I could give you a bit of a warning before this chapter--nothing in terms of ratings--but where would be the fun in that? Don't you know me at all?
Tugging the sleeves of the oversized sweatshirt further down over her hands, Elizabeth curled her knees closer to her face as she lay on the sofa. Shifting her legs under the blanket, she closed her eyes to avoid seeing her least favorite soap couple make out. It was bad enough she was sick, did the show really need to subject her to such a forced pairing?
Reaching for the remote she had dropped on the floor, Elizabeth flipped the channels until settling on some daytime reality show. There, she thought. Nothing that would cause her to run straight toward the bathroom.
With all the times parents had sent their children to her classroom sick, it had probably only been a matter of time before she caught the flu herself. Between helping care for Cameron when he was sick, she could count at least ten students who had come down with the illness in the past two months. When she woke up yesterday feeling nauseous and as if she had traded in living on land for living on a boat, it probably shouldn't have come as much of a shock as it did to her.
She had spent much of yesterday morning getting to know the inside of Lucky's bathroom better than she ever wanted to. Poor guy, she chuckled lightly. That was most likely not his most desired way to get her to stay with him later than she normally did in the morning. When the queasy feeling started to fade, it had been her plan to go home, curl under her covers, and just sleep for the next week. However the second Lucky found out her grandmother was out of town visiting friends, he refused to let her leave, insisting she stay there. It would have required more energy than she felt to have argued with him, so she stayed.
Elizabeth could admit to herself she had no clue how Lucky explained her presence to Cameron. Lulu would look on it as an opportunity to try get around her brother's rules. She had merely tucked herself into bed, closed her eyes, and didn't open them again until the next morning.
The ringing of her cell phone cut through her musing on the appropriateness of standing in a box and having complete strangers guess her age. Reaching out to the table, she flipped it open with out bothering to check the caller ID. "Hello?" she managed groggily.
"Hey stranger." Robin laughed on the other side of the phone.
"Robin! What's going on?"
"Have you been taken hostage? Should I sic my mother on Lucky for keeping us apart this long?" Robin teased, assuming her old friend was to blame for her new friend being scarce lately.
"Only if she wants the flu." Elizabeth coughed. "I've been sick."
"Is there anything I can do? Do you have soup? Do you have crackers?" She emphasized on the last word.
"If I have any more soup I'll be swimming." Elizabeth declared. "Turns out soup is the one thing Lucky can't screw up in the kitchen."
"That's a relief. I don't know if I'd trust him to take care of you otherwise." Robin laughed, playing with the phone cord.
"I'll let him know you approve. He'll be so relieved." Elizabeth joked. "So why are you calling me in the middle of a work day?"
"Slow day?" Robin tried, hoping her friend wouldn't probe further.
"Oh lord. That's the game we're going to play again? Have pity on the sickie."
"You don't want to hear this." Robin promised. "Tell me more about Spencer TLC."
"Nope. Nope. Nope." Elizabeth shook her head vehemently. "You called for a reason. Now spill."
"I'm having moral issues." Robin spoke quietly.
"As in?"
"Where should I start? I guess the spare bedroom in the Quartermaine mansion." Robin figured.
"Ahh yes. Finally I get an explanation for you completely disappearing during the party. Abandoning me to meet Lois Ashton alone."
"She and I had a lovely conversation you, Lucky, and Cameron this past weekend." Robin recalled.
"You aren't going to stall on this by getting me all freaked out. Although, kudos on that attempt. Excellent attempt."
"Every time Patrick and I are alone lately...well..." Robin wasn't sure how to explain what she was feeling.
"Take your time." Elizabeth counseled, pulling herself up into a seated position and resting her elbows on her knees.
"He came over after the Halloween party, after another fight, and told me he wanted to start over."
"Have I mentioned lately your boyfriend completely confuses me?"
"He wanted to re-enact a completely different first date for us. When I say start over, I mean from the first kiss, Liz."
Elizabeth was glad she was out sick. Then she wouldn't be held responsible for corrupting the ears of young children with what she was about to say. "Holy shit. Patrick came up with this?"
"Yep." Robin nodded even though she knew Elizabeth couldn't see her. "He told me he wanted me to be able to trust him again."
"Am I missing something? Did he do something to lose your trust?"
