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A Cause Worth Fighting For

If anyone needed a revolution, it wasn't the boy standing on the coffee shop chair, waving his arms gratuitously and telling everyone just how wrong their lives were. No, the person who definitely needed a revolution was the girl standing behind the counter and wishing he would, for one second, just shut up already and let her do her job. Seriously, if anyone could gain an award for stopping the regular, every-day flow of customers, it was Elliot. For that, Grace hated him.

Well, except she couldn't hate him, since at times, even she was avidly listening to what he had to say. That, or watching his features as he spoke. Just because he was the most annoying and convicting man on the planet didn't mean he wasn't also one of the most attractive men on the planet. That may or may not have made her hate him more. However, the point still was that Grace was trying to do her job, the one that paid for her dorm and her living, and Elliot, no matter how enticingly pretty he was, was keeping her from doing it.

When Elliot finally seemed satisfied with his ravings, he picked up his coffee...you know, the one Grace had so kindly sold to him even though she knew it was basically an invitation for him to stay long enough to give another long speech...and left the shop with a flourish only a shining Adonis of a man could give. She huffed impatiently and turned to her next customer and smiled past the irritation. She had to do well at her job, even if a dumb political science major tries to stop her.

“I'm sorry about that, sir. I know I'll have to speak to the manager sometime soon...” she smiled at him, then muttered under her breath, “...you know, if he ever shows up.”

“It's perfectly fine.” the man said forgivingly, taking his coffee he had ordered a full twenty minutes ago.

“I can make you a new one if...” Grace hesitantly started to offer, looking at the still-growing line behind him.

“It's perfectly fine.” He reassured her, again, placing a way-too-kind tip in the jar next to her. “I needed time for my coffee to cool anyways...and it seems you deal with that boy more often than I come here.” He said.

She smiled apologetically, knowing her look speaking more for her than her words. The man nodded to her and left, leaving her to get back to her daily, busy run. She realized that that little bit of kindness helped her prepare for Elliot coming the next day, and the next, as she knew he always would.

* * *

After work and long, very grating talk with her manager about Elliot's behavior, Grace headed for her dorm. Every evening she walked down the busiest streets, because, believe it or not, she really didn't have very many friends in this town, and the idea of going home the quickest way, not stopping for any lights because there were hardly any cars, terrified her. She would rather take the long way home than be jumped in an ally, and yet her only friend and mostly drinking buddy Janet was the one who made sure Grace didn't end up sleeping on a garbage bin every night....well, not every night, just most nights. It wasn't like Grace went out to get drunk and hit on guys, though that happened every now and then, Grace just really liked to suppress everything about this world. Like a way of hiding the inner demons.

So, that night, when Janet appeared in an all-too-slutty outfit and told Grace she should totally be her wing-woman, Grace pulled on her gothic-pesant blouse and her leather pants and hid her always-curly brown hair under her red hat she had knit years back and posed in front of Janet.

“I swear you look like a brunette Buffy.” Janet said, smirking at her.

Grace blushed a little. She honestly didn't try, but she did appreciate the reference. “Are you sure you're not a little drunk already?” She teased.

“Oh trust me, if you think I'm drunk now, just wait till it gets to midnight.” Janet sneered.

Grace...wasn't sure why the idea of seeing her only friend and probably best shot to getting home safe was acting like the world was going to end tonight sent a nervous thrill down her spine, but she grabbed her purse and waltzed out of her room with Janet like she honestly believed in Janet's attitude. Tonight did feel like it was going to change everything, though she had no real idea just how much it would.

When they got to the bar, there really wasn't anyone of notice to talk to. I mean, sure, there were plenty of men looking at her and trying to catch her eye, but Grace was a special type of picky. The type that got a little looser and looser once the booze started to get to her head. Luckily, Janet had a way of weeding out the creepy ones and sending Grace home with a guy she didn't regret in the morning. That's why their friendship worked so well, Janet thought. They talked and chatted with several people, getting both expensive and free drinks that Grace knew she was going to wince at later and had an all-together good night. Surprisingly Janet flirted the most and wanted to run off with some tall-dark-and entirely too handsome for his own good and leave Grace to fend for herself.

