Eve stirred and opened her eyes, feeling mildly disoriented by her surroundings, until she realized that she was at the cabin with Chris. She felt his arm around her waist and the warmth of his body snuggled up next to hers. She raised herself up a tiny bit to find Chris sleeping soundly beside her on the couch. She guessed he must have pulled out the couch to make it into a bed that it folded out into sometime during the night after she had tiredly drifted off to sleep. Chris looked so peaceful lying there in the dim morning light with his hair slightly tousled by the previous night's sleep. They were so near one another that she could feel the rise and fall of his chest. She had the urge to gently touch his face while it was absent of the guarded look that he usually wore when he was awake. She almost gave into her urge to reach out to her treasured friend when she stopped herself, thinking that if Chris awoke to find her there staring at him so intently that he would think she had lost her mind and gone crazy. She glanced down at her rumpled clothes and decided she better get up from her precarious position by him before she ended up making a fool out of herself. She began to ease herself up away from his side, trying to be careful not to disturb his slumber.

Sitting up now, still looking upon him while he was fast asleep, she felt a slight twinge of guilt gnawing at her conscience because she had actually been jealous of all the attention that Karen had received from Chris lately. To see Chris so concerned and wrapped up with someone else, especially one of Eve's closet friends, had been disconcerting for her to witness. Chris was supposed to be her best friend, not Karen's, she had stubbornly reasoned within her mind. She knew her feelings were being unfair to Chris, but she had to admit to herself that she had felt those feelings of jealously for some time now none the less, catching Chris and Karen together on several occasions over the past few months.

Eve had been so miserable with Ian and their subsequent divorce that had followed their mutual breakup, she had wanted to pour out her heart to Chris because he always seemed to put things into perspective for her. Lately though, Chris hadn't even had time for her at all, being so caught up with Karen and all the things that were going on in her life. She reluctantly had felt the shoe on the other foot for once, as usually it had been Chris missing her instead of the other way around for the most part of their friendship. Maybe Eve shouldn't have wished that she and Chris would grow closer again and get things back to the way that it used to be in their friendship. She couldn't help but miss his devious ways that he had about him, ways that could always seem to bring a smile to her face and draw her out from whatever foul mood she might happen to find herself in at the moment. She missed all the fun they used to have with one another and had desperately wanted it back into her life.

Seeing how upset Chris had been last night about Karen's decision to go back to Frank, she now regretted even thinking her traitorous thoughts about not wanting Chris and Karen to become a couple. When Karen had told her of her decision to go back to Frank, Eve had felt a strange sense of relief come over her at the unexpected news from her friend. What kind of friend did that make her to Chris? He was supposed to be one of her best friends and here she had been on the sidelines hoping that his latest relationship that he was trying to build with Karen would fail. What kind of person had she become over this past year? Had being with Ian changed her so much that she couldn't be happy that her friend wouldn't have to be alone anymore? Shouldn't Chris be happy and have someone to love him? She knew that if he could read her mind, he would be so hurt with her right now.

Looking back over the past few years, she knew she hadn't wanted him to be with Julie for the most obvious reason that Julie was psychotic and Eve had feared for Chris' well being when he had been married to Julie, both mentally and physically. Why hadn't she wanted him to be with Karen? Karen was a terrific person, although Eve had the feeling that Karen was trying so hard to go on with her life after she had broken off her engagement to Frank that she still wasn't over him. Now she knew for sure that Karen was still in love with Frank by the latest turn of events that had just taken place. Eve felt bad for Chris because she could see now that Chris had really cared about Karen.

She thought back to the day in The Recovery Room when Chris had found out about her decision to be with Ian and his wishes for her to be happy and stating that he only wanted to best for her. Well, now Eve would just have to do her best to try and make it up to him for not supporting him like she should have about his feelings for Karen in the same manner that he had wished for her.

Karen had encouraged Eve to go and find Chris last night after she had informed her of her change of heart about Frank. She had wanted Eve to try and be there for Chris since Karen realized how upset and disappointed he had been by her decision to try and make things work with Frank. At first, Eve had been hesitant to do Karen's bidding, since she knew how hypocritical it would be of her to seek him out and try to comfort him, knowing that all along she had wanted her best friend back in her life. Eve had relented and finally went off in search of him, only to find him in a terrible mood and to have him lash out at her in anger, but in all honestly she had felt that she had deserved his wrath.

Were her and Chris ever going to find true happiness? The question plagued her and god only knew what the future would hold for both of them. She tried to shake off all of these morose thoughts that had crept into her mind so early this morning. Too early, she deduced, thinking that she should get up and go fix them both some coffee. She was grateful that Chris hadn't awaken during her retrospection of their current situations because if he could sense her thoughts then she would have some major explaining to do to him. She quietly spoke out, "One day we will both be happy Ramsey, I'm sure of it." Then she arose to go to the kitchen to brew them some coffee while she went to take a shower.

---

The sound of running water awoke Chris from his sleep. He stretched out reaching for Eve only to find that she was gone from his side where she had slept so peacefully last night. He guessed he should have slept somewhere else rather than beside her last night, but having her near him last night had felt so wonderful to him and the temptation to keep her near him had been too great to ignore. He grinned, thinking that if it had bothered her that bad to find him sleeping beside her, that she would have woke him up by hitting or fussing at him, so he figured that is must not have bothered her too terribly much.

It had taken all of the strength he had possessed not to turn her over during the night and awaken her from her slumber to tell her how he really felt about her. He was discouraged in how things had turned out for him and Karen, but he knew deep down in his soul that Eve would always have a special place in his heart that nobody else would ever hold, no matter who he might eventually end up being in a relationship with later on down the road. Why couldn't Eve realize that he was the one who could make her happy? If she would only open up her eyes and see what she had standing right in front of her all along.

