Not going to be a long ramble today 🙂 I finished Daughters last night, so that’s one more story off the drawing board. I’m not focusing on anything else this week as I’m down to the wire on school projects, so if anything gets worked on, it’s incidental and not on purpose. Once next Monday passes, I’ll only have written German exam and my dissertation for the next four months, my time will be back to loose and fun 😛
Additions
If you love somebody
Better tell them while they’re here ’cause
They just may run away from you
You’ll never know quite when, well
Then again it just depends on
How long of time is left for you
– On Top of the World, Imagine Dragons
January 5, 2006
Elizabeth & Patrick’s Apartment: Living Room
Elizabeth sipped her coffee and leaned back against the couch cushions, relaxing for the first time in days. Will had packed and left for the Spencer house the day before, moving into the empty room vacated by Lucky.
It would be good for Will to be around the Spencers, to get some of the unconditional support that Lucky had benefited from all his life. She knew her aunt wasn’t in favor of the idea, but Cheryl was just going to have to get over it. This was what was best for Will.
She heard rustling from Patrick’s bedroom and steeled herself for a confrontation. She’d been avoiding him for the past two days, but she knew this couldn’t continue. They would have to come to some sort of agreement.
Patrick’s door opened and he stepped out. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Elizabeth sat up and set her mug on the table. “Ah…I guess you should know that Dad’s being transferred to lockup in the next day or so.”
“You’re not bailing him out?” Patrick asked his tone even and calm.
“I can’t.” Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Sonny’s paying for Diane’s services. I tried to argue with him, but he just…he said that money should never be an obstacle. He offered to pay the bail, but I told him that I absolutely couldn’t accept that.” She chewed her lip. “We don’t have anything for collateral.”
“Ellie…” Patrick crossed the room and perched in the armchair adjacent to the couch. “I know…I know I haven’t always been as supportive as I could have been. Especially in the last week. Or since Mom died.”
“We all lost her,” Elizabeth responded softly. “We all have to deal with it in our own ways. Dad drinks, I try to manage everyone’s lives and you…step back.”
“It leaves you holding the bag and it’s not fair.” He hesitated. “I can’t…I don’t know how to fix this for you. Or to help you fix it. I don’t know that I want to fix it.”
“I understand. I really do.” She bit her lip. “I told Diane that I wasn’t necessarily interested in getting him acquitted. That she would have to discuss that with Dad. I don’t…” Elizabeth paused. “I don’t know what I want to happen. I don’t want Dad to go to jail, but I can’t see…I don’t understand how he could go anywhere else. How he could deserve anything less.” Her voice broke. “That little girl…deserves so much more from us. I can’t keep pretending.”
“Robin told me that I had to talk to you, to find out what it is you really wanted and not just assume,” Patrick said with a small smile. “As usual, she knows better than me.”
“She always was the better half of the two of you,” Elizabeth replied softly. She cleared her throat. “I don’t know what Robin told you about her time in Paris–”
“She told me she’s sick,” Patrick responded. “That she’s healthy right now, but you and I both know that’s…not necessarily always going to be the case.” He shoved himself off the chair and crossed to the window. Outside, the park across the street was covered in thick, white snow. He hated winter.
“No,” Elizabeth agreed. “Her cocktail could stop working at any moment.” She stood and walked over to stand beside him. “How cliché of us to fall for people like our parents.” When Patrick threw her a questioning look, she continued, “Jason is wonderful when he’s here, but he can be….inaccessible sometimes. Like Dad when he’s drunk. When he’s sober, he’s the best dad. When he’s had the alcohol…” Elizabeth shrugged.
For once, Patrick didn’t rise to the bait regarding Jason. “And I’m doomed to love a woman who will leave me first.” He paused. “She told me on New Year’s. Just before you told me about the accident. Double whammy.”
“Oh Patrick–”
“And for the first time, I could understand how Dad did this to himself,” Patrick continued. “Because Mom was his entire world and with her gone, he didn’t know how to go on without her. That’s why I can’t face him. Because I’m condemning him for not being strong enough. Ellie, I don’t care that Robin and I are not together. I wish that we could be, but I’ll deal with that. But if something happens to her, if she gets sick and or is in an accident…I realized that night that I don’t have to be with her to be okay, but I do need her to be okay. I need her to be out there, somewhere in this world, living and breathing.” His voice caught and Elizabeth realized he was as close to losing it as she had ever seen him. “And I’m more than a little worried if something happened to her…maybe I would end up exactly where Dad is.”
Quartermaine Estate: Dillon’s Room
“So Drake officially moved in yesterday?” Dillon asked. He frowned and ran some more footage through his computer. He needed a better angle on this shot and made a note to reshoot it the next day.
Lulu sighed heavily from her position on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “The last of his things are in the room, yeah.”
Dillon glanced over at her. “You don’t sound particularly thrilled.”
Lulu propped herself up on her elbows and shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s just–it’s like life is happening so fast. If you blink, it’s like a year goes by, you know?”
“Well, when you get knocked up in your teens, life does start to go very fast,” Dillon murmured, making some dialogue notes.
“Ha,” she responded dryly. “I just want everything to be okay. I don’t want Will to be sorry that he took this on–”
“Lu, it’s not like you did this by yourself,” he interjected. “You and Will are equally responsible for this situation, so if he regrets that he stepped up to take responsibility, he’s a weak-willed, little boy that doesn’t deserve your time.”
Lulu blinked and frowned at him. “That’s kind of pessimistic, don’t you think?”
“Not at all,” her best friend replied. “You know, I’m so tired of the attitudes in this town towards family and doing the right thing. Grandfather browbeat Emily and guilted her into choosing him over Nikolas. Will’s parents just suck. And every time I see Elizabeth Drake or her brother, they’re arguing about their father again. It’s all just crap.”
Dillon threw his pencil down. “I’ve met my father once and I only know that because I happen to have a picture of it. My mother forced him into marriage and got pregnant on purpose. That’s we do in this family. We have an agenda and we go after it whether it’s ethical or not.”
Lulu sat up and tucked her feet under her. “I’m surprised Emily gave in,” she said, tackling the only part of Dillon’s tirade she felt she could. Dillon was usually more laid back and content to go with the flow. This was unexpected to say the least.
“She still thinks she needs to earn her place here,” Dillon replied. He shoved off his chair and paced his room. “Like she’s less because she’s not blood-related. She’s freaking lucky she doesn’t have this blood running through her veins. Jesus, Lu, you know who my mother is. Who’s to say I won’t wake up like her tomorrow?”
“Dillon…” Lulu tilted her head to the side. “You’ve already inherited the stuff you’re going to take from your mother. Don’t you think if you were going to be as ruthless as Tracy, some signs would start to show?”
“I’m as self-absorbed as she is,” Dillon muttered. “For years Emily has been trying to keep it all balanced and she could have used some support, but did I help? No, I just holed up with my camera and my movies and ignored it–”
“Dillon–”
“I just stay in my room or I tune everyone out. Maybe Ned would have liked some support against Grandfather–”
“Dillon–”
“And what about AJ? Grandfather and Alan just go after him like he’s meat on a bone all the time. No wonder he’s an alcoholic. And I could have been nicer to Jason after the accident–”
“Were you mean?” Lulu asked curiously. “I thought you just avoided the whole situation because your family was insane.”
“Exactly!” Dillon threw up his hands. “I’m self-absorbed. I don’t care about anyone other than myself and–”
“Okay, seriously, you’ve lost it.” Lulu got off the bed and waved her hands in front of time. “Time out.”
“Lulu–”
“Who’s the guy who tackled Maxie Jones when she pulled my hair in the third grade?” Lulu asked. “And who’s the guy who let me cry on his shoulder when I thought Ellie wasn’t going to like me anymore because she wasn’t dating my brother? Who’s the guy who got on the bus to St. Paul just because I thought I saw a celebrity and never once held it against me that we got stranded there?”
“That stuff doesn’t count,” Dillon grumbled.
“It counts to me.” Lulu put her hands on his shoulders. “You’re the Wallace to my Veronica. The Xander to my Buffy, the Sonny to my Cher. The Jack to my Jen–”
“You know I hate that one,” Dillon sighed.
“You are my best friend and I never would have been able to get this far in life without you.” Lulu hugged him fiercely. “You could never be your mother and don’t blame yourself because you figured out how to be a sweet, compassionate, awesome guy without your family ruining all the good stuff.” She pulled back. “You are the best friend a girl could have and I want you to know how important that is to me.”
“All right, all right,” Dillon sighed. “I guess you have a point. No one who worries about numero uno would have tackled Maxie Jones. She bites.”
Lulu laughed. “Listen, if you really feel badly about what happened to Emily, then you can start standing up for her now. Make her understand that she’s got a comrade in arms in this loony bin.”
General Hospital: Noah’s Room
Noah heard the door to his room creak opened and wondered if it was Patrick again–opening and then closing the door without bothering to actually come in. He hadn’t seen Ellie in days. He wasn’t sure what to make of anything — he could barely stand to be awake and asked for sedatives to keep him sleeping.
“Uncle Noah?”
Noah turned and frowned as his nephew Will stepped out of the shadows. “Will?”
“Hey.” Will shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rocked back on his heels. “Sorry I haven’t been by…I don’t know if Ellie or Patrick mentioned it, but I’m…well…things are happening in my life that are little surprising.”
“That’s okay.” Noah struggled to sit up. “The kids haven’t mentioned anything, is everything okay?”
“They’re not bad,” Will said slowly. “Bad would be an unfair term.” He paused. “I moved out of my house at Christmas and I moved into the Spencers yesterday.”
“The Spencers?” Noah searched his beleaguered mind. “I thought I heard you and Lulu had parted ways.”
“We did,” Will confirmed. “We’re not really back together. Not yet. I don’t know if we will be. I was drinking too much and she didn’t want to be around that.”
“Sounds familiar,” Noah murmured in reply.
“But she found out that she was pregnant,” Will continued. “And everything had to change.”
Noah just blinked in response. His nephew, to become a father? His seventeen-year-old nephew? “Will…”
“I know it’s a big responsibility,” Will continued, “but Lulu and I think if we stay realistic and stick together, we’ll be okay. Her parents wanted me to come live with them so they could support Lulu through everything. They’re going to help with the medical bills and make it so Lu and I can graduate from high school and go to college. I just…I wanted to ask you something.”
“What’s that?” Noah asked.
“The Drake curse,” Will said. “The thing that makes all Drake men drink like fish and ruin their lives.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I was just wondering if it could be avoided.”
“There’s no such thing as a curse,” Noah replied. “It’s a matter of willpower. I don’t have it. Your father doesn’t. My father didn’t. Patrick…he has it.” Noah stared at his hands. “He had every reason to drown himself in alcohol these last few years and he kept himself going. You want advice about staying out of the bar and keeping your life together, your cousin is the best person to ask.”
Will nodded. “I just…I don’t want to screw this up. I don’t want to be my father, I don’t want to be–” he cut himself off and shrugged again. “I just want to be okay at it. It’s too important to mess with.”
“I agree,” Noah replied. “Don’t make the same mistakes that I did. You can be better than that.”
“It’s not like you can’t make things better,” Will said. “You’re a still a dad. You can fix things.”
“I’m not sure this can be fixed,” Noah replied. “You know what’s happened.”
“You can’t take back the night you decided to drink and drive, no,” Will said bluntly. “And you can’t take back the lying you’ve done over the last year or the role you played in my parents’ divorce. You can’t take back the last three years, Uncle Noah, you know that. But you can help Ellie and Patrick. All they do is argue, and when they’re not arguing, they’re just silent. They don’t talk to each other. And how to deal with your…situation is why.”
Noah just stared at him and Will decided to just go for it. “You should plead guilty, Uncle Noah. You did it and it’s ridiculous to walk in that room to pretend that you don’t deserve to be punished for it. The more you screw up, the more you make Patrick and me think we don’t have a chance. And the more you lie and drag this out, the more pain you cause Ellie. It’s not fair.”
When his uncle still didn’t speak, Will just shrugged. “Anyway, that’s all I really wanted to say. See you later.”
Harborview Towers: Apartment
“Why do I have to close my eyes?” Elizabeth asked. She stumbled out of the elevator as Jason led her down a hallway.
“Just a few more seconds,” he told her. He fumbled with a key and Elizabeth heard a door open. She was led through a doorway and heard the door close behind her. “Open your eyes.”
She lifted her eyelashes and frowned when she saw a modest set of rooms in front of her; a small living room that opened into a kitchen to the left. On the right, there was a hallway that probably led to a bedroom. “What is this?”
“I’m renting it,” Jason told her. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I can’t keep bringing you to Jake’s–”
“Jason–”
“I know it’s not much, but it’s in a better part of town, you know?” Jason continued, almost sounding nervous. “And it’s got a better bathroom. I know it’s cleaner than the one in my room.”
“The one in your room is fine…” Elizabeth smiled faintly. “Jason, I like Jake’s.”
He nodded. “I do, too. And we should still go there for pool if you want. But I’m not the same guy that moved in there, you know. And you deserve something better.”
“I don’t want you to do this for me.” Elizabeth chewed her lip. “You quit working for Sonny, didn’t you?”
He hesitated. “Not exactly.”
“You’re back to working at the warehouse,” Elizabeth qualified. “No more…side jobs.”
“I don’t like having to disappear on you,” he said, his voice taking a slightly stubborn tone. “You needed me and I wasn’t here–”
“Jason…” Elizabeth sighed and turned in a slow circle. “This is…this is all a little…fast.”
“I know you don’t want to move in with me,” Jason said. “That’s okay. I know you and Patrick still need time together, to work things out. I just wanted you to know that I’m…serious about what’s going on here.”
“I wish you wouldn’t quit working for Sonny,” Elizabeth murmured. “I don’t want you to be sorry about it–”
“I won’t,” he insisted. “I did it for me. I don’t want to be out of town or out of contact when you need me. When anyone needs me. I told Sonny that I wasn’t quitting exactly, but I couldn’t take those jobs anymore.”
“Jason, you have to want this, too.” Elizabeth stepped towards him. “The apartment, the job. You have to want this, too.”
