In which there is an encounter that probably shouldn't have happened.

[Set in pretendy!world. Cowritten with aplayfulpup. Grace is heirtothe_chief and Jake is str8on_tilmorn.]

"Don't take forever, alright?" Grace sighed as she headed towards the frozen foods section, her daughter in the cart in front of her. Felicity shook her head and made her way towards the produce section. She'd had a long week and now that she was getting the chance to spend some quality time with her sister and her family. Michael was back home, with Becca -- the majority of Felicity's trip was for business, and Michael school and such to deal with. She wasn't going to uproot him for the week and have him miss school just because. She promised to bring Michael around to see her mother and the rest of her family as soon as he got a break from school, and she intended to keep up with that promise. She also missed her son terribly, but that wasn't anything new.

She paused in front of the apples, reaching forward to get a feel for some of them before starting to collect the things that Grace had asked her to. She only had a few minutes before Grace was going to come look for her, and she didn't want to push it. Grace didn't need something else to rag on her for, that was for sure.

Aaron was walking across the back aisle of the store. His basket was full of frozen meals, pizzas, and Chef Boyardee. And he was carrying a case of beer. He never actually bought anything from the produce section, but he always walked through it..just in case something struck him. And because the chick that worked there was hot, and currently bent over by the bananas. He stopped a moment to tilt his head and watch, his finger brushing his lip.

( *** )

In which a friend in need is a friend indeed.

[Set after THIS and THIS.]

She knew better than most that she shouldn't be here.

She wasn't even supposed to be in the state. She was supposed to have been home in the beginning of the week, but the firm made her stay over for a few days and now she was going to the hospital in the middle of the night because Aaron had given himself alcohol poisoning. She didn't know why she was going, to be honest. She had said she was done with him, and that she never wanted to see him again, but she couldn't help herself.

She loved him. She'd always loved him. She couldn't stop loving him, even if she wanted to, because he had given her her son, and she would always care for him for that. Always hope that one day he'll want to actually meet him, see this incredible thing he'd helped create, but there wasn't much she could do there. All she could do was wait, and she knew that she said she was tired of waiting but she had to see him here. Because she couldn't bear to lose that hope.

She leaned in the doorway of his hospital room, waiting there silently while Jake worked on the paper work. When the nurse started hassling her, she moved inside, going to sit in one of the chairs next to the bed, and just watching him carefully for a moment, before leaning forward and burying her face in her hands.

"Damnit, Aaron. Why do you do stuff like this?"