Chapters 75 & 76
Chapter 75: A Voice Calls Out
The Lighthouse is pitch black when Kevin arrives home. He can't help but be disappointed, he really needed Lucy right now and there was no way he would sleep tonight. There are too many wild thoughts bouncing around in his head. After entering the Lighthouse, he locks the door behind him.
"Doc?" Lucy's voice calls out in the dark. She turns a light on next to her on the couch in the living room. When she sees Kevin's sadness and confusion, she rushes to hug him. "Oh Doc! I had this feeling that woke me up and I knew you needed me. So I came down here about an hour ago to wait for you. Are you alright?"
At first, Kevin's only response is to hug her as tightly as he can, a few tears escape from his eyes. "Lucy, I'm so glad you're up! How was blessed with you?"
"No sweetheart! I'm the one that's blessed." Lucy pulls away and leads him to the couch. "Something horrible happened, didn't it? Just tell me and I can deal with it."
They sit holding hands facing each other in the couch. Kevin begins. "Well, it was horrible, but probably not how you think. Where should I begin? With all the good reasons Stefan had to keep this a secret?"
"Well, I'll give you your own advice. Why don't you start with how you feel?" Lucy gives him a smile of encouragement.
"I knew my own words would come back to haunt me." Kevin quips as he stalls for some time to sort out his thoughts. "I'm not sure exactly, but would you believe I feel relieved? That probably sounds insane."
"Relieved?"
"Yeah. I guess that doesn't make sense until I tell you the whole sordid tale." Kevin takes a deep breath. "There is no way to say this delicately, so I'll just say it straight. Stefan told me that he not only knew Melanie, but she tried to abuse him."
"Oh God... no." Lucy looks horrified. "Why did he tell you?"
"Because I asked." Kevin answers. "It was a pretty shocking night overall, he was incredibly forthcoming. I think he figured he didn't have anything to lose."
Lucy gulps as she tries to process the information. "How Doc? Tell me the whole story."
"When he was a teenager Melanie tried to seduce him. Fortunately he was old enough to fend her off." Kevin shakes his head. "He's been protecting Mike and Cassidy since his father died."
"I never thought there'd be a time I'd feel sorry for Stefan Cassadine, but I do." Lucy shivers. "No one, not even the likes of Stefan, should have to be subjected to that horrid woman." She looks at him quizzically. "You never explained why you felt relieved."
"It's probably strange Lucy, but I feel relieved because I'm not alone anymore. I'd never wish this on Stefan, but it's a relief to know that there is someone out there that understands. There's someone else that went through some of the hell I did. But it's devastating too. I've really tried to forget all this, or at least bury it as deep down as I could get it. Tonight it came crashing back again, everything my mother did..." Kevin's lip trembles with emotion.
Lucy rushes to hug him, tears filling her eyes. "Doc, it'll be okay, I promise. We'll get through this, we have to."
"Will this EVER be over, Lucy? I really thought it was all over this time, that I'd faced all my demons and they couldn't hurt me anymore." Kevin lays his head on her shoulder, feeling comforted by her support . "How long will it be until I hear about another one of my mother's victims?"
"Shsh, Doc." Lucy says as she strokes his hair. "Whatever happens in the future we'll face it together."
Stefan lays wide awake with a sleeping Laura cradled in his arms. The last thing he wants is to sleep, he wants to savor every moment with her in his arms. He's afraid to find out this is only a dream. He never imagined he'd make love to her so soon, much less tonight. He quickly pushes away the fear that it's too good to be true... that given the light of day, she'd say she regretted this. No, he wouldn't think of that now. He'd enjoy this moment where she is his and his alone. He'll deal with reality when it becomes necessary.
He strokes her hair gently and he kisses the top of her head. Laura nuzzles her head into his chest, making a small contented sound. Stefan smiles and lowers his mouth to kiss her on the lips. Surprised to feel her lips part to accept his kiss, he deepens it. She kisses him back without reserve then breaks away slightly. "Stefan.." She murmurs, her eyes open sleepily.
Stefan kisses her again, emboldened by her response. Laura closes her eyes again and her arms go around his neck. As the kiss becomes more serious, she rolls over on top of him. She smiles down at him, now fully awake to her desire for him. "I've missed you..." Her hands roam freely over his body causing him to groan with pleasure while her tongue does a seductive dance in his mouth.
