Chapter 14 - ("Here we go again")

"Goodness gracious Kathleen! Did you see what your daughter was wearing?"

"They were leggings and a shirt mom, it's perfectly normal for kids to wear things like that these days," Kathleen said, rolling her eyes in the process. Whenever her mother came around her she couldn't help but get a little irritated. She was always criticizing someone on their clothes or their behavior and quite frankly, she was sick of it. Now that Kathleen was an adult, she didn't feel like she should have to put up with this anymore.

"Well back in my day-"

"Mom," Kathleen groaned, "Times have changed...and what are you doing here anyway?"

"I got your email."

Kathleen sighed and took a seat, "And so you contacted Tom instead of telling me that you were coming today?"

"He contacted me dear," Victoria started, "You know, he's a smart young man...probably the smartest one in this family. He said he saw the email that you sent while he was using your laptop one day and he decided to have a nice little chat with me. Tom was the one who talked me into agreeing to come and see you."

"Well gee thanks," Kathleen scoffed, "It's good to know that you came because of my son and not because you wanted to support me."

"Oh gosh dear, are we always going to get into that argument? I've supported you from day one."

"No you haven't!" Kathleen exclaimed, "You didn't support me in any of my marriages! When I needed you, you weren't there! Ugh!"

...

Grace and Tom were both upstairs, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Sound...like mom is mad," Tom said, and Grace shushed him immediately, "Ssh! You don't wanna get caught do you?"

Tom shook his head and the two of them continued listening.

...

"Well you weren't exactly the most well behaved little girl either Kathleen! You were a spoiled brat! You always had to fight your father and I about everything."

Kathleen felt her eyes getting watery, only because she was so angry. She drew in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. Lord give me the right words to say. Kathleen glanced up at her mother, "Mom...I was never as spoiled as you thought I was...I was just being a teenager. I wanted some freedom, and everything that you guys did was so restricting. At sixteen you tried to get me to join some Amish community! What kind of crap is that?"

"Kathleen...As a Christian it is a woman's duty to support her husband in whatever he decides to do. You know that already...That was the decision that he felt was best and of course I was going to back him up on it."

Kathleen could already feel herself becoming physically exhausted with her mother, "Why are you even here? Do you even support my getting married to George? Or are you just here to scold me like you used to?"

This time it was Victoria's eyes that were getting watery, and Kathleen couldn't understand why. She was even more surprised when she broke out into tears and exclaimed, "He left me! Your father...left me."

...

"Oh my gosh! Grandpa left grandma did you hear that?" Grace said, but Tom was already getting distracted with his phone.

Grace smacked his arm to catch his attention.

"OW!"

"Tom shut up!" Grace whispered harshly.

...

Kathleen and her mother could hear Tom from downstairs, and they both stopped their conversation immediately. Kathleen looked over at her mother with confusion and sadness, "We'll talk more about this later...I'm gonna go check on Tom."

Grace and Tom both heard this and Grace rolled her eyes, "See what you did Tom?"

"You...hit me," Tom argued.

Grace groaned, "Ugh, whatever...I'm going to my room."

Grace quickly made her way to her room before Kathleen could catch her. She closed the door and sighed, unsure of how to handle what she had just heard. She knew that it was really none of her business, and that it was something that both Victoria and Kathleen needed to work out, but that still didn't stop her from wanting to help somehow.

Once she closed the door in her room, she heard her phone ring.

"Hey Adrian," Grace said cheerfully.

"Hey Grace. It feels like I haven't spoken to you in the longest time."

Grace chuckled, "I know...Now that you have Omar I guess you forget all about me."

Adrian laughed, "I could never forget about you Grace. You're my best friend...Omar's the bae though."

"The bae?"

"It's short for boo, or babe, you know just another cute name to call the man of your dreams."

"Does Omar use terms like "the bae"?" Grace questioned, clearly amused.