He had watched her go from Scott, to Kevin, to Ian, each time seeing her hope that she had finally found her one true love, only to find out that in the end none of them had been the right man for her. His patience was running out with her and her disastrous choices of men. Maybe he should reveal to her the love that he had been secretly harboring for her all of these years. What did he have to lose? He could lose the most important friend he had ever had in his life if she turned away from him and his true feelings. Could he really afford to lose the one person who meant more to him than anything else in this entire world? Why did he still care about her in that way after seeing her with all of the men she had chosen to be with instead of him? All he had ever wanted was a chance to love her the way that she needed to be loved, wholly and completely. If only she would open up her heart to him they could have it all, everything they both needed and desired, he was sure of it, but would Eve ever wake up and see him as he saw her?

He shook his head, doubtful that if Eve hadn't seen it yet, then she probably wouldn't ever see it. Hadn't she told him that he would never be her boyfriend? He wanted to be so much more to her than just a boyfriend, he wanted to be everything to her, to be the one person that she turned to and loved with all of her heart.

He shrugged his shoulders, mulling over this impossible situation that he was in. He decided to get up and went to the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. He began to rummage around in the kitchen hoping to find something to make them for breakfast. He was starving and doing this simple task would take his mind off of his thoughts of Eve. He was in the process of cooking when Eve emerged from the bathroom in her robe, her wet hair dangling down around her shoulders.

She walked over to the coffeepot to pour herself a mug of coffee and said, "You didn't have to cook breakfast for us Chris. I was planning on cooking something for us after I had gotten out of the shower."

"That's okay Eve, I've eaten your cooking before," he teased her, then turned to see her standing there beside him dressed in only a skimpy robe that revealed her long shapely legs to his eyes. Seeing her with barely anything on caught him slightly off guard and he stopped cooking to stare at her.

"Something wrong Ramsey? I know I don't look to great with my hair all wet and no makeup on, but I thought that since we used to live together that my morning look wouldn't scare you off too badly."

"I guess I'm just out of the habit of seeing you like this in the mornings," he offered up to her. "You know if you don't go and get some clothes on that I'll have to grab you up and ravish you on the spot right here and now."

She laughed at his suggestion, "I think you need to go and have your eyes examined. I look terrible in the mornings."

"Not to me you don't, so you need to run along before I do what I said I was going to do to you if you don't get dressed," he told her, wondering what she would do if he made good on his warning to her.

"Yeah right, I'll believe it what I see it Ramsey," she dared him not backing up from him one bit.

He saw her eyes light up and the devious smile that she gave him and he decided that he would teach her a lesson about not heeding his warnings. He quickly turned and pulled her into his arms, looking deep into her soft brown eyes, "Believe it now Lambert," he captured her lips into a hungry kiss of undisguised urgency from him. Eve instinctively opened her mouth to him, surprised by his sudden movements, although not wanting him to stop what he had started between them after her dare to him. Chris moved his lips over her, his strong arms held her tightly as she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. He lifted his head and stared down at her, trying to mask his feelings that she had aroused in him so suddenly by her nearness to him. He abruptly released her from his hold upon her and whispered, "You better heed my warning and go get dressed now. I'm not kidding this time Eve."

Eve looked into his eyes and saw a flicker of something that she couldn't quite pinpoint for a moment then it was gone, she struggled to catch her breath and shakily replied, "Okay Ramsey, I believe you now." She pulled her robe tighter to her body and hastily retreated to the safety of her bedroom. She closed the door behind her and leaned up against it as she tried to calm down her racing heart. They had kissed each other lots of times before this morning, but this time when they kissed it had felt completely different from all of the other times that she and Chris had played around kissing each other. There was something more in his kiss that she had felt tingling all the way clear down to her toes. She touched her lips, bewildered by her reaction to him. She stood there not moving, shocked by the feelings Chris had evoked in her from just a kiss.

Chris watched Eve hurriedly take off into the direction of her bedroom and thought that if she hadn't of left this time when he had told her to that he had no doubt in his mind that he would not have stopped kissing her until they had both ended up on the floor together wrapped around each other. He wanted her so badly right now at this moment that he could taste it. He took a deep breath thinking that it was going to be more difficult to keep the truth of his feelings from her than he had originally thought.

chapter 5

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ian was in the midst of telling Daniel the story of the Three Little Pigs using a gruff voice for the wolf, "The big bad wolf said, little pig, little pig, let me in."

Daniel giggled at his father's impression of the wolf when Ian heard a knock on the door and told Daniel in his normal voice, "Son, maybe that is your mother deciding to come back and spend the rest of the weekend with us guys like I suggested to her yesterday afternoon."

He gingerly picked Daniel up from his spot beside him on the couch and they proceeded to answer the door with Ian hoping that Eve had changed her mind about staying away all weekend during his visit with Daniel. Ian opened up the door with an expectant smile that suddenly changed to an immediate frown as he viewed the visitor standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Kevin asked in a hostile tone toward Ian.

"I could ask you the same thing," Ian testily replied, disappointed that it had been Kevin instead of Eve.

"Where is Eve at?" Kevin questioned, his eyes searching for a sign of Eve anywhere in the apartment.

"She's not here at the moment. Can I help you with something?" Ian shifted Daniel into his other arm as Daniel began to squirm uneasily, "As you can see my son and I are busy right now."

"When will Eve be back home?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, as if it is any of your business, this is my weekend to spend with Daniel," Ian retorted, wanting nothing more than for Kevin to leave. "I'll tell her that you came by to see her."

"Don't bother, I'm sure that you wouldn't end up telling her anyway. I'll just see her at the hospital Monday," Kevin replied as he turned to leave.

"Oh Kevin, where is that darling Lucy? She happens to be one of the few people that I've actually missed since leaving this fair city of Port Charles. I have to say that your fiancee is one precious woman, so sweet and dare I say delectable, all rolled up into one incredible package," Ian smirked, raising Kevin's ire with his tactless inquiry of Lucy's whereabouts.

