Title: What If…?
Author:Sabrinasmom3
Rating:PG-13
Disclaimer:I don't own Joan of Arcadia or the actors, blah, blah blah.
I also don't own one of the ideas in this chapter so I'll have to credit Wallflower04 with it, even though I didn't ask her to use it. I hope she doesn't sue me…she won't, all I have to take are my kids and I know how she feels about demon spawn.
Summary:What if at the end of Silence Grace just walked away Luke let her.
The rest of the week Luke made it a point not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary. By Saturday morning he had major cabin fever and had to get out. He couldn't take the boredom, or his random thoughts of Grace anymore, so he decided to take a walk. Maybe the fresh air and some star gazing would help him relax and settle down. He walked to a nearby park that was poorly lit and offered the best view of the night sky. He lay down in the grass next to the duck pond, looked toward the sky and listened to the peepers. Ahh. This was definitely better. He rested there a long time, probably a couple of hours, so it was near midnight when he was startled by footsteps approaching. Who could possibly be wandering around a dark park in the middle of the night? He figured his best bet was to lie still and quiet and try to go unnoticed, just in case this was not a fellow start gazer, but a psychotic criminal looking to do some chainsaw practice.
Whoever it was walked past him, about ten feet away, then continued down to the edge of the pond. There was no moon out so there was no way to make out any details about the person. Suddenly a metallic "click" echoed out across the water, freezing Luke in place. For just a second he thought it might be the cocking of a gun, but then it happened again and again. Click, clunk, click, clunk. It wasn't until the person sitting about thirty feet in front of him lit the thing that he realized it was a zippo lighter.
He was so relieved that he let out the breath he was holding. He had no idea it would come out so loud on such a still night. The person holding the lighter jumped up and turned around.
"Who the hell's out there?" Grace yelled into the dark. What kind of deranged freak went prowling around a park in the middle of the night? All she wanted was to be alone and enjoy the solitude of the night. She just wanted to quiet the crazy scenarios and sickeningly sweet happy storylines spinning with dizzying speed around her brain. But no! Instead here she was, about to be bludgeoned to death by a woman-hating government conspirator gone postal.
Oh no. If only it was a psycho with a chainsaw instead of her…again. Luke contemplated playing dead or pretending he was a rock, but he figured Grace was too smart for that and if she found him on her own, the outcome would be much worse. "Grace, is that you? It's me, Luke."
Was he following her? No he couldn't be, she would have heard him. Grace was careful to listen for footsteps when she was in the park at night. Luke must have already been here when she got her. Great, now he would thing SHE was following HIM.
"Listen Geek, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but sneaking up on me or staking out places I hang or whatever it is your doing is not going to sweep me off my feet, it'll just get your ass kicked, so knock it off."
Luke jumped up. "Grace, I was here first and I came to look at the stars. I didn't even know you came here. I think maybe you need to get over yourself. Don't you think I have better things to do then pine away for you all summer after you so undisputedly rejected me?"
This time it was Luke who turned his back and walk away. He felt guilty for yelling at her like that, especially considering that pining was exactly what he was doing, but he wasn't about to let her stomp on his heart again.
Once she was sure Luke was out of earshot she flopped down on the ground and let out an exasperated sigh. Grace was pretty sure Luke wasn't what you would call stealthy, so she doubted that he was really stalking her. But somehow they kept running into each other. How annoying! Especially since she was having more than enough trouble keeping him out of her thoughts without seeing him.
Luke couldn't believe it. He only left the house twice in the week he'd been back and already he'd managed to stumble upon her twice. Three times if you count the grocery store and the video store separately. It was as if someone found it amusing to put them together and watch the sparks fly.
Author's Note: For those who didn't catch it, I stole the zippo from Wallflower04.
