Luke pulled up into the driveway and stopped the car. He looked over at his daughter who was getting out of the car. "Thanks, Lulu. I had fun."
Lulu looked at her father and noticed that he hadn't even taken his seatbelt off. "Aren't you coming inside?"
Luke looked at his daughter carefully, still not knowing how to explain the situation in a way that she could understand. Obviously Laura didn't tell her that Luke wasn't living at home anymore. All Lulu thought was that he had to go away on a trip or something and now he was back. "No, Lulu. I'm going to the club. I'll see you tomorrow, though, if you want."
"Can you make me pancakes in the morning? Mommy makes good ones, but she doesn't add blueberries like you do."
"How about I take you to Kelly's tomorrow morning and we'll have Aunt Ruby make us some?"
"Yeah!!!! And don't spend all morning in bed with Mommy. I don't want to have to wake you up." Lulu said, laughing.
Just seeing his daughter happy that he was back again was breaking his heart. He didn't want to have to tell her the truth. He was hoping to avoid it and have Laura try to explain it instead. Laura was always better at those things. But he knew that the time was right. "Lulu, come back in the car for a minute. I need to talk to you about something."
Lulu quickly got back inside the car and closed the door. "What is it, Daddy?"
Luke gripped the steering wheel hard before speaking. "Lulu, I know you can't understand this. I know you're too young still to know what's going on. But, Lulu, Mommy and Daddy don't live with each other anymore. You live here, with Mommy, Lucky, and Grandma. I live in a different place. I will always be here for you, though. Mommy knows where I'm staying, and if you ever need to call me, just ask Mommy for the number. Okay?"
"Why? You don't like home anymore?"
"It's not that. And it has nothing to do with you. I want to be with you all of the time, but I can't."
Lulu started crying, not understanding why her father wasn't living with her anymore. Luke quickly pulled her into a hug, brushing the top of her head with his hand. "Are we still on for tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Lulu whispered. She continued to cry on Luke, until she had no more tears left. She got out of the car, said her goodbye, and went back inside the house. Luke watched her the whole time, whispering, "I'm so sorry."
Nikolas woke up inside a small room. He tried to get up before he noticed that both his arms and legs were bound together. He was about to scream when someone came into the room. "I see that the imposter prince has woken up," the man said. He watched Nikolas continue to struggle. "I wouldn't try to break free because it's impossible. All you'll be doing is hurting yourself, and Madam said that you were to be brought to her unharmed."
"Where the hell are you taking me and who the hell are you?" Nikolas screamed.
"You are demanding aren't you? Well, patience will get you more because all of your questions will be answered once we arrive at our final location. All you have to know is that you will be of great importance for a future negotiation."
Nikolas started to scream for help as the man left the room.
Luke walked into Kelly's and spotted Ruby behind the counter. He walked over to her and gave her a huge hug. "Have I told you how glad I am that you're out, Luke," Ruby asked.
"You think you're glad. Ruby, I had no idea what I was doing. If I had even thought about it for a second, I would have realized that Cassadine was setting me up. I'm lucky Tiffany was around and came up with some evidence against him to convince him to drop the charges."
Ruby gestured for Luke to take a seat as she gave him a cup of coffee. "Where does that leave you and Laura now?"
"I don't know," Luke said quietly, as he looked up at the ceiling. "I constantly think about her, about us. And I think about the good times. I miss that so much, Rube. Ever since the Cassadines came back to town, we have never been the same."
"Are you trying?"
"What do you mean by that?" Luke said angrily.
"Luke, it looks like the both of you are just avoiding the problems instead of facing them head on. If the two of you would just talk..."
"No! I'm through with hearing her excuses, Rube. They're always the same. She was frightened for someone's life. And I bought it every time, but enough is enough. I'm not going to sit by and watch some other lie just come smacking me in my face head on."
"Have you even considered that her excuse is always the same because it's the truth?"
"Truth is relative to her. Truth is what she feels will cause the least amount of damage at the time. You would think that she would have learned by now that all secrets have a way of surfacing, one way or another."
"Luke," Ruby said, taking his hand, "she did come to you with the truth about Nikolas' parentage. You found that out from her, not from Stefan. She trusted you enough to tell you the truth. It might not have been when you wanted to hear it. I know that you feel she should have been completely upfront with you when you found out about Nikolas. But you know more than anyone that her fears are valid. The Cassadines are nuts, Luke."
