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Part 1:
The two of them were snuggled by the fire in her cottage. They hadn’t left each other’s side for the past three months. They spent almost every night together. Life wasn’t perfect though. They fought constantly, but that was a part of their daily routine and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
"I’ve got an idea" Sheridan said excitingly.
"Wow, is that a first for you?"
"Ha ha funny" She gave a playful shove.
"Well are you going to share this idea of yours or are you going to keep it in that beautiful head of yours?"
"Well since you are being so sweet" She said sarcastically "I just thought that maybe this weekend we should go away"
"What? Being together almost every day isn’t enough for you?"
"No as a matter of fact it isn’t. I want you all to myself for three whole days. So what do you think?"
"I think it is a wonderful idea" He kissed her intensely. He never wanted to stop kissing her. Every time was like the first…
****
There was a city dance in the park. She had been out with Hank that night and he with Beth. Luis hadn’t talked to Sheridan in weeks. Luis couldn’t stand to see her and Hank together it made him crazy. It only made him flirt with Beth more. Sheridan couldn’t help but use Hank when she saw Luis with Beth. He was always touching her.
The D.J. had just announced that everyone was to switch partners for one dance. Hank and Beth naturally went for each other. Luis and Sheridan just looked at each other. They were standing in the middle of the dance floor, but they were the only ones not dancing.
"Want to dance?" he asked.
"Sure"
It was a slow dance, but you could have put another person between them the way they were dancing. They didn’t talk once. They both had hurtful looks on their faces. The song had ended.
"Thank you" he said sadly.
Sheridan couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her.
"I can’t do this anymore Luis"
"What?"
"Pretend that every time I see you that I don’t like you" and with that she grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him in front of everyone.
****
He hadn’t wanted to leave her since.
"Luis?" Her voice brought him back to reality.
"Huh?"
"You were a millions miles away. What were you thinking about?"
"You" He started a kiss that would last all night.
Part 2:
The next morning Luis had left Sheridan to go home for a while. He needed to get some things for the weekend. Pilar was eating breakfast when he walked in. He was surprised to see her up this early.
"You are up early Luis"
"So are you Mama," he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Actually I am just getting home"
"Where were you Luis?"
"Um, I was working late at the Youth Center and I didn’t feel like driving home because I was so tired so I sleep there"
"Luis you work too hard, you need to take some time off"
"I am Mama, I am going to go the cabin Papa always used to take us to this weekend. I am going to do some fishing, get some rest and have some much needed alone time" he hated lying to his Mother, but he and Sheridan agreed not to let anyone know about them until they figured out what was between them.
****
After they had kissed at the dance, they looked around to see every one looking at them. At that moment they knew that if everyone knew they wanted to date it would be trouble. There were too many people ready to get between them.
"Fight with me Luis" she whispered in his ear.
"What?"
"You heard me"
Her voice was no longer a whisper. "Oh my god that was a mistake. I can’t believe I did that. Luis I’m sorry"
"Why can’t you believe it? Am I so disgusting?" he retorted.
"No, but…"
"But what, I wouldn’t be your first choice?" They were now yelling.
"That isn’t what I said!"
"Don’t worry you’re not going to have a chance to make that mistake again!" And he stormed off the dance floor.
****
Sheridan finally woke up and noticed that Luis had gone. She hated that he always had to leave so early in the morning. They couldn’t take the chance of anyone seeing him though. They had been sneaking around for so long. She was going to be glad when the weekend came and they didn’t have to pretend anymore, at least for a couple of days.
She had showered, changed and was packing when there was a knock at the door. It wouldn’t be Luis, it was too risky for him to here right now.
"Come in"
"Good morning Sheridan"
"Morning Ethan"
Ethan looked around to see clothes sprawled out over everything. He looked puzzled.
"What’s all this Sheridan?"
"I am going to take a trip this weekend"
"Really? Where?"
She thought for a moment, she hadn’t thought of a good lie yet.
"I am going to a spa"
"Which one?"
"No Ethan that is my secret. I am going to have the whole weekend to myself" she hoped that Ethan would stop with his questions she had nothing more to tell him. Luckily he did.
"That’s great. Have a nice time. I came to see if you wanted to go to lunch, but I can see you’re busy. Call me when you get back"
"Alright Ethan I will"
Part 3:
They had planned to drive up to the cabin alone. What they hadn’t planned on is that they were both going to go up early to surprise each other. Neither one could wait any longer to leave and it was amazing that they didn’t see each other while driving up there.
Sheridan got there first. She parked her car and got out her things. She left her car in plain sight; she figured that when Luis got here he would think she just arrived.
"It is beautiful up here" she sighed.
As Luis approached the cabin, he could see Sheridan’s car.
"That little sneak" he thought, not admitting that he was doing the same thing.
Sheridan turned as she heard something coming behind her.
"Figures!" she was disappointed to see him so soon. She dropped her things and headed towards his car.
"You’re early" she announced.
"So are you" he said matter of factly. He got out of his car and gave her a hug.
"I wanted to surprise you"
"You did. I didn’t think you would be here for a couple of hours"
"What are you doing here anyways?"
