One Summer Night
Part 1
By Lisa
ERDrLewis@aol.com

Here's the first fic in my new series. Enjoy! I don't own anything, I'm not making money off of this, so everyone at Warner Bros. and their whole menagerie of people over there can just leave me alone. :) Thanks to Aly for editing.

Lucy strolled around the fairly large deli shop while they got her order ready. She grabbed a carton of milk and two loaves of bread, one rye and one white. Lucy was glad she had finally moved out of the dorms. It gave her a new sense of freedom she had never had before.

"Number 63?" the man behind the counter said.

"Right here," Lucy replied. She took her lunchmeat from him and went over to the refrigerator case. She grabbed one of those prepackaged salads from the case. She knew things were usually higher in fat when they were prepackaged, but she didn't really care, it looked good. She grabbed a bottle of ranch dressing, since she didn't like the thousand island that came with it. Lucy quickly counted her items, realizing she could still get that issue of Cosmo and have under ten items. She stepped in the check-out lane and paid for her things. Luckily, the deli was just one block over from her new apartment, so she didn't have to walk far to get home.

She wasn't quite sure why she had moved out. Maybe it was because her roommate's boyfriend had begun to live with them and he was just too annoying for words. Maybe it was because she had some time to spare. Maybe it was because her mom had sent her a check for a *quite* large sum of money and said 'Here-go buy a car or something important'. Her mom said it was an early Christmas present. Christmas was six months away, but she didn't really care. Anyway, she always used the El and felt no need for a car, so she went apartment hunting. Bernard had helped her pick out the apartment and the furniture to go in it. He had taken her to some warehouse auction his dad had told him about and she was able to get some wonderful deals. She got a couch, a small table with three chairs, a huge, overstuffed arm chair, and a beautiful, cherry-wood bed and dresser set for under a hundred and fifty bucks. The couch was pretty loved, but, hey, what could you expect for fifteen bucks?

Bernard got her the most thoughtful gift though-a toaster oven and a bottle of cinnamon sugar. Lucy's favorite food in the whole world was cinnamon toast and Lucy didn't think Bernard could be so thoughtful. That's what she intended to have for dinner-cinnamon toast.

She walked in the door and put the cold food away in the refrigerator. Lucy plugged in the toaster over and got out two pieces of bread. She got the butter out of the fridge-she noticed earlier that all she had to eat was cinnamon and butter, so that's why she went out. She proceeded to make her toast. She put it in the oven and got her magazine out of the bag. It was the last thing in there, so she threw the bag out and put the magazine on the table so she could read while she ate. Lucy poured herself a glass of milk to have with her toast. She began thinking to herself, as much as she loved the hospital, she was glad she got this break before her fourth year of medical school started. Lucy had signed up for the ER sub-I, and got it, and she couldn't wait to get back in the swing of things. However, sometimes it's nice for a break. The one thing that Lucy did miss about going to the hospital every day was seeing Carter. Sure, they had their differences, but she had begun to take a liking to him. Well, she had for a long time. Especially since her psychiatric rotation, when she wasn't seeing him every day. She knew she had a crush on him. She also knew it was impossible for them to be together since she was a student and he wasn't. In addition, she would be a student for almost another year. Eckk.

*Ding!*

Ooh, the toast was done. Lucy got out a paper plate to put her three pieces on. She brought the plate and her milk over to the table. Well. Her first meal in her new home.

She was just about finished with one piece of toast and the article on what men look for most in women when she heard a knock on the door. *Now, who could that be?* Lucy thought to herself. *The only people who know I'm here are Bernard and a few other people over at the dorms.*

She walked over to the door and looked out the peephole. *Am I crazy, or is that John Carter standing outside my door?*

Lucy opened the door and yes, to answer her suspicions, it was Carter. "Carter?"

"Uh, hi," he said, looking sheepish and embarrassed.

"How did you find out where I was?" Lucy demanded.

"I, um, walked over to your dorm and Bernard told me."

*Bernard. Of course, Carter just happens to run into the only person who knows I have a crush on him.* "Oh?" I said. *Why is he here?*

"I, um . . . hum . . ."

"Would you like to come in, Carter?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," he said, relieved he didn't have to ask her.

She let him in. *Why did I come here?* Carter asked himself.

"So, what's up?" Lucy asked. She didn't want to ask outright why he was there.

"I've just had a really bad day and kinda needed someone to talk to . . . I don't have many friends, and you're the first person to come to mind . . ."

Lucy pulled out a chair at the table she had been sitting at. "Here. Sit down. Are you hungry? I can make you a sandwich and then you can tell me what's on your mind."

