A/N: I'm getting a lot of requests for how Grace dealt with Casey's accident. I'll address it in this chapter and the next but it will be more of an after effect on her. Grace's character is good in storm, so she can stay solid and strong but then kind of falls apart after. So I won't do a chapter of her when Casey was in the hospital because technically her character was holding her own then. Hope that makes sense!

Casey and Dawson eating out – Grace needs a ride and calls Mills

Dawson afraid Casey will lose his temper on the twins – Casey afraid of that too

Jake walked into the firehouse that afternoon after practise. A few guys from Squad were playing cards at the table in the garage and a few others seemed to be checking stock on the trucks. Jake didn't Casey but he made eye contact with Severide who seemed to frown at the annoyed look Jake had on his face.

"What happened?" He asked with a smirk before looking around. "Where's Grace?"

"In the car." Jake said. "She's in a mood and won't get out because she hates the male population right now."

Severide nodded slowly. "So, her and Tyler had a fight?"

"Of course her and Tyler had a fight." Jake scoffed. "They have no in between. They either act like an old, boring married couple or they fight. And I had to listen to it the whole ride here and how I should do something because I'm her brother and Tyler is a jerk."

"Older brother duties," Severide grinned. "You should do something when it's warranted."

"It's not, she overacted as usual." Jake said. "And I'm only seven minutes older. Mills has big brother duty."

Mill smirked. "If he hurts her I will gladly do something."

"What exactly happened?" Severide asked directly.

"Grace flipped out on Tyler for being lab partners with Kayla, who Grace hates because she gets around and she sort of got with Tyler before Grace and in the summer when they broke up." Jake explained. "So then Tyler got mad because Grace won't trust him. And it turned into some big fight and they're both ignoring each other."

"Yeah," Severide shook his head. "Not going near that one."

"Neither am I." Jake nodded. "Is Dawson here?"

"No, but Shay is." Severide suggested. "She could help."

"Shay could help with what?" She asked when she heard her name.

"Grace's boy drama." Jake said. "She won't get out of the car because her and Tyler had a fight and now she hates men."

"Oh sure I'll help," Shay grinned and turned to her new partner. "Since I'm a lesbian, I hate men too."

The guys smirked and Jake handed Shay the keys. She quickly left the garage and walked towards the car, climbing into the driver's seat. "So I heard you hate men. I have a solution to your problem."

Grace sniffled. "What's that?"

"Switch teams." Shay said simply. "It's way more fun over here."

Grace looked at Shay for a moment and then started laughing. "If only it were that easy."

"Surprisingly not as much drama as you would think." Shay shrugged. "So, do you want to talk about it, or sit out here alone, or come inside and watch all the guys scramble around you trying not to make you snap? Because that last one is really fun."

"I don't even know what I want to do." Grace said, frustrated. "I'm so mad but kind of afraid to lose him."

"You won't lose him over a fight." Shay said. "Your relationship should be able to handle fights and if it can't, if you can't express how you feel without him threatening to end things then that's not a relationship worth staying in."

"He said I don't trust him but I don't trust her." She explained. "Why can't he see the difference? He slept with her. He was with her before me and when we broke up he went back to her. How am I being unreasonable?"

"You aren't." Shay said. "He's not being considerate of your feelings. This isn't an insecurity thing or a girl thing, Grace. Trust is a basic component in a relationship. The simple fact is you don't trust him with her and he's seems to think you should trust him. But he can't force you to, trust is something you earn."

"So what do I do?"

"You leave it alone for right now." Shay said. "Texting him when he's over there will only make it worse. Wait until he talks to you or talk to him tomorrow when everything has settled. And when you talk, you explain to him why you don't trust him with her because of their past and hope that he understands."

"And if he doesn't?"

Shay shrugged sympathetically. "Then maybe you two need to have a different talk. But I'm sure it will be okay, Grace. I honestly think emotions are running a little high right now and that everything will be okay tomorrow."

Grace sighed. "Yeah, I hope you're right."

"Hey, when am I ever wrong?" Shay grinned and nudged her. "Come on, let's go inside."

OOOOOOOO

After everything that had gone on over the past few weeks, Grace had spent so much time worrying about Casey that she stressed herself out trying to stay calm. Jake had a meltdown and Grace stayed strong, but now she was kind of drifting. She knew Matt was okay but it didn't change the fact that he almost died.

Grace loved the fact that Dawson was living with them. She had been a big help and it was a nice change. But change, good or bad, always made Grace feel uneasy and uncertain about the future. If it was bad, it threw red flags up. If it was good change, it made Grace realize she had more to lose.

