Derange
A.N: I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I really appreciate the continued support!
Soft music flowed angelically from the cabin of the Haunted Star, flickering candlelight could be seen from the portholes and the echo of laughter was warm and inviting. The casino had become a private dance floor and was only entertaining one couple: Luke and Skye. Together they elegantly swayed back and fourth.
"This is perfect." she said softly.
"You're perfect." he replied just as soft. "This time we're going to do things right, we're going to make them work."
"I hope you're right."
"I know I am." he told her as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. "I'm not about to lose you all over again."
Skye looked absolutely perfect in red as if that shade was invented especially for her. "I can't bear fighting with you." she whispered.
He cupped her face in his hands. "Skye, I love you."
Luke snapped out of his dreamland and back into a reality where he could never say those words to Skye, never. She was a Cassadine and no matter how much he wanted her or how much she meant to him he was certain he could never bring himself to love her.
XXXXXX
"I know what happened, Skye, and don't you even try and deny it." Alexis said firmly.
Skye slowly lifted her eyes up to meet Alexis'. "What are you talking about?" she asked as calmly as she possibly could.
"Ric and I have decided to give things another shot and I really want things to work out, we both do."
"That's good." Skye smiled. "Ric deserves to be happy. You both deserve to be happy. So what does this have to do with me?"
"Ric told me what happened while we were apart." she told her. It was true, Ric had told her he was with someone else, but when he offered to tell her she stopped him because she already knew it was Skye.
"Oh." she breathed, looking everywhere but at Alexis.
"And I told him that what happened in the past should stay in the past." Alexis explained. "Ric said that sleeping with you was just a one time thing."
"It was." Skye assured her, still not being able to look at her. "At the time neither one of us thought that we had a shot in the dark of working things out with our significant others, but now that you and Ric have talked things over and decided to try again I think its great."
"Just as long as you can assure me that things between you and Ric are pure friendship only."
"They are." Skye interjected. "Ric is a really great friend and I'd like to keep him in my life."
"So why did you do it, Skye?" Alexis asked, she had to she couldn't resist hearing Skye's answers. "Why Ric?"
"What do you want me to say, Alexis" she asked. "That I'm sorry? That I would take it all back if I could? That I wish it never happened?"
"I don't expect that much from you, Skye." she replied. "We both know that Skye does what Skye wants and it doesn't matter who she hurts in the process."
"How dare you!" she breathed. "I overlooked your involvement with Luke because I thought that the two of you were just friends and that everything was innocent and even when Ric told me that he seen the two of you together I couldn't let myself believe it. I didn't think that the Alexis that I've come to know in the past few months, the Alexis that knew exactly how I felt about Luke would be throwing herself at him every chance she got."
"I never threw myself at Luke!" Alexis said loudly. "Not once. In fact Luke initiated every encounter. He was the one who started kissing me, not the other way around."
Alexis' words hit Skye directly in the gut and Alexis was well aware of it. "And the fact that you came on to Ric and got him in your bed proves just how much of a friend you considered me and just how much you thought you loved Luke."
"It wasn't about love!" Skye yelled. "You can doubt me all you want, but I love Luke!"
"You have a funny way of showing your love, Skye."
"Luke and I are no longer together." she told her. "We both had issues that we couldn't resolve. It was almost as if a higher source was keeping us apart. I guess you could call it divine intervention because now he's free to be with you."
"With me?" she questioned.
Skye nodded. "You're the one he really wants." she said softly. "You always have been."
"Luke doesn't want me." Alexis insisted. "He wants you or at least he did."
"Maybe at one time or maybe he was just telling himself he did." she told her. "As much as I wanted things with Luke to work out they didn't and now I'm moving on."
"And you planned to do this with the first available man that came along?" she asked. "Like Ric?"
"If you think that I arranged this entire thing with Ric then you're wrong." Skye said firmly. "Things just happened. Neither one of us went looking for it."
"I know your track record with men. How am I suppose to believe that?"
"You don't have to believe it." she replied as she stood up. "We both know that you're going to believe whatever you want anyway."
Alexis stood up and walked over to the door where Skye was. "Unlike you I actually prefer the truth and I actually tell it."
Skye turned around to face Alexis. "You want the truth?" she asked.
"That would be refreshing."
"Ric is really the one I want." she replied. "Ric has been the one I wanted from the beginning. Why do you think I didn't want anything to do with Luke when he returned to town? I had everything planned out. After I was released from prison I was going to make it a point to become friends with Ric and then ultimately seduce him, you know since that is one of my better qualitites, but the you came into the picture and screwed it all up." Skye lied. "I wasn't about to let you mess things up so I went ahead with my plan and made friends with Ric all the while I strung Luke along waiting to make my move, but you almost made it too easy, Alexis, you did the hard part for me."
