A/N: 

Hi guys, sorry for the missed update yesterday, I was dealing with a family emergency. 

However, this is one of my favorite chapters in the story so far, so enjoy :)

-Tera

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The closer they drew to Grace's house, the faster her heart started being, to the point that she was sure it would simply jump out of her chest. She hadn't exactly intended on telling her father about Will tonight, but Cal's offer to wait for her proved to be the most comforting scenario.

Grace wasn't sure why exactly the thought of telling her father scared her so much. Maybe it was having to see her father worry. Maybe it was facing the consequences of his overprotectiveness. Or maybe it was just having to voice the situation out loud to someone who was already involved in it – as if speaking about it truly made the whole thing real.

Regardless, the longer she waited, the more Will would try to get close to her. And she had no idea what her old childhood friend was even capable of – she didn't want to know. Plus, he might actually be angry that Grace told his parents about the previous incidents. She shuddered to think about how he might want to get revenge.

Cal seemed to notice Grace spiraling into her thoughts, and the transfer student lightly squeezed her hand. They'd been holding hands the entire car ride, more out of comfort than romantic affection. Cal's touch and presence were really helping Grace stay in her right mind – she was glad that she gave into her instincts earlier and insisted on meeting.

Eventually, they entered Grace's neighborhood and pulled up to her house. Cal parked the car on the curb beside the front lawn, then she turned to look at Grace. She placed her hands on the brunette's cheeks, looking into her eyes.

"You can do this," Cal told her firmly, but gently. "This will make everyone safer."

Grace nodded slightly and sighed. "I know. I don't know why I'm being such a baby about this."

"You're not. This is a serious situation, so it makes sense that it's hard to talk about."

Grace smiled lightly, warmed by Cal's encouragement. The tall girl's green eyes sent a wave of calm throughout Grace, as if she was looking through a quiet forest.

"Thank you, Cal."

Cal smiled. "I'll be here when you're done. If you can't come out to meet me, then just text me."

Grace nodded, and Cal released her hands from her face. Sparing one last glance between the two, Grace opened the passenger door and stepped out. In spite of the cold, bitter air, Grace found herself sweating as she walked up her house's driveway to the front door.

Stepping in, the warmth of a heated home was almost too much for her, and she almost wanted to run back outside as quickly as possible. Closing the door behind her, she heard chatter in the living room and the sound of the TV.

Grace headed further inside, hanging up her coat and placing her backpack on a dining room chair. She peered into the living room where her father and brothers were watching a baseball game.

They look so happy, Grace thought, her mouth dry. But she took a deep breath. No more dodging the issue...the problem wouldn't go away just because her father was in a good mood.

Hearing Grace's footsteps, her dad turned his head from the TV and smiled at her.

"Welcome home," he greeted, "you're awfully late."

Grace sighed. "I told you I was out with a friend."

"Yeah, I know."

"Hi Grace!" her brothers said quickly in unison before rapidly turning their attention back to the TV.

"Hey, boys," Grace replied, though not with the usual vigor.

Her father smiled, but the happy expression faded as he noticed Grace's nervous energy. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Grace nearly broke down right there, but she needed to hold it together while her brothers were in the room. "Dad, can I talk to you real quick?"

Her father immediately seemed to read the situation, and he quickly stood up and wrapped an arm around Grace's shoulders. "Of course!"

They went upstairs to Grace's room. The two of them sat side-by-side on Grace's bed, and Grace was reminded of all the talks they had in this exact place. From the time Grace got in a fight with her best friend in elementary school to the many times she broke down after her mother's death. Grace had always found her father to be the most comfortable one to talk to, even when her mom was still alive.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?"

Her dad's gentle voice immediately caused tears to fall from Grace's eyes. She buried her face in her hands, and she could sense her father's surprise. He placed a hand on her back for comfort.

"Hey, come on, Grace, what's wrong?" The worry in her dad's tone was sharper now.

Grace did her best to collected herself and sniffed, lifting her head once more. "Dad, I had something to tell you. I should've told you earlier, but I was just scared."

Her father watched her expression patiently. "Oh, honey, you know you can tell me anything."

Grace wiped away a tear from her cheek with her sleeve. "I know, I just..."

Silence fell on the two as Grace gathered all the words she needed to say, and her father waited patiently for her. Finally, Grace mustered the gall to just spit it out.

"Dad...Will is back."

There was another wave of silence, but this one was far more tense as her father took in what she said. His arm dropped from her back.

"What?" he asked, confused. "Do you mean that Will?"

