New York, New York
Part Two
By Anna MacArthur
anna_783@yahoo.com

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ER.

RATING: 13, some what mild for a MacArthur story.

AUTHORS NOTE: This was my first fan-fic that I wrote months ago, so it's kind of weird.

"Carter, what the hell is up with you," Richie had been embarrassed because of Carter's behavior.

"Her," Carter murmured as they waited for the girls to return, the manager had allowed them to have there meal on the house due to there actions earlier.

"Carter, I don't care how much of a bitch she is in Chicago, but at least put on a good face for me and Breanna's sake," Richie pleaded.

"You really like her, don't you," Carter asked when he saw the twinkle in Richie's eyes when he said Breanna. 

"A lot"

"Okay, but I am not doing anything nice for Lucy Knight," Carter said taking a bite into his cheesecake.

"Do you guys want to go? Were going to the statue of Liberty tomorrow and it's getting kind of late." Breanna asked with Lucy by her side.

"We'll drive you home," Richie said noticing the frigid stare between Carter and Lucy.

"Carter will you drive, I've had a little bit too much to drink," Richie sasked holding Breanna's hand in the parking lot.

"Sure thing," Carter muttered getting into the drivers side. Breanna and Richie huddled into the back, leaving her the passenger side up front. Great, I have to sit next to him,' she thought. Carter looked up at Lucy and thought, 'Great, I have to sit next to her.' They started the drive home, with in a few minutes Richie and Breanna were already making out in the back of the car. Suddenly Breanna's cell phone began to ring.

"Lucy answer it for me, who ever it is I'm busy," Breanna said handing the phone to Lucy. Lucy clicked it on and politely said,

"Hello?"

"Lucy I was bored so I thought I'd call you, Abby gave me your friend's cell phone number" Lucy recognized Dave's voice.

"Working the grave-yard shift are ya?" Lucy laughed.

"Yeah, so what are you up too?" Dave asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Lucy said looking up at Carter.

"What?" Dave asked wondering if Lucy was partying too hard.

"I'm in the car with Carter."

"WHAT? You and Carter! Put Carter on the phone" Dave said half laughing.

"He wants to talk to you," Lucy said coldly handing the phone to Carter.

"So you hit it off with Lucy?" Dave laughed.

"No, its nothing like that," Carter explained.

"Sure, I believe you, no really, when did you two hook up?" Dave pestered.

"No, our friends hooked us up on a blind date, and this is what happened,"

"Uh-huh, just don't get too rowdy with your med. student," Dave laughed. Carter could here something in the back round and then Weavers voice.

"Malucci, get your ass off the phone!"

"Yeah, Yeah Chief, Crazy old bit- uh...Carter, gotta go, trauma coming in"

"Bye," Carter flipped off the phone and handed it to Lucy without even looking at her.

"You had to tell Dave, now everyone in the ER will here about this," Carter complained.

"Carter, I'm not listening to a word you say." Lucy directed her glare to the passing streets of New York.

"Fine," Carter spat out.

"Fine," Lucy added her voice as cold as the snow falling on the streets. They didn't speak for the rest of the drive.

"You can drop us off here," Breanna said noticing the sign for St. Christopher's.

"We'll walk you up," Richard said as he shut the door to his jaguar. He was a little scared to leave it out on a street like this but Breanna had enchanted him. Carter, on the other hand, wished his friend would speak for himself.

"Be prepared," Lucy said as they walked up the stairs. As usual, there was somebody passed out on the floor, multiple gun shots being fired and a baby screaming when they reached there room.

"I had a wonderful time tonight," Breanna smiled.

"Me too and I cant wait to see you again," They began to kiss, Lucy and Carter looked at the floor, they both felt really awkward.

"All right, parties over" Lucy said pulling her friend into the hotel room.

"Bye!" Breanna yelled as Lucy slammed the door.

"I think I'm in love" Breanna and Richie sighed on opposite sides of the door at the same time. And at the exact same time, on opposite sides of the door, Carter and Lucy rolled there eyes and murmured.

"Good for you, I think I'm going to be sick."

Lucy stared out into the harbor. Breanna and her had finally made it too the top and both of them were quite winded. They had just caught there breaths when the cell phone began to ring.

"Lucy answer it, I'm too tired to talk." Before she could say anything a voice came out of the phone.

"I miss you, baby." It was Richie.

"Um, this is Lucy, I'll get Breanna," she handed the phone to Breanna and put her head near the receiver to hear what was going on.

"Hi baby, where are you?" Breanna's voice was dripping with sweetness.

"Look outside," Breanna and Lucy raced to the window and peered down. Sure enough there was Richie looking up and blowing kisses and Carter a few feet away looking at the ground.

"Wait a second, I'll be down in a minute," Breanna flipped her phone off and looked at Lucy. "I know we said wed take the stairs, but can we please, please take the elevator." Breanna coaxed.

"You take the elevator, I'll walk back and get home on my own, I actually want to take the New York subway." Lucy lied.

"Really, will you be ok?" Breanna asked.

"Yeah, Ill see you later," Lucy headed towards the stairs, as long as she didn't see Carter it was fine by her.

Breanna ran out of the elevator and into Richie's arms. Carter expected Lucy to come treading out, but she didn't come.

"Where's your friend, Lucy." Richie said noticing her absence.

"She's going home...uh she felt sick," Breanna didn't want to hurt Carter's feelings by saying that Lucy had left because of him.

"Its ok, you don't have to lie, I'll go and leave you two alone." Carter escaped not wanting to be a third wheel.

"Thanks, John!" Breanna yelled as he walked away. Carter turned to wave but they were already in each others arms. Carter smiled, they seemed like they really liked each other.

"Lucy, you look marvelous," Breanna said zipping up Lucy's dress.

"You too," They had gone bargain hunting again and found 2 dresses that were even more stunning then before and for only $10.00. They headed out to the corner and hailed a cab.

"Isn't Richie wonderful," Breanna sighed playing with a whisp of her chocolate brown hair.

"You two are excellent for each other," Lucy implied. She had recognized her friends feelings, Breanna was in love. She had felt the same way only a few days ago, to him, Lucy cringed at remembering that she had felt something for Carter.

"We are here" Breanna said as the cab stopped in front of the Metropolitan Opera house. "Lets go," Lucy said as they walked in together.

Carter looked at his friend, they were dressed to tuxedos and Richie sat there waiting with the 2 dozen roses he had bought Breanna, he was so in love. Richie had made Carter buy Lucy something, so Carter had obliged to buy Lucy a daisy that had cost him 23 cents.

"Here they are," Richie pointed at Lucy and Breanna who were descending down the stairs. Carter looked up and gasped. Lucy was wearing a long black sleeve-less dress that let her natural radiance shine. He suddenly forgot why he hated her so much. Then the hate came pouring back when he noticed her cold-hearted glare. But Lucy, deep down, was actually feeling the same emotions Carter was experiencing.

"Are these for me?" Breanna asked when she noticed the 2 dozen roses. They began to kiss and once again, Lucy and Carter felt awkward.

"Uh, Richie made me buy this for you," Carter said handing her the daisy which was wrapped in green tissue paper. Lucy looked down at the pathetic flower, it didn't even have all the petals.

"Aren't you sweet," she said her voice drenched in sarcasm. Breanna issued a little kick with her heal and gave her a behave-yourself-look. Carter ignored her comment as they began to walk into the theater. Lucy and Carter practically repelled each other and sat on either side of Richie and Breanna. The opera began, it was in Italian so Carter felt himself bored at times, Breanna and Richie kept themselves busy by gazing into each others eyes and Lucy sat enjoying every minute of it. She had learned Italian in high school and still spoke it fluently. Everything was going smoothly.Trouble only seemed to really begin when the intermission was called. They headed out into the hall way where they all got champagne.

"Um, You guys would it be ok if we headed out?" Breanna asked. Carter and Lucy looked at each other and smirked.

"Fine with me," Carter said, sounding sincere, he knew if he went along with this, it would make Lucy look like the bad one. Lucy looked at him, she knew what was going on, so she smiled and was able to grit out...

"No problem."

"Thanks," Richie said as they ran off hand in hand. Lucy and Carter smiled until they were out of hearing distance.

"Up yours Carter," Lucy muttered.

"Oh shove it up your ass Lucy," he said as they walked back to there seats. They were glad they could sit 2 seats away from each other until they noticed an old man and woman were sitting where Lucy and Breanna had sat.

"Sir, Ma'am, I don't think these are your seats," Carter said gently, the old man and woman seemed like they were 100 years old.

"Yes, we know, our seats broke, so the manager put us here, he said the 2 people in them had left," The woman replied. Carter looked at Lucy who didn't look happy.

"Just sit down Carter," was all she could get out. The show began, for the first 20 minutes Carter watched Lucy. Her eyes glistened, she seemed to really be in it.

"How can you watch this?" Carter asked, his curiosity was getting to the better of him.

"Its beautiful," Lucy snapped back in a hushed voice.

