**Please Note** This fanfiction takes place after Eric and Greta have returned home from France.

"All right everyone, let’s take a lunch break, then we’ll finish this shoot up." Eric Brady said as he watched the models race for their warm coats and the assistants race for the coffee machine. He pulled back his glove and checked the time. Eleven-thirty. "I expect everyone back in half an hour!" He called after them, certain that none of them had heard. Eric smiled as he breathed in the cold January air and he looked around the shoot location. Salem park was the perfect spot for Titan’s new add campaign. With the snow covered trees and frozen pond, it was the ideal setting. Eric continued to smile happily to himself, taking the pictures at the park had been his idea. ‘Well…’ he thought to himself, ‘it was kind of Greta’s idea.’ Eric grinned wider at the thought of Greta, they had been on a walk through the park when she mentioned what a great place the park would be for some pictures.
"So how’s everything going?" A voice said from behind Eric, he rolled his eyes and turned to face Nicole Walker.
"Everything’s going great," Eric replied dryly as he walked towards a small table and began changing the lens on his camera. "We’re ahead of schedule," Eric continued, "I figure we’ll be out of here by one."
"Wonderful!" Nicole said happily, clapping her hands together. She walked over towards Eric and put a hand on his arm. "Seeing as we’re going to be done early, whadda say we go grab a coffee… or something?" A smirk growing across her face. Eric shrugged her hand off.
"I’ve got plans." He said, moving away from her. Nicole persisted.
"Come on! You know you’ll have more fun with me than you will doing whatever it is you have planned!" Nicole said as she reached her hand to the back of Eric’s neck and rubbed it gently. Eric pulled away from her touch and shot her a dirty look.
"I doubt that Nicole," he answered bitterly. Nicole was about to ask him again, when she noticed his eyes trail off and watched as the angry look on his face disappeared and was replaced by a big smile. Her eyes followed his gaze and she felt teeth clench as Greta Von Amburg approached.

"Hey!" Eric said cheerfully as he jogged towards Greta. "I come bearing gifts," she said pleasantly, "doughnuts from Mrs. Horton."
She held up the pink box for Eric to see and laughed as his eyes widened with excitement.
"I need to tell that woman that I love her more often!" Eric said as he took the doughnuts from Greta. He reached out and took Greta’s hand, squeezing it gently. "So how are you?" He asked politely, staring down into her brown eyes.
"Good," she answered shyly, "how’s your shoot going?"
"Great! I think I’m gonna be finished ahead of time," Eric said putting an arm around her shoulders and leading her towards the small table that held his camera equipment.
"Maybe you’d be so kind as to keep me company until I’m done here and then you I could hang out, go see a movie or something?"
"I guess I could handle that," Greta said, smiling up at him.
"Oh, you ‘guess’ you can handle that! Well I don’t want to interfere with your busy social calendar…" Eric said sarcastically, but Greta gave him a light hit on the shoulder before he could finish.
"Eat your doughnuts already!" She said laughing. Eric instantly opened up the box and began happily munching on doughnuts, getting icing sugar all over the sides of his mouth. Greta laughed as she watched him eat.
"If you don’t slow down you’ll choke," she said as she began wiping the sugar away with her finger tips, "how old are we again?" Eric just stared into her eyes and leaned in towards her, placing a soft kiss on her lips. He moved one hand onto her cheek as he kissed her a little more firmly and she placed her hands on his waist. When they finally separated, Eric looked down at Greta and smiled.
"You know, you look really cute with sugar on your face," Eric said, laughing a little. Greta instinctively moved her hands up to her face to wipe her mouth off and he laughed a little harder. "You’re such a slob!" Greta said playfully as she gave him another hit on the shoulder. Eric just reached in for another doughnut.

