He couldn’t recall her ever having slept so soundly or deeply. Her body unmoving as he sifted his fingers through her silken hair. Drawing it slowly away from her face.

During the few months that they’d known each other there had been nightmares more often than not. Fitful tossing and turning at certain points during the night. Bouts of mournful sound emanating from her throat.

But not now. Not this evening.

Not as the moonlight filtered through the dingy shades in his old room, and cast gentle shadows across her face. Subtly the flow of light illuminated the tracks of her tears.

Yet even though the tears had stopped and she had the most peaceful of sleeps now, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from watching her. Couldn’t seem to shut his eyes and get a few hours of sleep as well.

No, something inside him had to watch. Had to keep one eye and ear open, so to speak. There was no telling what could happen. It was still early, she could remember something else…she could become frightened.

Or he could.

Deep down, Lucky knew that his determination to stay awake was more for his sake than for hers. She was ok now. Or at least it seemed so now.

He’d had to force her to lie down. To allow him to hold her as she cried. She was so desperately afraid that he would leave…but of course he hadn’t. He wouldn’t.

The problem was, he could still hear it. He would always hear the way she’d cried tonight. The sounds of harsh breathing. The choking of sobs. Those two sounds would stay with him for the rest of his life when he thought of this night. The night she’d finally told him the truth about her past. About why she was so very afraid of getting close.

About why it hurt to say the words ‘I love you.’

The knowledge of what that…man had done to her would stay with him forever. And it made him wonder what it was like to be her. What it was like to have carried such a secret around for so long. To have been hurt that way – to hate that way.

For, Lucky had hated the man before. He’d hated the make-believe image of a man who’d done something – he didn’t know what – to his Elizabeth. But now, now that the man had an identity and his actions had been made clear…now the hate was something else. Now the hate was like a poison that was slowly bubbling. Slowly easing through his system like a lethal injection

He wanted to find him. He wanted to go to that substance abuse center in Colorado and beat the living shit out of him. No, that wouldn’t be enough…he didn’t want to just make him hurt. He wanted to make him hurt…and suffer…and then he wanted him to cease to exist.

Yes, Elizabeth’s stepfather – David – was at the Mountainside Substance Abuse Center. It was that which he’d remember.

That which he’d been able to figure out while lying next to her. Awake in the midst of darkness. What he couldn’t figure out was why the bastard was still in contact with her. Why she’d had to worry about burning an envelope on the roof in the middle of the night.

Wasn’t it bad enough that he still held tight to every emotion of her heart? Did he have to keep in contact as well? It was enough to make Lucky sick. Enough to turn his very empty stomach.

He glanced over her body and at the small clock on the nightstand. It was nearing 8 o’clock. They’d been here for hours. In complete silence as she slept. The cold urged him closer to her body and she snuggled into his chest when he did so.

He wanted to keep her there. Protect her there…from everything.

But it was already too late for that. He hadn’t been there when she needed him. He wished to God, that he could turn back the hands of time. That he could have been the one friend that had stuck by her. That had done something to prevent…

‘Ah, but you had your own issues to deal with didn’t you Spencer?’ His brain asked. Suddenly giving him the gentle reminder of topics yet to be dealt with.

How would he tell her what he had to? How would he explain why he’d felt it necessary to have his own apartment as a teenager?

A slight murmur of his name broke him out of his thoughts. He looked down at the light that shimmered like a halo atop her chestnut strands. It was only the moonlight filtering through the blinds, but at that moment – when he smoothed a hand across her skin and she looked up into his eyes – she looked like an angel.

"Yeah," he whispered. Finding his voice weak. "I’m here."

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes, and then looped her arms around him again. Placing the side of her face back down against his chest. Listening to that same soft, rhythmic lull of his heart that had soothed her before.

She felt certain that was how she’d been able to fall asleep. Even with the images of long ago, set free and floating through her mind, she’d been able to find rest…right here…against his heart.

"How long was I asleep?" She asked quietly. The darkness of the room, indicating hours had gone by.

"A few hours…about 4," he answered softly. Stroking her hair once more. "It’s ok though…you needed your rest...we both did."

He supposed in a way he’d rested…or at least been able to think. Been able to process without the pressure of wanting to say and do the exact right things for her.

"It was like I hadn’t slept in years," she responded after a moment. And though it was an exaggeration it felt so much like the truth. He rubbed a hand along her back when she said it. Drawing her closer.

Elizabeth shut her eyes. Nothing had changed. He held her…just the same.

Just the same as he had before she’d kissed his best friend, and just the same as he had before she’d told him the awful truth she’d never wanted him to know. For fear that he’d find her repulsive. For fear that he’d show her pity, yet secretly loath her touch.

She didn’t know how it was possible, but he was the same…they – were the same.

