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 53rd cycle. Now cycle 54!

This is a double shift day. There will be one more upload today: Technicolor Wishes & Hi-Def Dreams, chapter 2.

"Elevations & Ramifications"
Nora (AU!Beth), Emily, Grace 17
Sunshine Girls 2 series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

Whatever had happened in Glee Club that day, Grace had not been aware of any of it. She couldn't, not after Francesca's words had left her with a question so big it made her head hurt. She hadn't actually said anything that would confirm what Grace herself had come to believe, but it had been the first thing to pop into her head. And since then, it was like watching a movie for the second time, where all of a sudden all the subtle hints weren't so subtle anymore. She would think about moments as recent as the day before and as remote as years ago, and she wasn't sure if she was imagining things or if she was completely in the right to think that her best friend Nora liked her as more than a friend.

She wasn't a hundred percent sure though, and unless she was there was no way she could talk about it, not to Nora. All that would do would be to make things awkward between them, and she didn't want that. There was every possibility that she would be proven wrong, and then everything would go back to the way it was.

That afternoon, they were heading to Emily's house to look after her cousins/siblings while Mike and Tina went out. They were all good with Charlie and Naomi, but none of them as good as Emily. The five-year-old boy could be something of a brat, but Emily was some kind of wizard, always able to get him to behave. As for Naomi, who had turned one just a few weeks ago, she was so calm of a kid it was almost freaky. Nora liked just holding her in her arms as they did their homework, or watched television, played out in the yard with Charlie…

"Should put her down for a bit," Emily had told Nora as she stood with her little brother keeping a vice grip around her leg.

"Yeah, alright," Nora laughed, carrying Naomi back into the house. Grace watched her go, thinking… No, she couldn't possibly, it would be too…

"You're staying for dinner, right?" It took her a moment to realize Emily had spoken to her, and her head snapped back toward her.

"Sorry?"

"Dinner," Emily mimed a fork.

"Oh… Y-yeah, sure," she blinked, trying to appear normal.

"Geez, what's up with you?" Emily frowned. So much for normal… Emily looked back to the house, then back to Grace, who diverted her eyes. "Okay, if you don't tell me what's going on, I'm going to start thinking you two are hiding something from me." A laugh emerged from behind her, and she blindly reached out for her brother's face. "Shh, Charlie," she scolded.

"Not hiding anything," Grace promised, moving to retrieve a ball, which she held out for Charlie to see. The boy emerged from behind Emily, holding his arms out. He wasn't half bad at catching at his age, though the joke would be that Grace was such a bad thrower that they were a perfect pair.

She could have asked Emily about it. As far as information levels, asking Emily was as good as asking Nora without actually asking Nora. The problem with that was… well, exactly as she'd thought it already. If she asked Emily, there was a pretty good chance it would find its way back to Nora. It wasn't like she didn't trust Emily to keep a secret, but when it came to the three of them, they tended to prefer the 'open book' approach, and they were better friends for it.

"Has, uh…" she took a quick look back to the house to see if Nora was back yet, "Do you think Nora will see Francesca again?"

"She sees her every day at…" Emily started with a frown, then paused when she understand what Grace had meant. "Oh…" she paused. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I mean I know she said they had a good time, but…" The sound of the back door kept her from going further. Both girls looked up at once, which in Grace's case lead to her getting knocked in the head with the ball Charlie was throwing back at her.

"Ow!" she cried out.

"Charlie!" Emily frowned.

"You okay?" Nora laughed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I… ow…" she winced when she touched the side of her face. "It just pinched and… Is it bruising? Not bleeding, am I?" Nora came up to take a look, carefully turning Grace's face sideways. The 'injured' girl turned her eyes to observe her as she checked her face, and maybe in hindsight she could say Charlie did her a favor.

Having Nora standing so close, inspecting her face the way she did, Grace could see so much of her face, her eyes, the way she looked at her… She'd seen that look so many times, and it had never dawned on her that she might have been the cause of it. Of all the words she could think of, the only ones that could qualify it seemed to be quiet adoration. She couldn't move, though with how Nora was checking out her cheek, it was probably best that she remained stationary.

