Holds Me Together
Rating: T-M Just in case
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
A/N: I love you people! You make my day! Sorry for the proofreading as always. FYI: My responses to reviews are at the bottom of each chapter instead of the top. Read on wit yo bad self, now!
Chapter 13 – Did You All Think He'd Just Disappear?
"What time are we leaving?" Grace asked as Luke came up the steps to his room with a towel wrapped around his waist, having just gotten out of the shower. Beads of water were gleaming off of his shoulders, stemming from his sopping, matted hair. It was hanging just above his eyebrows. Grace noted that his sandy hair looked brown when it was wet. She couldn't help biting the corner of her lip and staring as he leaned down to one of the drawers of his bureau to find some clothes.
"We'll leave for Baltimore at 3:30 so we'll have time to set up," He said, finally finding the T-shirt he was looking for. He stood up and unfolded it to inspect it as if double-checking and shut the drawer with his foot. "Stop staring," He said, grinning, without even looking at her. Grace shook her head and was about to speak but changed her mind and closed her mouth. In one nimble move, with his back still to her as he scanned a pile on the floor for a specific pair of torn and tattered jeans, Luke let the towel drop and pulled on a pair of black boxer briefs with a gray elastic rim, giving Grace a mere millisecond glance at his freshly washed skin. She could smell the scent of his soap from across the room.
"Good, then I've got time," Grace cleared her throat and hopped from where she was sitting on his desk, grabbing her skateboard from its spot leaning against the wall.
"Oh yeah? Where ya gonna go?" He asked, turning to face her as he tugged one of the pairs of jeans Grace and Joan had gotten him on. Grace looked at the pants as Luke ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to brush them out of his face. His attempt failed and the wet locks fell back into his face, showering his chest and nose with a few more drops of water.
Grace examined the jeans. Funny enough, they lay perfectly at his hips, riding low so that the trail of fluffed hair leading down from his belly button was partially visible. The lines where his legs met his hips that formed into a perfect V were visible at the corners from the top rim of his boxer briefs, which were just visible above the rim of his tattered jeans. The jeans were frayed and rumpled in various places throughout them. The bottoms of the legs, especially, were tattered from being walked on with boots in all seasons. There were places on the pockets that were sewn, though still fraying. There was a rectangular fraying section on the back right pocket from where the previous owner had obviously kept his wallet all the time, and a few random oil stains splattered about. A few mini holes dotted the front and backs of the legs and there was even a tiny hole beginning at the bottom right hand corner of the left back pocket. Luke looped a brown belt through the pants and hooked it. There was a silver rounded square belt buckle on the belt that went well with the outfit Luke seemed to be forming. Grace smiled slightly at the buckle. It had a bottle opener carved on it with the words "Open Here" etched across the top of it. Grace smirked.
"Oh, uh," She shook her head, letting her eyes travel up Luke's torso to his eyes. He had his hands on his hips, grinning at her knowingly as her cheeks flushed. "I'm, uhm, going to, you now, my house," She cleared her throat again. "Ma's home, so…"
Luke nodded. "You want me to go with you?" He said, shaking out his shirt, and beginning to slide his arms into the sleeves so that it extended across his chest, waiting for him to pull it over his head.
Grace shook her head. "No, I'll be fine," She assured him. Luke studied her face for a moment, intently. For the past few days he'd been very cautious, not wanting to aggravate Grace's state of mind any further then it seemed to already be. She had let on that more was going on then he knew about when Luke had asked her for the billionth and one time if she wanted to talk about her mother and the doctor's prognosis on Sarah's liver. Grace had remained numb about the subject, stating that Sarah knew full well that her death sentence was her own fault. Luke had originally ascertained that the way Grace had been distancing him was due to her building fury and sorrow regarding her mother. Grace let on that this wasn't this case and she was just feeling awkward what with Kevin and Lily coming over all the time, and the intrusion of Luke's mom always when they were in the middle of a kiss that would surely progress to at least a make out session. Luke knew better than to believe most of this but there wasn't much he could do other then wait for her to tell him what was up and be patient.
"I'll be back by 3," She promised, crossing over to him and leaning on her tiptoes to grant him a kiss. Grace knew there were two reasons for this kiss; number 1, it would stop Luke from eyeing her and inspecting for her to reveal all worries and emotions at the moment and number 2, God she loved his lips.
"If you see your sister tell her I said to call me, it's important," Grace spoke up when their lips finally parted.
"Okay," Luke agreed, lingering, hoping for another kiss. Grace smirked slightly.
"Later boy wonder," She said, turning and heading out of the room. Luke sighed, smiling and pulled the shirt over his head, unrolling it to lie just at the top of his jeans, due to his long torso. The worn orange shirt was pale and had dark but faint brown writing that was cracked from years of wear and wash, and had the written logo of the Dukes of Hazzard. Under the word logo was the same brown, faint color, molded into the shape was the front sideways slanted version of the General Lee '69 dodge charger. Luke walked over to the mirror that was on the back of his door to inspect his choice of clothing and snickered at himself after he'd put on socks and fastened an old pair of brown boots to his feet which the torn jeans hung nicely over. Luke dug through a small basket on his bureau and came out with a brown leather bracelet watch which he fastened to his left wrist before fastening the other brown leather bracelet he found to his write wrist along with sliding on some matching beaded bracelets with black strings that hung down after he'd tied them securely around his wrists. He found a couple of plain silver rings in the basket of accessories Joan and Grace had instructed him to make sure he used and put one on his left index finger, one on his right thumb, as well as one on his right ring finger. After this he dug around some more and came across a thin black leather choker chord. It was the kind you made on vacation with silver dice that had letters on them, and two knots to tightened it with. Touching the silver letters, Luke grinned slightly seeing they spelled out 'Gracious.' He pulled it over his head and tightened it all the way so that the knots were next to where the letters stopped and it still hung under the rim of his collar, lying flat against the backdrop of his orange shirt.
Luke was just finishing putting gel in his hair and styling it into a mess, and putting on some cologne when he went to inspect himself again in the mirror. This was definitely a strange look for a Science genius, he though to himself.
"Whoa…talk about a total makeover," Joan said as she inched in through the half shut door and gave her brother a once over to check out his rock star apparel. Luke snickered.
"I have to hand it to you and Grace," He shrugged, looking at himself again in amusement. "You two really know how to make a geek look cool."