"No, it would sound weird coming from Omar...he speaks so properly, it's so cute...But Dante and his friends-"

"You hang out with Dante and his friends? Isn't that a little...weird?"

Adrian chuckled, "It was at first but now that Dante has a girlfriend, there's way less stress."

"Oh, who's his...it's bae right?"

Adrian couldn't help but laugh at this, "Maybe you should just stick to the way you usually talk...And I don't know, I haven't met her yet. He said it's a long distance thing, but he sounds really happy with her."

"Well that's great!"

"Yeah...so I was wondering if you wanted to stop by tomorrow night...Ben and I are throwing Clementine a going away party."

"I thought you didn't really care for Clementine," Grace responded.

"Well I didn't...because she had sex with Jack while you guys were taking a break but she actually seems pretty nice...I mean everyone makes mistakes right? And you and Jack are good right now so it doesn't matter right?"

"Yeah...yeah we're good I guess..."

"You guess?"

"He told me why you went to the court case and I get it but I still don't see why he doesn't want to tell me the details of what happened that day...I mean I'm supposed to be able to help him with stuff and I can't do that if he won't let me."

Adrian sighed, "Revealing stuff like that is just a really emotional thing...I know it was hard for me to tell people about how I didn't know my father, but then I opened up to you about it because I felt like I could trust you...Sometimes it just takes time you know?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks Adrian."

"Not a problem Gracie," Adrian giggled, "I'll see you tomorrow night then?"

"Yeah...see you then."

Just as she hung up her phone, she felt something hit against her window. She looked over at her window curiously, and then walked towards it. She assumed that it was some type of bird or something, but when she opened the window she was more than surprised to find Jack standing down there.

Grace's eyes widened as she looked down at Jack,"Jack! What are you doing!" She tried not to be too loud, but that was practically impossible considering the fact that he was all the way outside.

Before he could respond, Grace's bedroom door opened, and she turned around to see Kathleen standing there.

"Oh...Hi MOM!" Grace said it loud enough so that Jack could hear and take a hint.

Kathleen looked at her like she was crazy, but she sighed and let it go, "So your brother went to the guest house to relax...I needed to make sure that everyone was out of the house so that I could talk to my mother."

"Oh...so you need me out too?"

Kathleen nodded, "Yeah, sorry. I know we just got home and you probably wanted to relax-"

"It's fine," Grace smiled, "Honestly...I know you haven't seen grandma in a long time so take as long as you need and I'll be out of your hair."

Kathleen smiled, "I love you honey, you know that right?"

"Of course." Grace looked back over at the window and Kathleen arched an eyebrow at her, "Ok what's going on?"

"W-What? Nothing," Grace let out a nervous laugh and Kathleen walked over towards the window and looked outside of it. She was more than surprised to see Jack standing out there.

If the Bowman's could see Jack's face at the moment, they would notice that it was turning every shade of red.

"Oh um...Hi Ms. Bowman!"

Kathleen chuckled, "Are you trying to be the next Romeo or something!"

"Heh...Maybe!"

Kathleen playfully rolled her eyes and then looked at Grace, "Go ahead. Just make sure you're back at a decent time."

Grace hugged her mother excitedly, "Thanks mom!"

She made her way out the bedroom door and Kathleen couldn't help but smile, "Heh...kids."

As Ricky finished up his homework, Amy had already caught up on all of her English homework. The only thing she had left to do was science, and it happened to be a group project that she couldn't actually do until she got back to school. She took the time to play with John. She grabbed one of his favorites toys; it was a red race car that he had grown attached too.

She started playing with him and he looked at her with excited eyes, "Ca!"

"That's right baby, it is a car! What color is it?"

Instead of answering, John clapped his hands excitedly, "Vroom! Vroom!"

Amy giggled as she grabbed another car and the two started playing with them, seeing which car could get to the invisible line that the two had created, the fastest. As Ricky grabbed another sheet of paper, he turned and saw Amy and John playing with the cars and he couldn't help but smile. It's nice to see that life still goes on...even if Nora is suffering right now. At the thought of Nora, he found himself becoming solemn again. He turned his attention back to his homework, and finished up another paragraph.

