Warm Me Up

by LushBaby

Summary: Luke has an accident and Grace finally admits just how much he means to her.

Rating: PG-13

A/N: A special thank you goes out to Diminished-9th for some divine inspiration when I was suffering writer's block. You go girl!

The snow was falling faster now, heavy swirls obstructing Grace's view as she carefully made her way down the street towards the Girardi house. There was no way she'd make it to her house; she'd call her dad from a land-line as the storm was interfering with cellular reception. Joan and her parents were in Baltimore for the weekend, but hopefully Kevin or Luke would be home. As she plowed her way up the drive she noticed Luke's clunker-his pride and joy, standing there, the passenger side door open and snow building up on the passenger seat. Frowning, Grace shut the door and noted the lack of footprints leading to the back porch. The porch lay in inky darkness, like the rest of the house, and Grace, feeling a sense of urgency, began to hurry. Slipping and sliding on the icy path she made it to the porch steps and felt her way up them in the dark. Her foot suddenly struck something large and she knelt down and realized that she was touching Luke! She found her lighter in her pocket and in its feeble flicker saw with horror that he was unconscious. She scrabbled her way past him and into the kitchen where she turned on the lights and grabbed the cordless phone.

"Oh God-hurry, hurry!" she muttered to herself as she punched out 9-1-1 on the keypad. While it was ringing she went back to Luke, now illuminated in the glow of the kitchen and porch lights. Oh why weren't they answering? "Luke! Luke! Wake up!" Grace hesitated to shake him for fear she might cause more damage. "Hello! Hello! My boyfriend's knocked himself unconscious and I've just found him outside! He's freezing!" In her panic Grace didn't ever realize she'd just used the 'b-word.'

The 911 operator's calm voice interrupted "Okay, calm down. I'm going to ask you some questions—"

"Questions? This isn't Jeopardy! Get someone over here right now!"

"I'm sorry, but the EMT units are all busy right now with other emergencies. Is he bleeding?" At Grace's negative reply, she asked, "How is his color?"

"He's very white."

"His breathing? Put your head to his chest. Any rasping or difficulty breathing?"

Grace pressed her ear to Luke's chest, momentarily closing her eyes and –my God, was I praying, she thought astonished. "No, he seems to be breathing okay."

"I'm going to connect you with an EMT telephone unit. They'll tell you what to do, and if necessary, get to you as soon as they can."

Grace waited impatiently as she was transferred over and then listened carefully to the EMT's instructions. While she was talking her free hand was soothing Luke's forehead and a couple of tears rolled down her face. When she hung up she wiped her face hurriedly, 'you are NOT going to cry over this geek!' she told herself fiercely as she struggled to get Luke inside the house. As she pulled him over the doorjamb, he murmured a protest and slowly opened his eyes. They gazed at Grace unfocusedly before closing again.

"Luke! Luke! Open your eyes! Look at me!" she commanded. He didn't respond and she thought he hadn't heard her, but then he frowned and looked at her again.

"Grace. Why are you always yelling at me?" His voice, she was delighted to noticed, sounded like it always did; his words clearly spoken with no trace of a slur or stumble.

"I'm yelling at you now because you knocked yourself out and I'm trying to make sure you're alright." She said more quietly. "Can you help me get you to a warm bath?"

"Warm bath?" Now he did sound confused.

"Yes, a warm bath. You're suffering from hypothermia, and I need to get you warm. Is there a bathtub in Kevin's room, cause I don't think we'll make it up those stairs."

Luke shook his head no and then winced as a heavy pain enveloped his head. "Kevin--not home—shower—that way."

