Chapter 59

Lucky knocked on the door, hoping she'd be there. He was no idiot, he knew
she probably wouldn't speak to him, but he had to be sure she was ok, that
she wasn't somewhere all alone. He'd called Emily's first, thinking that
maybe she had gone to a friends, but she hadn't been there. He'd called her
dorm room next, knowing full well that she couldn't have gotton there yet,
even if she did have the wheels to get there. He now stood outside of what he
knew would be her last resort: her grandmother's house...fully equipped with
parents from overseas.

Jeff Webber opened the door abruptly, annoyed by the insesant banging of the
last few minutes. "Lucky," he began. "Is there something I can do for
you...at 11:30 pm?" he asked, sarcastically looking at his watch.

Lucky cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to be coming by so late Mr. Webber, but
I really, really need to speak to Elizabeth, is she here?"

"I'm afraid she doesn't want to talk to you son," Jeff replyed, beginnining
to close the door in Lucky's face.

Lucky quickly stuck his foot between the door and the frame, trying to keep
his cool. He took a deep breath and tryed a different approach. "Is Audrey,
in there? I'd like to speak to her please."

"Lucky. My mother had to go to work...Now, if you'll please remove your foot
from the door...it's time you got a move on. My daughter doesn't want to talk
to you...I have no idea why...for some reason she's seen fit not to tell her
mother and I...protecting you from what? I don't know."

Hope shown in Lucky's eyes as he cut his father-in-law off. "Then she IS here
then?!"...Or you've heard from her?....She's ok?...I just need to know that's
she's ok."

"Son, I'm not about to tell you a damn thing about my daughter, so I suggest
you be on your way!"

"Look!" Lucky began, loosing it as he slammed his hand against the door to
keep it open. "I NEED to speak to my wife...and it really doesn't concern
you!"

"Oh, it doesn't?" Jeff asked, cocking his head to the side with a grin.

"No. It doesn't."

"Well, Lucky...if you step one more foot into this house, I'm afraid it will
be a concern for the police.

Lucky sighed and rolled his eyes as he stepped back. 'I should have just gone
through the window,' he thought, licking his lips. 'The one time I try to
walk into this house like a normal person...' Lucky looked upwards, towards
the roof and then down at his father-in-law once again. "You have a good
night sir."
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was midnight as he slowly climbed through the slightly open window. He was
a bit out of practice, but it came back to him easily. He didn't want to wake
her, her just wanted to make certain that she was alright....Alright? Would
anything ever be alright again?

He sighed when he saw her lieing there atop the covers, curled up in the ball
that he knew so well. He walked over to her, not understanding why her
parents hadn't come to check on her. Why hadn't they at least come in and
made her get into bed? He slowly turned down the blankets then gently slipped
one arm under her head and the other around her knees, lifting her small body
upwards from the bed. He stopped in his tracks, marvelling at the familiarity
of the feel of her in his arms. A small moan escaped Liz's lips as she turned
her head into his chest, still sound asleep. He wondered what she was
dreaming about. He wondered if he'd ever find a place in her dreams again,
and hoped that he wasn't the new featured player in her nightmares.

He noticed then, the dampness of her cheeks and his heart broke as he
realized that she must've cried herself to sleep. He also noticed however,
that she wore one of his shirts. Why she still had any desire to feel close
to him was baffling to Lucky, but for some strange reason it also gave him
comfort. Maybe, just maybe she was wearing his shirt, for the same reason
that he had come there tonight: they were both feeling the invisible magnetic
pull that neither one of them had ever been able to fight.

After placing her between the sheets, Lucky sat down next to her and tryed to
will himself away as he ran his fingers through her silken strands
repeatedly, his eyes filling with tears he would not allow himself to shed.
He leaned down slowly, placing a feather light kiss on her lips, his love for
her overwhelming him. It was only a goodnight kiss. It was meant simply as a
goodbye, yet suddenly...she was kissing him back. Her eyes still closed, her
hands resting on either side of his face, she was kissing him back slowly and
softly. Lucky pulled away, realizing that she was still halfway between dream
and reality and that she had no idea what she was doing. Her dreams probably
held no recollection of the last 24 hours. He wouldn't take advantage of that.

