+Chapter 1+
Elizabeth Webber sat by the docks, thinking over the previous days events. Actually, she was thinking about Lucky. It wasn't every day that you came upon a friend like Lucky Spencer. In fact, Lizzie couldn't ever remember having someone whom she trusted so deeply, even when all other trust in the world was gone for her. And yesterday, especially, the look in his eyes when he looked at her had made her..... well, it made her dream. Not only was Lucky quickly becoming her best friend, he was also becoming the love of her life. Lizzie had been raped a while ago, and her mind was still in a jumble from the whole thing. The attacker had not been yet identified, nor captured, and the thought that he could be someone who Lizzie saw every day, _talked_ to every day, only made it worse. 'I have to be pro-active, not re-active.........' thought Lizzie. That was what Lucky said. Lizzie repeated the thought in her mind. But how could she do that? She didn't have any idea what the guy looked like, and.......
Lizzie's thoughts stopped abruptly as she heard footsteps coming. She quickly got up to see who it was. Oh. Sarah.
"Liz! Have you seen Nikolas at all today? I really need to talk to him."
"I thought you and Nik broke up...." Liz stopped when her sister's face fell. All these years, Sarah had been the perfect one. Perfect face, perfect hair, perfect body, perfect personality, and, of course, perfect guys chasing after her. And now Sarah had been dumped, and, in her own way, needed Lizzie's support, and here she was bringing it up again. Lizzie tried again.
"I, uh, no, I didn't see him today. Where have you tried so far?"
"Everywhere. I just thought, maybe he'd be more able to admit today, that it's Robin. It wouldn't make me feel better if he did, but then, at least he wouldn't be......"
"Lying to you....." Lizzie finished. "Well, I really don't know what to tell you. I wish I could......"
"I know, I know. So, what're you doing down here, anyway?"
"Oh, I was just thinking about............"
"The rape?"
"I, no............ Lucky, actually..........."
Sarah grinned. "Oh-ho! Still got that little crush on him? Little? No, wait, I mean HUGE."
"I do NOT have a crush on Lucky Spencer, thankyouverymuch!"
"Sure, Liz, whatever ya say. First of all, you've had a crush on him since you first laid eyes on him, and second of all, even if you didn't then, you must now after how sweet he's been to you. And we _both_ know that he's no ugly duckling."
"Sarah, shut-up!" Liz said good naturedly.
"Who's no ugly duckling?" asked Lucky Spencer as he walked up behind Lizzie.
Lizzie looked at Sarah, who smiled at Lucky.
"We were just talking about Nikolas, Lucky." interjected Sarah smoothly.
"Aaah. Girl talk." Lucky looked over at Lizzie. "So how are you?" Elizabeth gushed inwardly at he concern in his features. Sarah had been a little off when she said that Lucky was no ugly duckling. He was beautiful, he was gorgeous, he was HOT, he was....everything.
"I'm okay....... you?"
"Good! I mean, it's good that you're good. Well, I'm good too, but that's not what I meant......" He finally cut himself by laughing. Meanwhile, Lizzie melted.
"Uh, listen, guys, I'll catch ya later....... See ya." Sarah walked off to resume her search for Nikolas.
"Bye!" Elizabeth and Lucky called after her.
Then they turned to face eachother.

