House of Cards Series # 3 One Shots (QoS, KoH)

Fall From Grace (1)

Grace James knew she was like her mercurial father in more ways than most people suspected. Part of it was how she looked, and she took advantage of the fact that at best she looked a little gawky and at worst she looked like a harmless nerd. No one ever expected her to be a trouble maker, but she was often the source of much consternation and headaches and it was all thanks to her partner in crime, Nathaniel. And it wasn't until he wasn't around as often anymore that she realized something important. She was more than a little dependant on her best friend to get her back and it was about damn time she learned to stand on her own rep.

Nate had never tried to tell her who to date or what to do, but he made his displeasure known in subtle ways that had thus far influenced her behaviour. And that pissed her right off. He chose to go and move out of his family's house and be 'closer to his school' for college. But now that meant he lived on the other side of the city and was never around anymore, and so it was time she found a new partner in crime. It'd been nearly two years since he moved, and Grace was a little annoyed at herself for letting this slide for so long.

Enter Jonah, the kind of guy that Nate used to steer her away from. He wasn't all that bad, though there were a few rumours about him that made Grace a little hesitant to talk to him. But the opportunity to having him speak to her first presented itself one day and she had to take it. Now that Nate had graduated highschool, Grace had gotten her own ride to school, in the form of the bus. It sucked after having a daily free ride and she was running late one day and tried to chase the bus down but it drove off without her.

"Thanks for nothing you stupid son of a b*tch!" she screamed after the bus, not caring that she was making a scene and had the parking lot of teachers and students getting to their own cars watching her.

And then Jonah started clapping and Grace turned a glare at him, hands going to her hips in tight fists. Thanks to her father's Cuban heritage, she didn't blush as easily as her mother and aunt did, her skin tone varied from dark honey in the summer to porceline in the winter. Since it was February, she was a faded honey pale colour.

"Fiesty, I like it. Where am I taking you?" Jonah asked, tossing Grace his spare helmet.

Grace caught the hard shelled helmet and blinked, then shrugged. She'd wanted a sign and here it was, whacking her over the head. So she gave the devastatingly handsome biker her address and climbed onto the back of her free ride without hesitation. She was too proud to tell him that she'd never been on a bike before and tried her hardest to not cling to him too tightly, though she was enjoying getting to feel his hard body hidden under his clothes. He pulled up in front of her house and killed the engine, leaning to the side a little so Grace could get off. She still almost killed herself when her foot caught on the seat and she tripped to the cement.

Jonah won some instant points when he immediately got off the bike and helped her up, checking her over for injuries. Other than her constantly bruised pride she was fine. "Thanks for the ride." Grace said softly, not entirely able to hide her flustered state. She awkwardly tried to hand him back the spare helmet and he chuckled at her.

"Hang onto it Grace. You'll need it tomorrow morning when I pick you up." Jonah replied with a confident smirk and started his engine again. Grace stepped back with a quirky looking grin, knowing that this was as close as a guy like Jonah got to asking a girl out. And just like that she had found someone who wasn't too busy to help her out.

With a wink and a rev of his engine, Jonah blasted out of there and Grace watched him drive down the street with a bemused smile on her face. It scared the crap out of her when she turned around and saw a darkly scowling Nathaniel glaring at the retreating back of the biker. "Tell me I do not see you standing there with Jonah Hill's spare helmet like an idiot freshman who has no sense." Nate spat out.

It was the wrong tactic to take, putting Grace on the immediate defensive and the same temper as her father had flared up. "Screw you Nate. I missed the bus and he was nice enough to give me a ride home. And he's being nice enough to pick me up tomorrow. There doesn't have to be more to it than that!" Grace retorted, glaring right back at her best friend.

"Use that thick head of yours for a second Grace, you know exactly what this guy is like!" Nate countered with a scoff. Neither one saw Maddison, Grace's mom, watch them fight from the front window. "First of all it's f*cking February and you got on a MOTORCYCLE? Are you trying to get into an accident? Secondly you know how this guy operates. We've mocked it in other girls ourselves!" Nate looked like he just couldn't figure it out.

"Will you quit treating me like a small child! I turn eighteen at the end of the damn month Nathaniel, I'm not a complete idiot." Grace retorted. She knew there was a way to win Nate around with a calm, logical and rational discussion. Too bad she was too pissed off to use it. "You're one to freaking talk, still not sure which of your many conquests you're going to bring to my party? Should I leave it as a blank plus one like always?" Grace retorted, knowing her best friend well. He didn't do 'girlfriends'.

"What does it matter who I bring? Jealous?" Nate demanded. "Seems, not, since you're now hooking up with Jonah Hill, badass extraordinaire." he mocked. "No wait, I forgot, I have nothing to worry about. I remember what happened with Patrick. When Jonah goes too far, give me a call and I'll puth im in his place." Nate's tone was angry.

Grace flushed a dark red colour, a mix of anger and embarassment. She wasn't good with guys who tried to touch her too much, and had ended a good relationship with a sweet guy because she freaked out when he grabbed her ass. A lot of her fear was due to sheer inexperience and her friendship with Nate had changed forever when they started to 'practice'. It wasn't sex, she wouldn't go there. And it wasn't a relationship because Grace refused to be a notch on his bedpost. But he was the one she'd learn to kiss from, and he had taught her the finer skills of self gratification and now it hung between them like an awkward elephant.

"Don't worry about, I won't be calling you. Jackass." Grace snarled at him and tried to ignore the flare of hurt that her words sparked in her best friend's expressive eyes.

"Hey, you know what, don't do me any favours." Nate retorted and walked back to his beat up impala, driving off without ever telling Grace why he'd been there in the first place.

For the second this time afternoon, Grace found herself screaming at the back of a retreating vehicle. "Screw you!" She stomped up to the door and went inside, too angry to cry and trying desperately to ignore the sinking sensation in her gut as she fled to her room. He was her best friend but that felt disturbingly like she'd just broken up with him and that thought hurt her chest.

She set the bike helmet down and slumped into her chair, staring at it and trying not to feel anything but anger. How dare he talk to her like that? He was supposed to be her friend not her freaking chastity belt! Her hand shot out and she slapped the bike helmet and hissed when it made her palm sting. Like kicking the wall when she was barefooted, it was a habit she lamented. And the tears slipped silently down her cheeks as she sat and rubbed her palm, knowing she could claim that they were due to the pain of her hand and not her chest. She'd liked the way Jonah paying attention to her had made her feel, and dammit, she refused to let Nate take that from her.

So she didn't call Nate like he was expecting, and instead caught a ride to school with Jonah the next morning. And another one home again that night. When Nate did come around to see why Grace was suddenly too busy to call him, she was firmly established as Jonah's girl, and doing her best to show Nate that she had no problem letting this man touch her. Grace was making out with Jonah on his bike while Nate stared at them in shock and mild scorn. He knew his best friend and she'd never been one for PDA, this was all a show and he refused to let it bother him, much.

She hadn't called him back, they hadn't made any overtures of peacemaking and it was her bithday tomorrow. Suddenly Nate realized that she might just not want him around anymore. It was clear enough that she had better things to worry about than an overprotective best friend. Grace didn't even notice Nate getting out of his car and putting something on the step to her house, onlt stopping her make out session with Jonah until she heard Nate's car start up and he was driving away while Grace had a smug smile on her face. For the first time ever, neither Grace nor Nate knew how to fix thier friendship.

__________________________________________________________________

A/N: This is part one, I'll be doing part 2 later. Cliffhanger time :P