Disclaimer: I own the situation, but nothing else.
Chapter 14 "With the Family"
The next morning Lucky and Elizabeth woke shortly after dawn and gathered with his parents for a planning session. Luke looked as if he had been up through the night, plotting and formulating.
"The first thing we have to do is get in touch with Nikolas," Laura said. "That way he can start to help us from the very beginning." Luke made some grumbling noises, but did not comment. "I should probably go back to Wyndemere," she continued. "It would look suspicious if I weren't there. I can fill Stefan and Nikolas in on everything."
A dark shadow passed before Luke's eyes and Lucky could see his struggle to not comment on his ex-wife's relationship with his rival. Before his father had a chance to lose the struggle, Lucky spoke up. "We need to find some way for me to get together with Nikolas without being noticed. We could bring him here, but..."
"Someone needs to meet him and bring him here," Luke finished for him. "I don't think Sonny would appreciate us giving out the address of his safe house. But the meeting place has to be secluded, something secret that not many people know about."
"The church ruins, by the bluffs," Elizabeth suggested. Both Luke and Laura looked at her with raised eyebrows. "He and my sister used to meet there when they were going out," she explained.
"That sounds perfect," Laura said. "Should we just send one of Sonny's guards to pick him up?"
"No, I'll go," Elizabeth said. She half expected Lucky to protest, but he said nothing. "I think it would be better for Nikolas that there was someone he knew to meet him."
"You're right," Lucky said quietly. "You should go."
"Alright then," Luke said, clapping his hands together. "Laura will go back to the haunted mansion and the little prince will be brought back here. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go off for a while before we get into a Cassidine love fest." He rose to his feet and stalked off before anyone could stop him.
Laura sighed when she heard the front door slam shut. She had thought things were getting better between them, but she had to realize that some things just can't be fixed so quickly. It would take time to get back what they had lost. She loved Stefan, loved how he had taken care of her when her world crumbled around her last year, but Luke was and would always be the love of her life. His coldness still struck her, no matter how much time had passed.
"I'll be going then," she said, rising to her feet. "I'll tell Nikolas where to meet you," she said to Elizabeth. As she passed him, she placed a hand on Lucky's shoulder. "I love you," she said, which she felt was so inefficient a way to express her feelings.
Lucky covered his mother's hand with his own. "I know, Mom. I love you, too." Laura kissed the top of his head and followed Luke's departed path out of the room.
Once they were alone, Elizabeth watched Lucky's face for a long time. His eyes were clouded and distant. "Thanks for not trying to make me stay here," she said.
This made him smile, at least a little bit. "I know better by now than to try to keep you from helping me. And it's not as if you're doing anything dangerous. All you have to do is go to the ruins and bring Nikolas back here without being seen. Not that hard, especially with Sonny's drivers to cart you around."
"Yeah," Elizabeth agreed. "I think I can handle that. You know, I've gotten pretty good at being sneaky," she said. "Do you remember the time I dragged you out to interfere because I thought Nikolas and Sarah were going to sleep together?"
"Vividly," Lucky answered, with another hint of a smile. "The misunderstanding of which was essentially your fault, if I remember correctly."
Elizabeth covered her face with her hands. "Please, don't remind me," she begged. "I was so awful then."
"Not so awful," Lucky said. "Just younger."
She knew immediately what he meant. She had been immature then and had been forced to grow up, to mature before her time. "I suppose so," she said softly.
Her tone of voice pulled Lucky away from the window. He sat next to her on the bed. "I love you," he said, his voice both low and seeming to seep into every core of her being.
Elizabeth smiled. "I love you, too."
