Elizabeth couldn't concentrate on the movie. It was a comedy, but she never laughed, and she'd noticed Niikolas glancing at her curiously from time to time. It seemed that once her thoughts had turned to Lucky earlier, they just wouldn't go back to normal. Memories played through her mind as she sat in the theater pretending to watch the film. She relived their first meeting, outside of Kelly's, when she had asked his name. "Lucky," he had answered. "We'll see," she had said flirtatiously. She was the Lucky one, though, as she had told him so many times. That someone so beautiful, inside as well as out, could love her.....well, it had filled her with wonder every day. She remembered their time on the streets, and in the boxcar. Their first kiss, when Lucky had sang her song, and that beautiful Christmas they had shared, when they had professed their love for each other. And Valentine's Day. Tears came to her eyes as she wondered how she was going to get through that day this year.
"Elizabeth?" Nikolas was gazing at her, a worried expression on his face. "Didn't you notice, the movie's over. What's wrong?"
Wiping the tears from her face, Liz gave him a watery smile. "Oh, I always cry at movies." She stood up and gathered her things, ignoring Nik's disbelieving gaze. "Walk me home?"
"Of course," said Nik, helping her on with her coat.
At the door of her studio, Nikolas drew her close, whispering, "It's still early. Are you ready to say goodnight?"
Elizabeth was very ready to say goodnight, and she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up the pretense that everything was OK for very long. "I'm pretty tired Nikolas, and I have an early class in the morning." she smiled sweetly at him, hoping he wouldn't be hurt.
"OK," he said and kissed her lingeringly. "Night." He gave her a little wave and left as she let herself into the studio. Once inside she dropped her bag and tossed her coat on the couch. Pain, almost as fresh as when she had first lost Lucky welled up inside her and she closed her eyes, sinking into a chair. "How am I going to do this?" she asked out loud. She felt guilty about her attitude toward Nikolas, and she wondered if it had been a big mistake to start dating him. It had happened sort of naturally, and Nikolas was easy to be around, and...comfortable. Liz wasn't in love with him, and she didn't think he loved her either, at least she hoped he didn't. He was a safety zone for her; being someone's girlfriend kept other guys away from her. She wondered, though, if she was being fair to him. He deserved the kind of relationship that she and Lucky used to have. He needed someone to love him completely, not someone who was still in love with his brother. Feeling a headache coming on, she made her way to her bed and pushed the button on her tape player, Lucky's beloved and familiar voice lulling her into sleep.
When Lucky opened his eyes, he was disoriented for a moment, not knowing where he was. He sat up quickly, and his eyes darted around the room. A feeling of elation hit him when he realized that he was in his dad's office at Luke's. He was actually free! As he swung his legs over the side of the couch the door of the office opened and Luke came in, carrying a tray loaded down with food. There was bacon and eggs, pancakes, fruit and rolls. Luke sat the tray down then produced a pot of hot coffee. Lucky was starving and he started shoveling food almost as fast as Luke could dish it up to him.
"How'd you sleep?" asked Luke, even though he knew exactly how Lucky had slept, since he hadn't left his side.
"Great," answered Lucky, after swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "What time is it?"
"8:00," said Luke, glancing at his watch. "I called your mom, and told her I needed to see her here. I don't know how we're going to do this without giving her a heart attack." Luke had told Lucky the night before all about how he had found out that he was alive, but that he hadn't wanted to get Laura's hopes up, so she didn't know that her son was alive.
"Luke?" They heard her voice just then from out in the club. Lucky felt a lump in his throat at the sound of it.
"I better go out there and prepare her," said Luke, going out the door.
"Luke! There you are. What is so important that I had to come here, immediately, and alone? Is...is something wrong?"
"Angel, you need to sit down," said Luke, leading her to a chair. Ironically, his mind flashed back to when he told her that Lucky was dead.
Laura caught the endearment that she hadn't heard in a long time, but she was growing alarmed. "Luke, what's wrong?"
"Well," said Luke, "Just prepare yourself for a big shock." As he spoke, the door to his office opened and Lucky stepped out and into Laura's line of vision.