(Note to all readers: When I started this fanfic, it was as a challenge to myself as I wanted to see if I could write a fanfic to songs that OTHER people challenged me to write a chapter with. It was a bit different than any other fanfic I've done, but overall it was a great learning experience as an author and that it why I offer to you, Eternity: My musical montage traveling through the life and times of Chris Ramsey, Eve Lambert, Jack Ramsey and Alison Barrington as music illuminates a tale of romance that has been a long time in the making. Please enjoy!!! If you have any questions or comments on this fic, please feel free to drop me a line at Eternity Fanfic. Thanks for reading!!)
Chapter One
"Creepin' Up On You"
Creepin' up on you is the wrong thing to do
I found your address got your phone number too
Visit all the stores where you buy all your clothes
Been to secret places you think nobody knows
If I have to breathe without you
Nobody should......
I need to be around you
Watchin' you
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you..
Chris Ramsey made his way through the nearly deserted streets of Bermuda as he felt a wind rush through him. He'd taken Jack up on his offer to leave town with him, but all it wound up being for the two Ramsey brothers was one moment of misery followed by another. They'd found themselves up to their eyeballs in tequila and poorly spoken Spanish, yet after Jack had passed out, Chris found himself more clearheaded than ever in his quest for self discovery. As if there was ever such a thing, he laughed to himself as he noted a small figure up ahead.
Chris felt the tropical winds whip up around him as a small child had stepped out onto the street, lazily kicking around a dented silver can beneath the golden iridescence of the moon. A small smile tugged on Chris' lips as he observed the child so at ease with his meager surroundings. The night wasn't so much of a threatening one as it was lonely, but as this child played among the darkness, nothing but sheer delight vibrated in his eyes as he kicked along his broken can. Chris watched the dark eyed child squeal with sheer bliss as he sent the can flying in the air towards Chris' direction. The boy looked up at Chris, his eyes a mixture of wonderment and confusion as he cautiously moved towards Chris.
"It looks like you're having a good time," Chris offered in a welcoming tone as the child moved forward saying nothing, "would you like this back?" Chris patted the small can with his foot as the boy nodded, "alright then," Chris replied kicking the can gently in the child's direction.
The boy laughed upon receiving the can and before Chris knew it there was another gentle flood of laughter filling the air, one that Chris hardly recognized as his own, but in these simple moments with the child, he found himself at ease. He was no longer spokesperson for Frank as the Avatar, no more the cynical surgeon at Port Charles General Hospital, but he was merely a man lost in the simple pleasure of spending a few brief moments entertaining a child. The boy's eyes seemed to light up with each pass they made with one another and yet in those moments with this completely foreign experience lingering over him, Chris found himself at perfect ease.
"Esteban," the boy's mother called out to him from the shop entrance Chris had witnessed the boy slip out into the night from, "Esteban aqui!"
The boy heard his mother's callings and urgings for him to return home, but he looked to his new playmate in Chris as if asking his permission to end the challenge between them. Chris saw the curiosity behind the boy's eyes before he offered up a nod.
"Another time perhaps," Chris smiled at the boy before kicking the can in the child's direction once more. The child bent down to scoop it up, a smile washing over his perfectly tanned features as Chris watched him disappear into the small shop the boy's mother closing door behind him as Chris was once again met by the darkness surrounding him.
Darkness was a bit much considering the stars were shining brighter than they'd ever been in Port Charles, but now Chris was alone again lost in his thoughts as he walked along. He'd contemplated making his way back to the tiny pueblo Jack had rented out, but watching his brother sleep off a hangover just wasn't his idea of a good time. Maybe Jack would need someone to listen to his woes of being unlucky in love, but Chris was betting that Jack wouldn't need him around for another couple of hours.
Sighing, Chris strolled along thinking of how his brother had fallen into a similar fate as Chris had not too long ago. The sad truth was that both Ramsey brothers had fallen in love women they could never truly be with, both women near and dear to their hearts as they'd both fallen hard for their best friends. Jack had fallen head over heels for Alison while Chris had never truly gotten over the one woman who'd really touched his heart, even now after her tragic death. Even as time had passed on, no one could ever fill that void that surrounded him as he thought back to what life had been like with Eve in it, with her by his side while loving her from afar. Chris had tried to busy himself with thoughts of anything but her absense, but as he witnessed his brother's fall into darkness over losing any hope of a future with Alison, Chris was reminded yet again of his own emptiness.