With Casey back to work, things easily went back to normal and old habits resumed. But Grace felt like she never really dealt with what was going on with her uncle and now it was eating away at her. So when Claire called her and invited her to a college party, Grace felt it was the perfect distraction.

"We just need some time apart," Claire explained her break up with Nick as she drove to the party. "He barely seems to care about our relationship or me and would always rather hang out with the guys. So I told him to go ahead and hang out with them all he wants because I need some space."

"What did he say?"

"K." Claire scoffed. "He barely cared which just made it so much easier."

"What a jerk." Grace frowned. "Tyler won't even talk to me. I don't even know whether to be angry for him being so mad at me when he's the one hanging out with his ex or be scared and sad about him leaving me."

"Be angry." Claire said. "He's the one in the wrong. If you went and hung out with your ex he'd be freaking out. He doesn't have a right to be mad."

Grace sighed. "Things shouldn't be this complicated at sixteen."

Claire laughed as she parked on the street. "And this is why we need to take a break from the high school boys. My neighbour used to be the biggest nerd and then all of a sudden he got hot. Now he's in a frat and we get to have some fun with hot older guys."

Grace grinned as she climbed out of the car. "Well, that might be just what I need to take my mind off everything."

Grace followed Claire into a wild frat party. It was exactly how Grace saw frat parties on TV and in the movies. A house filled with people, loud music, kegs in every room, rowdy frat guys and a lot of drunk girls. Claire scanned the room and quickly met up with her neighbour who introduced them to a group of guys.

One of the guys handed them both some beer and Grace barely gave a second thought to drinking it. She really just wanted to have some fun and take a break from everything. No one at this party knew they were still in high school so it was kind of fun for Grace to pretend to be someone else.

It didn't take Claire long to start flirting with a few guys while she hung off her neighbour, Scott, who Grace had to admit was pretty good looking. Most of his friends were good looking too and Grace was surprised at the level of attention she was getting.

They spent most of the night talking to the guys and other people at the party, drinking and watching some of the pledge dares that were going on. It was entertaining and they were having a good time and it never seemed to cross Grace's mind how they were going to get home since both of them had been drinking quite a bit by now.

"Hey Grace," One of the guys, Adam, nudged her. "Ever done a keg stand?"

"No, never." Grace laughed. "Hey Claire, up for a keg stand?"

"I bet we could do them without people holding us," Claire said and grinned at Grace. "We we're cheerleaders in high school."

"That is true." Grace nodded, well aware that she should probably stop drinking but decided to ignore that warning.

The guys set up two kegs in the room as people gathered to watch. Claire and Grace exchanged a look before they did a hand stand onto the kegs. People were cheering as Scott and Adam held the keg tap in their mouths so they could drink.

Grace didn't last too long, but it was still impressive that she was able to hold herself up for any period of time. Adam noticed she was getting shaky and helped her stand back up. She smiled at him, trying to ignore the sudden rush of alcohol as she watched Claire.

Claire went for a little bit longer before she stopped. She almost fell trying to come out of the handstand but Scott caught her. The crowd continued to cheer and as they moved out of the room, the keg stands continued but Grace noticed a familiar face in the crowd that followed them into the next room.

"Can I borrow her for a moment? Thanks." Katie said as she pulled Grace away from Adam. Katie and Grace had become close since the accident. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm having fun," Grace answered simply. "Scott is Claire's neighbour. We were invited."

"You're in high school."

"Shhhh!" Grace said, looking to make sure no one heard. "They don't know that."

"How much have you drank?" Katie frowned, she had never seen Grace act like this.

"A lot." Grace said with a nod. "How much have you drank?"

"A few." She said. "Okay, I should get you home."

Grace frowned and pulled away from her. "No, I don't want to go home."

"I'm not leaving you at a college party with frat guys when you're like this." Katie said.

"Well, I'm staying." Grace argued. "You've been drinking, it's not like you can drive."

"Everything okay?" Adam interrupted.

"No, we have to go." Katie said.

"Katie, I'm staying." Grace repeated.

"Look, if your friend wants to stay, let her stay. It's not a problem." Adam offered.

"She's not my friend. She's my sister." Katie said, ignoring Grace's frown of confusion. "And she's sixteen so we're leaving."

Grace shrugged at Adam with an innocent smile as Katie grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the house. She walked with Grace a few houses down the street before she stopped and pulled out her phone.

"You drag me away from a cute guy and a fun party to stand in the street?" Grace said. "Oh and now you're my sister?"

"Yes, I consider you like a sister. Deal with it." Katie said. "It was the quickest way to get you out of that house. That cute guy, do you even know his last name?"

