Chapter 27

"Oh, hey you guys!"cried Reese excitedly as she rose from the masterpiece she
was creating outside on the lawn. It was a beautiful, sunny day in New York
City, so she had decided to take advantage of the rareity.  "Wait, I'll help
you with your stuff."

Reese strode over to Liz and Lucky as they lifted Liz's suitcases and boxes
out of the trunk. "Jeez, Liz did you think you'd be gone for a year?" Reese
asked hefting a large box out on the sidewalk.

Liz laughed. She had indeed packed an overabundance of clothes for just two
days.

Suddenly Lucky looked up from his silent task of unloading. "Hey Reese,
um...where's Kyle? You think maybe he'd help us with these?"

Liz looked at Lucky in confusion. He had been so quiet the entire drive up to
school, as if he were in deep thought about something, and now the first time
he opened his mouth it was to ask for Kyle? Something strange was going on.

Reese looked equally as dumbfounded. "Um, I think he's inside Lucky. I can go
get him if you want..."

"Yeah. Could you do that for me Reese? Thanks," said Lucky sitting down on
the back bumper of his truck.

"Sure thing Luck," said Reese disappearing into the dorm.

Liz walked over to stand in between Lucky's legs, bumping his knees with her
own. She was purposely trying to get Lucky to laugh at her childish
shenanigens and tone of voice. "What's going on?"

"Nuthin," said Lucky, looking down to avoid her gaze. "Oh!" Lucky said,
looking up. "Baby, could you go inside and get me a soda or something from
the machine...oh, and some chips to munch on for the drive home?" Lucky
wanted to get rid of Liz before Kyle came out. Deep down he knew that he
should tell Liz about his plans to confront Kyle, but something told him he
needed to first, take care of this on his own.

"Huh? Lucky your acting strange."

"What's strange about me being a little thirsty after lugging all your stuff
around?" he grinned, flashing her that drop dead smile.

"That's what I'm talking about Lucky. You know, Reese and I might be girls,
but we're plenty strong enough to help you with these."

"Oh, no...baby that's not it," Lucky said standing up. "Truthfully? I just
wanna thank Kyle for bringing you home last Friday."

"Lucky you already did," said Liz scrunching up her face. She had no idea
what was going on but something was definitely amiss.

"Well yeah, but I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to ADEQUATELY thank
him. I mean, that was above and beyond the call of duty - him driving you all
the way to Port Charles. And besides, I've gotta say thanks for that job
offer he gave you too. I mean, that's some opportunity huh?"

Liz nodded her head slowly, trying to process all of Lucky's rambling.

Lucky spotted Kyle walking out of the building towards them, when he glanced
over Liz's shoulder. "Baby," he said, patting her side. "I'm really dieing of
thirst here...could you please..."

"Yeah, yeah," Liz said cutting him off. "I got it...soda/chips. Alright."

With that, Liz was off making her way up the hill and into the dorms.

"Hey Liz!" greeted Kyle, giving her a light hug as he walked past her.

"Hey Kyle," Liz responded, walking swiftly out of the embrace. "Talk to ya
later."

Chapter 28

"Hey Lucky," said Kyle, walking towards the truck.

'Sup Kyle?" said Lucky, not looking up from his chore of unloading boxes,
until suddenly deciding to heave a particularly large box into Kyle's arms.

Kyle nearly fell backwards, while trying to capture the box in his arms. He
quickly sat the box down upon the curb, staring at Lucky, half in disbelief
and half in amusement.

"Dude," Kyle laughed nervously, sensing the emminating tension from Lucky.
"Be careful with Liz's stuff."

It was the last box, and Lucky slammed the back door of the cab shut with
much more force than necessary. He stared Kyle directly in the eye, not
believing that he had the audacity to stand there and tell him to be careful
with his own wife's things.

"Oh, don't you worry Kyle," Lucky began. "I'm always careful with my WIFE's
belongings."

