TITLE: DAYS Fairy Tale: Eric & Greta: Chapters 46-50
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
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Chapter 46
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Greta walked over to him, and laid her hands on his chest. This time he spoke a whole sentence, "Greta, is this... I mean... are you sure? ... i mean, is this what I think..."
She smiled up at him, and understood his confusion. "Yes and No." She looked around the room, "They did a lot more than I thought they were going to." Eric gave her a questioning look. She smiled, "Your sisters did this."
He smiled at the thought, then got serious again, "But... why?"
She looked up at him, and smiled. "Eric... no I'm not ready for that... not 'Yet'." She said, then gave him quick kiss. "But... I am ready for... more." she said looking up at him.
"More?" He said looking deep into her eyes.
"Yes, more." She tried to find the words she wanted to say, but there weren't coming to her. "I mean... isn't there steps between that and were we are now?"
He smiled down at her, now understanding what she was talking about. "Well, yes..." his voice getting deeper, "It just depends on how far you want to go."
She pressed herself up against him, wrapped her arms around him, looked him in the eye, and said, "Well, how about we find out?"
Eric swallowed hard, *Oh God.* He thought to himself, *I'm in trouble, and she is giving me 'that' look.*
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For the Rated R part, go here: http://eric_greta.tripod.com/chap46R.htm
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(Okay, Eric and Greta are now in his room on his bed. They have sort of explored one another, and are now talking about Greta's fears.)
Eric laughed, he couldn't help himself, and the look on her face made him laugh harder. He pulled her down to his chest, hugging her. When he was done, he rolled them both onto their sides. "Now, please know I was NOT laughing at you at all." He caressed her cheek lovingly, kissed her, then continued. "It's just two things. One, the word you used was quite funny. And two, I need to thank you for the wonderful complement. But dear Greta, if you are afraid of me, you would be completely terrified of some guys out there."
She blushed slightly, "But I don't want them, so they don't worry me."
Eric pulled her close to him, kissed her forehead, then talked to her. "Greta, I can promise you a lot of things, but I can't promise you that when we first make love it won't hurt. Because, I'm afraid to say, it more than likely will. And that has much more to do with you never being with anyone than it does with me." His hand caressed her back, and he kissed her shoulder, then he looked into her eyes once again. "But I can promise you a few things. That when we make love, that will be exactly what it is. That I will try to be as gentle as possible. And that, I promise, it will get much better." He said the last with a large smile, making her smile as well. "Does that help at all?" he asked caressing her shoulder.
She smiled slightly, "A little," she said in a small voice. He gave her a tight hug. "But yeah, it does. And I'm sorry for... ruining everything."
He looked at her in shock, "Greta, you did NOT ruin anything. Let me tell you how I see this evening. I had dinner with a very beautiful woman that I love very much. We exchanged wonderful gifts from the heart to each other. This beautiful woman set up a very wonderful, passionate surprise for me which I enjoyed fully. And this gorgeous woman opened up to me about her fears, and also told me that she eventually wants to make love to me." Greta's smile grew wider as he talked, and when he stopped she kissed him hard. "So I think this has been a wonderful evening."
"So do I," she said hugging him.
"Well, I think we are done for tonight." He said with a light kiss.
"Who says?" Greta asked, moving her leg over his hip.
Eric shook his head and smiled, 'How tempting it is, but you have class and I have work tomorrow," he looked at the clock, "today. And we need sleep."
Greta sighed and slid over to her side of the bed. Eric looked at her, "Aren't you going to get in some pajama's or something?" he asked as he stood up and moved over to his dresser.
She looked over at him, "Okay, can I borrow a T-shirt?" He reached in his drawer, found an older T-shirt and threw it to her. Expecting her to get out of bed to get her pajama bottoms he was surprised that she slipped the shirt on. Then her arms disappeared beneath the shirt, then popped back out the sleeves a moment later, her one hand holding something. The next thing he knew she threw it at him with a devious smile on her face. It landed on his shoulder, he got it, and then realized what it was. This fingertips brushed the silky material of her bra and his mouth hung open. For some reason the idea of her in just his T-shirt and her panties on his bed was more arousing then her in her underwear. His thoughts of putting more clothes on vanished as he walked back over to the bed, dropping the bra on the floor. She laid on her side, the covers coming only up to just over her knees, having pulled them back for him to get into bed. The shirt was bunched up slightly around her waist, showing off part of her underwear. The look she gave him made his knees want to buckle. He stared at the sight before him, and wondered how he could be so lucky.
Her words shook him out of his thoughts, "Are you coming to bed?" she asked.
He laid down, and brought the covers up over them as his answer. Eric then pulled her towards him, her head on his shoulder, as his arms wrapped around her. The material of the shirt was so thin, and it was driving him crazy. *Did I really say I wanted to call it a night?* he asked himself. *Good luck getting to sleep.*
Greta moved to look up at him, "Good night." she then kissed him. The kiss lingered for awhile.
"Good night," he responded when they broke apart.
"Greta, I love you." He said, caressing her cheek tenderly.
She smiled, "I love you too." She responded, giving him another kiss. She rested her head back on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around him like his were around her. She fell asleep soon after, but it took him a little while longer for sleep to finally claim him.
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Chapter 47
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Time seemed to slip by once again. The builders were almost done with the remodeling of the chateau. The doctors were still worried about performing a DNA test on Hope's baby, which kept Greta from telling anyone what her mother told her. She hated not telling anyone, especially Eric, but this secret could have profound effects on many people's lives, and right now wasn't the time. She tried to shake the thought away as she packed. Spring break was only 2 days away and her and Eric were basically all ready for Colorado. She couldn't wait for him to teach her how to ski.
She continued packing as her memories of the past few months went through her head. She smiled at how much their relationship had progressed, both emotionally and physically.
They hadn't made love yet, but she knew that soon they would. They had agreed to also stay 'clothed' until they did so. But clothed meant underwear, or just barely. She smiled at that, how many times had they drove each other crazy? How many times could she not take anymore, and asked him to just make love to her? But her always stopped her. Part of her was glad that he did, but the other part of her knew that when she really did mean it, she would have to really convince him. She zipped up one suit case, and started on her last one.
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Eric was in his room doing the same thing. Packing and remembering. So many times in the last month or so he almost had to pinch himself to see if he wasn't dreaming. His relationship with Greta made him feel on top of the world.
He didn't lie to himself, it wasn't all roses, but even the lows somehow made them that much closer. His thoughts drifted back to mid February. He should have been more prepared for it, his mother had warned him a long time ago, but he wasn't.
She had seemed a little out of it all day, well actually since she had cleaned her room. Eric didn't think much of it, just a case of winter blahs, but later it would have made sense. They were taking a walk through the park, and decided to sit down on a bench to drink their hot chocolate. Eric looked around at everyone in the park, the snow had cleared, and kids were playing on the swings and playground equipment. Eric looked over and saw Greta staring over at the swings.
He followed her gaze to a mother and daughter. The mother was pushing the daughter on the swings, nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back at Greta, then to the swings. Then it hit him. They were both dressed up, from probably just having come from church. Their outfits almost matching. Their hair both long and brown. Eric looked back to Greta, and saw her lip starting to quiver. Her eyes were wet and threatening to run over. Eric took her empty cup and his, stood up and quickly threw them away. He then grabbed her hand, pulled her up to him, hugged her tightly to him, and walked her back to the Jeep.
He drove her back to the apartment, parked, helped her out of the car and up to the apartment. The whole time her face almost blank. He opened the door, and followed her in. He took her coat, and laid his and hers on the chair. He then turned her to face him. He tilted her head up to look at him. That's when the first tear fell, followed by another. He pulled her to him, hugged her, caressing her hair, telling her to let it all out. Her slight shaking turned into sobs, making her whole body shake violently.
Eric moved her over to the couch and helped her sit down, her face buried in his chest. She cried for over an hour, and he just held onto her. She had held it all in for so long, and now it was all coming out.