Nicole glared at Greta with her arms folded across her chest, a disgusted look plastered across her face. ‘Please!’ Nicole thought to herself, ‘if she gets any sweeter, I think I might throw up!’ She watched as Eric continued cuddling and tickling Greta. ‘That should be me!’ She thought bitterly. She looked down at her watch, eleven-fifty. She walked over towards Eric and Greta.
"Hey Eric," she said in a sickeningly sweet tone, "it’s ten to. How long was this lunch break going to be?"
"Go tell everyone to start getting ready, I’ll get set up here." Eric said simply, brushing Nicole off. Nicole turned to Greta, not ready to leave just yet.
"Greta! How nice to see you again!" Nicole said sweetly patting Greta’s cheek. Greta moved away from her and little closer to Eric who was glaring at Nicole.
"Hello Nicole," Greta said quietly and cautiously. Nicole pasted on a phony smile, took Greta’s arm and began leading her away from the shoot.
"We’re about to get back to work now, so why don’t you run along and spend some of your inheritance, okay."
"Actually Nicole," Greta said, pulling her arm away, "I was thinking that maybe I’d wait her in the park and watch Eric work." Nicole stared coldly into her eyes as Greta continued, "is that all right with you Nicole?" Greta returned the icy stare and neither of them spoke. Finally Eric cut in, "of course Nicole doesn’t mind." With that, he took Greta’s hand and they began walking away, leaving Nicole fuming.

Greta checked her watch for the third time, twelve-thirty. She sighed and continued to watch Eric take more photos of the models. ‘How many pictures do they need?’ Greta wondered. Even though she liked being near Eric, she was bored. Suddenly, a group of boys playing in the snow caught her attention. There was four of them, they looked about eight or nine and they were busy building snowmen and snow forts. Greta smiled as she watched them launch snowballs at each other. ‘Now that looks like a little more fun,’ Greta thought. Suddenly, she felt a cold, wet snowball land squarely on her shoulder. Greta stared, surprised, at one of the little boys who stared back at her. "Sorry…" he said, "I didn’t mean to." He looked at his friends, then back at Greta, "I was aiming for Billy, but I…" He stopped as he saw a large smile spread across Greta’s face. She began walking towards him as she scooped some snow up into her hands and began forming it into a snowball. The little boy began backing away, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Your in big trouble now Mister!" Greta said as she threw the snowball at the little boy. The boy turned, shrieking, but before he could duck, the snowball connected with his back. He jumped back to his feet, grabbing some more snow in his hands and began running towards Greta. Greta picked up some snow of her own and the two began wildly throwing snow at each other, shrieking and laughing the whole time. Before long, the three other little boys joined in and they all began chasing Greta around the park, all five of them laughing happily.

"Okay Mandy, turn a little to the left…" Eric said, motioning with his hands the direction he wanted the models to move. " Tina, look over here a little more." Eric stopped when he noticed all the models where looking at something. "What is it?" Eric asked curiously. One of the models pointed over at four little boys having a snowball fight. "What about them?" Eric asked. Mandy piped up.
"We were just wondering who the big kid was," she said smiling. Eric looked closely at the figure, a smile spreading across his face when he realized who it was.
"I’ll be back in a second," Eric said, moving a little closer to the fight. The models and crew followed, giggling and smiling. Once they were nearer, Eric began snapping pictures of the action, most of them of Greta.
"Eric," Nicole said impatiently, "we’ve got work to do…" before she could finish Eric hushed her.
"It’ll just be a minute," he answered, continuing to take pictures. Nicole scowled and crossed her arms across her chest.

Greta continued playing in the snow with the boys, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. Finally, she fell into the snow, soaked and tired.
"That’s it! I give up!" She called breathlessly, "You’re all too good! I can’t possibly win!" The boys cheered triumphantly and then bounded into the snow beside her.
"Don’t feel bad," one of them said, "you were kinda outnumbered." Greta smiled at the remark.
"Yeah!" Another one chimed in, "you put up a pretty good fight…for a girl!" Greta tossed some snow at him which he avoided.
"Well boys," she said, "I better get going."
"Do ya have to?" One of the boys asked. Greta smiled.
"I just realized, I don’t know any of your names," Greta said.
The boy who had first hit her with a snowball spoke up.
"I’m Alex, this Billy, this is Jeff and that’s Matthew."
"Pleased to meet you," Greta said politely, "my name’s Greta."
"That’s a pretty name," Alex said. Greta blushed a little.
"Well thank you. I better get going." Greta reached her hands out towards the boys, "help me up, will ya!" They all grabbed a hold of her and pulled her to her feet. Greta began pulling some of the snow out of her hair.
"Thanks for playing with us," Billy said. "Yeah! We had fun!" Jeff chimed in.
"We should do it again!" Greta said with a wink.
"Your on!" The boys said with a smile. With that Greta began walking away, brushing away the snow and waving good bye over and over again to the boys. Suddenly, Greta looked up and noticed a large group of people staring at her. Then she saw Eric in front of the group with his camera in hand, smiling proudly at her. Greta could feel her cheeks turn crimson as the group began to applaud her. All she could do was smile as Eric came up to her and slipped his arm around her waist. "How old are we again?" Eric whispered in her ear as they strolled passed Nicole.

