The Quartermaines are in the sitting room, waiting for dinner.

Emily bounces in. "Hi, everyone!"

Monica notices, and appreciates, Emily's happy countenance. "Well, Emily...good to see you smiling and so happy. And to whom can we attribute this sudden glee?"

"Probably that villainous Spencer boy." Edward offers. "Alan, Monica...I think our little girl is spending way too much time with that...that..."

"Edward, would you please not stick your nose in my daughter's affairs?" Monica interrupts him.

"Grandfather," Emily says, "Lucky is my boyfriend, how am I not supposed to spend time with him?"

Edward folds his arms across his chest. "Umph...I don't care. It's not at all healthy for a young lady to spend so much time with one boy...that's how these teenagers get into trouble in the first place. Next thing you know, she'll want to get married.

"Grandfather, we have only been dating four and a half months...actually, we've been dating exactly four months, two weeks, three days and..." Emily looks at her watch.

"Oh, please" Edward is disgusted.

Emily laughs. "I'm just joking. Don't worry Grandfather, I don't think marriage is the next thing on our agenda."

"Oh really? Then what is?" Edward asks.

"Edward!" Alan and Monica yell in unison.

Edward scowls. "Well, someone had better speak up, you know you two were wondering the same thing earlier. Don't try to deny it, you're not going to make me out to be the bad guy." Edward sees the shock on Emily's face. "That's right, your parents were just discussing this morning at breakfast...how you spend too much time with that boy and they hope that you two are not..."

"Father!" Alan interjects. "I think Monica and I are quite capable of discussing this with our daughter at another time."

Emily feels her anger rising. "Really? Well, why don't you just discuss it among yourselves, like you did this morning? Apparently, you don't need me for the conversation." Emily turns and walks out the room, going upstairs.

Alan turns to Edward. "See? Now look what you've done! You didn't have to be so accusing...don't you know anything about raising children?"

Ned walks in. "Apparently not, look at how you turned out."

Alan doesn't bother to respond to Ned. He rolls his eyes as he leaves to follow Emily.

Ned walks over to Lila. "Hello, Grandmother...and what has your belligerent husband been up to now?"

"Minding everyone's business except his own!" Monica answers for Lila. Monica walks over to Edward. "Edward, I do not like you accusing my daughter of anything, especially...that."

"What Monica?" Edward asks. "You know what it is, can't you say it? You fear that Emily and Lucky are..."

"Oh Edward!" Monica walks away from him.

Edward shrugs his shoulders. "I don't understand. You think it'll just go away if you don't mention it? Emily is a beautiful, healthy American teenager, that...that Spencer boy, well, he's just bursting with hormonal activity. You know how the Springtime makes these kids, it's in the air. I can tell just by the way he looks at her..."

"Okay, Edward that's enough!" Lila interjects. "You will stop badgering Emily and leave her to Alan and Monica."

"Thank you, Mother." Alan says as he enters the room. He turns to Edward. "Now, because of you, wonderful Father, Emily won't be joining us for dinner."

"Speaking of not joining you all for dinner, I will be on my way, I have a date." Ned says, dimples at their deepest.

"Well, who is the lucky woman? Or need we ask?" Monica smiles at Ned. "It's good to see you happy again, Ned."

"Thank you, Monica. And no, you need not ask." Ned says. "Ms. Davis is the only woman who has my attention at present. That is, except for Emily. Monica, Alan...give Emily some space. No one likes to be accused, especially if it's not true. Goodnight, all." Ned turns to leave the room.

"Spoken by the 'Parent of the Year'", Edward says, waving his hand, ignoring Ned.

"Well, I'm going to go check on Emily," Monica says, as she stands to go upstairs.

Alan stops her. "Maybe you shouldn't, Monica. Let's give her some space, okay? When she's ready to talk, she'll let us know."

Monica gives in. "Well, maybe you're right. I'll let her be tonight."

