Title: Law of Attraction

Author: I want to thank Kriston for allowing me to continue the amazing fic that she started. The first few chapters are so well written and on-point with the characters. I hope I can do your story justice.

Feedback: I would really appreciate feedback about this fic. All feedback, good and bad, is welcome. Any suggestions on potential storylines and/or ways to improve the story are encouraged.

Rating: R- language mostly (at this point anyway)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about Once and Again, including Jessie and Katie. Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskowitz own them. Thanks Ed and Marshall.

Summary: This story is a totally alternate universe. It is a Grace/Jessie pairing. The story picks up just after Grace talks to Jessie and reassures her that it's ok to see a therapist and that she wouldn't mind seeing one too. The timeline is about mid-season of Season 2.

A Soliloquy is always announced and in italics with / as the beginning and / as the closing.

Part One

Grace watched Jessie very closely over the next few weeks to make sure that she was eating.

Jessie really wasn't eating much lately despite her weekly visits to Dr. Rosenfeld. She wasn't

eating nearly enough to support her five foot five, gangly frame. Grace couldn't understand why

Jessie would want to starve herself when she was so beautiful and had so much to offer. At least

Grace thought she did. It was obvious that Jessie didn't think that way and the more everyone

pushed, the more Jessie reacted by not eating.

Soliloquy: /Standing with her left profile to the camera and her arms crossed, "Don't they

get it?' Grace says. /

The parents always pushed the food issue when Jessie was over for dinner with Rick. He could

be forceful at times using an authoritative tone or threatening to take away her CD player or

phone privileges if she didn't eat. Not that Jessie was on the phone all that often. Jessie was

embarrassed. The more of a big deal Rick would make of it the less she would eat. Jessie ate

more on the nights where her appetite wasn't the focus. Lily would go out of her way to make

the foods that Jessie liked. It was automatic that when Jessie came over for dinner there was a

special vegetarian dish for her. Grace imagined it was the same, if not worse, over at Karen's

house.

Soliloquy: /Grace is standing next to the soliloquy stool pacing. "Of course she's not

going to eat if everyone is watching her like a hawk." Grace says with a slight smirk as if

it's the obvious solution. She pauses and turns towards the camera, "Then again that's

not really true either," Grace says dejectedly into the camera with her hands in her

pockets./

Everyone was afraid Jessie would die if she didn't eat. That was the point really, like it or not,

and Grace knew it. Jessie had obviously been fragile all of her life and was treated as such. The

anorexia was a culmination of all the baggage Jessie accumulated in her fourteen short years.

Jessie was the sensitive one. Truthfully, sometimes it annoyed the hell out of Grace, but

sometimes that was what she loved most about her. It was hard to narrow it down to just one

thing that she loved the most about Jessie; it was a revolving list of number ones.

It wasn't just that Jessie was sensitive about subjects that concerned her, she was sensitive

about lots of things. Grace thought that Jessie was able to see and feel more than anyone else

she knew. After all, Jessie saw things in her. Jessie was aware of other people's pain because

she was so aware of her own. Jessie was in tune with the undercurrent of the situation.

Sometimes it was like Jessie knew what was going to happen and braced herself for the impact

way too far in advance.

No one knew what to do with Jessie's anorexia, especially her parents. But Grace didn't have

access to Jessie the way Rick, Eli or even Lily did. Even though she and Jessie were talking a bit

more often, it wasn't deep and it wasn't meaningful. Their relationship was civil at best. Jessie

trusted Grace to some extent but she still kept her distance. Grace couldn't blame her. It was

difficult for Grace not being able to express her true feelings for Jessie. Grace figured that at the

moment it was better for Jessie to be standoffish but still around, rather than scare her off

completely.

Soliloquy: /Grace sits on the soliloquy stool facing the camera with a panicked look on

her face, "But if our parents get married, then she'll always be around. And she still

won't love me." Grace rolls her eyes./

Grace's overcompensation to appear indifferent came off as contempt and distaste for Jessie.

Grace couldn't seem to find a middle ground where she could be in the same room as Jessie and

not be found out, but not be blatantly biased. Most of the time Jessie couldn't figure out if Grace

was coming or going, she acted hot and cold towards her within the same minute. Grace's bitch

outs of Jessie had started to subside but her behavior towards Jessie was still pretty manic.

Jessie resolved herself to feeling forever uncomfortable around Grace. Jessie kept in the back of

her mind what Zoe had told her about Grace's dream but she didn't believe it. Zoe exaggerated

things and made up stories all of the time. Grace's dream was probably a story too Jessie

thought, then wondered why that made her sad.

Grace wanted to help Jessie, but not the way everyone else did, by smothering her and

scrutinizing her every move. Grace tried to be nonchalantly supportive; talk about tae kwon do,

soccer, Jessie's favorite t.v. show, Jessie's favorite band, Jessie's favorite movie star, all things

that wouldn't upset Jessie. All things about Jessie. That was Grace's way of helping her fragile

love. Grace needed her. After all it was Jessie's angelic face and soothing voice that got her

through the day.

It frustrated Grace endlessly that Jessie's family looked at Jessie every day but never saw her.

They never saw Jessie. All they saw was who they thought Jessie was and who they thought

Jessie should be. Grace saw Jessie. She saw her the very first time she walked through her front

door. Even if Jessie never loved her back, she was grateful that she had met her. Grateful that

she was touched by such pure beauty, and honesty and truth, no matter how flawed its delivery.

Jessie was not perfect, but Grace loved her anyway, maybe even because of it.

There were a few times between Grace and Jessie that could be described as bonding. Grace

was on top of the world any time she knew Jessie was relaxed and comfortable around her.

After all, it didn't happen very often. Jessie would never admit it, not that anyone would ask her

to, but she was thankful for those moments with Grace. It was one of the few times that she felt

hopeful and didn't think about eating or not eating.

Those moments were always short lived, usually interrupted by the telephone, a classmate at

school, or a family member barging into the room. But Jessie could see the tenderness in

Grace's eyes when she spoke to her sometimes. Sometimes Jessie felt safe when she was with

Grace, and she never felt safe.

Soliloquy: /Sitting on the floor with her arms around her knees, Jessie speaks softly,

looking down at her hands, "Why can't she just be nice like that to me all the time?"

Jessie looks up, "Why does she have to make such a point of not liking me? Sometimes I

think that she doesn't hate me, but then she does something mean and I remember where

I stand." Jessie frowns./

Grace wanted Jessie. It was that simple. Jessie pervaded every thought, every decision and

every action Grace took and Jessie had no idea. Though Grace thought something was definitely

up whenever the family would ask each of the kids about potential boyfriends, or girlfriends in

Eli's case, and Zoe and Jessie would look at each other and giggle. Grace had no idea what was

so funny and she was jealous that her ten year old sister was closer to Jessie than she was.

Grace managed to evade her mother's scrutiny by shifting the subject to Eli. He loved to talk

about girls and Grace wasn't about to talk about girls with her family. Grace kept two secrets

from them; liking girls and loving Jessie and she tried hard to protect them, for everyone's sake.