Who is stalking who?

[Gracelyn Cordova]

[attr="class","Gracener"]

[attr="class","Gracener1"]

[attr="class","Graceback"]

[attr="class","Gracenert"]"Are you sure?"

To be fair, Grace wasn’t sure about anything right now. Even the rules of death weren’t logical and that was messing her up. She could only cry harder as Matt wiped the tears from her face. She was undoing a grieving process which was already wreaking havoc in her life. Though knowing she had Matt in her corner and that she had someone looking out for her meant more than she could express right now.

Running? She wasn’t sure if she was running or simply protecting herself from getting hurt anymore than she already hurt. “Someone’s gotta look out for me Nate, it might as well be me. What else am I supposed to do? I’m not that fifteen year old girl kicking a soccer ball around to make sure I can get an education. Look where that’s gotten us! You’re dead and I can’t hit enough soccer balls with my head to numb myself and make more than minimum wage.” Bold words for a woman who loved soccer. She didn’t hate the sport, just the memories she tried to drown out with it. The same memories that got her playing in the first place.

You don’t get this moment twice? Was Matt for real right now? Who would want to go through this hell once? Let alone twice. Grace just pinned Matt with the ‘shut up and stop talking’ look though it soon faded as she maneuvered in his arms so that she could see Nate without picking her head up off of Matt’s shoulder. She both hated the fact that Matt had to see her like this and was thankful he was here to keep her from beating the snot outta her brother.


"I was thinking about staying put actually."

Right, if their parents ever managed to turn up in Chicago she was going to have to explain a hell of a lot to them. Nate just turning up in Chicago or Miami again wasn’t going to be easy on them. “Anyone can run Nate. It takes a stronger person to come back.” That didn’t mean that the sting from the last however many years wouldn’t sit for a while. Grace just tightened her hug on Matt. Still visibly upset but at least she was talking.

∵ Matthew Cole, Nathaniel Cordova∵

[attr="class","Gracener2"]

[attr="class","Gracenerlyric"]Call me if you need a rescue
We live in the same city

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Nathaniel Cordova]

[attr="class","Natenah"]

[attr="class","Nateleft"] [attr="class","Nateleft2"]

[attr="class","Nateright"] As much as he had kept putting it off the past several weeks, Nate knew he had to face this situation eventually -- not just with his sister, but with his parents. In doing so, he'd become the bad guy: the person who had lied to them, letting them think he was dead. Not an unreasonable response to the past few years. So, even if Grace were pointing fingers, at least she was talking, letting it all out, and not running away. In some strange way, that felt like progress. "No," Nate told her bluntly. "It's never been just you looking after yourself. Did I feel dead when you hugged me? You may not have known it, but I never stopped looking out for my little sister." Perhaps Grace needed a reminder of that. Nate had watched her from afar -- with his level of training, she'd never suspected a thing -- but he'd done more than just silently observe. He may not have been able to outright say anything to her, but he'd done small things -- things that very much broke the rules. If the CIA had known... well, no doubt his superiors would have had heart failure. "Didn't you ever stop to wonder where those unsigned birthday cards came from -- no return address, dropped off straight to your PO Box. Do fans normally pay you in cash?" While they were putting all their feelings out there, Nate encouraged Grace to keep getting it off of her chest. He'd taken worse verbal beatings, even if this one stung more because she was his little sister. "So you have every right to angry about what I did, but don't assume I suddenly stopped caring, or looking out for you. Because I never will. And I think your boyfriend might have something to say about that too, since he's looking out for you right now." Matthew Cole, Gracelyn Cordova [attr="class","Nateright2"]

deltra of gangnam style

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[Matthew Cole]

Matt caught the look that Grace shot him, and he knew full well that she was very clearly telling him to shut up without using any words to do so. It was the same look that Flo, the plump and slightly older lady from the diner his mom worked in, used to give him when he was growing up and it was a look he had learned to take notice of. It wasn't easy for Matt to just stand there and listen to the pair talk. To listen to the woman he cared about sounding and being so upset. Listening to her say she had to look after herself. Matt was there for her the moment they became friends and even more so the moment they started dating. He wasn't so good at expressing that in words but he hoped she would see it by his actions, by him being at her side when she needed him and listening every time she called him. But apparently she hadn't noticed yet, and now wasn't the time or the place to say anything... especially after he had just been told to shut up. And though Nate hadn't exactly rubbed Matt the right way it wasn't easy listening to the man say he never stopped looking out for his little sister and never stopped sending cards. Matt couldn't say he understood any of this, let alone why Nate had to let Grace think he was dead just to randomly show up in the middle of a car park. But he could tell that Nate genuinely cared and that this was killing him, if Grace could see that or not. So some small part of him felt bad for the guy. "So you have every right to angry about what I did, but don't assume I suddenly stopped caring, or looking out for you. Because I never will. And I think your boyfriend might have something to say about that too, since he's looking out for you right now." Wait. Did Nate just? Matt was totally surprised. The guy didn't even like Matt yet he was pointing out the fact that Matt was being there for her. Something Matt really wanted her to be able to see. "He's right." Matt knew better than to open his mouth again but one good word deserved another. "Just because people maybe make a mistake or let you down or do something you don't understand doesn't mean they stoop caring or stop looking out for you. Even if you don't see them doing it." He'd probably just get another look off her or worse for putting a word in for Nate like that, but he hoped she'd see his point. Tag: Gracelyn Cordova , Nathaniel Cordova . ~*~

[Gracelyn Cordova]

[attr="class","Gracener"]

[attr="class","Gracener1"]

[attr="class","Graceback"]

[attr="class","Gracenert"]If anyone had been looking out for her through her college years, it had been her. She had been rather rebellious after Nate left in almost every way imaginable that was still legal. Taking a scholarship and spending her nights out partying trying to forget that he’d just left her. Grace was more independent than she let on or let either of the men standing beside her believe. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.” Trust had just been broken, even if she wasn’t saying as much. Reality and fiction were blurring lines and this was all some huge nightmare she was going to wake up from.