"Mama! Gotta go potty!"

Amy smiled and picked John up, "Well...let's go potty then."

Amy made her way to the bathroom, as Ricky finished the last two sentences of his essay for English. Once he was done, he took out his phone and searched up movie theaters that were playing Fault in our Stars. When he found one that was nearby, he searched up some information on it to figure out what the movie was about.

Before he could finish reading it, Amy and John came back, and Amy had a very irritated look on her face.

"I told you John! You can't take your toys to the bathroom!"

"Wanna play!" John argued.

"Don't raise your voice at me! You can't play in the bathroom John!"

"Wanna play! Wanna play! Wanna play!"

"Ugh! Can you please handle your son?" Amy looked over at Ricky with annoyance.

Ricky chuckled, "I love how he's only my son when he's doing something bad."

He set his phone down on the kitchen table and got up to talk to John, "John, what did we say about taking your toys to the bathroom? It's a no, no. Tell mommy you're sorry."

John huffed, but he looked up at Amy anyway, "Sowee mommy."

Amy crossed her arms over her chest but finally stopped looking annoyed, "It's ok."

After that, John ran off to play with his toys and Amy gave Ricky a knowing look.

"What?" Ricky chuckled.

"Why is it that he listens to you and not to me?"

"I just have a way with kids," Ricky smirked.

Amy didn't find this funny however. She stayed there with her arms crossed, and continued to pout. Ricky chuckled and grabbed her by the waist gently as he kissed her, "You're really cute when you're all worked up you know that?"

Amy tried to stop herself from smiling, but she couldn't. After that the two went to look at the movie times together.

"I still can't believe you did that!" Grace chuckled.

"Yeah...that wasn't one of my greatest ideas," Jack laughed nervously. The two of them were currently at Geoff's. Grace ordered chowder soup with Italian bread and some salad on the side, while Jack ordered a burger and some fries. Both of them ordered a water and were enjoying their meals. Grace was loving the fact that Jack was treating her to a nice meal and Jack was more than happy to spend some time with Grace.

"I thought it was adorable," Grace giggled, "But maybe we should make that a one time thing."

"Heh...maybe."

"So what's with the random decision to eat out today?"

"What? I can't treat my girl to something special?"

Grace looked down at her food as she tried to hide the redness of her cheeks.

Jack looked at her with concern, "What?"

"Heh...it's nothing."

"Ok," Jack shrugged, "So look I wanted to talk to you about the court case..."

"Oh Jack you really don't have to talk about it, it's fine-"

"I want you to come tomorrow."

Grace's eyes widened in astonishment, "What? But you said that-"

"I said that I wasn't ready...I didn't say when I would be ready. It's not like I'll be speaking tomorrow anyway, but I want you to be there when they make the final decision."

"...Are you sure?" Grace asked.

Jack smiled, "If I wasn't I wouldn't be asking you right now...it's up to you though."

"Well of course I want to be there for you!" Grace said excitedly.

"It's not like we're going to some romantic getaway Grace...it's still a court room, where the judges are going to be judging Ally and I, and not to mention the school that I still go to," Jack said seriously.

"I know that Jack but...I just feel better knowing that I'm there. I know there's nothing that I can really do about the situation, but I just want to be there for support."

"You're amazing you know that right?"

"Heh...you might of told me that a few times."

The two leaned over the table and gave each other kiss, and when they let go they smiled. This date honestly couldn't get any better.

"So...guess who the judge is?"

Grace raised an eyebrow at Jack, "I don't know...who?"

"Dr. Bink."

"Dr. Bink?"

"You know...our old counselor, after Mr. Molina."

"Oh yeah! I remember her now...Wait she's the judge?" Grace's eyes widened, "Oh my...that woman was-"

"Crazy? Yeah I know. I really hope she doesn't screw this up for me."