"Go straight to hell Ian. I'm warning you to stay away from Lucy or I'll..."

"Or you'll what Kevin? Can I help it if I have a certain charm and appeal with the women in your life?"

Daniel grew fussy in Ian's arms and reached out towards Kevin, holding out his little arms for Kevin to take him, but Ian drew back, not allowing Kevin to have access to Daniel. Kevin shook his head in disgust when he realized that Ian wasn't going to let him get near Daniel.

"You know Kevin, if it hadn't of been for you and your nosy suspicions of me in the first place, I'd be able to be with my family all of the time instead of being forced out of my life and to only be able to see my son for one weekend out of each month."

"Well, maybe if you had concentrated more on your wife and your son when you had the chance, your life wouldn't be in such shambles now. No one put a gun to your head to sleep with Lucy. What did you think that Eve would do when she found out the truth about your little love tryst?"

Kevin turned to leave, but not before Ian could reply to him, "I guess you were more forgiving to Lucy than Eve was to me, huh? Then again, Lucy is one hot woman in or out of bed."

"You disgust me," Kevin offered up to him on his way out the door, "the best thing Eve ever did was putting you out on your ass after what you did to her. You shouldn't be placing the blame on me, you messed your life up all on your own."

Ian slammed the door and vowed, "Kevin, we will see whose life ends up being in shambles after I get through with you. I'll get Eve back and maybe I'll keep Lucy dangling on the side just for the fun of it. Eve belongs with me," he turned his attention back to his son, "Isn't that right young Daniel? You, me and your mom are all going to be one happy family again very soon. Your mother may not realize it yet, but I'm going to win her back no matter what I have to do to get her to come to her senses about me."

Ian walked back over to the couch with Daniel and continued his story to his son as if Kevin had never came by the apartment at all this morning.

---

Chris managed to finish cooking breakfast and was fixing plates for Eve and him when Eve came out of her bedroom, now fully clothed in jeans and a sweatshirt. She had pulled her dark auburn hair back into a slick ponytail that lightly swung as she made her way to sit down at the table.

"Here you go," Chris handed her a plate brimming full of food which she accepted from him without ever having to make eye contact with him.

"Thank you," she quietly said, looking down at the plate of food as if it were the most interesting thing in the world so she wouldn't have to look up and face Chris.

Chris casually took his seat across from her and after a few minutes of silence between them he asked, "Eve, what is it with you giving me the silent treatment? You haven't even glanced my way since you came out of your bedroom. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable around me. It's just..."

"Chris, there is nothing to explain. We were just kidding around with one another, right?" Eve raised her head to finally look into his dark brown eyes trying to gauge his reaction to her question.

"Yeah, that's all that it was," he nodded, not wanting to reveal to her that he had felt a lot more than just kidding around with Eve when they had kissed in the kitchen.

"I thought so," she dipped her fork into her eggs, moving them around on her plate, suddenly losing her appetite at his response. She wondered if it had all been her imagination, but for a minute there she could have swore that Chris was going to say something else to her. Maybe she was more lonely than she thought she was and that kiss had made her imagine that there had been more to it than there really was when she had got caught up in the moment with Chris earlier.

Chris diverted his eyes from her, trying to concentrate on anything beside her presence in the room. All he had really wanted to do was go to her and continue what they had started a short while ago. He was lost in his thoughts of them kissing one more as visions of a barely dressed Eve in his arms floated throughout his mind.

"Chris, did you hear what I asked you?" Eve inquired, snapping Chris out of his daydream of her.

"Sorry, my mind seems to be somewhere else at the moment," Chris reached for his coffee cup and took a sip of the hot liquid trying to redirect his errant thoughts back to the conversation they were having with one another, "what did you want to know?"

"I asked you what you wanted to do today," Eve answered him as she cast him a curious glance in his direction.

He almost blurted out to her, "Make love to you all day," but thankfully had caught himself before his fantasies of being with her overtook his better judgement and he spouted off something crazy like that to her.

"Chris, I'm waiting for an answer from you," Eve tried to decipher his hesitation to answer her question.

"How about we go on a hike? You know we could go out and get some exercise today," Chris said, thinking to himself that any excuse to get him out of these close quarters with her was what he needed to do before he ended up trying to kiss her again and then he'd probably wind up getting slapped by her. He shook his head and did his best to try to bring his mind back to the situation at hand.

"Okay, that sounds like it would be fun," Eve agreed, "I'll clean up the dishes while you go and get ready."

"All right, I'll do that," he arose from the table anxious for a chance to gather his wits about him before he told her what he really wanted to do with her all day long.

---

Karen sat on her bay window seat ledge, looking out to see the beautiful morning view that her apartment offered to her. Frank silently came up behind her, gently touching her shoulder, "Why didn't you wake me this morning?"

"I thought you might need the extra sleep seeing as how we stayed up nearly half the night," Karen began as she continued to look out the window.

"Last night was fantastic being back here with you, getting to hold you in my arms," Frank said, noting her somewhat somber mood, "it was fantastic for you too, wasn't it?"

"Of course it was," she reassured him as she turned to look at Frank, "I was just worried about Chris."

A frown crossed over Frank's features at the mention of Chris Ramsey's name, "He doesn't need your concern," he huffed, "after all he did to keep up apart from one another."

"Frank, I realize that you are Chris are not really friends, but..."

"Damn right, we're not friends, I hate him for all of the misery he has caused me over the years," Frank's eyes narrowed, incensed at the very mention of Chris by Karen, "I can't believe that he is actually crossing your thoughts. Some friend he has been to you these past couple of months doing everything in his power to make you want to be with him instead of me. It baffles me that you can even forgive him for all of the trouble that he has caused us."

