Katherine stops by Wyndemere after an afternoon business meeting. She
has been replaying the argument between herself and Stefan all
afternoon. The meeting was hardly able to hold her attention.
As she walks into the sitting room, she is bombarded with roses,
aromatic candles and soft music.
'What in the world is going on here?' Katherine thought to herself, as
she walks in and studies the beautiful flower arrangements. She lifts
one of the delicate pink roses to her nose and inhales deeply. She
hasn't noticed Stefan walking in behind her.
"I know that pink roses are your favorite...I wanted to surprise you."
Stefan says as he walks up to Katherine. He takes her hand in his.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Katherine."
Katherine, afraid to believe that everything had changed so
dramatically since this morning. "Thank you, Stefan," Katherine
replies, "but I didn't think you involved yourself in such
Americanized traditions..."
"Americanized, Smericanized!" Katherine laughs at Stefan's attempt at
slang. "That's another American slang I've picked up from around the
docks!" Stefan looks down into Katherine's eyes. "Oh Katherine, I'm so
sorry for this morning, I don't know what got into me, I've been
behaving like a complete idiot lately. It's been my preoccupation with
Nikolas' unhappiness and ..."
Katherine interrupts him. "You don't have to explain, Stefan. I
understand that you have been extremely worried about your nephew and
I also realize that I've been sticking my two cents in where it
doesn't belong." Stefan tries to disagree with her but she goes on.
"No, Stefan, I'm really sorry for how I've been interfering with yours
and Nikolas' relationship. You are his guardian and you know what's
best for him, and I shouldn't have been an intruder. I love Nikolas,
but I understand that your love for him surpasses any love I could
ever possibly feel for him. "
Stefan steps closer to Katherine, puts his hand to her face. "I am
truly the luckiest man alive, Katherine." He looks into her eyes,
drinking in her sincerity. "I love you, Katherine." Stefan tells her.
Katherine looks into his eyes, not believing what she just heard.
Tears form in her eyes as she whispers back to him, "I love you too,
Stefan. More than anything in the world."
Stefan bends to kiss Katherine, taking her in his arms and allowing
her to show him just how much she really did love him. All the while
in his imagination he's picturing Lasha in his arms. Knowing that
he will never have the one woman he truly loved, he may as well
satisfy himself with the woman who truly loved him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sarah has come downstairs to rejoin Nikolas. She has dressed for
dinner and they are getting ready to leave.
Sarah calls out to Lizzy, as Nikolas helps her on with her coat.
"Goodbye, Lizzy!" There's no answer from the kitchen. She turns to
face Nikolas. "Oh well, maybe she's on the phone or something. Let's
go." They head out.
Lizzy comes out of the kitchen when she hears Sarah and Nikolas drive
off. She's cradling a big bowl of popcorn, planning to make it a
Blockbuster night. She pops the movie into the VCR and plops down on
the sofa. As the movie begins to play, she wonders why she decided on
'Sleepless in Seattle', the weepy movie of the century. 'I'm a glutton
for punishment' she thinks to herself.
As the movie rolls on, she can't help but wonder why everyone is out
on Valentine's Day except her. She figured, not that she wanted Sarah
to suffer with her, that she and Sarah would end up spending
Valentine's Day together. Deep down, Lizzy was happy for Sarah and
Nikolas, but that made her feel no less alone.
In the farthest recesses of her mind, Lizzy thought that at least she
would have a chance to hang out with Lucky. But now that Lucky has
found Emily...'when did that happen...' Liz shook her head at how
nave she had been. 'All those times I was being so mean, trying to
destroy Sarah and Nikolas, I should have been trying to figure out my
own love life...or lack of one' Lizzy thought to herself.
For a split moment, she felt that old familiar loneliness that crept
up from the past. For some reason, growing up in Sarah's shadow had
given Lizzy less than a healthy self-esteem. Sarah was always the
smartest, the prettiest, the sweetest...Lizzy considered her
contribution to the family to pale in comparison. 'Lizzy...she's
always bad, Lizzy, she never pays attention in school....' The list of
complaints from teachers and counselors was always the same. Lizzy
never meant to be difficult, it's just that after awhile, that's what
was expected of her, so she figured why disappoint everyone?
Now, as she sits alone on Valentine's Day, Lizzy picks up the remote
control and turns off the movie.
She's never been more lonely in all her life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the Spencer house, Lucky and Emily have finished dinner. They've
talked, laughed and had a good time just being together. Lucky is
wondering what his next move should be. He decides to take
Mike's advice and try the music route. 'I hope this works', he thought
to himself as he gets up and slips on another CD. He walks over to
Emily, who is still sitting on the blanket, stuffed to the gills. He
extends his hand out to her. "May I have this dance?" he says, looking
down at her, eyes smiling.
She takes his hand. "I would love to." He helps her up. "Besides, I
need to work this meal off before I pass out!" They laugh. "Dinner was
really great, Lucky, I enjoyed it."
