Chapter 31 - Together Again

One week later…

There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that the past few days had been utterly rough for me, and when I say rough, I mean I felt as if a thousand nails were clawing through my face, which felt even worse knowing that Gracie wasn't around to comfort me, and yes, I was still upset, even though I felt guilty for being so. I mean, I got the impression that for Iggy and Larry, the plane ride home was tedious because now that I thought about it from a different perspective, I felt that for the entire nineteen hour long journey, I had done nothing but whine about the fact that my girlfriend wasn't here anymore and even now, I had to admit that that was a lot to endure for one hour, let alone nineteen.

Also, I remembered the last evening in Australia quite vividly. For starters, Larry had tried to cheer me up by sharing those leftover M cookies he brought into the jungle for me and watching stand-up comedy compilations to try and make it like a guy's night in. I had to admit that I loved the experience because I thought it was sweet that Larry was trying to help me, and at least it made me smile…well, for about thirty seconds. That had to be one of the only times I showed Larry happiness during the run-up to going home, and it was degrading and stupid that I couldn't not have my mind on Gracie for at least two hours. That all but screamed in my face how much of a pathetic person I was.

To make matters worse, all I felt like doing was sitting on the sofa staring at my phone and watching all the videos of the I'm A Koopa trials that had been uploaded to YouTube, especially the trials where me and Gracie interacted with each other. I had to keep on telling myself, "Come on, you know you love her and you want to see her, but this is not good for you! You'll become even more of a snotty mess than you already are!" but of course I wouldn't listen to my own conscience, even though my conscience was correct. I ended up spending hours and hours of sobbing over watching those trial videos over and over again. Jeez, I really did actually enjoy that experience much more than I thought…

At one point in a video, there was a frame where Gracie glanced right into the lens of one of the cameras and I couldn't help but pause the video and take a moment to stare at her beautiful face, which was when something came to me. I might not see her again in person, but I sincerely doubted that these trial videos were going to be taken down for whatever reason, so I could still get a vivid picture of what Gracie looked like occasionally, but that didn't stop me from feeling down in the dumps, of course not.

Just then, I saw an incoming video call from Larry on my phone and a little bit of me felt irritated because the notification bar covered Gracie's face in the video I was watching, but at the same time, at this point, I needed a friend to talk to, so after a couple of seconds of thinking, I closed down the video and accepted the call.

"Hey, Lud." Larry said, his face immediately contorting to sympathetic concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

I slowly sighed and leant my head against a cushion on the sofa. "No… I'm sorry, but I still haven't gotten over Gracie yet." I was expecting Larry to groan in annoyance, but instead, he frowned and sighed.

"Still wishing she was with you, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah… I don't know what to do with myself. I've been snacking all the time, crying at the most random times, watching videos and getting about three hour's sleep every night. I want this all to stop. I want to be happy again with Gracie at my side, but I know she's not here anymore, so…I just want to be cheered up in some other way." I choked back a sob. "But I don't know how…"

"Oh, damn, I'm sorry." Larry said. "I wish there was some way to help you, but I don't really know anything either. Maybe…I don't know, try doing something that brings you pride and joy? Or…something that keeps your brain busy?"

I sighed. "I know a few things, but I feel too depressed to even move…" This time, I wished I had never even said anything at all because Larry let out an exclaim of exasperation.

"Oh, come on! Seriously, that's putting it on a bit, don't you think? And just…just take my advice for crying out loud! You're in the exact same state as you were when you lost your mom!"

I let out a gasp and hatred at the camera in shock before whispering, "You seriously think that's going to help? Bringing up somebody else I loved too much before they left me… How could you?" I sniffled back a few tears that were welling in my eyes. "How can you practically tell me to pull myself together and then give me a reminder of how lonely I actually am?!" I placed my phone on the coffee table so Larry wouldn't see me bury my face in a cushion and cry.

There were a few seconds of silence before I finally heard Larry's voice on the other end. "Lud, I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to burst out like that. I just want you to stop being upset and depressed because I hate seeing you like this…"

I allowed a shaky breath to escape my mouth and I wiped my eyes, relieved that Larry wasn't deliberately trying to make me feel worse. "I know…but I just can't get over it in two seconds! I've just got to be given some time…"

"I know you can't, but you've been given at least a week! You're being given the opportunity to make yourself feel better, but instead you're using it to lie around, not do anything and stay in the same place for hours at a time. It's also making you focus too much on the people who aren't here, when really, you should focus on the people who are here. I'm here, Jesse and Jordan are here because we're your friends and we'll always be supportive of you. Now, I feel like you need some true company. Do you think you have the ability to crawl off that sofa and come over to mine?"