Grace, who honestly was a little too drunk to walk and had been gripping the bar to keep herself standing....or...sitting...she wasn't really sure anymore, looked at Janet pleadingly but Janet had already gotten halfway through the door and waved encouragingly.

Grace was done. She had enough of this bar and enough of her stupid, fluffy-head friend who insisted she go out tonight. She should have stayed home with her nice, and well-stashed bottle of rum. She stumbled out the door and started down the street, knowing all too well her dorm wasn't that far away, but her usual route would be entirely too dangerous in her condition. That meant there were two options. Either she go the back way, which was too much of a dark-ally-way type situation for her, or to go through the park, the one that was right next to the library that Elliot was notorious for being at.

Grace...rather than setting herself up for dying, decided to risk seeing mister ranty-pants. She walked through the appropriately-lighted streets, hoping her stumbling didn't send her into a ditch somewhere. As she approached the library, she looked around as cautiously as someone a little too drunk could look. He didn't seem to be there, so she started to stride confidently down the path...and fell, face-forwared, toward the concrete.

She threw her hands up to at least block her face from being damaged, closing her eyes and bracing for the fall...except...it didn't happen. She fell into someone's arms. Or at least she thought she fell into someone's arms. She may have actually gotten so drunk she was hallucinating because right there, in front of her, was Elliot.

“Whoa there! Are you alright?” he asked, catching her and pulling her back up, holding her against him to keep her up straight.

“I-I'm alright!” She said quickly, trying to pull herself together. Now was not the time to look like a drunk piece of shit in front of Elliot, not after promising her manager to make her offer to Elliot the next time she saw him. Dammit now she had to either break her promise or sound like a drunk idiot trying to get rid of him. Either way, she was doomed.

“You don't look quite right. Are you walking home alone?” His voice was concerned....and very condescending. Like always, it was grating against her nerves, and she was way too drunk to try to deal with him now.

“Yeah. My friend left without me and I just...wanted to go home.” she grumbled and shook her head, trying to keep it clear enough to talk to him. She had to get out of here so she had to sound like a reasonable human being.

“You know you could have called the school. They send escorts.” Elliot said, sounding even more like a condescending adult. As if she needed more of a reason to hate him. He wasn't her father, or even a good step-in-father, like so many people had tried to be.

“They do that for people who can dial correctly....and are not drunk. Anyways, I'd trust myself drunk more than any random stranger.” She sniffed and started to pull away from him, instantly regretting it and realizing the world was no backbone and she really was probably going to end up crashing in a ditch tonight. She couldn't let Elliot see that, though. Not on her life.

“Don't be ridiculous. I'm sure they'd send someone for you...” He gave her a funny look, then sighed. “I suppose I can walk you to your dorm.”

“I don't need your charity.” she grimaced.

“Yes you do, but it's not charity. It's just the right thing to do.” Elliot answered, placing a hand gingerly and respectively on her side. No, not her waist or her ass, her side. She was slightly surprised at his caution and respect, but that gave her no intensive to hate him less. In fact, it may have made her hate him more, for having good qualities that made her honestly consider her opinion of him.

She let him keep her from falling again as they headed to her dorm. When they reached her door he helped her unlock and open it, then let her walk through it. She turned around and looked up at Elliot, noticing past his usual broody and uncaring nature, well, uncaring about anything but his cause, there seemed to be...concern...maybe even for her. She was slightly surprised by this and she wasn't sure what she should do about it. After all she was honestly too drunk and trying to understand anything that was going on.

Elliot nodded to her. “Well, you are safely in your dorm. I suppose I'll take my leave, now.”

“A-Alright.” She struggled out. Honestly it shouldn't be so hard to talk to this boy. This boy who caused her so much trouble every day was standing there, about to leave, and she had something she needed to tell him.

“My boss....he told me that you could use the shop after hours to have your revolutionary rants so you don't interrupt the customers....I'm sure you have your own following. Have your little pow-wows without disturbing the customers....” She blurted then transitioned to mumbling out.

Elliot gave her a strange look, then nodded. “I honestly think that's a better idea. I'm sorry I've been such a disturbance to your workday.” He seemed almost disappointed. For the reason, Grace was sure, that he couldn't recruit one more follower into his revolutionary undergoing.

