Chapter 2

"I can't believe I let you convince me to come" Grace complained in disbelief, surveying the drunken crowd that was packed into the living room the she and Carla had just walked into.

"Come one Gracie, relax" Carla laughed pushing a bottle into her hand.

Grace shook her head and tried to give the bottle of vodka and orange back.

"Grace, you don't have to drink it if you don't want to, but if you actually want to have some fun tonight then I recommend you do" her friend shrugged, "Now I'm going outside to watch Eli's band, you can either join me or" she gestured to the crowd that surrounded them, "you can stay here"

Grace rolled her eyes and followed Carla outside; glancing down at the bottle she still held she bit her lip. What the hell she thought, opening it. Carla's right, you don't want to be stuck in a corner by yourself again do you.

"You know, it's a shame you guys don't get along better" Carla said, staring up at Eli who had just set his guitar down. He and his band Anti-Inflammatory had just finished their last set for the night.

"Whys that" Grace asked wearily, placing her empty bottle down beside her, what was that her third? She lost track soon after her first.

"Because your brother is gorgeous" Carla exclaimed loudly, slipping her arm around her friends waist, "and you know what" she asked leaning in close, "I'm going to go tell him"

"Have I told you how hot you are" Grace squinted at the guy whose arm was wrapped around her waist, she tried to focus on his face but all of a sudden it had gotten blurry.

"Only like 5 times" she mumbled, her head was spinning now.

"Hey, are you like okay?" the guy said way too loudly, pushing his face right up to hers.

"Yes, I mean… no" Grace grabbed hold of his arm to try and steady herself, "where's the bathroom?" she asked as the guy pushed her in the direction of the stairs.

Head still spinning she made her way up the stairs as quick as she could. She had been to the bathroom earlier but for some reason everything looked different now. If only the room would stop spinning she thought making her way over to the closet doorway.

Pushing it open she stumbled onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing" Grace looked up at the sound of a guys voice, for a second everything stopped spinning, the room was still and she could recognize Eli who stood beside the beside, wearing only a pair of unzipped jeans, on the bed lay Carla, who was topless.

"Oh crap" Grace mumbled, as the room began to spin once again. Forcing herself to get up off the floor she ran out of the room leaving behind a shocked step brother and a frustrated so called friend.

Having finally finished throwing up Grace let herself slid onto the floor fully, her head hanging between her arms. She'd only just made it in time, a second longer with that image of Eli and Carla in her mind and her entire days food would have been on display.

"Grace, are you in there?" Through her pounding headache she could hear Eli's voice as he knocked on the door.

"Go away. I'm fine!"

"Grace you're not fine" Eli said softly opening the door.

"I said go away"

"What happened?" Eli asked sitting down beside her and closing the door.

"What the fuck does it look like?" she screamed as she turned to look at him, "I had too much to drink alright. So fucking what"

Eli looked at her, a concerned expression on his face. He'd seen the look of distress on her face when she had recognized him in the bedroom.

"Its more than that Grace, you know it is"

"Look Eli, I'm sorry if the sight of seeing my brother and my best friend together and half naked made me feel sick, but you know what I really don't care. I'm fine now so if you don't mind, I'm going home"

"It was just sex Grace" Eli said softly, ashamed he could not meet her eyes. He knew she was hurting, but there wasn't anything he could do about it, not without doing something totally stupid.

"And why doesn't it surprise me to hear that" Grace groaned, leaning forward over the toilet once again.

"Where are you going?"

Eli looked over at Carla who was looking at him with an indignant expression "I'm taking Grace home" he said in reference to the girl who was asleep in his arms. After she'd thrown up for the last time she had just passed out, and Eli was beginning to worry about exactly how much she'd had to drink.

"But we haven't finished" Carla complained in her annoyingly high pitched voice.

"You know what, I don't care. Right now, I have to make sure that Grace doesn't have alcohol poisoning, and that she won't drown in her own vomit. Which makes me wonder who got her so drunk in the first place" he said angrily, "some friend you are"

"At least I acknowledge the fact that she exists Eli"

"An what the hells that supposed to mean"

"That girl is like totally in love with you, it's kind of pathetic since she'll never have the chance, but it'd kind of sad also. I mean, imagine being in love with a guy who can't even say hello to you."

Eli looked at the sleeping body which looked almost lost amongst the blankets of his massive bed. Their parents had gone away for the weekend and Eli knew that it wouldn't be safe to let Grace sleep on her own.

Sitting down beside her he gently undone her sandals and let them slip to the floor. He contemplated on whether or not to remove her dress, knowing that she would be embarrassed in the morning if he did, but the sight of a large stain across the front made the decision for him. He'd have to wash it before Lily and Rick got home the next afternoon.

Pulling it up carefully so not to disturb her he couldn't help but let his gaze linger on her tanned legs, he smiled softly as he revealed her lacy pink undies and had to look away as he pulled it back to reveal her matching bra. Forcing himself to stick at the task at hand he brought it up over her head and through the arms and then tossed it on the floor. He'd have to remember to wash that later.

"Eli?" he turned back to the bed to find Grace awake and smiling at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" he said, becoming aroused at the sight of her laying there.

"Thank you"

"For what?"

"For helping me"

Eli walked over and sat on the bed beside her, "Your kind of threw up on yourself so" he blushed trying to explain why he had taken off her dress.

"It fine" she shook her head, "I'm sure you've seen it all before" she said referring to the scene in the bedroom.

"It didn't mean anything Grace"

"I know" she nodded, its just that seeing you with her, my best friend of all people was kind of a shock"

"What do you mean" Eli asked unable to meet her eyes, he knew exactly what she meant and he cursed himself for asking her.

"Because I wanted it to be me" she admitted in a small voice, biting her lip she turned away as Eli looked at her.

"You have no idea Grace"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I wanted it to be you as well"

That night was the night of many firsts for me. The first time I had gotten drunk, the first time that I had seen my so called best friend for who she really was, my first ever serious conversation with Eli.

Thinking back on it now I have to keep telling myself that what happened was meant to have happened. The thought of 'if only I hand't accepted that first drink' still pops into my mind from time to time, but the truth is, if I hadn't taken that first drink itjust would have taken me a lot longer to discover what Carla was truly like. I still would have found out at some stage though.

As for that whole coversation with Eli, that was bound to happen as well, when two people feel that way, the truth is bound to come out eventually. I do sometimes wonder though if it had have come out at another time, would we have acted on those feelings in the same way. Yeah i'm sure you want to kow what happens next, and you will, everything comes to those who have patience.

Authors Note: Sorry about the lack of updates, but heres and extra long one to make up for it. I didn't want to update until I knew I had written something at least semi-decent. So here it is. Enjoy and as always your reviews are greatly appreciated. What do you think will or should happen next with Eli and Grace? Let me know.