Lucky almost laughed as he pulled the small backpack from under his bed. "Still there," he said aloud, grinning. When had it gotten so small though?

He unzipped it, noticing the color: Forest Green. This one had been his spare. His "extra," just in case something happened to the big one in the hall closet or the Red one in his closet. Green, his mother had always said, meant 'Go!' When you used the green one, that meant that your time was up. That you had to get out, and you had get out quickly. That was exactly how he felt now.

He turned around, and stopped suddenly as his hands yanked one of the wooden drawers open. "Where are you going?" She asked softly. One hand pressed firmly against the doorframe, as if to hold her up.

His hands began pulling jeans and T-shirts from the drawer. All the clothes she had bought him upon his miraculous return. His silence urged her on. "Lucky?" she asked, hesitantly, slowly moving closer.

What? Was she scared? 'Must've already found out about the oh-so-brutal attack on Nikolas,' he thought bitterly.

Lucky looked up as he shoved a long-sleeved flannel into his backpack. "Where did the other one go?" He questioned.

Laura stared at him blankly. Not understanding the question. Lucky licked his lips and nodded. He grinned cryptically as some twisted understanding crossed his face. "Oooh...you and Dad threw it out, huh?"

He watched her as her eyes continued to show no sign of understanding. He picked up his backpack then, presenting it to her to end her confusion. "The backpack mom....the backpack...remember the red one in my closet?...Yeah, it's gone...so I'm figuring it got trashed right along with everything else?...Not that I mind...I always hated that one anyway...I always thought red was for sissies."

Laura sighed and looked down. Had they returned to this? Back to the time when his anger caused him to talk AT her instead of TO her? "Lucky," she said, still glaring at the hard wood floor beneath her. "Can I ask you where you're going?"

Lucky rolled a pair of socks and stuffed them into a side pocket. "I have to get out of here," he said simply, never looking into her eyes. "And don't worry, I'll be around...so if LuLu needs me - "

"What if I need you?" Laura interrupted, her hand resting on her heart. "What about that Lucky?"

He shook his head. He just couldn't deal with this right now. He lifted his backpack from the bed and headed for the door. He stopped when she blocked his path. "Lucky," she said, her voice riddled. Thick, as it fought its way through her ever tightening throat. "Is this about this morning?...Honey, I can change...You don't have to tell me where you are every waking moment...I just worry, that's all - "

"It's not about this morning Mom!" He said, cutting her off as he finally looked straight into his mother's eyes. Soft, confused eyes. He didn't want to hurt her. He hated doing that. He always had. But sometimes she just...she just didn't get it. "It's about everything! It's about this house! About this room - this bed!" He yelled, pointing to it. "It's about not being able to eat! To breathe!"

Laura nodded silently, her chin trembling fiercely. Lucky wiped at his own fallen tears. This. What he was feeling at this very moment wasn't her fault. His voice softened considerably as he spoke again. "Mom..........mama.....I have to get out of of here...the walls are...."

Laura reached out, smoothing a hand over his face. She couldn't even remember the last time he'd called her that. Before Port Charles? It had to have been. "It's ok," she whispered. "I understand baby........you do what you have to do," she added, nodding.

He paused for a moment staring into her eyes. She understood. For that moment in time, she got it. He leaned in, kissing her lightly on the cheek, before he quickly moved around her, opening the door.

Laura followed behind, her voice anxious when it hit the air. "Lucky...do you have money? Do you need - "

Lucky shook his head as he descended the steps. "Don't worry about it mom...fortunately I don't think they've changed the rules for washing cars.........still don't need a high school diploma."

Laura stopped in her tracks, closing her eyes for a long minute. How had it turned out this way? Her beautiful, brilliant boy...washing cars and making light of it. Her child that had walked early, talked early, died........'Well that's exactly how this happened, isn't it Laura?...And it's all your fault.'

Her thoughts quieted as she noticed him staring at her from the foot of the stairs. She descended slowly, smiling.

Lucky, placed a hand on her back when she stopped in front of him. He leaned in awkwardly. He hadn't hugged her since the first time he'd seen her in his father's office.

Laura sensed his awkwardness and slowly, tentatively wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head on his shoulder and a joyful tear slid down her cheek when he didn't pull away. "I love you Lucky." 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Liz sighed once again, leaning back in the cool metal chair. She'd been sitting outside of Kelly's for hours, just thinking. Thinking of how Lucky had left. How she had hurt him. Again.

