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Elizabeth could not believe how unreasonable her grandmother was being. Lucky was her rock. He was the only person who she could trust and who gave her support. Now Gram was just going to kick him out. How could this be happening to her? She could not imagine what life would be like without Lucky there for her. She stood there in shock listening to Audrey telling Lucky that he could only stay in her room one more night and then he would have to find somewhere else to stay. What was she going to do?
“Elizabeth how could you keep something like this from me?” Audrey asks accusingly. Here we go again, Liz thought. “Gram, I need Lucky, I don’t know what I would have done without him. He is my best friend and I was only trying to be as supportive of him as he has been of me.” Audrey’s eyes just filled with rage, “Elizabeth, you need to get on with your life, you need to just let this go.” Liz had tried not to get angry at her Gram, but she just could not handle it anymore. “Gram, I can’t deal with this attitude from you anymore, I cannot just forget about what happened to me! I need to deal with it. And that means that I need Lucky to be there for me. Why can’t you understand that!”
Lucky was watching Liz and praying that he would not have to be without her. He needed her just as much as she needed him. She was the one person that listened to him, and that understood why he could not forgive his father even if his mother had. Liz was the only person who did not tell him to go home and supported the decisions he made. “Mrs. Hardy, I know this seems unorthodox to you, but really we haven’t done anything wrong.” Audrey glanced at Lucky and sighed “I know you don’t understand this now Lucky, but you are not helping Liz by allowing her to dwell on this unfortunate incident.” Lucky was so angered by this statement that he could not reply. How could she say that and really mean it? This was not something that could just be forgotten. For Liz’s sake he only said, “I’m sorry you feel that way. I guess I will be leaving.” He looked at Elizabeth standing across the room and could see how shaken she was. “I will see you tomorrow Elizabeth,” he said hoarsely.
“Gram, I am not letting you throw Lucky out of my life. I am sorry to do this, but I have to leave with him. He is the only one that understands me.” Liz couldn’t let Lucky leave. She looked over at him and was relieved to see him smiling at her. “Elizabeth, please think this through” Audrey pleaded. “I have Gram, if Lucky leaves, so do I.” Elizabeth took out her duffel and sleeping bag and quickly began to pack.
Lucky watched in silence. He had nothing to say
to Audrey, and even if he did, he knew it would not be welcomed.
Secretly he was relieved that Liz was coming with him. He couldn’t
have faced leaving her alone, but even more he couldn’t have faced being
alone. She handed him her bag and together they left Audrey’s house.
Chapter 1
Lucky climbed down the ladder first and helped Liz as she reached the bottom. When she was on the ground she turned and looked into his eyes, Lucky’s hand was still holding hers from when he helped her down the ladder. “Thank you for not trying to convince me to stay with Gram.” She wanted to tell him that she couldn’t have faced waking up in the morning without him there, but could not.
Lucky wanted to tell her that he couldn’t argue because he needed her too, but instead said “Your mind was made up, anything I said would not have changed that.” He smiled at her and reassuringly squeezed her hand and smiled into her eyes. I wish I could tell her how much I need her too, but I don’t want to burden her with that. “Come on Liz, let’s find a place to sleep” he said quietly.
They started off towards the woods where Lucky knew they would be safe for the evening. They walked in silence holding hands each lost in their own thoughts. Lucky was thinking about how much Liz had come to mean to him. He couldn’t imagine a life without her in it. He only wished that he could share that with her. Elizabeth’s thoughts were along the same lines, she was thinking about how wonderful and safe she felt when she was with Lucky.
“Where are we going Lucky?” Liz asked. “There is an entrance to the catacombs ahead, we can sleep there tonight,” Lucky replied. “There,” he pointed. Liz was relieved that at least they would be staying in a place that was sheltered, she could not handle being outside at night yet.
