Ficlet: What Becomes of the Broken Hearted (GH, Lulu, Lulu/Johnny, Lulu/OC)
Title: What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 35 - Broken Heart
Pairing/Character(s): Lulu, Lulu/Johnny, Nikolas, Bobby Donely
Rating: G
Disclaimer: None of the characters appearing on GH belong to me, and neither does Bobby Donely, who is graciously on loan from normative_jean.
Word Count: 1,162
Spoilers/Warnings: This is the aftermath of I Heard the News Today, and is part of the extended Lana!AU.
Summary: Lulu thought she might be starting to heal.
Author's Notes: Many thanks to normative_jean for letting borrow Bobby and giving me the only character I've ever shipped Lulu with in the first place. This story is for you, and for theechochorus.
The days after Johnny died were a blur for Lulu.
She knew that she planned the funeral, for both Johnny and Claudia’s, but she doesn’t remember doing it. She remembers feeling hurt that almost no one came, except of course for her brothers who held her upright, despite the fact that her involvement with Johnny had estranged her from both of them.
Mostly what Lulu remembered was the days, no weeks, after the funeral when she couldn’t get out of bed. Couldn’t find a way to deal with the fact that the life she’d planned for, the life she’d wanted was never going to happen now.
It was easier to just stay in bed.
*
Her brothers tried desperately to pull her out of it. Lucky and Nikolas stopped by frequently and Lucky even sent Maxie at one point, as if he hoped a childish fight would bring her back from the brink.
But with Johnny’s death, Lulu lost all her interest in stupid, childish feuds. In the place of the girl that was, a woman now stood, a woman that Lulu didn’t recognize and didn’t really want to get to know.
Ultimately she didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
*
One day, about two months after Johnny’s death, Nikolas came over to her apartment and dropped a plane ticket and a course catalogue on her bed.
Lulu looked up at him with confusion, and picked up the ticket. “One-way ticket to London,” she read aloud. She picked up the course catalogue, which read Kings College London on the cover, in bright, bold font. She looked over at Nikolas once more. “I’m not going.”
“Yes, you are,” he corrected. “You can’t stay in bed forever, and you need to get out of Port Charles. I pulled some strings to get you in for the summer session, so you’d better start packing.” With that, he turned and walked out of the apartment.
“I’m not going!” she screamed at his departing back.
*
She went.
It was easier than fighting with Nikolas or Lucky again, and she figured that an ocean would probably stop them from hovering. If she wanted to wallow when she got there, at least they wouldn’t have a key to her apartment.
When she got there, she realized Nikolas had been right. Everything with Johnny had been so intense that she’d forgotten that she was only 22 years old. Being around other people her age, people who weren’t concerned everyday with life and death, reminded her just how young she really was.
Despite her grief, she found herself smiling more often, laughing more deeply, enjoying life more fully than she had in years.
She’d been happy with Johnny, but it hadn’t been a happiness like what she was finding now, on her own.
Lulu thought she might be starting to heal.
*
Summer came and went.
She started to make friends, to genuinely enjoy school in a way she thought she never had before. When it came time to register for fall classes, she found herself eagerly pouring over the course catalogue, searching for just the right classes.
Not long after classes started, she received a call from an unfamiliar number. Out of habit, she screened the call and let it go through to voicemail. When her phone beeped once more, altering her that the mystery caller had left a message, she dialed in and listened.
An unfamiliar male voice, with a distinct New England accent filled her ears. “I hope I’ve reached the right Lulu Spencer, not that I imagine there are a lot of them,” the mystery man rambled. “I’m a friend of Robin Scorpio’s, well more like family really, and when she found out I was moving here to do post grad work, she insisted I call you. So I hope you’ll give me a call back and we can trade stories about how bossy Robin can be, if nothing else. Oh, and I’m Bobby. Bobby Donely.”
The message ended. When her phone prompted her to save or delete the message, she instead opted to listen to it again.
Bobby Donely’s voice intrigued her.
*
She waited three days before she called him back.
To her surprise, he actually answered. “Hello?”
“Hi,” she managed to stammer. “I’m Lulu, you called me a couple of days ago?”