"It's just a bunch of people singing," Carter whispered.

"How can you say that? Roberto is in love with Paulina yet he cant express his love to her," Lucy whispered back.

"Why?" Carter asked.

"Because he doesn't think he loves her, but he really does." Lucy whispered. Carter felt like he was in a dream, he put his hand over Lucy's and began to slowly move forward. Lucy felt herself strangely attracted and moved closer too. They were only half an inch apart when Lucy realized what was going on and pulled her neck back. She had almost kissed Carter- again! This was too much for her, she grabbed her bag and began to walk out. Carter felt weird too, for a second he had almost gotten wrapped up in the moment. He got up and chased after her. He saw her walking up the grand staircase.

"Lucy, wait!" He ran to catch up with her.

"It didn't mean anything," Lucy said not making eye-contact. Carter felt a little heat-broken but pushed it aside.

"Nothing happened, remember?" He said knowing damn well that something almost had happened.

"You cant keep doing this Carter, playing with people's hearts," Lucy implied.

"Lucy, I don't have feelings for you, it was an accident, you of all people should know that I am not the least bit interested in you," Carter lied a little, he realized he had some feelings for her but obviously not enough.

"Good, because I sure as hell, wouldn't want to kiss you," Lucy hailed a cab on the corner. She slammed the door shut and realized that was a little harsh. She looked out the window, and watched Carter stare into the cab. Lucy made it home to find no Breanna. She was going to kill her for leaving her with Carter.

Carter poured a bowl of wheaties in Richie's enormous kitchen. He had just come in from a run on the treadmill, instead of the park. It was snowing like crazy today and he didn't want to run on the ice.

"Um, good morning," Breanna stumbled out, Carter didn't expect her to be there.

"Uh, hi," he said with a mouth full of wheaties.

"I'm just leaving, after I find my clothes." Breanna stated, she was wearing a bath-robe that had the word "Richard" embroidered on it.

"Its ok, I made some coffee," Carter pointed to the pot.

"Oh, I'd love some, Lucy always buys this horrible herbal Mango tea," she said pouring a cup.

"I know," Carter replied remembering when she had once made him a cup of tea in the lounge, he had merely choked it down and said it was delicious.

"So why are you and Lucy always arguing?" Breanna asked openly as she sat down across from Carter.

"I don't know, I think I push her away when she asks me for help," Carter confessed.

"But aren't you her teacher?"

"Yeah but not for long, I think she's going to be better then me."

"Why don't you tell her that?"

"I dunno." Silence greww between them "She was upset when you didn't help her get through the Ritalin." Breanna remembered Lucy coming home dazed and confused and crying herself to sleep. Carter sighed, it was true he could have been a little more help full during that time. "Have you ever thought of apologizing," Breanna looked up from her coffee.

"Where is she going today?" Carter asked getting up from the table.

"I'm not sure, probably some historic sight but I know were going to this Club called the Fernandoes tonight," Breanna smiled, she knew Lucy hated fighting and this would make her day.

"Ill go look for her after I take a shower," Carter implied deserting Breanna and his bowl of wheaties.

Lucy had just missed Carter running up to her hotel room, in fact when he was taking the elevator up, she was walking downstairs. She spent the day photographing the heart of the city. It made her feel somewhat good to escape for awhile. She was deep in thought sitting in a park, that she didn't seem to notice what was going on around her.

"Hey," Lucy turned around to see a man with blonde hair and brown eyes standing behind the bench.

"Hi," she replied.

"So I haven't seen you around here, do you live in Brooklyn Heights?" The guy said running a hand through his blonde hair.

"No, I'm visiting from Chicago," Lucy admitted.

"My names Sam, pleased to meet you."

"I'm Lucy," she said as they shook hands.

"Do you wanna go for some coffee, I'm freezing out here?" Sam asked hoping she would say yes. Lucy really didn't want to go but she willed herself too it.

"Sure, Id love too," Lucy smiled. Inside she recognized this as another complication, another chance to have her heart broken, but at least she got a free coffee.

Carter looked around the club, no Lucy. He pushed through the people until he saw Richie and Breanna dancing.

"Have you guys seen Lucy?" He yelled, the music was so loud.

"No, but she called me, said she invited a guy to meet her here," Breanna yelled back.