"Shut up!" she yelled, even though in her heart of hearts she knew Skye was lying the words still stung.
"When Ric caught you kissing Luke all the insecurities in his mind sprung forward and he became vulnerable. I like vulnerable men. You unknowingly pushed Ric right into my arms." she continued. "You helped me complete my plan."
Skye seen the anger erupt in her eyes and before Alexis could think her right arm swung forward and her hand connected roughly against the side of Skye's face making a resounding crack.
Skye stumbled backward a few steps, she gently touched her face. Alexis' slap stung like fire and she was more than sure that there was going to be a red hand print on the side of her face.
Alexis was just as shocked as Skye was, if not more. She pulled her sister into her arms, wrapping them tightly around her. "I didn't mean to do it." she whispered on the verge of tears.
Skye clung to her desperately, she let her welled up tears slide freely down her face. "I deserved it."
"No you didn't." Alexis said as she began to cry. "I just lost my temper. We've built a good relationship and I know that you'd never deliberately hurt me."
"I wouldn't." she cried. "Our friendship is being dissolved over men."
"No it's not." she assured her.
"I'm sorry." Skye whispered as Alexis stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry too."
Skye pulled out of their embrace and walked across the room. "I truly never meant for any of this to happen. Ric and I were both hurting and we were both upset and it was a good idea at the time." she confessed. "Ric is a wonderful man, but I love Luke." she finished softly. "And I have for a long time now."
Alexis nodded as she wiped away her tears. "I know and I think you should tell him."
"It wouldn't make any difference." she told Alexis as she wiped her eyes. "Luke doesn't want to hear it, I've tried to tell him so many times before."
"Tell him and don't let anything stand in your way."
"I'm afraid that if I tell him that it'll push him even farther away and I can't reach him right now as it is."
"If you don't tell him, Skye, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life." Alexis told her. "You're always going to be looking back wondering how things could have turned out."
"Eventually in time to come I'd screw up the relationship anyway." she replied. "Maybe it's best if I just leave everything alone."
Alexis walked into the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer. "You'd be making a really big mistake." she said as she grabbed a bar towel.
"I'm so afraid of getting hurt." Skye confessed.
"I know." she said softly as she made her way over to the sofa and sat down beside Skye. "It'll be worth the risk." Alexis coaxed as she handed her sister the ice wrapped in the towel. "Put this on your face, it'll get rid of the redness and prevent swelling."
Skye placed the ice on her stinging cheekbone. "Thank you." she murmured. "So where are we gonna go from here?"
"I don't know." Alexis sighed. "I really want to be furious with you for having sex with Ric, but I can't be." she breathed out. "I mean I'm mad, but I wanna hate you for what you've done and I can't. I can't hate you because I know that you're so much in love with Luke that you don't even pay attention to other men."
"If it's easier for you to hate me, Alexis, then go ahead." she replied, honestly. "Because if the situation were reserved and you slept with Luke I don't know what I'd do."
"Skye, we've come along way and I don't want anything to mess that up." she told her. "I am however requesting that you give Ric and me a little time to work things out."
"You want me to keep my distance." she stated
"Just for a while."
"I understand."
"Thank you." Alexis gave her a heartfelt smile. "You can't let Luke go. Not without a fight."
"I'd really like to sit here with you all day and discuss Luke, but Lulu will be here any minute and I have to make sure that Alice blew up the rest of the pool floats."
"You're spending the day with Lulu?" she asked. "Is Luke bringing her over?"
"Yes, we're going swimming" Skye answered. "And Bobbie's bringing her over."
"Well, that's a start."
"I'm not so sure." she said softly.
XXXXXX
Skye was more than relieved when the redness on her face started to fade. She eyed her reflection in the mirror making sure there were no visible signs of Alexis' slap and more importantly that there were no invisible signs of sadness. The echo of Lulu's laughter could be heard as she made her way up past Lila's rose garden. Skye grabbed her towel and headed to greet them.
Lulu stopped to admire the roses. "I've never seen so many roses in one place." she said as she delicately touched on of the pastel pink petals. "Aren't they pretty, Daddy?"
"Very pretty." Luke answered.
"There's one of every color."
Luke kneeled down next to his daughter. "That's because every color means something different."
"It does?" she asked, sweetly.
"Yes." he answered. "Pink means grace. Yellow means remembering. White means..."
