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“Em, sit down, you’re not going
to enjoy this.” Emily took a deep
breath and sat down on the edge
of the dock, “What is it?” Lucky stared
over the water. He sucked
in air, how could he break this to her? “Em,
I’m really sorry to do this now....
but ..... I have to leave Port
Charles.” He kept staring ahead,
afraid to look at her. Emily bit her
lip as her eyes filled with tears,
“Why? I thought ... I .... why?”
Lucky shuddered and looked over
at her pale face. “I can’t stay with my
family Em. I never told you
why I ran away did I?” Emily shook her
head, “Do you want to tell me?”
Shrugging, Lucky looked away, “I don’t
know how to say it yet. I’m
sorry.” “It’s okay Lucky, you don’t have
to talk about it until you’re ready.
I’ll always be here to listen to
you.” Lucky wrapped his arms
around her. “Thank-you Em.” He whispered
into her hair. She pulled
away from him, tears shining in her eyes,
“Lucky? T...t......take me
with you.”
Luke lay on the living room couch,
arm flung over his eyes. Laura came
down the stairs, “Lu’s asleep in
her room. You should see her Luke, she
looks so young and innocent.” She
bit her lip and lay down on the other
end of the couch. “What are we
going to do when she finds out about
this?” Luke removed his arm
from her face, “I don’t know. I don’t know
if I can stand having another child
hating me.” Laura stood up and sat
down on the floor. She took
his face in her hands, “He doesn’t hate
you. He’s just mad.
When he feels better and comes home, we will talk
to him. I don’t want him
to be the one to tell Lu. We have to figure
out together what we’ll do, if
and when we decide to tell her. It may
be best to erase it from our past.”
Emily furiously packed her biggest
backpack with all the clothes and
things she thought she’d need.
Lucky sat out on the roof, staring up at
the stars. Emily smiled at
herself as she chose her clothes. On the
run with Lucky again, this time
would be more memorable, she could feel
it. Suddenly there was a
knock at the door. Emily hurriedly threw her
bag under her bed. “Come
in.” she said, knees shaking. Monica came in,
giving Emily a slight grin.
“Em, I wanted to apologize for Alan and
Edward's behavior tonight.
They had no reason to snap at you.” Emily
nodded. “They didn’t.” Monica
patted her gently on the shoulder. “Well
try to be patient with them.”
Monica gave Emily a hug and then stood up
and left them room. “I’m so sorry
Mom.” she whispered as a tear rolled
down her cheek, “But I’m through
being patient.” She pulled the bag out
from under her bed, and kept on
packing.
Emily stared out the window as the
bus as the countryside flew along
beside her. She sighed deeply
and closed her eyes. She smiled as Lucky
shifted, his head on her shoulder.
Her watch read 3:02 and she thought
about the long road ahead.
Lucky had chosen the longest most possible
route to Vancouver, where Sly lived
with his aunt and uncle. Back and
forth across the country, Lucky
promised her that it would be the most
difficult to trace. Having very
little experience in running away, Emily
had decided to let Lucky run the
show. First stop, she thought to
herself, Florida.
Elizabeth strolled along the waterfront.
Sarah had come home just
minutes after Lucky had left, and
she just wanted to be alone. She sat
on the stairs and finally let herself
relax. She grinned as she
realized that this was the first
time she had felt comfortable being
alone at night. She sighed,
but without, she thought, school was going
to be awfully boring. Before
she knew it a tear was
rolling down her cheek. She
hadn’t felt comfortable with anyone else to
make really good friends at school
outside of Lucky. Emily was nice,
but she was always with Deenie
and Sarah. “Gonna be like the first day
of school all over again.”
“Why’s that?” a deep voice asked. Liz
whirled around. “Nikolas!!!!
My god, you scared me!” He immediately
looked concerned. “I’m sorry, I
didn’t realize you hadn’t heard me come
up. What’s wrong with school?”
Liz turned around, “Nothing, I just
don’t like it.” “Lucky came
to see you didn’t he?” She stopped
breathing, “How did you know?”
Nikolas looked down, “He came to see me
to, so you know he’s leaving.”
Liz nodded, “I can’t believe it. I
don’t understand why he has to
leave. I know he had a fight with his
dad, but couldn't he just stay?”
Her lip began to tremble, and Nikolas
timidly sat down beside her.
“It’s okay Liz, he just needs time, he’ll
come back soon. I’m sure.”
Liz sniffled and pulled herself together.
“I wish I could have gone with
him. Or just done the same thing. I
hate it here. Nothing but
bad memories and a goody two shoes sister to
live up to. I can’t do it
anymore.” Nikolas nodded, “I know exactly
how you feel. No one in this
town treats me like anything but a sneaky
villain who wants to freeze the
world.” Liz gave him a sideways grin.