+Chapter 2+
"Why don't we take a walk?" suggested Lucky.
"Well, I should really be getting home........."
"We'll just take a short one, and then i can walk you home."
Lizzie didn't mind at all the fact that he was trying to convince her to spend time with him. "Oh. Well, I guess that's okay."
"Okay." They started off. "So you really don't mind my crashing on your floor?"
"No, I mean, anything I can do, after all you've done for me since the......."
"Yeah. Well, like I said before, 'ditto'."
Lizzie smiled at him. "Ditto".
"So no new news?"
"No........... but I really feel like I'm doing better now. I mean, I can look at guys without flinching, and I don't have such bad dreams, and you know?, my life isn't such hell anymore as it was. I mean, I could probably even get involved with someone now and not be too scared. I could probably have a boyfriend again! Lucky, do you know how great it is, to feel almost _safe_ again? I guess I never realized what a nicety feeling safe can be." It was also great to have Lucky staring at her like that........ but she wasn't gonna admit that.......... unless, of course, he did first. Liz looked away uncomfortably, afraid that her, 'I could probably have a boyfriend again!' had been too obvious a hint.
Lucky didn't seem to even notice her hint, though. "Wow, that's so great!" As they arrived at her house, she walked to her doorstep and then turned to face him.
"So I guess I'll see you later?"
"Yeah." Lucky looked at her for a minute more, until the silence became uncomfortable. He drew in a ragged breath. "I'll catch you later." And, with that, he turned and strolled off, with never a look over his shoulder. And maybe that was a good thing, because Elizabeth still stood on her doorstep, watching him until he was out of sight. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself, cherishing that look that had been in his eyes during the silence. Then she turned and walked into the house.

(a few hours later)
Elizabeth Webber sat in her room upstairs, diligently working at the homework that Sarah had brought home for her. She glanced up when she heard Lucky's familiar footsteps on the roof next to her window and grinned at him as he climbed into her bedroom. He dropped his bag on the floor.
"Hey! What's up?" said Lucky.
"Not much." Lizzie decided to give up on her homework and shoved her books into her schoolbag. She looked over at Lucky, since he was busy getting a spot ready on the floor for him to sleep on. God, he was gorgeous. His hair was all messed up, his clothes were wrinkled and he could have been wearing them for 3 months by the looks of them. She watched him run a hand through his hair, making it even messier, and smiled inwardly. When he turned his piercing blue eyes on her, she resumed zipping up her bag and put it under her desk.
"Have you had any dinner yet? I could sneak some up from downstairs if you're hungry."
"Nah, I'm not all that hungry."
"You sure? Because it's no trouble, really."
There was a knock at the door and Sarah stuck her head in, not waiting for a reply.
"Elizabeth, guess what just ha--" Sarah looked at Lucky. Lucky looked at Lizzie.
Lizzie looked at Sarah, at a loss for words. "Lucky, what are you doing here?"

+Chapter 3+
"I was just helping Liz with her homework, I'll be leaving now." Lucky hurriedly picked up his bag and exited the room, pushing himself past Sarah through the door.
"Liz, why didn't you just ask me for help? You know I coulda helped you."
Lizzie floundered for words that would fit the situation. "Well, I, he........ Well, you were busy looking for Nik and I didn't want to bother you and......"
"OOOH! That reminds me!! Guess what? Nikky called and he said that wants to see me tomorrow, cuz he has something to tell me. He souinded SO happy! I wonder what it is!" Of course, Lizzie knew what Sarah _hoped_ it was.
"Cool! Well, I feel really drowsy, I'm, uh, going to go to sleep now."
"Oh, okay, see ya tomorrow!" As Sarah practically bounced out of the room, Lizzie hurriedly got up and locked the door behind her. As she unmade her bed, Lucky stuck his head in the window.
"She gone yet?" he whispered.
"Yeah."
"Phew. That was close."
"Yeah." Lucky examined Elizabeth, who was feeling suddenly very depressed.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently. When she didn't answer, he continued, "Elizabeth? What is it? hey, you know you should tell me......"
"Lucky, I don't know, just...... just--" Lizzie felt her eyes brimming with tears.
Once again, Sarah had a great, gorgeous guy, who was probably going to re-ask her out in the most romantic way possible, while Lizzie hated her life, had no boyfriend, and was, in a moment, going to start bawling in front of the guy who was her one chance of having Sarah's life. "I just, I--"
Lucky pulled her towards him as she started sobbing, and wrapped his arms around her so that she had no choice but to burrow her head in his neck, and......... cry. And that she did. After what seemed like hours later, she finally brought her head up, trying to keep her gaze from Lucky.
"I'm sorry. I got your collar all wet."
"Don't worry about that. Elizabeth, you wanna tell me what it is? I can help you. I know I can. I'm always here for you, and I want you to tell me what is bothering so that i can help you." Lizzie finally looked into Lucky's eyes. She got lost there.
"Lucky, I don't want you hanging around me anymore just because you feel sorry for me."
"What are you talking about? I hang around you because you're my friend, and I care about you, and if anything ever happens to you again, I swear I'm gonna kill who ever did it."
"Because we're _friends_ Lucky??! Well, I don't want that!" Liz realized maybe she was getting a little dramatic now after her huge outpouring of emotion, but suddenly, she didn't care. Lucky was setting her on fire. His eyes were drilling holes deep into her soul, so that she figured he could read her mind. Now, whatever she told him, he would already know, since he could see into her soul. Lizzie's thoughts became incoherent. She felt as though she were drunk.
"Lizzie?" She felt him grasp her head in his hands and shake her, as thought to try and shake the dizziness out of her. It felt so right. She reached up and held his face close to hers. Their faces were only inches apart. It was as if they breathed as one, as they stood there, holding eachother, gazing into eachother's eyes.
Lizzie's eyes went wide as she realized that Lucky was moving closer. If either of them had moved in any direction just then, they would have bumped noses. At the thought, Elizabeth broke into a grin.
"Feeling better?" Lucky breathed, smiling at her sudden happiness.
"Yes."
"Good." Lucky closed the final few centimeters between them and his lips brushed against hers. Suddenly Lizzie wasn't feeling very drowsy anymore. Lucky pulled back, looking for some sort of reaction from her. When he saw no negative effects, he closed the distance and kissed her, this time full on the mouth.