To love and to have lost is better than not to have loved at all, Chris was once told, but in losing Eve, he'd lost all hope of finding love. She was his heart, his true destiny and with that came the heavy price of having found his one true soulmate only to lose her too soon to let her know they were meant to be. He'd known in his heart from the moment he first encountered her that she was the one, but pride and foolishness had kept him from following his heart straight to her, to the love that could've been between them. Even now as he thought back to the day she'd left this world, he felt as though a part of him had drifted off with her, going to some other place where love knew no limits. He only hoped that one day they would find one another again, but until then Chris would go on losing himself to whatever venture came his way in the hopes that something would keep his mind off of Eve, off of what it was like to have held her so close only to lose her a moment before the words I love you were whispered upon his lips. If only....
"Chris, who are you fooling?" he spoke to himself through the darkness as his eyes cast up towards the moon, now suddenly hidden by the clouds above. It looked like a storm was brewing as the cold realization that miracles didn't happen for men like him set in. He'd played the hand he was given, waiting for the perfect moment to release his ace only to wind up on the losing end of things. Time had played a very cruel joke on him and now he was left with the emptiness that filled his soul.
"Wherever you are Eve," Chris spoke to the moonlight, "know I haven't forgotten you. I'll never forget you," he promised in a whisper as he heard a sound from behind him. He turned towards the noise hearing another crash in the distance as his eyes searched through the darkened street, "hello. Is anyone there?"
Chris thought he heard another faint sound as his eyes darted towards the alleyway. He slowly stepped towards the noise, hearing nothing but the soft winds rising above the darkness as his heart pounded in his chest. He glanced towards the store entrance where Esteban had come from, but it was still locked up tight from his mother's attempt to bring him in for the evening. Chris heard another rustling sound from the alley as he turned his eyes towards the darkness.
"Hello?" he questioned unsure if his imagination was playing tricks on him as he thought of his alliance with Frank in Port Charles. Could it be that Frank had come all this way to Bermuda to find him? Was his leaving town not part of the deal they'd arranged? Chris stepped further into the blackness unsure of what he was going to find as he heard a soft mewing sound before him. Looking down Chris found himself met by the jade colored eyes of a black tabby cat who'd been rummaging through the trash aside the small restaurant.
"Hey you," Chris smiled bending down to reach out to the cat as it moved in against his leg rubbing up against him with a light purr, "you sure do make a lot of noise for a little one, don't you?" The cat pressed against him enjoying the moment as Chris stroked her soft fur. The cat seemed content for a moment or so before taking a step back and fleeing into the darkness.
"And who says I don't have a way with women," he shook his head before deciding to return to his brother who most certainly would need some kind of support when he woke up wondering why he'd taken that last tequila shot.
"Jack, maybe it's not too late for you," Chris thought back to his brother wondering if perhaps there would be a way to help Jack get his happily ever after before it was too late like it had been for him. As Chris headed back towards the pueblo, he failed to notice the shadow waiting in the darkness, watching him closely waiting to make the next move in the step towards getting closer to him, to finding their way to Chris Ramsey.
I been hanging round all the places you haunt
Spying on your friends to find out what you want
Drinking from the glass that you left on the bar
Follow you around driving home in your car...
Do I have to breathe without you?
Coz nobody could
I need to be around you
Watching you
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you..
Chris entered the room finding his brother barely conscious sprawled out on the sofa in the middle of the room. Closing the door behind him, Chris made his way across the room ready to get some aspirin for Jack. Perhaps that would help him get over what the night had brought on, but then again getting over loving someone like Alison wasn't going to be an easy task, so Chris opted for another bottle of beer instead. He made his way towards his brother extending the glass bottle towards him with a half smile.
"Here's to another night of misery," Chris urged as Jack raised his head to the side reluctantly accepting the bottle.
"Is this how it is going to be from now on?" Jack groaned tipping his head back as he downed the cold, harsh alcohol and let out a groan.
"And how is that exactly?" Chris plopped himself down into the chair across from Jack before popping open a bottle himself and taking a long swig.
