ohnofeelings | ;we are never ever ever getting back together

[Emma swings her own legs up onto the bed, sitting cross-legged so that she can face Grace head-on. She almost thinks about feigning surprise at the revelation, but instead gives a tiny half-smile.

You didn't have her fooled for a second.]

Yeah, I thought that might be the case. You guys always seem to forget that I have a knack for telling when people are lying.

So. Tell me about this date.

[Grace forgets this because she's used to being able to get out of trouble. Not that she's in trouble now. She hopes not, anyway.]

There's this guy who's a year ahead of me named Andrew.

[She bites the inside of her cheek for a moment before continuing.]

I thought I really liked him, so when he asked if I wanted to go to see a movie with him, I didn't hesitate. I said yes. So I went to Gretel's and got ready there and he picked me up. It was okay at first. We got something to eat beforehand but once we were in the theatre and the lights were out, he immediately asked me if I wanted to make out.

[Emma squints a little bit. Bad move, Andrew. She can understand why Grace would want to keep this a secret from her father, though. She'd guessed as much ahead of time, when she'd originally suspected there might be a date involved. Emma had chosen not to share those suspicions at the time -- and that's how it was going to stay, from the looks of it.]

Classy guy. Didn't even pretend to want to watch the movie and try the old arm-stretch around the shoulders trick?

[Kids these days. Giving up on the classics.

Okay, not the point.]

So what happened? You told him 'no,' right?

No, he just flatout asked, like he was expecting it.

[She's getting worked up again, but for good reason. She wouldn't have wasted her night on this guy had she known he was actually a jerk.]

I said no and he got offended. He took me out, it's the least I can do. If I won't kiss him, how about a handjob? No? [She mimics a guy's tone.] Why the hell am I even taking you out, Grace? You know Sandy Brown blew me as soon as the commercials started last week!

[As she says all of this, she starts speaking with her hands and tosses a throw pillow across the room.]

I'm sorry for the language, but that's what he said to me. First five minutes into the movie and all of this happens. As much as I wanted to punch him and just walk back here, I made him drive me home because he didn't want to do it.

Edited 2013-02-22 09:37 (UTC)

[Now that was a mistake on this Andrew kid's part. The shift in Emma's expression is sudden as it goes from concerned to absolutely murderous. Making out -- okay. It was rude, and it was overstepping his boundaries, but it was also something that was, unfortunately, to be expected of most teenage boys. Emma had already assumed he would be trying to push Grace to do something more than she was ready for, and she had been prepared to be pissed about it, but she didn't think he would go that far.

Well. High school boys sure were bold these days, weren't they.

She snorted angrily, folding her arms over her chest.]

Good on you for saying no, but you should have called me. You know I would have come to get you. You didn't have to spend a second longer with that creep if you didn't want to.

Tell me where he lives.

[She's going to slash his tires.]

[Grace thought of that when it happened, she really did. But she couldn't bring herself to call home at the time and have to not only admit that she lied about where she went, but that something so terrible had happened. Something that could've been avoided if she was honest to begin with.

Even if she's come clean now, the dignity she's lost from this is still gone.]

I didn't want to bother you. I figured you might've had plans to go out anyway since Henry and I were supposed to be gone and stuff.

[She sighs and looks down at the floor. Hello, purple rug on top of the carpet. You look really pretty. Let's fixate on you like you're the most interesting thing to look at ever.]

Why? What are you going to do?

[Don't do anything that'll embarrass her.]

Everything's already said and done. It's probably just best to leave it as it is.

[Unless he's one of those jerks who'll lie about what happened to shame her reputation. Ugh.]

[More like plans to stay in, but Emma is now too invested in this problem to care much about having been interrupted. They would make it up later on. Her priority at the moment was making sure Grace was all right, and making sure this kid got taught some kind of lesson -- and to manage both of those things without Jefferson finding out.

His reaction was likely to be a lot more violent than hers.]

No, this is not over. Guys like him? They'll say anything to look good in front of their friends. I'm not letting him get away with making you feel like that and then dragging your name through the mud afterwards. He needs to know that there is nothing okay about what he did.

[She grimaces, shifting her weight on the bed.]

Well. I'm not going to talk to his parents or anything that might embarrass you, if that's what you're worried about.

[Maybe just some gentle vandalism.]