"I think that's the best thing to do." Alan says confidently.

~~~

Upstairs, Emily is sneaking out of her bedroom window.

"Where am I doing? What am I doing?" Emily says as she climbs up on the window sill. It's funny how a few years ago she was on this very roof and wasn't afraid at all. She shudders at the memory.

"I don't know where I'm going, but I gotta get out of here." Emily tells herself as she throws down her bag first, then slides down the tree to the ground. She picks up her bag and runs off to the front gate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke is leaving for Switzerland again and Lucky is solemn. He hadn't planned on being without his Dad for two weeks, but Luke and Laura always thought that Lucky appreciated the times they left him alone. Contrary to popular opinion, Lucky didn't like the 'being left alone' part as much as his parents thought.

"Cowboy, I know I said I wouldn't be going back for awhile, but this time I have to." Luke insisted. "Your mother has the flu and Lulu and your Grandmother are just too much for her to handle right now alone. She needs me, Lucky."

"And I don't?" Lucky thinks to himself. Of course, he doesn't let Luke see that vulnerable side. He smiles his biggest smile and says, "Sure Dad, I understand. But are you sure you have to leave tonight. I mean, it's already nine o'clock at night. Couldn't you just leave in the morning?"

"I know it's late but I figured if I got out tonight, the sooner I'll get there and the sooner I can take care of your mother. " Luke explained as he stuffed the last of his belongings in the duffle bag.

Lucky figured he had lost this argument. "Sure, Dad, You have to do what you have to do, right?"

"Right! Glad you see it my way, son." Luke grabs his bag and lifts it over his shoulder. "I'll see you in two weeks, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya Dad." Lucky hugs his Father quickly and Luke turns and leaves. Lucky closes the door behind him.

"Well, Spencer, alone again." He says aloud, hating the silence already. He walks over and plops on the couch, attempting to actually enjoy the quiet of being left alone.

He only finds it deafening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucky sits on his bed, with a half-eaten pizza and a six-pack of Coke. He's watching something on TV that he's not really paying attention to when the doorbell rings. He runs downstairs and swings the door open. His face lights up when he sees Emily standing there.

"Hey there..." Lucky says, hating the way he went all mushy whenever he saw Emily, but loving the way it may her eyes sparkle. He takes her hand and pulls her inside. "Come on in, it's getting dark out there."

"Yeah, well...it wasn't dark when I left home. I guess I didn't realize I was wandering around for so long." She comes in and looks around. "Kinda quiet in here, where's your Dad?"

"He took off for Switzerland." Lucky says, a little less enthusiastically than he wanted. "Mom has the flu and..."

"You're getting a little tired of this, aren't you Lucky?" Emily says.

Lucky looks at her and, knowing he can't lie to her if he wanted to, decides to pour it out. "I miss my family, Em. I miss the four of us being together here, having a good time, relaxing, enjoying Lulu...just being a 'normal' family for a change."

Emily walks over to him and wraps her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Lucky. I think I can understand. Though I'm never free of my family, they're always there, hovering over me.

Lucky pulls away from her. "You said you left home when it was light? You've been out there for awhile, what happened?

Emily sighs. "Oh, the usual Quartermaine bantering. Grandfather thinks I'm spending too much time with you...and so do Alan and Monica, though they haven't said it."

Lucky laughs. "It figures the Q's wouldn't want you spending time with a common 'Spencer'. It could make you too...oh, I don't know, NORMAL?"

Emily laughs and walks over to the sofa to sit down. "Really, it's becoming unbearable. I just wanted some time away from them. I'm glad I came over, looks like you could use some company.

"Well, I was just upstairs watching a movie. You wanna watch some videos? Are you hungry?"

Emily realizes she hasn't eaten since lunchtime. "I'm starved. Whatcha got?"

Lucky points upstairs. "Some cold pizza upstairs, you're welcome to it...I don't know how appetizing it'll be..."

"Don't worry, I love cold pizza." Emily smiles and gets up to follow him upstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily and Lucky are upstairs in his room. They've decided to order another pizza and watch TV.

"Lucky, could you pass me another slice?" Emily says as she downs her second slice, licking her fingers. Lucky smiles at Emily. She's the only girl he knows who's not ashamed to eat like a champ in front of a guy.

"My, my...don't we have an appetite?" Lucky remarks, only to get a look of despair from Emily. "Don't worry, I like a woman who can give me a run for my money...don't go gettin' anorexic on me or anything..."

As Lucky hands her the box, the pizza slips out and lands on Emily's blouse and slides down to her lap.

Lucky jumps up. "Oh Em, I'm sorry!" He looks for something to help wipe off the sauce stain that was quickly saturating her clothes. He picks up a towel he had thrown in a chair and attempts to dab at the mess.

Emily smiles at Lucky's unnecessary terror. "Lucky, it's okay. It'll probably wash out...if I do it now." Emily looks around the room as she begins unbuttoning her shirt. "Do you have anything I can put on?"

Lucky froze as he noticed her beginning to unbutton her shirt. For a split second, he was wondering...or hoping, if she were going to shed her clothes right then and there. He answers as he comes back to the moment.

"Uh...yeah, I've got something you can wear." He goes into his bureau and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He hands them to her.

Emily looks at the shorts and t-shirt. "That's the best you can do, huh?"

Lucky replies sarcastically. "Well, I'm sorry, Miss, I don't happen to have the DKNY spring line available at the moment."

Emily laughs. "I'm joking, it's fine." She takes his clothes and stands there, waiting for him to excuse himself. Since he didn't seem to be moving, she figures she'd better go. "I'll just...take this to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Lucky stands there, wondering why again he was waiting for her to just shed her clothes. He shakes his head to bring him out of the fantasy image that was forming in his mind. "Sure, right down the hall. There's hangers in there so you can...you know, hang up your clothes when you wash them out." For some reason, he was nervous and didn't know why.