“Of course!” he exclaimed, sounding as if he was actually happy she’d returned his call. “I’m really glad you called me back.”
“You are?” she asked skeptically. “Most people want to avoid the meetings forced on them by well meaning friends and family.”
He laughed, a warm, rich sound that sent a tingle running down Lulu’s spine. “Touché,” he acknowledged. “But most of those don’t come with glowing recommendations from Robin and a threat of flying to London to personally arrange the introduction.”
“She said that?” Lulu asked, both touched and amused.
“She did,” Bobby confirmed, affection laced through his voice. “But enough about that. Do you maybe want to meet for coffee, Lulu Spencer?”
“I’d love to,” she said, trying to conceal the giggle that was threatening to erupt.
They made arrangements to meet at a coffee shop not from Lulu’s flat the following Saturday.
After Lulu hung up, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
And though she didn’t notice, she couldn’t stop twisting her engagement ring back and forth.
*
The day they were to meet, Lulu arrived at the coffee shop fifteen minutes early, something that the perennially late youngest Spencer never did. She ordered her usual espresso (a habit she’d picked up from Johnny, she remembered with a pang of sadness), and scanned the crowd searching for Bobby, though she had no idea what he looked like.
When they’d spoken, he had insisted that he’d be able to find her, because he’d received a picture from Robin, along with her threats. She’d tried to tell him that her hair was considerably shorter than in any picture Robin might have had and that he probably wouldn’t recognize her, but he said that minus any plastic surgery, he’d be able to recognize her face.
Lulu hated to admit it, but he had a point.
From behind her, someone cleared their throat, and she turned to see who it was. The man standing behind her was probably about six feet tall, she guessed, with sandy blond hair, broad shoulders and piercing blue eyes. He had a laptop bag slung across his back, and was dressed like every graduate student Lulu had ever met. This man was light, where Johnny had been dark, but Lulu tried to banish that thought.
He smiled at her, and Lulu couldn’t help but smile back.
“Are you Lulu?” he asked hopefully.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Bobby?”
The smile deepened. “I am, indeed.” He held out a hand to shake hers, and as Lulu took it, she realized something important was about to happen.
He sat down and they began to talk.
Author: empressearwig
Prompt: 35 - Broken Heart
Pairing/Character(s): Lulu, Lulu/Johnny, Nikolas, Bobby Donely
Rating: G
Disclaimer: None of the characters appearing on GH belong to me, and neither does Bobby Donely, who is graciously on loan from normative_jean.
Word Count: 1,162
Spoilers/Warnings: This is the aftermath of I Heard the News Today, and is part of the extended Lana!AU.
Summary: Lulu thought she might be starting to heal.
Author's Notes: Many thanks to normative_jean for letting borrow Bobby and giving me the only character I've ever shipped Lulu with in the first place. This story is for you, and for theechochorus.
The days after Johnny died were a blur for Lulu.
She knew that she planned the funeral, for both Johnny and Claudia’s, but she doesn’t remember doing it. She remembers feeling hurt that almost no one came, except of course for her brothers who held her upright, despite the fact that her involvement with Johnny had estranged her from both of them.
Mostly what Lulu remembered was the days, no weeks, after the funeral when she couldn’t get out of bed. Couldn’t find a way to deal with the fact that the life she’d planned for, the life she’d wanted was never going to happen now.
It was easier to just stay in bed.
*
Her brothers tried desperately to pull her out of it. Lucky and Nikolas stopped by frequently and Lucky even sent Maxie at one point, as if he hoped a childish fight would bring her back from the brink.
But with Johnny’s death, Lulu lost all her interest in stupid, childish feuds. In the place of the girl that was, a woman now stood, a woman that Lulu didn’t recognize and didn’t really want to get to know.
Ultimately she didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
*
One day, about two months after Johnny’s death, Nikolas came over to her apartment and dropped a plane ticket and a course catalogue on her bed.
Lulu looked up at him with confusion, and picked up the ticket. “One-way ticket to London,” she read aloud. She picked up the course catalogue, which read Kings College London on the cover, in bright, bold font. She looked over at Nikolas once more. “I’m not going.”