"I don't think we can take John to see this movie Amy," Ricky said, looking at her with concern.

"Oh? Why not?"

He looked to see that John wasn't paying attention before talking, "There's a sex scene in here...I don't want John to mistakenly see that."

"Just cover his eyes."

"Amy!"

Amy giggled, "It was a joke Ricky. Gees, I would never subject my little baby to that."

"Heh, he's almost two can you believe that?" Ricky smiled.

"Don't remind me, I might just start crying."

"Heh yeah...our baby's growing up."

"He is," Amy said as he looked over at John who was playing with his toys, "And you know what that means right?"

"More potty training practice?"

"Well that and...he's only going to be more and more defiant."

"Yeah...I hope we can handle him...So what do you want to do about the movie?"

Amy smiled, "I'll call up Madison and Lauren."

"Madison and Lauren? Are you sure about that?"

"Why not? They're my best friends."

"They've also never taken care of a baby a day in their life."

"They've babysat before."

"Yeah but they haven't babysat John before," Ricky explained.

"I trust them Ricky."

"Well if that's what you want..."

"That's what I want," Amy said as she took out her phone and started making the calls.

"So aside from the court case, what else has been going on?" Grace questioned.

Jack thought about Joe and the fight club, and how much time he didn't have and he felt even more stressed out than usual. He had had made the decision that he was going to start taking the steroids regularly, just for the fight.

"Jack?"

Jack shot his head up, "Sorry...um, everything's been alright I guess. Shawna called me like two days ago and told me that Duncan is ok now."

"Really? That's great! I'm so glad the doctors could help...and God of course."

"Yeah...her and Duncan are moving to Georgia though."

"Georgia? Where did they get the money for that?"

"They didn't...they got into contact with some family that lives down there. Turns out Shawna's grandparents are still alive and they said it was a good idea for Shawna and her brother to live with them until she got a stable job."

"Wow...I'm really happy for her."

"Yeah me too but...well never mind."

"Wait what were you going to say?"

"Nothing...just that, I'm actually going to miss her. Her and Duncan were like family."

Grace placed a warm hand on top of Jack's hand and smiled, "They're only a letter away bae."

"Bae?"

"Sorry...I was trying something out that Adrian mentioned...just forget it."

Jack chuckled, "You're silly...I'll be right back ok? I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Alright."

With that Jack made his way towards the bathroom. Grace noticed that he had taken off his jacket and it fell to the floor so she went to pick it up. As she picked it up something slipped out of the pocket and she looked down at it curiously. She grabbed the bag and her eyes widened. No, this can't be right...Jack can't be doing drugs.

"Thanks you guys! I owe you one!"

"Oh no problem! Lauren and I were pretty bored anyway," Madison shrugged.

"That's because you kept talking about Jack," Lauren said in an irritated voice.

"Wait, I thought Jack and Grace were still together," Amy said. As the three girls talked, Ricky grabbed his coat.

"Oh they are," Lauren said, "Madison was talking about how much she's over Jack."

"I am over Jack, Lauren! I thought I still liked him but I don't."

Amy and Lauren gave Madison a knowing look.

"I don't!" Madison said in a defensive tone.

Nobody said anything, until Madison started talking again, "I have a new guy in my life now."

"What new guy? You didn't tell me about a new guy," Lauren said.

"Yeah...who is it Madison?" Amy asked.

Ricky rolled his eyes as he listened to the three girls talk. Typical girls...

"His name's Mac. He goes to Grant High but I never really saw him until a week ago...We're not in a serious relationship though."

"You mean you're not exclusive?" Lauren rolled her eyes, "So basically friends with benefits?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm having fun with him."

"Well I hope you're not having sex with him Madison. I hope you've learned your lesson about having sex in high-school."

"I'm not having sex with him Amy gees! We're doing other things."