When they entered the catacombs and Lucky retrieved his lantern from its hiding place near the entry. He then led the way through a maze of tunnels. Finally he turned a corner into a spacious “room” (if you could call it that). Once inside, Liz noticed that the room was well stocked with everything imaginable for survival away form home. She looked at Lucky questioningly, but before she could speak he explained. “After I left home I came here and left some supplies. I thought I could stay here for a few days until I could arrange to leave town. Well, then I started staying with you. I have been keeping fresh supplies here though, because I knew that Audrey was bound to find out. I brought extra stuff here in the hopes that I would not be alone when I returned.” The last part just slipped out. Lucky did not mean to admit that to her. What was she thinking?
Liz’s eyes widened slightly and then she smiled.
She thought about how relieved she was to know that he really wanted her
here, she was afraid he only thought of her as a burden. “Thank you,
Lucky. I am glad to be here with you.” Their eyes met and held
as the light from the lantern flickered in the background.
Chapter 2
Liz awoke with a start. Suddenly she remembered where she was and that she was safe. She noticed that it was light in the room and realized that there was a hole about the size of a basketball in the rock above her head. That was why she could hear the birds chirping so well she thought. A smile crept to her lips as she remembered that she was here with Lucky and that he wanted her to be here with him. For some reason she could not explain that thrilled her more than she realized last night. She sat up then, and realized that Lucky was nowhere to be seen. A sharp jab of panic went through as she realized that she was completely alone. “Lucky” she called out. “LUCKY!!! Oh where are you?” Beginning to get worried Liz stood up and began pacing the floor. Minutes seemed to pass like hours. It’s OK Liz, she thought to herself, don’t panic, he will be back soon. The self-motivation was not working. How long had she been alone? Did something happen to Lucky? Liz sat down and drew her knees up to her chest and continued the torture of waiting for Lucky to return.
What seemed like hours, but was really only about fifteen minutes later, Lucky entered the room with his arms laden with groceries. Liz heard a noise and lifted her head, her eyes were wild with fear and her face was completely pale. When Lucky looked at her, he instantly felt guilty for leaving her behind. She had been sleeping so peacefully when he left that he hadn’t had the heart to wake her. He dropped the bags and immediately went to her side. “Liz, I’m so sorry I frightened you. You looked so peaceful <and beautiful he thought> that I did not want to wake you. I was only gone a little while, I thought I would be back before you woke up” he said in a rush.
Tears of relief filled Liz’s eyes. How come he is so nice, she thought. Lucky wrapped his arms around her when he saw her cry. “Its alright Liz, I’m back now, you’re safe.” He hadn’t realized how right it felt to have her in his arms before, he would have to analyze that later though, now he only wanted her to stop crying. “Oh Lucky, I was so worried that you thought I was a burden to you after all, and that you left me here because you knew I could find my way back to my grandmother’s house. I was afraid that you weren’t coming back.” Liz had to choke this last part out on a sob. She felt suddenly foolish for overreacting, and could not bring herself to meet Lucky’s gaze.
“Elizabeth, please look at me” Lucky said. Slowly Liz lifted her gaze to his and his heart almost broke at the sight of her tear stained face. “I would never think you are a burden, don’t you realize that you are the most important thing to me” he said softly. “I’m sorry if I scared you.” Liz rested her head on Lucky’s shoulder and they stayed that way for several minutes.
Chapter 3
Lucky and Liz were finishing the breakfast that Lucky got from Ruby who, always loyal to her family, had packed extra food for lunch without telling Lucky. “Lucky, are we going to stay here or are we going to move on?” Liz asked. She hoped they stayed here, she still wanted to find the man who violated her and she felt that staying in town and in contact with the police was the only way to do that.
“We can stay for a while. Ruby said that we can use the showers upstairs at Kelly’s and then we can finish the school year so we don’t have to repeat it next year” Lucky said. He knew that the real reason Liz wanted to stay had nothing to do with school, but he did not want to say that. “Besides, if we stay we can keep our jobs at Kelly’s, it is the least we can do considering her generosity.”
