AN: I asked, you asnwered, and so I had to post. So…Spence and Lucy had some unfinished business. The inspiration for this chapter came from my recent trip. I was out with my best girlfriends and some (hilarious) secrets from college came out. It's amazing what you can learn about a person, even after knowing them for five years.

This also gives you some insight as to my rewrite/edit process. I'll clarify for the hundredth time – there is no Spence/Lucy flirtation of any kind in The Line, also, the role of Cartwright has changed…

A Happy (early) Thanksgiving to everyone...I'm going to watch the Macy's Parade and get some ideas. I've always wanted to have one of my "bands" go!

I do own the characters.

Chapter 26 Alt: Cartwright 2.0

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Lucy looked up into the dark blue eyes of a young man in his twenties. There was something familiar about him, but she chalked it up to the fact that he was probably a drummer and she had always felt a certain familiarity with percussionist.

He was cute enough, so she replied, "Sure."
"What's your name?"

"Lucy Karate, you?"

"Declan."

They shook hands. Lucy smiled to herself as the handshake went on a little longer than was necessary.

"You here by yourself?"

"Well, just me and thirty of my closest friends. You?"

"Same. You're an Instructor?"

"Me?" Lucy asked in disbelief, "No—""

"I am," a husky voice growled.

Surprise showed in her green eyes and Lucy turned around to see Spence behind her. The bartender slid the cocktail across the bar, which the brunette accepted.

Spence continued gruffly, "We'll see you tomorrow."

"Cheers!" said Lucy smiling as Spence not so discreetly led her away from the bar. She sat down and looked strangely at Spence while sipping her drink.

"So what gives, Spence?"

"What are you talking about?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about."

Spence responded by pulling the label off his beer and ignoring the question.

"You know what the rumor is, right?" Lucy queried, pointing at Spence with one of her brightly colored swizzle sticks.

"Enlighten me," the blonde twenty-something grumbled.

"Pulling labels off your beer is a sign of sexual frustration," Lucy recited flirtatiously.

"How do you always do that?" asked an exasperated Spence.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"Pretend I don't."

Spence leaned back in his chair and continued, "I'm not sure what happened to the shy and quiet Lucy Karate who was on our Front Line, but somewhere between your sophomore and junior year and definitely by the time you made it to the Battery, we were all in trouble."

"Why is that?"

"You think it was easy for us to concentrate with you running around in your little warm up shorts and tank tops, flirting with anyone and everyone?"

Instead of agreeing with his (kind of) true statement, Lucy crossed her arms and said darkly, "It's a two way street, Spence."

"I don't follow."

Lucy tapped her fingers on the table, "Consider being a drum line girl. All day long you're surrounded by cute boys. Really cute guys that just so happen to usually be someone else's girlfriend. Sure, you can flirt with them, but that's all it's ever going to be. Ever. So, the flirting has to be enough and most of the time it is…"

The familiar steel blue eyes met moss green ones across the table.

"Going anywhere with that, Lucy?" Spence asked in a dangerous tone.

Lucy shook her head, "No, I'm happy with the person I was in high school and the person I am today. Can you say the same thing?"

When Spence didn't answer, Lucy sipped the last of her drink and the pair sat together awkwardly. Quite abruptly, her old classmate excused himself silently and went over to the bar. The former bass drummer sat at their table and listened to the background music. The song was not something Lucy recognized, it was country, but it had a fun beat. She swayed along and looked across the bar, where Spence was returning with two brimming shot glasses in his hand. He placed one of the glasses down in front of her and took his seat across the table. He raised his glass and Lucy did the same thing, unsure what had triggered the entire weird situation. The old section mates clinked glasses and both tossed back the clear liquid. Lucy's eyes watered and she wiped the moisture away. An uncomfortable Spence chased his shot with a long swig from his beer and said, "I have to tell you something."

His tone of voice made Lucy pay attention. She inquired, "Yes?"

"I'm just not sure how to tell you."

"Is something wrong with one of the kids?"

"No, that's not it."

"Well, then I'm sure I can handle it."

"Fine." He looked around the bar before asking, "When you were in high school, was there ever someone you thought you should've met?"

"Uh…Spence? That doesn't make any sense."

"Shit."

Lucy could see that Spence was straining to tell her something important, but she had no idea what that was or why he was doing it now.

"Someone…anonymous?"

Lucy's green eyes narrowed and she immediately thought of the one person she had never met. In her entire time at Brookwood, she had never told anyone about her "buddy." Cartwright213, whoever he was, had always been there for her and Lucy had always been grateful for his insight and advice. They had never officially met, and after graduation it had only been occasional catch ups with one another. Lucy wondered if she had missed out by never actually making contact with him, but could that be what Spence was referring to? And just how would he know about that anyway?

"Maybe," she replied in a guarded tone.

Spence fiddled with the shot glass, "What if I told you that I was Cartwright213?"

The color drained from Lucy's face. She opened her mouth a few times, but no sound came out. She finally managed to croak, "That's not possible."

But it was entirely possible… Cartwright had always been vague when it had come to actual names, whereas Lucy had always been forthcoming about names and situations. Her cheeks began to flush when she remembered memories and very personal details that she had shared with Cartwright.

"Let's say I did believe you, when did you know it was me?" she sputtered.

"Your junior year."

"My junior year?!" Lucy yelled and started getting up from the table.

"Listen, Lucy, I wanted to tell you so many times, but I—"

"But what? You couldn't find time in the class that we shared for three years? In any one of the hundreds of hours I saw you after school or practice? When you were dating one of my best friends?"