[Grace looks so unsure. Even if Emma doesn't go talk to his parents, what would she even do? What if it still gets out that something happened because of her? Word travels fast so it wouldn't be entirely impossible that the people who don't need to know anything find out. She just wants this to be over before anything else happens, because the potential for things to get bad is there.

But she doesn't want her reputation ruined. She doesn't concern herself too much with other people think of her, but it would be a lie to say it didn't matter at all. She wouldn't like being ostracised at school or something like that. That would be horrid. This definitely means she won't be saying yes to any dates for a long time, if ever, though.]

I just don't want there to be anymore trouble than there has to be. And I don't want people to know anything even happened involving me either way. If we just ignore it, it'll go away. Maybe he'll be decent enough for that.

Please. Don't do anything dumb.

Dumb? Do you not trust me at all?

[She raises an eyebrow in question. The situation is serious, but a little sass and sarcasm isn't unusual between the two of them. Helps to ease the tension some. Every little bit helps, right?]

Honey. I know it's nice to think he'll be decent enough not to say anything, but in my experience? Most guys don't have much in the way of decency.

[Family members excluded -- and even then, she and Jefferson weren't exactly a typical "boy meets girl" kind of couple.]

If you really don't want me to, I won't do anything. I'll respect your wishes. But I don't want to see you suffer because this guy decided to be an asshole.

[She'll be frank with you, Grace.]

If you want to come with me, you can help me put a brick through his windshield. Would you like that?

[Is she kidding? We don't know. We just don't know.]

Edited 2013-02-22 21:19 (UTC)

[She huffs. Of course she trusts her. The only person she trusts more than Emma is her father. It's just that this is a delicate situation and she's possibly too nice for her own good. Being mean to this guy isn't going to change what happened. She's angry and wants nothing to do with him ever again, but she doesn't feel particularly vengeful.

Okay, maybe a little.

But if she does anything, she knows she's just going to feel bad for it later.]

I'd rather not. I've never had good aim anyway.

[That's a fib.]

But look. You're--you're my mother. So I can't tell you what to do. I just don't what to know about it. And. I don't want Papa to know about any of this, either. A draft slammed the front door and I tripped up the stairs or something.

[If Grace was looking carefully, she might have seen that Emma looked momentarily startled when she said the word 'mother.' It wasn't unusual for Grace to refer to her as 'Mama,' but now and then, she couldn't help being a little bit touched by the fact that 'stepmother' didn't seem to be a part of Grace's vocabulary.

She exhales slowly, shaking her head.]

He's not going to hear a word about this. I just want to make sure that jerk isn't able to do anything else to hurt you. But as for you?

[She smiles grimly.]

I know it's easier said than done, but the best thing you can do right now is to be the better person. That works out pretty well, seeing as that's something you're damn good at. But I'll handle putting the fear of God into this kid.

[Or worse, the fear of Emma.]

[She misses it, which is possibly a good thing. Seeing Emma startled about that would've startled her too, simply because, Emma why would that startle you? Don't answer that. Their lives are already complicated enough.]

Okay, thank you.

[It's not only that she doesn't want Jefferson to get mad, she wants to protect him from knowing that, yanno, she's not a ten year old girl anymore. ...Ok, so she's celebrated birthdays so everyone has to know, but that's beside the point.]

That's what I'll do. I'd really feel bad otherwise and I don't want that on me. I didn't do anything wrong.

[Apart from the part where she lied about where she was going and who she was seeing, but minor details.]

Are we done?

Not quite.

[Emma cringes slightly. She hates this part, but it's necessary.]

You're grounded for a week for lying about where you went. Next time, tell me. I don't mind you going on dates, and I'll keep your dad out of the loop, but something a hell of a lot worse could have happened to you tonight. I need to know where you are. I'm proud of you for saying no and for walking away from the situation, so to speak, but I'd be a pretty lousy parent if I let this one slide.

[...Darn it. So close. She does feel bad about that, ok? Look at her face. Look at that sad look she's giving you. Pleeaaaase don't make her be in trouble?

Or did this stop working years ago?]

Okay. I understand. I promise it won't happen again. I did learn a valuable lesson tonight. [Le sigh.] What exactly am I grounded from?

[Emma puts her hands up in defense, though at least Grace seems to be taking it well. That's a plus.

