Chapter Title: Let's Dance

Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Baccano! or any of its characters. All rights go to Ryohgo Narita, seeing as without him I wouldn't have been able to write this.

Dedications: This chapter is dedicated to all of the people who stopped and read the first chapter… and especially to those that actually are reading this second chapter! Haha

"Uhm… Isaac," Firo said to his friend, scratching the back of his head. "You realize there are only three woman here, right?"

"So?" Isaac questioned, staring wide-eyed at the young Camorra member with a confused expression. "Dance with your friends!"

"Yeah! Dance with your friends!" Miria agreed, her cheerful disposition making everyone in the room a little less uptight about the possibility of dancing.

Claire and Chane were the first ones to begin dancing alone with the upbeat music. Chane told Claire of her insecurities when it came to dancing since she had never learned how to, but Claire insisted and as they danced he took the lead and taught her the steps as they moved. Around them the men started to liven up and eventually most everyone was dancing with a partner. Camorra members spun each other around while Isaac and Miria twirled through the group, laughing and acting like their usual selves.

"Would you like to dance?" Luck requested of Eve, holding out his hand to her. Eve blushed, but nodded happily and set her hand in his. It was small in comparison and more slender, but the two hands fit together nicely and both people smiled at each other.

Luck was an experienced dancer and Eve had learned some during her studies. They weren't as flashy in their dancing as Isaac and Miria, but they were both obviously skilled. They moved with the music together. Their hands never left each other's grasp and more often than not Luck's opposite hand was set on the curve of Eve's body. Their eyes never left each other as they danced around the group and both had a small smile ever-present on their faces.

After a moment, the music changed and instead of the heavy swing jazz that had been playing, a slow, somber tune came out of the radio. The male x male couples paused and looked at each other awkwardly, but eventually were pressured into slow dancing with their comrades by Isaac and Miria. Claire needed no invitation to pull Chane closer. She was a little confused about what to do, so instead of teaching her the steps as they went, Claire lifted Chane up and set her feet on top of his and started dancing with her that way. The smile that graced her lips was all he needed at that moment.

Isaac and Miria were watching Luck and Eve very carefully from their spot at the doorway. They had a perfect view of the two from their position and they were both grinning madly. Of course their plan had been to get the two together that evening. It had been since they had first seen how much older Eve had gotten and how Luck had been looking at her. The devious duo usually was rather oblivious to obvious things, but this was a prime exception.

"Isaac," Miria whispered, glancing over at him. "What do you think is going to happen?"

"Well Miria my dear," Isaac replied, grinning at her, "those two will definitely fall madly in love. It's definitely going to happen."

"Well if it's definitely going to happen," Miria replied, sounding slightly confused, "why did we have to get them to dance together?"

Isaac froze in his place for a moment, staring at the dancing couples with his mouth hanging open rather stupidly. It was rare that Miria questioned anything that Isaac said, but when she did it seemed like she always hit the nail on the head.

"Because," Isaac finally answered, acting as though nothing had happened and smiling knowingly at Luck and Eve, "sometimes people just need a little push."

"And we're that push?"

"Exactly!" Isaac exclaimed and in their joy at being that "little push" the two started swinging around the doorway, dancing together.

Luck didn't waste time after the song slowed down a bit in tempo. He set his hand permanently on Eve's waist – the other grasping hers lightly – and pulled her closer. Eve didn't resist and soon the two were slowly swaying around the dance floor. The blush that was gracing Eve's features made Luck smile and when he saw it he somewhat tightened his hold on her, as though this beautiful young woman before him would float away otherwise.

"You're a brilliant dancer Mr. Luck," Eve complimented him, smiling up at him.

"As are you," Luck replied and nodded towards her. "It amazes me how much you've grown since our last encounter four years ago."

"Thank you," Eve said, though she wasn't completely sure that he had been complimenting her. A sudden dark look came over her features and Luck faltered in their dance, though he recovered right away.

"What is it?" Luck questioned, raising his eyebrows at Eve.

"Mr. Luck…" Eve began and looked up at him with an almost pleading look. They continued dancing, but it was much slower than before. "You have done so much for me. You helped me find Dallas and then with… with the truth about my father… I just can't thank you enough Mr. Luck."

Hearing Eve say his name like that made Luck cringe slightly. Did she have to put the Mr. before it? They were practically the same age now, so he shouldn't be addressed like she would an old man. If Eve's expression hadn't been so sincere and captivating, Luck might have commented on this. Instead, however, he stopped dancing and stared down at her. It was obvious that for the past four years she had been holding in this remorse for never paying him back and he frowned at the thought.

"Eve," Luck finally said and she looked up at him with those beautiful big, sad eyes. He tried to send her a soft look, though he didn't think he pulled it off overly well, "you have no need to feel that way. I made my decisions because I wanted to make them. You owe me nothing."

A somewhat shocked look came over Eve's face before her mouth finally blossomed into a beautiful smile that made Luck extremely nervous for some reason. He had to lick his lips and swallow before he could return the short little grin and then they slowly began dancing again. The song still had a good minute or two left and during that time Eve and Luck's eyes never strayed from each other's. They made idle chitchat about the different studies Eve had been looking into and the numerous business dealings that Luck had to work with.