Eric pulled his Jeep slowly into Mrs. Horton’s driveway and took the keys out of the ignition. "So," he said turning to Greta, "did you have a good time today?" Greta smiled back at him happily.
After her little snowball fight with the boys, Eric wrapped up his shoot and the two of them headed out to a matinee movie, then grabbed some dinner at the Brady Pub and finally, finished off the day with a round of pool at the Cheatin’ Heart. ‘This was absolutely the best day ever!’ Greta thought happily to herself.
"Hey! You awake over there?" Eric asked jokingly.
"Actually," Greta began, "I’m pretty worn out! That snowball fight was pretty intense!" Eric laughed. "I’m serious!" Greta continued, "they may look like sweet little boys, but put a snowball in their hands and they become a deadly weapon!" Eric kept laughing.
"What about the rest of the day?" He asked, leaning a little closer, "did you have fun hangin’ out with me? I know I’m not as cute as those little guys you were trying to pick up at the park, but I…"
"I wasn’t trying to pick them up!" Greta protested cheerfully, "We were just having fun!"
"I know, I know! I’m just teasing you!" Eric said happily. Then he noticed Greta staring at him. "What?" Eric asked curiously. Greta blushed a little and looked away.
"Nothing," Greta replied softly. Eric took her hand and placed a light kiss on her knuckles. "What is it ?" He asked again. Greta smiled at him.
"I was just thinking about what a great day this has been, and I just wish that I had had more days like this when I was younger." She looked deeply into his eyes as she spoke. " I just wish my childhood had been a little more…normal"
Eric smiled at her, "Greta, nobody has a normal childhood! You just have to start focusing on the present and stop fixating on your past."
"I guess so," Greta said, looking down. Eric looked at her for a moment, then unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Greta watched him walk around the car and then he opened her door and reached his hand in. Greta unbuckled her own seat belt and then took his hand. He gently pulled her out of the car and into his arms. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. She shuddered as she felt his arms settle around her waist and back, and felt his cheek come to rest against her head. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the safe feeling of his arms, and listened to his steady heartbeat.
Eric began stroking Greta’s hair as he held her tightly against him. He gently kissed the top of her head and thought about all of the difficulties she had overcome in her life. The accident that had left her scarred, living in the bayou, the confusion surrounding her mother, Eric wished he could just take all her pain away, but he knew he couldn’t do that. She had to do it for herself. Eric pulled away and gave her a soft peck on the lips. He then took her hand and walked her up the steps to Mrs. Horton’s door.
"You know," Greta began, "I should really start looking for my own apartment, I think I’ve imposed on Mrs. Horton long enough." Eric nodded in agreement.
"You know, there are some apartments available in my Mother’s building, maybe you could get one there." Greta nodded happily as they reached the landing, Eric continued, "how about I come pick you up tomorrow and we can look at them together."
"That would be great," Greta said happily, "what time do you want to go?"
Eric thought for a minute and then finally gave his answer. "Does one o’clock sound good?"
"Why so late?" Greta asked. A devilish grin appeared on Eric’s face. "What are you up to?" Greta asked poking a finger into his chest. Eric laughed at her touch.
"I’ve got a surprise for you," Eric said sweetly. Greta eyed him carefully.
"Will you give me a hint?" She asked coyly, but Eric just shook his head ‘no’.
"You’ll see tomorrow." Finally Greta gave in. She stared up at Eric, smiling, and moved a hand to the back of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her as she drew him into the kiss. Suddenly the porch lights flicked on and there was Mrs. Horton at the door.
"Oh! I’m sorry!" Mrs. Horton said with a large smile on her face. "I heard a noise and was coming out to investigate." Greta buried her face in Eric chest and giggled. Eric grinned at Mrs. Horton.
"No burglars Mrs. H, just us!" he said. Mrs. Horton continued smiling. Greta turned to Mrs. Horton, her cheeks bright red.
"I’ll be in in a minute Mrs. Horton," she said softly, still hugging Eric. Mrs. Horton just turned and went back inside.
"Take your time dear!" She called over her shoulder. Greta buried her head back in Eric’s chest, but he lifted her chin with his hand.
"I’ll see you tomorrow," he whispered and gave her one last kiss before jogging back to his car.

