A/N: Ok, so this is my very first fanfic. I hope you enjoy it (please be constructive!). It's a little AU but should be pretty self-explanatory. I was going to end it here, but the feedback at RTN has been encouraging so I am thinking of continuing ...

Prompt: Take cover

Elizabeth peered cautiously through the window at Kelly's before opening the door slowly. She didn't want to alert anyone to her presence in case HE was there.

She caught Penny's eye and mouthed, "Is the coast clear?"

Penny laughed and nodded. "If you mean Lucky, he was here a while ago looking for you but left when I told him you had the day off."

Elizabeth let out the breath she had been holding. "Thanks."

"What's up with you guys, anyway? You two have been thick as thieves since the minute you met him, and suddenly you hide if you even think he might be walking in."

"It's a long story," Elizabeth replied. Actually, it wasn't that long of a story, but she just didn't want to get into it right now. She had been avoiding Lucky for days, ever since he had tried to kiss her. What was THAT about? It was true, as Penny had said, that she and Lucky had been friends, good friends, practically inseparable, ever since she had started at PCU last year, but that was as far as it went. She didn't think of him like that, and she couldn't imagine that she ever would. So why did he have to blow a good thing by trying to kiss her?

Okay, so he had been drunk, but still. It had all started like a typical Friday night at Jake's, with the Four Musketeers sharing some pitchers of beer and playing pool at Jake's. And like always, Emily had been flirting with Nikolas, hoping that just this once, he would see her as a potential date and not as an asexual being who happened to be his close friend. And as usual, Elizabeth had been playing pool – badly – with whichever of her friends was up for it.

And then some guys she knew from her history class came in and joined them, and somehow everything went downhill.

At least for her – it couldn't have worked out better for Emily, because when Nik saw Jack flirting outrageously with Emily, and Emily flirting back, he suddenly seemed to see her in a whole different light, and he started flirting, too. And the next thing Liz knew, Emily and Nik had disappeared to find some privacy, and then it was just her, Lucky, Jack, and Andrew. And the more Andrew and Jack teased and flattered Elizabeth, the quieter Lucky got -- and the more he drank. Until finally, he looked like he was about to pass out where he sat, and Elizabeth realized she had to get him home before he did.

And when she finally half-dragged him to his room, he tried to kiss her! And the worst part was, he started babbling about how he had always loved her, and how he could imagine them married and raising children and how happy they would be. And as she sat there, stunned, trying to wrap her brain around the idea of her and Lucky together like that (an image that made her feel slightly nauseous since he had always been almost like a brother to her), he had thankfully passed out. And she had run.

XXXXXXXXXX

Elizabeth shook herself out of her memories and saw Penny looking at her expectantly. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted anything?"

"Oh, sorry, yeah, could I get some chili to go?"

"Sure." The bell on the door jingled, and Elizabeth tensed. When she turned to look, her tension morphed into a kind of edgy awareness.

Jason Morgan nodded politely but didn't say anything until he reached her standing at the counter. Even then, all he said to her was, "Hey." Then, without giving her a chance to respond, he looked at Penny, saying only, "Black coffee to go. Thanks."

As Elizabeth stood there, tongue-tied as she always was around Jason, she felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for Lucky. Apparently, he had been feeling for her the same unrequited passion she had been feeling for Jason ever since Emily had introduced them almost a year ago. No one knew about her secret crush, not even Emily, since it would be too weird to admit to Em that she had the hots for Em's brother. Besides, it was hopeless and would be so embarrassing if anyone ever found out.

As she scrambled for something to say, she idly wondered if it was better that she rarely interacted with Jason, or if it would be better to be like Lucky, spending every waking moment with someone who didn't return her feelings. And she sighed as Jason said, "see ya later," grabbed his coffee, and left before he even heard her reply, "Yeah, later."

XXXXXXXXXX

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth sat on a bench looking out over the water, finishing her chili and wondering what to do about Lucky. She certainly couldn't keep avoiding him, but she couldn't let him think there could be something between them and she certainly couldn't break his heart. So she kept going round and round, looking for a way out that would spare his feelings.

She could join a convent. Except she wasn't Catholic, and she was pretty sure that was a requirement.

She could join the Peace Corps. But she hated bugs and nature and all that, and she was positive they didn't send volunteers to Paris or Venice or anywhere good.

She could tell him she was a lesbian. But he already probably knew she wasn't, since she and Emily didn't really censor their girl-talk around Lucky.

She sighed. Too bad she didn't already have a boyfriend …

Wait, that might be a viable alternative. She didn't want to lead anyone on, but she could probably go on a few dates or something. She decided to call Emily to run the idea by her and see what she thought.

Before she could even pull out her phone, she heard heavy footsteps, and turned to see Jason coming down the stairs, drinking his coffee.

"Hey again," said Jason, with what might have been a small smile. Except this was Jason, and he didn't smile, she thought distractedly.

"Hey," she managed. "Twice in one day. What are the odds?"

Definitely a smile, she thought, perplexed, as she watched it widen and her heart sped up in response.

"What are you doing?" he asked, walking toward her.

"Just sitting here trying to figure something out."

"Anything I can help with?"

"What? No, really it's no big … well, maybe … no, it's not important … well, it is kind of but I don't think I can tell you …" she stammered.

"Elizabeth," he broke in, sitting down on the bench next to her as her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest, "why don't you take a breath and tell me what's going on. Even if I can't fix it, saying it out loud might help."

So she took a deep breath and said on a single exhale, "Lucky kissed me the other night and I've been avoiding him and I don't know how to tell him I don't like him like that and I'm not Catholic and I hate bugs and I'm not into girls and I can't keep diving for cover whenever I see him so I have to talk to him …"

"Whoa, whoa, take another breath," Jason looked both completely confused and like he was trying not to laugh, which Elizabeth didn't even know was possible. She could feel herself turning red as she wondered how he could look so hot with that expression on his face.

"Let me get this straight," he said, still trying to keep a straight face. "You just figured out that Lucky has a thing for you and you don't know how to handle it, so you're avoiding him, but what was the part about religion and bugs?'

"Well, that's not really important because I already ruled out a convent and the Peace Corps. I was just thinking if Lucky knew I had a boyfriend already, he would take it better and things could go back to normal." Elizabeth had a hard time focusing with Jason's full attention on her. He should be required to register those eyes as a lethal weapon, she thought irrelevantly.

"You have a boyfriend?" he asked, suddenly looking not the least bit amused.

Liz felt her blush getting deeper. "No, but I was thinking about going on a few dates so Lucky would think I did and wouldn't be upset."

"I hate to tell you, but he's gonna be upset either way." Jason looked amused again. "Why not just tell him the truth?"

"I can't hurt him like that! That would be cruel. Besides, isn't it better if it's not that I'd rather be alone than with him, but that someone else swept me off my feet first?"

Jason sighed and shook his head, "then why not tell him you're dating someone and leave it at that?"

She was shocked at the suggestion. "I can't LIE to him. What an awful thing to suggest! He's my friend! And anyway, he would want to meet whoever I'm dating and then what would I do?"

"Well, I guess you're stuck." He glanced over her shoulder at the stairs behind her. "And don't look now, but here he comes, so you better either decide what to tell him or take cover fast."

Elizabeth panicked. She froze for half a second, then realized Jason was moving to get up and leave them alone, so she did the only thing she could think of -- she grabbed the front of his leather jacket, and yanked his mouth down onto hers.