Nate mentioned the cards and she froze. All of that money was in a savings account somewhere. Grace hadn’t touched. Well except that one time she had to get her car fixed after some idiot had rear ended her then drove away. She’d still had to pay the deductible on that. “Thanks for fixing my car” What else was she going to say that didn’t make her sound like a complete jerk or come off as freaked out. Though to be fair, that whole thing freaked her out at first.

Grace still had tears streaming down her face. “I graduated high school, when I got my scholarship you have no idea how much it hurt not to be able to call you and tell you. When I got drafted by Chicago...” Stuff she undoubtedly had been able to tell her parents but something always felt missing. Then there was the whole comment about Matt being there for her and her being wrong about all of it.

“When I got the phone call from Mom and Dad… I didn’t know Matt yet.” She glanced over her shoulder. She’d not even met Matt until some two years after the fact. “He’s part of the reason I can still bring myself to get up in the morning. I almost quit the 2016 season.” Had she just admitted that she’d stopped caring about the one thing she loved. There had been no speak of her wanting to quit to anyone but just the fact she’d had a friend to talk to at the time had changed her own mind without even getting anyone else’s opinion.

“I denied everything until I couldn’t anymore.” She really wanted a drink right about now. Grace didn’t move from where she was wrapping her arms around herself. “No offense to either of you; but this is something I have to work out. No one else can just jump in my head and undo my emotional hell.” She leaned on Matt’s shoulder looking to Nate as her words came out in Spanish. Spanish was much more familiar to her than English when it came to talking with Nate. “Te he echado de menos. Diecisiete años es mucho tiempo para ir sin verte la cara. Tres años de beber para adormecer el dolor y no una vez funcionó. Pero estoy orgulloso de ti” (I have missed you. Seventeen years is a long time to go without seeing your face. Three years of drinking to numb the pain and not once did it work. But I am proud of you.)

Then she turned around to face Matt. “I didn’t mean to imply that you…” no she wasn’t going to finish that sentence. “I’m sorry.” Grace needed a break, she had planned on going out tonight and having a nice evening out after the game. “Kelsey isn’t going to be expecting me until later tonight. I’ve still got to eat something and I'm hungry” She rarely if ever ate before a game. Getting hit with balls after you’d just pigged out was not so fun. Then she turned back to her brother. “You up for food?” Yeah as usual, Grace wasn’t exactly good at picking somewhere to eat, but she didn’t want to stand here all night in the parking lot in tears.

∵ Nathaniel Cordova,Matthew Cole ∵

[attr="class","Gracener2"]

[attr="class","Gracenerlyric"]Call me if you need a rescue
We live in the same city

[attr="class","cred"]MADE BY VEL OF WW + ADOX 2.0

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[Nathaniel Cordova]

[attr="class","Natenah"]

[attr="class","Nateleft"] [attr="class","Nateleft2"]

[attr="class","Nateright"] Even in their moment of uncertainty, as they continued to feel each other out, at least some good could come out of this conversation. It may not have been anything big, by most people's standards, but a small step was better than no step at all. Nate afforded himself the kind of smile that had eluded him since reuniting with his sister. Most of it, by her own admission, remained untouched, perhaps because the generic cards had gone unsigned. At least Gracelyn had used the funds when she really needed them. "I'm glad you used some of the money." But Gracelyn – like all siblings, younger or older – knew how to strike all the right chords. The tears started streaming down her face, as she recounted the important life events he had missed, caused Nate to stiffen, stone-faced. Escaping Miami – eventually to the jungles of South America and sometimes a little closer to home – hadn't exactly been sunshine and roses. That would be the last possible description Nate would use; when people you knew, people you served alongside, died in the line of duty. Things that he might never be able to talk about – even with brothers and sisters who had served. So, in his own way, Nate could understand what she might be going through. No one else could figure this out for him. Nate, of course, still fluently understood Spanish – the language he and Gracelyn predominately grew up with in the Cordova household. Unless someone else was around who didn't speak Spanish, and sometimes even then, both of them tended to avoid English. So, the comment about her drinking habits did not go unnoticed, but it was a matter to be addressed later. Nate had seen her hanging out with friends after games, having a little too much to drink. It was something to discuss with her, but here and now, under the current circumstance, was probably not the best time. Nate nodded. Food actually sounded good. Maybe getting out of the parking lot and starting to try to rebuild bridges would do all of them good. Doing normal things again might help with that. This way, too, he got to learn more about Matt, her boyfriend. "What are you in the mood for?" Gracelyn Cordova , Matthew Cole [attr="class","Nateright2"]

deltra of gangnam style

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