April 12, 2014

Timeline

This is sort of an episode tag to October 12, 2006, after which Sam had told Nikolas about the possibility that Jason was the father of Elizabeth’s child.

Inspiration

. I was sort of frustrated back then by how passive Elizabeth seemed in taking the constant abusive and guilt from the people around her, so I wrote a story where she loses her shit. I’ve written another story along these lines, but much longer, called No Angel.

Banner Here

It was only going to take one more person today to make Elizabeth snap. She had held her temper the entire day because if she opened her mouth, she would just let it all out and while she would feel better, she thought it might end up causing more stress in the end and she wasn’t really in the mood.

First it had been Lulu and then Carly and then of course, Sam. Her Royal Fucking Highness. If anyone should have kept their damn mouth shut, it was Sam McCall. Maybe Elizabeth shouldn’t have spent the night with Jason (she was willing to consider the possibility) but at least she hadn’t spent the night rolling on the ground with her step father.

And so what if she needed a paternity test? She was hardly the first woman in Port Charles that wasn’t completely sure about the man who fathered their child. In fact, if Elizabeth remembered gossip correctly, Carly had had to have a paternity test with both Michael and Morgan. And Sam had had one as well. So the two of them should have just shut their damn mouths.

Elizabeth stomped down the dock steps, the clacking of her boot heels slapping against the wooden stairs. She had just taken the test and now the final week of waiting would begin.

She should have kept her mouth shut. If she had never said word one about the paternity issue, then Epiphany never could have guilted her into admitting the truth to Jason, who never would have told Sam and Carly never would have over heard it and her blood pressure wouldn’t be through the roof.

Kelly had been concerned and Elizabeth had promised to relax but how was someone supposed to relax when every time they turned the corner, someone was waiting to jump down her throat?

“So I guess I know why you didn’t want to tell Lucky.”

Elizabeth frowned and turned to find her brother-in-law stepping onto the docks, his face schooled into a blank expression. “I beg your pardon?” she asked.

“You didn’t tell Lucky you were pregnant because you said you wanted things to calm down,” Nikolas reminded her. “But really, you just didn’t say anything because you didn’t know if he was the father.”

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t lie to me any more,” Nikolas snapped. “You slept with Jason. You’ve been running around, pretending to be the person wronged but you had an affair–”

And just like that, Elizabeth stopped caring. “Shut up,” she said, taking a step forward. “Shut your mouth.”

A little startled, Nikolas closed his mouth.

“First of all,” Elizabeth said testily, “I don’t have to justify anything to you. You’re not my husband and it’s none of your business. Secondly, after catching my husband with his little tramp three times in the span of twenty-four hours, yes, I spent the night with Jason. One night. I think that I had a right to deal with my situation the best I knew how–”

“And that was sleeping with Jason?” Nikolas asked incredulously.

“I was leaving Lucky,” Elizabeth spat. “I had caught him with the pills, he was blaming his affair and addiction on me and I had had enough. I told him our marriage was over and as far as I’m concerned, I should have kept walking. But he seemed like he was making an effort and he pretended to be sorry. So I went back.”

“And never told him.”

“What purpose would it have served?” Elizabeth demanded. “It would have made an awful situation even worse and I wanted to save my marriage. But instead, he went back to his pills and he went back to his whore. And I ended up pregnant. I’m done. I’m done feeling guilty, like I have to apologize for a night that I’m not sorry about. I don’t have to justify anything to you, Nikolas. After all, your son was conceived while you were having an affair with a married woman. And you needed a paternity test as well. So do not pretend to be innocent.” She stopped and frowned. “And who told you anyway?”

“Sam,” Nikolas volunteered. He hesitated. “Elizabeth–”

“Save it,” Elizabeth hissed. “I’m done. You can take your recriminations and kiss my ass.”

—

An hour later, after many calls to various family members, Elizabeth finally tracked Sam down. At Jason’s penthouse.

She pushed the door open and heard the tail end of Sam’s wail, “How could this happen?”

“Easy,” Elizabeth snarled. “Two people and one defective condom.” She kicked the door shut and tossed her purse down. “I’m thinking of taking an ad out in the paper, I’ve got some news about the DA that I think Port Charles might be interested in. It’s more suited to the tabloids, but I doubt the Herald will make that distinction.”

Jason frowned. “Elizabeth–”

“Shut up, the stressful afternoon I just had is entirely the fault of your big mouth, your stupid ex-fiancee and the crazy bitch you call your best friend,” Elizabeth snapped. “So just shut up and let me tell Sam exactly what I think of her–”

“I don’t know where you get off–” Sam began hotly.

“I kept my end of the bargain, you know,” Elizabeth said. “I didn’t tell anyone you were rolling around with your stepfather and then playing the victim. I kept my mouth shut because it was no one’s business but yours. Why the hell couldn’t you do the same?”

“What are you talking about?” Sam demanded.

“You told Nikolas about the paternity,” Elizabeth snapped. “And you know where I bet my loyal brother-in-law is going? To Shadybrooke, to tell Lucky.”

“He deserves to know,” Sam said. “If I were him–”

“Well, you’re not him,” Elizabeth replied. “You’re not trying to kick a pill habit for the sake of a child. It’s bad enough that Cam and I weren’t enough to quit and that Lucky’s dirty skank is also pregnant but are you really trying to make him have a relapse?”

“Sam, maybe you should stay out of it–” Jason began.

“Oh, just shut the hell up. You let Carly free to roam the streets and she took the opportunity to ream me about trapping you into whatever…” Elizabeth waved her hand. “I could give a damn what you think so just do what you best and stand back and let what’s going to happen happen.” She turned her attention back to Sam. “I didn’t tell Lucky about the paternity because he didn’t know that Jason and I slept together. He’s going through a tough time and the last thing he needed was a double dose of bad news. So I was waiting to tell him until the paternity test came back. I’m sorry if that’s not good enough for you but I don’t see the point in hurting people just to be honest.” Elizabeth widened her eyes in pretend innocence. “Unless you’d like me to drop by the lake house and tell your mother exactly what you were doing with her husband–”

“Stay away from my mother,” Sam retorted.

“And you stay out of my life,” Elizabeth returned hotly. “You and Jason weren’t together so stop acting so damn betrayed. If this baby is his, it was conceived on a night you were screwing your stepfather so I think I end up looking a little better in this situation. And so help me God, if you take it upon yourself to tell one more person about this, I will take out an ad in the newspaper myself.”

She snatched her purse off the desk and threw a fulminating glare to a stunned Jason. “I’m going to my grandmother’s house for the next week. Don’t call me, don’t come to my door and I swear to God, if Carly or Sam come near me, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later. I’ve already lost two babies and I will be damned if they raise my blood pressure any higher by throwing ridiculous accusations at me.” She looked at Sam once more. “I’m not perfect, Sam. I don’t even come close, but at least I can look myself in the mirror. Can you say the same?”

Inspiration

I have so many problems with the hit and run storyline. I don’t even know where to start. LeaB wrote an AMAZING rendition of this story, Through the Looking Glass, but I’ve always been tempted to go back and try my own hand at it. I did for a hot minute, with The Blind Spot, but I lost interested in it and gave it to Joy, continued it with an interesting twist but it remains unfinished.

Timeline

In September 2003, Elizabeth was injured in a hit and run with a few suspects. It could have been Faith, Ric, or Courtney. Courtney, at the time, was experience a very quick blink and you’ll miss it drug addiction storyline so she was high. She hit Elizabeth and fled the scene. Carly, with Lorenzo Alcazar’s help, got rid of the car. Jason learned the truth, but, uh, nothing happened. I’m not even lying. Everyone moved on.

The only purpose to the story was to end Courtney’s addiction and to shove LiRic back together. (Liz got her sight back after Ric pushed her to the ground. I shit you not.)

Banner

It was early when he came to see her. He’d been up all night at the police department trying to get the charges against Courtney dropped. Finally, their lawyer had found a technicality and she was free to go.

But he went to see Elizabeth anyway. She was sitting up in her hospital bed, wide awake. She was eating breakfasta Kelly’s special instead of regular hospital food. Being the granddaughter of Steve and Audrey Hardy afforded her special privileges.

He stood in the open doorway, watching her fumble with her knife and fork. She kept missing her scrambled eggs and her hand was always just missing her glass of orange juice. But she stubbornly kept eating.

“Who’s there?” she asked sharply, suddenly becoming aware of another presence. She frowned. “If that’s you Ric, you can just turn around and leave.”

“It’s not Ric.”