"Does red mean love?" Lulu interjected.
He touched the red petals. "It sure does."
Lulu placed her hand on her father's shoulder. "Daddy, why is Skye so sad?"
"When did you see Skye?"
"Yesterday at Kelly's." she told him. "Did you come with me today to cheer her up?"
"I doubt that I can cheer her up." Luke said softly. "But when she takes one look at your adorable little face she'll cheer right up."
"Let's go see!"
Lulu drug Luke down the rest of the lawn and to the fenced in pool. Skye was making her way out of the pool house and was expecting to find Lulu and Bobbie, however, she was taken completely aback when she looked up to see Luke standing before her. "Hello, Lulu." she said with a smile.
"Hi, Skye." she responded. "Thanks for letting me swim with you."
"You're welcome." Skye smiled. "Why don't you go inside and change into your bath suit, it's the second door on the right."
Luke handed Lulu her beach bag. "Okay!" Lulu sounded off as she made her way inside the pool house.
"Luke, what are doing here?" Skye asked when Lulu was out of earshot.
"I brought Lulu to swim." he replied.
"I thought Bobbie was bringing her?"
"She was called in at the hospital." he explained. "I didn't want to let Lulu down."
"Since when?" she asked as she breezed past him and unlatched the gate to the pool.
Luke followed over to the lounge chair. "I know that I'm not the perfect Father." he began. "But I think it's time that I worked on it a little more."
"That's great, Luke." she sighed.
"You don't think I'm serious?" he asked.
"I hope for Lulu's sake that you are serious." she told him. "Little girls need their father's."
"Why won't you look at me?" he asked, noticing the way she had been avoiding eye contact with him. "What are you afraid of?"
Skye look up and into his eyes. "I'm not afraid of anything." she assured him even though her heart was melting. "I just don't need this today."
Luke could see the sadness in her eyes. It didn't matter how hard she tried to cover it up he could still see it and he never thought it would hurt him this much to see her in pain. He reached out to her. "Skye." he breathed.
She flinched at his touch. "Don't."
He took a few steps back. "I'm sorry."
Lulu came out of the pool house in her bright pink bathing suit. "I'm all ready." she announced as she made her way over to the adults. She handed Luke her bottle of sun block. "Except I need this on my back."
Luke rubbed some on his daughters back. "Now you're all ready."
"Are you going to stay, Daddy?" she asked
He looked at Skye and then down at Lulu. "I don't think so." he told her as he kneeled down in front of her. "But you and Skye are going to have a great time."
"I know." she replied.
"You can go ahead and get in if you like." Skye told her.
Before Luke got a chance to tell her goodbye Lulu had already jumped into the pool. "What time would you like me to come back and get her?" he asked.
"I'll take her back to Lesley's whenever she's ready." she told him. "It's not a problem."
"Okay." he agreed. "I've made an appointment with a realtor to look at a few houses, I'll leave my cell phone on incase you...Lulu needs anything."
"You're house hunting?" she asked.
Luke nodded. "I haven't told Lulu yet but, she's coming to live with me and I only have a short amount of time to get my act together."
"Oh." Skye sighed.
"Yeah." he breathed. "I hope I'm up for the challenge."
"You'll be fine."
XXXXXX
Luke walked around the backyard of the fourth house he had looked at. "I like this one much better than the first three." he told Dave, the realtor. "It charming without being over done."
"This is a good neighborhood." Dave told him. "There are other kids around the same age as your daughter who live close by and it's near PC Elementary."
"Good." Luke replied. "My daughter is my main focus right now."
"Luke." Alexis called out as she walked around the sidewalk.
"Over here, Natasha." Luke answered. "So what do you think?"
"About what?" she asked.
"The house." he replied.
"It's lovely." she replied dryly. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Well, Dave here has all the paperwork and since you're my attorney I thought you'd like to look over it before I signed the papers."
"You're buying the house?" she asked.
Luke nodded. "Lulu's going to live with me."
"I'll go inside and get started on the paperwork." Dave informed them as he walked away.
"We'll be inside in a few minutes." Luke assured him.
"Poor Lulu." Alexis laughed.
"You make it sound like I'm impossible to live with." Luke feigned offense.
"Fortunately I've never had the pleasure." she teased. "Though I could only imagine."
"Come on, Natasha, after I sign the paperwork I'll take you out to dinner."
"I have a date actually." she smiled.
"With?" he asked
"With Charlie the mailman." she replied sarcastically. "With Ric."
"Charlie the mailman sounded more appealing."
"That's just your opinion." she replied.