Eric shook his head at the memory, he hated that she had to go through all that. But she had finally, completely dealt with her mother's death. And in that moment, her had felt closer to her than he ever had. She opened up to him, allowed him to be her support and trusted him at her most vulnerable.
He closed his eyes and remembered some of the better memories they had had as well. He knew that he would have to be careful while they were on this trip. Because if she asked him to make love to her one more time, he might not be able to say no. It was difficult to stop before when he saw the desire in her eyes and felt the same way. But a vacation, hotel room, and everything always put a surreal atmosphere to everything.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He looked up to see Greta peek her head in. He laughed, "What if I was changing?"
She grinned, "Well, I wouldn't have a problem with that."
He smiled, and walked over to her, "Oh you wouldn't huh?" He said as he leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his middle, and when they stopped she laid her head on his chest. "This trip is going to be a lot of fun." Eric said to her, walking back towards the bed with some difficulty as Greta walked with him, her arms still around him, both of them laughing. As he continued to pack, Greta moved around to hug him from behind, and rest her cheek on his back. Making Eric laugh even more and shake his head, but loving every minute of it. "I have missed Colorado so much since I came back to Salem, especially in the winter months." He said putting another sweater in his suitcase. "But now I get to go back with someone I love, and I get to show you everything." He said turning in her arms to lean down and give her another kiss.
Greta smiled, "I'm so glad we are going, I want to see these places you are always talking about."
Eric kissed her again, "It's just to bad that my grandparents are on vacation themselves to Florida, cause I would like you to meet them."
"Well, we can always go back and visit them sometime."
He smiled, gave her a hug, then went back to packing. "So are you all packed?" He asked her.
"Yep!" She said happily.
He grinned as he zipped up his suitcase, and turned around, "And now, so am I."
"Good," she said with a devious smile, and pushed him backwards. He fell on the bed with her on top of him, him laughing, until he was stopped by her kiss.
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Chapter 48
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The plane trip to Colorado was much shorter than that to Hawaii. They didn't even need any cards for this trip, as they talked the whole way. Before they knew it they were preparing to land, and then the wheels hit the runway.
They got into the airport, found their luggage, and headed to the exit. Eric hailed a cab, and soon they were on their way to the hotel.
Greta looked out the window as they drove. The snow on the ground, the hills and peaks of the mountains and all the trees and nature were so beautiful. Eric watched her with a smile. "Gorgeous isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied looking at him, smiling then turning back to the window. They soon pulled up to the hotel and a bellboy got their luggage from the trunk as Eric paid the cab. They then followed the guy into the Hotel lobby.
The lobby was amazing, the whole Hotel was a huge log cabin along with other cabins all around. The lobby was three stories tall, with trees, a huge fire place, and tons of very comfortable rugs and couches. They walked over to the main desk and checked in. The man behind the desk gave them their keys and they again followed the bellhop to their room.
They followed him through the lobby and outside, then down a cleared walkway towards a group of large cabins. Each cabin had 4 large suites in them. They got to the second one, and the bellhop grabbed the bags and led them up the one flight of stairs.
"Cabin 2, room c." the bellhop said. Eric opened the door and they all walked inside. The bellhop set down the bags then motioned around the room. "The bedroom is behind those doors, along with the bathroom and hot tub. Here is the small kitchen area and over here is a fireplace and living area. The fire place turns on with a turn of this knob." He said demonstrating for them. He then walked back to the door. Eric tipped him and he was out the door, closing it behind him.
"Okay this room is amazing." Greta said moving over to the double doors.
Eric looked at the fire place trying to shake the thoughts he was getting out of his head. She opened up the doors and walked into the bedroom and he followed her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath at what all was there, *Oh, boy.* He thought to himself. *This is going to be torture.*
The bed was huge, a large king bed with tons of pillows. Off to the side was a two person hot tub, and the bathroom had a large two person tub and shower.
Eric smiled, he knew what most couples did in this room, and almost laughed, knowing that they were going to be different. He reached out and grabbed her arm, carefully spinning her to him. His hand lightly caressed her cheek, and he leaned down to kiss her. Knowing that he really didn't mind waiting, because he had her, and that was all that mattered.
She wrapped her arms around him, and after the kiss, she laid her head on his chest. He smiled and kissed the top of her head then spoke, "Yeah, this room is amazing," he lifted her face to look at him, "but you are much more." She blushed slightly, and then leaned up to give him a light kiss.
"So, what to do first?" she asked.
Eric looked at his watch, it was 2:30 Colorado time. "A late lunch?"
She smiled and nodded. He grabbed the keys and they were out the door to the main hotel once again. They enjoyed their meal, and talked and planned what they would do next. They agreed to wait and teach Greta how to ski tomorrow morning, and to explore the area and see the sites today.
They got a rental car and Eric took her farther up state to show her where he grew up. He showed her the high school, his grandparents house, the local hangout, and anything he could think of. At about 5 o'clock they headed back, taking the scenic route, and stopping to take some pictures of the snow capped mountains. Not to mention a snow ball fight, ending up in a wrestling mach in the snow.
They got back to the hotel around 6:00, and decided to explore the hotel. They found the three different restaurants there, along with 10 stores and the bar. They then headed outside, taking a look at the winter gardens. Shoveled paths led to the ski area, to the cabins, nature walks, and towards town. All the paths were lined with lightly snow covered pine, spruce and fur trees, along with benches and other things.
Before he knew it he felt a large ball of snow hit him in the back, he turned around to see Greta with a large smile on her face, along with another ball of snow heading for him, and hitting him in the chest. He grinned, "What, you didn't learn from the last time that you won't win?"
She giggled, bent over and grabbed some more snow, as did her. But he threw his before she could, getting her on the shoulder. Her's then hit him on the leg. They started throwing the snow back and forth, not even really making snow balls out of it anymore. Eric then ran after her, she ran, and tried hiding and circling through the trees. He reached for her many times and almost got hold of her, but on this last try his fingers got her coat, and he pulled her towards him. She struggled sending him of balance, and he willing fell back into the snow, taking her along with him.
She landed slightly on top of him, but she didn't stay there as he rolled over kissing her. Her arm came up, wrapping around his neck, as the kiss deepened. He slowly pulled away to look at her, and lightly ran his fingers over her cheek. She smiled up at him, and pulled him back down to her lips, kissing him deeply. They were interrupted by some giggling behind them. They pulled away to look, and found two little kids looking at them laughing. They both blushed, Eric stood up and helped Greta up. Eric looked over at the two kids, "Think we are funny huh?" He asked them. They nodded yes, he leaned down and gathered some snow, and slowly molded it into a ball. He showed it to them, "Still think it's funny?" he said with a smile, looking like he was going to throw it at them, the kids took off running, laughing as they went. Eric turned back towards Greta with the snow ball still in his hand.
She looked him in they eyes, and saw the devious smile on his face. "Don't you dare." She told him.
"What are you going to do about it?" He asked her, coming closer to her.
She ran down the side walk with him right behind her, "Eric, stop." She yelled while giggling with a large smile on her face. She ran for their cabin, and ran up the stairs, getting the keys out of her coat, but she couldn't unlock the door in time. And soon he was up the stairs with her, and cornered her. "Eric..." She said, he smiled and threw the snowball.
Greta closed her eyes waiting for it, she opened them a few seconds later when she didn't feel anything. She looked around and saw that the snow ball had landed at her feet. She looked up at him, and saw him walk closer to her, her reached for the keys and unlocked the door. He opened the door, moved closer to her, picked her up, putting her over his shoulder, eliciting a slight scream from her, and walked through the door. "Put me down." She said struggling, he just laughed as her carried her into the living room, leaned over and then dropped her softly onto the couch. He then plopped himself in the chair next to her. Unzipping his coat in the process.