"Why thank you, Madame." Lucky says as he leads her away from the
'picnic area' into the center of the floor. Just then, the CD kicks on
and the room is filled with the mellow voice of Richard Marx:
Whenever I'm weary,
from the battles that rage in my head
You make sense of madness
when my sanity hangs by a thread
I lose my way but still you seem to understand
Now and forever, I will be your man...
As the music plays, Lucky takes her in his arms and holds her close.
Emily is a little taken aback at this open display of affection,
trying to figure out who this stranger was and what has he done with
Lucky. Emily is so happy and satisfied at this moment, she secretly
prays it never has to end.
Sometimes I just hold you
too caught up in me to see
I'm holding a fortune
that Heaven has given to me
I'll try to show you each and every way I can,
Now and forever, I will be your man...
Suddenly, Lucky breaks her train of thought.
"Emily?" Lucky says, whispering into her hair.
Emily gets a chill down her spine at the sensation. She quickly
regains her composure and answers non-chalant. "Yes, Lucky?"
Still taking in the fresh clean smell of her hair and soft perfume,
Lucky realizes that these are the good differences between guys and
girls . He struggles for the words, the right words. "Emily, you...you
'know' how I feel about you, don't you? I mean, you know you're my
best friend, right?
"Hey, I know, Lucky...we're best friends." Emily answers, a small
twinge of disappointment clouding her expression. She was grateful
that at that moment he couldn't see her face, for she knew she
wouldn't be hiding her emotions too well.
Lucky moves on, in spite of heart palpitations. "Yeah, that's true,
but...it's not all the way true...I mean, that's not how I really
feel..." he says.
Now I can rest my worries and always be sure,
that I won't be alone anymore
If I'd only known you were there all the time
all this time...
Until the day the ocean doesn't touch the sand,
Now and forever, I will be your man
Emily, not being able to figure out what's going on in his head, asks,
"Lucky, what do you mean by that?" She pulls away from him, trying to
read the expression in his eyes. "You mean, we're not friends
anymore?"
Lucky, not liking how he was screwing this up, defends his case.
"No...I mean, yes, of course we're still friends." Lucky steps away
and turns from Emily, trying to buy a few seconds to gather his
thoughts. He doesn't realize he's halfway across the room.
Emily, confused, decides to help him out. "Lucky, whatever you're
trying to tell me, just spit it out...."
Lucky turns to face Emily, in that moment realizing how much he really
cared about her. The thought of him missing this chance suddenly
propelled him to act. He crosses the room in two strides, coming to
stand directly in front of her. Emily is still wearing a look of total
confusion when he takes her face in his hands. He looks into her eyes,
scared by what he feels but even more afraid to ignore it any longer.
He leans in and brushes his lips across Emily's. A thousand thoughts
are running through his mind. 'Okay, coward, that was nice,' he tells
himself, 'now why don't you really kiss her, man!'
He gently brings his lips to meet hers, but this time not so lightly.
Emily, after actually realizing what was going on, just stands there,
lost in the embrace. Lucky pulls back, searching into Emily's eyes,
trying to read what she was thinking.
Lucky, figuring now that the 'gig is up', decides to let Emily know
just how he feels about her.
"Em, I know we've been friends forever but, I...I don't feel that way
about you anymore. I'm trying to tell you that...I like you. I mean, I
like you more than just as a 'friend'..."
Emily stands there, trying to figure out if the shock she's in is from
the kiss or from the realization that Lucky feels the same way about
her as she does him.
Lucky stares at her, willing to pay a million bucks to read her
thoughts.
"Emily, say something. Say anything because...if I just screwed up
things between us...if I just messed up the best friendship I've ever
had..."
Emily places her finger against his lips to silence his rambling .
"Shhh..." While being swallowed up by the deep blue pools of his eyes,
Emily puts her arms around his shoulders and comes in closer. The look
in her eyes tells Lucky that maybe he didn't mess things up after all.
He lowers his head and kisses Emily again. This time, she kisses him
back. A current of electricity runs down Lucky's spine as she runs her
fingers through his hair. Lucky wraps his arms around her waist and
pulls her as close to him and she can get. Emily feels as if she is
going to pass out from the pure amazement of it all. She figures she
should open her eyes to help her stay conscious, but decides to keep
them closed and enjoy the moment, in case this is a dream and she has
to wake up soon. She had no idea that something could feel so right,
so real...and so good.
She opens her eyes as she feels Lucky pulling away. In that moment,
all sorts of ideas ran through Emily's mind as she looked in Lucky's
eyes: 'Was I moving too fast? Oh no, maybe I have onion breath...or
maybe I just can't kiss...'
As if reading her thoughts, Lucky smiles and says, breathlessly. "I
was just coming up for air..."
He swoops down and captures her lips again, this time with no
hesitation. The knowledge that she was enjoying this as much as he was
gave him a new sense of boldness. His hands caressed her back as he
tried to pull her closer to him, if that was at all possible. Emily
couldn't believe the sensations she was feeling at the touch of his
hands. She felt as if the floor had fallen out from under her feet. It
was such a overwhelming sensation, it almost took her breath away.
