Chapter 2: Waiting for Grace

Rich glanced from Grace to Matty, as nothing happened. His eyebrows furrowed as he willed for her to turn back.

"What's happening? Why isn't anything happening?" He raised his voice, angry at himself for having too much hope for this working. Liv held her breath, as she stared at the glowing light. Matty himself did not say a word, but simply held out his free hand to try to silence Rich.

Rich kicked a chair in his frustration and Alo came to wrap an arm around him to calm him down.

"Shit… Look." Liv's voice broke through Rich's angry and disappointed grumbles. His head snapped in the direction of Grace. She was beginning to glow as well; Matty broke the connection with Mini as they all watched Grace begin to turn back into a proper form.

Slowly her hands were moving, then the orange of her jumpsuit was visible again, then her legs and lastly her beautiful face was visible. She fell down, looking a little disoriented as to what was happening. Liv, Rich and Alo basically pounced on her as they hugged her.

"Ouch," Grace said through muffled laughter. Mini began to cry as she so badly wanted to hug her too. The others slowly began to back off, giving her some space to move.

"So… what exactly happened?" She asked, holding the side of her head. Her eyes widened as she seemed to remember what had exactly happened. She hurriedly turned to Mini and relaxed. "It worked?"

"Yeah." Mini smiled, giving a nod. Grace grinned back and noticed the strange guy in baggy black clothes standing near her. She narrowed her eyes in confusion, but was distracted by Rich being there.

"Sorry," She blushed, as Rich pulled her to her feet. He shook his head and she wondered how angry he would be at her.

"Don't ever, ever do that again." He said, but he smiled with relief at the end of his sentence. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and leant in close to her. She nodded almost obediently with a small smile on her face, before taking his hand in hers. Liv smirked at Alo and Mini let out a loud groan.

"Will you two just fucking kiss already?" Grace laughed, leaning her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. She sighed happily and the others exchanged glances before realizing they should leave.

"You think they're going to…" Mini raised her eyebrows, daring him to finish his sentence. "Well… you know, boink it out?"

"Ugh… FARMBOY!" She yelled, before marching off to the direction of the lockers with a laughing Alo behind her. He quite enjoyed the new-ish nickname she started for him when she had found out the other day that he in fact lives on a farm.

Liv turned to Matty who was looking up at the ceiling and most likely deciding when the best time for him to leave was. Liv smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks for that," She said genuinely, her smile growing wider. He smiled back and shrugged.

"It's alright…" He sighed, giving her a serious look and Liv knew what was coming next. "Do you really not know anything else about him?"

"No… All any of us know is that he can shoot bullets from his finger." She gestured to her own hand to show what she meant. "Don't go doing anything stupid though, Matty."

"Like what?" He asked curiously, his eyes growing larger, as her eyes narrowed.

"You know what I mean. He's dangerous, don't go chasing after him." He shook his head and began to walk away from her.

"He was my brother… I've got to do something." Liv opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it so let him leave. She shook her head and walked in the direction of the locker room.

Liv opened the door and found Alo standing near to Mini, laughing about something. They both glanced around to see Liv and Alo scratched the back of his neck.

"Livster!" He said, grinning. "I was saying we should go out tonight. It's been… shit recently, so yeah, what do you say?"

"I'm down for that." Liv said slowly, flopping down on the bench.

"Did your new hobo friend leave?" Mini asked, trying not to sound too mean.

"He helped Grace… You could be a bit nicer." Mini looked a little taken aback, her eyes widening slightly but she hid it with a twitch of her mouth into a smile.

"Well, tell him I said thank you next time you see him." Mini said, rolling her eyes and walking in the direction of the bathroom.

"That was quick!" Alo stated, as Rich and Grace entered the locker room. Grace crinkled her nose in confusion, as Rich simply gave a mocking laugh.

"Funny." Grace sat next to Liv on the bench, resting her head on her shoulder. Rich went to his own locker to get something.

"So, tonight? Drinks, dancing, getting high, how does that sound?" Alo asked, swinging an arm around Rich's shoulders.

"Uhh… That sounds like my nightmare." He grumbled, but smiling over at Grace as she looked over at him.

"Well… maybe your missus will disagree with you." Rich groaned as Grace turned her attention to Alo and grinned.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Alopops!" Rich motioned cutting his neck before throwing his head back in annoyance, but Grace simply giggled.

"Hi Dad," Grace smiled, as she entered her house. She paused as she saw her Dad standing by the stairs with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at her.

"Two days and all you say is hi?" He asked in a flat tone, but it was obvious that his anger was building. She bit her lip as she realized she hadn't been home in a while.

"Oh, right… Sorry -"

"Oh right?" He asked, repeating her again, so Grace couldn't help but sigh. "Your mother and I have been worried about you. These texts are not sufficient for staying away from us for such a long time."

"Texts?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing. He paused, narrowing his eyes at her and she finally figured Liv or Mini must have texted her Dad pretending to be her to stop him from worrying. Good thinking, she thought. "I'm really, really sorry, Daddy. I'll ring next time."

"There will not be a next time." She shook her head slightly, knowing what would come next. "Because you are grounded until you finish your community service."

He looked and sounded disgusted by the words 'community service' and went to turn away. Grace made her best pleading face and pulled on his arm.

"Dad, please! You can't ground me, I'm not little anymore. I'm eighteen…" She said, her voice getting louder and angrier anymore. He shook his head continuing to walk away to the living room where the news was on. She stood there for a little while, trying to make herself cry hoping it would convince her father to give her a second chance. How was she supposed to go out tonight or spend any time with Rich at all if she was to be grounded?

'Three young male bodies were found in a dumpster just outside Bristol's city centre early this morning. All were shot once in the head and it is thought to be part of a gang killing. Confirmation of who these boys were is still pending.'

Grace was reminded of Nick as she heard the newsreader talking about the recent killings. As she saw her father paying her no attention, she sighed and walked up the stairs to her room. She took out her phone and texted Rich:

Think I might need a tiny bit of help getting out of here tonight x

"Bill! Bill!" He woke up from his light snooze due to the persistent shouts from his wife.
"Yes?" He shouted back, but she didn't reply so he sighed getting to his feet. He waddled over to the dining room where she was sitting and knitting. "Yes?"

"Oh… there you are." She winced, as she peered over at him over her glasses. "Could you make me a cuppa?"

"Oh, alright." He sighed, not bothering to say she had woken him up for she would probably get mad. She smiled and he walked slowly over to the kitchen. After turning the kettle on, he looked outside the window into their garden. It was a bit dark, so it was difficult to see but he was sure something wasn't quite right.

"Margaret!" He shouted and he received a muffled 'Hmmm' in reply. "What's happened to that bloody big gnome?"

"For the last bleeding time, it's a statue!" She responded. He tsked at her before opening the back door and walking down further into the garden, ignoring the eerie feeling he felt inside him.

"H-hullo?" He asked dimly, staring at the spot where the statue had previously been. He scratched his head as he pondered this case. He muttered to himself, "Must be hooligans…"

He turned to leave, but he bumped into someone. He gasped as he found a man blocking his path.

"Hello," The man said, before showing his sparkling white teeth.

A/N: WOW, this is the most boring chapter ever, but it's just supposed to be a filler anyway! I'll explain the last section of this chapter in the A/N for the next chapter :)

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