Rick and Lily opened the door quietly, not wanting to wake their sleeping children.

"Well, everything seems to be ok" Lily whispered

Rick leaned over and kissed her on the cheek "See, there was no need to worry, was there?" Rick said, leaning in for a deeper kiss.

"I think you spoke too soon," Lily said, and Rick followed her gaze to the couch, where two sets of legs were dangling over the side.

"Who is-?" Rick whispered but Lily brought a finger to her mouth, silencing him, and they began to creep forward towards the couch.

Lily walked to the side of the couch, and stopped herself as she saw who the two sleeping figures were.

Eli was lying on the couch with one arm tucked around Grace's waist, and her head was buried in his chest, their legs entwined as they hung over the edge of the couch.

Lily looked at Rick suspiciously, neither of them jumping to any conclusions, but still with a few questions arising in the back of their minds.

"Grace" Lily whispered, and Rick rested his hand on her shoulder, urging her not to wake them.

But it was too late, Grace stirred "Eli?" she whispered quietly, and Lily and Rick looked at one another curiously again.

Grace fluttered her eyes, and as her body began to stir, Eli began to wake aswell.

Grace opened her eyes, and her mother's figure standing over them immediately came into vision.

She shot up, and Eli fully woke up as his arm was flung off of her waist.

"What-" Eli began, but silenced as he saw Rick and Lily standing over them, and Grace sitting upright, panic covered her face.

"Mum, Rick" Grace exclaimed, rising from the couch and looking at them like a deer caught in headlights.

Eli looked from Grace, to Rick and Lily, and then rose from the couch, standing next to Grace.

Rick and Lily were a little shocked, mostly because they didn't know why Grace and Eli were so shocked- they had just simply fallen asleep on the couch, what was so bad about that?

Eli saw how panicked Grace was, and noticed how calm Rick and Lily were- they obviously thought nothing of finding them on the couch together, so before Grace said or did anything that lead them to believe they had done otherwise, he cut through the silence

"Wow, we were really tired, hey Grace?" Eli said, glancing over at Grace who nodded meekly.

"We better get to bed" Eli said, yawning.

"Yeah!" Grace said, looking at Eli wide eyed "I have school tomorrow!" she said, and copied his yawn.

"Ok, well, goodnight" Lily said, as she watched Grace walk up the stairs, and Eli walk to the garage.

"Grace was a little jumpy" Rick said, as he and Lily walked towards their room.

"Yeah, she was-" Lily said, but Rick stopped her from saying anymore, by kissing her passionately on the mouth.


"Mum- you may not know this, but I have had a crush on Eli, since like, the first day of school-" Grace was standing in front of her mirror the next morning, playing out the conversation she was determined to have with her mother.

"And well, I know he is older than me, and well-" she paused for a moment, taking a deep breath "and he is my step brother, but we really like each other" she stopped talking and looked at herself in the mirror, that didn't sound right, she thought to herself.

"Mum- we need to talk about Eli and me-" Grace began again, but was interrupted by somebody knocking on her bedroom door.

She spun around to find Jessie, staring at her from the doorway.

"Oh, hey Jessie" Grace said casually, hoping she hadn't been standing there for long.

"Hey" Jessie said, walking into her room.

Grace turned back to her mirror, pretending to adjust her clothes.

"So, your gonna tell them, soon?" Jessie asked, walking slowly around Grace's room, examining the photo's and certificates hanging on her walls.

Grace turned around and watched as Jessie paced her room "yeah, I mean, we have to" she said, walking over and sitting on her bed.

Jessie stopped walking and stared at Grace "I don't know what they are going to say-" she began, picking up one of Grace's old baby toys and fiddling with it "-but I do know that you shouldn't let them stop you from doing what feels right" she said, putting the stuffed elephant back on the bench.

Grace nodded, smiling at Jessie's kindness; she somehow thought that having her blessing was enough.