Together they made their way down the back hall to Kevin's room, Grace bend double and Luke practically crawling. Finally they reached Kevin's bed and Grace half-lifted Luke onto it. He must have been working out because he definitely wasn't a lightweight anymore, she thought to herself as she struggled to get him on the bed. She went to start the shower and came back to find his eyes closed again. Grace pulled off his shoes and then unfastened his corduroy trousers—thank God he wasn't wearing jeans, she doubted she could have stripped those off him. Finally, he was down to his boxers and Grace paused momentarily, before taking a deep breath and working those off as well. As she maneuvered him upright she could help but notice that he had indeed filled out since she had last seen him in swim trunks. His shoulders were broader and his chest muscles more defined. He had more hair on his chest too; a light dusting that ran down past his navel—

"Whoa, girl, you gotta stop right there." She muttered to herself, dumfounded that she was noticing all that during such an overwrought moment.

Luke woke enough to help her get him to the shower but was thankfully too groggy to realize he was naked. He was unable to stand unaided, and Grace sighed and removed her leather jacket and shoes before joining Luke. Together they let the warm water rush over them, Luke sitting on Kevin's shower chair and Grace holding him upright. Finally she turned off the water and dried him where he sat, then helped him into Kevin's bed and, still dripping, brought extra blankets and tucked him up.

"Luke! Luke! Look at me again." she ordered, smoothing back his damp hair. "Wake up, Luke." Luke opened his eyes again and looked at Grace.

"Hello Grace. What are you doing here?" he asked sleepily.

"Making sure you stay alive, geek. Look at me, Luke! What day is it? What is your name?

"Wow, you'd think they'd have harder questions on MIT's application." Luke commented.

Grace just rolled her eyes. She knew, as did anyone within a twenty miles radius of the Girardi house, that MIT applications were due months ago. Luke had obsessed over his essay and admissions project until Grace went over every aspect of it with him, and then mailed it behind his back.

"Come on now. Answer me. What year is it?" Grace was very tempted to ask Luke more personal questions since he was kind of out of it, but she knew how she'd feel—violated and betrayed—if someone did that to her so she simply persisted with the innocuous queries and once satisfied that he knew who and where he was, let Luke sleep. The EMT told her to wake him every few hours, give him a warm drink and check his pupils and ask him simple questions. Suddenly she realized she was shivering, her wet clothes clinging to her. She took a last look at Luke and then went to the kitchen where she made a cup of tea and went upstairs to shower and borrow some clothes.

Twenty minutes later, the tea drunk, she went back into Kevin's room to check on Luke. He was still asleep, but she noticed he was shivering violently and she rubbed his body through the blankets to no avail. She remembered something she had read in a survival manual once, on how to keep warm when exposed to the elements and thanking God that Luke wasn't awake, she stripped down to her--Joan's-- panties and crawled into bed with Luke, pressing her warm body close to his, letting her warmth seep into him. Grace closed her eyes and savored the situation, something she'd never admit to anyone. Holding Luke close, knowing that he was dependent on her; it awoke something deep inside Grace. Was this what it would be like to have a child—what it would be like to have his child? With no one there to look at her, to ask awkward questions, to make her feel defensive, Grace could lie there and accept the moment, without pretence. She loved Luke. She was in love with Luke. With Geek-boy Girardi. She set Kevin's alarm clock to wake her in two hours and let herself drift of to a place where she wasn't afraid to show Luke these feelings.

Luke awoke to a dull throb in his head and an unaccustomed light shining in his eyes. He turned his head to see where it was coming from and realized that he was in his brother's bed, and the watery morning sunshine was reflecting off Kevin's levering bar dangling directly overhead. He then became aware that he wasn't alone. Not only was he not alone, but he and whoever were naked underneath the bedclothes. Slowly he turned his head further and looked down to see Grace Polk's tousled blonde head behind him, her warm body spooning his as she slept. Ever nerve in Luke's body went into overdrive at that particular moment. He and Grace? In Kevin's bed? And he didn't remember anything and boy, was Grace going to KILL him for not remembering they'd slept together! And while his brain was assimilating all that, his body was assimilating the fact that he could feel Grace's bare breasts pressing into his back and her arm was draped over his waist, perilously near . . .

"Good morning, geek boy." Grace's voice whispered over him. She sounded slightly embarrassed, and Luke was glad he wasn't the only uncomfortable one there. She withdrew her arm quickly and rolled away from him taking most of the covers with her. Luke grabbed frantically at a corner of blanket to cover himself.