"Look—"

Lucy backed up from the table. She said slowly, "I'm going to pretend that this didn't happen. I'm going to pretend that we didn't have this conversation, that I didn't tell you…everything."

Spence got up to follow her, but Lucy threw up her hands. Spence tossed back the rest of his beer and waited approximately one minute before going after the brunette.

"I'll walk you to your room," said Spence, catching Lucy at the elevator.

"Don't," said Lucy shaking his hand off her arm, "I don't know you anymore. All the things we talked about…how could you betray my confidence?"

"I didn't."

"Whatever. I bet you had a great laugh every time you saw me."

"I didn't."

"Sure," Lucy said sarcastically.

The elevator dinged, the doors opened and Lucy got on, blocking from Spence from following her.

Lucy walked into her room strangely disappointed. She sighed and sat down heavily on her bed, saying aloud, "What did you think was going to happen tonight?"

Keyed up with unspent energy from Spence's revelation and slightly buzzed from her drinks, Lucy opened her laptop and started some music, turned on the latest episode of Mulholland Creek, and began pacing around the room. Silently debating whether she should go down the hall and follow up with Spence and ask any one of the million questions she had for him, she decided it was probably the smarter decision to get ready for bed. Pulling on a pair of Joe's old boxer shorts and tank top, Lucy washed her face and thoroughly brushed her teeth. Turning off the water, Lucy heard the unmistakable sound of the ping from her online buddy list from the bedroom.

Oh no he wouldn't…

Cartwright213: If you would just listen…

Lucy typed angrily on her keyboard.

bassgirl17: I'll bet you saved all your conversations and had a great laugh over them every night.

Cartwright213: No.

bassgirl17: Why are you throwing this in my face now?

Cartwright213: I'm not sure. The timing has always been off.

For some reason, Spence's comment instantly whisked Lucy back to a particular night in her junior year. Spence had walked her to her car after their big blow up at the football game where her section had steadfastly sat out the game in a show of support for her Captain's benching her. She shook her head to clear the image.

bassgirl17: And now?

Cartwright213: Can we please have this conversation in person?

bassgirl17: Absolutely not.

Cartwright213: Fine. I'm a competitive guy.

bassgirl17: Tell me something I don't already know…

Cartwright213: Are you going to keep interrupting?

bassgirl17: Maybe.

Cartwright213: You get under my skin, Lucy Karate. You get to me in a way that no other girl has and you have for some time. I didn't realize until tonight that I've misread the feelings I've had for you this entire time.

Lucy chewed her lip, unsure if she wanted to find out what Spence was thinking.

bassgirl17: And what feelings would those be?

Cartwright213: I always thought you were annoying…obnoxious even…

Instantly incensed, Lucy slammed her lap top shut, effectively and abruptly ending the conversation. Then threw her pillows off the bed angrily, violently set her alarm and got under the covers in a huff. Sitting in bed, alone with her thoughts, she realized, although she didn't want to admit it, that Spence knew her better than probably anyone. Back when he was "Cartwright213," she hadn't restricted anything from him. She had told him things and feelings that she hadn't shared with anyone.

What was he going to say? What feelings did he have?

Although Lucy wouldn't admit it to anyone, seeing Spence again after all these years had changed her opinion of him. Back in high school he was always "Captain Spence" and Mandy's boyfriend, which had made him basically off limits, but now he was just a regular guy and she was just a regular girl. A knock at the door made her sit up.

It couldn't be…

Safety first, Lucy padded over and checked the peephole, surprised and strangely nervous when she saw Spence on the other side. He was still wearing his same outfit from earlier in the evening – jeans and a fitted fleece jacket. Lucy felt strangely underdressed in her jammies.

Spence said from the other side of the door said, "I know you're there."

Lucy crossed her arms, and yelled back, "What do you want? Do you have some other random secret to unload on me?"

"I want you to hear me out. Just think, you'll never see me after tomorrow if you don't want to."

Against her better judgment, Lucy opened the door and said shyly, "Yes?"

Spence pushed a stray lock of his blonde hair away from his face, "Ummm…"

For reasons she could not determine, Lucy's heart beat faster at the endearing gesture, "Yes?"

"If you would've let me finish, I would've told you that all this time, I was just denying what I really felt. I used to get annoyed when I saw you talking or flirting with other guys. What I realize now, tonight, was that more than anything I was jealous."

Lucy couldn't even form words to respond.

"Looking back, I was jealous that the other guys used to be so close to you. At the bar when I saw that guy, I realized that I could do something about it."

Spence leaned on the door frame, closing the distance between them to mere inches. Goosebumps flew down Lucy's arms when she looked up and saw the steel blue gaze staring hungrily at her.

"And what would do?" Lucy asked in a voice barely more than a whisper.

They leaned in at the same time – and there was nothing gentle about their meeting. Their lips met and their tongues tangled intimately. Spence's hands left the door and drew Lucy in tightly against him. Experience had given them both ways to surprise and arouse the other. Before they took things too far and in case any of their students were looking out into the hall, Lucy tore herself away from Spence's embrace, took his hand and lead him inside the room, saying breathlessly, "Come on Cartwright, I've got to see if what you were talking about that one night is true."

Spence grinned knowingly and followed Lucy, closing the door securely behind him.

AN: Do you likey? Does this tie up the loose ends? I'm still not entirely convinced that Spence makes the best Cartwright, but I do like the way this alternate chapter turned out.

Want to see the cover art I've been working on for The Line? Head over to my profile/myspace page. It's awesome! Adam Iannazzone (who currently plays first bass on my former line) is the photoartist and he's done an outstanding job! I'd love to know your opinion!