Author's note: Hello there, my wonderful readers! I hope you enjoyed last chapter, since I didn't get very many reviews glares evilly for a moment or two. And I KNOW I have some spelling mistakes, but I used to have a beta. What happened to her? I do not know. Now, back to Luke and Grace!

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Luke woke up next to Grace on the couch. The embers in the fire had cooled off, but the heat in the room was still noticeable. Even if the cabin was in the mountain, and it got chilly in the evening sometimes, the day time could be horridly humid. So, Luke opened all the windows in the kitchen.

Feeling hungry, Luke began to look through the cupboard, hoping that something looked appetizing on this warm morning. He found a box of granola bars and took two out. He poured himself a glass of chocolate milk, and a glass for Grace. He brought the stuff over to the sofa, and gently woke Grace up.

Grace groaned as she slowly woke up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled softly as she saw Luke looking at her. "I'm not for sale, dude," she said.

Luke laughed at her comment. "Not too early for the comments I see." He handed her a granola bar and the glass of chocolate milk. "I have something planned for lunch," he told her, noticing the look on her a face, a mixture of surprise and confusion on the choice of breakfast food.

They spent the day cleaning and putting stuff away, getting ready to be living there for a few weeks. At lunch, just like Luke promised, they went into town. Luke brought Grace to an old woman's house, a woman Luke knew from his childhood.

"I used to come over and play with her grandson all the time," Luke explained. "We were both into astronomy, and we would spend hours trying to figure out space. Mrs Spencer would always make us big lunches, and when I saw her at the groceries store, she invited us to lunch today."

Mrs Spencer was an elderly woman, already in her late 70s. But she took such good care of herself, she could pass as a woman of 60. Having lived near the lake all of her life, she swam daily, and ate as heathy as she could. She ushered Luke and Grace into her small home.

"Luke! It's so nice to see you. It seems as if it's been such a long time since I've seen you!" exclaimed Mrs Spencer. "I just wish George was still here. He would have loved to meet your girlfriend."

Luke laughed. "I'm sure he would have love to meet Grace. Did he go off to college?"

Mrs Spencer smiled. "Yes, he did. He got a scholarship for a university somewhere in New York. Smart one, he is. Made the honor roll all through high school," Mrs Spencer beamed. "I bet you made the honor roll too, didn't you Luke?"

Luke smiled. "Yeah, I did."

Lunch with Mrs Spencer was pleasant, and Grace had a good time. Mrs Spencer showed her some pictures of her earlier years, protesting against the government. Grace felt as if she could stay there forever and talk about the corruption of the government and the law system, but time flew by quickly, and Luke and Grace had to head back to the cabin.

"Wow, I never knew old people could be cool," stated Grace, as they entered the house. Her phone began to ring, and Grace answered it. "Hello."

Grace's immediately turned from a smile to her normal scowl. "Yeah Dad. I know I didn't show up at school, or show up afterwards, or show up at the synagogues last night... No, I don't expect to be home to go to the synagogue tonight, or any night for the month... No, I'm not still in Arcadia. I'm in North Carolina... Yeah, he's here with me... No, I don't plan on doing that... No, I'm not coming home to take care of my mother... Even if you do call them, the Girardi's know we're gone... I don't care what you say, I'm staying here and that's final!" Grace angrily shut her phone.

Luke, who had moved to the kitchen to get a glass of water, had heard everything. For a genius, he hadn't been very smart. Of course Grace's parents would have called her, making sure that he wasn't taking advantage of her. Of course everyone would be looking for them. Of course everyone wouldn't like the idea of two teenagers alone in a cabin. Well, maybe Friedman would, but he wasn't here. No, it was Luke that was there, and he knew better.

"Parents get too worried," Grace said, her smile back on her face. Luke was glad that the phone call hadn't affected her good mood. He loved watching her smile, because she almost never smiled. It lit up her face, making her troubled face look radiant.