"Cool? Please," Joan rolled her eyes, "Cool is lame. You're totally giving off the Rock Star vibes, look out tinsel town here comes dogboy, front runner of the band…" Joan looked at Luke. "I don't know your band's name," She confessed with a slight smile. She felt out of touch for a moment. If they'd still been in Arcadia and this had happened, she would have known as soon as he'd gotten into the band what its name was and where they were playing.
"File Under X," Luke told her. He looked at her. "You sure I look okay in this stuff?"
"So long as you don't start strutting again and acting like John Travolta, I think you look perfect for the part," She nodded. "Actually…we have a present for you downstairs," She grinned as she saw his interest peak.
"Who's we?" He asked.
"Oh you know, Me, Kevin, Mom, Dad, Lil, the whole family, Grace and Adam too," She grinned. "Come on, dogboy, let's not keep them waiting," Joan grabbed Luke by his forearm and tugged, pulling him with her down the steps to the second floor and then to the living room after telling him to cover his eyes-an action made doubly dangerous by the sets of steps needed to traverse to the living room. Once Luke had made it alive, Joan told him to open his eyes. His mouth dropped open.
There, in the middle of the living room, they'd moved the coffee table aside to pile this 'gift' of theirs. Luke walked over to it; timidly reaching out to touch the outlines of a two-foot tall amplifier, and then the neck and outline of a Gibson '59 Les Paul cherry burst electric guitar. It looked so pristine Luke was almost afraid to touch it.
"Grace said you were ogling it at a guitar shop up near you guys," Kevin informed him.
"Yeah, she told us about how you had to borrow the guitars from your band mate and that you only had the electric acoustic and the pawn shop fender you got," Lily said, already well versed in the world of guitars, oddly enough. Luke looked around at the other various pieces of equipment. There were the necessary cables to connect the amps and the guitar and there was even a foot controller that held 4 pedals, a hard plastic case lined with foam for his new guitar, a padded soft case with backpack straps for his fender, an assortment of guitar straps for him to choose from, some various brands of pics, replacements strings and an electric tuner.
"How did you afford all this?" Luke asked in astonishment.
"We all chipped in," Will told him with a nonchalant shrug. Luke's eyes misted over. He hadn't thought that more then just Joan would have remembered about the band, well and maybe Helen since most of the band would be camping on her living room floor by the wee early morning hours. He had never imagined they would go so far out of their way to purchase thousands of dollars worth of equipment just for him. He felt bad momentarily, for feeling slightly gypped that he'd only gotten a small amount of Christmas presents, even if half of his presents consisted of cheap thrift store awesome clothes. He had thought that once again, no one really bothered with him, but that was okay because despite some of the hard stuff going on, it was a nice holiday. To find out he was utterly wrong sent a stab of selfish guilt through him. He looked at all of their smiling faces.
"Don't get too sappy on us there, dogboy," Joan gave his arm a slight punch.
"I'll pay you back for all of this," He said, looking all of them in the eyes. The crowd of people, his family, Lily (holding Caleb), and Adam exchanged confused glances.
"Luke, honey, this is a gift," Helen approached Luke, putting her hands on his shoulders. "We don't want repayment," She explained.
"Yeah, geek, we want to come see you play," Kevin, grinned, giving Luke's arm a punch. Luke looked at them, wide eyed.
"Seriously?" He asked. Helen nodded. "What about your New Year's Eve party?" He asked his mom. Helen laughed.
"There's always another year to have one," She smiled.
"Your mother, Kevin and Lily and I will be at your show at the Green River here in Arcadia," Will explained. Luke frowned.
"You have to have tickets for that," He said, disheartened. Lily held up a handful of tickets.
"Grace called…Charlie I think his name was, and hooked us up," Joan explained.
"Cha, dude, Joan and me will be at both shows," Adam grinned. Luke looked at all of them.
"I don't know what to say," He stated speechlessly.
"Say you know at least some good 70's music," Kevin said hopefully. Joan snickered at him and Luke and the others laughed as well. They heard honking outside and following Luke, everyone went outside.
There, driving up the middle of the street with the side of the door slid open was Charlie and Kit, hanging onto a handle and yelling.
"HEY GIRARDI WHERE ARE YOU?" They called, looking to see what house answered.
"Those are your friends?" Joan asked, unsure how Luke had acquired friends that didn't look like science nerds. Luke laughed.
He walked to the curb and swung his arms in the air. "Over here!" He called back. Charlie and Kit waved frantically to them as Ajax pulled the van over to the open spot at the curb. Charlie and Kit leapt out, hugging Luke enthusiastically with pats on the back, followed by Fleur and Rails, Ajax and Clayton (the band's other guitarist). Luke introduced everyone all around.
"Oh, wait, wait, we've got something for you all!" Charlie cheered. He and Kit disappeared into the back van. They reemerged two minutes later with armfuls of presents.
"What's this?" Helen asked.
"This," Charlie grinned as he and Kit passed out the presents to each one they were addressed to, recognizing them by pictures and stories Luke had told, "is for your hospitality and all that stuff, because you rock!" He said excitedly.
"Why don't we go inside and open these, it's cold out here," Joan suggested. The group headed inside.
"You didn't have to come and visit, Gracie," Sarah said, seated on her bed and sitting back against pillows that were propped against the headboard. Her blanket was pulled up to cover most of her lower body. Grace brought over a glass of water and tissues Sarah had asked for. She put them on Sarah's nightstand and then sat nervously on the stool for her mother's makeup desk.
"Yeah well," Grace shrugged, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, not knowing what to say. She had millions of questions and not a clue where to begin. Sarah studied her. Grace was not used to talking to her mother while her mother was sober. She was used to reasoning with an unreasonable drunk.
"How's that boy…Luke?" Sarah spoke up. Grace looked at her mother wearily. Sarah waited for an answer.
"He's…good," Grace offered awkwardly. Sarah smiled.
"That's wonderful," Sarah's voice was filled with enthusiasm. Grace wasn't totally buying it. She rolled her eyes.
"You haven't cared about any of this in years, except to beat down on it to control me," She spoke up. "Just because you're dwindling down on days doesn't mean you can just pick up like we've always been the perfect little family in Arcadia."
Sarah nodded. "You're right," She said, "but we've got to start somewhere don't we?"
Grace considered this. "Tell me about Ryan," She stated. Sarah looked at Grace suspiciously for a moment.
"Gracie, you know about Ryan," Sarah replied. Grace shook her head.
"I know he's my brother. I know you didn't want him," Grace snorted. "I know you didn't want me either but, whatever, that's not important." She composed herself. "I want to know about his father. I want you to tell me why you abandoned him. I want you to tell me everything you know."