"Like oral?" Lauren scoffed, "Please tell me you're not back to that again...you know it's still sex right?"

"Ugh! You know what, whatever I do with him is my business. Come on Lauren...let's go watch John."

Madison walked inside the house to find John and Amy sighed, "Alright, bye you guys!"

Ricky and Amy made their way outside the house and into the car.

"Who the heck is Mac?" Amy said to herself.

"Mac?" Ricky questioned, "...Oh gosh, that's Zoe's ex-boyfriend."

"Zoe? The girl you slept with?" Amy said in an irritated voice.

"Yes...When I was with Adrian he...You know what, never mind. I'm not getting involved in this. Madison is right. Whatever she does with him is her business."

"But she's my friend," Amy argued as they started driving.

"Sometimes you have to let your friends make mistakes."

Amy sighed, "Yeah...I guess you're right."

When Jack came back, Grace didn't even know what to say. He continued making conversation with her, but her heart wasn't in it anymore. What could he possibly need drugs for? Maybe it's from a doctor...but wouldn't they have been in a pill bottle and most likely at home? I can't ask him...He'll probably just get defensive. Oh Lord, what do I do?

"Grace?"

Grace looked up at Jack and he looked at her with worried eyes, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine...Actually no...I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

"I think I'm sick...I don't know, it must have been the soup or something. Do you think you could take me home?" Grace asked.

Jack sighed, "Yeah sure...I'm sorry about the soup. Let me just pay for the meal and we can go."

"Thanks.

About thirty minutes later, Amy and Ricky found themselves at the movie theater. They were watching Fault in our Stars and Ricky noticed how Amy's eyes were glued to the screen. He chuckled to himself as he wrapped an arm around her and continued watching the movie. They shared a popcorn, but Amy was barely even eating. Wow...she really likes this movie.

Ricky found the movie to be exceptionally good, but nothing special. He mostly ate the popcorn and looked back to see Amy's reactions and that amused him. He leaned over towards her and whispered something in her ear, "You know...she looks a lot like you."

Amy looked at Ricky like he was crazy, "You're crazy, she looks nothing like me."

"Yeah she kinda does Amy," Ricky chuckled, "Don't you see the resemblance?"

"No, not at all. Plus her hair is way too short."

Ricky rolled his eyes, "Well she does have cancer..." At this he grew silent. Another image of his mother popped into his head and he found himself distancing himself from Amy.

Amy understood what was going on and she looked at him with sorrowful eyes, "Ricky...I'm sorry I totally forgot-"

"It's fine Amy...Um, hey I'm gonna go get us some more popcorn alright?"

Amy nodded, "Alright."

He kissed her forehead and then got up and went to get more popcorn.

When Ricky left she turned her attention back to the screen. The main character in the movie said some words that Amy swore she would never forget.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

Amy felt something tug at her insides when she heard that, and she instantly thought of Ricky. Falling in love with Ricky took time. It wasn't something that just came instantly, but before she knew it, all of her love started pouring out towards him at once. She couldn't explain it, she could only feel it.

When he came back inside with more popcorn Amy greeted him with a kiss and he looked at her with confusion, "What did I do to earn a kiss like that?"

"Heh...just watch the movie," Amy smiled.

"I hope you get better Grace."

"Yeah...Yeah I think it was just the food," she lied.

"Alright well...goodnight. And if you need anything, just call me ok?" Jack said.

"I will."

"I love you Grace."

"...Love you too Jack."

They were still in the car when Jack leaned in and kissed Grace. She returned the kiss but broke away rather quickly, and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I should get going. Goodnight."

"Night."

She got out of the car, the bag of drugs still in her pocket. She didn't know what to think, or how to feel at the moment, but she knew that sooner or later she was going to have to confront him on it.

A/N: Thanks for reading! I also wanted to say that I DO NOT OWN THE MOVIE FAULT IN OUR STARS! I can't wait until that movie comes out though. It looks so good! Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed.