Word Count: 2797

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A thousand other boys could never reach you, how could I have been the one?

"Well, where were you, girl?" Guy asked when Lulu finally made it back to the table, breathless after she hastily threw on her dress backstage and added a fresh coat of lip gloss.

"Yeah, you missed Lucy's big finish," Lucas added. "So it really does happen every year- she must be cursed."

"Oh, I...I saw it from backstage," Lulu said, sitting down and reaching for the champagne in the center of the table. Now that her dance was over, she could relax a little- and she had to dull her senses some from her little backstage make-out session. Her heart was pounding, her head was spinning, and she kept hearing Cruz's voice growling, "I need to have you" over and over in her mind. To be needed- it was a new feeling for Lulu Spencer. And to be honest with herself, she knew she needed him, too.

"Well, I thought the show was just awesome," Steven Webber grinned at her.

"Um, thanks, Steven," Lulu said back, trying to suppress her giggles at Lucas rolling his eyes next to him.

They turned their attention back to the stage, as Lucy walked back out in something outrageously turquoise, with cut-outs all over. She might as well have still been in her underwear for all she was covered. She smiled sheepishly at the crowd. "Well, tradition is tradition I guess, right?" The crowd applauded her for being a good sport about it. "Now I'd like to invite you all out onto the dance floor, and please welcome Brook Lynn and the Idle Rich!"

Lulu let out a cheer as she allowed Guy and Lucas to drag her out to the dance floor.

"I can't believe that Brook Lynn used to be your girlfriend!" Guy squealed.

"Hey Port Charles!" Brook called, waving to her childhood friends. "It's great to be home!" She launched into her first single, an upbeat dance number, and Lulu, Maxie, Georgie, Lucas and Guy were all out on the floor. They were proud of Brook- she was a fabulous performer. Lulu couldn't remember when she'd had so much fun. The years of distance between herself and her friends melted away in this night, this magical night that they had all been planning since they were six.

The entire city of Port Charles was dancing, Bobbie joining in with the kids, Emily dancing with her father because Nikolas was downstairs doing a final tally of the evening's profits with the rest of the hospital board. Steven Webber cut in at one point, for a fast number, and he was a surprisingly flashy and good dancer. But Lulu's eyes wandered around the room for Cruz, and she spotted him at the PCPD's table, sitting with Mac and Patrick Drake, just watching her with a lazy smile. His words from earlier in the evening echoed in her mind, and she shivered in anticipation. "Are you okay?" Steven asked her, putting his hands on her bare arms, his eyes filled with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lulu answered with a smile. She saw Cruz get up from the table and head over to the bar. "I'm actually tired, I'm going to go get a drink."

"Oh, I'll get it for you."

"No, I could use some air," Lulu said with a smile as she left him on the dance floor, grabbing her champagne glass off her table.

"Hey," Cruz said, without turning around, as she approached the bar. He turned with a sly smile.

"You look like you're having a good time."

"And you don't," Lulu said, mock-whining.

"I am," he said, still with that damningly sexy smile. "I'm watching you."

"Oh." She blushed and looked down, taking a sip of her champagne. Shyly she looked back up at him. Tonight was really going to happen. She smiled again.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who's that guy you're dancing with?"

"What guy?"

"What do you mean, what guy? Not your cousin Lucas," he said. They were standing very close together.

"Oh," Lulu said again. "Steven Webber? Elizabeth's brother?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, him, I guess."

Lulu barely suppressed a giggle. "Are you jealous?"

He rolled his eyes again, but with a hint of a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Do you want me to be jealous?"

Lulu bit her lip. "I don't know...A little, I guess," she grinned.

He smiled. "You're cute," he said, reaching out a hand to tap her on the nose. "Then, no, I'm not jealous."

She let out a laugh and tipped her glass, swallowing the rest of its contents. A few errant drops of liquid remained on her lips and her small pink tongue darted out to lick them off. He touched her face again, stroking his thumb along her lip. "You better watch yourself with those bubbles, sweetheart."

"I'm fine," she said. She wasn't fine, her heart was racing and she felt light-headed- but it had nothing to do with the champagne. She looked down at the glass he was holding. "What's your poison, Detective?"

"Highball," he answered. Neither one of them realized how very close they were standing, but across the room a few people began to take notice.

"Mmm," Lulu said, leaning over his glass. "I love the smell of whiskey. It reminds me of my dad."

Cruz chuckled. "Baby, what am I gonna do with you?"

Lulu laughed at him and then applauded when Brook finished her song. "Okay, Port Charles, we're gonna slow it down for a bit," Brook said into the microphone. "This is one of my favorite Rolling Stones songs." Slow, romantic guitar strumming started, and Brook began to sing. "Childhood living is easy to do..."

Lulu sighed and leaned back against the bar. "I love this song."

