Hey guys! thank you so much for taking the time to leave nice reviews, i do appreciate it. This is the final part and I hope you enjoyed it. I hope to be back soon. we all gotta do something to keep JOA alive.

Part 3

Is there a T-shirt I can wear?
Cause I am soaking, look at me
What do you mean I don't love you?
I am standing here, aren't I?

Luke had watched her turn and walk dejectedly away from him. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to follow but he did. He was diagonally on her heel the entire way to her house and although she never acknowledged him, she never tried to lose him.

They entered her house still without speaking a word. She finally stopped in the stainless steel kitchen.

She looked at him and when he looked at her she let her gaze wander.

"Grace, why did he take her to rehab now?" He asked needing to know what had happened.

She turned and walked again, through into the living room. And again Luke followed her. She was standing beside the sofa staring down at the floor by the wall. He followed her gaze and saw the smashed up bottle.

"They were fighting more than normal. She got hysterical and started throwing stuff. She..." Her voice caught in her throat and Luke put his hand on her back but she stepped out of reach. "She's been to rehab 3 times before. It lasts for a few weeks maybe a month then it's back to normal. Only it gets harder every time." She admitted.

Luke tried getting closer to her again and this time she didn't move away. He brushed a strand of wet hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. He let his palm rest on her cheek for a moment and she leaned into it. She was trembling from the cold. So was he but that wasn't his worry.

"Come upstairs. You need to get dry." He told her softly.

"You better not be going horny teenager on me." She told him sternly.

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm not, I just don't want you to get hypothermia."

"Well... thanks." She said not knowing how to insult such pure intentions.

Once they were upstairs, Grace grabbed two big towels for them and went back to her room where Luke was waiting.

She gave him one and then grabbed a dry set of clothes for herself. He continued to look at her. She frowned.

"Uh... do you have a t-shirt and stuff I could borrow?"

She then realised he had nothing and went furrowing through her wardrobe. She then appeared with a pair of dark jeans and her Jawbreaker t-shirt. She handed them to him.

"The jeans are Adam's. He left them a while back." she told him. He thanked her then grudgingly left the room to change and let Grace get dry.

After 5 minutes Luke walked back down the hall and knocked on Grace's door. He waited for a response, but to no avail. He knocked again and slowly opened the door. She wasn't in her room. He decided to go downstairs. She was probably just getting a drink.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs he saw the top of her head over the sofa. His heart sank as he fully saw her. She was sitting with her knee's drawn up tightly against her chest staring at the broken glass on the floor.

He sat down next to her but she didn't move at all.

"Grace, I'm here for you. You can talk to me."

Her eyes drifted across to him. "What is there to talk about? My parents are both wrecks in completely different ways and neither of them ever think about me."

"They're your parents, they love you-"

Anger crept into her voice. "They're incapable of love. They are completely defunct as functioning human beings."

As he watched her say that she wasn't loved by her own parents, and believe it, he felt the overwhleming need to reassure her that she was loved.

"I love you."

Grace felt panicked inside but her outside remained still. Luke just said he loved her. Then her survival instinct kicked in.

"No you don't. You're just a hormone charged teenage boy who can't think about anything but how to score."

Luke frowned. "I never thought about girls before you. And i don't think about 'scoring' because that doesn't come in to it. Because I love you."

She jumped to her feet. "Stop saying that. You don't!"

He stood up to. "Don't tell me what I feel. I love you. If I didn't would I be here right now? I've never given up on you, Grace. You're too beautiful a person to be consumed by your own anger."

"I'm not angry." She told him defiantly then that tough exterior melted down and she found she couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. "I'm scared." She whispered.

"Of what?" he asked hoping that this time she would actually tell him what she was feeling.

"You. Us." She sighed. "I never had a relationship before you. And I made that stupid contract to try and prevent one. I kept hoping you'd realise how pointless being with me was. But you just don't give up and now I... feel all these things for you. And it's terrifying."

Luke took her hands in his own and smiled at her. "It's normal to be scared about relationships. It's a risk but one you have to take."

"But it's not. You're so nice to me. But I always think about all the things that could go wrong and how we'd break up eventually so what's the point in even starting anything?"

She instantly regretted her words when she saw the hurt in his eyes.

"I screwed up." she told him as she moved her body closer to his and felt the heat radiating for him.

"I let you in already." She said quietly.

Luke's eyes lit up. "Does this mean..."

"Yes. But if you dare use the word 'girlfriend' to describe me, I'll tell Friedman you watch Gilmore Girls every week." she threatened.

Luke couldn't help but grin. Although the thought of Friedman knowing such a powerful secret terrified him, Grace had just admitted they were a couple.

"And Luke?" She was now staring into his eyes, their lips almost touching. "I love you too."

That's all it took for Luke to kiss her.

"Ewww! Can't you put a sock on the door or some kind of alarm on the door?" Joan asked as she faced the other direction, avoiding the sight of her best friend and little brother making out.

Luke sighed as his sister ruined their moment. "What are you doing here?"

"Would you rather I'd let mum barge in?" She asked still facing the other way.

"Joan, turn around, it's not as if we're indecent." He reasoned. "Was mum freaking out?"

"Yeah huh. She thought you were gonna have make up sex or something." She said waving her hand flippantly. "I told her I'd come over, check on you youngster's." Joan had noticed Grace's silence and the broken glass. She could figure out what had happened so she deicded not to push it. Although it didn't seem like it, she did have some tact.

"So kids, we heading back home for a night of movies and junk food?"

Luke waited for Grace to respond. She nodded, "Let's go make sure your mum hasn't had an anyurism."

Luke then took the final step to finally knowing Grace had accept their relationship. He entwined his fingers with her's in full sight of Joan and released the breath he didn't know he was holding when she tightly held on.

As they walked out of the house Joan, not at her most subtle, asked "so are you guys finally out?"

"Girardi, are you ever not obvious?" Grace asked.

Joan frowned as if she was trying to think of a time. "Nope."

That night the trio had been allowed to sleep in the living room and had spent most of the night watching bad movies. But when Joan had finally fallen asleep, Grace had crawled into his arms and had silently allowed him to just hold her. He just wished the night would never end, that she'd never have to leave his embrace because together they were content and strong. Here she was safe and they both knew that now.