Authors Note: I finally finished my Trory fan fic so now I'll have more
time for this one. I plan on wrapping up this season shortly (TaintedLove,
I know I'm stealing you idea) but I will be writing a season two. I'm not
sure how many chapters will be left, but yeah, I've been writing this for
over 6 months and I feel its time for Eli and Grace to move onto the next
stage of their lives.
Chapter 40 | Starting Over
"I don't know, I think they are a bit tight?" Grace said hesitantly as she
walked out of the change rooms.
Matt smiled at her awkwardness.
[Matt- that's what I love about her. The fact that she can be so
irresistibly cute without knowing it]
"Turn around!"
"Do I have to?" Grace groaned but turned around slowly. "Do these make my
butt look big?" she asked, temporarily forgetting whom she was there with.
Matt gave her and appreciative once over, "No, um. Your butt looks great"
Matt laughed when she blushed.
"Oh my god, I can't believe I just asked that!" she said, her hand flying
to cover her face.
[Grace - (looks shyly at camera) I cannot believe I just said that! It's
amazing how comfortable I feel around him. You know. Especially after
everything that happened but I almost forgot who he was and to tell you the
truth it feels great to just be able to relax around him]
Matt just laughed and pushed her back in the direction of the change rooms.
"Now what about finding one of those sexy little tops to match," he joked,
ducking as she tried to hit him on the shoulder.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey Jess! What happened to the leftover pizza?" Eli called out to his sister from the kitchen. It was 1pm and Eli had reluctantly emerged from his room to ease the growing pains in his stomach. Or in other words, he was hungry.
"Dad ate it for breakfast" Jessie answered from where she lay sprawled on the couch.
Eli muttered something undecipherable underneath his breath.
[Eli- (shrugs shoulders)]
"Have you eaten yet?" Eli asked, shutting the fridge and running his hands through his hair.
"I'm not really hungry," his sister answered, not even looking up from the TV.
"How about we go to Johnny's for a pizza, my shout?" Eli asked feeling generous.
Jessie finally looked up with a remotely interested look on her face.
"Really?"
"Yeah really, is that so hard to believe?" Eli asked slightly defensively.
"No" Jessie shook her head with a smile, standing up, "last night must have been one hell of a night though" she said laughing at the shocked look on her brothers face.
"What? You don't think I didn't hear you coming in that late? Don't worry, your secrets safe with me.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Grace I hate to interrupt your fun and everything" Matt laughed as Grace tried on a black wide rimed hat, which was way to big for her, "but I've been starving for the past half hour"
Grace shook her head, "why didn't you just say something?" she asked as she put the hat back on top of the others.
"Well you were having so much fun" Matt smiled, "I couldn't bear to tear you away"
"So what time did you say we would meet Felicity for lunch?" Grace asked, looking at her watch.
Matt looked at his own watch before answering, "In about twenty minutes actually. "How often do the buses leave?" he asked as they walked out the mall.
"Every 10 minutes" Grace said without hesitation. She knew all the joys of catching the bus.
"Here's our bus!" Matt pointed at one which was heading their way, "Come on or we'll miss it" Matt started to run, grabbing Graces hand and pulling her after him.
* * * * * * * * * * * "We could always go to Lily's restaurant" Jessie suggested to her downcast brother. After arriving at Johnny's only minutes before it was obvious they'd be waiting for an hour before they would be seated. The line was so long it was spilling out onto the sidewalk.
Eli looked across the road, at the restaurant that his fathers, girlfriend owned with her ex- husband.
[Eli - Its all so complicated (laughs) and why not chuck in the fact that my fathers girlfriend is also the mother of my ex girlfriend, but her mothers ex husband, my ex girlfriends father does not know about it (shakes head)]
"I don't know Jess" Eli said hesitantly, it wasn't that he didn't want to go; he just wasn't in the mood for bumping into grace or Lily that day. Especially after Grace had seen him perform at Remixx the night before.
"Come on E, Grace isn't working today anyway," Jessie, said, tugging on his sleeve.
Eli turned to his sister in surprise. "What makes you think I was thinking about Grace?" he said, a defensive look on his face.
His sister laughed, "'Cause you always get that spaced out look whenever her name is mentioned, and you're doing that now. What happened between you guys anyway?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"What makes you think something happened?" Eli asked suspiciously.
