A/N: We're so sorry! We were going to write President's day weekend, but then Allie's laptop decided that it didn't want to turn on, so she had to send it into the company to get it fixed. When she got it back, the memory in the laptop was completely erased. She lost everything, including the first half of this chapter. Luckily, Liz had part of it on her computer, but there were still some gaps that had to be filled, then we had to finish writing the chapter. We'll try to be better from now on. Hope you enjoy!

CHAPTER 3

A knock on her bedroom door caused Allie to glance up from her book.

"Go away, Johnny," she called, starting to read again. Liz sighed.

"I'm not Johnny," Liz said. There was a pause, and she was afraid that Allie wouldn't let her in.

"The door's open," Allie finally called, and Liz went in. Allie put down Huck Finn and looked up. "What is it?" she asked.

"Are you going to stay in here all night?" Liz wanted to know. Allie thought about it for a few moments before answering.

"Probably not. Just long enough to make Johnny feel guilty about teasing me," she said with a grin.

"Well, I need you to come out and keep our guests company whilst I do the cooking."

"Do I have to?" Allie whined annoyingly. Liz rolled her eyes.

"You sound like me. Quit whining. Come on let's go," Liz said, grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out the door. Liz stopped across the hall and went in her bedroom to get her cameras from her bedroom. Liz retrieved from the closet shelf her SLR Nicon that she had gotten for her photography class and a digital one in case the other pictures didn't turn out. Can't be too careful, she thought to herself. With a grin she put the cameras around her neck, checked her reflection in the mirror, and left the room. Allie was standing outside her door.

When the girls walked back out into the living room they were shocked to see that their two roommates had returned home from working out in the gym. Becky was lazily lying on the couch, dead to the world, and Brooke was standing in between Elijah and Dom listening to them reminisce about New Zealand. Liz walked over to them and waited for Lij to finish his story about shooting a scene in Rivendell before she spoke up,

"Alright guys…as soon as we take a few pictures and you all agree on something for dinner you can change out of your middle Earth attire."

For the next fifteen minutes, Liz arranged people and took pictures. Halfway through, Johnny stepped in and offered to take the pictures so that Liz could be in them as well. Finally, Liz put her camera down.

"Okay, I'm going to go start dinner. Feel free to change back into normal attire." Sean looked extremely happy at the prospect of getting out of his hobbit feet and practically ran out the door.

"Need help with dinner?" Allie asked, already heading towards the kitchen. Johnny jumped up and grabbed her around the waist, and started steering her back towards the living room.

"Actually, we need to talk," he said. Allie looked up at him worriedly.

"You know, the last boyfriend that said that to me broke up with me five minutes later," she said nervously. Johnny looked at her in confusion, then laughed, realizing his mistake in choice of words.

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that! I'm afraid that you're stuck with me," Johnny said.

Liz, meanwhile, went into the kitchen and pulled out some boxes of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and started dinner. A few minutes into it, Lando came up and peered over her shoulder.

"So this is what the master chef has prepared?" he asked with a small laugh. Liz pointed a finger at him.

"Hey, if you had given me ample warning, I could have come up with something good!" she said, turning back to the stove.

At that moment, Allie came into the kitchen, clearly upset about something. Johnny was following close behind.

"I'm sorry," he said. Allie didn't say a thing; she simply went straight to the freezer and pulled out a gallon of Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and sat down at the table.

"It's not the fact that you're leaving, Jack…" she began.

"It's JOHNNY!" Liz, Lando, and Johnny all said.

"WHATEVER!" Allie yelled, waving a spoon around. "The fact is, is that you neglected to tell me until two days before you have to go! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with Ben." She pulled off the lid of the ice cream.

"Now Allie," Liz said with a grin, "you know that ice cream is not the answer." Allie pointed a spoonful of ice cream at her.

"Hey, you had an affair with Jerry while Lando was gone," she pointed out, then stuck the spoon in her mouth. Lando grinned somewhat impishly and poked Liz in the stomach.

"So that's what happened," he said playfully. Liz pouted.

