tiny dancer

Rich isn’t sure what he’s exactly doing, other than the fact that he really does miss Grace. It has been a whirlwind of emotions for him lately. He reconnected with Alo, but it was like there was a big elephant in the room, how Grace was actually alive. Sure, she was alive, but that didn’t mean her memory was. He tried not to think about it too much, spending all of his time and energy into his work at Toxic Bobs. That was the only place where he could lose himself and not have to worry about it.  He thinks about everything now, how it was when he thought Grace was dead, and how he thought when he found out, on those steps in her old now thrashed up house. “What would she think of me turning off that stupid machine?” His answer, it was simple, clear. “She would have thought that you were her dad and that’s what you’re supposed to do.” When he sat there with her father there was something in him that snapped. He didn’t runaway like everyone thought. He took a vacation. He figured he could do one good thing with his parents and so they went. Eventually he came back. Things started to change.

Rich grew up. He had to grow up or else he wouldn’t have survived like he did. He was still sarcastic, metalhead asshole that everyone knew. He still loved the same bands, he dressed different, more laid back than the whole outfit attire, but he was still Rich, just more of a maturity aura about him. He got a job, and he worked, going to the community and took some classes. Lately he went back to Manchester though, did a few gigs came back to Bristol every so often and he took his job back at Toxic Bobs and he was just getting back to his routine when Grace popped up in town again. He was shocked, scared even. What the fuck happened? He wasn’t exactly sure. He doesn’t know why he’s asking her to meet him somewhere other than he knows that he just needs to see her to believe its actually real. Grace was the only good thing in his life. He supposed that when you love someone and they’re your whole world that tends to be that way. Grace was his whole world, the one thing that kept him going in the day. It was hard for him in the beginning. He would never wake up to her, she wouldn’t be the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes, he wouldn’t feel her body against his, or her moans in his ear, or the feel of her fingers playing on his body like a piano. He wouldn’t be able to have that ever again. Especially now that her memory has been whipped out. He missed her. Grace Violet Blood.

Out of every possibility she'd imagined up in her head, nothing came close to what the actual reality of things were. It wasn't much longer after her arrival back to Bristol had she found some answers, but they weren't the kind she'd been expecting. Everyone she had come into contact with that had known her, looked at her with confusion and shock, stating that she'd been dead. Franky even believed her to be a hallucination. Grace remembered her head felt like it was spinning when Mini told her about her father, how he'd made everyone believe that Grace had died, there was even a memorial. All this time, she knew he'd been hiding something, but never in a million years would she have guessed that was what it was. 

It was only after meeting Rich that she was starting to think maybe coming to Bristol may not have been such a great plan. He was upset upon seeing her, as they all were, which made the girl feel awful. Even though she knew it wasn't her fault, that she had no part in her father's plan – how could she? She was in a coma for six months – she couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty. That feeling wasn't logical, she shouldn't feel guilty for something her father did, but she couldn't push it away. And since when were feelings logical, anyways? Her finger was hovering over her mother's number when Rich called her. There was hesitance at first when he asked to meet up, there was hesitance towards Rich in general, but it wasn't anything about him. It was about her. What if she couldn't ever remember what she had with him? What if she couldn't be the same girl he had loved so dearly? Would that just cause him more pain? That was the last thing she wanted, he'd been through enough. In the end though, she agreed to meet him at the park, deciding to take her usual optimistic stance on things once again.