"At least Eli will be there aswell, when we tell them" she said quietly, and Jessie nodded.

"Well, I have homework" Jessie said, about to walk out the door.

"Jessie" Grace said, and she turned to look at her.

Grace smiled warmly "thank you," she said simply, and Jessie smiled, leaving her room.

Grace took a deep breath, and walked back to her mirror; "Mum, Rick- me and Eli have very strong feelings for one another, and we cant hide them any longer-"


Eli strummed some notes on his guitar, trying to calm himself.

He strummed some more, but they didn't sound right, so he placed his hand over all the strings, stopping the echoing sound abruptly.

"Eli-"

Eli turned his head to the doorway, and saw Zoë standing there, watching him.

"Hey Zoë" he said, wondering what she was doing down here.

"Eli-" she said, walking towards him, her hands behind her back.

"Zoë-" Eli said, hoping she'd get to the point, he needed more time to wallow in his sadness a little longer.

She stood in front of him, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

She took a deep breath and clambered up onto his bed, crossing her legs as she sat beside him.

"Zoë-" he said, turning to look at her "what do you want?" he asked, trying to keep a gentle tone.

She took another deep breath "are you and Grace going to get married?" she asked him so seriously, that he had to laugh.

"I don't know," he said, thinking there was more she wanted to ask.

"Oh" she said, and began fiddling with her ponytail.

"Why did you ask?" he said, looking as she twisted her hair with two fingers.

"Well-" she began, looking up at him, with a bright little face "if you do, could I please be the maid of honour?" she asked, and Eli laughed.

She looked at him sternly "Eli!" she said grumpily.

"I'm sorry Zoë-" he said, and looked down at her again, wiping the smile from his face.

"Because I know Jessie is you're sister, and she's older- so you'd probably choose her over me, but I think I'd be a better maid of honour" she said seriously, and Eli tried hard to keep a solemn face.

He nodded his head, in deep thought "do you think you could share the job with Jessie?" he asked, and she thought for a moment.

She looked up at him, with a half smile "yeah" she said, and climbed down from his bed.

She began to walk away, but stopped and turned when she was a few stops from the door "and Eli-" she said, and he looked up at her again.

"Yeah?" he asked, now a little frustrated.

"Don't tell Jessie I said that, ok?" she smiled, and he nodded, grinning

back as she skipped off out the door.

Eli placed his fingers over the strings of his guitar, a smile still on his face.

A small sound echoed out, and he smiled wider, now adjusting his body and the guitar in his hands.

'We lead two different lives


Just like two lines that never cross'

Eli sung the words in a deep, harmonic voice.

He paused in a moment of thought, strumming the guitar again, as more lyrics entered his mind.

'And here we are together


Standing closer than we are


But we're still standing here untouched'

Eli smiled to himself- he thought of Grace's soft, angelic face, and her chocolate brown eyes- the touch of her soft, flavoured lips, and her gentle, silky hands- her supple cheeks as he brushed them with his hand.

'Too scared to make a move


We want so much to touch


And we can't wait forever'

Eli smiled to himself again, as more lyrics flooded his head, and his hands seemed to play the strings of the guitar as if they already knew the song.


Grace rocked herself with one foot, as she sat on the swing seat on the porch.

She was staring into the still, dark night- they'd just finished dinner, and now the family was sitting on the sofa watching 'National Lampoons European Vacation'.

Grace shivered slightly, it was getting cooler and she only had on three-quarter pants and a t-shirt.

The front door creaked open, and Grace barely took any notice, her thoughts running rapid- about her and Eli, what an odd couple! About what she was going to tell her mother and Rick? About whether or not her and Eli would work out-

"Hey"

Grace looked up to see Eli, clutching a thin blanket in one hand, and his guitar in the other.

"Hey" Grace said, managing a small smile, she peered through the window and saw the whole family glued to the t.v, and sighed with relief.

