Ghosts come out to socialize

[Gracelyn Cordova]

[attr="class","Gracener"]

[attr="class","Gracener1"]

[attr="class","Graceback"]

[attr="class","Gracenert"]Grace still wasn’t sure what to do or think about everything that had happened in the parking lot at the stadium. Sure, they’d had dinner with Nate and that didn’t sort out the emotions going on right now. She didn’t trust herself to drive and tossed her car keys at Matt for the second time in the evening as she climbed into the passenger seat. Part of her didn’t want to go home, to do what? To think about everything where she couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t really like she wanted to talk about it either. Grace leaned on the passenger seat of her car and kind of zoned out.

That was until they were pulling into her neighborhood, her hand had been resting on Matt’s knee most of the car trip. That was until they pulled up to her neighborhood. It was all blocked off. Blocked off with crime scene tape. Not again. “Which neighbor assaulted which one this time?” She mumbled under her breath. She’d talk about anything as long as it wasn’t talking about her brother right now. Well maybe that conversation starter unintentionally provided a not so great distraction. Well it definitely wasn’t about the whole parking lot incident.

Just what she needed, crime scene tape on top of a broken heart. Part of her couldn’t help but feel guilty, the other part of her was angry. Somewhere inside she was also feeling like she’d still let Nate down. Grace leaned her head on the window. It was going to be a long night, she was just glad that it wasn’t a night she would have to spend alone.

∵ 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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[Matthew Cole]

The car ride back to Grace's was a quiet one. But it wasn't so much of a comfortable silence, as it was more of a sad one. Looking over at Grace Matt could see by her expressions that she was upset. No she wasn't her usual bright self at all as she had her head resting against the window. And that was understandable given everything that had happed that night. But there was little Matt could do other than just be there with her. Her brother coming back had been a shock to say the least and she just needed time. Arriving at her neighborhood Matt was forced to slow the car to a stop when they reached the crime scene tape blocking off the turning to the road Grace lived in. "Great." Ge sighed under his breath. “Which neighbor assaulted which one this time?” Oh that about summed it up. As a cop Matt knew the area was a bad one. The place looked the part with nice houses and manicured lawns in neat rows and all, but the crime rate told another story. Rolling down his window Matt leaned out to speak to the uniformed officer walking over to them, "Hey." Matt greeted casually. "Road's closed." The officer responded. "Detective Cole, what's going on?" He asked. The officer rested a hand on the car as he talked to Matt, "Serious incident. You on duty?" "No, just dropping my girlfriend home. Any chance we can get through seeing as she lives here?" There was no harm in asking. "Nope, the road is still being processed. Nobody's allowed in unless they're here to work the crime scene. Sorry, pal." Matt held back a sigh, having worked at more crime scenes than he could put a number on he understood how it worked and why they couldn't go past the tape. It was inconvenient sure, but at the end of the day the victims had bigger problems and the police were just doing their jobs. So Matt just gave a nod. "Okay, thanks. Have a good night." Matt rolled up the window and looked over to Grace, "You can stay at my place." He offered. Pulling away Matt headed to one of the rougher areas downtown. The neighborhoods was visibly grittier than Grace's, but ironically it had a lower crime rate when it came to homicides at least. Thought it still was not what people would call a 'safe' place. It was certainly not crime free and had it's fair share of thefts, robberies and assaults as well the gang activity you'd expect for such an area. Matt parked in an available space opposite his building and turned off the engine, "Well this is me." He said, unbuckling his seat belt. The building was no castle and the area wasn't anything spectacular, but it was his home and had been for years. Usually that didn't bother him, but with Grace it was a little different. The first sign that Matt was serious about a girl was when he put off letting her see where he lived. The second sign was introducing them to his mother. And with Grace he had been in no rush let her see where he lived and what he had come from. That's why he had never brought her to his place until now. He had more or less come from nothing and usually he was proud that he had somehow managed to stay out of trouble and make a detective out of himself so he could fight for where he called home, or at least help prevent is from becoming any worse. But around Grace that suddenly didn't feel good enough and part of him felt like she deserved better. Not that she had ever said or done anything to make him feel that way. But it's what the thoughts in the back of his mind told him. Crossing the road Matt let Grace into the building and showed her up to his apartment. Unlocking the door he opened it and led her inside. The place mostly consists of exposed brick walls and wooden floors, but the interior of his apartment was nicer than the exterior. "Mind the step." He warned as he hung up his jacket. There was a small area around the door that was raised, forming a kind of landing of sorts. The living room and kitchen was an open plan design that was semi-partitioned  by the kitchens fixtures. "Make yourself at home." He said stepping off the landing onto the living room floor, heading toward the sofa. "Do you want anything?" He offered. Tag: Gracelyn Cordova . ~*~

[Gracelyn Cordova]

[attr="class","Gracener"]

[attr="class","Gracener1"]

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[attr="class","Gracenert"]Grace didn't know what to say, avoiding the subject and enjoying herself seemed like a terrible idea but the silence only made her dwell on things. When Matt didn't take the subject change, she almost wanted to put a bright red button on the desk that said do not push. Yeah, because that was totally going to work too... not.