"You and I out in the middle of paradise getting drunk with one another because life sucks for us both," Jack groaned, "what is it about us?"
"We're Ramsey men," Chris explained with obvious distaste as he shook his head, "it means life especially ours is bound to suck."
"Suck is putting it mildly," Jack shook his head, "you know I really thought Alison was different. She and I connected on this level and there was something, really something and I thought that she and I would be together that...."
"That what?" Chris asked as his brother trailed off.
"That maybe she and I could have something," Jack sighed, "but I guess I was just fooling myself into believing. What an idiot that makes me."
"No Jack, you weren't an idiot," Chris offered up painfully, "you were just a man in love. It happens to the best of us."
"Yeah I see you stumbling upon it all the time," Jack groaned, "See you don't need to worry about that stuff."
"Not anymore," Chris sighed closing his eyes as a silence fell between them.
"Chris, I didn't mean that....I mean I know what Eve meant to you," Jack started again.
"You were one of the only people who ever truly knew just how much she meant to me, Jack," Chris admitted honestly as another sigh fell from his lips, "that time during December when that truth bug hit me, I was so afraid what I'd say if I was face to face with her feeling how I felt, but now part of me wishes that we'd have five minutes alone together, that somehow I would've told her."
"You wanted to do the right thing," Jack watched his brother closely seeing his own pain mirrored in Chris, "you thought it was best to let Eve be happy."
"But if I'd stepped in, maybe she'd be alive. Maybe she and I...." Chris shook his head, "it doesn't matter now, does it? She's gone."
"She'll always be in your heart," Jack offered up with a lighthearted smile.
"It's not the same. Even you know that," Chris finished off his drink before making his way back towards the bar, "but for what it's worth, I think a traditional martini is in order here to remember her."
"Here here that," Jack agreed staggering up from the sofa as he tried to make a bee line to the bar, "a martini sounds good."
"You can barely walk," Chris noted his brother's sluggishness, "maybe you should sit this one out."
"For Eve's memory no way," Jack shook his head, "we owe her this."
"I can't argue that," Chris nodded mixing up the martinis before filling up two glasses that were behind the bar. He handed one to his brother before raising it for a toast, "To Eve Lambert."
"To Eve," Jack raised his glass as well.
"The best friend a man ever had," Chris downed his drink as Jack followed the action finishing off his martini, "if only she was here now. I'd give anything for that," Chris confessed with a sigh as there was a soft tapping at the door. The two brothers exchanged confused glances.
"You don't think," Jack eyed Chris closely.
"No, it can't be," Chris shook his head thinking about the words behind his wish as he headed towards the door wondering if maybe perhaps he was on to something. Maybe just maybe Chris had found a key that unlocked the door to his deepest desires. He made his way to the door taking in a breath as one last hope filled through him. Opening the door, he found himself met by concerned eyes.
"Chris?" she questioned in confusion as her eyes peered into him, "what are you doing here?"
"Alison," Chris' eyes widened as he opened the door further, "I could ask you the same question."
"I came to see Jack. I thought he was alone, but...." she looked past Chris into the room where Jack stood by the bar, "may I come in?"
"Of course," Chris nodded as he stepped aside letting Alison into the room, "Jack, it looks like destiny was knocking on the door for one of us tonight, but not the one we were thinking."
"Alison, what are you doing here?" Jack blinked back in confusion wondering if he was too drunk to be thinking clearly as if his head was making this up.
"I needed to talk to you. When you left...." she began as she looked over at Chris, "Can we have a minute?"
"Of course," Chris nodded his head before heading towards the door. He looked back at his brother, "remember don't fight destiny. Be honest here Jack."
"I'll do my best," Jack answered as Chris left the pueblo and Alison glanced over at him.
"What's going on Jack?"
"It's a long story Alison. Why is it you're here?" he questioned in frustration.
"I needed to see you Jack," she explained simply as her eyes showed full of concern, "we need to talk to one another and this can't wait."