'Why can't you just do this ONE thing for him?' She thought to herself. Angry for having hurt him. Having said that moving in together would be a bad idea. 'He never asks you for anything! And the one time he needs something....ugh!...Because it won't fix anything Elizabeth, and you know that!'

The truth was, that moving in with Lucky sounded wonderful. It sounded like the best thing that could ever happen to her. It sounded like a small piece, a taste of what heaven must be like. But the scary thing was that it had the potential to be the exact opposite. She could make his life a living hell. 'Like it's not already?' She thought as she ran a hand through her hair frustratedly.

Elizabeth turned to the side as the sound of clicking heel rounded the corner. She smiled weakly at their owner.

"Hi Elizabeth," Emily said awkwardly approaching.

"Hi Emily," Liz replied, her voice equally as awkward. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd seen Emily, let alone spoken to her. "How are you?"

"Do you care?" Emily asked sarcastically, as she sat down across from her once, bestfriend. She ignored the look of hurt that passed through Liz's eyes and continued. "I saw Nikolas....I guess now you've got guys fighting over you? What must that be like?" She asked flippantly.

Elizabeth licked her lips and bowed her head. She understood her anger. She had probably even deserved that little comment. She couldn't be sure of anything these days. "I don't want anybody fighting over me," she said softly, staring at her hands.

"Well, maybe you should tell Nikolas that Liz," Emily said. "For some reason he thinks it's his job or something...he really cares about you Elizabeth."

"Emily!" Liz said, her voice rising a bit in frustration. "I have told Nikolas on numerous occasions that I love Lucky!...Even BEFORE I knew Lucky was alive I told Nikolas that I was STILL in love with Lucky...that I could NEVER be with his brother..........I honestly don't know what else he needs to hear - "

"Stop," Emily said softly, waving her hand. She bowed her head for a moment and then looked quickly back into her friends eyes. "I'm sorry...I shouldn't have even said anything...I just....well, I saw Nikolas today...after he and Lucky got into it.........and, well you know how I tend to shoot off at the mouth when I'm excited about something."

Elizabeth grinned lightly. "I know," she sighed.

Emily smiled back. "So," she said rising from her seat. "Do you wanna start this over again?"

Elizabeth looked at her, confused. Emily continued at her silence. "I'll be right back," and with that she turned away from Liz, walking back around the corner. After a few moments, she returned. She smiled brightly and sat back down in the chair across from Liz. "Hi, Liz...how's it going?"

Elizabeth laughed out loud and nodded her head. "Ugh...not so good Em..."

"What's the problem Liz?"

"Well...you see, I'm in love with Lucky...." she began, and just as quickly her voice trailed off. The laughter in her voice died and tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm in love," she began again, her voice quivering. "With Lucky...I love him with all my heart....I love him so much....it hurts inside...........but I can't seem to do the right thing...say the right thing to make him or Nikolas fully believe that....everytime I think we're gonna be ok....BAM! Something comes along to screw it up...."

Her voice faltered, and Emily reached for her hand, covering it with her own atop the table. "I've talked to Nikolas....and I don't....ugh, I don't really know what it is that he needs to hear either. Liz, he's convinced that all he needs to do is keep at you, keep telling you how he feels.......and one day you'll feel the same way."

Elizabeth sighed loudly, shaking her head. "Em...I love Nikolas. You know I do....but I'm not IN love with him....I never have been and I never will be....He was there for me when no one else was and I am so extremely grateful.....but that's it. Lucky is back...and I....and WE have to concentrate on each other...on healing, you know?"

Emily shook her head. She'd seen the turmoil that Lucky was in when he'd come to visit her that day at the mansion. She knew he still had a long way to go. Apparently so did Liz. Although the few times she'd seen her at school had told her that already. "I'm sorry about that, you know?" Emily asked suddenly, looking into her friends' eyes.

"Sorry about what?"

"For not being there for you when - "

Elizabeth cut her off, not letting her even get the rest of her sentence out. "No! Don't even go there Em. You WERE there...you were there from the beginning...I'm the one that wasn't there for you....I pushed you away."

"Yeah, you did," Emily nodded. "But I should have been a stronger person...thicker skinned. I knew the only reason you were pushing everyone away was because you thought it was better to grieve on your own. You thought that nobody understood........actually, if I had stuck around, maybe you wouldn't be having this problem with Nikolas right now," she laughed ironically. "I mean, if you would have had someone else to lean on, you and Nikolas wouldn't have had to spend all that time together and maybe Nikolas wouldn't have...."