"She only came to me when she had no other choice. It was either she told me or Stefan would have. You know, that was the reason she left for a year. She left me and Lucky in Port Charles and took my daughter off with her just so Stefan wouldn't tell me the truth. That ain't trust, Ruby. You know, I trusted her more than I've ever trusted anyone. And what did I get for it... a bunch of lies. I can't handle that."
"What are you saying, Luke? You don't want to work it out with your wife? You do realize that your children want you back home. You do realize that it's not just you and Laura anymore. The choices you make affect more than just the two of you."
"Ruby, you know that if I could get past this, I would in a heart beat. I have loved her like no one else, and that will never end. I will always love her, but it ain't enough, Rube. I don't know where that leaves us. I'm not prepared to end this marriage. I'm not prepared to give her up as my wife, but I can't live with her right now. I can't even manage to stay in the same room with her without getting into a huge fight. So I guess I'm stuck in this current situation right now. I don't know the outcome yet."
Tiffany walked inside her home with Anna right beside her. Sean looked up from the couch and smiled, running over to Anna and Tiffany and giving them huge hugs. "I'm so glad you're home."
"Anna, it's time for bed. Can you start getting ready and I'll be right up to tuck you in?" Tiffany asked. Anna nodded and ran upstairs, leaving Tiffany and Sean alone. "I saw Luke today."
"He's not planning any retaliation, I hope," Sean said, as he led Tiffany to the couch.
"I don't think so. He came by the house to pick up Lulu and took her to the park. I stayed there long enough for Lulu to come home. Luke told her about the situation, but of course she doesn't understand it. All I know is that she went into her room and started crying, and Laura wanted to go to her, but she was crying too. They're all miserable right now."
"Laura's still not handling the situation at all then," Sean said quietly.
"And neither is Luke," Tiffany quickly added. "They're both so hurt by all of this and neither one of them is willing to reconcile till the other starts the ball rolling."
"I thought Laura tried to reconcile when Luke was in prison."
"Well, when Luke came by today, they got into a fight. I tried not to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to hear them. I'm surprised the kids didn't notice it. The whole thing is that Laura was right with what she said today. I got her to talk a little and she said that Luke is being unreasonable when it comes to Nikolas. I have to side with her on that one."
"I can see Luke's point of view, though. I can't imagine what I'd do if I found out you had a son with a person I hated. And I consider myself a lot more easy going than Luke."
"Well, all I know is that they need to get back together. They'll only remain in pain if they don't."
Sean quickly understood where Tiffany was going with this discussion and knew he had to put a stop to it. "No, Tiff. No."
"No what?" Tiffany asked innocently.
"No we're not going to get involved. Leave this to them. They'll handle it as they choose. Don't start sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
Tiffany only looked at Sean before leaving to tuck Anna into bed. Sean looked up and asked, "Why me?"
Later that evening...
Every now and then I cry
Every night you keep staying on my mind
All my friends say I'll survive
It just takes time
Laura lays in her bed, holding the picture of Luke, wishing it were him instead.
But I don't think time is going to heal this broken heart
No I don't see how it can if it's broken all apart
A million miracles could never stop the pain
Or put all the pieces together again
Lucky flips through the photo album he made his mother for her birthday a few years ago. How so many things just changed since that time. Each picture brought back great memories, and memories felt like the only thing he had to hold onto again.
No I don't think time is going to heal this broken heart
No I don't see how it can if we are still apart
When you hear this song, I hope that you will see
That time won't heal a broken hearted me
Lulu woke up from a nightmare, and instinctively went to call out for her father, but he wasn't around. Instead, she just cried herself back to sleep.
Everyday is just the same
Playing games, different lovers different names
They keep saying I'll survive
It just takes time
Luke sat at his desk, staring at the picture of Laura. He poured himself a shot of whiskey, and downed it quickly.
But I don't think time is going to heal this broken heart
No I don't see how it can if it's broken all apart
A million miracles could never stop the pain
Or put all the pieces together again
Tiffany watched as her husband slept. She knew she wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Not while she had to come up with a plan to get her two best friends back together. Their marriage was almost as important to her as her own marriage.
No I don't think time is going to heal this broken heart
No I don't see how it can while we are still apart
When you hear this song, I hope that you will see
That time won't heal a broken hearted
Time won't heal a broken hearted me.
Luke and Laura both reach for the phone, and dialed each other. They both got a busy signal and hung up the phone, both whispering "I love you," and hoping the other would hear.
The song is "Broken Hearted Me" by Anne Murray.
