Fing Perfect - S01 E60

Story 4 months ago

Fing Perfect - S01 E60

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 60

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The day Will broke into Grace's house was a blur of chaos for Cal. She frantically called the police while rushing Grace to her own house where they could be safe. The cops responded quickly to the break-in, but Will was no longer in the residence, so a search was conducted throughout the neighborhood. Finally, they caught the bastard hopping fences a few blocks away from Grace's house. Apparently his nose got broken while being tackled during the arrest.

Serves him right...

However, this information was not immediately relayed to Cal who was doing her best to comfort her justifiably hysterical girlfriend. Grace was convinced he would find them, her face streaked with a constant flow of tears, body trembling. Cal's heart broke from seeing the state of her – after all, her worst nightmare had come true. It was an absolute blessing that Cal had arrived and given Grace a chance to escape before...

Well, Cal didn't want to think about what could've happened.

Once Will was arrested, Cal and Grace were driven to the police station for questioning about the incident. The police called Grace's dad to tell him what happened and he immediately left work to drive over. Naturally, he was distraught, though his panicking wasn't necessarily helping Grace's mental state. Cal and an officer calmed him down and they talked through everything that happened.

It was late at night by the time the questioning was over and Will was secured in the county jail. Grace clung to Cal the whole time and Cal did the best she could to just be there for her. She had no idea if what she was doing or saying was right, but all she could offer was her best. Few things seemed to be soothing Grace's paranoia and fear.

Grace's father told his parents about the whole situation and asked them to keep her twin brothers at their place. But that still left him and Grace without a place to sleep – the house was now a crime scene and the brunette obviously wouldn't want to step foot in there now anyway.

So, Cal did the unthinkable. She relied on her mother.

Since her mom knew Grace and her father, she was just honest about the situation and hoped the normally cruel matriarch would be willing to help. And, sure enough, she did. Cal's house had an extra room in the form of Samantha's old bedroom so Grace's dad could stay there. And since Cal was such a "close friend" of Grace, they could both just sleep in Cal's room.

Cal could've nearly collapsed in relief at this news since she had no idea what to do. But sleeping in the same bed was not the romantic ordeal that she had imagined when they started dating. Most of the night was spent with Grace sobbing uncontrollably into her shoulder before falling asleep, waking up violently from a nightmare, and sobbing again.

Cal sacrificed sleep to care for her traumatized girlfriend, terrified that if she nodded off, she wouldn't wake up when Grace had another episode.

Unfortunately, happiness and peace didn't seem to come easily to the two girls. Cal prepared for a long, uncertain road ahead. But one thing was for sure...

She wasn't going to leave Grace on her own.

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Days blended into weeks and by the time Spring Break ended, Grace still wasn't quite ready to return to school. She, her father, and her brothers were returned to their home, but Grace's dad decided that they needed to move promptly.

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So, within a couple of weeks, he secured a new house on the south side of town. It was decently far from Grace's old home (and, by extension, Cal's), but apparently when he suggested moving to another state, Grace was extremely resistant to the idea. She also didn't want to switch schools either, so the family was planning a transportation route for when she was ready to return.

The sun was beginning to set on a Saturday evening as Cal dropped a box onto the floor of the second story in Grace's new house. She let out a sigh, her body tired and sore from a day of helping with the move. She wiped some sweat off of her brow before standing up to prepare to leave for the day.

She'd been helping the family as much as she could, but Grace had been rather distant the entire time. She didn't want to hear about what was going on with Will in court and she didn't want to talk about the break in. Most of her time was spent alone in her room, cuddling her cat, Donut. Even when Cal was at the house, she didn't come out, so Cal always had to go up and ask to be invited in.

It was difficult and lonely, but Cal did her best to focus on supporting her girlfriend. She was recovering from a traumatic event, and only recently, after nearly a month since Will's arrest, her mood was improving from therapy.

Cal would just have to be patient.

"You're still here, Cal?"

Cal turned to see Grace's father, Neil, in the doorway of the nearly empty study she was in. The middle aged man looked older than his years at that moment. Who could blame him? He was a single father trying to deal with a traumatized teenager and two young boys.

