That Summer
Rating: T-M
Disclaimer:
If the characters were mine I'd be getting paid to write TV scripts, now wouldn't I? So…you know the drill.
To my two reviewers: youcrazything – You're right, I made Luke a little more sure of himself and Grace a bit less because I looked at it as, time passed, people get used to each other. And Grace, in my opinion of watching the show, is insecure, which is why she's so pushy, angry and standoff-ish because if you build up you know walls when you feel that way, how else can you act but on the defensive all the time? The reason she's showing that side though is because of the whole letting people in part-did that make sense for you? I hope so! The finding out about big G is coming up soon, I promise! P.S. you're not stupid, but thanks for reviewing! Laura - Thanks for the reappearance my friend! I agree with the G/L hint, and thanks about the G/J interaction, I felt kind of shaky on it when I was writing it. poeticrebel – glad you like it. P.S. I hope you're planning on updating your untitled story! Sam – Yeah, yeah, I know I know! So sue me...! I'm working out the kinks here! ) Thanks for letting me know about chapter 4. You'll find out probably next chapter what Adam's doing for work. As for the science stuff I was thinking about that before it was brought up, and I'm going to try it, and I have some good ideas to throw it in that people I think will like but don't blame me if it backfires! Science is not my gig. KJFlygirl87 – Hello Kirsten, thanks for the faithful reviews, dude! I know, the whole lifeguard thing is odd for Grace but I figured I could see her yelling at kids in the water better than waiting on someone in a restaurant or working at amusement rides or games. Although I did think her working on the boardwalk could be hilarious.
To all other readers, whether you've reviewed in the past or not: Okay, so there are 80 people, including those who reviewed that read chapter 6 at the time that I am writing this. And there have been 1,130 overall. Number 1, thank you, that totally feeds my ego like mad. Number 2, those who didn't review feel the wrath of my guilt trip! Review! Anyone who reviews me gets my reviews, by the way. Number 3, sorry for the guilt trips, I'm horrible. Number 4, thanks for sticking with me through the story. I hope you're enjoying it!


Chapter 7 – At The Stars

"You know you're in a routine when you don't need an alarm clock to know that it is 5:30 a.m. precisely." Grace muttered. She knew Luke was awake because of his breathing. She knew that when he fell asleep it was slower than when he was awake.

"How long have you been up?" He asked into the morning light that was peering through the blinds of the window as some wind rustled through the window. Luke and Grace were in what they considered their normal position now. Luke was splayed on his back, with his left arm out across the bed and his right hand resting on his stomach on top of Grace's.

Grace was lying on her stomach, with the right side of her face resting in Luke's collarbone, neck and chest area. Her left hand was draped on his abdomen with his hand over top of it and their legs were tangled up in a jumble. It was hot enough most of the summer so far not to have the covers on them, although a couple of nights warranted a good snuggle under the covers even if Grace wouldn't admit it. Both tan bodies were clad in the least bit possible amount of clothing. This of course meant Grace was tortured with the heat just slightly more than Luke, sleeping in his spaceship boxers that she'd stolen months ago from him and a tank top while he was in a pair of boxers. This had been their sleeping arrangement for the past three weeks since they'd come to the beach.

"About ten minutes." She replied. "You?"

"About the same." He replied.

"Wanna go for a walk?" Grace asked out of nowhere. She felt Luke move his head and knew he was looking at her, so she turned her head and looked at him. Luke smiled.

"You know, I think I do." He replied.


"Did you hear that noise?" Joan shook Adam awake. Adam grunted.

"It's not time to wake up yet, Jane." He muttered.

"Adam!" Joan shook him.

"What? What? I didn't do it!" Adam sat up quickly. Joan stifled her laughter.

"Sorry…" she said, giving him her best innocent look when he looked at her pointedly.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothing, I just heard the door. I think Luke and Grace went out back." She shrugged. "Guess it woke me up." She said. Adam laid himself back, holding his arms open for her. Joan laid herself down against him and he stroked her hair as she nuzzled herself close.

"When's your brother coming?" Adam questioned quietly.

