Chapter 24
“Hey, honey,” Alexis said, sitting down at the lunch counter. Liz smiled weakly at her and poured a cup of coffee. “You okay?”
Liz shrugged. “Sure. Do I look like I’m not okay?”
Alexis smiled. “You look fine, but your aura doesn’t.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot you can see that.” She sighed, leaning across the counter. “Did I overreact? About Lucky, I mean.”
“I don’t know. Why, are you having second thoughts?”
Liz nodded, looking down at the counter. “Yeah, I think so. I don’t know, I’m just really confused right now. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, you know? He could have found out too easily, and I’m not ready to deal with that yet, so I figured the best thing would be to back off, just be friends.”
Alexis nodded. “Well, that makes sense. So what’s the problem?”
“I can’t stop thinking about him. It’s been a week, and I’ve hardly seen him. I think he’s avoiding me.”
“So why don’t you call him?” Alexis asked, even though she already knew the answer.
“You’re kidding, right?” Liz said, horrified. “I can’t call him! He’ll think I...”
“Like him?” Alexis finished, shooting Liz a knowing look. Liz chuckled.
“Pretty much. God, I’m pathetic, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re 18. It’s normal, trust me. At least, that’s what I heard. I’m not exactly a good model of a normal childhood. Anyway, I have to get back to the office. Why don’t you put yourself out of your misery and call him?”
Liz shrugged. “Maybe. Thanks for stopping by.”
“Anytime. I’ll see you later.” Alexis smiled, then turned around and left the diner. Liz sighed as she took away her empty coffee cup. Alexis was right, there was no reason why she couldn’t call Lucky. So why couldn’t she bring herself to do it?
~*~
Luke looked up as Lucky trudged down the stairs and sighed. “Cowboy, just go to Kelly’s and talk to the girl already!”
Lucky looked up in surprise. “What are you talking about, Dad?”
Luke rolled his eyes. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Liz gave you the ‘let’s just be friends’ speech, and now your stupid Spencer pride is too hurt to talk to her, so you’ve been hiding out here in order to avoid her, bringing the rest of us down in the process!”
“I can’t talk to her. She was right, we were moving too fast. I almost blew it, she could have found out that I’m a witch. Do you know how disastrous that could have been?”
Luke shrugged. “I don’t see what’s so terrible about it. When I found out about your mom, I thought it was kind of cool. What makes you think she’d have a problem with it?”
“Yeah, but you found out on your wedding day, the way it’s supposed to happen. This was different. It was too soon, she would have probably freaked out on me, and then I would have lost her forever. At least this way, we can still hang out.”
“Oh yeah, you’ve been doing so much hanging out this past week, too!” Luke said sarcastically. “Cowboy, you’re miserable. Just suck it up and go talk to her, or else I’m going to be forced to do it for you!”
Lucky ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I wish I at least knew what she really thought of me. Man, this would be so much easier if she wasn’t related to Nikolas!”
“That’s cheating, you know! Having your brother read her thoughts isn’t fair to the rest of us mortals who have to do things the hard way! Now you’ll know how it feels.”
“At least then I’d have some idea of what to think! I can’t read her. One minute, everything’s great, the next minute, she just wants to be friends!”
Luke shrugged. “The accident probably just scared her, that’s all. Give it some time, I’m sure she’ll come around. In the meantime, talk to her!”
“Yeah, talk to her, please!” Nikolas said with a laugh as he came through the front door.
Luke groaned, rolling his eyes. “There goes the neighborhood!”
“You’re not helping, man,” Lucky grumbled, glaring over at his brother.
She likes you, why don’t you just get over yourself and go see her?
How can you be so sure about that? Lucky asked, looking at Nikolas cautiously.
After being around them for so many years, Luke had gotten good at sensing when his family was communicating without him, so he stood up and headed for the kitchen. “I’m out of here, try not to let the cauldron bubble all over the living room,” he joked.
“Funny, Dad,” Lucky groaned. Once Luke was gone, he turned back to Nikolas. “Well? You didn’t answer my question.”
