Law of Attraction
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, I wouldn't have to write about it.
Summary: Grace tries to hide her feelings for someone and it is not who you think.
Rating: PG or PG-13 at the most.
Spoilers: None really. I kind of made it up starting in the end of the first season.
A/N: This is in a very, very alternate universe. I know that this is an unusual pairing. I have never seen this pairing before and I just thought it would be interesting to try it out. Let me know if it works.
A/N2: Okay, I've been debating putting this up for, like two months. I was afraid of getting maimed by putting it up. I've noticed that others have been posting fics with the same pairing so, I thought to myself 'Why the hell not?'. And so, this story is born. :)
"90 miles outside Chicago/ Can't stop driving I don't know why/ So many questions I need an answer/ Two years later you're still on my mind/ Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart/ Who holds the stars up in the sky/ Is true love once in a lifetime/ Did the captain of the Titanic cry/ Someday we'll know if love can move a mountain/ Someday we'll know why the sky is blue/ Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you/ Does anybody know the way to Atlantis/ Or what the wind says when she cries/ I'm speeding by the place I met you/ For the 97th time tonight/ Someday we'll know if love can move a mountain/ Someday we'll know why the sky is blue/ Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you/ Someday we'll know why Samson loved Delilah/ One day I'll go dancing on the moon/ Someday you'll know that I was the one for you/ I bought a ticket to the end of the rainbow/ I watched the stars crash into the sea/ If I could ask god just one question/ Why aren't you here with me/ Someday we'll know if love can move a mountain/ Someday we'll know why the sky is blue/ Someday we'll know why I wasn't meant for you/ Someday we'll know why Samson loved Delilah/One day I'll go dancing on the moon/ Someday you'll know that I was the one for you"
Two years. For two years, I've known her. For two years, I've loved her. And for two years, she hasn't loved me back.
I was in love the moment I first set eyes on her. She was different from anyone I've ever met. She was strong and vulnerable all in one. Assertive and timid. One contradiction after another. A walking, talking enigma. And, I love that about her.
You're probably thinking that all I feel toward her is complete and utter reverence. You would, of course, be right. I do worship the very ground she walks on and she doesn't even realize it. Despite what you may think, I also know her faults and insecurities. She trusts me. Me knowing all of her faults make her all the more endearing.
For the last two years, I have silently devoted my life to her. We've grown closer, but she doesn't love me. Not like I love her. All I can do is hope for her to feel the same.
You're probably wondering what she could have done to trigger my long term obsession for some girl. The truth is that she never really did anything. I saw her and I was attracted to her. We started talking and I liked her. But, when I started listening to her, I fell in love.
Like most stories, this one has a beginning. And I'll start where most of them usually do. The beginning, when we met. It only seems logical:
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Grace Manning. She grew up in Chicago and led a normal, boring life up until her freshman year of high school.
Now, when she got to high school, she developed her first real crush. Eli Sammler. Captain of the basketball team and a Junior. For a short time that he didn't even know that she existed, but all that soon changed, when their parents, Rick and Lily, started dating. That complicated matters some.
She continued to pine after Eli during their parents odd courtship. That is, until she started to get to know him. The truth was that he was a few fries short of a Happy Meal. He wasn't a bad guy, he just wasn't the guy she though he was.
She was devastated by this and was miserable. The situation became even worse when her mother started talking about her boyfriend's other kid, Jessie. It seemed that all her mother did was gush about how "adorable" Jessie was. All the talk made Grace's sister, Zoe, completely fixated on how "cool" Jessie was. It made Grace nauseous hearing her mom call a thirteen year old girl be referred to as "adorable". She hated the girl already.
After months of dating, Lily and Rick decided that it was time for their offspring to finally meet. But since Zoe and I-er-Grace already knew Eli, it was pretty much so that they could meet Jessie. Anyways, this is where it gets interesting and where the story really gets started.
"Grace!" Lily screams at her oldest daughter. "Get down here. Rick and his kids just pulled up," she says as her daughter slumps down the steps. "You will be nice to Jessie. Do you understand?" She asks warningly.