Liz smiled relieved. She knew that Lucky knew the
real reason that she wanted to stay close to Port Charles, but was glad
he did not bring the subject up. “In that case we should get ready to go
to school.” Liz stood up followed by Lucky and they headed out of
the catacombs towards Kelly’s. “I was thinking of sneaking into Gram’s
after school today and picking up some more of my things. I only
had time to pack a few things and I know I will need more clothes before
we can do laundry” Liz said. “Sounds good, I will meet you at Kelly’s
afterwards and we can help out with the dinner crowd” Lucky said.
When Liz and Lucky arrived at Kelly’s Ruby heard the chimes and came to the front. She smiled when she saw who had entered. In spite of herself, she had come to really like Elizabeth Webber. She smiled openly at them. “Hello you two, I put clean towels in the bathroom upstairs. Feel free to come and go as you please. I only wish I had a room vacant so you could stay there, but I know that Lucky has chosen a safe place for you to stay.” Liz was surprised at how helpful Ruby was being, she always thought that Ruby just tolerated her for Lucky’s sake. Liz smiled tentatively and said, “we really appreciate all you are doing for us.” Liz looked at Lucky then and said “Do you mind if I go first in the shower?” He smiled as she headed upstairs.
When she was gone Ruby said “You keep that girl safe my boy, she just seems so fragile lately and I don’t want her harmed.” Lucky laughed at his aunt and said, “She is my number one priority Ruby. I would die before I let any thing happen to her.” At the top of the stairs, Liz smiled at what she had overheard and headed to the shower.
<Later>
As they arrived at school, Liz reminded Lucky about the
trip to her Gram’s “Remember I will meet you at Kelly’s after school for
the dinner shift. I still want to go to Gram’s for more clothes and
don’t want to take a chance of running into her or Sarah.” Lucky
only smiled “No problem he said, I will see you at Kelly’s.”
The man in the bushes could not believe how his luck was
turning out. Now Liz would be going to her grandmother’s alone after
school. Lucky probably thought she would be perfectly safe going
by herself in broad daylight…He was wrong.
Chapter 4
Liz opened the door to her former home thinking how glad she was that she decided to go with Lucky instead of letting her grandmother talk her into staying and thinking happy thoughts. Yeah that really worked well she thought sarcastically. She still could not understand how her grandmother could think that way. She did not want to dwell on that though, she looked around and called “Sarah?” There was no answer and relief flooded Liz as she realized that she beat her sister home. She would just go up to her room and get the stuff. Once she was up there she could always sneak out the window if Gram or Sarah came home without either of them being the wiser.
Liz was startled to hear a thump at the top of the stairs. “Hello…Sarah?” She called, maybe Sarah was home after all, she thought. When she heard no answer, she assumed that stupid cat, Gatsby had gotten into something again. Liz started climbing the stairs, the feeling of unease never completely leaving her.
The man in the shadows thought for sure that Liz would leave after he stupidly tripped over the area rug. He was still berating himself when he heard her climbing the stairs. Instantly he was filled with a sense of anticipation. Finally alone again he thought. No knight in shining armor to save you this time my princess. He waited patiently as Liz rounded the corner. Then he saw her, his beautiful dream there alone.
Liz entered her room and before closing the door looked down the hall. She could not shake the feeling that she was being watched. She noticed that the window was open, funny she thought for sure her Gram would have closed it so Gatsby could not get out. Uneasily Liz opened her closet half expecting something to jump out at her. She grabbed some clothes and other stuff and put them in the empty duffel bag she had in her backpack. All she had to do now was get some things from the bathroom.
From the closet he heard the door to her room open and looked on in excitement as she exited her room. She is so gorgeous he thought. Soon she would be his again. Just as he was about to make his presence known the front door to the Hardy house opened. “Gram, I’m home,” yelled Sarah. Damn, he thought, someone was always ruining things for him.
Liz heard Sarah and decided to skip the bathroom and quickly closed her bedroom door and exited through her window. She was careful to remember to close the window behind her as she knew her Gram loved that cat and would not have it on her shoulders if he got out. She climbed down the ladder that was still in place from the night before when she and Lucky left. She thought about what it was like to feel Lucky’s hands on her waist as he helped her down. A warm smile came to her face and she forgot about the uneasy feeling she had had while inside her Gram’s house.