+Chapter 4+
Lizzie Webber was in heaven. Here she was with her arms around the most gorgeous guy on earth, with his hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her passionately, tenderly, like there was no tomorrow. Lucky pulled back again, untangling his fingers from her hair as he went. Lizzie clutched at him, wishing he hadn't pulled away so soon, wanting him to kiss her again.....
Lucky's chest heaved as he fought to regain his breath. He smiled at her devilishly. "Sorry, I............ needed to do that."
"No! Don't apologize......... I mean, why did you need to do that?"
"I don't know. It just seemed right, that's all." Lucky looked her over, making sure he hadn't brought back any...... unpleasant...... memories. "Lizzie, I have a question...... you said you didn't want to be friends with me....... what is that supposed to mean?"
"I guess it means the same thing that that kiss we just shared did."
"Did it?"
"I would say so."
"Oh."
Lizzie looked at Lucky, afraid that maybe she had said too much, too soon. If she found out now that that kiss didn't mean what she thought it had............ then she would just curl up in a corner and will herself to die. Lucky was still staring at her. Through the silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was just.... thoughtful. Lucky suddenly laughed, and tried to push his hair into place, failing miserably.

"What's funny?"
"You. Look at you! You're so cute!" As Lucky wrapped his arms around her, Lizzie blushed, not sure what to say. But apparently there was no need for words. Lucky brought his lips to her neck repeatedly, running his fingers through her hair as he did. Finally it dawned on Lizzie that this wasn't friendship anymore........ this was so much more. Lizzie pushed Lucky's lips away from her neck. He looked hurt, then worried, then confused.
"Lucky."
"Yeah."
"Stop it."
"I'm sorry."
"I told you not to apologize."
"Sorry. I mean, no I'm not. Wait, yes I........." He broke off into a confused silence. Lizzie could see that she was going to have to show him what she wanted. She wanted to share the passion with him.
"Shut-up, Spencer." Lizzie whispered as she teased him by brushing her lips against his ear.
"Elizabeth......"
"Hmm?"
"What're you doing?"
Lizzie decided it was time to stop the smalltalk and brought her lips onto his. It started out as a soft kiss, but it soon became so much more.
Eventually, Lizzie realized how tired she really was. She kissed Lucky gently on the lips one last time, then rolled into her bed as he became situated on the floor.
Lizzie dreamt again that night. But this time, they weren't about the rape. They were all about Lucky, and for her, that was as close to heaven as she could get.