"Thanks, Lucky. Be right back." She heads to the bathroom.

Lucky sits on the bed, wondering what this new thing is he's feeling. He looks around the room and realizes that it's a disaster area. He sweeps around quickly and picks up the littered clothes in the corner chair and the books scatter in the corner of the floor. He clears the numerous hair products from the dresser and straightens the bed covers again. He picks up the pizza box, this time carefully, and discards it downstairs.

He comes back up to find Emily back in his room. For some reason, her standing there, wearing his clothes, made that weird feeling inside spring up like a river. He never knew a tired old t-shirt and raggedy gym shorts could be so...so...

"So...I see you've cleaned up while I was gone." Emily looks around the room, shaking her head in approval. "Impressive. That was record timing."

"Hey, I can clean when I put my mind to it." Lucky says, laughing nervously.

Emily looks down at her outfit. " Well, I guess my opinion that I weigh more than you is now factual." She points to his shorts she's wearing. "They're a little snug, don't you think?

Lucky laughs. "Emily...Lulu almost weighs more than I do. Don't go obsessing over that again. Believe me, you're not fat." Lucky says as he notices that his shorts are much more appealing with long, shapely thighs attached to them. He then walks past her to stare out the window.

Emily looks at him quizzically. "Thanks, you always know what to say...even if I don't believe it." She walks up behind him at the window. " Hey, what's up?"

Lucky turns around, trying to act casual. "Nothing's up, why'd you ask?"

"I don't know, you seem to be...somewhere else." Emily smiles at him.

Lucky can't help but smile back at her. She had such a perfect, cute little face. She reminded him of a kitten. He smiles even wider.

"What are you grinning at?" Emily asks him.

"Nothing," Lucky says. "I was just realizing how incredibly adorable you are." He looks at her hair, up in a ponytail tied with a scarf. He steps to her and in one swift move, pulls the scarf from her hair, causing her hair to cascade around her shoulders.

Emily playfully rolls her eyes. "Now, why'd you do that?" she says, knowing exactly why.

"You know why I did it," Lucky moves in closer, "I love your hair...it's so beautiful." He smoothes her hair back from her face, cupping her face with his hands. "You're so beautiful." He kisses Emily as she slides her arms under his and up his back.

Emily swoons as he kisses her deeply. She laughs against his lips as she imagines Lucky allowing other people to see this side of him - this cuddly, romantic...almost sticky sweet side of him. He pulls away from her, wondering what she finds so funny.

"What are you giggling about?" He asked her.

Emily, still giggling, tells him, "I...I just wish everyone else could see this side of you." She steps away from him, he pulls her back.

"And what side is that, may I ask?" He says, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"This sweet, romantic side that I love so much." She laces her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck. "You always show everyone that no-nonsense, cynical 'Spencer' side...but if they only knew..."

"And they never will if you don't tell them." Lucky says, smiling. "It's only when I'm with you...I guess you bring out the 'mush' in me..."

Emily wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly.

Lucky buries his face in her hair. "I'm glad you're here, Em."

Emily, laying her head against his shoulder, knew there was nothing else she would rather hear. "So am I."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily and Lucky sit on the bed as the credits roll up on the TV screen. They had managed to make it through an entire Pepperoni pizza, two movies, a large bowl of popcorn, five cans of sodas and a pint of Häagen Dazs.

Lucky picks up the remote and clicks the TV off. "Well, looks like we've exhausted all avenues."

"Yeah," Emily says, sitting up, stretching. "I guess I'll have to go home now..."

"Well, you can stay a few minutes longer." Lucky convinces her as he leans her back against him, wrapping his arms around her.

Emily doesn't resist the invitation. "Okay, a fifteen minute cat-nap, but then I'll have to go." She lays against his chest. It felt so right, lying there against him, feeling his heartbeat against her ear. She knew she could stay here forever if that were her fate.

Lucky lies there, holding Emily, his fingers playing in her hair. He knows she should be getting home, but he just can't bring himself to let her go. It was lonely there at night, alone...and she was so warm and soft, he couldn't imagine laying here without her. He could feel her breathing deepen, knowing she had drifted off.

'I'll let her sleep for a few more minutes', he thought. He reaches over and pulls the summer quilt over them, pulling her closer to him. Emily snuggles closer, not opening her eyes.

Lucky lies there, imaging how it would feel to have her here like this every night. The thought spreads a smile across his face. His eyes start to feel heavy and he closes his eyes for a minute. Soon their breathing has taken on a deep rhythm and they both fall into a deep, contented sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monica lies awake, still not being able to sleep. She looks over at the alarm clock, which tells her she's been lying awake longer than she'd realized.

"2:30am." Monica whispers to herself. She lays there, fighting the urge she feels, then decides to give in to it.

"Doesn't make sense for me to be the only one awake." She slips out of bed, hoping not to wake Alan. She puts on her robe and heads out the room. As she stands in front of Emily's bedroom door, she contemplates going back to bed. But she knew she had to resolve this, for she hated having Emily feel they did not trust her.

She turns the knob quietly and peeks into Emily's bedroom. "Emily," she whispers. She gets no response, she comes into the room. "Emily, it's Moni..."

She realizes the bed hasn't been slept in. She realizes that Emily is not there at all. Panic floods in at first, but Monica decides to be rational. 'Maybe she's downstairs, in the kitchen..." Monica told herself. She figured Emily must be in the kitchen getting a snack, since she hadn't eaten dinner earlier. But even as Monica makes her way downstairs, she has a sick feeling that Emily was not in the kitchen, nor anywhere else in the house for that matter.

She realized no one made their bed to go downstairs for a late night snack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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