Chapter 39
Lucky lifted his arm and read his watch, frowning. “Okay, I’m definitely going to kill him,” he grumbled. “It’s noon, and we’re still here!”
Liz sighed, swinging her legs off the bed and struggling to sit up. “I know. Carly better have a damn good excuse for this!” She slid her hand through her hair, trying to comb it a little. She knew she must look terrible, but without a mirror in the cell, had no way of knowing. “I don’t suppose there’s a toothbrush around here?”
Lucky chuckled and sat up next to her, stretching himself out. “Elizabeth, this is jail, not the Port Charles Hotel. You’re going to have to rough it.”
She groaned and stood up, slipping on her shoes so she wouldn’t have to walk on the cold, dirty floor, then shuffled over to the sink. She ran the water for a minute, then collected some in her hand, lifting it to her mouth to drink. She immediately spit it out, sputtering at the horrendous taste. “There goes that idea,” she muttered angrily, turning back to face Lucky. “What are you grinning at?”
Lucky quickly hid his smile, trying not to laugh at her obvious annoyance. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. You’re cute when you’re frustrated.”
“Cute?” she asked, shocked by his words.
“Um, well, I mean that in the most condescending way, of course,” he said quickly, trying to cover his tracks. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and now he had to do some serious damage control.
“Yeah, well, my medication is at home, and my shoulder is killing me,” she grumbled. “Carly, where are you?”
“I swear, if my dad has anything to do with them being late...”
“You’ll what? I mean, you’re already threatening to kill him for getting us in here, what more can you do to him?” Liz teased. “How’s your bladder, by the way?”
Lucky frowned at her and stood up. “Well, it was fine until just now, thank you very much!” He started to pace, hoping to keep his mind off of it.
“Sorry,” she said, stifling a giggle. She walked up to the front of the cell, grabbing one of the bars and peering out. “Why do I feel like I should be clanging a tin cup across these bars?” she mumbled to herself. “I can’t believe I just spent the night in jail..” she turned around and glared at him. “....with you!”
“Hey,” he said defensively, walking up to her. “I didn’t hear you complaining a few hours ago when you were cold! You seemed pretty happy to have me here then!”
“Well, sure, you were warm. But that doesn’t change the fact that under normal circumstances, we can’t stand to be in the same room together, right?” She watched him, waiting to see how he’d answer.
Lucky nodded. “Obviously. Unfortunately, with my Dad around, our circumstances tend to be anything but normal on a regular basis.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to do if Nikolas didn’t show up. Elizabeth bit her bottom lip and looked away. Something about the way he did that with his hair always drove her crazy, and not in a bad way.
“Okay, I need to get out of here,” she muttered, turning around to look out the bars. “Hello?!” she shouted. “Can someone please tell me when we’re going to get out of here?!”
There was no answer, so she sighed and stepped back. “This is nuts. I need to get out of here.” She brushed past him and began to pace, her heels clicking on the hard floor.
“Oh, and I like it in here?” Lucky asked sarcastically. “There’s nothing we can do until they show up, so just relax, all right?” He walked over to the bed and sat down, leaning against the wall.
“Relax?” she asked loudly. “Lucky, we’re in jail! How am I supposed to relax? And how can you just sit there and be so...so...calm?”
He shrugged, watching her pace back and forth. “Trust me, inside I’m fuming, but I just don’t see the point in wasting energy by shouting and pacing around. They’ll get here when they get here.”
“Well, pardon me for being a little anxious,” she grumbled, stopping in front of him. “I don’t take to the prison life like you do, I guess.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, sitting up.
“Just that I’ve heard enough stories about your family to know that you aren’t strangers to breaking the law, that’s all,” she said off-handedly, staring him down.
“Look,” he said angrily, standing up and stepping in front of her. “I don’t care what you’ve heard, but whatever my family does, it’s always for a good reason. And no matter what you believe, I’ve never been in jail before this, and I don’t plan on coming back again!”
“Hey, don’t get me wrong, I love your family...although Luke isn’t on the top of my favorite people list at the moment....still, they’re like a second family to me, so I didn’t mean anything mean by that, I was just saying what I’ve heard.”
“You love my family?” he asked, thrown by her comment.
“Well, yeah,” she said, surprised that he didn’t know. “I mean, Luke and Laura are like parents to me, and Lulu’s so sweet. Even Nikolas is great, he’s one of my best friends. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have come back to Port Charles after art school.”
“I wondered why you did that,” he said softly. “I mean, to go from New York City, back to Port Charles? It seemed kind of backwards, especially since you came back to run a diner!” He had spent so much time concentrating on hating her, he had never really stopped to think about it. She obviously really cared for his family, and as much as he tried to ignore it, it was a very endearing quality.
“I’d do anything for them, I think. It’s weird, since I’m not even related to them, but I feel more loyal to them than I do to my own parents!” She chuckled softly and looked up, noticing for the first time how intently he was looking at her. “What?”
He shook his head slightly. “Nothing, just thinking.” He ran a hand through his hair again and sighed. “Sorry if I’m acting weird. I guess I’m just tired. Must not have slept well.”
Liz nodded slightly. “Yeah, me too. That bed definitely was only made for one person at a time. Sorry if I crowded you.”
“No, you didn’t. Well, aside from pushing me onto the floor that one time.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling. “I think I’m going to have the bruises from that for about a week!”
“Oh, you do not!” she said, laughing. “You’re just trying to make me feel guilty!”
“Is it working?” he asked mischievously. She smiled and shook her head.
“Not one bit. How can I feel guilty for something I did in my sleep?”
“Hey, you still did it, asleep or not. Fine, I won’t hold it against you. After all, you’re still a cripple.” He grinned at her and jumped back, seeing the flash of anger in her eyes. He wasn’t fast enough, though, and she hit him squarely on the shoulder, knocking him down on the bed. She stood over him and grinned.
“Don’t ever call me a cripple again, Spencer!” she threatened.
“Or what? You’ll beat me up with your one arm?” he joked, knowing he was only asking for more trouble. She threw another punch at him, but this time he was ready for her and grabbed her fist before she could touch him, throwing off her balance and causing her to fall on top of him.
“Okay, that hurt,” she said, gritting her teeth as a searing pain shot through her shoulder. She looked down at Lucky through a haze of tears.
“Sorry,” he said softly. “I was just trying to protect myself from getting any more bruises.”
She laughed a little at that and shook her head. “I’ll be okay in a minute. It usually passes.” Lucky reached up and wiped a tear off her cheek, feeling terrible for hurting her again. She lightly bit her bottom lip as she felt his soft touch, trying desperately to push back the feelings he was suddenly arousing in her.
Lucky gazed up at her, wishing he could do something to stop her pain. She chewed on her lip for the second time that day, the one thing that seemed to always get to him. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something about that small gesture that drove him crazy. He reached up and slowly brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. She shivered slightly at the sudden contact, looking down at his face. His eyes were fixed on her mouth, as though he were memorizing every detail of it, and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
Lucky stared at her mouth, wanting to just reach up and kiss her, but at the same time knowing he would probably regret it later. So instead, he did nothing, just stared. The moment was over quickly when they heard the door to the cellblock slam shut, followed by an all-too familiar chuckle. Lucky slowly turned his head in the direction of the voice, as Liz did the same.
Luke grinned at the two of them, wondering if he had interrupted something yet again, then looked over at the broken bed. He looked back at them, raising an eyebrow questioningly, and pointed to it. “Wild night?”
