It was late. Too late for her to be sitting outside on the front porch, but Elizabeth didn't care. The sky was clear, the moon full and if she listened closely she could hear crickets. If she closed her eyes and ignored the oppressive heat that still lingered well into the night, Elizabeth could almost swear she was back home in Boulder.

She tucked her knees under her chin as she swung in the porch swing. It was only late at night that she even remotely thought of Boulder. Port Charles was home now. Finally she was making friends, spending time with Grams was always wonderful and she had a job she loved. But at night, the memories started. At night, her mind wandered back to Max.

Elizabeth shook her head. There was no way she was going down that road again. Too much time had been wasted wondering what she could have done differently, if there as something else she should have noticed. It was not her fault. Max was the asshole. Not her. Max was the liar. Max didn't deserve the time of day.

Think of something else. Think of anything else. He's not worth it.

Some sly voice, who sounded exactly like Courtney, spoke up in the back of her mind. Lucky. You should think of Lucky.

Biting her lip, she relived their brief dance. The man could dance. She had to give him credit for that. Lucky had guided them through the drunk crowd with ease, seeming to know instinctively when to pull her closer to him and guide them away just seconds before she would have been bumped or jostled. His hand hadn't left the small of her back and he hadn't applied anything other than the lightest of pressure there, but she had been acutely aware of the nearness of him the entire time.

She had somehow resisted the urge to burry herself in his shoulder and just sniff him. His scent had barely teased her nostrils, mingling in with the sweat and smoke that defined Jake's. Courtney's voice just about disappeared when she realized he was singing along under his breath. And just when she was about to comment on it, the song ended.

They had pulled away from each other, blinking; both apparently surprised the song was in fact over. As all around them, the crowd cheered Courtney's performance, Lucky leaned down towards her ear to whisper something.

Her cell phone came to life, bringing Elizabeth back to the present with a jolt. Glancing at the caller ID, she felt relief flood her. At last! "Robin? Are you ok?" she answered the phone breathlessly.

The drive from Patrick's studio to her loft took twice as long as she had anticipated. The town was only so big, so she figured she had just driven around in circles for the better part of an hour. She kept her car filled up with gas and took good care of it all year long, so what did it matter if she actually use it for something other than work once in a while? She needed to think. She needed to forget. Upon seeing Patrick's company, all she had wanted to do was go to Jake's and get trashed, but she had known her friends would be there and she didn't think she could stand seeing anyone right now. Besides, in the past week, how much alcohol had she thrown back? It wouldn't be good to give the State a reason to snatch Morgan away from her. It was only when she saw the blinking yellow message alert on her cell phone screen that she decided to call Elizabeth.

"My phone died." And it had. That wasn't why she hadn't phoned until now, but it wasn't a lie either.

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. "I was just worried. You're never late and then when Lucky came in and you still weren't there, I guess I just panicked."

"Why were you trying to get a hold of me? I'd think you'd be too wrapped up in your date to worry about little old me." Though she joked, she could hear the fake cheerfulness in her tone.

Even though Robin couldn't see her, Elizabeth blushed. "It wasn't a date."

"Is that why you made Courtney tag along? So that you could hide behind that silly excuse?" Robin wondered.

"Courtney is the one who actually does karaoke. We just were along for moral support."

"Who are you kidding? Elizabeth, you can't be this naïve. Courtney told me how long it took you to get ready." Robin patronized lightly.

"I've never been to Jake's before, much less karaoke night there. How was I supposed to know what to wear?"

"That's true." Robin let the topic drop. Clearly, Elizabeth wasn't ready to admit anything was more than friendly between her and Lucky. Robin could have said that she had been at the pool party, and that she had felt the sizzling chemistry from across the pool, but what would it have solved? The pool party. Yelling at Patrick. Causing a scene. Falling into the pool. It had been fun...the most she had had in a long time. She bit her lip. Best to not let her mind wander. He had proved that he wanted nothing from her.

"So where were you anyways?"

"I went for a drive." Robin answered.

"Ok." Elizabeth sensed there was more to Robin missing tonight than an insatiable urge to go for a drive but decided to let it drop. At least now she could go to bed without vision of her friend being the featured victim on a Court TV forensic investigation show. "I was going to ask you when you showed, but how are you doing after that run in with Patrick today?"