This must be wrong
It can't go on
This kind of thing
It's taking all my sanity and making a mockery
This must be wrong
It can't go on
So Won't somebody free me from this misery
Bring my baby closer to me
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin'
Chris stepped out into the night leaving his brother to talk with Alison as he hoped that someone would have the happily ever after that he'd hoped for himself so long ago. Now as he was alone again, he wondered if there was truly any kind of miracle waiting for him on the other end of all of this. He hoped that one day he'd find happiness again, but now it seemed as though it may be too late. Chris settled into a chair outside the porch closing his eyes and losing himself to the tropical winds when a noise captured his attention. His eyes perked open as he noted a shadow moving among the night.
"Who's there?" he asked his voice more cautious than he'd planned on it being as he watched the shadow move once again, "who's out there?"
Getting up from his chair, Chris stepped in the direction of the dark figure as his pulse quickened. Perhaps it was no one, he though to himself as he wondered if he was losing his touch in taking his martinis, but as he blinked he noticed it again. It was there behind the faint glow of the moonlight as he looked out towards the water seeing movement on the beach. He took in a breath wondering if insanity had set in as he made his way towards the rolling tide hoping to catch a look at whatever was before him. The figure seemed to speed up as Chris approached. Seeing the movement, he quickened his pace rushing after it into the night as he hoped it wouldn't slip away.
"Wait," he called out to the figure as he found himself stepping into the water, feeling the fierce pounding beneath his feet. He was up to calf length screaming out to the night as he noted the movement had stopped up ahead, "please don't go. Don't run away!" he pleaded as the silence surrounded him. Even the ocean seemed to still as the figure approached him. He felt something inside of him, some warmth that had been gone for so very long, but now as he felt the moon rise above him, he realized he wasn't ready for what lay ahead of him.
"Chris," she called out as her pale arm extended towards him. She stepped into the water as her darkened auburn tinted hair surrounded her soft, delicate face. A breath caught in his throat as he took note of the soft white gown that was now immersed in the water surrounding them. He blinked once, twice trying to make sense of what he was seeing as her fingers eased over his cheek and he spoke her name in a soft whisper.
"Eve?" he questioned reaching out to her expecting to fall flat into the ocean as her warm form stood before him.
"I'm here," she nodded as his arms slipped around her and he drew her close to him feeling the warmth of her very much alive in his arms as they embraced, "I'm right here."
"But how?" he asked as he looked to her dark eyes finding himself lost in the questions before he pulled her into his arms around determined not to let her go as suddenly it seemed that miracles were around him after all.
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you...
*Song sung by Darren Hayes*
Chapter One
"Creepin' Up On You"
Creepin' up on you is the wrong thing to do
I found your address got your phone number too
Visit all the stores where you buy all your clothes
Been to secret places you think nobody knows
If I have to breathe without you
Nobody should......
I need to be around you
Watchin' you
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you..
Chris Ramsey made his way through the nearly deserted streets of Bermuda as he felt a wind rush through him. He'd taken Jack up on his offer to leave town with him, but all it wound up being for the two Ramsey brothers was one moment of misery followed by another. They'd found themselves up to their eyeballs in tequila and poorly spoken Spanish, yet after Jack had passed out, Chris found himself more clearheaded than ever in his quest for self discovery. As if there was ever such a thing, he laughed to himself as he noted a small figure up ahead.
Chris felt the tropical winds whip up around him as a small child had stepped out onto the street, lazily kicking around a dented silver can beneath the golden iridescence of the moon. A small smile tugged on Chris' lips as he observed the child so at ease with his meager surroundings. The night wasn't so much of a threatening one as it was lonely, but as this child played among the darkness, nothing but sheer delight vibrated in his eyes as he kicked along his broken can. Chris watched the dark eyed child squeal with sheer bliss as he sent the can flying in the air towards Chris' direction. The boy looked up at Chris, his eyes a mixture of wonderment and confusion as he cautiously moved towards Chris.
"It looks like you're having a good time," Chris offered in a welcoming tone as the child moved forward saying nothing, "would you like this back?" Chris patted the small can with his foot as the boy nodded, "alright then," Chris replied kicking the can gently in the child's direction.
The boy laughed upon receiving the can and before Chris knew it there was another gentle flood of laughter filling the air, one that Chris hardly recognized as his own, but in these simple moments with the child, he found himself at ease. He was no longer spokesperson for Frank as the Avatar, no more the cynical surgeon at Port Charles General Hospital, but he was merely a man lost in the simple pleasure of spending a few brief moments entertaining a child. The boy's eyes seemed to light up with each pass they made with one another and yet in those moments with this completely foreign experience lingering over him, Chris found himself at perfect ease.
