The two weeks following Jack and Rose's wedding were peaceful. Not very much went on, and life was at a comfortable halt of time consuming, stressful activities. Jack would help Myles and Theodore at Myles' family's farm, and Grace would help with housework wherever needed. She was good at that kind of thing, and it could make them a small amount of money, plus it gave her something to do all day. Jack and Isadora were taking turns showing Rose how to cook, a task Grace had attempted but failed at. Life was going well.

And then Isadora came around with some news.

"My sister is engaged," Isadora announced one day to Grace as she and Rose were baking a peach pie, and Grace was sketching some flowers she had gotten from the park that morning.

"Really? That's wonderful!" Rose said, a smile curling up her lips.

"Oh… yeah, that's nice," Grace said, biting her lip.

"Is something wrong?" Isadora asked, noticing Grace's lack of enthusiasm at the joyous news.

"No. It's good," said Grace, smiling at Isadora. "I'm happy for her. It's nice to hear that she's found the love of her life."

In her mind, though, Grace knew she needed to tell Isadora's sister, Faith, about the time that she had run into the woman's now-fiance Eric at the park, and he had kissed her. She knew for certain that Eric had been courting Faith at the time, but she hadn't mentioned it, scared of not being believed.

"I don't believe you," Isadora said, squinting slightly as she surveyed Grace.

"You should," Grace responded.

Isadora gave a small shake of her head, but didn't bother pressing more. "We're having a party this weekend to celebrate. Just a little gathering, a reason to have everyone together," she announced.

"Oh, that should be lovely," Rose gushed. "The people here are just so nice. I never thought I would look forward to social events, but the ones here are so relaxed and fun, quite unlike the ones in Philadelphia."

"I can help with food or decorations if you need," Grace volunteered.

"Would you? Because that would be extremely helpful," Isadora said.

"Yes, of course. I can make pie and macaroni and cheese, those might be nice options. Or whatever else you need," said Grace.

"Alright, thank you! You're the sweetest," Isadora said gratefully.

"It's no problem," Grace said. She looked back down to her nearly completed flower drawing, but didn't continue to draw just yet. She felt bad for kissing Eric and not telling anyone. Well, she had told Theodore. But he wasn't the person she should be telling.

Grace wasn't able to see Theodore again until the next day, after he had finished working in the Anderson's crops. She brought him along as she walked to the park, needing open space for them to be far away from people as she tried to figure out what to tell Faith about Eric.

"I suspect you had deeper conversation topics in mind than pie flavors," Thedore commented as they set off along the dirt roads of the town.

That brought a smile to Grace's face, and she grinned up at Theodore, looking into his beautiful eyes.

"No, that is actually why I invited you here today," Grace said. "Apple pie is a classic, but the peaches are so nice right now…" she got that far into the conversation before she began laughing at the look on his face. "I'm kidding," she told him, her laughter slowing to a stop.

"Good, because I was actually beginning to believe you," Theodore said, his eyes wide.

"You would love to have a conversation about pie flavors with me," Grace said.

"That, unfortunately, is true," Theodore agreed, shaking his head. "What did you really want to talk about, though? It seemed serious."

Grace shrugged, her gaze darting down to the side of the pathway they walked on. "Remember… a few weeks ago, when Jack had just gotten home and we were talking in the kitchen?"

Theodore nodded, focusing intensely on Grace.

"And remember how I told you that man… Faith's fiance, now… kissed me?" Grace asked.

"You never told her, did you?" Theodore asked.

Shaking her head, Grace looked down guiltily and began chewing on her lip.

"Gracie, you need to tell her," Theodore said as the pair of them walked into the park.

"She won't believe me. She's so nice, but when you like someone… you overlook their flaws, and you believe the best of them," Grace reasoned.

"So what if she doesn't believe you? She needs to know the truth, to at least have had an opportunity to back out before it's too late. Faith deserves to know the truth," Theodore protested.

"She's just going to be mad at me, for kissing him."

"He kissed you, though, right?" Theodore pointed out.

"What if she doesn't believe that? What if she thinks I orchestrated it, and I'm an awful person, and she hates me?" Grace asked.

"Has anyone ever done that to you?" Theodore asked in an attempt to make Grace see how irrational her worries were.

"Kind of," said Grace.

"What? Who? When?" Theodore demanded, stopping his walk to look directly at Grace.

"I just… had a lot of people not believing me out of jealousy before, and it doesn't feel great. I did something and it wasn't my fault and I knew that, I know that, but they kept telling me how stupid I was, and then I started to believe them," Grace admitted.

