A/N: Thanks toStar2717 who helped me A LOT with the story.
A/N: I love all sorts of reviews; if they are good, bad, happy, or sad, I don't care I love them all!!! Thanks for all of your reviews!!! Someday I hope to have at least a hundred for every one of my stories that I have written!!!
A/N: Although I wished I owned 7th Heaven sadly I don't but if you read the disclaimer on the first page you will see why I'm not the one making millions!
Meanwhile, down the hall, Simon's quiet homework time was rudely interrupted by Ruthie catapulting herself onto his bed.
"Guess what!" she said, bouncing up and down.
"What?" said Simon, slightly annoyed.
"Kevin and Lucy kissed each other last night."
Simon sat bolt upright. "What?!"
Ruthie grinned, and scurried out of the room. Simon frowned, slightly shocked. He wondered if Robbie had heard yet…and then, as if some sort of ironic segue fairy was tracing his thoughts, Robbie burst into the room.
"Ruthie just told me that Lucy and Kevin kissed!"
"I know!" Simon stood up, excited now. "Who should we confront?"
"Kevin," said Robbie, decisively. "You know, man to man. Guy talk."
"Sure, whatever," said Simon, exiting into the hall with Robbie right behind him.
"Where is he?"
Robbie shrugged. "Dunno. Outside maybe?" Simon nodded, and he and Robbie hurried down the steps.
Ruthie, still hyped up with the buzz of a new secret, found Annie folding a load of laundry.
"Mom! Lucy and Kevin kissed!"
Annie sighed. "Ruthie, Kevin and Lucy have their own busi-- they kissed? Today?!?" Annie yelled, suddenly having vivid images of what could be going on in Lucy's bedroom.
Ruthie shrugged. "Maybe. I heard Lucy talking about it."
Annie grabbed Ruthie's hand. "Show me where you saw Lucy and Kevin." Ruthie nodded and began to lead Annie towards the stairs, neglecting to tell her mother that it was just Lucy and Matt, not Kevin. But hey, this way was more fun.
Robbie and Simon, meanwhile, had gone outside seeking Kevin to no avail. Robbie, however, did trip over the basketball laying in the drive way.
"What idiot left this here?" muttered Robbie, as Simon helped him up.
"Hey boys. What are you doing?" Eric had just exited the family car and was walking towards the house.
"Finding Kevin so we can ask him about kissing Lucy," said Robbie promptly. Simon groaned inwardly. Robbie was nice, but he could be really, really dumb.
Eric gaped in a manner that some might've sworn he shared with his eldest son. "Kevin? Lucy? My house?" Eric stood stock still for a moment, and then dashed into the house. Simon and Robbie looked at each other, and then sprinted after him.
Up in Lucy's bedroom, Lucy and Matt stood in nearly identical postures, hands on their hips and faces red from yelling.
Matt was halfway through a rant about how Lucy had enough boys at her own school to chase after, and she didn't need to go after one of HIS BEST friends, thank you very much, when Annie and Ruthie burst in.
"There!" yelled Ruthie triumphantly.
Annie looked frantically around the room. "Where is he?"
"Who?" responded Lucy and Matt, in the same irritated tones.
"Don't take that tone with me. You know very well who -- the boy who you are kissing in here!"
Lucy gaped in surprise. "What! I'm not kissing anybody! Matt barged in and --"
"STOP KISSING MY DAUGHTER!" Eric had charged into the room, waving his arms around and appearing slightly disheveled.
"Lucy! If you like him, that's just fine! But in this house, you will not kiss boys in the bedroom! Alone! And Kevin should know better than to do something like that!" Eric paused and glanced around the room, looking slightly confused.
"Where is Kevin?"
Lucy turned furiously to Matt. "Did you tell EVERYONE?"
Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's it Lucy. The whole family knows." As the words exited Matt's mouth, Simon and Robbie appeared in the doorway, each holding a twin.
"Where's Kevin?" said Robbie, glancing at the crowd assembled in the room.