"Uhm…he's supposed to get here with Lily at…" Joan glanced at the clock. "Noon…or one. I think." She said aloud.

"Will someone be here to meet them?" He asked her.

"I think Luke's done at 11 today. Hank's going away from July 1st until the 7th, so Luke has off from work that week. And Grace took off the 1st, 4th, and 5th. I have the 3rd and 4th. So Kev and Lily will only need to occupy themselves for two days before one of us has off." Joan rambled.

"I have off from the 1st to the 4th." Adam told her. "How's the…leg…exercise thing going for him?"

Joan laughed. "He's got feeling in his right foot according to mom. Lily caught him rolling his ankle cause he said it was stiff."

"That's awesome." Adam yawned. Joan smiled. She leaned up and kissed him.

"Go back to sleep." She laughed. Adam nodded.

"Okay." He said quietly. Within a minute, he was breathing slow, rhythmic breaths and Joan knew he was asleep. It only took her a couple of minutes listening to his heartbeat to fall back asleep herself.


"And that one there, is the North Star. Which you could probably figure, most people know that it's the brightest one up there. Some people confuse it with planets sometimes. And right now it's Polaris but it won't always be that one because it hasn't always been that one. It's temporary, which is kind of ironic if you think about it because it's supposed to be a constant." Luke rambled as they walked.

"I find it amazing that you can make stars boring sometimes." Grace interrupted, smiling only slightly. Luke shrugged.

"Just another part of science." He said. "I guess they mean more than just balls of gas to some people though."

"So how does it feel?" Grace changed the subject, walking along with Luke. Her right arm was twisted around his left arm and her right hand entwined with his left. Their fingers laced together. The beach was empty. The run was coming up over the horizon. Luke and Grace hadn't bothered to change much. Luke had thrown his work shorts on and Grace had tossed a T-shirt on over her tank to guard against the ocean breeze, which was only slightly cooler than their room.

"How does what feel?" Luke questioned, looking over at Grace. "I thought you liked to walk in silence?"

"Well, sometimes words are nice I suppose-as long as there's no science metaphors in there." She reasoned before moving on. "And I meant, how does if feel to, you know…the whole…uncle-to-be thing?" She asked.

"Ohhh, right, that." Luke nodded. "Yeah see, I'm still confused as to how anyone would want to marry Kevin let alone after only 4 months of dating." He said.

"Yeah…really." She snickered. "But is it like, exciting or…some other adjective like that?"

"Why the curiosity in Kevin and Lily's baby?" Luke asked. Grace shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm not sure." She looked at the lapping waves of water as she walked. "It's just kind of sudden I guess. This past year, last summer. Everything changed so quick."

"Well…just a couple of things really." Luke said. "I mean, it's nice to not think Joan's crazy anymore." Grace snickered.

"Who said she wasn't crazy?" She asked with a smile.

"Okay…but you know what I meant." He said. Grace nodded. "Well, what else?"

"I don't know." She shrugged slightly. "Kevin and Lily getting married and now the baby is kind of strange. I mean, I can't really look at him without thinking of the time Rove knocked him out of that chair. And you're right it is hard to believe someone wanted to marry him, let alone bare his child-and only after such a short amount of time. I mean how long have we been…you know, and you don't see us going crazy like that." She babbled. "And then there's you know...Hunter…the freak, screwing with everyone. Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "And you know…Rove and your sister actually getting back together."

"That actually took longer than I expected." Luke interjected.

"Are you kidding me?" Grace asked.

"No, I'm not. It did. I mean any normal couple would have never spoken again yeah, but Joan and Adam are by no means normal." Luke mused. Grace stopped their walking and looked up at him. She used her free hand to point at him sternly as she spoke.

"Let me tell you something, brain, just to clarify if I haven't since the whole…Rove-Bonnie sexcapade, okay?" she looked at him pointedly, her eyes squinting. "So help me if you do something like that…" she didn't have to finish her sentence. She knew that he understood what she could possibly fill in that blank space with.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He said before leaning in to kiss her as if that sealed the deal.

"Good." She said when she pulled away. "Let's get some grub." She said when they pulled away and Luke's stomach growled.