"They're the stupid ones then," Theodore told her gently. "You know it wasn't your fault, and I'll be there to remind you of that. Faith is nice, but if she does turn sour, I'll make sure that nothing she says plants a seed of doubt in your mind. What matters more than her opinion on the events she did not witness is the fact that you know the truth. If she chooses not to believe you… well, it won't be you stuck in an unhappy marriage years from now."

"Thank you," Grace said softly. "You're really a better friend than I ever could have asked for. You help me so much, when you really don't need to."

"It's what friends are for," Theodore assured her.

Smiling, Grace took his hand in her own. It was simply a nice gesture, but she hadn't forgotten the other part of their conversation in the kitchen, where Theodore had asked if they could have a relationship. She was starting to feel ready for that kind of thing, although she wanted to be certain before she told him.

"I think we really should discuss pie flavors, though. Isadora said Faith wants two options, and as long as one of them is peach, she doesn't care what the other is," Grace said.

"Banana cream," Theodore immediately said. "I've got my mother's recipe if you want to use it."

"Okay, you have said some pretty wonderful things to me since I got back, but that is by far the best. Of course I want to make your mother's banana cream pie, that stuff was magical," said Grace.

"Great. I can't wait to have it again," Thedore said.

"No promise it'll be as good as hers, though. That's tough to compete with," Grace told him.

"I'm sure your version will have its own special touch," Theodore grinned.

"We can only hope that's a good thing," Grace responded.

"It will be," Theodore assured her. "You have a mysterious way with things. It's as if everything you touch is magical."

Grace laughed, feeling her cheeks turn pink at his evident admiration. "You certainly know how to charm a girl, don't you?"

"Only for you, Gracie. It's just the truth," Theodore smiled gently, a spark in his eyes.

"I'm not sure it is," said Grace softly, the tiniest of smiles curling the corners of her lips.

"I know it is," Theo said. He raised her hand, which was still holding his, in the air so she could spin around. Not even needing words to know that was what he wanted, Grace twirled around, the skirt of her dress fluttering around. She then fell into him, their stomachs and chests pressed against one another, their faces inches apart. Quiet breathing was the only sound either could hear for a few moments.

"If everything I touch is magic," Grace whispered, "then so are you."

It was the day of the party, and therefore the day where Grace was going to talk to Faith about what had happened with Eric. As promised, she had made two beautiful pies for the guests and she was dressed up all nice, but neither the looks of the pies nor her outfit were a good representation of what Grace was feeling on the inside. She was just scared.

"Talk to me," Isadora whispered to Grace as the latter set the pies on a table in the living room of the former's house.

"Hm?" asked Grace, focused on arranging the flowers and other decorations on the table and admittedly extremely distracted by her thoughts and worries.

"You're not yourself. You're hiding something, I can tell. What is it?" Isadora demanded. She wasn't often a demanding or harsh person, and even now she wasn't overly rude, but Grace could hear the pressure to answer truthfully in her voice.

"It doesn't concern you," Grace responded.

Isadora sighed, crossing her arms. "Since when have we kept secrets from each other?" she asked. "We never used to do that."

"Since five years ago," Grace answered. "It's been so long, and you really expected us to go right back to how it was before? We've all changed."

"I didn't think you'd changed so much," said Isadora. "Grace, I just want to help you. I can see that you're stressed and nervous and I want you to feel better but if you want that too, which I'm assuming you do, then you need to tell me what is going on."

"Why do you care?" Grace asked, slightly exasperated.

"Because I care about you, and I don't want to see you like this. Jack and Rose are wrapped up in each other, Myles may never have been good at reading people, I don't know what is going on between you and Theo, but if you still remember, I was always the one who could tell when someone needed support," said Isadora. She took Grace's hand, squeezing it. "Tell me what's wrong."

Grace took a deep breath, feeling the anxiety setting in over her. "I kissed Eric," she whispered.

"What?!" Isadora said, louder than Grace would have liked.

"Are you two okay over here?" Faith asked, walking over from the other side of the room. She looked simply radiant in her pale yellow dress and lovely hairstyle with flowers braided in, and Grace felt her confidence to talk to Faith disintegrate the more she looked at the woman.

"Perfectly fine! Just… catching up!" Grace said, smiling. "Go back to getting ready, we've got everything covered over here."

Faith smiled before she walked away, back to chatting with an Aunt of hers. Grace breathed a sigh of relief, and then turned back to look at Isadora.

"What do you mean, you kissed Eric?" asked Isadora, her eyes wide and her voice low.

"I was at the park a few weeks ago, and-"

"A few weeks ago? This happened a few weeks ago? Why didn't you say anything!?" asked Isadora, trying her best to keep her voice down so no one overheard their conversation.