"…. Good Morning Salem! It’s nine a.m. on a beautiful Saturday morning…"
Eric slammed his hand down on his alarm clock radio, before it could continue. With the peaceful quiet restored, he rolled over in his bed and began to fall back to sleep. Suddenly, his eyes snapped opened.
"Greta’s pictures!" He said out loud. He threw the covers off of himself and got out of bed, making his way to the shower. He smiled as he thought about his surprise for Greta.

Eric checked the clock in the Titan studio. ‘Quarter after twelve,’ he thought to himself, ‘I should probably start packing up if I’m going to make it to Mrs. H’s by one.’ He began collecting the photos from yesterday’s shoot, putting his favorites into a separate envelope. After organizing the campaign pictures, Eric moved on to a different pile of photos. Eric felt a smile forming at his lips as he looked at the pictures of Greta’s snowball fight for the third time. He was really pleased with how well the black and white photos had turned out. The four boys looked absolutely adorable, and Eric thought that Greta had never looked more beautiful. He laughed at loud as he looked at one where Greta had caught a snowball right in the face, and he sighed as he looked at the picture of her smiling afterwards. He began putting the photos in an envelope, but only after he had taken a few for himself.
"What are those?" Nicole asked flatly from over his shoulder.
Eric slipped the last of the photos into the envelope and began walking away from Nicole.
"They’re the pictures from Greta’s snowball fight," Eric said simply.
"Oh?" Nicole began, "may I see them?" Eric eyed her cautiously, then reluctantly handed her the envelope. He watched as she gently slid the pictures out and began flipping through them carefully. Eric could see her face tighten as she looked at Greta. Once she was done she placed them all back in the envelope.
"Very nice," she said dryly and tossed the pictures on the desk. "I’m sure Greta will just love them," her words dripped a phony sweetness.
"Yeah," Eric murmured quietly, then he changed the subject. "I developed the pictures from the shoot yesterday, they turned out really well." Nicole perked up a bit.
"Are they here? I ‘d love to see them."
"One second, I’ve got to go get the last of them out dark room," Eric said as he walked out of the room. Nicole looked back at the envelope containing the pictures of Greta. "They look they belong on the cover of ‘Good House Keeping’ or something!"
Nicole snarled out loud. Suddenly, an evil smile appeared on her lips; she had an idea. Producing a set of keys from her bag, she quickly went over to a large metal filing cabinet and unlocked the top drawer. After a few seconds of searching she pulled out four photographs. She smiled happily at the pictures from her lingerie shoot with Eric, she was especially proud of the picture she took of Eric and herself kissing. She strutted over to the desk and slipped the pictures into the envelope. ‘That ought to spice those up!’ She thought to herself.
"Okay here are the rest of the pictures," Eric said as he walked back into the room. "I have to get going now," he said as he checked his watch. He handed Nicole the pictures and began putting his coat on, feeling around in his pocket for his keys and gloves.
"Oh! Don’t forget these!" Nicole said cheerfully as she handed Eric the pictures of Greta…and herself. "What I wouldn’t give to see Greta’s face when she looks at these!" Eric snapped his eyes towards her, suspicious.
"She’s just going to be so surprised! That’s all," Nicole said, trying to cover her enthusiasm.
"I’ve gotta go," Eric said, giving her one last dirty look as he snatched the envelope out of her hand. He went out the door without turning back to see the smirk on Nicole’s face.

