Disclaimer: 'Nough said
A/N: Sorry for any typos, feel free to let me
know about them.
Chapter 5 – Been Far Away For Far Too Long
August 21st, 2012 Tuesday, 2:22am
A couple of hours after finally winning the argument over who should sleep in the bed, Grace stretched out on the chaise lounge part of the couch in Luke's room. She had a comfy over-sized sweatshirt blanket thrown over her, which was a good thing because the youngest of the Girardi's kept their central air on at near sub-zero temperatures. Grace hugged the blanket to her. The TV was still on, so she picked up the nearby remote, muted the TV and pushed play.
She had last talked to Stone at 8pm, before he had to go to sleep, in hushed whispers while changing into the clothes Luke had given her in the bathroom. He had begged her to come home again, claiming he'd had another bad dream; he couldn't remember what the dream was about, but he knew it was bad because it made his stomach feel 'wonky.' Grace sighed as she watched the video. She didn't recognize herself as the woman on the screen.
She had gone and left the life she was just starting to like behind in Arcadia to trade it in for this new life filled with different friends-who liked the person she was now and never knew or probably hadn't even wanted to know about the person she was before-and play dates, work, structure, deadlines and everything she had despised and hated in what she considered her past life. How had she managed to lose herself? Easy, Polk, you ran away and things got away from you…you sacrificed. That's it-sacrifice.
"I want to meet him,"
Grace jumped nearly a foot off of the chaise lounge with a gasp before she landed among her blanket again. Luke smirked slightly as she covered her heart with her hand and looked at him. He was leaning against the back of the couch with his hands folded along its back.
"Sorry…I couldn't sleep either," He offered a sheepish shrug.
"We already discussed that," Grace looked back at the screen, taking the mute off now that she knew Luke was awake. Luke walked around the couch and lay down so his head was near Grace's knee. His lanky body stretched along the couch and his legs swung over the armrest. "It's not fair to him to just spring you on him."
"But he knows who I am," Luke countered.
"He knows your picture. And he knows that he doesn't know you because you live in a different city. And he asks about you all the time. But I can't just show up at home with you in tow. It'd freak him out," Grace reasoned.
Luke stared at the screen. "I deserve to at least meet him," He said faintly.
"I didn't say you wouldn't meet him," Grace sounded slightly alarmed. "I just need some time to talk to him and explain more."
Luke nodded, still looking at the screen. The DVD ended and Luke reached out, stopping Grace from turning the TV off so he could push play again and restart the video. They sat in silence until it was halfway through again.
"I did come back," Grace let the phrase hang only for a second between them. "Once."
Luke angled his head to glance at Grace. This time she was the one looking at the screen. "You did?"
Grace nodded as she turned her attention to an imaginary stray thread on the blanket by her knee after pulling her legs in and crossing them.
"I wanted to see," She cleared her throat. "I wanted to see if, uh, everyone was okay." Luke could see through the lie. She came back to see him. "He was with me," Grace was looking at the screen again. "It wasn't very long after he was born, just a couple of months," She cleared her throat. "Your parents were having a barbecue. I never got out of the car. I was too afraid of what would happen."
"You thought we'd freak on you?" Luke asked.
"No," Grace shook her head, "I thought you wouldn't…"
Luke turned his eyes to hers. He didn't know what the right words were. He longed to turn time back so he could fix what he'd done; maybe he could have kept Grace there and he'd have been able to avoid all of this-and he wouldn't have missed his son's life so far. He closed his eyes and turned his head. When he opened them he stared up at the ceiling.
"The night you left, I fought with Joan," He rattled on absently. "I was livid that she knew you were leaving and she didn't tell me. I didn't speak to her for...almost 4 months."
Grace cringed. Luke and Joan may have always fought wildly but if there was one thing to be said about them it was that when one teetered on the edge close to falling, the other wasn't far behind-diving to catch whichever was cascading towards the bottom.
"Adam didn't utter more than maybe 15 words until well past December," Luke continued. "He was doing all right though…until his dad-,"
"He told me," Grace closed her eyes tightly.