[Eli - how could she know? We were so careful not to let anything slip (looks at camera worriedly)]
"A sister knows these things," Jessie said with a sly smile and Eli just raised his eyebrows at her.
"Alright, alright" Jessie laughed, "It really wasn't that hard to figure out really. I mean you guys have been avoiding each other for the past three months or so and whenever dad and Lily want us to all get together either you or Grace make some excuse to be somewhere else. I'm just surprised Dad and Lily haven't noticed anything" Jessie said with a pointed look.
"It was nothing really" Eli shrugged, "but since when did you get so smart anyway," he laughed, wrapping his arm around his sister's neck.
Jessie laughed and tried to pull away but Eli wouldn't let her go.
"Come on" he nodded his head in the direction of the restaurant across the road, "let's go eat"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Flick, you ready for lunch or what?" Matt called out to his sister as he walked into the restaurant, Grace by his side. His sister glanced up from where she was wiping down a table.
"I thought you said 1 o' clock?" Flick scolded him, her brother was known for being late.
Matt pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. It was 20 past 1.
"Hey" Grace smiled as her best friend walked up to them.
"Sorry about this morning" her friend apologized, "but they offered me double time and you know how long I've been saving for that gorgeous dress at Chandelle's."
"Yeah, Yeah" Grace laughed. It was true; Felicity had had her formal dress picked out for the past few months already. Luckily though Flick knew someone who worked at the store and offered to keep the dress on hold for her until the week of the formal or she'd never have been able to pay for it.
"Sorry to interrupt but are we gonna eat or what?" Matt jumped in.
The two girls laughed, "How did you put up with him?" Flick said shaking her head at Grace as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Actually, it was nothing like I expected" Grace admitted, gesturing to the bags in her hand. "I had fun and even managed to buy a few things"
Felicity looked back and forth between the two with a small smile, "I was really surprised when Matt offered to go out with you instead" she said leaning over a whispering in felicity's ear so her brother couldn't hear.
Grace stopped still in surprise.
[Grace - I could have sworn Matt said it was felicity's idea]
"He told me it was your idea" Grace whispered back as matt caught up to them.
"What are you girls whispering about?" Matt asked curiously. He had noticed they had stopped talking the minute he had caught up.
Felicity looked over at her friend's confused face. "Nothing" she shook her head, "now come on, let's eat"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Grace you're not going to believe this" Felicity said urgently as they walked out of the kitchen.
"Believe what?" She asked, tucking a loose strand of her behind her ear.
"Look over there" Grace's friend tried to point, without being noticed.
"Oh my god, what is he doing here" she whispered back, slightly panicked.
"I don't know, it looks like his having lunch," she answered sarcastically.
"Matt squeezed in between them, carrying his plate loaded with a burger and fries.
"Let's go say hello" Matt suggested.
"No way" Grace shook her head furiously.
"Come on Grace, Matt's right" Felicity agreed with her brother. "You guys need to sort things out once and for all, now I'm going over there" her friend warned, "and you can either stay over here on your own or come with us" she said raising her eyebrows.
Grace sighed, "Yeah yeah, okay"
[AT THE SAME TIME]
"I thought you said she wasn't working today" Eli exclaimed, staring across the room.
"What?" Jessie followed his line of vision and then smiled.
"She must be doing an extra shift or something" she shrugged.
Eli looked over at his sister suspiciously, "did you plan this?" he asked.
"No way" Jessie shook her head, "but seeing as she's walking over here with her friends why don't you invite them to join us"
"Jessie no," Eli said warningly.
"Come on Eli, it's been like three months. Don't you think it's time to move on and sort things out?"
Eli stared at Grace thoughtfully; "yeah I guess your right" he nodded.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, you were great last night" Felicity said when they reached the booth where Eli and Jessie were sitting.
Eli ducked his head, "Thanks" he said, avoiding grace. "Hi Grace" Jessie said happily, "I thought you weren't supposed to be working today?" she asked.
Grace laughed, "Actually I'm not, and we just can't stay away from this place, can we?" Grace laughed, bumping Matt's hip with his.
"So I heard the band got a regular gig at remix?" Grace asked Eli tentatively. Eli finally looked up, allowing his eyes to meet hers for the first time.