"Yeah," Grace grunts begrudgingly while rolling her eyes. "From the way you describe her, she's perfect. How could I not be nice?" She asks condescendingly.
"Grace," Lily cautions, drawing out her daughter's name with a dark expression.
Grace moves and peeks out the window to see two figures walking up to the house. Closely looking at them, she can tell it's Rick and Eli, leaving Grace to wonder where Jessie is. Scanning the yard, she notices another figure lagging behind dejectedly, fearing for the worst. Good. Grace thinks, smirking at herself. She should be worried.
As Grace waits for them to enter, she begins thinking of ways to disconcert Jessie. She stands there, trying to think of ways to harass 'perfect Jessie'. She resolves to start small and just be rude. There's a knock on the door and Lily gets it.
"Hi Rick, Eli," Lily says cheerily, giving her boyfriend a hug. "Hi Jess," she says with a warm smile at the young girl, who smiles back.
"Hi! I'm Zoe and that's Grace," Zoe chirps to Jessie as she bounces in, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Jessie smiles in response.
Jessie turns to face Grace, who hasn't moved or spoken or blinked since Jessie walked in. "Hello," Jessie says softly as she gently brushes some of the hair out of her face. She averts her eyes, feeling nervous under Grace's intense scrutiny.
"Uh, erm....hi," Grace answers, showing off her incredible verbal skills. "I'm Grace," she says, trying to recover, well, gracefully.
"I figured as much," Jessie smiles shyly, referring to Zoe's comment no more than thirty seconds ago.
"When do we eat?" Eli asks, forever thinking of his stomach. Everyone else just rolls their eyes as they walk off into another room.
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"Bye guys," Rick says as he walks toward the door.
"Yeah, bye. It was really good," Eli says as he begins to follow his father.
"Goodbye," Jessie says softly with a smile and a small wave.
"Yeah, bye," Grace says with unintentional malice. She cringes as Jessie's face takes on a dejected expression as she slowly walks out the door.
"So, Grace. What did you think of Jessie?" Lily asks with angry sarcasm once the door is closed. Zoe shares the same scornful expression.
"It just slipped out like that," Grace responds feebly. "I'm sorry," she mumbles.
"Could you at least try to be nice? What do you have against her anyways?" Lily asks curiously.
"Nothing. I just...I'll be nicer," Grace says. "I'm going to bed," she continues, running up the stairs. She throws herself on her bed and sighs deeply. I couldn't very well tell my mom that I'm hot for her boyfriend's daughter.
"What's wrong with you?" Zoe asks as she walks into her sister's room.
"Nothing. Leave me alone," Grace mumbles from where her face is buried in the pillows. She looks up at Zoe. "What did you think of Jessie?" She asks.
"I liked her. I think she's cool and can't wait to see her again," Zoe grins as she bounces over to Grace's bed and flops down next to her. "What about you? Why don't you like her?" She asks, losing her goofy grin.
"I never said that I didn't like her. I just want to know what her deal is," Zoe gives her a strange expression. "I mean, how can anyone be so...perfect?" Grace asks with a semi-dreamy look on her face.
"What are you talking about?" Zoe tilts her head and looks at her sister in confusion.
"It's just that, she's perfect. She got a black belt in four years, she's skipping eighth grade and she's so damn modest about it all," she reasons, talking mostly to herself.
"I think it's cool," Zoe says, not really seeing the problem. "That doesn't explain why you acted so mean."
"I didn't do it on purpose. It's just...I don't know," she says, not wanting to go to far into it. "So, how long until we see them again?" She asks.
"I'm not really sure. Summer vacation started already, so I guess we'll be seeing them a lot," she guesses. "Plotting against her so soon?" She smirks.
"No, definitely not," Grace says as she stands up and walks across the room. "I'm going to go to bed," she says as she starts to change into her pajamas.
"Okay," Zoe says as she leaves.
Grace sighs as she flops down on her bed. Oh boy. This is going to be fun. She rolls her eyes and gets under the blankets.
