Light stung Eli's eyes as he rolled over, and found himself bathing in it.

He tried burying his head under the sheets; but his sleep had been disturbed, and there was no escaping back into that world; he had to wake up. Damn.

His eyes blurred, and he wasn't sure………….he blinked, hard, and rubbed his eyes, wincing as he softly brushed sleep out of his bruised left eye.

He hadn't been mistaken; a figure was sitting on the chair beside his bed, looking at him.

Quickly, he scrambled out from under the covers, and sat up, staring Grace in the face.

She wore grey track suit pants, and a navy blue jumper- her hair was in a high ponytail, and her eyes were heavy…………..Eli wondered how long she'd been there for………….as he noticed her lips were still painted with the peachy pink lipstick she'd worn last night.

Her dark eyes examined his face, and then veered to the floor, ashamed.

"You're eye looks bad" she whispered, in a croaky voice.

"Doesn't hurt so much" Eli tried; his sleep filled voice made his response less convincing.

Grace nodded heavily, but continued to stare down at her hands.

"How long have you…………..….?" Eli started.

"Since 6:00" Grace replied before he could finish his question.

Eli nodded his head, and continued to stare at her- she'd tucked her legs up to her chin, and hugged them tight; her body looked so small in that big chair; and he'd never seen her eyes look so sad.

"Incase I didn't say it enough last night……….." Grace's strained voice broke through his thoughts; "I'm sorry……….."

"Stop apologizing, Grace!" he replied, tossing the blankets off his body, to reveal black pyjama pants and a bare chest.

Grace looked up, and felt blood rush to her cheeks as she took in his body- she turned away.

"Well I don't know what else I can say," she muttered, peering out the small window; though she had to squint because of the sunlight.

Eli sighed as he crawled out of bed, and walked towards his drawer, pulling out a white t-shirt, which he slipped on; "I know you feel bad………..but don't,………" he said, pulling out a pair of baggy jeans from his cupboard.

Grace turned and looked at him, his hands at the rim of his black pyjama pants, about to pull them off, she turned away again, feeling herself turn scarlet red; "what will you tell everyone?" Grace asked, in a quiet voice.

She heard his pants fall to the ground, and the clinking as he fiddled with the belt buckle of his jeans; she had to force herself to look away.

"I don't know……….I'll say Lucas got a little drunk and threw a punch at me……….." Eli muttered, as he scrunched his pants into a ball and threw them on the bed.

Grace turned back to him, relieved to see him fully dressed now; "what are you doing to do?" Eli asked, taking a seat at the edge of his bed, facing Grace.

She looked away, hugging her legs tighter; "I honestly don't know" came her weak reply.

Eli sighed, and reached his hand out; Grace looked down at it, and then released her legs, she touched his hand, and he squeezed hers lovingly.

"I hate to see you so sad" he whispered.

With her other hand, Grace reached out to Eli's face, lightly touching his bruised black eye; he winced, and she pulled away.

"I hate to see you hurt" Grace sighed.

Eli brought her hand to his lips, kissing it lightly; "everything's going to be ok" he whispered, looking into her eyes.

Grace fidgeted out of the big chair, and sat on the floor, by Eli's legs; she rested her head against his knee, and sighed with relief as she felt his free hand brush against her forehead.

"Somehow………..I believe you……….." she whispered, closing her eyes.

Eli gave a small smile, and brought his hand down to her cheek, lightly running his fingers across her scarlet cheek.

"I thought I had everything figured out…………." Grace said, croakily.

"What do you mean?" he asked, creasing his brow.

Grace opened her eyes, and said nothing.

"Grace?" Eli asked again; and with that, she sat up, and looked up into his face.

"Last night…………. You held me………….and we danced………….." she stopped herself from saying more, but Eli urged her to continue "and………….?" He asked.

"And……….it was perfect………….everything felt so completely right……….and I didn't want everything to feel right………….but it did…………..and I knew………….right then, right there…………..when I could feel you're chest moving with every breath………….when I smelt that aftershave you wear, the one that smells like the ocean mixed with sandalwood…………….and you're big hands that know all the strings of a guitar cupped mine………….I knew…………." Grace heaved a breath, she knew she was babbling, but she couldn't stop herself.

"Knew what?" Eli asked, utterly confused.

"That I……………" Grace choked on her words; but, just as her mouth opened, about to pour out every truth she held close to her heart, there came three light knocks on Eli's door, and it slowly opened to reveal Jessie on the other side.

"Am I interrupting……………..?" she asked, about to close the door and leave.

Eli looked to Grace, hoping she would finish what she was about to say; but she shook her head, "no………..no…………." she said, quickly, and scrambled to her feet, heading for the door.

GRACE keep it close……….don't let anyone know………..especially not Eli………….that way………. I wont get hurt!

ELI please………..it's there……….. I know it's there.

"I………..I should leave you two alone………..to talk……….about stuff………." She muttered, and walked past Jessie, who watched her go, with a raised eyebrow.

"Right" Jessie mumbled, stepping into her brother's room and closing the door behind her. She turned to Eli, "what the hell happened?" she exclaimed, her mouth dropping as she stared at his black eye.

Eli reached up and lightly touched it, wincing as the pain shot through his skull.

"Long story," he mumbled.

Jessie dug her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, and nodded.

"Not half as long as your's though" he added, causing her to look up.

She nodded again, "we need to talk about that……….." she started.

Eli nodded towards the chair Grace had been sitting in.

Jessie slowly walked across the room, taking her hands out of the pockets; she sat, uncomfortably, at the edge of the chair, and looked down to the floor.

"So……….." she started.

"So………….." Eli mimicked

JESSIE we really need to talk.

Silence lingered uncomfortably, and they both felt like choking on the quiet.

ELI but not today…………….


AUTHORS NOTE

I'm sorry this story has been so Jessie/Katie.

I honestly didn't mean for that to happen, but I just got so completely caught up in their story, and once I started I could not stop!

Well, look forward to more Grace/Eli and Eli/Jessie scenes.