“Jason?” she asked. Her face brightened for a moment before it settled into a blank expression, her lips thinned. “It’s kind of ironic that you’re here since Mac Scorpio just left.”

She knew. He could tell without even asking her. “Elizabeth”

“He told me that there was no doubt that Courtney hit me but that you spent all night trying to set her free and now she is. On a technicality.”

“She didn’t”

“She did,” Elizabeth said. She sighed. “I can understand why you did it though. I mean, she’s your fiance. You didn’t want her to go to jail.” She hesitated. “Did you know before she was arrested?”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked.

“I mean did you know that she hit me before she was arrested?” Elizabeth asked.

He didn’t answer for a moment and it was in that moment that she got her answer.

And then he lied.

“No, I didn’t know. I’m sorry, Elizabeth.”

She nodded. “Thank you for demonstrating exactly how little I mean to you. You can leave the same way you came in.”

He shook his head a littleit didn’t occur to him that she could no longer see him. “I don’t understand.”

“I think you do understand. I think you understand completely.” She picked her fork up and stabbed at some eggs. Her fork missed the plate again and scraped against the side of the dish. “I know we haven’t talked a lot this past year, but I thoughtI don’t know but I was stupid enough to think at least we were friends.”

“We are”

“Then why lie?” she asked coldly.

“I’m not lying.”

“That’s three, you want to go for four?” she demanded. “You want to tell me that you weren’t going to help her cover it up?” She laugheda self-deprecating sound that sent chills down his spine. “Of course, it explains her late night visit now. Finding out what I remembered, telling me not to call the police. It explains so much.”

“Three what?”

“Three lies,” she said shortly. “One, Sonny’s dead. Two, you didn’t know. Three, you’re not lying. Of course, if you want tack on the lies from that night in the penthouse, we’re up to six.”

“Okay, yes I knew,” he replied. “I found out late last night.”

“Were you going to cover it up?” she demanded.

“Do you mean was I going to let Courtney go to jail?” Jason retorted. “No.”

“No, were you going to cover it up?” Her eyes narrowed. “Were you not going to tell me? Were you going to let me spend the rest of my life in darkness without telling me who it was that took away my sight? My ability to paint, to work, to have any kind if life?”

“She wasn’t herself,” Jason said, instead of trying to answer her question. “She was going through a bad timeshe’d miscarried and we found out she can’t have children. She started taking pills”

“So, she was high?” Elizabeth demanded shrilly. “And that makes it okay? It makes it okay that she’ll get away with it? That I’m going to have to move in my grandmother now? That it will be months, maybe years before I can live on my own? I’m blind, Jason. I can’t see.”

“Look, it’s not the best situation but”

“No, there’s no but about it.” She shoved the tray of food away, sent it slightly swinging away from the bed. She sat up straighter and her eyes were glaring in his direction. He couldn’t look at herthe more he looked at her and saw the way she couldn’t really tell where he waswhere to look, the more he realized how much Courtney had stolen from her.

“You of all people should know that it’s no excuse,” she whispered, the fight suddenly gone from her voice. “Your accident happened because AJ was drinking.”

“It’s not the same thing,” Jason said, startled at the comparison of Courtney and AJ. “AJ is a drunk”

“Was a drunk,” Elizabeth corrected sharply, “and your fiance is an addict. It doesn’t matter why they startedit was a choice. They chose to take the drink or the pills and they chose to get into the car. It was a choice. And once, you would have understood why the thought of Courtney getting away with it just because she’s Sonny’s sister makes me ill.”

And she was right. If this had happened last yearhe would have had the same reaction. Courtney would have been cut off from both their liveshe would have seen to it that she paid for what she’d done to Elizabeth. He would have seen it the way Elizabeth did. Another addict destroying a life.

And God help him, he hadn’t seen that parallel until this second.

He cleared his throat. “You’re right. It’s not fair that she’ll get away with it.”

She frowned, her expression wary. “What?”

“I hated it when the Quartermaines covered for AJ and what I was going to do for Courtney would be no different.” He sat down in the chair and shook his head. “I’m sorry. For lying.”

“You never used to do that,” she said quietly. “Even if it made things betteryou never used to lie.”

“I never used to do a lot of things,” he said, regretfully. “I thought the blindness was temporary,” he said, changing the subject.

“They’re not sure anymore,” Elizabeth said quietly. “I started therapy last night.”

“Has Ric been bothering you?” he asked. “When I came in, you sounded like you expected him.”

“I think he’s practically living here. He comes by every hour on the hour as if I’m magically going to forget everything he did.”

“I can put someone on the doorto make sure he stays away,” Jason offered.

“You don’t have to do this,” Elizabeth told him.

“Look, I know it’s been a tense year but I was hoping we could put it behind us.”

She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I’d like that,” she said quietly. “Thanks.”

“Any time.”

Inspiration & Timeline

This is one of the stories that I found when I was looking at older version of my site in the Internet Wayback Machine. I actually have very little memory of writing this — in fact, I have no memory of this. It’s a very strange story that takes a bit of a turn about 3/4 of the way through. It’s one of my earliest short stories, so it’s worth reading for that.

It picks up the day Elizabeth learns Sonny is alive and is at the penthouse waiting for him. This is also the day Carly learned about Brenda. It was a real banner day for honesty in the Corinthos-Morgan organization.

Left Behind

October 6, 2002

— Harborview Towers —

Carly Corinthos jabbed the button of the elevator viciously and turned to Scott Baldwin. “Will you go away?” she snarled.

“Well, I’m headed to the police station anyway,” Scott replied, smiling his trademark smirk. “Might as well give me a ride, eh, Carly?”

“That’s Mrs. Corinthos to you.”

The doors opened and Carly ran right into Elizabeth Webber, fresh from her shift at Kelly’s.

“Whoa, Carly,” Elizabeth said, holding her hands up. “Is everything okay?”

Carly hesitated. “I have to go to the police station,” she said, loathing to be the one to tell Jason’s girlfriend he’d spent the last three weeks lying to her.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened in fear. “The police station?” she said softly. “What happened? Is Jason okay?”

“Jason’s just fine,” Scott jumped in. Carly threw him a nasty look. “In fact, I bet he’s just great, you know since, his boss is alive and everything.”

Elizabeth frowned and glanced at Carly. “What is he talking about?”

“Sonny’s alive,” Carly said, irritated with being held up. “Look, come with me and I’ll explain on the way.” She pushed the brunette back into the elevator and the doors shut before the district attorney could get in, too.

— Port Charles Police Department —

Jason Morgan leaned against the table in the interrogation room, his arms crossed. “How much longer are we going to be in here?”

“Long enough for those idiots to realize that we haven’t broken any laws,” Sonny muttered. He rested his hands on her hips and squinted through the blinds outside the window. “I think we’ve got a problem.”

“What?” Jason asked. He straightened. “What is it?”

“Carly and Brenda just saw each other,” Sonny murmured. “Not good.”

Jason peered through the blinds and exhaled slowly seeing the petite brunette behind Carly. “What is Elizabeth doing here?”

“Came with Carly, probably,” Sonny replied. He eyed Jason from the corner of his eye. “She’ll understand, Jason.”

“I doubt it,” Jason said under his breath.

It was another fifteen minutes before Taggart kicked Jason out of the room to question Sonny. Instructing the enforcer not to leave, he closed the door. Jason turned and stepped hesitantly towards Elizabeth.

“Elizabeth–”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she murmured, keeping an eye on the snarling women in front of her. Part of her knew she should pull Carly aside, but a larger and angrier part wanted Brenda to kick the blonde’s ass, wanting Carly to feel some pain for the mortification Elizabeth was feeling right now.

“I–”

“I said that we’ll talk about it later,” Elizabeth snapped, finally looking at him, her eyes cold and angry. “Because you do not want everyone around us to hear what I have to say.”

Jason nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, knowing this night was going to get worse before it got better.

Finally, Mac Scorpio stepped in and announced that Sonny and Jason were to go home but to be careful not to leave town. They hadn’t broken any laws that night–but Sonny was going to be fully investigated for shooting Luis Alcazar.

— Limo —

The limo was cloaked in silence as Elizabeth sat next to Jason and pointedly ignored him. Carly wasn’t speaking to Sonny currently, pissed about Brenda’s return from the dead.

“After all that talk about honesty,” Carly muttered. “After making me promise not to keep secrets.”

“Carly–” Sonny began, his tone patient and indulgent.

“Do not start with me, Sonny Corinthos. You had no right to keep this from me!” Carly yelled.

