Take A Breath, Let the Rest Come Easy

Grace pushed her guitar to the side and coughed, taking a sip of a new cup of tea she had made. She wasn’t exactly sure where her boyfriend had been off too, but she assumed it was of some importance since he had said he would be gone for a while.

He also mentioned something about meeting Jack for lunch, but Jack was back now, and he had been over for a while. Zack walked into the room and sat on the edge of Grace’s bed. “How’s it going, kiddo?” he asked, smiling at her.

She looked up at him and sighed. He couldn’t help but notice how sexy she looked, hanging out in booty shorts and a cut off t-shirt. He hated that he was thinking that way- Alex was his friend, and he never moved in on Alex’s girls.

“Fine, I guess.” She shrugged.

“Where’s Alex?” Zack asked. Grace shrugged again.

“I don’t know.” She sighed. Zack watched her nervously, unsure what to do next.

Then he blurted out, “Want some help?” He asked. Grace smiled at him and blushed.

“Sure.” She pushed some of her notebooks over to Zack and let him read.

---

Alex knocked on the door of Grace’s apartment. He heard laughter from inside, and decided to push the door open. Jack was dry humping Lauren who was on the couch laughing hysterically. He laughed, and then went to the fridge to pull out the beer he had opened earlier.

“Alex!” Jack laughed, “Where did you run away to after lunch?!”

“Nowhere.” He shrugged, glancing over at Grace who was sleeping in the arm chair. Lauren squinted her eyes at him suspiciously and then shrugged off the guilty expression Alex had on his face. Alex took a swig of his beer and then mentally slapped himself in the face. Seeing Grace lying on the chair looking exhausted and drained made him wish he had never gone over to Lisa’s apartment after he met up with her after his lunch with Jack and Rian.

Alex watched as Zack walked into the room and hung a blanket over her. “How long have you been here?” Alex asked him, curiously.

Zack eyes him carefully. “I came over a little after you left.” He said. “Where did you go?”

“Just went out for a little bit. Needed some air, you know.” Alex said, acting casually as possible. Too be honest things had gone too far with Lisa, and he originally just went over to see her for closure- to tell her that he was happy and that the text was meant for Grace. Instead, he had fallen under Lisa’s spell once again, and she dragged him to the bedroom where they kissed. He didn’t let it get much farther than 2nd base- realizing that he was ruining everything he had with Grace. He left immediately and went straight home.

“Yeah, I’m glad the air did you some good.” Zack narrowed his eyes at him. “You’ve got some pink lipstick on your face.”

Alex’s face fell and he quickly wiped his lips before Zack could say anything else.

“What are you guys doing?” Lauren asked from the couch, looking up from Jack’s lap.

“Nothing.” Zack muttered, and took a seat next to them. “It’s all good.” He continued to glare at Alex, who felt completely on edge. He was going to have to tell Grace sooner than later- or Zack would.

Grace woke up from her uncomfortable sleeping position on the arm chair. She didn’t remember falling asleep there, nor did she remember why she hadn’t brought her lyrics with her. She was planning on going back to work tomorrow to record. Jack and Lauren were asleep on the couch, cutely lying in each other’s arms. She smiled at them and then stood up, thinking about the last thing she had to eat. She couldn’t remember.

She stood up, and her legs wobbled, “not good.” She thought. She needed to eat, a donut, bagel, piece of ham- anything.

Her head felt heavy and weak. Her eyes began to roll.

Was Alex even home yet?

“Grace?” Zack’s voice alerted her to a presence in the room. She glanced at him, and pressed her palm to the wall, fighting back her blurring vision, and the nauseating headache. “Grace!” Zack said a little louder. She felt her knees buckle- and she lost her vision completely. She felt his arms link around her back as she fell, and then numbness.