An awesome fic written by Liz.
Chapter 1
Sheridan picked up her last full box and took it into the now empty living room. The sound of her high heels clicking on the floor made her shiver. The clicking echoed through the empty cottage, the cottage she had called home for the past year and a half. Part of her hated to leave it behind, but she knew she had to. She sat down on the steps inside the door way and thought of all the memories this tiny place had created for her the in the short time she had called it home, but mostly, the memories with Luis. The time he had spent here as her bodyguard was the best time of her life, almost. If only it had ended differently. She closed her eyes trying to fight off the memory of the day he left. It seemed as though this was all she ever thought about anymore, like something inside her was saying, �Go fix it, you know you can make it better!� But instead, she kept telling herself that it was Luis who should fix their problems, not her, he, after all, was the one who had started them, not her. Suddenly the memories came again; there was nothing she could do to stop them:
~flashback~
Sheridan and Luis were standing in front of the couch, once again arguing over what she knew she heard him say, she had seen it hadn�t she?
�Sheridan, please� please say that you believe me, that there is some hope for us, you know I could never, not in a million years, say something so hurtful!� Luis was frightening back his tears, while fighting the urge to wipe Sheridan�s.
�Luis- I want to believe you- I really do! It�s just��
�Just what?� He whispered as he took her hands in his.
�I know what I saw, I know what I heard, how can I believe you if I know I saw and heard it?� She went and sat down on the couch, �I�m sorry Luis, but I can�t� I just can�t��
�Sheridan��
�Don�t Luis- don�t!� She stood up, still crying, �I really think I need to be alone right now.�
�I understand,� He walked to the closet and took out his bag, and started putting his clothes in it.
�Wh-what are you doing?� She choked out.
�I told you earlier, Interpole says your safe, so I am going to leave you alone.� He sighed, �Give me five minutes and I�ll be out of you life for good.�
She sat back down on the couch without even realizing she had done so and silently watched Luis pack up his things. She did everything she could to fight off the tears; at least she would until he was gone. Luis slowly walked toward the door, and Sheridan followed him.
�Well, I guess this is it. You�ll never have to see me again.� He said coldly.
�Luis- I never meant to hurt you�� She sniffled.
He reached a hand up and wiped a single tear off her cheek, �Good-bye Sheridan.� He slowly bent down and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek.
When Sheridan felt his lips touch her skin she shivered, and fought to hold in a sob. She wanted to turn her face so that his lips would be on hers, not her cheek, but she fought the urge. She just let a few more tears fall instead, and Luis saw that before he turned around to leave, it was what he had hoped for, to get to her enough to make her believe him, but it wasn�t working.
He slid his hand down her neck, her arm, until he reached her hand, then he slowly pulled his hand out of hers as he walked away. He hated leaving her, but he couldn�t just tell her what she wanted him to, he had no explanation for what she heard, other than he didn�t do it.
Sheridan stood at the door and watched Luis walk away. When she could no longer see him, she slammed the door and cursed herself for letting the man of her dreams walk out of her life for good. She went to the couch and cried for hours.
~end of flashback~
Sheridan wiped the tears from her cheek; she couldn�t let herself continue to live like this. That was part of the reason she was getting out of that cottage, leaving the memories of Luis behind. The other part was to get away from her family. Ever since Ethan had broken off his engagement with Gwen, and professed his love for Theresa, her father had moved back into the mansion, and so had Theresa. Which meant Luis was spending a lot of time there, and she couldn�t bear the accidentally run-ins that might come up.
Sheridan had gone and gotten herself a job at the Book Caf�, and luckily, she hadn�t seen Luis there either. With the money she got from her job, and a little here and there from her trust fund, she had bought herself and apartment in downtown Harmony. She liked it, but not nearly as much as she did the cottage.
�Oh well,� She sighed standing up with the last package, �There�s no use in wondering what might have been.� She said as she stood and walked out the door, heading to her new home.
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Luis walked into the Book Caf� and walked over to the counter.
�Hey Luis! I haven�t seen you in a while! How have you been?� Beth smiled as she poured him a cup of coffee, �Here, on the house.�
�Thanks Beth,� He smiled, �I am doing OK I suppose.� He said as he took a sip, �How about you?�
�I am doing great. I�ve got myself a lot of help around here lately, so I am getting a lot more time off.�
�Oh really?� He questioned, �Sounds like that Chad Harris guy is putting in a lot of overtime.�
�Well, not exactly�� She leaned over the counter, �Believe it or not, but Ms. Sheridan Crane herself had been hired here.�
Luis nearly choked on his coffee, �Sheridan?� He laughed lightly. It hurt him to hear here name; he hadn�t even said it himself since the day he had left her cottage, other than to explain to his family what had happened between them.
�You looked a bit shocked there Luis,� She laughed, handing him a napkin, �And speaking of Sheridan, it�s almost time for her shift.�
That very moment Sheridan walked in the door. She stood still, �Could that really be Luis?� She thought as she stared at the man�s back.
Luis turned around, and their eyes met, for the first time since he had left her cottage. Neither of them said a word; they just stood there staring at each other.
Chapter 2
Sheridan walked into the Book Caf�; it was time for her shift to start. When she walked in, she stood shocked, �Could that really be Luis?� She thought to herself as she looked at the dark haired man�s back.
Luis turned around to see who walked in, it was Sheridan. He couldn�t believe it, he hadn�t seen her since the day he left her cottage. He couldn�t help it; he let his eyes meet hers.