Jason was silent for a long moment before exhaling slowly. “I told you that I was getting flashes of Jason Quartermaine–that some things were clearer than others. I talked to Tony Jones about it and he doesn’t think I’ll ever remember everything but the flashes are normal. The more I remember, Elizabeth, the more I know exactly what I want.” He took her hand in his and just looked at it. “And what I want is to make sure that you don’t have to carry it alone anymore. It’s important to me to know that I’m supporting you and taking care of you.” He held up his other hand when she opened her mouth. “I know you can do all that for yourself, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to do it.”
She huffed and looked away for a moment. When she looked back at him, the expression in her eyes made him relax a little. “It’s hard to argue with that,” Elizabeth replied with half a smile.
PCPD: Commissioner’s Office
Robert glanced up when he saw a thermos set in front him, and then next to it, a large brown bag. “What’s this?”
“Dinner.” Robin unbelted her jacket and tossed it on the back of the chair. She sat. “Someone has to look out for you.”
“Thanks.” He opened the bag and grinned. “Corned beef on rye. You are my favorite daughter.”
“I’m your only daughter,” Robin replied with a grin. “That we know about it.” She hesitated. “You’ve been working late because of Noah Drake’s case.”
Robert paused as he unwrapped his sandwich. “You’ve always known me too well.”
“I just know how you can get with a case that you can’t leave at work,” she replied. She tilted her head to the side. “You never want to bring it home, so you just stay here.” Robin paused for a moment. “I think Ellie and Patrick are going to come out of this thing stronger, so if it’s them you’re worried about, it’s okay. They understand what’s happening and why Noah’s in trouble.”
“I could give a rat’s ass about that man,” Robert said shortly. “I had my suspicions that he was still drinking, but as long as he kept himself out of trouble and those kids seemed to be okay, I kept my mouth shut. It wouldn’t have served any purpose to do anything else. But if I had said something–”
“It wouldn’t have changed anything, Dad,” Robin said gently. “Because nothing would have kept Noah from drinking. He knew what he was doing and the only person to blame is Noah. Ellie arranged for Noah to get a lawyer, but she’s not bailing him out, and she’s not helping him in his defense.”
“I always knew she was a smart one.” Robert swallowed his food. “I know the Drake men have their problems, which is part of the reason I was glad you were out of town when all of this hit the fan. I worry about Patrick. So far he’s kept himself on the straight and narrow–”
“Patrick is going to be just fine,” Robin replied. “Liam and Noah belong to another generation. Patrick and his little cousin are going to turn things around. Patrick has lost too much to alcohol — his father and Jay. And Will lost his entire childhood.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?” Robert said.
“I do,” Robin said firmly. “Now what’s keeping you here late every night?”
“It was mostly Ellie,” her father admitted. “I just remember watching her grow up, her being in and out of the house so much. She was always around; she started to feel like my daughter too. And I guess it’s Patrick. I want to believe that this cycle in their family can be broken, Robin. Jay Quartermaine was such a bright kid with the entire world in front of him and so was Jennie Young. I’m tired of losing young people to this disease and the thought that Patrick might eventually give in under all that stress…”
“I knew you liked Patrick,” Robin replied, pleased.
“For a long time, I thought he’d be the one for you.” Robert paused. “Are you feeling all right? I mean, everything is okay?”
“Everything is fine.” Robin stood and moved around to hug her father. “You know why I loved Patrick so much?”
“Why?”
“Because he’s funny, smart, loyal and absolutely the best man I’ve ever known.” Robin leaned over and kissed her father’s cheek. “In short, Dad, I didn’t think I should ever settle for someone who didn’t measure up to my father.”
All that I wanted from you
Was something you’d never do
So let me in
Oh please tonight
Don’t let this end
Tonight
Cause’ I’m starting to fall
So let me in
– Let Me In, Save Ferris
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Kelly’s: Courtyard
Emily pulled her cardigan tighter around her sweater, already missing the heat of summer. Days like this she missed California, where the summer lasted far longer than September, but if she wanted to live near her family, living in upstate New York was the price she had to pay.
She smiled at her breakfast partner, who was absorbed in stirring her tea, and then sipped her hot chocolate. She set the mug down and looked at the other two empty chairs at either end of the table, remembering other meals at Kelly’s. Remembering when the person across from her had been a brunette and also sipping hot chocolate. They’d once split three packets of the stuff between them, overfilling their mugs with whipped cream and sprinkles.
Instead, she sat across from Courtney Matthews who sipped tea.
Her stomach rolled, as often had in the nearly three months since she had spoken to her brother or her best friend. She’d been upset at contributing to Elizabeth’s bed rest, and had decided that her niece or nephew was more important than trading snide remarks with her former best friend. And that regaining her brother’s respect had been more important.
But she’d seen Elizabeth at the hospital for appointments, for lunches with her grandmother and Nadine Crowell. How her pregnancy had advanced, the way the sadness in her eyes had faded—sadness Emily had never really registered. She hadn’t seen her brother nearly as often—occasionally on the docks or here at Kelly’s. He’d never been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve, particularly in public, but he didn’t look as tense or annoyed with the world.
And the more she’d met with Courtney, the more she’d wondered how she’d got it all wrong. She’d listened to Courtney’s bitter rants and realized they didn’t quite match the syrupy version she’d received when she’d come home in March. How Courtney just knew Jason saw her that way, but he’d been such a stand-up guy that he’d broken things off with Elizabeth before he’d ever told her, showed her. That’s why it hurt so much that he’d cheated on her, that he’d lied to her and wouldn’t give her the time of day.
Emily glanced up as the man in question entered the courtyard. Jason glanced at their table, met Emily’s eyes and then looked away. He disappeared into the restaurant. She exhaled slowly. “I miss him,” she murmured.
Courtney tapped the side of her tea cup and nodded. “I’m sorry you guys argued about me—”
“We didn’t,” Emily interrupted. “I mean, not really.” She set her mug down. “He was upset because Elizabeth went on bed rest for a while in June, and he said that the way I was…treating her had been a factor. I…” Emily hesitated, because she didn’t want to make Courtney angry. The blonde had spent the better part of the summer, living on anger and bitterness, but the past few weeks had been different. The weight seemed to have lifted from her shoulders.
“You took my side against Elizabeth,” Courtney said with a guilty smile. “Em, I never meant for that to happen. I know I put you in the middle more than I should have, but…” She leaned back and sighed. “Carly changed her mind about liking me, I guess I was only useful when I was dating Jason.”
“Courtney, you were hurt.” Emily paused. “No matter how my brother and Elizabeth ended their relationship, or even if you were…a rebound, he shouldn’t have cheated on you.” She bit her lip. “But, yeah, I took your side over Elizabeth’s, which…seemed like the right one at the time. You were my friend, too. I mean, Elizabeth and I were close when we were teenagers, but after I had my accident, we drifted apart.” Emily stared at her hands. “We both called and wrote, talked about her coming out to see me, or me coming home once I started UCLA, but it…just never happened. She got busy with life here, I was busy with life in California. And then…” She sucked in a breath. “She called me last summer to tell me she’d slept with my ex-boyfriend. I was so angry with her. I hung up on her, didn’t even let her explain.”
“What was there to explain?” Courtney asked dully. “I knew she and Jason were fighting after that, well not…” She paused. “Not fighting, But there was a distance that hadn’t been there before. He didn’t look at her the way he had before.”
“Yeah, but I guess…” Emily shook her head. “Zander had lived here another year without me, and Elizabeth was one of the few people he knew. Maybe…they got closer. I don’t know. There are a thousand reasons she could have done it, and I never let her tell me even one. I didn’t even know about her and Jason until I came home. But I remembered the year before, when he’d been home the last time, how he’d been so upset because he cared so much about her, and she kept jerking him around…” She closed her eyes. “But maybe I didn’t want to see how sad she’d been, how unhappy she’d been with Lucky for months.”
“She could have broken up with him,” Courtney said, her mouth tight. “She didn’t have to—”
“No.” Emily smiled, feeling sorrow at how she hadn’t seen Elizabeth. She’d only seen Lucky. For months, she’d only seen her childhood best friend and known he wasn’t the same boy, that he hadn’t come back all the way, and if Elizabeth would just concentrate on him and forget about Jason, maybe Lucky would come back and it would be like it had been before.
“C’mon, Emily. No one has to stay in a relationship that makes them miserable.” Courtney rolled her eyes. “I came along at the tail end of that, and I can’t even understand why she loved him in the first place—”
“You didn’t know them then.” Emily looked away. “I don’t say that to make you upset or point out how far back I go with Elizabeth, but before we thought Lucky died in that fire, I wanted a love like theirs. I know they were young, but…” Emily hesitated. “They’d been so happy together. The way they looked at one another, they were so in sync. I just…” She tilted her head up the sky. “When he came home, I didn’t see that they weren’t those people anymore. He’d been through so much, she’d been dealing with thinking he was dead, but everyone told them they were perfect together, and I know they both felt an obligation to one another to live those dreams again.”
“Emily—”
“And we all pressured her when Lucky was having difficulties. We told her to keep trying, that she and Lucky were perfect together.” Emily rubbed the side of her face. “I didn’t see it. I knew she and Jason were close before he left that first time. I used to think…” Emily pressed her lips together. “That if Lucky had been really dead, if he hadn’t left…”
“But Lucky was alive, and Jason left. Emily, I don’t know the point of all this—”
“The point of this is that I…” Emily met the exasperated eyes of her brother’s ex-girlfriend. “I think maybe I blamed her for not trying hard enough. Lucky was my best friend in the whole world, the first one I made here in Port Charles, and I think…maybe I thought she should have tried harder. If she hadn’t been distracted by Jason, she could have…”
“Made Lucky be the way he used to be?” Courtney supplied. “Well, I mean, it’s not like I like her or even know him that well, but…” As if annoyed with herself for taking Elizabeth’s side, she huffed. “Should that have been her job?”
“No…which makes what Nikolas and I did to her so much worse. I wish I could go back, and tell that girl it was okay she didn’t want to be a model, that she had stopped loving Lucky the way she had before the fire, that it was okay that she had feelings for someone else.”
“But that’s not why you’re fighting now,” Courtney told her. “You’re fighting now because of how she hurt your brother. How she wasn’t honest with you.”
“But it’s the same thing as before,” Emily replied. “I’m not asking her how it happened, how she and Jason fell apart, how they came back together, why she slept with Zander. I’m just…judging her for those things. I’m still taking someone else’s side.”
“I guess.” Courtney shrugged a shoulder. “I mean, I get it, Emily, I do. She’s your best friend going back to high school. I only dated Jason a few months. I look at her now, and she’s having a baby, Em. I made it more difficult for her than I had to.” She swirled her spoon in her now cold tea. “I guess I figured I was a rebound for Jason at first. He was for me, but I really thought that changed after a while. I thought…”
“I just want to apologize to her,” Emily murmured. “I don’t expect her to forgive me, or even understand why I did what I did, but I just want her to know that I know what I did was wrong. I mean, I made the situation so much worse, Courtney. I dropped all these hints to Ric, and then Elizabeth couldn’t deal with things the way she wanted to. Instead, she and Jason have to play damage control. You find out from Ric in front of a dozen people. It’s my fault.”
“I could have been nicer to her. I didn’t have to…” Courtney sighed. “I was pretty nasty to her the last time I saw her and Carly here together. I was so angry that she was stealing my best friend after I lost Jason, but Carly wasn’t my best friend. She’s Jason’s best friend, and I forgot that for a long time. I said some really awful things.”
“But it’s not like Jason would let me within a hundred miles of her right now.” Emily put her elbow on the table, and propped her chin on her first. “And I’m sure her guards aren’t supposed to let anyone stress her out, not with the baby due in less than three months.”
“Yeah.” Courtney nodded. “I know the guards don’t like me. Especially Cody. I used to…” Her cheeks flushed. “I used to make him help Elizabeth close up the nights we had the last shift. I knew he wouldn’t let her lift anything heavy, but…” She shrugged. “I shouldn’t have done it. So there’s no way I could get near her to apologize. Not after the last stunt.”
“Maybe I could get near her at the hospital,” Emily mused. “The security is relatively tight there, my dad has insisted on it after the crap that’s happened there over the last few years, so they don’t always follow her around. Usually, there’s one at the elevator and one at the stairwell that’s between the waiting area and her doctor’s office.” With her free hand, she tapped her fingers restlessly against the table. “I don’t even know if I should bother before the baby is born. Maybe until I can’t cause her more stress.”
“Well, Em, you have to do what’s right for you,” Courtney said. She popped a piece of strawberry from her fruit plate in her mouth and watched as Jason, now with a cup of coffee, exited Kelly’s, glanced at their table again, and then left the courtyard. “That’s all we can do, really, you know. Follow our instincts.”
“Lucky used to say you should be true to yourself,” Emily murmured. “I think it’s good advice.”
“Exactly.” Courtney nodded. “And after this crappy summer, that’s the big change I’m going to make.” She lifted her tea and finished it one gulp, even though it had to be ice cold at this point. “I’m not going to sit around and wallow anymore. I’m going to start being true to myself again.”
Morgan Penthouse: Living Room
“It’s just for a few hours.” Elizabeth sighed, already exhausted by this argument. For two weeks, Jason had asked her to stay inside, for visitors to come to her. He hadn’t been specific, but she knew he felt her security had been threatened in some way—that Ric and Faith had been toying with them all summer, hoping for an opportunity to take Elizabeth. They were desperate, Jason told her, and he knew she was safe as long as she was in this building.
“Elizabeth—”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stepped towards the balcony, looking out over the harbor, wishing she was out there. In the last four months, she had spent more time in this penthouse than she had outside it and she was starting to chafe. Jason had tried to make it comfortable here, clearing out a space for her to paint, but she wanted her studio, she wanted to go to Kelly’s to have lunch with her grandmother. He got to go have coffee there every morning, why couldn’t she just…be outside for an hour? She glared at the evidence of his own visit, sitting empty on the coffee table.
“This is one of the reasons I pushed away,” he said quietly. She frowned now and looked at him. “Because of times like this, when your safety had to take priority over your happiness.”