Karen took a deep breath and explained to Frank in a gentle tone, "Well, you know if my memory serves me correctly that someone did some pretty bad things to me and your brother Joe and somehow we both managed to find it in our hearts to forgive this person for his lack of better judgement."

"Point taken," Frank sighed, knowing that Karen was right, if she hadn't of forgiven him for some the the stunts that he had pulled with Courtney, they wouldn't be together today. "How about for right now to see if we can disagree on the subject where Ramsey is concerned?"

"I'll accept that answer for now, but one day maybe we can all end up being friends," Karen offered up to him hopefully, "I just hope that Eve found him after he took off like he did last night. I know he didn't really want to hear what I had to tell him."

"So you foisted off Eve to search for him," Frank rolled his eyes at her, "now there's a pair of misguided souls if I ever saw one."

"Frank, Chris and Eve would be great together if they would just admit their true feelings and quit fighting their attraction to each other so hard."

"Oh, don't tell me that you are trying to play matchmaker for the two of them," Frank laughed at the prospect of Chris and Eve together as a couple.

"Why not? What would be the harm in trying to help two people realize that they are meant for each other?" Karen asked as she shot Frank a look, "I happen to believe that they really do care about each other."

"So you decided to give them a little push in the right direction? Karen, what were you thinking? What did you decide to do to make them realize what you think that you know about them?"

"All I did was persuade Eve to go and find Chris and try to be there for him to give him some moral support, since I knew how upset he was when he left me," Karen crossed her arms defensively as she answered his questions.

"My eternal optimist," Frank declared as he planted a quick kiss upon her cheek, "I just hope that they didn't end up killing each other last night seeing as how high strung they both can be at time. On second thought, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea after all," he mused at his thoughts of Chris and Eve, "you know Karen, this just might blow up in your face with both of them getting angry at you when they realize you were behind trying to get them together."

"No, one day they will both thank me for trying to help them find their way to each other. This won't blow up in my face, Chris and Eve belong together," Karen stated firmly as she rose to take Frank's hand in hers, "you'll see."

---

"Lambert, what's the hold up? We've just got to go a little bit further to go to make it to the clearing up ahead," Chris urged Eve on while he continued to climb up the narrow path, striving to reach the top of the hill to see the view.

"What's got you in such a hurry Ramsey? It's not like we don't have all day to do this," Eve grumbled, trying to keep up with Chris' long strides.

Chris turned to look at Eve and slowed down somewhat to allow her time to catch up with him, "Eve, if you didn't want to go hiking, you could have picked out something else for us to do instead."

"It's not that, I'm just still kind of tired. Things have been a little hectic for me lately, trying to juggle my job at the hospital and raising a very active seven month old baby boy all by myself. Doing all the things that I have to do doesn't leave me much time for sleep," Eve commented, determined that she could stay up with the fast pace that Chris had set for them both.

Chris stopped his steps completely, "Eve, if you ever need some help with Daniel all you have to do is ask me. I would be more than willing to lend you a hand and help you out. You don't have to do everything by yourself."

"I'm more than competent to do all that I have to do, thank you very much, I'm not some helpless female in need of rescuing," Eve defended herself.

"I've never thought that you were a helpless female, you're far from that," Chris stated, "although at the moment I think that I'm going to have to recant my statement from last night about you not being a wimp Lambert. You are dragging your behind on this hike, then again, you know I can't help being the best at anything that we attempt to do together."

Eve's eyes narrowed at his comment to her and it made her more determined than ever to reach him and show Chris that she could take on any challenge that he could dish out to her and do just as well or better than he did. "Chris, that will be the day when you are better than me at anything."

"Come on and admit it," Chris flashed her a devious grin, "you know that you can't beat the master." He loved seeing the way Eve could get that sparkle of anger flashing in her eyes, especially when she was riled up at him for teasing her.

The path they had taken was still kind of slippery from the previous snow that had only melted a few days earlier in these mountains, but Eve pushed on almost reaching the point of catching up with Chris, muttering to herself, "Master, in your dreams maybe..."

"Eve, be careful, it's kind of ..." Chris was unable to complete his warning to her before Eve misstepped and accidentally slid into the mud that was alongside the pathway, "slippery."

"Damn it," she swore, angry at herself for not paying close enough attention to where she was going and even more so at Chris for goading her on in the first place.

Chris quickly moved from the spot where he was standing at to go back to her to hold an outreached hand to help Eve get up from the sticky mud she had fallen in. He tried to keep a straight face desperately trying not to crack up laughing at the sight of Eve covered in mud all down one side of her jeans.

"Don't you even think about laughing at me," she warned and gave him a nasty glare.

"Or you'll do what?" he asked, starting to laugh at her, not being able to control his mirth one moment longer.

"This," she replied, as she yanked his outstretched hand to her and pulled him off balance. Chris was caught off guard and toppled down alongside Eve right into the mud. Eve began to laugh at Chris now for being in the same position that she was already in.

"You are going to get it now," he declared, scooping up a handful of the slimy mud and holding it just above her head.

"You wouldn't dare," she raised her voice, as she attempted to move away from his hand, eyeing the mud that he held only inches above her. Her attempts were for naught, seeing as she only managed to slide down deeper into the mud.

"Oh, but I would," he gave her a wicked look, "that is unless you admit to the fact that I am the best at whatever we do."

"No way," she squealed, "you just got lucky that I was tired this morning during this little hiking expedition, if I hadn't of been exhausted, I would have been able to run circles around you."

"Yeah right Lambert, I know how bad you really want to say it to me. Let's see, you can start off by saying that I'm the best doctor at GH, expert hiker, sexiest man on the planet..."

"In your fantasies maybe," she shook her head at him, "I'll have you know that I'm the best thing around here Ramsey."