"Sounds good. Waffles?" He asked.

"Mmmm…no way. I'm so going for the scrambled eggs." She grinned.

"With cheese?" He asked, pulling his left arm free and wrapping it around her shoulders.

"Oh hell yeah." She nodded as she looped her right arm around his back, along his waist as they headed back for the house.


"Ahoy there matey!"

Joan looked down from sitting atop the lifeguard stand when she heard the bubbly voice. She grinned widely.

"Lilly!" She gracefully leapt off of the stand and to the sand where Lily promptly hugged her. "How are you? Is it noon already?" She asked.

"Actually it's almost one." Lily told her. "And I'm excellent, although I miss my coffee…"

"Hey there's always decaf, sista." Joan said as both of them laughed slightly at the reference.

"Where's Grace, Luke said she works with you, right?" Lilly asked. Joan turned to the water.

"She's yelling at a surfer." Joan pointed.

"Oooh…" Lilly felt sympathy. "I hope he did something to deserve it in that case.

"If you count nearly taking a 10 year-old's head off deserving, then yes he did." Joan replied.

"Yeah, see, that does deserve Grace's wrath then." Lilly nodded in agreement.

"So where's Kevin and Luke?" Joan asked. Her eyes widened. "Oh my God, I completely forgot about finding a way to get him down on the beach! I'm so sorry! I'll get Grace to cover for me and we'll figure something out. I'm such a putz!"

"Joan. Joan!" Lilly put her hands on Joan's shoulders. "Breathe, child!"

Joan took a deep breath, putting her hand on her head. "Sorry. I panic." She shrugged.

"It's okay. We've solved the problem." Lilly assured. She turned and pointed. Luke was holding the handle of a thick plastic wagon and pulling it down the sand. Joan and Grace had only been one lifeguard stand over from the private beach so it hadn't been a far hike at least, to get to them from the back of the house-at least not as far as it could have been. Kevin was seated in the wagon, with his legs splayed out straight, cheering Luke on to 'mush' as if Luke was a dog-sledding team. He had some chairs and a blanket, beach bag and towels in his lap as Luke dragged him.

"Luke borrowed the wagon from your neighbors' kids for 5 bucks each." Lilly chuckled. Joan laughed.

"Don't have all the fun without me now." Grace approached, wrapping the rope back around her orange can and hoisting it up to its holder on the stand. She shook out her hair and ran her hands threw it.

"Looked to me like you were having plenty of fun telling that guy off." Joan indicated the surfer who was walking up the beach with his surfboard now and his head hanging dejectedly. Grace snickered.

"Next time he'll look where he's surfing and then he won't feel guilty for almost beheading a kid?" She replied. "So…what's going on?"

"Hello to you too Grace." Lilly smiled. Grace nodded.

"Where's your counterpart?" Grace asked.

"Using Luke as a personal chauffer." Joan pointed out. Grace smirked.

"Now why didn't I think of doing that?" She asked.

"I just wanted to come say hello ladies." Lilly nodded. "I'd better go save Luke before Kevin gets too carried away." She grinned.

"Looks like it's too late for that." Grace pointed to Kevin and Luke's general direction. Where Luke tried to pull the wagon out of a ditch and succeeded in tipping it too far. He dove to try and catch it but the wagon flipped and Kevin and Luke were now laughing and making fun of each other as they tried to rectify their situation and save themselves some embarrassment now that everyone surrounding them was staring and gawking. The girls laughed.

"Let's go help." Joan said.

"You two go. I'll stay and watch the tourists." Grace said. Joan and Lilly headed off and Grace climbed back up on the stand.


"So how does this work?"

Grace glanced down and saw someone leaning on the lifeguard stand. His short black hair was slicked back and he was still wet, having recently come out of the water. She rolled her eyes under the sunglasses she had recently put back on and looked back out at the people in the water.

"How does what work?" She asked, unenthused.

"Well, do I have to drowned to get you to give me CPR, or would dinner be enough?" He asked. Grace looked at the man. She saw his orange tinted tan, his athletic build, and his gold necklace and felt the sudden urge to vomit.