"Thanks," Carter replied. He'd spent the day looking for her, he realized how unhappy he was when they were fighting, he just wanted to be her friend again. Lucy sat at the bar crying into her beer, Sam had seemed so perfect, so right, yet her gut instinct had been correct. She had been waiting since 7:00, it was 11:32 now. She looked at her drink, what was this, number 22 or was it 13 or how 'bout 72? How was she going to pay for this? Was the main question on her mind. The music was loud and everything was blurry, she felt like throwing up. Carter saw Lucy slumped over the bar. He pushed though the crowd to get to her.

"Lucy, I need to talk to you," Lucy turned around and squinted, somebody was talking to her, who was it? Carter? Carter looked at her face her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "Luce are you drunk?"

"John Truman Carter the 3rd, get your annoying head out of my face" her speech was slurred.

"Come on, let's get you out of here," he helped Lucy up, but she couldn't walk properly.

"Hey, this little lady wracked up quite a bill, who's gonna pay for this?" The bartender looked angrily at Carter.

"Here," he passed the visa over to the bar-tender and quickly paid Lucy's bill.

"Carter, get your hands off of me," Lucy said as Carter pushed her into the cab. She tried to hit and kick him, she just wanted to get away.

"Where too?" The cab driver asked. Carter pondered whether to take her back to the slummy hotel or have her sleep at Richies', so he could make sure she was ok.

"Chicago, Cook County General!" Lucy piped. Carter calmed her down and told Richie's address to the driver. Lucy mumbled about things all the way home. Mainly about patients at the ER or how much she loved snow. It wasn't until she was out of the cab that she realized she was with Carter again. She kicked, screamed, yelled until she looked him straight in the eye and muttered...

"I hate you Carter," Carter looked her in the eyes straight away, she seemed solemn and aware. It hurt Carter when she said that. Lucy then proceeded to throw up in Richie's poinsettia arrangement. Carter held her hair out of her face. He tried to help her up but she simply fell asleep in the snow. Carter gently picked her up and brought her inside Richie's penthouse. He found a spare guest room and put Lucy in there, why had he ignored her problems up to now? He could see Lucy was upset about something, Carter thought as he turned out the lights, he'd ignored her too often and paid with there friendship.

Lucy awoke and felt disoriented. Where was she? This was definitely not her hotel room, it was big and looked like something out of the Macys catalog. Her head was in agony. What had she done last night. She saw her shoes in the corner, she slipped them on and walked out of the room. She was in some kind of penthouse and whoever owned it was rich. She heard someone coming down the stairs, Lucy ran into a really big kitchen and grabbed a rolling pin, whoever lived here, they were making breakfast. The footsteps came closer, Lucy hid behind the door and as soon as the man came out, she whacked him over the head with the rolling pin. Lucy gasped when she recognized him.

"Owww," Carter moaned he was on the ground.

"Carter, I'm so sorry," Lucy said bending down to see him.

"Nice to see you too, Lucy," Carter said rubbing his head.

"Wait, I'm still mad at you! And why am I here?" Lucy prompted.

"You were drunk last night, I was going to take you to your hotel but I was afraid you'd be sick," Carter looked up at her, she was starting to remember, she was sick and he carried her in. Lucy was no longer mad at Carter.

"Oh, Carter, I'm so sorry, your the best friend in the world," Lucy exclaimed she put her arms around him and hugged him.

"So were friends," Carter said openly.

"Yeah," she smiled, "Were friends."

"Just wait down here, I'll be back in a second." Lucy ran up to her hotel room. Richard and Breanna sat reading the paper.

"Hey look who got Lucky, with Sam the mystery man" Breanna said as her friend ran to the bathroom. Lucy showered and was dressed in less then 7 minutes. It was something she learned from working on the ER.

"So was he good?" Breanna said as Lucy put her coat back on. Lucy decide to lie, Breanna and Richie would get suspicious if she said she spent the night at the penthouse.

"Yeah, great, see-ya" Lucy ran out the door. When she got outside she searched for Carter, he wasn't there. Suddenly a big snowball hit her back.

"Carter! I'm gonna kill you!" she made her own snowball and chased after him.

They spent the day Christmas shopping in the heart of the city, they had both missed there friendships. They talked about everything, on how beautiful New York was during Christmas, on how much they loved and hated the ER and no how Richie and Breanna were perfect for each other. It was starting to snow as they passed tree and the skating rink.

"Carter! Lets go skating!" She said pointing at the rink.

"Me, skate, that's funny," Carter laughed.

"No really, I've always wanted too," Lucy implied. Carter looked at her longiness, she really wanted to skate.

"Okay, Okay," he said. They got out of the cab and got skated up.

"All right, I've never done this before, so I'll have to hold onto you," Lucy said as she held his arm.