"My fantasies are much better than hearing you say how great I am," Chris grabbed her by the arms and pinned her down to the soggy ground, "because I already know how wonderful I am anyway. Well, I guess since you won't admit to the truth about my greatness, you'll have to suffer the consequences." He took the handful of mud and smudged part of her face and hair with the miry mess that he held in his hands.

"You are so bad," Eve shrieked, feeling the mud instantly clinging upon her. She tried to break his hold upon her to be able to retaliate against him because there was no way that he was going to go unpunished for rubbing mud all in her face and hair.

Chris continued his hold upon her while Eve struggled to get away from his tight grasp and he smirked at her, "You were the one who started all of this by dragging me down into the mud with you."

Eve squirmed around some more and finally managed to free up one arm to grab a handful of mud to sling it upon Chris, "Got you back" she gleefully giggled, making Chris dirty as she appeared to be.

"I'll get you," he replied and pulled her down beneath him, only this time he didn't threaten her with a handful of mud as he brought his dirt smudged face directly above hers.

"How Ramsey?" Eve asked, "I don't think that you can make me much dirtier than I already am at the moment."

"I have my ways," he implied, his lips barely above hers so close that their breath mingled with one another. Eve's eyes closed as she anticipated that Chris was going to kiss her, but no kiss came forth from him. "Eve, why are your eyes closed? Are you still sleepy?" Eve immediately opened her eyes and gave him a questionable look not believing that he wasn't going to kiss her. Chris only grinned at her, "You didn't think that I was going to kiss you or something like that, did you?"

"I didn't think anything of the kind like that at all," she huffed, pushing him away from her as she began to straighten herself upright.

"I just wondered seeing as you had you lips all pursed up ready for a kiss and you had your eyes closed like you were waiting on something from me," Chris stated as he looked at Eve curiously.

"Your ego is worse than it used to be, if that is at all possible," Eve hotly declared, "I wasn't wishing or hoping for anything that you could possibly offer to me."

"That's good to know, since I wasn't offering anything to you in the first place," Chris did his best to conceal his amusement to her reaction to him not kissing her. He pulled himself up out of the mud and held out his hand to assist her up from the muddy spot on the ground. "Come on Lambert, let's go back to the cabin and get cleaned up."

Eve grudgingly took his hand to get up and immediately dropped is as soon as she could steady herself on solid ground. She silently fumed to herself thinking that Chris Ramsey had another thing coming to him if he thought that she was desperate enough to be wanting kisses from the likes of him. He had infuriated her so much with his insinuations that she refused to speak to him as they made their way back to the cabin.

Chris smiled viewing the expressions that were running across Eve's face during their walk back to the cabin. She had actually looked disappointed earlier when had didn't end up kissing her like she really had expected him to and then she got completely furious with him for even suggesting that was exactly what she wanted from him. Well, Eve Lambert could that sometimes in life that you don't always end up getting what you expect. Lord knows, he had wanted her for years, so maybe she could learn a little something about wanting something that was just out of reach for a change.

---

The afternoon had turned warmer and Ian decided to take Daniel for an afternoon walk in the park. Ian pushed the stroller and talked to his son along the way, until he spotted a familiar figure among the crowd of people. He smiled in anticipation of seeing his dear friend.

"What do I owe the pleasure of seeing such a lovely sight right before my very eyes? Ian asked, taking Lucy completely by surprise.

"Ian, I've missed you so," Lucy exclaimed as she turned to give Ian a hug before pulling back self consciously from his embrace. "What are you doing back in Port Charles?"

"I'm here to see my son this weekend," Ian explained, "you didn't think that you had seen the last of me yet, did you?"

"I didn't know after you left town so suddenly like you did," Lucy paused, searching out his eyes and giving him a warm smile.

"Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you come back with me and Daniel to the apartment and you can catch me up on all that has been going on since I left Port Charles."

"Ian, I don't know if that is such a good idea," Lucy began uneasily, "Kevin would be furious if he ever found out that I went off somewhere with you."

"Lucy Coe, when have you ever let your life be dictated by anyone? Eve is out of town for the weekend and it will just be the three of us enjoying the afternoon together having a nice friendly visit with one another," Ian pleaded with her, "Speaking of Kevin, he came by earlier to see Eve this morning, but I honestly don't know what he wanted to see her about since he wasn't willing to leave a message for her with me."

"Oh he came by to see Eve, huh?" Lucy inquired, instantly jealous at the thought of Kevin going by to see Eve without him even mentioning it to her before he left the lighthouse this morning. "Well, I guess that I could take some time to come by and visit with one of my dearest friends for a little while, especially since you said that Eve won't be there to bother us."

Ian grinned, thinking that this was going to turn out to be an interesting afternoon indeed.

---

Jack was on his way back to work at the Bike Shop from making his daily visit to Livvie at Ferncliff. Once again, Livvie had been totally unresponsive the entire time he had tried to visit with her. Kevin had warned him that it might take months or possibly even years before Livvie came out of the catatonic state that she was in. At first, Jack had refused to believe that Livvie wouldn't react and respond to his presence, but for months now, it was the same scenario every time that he went to visit her.

It broke his heart to see her so totally withdrawn from everyone and everything. He talked to her constantly, hoping to draw her out from the dark world that Livvie had regressed into. So far his actions had been to no avail for she seemed more trapped in another world locked away from all the people that loved and cared about her.

Jack was so engrossed in his thoughts about Livvie that he failed to see the brunette walking in the direction of the Recovery Room and ran right into her almost knocking her down in the process.

"Watch where you are going," the dark eyed girl snapped at Jack as she tried to extricate herself away from him.

Jack began to apologize, I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going..."

"That's apparent," she frowned slightly at Jack, "so if you'll be so kind as to get out of my way, I've got to find a place called the Recovery Room."

"Seeing as how I ran into you, I'll be glad to show you where it is," Jack offered up to her.