She bit her lip and flicked her eyes back to the outside world. “Jason—”
“You already have to be escorted everywhere by two guards,” he interrupted, his voice rough. “You can’t paint where you want to, you can’t go out and do things when you want. I knew—”
“Just…stop…” She held up a hand, hoping he would stop talking about how this argument was justification for always pushing her away. “I might be frustrated, but it’s not like I don’t get it, okay? I do. And I’ll suck it up. But…” She rubbed the side of her head. “I just want you to let me be frustrated without pushing me away. The guards don’t bother me, being driven around doesn’t either— it’s not like I was a great driver anyway. The studio is just a room, and…” Well, the third point had some merit. “My grandmother will just have to learn to be comfortable visiting here.”
He shook his head. “You don’t—”
“Jason, it isn’t always like this,” Elizabeth said. “I know this. I remember when Sonny and Carly got married that first time. There were threats, yeah, you came home to take care of something that ended up with the warehouse burning down, but Carly went about her business at Deception, annoying me. I remember when you were dating Robin, because Emily was my friend. Robin had a guard, but she had a life and friends.”
“But—”
“The threat right now is different,” Elizabeth said simply. “I don’t know the details, and I don’t want to know them, but I know you think Ric and Faith are trying to distract you in one area, hoping that it will lead you to loosen my security a bit. That means this particular threat is aimed at me. So I’ll vent, and I’ll stomp my foot. But…” She lowered herself onto the sofa next to him. “At the end of the day, my life, my daughter’s life is more important to me than going to Kelly’s for lunch.”
Jason exhaled and he looked away. She wondered if he was just trying to think of something to counter her argument. “It won’t be like this,” he finally said. “You’ll have one guard. You’ll…be able to get a job if you want. Come and go. But this might happen again—”
“And we’ll probably get annoyed with each other then.” She hesitated. “Jason, you are important enough to me to make sacrifices. What we have is important enough for me to take that risk. Are you ever going to accept that I’m exactly where I want to be?”
“I do, most of the time.” He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “I just…there’s so much I can’t control—”
“Which is why we take precautions. Why you guys have this placed locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Nadine jokes she’s sure the next time she shows up, they’ll strip search her. Jason…” Normally, she would have straddled him to force him to look at her, to meet her eyes, but she’d woken up this week, and for the first time, felt seven months pregnant. She settled for taking his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together. “Sometimes the way you talk…it makes me think you don’t see us learning how to make this work.”
He hesitated, looking at their fingers and then met her eyes, but she was annoyed that his faced was closed. “I’m just being realistic,” he said finally. “That it might not.”
She sighed and sat back, letting his hand slide from hers. “What if my grandmother and I promised to eat inside the restaurant? You know that Bobbie doesn’t mind if you put a guy on the exit and the entrance.”
“Yeah, I guess that’ll work.” She was exhausted from constantly having to be the one to make the step forward. He wanted her to stay, but he hadn’t been lying when he said he didn’t know how make to her want to, and she was beginning to think he didn’t expect her to. If she thought his hesitation to trust in them was something she could fix, she’d try to…but she just didn’t think it was. Particularly since he couldn’t bring himself to answer her hesitant questions about the future.
She was foolishly pinning her hopes on things changing when Cady was born, because she knew he’d have to be in the delivery room with her. He would hold her, and she really wanted to believe he would look at this baby he had watched come into this world and love her for who she was in her own right, and forget that she was biologically Ric Lansing’s daughter.
But even though they had now acknowledged the baby, had begun to decorate a nursery, she still didn’t feel any sense of…connection to the future. To the idea that they would be a family. If he didn’t look at Cady with the love her daughter deserved, how could she stay? So maybe he was right have that hesitation, because until she knew he would accept her daughter, she couldn’t tell him she loved him. She didn’t want to say those words, and have him look at her with those beautiful eyes and say them back, knowing she couldn’t trust them.
If he didn’t love Cady, then he couldn’t love Cady’s mother.
Elizabeth sighed. “I’ll call my grandmother to let her know I’ll be there soon.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Thanks.”
As she disappeared up the stairs, there was a knock on the door and Francis pushed open. “Hey, Jase. Mrs. C wants to speak to Miss Webber.”
Carly slowly came in, not nearly as mobile in her eighth month of pregnancy. “Man, this sucks. I don’t remember being this miserable with Michael.”
Jason stood to take her hand and lower her to the armchair. “You were too busy making sure AJ was out of the picture, that I was agreeing to help you and that Tony was far away from you.”
“Hmm…yeah, I was distracted.” She glanced around. “Where’s the Muffin?”
“Getting ready for lunch with her grandmother.”
“She gets to go out?” Carly pouted. “Lucky brat.” She sighed. “But even if I wanted to go out, I don’t know where I’d go. I’m fat, Jason. And this is your fault.”
He heard Elizabeth laugh as she came down the stairs. “Carly, how do you figure Jason got you in this mess?”
“He convinced me to marry Sonny,” Carly grumbled. “Ipso facto, that makes it his fault.”
Elizabeth frowned, with a good natured smile. “Ipso facto? When did you learn Latin?”
“I get very, bored Muffin. I read a list of Latin terms on the Internet and for funsies, I memorized them.” Carly groaned and let her head fall back. “That’s where I am in this pregnancy, Jason. I am so bored I’m learning crap.”
“Well, that’s a cause for alarm.” Elizabeth leaned in and kissed Jason on the cheek. “I’ll be back from lunch in a few hours.”
“Be careful,” Jason called after her as she pulled open the door. Carly twisted slightly in her chair and frowned.
“Well, frick, I didn’t even get to ask her if she finished the sketch for Morgan’s nursery. I want to paint his name on the wall, and she said she’d work on something arty for me.” She pursed her lip. “Well…now that I’ve docked myself here, I’m going to annoy you for at least ten minutes to make this trip worth it.”
Jason sighed and sat on the sofa. “Nothing new there, Carly.”
“Did Muffin show you the colors she picked out for Cady’s room?” Carly asked.
“Are you ever going to stop calling her that?” Jason asked, ignoring her. “She has a name, Carly.”
“Bah. She likes it, I think. It’s our thing.” She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you guys settled things, that you were on the same page about the baby.”
“I’m still not having is conversation with you,” Jason told her. He barely wanted to have this conversation with himself much less Carly, but she was, as she’d put it, docked in his living room and it wasn’t as though he could physically kick her out.
“I swear to God, Jason Morgan, if you screw this up after I’ve gone to the trouble of working the Muffin into my life, I will never let you hear the end of it,” Carly snarled. She pointed her index finger at him. “Do you understand me? I bonded with the woman. She’s designing my nursery. I helped her with the colors for hers. I bought her freaking baby clothes. I did everything you and Sonny wanted me to do, and—”
“Carly, it’s okay if you like Elizabeth. Most people do,” Jason interrupted, ignoring the purpose of her rant and just enjoying Carly’s annoyance. “It’s not a bad thing to make a friend.”
“Oh, piss off.” Carly narrowed her eyes. “Oh, no, Jason. I see what you did there. Trying to lull me into a sense of security by insulting me so I won’t notice you’re avoiding me again. Damn it, Jason, are you going to make me say it straight out? Again? How many times do I have to tell you that the only person screwing your relationship up this time is you?” She scowled. “And you know I hate to take her side, but frick it, I don’t have a choice—”
“Do you want me to help you up?” Jason said blandly. Carly’s scowl only intensified, and then he was mildly horrified to see her eyes were almost glossy. “Carly—”
“You think I’m stupid? That I don’t get it?” She dug her elbows into the armchair, trying to hoist herself to her feet. Reflexively, Jason hauled her up. “You want the Muffin to stay, but you’re pretty sure she won’t. Which means you’ll watch another mother take another child you love away from you.”
Because he was annoyed to discover Carly did, in fact, get it, he just shook his head. “I told you, Carly—”
“You have to have this conversation with someone, Jason.” Carly braced a hand at her back. “Because if you don’t, you’re going to get exactly what you deserve. No mother should ever feel like her child is a burden or obligation. After everything I put you through with Michael, you never made me once feel like you regretted it. You hated what I did, what Robin did, but I know you. You’d do it all over again.”
Jason swallowed hard. “Carly—”
“So why do I rate that kind of consideration, but the woman you’re stupid about doesn’t?” Tears were sliding out of Carly’s eyes, and she swiped angrily at them. “You see what happens? I’m crying over goddamn Elizabeth Muffin Webber.” She started across the room, but turned at the door. “You deserve everything you get if you keep making her feel like her baby isn’t good enough. And if I’m wrong, and it’s not because of Michael, but because of Ric Lansing, well, then…” She huffed. “You don’t deserve her anyway. Which only pisses me off more.”
She opened the door, stepped gingerly out into the hallway, and then slammed it behind her.
Corinthos-Morgan Coffee Warehouse: Sonny’s Office
Sonny Corinthos had a pisser of a headache brewing and the reason for it stood in his office, clutching his laptop to his chest with one hand, a sheaf of papers in the other, and a goddamn beanie cap on his head. He knew he wasn’t a good person, but what had he ever done to deserve Damien Spinelli?
“So, Mr. Sir, as I had previously stated, the shell companies were quite well hidden, and it was only through the talent of the Jackal that I was able to—”
Sonny cut off the rambling young man with a hand and looked at Jason. “Long story short. I read Spinelli’s report. I read it five times. I still don’t understand this bullshit. He doesn’t listen to me when I tell him to speak English. I’m hoping you’ll scare him.”
Jason, who looked worn out, rubbed his eyes and turned his best lethal glare on Spinelli. The other man gulped and cleared his throat. “Yes, Stone Cold, sir. The shell companies that were receiving the siphoned funds from the casinos were very complicated, and I managed to track them back to the Lansing family out of Crimson Pointe.”
Sonny had the sudden urge to slam his head into the desk. Fucking Lansing family. Fucking Crimson Pointe. Fucking Anthony goddamn Zacchara. He was a crazy son of a bitch and made Sonny look like the poster child for mental health. “So it was Trevor Lansing, and therefore, Zacchara.”
“Not necessarily, Mr. Sir,” Spinelli bobbed his head. “The Lansing holdings are enormously diverse and therefore I am still untangling which member of the family owns what. Several of the shell companies appeared to go right to Richard Lansing, while one or two of them passed through Trevor Lansing’s hands before being transferred first to one Anthony Zacchara, then back to Richard Lansing. I cannot say at this time who makes the final decisions.”
Jason folded her arms and scowled. “Will you be able to at some point? You’re supposed to be good at this.”
Spinelli drew himself up, indignant. “I will have you know that the Jackal is unsurpassed in cyberspace, but I cannot create records or databases that simply do not exist. I have to hack into Swiss bank accounts and offshore Caymans to pinpoint the exact withdrawer of the finds. This is not a point and click operation.” He coughed. “Sir. I should know by the end of the week. I humbly apologize for the—”
“Ah, stop talking or I’m going to shoot you,” Sonny muttered, covering his face with his hands. “Go away. Drink all the orange soda you can get your hands on and come back and tell me if which son of a bitch is gunning for me.”
“I will accede to your wishes, Mr. Sir.” Spinelli looked at Jason. “Stone Cold, sir.” And with that, the computer hacker had disappeared out of the office.
“I think Stan was fucking with me when he put me in touch with this bastard,” Sonny all but moaned. “Because, sure, he knows what he’s doing, but I’ll end up murdering him in the process.” He stabbed a finger at Jason. “And you’re gonna testify on my behalf, Jase. You’re going to tell them I was provoked.”
“He didn’t give us much to work with,” Jason sighed, lowering himself into a chair. “But it’s something to keep in mind. None of the Families have been as helpful as we’d hoped they’d be, but the Zaccharas even less.”
“Trevor doesn’t like me because of my mother.” Sonny rubbed his bottom lip. “Tell you what—knowing the connection between my mother and Lansing helps me understand why Zacchara’s always been a pain in my ass. Always more difficult than it needs to be with negotiations. Bastard’s been after me for years.”
“But he’s been content to stick it to you in small ways,” Jason pointed out. “He apparently gets more satisfaction from needling you rather than going after you the way Ric apparently did.”
“True.” Sonny sighed. “Still no closer to tracking that bastard down. I’d be a lot happier if I could watch him sink to the bottom of the harbor.” Suddenly he felt every inch of his nearly forty years. “If I had just let you kill him after what we found out about Carly, Elizabeth wouldn’t be going through this. She must be going insane, stuck in that penthouse.”
“She negotiated her way into lunch with her grandmother today,” Jason admitted. “For two hours. I got a call from Dominic before I came in that she was home. But yeah, she’s starting to get antsy.”
“She good otherwise?” Sonny asked. “Health wise?”
“Fine,” Jason said, and Sonny was surprised by the edge in his tone.
“You sure? You don’t sound like she’s fine.” Sonny crossed to the mini bar and poured himself some water. “Carly wants to drag her out for baby furniture this week. I want them to sit in the penthouse with a computer so they can order online—”
“Why can’t either of you just drop it?” Jason demanded. “I get it. Neither one of you think I’m doing anything right. I’m a complete failure. I don’t need you two to double team me.”
Sonny blinked, his water in his hand. “Ah…I’m not sure what you mean, Jase. It’s called conversation.”
“You think I don’t know what the situation is?” Jason dug the heel of his hand into his eye. “I live with it every day. I know I messed this up, just like I did last year. I get it. I do not want you or Carly shoving it in my face—”
“Um.” Sonny turned his head slightly, trying to understand what was going on here. Clearly, Jason was having a bit of temper tantrum. He didn’t even know that was possible. “I’m sorry?” he offered.
“Whatever.” Jason grabbed a stack of files. “I’m going home.”
“Okay,” Sonny drawled and watched his best friend all but stomp out of the room. Well, what the hell crawled up his ass and died?
Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room
“Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”
Sonny grinned and dug his thumb into the arch of his wife’s foot. “Rough day?”