"Well, no blood," Nora had declared. "There might be a little bruise, just barely," she released her face, and it took a moment for Grace to release the position she'd held during the inspection.

"Right, thanks," she bowed her head, looking over to Charlie who was looking at her like he was anticipating getting yelled at. "It's alright, Charlie, it was an accident," she promised, and the boy relaxed. His big sister was another story. Looking back to her, Grace could see Emily staring at her, at Nora, back at her, and she could practically see the moment when it was all about to click in her head. "Actually, I think I might need some ice, I'll be right back," she moved toward the house.

She had found a plastic bag, dumping some ice cubes in it before holding it to the side of her face. She wasn't sure if she actually needed it, but now that she held it there it did feel kind of soothing. She stood there for a beat, sighing, until she heard the back door and she spun around to find Emily standing there.

"Actually, I think I might have to head home before dinner," she told her, "It was supposed to be my turn to cook last night, but then I…"

"How long have you known?" Emily asked, and Grace wanted to look away but then forced herself to keep looking at Emily.

"Known what?"

"I think you know," Emily nodded.

"Know what?" Grace sighed in frustration while Emily came up closer.

"Look, whatever you have to say, it'll stay between you and me, I promise."

"Is that right?" Grace frowned, and Emily had the innocent face of a guilty person.

"Okay, that time was an accident," she defended herself.

"Accident or not, I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Please, I saw the look on your face."

"What look?" Grace asked.

"The look when you saw the look on her face," she tilted her head toward the back door, and Grace's eyes gave her away, taking a quick swipe to the side to make sure Nora couldn't see them from outside. "Ha!"

"Okay, come here," Grace frowned, pulling at Emily's arm so they'd step away from the windows regardless. "I don't know what it is you think you saw…"

"Grace Mackenna, you are a terrible liar, always have been," Emily 'accused.'

"Well, what about you? You've known, haven't you?"

"Known what?" Emily looked her in the eye, knowing she wasn't giving her a choice, she had to answer. Grace stared back for a moment, knowing she had to say it.

"Nora… She likes me?" As much as Emily had wanted Grace to say it, now that she had, it meant that she had some talking of her own to do, which had somehow not factored into her plan.

"Well…"

"Emily!"

"Okay, okay, fine, yes, and that's as far as I'm going to…" she held up her finger.

"How long?" Grace cut in, and Emily shushed her.

"I can't tell you that, come on!"

"Weeks? Months? Years?" Grace wouldn't back down, and at each increment she could see Emily's face flinch, which was as good as a response. Now she could only stand there, stunned.

"You're kind of intense sometimes, you know that?" Emily breathed.

"Years?" Grace repeated, and Emily had to bite back words. Was this it? Was this why Nora hardly ever dated anyone, because she liked… her?

"Okay, well now you know, that's… I guess the big question becomes what are you going to do about it? I mean, would it be…"

In all this time, she hadn't even thought about it that way. It was always about finding out if Nora liked her, never about her and… how could it? Nora had come out to her a couple years back, and she'd always accepted her for it, but that was as far as it went. She had never even considered the possibility that she might… But then why had it mattered so much if Nora did or didn't like her?

"I should go. Please don't say anything," she looked to Emily, holding the bag of ice out to her.

"I… Keep it," Emily insisted, looking like she thought she'd hurt one of her best friends.

"Tell them I'm sorry I had to go?" she asked, and Emily nodded.

She had left the Chang house, the bag of ice dripping water down her legs as she walked, sending tiny shocks up her spine. It was almost appropriate, because that was how her brain felt at the moment. She didn't know how to deal with all the information she'd received that afternoon, but she was going to have to at some point, if she expected to be in the same room as Nora ever again. It couldn't go back now, not that she wanted it to, but… All of a sudden the whole world looked changed.

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!