Hi everybody! So, this is my first GraceNMichelle brOTP fic or GNM fic at all (hint hint, if this goes over well, I may write more fics). I really hope you guys enjoy this! I know that the timelines are a little messy (in regards to Grace's hair color, their living arrangements, their ages and Justin not being a part of this fic, the general storyline… you know what, this is AU. Yeah.) but it should still all make sense. All respect to Michelle and her family. Reminder, SFW but maybe NSFF. Please, enjoy and lemme know what you think! (ps, if you, michelle, happen to read this and feel I stepped out of bounds a little with this, let me know. I'll take it down and rewrite something else.. haha.)
(A/N: This fic was originally posted to my tumblr on December 3, 2013)
Word Count: 1,712
It was the simple things Michelle had taken advantage of. Head nods, lip bites, thank you's. None of it really mattered. You always look over the little things. You never know if that wink or that adorable giggle is going to be the last… And you don't value it until it's too late.
Friday had been a long day for the both of them. Michelle had a shift at two of the four grueling jobs she worked, while Grace had to work both her shift and that of her vacationing co-worker. Needless to say, both of them could have used a drink by the end of that day. So, that's what they did.
Michelle passed by a liquor store everyday on her way home from work, so she decided to step inside. She walked up and down each aisle, heels clacking against the hard linoleum floor. She breathed a heavy sigh as her hand traced the labels on each bottle. So many choices. Her eyes scanned for any kind of wine, as she no longer cared which flavor. Their resting place was ultimately on a bottle of white zinfandel. She took no particular liking to it, but something inside her begged her to pick it up. She could feel it pulling at her; nagging endlessly.
Listening to the voices, she extended her arm and allowed the sudden urge to hold the bottle close to her to be done. She made her way back through the aisles, shoes clacking away, and approached the front of the shop. Her mind immediately blanked, losing itself in memory. All those late night movie memories came flooding back and Michelle couldn't help but smile.
However, her smile did not last long, as she remembered why those zinfandel and popcorn filled movie nights ended.
Michelle's mother had been in the hospital for a while at that point. Nothing seemed to be working. But Michelle knew she would make it through. Her mom was tough and the bravest woman she'd ever known. She would kick cancer's ass.
"Uh, ma'am?" came a deep, manly voice.
A startled Michelle walked quickly to the counter and placed her bottle atop it.
"Sorry." She mumbled, and shook out her hands below the counter; a technique she'd learned to stop her thinking of whatever she had been.
"Can I see your ID?"
"Sure." She said, and sighed.
"Why am I still being carded?" she thought as her hand made its way to her purse.
Finally, after what seemed like minutes of sifting through receipts and loose change, the twenty-five year old pulled out her driver's license. Upon handing it to the man, he thoroughly checked it over, and eventually handed it back. He scanned her bottle and swiped her debit card, which she'd also pulled out, then handed her back them both. With a weak smile, Michelle wished a good night and left the small shop.
By that time, it had started to down pour.
"As if the day couldn't get worse." She thought to herself as she raced through the cold pelts of water to a, thankfully, unlocked car.
She placed the bottle on the passenger seat beside her, buckled her seat belt, and carefully drove home.
When she parked her car outside of their apartment building, she made sure she'd collected everything she needed before running through the rain, putting the wine bottle in her laptop bag. Again, she ran through the rain and entered the apartment she shared with her best friend cold and damp.
"Michelle?" Grace called from her bedroom.
"Yeah, it's me. I've got wine!" Michelle yelled back.
"Oooooh!" Grace squealed as she ran out to meet her best friend.
Michelle wasn't sure how Grace had managed to keep such a happy mood, but it never failed to make her smile.
"You want a glass?" Grace asked, pouring some for herself into a red Solo cup.
"Yeah, but I wanna get changed first."
Grace nodded in agreement and Michelle left to her room. As the one girl dropped her bags and changed into warm pajamas, the other poured her best friend a generous amount of wine.
"Thanks." Michelle smiled when she returned and took the cup.
"Yeah. You look like you need it."
"Hah. I do." Michelle replied.
"Long day?"
"Definitely."
Grace picked up her glass- ah, cup- and raised it with a smile.
"Then here's to making it through sucky days."
Michelle raised her cup alongside the newly bleached-blonde's and smiled right back.
"So! Plans for tonight?" Grace asked.
"I mean, I can't think of anything better to do than get wasted."
Grace smiled at the thought. Getting wasted sounded really great at the moment. Her day was just as difficult.
"I can dig it." She smiled.