“I knew it would just upset you–”

“You’re damn right it upsets me!” she raged. “You lied to me!”

Elizabeth snorted and shook her head. The hypocrisy level in this car was going to choke her.

“Did you know?” she asked, suddenly, interrupting Carly’s tirade.

Carly paused and looked at her guiltily. “Yeah.”

Elizabeth stared at her for a moment and closed her eyes. “That’s what I thought.”

“Elizabeth,” Sonny began, seeing a battle he thought he could win. “This wasn’t kept from you to hurt you.”

“Sonny–” Jason tried to cut in.

“We couldn’t just trust anyone,” Sonny continued, sure that Elizabeth would understand.

Carly groaned and rolled her eyes, sensing that Elizabeth’s outrage was going to take over in about five seconds.

Jason shifted, uncomfortably. Sonny’s choice of words hadn’t been good and he could feel the waves of hurt and anger coming from the woman beside him.

“Right,” Elizabeth drawled. “Because, hell, who am I, right?”

Sonny winced. “Okay, that’s not what I meant–”

“I’m just the girl that’s been cooped up in the penthouse, who’s been kidnapped and shot at twice just because I happen to know you and Jason. But hey, we can’t just tell anyone the plan right?” Elizabeth said sarcastically. “We can tell your wife, who turned you in the government, but not the girl who’s risked her life several times for Jason, right?”

“Hey,” Carly protested. “That’s not fair.”

“Elizabeth, that didn’t come out right,” Sonny tried again. Jason chose to stay silent for the moment, knowing his friend wouldn’t shut up until he had nothing left to say. “What I meant was it was completely necessary that this secret was kept.”

“Sonny, just shut up,” Carly advised.

“Of course,” Elizabeth said, sweetly. She narrowed her eyes. “Because God knows I couldn’t keep a secret to save my life right? I mean, completely excusing the fact that I trashed my reputation and let people think I was sleeping with Jason so they wouldn’t know he was shot or that I lied to everyone I knew and hid Jason in my studio, why the hell should you trust me?”

Sonny frowned. “Elizabeth, this wasn’t about you.”

“You’re right,” she said softly, the fire draining from her. She stared out the window. “I don’t matter at all.”

Sonny opened his mouth again, but Carly elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re just making it worse,” she muttered.

“Elizabeth,” Jason quietly. “You know that’s not true.”

She turned to look at him, her eyes full of tears. “Do I?”

The limo pulled into the underground parking garage of the towers. Elizabeth shoved the door open and stalked towards the elevators, not waiting for the trio behind her.

Jason watched the elevator doors shut behind her, a pained expression etched onto his face.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Sonny said, firmly. “She’ll come around.”

Carly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay. Let’s just go upstairs.” She looked at Jason and touched his arm. “Look, she’s angry right now. Very angry. And she has every right to be. So, just let her vent. Let her yell and scream at you. Do not try and defend yourself because we both know it was wrong not to include her. But whatever you do, do not let her leave you. Because I’m willing to bet that will be her first instinct.”

“Actually, Jason, I need you to come over to the penthouse,” Sonny cut in. “We have some things to work out.”

Carly stared at him. “Are you insane?” she asked incredulously. “He cannot come over right now–”

“Damn it, this is more important,” Sonny interrupted angrily.

Carly felt Jason tense beneath her hand. “I’ll go talk to her,” she promised him. “You get this thing figured out with Sonny.”

“Fine,” Jason said shortly.

— Jason’s Penthouse —

Carly pushed the door open silently and saw Zander zipping up his bag. “Hey.”

He glanced at her. “Hey.”

“Going somewhere?” she asked, gesturing towards the bag.

“Elizabeth told me that Sonny is alive. She advised me to leave,” Zander replied. “She’s right. After we both risked our lives for him and then to be lied to…I don’t trust any of you to keep me safe. I’ll take care of myself.” He lifted the bag. “She’s upstairs packing now.”

He left, slamming the door behind him. Carly sighed and waited for the other woman to come downstairs.

She could hear her slamming around above her and winced every time a drawer slammed shut. For such a tiny girl, she sure packed a lot of violence.

Before Elizabeth came down, the door behind her pushed open and Jason entered, his face ashen.

“Is everything okay?” Carly asked, worried.

He hesitated a moment before speaking. “Sonny’s taking everyone to the island,” Jason told her.

She frowned. “Wait, what?”

“Tagliatti–” Jason’s jaw clenched. “He got caught laundering money and he’s going to make a deal with the DA.”

“A deal?” Carly asked softly. “What kind of deal?”

“He’s turning on Sonny,” Jason replied. “We have to leave now before the arrest warrants are issued.”

“Okay.” Carly tried to smile. “Well, at least Elizabeth won’t be able to leave you if she’s stuck on the island.”

Jason looked towards the stairs. “I’m not–I’m not taking her.” He looked back to Carly. “I don’t know how long we’ll be gone and I can’t ask her to give up her life here.”

“You can’t just leave–” Carly shook her head. “Jason–”

“You’d better go pack,” Jason told her quietly. “We’re leaving tonight.”

Carly sighed and left, cursing Tagliatti and Jason mentally.

It was a few more moments before Elizabeth descended the stairs, dragging a suitcase behind her.

She stopped in front of Jason. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me,” Elizabeth said softly.

“I understand.”

She waited. Waited for him to stop herto say something, to say anything. When he didn’t–when he only stared at her sadly, she clenched her jaw.

“Fine.”

— Hallway —

“You packed quickly,” Johnny mused, as Elizabeth dragged her suitcase towards the elevator. She stopped and stared him, irritated. “But didn’t Jason tell you? We’re not leaving for another hour.”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The plane doesn’t leave for another hour,” Johnny clarified. When the confusion didn’t clear from his eyes, he narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t Jason tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Elizabeth asked quietly.

“We’re going to the island–someone turned on Sonny and Jason,” Johnny explained. “We have to leave before the arrest warrants are issued.”

Elizabeth glanced towards the door of the penthouse. He hadn’t said a word. Hadn’t even told her he’d be leaving town. He’d just said he understood and let her leave. He hadn’t even cared enough to ask her to go with him.

She looked back at Johnny and sighed. “He didn’t tell me anything. I’m going home to my studio,” she said. “I was leaving him.” She hesitated. “I am leaving him.”

Johnny shook his head. “Wait, Miss Webber, we can’t not take you. You…you’ve been living with Jason, everyone knows the two of you are together. It’s not safe to leave you here by yourself.”

“That’s funny, Johnny,” Elizabeth said, pushing the button for the elevator. “Because if anyone knew anything, they’d know I mean nothing to anyone who lives on this floor.”

“Now that’s not true either,” Johnny argued. “Miss Webber–”

The doors opened and Elizabeth pulled her suitcase into the elevator. “Call me Elizabeth, Johnny. There’s no reason to pretend anymore.”

The doors shut on those words and he just stared at the closed doors.

November 18, 2002

— Sonny’s Island —

Jason stared out over the water from the deck of the large home adjacent to the casino. He could see Carly and Michael playing on the beach from where he stood.

“Did you get the reports?” he asked Johnny quietly.

“Yeah.” Johnny folded his arms across the suit he still wore. He was the only member of the inner circle still able to travel back and forth between Port Charles and the island, the only person that hadn’t been charged with racketeering and a host of other crimes.

He went back to check on the progress of the caseto let them know when it might be safe to return. He also went back for reports on members of the family they’d left behind. Courtney. Mike. Bobbie.

Elizabeth.

Courtney had barely noticed her estranged older brother had left town. Mike missed Sonny, but was still angry with his son for making him mourn for nothing. Bobbie missed Carly sorely and was working her charm on Scott, trying to get the charges dropped.

Elizabeth had moved back into her studio and was working at Kelly’s again. She almost seemed normal, but anyone who knew her knew that she was miserable.

Johnny had tried to convince Jason to let him bring Elizabeth back to the island, knowing the girl would jump at the chance to have any indication that he still cared. But Jason had refused, not wanting to disrupt her life.

Johnny strode forward, putting himself in Jason’s line of sight. Jason frowned, taking in the other man’s bruises. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked.

“One of Alcazar’s men paid me a visit,” Johnny replied. “Just a warning. Also left me with this.” He shoved a picture at Jason, not caring that he probably wouldn’t make most of it out.

Jason stared down at the black and white photo. “What is it?”