"Why?" Sarah questioned.
"Because you owe it to me," Grace retorted, crossing her arms nervously. "Because he's coming after me and the people I care about, which is probably because of what you and his father did to him, whatever it was. And because the more I know the better off I'll be," she said firmly. Sarah offered a curt nod.
"Very well," Sarah inhaled deeply, looking pained. "I was 16. He, Calvin Hunter, was 20. He worked at the bowling alley. We, my friends and I went there every Saturday night, sometimes after football games, since we cheered of course." She shuddered almost. "I was infatuated and he was at least interested. On our 5th or 6th date, we went to a school dance. He thought it was childish so we left early." She glanced at Grace. "I think you can figure out how Ryan came about without me going into detail there?"
Grace nodded slowly. So her brother was conceived in the back of a beat up truck. How shabby. Grace shuddered to think of Ryan as her brother. She looked at Sarah to indicate for her to continue. Sarah sighed.
"There wasn't much I could do. Your grandfather actually kicked me out and refused to speak to me for a long time. So I had no choice but to move in to Calvin's apartment. The infatuation was long gone by then. It wasn't that he was a bad person. It was just that money was scarce, I was trying to hide in school." Sarah looked down at her hands as she rubbed them together. "I left three days after we brought Ryan home from the hospital," She said barely above a whisper. "I only ever called Calvin once after that. It was Ryan's first Birthday. He told me they were fine without me and never to contact them again, it was too late to own up to responsibility and I was still a child so I should go and grow up before continuing my life," she cleared her throat. "By then I knew your father. I didn't tell him about Ryan until I found out I was pregnant with you," She looked at Grace. "I never said I didn't want you-,"
Grace snorted. "Yes you have," She stared at her mother. "It's one of your favorite things to say when I'm trying to stop you from drinking and get you to go to bed when you're trashed," Her face remained stony and cold. Sarah looked away, ashamed. She knew she deserved this.
"Gracie,"
"Just…keep going," Grace cut her mother off, not wanting to hear another excuse. Sarah nodded sadly.
"I heard nothing about Ryan since the phone call on his first birthday," She continued sadly. "At least, until he turned up here in Arcadia. He didn't contact me, though. For some reason he went after that friend of yours' family, the Girardi family. And I only told you, Gracie because that was when he was going to trial and it was going to come out anyway, I thought you should hear it from me instead of the press," She confessed. Grace snorted at this and shook her head, staring down at her lap. "Gracie?"
"How long have you known?" Grace looked up. "That this was killing you?"
Sarah tried to look away, but Grace's stare locked her in. "Since before last summer," She answered. Grace shook her head with an ironic chortle of anger.
"Why…" Her eyes involuntarily glazed over and she clenched her jaw angrily. "Why did you keep drinking? They told you that you had a chance if you stopped. It would've prolonged your chance of getting a new liver," Grace reasoned. She may not have had the best relationship with her mother, but by no means did she want her mother to die. She felt guilty for all the times, in Sarah's drunken stupors that she had selfishly wished that Sarah would indeed die so she could be free. She knew those were moments of weakness she could not take back. Wishes that were now coming true, and she had no way to combat them.
"Gracie, I'm not on the donor list," Sarah commented. Grace's head snapped up and she stared at her mother in shock.
"What?" Her voice was a ghastly whisper of shock. Fear, anger and sadness bubbled and boiled throughout her.
"I don't want a new liver, Gracie," Sarah watched her daughter. "I can't stop my drinking even all the times I've wanted to-,"
"You're not drinking now! You're fine!" Grace argued. Sarah was wiping at tears now.
"I'm not now at this moment. I was last night and the night before that. Since I've gotten home really," She admitted looking more ashamed than ever. Grace stared at her mother in disbelief. How could anyone be this reckless with their life? "Gracie, a new liver would be a tragic waste for someone in my position. The least I can do is let someone else's life, a life worthier than mine, to be saved at my expense," Sarah continued. Grace shook her head, mouth wide open, eyes enlarged like saucers.
"I can't deal with this now," Grace said, noticing that it was nearly 2:30. "I have to go," She turned on her heel.
"Gracie, wait!" Sarah called. Grace was out of the house in less than twenty seconds. She made her way to the Girardi house on her skateboard as quickly as she could, wanting-needing-the distraction of them to clear her mind. Tonight was a big night for Luke. He was excited. He kept telling her he had a surprise for her and she did not want to be the person to ruin the night. By the time Grace had reached the Girardi house fifteen minutes later, she had managed to calm herself down and compose herself. She saw Kit's van as she kicked up her skateboard to her hand and headed up the steps.
"There you are!" Luke said, pullingGrace to him as soon as she entered. "Thank you," He placed a kiss on her cheek. Grace looked at him, confused.
"For?" She asked. Luke smiled.
"Don't act like you don't know, the equipment," He said. Grace's face donned a look of realization and she nodded easily.
"You liked it then?" She smiled.
"Liked it? How 'bout loved it?" He asked. It was then that Grace got a chance to look at his whole outfit.
"Wow…" She eyed him suspiciously. "I'm not going to have to dig out the 'pretty' clothes and start saying 'whatever' am I?" She asked. Luke shook his head vigorously.
"No!" He said quickly. Grace chuckled at him.
"Good," She nodded.
"Hey you two!" Joan said, coming up with Caleb in her arms.
"Hey," Grace said, glancing at Luke and then back to Joan.
"If you hold him any longer, people are going to start to suspect that he's your baby," Luke teased. Joan's face fell ashen. Grace elbowed Luke.
"Ow! Hey what was that for?" He asked. "I was just kidding! Sheesh!" He rubbed his ribs.
"Leave me with the other Girardi will ya, brain?" Grace asked. Luke looked at them suspiciously but nodded. Joan passed Caleb to him as he went to join the others in the living room.
"Let's go up to your room, you know, the whole privacy thing," Grace suggested. Joan nodded weakly and they ascended the steps.
"So…" Joan said, shutting the door. She went over and sat next to Grace who was already seated on Joan's bed.
"Did you tell Rove?" Grace asked. Joan crossed her arms, shaking slightly and shook her head.
"No," She sighed. "I couldn't figure out how to say it," Joan finished. Grace nodded. She wanted to retort with 'well you could just go with the truth. Hey Rove, look what you did,' but she restrained herself.
"The doc's office said the earliest opening they have is January 5th. I had them pencil you in," Grace confirmed. Joan nodded slightly.