"Since when does my opinion not matter?" he asked.
"Let's just get this over with so you can buy me lunch." Alexis told him.
"I thought you said you had a date with Lansing?"
"A dinner date." she answered. "That has nothing to do with lunch."
An hour later Luke and Alexis sat at Kelly's talking over a burger and fries. "So where do plan on going with Lansing tonight?" he asked.
"Well, I was hoping that he'd swing for something a little fancier than Kelly's." she replied, biting into her french fry.
"Now you're offending my diner?"
"Of course not." she replied. "What are your plans for this evening?"
"How quickly you change the subject." he noted.
"Are you going to answer me or not?" Alexis asked.
"Nothing." he answered. "I have no plans for tonight."
"Maybe you should give Skye a call."
Luke took a drink of his soda. "I don't think that's a very good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because she broke things off, she doesn't want to see me anymore."
"Maybe she changed her mind."
"I seriously doubt it.".
Alexis picked up another french fry. "And that was the last time you seen her?"
"I seen her today when I took Lulu over there to go swimming."
"How did that go?"
"Not good." he replied. "She looked so hurt and when I tried to comfort her she pushed me away."
"Maybe you should just give her a little time."
Luke shook his head. "I could give her all the time in the world and it wouldn't make a difference."
"You never know until you try."
"I don't need a pep talk."
"Well, you need something." she told him. "Maybe a swift kick in the pants would do."
XXXXXX
Lesley heard a car pull into the driveway and she glanced out the window to discover Skye climbing out of the back of the Quartermaine limo. Skye waited patiently as Reginald made his way around the car and lifted a sleeping Lulu into his arms. "Try not to wake her." she instructed.
"I'll do my best." he replied.
Lesley opened the front door and came out onto the porch as Skye and Reginald started up the stairs. "She fell asleep on the way home." Skye told Lesley. "She's already had dinner."
"Thank you for letting her stay with you today."
"It wasn't a problem."
"Where would you like me to put her?" Reginald asked.
"Her bedroom is upstairs, the first door on the right." Lesley instructed.
Reginald disappeared inside with Lulu, leaving Lesley and Skye alone in awkward silence.
"I guess I should expect to see more of you." Lesley remarked.
Skye smiled. "Anytime you need help with Lulu, I'd be more than happy to help you out." she told her. "She's an amazing little girl."
"She reminds me so much of her Mother." Lesley replied. "I only wish Laura was here to see her."
"I never knew Laura, but from what I've heard she was an incredible woman and I wish she was here too, no child should ever have to grow up without their parents."
"Luke says he wants to try." she told her. "At least you'll be there to help him out."
Skye shook her head. "Luke and I aren't..."
"Oh." Lesley sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."
"Please don't apologize." she sais softly. "But I did mean what I said, I'd be happy to help you out with Lulu anytime. She had such a great time today."
"Lulu really likes you."
"I really like her." Skye replied
Reginald came out of the front door. "Lulu's still sound asleep." he informed them. "Are you ready, Ms. Quartermaine?"
"Yes." she answered. "Goodbye, Lesley."
"Goodbye, Skye."
XXXXXX
Skye walked into the Haunted Star, it was completely empty. Luke was sitting in the corner booth, a glass and a bottle of whiskey were planted firmly in front of him. Skye stood motionless in the doorway, trying to determine whether or not to enter. The past few weeks of not having him in her life had been hell and she had determined that even if she couldn't have him in the capacity that she wished then maybe friendship was enough. Maybe that's the way it had to be because that was the only way it could ever be.
"Luke?" she called out, taking a few steps into the main room.
He turned around and looked at her and then turned back around without saying a word.
"Having you been drinking?" she asked, now standing in front of the table.
"Why do you care?" he asked.
"Who says I do?" she challenged. "Maybe I was just curious."
"If you came here to apologize then forget it."
"Oh, Luke, I didn't come here to apologize to you." she told him. "I didn't come here expecting you to apologize to me either. I'm here because I miss the Haunted Star. I miss you."
"You're the one who said that we should go our separate ways." he reminded her. "That we were no good together and could never be and the only thing left to do was to walk away with what little dignity we had left."
"I know what I said." she replied. "But I honestly thought that you would fight me on it. That you wouldn't just walked out the door and not look back. Did I mean so little to you that you could just walk away and forget all about me?"
"Skye, we've been through this before. I'm not Prince Charming. I'm not a white knight." he said softly. "And why I like the damsel and distress act, it just doesn't suit you. When I met you, you were a strong, savvy, independent woman. If anything out involvement has only made you weaker."