"Yeah" he said with a small smile, shaking his head. "I couldn't believe it" Standing up he offered his hand to matt that shook it.
"Listen man I'm really sorry about last time" Eli said as a way of apology.
"Its cool man, I've forgotten about it already"
"Why don't you guys join us?" Jessie offered, gesturing for them to sit down.
Grace shook her head, "I don't know" she said hesitantly, looking over at Eli.
Eli noticed the look on her face and smiled. "It's fine really." Eli stepped aside and Felicity slide into the booth, Grace and Matt slipped in next to Jessie.
Grace looked across at Eli awkwardly, and then looked back down at the table.
[Grace - It's one thing to say it's time to move on, it's another to actually do so]
[Eli - She looks so (shrugs) so awkward, or nervous (shakes head). And it's my fault]
"So Eli, I never knew you had a band" Matt asked, desperate to end the silence.
"Yeah well, you know" Eli shrugged, "it's not much but" Eli trailed off, he'd always been proud of the fact that he and the guys had their own band. But it had been so long since they had a regular gig that it felt weird knowing that now they did.
"Not much?" Jessie laughed, "And that's why Lily's magazine want's to interview you?" Jessie said, not noticing the downcast look that came over Eli's face.
"Well actually I don't think that going to work out" Eli spoke, running his hands through his hair.
"Why not?" Grace asked concerned.
"Kristy said she'd call to make some arrangement but never did" he said toying with a salt packet. "Kristy?" Jessie asked, recognizing the name.
"Yeah" Eli nodded, ripping the packet open.
"Actually, someone called Kristy rang this morning" Jessie said smiling as Eli's head snapped up in shock.
"And you didn't tell me?" he demanded.
"Whoa, relax. You were in your room but didn't hear me when I knocked. So I told her I'd pass on the message"
Eli took in a deep breath, "why didn't you just knock louder?"
"I did" Jessie rolled her eyes at Grace, "You know how he gets when he plays his guitar"
Grace laughed and Eli glared at his sister for a moment. Then his expression relaxed.
"She really rang huh"
"Yeah she did"
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them and they turned around.
"Are you ready to order yet?"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Thanks for lunch" Grace called out to Matt as he and Felicity left.
"No problem" Matt laughed.
Grace looked over at Eli and Jessie who stood next to her, "Thanks for offering me a lift" she said with a smile. After they had ordered the ice had been broken and they had all talked pretty much non stop for nearly 2 hours.
"Yeah well, we might even come in and say hi to your mum for a while if you don't mind" Eli asked and Grace looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah sure, she'd like that" Grace nodded and looked at her watch, "but if we don't get there soon we are going to miss her, she starts work in an hour"
"We'd better go then, the cars parked just down there"
***Sorry for taking so long to update but here's and extra long chapter to keep you going!
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Hey Jess! What happened to the leftover pizza?" Eli called out to his sister from the kitchen. It was 1pm and Eli had reluctantly emerged from his room to ease the growing pains in his stomach. Or in other words, he was hungry.
"Dad ate it for breakfast" Jessie answered from where she lay sprawled on the couch.
Eli muttered something undecipherable underneath his breath.
[Eli- (shrugs shoulders)]
"Have you eaten yet?" Eli asked, shutting the fridge and running his hands through his hair.
"I'm not really hungry," his sister answered, not even looking up from the TV.
"How about we go to Johnny's for a pizza, my shout?" Eli asked feeling generous.
Jessie finally looked up with a remotely interested look on her face.
"Really?"
"Yeah really, is that so hard to believe?" Eli asked slightly defensively.
"No" Jessie shook her head with a smile, standing up, "last night must have been one hell of a night though" she said laughing at the shocked look on her brothers face.
"What? You don't think I didn't hear you coming in that late? Don't worry, your secrets safe with me.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Grace I hate to interrupt your fun and everything" Matt laughed as Grace tried on a black wide rimed hat, which was way to big for her, "but I've been starving for the past half hour"
Grace shook her head, "why didn't you just say something?" she asked as she put the hat back on top of the others.
"Well you were having so much fun" Matt smiled, "I couldn't bear to tear you away"
"So what time did you say we would meet Felicity for lunch?" Grace asked, looking at her watch.
Matt looked at his own watch before answering, "In about twenty minutes actually. "How often do the buses leave?" he asked as they walked out the mall.