“Thank....you....” Grace wasn't sure what else she could say, so she just let the awkward moment happen. She was honestly feeling extremely exhausted and couldn't see this going much further without becoming more and more of a disaster.

“Of course.” Elliot said, giving her a wave, walking away with a strangely blank look on his face.

* * *

Elliot's group was bigger than Grace had anticipated. There was Elliot's closest friend, Collin, and there was Courtney and Marie, Courtney the lady-killer and Marie the awkward rich girl who had absolutely no idea how to live in the world with minimum wage but really didn't want to be better than anyone else. Then there was Felix and Jonny and Logan who cavorted around the town and tried to crash any party they possibly could. Janet and Bennet were the last of the group. Janet was a quiet poet who always seemed to look incredibly stylish no matter how much the patterns of her clothes didn't match, and Bennet....well...Grace didn't know too much about Bennet, but no one else really seemed to either. They all came to Elliot's meetings, and most talked to Grace, who had to stay there to make sure the shop was safely locked up after. They offered to pay her to make coffee, but instead just ended up learning to use the machines and paid her a bucketload of money to do it. Grace really felt she shouldn't keep the money, so she ended up putting it all to the shop anyways, even paying on her own for the coffee she made for herself.

Elliot kept his meetings up with an iron fist, but every time he finished a long lecture, he would look at his group, anticipating questions, and then would look at Grace. Grace had no idea why. She wasn't honestly part of this. She didn't want to make petitions to sign and do community work or a letter campaign. She was very verbal about that at the meetings. Every time she mentioned how fruitless Elliot's ideas were for world change, Elliot would glare at her and go on to tell them all how Grace was wrong and exactly how good his plans would be for changing the world.

Honestly Grace had no idea why she kept coming to the meetings, but something kept her going. Maybe it was she really liked arguing with Elliot, or maybe it was the fact that she didn't like the idea of leaving the shop to the rowdy crowd. Her late nights going drinking seemed to be over with the almost daily meetings at the cafe, though that didn't stop her from sneaking alcohol into her room and drinking it at nights, alone, obsessing over the complicated god that Elliot was.

It wasn't like she fully recognized that he was in no way affectionate for her. After the night he took her home, he seemed to act like he liked her less and less as a person. It was like he used her just to prove to his group just how right he was. The idea made her stomach churn and honestly made her feel like her world was going to explode. Then again, whenever she thought these thoughts she was really drunk and it could be an affect of the wine, but sometimes she would get it in class, too. Randomly, out of nowhere, she would think about Elliot, and then the class would end and she would wonder where the past hour and forty-five minutes went.

Elliot honestly drove her insane. She didn't know how she felt...until she did. She's not sure exactly when her brain caught up with her heart, but she figured out why she kept coming to the meetings, why she kept drinking and thinking of him. She realized it in the middle of making an order or a regular customer, and she froze, almost dropping the drink she was making. She stood there, frozen for a long time, trying to wrap her head around the shock of her realization, and the sickness she felt inside. She was in love....in love with the worst person possible to be in love with. She was in love with the one man who would never, ever love her back. He wouldn't care. In fact, if he knew how she felt about him he would probably laugh in her face and tell her to never talk to him again. Her stomach churned again and she made a pained noise. There was no way anyone could know. No way anyone could find out the truth, ever.

* * *

“So, Grace, when are you going to tell Elliot you're madly in love with him?” Courtney said as she watched Grace make her a cappuccino.

“Wh-what?!?” Grace almost dropped the drink, staring at Courtney in horror.

“So I was right! I'm always right, aren't I, Marie?” She grinned cockily at Marie.

“I wouldn't say always, but I suppose you're good at a lot when it comes to girls.” Marie said, her words stumbling out as they always did.

“Damn right!” Courtney grinned, “So, Grace, when are you going to tell him?”

“Never.” Grace said firmly. “You're wrong. I don't feel anything towards him but resent. If I didn't have to close after you guys I wouldn't even be here. I could be doing so much more with my life.”

“Awww you don't mean that.” Courtney laughed, taking her cappuccino after Grace finished it. “I bet you'd be surprised what would happen if you told Elliot how you felt.”

“He'd kicke me out...” Grace said quietly.

“I wouldn't be so sure...” Courtney smirked, giving Marie a very strange look. Marie giggled and shook her head, quietly sipping her tea.

