Determination

Ric opened his apartment door and to his surprise found Alexis standing on the other side. After she ran out of his office today after he made his confession he thought that he had truly lost her for good. "Alexis, what are you doing here?" he asked, not being able to help the smile that came across his lips.

"I felt really bad about the way I left things." she said, clutching her coat tightly against her. "I couldn't leave things the way they were." she told him, honestly.

"We both made mistakes." he admitted.

Alexis' hands slowly opened her coat. "That's why I'm here. To put all the piece's back where they belong." she whispered, opening the coat to revealing a very short, very low cut piece of charcoal colored silk. "It's kind of cold out here. Mind if I come in?"

Ric's jaw dropped. He was completely speechless. All previous thoughts had vanished from his mind and was now flooded with the image of a half dressed Alexis standing not two feet in front of him.

Alexis pushed her way past him and into his apartment. "So tell me, Ric, where's the bedroom?"

Ric shut his apartment door and walked over toward her. He swallowed hard. "It's just down the hall." he told her, his voice higher pitched than normal.

She slipped the coat off her shoulders and then let it fall lower, slipping to the ground in a whisper, leaving her in only the charcoal colored nightie and a pair of dangerous high heels. Alexis took Ric's hand and pulled him closer to her. "Let's not waste any time." she whispered, leaning in toward him.

He thought she was going to kiss him but then she backed away and started walking down the hallway. Ric watched as she sashayed down the hallway and into his bedroom. Carefully he put one foot in front of the other and started walking, he felt as if he would never get to his destination.

The telephone rang in the distance.

Ric bolted up off the couch, the ringing in the distance didn't stop. He reached over and picked the telephone up off the cocktail table. "Lansing."

"It's Mac, we need you at the station."

"I'll be there shortly." Ric said, ending the call. "A dream." he sighed. "It was all a dream."

xxxxx

"The other night at the Quartermaine's I kissed Ric." she blurted out.

Skye waited for Luke to say something, to do something. Yell, scream, throw things, but he just sat there silently. She knew that silence could sometimes be worse than words or actions.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he finally asked. "Why didn't you tell me when you were accusing me or having feelings for Alexis?"

"I was going to." she answered. "But you walked out on me before I got the chance. I was going to tell you because I thought that you deserved to know. It was just a kiss on the lips."

"You didn't even see me kiss Alexis, but Ric did, how am I suppose to believe that it was just a kiss on the lips?" he asked. "Because you said so? Because Ric said so?"

"I know that you're mad."

"You're damn right I'm mad!" he yelled. "You had a fit over some innocent kisses with Alexis but when you kiss Ric I'm just suppose to except it? I don't get to be angry or upset considering it was just a kiss on the lips."

"Of course..."

"Don't tell me how I'm suppose to feel!" he yelled again. "Did you ever stop to think that I didn't want anyone else kissing you?"

"Since when does it matter what you want?" she said, just as loud. "And why the hell do you think you have a say in anything I do?"

"Because...because I do!"

"I don't want to talk to you." she told him. "I don't even want to look at you."

"I'm not leaving this house until we've straightened this out." he informed her.

Skye let out a frustrated sigh and stormed off toward the bedroom. Luke who was just as pissed off was only a few steps behind her and when she tried to shut the door he flung it back open.

"Stop following me!" she shouted.

"Stop running away from me!" he shouted back. "We're not through talking."

"The hell we're not!"

Luke grabbed Skye by the arms, spun her around and threw her down on the bed before proceeding to climb overtop of her. She gripped the sides of his collar and pulled him down against her, savagely invading his mouth with her tongue. Their mouths dueled forcefully, desperately trying to gain control of the kiss.

She slid her hands from his collar down to his shirt, ripping it open.. Luke's hands grasped her wrists and pinned them above her head as he pulled his lips away from hers and hungrily kissed down her neck, manipulating her with his lips and tongue.

He let her wrists go as he moved further and further downward, kissing the exposed area of her chest. Skye's hands threaded in his hair encouraging his movements, but he stopped and moved back up to her swollen lips. Her mouth once again went to capture his, but Luke suddenly pulled away, leaving Skye confused.

"Why did you stop?" she asked, breathless.

