Jessie kissed Katie's cheek and released her hand; "See you tomorrow" she murmured as she pulled away.

Katie smiled, and walked down the porch steps, turning around when she got to the bottom and blowing Jessie a kiss.

'I love you' Katie mouthed, and Jessie replied in the same way- slowly closing the door as she watched Katie get into her car.

"Have a nice evening?"

Jessie turned around just as Eli and Grace emerged from the garage- Eli had his arm draped around Grace's shoulders.

Jessie smiled and nodded, "fine thanks".

Eli looked away from his sister, not particularly interested in how her evening with Katie went; it was the last thing he wanted to know about infact.

"Is Zoe in bed?" Eli quickly asked, changing the subject.

Jessie nodded, "and that's exactly where I'm going", she replied, heading for the stairs.

"Don't you kids stay up too late!" she said over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs; "we wont!" Eli yelled up- Grace playfully punched him in the stomach, and raised a finger to her lips, reminding him that Zoe was asleep.

"Oh! You want me to be quiet?" Eli asked, pulling his arm away from her shoulders, he put both his hands on her hips, turning her towards him.

"Don't!" Grace warned as Eli started to squeeze, and work his hands up to her stomach.

"Quiet Grace……….you might wake Zoe up!" Eli warned with a sly smile.

"No Eli! Don't!" Grace pleaded with laughter as his hands wandered across her belly, squeezing and tickling

Eli smiled and continued to tickle, as her face grew hot and crimson with laughter; "No more!" she pleaded, giddily.

"No more!" she asked again, her face painted with delight.

"Ok" Eli breathed, finally stopping his hands from wandering around her stomach.

She collapsed into his arms, her face pressed against his chest as she waited for her giggles to die down, and her breaths to calm.

Eli held her, resting his arms around her middle, he waited for her to still- feeling her heart thump against his chest. He closed his eyes and bent his head down to rest ontop of hers, feeling her heart still beat fast.

"Oooohhhhh" she sighed, the ache of her stomach becoming apparent as her giggles stopped.

"We're going to be ok" Eli whispered.

"What?" Grace asked, barely hearing him.

"Nothing" Eli replied quietly.

Grace wrapped her arms around his middle, "lets stay like this for a while" she murmured.

"Ok" Eli replied.

Eli breathed in her scent- lavender, she had a small purple bottle of lavender fragrance on her night table that she sprayed on herself every morning.

And vanilla, a lip-gloss she liked to wear because it tasted creamy when she licked her lips.

Eli smiled as he took another breath of her; he wanted to remember every last detail about Grace, her lavender, vanilla scent. Her soft, creamy lips. Crimson cheeks that burned when she laughed. Soft, thoughtful brown eyes that whispered a million secrets to him in one glance. Delicate hands that felt like silk when they touched his skin. The way her curvy body fit precisely into his when they lay together on the bed. Her hair as it fell across his chest when she leaned against him.

He didn't want to forget any thing about her when he left.

"Eli?" Grace murmured.

Eli's head lifted, "mmmm?" he asked.

"I'm so tired" Grace replied wearily.

Eli smiled, and bent down, still holding Grace, to tuck one arm around the back of her legs- he lifted her up, easily, into his arms- cradling her as he slowly walked up the stairs.

"I'm not too heavy am I?" Grace asked.

Eli looked down into her face; one of her eyes was open, looking up at him sneakily.

He gave a small smile, "your perfect" he mumbled.

Grace gave a small smile in return, nuzzling her head against his chest and closing her eyes.

Eli got to the top of the stairs, and walked into Grace's room.

When he got to the bed, he gently lowered Grace down, tucking the covers around her and smiling as he studied her soft face.

"Stay" Grace mumbled, as Eli was about to leave.

"Dad and Lily will be home soon" he replied, stepping into the hallway.

"Love you" Grace said, rolling onto her side.

"Love you too" Eli replied, and headed down stairs.

He quickly walked to the kitchen, and grabbed the cordless, pressing the speed dial; it rang a million times before a voice came through the other end.

"What?"

"It's me……….Eli"

"ELI! What the hell……….it's………….10:30!"

"Sorry, but I have to tell you"

"Tell me? Tell me what?"

"Jake……….I'm going to Philadelphia"

Silence echoed through the phone; and then Eli heard Tiffany's muffled voice ask who was on the phone.

"I'm glad to hear it E" Jake said, and then paused; "very glad" he added.

"That's all I wanted to say……..goodnight Jake………sorry to disturb you" Eli said.

"Night E" came the reply, followed by a yawn, and then the receiver as Jake hung up.

Eli took a long drag of breath, and hung the phone back up. He had to lean against the kitchen counter to steady himself as the thought of what he'd just done came flooding into his mind suddenly.

ELI my future. It's………..here………ready for me to take……….


AUTHORS NOTE:

ok, fanfiction was stuffing up. Every time I went to add a chapter, the site would freeze and I couldn't do anything!

GRRR!

But I sent an e-mail to the 'help' people, and they corrected it for me.

But, alas, I will not be posting for a while, most likely. Because I have exams coming up and need to study, and holidays are slowly approaching (very slowly!). But I will try to get the first season finished with. That's right, I am copying the very talented TaintedLove and doing the season thing- season two will commence when my life calms down a bit. But I promise there won't be a 2-month wait or anything, not even a 6-week wait. Ok? Good? Happy? YAY!

Thanks for the reviews, I love you all……….hope your enjoying the story……….if not, send me a review and tell me how I can improve myself!