Sorry, kid, that face stopped working as soon as you were old enough to think sneaking out on dates was a good idea. Welcome to womanhood, you need to find other ways to get what you want, and none of the potential options are going to work on your mother.

Not that you're getting free reign to use feminine wiles. Keep those under lock and key for awhile, okay?]

No phone, and you're housebound for a week. Come straight home after school, no detours. As an added bonus, I'll let you choose the crime we actually tell your father you're grounded for.

[Because obviously, he's going to notice.]

[Okay, that doesn't sound too bad. She'll just have to talk really fast to her friends between classes and en route to and from school to make up for lost time. Though by the sound of it, she still has computer access so if there is some sort of existential crisis she has, her gals are just one skype call away.

But picking her own misdeed? That's a tough one. Because it has to be something believable and something worthy of the punishment. This would be easier to do if she actually got in trouble often.]

I got a D on my trig test?

[Good luck sneaking those skype calls past Emma -- there will be an addendum to the grounding if you keep trying to work your way around it, young lady.

Emma raises a brow at her choice. Well, it wasn't exactly creative, but it would do the trick. Grace rarely did poorly in school. It was probably decent grounds for punishment. At the very least, it was something to work with. She could convince her husband it was legitimate, she was sure.]

Anything in the world, and that's what you picked, huh? Fair enough. That's our story, we'll stick to it.

[Then she can take the time to type everything out on a messenger client or school email. That'll just take longer. There's no reason to even consider extending her punishment, okay.]

I can't think of any other possibility that he would believe.

[This would be stretching it, too. Just don't go checking her grades online and see she hasn't made anything below a B- in that class.]

I guess I should study harder, huh?

You've got it, kid. And get that trig homework done before computer or TV, or else he won't buy it.

[Emma smirks at her in reply -- that disclaimer isn't really needed. Grace has never had a problem with homework, thankfully.]

As far as excuses go, it'll do. Now, promise. Next time you're going out somewhere, you'll tell me where you're really going. And if something goes wrong, call me.

I'll be extra diligent.

[She usually gets her homework done quickly enough, but if she needs to, she'll do extra work just for this week if it means suspicion won't be raised.

Grace looks downwards for a moment before looking up and nodding at Emma. Promises have always been extremely important to her and her word is the most valuable thing she has.]

I promise. I'll tell you next time. You don't have to worry about that. Dates probably won't eve happen again because this was a huge mistake.

I won't blame you if you want to avoid them for awhile, but don't let this creep ruin dating for you forever.

[She reaches out to lay a hand against Grace's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She's been getting better at the comforting thing over the years. Physical contact used to be a huge nope. Now it feels natural, really.]

Maybe be a little more skeptical of the guys you like, but... I know all too well that people aren't always who you think they are. Sometimes a person you think is pretty damn near perfect turns out to be a jerk. Sometimes it works the other way around, too.

[She shoulder squeeze is reassuring. She nods in response, though that might be easier said than done. She's reached a whole new level of done. She lacks the foresight to know how long that will last.]

The ones that seem like jerks are really the perfect ones?

[She looks skeptical. Someone doesn't know her parents' history, ok.]

That seems really unlikely too. I guess it's all really more trouble than it's worth. I feel kind of dumb for bothering with it.

[Fortunately, Grace, Emma thinks you'll bounce back quickly. As teenage drama goes, this is actually high on the legitimacy scale, but Grace is a good kid. She'll be able to move past it.

And Emma will help by at least keying this kid's car. And taking out a tire. Maybe two.

She clears her throat awkwardly at Grace's skepticism. Welp.]

You'd be surprised. First impressions can be really wrong. Although I wouldn't suggest you test that theory by chasing down every jerk in town. A lot of them really are just jerks, but not all.

[She frowns slightly. Not cool to talk about yourself that way, kid.]

Hey. Listen to me. You are not dumb.

[That sounds reasonable enough. Besides, chasing down guys sounds like a complete waste of time. Grace has considered herself to be a decent read of people over the years, but her talent for this must be like Emma's lying superpower, in that it only works sometimes.

Ah, well. She has plenty of time to hone it, even if it feels like she doesn't.

She's a bit surprised when Emma corrects her. She didn't actually mean it seriously. Self-depreciation is just a common teenage thing from time to time.

Or any time.]

I didn't mean it like that. I just don't know what I was thinking.