For some reason, this guy, this idiot, didn't get that Elizabeth was off
limits. But Lucky was about to remedy that problem. Somewhere, in the back of
Lucky's mind, there was a voice that said, 'He hasn't done anything. He only
offered her a job. He just gave her a ride home...after you told her to catch
a ride with one of her friends. So what if he took her to lunch one
day?'...'the Laura voice.'  But for some reason that voice wasn't the one
that was speaking now. The voice that currently held the floor was the 'the
Luke voice'. The suspicious voice, the menacing voice.

"Look Kyle, I know you don't know me all that well, but there's one thing you
should  be made aware of, it's that: I don't beat around the bush. So, that
being said...I'm gonna get right down to the point," Lucky said inching
closer and closer to Kyle. "Whatever little plans you've got cooked up for
you and Elizabeth...it's not gonna happen."

"Huh?" asked Kyle in pure innocence. "Lucky what are you talking about?"

Lucky shook his head. "Oh please - Kyle Please..don't play dumb and don't
insult my intelligence ok? Don't make me get all crazy right here on this
beautiful campus of yours."

Kyle laughed at Lucky's sarcasm. "Lucky, I still don't under - "

"Kyle!" Lucky shouted, now standing as close to Kyle as humanly possible. His
fists, clenching and unclenching at his sides. "You offered my wife a job -
that's great. Hell, that's fantastic. But Kyle...I'm telling you man...right
here, right now - that's where it ends."

Lucky took a breath and backed away slightly, trying to control himself. He
knew Elizabeth would be reappearing at any moment.

"Do we understand each other?"

Kyle folded his arms, and looked around as if he were in complete and utter
shock at Lucky's outburst. "Lucky. I think you need to calm down and take a
pill or something. I mean did you skip your medication, 'cause this - this
paranoia thing of yours has gotta be a probem. It's gotta drive Liz right up
the wall, huh? I mean, if you're not careful Lucky...it may just drive her
into the arms of another man."

2/3 of a second seperated the time it would have taken for Lucky's fist to
connect with Kyle's perfectly sculpted jaw and Elizabeth jogging down the
hill with Lucky's Coke and chips. Some devine force had definitely intervened.

"Here you go, babe," said Liz handing the ice cold drink to Lucky, along with
the small bag.

"Thanks baby," said Lucky, taking them from her hands slowly, his eyes never
leaving Kyle's. He'd never wanted to kill someone so bad in his entire
life...well, almost never.

You could have cut the tension with a knife, and this did not go unnoticed by
Liz. She looked back and forth between the two men. "Alright, what's going
on?" she asked, her hands flying to her hips.

Liz had sensed something wrong before going inside, and now she KNEW
something was NOT right. However, neither men seemed interested in explaining.

"HEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO," Liz wailed. "Ok, you guys, I'm down here. I know
I'm short, but I also know I'm pretty damn loud. So, I'm quite sure that I'm
speaking right now. I think I hear my voice. Does anybody el - "

"Liz - Liz," said Kyle interrupting her tirade with a smile. "It's nothing
really. Lucky and I just got into a little arguement about basketball."

"Basketball?" Liz said, not believeing it for a second. She stared at Lucky.
Still no response.

"Yeah. We got into this big thing about the Knicks and the Lakers. You know,
with me bein' from LA and all, Lucky felt the need to set me straight about
'the best team in the NBA.' Isn't that right Luck?"

The phrase 'must hit him now' blared through Lucky's head over and over
again, making it impossible to speak. Lucky nodded his head slowly,
incapacitated by anger. This was not the time to bring up what just happened
to Elizabeth. She'd be furious at him for confronting Kyle without talking to
her first.

Liz wasn't sure she bought the story, but she did know what a diehard Knicks
fan Lucky was, and if Kyle had even mentioned the Lakers in the same
sentence, he probably would have indeed lost it. She decided to let it
go...for now.

Kyle picked up the last box on the sidewalk and headed up the hill. "Bye
Lucky...nice talking to you again...no hard feelings about those Knicks
huh?...see ya later Liz."

Lucky heard Kyle's retreating voice, but once again...only nodded.