“Boring day.” Carly tilted her head back against the arm of the sofa, her feet in Sonny’s lap. She closed her eyes. “I went to Jason’s to nag the Muffin, but she was being granted parole for a few hours. I yelled at Jason and came home to buy more clothes. Sonny, you never should have shown me how to shop online. It’s going to be a problem.”
“We’ll have to build another closet,” Sonny mused. He continued his massage. “What’d you yell at Jason about? He seemed tense.”
“You know how you told me to stay out of it?” Carly said with a sigh. “I hate to say this, maybe you were right. I thought I was helping. I didn’t do anything. There were no tapes, no wires, no outside forces. I just…told Jason he was making Elizabeth miserable about her pregnancy. And when I saw her setting up a nursery, I thought he’d heard me. That I was getting through to him, but I don’t know, Sonny.” She leaned up on her elbows to meet his eyes. “I think I’ve nagged him too much, and he’s digging in his heels.”
“I think Jason will straighten this out without our help,” Sonny said. “He managed to get this far—”
“But he didn’t, Sonny.” Carly huffed and laid back down, staring at the ceiling as Sonny’s fingers stilled on her ankle. “Elizabeth told me that she’s brought up all the changes. That the day after she moved in, she’s the one that insisted they start dealing with their garbage. That she’s always the one to bring up the future. And he caught her going through baby clothes she was stashing in the closet, so she figured he felt guilty.”
Sonny paused. “Elizabeth is confiding in you a lot.”
“Bite me, bastard. I’m not thrilled about it either, but this is my life now. I figured Jason was going to keep her this time. She’s having a baby, he loves babies, he…” Her nose wrinkled. “He…loves her, I guess. If we can use that word. They’re sleeping together. So I figured I should…not chase her away. It never kept her away, so it was just a waste of energy. So I gave her a chance, and I just…” Damn hormones, because she felt tears burning in her eyes again. “I see how I felt when I was pregnant with Michael. When I was pregnant with our first son. Desperate. Trying to make a better life for myself, making mistakes everywhere I turned. I was so sure that you didn’t want the baby, or that you wanted it with anyone but me.”
“You sympathize with her,” Sonny said. She scowled at him, opening her eyes and raising her head. “It’s not a horrible thing, Carly. You found yourself pregnant with my child, when we hated one another, when I used you to make a point to Jason. I know…” He hesitated. “I know you doubted going through with it.”
“I did,” Carly sighed. “But I was never sorry that I had. And I know Elizabeth must have thought about not doing it either, but…” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Sonny, what if we’re wrong and the reason Jason isn’t talking about a future with Elizabeth and the baby isn’t because of Michael.”
“You think it’s because of Ric?” Sonny said. He sighed, absently tracing circles on her ankle. “I’ve wondered. I love Michael as my own son, and I know Jason did. Still does, I’m sure. But maybe it’s harder when you look at the woman you love having a child that was conceived with a man you loathe during a period of time you were separated. Do you think he thinks the baby is a mistake?”
“I want to say no,” Carly said softly. “I want to believe that Jason still holds true to what he used to say. A baby is a person. He doesn’t belong to anyone, but himself. He used to say that he wanted to protect Michael from the Quartermaines until he was old enough to make his own choices, until Michael could decide to have AJ for himself. I remember how perfect he was with Michael, how much he loved this little boy that wasn’t his, that he always knew wasn’t biologically his. I’ve known children who weren’t loved as well by their actual parents the way Jason loved Michael. So…how can you think he wouldn’t feel that way about Elizabeth’s child?”
“I’m not saying it has to make sense,” Sonny sighed. “I’m saying that maybe Jason doesn’t even understand it. I think it’s more about not wanting to lose another child. I don’t think he believes he and Elizabeth are going to last.”
“But why?” Carly again leaned up on her elbows. “Believe me, I’ve tried to get rid of her, but she keeps popping back up, so I figure she wants to be in it for the long haul. I see the way she talks about him, you know, and I get it. I see them working, so why can’t he?”
“I wish I knew,” Sonny said. “But Carly, it’s not our job to fix their problems. To make them go away.”
“Why not?” Carly demanded. “Jason always fixes mine. Why shouldn’t it be my job to do it for him? I just want him to be happy, you know. Because I hurt him so much, and I can’t ever make that go away. I can’t ever take back letting him fall in love with Michael, with running to the Quartermaines and calling him a kidnapper, with marrying AJ…sleeping with you. I can’t take those things back, so I have to give him something else to make up for it. I have make sure he’s happy.”
“Carly—”
“I tried, I really. I thought Courtney would work. She seemed…well, I don’t know. She seemed okay, and I could put up with her. I figured that would be good, if I could tolerate the woman in his life so he’d stay my friend. Elizabeth never liked me, so maybe he would have distanced himself from me if she’d stayed, but Courtney was your sister. She couldn’t take Jason away. So I thought they’d work and I pressured them both. But she wasn’t right for him.”
“No, she wasn’t, but Carly—”
“I know it’s selfish, but I want him to be happy so I can forgive myself for everything I did to him. You get it, right? If he’s happy, then I didn’t break him for good.”
“Carly, you didn’t break Jason—”
“No?” Carly demanded. “Then explain to me why he has everything he wants in his reach and he’s doing everything he can to destroy it? If that’s not someone I broke, I don’t know what is.”
This will be the last large update for the forseeable future (unless someone unearths one of my other longer stories that are still missing, see The Fiction Graveyard for what I still know to be missing). Thanks to the amazing people who apparently thought my writing was good enough to save and the fact that few things on the Internet are ever completely lost, I have gone a long way towards reconstructing my entire writing portfolio. There are some probably some short stories still missing and three completed longer fics for sure, but for the most part, everything is here. So, this is the last time multiple chapters for multiple fics will be added. From now, one it’ll be one, maybe two a day.
I decided to just suck it up and post the last eight chapters of Surviving the Past, so that I’m 
not driving people nuts. The story is completely up and posted, flaws and cheesy lines 😛 Thanks again to Carla for saving it, and then sending it on to me. I will be forever grateful.
Just before midnight last night, I wrote the words THE END at the end of Chapter 24 for A Few Words Too Many. I’ll put more in my author’s note at the point I post the last chapter, but it was bittersweet to finish it. Few Words convinced me, more so than Shadows, that I could still write Liason fanfiction despite what the show has done to this couple.
What’s next? I still have to write the last two chapters of Daughters, but I suspect I’ll find the time to do that while on break from papers and presentations this week. I’m also working on the plotting for Damaged. I may have posted the story a bit too precipitously, as I want to rework some the episode outlines I’ve put together, so Episode 3 may be delayed. I’m also storyboarding Mad World, in preparation to begin posting it in June 2014.
These Small Hours and Tangle are the next two stories I’ll be posting simulataneously, but they’re not very far ahead, so it’s a good thing it’ll take me two weeks to finish posting Daughters & Few Words, so that I can get a few more chapters ahead on both.
Additions
Surviving the Past: Chapters 21-Epilogue
Daughters: Chapter 16
A Few Words Too Many: Chapter 14
Two Years Later…
Clink!
As everyone pulled their champagne glasses back from the toast, Carly Corinthos stood and raised it again. “Don’t you love weddings?” she began, throwing the bride and groom a grin. “People just seem to ramble on and on…” Clearing her throat, “I can’t think of many people who deserve to be happier than you—and I’m glad you found someone who clearly worships the ground you walk on. He’s a good guy and with the treatment I’ve seen the past few years, you’re a lucky woman. Take care of each other.” She sat down.
All eyes were on the petite brunette who stood next. There were quite a few rumors surrounding her these last two years. After Webber Industries had gone bankrupt and Jeff Webber had left town, the rumors began that the youngest Webber daughter was behind it. After coming out publicly as Sonny Corinthos’ equal business partner and her marriage the year before to the reputed mobster’s right hand man, the rumors grew.
But anyone who looked at Elizabeth Morgan would be hard pressed to say she wasn’t happy. She stood and raised her glass. “I can still remember my first day of first grade. A little girl with brown hair sitting next to me came up with a plan for the little punk that sat in front of us. When I agreed to back you up in daring Lucky Spencer to eat glue, I never dreamed that seventeen years later, I’d be standing here, congratulating you on your marriage. You are the sister that I’ve wanted my entire life. If you are half as happy as I am, then I can rest easily. Nikolas—you were always good to me, even when you had no idea what was going on. It’s easy to see that you love Emily. Take good care of her.”
Elizabeth resumed her seat next to Jason as AJ stood.
“Before I get all mushy,” AJ began, “I’d like to start by saying, Nikolas, if you don’t treat her right, I will hurt you. Other than that—Em, you stood by me when most of the family dumped me. You always believed that I could stay sober and I have for six years. Thank you. Good luck.”
—-
Later as Elizabeth watched Emily and Nikolas dancing on the dance floor she gave a little sigh. Jason looked at her. “You all right?”
“I’m great,” Elizabeth said, grinning. “My best friend in the world just got married, my book is finally being published and I’ve got the best family in the world.”
He put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his embrace.
—-
Carly noticed Sonny’s frown as he looked at his sister and her husband. “What in the world is wrong with you?” she demanded, hands on her hips.
Sonny looked at his wife and grinned. “I’m just thinking—my little girl is all grown up.”
“Sonny, darling…she was eighteen when you met her. She’s also not your little girl—” Carly trailed off. “But she does look incredibly happy, doesn’t she?” A shadow passed over her face as she remembered the hysterical woman she’d been only two years ago. “Good, because I don’t think there’s anyone in the world who deserves it more.”
—-
“So, I bet you think our life is pretty perfect,” Elizabeth drawled pulling away to meet Jason’s eyes.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Jason shrugged.
“Well, I don’t think so.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Because I was thinking…we need a little girl to spoil, you know?” Elizabeth’s smile faded a little. “A little girl who never doubts how much her family adores her, who never has to wake up screaming, a little girl who’s loved from the very first day of her life, who’s always wanted.”
Jason drew her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. “If a little girl is what you want, then I guess we’d better get working on it.”
“No need, Mr. Morgan,” Elizabeth said, grinning. She kissed him quickly. “We already did the work.”
“You’re saying you’re pregnant?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Two months. We’re going to have a baby in time for Christmas.” She wrapped her arms around him more tightly. “Just think,” she murmured. “A little girl with my hair, your eyes…”
“Your smile,” Jason said when Elizabeth didn’t continue. “I can’t think of anything I’d want more than to see a little girl who looks exactly like you.”
She sighed happily. “Of course, we might have a boy and that’ll change everything. We’ll have to make sure he takes good care of any future little sisters—like you and AJ always did for me and Em. I want any children we have to grow up in a family like we did—with Emily, AJ, Carly, Sonny…” she trailed off and met his eyes. “Sound good to you?”
“Sounds very good to me,” Jason agreed, pulling her close for another kiss.
The End
The penthouse was silent as Carly, Sonny and Jason sat at the dining room table, eating. They didn’t have to discuss the topic of Elizabeth—it was hanging over their heads. Jason practically inhaled his food, anxious to get back downstairs. He didn’t want to leave her there alone long—he wanted another chance to prove that she didn’t need to leave town.
Sonny set his fork down and wiped his lips with a napkin. “Zander called it in. Webber’s been warned. He comes near Liz again and I’m not going to wait for her approval.”
Carly sat back in her chair, and sipped her wine. “I shouldn’t have yelled like that—but I just go so angry. It’s like she’s locked herself in this place and she’s too damn stubborn to let anyone in.”
Jason shoved his chair back and stood. “I’m going back down.”
He wasn’t halfway across the room before the door flew open. Emily rushed in, Nikolas hot on her heels. “She’s gone!”
“What?” Carly yelped, standing. “We’ve barely been gone twenty minutes.”
Emily ran a hand shakily through her hair. “We just got back and I went to try her room—it was open and there were clothes everywhere and a suitcase half packed. It doesn’t look like she took anything—but she’s gone!”
“She’s out there without a guard,” Sonny said. He stood and took out his cell phone. “Johnny, I want every man searching for Elizabeth. Don’t let her know if you see her—just call me and I’ll come get her.”
“Where would she go?” Carly asked.
Emily turned wild eyes to her brother. “She…she wouldn’t go…to…she wouldn’t right? I mean, she’s not…she’s not ready!”
“Em—” Nikolas put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Where wouldn’t she go?”
Jason eyed the man warily but shoved it out of his mind. Elizabeth. She mattered more. “I don’t know, I don’t think she’d go there.’
“You think she went to the Webber Estate,” Carly said. She looked at them both. “She’s definitely not ready—I mean—I don’t know why she’d go there.”
“She’s probably…she’s probably up at Vista Point,” Emily said, trying to convince herself. “That’s where she was the last time—she’s at the point.”
“I’ll go look there. Emily, you and Carly go to the Estate,” Jason said, heading for the door. “Nikolas, wait at the apartment. Sonny, wait here.”
He was out the door before anyone could argue. Carly and Emily exchanged looks before following Jason out the door.
Nikolas looked at Elizabeth’s brother curiously. “He wants me to wait and see if she comes back, doesn’t he?”
“If she does, call Emily. She’ll get the message to everyone,” Sonny replied.
Nikolas nodded. “All right.” He turned towards the door.
“You’re not going to ask what’s going on?” Sonny asked, surprised.
Nikolas glanced back and shrugged. “If Liz wants to tell me, she’ll tell me. If not, that’s her choice. I just want to help wherever I’m needed.”
—-
Elizabeth rang the doorbell and waited a few moments. When no one answered, she pushed the heavy oak door open.
She walked into the elegantly decorated hallway and tuned her ears for voices. She passed the first sitting room and saw Katherine Webber sitting and sipping tea Elizabeth knew was laced with whiskey.
“Hello.”
At the sound of Elizabeth’s cold voice, Katherine looked up and saw her. “Lizzie?” She stood, and swayed for a moment. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to ask you something,” Elizabeth said. She stared at her mother and realized for the first time how much she looked like her. The dark hair, porcelain skin that bruised easily. The high cheekbones and small figures. Katherine had brown eyes though. Elizabeth had never met Mike Corbin, but she knew her blue eyes came from him. “Why?”
“Darling?” Katherine asked, slightly confused. “Why what?”