"Ah, I was just about to leave," Cal said, taking off her gloves and putting them in her pockets. "Unless you needed some help with something else?"

"No, no," Neil assured her. "You've done so much for us already. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"Well, it's the least I can do with what you guys are going through." Cal replied before changing the subject. She dropped her voice a little lower to prevent Grace from hearing her in the other room. "Have you heard any news on Will?"

"Well, since he surprisingly plead guilty, things are moving fast," Neil answered with a sigh. "I guess that's one stroke of luck we got from all of this. He'll probably be locked up for a while since he's caught a felony."

Cal hummed in response. The stalker was out of there hair for a while, but it still hadn't seemed to ease Grace's anxiety.

"I better get going," Cal stated, moving towards the door of the room.

"You're not going to see Grace before?" Neil asked.

"She hasn't spoken to me all day, so I figured she might want to be left alone," Cal said, trying her best not to sigh in frustration. "I'll text her later."

"Alright, Cal," Neil said. "Drive home safe."

"Will do, thank you, sir."

And with that, Cal walked into the hallway of the second floor. Once she was out of sight and earshot from Grace's father, she rubbed her face, allowing herself to feel the exhaustion in her bones. She'd go home, eat something, take a hot shower...

They were comforting activities, but Cal couldn't help but feel lonely imagining them.

Still, she pulled herself together and moved to descend the stairs. But before she could, she heard the sound of a door creaking open behind her.

"Cal," a small voice called, so quiet that Cal could've mistaken it for the wind.

She turned her head and saw Grace standing in the cracked doorway of her bedroom. Although she'd been confined to the room for the entire day, she had makeup on and was dressed. Her expression was level and controlled, more so than Cal had seen it in a long time.

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"Hey, how are you?" Cal asked softly, turning half around. "I was just about to head home."

"Would you be able to stay a little longer?" Grace asked, her eyes shimmering a little in the somewhat dim light of the hallway.

Cal wasn't necessarily surprised. Although they weren't as clingy and romantic as Cal would've hoped, they still spent a good amount of time with each other. But it was unusual for Grace to initiate contact with Cal first.

Regardless, the tall blonde walked over to the door and Grace stepped aside to let her in. Her room was still unfinished and a bit empty, but her basic furniture – the bed, dresser, vanity, desk, etc – was set up.

There was only a single desk lamp near her bed, so the room was somewhat dim. Cal did what she usually did and made herself at home, plopping on the bed. The softness of the sheets sent her achy, overworked muscles to heaven, and she let out a pleased sigh.

"I see you're trying to get sweat all over my clean comforter," Grace teased.

Cal smiled. Grace hadn't really been joking around or being her usual sarcastic self lately, so hearing those words made Cal nostalgic. The blonde scooted towards the wall on the far side of the bed, patting the space beside her for Grace to come lay in.

"Actually, I have something for you," Grace replied. "Wait right there."

Before Cal could protest, the brunette slipped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind her. Surprised and wondering what could be up, Cal turned to lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.

Usually laying in your girlfriend's bed would be more scandalous, Cal thought.

But holding onto each other on a mattress or couch was now normal for them. Since Grace didn't like to talk as much, her emotions were displayed in the form of crying into Cal's chest. Those episodes had become fewer and fewer now, thankfully, but they still made a habit of silently cuddling.

Cal wondered if it was enough for Grace to want to stay together. It seemed like something always wanted to rip them apart, and Grace's experience of this whole situation could be cause for them to separate again. The thought felt like it was squeezing Cal's heart, so she turned towards the wall, holding onto her sides.

I don't even know if I'm doing the right things for her...

But before Cal could spiral into yet another flurry of doubt and despair, she heard the sound of the bedroom door being opened and shut.

The bed dipped beside her, and Cal could feel Grace's body warmth nearby.

"This is for you," Grace said softly.

Cal finally gathered the energy to flip around, sitting up in the process. What she saw was definitely not what she expected, if she'd been expecting anything at all.

Grace was sitting in front of her holding a piece of cake on a paper plate next to a plastic fork. Atop the cake was a single burning candle, the light of which reflected in Grace's icy blue eyes. The honor student carefully held the plate in front of Cal.

