|
PASSIONS HOME
PASSIONS BOARDS
MainBoard
FanFiction
Theories
unSpoiled
HellCats-OT
Rants
Polls
Blast
From the Past
Fan fiction and fond (mostly) memories
of soap days gone by
|
|
|
Let’s Give Them Something
To Talk About
by SheridanLF74
|
The car ride to mass was deathly silent, not even the radio
was playing. Luis hadn’t even looked at Sheridan since she climbed into the car and she realized he had truly meant
what he said. As they drove along, Sheridan decided she had to try something.
"Luis, please talk to me…"
"What for, Miss Crane?" Luis asked painfully.
"Please…please don’t do this," she sniffled. "Please."
"I’m not sure what you want from me. I’m only your bodyguard."
"But I love you…"
"You’re wasting your time…"
"Luis please," she was crying heavily now.
He pulled the car over to the side of the road. As much as he was trying to hide it, he still loved her too and
her tears were killing him inside. "Sheridan, I’m sorry," he touched her arm. "I didn’t mean to
make you cry."
She just looked down into her lap. "I just can’t be your wife, Luis, I can’t because I don’t know how to be
a good one to you."
"Sheridan, I don’t care about that…"
"You say that now. What happens when we have children that we need to take care of?"
"You’ll learn, Sheridan. I know with your determination you can do anything."
"I just don’t want to ruin the rest of your life, Luis."
He sighed. "It doesn’t matter, Sheridan, now does it?" He looked away from her. "It has been a really
nice few months, Sheridan, and I really enjoyed it. I…I just can’t spend the rest of my life dating you. I want
to settle down, Sheridan. I want to have a family. I…I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, getting old,
watching our children grow up and get married and start families of their own." He was on the verge of tears,
but refused to cry again. "Maybe I just assumed you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me…but forget
about it, Sheridan. You’ll find someone who can keep you in the lifestyle you’re used to and you won’t have to
worry about cooking and cleaning."
"But I don’t want someone else…"
"But I can’t give you what you want…" he started the car again. "I…I’m going to be moving my stuff
back into the living room."
"Luis, please no…"
"And I’m going to ask Sam to take me off of your case. I can no longer be objective."
"No, Luis, no," she was sobbing.
"I’m sorry, Sheridan. I’m sorry it turned out this way."
"Can…can’t we just try to get past this? Maybe if I can learn some more we can get married then…"
"I don’t know."
"Please, Luis, please…I can’t live without you."
He looked over at her and his heart felt like it was being torn in two. Luis knew he still wanted to be with her,
but he wanted to marry her. Sighing, he decided that his need to be with her far outweighed his want to marry her.
He couldn’t live without her in his life…no matter what part she played in it.
"I can’t be without you either," Luis took her hand. "And as much as I want to marry you, I can’t
bare to never be with you. So…we’ll slow things down."
"Slow things down?"
He nodded. "I’ll go back to sleeping on the couch in the living room. We’ll just go back to dating and enjoying
each other’s company. When you’re ready to get married, you can let me know and we’ll try that whole proposal thing
again. No pressure…no second thoughts."
"No love making?"
"I think it would be a bad idea."
Sheridan sighed. "So we just turn back the clocks? We just ignore the last few months?"
"It’s what’s best for both of us, Sheridan," he pulled the car off the side of the road. "It gives
us both time to deal with what happened tonight."
"You mean my turning down your marriage proposal?"
"Yes," Luis pulled into the church parking lot and parked the car. "Let’s just forget what happened.
Only Mama knew I was planning on proposing tonight. If we don’t announce it, she’ll know either I didn’t ask or
you turned me down."
Sheridan put her hand on his arm. "What if I change my mind tonight?"
He looked into her eyes. "Do you mean that you’ve decided to marry me?"
"I would like some time to think about it…"
"Then you just tell me and I’ll try that proposing thing again."
"But until then…"
"Until then we’re turning back the clocks," he climbed out of the car and walked to her side to help
her out. When he went to walk away, she grabbed his hand. Luis pulled his hand away.
"We’re late," he said walking inside.
Sheridan fought a sniffle and followed Luis inside, her head hanging in sadness. They still had ten minutes before
mass began and Luis started to head to where his sister, brother and mother sat. It was then he noticed Ethan kneeling
in front of Theresa.
"Theresa, I want you to be my bride…marry me?"
Luis felt like the room was spinning. Not only was a *Crane* proposing to his sister, but she was nodding in acceptance.
He started to back up when he noticed Sheridan slightly smiling at the pair.
"You knew?" he asked her.
"I…I…"
"You knew about them?" he was getting angry.
"Yes, Luis, I knew."
He couldn’t believe she knew and didn’t tell him. She had lied every time the subject came up! "You’re no
better than the rest of that damn family…you’re a Crane through and through! I’m glad you didn’t accept my proposal!"
Luis was fuming. He wasn’t sure what to act on first, the rage from Sheridan knowing about Ethan and Theresa’s
relationship, the hurt from having his little sister accept a proposal and not Sheridan, or the fact that a *Crane*
was going to marry his sister. "I’ve got to get out of here…"
"Luis," Sheridan grabbed his arm, but he pushed her off and she fell to the ground. Without even a look
back at her, Luis dropped her car keys and stormed off into the cold night air.