Grace nodded, unable to look her father in the eyes. "He's been texting me and calling me from a bunch of different numbers."

"You didn't respond to him, did you?"

"Of course not!" Grace said, a bit sharply. She calmed herself down and sighed. "I block every number, but he keeps finding ways to contact me."

"How long has this been going on?"

The question that Grace was dreading to hear.

"...almost two months."

Her father was silent, and Grace braced herself for the barrage of scoldings. However, they never came, and when she looked up, her dad looked far more troubled than angry. He returned her gaze, a look of heartbreaking sadness in his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me, Grace?" he asked quietly.

Grace swallowed, trying not to burst into tears. "Because, you've been so busy with work and you've been in a good mood and I was just scared of things changing. There's been so much going on and I guess I've been trying to ignore the whole thing because I just don't know if I can handle it."

In spite of the rambly nature of her answer, her father took it all in solemnly. "Have you told anyone about this, yet?"

"I told...a few close friends," Grace answered. "They've been looking out for me."

Her dad sighed. "Well thank God for that, at least."

Grace bit her lip, knowing that if she was going to talk about Will, she'd have to explain everything that happened. "That's...not all."

"What?" her father asked, concern heavy in his voice.

"You...you remember that house party I went to a month or so ago?" Grace asked.

Her father nodded, not seeming to like where this was going.

"Well...the reason I was so upset at that party was..." Grace gathered up her courage to speak the words that needed to be said. "Will, he...I saw him there."

Now her father was concerned. He grabbed Grace's shoulders, forcing her to face him. "Grace, you saw him? Did he say anything to you? Did he do anything? God, if he so much as-"

"No, Dad," Grace interrupted him before he could explode. "I just caught a glimpse of him and ran outside. Then...a friend stayed with me and calmed me down."

Her dad seemed a little relieved, but still not calm in the slightest. "What is he doing back here? Oh, Grace, I told you we should've got that restraining order!"

"I know," Grace agreed softly.

Noticing Grace's vulnerability, her father swallowed his rants, and pulled her into a tight hug. Grace was a bit surprised at first, but she melted into the hug, grateful for her father's comfort. The smell of his usual cologne brought back memories of Grace's childhood every time she ever caught wind of it, and she allowed herself to sink into those memories for just a few moments.

"Grace, I know this is scary, but thank you for telling me," her father began. "I know I can be a bit rash, but let's try and figure this out together. I want to get you a restraining order as soon as possible. He's an adult now, so I don't know how much contacting his parents will do, but I'll do whatever it takes."

Her father pulled away from the hug, but kept his hands wrapped around her upper arms, looking her in the eye. "If anything else happens, you need to tell me. And I know you don't like it, but we're going to have to lay out some restrictions. For your own safety."

"But, Dad-"

"No buts. I won't be able to sleep at night knowing that something could happen to you because I didn't watch over you enough." Grace's father's voice was almost wavering, and the sound of it prevented the honor student from arguing. His eyes were desperate, the eyes of a man who had lost before and was terrified to lose again.

"Okay," she finally replied.

He sighed, releasing her arms. "It's just until this whole situation blows over. And I will get it fixed."

Grace nodded, and her father stood up, offering her a hand. She took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

"Now, let's go join the boys," he said. "I'll be making phone calls about this first thing in the morning."

"Uh, one more thing, Dad," Grace said before he could lead the way out the door. He turned to look back at her. "Well... you know how I said that I told some friends about this whole...situation?"

"Yeah?" He turned to face her and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well...I was really scared to tell you about all this...so one of my friends offered to wait outside while I talked to you. So I was hoping I could go see her off."

As expected, her father didn't look so pleased with that. "Sure, you can see her off, but she has to come up to the door and meet me first."

"Oh, okay, nevermind, I'll just text her to leave."

"Grace." Oh god, not that stern fatherly tone. Grace immediately regretted telling him about this – how embarrassing was it for Cal to have to meet her dad? Especially her dad!

But still, she understood how her father was on edge after everything she told him. And if he met Cal, maybe he would trust her enough to let Grace hang out with her in the future. Grace could only hope that this whole ordeal didn't scare her off.

"Alright," Grace sighed.

"That's my girl," her father smiled, much to Grace's annoyance.

They made their way down to the front door and her father watched through the screen as she walked down the driveway to Cal's car, still parked on the curb. Grace couldn't fight the embarrassment bubbling up within her, and she hoped she could convince Cal to just drive off.

Approaching the driver's side door, the window rolled down to expose Cal's face.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Cal asked, obviously concerned.

