Chapter 3

"OK, I'm ready," Elizabeth said as she ran down the stairs towards her parents and her grandmother. She wasn't at all surprised to see that she was greeted with 3 frowns. They had told her that they wanted to leave for dinner 15 minutes after Lucky went home. Yet it was now 30 minutes later. "What?" She asked, faining innocence. "I needed to make myself beautiful," Elizabeth added teasingly as she swung her hair back over her shoulders, eliciting a slight grin from her Dad.

"Well, then, since the Princess is ready, perhaps we can leave?" He asked.

Elizabeth simply rolled her eyes at her Dad and glanced at her grandmother who hadn't even cracked a smile. In fact, Elizabeth didn't think that her grandmother had smiled even once since she'd been home. Was Gram not happy to see her son? No, that couldn't be it. 'Maybe she's just worried that I wouldn't be happy to see them,' Elizabeth thought. 'But obviously, that's not the case...Or maybe I'm just reading way too much into this.'

Elizabeth settled on the last reason and put it out of her mind determined to have a wonderful night with her parents. Only one thing would have made it more perfect.......

~~~~~

Lucky settled onto his bed to do some homework, trying unsuccessfully to stop thinking about the reason Elizabeth's parents had come back to town after all this time. "You are far too paranoid Spencer," he said, voicing his thoughts aloud. He seriously needed a diversion. As if on cue, he heard a knock on the door. "Yeah"

"Lucky, it's me," the familiar voice yelled back.

Lucky just sat there and rolled his eyes. "Not exactly the diversion I was looking for but, I guess he'll have to do," he mumbled, getting up to open the door.

Nikolas nearly laughed out loud when he saw Lucky's face. He'd never seen a more foul expression. He looked like his dog had just died. Nikolas watched as his little brother retreated from the door and sat dejectedly upon his bed. Nikolas took a seat across from him at the table. "What's your problem?" He asked, almost laughing.

"Good to see you too," Lucky shot, glaring at Nikolas.

Nikolas glared back, causing Lucky to snap out of his sour mood. "I'm sorry man...it's just...ugh...it's Elizabeth."

Nikolas sat up in his chair. This had to be serious. Lucky and Elizabeth fighting!? What was the world coming to? "What's wrong?" Nikolas asked leaning forward. "You two have been so happy since you got back from New York City that I almost had to shoot you to put you out of MY misery."

Lucky simply cocked his head to the side, once again glaring. Nikolas spoke quickly, "Sorry."

"It's not Elizabeth...it's her parents...For some odd reason, they're back," Lucky explained.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Nikolas asked, surprised at Lucky's reaction.

"Ordinarily I'd say yes. Elizabeth has needed her parents for a long time...but...I don't know...something just doesn't smell right to me, you know?"

"Oh geez...the Spencer paranoia rears it's ugly head."

"OK," Lucky spat. "One more crack like that and - "

"Sorry - Sorry....ok, seriously...what's the problem?"

Lucky took a deep breath, trying to come up with the words to voice his fears. "Well, for one thing...her father... I'm almost 99% certain that he hates my guts and would like to see bad things happen to me."

Nikolas guffawed with laughter. "Lucky...he's her dad - "

"Would you quit interrupting me!"

"OK, ok .......go ahead."

"It's just not right Nikolas. They just showed up....no warning, no nothing. It's not a holiday. Nobody died....they just showed up...I don't know...I just don't have a good feeling about this." ~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth sat down in the chair that her father pulled out for her as they all took their places at the table. An awkward silence fell over the table and Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 'If someone doesn't talk soon, I'll die,' she thought, figuring she'd start the conversation herself. "So..... how's Sarah?" She began, actually eager to hear the answer from her parents.

She and Sarah had written to each other a lot over the past year, but hadn't actually spoken in months. To Elizabeth's chagrin, no one made an effort to answer her question. No one seemed to want to talk at all. Her mother seemed to be caught up in her own thoughts and her father was too busy exchanging glances with Gram. It was obvious that he hadn't heard a word that Elizabeth spoke.

