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It was nighttime and Grace was all alone in her house. That would've been fine if Grace wasn't feeling so anxious. She hated being left alone more than anything, but her parents had to go attend an important event and Jack was too young to not go with them.

Grace could've gone with them too, only that she hadn't wanted to. Mainly because her fourteen-year-old self thought events like such sucked. And she had a lot of homework to finish too.

But now that her homework was finished and the house had gone eerily quiet, she was hating the fact that she was all alone.

"Maybe I should ask Bella to come over." She whispered to herself, pacing around the kitchen counter. Bella lived just across her street and she could most definitely spend these few hours with Grace until her parents came back.

But Grace didn't want to leave the house unguarded. What if somebody got inside when she left to call Bella?

It was right then that the loud doorbell rang. Grace jumped in alarm, eyes wide. Everything was once again all quiet except for the noise coming from Lucius's house. They were probably having a family party--the only reason why Grace couldn't have asked Lucius to come over. He should be enjoying the party, not sulking here with Grace.

But then again, Grace herself could've gone over to his house. Marleen wouldn't have minded at all, but would've been happy. Grace knew that. That still didn't mean she liked going over to the Jacksons' house when their relatives were over.

It reminded her of her very small family.

Grace winced this time when the bell rang again. Her eyes flew over to the wall clock and it wasn't even eleven yet. Her parents were to come around eleven. Who could it have been then?

The bell rang again and again and again, and it kept on ringing until Grace had to go over to the front door and pull it open.

It was Lucius.

"What took you so long?" He was frowning as he looked over at her.

Grace breathed out a sigh of relief. "I couldn't decide whether it'd be safe to open the door or not."

He looked pale under the night sky. Maybe it was because of the moonlight, or maybe it was the cold. Grace peeked outside and looked over at his house, still filled with chatter.

"What's the matter? Do you need something?" Grace asked him with raised brows. She really wished he could stay, at least until her parents came back. But that would just be selfish.

"No." The frown still hadn't left his face, which was quite odd. Lucius didn't like frowning as far as Grace was aware. "I can't go back in there."

Grace looked back at his house. "Why not?"

"Because..." He shifted on his feet. "It's too loud in there." And he sounded exasperated.

"Isn't that the whole point of family parties?" She asked, staring at him. Luc let out a small groan and pushed past her to get inside the house.

Grace closed the front door and slowly followed him inside. "But like, I'm glad you're here. This house was scaring the shit out of me."

Lucius murmured something incoherent before plopping down on the couch. Tipping his head back against it, he closed his eyes.

"You know, whenever Mum and Dad leave me here, I feel like they'd find my dead body here when they come back," Grace confessed, and broke into a tiny shudder. "And they would never even know how or why I got killed."

Luc kept quiet for a while, a furrow between his brows the only showing sign that he was listening. "Why would somebody kill you?"

"Why not? Serial killers do not go around choosing their victims, Luca." She pulled out a dining chair for her to sit down on. Lucius grimaced at the noise as if even that was a bit too unpleasant.

It didn't take long for Grace to realise what the real problem was. It troubled her a bit because she should've realised it sooner. Luc was only ever agitated like this when he was having a migraine.

"Your family is noisy." She stood up and walked inside the kitchen, pulling out a clean blue mug. Fortunately, her dad had left some of his recently made black coffee in the kettle.

"And you're realising that just now?"

Adding a pinch of ginger into the mug, Grace stirred the coffee with a spoon. Then she went over towards Lucius and settled down beside him. "Well, I don't have grandparents like you, Luca. Just an Aunt who doesn't even visit us much often. So I don't know whether family get-togethers are supposed to be loud or not."

He opened his eyes and looked over at Grace, the frown softening on his face as he looked down at the mug she was holding out towards him.

"What's this?" He asked.

"Caffeine with ginger. I heard it helps migraines." She never really heard it from anyone, but rather saw her Papa drinking it quite often when he was having the bad headaches he usually got after coming back from a long trip.

Lucius looked over at the mug with distaste. Grace couldn't really blame him. After all, she was the only one who liked drinking coffee. Lucius hated it.

"I never said I had a migraine."

"Oh come on, Luca. You and I both know why you're here. If you weren't having a migraine right now, you wouldn't be here." Grace said, nudging him with her elbow to make a point

Lucius looked offended. "That's not true. If you'd have wanted me to--"

"I know, I know. That's not what I meant." Grace took his hand and wrapped it around the warm mug. "Drink it up. It'll help."

Luc looked over at the mug sceptically. But eventually, he raised it to his lips and took a sip.

Grace leaned back on the couch and linked her arm through his before looking over at the clock. One more hour before her parents came back.

"This is horrible," Lucius concluded once he had finished the drink. "And you drink this, why?"

"I don't know." Grace placed her head on his shoulder. "I may be addicted to it or something."

"It's disgusting, Gracie."

"And dark like my soul." She added.

Lucius looked over at her, or tried to since all he could see of her was her golden hair. "You don't have a dark soul, Rose."

"I know. It's just a line that people say all the time." She rolled her eyes, a grin forming on her lips. "Papa said that to Mum once."

Lucius laughed at that. Somehow, his migraine had reduced. Not a lot, but a tiny bit, which was still better than having a raging one. He'd somehow just known that it'd get better once he saw Grace. Things usually did get better when he was around Grace.

"Anyways, do you--" Grace's question was interrupted when a loud thud resounded from upstairs.