They laughed for awhile, talked, and then decided to get some dinner, watch some tv, and then get a good night's sleep. They ordered room service, and a movie over the pay per view, and somewhere around 11:30 they headed to bed. With a kiss good night, and 'love you's' they were asleep in each other's arms, in the nice big king sized bed.
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Chapter 49
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They woke the next morning, got dressed and ready for a day of skiing. They went and hand breakfast then headed over to the slopes, rented some boots, and ski's and were ready to go. Eric showed Greta how to move around on the ski's and after a little while they made it to the bunny hill. They spent a lot of time in the snow of the bunny hill. It took many tries for Greta to finely go down the hill without falling. They enjoyed a lot of laughter, and kisses though.
They then made their way to the ski lift to try an easy run. By the end of the two easy runs, Greta got the hang of it, and was actually doing very well. They took a break for hot chocolate and lunch. Then they went back to the slopes, for something a little more difficult.
It was starting to get dark when Eric finally dragged Greta back to the hotel. They walked into the room, Eric took off his coat, kicked off this shoes and fell on the bed. Greta bounded around the room, taking off her shoes and coat and jumped excitedly on the bed next to him.
"It was so much fun." She said with a large smile. "The cold air in your face, the speed of traveling down the mountain, very exhilarating."
He looked up at her and shook his head, "And tiring ... for some people." He said with a yawn. He reached up and cupped the side of her face. "You my dear, have way to much energy."
"Oh, come on. It was fun! You had fun, right?"
He smiled wider, "Yes I had a lot of fun. Mostly, watching you enjoy it so much."
She smiled and leaned down and kissed him. He reached up and held her to him and then down beside him. They continued kissing, and Greta wrapped her leg around his hip, drawing him closer. They continued caressing and kissing for a few more minutes until they slowly broke away and just hugged one another.
They then changed and went out to dinner. They tried to figure out what they wanted to do for the rest of the night, and finally decided to go dancing. They took a taxi to a local and popular bar and dance club. They walked in and both ordered a drink. They walked in and sat down, trying to get a feel for the place. The waitress returned and brought them their drinks, Eric a beer and Greta a fuzzy navel.
Eric smiled at her, "What?" she finally asked him.
"I've never seen you drink before, well hard liquor any ways. Bear, wine and Pina Colada's don't count." He said remembering Hawaii.
She laughed, "Well honestly, I haven't had much. I only know 2 drinks. A fuzzy navel and an rum & coke. Billie introduced those two to me."
Eric smiled, "Well then you should try something else as well."
She eyed him and smiled, "Why Mr. Brady? Are you trying to get me drunk?"
He laughed, "Maybe." He said with a sarcastic smile. She just laughed. "No, I am really just saying you should try something else."
"But I wouldn't even know what to get."
Eric grinned, "Well first, do you like sweet or dry, and strong or light."
"Definitely light alcohol flavor, and sweet. At least, I think so."
He grinned wider. "Well, there are millions of drinks, I only know of a few as well. The more common ones. You might like a sea breeze, rum runner, or sex on the beach." Greta laughed, "Yeah, yeah. They have some weird names, and a lot of them are sexual."
"Well, how about I try and finish what I have, and if I want more I'll try something else."
"Sounds good to me." They talked and slowly finished their drinks. They then headed out onto the dance floor. They danced to the fast music, along with the large crowd. They danced two more songs, then went back to the the table and ordered another drink. Greta blushed slightly when she ordered a sex on the beach. After the waitress came back with them, then left, Greta took a taste.
"Well, not bad. Sweet, and the alcohol is not too noticeable."
Eric smiled, "Yeah, that's how they get you, you don't taste that much but there is."
They stayed for about two more hours, dancing and having a few more drinks, and then took a cab back to the hotel.
Eric was hitting himself mentally over the head for having encouraged her to try new drinks. Because as he found out, unlike Nicole, Greta couldn't hold her alcohol. She had about 3 and a half drinks, and he had an arm around her waist and hers around his shoulders, helping her walk to the room.
The thing was, she was really cute and funny like this. She was very happy, bubbly, energetic, but also very flirtatious. He was just glad that he, himself, only had 3 beers. He opened their door, and they walked in, closing the door behind them. Greta laughed and laid down on the couch.
"The room is spinning," she said looking at him with a large smile.
He just shook his head and tried not to laugh. He went over to the sink and poured a large glass of water, and took out a box of crackers from one little cabinet. He sat down beside her, and got her to sit up. "Here, drink this."
"Eric, I have had way to much already..."
Eric leaned in, gave her a quick kiss, and then shook his head. "It's just water. Trust me, it will help, and so will the crackers."
She took the water and drank it quickly, finding she was thirstier then she thought. She then handed him the glass and stood up on shaky legs. "Where are you going?" He asked her.
"Well, I'm going to go change into my pajama's, and get ready for bed. Not to mention, go to the bathroom."
He laughed and stood up, he helped her walk into the bathroom and grabbed her PJ's and gave them to her, "If you aren't out in 5 minutes, and don't answer when I call, I'm coming in."
She laughed, lightly his his chest, "You worrier. I'm fine." She said, kissed him, then headed into the bathroom.
He went back into the other room, and filled the glass with water, threw out the empty box of crackers and then got some ibuprofen and set it on the night stand. He then got ready for bed. She was out a few minutes later. After some persuasion, she drank the other glass of water and took the pills. They then got into bed, and Greta laid her head on his chest. Eric wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.
"I love you," she said looking up at him.
He smiled, "I love you too." He said then kissed her forehead.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me."
His grin became wider. "No need, I love taking care of you."
She leaned up and kissed him, wrapping her arm around his neck. She deepened the kiss, and pressed her body up against his. The alcohol on her breath sweetened her kiss even more somehow. But it also reminded him about the condition she was in. He pulled away slowly and told her to get some sleep.
The pout on her face was so cute he almost gave in, but in the end he held firm. He was surprised however that in less than five minutes she was out cold.
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Greta woke up the next morning with a slight headache. Luckily the water, crackers, and ibuprofen had helped lessen the effects. Eric tried not to laugh, but he didn't always succeed. They went to breakfast, and after some more water, juice and high carbohydrates, Greta felt a lot better, and wanted to go out skiing again.
Eric agreed and in less than an hour they were on the slopes again. They slowly worked their way up the difficulty.
"So, after this slope, want to get some lunch?" Eric asked looking at his watch. It was about 12:30.
"Yeah, sounds good, I think I wore off breakfast." He smiled as they got off the lift and headed for their area.
Greta looked further up the mountain, "No matter how much I love skiing, I don't think I would want to ski much higher up than this." Eric agreed, and they started down the mountain.
The change in the texture of the snow of the previous day and the other slopes was making it difficult for Greta. She fell a few times, and so did Eric. They laughed, "Okay, definitely no more skiing today when we get back." Greta said helping Eric up.
"I agree," he looked down the mountain, "Well we got about 2/3 more to go."
Greta sighed, it already took them too long to get here. "Then let's get going." She said getting ready to go. But his hand held her arm. "What?"
"Did you hear that?" Eric said looking up the mountain.
Greta turned to look, she was about to say no, but then she heard the sound. A cracking, rumbling sound. "What is that?" She asked, fear in her voice.
Eric looked around quickly, saw something slightly down the mountain. "Come on." he said and pulled her with him.
They started skiing quickly in that direction, moving closer to the side with a mass of tree's. The rumbling was growing louder, and closer. Neither took the time to look back. The sound was almost on them, and they could feel the rumbling. They got there and Eric grabbed her arm and pulled her with him. And it hit, a massive wall of snow hit them, and then there was blackness.....