A short while later he came out of his hiding place and
climbed down the same ladder Liz had used. He knew that if he hurried
he could catch a few glimpses of her as she served dinner at Kelly’s, he
would just wait patiently until the next opportunity presented itself.
Chapter 5
Lucky and Liz were in the catacombs finishing their homework by lantern light. Liz had brought a portable radio from her room at Gram’s with an extra supply of batteries and the music was playing in the background. “Lucky, did you charge the batteries for your laptop at Kelly’s?” Liz asked. She wanted to see if Lucky could find anything else on Mr. Murty. She remembered the feeling she had at her Gram’s and rationalized that until her rapist was behind bars she would never feel safe.
“It is still charging, I had to leave it there” Lucky said. Noticing the look of disappointment come over Liz’s face he softened. “Hey he said, did something happen today that I should know about?” She seemed to hesitate. “Its okay Lizzie, you know you can trust me, I would never hurt you.” When she looked up at him it was with such trust that it caused his heart to flutter. “Oh Lucky, I had the most unusual feeling at Gram’s. It was like someone was watching me. I heard a noise and thought it was Gatsby, but Sarah came home and I had to leave, so I never saw him or found the source of the noise. I am getting so tired of being scared of my own shadow. I just wish I could be like Gram and put it all behind me.” Liz sighed as she finished.
“DON’T you ever believe that you should just put this behind you,” Lucky said more emphatically than he meant. “You should never be ashamed about your feelings,” he said in a softer tone. “You did not do anything wrong, *he* did, and it is perfectly natural to want to find him.” When he finished he looked at Liz. She looked so beautiful to him and he berated himself again for leaving her alone that night. “We can check first thing in the morning when we stop at Kelly’s, I promise.” Liz smiled at that.
There was silence in the room except for the music playing in the background. Lucky remembered how wonderful it felt to hold Elizabeth in his arms that morning and desperately wanted to do so again. He did not want to scare her though. Liz noticed that Lucky was staring at her. She was remembering how safe and comfortable she felt in Lucky’s embrace. Lucky cleared his throat and asked “Do you want to dance? It might fill the time.” He hoped he did’nt sound as lame as he thought.
Liz smiled and thought; of course I want to dance! Her voice cracked when she said, “I would love to.” They both stood and Lucky stepped towards her and gently pulled her into his arms. In response, Liz wrapped her arms around his neck and prayed that he could not hear her heart hammering in her chest. They began to sway to the music neither one of them really hearing what song was playing. It seemed that they stayed like that for a long time. Lucky was enjoying the feel of her and the smell of her hair. Liz was reveling in the feeling of being in Lucky’s arms, how long had she waited for a moment like this? As if sensing each others feelings they looked into one-another’s eyes. They stared for a moment losing themselves completely. Liz broke the moment when she whispered, “well I think I should get some sleep so I am not a zombie at school tomorrow.” “Alright, good idea” Lucky agreed. They broke apart, both feeling a sense of loss.
Chapter 6
Lucky was sitting at an empty table at Kelly’s checking for any new information on Mr. Murty. Liz had called detective Taggart, only to be politely told that there was no new information on her case. He saw the frustration in her eyes and had hoped that his search would be more successful. So far he was wrong. Aside from that domestic violence call placed by his wife there was nothing on the man. Lucky was at a loss. He looked up as he heard Liz enter the room. “Any luck?” She was so hopeful when she asked, he really hated to tell her that there was nothing new. “No, I’m sorry Liz.”
Liz tried to act as though it didn’t really bother, but she could not hide her feelings from Lucky. “I was hoping that something would come up. I am still a little freaked out about yesterday at Gram’s and I just want to find this guy and see him punished.” Liz looked into his eyes and took comfort in the strength and loyalty she saw there. “You know I won’t rest until he is found, Liz” Lucky said. He placed his arm around her shoulder for comfort. “We should be going or we will be late for school.” With that they exited Kelly’s.