The party ended sometime around midnight. The guests had spent the time dancing more, chatting, laughing, playing card games, and just enjoying the evening. Isaac and Miria were always up for some entertaining games to play and Firo and Maiza spent almost an entire hour playing with dominoes (which many of the other guests got involved with as well). When he wasn't introducing Chane to everyone in sight, Claire was chatting about their upcoming wedding. Firo introduced the couple to Isaac and Miria and throughout the entire conversation Claire was remembering how he had saved them on the Flying Pussyfoot and how they had risked their lives for Czes. Isaac and Miria were exceptionally happy about the wedding plans and for a while they were throwing back and forth ideas with Claire and Chane, though Chane spoke more through Claire. Eve and Luck separated after the dancing was complete, though every once in a while they would catch eyes and smile or they would have small little idle conversations.

"Well, we better go," Firo said to Luck and motioning towards Maiza, who stood beside him. As they headed out the door, Firo called back, "It was good meeting you Eve."

The door closed behind the two and Luck smirked. They were the last guests to leave besides Eve, whose driver was apparently late. Eve explained that he had probably been sleeping and then wakened by her maid when she realized he had not been over to pick her up yet. Luck offered to have one of his servants take her over, but she refused, not wanting to bother him.

Keith had left the party before anyone else, saying that he had to get to his wife Kate, who had been absent for the party because she had come down with the flu. Berga had left around eleven-thirty with a few of the other Martillo members to go to a local bar where they were meeting a few other people. This left Luck and Eve the last remaining partygoers. Luck smirked slightly, realizing that they had been the first ones to enter the party room and that they were to be the last. It was one of those bittersweet thoughts.

"He seems so nice," Eve commented, pulling Luck out of his thoughts and causing him to turn where he stood and face her a few feet away. She was looking in the direction of where Firo had exited and Luck felt a sense of envy flood through him for a moment, though he masked it well and quickly pushed the thoughts away.

"Firo's a good kid," Luck agreed, his eyes never leaving Eve's figure. She turned towards him and walked a few steps closer.

"I had fun today Mr. Luck," she said and a shyness seemed to come over her and she looked down, blushing slightly. "I had more fun than I've had in a long time."

Luck paused for a moment but then smiled and, slipping his hands in his pockets, replied, "Well I'm glad I could be a part of your fun day."

Eve giggled at this comment slightly and her laughter made Luck's mind reel and his heartbeat speed up. They smiled at each other softly after Eve's laughter subsided. After a moment, however, both blushed a little and turned away, embarrassed by the emotions that they were thinking about the other. Luck mentally slapped himself for thinking this way about Eve. She had gotten older, yes, but she was still the same Eve Genoard that he had met as a young girl. Besides, she was still the sister of the man who had killed so many of his men.

"Miss Genoard," a voice from the doorway said and both teens jumped. Standing in the doorway was Eve's driver, who had apparently arrived while they had been talking. "Are you prepared to depart, Miss Genoard?"

"Oh, yes," Eve replied, taking a step closer to the doorway and also to Luck. "I'll be out in a moment."

The driver nodded and then exited the room. A second later the front door was heard slamming closed and then there was silence. Finally Luck let out an almost silent sigh and walked over to Eve. He took her hand, as he had done earlier that day, and pressed his lips to her knuckles. Her skin was soft against his and he felt his own warm where it touched Eve's. He set her hand down and opened his mouth to say his goodbyes, but Eve stopped him by planting a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you again for everything Mr. Luck," Eve said, surprisingly not blushing but instead looking Luck in the eyes. "If there's ever anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Come back tomorrow," Luck blurted out suddenly in response. He cringed as he realized how his actions must look, but he didn't take back what he said. Eve stared at him, wide-eyed, though Luck didn't detect any part of her that was resisting his request. "Come have lunch with me tomorrow. Eleven o'clock."

There was a pause, but then Eve smiled and nodded. "I will. Thank you for the invitation."

And then before Luck could tell what was happening Eve was gone, the only thing left of her being the echo of the front door as it slammed behind her. Luck let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding in and fell back against the wall, his fingers running through his hair as he tried to make sense of what he had just done. He had invited Eve Genoard over for lunch with him. Exclusively him. What was he thinking. Despite feeling aghast for his actions, Luck had to smile and admit that he was looking forward to the following day's events.

Outside of the Gandor home, Eve fell back against the front door, clutching the front of her dress. Beneath her hand her heart was beating faster than normal and she was breathing faster as well. She had just accepted a request to have lunch with Luck Gandor. He was the star of many young women's fantasies in New York and Eve had a date… no, not a date. Definitely not a date… right?

Author's Corner – Well, I got no reviews for the first chapter… Though a couple of you did like it enough to favorite and one of you (Gamer AlchemistZ you are officially my favorite of my Lucky Days readers so far ;P) decided to even get alerted on new chapters! So I do have a little hope for this story… Though it's not an overly large amount .
Well, whatever. I enjoy writing this and that's all that matters :)

This chapter came out sooooo late because my internet was DESTROYED for a long time. Just my luck. Also, I won't be posting another chapter until probably the 30th or 31st because I'm going on a vacation to Arizona and I don't plan on just sitting in the pool for a week =P

Despite all of that, I hope you liked this chapter. I don't think it was as good as the first, but I'll let you be the final judge. Happy reading everyone!

Sincerely Yours,
Julia