"Okay, here we go," Carter stated as they stepped on the ice. They went 3 feet before falling. Carter sort of rolled over and Lucy landed hard on her butt.

"Ouch," she shrieked.

"All right, that's enough skating for me," Carter said pulling himself to the tarp. Lucy managed to pick herself up and skate over to Carter.

"Oh come on you wimp," she pulled Carter up and in about 45 minutes they could skate and not fall down every 5 minutes. Carter looked over at Lucy, he knew he had to stay just friends but he began to realize again how pretty she was, not just pretty. Beautiful. But he also began to realize how much he loved her personality, her invidualism of the person she was.

"Do you want to go to dinner now?" Lucy broke the silence. Carter realized his stomach was beginning to rumble.

"Sure, where too?" Carter asked looking into her eyes.

"I know the best place!"

"When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!" came an awkward voice that rang through the restaurant.

"Al's Kareoke bar," Carter said looking a the bar.

"Breanna and I came here on our first night here and we had so much fun."

They had been in the middle of desert when all of a sudden Carter had an urge. "Lets sing a song!" He said standing up.

"Ok, just don't say a word of this to anybody." Lucy walked up with Carter and in a few moments they were staring at a room of about 100 people.

"Hi, I'm John Carter," Carter began to feel a little nervous.

"And I'm umm, I'm I'm, um, I cant remember." Lucy began to feel very nervous. Suddenly music came on, it was jingle bell rock by Patsy Cline.

"Jingle bell, Jingle bell, Jingle bell rock" At first Carter sang the most but soon enough Lucy got into it.

"That's the Jingle bell, That's the Jingle bell, That's the Jingle bell rock!" They sang in unison and off key.

"I can't believe we did that!" Lucy laughed, she had forgotten how much fun Carter was.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," Carter said holding out his arm. They were only a few blocks from St. Christopher's but this wasn't the best neighborhood. They walked arm and arm until they reached a street band. They played a jazz version of What Child is This? Carter didn't realize what he was doing at the time but he began to dance with Lucy.

"Carter, what are you doing?" Lucy implied as Carter spun her. She didn't want to accept it but she was beginning to fall in for Carter again.

"Your the best Carter," she whispered. Carter knew he had to stop now, he would dance with her all night if he could. They walked in silence up to the hotel door. Lucy secretly wished he would kiss her but Carter didn't want to put her through it.

"Well tomorrows the last day, I'll see you, good-night Luce," he said giving her a quick hug. 'He called me Luce!' She loved it when he called her that, Lucy thought. she wanted to yell out she was sorry she was ever mad at him but all that came out was...

"Good-night." Lucy opened her door and flicked on the lights, gasped, then ran back out again.

"Carter do you think I could stay at Richie's tonight? Breanna and him are kinda using the hotel room," Lucy pleaded.

"Sure," Carter laughed, they took a cab to Richie's, both of them were really quiet. Little did they know they were sharing the same feelings.

"Do you want a glass of wine, Luce?" Carter asked as he poured himself a glass.

"Sure," She said softly, Carter returned to the couch. They sat there for awhile just staring at the snow piling on the ground. Everything was calm, she decided to make some sort of move but before she could Carter got up to get something.

"Luce, you left this here," Carter said holding up the camera.

"Oh thank God you found it, I was afraid I left it at the bar," Lucy began to look for the film.

"Richie left a note, he developed your film and its in his room in the desk drawer. Ill go get it," Carter said heading upstairs.

"I'll come with you," Lucy followed Carter up the winding stair case. When the opened the door, Lucy felt like she had just walked into a palace. The room was decorated with a comforting romantic ambiance. Carter ran through Richie's desk and retrieved the photos.

"Wow Luce, these are amazing," Carter looked at the pictures, they were mainly city scape but there were a few of children playing in the snow.

"The way you capture there faces, it's so unique." Lucy moved closer to Carter, she wanted to kiss him and tell him all her feelings she had for him But since she was afraid of rejection, she gently rested her chin on his shoulder. Carter could sense her, he could smell her sweet fragranced hair, he could hear her breath, he could feel her warm body next to his. He wondered what to do next, finally he couldn't take it, Carter dropped the pictures and began to hug Lucy. He felt full of love and happiness, for a few minutes they just stood there hugging until Lucy gently put her mouth next to his. He knew it was wrong, but it felt so right.

"Wait Luce," he said sitting down on the bed.

"What?" She asked, she hoped to God he felt the same way about her.

"I need to apologize for the way I acted before. And I'm sorry that I ever pushed you aside, or if I didn't help with your problems, I overlooked them before but now I realize I need you and I should treat you better." Carter finished, he looked up at Lucy who was crying.