"Thanks…" She said warily. Grace nodded and took a deep breath.
"What do you say we just take it easy and try not to worry about what's bothering us tonight? We'll hang out, some music, good company," Grace suggested. "We've gotten through tough stuff before, I think we can get ya through this, don't you?"
Joan looked at Grace for a moment. She seemed so sure that Joan felt a little more at ease. She sighed slightly.
"Besides there's nothing we can do until you know for sure so why not just leave the stress off for at least today and tonight. There'll be plenty of time to worry until the 5th, starting tomorrow," She told Joan. Joan nodded. This was true after all.
"You're right," Joan composed herself. "Let's go," She stood.
"I'll meet you down there, I need to change," Grace said. Joan nodded and left and Grace went up to Luke's room to find something to change into.
Once up in Luke's room, Grace dug through her duffle bag and also in Luke's very bottom drawer where she'd been stashing her clothes. She found a faded pair of jeans and changed into them. Upon finding a good enough belt, which had a dark, aged looking, worn golden oval edged belt buckle with a random picture from running mustangs carved into it. Next she changed her shirt so that she had on a beige T-shirt with the blue sketchy outline of a mountain on it. On top of that she pulled a solid dark blue knit sweater with white stitching at the seams on. She pulled her usual fish weight necklace out form under the collar to rest in view on the outside of the shirts. Running a brush through her hair quickly, she looked in the mirror just to check and make sure she looked all right after securing her watch, some bracelets and a couple of silver rings. Quickly she tugged on some boots and tied them. She grabbed her leather jacket off the floor and slid it on before taking a deep breath to compose herself fully and then heading back downstairs."So how long have you two known Grace?" Fleur started a conversation in the awkward silence that seemed to divide right down the middle of the table that Fleur, Aurelia, Adam and Joan were seated at. Both couples were sitting next to each other with Adam and Joan across from Fleur and Aurelia.
"Oh, I've known her since we were sophomores in high school," Joan commented, glad to fill the awkward silence as well. Grace had excused herself moments before after spotting someone she claimed to know walking through the door. "Adam's known her since they were three," Joan nodded. Fleur seemed impressed by this.
"Wow, talk about lifelong friends," She commented.
"Hmmm, what?" Adam seemed to zone in on the conversation now that his name had been mentioned.
Joan shook her head and smiled, "He tends to go off in his own world sometimes," She stated. Fleur and Aurelia laughed at this. "So, are you in Grace's classes?"
"No, actually, I know Grace's roommate, because of Rails, so…" Fleur said. Aurelia was now intent on trying to figure out exactly who it was that Grace was talking to at the bar. The man was tall with short dark hair. He was decked out in jeans and a striped button up shirt with the collar turned down and some Chuck Taylor's. The two seemed to be having a slightly heated conversation, though from the looks on their faces it seemed like they were enjoying their argument, whatever it may be about. Joan followed her line of sight and arched an eyebrow. She nudged Adam's arm as Fleur and Aurelia began to launch a conversation about someone's shoes from the table across from theirs.
"Hmm? What, Jane?" Adam asked, coming out of his reverie. The band was just about done setting up and about half of them were starting to tune their instruments. It was almost 5:30. Adam vaguely wondered where the food they'd ordered almost 45 minutes ago was, but he quickly realized that it was a holiday and, looking around, it was obvious from the mass amount of people already cramming in that the food was going to take longer than usual.
"Do you know who that is?" Joan pointed the man Grace was talking to at the bar. The man had ordered a drink and it seemed like her had offered Grace a drink from the way she shook her head with a wave of her hand. Adam shook his head slowly.
"No, I don't know who it is," He replied to Joan. Joan bit the corner of her lip.
"Do you think I should go over and see? I'm going to head over and see who it is," Joan said.
"Maybe you should just let her be," Adam started to protest. Fleur and Aurelia were paying attention now as Joan stood up.
"That's Collier," Rails spoke up. "He's in one of Grace's classes," She nudged Fleur, "Remember we met him the first time we saw Luke play with the band."
This seemed to jog Fleur's memory as she muttered an "Ohhhh, right, yeah, yeah," while nodding her head.
"I think I'm still going to go over," Joan said. Before she waited for someone else to stop her, she started weaving her way through people to get to where Grace and Collier were standing.
"What are you doing here?" Grace asked. She wasn't speaking as harshly as she normally did to Collier, mostly because she was so shocked that he were there. Collier simply smiled as the bartender gave him the beer her ordered. He tipped it to his lips and swigged back a gulp.
"Want one?" He asked politely, indicating the bottle.
"No," Grace shook her head with a wave of her hand. "Don't avoid the question."
Collier smiled. Grace studied him carefully. Though the small smile was playing on his face there was an inherent sadness in his eyes. She looked at him suspiciously.
"I'm here on business," He said seriously.
"I'm not going to like this am I?" Grace asked him. Collier looked at her, tight lipped, examining her for a moment before he shook his head slowly. Grace looked at him, willing him to continue you. "Well?" She asked after a few moments of opening her eyes wider and staring at him as if this was the universal indicator for 'okay, I'm listening.'
Collier opened his mouth to speak but, catching sight of something over Grace's shoulder caused him to close his mouth again for a moment. Grace turned to see what he was looking at but only saw people talking and the back of someone in a brown jacket with spiked hair walking away. Grace turned back to Collier. Collier shook his head and heaved a sigh.
"It's already been set in motion," Collier said just loud enough that Grace could hear over the buzz and hum of people talking and laughing and drinking. Grace looked perplexed.
"What has?" She asked sounding annoyed. "This cryptic shit is getting old, Graham," She used his last name, or what she knew as his last name, much like she did for most people. Collier's face was getting more worry strewn and tense as the seconds passed.
"The outcome of tonight's events," Collier continued, swallowing hard. He seemed nervous, as if he were a measly worker under the scrutiny of the higher ups. He even seemed to be starting to sweat as he guzzled down a few gulps of the amber liquid in his bottle. "There's little you can, or Joan, can do to stop it from happening," Collier continued. "You need to know that."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Grace almost shouted. "What's going to happen?"
Collier bit down on the inside of his cheek, almost bouncing on his toes. "I want to tell you, Grace, I really do," He replied anxiously.
"So then tell me," Grace demanded. Collier shook his head.
"It's not in the cards tonight, friend," He told her. He put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm going to be around all night into the morning," He looked at her seriously. "He may not be able to intervene…but sometimes were can. If we look for the signs and recognize when something significant is going to happen, and we're just paying attention…well sometimes that's enough to change fate," Collier said. Grace was about to ask him just what the hell he was babbling on about when he set his empty bottle down, turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd of people packed into the club.