"Don’t you want me to be here?"
"This weekend wouldn’t work without you. You were planning something too, weren’t you?"
"Maybe" he said with a sheepish smile.
She thought of the last time he had surprised her.
****
After Luis had left the dance Sheridan had asked Hank to take her home. When they got there she noticed that her lights were on. Someone must be inside. She casually peered in the window as Hank walked her to the door. She saw Luis building a fire.
"Hank, I hope you don’t mind if I don’t invite you in, but…" she said nervously.
"You want to be alone after what happened earlier"
That wasn’t what she was going to say, but it would work for her.
"Yeah Hank I’m sorry"
"It’s ok" he gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away. She made sure he really had gone before she walked inside.
"What are you doing here?" She smiled and was ecstatic to see him there.
"You don’t want me here?" He said sadly.
"Yes I want you here. I am just surprised, very pleasantly surprised"
"Well the surprises are finished with yet. I’m glad you took your time getting here"
"Took my time? I left maybe ten minutes after you did"
"Well that was enough."
He took her and helped her take her coat off.
"Wait here" he ran off into the kitchen and came back with his arms full. "I had just enough time to find everything" he smiled at her. He set up some candles and lit them. Then he set down two wine glasses and poured wine into them. They talked all night, never once getting tired. They enjoyed just being with each other.
****
"Now you’re the one that is in a land far away" he kissed he lightly on the lips.
"I was just thinking of when I found you in my cottage and how perfect it was"
"Well, it only gets better from here" he smiled and they both walked into the cabin.
Part 4:
Later that night they were sitting down to dinner. They had mixed and matched what they both brought up for a special dinner. They were both enjoying the freedom of the weekend. But something was nagging at Sheridan.
"Luis, we need to talk" her face showed how much this troubled her.
"What’s wrong?"
"Nothing really, but…"
"You wouldn’t look like you do if there wasn’t something wrong"
"Luis, I don’t want to sneak around anymore. I want the whole world to know I love you."
"Sheridan, you know that that would complicate things so much"
"I know, but I can’t stand to see Beth keep flirting with you. It makes me want to scream"
"I feel the same thing about Hank. But it’s not them I am worried about."
"You’re worried about Alistair and Julian. I know they are not going to be happy, but I want to be happy. Not that I am not happy right now, but we can’t go on like this forever."
"We have to for a little bit longer"
"We HAVE to? Why, don’t you think our love can last?"
"I didn’t say that you are twisting my words"
"Than what are you saying?"
"I’m just saying that it is not going to be easy"
"Who said it had to be easy? That’s not the real reason is it? Tell me how you really feel, please"
"Sheridan, no one is going to except us together. You’re a Crane and I am, well, I am not even close. I don’t think I could be known as Mr. Crane"
"Is that what is bothering you? Our names?"
"Well in a nut shell, yes"
"People have overcome their names before. Take Romeo and Juliet" Their voices had become louder and louder.
"If I remember right they died. I don’t want to end up like them"
"Luis you can be so stubborn sometimes"
"You know I am right, it is pretty hopeless for us"
"Don’t say that! I don’t want to hear you talk like that. I need to take a walk, alone"
Sheridan grabbed her coat and headed for the door. Luis thought about going after her, but thought he better cool down first. He did love her, more than anything in the world. But they came from two completely different worlds.
****
He thought of his birthday last month. His family had made dinner for him. Pilar had invited Hank and Beth to join them. Both Luis and Sheridan hoped that Hank would ask Sheridan to come with him. And just their luck the day before Hank asked Pilar if it was all right to bring a guest. Luis spent the whole dinner staring at her. He remembered how beautiful she looked. After dinner they went into the living room for coffee. She left to go into the kitchen for a refill and he followed her, just in case she needed some help.
"I never thought I get to be alone with you tonight" he said sweetly as he put his arms around her waist.
"Happy birthday Luis" she gave him a soft kiss and then wiped the lipstick off his lips. "I'm really glad you're here"
"So am I"
"We should probably get back out there huh?" he kissed her on the cheek.
They walked back out together, but not really. Before Hank took her home she gave Luis a hug and said happy birthday very politely. What no one else saw was that she was whispering in his ear. "Meet me at the Youth Center in a hour" and with that she was gone. As soon as he got to the Youth Center she took him in her car and drove to the airport.
****
Sheridan just walked. Not really paying attention to where she was headed. He was being so pigheaded. How could he say things were hopeless? That couldn’t be the truth. She was going to let it. She turned around and realized she had no idea where she was. This was her first time up in these woods and it was very dark. She looked around suddenly becoming very frightened.
Luis thought about what he had said to Sheridan. He became angry with himself. He couldn’t believe how much of a jerk he was. He knew she was right; they couldn’t go on like this forever. He hated lying to his family. It would cause a lot of problems for them, but they would have each other in the end. He looked at the clock and realized that Sheridan had been gone for over two hours. He was really scared about her. He grabbed a flashlight, his coat and ran out the door.
Part 5:
Sheridan didn’t know what to do. She was trembling. She turned in circles trying to figure out which way to go but everything looked the same. She was going to have to spend the night out here.
