All morning, Lulu had felt antsy. During breakfast, her conversation had been minimal over French toast and coffee. Edward had tried to engage her in a conversation on her stint volunteering at the hospital, but her answers had been brief and muted. After a few minutes, he had just grunted and returned to looking over the latest news in the town paper. She had been grateful that the newsprint was much more entertaining that her vapid existence. There just wasn't much to say.

"Tracey, I'm going to take Dillon's car out for a drive," she called into her stepmother's office. "The driver said that it's to be taken out once in awhile to keep it in working order. I don't think Dillon would mind."

Not waiting for a reply, she grabbed the spare set of keys to Dillon's midnight blue sports car and slipped out back toward the garage. Tucked between Edward's beloved Bentley and one of the town cars, she smiled at the site of his car. He loved his car almost as much as he loves movies. After pulling the tan cover off its svelte body, she excitedly took her seat behind the wheel and navigated out of the garage.

As she turned onto the road than ran along the harbor, she turned the radio up and let herself become lost in the music. What the cinema was to Dillon was what music was to her. She wasn't sure if it was growing up the daughter of a blue aficionado or spending all those hours playing the juke box at Kelly's but there was an undeniable comfort for her in music. She smiled to herself when she noticed that it was on her favorite station. It was likely that she had been with him the last time he'd driven the car.

When she had left the Quartermaine mansion, Lulu hadn't had a particular destination in mind. She had thought about going out to Spoon Island to visit Nikolas and Emily. They had been after her to come for dinner for the past few days. She hadn't seen either of them or Spencer for awhile. Still, as she passed the place where she was supposed to meet the launch, she kept going. It just wasn't where she belonged.

Before she knew it, her tires were driving over gravel. Without thinking, she had turned the car in the direction of the one place where she knew she would get truth and answers. When she arrived outside the picturesque white cottage, she smiled up at the house affectionately. Parking the car beneath an old oak tree with a tire swing tied to one of the strongest branches, she loved how much this place looked like a home. It almost reminded her of the one she had lived in growing up without the flowers her mother had planted in the window.

"Carly?" she called as she wrapped on the window. She could hear some giggling inside as footsteps drew near. Lulu was surprised to see Jason on the other side, a boisterous Morgan tucked underneath his arm. "Oh, hey, Jason. Is Carly here?"

"I'm in here," she announced from the living room. Jason guided Lulu into the living room, revealing a sprawled out Carly on the couch. Michael sat at her feet, his red hair a mess. A book was lying at the end of the couch by her feet. "We were just listening to Jason read to us from this great guidebook on Australia. He has a thing for travel literature."

"Really," Lulu mused. It was unsettling to see how domestic the whole thing seemed. Jason was supposed to be with Sam, and Carly is married to Jax. Then again, Jax was out of town on yet another mission to save his brother. And Sam and Jason had been growing apart for months. "I don't want to interrupt. Maybe I should come back?"

"No, stay," Jason insisted. "I was just about to offer to take the boys out for pizza. It's been awhile since we've spent any time alone. We'll be back after awhile."

Carly smiled up at her best friend. "Thanks, Jase," she said before leaning down to kiss the top of Michael's head. Morgan escaped Jason's grip and came over to his kiss his mother. Over the boys' heads, Carly and Jason exchanged a knowing smile. There was something unsaid that passed between them in that moment, and for a moment, Lulu was reminded of Dillon yet again. After the three most important men in her life had left, Carly turned back to her cousin, the younger version of herself. "What's up, Lulu?"

"Dillon sent me a video," she revealed. "I've probably watched it a dozen times. It's this great compilation of all these random moments during a single day in his life. He went to the beach and tried to surf. He watched people in this dive diner. And at the end, he was just laying on his back, looking up at the trees. He told me a lot of things that I'll never forget. Most importantly, he told me that he missed me."

"You already knew that," Carly reminded her. "I know you did."

