Summary: Grace needs a change and she sure gets it. Can she handle it and how will the family react? Eli+Grace

Disclaimer: Do not own characters. All fanfic. Own this story though .

Tenth Chapter

She was lost, the myriad of hallways all looked the same and she was uncertain as to where she was supposed to be. Clutching her bag closer she took another look at the signs hanging over her head.

White and boring beige seemed to be this designers favorite colors and it was dreary. Someone probably assumed it was comforting but Grace only felt out of place. She was the only thing there not white and beige.

Her father caught up with her and she saw that he too was out of place here amongst the starch and beige. What a weird word that was, beige. Not really a color either. Just beige… her thoughts drifted, they seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Do you know where we are going honey?" Jake asked.

"Not sure. Everything looks the same. But according to the very helpful signs I think it´s this way." She pointed down one of the anonymous hallways and started walking.

Jake was thinking that the customer service at the place was beyond bad. They should have been greeted at the door or something. How was a teenage girl supposed to know what to do in this situation? Hell, how was anyone supposed to know what to do in this situation? It was not the most familiar circumstances.

The speakers were playing something sounding a lot like elevator music. He had always assumed that was just an expression. Apparently not. It made him want to shoot himself, so bland and still nagging.

He looked at Grace. She stood there tall and proud. Her head still hung low but the determination was apparent in her spine and the way her eyes were moving. She was certain of her path even if the signs were bad and the music angst packed. When she started walking he simply followed her. She was the leader here.

The nurse had given her a bed and she was alone in the room. Thinking back she saw flashes of Eli and her family and how everything started. She saw his muscled back. The way his eyes would gleam when he bent down to kiss her. The way her body would simply melt beneath his fingers. After they had been caught he had been kicked out of the garage. Rick had stood behind Lily al the way in that matter. He had gone to live with his mother within hours of that nasty shouting sequence in her room. She had been so ashamed, her mother and Rick had seen her in the most revealing way and she had been forced to confess that "Yes, they had been intimate. And no they had not been sneaking around, it had just happened. And then the most grueling detail: No they had not been using protection." Her mother had flinched when she asked and when faced with the answer her face had become so pale that Grace had seen the blue veins running down her cheeks. And al the time Eli had been there, he stood by her, protecting her with his body and sometimes with his words. He had not hidden anything from their parents and she admired him for that. He had been rubbing his thumb in small circles on her wrist and she could still feel its comfort when thinking about it now, weeks later. She missed him.

The nurse came back and this time she brought a doctor.

"Alright miss Manning. This is what's going to happen…"

Grace listened to the young man talking to her and a small fluttering of panic rose in her stomach. She was determined alright but she was still afraid. No matter how much Jake wanted to be there for her he couldn´t do this for her. It had to be her decision and she had to go through it alone.

"…so are you ready?" Grace registered the words and answered accordingly.

"Yes, yes I´m ready" She could not keep this baby. She already loved it too much for that. She loved herself to much for that. And most important: She loved Eli too much for that. She would always love Eli too much for that.

TBC

Authors Note:

I know it's been a while but I was on vacation and this was the furthest thing from my mind. Hope you enjoy and review. All will be read even if I suck at responding. I wanted you all to get were grace was coming from here.