"Esteban," the boy's mother called out to him from the shop entrance Chris had witnessed the boy slip out into the night from, "Esteban aqui!"
The boy heard his mother's callings and urgings for him to return home, but he looked to his new playmate in Chris as if asking his permission to end the challenge between them. Chris saw the curiosity behind the boy's eyes before he offered up a nod.
"Another time perhaps," Chris smiled at the boy before kicking the can in the child's direction once more. The child bent down to scoop it up, a smile washing over his perfectly tanned features as Chris watched him disappear into the small shop the boy's mother closing door behind him as Chris was once again met by the darkness surrounding him.
Darkness was a bit much considering the stars were shining brighter than they'd ever been in Port Charles, but now Chris was alone again lost in his thoughts as he walked along. He'd contemplated making his way back to the tiny pueblo Jack had rented out, but watching his brother sleep off a hangover just wasn't his idea of a good time. Maybe Jack would need someone to listen to his woes of being unlucky in love, but Chris was betting that Jack wouldn't need him around for another couple of hours.
Sighing, Chris strolled along thinking of how his brother had fallen into a similar fate as Chris had not too long ago. The sad truth was that both Ramsey brothers had fallen in love women they could never truly be with, both women near and dear to their hearts as they'd both fallen hard for their best friends. Jack had fallen head over heels for Alison while Chris had never truly gotten over the one woman who'd really touched his heart, even now after her tragic death. Even as time had passed on, no one could ever fill that void that surrounded him as he thought back to what life had been like with Eve in it, with her by his side while loving her from afar. Chris had tried to busy himself with thoughts of anything but her absense, but as he witnessed his brother's fall into darkness over losing any hope of a future with Alison, Chris was reminded yet again of his own emptiness.
To love and to have lost is better than not to have loved at all, Chris was once told, but in losing Eve, he'd lost all hope of finding love. She was his heart, his true destiny and with that came the heavy price of having found his one true soulmate only to lose her too soon to let her know they were meant to be. He'd known in his heart from the moment he first encountered her that she was the one, but pride and foolishness had kept him from following his heart straight to her, to the love that could've been between them. Even now as he thought back to the day she'd left this world, he felt as though a part of him had drifted off with her, going to some other place where love knew no limits. He only hoped that one day they would find one another again, but until then Chris would go on losing himself to whatever venture came his way in the hopes that something would keep his mind off of Eve, off of what it was like to have held her so close only to lose her a moment before the words I love you were whispered upon his lips. If only....
"Chris, who are you fooling?" he spoke to himself through the darkness as his eyes cast up towards the moon, now suddenly hidden by the clouds above. It looked like a storm was brewing as the cold realization that miracles didn't happen for men like him set in. He'd played the hand he was given, waiting for the perfect moment to release his ace only to wind up on the losing end of things. Time had played a very cruel joke on him and now he was left with the emptiness that filled his soul.
"Wherever you are Eve," Chris spoke to the moonlight, "know I haven't forgotten you. I'll never forget you," he promised in a whisper as he heard a sound from behind him. He turned towards the noise hearing another crash in the distance as his eyes searched through the darkened street, "hello. Is anyone there?"
Chris thought he heard another faint sound as his eyes darted towards the alleyway. He slowly stepped towards the noise, hearing nothing but the soft winds rising above the darkness as his heart pounded in his chest. He glanced towards the store entrance where Esteban had come from, but it was still locked up tight from his mother's attempt to bring him in for the evening. Chris heard another rustling sound from the alley as he turned his eyes towards the darkness.
"Hello?" he questioned unsure if his imagination was playing tricks on him as he thought of his alliance with Frank in Port Charles. Could it be that Frank had come all this way to Bermuda to find him? Was his leaving town not part of the deal they'd arranged? Chris stepped further into the blackness unsure of what he was going to find as he heard a soft mewing sound before him. Looking down Chris found himself met by the jade colored eyes of a black tabby cat who'd been rummaging through the trash aside the small restaurant.
