Grace's POV

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"Mum? Dad?" A strained voice spoke up. It was merely a whisper, but I recognized it as Jack's voice. Because it was Jack, I knew it was him.

I blinked, breaking out of the sudden daze. Something felt heavy in my chest. I wanted to speak up so bad but the words were stuck in my throat.

Was it really Jack?

I looked up at Luca, my eyes all wide and tense. The way he returned my gaze pretty much told me that he recognized that voice too.

A small shuffle from the other end of the call made us both look back at my phone. Luca was frowning by the time I heard someone coughing on the other end.

Jack.

I could hear my racing heartbeat at that point. I didn't know what to say. There were so many things I wanted to say to Jack. I hadn't heard his voice since two years, and I wanted to know if he was okay. But something inside me prevented me from doing so.

I opened my mouth, blinking rapidly. Just when I was about to speak up his name, another loud shuffle interrupted me from the other end. It was louder than the previous one.

"Speak!" An unfamiliar voice hissed in the background and my gut clenched in fear.

I scrunched up my forehead and felt my breath picking up in speed. "Jack?" I spoke before the words got stuck up in my throat again. "Jack! Can you hear me? Jack, where are you?"

Luca held the phone in his hand, still frowning at it.

The loud shuffling came back and I heard more coughing.

"Jack?" My voice sounded strained this time, even more than Jack's.

He didn't reply, though. Jack didn't reply.

I found myself snatching the phone from Luca's grasp, looking at the ongoing call. The noise from the other end was making me anxious. I didn't like it at all.

"Jack, please say something." I pleaded. The sudden hope inside me was starting to wither away, and this all felt terrible. "Please."

I wasn't expecting to hear anything except those random shuffles. But then I heard a small painful sob on the other end, followed by a loud crash, and then the call ended.

All in all, it left me panicking.

"Oh my God." I whispered, still looking at my phone's screen. My heart had started beating so fast, my insides were edging with panic. "That was–That was Jack."

The expression on Luca's face was mixed in between concern, anger and maybe even sadness.

"You heard him, didn't you?" I tried calming myself down but it was so damn hard.

"Yes, Grace." He replied, dragging a hand through his hair.

I looked back at my phone, all the exhaustion fading away. I heard him, it was Jack. But he had sounded strange, almost scared.

"Do you think–"

"We'll find him." He cut me off, and deep down I was more than grateful that he did that. I didn't know what I was about to say and I didn't need an answer to that either.

I just nodded in response, looking at the black screen, hoping for him to call back.

Jack hadn't been alone. There was someone else there with him, that unfamiliar voice.

"At least he's...alive." The words came out in just a murmur, and I realized how much relieved I actually was.

I hadn't expected to see Jack or even hear from him anytime soon. I wasn't expecting anything at all. But he had called me. Jack had called me.

Not me. He called Mum and Dad. He was scared. He was crying.

I pushed back my hair away from my face, everything feeling so dark and silent all of a sudden.

Jack didn't know about our parents. Would he even want to talk to me when he finds out about them? What if I didn't hear from him again?

"Grace," I broke out from my thoughts when I felt Luca gently placing his hand on my arm. "He'll be fine."

"But he sounded so scared." I didn't understand how he could even think that Jack would be fine. I didn't understand why he wanted me to believe in that.

Jack was nowhere near fine, wherever he was.

"We'll find him soon. They won't hurt him." Luca said, his gaze holding mine.

"He was...crying." I felt choked up on words. I was starting to feel a bit suffocated on all those overwhelming thoughts.

Jack didn't deserve any of this.

Luca blew out a sigh and pulled me closer by my arm, wrapping me in his embrace.

"I saw those people. I know how cruel they are." My voice came out in a whisper, muffled against his jacket. "They're hurting him and I'm not helping him."

"You can't, Grace." Luca said.

I gulped down the heaviness as I pondered over his words. His arms tightened around me as he pulled me further against him, and even though this was warm, I couldn't help but shiver a little.

What if Jack thought no one would ever save him from that torture?

"Don't think over it too much." This time, his voice was closer to my ear. "Go inside and just sleep, yeah?"

I didn't like the thought of sleeping right now, even though I was exhausted. I knew this would be one of those nights when I saw disturbing nightmares and threw up in the mornings. I wished I could go back to that hospital. It was safe there, I didn't throw up there.

"Would you...can you sleepover at my house?" I asked, pressing my face closer against his warm jacket.

I heard him sigh again, almost as if he was just as exhausted as I was. "Like old times?"

I felt my heart skip a beat, and not in an exciting way. It was more in a sad way. I just stuck with nodding in response.

He leaned closer and I felt his lips against the side of my head. My heart would've started racing again if I hadn't been too exhausted.