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Chapter 50
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Eric slowly opened his eyes, but he only encountered darkness. His body hurt all over and slowly his memory came back. Then he became frantic, "Greta!?!" He called out, his arms moving all around looking for her. "Greta?" he yelled again, still nothing. He tried to stand up, only to hit his head hard on rock. He swore, and rubbed his head. He started to feel around, taking off the one ski that was still on. "Greta!" He called again, worry in his voice. * I have to find her,* he thought frantically, and called her name again, this time he heard a small sound. He moved towards where it came from, and his hand touched her coat. "Greta?" He said again, his hands moving up to her chest, neck, then face. From the sounds she was making he could tell she was waking up and also in pain like he was. His hands moved down her, trying to feel if anything was wrong. "Greta, come on, wake up." He pleaded with her, especially as he encountered a wall of snow covering most of her lower half.
"Eric?" Greta said softly.
"I'm right here," he said, staring to dig away at the snow surrounding her.
"I can't see anything," she said.
"Well it's good to know it's not just me."
His hands kept digging as she went on, "What happened?"
"Well, I am guessing we are stuck in an avalanche. And I think we got to the rock out cropping that I saw." He got the snow cleared to her knee's. "Okay, I'm going to try and pull you out of the snow. Tell me if you feel any resistance or pain."
She agreed and he moved up behind her and grabbed onto her shoulders. He started to pull slowly and she tried to help. She felt some pain, but mostly from some cuts and bruises. She felt her ski's snap apart from the boots and then she was easy to pull out. Once out she curled up to him, and they held onto each other.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Well we could try to dig our way out, but I have no idea how much snow we are under, and whether or not it will collapse on us if we try."
"Well, I mean, they will look for us right?" she asked, holding on to him more securely.
"Well they know their was an avalanche, and they have procedures for looking for people."
"So, what a few hours?"
Eric didn't want to tell her the truth, the statistics, or the gravity of their situation. "I'm not entirely sure, it depends on where they start their search."
"I just wish I could see where we are." Greta said, pushing her face into his coat.
His hands ran over her back, trying to make her feel better, and himself. "Me too, curious how big this area we are in is, and everything."
"Wait." Greta broke apart from him for a moment, and started to search through her coat quickly.
"What? What are you looking for?"
"My keys, my car keys."
"Keys? Why would you want your keys? And why would you bring your car keys skiing? Your car is in Salem."
"Because I put my room key on the key ring..."
"So?"
"So? What was the gift that Belle got me, when I got my license?"
Eric understood, and helped her look in the other pockets on her ski coat. His fingers found an extra pair of gloves, some chap stick, and then... "I got them." He pulled the keys outs, and his fingers searched for the small key chain, then he found it, and pushed the small button. A small beam of light came out the other end. They both squinted and slowly their eyes came into focus. "Remind me to thank Belle for the gift, if we get home." He said pointing the light looking around.
"If?" Greta said looking at him.
Eric swallowed hard, "I meant when." He answered quickly. They were in fact under the rock out cropping, it went back a little ways, but not too far, and all around where it stuck out was a massive wall of snow. It was only tall enough for them to barely sit up, and crawl around on their knees. He was hoping that the out cropping had actually been a cave or something, something that went far back into the mountain. He turned back around to look at her, "Well, I guess we wait."
"Eric, what aren't you telling me." Greta said looking at him. Eric turned off the light and gave it back to Greta to put into her pocket. He wanted to save the battery. She could tell he was avoiding the issue. "Eric! Tell me! Now!"
He sighed, "Okay. Okay." He stopped and tried to figure out how to go on. "If they find us in the next few hours we will be fine..."
"But..."
"But... this is a big mountain, and a lot of people to look for, it might take a few days."
"Well, we'll be hungry, but... I mean we can eat the snow, and our body temperature is really warming it up in here."
"But we won't last a few days."
"Why?
"Because we are basically sealed in here, there is now way for any new air to get in."
The realization hit her, and her hands started to dig at the snow frantically. He moved next to her, and grabbed her arms. "You could dig a long time, and not get out of here, and waste a lot more oxygen doing that, than waiting and hoping."
"But there has too be way to get some fresh air in here."
"I just wish we could tell how deep the snow is." Eric said. She agreed, and they both decided to wait.
They laid down, holding on to one another, and Eric feel asleep, but Greta couldn't, her mind kept working. *All we need is a small air hole, just a small one, then we can wait. Then they will find us.* She turned over and winced at the pain in her side. It hurt, really bad, she knew she had to have hit something hard when the snow hit her. *It's just a big bruise.* She told herself, *That's all, I just hit something.* But the thought, made her want to get out even more. She slowly sat up, and grimaced, but pushed that pain aside, as she felt around the what she was referring to as *the cave* even though it wasn't one. Then she felt it, Eric's two Ski polls. She started playing around with them, and got the handle grips off of one. She took out her keys again, and turned on the light, she just about jumped for joy, when she found that that where hollow. Well, not totally, just a small hole ran through the center. She started to try and take off the other end, to see if the hole went all the way through. It was tricky, and she broke a few nails, but she got the other end off. She shined the light through the one end, and when she saw the light come out the other end she grinned. "Yes!" She said.
Eric woke up to her voice, "What?" He said looking over to see what she was doing. She explained to him what she had done.
"We can slowly shove the poll up into the snow, and then when it gets all the way through, we will have an air hole."
He smiled, "Greta? But shoving the poll up into the snow, will also shove snow into the poll too."
Her eyes closed, he was right, and the snow may be deeper than the poll. "But we could at least try. Right? Maybe push the poll through and then bring it back down, the snow might not collapse. Besides, if it does, we still have the area under the rock."
Eric smiled, "Yeah, we might as well try."
They moved over to the wall of snow, and where the rock ended. They had to do it at a slight angle, because the poll wouldn't stand straight up in the space they had. They slowly pushed the poll into the snow, waiting to feel the resistance stop, but it didn't. They got the poll, all the into the snow, except for an inch. "Well, we are in here pretty deep." Greta picked up the other poll, and started to take off the ends as well. "What are you going to do?"
"Shove this one in behind it."
"Then how are you going to get the first poll out?"
She hadn't thought of that, and almost gave up. "I don't know."
"Wait. I do. You said the polls were hollow right?" She nodded yes. "Well, what if we pulled a string though both of them, and made them stay together, and then we could pull them both back out."
She smiled, "But where do we get the string?"
He pulled out his gloves, and started messing with them, he eventually got an end, and started to pull on it slowly. Slowly the yawn was pulled out of the knitted glove. He went through most of the glove, and finally got enough yarn. Greta popped a button off her coat and they secured the end of the string to the button, which was big enough not to go through the hole, but still small enough to be pushed into the snow. They then found a small enough stone, tied the other end of the string to it, and dropped the rock down into the poll. After a little bit of work it came out the other end. They smiled at each other, and then pulled the other poll out of the snow. They cleaned out the hole of the poll that the snow had went in, and then fed the rock into that poll as well. When they were done, they had the two polls hooked together, and where ready to try again.
They fed the first poll easily back into the snow, once all the way in, they tighten up the string, and started the second poll, right behind the first. They started to push, and push, and push, then about two thirds of the way, the resistance stopped, and they could tell they were through the snow. It was still pretty deep, way to deep to try and dig out. They moved the pole around in circles, trying to get the snow to solidify around the poll and not collapse. They then pulled out the polls slowly, trying not to brake the string and keep the one poll to far in to reach. After a few minutes, the both polls were in, and they looked through the hole. It was hard to see anything, but a little bit of light was coming into the hole. Eric used the light to look at his watch, he hadn't thought to before. "No wonder the sky is getting dark up there, it's already 7 o'clock."
"But... Eric... this happened around 12:30 this afternoon!"
"I know, we must have been unconscious for awhile."
"Yeah, but... it's been over six hours, and they haven't found us yet."
"They will keep looking for a long time." He tried to reassure her.
She looked into the hole, at the sky, it seemed so far away, and she yelled, "HELP!" But she stopped quickly when she heard a soft rumble.
They looked at each other, "Or that may be the reason they haven't found us yet." He said.