"Thought you might be cold" Eli said, and took a few steps, standing in front of Grace, holding out the blanket.

"Thankyou" she said, reaching out to take it, their hands brushed one another and they both tingled with delight.

Eli stood in front of her uncomfortably; not sure whether she would enjoy her own company more, or his?

Grace looked up and met his gaze. His hazel/green eyes are like the colour of a leaf before autumn, she thought to herself.

Grace smiled warmly, and patted the empty spot next to her.

Eli returned the smile, and sat next to her, and she draped some of the blanket over his legs.

Grace looked down at the guitar resting in his hands "You going to play something?" she asked, and Eli met her gaze as she looked at his guitar.

"Yeah, actually-" he said, brining it up to rest on his legs "I wrote-" he began, but stopped, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Wrote what?" Grace urged him.

"This sounds so cheesy, but I wrote a song-" he sighed, placing his hands on the guitar strings "a song for you, about us" he said, and looked into her eyes as she smiled with delight.

"Do you wanna hear it?" Eli asked, nervously.

Grace smiled, and rested her hand on his shoulder "I'd love to hear it" she said soothingly.

Eli looked at Grace, and then focussed back on the strings, strumming them once, and then looking back at Grace while he played the now familiar tune, not taking his gaze from her beautiful eyes while he played.

We lead two different lives


Just like two lines that never cross


And here we are together


Standing closer than we are


But we're still standing here untouched


Too scared to make a move


We want so much to touch


And we can't wait forever


We know it's dangerous


For us to be together

How do we ever keep this secret


how do we keep it in the dark


and if we dare to taste our weakness


how could we tear ourselves apart


why do we keep this love together


didn't we know right from the start


that we would have to keep this secret


or forever stay apart

I watch you coming to me


walking in the pouring rain


I can't help looking at you


wishing I could stay away


So many times I've tried in vain


to close my eyes and pray it goes away


but I can't stop myself from feeling


to let you go would be too much


for me to take

I can't help thinking


when I look into your eyes


how much I need you


it's so hard to hide

Eli strummed the last note on his guitar, just as the final word left his mouth.

The tune lingered for a moment, as Grace let it wash over her; the rumbling chords of the guitar, and Eli's husky beautiful voice, all touching her heart as the song played itself over again in her mind.

Eli watched as her eyes danced, and her smile widened; and then she leaned into him; and he felt her small, sweet breaths just before their lips met for an intense kiss.

She pulled away "I love it" she said quietly, their faces still close to one another.

"Really?" Eli asked, brushing his hand against her soft cheek.

"Really- it was beautiful-" she felt herself begin to choke up "words cannot describe-," she said, as Eli brushed a tear from her eye "that was the most beautiful thing anyone has ever done for me" she said, laughing slightly at her own emotions.

Eli leaned in and kissed her again, tasting some bitter salty tears on her lips, from the blissful tears that were running from her eyes.

Eli pulled away, glancing over her shoulder, looking through the window- the family were still being entertained by the t.v.

"Play it again?" Grace said quietly, breathing in his scent- a mixture of cologne, the smell of his wooden guitar, and that distinctive smell all men have.

Eli smiled "I can do that" he said, and Grace rested her back against the end of the seat, and Eli brought her legs to rest on his own, while he strummed the chords again.


AUTHORS NOTE:

Ok, is anyone reading this? I've only had 2 reviews, so I don't know if I should continue- then again, I think I will because I'm enjoying writing this, I'm trying to be as romantic as possible!

By the way, the song Eli wrote for Grace - I DID NOT WRITE IT!

I found it amongst one of my mix c.d's, and it's actually a song called HEART by a band called SECRETS. The song is old, and not that great, but I think the lyrics are perfect, and suit Eli and Grace's relationship so well, don't you think?

Ok, PLEASE give me more REVIEWS- god, bad and the ugly- I don't care, just put a smile on my face and gimme loads more, PLEASE!