Status: Completed - thanks for reading!

Uncharted Territory

Nervous

Grace

I walked into the venue as a weird feeling came over me. The boys were opening for This Century tonight and I was going to be watching them perform for the first time in three years. The last time I had seen them they had just been getting started so I was excited to see how far they had come.

As excited as I was for tonight, I was also nervous. Tonight I was going to meet Paige, Kennedy’s new girlfriend, and I wasn’t sure how to handle that.

“Hey Grace,” Reagan called out as she walked to the front of the venue. I had texted her as soon as I arrived. I thought about going back to the dressing room but I figured John was getting ready for the show and I didn’t want to bother him.

“Hey Rae,” I smiled. “So are you excited for tonight’s show?”

“Yeah I am. I’ve never seen any of the guys perform before, even Kennedy. I can’t wait.”

“This is the first show of theirs I’ve been to in about three years so I’m excited too,”

I suddenly heard someone yell out, “Hey Reagan!”

I turned around and saw a girl walking towards us. I was assuming that she must be Paige. I slyly looked at her as she walked up and hugged Rae. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting Paige to look like but I was surprised. She had tan skin that made it look as if she had either Native American or Hispanic Heritage. Her hair was dark and went just a bit past her shoulders. She was absolutely gorgeous and I felt inadequate compared to her. She looked more exotic while I looked like the quintessential all-American girl.

I snapped to attention when I heard Reagan introducing me to Paige.

“Nice to meet you Grace, I’m Paige. I just started dating Kennedy,” she smiled at me as she held out her hand for me to shake. Not only was she gorgeous, she was also nice.

“Nice to meet you,” I forced a smile.

The three of us stood there talking, actually it was mainly Paige and Rae talking. Paige was nice and funny but I just couldn’t get myself to join the conversation.

Thankfully the guys soon walked onstage, saving me from forcing myself to participate anymore in the conversation.

After both The Maine and This Century performed Reagan walked over to the bar to get herself a drink which left me alone with Paige.

“So how long have you and John been dating?” Paige asked.

“We dated all through high school but then we…um…we took a break for about three years. We started going out again in September so we’ve currently been dating for almost eight months.”

“That’s really cute,” Paige smiled before suddenly seeming nervous. “Grace, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Kennedy, he’s a good guy right? I mean I know that touring is probably tough on relationships but he won’t like cheat on me or anything on tour, will he?”

At first I was angry with her for even considering that Kennedy might cheat, but I knew she was just voicing her concerns. I then thought about telling her that Kennedy probably would cheat just so she’d break up with him but I didn’t want to ruin Kennedy’s relationship so instead I smiled and said, “Kennedy is one of the greatest guys I know. He’d never cheat on anyone.”

Paige smiled in relief, “That’s what I thought. I just wanted to make sure though before I fell for him anymore. He’s amazing and I’ve already fallen pretty hard.”

“That’s great,” I forced a smile.

Suddenly there was a commotion over by the bar. Paige and I turned to see Reagan holding onto Joel while he, Kennedy, and John glared at some guy. The guy left and I quickly went over there to see what happened.

“Hey, what happened to Reagan? Is she okay?” I asked John.

“Some douchebag tried to give her a drink and then got mad when she said no. I think she’s okay though,” John replied.

“That’s good. You did a great job tonight.”

John smiled. “Thanks Gracie.”

John and I stood there talking for a little bit until Sean from This Century asked to talk to John for a second.

John came walking back towards me a couple seconds later. “Hey, I’m going to go outside with Rae if that’s okay. Joel needs to sign autographs but doesn’t want to leave Reagan by herself and Kennedy’s with Paige somewhere.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Reagan needs you right now.”

“Thanks Grace. Love you. I’ll see you later,” John said as he kissed my cheek.

“Love you too,” I replied as he walked off. I wished they had found Kennedy, not because I was jealous that John was with Reagan; I understood that. I wished they had found Kennedy so he’d have to leave Paige to be with Rae.
I
shook those thoughts from my head and wondered what was wrong with me. Kennedy was happy which meant I should be happy for him, I couldn’t though.
______________________________________________________

I sat in class a few days after the concert just waiting on Rae to get there. She walked in and looked a mess. I was worried that the guy from the bar had bothered her again or something.

“Hey Rae, are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Kennedy and I just go into a fight after the concert and we’re still mad at each other.”

“Really? But you and Kennedy never fight.”

“Yeah, it’s just stuff with my whole Harvard drama. I’m going there at the end of next week though to sort everything out. I’ll just be glad when it’s done,” Reagan sighed.

“I’m sure it can’t be that bad Rae,” I tried to comfort her. “Plus Kennedy will come around soon. He can’t stay mad at you for long.”

“I hope you’re right. Sorry for bothering you with my problems I know you have divorce drama going on.”