“Yes, you are,” he corrected. “You can’t stay in bed forever, and you need to get out of Port Charles. I pulled some strings to get you in for the summer session, so you’d better start packing.” With that, he turned and walked out of the apartment.
“I’m not going!” she screamed at his departing back.
*
She went.
It was easier than fighting with Nikolas or Lucky again, and she figured that an ocean would probably stop them from hovering. If she wanted to wallow when she got there, at least they wouldn’t have a key to her apartment.
When she got there, she realized Nikolas had been right. Everything with Johnny had been so intense that she’d forgotten that she was only 22 years old. Being around other people her age, people who weren’t concerned everyday with life and death, reminded her just how young she really was.
Despite her grief, she found herself smiling more often, laughing more deeply, enjoying life more fully than she had in years.
She’d been happy with Johnny, but it hadn’t been a happiness like what she was finding now, on her own.
Lulu thought she might be starting to heal.
*
Summer came and went.
She started to make friends, to genuinely enjoy school in a way she thought she never had before. When it came time to register for fall classes, she found herself eagerly pouring over the course catalogue, searching for just the right classes.
Not long after classes started, she received a call from an unfamiliar number. Out of habit, she screened the call and let it go through to voicemail. When her phone beeped once more, altering her that the mystery caller had left a message, she dialed in and listened.
An unfamiliar male voice, with a distinct New England accent filled her ears. “I hope I’ve reached the right Lulu Spencer, not that I imagine there are a lot of them,” the mystery man rambled. “I’m a friend of Robin Scorpio’s, well more like family really, and when she found out I was moving here to do post grad work, she insisted I call you. So I hope you’ll give me a call back and we can trade stories about how bossy Robin can be, if nothing else. Oh, and I’m Bobby. Bobby Donely.”
The message ended. When her phone prompted her to save or delete the message, she instead opted to listen to it again.
Bobby Donely’s voice intrigued her.
*
She waited three days before she called him back.
To her surprise, he actually answered. “Hello?”
“Hi,” she managed to stammer. “I’m Lulu, you called me a couple of days ago?”
“Of course!” he exclaimed, sounding as if he was actually happy she’d returned his call. “I’m really glad you called me back.”
“You are?” she asked skeptically. “Most people want to avoid the meetings forced on them by well meaning friends and family.”
He laughed, a warm, rich sound that sent a tingle running down Lulu’s spine. “Touché,” he acknowledged. “But most of those don’t come with glowing recommendations from Robin and a threat of flying to London to personally arrange the introduction.”
“She said that?” Lulu asked, both touched and amused.
“She did,” Bobby confirmed, affection laced through his voice. “But enough about that. Do you maybe want to meet for coffee, Lulu Spencer?”
“I’d love to,” she said, trying to conceal the giggle that was threatening to erupt.
They made arrangements to meet at a coffee shop not from Lulu’s flat the following Saturday.
After Lulu hung up, she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
And though she didn’t notice, she couldn’t stop twisting her engagement ring back and forth.
*
The day they were to meet, Lulu arrived at the coffee shop fifteen minutes early, something that the perennially late youngest Spencer never did. She ordered her usual espresso (a habit she’d picked up from Johnny, she remembered with a pang of sadness), and scanned the crowd searching for Bobby, though she had no idea what he looked like.
When they’d spoken, he had insisted that he’d be able to find her, because he’d received a picture from Robin, along with her threats. She’d tried to tell him that her hair was considerably shorter than in any picture Robin might have had and that he probably wouldn’t recognize her, but he said that minus any plastic surgery, he’d be able to recognize her face.
Lulu hated to admit it, but he had a point.
From behind her, someone cleared their throat, and she turned to see who it was. The man standing behind her was probably about six feet tall, she guessed, with sandy blond hair, broad shoulders and piercing blue eyes. He had a laptop bag slung across his back, and was dressed like every graduate student Lulu had ever met. This man was light, where Johnny had been dark, but Lulu tried to banish that thought.
He smiled at her, and Lulu couldn’t help but smile back.
“Are you Lulu?” he asked hopefully.
“I am,” she confirmed. “Bobby?”
The smile deepened. “I am, indeed.” He held out a hand to shake hers, and as Lulu took it, she realized something important was about to happen.
He sat down and they began to talk.