“Why…why didn’t you love me?” Elizabeth quietly. She leaned against the door frame and stared past her mother. “Why did you look the other way? Why didn’t you ever stop him? There are so many questions, Mother. I just don’t think you care enough to answer.”
Katherine’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, my darling, I tried to stop him, I did, I promise. But…I learned my lesson. He would have killed me, took away my children. I tried not to show too much affection towards you—I knew that would only enrage your father. I didn’t want to give him a reason.” She reached towards her daughter. “But I loved you—you were born out of the only love I’ve ever known, Elizabeth.”
“Then why?” Elizabeth asked, her voice hoarse. “Why didn’t you love me enough to take me away?”
“He wouldn’t have let me leave!” Katherine cried. “I tried once—I left him for your real father. But Mike didn’t love me as much—and he was convinced to leave town. I had no choice. Sarah and Steven were here. I couldn’t leave them.”
“So you sacrificed me to save them,” Elizabeth said quietly. She turned away only to stare into Jeff’s face.
“Well, Lizzie. We meet again.”
Elizabeth bit her lip and took a step back. Jeff took a step forward. “Your little bodyguard isn’t here now.”
“Jeff, leave her alone,” Katherine pleaded. “Haven’t you done enough damage?”
“Quiet,” Jeff ordered, never taking his eyes off Elizabeth. “Isn’t it interesting to know so little has changed? That your mother will never stop me…and that you’re still as scared now as you were thirteen years go. You’re weak, Lizzie. And weak people always get what they deserve.”
As Elizabeth stared into the face that haunted her and heard the voice that terrified her, for the first time…she registered the words. And for the first time, she felt something other than terror. Other than self-loathing.
Something in Elizabeth Webber woke up that day in July. As she stared at the man who was supposed to have been her father—who was supposed to have loved her and taken care of her, Elizabeth felt an emotion she was familiar with. Something she’d felt the night she’d cold-cocked Frank Verruchio.
Elizabeth Webber discovered that she not only hated Jeff Webber, she loathed and detested the very sight of him. And for the first time in his presence, Elizabeth wasn’t a scared little girl screaming for him to stop.
Elizabeth Webber was an angry young woman who’d lost her innocence early. Who’d spent her life shutting people out—a woman who at this very moment wanted nothing more than to kill the man standing before her.
Something in Elizabeth Webber snapped that day. She stared into Jeff’s eyes and she felt the terror melt away as she saw what Jeff really looked like. He was older than the last time she’d seen him—his hair a little more gray, he was a little heavier, and he had more wrinkles. A small smile came over her face as she realized that for the first time in her entire life…she wasn’t scared.
Jeff looked at the brunette in front of him and was startled as the smile played on her face. Her expression was different—he could see it from here. She wasn’t scared—she wasn’t crying, or shrinking away. She was holding her stance in front of him—her fists clenched and her eyes cold.
With another moment of hesitation, Elizabeth drove her knee into his groin. Jeff’s face was more stunned than pained as he leaned over in pain. Without giving him a chance to recover, Elizabeth slammed her fist into his face. Jeff fell to the floor and Elizabeth wasted no time straddling him and pounding his face.
“I hate you!” she cried, feeling the blood on her hands. “How does it feel? Do you like being hit? Do you like feeling powerless? Huh? How do you like it?” she shrieked. She clutched his hair in her fingers and started slamming his head down on the floor. “I hate you!”
The next few moments were a blur as Katherine Webber came forward to try and remove Elizabeth from Jeff’s prone body and as Carly and Emily burst into the doorway. Carly took one look at the hellion beating the shit out Jeff Webber and wanted to cheer. But sensibility took over and she and Emily hauled Elizabeth off Jeff, kicking and screaming.
Jeff was unconscious and before Katherine even realized what she was doing, she gave him a sharp kick to the ribs. She looked at Elizabeth who was breathing heavily and crying. “I think…I think you’d be better off leaving. I…don’t want you to be here when he wakes.” Katherine swallowed hard. “If he wants to press charges…I’ll back you up. I’ll go to the station and we’ll make a full statement about all the years of abuse. I promise you, Elizabeth. I will do anything to ensure he never hurts you again.”
Elizabeth stared at her normally soft-spoken mother and started to cry more. Carly and Emily let go, and Katherine embraced her daughter. “I love you,” Elizabeth whispered.
Katherine hugged her daughter back. “Be happy, darling.”
—-
Carly and Emily reported back to Sonny as the three of them drove back to the penthouse. Elizabeth made a quick trip to the apartment to clean the blood off her hands and to change. Nikolas raised his eyebrows as he took Elizabeth’s appearance in, but to his credit, as usual he said nothing.
Elizabeth went up to Jason’s penthouse to wait for him to return from Vista Point. Sonny had gotten a hold of him and let him know they’d found her.
Elizabeth was sitting quietly in the dark when Jason burst in. He flipped the lights on and stared at her. “You really beat the shit out of him.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah…and you know what?” she gave him a weak smile. “It felt good.”
“Are you all right?” he asked. He dropped his keys on the table and made his way to her. She took the first step and hugged him tightly.
“You know what?” she said, her voice slightly muffled by his chest. “I think…I think I might be finally on my way to being all right.”
Jason closed his eyes and leaned his head on top of her hair. “Good.”
“I mean…it’s not over,” she said, tightening her hold on him. “I’ll probably still have nightmares and I’ll still be slightly irrational, but he doesn’t…he can’t hurt me anymore, Jason. He’s a weak, pathetic old man and he can’t hurt me anymore.” He didn’t say anything but she didn’t need hear anything. They stood there for another few minutes before she pulled away. “I’m sorry,” she said, hesitantly. “I know…I know that I put you through a lot—especially these last few days and I…I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Jason assured her. “You were dealing with this the only way you knew how—just because I didn’t agree with your reasoning…it doesn’t make it wrong or right.”
She bit her lip and looked at her curiously. “You would have let me leave, wouldn’t you?” she asked quietly.
Jason put his hands in his pocket and looked away. “If it hurt you to stay, yeah. I would have argued with you—but I would have let you leave.”
“I was going to, you know.” Elizabeth crossed her arms and sighed. “I was packing when an old family portrait fell out of one of my books. I was looking at my mother—and I was wondering why hadn’t she loved me…why had it been so easy for her to let Jeff beat me? I don’t even know why I went, but the next thing I knew…I was at the house. I was talking to her and I was going to leave—but he showed up instead. He started telling me how things hadn’t changed—that I was still scared. He said that I was weak and that weak people got what they deserved.”
Jason’s fist clenched involuntarily and he idly wondered if Elizabeth would let him finish what she started. Before he could ask, she continued.
“I should have been scared—but I just…I don’t know. Suddenly, I was angry. I mean, how dare he tell me I was weak? I endured thirteen years of his beatings and I’d made it anyway—I’d survived. I wasn’t perfect, and he still terrified me, but I’d made it. The last thing I am is weak. I’m not the strongest person—but weak, no. I was so angry—something snapped and I just started hitting him.” She smiled briefly. “I just wanted him to feel as helpless and powerless as I did. Just once…if I could show him that…than I thought I might be able to die happy, you know? If just once, he understood. I don’t think he did…but I’m not scared of him anymore. Do you know…do you know how unbelievably free I feel?”
Jason didn’t answer at first. He studied her. She still looked tired—there were still dark circles under her eyes. But her actual eyes…they were shining. There was a light in them that hadn’t been there before. She looked…free.
“Yeah,” he said, finally. “Yeah, I think I know.”
She smiled and peered up at him. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too.”
—-
“I need a vacation,” Carly grumbled. She reclined on the couch, an ice pack on her jaw where Elizabeth had accidentally clocked her. She looked to Sonny. “I was thinking…how possible is a vacation to the island? I think we could use a little paradise.”
Sonny sat on the other end of the couch. “I’ll run it by Liz and Jason. You want to invite Emily and her boyfriend?”
Carly nodded firmly. “Emily put a lot of grunt work in with this. I think we’re due for time off. And that boyfriend of hers was incredibly understanding—he’s a good guy.”
“Emily called AJ right?” Sonny asked, pulling Carly’s legs into his lap. He started giving her a foot massage.
“Mmm…yeah. AJ told her to tell Liz that he’s proud of her, but he’s currently bankrupting Jeff Webber, so he’ll be a little busy.” Carly tried to grin but it hurt too much. “I like that kid.”
“You want to invite that part of the family, too?” Sonny asked.
“Hell, why not? I think the island can hold all of us. What do you say?”
—-
The sun was only rising when Elizabeth stirred the next morning. She looked at Jason sleeping peacefully next to her and she smiled. She laid her head back on his chest and looked out the window as the sun made its way over the harbor.
She hadn’t had a nightmare the night before and other than her bruised fists, the only remnant of Jeff Webber’s years of abuse was the wrecked room at her apartment.
“I love you,” Elizabeth whispered, snuggling into his embrace.
The sun was just starting to rise—on the rest of her life.
AJ barely waited until the penthouse door was completely open before barreling in. “All right, I’m here. What’s going on?”
He stopped in his tracks at the sight of the people around him. Jason had opened the door for him, so AJ couldn’t see his face. But from Carly’s tearstained cheeks, Emily’s sobs and Sonny’s disheveled appearance, he didn’t need to.
He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “Where’s Liz?”
“She’s at her apartment,” Sonny said quietly. “She had another nightmare—and it was bad.”
Carly hugged herself tightly. “She was screaming so badly, we couldn’t make her stop. Nothing made her stop. She had to be taken to the hospital and sedated before she’d calm down.”
Sonny touched his throat. “She has these deep scratches on her throat. She was digging at it while she was screaming—like she was trying…”
“Like someone was strangling her and she was trying to stop them,” Carly finished quietly.
AJ’s eyes were blazing. “Anyone got a shotgun?” he barked.
“She wants to leave town,” Emily said, wiping at her eyes. “She thinks it’ll be best for everyone.”
“Tell me you didn’t agree, right?” AJ asked.
Carly shrugged. “Of course not—but how are we supposed to stop her?”
Sonny started to pace. “If she wanted to, she could disappear. She’s got the resources and she knows the people.”
“How?” Carly asked, suddenly suspicious. Her eyes narrowed as she rose from the couch. “I knew it! Liz works for you!”
Sonny shot her a look and sighed. “Not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?” AJ demanded.
“She’s a silent partner,” Emily supplied softly. Jason and Sonny looked at her, surprised. “I figured it out after the Deception party. When you both didn’t come home—and with all the time Beth spends at the warehouse…I don’t know. I guess it just made sense. So, I asked her.”
“So, she can disappear if she wants to,” AJ said, bringing the conversation back to the main topic. “How do we keep her from doing that?”
Jason ran a hand through his hair and spoke for the first time. “I don’t know that we should.”
AJ whirled to look at his brother. “What? Why not? We should just let her run?”
Jason glared at him. “Do you think that’s what I want? Do you think I want to let her go? To tell her it’s okay? But when she makes up her mind about something, you can’t just stop her. And I don’t that we should try—I know…I know I can’t.”
Carly glared at him angrily. She stalked across the room and shoved him hard. “What? Are you insane? You’re willing to let her leave town and leave us behind because of that animal? And you’re supposed to love her?”
“Carly,” Sonny said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.
“I promised her that I’d do anything she needed. How can I do what I think is right and keep that promise?” Jason asked, frustrated. “I promised her Jeff wouldn’t come near her, and that I could keep her safe. I’ve already broken those promises, how can you ask me to break another?”
“This isn’t about promises,” Emily said, standing. “This is about Beth and that she thinks she’s ruining our lives—yours especially—because of this. And I don’t know how to convince her it’s not true. Because she’s not going to listen.”
AJ muttered something unintelligible under his breath and took a deep breath. “We need to get Jeff Webber out of town. Before Elizabeth can leave. That’s…that’s our only and best course of action.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Carly asked, irritated. “She’s made it clear that we can’t get rid of him—how do we run him out of town?”
AJ didn’t say anything for a few minutes. God, he’d never wanted a drink as badly as he did right now. Without meaning to, his eyes strayed to Sonny’s small bar. He jerked his eyes as soon as they landed on the Scotch. Concentrate on Liz. You got her into this mess, you need to get her out. Suddenly it came to him.
“ELQ,” AJ said. He looked at the confused people around him. “We buy out Webber Industries here in Port Charles. If we can do that, then maybe he won’t have a reason to stay.”
Sonny scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Not a bad idea. And a few well-placed threats from some of my men could move it along. She said I couldn’t have him taken care of—there was nothing said about threats.”
Carly took a deep breath and felt calm for the first time in days. She turned to Emily. “We need to find a way to convince her to stay until we can do this. ”
Emily nodded. She leaned down to get her purse from the couch. “Let’s go to the apartment.”
When Carly and Emily were gone, Sonny looked at Jason. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Jason said quietly.
AJ took a deep breath. “I know how much you love her—I’m sorry I jumped down your throat.”
Jason shrugged. “I don’t blame you—I would have done the same thing.”
AJ nodded. “All right. Well, I’m heading to see Grandfather. I’m going to see if he’ll cooperate.”
“He knows about Elizabeth,” Jason said causing AJ to turn. “He’s always known. He’ll help.”
“How did…?” AJ trailed off. He stopped and shook his head. “It explains quite a bit. He always went out of his way to be nice to her—even after we all left home. It was so unlike him…but it makes sense now.”
Jason looked away. “He saw Webber hitting her one day. He just didn’t know what to do about it. So, trust me. He’ll help.”
“Good.” AJ opened the door. “Because we’re not letting Liz go without a fight.”
Once AJ was gone, Sonny headed to the phone. “I’m calling in Francis, Max, Zander and Johnny. They’re the best—they can take care of Webber.”
—-
Emily bit her and exchanged a look with Carly. “Beth…let us in!”
“Leave me alone.” Elizabeth’s voice was quiet, but firm. She’d locked herself in the room and the two of them had spent the past fifteen minutes talking to the door.
“Beth, we think we know a way to help,” Emily argued.
“You can’t help. No one can.”
Emily swore under her breath and turned away. “What are we going to do?” she asked Carly in a low voice.
