i'm not afraid.

eddy was about to say more about the cape hazel election debacle, but every thought he might have had about it vanished from his mind as soon as grace dropped her bombshell. all this time, he had assumed that grace was offered a better job, or that she’d become sick of small town drama, and that he hadn’t made the list of people she wanted to say goodbye to. not once did it cross his mind that she might be hurt or in some kind of peril, and though things were always weird between them, he wished he could have been there for her in some form, even if it was just through a get well soon card. “fuck, grace, i had no idea,” he said, brows furrowed with concern as he turned to face her more fully, drink abandoned on the bar in front of them, “are you okay now? i mean, obviously that’s a dumb fuckin’ question, but it must’ve been bad if you were out for four months.”

Grace didn’t expect this reaction from Eddy. Honestly, considering the way gossip always circulated through Cape Hazel and the relative closeness of the sushi club group, Grace assumed most people did hear about her accident, and if they didn’t reach out, well, maybe they weren’t as close as she thought. Eddy was one of those people. Her smile went from wry to embarrassed, and she shook her head of his concern.

“Aside from you? Finn Nye, museum guy,” Reece said with a smirk, flagging down the bartender for another drink. “I voted for Netty Knight. Karen’s fine, I guess, but I definitely don’t want any more tourists, and Knight seemed the most experienced anyway – hey there, Jack and Coke, please.” She flashed a grin as she placed her order, then turned to Grace. “You want another? I’m buying.”

“I wouldn’t run for mayor of this town if someone gave me a million dollars,” Grace said. The thought alone sent a shudder through her body, and she shook her head at Reece. “I researched the candidates, but with everything going on I didn’t get my absentee ballot in time. Next year.”

Reece raised her glass in agreement, taking a sip before responding, “You know how time moves here. A day can feel like a year, a year can feel like a day – just depends on the mood of whoever’s mayor. Remember the one we had during high school?” She rolled her eyes. “That was a decade of my life, bare minimum.” Stealing a few fries from Grace without asking, she asked with her mouth full, “Any predictions for Mayor Sasha’s reign? Personally, I think the last day has been at least a week.”

four months ago, eddy wouldn’t have thought it possible to miss grace’s dry sense of humour, but life surprised him everyday, it seemed. with a chuckle, he took a sip of the glass of whiskey he’d been nursing since the moment grace had sat down, the liquor burning it’s way down his throat the way he loved. “oh, none of us voted for sasha, but she ended up mayor, anyway,” he said, “i’m not entirely sure if this is a democracy or a monarchy anymore, but now we have the spoiled brat of a murder accomplice governing us. i think i would’ve preferred the raccoon.” it was a weird situation, but eddy was beginning to expect the unexpected when it came to cape hazel. as he finished off his explanation, an old curiosity began biting at his heels, eating him up from the inside out. “where’d you run off to, anyway?” 

“How did that even work? Did she really get zero votes? It just doesn’t make any sense,” Grace asked, her features muddled with confusion and a little disbelief. She knew the cape could be unconventional, but...? Her expression turned wry, though, when he asked where she’d been. “I didn’t know how much Piper told you and everyone else. I had a pretty bad accident, and I couldn’t take care of myself, so I had to stay with my parents for a while. I’m still in PT and everything, but it was time for me to come home.”

“only four months? it feels like you were gone a lot longer than that,” eddy replied as nonchalantly as he could. he’d been hyper-aware of grace’s presence since the moment she had sat down beside him, but he wasn’t going to be the first person to say something. he still wasn’t sure exactly where they stood, especially considering just how long it’d been, but if he was telling the truth, he’d missed grace. no matter how weird things had gotten between them, she’d been a constant in his life for a long time, one of the very first people he’d met in this weird little town. “this place isn’t what it used to be, but i’m glad you’re back.”

“why do you gotta make me out to be satan himself?” eddy teased, unable to wipe the grin from his face. he liked teasing grace, like this new dynamic they had despite everything in their past. “i’m the one who should absolutely be blaming the bartender,” he contested, “i know how our brains and the business work. the drunker people get, the more money they spend, and i fell right into that trap.”

“Yes, sure,” Farren said, following the nod of the woman. “Who ees that?” She perked a brow, beginning towards the person that had been pointed out.

So it was Grace, a very angry Grace. And Eva was making it worse. She wanted to help somehow but she was frozen in the sand. “I mean no… But I didn’t really know… What else to ask…” Eva hated that she didn’t have a sleeve to anxiously play with. Instead the bottom of her tanktop would have to feel the brunt of her nervous habits.

“okay, okay, so one time,” eddy said, unable to stop himself from laughing as he recalled the incident grace was talking about in his head. it seemed she still hadn’t forgiven him despite mending their relationship since. “those half priced drinks were the devil. it was the bartenders fault for serving me still,” he grinned.