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.
Reviewers: Sam – Oh I didn't mean to sound like I thought you didn't like
the Kev/Lil intro! Thanks for the clarifying though, that was nice! And I
totally know all about the garlic…I'm Italian. ) Mmm yummy goodness. You know
in season one when Will says he orders pizza and all at once they all say
"extra garlic" that's my house. And yes…a sandwich is like an opera. poeticrebel
– Glad you enjoyed Grace's attack.
Keep reading, I'm thinking there's more of that to come-it could be surprising.
KJFlygirl87 – Hey Kirsten, how
are ya? It's cool about the dog thing. Ironically enough, a few months back I
did lose one of my dogs. Thanks for the review, keep reading, the competition
will be heating up…though maybe not necessarily between Kev and Luke. Kristin
– I have to say I'm a sucker for G/L
too, which is probably why there's so much of it in here! ) Thanks for
catching up! Jane And Adam – Thanks
for the review! I'm trying to hurry back, yo, I swear!
A/N: This will be my last update until the end of the weekend; my family and a couple friends are going to New Orleans for the weekend. Fun times! Happy Father's Day to everyone's dad! Much love to all my readers! Have a great weekend! Sorry for typos, did a quick proofread because I have to finish packing. Let me know about any major mess ups and I'll fix them when I get back!
Chapter 9 – Brace Yourself, With All That You Have
"What time is it?" Luke said as he inhaled deeply. He had opened his eyes, momentarily dazed, and fond that he'd been lying down on the couch with his head in Grace's lap.
"'bout two am." Grace said quietly. Luke rolled onto his back and looked up. In the dim light that was still on in the dark room, she had a notebook. She was chewing on the cap of a pen, every few moments, as if a great idea struck her, she reached her hand down to the notebook that was on the arm of the couch and started scribbling something in it.
"What are you writing?" He asked her.
"Nothing of importance." She finished the sentence she was writing before shutting the book and tossing it to the table. She leaned her chin down on her left fist as she rested hre elbow on the arm of the sofa and looked at him. Absently she reached her right hand out and ran it through his hair a couple of times. "Guess you didn't like the movie huh?"
"What?" Luke asked, confused.
"You fell asleep fifteen minutes in, brain." She said with a small smile.
"Oh. Right…Guess I was just tired." He shrugged. "Why didn't you wake me up so you could go to sleep?"
"I was in no hurry. I have off tomorr-well, today, anyway." She commented. "Besides, everyone else went off after the movie. It was nice to have some quiet when I was actually awake for once." Grace made a face with a slight grin. "Of course, that was before somebody started snoring like a chainsaw…"
"I don't snore!" Luke said, forcing himself to sit up now. Grace almost frowned, feeling colder now that he'd shifted his body, but she concealed her sadness with a slight snicker.
"Oh trust me, you do." She said as he shifted down to sit closer to her.
"I know I don't." He grinned. "I stayed up one night to listen. I didn't snore."
Grace rolled her eyes. "Ohhh…and who taught you that one?"
"That would be Dad. He used it for about five years when I was younger and mom complained about him snoring." Luke nodded.
"Oh, so it's genetic." Grace grinned. "I feel bad for you when you have kids, brain. You'll hear snoring over the monitors all night long."
"Babies don't snore." Luke said.
"If they've got you and your dad's snore gene they might." Grace continued.
"Well then I guess we'll make fun of it when it keeps us up all night." Luke commented. Grace stared at him. "What?" He asked.
"When, uh, when did I get put into that equation?" She asked, still stunned and at a loss for a snappy comeback.
"Oh. Uh…I don't know." Luke swallowed, nervous about her reactions. "Just a thought." He shrugged.
"Right…" Grace cleared her throat. "All right, this would be a great awkward moment to go get something to drink, you want something?" She stood.
"No. No thanks." He said as she crossed the room. Luke picked up the remote and started flipping channels. "Good job genius…" He mumbled to himself with a sigh.
Grace opened the fridge and grabbed a can of Dr. Pepper. She opened it and poured it in a glass for herself. She was going back to the living room when she decided she would go and look at the beach for a minute or two, to think about what Luke had just said. She went to the back sliding door and crossed her arms, taking a sip from her cup after a minute. She looked to the left of the deck and started slowing scanning towards the right. That's when she screamed, and dropped her glass, startled.