"Hey! I just remembered! Where’s my surprise!!" Greta said as she sat up and looked Eric in the eye. Eric jumped up from the couch, grinning from ear to ear and ran out of the room before Greta could ask any questions. Greta smiled after him, then stood up and began looking around Eric’s apartment.
Eric had picked her up at Mrs. Horton’s right at one, and as soon as he arrived she began poking around for her surprise. Unfortunately, he told her she had to wait. She agreed reluctantly and the two of them headed out to go apartment hunting. After three hours of searching, Greta had narrowed her decision down to two apartments. But before she could decide which apartment she wanted, Eric suggested they take a break and go back to his place for some food.
Greta was impressed with how neat the apartment was, she always thought that guys were really messy. Although the apartment wasn’t lavishly furnished, it was cozy and inviting. ‘It suits him!’ she thought pleasantly to herself. Soon a row of pictures along the mantle caught her eye. She went over and picked up a cute picture of Eric with his three sisters and his little brother. ‘They look so happy,’ Greta thought to herself, as she ran her thumb across the edge of the picture frame. ‘I would have loved to have had some brothers or sisters.’ She put the picture back on the mantle when she heard Eric come back into the room.
"What took you so long!" She teased, turning around to face him. She noticed that he had a large smile on his face and his hands hidden behind his back.
"Sorry," Eric said apologetically, "for a minute there I thought I lost them."
" ‘Them’?" Greta cut in, "you mean there’s more then one surprise!!" She tried peaking behind Eric’s back but he kept his hands out of sight. He laughed at Greta’s anxiousness and eventually instructed her to sit on the couch with her eyes closed. Greta raised an eyebrow suspiciously, but nevertheless, she did as she was told and sat in the middle of the couch with her eyes shut and her hands out, waiting.
Eric walked towards her and placed the envelope in her hands. Greta kept her eyes closed, but her smile widened as she felt something in her hands and she began moving the envelope around delicately, trying to guess what it was. Eric sat down and smiled as he watched her.
"It’s paper! You got me paper?" Greta’s face twisted in confusion, "what kind of surprise is paper?" Eric just laughed.
"It may be paper, but there’s something in it!"
"Oh!" Greta exclaimed, her smile reappearing. "You know I don’t think I’m very good at guessing games, could I just open my eyes?"
"All right, if you give up you can open your eyes," Eric said. Greta instantly snapped her eyes open and stared into her hands. "It’s an envelope," she said matter-of-factly. She shot him a smile, "what’s in it?"
"Well open it up and find out!" Eric exclaimed. Greta untied the flap to the envelope and peaked in. She looked up at Eric, half confused and half shocked, then removed the pictures from the envelope.
"Omigosh…" Greta’s voice trailed off as she looked at the first picture. It was of her, surrounded by the four little boys and they were all throwing snow at her. She looked back at Eric, her face breaking into a large smile. "I didn’t know you took these," she said quietly, her cheeks turning pink as she looked at the next photo. Eric moved a little closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders.
"I can’t believe you did this…" she said turning to look into his eyes. This time Eric actually blushed a little.
"It’s not a big deal or anything," he said as he looked away a little, " I just thought you might want to have these to remember the day. You know… cause you looked like you were having a lot of fun." Eric turned his eyes back towards hers and stared at her.
"This is the sweetest thing…" Greta stopped and she touched his cheek gently, "thank you." Eric smiled broadly and leaned in towards her.
"Your welcome," he said, kissing her lips lightly. After a moment, he moved his kisses onto her cheek and then broke away to stare into her eyes. He looked down towards the pictures in her hands.
"That one’s my favorite," he said softly.
"Huh?" Greta said, still staring dreamily at him. Eric smiled and motioned to the pictures in her hands.
"I said, ‘that one’s my favorite’." Greta shook herself out of her dreamy state and looked down at the photo. It was a close-up of her.
"Oh," Greta said, blushing again. Eric smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Are you hungry? Cause I’m hungry," he said as he got up and went into the kitchen. Greta didn’t answer him, she just kept looking at the pictures. ‘I can’t believe he took these,’ Greta thought to herself. She smiled as she looked at more of the pictures. ‘I’m gonna have to frame some of these!’ Suddenly her smile vanished as she came upon a new set of pictures.

