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The Preacher's Daughter

Settling In

Ashley's POV
Andy and I stop in Grace's doorway, leaning against the door frame and watching her and her brother hug on her bed. He laughs happily, seeming to be more relaxed than earlier.

"They're just alike," Andy murmurs with a soft laugh, smiling and shaking his head.

"In a lot of ways, yeah," I whisper, "It's a shame what happened to her though. I hope it doesn't leave any lasting scars."

"If it does, we'll deal with it," he replies with a shrug, "She's a strong girl. I have a hard time believing something like this is going to break her. Not completely at least."

"Yeah. She's definitely got that Mora fighting spirit. Her father made her fearful though. Just look in her eyes," I point out, thinking back to how she fought against CC when he first pulled her into his arms, "Andy, you should have seen her when CC and I got there. She was an absolute wreck."

"I don't doubt it, but it'll all work out. She's got a long way to go, to fully heal, but she's now got her brother, her mom, Taylor and us to support her. Finding people you can honestly trust is one of the hardest parts," he says, his blue eyes never leaving the two siblings.

I look back to them myself, as they pull out of their hug. Grace looks down at her hands, before softly asking, "Chris? Can I ask a favor?"

"Yeah. Anything," he replies, smiling at her and brushing her hair from her face.

"I...I want to change my name. I don't want anything reminding me or associating me with him," She explains, "So...could I take your last name?"

"Mora? Y-you want to change your name to Mora?" He asks, taken off guard by her request.

She nods and adds, "You and mom are my real family. He's just a blood relative."

CC's gaze softens, taking her into his arms again and says, "I'd be honored and I know mom would be too. Of course you can change your name to Mora. Hell, you can even change your first name if you want. I'll help you get everything set up."

"Thank you, Chris. I don't know what I'd do without you," She tells him, a genuine smile spreading along her face, as her soft eyes close in content, "I could never repay you for everything you've done."

"Sure you can," he tells her, pulling out of the hug and gently taking hold of her hands. He looks down at her cuts and says, "You can repay me by not doing this to yourself anymore and making sure you're eating enough. I know it won't be easy, but I'll help you through it."

She looks unsure at first, but then slowly nods. She pulls out of his grip, before standing up and walking to a box. She opens it up, revealing a ton of CD's and a small, purple trinket box. She picks up the box, taking a deep breath, then turns to him.

Passing the box to him she whispers, "The first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem. Well, I certainly have a problem. The second step is to take action. Take them. Get rid of them for me, but I want the box back. Mom got it for my 14th birthday."

He opens the box and I see it's filled with razor blades of all sizes. She turns her head and looks away from them, as he looks at them. When he closes the box, she looks back to him. He nods, a bittersweet look in his eyes, a sad smile on his face as he whispers, "Thank you, Graceland."

She swallows hard and nods, her eyes softening further and a small smile on her lips.

I push off the door frame, walking further into the room and grab a black Sharpie from her desk. I carefully pull her arm into my hand and sign my name above one of her wounds, then gently kiss it.

I pass the Sharpie to CC, who's repeats this with another wound. Andy walks in, holding his hand out for the Sharpie and signs his name on her other arm, before kissing the wound and saying, "Each cut is one of us. If you cut, you're hurting us and I know you don't want to do that."

"We got your back, no matter what," I tell her, carefully brushing her cheek, being mindful of the bruise on it, and I notice the small blush that creeps up on her other cheek.

"Hey guys, Taylor made dinner," Jake says, poking his head around the door, "What's going on in here?"

"Care to add your name to the list?" I ask, holding up the Sharpie, and his gaze falls on her arms. Sadness takes hold of his eyes for a moment, before he gently smiles and nods, walking into the room.

He takes the marker, signing his name below CC's then pulling her into a tight hug. He pets her hair a bit, before softly telling her, "We'll get through this together."

She nods as tears fill her light green-brown eyes and one by one we encompass her in a group hug.

"You guys are the best. Thank you so much," She chokes out, before pushing up on her tiptoes, kissing each of us on the cheek.

When we pull out of the hug, she takes CC's hand, leading us out of the room, into the main living area of the small apartment.

Taylor smiles at us when Grace leads us to the kitchen and starts passing out paper plates. Grace stands between CC and me, grabbing a slice of homemade pepperoni and mushroom pizza, then moves to talk to Taylor. I can't hear what they're saying, but Taylor grabs a blue pen from a drawer and adds her name to ours. She says something that makes Grace laugh, then Taylor lays the pen down, picking up her plate and walks from the kitchen with Grace.

Once we're all sat in the living room, Jinxx spots the names and wounds on Grace's arms, when she takes a bite of her pizza. He smiles, knowing what it's for, then pulls out a pen from his back pocket and asks, "May I?"

Grace looks up at him with wide eyes, a bit of pizza sauce on the corner of her mouth, and swallows the bite she had taken before nodding and holding out her wrist. He carefully signs his real name above one, and 'Jinxx' directly under the same cut.

When he's done, he smiles up at her and releases her hand. She smiles back, then gently blows on the ink to help it dry, before admiring both her arms with an adorable blush.

I watch her gently stroke her fingers along each name, before turning her eyes up to meet mine, when her fingers land on my signature. I smile at her, causing her blush to grow deeper, and she looks down taking another bite of pizza.

"This is really good, Tay. Thank you for making it," She says to her friend and roommate.

"No problem," Taylor replies, "I'm just glad to see you eating something."

Taylor and Grace share a smile, and I realize, they're more like sisters than friends. That's a good thing though. Grace needs all the support she can get right now.