“Maybe…maybe Jason can get through to her,” Carly whispered. She moved into the living room and pulled her cell phone out. She dialed Jason’s cell and had a quick conversation. She turned back to Emily. “He’s coming.”
Emily sighed and dragged her fingers through her hair. “I can’t—” her eyes caught the VCR clock. “Shit! I forgot to cancel lunch with Nik.”
Carly waved her hand. “Go. Jase and I can handle this.”
Emily sighed and grabbed her purse. “Beth, I have to go. But I’m coming back!”
She opened the apartment door just as Jason entered. “Hey. She’s in her room and she’s not letting anyone in and she’s not coming out.”
Jason nodded and headed for the hallway without giving Carly a second glance. He knocked on Elizabeth’s door. “Elizabeth?”
Inside, Elizabeth raised her eyes from her bedspread. “Go away, Jason.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Jason replied. “Let me in or I’ll open this door myself.”
Elizabeth launched off the bed and sat on the floor, her back against the door. “I’m leaning against the door—you open it with force, you’ll hurt me.”
Jason closed his eyes and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. Carly sighed and settled on the couch. This was going to be a long day.
—-
Emily rushed into Kelly’s and practically flew into her chair. “Hey!”
Nikolas frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Emily lied. She pulled a menu out. “Let’s order.”
Nikolas sighed and took the menu out of her hands. “Emily. What’s wrong?”
“Beth’s having a bad day,” Emily admitted quietly. “She’s, um…she’s not doing so well.”
Nikolas frowned. “Then what are you doing here? You should be with her.”
Emily rested her chin on her hand and sighed. “She’s locked herself in her room and won’t let me in and she’s not talking, so I’d just be going out of my mind there.”
Nikolas nodded. “I guess you can’t tell me what’s going on.”
Emily sighed and rubbed her eyes. “No. I’m sorry. But…it’s Beth’s story—”
Nikolas shrugged. “It’s okay—I understand. I just I wish I could help you more.”
Emily gave him a wan smile. “You are helping. By not demanding answers I can’t give or making ultimatums. You have no idea how much that’s meant to me.”
Nikolas reached out and covered her hand. “Hey, we agreed that we’re going to be together for the next fifty years or so, remember? I can deal with this. I’ve got no choice.”
“Thanks,” Emily said gratefully. “Have you heard from Lucky?”
“Yeah. He and Gia are still in London. How did Carly take the news?” Nikolas asked.
Emily grimaced. “She’s so desperate for a new model she talked me into a test shoot.”
Nikolas grinned. “You’ll be great. You’re gorgeous.”
Emily grinned. “You’re not so bad yourself. I never thought about modeling before. But…it’s not such a horrible idea. I’ll probably be able to travel if it all works out. That’d be fun.” She shook her head. “But it’s only a temporary thing—I still want to do law.”
“Good,” Nikolas said, firmly. “I’d hate to have to give up our Law and Order routine.”
Emily grinned. “That’ll never happen.”
—-
“Elizabeth—you’ll have to come out of there sometime,” Jason said. “Open the door.”
“Go away, Jason,” Elizabeth said, dully. “You’re better off.”
“Better off?” Jason repeated. “Elizabeth—”
“I’m going to leave town the first chance I get,” Elizabeth cut in.
“You don’t have to leave—”
“And I’m not telling anyone where I’m going, not even you. I don’t want anyone to follow me.”
“Why?” Jason asked. He yanked on the knob. “Damn it, Elizabeth. Open the door and we’ll talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” she replied softly. She picked at her rug. “I’ll never get over this—and all being in this town reminds me of is him. I’ll go insane if I have to stay here.”
“Then let me go with you,” Jason said. “We can leave now—we’ll go wherever you want.”
“No,” Elizabeth replied. She took a deep breath. “Jason—you might want to get used to this…because I’m not coming back. So don’t wait. You…you deserve someone who’s not afraid of their shadow.”
“Don’t tell me what I deserve. I love you—don’t make decisions for me,” Jason said angrily.
“I’m making this decision for me,” Elizabeth whispered. “I can’t be here. You need…you promised me, Jason. That’d you let me do whatever I needed. Well, this is what I need. Please, this is what I need to do. I’ll lose my mind, I know it.”
“Elizabeth…” Jason stopped. “I…”
Carly could tell he was weakening. She stood and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, Jase,” she whispered. She turned to the door.
“You know what? We’ve tried with Emily’s way. You’ve been talking to her for a half hour. Now? Carly’s way.”
She started pounding on the door. “Elizabeth Imogene Webber! If you don’t come out of here right now, I swear I am gonna bust this door down and I don’t care if you’re sitting right there! You’re being selfish! You think leaving town’s going to help? You think Jason’s not gonna sit around and wait? He’s a nutball, he’ll wait! Damn it, Elizabeth, open the fucking door!”
When she was done with her rant, she took a deep breath. Elizabeth’s voice floated through the door.
“Feel better?”
“Are you going to open the door?”
“No.”
“Damn it, Liz. You’re not solving anything—and if you run, you’re only going to be making it worse! ” Carly started pounding on the door again. “I’m sick of tip-toeing around this—trying to be sweet and nice. I ran for seven years, Liz! Seven! And it didn’t get me anywhere! Don’t you get it?”
The person behind the door was irritatingly silent and Carly, in her frustration, kicked the door. “Liz—if you leave, you’re not going to be making it any better—you’ll end up hurting the very people you’re trying to protect!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Elizabeth said softly. “I…just…god, I’m sorry…I just can’t do it anymore. It’s too much, Carly. I can’t—” she stopped and they could hear her start to cry.
Jason glared at the door. Carly had a feeling he wasn’t glaring at Elizabeth—he was glaring at the door for having the nerve be between himself and Elizabeth. He turned the knob hoping it’d be unlocked. “She’s crying,” he said quietly. “I hate it when she cries.” Raising his voice so Elizabeth could hear him, he said, “Let me in, please.”
“No,” Elizabeth said, her voice thick. “I—I c-c-can’t let you h-help anymore. Please…just go away.”
Jason backed up from the door. “It’s like we’ve taken a hundred steps backward,” he said quietly leaned against the opposite wall.
Carly looked at him sympathetically. “You know what? She wants to be alone—let her. Let’s go get something to eat.” She pulled him away and only stopped to grab her purse. “If I stay here any longer, I’m afraid I’ll kick the door in.”
Elizabeth heard the door click shut and she let out a breath. Whether it was in relief, disappointment or something else…she wasn’t exactly sure.
She stood up and pulled her suitcase out of the closet. She began to methodically pack her clothes.
Elizabeth walked hesitantly up to the gates that led to the Webber Estate. She wasn’t sure exactly why she was here—it wasn’t to talk to Jeff, that was for sure. After what had happened yesterday, she knew she wasn’t ready for that.
She felt horrible about what she was doing to Jason. The look on his face when she mentioned leaving—she’d do anything to take the hurt look away. But she couldn’t help it—the mere sight of Jeff Webber terrified her to the very core. To exist in the same town with him…it was something Elizabeth didn’t know if she was ready for.
She knew she was strong—she had made it through the last five years by herself. But she couldn’t control herself when Jeff was around. Sure, with Jason standing right next to her, she was able to stand up to him a little. But…when Jason wasn’t there and she was by herself, Elizabeth knew….she just knew that she wouldn’t be that strong. She’d cower, she’d shrink back…she’d fall into her old routine.
And everything in her was just screaming to get away from him. Even now, standing in front of the house she’d lived in for eighteen years…she wanted to turn and run.
But she couldn’t. She had to stand here and fight this. She didn’t want to leave—she wanted to stay—with Jason. With Carly and Sonny. With Emily. She wanted to be the strong person she’d been before. The woman who’d stared Frank Verruchio in the face and laughed. Who’d kicked doors in and shot men to keep Jason safe. She briefly wondered if maybe she’d left that woman at the safe house.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and begged the memories to stay away. She didn’t want to hear his voice and she didn’t want to feel his hands. She heard a twig snap and she whirled around. She backed up until the gate was at her back. She was cornered.
And Jeff Webber was standing in front of her, a sneer on his face.
“Well, Lizzie. Here to see your mother?”
Mutely, Elizabeth shook her head. She could feel the violent trembling that seemed to control her when Jeff was within fifty feet.
Jeff took a step closer. “Where’s your little body guard?” He came closer and closer. Elizabeth willed herself to move. To run! But her mind was frozen in fear. “Not here, is he?”
“Please, leave me alone,” Elizabeth whispered, trying back up. The bars of the gates were digging into her back. Jeff was close enough for her to feel his breath.
Jeff grabbed her arm and jerked her away from the fence. She went sprawling onto the ground. Instinct kicked in and she began to crawl away frantically. He grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.
“Stop!” she cried. He flipped her over, and kneeled next to her.
“You know what, Lizzie?” Jeff asked, leaning down close to her. He wrapped his hand around her pale and slender throat. Her eyes widened as his hand tightened. “I could kill you right now. Do you know how easy this would be?”
Elizabeth brought her hands up to claw frantically at his hands as she started to feel dizzy.
“And no one would miss you…no one cares about you, Lizzie. And the last face you’ll ever see is mine.”
Suddenly, Elizabeth sat straight up and began screaming. Her hands flew to her throat. She could still feel his hands. And she was still screaming.
She was still screaming when Johnny burst into Jason’s penthouse; when Carly and Sonny rushed in. She was still screaming as Sonny knelt beside her. He took her by her shoulders and tried to get to focus.
But Elizabeth didn’t hear any of them. She didn’t see any of them. All she could see was Jeff Webber’s face. All she could hear was Jeff Webber’s voice.
And all she could feel was Jeff Webber’s hands around her throat.
She was kept screaming until her voice was too hoarse to continue. And still, her mouth was open in a silent scream. Tears streamed down her face. And her hands were still clutching her throat. She was digging at it, trying to get Jeff to let go.
Carly was almost hysterical herself and nearly didn’t hear Sonny’s command to call 911 and find Jason. She called 911. And then she tried Jason’s cell phone. He was at the Quartermaines and said he’d meet them at the hospital. Carly called Emily, but she was out. She left a message on her cell.
Elizabeth was still digging at her throat, her mouth open in a silent scream, her eyes glazed over.
And all Carly wanted to do was grab a shotgun and hunt Jeff Webber down.
—-
The elevator doors couldn’t open fast enough for Jason. Before they were even open all the way, he was halfway down the hall towards the emergency room. Carly and Sonny were in the waiting room.
“Where is she? What’s happened?” Jason demanded, out of breath. He’d run from the parking lot all the way here.
Carly was shaking. “She was screaming so bad,” she whispered. She looked to Sonny. “I’ve never heard anything like that. She wouldn’t stop screaming.”
Sonny cleared his throat. “She had another nightmare. She was so loud that we heard her over in the next penthouse.”
Jason sat down and put his head in his hands. “I shouldn’t have left her alone. I thought…I thought I’d be back before she woke up. She’d been asleep all day, not one nightmare. Not since yesterday.”
“It’s not your fault,” Carly said, quietly, putting an around his shoulders. “You know that right?”
“I was at the Quartermaines…” Jason raised his head and looked at Sonny. “When we saw Jeff yesterday, he accused her of lying. And it got me thinking…if Elizabeth ever goes public with this, she’ll need people backing her up. And if my grandparents are on her side, he can’t very well call her a liar.”
“It’s a good idea,” Carly said, faintly.
“My grandfather…he does know.” Jason rubbed his eyes. “He never said anything—but he saw Jeff hitting her once. He knew, but there wasn’t much he could do.”
Dr. Scanlon came out from behind a curtain. “Mr. Corinthos?”
Sonny sprang to his feet, Carly and Jason following suit. “Is she okay?”
“We have her heavily sedated,” Dr. Scanlon replied. “We had to bandage her throat, but she’s all right. She’s sleeping now.”
Sonny breathed a sigh of relief while Jason looked bewildered. “Bandage her throat?”
“She was scratching at it,” Carly said quietly. “Like she had someone’s hands around her throat.”
“Can we take her home?” Sonny asked urgently.
Dr. Scanlon nodded. “I’d recommend she make an appointment to see Gail Baldwin or Kevin Collins. She was hard to calm down.” He took a deep breath. “Do your best to keep her calm. Avoid stress.”
—-
“Avoid stress,” Carly muttered as Jason carried Elizabeth into Sonny’s penthouse. “Like that’s possible.”
“The guest room,” Sonny said to Jason who headed up the stairs. He turned to Carly. “That’s why she’s staying here. With Johnny on the door, no one gets in so if Jeff Webber finds her, he can’t touch her. Not to mention, someone is always going to be here.”
Carly hugged herself. “She said she wanted to leave Port Charles, Sonny. Maybe…” she paused. “As much as I want to tell her to stay and fight…” She looked to Sonny. “Maybe she’d be happier somewhere else.”
—-
Jason laid Elizabeth gently on the bed and pulled the covers over her. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the white bandages that adorned her throat. He wanted to find Jeff Webber and squeeze the life out of the monster. But it wouldn’t solve any thing.
He took her hand and held it tightly. “I am so sorry that I wasn’t there. I told you I’d protect you—but I don’t know how to do it anymore. I know you think running is going help this….but you can’t leave. You can’t leave me. We just found each other—and you can’t do that.”
He kissed the inside of her palm and sighed. If Elizabeth left town, he’d follow her. He was sure of that now.
There was a knock at the door. Jason reluctantly let go of Elizabeth’s hand and stood to open the door. Emily’s tear streaked face stood in front of him. “Is she okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Jason said, opening the door. “It was a bad one, Em.”
Emily looked at Elizabeth’s still form and bandaged throat. “Oh, Jesus, Jason. What are we going to do?”
Jason shook his head slowly. “I don’t know, Emily. I have no idea.”
—-
Elizabeth rolled over in bed and opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry and she couldn’t speak through the scratchiness of her throat. She vaguely made out a passed out Jason on the chair next to her.