“Sucks to be us, huh Prince?”
He grimaced, “I’m sorry,” She began
apologetically. “It’s hard to lose
the attitude sometimes.” Nikolas
shook his head, “It’s alright,
I’m used to this kinda thing from Lucky.
You know,” He started, “I think
that boy is having far too much
influence on you.” “Shut
up!” she shrieked, “You are not funny!!” She
laughed, and shook her head.
“Nikolas, did you ever feel so tempted to
run away that you really had to
think hard to find a reason to stay?”
Nikolas nodded, “Like right now?”
Elizabeth leaned over the edge of
the house and dropped her hiking bag
into Nikolas’s outstretched arms.
She took one last sweep of her
bedroom and gingerly dropped off
the roof onto the lawn. She wiped her
hands on her jeans and stood up.
“Alright, let’s get out of here.”
Nikolas nodded in agreement and
the two got into Nikolas’s car. As they
drove through Port Charles, they
discussed their options. “The first
thing we have to do is dump the
car.” Nikolas began, “My uncle will
report it stolen the minute he
notices I'm gone.” “Good plan.” Agreed
Liz. “I’ve been going
over the bus schedules, and I’m not sure which
route Lucky will take to Canada.”
Nikolas thought for a moment,
“Probably the longest or the cheapest.
They can’t have that much money
on them.” Liz studied the
brochure, “Well, there is a cheap cross
country tour that starts from Florida
and runs up to Oregon. They could
be taking a bus to Florida, and
then hopping on the tour.” Nikolas
nodded, “Well we can give it a
try. When does the next bus leave for
Florida?” Liz grimaced, not
for another three hours, but we’ll still
make it in time for the tour.
If we don’t break down.” “Perfect.
Done.” answered Nikolas. “Speaking
of money, how much do you have on
you?” “Only a couple hundred
of my savings from Ruby’s. Why?” Nikolas
looked sheepish, “Well, I wasn’t
sure how much we’d need so I brought a
couple thousand.” “Thousand???”
screeched Liz. “Omigod, I can’t
believe this, no wonder you didn’t
think I needed a sleeping bag, we
can stay in five star hotels!”
Nikolas shrugged, “If you want to.”
Liz looked at him in admiration,
“Can you really do that? Just swipe a
couple thousand from your bank
account? Wow , prince, I’m impressed!”
Nikolas bristled at the familiar
nickname. Liz looked immediately
apologetic. “I’m sorry, you must
get that a lot huh?” Nikolas shook
his head, “It’s okay, just
from Lucky.” Liz studied him, “Why don’t
the two of you get a long at all?”
Nikolas stared out the window, “Our
parents don’t get a long, therefore
we don’t get a long. It’s a
complicated story.” Liz knew
to give it up. “Alright.” She looked out
the car window and stared up at
the moon. Nikolas, noting her sudden
quietness, looked over, “Something
wrong Elizabeth?” “It’s Liz thanks.
And no, there’s nothing wrong.
I just feel bad for putting Grams
through this. She’s gonna
be really worried. But I just couldn't stay
in Port Charles right now.
Everything's too mixed up right now.”
Nikolas nodded, “I know how you
feel. My uncle’s been too busy feuding
with my grandmother and Spencer,
that he probably won’t even notice that
I’m gone, until my tutors tell
him I didn’t show up for class.” “Same
here, when the school calls to
report my skipping, that’ when Gram will
start to get suspicious.
Too bad we’ll be long gone by then.” The two
sat in silence as the road curved
in front of them.
Lucky and Emily stood on the pier,
staring at the blue Atlantic ocean
that stretched out ahead of them.
Emily leaned against Lucky, giggling
slightly. “What?” he asked.
She turned to face him, “I can just
picture my whole family bargain
into your fathers club demanding to know
where I am the minute they notice
I’m gone.” Lucky smirked, “It’ll
definitely be a circus for the
customers who get to watch.” And with
that, he pulled her close for a
long kiss.
Sarah came into the kitchen and
opened the cupboard to retrieve a bowl.
“Where’s Liz?” she asked curiously.
Audrey stirred her tea thoughtfully,
“I found this note on the kitchen
table....” Sarah picked up the note
and read the hastily scrawled,
Gone early for math help! -Lizzie She
shrugged, “Math is Liz’s worst
subject, that’s great she’s getting
help.” Audrey nodded, “Yes
the poor child is finally putting her life
back together again.” The
two smiled warmly at each other and continued
their peaceful breakfast.
Monica sat in the den of the Quartermaine
mansion, eating a croissant.