"Your forgiven Carter." She couldn't stand it any longer, she wanted to kiss him again. She sat down on the bed and began to kiss him.

"Luce," he whispered.

"Hmm," she whispered back as he kissed her neck.

"I think I'm in love with you."

Lucy awoke the next morning in Carter's arms, it had been so pure, so blissful, so sweet. She rolled over and rested her head on his chest and fell back asleep. Carter woke up to see Lucy embracing him in her sleep, she seemed so heavenly. For a few minutes it was perfect, Carter stroked her golden blonde hair and felt her smooth skin against him.

Until he remembered the hospital policy.

How could he have done this? He was endangering both of there jobs.

"Lucy, what have we done!" Carter said getting out of bed and then grabbing a blanket to cover himself up.

"Carter, please don't pull this crap again, You said you loved me and Carter, I realized last night when you said that I did too," Lucy said as she sat up in bed.

"Lucy we'll lose are jobs!" Carter began to feel the pain as he said this. Lucy put on a bathrobe and ran after Carter.

"Carter, you said you loved me, But which do you love more me or our jobs!" Lucy cried, she didn't want to here his reply.

"Lucy, we need our jobs!" Carter sputtered out. There was a deep silence.

"Fine," Lucy ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. Carter didn't know what to do, he just stood outside the bathroom door. He waited for her too come out but what he heard almost ripped out his heart. Lucy began to cry, he heard her sobs and a few moments later he realized he had tears of his own.

Lucy waited until Carter left. How could he do this to her? After awhile she felt unaware of any emotion. She wanted to go home, back to work, so she could stay busy. She left the house and headed back to the hotel room. She packed her stuff up, knowing that she had to be on the plane at 6:00 the next morning and spent the rest of her last day not doing anything really.

Carter on the other hand did absolutely everything, everywhere he went, things reminded him of Lucy. When he heard carolers, he thought of the way her eyes twinkled when she heard them, When he saw the skaters, he remembered how she had clung to his arm. When he saw a display for jingle bells there was only one person he could think of. Finally Carter went back to Richie's, him and Breanna would probably be there but when he got home there was only Richie reading a magazine.

"Hey Carter! Long time no see," Richie said giving Carter a high 5 as he walked by.

"So how was Lucy, did she find my bed comfortable," Richie asked nonchalantly.

"Um, I don't know, she didn't say anything," Carter decided not to tell his friend about him and Lucy.

"Did you find my bed comfortable?" Richie asked, he knew they had been up to something when he came home and found 2 half drunk wine glasses, crumpled sheets and woman's underwear on his bed.

"Uhh, what do you mean," Carter's face went really red. Richie laughed and threw the underwear at him.

"So when did you guys start talking to each other again?" Richie and Breanna had both known Carter and Lucy wouldn't make it through the week.

"Well at the moment were not talking again," Carter confided

"Whoa, explain this to me from the beginning," Richie asked, he had wanted to tell his friend the good news but obviously there was something up with Carter.

"Well it all started back in Chicago" Carter began.

"And then I just said 'fine' and locked myself in the bathroom," Lucy finished, she had just told the complete story to Breanna over 3 boxes of tissues and a carton of Chocolate ice cream.

"You know what this calls for," Breanna said as shescooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

"What?" Lucy sobbed.

"Girls Night Out!" Breanna implied.

"But today's your last day with Richie," Lucy protested.

"Actually Lucy, I wanted to talk to you about that." Breanna began.

"Richie kind of asked me to move in with him." Breanna said slowly.

"But where will you work?" Lucy stated, she knew it was useless, Breanna was in love and there wasn't a single person who could talk her out of moving to New York.

"Lucy I have a better chance at being a dancer if I move to New York. Richie and I spent all of yesterday morning signing me up at Juliard."

"Well, I guess I'm happy for you." Lucy gave her friend a hug.

"Thanks Luce." Breanna murmured, she was sure hell going to miss Lucy.

"What did you call me?" Lucy asked when she heard the nick-name Luce

"Luce, why do you not like it?"

"It sort has a bunch of bad memories." Lucy decided there and then, from this day forward she would never think of Carter again.

"So did she say yes?" Carter asked on their way to a club, Richie had just told Carter about the moving in thing.

"Yeah but she said she had to talk it over with Lucy first," Richie had felt elated ever since he met Breanna, he just wished Carter and Breanna's friend Lucy could feel the same way too.

"I think she's the one," Ritchie said smoothly.