Both of them stiffened before Grace pulled away almost instantly, standing up as her eyes trailed over to the staircase. "What was that?"

Lucius got up too, following her gaze. "I have no idea."

"What if that's a--" Lucius took her hand and started dragging her towards the staircase. "What? No, Luca! Someone's up there. We could die!"

That made him laugh a little, mostly in disbelief, as he pulled her along. "Well, we still need to check it out."

Part of Grace was bewildered and scared because it wasn't usually Luc who pulled them both into a dangerous situation like such. That was what Grace loved doing. Perhaps the migraine really was getting to him.

Grace followed him without much reluctance--horrified--because if Lucius wanted to check it out, well, she couldn't just let him go alone.

Both of them slowly crept upstairs, towards her room in particular. It was her room that the shuffling seemed to be coming from. It was her bedroom door that was left open ajar. And Grace could've sworn on her life that she'd closed that door before going downstairs.

Maybe not swear on her life, but still.

"I'll go in there first. I can't let you die because of me." Grace whispered in worry before pulling her hand away from his. "You should wait here. If something happens to me, just run and call the police."

Lucius stared at her, eyes slightly widening in disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"

Grace nodded solemnly.

"Jesus, Grace. Why are you being so--" He didn't get to finish his sentence when Grace opened up the door with an abrupt kick. Before any of them could've found out the cause of that small thud, Grace screamed.

Pretty loudly.

•••••

It had just been a cat.

"Just imagine what could've happened if my family had heard your scream." Lucius grinned, dangling his legs in the air. "They probably would've called the police before even checking up on us."

Grace and Lucius were sitting on the rooftop of her house, looking down at the backyard and the stray cat who was trying to climb up the apple tree. The same cat which had somehow managed to climb up Grace's window and had gotten inside her bedroom.

"Don't try embarrassing me," Grace spoke up. "It was a natural response."

"To scream?" He looked over at her.

"Yes. When you're scared, you scream." She tried to defend herself, but she knew deep down that it was kind of a pathetic excuse. She'd screamed pretty loud for no reason.

"If you say so, Rose." He smiled.

Grace rolled her eyes and looked up at the night sky, glad that it was near eleven by now. Glad that her parents would be back any second now. Glad that Lucius was here.

"Thanks for coming over, Luca." She broke the silence. "I really was scared to be here all alone."

He glanced at her, giving her one of those soft, gentle smiles. The moonlight shone over his brown curls, making them look even darker--like something so soft and velvety.

Like chocolate, Grace thought in fascination.

"Why didn't you go with them?" He asked. "If staying alone scares you so much, you could've gone with your parents."

Grace looked away then. She didn't necessarily like confessing her fears in front of just anyone. It always felt so much better to be dependent on yourself.

Luc seemed to notice that. He somehow always did. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close. To let her know that he was here, that her best friend was here.

And then Grace was blurting out, "I don't like those events, Luca. I don't fit in there. People from Papa's work are annoying. Especially the children." Because this was Luca. She didn't have to hide anything from Luca. "And I just...I always end up disappointing them one way or another."

Lucius didn't like when Grace sounded so sad. No, he hated it. "How so?" He asked, pulling her close to his side.

Grace was silent for a bit. "Well, I pushed a girl in that giant chocolate fountain the last time Mum took me to one of Papa's friends."

Lucius pressed his lips on the side of her head, shoulders shaking with a laugh.

"And it wasn't even an accident." Grace continued. "I pushed her because she was just...just pissing me off. She kept asking me annoying stuff, and she wasn't minding her own business."

"That's unfortunate." Grace elbowed him in the ribs and he winced in between the laughter.

"Yes, it was." She hung her head low, a curtain of golden-blonde hair framing her as her face heated in embarrassment. "Mum was livid."

Lucius sobered up at last. "Well, maybe staying home is for the best. Next time, just let me know when your parents are leaving. You won't be alone that way. Or just scream like you had screamed back there in your room." He grinned, his eyes sparkling up. "They won't hear it, but I would."

Grace knew he wasn't lying, Lucius never did, and so she smiled back at him.

She tipped her head back and looked at the moon again. She felt warm and safe and comforted and she wanted to thank the god up there for sending Lucius into her life. She'd probably be a rotten kid right now if he hadn't befriended her in the first place.

That reminded her of something. Grace stuffed her hand in her pocket and took out a black leather string--the necklace her dad had given her.

Looking down at the bottle-like pendant, she gazed at the beautiful, fiery-red stone inside. It glowed like fire under the night sky.

"I want you to have this, Luca."

Lucius looked over at the delicate object in her hand. He furrowed his brows in response. "What's that?"

This was one thing Grace always kept with her, but hidden at the same time. Her dad always returned home with gifts for her and Jack and her Mum, but the gifts were never like this necklace. Never so special. And this necklace was the most special to Grace, the most beautiful of all gifts.

She wanted Lucius to have it, though. To keep it safe. To know that he was the best of friends out there. To know that she loved him more than anything.

"Take it." She handed him the leather string. "It's one of the things that mean a lot to me. And so do you. So if you lose it," She looked at him gravely. "You lose me."

Lucius looked down at the delicate glass pendant, the small stone glowing brightly inside it. "Geez, you're so dramatic."

Grace smiled at that.

She was dramatic. Of course, she was. But she'd noticed the way Lucius handled it, like he couldn't even think of ever dropping it or losing it.

Like he could never even think of losing her.