~A Once and Again Series~

The Way We Are

Chapter 9//Echos that Remain

Okay, don't hate me too much for who returns in this chapter. I swear she's not going to be doing any damage! In fact, with the way things are going with Eli and Grace right now... I don't know if even she could make it much worse. Thanks for reading & reviewing, as always!!!!

P.s. I'm having too much fun with taking storylines from the show and twisting them. Like with Grace being in therapy with Dr. Rosenfeld, instead of Jessie.

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"Tell me about your stepbrother, Eli."

Grace set the snow globe she had been studying back on Dr. Rosenfeld's desk. She leaned back in her chair, "What do you want to know?"

Dr. Rosenfeld shrugged, "What do you want to tell me?"

"I don't know what to tell you," Grace admitted.

"And why's that?" Dr. Rosenfeld encouraged her.

"Because I don't know... where we're at, right now," Grace sighed.

"Why not?"

Grace squirmed in the leather chair, "Because I... things are complicated right now."

"Complicated?" Rosenfeld echoed.

[[Grace - *looks in camera, very upset* Oh, God... I sound like my father.]]

"We have a weird relationship... with our parents being married."

"So, you're dating Eli?" Dr. Rosenfeld asked.

Grace looked up, "Didn't my mother tell you all this?"

Dr. Rosenfeld shook his head, "No. I wanted for you to be the one to tell me everything. So, tell me about your relationship with Eli... when did it start?"

Grace settled back into the chair, and began her and Eli's story.

* * *

"Oh, Zoe!" Lily complained as she came into Zoe's room to find her with her Halloween candy all dumped over her bed. "How much of this have you eaten already tonight?"

Zoe proudly held up a large pile of candy wrappers.

Lily began tossing the candy into the discarded bag. "That's enough for you, tonight!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, and scrambled off the bed. Lily heard her footsteps running up the attic steps, obviously to bug Jessie.

Lily sat down on the bed with a soft sigh, and sorting through the collection of candy, finding a snickers bar. She eagerly tore open the package.

"Hey."

Lily jumped guiltily, and looked over to find Rick in the doorway. She reluctantly admitted to 'testing' Zoe's candy. Rick smiled knowingly, and came in, sitting next to her on the bed and joining Lily in the candy testing.

"So?" Rick asked, with a mouthful of M & Ms. "How are you?"

"Fine," Lily said... a bit too quickly.

"This Grace thing is really getting to you, huh?" Rick said, wrapping an arm around her.

Lily shrugged, "This Grace thing... this Jake thing... this job thing."

"It's not going well?" Rick asked.

Lily shrugged once again, grabbing a Hershey's Kiss out of the candy pile. "I think it's going good. But, Les is... Les. It's hard to tell with him. He doesn't like to let his feelings show."

"I'm sure he loves you," Rick said, kissing her forehead. He paused and then added, "But-- not in the way I love you, of course."

Lily smiled, "I hope so. It's been so long since I've had a real job... so many years since I've had someone other than Judy to impress."

"You're not worried about impressing me?" Rick joked.

Lily grinned, tossing the silver Hershey's wrapper at him. "Not anymore," She teased.

Rick grinned back, and leaned in, and they kissed.

Zoe came back down from the attic, after having been kicked out because Jessie had to talk to Katie on the phone. She gaped at her mother and Rick making out on her bed... and... "Have you been eating my candy!?" She cried, shocked.

Rick looked over at Zoe, and then back at Lily, "Let's get her... she knows too much."

Lily nodded, and the two of them advanced on Zoe. Zoe laughed and danced out of the way of their outstretched arms.

* * *

Eli looked down at the papers set before him. His parents had gotten the idea that Eli should now devote all his free time to filling out applications for colleges he didn't even want to go to. And then there were the essays he was supposed to write to go along with the applications.... essays with questions like 'Why do you want to attend this college?' or 'What do you think are your greatest achievements?'

[[Eli - *holding papers, frowns* How about I write 'I don't want to go to your stupid college, I'm only filling this out because my parents are pushing for me to become someone I don't want to be. I couldn't care less if you accept me or not... in fact, you'd be doing me a favor by not accepting me, because then I wouldn't have to explain to my parents why I don't want to attend your school.'... *looks up into camera* Do you think that will get me in? *half-smiles*]]

Eli sighed, and dropped his pencil onto the stack of papers. He got up and grabbed his coat off a chair. He slipped it on and then paused at the door to his garage room. He listened... but didn't hear anything. Hopefully his father was otherwise engaged and wouldn't notice Eli slipping out.

