Alright, almost at the end. Please review. I still want four.

DISCLAIMER: I own no Joan of Arcadia stuff

Luke was about to go to the high school, and exited through Grace's back door. He sat in his car, with the cheque carefully put in his shirt pocket. He was about to start the engine, when Grace slid into the passenger seat next to Luke. He didn't argue. He didn't have time. It took at least twenty minutes to get to the high school, which was without traffic, accidents or any other hindrances. He put his foot to the ground.

They were barely outside of Grace's property, when Luke decided top tell Grace about the situation. He thought, at the very least, she deserved to know why he had just taken her money, especially now she had revealed her heart to him.

Grace was polite and nodded all the way through, with the occasional comment. Luke was sincerely happy for her company. He was sure if he only had himself to talk to, he would turn and run in the opposite direction.

They only endured a few minutes of silence before they parked out the front of the old school building. It had taken them twenty-five minutes, which left five minutes to make sure that the cheque was in the right place. Grace stayed in the car while Luke scrambled out and put the large cheque on the bench. He retreated to the car, to meet a nervous looking Grace.

"You know, I was serious before, about marrying each other. Luke, you have been the only person I can truly be myself around. In fact I hate being anyone else, like that perfectly presented thing I was on the night of the barbeque. I hated that girl."

Luke nodded. He liked the old Grace best, and the barbeque incident was still vivid in his mind.

"Grace, I love you too, but aren't we rushing into things a little?" he asked hesitantly.

"Luke, we've been waiting for years. It's not as if we don't know just about everything about each other. Just because we haven't seen each other for a long time, doesn't mean our love has faded. Does it?" she added.

Luke sat in numbness for thirty seconds. Here he was with Grace, waiting for a mafia-like man to collect his debt, and they were talking about marriage. It just seemed a little sudden. Marriage was a, hopefully, lifelong commitment. Was he ready for that? But in a way, Grace was right. He had never truly fallen with anyone else apart from Grace. She still made him weak at the knees, he couldn't deny it. Without thinking anymore, Luke turned and looked into Grace's eyes, and said confidently "Grace Polk, I would be honored, absolutely honored, to be your husband."

Grace gave a little scream, and flung her arms around Luke, which was a little difficult in the confined space of the car, and they were about to lock lips, when out of the corner of Luke's eye, a tall man with vast shoulders wandered over to the bench in front of the school.

Luke abruptly pulled out of Grace's embrace. She was about to question this action, when she too saw the man. They both held their breath. The man bent over and picked up the cheque. He examined it for a while before pocketing it and walking away. Although in actual life, this took only twenty seconds, to Grace and Luke, it seemed to take hours.

The man was walkin very slowly, and Grace and Luke were both low in their seats to be less likely to be seen. They couldn't be found now they had gotten so far. Finally the man was well out of sight, they both gave a small cry of accomplishment, and picked up where they left off, and passionately kissed…

Thirty minutes later, Luke rang his mother and announced that Grace was coming over for tea. Helen was quite excited about this, and decided she was going to make a feast. At the time, she wasn't sure why Luke had wanted Grace over, but his voice over the phone sounded happier and least tense then it had in a long time. Whatever had happened, it was good.

Helen ran upstairs to find Kevin and Joan. Joan was in the shower, so Helen visited her son first.

"Kevin, Grace is coming over for tea, so I thought I'd make a bit of a get-together of it. Do you want to invite anyone?"

Kevin stared at his mother. Invite someone? Who could he invite? And then the answer hit him like a detention in homeroom. "Heidi, I want to invite Heidi Cummings, Fiona's daughter."

Helen left the room, feeling even happier. If she was not mistaken, Kevin was highly interested in Heidi, and Kevin had avoided any interest in any girls for a long time. She went back to Joan's room, and now she was out of the shower.

"Hi honey! Where did you go earlier."

Joan, who had a towel wrapped around her hair, and wore nothing but a bath robe said casually, "Just meeting up with some old friends,"

"Oh, okay," said Helen, although she wasn't completely satisfied with the answer. "Well, would you like to invite someone over for tea tonight? Grace and Heidi are coming over. It's just a bit of a party."

"What for?"

"Oh, nothing really. Luke just wanted Grace over, so I decided we could make a good old-fashioned 'do out of it,"

"Oh, okay," said Joan. She knew who she wanted to invite, but Adam was out of reach. But then again, their meeting earlier that day had opened her eyes up to a relationship with Adam. Not love, but friendship.

"Well, I guess you could ask Adam and Hilary. I would love to catch up properly."

By the time Helen reached the stairs, she was beyond happy. She hadn't felt like this since before Kevin's accident. She felt genuinely happy and at peace with everyone that was important to her. It had so long, in fact, that she began to skip her way to the kitchen.

OK, let's see those reviews, unless you don't want to read the end. Just two more chapters to go! Love Em's Pride