"I don't need a tour guide. Can you just point me in the direction that I need to go in? I have a find a woman there named Mary Collins."

"What do you need to see Mary for?" Jack questioned her, mildly intrigued with the impatient girl that was standing before him.

"None of your damn business, don't bother with giving me directions, I'll find it on my own," she stormed off in the direction that she had been headed in when Jack had accidentally bumped into her.

Jack watched her walk away from him and he shook his head, thinking that some people were so rude in this world. He sighed and turned to go to the Bike Shop. He had a motorcycle to work on and hopefully by fixing the broken vehicle it would help him get his mind off of his depressing visit that he had today with Livvie.

---

Gabby busied herself with paperwork as she spied Karen approaching the nurse's desk. She had managed to avoid Karen if it was at all possible ever since Karen had found out about Gabby sleeping with Frank. Karen noticed Gabby's sudden change in behavior as she continued to walk over to where Gabby was working, "Gabby, do you have a minute to spare so that we could talk to each other?"

"I'm kind of busy working on these patient charts," Gabby hedged around Karen not bothering to look up from her work to glance at her.

"This won't take long," Karen patiently explained hoping that she and Gabby could try to start making amends with one another after all that had happened with them concerning Frank.

"Okay," Gabby reluctantly put her pen and chart down and walked around from behind the desk to finally face Karen, "what is it that you think we need to talk about?"

"I know these past few months that things have been rather tense between us. I wanted to let you know before you found out from anyone else that Frank and I patched things up with one another and that we are trying to make a new start," Karen began hoping to find the right words to explain this situation to Gabby so that she wouldn't end up being offended with her for telling her. "I would like for us to try to put all these hard feelings that we felt for one another aside so that Frank doesn't feel like he has to be in the middle of this situation."

"Karen, I'm sorry about what happened between Frank and me. It was wrong of me to go after him like I did, but I was hurting from finding out that Joe had found someone else and Frank was so sweet to me that one thing led to another before we really knew what was happening. I should have seen that Frank was on the rebound when you and he were having so much trouble and that he wasn't falling in love with me. I just hope that we can forgive each other for all of the hurtful things that we have done to one another. I really have missed us being friends." Gabby gave Karen a teary look.

"Gabby, I would like for us to be friends again too. We have to work together at the hospital and..."

"Say no more," Gabby blurted out putting her hand up to cut Karen off in mid sentence, "I guess I better be getting back to work so I can finish up on those charts before one of the doctor's need to review them."

"All right, I'll see you later," Karen said as she made her way to go on her rounds to see her patients.

Gabby walked back to the nurse's desk and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as soon as Karen was out of sight, "Yeah Karen, we will be friends again when hell freezes over. You might have gotten Frank back for now, but not for long. I'm not going to stand by and watch you break Frank's heart all over again. Things are not over for Frank and me yet, not by a long shot."

---

Lucy looked around Eve's apartment as Ian began to warm up a bottle of milk for Daniel. It had been a while since Lucy had been welcome in this place after Eve had found out about her sleeping with Ian. Daniel gave out a slight cry and Lucy automatically went to him to pick him up. She lovingly cradled Daniel in her arms and sat down in the rocking chair to calm his cries.

"You are such a natural at that," Ian handed her the bottle of warmed milk and Lucy proceeded to feed a very tired and hungry Daniel.

"Ian, it has been so long since I've gotten to do something as simple as feeding a baby their bottle," Lucy admitted, gently rocking Daniel as he hungrily drank from his bottle, "I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy doing little things like this."

"That's a shame, you deserve to have your little Christina back in your life too," Ian sat down observing Lucy take such care with Daniel.

"Of course you can understand how I feel," Lucy felt a tear slide down her cheek, "I miss my Christina so badly that is feels like a piece of my heart is missing from me all of the time."

Ian reached up to wipe the stray tear away from Lucy's face as she gave him a weak smile, "Lucy darling, I do understand your loss. I just wish there was some way that I could make all of your pain disappear."

"Thanks Ian, you don't know how much I appreciate your friendship," Lucy shook her head, "you helped me out when I so desperately needed someone to listen and understand what I was going through at the time."

Daniel drifted off to sleep in her arms after he had finished taking the rest of his bottle and Ian bent over to pick up the sleeping child from Lucy to take him to his room where he placed him in his crib. Ian attached the sleep apnea monitoring device to his son and went back to find Lucy solemnly staring out of the window. He placed a hand upon her shoulder and she turned to face him with tear filled eyes.

"Those eye are far too pretty to be filled with tears Lucy Coe," Ian informed her as he cupped her face in his hands.

"Ian, I apologize for crying, some days are harder to accept the reality that I've lost my daughter than other days," Lucy attempted to move back from being so close to Ian, but he stayed right where he was cradling her face.

"You never have to apologize for showing your feelings around me, I hate having to be away from Daniel too. At least I do get to see him once a month even though it tears me apart to have to stay away from him the rest of the time," Ian pulled Lucy into his arms and comforted her as she started to cry on his shoulder.

"I wish that Eve would let you see Daniel more often," Lucy sniffled between her tears.

Ian moved back to look at Lucy, "Lucy, I can't stand being away from my child any longer and I'm going to do my best to try and convince Eve to let me see Daniel more than just once a month."

"Do you really think that Eve will agree to letting you see Daniel on a more regularly scheduled basis?" Lucy asked, "I mean Eve was extremely upset about finding out about all that happened between us and she wouldn't forgive you for us being together that one night. I want you to know that even though we said that we didn't regret what we did with each other, I am so sorry that our one night together ending up costing you everything that you hold dear to your heart."

"Not everything, I still have you in my life, don't I? Lucy, neither one of us is to blame for what happened, we both needed someone to believe in us and the ones that we loved had turned their backs on us and we ended up turning to one another for solace and comfort. If I had to do it all over again, even with knowing the consequences that came after it was all said and done with, I wouldn't give up that one night we shared in each others arms."

