Note: From here on out in the story there will be a LOT of similiarities between this story and the dialouge and plotline from the actual April, 16th GH episode. For realistic purposes I wanted to use some of the actual dialouge...but a lot of it is original as well. Thanks. :)

~*~6:00 p.m. April 16, 1999~*~

Liz carried the large pot of mashed potatoes over to the stove in front of her thinking of what else she could serve her friends tonight. Everything She thought to herself, hurriedly scurrying from cabinet to cabinet in the kitchen. She'd make everything she had time to make. She wanted them to eat for days.

Last April, or this April, or the last time she had been through this day, whenever it had been. She hadn't made anything. Well, almost anything. A green salad and a huge pan of brownies had been her culinary masterpiece. But not this time. This time they were going to sit at that table and like it. Or at least pretend to like every, single morsel. That would take time. More time than them devouring delicious takeout. More time than they wanted, but all the time that she needed. She had to get them to stay at Kelly's as long as possible. She had to prolong this night for as long as she possibly could. She shivered as she looked at her watch. A little less than four hours. Four hours until midnight would arrive and once again seal her fate. His fate. Their fate.

Suddenly the phone rang interrupting her daydream of the past. "Good Evening, Kelly's. This is Elizabeth how may I help you?"

"Liz..It's Emily. You gotta help me here..I have like NOTHING to wear tonight."

Liz shook her head, trying not to get angry at her friend for not realizing what today was. How important. How irrelevant her choice of ensemble was. "Emily I thought you were going to wear that blue crocheted top and skirt outfit....that's cute...you should wear that."

"Yeah..but Liz...I mean....I wore that like last week when we went to that estate sale...remember?"

"So what?...It's cute," Liz said, balancing the phone on her shoulder as she chopped cold carrots beneath her fingers.

"Yeah....but....Liz....." Emily whined, her voice trailing off.

Liz looked up. Her hands stilling their movements. It suddenly dawned on her why Emily was so concerned with her appearance. One word explained it all. Nikolas, with a "K." Right as Elizabeth began to speak, determined to make Emily wake up and smell the Katherine, something else dawned her. The realization that this could be yet another way to stall time. There was no way Nikolas and Lucky would be on time to dinner if Emily were involved in closet wars.

"You know Em," Liz began slowly, letting her brain think of every possible way to maximize this situation for Lucky's benefit. "I think maybe you're right. You definitely don't want to wear that blue number. Much too....I don't know....innocent? You want to wear something that stands out....how bout that pink blouse?...You know the one with the frilly stuff at the ends...or wait! No! That OTHER pink one...the one you wore last week when we went shopping for my New York outfit...wait..No, there's that problem again...you wore it already huh? Oh man...bummer Em....well, let's see...there's that one Oriental dragon print shirt that you have...that's really cute...what do you think about that one?"

Emily's mind reeled, as she listened to her friend rattle off various items in her closet. "Ugh...it's in the cleaners!" She thought throwing up her hands.

"Ooh..sorry," Liz said drumming her fingers and smirking. "Ok...what about those cute overalls..."

"Overalls?!" Emily asked incredulously. "Elizabeth! Yeah right!...I thought I was supposed to look sophisticated! Not like a farmer!"

"Oh...yeah right...ok...hmmm...gosh, this is a tough one Em......hey! I got an idea...why don't you go buy something new. That always makes me feel better when I'm hating everything in my closet."

Silence ensued on the other end as Emily pondered her words for a moment. "You know what...I think you're right...I think that's what I'm gonna have to do....I just have NOTHING to wear." She sighed looking at the giant walk-in closet full to the top with ridiculously expensive clothing from photoshoots. "Well...do you think Lucky and Nikolas will mind...I mean...having to wait for me...they should be here in like an hour..."

"Oh!" Liz said smiling once again. "Take them with you!...Yeah, Em..Lucky LOVES to shop....yeah...totally."