“Whatever. Anyways, why don't you guys just leave it alone? I don't feel that way and I never will.” Lying had to be better than the truth in this situation, Grace was sure.

“Alright....” Courtney chuckled softly.

* * *

Another meeting was over, and Grace was cleaning after the revolutionary crew, again. She was sweeping the floor, for good measure, because she was almost sure someone tracked in mud this time, when she heard someone clearing their throat behind her.

“I...was wondering if you'd like some help cleaning...” Elliot stood at the door, looking like he was prepared for her to tell him to get out and never come back. It wasn't like that was probably what he wanted her to say, anyways.

“Actually...if you didn't mind....It'd be nice to have someone help clean out the coffee machines. It's going to be a bitch to clean out in the morning if I don't do it now...but it can be overwhelming on my own.”

“I understand.” Elliot gave her a polite nod, walking behind the counter, starting to clean the coffee machines. She watched his footsteps as he walked, determined not to look into those all-too beautiful eyes, and then....

“Mud!!” She exclaimed.

“Wh-what?” Elliot asked.

“You're the one who's been tracking the mud everywhere tonight!” Grace said, a little bit louder than she intended, and she looked at him, growing frustration flashing in her eyes. He made her life hard enough, hating her while she loved him, but he didn't have to track mud everywhere on top of it.

“I...I didn't....I'm sorry....” Elliot said, and he actually looked sort of....scared...and really apologetic. She immediately regretted yelling at him, and she wished she could take it back. Here he was, trying to help her and she was yelling at him.

“It's....fine....I'm used to it anyways. Honestly you didn't know....” She said, trying to wave it off, quickly, her cheeks growing redder and redder.

“No, I messed up....let me take off my boots and I'll mop the floor...” He started to offer.

“It's fine, Elliot. Really. Don't be so righteous about it. I can clean it....”

“I'm not being...” He was walking towards her, his voice breaking slightly. “Is...is that how you really see me?” he was standing in front of her, and she really didn't want to see his expression. The tone of his voice was enough.

“I....No...I mean.... I don't know...” She finally looked up at him, and started to regret it. His expression was so pained, and so confused...this wasn't Elliot....Elliot always knew...he always understood....that's why he wanted to change the world....but for some reason he didn't understand....

“I didn't think you....It always seemed like you...” Elliot was struggling for words. What alternate universe had she stepped into and how could she possibly get out before she hit a dangerous place?

“Elliot...why do you care? Don't you hate me?” As soon as she said the last sentence she wished there was a way she could take it back, take it all back. Take back her existence, her meeting Elliot, everything. The look on his face....was beyond anything she had ever seen. It was like she had stabbed him with a knife.....killing him in the slowest, longest way possible.

“I don't....hate....you...” he choked out the words, and she knew....she knew she was so wrong. She was wrong all along. No one reacted this way unless...

“E-Elliot....” She looked at him, and she swore she was going to start crying from all the emotions she was feeling at once...but no...she couldn't cry. She had something much, much more important to do.

Elliot was going to walk away...he was going to turn away and walk out of her life forever unless she did something....anything....

“E-Elliot!” She felt on the verge of hysterics as she stood in front of him. “Elliot I love you....” She felt like she was going to start laughing uncontrollably from the intense insanity of this situation, but he was staring at her with shock....and hope and maybe everything was going to be okay. Maybe he wasn't going to kick her out of his life. Maybe he did care. Maybe he cared all this time.

“G-Grace...you...do you really?” His voice broke as he struggled to understand, and it was beautiful, because it was full of hope, and love and everything might just turn out okay after all.

“Elliot....kiss me...” Her voice went quiet, but she knew he heard her, and she knew that he had to choose...and she knew this was make or break and she knew that if her lips were not touching his then she was going to break down and lose everything.

Then his hands were cupping her face, and she was dropping the broom and they were kissing and holding each other close, and their lips moved against each other, saying everything that they just couldn't say the past six months and they loved each other...they really loved each other.

When they had to finally pull away for breath, she realized that this god of a boy had just kissed her, and she felt blessed beyond words.

“I think I found a cause worth fighting for...” she whispered softly.

Elliot laughed....actually laughed....and they were kissing again.

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