"There was something else," Lulu said. "Before he left, when I thought that he was going off to work on that film, I told Dillon that I hoped he would be able to forgive me. I had fought so hard to push him away for his own good, hoping that he wouldn't miss out on his chance just to be with me. He had seen right through it. I should've known better. He knows me better than anyone."

Carly raised her eyebrow and glanced at Lulu. "You pretended to hate him so that he would be able to have this great career coup. Did you ever look at it through his eyes, Lulu? Maybe that's not what Dillon saw as his big chance. Maybe, just maybe, he saw it as his big chance to finally be with you. I was lucky enough to get to fall in love with my best friend once, and let me tell you, I don't regret a single moment I've spent with Jason – then or since. The only thing I regret is the fact that I had to break his heart in order to be with Sonny. But having Jason in my life has taught me to not live with regret. I slept with his brother, and that gave me Michael. I slept with his best friend, and that gave me Morgan. Yet, somehow despite all that, Jason still loves me. If I ever got the chance to be him – my best friend – again, I promise you that I wouldn't pass it up."

"Carly, you're married to Jax," Lulu pointed out. "What is the point even thinking about what could be if you already have something so great in front of you?"

"Jax is great, and I do love him," Carly answered. "But I love Jason more than I have ever, or could ever, love anyone. We've been through hell together, and I would walk through fire for him. He has given more to me than anyone else, and I know that he would die for me and my sons. He has been a second father to Michael and Morgan, and there is no one I trust more. I don't know a lot, but I know that is love. That means more than all the romance in the world. At the end of the day, my happiest times have all included that man. He will always be who I want."

"Does he know that?" Lulu asked.

Carly tossed her a coy smile. "We're not talking about me," she pointed out. "Look, the point of me telling you this is that I understand where you're coming from. Years ago, Jason left to get away from everything because I had hurt him. I slept with his best friend. I never thought that he would be able to forgive me, but he did. And when he came home and I saw him that first time, I knew that the love was still there. Over the years, it may have changed some, but it has never left us. When I hear you talk about Dillon, I know that the same is true for you and him. You need to let yourself believe it, Lulu."

"I do believe it."

"I know that you say that you do, but I'm not sure that you really do believe it," Carly said. "And even more importantly, I know that Dillon doesn't believe it. You need to find a way to make him believe that you know as well as he does that you two were meant to be together. That video – that tells you everything you need to know. He forgave you. He saw through the lies to the heart of the truth. He understood that you were trying to save him."

Lulu smiled up at her cousin. "Thank you so much for listening to me, Carly. It's been kind of lonely not having Dillon around. I've tried to talk to Tracey about it, but the whole situation is so hard. My brothers are busy with their own problems, and my dad is out of town taking care of my mom."

"We're family," Carly reminded her. "Speaking of family, I have this strange hankering for pepperoni. Do you want to go with me to have some over at the Pizza Shack?"

"No," she giggled. "I have some thinking to do, and something tells me, your little family could use some time alone. Just be careful, Carly."

"Hey, shouldn't that be my line?" Carly taunted before enveloping Lulu in a hug. "I know what I'm doing, Lu. That's the great thing about having a guy like Jason or Dillon in your life. They always help you get through the hard times, and they'll be there to catch you when you fall. Hopefully, when you fall, it happens to be in love with them."

Those words haunted Lulu later when she sat holding her cell phone in her hand. She was taking a big risk in thinking that Dillon would check his old voicemail. She hadn't bothered calling it since he disappeared. She knew that he had changed his number or at least abandoned that cell phone. However, if there was even the slightest chance that he was going to check in, she wanted him to hear her voice.

Hi, you. It's me. I just got done having this really long conversation with Carly. We talked about you and Jason. I can't believe how much the four of us have in common. Who would have ever thought? She told me that you understood I was trying to save you. I hope you know that's what all that was about. I didn't want to push you away, but I didn't want to be the reason you stayed either. It seemed like too much to live up to – you know us Spencers, we're not good with the pressure. But now, I realize that you are my saving grace, and our love is exactly why I should have asked you to save. Port Charles misses you, Dillon, it's time for you to come home…And I'm your place to come home to.