Both were trying to keep the mood light as they walked. They talked about trivial things and neither mentioned their individual problems. Then when they reached the school Lucky said “I have an errand to run after school today and I will probably be gone for a few hours.” He didn’t want Liz to worry so he couldn’t tell her that he was going to Jason’s penthouse to request that a guard be put on her. He knew that his father put a guard on him, but he wanted Liz protected even when he was not with her, especially after her experience yesterday. He was not one to ignore the feeling that you are being watched. Luke had taught him too well for that, “if you feel like you are being watched cowboy, you probably are” he had always said.
“Lucky, Lucky!” Liz had been trying to get his attention but he was in another world. “Are you going to meet me a Kelly’s so we can walk back to the catacombs tonight, or will you be there in time for the dinner shift?” Liz wanted to know what the errand was but knew that Lucky would tell her when he was ready. She secretly hoped that he was going to see his dad, but knew how he felt. She couldn’t blame him, but she also knew that Luke truly loved his son. “I will try to be there for dinner, but can’t promise, I will definitely be there by closing and we will leave together.”
<Later>
Liz was walking to Kelly’s by way of the docks after
school (she couldn’t bring herself to go through the park alone even during
the day) lost in her own thoughts. She rounded the corner and saw
Sarah sitting on the bench waiting for her. Dread filled her and
she could only hope that Gram had not sent Sarah in a feeble attempt to
convince her to come home. “Hey sis,” Liz said as she approached.
Sarah was glad that Lucky was not with Liz. He had been with her all day at school so she could not talk to her sister privately. “Hi Lizzie” Sarah said. “Listen, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute before your shift starts. I already cleared it with Ruby” she finished before Liz could argue with her.
On a sigh Liz sat down “I hope you are not here to convince me to come home, I’ve made up my mind. Until Gram can see that I can’t just forget about what happened I have to be with Lucky. He is my rock.” Sarah only smiled at that. Any fool could see that the two of them were meant to be together, but that was another matter. “Liz I am not here for that. Were you at Gram’s yesterday? When I came up stairs I noticed that the hall closet door was open slightly and the window in your room was open.” Sarah saw that Liz’s face went pale and knew something was wrong.
“Sarah, are you sure the window was open? I was there after school. I wanted to get some clothes before Gram got home. When I got there the window was open, but I was sure to close it on my way out so that Gatsby couldn’t get out.” Liz remembered the uneasy feeling she had, like someone was watching her, what if she was right? She just couldn’t think about that possibility She certainly did not want to tell Sarah her fear because she knew Sarah would most certainly tell Gram. “You know,” Liz said “I think I may have accidentally left the window open. I was in such a rush to leave when I heard you come in, I was afraid you would tell Gram I was there.” She hoped that she covered her fear well enough and that Sarah bought it.
Sarah saw Liz’s face when she heard the window was open and knew that Liz was positive that she had closed it. She only wished that Liz trusted her enough to share her fear with her, after all, she did keep the secret when she found Lucky sleeping on her sister’s floor. Sarah couldn’t believe it, she was actually jealous of her sister. Here she was stuck at home with Gram being the good one when Liz was on some great adventure. Instead of voicing any of these thoughts she said, “Oh, I guess that must have been it. You know Liz, if you need anything from the house, I can bring it to school for you. All you have to do is ask, then you don’t have to worry about Gram catching you.”
Liz seemed distracted when she replied, “yeah, okay.” She was in turmoil and truly wished that Lucky hadn’t had to go on that errand today.
The man was listening from the bench adjacent to Sarah
and Liz as they talked. Damn, he thought, I will have to cover my
tracks better next time or I’ll end up getting caught. Liz and Sarah
stood up and went their separate ways. Liz was walking towards him
and when she spotted him she smiled warmly and said, “Hi, how are you today?”
He returned her smile and said “Just fine, how are you?” She was
gorgeous he thought, so much prettier than her sister, he definitely made
the right choice when he settled on her. “I’m good thanks.
I’m sorry I can’t stay and chat longer, but my shift started ten minutes
ago.” She rushed by him and entered Kelly’s. He was left there
with only the smell of her perfume.
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