I groaned as Reagan mentioned my divorce. Over spring break I was going back to get everything finalized. “Reagan, it’s fine. You’re not bothering me with your problems. I want to help. Plus I’m glad for anything that takes my mind off of my divorce and my soon to be ex-husband.”

“So you’re nervous about seeing him again?” Reagan questioned.

“Yeah, he honestly scares me. I thought I was marrying a nice man but he soon turned into a monster. It’s my own fault though for marrying a man I barely knew. My mother’s going with me though so that’ll make things easier.”

The professor walked in and Reagan and I stopped talking as class began. After class I said goodbye to her and reassured her that her fight with Kennedy would blow over soon.

As I walked to my car I got a text message. I looked at it and saw that it was Kennedy. He said he needed to talk to me and I figured he wanted to talk about his fight with Rae. I texted back and we agreed to meet for lunch.

I made it to the restaurant about ten minutes later and slid into the both where Kennedy was already sitting. He looked just as bad as Reagan did and I knew this fight was taking a toll on him.

“Hey, I heard about your and Rae’s fight. How’re you holding up?” I softly asked.

“She has to go to court, Grace. Reagan’s going to court.”

“What?”

Kennedy nodded. “Her therapist left a message about going with her to court. I don’t know why though. Reagan won’t tell me.”

I sighed. “I know this is hard but you just have to trust her. Reagan’s smart and knows what’s best. I’m sure whatever it is isn’t as bad as what you think.”

“I don’t know if I’m more upset that she has to go to court or that she didn’t tell me.”

I reached out and grabbed Kennedy’s hand for comfort. “She’ll tell you when she’s ready.”

“I’m in way over my head, Grace. I’m not Reagan’s dad, I’m just her big brother. I’m her big brother who she hadn’t seen for seven years up until August. It’s times like this when I don’t know whether I should act as a parent, a brother, or friend.”

“Maybe you need to be a little bit of all three.”

“I said some awful things to her. I was just so mad. I…I said it was no wonder mom and dad pretty much disowned her. Why would they want a daughter who had to go to court. I can’t believe I said that to her.”

I could tell Kennedy was extremely upset over this whole ordeal. “Kennedy,” I firmly said. “You are the best big brother to Reagan. You love her so much and took her in when she had no place to go even though you hadn’t seen her in seven years. Just apologize and she’ll forgive you.”

Kennedy sighed. “I don’t know if I can apologize until I find out more about the situation.”

“That’s understandable, Ken. Just give it time. It will all work out eventually, I promise.”

Our food came and I kept comforting Kennedy throughout lunch. I also kept holding his hand during lunch. I told myself that I was trying to help Kennedy, that’s the only reason why I was holding his hand. Holding it just felt right though. It was as if our hands fit perfectly together.

“So you met Paige the other night?” Kennedy asked as he changed the subject.

“Umm…yeah, I did. She seems nice. I’m happy for you, Ken.”

Kennedy smiled. “Thanks. I’m glad you like her.”

We got up to leave and Kennedy pulled me into a hug. “Thanks so much for helping me today, Gracie. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Of course, Kennedy. Anytime,” I said as I hugged him back. Just like holding hands with him, being in his arms felt right also.

I talked to Reagan and Kennedy both many times throughout the next two weeks leading up to Spring Break. I never found out why Reagan had to go to court. I figured she’d tell me if she wanted me to know. Kennedy didn’t find out either. When Reagan left for Connecticut they were still mad at each other.

The day after Reagan left I was in my room pack to go to Chicago. I wasn’t looking forward to going but was glad that I’d at least have my mom along for moral support. The phone rang and I quickly picked it up.

“Hello.”

“Grace, it’s mom. Listen sweetie, I’m really sorry but something came up at work and I can’t go to Chicago with you.”

“What? Mom I don’t want to go by myself and Ashley can’t go with me because she doesn’t want to leave Ryder for that long.”

My mom sighed. “I know dear and I’m really sorry. This is unavoidable though.”

“Okay, I understand.”

After hanging up with my mom I began to panic. There was no way I could face my soon-to-be-ex-husband and the divorce proceedings by myself.

Without a second thought I picked up the phone and dialed. “Hey, it’s Grace. Something came up and my mom can’t come with me to Chicago anymore. Can you?”
♠ ♠ ♠
Paige

Okay, here's another little cliff-hanger for you guys, sorry about that lol. So who do you think Grace called to go to Chicago with her?

I know I've already talked a bit about my newest story but I'm going to talk about it once more...it's featuring Joel Kanitz (because the poor boy is headed for disaster in this story lol) and if you want to check it out you can click here.

Thanks to: mandiimouse, LongLive;;, RoRo15, drivingbackwards, and Juli_Tabouli