"Fallen for me," Elizabeth finished. She looked up after a moment. "Well....I guess what's done is done, huh?....Now if I could just figure out how to undo it."

The two of them laughed then. Not because anything was particularly funny or even amusing. It was the simple fact that they were together and finally talking like true friends. Friends that had a lot of lost time to make up for.

Chapter 40

Lucky glanced around at his surroundings. The barren walls, the dowdy blue bedspread beneath him and the 17 inch television from the 70's that sat on the dirty brown dresser across from him. He spotted his reflection in the mirror in front of him, and wondered how many people had sat in this very spot looking at the same hopeless expression.

Hopeless? What was there to feel hopeless about? He was home. Finally, and completely home. In the town that he loved. With the family that he loved. With the girl...the woman that he loved. A room at Jake's didn't mean hopelessness did it? No. That's not where the feeling came from.

It came from the not knowing. The uncertainty of where his life was headed. What his future held, and how to obtain it. It came from not knowing who he was supposed to be in a world that had continued to turn in his absence. A world that was different....yet exactly the same. Everything from his parents' home to her hair, Elizabeth's hair was the same. It all smelled the same. Felt the same. So, it couldn't be hopeless right? Hadn't living in that silver cell of a room taught him that you never, ever gave up hope? That, that was the very last thing you could ever do. Maybe it wasn't hope he had lost at all. Maybe he was just lost.

He looked up suddenly from his place on the bed as her soft voice floated through the door. "Lucky?"

Sitting there motionless for a moment, he waited for her voice to call again. Certain that it had been a figment of his imagination the first time. What would she be doing here?

"Lucky?"

He stood up quickly and walked towards the door. His eyes must have shown his surprise immediately. The suitcases at her feet succeeded in raising his brows even higher.

Elizabeth smiled brightly. Too nervous to do anything else. "Um....I was thinking, if your offer still stood.......?" The words hung in the air as all nervewracking 'get it out there quick' questions did.

"Wha....Elizabeth, how did you even find me here?" He said, bending down and lifting her suitcases. He moved them absently towards the foot of the bed. The mechanics of lifting, merely that. His mind would not allow him to believe that this was for real. That SHE was for real.

'Maybe he doesn't really want you here, you dimwit...maybe he's still angry,' she thought suddenly. Elizabeth licked her lips nervously and smiled halfheartedly. "Um...it wasn't that hard really....I just sort of used the process of elimination," she chuckled anxiously.

He shook his head briefly watching her face. "You really shouldn't come here by yourself you know...it's not......"

"If it's good enough for you...it's good enough for me," she interrupted brightly.

Lucky sat down on the bed, looking into her eyes. "Elizabeth....you said earlier that you didn't - "

"I know what I said...I know," she said quietly, slowly coming to sit beside him. She covered his hands with hers."But.......Lucky, this can't be any harder than..."

"Then being apart?" He finished, looking down at their hands.

"Exactly," she whispered, laying her head gently upon his shoulder.

He reached up with his right hand stroking the side of her cheek. "You know," he smiled. "If I would have known you were going to say yes a few hours after saying no....I would have sprung for nicer accommodations."

Elizabeth lifted her head from his shoulder, turning to face him on the bed as she folded her legs beneath her. "How did you spring for THESE accommodations anyway?" She asked, a light flirtyness lacing her voice.

Lucky smiled back at her, licking his lips as he got a bit closer to her. "Uh...well, it seems that NOBODY snatched up that lucrative career I had of detailing Sonny and Jason's cars....so....I stepped right in and snatched that baby up........a job like that doesn't come along very often."

Elizabeth's smile faded as she listened to him make light of a situation that she knew was killing him inside. "Lucky.."

"No..it's cool, Elizabeth," Lucky said rising from the bed, and walking over to the dresser. His back turned to her. "It's not forever you know...it's just for the time being." He turned back around to face the mirror just in time to catch her reflection. Just in time to notice her sadly nod and quickly glance down at her fingernails. When she looked up again, her smile was bright, cheery. Full of false happiness.

"Well....did Jason and Sonny give you a cash advance? I mean I know Jake didn't give this wonderful bedroom to you for free," she laughed. Trying not to let the weight in her heart influence her voice. 'If you can do that Lucky...I can too.'

Lucky laughed then, turning to face her. "No...actually this is a funny story.....I walked into this place, KNOWING that there was no way in Hell Jake was gonna let me have a room without the cash up front........so.........well, I joined the first Poker game I saw going on....my backpack sittin' under the table the whole time....just hoping."

Elizabeth smiled. "And I take it you won this Poker game?"