When he can bear it no longer, he ceases her torture by rolling on top of her and grabbing her hands. "You are a witch... a beautiful sexy witch," He says, panting into her hair. Playfully he pins her hands above her head with one of his. His other hand roams her body while his mouth trails kisses along the line of her jaw and neck, causing her to writhe with pleasure underneath.
"Please, Stefan. Let me touch you. I have to touch you..." Laura pleads through gasping breaths. Stefan complies, kissing her with all the love he has for her as they join together as one.
The middle of the night at the Lighthouse, Kevin has just told Lucy the rest of his conversation with Stefan. He half lies on the couch with her firmly wrapped in his arms. She rests her head on his shoulder. "So you really think he's telling you the truth?" She asks.
"My gut tells me he's telling the truth. At least how he sees it. I need to check his facts with Mike, but I'm sure his story will check out." Kevin shakes his head. "To think he's been protecting Cassidy all these years. I know he used it to his advantage, but he still took risks doing it."
"I still can't believe you're related to the Stefan Cassadine!" Lucy exclaims. "Although I suppose he's a saint compared to Melanie and the rest of the psycho family. And Laura said Helena had Sonny and Luke killed? That just boggles the mind."
"Believe me, I'm still getting used to it. I feel pretty bad though."
"About what?" Lucy asks.
"Stefan told me about Melanie and I just walked out on him. He looked pretty raw. Never saw him so out of control before. I hope he's okay."
Lucy rolls her eyes. "He's hid this from you for years and now you feel bad for him? You are too generous, that's what I think. He should stew for awhile, he deserves it for all the secrets he's kept from you." Lucy gets up and pulls him off the couch. "C'mon, Doc. I can think of a much more comfortable place to talk about this."
Kevin follows her up the stairs. "I'm all for that."
The next morning in the back office at Luke's Club. Emily and Lucky are curled up together on the overstuff couch. Lucky wakes up first, wincing in pain from the discomfort of sleeping on a couch all night long. His movements wake Emily. They both sit up on the couch. Lucky rubs the back of his neck while Emily straightens her clothes and looks at her watch. "Oh, Jesus! Alan and Monica are going to kill me!"
"I guess our little nap turned out to be a little longer than we planned." Lucky swears. "And a lot less comfortable. Tell me again why you didn't just go to your back the mansion?"
"I didn't think you should be alone, remember? You were pretty upset last night." Emily fumbles through her purse until she finds her brush. "And now my parents are going to have a cow. I'll probably be grounded into next year, if they don't lock me up in rehab."
"It's my fault, I'll explain it to them." Lucky stands up and stretches.
"Then they'll probably just lock me up in a convent. Lucky, what are we going to tell them?" Emily tries to straighten the wrinkles in her clothes again without any more success.
"Actually I think the wrinkles might work to our advantage," Lucky points out. "It'll confirm our story that we feel asleep talking. They might even believe that we didn't do anything."
"They probably won't let me see you anymore, at least not without a chaperone." Emily struggles to put on her shoes. She opens the door that leads outside. "Are you ready to go face the fury of my family?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Lucky and Emily leave the office in a hurry.
Laura wakes to find herself alone. At first confused as to where she is and how she got there. Then last night hits her; Stefan made love to her. "Oh God, what have I done?!" She whispers, silently grateful he's not there, she just couldn't face him right now. She knows that's cowardly but she doesn't care. She fumbles to get on her clothes, frustrated by her ineptness.
Stefan enters the room through a secret panel carrying a tea service. A brief look of pain crosses his face when he sees Laura rushing to escape. "Lasha," He calls out quietly. Laura practically jumps out of her skin.
Chapter 76: Differences Of Opinion
Laura jumps when Stefan calls out her name. Unable to meet his gaze, she continues to dress as she struggles with an explanation. "Stefan, I... I think it's best if we just forget last night ever happened."
Stefan puts the tea service down on a nearby table, sighing to himself. He studies Laura for a moment, noting her refusal to make eye contact, her flushed cheeks, her hurried attempt to escape and push last night out of her mind. She's reacting just as he suspected she would. He's not surprised by her attempt to shove last night under the carpet, he's been expecting it. But it didn't make him any less sad.