"Happy birthday," she said quietly.

Cal slowly took the plate, staring down at the cake as if it was some foreign object.

"My birthday..." she breathed. "I totally forgot about it."

"I figured you did," Grace admitted, laughing lightly. The sound was like music to Cal's ears - something she hadn't heard in so long from the other girl.

"How did you know?" Cal asked, looking back up at the brunette. "I don't even remember telling you."

"Honestly, I had asked Dana before, you know...all this happened," Grace said, appearing embarrassed. "Apparently you mentioned it to her at some point."

Suddenly, a realization dawned on Cal, and she instantly frowned. "Wait, when is your birthday? Did I miss it already?"

Grace laughed, this time more openly. "No, no. It's in late September. I went to school a year later than most, so I had just turned sixteen when we met."

"Wise beyond your years, eh?" Cal smiled, earning a playful shove from the other girl.

"Well, blow out your candles, birthday girl," she coaxed.

Cal obeyed, blowing out the single candle and denying Grace's offer to sing happy birthday to her. She pulled the candle out and picked up the plastic fork, taking a bite of the cake. She was shocked when a cold feeling spread throughout her mouth, accompanied with a creamy deliciousness.

"Ice cream cake?" Cal asked.

"Yep," Grace replied, seeming proud of her choice. "I always saw you at lunch with vending machine ice cream, so I figured you like it."

"More like love it," Cal said with a smile, digging into the cake. They chatted a little about how the move was going as Cal finished eating her birthday present. When she was done, Grace insisted on taking the plate for her to the trash downstairs.

When Grace returned, she stood against the recently closed door, her expression suddenly somber.

"What's the matter?" Cal asked, wondering if Grace was going to endure another rough spell. But the honor student didn't say anything, clenching her jaw.

Finally, she walked over to the bed and sat next to Cal.

"Look, I just wanted to..." She trailed off as if she was having trouble finding the words to say. Cal reached up to rub her back encouragingly, offering patience as she waited to listen.

"I wanted to apologize for being such a mess lately," Grace finally choked out, but she appeared to resist letting tears fall.

"Grace, you haven't-"

"Let me finish," Grace interrupted. She sighed and took one of Cal's hands, looking the blonde directly in the face. It caused Cal's heart to nearly start beating out of her chest.

"I know I've been a bit cold to you, but I've just been thinking things through and working with my therapist to start...healing from what happened," Grace continued. "But I just...I want you to know that I don't know what I would've done without you. You've been so...perfect through all of this, and I was worried you'd get fed up and leave me."

"I would never leave you because of this, Grace," Cal asserted gently, squeezing her hand. "I understand how difficult it's been for you."

A couple of tears did manage to fall from Grace's eyes, and she rubbed them away. "It has been. But it's over now. Getting calls and texts, worrying if he's watching me, waiting for him to show up at events...it's finally over. And it's time to move on."

They locked eyes again, and Cal felt herself getting lost. She unconsciously started inching her face close to Grace's, but she caught herself and stopped. She'd been scared to make any moves on Grace for the past month – they'd kissed a few times, but they'd been brief and non-spontaneous. As much as Cal craved doing it, Grace's comfort was so much more important.

Grace seemed to notice Cal's hesitation, and she brought a hand up and gently wrapped it around the back of her neck. She pulled the taller girl in, allowing their lips to meet.

As expected, the kiss was soft and slow. But it was still everything Cal could've asked for. All of their worries were drowned out in the moment, all sensations directed towards their bodies' points of contact.

It wasn't too long before they lightly pulled away, keeping their foreheads pressed together. More tears seemed to have fallen from Grace's face, and Cal became worried again. That was, until she heard a faint whisper coming from Grace's mouth.

"...I love you."

Cal grit her teeth, unable to stop her own tears from falling out of her eyes. She felt like she'd been holding her breath to hear those words for some time now. Especially since she'd been wanting to say them herself for longer than they'd been together again.

"I love you, too," Cal whispered back, and they kissed again.

In spite of their rocky past and painful present, Cal believed again in a happy, peaceful future.

Together.