What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 21-22

~*~Chapter 21~*~

Lucky is woken by the sound of his door opening. Since being imprisoned here, he has become a very light sleeper. He looks toward the doorway to see Faison standing there. Not a surprise, since he is the only visitor Lucky ever has.

“Now what?” he asks bitterly. He’s still recovering from Faison’s last visit, and has a feeling that this time he’s here for more of the same.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you? I just thought you would like an update.” He’s smirking, so Lucky knows he isn’t going to like this, but he looks towards the television set anyway.

The screen comes on, and they’re watching the docks. Once again, this was filmed hours earlier. Elizabeth is walking towards the camera, wherever it is, looking at the ground. He can tell she’s deep in thought about something because she’s chewing on her lower lip. He smiles at how he can still read her so well. Just then, he sees that there’s a guy walking towards her and immediately tenses up. Even though her rape is so far behind her, he knows that she is still nervous around strange men, and it’s obvious that this one is heading straight for her. He cringes when he sees her collide with him, almost falling, but isn’t prepared for what happens next.

He watches as the guy catches her and she looks up at him. Instead of backing away in fear like he expects she will do, her face breaks out into a smile. ‘She used to smile at me like that’ he thinks sadly. They turn slightly and he can finally see who she’s talking to. His heart drops when he recognizes him: Nikolas. They talk for a few minutes, both smiling the whole time, then sit down on a bench. Now he can see both of them clearly. After a short time of what looks like flirting, Elizabeth suddenly hugs Nikolas excitedly, and he hugs her back. They’re both laughing, and Lucky feels like he’s going to throw up. A couple of minutes later, Nikolas stands to leave. Liz hugs him again, and he finally goes. The last thing Lucky sees before the TV shuts off is her standing there, watching him go with a huge grin on her face.

Faison bids his farewell and leaves the room.

‘At least she’s happy,’ Lucky thinks to himself disgustedly, before sitting back on the bed and grabbing his guitar. He feels guilty that he’s so upset over something that he had wanted her to do: get on with her life. She doesn’t know he’s still alive, and he knows that if she did, she wouldn’t give Nikolas the time of day. Maybe she feels closer to him this way, since Nikolas is his half-brother. It’s kind of sick in a way, but it makes a little more sense to him.

He sighs, tired of feeling sorry for himself, and begins to play a song that, although he hasn’t played it since leaving Port Charles, still comes to him like second nature.

He doesn’t realize that he’s been singing out loud this time, he’s so absorbed in the song. He puts down the guitar and lays down as the tears come again. He feels like all he ever does anymore is cry.

~*~Chapter 22~*~

Laura walks in the door and hears that the phone is ringing. She was returning from dropping Lesley Lu off at a friend’s house, and was looking forward to relaxing with a good book, but it looked like that wouldn’t be happening just yet. She rushes to the phone.

“Hello?” She answers, slightly out of breath.

“Is this a bad time?” a familiar voice responds.

She groans inwardly, sitting down at the table. She knows this conversation isn’t going to go well already. “No, Stefan, it’s fine. I was just walking in the door. What can I do for you? Is Nikolas okay?” Even though Nikolas is living in Brenda’s old cottage, she still asks about him whenever Stefan calls. Must be reflex, she supposes.

“No, he’s fine. He had Miss Quartermaine over to the island yesterday for a picnic and some riding. He seems to be quite taken by her, I’m afraid.”

“Afraid? Emily’s a wonderful young lady. I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d want for him. I know you’re not a big fan of her family, but you should know better than anyone not to judge someone based on their last name! Anyway, would you rather he was still with Katherine?” She spits out the name, still disgusted with her son’s last relationship. She’s glad that he finally came to his senses and moved on to women his own age.

Stefan grunts. “No, I’m very pleased about that relationship ending. I guess I can accept his feelings for Emily. He’s obviously very happy with her.”

“Is that why you called? To inform me of Nikolas’s date?” She asks, knowing that it’s not.