"I missed you," she said simply. "Come on; we should leave these two alone." So saying, Liz and Lando left the kitchen.

Johnny bit back a sigh as he sat down at the table next to Allie.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," he said, placing a hand on her arm. "You know that I can't stand to see you unhappy." When Allie made no reply, he continued. "I didn't want you to dwell on the fact that I was going to be leaving soon. You have to believe that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt you darlin'." Allie finally looked at him, putting the spoon down.

"That may be the case, Johnny, but it still hurt. I can handle knowing that you're going to leave in a few weeks. It wouldn't have hurt half as much if you had told me two weeks ago," Allie said, putting the lid back on the ice cream and getting up from the table. Johnny got up as well, following her as she put the ice cream away. He walked up and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. Allie sighed and leaned back against his chest.

"I'm sorry," Johnny said softly. Allie turned around so that she was facing him.

"I know," she said with a smile. "And I guess that I can forgive you—this time. But if you ever do that to me again, I'm gonna take your pirate hat out of the closet and mutilate it!" she threatened playfully, pointing a finger at him. Johnny simply smiled at her, leaned over and kissed her.

"Is it safe to come in the kitchen yet?" Liz called. Allie pulled away laughing.

"Yeah, we're done throwing the macaroni at each other," she called back jokingly.

"You're so silly," Liz said, walking back into the kitchen, the Fellowship trailing behind in normal clothing. Lij took one disgusted look at the pot of Mac & Cheese and announced,

"I'm taking us out to eat." Liz put her hands on her hips.

"And what, may I ask, is wrong with college staples?" Lando laughed.

"I warned you guys that she was a fireball," he said. Allie and Johnny chuckled.

"I can attest to that," Johnny said, while at the same time Allie said,

"That she is!" Liz shot her friends dirty looks, which they simply ignored. Liz threw up her hands in mock defeat.

"That's it; I quit. You guys can cook from now on!" Allie raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do you really want to torture Lando with my cooking?" Lando answered before Liz could.

"No, she doesn't." The Fellowship laughed and Sean turned to Allie.

"Are you really that bad of a cook?" Liz held up a hand.

"Let's not get into that subject." Dom's stomach suddenly rumbled and Billy spoke up.

"Well, I for one do not care where or what we eat, as long as I get some food!" Allie laughed.

"You're a hobbit at heart!"

"Well, I won't get offended if we do eat out," Liz said. "To be honest, there isn't enough room here for all of you anyways."

"So, then let's go!" Lij said, starting to head out the door.

"Hold on a sec," Viggo said. "We're not all going to fit in one car."

"So then we'll split up," Allie said logically. "We've got, what, nine people?" she asked, looking around. Brooke and Becky had already left to eat dinner in the college cafeteria, so they wouldn't be joining them.

"Well, I can fit a total of five people in my Mustang," Lij said. Both Liz and Allie's eyes widened.

"I'm riding in the 'stang!" Liz called excitedly.

"Me too!" Allie cried. "Shotgun!" Liz sighed dramatically.

"Fine. I guess I'll have to ride in the back with my fiancée," she said with an impish grin.

"I can fit one more in the back. Who wants to come?" Lij asked. Dom exclaimed,

"Are you kidding? The only way you're gonna get anyone to ride in the back with those two is if they sat in between the lovebirds." Liz grabbed onto Lando as though the only way to get her off would be to kill one of them.

"Good luck getting in between this," she challenged.

"Liz…darling…can't…breathe," Lando gasped. Liz pulled back in confusion.

"What? I can't understand you. What's wrong? Breathe sweetie." The moment she had pulled away, Lando had taken a huge breath in. He mock glared at her.

"I was trying, but you kind of had me in a death grip around my chest. Made it sort of hard to breathe." Liz hugged him again, but with much less force.

"They were trying to separate us," she said, pouting. Lando smiled.

"Nobody could ever separate us," he promised. Allie gagged in the background, and turned to the Fellowship.

"See what I've got to live with day after day?" she said, while the others laughed. Liz and Lando ignored them. Lando suddenly imitated Liz's last death grip, cutting off her oxygen supply.