"Close your eyes, dude." She ordered. "I'm getting out of bed." He felt the mattress shift and heard a raspy purr of a zipper and then Grace was there in front of him, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt he could have sworn belonged to Joan since it was pink and had adorable puppies on it. Luke braced himself for an attack, but she smiled hesitantly and felt his forehead with her palm as if she was checking his temperature.

"How are you feeling this morning? What's your name? What year is it?"

"What are you talking about?" Luke sputtered, completely confused. Grace immediately frowned.

"What's your name? What year---"

"I know what year it is Grace! I want to know what you think you're doing."

"I'm checking you for concussion, you idiot!"

"Concussion?"

"Yeah, don't you remember knocking yourself out last night?" At Luke's painful head-shake, she continued. "I couldn't get home so I came here and found you unconscious on the back porch. The EMTs couldn't get here so they told me what to do and . . ." Grace trailed off, unwilling or too embarrassed to continue.

"Does this story end with us in bed together naked?" Luke asked hopefully. Grace looked mortified but she answered steadily enough.

"Yeah, well, I was supposed to warm you up and we couldn't make it upstairs so we came in here and I –I undressed you and we got in the shower together 'cause you couldn't even sit by yourself. Then later, you were still cold so, I got into bed with you and then I guess I fell asleep."

"So nothing happened last night?"

"Nothing except me breaking my back to get you in here. When did you start bulking up?"

Luke heard the question and realized Grace was feeling a lot more comfortable now. He decided to shake her up again and as she bent over him once more he pulled her down on top of him. Ignoring her indignant yelp and the throbbing in his head, Luke twisted his body around so she lay trapped beneath him.

"I have to thank you for saving my life," he said, brushing his lips over her forehead. Grace let her eyes drift closed as Luke pressed a light kiss on her nose before claiming her mouth in a kiss so sweet and tender that Grace half-expected to hear angels singing. Suddenly, the kiss changed. Grace could feel it as Luke's lips froze against hers. He pulled his lips away sharply and Grace could have sworn a brief look of horror passed over his face. But before she could call him on it, a shocked shout reached their ears.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kevin asked as he took in the jumbled room, his naked brother and a very flushed Grace as she pushed Luke off her before scrambling off the bed.

Luke jumped up quickly and then blushed furiously as he realized he had forgotten he was naked. Grabbing the sheet, he tied it around his waist as his older brother wheeled himself into the room. "It isn't what you're thinking. I hit my head; Grace put me in here last night and apparently nursed me through the night."

"And that explains why you're naked how?"

Grace interceded before Luke could make things worse. "Look, its simple. Geek boy hit his head and I found him unconscious on the back porch, the EMTs said to get him warm, so I put him in your shower because we couldn't manage the stairs. I couldn't get him dressed so I put him in your bed naked." Grace was so thankful that Kevin had not arrived ten minutes earlier or she'd had so much more explaining to do, not to mention how like a million times more embarrassing it would have been.

"You okay, bro?" Kevin asked as Luke tried to squeeze past Kevin's chair in the doorway.

Luke stopped to wrestle with the encumbering sheet that had managed to catch around one of Kevin's wheels. He tugged at it sharply and heard it tear and he gathered the remaining bit of cotton percale around himself as if it was a toga.

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever. I'm going to get some clothes on, if no one minds," he said sarcastically as he finally managed to exit the room. Grace was on her hands and knees trying to gather up Luke's discarded clothes and find her boots. She was glad that her position on the floor would account for her red face and let her blonde bob fall around her cheeks to hide the tell-tale color even more.

"You know, it's okay if you like him," Kevin said gently, wheeling himself farther into the room. "The world will not end, and life as we know it cease if maybe you admitted you had some feelings for Luke that would most definitely be reciprocated."

