Guardian (A TBP Fanfic)

Stitches and Stories

*Grace POV*

As we drove back to the house (after looking for Kimberly's helmet that she threw) we both sat in silence. I was just glad that this silence wasn't like before. "Kimberly, I am really sorry. I thought I was doin the right thing. And I-""It's ok. Just please talk to me next time so I can help you." She responded, turing her head slightly so I could hear her over the motor. "We do need to talk about your song later, though." I nodded. "How did Carrie get down there?" Kimberly asked me. Before we could answer, I heard a roaring in the woods. A sleak black motorcycle pulled up behind us.

"That answer your question..?" I laughed. "When did that..? Ugh, nevermind." Kimberly laughed. We pulled up to the house and saw three figures sitting on the wooden patio that I had ran off of earlier. They all had glasses of tea. Mine was now empty, but I held onto it. We both hopped off and I heard Carrie turn her motorcycle off. "Gettin pretty good at that!" One of the figures yelled to Carrie, I realized it was Miranda! "Yeah, thanks to you!" Carrie laughed back. I smiled. "Did I miss something...?" Kimberly asked, both of us walking arm in arm to to porch. My leg had begun to throb. "Yeah, somethin bad did happen! I got Carrie a motorcycle!" Kimberly's mouth fell open. I laughed at her face. "Look out roads, cars, and anything that moves, Carrie Underwood now drives a motorcycle!"

We all started laughing. "Hey! That's not nice! At least I didn't run into the side of my garage on my four-wheeler!" Kimberly blushed. "Hey! That was one time and I was younger! At least I didn't forget the clutch! On video!" We all started laughing at that one! Carrie attempted to pout but started laughing. "Alright, so are we all friends now? Are you through scarin us to death!?" Neil asked me with a half smile. He picked me up and swung me around. I started laughing. I could feel Reid's eyes watching me. Uh Oh.

"Neil! Put her down!" Kimberly laughed. I smiled. I had never really had a guy do that to me before! Because when you have crazy men that you've dealt with, they don't do that with you. No, it's all crazy "I love you's" and gunmetal.Neil carefully set me down in a chair. I smiled the whole time. "So, well, this morning was exciting, but y'all have to pack and I have a dog to play with!" Miranda smiled. "Alright, let's go!" Reid said. "Thank you so much for all that y'all have done!" I hugged Miranda, and then Carrie. "Man, and I thought Kimberly gave the bone crushing hugs!" Carrie teased, flashing me a smile. "I know, right!?" Miranda laughed. I couldn't help but laugh with them. "I'll send y'all updates!" I smiled. "And I'll send you pictures of BlackJack!" Miranda smiled back.

"Thank y'all so much again." I said. They both gave me a smile. "Remember, shooting lessons later." Miranda winked. I gave them each one more hug, which they happily complained about, and they left. "Miranda left you some of her tea in our fridge." Reid informed me. I nodded. I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Grace, the hospital called, you need to have your stitches out. I offered to take them out, it's about 8 am. My office opens at 10:00. We can go now, if you like." I recognized the voice of Mr. Perry. My foot was propped up on the table, gauzed up stitches peeking out from under my skirt.

"Yes, sir. Sounds great! I actually forgot about them!" He smiled at me. They had to leave them in for a while because it was a major gash. "I'll come with y'all." Kimberly said. I smiled. "SHOTGUN!" I yelled. "Whoever gets there first!" Kimberly yelled back. I tried to sprint, but got really tired. I ended up at a brusque walk. Kimberly was still behind me. I knew what she was doing.

"You can race ahead, y'know!" I said, laughing. "No, you're too fast!" I smiled. This was the first time someone seemed to care! I made it to the door first! "Oh, girls! You forget who has the keys!" I heard Mr. Perry call after us. I glanced at Kimberly and she smiled.

When he finally got over to the car, he unlocked it and Kimberly helped me get into the passenger side. I smiled at her and shut the door.

As we drove, Kimberly and I talked about our childhood memories. "There was the first time that Reid ever really rode Romeo, do you remember it dad?" Kimberly asked Mr. Perry. "Yeah! Reid went out with some horse treats to try and catch him, but he ran away! So I walked out to a nice morning of Reid running around in circles trying to catch that horse! Reid eventually stumbled and fell on the ground. You know what that horse did? Stole the horse treats and ran away!" I started laughing. I couldn't believe it! "And then the horse went back over and nudged Reid off the ground before running off again!" I laughed even harder, my face turning red.