She sat up and blinked a few times. When she’d gone to sleep, she hadn’t been in the guest room of Sonny’s penthouse. She’d been on the couch at Jason’s. She felt something on her throat and her hand flew up to investigate. She had a bandage covering most of it.
She rubbed her eyes. She must have had another nightmare—it had probably been a bad one.
Elizabeth swung her legs over the side of the bed and rolled her shoulders, trying to work the kinks out. She crept out of the room slowly as to not disturb Jason.
Carly and Emily were sitting down stairs when Elizabeth came down. They were on the couch, conversing quietly but when they heard her steps they turned.
“Hey,” Carly said with false cheeriness. “Look who’s up?”
Elizabeth didn’t say anything until she seated herself on the opposite couch. “What happened?”
“Listen, Liz, you don’t—”
“What happened?” Elizabeth repeated, cutting Carly off.
Carly and Emily exchanged glances and Carly sighed. “You were screaming. We heard you clear over here…Johnny burst into Jason’s and we were right behind him. We couldn’t calm you down. You…you just kept screaming and crying and digging out your throat.”
Without thinking, Elizabeth’s hand flew up to cover the bandage. “I went to the hospital again, didn’t I?”
Carly nodded miserably. “Yeah. Jason was so upset with himself for not being there. Is he still asleep?”
Elizabeth nodded numbly. She couldn’t do this anymore. “I’m never going to get over this, am I?” she whispered.
Emily desperately wanted to say she would, but she knew she couldn’t. She exchanged a helpless glance with Carly. “Beth—”
“It’s never going to be over,” Elizabeth continued quietly, her voice thick. “I’m going to hear him the rest of my life.” She stood abruptly. “I have to get out of here.”
Carly stood. “You know what? Me, too. Let’s go out to dinner.”
Elizabeth shook her head, vehemently. “I need to leave town. I can’t be in the same place as him—I can’t. I need—”
“Liz, please,” Carly said, but Elizabeth was working herself up to a point of hysteria.
“I can’t be here. I have to go, Carly, don’t you understand? He can find me. He can haunt me—it’s never going to be over. I need to go!”
“Beth—” Emily tried to cut in.
Elizabeth was trembling. “It’s not fair to you. To any of you. To wonder the next time you’re going to have to calm me down or take me to the hospital.” She looked up to the ceiling. “I have to leave—I can’t keep doing this. I love you too much. I’m ruining your lives…don’t you see?”
“Elizabeth,” Carly said, putting her hands on her shoulders. Elizabeth shrugged out of her grasp and moved across the room.
“And what about what I’m doing to Jason?” she whispered, more to herself than anyone else. “What kind of life am I confining him to? Baby-sitting me? That’s not fair to him—”
“You don’t get to decide that,” Emily cut in.
“Yes, I do.” Elizabeth turned. “I have to leave—don’t you understand? I have to!”
“Don’t run because you’re scared!” Carly said, desperately. She flicked her eyes to the stairs. Jason. She needed Jason to talk Elizabeth out of this.
“I’m never going to escape this!” Elizabeth started cracking her knuckles as she paced the room. “He’s always going to be waiting—and I can’t keep depending on the people I love. The only way to do this is stand on my own—not let anyone in. I can’t—”
“Beth, stop it!” Emily cried. “You’re not thinking rationally—”
“I have to do this!” Elizabeth cried, tears streaming down her face. Her voice was hoarse and it hurt to speak but Elizabeth continued anyway. “I have to! I can’t…I can’t be here anymore!”
Sonny entered the penthouse. “Liz—”
“I have to go, Sonny,” Elizabeth said quickly, making an attempt to dart past him and out the door.
Sonny blocked her. “Whoa, hold on, honey.”
“I have to go!” Elizabeth was now hysterical. “I’m quitting my job and I’m leaving town!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Sonny said. He closed the door. “Liz, sweetheart, we need to discuss this—”
“There’s nothing to discuss!” Elizabeth cried. “This is my life and this is what I need to do!”
“What’s going on?” Jason asked, coming down the steps. “Elizabeth—”
“I have to go!” Elizabeth cried. “Please, Jason—you promised me you let me do whatever I needed to do. I need to do this!”
Jason stared at her, stunned. “Elizabeth!”
“You promised me!” Elizabeth said, her voice suddenly quiet and pleading. “You said anything…please, Jason. I have to go.”
“Go where?” Jason asked. He had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her from across the room. “Where are you going to go?”
“Anywhere!” Elizabeth said, desperately. “You have to make them understand—you promised me! You said you’d do anything I needed…I need you to let me do this!”
Jason just stared at her. Finally, he shook his head slowly. “I can’t.”
She stared him, the tears streaming down her face. She looked around the room. From Carly’s tear-stained face, to Emily’s stricken one, to Jason’s determined expression and finally to her brother. Sonny’s expression was unreadable. “I’m going to my apartment,” Elizabeth said finally. “I need…I need to be alone.”
And before anyone could stop her, she’d jerked the door open and she was gone.
Elizabeth didn’t contact anyone the entire day and she didn’t come home that night either. Emily came home after dinner with her grandparents that night to find a message on her machine.
Em, it’s me. I’ll be out until tomorrow. I’ll see you when I get in.
Emily frowned as she rewound the tape. She doubted that she was at Jason’s.
When Elizabeth resurfaced the next day, she asked Jason to meet her at Kelly’s. She hadn’t been back there since seeing Jeff but she felt she was ready to face the place again.
Jason was waiting when Elizabeth arrived. He was seated at the same table outside that they’d sat at almost a month ago, agreeing to take things slow. She took a seat across from him and smiled.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” He hesitated. “Em was worried about you yesterday.”
Elizabeth looked away. “I’m sorry I missed AJ’s homecoming. I woke up yesterday and felt like I needed to write. So I packed my laptop and two spare batteries and went up to Vista Point.” She smiled at him. “I wrote until my batteries quit and then I just stayed there. I think I just needed some time by myself.”
Jason nodded. “Next time…give her a head’s up. Or someone.”
“Agreed.”
The waitress came then and the two ordered. When she’d gone back inside, Elizabeth leaned forward. “Emily told me you saw Edward and Lila. How did it go?”
Jason folded her arms across the table. “It was a bit awkward at first—Grandfather’s not the same at all. He’s….” he searched for the right word but finally shrugged. “I don’t know exactly—but he’s a far cry from the guy I met after the accident. But AJ and Grandfather agreed to put it behind them. He even said welcome home to AJ.”
“I’m glad you’re getting along again,” Elizabeth said sincerely. “I told you that I’ve always liked Edward, even if I didn’t agree with the way he handled the situation.”
Jason hesitated. “Do you remember what you said about him knowing?”
Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah. Why?”
“I think you’re right,” Jason replied. “He’d seen Jeff. Jeff’s been looking for you.”
Elizabeth’s face froze and she looked at the table quickly. “Why?” she whispered.
Jason reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “I don’t know. But he’s not going to get to you. He went to the mansion to get Emily’s address. Alan gave him Harborview Towers, but Edward stepped in before he could say anything else.”
Elizabeth was visibly relieved. “I guess he does know.”
“He suspects something,” Jason agreed. “But it’s up to you to ask if he knows for sure.”
“Did my father show up at the Towers?” Elizabeth asked softly.
Jason nodded. “Carly headed him off. Made it clear who she was and that if he didn’t stay away, I’d keep him away. She told him we were close—that there were no secrets.” Jason gave her small smile. “If it helps, he looked absolutely terrified or so Carly tells me.”
“He hated that you knew,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I think that’s the only reason he didn’t lay a hand on me after the morning we were caught. You were Quartermaine, after all. He knew that if you said anything, your word would be taken over his. He was terrified you’d say something.”
“He should be terrified now,” Jason growled. “I’ll do more than report him if he comes near you.”
Elizabeth smiled weakly. “Thanks. But he lives in town and he’s looking for me.” She frowned. “Please…don’t get into any confrontations with him. I don’t need him to give Taggart a reason to haul you in. And you know he wouldn’t think twice.”
“I won’t,” Jason assured her.
Elizabeth tensed suddenly. She heard footsteps behind her and a shiver went down her back. He was behind her—she knew it.
At Elizabeth’s stricken expression, Jason looked around before settling on a man behind her. He’d never seen Elizabeth’s father, but from her face, he knew it had to be him.
Jeff Webber stepped further into the courtyard. “Hello, Lizzie. Jason—it’s good to see you.”
Jason stood so quickly Elizabeth didn’t see him move. But he was out of his chair and between Elizabeth and Jeff almost instantaneously. “Don’t come any closer.”
Jeff stopped and looked around him to Elizabeth. “Lizzie-”
Jason stepped to the side to shield Elizabeth from his view. “Don’t speak to her.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Jeff said, angrily. “She’s my daughter!”
Elizabeth hesitantly stepped to Jason’s side. ‘”I’m not your daughter,” she all but whispered.
Jason looked down, surprised to hear her speak. He put his hand on the small of her back, as if for encouragement.
“The hell you’re not!” Jeff snapped, taking a step closer. “I paid for you, I raised—”
“Stop right there,” Jason growled. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
Jeff ignored him and took another step. “You obviously haven’t changed a bit, Lizzie. Still as ungrateful as ever—”
As Jeff came closer, Elizabeth shrank back. Jason grabbed Jeff by the shirt collar and shoved him back.
“Stay away from her!”
Jeff glared at Elizabeth. “So you went and told him again, didn’t you Lizzie? He can’t help you—not now anymore more than he could then.”
Jason’s jaw twitched. He wanted to slam the man through a brick wall but he’d promised Elizabeth he’d avoid a confrontation and it was taking all of his self-control to keep him in line. “Get out of here.”
“Who else did you tell?” Jeff demanded, his fists clenched at his side and his face twisted in fury. “They’re lies and you know it!”
Elizabeth took a step back, the sound of his angry voice bringing back memories she had no inclination to face again. “They’re not lies,” she whispered, covering her ears. “They’re not.”
“We’re leaving,” Jason said. He took Elizabeth’s arm, grabbed her purse from the table. “I’m warning you—make one step in her direction again and you won’t live to regret it.”
He led Elizabeth out of the courtyard and towards his bike. As soon as Jeff was gone from view, her knees buckled and Jason had to act fast to catch her before she hit the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, clinging to him. “He got to me again…I let him…”
“Let’s go.” Jason helped her onto the bike. “Do you want to go anywhere?”
“I don’t care,” Elizabeth whispered, her voice thick. “I just have to get away from here.”
—-
He brought her back to the penthouse. Jason practically had to carry her from the parking garage to his apartment. He helped her to the couch.
“Is there anything you need?” he asked, crouching in front of her. “I can get Emily or Sonny or Carly.”
She hugged herself and shook her head. “No. I just—I just need a few minutes.” Elizabeth looked up. “I didn’t fall into my habit.”
“What?”
“I didn’t pretend to be the perfect daughter,” Elizabeth said softly. “That’s the first time I ever…that I didn’t pretend he was the perfect father.”
“You see…you’re already stronger,” Jason said gently. He moved to sit next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into him. “You did so good—I’m proud of you.”
“But I still cowered…” Elizabeth said, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. “He was yelling and all I could do was stand there—I was so scared, Jason. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“I’m glad I was.” He smoothed her hair down. “I just wished I could have smashed his face in.”
She smiled despite her tears. “I wish that, too. But it wouldn’t solve anything. His voice would still terrify me. Why can’t I let this go?”
He didn’t know how to answer her—so he just held her as she cried.
—-
Sonny was whistling when he entered the penthouse later that afternoon. He called for Carly immediately.
Carly came down the steps with a curious look on her face. “What are you up to?”
“I need you to plan a party,” Sonny announced. “I talked to Jason this morning. The partnership has been officially filed with all the right parties. And I think a good party would cheer us all up.”
Carly’s face lit up. “Really? You want me to plan it?”
Sonny could see the ideas forming in her head already. “Yup. I’m going over to his penthouse now—I want to see if he’s heard from Liz.”
Carly frowned. “She’s been staying with him hasn’t she?”
Sonny shook his head. “She went home yesterday night. And she was gone on some errand all day. I want to see if she’s okay. I don’t want to ask her—she might try and hide it.”
Carly nodded. “I’ll give Elton a call while you’re gone. He’s the best at this, you know.”
Sonny grimaced. “Elton annoys me.”
Carly waved her hand in dismissal. “He’s still the best.”
—-
Sonny raised his hand to knock on Jason’s door just as a scream ripped through the air. Without hesitating, Sonny threw the door open.
Elizabeth was on the couch, her face pure white. She was sitting straight up, her eyes practically bulging out of her face. Jason was seated next to her, trying to calm her down.
“What’s going on?” Sonny demanded. Carly arrived about then—nearly crashing into Sonny’s back.
“Elizabeth, it’s okay,” Jason said, ignoring the couple in the door. He gripped her shoulders. “Look at me. You’re safe, you’re with me. Look at me.”
Finally, Elizabeth’s eyes focused on him and they lost that glazed look. Her breathing started to even out and her eyes returned to normal shape. “Jason?”
“I’m here,” Jason said, gently. He rubbed her arms, trying to warm the ice cold skin. “It’s okay. You’re all right.”
She nodded numbly and pulled her knees up to her chest. “I hate him,” she whispered.
“Jason?” Carly asked hesitantly. She took a step forward. “She saw him again didn’t she?”
Jason didn’t turn to look at them. “It’s okay. I hate him, too.”
She looked at him and laughed weakly, the laughter turning to tears almost instantly. “It’s not fair,” she whispered, brokenly. “Why does he scare me like this? I’ve faced down people with guns—I laughed in Verruchio’s face—why does Jeff Webber terrify me?”
Carly was at the couch by now. She took a seat. “Honey, what’s going on?”
Elizabeth looked at her with sad eyes. “I saw him,” she breathed. “He was at Kelly’s…and he was yelling at me…”
Sonny looked to Jason. “Where were you?”
Jason gritted her teeth. “Standing between them. She made me promise not to get into a confrontation with him. I got her out of there as quickly as possible.”
Sonny nodded. “I want a permanent guard on her.” He pulled his cell phone out to make the call. “I want her notified if he’s within fifty feet of where she is.” He stepped out into the hall to finish the call.
