Intermission - Grace and Sarah.

After breakfast, and after a good, long talk about what makes stories good and fun, Grace and Sarah parted ways with Fernanda, promising to see each other again a bit later to play some padel.

Oliver and the other girls did as asked and delayed their own breakfast, so Grace and Sarah left them to it and returned to the cabin. Grace kept quiet on the way there, earning her strange glances from Sarah. The blonde didn’t ask, though. Probably thanks to the years they’d spent together, she knew Grace was still gathering her thoughts.

She kept replaying the day’s events so far, all the ones involving Fernanda. This girl… This girl with issues, insecurities, fears… All worn on her sleeve. Grace thought about her, and the more she did, the heavier her chest felt, the more she felt like she was dragging heavy boots.

Once inside the cabin, Grace let out a shaky sigh. “I really don’t know how Oliver can love me. He has to have a screw loose somewhere.”

Sarah furrowed her brow, narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something that was left unspoken, but everything still clearly asked, “What the fuck are you on about?”

Grace walked past her friend. “You said it, remember? And you’ve said it before. I always think I’m better than everyone, and I have practically zero empathy for anyone I don’t care about. This girl, Fernanda? I… I don’t really care about her. If she’s going through a depression or if she’s all rainbows and sunshine… Doesn’t make a difference to me.”

“Ouch.” Sarah’s tone was flat. Like it didn’t surprise her, but was still a little taken aback that she had said it out loud. “Then why pretend? You seemed invested back there.”

“I wasn’t pretending,” Grace said, still with her back to Sarah. “I don’t care. I know it’s cold, but… I can’t find it in myself to care about a total stranger. That said… You and Oliver care. Hell, even Diana seems to have started caring. That’s enough for me.”

Sarah sighed. “Well, we have our reasons to care. Oliver does because she’s the daughter of someone he knows, and also because he sees some of himself in her. Yeah, I’m sure he’d love to have her join him in bed at some point, but that’s not the reason she worries him.”

Grace nodded. She knew that already. And really, she wasn’t against that at all. The girl seemed nice enough and was absolutely stunning, 100% Oliver’s type. If Oliver decided he wanted her, then Grace was totally open to welcoming her.

“Me, though… Fuck, it just runs in the family, I guess,” Sarah continued. “My dad, my mom, my aunts and uncles… If they see a way they can help, they will. I thought I was different, but it seems the apple still fell right at the tree’s roots.”

Grace nodded again. Sarah could be brash, loud, tactless… But she was good, and you didn’t need to look deep to realize it. She was genuinely a good, caring person. No self-interest, no need for personal gain, no need to feed her ego… A better person than Grace herself.

“Diana likely sees some of herself in her, as well. She was dealing with a lot before she met Oliver, remember? Her dad had passed away, so she probably understands what it’s like to feel like your feet are deep in mud.”

That’s the thing. Grace did understand what that was like. Listening to her parents fight, seeing them split up, being put in the middle as if her preference for one or the other would prove them right… Grace did understand what it was like to feel like your feet are deep in mud, trying to lift them yet the mud tries to suck you back down. It wasn’t the same situation, but she understood. But even so…

“I still think back to a certain day, every once in a while,” Grace said. Her throat felt like it was closing up. “Remember when Mark blew up in Oliver’s face? My first thought was to get angry at him. Yours? Your first thought was to run after Oliver. In fact, I think… I think I thought less of Oliver for not standing up for himself. I thought less of him, Sarah. The same guy who later welcomed me in his home for Christmas instead of letting me be alone. That day at Thomas’ party, if Mila hadn’t already been talking to him when we got there… I may have never even looked his way, regardless of how attractive he was. Do you know how much that terrifies me?” Grace grabbed her own hand to keep it from shaking. “There was a chance that I may have never met the love of my fucking life, and just because I would’ve written him off as another handsome loser.”

“Grace…”

“And now, while we were talking to Fernanda, I was reminded of that. Sarah, I would do anything, even crawl through hell for you, Oliver, or any of the others. I would. I saw Fernanda when we were by the river, but if you hadn’t seen her and approached her, I would’ve continued to ignore her. Does that make me a terrible person?”

Sarah let out a slow, heavy sigh. “Can’t say. We all have limited space to fit the people we care and worry about. You’re one of the most loyal people I know. Once you let someone in, you fight tooth and nail for them, and… I don’t think I’ve ever told you how fucking much I respect that. I can’t say whether you’re a good or bad person, but I can tell you that I love you for who you are now, even if your flaws make me mad at times. I still love you.”

Grace’s heart felt like it had been released from a tight grip. She turned, eyes close to tears and a shaky smile. Sarah was smiling at her, too.

“You love me?” Grace asked, chuckling.

“What, too corny? You’re the one who started pouring her heart out to me.”

“I guess…” Grace giggled. “I’m sorry. I…”

“Don’t worry. I get it. You’re you, Grace. And that you’re even willing to give Fernanda your time because Oliver and I care… That means something, too. Fuck it, you can be an ass, but you’re not a bad person. There, I made up my mind.”

Grace had dumped this on Sarah out of nowhere, yet she still took it with no problems and even made her feel better. This girl was going to be an amazing psychiatrist, or psychologist, or really whatever she wanted to be. Grace was going to be behind her all the while, pushing her or pulling her if necessary.

“I love you too, Sarah,” Grace admitted. “I’m sorry I’m such a headache. I’ll… try to do better.”

“And that's all we can do. All of us. Continue trying to do better. Have you seen your boyfriend? You can get very far just living like that day by day.”

Grace giggled, ran up to Sarah and gave her a big, tight hug. “You know you inspire him, too, right? He admires you. And so do I.”

“Still don’t know how to feel about that…”

“Use it as motivation to keep moving forward, I suppose. You’ve always been great at the things you love, but when you get to university, you’ll have to study for things you won’t like. Don’t let those stop you.”

“...” Sarah snickered. “Alright. I’ll be careful.”

“...Hey. Kiss me?” Grace asked.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. You said you love me, right?” the brunette teased.

“Yeah, but I meant… Oh, whatever. Come here.”

The two friends shared a deep and tender kiss, tongues playful and excited. Grace felt warmth in her chest that lifted her worries, or at least most of them. Putting a label to this relationship was pointless. What she felt for Sarah and the others wasn’t the same kind of love she felt for Oliver, but it was still love at the end of the day.

Whether she cared about Fernanda or not didn’t really matter. What mattered was that Oliver, Sarah and Diana did. That was enough for Grace to give it her all. Only time would tell if the girl earned a spot in her heart as well.

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