Author's Note: The first few chapters of this fic will be flashback. All flashbacks are in italics. The scene the first portion of this fic is based on happened on Oct. 20, 2000. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any transcripts or videos from that time period so I pulled a few quotes from memory. The original scene happened post-break up, when David was trying to reconcile with Erica. Erica shows up at David's door after a fight with Bianca, David comforts her, but their reconciliation is interrupted by a phone call. I am not strictly following canon, for the most part, but I am trying to include some moments from the show to provide some context.

Two years earlier...

David rubbed the towel against his hair, soaking up any remaining water droplets. He was clad in a blue robe, his bare chest only slightly poking out of the top. He laid his pajamas out on the edge of his bed, intending to slip into them once he'd finished drying but before he was able to, he heard a knock on his hotel room door.

"Hey..." He said, surprised to find her on the other side.

"May I come in?" She asked and he nodded, moving away from the door.

"Is everything okay?"

She shook her head. David noticed the frantic heaving of her chest when she spoke. He wanted to tell her to take a deep breath and gain control of her breathing but waited for her to elaborate.

"My whole world is crashing around me. David, I didn't know where else to go." She admitted meekly. "Hold me, please."

He obliged, wrapping his arms around her. His body was still wet making the purple fabric of her dress a shade darker in some spots as he held her against his chest.

"What happened? Is it Bianca?" He had a sneaking suspicion that her teenage daughter was being rebellious.

She nodded once more. "She moved in with, Jackson."

"Oh." He ran his hands through his hair. "Erica, I have no doubt that Bianca will be back. She's a teenager and, frankly, they tend to see everything rigidly. They're in a constant state of black and white. She'll come home soon."

"When?"

"Only Bianca can answer that question."

A moment of silence passed when Erica spoke his name again.

Tearfully, she asked,"Why does everyone I love leave me?"

"Oh, Erica." His stomach dropped at her question. This was a side to Erica that he rarely saw - that anyone rarely saw. She was raw and vulnerable, seeking solace and validation. He knew deep down that she covered up her insecurities by putting up a facade of a passionate, ambitious, powerful, independent, and secure woman. She was all of those things indeed. But she was more than that, too. She was far more complex.

"My father, my mother, Bianca, you..." She said, gesturing widely. "Every person I have ever loved leaves me. Or maybe it's me. Maybe push them away. How could I lose my own daughter?"

He'd known how much love and devotion she felt for Bianca when she rushed her into his emergency room. She demanded to see a doctor and was less than satisfied when he announced that he was the doctor on call. Soon she became comfortable with him realizing that he had her daughter's best interest at heart. Perhaps that is why she came to him again tonight.

He reached out for her pulling her close to him again and hoping that his body would tell her more than his words ever could. She was needed, she was wanted, and she was most certainly loved by both him and Bianca. "You are an amazing mother, Erica. You wouldn't be so upset about Bianca moving out if you weren't. She's not gone for good. She loves you and she needs you. I can promise you that she'll come around. And, Erica, I haven't left you."

She rested her head on his shoulder, inhaling the scent of his cologne. There was a fire between them when their eyes met, a desperate need that they'd both been ignoring. David took her face in his hands, his lips trailed from her forehead to her cheek and down her jawline.

Her hands wandered down to the V of his robe. She felt his heart beating rapidly for her. She placed a soft kiss in the middle of his chest. He picked her up and placed her on the bed and she pulled him down with her. Their hands sought purchase wherever they could. Their fervent kissing was agonizingly slow. His intent was to make love to her.

-OoO-

She woke up the next morning entangled in long limbs and wrinkled beige sheets. The comforter was thrown on the floor next to the pile of their discarded clothing. She stretched her legs, convincing her body that it was time to wake up. She shouldn't even be here, she told herself. Why had she done this? What was it about David Hayward that made her feel vulnerable? Why had she always chosen to share her most intimate feelings with him? She shifted her legs so that they were dangling off of the side of the bed. She noticed that heart didn't ache as badly, but she still felt a void.

"Feeling better this morning?" David asked, his voice still hoarse from sleep.

She half-smiled over her shoulder at him. "A little. David, I shouldn't be here and I certainly shouldn't have spent the night. I'm sorry that I came here and -" She began but David cut her off.

The bed shifted and David moved so that he was sitting behind her. She felt his hands on her arms. "Erica, if you have a problem I am more than happy to help you. Forever."

"David, what does this mean for us? You know that I don't do casual sex, but I wasn't thinking clearly last night..."

"This means that you needed someone to listen to you, to make you feel better. Nothing more if you don't want it to. I am here for you as a friend, as a lover, hell, as a doctor. Whatever relationship you choose to have with me."

"Thank you. I should... I should go now." She reached down to pick up her dress.

"You don't have to go. Why don't you stay for breakfast? We can talk more about Bianca, if you'd like."

Reluctantly, she agreed to stay and for the first few moments they ate in an awkward silence.

"I have to say these are far better than the eggs I made you." David said.

"Yours were equally as wonderful." She complimented.

"This reminds me of old times, us eating breakfast in bed together after a long night." He reminisced, winking in her direction.

She rolled her eyes. "It wasn't that long ago."

"Why didn't you ever bring me breakfast in bed? You never even made toast!"

She jabbed him in his right side with her elbow."I did bring you breakfast in bed, was it that unmemorable?"

"Erica, I may be absent minded at times but I absolutely would've remembered if Erica Kane had made me breakfast." She opened her mouth to protest but he inserted a piece of french toast in her mouth. "Coral's breakfasts do not count."

"Yes, but I put the toast on the plate and brought it to you on a tray! With flowers! It isn't my fault that Coral is protective over her kitchen. She refuses to let me touch the stove after the infamous Christmas cookies incident in 1998."

"Ah, yes, the night you nearly burnt Pine Valley down."

Her reply was interrupted by incessant beeping.

"Dammit." He cursed. "I'm being paged. I'm going to call the hospital."

"I really should go. I need to figure out what how I'm going to deal with, Bianca." A nervous expression crossed her face.

"Go talk to her, Erica. She needs you more than ever." He replied, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, David. For last night and this morning..."

He smiled and gave her a nod.