She really is a sweet girl, and I can't help but stare as she, Taylor and the guys talk and laugh. They tell stories and when Grace starts playfully poking at CC's sides, he plays right back. Then she sticks her tongue out at CC, and he makes an honest attempt at snatching it. When he misses, he starts tickling her sides, causing her to laugh, squeal and squirm, trying to get away from him.

"Okay! Okay! I give!" She shouts through her fits of laughter, "Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!"

"That's what I thought," he playfully says, finally releasing her and raising his hands triumphantly in the air, "Big brother wins again!"

"You always win," She complaints, crossing her arms, pretending to pout.

"That's only because I know you so well, Graceland," he replies, gently poking her forehead.

"Why do you call her Graceland, anyway?" Andy inquires.

"Trust me, you've never met a bigger Elvis fan than this girl right here. Plus it fits her name," CC explains, "She knows every single song, that's ever been released, by heart. He was the reason she first picked up a guitar, and when she was a kid, if she knew something was bothering me, she would start impersonating Elvis to get me to laugh."

Grace blushes a deep shade of red, hiding her face behind the sparkly sequined accent pillow that was behind her. I can't help but laugh when she playfully punches CC's leg and he returns the gentle jab. She sticks her tongue out at him again, from behind the pillow and he grabs at it, saying, "I'll get that tongue."

"No, you won't," She teases, sticking it out again.

"Wanna bet, missy?" He playfully taunts, grabbing at it again. Yep, those two are exactly alike, but it's certainly fun watching them play like this.

After a while, Grace stands up, gathering up our plates and CC picks up a pen. He's got a wicked smirk on his face as he asks, "Hey, Grace. You still as quick as you used to be?"

"Not sure," She replies, heading into the kitchen to throw out the paper plates.

His smirk widens and I wonder what he's up to, as Grace walks back into the living room. He tells her to think fast, chucking the pen at her. In a flash, her hand comes up, snagging the pen mid-air, just before it hits her face. She arches an eyebrow at him, gently tossing the pen back to him and says, "Gotta be quicker than that, bro."

That was actually really impressive, I think, watching her turn around and go back to her room. I quietly excuse myself before walking into her bedroom.

"Need any help?" I offer, watching her replace the bedding on her bed, with the stuff she brought with her. The sheets were a beautiful coral orange, the pillow cases a pretty teal.

"Sure. I could use a hand with that side," She shyly replies, nodding towards the end closer to me.

I walk over, pulling the coral sheet over the mattress, tucking the elastic band around the corner, and repeat it at the foot of the full-sized bed. Our eyes lock for a moment, as she shakes out the coral top sheet, then tosses me an edge. Together we make her bed and I have to say, I love her style. The comforter is a pretty off-white, with a variety of blues, pinks, greens and oranges, printed in an intricate design. She then puts two more pillows on the bed, which match the comforter. Last are coral and teal accent pillows and a teal knitted blanket.

"Did you make this?" I ask, admiring the blanket.

"Yup. Mom taught me how to crochet when I was 12. Took me a year but I finally finished it," She replies, draping it over the foot of the bed.

"Nice. Its definitely beautiful," I tell her, watching her carefully hammer a few nails into the walls that surround her bed.

"Thanks," She shyly replies, a little blush gracing her cheeks again. When she done with the hammer, she tosses it on the bed, then grabs one of the two framed posters and hangs it up. As she hangs the next one, I see the one above her bed is a poster of Elvis. The next one beside her bed is a poster of Michael Jackson.

She picks up the hammer again, nailing two long vertical rows, next to the Michael Jackson poster, which makes me scratch my head at first. She pulls a narrow box up onto the bed, pulling out vinyl records that didn't have covers. She carefully hangs them, resting them on the nails, so they lean like plates against the wall.

I guess it's true what they say. You can learn a lot about a girl by looking at their bedroom.

"Where would you like the CD's?" I ask., picking up the open box.

"See those two long shelves hanging above my desk?" She inquires, stacking books in the now empty trunk at the foot of her bed. I nod, after locating them, "Up there. I don't care what order they're in, but please try to keep like with like."

"As in genre or artist?" I inquire, wanting to make sure I do it right.

"Artist," She replies, smiling at me. I smile at her in return then set to work.

I got to say, I'm impressed with her collection. Kiss, Motley Crüe, Bob Seger, Kid Rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Megadeth. Pink, Kelly Clarkson, Green Day. A band called The Plot in You. Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Maroon 5, Shinedown. Godsmack, Stained, Slipknot, Kaleido and many others. A huge collection of Elvis and Michael Jackson. Well, no one can say she has crappie music taste.

I freeze when I pull out a crystal case with no information on it, but scrawled across the CD inside it reads Stolen Hearts. I know there's another band out there with the same name, but they have an actual CD. Could this be...?

"Hey, Grace," I call out over my shoulder.

"What's up, Ashley?" She inquires, walking over to me.

I look down at her, to see her blushing as she looks at the CD in my hand. Well that answers that.

"I'm sorry," She murmurs, taking the CD from me, "Chris told me you were in another band, before Black Veil Brides, and I was curious so I did a little digging on Google and YouTube. I fell in love with the songs Can't Get Away and I'll Be Damned, so I downloaded them and burned them onto a CD...God. You must think I'm a creeper now. I'm so sorry, Ashley."

"Don't be. I don't think you're a creep. I'm actually flattered," I tell her honestly, smiling down at the young woman before me.

Notes

Comments

Awesome new chapters! I know you put a lot of hard work into this and I hope everything goes alright with your health. Love this :)

This is amazing!! Please finish it if you can! I can't wait to find out what happens next!!

AWWWWWW!

IzzieDeadnow IzzieDeadnow
4/21/18

<3

IzzieDeadnow IzzieDeadnow
3/7/18