Lucky and Liz had been lieing in the grass for what seemed like 5 minutes as
the sun began to dip down behind the trees. Lucky brushed his fingers through
Liz's hair as she slept, her head positioned on his chest. She had been
napping there, peacefully for at least an hour and a half.  Lucky, on the
other hand, hadn't gotton a wink.

The events of the afternoon played over and over in his head. 'If you're not
careful...you may just drive her into the arms of another man.' He couldn't
seem to shake Kyle's words. Lucky involuntarily tightened his grip on Liz's
shoulders.

'What the Hell am I supposed to do?' thought Lucky. 'Always, always, always
be honest, that's our policy. I have to tell her, but if I tell her that I
confronted Kyle, she'll think exactly what Nikolas thought...that I'm
paranoid. That I'm being "overprotective." It's not like that bastard's gonna
admit what he said either. I'll tell her, she'll confront him, he'll deny
everything, and she'll believe him. Why wouldn't she believe him? He's been
nothing but nice to her. He hasn't shown her the asshole side that I've seen.
Ok, calm down Spencer and think about this rationally.'

Lucky's thoughts were interrupted by the movement on his chest. Elizabeth was
beginning to stir. He watched as her eyelids fluttered, while she moaned
softly and snuggled closer. 'Is she falling asleep again?...No, she's waking
up. God, she's so beautiful.'

"Hi," she said groggily, looking up at him. 'Ugh!' she thought. 'That look is
still there.'

Waking up to Lucky's baby blues was, without a doubt, one of the single most
joyous benefits of being married to him, but today it hurt Liz to even look
at them. She knew something was wrong. Something he desperately wanted to say
to her, but for some reason he just couldn't bring himself to do it, and try
as she might, she couldn't force him.

"Hi baby," he said, placing a kiss on the tip of her nose.

Liz reached up and stroked his cheek. "What's wrong Lucky? I know something's
bothering you baby, so why don't you just tell me?"

"It's nuthin' 'Lizbeth. Really...don't worry about it ok?" Lucky asked, his
hand now caressing her cheek.

If there was ever any doubt, Lucky had just eliminated it. There was indeed a
problem and it was big.

It was dark and Liz knew that Lucky would be leaving soon. She didn't want to
leave things like this. She shivered.

"Are you cold?" asked Lucky, immediately moving her so that her body
completely covered his own now. He wrapped her tightly in his arms.

She didn't say a word, she simply grasped both sides of Lucky's head and
kissed him. The kiss, was different from any she had ever given him. It was
soft, yet desperate. Forceful, yet yielding. Lucky slowly surrendered himself
to it, to her. Rolling over so that now he was on top of her, their lips
never parting.

Slowly, they pulled apart. Lucky picked up Liz's left hand, placing a kiss on
her knuckles. His fingers still held on as his lips retreated. He stared at
the gold band around her finger, absently rubbing his thumb across it.

'What's he doing?' She thought. 'It's almost as if he's checking to see if
it's still there. He has to know, I'd never take it off.'

"I love you," she said aloud, causing Lucky to look up. She could have sworn
she saw the faintest hint of tears.

"I know," he said, kissing her this time. It was short, but spoke volumes. It
was reaffirming.

Lucky slowly began to stand up, pulling Liz with him. They walked to the
truck in
silence. Upon reaching it, Lucky suddenly turned around. "I don't wanna leave
you."

"And I don't want you to leave me," Liz returned, standing on her tip toes
and wrapping her arms around the neck of the man that had substantially
outgrown her. "But you have to," she wispered, letting go.

Lucky's arms snaked around her quickly, before she moved completely away. He
burried his face in her hair. "I love you so much," he wispered.

The tears that Liz had valiantly tryed to hold back all night, sprang forth
upon hearing Lucky's voice crack with emotion.

Lucky pulled back, cupping Liz's face in his hands and began kissing away her
tears. "It's ok...It's alright," he said over and over again.

Liz couldn't help but wonder exactly what was ok? What was alright? Was he
comforting her because he was leaving and they were again faced with 5 days
of seperation, or was he comforting her because something was seriously wrong
here? The question would be left unanswered this night, as Lucky drove away.

Chapter 30

Liz tossed and turned the entire night. She couldn't understand what had
just happened. The way Lucky kissed her, the look on his face when he
left. What was that? Fear? Sadness? Both? 'What the Hell happened?' She
thought to herself. 'Everything was fine last night...beautiful...that
suprise he planned for me, and then we get here and he turns into
Mr.Silence? I don't get it.'

She had expected a phone call before going to bed. She stayed up an
extra two hours just to be ready for it. He'd call, tell her he was
sorry and he'd tell her what was wrong, bu the phone call never came.
Liz turned to look at her alarm clock. "3:32," she sighed aloud. Getting
up in the morning would be horrible. Suddenly, her thoughts were
interrupted by a tapping on her window. Liz picked her head up from her
pillow, startled by the once familiar sound. She looked through the
window and into his eyes. Those stunningly blue eyes. She smiled as
tears began to well in her own. 'He came back,' she thought. 'He came
back.'

