Of Dreams and Miracles
By Misha

Disclaimer and Notes in Prologue.

Part Forty-Two: Forever

That night, Elizabeth stayed in her room and just reflected. After all, she had a lot of things that she needed to sort out.

She smiled ruefully. She was sure that a lot of people would think that she was lucky, getting to choose between two amazing guys.

Maybe they were right, but she didn't feel lucky. It was just too much. A part of her wondered why she was even bothering to think it over.

There shouldn't be a choice. She was with Jack, she loved him, it should be that simple. Yet, she knew that if she didn't at least examine her heart and her true feelings for Robbie, then she'd be doing them all a great disservice.

Elizabeth fiddled with the chain of the necklace Jack had given her. The weird thing was that her feelings for Jack weren't in doubt, they just didn't even really come into it.

She knew that she loved him, but she did she love him the way she had once loved Robbie? If the feelings she still had for Robbie were current and not just leftover memories, then who did she love more? Those were the kind of questions that were plaguing her. It was her feeling for Robbie that she had to settle.

Elizabeth got off her bed and walked to the dresser, where she had put all clothes away neatly her first day in Lake Placid. She wondered for a moment if the boys had even started to unpack yet...

Elizabeth shook her head, this was no time to let her mind wander. She opened the bottom drawer and removed a small wooden box that she had buried under the neatly folded stack of clothes.

Elizabeth carried the box back to the bed. She'd had no idea what had possessed her to bring it with her to Lake Placid, yet when she was packing, she had just felt like she had to bring it with her. So, she had taken it out of that box in her closet where it had lived for the last year and put it in her suitcase.

Elizabeth opened the box now and took out the ring that lay inside. Robbie's '76 Championship ring. He had given it to her on their first anniversary, as a sort of promise, mainly because of the fact that '76 had been their beginning.

Elizabeth held it in her hand and closed her eyes, remembering the night that Robbie had given it to her...


Elizabeth and Robbie were in his room.

It was their first anniversary and Robbie had set up a picnic of sorts in his room. Elizabeth thought it was incredibly sweet, since he'd even though to provide flowers.

She wondered how much ribbing he had gotten from the guys when they had seen him bringing those into his room. He had provided her favourite foods and she thought it was both sweet and original, way better than going out to a restaurant.

Elizabeth much preferred the private time with Robbie than the idea of being out in public.

"I have something for you." Robbie told her, once they had finished eating.

"Robbie, we agreed no presents." She protested, as he handed her a small wrapped box.

"It's not really a present." He told her. "Well it is, but... You'll see in a moment. Open it."

Elizabeth did she was bidden and opened the box. Her eyes widened at the sight of his championship ring. "Robbie, you love this ring." She protested.

"I do." He agreed. "But I still want you to have it, as a promise."

"A promise?" Elizabeth asked softly.

"We're a little young too get engaged." He told her. "Also, I think your father would kill me if I proposed, but this ring is my promise to you. I want you to wear it and always remember how much I love you."

"I think it's a little big for me." Elizabeth told him, moved by his words.

"That's why there's a chain." Robbie said and he lifted the ring out of the box and fastened it around her neck.

Elizabeth put her hand over the ring. "Thank you." She whispered, leaning over to kiss him softly.

He deepened the kiss for a long moment and then pulled away. "We're forever, Lizzie." He declared, looking deep into her eyes. "This ring is just a symbol of that."

Forever.

The word kept ringing in Elizabeth's head. Back then, she had never even for a moment imagined that Rob's promise to her wouldn't come true. But they hadn't.

He'd promised her forever and then left her a little over a year later. Not that she blamed him entirely. They had been young when they had made that promise to each other and she understood that feelings changed.

She'd been barely nineteen when Robbie had uttered those words to her. Only two years later, she felt like she was entirely different person.

Still, the words echoed in her head. Rob had promised her forever and then he left her, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't do it again. Elizabeth knew that he'd never intentionally break her heart again, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen.

Of course, there was no guarantee that Jack wouldn't break her heart. After all, life rarely came with guarantees.

Elizabeth just wondered if she'd ever really be able to trust Rob the way she once had. She held the ring tight in her hand. She'd tried to give it back to Robbie after the break-up, but he wouldn't take it. He'd wanted her to keep it, saying he'd given it to her and it was hers.

She'd argued with him, but he hadn't listened. So she had packed it away in a box and tried not to even think about it, that symbol of her broken heart.

She held it now and thought of it differently. It stood for all the good things. She and Robbie had been in love, really in love. Sometimes, Elizabeth forgot how sweet it had been back then.

She remembered now, remembered the joy and the laughter. For some weird reason, holding that ring made everything all so clear.

The decision that she'd been agonising over didn't seem that difficult at all. It had been in her heart all along.

But she had been so jaded, so disillusioned, that she'd had a hard time trusting her heart, afraid that she would just get hurt again.

Elizabeth released her hand and put the ring back in it's box. She was still a little afraid, but she was filled with anticipation for the future.

Now that she understood once and for all where her heart lay, she felt at peace. Now all she had to was tell Jack and Rob what she had realized.
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