Disclaimer: I don't own the Everwood people, obviously, if I did this would be on the show and not a fanfic. But! I do own Gracie.
~Lost and Kept~
Prologue:
There was only a light snow on the ground when the bus pulled up in front of its normal spot on Main Street, in the heart of Everwood. It was late at night and both the occupants of the bus and its driver were too tired to notice the girl who exited with the regular passengers. She had never been seen by anyone in town before, and she had never seen any of them before, at least, not that she knew of. All she knew was the bus had become smelly and uncomfortable, and this place looked calm and peaceful.
The bus drove off and the passengers who had exited with the girl walked off to their homes, wrapped tightly in their coats to protect themselves from the falling snow. The girl remained at the bus stop for awhile; eating snowflakes or watching them melt soon after touching her maroon mittens. She sat on the bench for awhile too, observing the silent buildings across the lonesome street. She dangled her feet in front of her, watching every now and then as her Mary Jane shoes would pop into view over her puffy and layered skirt. She also played with the small run at the knee of her black tights. Magically, she thought, the run became larger.
After some time had passed, the cold began to get to the girl. Her nose was still cold no matter how many times she rubbed it, so she went in search of a warm place. Eventually she came across a rather larger building that she liked the look of, and decided she would like to stay in there. The door was unlocked but heavy, so it took her some time to get inside. Like the rest of the town the building was empty of all life with the exception of a few tall plants that towered over the girl's head. But in here it was warm and gave her the feeling of safeness. It was like… banana bread…
She wandered around the building for awhile, her bright and energetic blue eyes searching everything in the near (but adjusted to), darkness. It didn't look like a home, there were no beds, and it was only one floor. Some of the rooms held things she had only seen in her nightmares, but she could easily avoid those.
Finally she was tired and walked over to one of the many arranged wooden benches. She slipped her shoes off and placed them neatly side by side on the floor by one of the legs of the bench. She grabbed a pillow from a close by chair and placed it onto the bench. She crawled up onto it and lay down. She checked over the side one more time to make sure her shoes were still neatly set before closing her eyes and going to sleep.