"Don't go over there yet, Joan," Someone said from Joan's left. Joan rolled her eyes and sighed, turning to face who she knew was there-Cute Boy God. He offered almost no show of emotion, not even that snide smirk he usually wore.
"If you took a day of rest when creating the world, the universe, whatever, then why can't you take just one Holiday off for rest?" Joan complained, frowning. Cute Boy God almost smiled at this, but remained serious.
"You need to give Collier time to pass along a message to Grace," He replied to her. Joan stared at him now.
"What?" She managed to ask after a moment.
"Collier, he has a message I want him to deliver to Grace," Cute Boy God said again.
"You've been talking to Grace?" Joan asked, confused and starting to become upset. Why didn't Grace tell her this?
"Not exactly," Cute Boy God pointed over to where Collier and Grace were talking. "Collier talks to Grace," He said.
"And you talk to Collier?" Joan asked. God shrugged.
"Sort of," He said.
"So he's what, like me?" Joan asked. God shook his head.
"No, he's different," He told her. "A messenger, really."
"Like an Angel?" Joan asked.
Cute Boy God smiled, his hands in his pockets. "If that helps you understand better, then yes," He nodded. Joan frowned.
"She didn't tell me," She said.
"Don't take it personally," Cute Boy God said. "She's been trying to figure out how too. Well that and she hasn't had much time too, what with all the things going on lately, particularly with you," He said knowingly. Joan looked at God with new emotions of frustration and anger.
"You couldn't have given me a warning about that one now could you?" One of her hands absently went to her stomach.
"I don't recall telling you to copulate with Adam, Joan," God replied. Joan stared, open mouthed at him. "However," god said before Joan could start yelling at him, "I am extremely confident that, whatever the test results may be, you're wholly capable of dealing with your consequences and being quite content in life."
"Are you saying-,"
"I'm not saying anything to the effect of positive or negative for you Joan," God cut across Joan's comment. "You know I don't work that way."
Joan nodded slowly.
"I need you to concentrate tonight. Take in everything you see, let it add up in your mind," God continued.
"So you want me to ruin my holiday…as usual right?" She asked.
"Have fun tonight, Joan," God said. "But be astute. Be on your guard and ready for anything. Happy New Year, Joan," God turned and started walking away with a backwards had wave before she could reply at all.
Joan sighed. She seemed to just be realizing that her hand was on her stomach and hastily snatched it away, putting it at her side. She looked up and noticed that Grace was still talking to Collier. She knew she should wait but she just couldn't anymore. As she reached Grace, however, Collier disappeared into a crowd swarming of people.
"Hey!" Joan called, putting a hand on Grace's shoulder. Grace started, shaking her head as she came out of some thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, Girardi…it's you," Grace replied. She turned to the bartender and ordered a soda. "You want one?" She asked Joan. Joan shook her head, but ordered water instead. Grace got the drinks and handed Joan her water. "Looks like the food came," Grace pointed, leading the way slowly back towards the table.
"Adam told me once he talked to angels," Joan said, causing Grace to cough slightly on the sip of her soda she'd been taking. "I didn't know that you actually did…"
"Uh, about that Girardi," Grace began to explain. Joan shook her head.
"It's all right Grace," Joan shrugged. "I mean look how long it was before I told you."
"How did you find out exactly?" Grace questioned.
"God," Joan replied. Grace offered a slightly shocked face, but seemed to accept this after a moment.
"Something's going down tonight," Grace replied. Joan nodded slowly.
"I was hoping you got more information then me," She said to Grace. Grace shook her head.
"Why is it always so cryptic?" Grace asked. Joan shrugged.
"I guess it wouldn't really be free will if we knew exactly what was going to happen and that we had to change it," She said.
"Well, at least there are two of us to keep look out?" Grace replied as they approached the table. Joan nodded and they both took their seats and dug into their food as File Under X began to play.
Nothing major happened for most of the night, except that they were almost late getting to the Green River in Arcadia. The people here were dressed only slightly nicer from the crowd in Baltimore. Luckily Will, Helen, Lily, Kevin, Glynis and Sweet Lou had gotten to the Green River early enough to slide three tables with four chairs each together in the corner close to the stage, by the edge of what looked like a dance floor. Adam, Joan, Grace, Fleur and Aurelia greeted the others as they joined the table.
The night progressed easily into nine o'clock, past ten o'clock and up to eleven o'clock with nothing too drastic happening. There was a lot of dancing. Joan had been shocked at how easily Grace had been coaxed into dancing. This time, however, it wasn't Collier who'd convinced her. Grace was standing, getting ready to pretend she had to head to the bathroom so she wouldn't have to dance when Kevin wheeled into her, causing her to crash into his lap and rolled onto the dance floor behind Lily before Grace could argue. Once she was out there, she'd caught Luke's eye and she decided she give in.
At 11:30, Luke announced that they were going to play one more song and then break until just after midnight so they could celebrate with everyone. The crowd, so far, had loved the band and were enthusiastically clapping and cheering them. Grace couldn't help but note that Luke was doing a good job of playing the part of the rock star up on the small elevated stage. His hair was wet with sweat and matted to his forehead, and his shirt was retaining the water around his collar and under his arms and even down his back under the hot lights that were dancing to the beat of the music as they played.
"This next song is one of the only songs tonight we're going to play for you that's not a cover song," Charlie announced in his usual excited voice. "But I'll let Luke fill you in!"
Grace glanced at Luke with a slight smirk. He knew what she was thinking. She was prepared for a song about atoms and molecules. He grinned widely at her. She was definitely going to be surprised by this one.
"This is the first song I've ever written on my own," He stated nervously. Kevin, Joan and Helen let out a whoop and clapped loudly, causing Luke to laugh into the microphone as he tuned a string of his guitar quickly. He looked at Grace. "It's called 'Fall in Like,' and uh, well, I hope you like it," He said before winking at her. Grace clapped along with the crowd as the song began. It was a fast song and was easy enough to dance too while still sounding mellow, but once the lyrics started, Grace found herself immobilized and staring, shocked at Luke as he watched her and sung, grinning the whole time.
My reputation precedes me, she says, as I press on
I've worked hard to build my walls, to block you out
She says she's anti-everything and anything I've got,
And I ask what she cares, what other people think,
She says she's not gonna be courted by some rocket-head geek,
What if it got around, that you were giving me things?