Emily backs away, breaking their embrace, not knowing why she did and
wanting to slap herself for doing so.
Lucky, not knowing what was going on, asks, "Emily, what's wrong?"
"I'm ...sorry." Emily says. "I don't know why I did that."
Embarrassed, she walks away.
'Now look what you've done!' he told himself. 'It took you all night
to gear yourself up, now you want to take the express train...' Lucky
walks up behind her, not touching her. "Emily, I'm sorry, was I moving
too fast? I...I didn't realize..."
Emily turns to face him, stopping him. "No, it's nothing you did.
I...it's just..." Emily voice trails off.
"It's just that I...I never felt that way before." Emily couldn't look
him in the eyes. She hoped she wasn't sounding too adolescent.
Lucky, blushes at her words. "Neither have I," He brings his hand to
her cheek and turns her face up to look at him. "Did it kinda scare
you?"
Emily looks in his eyes, their hypnotic effect causing her not to
trust her voice. She managed to shake her head 'yes' in reply. She
felt herself trembling and didn't know why,
"Yeah, me too. "Lucky says. I...I've never felt anything like that."
He grins at her. "It was great."
Emily blushes, not knowing what to say.
They stand there in silence.
Emily feels like she could go through the floor. "I don't know why but
I feel like, really stupid right about now." She shifts nervously and
his eyes bore through her. "Stop staring at me like that, you're
making me crazy!" she smiles awkwardly.
Lucky laughs at her. "You're blushing!"
Emily hits at him, "I am not!"
"Oh, yes you are," Lucky smiles at her, "it's okay...you're pretty
cute when you blush. Well, you're pretty anyway." Realizing that he's
getting a little too 'mushy' for his own good, changes the subject.
Looking at his watch, he replies, "I guess it's time I take you home.
I wouldn't want 'Edward' to have a hissy fit if you come back one
second after your curfew."
Emily, as much as she hated to leave, agrees. "Yeah, if I break curfew
the first time around, he's liable to lock me in the cellar."
They laugh as Lucky goes to the closet to get her coat. 'So now what?
Where does our friendship stand now?' She didn't want the evening to
end like this, she was still confused about what was going on and
Lucky was making no attempt to solve this mystery.
Lucky helps her on with her coat then turns her towards him. He
stands there, staring into her chocolate brown eyes. 'Ask her,
Spencer, don't be a punk.' He hears his head telling him. Instead, he
just stands there, dumbfounded. He turns and, going back to their
'picnic site', blows out all the candles. He gathers Emily's things
along with his composure while his back is to Emily. He comes back
over to her, smile intact.
He says cheerfully, "Okay, let's go." He hands Emily her purse and
Valentine candy. He leads her out and closed the door behind them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jax gets to the cottage later that night, expecting to find a very sad
and dejected Brenda. Jax figured she had broken their plans for the
evening because she was feeling a little low...thinking
about Sonny. 'How long is that monster going to be able to hurt her?'
he thought as he rang the bell.
He was standing there for a few minutes before he realized that he was
actually still standing in the cold, and there still was no answer. He
decided to use his key.
He walks in, the cottage was in darkness. He switches on a light.
"Brenda?" He called out, no answer. He closes the door behind him.
"Brenda, are you here?" There was a strangeness to the atmosphere in
the cottage, as if something was missing. He turns and, seeing on the
inside of the front door, a note addressed to him. He walks over and
pulls the envelope from the door. 'To Jax' he read, wondering what
could be wrong now. He rips open the letter and begins reading...
Dear Jax,
Now, before you panic, no there's nothing wrong. I'm sorry about our
plans for tonight but I had to break them for a very good reason.
Actually, I've broken a lot of plans with a few people in Port
Charles. What I'm trying to say Jax, is that I've gone away for
awhile. I'm not really sure when I'm coming back...or even if I'm
coming back. Port Charles has too many memories, some good, some
bad...but too many regardless. If I'm going to try to start over, I
have to start over somewhere else.
Sonny came by to see me today. I realized in that moment that I was
gonna get over him and make it on my own. I also realized that I had
to get over you always saving the day for me. It's really wonderful to
know that I have someone there for me at all times, always there to
catch me when I fall...always rescuing me in the rain..."
Jax felt himself not wanting to finish the letter, afraid of what it
would contain. He read on...
...and saving my life over and over again. But you can't be my savior,
Jax. You can be my friend, though, for as long as I live. But in the
meantime, I need space - from everything and everybody. Please don't
be offended that I didn't tell you where I was going, but I knew you
would somehow end up there eventually, making sure I was okay.
Please don't worry about me, Jax. I'm really a big girl now and I have
to learn to deal with my own life responsibly. I think I'm on my way
down that road now. It really feels good, too.
I love you, for always...for ever.
Brenda
Jax stands there, holding the letter, not sure whether to charter his
plane and fly all over the states to find her; to hire a detective to
find her for him, or...he didn't know what else.
A smile played across Jax's face. He looked at the letter again,
thinking of how Brenda really was growing up. "You can do it, Brenda,"
he says into the air, to himself, "I know you can."