I took a moment to think about what Larry had just said and I gazed back into the camera and slowly nodded. "Yeah…I think I do." I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose before taking a deep breath and turning back to my phone. "Okay…I'm ready to come over now. I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

Larry nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll put the kettle on for you, and whatever you do, just take your time, I don't mind."

I finally managed to crack the smallest of smiles and nodded acknowledgingly before hanging up and getting myself ready to leave the house.

…

I stood outside the door of Larry's house, waiting for the door to open with my feelings all over the place. Part of me was feeling exhausted from grieving so much over the loss of my girlfriend, part of me was hopeful that Larry was going to accept my emotions and not blow up at me in the way he did when we were on call mere minutes ago. Most of all, I was surprisingly grateful that I still had a few friends despite all the complaining I had done for the past few days. I was jolted out of my thoughts when Larry opened the door smiling.

"Hey, come on in." he said, beckoning, and I stepped into the hallway. "Fancy a tea with milk and two sugars just how his royal highness would like it?" He grinned mischievously, which made me chuckle a little.

"You know me so well…"

I had to admit, I had no idea how fun this guy's afternoon in was going to be until I had finished my cup of tea and had a lighthearted chat with Larry because that was when he said, "Right, cups down. We're doing some Wii Sports."

"Wait what?" I asked in surprise. "I thought we were just having a chat or something."

Larry chuckled. "Well, it's surprising how your friends can surprise you isn't it?"

It certainly was. I actually ended up loving playing the different sports in the game, but in truth, we only ever played the training levels because I knew full well that Larry was obsessed with performing so well during all the levels that he would earn platinum medals, which were the highest rank a player could achieve in a level. First off, Larry kept on raging at the 'Returning Balls' level in tennis because when he swung the remote, his character kept on performing weird but unsuccessful attempts to hit the ball, causing him to lose his streak, and he kept on trying to persuade me that he was better at this in real life.

Eventually, we decided to go two player mode in the 'Batting Practice' and the 'Hitting Home Runs' baseball levels, which was even funnier because in Batting Practice, you have to hit the ball successfully thirty times in a row in order to earn a platinum medal and on my thirtieth hit on my first round, I missed the ball and lost my streak, which was hilarious but infuriating at the same time.

After a few rounds, we were both quite tired, so we slumped down on the sofa and I stared blankly out the window, but that was when I saw something, or to be more specific, someone I recognised and loved, and for a moment, I had to rub my eyes and find out whether I was seeing things or not.

"Lud, are you okay?" Larry asked. "You're staring out the window quite a lot."

"Yeah, I'm fine…" I replied, my eyes wide. "I've just got to go outside for a minute. I'll be back." and with that, keeping my eyes on the person at all times, I edged my way towards the door and walked out onto the pebbled driveway.

As I saw the person, the girl to be exact, get clearer and clearer, I felt my heart beating faster and faster, for this was somebody who, multiple times, I had thought that I would never see her again. Oh my god… I thought I was going to have a heart attack at how overwhelmed I was. I just had to get her attention. Her pretty face and beautiful teal hair were what I desperately wanted to kiss right now.

"GRACIE!" I shouted across the road, hoping, just hoping that she would hear me, and the moment she looked at me, she stopped, stared, then began running along the pavement towards me, and she didn't stop until I was holding her tight in my arms.

"Oh my god, Ludwig!" she exclaimed, starting to cry with joy. "What are you doing here? How…how..?"

"I live here in Quinstone!" I laughed, still holding her. "Please tell me you live near me too!"

Gracie broke away from the hug and put her hands on my shoulders. "I've just moved to the area. I lived in Stormcreek, but I hated it there so we moved here and now I'm so happy we did because now I know that I'm near you…" she took a moment to catch her breath from talking so fast and wiped her face. "I'm starting at your school next week, by the way, isn't that great?!"

"I know!" I exclaimed, feeling as if my heart was about to burst. I wrapped Gracie up in an embrace again, stroking her hair and back as I did so, and I whispered gently into her ear, "I'm so happy, Gracie… I never thought I'd see you again and honestly, there's no place I'd rather be right now… I love you so much…"

Gracie rested her forehead on mine, her stunning turquoise eyes staring into mine. "I love you too…"

AN: And it's finally done! I never thought this story would take so long to write, but I'm so proud of myself that I have officially completed my second fanfiction, and possibly, just possibly the longest one I'm going to write in this series. Also, it's funny how the show I dedicated this story to is starting this year's series in 11 days and I feel like I've got it finished on time lol. I really hope you guys enjoyed this story, and if you did, then favourite and follow me for more! Thank you all for your support! :D