"Save it, cream puff. Just walk away. With the tail between your legs, dude." Grace replied, looking away from him.

"Aw come on now, you have to at least give me a fair try." He persisted.

"Do I now?" Grace said rhetorically, not bothering to look in his direction.

"Yes. I'm Josh. What's your name?" He asked. When she didn't reply, he continued. "What have you got to lose?" He asked her.

"My lunch?" Grace muttered.

"What's that?" He asked.

"I'm not interested." She told him.

"I find that hard to believe." He all but flexed his muscles for her.

"I'm sorry for your disillusionment?" Grace retorted.

"Come on, I know you find me attractive." He gushed about himself. "And you know you're not so hard on the eyes yourself…" He trailed off, looking at her expectantly.

"You're right, I'm not." Grace said, still scanning the water. "You however, are making me nauseous. Now could your take your senseless macho, 'I'm-so-hot-for-you' piggish babble somewhere else, like say to some pom-pom wielding Britney Spears wannabes who might actually get a kick out of your narcissistic overtones and your fake tan from a bottle, stuffed-Speedo look?" Grace finally looked at him. Josh looked perplexed. "What, was that too many new words for you? I'll sum it up. Go, away." She said.

"Ohhh…so you're one of those girls." Josh said. Graces shoulders dropped and her head bent down, as she sighed, not in the mood. "I mean hey it's okay with me." Josh shrugged. "I could find someone else here on the beach for you and we could go back to my hotel and-,"

"You have got to be kidding me." Grace sighed to herself. She looked over the edge of the stand at Josh.

"I'm sorry that you're trying to overcompensate for your small penis issues dude, but seriously, the sexuality crap has to stop or-,"

"Or you'll what?" He challenged, not taking her seriously. Grace's jaw set.

"All right that's it." In one swift jump she landed in the sand in front of him. "I'll give you three seconds to go back to wherever you came from or you'll be coughing up sand for a week."

"What's the problem here?" Joan asked as she came back to the lifeguard stand.

"It's village idiot contest day and we've won an annoying visit from the winner." Grace indicated Josh.

"Hey you little lesbo, there's no need to get snippy-,"

"Oh that's it," Grace cut him off as she lunged for him. Joan had the unfortunate duty of stepping in to stop Grace as Josh backed up a step. "Girardi, you'd better rethink your position on this. Fido needs to be neutered there."

"Do you want to get fired?" Joan asked her quietly. She waited for Grace to calm down enough and then let her go. Then she turned to Josh, making sure to stand between them still. She crossed her arms.

"I'm going to have to ask you to resume your beach going activities away from the stand, sir." Joan said, trying not to roll her eyes or make any unnecessary faces at him.

"Oh, is that so? And why can I stand everywhere else on the beach except here?" He asked. Grace scrunched up her face, balling up her fists at her sides.

"Because you're interfering with our jobs and if someone drowns while we're standing here contemplating what could possess you to fit into a Speedo with orange skin, and a big gaudy gold chain, I'll make sure you get charged with manslaughter because it will be partially your fault." Without waiting for a response, Joan turned and climbed back up to her seat. Grace raised her eyebrow, intrigued and followed Joan up the lifeguard stand to sit down.

"Forget you." Josh said, turning and leaving.

"Never a dull moment." Grace muttered.

"At least it's not completely boring." Joan replied.

"So what are we doing for dinner?" Grace changed the subject as they looked out at the water again.

"Apparently, Kevin, Luke and Lilly all decided we were going out to dinner. Apparently they found a place and made reservations before coming out here." Joan replied.

"Where?" Grace asked.

"Not sure but knowing them it's probably Italian." Joan told her.

"Bah…you Italians and your garlic." Grace mused. Joan gave her shoulder a playful shove.

"Oh shush, you know you love it." She smiled.

"Naahhh…" Grace smiled slightly shaking her head unconvincingly.


A/N: Someone brought up the issue of how long this would be. I'm not sure how long this story is going to go. I'm trying to let it just go where it goes on it's own out of my head so that I don't limit myself on the story's potential. Out of curiosity though, how long (chapter wise) do you think I should make this? Let me know in your review (Hint, hint).