"Elizabeth," he wispered, upon finally seeing her flutter open. He hoped she
wouldn't be mad. He hoped she wouldn't throw him out.

Elizabeth looked at him for a moment, her eyes beginning to focus, and at
that moment all she saw was her husband sitting above her. The man that she
loved. Not the man that had caused her such tremendous pain, but the man that
brought her unfathomable joy. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled
him down to her once again, kissing him fully. Lucky instinctively reacted,
following her lead and lieing on top of her as she pulled him closer and
closer.

The sound of their breathing quickened as Liz began kissing Lucky more
passionately, her lips and tongue devouring his. Lucky's heart raced as he
responded, tentatively rubbing a hand from her calf to her thigh, pushing her
bare leg up towards his hip as he went.

He figured it had to be a dream. She couldn't have forgiven him. Could she
have...this early? He knew it had to be a dream, but her hands working their
way underneath the back of his shirt didn't feel like a dream. Her smooth
things wrapping around his waist didn't feel like a dream, and neither did
the heat of her fevered kisses.

His own hands pushed at the fabric covering her stomach and caressed the soft
flesh that he found there. His kisses moved slowly from her lips, and to her
jaw, needing to feel more of her. Then they began traveling downwards to her
neck and collar bone, pulling the material aside.

Suddenly, Lucky felt her body tense beneath him, and he knew that whatever
dream he had been having was about to come to an end. He pulled back and
looked into her eyes. She was staring straight ahead at the wall behind him,
her eyes glassy. Her hands found his chest and suddenly began pushing him
away.

"Wh -what are we doing?" she asked absently, running her hands through her
tousled hair.

Lucky sat up, wondering what had just happened. "Elizabeth I -"

"Just go," Liz said, standing up.

"No...Elizabeth, I'm not going any - "

"Lucky?! What?....Do you think sex is going to fix everything?!" she asked,
trying desperately to control the volume of her voice.

"You know I don't think that," Lucky said sternly. "Elizabeth we need to
talk."

Liz sat back down on the bed, ignoring his statement. She slowly began
shaking her head as if she'd remembered something. Her voice shook with
emotion. "Yeah...just like you thought it wouldn't fix anything the day after
you slept with Sam."

Lucky closed his eyes and bit his lip. He knew that Elizabeth would remember
it all sooner or later: him coming home the next morning, complaining that he
was sick, then making love to her that afternoon. "I'm sorry," he said
softly, staring down at the carpet below his feet.

"You're sorry?" Liz asked, grinning through her tears. "You're sorry?"

"Elizabeth....I just...I don't know. I needed to be with you...to feel close
to you..."

"Yeah, well you know what Lucky?...I needed to feel close to you on MY
birthday!!! I wanted to be with my husband...but where were you?..OH, I
forgot you were busy having sex with Sam...sorry."

Lucky sniffed back the tears that were quickly fighting their way to the
surface. "Elizabeth...I never meant to hurt you...I was drunk.."

"Is that some sort of excuse Lucky?" Liz asked looking up at him, her eyes
narrowing.

"No," he said flattly. " I just...I just don't know how it happened."

A moment of silence passed between them as Liz looked at him and then down at
the disheveled blankets beneath her. "Well, I don't know how THIS
happened...Lucky please...just go."

Elizabeth knew exactly how it had happened. She was hurt and she needed
comfort, and now that the person that hurt her and the person that usually
provided her comfort were one in the same, her brain was cross-circuiting.
The people down the hall were not family. They never had been. Lucky was the
only family that Liz had ever known, and losing her entire family in one day
was simply too much to handle.

Lucky nodded his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Ok...I'm leaving,
but Elizabeth...THIS happened because we love each other. It happened
because, no matter what...we belong together."

Liz squeezed her eyes shut, trying to make his words a lie. She willed him to
leave that instant, before her brain gave in to her heart. He took a deep,
steadying breath as he walked towards the window and said one, final thing
before stepping through it. "I'm sorry Elizabeth...you'll never know how
much."