The glass shattered, but Grace was in too much shock and panic to realize that a piece of it had lodged into the top of her foot. Within seconds of her scream and the crash of the glass, Luke was next to her.
"What? Grace what's wrong?" He asked as Joan and Adam stumbled sleepily into the hallways followed by Lilly, and then after a moment, Kevin.
"What's going on?" Joan asked. Grace was pointing, slightly shaken.
"There was…" she looked at them and then back out the door, still pointing. "I saw…He was."
"Who was?" Kevin asked, wheeling closer to the door and trying to look past everyone and outside.
"He-He was right out, outside." She said. Luke put his hand on her arm.
"Who was?" He asked her.
"Ryan." She said. "He was outside. Looking in here. From the end of the wooden walkway." She said.
"Grace, you're bleeding." Adam pointed out. Everyone looked down and they saw Grace's foot.
"Joan, Lilly, why don't you take Grace into the kitchen and clean that up." Kevin suggested. He looked at Luke and Adam. "And we'll check out outside, see if he's still sniffing around."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Joan said. "Come on Grace, hobble this way."
Grace let them lead her to the kitchen, hopping and hobbling so that she didn't bleed too much all over. Kevin, Luke and Adam turned on the outside lights and went out.
"This is just what mom and dad are going to love about coming out here today for the Independence Day festivities." Luke frowned. Kevin snickered.
"So kids, what did you do last night?" He mimicked his mom. "Oh nothing, ma, just searched for a prowler. Specifically, the man who weasled his way into everybody's lives to try and destroy Joan, but other then that, just food, fun and sun!"
"Hey, there's footprints here, yo." Adam said, pointing to the wood on the deck. It looked like someone with wet boots had walked in the sand and then on the deck. Kevin and Luke went over to look at them.
"come on out you pansy!" Kevin yelled.
"KEV!" Luke said in a harsh whisper. "What if he's armed or something?" He said desperately.
"He's too much of a sissy to brandish a weapon, kid, relax." Kevin said.
"What if he really is the devil and he's got like magical, evil powers to use on us or something?" Adam asked. Obviously he thought he was still asleep. Kevin and Luke just looked at him. "What?" He asked.
"He's not out here anymore if he was." Kevin shrugged. "Let's go back in and just make sure everything's locked for now."
"Is that all we're going to do?" Luke asked as they headed for the door.
"That's all we can do if we can't find him out here man." Kevin said.
"Maybe she didn't really see him." Adam suggested. "It is late." He said. Luke frowned. He didn't think Grace would hallucinate something like that.
"I wasn't seeing things." Grace said as Joan scrunched up her face and helped Grace disinfect her foot after they tool the piece of glass out.
"Of all people, I believe you, Grace." Joan assured with a small smile.
"So which one of you is Mr. Hunter stalking?" Lilly asked, opening the First-Aid kit and pulling out some gauze.
"Yuck." Grace and Joan said at the same time, thinking about Ryan watching them without them knowing. Kevin, Luke and Adam entered the room.
"The coast is clear." Kevin said. Adam chuckled at the irony and literal meaning of the sentence. Grace caught the look she was getting from Kevin and Luke.
"I'm not seeing things. He was out there." She said sternly. "Ow." She jerked her head over and looked at Joan.
"Sorry." Joan said innocently. "Hey, we've got to clean it." She shrugged. Grace frowned and looked at look.
"I wasn't seeing things." She said. Luke nodded, walking over and sitting next to her.
"I know." He said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We found bootprints."
"Look, he's gone anyway. We should just relax and spend the rest of the morning sleeping, because mom and dad will be here at…" Kevin looked at the clock. "9 am."
"Good idea." Lilly nodded, rubbing her stomach and yawning. Grace noticed this.
"Oh…uhm. I'm fine. You guys go on and head back to sleep." She said. Joan lingered for a moment. "Go, Girardi." She pointed.
"You sure?" Adam asked. Grace nodded. Everyone left but Luke.
"You can go to bed, I'm allright." She lied, trying to figure out how to get the gauze successfully around her foot.
"Here, let me help." He took it from her and knelt in front of her.