And when she looked up into his eyes now, there wasn’t anything repulsed by her. There wasn’t any pity. There was just this…this unwavering sense of…

Love.

But still…how could anyone be expected to take on so much in one short afternoon? First the confrontation at his house…and then this?…She owed him an apology.

"I’m sorry I…I’m sorry I unloaded ALL of this on you today," she began slowly. "Maybe if I had told you at the beginning or…or maybe if I had told you a little…day by day…I don’t know…I’m sorry."

"You told me," he sighed in answer. Kissing her forehead. "That’s all that matters…and now…now we just go on from here."

And though he didn’t know exactly how that would be done, he knew it to be true. He still loved her. Still wanted to spend the next 50 years of his life holding her just like this.

She took a deep breath and lay her head back against his chest. "I don’t know what happens now though…this isn’t what I expected. I didn’t expect to wake up and find you holding me. I didn’t expect to wake up and realize that you still…

"That I still love you?" He finished. "Well I do…so get used to it."

Looking up into those soft, sincere blue eyes, hers clouded even as she nodded. Lucky took a deep breath.

"Elizabeth you didn’t do anything to make me stop loving you. What happened to you as a little girl wasn’t your fault. How could I possibly blame you for something that someone else did? For a crime that was committed against YOU?"

She didn’t know how to answer that. She wished that she did. It would explain so much about why she acted the way she did. About why her life had turned out the way it had.

But she couldn’t. She’d never been able to put her feelings into words. No one had ever heard even a microscopic amount of what she’d told him just a few hours before.

"I don’t know. It’s just that…I spent all that time with him. Trying to please him. Maybe I made him think that –

Without a word, Lucky reached over her and flicked the lamp on to the side of her. Looking straight into her eyes when his body landed abruptly back on the bed.

"You made him think NOTHING, do you understand that? Every thought that asshole had in his mind, was already there before you came along Elizabeth. You were just an innocent little girl who thought she had a friend. Who thought she finally had someone in her corner. Someone that was finally gonna treat her like she was special again…

"Elizabeth, who doesn’t want that? Everybody wants to feel special……That asshole simply used what he knew about you, and took advantage of it in the worst way imaginable. What happened to you was NOT your fault."

His gaze was so intense. So demanding that she had to look away.

Of course, she’d always heard people say things like that. When you heard about someone being abused in anyway, you always heard ‘well it wasn’t their fault…they didn’t ask for it,’ and in a way she guessed she believed that…but…but on the other hand…hadn’t she led him to believe that –

"Look at me," he instructed. Reading the thoughts in her head before they even got a chance to reach her tongue. He wasn’t going to let her do this to herself anymore. She’d been blaming herself her entire life. Every move she made, every action she took was influenced…by her own self doubt. Doubt that HE placed there.

"Look at me," he said once more.

She swallowed hard and did what he asked. "For God’s sake, Elizabeth you were a LITTLE GIRL. You said yourself that you didn’t even know what the Hell was happening to you that first time. How could you have possibly led someone to believe that you wanted what you had no idea even existed?"

"But after," she said suddenly. Panic rising in her voice.

Good God if she didn’t believe it was her fault…what then? How could she change something that had been the basis of her every thought since childhood?

"I could have done something," she continued. "All those years I could have –

"What?" Lucky asked, licking his lips roughly as he interrupted. "What Elizabeth? What could you have done? Tell me……You were a little girl who felt completely alone in the world – what could you have done?

She was silent, she shook her head as if she didn’t know…but there had to be something…

"Come on," he prodded. His voice showing the obvious frustration he felt, even when he tried to hold back. "Give me something. Make me believe that there’s one reason in the world to blame you."

Her face crumpled before his eyes, and his heart started to crack just a little more inside his chest. Even when he thought it couldn’t possibly break anymore.

But he asked the question again. She needed to hear the answer. She needed to hear HERSELF say that it wasn’t her fault.

"Tell me," he demanded. "What could you have done? There had to have been something right?"

"No," she whimpered. Slowly shaking her head. "I told my mom! I told her! But she never listened to me! She never believed anything I said!…I didn’t have any friends. All my stupid teachers were too busy telling me what a good student I was. How well behaved I was…how SMART. What would they think if they knew what really went on in my life? If they knew that I wasn’t smart at all? If they knew that I was the stupidest –

"You’re NOT stupid. You’re NOT stupid," he interjected vehemently.

"HE’S stupid! Do you understand me?" He continued sternly. His voice breaking as emotion began to overtake him. He couldn’t even stop to let her answer the question. "He’s the one who thought he could break something that is completely indestructible."

Tears slipped down her cheeks as she shook her head. "I don’t feel indestructible…You think I am, but I’m not…I never have been…You call me Wonder Woman and you say that I’m strong but…" she rolled her eyes and sniffled as her voice trailed away.