Chapter 60

It took every once of courage Liz had to go back to their apartment. It was a
Sunday afternoon. A day usually spent in her husbands arms, fighting the
inevitable of going back to school for the week, but today was different.
She'd woken up in her old bed, in her old house, knowing that she would have
to go back. That she needed to gather her things for the trip back to New
York City.

As she walked into their bedroom, the scene from Thanksgiving replayed itself
in her mind like a bad dream: Him begging her to stay, her letting go after
he kissed her. She thought it had been their last time. She hadn't
anticipated Lucky climbing through her window at Gram's house. She should
have, but hadn't. She still had no clue why she had let things get so out of
hand so quickly. Before coming over this time she had made sure that he
wasn't home. She obviously wasn't strong enough to resist him and she
wondered if she ever would be.

She was looking through the top dresser drawer for a pair of socks when her
eyes fell upon it. It sat perched in front of the mirror, framed in silver.
The photo that had captured  the happiest day of her life. She in the white
gown that she had spent weeks agonizing over, and he in his tuxedo, more
handsome than she had ever seen him. She brushed her fingers across the cool
glass as her bottom lip began to tremble once again. How had it come to this?

Suddenly Liz's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock at the front door.
She quickly sniffed back her tears and ran her fingers under her eyes to
catch any stray drops that had fallen. "I'm coming," she hollared, wondering
who it could be. Lucky would have just used his key.

She opened the door and felt her breath catch in her throat, as a rage bigger
than any she had ever felt quickly began to build in her stomach. "What - The
Hell - are you doing here?" She asked slowly pausing after each venom laced
word.

Sam's mouth dropped open, suprised to find "the wife" still there. Liz was
supposed to be gone..out of the picture..in some hole somewhere crying her
eyes out. She had expected to have a nice little chat with Lucky.
"Elizabeth...you're here, I - "

The rest of Sam's sentence was lost, as the heavy palm of Liz's right hand
came into contact with her cheek, sending Sam stumbling sideways. Sam sucked
air through her teeth, trying to compose herself quickly. She rubbed at the
painful sting that permeated throughout her entire face. Her mouth suddenly
hung open in shock.

Liz shook with anger as her hand retreated to her side, tingling thoughout.
Whether that sensation was from the blow or her own wanting to hit her again,
remained to be seen. "How dare you," Liz began, trying to form a coherent
thought as the words jumbled quickly in her throat. "You little bitch...What
the Hell made you think you could put your hands on my husband?...Who - who
gave you the right to come into my life and - "

The shock wearing off, Sam finally found her voice. "Liz, your husband wanted
it just as much as I did, so I really don't think you had any right to hit
me."

Liz chuckled bitterly at the assinine comment and turned away, walking back
inside, knowing full well that Sam would follow. She turned around suddenly,
a smirk on her face. "Hit you?" She asked. "Hit you?...Oh, Sam...Is that what
you thought that was?...Honey, when I hit you...you'll know it."

Sam laughed. "Lizzie...you know I'm really sorry that you had to find out
about Lucky AND I the way that you did. He really should have told you
himself - "

"Sam. Shut the Hell up!" Liz yelled, narrowing the space between them. "Do
you think I'm stupid?! Do you think I don't know what this is?!...You wanted
my husband the very first moment you saw him...I mean not that I could blame
you...but REALLY Sam...all that shit about your sink needing
fixing?...ACCIDENTALLY telling him about my job offer at the
gallery???...Jeez, you know...shame on me for not paying more attention to
you...I knew, what you were from the very beginning but I just ignored
it...but you know what Sam? Don't think you can fool me anymore ok?!  There
is NO 'you and Lucky' and there never has been...Sammy dear...you were a
screw for the night! That's it!...So what now Sam? What are you here for? Did
Lucky forget to pay you? I'm sorry...you'll have to excuse him...I guess he
didn't know that whores like to be payed up front!"