"Yeah, I know. Speaking of parents, I should call mine. But, first, a swim in the lake. Wanna go?" Luke suggested, not really excited about the fact that he had to call his parents. Who knew what trouble his parents had in store for him.

Grace nodded. "Sure, let me go get on my bathing suit," she said, before bounding up the stairs and into her room. Luke followed her example, and went into his room to change.

After the two teenagers were in their bathing suits and had their towels, they headed down the doc. Luke, who was wearing a pair green swimming shorts, jumped in first. "Come on in Grace! The water is very refreshing!" Grace stood on the dock feeling a bit uncomfortable in her bathing suit. It was a black two piece, the top piece showing off a small portion of her stomach. But, after some encouragement from Luke, Grace jumped in.

The couple came out of the water feeling refreshed and hungry. So, after Luke and Grace had dried off and gotten changed, they decided that while Luke called his parents, Grace would make supper.

Dialing the phone, Luke tried to calm his nerves. He felt the compelling need to hang up the phone, but before he had a change to think about it, the line was picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mom," Luke said, almost stumbling over his words. He knew he was in trouble, but at least his father hadn't answered the phone.

Helen started asking him all theses questions, such as were he was and who he was with. Luke assured his mother that he was fine, that he had enough money and that everything was okay. He had to make his mother promise that they wouldn't come look for him, thought she reluctantly agreed.

Grace made some macaroni and cheese from a box for supper, and the two teenagers settled down on the dock, soaking their feet in the water.

"My mom wanted to know exactly where we were so that she could come and get us. I made her promise that they didn't come looking for me, that I would come back on my own," Luke said, not even looking at Grace.

Grace looked at Luke and noticed that he seemed different. He seemed more confident, and less geeky, in the mountains. He seemed more at home here than she had ever seen him, even at his own house. Maybe Grace was wrong, stranger things have happened, but maybe it was her that was changing. She definitely could get used to not having to get home to the smell of alcohol and vomit, to the sound of her mother's drunken slur disapproving of everything and anything Grace had ever done.

Noticing that Grace was looking at him, Luke turned to look back. "I'm not for sale, you know," he said, a smirk on his face. Grace laughed. Yup, she was the one changing.

The next day, as Grace came in from her swim, her phone rang. Looking at the caller I.D., she saw that it was Joan. Flipping the line open, Grace said, "Hey Girardi."

"Hey Grace," Joan said. "What's new?"

"Nothing much. I'm guessing that the reason you're calling isn't just to say hi."

On the other line, Joan chuckled. "Guilty as charged. I'm guessing you're with my brother, right?"

Grace nodded, but realised that Joan couldn't see her. "Yeah, I am. I'm not telling you were we are though. I don't want to go back home just yet."

"Okay, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Oh, I'm better than okay. I love it here. Luke does too. I don't want to have to leave," Grace admitted. Maybe it was the freshness of the air, or the warm wind that was blowing around her, but Grace felt so calm and peaceful. She admitted how she was feeling to Joan, something she never did. "Maybe this place changes people," Grace thought. And somehow, it didn't seem like just a silly thought anymore.

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Joan hung up the phone feeling quite surprised. Never had Grace admitted how she felt, about anything. Well, except the one time where she kissed Luke in front of Joan on his birthday. Grace sounded so happy and so calm wherever she and Luke were, and Joan knew that God didn't want them to leave just yet. She had to convince her dad not to go try and look for them...

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Author's note: I finally know where my story is going! I've been sick for the last two weeks and I've finally thought of a good plot. But, since I'm better, don't expect the chapters to be coming as quickly. I won't have all day to work on a chapter, only a few hours every night. And yes, most of the stuff I put it is relevant. It all fits into the plot. But I can't say more than that without giving away all my secrets! Anyways, I would like it if you reviewed. I only got about 5 last time, making a total of...let's see... 12 reviews for 3 chapters and about 340 people have read the chapters.

A.N. 2: I just want to thank Shadow for pointing our that Jewish people don't go to mass. I don't know very much about religion, so I might make mistakes about it sometimes.