Eli just had to get out. He couldn't stay in that room with those stupid papers any longer.

[[Eli - *jokingly* Have I mentioned that I don't want to go to college? Did you catch that? *smiles, but then his smile fades. He stands up, and leaves.*]]

Eli exited out of the garage, grateful for his and Grace's car. This way he didn't have to ask his father permission to escape.

* * *

"So, what's your relationship with Eli like now?" Dr. Rosenfeld asked.

Grace sighed. This was the last thing she wanted to discuss with a stranger. "I don't know."

Dr. Rosenfeld wasn't buying it, "It's not a question of 'knowing'... just tell me about what your relationship is like now... the facts."

"The facts?" Grace gave a grim smile, "Uh, how about I haven't kissed him in over a week... make that two weeks."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Grace repeated and shrugged, "I don't know. I've just been dealing with so many other things."

"Like what?" Rosenfeld urged her.

"Well, my father and Tiffany, and the play..." Grace replied.

"The play?"

Grace nodded, "I've got a main role in our high school's play. I play Cilia. We meet quite often for rehearsals, and that's been keeping me busy."

"So, you haven't seen Eli?" Dr. Rosenfeld asked, with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

Grace shook her head, "No... of course, I've seen him. I mean, we live in the same house for most of the week."

"But, something's been keeping you from being close to him?"

"I guess," Grace admitted.

"And what's doing that?" Rosenfeld pushed.

Grace sighed, putting a hand to her forehead, "If I knew that... would I be here?"

Dr. Rosenfeld smiled, "So, you think you're here because of your problems with Eli?"

Grace shrugged, "I don't know."

"Well, why do you think your mother wanted you to come here?"

Grace looked down at her hands. "I don't know."

"You don't think it's because of your problems with Eli?"

"No... not entirely," Grace smiled, "I think she wanted me to come here because of all of my problems..."

"Which would be?" Rosenfeld asked.

Grace looked up at him, "You want me to list all my problems?"

Dr. Rosenfeld nodding, putting on a serious face. "It would make my job easier," He joked.

Grace smiled.

* * *

Jessie paused in the doorway to the kitchen. Rick and Lily were talking, and didn't see her yet.

"I've got to go pick up Grace from the shrink," Lily said, collecting her keys from the kitchen table.

"Alright," Rick said, drawing her in for a goodbye kiss.

Lily looked at him as she pulled away, "Are you sure Dr. Rosenfeld is any good?"

Rick nodded, "He came highly recommended."

Lily sighed, ready to launch into a statement of her worries over Grace, but then caught site of Jessie in the doorway. "Hi Jessie!" She said a little too cheerfully. "Have you got anything you want me to pick up from the grocery store?"

Jessie shook her head, and Lily exited out the back door. Jessie turned to her father, her forehead scrunched up a bit, "Grace is in therapy?"

Rick sighed, and nodded.

Jessie walked further into the kitchen, "But... I mean... what's wrong with her?"

Rick lightly tapped her on the head, "Sometimes people just like to have someone to talk to."

Jessie nodded, and opened her mouth to say something else, but Rick was already on his way into the living room.

* * *

"Eli?"

Eli turned, and his eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Carla smiled at him, "You looked shocked."

"Well, I wake up looking shocked or something," Eli flabbergasted.

Carla smiled and rolled her eyes, snapping her gum all at the same instant. Eli took his first really good look at her, and saw that she looked good... she looked healthy. "How'd rehab go?" Eli asked.

Carla shrugged; clearly not open to talk on that subject. She sat down next to Eli on the coffee bar's couch. "How are things going with you?"

It was Eli's turn to shrug.

"How's Grace?" Carla said pointedly. Eli could tell Carla meant how was 'him and Grace'... as in how was their relationship.

"Okay, I guess," Eli said, sipping his cappuccino.

Carla studied him, her eyes x-raying into him. "How are things really?" She asked.

Eli sighed.

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