Grace let Matt and the officer talk. She recognized the patrol officer but that did little to get them past. That meant she couldn't even go home to her own place for who knew how long. Grace kept her mouth shut until they got to his place and even then she was trying to assess the situation first.

Honestly, Grace could care less where he lived. It wasn't like her house and neighborhood was all rainbows and sunshine. It wasn't even her place. Grace didn't make enough money to afford anywhere in Chicago. Part of her was still debating taking on a real job and another part of her until tonight had thought about accepting a contract in another city, though the pay would be the same so she'd still be in the same predicament. Nate changed a lot of things.

Following Matt inside, Grace was already in the process of tripping on the step when he mentioned it. Though she didn't hurt anything and she managed to save herself from a tumble. “Now you tell me.” She teased a little. Though it was far from her usually spunk, though her usual smirk sat in place. Really she was trying. When he asked her if she wanted anything it was met with a shrug. She had a change of clothes in her gym bag that were probably more comfortable then what she was wearing and she debated staying in jeans or throwing on her clean pair of shorts and a tank top.

∵ 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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[Matthew Cole]

"Well, just say if you do." He told her when she shrugged. "I got a robe or some clothes if you need to borrow anything." He said, scratching the back of his head. Honestly he hated seeing Grace less than her bright and spunky self, but there wasn't anyway he could fix it. He didn't have a magic wand to fix the situation with her brother and there wasn't any words that could do that either. It would take time and all he could do was to just be there for her and offer his support the best he could. He took a couple of steps over to her, "Here, I'll show you where your room is. You can put your bag in, maybe get yourself sorted if you want." It wasn't like she was going to brush her teeth and go to sleep yet, but at least she'd know where everything was when she did want to. "That's the bathroom." He pointed to the door as he was leading her down the corridor. Coming to the guest room he opened the door and reached in to switch on the light. "It's not much but here you go." He said stepping back out of the doorway. Matt's apartment consisted of wood floors and exposed brick walls but he'd manged to make a nicer job of it with furniture and decorations, but admittedly Matt had done the least with the second bedroom. It had a mirror, a nightstand, a dresser and netting on the window but not much else. He didn't use the room a lot himself and it really wasn't often he had guests either so he thought it was fine the way it was. But now that the potential love of his life was gonna stay there somehow it suddenly didn't look that far from being a spruced up prison cell, in his mind anyway. It sure could use a few more homely touches at least and maybe a dab of paint. Not that Matt thought that was important right now in the scheme of things. Not that he would ever normally care at all, but the fact that the thought had even crossed his mind told him how serious he was starting to feel about Grace. Was it too soon to be in love with her? That was a big question. Was it too soon to be in love with her? Was he in love with her? Though Matt had been improving over the past couple of years processing and dealing with his emotions wasn't his strongest suit so he swept those thoughts to the side the best he could. Though catching a scent of Grace's fragrance as she brushed past didn't help. "Um, I'll leave you to it. I'll be in the living room." He said. A hint of familiar awkwardness momentarily returning, even if it was just internal. Was it weird that he wanted to smell her? Walking back down the corridor Matt ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath as pulling himself together. Honestly he had never been like this around a woman before, why did Grace throw him so much? Oh if he wasn't in love he was pretty damn close to it and that was something he wasn't used to. Going to the kitchen he headed to the fridge to grab a beer, but then he decided to grab some ice instead and pour himself a little Jack Daniels on the rocks. It had been a difficult evening for everyone involved, more so for Grace and Nate, but still there was so many emotions in the air tonight so having a drink to help take the edge off wasn't out of order. Tag: Gracelyn Cordova . ~*~

[Gracelyn Cordova]

[attr="class","Gracener"]

[attr="class","Gracener1"]

[attr="class","Graceback"]

[attr="class","Gracenert"]Grace just nodded as Matt showed her around. It wasn’t like she couldn’t figure things out for herself. Though walking into a wall in the middle of the night was hardly anything either of them wanted, so she took the time to pay attention. “I got a spare change of clothes in my bag.” She noted as she slid the bag down in the bedroom. Mostly just because she was tired of carrying it. The thing got heavy.

Get herself sorted? Sorting herself was near impossible. Too much on her mind and all she wanted to do was forget about the entire evening. To her a room was a room; hell she didn’t even have her own place. She rented a bedroom from Kelsey. Her salary couldn’t afford her much. Despite being a celebrity of sorts, she wasn’t exactly paid expansively like the men were.

Then Matt had some awkward moment of whatever it was again and Grace just sighed watching him leave. Right now Grace wanted to drink and heavily. Though she already knew what Matt’s response to that was going to be. Like he was going to let her drink in her state.

It was only a little while later that grace appeared lingering in the doorway. “I’m gonna go walk to the corner store. I need vodka and some fresh air.” The fact that she was in the mood for something hard like vodka said a lot. Normally Grace just downed beers until she couldn’t anymore.

∵ 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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