Being back at school felt strange. Wrong almost. After everything that had happened, it was oddly surreal to be back in the regular world.

"I can't believe that's it," Louisa grumbled at me, her eyes flicking sideways to Thea, who was propped up against the wall beside me staring into the distance. "You've been gone all this time, and acted so strangely for ages, and all you've got to say is it's family trouble?"

I managed a feeble snort, ignoring the mildly amused expression on Yves's face. "With my family Louisa, that's all it takes. Trust me."

"So how about you, Thea?" Niall asked kindly. Thea blinked, focusing her wandering attention on him for a moment. I rolled my eyes before I could help it. I knew what she was thinking. She was waiting for Alex to get here, like her life revolved around him. If I ever made the mistake of making it that obvious I missed Zed, I'd never hear the end of it.

"What about me what?" she stared.

"How come the sudden move to Wrickenridge?" Niall clarified.

She shrugged a shoulder slightly, her eyes drifting back to the car park for a second. "I haven't really got much family," she explained softly. "And the only people I really know are Alex, Grace and the Benedicts, so it made sense."

"Um," I agreed, trying to seem enthusiastic. "She's even staying with us."

At that, Thea flushed slightly. Right now, Thea and I were sharing what used to be my room, while a very reluctant Faith Cruz took Cassandra's old room. Frankly, I wasn't really comfortable with either of them being there, something only Zed knew, and it was one of the only things he truthfully sympathised with. Living under the same roof as Alex and Thea was unbearable. My once private life had now turned into me spending as much time as possible out with friends or at the Benedict's house.

As for Faith . . . well, I had my own problems with her. The more I learnt about her, the less I liked her, and I hadn't even been brave enough to tell Zed that one. My only chance was to settle it with Faith herself, before the Benedicts got too involved, and I was starting to think that the sooner I got it over with, the better.

"Yeah, cause she's all loved up with your brother," Louisa shrugged. "Sort of like you and Zed. When did that happen exactly?"

"Lou, leave her alone," Owen sighed heavily, shaking his head in exasperation.

Sara giggled. "You've got to admit, it sounds strange," she smiled quietly. "I mean, you and Zed used to hate each other!"

Thea shot me a stunned look, and I rolled my eyes again. "I still do," I shrugged. "Sometimes." Louisa and Sara stared at me with identical smirks. "Alright, if you're gonna look at me like that, you can leave now. I'm not talking about Zed."

"Yeah right," Louisa snorted. "If you think you're getting out of that, you've got another thing coming, Peterson." I lifted an eyebrow carefully, but didn't bother arguing as Thea suddenly straightened out beside me, pushing off the wall and hurrying forward.

I watched her go, wondering how on Earth she was so comfortable openly admitting Alex was her entire life now as she came to a graceful halt beside him, seconds after he'd climbed out of Zed's Jeep.

"Not going to say hello?" Louisa asked me innocently, jerking her head toward the Jeep as the engine cut off and Zed climbed out of the driver's side. As always, my stomach squirmed at the sight of him, but I shot Louisa a cool look and shook my head. She snorted. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're too proud?"

"Stubborn," I corrected with a slight shrug. "And yes. Constantly."

Sara sighed beside me. "Remind me how you ended up with the hottest guy in the school when every other girl is all over him the second he arrives?" A spike of irritation shot through my chest at her comment, and my eyes found the head cheerleader, Sheena, who'd been flirting with Zed since the first day I'd arrived here.

Louisa's face straightened slightly. "Is she really low enough to flirt with another girl's boyfriend?"

Sara winced, eyeing my impassive expression cautiously. "Maybe she doesn't know?"

"Everyone knows about Grace and Zed!" Louisa scowled.

My lips twitched, but I forced myself to keep my face straight. "Relax, Louisa," I muttered. "Zed's perfectly capable of looking out for himself." Unless the Kellys are back in town, a small voice corrected at the back of my mind, but I shook it away quickly before Zed heard.

"Seriously?" she gawped. "You're alright with that?"

I shot Yves a sideways look, making sure he was too absorbed in his conversation with Owen and Niall to hear me. "No," I admitted. "But I'm not making a scene in front of Zed. It'll only go to his head, and everyone knows his ego is plenty big enough as it is."

Louisa blinked in surprise, but my lips twitched again as Zed scowled, muttering something irritably at a persistent Sheena and side-stepping around Alex and Thea to avoid her. Without so much as a glance in her direction, he headed straight toward me, smirking slightly as he drew closer.