"No. He's trying to make up for what Logan tried to do. It's ridiculous I know, but I couldn't exactly laugh at the effort when he was crying."
Well trying to make up for what his pig of a brother tried to do made sense. But still... "He was crying?"
"Yeah. I haven't seen him cry like that since...the night he told me he loved me for the first time and I didn't say it back."
"Yeah. A crying man is just about impossible to say no to. I get it. So he created an entire new first date for you?"
"He came to the shop when it was time to close up and brought me candy flowers and we danced."
"Very sweet. I'm not seeing a moral issue yet."
"How about the fact that I kind of gave him the impression that I want to wait and then kind of tried to jump his bones on our 'first date'?"
"Are you sure I'm the right person for this conversation? You do remember what would have happened if my grandmother hadn't interrupted Lucky and me right?"
"It was just like old times when we were dancing. I admit, I let it go a little far, but he was the one to stop it. I don't know how to take things slow with Patrick."
"Well yeah. Because you never have."
"Exactly. But here I've got this guy who is more than willing to wait until I'm ready. And I don't really think I'm ready for that."
"Of course you aren't ready for that yet." Elizabeth paused. "Maybe my brain is just running slow but I'm still not seeing your problem here."
"What if, when we actually...what if I freak out...what if I see Logan?"
"Sweetie." Elizabeth was at a complete loss here. This was way out of her comfort zone of perfect dresses and what the best revenge plan was. But Robin needed her. "From what you told me, I think Patrick would understand."
"I don't want to constantly remind him...he's already taking responsibility for it. I just want to be able to make love to my boyfriend without feeling scared. I know it's not fair to put you through this. It's why I haven't brought it up." Robin chewed uncertainly on her bottom lip.
"Hey. Hey. Hey. We're friends. It's what I'm here for. Have you thought of talking to someone about this? A professional someone I mean."
"Like who? A rape counselor? I don't...I wouldn't feel comfortable discussing…" She couldn't even get the words out and she trusted Elizabeth with her life.
"Not right now but I think it's something you need to do. I'd go and sit with you if you wanted."
"The last thing I want is to burden you."
"You're not a burden."
"I feel like one. I can't get past this, but I should be able to. I keep bringing it up. Everyone knows..."
"The only people who know are the ones who love you. That's it."
"No. Everyone knows. All they have to do is look at me. They know." She cried brokenly.
"They don't know." Elizabeth lowered her voice to a whisper. "You don't have a big sign hanging over your head. No one knows except family."
"There's a customer. I have to go."
"Let Lucas deal with the customer." Elizabeth counseled. "Talk to me."
"He had to leave early for a meeting with the principal at Lance's school. I really do have to go."
"Then you call me back as soon as you can. We're not done talking about this."
"I know. Feel better. I'm sorry for my mini-drama. I'll send over a basket for you." She hung up before Elizabeth could respond. Neither believed she would actually call Elizabeth back just like neither believed there was really a customer. It was time Robin stopped relying on everyone else and did something to insure her own future.
Sighing, Patrick finally raised his fist to knock, already wanting to be somewhere else. This was not going to go over well, but he wasn't sure what else he was supposed to do. Robin had cancelled their date yesterday and he hadn't been able to reach her since. He knew she was overwhelmed, scared that what had started at the bakery would end with something she wasn't ready for. It wasn't that she didn't trust him: none of this was about him at all. The only connection he had to the attack was one he didn't want. He hadn't spoken to Logan since Cameron's accident. He should have expected it was Logan who was stalking Robin, but he had held onto that tiniest bit of denial that his brother might be a son of a bitch but he wasn't a rapist too.
The attack had been the final straw. Patrick wouldn't devote even a second's time to making an effort with his brother. The tie was severed. He had often wondered if it could have ended differently, if maybe he could have affected the outcome and turned it around. His brother had always shown such potential no matter what job he picked up along the way, but he had underestimated the length of Logan's attention span. It had been almost a year since the divorce, the anniversary was actually coming up, and he had no doubt his brother would have tried something if he weren't safely locked away in jail.
"Patrick." Courtney greeted him. Her voice held none of its normal fierceness. There was no bitterness in her winter blue eyes, no snip in her voice. This scared him more than any other acknowledge she might have made where he was concerned. She looked as though she had been expecting him and he wasn't even going to pretend he was comfortable with that scenario.
"Is she here?" He figured there was no point in beating around the issue.
"No. She stayed at her uncle's last night. Morgan's at school, but I'll have to pick him up pretty soon." Courtney added, making sure he didn't miss the sacrifice she was inflicting upon herself for the well-being of her nephew.
"Did she saw why?" Patrick prodded, not the least bit interested in how she spent her time. Robin had left Morgan with Courtney? She was hiding at Mac's? Nothing about either made sense. Robin didn't duck when it came to her responsibilities and, he knew, the last thing she wanted to do was give Courtney ammunition to use against her later. Robin must have been desperate, Patrick deduced anxiously.
"She said she needed to think about things. My movie finished production so it's not like I have a lot else to do right now." Courtney mused, finally opening the door enough to let Patrick into the loft.
"What kinds of things?" Patrick wondered, not willing to drop the issue if Robin had slipped and told Courtney something important. There was still friendship whether or not they were ever back to how they used to be. He knew he was to blame and probably, for the first time ever, he was willing to see that he had screwed up when he had made her choose between him and Courtney. This was a girl who she had spilled all of her secrets to. This was the one who had picked Robin up after one mistake to the next, knowing that Robin would do the same for her. And Courtney was the only one who saw Robin day in and day out, the only one he would get any answers from if there were answers to be given.
"Things, Patrick. I don't know. We didn't discuss it. She asked me to take care of Morgan for her last night and promised to be back—" Courtney began.
"Back when?" Patrick interjected, too impatient to wait for her to decide to tell him, or leave him hanging.
"If she wanted you to know, she would have called you, I'm sure." Courtney shot back.
"I'm worried about her—" Patrick retorted.
It was Courtney's turn to interrupt. "You damn well should be! She's not been the same since what your devil of a brother targeted her. She couldn't fall asleep for weeks after it happened, but were you here to reassure her? No! You had to fight with her so that you wouldn't have to deal with the aftermath. You can go fuck yourself." Her voice barely rose, the hate in her eyes blatant.
"That's mature. Tell me, do you talk like that in front of Morgan? Maybe you're not the best influence." Patrick mocked tiredly.
"Of course not! And I don't have sex all over the house when he's home either." She threw in just to be cruel.
"Too bad for you. I'm sure someone will come along." He responded derisively.
"Get out! You get out of here this instant! Maybe Robin finally wised up about you." She said, pushing him into the hallway once she had succeeded in wrenching the door open.
"Always a pleasure." Patrick ground through his teeth, practically growling at the door when it slammed in front of him. Had he been standing any closer, he would have gotten knocked out.
"Is he gone?" A small voice asked from the second store landing.
"Yes and not a moment too soon." Courtney stewed as she made her way over to the couch. "He has a lot of nerve."
"That was a lot of fun. I'd forgotten what it was like to see him really angry." The other woman said, a look of extreme satisfaction spreading across her face.
"I wish Robin could see past his act." Courtney whined, dropping her head in her hands.
"Hey," the woman came up behind her and patted her head as if she were soothing a mere child. "She can and will. She had more than enough reason to without adding us into the mix." There was laughter in her metallic voice.
"I don't know if this is a good idea. Robin almost died last time—" Courtney reminded her.
"Yes, I know. You can't anticipate everything. I was surprised to see Patrick lift a finger to help her. And then exposing himself too? I underestimated his loyalty." There was fondness in her voice when she spoke of Patrick and Courtney could have gagged on it.
"I don't care what good Patrick has done. He's done a hell of a lot more bad and Robin needs to see for herself." Courtney went on angrily.
"It's not going to be easy. I need to know if you're still willing to put in the effort before we go a step farther." The woman cautioned her with a steely golden-brown gaze.
"I think it's a bit too late to back out, don't you? Attempted murder and all." Courtney chuckled brokenly.
"You couldn't have known—"
"I should have known! We could have killed her!" Courtney stormed, her hands thrown out in front of her in exasperation as well as panic.
"Do you still want to be a part of this?"
"The end result will make all of it worth it." Courtney replied, convincing herself.
"You know the next step."
"Yes." Courtney nodded. "I only wish it hadn't had to come to this."
"She forced your hand." Emily Quartermaine declared with a shockingly calm voice.