Chapter Four

It was your stereotypical homophobic attack, that claimed Alex's life. They had been walking around town, late at night, holding hands. Gracie had a made a joke about something-the haircut of one of their classmates, if she remembered correctly-and Alex had laughed. Even now, Alex could remember how warm she felt at the sound of Alex's high pitched giggle, the smile that filled her face, exposing crooked, adorable teeth. "My little bunny," that was what Gracie called Alex, whenever people made fun of her teeth. "I love your teeth. I love everything about you." Three drunk men, shouting loud enough for Alex and Gracie to hear them, came around the corner, and Gracie had felt Alex's grip tighten, squeezing her hand. There was no tenderness to the gesture this time, only panic.

"We need to cross to the other side of the road. Now." Alex steered Gracie sideways, and they walked across the street. The men must have noticed, because a shout followed Alex and Gracie, as well as the sound of drunk, scattered footsteps.

"Alex! Where ya going? Come on, come back here." The drunk men began to speed up, and so did Alex and Gracie. Shouts of "whore!" and "slag!" could be heard from behind them, and Alex's voice was tense as she spoke to Gracie, while they quickly walked along, not yet wanting to break out into a sprint.

"One of those men is my ex, Will. He was the one I left, just before I got with you. He's still convinced I'm dating you to spite him. We need to get away from him, quickly. He shoved me a few times, while we were together. He's off his ass, he might get nasty."

Alex, who more often than not was kept inside by her parents, didn't know that part of the city well. Gracie, on the other hand, knew this part of the city by heart, or at least she thought she did. She came here often, liking it for the quiet, the overall lack of people.

It was Gracie's turn to steer Alex, and so they went down an alley behind the ice cream shop, which lead out to the other side of the road. They took a left, aiming for a corner store nearby, somewhere they could lose Will and his friends. Gracie felt her chest tighten, her breathing become more shallow. Alex, whose touch was normally so gentle, so caring, was gripping Gracie's hand for what was, essentially, dear life. They entered the store, and immediately walked towards the back. About a minute after, the bell above the door tinkled again, and Will and his friends entered the store. The convenience store had four aisles, and one of Will's gang each went down a certain aisle, covering as much ground as quickly as possible. That left the aisle at the opposite end of the shop for Gracie and Alex to escape through, and so they ran to the aisle, obviously being spotted from the muffled shouts that followed them as they ran. Hand in hand, they ran up the aisle, took another left, and made for the door, bursting through it and continuing their escape, not stopping, not even for a second.

"Babe...I need to stop, just for a sec." Alex, who had less of an athletic build than Gracie, was struggling, spurred on only by Gracie's hand dragging her along.

"We can't stop, they'll hurt us! Come on, please, just keep going! I'll carry you, if you like."

"You're not carrying me, Grace. We both know that would just slow us down. I need to stop, for a second, to catch my breath. Is there anywhere nearby? That rest in the shop wasn't enough."

Gracie's mind was racing, as she weighed up her options. She could no longer hear Will and his friends, but that didn't mean they weren't close by. Neither her house nor Alex's house were close by, at least a twenty-minute walk away. The last bus had gone a half hour ago, and should Will and his gang catch up with them, they had only Alex's bag to fend them off with.

Wait. The grid.

Nearby, there was a set of buildings, home to apartments filled mostly with young parents and old people. At this time of night, most of them would be asleep, but there was bound to be someone up, someone who would hear if they were found and attacked. The way the buildings were arranged, there was a pathway in between, in which you could walk in all four directions. Even if the three men caught up with them, they had an escape route. "I have a place in mind. Come on, it's not that far." Gracie pulled Alex along, her own breathing starting to become more rushed, more shallow.

They reached the grid, entering through the west pathway, and Gracie and Alex stood-or rather, slumped-in the middle, trying to catch their breath. Gracie and Alex released their grip on each other, their hands sore from squeezing the other person's hand constantly, the panic that had kept them going, along with their willpower, starting to subside.

"We can't stop for long. They might be following still. Just because they're drunk doesn't mean they'll always be loud." Gracie was growing tenser by the second, feeling the exhaustion creep in, as well as the dread. What if they did catch up with them? They had an escape route, sure, but they were tired, and they had stopped moving. Momentum was a wondrous thing, and now it was gone. What if it wasn't enough? What if Alex fell, or if one of them had a panic attack, or something like that? "Come on, please. We have to go, now."

Alex's speech was scattered, and she was obviously struggling more than Gracie.

"Grace...we'll be fine. Chill out...nothing's gonna happen." Alex had been bent over, hands on her knees, breathing heavily, but she stood up, and grabbed Gracie's face gently, looking at her, trying to give Gracie a reassuring look. "We'll walk back to your place, okay? If we hear them coming, we'll start running again. Oh, Jesus, I'm tired."

Gracie thought of insisting they keep running for a second, but Alex's big brown eyes silenced her concerns. Gracie wanted to feel safe so much, to feel like everything was going to be okay, and so she gave in, like she always did when Alex reassured her. She took Alex's hand, turned towards the north entrance to the grid, and began walking. That fleeting moment of peace, of calm and safety, soon evaporated, as when Gracie's gaze moved from Alex's eyes to the path in front of them, she saw Will, standing there.