Grace approached Harrison Woods, feeling a little creeped out to be there at night when it was so dark out. If he was still cave diving, she was going to kill him. One for not coming to the protest as promised and two for making her worry about him like she was.
She reached the hole in the ground that she assumed was the cavern he had been rambling about for the past few days. She saw Luke's supplies and the rope dangling down into the hole and shook her head; her anger rising.
He is so dead.
She leaned over the hole and shouted, "Girardi!" No response. "Girardi! Get out here so I can kick your ass!"
Grace frowned as she received only the echo of her own voice against the walls of the cavern in response. It surely couldn't be so huge that he wouldn't have heard her. And, now that she thought of it, Luke wasn't stupid; he knew it wasn't a good idea to search the cavern at night.
Trying to ignore the concern that was quickly turning into panic, she whipped out her cell phone and quickly dialed the all too familiar number.
"Hi Grace," a very feminine voice answered softly.
"Joan?" Grace asked in confusion. "What are you doing with your brother's phone?"
There was a long pause on the other end.
"It's a really long story. Come on over and I'll explain everything."
"Where's the geek?" Grace asked impatiently.
"He, uh… he had a bit of an accident in the cavern," Joan said reluctantly, her voicing shaking slightly.
The panic swelled to an unbearable level in Grace as she said shortly into the phone, "I'll be right there."
-
Joan was waiting out on the porch when Grace arrived.
"So, what happened?" Grace asked, forgoing a greeting. Joan bit her lip in hesitation. "Start talking, Girardi."
"He was trying to come back up out of the cavern," Joan said, her voice cracking and tears welling up in her eyes as she relived that moment. "The rope… it didn't hold. He fell."
Grace clenched her teeth, trying to keep her own emotions down. "How bad is it?"
"He hit his head pretty hard," Joan continued. "There was so much blood."
She let out a shuddering breath, still overwhelmed by the memory of her brother knocked unconscious and bleeding.
"But he's going to be okay, right?" Grace questioned, her own voice cracking this time.
"Yeah," Joan sniffled, trying to compose herself. "G-d I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think…"
Grace sighed in relief. She was going to have to seriously hurt two Girardi's now for making her get so emotional.
"So, can I see him?" Grace asked, refusing to look Joan in the eye. It was bad enough her concern had already been in plain view. She found herself longing for the days when everyone thought she was heartless.
"Uh, yeah," Joan said slowly. She blocked Grace when she moved to go inside. "There's… there's one more thing."
Grace put her hands on her hips and looked at Joan expectantly.
"He's got… amnesia," Joan blurted, eyeing Grace nervously.
The panic that had gripped her earlier flared up inside of Grace, "What?"
"He doesn't remember ever moving to Arcadia or anything after," Joan continued, staring intently at a spot on the porch. "It's so weird, he remembers packing, and being in the car, but he can't remember ever being here."
Joan finally looked at Grace, who was staring at the taller girl, her jaw clenching as she processed this. Joan had never seen her look so upset over anything that didn't involve some kind of conspiracy or oppression.
"You can still see him," Joan rushed to assure her. "He just…"
"Won't remember me?" Grace finished, her eyes dropping to the ground.
Joan gave her friend a sympathetic look before silently leading her into the house where Luke sat with the rest of the Girardi's. Grace shuffled awkwardly on her feet as everyone looked over at her once she and Joan entered the room. Luke looked curiously at the newcomer, obvious interest written across his features. When Grace caught his eye, he looked down and promptly blushed.
"Luke, this is Grace," Joan introduced, looking back and forth between the two. "Don't be shy, you know her."
"Hi," Luke greeted shyly, despite what Joan had just said. "Sorry I don't remember you."
The apology was so sincere that Grace found herself blinking rapidly and clearing her throat so she wouldn't lose it in front of his entire family.
"Its ok, not your fault."
Kevin cleared his throat and nodded to his parents, "Why don't we let the youngins catch up?"
After a moment of uncomfortable silence Will and Helen nodded and followed Kevin out of the room.
Once they were gone Joan nudged Grace not so subtly in the ribs and gestured towards the empty space on the couch next to Luke. Grace glared at her, but complied anyways and took the seat. Joan put on her best fake smile and sat in front of them on the floor.
Grace leaned over to examine the now sewn up gash on the back of Luke's head.
"Ouch," she commented, a strange feeling of protectiveness coming over her.
Luke startled a little, "Uh, yeah, it's a little sore. Not too bad though."
Grace moved back fully into her seat, amazed at how flustered she made him. Had it been like that before? She was so used to the calmer and more collected Luke as of late to be sure.
A knock sounded from the front door and Joan jumped up from her spot on the floor.
"That's Adam," she explained. "I had him go to get the stuff that was left at the cavern."
Joan hurried off to answer the door, leaving Grace and Luke alone, several inches between them on the couch; inches which might as well been miles. She had once been an important fixture in his life, and now she was nothing more than a random stranger. The thought of how she could go from one to the other so quickly left a bitter taste in her mouth.
"Joan seems really different," Luke commented, studying a pillow so he didn't have to look at the girl he was finding himself immensely attracted to.
"Well, to us you seem different," Grace pointed out. "It's all a matter of perception, I suppose."
Luke's eyes lit up, "Do you study Heisenberg?"
Grace laughed, "Only if listening to you ramble on about him non-stop counts as studying."
"Oh," Luke said, looking over at her curiously. He wasn't quite sure what to think of this girl yet. "Do we talk to each other often?"
Grace's face crumpled from her tiny smirk into a saddened expression. Luke watched helplessly as she fought down her reaction.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I can't imagine its fun to be forgotten. I wish I could remember…"
Grace forced a small smile onto her lips and, without thinking, put a reassuring hand on his leg. "It's alright, geek. Don't sweat it."
Luke tensed and gulped as goose bumps rose on his arms and the back of his neck at her touch. He was starting to wonder if maybe he had a huge crush on her. Then he marvelled at the fact that he didn't even know that much.
Grace quickly retracted her hand, "Uh…"
Adam and Joan came into the room just then, preventing any further awkwardness between the two blondes seated on the couch.
"Hey man," Adam greeted, his laid back nature putting Luke at ease for the moment.
"Hi," he replied, feeling relieved that someone was acting remotely normal around him. "Adam, right?"
"Cha," Adam nodded and adjusted his beanie. "Sorry about the amnesia and all."
Luke glanced briefly at the girl sitting next to him," Somehow I don't think I got the worst of it."
"Did Jane tell you anything about us?" Adam inquired, blissfully unaware how delicate the subject was to some people in the room.
"Jane?" Luke repeated, baffled.
"Nothing really," Joan replied for Luke, talking right over him. "Didn't want to overwhelm him, you know?"
"Joan, you aren't going to overwhelm me," Luke insisted, slipping easily into his annoyed brother tone.
Joan rolled her eyes. "You nearly had a heart attack when you looked in the mirror."
Luke looked embarrassed. "I've had time to process the whole situation."
"Short version?" Joan started, taking a breath so she could spew information out without pause. "Adam and Grace are our friends; she and Adam have known each other since they were three, and she is also your girlfriend."
Luke's eyes widened and he looked over at the blonde girl seated next to him then back at Joan.
"Really?" he directed at Grace, his eyes finding their way back over to her.
Grace shifted in her seat and directed her eyes on the floor. "Yeah."
That would explain a lot, Luke thought gleefully, giving her a small, shy smile