He looked down into her whiskey colored eyes. "I'm sorry." he whispered. "I can't do this, not like this." Luke told her, moving off the bed

Skye sat up on the edge of the bed. "Why not?"

"Things will never be the same."

"You don't know that." she challenged. "It could make things better."

"It won't." he said firmly.

She took a deep breath, she really didn't want to ask this question, but she had no other choice. "Is this about Alexis?"

"No. It's not about Alexis." Luke sighed. And really it wasn't, it was the flashing signal in the back of his head that got brighter and brighter every time he and Skye were alone together. The image of Helena danced in front of him, taunting him.

"Then prove it to me."

"This shouldn't be about proving anything." he told her. "Especially not anything involving Alexis."

"Not even proving to me that I matter? That you care?"

Luke walked over to the side of the bed, he took her hands and pulled her to her feet. "You know that I care about you."

"Do you?" she asked. "Because sometimes I really don't know how you feel about me or anything else."

"I'm sorry." he whispered. "Things are just getting really complicated right now."

Skye took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do, she had to let him go. He was always going to be firmly planted in the past and no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she told him how she felt about him it wouldn't be enough. It would never be enough.

"You're right Luke." she agreed. "Your obviously not ready to move on, not now at least. Maybe never. "

"I thought that I could, Skye. I really did try." he said, sincerely. "I thought that since you and I were somewhat alike that it could work. I've strung you along for so long and I'm sorry."

"I know you tried." she whispered. "I tried too. It just wasn't enough. It's better this way, we can go our separate ways and we don't have to be bitter about anything. You've been honest with me since the beginning and that counts for more than you'll ever know."

Skye looked at him for several long moments. "Goodbye Luke."

"Oh, Blaze, don't say goodbye, it sounds so...permanent."

"It'll be better this way." she assured him. "I just want you to know that I never felt threatened by Laura because I respected your bond with her way too much. Maybe you don't want to move on. Maybe you can't. Maybe there's no room left in your heart to love someone else and I understand that. So I'm going to bow out gracefully and leave you to chase your next thrill where ever that may lead you."

"Skye." he started. "I know that I haven't been fair to you and I am sorry. But I'm not sorry for the time we spent together." Luke leaned in and kissed her cheek and for a moment Skye held her breath wondering if she was doing the right thing. Wondering if she could live without Luke in her life.

"I'll stop by the Haunted Star and sign the papers to dissolve our partnership." she told him as he pulled away.

Luke turned and walked out of her bedroom. Skye had made up her mind and there was no changing it. He wanted to stay. He wanted to tell her all the things that he was holding back, but he couldn't, because deep down, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he knew that Skye was a Cassadine and that made him suppress his feelings for her even more. So he did the only thing he could, he left.

xxxxx

Alexis watched from the park bench as Kristina played with a couple of her friends only a few feet away. Kristina was her whole world, but she couldn't help but feel that something or someone was missing.

"Alexis."

She tore her eyes away from Kristina and looked up to see Ric. "Ric, what are you doing here?"

He sat down on the bench beside her. "I was just walking by when I spotted you. I thought that you and I could talk things over."

"There's nothing to talk about." she insisted, shifting her attention back over to Kristina.

"Come on Alexis." he sighed. "I didn't act like this when I saw you all over Luke."

"All over Luke?" she half yelled. "When exactly was I all over Luke?"

"In his office at the Haunted Star."

Alexis relaxed against the park bench. "Luke and I were caught in the moment, Ric."

"How am I suppose to accept that?" Ric asked. "Skye and I were in a moment too, Alexis, why can't you accept that?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. "I just can't."

Ric sighed in defeat. "It's not that you can't it's that you won't." he got up off the bench and walked away.

Alexis wanted to call after him. She wanted to stop him, but she couldn't. She was more afraid of getting hurt than actually taking the risk.

xxxxx

Helena Cassadine peered around the corner of the nurse's station at General Hospital, her eyes settled on the redhead in the waiting area. She glanced down at the test results in her hand and then back at Skye Quartermaine. Funny, she didn't resemble a Cassadine in any way. Helena didn't want to believe it, she fought the facts in her head for several long seconds until she remembered one very important thing about Skye Quartermaine: Luke Spencer.