"I see..." Stefan says, not hiding his disappointment. "The fact is we did make love last night. It can't be undone, nor would I want it to be."
Laura spies her shoes in the far corner of the room and goes to retrieve them while she tries to dissuade Stefan. "You know we both had too much to drink and it was a very emotional night all around, with Nikolas getting married and Kevin's visit. We just got carried away is all. It wouldn't have happened if we hadn't been drinking."
Stefan watches her fumble with her shoes. If it weren't so sad, he'd find it amusing. Wasn't it American tradition for the man to find the quick escape? He has no intention in letting her off easy. "Perhaps alcohol played a part in the the first time we made love, but certainly not the second. We were both stone cold sober."
An image of her playing seductress with Stefan the second time flashes through Laura's mind, rendering her temporarily mute. An overwhelming feeling of shame floods her. He had every right to be angry with her, she'd encouraged him. "I.. I'm so---"
Stefan cuts her off, immediately losing his temper at her attempt to apologize. "Don't you DARE say you're sorry! You wanted to be with me last night, as I wanted you. I will not have you dismiss one of the happiest nights of my life as some drunken mistake."
Laura picks up her purse and turns to him. "I can't talk about this anymore, I have to pick up Lulu."
Having made his point, Stefan nods as he opens the door for her. "This isn't over, Lasha."
Laura walks through the door and turns around to face him, looking him in the eye for the first time that morning. "Yes, it is. This can never happen again; I won't let it. Goodbye, Stefan."
Stefan allows her to leave wordlessly. He shakes his head as he recalls the passion between them. It isn't over, not by a long shot. He'd waited before, he could wait a while longer.
After receiving the message from the PC hotel that her father wanted to speak with her, Cassidy dialed his number. "Hi Dad! What's up?"
"Hi, Baby. It's bad news." Mike's voice is rough with exhaustion.
Cassidy quickly sits down on the bed. "You sound like you haven't slept all night. I'm sitting. Tell me."
"As a matter of fact, I haven't slept all night. Lucky went to Greece and found out about Melanie. He knows all about your relation to the Cassadine. Lucy does too for that matter."
Cassidy turns white. "No! This is too soon! Are you sure?"
"Yes, and I've got the bruised jaw to prove it." Mike rubs his jaw tenderly. "You better prepare for to go public. Lucy's not known for discretion and Lucky's too mad to care who knows. Apparently Kevin already does because he paid a visit to Stefan last night. I tried to warn him, but Kevin was already there. I'm sorry, Baby."
Cassidy gulps as she looks at the bathroom door where Jerry's taking a shower. She hears the water turn off. "It's not your fault, Daddy. I was probably the one that made Lucky suspicious. You warned me that working for Stefan might blow my cover. I was just hoping for more time. Listen, I'll talk to you later. Jerry's coming out of the shower and he'd better hear this from me. Take care of yourself, Daddy."
They hang up just as Jerry comes out of the bathroom. "Okay, Luv. What's on for today?" He glances at Cassidy's pale face and becomes worried. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Cassidy takes a deep breath and looks him in the eye. "Have a seat, Jerry. I have something I need to tell you."
To say Monica and Alan are upset by Emily staying out all night is a understatement. A contrite Lucky and Emily stand in front of her parents. Alan is purple with rage, his hands clenched tightly at his sides as he listens to Lucky try to explain. Meanwhile Monica is white with anger, her arms crossed in front of her disapprovingly.
Lucky can tell it isn't going well, but he can't seem to stop talking. He's afraid if he does, Alan will hit him, or worse, ban Emily from seeing him. He figures if he keeps talking, he still has a chance of coming out of this alive.
But eventually he runs out of things to say. "Again I'm sorry, Mr Quartermaine, it's really my fault. I promised to wake Emily up at midnight but I fell asleep myself..."
"Just shut up, Lucky." Alan interrupts rudely. "If you tell the same story a third time I can guarantee you won't live to tell it a fourth!"
Emily steps in to defend Lucky. "Don't talk to Lucky that way! If you have to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. I'm the one that's responsible for getting home on time."
Alan shakes his finger threateningly at Emily. "One more word out of you young lady and I'll be sending you to that Swiss boarding school Tracy talks so much about! And this isn't about you getting home on time as much as it's about you never coming home at all!"
