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Joan sat on her bed after arriving from the hospital. She was exhausted and felt sick. Hospitals had never been her favourite place to be and after her sickness, she hated them even more.
George had been nothing like she thought. The geeky image was gone, and now a handsome, yet intelligent, man had taken it's place. If Joan hadn't been dating Adam, she would have asked George out. She shook her thoughts and concentrated on the matter at hand.
Luke stared out of the cabin's window, wondering where Grace was. He didn't have the car, it was at Mrs Spencer's house. One of the nurses in the hospital had volunteered to drive them home, seeing how shaken up the pair had been. They gratefully accepted, all other thoughts driven from their minds.
He didn't know how long the rain would last, or even where to look for Grace. He hoped that wherever she was, she was safe.
-----
Keys sat on the table next to the door, almost hauntingly. Grace spied them suspiciously, as if she wanted to glare at them so hard, she could melt them. The keys glinted, the hall light being on. It shone just below her eyes, but Grace didn't budge. She just stared at the keys, trying to decided what to do. Drive back, not knowing how to drive, or wait the storm out? Should she call Luke to tell him she's okay, and she'll be back soon? Should she try and hitch a ride with someone, wearing clothes that were big for her?
Grace knew she should at least call Luke. He would be worried about her, and the least she could do was to ease his stress. She made her way into the kitchen and picked up the phone off the cradle. She dialed the number and heard the continuous ring until Luke picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi Geek"
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Hearing Grace's voice on the phone made some of the tension building inside Luke relax. She was okay. Right now, it was all that mattered.
"Where are you?" he asked anxiously, wanting to know where she had run off to.
"I'm at Mrs Spencer's house," Grace replied, noting how anxious Luke sounded. "I'm fine."
Luke sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose slightly, trying to rid the headache that had formed. "Come home. I'm sorry I was such a jerk."
"Yeah, you were. But it's okay."
"How are you going to get home? We left the car there, but you don't drive," Luke asked, worried.
"I know. I've been trying to figure that out myself."
The debated how she was going to get home, and they settled on Luke asking the neighbor for a ride to town, and go to Mrs Spencer's house. The tone of Luke's voice told Grace that this option wasn't up for debate.
-----
Half an hour passed and Grace was beginning to fidget. She had abandoned her post at the front door and had made her way to the living room, where a shelf full of books seem to attract her attention. She knew that Mrs Spencer wasn't the type of woman to keep books on cooking and knitting part of her collection. Scanning the titles, Grace picked up a book with a title that was written in a strange language.
She sat on the sofa, a few bones cracking as she sat. Grace flipped through the first few pages, and found that the text wasn't strange, it was just the title that was written in Hieroglyphs. She never knew how interesting the Egyptians had been!
She combed through the pages, not noticing a car pulling up in the drive way, and the slamming of a door.
"Whacha reading there?" Luke asked, walking into the living room. Grace jumped, having been absorbed in the myth of Anubis.
"Just something I found on the shelf while waiting for your lazy ass to get here." Both teens laughed, their fight from before gone from their minds.
"Nice clothes," snickered Luke, after noticing the clothes Grace had put on. Grace scrunched her nose.
"It was either this, or staying in my bathing suit." The green sweater wasn't that bad, nor were the faded black shorts she was wearing. Not much else in Mrs Spencer's closet had fit her.
A smirk formed on Luke's face and Grace hit him playfully on his arm. "Shut up," she muttered, a pale pink forming on her tanned face.
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"I can't believe you swam all the way to Mrs Spencer's house," Luke exclaimed after the couple walked into the cabin.
"I can't believe you were such an ass," Grace replied, sitting down on the couch.
"I was- I am, going through something!"
"You still don't have to take it out on me!"
Luke growled. "When something's going on, you can't control how you feel. You can manipulate how you want to feel, but it's still there. Just cause you pretend not to care doesn't mean everyone's like that!"
"I care! I'm just not as willing to show my emotions!"
"See? That's your problem! We've been going out for two years! Two! I know things about you that no one else does. You trusted me about your mom, and everything, yet you don't trust me enough to tell me how you feel?"
"Why the hell do you care how I feel?" Grace spat back, folding her arms against her chest.
"Why do I care? Why do I care?" Luke laughed mirthlessly. "I care because I love you!"
"No you don't!" Grace screamed back, not wanting to accept that someone loved her. Especially Luke.
"Then why the hell would I put up with you if I didn't?" Luke roared.
Grace pounced on him, ready to attack him, but Luke caught her wrists. He pushed her hard against the wall to prevent her from twisting away. She stared into his eyes, noticing passion build up. His eyes were reflecting how she felt at the moment.
She kissed him hard, something he wasn't expecting. It took him a moment before kissing back, hard and passionately, unlike anything they're ever shared. The stumbled onto the sofa, never breaking contact.
Needing air, Luke broke the kiss. His shirt had been thrown on the floor and his hands had made their way up Grace's shirt. A blush appeared on the two of them at realization to where they were headed.
"Uh... Sorry," Luke said, scrambling off Grace. He heard the phone ring and dashed to get it, crashing into one thing after another.
Grace sat up from the sofa, fixing her shirt. Her breath was unsteady and irregular. She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes. His voice still rung in her head, "I care because I love you". He couldn't... could he?
Luke picked up the phone cursing, having hit knee and his toes on the table and counter. "Hello?"
"Hey baby brother. What's shaking?"
"Kevin? How do you know the number?" Luke asked, surprised to hear his brother's voice.
"What happened to your voice? It sounds kinda low... oh!" Realization hit Kevin like a ton of bricks. "So, that's what's going on."
"No! It's not. I was... uh... sleeping! I was sleeping." Luke gulped. He was a horrible liar, but he hoped Kevin didn't ask any more about it.
"Okay then. Joan wanted me to call and tell you that George is coming up in a few days. She had to go see him, so she made me relay the message. And, oh boy, am I glad I did. Can you say 'blackmail'?" Luke groaned. "Bye Kevin"
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Author's note: Please don't kill me for this chapter ducks as people start throwing rotten food.
