We Used To Be Friends

Chapter Nine

A/N: Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, but thanks for the reviews! Enjoy!

Saturday Night

Shelby knocked on Lucy's door and sneaked a glance at her watch. "Are you ready yet? Carter's gonna be here any minute."

"Yeah. I think I'm ready." Lucy replied, opening the door. She put another barrette in her hair and then turned to Shelby. "Do I look ok?" She felt a little self-conscious. She had never really gone to a formal event like this. She didn't even go to her high school prom, so this was a whole new experience for her.

Shelby took a long look at Lucy. She was wearing a floor-length, deep crimson red dress with spaghetti straps. Her hair was curled and pulled back with sparkled barrettes. She looked great.

Why was Shelby taking so long to answer such a simple question? "Ok. You're making me even more nervous. Is it the hair? Is the hair not good enough?"

Shelby smiled. "No Lucy. The hair is fine. You just…you look amazing."

"Really?" She started to relax a little. "Oh, ok."

"Is there any particular reason why you're so nervous?" Shelby smiled. "It wouldn't be because you're afraid to spend the night alone with Carter, are you?"

The truth was that Lucy was a little nervous at the thought of another night out with Carter—especially after the dreams she had been having about him all week. But she would never admit it—especially to Shelby. Shelby would only make a big deal about it. "No. I'm nervous because I haven't seen his grandmother in a very long time. Plus, I have never been to any kind of social event like this. I don't want to make a fool out of myself." That sounded believable.

"Whatever you say." Shelby rolled her eyes. She knew the truth. They both heard the doorbell. "I think you should answer the door since it's for you."

"Sure." Lucy replied, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door. She opened it and saw Carter dressed in a black tuxedo. She felt her heart skip a beat or two as she took a look at him. He looked absolutely gorgeous in a black tux. "Hi."

"Wow." That was all he could say as he looked at Lucy. Maybe it was the combination of the dress and her hair, but either way, she looked even more breathtakingly beautiful.

She started to think that maybe she was overdressed for the occasion and maybe that was why he was being so silent. "Is the dress ok?"

He finally found his voice and smiled. "The dress is definitely ok."

"Good." She smiled back. "I'm ready if you are."

"Then let's go." He linked her arm in his and they headed out for his jeep. He held the passenger door open for her. Walking back over to the driver's side of the jeep, he had to remind himself to calm down. He had been nervous about tonight all day long, and now that he saw how good that Lucy looked, he was getting more nervous. Starting up the engine and driving away, he reflected back upon the dreams he had been having ever since they went to dinner together. They were definitely good dreams. He couldn't deny that. Just thinking about them brought a smile to his face. But they were also dumbfounding. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but he was starting to be very attracted to his best friend.

She was being quiet because she was nervous about being alone with him outside of work. Well, they weren't going to be completely alone. She guessed that there would be a lot of other people at the fundraiser. But in a sense, they would be alone. She looked over at him. He was being very quiet tonight. Maybe it's because we're going to a fundraiser in honor of his deceased brother. She decided to believe that excuse rather than he was nervous about being alone with her.

The hotel wasn't too far from Lucy's apartment so it didn't take them long to arrive. He pulled up to the front and handed his keys to the valet. Then he walked over and joined Lucy. "Ready?" he linked his arm with hers.

She smiled. "I'm ready."

They walked into the hotel and headed towards the room holding the party. Carter knew that his Gamma would be in the main ballroom overseeing everything. They walked into the ballroom and he immediately started looking for his Gamma.

Lucy took a long look at the room they had entered. It was elaborated decorated, with tables lining the walls. In the middle, there was a large dance floor. There were about a dozen happy couples dancing to the soft beat of a jazz band. Everyone else was sitting at their tables chatting with friends and acquaintances.

He found his Gamma and looked over at Lucy. That's when he saw the look on her face. She looked genuinely fascinated by the activity in the room. He chuckled, thinking back to the first fundraiser. He remembered that he had that same goofy look on his face too. "It's quite a sight, isn't it?"

She looked over at him, nodding. "I don't know what I expected, but this is amazing."