"Hey you," Chris smiled bending down to reach out to the cat as it moved in against his leg rubbing up against him with a light purr, "you sure do make a lot of noise for a little one, don't you?" The cat pressed against him enjoying the moment as Chris stroked her soft fur. The cat seemed content for a moment or so before taking a step back and fleeing into the darkness.
"And who says I don't have a way with women," he shook his head before deciding to return to his brother who most certainly would need some kind of support when he woke up wondering why he'd taken that last tequila shot.
"Jack, maybe it's not too late for you," Chris thought back to his brother wondering if perhaps there would be a way to help Jack get his happily ever after before it was too late like it had been for him. As Chris headed back towards the pueblo, he failed to notice the shadow waiting in the darkness, watching him closely waiting to make the next move in the step towards getting closer to him, to finding their way to Chris Ramsey.
I been hanging round all the places you haunt
Spying on your friends to find out what you want
Drinking from the glass that you left on the bar
Follow you around driving home in your car...
Do I have to breathe without you?
Coz nobody could
I need to be around you
Watching you
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you..
Chris entered the room finding his brother barely conscious sprawled out on the sofa in the middle of the room. Closing the door behind him, Chris made his way across the room ready to get some aspirin for Jack. Perhaps that would help him get over what the night had brought on, but then again getting over loving someone like Alison wasn't going to be an easy task, so Chris opted for another bottle of beer instead. He made his way towards his brother extending the glass bottle towards him with a half smile.
"Here's to another night of misery," Chris urged as Jack raised his head to the side reluctantly accepting the bottle.
"Is this how it is going to be from now on?" Jack groaned tipping his head back as he downed the cold, harsh alcohol and let out a groan.
"And how is that exactly?" Chris plopped himself down into the chair across from Jack before popping open a bottle himself and taking a long swig.
"You and I out in the middle of paradise getting drunk with one another because life sucks for us both," Jack groaned, "what is it about us?"
"We're Ramsey men," Chris explained with obvious distaste as he shook his head, "it means life especially ours is bound to suck."
"Suck is putting it mildly," Jack shook his head, "you know I really thought Alison was different. She and I connected on this level and there was something, really something and I thought that she and I would be together that...."
"That what?" Chris asked as his brother trailed off.
"That maybe she and I could have something," Jack sighed, "but I guess I was just fooling myself into believing. What an idiot that makes me."
"No Jack, you weren't an idiot," Chris offered up painfully, "you were just a man in love. It happens to the best of us."
"Yeah I see you stumbling upon it all the time," Jack groaned, "See you don't need to worry about that stuff."
"Not anymore," Chris sighed closing his eyes as a silence fell between them.
"Chris, I didn't mean that....I mean I know what Eve meant to you," Jack started again.
"You were one of the only people who ever truly knew just how much she meant to me, Jack," Chris admitted honestly as another sigh fell from his lips, "that time during December when that truth bug hit me, I was so afraid what I'd say if I was face to face with her feeling how I felt, but now part of me wishes that we'd have five minutes alone together, that somehow I would've told her."
"You wanted to do the right thing," Jack watched his brother closely seeing his own pain mirrored in Chris, "you thought it was best to let Eve be happy."
"But if I'd stepped in, maybe she'd be alive. Maybe she and I...." Chris shook his head, "it doesn't matter now, does it? She's gone."
"She'll always be in your heart," Jack offered up with a lighthearted smile.
"It's not the same. Even you know that," Chris finished off his drink before making his way back towards the bar, "but for what it's worth, I think a traditional martini is in order here to remember her."
"Here here that," Jack agreed staggering up from the sofa as he tried to make a bee line to the bar, "a martini sounds good."
"You can barely walk," Chris noted his brother's sluggishness, "maybe you should sit this one out."
"For Eve's memory no way," Jack shook his head, "we owe her this."
"I can't argue that," Chris nodded mixing up the martinis before filling up two glasses that were behind the bar. He handed one to his brother before raising it for a toast, "To Eve Lambert."
"To Eve," Jack raised his glass as well.
"The best friend a man ever had," Chris downed his drink as Jack followed the action finishing off his martini, "if only she was here now. I'd give anything for that," Chris confessed with a sigh as there was a soft tapping at the door. The two brothers exchanged confused glances.
