𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐄 | 𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐭 | 𝐄𝐔𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀

[𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨]

...

The play ended, the lights came up, and Elliot moved his arm from around Lucy's shoulders to clap. The standing ovation was the longest Lucy had ever experienced. Granted, she hadn't seen that many shows. When it was over and people started to leave, Lucy made her way out into the aisle with Elliot right behind her. She caught Rue's eye for a second and waved. Rue smiled, glancing back and forth between her and Elliot knowingly. Elliot settled an arm around Lucy's shoulders. "Wanna go back to my place?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

In the parking lot, Lucy checked her phone again. Nothing from Fez. She called him. It went straight to voicemail. "Hey, Fez, you missed the best show East Highland has ever seen. Where are you? Also, I'm going back to Elliot's for the night, I can fill you in on all of that later, but I just wanted to let you know I'm not sleeping at yours anymore. Uh... give me a call, okay?"

She got into Elliot's car and he peeled out of the parking lot. "What's up with Fez?" he asked, messing with the radio with one hand.

"I don't know," said Lucy. "He was really excited to go to the show, and then he wasn't there, and now he's not answering me."

"Huh," said Elliot. "You wanna go check on him?"

She thought for a second, then shook her head. "No, I'm sure he's fine. If it's something, you know, business-related, he won't want me around there anyway."

"Yeah, I'd say that's probably for the best."

When they got to his room, Elliot sat on the bed and started rolling a joint while Lucy went to the closet. She pulled off her dress and left it on the floor, then shrugged on one of Elliot's sweaters. He watched her, eyes catching her every movement, slowly falling in love with every little thing she did. "Come here," he said, rolling up the last of the joint. "Seal this for me?"

She sat across from him on the bed. He held up the joint and she leaned forward to lick it closed. Then, leaning closer, she looped one finger through his necklace and pulled him in to kiss her. His arms fell around her, one hand trailing down her back. When they broke apart, she nestled her head into the space between his shoulder and his neck for a minute. "You know... being with you sort of feels like... that feeling I've been chasing my whole life."

"Are you saying I'm like a drug?"

She laughed and planted soft kisses along his neck. "No, I'm saying you're better."

He lit the joint and passed it to her, then rolled across the bed to put a record on the record player. "Yeah... I feel that too." A song started playing, My Heart Belongs To Only You by Bobby Vinton. It was slow, a little staticky, and felt like a song they'd play at the end of an old movie. Elliot grinned over at her, then got to his feet and dramatically extended one hand. "May I have this dance?"