"Do you have any idea how terrified we were this morning when we realized you hadn't been home all night?!" Monica adds. "We thought you might be lying in a ditch somewhere. We even called all your friends and none of them knew where you were!"
Alan turns to Lucky again. "Get out, Spencer. And don't bother to try to visit Emily anytime soon. Consider her unavailable until she's 21!"
"Mr Q, I ..."
Alan interrupts Lucky before he can go any further, now towering over him threateningly. "Get out before I lose whatever little temper I have left. Or should I call the police and have you arrested?"
Lucky looks around Alan to Emily and sees her pleading with him to go. He nods. "Fine, I'm out of here." He throws his hands up in the air in defeat. "But you're overreacting man, 'cause nothing happened. I'd never do anything that would hurt Emily."
Once Lucky leaves, Monica and Alan direct all their attention at Emily. "Tell us the truth, Emily." Monica demands. "Did you get high last night?"
Emily's eyes flash angrily. "No! Why do you always have to accuse me of that?"
Both Monica and Alan sag with relief. Alan answers Emily's question. "Because the last time you were out all night you got high with Matt. I thought that would've been obvious."
Monica shakes her head unhappily. "Clearly we've given you too much freedom, Emily. You asked us to trust you again and we have. I even looked the other way when Lucky made his nocturnal visits because I figured he was good for you. At least I knew where you were. And how do you repay our trust? By staying out all night with Lucky Spencer doing God-knows-what who-knows-where??"
Alan gives Monica a bewildered look and then lowers the boom on Emily. "Obviously we can't trust you any more. You are grounded as of this moment. You are forbidden from seeing Lucky until further notice."
Emily's eyes fill with angry tears. "You can't do this to me! It's so unfair. I made one little mistake!"
"We can and we will." Monica replies. "The times we didn't set strict limits you almost died. Until we're sure we can trust you again, you're grounded."
Alan backs Monica up. "As long as you live under our roof, you will follow our rules. The decision is final."
"I HATE you!" Emily yells at both of them. "You're ruining my life, can't you see that? You can't keep me from Lucky, I won't let you!" She dashes up the stairs and slams the door to her room.
Alan glares at Monica. "Damn it, Monica! You've been lying to me again!"
Upstairs, Emily sobs inconsolably on her bed. They were being so unfair. Didn't they see how good Lucky was for her? He made her happier than she'd ever been, she couldn't lose him now.
Having made a decision, Emily sits up on her bed and dries her tears. If she let her parents have their way, she might lose Lucky forever. He'd forget his feelings for her and find someone else. And every day away from him would be a slow death. She couldn't let them rule her life like they tried to rule AJ's or Jason's. If she did, she'd end up using or worse.
No, Emily wouldn't let that happen. Not if she had anything to do about it.
Meanwhile Monica and Alan are now screaming at each other. Alan's in a full rage, pacing and throwing out wild accusations. "Tell me, Monica. What was the reason for hiding this from me? Were you so desperate for a grandchild that you had to throw your teenage daughter at the nearest available boy?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Alan!" Monica yells back "Of course I don't want Emily to get pregnant! I just thought if we knew where she was and who she was with, she'd be safer. I don't even think she's sexually active yet. And I knew if you found out, you'd react just like you're reacting right now."
Alan rolls his eyes dramatically. "You've got to be kidding! If that boy's been spending nights here, then of course they're sexually active. Do you forget who that boy's family is, for God's sake?! Spencers aren't exactly known for their self control! And you better believe I'd kick that boy out on his ear, there's no way I'd let him to sleep with Emily while she lives under our roof!"
"You know all about the Spencer self control, don't you?" She shoots back. "You almost slept with Bobbie Spencer yourself!"
"Oh, we're back to that, are we?!" Alan says, shaking his head. "Be honest, Monica, are you having an affair? Is that the real reason you were covering for Emily and Lucky? Because Emily found out you have another young lover?"
Meanwhile outside the living room doors, Emily listens in to their fight. At Alan's words, she rolls her eyes heavenward and heads for the front door. "I'm out of here."
"Don't you dare bring that up, Alan!" Monica yells back, visibly shaking with fury. "How many times do I have to tell you? I learned my lesson with Dorman. But if you keep this up, you'll be wishing I did have a young lover!"