"You don't think," Jack eyed Chris closely.
"No, it can't be," Chris shook his head thinking about the words behind his wish as he headed towards the door wondering if maybe perhaps he was on to something. Maybe just maybe Chris had found a key that unlocked the door to his deepest desires. He made his way to the door taking in a breath as one last hope filled through him. Opening the door, he found himself met by concerned eyes.
"Chris?" she questioned in confusion as her eyes peered into him, "what are you doing here?"
"Alison," Chris' eyes widened as he opened the door further, "I could ask you the same question."
"I came to see Jack. I thought he was alone, but...." she looked past Chris into the room where Jack stood by the bar, "may I come in?"
"Of course," Chris nodded as he stepped aside letting Alison into the room, "Jack, it looks like destiny was knocking on the door for one of us tonight, but not the one we were thinking."
"Alison, what are you doing here?" Jack blinked back in confusion wondering if he was too drunk to be thinking clearly as if his head was making this up.
"I needed to talk to you. When you left...." she began as she looked over at Chris, "Can we have a minute?"
"Of course," Chris nodded his head before heading towards the door. He looked back at his brother, "remember don't fight destiny. Be honest here Jack."
"I'll do my best," Jack answered as Chris left the pueblo and Alison glanced over at him.
"What's going on Jack?"
"It's a long story Alison. Why is it you're here?" he questioned in frustration.
"I needed to see you Jack," she explained simply as her eyes showed full of concern, "we need to talk to one another and this can't wait."
This must be wrong
It can't go on
This kind of thing
It's taking all my sanity and making a mockery
This must be wrong
It can't go on
So Won't somebody free me from this misery
Bring my baby closer to me
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin'
Chris stepped out into the night leaving his brother to talk with Alison as he hoped that someone would have the happily ever after that he'd hoped for himself so long ago. Now as he was alone again, he wondered if there was truly any kind of miracle waiting for him on the other end of all of this. He hoped that one day he'd find happiness again, but now it seemed as though it may be too late. Chris settled into a chair outside the porch closing his eyes and losing himself to the tropical winds when a noise captured his attention. His eyes perked open as he noted a shadow moving among the night.
"Who's there?" he asked his voice more cautious than he'd planned on it being as he watched the shadow move once again, "who's out there?"
Getting up from his chair, Chris stepped in the direction of the dark figure as his pulse quickened. Perhaps it was no one, he though to himself as he wondered if he was losing his touch in taking his martinis, but as he blinked he noticed it again. It was there behind the faint glow of the moonlight as he looked out towards the water seeing movement on the beach. He took in a breath wondering if insanity had set in as he made his way towards the rolling tide hoping to catch a look at whatever was before him. The figure seemed to speed up as Chris approached. Seeing the movement, he quickened his pace rushing after it into the night as he hoped it wouldn't slip away.
"Wait," he called out to the figure as he found himself stepping into the water, feeling the fierce pounding beneath his feet. He was up to calf length screaming out to the night as he noted the movement had stopped up ahead, "please don't go. Don't run away!" he pleaded as the silence surrounded him. Even the ocean seemed to still as the figure approached him. He felt something inside of him, some warmth that had been gone for so very long, but now as he felt the moon rise above him, he realized he wasn't ready for what lay ahead of him.
"Chris," she called out as her pale arm extended towards him. She stepped into the water as her darkened auburn tinted hair surrounded her soft, delicate face. A breath caught in his throat as he took note of the soft white gown that was now immersed in the water surrounding them. He blinked once, twice trying to make sense of what he was seeing as her fingers eased over his cheek and he spoke her name in a soft whisper.
"Eve?" he questioned reaching out to her expecting to fall flat into the ocean as her warm form stood before him.
"I'm here," she nodded as his arms slipped around her and he drew her close to him feeling the warmth of her very much alive in his arms as they embraced, "I'm right here."
"But how?" he asked as he looked to her dark eyes finding himself lost in the questions before he pulled her into his arms around determined not to let her go as suddenly it seemed that miracles were around him after all.
No one else can love you like I do
Feel it when I'm creepin' up on you
I know that it wouldn't be right
If I stayed all night
Just to peek in on you
Creepin' up on you...
*Song sung by Darren Hayes*