"AGH!" Lucy let out a scream of frustration. "You know what? You all just keep talking about this IN MY ROOM. I'm going to go lock myself in the bathroom!" Lucy stomped out of the room and running down the stairs.
The rest of the family squeezed through the door after her.
"Lucy, we just need to talk to you about Kevin!" Annie yelled after her racing down the stairs.
Lucy stopped and spun around. "I don't want to talk about Kevin!" she yelled.
Just then, the bathroom opened and Kevin emerged. Noticing the large crowd in the hallway, Kevin stopped, feeling slightly awkward.
"Um... hi..." he trailed off, aware that he was blushing. Oddly enough, there were nine people facing him, but there was complete silence.
After a moment, Robbie spoke. "Wait a minute. If you were in the bathroom, and Lucy was in her room... then you guys weren't making out at all!" Kevin's face turned even redder, and Lucy looked to be debating whether to burst into tears or kick Robbie in an extremely painful location.
"How about we talk about his later," said Annie, trying to steer the rest of the family in the opposite direction.
"Lucy, Kevin, we'll expect you downstairs in a few minutes." Lucy and Kevin stood awkwardly while the rest of the family descended the stairs.
"So you told Matt," Lucy muttered, as the last Camden moved out of earshot.
"Luce... I'm sorry, I had no choice. And I thought he took it pretty well."
Lucy laughed sarcastically. "What, exactly would you call Matt taking it well? Storming into my room and screaming out at me loud enough to share my secrets with the entire family? Sure, that's taking it well." Lucy was trying actively to blink back tears.
"Lucy --" Kevin tried again, but Lucy was very angry.
"No. No, Kevin, forget it. I actually thought that we had something, I thought that you were special. Was all of that just an act? Did you act sweet to me all those times just so you could blab to my brother that you made stupid, young Lucy fall for you? Well, congratulations Kevin. It worked. I fell for you. And now I know how you see me; you think I'm a silly little girl. Well, you know what? This silly little girl never wants to see you again." Tears now streaming down her cheeks, Lucy walked down the hall and quietly shut the door to her room.
Kevin stood frozen to the spot. Half of his brain immediately screamed "Go after her, jerk! You're in love with her!" But somehow, his feet wouldn't move. He shook his head sadly. He loved Lucy, and he'd screwed things up. He slowly walked down the stairs, dreading his awkward confrontation with Matt and the rest of the Camden's.
The Camden's looked oddly like a spectator crowd at a Roman gladiator match as Kevin entered the kitchen. He tried to think of something to say that wouldn't result in him being ripped limb from limb.
Luckily, Eric saved him. "Well, Kevin. I brought down your suitcase. Why don't you say goodbye to everyone and I'll drive you to the airport."
"Thanks, Rev. Camden," said Kevin. Eric nodded and went outside to start up the car.
"Well, bye Kevin," said Annie, walking over to give Kevin a hug.
"Come back and visit us.... uh, sometime. Now, why don't we all leave Kevin and Matt alone to say goodbye?" Annie ushered the others out of the room, and Kevin and Matt stood in silence.
"You still sure you don't want to punch me?" joked Kevin, trying to break the silence. To his surprise, Matt actually smiled a little.
"Nah, I saw you fall on the basketball through the window. I'm good now." They both laughed, and Kevin ventured forward.
"So... are we good?"
Matt shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, I was upset, but if you guys just kissed.... I can deal. Plus, it's not like you guys could be in a relationship with the distance and everything... you don't want a relationship, right?"
"Right," Kevin lied.
Matt grinned. "Just be honest with me from now on, ok?"
"Ok," said Kevin, and they moved in and gave each other the "guy hug." Kevin walked outside and climbed into the car, feeling a little better that he'd fixed things with Matt. There was, however, still the issue of Lucy.
Lucy had been sulking in her bedroom for about half an hour before she broke down and decided to go find Kevin. She had wanted to tell him off, and she had -- but she felt wrong, somehow.
Suddenly, all she wanted was to be able to look at him and tell him that she loved him just as much as he loved her. Wandering downstairs, she found Annie cooking for Sam and David in the kitchen.