Everyone makes mistakes. Hell, I've made more than most people. As mistakes go? This one wasn't so big. Nothing that happened tonight was your fault. You know that, right?

[She's being entirely serious right now, Grace. This is a moment. A bonding moment. Let's cherish it.]

[Bonding moments. What are those?

In all seriousness, she does appreciate this. She knows she didn't do anything wrong, but this helps reinforce that. It helps just being able to get it off her chest, really. As much as she loves her friends, she can't trust them with this stuff.

And it goes without saying that Emma's the only person in the house she can utter a breath of this about.]

Yeah, I know. Thank you for listening to me, Mama.

[She smiles and scoots over to put an arm around Grace's shoulders, pulling her into a one-armed hug. That's how these things are supposed to end, right?]

Always, kiddo. Anytime you need someone to lend an ear, you know where to find me.

[She gives Grace another squeeze before that smile becomes something more of a smirk, almost mischievous.]

Would you believe it if I told you that your father was once kind of a jerk?

[Okay, not really, those were extenuating circumstances, and Emma is so not about to give her the grisly details, but they definitely got off on the wrong foot. It's worth noting.]

[This is exactly how it's supposed to end, and a hug is exactly what she needs. She leans against Emma briefly in an attempt to return that hug. Side hugs are awkward in general.]

Yeah, I know.

[It sounds non-committal at best, but she does take it to heart. It's times like this where she's really glad Emma became her mother. When it was just Grace and her father, it was never obvious to her that she was ever lacking anything, but now that she's older and needs that older woman to talk to about girl things, the thought of Emma not being there is terrifying.]

No, not even in a million years.

[Someone still only thinks the best of her Papa.]

[Emma grins broadly. Well, she's never going to go so far as to shatter those illusions, but...]

I thought you might not. It's okay. I was kind of a jerk, too. We got off on the wrong foot. But we gave each other another chance. Worked out for the best, I'd say.

... don't take that as encouragement to forgive this guy, though. His ass is mine.

[Grace probably wouldn't be able to cope if she lost her convictions, but this change in conversation at least amuses her. She's not so naive to think there's such a thing as a completely perfect couple, but if her parents ever have disagreements or fights, she never sees them.

Or she at least can't think of any instances now.]

I dunno. I mean, now we're all stuck with each other. Are you sure that's really a good thing?

[Of course it is. It's the best thing.]

Sometimes second chances, or even third chances are really good. Sometimes really great things come from it. But no. He'll be lucky if I so much as glance in his direction.

[She's probably one of the nicest people in the entire world, but that's until you cross her.]

[It's been a conscious effort on their part, keeping any disagreements or other problems behind closed doors to spare both Grace and Henry. Not that there are many, but no couple goes without their share of arguments -- especially not a couple comprised of someone as bull-headed and stubborn as Emma and someone as sarcastic as Jefferson. Two strong personalities that occasionally clash -- but their willingness to put their kids first is what they had initially bonded over even after there had been bad blood between them, and it was something they continued to prioritize.]

Hey, if you're really tired of us, it's only a couple years until college.

[She hopes neither kid goes away, though. At least not far.

She gives Grace another squeeze around her shoulders before leaning in to press a kiss against her temple.]

Good. You're way too good for him, kid.

Oh, yes. I'll be sure to go find a school a thousand miles away.

[But really? The idea scared her. Going to college is the logical next step, but she's hoping to find something close. She would miss her family a whole awful lot if she couldn't see them every day. But maybe that's part of growing up.

Either way, she's crossing that bridge when she actually has to think seriously about what she'll do after high school.]

I'm not sure what I should say here. Thanks?

[You're such a good mama, Emma. Grace loves you. She really does. She'll never be too old for forehead kisses, either.]

We're good now, right?

Edited 2013-02-25 05:58 (UTC)

Yeah. We're good.

[She smiles as she releases her hold on Grace, sitting up before pushing herself forward and to her feet.]

I'm sure you have better things to do than talk to me for the rest of the night. I'll let your dad know everything's okay. You going to be alright?

[She gives a curt nod. At this point she's just ready to shower and call it an early night. She's glad she's had this conversation, but it's been mentally and emotionally draining. She's honestly not sure if she could handle much more of it.]

Yeah, I'll be fine. Good night, Mama.

;we are never ever ever getting back together

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