"Every 10 minutes" Grace said without hesitation. She knew all the joys of catching the bus.
"Here's our bus!" Matt pointed at one which was heading their way, "Come on or we'll miss it" Matt started to run, grabbing Graces hand and pulling her after him.
* * * * * * * * * * * "We could always go to Lily's restaurant" Jessie suggested to her downcast brother. After arriving at Johnny's only minutes before it was obvious they'd be waiting for an hour before they would be seated. The line was so long it was spilling out onto the sidewalk.
Eli looked across the road, at the restaurant that his fathers, girlfriend owned with her ex- husband.
[Eli - Its all so complicated (laughs) and why not chuck in the fact that my fathers girlfriend is also the mother of my ex girlfriend, but her mothers ex husband, my ex girlfriends father does not know about it (shakes head)]
"I don't know Jess" Eli said hesitantly, it wasn't that he didn't want to go; he just wasn't in the mood for bumping into grace or Lily that day. Especially after Grace had seen him perform at Remixx the night before.
"Come on E, Grace isn't working today anyway," Jessie, said, tugging on his sleeve.
Eli turned to his sister in surprise. "What makes you think I was thinking about Grace?" he said, a defensive look on his face.
His sister laughed, "'Cause you always get that spaced out look whenever her name is mentioned, and you're doing that now. What happened between you guys anyway?" she asked raising her eyebrows.
"What makes you think something happened?" Eli asked suspiciously.
[Eli - how could she know? We were so careful not to let anything slip (looks at camera worriedly)]
"A sister knows these things," Jessie said with a sly smile and Eli just raised his eyebrows at her.
"Alright, alright" Jessie laughed, "It really wasn't that hard to figure out really. I mean you guys have been avoiding each other for the past three months or so and whenever dad and Lily want us to all get together either you or Grace make some excuse to be somewhere else. I'm just surprised Dad and Lily haven't noticed anything" Jessie said with a pointed look.
"It was nothing really" Eli shrugged, "but since when did you get so smart anyway," he laughed, wrapping his arm around his sister's neck.
Jessie laughed and tried to pull away but Eli wouldn't let her go.
"Come on" he nodded his head in the direction of the restaurant across the road, "let's go eat"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Flick, you ready for lunch or what?" Matt called out to his sister as he walked into the restaurant, Grace by his side. His sister glanced up from where she was wiping down a table.
"I thought you said 1 o' clock?" Flick scolded him, her brother was known for being late.
Matt pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. It was 20 past 1.
"Hey" Grace smiled as her best friend walked up to them.
"Sorry about this morning" her friend apologized, "but they offered me double time and you know how long I've been saving for that gorgeous dress at Chandelle's."
"Yeah, Yeah" Grace laughed. It was true; Felicity had had her formal dress picked out for the past few months already. Luckily though Flick knew someone who worked at the store and offered to keep the dress on hold for her until the week of the formal or she'd never have been able to pay for it.
"Sorry to interrupt but are we gonna eat or what?" Matt jumped in.
The two girls laughed, "How did you put up with him?" Flick said shaking her head at Grace as they walked towards the kitchen.
"Actually, it was nothing like I expected" Grace admitted, gesturing to the bags in her hand. "I had fun and even managed to buy a few things"
Felicity looked back and forth between the two with a small smile, "I was really surprised when Matt offered to go out with you instead" she said leaning over a whispering in felicity's ear so her brother couldn't hear.
Grace stopped still in surprise.
[Grace - I could have sworn Matt said it was felicity's idea]
"He told me it was your idea" Grace whispered back as matt caught up to them.
"What are you girls whispering about?" Matt asked curiously. He had noticed they had stopped talking the minute he had caught up.
Felicity looked over at her friend's confused face. "Nothing" she shook her head, "now come on, let's eat"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Grace you're not going to believe this" Felicity said urgently as they walked out of the kitchen.
"Believe what?" She asked, tucking a loose strand of her behind her ear.
"Look over there" Grace's friend tried to point, without being noticed.
"Oh my god, what is he doing here" she whispered back, slightly panicked.
"I don't know, it looks like his having lunch," she answered sarcastically.
"Matt squeezed in between them, carrying his plate loaded with a burger and fries.
"Let's go say hello" Matt suggested.