"Morning," he grinned, stepping as close as he could. I saw Louisa and Sara share a surprised look, before the only thing I could see was Zed as he kissed me. A thrill rushed through me, and I kissed him back, hoping Sheena was paying attention. He was taken. She could find someone else to run after.

Zed was still smirking when he pulled back, and one look was all it took to know he knew exactly what I was thinking. I scowled pointedly, but he just shrugged a shoulder. Nice to know I'm appreciated, he said telepathically.

Most of the time, I conceded with a roll of my eyes, and he chuckled to himself.

Louisa cleared her throat. "If you're done?" she stared, and Zed gave her an amused look. "We're going to be late for class. Again." She glowered in Zed's direction, like it was his fault, and despite the innocent look he gave her, shrugging a shoulder, we both knew she was right. He'd successfully distracted me every morning this week, and none of my teachers were impressed. Luckily, he was in all of my detentions too.

"She'll be there in a minute," he replied simply, and Louisa groaned, taking Sara's arm and marching off down the corridor, with a bemused Niall, Owen and an exasperated Yves behind her. "She doesn't like me much."

"You're a bad influence," I pointed out dryly. He scoffed. "You can't blame her, Zed. None of them are likely to get it. All they know is that one minute I'm trying my best to avoid you, and the next, I can't get rid of you."

He blinked, smiling slightly. "You make it sound like you're trying."

I stared at him for a minute, as always strangely unaware of anyone else around us. "After everything it took to get you back?" I snorted, somewhat weakly, and his smile wavered. He knew what I was thinking.

"I don't need Faith's help, Grace," he muttered with a small frown. "If I did, I'd have asked a long time ago. I would have done anything to get rid of that feeling. Don't you believe me?"

My breath came a little ragged, and I shifted on the spot, looking away to try and clear my thoughts. "I just don't understand how it got fixed all by itself all of a sudden," I admitted. "You could barely look at me, Zed."

He sighed, moving to block my line of sight again. "You remember on the way back from Vegas? You said you'd be here for a long time?"

My eyes widened a fraction. Heart to hearts with Zed weren't a frequent occurrence, something I'd presumed both of us were more than happy with. I knew for a fact I wasn't the sort to be at all comfortable in those situations. But telling Zed how I felt was one thing. Recapping the conversation a second time was just awkward. Silently, I nodded.

"I figured if you were right, I'd know," he shrugged simply, and it took me a moment or two to catch on.

"You see the future," I breathed, blinking in surprise. "You saw me?"

He smiled slightly. "Grace, you're my soulfinder. I don't need to look too hard. But I thought if I could see you in the future, you couldn't have been dead, and I was certain the only thing Kelly couldn't mess with were premonitions I hadn't had yet."

I blinked, and for a minute, there was complete silence, in which I stared with wide eyes at Zed's face and he threaded his fingers around mine "Why didn't we think of that sooner?"

He laughed slightly, pulling me closer and wrapping his arms around my waist. "I've had this one, over and over again since the first time I saw you here. It's not much, just the two of us here. But you're laughing. You. Laughing. I tried to keep hold of that one thought, but Kelly was too strong, and I couldn't remember if it had already been or it was still supposed to be the future. I was confused."

I hid my face against his shoulder, focusing on keep my breathing steady. But I could feel myself shaking in his hold as I tried to get rid of the sinking, gut-wrenching feeling his words were giving me. If I ever saw Daniel Kelly alive and breathing again, I might have to rectify the problem.

If Zed knew what I was thinking, he didn't let on. Sighing, he leant back and smiled softly at me. "So I looked again," he said simply, and his eyes were shining.

I cleared my throat. "What did you see?"

He grinned and winked. "That'd be telling."

My lips twitched into a barely contained smile, and Zed laughed easily, a sound that made my heart swell. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pressed my lips to his passionately. I love you Zed.

I felt him smile against my lips. "I love you too. And you're not getting rid of me again."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

In that moment, I knew that, despite how far we still had to go and how many people still out to kill us or worse, Zed and I would get through it. It might be a mess, and it definitely wouldn't be easy, but so long as I had him, I knew we'd figure the rest out. Despite everything I ever told Alex, I'd finally found my soulfinder, and I'd never been happier.

I almost pitied the next person that tried to take him from me.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is actually the last chapter in Saving Grace, but there will be a sequel! It's called Forgetting Destiny, and it's set not long after the end of this story. The prologue is posted, so please check it out, and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read this and write a review, it's great hearing your comments ~ HC