A smile broke through his tears and he sighed long and hard. "Oh God, come on. You are the strongest person I’ve ever met in my life. How else do you explain the fact that you even made it through all of that? That you’re where you are today?!"

Elizabeth licked her lips. "Lucky, I’m where I am because of YOU. Because you put me here and –

"Oh no you don’t," Lucky responded quickly.

He wasn’t about to let her off the hook for this one. Not now, not when he knew all that it had taken for her to be honest with him.

"Don’t you go giving me the credit for any of this," he continued. "This isn’t my doing. You’re still here – still with me…because you hung on even though he’s been trying to pull you away," he gestured. Tapping lightly on her temple with his finger. "And whatever brought us together in the first place – whatever won’t seem to let us stay away from each other….well, that’s got nothing to do with me.

"So if you wanna give someone the credit for sheer moxy and guts…give it to yourself, because it wasn’t me Elizabeth. I only just met you…you’ve been living with this for a long time."

Yes, it had been a long time. A long time of living with the shame. A long time of believing that unhappy was a natural state of mind. A long time spent running away.

She was so damn tired of running. And no matter who deserved the credit…she was glad that she could finally lie down. Finally stop running.

Lucky watched as the wheels in her head continued to turn. She hadn’t said it yet. She hadn’t said the words he wanted her to say, not for him – but for herself. He had to silently remind himself however that this was all new for her. That yes, she’d been living with the knowledge of what her stepfather had done to her for her entire life, but this – sharing like this – it was a first for her.

Maybe admitting that what happened wasn’t her fault was going to take awhile. But as sure as he breathed and held her in his arms right then – she would say it. She would realize it. If it were the last thing he did, he would get her to realize that.

The sudden growling of her stomach caught him off guard and he looked down at her. Easing his hands up her back once more. "You hungry?"

"I guess so," she answered. Unsure of anything aside from the fact that his arms felt heavenly around her. That she wanted to stay there forever.

When she’d first laid down with him on this bed she’d thought she’d never eat again. Never have any sort of appetite for food after reliving the most horrible of nightmares. But she did.

She felt warm everywhere…and hungry.

Lucky slowly rose from the bed. His joints popping a bit in the cold room. She watched him walk towards the small closet in the corner.

"I’m not sure I’ve got anything in here, but I think I might have left…YES," he said after a moment. Pulling a sweatshirt from a shelf up above his head. Lucky thing he’d never fully given this place up.

He turned and handed it to her. "It looks a little chillier outside than it is in here…

Elizabeth grinned from one corner of her mouth and slipped her arms and in the sleeves before pushing her head through the hooded collar. She had a jacket hanging on the coat rack next to the door, but this was much better. She didn’t know how long it’d been sitting in that closet, but it smelled like him. It smelled like their apartment…it smelled like home.

She hugged herself a little as she watched him ease into another sweatshirt that was almost the same. A smile slipped over her face. The sweatshirts were different colors. His navy blue and hers red, but the same style…It was kind of a matching thing. Kind of like how she used to see couples do in junior high and high school.

How she used to yearn for that kind of closeness.

"What?" Lucky asked. Turning to see the far off grin that played over her face. It was nice…God it was nice to see her smile. Even if it was just a small one.

After a shrug she shook her head. "I don’t know. I’m just………thank you," she whispered finally. Not knowing how to explain the current feeling that overwhelmed her.

He had no idea what he was being thanked for, but told her she was welcome anyhow.

"Let’s go," he whispered in response. Extending a hand to aid her off of the bed. She took it and followed where he led.