So I ask, so you're never gonna fall in love?
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
Why should I waste my time?
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
With your hair, your face, your eyes
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
So why does she keep, moving closer to me?
She said, she said
Joan and Adam tried not to laugh as they watched grace for her reaction while the others danced. Kevin had retreated back to the pushed together tables to make sure no one took their seats. Glynis was vaguely aware of what the song was about, but she kept dancing with Sweet Lou, smiling the whole time. Grace shook her head absently. She couldn't believe this was happening. She felt like she was in a bad movie. She smiled as she shook her head at Luke who was having a ball watching her reaction as he stomped the beat out with his left leg and kept playing and singing while Kit, Charlie and Clayton sung background vocals and played their instruments along with Ajax, who was dancing as his played his bass.
I try to explain, love is irrational-anesthetic going off in your brain
You forget all reason, just so the act of procreation can occur
She interrupts as I press on about natural imbalance, and the chemical reaction
And that's when it happens…
She says she's not gonna be courted by some rocket-head geek,
What if it got around, that you were giving me things?
So I ask, so you're never gonna fall in love?
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
Why should I waste my time?
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
With your hair, your face, your eyes
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
So why does she keep, moving closer to me?
She said, She said
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
Why should I waste my time?
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
With your hair, your face, your eyes
She said I'm never even gonna fall in like
So why does she touch her lips to mine?
Everything about her says she's never gonna fall in like
As she whispers in low, I love you, I hope you know.
Grace was a bright shade of pink in the cheeks as she slowly joined in applauding as the song ended. She tried not to let it show but a smile crept across her face. Joan, Adam, Glynis and even Helen commented as they passed her but Grace couldn't hear them. She was still thinking of the lyrics, and of the conversation and kiss that started her and Luke's relationship. Sure it was technically their second ever kiss, but that kiss hadn't been provoked by the useless insults of Friedman F. Friedman.
Charlie, Kit, Ajax and Clayton set their things down and found an empty table to slide over to the Girardi table and joined them, digging into the bar food and drinks that Will and Kevin had ordered for the band for the end of their set/break, knowing they'd be hungry. Grace waited and Luke hopped down from the stage after setting his guitar down. He wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand, still grinning.
"How's that for original?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"Oh, you think that was good, do you?" She asked. Luke's face fell at the idea that she might not have liked the song. Grace couldn't hold back anymore and she snickered at him. "I had you there," She smiled as he pulled her to him. Grace turned her head when she heard a scathing remark from a group of girls off to her right that had been ogling Luke for the whole night. If only they knew the scientist geek underneath that rock star façade, Grace thought to herself with a smile, letting her arms circled themselves around Luke's neck. She turned back to face him, expecting that he'd spotted the girls as well, to find he was intently watching her. Rather than asked him what he was staring for, she leaned up and kissed him, making sure not to linger too long, since his mother was in the close vicinity. "That was an excellent surprise," She nodded. "Thank you," She smiled. Luke grinned at her. "Come on, your groupies are freaking me out," Grace turned and, keeping a hold of his hand (to Luke's surprise), she lead him back over to the table where they began to joke and eat with everyone else as Helen, Will, Joan, Lily, Kevin and the other complimented Luke on his performance and his last song.
At midnight the whole bar counted down and cheered loudly, exchanging kisses with their significant others. It was afterwards, as the cheering and noise from noisemakers and those annoying horns people use raged on, that Graced noticed Collier was back. She noticed he was standing nervously behind another familiar figure.
"Girardi," Grace said loudly, close to Joan's ear. Joan looked at Grace and Grace pointed. There, standing amongst the crowd of loud, drunken, exuberant people was Friedman. His shaved head was noticeable among the girls to his right and the two couples to his left, as well as the man standing behind him. Joan recognized him as the man that had been talking to Grace earlier-Collier, she thought his name was. Friedman spotted them and began to weave his way over and Grace tensed.
"Oh, come on Grace, we don't have to be on guard against Friedman," Joan said dismissively although there was strange tingling creepy up the back of her neck. Grace shook her head.
"This isn't good," She said to Joan. Friedman grabbed onto Grace's arm, and she was so startled as she turned to look at him that she'd almost spun around and punched him.
"Spazoid-," Grace began to berate him but he interrupted her. A wild look flashed through his eyes as he was about to speak.
"You have to-,"
"Friedman?" Luke interrupted them. He smiled and clapped Friedman in the shoulder, seeming not to notice the flinch Friedman gave off as Joan and Grace had. The two women exchanged glances. "What's going on? You look much better with a shaved head, man," Luke continued. Friedman looked at Luke blankly and stared for a minute. Luke looked at him suspiciously. Glynis was nearby and seemed to notice something was up.
"Luke can Louis and I ask you a question?" She interjected, pulling Luke away. Friedman blinked and swallowed, glancing around the club anxiously.
"Dude, are you high?" Grace questioned. Friedman blinked at her. He was sweating. Joan was sure but it looked like there was blood on the back of his neck by the shoulder that Luke had clapped his hand on. It was rising form his collar and going up his neck somewhat. Joan was squinting at it when Friedman spoke again.
"I didn't think it was going to be this way," He said honestly. "I didn't know he was going to take it this far," He was on the verge of tears, clearly terrified.
"Think who was going to take what too far?" Joan asked. Grace stared at Friedman, who was still clinging to Grace's arm. Her eyes widened as she tried to put two and two together.
"Hunter…" She said barely above a whisper, looking across the room to Collier. Collier gave a curt nod. Next to Collier stood a familiar man that Grace had seen Joan talk to often. Grace knew now that it was God. Cute Boy God had a firm hand on Collier's shoulder. It looked like Collier was ready to run after Friedman at any moment. Joan looked at Grace.
"What?" She asked.
"You're talking about Ryan Hunter, aren't you?" Grace demanded of Friedman. A lone tear trickled from his eye. He nodded. Grace whipped her arm free and grabbed Friedman forcefully by the biceps, not surprised that the loud crowd was paying no attention as they'd all launched into a deafening rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
"What did you do Friedman?" Grace asked harshly, shaking him a bit.
"I tried to get out of it, but it was too late. If I didn't help he said he'd kill me since I knew too much," Friedman continued. He looked at them as if realizing he had something more important to tell them and he began to speak. "I got him to change it though!" He stated triumphantly. "You can't, can't, can't, start that car," He said sternly. "Whatever you do, don't turn the ignition."
"What car?" Joan asked. "Friedman, what car?" She asked again after he didn't answer. He looked like he was ready to collapse.