When Grace had been six, she had gone over to Adam's house and found Adam and some other boys from his neighborhood playing roller hockey. Grace had begged to join in despite the fact that she'd had no roller skates. When they finally let her play, everyone but Adam had ganged up on her, resulting in a scraped knee and a bloody lip. Adam had screamed at them and the next thing Grace knew Carl Rove came swooping in. He had scooped Grace up easily in his arms and brought her inside before even Adam had had a chance to react. He brought her into the Rove kitchen and sat her on the counter next to the sink where he made quick work of cleaning her knee and her face.
"Now you listen to me and you listen good," He had leaned on his elbows on the edge of the counter so his face was level with Grace's, "If anybody ever does anything like that do you again I want you to go crazy. You kick, bite, claw and swing at them until they're so frightened they nearly pee their pants and they won't ever even think of pulling one over on you again. Got it?"
Grace had nodded quickly. Carl had simply smiled at her and ruffled up her hair. "That a girl," He'd winked then hooked his hands under her arms and put her back on the floor. "We'll make a fighter out of you yet. Go on, get back out there and teach them a lesson they'll never forget."
"Okay," Grace had started to head back out through the house.
"And don't you forget, Grace, don't ever give up or stop until you're good and protected." Carl had called after her.
Grace had gone back outside, to Adam's astonishment, where they had abandoned roller hockey for tackle football on a lawn across the street. Some of the bigger boys taunted her, asking her if she was back for more. Adam said they could play another game but Grace said no; she was as good as any boy-better even. She proceeded to tackle every one of the boys who had hurt her, causing four of them to go home crying.
"You saw Adam?" Luke broke Grace's thoughts.
"He bumped into me on Sunday night," Grace replied simply. Luke nodded. "He doesn't hate me as much as your sister does, surprisingly."
"Joan's…just being protective," Luke tried to defend his sister.
"I wish she'd let me explain. Not that I even offered you a good explanation," Grace frowned.
"She's still processing. Give her time," Luke assured. "She was the one who kept it together the most. Adam and I were useless. I was giving her the silent treatment. She was trying to get through to Adam. I think she may have saved us both," Luke snickered after a pause. "With those stupid…weird things she kept doing. She kept dragging us into them. She still does. I dunno," Luke's smirk faded. "I know she saved me though. Especially in the last two years."
"What happened?" Grace inquired.
"Things got…murky," Luke stated. He didn't go any further and Grace detected she should just leave it at that. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair.
"God I screwed up so much. I don't," She groaned angrily at herself and rested her chin harshly into her palms. "I don't know how to fix all of this-if that's even possible."
"Hey," Luke flipped so he was on his stomach and propped himself up on his elbows. He reached a hand out and pulled a hand free so he could hold onto it. "Nothing is unsalvageable." He smiled slightly. "You came back didn't you? You're trying to mend things, aren't you? That's got to count for something."
"Does it?" Grace wondered aloud. "Is that really enough to fix all that extensive damage?"
"Maybe you should have a little more faith in the people that love you," Luke suggested.
Grace snorted. "And after all this time who would that be?"
"Me…Adam…Joan," Luke looked at Grace. "My parents…your parents,"
Grace rolled her eyes. "You had me until that last part," She leaned back and stretched her legs out. Luke retained her hand as she put her head back. "My dad wants less to do with me than Joan."
"I'm sorry," Luke said sincerely. "I know you hate me for what I did-,"
"Just…stop right there," Grace lifted her head. "You were right and you know it, okay? And I never hated you for anything. I just…I freaked out. You have more reason to hate me then I ever had to hate you. And if my father wants to despise me and disown me for exposing my mom as an alcoholic to the world and crushing his life of denial, well then there's nothing I can do to stop him."
Luke nodded slowly. "Does he know?"
"Does he know what?" Grace replied.
"About Stone," Luke stated simply.
Grace nodded, "But not until the other day."
Luke scrunched up his forehead. "And he still acted awful?"
Grace snorted and laughed derisively, putting her head back dramatically. "He acted like I was there to beg for money. He didn't even care when I told him."
Luke frowned. The silence returned, but only lasted for a few minutes. Grace moved so she was half-lying, half-sitting on the chaise lounge and Luke rolled onto his back again, putting his hands under his head. Both stared off into the darkness of the room. Skillet lifted his head, rattling his collar. He seemed to realize he was alone on Luke's bed and his nails tapped across the hardwood floor as he walked over and laid on the piece of carpet that spread from under the coffee table to under the couch, in front of Luke. There, he put his head back down and went to sleep.