“It’s a picture,” Johnny snarled. “Of the girl you won’t let me bring here. Seems Alcazar is curious about her…curious why you left her behind.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “He’s watching Elizabeth?” he demanded.

“Yep,” Johnny drawled. “Satisfied now?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You tried to do the right thing by letting her leave, trying to pretend that she isn’t in deep enough to matter. But if you want my opinion, Jason, there ain’t a man in the organization or in the families who doesn’t know Elizabeth Webber. Everyone knows about that bomb Sorel put in her studio, about the kidnapping, about her hiding you in her studio twice–it was fucking stupid to think you could her alone in Port Charles and pretend that none of that happened.”

“You done?” Jason demanded.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Jason tossed the picture back at him. “Get the plane ready.”

“I’ll bring her–”

“I’m going to go get her,” Jason cut in. “Tell Sonny where I went. Tell him that I’m just going to get her and I’m bringing her back. I don’t have time to make the rounds, so he’ll have to deal.”

“You can’t go to Port Charles,” Johnny reminded him as he followed Jason into the spacious front room. Jason headed for the steps. “Taggart will have you thrown in jail.”

“Then he’ll have to throw me in jail,” Jason said. “Because I’m going to get Elizabeth.”

November 19, 2002

— Kelly’s —

Elizabeth closed the door to the diner behind her, making sure it was firmly locked. She sighed and tucked the key in her purse before stepping away to walk home to her studio.

She was halfway across the docks when she felt someone grab her arm and pull her underneath the dock stairs. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand covered her mouth.

“Don’t scream,” Jason told her. “It’s just me.” He let his hand fall away.

“What are you doing here?” Elizabeth whispered. “You’re supposed to be on the island.”

“You know where I’ve been?” Jason asked in surprise. “How?”

“Johnny told me the night I left,” she replied. “The cops have been asking everyone if we’ve heard from you or Sonny. There are even charges against Carly aiding and abetting–”

“We know all of that,” Jason interrupted.

“Then why are you here?” she demanded. “You’re going to get caught–”

“I need you to come with me.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You have to pack a bag and come back with me,” Jason told her.

“Are you crazy?” she hissed. “It’s been a month since you left. A month. Why now? Why not the night you left?”

“Because I thought you’d be safer here,” Jason answered. “Because I didn’t realize how much I’d miss you.”

She frowned. “Okay. So what’s the real reason?”

“Alcazar’s watching you,” Jason said without hesitation. “I’m worried he’s going to make a move.”

“You came back here, risked prosecution and possible jail time to get me?” she asked softly.

“I’m sorry for what happened…and I’m sorry that I let you walk away without a word, but you have to believe me that I do care about you and–”

“Let’s go,” Elizabeth interrupted. “We’d better get out of sight anyway. Cops patrol these docks like crazy now.”

“You’re going to come with me?” he asked, skeptically. “Without any argument?”

“Do you want me to waste time and argue?”

“No.”

“Then let’s go.”

The End

Inspiration

At the Liason Underground, we had a few rounds of a Picture Fiction Challenge. Someone would post a picture, then we’d have 6o minutes to write. The prompt for this challenge was an old, ornate key.

Timeline

This was set in the fall of 2002 after Elizabeth had left Jason’s penthouse. Jason hasn’t really gotten involved with Courtney yet, so we’re talking mid October.

Banner

“You collect keys.”

Elizabeth Webber frowned and pulled the large shoebox out of Lucky Spencer’s hands. “It’s not that pathetic,” she defended.

He raised an eyebrow. “After all these years, how is it possible that I didn’t know?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Never came up, I guess.”

Lucky nodded. “All right fair enough.” He surveyed the studio. “I think we’re about done for this morning, don’t you think?”

Elizabeth bit her lip and shoved a box to the side with the tip of her foot. “Yeah, I guess. I really appreciate you helping me pack.”

Lucky sighed. “I’m gonna miss you.”

She hugged him lightly. “It’s only for six months. And when I get back, I’m going to find a good apartment.” Her eyes lit up. “Maybe I’ll even have enough money for a house.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t doubt it. The paintings you shipped to San Francisco were fantastic.”

Elizabeth grabbed her purse. “Come on, I’ll treat you to lunch at Kelly’s.”

“Good. You can tell me why you collect keys,” Lucky told her, snagging the shoebox from the couch.

“Okay, where’s this one from?”

Elizabeth set her soda on the table and rolled her eyes. “Lucky, I can’t remember where each and every single key is from.”

He scowled. “What’s the point of having them?”

“They’re pretty and they got these really awesome intricate designs,” Elizabeth told him. She dug around for a particularly ornate key with a piece of faded red ribbon attached. “I remember this one, though. It was my grandmother’s on my mother’s side. It was for her jewelry box.”

“You’ve never mentioned her before,” Lucky said, taking a bite from his cheeseburger.

“She died when I was really young. About six,” Elizabeth replied. “I don’t remember much about her except she always wore jasmine-scented perfume.” Her smile turned soft. “I’ve seen pictures of her. She’s the only family member I looked like.”

“So, how excited are you about San Francisco?” Lucky asked, raising his voice a little.

“I’m excited,” Elizabeth confirmed. “I’ve already arranged for an apartment overlooking the harbor. Can you believe the museum is paying for it?”

“Well, you’re a talented artist, Elizabeth. Your time was gonna come,” Lucky declared, his voice still a few decibels too loud.

“Thanks,” Elizabeth murmured, narrowing her eyes.

“So, are all the paintings you sent for sale, or did you just loan some for exhibit?” Lucky asked.

“They’re all for sale, except a few,” Elizabeth replied. She raised an eyebrow. “Why are you talking like that?”

“Which ones did you just loan?”

“All right,” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “We’ll play this game. I loaned the one I did for your parents wedding–you know, the one I never gave them. I’m saving that for when she’s better.”

“I appreciate that,” Lucky told her, squeezing her hand.

“And I’m loaning the Wind,” Elizabeth said softly. She looked down at the table. “I thought about selling it–even came close to listing it as for sale.”

“So why didn’t you?” Lucky asked.

“It’s not mine to sell,” Elizabeth answered simply. “I guess it doesn’t matter since I doubt the owner even remembers the damn thing anymore.” She snorted and lifted her glass to her lips. “Doubt he even remembers me,” she muttered before taking a sip.

Lucky smirked. “Oh. He remembers both, I’m willing to bet.”

Elizabeth frowned. “You know, you’re acting odd. Even for you.”

Lucky leaned forward and lowered his voice to almost a whisper. “Elizabeth, do me one last favor in the memory of our friendship.”

“Memory? You say that like it’s dead.”

“Details. Anyway, I want you to get up, go into the courtyard and say goodbye to Jason.”

Elizabeth sat back in her seat and twisted immediately to look out the door. Jason was standing there, looking away towards the far side of the courtyard. “How long has he been there?” she asked softly.

“Since he walked out of here.”

Elizabeth turned back to look at her ex-boyfriend. “When was that?”

“Right after you said you doubted the owner remembered the painting.” Lucky grinned. “You gonna grant me this favor?”

Elizabeth stood, grabbed the shoebox and glared at him. “I’m only doing it because I–” she stopped, at a loss for an explanation.

Lucky sobered. “Look, Elizabeth, you’re about to embark on the adventure of your life. A museum across the country wants you for six months. They’re doing an exhibit, asking you to teach a class, paying for your living expenses. You cannot leave Port Charles still thinking about Jason Morgan.”

“I am not thinking about Jason Morgan,” Elizabeth hissed.

“You are, and you know it. Say goodbye to him.” He studied her. “And this time, I want you to mean it. Because you walked away from him. And you’ve kept going. You’ve both been walking away in opposite directions, but neither of you has taken the chance to permanently end it. And as long as that loose end is still dangling, you will never move on.”

She scowled. “I hate when you make sense.”

Lucky shrugged. “Take advantage of it when it happens.” He grinned. “It only occurs so often these days. Go, babe. I’ve got the check.”

“Damn right,” Elizabeth muttered as she headed towards the door.

“Jason,” she said hesitantly. He turned and looked at her.

“Hey,” he said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

She bit her lip, cursing Lucky with every breath she took. Damn idiot he was. “I–I wanted to tell you” You can do it, Webber. “I’m moving to San Francisco for six months. And I guess…I just wanted to say…”

She couldn’t do it.

She set the shoebox full of keys on one of the tables and ran a hand through her hair. “They want me for six months, an exhibit of my own. They want me teach a class there.” She snorted. “I hate school and this museum…they sponsor art classes for underprivileged kids–they want me teach them.”

