What Happened to Forever?

Chapters 3-4

~*~Chapter 3~*~

“Lucky?” Liz looks expectantly towards her bedroom window and see Nikolas looking at her sheepishly. She snaps out of her haze and, feeling foolish, gets up to let him in. “I’m sorry Nikolas. I guess I was still in dreamland. I didn’t hear you knocking.”

Nikolas climbs inside. “No, it’s my fault Liz. I should have known better than to come to your window like this...” he looks down at his hands “...especially today.”

Liz’s face falls as the realization hits her. Today is the anniversary of the fire that killed her soulmate. How could she have forgotten?

Nikolas covers his face with his hands, silently berating himself. “Great. Not only did I scare you, but on top of that I remind you that it’s the anniversary of the worst day of your life. What a friend I’ve turned out to be! Maybe I should just leave before I say anything else stupid.” He turns to go back to the window, but Liz grabs his arm.

“No, stay. You’re a wonderful friend. If it weren’t for you and Emily, I don’t think I would have made it through this past year. You’ve been supportive and understanding when no one else was there. Please, don’t beat yourself up over what you said. I would have remembered sooner or later anyway. I just haven’t gotten my bearings yet...” she smiles at him, hoping that cheered him up, then gets serious again. “So, why DID you come to my window? You’ve never done it before.”

“Well, no one was answering the door, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know how hard this day is going to be for you...for all of us. I really don’t know what compelled me to climb up here. Again, I’m sorry if it brought back bad memories. The last thing I want to do is bring you pain.”

Liz hugs him, thankful to have such a compassionate friend. “You could never bring me pain, Nikolas. And coming to my window only startled me a bit, it didn’t bring up bad memories. None of my memories of Lucky are bad. Yes, today is going to be hard, but as long as I remember all the good things that he was, I’ll get through it. So don’t worry, I’ll be fine, okay?”

She smiles at him and squeezes his hands, trying to reassure him. Ever since Lucky died, Nikolas had taken it upon himself to act as Liz’s protector. She was so thankful to him and Emily for being there for her whenever she needed a shoulder to cry on, or someone to just talk to about him. They were the only people she could do that with. Sure, she could always go to Luke or Laura: they had become like surrogate parents to her over the past year, and she loved them to death, but she refused to burden them with her grief. After all, Lucky was their son - they had enough grief of their own to contend with.

Liz suddenly remembers that she had an appointment that morning. “I’m sorry to cut this short, Nikolas, but I have a session with Gail in about an hour, so I really should go get ready.”

“No problem. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I should get going too. I’m meeting Emily for lunch. Hey, do you need a ride to GH?” He asks, walking towards the window.

Liz smiles. “No, I have Gram’s car. Thanks anyway. Tell Em I said hi and give her a big kiss for me.” she giggles, her eyes twinkling devilishly, knowing that although the two of them have started dating, but he hasn’t kissed her yet. She never got tired of teasing him for that!

Nikolas rolls his eyes. He hated it when she did that! “Ha, ha, very slick. You know I haven’t kissed her yet. How about if I just hug her for you?”

“What are you waiting for Nikolas! A formal invitation? Just kiss the girl!”

“I just want it to be perfect, you know?”

Liz grabs him by the shoulders, as if to shake some sense into him. “Trust me. Emily is crazy about you. It’ll be perfect no matter where or when it is! Just do it already!” she exclaims, laughing, happy to be distracted from her grief, even just for a short time.

~*~Chapter 4~*~

Back at Luke’s. Felicia is standing in the doorway, staring at him, pale as a sheet. She had been outside, about to knock, when she overheard his phone conversation.

“Hey darlin’...what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

Felicia answers shakily, her eyes darting around the room. “More like heard one.” She sits down and looks up at him, her eyes full of fear. “Who were you just talking to?”

“You mean, on the phone? What, lock-picking not enough anymore, now you’re eavesdropping too?” Luke’s concerned about what has her so jumpy, but as usual hides behind a joke.

“This isn’t funny, Luke. Who was that?”

He can see that she’s really nervous now, so decided to get serious as well. “Calm down, babe. It was just an old business partner of mine, Herr Krieg. Now will you tell me why you’re about to jump out of your skin?”

Felicia looks him in the eyes before answering. “Luke, I’d know that voice anywhere. I, I...still hear it in my dreams...in my nightmares. There’s only one person who’s voice can do this to me, and it’s not ‘Herr Krieg’, It’s Cesar Faison!”