"I know what you mean. I've found where Gamma is. Let's go say hi." Carter suggested, letting go of her arm and grabbed a hold of her hand. "She's going to be so surprised to see you again."

She looked down at the hand he had grasped. When he touched her, she swore that she felt some kind of spark there. But she quickly dismissed it and shook that thought from her head. "You know that she probably won't remember me."

"Yeah she will." Carter smiled, leading her through the crowd.

Millicent Carter was talking to a bunch of potential investors when she saw her grandson approaching with a woman. She was always glad to see John, but she was even happier that he actually brought a date. She smiled and politely excused herself from the group, meeting John half way. "John! I'm so glad that you've come. How are you?" She gave him a hug and looked at the girl he had brought with him. She looked so familiar…could it really be her?

"I'm fine." Carter smiled, letting go of Lucy's hand to return his gamma's hug. When he pulled away from the hug, he quickly grabbed Lucy's hand again.

"The hospital isn't working you too hard, are they?" Millicent asked. She was worried about him and the kinds of hours he was going to have to put in as an ER doctor.

"No." he chuckled. "They aren't."

She looked over at Lucy and smiled. "Lucy, I haven't seen you in ages. How are you dear?"

Lucy was shocked that Millicent still remembered her, but she was also happy. "I'm fine, thank you. How are you?"

"I can't really complain." She replied with a smile. "How long have you been back in Chicago?"

"I've been back for a few weeks."

"She's also a med student and we work at County together." Carter added.

"Oh, you're becoming a doctor too?" Millicent asked. "Well that sure is coincidental. Are you two dating?" She really hoped they were. She had watched them grow up together, and Lucy always seemed to have a calming effect on John. They would definitely make a good couple.

Carter knew that she would ask that. Truthfully, he didn't really have an answer for that question. They were friends, even though he was starting to think that he wanted more than just a friendship with Lucy. "No, Gamma, we're just good friends."

Lucy inwardly frowned at that comment. She knew that Carter just wanted to be friends, and that statement just crushed any hopes she had about him having romantic feelings for her.

Millicent looked back and forth at the two of them and grinned. She had only been near them for a few moments, but she could tell that there was a chance for something more between them than just a friendship. At that moment, she became determined to bring the two of them together. "Well we'll talk and catch up later. Right now, I have to go mingle with potential investors." She turned to Carter. "I suggest you try to be sociable also."

"Yes m'am." Carter nodded as she went back into the crowd. Then he turned to Lucy. "See? I told you she would remember you."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Ok, so you were right. Are you brag about it the whole night?"

"Nope." He told her with a smug smile on his face. "All I wanted to do was point out that I was right. So I'm done bragging now."

"Good!" she laughed. "Bragging isn't very attractive on you."

He removed the smug smile from his face and gave her a more genuine smile. "How's that?"

She smiled. "Much better."

He looked at his watch. "We have about a half hour before they start serving dinner. Would you mind coming with me as I try to be sociable to these fine people?"

"I'd be happy to."

"Then let's go!" he tightened his hold of her hand as they worked the room.

About an hour later, they were finishing up their dessert. They had the unfortunate pleasure of sitting at a table with a bunch of lawyers that kept disagreeing about every topic that was brought up. So after a while, both Carter and Lucy stayed out of their arguments and concentrated on their meals.

Lucy was pushing the last few bites of her chocolate mousse cake around on her plate. The food was good. Actually, the food was excellent. She'd never had a meal like that before. As she pushed the food around on her plate, she went back to thinking about Carter. He seemed to be her favorite thought lately. All thoughts eventually led to him. Yesterday, when she was doing laundry and thinking about how much fabric softener to use, she found her thoughts drifting to Carter. Then when she was washing dishes, her thoughts lead her back to him again. It was almost like she couldn't do anything without her mind wandering back over to him. She still wasn't sure if she should be worried about that.

As Carter ate the last bite of his cake, he looked over at Lucy. She had been pushing the same piece of cake around on her plate for the last five minutes. Obviously, she was deep in thought about something. Lately, she was doing a lot of deep thinking. He wondered what she's always so deep in thought about. He knew her very well and could usually figure out what she was thinking, but there were times when he had no idea what was going on in her brain. This was one of those times. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Are you done eating?"

