Lucky opens his eyes, and sees Elizabeth Webber staring back at him. "How’d you know I was awake?"

"Lucky Spencer, you slept on my floor for months! I know what you sound like when you’re sleeping."

Lucky sits up, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry about the eavesdropping."

"I thought for sure my comment about you and Nikolas being friends would get a rise out of you," she smiles deviously.

"Oh, is that what you were trying to do? Get a rise out of me?," Lucky smiles.

Elizabeth smiles. "Sort of… I did mean what I said though."

"What part?"

"All of it," she replies. "What happened to me was not your fault."

"I know," Lucky mutters.

"Do you? Do you really?," Liz questions, her eyes piercing his. "I know you say that, but do you believe it?" Lucky stares at her blankly. "That’s what I thought."

"Look, Elizabeth, I can’t just forget about my part in this!"

"Your part? You didn’t do this to me! You didn’t grab me off that bench and you didn’t throw me down on the cold hard ground and rape me," she hisses. "He is the only one to blame. It isn’t your fault."

Lucky shakes his head. "Why does this matter to you so much? Why do you care if I blame myself?"

"It’s not important."

"Yes it is. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. Why does it bother you so much?"

"Because… because it makes me feel like you’re only with me out of guilt!," she cries.

Lucky looks like she slapped him. "We’ve gone over this before. I am with you because you are my friend. I am with you because you are my heart and my soul…. Guilt has nothing to do with this."

"I just can’t help thinking that… I know it’s silly," she sighs, exasperated.

"What’s silly is the rest of that stuff you were talking to Nikolas about."

"What—wanting you to make up with your parents, and him?"

"Blaming yourself for what went down between me and my dad."

"I do," she says. "I think your reaction was stronger than it would have been if I hadn’t been raped."

Lucky shrugs. "Maybe it was. But you have no control over that."

"Just like you have no control over what happened in the past," Liz replies. Lucky looks down. "I hate seeing you fighting with your mom and dad. I know how much you love them, and how much they love you."

"I tried to talk to my mother just like I promised you. It didn’t work. Listening to her rationalize what he did to her makes me sick, Elizabeth!"

Liz sighs. "What about Nikolas?"

"What about him?"

"He’s really not that bad Lucky, and I can tell that he wants to get to know you."

"He’s not that bad," he grudgingly admits, "for a Cassadine," he hastily adds.

Liz smiles. "Do you think you could try to be friends with him?"

"Why does this matter so much to you?"

"Because after his help last night, I consider him a friend. I like my friends to get along." She smiles hopefully at Lucky.

Lucky gives her a wry smile. "You don’t make it easy for someone to say ‘no’ to you, do you?"

"Does that mean you’ll try to be friends with Nikolas?"

Lucky nods. "I’ll try. For you."

Elizabeth gives Lucky a hug. "Thank you." She grabs his hand and they rise to their feet. "Walk me home?"

Lucky nods. "You working tonight?" Liz shakes her head. "Want to go out with me?"

Liz’s eyes light up. "Do you even have to ask? Why don’t we see if Nik wants to come, and maybe bring Emily along. I know she was mad at me about something at the Nurses’ Ball, and I want to try to work things out."

Lucky looks crestfallen, clearly not wanting to make this a group outing. He forces a smile. "Well, if they don’t have plans, yeah, they can come along."

"Do you have anything in mind?"

Lucky shakes his head. I did want to be alone with you, he thinks. "I’m sure we’ll think of something."

Liz smiles. "I guess we can all meet at my house, 8 o’clock, and figure it out then."

"Okay. Then it’s a da—a plan. It’s a plan," Lucky smiles. "Now let’s get you home. You must be starving."