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Emily ran into the house and threw
her shopping backs on the armchair, then noticed someone sitting on the
couch. "Lucky!" she exlaimed, hurrying over to him. "What are you doing
here?"
Lucky smiled. "It's
your birthday isn't it?" he asked. "I thought I'd stop by and give you
a present." His smile broadened, and he handed her a bottle of champagne.
"Here you go."
Emily stared at the
bottle in shock. "Lucky," she said hesitantly. "I'm not old enough to drink."
"So? Who's going to
stop us?" He reached into his pocket and came out with a bottle opener.
He handed it to her withou a word, then sat back and waited for her to
unstop the cork. "What are you waiting for?" he asked impatiently after
a short moment. "You aren't going to be a spoilsport, are you?"
Emily watched him,
her expression guarded. "Why not?" she said, shrugging and opened the bottle,
then poured them each a glass of the chilly drink.
Lucky leaned forward,
his smile returned. He took the glass from Emily and tipped it toward hers.
"To friendship," he said. "Freindships WITHOUT Weber girls," he amended,
and tapped Emily's glass lightly with his.
Emily forced a smile.
So THAT was why he had brought the liquor. "To friendship," she said, and
raised the glas to her lips.
After a little more
than an hour, they were both drunk. They had been long finshed with the
champagne and started on a bottle of vodka from the Quartermaine liquor
cabinet. Lucky poured a small amount of orange juice into his drink, and
grimaced after he took a drink. Emily burst out laughing.
"Well, what did you
expect?" she asked, her words slurred. "You should know better than to
drink ORANGE JUICE." Lucky laughed, and rocked dangerously on his heels,
catching himself on the edge of the table before he fell. Emily stood up
and wavered slightly, then steadied herself and inched toward the door.
"Where ya going?"
Lucky asked, stepping forward to grab her elbow.
"I'm goin upstairs,"
she said. "Before someone comes home and, and-" She broke off, and stared
into Lucky's eyes. She could hardly breathe.
"What?" Lucky asked,
exhaling heavily. Emily could smell sour alcohol on his breath, but ignored
and leaned in toward him. "Emily, what-" Lucky began, but was cut off when
Emily suddenly leaned forward and touched her lips to his. The kiss was
short but sweet and when Emily pulled away, Lucky protested slightly and
grabbed her around the waist.
"You should go," Emily
said, and then Lucky kissed HER. She was left breathless after the long
kiss, but s found herself accepting another anyway. The kissing soon got
havey and they collapsed on the couch, Emily landing forcefully on Lucky.
"Ow," he muttered,
then started to unbutton her blouse.
"Lucky!" Emily exclaimed,
pulling away from him. "Stop it!"
"Do you really want
me to?" he asked her, and Emily found that she didn't. She descended on
him again and helped him to remove her shirt.
Lucky stuck his head around
the corner and stepped quietly into the foyer, then heaved a sigh of reilef
as he reached the door.
"Leaving so soon,
Lucky?"
Lucky whirled around
and caught Ned smirking and watching from teh bottom of the stairs. "Nice
try," he said.
"Shh, Ned," Lucky
said, looking nervously behind the man to the top of the stairs.
"Oh come on, you don't
think they actually make an appearance before noon, do you? What exactly
are you doing here at this hour anyway?"
"What are YOU doing
here?" Lucky asked, exasperated. "I thought you lived in the gatehouse."
"I DO live in the
gatehouse," Ned replied. "But I have to make an appearance every now and
then to remind them I'm a part of the family." He looked at the door that
Lucky had just exited, his eyes narrowing. "You didn't spend the night
here, did you?!" he exclaimed, noticing the sheets strewn across the living
room floor.
Lucky winced, grabbing
at his head. "Do you have to be so loud?" he whined and leaned against
the door frame. "Yes I did stay the night. I had nowhere else to go okay."
Ned raised an eyebrow,
but made no comment. He walked past Lucky into the living room and surveyed
the room carefully. "You certainly made a mess," he said after a moment.
"Yeah, well, I had
some help," Lucky said.
Ned turned to him,
shock spreading across his boyish face. "I hope you don't mean-"
Lucky grinned. "YOU
know what I mean," he said and laughed.
"I can't believe you,
Lucky. Do you have any idea what Grandfather would do if he heard Emily
was up til all hours with a boy? And a SPENCER at that." Ned shook his
head sorrowfully. "It's your funeral."
They both looked up
when Emily walked in from outside. Her face was pale, but she was smiling.
"Good morning," she said as cheerfully, and queitly, as she could manage.
"Emily, are you alright?"
Ned asked, genuinely concerned.
"Well, not that I
threw up again, I think I will be," Emily responded. She sat carefully
on the couch and dropped her head into her hands. "I've never felt so terrible
in my life," she siad groaning. "Well, ONCE," she amended. She looked up
miserably at her cousin.
Lucky knew how she
felt. He had come dangerously close to losing the contents of his stomach,
and he couldn't even THINK about breakfast. "You got drunk, didn't you?"
he accused Emily, his hands on his hips.
