GH Spencer Special!

The Complete History of Daytime's Dynamic Duo, Luke & Laura
by Jeffrey Pearlstein

Luke quickly went to work. He rigged Laura's car, causing her to be in a serious accident, but that only served to bring Scotty and Laura closer together. Once she recovered, Laura agreed to become Scotty's wife, much to the chagrin of her parents, who felt that the two youngsters weren't ready for marriage. They were soon proven right. Scotty was buried in his law books, and Laura was none-too-happy living on a limited budget. In an effort to bring more money into the household, Laura took a job at the Campus Disco, which was owned by Luke. As he got to know Laura more, Luke realized he was falling desperately in love with her. He hid his feelings until one horrible night, a night he believed he was to be killed by the mob. Alone in the disco, Luke held Laura close in his arms as they swayed to the music. Before she knew what was happening, Luke was tearing at her clothes and pushing her to the floor, where he took advantage of her, without her consent.

Both tried to get over what happened, but it was never far from their minds. It all came to a head when Laura wrote Luke a letter about that fateful evening, which Scotty found. He rushed over to the yacht where Luke was about to wed Jennifer Smith, the daughter of crime kingpin Frank Smith. The two men got into a nasty scuffle and Luke went overboard, causing everyone to believe he was dead. Laura soon found him washed up just a few miles down the shore. Since Luke possessed Frank Smith's black book which would put Frank in jail for a long, long time, the duo were forced to hightail it out of town until they could decode the book and put an end to Frank's mob activities.

Danger surrounded their every move, but these experiences only drew them closer together. One of their most romantic nights was spent alone in Wyndham's department store, where they danced intensely to the slow music. They knew then and there that they had found love. Eventually, they turned the book over to the police and Frank and his mob were carted off to jail. Now that danger was behind them, they returned to Beechers' Corners, where they were hiding out, and spent their first night of love together.

It wasn't smooth sailing for Luke and Laura, though. She felt guilty about being with Luke, so she tried to resume her marriage with Scotty, while Luke accepted a job offer from Alexandria Quartermaine to retrieve a tiny statue called the Ice Princess. The evil Cassadine clan, led by Mikkos, was also very interested in getting the statue. By this time, Laura realized that she couldn't live without Luke and found herself knee-deep in trouble because of his new adventure. Along with their newfound buddy, Robert Scorpio, they stowed away aboard the Cassadines' yacht and landed on the powerful family's private island. They prevented Mikkos from using the Ice Princess from freezing their hometown of Port Charles and returned to town triumphant.

Luke and Laura were more in love than ever, and the one sure way to seal that love was by planning the most lavish and elegant wedding that Port Charles had ever seen. Their vows of love were truly beautiful and heartfelt, but the day was slightly marred by the presence of two unwanted guests--Scotty and Helena Cassadine. The damage that Scotty did was minimal, but Helena cast a darker spell. She put a curse on the lovebirds and a few months later, it took effect. Laura disappeared off the pier on a foggy night and Luke was inconsolable. Life without Laura seemed meaningless for Luke, but he knew he had to go on. For a time, he took up with Holly Sutton, but their love was never fated to last. Visions of Laura filled his mind and it was dear that he could never love another the way he loved her.

As Luke rose from his humble beginnings to become Mayor of Port Charles, the unbelievable happened--Laura returned and ran to Luke's loving arms. She revealed that for the past two years, she was held captive by Helena, who wanted to make Luke suffer the way she had when he killed her husband, Mikkos. While she was being held prisoner, Laura was forced into marrying Stavros, who became completely obsessed with her. He followed her to Port Charles with every intention of killing her entire family and bringing her back to captivity. True love conquered all as Luke and Laura successfully fought all the Cassadines and finally put an end to their bitter battle. With a second chance at happiness, Luke resigned as mayor and he and Laura set out to see the world. They settled in Mexico, eagerly anticipating the birth of their first child.

Although everybody in town believed that Luke and Laura were living a happy life down in Mexico with their son, Lucky, they were actually on the run once again from the vengeful Frank Smith. Once Smith's henchmen caught up to the Spencer family at their Canadian home, the threesome hit the road and made their way safely back to Port Charles after a ten year absence. Luke, wanting to put their life on the run behind them, decided to go into Frank's organization to try and bring him down again. At long last, Luke and Laura were home hoping to put the past behind them and to pave the way for a brighter future for the entire Spencer family.