Greta’s jaw dropped as she stared at a picture of Nicole, in only her underwear. She flipped to the next two pictures, which were both of Nicole topless. Greta felt a lump forming in her throat as she tried to think of why Eric would let her see these pictures. Finally, she flipped to the last picture; it was Nicole again, but this time she wasn’t alone. It was a picture of Eric and Nicole kissing.
"Hey look what I found!" Eric called, walking back into the room, "potato chips! I didn’t even know I had these…" Eric stopped short when Greta didn’t look up at him. "Hey Greta, are you all right?" He put the chips down on the coffee table and sat down beside her. Greta turned towards him, a single tear trickling down her cheek, her face pale and her lips tight.
"Greta," Eric began, confused, "what’s wrong?" He moved his arm onto her shoulder, but Greta quickly shrugged it off and stood up, moving to the other side of the room. Eric followed closely behind her.
"Greta… talk to me. What’s got you so upset?" He tried to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder but she brushed it off as she spun around to face him.
"Do you still love Nicole?" Greta’s voice trembled as she spoke but Eric could still hear the bitterness in it. Eric stared at her, a wave of shock flowed over him.
"What!?" Was the only answer he could force out.
"You heard me." Greta said, narrowing her eyes at him.
" I don’t understand…" Eric began, his confusion evident. Greta cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"Just answer my question!" She heard her voice become louder, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was the pain welling up in her chest. Eric put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
"No," he replied firmly. "How can you even ask that?" Greta stared at his hurt expression and couldn’t help the sarcastic laugh that came out of her mouth. Eric’s confusion continued to grow.
"Well," Greta began, her voice barely audible, "I figure you must still be in love with her if you’d give me this." With that she held up the picture of Nicole and Eric kissing. All the color drained out of Eric’s face and his hands feel from her shoulders. He stared at the picture and then at Greta.
"Where did you get that?" He asked calmly.
"They came with my surprise," Greta answered flatly. She walked towards the coffee table and set the pictures down near the edge, then she walked over to the door and began putting her coat on.
"Greta wait…" Eric began, walking towards her. "I’m so sorry, I didn’t put them there. They must have…" Suddenly Eric realized what had happened. "It was Nicole! I let her see the pictures of you, then I left the room. She must have put those pictures of herself in the envelope!" Greta didn’t speak, but the pain and disappointment on her face came through loud and clear to Eric.
"Eric," she said softly, "I don’t care how the pictures got in the envelope, I care about how they came into existence." Eric hung his head and stared at the floor, a lump beginning to now form in his throat.
"At first, I thought that they were old pictures from when you and Nicole were together," Greta said sadly. "But I recognize what she’s wearing… or should I say what’s she’s not wearing." Eric lifted his head to look at Greta and her tears were now flowing freely down her face. Eric almost felt sick when he realized he was the one causing her so much pain. Greta continued.
"The pictures are from last month, aren’t they?" Eric couldn’t answer her, but his silence was answer enough.
"I trusted you!" She managed to say through her soft sobs. "I thought I could leave you alone with her and not have to worry!" Greta tried to wipe away her tears, but their was too many. Eric lifted his head and Greta could see that his eyes were wet, but her heart did not soften.
"I suppose it doesn’t matter," she said sourly, trying to regain some composure. "I mean it’s not like we’re a real couple, we never even made it through one date."
"Let me explain…" Eric tried, but it was no use.
"No. You don’t have to explain yourself, it’s obvious." Greta let out a weak sigh, "I just thought I meant something to you, that I was more then a rebound fling." She squeezed her eyes shut to stop the tears.
"Greta, you mean more to me than you realize! I never considered you a rebound fling! You’ve got to believe me!" Eric sputtered for words, but he knew they would never be enough.
"Goodbye Eric," Greta whispered. Then she opened the door and ran out of the apartment.
"Greta! Please!" Eric called after her, he ran out of the apartment and watched her disappear down the hallway.

Eric closed his apartment door slowly behind him. He looked around the room, still trying to get over the sick feeling he felt in his stomach. He made his way over to the couch and sat down, placing his face in the palms of his hands. ‘It’s ruined,’ he thought solemnly, ‘I’ve completely ruined everything I had with Greta.’ He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. Trying to figure how everything went wrong. ‘We were having a great time, laughing… kissing.’ He rubbed his eyes with his hands and realized he now had a headache. He looked at the door the Greta had just left through. "I’ve got to try and fix this," he said out loud. Suddenly, the pictures of Nicole caught his eye. He picked them up and was about to rip them apart, but then he got a better idea. Eric grabbed the photos of Nicole and Greta, put them back in the envelope and headed towards the door. He threw on his coat and made his way down to his car.