Carly rubbed Elizabeth’s shin, trying to be of some comfort. “I wish I’d been there. I’d have smashed his teeth in.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “It wouldn’t have done any good He would have done it anyway.”
Carly traded looks with Jason. “Sweetie, you know…you know you can get this taken care of.”
Elizabeth bit her lip and looked away. “I know. But I think my method’s going to be a little different than what you have in mind.
“Liz?” Carly questioned curiously.
Elizabeth stared at the kitchen doorway. “This town…it’s not big enough for me to hide from him and I can’t…I can’t be around him. I’ll go insane if I have to be.” She met Carly’s eyes but avoided Jason’s. “I think I have to leave Port Charles.”
—-
The next day, Jason knocked on the door to the Quartermaine mansion. He was still running Elizabeth’s words through his mind.
I think I have to leave Port Charles.
No amount of convincing from either of them had deterred Elizabeth’s way of thinking. She only promised to think about it a little more before she made any permanent decisions. She couldn’t leave. Jason knew she’d want to go alone and he couldn’t stay in this town without her.
The door swung open and Jason saw Alan Quartermaine for the first time since returning to Port Charles.
“Jason!” Alan’s face was delighted but Jason’s remained impassive.
“Are Grandmother and Grandfather here?” Jason asked.
“They’re out on the terrace.” Alan stepped aside to let his son in. “You’re looking well.”
Jason turned to face him. He studied the man who was biologically his father. He’d hated him since the accident—since he’d tried to have AJ thrown in jail and had pushed Jason to be someone he couldn’t be. But after meeting Jeff Webber head on, Jason was ready to consider that no father could be as bad as Jeff.
“Thanks,” Jason said finally. He shifted. “How’s Monica?”
Alan’s face tensed. “As far as I know, she’s good. How’s Emily?”
“Emily’s fine,” Jason answered shortly. He hesitated. “And since you didn’t ask—so’s AJ.”
“He still sober?” Alan demanded.
“Yeah,” Jason said. “Four years now.”
Alan’s face showed his surprised. “He still married?”
“Yep. Three years,” Jason replied. “I’d better go.” He turned towards the terrace entrance in the living room.
“Jason—”
Jason turned towards Alan. “Yeah?”
“Tell Emily and AJ I said hello.”
Jason stared at him for a few moments then finally nodded. “I’ll do that.”
Emily passed Elizabeth’s slightly open door and paused. She slid it open and looked in. Elizabeth was sleeping in her own bed for the first time in nearly a week. She frowned. Not a good sign.
Nikolas came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “What’s wrong?”
“Beth’s home,” Emily replied, pulling the door shut. She turned to face him. “She hasn’t spent the night here since last Friday.”
“She’s not allowed to come home?” Nikolas asked. He led her down the hallway and towards the kitchen.
“It’s not that. It’s just…I guess I thought she’d be staying with Jase a little longer.” Emily reached into the fridge and pulled out the carton of eggs and a package of bacon. “Will you start the toast?”
“Sure.” Nikolas opened the cabinet and removed the loaf of bread.
As Emily started frying the bacon, she looked at Nikolas and felt a little guilty. Last night had been her first night back at the apartment since Saturday. She’d fully expected Elizabeth to stay another few days. She wondered if Nikolas felt left out. She knew her friendship with her brothers and Elizabeth could be intimidating—it was like this whole separate thing that was difficult to share with other people. Add to the fact Nikolas had no idea what Elizabeth was going through and that she’d been neglecting him…it made her feel all the more guilty.
“What’s wrong?” Nikolas’s voice broke Emily’s train of thought.
Emily flipped the bacon and turned to him. “What?”
“You’ve got that look on your face. What’s wrong?”
Emily sighed. She moved the bacon around; the sizzling sound was oddly comforting. “I’m just feeling guilty. You’re so good to put up with me.”
“Why do you say that?” Nikolas asked, pulling the finished toast out of the toaster and putting more bread in.
“Because I’ve been spending so much time with Beth and Jason these last few weeks…because I haven’t been able to tell you what’s going on,” Emily murmured. She started putting the bacon on the plate.
“Well…I’ll admit,” Nikolas began, pulling a butter knife out of the drawer. “I’ll admit that I have been a little irritated.” He started buttering the toast. “But I know something’s wrong with Liz. And I know she’s your best friend. So I do understand.”
Emily cracked two eggs into another frying pan. “You’re amazing, do you know that?” She sprinkled some salt and pepper onto it. “I mean, most guys would have, like, made ultimatums by now.”
Nikolas put the butter down and pulled Emily into his arms. “Listen, Quartermaine,” he began. “One of the things I love most about you is that you do drop everything when a friend needs you. You have such a big heart and I know how much Liz means to you. And how much being with your brothers means to you. I also know that asking you to choose between me and them…that would be a dumb thing…because I know I wouldn’t win.”
Emily kissed him softly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He glanced at the eggs. “You’d better get back to those.”
Emily smiled and turned back to flip the eggs. After a few more minutes, she put them on a plate and cracked two more in.
“So, Em…I’ve been thinking,” Nikolas said, buttering more toast.
“Dangerous past time,” Emily murmured, grinning at him.
“I leave for school in a few weeks,” Nikolas continued ignoring her comment.
“I know,” Emily said, wrinkling her nose. “And you won’t be home until Thanksgiving.”
“Hey, we made it through last year,” Nikolas reminded her. “And we need to work out the weekends I’m coming home and the ones you’re coming down.”
Emily nodded, flipping the eggs. “Yep.”
“And I was thinking…I graduate in two years.”
“Yes…?” Emily prompted. She put the eggs on another plate. “You done with the toast?”
“You’re not going to make any for Liz?”
Emily shook her head. “She doesn’t eat eggs.”
“I’m done then.” Nikolas grabbed that and the plate of bacon. They moved to the table and Emily got them glasses of orange juice. “Anyway, like I was saying…maybe after that…we could…”
“Could what?” Emily asked, sipping her orange juice.
“Get married,” Nikolas finished in a rush.
Emily stared at him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah….” Nikolas hesitated. “Unless you don’t want to…and then it’s a complete joke.”
Emily grinned. “Of course I want to!”
Nikolas let out a relived breath and grinned back to her. “But I want to make this clear—this isn’t the official proposal…we’re just discussing it.”
“Oooh, we’re saving that huh?” Emily asked.
“I want it to be perfect.”
Emily tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Will you be there?”
“Uh huh.”
“And I’ll be there.”
“Right.”
“Then it’ll be perfect,” Emily said firmly.
—-
Carly glared at the answering machine. “You stupid little twit.”
“Uh, Mrs. Corinthos?” Elton asked, poking his head in the door. “The photographer called. Ms. Campbell hasn’t shown.”
“And she’s not going to,” Carly said, gritting her teeth. “Laura just left me a message. The little brat took off to London last night to elope with Laura’s son.”
“Laura’s son?” Elton said. “I thought he was dating Miss Quartermaine. Pity, she’s a lovely girl.”
“Not Nikolas. Lucky,” Carly clarified. “We just launched her on Friday! How could she do this!”
Emily poked her head in the office. “Hey, I guess you’ve heard.”
“You knew?” Carly demanded.
“Found out yesterday.” Emily wrinkled her nose. “Never saw Gia as Lucky’s type.”
Carly glared at the prints of Gia that were on her desk. “What am I supposed to do now?” she demanded. “We need a Face and we went through dozens of applicants. Gia was the best for the job!”
“And now she’s gone,” Emily said. “I know it sucks.”
“That stupid….” Carly trailed off and studied Emily. “You know, you’re a pretty girl.”
“Wait…what?” Emily stared at Carly like she’d grown a third head. Suddenly, Carly’s intentions became clear. “Oh, no…no, no…”
Carly stood and smiled. “Yes, yes, yes. I don’t know why we didn’t see this before! Emily, you’re gorgeous! You’d be perfect!”
“Carly, you’re nuts.”
“Please, Em!” Carly pleaded. “Just do a test shoot! It’d only be until we found someone else! Please!”
Emily sighed. “If I do this…test shoot…and I suck, you’ll drop it right?”
Carly nodded eagerly. “Definitely. But you won’t suck, I promise.”
Emily folded her arms, irritated. “I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this.” She checked her watch. “Listen, I need to go. AJ’s coming back today, and me and Jase are meeting him at Kelly’s.”
“Liz isn’t?”
Emily paused at the door. “Beth isn’t home. She was sleeping there when I got up, but when I got back from walking Nikolas out of the building, she was gone. I checked with my brother, but she’s not there either.”
Carly frowned. “Didn’t you sleep at home last night?”
“So did Beth,” Emily replied.
“She went home and Jason hasn’t seen her since?” Carly asked. Her frown deepened. “That can’t be a good sign.”
“She’s had a rough week,” Emily said. “I don’t think we should analyze her actions.”
Carly nodded. “You’re right.”
“Anyway, I’d better get going. I just stopped by to let you know about Gia. See ya.”
—-
Emily entered Kelly’s and spied her brothers sitting at a table. “Hey!”
AJ stood to receive his sister’s hug. “Hey!”
Emily pulled away and they say down. “You’re back for the rest of the summer, right?”
“Right,” AJ confirmed. “How are things here?”
Emily looked at Jason. “Did you tell him yet?”
Jason shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”
“What’s going on?” AJ asked, looking at them. He turned his head back towards the door. “Where’s Liz?”
Emily bit her lip. “Beth…Jeff Webber’s back in town.”
AJ’s fists clenched on the table. “Did she see him?”
Jason looked away. “Yeah. She didn’t take it well.”
Emily tucked her hair behind her ears. “I’m worried about her, quite frankly. She had a rough first night and then seemed to be coming back a little. But she’s disappeared today and no one’s seen her.” Emily looked to Jason. “Why did she come home last night?”
Jason looked down at the table. “She’s—uh—trying to get her life back on track. Going back to the apartment, going to work, etc.”
“That’s a good thing,” AJ said. “Right?”
“But Webber’s still in town,” Emily replied. “How can we keep him from seeing her?”
“He’s looking for her,” Jason said, his teeth clenched. “He came to the Towers last night. Carly fended him off.”
“What in the hell does he want?” Emily demanded. “So help me god when I see him…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t do any good to think about that. We’ll only make ourselves go nuts.”
“You’re right,” AJ agreed. “We’ll wait until Liz is here.” He took a deep breath. “We still planning on stopping by the mansion?”
“Yes,” Emily said. “In fact, Mom and Dad are still probably at the hospital, so the best time would be to go now.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jason asked as the trio stood. “The last time you and Grandfather were in the same room…”
AJ shrugged. “I went to see him in the hospital when he had the heart attack. If it hadn’t been for Dad, I might have patched it up with the old man.”
“Well, we’d better get going. Wouldn’t want to run into the rest of the family,” Emily said.
—
They called from the car so Lila was waiting in the living room when they arrived. The three of them sat down after greeting her.
“Where’s Grandfather?” Emily asked.
Lila laughed. “Old fool wanted to wait until you got here. He wanted to make sure you really wanted to see him.”
Emily laughed. “Where is he? Is he on the terrace?”
Edward Quartermaine entered—from the terrace doors. “Hello.”
Emily stood and for the first time since she moved out, she hugged her grandfather tightly. “It’s good to see you.”
Jason shook his hand and then AJ stood.
“Hello,” Edward said.
“Grandfather,” AJ said stiffly.
“I’ve forgiven you for blackmailing me,” Edward said firmly.
“And I’m pretty much over the whole wanting to get me arrested thing,” AJ replied.
“As long as we’re straight,” Edward replied. The siblings reseated themselves and Edward took a seat in the chair across from Lila. “I’m very glad to have the three of you here.”
“We’re glad to be here,” Emily replied, sincerely. “I’ve missed coming here.”
“It’s been a lonely place since you moved out, dear,” Edward said. “I didn’t realize how much I was used to greeting you and Elizabeth after school.” He looked around. “Where is she? I’ve hardly seen Jason without her.”
Jason looked at him oddly. “You’ve only seen me once since I’ve been back.”
“Around the town,” Edward clarified. He cleared his throat. “Her father and mother are living in their home again.”
“We know,” AJ said, stiffly.
“I’ve never liked Jeff Webber,” Edward mused. “Very cold man, didn’t have a lot of affection in him.”
Jason studied his grandfather and wondered if Elizabeth’s suspicions about Edward knowing about the abuse were right. Edward saw Jeff only socially and in business meetings. Was it possible?
“I don’t like him either,” AJ replied. “I think that’s the first thing we’ve agreed on.”
“Has he seen Elizabeth?” Edward asked.
Emily and AJ traded looks. “Why?”
“I know that he and Elizabeth didn’t get along—I know she’s not fond of him. He came here. Wanting to know where she lived. Alan told him she was at the Towers, but I cut him off before he said anything else.”
“Thanks,” Jason said gratefully. “And he has seen her.”
“Poor girl. She’s lucky—she’s not his biological daughter,” Edward said firmly. “But Corinthos and his wife—they seem to take good care of her.”
“They do,” Emily assured him. “Elizabeth couldn’t ask for a better family.”
“Make sure she knows she’s always welcome here,” Lila said. “We consider her part of the family.”
“I’m sorry,” AJ said suddenly. All eyes turned on him. “I’m sorry I ever took a drink. I’d do anything to take back what I’ve done to this family. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right, darling,” Lila said, reaching to pat his hand. “No one blames you.”
AJ’s eyes shifted to Edward. “That true?”
Edward shifted in his seat. “Yes. It took a long time…but it’s true for me. What happened to this family…we let it happen. We self-destructed. We let the three of you walk away and until my…episode two years ago…I was ready to believe it was it was all your fault. But since then, I’ve had a lot time to think. I’m…I’m not as young as I used to be.” He suddenly glared at them. “But I’m not going to be dying any time soon.”
Emily grinned. “I believe that.”
“But I’d like to have my grandchildren and their family around me. So, I’m ready to bury the hatched if you are, AJ.”
AJ stuck his hand out. “Deal.”
Edward shook it. “Welcome home.”