"I ALWAYS win at Poker, Elizabeth," he stated bluntly. Something happened then, as a cloud of something dismal, something dark passed over his eyes. He looked away quickly. "That's one game nobody can beat me at."

Elizabeth bit her lip. What was that she had just seen in his eyes? His voice cut into her thoughts before she could answer the question.

"I won....big," he announced, a smirk pulling at the corners of his perfect mouth.

She instantly thought back to a time when he had told her briefly of a gambling "thing" that he had went through when he was 12 or 13. She couldn't remember the exact age. It was some kind of trouble he had gotten into before they'd ever known each other. Was now the right time to bring that up though? Was it even necessary? He had simply needed the money and that was a surefire way of getting it right? There wasn't anything wrong with that. 'Maybe not Elizabeth...but isn't the policy: honesty?? Yes, it is.......let's go with honesty here....it was the old rule...it's the new rule....'

"Ooh, confidence," she said, standing up. She sauntered over to him, easing her hands up his chest as she leaned against him. Her hands locked at the back of his neck. "I like that in a man." She gazed up at him and he smiled. "But, don't get too cocky there...ok, gambler....wouldn't want you gettin' into any trouble."

And as soon as the smile had appeared, it disappeared. Elizabeth sighed and looked down at her feet as he abruptly left her side. Her hands sliding lonesomely down to their sides as she looked up. His back faced her as he walked back towards the bed. 'What,' she thought. 'What did I say?...........obviously the WRONG thing Lizzie...once again...'

"I know what I'm doing," he said, suddenly breaking the silence.

"I know that Lucky...I just...I just worry that's all."

'Another damn person worrying...' He thought, to himself. 'I've got my mother worrying...my dad worrying....my little sister coming into check on me in the middle of the night! And now...now I've got Elizabeth worrying too....man, oh man...a whole worrying team! Good for you Lucky..'

Anger laced his voice, when he finally spoke. "You know what Elizabeth?!....I have had just about as much as I can take of people worrying about poooooor little back-from-the dead Lucky ok!............I mean you know," he laughed bitterly. "It's actually funny that everybody picks NOW to worry about me........I mean, shouldn't you guys have started to worry a few months ago.............." His voice trailed off suddenly, when for the first time he looked at her eyes. Eyes that could not, no matter how hard they fought, control the flood of tears that cascaded down her cheeks.

"Oh my God," he said faintly, stunned by her face. By his own horrifying words as they echoed in his ears.

The only sound in the room now was Elizabeth's labored breath. He reached out to her, and his hand quickly recoiled of it's own accord. He hadn't the right to touch her after what he'd just said to her. She probably didn't want him near her. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry....I didn't..."He sank down onto the bed, his mouth hanging open at his own words. How was it possible to shock even yourself? His head fell into his own hands as the reality of what he had just said to the one person who loved him more than anything, began to sink in. "I'm sorry," he whispered again. His voice muffled by his hands, but not nearly muffled enough to hide his pain. His anguish. "I'm so sorry.."

She heard him sniffle as she got closer, trying to gain her bearings before approaching him. She wouldn't lie. It felt as if she'd just been stabbed in the heart. But the knife that he had used...it wasn't new. It wasn't shiny. It was dull and old. It was the very same weapon that she had used against herself only a thousand times before.

Elizabeth quickly wiped her face of any sign of tears as she knelt before him. "It's ok," she whispered. He would not look at her. His eyes still shaded by his hands. Hands that shook. She took a deep breath, and demanded her voice come out smoothly. It obeyed. "Hey...hey, look at me," she pleaded quietly as she placed her fingers on his, trying to pry them away from his face.

He lowered his hands and wiped angrily at his tears, shaking his head. "I'm sorry...I don't know what the Hell I was thinking....that was....Elizabeth, you have to know that I didn't mean that...I'm not mad at you for any of that....I just...sometimes I get so frustra - "

"Ssh," she said, leaning into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt his head drop against her shoulder. "Stop apologizing," she whispered into his ear, her fingers tenderly running through his hair as she continued to kneel on the carpet in front of him. "I don't ever want to hear you apologize for saying how you feel ok?"

"But it's not!..That's not how I feel Elizabeth!" He said looking up, his eyes silently begging her to believe him. To not hate him for saying things that any rational human being would despise him for.

She shushed him again and held him tighter, his head falling into her shoulder once again. She smelled so sweet. "Lucky...it's ok."