"I feel bad for Lucy, she seemed upset when we had the fight, I'm sure she'll be sad to see Breanna leave,"

Carter had the same melancholy look on his face all day and Richie was sick of it.

"You know what, man, were gonna party tonight and forget about the girls, I mean I was going to call them up and tell us to meet them to wherever were going but you know what, I say we do our own thing." Richie could see that Carter had not changed his facial expression at all. Richie decided to call Breanna on her cell phone.

"Hello? Oh hey baby, no, Oh good because me and Lucy wanted to have a girls night out. Yeah she took it well, ok bye sweetie," Breanna clicked off her cell phone.

"That was Richie, I told him we were having a girls night out, so come on hun, lets party!" Breanna said as she wrapped he coat up. They walked outside and felt the freezing wind blow by.

It was going to be a cold one, no doubt about it.

The music blared into Lucy's ears, she was dancing uncontrollably. Breanna had dragged her out but at least it got her mind off Carter.

"Hey, its you!" A familiar voice called. Lucy turned around to see Sam, the guy who stood her up 2 days ago.

"Where were you?" Lucy asked, at the moment she had no tolerance for men.

"Sorry, something came up, I tried to page you but I didn't get through. Wanna dance?" Sam yelled at the music began to fill the room again.

"Sure," He led Lucy to the crowded dance floor and they danced for a few songs.

"Hey do you wanna step outside for a second, Its kind of hot in here," Sam complained, Lucy noticed she was a little sweaty too. Lucy nodded and she followed him to an alley way in the back of the club.

"I really like you Lucy," Sam whispered quietly. Lucy was starting to get really creaped out when he said this, she tried to remember anything she had learned in Physc training, but nothing came to mind.

"Me too, do you wanna go inside?" Lucy asked as Sam came closer and closer, cornering her near a dumpster.

"Oh your not going anywhere!" Sam began to undo his jeans.

"Help! Somebody please help me!" Lucy screamed.

Carter and Richie were walking down the street when they began to hear screams.

"That sounds like Lucy!" Carter began to run, his heart filled with rage, whoever was hurting her would pay. They ran down the alley to see a man huddled over the screaming and kicking Lucy. When Sam saw Carter and Richie he ran away but Richie chased after him while Carter went to comfort Lucy who was crying in the corner.

"God, Lucy you scared the hell out of me," Carter said rubbing her back. Lucy just glared at him and coldly said...

"Don't touch me Carter."

"Jesus, Lucy just because were not dating doesn't mean I don't care," Carter felt pain well up inside him.

"No, Carter, the reason were not dating is that your not ready to be dating," Lucy grabbed her bag and ran back into the club. Richard watched all of this from the entrance of the alley.

"Hey man, its ok," He tried to comfort Carter but all Carter could do was stare at the sky and realize the mistake he had made.

"Well Lucy, I guess this is good-bye" Breanna sniffled, she was saying good-bye to her best friend. She felt a little guilty about leaving her friend behind, but she knew everything would work out for her eventually. Carter arranged for his plane to pick him up later to spare him the agony of seeing Lucy.

"I'll miss you so much, I'll call as often as possible and maybe I can come and visit you" Lucy glanced at her watch. She had to go or shed miss her flight.

"By Brea," Lucy smiled as she walked away, this hadn't worked out to be her dream vacation at least work would give her something to think about.

Carter walked back into the ER, it was snowing like crazy and it was Christmas Eve. Everyone asked him how he was and how hectic it had been without him or Lucy around. He cringed whenever he thought about Lucy, he'd broken her heart and she'd broken his. Carter walked into the lockers, it was empty and since it was Christmas, filled with tacky-decorations. He opened his locker and just as he was about to slam it he noticed the wrapped present Lucy had thrown at his head, slowly he opened it, The frame was a deep terracotta and engraved in it was "To The Best Teacher," In it was a picture of them at there first Medical conference together. He remembered that day, it had been summer, and it had been so hot, Lucy had come up with the idea of filling the latex gloves up with water and then had picked a water fight with him. He shoved the frame back in and walked back to the front desk.

"Hey Carter, Mark wanted to take a look at your head," Randi called from the desk.

"What room?"

"Exam 4," she yelled back. Carter headed to the exam room.

"Hey, how was New York!" Mark asked as Carter walked in.

"Well, lets just say it was ok," Carter said pathetically.

"Funny," Mark said looking at the cut on Carter's forehead.

"What?" Carter questioned Mark curiously.

"That was the same response Lucy made, Carter why is there a huge bruise on the other side of your head?"