"He's not trying to get to you yet…" Friedman began to ramble tiredly. "He wants to take your families out first…" He continued. "Don't start the car."
"What car?" Grace yelled, shaking him. Before they could get an answer out of him, however, Friedman pulled free of Grace's grasp and stumbled away. Grace and Joan tried to recapture him but they lost sight of him in the mass of swaying bodies. Grace and Joan looked at each other wide eyed.
"What do we do?" Grace asked, panicked.
"Well we know it's not the van," Joan said, shaking her hands out nervously.
"What's going on?" Adam asked as he, Luke and Glynis joined Grace and Joan. Grace quickly recounted what had just happened. The other stared at her and Joan.
"Well, what do we do?" Glynis asked nervously.
"Dude, we gotta get back up there!" Charlie called to Luke. Grace turned to Luke.
"You go back up and act like everything's okay. We'll take care of everything else," She assured him.
"Grace…" Luke began to say.
"Go," Grace gave him a slight shove. Luke obeyed obediently. As the band started to play he kept track of everyone of his family and friends, anxiously.
"Mom and Dad, Kevin and Lily came in the same car," Joan said.
"We took the bus," Glynis spoke up.
"And we came in the van," Joan continued wit ha nod. She looked at Grace. Their minds seemed to be traveling on the same wavelength because they both glanced at Will, Helen, Kevin and Lily.
"If he's not coming for us, he's coming for them," Grace spoke up. Joan nodded nervously.
"Oh, but your parents are parked in that valet lot two blocks down," Glynis told them. Joan and Grace looked at her. She nodded. "We ran into them as they were coming out of it." She assured. "There was truck that almost ran into Kevin pulling in as they were coming out, actually," She stated.
"Do we tell them now?" Grace asked, looking over at the remaining Girardi clan who were watching Luke's band perform excitedly.
"Tell them at the end of the night when there are less people, Joan," Cute Boy God said as he approached. Adam, Grace, and Glynis looked at him. He'd never actually spoken in their presence to Joan. Usually it was out of earshot, or they unknowingly had talked to Him. But for God to speak to Joan in a body they were familiar with clearly, freaked them out.
"But, shouldn't they know now? Shouldn't we get out of here?" Joan asked, scared.
"Of course it's your choice, but I think you should tell them at the end of the night," Cute Boy God said, rather sternly. Collier joined God at his side, standing stiffly upright. Clearly he wanted to do more then he was currently allowed to do. "When it is the end of the night, and people have cleared out, tell your father," God instructed. He looked around at all of them and then turned to leave, with a backwards wave. Collier gave a last look to Grace before following, leaving the group to exchange nervous, terrified glances.
When 2 a.m. rolled around, the bands had packed up their equipment and were loading into the van. Everyone was outside, their breath fogging up the space in front of them in the bitter cold night.
"Dad, you can't get into your car," Joan said to her father. Will looked at her strangely. Now everyone was paying attention.
"Why not, honey?" He asked giving her a strange look. Grace was standing to Joan's right and Adam to Joan's left, Glynis and Luke were right behind them.
"Ryan's done something to the car," Joan said.
"You should probably get the bomb squad down here actually," Grace spoke up logically.
"What are you girls talking about?" Helen asked, clearly shocked. Luckily the only ones who were in on this conversation were the Girardi family, Grace, Glynis and Adam.
"This is no time for a serious joke like that, Joan," Will said, clearly upset at what Joan was insinuating.
"Dad, you have to trust me, I've been right about Ryan before right?" Joan asked. Will seemed to be considering this.
"What makes you think Ryan Hunter is stupid enough to blow up Dad's car?" Kevin asked.
"Friedman was in on it, did you see him talking to us inside?" Grace spoke up.
"Yeah, I saw him talking to you. I didn't know what about though," Luke said. "I wasn't there when he was speaking," He confessed.
"Look, Dad would you rather be safe and me be wrong then to get in the car and kill not only you and mom but Caleb's parents as well?" Joan stated boldly. Will considered this carefully, knowing what the obvious answer was. Helen gripped Will's arm tighter.
"Why don't we do what they suggest, Will? Ryan Hunter hasn't been caught yet, there's a chance they're right isn't there?" Helen said.
"Well, yes there is-," Will began.
"Well then isn't even a small chance of that enough to go with Joan's instincts?" Helen asked. She glanced at Joan and something in her eyes alerted Joan to the idea that maybe her mom knew something was up. She nodded. Will pulled out his cell phone promptly and started dialing.
"Is there enough room in that van for everyone?" He asked. Luke looked around.
"No, probably not," He frowned as he answered his father.
"Glynis, Kevin and Lily can go in with them. The rest of us, Me, Grace, Luke and Jane can get the bus back," Adam suggested.
"No," Will replied. "Kevin, Lily, Glynis, you go in the van with the other. You'll wait for a police escort. The rest of you will go home in the squad cars. They'll detail the house before they let you in," He barked off the order. Once someone answered his call he barked some more orders as Grace, Joan and Luke filled everyone else in on basically what was going on. Will headed for the parking lot to close it down and await police arrival.
Once finally back at the Girardi house every crowded in the living room, sitting on the couch, loveseat, recliner and the floor, waiting for Will to return. A cruiser had gone and retrieved Caleb, relieving Lily and Kevin's babysitter and brought him to the house were everyone was.
Will didn't return until almost 4am. By then everyone except for Grace, Luke, Adam, Joan, Kevin, Lily and Helen had fallen asleep. Those that were awake were crowded around the dining room table, huddled close. There were two unmarked cars positioned strategically outside of the Girardi house, and according to Will cars had been sent to both Grace and Adam's houses to keep watch.
Ryan had left his truck parked next to Will's car, wired itself with explosives, set to go off when the bomb attached to the underside of Will's car exploded. The parking lot attendants offered slight descriptions of the truck's owner and officers were going over the lot's security cameras for a usable picture of Ryan to show on the five o'clock news.
Will instructed everyone to go to sleep, knowing full well that none of them would. Instead everyone squeezed back into the living room among the others who were sleeping. They turned on the TV quietly, waiting for the news to come on anxiously, huddled together.
A/N: Before you bite my head off the reason I didn't answer the Positive/Negative question in this chapter is because I still haven't completely decided what to do yet. So far in your reviews I think 4 or 5 have said make it positive, 3 or 4 have said negative and the rest didn't have a positive or negative response. I'm still debating! Be patient! Sorry for such a long time between chapters. I've had trouble working this chapter. The end is kind lame, I know but, bear with me; I'm allowed to have a couple of lame moments, damnit!