"Luis," she whimpered from the ground. Pilar, who had witnessed the whole thing, rushed to Sheridan’s
side and helped her up. The younger woman hugged the woman she considered a second mother and cried. "Luis,"
she continued to cry out.
"Shhh, he’ll come back, Sheridan."
"My Luis," she cried.
Beth entered the church and saw Sheridan crying. She came over and placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder. "Sheridan?"
"I turned him down…I told him no…and then Ethan and Theresa," she was crying hysterically.
"Come here," Beth hugged Sheridan while Pilar patted the woman’s back.
"Luis…I want Luis."
"He’ll come back, Sheridan," Beth promised. "He loves you…"
"He told me I was a typical Crane," she cried. Her knees started to give and she started to fall. Sam
Bennett, who had been listening nearby, caught her.
"Careful, Sheridan," he helped her sit. "You need to calm down."
"I can’t calm down!" she screamed.
"Where’s Luis?" Beth asked, looking around.
"He left," Sheridan tried to calm down enough to at least talk. She looked up sadly. "I turned down
his proposal. I didn’t think I’d be a good enough wife to him."
"And then he saw Ethan propose…didn’t he?" Pilar asked.
Sheridan nodded.
"Dios mio," Pilar shook her head. "And he left all upset?"
Sheridan nodded again. "Pilar, I do love him!"
"We know," everyone around her replied. She smiled slightly. "Do you think he’ll come back? Do you
think he still loves me?"
"Oh please, Sheridan, I haven’t seen Luis love anyone like that ever," Theresa joined the group.
"I agree," Sam and Pilar nodded.
"He still loves you and he’ll be back," Beth replied. "Look, why don’t we just sit for mass and
if he isn’t back when it is over, I’ll personally take you back to the cottage and we’ll wait for him together."
"Thank you, Beth," Sheridan looked down at her hand and spotted the ring from Luis. The rubies twinkled
in the lights of the church. Her eyes began to blur with tears again and she begged God to bring her Luis back
to her.
Luis walked quickly away from the church, not caring where he was heading as long as it was as far away from the
people there as possible. His mind was racing with information and he couldn’t seem to get it to slow down at all.
First and foremost on his mind was Sheridan, not that she would ever be second to any other thought. However, it
wasn’t just Sheridan on his mind: it was fear that she wasn’t ok, pain over the secrets she kept, anger, love,
confusion, regret and lastly, the words "I can’t" continued to dance in his mind. She had refused his
proposal. Even though he tried to prove his love over and over again, she still couldn’t and wouldn’t love him
back enough to push that fear and doubt aside. Sheridan wouldn’t marry him.
Besides Sheridan, there was still Theresa’s engagement to Ethan on his mind. Theresa was going to marry a Crane!
"Over my dead body," he grumbled and kicked at a rock on the ground. Not only was Theresa engaged to
Ethan Crane, but also she had been lying to Luis for weeks…months even! His own mother had been keeping this from
him! Did he mean nothing to his family anymore?
Looking around, Luis found himself at the wharf. "Great, just the place I needed to be," he growled,
falling into a nearby bench. As he sat there reflecting on the evening, he didn’t notice the cold wind start up
or the clouds that were rolling in. He had forgotten that they were expected to get snow and icy rain and even
as the first drops fell, Luis didn’t budge. Instead, he sat there staring at the dark ocean waves, his eyes slowly
blurring as tears filled them. In one night, he had lost everything that meant anything to him. His family had
betrayed him and Sheridan had denied him. As the icy raindrops mixed with the occasional snowflake continued to
fall, Luis allowed all the pain and anger rush out and he sat on the bench crying. He barely heard the church bells
in the distance ring at midnight, telling the world that it was Christmas morning.
Mass ended at one AM and everyone in the church decided to wait and see if Luis showed. Sam looked out the window
and noticed the sparkle of the frozen water on the ground. Opening a nearby door, he saw that the rain and snow
were still falling.
"Sam, if Luis is still out in this weather…" Pilar’s voice faded off from beside him.
"He’s a strong man, Pilar…" Even Sam worried about Luis’ condition in this weather.
Sheridan joined them. "He could get sick! What if he gets sick? Or worse? What if he is trying to get back
here and falls on the ice or a car loses control and…" Sheridan started to hyperventilate at the thought of
Luis being hurt somewhere with no one to help him.
Beth rushed to Sheridan and placed an arm around her. "Sheridan, Luis will be fine. Look, Luis isn’t going
to come back to the church. If and when he decides he’s coming back to deal with this, you know he will start either
at his house or the cottage. It’s useless to wait here for him when he won’t come back here. Luis isn’t into public
confrontations."
"Beth’s right," Theresa agree, slipping her arm around Ethan’s waist. "Luis doesn’t like to have
his dirty laundry aired in front of others. He’s going to want to talk to Mama and myself or Sheridan and he’s
certainly not going to do it with an audience around. I think it’s best if we all go home and keep in touch if
we hear anything." She smiled at her fiancé and he returned the smile.