Ready to explore a brand new world.

~~~~~~~

Lucky watched for a few moments as she chewed. A slight grin tugged at the corners of her mouth and he smiled. "You like this place?"

"Oh come on," she mumbled around a mouthful of ribs. "You knew I would. It’s just like our place in the city…only –

"Better," he put in. Grinning.

God, she was beautiful.

She nodded in agreement. Watching the way he watched her now. She looked down after a moment. His gaze, becoming too much to bare. As it had a tendency of doing.

"Thank you for bringing me here. This is…this is exactly what I needed…but then again, you probably already knew that……You always seem to know what I need."

Licking his lips nervously, Lucky looked down at his own plate of ribs. Not as hungry as he’d been when they first arrived. There was something he desperately needed to tell her. Something that wouldn’t stop weighing on his mind until he got it off of his chest.

"I just took a chance," he sighed. Pushing his fork against one rib and sliding it across his plate.

Elizabeth smiled at him again, as he paused. So wonderfully glad that he’d decided to take the biggest of chances on her, when he had.

"I hoped you’d like it as much as I do," he resumed. "My family and I have come here since I was a kid."

Sensing that there was more he wanted to say, Elizabeth searched his eyes when his thoughts seemed to venture off. Her brow creased at his silence.

"Lucky…What is it?"

He bit down on his lip and scratched the back of his head. After a moment, he took the leap.

"I told you that when I was growing up…that my parents were my best friends right? That we moved around a lot and making friends with other kids just seemed futile by a certain point? Until we moved here to Port Charles and decided to stay awhile?"

Elizabeth nodded and quietly answered, "yes."

Lucky looked down at his plate once more. "In fact even after we’d been here a year or so and my sister was born…even then I didn’t know any other kids that were as close to their family as I was to mine."

She nodded once more in a sort of awed understanding. "Every kid should have what you have with them."

Though things had gone horribly awry at one point in time, Lucky couldn’t help but agree. He reached over and eased his fingers through hers.

"I wish…I wish you would have had what I had."

Looking down at their linked hands, she grinned slightly to herself. Maybe now she could have it. Maybe now she’d be able to think of his family…as hers…maybe. If they’d have her…If she could find a way to let herself have a family.

If she could find a way to not be scared anymore.

His voice cut through her thoughts when he continued. Needing to get it all out. If he didn’t do it now…something told him he wouldn’t do it.

"But we weren’t…we haven’t always," he amended. "Been the way we are now. The way it appears that we…I mean…" Lucky stumbled searching for the right words.

How was he supposed to tell her this? After everything that she’d gone through with her own screwed up family, how was he supposed to tell her that once upon a time his father had…

Shaking his head, he looked down. This wasn’t even about his father so much as it was about him. About what she needed to know about HIM.

"You don’t have to tell me now," Elizabeth whispered. Tightening her grip on his hand when he lowered his head. She smiled a bit in an attempt at levity. "I mean just look how long I made you wait to hear all my deep, dark secrets…I don’t need to know everything today."

He looked up into her eyes then. "No. I can’t wait. This is something you need to hear. Especially now. Especially now that you love me. Now that you want to be…with me."

Elizabeth inhaled deeply and gave his hand a hard squeeze. "Lucky, I’ve always wanted to be with you. I’ve always…lo – loved you."

And because now he understood exactly how much it cost her to say that, it meant even more. It touched his heart in an even deeper place. A place so deep, that it brought tears to his eyes.

He had to tell her. She deserved to know what she was getting into.

"I moved out of my house and into that apartment above the bike shop because I couldn’t bare finding out that my parents weren’t the people that I thought they were. That…I wasn’t the person that I thought…I was."

Bewilderment shaped her expression. He wasn’t the person he thought he was? She listened to even, his pauses as he thought of the correct words.

"My brother…my half-brother – the one that I didn’t know about until I was a teenager…he and I didn’t get along very well at first – actually that’s a massive understatement. We HATED each other."

At the first sign of a question from her, he repeated the word. "No…we really, REALLY HATED each other. Not because of anything either one of us had really done to the other…but simply because of whom we were. A Cassadine and a Spencer…it was as if we were genetically predisposed to despise each other.

"Anyway…we were always trying to…trying to get the better of each other, you know? And one day, I was feeling particularly shitty…for whatever reason – the adolescent state of mind I suppose – and I happened across him while walking through the park. I started going off on him. Giving him shit about his father. About his father…forcing my mother to…about his father raping my mother…because that’s what I believed had happened at the time. That’s pretty much what I’d been told by my father. That Stavros Cassadine kidnapped my mother, made her become his wife…in every sense of the word……

"Thus, I believed – Nikolas was born."

Elizabeth bit down on her lip. Feeling the tension she’d released just hours ago rise up in her shoulders just that quickly. "It wasn’t…it wasn’t true?"

Lucky shut his eyes. "What is and isn’t true about that particular part of Spencer/Cassadine history is up for debate……What’s not up for debate however…is…is that my father – once upon a time – did…in fact…rape my mother."

He was afraid to look up at her. Afraid because her hand had gone completely cold in his. And he could literally feel the way her every movement had ceased.

What was she thinking now? What had he done to her now? Would he see disgust when he glanced up? Would he see hatred? Fear?

"H – how did…how do you –

"My brother told me. That day when I got in his face…he just blurted it out…I checked my facts of course. I didn’t believe a word he was saying to me. He was a Cassadine after all – a liar by nature……………he wasn’t lying though. It was true.

"It was true and it wrecked me. It wrecked my entire family…for a long time."

Elizabeth tried not to let all the questions she had surface on her face but she knew that they were already obvious. That he was already looking at her. Wondering what she was thinking.

But she didn’t know what to think. She couldn’t even fathom…

"It’s ok," Lucky said after a moment. "You can ask me what you want to ask. You can say anything you wanna say…Now that it’s out there, I’m not even sure this was the best time to tell you. But I…I thought…I just thought it was important for you to…to know…and to…" His voice trailed away.

He had no idea how he wanted her to react. What he expected.

Was she supposed to say ‘ok, that’s alright Honey. Let’s forget about it, shall we’? Even after she’d related her own horrific story to him? How could he possibly expect that from her?

He honestly didn’t know what he wanted to come of this.

After a long moment, she finally spoke. "Why would he…was it some – was it something that she said…or how she acted…or…" she fumbled nervously. Wringing her hands now.

Lucky pulled back in a semi-state of shock. Gazing into her eyes when his went a bit wide. This hadn’t been the question he expected. Hadn’t been the rode he’d wanted her to go down.