Greta ran out of the apartment lobby and didn’t stop running until she knew she was too far away for Eric to catch up to her. She walked quickly and tried to catch her breath. The icy winter air hurt her throat as she breathed it in and she could feel the tears on her face freeze. She was still crying. She wiped at her cheeks furiously, but it was no use, the tears just kept coming. Finally, she stopped walking and pulled a tissue out of her bag. ‘Why does this hurt so much?’ She thought to herself. ‘I’m not his girlfriend and it’s obvious Nicole is still in love with him.’ She dabbed her eyes with the tissue. ‘I shouldn’t have gotten so swept away, I’m such an idiot!’ Greta continued to scold herself, but then she realized she was standing out in the street and it was cold. She took a deep breath, in the hopes that would help to calm her down, then she opened her bag again and dug around until she found her cell phone. Taking another deep breath she called the operator and asked for a number for a cab company.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Eric began walking down the hallway towards Lucas Roberts’ office. In his hand he held the envelope containing the photos and the expression on his face was cold and determined. Once he reached Lucas’ office he banged furiously on the door, only to be interrupted by and assistant who told him that Lucas was out.
"Well when if he going to be back?" Eric demanded. The assistant backed away a little.
"I’m not sure Mr. Brady," she whined. "But there’s Mrs. Roberts," the assistant said pointing to Nicole who was coming out of her office, "maybe she knows."
"Thanks," Eric muttered as he headed towards Nicole.
Nicole was busy talking to her secretary when she heard Eric’s voice call to her from across the room.
"Nicole! I’d like to speak with you… now!"
Nicole turned to face Eric and felt a little uncomfortable when she saw the look on his face.
"I’m kind of in the middle of something right now Eric, I’ll have to talk to you later." She then turned to retreat into her office.
"Oh well, that’s fine then," Eric began. "I’ll just have a chat with Lucas about these pictures instead." Eric turned to leave, but not before Nicole could grab his arm and drag him into her office.
Once they were inside the office Eric pulled his arm out of Nicole’s grasp and waited as she shut the door. "Oh! So let me get this straight," Eric said sarcastically. "You can show the stupid pictures to Greta, but I can’t show them to Lucas! How does that work?"
"You showed the pictures to Greta," Nicole said matter-of-factly. "Only because you slipped them into the envelope when I wasn’t looking," Eric retorted.
"How did the little princess like her pictures anyway?" Nicole asked with a disgusting grin.
"She didn’t hate them nearly as much as Lucas will," Eric answered dryly. It was then that Nicole’s anger exploded.
"Go ahead! Show Lucas! Do you really think I care if he divorces me?" Nicole made her way over to the mini-bar and poured herself a drink.
"If you don’t mind if he divorces you, why did you marry him in the first place?" Eric asked quietly. Nicole took a swig of her drink and then smiled at Eric.
"You’re a smart guy, you figure it out!"
Eric stared at her, then took the four pictures of her out of the envelope and then handed them to Nicole.
"Here, keep these," he said quietly. "You might want them as a keepsake, cause they’re the only thing left between you and me." Eric turned and began to leave when he heard Nicole’s voice in back of him.
"What about Lucas? I thought you wanted to show these to him," she said smugly. Eric turned in the doorway.
"I’ve decided I don’t want to break you two up. He makes you miserable and that’s all you deserve. Personally, I hope you stay married to Lucas for the rest of your life." With that, Eric left a shocked Nicole standing alone in her office.

Greta stared out the kitchen window sadly, wiping yet another tear from her cheek. The cab had dropped her off a Mrs. Horton’s a couple of hours ago, and luckily for Greta, Mrs. Horton had gone out with Mickey and Maggie, so Greta was able to wallow around in her misery without having to explain the whole mess to anybody. She stood up from her seat at the kitchen table and made her way over to the sink to rinse out her coffee cup. As she placed her mug in the dishwasher, she heard the door open. Realizing that Mrs. Horton was home, Greta quickly began rubbing the tear stains off of her face and took some deep breaths to compose herself.
"Hello Greta dear!" Mrs. Horton said cheerfully, entering the kitchen. Greta pasted a smile on her face.
"Hi Mrs. Horton," she said quietly. "How was your afternoon with Mickey and Maggie?"
Mrs. Horton eyed Greta suspiciously, then took a seat at the table.
"Come on," Mrs. Horton said, motioning for Greta to take a seat. "What’s happened, and don’t tell me ‘nothing’. I know better." Greta smiled weakly and took the seat next to Mrs. Horton.
"Am I that transparent?" Greta said forcing a small chuckle. "I’m afraid so dear." Mrs. Horton said, placing her hand on Greta’s, comforting her. Greta looked down at Mrs. Horton’s hand, and then the tears began. Looking up into Mrs. Horton’s eyes, Greta told her the whole story.