“You’ll do great,” Jason told her firmly and honestly, taking a hesitant step towards her.

“I sent the Wind to be put on display,” Elizabeth told him in a rush of breath. “I probably should have asked you first since it’s yours, but I still feel like it’s the best work I’ve ever done.” She bit her lip. “I’m not selling it…it’s on loan” She looked away from him, looked at the ground.

“I overheard Lucky and you talking about it,” Jason admitted. “I do remember it, Elizabeth.”

“I know. I was just…in a rotten mood,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m packing up my studio and you know I’ve lived there for over three yearsthere’s so much.”

“You’re not coming back?” Jason asked quickly, stricken.

“I am–I just can’t afford the rent on the studio while I’m gone,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m not getting paid for the class out there. They’re paying for the rent and everything. I’m hoping I sell enough paintings to put a down payment on a house or something when I come home.” She sighed. “Lucky told me I should come out here and say goodbye.” She met his eyes. “But I can’t do it. I guess it’s a curse or something.”

“What do you mean?” Jason asked, taking another step towards her.

“I can say it in my head,” she told him softly. “I can even say it when I’m alone and no one’s there to hear. Because, believe me, I’ve been practicing it. I thought–you know, if I could say it to myself, it would mean the same thing.” She sighed. “We’ve never said it, you know? Not even when I thought you attacked Lucky. Or when you left town the first time. Or when I walked out of the penthouse. We’ve never said it, not even in passing.”

“I don’t see why we have to say it at all,” he said suddenly. She frowned and looked at him. “You’re just going away for a while. You’ll be back.” He shrugged. “And maybe…we can go for a ride when that happens.”

“Can it really be as easy as that?” she softly.

“Not everything has to be complicated to work,” Jason told her. The corners of her mouth quirked up as she recalled the night he broke the window in Kelly’s when she’d locked herself out.

“No, I guess it doesn’t,” she replied, smiling.

“When do you leave?” he asked.

“Tomorrow,” Elizabeth said. “I still have so much to do. Lucky kind of got exhausted while we were packing up my studio, so I had to bring him for lunch. I’d better go and make him get back to work.” She grabbed her shoebox and headed for the door.

“Elizabeth.”

She turned when he called out. “Yeah?”

“When the exhibit opens,” Jason said, “let me know. I’ll come out and see it.”

She smiled. “I’ll do that. See you later.”

Inspiration

As I said, I was writing a lot of episode tags back in 2003, so there’s really not a lot of inspiration here.

Timeline

Back in April of 2003, the Ric storyline started to really heat up. Elizabeth was dating him, but literally everyone else knew he was complete trash. Jason had confronted her a few times on the topic of Ric, but she’d brushed him off. Ric kidnapped Courtney, and Jason was trying to find her. He told Elizabeth about what happened to Carly a few months earlier (he took advantage of her drugged state and made them think they’d slept together). This scene happened at the Corinthos penthouse, leaving off with Jason demanding Elizabeth tell him everything about Ric.

Banner

April 23, 2003

Elizabeth shook her head. “I’m not telling you anything.” She glared at Jason and started to stalk towards the door. Jason grabbed her arm and spun her back around.

“If you don’t tell me, he’ll kill Courtney, is that what you want?” Jason demanded.

Elizabeth yanked her arm out of his grasp. “Go to hell,” she spat.

“Wait a second,” Carly cut in. Her brown eyes were panicked. “What about Courtney, where is she?”

“Ric knocked me out and took her,” Jason reported, ignoring Elizabeth’s scoff. “Sonny’s on his way to meet him, but Ric told him he put Courtney somewhere else.” He glared at Elizabeth. “Where would he take her?”

“Why should I believe a word either one of you say?” Elizabeth demanded. “Neither one of you would know the truth if it bit you in the ass.”

Carly took a deep breath. “Elizabeth, I know it’s difficult to believe this right now, but Ric is not the man he obviously led you to believe he was.”

“Stop it!” Elizabeth cried. “Why are you saying these things?”

“Because they’re true,” Jason snapped, impatiently. “Damn it, Elizabeth. You’re smarter than this.”

She whirled around and glared at him. “Don’t you dare presume to tell me what is and what is not true, do you understand me? I don’t believe a damn word you say!”

“I have never lied to you before,” Jason shot back. “So–”

“That’s a load of shit and you know it!” Elizabeth retorted. “You lied to me about Sonny and you lied to me about Courtney, so don’t try and act betrayed when I have a little trouble trusting you.”

Carly rolled her eyes. “Oh, do not tell me you’re still clinging to the idea that Jason was cheating on you. Grow up.”

Elizabeth glared at her. “Yeah? So why don’t you tell me why they were always together, claming to be friends and then poof, they’re sleeping together? Tell me how that one happened.”

“You think I was seeing Courtney behind your back?” Jason sputtered. “When in the hell would I have found time for that?”

Elizabeth’s eyes burned with tears. “I wouldn’t know. I never saw you.” She took a deep breath and looked at Carly. “All right. I’m going to ask you straight out and I want an honest answer. Do you honestly believe that Ric raped you?”

“Yes,” Carly said immediately. “Yes, I do, Elizabeth. I am sorry you got mixed up with–”

Elizabeth held up a hand. “Spare me the apologies. We both know you don’t mean it.” She folded her arms tightly. “Offhand, I can’t think of anywhere he’d take her, but he, ah, probably would have taken her some place that you can’t get to easily, but in plain site. You know, since he hasn’t lived here long.” She frowned and bit her lip. “There’s a construction site down the street from his apartment. Maybe there’s something there.”

“Thank you.” Jason left without another word.

Elizabeth wiped her tears away and turned to Carly. “I’m sorry for calling you a liar, but this isn’t easy for me,” she whispered. She started towards the door.

“Elizabeth, wait.” Carly took a step towards her and ran her hand through her hair, placing her other hand on her hip. “I hope you believe me when I tell you that I am sorry you got mixed with Ric.”

“If what you’re saying is true, then he’s either really good at lying or I’m just a schmuck,” Elizabeth murmured. “You’d think I’d learn to spot a liar by now, but apparently not.”

“Jason didn’t start seeing Courtney until after you left him,” Carly said quickly, not sure why she was telling this girl anything, but feeling the need to make her feel better in some way. She’d been dealt with a harsh dose of reality today and Carly didn’t feel right about her leaving like this.

“He probably didn’t,” Elizabeth allowed. “But I think she factored into why he decided I didn’t exist anymore. I can’t remember the last time we talked without yelling at each other or me blowing up. One day, we were together and the next I wasn’t even a blip on his radar,” she said softly.

“Have you ever tried to talk to him about it?” Carly asked, trying to suppress the sympathy she felt. Elizabeth had walked out on him, after all.

“He doesn’t understand,” Elizabeth said. “He thinks this was because he lied to me, and yeah, that’s part of it. But–” she stopped and shook her head. “I don’t know I’m telling you any of this.”

“Could you stay here?” Carly found herself asking. “Just until I hear from Sonny or Jason. Because I swear, just sitting here by myself is going to drive me up the wall.”

“Why would you want me to stay?” Elizabeth asked, surprised.

“Because the only friend I have this world other than Sonny and Jason has been kidnapped,” Carly remarked dryly. “And you’re about all that’s left.”

Elizabeth sat down and sighed. “Must be nice.”

Carly frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Having friends who’d do anything for you. Having friends to worry about when they’re gone, who worry about you when something’s wrong.”

Carly sank into the seat next to her on the couch. “Oh, please. Don’t play this with me. You have got tons of friends.”

“I used to.” Elizabeth glanced at her. “How did Sonny take it?”

“Take what?” Carly asked.

“The…thing about Ric.”

Carly shrugged. “He’s been good about it. I didn’t expect him to believe me, but I was thankful when did. I thought he’d think I was dirty at first, but he loves me just the same.”

“That’s good,” Elizabeth replied. She stared at her hands. “It’s good that you’ve got your friends around you. You’re gonna need them. Especially Sonny. I know after it happened to me…” she trailed off and shook her head. “I didn’t sleep for almost a week. Every time I closed my eyes…”

“If you don’t mind me asking…how long has it been?” Carly asked.

“Six years,” Elizabeth murmured.

“S-six?” Carly echoed. She did some mental math. “Jesus, you were only what? Fourteen?”

“Fifteen. It was a few months after my fifteenth birthday,” Elizabeth replied quietly. “Sometimes it feels like it’s been decades. And other days, it feels like–” She stopped.

“Feels like what?” Carly asked softly.