"I'm not crazy you know." She said. Luke snickered.
"No, that's Joan's department, I know." He said.
"Luke…There's something I've got to tell you." Grace said.
"No, Grace, it's all right. I didn't mean to freak you out. I just kind of came out." Luke shrugged as he attached medical tape to the gauze to hold it in place. Grace put her hand on the side of his face.
"I…didn't mind it that much." She cleared her throat, turning a slight shade of pink. He was about to speak up. "Drop it," she warned. He nodded. "That's not what I was going to talk to you about though."
Luke looked at her, confused. "Then, what?" he asked, not moving from his spot.
Grace bit her bottom lip slightly, taking a deep breath.
"This is about what you said to him before hey gave you the keys to the house, isn't it?" He asked her.
"What?" Grace questioned, wracking her brain to remember what he was talking about.
"You said you knew what he did to those girls." Luke replied. Grace's eyes widened slightly. Then she closed her eyes, pushing her lips tightly together. She nodded slightly.
"Okay…I should have seen this one coming." She took a deep breath again. "I do know what he did, yeah."
"What did he do?" Luke asked. "And to who? Did he do something to you?" Luke began to stand. Grace put a hand on his chest to calm him down.
"Relax!" She said sternly, but quietly as he pulled a chair to face her and sat down. "It doesn't matter to who right now. And it doesn't even matter what he did specifically, okay?" Grace sighed. "It just matters that I know what happened and it's not happening to any of us." She said in a resolved tone, crossing her arms.
"Grace, seriously…if he did anything-," Luke began. Grace smiled slightly at his protective nature coming through.
"Relax, brain." She said. "I promise." She shook her head. "He didn't do anything to me. You would know if he did." She said.
"Yeah…he'd probably be castrated." Luke said, sounding calmer.
"Ew, I don't want to picture Ryan naked, much less looking like an anatomically mutilated Ken doll." Grace stuck her tongue out disgusted.
"Let's clean up the floor and go to sleep." Luke suggested.
"Sleep? Who the hell could sleep now?" Grace asked as she stood, raising her foot to walk on her heel. She almost lost her balance but Luke caught her.
"Okay, bad idea. Better one." He steadied her. "You got sit on the couch and find something to watch, I'll clean up and bring us some soda and snacks?" he suggested. Grace nodded.
"Now you're thinking." She said, balancing herself on the counter to the doorway and then making her way to the living room.
"You shouldn't be lurking around people's houses so late at night, Ryan." A voice said as Ryan stood up the street from the beach house, staring at it. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He turned around to see a large, bald headed man that had a black t-shirt on with the words "security" across it. He was a few inches taller than Ryan and had his arms crossed, with a leash on his wrist. Ryan snickered as he looked at the tiny Chihuahua attached to the leash, yapping at Ryan.
"God should get a tougher dog for that persona." He suggested, crossing his own arms.
"You should be more concerned about your own existence instead of everyone else's-mine especially." Big bald God said calmly. His voice reminded Ryan of Hulk Hogan.
"Well, I would do that, except you expect me to constantly stick my nose in other's people's business." He said, turning to walk. Big bald God followed.
"I haven't been asking you to do anything, Ryan." He said. Ryan looked at him. "You've been doing things on your own for quite awhile. In fact, I'm here to tell you to stop before it's too late."
"Stop what before it's too late for what?" Ryan asked. There was fire in his eyes.
"If left alone for too long, Ryan…a soul can whither an die, like a plant without water." Big bald God said as they passed a wilting flower. Ryan laughed.
"Riddles it is." He laughed. "So should I water myself? If I go for a swim, will my soul find it's way back?"
"You know, Joan doesn't get the free will thing, that's all right. You can't grasp metaphors very well." Big bald God shrugged. "Only you can stop your soul from wilting, Ryan." He said before turning around and giving a wave as he continued up the street. Ryan stared after him, still fuming.
"I never liked you! From the beginning!" He screamed out to Big bald God, who just kept walking. Ryan looked back at the house. His jaw was set tight and if he had been a cartoon, his eyes would have glowed red and steam would be coming out of his ears. A wicked smile spread across his face. "Brace yourself, kiddies…things are about to heat up." He said. He lingered for another moment before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning down a street to walk away.