"…and then a got a cab back to here," Greta said solemnly. Mrs. Horton let out a sigh.
"You poor thing," she said, pulling Greta into a hug. Greta laid her head on Mrs. Horton’s shoulder, weeping quietly.
"I just thought what we had was…" Greta struggled for the words, "I thought I was special."
"Greta!" Mrs. Horton said, taking Greta by the shoulders so they were face to face. "My dear, you are special, and Eric Brady knows that." Greta just stared at Mrs. Horton unhappily.
"Then why did he…" Greta began, but Mrs. Horton interrupted her. "I have seen the way Eric looks at you, and I have heard him talk about nothing but you. I believe, without any shadow of a doubt, that he cares deeply for you. As for this whole mess with photographs of him and Nicole… maybe you should let him explain." Greta stared at Mrs. Horton in disbelief.
"What’s to explain?" Greta asked pointedly, "he and Nicole kissed. He still cares about her!" Mrs. Horton brushed a wisp of her out of Greta’s eyes, and held her face in her hands.
"My dear, your assuming all that. You could be right, and maybe Eric does still love Nicole, but you know, you could be wrong." Greta’s gaze dropped to the floor. "I just believe that if you truly care about him, you’ll hear him out and then you can decide what to do." Greta nodded her head in agreement.
"That’s a good girl." Mrs. Horton said, patting Greta on the cheek. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Greta stood up, wiping at her face.
"I’ll get it," she mumbled. But Mrs. Horton held her arm and told her to sit.
"It’s probably Shawn, he said he would be coming by today." Mrs. Horton gave Greta one last comforting smile then left the room. Greta leaned back in her chair and ran her fingers through her hair. She could feel her head spin and realized that she needed a nap or something, she was exhausted. Suddenly, Mrs. Horton’s voice broke into her thoughts.
"Greta, you have a visitor." Greta snapped her eyes around and saw Eric standing in the door way with Mrs. Horton.

Greta stared, shocked, but Mrs. Horton brought her back to reality.
"Eric would like I word with you Greta and I think you should give him the opportunity to speak." Greta’s eyes darted from Eric, to Mrs. Horton, then back to Eric. Finally, she got a hold of herself.
"All right then," Greta said, straightening her back. Eric thanked Mrs. Horton, and she gave him a knowing glance, then left the room. Greta stared at him as he walked slowly across the room and sat down at the table. Eric stared at the table, unable to look Greta in the eye. Finally, he gathered his courage and looked up at her.
"I’m sorry," he said genuinely. Greta stared at him coldly "What is it that your sorry for?" Greta asked, moving away from the table to the other side of the kitchen. She crossed her arms firmly against her chest, and stared hopelessly out the window. She heard Eric get up and follow her, and she could feel him behind her, his eyes burning into her.
"Will you please look at me," Eric pleaded. Greta didn’t budge. Eric let out an exasperated sigh.
"I’m sorry that I kissed Nicole, in fact, I’m sorry I ever went out with her!" Eric pushed his hand through his hair. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it myself, I’m sorry I betrayed your trust," Greta began to turn around slowly. "I’m sorry that I ruined our relationship, but most of all… I’m sorry that I made you cry, because the last thing I’ve ever wanted to do was hurt you." Eric bowed his head, and neither of them spoke. Finally, Eric cleared his throat and spoke.
"Your pictures from the snowball fight are on the table," he looked up at her. "The pictures of Nicole… and me are gone. I hope you’ll keep your photos, but it’s up to you." Eric turned and began walking away.
"Eric," Greta said suddenly. Eric spun around to face her, and Greta began walking towards him. "What you just said…" her voice was no more than a whisper. "Did you mean it?" Eric reached his hand out and took Greta’s hand and kissed it lightly.
"Yes," he said solemnly, "I meant every word." Greta looked down at their hands, then spoke.
"Eric, I care about you a lot, and I want to be with you more than anything, but I won’t go through something like this again." Her voice was strong and serious. "If your with me simply because you can’t be with Nicole, then…"
"Believe me Greta, I’ve learned my lesson about Nicole. I went to Titan today and gave her the pictures. I told she may as well keep them cause they’re all that left of my relationship with her." Eric took a step closer to Greta. "I know I messed up, and I can never tell you how sorry I am, but if you’ll give me another chance I’ll never hurt you again." Greta looked into Eric’s eyes and moved her hand onto his cheek, then she pulled his lips down to hers and kissed him tenderly. When they finally broke apart, Greta spoke.
"All right, you’ve got one more chance! Don’t blow it!" Eric smiled down at her and rested his forehead against hers.
"Don’t worry, I won’t!" Then they kissed again.

Back to Fan Fiction

Info