Skye was sitting patiently waiting on Alan to finish his rounds so that they could have lunch. Alexis stepped off the elevator and was headed toward the nurse's station until she spotted Skye.

"Skye." she said, approaching her.

"Alexis, is there something wrong?" she asked.

"No." she assured her, sitting down beside her. "I just wanted to talk to you."

Skye gave her a heartfelt smile. "About Luke?"

"Yeah." Alexis breathed.

"Things with Luke, they just didn't work out." she explained. "When he was willing to try I wasn't and when I was willing to try he wasn't. Sometimes things don't work out the way you thought they would."

"But I've seen the way Luke looks at you. I've seen the way you look at him." she told her. "The two of you are good together, please don't throw it all away because of something I did."

"It wasn't just you Alexis." she said softly. "It was all the things, both little and big and lead to the practical decision to end things."

"Relationships aren't based on practicality."

"They should be." she said, softly. "I'm glad we ran into each other. I wanted to apologize for what happened with Ric."

"It's okay." Alexis assured her. "Really it is. Ric just wasn't the kind of guy I thought he was."

"Why not?"

Helena continued to watch the conversation between Skye and Alexis, she only wished she could hear what they were saying. She was positive that Luke didn't know that Skye was a Cassadine, because if he did, he would have ran the other way and the fact that Luke's ladylove was keeping this huge secret would blow them right out of the water, but not until she got exactly what she wanted first. This time Helena had the scheme to end all schemes.

Alexis sighed. "I thought that he was different and that he considered my feelings. I was wrong."

"Look, I'm the one that kissed Ric." Skye confessed.

"But he kissed you back."

Skye nodded. "And that make it both our faults, not just Ric's."

"You know what it doesn't matter now."

"That's a nice set of double standards you've got, Alexis." she replied. "You can do anything that you like but when Ric does the exact same thing it's the end of the world."

Alexis was silent.

"You're just a garden variety hypocrite." Skye said, bitterly.

"And you're just self centered." Alexis snapped. "I guess some things never change."

xxxxx

Luke was sitting at Kelly's, sulking over a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper when Alexis walked inside. "Looking in the personals?" she asked, sitting down in front of him.

He lowered the newspaper. "Why would I be looking in the personals?"

"I don't know, I just ran into Skye at General Hospital and she informed me that the two of you are no longer together."

"Some things aren't meant to last." he replied. "I take it your conversation with Skye didn't go over very well."

"You know I thought Skye had changed, but I was wrong, she hasn't. She's still the same manipulative, self absorbed Skye who only thinks of herself. You know the two of you should get along really well considering that you're exactly alike."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh?" he asked. "After all it was as much as my fault, if not more than it was hers."

"Why are you still taking up for her?"

"Why are you having such a problem with her?" he shot back. "The only reason you're mad is because of what happened with Ric."

She folded her arms over her chest. "Ric has nothing to with it."

"While you're on the warpath, Natasha, let me remind you that when Skye finds out that she's a Cassadine and she will, you're the first person she's going to come after because you've known the truth all along and you didn't tell her."

"Then she'll be just as mad at you as she will at me because you've known almost as long as I have."

"It's not my secret to tell Alexis, it's yours." he told her. "She'll understand why I didn't say anything."

"Maybe." she replied. "And then again she might just blame everyone. Because we all know what this is about."

"Really?" Luke asked. "What's that?"

"It's about Skye being a Cassadine and you not being able to handle it."

"I don't want to talk about Skye." he told her. "So is it safe to assume that things are over between you and Ric?"

"Very safe." Alexis assured him.

"Where are you gonna go from here?"

"I'm not." she told him. "I'm going concentrate on work and on my daughter."

"What do you say we get together a little later." Luke suggested.

"Get together?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"

"You could meet me on the pier and we could take it from there."

"I don't know, Luke, I don't think that's such a good idea."

He got up and tossed some cash onto the table. "If you change your mind, come by the Elm Street Pier at midnight."

xxxxx

The door to the lake house opened and Helena quietly made her way inside, shutting the door behind her.

