Title: Gimme Shelter

Rating: Pg-13 I guess (Although it might have to be raised in later chapters, we'll see)

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing! Except maybe some pocket lint, and a piece of string and ooh a shiny penny! The title comes from a Rolling Stones song.

Spoilers: A few things for 1st season and 2nd season up to "No Future". They're all minor and pretty general though. Blink and you'll miss them.

Summary: Grace shows up in Luke's room in the middle of the night looking for shelter. Shefinds comfort and...something more. (Bad summary, sorry.)

Notes: This is my first JoA fic and the first thing I've written in three years. Not sure I've got the characters right, but I gave it a bash anyway. Please review and don't worry about being gentle, I don't mind if it gets rough.

Luke woke to the sound of someone opening his bedroom window. Jerking awake, he gave a startled yelp and reached blindly for his bedside lamp.

"Relax Girardi," he heard Grace whisper, "it's only me dude."

Fumbling for his glasses, Luke peered into his darkened room. He could just make out Grace's dark shape as she pulled herself through the window.

It never ceased to amaze Luke how far their relationship had come in the past few months. There had been a time, not so long ago, when it seemed that Grace was more likely to beat him up then speak to him. The idea that the Great Rebel and the Monumental Geek might end up as a couple was absurd, laughable. Yet events had conspired to change all that and slowly the two had been drawn together. It had been difficult at first, she had been difficult. Any sort of "typical" relationship scenario was unacceptable to Grace, so quite often Luke had found himself at a loss as to how he should act or what he should say. She made up rules, broke them, made them up again and seemed to follow a logic all her own. All the while she maintained an air of seeming indifference and even hostility towards him. Most guys would have given up early, went on to someone more traditional, simpler. Luke however hadn't been interested in traditional or simple, he'd wanted Grace and slowly, through persistence and patience he'd worked his way into her life and, although she could barely admit it to herself, her heart. They were openly a couple now, no confidentiality contracts or sneaking around. That didn't mean that they held hands in the hallways or made out in public (Grace would probably join the Young Fascist League before that happened) but they didn't go out of their way to hide their feelings for each other.

Still, despite all the changes in their relationship, it was rather odd for Grace to be sneaking into his bedroom at 2:00AM.

"Grace, what are you doing here? Is everything OK?"

There was no response from the dark shape standing in the corner by the window. Just the sound of the rain as it beat down on the roof. Turning on the bedside lamp, Luke blinked the sleep from his eyes and looked questioningly at the girl in his room.

"Grace, what..." Luke's voice trailed off as he took in the sight before him. Grace stood there, soaked from head to foot. Her blonde hair was plastered to her head and water seemed to drip from every part of her. Pulling her leather jacket tighter around herself, Grace took a couple of steps further into the room.

"I was just out for a walk. Thought I'd drop by." Her voice shook slightly, but Luke could hear the defiance in it, daring him to contradict her.

"A walk in the rain...sounds refreshing." Luke had learned that one had to approach things carefully when Grace was in this type of mood. In his head, he quickly went through all the possibilities of why she might have come to see him. His scientific mind posited numerous possible theories to explain her behaviour then discarded each one as not fitting the situation. She wouldn't be here to study Physics and if she wanted to see Joan, then she would have gone to another window. The possibility that she might have snuck into his room to perhaps extend their make-out time flashed into his mind, causing his pulse to quicken, but he almost immediately discarded it. Just looking at her, he knew something was wrong.

"Rain can be refreshing," he said, trying to fill the silence by drawing upon the comfort of science, "unless of course it's acid rain. Actually, the instances of acid rain at this particular elevation..."

"Cut it out Geek." Grace said with a ghost of a smile, "I'm not up for a lecture from your encyclopaedic science brain right now."

"Things aren't great at my house at the moment." she said quietly, avoiding Luke's eyes. Grace didn't speak for a few minutes, just sat in his desk chair and gazed at the floor.

Luke had guessed that her visiting him probably had something to do with her mom's drinking, but he didn't say anything. Grace had become much more open with him since she told him about her mother's problem, but it was still a dicey topic for him to raise. He found that she talked about it more easily if she was the one to bring it up. If he pushed, all of her defences would kick in and she'd probably end up getting angry and leaving. Luke did not want her rushing off into the rainy night, so he slowly walked over to her and sat beside her on his desk. Taking her hand in his, he waited for her to go on.

Grace glanced down at their joined hands and let herself breathe regularly for what seemed like the first time in hours. She hadn't known where she was going when she ran out of her house tonight, she just knew that she needed to get out, to put as much distance as possible between herself and her home life. She had walked for what seemed like hours, not even noticing the cold or the rain, raging inside about her mother's drinking and the way her father avoided dealing with it. Grace just didn't think she could stand it anymore, going on as if this was the only way things could be, that her role was to sit there and watch her mother drink herself to death, tolerate her drunken rambling and rages and clean up her messes. She'd been a bit surprised when she'd looked up from her thoughts to find that she had walked to the Girardi house. Without even thinking about it she'd scaled the drainpipe and pulled herself through Luke's window.

Sitting beside him now, Grace felt soothed just by his presence. Yet, she found it hard to begin. She had told this boy more about her life than anyone, let him know secrets that she had sworn she would keep forever. Against all of her better judgement she had trusted him and in return he had shown her that she was not alone. Despite all this however, it was always a struggle for her to speak about certain things. Old habits die hard and Grace had spent a long time relying on noone but herself, ensuring she could never be betrayed. Taking a deep breath and focussing on the warmth of her hand in his, Grace let Luke a little further into her life.