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To Be Continued
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
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Chapter 46
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Greta walked over to him, and laid her hands on his chest. This time he spoke a whole sentence, "Greta, is this... I mean... are you sure? ... i mean, is this what I think..."
She smiled up at him, and understood his confusion. "Yes and No." She looked around the room, "They did a lot more than I thought they were going to." Eric gave her a questioning look. She smiled, "Your sisters did this."
He smiled at the thought, then got serious again, "But... why?"
She looked up at him, and smiled. "Eric... no I'm not ready for that... not 'Yet'." She said, then gave him quick kiss. "But... I am ready for... more." she said looking up at him.
"More?" He said looking deep into her eyes.
"Yes, more." She tried to find the words she wanted to say, but there weren't coming to her. "I mean... isn't there steps between that and were we are now?"
He smiled down at her, now understanding what she was talking about. "Well, yes..." his voice getting deeper, "It just depends on how far you want to go."
She pressed herself up against him, wrapped her arms around him, looked him in the eye, and said, "Well, how about we find out?"
Eric swallowed hard, *Oh God.* He thought to himself, *I'm in trouble, and she is giving me 'that' look.*
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For the Rated R part, go here: http://eric_greta.tripod.com/chap46R.htm
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(Okay, Eric and Greta are now in his room on his bed. They have sort of explored one another, and are now talking about Greta's fears.)
Eric laughed, he couldn't help himself, and the look on her face made him laugh harder. He pulled her down to his chest, hugging her. When he was done, he rolled them both onto their sides. "Now, please know I was NOT laughing at you at all." He caressed her cheek lovingly, kissed her, then continued. "It's just two things. One, the word you used was quite funny. And two, I need to thank you for the wonderful complement. But dear Greta, if you are afraid of me, you would be completely terrified of some guys out there."
She blushed slightly, "But I don't want them, so they don't worry me."
Eric pulled her close to him, kissed her forehead, then talked to her. "Greta, I can promise you a lot of things, but I can't promise you that when we first make love it won't hurt. Because, I'm afraid to say, it more than likely will. And that has much more to do with you never being with anyone than it does with me." His hand caressed her back, and he kissed her shoulder, then he looked into her eyes once again. "But I can promise you a few things. That when we make love, that will be exactly what it is. That I will try to be as gentle as possible. And that, I promise, it will get much better." He said the last with a large smile, making her smile as well. "Does that help at all?" he asked caressing her shoulder.
She smiled slightly, "A little," she said in a small voice. He gave her a tight hug. "But yeah, it does. And I'm sorry for... ruining everything."
He looked at her in shock, "Greta, you did NOT ruin anything. Let me tell you how I see this evening. I had dinner with a very beautiful woman that I love very much. We exchanged wonderful gifts from the heart to each other. This beautiful woman set up a very wonderful, passionate surprise for me which I enjoyed fully. And this gorgeous woman opened up to me about her fears, and also told me that she eventually wants to make love to me." Greta's smile grew wider as he talked, and when he stopped she kissed him hard. "So I think this has been a wonderful evening."
"So do I," she said hugging him.
"Well, I think we are done for tonight." He said with a light kiss.
"Who says?" Greta asked, moving her leg over his hip.
Eric shook his head and smiled, 'How tempting it is, but you have class and I have work tomorrow," he looked at the clock, "today. And we need sleep."
Greta sighed and slid over to her side of the bed. Eric looked at her, "Aren't you going to get in some pajama's or something?" he asked as he stood up and moved over to his dresser.
She looked over at him, "Okay, can I borrow a T-shirt?" He reached in his drawer, found an older T-shirt and threw it to her. Expecting her to get out of bed to get her pajama bottoms he was surprised that she slipped the shirt on. Then her arms disappeared beneath the shirt, then popped back out the sleeves a moment later, her one hand holding something. The next thing he knew she threw it at him with a devious smile on her face. It landed on his shoulder, he got it, and then realized what it was. This fingertips brushed the silky material of her bra and his mouth hung open. For some reason the idea of her in just his T-shirt and her panties on his bed was more arousing then her in her underwear. His thoughts of putting more clothes on vanished as he walked back over to the bed, dropping the bra on the floor. She laid on her side, the covers coming only up to just over her knees, having pulled them back for him to get into bed. The shirt was bunched up slightly around her waist, showing off part of her underwear. The look she gave him made his knees want to buckle. He stared at the sight before him, and wondered how he could be so lucky.
Her words shook him out of his thoughts, "Are you coming to bed?" she asked.
He laid down, and brought the covers up over them as his answer. Eric then pulled her towards him, her head on his shoulder, as his arms wrapped around her. The material of the shirt was so thin, and it was driving him crazy. *Did I really say I wanted to call it a night?* he asked himself. *Good luck getting to sleep.*
Greta moved to look up at him, "Good night." she then kissed him. The kiss lingered for awhile.
"Good night," he responded when they broke apart.
"Greta, I love you." He said, caressing her cheek tenderly.
She smiled, "I love you too." She responded, giving him another kiss. She rested her head back on his shoulder, her arms wrapped around him like his were around her. She fell asleep soon after, but it took him a little while longer for sleep to finally claim him.
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Chapter 47
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Time seemed to slip by once again. The builders were almost done with the remodeling of the chateau. The doctors were still worried about performing a DNA test on Hope's baby, which kept Greta from telling anyone what her mother told her. She hated not telling anyone, especially Eric, but this secret could have profound effects on many people's lives, and right now wasn't the time. She tried to shake the thought away as she packed. Spring break was only 2 days away and her and Eric were basically all ready for Colorado. She couldn't wait for him to teach her how to ski.
She continued packing as her memories of the past few months went through her head. She smiled at how much their relationship had progressed, both emotionally and physically.
They hadn't made love yet, but she knew that soon they would. They had agreed to also stay 'clothed' until they did so. But clothed meant underwear, or just barely. She smiled at that, how many times had they drove each other crazy? How many times could she not take anymore, and asked him to just make love to her? But her always stopped her. Part of her was glad that he did, but the other part of her knew that when she really did mean it, she would have to really convince him. She zipped up one suit case, and started on her last one.
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Eric was in his room doing the same thing. Packing and remembering. So many times in the last month or so he almost had to pinch himself to see if he wasn't dreaming. His relationship with Greta made him feel on top of the world.
He didn't lie to himself, it wasn't all roses, but even the lows somehow made them that much closer. His thoughts drifted back to mid February. He should have been more prepared for it, his mother had warned him a long time ago, but he wasn't.
She had seemed a little out of it all day, well actually since she had cleaned her room. Eric didn't think much of it, just a case of winter blahs, but later it would have made sense. They were taking a walk through the park, and decided to sit down on a bench to drink their hot chocolate. Eric looked around at everyone in the park, the snow had cleared, and kids were playing on the swings and playground equipment. Eric looked over and saw Greta staring over at the swings.
He followed her gaze to a mother and daughter. The mother was pushing the daughter on the swings, nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back at Greta, then to the swings. Then it hit him. They were both dressed up, from probably just having come from church. Their outfits almost matching. Their hair both long and brown. Eric looked back to Greta, and saw her lip starting to quiver. Her eyes were wet and threatening to run over. Eric took her empty cup and his, stood up and quickly threw them away. He then grabbed her hand, pulled her up to him, hugged her tightly to him, and walked her back to the Jeep.
He drove her back to the apartment, parked, helped her out of the car and up to the apartment. The whole time her face almost blank. He opened the door, and followed her in. He took her coat, and laid his and hers on the chair. He then turned her to face him. He tilted her head up to look at him. That's when the first tear fell, followed by another. He pulled her to him, hugged her, caressing her hair, telling her to let it all out. Her slight shaking turned into sobs, making her whole body shake violently.
Eric moved her over to the couch and helped her sit down, her face buried in his chest. She cried for over an hour, and he just held onto her. She had held it all in for so long, and now it was all coming out.