"All right, Rose."

•••••

I woke up twice in the middle of the night, each time finding complete darkness around me. Each time, I had closed my eyes again and dozed off against the familiar pair of arms around me.

The third time I woke up, it wasn't dark this time. And the constant twisting of my stomach made me want to curl up in a ball, all alone. The only thing that stopped me from doing that was the arm around my waist, holding me in place.

I still didn't open my eyes and found my thoughts drifting off to the events that had happened last night. The call I got from Jack, Jack's voice. He was alive. I just had to somehow save him before they did anything to him too.

He was the only family left with me.

That thought increased the churning in my stomach and I scrunched up my forehead. I knew this familiar feeling and I didn't wish to throw up whatever I had eaten last night.

I shouldn't have drunk that orange drink Sally gave me.

I opened my eyes and pulled away a little, just so that I could register my surroundings. It was a bit hard adjusting my vision to the bright sunlight coming from the backyard outside, through the glass windows. That's how I realized I wasn't in my bedroom.

With a small frown, I looked around and noticed that I was on the couch, in the lounge, almost sprawled over Luca since the couch wasn't that big.

Why wasn't I in my bedroom?

I didn't even remember last night, at least not after I had convinced Luca to sleepover at my house. I was way too exhausted to notice anything once I entered my house. I didn't even remember if I had locked the door or not.

I hoped that I had.

Another twist in my stomach made me pull away a little, only to be held back by Luca's arm around my waist. I trailed my eyes towards his face –his brown curls falling over his forehead– and realized that he was still asleep, not even caring that I was practically on top of him.

I furrowed my brows and tried to steady myself by placing my palms on either side of the couch. My gaze fluttered towards Frost who was curled up around the foot of the couch, asleep as well. And then the nauseating feeling came again.

I should go to the bathroom.

What if I didn't throw up this time? I didn't want to be the one who pulled away first. I didn't want to pull away from Luca, and I didn't want to start this off awkwardly again.

As if sensing my inner fight, Luca tightened his arm around my waist and flipped me over to his side so that now, I was squished up against his chest. And since we were both on our sides now, it was just his arm preventing me from falling down the couch.

I blinked and shifted a little closer towards him. In any case, I didn't want to fall down on Frost. The last time I had accidentally stepped on his paw, things hadn't gone too well.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Luca spoke up sleepily, his voice slightly laced with that accent of his—which happened very rarely.

I felt his chest vibrate lightly against my cheek and decided not to reply too quickly, taking time to come up with an answer that didn't sound too rushed. "School's gonna start in few hours."

I froze when I felt him bury his head in my hair. "Hours, not minutes, Rose."

I could feel my heart picking up its speed, beating a little too quickly. Luca was here with me, sleeping with me, with his arms around me. Was this just like old times? Were we fine again?

Something twisted inside me and I closed my eyes, almost groaning in response. The sense of nausea was clouding my insides a little too much now.

"I...I need to get up." I said, not knowing if getting up was better in this situation or curling up against him.

"Why?" His other arm, which was below my neck, crept up into my hair.

"I don't feel too well." I murmured, bringing a hand over my face and rubbing off the tiredness.

"What do you mean?"

My throat constricted almost naturally and I didn't open up my eyes. A small desperate voice rang in my ears. A voice that sounded a lot like Jack's. And it didn't take me too long to recognize it, because this was just how my brain coped up with this mess, forcing me to feel the guilt whenever things felt too overwhelming.

"I think I'm gonna throw up." I pulled away then and he didn't pull me back this time. Carefully standing up from the couch, I scrunched up my nose and headed for the stairs to go up to my room.

All I heard were Frost's morning barks from somewhere downstairs as I stepped inside my bathroom and closed the door behind me. I went over towards the marble countertop and gripped the sink, waiting.

I didn't throw up, though, which just increased the helpless and nauseating feeling inside me. I scrunched up my forehead and closed my eyes before opening the faucet and splashing some cold water on my face.

I kept standing there, waiting for that feeling to go away. Minutes passed by and nothing happened at all. I sniffed and wiped off the water from my face, turning around and sitting down against the bathroom floor.

What if they killed Jack just like Fraser?

A small groan escaped my lips, which sounded more like a scared whimper, as I sat there with my face pressed in between my pulled up knees.

I felt exhausted and I hadn't even thrown up. I felt exhausted even if I had just woken up.

Why couldn't this all just be fine?

I thought back to the time when we all were just happy; when I had a normal life, a normal family. I felt helpless as I sat there, letting myself think back to those days when I usually got angry at Mum and at Dad. I sometimes got angry at them for absolutely no reason, even at Jack. And now they weren't here. None of them were here and I just wished that I could get them all back with me, right here in this house.