He shook his head against her shoulder, not believing that anyone could be so forgiving. Hadn't he just said the unthinkable? How could she forgive him? "Elizabeth....I just said something horrible to you...awful....and you - "

"Lucky," she interrupted, smoothing a hand down his back. "Stop worrying about me...just for just a second....for a just a minute, ok....can you do that?...Baby, all I need you to do is let go. Stop trying to be what you think we all need you to be, and be who you are.....Be whoever you are now. Whoever...Lucky Spencer is at this very moment..........Can you do that? Can you let me in? Can you let me take care of you? Huh? For once?........Lucky I promise you," she continued, emotion beginning to take it's toll on her words.

"I promise that you're not going to say anything to me that I haven't thought of a thousand times....Lucky, do you know how many times of day I ask myself WHY I didn't know? WHY I didn't feel you? Feel that you were alive!...Lucky there were signs everywhere! EVERYWHERE!.....Like, the way I couldn't let myself move on....couldn't let myself feel anything....the way I couldn't stop dreaming about you....I couldn't stop dreaming of the night that you'd come for me....that our eyes would meet and everything would be right again.....or the way my ring sparkled so brightly it was almost blinding half of the time!!!.......Lucky, I promise you....I've thought about it all....all of it........but all I really need now.....all I need is for you to let me be there for you.....Can you tell me what you need?......What do you need Lucky?," she said, her tears no longer controlled as she pulled back to look at the tears in his. "Tell me what you need," she whispered, her voice pleading.

"You," he answered. So quiet, so simply that the only person that ever could have heard it was her.

"I'm right here," she breathed, searching his eyes, wanting to take all the pain away from him.

We said we'd walk together baby come what may That come the twilight should we lose our way If as we're walking a hand should slip free And I should fall behind Wait for me

Elizabeth's hands came to rest on his face, tenderly messaging the sides of his cheek, as her lips pressed softly against his. Softly, softly, and softly again. She rose slowly from her knees and stood in front of him, his hands reaching out tentatively to rest on her hips as she continued to kiss him.

We swore we'd travel darlin' side by side We'd help each other stay in stride But each lover's steps fall so differently So I'll wait for you........

Her lips drifted over his face. So tortured, so sweet. Her lips lingered wherever they felt pain, wherever he needed her touch. She felt moisture against her flesh, and continued, unsure of whether it was his tears or hers.

And should I fall behind Wait for me

Lucky moaned inwardly as her mouth reconnected with his. As her tongue slid against his own. His heart yearned for her, ached for her and now so did the rest of his body. His hands traveled slowly up her sides, eager to feel her once again. His hands, his entire body longing for what it had experienced only one sweet time.

Now everyone dreams of love lasting and true But you and I know what this world can do So let's make our steps clear that the other may see And I'll wait for you........

Elizabeth moved closer to the bed, standing between his legs, eager for his hands to do what she now knew they could do. He felt her suck in a breath as his fingers inched there way under the bottom of her sweater. A cool surge of electricity shot through her hot skin and her knees began to resist her will to stand.

Should I fall behind Wait for me

She leaned into him and his mouth pressed against the woolen fabric that covered her chest. Just like they had this afternoon outside of Kelly's. Yet now...now they were completely alone. All alone in a private place. Their private place...and those lips. His lips were moving, dancing, making her shiver with their warmth. With the way his hot breath felt tickled her through the fabric. She needed to feel them directly. She needed to feel his skin on hers.

Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead.......

Lucky's hands glided beneath her shirt, sliding over her the cool flesh of her back. Sliding up and up until they hit the bra strap that empeeded their progress. He looked up at her as her head tilted back, her breathing harsh and fast.

And there 'neath the oak's bough, soon we will be wed

She looked down at him when she felt his hands stop, when she felt his lips pull away from her sweater. The look in his eyes. The question she saw there made her desire for him grow even stronger. Even more intense. They had done this once already and still his eyes asked the question. "Yes," Lucky she answered, not needing him to voice the words.

Should we lose each other In the shadow of the evening trees

His eyes traveled back down her waist, glassy with desire. Full of love. Lucky grasped the bottom of the sweater and moved up it up slowly, deliberately watching her skin as her rapid breaths caused her flat stomach to quiver in and out before him. He kissed her above her bellybutton as he pushed the material higher. Higher.

I'll wait for you.........

Elizabeth sucked air through her teeth as his lips found her navel. Her hands buried themselves in the thickness of his hair, bringing him even closer. And for an instant she felt his tongue move across the same area of skin. Her knees finally gave in.