Eric shook his head at the memory, he hated that she had to go through all that. But she had finally, completely dealt with her mother's death. And in that moment, her had felt closer to her than he ever had. She opened up to him, allowed him to be her support and trusted him at her most vulnerable.
He closed his eyes and remembered some of the better memories they had had as well. He knew that he would have to be careful while they were on this trip. Because if she asked him to make love to her one more time, he might not be able to say no. It was difficult to stop before when he saw the desire in her eyes and felt the same way. But a vacation, hotel room, and everything always put a surreal atmosphere to everything.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He looked up to see Greta peek her head in. He laughed, "What if I was changing?"
She grinned, "Well, I wouldn't have a problem with that."
He smiled, and walked over to her, "Oh you wouldn't huh?" He said as he leaned down and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his middle, and when they stopped she laid her head on his chest. "This trip is going to be a lot of fun." Eric said to her, walking back towards the bed with some difficulty as Greta walked with him, her arms still around him, both of them laughing. As he continued to pack, Greta moved around to hug him from behind, and rest her cheek on his back. Making Eric laugh even more and shake his head, but loving every minute of it. "I have missed Colorado so much since I came back to Salem, especially in the winter months." He said putting another sweater in his suitcase. "But now I get to go back with someone I love, and I get to show you everything." He said turning in her arms to lean down and give her another kiss.
Greta smiled, "I'm so glad we are going, I want to see these places you are always talking about."
Eric kissed her again, "It's just to bad that my grandparents are on vacation themselves to Florida, cause I would like you to meet them."
"Well, we can always go back and visit them sometime."
He smiled, gave her a hug, then went back to packing. "So are you all packed?" He asked her.
"Yep!" She said happily.
He grinned as he zipped up his suitcase, and turned around, "And now, so am I."
"Good," she said with a devious smile, and pushed him backwards. He fell on the bed with her on top of him, him laughing, until he was stopped by her kiss.
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Chapter 48
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The plane trip to Colorado was much shorter than that to Hawaii. They didn't even need any cards for this trip, as they talked the whole way. Before they knew it they were preparing to land, and then the wheels hit the runway.
They got into the airport, found their luggage, and headed to the exit. Eric hailed a cab, and soon they were on their way to the hotel.
Greta looked out the window as they drove. The snow on the ground, the hills and peaks of the mountains and all the trees and nature were so beautiful. Eric watched her with a smile. "Gorgeous isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah," she replied looking at him, smiling then turning back to the window. They soon pulled up to the hotel and a bellboy got their luggage from the trunk as Eric paid the cab. They then followed the guy into the Hotel lobby.
The lobby was amazing, the whole Hotel was a huge log cabin along with other cabins all around. The lobby was three stories tall, with trees, a huge fire place, and tons of very comfortable rugs and couches. They walked over to the main desk and checked in. The man behind the desk gave them their keys and they again followed the bellhop to their room.
They followed him through the lobby and outside, then down a cleared walkway towards a group of large cabins. Each cabin had 4 large suites in them. They got to the second one, and the bellhop grabbed the bags and led them up the one flight of stairs.
"Cabin 2, room c." the bellhop said. Eric opened the door and they all walked inside. The bellhop set down the bags then motioned around the room. "The bedroom is behind those doors, along with the bathroom and hot tub. Here is the small kitchen area and over here is a fireplace and living area. The fire place turns on with a turn of this knob." He said demonstrating for them. He then walked back to the door. Eric tipped him and he was out the door, closing it behind him.
"Okay this room is amazing." Greta said moving over to the double doors.
Eric looked at the fire place trying to shake the thoughts he was getting out of his head. She opened up the doors and walked into the bedroom and he followed her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath at what all was there, *Oh, boy.* He thought to himself. *This is going to be torture.*
The bed was huge, a large king bed with tons of pillows. Off to the side was a two person hot tub, and the bathroom had a large two person tub and shower.
Eric smiled, he knew what most couples did in this room, and almost laughed, knowing that they were going to be different. He reached out and grabbed her arm, carefully spinning her to him. His hand lightly caressed her cheek, and he leaned down to kiss her. Knowing that he really didn't mind waiting, because he had her, and that was all that mattered.
She wrapped her arms around him, and after the kiss, she laid her head on his chest. He smiled and kissed the top of her head then spoke, "Yeah, this room is amazing," he lifted her face to look at him, "but you are much more." She blushed slightly, and then leaned up to give him a light kiss.
"So, what to do first?" she asked.
Eric looked at his watch, it was 2:30 Colorado time. "A late lunch?"
She smiled and nodded. He grabbed the keys and they were out the door to the main hotel once again. They enjoyed their meal, and talked and planned what they would do next. They agreed to wait and teach Greta how to ski tomorrow morning, and to explore the area and see the sites today.
They got a rental car and Eric took her farther up state to show her where he grew up. He showed her the high school, his grandparents house, the local hangout, and anything he could think of. At about 5 o'clock they headed back, taking the scenic route, and stopping to take some pictures of the snow capped mountains. Not to mention a snow ball fight, ending up in a wrestling mach in the snow.
They got back to the hotel around 6:00, and decided to explore the hotel. They found the three different restaurants there, along with 10 stores and the bar. They then headed outside, taking a look at the winter gardens. Shoveled paths led to the ski area, to the cabins, nature walks, and towards town. All the paths were lined with lightly snow covered pine, spruce and fur trees, along with benches and other things.
Before he knew it he felt a large ball of snow hit him in the back, he turned around to see Greta with a large smile on her face, along with another ball of snow heading for him, and hitting him in the chest. He grinned, "What, you didn't learn from the last time that you won't win?"
She giggled, bent over and grabbed some more snow, as did her. But he threw his before she could, getting her on the shoulder. Her's then hit him on the leg. They started throwing the snow back and forth, not even really making snow balls out of it anymore. Eric then ran after her, she ran, and tried hiding and circling through the trees. He reached for her many times and almost got hold of her, but on this last try his fingers got her coat, and he pulled her towards him. She struggled sending him of balance, and he willing fell back into the snow, taking her along with him.
She landed slightly on top of him, but she didn't stay there as he rolled over kissing her. Her arm came up, wrapping around his neck, as the kiss deepened. He slowly pulled away to look at her, and lightly ran his fingers over her cheek. She smiled up at him, and pulled him back down to her lips, kissing him deeply. They were interrupted by some giggling behind them. They pulled away to look, and found two little kids looking at them laughing. They both blushed, Eric stood up and helped Greta up. Eric looked over at the two kids, "Think we are funny huh?" He asked them. They nodded yes, he leaned down and gathered some snow, and slowly molded it into a ball. He showed it to them, "Still think it's funny?" he said with a smile, looking like he was going to throw it at them, the kids took off running, laughing as they went. Eric turned back towards Greta with the snow ball still in his hand.
She looked him in they eyes, and saw the devious smile on his face. "Don't you dare." She told him.
"What are you going to do about it?" He asked her, coming closer to her.
She ran down the side walk with him right behind her, "Eric, stop." She yelled while giggling with a large smile on her face. She ran for their cabin, and ran up the stairs, getting the keys out of her coat, but she couldn't unlock the door in time. And soon he was up the stairs with her, and cornered her. "Eric..." She said, he smiled and threw the snowball.
Greta closed her eyes waiting for it, she opened them a few seconds later when she didn't feel anything. She looked around and saw that the snow ball had landed at her feet. She looked up at him, and saw him walk closer to her, her reached for the keys and unlocked the door. He opened the door, moved closer to her, picked her up, putting her over his shoulder, eliciting a slight scream from her, and walked through the door. "Put me down." She said struggling, he just laughed as her carried her into the living room, leaned over and then dropped her softly onto the couch. He then plopped himself in the chair next to her. Unzipping his coat in the process.
