Choices: The Stories You Play and Endless Summer belong to Pixelberry. Written with love. Not mine.
XxX
-i. Welcome to La Huerta
He first recognizes her when they're boarding the plane. Slip of a thing. Curly hair, dark eyes a man could happily drown in. He'd crush her if he so much as looked at her sideways. She's in his PhD-level Advanced Physics class, and she's brilliant. She intimidates him, really. Not just because she's so driven, but because she's so sweet and innocent. Too sweet to notice someone big and loud like him.
"Hey, Grace Hall," he says, and she looks up. She's got the shyest smile, and when she blushes and looks up at him from under her lashes Raj feels like he's had the wind knocked out of him. "Advanced Phys, remember me? Raj -"
"You're the one who snores in class!" Grace says with a frown, and Raj holds his hands up, grinning.
"Guilty as charged," he drawls. Just as she opens her mouth to retort, a big football player comes barreling down the aisle, nearly knocking Grace over. Raj's arm snaps out and he grabs Grace by the wrist, pulling her to his chest as the next few students squeeze down the narrow aisle of the plane.
His Nana would kill him if he didn't step up and protect this sweet thing. And to be honest, he'd never forgive himself if something bad happened to her on his watch, because she smells like cardamom and coconut, just like his favorite chai. She backs away from him, blushing again, looking around for a seat.
"Grace," Raj starts to ask if she wants to sit next to him, but he's interrupted by some skinny white boy in a purple tie and a sweater vest.
"Hall, what are you doing here?" Purple Tie would clutch some pearls if he rolled that way. He elbows Raj with a sneer. "Move it, Frat Boy!"
Raj barely swallows a growl, and throws his bag in the next row. He leaves a spot by the window, in case Grace wants to see the island as they land. "Yo, Grace," Raj says with his most charming grin, "I got you a window seat."
Grace smiles from under her lashes at him, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. She sneaks a look at Purple Tie, who is glaring at Raj. "H...Hi." Grace stammers. She bites her lower lip, and Raj thinks he's never seen a more tantalizing sight. He wonders if Grace is the kind of girl who'd be interested in making out on a plane.
But he never gets the chance to find out, because she sits down next to Purple Tie, who doesn't even offer her the window seat. Purple Tie shoots Raj a triumphant look, and Grace smiles back at him vaguely, like she's already forgotten his name.
XxX
Notes: Soooo, this plunnie just grabbed ahold of me and I couldn't stop writing it! And I really, really love Raj and Grace together. I just hope I do the two of them justice. You can also read this on my tumblr (boneandfur). Don't forget to tell me what you think, and check out my Dralivia (This Never Happened).
MC (Taylor) switches genders in this, although he/she isn't the focus of the fic. There may be instances of unintentional OOC behavior, this is AU after all.