And should I fall behind Wait for me

As her sweater whipped over her head an onto the floor, Lucky pulled her down saving her from collapse, taking her into his arms. Their kissing became fast, furious as she lay on top of him, his hands roaming her back. She let her hands wonder as well, as they came to the front of his shirt, unfastening each tiny button as quickly as shaking hands could manage. As quickly as her brain would allow her under the spell of his kisses.

Darlin' I'll wait for you......

His fingers played over the clasp of her bra and she almost instinctively moved to kiss his neck. Devour his neck. She shivered slightly when the last hook on her bra had been parted and she could have sworn she felt his pulse speed up under her lips.

Should I fall behind

Lucky rolled her over, lying on top of her as he slid the front straps of her bra down her arms. He stopped kissing her for a moment. He stopped everything, his hands, her hands and looked at her. Staring in wonderment at her beauty. He'd been so blinded the first time. So blinded by starvation that he hadn't taken the time to relish her. To drink in every inch. His hand descended slowly upon one lovely breast and his words came out in an almost foreign tone. "You're so beautiful."

Elizabeth raised her arm and placed her hand inside his open shirt, covering his heart. "You....you're beautiful." She watched him swallow as she pushed the flannel shirt off of his strong shoulders and down his finely toned arms. She sat up slightly pressing a kiss to his the left side of his chest, then working her way up to his shoulders. She sat perched on her knees now as she showered his torso with her love, as his hands roamed her same naked flesh and he dared move away from her lips to kiss her. To stroke her newly uncovered skin. Skin that felt like silk.

Wait for me... Oh, wait for me...

Lucky reached down between them, his fingers moving slowly down the row of buttons that secured her jeans. His lips journeyed from her breasts to her neck in a slow, torturous trek at the same time and her head fell back and she gazed dizzily at the ceiling. She whimpered softly as his hand slid inside of her now opened jeans.

Her own hands sought the buttons on the denim that encased him, fumbling every so often under the instruction of someone that was intoxicated by the euphoria of his touch. Of his very breath on her skin. Her mouth sank down into the crevice of his neck and shoulder as his hand continued to explore her lower half, dance between her thighs.

Finally, her hands had accomplished their task. She wasted not a moment, her fingers eagerly pushing at his waistband, relieving him of his enclosure. Lucky leaned forward, taking her with him as he lay down once again, she underneath him. Her feet pushed at the blue denim surrounding his ankles, and finally she heard them drop to the floor.

She arched towards him, as he pushed at the jeans surrounding her hips. She bit down upon her lip as his hands brushed against her backside in an effort to rid her of her constraints. She sighed when at last she wiggled out of them, throwing them haphazardly aside.

Their undergarments weren't nearly as much trouble, as her panties slid easily down her legs. As his boxers came off not a moment too soon. Elizabeth's mouth dropped open as he lay on top of her, as his hand slid along her shin, pushing her leg up and around his waist. It dropped open even wider as he slid inside of her. Her wanting only increasing. Her need for him only growing more untamed.

Breathing became the only other thing that mattered, the only thing that could be heard loudly, erratically as his body joined hers time and time again. "Lucky!" She called out as his lips burned the skin of her neck, her ear, her face, her lips. As he thrust himself passionately inside of her body. Elizabeth's fingers curled into the fabric of the comforter beneath her and then, when that was no longer enough, into the strong moist muscles of his back.

He kissed her sloppily as he panted, "I love you." As he whispered it a thousand times. Her hands slid up to his shoulder blades as he neared his end, as her body tightened around him and her brain let go of all reason, all thought. As her entire being was overtaken by sensation. A sensation so powerful that all the lip biting in the world could not silence it, as she cried out. Lucky uttered the four beautiful syllables of her name only a millisecond later, his body blissfully reaching the height it had so desperately needed to meet.

Lucky wearily tried to prop himself up, by his elbows. With any strength he could muster. But she wouldn't allow it. She pulled him down to her slowly, pillowing his head with her chest. His head rose and fell with a respiration that had yet to be completely restored to normal. He turned slightly and pressed a butterfly kiss against her heart.

Elizabeth softly caressed his face as he lay there, his lids becoming heavy. She reached out slightly, turning the comforter down to partially cover them. It looked like they wouldn't be leaving this spot any time soon. "I love you Lucky," she whispered then, placing a kiss to the top of his head.

"Promise you'll always love me Elizabeth," he breathed, drifting off.

"I promise Lucky....always."

Wait for me......

Song: If I Should Fall Behind, by Faith Hill (CD: Breathe)