Cruz put his glass down next to him. "Yeah? Does it...remind you of your father?"

Lulu laughed. "No."

He took her hand in his, smiling. "Good. Do you want to dance, Lulu?"

If he could have kept the image of that smile on her face forever he would have.

Though Lulu had never put much stock in fairy tales and waiting for her prince to come, she couldn't help the flutters in her stomach as Cruz led her out to the dance floor, as Brook sang, "Graceless lady, you know who I am. You know I can't let you slide through my hands." The entire room, every other person at the ball, seemed to float away as he took her left hand in his right and rested his palm around the small of her back. Lulu looked up into Cruz's eyes as he pulled her into a slow easy sway. "Wild horses couldn't drag me away..."

There was nothing Lulu would have traded for that moment, for that dance. The past seven months ran through her mind in a loop, and Lulu could scarcely believe that there had been a time in her life when she didn't have Cruz Rodriguez. He cradled her head on his shoulder, and she had never felt so safe. He stroked a hand down the soft skin of her back and murmured something in her ear- she couldn't quite make it out but she was sure it was in Spanish. When he brushed his lips softly over her forehead, a beautiful, wonderful realization came over Lulu.

She loved this man.

And just that fact made her giddy, happy. She always thought that love would be some grand, epic pain. If she looked at her family, that meant that someone would have to at least come back from the dead once or twice. But in Cruz's arms, she finally understood everything her parents had gone through, everything Lucky and Elizabeth and Nikolas and Emily had gone through. It was all worth it, just for moments like these.

He smiled, leaning his forehead down against hers. "What is it, baby?"

"Nothing," she answered. "I...I just...I can't wait for tonight."

His eyes widened in excitement and he pulled her closer. "Me too."

They hadn't realized that the music stopped, and they were attracting an audience. "Lulu?" They broke apart as Lulu heard the bitter, accusing voice of her stepbrother, Dillon Quartermaine. "Lulu, I think you should come with me," he said, grabbing her roughly by the elbow, and dragging her off into the hallway connecting the ballroom to the reception area.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Cruz said, stepping between Lulu and Dillon. He wanted to smack the kid for his possessive stance, and when he saw Lulu's tan skin going white under his tight grip, he wrenched Dillon's hands off of her.

"This doesn't concern you, Officer," Dillon shot back at him.

"That's Detective, kid," Cruz said, through clenched teeth. He was very quiet, and Lulu could almost feel, from yards away, the coiled up tension in him.

"Um, yeah, whatever," Dillon said, turning his back on Cruz and facing Lulu again. "Lulu, can I talk to you, privately," he grabbed her arm again, and pulled her off.

"Dillon, what the hell!" Lulu said, as she was dragged along.

"Leave her alone!" Cruz said, continuing to follow them.

"Look, Police Officer Guy," Dillon said, turning back to Cruz, his fingers still digging into Lulu's arm. "Lulu and I are family, and-"

"I know her family, and you ain't it, buddy," Cruz said, throwing him off Lulu again. "Just because your mother is married to her father, doesn't make you blood."

"We're family because we have an unbreakable connection, she and I-" Dillon went off on a tirade again.

"Oh please, Dillon," Lulu had had enough. "We slept together once, you are not entitled to have say-so over the rest of my life."

"Lulu, it was more than just sex," Dillon said, turning back to her, and Cruz had a sickening feeling in his stomach as he put two-and-two together. "We shared something special, we created-"

"You're the guy?" Cruz said. He felt hot anger, a murderous rage boiling inside of him.

"Cruz, it's not-" Lulu tried to put her hand on his arm, but he was already too far out of her control.

"You're the guy?" Cruz repeated, and before he knew it, he had balled up his fist, and cracking it across Dillon Quartermaine's jaw.

Dillon reeled back, Lulu gasped in shock, and Cruz pulled back his fist in pure, masculine pride- for a moment. And then his senses came back to him. He was a police officer, who had just, unprovoked, assaulted a civilian- a teenager for Christ's sake. "I...I'm, sor-"

"Damn right, you're sorry!" Tracy Quartermaine's voice boomed out behind him. Cruz turned to look, and there stood the self-proclaimed guardian of the Quartermaine family, arms crossed, looking as formidable a foe as any he had ever faced. She held out her hand to her son, "Come on, Dillon, let's see what the commissioner has to say about this."

Cruz flexed his hand, staring down at it, still breathing hard. What the hell had had happened to him?

"Cruz, are you okay?" Lulu said, reaching for his hand, and he recoiled from her concern. No, he wasn't okay, he had just lost his shit over something almost inconsequential, and lord help him, he wasn't satisfied.

"Lulu?" They turned again at the sound of the gentle voice. Emily.

Damn, was the entire Quartermaine family going to be joining them in a minute?