Sam's eyes blazed as she swung her open palm toward's Liz's face, making
contact with one painful blow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hi Lucky," Emily said flattly, opening the door and letting him into the
mansion.

She hadn't seen him since Nikolas told her about his twrist with Sam, but
when Lucky called her asking her for her advice, she couldn't say no. She'd
do anything to help he and Liz.  He hadn't mentioned what the problem was
over the phone, and she hadn't mentioned that she already knew, but she
would. There was no way she would be able to hide that.

Emily gestured for them to go outside and into the rose garden, thinking that
a walk  outside would be better than trying to deal with her nosey family.

Once outside, Lucky spoke first. "Emily, I don't know how much Elizabeth has
told you...but I did something - something really horrible - "

"I know," Emily said, turning towards him. "And Lucky...before you get mad at
Nikolas for telling me, you have to understand that he really didn't know
what to do. He was upset with himself because he knew he had given you
terrible advice...he needed someone to turn to."

"I understand," Lucky said nodding.

"Good," Emily said flattly.

An akward silence fell upon them as Lucky wondered if he had not only lost
his wife, but his friend as well. He stopped walking for a moment and Emily
followed his lead.

He looked into her eyes. "So," he began. "How do you feel about me right now?
Do you hate me?"

Emily looked down for a moment. Lucky was the one person she had always been
able to be honest with and she wasn't about to stop now. "I don't hate you,"
she sighed. Emily continued as she looked up. "I could never hate you. I'm
just having a little trouble understanding you right now."

Lucky licked his lips. "Well, that's more than I deserve Em. Thank you."

Emily looked deep into his eyes and shook her head upon seeing the sadness
there and the despair in his voice. "How did somebody like you cheat on your
wife?"

Lucky grinned, not knowing how to answer such a question. Emily continued,
beginning to walk again. "Lucky...if anybody ever would have asked me if
you'd cheat on Liz...I would have said you were incapable of hurting her like
that...I would have bet my life on it...Lucky...tell me what happened."

"What do you mean?" Lucky asked, embarrassed by the question.

"I mean tell me Lucky. DETAILS...I mean Nikolas told me that you barely
remember anything...but you have to remember SOMETHING Lucky. ANYTHING!"

"What do you wanna know Em?! I slept with Sam. End of story. End of marriage."

"No, no," Emily said shaking her head. "It's not that simple Lucky...you sat
there in Kelly's before Liz's party and told me that you'd never even LOOK at
another woman!...and two days later your in the sack with the Pyscho Beast
from Hell?!...I don't get it Lucky...something just doesn't add up."

Lucky threw his hands up. "Em...I really don't know what you want me to
say...I woke up that morning...Sam was next to me - stark naked...so was
I...she told me all the little disgusting details of the night before and
that was that."

"No. Lucky...I'm talking about the REAL details: birthmarks, her REAL hair
color, is she a screamer of a quiet one?...THOSE details!"

If he had been watching someone else go through this, he would have laughed
out loud at his friends bluntness, but at that moment all he could think
about was that night and how everything was one, big blur.

"No...Em, all I remember is waking up with a monster headache, and as thirsty
as all Hell."

"Thirsty?" Emily asked, wondering what thirst had to do with anything. She
shook her head once again. "Lucky...something just doesn't sit right with
me...I've felt this wierd feeling ever since Nikolas told me...don't you feel
it Lucky?...In your gut?"

Lucky nodded his head slowly. "Em...I've felt it for awhile...since it
happened really...but at the same time, I mean, it's obvious that I slept
with Sam."

Emily bit her lip. "Yeah...maybe too obvious."

"Huh?"

"Lucky...remember that lecture you gave me when we were 11? You said
something about things that were too obvious...like to be careful of them or
something like that...like you could do the expected by doing something
completely unexpected..."

"Yeah, " Lucky grinned. "I don't think I said it like that...but yeah..."

"Hey!" Emily smiled, pointing a finger at him. "I was 11 years old, am I
supposed to remember it verbatim?...Let's go," she added, extending her hand.

"Where are we going?" Lucky asked, tentatively taking her hand.

"To pay Sam a little visit."