"Hey Mom," said Lucy.
"Hi honey," replied Annie, reaching for a bag of carrots.
"So where's Kevin?" Lucy asked.
Annie turned, looking slightly surprised. "He... didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?" asked Lucy, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Oh, Luce... Kevin left. Your father is driving him to the airport right now."
Lucy blinked, trying not to cry. "Oh," she whispered quietly.
Annie frowned with concern. "Lucy, do you want to tell me what happened between you and Kevin?"
Lucy nodded, and began to speak softly. "We were dancing together at prom -- and it all fell into place. It was like something inside of me had been trying to get out for all these years, and during that dance it finally clicked. It's Kevin, mom. I want to be with him. And I looked at him, and before I knew what was happening he was kissed me. And it wasn't weird, and he wasn't taking advantage of me --- nothing like that! It was like I finally felt right. And then he told me that he loves me, and he wants to be with me. And you know the best part? I want to be with him too. Mom, I love him. And I didn't tell him that, and now he's gone!" Lucy was now sobbing in hysterics.
Annie wrapped her arms around Lucy, tears prickling at her own eyes.
By the time they were halfway to the airport, Kevin mused that the only way the car ride could be any more awkward was if he and Eric were both naked. Barring that, however, Kevin had never felt more uncomfortable in his life.
As the car passed a sign that said AIRPORT 9 MILES, Eric spoke.
"Kevin, I think we need to talk about Lucy." Kevin nodded, and tried to gauge how badly it would hurt if he jumped out of a vehicle going 65mph.
"What happened with you and Lucy?" Eric was keeping his eyes pointedly on the road.
Kevin sighed. "Rev. Camden, the other night at the dance... I kissed her. I also told her that I love her and that I want to spend my life with her. Please, I would never want to hurt Lucy, or take advantage of her in any way. But she's 18 now, and -- she's very special to me," Kevin finished quietly.
Eric pursed his lips in thought for a moment before responding.
"Kevin, I have no doubt that your feelings for Lucy are sincere. You've always been like another son to Annie and I. I love you and your family. I trust you, and I would do anything for you."
Kevin's heart started pounding. Was Eric saying that he approved? However, Eric wasn't done speaking yet.
"But Kevin, I'm afraid you have to look at the reality of the situation. I know that the age difference doesn't seem like much to you, but Lucy hasn't even graduated yet. She may be 18, but that doesn't mean she's done growing up yet. And even without that factor... Kevin, you have a whole new career that you're starting in Buffalo. Lucy still has college ahead of her, and plenty of opportunities. I know that you would never intentionally hurt Lucy, but I believe she loves you enough that she would put her life on hold for you. And as a father, I can't stand by and watch that happen."
Kevin felt completely numb as Eric pulled the car up to the curbside. Reaching around to the back seat, he grabbed hold of his suitcase.
"Bye Rev. Camden. Thanks for letting me stay with you," he said hollowly.
Eric nodded gravely. "Take care, Kevin."
Lucy and Annie were sitting on the couch, drinking ice tea when Eric arrived back home. Eric could see as he sat down next to his wife that Lucy's cheeks were tearstained. He looked questioningly at Annie.
Annie took a breath. "Lucy, why don't you tell your father what you told me."
Eric listened as Lucy repeated what she had said to Annie. Eric's mind was spinning, trying to decide what to say. He realized that Lucy was done talking, and both she and Annie were looking at him, waiting for him to respond.
"Lucy... Kevin and I had a talk about you in the car."
"And?" said Lucy hopefully, leaning forward on the sofa.
"He...he said that he thinks that you two are at the wrong places in your lives to make things work." Eric's voice broke slightly. "Lucy, I'm so sorry."
Lucy blinked as if she'd just been slapped. "I'm going to go to my room," she whispered, and bolted up the stairs towards her room. She collapsed on her bed, and for the third time in a few hours, began to cry.
Annie and Eric just looked at each other trying to decide what to say…except for once in their marriage there was nothing to be said.