"I didn't know what to say! Anyway, let me finish," said Grace. "I was at the park, and I ran into Eric. I didn't know him at the time, he introduced himself and seemed perfectly nice and friendly. We talked a bit, and then before I left he kissed me. I was shocked, so I let it happen, but when I realized what he was doing, I ended it."

"It was just a kiss? Just once?" asked Isadora after she was quiet for a little while.

Grace nodded. "Just once," she repeated. "I need to tell Faith, I know I do, but I'm so scared."

"Don't be," Isadora said softly. "Faith will get it. She'll understand."

"Are you sure?" Grace wondered unsurely.

"If she doesn't understand, then I'll make sure she does," Isadora softly told Grace, a soft smile on her lips. "It's not your fault. I didn't like Eric much anyway."

Grace managed a small smile, and she nodded. "All right. I'll tell her."

"Now. Do it now. Before anyone gets here, get it out of the way," Isadora suggested.

"Oh… I guess," Grace agreed reluctantly. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

"You've got this," Isadora smiled reassuringly.

She couldn't ease the nerves she felt as Grace walked to Faith on the other side of the room. The brunette woman smiled at the blonde when she spotted her, and she politely excused herself from conversation with a woman Grace didn't recognize and walked to Grace.

"Hi, Grace," Faith smiled. "Thank you so much for making those pies. They look absolutely delightful!"

"Of course, it's my pleasure," Grace responded politely. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Faith asked, seeming curious.

"It's a thing I'd rather do in private. Could we go somewhere where there's no people?" Grace requested nervously.

"Sure! Come on, we'll go to my bedroom."

Grace felt extremely bad the whole walk there. Faith was being so nice to her, and here she was, about to wreck the girl's whole future and plans she had made with a boy over one dumb kiss at the park.

"What did you want to talk about?" Faith asked sweetly, smiling kindly at Grace as she shut the bedroom door behind her.

For a moment, Grace debated not telling her, not shattering her heart, hopes, and dreams all in one go. But she looked at those blue eyes full of trust, and she knew she had to tell the girl about what had happened.

"This isn't easy to say," Grace began. "A few weeks ago, I was at the park, alone. It was right after we'd returned to Chippewa Falls, even before Jack got back. I ran into Eric there, though at the time, I didn't know who he was. He introduced himself, and we had a quick conversation. Just when I was about to leave, he leaned in and he… he kissed me. I stopped it when I realized what was happening, but… I didn't ask for it, he just did it and I didn't know what to do and I felt so bad when I found out you were seeing him, I'm so sorry."

Faith stood there for a while, her mind working over what had just been said while her opal eyes got lost in their own world.

"I don't believe you," Faith finally whispered.

"What?" asked Grace, fearful that she had heard right.

"I don't believe you," Faith repeated. "Eric would never do such a thing. I think you're jealous."

"I promise, Faith, I wouldn't lie about this," Grace told her, extremely hurt that the woman would turn on her like this.

"I don't know whether you two actually kissed at the park or you're making it all up so you can have him, but I know Eric would never do that to me. He loves me too much," said Faith.

"Please, Faith, you have to trust me on this. I know it's hard to see the flaws in the people we love, but you have to know that Eric isn't as good as he portrays himself," Grace pleaded.

"I think you're just trying to ruin my life," Faith said, holdin her head up high as she walked to the door. "Thanks for the pies, Grace," she said sharply as she exited the room, leaving Grace defeated in the middle of it.

Grace wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't expected it to go that way, after how sweet and happy Faith had been just moments earlier. Carefully, she sat on the edge of the bed, unsure where to go from there. She wasn't exactly in a party mood, that was for sure.

A few minutes later, there came a knock at the door.

"Grace? Are you in here? It's Isadora," Isadora said softly.

"I'm here," Grace mumbled, and was honestly surprised that Isadora heard her at all.

Isadora walked in, shutting the door softly behind her and smoothing her pale yellow skirt out before taking a seat next to Grace. "I talked to Faith just now," she revealed.

Though she wanted to think about anything other than Faith right then, Grace couldn't help but be curious about what Faith had told Isadora. "What did she say?" Grace asked, her voice ever so sharp.

"She said… you were a liar, and I need to do a better job picking friends," Isadora said with a sigh. She took Grace's hand, allowing their intertwined fingers to rest on her leg. "I'm sorry, Grace. I tried to explain it to her, but she refuses to see reason and admit she's wrong."

"She's not wrong though," Grace mumbled. She wriggled her fingers out of Isadora's hold, instead clasping her own hands together and resting them properly by her knees.

"What do you mean?" Isadora asked, frowning.

"She is wrong about me lying about Eric kissing me. That happened. But she's not wrong about you needing to find better friends," said Grace. She just felt low, as if she were drowning and there were no lifeboats or people to save her. It was like that April night, although this was all in her head.