Nikolas shrugged. “Emily told me.”
“Emily? What, did Elizabeth say something to her?” he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
“I don’t think so. She just said she could tell. She’s seen Liz at Kelly’s a few times this week, and said she seemed really sad.”
“Really?” he asked, unable to suppress a grin. “Thanks, man. I’ll see you later!” Lucky slapped him on the back, then hurried out of the house.
Nikolas stood there, looking around the room, and chuckled. “I sure do know how to clear a room!” he muttered, heading upstairs to see if Laura was around.
~*~
Liz untied her apron and stuck it under the counter, then poked her head into the kitchen. “Bye, Tammy! My shift’s over, I’ll see you tomorrow!” She walked out of the diner, happy to be done with work. She wasn’t ready to go home yet, so she strolled down to the docks.
A few minutes later, Lucky hurried into Kelly’s. “Hey, Lucky,” Tammy greeted from behind the counter.
“Hey, Tammy. Um, is Elizabeth here?”
“Sorry, hon. Her shift just ended a few minutes ago. I think she went home.”
“Oh, okay, thanks. See you later.” He turned around and left, wondering if it would seem strange for him to go to her house. He decided to take a walk and think about it, so he headed off for the docks, the one place he seemed to be able to think the best.
Liz sat down on one of the benches, resting her head in her hands. Part of her wanted desperately to go to Lucky’s, but she didn’t want to be so obvious. She figured sooner or later, he’d have to come into Kelly’s while she was working, and maybe then they could talk. In the meantime, she just wanted to sit there and try to forget about him.
Lucky made his way slowly down the docks, staring off over the water. He stopped in front of Spoon Island, and stood with his hands in his pockets, studying it. He sighed loudly, not able to get his mind off of Liz, no matter what he did.
Liz looked up, surprised by the sudden noise. She smiled when she saw Lucky standing there, his back to her. Obviously, he had no idea she was there. She stood up and made her way over to him as quietly as possible, then cleared her throat. “Kind of ironic, don’t you think?” she asked, smiling as he spun around in surprise. “This is where we first met, except now, the roles are reversed.”
Regaining his composure, Lucky smiled, running a nervous hand through his hair. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. So, um, how have you been?”
Liz shrugged, trying to pretend everything was fine. “Okay, I guess. How about you? You look good as new already: no more bruises.”
Lucky grinned, hoping she wouldn’t think it was too strange. “I heal fast. How about you? How’s the shoulder?”
“Fine. Lucky, I’m sorry if I said something the other day to make you angry. I didn’t mean for you to start avoiding me, I just thought we should slow down a little.”
“Avoid you? No, Elizabeth, I wasn’t avoiding you like that. I just thought you wanted some space, that’s all.” He shrugged, looking down at his shoes for a moment. “I guess I took it a little too far, huh?”
“It’s okay, I understand. I don’t know, I guess I just got confused. I came to Port Charles to find my birth mother, that’s all. Meeting you sort of threw me for a loop. I wasn’t prepared for it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I should concentrate on getting to know Alexis for now.”
“Oh,” Lucky said, trying to hide his disappointment. “Okay, sure.” He started to walk away, feeling like a fool for letting himself get his hopes up.
“Wait, Lucky!” Liz called out suddenly, not wanting him to leave like that. “That didn’t come out right.” Lucky stopped and turned to her, waiting for her to explain. She thought for a minute. “I guess what I should have said was that I like you, a lot. I just can’t handle two new relationships right now, and since Alexis is the reason I’m here, I should really focus on her for now. Does that make sense?”
Lucky nodded. “I think so. I’ll wait if that’s what you want. We can still hang out, though, right? I mean, get to know each other as friends for now? This may sound kind of weird, but even though I just met you, I missed you this week. I hope that doesn’t freak you out.”
Liz smiled and shook her head, happy that he felt the same way. “No, it doesn’t, I missed you too.”
Lucky fought every urge inside him to run over and kiss her. Instead, he simply nodded and left the docks, happy that they had come to some sort of understanding, even if it wasn’t the one he had ultimately wanted.
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