~A Once and Again Series~

The Way We Were

Hey, sorry I've taken so long with this chapter. But, now here it is. Thanks so much for your reviews, you're keeping me going!

Chapter 13//Trying to Deal
Grace picked up her spoon with a sigh, and used it to swirl her lucky charms. Zoe sat across from her chattering about some birthday party she was going to later that Saturday. But Grace had other things on her mind.

[[Grace - What does it mean if someone kisses you... and then doesn't say a word about it?]]

"Grace!" Zoe complained. "You're not listening!"

"Sure, I am," Grace argued.

"So do you think it's a good present to give Dana?" Zoe asked.

"Sure," Grace said, having no clue of what present Zoe was talking about.

Zoe rolled her eyes, knowing that Grace hadn't heard anything she had been saying, but she was used to that. "I like Jessie, and Eli," Zoe said.

This time Grace heard her. "Yeah, they're nice," Grace said blandly. She thought Eli was way more than just 'nice', but she couldn't say that to Zoe.

"Zoe, aren't you dressed yet?" Lily asked as she came into the kitchen to find Zoe still in her pajamas. "Go get dressed, and then we'll stop at the mall for Dana's present before I take you over there."

Zoe scampered away. Grace looked down into her mushy lucky charms again. She absentmindedly swirled her spoon in the white milk.

[[Grace - He didn't say one word about it... what does that mean?! Ugh..... BOYS!]]

Grace looked up again, and caught her mother's intense eyes on her. "What?" Grace snapped.

"We should have a talk, Grace," Lily said. "About Eli..." Lily trailed off as Zoe came rushing into the kitchen.

"I can't find my favorite blue dress!" Zoe cried, on the verge of tears. "I have to wear that dress, mom!"

Lily gave Grace a final look, and said, "We'll talk later tonight." She turned to Zoe. "Alright, let's go check your room again. I'm sure it's there."

Grace watched them exit the room, and then stood up and dumped her half-eaten cereal down the drain.

* * *

"Eli, have you seen my math book?" Jessie asked as she stood in the doorway of Eli's room at their father's apartment.

"Why would I have seen your math book?" Eli asked in annoyance from his spot on his bed. He had been deep in thought before Jessie came in uninvited and started pestering him. He had been thinking about Grace, and last night... when he kissed her.

[[Eli - What do I say to her? 'Hey, I know I kissed you, but I didn't mean anything by it...' Can you say that to someone? Is it even true? Was it really just a meaningless kiss? Was it? ....Grace... *pauses, thinking, then a smile spreads across his face* she has really nice lips...]]

"Well, can you drive me over to Mom's then? I need my book." Jessie asked, breaking into Eli's thoughts.

"Can't you get Dad to drive you?" Eli said, sitting up.

"He's going on a date with Lily." Jessie said, crossing her thin arms across her chest.

"Since when do you call her 'Lily'?" Eli asked in surprise.

Jessie shrugged, "Since last night, I guess. Will you drive me?"

"I guess." Eli stood up off his bed. "Who does homework on a Saturday, anyway, though?"

"I do," Jessie snapped. "Just drive me, okay?"

"Fine." Eli searched around for his shoes. Jessie had become a bit of a pain lately. Eli guessed she was becoming a moody teenager, but still, he hated dealing with it. He wanted his happy little sister back.

* * *

"Why, hello," Rick said, as Lily opened the passenger side car door and got in.

"Hi, yourself," Lily said, looking back at the house to make sure Grace wasn't looking out the window and then allowed herself a deep long kiss from Rick. After they pulled apart, Lily smiled eagerly at him, "So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Rick said, backing out of the driveway.

Lily leaned back in her seat as he drove, content to have silence between them, as she had other thoughts in her head. It was time they had dealt with the Grace/Eli situation. Rick was clueless all last night, but Lily could see the looks Grace and Eli would give each other when they thought the other one was not looking. Something was happening there, and it had been nagging at Lily all last night and all this morning. It was time she dealt with it.

[[Lily - Rick will have to see that we can't let them date... it's just not right... What if we got married? Then they'd be stepbrother and stepsister... and if they were dating, that would be wrong. So, we have to do something about this, right?]]

"We're here," Rick said, and Lily looked out the window.

"A hotel?" Lily asked with amusement. "This is our date?"