"Tell me more about him?" Luke finally broke the silence.
"Like what?" Grace asked.
"Anything," Luke's voice was low but audible. "Everything."
"Well…" Grace thought about this for a moment. "He despises Kool and the Gang. He watches the discovery channel because he thinks cartoons are boring. He will not eat pizza unless there's enough garlic to kill a thousand vampires on it. He knows the periodic table backwards and forwards but hasn't learned to even write yet. He starts preschool in less than a month. He takes pride in knowing bigger words than I know, which isn't extremely hard I suppose but very impressive for a five year old. In the video, the last shot at his birthday where he says hi to you, that came out of left field. I didn't say I was video taping to send to you or anything. He just wanted to say hi, in case you ever saw it so you knew," Grace felt her smile wane. "He's nothing like me, Luke. I'm pretty sure that's a good thing, though."
"I doubt that he's nothing like you," Luke began to argue, "And how can you say that? You shouldn't deprecate yourself like that you know."
"Oh please, name one good characteristic about me," Grace challenged.
"I can name more than one," Luke said easily. "You're determined not to fail; no matter how much you stumble and fall you always find away to pick yourself up and keep going. When you figure out something wrong is going on-even if it's something you're doing-you set out to change it and don't let it go until you do. You have always had a clear sense of what you thought was right and even if you fought tooth and nail to prove your point after you knew you were wrong, you weren't too proud to rethink the world and maybe a gray area you had missed. You're confident, despite the shit hand you were dealt halfway through the game. At the same time, you're leery. You didn't want the world to sneak up and bite you in the ass when you weren't looking, so that you always had a clear, easy get away from an attack."
"Oh, yeah, great. My good quality is running away from things-,"
"No," Luke interrupted him. "Self preservation. There's a difference."
"Whatever you want to call it, it's just another term for running away." Grace countered.
"You're not the only one who runs away from things Grace," Luke stated.
"And what have you run away from, ever?" Grace asked.
"You."
Grace stared down at Luke, perplexed. "What?" She asked.
"I knew where you were," Luke answered. "Your magazine wrote an article on my team."
"I know…I didn't read it," Grace cleared her throat.
"I was in your office building," Luke admitted. "Shortly before it was printed. I knew you wrote for the magazine. I've been reading your articles-I read your book too. Anyway, I saw your name and your office number. I got so far as to pushing the floor button in the elevator before I lost my nerve and got off on the floor below yours. I took the stairs down and left."
"I really am sorry Luke, if I could change this and go back…I would've gotten out of the car," She let the sentence hang over them.
"I know," Luke replied after a few moments.
"Just give me a few days Luke. By the end of the week, you can meet him," Grace finally promised.
"Okay," Luke said softly. The silence returned then, leaving both of them to their own thoughts in the dark.
August 21st, 2012, Tuesday, 6:03am
Though she'd only fallen asleep sometime around five in the morning, Grace was programmed to be up with the sun regardless. So when the offensively blinding rays began to seep through Luke's Venetian blinds, Grace squinted awake and rubbed her eyes. Luke was asleep, still on his back along the couch with his legs hanging over the armrest. His right arm was scrunched up and resting on his stomach and his left arm was down on Skillet's stomach as Skillet slept happily on the floor against the couch.
Grace stretched her stiff muscles, grimacing only when her right calf muscle tightened and cramped. She bit her lip to keep from expelling a cry of pain as she tried to unlock her ankle and rub the soreness out of her cramped calf. When she finally was able to move, Grace climbed quietly to her feet. She made her way to the bathroom and changed back into her dress, despite the comfort of Luke's sweatpants and T-shirt, before bringing herself down the stairs. She moved carefully, hoping not to wake Joan up.
Grace reached the bottom of the stairs and realized that her coat was in the kitchen. She figured that was okay though, because she could leave a note for Luke on the dry erase board she'd seen on the fridge. She tiptoed into the kitchen; glad she'd waited to put her shoes on. She grabbed the black marker and pulled the cap off. She'd gotten as far as writing Luke's name before she was startled out of her skin.
