AN: I wish I could say I trust GH to give us a good Laura-in-peril-Kevin-is-worried story this week so I thought I would try to write my own. Oh, and this Laura also knows a thing or two about taking care of herself so don't be looking for Kevin to break down a door and save her. Besides, he is much more the cerebral hero and there are many ways to save someone. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1

A KevLaur Fanfic

"Laura? Did you hear anything I just told you?"

Kevin watched as Laura shook her head and moved to take a sip of her coffee. She had been up and dressed for the day and wearing a hole in his living room carpet with her pacing and nervous energy for hours. She seemed genuinely relieved when he suggested breakfast at Kelly's before his first appointment at the hospital. But now she kept losing focus and zoned out as he had been talking to her about his last phone call with Christina.

"I'm sorry, Kevin," Laura said while reaching to stroke his hand on the small table. "I should have warned you that I wasn't going to be good company over breakfast."

"The Board vote?" Kevin asked, already very aware of what had her so preoccupied.

"Yes, this afternoon at 3. Tracy has already texted me twice to remind me and warn me not to be late. I do have to be there early to help Tracy put the packets together for the Board members and we are meeting with Hayden one last time to go over the financial projections."

Kevin took the last bite of his spinach and feta omelet and set down his fork and looked up at the woman in front of him. He realized that he loved her more every day or at least found new things to love about her. His right hand was now interlocked with hers and he gave it little squeeze that he hoped conveyed without words that even distracted, she was still the best of company. Kevin was very proud of Laura who had become so involved in the Board activities after just a few short months and was now instrumental in helping the Quartermaines ensure that the hospital continued in the Port Charles community for many more generations.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kevin asked as he watched Laura push her French toast around some more on her plate, clearly too distracted to care about eating even at this point.

"Well, there isn't much to say. We have tried to convince all the Board members that we have a viable solution. But, the holding company that made the offer to buy the hospital isn't backing down. Even Lucy thinks that it is too good an offer for us to sway the final undecided voters."

"I'm still shocked that Lucy is not fighting more for the hospital. She won't know what to do without the Nurse's Ball every year."

Kevin decided that this wasn't helping Laura deal with her anxiety and decided to switch tactics. "I'll be in my office finishing paperwork when the meeting is over. Will you come see me right away? I think dinner out with a nice wine is on the agenda for this evening. Or, since I know you didn't get much sleep last night, I'm fine staying in and making it an early night."

Laura finally abandoned the rest of her breakfast and thanked the waitress while she filled their coffee cups one more time. Kevin noticed the tension in her shoulders and knew that more was bothering her than just the hospital vote.

"Kevin, I think I'm going to head back to Lulu's tonight."

Kevin tried to make eye contact and noticed that Laura was looking everywhere—down at her hands, at the table next to them—but at him. He had lost count of how many times they had this discussion in the last two months and decided that now really wasn't the time to bring it back up or try to talk Laura out of her plans. If he learned anything it was that once she made up her mind, it was hard—if not impossible—to change her mind about anything.

"Whatever you need to do is fine with me, Laura," Kevin continued in the softest and most gentle voice she had ever heard. "Just know that I am here for you and my door is always open."

Now he was rewarded with eye contact. And they were still the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. So many emotions were flickering through them today. He felt if he kept looking he would truly get lost in them. He realized he had seen this very expression from Laura before. When he had told her she didn't have to say anything on the plane ride back from Geneva. She seemed shocked that he wasn't making more demands on her. A lesser man would have pushed to know if she accepted his apology. And now, she seemed soothed by his willingness to let her come to him, yet again.

"Thank you." Laura still hadn't broken eye contact with him and reached for his hand again.

"What do you say we get out of here? I've still got a few minutes before I have to be to the hospital and it is such an unseasonably warm day. We could go for a short walk in the park, just soaking up the sun and fresh air without thinking about hospitals or Board meetings, or anything really."

"I think that is a great idea, Kevin."

Kevin handed their waitress money for the bill as well as her tip and then moved back to help Laura with her coat. As they moved to leave Kelly's he didn't miss the fact that Laura reached for his hand first. No one thought it odd that the man sitting by himself at the table by the window abruptly left his money on the table and followed them out the door.


They did as Kevin suggested and left both of their cars in the parking lot at Kelly's and walked the short distance to the park, still hand-in-hand and content to just walk in silence. Laura moved to loop her arm in his and tried to keep up with Kevin's long stride. She lifted her face to the sun and enjoyed the warmth as a breeze rustled some dead leaves at their feet.

