francesca go first. This wasn't like the talk, the rumors, all this Bailey situation. She couldn't ignore Francesca like it would all suddenly go away. Maybe if she talked to her… or would that seem like she was showing off?

She got up out of her chair just as Francesca was coming up the aisle behind her, and they bumped into one another. "Sorry, I…" Grace started to say before she saw her, and then she stopped. "Sorry…" she moved out of the aisle to let her pass.

"You have a lot of people talking today, don't you?" Francesca spoke, and Grace looked at her, unsure what to say. "Don't let it get to you, alright?" she bowed her head.

"I… I won't," Grace blinked.

"Look… if you guys are together now, which I guess you are, from what they're saying out there, then… I don't want you holding back on my account. I know you won't rub it in my face, and I appreciate it, but… this is what it is," she shrugged. "It's alright."

Grace watched her go, wishing she could say something in return but knowing it would be better that she didn't. It was done now. Francesca knew, and in all likelihood so would the rest of the school before this was over. But that was all part of what they'd gotten themselves into, the price for their happiness, so they could not let it go in vain.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!