"Is that how you play it now, Grace?" Joan asked from the kitchen table behind Grace. "Reel them in, spend the night and sneak out?"
Grace turned around, nearly dropping the marker. Joan was sitting at the table with her arms crossed. "You scared the crap out of me." She said, at a loss.
"Imagine my surprise to come down for coffee this morning," Joan stood and brought her mug to the sink, dumped it and put it in the dishwasher before facing Grace and crossing her arms again. "And finding that your belongings are still here. To realize that my brother has fallen for you all over again after you just destroyed his heart is one thing. But to play him like this, Grace, so you can get your kicks leaving him again is low."
"Look, Girardi," Grace began. "I understand you're pissed. You have every right to be, I'm not trying to change that-,"
"Save it," Joan said shortly. "Leave Luke your stupid goodbye message and get out of his life again." Joan walked out of the kitchen towards the steps. She turned around and glanced at Grace. "Don't come back next time. I don't think Luke would live through it." She said before grabbing a set of keys and leaving the house in her pajama bottoms and top and a pair of slippers.
Grace inhaled deeply. She sighed and mechanically left Luke a message with her cell phone number on it and instructions to call her during his lunch break. Afterwards she gathered her coat and made sure her hair looked at least somewhat tame before leaving Luke's house with one last glance at it behind her.
The sun hung low in the sky still as Grace walked, keeping the light breeze that filtered through trees and buildings cold enough to make Grace hug her coat shut around her.
It wasn't until she had finally returned to her hotel room almost 96 minutes later that the words mulling in her head struck her painfully. I know she saved me though. Especially in the last two years. Don't come back next time. I don't think Luke would live through it. Things got…murky. Murky? What did that mean anyway? Grace's mind was too tired to figure it out. She dropped herself down onto her bed and pulled the covers over herself succumbing to her mind numbing exhaustion.
Joan rapped fiercely on the door in front of her, interchanging knocking with doorbell ringing until finally, she heard the lock unclick. Seconds later the door swung open and Adam appeared, rubbing his eyes.
"Jane? What's going on? What time is it?" Adam asked through a yawn. Joan pushed through him as she started talking a mile a minute leaving Adam to shut the door and follow her.
"You will never guess who's back in town. Grace of all people in the world is back in town. Can you believe that? She actually came back!" Joan raged as Adam flopped down onto the middle of his couch, yawning and letting his tired eyes follow Joan while she paced feverishly back and forth on the other side of his coffee table.
"Yeah, I know she is-," Adam tried to mutter but Joan cut him off, ignoring his words.
"And not only that but right away my brother just welcomes her with open arms after what she did! After everything he went through when he needed her more than he needed any of us and he just welcomes her back and lets her spend the night with him! Can you believe that?"
"She spent the night?" Adam was confused.
"Yes! Keep up, Adam!" Joan's arms waved fluidly as she kept venting. "And then I go down for my coffee this morning and I find this on the kitchen table!" Joan whipped out a picture and threw it in Adam's direction. Adam jumped and groaned when the corner of the picture gave him a paper cut. He looked at the picture, surprised to see the infant version of Stone staring back at him. "She has a baby and comes back and Luke stills falls for her!"
"Uhm, Jane," Adam swallowed nervously.
"She probably fed him some stupid sob story and Luke fell right for it. He has this sick obsession with saving her. He played too many video games, that's the problem. Now he thinks he's some kind of knight in shining armor, swooping in to pick up the pieces-,"
"Jane…" Adam tried again.
"And he'd going to wind up a step dad to some random crack baby Grace had when she ran away and joined the circus for all we know. Okay look I know she didn't join the circus as well as you do but I'm angry damnit! How could she do this to Luke again? I mean doesn't she have one decent moral fiber left in her being? I thought she had strong beliefs about right and fundamentally wrong? I feel like I'm being really hard on her but after everything that Luke went through, especially not long ago, I don't think he could take her leaving again. And who did she have a baby with anyway? How could Luke just not have a problem with that? Is she going to like bring this kid to our house? Is the kid somewhere in the city too? Like with her parents? How could she just spring this on us-,"
"JANE!" Adam stood up swiftly as he yelled loudly. Joan stopped and stared at Adam in shock. He promised Grace he wouldn't tell her secret, but that didn't mean he couldn't point Joan in the right direction. He slowly held the picture out to her. "You need to go home and talk to Grace about this. There are a few things you don't understand."