Robin stopped for a light and sat there almost a full minute after the light had turned green. If she responded, "What are you talking about?" it would admit guilt. God, but how had she found out? And so soon? Damn that Drake had a loose jaw. How embarrassing! "I just told him to apologize to Bobbie for talking to her the way he had this morning." Robin explained.

"Lucky told Courtney that you two got into it at Bobbie's when she mentioned you were a bit distracted today. Patrick apparently called him right after leaving there." Elizabeth paused, sensing something off in her friend's answer. "What do you mean you just told him to apologize? Did you ditch us to see Patrick?"

Oh, crap. Robin pulled the car to the shoulder and took a deep, soundless breath. Elizabeth had been referring to the fight this morning. She had automatically assumed that Patrick had gossiped to Lucky once she had stormed out of the studio. She had to fix this. "I didn't ditch you." She wanted the words back, but they were already out of her mouth before she heard her mistake.

Elizabeth resisted the urge to snort. She was learning Robin was many things, but a good liar was not one of them. So that was what "went for a drive" meant. Interesting. From what Lucky had told them, Patrick had lived up to the very reputation Robin claimed he had. So why the hell would she give a crap if he apologized to his aunt? Elizabeth had a feeling that if he refused to do so, the rest of his family would make his life miserable until he did. "Sure you didn't. So when exactly did you decide that it was up to you to make Patrick apologize?"

Robin's throat went dry. How could she get out of this unscathed? Elizabeth was no idiot and she must have put two and two together. Damn her subconscious for sending her that sensuous dream and making her question her own instincts. She blamed the dream for the way she had reacted to seeing Patrick right after. Why else would she have slapped him? Until he had come into the picture, she hadn't considered herself a violent person. Just in the span of a few days she was a bitter, friend-abandoning, couldn't-tell-a-lie-if-her-life-depended-on-it boozer. "He never would have talked to Bobbie that way if I hadn't been there. I felt responsible, so I stopped by unannounced and demanded that he call and apologize." She sounded convincing if only to her own ears.

Damn. Even though Elizabeth was 99 percent sure there was more to this than Robin was telling, she had made a good point. If she pressed any further, Robin would dig her heels in even more and an actual argument very well could erupt. Robin may be bad at lying, but she was an expert at getting out of sticky situations. Must be the politics in her blood. "You're probably right there. It's no big deal. Just next time give me warning. I didn't realize Courtney was such a blatant matchmaker."

"It's too bad for her that you and Lucky are strictly friends." Robin baited.

Elizabeth crinkled her face in disgust. "We're not friends. I teach his son. We have a strictly professional relationship."

"You don't teach Cam anymore." Robin corrected, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

"Oh before I forget, Lars says hi. He's apparently still really sorry your dog died before you two were supposed to get together the last time."

That was all it took. Robin busted out laughing. So Courtney had blabbed? God, but she had been so adamant about them getting together. Her poor disillusioned friend. When she trusted herself to speak, she continued, "He's not a bad back-up...I mean, since you have zero interest in dating Lucky, right?"

"Exactly. And I'm sure you don't have to go over to his place and force him to apologize to his aunt instead of hanging out with your friends." It was lost on Robin, but Elizabeth still smiled triumphantly.

"I have another call coming in." Robin lied.

This time she couldn't suppress it. Her snort of laughter escaped. Something hit a little too close to home. "Well by all means answer it. Lars said he would try to call you later."

Robin made a face. "That is NOT funny!"

"He learned a new Metallica song just for you."

"At least he's got good taste." Robin replied. She wanted so desperately to tell Elizabeth what had happened at Patrick's studio, but she would rather focus the attention on her friend's happiness. "How was tonight? Did you have fun?"

Elizabeth paused, recalling the feeling of dancing with Lucky. She shivered a little, even in the heat, as the words he whispered in her ears replayed in her mind.

"Thank you for the dance Miss Elizabeth."

"Yes I had fun. But next time, you are showing. Without you there, Courtney got ridiculously close to getting me to go on stage. ALONE."

"She's a good friend." Robin assured Elizabeth. "After the divorce, she snatched me out of my mausoleum of a house and insisted that I come live with her." Thoughts of Courtney made her think of Logan. Thoughts of Logan led straight to Patrick.

"I'm not saying she's not a good friend. I'm saying she almost got me to sing in public. Two different issues there."

"Did I mention I love having a permanent excuse for not coming to karaoke? Morgan."