The lump slowly grew in my throat and it started feeling like I couldn't breathe. I tried remembering Jack's face but that felt hard too. I hadn't seen him in two years. I just got to hear few words from him, words that weren't even directed towards me.

I blinked rapidly before standing up once again and heading for the toilet. Pushing up two of my fingers down my throat, I forced myself to throw up. I had to. I didn't want to ruin myself feeling guilty about things that I knew I couldn't change.

Minutes later when I felt a bit better, I exited the bathroom and went over to my closet before picking out a green colored hoodie and a pair of jeans. Just as I was about to make my way back inside the bathroom, I noticed my phone buzzing with text messages on my almost empty dresser.

I went towards it and cautiously checked the messages. Maybe it was the call last night, or maybe it was a small part inside me that hoped for it to be Jack. But it wasn't him. The messages were from Alice.

Alice: hey. I'll be at school today.

Alice: I was hoping we could talk a bit.

Alice: About Fraser.

I read her messages twice and switched off my phone, placing it back on the dresser. Just those messages and I suddenly wished that I could stay here and not go to school. But I needed to see Alice too, this wasn't fair to her.

This wasn't fair to anyone.

When I was changed into my clothes and had taken a quick shower, I exited the bathroom once again and this time, I wasn't alone.

Luca was standing along the doorway with a jumpy Frost in his hands. Frost's eyes were trained on me, while Luca's gaze was trailing around my room.

When I closed the bathroom door behind me, his gaze broke away from my room and fixed at me. "Does that happen all the time?"

I headed towards the laundry basket around one corner of my room and stuffed my clothes in it. I didn't need to ask him what he meant by that question. He was certainly asking me about the whole throwing up thing.

"It happens sometimes." I responded with a small shrug, my back facing him. "But I think this time was probably because of the drink I had last night."

When I turned around and faced him, I realized how less drowsy he looked from few moments ago, when he had just woken up. The way his drenched brown hair curled along his forehead, I guessed that he had probably used the other bathroom to take a shower while I was in mine.

Frost jumped out of Luca's arms and ran outside. All the while, Luca's eyes were set on my face. "You throw up whenever something happens."

I looked at the doorframe, avoiding his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"The call last night. Jack's voice." He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "And now you just threw up again."

I bit on the inside of my cheek, a little afraid of where he was getting at.

"This is the third time I've seen this happening, Rose." He added.

"It's not that much of a big deal." I spoke up, though my voice wavered a bit.

Luca rolled his eyes and walked towards me.

"We both are getting late for school too." The words rushed out of my mouth. I don't know why I felt fidgety all of a sudden. "I think–"

"You need to eat something first." He stopped few inches away from me and I wished I hadn't looked into his eyes.

"What?" I asked, dumfounded.

"You just threw up, Rose." He repeated. "And you need to eat something."

"No, I don't." There was this defensive edge in my voice and for a moment, I didn't understand where it came from.

But Luca did. He gripped my wrist and started dragging me out of my room.

"I told you I don't do breakfasts." I tried stopping him by tugging on his hold around my wrist, but he just kept on walking until we reached downstairs in the lounge.

"I personally don't care." He said in an impassive voice before going into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"You don't even know how to cook." I tried arguing because really, this was just stupid.

Luca spared me a glance and it was more like a semi-glare. "Do I look like I care about my cooking skills?"

I frowned at his stubborn attitude and sat down on one of the stools which were lining the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, Luca took out the only few ingredients that were present in my fridge.

"Do you even eat anything at all?" He asked with a frown.

I ignored his question and looked around for Frost. As if sensing that, Frost jumped down from the couch and trailed towards me, wagging his small tail. I jumped down from the stool and took out some dogfood for him.

Once I was done with that, I glanced over at Luca who was busy making something on the stove. I didn't remember him ever making anything for me those two years ago. Cooking really wasn't his forte.

"Look, you don't have to do this." I spoke up before sitting down on the stool again. "I can just buy stuff to eat from the nearby café or something."

That was a lie, though. I don't think I ever went to a café these days and bought something to eat. All I bought were coffees just so that I could pay attention to things that were more important than my jumbled up thoughts. I think Luca knew that too.

"Can you just shut up so that I don't burn myself?" He asked rudely.

I frowned at him, noticing the way his T-shirt hugged his back; his back muscles flexing slightly as he worked.

"What the hell are you even being so mad about?" I asked him.

I heard him grumble something inaudible under his breath. I would've said something else but right at that moment, he turned around towards me and placed a plate full of pancakes right in front of me. Pancakes that looked a little...out of shape.

"I'm mad because you're too fucking careless."

I looked up at him and frowned again. "I'm not."