"Well, we both had the kids today, so I thought we needed a private place to go. We can order room service and have lunch." Rick said, hoping she wasn't offended or angry with his idea.

"That sounds nice," Lily said, and Rick thought she seemed distracted... not really there.

Once they got up to the room, Rick found out what was on Lily's mind.

"It's just Grace and Eli..." Lily explained after their lunch had been brought up and eaten. "It's just always on my mind."

"What about Grace and Eli?" Rick asked in confusion, seeing the pain in Lily's eyes. Something about their children was really causing Lily hardship. But Rick didn't understand what it could be.

"I think they're dating," Lily announced.

Rick sat back in his chair, letting this sink in. "You really think that?"

"Yes, it must be. Either they're dating, or they're about to date."

"Okay, so our kids are interested in each other, but so what?" Rick asked gently, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

Lily sighed, looking down at her empty plate. She looked back up. "Isn't weird? Isn't wrong that OUR kids are dating, when WE'RE dating?"

"Well, it's weird, but I wouldn't say it's wrong," Rick said.

Lily was surprised that he didn't seem to feel the same way she did about Eli and Grace. She thought... she didn't know what she had thought. But now she wondered if maybe it wasn't such a big deal after all. Rick didn't seem to think so... why should she? Lily was silent, as she pondered over this.

Rick sat uncomfortably through her silence. He looked at the nicely made hotel bed, and thought with regret that this wasn't the date he had been hoping for.

* * *

"What are you doing in Mom's room?" Zoe asked.

Grace jumped at the sound of her sister's voice. She looked to the doorway, guiltily. "Nothing. I'm just looking for her little brown book."

Zoe entered the room, jumping on the bed.

"What are you doing back anyways?" Grace asked, eyeing her sister, who was wrinkling her mother's nicely made bed. "I thought you were at the party."

"I was, but then Dana got mad and threw a fit, and her mother sent us all home." Zoe explained.

"Why did Dana get..." Grace started, but realized she didn't care. "Who drove you home?"

"Erin's mom," Zoe answered. "I tried to call Dad, but he wasn't there."

"You should have called Mom's cell," Grace said as she opened her mother's dresser drawer.

"I didn't want to call her, when she's on a date! Rick is nice. I like him. Do you like him?" Zoe asked, watching Grace go through their mother's things. "What if he and mom got married! That would be soooo cool! And Dad could marry Tiffany, and everyone would be happy! I like Tiffany, don't you?"

Grace didn't even bother to answer.

Zoe continued, "But Tiffany doesn't have any kids. At least, I don't think she does. Rick has kids. And if he and Mom married, they'd be our brother and sister!"

"STEP-brother, and STEP-sister," Grace corrected angrily. She held the brown leather book in her hand.

"What do you want with that?" Zoe asked, not noticing, or not caring about Grace's anger.

"I have to call someone," Grace said, clutching the book tightly.

"You have to call someone who's in MOM's book?" Zoe asked in puzzlement. "Are you calling Grandma and Grandpa?"

"No. It's none of your business," Grace said, walking past her sister and out the door. She got the cordless phone from the kitchen and went up to her room to make the call.

With annoyance she found Zoe sitting on her bed when she entered the room. "Get out!" Grace ordered.

"Who are you calling?" Zoe said, ignoring Grace's order.

"No one!" Grace cried. "Now, get out!"

[[Zoe - Grace is a brat! If Jessie was my sister, that would be cool. She wouldn't be so mean to me all the time.]]

Zoe reluctantly exited the room. Grace closed the door firmly behind her. She sat on her bed and opened her mother's phone book. She quickly found Rick Sammler's name, ignoring the cutesy red heart her mother had drawn next to it, and dialed the number quickly, before she had time to stop herself.

[[Grace - He's probably not even there. He's probably at his mom's or at some girl's house...]]

"Hello?" Came Eli's voice, slightly out of breath, like he had just got in the door.

Grace's mouth dropped open, but no words came out.

"Hello?" Eli repeated. Grace heard Jessie's voice in the background, asking who it was.

Grace hit the end button on the phone and took a deep breath. She had chickened out. She had thought she could do it, but then... Grace sighed, and copied down the Sammler's number onto a scrap of paper.

[[Grace - I'll call later... I will! Now is just not the right time... *bits lip nervously*... later will be better.]]

* * *