+Chapter 5+
Lucky Spencer woke up after about his millionth dream about Lizzie that night.
"MY Lizzie.' he thought happily. Ironic how this had been what it had taken for him to realize how much he cared about her. It had been building since her rape, and then all of a sudden, in the last few days, his feelings finally took over and made him step back and realize exactly what he thought of Elizabeth Webber. She wasn't just that friend, who he wanted to take care of forever because he felt guilty because of her rape. She was his best friend, who he wanted to take care of because he had fallen madly in love with her. Lucky grinned, just thinking about her, and sat up on the floor to look at her as she slept. In doing so, he realized that it was getting near pre-dawn and he'd better clear out of there for the night so that no one would find him. Having Sarah walk in last night had been a really close shave, but if someone walked in and found him laying on the floor of her bedroom, well, it would be just a TAD obvious. He got up quietly, not wanting to disturb Liz's peaceful sleep. He froze when she stirred and then murmured in her sleep, but as she settled down again, he opened the window and started to step out. Thinking better of it, he retraced his steps back to Liz's bed and gave her soft kiss on the cheek. Immediately her eyes popped open and she grinned.
"Goodbye. I'll see you later." he whispered to her.
"Not so fast, Spencer," she replied, "I'm not done with you yet."
"Liz, I _have_ to go! C'mon, d'you want me to get caught?"
"You know I don't. But do you really want to leave so soon? I doubt that Gram's gonna come into my room at 4 in the morning just to check up on me."
"She should. Just to be sure that you're okay."
"Lucky, I have the door locked anyway. I locked it after Sarah left."
"Still....." Lucky finally gave in and wrapped her in his arms as he gave her a long, slow kiss. It totally took her breath away, and when he finally released her she had to fight hard to regain it. "Happy now?" he murmured, surprised that he was giving up his safety just to stay and kiss her for awhile longer.
"No!" she pouted. "That was a lousy kiss. I think you need to try again." She guided his lips back to hers, with him protesting every inch of the way until their lips actually met, where he kissed her with more fervor than ever before. "That was much better, but maybe you sh--"
Lucky silenced her with a finger across her lips. She kissed it.
"Liz. I'm leaving now. I'll see you later."
"Oh. Okay." Lucky turned and headed for the window.
"Lucky......?" He turned back again, a smile playing across his lips. "What..... well, what would you say we are now?"
"What would I say we are now?" he repeated, confused.
"I mean....... before we were friends, right?, but now I mean, we seem to be more, and I just wanted to clari--"
"Lizzie." he said her name softly, but it held her attention more than shouting would have.
"Yes?"
"So...... do you want to go skating tonight?"
"Well, I told you yesterday I'd go skating with you tomorrow....." she replied, confused.
"Yeah, but that was as friends."
"Huh?"
"Lizzie, you just said a minute ago that we seemed to be more now, and so I was clarifying." There was a silence. She still didn't get it, and she was sure she was exasperating him. "Elizabeth, I am asking you out! On a date!....... So do you want to go or what?"
Lizzie was at a loss for words, so she just said, "Uh huh." God, last night when he had kissed her, her life had been changing. For the better. But now it _was_ changed. Lucky Spencer had finally come to and realized he should ask her out. And it was so romantic! 'Just look at him!' she thought. He was smiling beatifically at her now, where just a minute ago he had been annoyed and practically stumbling over his own words.
"Okay......... I really have to go now. I'll see you around......6:30 PM?"
"I..... sure!"
Lucky walked over to her and gave her one last sweet, gentle kiss, then grabbed his bag and hopped out the window onto the roof. Outside, he leaned his head against the wall for a minute, thinking about how his life had changed in the course of one night. One moment in time. He smiled for what seemed the millionth time in just one morning, and went on his way.
Inside, Elizabeth lay back down and snuggled into her covers. In the course of just one night, her life was suddenly wonderful, and everything she had wished it to be.
One moment in time.

TBC............