Matt Casey's nieces and nephew

Chapter 20

Grace couldn't sleep that night. She tossed and turned and listened as the rain pouring outside her window. She opened it and let the cool breeze of the night blow through her. She thought it would help somehow, but it just made her feel cold.

She tried to listen to music, thinking it could help her drift into sleep. She tried calling Tyler but he didn't answer. It was late and she figured he would have been asleep for a few hours now, like she should be. She even thought about calling her Mom, as most people do when things seem impossibly hard. Even with a mother that wasn't perfect, Grace still thought about it.

Grace could hear Matt downstairs. He was watching TV, or he at least had it on. Dawson showed up early and told them what had happened. The sight of her at the door sent chills down Grace's and Ellie's spines. The girls figured something happened to Matt but when Dawson told them Hallie had died, they knew this was going to be much worse than if Matt had gotten injured. He was strong, he could deal with his problems and his injuries and things in his control. But losing Hallie, well, that was something that could destroy everything they worked hard to build over the last few months.

Grace heard Matt come in a few hours ago. She heard the brief conversation he had with Dawson. And she heard Matt say he didn't know what to say to the triplets, so it was good they were asleep. But they weren't asleep, at least Grace wasn't, and they weren't okay either.

Grace spent the last two hours lying in bed awake, trying to figure out what to say or what to do. She wanted to see him and talk to him. She was hurting too but she didn't want to burden him. In the end, she got up and crossed her room. She opened the door and walked to the top of the stairs. She paused for a few moments before she walked down them.

Casey was sitting on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels, but he wasn't going to find what he was looking for. He was too distracted with his own thoughts to hear her open her door or come down the stairs. He looked over when he saw her standing at the bottom of the stairs and watched her. He watched her struggle with her emotions, wondering what her next move was. She simply stared at him with a look on her face that was a combination of sympathy and hurt. He realized then that he wasn't the only one that had lost something tonight. She wasn't just sorry for him, she was actually sorry. And the look on her face wasn't sympathy, it was empathy.

"Hi," She said quietly.

"Are you going to come sit down or stand there all night?" He said jokingly.

"I don't know what to do." She said.

"Come here, Gracie." He said as he waved her over.

"No." She shook her head and remained at the bottom of the step, clinging to the banister. "If I come over there I'm going to cry and you're going to end up comforting me."

"I'm the adult," he explained. "That's how it works."

"Not this time." She said. "Not when it's your pain."

"Grace," Casey said as he stood up and took a few steps towards her.

"No, don't." She said again, trying to hold her emotions in check. "Uncle Matt, I want to be there for you this time. You're always there for us and you're always so strong and you don't have to be this time. Not for this."

"Grace, it's okay." Casey said as he reached her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to hold it all in because you want to be strong for me. Hallie was a part of our lives and our family for eight years. This is hard and it's going to get harder but we won't get through it unless we deal with it properly. So, come sit down and talk to me."

"I don't want to upset you."

"I'm already upset, Grace." He said softly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to the couch.