“It still feels like I’ve just crawled out of the snow,” Elizabeth breathed. She swiped at her eyes again. “There are some details that will stay with you, no matter how much you try to forget. The texture of the bench I was sitting on, the damp snow, the cold ground…”

“The smell of the sheets, the shag carpet and the yellow sink,” Carly said shakily. “I don’t know what’s worse, not remembering or remembering everything.” She rubbed her hands together. “On the one hand, you can remember it and your nightmares will replay it in your mind.”

“And on the other hand, you’re left wondering what happened. You have no idea what he did to you,” Elizabeth finished. She took a deep breath. “God, I hope I don’t have a nightmare about it tonight.”

“Does it happen often?”

“Not anymore,” Elizabeth replied. “But if I think about it or the anniversary is approaching–”

“It must be horrible, living like that.” Carly shook her head. “I don’t know what I’d do.”

“You get used to it after a while. It becomes a part of your life, something that it’s in your history, part of who you are.”

“I am sorry that it happened to you Elizabeth,” Carly told her sincerely. “I can’t imagine being that young and dealing with it as well as you apparently have.”

Elizabeth smirked. “You should have seen me in the year or so afterwards. I was scared of shadows, scared of everyone I knew. If someone sneaked up on me, I’d scream.” She frowned a little. “I was scared of Jason, too.”

“Scared of him?” Carly repeated. “Why?”

“I didn’t know him that well. He’s so…big, you know? And you hear things about him.” Elizabeth shrugged. “But I was scared of pretty much every guy that wasn’t Lucky, Luke or Nikolas. It’s kind of what happens when you have no idea who did it.”

“Did they ever find him?” Carly asked curiously.

“I found him by accident,” Elizabeth replied. “I was helping Emily find out who was blackmailing her and they turned out to be the same guy. He’s in jail for what he did to her.”

“How’d you meet Ric?” Carly asked suddenly.

Elizabeth frowned and looked at her. “What?”

“I’m just curious. How did you meet him?”

“I was at Luke’s” Elizabeth smiled a little. “It was the night Alcazar was killed, actually. I was waiting with Lucky to meet with Luke’s psychiatrist and I went up to get our drinks. Ric was at the bar…” she trailed off. “He was watching Sonny and you, probably.”

“Probably,” Carly replied. “I remember that night. I don’t remember Ric offhand, but it makes sense that he was around then.”

“He was looking inside the windows of Kelly’s later that night. He was pretty rude at the time, but I guess eventually–” Elizabeth looked away. “Oh my God…”

“What?” Carly asked.

“He didn’t startacting remotely interested in me until after I told him that I knew Sonny. Up until then, he’d been a jackass, really.” Elizabeth sighed and bit her nail. “He used me.”

“More than likely,” Carly replied. “Hey, I bought his act, too. Right up until Valentine’s Day.”

“Valentine’s Day?” Elizabeth asked. She frowned. “That’s when it happened?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I–” Elizabeth shook her head. “It’s just a strange coincidence, that’s all. I–I was–it happened on Valentine’s Day for me.”

“Huh,” Carly murmured. “That is strange.” She glanced at Elizabeth. “You’re not as awful as I thought you were.”

“You either.” Elizabeth smiled weakly at her.

The penthouse door flew open and Courtney and Jason came in. Courtney glared at Elizabeth. “What are you doing here?” she snarled.

Elizabeth stood. “I suppose that’s my cue to leave.” She looked at Carly. “Thanks for the conversation. It was interesting.”

Carly stood. “Maybe we could talk some more?” she suggested.

“I’d like that,” Elizabeth said softly. She turned to the duo. “I’m glad you’re all right, Courtney–”

“Save it,” Courtney cut in. “You helped Ric get away, you’re the reason any of this is happening!”

Elizabeth sighed and started past her. Courtney grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Will you let me go?” Elizabeth asked, tiredly.

“Courtney,” Jason said, putting a hand on her arm. “Just stop it. I wouldn’t have found you if it weren’t for her.”

“I bet Elizabeth was part of the plan,” Courtney said, ignoring Jason. “Isn’t that right?”

“You’re just being ridiculous now,” Elizabeth sighed. She arched her eyebrows. “You gonna let me go now?”

“God, Elizabeth, do you hate Jason that much that you’d try to set him up?” Courtney cried.

“Wait, what?” Elizabeth asked, frowning. “Are you delusional?”

“Courtney, just stop it,” Carly said. “Elizabeth wasn’t in on any of this–”

“I mean, you did tell Jason exactly where Ric shoved me, didn’t you?” Courtney accused.

“I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t,” Elizabeth replied, irritated. She yanked her arm away. “Can I go now?”

“Who is Ric and what does he want from my brother?” Courtney demanded.

“Believe, at this point, if I knew, I’d tell you,” Elizabeth replied. “I just hope he gets what he deserves and if I ever see him again, it’ll be too soon.”

“Oh, sure, Elizabeth, play the innocent victim,” Courtney snarled. “But I think we all know the truth.”

“What, that you’re a paranoid delusional nitwit? Yeah, I think we’re getting that,” Elizabeth retorted. “You know what, Courtney? I’m sick of this. I’m sick of your accusations, I’m sick of your petty little comments about how much Jason loves you, I’m just plain sick of it all. When you grow up and start acting your age rather than your shoe-size, maybe then–” she shook her head and chuckled bitterly. “You know, even then, stay the hell away from me.”

She glared at the blonde for a moment before stalking out of the penthouse.

Courtney rolled her eyes. “My God, what a drama queen.” She turned to see Jason and Carly staring at her. “What?”

This entry is part 7 of 24 in the A Few Words Too Many

It’s down to this
I’ve got to make this life make sense
Can anyone tell what I’ve done
I miss the life
I miss the colors of the world
Can anyone tell where I am?
– Away From The Sun, 3 Doors Down

Saturday, May 24, 2003

Kelly’s: Dining Room

It was one of those unlucky days of the week when Penny’s school schedule forced Bobbie to schedule Courtney and Elizabeth on the quiet morning shift. Elizabeth was surprised by how the two of them had managed to co-exist for the last month. Of all the people who had raged and insulted her this last month, Courtney had been the only not to say anything to her face. Elizabeth would have preferred her anger—the quiet desperation the blonde utilized to pretend that nothing had changed made her guilt so much sharper.

But there were moments when Elizabeth felt completely in sync with Courtney, and it was standing behind the counter as a new pot of coffee brewed while Courtney organized a few receipts that they felt…almost united. The stares and whispers of their patrons were impossible to ignore, and Elizabeth could feel the heat of those eyes on her eye as she kept her eyes down.

“I hate them all,” Courtney hissed. “Look at them, watching us, hoping like hell I’ll go for your hair or something. It’s disgusting. They have nothing better to do than comment on our lives.” She flicked her blue eyes to Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was unsurprised at the anger burning there. “I hate you and I hate Jason for what you did to me. If he wanted to be with you, he should have just left me instead of cheating, and maybe you think I deserved having it done to me because I know you think I went after him last fall—”

“Courtney, no,” Elizabeth said softly. “No, it’s not—”

“But I’ll be damned if my private life is going to be on display,” Courtney cut in. “So this…” She gestured at the space between them. “This is a neutral zone. We’re going to do our jobs and confuse the shit out of everyone else. But outside this restaurant, Elizabeth, I want you to cross the street when you see me and I hope like I hell I’ve found a better job once your bastard begins to show.”

She grabbed a pot of the now finished coffee and went onto the floor to serve. Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her eyes. When the front door of Kelly’s opened to reveal Nadine coming in with a smile for her, she felt her own mouth curving into a matching one. Since meeting her a few days earlier, she and Nadine had gone out to lunch twice. Francis had been nervous about escorting Elizabeth to Eli’s both times because it was inherently insecure, but Elizabeth had craved the normalcy.

“Good morning,” Nadine all but sang out as she sat down. “Green tea if it’s available.” Elizabeth flipped her mug over and poured it, setting a tea bag next to it. “Do you have a break coming soon? I have to head to work in a half hour.”

“I’m due for fifteen minutes soon, but…” Elizabeth hesitated. “It’s just me and Courtney today, and I always hate asking her. It’s…hard enough.”

“Oh, the other woman,” Nadine murmured. She flicked her eyes to the doors where the blonde had disappeared into the kitchen. “Well, yeah, I figure.”