"Really?"

"Yeah...sure...take you're time....I'll be here."

Emily nodded on the other end, smiling. "Cool. Thanks Liz."

"Oh!," Liz said quickly, knowing that Emily was just about to hang up the phone. "And Emily," she added slowly. "You know...you don't have to worry about impressing anyone here...someone is gonna come along real soon and just sweep you off your feet....I just know it....trust me. "

Emily chuckled on the other end. "Yeah Liz...sure....see ya soon."

~*~

"She's gonna smell those things a mile away Lucky," Emily whispered, pointing to the large bag of ribs Lucky smuggled under his arm.

"Well you know what Em?...If you hadn't spent the last hour at Wyndam's we could have gotton the ribs a little earlier and made sure they weren't PIPING hot!"

Nikolas laughed at his brother and his friend as they walked quickly towards the table setting their various dishes underneath it. "I got Au Gratin potatoes and asparagus with Hollandaise sauce," he stated quickly handing the items to Lucky.

Lucky shoved them under the table just as Elizabeth emerged from the kitchen. "Ok...prepare to be impressed," she said smiling as she made her way over to the table with the big bowl of salad in her hands.

Oohs and Aahs followed as she sat down each of them wondering if she had made a main course as well. Silently praying that she hadn't.

"Do you want me to help you bring out the rest of the stuff?" Lucky asked as she scooted her chair closer to the table.

"Such as?" She teased staring into his eyes.

"The non-salad portion I mean.." He said, his voice trailing off.

This is it, thought Liz. You better make this believable.

"Oh," she said then. Her voice condescending. "How 'bout the ribs from Ely's?"

Nikolas and Emily stopped eating. Looking up from their salad. Busted.

"Excuse me," she went on, standing up to look at all of them. Trying to make them believe she was really angry. "But do I look like my nose is missing? You can smell those things from six blocks away!"

Lucky looked at her worriedly from where he sat. Was she really upset? She sounded like it. "I just thought that - "

"Yeah!" Liz said, her hands flying to her hips. "You just thought that I would ruin dinner right?!...Is that it, you guys?"

Lucky licked his lips nervously as he stood up next to her. Emily and Nikolas stunned by her outburst. "No...no...that's not what we thought Elizabeth," Lucky said almost whispering as he watched her bite her lip. "We just thought you might want a little help...you know...just in case..."

"Just in case?...Just in case?" She said, turning towards him. "Oh...thanks for the vote of confidence Lucky....nice to know you can count on your boyfriend to believe in you..."

"Hey," Lucky said quietly, his brows furrowing slightly. She'd struck a nerve. If there was one thing that he didn't want to hear, it was that he didn't believe in her.

Where the Hell was this coming from? Lucky wracked his brain as he watched her every move, her every facial expression. What had happened today? It's like she'd woken up a different person. She couldn't possibly be upset over this. No, there was something else going on here. Something major.

Elizabeth blinked back tears, knowing that she'd hurt him. God..I don't mean to Lucky...I just....ugh...Lord I have no idea what I'm doing here...

They stared at each other silently, the tension in the room thick enough to be cut with a knife. She looked down towards the floor suddenly, desperate to escape his gaze. Sometimes it was like he was looking right through her.

Nikolas spoke first, breaking the deafening silence. "You know what...we're gonna go..." He said, almost whispering as he pushed his chair backwards. Emily wiped her mouth with her napkin, knowing that was probably for the best. She had never seen them fight like this.

"No!" Elizabeth yelled, turning around. Lucky's eyes followed her panicked stare. "You can't leave yet."

Elizabeth eyes darted from Nikolas to Emily, silently pleading with them to stay. This was going all wrong. Completely and totally wrong. No She thought to herself. What have I done...oh God....this is the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen! They were supposed to stay! Supposed to say...Hey Liz...we'll eat you're cooking! Then they were supposed to eat it very slowly...have trouble chewing the miserable excuse for food! Oh God...think Liz! THINK!...They already think you're crazy...just do an about face!

