Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with CBS, Guiding Light, Daniel Cosgrove, or Marcy Rylan.

Author's Note: Thanks some more for the mainly positive reviews! Oh, and sorry about my typos being distracting. Between work, and all the stuff my son has going on lately, I have to pump these chapters out pretty quick (I have the storyline playing out in my head, but it's hard to convey to words!), and try to proofread, but sometimes I miss a lot of things! I will try harder, but I can't make any promises XD

I'm mad at Bill right now, by the way. He made a big 'no-no' on Friday. I feel like he did it with good intentions, but he was so arrogant to think that he could handle Alan. No one can! I just hope Lizzie forgives him.

For Keeps

VI. "Are you still in love with Jonathan?"

Bill Lewis was relentless. If he decided that he wanted something, he was going to go after it, one hundred percent, no holds barred. Lewis men always get what they want in the end. And Bill had decided that he wanted to be with Lizzie, and nothing, and nobody was going to get in his way. Not even Lizzie herself.

It would be different if she just had no interest in him. That would force him to go another path. But the fact of the matter was, Bill knew Lizzie had feelings for him. He knew that she wanted to be with him as much as he wanted to be with her. Their attraction was simply undeniable. It was something he had fought like hell, but now he knew that it was something worth fighting for.

He hadn't really got the chance to argue his case outside the church, not for long. Almost as soon as Lizzie had announced she was no good for him, the service had ended, and people had started pouring out. Lizzie had quickly been engulfed by almost the entire town, and Bill had just been left to ponder the things she had said on his own.

He was spending way too much time inside his own brain lately, and he didn't like it at all. The worst part was, as good as he sort of felt that he was finally starting to feel again, he hated that his first feelings had been ones of sadness over losing a child he hadn't even known existed. But, at least he had the good feelings that Lizzie gave him.

She looked at him the way his Mom used to look at his Dad. That look like she knew he was going to protect her, like even though he was a cocky brat, she completely trusted him. She looked at him like she needed him. That's what Bill needed more than anything right now; to be needed.

The fact that she thought she was bad for him was ridiculous. He knew she was just letting all the grief get to her, letting it make her feel guilty. In Bill's opinion she had no reason to feel guilty. Life had just been dealing her a bum hand, and so far she had been playing it as best as she could. She may look little and weak, but considering what she'd been through, Bill thought she was one of the strongest women he'd ever met.

She was back at her own room at the Beacon now. He hadn't tried to call or go by for almost a week. He figured she needed space. After all, this had been a hard week for her, even besides the miscarriage. More than anything he wanted to be by her side, getting her through it, but sometimes things didn't work out exactly like you planned.

But, after a week, he was tired of being away from her. Even before everything happened, he had seen her at least once a day. A whole week without seeing her at all had been hell. It had confirmed his feelings for her completely, and he was ready to take action.

Even though his father had been against their pairing at the start, he had come around. He saw that Lizzie was the one thing making his son human again, and their was no way he was going to let that golden opportunity slip through his fingers. For that reason, he jumped at the chance to help Bill out when he needed. This help came in the form of phoning Lizzie and asking her to meet him at the construction site to talk business.

She had complied, not knowing that it would be the younger Lewis male awaiting her at the remnants of what had once been the construction trailer.

Clad in a crème colored tailored sweater and matching scarf to ward off the cold, she showed up a few seconds after Bill himself did. She realized it had been a trap, and started to make a get away before he turned around, but she was too slow. He had seized her elbow gently.

"I thought I could trust your Dad," She muttered sarcastically.

Bill smiled "You can trust his son, that's for sure."

Lizzie tried to force a half smile "I guess."

Without saying anything, Bill just instinctively pushed back the soft hair from her face, tracing her jaw line with his fingertips.

She swallowed, and tried to pull her gaze away from his fiery one.

"I need to go. I've got a lot of stuff to do." She lied blankly, and backed up.

"Don't do this Lizzie."

"Do what?" She asked, feigning obliviousness.

"Push me away, and try to mask the feelings you have for me. We're adults. We can move past all this bad, and build something good. But I can't do it on my own, you have to try."

"I am moving on," She said defensively, though not very convincingly. "I've been doing a lot of work. I made two deals this week, aren't you jealous?" She tried to lilt her voice playfully, but it didn't hold the same bantering air it used to when they bickered.

Bill just looked at his feet, at a loss for words.