“But I’m entitled to one and she literally just declared this restaurant a neutral zone.” Elizabeth glanced over as Courtney reappeared and joined them behind the counter. “It’s slow. So I’m going to take my fifteen.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

Elizabeth poured herself a cup of tea and gestured towards the courtyard. “Let’s go outside. It’s gorgeous out.”

“Sure thing.” As they walked out of the restaurant, Elizabeth saw Francis out of the corner of her eye, standing up and following them.

As they sat down at one of the empty tables, Nadine watched Francis head to the courtyard entrance to take his position. “You know, you don’t have to worry about me being uncomfortable with your guards.”

Elizabeth sighed and stirred sugar into her tea. “I’m lucky that Jason assigned me familiar faces, and it’s not so bad. But I know people look at me weird—”

“No, seriously.” Nadine hesitated. “Look, the reason I stopped by this morning is because I heard from my jerk ex-boyfriend, and I realized this might be something we can totally bond over.” She met Elizabeth’s eyes. “Have you ever heard of Anthony Zacchara?”

Elizabeth blinked and tilted her head. She tried to keep up on the people in Jason’s world, always worried for his safety, but the name was only vaguely familiar. “Somewhat, but not really.”

“Well, he lives and works out of Crimson Pointe,” Nadine explained, referring to a small town outside of New York City. “But his son Johnny lives in Manhattan.” She bit her lip. “We dated for almost a year.”

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“I’m not proud of it, but Johnny was never involved in his father’s business. At least, not when we met.” Nadine flushed and looked away. “He was an investor in a medical clinic I was working at, and he flirted with me. He has a great smile, and he’s wickedly charming.” She closed her eyes. “And things were amazing for six months.”

“And then?” Elizabeth prompted.

“And then, his father had a stroke,” Nadine continued. “And Johnny’s sister and his dad’s lawyer kept trying to get him involved. Johnny was torn because he thought he had a duty to keep his sister out of things, but he still didn’t really want to do anything.”

“But he did,” Elizabeth guessed and Nadine nodded. “Is that why you broke up?”

“I wish, because at least I could have walked away with some good memories, but Johnny never does anything in half-measures.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “I guess he figured I wasn’t going to stick around, or maybe he was tired of me. It’s hard to know why because the lousy bastard never says anything. He just…he wouldn’t call for days at a time, and he stopped talking to me about a future. I hadn’t even really broached anything, but we’d…discussed moving in together.” Nadine sipped her tea. “And that all just stopped. He stopped being this amazing man and turned into this complete asshole who didn’t call, didn’t come over, but got angry every time I asked him why he was pulling away. I couldn’t deal with it anymore, so I broke up with him and found a new job.”

“Nadine, I’m so sorry.” Elizabeth reached over and squeezed her hand. “That must have been so difficult. I know what it’s like to be with someone who is absolutely incredible one day, and the next, it’s like you never knew him at all.”

“Anyway, he called me which pissed me off because I really didn’t want him to know where I was.” She huffed. “He told me I left some CDs at his place and did I want them. I told him he could throw them out a window, himself along with them.” She shook her head. “I was just so annoyed, and then I realized that I hadn’t mentioned I was connected to the Zaccharas, even a little, which I know enough about this world to understand that if I’m not upfront with it, it may come up later and you’ll wonder why I never said anything.”

“I appreciate it, Nadine, I really do.” Elizabeth smiled. “Honesty is great, and you’re right, if I didn’t know it now, I might have been upset later simply because…” She stared down at her hands. “I’ve learned the hard way to wonder about people and their motives.”

“You know, Elizabeth, I get we’ve known each other for five minutes,” Nadine said hesitantly, “but you really can talk to me.”

“I would if I thought it make a difference to talk about it, but trust me, Nadine,” Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and sighed, “verbalizing the crappy choices I’ve made only makes me feel worse about them, so it’s better if I just…don’t. For now.”

“No problem.” Nadine checked her watch. “I better get to the hospital and you better get in before the other woman comes out here.”

“Technically, I think I’m supposed to be other woman,” Elizabeth said, with a smile she wouldn’t have expected. Nadine shrugged.

“Yeah, but who cares about technicalities?” Her breezy smile and light hug before she left gave Elizabeth the strength to head back and complete the last four hours of her shift.

General Hospital: Monica Quartermaine’s Office

Monica smiled brightly when she opened her door and let Jason enter. “I didn’t believe Margo when she told me you were out here, but here you are.” She gestured to the sofa. “Sit, sit. Tell me what brings you around the hospital.”

Jason sighed, but did so because this visit was going to be difficult enough without making it more complicated. “I wanted to talk to you and hope that you could talk to the family for me.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you and Alan have…” He didn’t want to say harassed or bothered, but he was sure the characterization wasn’t too far off. “I guess you heard that Elizabeth and I are…that is, we’re…” He exhaled shortly, hoping she would take his difficulty as not liking to speak to the Quartermaines about his personal life rather the difficulty in saying these words out loud. “That she’s pregnant.”

Monica smiled, almost sheepishly. “We have. And I know that we might have come on too strong with Elizabeth. We just…” She spread her hands out. “We like her so much, Jason, and I was so sorry when things didn’t work out for you two last summer.”

He closed his eyes and hoped for the strength to get through this, to say words that weren’t true and some that he wouldn’t mind if they were, and not have it all seem like a jumbled mess. “I know….but…it’s not…” He paused. “We’re not really together right now. I mean, we’re not…”

“Jason, it’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself to me.” Monica hesitantly reached out and covered one of his hands with hers. “You and Elizabeth will figure this out for yourselves.”

“I…it just came at a difficult time and it’s not the way I would have wanted to do it,” he said, knowing those words, at least, were the honest truth. “I hurt Courtney when I didn’t want to, and I haven’t been as supportive to Elizabeth as I should have been.”

He knew she was wondering why he was telling her these things, but Jason knew that his mother would immediately tell Alan, and somehow it would travel the hospital grapevine that Elizabeth had his support and that he knew her child to be his. “And maybe you heard some rumors—”

“I don’t pay attention to rumors like that,” Monica shook her head firmly. “The ones accusing Elizabeth of picking the richer man. I know her better than that, and I know you better than that. So don’t you worry about that. I told Amy Vining so myself, and I saw Carly complaining about how people were badmouthing you to Bobbie.”

Jason closed his eyes, annoyed Carly had helped despite his best efforts. She was right, he was going to have to do more to act like the father of this child, but he just…

He knew that he was going to find Ric and deal with him. And when Elizabeth was safe, she could take her baby and herself and walk out of his life again. He couldn’t imagine why she’d stay now when she never had before.

“Thank you.” Jason hesitated. “And if you could talk to Emily. She’s been very angry at Elizabeth, and it upsets her that her best friend is treating her that way.”

“I can try, Jason, but…” Monica sighed. “Emily’s stubborn and she may not listen.” She took a chance and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure Courtney is very nice, but can I say again how much I really do like Elizabeth. I know it’s wrong, but I like that she’s separate from Sonny.”

Jason blinked at her and shook his head. “I don’t—”

“Robin was close to Stone and Sonny,” Monica said slowly, “and Carly ended up with Sonny. Courtney is Sonny’s sister, so the women you’ve been involved with seriously up until now have always been…connected to Sonny.” Jason tensed, but Monica continued. “I just…I like that Elizabeth is something—someone—separate. That you met her away from Sonny, and she’s yours in a way that no one else has been.”

Jason exhaled slowly and looked away. Monica was right of course—Elizabeth was only connected to Sonny now because of him. Because he had cared for her, and Ric Lansing had utilized those emotions to gain leverage against his half-brother. Was that why he and Elizabeth had never worked outside the studio, outside their own world? Because she was so separate from everyone else in his life that he’d been unable to find a balance?

“I’m sorry, Jason, I don’t always know when to shut up and stop pushing,” Monica said, her face stricken. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I know.” Jason squeezed her hand on top of his. “I’m trying to be. I just wanted you to know what was going on.”

“Thank you.” Monica smiled but wagged a finger at him. “Now you take care of Elizabeth and see that her blood pressure stays down.” When he only looked at her blankly, her cheeks flushed. “I may have…asked your father to keep track of Elizabeth’s charts. Just to…” She cleared her throat. “Her blood pressure was elevated at the last two visits. If Dr. Lee sees it again next month, she may put Elizabeth on bed rest.”

“I’ll make sure she takes care of herself,” Jason said, worried and filled with guilt that he had avoided Elizabeth for so long. He stood. “But if you could stop looking up Elizabeth’s chart, I’d appreciate it.”

