A/N: Thanks to Jess for reviewing part one.

x tromana

Part Two - Rich

The music is shit. Then again, he never believed a party at Mini McGuinness' house would actually have some decent tunes to listen to. That would be like going to a football match and expecting them to play anything other than football. Getting his hopes and expectations up would have only lead to disappointment.

Besides, he's not here for the music. Nor the atmosphere. He isn't even here for the booze or drugs.

He's here for one reason and one reason only.

The company.

He watches as Grace weaves her way back to him. Accidentally, she bumps into somebody he doesn't recognise, sloshing a little of her wine over the rim of the glass. The guy turns to give her a mouthful and Rich watches carefully.

If that bastard dares to lay one finger on his girl, then they'd have another thing coming.

However, the anger is soon dissipated. Rich knows he should've expected that. One smile from Grace could melt even the coldest hearted of people. She simply has that effect on people. Always has done and he suspects, always will.

Despite the room being packed with people they barely know, as well as a handful of a few close friends, it doesn't take Grace long to manoeuvre her way through the crowd and back to him. She doesn't even stop to chat to Liv, seemingly she only has one person on her mind.

Him.

That makes him feel like the luckiest man alive. Of all the men at Roundview College she could have chosen to date, it was him she had picked. The hottest fucking girl in the school ending up with the edgy outsider who doesn't want to fit in.

It's the kind of thing that doesn't usually happen in real life, so he cannot help but count his blessings.

She doesn't need to say anything for Rich to know that she's happy and therefore, he is too. Then again, he's always happier when he's around her. There's something about her gentle spirit that just lifts him.

It always does.

Rich hadn't noticed it at first. Or rather, he had chosen to ignore it. She wasn't his type, he'd insisted. Not like the Angel of Death, as Alo had dubbed her.

Once upon a time, he'd been so stuck in his ways. Believed that he shouldn't make sacrifices. That he should purely strive for perfection and if people didn't match up to his very high standards, then they wouldn't be worth it.

Back then, he'd barely regarded Grace as a friend, never mind the potential of being anything else.

How naïve he had been.

That doesn't mean he's willing to make sacrifices in all aspects of his life though. He still believes the government is doing a shit job and that choosing between the three main parties is like choosing between being stabbed, shot or poisoned to death. Nobody is about to persuade him that J.K. Rowling or Stephenie fucking Meyer are actually talented authors he should spend his time and money on. He cannot fucking abide Simon Cowell, the twat, and thinks the man deserves to die a slow and painful death for what he's done to the music industry. The same applies to everybody involved in the making of Glee.

Still he's the happiest he's ever been and right now, nobody can take that away from him.

Grace sits beside him and he allows a lazy hand to run up and down her back. When she rests her head on his shoulder, he cannot help but feel contented.

He's not sure what he's done to deserve this. Everybody else he meets thinks he's either some prepubescent try-hard or a self-opinionated tosser who should learn how to fit into society.

Grace, however, is different. She's accepted him, warts and all, and doesn't care that her friends think she's too good for him. Secretly, he agrees with them, but that doesn't mean he wants to admit it. He wants to savour every moment he gets to spend with her. They're inevitably going to go to different universities and sooner or later, end up drifting apart.

But there's no point regretting the future before it has even happened. The best thing to do is to take each day as it comes. Enjoy what he has before it's snatched away from him.

Eventually, he leans in and brushes his lip against her temple. Almost automatically, she tilts her head upwards and meets his mouth with her own. She swipes her tongue across his lower lip and then she immediately pulls away. There's a devilish expression in her eyes; one that is almost a contradiction to her personality. It's teasing and Rich loves and hates it in equal measures.

Instead, he distracts her with another crushing kiss. This is far better than talking. Far, far better than doing anything else right at this very moment.

She smiles into his kiss and he can't help but reciprocate. The alcohol sits beside the sofa, forgotten. Instead, he chooses to deepen the kiss, not caring who is around him and what they think about public displays of affection.

He loves this young woman and he doesn't care who sees it.

Only a few months ago, he would have loathed this sort of activity. He'd believed it was the kind of thing that should have been left firmly behind closed doors. That there was nothing worse than seeing two people trying to suck each other's faces off. Sure, be in love and be happy and all that shit, but there's no need to rub everyone else's noses in it.

But then again, before now, he's never been in love.

Never understood the urge to feel, to touch, to explore, to experience.

The need to be with that one person and one person only.

Sometimes, it feels like he needs Grace more than he needs oxygen itself. It's not something he quite understands, but right now it doesn't matter. They're together and that's the main thing.

Not that he'd admit to it, but he sometimes likes to daydream about them actually making it. Lasting the distance. Managing to get through university without being pulled in opposite directions. They'd get married, have the most fucking awesome children ever and be happy for the rest of their lives.

Realistically, Rich knows that this is a fool's dream. It's her affect on him. She's the dreamer of the pair of them and he knows it. He's meant to be the jaded, cynical one. But as he feels this happy, this complete, he knows that he never wants it to end.

Mostly because he doesn't know what he'll do when it actually does.