Liz motioned to Lucky to give her a minute, as she stumbled out of bed,
careful not to wake a sleeping Reese. She threw on a pair of sweat pants
and Lucky's leather jacket. Lucky had outgrown it, so it was hers now.
She grabbed her keys off of the dresser and quickly made her way
outside.

He stood there in the moonlight, his hands shoved down in his pockets.
Suddenly, when she was near enough, he took her in his arms and kissed
her. It was the kind of kiss you'd give someone after not seeing them
for 10 years. Liz's knees instantly turned to jelly.

"It's cold out here," he wispered, when finally pulling away. "Let's get
in the truck."

Liz followed his lead, and quickly got in while he held her door open
for her. Lucky got in on the other side and immediately turned to face
her. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry for not telling you what was wrong before I
left. I'm sorry for lieing to you. And I know I could have just called
you...but this was too important - I had to see you."

Liz took a deep breath. 'I love him,' she thought. "What exactly did you
lie about Lucky?"

"Well, first of all I told you that nothing was bothering me and that
wasn't true."

"What was bothering you?"

It was Lucky's turn to take a deep breath. "I did something...remember
when I asked you to go inside and get me a soda and some chips?"

Liz silently nodded her head.

"Well...the only reason I did that was so I could confront Kyle."

Liz eyebrows knitted together. "Confront Kyle about what?"

"Elizabeth. The guy wants you."

Liz shook her head and grinned, she had never known Lucky to be jealous
before. "No he doesn't. Lucky, is this all because of him offering me a
job?...Why didn't you just tell me that you had a problem with - "

Lucky interrupted. This was exactly the reaction that he'd been afraid
of. "Elizabeth, no it's not about the job. It's about all the
uneccessary attention this guy gives you. It's the calling, the taking
you out to lunch, the giving you a ride into Port Charles and the
eagerness he had at the thought of doing it agian."

"Lucky. It was one phone call...about the gallery I might add. He didn't
take me out to lunch...we ate in the cafeteria. AND...Lucky, if I'm not
mistaken you're the one who told me to get a ride home with a friend!"
Liz voice had risen a bit.

Lucky shook his head. He could not believe they were actually argueing
about this. He could count on one hand the number of times they had
argued, and now, this ass had caused all of this.

"Elizabeth...you wanna know what he said to me?"

"What?"

Lucky sighed. "He said...that if I wasn't careful, my paranoia would
drive you into the arms of another man. That's a direct quote
Elizabeth."

Liz leaned back in her seat and looked up. Lucky's eyes followed, trying
to read her thoughts.

"Yeah, 'Lizbeth...he said that," Lucky said aloud.

Liz leaned forward and burried her head in her hands. She turned her
head slightly to look at Lucky. "So that's what all this has been about?
The friendliness? The job offer? I can't believe this...so all that talk
about basketball...it was all crap right?"

Lucky nodded his head. "I'm sorry about that. I just...I couldn't deny
it at the time because I was so angry. I wanted to take his head off,
baby."

Liz inched closer, resting her head on his shoulder. "Yeah. I noticed.
I'd only seen that look in your eyes once before."

"Tom," he wispered. More of a statement then a question.

"Yeah," she said, barely audibly.

Lucky leaned back and took her face in his hands. "Baby I'm sorry."

"For what? You didn't do anything...you were just defending me.  I know
that."

"I know, but I also know that deep down, even though you didn't show
it...you were totally pysched to take that job at the gallery."

"Yeah, I was. I can't believe that all that talk about the job being
perfect for me...God, all he wanted was a chance to get in my pants!
Unbelievable!" When Liz was angry, words seemed to fly out of her mouth
uncontrollably.

Lucky winced at her last statement. Liz caught him out of the corner of
her eye. "Oh! I'm sorry Lucky. You know me...speak today, think a week
from now."

"It's ok, " Lucky grinned, pulling her closer to him.

"Well, I guess tomorrow it's my turn."

"Your turn for what?" asked Lucky.

"To confront Kyle - "

"Uh -uh," Lucky said shaking his head vigorously.

Liz picked her head up from his shoulder. "Lucky - "

"No."

"Lucky you can't forbid me to talk to him. I'm gonna give him a piece of
my mind!"

"Baby, I'm not forbidding you...but I'm asking you not to."

"Lucky why? I'm the one he's messing with. He's gotta know that I'm on
to him."

Lucky knew he wasn't going to win this one. "Ok, but can you wait until
I'm here to do it with you?"

"Lucky the guy's not a threat to me. He may be a jerk, but he's not a
..." Liz's voice trailed off, knowing she didn't have to explain any
further. "I'm just gonna tell him that he doesn't stand a snowballs'
chance in Hell with me, and that will be that. I'll call you as soon as
it's over."

"Ok," Lucky sighed, finally giving in.