"Lulu, can I talk to you for a minute, privately?" her voice echoed Dillon's from moments earlier. With a bewildered look, Lulu followed her. Cruz leaned back against the wall in the hallway and closed his eyes, trying to soothe the rushing of blood in his ears.

"Rodriguez," he lifted his head and looked up to see Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos standing in front of him. And his night had gone from bad to worse.

"Lulu, what's going on?" Emily asked her gently from a quiet corner in the mostly empty reception area. Nikolas was still downstairs with the hospital board.

"I...I don't know," Lulu stammered, looking down and wringing her hands together.

"Lulu," Emily said and Lulu looked back up at her sister-in-law. "I saw you dancing with Cruz Rodriguez- the whole town did. And now he just punched out Dillon? What is going on?"

"I don't know," Lulu said again. "Really, Emily...I don't know what it is." She looked the older girl in the eye, searching for advice, for anything. Emily had certainly had her own rocky road with her storybook romance– surely she must have some words of wisdom for her.

Emily looked down at her kindly. "Aw, honey. Are you...dating him...or something?"

Lulu laughed. "I don't know what to call it."

"Lulu," Emily tilted her head thoughtfully. "Don't you think it's a little...inappropriate? He's quite a bit older than you."

Lulu shook her head. "No, it's not like that, Emily...Please don't tell Nikolas."

"I can't lie to him, Lulu, that's not the way things work between us," Emily said gently, but firmly.

"No, it's not...lying, just...don't say anything," Lulu pleaded. If she wasn't ready to explain herself to Lucky, she certainly wasn't ready to explain herself to her prim and proper older brother.

"Lulu," Emily said, her voice growing more insistent. "Now, I told you, I don't lie to Nikolas. You tell him or I will."

Lulu swallowed a biting comment. "There's nothing to tell Emily. You saw us dancing. That's it."

"Rodriguez," Corinthos intoned again, as if he wasn't heard the first time.

Cruz sighed. "What do you want, Corinthos?"

"I think we need to talk about Lulu Spencer," he mumbled, looking anywhere but at Cruz.

"I don't think there's anything for us to talk about," Cruz replied, with a roll of his eyes. He moved to walk past them, but Morgan stuck a hand out on his chest. Cruz could feel his barely cooled temper begin to heat up again.

"But I think there is," Corinthos continued, finally looking up to meet Cruz's eyes. "You see, Luke Spencer was a good friend of mine a long time ago, and so that makes Lulu my responsibility..."

"That makes her your nothing," Cruz sneered. His fists were curled tight at his sides again. "Lulu has no place in your world, you stay away from her, Corinthos, and you keep your thugs away, too."

"Well, I...I care about, Lulu, actually," Morgan broke in, his voice emotionless. "We spent some time together last November and-"

"You...you spent some time together, Morgan?" Cruz said through gritted teeth. "What does that, make you her savior or something? You don't know anything about Lulu."

Morgan blinked. "We shared something special, and-"

For the second time that night, Cruz was overcome by a blinding rage. One moment he was listening to Morgan prattle on about how special his connection to Lulu was, the next moment he was standing over a crumpled Morgan on the ground, more than pleased to see his split lip. And God help him, he was going to strangle the next guy who told him how 'special' Lulu was to them.

"What's going on out here?" Cruz turned again. Mac. Now his night had gone from worse to horrible.

"Mac, I want...Officer Rodriguez arrested for...assault. He hit...Jason," Corinthos rubbed his hand across his forehead, as if it hurt to speak.

Detective, Cruz thought bitterly.

"I...I didn't see anything," Mac shrugged.

"What? Come on Mac, look at him," Corinthos started to argue, but Morgan put out a hand to stop him.

"Never mind, Sonny, let's go," Morgan said, eying Cruz warily as they left the hallway.

Cruz sighed. "Thanks, Mac."

"It's all right, Morgan doesn't have a glass jaw," Mac said, with a half-grin. But then he got serious. "But I can't ignore what happened with Dillon Quartermaine. Two witnesses, and Tracy wants to press charges."

Cruz ran a hand through his hair. "Does this mean my badge?"

Mac shook his head. "No...Not yet, anyway, but...suspended. Effective Monday." Cruz nodded."So...you want to tell me what happened?" Mac asked. Cruz looked down. "I'll take that as a 'no'," Mac continued. "But...I'm guessing it has something to do with Lulu Spencer."

Cruz looked up at him, his eyes wide. "Commissioner-"

Mac held up his hand. "Your business is your own, Rodriguez. But you need to seriously think about your actions. Remember who you are."

Cruz sighed, and tipped his head back against the wall again as Mac walked away. Who he was...was becoming a blurred line.

music used in this section: Wild Horses (The Sundaes) & Black Balloon (The Goo Goo Dolls)