Joan smirked and scoffed. She crossed her arms after she put the picture away. "She already left. What could she possibly have to explain? She had a kid and she's looking for pity."
"No…" Adam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was hard to bite his tongue and not just tell her. "Jane, you just have to trust me. Go home, and talk to Luke then. He'll explain what you don't understand. You've only got part of the story."
"What could the other 'part' of the story be?" Joan's face fell. "You don't supposed someone…you know…did something to her against her own will and-,"
"No, Jane," Adam's frustration skyrocketed.
"Then what? She's back to tell Luke her life's all dandy now and she's like married with a baby? What a bitchy-,"
"Jane, he's not a baby, he's 5 and he's Luke's son too!" Adam finally spit out. His eyes widened as much as Joan's did. Her mouth dropped open and Adam cringed. He hadn't meant to tell her, but in typical Joan fashion she was taking things the wrong way and getting totally whacked out of her mind. Grace was going to be pissed at him, but Joan was going to find out eventually.
"W…What did you say?" Joan's voice came out just above a whisper.
"Just, Jane you need to go home and talk to Luke…or Grace," Adam told her. "You need to hear it from them, not me."
Joan's shock was so mind numbing that Adam led her out to her car and drove her home. He led her back into the kitchen and sat her at the table. He could hear movement from the upstairs so he made his way to the steps and began to climb them. He knew Grace wasn't there because he'd spotted her note on the refrigerator. Once at the top of the steps he turned and went for Luke's door. As he knocked on the door her heard Joan's door click open from behind him.
"Hey Adam," Wyatt smiled as he emerged from Joan's room in his work attire.
"Hey," Adam gave a slight nod to Wyatt. Adam and Wyatt were co-workers in the same advertising firm. Adam worked in the graphic design department, compiling digital images, commercial storyboards, and mock-ups for the firm and Wyatt worked in the video department producing commercials after they've been filmed. Joan had come to the office for one of her and Adam's weekly platonic lunch dates almost 18 months ago and Adam had introduced Wyatt and Joan, earning Wyatt an invitation to lunch and Joan's phone number. They'd been dating ever since.
"What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked as he neared the stairs.
"It's a long story. Luke and Joan need to talk," Adam sighed. "Tell Alex I'll be in a little late today."
"She's going to go ballistic on your ass, man," Wyatt warned.
"I know. Just, take care of it for me okay?" Adam asked.
Wyatt nodded. "I'll call you at 10 if you're not in, bro," Wyatt headed down the steps to say goodbye to Joan. Adam knocked on Luke's door. When he received no answer, he opened the door and looked in. Luke was nowhere to be found. Adam sighed and looked at his watch. Luke liked to go to the lab when he couldn't sleep; no doubt he'd already left.
"I'm going to get ready and go to work,"
Adam turned around to see Joan heading into her room. "Jane," He said.
"Adam…please. I need some time to think," Joan said slowly. "I'm sorry I woke you."
"It's okay," Adam assured. He waited until Joan had gone into her room and shut the door behind her before he let himself out. He made his way back home to shower and change so he could make it to work on time.
August 21st, 2012 Tuesday 12:00pm
"Hey, where you going to for lunch?" Wyatt called as he caught up with Adam in the lobby of their office building.
"I'm not going for lunch. I have something to take care of," Adam explained.
"Hey does this have anything to do with J?" Wyatt asked. "She was acting really strange this morning.
"I can't really explain right now, Wyatt," Adam hailed a cab.
"Does it have to do with that Grace chick?" Wyatt asked. Adam only offered a nod before climbing in the cab. Grace had told him where she was staying, so he decided to head there to try and figure out how to sort everything out.
During the short ride there, Adam let the past few years roll through his mind. He and Joan had tried dating again but by the time they had felt comfortable enough to try again, they were already to the point where they felt too much like close friends-almost siblings-to make it work. Adam had had two steady girlfriends in the four years since then but it never felt right. He had been starting to feel like he was destined to live alone working for his firm and doing his real art in his spare time forever with no one else but friends, when he'd met Adri. She'd been an intern for a company that his firm was working with on an advertising campaign. All through out the semester he had seen her rushing about doing their gopher work picking up samples and papers and carting them back and forth. Finally, when her semester was over, he'd contacted her through the cell phone number she'd left to contact her in case of emergency with the campaign and had asked her on a date. They'd been dating for a few months now.