‘How could she marry the man who raped her?’ Yes. He’d expected that kind of question. But not…

"Elizabeth no," he began slowly. "My mother didn’t do anything to bring that on. She was just a girl who thought she was friends with a guy. A guy who had the major hots for her and was frustrated because even though she said she was taken…every now and then she’d smile at him…hang out with him…Listen to me," he said quickly. Taking her hand in his once more. "It wasn’t wanted or asked for in ANY way.

"It wasn’t anything that YOU asked for."

She looked down at their linked hands and simply nodded. "It’s just that……if your mother – I mean she must have forgiven him. She must have thought there was something she’d done to –

He shook his head once more and cut her off at the pass. "Elizabeth I’ll never fully understand why or how my mother found it in her heart to forgive my father. I’ll never fully understand any of it. Why they’re in love now. How they managed to have two children together and raise a family…I’ll never truly GET any of it.

"But what I do get is that your situation is DIFFERENT. That something that you didn’t want – that you didn’t ask for – was forced on you by a man that was supposed to protect you from things that could hurt you. Instead he hurt you in the worst possible way……That’s what I get."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I’m sorry. This isn’t…this isn’t even about me. Here I am going on and on…when we’re supposed to be talking about you. About your family… Not my…stuff," she murmured quietly.

Lucky licked his suddenly dry lips. "But you’re wrong……because I’m telling you," he swallowed hard and paused. "I’m telling you partly because I wanted you to have all the information before you go making any…any decisions about me."

Her brow creased in confusion. What decisions?

"I don’t understand."

He tried to take a breath, but it hurt when he inhaled. "There…there have been times when you – when you’ve been afraid of me. Afraid of what I expected from you, or what I wanted from you. Times when you’ve pulled away because things were getting too hot and –

"Lucky no," Elizabeth said. Interrupting him this time. She reached for his hand. "No…Lucky. I’ve never ever been afraid of YOU. Not ever……It’s always been him."

At his look of astonishment she almost wept. How could she have let him believe that? How could she have looked into those eyes and not explained…

"Lucky I’ve wanted you for so long. At first I didn’t recognize it because I’d never wanted ANYONE before…not in my entire life. But with you…oh God, you’re so sweet and so gentle, and when you touch me I feel like I could melt into your arms and stay there forever…………Lucky every time I’ve been afraid – every time I’ve backed away from you – from us…it’s been because of him. Because of something he said to me or did.

"I’m not afraid of you Lucky," she whispered now. Tears, filling her eyes. "I’m not afraid of you and I never could be."

His mouth hung open just a bit and he shut it to swallow against the thick lump in his throat. "But what about…what about now? Even after what I just told you? I mean…my father and I…we’re…we’re alike in so many ways. I’ve had dreams where it’s not even my face anymore. It’s his, and -

She pressed a finger to his lips. "You couldn’t and you wouldn’t."

He closed his eyes then. Squeezing them shut for a long moment as he thanked God for bringing her into his life. It was amazing what you didn’t even realize you were afraid of until the moment you were faced with having to deal with it.

After another second he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, and pressed his lips to her fingertips. Holding her hand close for a moment. "Thank you."

Elizabeth shrugged. She hadn’t done anything.

"For what?"

"You still don’t know do you?" He asked in a sense of wonderment. "How strong you are? How wonderful?"

She grinned sheepishly and out of nowhere he was sliding out of his side of the booth and into hers. Slipping his arm around her shoulders. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered conspiratorially.

"As soon as we get to back to the city tomorrow, it’s going to become my new mission to show you. To PROVE to you that you’re the most fantastic human being on the face of this planet."

Elizabeth shook her head. Trying to steer clear of that unrelenting gaze of his. But it wouldn’t work. Those blues eyes simply wouldn’t leave her alone. Nor did she want them to…ever.

"There’s no getting away from it Elizabeth," he whispered. "Especially now that I know how you feel – how we BOTH…feel……Oh no – there’s no turning back now."

Finally she looked up at him. And that grin…ugh, God.

They locked eyes and she spoke as if in a trance. A trance that she never wanted to be released from.

"But to – tomorrow? You wanna go back to the city tomorrow?"

He suddenly laughed at her.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked. Perplexity, marring her features.

"You said ‘the city,’" he chuckled in amusement. Bringing his hand up to his mouth. "You used to make fun of me for calling it that when we first met. You used to whine about it," he paused. Dawning an imitation of her voice. "Why do all New Yorkers refer to their town as ‘the city,’ like there are no OTHER cities in the world…it’s so annoying…blah, blah, bla –

His voice was cut short when her elbow made contact with his gut.

"SO," she continued through grit teeth. "As I was saying…you want to go back TOMORROW?"

"Yeah…why? You wanna stay here?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Well it’s just that…I mean…how can you…I mean…already? After everything I did? You want me back in your apartment? So soon? You’re ready for that?"

He shook his head slowly. His eyes twinkling with something now. Something she didn’t quite recognize seeing before.

"I want you everywhere I am."

‘Everywhere he was…’

The phrase stuck in her head and she reached up to touch his stubbly cheek. And low and behold…nothing happened. There was no flicker of fear upon feeling his unshaven jaw. No moment of sharp, shooting pain through her gut. Nothing…just pure…

Love…love.

What a strange concept. What a strange emotion.

"Well I can…I can stay here for awhile…if you want," she responded finally. Her voice soft…in love.

Lucky sucked in his bottom lip. "Yeah but you’ve got rehearsal all this week don’t you? We should get back soon."

When she abruptly looked away from his gaze, he didn’t understand it. Had he said something wrong?

"Elizabeth?"

She shook her head and looked up at him again. Knowing as she met his eyes once more that her decision had been the right one. This was where she needed to be – nowhere else.

"Nothing’s wrong…it’s just that…Well, I didn’t know how long I’d need to be here. I didn’t know what I was going to do if you never again looked at me…the way you’re looking at me right now…I needed to make sure that you didn’t hate me. I needed…I needed to tell you that I was sorry…and that I loved – loved you."

Lucky’s brow began to crease. "Elizabeth no…you didn’t…"

She interrupted him before he could even continue. "I’m not sorry for it Lucky. I’m not. I had to drop out of the show. This – seeing your face – that was the most important thing for me. Not dancing…I knew I wouldn’t care about anything if I lost you."

He could only stare at her for a moment. Gazing into the eyes that had sacrificed something she’d always wanted to ensure the future of their relationship.

How could she have done that? How could she have……She loved him. Wow…she loved him.

When the sweetness of the gesture became too much to endure, he simply moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Embracing her for a long moment. So tightly that neither one of them was really able to breathe

But heck…who needed breathing?