"Lucy whacked me with a rolling pin," Carter said a little embarrassed.

"What exactly did you and Lucy do on this vacation?" Mark asked as he reached for something out of a lower cabinet.

"Um, we, well, I uh" Carter mumbled.

"Carter you can tell me these things."

"I slept with her," Carter finally confessed.

"You what!" Mark had expected something like they kissed or held hands but definitely not this.

"I slept with her, I found myself falling for her and before I knew it I was with her and it was amazing, incredible even, but then I told her we couldn't do this because of the hospital policy and ever since then I haven't been able to live correctly," Carter continued.

"So you really like her," Mark asked slowly.

"Mark I love her, for the first time in my life I felt complete and when we broke up, it felt like hell and when I saw another guy try to hurt her, I felt full of rage,"

"Carter your an idiot."

"I know, hospital policy, teachers--"

"No, if you really love her, don't let anything get in your way. It sounds like your just not ready to start dating but you've found a love." Mark advised. Carter remembered what Lucy had said in the ally way, he knew he had to do something before he lost Lucy.

Lucy sat on the El, she sighed, her life was so pointless at the moment, Breanna was living happily ever after in New York and she wanted to live happily after with Carter, but obviously Carter didn't want that. She reached in her pocket an pulled out a small shriveled Daisy, which brought a tear to her red raw eyes. Lucy had been on this morning but was able to take the afternoon off. She marched in and instantly people came up to tell her she looked like shit. Lucy put her stuff away and tried not to make eye contact with anyone. People were beginning to party, the music blared and all she could think about was when Carter had helped her when she had been drunk. Lucy sat in the corner staring at her cake in the corner, suddenly the song changed to "Jingle Bell Rock". She sighed, 'some Christmas' she thought. The phone began to ring and everyone waited to see who it was or if it was a trauma. Randi picked up the phone.

"ER, Randi speaking, oh hi! Really, ok Ill take a message, uh, ok, awww! Ok I will bye." Randi put down the phone and looked at the crowd.

"Who is it?" Malucci yelled. Randi got up on her chair and picked out Lucy in the crowd.

"This is a message from John Carter." Lucy's eyes perked up. "John Carter would like to announce that he loves Lucy Knight, depite the stupid policy. And if she'll fogive him, to meet him ontop of the rooftop." Randi finnished, everyone's heads turned to Lucy.

"Uh..." Lucy paused forgetting she spoke English. "I, uhh, I gotta-go!" she began to run towards the elevator, everyone cheered as she got on. The doors shut, Lucy felt her heart beat wildly, she herself was so in love with Carter. The elevator stopped at the second floor and people began to get on. Lucy knew she had to get there quicker, she ran off the elevator and started on the stairs. She had to get to him!

Carter stared at the elevator, its lights finally beamed, there was a ding and the doors slid open, but no Lucy. Carter felt so alone then ever, his heart began to ache and he could feel tears slid down his face. He'd lost his chance with Lucy and all because he didn't want to break the rules. He decided to head downstairs, he opened the doors to the stairs and couldn't believe his eyes. It was Lucy! Carter reached out and grabbed her in his arms, he was never going to let her go again.

"Lucy, I love you, please say you love me too!" Carter looked into her eyes,.

"I-love-you-too-Car-ter," She finally caught her breath and they were about to kiss when Carter slipped on some ice and landed on his back with Lucy still in his arms.

"Are you okay?" Lucy said putting her arms around his neck.

"I guess well never be good at ice skating," Carter smiled, Lucy laughed.

"I love it when you laugh Luce," Carter said as he gazed into her eyes.

"I love it when you call me Luce, how long do you suppose till the next trauma comes in?" Lucy asked, she loved being with him up hear, in each others arms.

"Hopefully long enough," Carter rolled over on top of her and they began to kiss. Lucy looked around her snow was beginning to fall, but she felt warm enough in Carter's embrace. Finally everything was perfect.

THE END!

But yet...

Dave ate another lump of cheep-sugar-packed cake while staring up at the TV. "Hey Chief... do'ya think we should call Carter and Lucy? I mean they've been up there for over 30 minutes..." Dave pestered.

"Malucci, shut up and eat cake." Kerry implied, a little annoyed.

"What do you think there doin' up there?" Dave laughed.

"You tell me." Kerry replied.

"I don't know but it sure brings a song to my mind..." Dave stated.

"And what is that?" Kerry asked rolling her eyes.

"Up on the roof top..."

THE END... REALLY!

Merry Christmas, even if you read this and it's July.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!