'til forever falls apart | gracie abrams

12 - but that's just when you happened

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"Melie, please stop freaking out, you're freaking me out," Gracie pleaded, desperately trying to calm the taller girl down, "You don't have to be worried. My family will love you, Auggie's been talking about how excited he is to see you again for a week."

"What if they kick me out of their house? What if I'm annoying? What if I break something? Oh god, what if I accidentally spill food on the tablecloth? Oh Dios, esta fue una idea terrible, ¡no puedo hacer esto!" Amelie rambled, running both hands frustratedly through her hair that she spent the past hour curling then straightening again then curling then straightening again because she insisted it needed to be perfect.

Gracie insisted she couldn't look anything but perfect, even if she was bald. The beach waves Amelie had eventually settled on had straightened in the wind as the blonde girl stammered with anxiety in Gracie's driveway for far too long.

"Melie, you've been to my house plenty of times before, why are you so nervous this time?" Gracie asked, placing both of her hands gently on Amelie's shoulders.

"I've only been here when your parents and Henry haven't been home. Now your brother's home from college for the holidays and your parents just spent the whole day making food and it's the first time I'm spending the night and I'm scared I'm gonna do something to mess it all up," Amelie shook her head, "Maybe I'm not ready for this, maybe I should go home."

"No, please don't go," Gracie argued, taking Amelie's hand in her own and tangling their fingers together, "I love you, they'll love you, and it's just Thanksgiving. As long as there's food, nothing can be ruined."

"I don't know, I'm pretty good at screwing things up and-"

Gracie cut her off with a silent kiss, capturing Amelie's lips with her own and effortlessly stopping the scramble of words that left her mouth and the racing of her head.

"You can have more kisses if we can stop pacing back and forth in my driveway and actually head inside where it's warm and smells like turkey," Gracie convinced.

"Yeah, okay, we could do that," Amelie licked her lips, a shy smile creeping its way onto her lips as Gracie led her inside the door.

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"So, Amelie, what brought you to Los Angeles?" Katie asked, lighting the candles on the dinner table as Amelie and the rest of the Abrams family sat down in the chairs surrounding it.

"Sport, college, you know, the usual," Amelie responded, her leg bouncing up and down under the table, "I actually just committed to UCLA a month ago at regional finals."

"Ah yes, Gracie told us about that," Katie nodded, "I hear you're also the one who managed to convince her to play soccer this year?"

"Mom," Gracie groaned, "You promised, not too many questions."

"Sorry, it's just- you seem lovely, Amelie," Katie smiled warmly, sitting down in the seat opposite the blonde girl.

"Thank you, Mrs. Abrams-"

"'Katie' is fine, please," Katie waved it off.

"So, why'd you choose UCLA?" JJ asked, reaching for the gravy boat.

"Well, my dad used to coach there before he moved to Spain and met my mom. He's lived there since and my mom has never been to the states," Amelie explained, "I had a couple other early offers but I've always had my heart set on UCLA."