~~~~~~~

Elizabeth flopped down on her full sized bed and stretched out. Sitting up quickly when Lucky moved into the room. Having tipped the bellhop at the door.

"You know," she began. Watching as he turned to look at her at the end of her bed. He was doing that thing where he bit his lip…that adorable thing.

"You didn’t have to do this," she continued after a pause. "I would have been perfectly fine at that Inn, and I KNOW for a fact that your mother probably wants you staying at the house…you didn’t have to do this – pay for this. I could have just stayed in your old room above the bike shop if you didn’t want me staying at that Inn."

Lucky rolled his eyes. He’d already explained this like 4 times during the ride over. She really was the most thickheaded person he’d ever met.

"Number one…what you’re calling an Inn – was NOT an Inn – it was a motel. Secondly, my room is far too drafty this time of year to actually STAY there once night falls. Thirdly, if you’re here…I’m staying where you are – and since I don’t think either one of us is REALLY feeling up for family fun tonight…the Port Charles Hotel, it is," he finished with a grin.

He placed his hands on his hips. Supremely happy with himself. When she grinned back at him, he bit his lip. "What?"

She shook her head slyly. "Nothing…this just reminds me of something," she said suggestively. Glancing at the empty bed next to her and then back to the one, on which she lay propped up by her elbows.

His grin grew wider. "Let me guess….Could it possibly remind you of a certain hotel room, on a certain night, in a certain Las Vegas casino?"

Elizabeth rose to her knees. "Why Mr. Spencer did you do this on purpose?"

"Oh, I don’t know why you accuse me of such things…Really, you give me far too much credit," he sighed. Sinking down on the bed in front of her.

Elizabeth eased up in back of him and rolled her eyes. Pressing her fingers into his shoulders when he let his head hang forward.

"Aaaah…that’s nice," he sighed. Thank you."

It was the least she could do. After all the drama she put him through? After all the drama she’d probably STILL put him through…a massage was the very least she could do to pay him back.

The very least…

Her fingers kneaded into the deep knots in his shoulders. All the tension she was certain that she’d had a major hand in placing there, easing away. "They don’t have a casino…but it’s a very nice place Lucky…thank you."