“No, it’s not. Lasha, will you please reconsider your decision to live in that house by yourself? I’m worried about you and Lesley Lu all alone there. There’s plenty of room here at Wyndemere, and LuLu loves being near the horses.”

She rolls her eyes. He’s been trying for weeks to get her to go back to him. “Stefan, I know you mean well, but I’ve told you before that I need to do this. If I’m ever going to reclaim my life, I need to be able to live in my own house again, memories and all. I can’t keep running away from my sadness. And please stop calling me Lasha!” She can’t help getting annoyed with him. He is so relentless when he wants something, and unfortunately, that was her these days.

Stefan knows when he is defeated, and she obviously isn’t going to budge anytime soon. “I apologize, Laura. I didn’t intend to push you. And I’ll try to remember not to call you Lasha either.” They bid farewell to each other and she hangs up.

“Finally! Now for that book,” she says to herself, heading for the sofa. Just as she is sitting down, the phone rings again. She groans and goes to answer it.

Assuming it’s Stefan again she answers angrily “Now what?”

“Whoa there, babe. It’s just me.”

She laughs. “Sorry, Luke. I thought you were someone else. How are you doing?” Hearing his voice always raises her spirits.

“Well, I’ve been better. Listen, would you be able to come to the club today? There’s something we need to discuss.” He asks hesitantly.

“Um, I suppose. LuLu’s at a play date for the rest of the afternoon. Luke, is everything okay?”

“Not really. I’ll explain when you get here. Bye, Laura.”

He hangs up before she can say anything else. Now she’s really confused. She grabs her purse and heads out the door.

***Luke’s***

Luke is still pacing, and Bobbie is reading through the charts, double- and triple-checking them to make sure that they were accurate.

“What if she’s known all along? How am I going to handle that, Barbara? I was starting to think that there might be a chance for us, and now this. I could never trust her again if she knew.”

“Oh, Luke, I’m sure she doesn’t know. Laura and I may have our differences now and then, but I do know one thing about her: family means everything to her. If she had known that Nikolas was your child, she would have told you. Why would she sit back and watch you hate him like that if she knew?” Bobbie had convinced him to call Laura earlier before he jumped to any conclusions. She really hadn’t wanted to stay, but he begged her, saying that he needed her to explain the medical stuff.

There’s a knock, as Laura enters. She looks frantic. “Luke, what’s wrong? Why did you call me down here?” she pauses, noticing that he wasnn’t alone. “ Hi, Bobbie.” Bobbie greets her as Luke goes back to his chair. Laura sits down next to her, bracing herself for the worst. She hasn’t seen Luke this disturbed for a long time.

Luke thinks for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to do this. “Alright, I’m just going to come right out and say this. We think we’ve found evidence that Nikolas.....is my son.” He waits for her reaction. He is pretty sure that by now he can tell if she’s hiding something from him. At least he hopes so.

She looks stunned for a second. She’s trying to figure out if this is a joke or not. “What do you mean? You’re kidding, right?” She looks totally confused, so Bobbie decides to jump in with an explanation.. She shows Laura the medical files that Alexis had, and explains how Luke’s chart was labeled as Stefan’s.

“All we can figure is that the doctor who performed the paternity test knew that Helena would kill Nikolas if she knew that he was a Spencer, so he switched the charts. By making it look like he was Stefan’s, she had enough to keep her mind occupied, and didn’t bother to look into it anymore. That way, everyone may been mistaken about his real father, but at least he was allowed to live.”

Laura is dumbfounded. “Are, are you sure?”

Luke nods. “Trust me, I didn’t want to believe it at first, but once she explained the charts and everything, I couldn’t deny it. All this time, I’ve hated him for being a Cassidine, and now...”

Laura is too shocked to answer. All this time, he’s been their son, hers AND Luke’s, and she never knew. She had abandoned him in Greece for most of his childhood, let him be raised as a Cassidine, and nearly ruined her marriage over his existence. Now she finds out that it was all for nothing. They could have been a happy family, Lucky would have had a brother to look up to, and the Cassidines wouldn’t have had such a hold over her. It’s too much for her to take, and she passes out.