"I’m going home with mother and father, Sheridan, would you like a lift back to the cottage?" he asked
his aunt.
Sheridan shook her head no. "I think I might just wait here a while and then take my car home. I’m not much
in the mood for company," she said pointedly and left Beth’s embrace. "In fact, I’d walk if I knew Luis
wouldn’t kill me when he found out about it…"
Everyone tried to hide their discomfort over the topic and agreed that going home was the best option. Sheridan
watched as they all left, yet she remained there. The thought of Luis hurt was still bothering her and she couldn’t
bear to go back to the empty cottage. She sniffled and leaned against the doorframe of the church. If anything
happened to Luis, she would never forgive herself. The more she thought about losing him, the less she cared if
the hit man was out there ready to take a shot at her now. She almost wished he would, perhaps it would make the
pain of losing Luis go away.
Sighing, Sheridan walked to her car and climbed in. Starting it up, she decided she had one place to go before
she went home. If she knew Luis well enough, she knew where he was: the wharf.
It didn’t take long to drive from St. Mary’s to the wharf, even with the icy conditions outside. Stepping out of
her cherry red convertible, Sheridan glanced around the area for any sign of life. She found it, sitting on a bench
with his head in his hands and his shoulders shaking with sobs. Sheridan did the only thing she could; she ran
to him. She ran so fast to his side that she almost slid on the ice.
"Luis!" she exclaimed slightly out of breath as she knelt at his feet.
He looked at her, his red-rimmed eyes still filled with unshed tears. "Sheridan?"
"Oh sweetheart," she stood and wrapped her arms around him. She could feel his sobs against her stomach.
"Please don’t cry, Luis."
Luis couldn’t seem to get one feeling for Sheridan to become the most prominent in his mind. His love and need
for her kept him in her arms; his anger kept him from talking.
Sheridan ran her fingers through his unruly hair. "Luis, I wanted to tell you about Theresa and Ethan when
I found out. They begged me not to, Luis. They wanted to give a relationship a chance before they had to deal with
your rage and hate for my nephew. Luis, he is a good man and Theresa loves him just as much as I love you. Please
don’t hold his name against him…or me."
"I’m sorry," he whispered against her body.
"Sorry?"
"For saying you were just like the rest of them. You aren’t, Sheridan, and you never could be."
Sheridan smiled slightly. "I forgot you said that," she teased.
He looked up and smiled slightly. "I really am sorry I said that, Sheridan," he pulled her into his lap.
"I still love you."
"I love you too," she rested her head on his shoulder. "Luis, Theresa loves Ethan and I’ve never
seen him love someone else more than he loves her in return. Don’t try to separate them. They are going to have
to go up against the Crane family as it is. Don’t you think we should at least be there to support them?"
Luis looked into her eyes and sighed. "She really loves him?"
Sheridan nodded.
"And he truly loves her?"
Again she nodded.
"All right, I’ll give them a break, Sheridan, though I sure as hell don’t want to. I’ve always wanted my sister
to be happy and cared for, I guess Ethan is making her happy and I know he certainly can care for her the way she
deserves." He sighed again. "I’ll see how this goes."
Sheridan kissed his cheek. "That’s all I’m asking, Luis. Ethan does have his fair share of grudges to work
through. I know he does have a bit of a Crane attitude, but I think Theresa is bringing out the better side of
him. We’ll get him over his stuffy attitude, just like you got it out of me."
He nodded. "We need to go back to the cottage…it’s late and you’re unsafe out here."
"I refuse to move from this spot until we can work past our problems, Luis. I don’t want to give up a relationship
with you just because I am afraid to get married right now."
"But this proposal would have lasted until you were ready, Sheridan. I just…you turned me down and I can’t
find a single way to get you to trust that I want you."
"I’m not sure there is a way, Luis. As much as I love you, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to take care of
you," her eyes started to tear. "But I know I can’t be without you, Luis."
"Ditto," he kissed her lips lightly. "I still think we need to slow it down a little, Sheridan.
In case we decide to never get married."
"Who said never!?" Sheridan jumped off his lap.
"I just…" Damn why did he love her so much? "Sheridan, tell me the truth. It’s not just that you’re
worried about the kind of wife you’ll be, is it?"
"What do you mean?" she looked him in the eyes.
"You don’t really want to give up being a Crane…you don’t want to become the wife of a cop."
"Luis! How dare you ask that!" She was enraged. "I LOVE you! I would give up every damn cent in
the Crane bank accounts for just one night in your arms," her rage turned to tears. "I would give up
everything I have for just one single kiss from you."
"Then why the hell won’t you marry me!?"
"Because I don’t want to be the biggest mistake of your life…"
"What?"
"If you married me, Luis, you know you would never be happy. Between my family and your hate for it, the wonder
surrounding your father’s disappearance and my lack of domestic skills, you know deep down inside that you’d be
miserable."
"I want to take that chance, Sheridan. I want to marry you."
"Then give me some time to deal with the future…"
He nodded. "I’m not giving up."
"I’m not asking you to. I’m asking for time."
"You got it," he smiled slightly. "Let’s go home." |
|
next
|
|