"Baby-sitter."

"You play dirty." Robin laughed.

"All's fair in avoiding the karaoke stage."

"I'm home now. We'll talk tomorrow. I want to kiss my son goodnight."

"Ok. I'm just glad you're ok. I'm sorry for the million messages on your cell."

"I felt special." Tears pricked her eyes at that.

"You should. I only imagine grisly deaths being featured on television programs for the elite few."

"Well, rest assured, I can take care of myself. Let's meet for lunch tomorrow."

"Deal. Tell Morgan goodnight for me."

"I will. Goodnight, Liz."

"Goodnight Patrick's conscience." Elizabeth laughed and hung up quickly before Robin could respond to that.

Robin slid out of the car, locked it, and hurried up to her apartment. She really did want to see Morgan tonight. He should still be awake. Why had she wasted so much time driving around when she could have been home with him? If nothing else, she had him to think of and she had been doing a lousy job so far. No wonder he still wasn't speaking. What kind of stable environment had she provided him? When she wasn't home, he was stuck with their neighbor. When she was home, she was distracted. She wanted to slam her face into the large double doors that led to her building, but that would have cost her precious time. She took the stairs two at a time, not trusting the elevator to be fast enough, and thrust open the door, her shoes skidding across the newly-waxed hallway.

Calm down, she told herself. She was going to scare Morgan. She headed into the kitchen for a large glass of ice water and finished it in one gulp. Another glass. She drank slower and let her body sag against the counter to her left.

The apartment was quiet, and, she guessed from the excess clothing strewn over the loveseat that Courtney was already asleep. She might have had the reputation as a party girl, but she rarely did an all-nighter. Morgan's door was cracked, but she still knocked. She wanted him to know that his privacy was respected and upheld. "Morgan, sweetheart, are you still awake?"

Robin stuck her head in-between the door and its frame, spotting a lump of blankets and sheets wound up in the middle of the bed. When she noticed it move, she smiled. She hadn't woken him up after all. "I wonder where Morgan could be." She announced in a sing-song voice, letting herself in the room. "I could have sworn I saw him up here before I left. Where could he have gone?" The lump moved to the left and Robin took a seat on the mattress. "Look at these blankets. I could lay here all night."

She threw back the blankets and stared down at Morgan's mischievous face. "Morgan!" She exclaimed, slapping her hands to her cheeks. "Well, there you are!"

He giggled and tried to dodge her when she reached for him, but she was too quick. He giggled when she tickled his neck and exposed stomach. "It's the attack of the Tickle Monster!" She watched him squirm, listened to him laugh, and felt her anxiety lift. The day's events evaporated from her mind and she was able to center in on the six-year-old in her arms. Finally, she let him go and he slipped under the covers, only her face left uncovered. "I know things have been crazy this week, but it will get better. Grandma Bobbie and I are working on a new project for work. She told me what a big help you were in the kitchen last week when you guys were making cookies, and I got to thinking. Would you like to come to the bakery with me on Friday?" As much as she wanted to take him in the morning, she knew that her distraction would rob him of any fun. Best to set up a day when she could play and have fun with him.

Morgan smacked himself in the face with his sheet and Robin watched him with a raised eyebrow. "Morgan, what do you say?"

She pulled the sheet down and tried the finger spelling approach. Morgan whined loudly and tried to recover his face. "Morgan, stop." Robin ordered, but he wasn't having any of it. What had set him off? She wasn't used to these fits, because they were so few and far between. She had been so sure that they had been making progress.

"What's the matter?" She insisted, trying to avoid his flailing arms and legs. Even with the sheets and blanket as a buffer, she felt the blow of his ankle chopping against her neck. "Ouch, Morgan, calm down!" She hadn't meant to shout and wished that she had reacted some other way. Morgan's bottom lip trembled and he rolled onto his side so that only his back faced her.

"Robin, it's late." Courtney's voice filtered in from the hallway. "Why don't you get some sleep?" It didn't sound like Robin had much of a choice.

"Courtney, something is wrong--" Robin began.

"I'll take care of it." Courtney promised.

"I don't need you to 'take care of it' Courtney!" Robin shot back, her shoulders setting at the very suggestion of her needing help.

"Starting a screaming match in front of Morgan is better?" Courtney challenged, folding her arms.

"I am doing the best I can." Robin countered, storming past her friend.