It was a cold December day as Luke walked into the Haunted Star. He was tired and worn out. Things had been crazy lately and he needed sanctuary from the hysteria. He walked into the deserted floating casino removing his jacket, hanging it on a coat rack and settling into his seat behind the bar. He sat chuckling to himself, "Ah Lucas what now…" he said laughing out loud. He took out three shot glasses and set them out on the bar.

"Well old casino it's just you, me, Jose, Jack, and Jim."He said talking aloud, and pouring a shot of each.

"Do you really think that that is a good idea considering your situation?" A familiar voice asked as the owner of the voice approached the bar. Luke didn't even have to look up to know who the light velvet voice belonged to."Angel…" He said looking up to see Laura standing in front of him. He smiled as his eyes caught sight of her. "What brings you here?" he asked slamming one of the shots.

Laura walked over to the bar and slid her jacket off and setting it on the vacant stool next to her then smoothed out her dress. Luke's eyes washed over her taking in her beauty as he noticed her figure when she removed the coat. "Damn…" he thought as he watched her noticing every detail about her. Her hair hung in large loose curls around her face framing it perfectly. She was wearing a light blue wrap dress that matched her eyes, bringing out their color, and knee high boots. She looked up letting her blue eyes sparkle underneath long lashes as she caught his gaze. "So can I join you for a drink or are Jim, Jack, and Jose taking up all the room?" she said pointing at the three shot glasses and raising her eyebrow. He smiled a little and handed he an empty glass. "Here ya go drinks even on the house…" he said filling it up. "So what are you doing here? Why aren't you in France?"

Laura looked down at the glass holding it in her hand, trying hard to remember the last time she had drank.

"The last time I talked to you, you were still in treatment…did you run away or did the doctors ok this visit?" he asked barely giving her time to answer.

"Since when do you give interrogations around here?" she said smiling as she took the shot. She could feel the burn as it went down. "I'm here to see my kids…and since when do you care about what a doctor says?" she asked laughing a little. "Plus the doctors are saying I am all better now. I can come back…home."

"Sorry angel…I didn't mean to give you the fourth degree it's just things have been crazy lately…and I've been trying to come up with a way to deal with it and this is my solution." He said pouring another shot."So you can come back…" he said remembering what they had discussed when she was leaving for France. He shook the thoughts out of his head and looked back up at her. "Sorry I seem so defensive…it's just Tracy is on my last nerves about Holly and…" he said shaking his head.

"Holly…?" Laura said looking at him. "She's back in town…I see why Tracy is upset…I'm in town and so is Holly…" she said laughing a little. "What is she here for to see your son?" Laura said. She looked up at him with the truth in her eyes.

Luke froze and looked up at her. "You know about Ethan…who told you Lucky?" He asked. He hadn't been able to bring himself to tell Laura about Ethan.

"Actually Holly…she came to me in France and told me…I was wondering why you didn't tell me…" she said holding her hand where her wedding rings use to be. She ran her hand over her finger feeling its emptiness. She set her hands in her lap and looked down.

"Angel…I meant to be the one to tell you…it was just that….Tracy…and then Helena and…" he said trying to find the right words as he watched her head slump."Angel…Laura I'm sorry…" he said lifting her chin up with his hand and looking into her eyes. Small tears rested in their corners.

Laura felt his hand on her face feeling a slight electric pulse as she pulled away. "Luke…is it true?" she said waiting for an answer. Whether it was validation or denial she just wanted an answer.

He looked away verifying her answer with body language.

She took a deep breath in feeling lost. "Ohh…" was all she could manage to say. The tears slipped down her face and she tried wiping them away without him noticing. He did notice though as he looked down. He rested his hands on the bar and looked down.

"Laura…I…" he said as he tried to explain.

Laura stood up and grabbed her coat. "Um…I told Nikolas I would have dinner with him so I will see you later…" she said putting her coat on and walking out. Luke watched as she stood to leave and then walked out. Luke stood there dumb founded. He knew he would eventually have to have told Laura knowing that it would hurt her. He stood there still leaning against the counter.

Fifteen minutes had passed by and Luke had not moved. Laura walked back in snow covered and freezing. His eyes widened as he saw her walk back in.

"Laura…" he said eyes growing wide at the sight of her. "You came back…" he said in a low voice.

"My car is dead and we are pretty much snowed in…." she said rubbing her arms to try and heat herself up. She should have worn a thicker jacket, she thought as she stood there. Her hair was snow covered and large black mascara marks found their way down her face. It was apparent that she had been crying.

"If you knew your car was dead why did you stay outside so long?" he asked heading into the back to get her a blanket. She brushed the snow from her hair and ignored his question. She tried to wipe the mascara marks from her face before he walked to close and saw them. He walked out from the back bringing the blanket with him and handing it to her.

"Thank you…"she said taking the blanket keeping her head down and shying away from his eyes. She pulled out her phone but she had no service. "Damn snow storm…" she said as she put her phone back in her purse.

She took off her wet jacket and wrapped the blanket around herself, pulling it tightly and then walked over to one of the booths and sat down.

"Laura do you want to talk about what…" he said not wanting to finish his sentence, "About Ethan?" he finally said.

Laura still didn't answer him. She curled her feet under her as the lights began to flicker. She looked up and sighed as the lights did one last flicker then went completely out. "What else…" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't worry Angel; I'll get the generator going and get some candles too." He said not sure if she was paying him any attention.

Laura couldn't see Luke but knew he was staring at her which made her even more uncomfortable. Luke reached for a flash light from behind the bar and turned it on. "I'll be right back…okay…" he said as he went to find the generator.