"No way" Grace shook her head furiously.
"Come on Grace, Matt's right" Felicity agreed with her brother. "You guys need to sort things out once and for all, now I'm going over there" her friend warned, "and you can either stay over here on your own or come with us" she said raising her eyebrows.
Grace sighed, "Yeah yeah, okay"
[AT THE SAME TIME]
"I thought you said she wasn't working today" Eli exclaimed, staring across the room.
"What?" Jessie followed his line of vision and then smiled.
"She must be doing an extra shift or something" she shrugged.
Eli looked over at his sister suspiciously, "did you plan this?" he asked.
"No way" Jessie shook her head, "but seeing as she's walking over here with her friends why don't you invite them to join us"
"Jessie no," Eli said warningly.
"Come on Eli, it's been like three months. Don't you think it's time to move on and sort things out?"
Eli stared at Grace thoughtfully; "yeah I guess your right" he nodded.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Hey, you were great last night" Felicity said when they reached the booth where Eli and Jessie were sitting.
Eli ducked his head, "Thanks" he said, avoiding grace. "Hi Grace" Jessie said happily, "I thought you weren't supposed to be working today?" she asked.
Grace laughed, "Actually I'm not, and we just can't stay away from this place, can we?" Grace laughed, bumping Matt's hip with his.
"So I heard the band got a regular gig at remix?" Grace asked Eli tentatively. Eli finally looked up, allowing his eyes to meet hers for the first time.
"Yeah" he said with a small smile, shaking his head. "I couldn't believe it" Standing up he offered his hand to matt that shook it.
"Listen man I'm really sorry about last time" Eli said as a way of apology.
"Its cool man, I've forgotten about it already"
"Why don't you guys join us?" Jessie offered, gesturing for them to sit down.
Grace shook her head, "I don't know" she said hesitantly, looking over at Eli.
Eli noticed the look on her face and smiled. "It's fine really." Eli stepped aside and Felicity slide into the booth, Grace and Matt slipped in next to Jessie.
Grace looked across at Eli awkwardly, and then looked back down at the table.
[Grace - It's one thing to say it's time to move on, it's another to actually do so]
[Eli - She looks so (shrugs) so awkward, or nervous (shakes head). And it's my fault]
"So Eli, I never knew you had a band" Matt asked, desperate to end the silence.
"Yeah well, you know" Eli shrugged, "it's not much but" Eli trailed off, he'd always been proud of the fact that he and the guys had their own band. But it had been so long since they had a regular gig that it felt weird knowing that now they did.
"Not much?" Jessie laughed, "And that's why Lily's magazine want's to interview you?" Jessie said, not noticing the downcast look that came over Eli's face.
"Well actually I don't think that going to work out" Eli spoke, running his hands through his hair.
"Why not?" Grace asked concerned.
"Kristy said she'd call to make some arrangement but never did" he said toying with a salt packet. "Kristy?" Jessie asked, recognizing the name.
"Yeah" Eli nodded, ripping the packet open.
"Actually, someone called Kristy rang this morning" Jessie said smiling as Eli's head snapped up in shock.
"And you didn't tell me?" he demanded.
"Whoa, relax. You were in your room but didn't hear me when I knocked. So I told her I'd pass on the message"
Eli took in a deep breath, "why didn't you just knock louder?"
"I did" Jessie rolled her eyes at Grace, "You know how he gets when he plays his guitar"
Grace laughed and Eli glared at his sister for a moment. Then his expression relaxed.
"She really rang huh"
"Yeah she did"
The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted them and they turned around.
"Are you ready to order yet?"
* * * * * * * * * *
"Thanks for lunch" Grace called out to Matt as he and Felicity left.
"No problem" Matt laughed.
Grace looked over at Eli and Jessie who stood next to her, "Thanks for offering me a lift" she said with a smile. After they had ordered the ice had been broken and they had all talked pretty much non stop for nearly 2 hours.
"Yeah well, we might even come in and say hi to your mum for a while if you don't mind" Eli asked and Grace looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah sure, she'd like that" Grace nodded and looked at her watch, "but if we don't get there soon we are going to miss her, she starts work in an hour"
"We'd better go then, the cars parked just down there"
***Sorry for taking so long to update but here's and extra long chapter to keep you going!