Carter smiled at her. This is why he had come, Lucy was always so nice to him. "That would actually be great."

Lucy walked over to the fridge again. "Turkey, ham, or roast beef?"

"Um, any is fine."

"Okay, how about turkey then? Rye bread or white?"

"Rye."

Lucy quickly made the sandwich and grabbed little packets of mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup she had got free at the deli.

"Here ya go."

"Thanks . . . a lot."

"No problem. So, what's on your mind?"

Carter sighed. "Oh, everything. I had a bad day at work, then went over to my grandparents' house and got in a fight with my grandfather and dad and then I went home and got in a fight with Kerry."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. "Sounds like a bad day. What happened at work?"

Carter paused to take a bite of his sandwich before speaking. "It was just a long, stressful day. Too many patients for me to handle. By the time I went to my grandparents' I was already burnt out. And then we all got in a fight over Chase."

"Who's Chase?" Lucy asked, taking another bite of her toast.

"My cousin. About a year and a half ago, he was debilitated because of a drug overdose. I was the only one in my family to know about his addiction and didn't tell anyone. A friend and I tried to get him off them, and it seemed like all was going well until he came into the ER OD'd. Anyway, it appears he's taken a turn for the worst and that just got Grandfather in the mood to pick a fight with me," he said, pausing to take another bite of turkey.

Lucy knew how hard it was to get off drugs. It had been hard enough to get off Ritalin, and it sounded like Carter's cousin was in deeper than Lucy was. But Lucy was proud of herself for finally getting off it.

"So then," Carter said, breaking her concentration, "I went home and Kerry and I got into a stupid fight-meaningless, over nothing really. Over who washed the dishes or something like that. I had to get out of there and couldn't think of anywhere else to come. I don't have many friends in Chicago," he said.

Lucy suddenly felt sorry for him. She didn't have tons of friends, but she had a few, like Bernard, she could go to in times like these. She could think of about four or five off the top of her head. Lucy suspected that he considered Kerry a friend, but since he had gotten in a fight with her, she didn't really count tonight. "Well, Carter, you know you're always welcome here," she said with a smile.

"Thanks," he replied. "I'm sorry to just show up here like this."

"No! I'm glad. I had nothing worthwhile to do tonight anyway."

"I see," Carter said, pointing to the article I had been reading.

"Shut up," I replied. "My TV isn't hooked up yet."

"Sure," Carter said, smiling.

"So, what's the ER like without me?"

"Boring. You're not missing anything," he said, still smiling.

That smile drove Lucy crazy. Absolutely crazy. She smiled back at him.

"Nice place you've got here," Carter said.

That prompted Lucy to give him the nickel tour. It didn't take long, since the only thing he hadn't seen was the bathroom and Lucy's bedroom. They threw away their plates and cups and sat down on the couch.

"You know, if you want, you can stay here tonight," Lucy said. She quickly added, "The couch is pretty nice," so he wouldn't think she was implying something. Although she wished that she could.

"Nah, I don't want to impose, or anything, I can always go back to my place," Carter replied. *Please say you insist or something, please,* Carter thought to himself.

"Of course not. I insist," Lucy said. She looked over at the clock. Nine forty-nine PM. "Are you on early tomorrow?"

"Nope. I'm off tomorrow."

"Good. After a day like today, you need a day off!"

"I know," Carter said. *Wow,* he thought, *Lucy even looks good in the simplest pair of jeans and a tee-shirt.* Lucy turned to look at him and he quickly turned his glance, hoping she wouldn't notice that he was staring at her. Lucy smiled a little and he knew he had been caught. The two laughed.

"We're you just staring at me, Carter?" Lucy had learned that it was always best to take the direct approach with Carter.

"Uh," Carter stammered. But he really didn't need to answer, Lucy knew the answer from the shade of pink his face had turned.

"Well, then, I'll take that as a compliment," Lucy said to him. She scooted over closer to him. "You know," she whispered, "*technically* I suppose I'm not a student now, since I'm on break."

"So, *technically* we can do this?" Carter turned to face Lucy and they both leaned in towards each other for a kiss.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing, Lucy whispered, "You're definitely staying, right?"

"Very definitely," Carter whispered back.

Lucy woke up the next morning to a knock on the door. She sat up and saw Carter sleeping next to her, and smiled. Another knock. She grabbed her bathrobe and ran towards the door. On her way there, she glanced at the clock. Ten twenty-two. She opened the door to see Bernard and a few of her other friends standing there. Oh no. What was she going to do?

To be continued . . .