"I've found a way to use you after all, Skye." Helena laughed as she made her way down the hall and into Skye's bedroom. She made a beeline for the master bathroom and into the medicine cabinet searching until she found exactly what she was looking for. Helena opened the packet of birth control pills, counted them and dumped them into the sink. She opened her purse and removed the bottle of placebo and then carefully replaced each and every one and placed them back into the medicine cabinet.

Helena washed the birth control pills down the drain. "My darling, Luke, you shall sire a Cassadine-Spencer brat without even knowing it."

xxxxx

"Where have you been hiding for the past few weeks?" Skye asked Ric as he sat down beside her in the Quartermaine den.

"I've been throwing myself into my work."

"Trying to avoid Alexis?" she asked.

He smiled. "You know me so well."

"Have you tried to work things out?"

"Yeah.' he sighed. "But Alexis seems to have double standards."

"So I noticed." she said, glancing out the terrace doors and then back at Ric. "But she does like you."

"That last part's debatable." he argued. "I was hoping that Alexis would come around and that we could move forward, but she doesn't want to and I can't force her. So what about Luke?" he asked. "How are things going between the two of you?"

"Luke and I are over." she said, regret filling her voice. "I always knew that Luke liked dangling on the edge of the cliff of life but last night when we were at the lake house I realized that what everyone, including myself, said in the beginning was true. Luke is the ultimate overgrown bad boy. It's no one's fault but my own."

Ric covered her hand with his. "You know that I'm here for you if you need anything. I may have lost Alexis but you and Luke were involved for a long time. If you want to talk about it, I'm more than willing to listen."

Skye eyes began to fill with tears and the last thing she wanted to do right now was cry, especially in front of Ric. He reached out to her intending to console her, but she flinched away from him. She was incredibly vulnerable right now. "Please don't." she softly requested, turning her head away from him.

"Don't what?" he questioned. "I'm not Luke, I would never hurt you."

"I just don't want to make things any worse than they are."

"Things couldn't get an worse than they are." he pointed out. "Besides what's the big deal about being comforted by a friend?" Ric asked, stroking her hair. "I know you're hurting, even if you won't look at me. I can help you. Let me help you lessen the pain."

Skye lifted her eyes to meet his. "I don't wanna lessen the pain, Ric." she told him. "I just want to forget. I want to forget about Luke and about Alexis and about the tragedy that is my life."

"So, what do you want to do about it?"

"What I'd really like is a drink." she confessed. "But I know that would only make my problems worse after I sobered up."

"Let me comfort you." he offered.

"Ric." Skye breathed. "You're upset about what happened with Alexis."

"And you're upset about what happened with Luke." he told her. "We can get through this together." he said, moving closer to her. "I'm making you an offer to let it all out."

"And I'm so tempted to take it." she confessed. "But when it's all over and we're laying in bed I don't want to regret it. I've done this many times. When I wake up I won't remember the pain right away, but when I open my eyes and see you, I'm gonna wish it was Luke and then all the heartache is going to flood back into my mind along with the fact that you and I only had sex for comfort."

"Don't look at it like that." he told her. "Look at it as a new beginning. That maybe things didn't work out with Alexis and Luke so that you and I would have a shot."

Skye seemed dazed by his words. At the moment in time she wanted to believe in something, in anything and she latched on to the first sign of positivity.

"What do you say?" he asked.

"Erase the pain." she said softly. "Even if it's only for a few hours."

Ric leaned in and kissed her lips. "Are we alone?"

"Yes." she breathed out before covering his mouth with hers. Skye's lips parted and Ric deepened their kiss, caressing his tongue against hers.

xxxxx

Alexis breezed into the Haunted Star. "Ah, you're just the man I was looking for."

Luke looked up from the bar. "If I'm the man you're looking for then why have you been avoiding me for the past few weeks?"

"I haven't been avoiding you." she said as she took a seat at the bar. "I've just been busy and I was trying to sort things out."

"What things would that be?" he asks, leaning over the bar toward her.

"Personal things."

"Is that as good as you can do?" he teased. "Really, Alexis I expected more than that."

"Luke, you know that I love you, but we made mistake." she told him. "And now it's too late to take it back and the consequences are monumental."

TBC…maybe?

Sorry for the delay in updating, I was having major computer problems, but I think they're solved, at least for now.

Please, please review if you're still reading! Thanks! And remember things aren't always as they seem.