"How could I have been so stupid?"
She sat on a rock and put her head in her hands.
"Maybe this is a sign that it is hopeless"
Luis luckily had watched which way Sheridan had started walking. Hopefully that would help. He wandered aimlessly for about half an hour yelling her name. He had reached the lake.
"Now what?" he thought to himself.
He looked across the lake and smiled. There she was sitting on a rock on the other side of the lake. He turned off his flashlight and made he way over to her.
Sheridan heard something crack in the distance.
"Hello?" she yelled. "Is anyone there?" No one answered though. She thought that maybe it was just an animal. But that scared her even more. She didn’t know what kinds of animals were in these woods.
****
To calm down she thought about Luis' birthday. She had taken him to New Mexico. They spent the night looking out at the dessert and talking. It had gotten cold and he had put his coat around her. The sun was beginning to come up and she turned to him.
"I know it's not your birthday anymore"
"Sheridan there doesn't need to be anymore. I am with you and we are in the most beautiful place in the world"
"Shhhh…" she pressed her finger to his lips. "All I was going to say was, I know it's not your birthday anymore but the best part of present is yet to come. And I had nothing to do with it" She smiled "look" she pointed to the sky.
The sun was rising and it was amazing. They sat entwined in each other while the sun illuminated the sky. Orange, red and purple streaks lit up the sky. It was the most wonderful morning for both of them.
****
Luis was getting closer to her. He was almost in her view.
"Hey beautiful" he said sweetly.
"Oh my god Luis!" She jumped up and ran over to him. She was crying. "Luis I am so happy to see you. I thought I was going to be stuck out here all night."
"What? You didn’t think that I was going to come looking for you. I was worried about you when you didn’t come back"
"I was so mad I didn’t pay attention to where I was going. I’m just glad you are her" she kissed him sweetly. "Thank you for being my hero"
"I don’t know about that hero stuff but I am glad I found you. I need to talk to you"
"Luis lets not talk about that right now" she didn’t want to fight again. She didn’t want to ruin what was left of the night.
"No, I have to tell you something. It can’t wait any longer. They say down on the rock where he had found her.
"What is it?" she didn’t know if she liked the look on his face.
"I love you"
"But…?"
"How did you know there was going to be a but?"
"Intuition"
Part 6:
"But you were right, we can’t go on like this. I figure that telling everyone can’t be any harder than lying to everyone. I want to be able to hold your hand as we walk through Harmony"
"That would be nice" she was so glad to hear what he was saying. It was such a relief.
****
Last week they had almost got caught. They were in the Youth Center in the afternoon alone. All the kids were still in school and they didn't expect anyone else. They were testing out some new basketballs.
"I bet I can still bet you" Sheridan said with a playful grin as she swished a shot.
"Never, I let you win last time"
"You are such a liar!"
"Yeah? You want a rematch?'
"You better believe it" she tossed him the ball.
The game had gone back and forth. But he was about to win. She pulled out all the stops, she hated losing to him. Just as he was about to go for a lay-up she jumped on his back. Not expecting to have to give her a piggyback ride they fell on the floor.
"That was such a foul" he said trying to contain the laughter in him. They were still lying on the floor.
"I guess I'll have to bribe the ref" they started kissing instantly. The kiss would have never stopped if they hadn't heard someone come in. She helped him up.
"I'm sorry Luis that was a low trick. I shouldn't have tripped you. Good afternoon Pilar" "Good afternoon Sheridan" she looked at the both of them curiously. "Luis I thought I
would bring you lunch"
"Thanks Mama"
"Luis is there something you two want to tell me? Like why the two of you were lying on the floor together?"
"Pilar, that was my fault. We were playing basketball and Luis was about to win. I tripped him and he took me with him. You know how we are always competing"
"Yes I do Sheridan. Sheridan would you like a ride back to the mansion?"
"That would be wonderful Pilar thank you"
****
"I am still not crazy about your last name, but"
"You can change that you know"
"What do you mean?"
"I was hoping that my name wouldn’t be a Crane forever"
He looked at her still puzzled.
"Luis, wake up!"
"You’re not suggesting what I think you are?"
"And what if I am?"
He grabbed her hand and led her back to the cabin. He wouldn’t answer any of her questions. She felt really foolish that it was pretty much a straight line back to the cabin.
"Luis what’s going on? Why won’t you talk to me?"
In the cabin he sat her on a chair in front of fire that was almost out. She watched him as he quickly though a log on the fire. Then he went to his bag and seemed to search around for something.
He came back to her carrying a little black box. He knelt in front of her. Sheridan’s eyes became very wide as he opened the box.
"I know come from two different worlds, but you are the only one in this world that can make me this happy. Every time I see you I am instantly happy and every time we are apart I don’t feel whole" His words made her so happy and the tears flowed freely from her eyes. He gently wiped away her tears. "I want you to be mine now and forever. Will you marry me?"
"Yes" she could barely wait for him to finish his question. He took her hand, kissed it lightly and slipped the ring on her finger.
THE END
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