And with that, they spent the next two and a half hours downing drinks by the cup-full an taking loads of zinfandel shots. Grace, who could be "trunk" after three cups of wine, was so dizzy, she couldn't see. Michelle, however, knew she needed to be up in the morning and was only buzzed. Grace needed to be up too, but she had hangover remedies.
At around midnight, Grace stood from her spot on the couch and walked into the kitchen. Eyes blurred and limbs unsteady, she grabbed a mason jar from the cabinet and filled it with ice cold water. Slowly, she started to drink and sat back down on the couch. Michelle remained on the floor, a Wii remote in hand, playing Animal Crossing. Grace's hangover trick required her to finish her water and remain awake for at least an hour. She didn't understand the science of it, but it worked and she wasn't going to argue that.
At about half past twelve, when Grace's eyes had un-blurred and her limbs had begun to steady, she turned to Michelle.
"Wanna play Mario Kart?"
"Sure." She said unenergetically.
She was awake, Grace was sure of it, but she must've been tired. Michelle, dangerously close to falling asleep right there on the ground, handed Grace a white, yet bedazzled, Wii remote; Grace's personalized remote.
The standard iPhone ringtone suddenly erupted from the small phone next to Michelle's head, starting her awake. She groaned and turned over the small device to see an unknown number.
"Who is it?" Grace asked, confused at why anyone would call this late.
"Dunno. Jersey area code, though. Hello?" Michelle replied, answering the mysterious caller.
"Who is it?" Grace mouthed, still wanting an answer.
"Could you hang on just a sec?" Michelle asked and moved the phone from her ear. "It's Doctor Adams about my mom. I'm gonna take this in my room."
And with a simple nod of Grace's head, Michelle entered her room, carefully shutting the door behind her.
"Hello, sorry, my roommate was curious." Michelle apologizes.
"Michelle, I have some news."
"Okay." Michelle said and sat on her bed.
"You might want to sit down for this."
"I am. Sir, what's going on?"
There is a cold pause that drove Michelle insane.
"I've recently been informed that your mother has passed away. She went peacefully in her sleep. I'm immensely sorry, Michelle."
Michelle's heart dropped. The phone in her hand suddenly felt stone cold.
"Thank you. Goodnight." Whispered Michelle, her voice breaking.
Right then, Michelle was broken. She had been so very fragile for months… but it feels like someone finally took a hammer and smashed her to pieces.
The world was a quiet blur now. The most important person in her life was now longer in her life. That left Michelle's second most important person to rise up a peg. Michelle needed her mother's nurture and care desperately… but that was no longer possible. So, she decided she needed the warm embrace of her now most important person. She needed her to hold her and assure her she would be okay. The brunette slowly lifted her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. She felt woozy and unsteady, but forced her limbs to move.
Grace couldn't help but worry. Michelle was way too quiet for her comfort. She stood as the door to her best friend's bedroom opened and Michelle stepped out. Her eyes looked different. Her held-together stance was different. She was different, and Grace knew something was wrong.
"Did she…" she trailed off softly.
But the girl would not respond. Grace knew by the small, almost unnoticeable quiver in Michelle's lower lip that she was going to cry. She nodded ever so lightly.
"Oh, God." Grace whispered, and rushed to Michelle, pulling her into a hug.
Michelle collapsed almost immediately, breathing in heavily. Grace could feel the uneven breaths against her chest as well as could hear them.
Grace was normally one to never hug and had bad claustrophobia. The closeness made her uncomfortable but she did not care. Her best friend needed her. She held Michelle's head close to her and gently shushed her. But Michelle did not let up… And she had absolutely no reason to. So Grace, in all her high school athletics glory, lifted Michelle into her arms and carried her to the couch, snuggling her in close as they sat.
Michelle took this moment to appreciate everything. The bright, alluring curls of Grace's hair, her smooth hand stroking Michelle's straight, deep brown hair, the way her lips parted slightly and her nose scrunched up when she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. These were the things she would never take advantage of again, because she could lose Grace just as quickly as she overlooked the details.
That thought alone forced her to continue her heavy sobbing.
"Shhh…" Grace's voice came from above. "You're okay. You're okay."
It was comforting. Soothing.
After hours, Michelle's crying died down, and she fell asleep in Grace's arms; a first for neither of them. Grace eventually drifted off as well, but not before thoughts of her own.
What if she had lost her mom?Or her dad? Or John or Tim? What if she lost Michelle?
And before she drifted off, she held Michelle tight. She couldn't bear the thought of losing her, and wanted nothing to hold her and protect her from life.
It just goes to show us all that we take for granted.