Later that night during dinner no one asked where Lucy was…for some reason they all could tell something happened and that it wasn't good…Ruthie tried her hardest to get her to go downstairs and eat dinner, while Matt, Simon and Robbie tried to get her to talk about what had happened between Annie and herself.
Only Annie and Eric knew what the real reason behind Lucy's sadness…and they didn't feel comfortable talking about it in front of their kids. Annie knew something was wrong with Eric at dinnertime but choose not to say anything with the kids listening.
After talking to Matt and Robbie about their plans for the next few days and kissing Ruthie, Simon good night and putting Sam and David into their cribs, Eric and Annie headed towards the kitchen to do late night clean up when Eric thought it was time for him to confess what had really happened.
"Eric…do you want to tell me what's wrong?" she asked handing him a couple plates to put in the dishwasher.
He paused…only Annie would know when he was hiding something and he'd be damn if tonight she was going to find out what really happened in that car.
"Nothing…nothing's wrong" he stumbled through those words…while his brain was screaming "I LIED TO MY DAUGHTER"
"Eric, stop lying to me…we have been married for 23 years, so I know better…do you want to tell me now or do I have to wait for you to tell me?" she asked turning the sink off and pulling the plug to let the water drain.
"Is it about Lucy and Kevin?" she said suddenly without looking up.
"How did you know?"
"It was written all over you when you came home, it stayed with you all through dinner…did…did something happen that you haven't told me? haven't told Lucy?"
"Annie…I—"
"You what?"
"I lied" he said quietly looking away not wanting to see his wife's face at that exact moment.
"You what?" she repeated trying to make sure what she heard was correct.
Eric paused trying to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "I lied to Lucy about Kevin"
"You DID WHAT?" Annie repeated again this time louder…a little to loud to Eric's liking.
"I had to…she's only 18 Annie…she doesn't' know what love is"
"I can't believe what I'm hearing…my own husband, the father of my 7 children lied to his own daughter? What the hell were you thinking?" she yelled at him getting angrier by the minute…playing with his daughter's feelings was something Eric Camden did not do.
Annie paused for a minute before taking a deep breath…she wanted to remain calm and civil for her daughter who was probably upstairs crying herself to sleep. She counted to ten before speaking again.
"What did he say?"
"Who?" he replied looking confused for a moment before replying "Kevin?"
"Yes, what did Kevin say to you?"
"He basically told me that the night of the dance he kissed her, and told her that he loved her and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, that he never would want to hurt or take advantage of her anyway…and that's she is very special to him"
"Oh Eric" she sighed walking away from the island and sat down on a bar stool.
"How could you? she's your daughter for god sakes…she's your own flesh and blood and what do you do? You hurt her in the worst possible way…how could you have done that to Luce?" she repeated, while tears were starting to form at the corner of her eyes.
"Wait…what I want to know is what did you tell him?"
"The truth…sort of…"
"What do you mean sort of?"
"Kevin's a great guy, he's like another son to me…and I wouldn't have a problem with Lucy and him being more than just friends…but I don't know Annes…something came over me" he buried his hands into his face trying hard to think of what he said to Kevin before he left to go back to Buffalo.
"Eric, what did you say to him?" she stated this time firmly.
"I told him that the age difference doesn't seem like much to you, but that Lucy hasn't even graduated yet. She may be 18, but that doesn't mean she's done growing up yet. And even without that factor... he still has a whole new career that he's starting in Buffalo and that Lucy still has college ahead of her, with plenty of opportunities. I told him that I knew he would never intentionally hurt Lucy, but I believe she loves you enough that she would put her life on hold for you. And as her father, I couldn't stand by and watch that happen."
"Oh Eric" Annie whimpered quietly before she got up and gave Eric a hug.
"What you did was wrong, shameful, hurtful and down right disgraceful and to top it off that you have scared our little girls feelings for life…one day she will find out and I don't know what we are going to do but until then…I have a feeling that Kevin is a name we are not suppose to utter for a long time" she told him before letting go and starting for the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"To bed…I need some time to sleep on what you just told me…and by the way I hope you like sleeping on the couch for a while…because right now I'm afraid I might do something I'll regret" and with that Annie walked up the steps and went to check on the twins leaving Eric to mull over his decision by himself.