Emily and Nikolas stopped in their tracks at Liz's impassioned words.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, looking from Emily to Nikolas. She couldn't face him yet. The all knowing presence behind her. She could literally feel him looking at her. Trying to figure her out. "I don't know what got into me....really....I just....I just spent all day long cooking you know...and then I smelled all the food you guys brought in and..."

"No, we're sorry Liz," Emily said hanging her coat back on the rack and taking a step towards her chair. "It was really insensitve of us."

Good you've alienated your friends too, she thought shaking her head. "No...no...it's completely my fault for overreacting....You guys should eat whatever you brought...I'm sure it's better than anything I made."

Liz was feeling so bad she couldn't even bring herself to bring the food that she had cooked out of the kitchen. She bit down harder upon her lip to keep from crying.

"No...no..." Nikolas said looking from his brother to Liz. He was a bit worried about the fact that Lucky hadn't spoken in the last few minutes. "We should eat what you made Liz. Bring it on!" He added smiling. The atmosphere in the room was still tense.

"Yeah," Lucky said, flattly piping up. He licked his lips as he spoke again. "Let's go get that food," he said, watching her as she turned around. "Come on.."

~*~

"Mind telling me what that was all about out there?" Lucky asked, turning to her as he leaned against the countertop. Her hands busied themselves with mindless tasks in the kitchen.

"Nothing," she whispered, her eyes focused on her hands.

He turned her around suddenly, forcing her to look at him. She nearly burst out crying when she saw the look on his face.

"Nothing!? Nothing!?" He yelled, trying and failing to keep his voice down. This wasn't something that Nikolas and Emily needed to be privy to, but he couldn't help it. He took a deep breath. He didn't like yelling at her. "Elizabeth...don't tell me nothing. It's been SOMETHING all day. From the moment I called you this morning...it's been SOMETHING....now WHAT is it?!"

Elizabeth stuttered, trying to find the right words. They just weren't there. "I - I....something...I....can't...I can't tell you Lucky."

Lucky bit his lip, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the countertop behind him. His silence made her shiver and her lip began to tremble as he remained silent. When his voice finally emerged it was quiet, wounded.

"Elizabeth....if you can't tell me....if you can't tell me....than what do we have?........We have nothing."

She sobbed then, her cries coming out garbled through her throat. "That's not true," she said. Her speech nearly unintelligable.

He wiped at his own fallen tears, as she reached out to him. Taking his hands in hers. "Lucky," she said sobbing. "Lucky look at me...please look at me.."

He looked, his eyes glassy as he sniffled back any further emotion.

"I know you're frustrated and confused....so am I....but....but I promise you this will all be over by tomorrow...tomorrow I'll tell you everything! Everything! I promise!!!"

He looked at her pleading eyes, not understanding what tomorrow had to do with anything. "Tomorrow?" he asked. "Elizabeth..what does tomorrow have to do with right now?"

She shook her head. She couldn't answer any of his questions without them leading to more. Leading to questions that would get the both of them into trouble. "Lucky...please...can you just please trust me....." She smoothed her hand across his cheek, wiping his tears. "Nothing I said out there was remotely true...I KNOW you believe in me. You've believed in me forever. It's the one thing that keeps me going.....Lucky...I need you to believe in me just one more time and trust me when I tell you that this will all be fine tomorrow. I'll explain it all and we'll be fine."

He didn't understand. He didn't understand any of this, but if their entire relationship hinged on him believing in her. Than so be it. For now. He wiped his face with his palms and gently swept his thumbs under her eyes, eliciting a weak smile from her. He leaned in then, placing his forehead against hers in an effort to feel closer to her. To let her know that he loved her no matter what.

Lucky broke away then, grasping her face in hers and placing a gentle kiss upon her forehead. "Let's go eat."