"You're wrong, it's made me stronger."
He shook his head. "No."
"Luke, I know that I can could spend the rest of my life proving how I feel about you, but it wouldn't do any good. I know that I can't make you love me. I've realized that no matter how hard we try that our relationship it's never gonna progress any farther than what it is right now."
"Maybe it's for best." he said softly.
"It is." she agreed, getting up from where she was seated. "This is the closure that I needed." Skye turned and walked toward the steps. She was more than determined not to look back. Only fools look back on what they could have had.
Luke slid out of the booth and watched as her foot hit the last step. "Closure is a myth." he said, only loud enough for her to hear, only loud enough to halt her movement. "You could walk out of here tonight but it won't stop you from remembering the past no matter how hard you try and force it. "
"I'm moving on with my life." she told him, still standing with her back to him. "This is the only way I know how."
Luke couldn't let her leave, not this time. He had made that mistake one too many times before. "When I wake up in the mornings and I'm debating whether or not to get up or sleep for a few more hours, I realize how alone I really am. I can't help but wonder what it would be like waking up next to you, how it would feel falling asleep with you in my arms."
"Are you deliberately trying to make this harder?" Skye asked, beginning to cry.
"No." he answered honestly. "I'm trying to get you to stay."
"Luke, you can't keep doing this to me." she sobbed. "You can't push me away only to change your mind moments later and say everything you know I wanna hear."
He walked up the few steps to where she was and turned her around to face him. "I'm sorry." he whispered, wiping away one of her fallen tears.
"I'm sorry too." she whispered back. "I'm sorry that I keep falling for this same tired act of yours. You push me away in fear of getting too close and then when I want to walk away you make it impossible by giving me false hope that maybe you can move forward, that maybe you're willing to make a relationship work."
"I told you I was sorry for leading you on."
"Then why do you keep doing it?" she asked. "You can't have it both ways Luke, either you want me or you don't. You need to make up your mind."
"I do want you." he told her. "I don't want you to leave. I need you. I trust you." he whispered, closing the space in between them. He knew that actions spoke louder than words. Luke leaned in and captured her lips in the softest, most tender kiss. "I want you." he told her again.
"I don't want you!"
XXXXXX
Ric twirled Alexis around making her burgundy dress sway on the moonlit dance floor. They had a wonderful dinner and had spent the past few hours dancing, they did the rumba and the salsa and the tango. And now swaying back and fourth on the dance floor wrapped in each others arms was as good as it got.
Alexis laid her head down on his shoulder. "Tonight has been absolutely amazing." she whispered against his neck. "Thank you."
He wrapped his arms tighter against her. "It has been amazing." he agreed. "Giving us a second chance, a real chance, was worth it."
"Most definitely." she replied. "I'm glad we finally came to our senses."
"So am I." he agreed. "I have to admit I had given up hope."
Alexis pulled back and looked up at him."I was acting childish." she admitted. "I should have never stormed out of your office that day."
"Well, I shouldn't have just let you walk away."
"Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes vulnerabilities get the best of us." Alexis told him. "But it feels right this time."
"Because it is right." Ric said as he cupped her face his hands. "I promise I won't let anything come between us again." His lips brushed softly over hers before running his tongue over her bottom lip. Alexis slightly parted her lips and Ric took the invitation to deepen their kiss. His tongue slowly and erotically battled with hers as he pulled her closer and closer until there was no space left between them.
Alexis pulled back, breathless. "What do you say we get out of here?"
"I think we could find somewhere a little more private."
An hour later they were at Ric's apartment.
The candlelight in the room flickered as Ric pushed Alexis back on the bed. His lips were hot against her skin, his tongue even hotter and his mouth scorching as he devoured the delicate skin of her neck.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as his mouth made contact with hers.
With a mere touch passion was roused within them. It was a natural chemistry that neither one of them could control no matter how much they wanted to. It was about more than love, more than romance, more than taking their relationship to the next level. It was about carnal desire. It was about surrendering themselves and giving in to something that they had fought so hard to contain.
Their bodies moved so freely ready to sate their inner desires. It was their hearts and afterthought that was the problem. It was waking up the next morning that was the true test, the part where you open your eyes and glance at the person beside you, remembering what had occurred the night before, and not have the twinging feeling in the bottom of your stomach that screams: mistake.
A moment that they both had secretly pondered since there lips touched was about to become a reality. A reality that they craved and feared at the exact same time.
Ric tore his lips away from her's and looked down into her eyes. "Are you sure?"
Alexis looked up at him, her eyes burning into his. "I've never been more sure."
TBC...
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