Special aside: The song lyrics in this chapter which Luke sings were written by my, inspired by the scene in 'Silence' when Luke is walking Grace home.
Chapter title from "Crazy Life" by Toad The Wet Sprocket.
Moving on…now that I've finished this chapter finally and I've gotten my much earned ice cream (which I've been dying for, for like a week), it's time to write you some responses!
Responses: coveredinrain16 – Sorry dude, didn't mean to give you a heart attack with that cliffhanger there! Breathe! It's okay! Thanks for your vote on the preg issue! Interesting insight about Adam and Joan getting closer if she was pregnant…what if the opposite happened? As always read on wit you bad self!
American Idiot – One review is better than none at all. Good to know you're reading though! And thanks for your vote on the preg issue! I think sometimes people like that storyline with Joan because they want to know if the kid(s) will have the same no 'power' per say but ability that Joan has, ya know?
ProcrastinationQueen – A-ha! You've caught the hints and clues! Excellent! I was hoping someone was going to comment on that! Well done! T.Y. about the chappie title! I love that song. It was appropriate I thought. Mmm, maybe about the surprise gig….maybe not though. Don't be surprised if the answer to that isn't in this chapter though…hint, hint. The G/J interaction was actually based off of the way they interacted in 'The Gift' somewhat because I thought that was a truly softer side of Grace in that episode. Sorry for leaving you hang so long!
Spotsndots – I don't think I've seen the Friends or That 70s show episode with the preg. scare, I usually only catch the same 5 reruns of each show over and over again. However those are some good ideas you've got there, I may need to steal them! Ah, well That Summer is just a precursor to this story. This one is twice as long as the first story. Good luck with the driving lessons! I'm glad you like the story and you think this is one of the best Joan characters. That's ironic since I'm a total G/L freak so I have to make a note to myself not to leave J/A out. Don't let the suspense kill you too badly!
Anti-Like-Grace – Thanks for the vote on the preg issue and the insight! I agree that I'm not sure Joan's ready to be a mom. I still haven't decided what to do yet. Good advice though, thanks! Hahahaha, sorry, but I love giving you people Ryan suspense!
Sayxanything – Did I mention that Say Anything is an excellent movie? Ok, well then, moving on. Thanks for the kudos! May the yummy goodness of L/G action live on forever! I'm sorry I didn't get a chapter up for you before you left! I'm sorry! I hope this chapter was good enough to make up for that! (Was it?)
Kool-Wolf – Yo, foe chillax yourself! I'm sorry you hate fics where that happens. The verdict is still out my loathsome adversary, on the preg issue though. I call everyone dude as well, but when it's prefaced with 'creepy' it sounds like a child molester dude. Which creeps me out. Punk of scenery is the same thing as brat of nature. How was your other sister's house? I wish I had more than one sibling sometimes, not that I don't like my brother. It would just be fun to have more. Offensively Unique Brat…hmmm I could get used to that…maybe. I hate your guts as well and I hope you sfglkgjfhgjkf as well! P.S. – I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET! CHILLAX YOURSELF!
Audrey – Liked the cliffhanger eh? The ending of this chapter was a little lame I know, I'm sorry. I hope the rest was enough to make up for it and to feed your addiction though! I'll explain more fully the Friedman thing in Chapter 14, just FYI. Update Anarchy…cause you love me!
Sam – Hey yo, thanks for the vote/veto on the preg issue. Still haven't decided what to do. It's hard to dig myself out of this cliché hole now that I've created it, but I figured everyone was expecting the G/L preg issue because everything bad was happening to Grace. I'm trying not to make it cliché, and here's to hoping I won't! Did I get the blurry-eyed-without-glasses-in-the-morning bit right, I don't have glasses or contacts so I had to speculate and assume! I thought the gift part got a little cheesy…but the hopeless romantic I am came shining through for the G/L. And hey! Grace IS spending a lot of time with the geekmeister! Of course he's gonna rub off on her, like she does on him! )
Jane And Adam – I had to leave it there! It made sense in my head to leave it there! I'm sorry I didn't get an update up in time for your leaving but I did for your return? )
MDM79 – (Ch. 11 & 12 reply), I love Sweet Lou; I had to bring him to Arcadia at least once! Dude…vintage rock star clothes rock! Thanks for the kudos on Grace's honesty with her mom! Yes! R, P, S is the best game ever! Especially when fighting to hog a baby! Gotta have the geode tie-in! Thanks for the vote/veto of the preg issue! I think I agree that she's not ready but I haven't decided what to do yet!
Tiffany – Hey yo, excellent update FYI. Why was your trip boring? Thanks for the vote on the preg issue, dude! Not sure what I'm gonna do yet. In the first story I think I briefly explained that Grace found out Ryan was her brother. Don't kill anyone off? Hmmm…I'll get back to you on that…! No prob about passing the message on! P.S. – update soon, yo!
Kaya1 – Welcome aboard! Thanks for the kudos! How was this chapter?
LoneTread – Thanks for the kudos dude! Goosebumps huh? That means I did my job! I copy and paste the beginning of each chapter, that way I assure my apology is up by where the disclaimer would be/is. I write this at night usually when my insomnia is acting up which is why there's so many silly errors in it. At some point I'll go and fix them. I want to sincerely thank you for offering to proofread this though! I'm going to have to politely decline for two reasons: 1. Usually (though this week was awful) I have a big turn around and post a chapter every 2-3 days, so since the chapters are long as well it could take a long while proofreading. 2. Having a proofreader means there's one fan who gets privy to the chapters and for some reason I've always felt that was unfair. I hope my reasoning didn't offend you I just want you to know that I'm highly appreciative and for you to have a full reasoning of why I'm saying no thank you!
Toni – Welcome aboard! I was only kind of into JoA during its two year run because school kept me too busy to consistently watch it so I got a lot of reruns and such. I've only gotten to partially watch season 2, and have had to settle with reading all the scripts for the season 2 episodes I missed for now. It took me a second to realize that TPTB meant the powers that be lol! I'm glad you like it and I hope this chapter wasn't a let down!
Phew…a lot of people this week! Sorry for the long delay again everyone! Much love to every one but Kool-Wolf, in which case, loathe!
P.S. – In one of the cast commentaries on season one, Jason Ritter, Amber Tamblyn and Michael Welch said since Friedman never had anything but the name Friedman that they dubbed him Friedman F. Friedman, and that's why I used that!