A/N: Okay this is pre-Lucy coming back with Johnny. It's the story I would have much rather see.

So, Dusty has come back to life but there is no Musty anything. He is just staying in Oakdale figuring out where to go next.

Lucy is still on the run with Johnny.

Oh and Lucy for me is Peyton...because Grayson and Peyton are love.

Flashback--warm nights--
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories

She didn't allow herself to think of him during the day...every time he would creep up in her mind; she would busy herself with some mundane task like scrubbing the grout or baking cookies for Johnny.

It was the nights she couldn't control; the dreams that came over her as soon as she let her eyes flutter close. Sometimes it was a simple memory; feeling a breathy Princess whispered at the nape of her neck, or remembering the way her body contoured to his perfectly through the night. Then there were the times she would feel his fingertips on her flesh as real as the first time they made love.

He wasn't her first love...but he was her greatest. Sometimes she wondered if maybe the legend was bigger than the reality...but when she closed her eyes and remembered the way he loved her; it felt like floating on air. It only intensified every time she looked at Johnny. The boy was her brother by blood...but he was his by love, and it made her feel close to him; knowing that she was taking care of his son.

Leaving him had been the hardest thing she had ever done...the first time it had maimed her, but she had come back. The second time she left the biggest part of her in Oakdale as her heart lay at his feet, but even that didn't compare to mourning him.

Johnny was the only reason she hadn't completely fallen apart. He relied on her to keep it together; to protect him from her father, to give him the best life possible...so she saved her crying for the floor of the shower and into pillows as he slept peacefully into the night.

For a long time she couldn't accept he was really gone. She felt like she would know; like she would feel it in her bones...but she didn't. He was still there swimming in her veins and living in her dreams.

Then he came back to life, and she fought wanting to laugh or cry her eyes out because he was out in the world, and she would never see him again. Anytime she had to pack her and Johnny up she thought about going back to Oakdale and showing up at his door. Every time she was able to talk herself out of it...until Johnny got sick.

OoO

He chased every dark haired girl down every back street trying to find her. She consumed him; she always had. People thought he was mad at her for taking Johnny...but they just never understood exactly what she meant to him. He never expected to fall in love with Lucy Montgomery but then she was there; in his face, his life, becoming his world. He told her once that he could drown in her...he still would willingly take every gulp of water into his lungs just to live in her world for a moment.

The moments she was his, fleeting as they were, were the times he could remember being the happiest. They weren't perfect; not the first time when she chose to walk away from him, nor the second when she took his son away.

Part of him wanted to yell at her for leaving...and the bigger part of him wanted to know why she didn't ask him to go with her. He would follow her to the ends of the earth if she looked at him with those eyes and asked, and the moment she showed back up on his doorstep...he knew he still would.

OoO

"He's sick" she whispered her eyes filled with tears.

Ushering her into the room he checked the hallway to make sure she hadn't been followed. When he turned around his eyes drank her in. She looked older, her hair slightly darker, still the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on.

"Where ya been Luce?" he asked his voice hoarse with emotion.

Her face contorted in pain, "I'm so sorry"

Taking Johnny out of her arms he looked at him, "He's gotten big" he marveled, "The red hair...it's like Jennifer" he says softly.

All she could do was nod with those sad eyes. Gently he took the sleeping boy over to the bed and laid him down, "What's wrong with him"

"Aplastic Anemia...he needs a bone marrow transplant...they said family is his best bet for a match...I'm not...I'm not and we need to find one" she rambled.

Their eyes met, and like before he could tell exactly what she was feeling...so scared, sorry, sad and alone. Slowly he rose from the bed and walked towards her opening his arms. She fell into them; her head lying on his chest...just the way it was meant to.

OoO

As long as she ran, she never found a place that felt like home...but one moment with Dusty Donovan and she felt more at peace than she had in years.

She didn't know if she could leave him again; not if he wanted her to stay.

Four Weeks Later...

"My Dad...Craig, he knows were here, he's coming after Johnny...we have to leave tonight" she said her body trembling, "Katie told him about the bone marrow...she swore she wouldn't and she did...she told him and Johnny is in danger"

Touching her hands he searched her face, "Luce, let me protect you"

It wasn't that she didn't trust him. She did, in spite of everything she trusted him with everything, "Dusty...if he takes this to court, there is a good chance he will get custody of Johnny...he doesn't deserve that, Johnny doesn't belong with him"

Dusty nodded never letting go of her hands, "He belongs with us"

Nodding she could feel the tears start to spill out of her eyes. The rough pads of his thumbs gently swiped them away, "I promise, I won't let anything happen to either of you" he told her.

Looking up under the fan of lashes she nodded and he held her face in his hands. He was her home, her safe place, her refuge.

OoO

It was black outside when the plane landed on some island in the Pacific. By dawn the boat set sail to their new life.

Johnny ran across the bow staring at the glittering water as the sun climbed high in the sky. Lucy followed him around making sure he was warm enough, hydrated, not overexerting himself. He just watched them. This was everything to him. All those months of wandering around half dead; he had dreamt of this...and it wasn't until he opened that door to those eyes that he remembered what it was like to be alive

His Princess, his perfect, infuriating, beautiful, moody, emotional, wonderful Princess and his little flame haired boy. He never really knew what living was until them...his heart full, the thought of losing them again burning a hole in his chest, and he swore that he would die before he let them go through anymore than they already had.

"I'm really glad you came...Johnny needs you" she told him after Johnny laid down for a nap.

Turning he looked at her and stepped towards her, "I didn't just come for Johnny" he whispered low and guttural.

OoO

Closing her eyes she felt him step towards her and when she opened her eyes their torsos were inches apart. His movements were so slow and deliberate, the way he invaded her pace, pushed her hair out of her face, cupped her cheek, tilted her head up, and brought his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, "Luce, I'd follow you halfway around this earth if you wanted me too" he murmured.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she held onto him, "I want you to"