"No fair…you're…stronger…than me," Liz somehow managed to get out.

"What goes around comes around," Lando said lightly, not loosening his hold.

"Orlando…let go…please…" Liz begged. He smiled and shook his head. "Can't…breathe." Lando smirked.

"Not listening," he said. Liz tugged at his shirt, but he simply shook his head. "Nope. I'm not letting you go." Liz gave a small wheeze, and suddenly went limp in his arms. He immediately loosened his grip, concerned. "Liz?" he asked, lightly shaking her. When she didn't answer, he gently lowered her to the floor. He kneeled down next to her and brushed her hair out of her face. "Liz?" he asked again, sounding incredibly guilty. Allie raised an eyebrow while everybody gathered around Liz's motionless body. Right as Lando frantically started to lean down to give Liz mouth-to-mouth, Allie spoke up.

"Um, Lando…I think you killed her." Not able to hold it in anymore, Liz sat up and started giggling madly. Allie busted a gut, falling onto the ground because she was laughing so hard.

"Alright, drama queen; get up," Lando said holding his hand out to her, not really finding anything funny. Liz hopped up.

"I totally had you all going until Allie had to go and mess up my concentration," she said.

"I didn't think it was very funny," Lando said. Liz's face fell.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Everybody else thought it was funny." Viggo spoke up.

"Oh, come on, Lando. You're just jealous that your fiancée can act better than you can," he said with a grin. At this, everybody laughed.

"Yeah, she could be your next leading lady," Billy suggested.

"So, are we going to eat anytime soon?" Sean wanted to know. Lando nodded.

"Yeah, let's go," he said, already heading towards the door.

"Wait!" Liz said, and everyone stopped to look at her. "Where exactly are we going?" she questioned. People exchanged glances. Allie shrugged, getting up from the floor.

"I have no idea."

"Well, I suggest we do fast food," Johnny said. "I know this little place that's about 10 minutes away. Everybody not riding in the 'Stang: pile into my car and follow me!"

Soon they were all seated in a quiet little unknown place called The Starlite Café.

"Wow, Johnny," Liz said, looking around. "This is a nice little place. How did you find it?" Johnny shrugged.

"I was driving one day and came across it. I was hungry, so I decided to check it out. It's the first place I've been to in a long time where I haven't been mobbed, so I keep coming back. Most people don't know about it," he explained. All conversation came to a halt when the waitress came up.

"Hi, my name is Heather and I'll be your waitress for the evening. Can I start you out with something to drink?" she asked. Everyone went around the table taking turns telling what they wanted. The group all ordered sodas except for Johnny, who asked for a rum and coke and Dom and Lij who ordered beers.

"I thought you were trying to cut back," Allie mentioned quietly to her boyfriend, so that nobody else could hear. Johnny looked at her.

"I am. That's why I asked for a mix of rum and coke, and not just straight rum like I usually do," he answered just as quietly. Allie had her doubts, but she let the matter drop for the time being. She didn't want to make a big scene in the middle of a restaurant. And before she could even ask anything else their drinks were being set in front of them and they were being asked if they were ready to order.

While they waited for their food to be cooked there was light conversation going on: from what projects each actor was currently working on to how their families were doing. Suddenly, Viggo noticed how unusually quiet Orlando was being and soon realized that he and Liz were in their own little world. He grinned on the inside and wondered how, when, and where his friend met this beauty and why he only recently told them about her.

"Hey Lando…" Orlando slowly looked up from Liz to Viggo waiting for him to continue on, "How did you and Liz meet?" Immediately, the rest of the Fellowship joined in questioning their friend.

"Yeah man, how did you get so lucky as to convince Liz to be with a guy like you," Lij asked. Sean continued on with,

"And how come you never told us about her until now?" Both Liz and Orlando felt their faces turn slightly red. They never even thought about how they were going to tell people they met. They knew they certainly couldn't tell the truth.