"That's $8.65 mister," The cab driver broke Adam's thoughts.
Adam shook his head and handed the man fifteen dollars, wondering how his mind had gone from thinking about how to patch things up between everyone to thinking about Adri. Maybe it was because he knew Adri would know what to do and say to salvage the situation. She had such a way with words that Adam often wondered why, exactly, she had gone for the world of sales and marketing instead of something having to do with writing like journalism, or something of the like, since she enjoyed writing more then phone calls and finagling.
"Can I help you, sir?" Elsa, the woman at the front desk asked when Adam approached her.
"I need to know what room Grace Polk is staying in?" Adam replied.
Elsa's fingers tapped quickly against the computer keyboard before she replied. "Oh, I'm sorry sir, it seems she's checked out early," The woman smiled.
Adam stared at her. "What? That can't be. What time did she check out?"
"According to this about an hour ago," Elsa looked at the screen.
August 21st, 2012 Tuesday 12:45pm
"Mommy!"
Grace looked up as she approached the bottom of Chelsea's porch steps just in time to open her arms and catch Stone, who'd spotted her from the living room and proceeded to run outside and leap from the top step. Grace lost her balance and fell back as she caught him. He spoke a mile a minute as Grace tried to recover. Stone hugged her and then sat back on her stomach, trapping her to listen to his stories. Grace pulled her knees up for him to lean back on and propped herself up on her elbows.
"Jade, she ate a whole ton of cookies and she ran around too much and then she got sick and it was all over everything!" Stone cheered happily.
"Oh she did, did she?" Grace smiled as Stone nodded enthusiastically.
"Welcome home," Chelsea came to the top of the porch steps. "You're back earlier than expected. Come on in, we're just about ready for grilled cheese."
Grace smiled. She gathered Stone up in her arms and climbed to her feet, following Chelsea inside. "What can I say? I couldn't stay away any longer."
"Because you missed me, right mommy?" Stone had a firm grip with one arm around Grace's neck as she carried him.
"That's right, kiddo," Grace affirmed, but Chelsea had heard the underlying sadness in Grace's voice.
"Okay you three, into the living room. Eat at the coffee table, not on the couch," She handed each of the three kids a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich, a juice box, and two chocolate chip cookies each. All three of them obeyed readily. "Now you…sit down and tell me what happened," She ordered to Grace as she began making them sandwiches too. Grace sighed and came up with a lame excuse for why it wasn't important before changing the subject to how Stone behaved for the past couple of days.
August 21st, 2012, Tuesday, 10:45pm
Grace was just lying back tiredly in her bed getting ready to tune into the news before bed when Stone's face appeared through the half-open door. Grace turned her head and watched him for a minute. He stared at her curiously before yawning.
"And what are you doing awake?" Grace tried to hide a smirk as she spoke.
Stone inched through the doorway cautiously. He remained quiet and Grace grew concerned. She sat up slightly.
"Did you have another bad dream?" She asked. Stone shook his head. Grace finally relented. She knew what he wanted. She reached her hand out and pulled the covers back some. "Come on," She patted the bed. Yep, that was it. Stone's pace quickened. He crossed the room and climbed up onto the bed with her. Grace opened her arms and let him situated himself.
"What are you watching?" He asked her.
Grace picked up the remote and changed the channel. "I think I could go for some cartoons, how about you?" She looked down at him. Stone nodded enthusiastically. He put his head down on her left shoulder and kept his eyes fixed on the screen. Grace curled her left arm around him and pulled the covers up. She watched him and let her hand absently lull through his short messed hair, processing the past few days in her brain.
"What would you say if I told you we had some time to go on vacation?" Grace finally asked.
Stone turned his attention to his mom, looking up at her. "Like Jade and Pierce did?" Grace nodded. "Where would we go mommy?"
"Where would you want to go?" Grace replied. She was waiting for the obvious answer; Disney world. He'd wanted to go there since June, when Jade and Pierce came back and told him all about it. Then again, he hadn't brought it up since the end of July.