They laughed for awhile, talked, and then decided to get some dinner, watch some tv, and then get a good night's sleep. They ordered room service, and a movie over the pay per view, and somewhere around 11:30 they headed to bed. With a kiss good night, and 'love you's' they were asleep in each other's arms, in the nice big king sized bed.
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Chapter 49
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They woke the next morning, got dressed and ready for a day of skiing. They went and hand breakfast then headed over to the slopes, rented some boots, and ski's and were ready to go. Eric showed Greta how to move around on the ski's and after a little while they made it to the bunny hill. They spent a lot of time in the snow of the bunny hill. It took many tries for Greta to finely go down the hill without falling. They enjoyed a lot of laughter, and kisses though.
They then made their way to the ski lift to try an easy run. By the end of the two easy runs, Greta got the hang of it, and was actually doing very well. They took a break for hot chocolate and lunch. Then they went back to the slopes, for something a little more difficult.
It was starting to get dark when Eric finally dragged Greta back to the hotel. They walked into the room, Eric took off his coat, kicked off this shoes and fell on the bed. Greta bounded around the room, taking off her shoes and coat and jumped excitedly on the bed next to him.
"It was so much fun." She said with a large smile. "The cold air in your face, the speed of traveling down the mountain, very exhilarating."
He looked up at her and shook his head, "And tiring ... for some people." He said with a yawn. He reached up and cupped the side of her face. "You my dear, have way to much energy."
"Oh, come on. It was fun! You had fun, right?"
He smiled wider, "Yes I had a lot of fun. Mostly, watching you enjoy it so much."
She smiled and leaned down and kissed him. He reached up and held her to him and then down beside him. They continued kissing, and Greta wrapped her leg around his hip, drawing him closer. They continued caressing and kissing for a few more minutes until they slowly broke away and just hugged one another.
They then changed and went out to dinner. They tried to figure out what they wanted to do for the rest of the night, and finally decided to go dancing. They took a taxi to a local and popular bar and dance club. They walked in and both ordered a drink. They walked in and sat down, trying to get a feel for the place. The waitress returned and brought them their drinks, Eric a beer and Greta a fuzzy navel.
Eric smiled at her, "What?" she finally asked him.
"I've never seen you drink before, well hard liquor any ways. Bear, wine and Pina Colada's don't count." He said remembering Hawaii.
She laughed, "Well honestly, I haven't had much. I only know 2 drinks. A fuzzy navel and an rum & coke. Billie introduced those two to me."
Eric smiled, "Well then you should try something else as well."
She eyed him and smiled, "Why Mr. Brady? Are you trying to get me drunk?"
He laughed, "Maybe." He said with a sarcastic smile. She just laughed. "No, I am really just saying you should try something else."
"But I wouldn't even know what to get."
Eric grinned, "Well first, do you like sweet or dry, and strong or light."
"Definitely light alcohol flavor, and sweet. At least, I think so."
He grinned wider. "Well, there are millions of drinks, I only know of a few as well. The more common ones. You might like a sea breeze, rum runner, or sex on the beach." Greta laughed, "Yeah, yeah. They have some weird names, and a lot of them are sexual."
"Well, how about I try and finish what I have, and if I want more I'll try something else."
"Sounds good to me." They talked and slowly finished their drinks. They then headed out onto the dance floor. They danced to the fast music, along with the large crowd. They danced two more songs, then went back to the the table and ordered another drink. Greta blushed slightly when she ordered a sex on the beach. After the waitress came back with them, then left, Greta took a taste.
"Well, not bad. Sweet, and the alcohol is not too noticeable."
Eric smiled, "Yeah, that's how they get you, you don't taste that much but there is."
They stayed for about two more hours, dancing and having a few more drinks, and then took a cab back to the hotel.
Eric was hitting himself mentally over the head for having encouraged her to try new drinks. Because as he found out, unlike Nicole, Greta couldn't hold her alcohol. She had about 3 and a half drinks, and he had an arm around her waist and hers around his shoulders, helping her walk to the room.
The thing was, she was really cute and funny like this. She was very happy, bubbly, energetic, but also very flirtatious. He was just glad that he, himself, only had 3 beers. He opened their door, and they walked in, closing the door behind them. Greta laughed and laid down on the couch.
"The room is spinning," she said looking at him with a large smile.
He just shook his head and tried not to laugh. He went over to the sink and poured a large glass of water, and took out a box of crackers from one little cabinet. He sat down beside her, and got her to sit up. "Here, drink this."
"Eric, I have had way to much already..."
Eric leaned in, gave her a quick kiss, and then shook his head. "It's just water. Trust me, it will help, and so will the crackers."
She took the water and drank it quickly, finding she was thirstier then she thought. She then handed him the glass and stood up on shaky legs. "Where are you going?" He asked her.
"Well, I'm going to go change into my pajama's, and get ready for bed. Not to mention, go to the bathroom."
He laughed and stood up, he helped her walk into the bathroom and grabbed her PJ's and gave them to her, "If you aren't out in 5 minutes, and don't answer when I call, I'm coming in."
She laughed, lightly his his chest, "You worrier. I'm fine." She said, kissed him, then headed into the bathroom.
He went back into the other room, and filled the glass with water, threw out the empty box of crackers and then got some ibuprofen and set it on the night stand. He then got ready for bed. She was out a few minutes later. After some persuasion, she drank the other glass of water and took the pills. They then got into bed, and Greta laid her head on his chest. Eric wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.
"I love you," she said looking up at him.
He smiled, "I love you too." He said then kissed her forehead.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me."
His grin became wider. "No need, I love taking care of you."
She leaned up and kissed him, wrapping her arm around his neck. She deepened the kiss, and pressed her body up against his. The alcohol on her breath sweetened her kiss even more somehow. But it also reminded him about the condition she was in. He pulled away slowly and told her to get some sleep.
The pout on her face was so cute he almost gave in, but in the end he held firm. He was surprised however that in less than five minutes she was out cold.
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Greta woke up the next morning with a slight headache. Luckily the water, crackers, and ibuprofen had helped lessen the effects. Eric tried not to laugh, but he didn't always succeed. They went to breakfast, and after some more water, juice and high carbohydrates, Greta felt a lot better, and wanted to go out skiing again.
Eric agreed and in less than an hour they were on the slopes again. They slowly worked their way up the difficulty.
"So, after this slope, want to get some lunch?" Eric asked looking at his watch. It was about 12:30.
"Yeah, sounds good, I think I wore off breakfast." He smiled as they got off the lift and headed for their area.
Greta looked further up the mountain, "No matter how much I love skiing, I don't think I would want to ski much higher up than this." Eric agreed, and they started down the mountain.
The change in the texture of the snow of the previous day and the other slopes was making it difficult for Greta. She fell a few times, and so did Eric. They laughed, "Okay, definitely no more skiing today when we get back." Greta said helping Eric up.
"I agree," he looked down the mountain, "Well we got about 2/3 more to go."
Greta sighed, it already took them too long to get here. "Then let's get going." She said getting ready to go. But his hand held her arm. "What?"
"Did you hear that?" Eric said looking up the mountain.
Greta turned to look, she was about to say no, but then she heard the sound. A cracking, rumbling sound. "What is that?" She asked, fear in her voice.
Eric looked around quickly, saw something slightly down the mountain. "Come on." he said and pulled her with him.
They started skiing quickly in that direction, moving closer to the side with a mass of tree's. The rumbling was growing louder, and closer. Neither took the time to look back. The sound was almost on them, and they could feel the rumbling. They got there and Eric grabbed her arm and pulled her with him. And it hit, a massive wall of snow hit them, and then there was blackness.....