Lucy gave him a look of disbelief, "I don't think you know what you are saying Ian..."

Ian silenced her words to him with a kiss, grabbing her close to him and plundering her mouth, he pulled away from her only momentarily to add, "Oh, I do know what I am saying," and returned to her lips before she could object to his advances upon her.

The warning bells were going off in Lucy's head as they continued to kiss one another. Lucy was slowly being pulled back in the fire that Ian seemed to have over her senses and she knew she better stop this now before things went too far and they ended up making love again. If Kevin ever found them together like this, she shuddered to think of how her Doc might react this time after she had promised Kevin that things were totally over between her and Ian. With thoughts of her beloved Doc in mind, she pushed Ian back away from her, "Ian, we can't let this happen again, we both know that this is wrong."

"No, what's wrong is denying that we have a connection with one another Lucy. I know you can feel it too, I'm drawn to you like a moth is to the flame and when I get around you I can't seem to help myself. It's been so long since I felt your sweet lips pressed next to mine," Ian stared at Lucy with such intensity that she had to force herself to walk away from him.

Ian felt the sting of her rejection and went to the couch, placing his head in his hands, lost in the conflicting emotions that Lucy brought out in him. He wanted his family back, but every time he was alone with Lucy he felt the urge to take her in his arms and make her his own too. Lucy came over to sit beside him, her voice trembling and low toned, "Ian, I don't know what to say except that if we let our emotions overtake us like they did that night then it will only lead us back down a pathway of heartbreak and misery for everyone involved."

"I realize that it caused major problems with us concerning Kevin and Eve, but I will never regret our one single night of passion, I'll remember holding you in my arms and making love to you for the rest of my life." Ian swore to Lucy as he finally raised his head to meet her eyes and search her face to see if she had an inkling of the same emotion for him.

Lucy shook her head sadly, trying to forget that night she had given herself so freely to Ian, "You need to forget that night ever took place, so that we can both try to go on with our lives."

"What life? I've lost everything, my wife refuses to let me come home and try to rebuild a life with her and my son, I left my job at the clinic and moved away to another state, I can't seem to connect with anyone at the new hospital that I'm working for and I'm completely alone in this world. No one cares whether I live or die."

"Ian, that is not true and you know it, you will never be alone. You still have Daniel and you will always have me, I will never turn my back on you as long as I live." Lucy vehemently declared, trying to make Ian see that all was not lost for him.

"Will you help me try to get my family back?" he asked her with tears in his eyes, "If I have decided that I want my life back the way that it was before things got so screwed up, I am going to need some help. Can I count on you to help me?"

"I will help you do anything," she promised him, "granted, I don't know what help I can be to you trying to reunite with Eve, but I'll do whatever you ask of me. You were there for me and I will do the same for you."

"So if I can figure out a way to get my family and my life back, you will be on my side through it all?" Ian asked hopefully, turning his face towards Lucy.

Lucy reached over to hug him, "I'll stand by you and do whatever it takes to make you happy Ian Thornhart. If you want your life back then I'll be right by your side doing my best to help you along the way. Everyone deserves to be with the ones that they love."

Ian smiled as he hugged Lucy and started to formulate a plan to get back what was rightfully his in his life, no matter what the consequences could bring to everyone else involved.

---

Chris and Eve finally reached the cabin making their trek back in silence. Eve reached into the pocket of her muddy jeans to locate the key to open the front door to the cabin when Chris stopped on the porch and began to pull his shirt off of his body tossing it carelessly down beside him.

Eve glanced down to see his shirt lying there and turned back to face him just as he started to unbutton his jeans, "What do you think you are doing Ramsey?"

"Taking these muddy clothes off so I won't track mud all into you humble abode," he answered as he began to unzip his jeans.

"You just can't take off your clothes right here on my front porch," Eve told him giving him an incredulous look.

"Yeah, you're right, I need to take my shoes off before I get out of my jeans," Chris noted nonchalantly bending down to unlace his tennis shoes to kick them off along with his socks into the pile that he had started with his already discarded shirt.

He moved to shed his jeans once more when Eve said, "Chris, you can't get naked on my front porch."

"Why not? Nobody is around here for miles except for you and me," Chris grinned at her obvious discomfort, "I'm kind of shocked at this all of the sudden modesty that you have seemed to developed this afternoon Lambert. You sure as heck didn't think twice about waltzing into the kitchen this morning barely dressed in nothing more than your skimpy robe."

"I wasn't getting naked in front of you," she emphatically stated as she shot Chris a nervous look, taking in his well muscled form standing before her, "and it wasn't as if I was trying to entice you."

"And you think that I am?" he innocently asked raising a curious brow to her.

"I don't know what you think you are trying to do except doing your best to drive me crazy."

"If it bothers you that much, then turn your head," Chris informed her smugly as he pulled off his jeans.

Eve turned away from him with her arms crossed, mad at him all over again for being so flippant about taking off his clothes in front of her. Now the temptation to turn around and see him was killing her, but she'd be damned if she would give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had sparked her curiosity with his latest stunt.

Chris threw his jeans down and they landed close by Eve's feet, "Don't worry, I'll pick all of these dirty clothes up after I get out of the shower, so you won't have to stand out on the porch all night pretending that you're not the least bit interested in seeing me naked."

"You are so full of it," she turned angrily to face him before she thought better of it and saw Chris standing there in his boxers.

"I knew that you couldn't stand not taking a look," Chris deviously smiled, "disappointed that I kept these on?" he casually asked as he snapped at the waistband of his boxer shorts.

"You are delusional, Chris Ramsey," she frowned at him, needing to get away from him as the sight of him standing there dressed only in his boxers grew more appealing to her by the minute. She jerked opened the front door quickly and headed down the hallway making a beeline for her bedroom, abruptly slamming the door behind her.