Laura allowed herself to replay the events of the morning as she was cognizant of the closeness she felt towards the man beside her. How she had watched the digital numbers on the clock count closer to dawn and how she couldn't turn off the voices in her head as she heard his deep breathing beside her. Kevin had finally stirred and instinctively knew she wasn't and couldn't sleep and pulled her into his embrace. The warmth…the feel of his masculine hands as they rubbed up and down her back. Now she remembered the smells too. Kevin smelled of softness and sleep. She saw flashes of his surprised, but not disagreeable expression as she was the one to kiss his neck and reach to pull his shirt over his head. They moved without speaking and she hoped Kevin could sense that she needed this connection to help her make sense of where they had been and where they were headed. When he had asked again the night before, the first time she stayed at his apartment for two nights in a row, if she would reconsider his offer of moving in permanently. She hesitated, just like before, and still uncertain of what words to put to this reluctance she chose not to say anything. Now, she fought her own demons as she knew she was fighting a losing internal battle with herself and something in her past. When she only stayed at his apartment one night separated by a night at her daughter's she could justify that she wasn't truly ready to move in with him. But now…now that one night had become two…her hesitation became like a stone weight keeping her from floating to the surface and allowing herself to enjoy how good it felt to be with him.

"Laura?" Kevin's voice had pulled her out of her reverie and she realized that they had even stopped walking. He was turned towards her with his hands on her face, searching her expression, realizing that she had been deep in her thoughts. She leaned in to kiss him. Soft, slow, and gentle as the kiss then morphed into a hug and Kevin held her as she swayed into his embrace.

"I wish I could stay here with you longer but I really need to head back and get to the hospital. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine. I think I'm going to walk a little more before I head back. I'm going to touch base with Lulu before I have to head to the hospital later. Kevin, thank you."

"What for?"

"For…well…everything. For just being you. For being patient with me. I know I have been distracted by this Board Meeting. I can't imagine going through all of this without you beside me."

"Well in case you haven't noticed yet, we are pretty good together. We are a team. And together, we can deal with anything."

"I love you, Kevin Collins."

She didn't mean to start crying and she was certain she could blame it on the uncertainty of the Board vote or her lack of sleep. But, she was also certain Kevin could tell it was more than that.

Kevin's thumb caught one of her tears while his soft kisses silenced the others. His embrace told her she could talk to him if she wanted to or she didn't have to say anything at all.

Laura found her voice as she stepped out of his arms to look at him. "Kevin, you need to know that I am seriously considering your offer. This is about me and what I still need to sort through. Not you. You are wonderful. I meant what I said months ago. I love being with you. My life is better with you in it. Thank you for being so patient with me. Thank you for loving me."

She flashed him a big smile and hoped he had a few more minutes for some proper kissing even as the breeze cooled their passion and they reluctantly separated so that Kevin could get to work on time.

"I like messing around with you, Laura Spencer, in the park, in February, in the sunshine." Kevin teased her just a little further as his lips found a favorite spot on her neck and his hands slid between the buttons on her coat.

"Kevin, we've…messed around like teenagers for the last two months." Laura said in a demure fashion that was still plenty flirty too.

"Laura, teenagers have sex…in the back of a car or their parents' basement. We've been making love like adults."

"You don't hear me complaining."

"Ditto."

Laura took his hands in her hers and gave him a playful shove away from her. The dark cloud lifted from her so that she believed that she could get through the day and be successful in her mission to save the hospital.

"Go; don't be late to work…again."

"You will come see me after the meeting?"

Laura's heart broke as Kevin looked so forlorn. She realized she had given him no reason not to think she would head straight to her daughter's home at the end of the day and she regretted how abrupt she had been earlier. Kevin was making this so hard. But he was doing it without pressure or emotional blackmail. He was doing it with patience and genuine understanding and love.

"You will be my first stop as soon as the Board Meeting has ended."

Kevin gave her one final kiss for luck, although he said she wouldn't need it. He then pulled her coat around her tighter, buttoned the button he had managed to undo, and tied her belt so that she wouldn't get cold on the rest of her walk in the park.

Laura could still hear Kevin's voice saying "I love you" as she continued her walk through the park. She didn't hear the footsteps of her attacker until he was immediately behind her. The hair on the back of her neck alerted her first to danger. Her reflexes went back in time 30 years when she and Luke were always looking over their shoulders and expecting the worst. Because of this vigilance, Laura managed to get a glimpse of her attacker before she felt the rag over her face. She was certain she had been able to scratch his arm too just as she felt the world spinning and the cold pavement beneath her back.

TO BE CONTINUED