CHAPTER ONE:

"Passengers, please remain seated and fasten your seatbelts as we will be landing in about twenty minutes…."

Lulu Spencer took a deep breath and felt her heart rate crescendo in her chest. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes until she would be home. She longed for two more months… just two more months to be in Paris, working for Kate and living with her mother. Two more months without having to see Dante; two more months to wrap her mind around everything that had happened.

She thought back to her last night in Port Charles. June had seemed so far away when Kate asked her to go to Paris for two months. The most painful part of the idea was being away from Dante for eight entire weeks. What she soon realized was that her boss was doing her boyfriend a favor by sending her across the world for business.

**

"It's just all of the craziness going on in my life right now," he admitted softly, lacing his fingers around her, "I know asking Kate to send you to Paris instead of Maxie was manipulative, but I love you enough to know that being around me right now will only hurt you."

"You can't hurt me," she responded, her voice whinier than she had planned, "I get that you need time with your family… your whole world was just turned upside down. I can give you some space to figure it out without leaving the continent."

His lips curled into a grin that she recognized. He was always very transparent in his love for her stubborn behavior. "And other any other circumstances, I would have let the idea go. But it's not just another continent… it's Paris. You can spend time with your mom and do whatever kind of fashion stuff that will help your career. You can live your life without worrying about me until I figure out how to process everything."

"So I go to Paris and you stay here, but what happens to us?" she questioned, "Do you think we're just going to fizzle out like some high school kids that go off to different colleges or something?"

"No, not like that," he argued, "We go our separate ways for a few months and deal with our lives. And you'll be back in June. If my life is back together and you think I'm good enough, you can ask me out."

"Don't make stupid jokes while you're breaking up with me," she interjected, fighting tears and turning to anger for comfort. "If you're going to push me away for my own good, you should know you're definitely not the first person to do so. I get that a lot, so I know exactly what the secret code language means."

"I love you, Lulu," he repeated, "So, yeah… I guess this is the only way I can help you. But I will be here when you come back."

**

Knowing that Dante would be there now was not as comforting as he had meant it to be. Instead, it put a knot in her stomach. Facing him after what happened the last night she was in town would be difficult. She actually found herself praying that she would find him in the arms of some other woman. It would make the explanation a lot less painful.

As the plane began to descend on the place she knew as home, the knot in her stomach turned into a wave of nausea, another reminder of the mistakes she had made. She closed her eyes and went back to her last night in Port Charles.

**

"Mmm… another of this thing, whatever it is," she giggled as she held an empty shot glass up for Coleman to see.

"You sure you need another? I'm going to have to call you a cab, you know…" Coleman answered, taking the glass from her and refilling it.

"I do… need more," she clarified, "Because I'll be away for two whole months. And that's two months of my life that I can't enjoy your awesome little concoctions, so I'm filling up now."

"Where are you going?"

She turned to her left, matching the voice she recognized with the face she knew very well. Her ex looked as messed up as she felt, and the beer in his hand told her that he was drowning just like she was. "Paris."

"To see your mom?"

"I will, but that's not why I'm going," she groaned, "Domin- Dante pulled strings with Kate to send me away. He says it's for my own good, that he's too messed up right now to be with me."

"Wow," Johnny sighed, finishing off his beer and gesturing to Coleman for another, "It's like he's related to Olivia or something."

"I heard about her and Sonny. I'm so sorry, Johnny."

"Don't be. I knew it would happen. I was just too stupid to get out of that relationship before I became some kind of victim."

"Still doesn't make it okay," she sighed, finishing another shot and putting the glass out for Coleman. She started to laugh. "This is kind of ironic, huh? We're both sitting here getting slammed-"

"Slammed? Don't you mean trashed?"

"Whatever… we're getting really, really inebriated over people that we fell in love with after our, well, whatever it was."

"Relationship," he corrected.

"Relationship," she clarified, "I didn't think we'd ever be friends after what happened with us."

"You know I'll always care about you. Maybe we just needed a couple Falconeris to come around for it to become comfortable again."

"We were much more than comfortable."

He grinned. "Very true."

**

When the plane came to a stop at the gate, Lulu snapped out of what had become a constant daydream since she saw the plus sign on a home pregnancy test two weeks ago. She could remember everything that led her up to a room above Jake's with Johnny. She remembered waking up the next morning in bed with him. But what she could not remember was whether or not they had used protection. And that was the missing piece that she desperately needed.

She reached into her purse and turned on her cell phone. She needed to arrange a meeting with Johnny to ask him if he remembered more than she did. But as soon as her phone powered up, it rang. It was Carly. She answered with a small groan.

"Carly…"

"Hey little Miss Paris, don't sound so annoyed. Your flight just landed, right?"

"How did you know that?"

"I have the internet, sweetie," she laughed, "I was watching the arrivals. I want my cousin at my son's graduation party that starts in about an hour, which is exactly why I sent Jax to the airport to pick you up. So look for him and let him bring you over. We'll all celebrate together."

Lulu closed her eyes and leaned against the seat, fighting another wave of morning sickness. At that moment, she couldn't think of much to celebrate.