Chris chuckled to himself and said, "I think the only person deluding themselves is you Lambert," he started to whistle and made his way to take a nice hot shower.

Eve heard the water running in the bathroom and Chris singing slightly off key to himself in the shower. She shook her head in amazement with the realization that Chris was going to drive her off of the deep end with his crazy antics, imagine the nerve of him taking off his clothes right in front of her. Did the man have no sense of decency about him? She tried to dispel the images from her mind that he looked good standing there smirking at her because the next thing she knew he would be trying to imply that she wanted him and that was just plain nonsense. She pulled her dirty clothes off and waited impatiently for him to get finished taking his shower.

Maybe bringing Chris here with her this weekend had been a huge mistake on her part. She had only wanted to have some company, someone to make this weekend not so terribly lonely since she had to be away from Daniel. They were best friends and here she was standing around thinking about what it would be like to make love to him, to be with him in ways that just being friends with someone did not entail. She groaned in frustration at this crazy situation she had found herself in and right now all she needed was a long hot shower to get this filthy mess out of her hair and off of her body and to try and wash away these wayward thoughts that had clouded her mind and judgement where Chris was concerned.

Well one thing was for certain, she was definitely not going to leave this room until he was finished taking his shower and fully dressed even if she had to wait him out in her bedroom for hours. She jumped when she heard a knock on her bedroom door and Chris' voice coming from the other side, "I'm done taking a shower if you want to get yourself one now."

"Are you decent?", she asked, not opening to door to him.

"Am I ever?" he countered back with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I guess not," she paused for a moment, "you know what I mean, do you have your clothes on?" Eve irritably asked him from behind her closed door.

"Open the door and see for yourself," he challenged her.

Eve opened the door a slight crack and peeked out to see Chris standing there with only a towel wrapped snugly around his waist. He grinned at her, "I'll go get dressed so you won't be tempted to jump my bones."

"Oh you wish," she offered up to him as she opened the door wider to make her way to the bathroom.

"I see you put back on your robe," he acknowledged, not moving to get out of her way.

"I didn't want to wear those dirty clothes one moment longer, so now if you will please get out of my way," she replied, trying to get past him to go to the bathroom.

Chris waved his arm to point the way to the bathroom, "By all means, go take a shower Eve, god knows you look like you need one right about now."

"That's what I'm planning on doing," she huffed, "if you'll just move."

"Okay," he complied, finally moving out of Eve's way so she could get to the bathroom. Eve slammed the door to the bathroom, grateful to get some distance between them so she could start to clear her mind.

Chris could see something entirely new in Eve's eyes as she had looked at him today. Ever since this morning when they had kissed one another in the kitchen, there was something different in her attitude towards him, maybe she was seeing that there was something more between them than just friendship. He loved to tease her about things, but he wanted so much more from her, maybe she was beginning to want more from him too. He looked around the room and found a couple of sheets of stationary in a desk drawer and started to write Eve a note while she was in the shower.

---

Eve finished taking her shower, although it did little good in taking her mind off of her thoughts about Chris. She walked back to her bedroom and saw a note addressed to her lying on her pillow in Chris' familiar handwriting. Curious as to what the letter contained, she shut the door and lay down on the bed to read the message.

There were two pages enclosed and she pulled out the first page to begin reading,


Eve,

I realize I've aggravated you to no end this afternoon and I would like to make it up to you by preparing dinner for you tonight. Please put aside your feelings of animosity towards me and agree to be my dinner companion for this evening. I know I'm not the poet laureate like Thornhart claimed to be, but I wrote you a poem to describe my feelings for you, about how much our friendship means to me. I hope you enjoy it.

Love,

Chris


Eve took the next page out and found a poem inscribed to her.

---

Friend,

When you are sad, ... I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

When you are blue,...I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

When you smile,...I'll know you finally got laid.

When you are scared,...I will rag you about it every chance that I get.

When you are worried,...I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be and to quit whining.

When you are confused,...I will use little words to explain the situation to you.

When you are sick,...stay away from me until you're well again. I don't want whatever you have.

When you fall,...I will point and laugh at your clumsiness.

This is my oath,...I pledge 'till the end. Why you ask?
Because you're my friend!

PS~A friend will help you move. A really good friend will help you move a body.*

---

Eve's laughter tumbled out of her while she read the words that Chris had written on the page to her. Although this poem would never win a Pulitzer, it spoke volumes to her heart. She thought of all of the crazy things that she and Chris had shared and done with each other over the years and she was truly glad to know that she would always have a true friend by her side as long as Chris was in her life. She rolled over on the bed still laughing when Chris appeared at her doorway.

"I see you found my letter," he remarked, seeing her in a much better mood than when she had gone to freshen up.

"You know it is impossible to stay mad at you," Eve stated as she sat up on her bed.

"Why would you ever want to be mad at me in the first place?" Chris asked with a glint of mischief in his eyes, leaning up against the doorway. "So I guess this means that you will be joining me for dinner tonight?"

"I'd be happy to join you for dinner Ramsey."

"Good, clothing is optional," he added with a laugh.

"Get out of here so that I can get dressed," she threw a pillow at him as he walked out of the door.

"Okay, I'll see you in a little while," he said making his way on out into the hallway to finish making dinner for them both.

"I look forward to it," Eve softly said, watching him go down the hall and wondering what the evening would hold in store for them both.

---

*author's note-I have no idea who the author of the friendship poem is. All I can claim is to finding this endearing poem stashed among my husband's things that clutter our desk. When I saw this poem, I thought if there ever was a poem to describe the friendship that Chris and Eve had shared on the show, then this poem had to be it. If I ever find out who wrote this whimsical poem I will post credit for it later on in my story~Katie