"Hello?????? Girl over here being ignored," she said as she waved her hand at them. Her family turned to her. All of them wearing expressionless faces, not the smiles she's hoped for. "OK, what's wrong?" She said, deciding that comedy probably wasn't what they wanted to hear right now. "Ugh..I wish Lucky was here right now. Why do I have a feeling this isn't good", she thought to herself before her father FINALLY spoke up.

"First you don't have to look so sour," her father said with humor in his voice. Elizabeth grinned slightly, "Sorry. ........But there is something you want to tell me right?", she said trying to be very casual even though for whatever reason, she was starting to get extremely nervous.

Jeff looked at his wife and his mother and then back to Elizabeth before speaking. "Well, Lizzie...... you're mother and I have decided that we really would like to spend more time with you girls," He began, pausing to take swallow a mouth full of water. "We've been in Europe too long, and we really don't see nearly enough of you and Sarah. We'd like to put our family back together, so we're - "

Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Are you guys moving back to Port Charles?!" She asked excitedly.

"No, honey", Susan pointed out, shaking her head. "You're father and I have decided to move back to the old house......in Colorado. Sarah is going to take some classes at Community College and come home as well...." Liz's mother's voice trailed off, predicting her youngest daughters reaction.

"What you're mother is trying to say is," Jeff said, intervening. "That we would like you to move back to Colorado as - "

"No," Elizabeth said, flat out. They can't be serious.......they are not taking me away from Port Charles..away from school and my job and... oh god....no....... they can't...I will not go ANYWHERE without Lucky! This is just not happening..........

Jeff Webber stared his daughter in the eye, already having anticipated her answer. "Elizabeth Emmajean Webber, this is NOT up for debate. This family is moving back to Colorado and that includes you!"

Elizabeth all of a sudden felt very weak. They really were serious. They were going to take her back to Colorado with them. Elizabeth started to panic, not sure what she should do. She suddenly turned to her grandmother hoping for some support, "Gram? Please..tell them...tell them that I'm doing fine here...that I'm doing well in school. I'm even trying to get into an art school and I have a job..gram please....I know I've missed my curfew a few times but.........." Elizabeth stopped talking as it finally hit her. It was all making sense now. "Oh God....... Gram"

This had been why she wasn't thrilled when her mom and dad came for a "visit," Why she hadn't uttered two words her way. "Please tell me you didn't."

Audrey didn't know how to respond, her hand shook as she picked up her tea cup, sipping in her effort to avoid her granddaughters eyes.

"Your grandmother didn't do anything Elizabeth," Jeff stated matter of factly. "She's just concerned about you and so are we! You need stability in your life Elizabeth,...You need to have a family that you can turn to at anytime!!...You need rules and you need someone to make sure you follow them and..."

"Stop!" Elizabeth screamed turning heads in the restaurant. She couldn't take this anymore. She couldn't hear this. She WOULDN'T hear this. She needed to get out of there. She needed Lucky. Elizabeth rose from her seat. "I'm not leaving here!" She continued. "I......I have a life here now Dad....how can you just expect me to leave?...Leave my school, leave my friends, leave...leave Lucky?"

"So that's what this is about?" Jeff said rolling his eyes. "I knew that boy was the cause of - "

"That boy?" Liz questioned, her voice thick with emotion. "That boy?" She repeated, finding it hard to say anything else. Her father was talking about Lucky as if he were just some guy she had a crush on. Her eyes filled with angry tears. She had to get out. She had to leave before she made an even bigger scene in the restaurant. Jeff called after her as she quickly turned on her heel and walked swiftly through the doors.

~~~~~~~~~

Lucky heard the knocking go from loud to louder as he removed his head phones wondering who was crazy enough to go pounding on someone's door like that in the middle of the night. 'It better not be Nikolas again,' Lucky thought as he walked towards the door, yanking it open.

"Oh, my God...Elizabeth what's the matter?" Lucky asked panicking as he took her into his arms. Her tears sending him into instant alarm.

Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around Lucky's neck, burying her face there as well. "They want to take me away Lucky...my parents want to take me away."