She sipped her orange juice and
stared out the window. Edward and A.J
came in, each pointedly ignoring
the other. “When are the two of you
going to grow up?” Monica asked,
clearly exasperated. Edward sniffed,
“Your son has no idea of the stock
we invest in the ELQ business, he
shouldn’t be making such rash decisions
without conversing with the
executives.” Monica smiled
at A.J, “Maybe not Edward, but that didn’t
give you the right to snap at Emily
last night. She was very upset.”
“Did I? Well, hmppppf, where is
the child? I’ll apologize to her right
away. I t was clearly a case
of being in the wrong place at the wrong
time.” Monica gave him a
frosty glare, “There shouldn’t be a wrong
place, in her own home. Anyway,
she’s not here, she left a note. She
went early for English tutoring.
Shakespeare’s thrown her quite a
curve ball.” Edward sniffed
again, “Shakespeare! She should not be in
business courses, she has many
responsibilities to learn about.” A.J.
shook his head, “This is high school,.
Grandfather, not business
administration.” A.J and
Monica exchanged small exasperated looks.
Laura and Luke stepped off the elevator,
Luke carrying Lulu. Laura
smiled at Amy warmly as they came
around the information center. “Here
to visit Lucky?” Amy cooed to Lulu.
The child smiled sweetly and
nodded. “He was sick, but
now he’s all better.” “That’s right, he
is. And I’m sure he’ll be
sure happy to see you hon.” “Come on babe,
let’s go wake that lazy bones up.”
Luke let Lulu run ahead while he put
his arm around Laura. “Ummm, I
need to make a phone call darlin’. I’ll
join you in a minute.” Laura
nodded and kissed him on the cheek. She
quickly followed her young daughter
into her son’s room. Luke settled
himself on the couch, waiting until
Laura and Lu were done, before he
braved the storm that was his son.
Lucky and Emily boarded the bus,
hand in hand, flushed from running. “I
told you we’d be late.” Emily laughed
as she sat down in the first seat
available. “Hey, I had to pick
up postcards, I promised Liz and The Dark
Prince that I’d keep in touch.”
“Don’t trouble yourself Lucky, I
think I can see how you are for
myself.” Lucky looked, shocked, into
the smirking face of Nikolas Cassadine.
“Nikolas!” Emily cried, “What on
earth are you two doing on here?”
Nikolas looked at Lucky unwaveringly.
“The same thing the two of you
are.” Lucky stared quizzically
into Nikolas’s eyes. Liz offered Emily
a small smile, “We decided life
in Port Charles wasn’t for us. We ... we
split. We were going to follow
Lucky.... but what are you doing here?”
Emily swallowed, “Port Charles
wasn’t for me either.” There was a
small pause as everyone debated
whether asking for details from the
other. Abruptly, Lucky stood
up, “So it’s decided, none of us can stand
our families. I still don’t
understand why you chose to follow us.”
Nikolas frowned, “Well, well, you
had a plan. And you have experience
in this sort of thing. We
figured we were safer traveling in a
group.” “He has a point Lucky.
There’s more of us, more money, we’d
have more fun.” Her eyes twinkled
mischievously at Liz. “Em, with more
of us, we’re easier to trace. “
Liz shook her head, “No! That’s not
true, we’ll just appear like children
of the people on the tour. No one
at the hotel will suspect us.
We’ll just tell them we wanted a room of
our own.” Lucky thought,
brow furrowed. He looked at Em, who grinned
at him expectantly. “We’ll
try it.” He sat down, shaking his head in
frustration. Emily and Liz
gave small squeals of excitement and
chattered about their “escapes”.
Nikolas gave Lucky a long hard look,
and then turned around in his seat.
Lucky gave a small sigh, so much
for his plan to spend lots of time
with Em, making up for how he
neglected her last year.
As if reading his mind, Emily leaned over and
whispered in his ear, “We can make
time alone, right? So don’t worry.”
She gently kissed his ear lobe
and settled against his shoulder as the
bus started.
Sarah sat at her desk in Mr. Murty’s
english lecture. She stared around
her at the four empty tables nearby.
Mentally she checked the
absentees, Liz, Lucky, Emily, Nik.
She frowned. “Math help, huh?” she
muttered. She opened her
book. “Why on earth would Nikolas and Lucky
want to skip class and hang out
with Liz all day.” she wondered. The
final bell rang and dutifully she
settled down into her Wuthering
Heights, with out giving it another
thought.
Helena strolled along the docks,
staring out at Spoon Island. Alexis
was busy in Jakarta, and her precious
Ned was with her. Helena smirked
at his pathetic excuse for finding
work there suddenly. “ELQ business,
how convenient.” she drawled.
She debated on whether or not to have the
two lovers killed. “Well, I suppose
I’ll let Natasha have a little slice
of paradise.” She felt very
generous. She’d have to find someone else
to play with for a while.