"What makes you say that?" Isadora softly questions. Grace's hair forms a curtain between her and Isadora, and Isadora gently tucks it away, able to see Grace's face again.

"Look at me," Grace said, standing up from the bed and beginning to pace around the room. "I'm a mess, Isa. I can't do anything right. No one trusts me, I don't even trust myself! It's as if I'm held together, but just barely."

"Grace, you look at me," Isadora said. She too stood up from the bed, stopping Grace's stressed pacing by placing her hands firmly on the blonde's shoulders and trapping her where she stood. "You've been through a lot of changes recently. Stuff I don't even know about. Faith is blindly in love with the wrong man, but I promise, everyone else will be able to see through his facade. And soon, every piece will fall into place, and you'll realize how simply wondrous you are."

Biting her lip, Grace squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wanting those hot tears not to stream down her face. She opened her arms, wrapping them around Isadora and resting her face on the brunette's shoulder. She just needed her comforting hold, which was exactly what Isadora provided. Grace enjoyed the silence and the warmth more than she would have enjoyed talking things out.

Finally, Grace decided she had enough strength to leaver Isadora's arms, and she stood back a foot or so, just staring into her endless blue eyes. There were few people whose eyes could simply cure Grace's problems, and Isadora was one of them. Isadora, Claude, and Theodore. Jack, of course, was a wonder at helping Grace, but it was different with him He was family. The other three had a special feeling reserved just for them.

"Thank you," Grace whispered, her hand grabbing Isadora's and gently stroking it.

"You can talk to me always," Isadora smiled gently back. "Now, would you like to join the party, or go home? I think I hear some people arriving."

For the first time, Grace could hear the increased volume of chatter in the house, and knew the party must have gotten started. She gulped, wondering what the best option was.

"Don't feel pressured to choose anything. Do what you think is right," Isadora said softly, knowing Grace was unsure of the right choice in this situation.

"I'll go to the party," Grace decided. "Perhaps I could help Faith to see reason. Or just drown my sorrows in pie."

Laughing, Isadora grinned widely. "I wasn't going to say this, but I was hoping that's what you would choose. It wouldn't be the same without you, Gracie."

Hand in hand, the girls left the bedroom. Grace kept her head held high, not wanting Faith or even Eric to see her low, be able to see the power their actions held over her. No, she wouldn't give them that satisfaction. She integrated herself into the party, chatting mindlessly with various guests.

The music was lovely, and after they had eaten a little something, Thedore invited Grace out to dance with him, and she gladly accepted. They spun around together, and the only thing in the room Grace could see were his lovely eyes. She coud stay like that forever, the melodious piano in the background, Theodore's hands placed securely on her waist.

But of course, good things never last. Though, looking back on it, Grace thought it could have been a blessing. Or just a poor coincidence.

A sharp scream came from the hallway, and suddenly, the music stopped and the crowd of family, friends, and Chippewa Falls residents rushed to the entrance to the hallway.

Grace and Theodore never let go of one another as they fought their way through the crowd. Grace tripped as they were walking, because there were so many people, and she felt her shoe slip off her foot. Thedore quickly helped her up, but Grace couldn't see where her shoe had gone, so she instead pulled off her other shoe, carrying it in her hand.

They reached the hallway entrance, finally able to see what was going on. Faith was standing in horror a yard away, looking at Eric and a girl that Grace had seen earlier, but still didn't know the name of. Though they were not doing anything anymore, you could see clearly from their position that they had just been kissing, maybe going even further than that. Grace felt the second shoe slip out of her hand, and didn't bother picking it up.

Faith looked at Grace, her eyes lost and empty.

"I should go," Grace whispered to Theodore. She dropped his hand and fought her way back through the crowd, finding Jack and Rose standing on the outskirts of it. "We should leave. I don't think there's going to be much of a party anymore," she told the couple.

"Is everyone alright?" Rose asked, clearly concerned.

"Physically? No one is hurt. Faith might be pretty damn sad for a while, though," Grace said. "Come on. We need to leave."

Jack and Rose weren't as eager to leave as Grace was, but they went along with her anyway.

"What happened to your shoes?" asked Rose, noticing that Grace was barefoot.

"I'll find them some other time," Grace said. She didn't care that she'd have to walk home barefoot. She didn't want to see Faith like that, all damaged. She didn't want Faith to know she was wrong and Grace was right. She just wanted to sleep.

Happy last day of pride month :) I wrote this while listening to 8d audio and it's magical, I'd highly recommend the experience. It's like listening to a soundcheck in an empty stadium. Anyway, have an amazing day :)