"I just didn't want to deal with it tonight, you know? The screaming, the crying, the eventual passing out that you dread and secretly wish would happen sooner." Grace's voice hardened as she spoke the last few words. "I just figured screw it, let my Dad deal with it for once. The Rabbi can clean things up." Grace let go of Luke's hand and stood. The anger in her seemed to be ramping up and Luke realized that she was going to let fly with some pent-up rage.

"She spends her time drunk and he spends it out of the house so he doesn't have to see it! I'm supposed to take care of things, take care of her. It's supposed to be the other way around! He just stays away while I have to clean up puke and broken glass and have her laughing stupidly one minute and screaming at me the next!"

Grace's voice was growing louder by the second and Luke was glad that his parents were out of town for the weekend. Still, she was getting more and more agitated and he wanted to calm her, comfort her

"Grace," Luke soothed, "I know it can be tough..."

"You don't know anything!" she hissed, suddenly turning on him. "You're family is like the Cleavers or something! After you take your second ambulance trip with your comatose mother, her shirt covered in vomit and stinking of gin, then you can tell me you know how tough it is!"

Spinning on her heel, Grace made a move towards the window, looking to escape. Not wanting her to leave in this state, Luke moved behind her, encircling her with his arms. Taken by surprise, she struggled slightly against his embrace, but soon relented, her head dropping forward.

"Sometimes I just..." her words trailed off as she turned and put her arms around him, whispering into his neck, "Sometimes I just despise them. Both of them. But...they're my parents." Hating how much she needed his comfort, but needing it all the same, Grace clung tightly to Luke. Feeling his compassion and his acceptance, she slowly let herself relax into him. They stood like that for several minutes, holding each other and listening to the rain hit the roof.

"Well," said Luke, finally breaking the silence, "You really can't walk home in this weather and it's not going to stop anytime soon. The storm is supposed to go on all night. According to the weather channel a low pressure..." Luke stopped when he heard a muffled, "Freak.." come from the mass of blond hair below his chin. "Sorry," he apologized, "habit. Maybe we can call you a cab. It shouldn't cost much."

"No..."

"Or maybe I can get Kevin to drive you. He might be pissed that I woke him up but.."

"No," she interrupted him, "I don't want to go home." There was a quiet resolve in her voice, a small reminder of the strength that Luke admired so much about her. Slowly lifting her head, Grace looked directly into Luke's eyes for the first time since she'd climbed through the window, "I don't want to be alone tonight."

Standing in the circle of his arms, Grace could feel Luke's heart begin to beat a bit faster at her words.

"Well...uh...okay. That's a good idea...sensible." Slightly flustered Luke stepped back a bit from Grace and motioned vaguely to the space around him. "Plenty of room here in my..uh..room." His eyes darted quickly between Grace and his bed. "It can be a sleep over."Luke's voice cracked slightly on the last few words and a blush started to creep across his face.

Despite the prior events of the evening, Grace found herself enjoying his sudden discomfort. She had come here in need of comfort and solace, knowing that Luke could provide it. Still, she hated exposing any vulnerabilities, even to him. Being strong, maintaining an impenetrable facade and keeping control of a situation was how she'd survived this far and she found it unsettling how easily she could lose that control around Luke, how quickly her facade could crumble. Seeing him flustered and unsure however, like he'd been so often during their "courtship" as he called it, put her back on a surer footing, allowing her to regain some of her composure.

"Cool it Geek Boy." she said, as a small smile quirked her lips, "I just need a place to crash. I'll be sleeping in your bed, but that's it. You get any funny ideas and you'll be going to school in a body cast. Got it?" Grace poked Luke lightly in the chest to punctuate her point.

"Got it." Luke assured her. "No funny stuff. Nothing even slightly amusing. Wasn't even thinking it." The numerous different rather heated scenarios running through his brain at the moment gave the lie to that statement, but Grace couldn't see what was in his head. Good thing too, because Luke knew if she could, he'd probably end up in a body bag instead of a body cast.

Luke's train of thought was interrupted as Grace shivered in her wet clothes. All thoughts of what might happen were quickly replaced by concern when he realized that she must be freezing. "Here," he said as he grabbed a towel off the hook on the back of his door, "Dry off with this. I'll get some dry clothes for you to wear. I think Joan left some clean stuff in the laundry room."

Grace accepted the towel with a smile and began to peel off her leather jacket. Luke moved towards his bedroom door. He had just touched the doorknob when Grace spoke.

"Luke..."

He could probably count on his hands the number of times she'd actually used his name and hearing her say it now, Luke thought he'd never liked his name better. Taking a few steps back into the room, he waited for her to continue.

"Thanks for..you know...everything." Quickly stepping forward Grace placed a lingering kiss on Luke's lips. Opening his eyes, he looked down at her and she quietly repeated, "Everything."

Smiling, Luke brushed a wet strand of hair off of her forehead and once again turned to leave.

"Girardi," she called out, "You better not come back with anything pink or fluffy. Remember..body cast!"

"Wouldn't dream of it." he laughed as he walked out of the room. "I might be a geek, but I'm not suicidal."

TBC

A/N: Good? Bad? Give me your opinion and feel free to slap me around if you think I need it. Just try and make it constructive.