Elizabeth walked into Kelly's at exactly 7:36 am, only to find Lucky sitting and waiting at one of the tables staring at his watch. "What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked trying to be serious.

Lucky looked up at her and then down at his watch again while shaking his head from side to side, "You my lady promised me that at exactly 7:30 am you would be here with my pretzels", Lucky said smiling brightly as he inched closer to her, "Your 6 minutes late" he said leaning down as he gave her a light kiss on her lips.

"Well," Liz grinned, pulling away and sitting opposite of him at their favorite table. "I overslept this morning...I wonder why?" She finished, placing the bag of piping hot pretzels in front of his eager hands.

"Oooh...sorry about that just had to talk to you last night," Lucky said sheepishly, opening the brown paper bag. He took one whiff, and rolled his eyes upwards towards heaven. He reached in and quickly bit into one of the giant treats.

"Lucky," Liz said leaning forward, placing her hand over his unoccupied one on the table, "You know I'm always happy to get a midnight phone call from you...I'm afraid Gram may have not been as thrilled though. I think I'm gonna need my own line soon", she giggled.

Lucky laughed out loud, weaving his fingers through hers. "Well,...since I haven't completely annoyed you and your grandmother then...um" Lucky paused, swallowing. "What do you say that after school today, we go do something?"

Elizabeth just laughed at him, "Lucky, we do something every day"

"I know, I know...but this is different, this time no school books..no studying...no quizzing each other......... just you and me........... alone", the last part coming in a hushed whisper.

"Oooh, that could be fun" Elizabeth said in a very sexy tone that Lucky obviously wasn't expecting. His mouth was hung open in shock. Elizabeth laughed at the thoughts that she had probably just put in his mind.......

"OK, so what did you have in mind?" she asked curiously.

"Not sure yet...but I'll let you know" Lucky replied making a mental note to make sure it was someplace where they would NOT be interrupted. Ever since their trip to New York City, the thought of having Elizabeth all to himself was becoming more and more enticing. Little did Lucky know that she felt the same way. It wasn't that either one of them had changed their minds. Neither of them had decided that they were suddenly ready to "go all the way," but both of them definitely wanted a repeat performance of what had happened in NYC. The thought alone had made it very difficult for Lucky to leave her the night before. Thus, the call in the middle of the night.

Elizabeth shot him a skeptical look to which Lucky cocked his head and replied, "Don't you trust me?"

A smile crept up on Elizabeth's lips, "Do you even have to ask?"

Lucky smiled and placed a soft kiss upon her lips and slipped his hand into hers as they headed off to school.

~~~~

Liz sighed as she handed the last dish to Lucky, who sullenly toweled it dry. Once again, a feast from Eli's had made it to Lucky's apartment. "You know, " she said suddenly. "When we get married...you are GOING to wash the dishes sometimes...none of this ONLY drying stuff."

"Ugh, Elizabeth," Lucky said, faining innocence. "I only do this because I thought you LIKED washing."

Liz smiled simply and put her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Married..." he said suddenly looking into her eyes. "That's got a nice ring to it...you know Elizabeth, I think I might actually like being married to you."

"Oh!" Elizabeth said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. "You do, do you? Well,...thank you Lucky...I'll try not to feel too flattered or anything," she laughed.

Lucky was suddenly very quiet, as the air in the room seemed to get thicker. He licked his lips and slowly narrowed the space between them. Kissing her long and deeply.

It didn't take very long before they were lying down on the bed, both of them in the middle of what had once seemed a much smaller bed. Back when each of them had cared to stay on "their own side."

Lucky kissed Elizabeth softly, slowly. Trying to take as much time as possible. He knew rushing things would only make him want to go further than either one of them were ready for.

Liz's arms circled around his waist, her hand coming to rest on his back as she pulled him closer to her, wanting to feel his entire body on top of hers. His kisses were so soft, they felt as if they were melting onto her skin. She arched slightly beneath him as his hands ran up the sides of her body and ended their journey in her hair.

As her hands made their way underneath the red plaid shirt that she loved so much, the shirt he had worn the first time he'd told her he loved her mouth, Lucky groaned inwardly. He was suddenly jolted to reality though, as he looked up seeing the red glowing numbers of the digital clock. "Elizabeth...sweetie..." he panted, her kisses hot upon his neck. "it's 10:15," he sighed.

She looked up suddenly, her eyes glassy with desire for him. "Lucky", she mumbled, beginning her task upon his schrumchous neck once again. "My curfew's at 11:00...it's OK..........."

~~ Audrey's ~~

"I don't know what to think anymore Elizabeth." This simply cannot go on any further. I am at a loss as to what to do with you and I cannot understand why you have such a hard time following my rules?", Audrey ground out, furious over her granddaughters total lack of responsibility.

"Gram, it was an honest mistake, I swear!", Elizabeth stammered.

She had once again been late for her curfew. She was sure they'd make it on time, but once she and Lucky had decided to continue making out, they'd totally lost track of time. That seemed to be happening quite often where he was concerned. She was constantly late for something. Nowadays even Tammy got on her case about being tardy from time to time. It wasn't that they were always making out. That was a relatively new activity for them. Most of the time they were just talking, but even then they found it increasingly hard to leave each other.

"Yes,.........it always is, isn't it Elizabeth?", Audrey said with almost too much calmness as she stared at Elizabeth with a look that Elizabeth couldn't quite put her finger on. She knew angry, she knew disappointed, shocked even, but this....this was different. She decided not to question it and tried desperately to ignore the sudden chill she was beginning to feel throughout her body. After what seemed like an eternity, Audrey looked up towards Lucky who was staring at Elizabeth trying to read her expression, "Lucky, I think it would be best if you left now"

Lucky simply nodded his head, and turned to Elizabeth, whispering an 'I love you' to her and giving her look that said "Everything was going to be okay" before walking out the door. Elizabeth turned back towards Audrey only to see her sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. She wanted to say something. She wanted to tell her that she really was sorry for doing this to her again, that she really didn't mean to make her constantly worry, "Gram, I" she began, but before she could get any more words out, Audrey put her hand up to stop her and slowly met Elizabeth's eyes. "Elizabeth.....maybe you should just go upstairs for a while, I need some time to think things through" Audrey said softly. Elizabeth was getting scared. She'd never seen her Gram like this before..God there was so much she wanted to say. For now, though she'd listen to her request and go upstairs........

~~~~ Audrey ~~~~~~

"I simply don't know what to do anymore Elizabeth" Audrey said after about an hour of sitting on the couch contemplating what to do about her granddaughter. Voicing her concerns aloud didn't seem to help things much. Should she go upstairs and talk to Elizabeth again? No, what good would that do. She'd only promise to never do it again....and how long did that promise ever last?

"Oh dear.......Elizabeth.......I'm so sorry.....I just don't have any other choice" Audrey said, wringing her hands. She sat on the couch for a few more minutes putting it off still. This really was for the best, wasn't it? Yes, it had to be done. Finally, she rose from the couch and walked over to the phone. She dialed the number and suddenly began to dread the conversation that awaited her.