"Well…umm..you see…" Lando stuttered, "we met in…" He was saved when Heather came with their plates of food. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Wow. This food looks delicious. Thanks Johnny for bringing us here." Johnny, trying to help his friend change the subject replied,

"No problem man, just don't thank me until you've tried the food. Who knows how much you'll like it," he said with a grin. Everyone received their plates and dug in. Light conversation once again started. The night was pleasant and Liz and Allie were glad to have five new friends. They joked around with the boys and listened intently to the wild stories they were telling.

When dessert was being brought out Viggo once again noticed that Lando and Liz seemed perfect for each other and wondered how they met.

"Lando?" Orlando looked up at Viggo knowing what was coming this time. "You still haven't told us how you met Liz." Instantly Lando felt Liz tense up beside him. He squeezed her hand letting her know he had it all under control. Orlando knew the question would come back up and spent much of dinner thinking of something to tell his friends: something that wasn't exactly lying, but not all of the truth at the same time. He made sure he had all of their attention and then began,

"Well, I was working on the Pearl, and Liz made the meals for the crew and I. At first I didn't like her, but then I found it impossible to keep my eyes off of her."

"Oh, so you catered for Pirates?" Lij asked. Liz shrugged.

"Something like that," she said. Allie laughed and choked on the water she was drinking, and almost spewed it all over the table. Thankfully, she just ended up coughing up a storm. Johnny reached over and slapped her on the back a few times.

"You alright?" Viggo asked. Allie nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just went down the wrong tube," she lied.

"And the rest is history," Lando finished, bringing the conversation back to him. Satisfied that they believed him, Orlando turned to Liz and kissed her quickly on the lips to add to his story. She smiled at him and then changed the subject.

The evening went by quickly and before they knew it they received their checks and were heading out the door. It was decided that the hobbits plus Viggo would ride back to their hotel together in Elijah's 'Stang. So the girls sadly said their good byes in the parking lot. The boys gave them their cell numbers and made them promise that they wouldn't be strangers. After each giving a hug and Billy and Dom reminding Liz of their double date, they all got in the car and drove off.

The two couples then walked hand in hand to Johnny's car and then started towards the girls' apartment. In the backseat Liz turned to Orlando and gave him a small hug and then rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you once again. You've been so great today and I just feel like I've been letting you down. I hope I didn't embarrass you," Lando pulled her chin up to look her in the face.

"What do you mean?" Liz hesitated.

"Well…Allie winning all that money from you to start with and then the whole fainting thing." He frowned, remembering the incident, then pulled her close. Liz noticed his frown and almost sobbed, "I'm sorry I disappointed you." He stroked her head and said quietly,

"You don't disappoint me, Princess. In fact, I was so glad that you were mine tonight. I think that every one of my friends is practically in love with ya now or at least half way there." She looked up at him and asked earnestly,

"Then why did you look so gloomy when I just mentioned…" he cut her off.

"I was unhappy because you reminded me that you "passed out" this evening." Liz looked at him confused.

"Baby, it was only pretend. I was just messing around." Orlando let out a deep sigh.

"Elizabeth, I've been through sword fights, gun fights and many other countless things that would make a man of today never step outside his doorway, but the only real thing that scares me inside is losing you again. The thought of you being hurt in any way, shape, or form, especially by my own hand, drives me insane. I just got you back. I will not, can not live without you. You are stuck with me forever. Do you understand, Princess?" Liz shook her head and kissed his cheek. Her heart hurt when she thought about what must have gone through his head in the minute she was "unconscious." He then smiled and tugged her hair, "You're much too good of an actress for my liking. Promise me you won't ever do anything like that to me again?"

"I promise." She then laced her fingers through his and once again rested her head on his shoulders.

Finally, they pulled up into the parking lot and Liz and Allie got out to walk up the stairs when Johnny grabbed Allie's arm,

"Walk with me a second." He directed her opposite the way that Lando and Liz were now going. "I just want to let you know that I love you and I have some special happenings for us tomorrow. So don't go making other plans ok." Allie grinned,

"What sort of plans?"

"Nope, you'll find out tomorrow." With that he turned around and led her back to the stairway, passing Orlando as he was heading back towards the car. When they got to the foot of the stairs he kissed her good night and swatted her bottom in the direction of her door, "Sleep well."