So this is happening. I don't even care that I have seven unfinished stories out at once. One thing I love about Lucaya is the fact that there are so many angles with which you can play off of their personalities and histories. So many ways you can write them and their dynamic, and it all works so well.

This is a Lucaya AU based on A Walk To Remember. This story has been adapted to fit the universe and characters of GMW.

Rated High T for Triflin' Mofos.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own GMW or A Walk To Remember.

To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

It was almost seven.

The city was bustling with activity from people waving to catch taxis, running to subway stations, or getting quick bites to eat and cups of coffee to wake themselves up from the lethargy of the typical gray morning skies.

Lucas had almost forgotten how active and alive New York City always was.

Even when your own time seemed to stand still, the city was always moving, always continuing on.

He smiled slightly.

She had said something like that to him once upon a time.

The forgotten familiarity of the roads started to become familiar once again, and Lucas cut off the GPS on his phone, realizing he never really needed it to come back here. Lucas turned on the familiar street, his trepidation rising with each second he drove closer and closer to his destination.

After arriving and parking, Lucas cut off his car, leaning back into his seat and silently watching the still passing traffic to his left. In his peripheral, light from the sun reflected off of the wedding band on his finger, hitting a spot on the roof in the interior of his car. He breathed out slowly through his lips, taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself down. He could do this. All he had to do was get out and walk inside. With a final encouraging deep breath, he pulled out the key and grabbed his bag and the flowers on the passenger seat.

Roses.

She'd always claimed she hated it when he gave them to her.

So he brought them anyway.

Lucas got out of his car and crossed the street into the run-down, burgundy apartment complex. He jogged up the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hall to his destination. He'd been there several times and could get to it in his sleep if he had to. He reached the door of the apartment and knocked a couple times with his knuckles. Some of the paint flaked off from the action, and he vaguely wondered if it hadn't been painted since he left New York.

The door opened, and Gammy Hart stared up at him, blinking in surprise behind her wide rimmed, round glasses.

"Lucas! You're the first one here. I just finished the tea."

"Hey, Gammy Hart." He said a little tensely, scratching the back of his head.

"Well come in, come in!" she stepped aside, allowing him room to enter. "The others should be coming over soon."

He walked slowly in, taking in the living room. It was exactly as he remembered it. The perpetual aroma of a vanilla scented candle lingering in the air. The rattling of the air conditioning on the fritz. The old, tacky cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. The easel near the window. The frayed quilt draped over the sofa. The torn, aged chairs and splintered wooden furniture. Even the small dent in the hardwood floor near the bookshelf was still there. It was like nothing had changed in the five years of his absence.

Well... one thing had changed.

She wasn't sitting on her faded blue stool in the corner near the window, sketching images of the street below.

"It's been a long time since I've last seen you, Lucas." Gammy said, slowly carrying over the tray of tea, milk, and sugar to the coffee table. "Five years, I believe."

"Let me help you with that." He hastily set the roses down on the kitchen counter and carefully took the tray from Gammy's hands. He walked around the couch and put it down on the coffee table. "It has been a while."

"Thank you, Lucas." She said gratefully, plopping down tiredly on her favourite puke green rocking chair. It creaked loudly from the weight, and she let out a sigh when she could finally relax her legs. Lucas settled onto the sofa, shoulders and body stiff.

They fell into a restless silence for a spell, both putting sugar and milk in their respective teas before picking them up and taking small sips.

Jasmine.

It had always been her favourite. She liked to say it tasted like life.

"I see you brought her roses." Gammy finally said, chuckling good-naturedly. "She always told you she really hated that."

He could feel the tips of his ears warming, "It felt appropriate to bring."

She nodded. "I know she would love the gesture. She liked to pretend it was an annoyance to her. But, you know, on late evenings, I would always catch her staring wistfully at them and tracing the petals."

"I never would have expected that. The last time I brought her roses, she threatened me with bodily harm."

"Yes, that was her nature." Gammy let out a peel of laughter, a thin, wispy sound that only made her age more apparent to Lucas, "Whenever she got embarrassed, she always did turn defensive. But she loved them. And she loved you."

"I know..." Lucas said softly, gazing fondly at the ring on his finger.

"I'm glad you came back."

"I had a promise to keep, didn't I?" he looked around, "How is Katy, by the way? I don't see her."

Gammy Hart set her tea cup down on her lap momentarily, eyes downcast, "I wouldn't know… she moved away a couple years ago."

Lucas' eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's alright, Lucas. She didn't want me to tell anyone and worry them."

"Do you know where she is?"

"She was somewhere in Chicago in January. But last I heard, she was on her way to California." Gammy's smile turned a little melancholic, "She hasn't been communicating too much these years. Kind of living life like it's empty. She's been that way for almost as long as you've been gone."

"I don't blame her…" Lucas said quietly.

Everyone had been hit hard, but he couldn't even begin to imagine how rough it was for Katy. He knew that to a pretty extreme extent, Katy blamed herself despite everyone assuring her that no one was at fault.

"So." Gammy said, sensibly changing the subject. "Vet school, huh? Which school are you attending in the fall?"

"Cornell. I decided to stay in New York. And it's only a four hour drive away from here." He'd spent his undergrad years in Texas, but he missed being in New York. He missed walking down the street and being reminded of her by every single thing. He missed the essence of her that the city seemed to exude.

"Was your undergrad curriculum difficult?"

"It was a lot harder than I expected." He said, taking a small sip, "But I managed."

She smiled, leaning back into her wicker chair. "Well congratulations, Lucas. You deserve it."

He nodded, gaze drifting to the open window. It was funny how the day was so cheerful when Lucas' thoughts and mood were anything but. The summer sun was shining brightly and completely unobstructed. There wasn't a single cloud concealing any of the early morning sky.

It reminded him of her.

Her glittering stormy blue-gray eyes and sun-kissed blonde locks.

"She would be proud of you, you know." Gammy said softly, calling his attention back to her.

Lucas met the old woman's kind eyes, and saw the same heartache that he knew he was sporting reflected in them.

"Thank you. That means a lot, ma'am."

"You're so charming." She chortled, "You really have come a long way. It's such a far cry from the you of the past that I almost can't believe it."

He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised himself. His past wasn't exactly something he was proud of, but knowing that he had made that change and become a better person for both him and her was all that mattered to him. And he really hoped, somewhere up there, she could see that he'd kept his promise and would continue to keep it to honour her memory.

"Yeah… I have." Lucas chuckled softly. "I never would have guessed I would turn out like this."

But Maya knew from the start. She always knew who I really was…