LX. GRACE—CHAPTER SIXTY
( Just a heads up, there could be some things in this chapter that trigger a few people. I'm not quite sure if they're actually triggers, but I just wanted to be sure to add this just in case. Just be cautious, please. )

          The first thing Danny Duval heard once he opened the door to his best friend's apartment was the slam of a laptop and the quick shuffle in order to return it to the table. He released a sign, immediately knowing what she was doing on the laptop.

          "Gracie," he called once he stepped into the living room. His eyes scanned her and her surroundings. Nothing seemed off, but he knew they were. "I brought coffee," he added, smiling sadly as he held up the beverage holder in his hand, two coffees placed delicately inside two of the four holders. One had her name messily scribbled across it, and the other had his.

She slowly picked herself up off the couch and grabbed her coffee from him. He frowned at her appearance. It wasn't what she'd normally wear, even on the days where she just sat around the house and did nothing.

Her wavy hair was pulled behind her head in a messy ponytail, and it looked like she didn't seem to care that part of her hair wasn't even in the hair tie. She wore a large t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that were too large for her (he assumed they were Sebastian's). Overall, Danny would say she looked like she had very recently woken up and hadn't bothered to shower or do anything with herself.

          "How are you?" he asked, following behind her as she shuffled into the kitchen, him tossing the holder into the trash as he passed it. She shrugged in reply, frowning as she played with the lid of her coffee. "Coach said he could use your help today, if you're up for it."

          She nodded. "Yeah, okay. Sounds good."

It was quiet for a moment, Danny not knowing exactly what to say. He hated seeing her this way, and he didn't quite know how to help her this time. It was always different with her mom. He could sit down on the couch with her and talk it out with a few cups of coffee and everything would be alright. Well, as alright as one could be in that situation.

But this was different.

          "Gracie..."

          "I'm fine, Danny," she assured, but her voice told a different story. It was gentle, as if speaking any louder would cause her to break.

          "I don't believe you."

          She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before looking back at him. She pushed herself off the counter she had previously been leaning against before approaching the island Danny was seated at. He watched as she set her coffee down on the counter, only for it to topple over from her placement and land on the ground, the dark liquid immediately pouring out of the cup and onto the floor.

Danny got up to help her once she swore beneath her breath, but he stopped when he saw her state. She was on her knees, scrubbing the floor profusely as she mumbled incoherent nothings below her breath. And then her eyes began to water, making Danny kneel down to her level and place a hand over the one that wouldn't stop scrubbing.

"Danny, don't."

"Gracie, stop," he said, his voice calm as he gently pried the cloth from her shaky hand. He knew this was going to happen — that she would break from something as small as dropping her coffee by accident. "I'll do it."

But she shook her head, refusing to let Danny clean up a mess that she had made — a mess that could be fixed so easily. But she couldn't let him continue to clean up her messes, even the bad ones, because they were her fault. "No. I got it. Just let me do it."

Danny gave her a look he had given her too many times to count. It was one that said 'Grace, I'm going to do it no matter what you say.' He then watched as she slowly scooted herself away from him, plastering herself against the nearest wall as she pulled her knees to her chest. Her bottom lip was quivering, and Danny knew immediately that he wouldn't be the one to fix this.

His hand went to his back pocket to retrieve his phone. After typing a quick message to the one who could actually help her, he slowly made his way over to her. Her eyes stared straight ahead, tears pooling on her waterline when she heard her phone ring from the counter.

Danny grabbed it, checking the contact name before handing the phone to Grace. She shook her head, not wanting to talk on the phone with anyone, so Danny clicked the answer button himself after releasing a low grumble and held the phone up to her ear.

"Gracie?"

She recognized the voice right away, and when she heard it, the tears fell from her eyes. She didn't mean to cry, but she couldn't help it. "Sebastian," she cried, grabbing the phone from Danny's hands. He smiled sadly before cleaning up the remainder of the coffee on the floor and exiting the room to sit in the living room. Just far enough away in case she needed him again. "I'm sorry."

"No, no. Baby, don't be sorry," he rushed out.

"But I am sorry. This is — this is all my fault." Her words were raspy and high pitched, the sound assuring him that she was, in fact, crying. "I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't want it to. This isn't fair."

"I know it's not, but listen to me, Gracie: this isn't your fault—"

"Yes, it is, Sebastian. I screw everything that's good for me up. I can never be happy. I can't — I can't let you be with me when I'm only gonna drag you down."

"Gracie—"

"No, don't," she cut him off. "I want you to be happy. I want you to find someone who will make you happy — someone who won't be like me."

"Don't say that. You don't mean it."

"Yes, I do. I — I don't want people to say things about you like they are me."

"Gr—"

"You're such a whore. You deserve everything you're getting. What a slut. God, maybe they're right. And I don't deserve you, Sebastian. I really don't."

"Those aren't true, Gracie."

She didn't reply, because she knew they were true. She knew she was bad for him. Instead of saying anything, her eyes squeezed shut and she released a loud cry. Her free hand rested on her forehead as she heard Sebastian try and console her from the other end of the line.

"Gracie, listen to me—"

She was shaking, and she couldn't stop it. Her voice was ragged and she suddenly couldn't breath. She didn't know what to do except try and stop herself from crying.

"I'm sorry," is what she repeated over and over again once she calmed herself down enough to talk. "I'm sorry. I'm really, really, really sorry—"

"Hey," he said, his voice light and delicate. "I love you."

And just like that, she froze. "What?"

"I said I love you," he repeated, and she could practically see the smile through the sound of his voice. "And I mean it. You can't get rid of me that easily."

She didn't know what to say, and she definitely didn't expect him to say those words. She knew how she felt about him, and she knew this would happen eventually. She just didn't know he would say it now.

But she just didn't know what to say.

So, she let the filter in her head take a break, and the words she wanted to say flew right out.

"I love you, too."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been waiting for them to say this to each other since they started dating, and now that they have, I can finally check this off of the list. yay.

also, thank you guys so much for 100k reads and nearly 10k votes. it means so much to me that you guys love gracie and want to protect her like I do. xx