A/N: So I am so sorry for being m.i.a lately. Truth is it's been a really tough few weeks. My brother passed away about 2 weeks ago and i tried getting this out earlier and it just wasn't flowing. I'm actually pretty skeptical of this chapter so please leave me a review if you can. And again I'm so sorry for the wait but i kind of know where i want to go with this one... So it shouldn't be long beofre the next update. Enjoy and leave me a comment!

Chapter 2: Beautiful Disaster

Port Charles was just the same as it had been three years ago when she had left. Boston had been a good move for her, especially once Dillon and Georgie had left and she had been the only one left. There was so much she regretted about her choices in the past. She was almost happy to get away from the Quartermaines, who while absolutely amazing, were also very suffocating. No, Boston had been the right move. She left Lucky, Nikolas, even dad, and had gone off to school, hoping to start fresh.

"I don't know how well that worked out," she said to herself. Truth was she hadn't really done much in those three years. She had no career, no relationships, and nothing going for her. She continued on walking along the docks, duffle bag in hand. It was always a favorite hobby of hers, walking along the dock that is. She could taste the ocean's salt, fell the light breeze tickle her face. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide, letting the feeling completely consume her.

She was startled abruptly by the sound of gunshots. She panicked, a deer caught in headlights. Hearing the footsteps coming closer toward her, she couldn't move her feet.

A hand clasped over her mouth and pulled her down against the back of the dock beside the stairs out of sight. Just as she was about to let out a muffled scream, she recognized the jacketed arms enclosed around her and relaxed.

She moved her head to see Dominic's familiar face. He let go of her mouth and motioned with his finger to his lips. She closed her mouth, already half open to give him a good talking to. She almost ignored his request when she heard the sound of footsteps running toward their direction again. She sunk into his arms and he held her as they waited for the person to walk the opposite way.

She moved her eyes up to see the man directly above them. He was looking out into the water and had his gun in his hand. She could see the sweat dripping off of his brow and see his sooty hands, full with gunpowder residue. She tried to see his face but couldn't get a good glimpse. However she did see the musical note tattooed on his uncovered wrist. She almost let out a gasp but Dominic's arms tightened around her and she kept it in. Finally the man walked away.

They sat there for a while, maybe five minutes, maybe an hour, him just holding her, with tears streaming down her face. Finally he got up, and helped her as well. He could tell she was shaken up and helped her sit on the bench next to them. She pulled him down next to her and snuggled into his warmth.

He sat awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to do. Finally she let go. She peered into his deep brown eyes and let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked concerned.

"I'm just a bit shaken up from the shots." She replied, waving her hand around.

"Lulu, I don't have to have known you for long to see something is very wrong here. You didn't just react to the shots, but also to the guy standing above us. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"He clearly scared you. Maybe we should call the police."

"Why would you want to call the police?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why would a mobster call the cops?"

Dominic kept his mouth closed, attempting to figure out what to say back. "I just wouldn't want you to get involved in things."

"I already am involved." She muttered.

"What do you mean?" he asked quizzically.

"That man was Johnny Zacchara, son of Anthony Zacchara."

"How do you know that?"

She let out a long sigh before starting. "Three years ago I left Port Charles to start a new life in Boston. I felt like a huge burden on my family and I also felt like I was being monitored. So I left without letting anyone know. Just packed up and moved. And I was finally happy."

"Why do I feel a but coming on?" Dominic asked.

"The move hadn't just been about my family. I had a guy showing interest in me. We had talked a few times, I'd gotten to know him, and how his brain worked. Then I found out who he was. Johnny Zacchara. I broke it off quick after that and left. He told me the night before, when I told him I was leaving him, that I'd regret it. But I didn't believe him. What could he possibly do to hurt me? So I was in Boston, completely happy. That is I was completely happy until I read that my father had been murdered. Shot dead. And while it didn't say it in the papers I knew exactly who had done it. Johnny Zacchara." She stopped to wipe the tears that had slid down her cheeks, unintentionally.

"Wait, so you broke up with some guy cause you found out he was in the mob, so he just kills your father?"

"Well, my dad had been involved in some business with my Uncle Sonny. And so it was like the perfect cover. Kill the man cause he's Sonny's best friend, and get the added bonus cause he's my old man. Sick isn't it?"

"And after all that, you still don't hate the mob." He asked her, as if she was crazy.

"Not everything's black a white Dominic. There are good guys and bad guys in the mob, just like there are good and bad cops on the streets. Just because you have a badge doesn't define if you are morally good or bad. And my Uncle Sonny? He's good, despite what he does for a living. He's done a better job cleaning up this city than the police department, who are too busy trying to bring him down. That's why innocent people like my dad get killed."

He hugged her then, and when they parted he handed her a tissue and asked, "Are you okay?"

She chuckled aloud and said, "Look at me, I'm crying all over you. I must look like a disaster."

"You're beautiful." He said. They fell silent for a while after that.

He sat there for a long time, just looking at her. His intense gaze was fixed on her and she fidgeted under it, moving her gaze to her hands. He moved his hand to the tip of her chin and picked up her gaze.

In those few seconds he wanted nothing more than to place a soft kiss on her lips. But he knew it was neither the time, nor place, and just as quickly as the feeling came, it went.

She was, however, renewed in that moment and gave him a soft, and oh so subtle smile. And when he returned on of his own she moved her hand to touch his. They sat there, holding hands at 2 o'clock in the morning, on her favorite bench on the docks, and already she liked home a lot more than when she left.

Fifteen minutes later he got up quickly. He had this gleam in his eyes, the kind a little kid might have at the thought of going to the toy store. He asked her, "You want to do something? Like now?"

"Right now?" she asked him like he was crazy. "What could we possibly do at 2 o'clock in the morning in Port Charles?"

"Well that's just the adventure of it all, isn't it? What can us two, fun and interesting people find to do on a night like tonight?"

"So basically, you have no idea what you want to do? I don't know Dominic, I have to go to a wedding tomorrow, well actually today."

"Oh come on Lulu, where's your sense of adventure?" he gave her a look.

After going over it in her head, and begging herself to say no she reluctantly replied, "Fine. We'll do something. But only for two hours at most. I have to look like I actually got sleep for tomorrow. Deal?"

He said, "Deal," and we shook on it.

I looked at him. "Okay you have 1 hour and 59 minutes now. What are we going to do?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," he smiled. "Come on, let's walk this way."