Stone was silent for a moment. He was deep in thought. "Can we go anywhere?" Grace nodded again. Stone stared at Grace for a moment, trying to decipher if she was telling the truth. After he'd decided she was, he answered. "Can we go where daddy is?"
Grace paused, thrown only a little off guard. Stone stared at her, anxious to hear her reply. Grace pressed her lips together in thought. She nodded slowly. "Sure we can," She offered a smile and dropped a kiss on the top of his head. Stone grinned broadly and turned his attention back to the cartoon. Grace sighed softly; at least it was what Stone wanted too.
This time, this place/Misused, mistakes/Too long, too late/Who was I to make you wait/Just one chance/Just one breath/Just in case there's just one left/Cause you know, you know, you know/That I love you/I have loved you all along/And I missed you/Been far away for far too long/I keep dreaming you'll be with me/And you'll never go/Stop breathing if/I don't see you anymore/On my knees, I'll ask/Last chance for one last dance/Cause with you, I'd withstand/All of hell to hold your hand/I'd give it all/I'd give for us/Give anything but I won't give up/Cause you know, you know, you know/ That I love you/I have loved you all along/And I missed you/Been far away for far too long/I keep dreaming you'll be with me/And you'll never go/Stop breathing if/I don't see you anymore/So far away/Been far away for far too long/So far away/Been far away for far too long/But you know, you know, you know/I wanted/I wanted you to stay/Cause I needed/I need to hear you say/That I love you/I have loved you all along/And I forgive you/For being away for far too long/So keep breathing/Cause I'm not leaving/Hold on to me and/Never let me go…
A/N: Okay, since I neglected the fact that all of you aren't in my head it should be noted that in the last chapter the reason that you didn't see Luke saying "I want to meet him" was because you entered the scene almost two hours after they started talking about him. I figured that would have been an obvious question that he would have asked right away, sooo; I left that with the other obvious questions in the first part of their argument that we didn't see. Did that make sense?
Chapter title is from "Far Away" by Nickelback.
Responses: Sam – Thanks. About Joan, I have my reasons. I swear. I love dogs. I do change Grace, mostly because the plot kind of requires it. I get ahead of myself sometimes and go overboard. But if you think about it, everything about Grace was a façade built up to protect herself, mostly. Thanks for the yell, consider me in check dude!
Butterfly Dancing – Sorry about your internet, yo. Hope the tests came out okay. What can I say? I wanted Grace to make a crack in there too, lol. There's a lot more to come between Joan and Grace. Luke's going to meet Stone soon, don't worry. Thanks again dude!
TJ-TeeJay – Yeah he was a softy. The reason I did the dinner thing was because I thought after all the time, Luke would still be desperate not to lose Grace if she ever came back, so, eh? MACs are better than PCs for everything that's not word processing, heh. Also, 90-some percent of viruses are made to attack windows, so a MAC would be better for Luke's work! Ha! It's amazing the difference between a PC and a MAC graphics wise too. See my first author's note for the response to asking about Stone. You need to update your story again lol. I need to know what happens! Thanks again dude!
Annieca – I'm glad you understand why I made Joan angry. There's actually more to it then just anger but that needs to be explained. Hey, Skillet's a cool name! Thanks on the video part. When you say 'other than these points keep writing' what do you mean? Thanks again for the reviews. )
Kool-Wolf – Dude! That was long, you're just addicted! I didn't do anything to Joan! She's so absorbed in the anger for a good reason. (There are actually a couple of solid clues in the story as to why too.) And that's not counting the fact that she felt like Grace abandoned her too! Ahem, anyway. Hate you back, violence to you!
Sayxanything – Hahaha, Joan was a bit of a lion…yes. Come on she has good reason to be! Grace is all about trying to hide how she really feels to make things less harsh, which of course always backfires. Dude you need to update by the way. Anywho, late rove!
Tiff – New words? Hm, yah I don't have any heh. You…need…to…update. I've given up on advertising; I don't think anyone else is willing my friend. Your thing is fixed you need to update! Later geek!
Note: If anyone happens to have any interest in the RP, go to my bio and email me. Don't be afraid. We're just monkeying around. It doesn't take up as much time as some people seem to be thinking it does either. )