"Lord, what I did today was the right thing…I love Lucy with all my heart but she still has her whole life ahead of her and she doesn't know what she wants to do…I hope that one day that she can look into her heart and forgive me for what I did but I think what I did any normal parent would do" he prayed silently before heading off to bed"
Little did Annie and Eric know that while they were talking someone walked into the dining room…and that very someone heard their entire conversation…and that someone was a very furious Matt.
July of 2001
Eric, Annie and Matt arrived at the banquet Hall for Patty-Mary's graduation party in attempts to surprise the Kinkirks.
"Annie? Eric? What are you guys doing here?" they heard Karen exclaim excitedly with Ben, Kevin and Patty-Mary racing behind her all for different reasons.
"We came to surprise you" Annie told her giving her a quick hug before she moved onto Patty-Mary and gave her the graduation gift that was being held in her hand.
"Congratulations Patty-Mary"
"Thanks Annie" she replied back giving her a hug back and taking the gift to the table and left to join her friends.
Kevin who was behind Patty-Mary move out of the way so he could avoid talking to both the Reverend and Mrs. Camden…he just wanted to talk to Matt alone and find out how Lucy was doing after he left.
"Hey Matt…where is the rest of your family at?" Kevin asked trying not to sound interested
"If you are asking where Lucy is she's back in Glenoak with Simon, Ruthie, David, Sam and her fiancé Jeremy" Matt replied smirking at Kevin.
If Kevin's eyes could have gotten any bigger they did…but after a few minutes they finally shrank back to their normal size before he said anything else.
"Her fiancé? When did this happen?" he sounded worried, but tried to calm himself down
"Is it really any of your business?" Matt snapped.
Kevin looked at Matt for a second and motioned him to follow him into the hallway "What the hell is wrong?"
"I'll tell you what's wrong…my BEST friend, who I have known for my entire life lied to me…so tell me how do you feel about that?"
Kevin felt sick to his stomach…Matt knew he lied…he could tell…
"What do you mean?" he asked choosing his words carefully.
"I'll tell you what I mean" Matt snarled at him "It means that I heard what you told my dad…I knew something was up when you told me you didn't have feelings for her…but something called a BIG BROTHER radar which you should have had…went off in my head…no one kisses THEIR BEST FRIENDS LITTLE SISTER for no reason" he yelled pacing back and forth.
"I'm so sorry—" he started to say before Matt cut him off.
"Don't bother…I'm not in the forgiving mood…look forget about Lucy…she forgot about you when she got engaged to Jeremy so you might as well do the same thing…find someone else other than a Camden to try and wrap around your finger…if you want to know when she got engaged I'll tell you before I stop speaking to you"
"What do you mean before you stop speaking to me?" Kevin wanted to know
"I don't think I can forgive you…you lied to me and that's hurts…it really does…we are supposed to be best friends…do you really think friends are supposed to lie to each other?"
"No, but—"
"There are no buts Kevin…look…around the time you left…her graduation was two weeks later and all of a sudden she came home one day announcing that she and Jeremy were engaged and that she was going away to school"
"I still love her" Kevin replied softly walking over to a bench and sitting down.
"No you don't not anymore…get over her Kevin…she has gotten over you"
"That's not true"
"I'm afraid it is Kevin…look I'm going back in there…I think it's time for us to leave anyways…our flight leaves tonight and I really don't want to stay here around a person who says that he is my friend and lies straight to my face about my little sister" Matt answered walking back into the banquet hall where Annie and Eric were, joining in on their conversation with Karen.
Kevin sat on the bench for a while thinking about Lucy…his Lucy…was engaged to marry another man…so it was true…she had moved on…even after all they had been through…and now all he could think about was what he was going to do with the rest of his life when the one person he wanted the most was gone from his life forever…