Chapter 4

Lucky pulled away slightly looking into Liz's eyes, as she desperately tried to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "They wanna take you away?" He asked, his words coming out as more of a statement. The shock of what she said only allowing him to repeat. "Elizabeth?" He asked, finding his words. "Wh - What do you mean they wanna take you away?...Take you where?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath as she tried her best to calm down. Her panicking wouldn't help anything right now, and she was probably scaring Lucky to death. "My parents," she whispered. "They're moving back to Colorado Lucky and they want me to go with them!...Lucky what are we gonna do!"

'So much for calm,' Liz thought to herself, as she bit her lip trying to keep from starting to cry again.

Lucky forced himself to breathe as he gently took her hand, leading her to sit with him on the bed. "OK...wh-why now? Why...ugh.," he grunted, frustrated. "Ok..we have to think about this rationally...What did you say Elizabeth?...When they asked you?"

"When they asked me?" Elizabeth repeated, her eyes growing wide. "They didn't ask me Lucky! My parents never ask me anything! My father just told me that I was moving to Colorado with them...something about wanting to spend more time as a family..."

Lucky shook his head, not really believing what he was hearing. "Did you tell them that you have a life here?...That you don't want to leave."

"Of course I did!" Liz answered, sniffling back her tears.

"And..."

"It's not up for discussion Lucky. They want me to go with them to Colorado and that's it."

Lucky shook his head once again. There was no "that's it" about this. There was no way that this was going to happen. "We'll talk to them Elizabeth. There's got to be some way to talk them out of this. There has to be."

"Lucky...you don't understand. My parents aren't like yours. They don't listen like yours do. Especially my father....there's nothing we can do."

"I don't like the sound of that," Lucky stated flatly, looking into her eyes. "There's always something we can do Elizabeth...Nobody is gonna keep us apart...Nobody."

"Lucky - "

"I'll talk to your father, Elizabeth. We'll".... his voice trailed off as her head shook back and forth in fear. "Elizabeth we'll come to some sort of understanding...we'll have a talk, man to man...and everything will be fine. You'll see OK?"

Elizabeth gave Lucky a slight nod before responding, "It's just that.......I... I .. can't lose you Lucky," she whispered, her eyes once again welling with tears.

Lucky reached out and stroked her cheek, tears filling his eyes as well, "You won't..........ever" he said softly. With that, he pulled Elizabeth to the bed and brought her down to lay next to him, his arms encircling her waist. He lay awake then, letting his mind race. He would talk to Mr. Webber. He would make him see how much better Elizabeth was here. He had to.....................she was his life.

~~~~~~

"I cannot believe the nerve of that girl," Jeff screamed for the third time as he, his wife and Audrey entered the Hardy household. "Jeff, what did you expect?", Susan finally responded back. Jeff turned to her with a look that said he was obviously awaiting an explanation.

Susan quickly responded. "Jeff, we came back to town merely a few hours ago, and before Lizzie could even get used to that, we sprung another surprise on her. Did you expect her to accept it without a fight. That's certainly not our Elizabeth!"

"It doesn't give her any right to storm out on us Susan. I think we should go get her. We can start at that boy's house......I wouldn't be surprised if she ran straight to him........what was his name?" he said turning towards his mother.

"Lucky," was all Audrey responded, wanting to say more, but unable to. She was at a loss. She knew that something had to be done about Elizabeth. Elizabeth's behavior and her blatant disregard for the rules had to be dealt with. But this? Was this too cruel? Doesn't every teenager go through these stages? Maybe she acted too quickly. Oh dear God help me, Audrey prayed silently. She looked up to see her son and daughter-in-law still arguing and quietly slipped out of the room.

"I want to go get her now!", Jeff stammered. "I hate the thought of her running off with that delinquent she calls a boyfriend."

"Jeff, we don't know anything about Lucky!" Susan spat out thinking that it was unfair to judge Lucky so cruelly already.

"We know that he keeps our daughter out to all times of the night. We know that he completely disregards the rules my mother has set up for Elizabeth. He lives on his own correct? Which means he probably has huge problems with his family. He's a teenager Susan! He can probably barely take care of himself and I certainly do NOT trust him to take care of OUR daughter!"

Susan sat down on the couch, sighing. She knew her husband was right, but she also knew her daughter. She knew that Elizabeth had never been the type to take anything lying down. She was a fighter. When it came to something she really wanted, there was no stopping her. This was not going to be easy.

Finally, she turned to her husband who was still busy traipsing back and forth on the floor. "Jeff, come here," she said holding her hand out for him. Jeff slowly made his way over to his wife and sat next to her on the couch. "Let's just give it some time, OK?", she said softly, "She'll come home..and everything will work out." Susan gave her husband a reassuring smile before getting up to go to the kitchen to make some tea.

Jeff sat on the couch, letting the anger build up more and more inside him. As far as he was concerned, getting Elizabeth out of Port Charles as fast as possible was the best thing he could do for her. Get her back home, living a stable, normal life again. He loved his daughter more than anything, but if he had to fight her on this, he would. He was leaving for Colorado in a few weeks and Elizabeth WOULD be going with them.