Grace had frozen at his first word but now she got up off the floor, clutching a variety of clothing and, thank god, her boots. Now she could get out of this nightmare, but not, she thought disgustedly, wearing a too-cute-for-words pink sweatshirts with adorable—were those puppies?-- gamboling on it and, oh god, fluffy pink bedroom slippers! She muttered a good-bye to Kevin, her demeanor giving him no clue if she had agreed, disagreed, or even heard what he had been saying. Kevin watched her take the stairs two at a time, shedding one of Luke's socks on the way. Sighing he wheeled himself into his bathroom, groaning at the mess of soggy towels that awaited him there.

Grace flew into Joan's room and slammed the door behind as if all the hounds of Hell were after her. She sank onto the bed still clutching the bundle of clothing, letting her boots drop with two muffled thuds onto the carpeted floor. Contrary to her response, or apparent lack thereof, she had heard every word Kevin Girardi had said. Funny enough, she even agreed with them. But how does one go about tearing down the rather formidable wall that had been so painstakingly built over the last ten years? Brick by brick or with a sledgehammer? Or maybe she was just supposed to ignore it and pretend it never existed. No closer to an answer ten minutes later, Grace dumped the Luke's clothes on the bed and stripped off her borrowed clothing before dressing in her crumpled but thankfully dry clothes. She was lacing her second boot when Luke knocked on the door and opened it without waiting for her response.

"Hey dude! I might have been dressing here," she said, deciding in that split second that maybe the wall was too high and too strong to come tumbling down this day.

Luke stepped into the room and leaned against the doorjamb, feeling much more confident now that he was dressed and Grace looked like Grace again. This had to be the freakiest morning he'd ever experienced. Waking up with Grace pressing her naked—naked—body against his, kissing her in his brother's bed! and getting caught naked with Grace by said brother; not to mention that Grace smelled weird. Not weird, exactly, but just not Grace. And then it clicked.

"You came up here last night and showered didn't you?"

Grace's eyes widened. Well, of all the things she thought he might say, that definitely wasn't one on her list. "Yeah, dog. I was cold and wet and I needed to dry my clothes."

Luke left the doorway and walked over to her, stopping when his stocking-feet came toe-to-toe with Grace's Doc Martens. He slid one hand into her hair and then—how bizarre was that—he smelled her hair and neck. Grace recoiled slightly and stepped back, losing her balance and falling backwards onto the bed. Luke was just staring at her, not saying a word.

"Dude! Like, this surpasses the giving-of-the-Rock in weirdness. What the hell are you doing?"

"You smell like my sister," he said almost accusingly.

"Well, duh. It's not like I was expecting to rescue you last night and be forced to stay over."

"No, you don't get it. In bed this morning," Grace noted a faint blush appearing on his cheekbones, "in bed this morning," Luke doggedly continued, "when I was kissing you it felt like I was kissing Joan"

"Eeww, dog. Don't go there."

Luke's eyes bugged out somewhat as his expressive hands flew at her. "I know! I know! I couldn't figure out why until now. You used her stuff—shampoo, soap. You were wearing her clothes. I could even smell her perfume on that shirt, and man, that was just one step over the line to complete weirdness—I mean, get me to a therapist weirdness."

"Completely unchallenged." Grace agreed, walking over to the door quickly. She stopped just over the threshold, hesitating for just a fraction of a second before turning back to face Luke. "I'm going home and having a shower and stuff." Grace squared her shoulders and looked Luke straight in the eyes, knowing he'd pick up on why she was telling him this. Knowing that the wall was going to come down. Tonight.

"But I'll be back tonight. You owe me a thank you. A big one." With that Grace was gone, down the stairs, out the door and off the porch.

Luke went to Joan's window and watched as Grace plodded her way through the fresh snow and then reaching the sidewalk, looked back at the house and Luke. Suddenly, he knew. He knew that tonight Grace would hear him when he whispered in her ear. Tonight Grace would see how much he cared when he held her; when he kissed her. Luke knew that tonight Grace wouldn't pull away when he got close. Tonight she would come out from behind that wall. Finally.