"Don't look at me,"
Emily protested, and waved a hand at Lucky. "He brought the liquor."
Ned stared at him
open-mouthed. "Oh yeah," Lucky said sarcastically. "And who got into the
lquor cabinet after THAT ran out?" Emily just stared back balefully. "Yeah,
that's what I thought," he said. Ned shook his head in defeat.
"You two are really
in for it," he said.
"Oh, Ned, you CAN'T
tell anyone!" Emily cried, and instantly regretted it. She sat back, grasping
her head.
Ned watched the two
suffer for a moment, then laughed. "Okay," he said. "But it's only because
I enjoy watching you suffer so much." He tossed down a glass of orange
juice, then turned to the confused teens. "Good luck finding the aspirin,"
he said, then grinned and left the room.
Emily groaned and
shook her head after he left. "What?" Lucky asked, alarmed.
"Grandmother hid the
aspirin again."
"Does she do this often?"
Lucky asked, rummaging through a drawer in the kitchen.
"Only since she found
about Dad," Emily responded, and closed another cabinet. "She started hiding
all the medicine after we found out that Dad was addicted to his painkillers."
"Aspirin?" Lucky asked
incredulously. "Does she really think he's that desperate?"
"I don't know," Emily
said slowly. "I don't know WHAT he'd do for a fix."
Lucky rolled his eyes
and started to pull things out of the drawer. He jumped at the shrill scream
of a woman behind him. "Get out of MY KITCHEN!" the woman screamed and
descended on him with a spatula.
"Hey!" Lucky cried
as she started to pound his wrist with the spatula. He clambered to his
feet and hurried over to Emily, who was staring at them in shock.
"Out, out!" Cook yelled,
and pushed them unceremoniously out of the kitchen.
"Alright, that's it,"
Lucky said, starting back toward the door.
"Lucky, no!" Emily
called, pulling him back. "She goe crazy when she finds people in the kitchen,"
she explained. "There's no knowing what she'll do to you."
Lucky looked at Emily
uncertainly. "Maybe we should go OUT to breakfast," he offered.
"Maybe we should,"
Emily agreed. "That is, if you think you can eat."
"Can you?" Lucky asked.
"I will if you will,"
Emily said quickly, and they left without another word.
Felicia lifted the
plate from in front of the customer, and smoothly left the check in its
place. "Hope you had a nice meal," she said with a smile. The customer
nodded and thanked her, then got up to pay the check.
"Bet he doesn't leave
a tip," she said to V.
V appeared shocked.
"You don't think he will?" she asked doubtfully.
"Guys like him never
do." They watched as the man paid the bill and pocketed the change. He
left the restaurant without a glance back. "See."
"What a jerk," V said,
and stuck out her lower lip. "Aren't you glad Mac's not like that?"
"Are you kidding?"
Felicia scoffed. "Mac's never left a tip in his life." V's jaw dropped
and she crossed her arms across her chest.
"Well," she said.
Felicia smiled brightly
as Emily and Lucky walked in and sat at the table the man had just exited.
"Hi guys," she said cheerfully. "I'll take your order in just a minute."
She hurried off to the back room, V following hesitantly behind.
Lucky laughed. "She's
bouncy today," he remarked.
"I don't think she's
ever anything BUT bouncy," Emily said, and unfolded her menu.
Lucky sipped the water
a waiter had just set in front of him, and looked over the rim of the glass
at his companion. "So," he started.
Emily lifted her eyes
from the menu. "I think I'll have a sandwich," she said. "The breakfasts
don't look too appealing."
Lucky nodded, his
expression grave. "You weren't planning on telling Ned about--" He cleared
his throat, clearly embarrassed.
"You mean about---last
night?" Emil asked uncertainly. "No way!" she sadi after he nodded. "My
parents---and my grandfather!--would flip out if they knew we--uh-"
"Had sex?" Lucky asked.
"Lucky!" Emily hissed.
"Keep ypur voice down," she whispered. "Do you want everyone to know?"
"Why not?" he asked,
and started to flip through his menu.
"You're not seroius,"
Emily said incerdulously. "My parents would skin me alive if they knew
what we did."
"I don't think so,"
Lucky said. "They like you too much. You're the only thing standing between
them and insanity."
"I'm nto even sure
about that even more. You're probably right, though," Emily said after
a moment's thought. "They probably wouldn't do anything to me. "They'd
KILL you, though."
"I'm not afraid of
your family," Lucky said, setting down his menu. He smiled as he saw Emily's
worried look. "Don't worry, Em," he said. "I'm not going to go announcing
it on a loudspeaker. I'm just as worried about my reputation as you are."
"Well, thanks," Emily
said sarcastically.
"Don't mention it,"
Lucky responded. "So are you ready to order?"
"Lucky Spencer!" They
both looked up as someone approached their table. "Hey Lucky, Emily," Sarah
Webber continued, smiling widely. Lucky and Emily looked to each other,
then back to Sarah. "So, are you two an item now?"