He shook his head as if to say ‘don’t mention it.’ Drawing in a deep breath as her fingers continued to work their magic. Maybe a little too much magic…

‘Oh come on…not NOW Spencer…not now…NOT now…this isn’t what either of you need right now.’

"Hey," he said suddenly. Turning around before she had a chance to touch him again.

"Ok…I’ll admit – I do know one thing about this hotel…that’s very similar to that of our Bellagio…"

"What’s that?" She asked. Waiting anxiously…wanting to touch him again.

"The arcade."

"The arcade?" Elizabeth repeated. Her eyebrows shooting upwards. "Lucky…now? It’s already…" she paused to glance at the clock on the nightstand. "Lucky it’s past midnight."

"May I remind you that it was well into the a.m. hours when we went at it at the Bellagio?"

‘Aw fuck Spencer. Did you just say ‘went at it’? Baaaaaaaad choice of words my friend….baaaaaaaaaad choice.’

Elizabeth looked down for a moment and tried not to blush. He hadn’t MEANT anything by that. And even if he had…why the Hell was she choosing NOW to get shy? She’d never been shy around him before…

No, they hadn’t had sex, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been intimate a time or two. Or three…

Why did she suddenly feel…different? Like they’d just met or something.

"I mean…when we played…at the arcade," he corrected after a long awkward moment.

What the Hell was wrong with him all of a sudden? He felt like a little kid…on his first date or something…All nervous and what…shy?

‘Spencer you don’t DO shy.’

"So," she said after a moment. Breaking the tension. "You ready to lose?"

Lucky tilted his head to the side. He was afraid he’d already lost himself some time ago.

"Oh come, come now…please don’t embarrass yourself," he quipped. Saving face.

"Whatever Spencer," Elizabeth returned. Jumping up from the bed. She grabbed their room key from the desk in effort to stave off anymore conversation. Once they were downstairs - playing video games everything would be back to normal…the same. It’d be just like playing at home.

"I think it’s time you put your money where your mouth is."

He stepped aside as she passed him. Holding both his breath and the door. "After you ma’lady…after you."