"No, but I know his first name." Grace defended. "I was just having some innocent fun."

"Adam is a huge player." Katie said. "The fun you were about to have was not going to be innocent. So, you should thank me."

"Fine, thanks." Grace sighed. "But you're drunk too so what's your plan for getting home?"

"We're going to have to call someone." Katie said. "I'm guessing Matt doesn't know you're here so you can't call him."

"He's having dinner with Gabby, so she's out. Jake is at a party with the guys, he'll be drinking too so we can't call him either." Grace said. "And you can't call Kelly either because he'll be mad."

"Well unless you come up with someone, I'm calling Kelly."

"I know!" Grace said as she pulled out her phone. "Call Peter Mills!"

Katie sighed and called the number. She talked fast and explained the situation and where they were and he agreed to pick them up. He showed up about ten minutes later and looked less than pleased as he climbed out of the car to help Katie with Grace.

"A frat party?" He asked with raised eyebrows. "Are you kidding me, Grace?"

"It's called having fun." Grace sighed. "Why are you people are uptight?"

"How much have you drank?" Mills frowned as he put her in the passenger seat.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Grace looked at him. "Oh! Guess what?"

"What?" He sighed as he put her seat belt on.

"I did a keg stand!" She announced. "All by myself."

Mills stared at her, his angry gaze cut right through her. He shook his head and closed her door before coming around to his side and getting in. "Where are you going?" He asked as he started the car.

"I guess bring us to Kelly's." Katie said. "Maybe I can sober her up enough and we can pass it off as a girl night."

"Speaking of that, here," Mills handed Grace a water bottle. "Drink this."

"You're mad, aren't you?" Grace said as she opened the water.

"You went to a frat party and got drunk." Mills said.

"Yeah," Grace nodded. "That's what you do at frat parties. Katie was there too."

"Katie is twenty-one." Mills said firmly. "You are sixteen."

"So what?" Grace snapped. "Matt almost died and now things are going too good so that means all hell is about to break loose. And Tyler hates me so yeah, I went to a frat party and got drunk.

"Grace," Mills shook his head. "Alcohol is dangerous, especially if you use it to feel better."

"I don't feel like talking." Grace said as he voice cracked. "Just bring me home, I don't even care if he gets mad."

Mills sighed but drove in silence. Katie went ahead and texted Casey so he wasn't completely blindsided when she walked in the door drunk and crying. She helped Grace to the door and was surprised when Grace turned and hugged her.

"Thanks," She said as they separated. "I always wanted an older sister."

Katie smiled. "Well now you have one."

Grace walked into the house to find Casey alone in the living room. He was sitting on the couch watching TV and from first glance Grace knew he already knew what was going on. He leaned forward and turned the TV off before standing up.

"We need to discuss some things." He said as he put his hands on his hips. Grace looked at him, the frown deepening on her face but Casey shook his head. "Grace, sit down and explain to me what happened tonight."

Grace didn't move, she wanted to keep her distance for now. "I went to a college party and I drank."

Casey had a look that made Grace's stomach drop. "You are smart enough to know I wouldn't want you there so explain to me why you went."

"Because I'm tired of always being the smart one." Grace snapped. "Maybe I wanted to be stupid for once."

"Try again and lose the attitude before I lose my temper." Casey warned.

"I don't want to talk about this." Grace became frustrated and turned to leave the room.

"Don't walk away from me." Casey said firmly. "Grace, get back here."

Grace stopped and turned around but she didn't move. She looked at him and sighed. "I can't sleep when you're on shift.

Casey frowned. "What?"

"I keep having this nightmare where they come to the door and tell us there was an accident and you didn't make it." Grace explained. "And every time the phone rings it reminds me and my heart skips a beat, even when you're home."

"Grace," Casey said softly this time.

"Things are good right now and it sounds stupid but I'm just so afraid of losing you or Gabby or Tyler. I want everything to stay the same but it feels like every time I'm happy, something bad happens."

"Nothing bad is going to happen."

"But it already started." Grace nodded with tears in her eyes. "I think Tyler and I are going to break up and I love him so much my heart hurts. And between that and you going back to work and Gabby training to become a firefighter," Grace shook her head. "It's too much. It's too much stress and worry and I needed a break. So I went to the party, and I drank. It was stupid but for a little while all the pain went away."

Casey crossed the room and put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me very carefully, if you need a break you come tell me and I'll help you. You do not drink, you hear me?"

Grace nodded and Casey pulled her tightly into his arms. "It's going to be okay, sweetheart. I will never leave you."