Saving Grace Extras

Whirlwind Anniversary

All of the people milling about and the rides actually running makes Coney Island seem enitely different to Grace, and she tells Peter so as they walk together along the noisy, bright boardwalk.

He looks around as if just noticing it all. "Well, I mean... I've been here more than that one time, so this is all natural to me."

"We get it, Peter, you were allowed to leave the house just because as a child," Grace complains, swatting his arm. He laughs, then there's a pause; he's remembering something. Grace can tell because he makes that certain face: that faraway look with the half smile on the right side of his mouth — that means it's happy. If he frowns a bit, she knows it's sad, of course. She only noticed he made that face after they got married, and she loves it.

"May and Ben took me once," he says, still a bit faraway, but his face is partly turned to Grace. "It was a few years before Ben died. I was eleven, I think. May wouldn't ride the big rides, so Ben rode them all with me." He chuckles. "I wanted a corn dog, so they got me one, and right after I ate it I wanted to get on one of the spin-y rides. May said not to, but Ben was all, 'Oh, it'll be fine!'"

Grace laughs. "It wasn't, was it?"

Peter shakes his head, laughing, too. "Absolutely not."

They laugh for a bit, not mentioning the fact that they just had dinner, but it was long enough ago that it'll probably be fine. They don't plan "to get on one of the spin-y rides," anyway.

The Cyclone stands tall above them, though not quite as tall as Peter remembers. Grace can only remember sitting at the top and sort of seeing it at a long distance out her window.

They get in line, talking as they do, mostly reflecting on the past year. It's hard to believe it's been a year since they got married, and yet it isn't.

"A whole year," Grace marvels.

"And here's to seventy-nine more," Peter replies.

"What, so it just ends when we get to eighty?" Grace asks, and Peter laughs.

"My mistake. Ninety-nine."

"In case you forgot, I'm almost thirty. I don't think I'll be here that long."

"You're only four years older than me, okay? Women usually live longer than men, so I think this just evens it out."

Grace raises a brow, causing Peter to smile to himself. "So you wanna aim for 130 years?" she asks.

"We could aim higher if you want. I could go for 200, but that's just me."

"How about for as long as we both shall live?" Grace asks laughingly.

Peter shakes his head, laughing. "Alright, cheesy, we'll go with that."

They turn to walk forward with the line, switching topics for the rest of the wait — talking about work and Peter's online classes for his Master's, then their families (mostly Morgan). Finally, they get on the ride.

Peter glances over at Grace, notices she's looking straight ahead with a quietly afraid expression. He suddenly feels bad for choosing to sit in the front. "Are you alright?" he asks.

Grace looks over at him a bit abruptly. "What?"

"Are you alright?"

Her gut reaction is to say that she's fine, but she stops herself; they've both committed to always being honest, no matter what — and not even just to each other. She can't lie to him. But she also doesn't exactly want to admit the truth...

"I will take your silence as a no," Peter says with a chuckle.

"I've just-" Grace starts, then sighing. "I've only been on one rollercoaster in my life that I can even remember, and I was little. It wasn't very big, even though it felt like it was at the time... And I know this one isn't big either compared to other rollercoasters, but still..."

Peter takes her hand. "Hey, it's fine. I mean, look — they're making sure everyone is perfectly safe right now. And, anyway, I'm sure flying around in Savior is much faster and adrenaline-inducing than this. Probably more dangerous, too, depending on the situation."

"And that's what makes the fact that I'm scared so dumb."

"We all have irrational fears. But we can overcome them." The cars begin to move. "And you can do that starting right about now."

Grace squeezes his hand, takes a deep breath. "If I can face Thanos, I can do this. I'm better protected now than I was then."

"Exactly."

For a few moments, Grace closes her eyes, praying, then opens them again with a sense of peace. "Okay," she says, "this is fine."

"Was that a dog in the burning building, 'This is fine,' or a genuine, 'This is fine?'" Peter asks.

"Genuine."

Still, Peter doesn't let go of her hand. Memories come back to him — of that day with May and Ben, before he met Grace, but, as they near the top, he thinks of that night. They were both tired, he was aching yet already healing. And he said it. He meant it at the time, even if he didn't then know what it really was, even if he maybe shouldn't've said it back then. But he knows that much now. Much more than he knew before, even though he's still learning every day.

And now he can say it, now he can tell Grace he loves her, and at least come close to really knowing what that means. So, at the top, he turns to her, and he says it.

"I love you, Grace."

She looks at him with that same smile that never seems to get old. "I love you, too, Peter."