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Chapter 50
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Eric slowly opened his eyes, but he only encountered darkness. His body hurt all over and slowly his memory came back. Then he became frantic, "Greta!?!" He called out, his arms moving all around looking for her. "Greta?" he yelled again, still nothing. He tried to stand up, only to hit his head hard on rock. He swore, and rubbed his head. He started to feel around, taking off the one ski that was still on. "Greta!" He called again, worry in his voice. * I have to find her,* he thought frantically, and called her name again, this time he heard a small sound. He moved towards where it came from, and his hand touched her coat. "Greta?" He said again, his hands moving up to her chest, neck, then face. From the sounds she was making he could tell she was waking up and also in pain like he was. His hands moved down her, trying to feel if anything was wrong. "Greta, come on, wake up." He pleaded with her, especially as he encountered a wall of snow covering most of her lower half.
"Eric?" Greta said softly.
"I'm right here," he said, staring to dig away at the snow surrounding her.
"I can't see anything," she said.
"Well it's good to know it's not just me."
His hands kept digging as she went on, "What happened?"
"Well, I am guessing we are stuck in an avalanche. And I think we got to the rock out cropping that I saw." He got the snow cleared to her knee's. "Okay, I'm going to try and pull you out of the snow. Tell me if you feel any resistance or pain."
She agreed and he moved up behind her and grabbed onto her shoulders. He started to pull slowly and she tried to help. She felt some pain, but mostly from some cuts and bruises. She felt her ski's snap apart from the boots and then she was easy to pull out. Once out she curled up to him, and they held onto each other.
"Now what?" she asked.
"Well we could try to dig our way out, but I have no idea how much snow we are under, and whether or not it will collapse on us if we try."
"Well, I mean, they will look for us right?" she asked, holding on to him more securely.
"Well they know their was an avalanche, and they have procedures for looking for people."
"So, what a few hours?"
Eric didn't want to tell her the truth, the statistics, or the gravity of their situation. "I'm not entirely sure, it depends on where they start their search."
"I just wish I could see where we are." Greta said, pushing her face into his coat.
His hands ran over her back, trying to make her feel better, and himself. "Me too, curious how big this area we are in is, and everything."
"Wait." Greta broke apart from him for a moment, and started to search through her coat quickly.
"What? What are you looking for?"
"My keys, my car keys."
"Keys? Why would you want your keys? And why would you bring your car keys skiing? Your car is in Salem."
"Because I put my room key on the key ring..."
"So?"
"So? What was the gift that Belle got me, when I got my license?"
Eric understood, and helped her look in the other pockets on her ski coat. His fingers found an extra pair of gloves, some chap stick, and then... "I got them." He pulled the keys outs, and his fingers searched for the small key chain, then he found it, and pushed the small button. A small beam of light came out the other end. They both squinted and slowly their eyes came into focus. "Remind me to thank Belle for the gift, if we get home." He said pointing the light looking around.
"If?" Greta said looking at him.
Eric swallowed hard, "I meant when." He answered quickly. They were in fact under the rock out cropping, it went back a little ways, but not too far, and all around where it stuck out was a massive wall of snow. It was only tall enough for them to barely sit up, and crawl around on their knees. He was hoping that the out cropping had actually been a cave or something, something that went far back into the mountain. He turned back around to look at her, "Well, I guess we wait."
"Eric, what aren't you telling me." Greta said looking at him. Eric turned off the light and gave it back to Greta to put into her pocket. He wanted to save the battery. She could tell he was avoiding the issue. "Eric! Tell me! Now!"
He sighed, "Okay. Okay." He stopped and tried to figure out how to go on. "If they find us in the next few hours we will be fine..."
"But..."
"But... this is a big mountain, and a lot of people to look for, it might take a few days."
"Well, we'll be hungry, but... I mean we can eat the snow, and our body temperature is really warming it up in here."
"But we won't last a few days."
"Why?
"Because we are basically sealed in here, there is now way for any new air to get in."
The realization hit her, and her hands started to dig at the snow frantically. He moved next to her, and grabbed her arms. "You could dig a long time, and not get out of here, and waste a lot more oxygen doing that, than waiting and hoping."
"But there has too be way to get some fresh air in here."
"I just wish we could tell how deep the snow is." Eric said. She agreed, and they both decided to wait.
They laid down, holding on to one another, and Eric feel asleep, but Greta couldn't, her mind kept working. *All we need is a small air hole, just a small one, then we can wait. Then they will find us.* She turned over and winced at the pain in her side. It hurt, really bad, she knew she had to have hit something hard when the snow hit her. *It's just a big bruise.* She told herself, *That's all, I just hit something.* But the thought, made her want to get out even more. She slowly sat up, and grimaced, but pushed that pain aside, as she felt around the what she was referring to as *the cave* even though it wasn't one. Then she felt it, Eric's two Ski polls. She started playing around with them, and got the handle grips off of one. She took out her keys again, and turned on the light, she just about jumped for joy, when she found that that where hollow. Well, not totally, just a small hole ran through the center. She started to try and take off the other end, to see if the hole went all the way through. It was tricky, and she broke a few nails, but she got the other end off. She shined the light through the one end, and when she saw the light come out the other end she grinned. "Yes!" She said.
Eric woke up to her voice, "What?" He said looking over to see what she was doing. She explained to him what she had done.
"We can slowly shove the poll up into the snow, and then when it gets all the way through, we will have an air hole."
He smiled, "Greta? But shoving the poll up into the snow, will also shove snow into the poll too."
Her eyes closed, he was right, and the snow may be deeper than the poll. "But we could at least try. Right? Maybe push the poll through and then bring it back down, the snow might not collapse. Besides, if it does, we still have the area under the rock."
Eric smiled, "Yeah, we might as well try."
They moved over to the wall of snow, and where the rock ended. They had to do it at a slight angle, because the poll wouldn't stand straight up in the space they had. They slowly pushed the poll into the snow, waiting to feel the resistance stop, but it didn't. They got the poll, all the into the snow, except for an inch. "Well, we are in here pretty deep." Greta picked up the other poll, and started to take off the ends as well. "What are you going to do?"
"Shove this one in behind it."
"Then how are you going to get the first poll out?"
She hadn't thought of that, and almost gave up. "I don't know."
"Wait. I do. You said the polls were hollow right?" She nodded yes. "Well, what if we pulled a string though both of them, and made them stay together, and then we could pull them both back out."
She smiled, "But where do we get the string?"
He pulled out his gloves, and started messing with them, he eventually got an end, and started to pull on it slowly. Slowly the yawn was pulled out of the knitted glove. He went through most of the glove, and finally got enough yarn. Greta popped a button off her coat and they secured the end of the string to the button, which was big enough not to go through the hole, but still small enough to be pushed into the snow. They then found a small enough stone, tied the other end of the string to it, and dropped the rock down into the poll. After a little bit of work it came out the other end. They smiled at each other, and then pulled the other poll out of the snow. They cleaned out the hole of the poll that the snow had went in, and then fed the rock into that poll as well. When they were done, they had the two polls hooked together, and where ready to try again.
They fed the first poll easily back into the snow, once all the way in, they tighten up the string, and started the second poll, right behind the first. They started to push, and push, and push, then about two thirds of the way, the resistance stopped, and they could tell they were through the snow. It was still pretty deep, way to deep to try and dig out. They moved the pole around in circles, trying to get the snow to solidify around the poll and not collapse. They then pulled out the polls slowly, trying not to brake the string and keep the one poll to far in to reach. After a few minutes, the both polls were in, and they looked through the hole. It was hard to see anything, but a little bit of light was coming into the hole. Eric used the light to look at his watch, he hadn't thought to before. "No wonder the sky is getting dark up there, it's already 7 o'clock."
"But... Eric... this happened around 12:30 this afternoon!"
"I know, we must have been unconscious for awhile."
"Yeah, but... it's been over six hours, and they haven't found us yet."
"They will keep looking for a long time." He tried to reassure her.
She looked into the hole, at the sky, it seemed so far away, and she yelled, "HELP!" But she stopped quickly when she heard a soft rumble.
They looked at each other, "Or that may be the reason they haven't found us yet." He said.
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To Be Continued