And that slow tingle…the one that had covered his skin the first time he’d ever touched her, it flickered against his hand when it slipped into hers.

~~~~~~~

~~ 30 minute later ~~
Downstairs in the Arcade

Elizabeth jerked anxiously on the joystick and cursed under her breath. Watching in dismay as Lucky’s car went sailing over the dirt hill and landed perfectly on its huge tires. She’d tried making it over the same hill and simply sunk…numerous times.

Every single time they played at home…and now…

"Grrrr…"

Lucky grinned at the screen. Never taking his eyes away. "Excuse me, but did you just say ‘grrrr,’?"

"I growled," she corrected tersely. Her hand, moving a mile a minute on the poor abused stick. While Lucky’s hand remained so calm, it was sickening. "It was an expression of frustration…I know you wouldn’t recognize FRUSTRATION."

‘A whole different kind of frustration is what I’ve got goin’ on over here Elizabeth,’ Lucky thought to himself. Forcing him self to focus solely on the screen, when all he wanted was her.

Of course he could see her out of his peripheral vision. See the way her hair swayed. The way the light flickered across her ivory skin.

A huge trophy descended from the top of the screen, and Elizabeth turned to glare at him. He’d barely even noticed he’d won!

It was the 5^th game in a row of course, and she folded her arms across her chest in utter annoyance.

"You know…if there were BEARS here for you to win for me…I wouldn’t be QUITE this upset."

Lucky licked his lips and turned his body towards hers as she went on. Dangerous…dangerous…

"I mean…Luckybear needs a friend…and here you are winning for no good reason – there are no bears here Lucky," she sighed as she pointed out the obvious.

He licked his lips once more and grinned. "Luckybear? Is that what you’re calling him now?"

"That’s what I’ve BEEN calling him – I just haven’t told YOU that’s what I’ve been calling him."

It was the first gift he’d ever given her. The stuffed bear that he’d won for her at the Bellagio on that very first night.

Shaking his head Lucky looked down for a moment and thought. "Well how about we make a deal? You win the next game – I’ll take you to the toy store of YOUR choice…and you get to pick out a little brother or sister for ….

"Luckybear," she filled in. When he became too embarrassed to continue his sentence.

"Yes," he mumbled. Checking to see that they were indeed alone in the arcade. "Luckybear."

Elizabeth pretended to think for a moment and then rolled her eyes. "Only one problem with that Spencer…I can’t seem to WIN with you."

Lucky squinted and nodded. Sure that she had to be joking. She’d already won with him in every way possible.

"Yeah you can."

"Oh sure…What? Are you planning on LETTING me win? I don’t need a sympathy win – thank you very much," she sighed. Turning back to the screen.

Slowly he moved up behind her. Easing his arms around her tentatively at first, and then allowing his fingers to come to rest between hers when she didn’t protest.

He felt her weight sink into his chest a bit.

Elizabeth inhaled deeply through her nose. The warmth of his body behind her, instantly circulated through her like an electrical current.

"Wh – what are you doing?"

"Obviously," he sighed deeply. His breath so near her ear that she shivered. "I’ve fallen down on the job…haven’t been a good enough teacher, or simply haven’t given you enough lessons…so…I’m giving you one now."

Well, well, well…he certainly didn’t look like any of the teachers she’d had growing up…But somehow she did in fact feel as if she were about to be taken to school…

"The first thing you have to do…is remember not to press too heavy on the gas."

Her complete silence prompted him to get her attention. "Elizabeth?…Elizabeth step on the gas, Babe."

Sensory overload. His breath, his weight, his heat, his voice…

Lucky found himself dipping a bit behind her, and pushing his knee into the back of hers.

"The gas, Elizabeth."

"Oh…oh…yeah," she stammered quickly. Breaking out of her daze when she felt her knee give. She slowly pushed down on it, as he began to speak softly against her ear.

His fingers laced themselves more completely with hers when he eased them around the joystick. "You don’t wanna go too fast at first…you just wanna follow the rode…once you learn how to just…relax…go with the flow so to speak…it sorta just…it sorta just happens for you.

"You don’t have to push so much," he whispered. "Easy on the joystick."

Elizabeth licked her suddenly dry lips and felt him inch closer from behind. How was she supposed to maneuver the damn stick at all when her arms were suddenly as loose as spaghetti with his arms flanking them?

"But what…what about all the roadblocks and…See, that’s what my problem is – I always get trapped, or I wind up having to take the long way around…

Lucky inched his head around hers. Pulling his hand away from hers for just a moment to slip a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Under the pretense of seeing the screen better…of course.

He noticed her shiver, and wanted to see it again…he resisted. Easing his hand back into its rightful place over hers. Pushing the joystick forward and then back…forward and then back…

Taking a deep breath, he found his voice once again. Found it in the very pit of his stomach. So deep he didn’t quite recognize it as his own.

"That’s ok though…if you have to take – to take the long way around…you can still get there…you can still cross the finish line. By being smart…and taking the time to pick up all the…the treasure along the way – you may be slower……but you’ll have gotten more points by the time you reach…the…the end," he finished. His voice barely a whisper now.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. Oblivious to the game now. The only thing that existed was his voice and that…breath of his…

After a moment of silence she turned slightly to look back into his hooded lashes, returning to the screen when the intensity became too much.

She bit her bottom lip and tried to focus on the game…Road Fury…Yes, that was what they were playing.

He couldn’t seem to stop himself. And even if he had any control over it, he probably wouldn’t have contained the urge.

Slowly, he inhaled the scent of her hair, and let his nose travel through it. Brushing against her ear. Getting lost for a moment when his lips brushed against the spot at which her shoulder and neck met.

She was so…soft….and felt so…good…and she…she loved him.

Lucky’s fingers resituated themselves. Gliding over hers once more. Lacing and re-lacing…Oh Jeez…

‘Not tonight…not tonight…not tonight…’

His voice was thick and stilted when he forced it to emerge. If he was going to contain himself, he was gonna have to separate himself…

"You think…you think maybe you’ve got the…the hang of it now?"

Her mind told her not to turn around again. Not to connect with those eyes again, but she did anyway…slowly. Her lips merely centimeters away from his. "I don’t know…I think so…maybe…if you help me…if you keep…he – helping me."

If he took his hands away from her, she’d scream.

Each of them heard the game end. She’d lost once again…never having had a chance.

Even as her opponent got out of his car and did a happy dance in front of hers, they stared at one another. Lucky licked his lips. Just another centimeter and his tongue would have touched her lips instead.

"I’m not going anywhere…I’ll be here…to help."

They both knew that they’d stopped talking about the game on the screen long ago and started talking about the game they were playing together…the dream they were chasing.

His lips hovered above hers. Ready…

"I need to – I want to…to kiss you right now," he spoke heavily. "But I feel like – I don’t know," he sighed. Inching even closer. "I feel like the second my lips touch yours…I feel like the whole world is gonna change…again."

"For the better?" She whispered. Feeling it too. Knowing it…She’d only needed confirmation of what she already felt down deep in her soul.

"Yes…for something wonderful," he answered. His eyes searching hers. Seeing freedom for the first time.

The freedom to be loved and pursued and the freedom to return his feelings with a whole heart.

When she didn’t turn away from his gaze this time, he wanted to smother her. She didn’t run from him. Everything reflected in his eyes…she took, willingly.

Her words were soft…but demanding when she spoke.

"Change my world Lucky."

And with that quiet command…he did.