"Lizzie, I want to actually do this, you know, try and be something."

"We are something Bill, we are two people who work for the same company, and we are both people who are care about Billy, we are-"

"Falling for each other" Bill, said without missing a beat.

Lizzie pursed her lips, and downcast her eyes as well.

"I can't do this Bill. I thought I could, but I just can't."

"Because you think you're bad, because you think you don't deserve the sort of happiness we could bring each other? Because that's so wrong Lizzie. You aren't even the worst of the two of us, I've done way worse than you."

She just stayed quiet.

He blew out a hard sigh. "It's more than that, isn't it?"

She nodded slowly.

"Don't get me wrong. It's partly that. I think you could do way better. I think I don't think I deserve true happiness, after what I cost my babies. But also…I just don't want to start something again, because…it just won't last. It never does."

"We don't know that" He said resting his grasp on her shoulder "We've got to actually try. This, this could be the real deal Lizzie."

"I thought I had the real deal before" She sniffled "I mean, I know it was stupid. I know Jonathan loved Tammy, and that I was just his mistake, but after Sarah was born, and I saw the way he looked at her, and even the way I thought he looked at me sometimes…I honestly thought this is it. It's what I've been waiting for, hoping for, dreaming for. I've got love, I've got family. And then, everything just fell apart, and I tried to keep it together the only way I knew how…and I screwed up, and the people I loved died."

Bill's eyes sort of hardened.

"Are you still in love with Jonathan?"

She was quiet for a long minute, just blowing smoky breath.

"He's gone." She finally breathed.

"That's not what I asked." Bill said seriously.

"Jonathan will always be a piece of me…a huge piece. He fathered my child; he tried to take care of me. Do I still love him? Yeah. Am I sure I loved him with that 'end all, be all -once upon a star - over the moon- kind of love' ? No. I don't know. I didn't have the chance to get to see."

Bill stayed somber, kicking the dirt around with his feet, angry with himself for being jealous of guy without a pulse.

"You're right Lizzie. Jonathan is gone. He's gone, and he's not coming back, no look at me-" She had tried to start pushing past him at those words "I'm not trying to be callous. But if the reason that you won't get involved with me is because you still have this hope somewhere deep inside that a miracle is going to happen, and your family will be back, then you're living in a dream world baby, and I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm just trying to be honest."

Lizzie looked as if she might break down, but took a shallow breath and bit her lip, fighting the tears back victoriously.

"I know you're right" She nodded "It hurts, but I know it's the truth."

All of a sudden, she hugged him. And not just quickly. She leaned in, buried her face in his chest, and wrapped her arms tightly around. As serious as the moment was, Bill relished every second of it. Though Jonathan had been the topic of their conversation a few seconds ago, he knew he had nothing to fear.

Jonathan was dead, Lizzie was getting over his memory, and Bill had replaced him as her pillar of strength.

Accepting it wasn't going to be easy, but she had Bill. She wasn't alone. The guy she cared for finally cared back, and together, they could honestly make something real. She wasn't sure if she could be whole again, but if Bill wanted her, then she wanted to try.

Reva Shayne sat on her couch curled up with a nice mystery book, and a hot mug of coffee, with her own little additive. She was trying to drain out after the stress of the past few weeks. Tammy's memorial had been heart wrenching. Sarah's had been worse. She'd had to watch Lizzie suffer that much, knowing that she held the key to end her pain.

After all of this, along with convincing Jonathan via phone calls to stay away from Tammy's memorial service, she was pretty tired. Jeffery had a full plate at the office, and she was just lazing about trying to forget all the problems.

She heard a noise, and almost jumped a mile. It was coming from the kitchen. She wasn't a scared person, but she was sure that it was footsteps she'd just heard. She heard another rustle, and was now convinced she was not alone in this house. It wasn't Jeffery. He always burst right into the room, and he would use the front door. He was the only one with a key to any door.

She laid down the book quietly, and tiptoed toward the fireplace, and swiftly picked up a fire poker. After taking a breath, she pushed open the kitchen door, and held up the poker.

She froze in midair though. The rugged looking, unshaven man standing in her kitchen was familiar to her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm home…Mom."

Reva smiled, but a worry filled her heart. She loved him, but no matter what this visit meant, she knew he was bringing stormy weather with him.

The wind had blew hurricane Jonathan back home, and the forecast was sunny, but with a chance of hell fire.