Sheridan stood there staring at him for a moment, before realizing where she was, and then she walked to the counter, trying her best not to look back at Luis�s eyes.
�Well Sheridan, I am going home, Luis�s coffee is on the house, k!� Beth untied her apron.
�Sure,� Sheridan pulled on an apron, not knowing what else to say.
�See ya Luis!�
�Bye,� He said as Beth walked out the door. He looked nervously at Sheridan. He didn�t know what to say to her, how to look at her, should he smile?� should he leave?� he didn�t know what to do at all. Little did he know, those same thoughts were running through Sheridan�s mind.
�So�� Luis took a sip of his coffee, �I haven�t seen you in a while.�
�I know� I�ve been really busy lately, with this job, and moving��
�Moving?� Luis sat his cup down, he felt his heart drop, even though he hadn�t seen her in a while, he didn�t think he could handle it if she left town again, �Where to?�
�Oh, not far, I got myself an apartment down town, it�s nice�� She started wiping the counter, she had to do something, she couldn�t stand to look at him.
�But why? You love that cottage�� �I have to get out of there, away from my father, and from all those memories of�� She looked up at him, she couldn�t say it, she almost had, but she couldn�t allow herself to finish the sentence, even though she was clearly thinking, �you�.
�What? What memories?� He was hoping she meant him. She didn�t know weather or not to tell him the truth, would it seem too obvious that she still cared for him if she did? Yes, she still cared for him, even though he hurt her more than anyone ever before, she still cared. She wasn�t sure why, but even now, looking into his eyes made her want to forget all the terrible things he had said.
�Sheridan?� Luis waved his hand infront of her face, �Are you still with me?�
�Are you still with me?� She thought to herself, �Yes, more than you�ll ever know.� But then snapped back to reality, �Sorry, I was just thinking.�
�About what?�
She hated this, she hated seeing him, she hated him asking her all these questions when they hadn�t talked in what seemed like forever, and he was playing Mr. Cool and Calm, almost like nothing had happened between them.
�You know, you sure are awful questioning after not speaking to me for weeks,� She snapped.
�Me not speaking to you? Aren�t you the one who said you needed to be alone?� He argued.
�Yes, I said alone, as in get out of the room, not my life!�
�But you said it was over between us Sheridan! And you certainly didn�t run after me!� He slammed his coffee mug down.
�I� I�� She didn�t know if she should tell him what really happened or not, �What difference does it make Luis? You would have still denied everything, and I know what I saw! What I heard! There was nothing left to discuss.�
�I swear Sheridan! I never said those things!�
�Save it Luis! We�ve been through this before, and obviously we won�t get past it anytime soon.�
�But Sheridan��
�No buts, that�s all there is to it, I know what I saw, it doesn�t matter what you say,� She fought off the urge to look at him, she knew if she did it would be so easy to forgive him.
�Fine!� He shouted, �If that�s the way you want things to bed, fine!� He stood up, �I�m sorry we had to go through this again, it was painful enough for the both of us the first time, but again, it�s going to kill me Sheridan�� He said sadly as he walked out the door.
Sheridan stood there and let the tears fall; she didn�t feel like staying at work one minute longer. Luckily, Chad Harris walked in.
�Chad! Would you mind taking over for me? I really don�t feel like staying here.�
�Hey- no prob Ms. Crane!�
�Thanks.� Sheridan tore off her apron and ran outside, straight to her apartment. Once she got there, she fell onto the couch and sobbed. She hated all of this; she hated the constant flow of tears, the ever-oncoming memories�
~flashback~
Sheridan stood up off the couch; she had no idea how long she had lied there crying. She had to find Luis� She had to apologize for hurting him the way she did. The more she thought about what happened, the more she believed him. It was obvious he cared for her, and the fire in his eyes was raging when he said he didn�t do it! As many times as he had saved her life, and now she was doing nothing but ruining his.
She headed to the door, she wanted to find him, and she had to� she had to tell him she was sorry, that she believed him� that she needed him. Sheridan opened the door and found Ethan standing on the other side.
�Sheridan, what�s wrong?� He said.
�Luis� he denies ever using me� and Ethan, I think I believe him!� She fell into his arms sobbing.
�No� you can�t! I won�t let you! I won�t stand by and watch you get hurt all over again, do you hear me?� He led her back over to the couch.
�I told him that if he would just tell me the truth, that we could move past it, get on with our lives, together�but he said he never said those things� he had a fire in his eyes when he said it� I really think he meant it Ethan��
�Sheridan, you�re letting your heart blind you� you want to believe him so badly� you want to be loved so badly that you�re letting your heart get in the way of the truth. You can�t believe him, you can�t trust someone who�s already given you reason not to��
Sheridan sat up and looked at him, she wiped her tears away, �You know what Ethan, you�re right. Exactly right, I should have never even thought of forgiving him�it�s over� whatever Luis and I had, it�s over��
~end of flashback~
How could she be letting herself think these same thoughts all over again? She needed to see Luis� she needed him to hold her� she missed him. She knew she would never get over him, she just wished he would be honest with her�
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Luis went straight to the Youth Center�s punching bags� he had to take his frustration out somewhere. �Why won�t she just believe me?� He thought as he punched. He tried not to think of her, but he had never liked the way things ended between them, and today was just a replay� he couldn�t stand it. He had to find a way to prove to her he was telling the truth� but how?
To Be Continued...