She snapped back to reality and put her fork down. "Yes. I don't think I can eat any more." She whispered back, noticing that the lawyers at the table were arguing again.

He looked over at the dance floor. There were a few couples dancing. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Dance with him? Like they did earlier in the week when they went out to dinner together? Yes! Of course! She held on to her excitement. "Sure." She replied calmly.

He led her to the dance floor and wrapped his arms around her waist.

The fact that he had wrapped his arms around her waist made Lucy a little nervous. But she tried to push the nervousness and the feelings she was having for him aside. She looked up at him and smiled.

He smiled back at her, trying to dispel the feelings he was having for her. He had thought that dancing with her would be a good idea. But now that he was within a few inches of her and had his arms wrapped around her, he wasn't so sure it was a good idea. As they swayed to the slow pulse of the song, he found out that the desire to kiss her increased. He knew that kissing her wouldn't be the best idea in the world. He would enjoy it; he had no doubt that he would enjoy the feel of her soft lips on his. He did doubt that Lucy would enjoy the kiss as much as he would though. The last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

Dancing this close to him was both exhilarating and torturing at the same time. She was excited to be this close to him again and be captured in his embrace. But at the same time, it was also a form of torture. She would love to be able to lean into him and give him a long kiss; however, she knew that she couldn't do that because she wasn't sure that Carter would appreciate it very much. So she simply continued to dance with him and tried to focus on the multiple distractions surrounding her.

Carter looked around the room, desperate for a distraction. He found several possible distractions, but was unable to tear his attention away from Lucy. He figured that if he couldn't ignore her, then he might as well give up. "Are you having a good time?" he asked.

Lucy looked up at him. "Yes, I am. Your Gamma has done a wonderful job organizing this event."

"I think that event-planning is one of her specialties." He laughed.

She laughed too, grateful that the awkward moment had passed. "Well I think that this fundraiser will be a great success."

"I do too. But this thing sort of reminds me of my high school prom." He paused, and then started to explain. "You know, getting all dressed up, eating a fancy dinner, dancing, and mingling with people that aren't really your friends. You know what I mean?"

"Actually…," she looked down at the floor for a moment, "I never went to my prom."

He looked at her strangely. How could she have not gone to her own prom? He had no doubt in his mind that guys should have been interested in dating her, so what was the problem. "Why not?"

"I don't know. It wasn't like I didn't get asked or anything." Her next statement surprised even herself. "I just didn't get asked by the right guy." She suddenly realized why she hadn't gone to her prom. She didn't go because Carter wasn't there to take her. All this time she had convinced herself that she didn't go because she was against the whole idea of dressing up just to spend a few hours with your friends.

She didn't get asked by the right guy? "Oh, ok. I understand. So who was he? A jock that you had a crush on?" He corrected himself. "No, it couldn't have been a jock. You're much too smart to fall for a dumb jock. He must have been smart."

She grinned. "Yeah, he was definitely smart. But he had no idea that I even existed."

"You never told him that you had feelings for him?"

"No!" She shook her head. She had never expressed her feelings to Carter; she probably never would.

"Why not?" He wasn't quite sure why he was so interested in this or why he was he starting to feel a little jealous now that he knew Lucy had been interested in this other guy.

"I would have been rejected if I told him how I felt." Lucy replied.

"How do you know that? Maybe he had feelings for you too and you just didn't know it." Carter suggested.

"I don't think so. It's highly unlikely." She replied, becoming uncomfortable. "Can we stop talking about this now?"

"Sure." Carter shrugged.

Millicent walked over to where Carter and Lucy were dancing. She really hated to interrupt them; she was hoping that they were getting closer. But she knew that she had to interrupt and gently touched her grandson's shoulder. "John, I'm sorry to cut in, but it's almost time for the speech."

"Ok." Carter nodded. This was the part of the evening that he hated the most. He despised having to bring out old memories of his brother just to try and tug at the heartstrings of the people here at the fundraiser, so that they would give more money. At least it was for a good cause. He reluctantly let go of Lucy. "I should go get ready."

"Good luck." Lucy smiled.

"Thanks; I'll need it." He smiled back before leaving.