"It actually went pretty well," Grace said, bending down to be at eye level. "Um, so, I came to see you off, but my dad started getting all annoying, saying how he wants to meet you or whatever."

Cal looked a bit taken back. "You didn't tell him that we're-"

"No, of course not!" Grace exclaimed, horrified. "I just said you're a friend."

Cal raised an eyebrow teasingly. "Just a friend, huh?"

Grace slapped her shoulder through the window. "Enough! Now drive away quickly before he comes out here!"

"No, I'll come say hi," Cal replied, much to Grace's shock. The blonde opened the door and stepped out, ready to go. She didn't look bothered at all by the prospect.

"What? No! My dad's super embarrassing!"

Cal chuckled a little. "Every girl says that about her dad. Come on."

Before Grace could stop her, the taller girl was heading up the driveway to the front door where her father was still standing. Grace ran after her quickly, terrified at what would transpire.

When Cal was close, Grace's father stepped outside, closing the screen door behind him. "Hello, I heard you're Grace's friend?" He held out a hand to Cal, and Grace was dangerously close to dying of embarrassment.

Cal took his hand and smiled at him. "Hello, sir. My name's Cal."

"You can call me Neil," her father replied. Once they released hands, he looked her up and down in a swift movement, his hands on his hips. "You're quite tall, aren't ya?"

The two of them stood at about the same height, though Grace's father wasn't a particularly tall man in the first place. About average height.

"Dad!" Grace yelled, mortified.

"Oh, calm down," her father said, looking over at her. "You're acting all embarrassed like you're introducing me to your boyfriend or something."

Grace and Cal both blushed, taken aback, and Cal coughed into her closed fist as if she was trying hard to regain her composure. Her father looked between the two of them, gauging their reactions, and Grace really didn't like where this was going.

"Alright, Dad, you've met her, so go back inside before I have to disown you!" Grace herded her father through the door, ignoring his protests.

"Alright, alright," he said. "It was nice to meet you, Cal! Please take care of my daughter!"

Before Cal could even respond, Grace slammed the front door, leaving them in silence again.

Hoping the earth would rise up and swallow her whole, Grace turned back to Cal who had this irritatingly amused expression on her face.

"I'm really sorry about that," Grace apologized.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Cal laughed. They began to walk down the driveway towards Cal's car. "Though I guess it's a bit nerve-wracking, meeting the father and all that."

"Shut up," Grace groaned.

Walking around to the driver's side door, which was faced away from the house, Cal climbed into her car, leaving the door open. She sat sideways on the seat so she was facing Grace, then reached to grab one of Grace's hands in her own.

"So, everything really went okay?" she asked.

"Yes, even a little better than I thought," Grace replied. "Though my dad's probably going to make up some strict rules for me, so I might not be able to hang out with you outside of school for a while."

Cal smiled up at her. "It's a bummer, but I understand."

Grace shifted her feet a little, recalling back to when her father mentioned a boyfriend. The whole issue with defining their relationship came into her mind again.

"Cal?" she asked, before she could really stop herself.

"Hm?"

"Are we...you know..." Crap, this is embarrassing. "a couple?"

Cal blushed a little, but broke out in a wide smile. "A couple of what?"

"Oh my God, stop, you know what I mean!" Grace retorted, blushing furiously.

"Nope, you'll need to be clearer so there are no misunderstandings," Cal insisted.

Grace was furious, but she was too far along to back out now. "Am I...you know...your girlfriend?"

Cal smiled so wide that Grace wondered if her face would get stuck like that. "Do you want to be?"

"...yes."

Cal leaned forward and pulled her into an awkward hug where her face was pressed against Grace's stomach. "Then yes, you are. And I'm your's."

Although extremely embarrassed by this whole predicament, Grace's heart pounded with happiness, and she leaned down her wrap her arms around Cal's head. All of Grace's worries about being in a relationship seemed to drift away, and all she could think about was wanting to be together with Cal. The whole thing seemed surreal.

They pulled away after a minute, but Cal didn't waste a second before pulling Grace down by her arm and kissing her. Although brief, the kiss was more passionate than Grace expected, and it was becoming difficult to will herself back up to her house.

"Cal," she muttered between kisses, "I've got to go."

Cal separated their lips, but moved to press her cheek against Grace's, her hand holding the back of the girl's head. "Call me if you need anything," Cal whispered into Grace's ear, lighting the brunette's face on fire.

Grace pulled away, straightening up, and Cal smile at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said.

"Yeah...see you tomorrow."