~~~~~~

"Hey.........you think maybe I should get you home?" Lucky whispered to Elizabeth, brushing his finger softly along her cheek to wake her from her slumber. He hated having to wake her up, hated having to take her home, but something told him that now was not the time for her to be breaking curfew. "Wake up sweetie...I gotta get you home."

Liz moaned softly as she started to stir, stretching before opening her eyes. "I don't want to go home," she mumbled to him, sitting up. "It's not gonna feel like home."

Lucky smiled weakly, combing his fingers through her hair. "I know...but if we want them to listen to us Elizabeth, we gotta play by their rules....for now."

Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself, thinking of how sensible Lucky was. Not that she'd ever make the mistake of calling him that again. At least not when she didn't have the time or the energy to play tickle wars. "OK," she said simply as she stood up. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~~~

Jeff stood as his daughter entered the front door, watching as she quickly said her good-byes to her boyfriend. Just the thought of her being so serious with this guy, sending shivers up his spine. 'Just let her say good-bye...then, you'll talk,' Jeff thought, looking towards the rug as she kissed the boy quickly on his cheek and he walked back outside.

Liz turned to go up the stairs, and stopped suddenly as her father called out to her. "Elizabeth, we need to talk," he said sternly approaching the bannister where she stood.

Liz sighed, hoping that they would not have to do this tonight. "Dad...I'm really tired. Is there anyway we could table this discussion 'till tomorrow morning?..I just really need to sleep."

"Elizabeth......No, I'm sorry, this cannot wait! I have been waiting here for hours for you to come home! You showed your mother and I absolutely no respect tonight and you owe us both an apology!", Jeff said, his voice progressively rising causing his wife to come from the kitchen.

Susan made her way over to her husband who was now involved in a staring match with his daughter. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, your daughter decides to walk in here after hours of us not knowing where she was, and now feels that she does not have to give us any explanation whatsoever."

"I did not say that," Elizabeth stammered. "I just can't do this now Dad! Please?", she begged as tears fell from her eyes again. "Please, can we do this tomorrow?..I'm begging you."

Jeff was about to object again when he felt his wife's hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her and saw the same look his daughter was giving him. "Fine," was all he could say as he stormed out of the room. Elizabeth finally let out the breathe that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She looked over to her mother and whispered a 'thank you' before making her way up the stairs.

~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth smiled weakly as the tapping on her window began, knowing who it was before she even turned around to look. She quickly wiped at her eyes, not wanting him to see any evidence that she'd been crying. "Hi," she said simply as she finally pushed the window up.

"Hi," Lucky responded, pausing for a moment as he took in her beauty. He'd seen her less than 10 minutes ago, yet she still took his breath away. He swallowed hard though when he noticed the redness of her eyes. "I just needed to make sure that you were OK."

"I'm ok," she nodded, not wanting to get into the little scene that she and her Dad just had. "More than ok now."

Lucky grinned, knowing it wasn't the whole truth but figuring he'd let it go for now. Once he talked to her father, everything would be fine."Ok...well, I guess I should go now...huh?"

"I guess so," Liz said, taking his hand.

He leaned in then, pressing his lips tenderly against hers. Wishing he didn't have to leave. "Don't worry about anything, ok?" He said finally, as he pulled away. "By tomorrow everything will be better. I promise."

Liz nodded. For some reason when Lucky said it, she believed it. "Goodnight Lucky."

"Dreams of Gold Elizabeth."