“Right, of course.” Monica stood, embarrassed. “I just…I’m concerned. I have one grandchild I’m unlikely to know, I suppose I just…wanted…” She trailed off.

“I’ll ask Elizabeth to keep you informed of any changes,” Jason said, because he didn’t know what else to say. There was little chance Sonny or Carly would ever allow Michael to know the Quartermaines Jason actually liked, and this child…

This child was unlikely to be in his life long enough to matter.

No Name Restaurant: Back Room

Sonny leaned back in his chair, knowing that Johnny and Milo were behind him. He hated meeting the representatives from the other Families on the East Coast, but he’d promised Jason that he’d do whatever it took to keep Elizabeth safe.

He glanced at Sammy Tagliatti, from Philadelphia, whom he loathed for his lack of respect to Carly the previous fall and to the other men, whom he rarely saw. Anthony Zacchara, who controlled most of lower New York, Hector Ruiz from Miami and Daniel Vega from Boston. In fact, now that Sonny reflected upon it—he hated all these men. Ruthless bastards willing to do anything to survive with little consideration for collateral damage.

“Well, Corinthos, I suppose you’re finally deigning to confirm the rumors we’ve been hearing for almost a month,” Daniel Vega remarked, sipping from a tumbler of Scotch.

“I am,” Sonny nodded. He looked to Anthony Zacchara, and the man standing behind him. “But since this is the first time we’ve met since last fall, we should congratulate Zacchara on his recovery.”

Anthony Zacchara scowled. “Like you give a damn—”

“And ask why his lawyer’s son slithered into my town without mentioning his connection you or to my mother.” Sonny looked at Trevor Lansing, who blanched slightly. “Or were we going to pretend that the man who embezzled from Vega and Ruiz wasn’t connected to you?”

Both men eyed the older man with mixtures of suspicion and loathing. “Were you behind this attack?” Ruiz snarled. Sonny smirked, knowing that Ruiz had two of the most lethal and dangerous sons in the business.

“No,” Trevor said immediately and Anthony glared at him, as if for daring to speak. “I’m sorry, Anthony, but I gotta tell them Richard and I don’t speak. We’ve had no contact since he graduated law school.” He smoothed a hand down his tie and met Sonny’s eyes. “And I know what we’re here to discuss. I have no objections.”

“We’ll be keeping our eye on you,” Tagliatti murmured. “But, Corinthos, where is Jason Morgan? Should he not be here to relate the happy news?”

“Jason’s busy protecting his family,” Sonny said carelessly. “Ric Lansing came after his ex-girlfriend because of the connection, he came after my wife to gain leverage. We’re just lucky Elizabeth saw through his act.”

“Did she?” Ruiz murmured, raising an eyebrow. “I have heard stories to the contrary.”

“It’s true that like the rest of us,” Sonny stressed, “Elizabeth was initially taken in by Lansing. But she was upset and hurt. She and Jason had broken up. They both made mistakes, but they have worked out their differences, mostly because Jason learned Ric was targeting the woman he loves and put aside what broke them apart.” He raised an eyebrow. “They’re having a child and Ric has threatened that child because he’s angry Elizabeth threw him over and went back to Jason.”

“Does that sound like the son you raised?” Tagliatti demanded of Trevor. “Would he go after a woman just because she left him?”

Trevor arched an eyebrow. “Richard isn’t known for subtlety. He hates Corinthos because his mother chose him rather than my son to raise. He blames him for her death.” His eyes hardened. “As do I.”

“But why should we waste our resources looking for this man?” Vega cut in. “It’s over a woman. A paltry thing, really. If she was reckless enough to get involved with him, shouldn’t she deserve everything she gets—”

He was glad he’d told Jason he would handle this alone because it was likely Jason would have found it difficult not to react to such a response. “This woman,” Sonny repeated, “has been nothing but loyal to me and Jason for years. When Moreno’s men shot Jason, she kept him alive. When Sorel put a bomb in her apartment, she did not go to the police with what she knew. When I needed Jason in town to investigate a traitor that was disrupting our profits,” he said to Tagliatti and Zacchara, whose territories were often intertwined with his own, “Elizabeth hid him in her apartment without a word to anyone. She has been kidnapped by Roscoe’s men, shot at by Alcazar’s goons and now, because she made the mistake of trusting a man that the rest of you trusted as well, you think I should leave her to the dogs?”

Ruiz sat back in his chair and nodded. “Loyal women are hard to find,” he admitted. He glanced at Zacchara, who had notoriously shot his own wife during one his rages. “And sometimes, harder to keep since they expect so much of you.” He cleared his throat. “Ric Lansing stole much money from me, and for this, I would like to see him roasted over a pit of coals, but I also do not like what I hear about threatening a pregnant woman. It’s…uncouth. I’ve had to reprimand my own sons when they’ve strayed from honorable actions.”

“I hate Ric Lansing as much as the rest of you,” Vega said. “I don’t care much for this woman and looking for him in order to protect her doesn’t appeal much to me. Her protection is not my concern. However, I find Faith Roscoe to be a boil on humanity. If she is working with him, then I think it’s for the good of the business that we exterminate them both.”

“I don’t much enjoy things that cut into my profits,” Tagliatti said. “And there’s no doubt Lansing and Roscoe did so.” He flicked his dark eyes to Zacchara, the last of the four men. “But will Zacchara agree to hunt down his lawyer’s son?”

“I got no problem with hunting down scum, but Ric Lansing ain’t come for me and mine,” Anthony snarled. “He didn’t take money from me and I got no sympathy for women who curl up to dangerous men and then cry about it later.”

Sonny tensed, but he knew Anthony Zacchara well enough to know what to say. “But, perhaps, as a sign of good faith that you weren’t involved in his plans,” he said softly. “You might consider offering your help. Your resources.”

Anthony narrowed his eyes. “I’m always one to preserve the peace,” he replied with a malicious smile. “Sure. You got my vote.”

“Well, that settles it.” Vega tossed back the rest of his Scotch. “Ric Lansing and Faith Roscoe are to be executed upon sight.”

Elizabeth Webber’s Studio

There was a knock on her door before Cody opened it. “Jason’s here to see you, Miss Webber.” Elizabeth frowned and looked at him oddly. She hadn’t had many visitors since this debacle began, but none of the guards had ever announced anyone. “Do you want him to come in?” His face was impassive, but there was a slight clenching in his jaw and suddenly she realized what was going on.

Jason had been by exactly twice since putting twenty-four protection on her, and the guards had had to take her to the doctor’s appointments and everywhere else. Elizabeth had embarrassed Cody last week by crying on the way home, showing off the sonogram of her child that was now framed on the table. Francis looked annoyed every time someone said something to her, and she knew he’d started the routine of coming into Kelly’s during her shift rather than being in the courtyard.

They were protecting her from being hurt, and clearly, they perceived Jason as a threat. Touched, but disturbed at the same time, Elizabeth set down the sketchbooks she had been stowing in a carton and shoved a stand of hair behind her ear. “Cody, Jason can come in any time he wants.” A smile tugged at her lips. “But thanks for checking.”

Jason was scowling slightly as Cody finally moved from the doorway and let him in. “I have had enough of this,” he muttered.

“Sorry…” Elizabeth dipped her chin, embarrassed. “Cody…he saw me crying last week after my appointment and I guess…” She shrugged. “You know, they don’t understand…” She bit her lip. “I had my first ultrasound and I had no one to show it to except my doctor and my nurse, so when Cody asked how my appointment went, I was just…” She stopped, realizing he looked irritated. “I’m sorry, that’s not why you’re here. Did something happen? I don’t…I don’t want to keep you.”

“I came to apologize,” Jason said, but her heart sank. She suspected that Sonny had said something after the medical history fiasco or maybe one of her guards had let their own annoyance slip.

“No, Jason…” Elizabeth stepped forward. “Please. I-I know that there are some people who might…I’m sure Sonny said something about you not…” Feeling awkward, she wrapped her arms around herself. “I never told anyone I expected you to be involved, and I am so sorry if anyone—”

“That’s not…” Jason rested his hands at his waist, looked down and took a deep breath. “Yeah, Sonny and Carly don’t think I’m doing enough, and I can’t get a read on whether Carly actually knows or just suspects, but she read me the riot act.”

Elizabeth sighed and started to rake her hands through hair, tugging out the messy ponytail. “This is a disaster.” For want of something to do so she didn’t have to look at him, she continued to pack up her sketchbooks, books and other miscellaneous papers. “I don’t know what we’re supposed to do about other people, how to manage their expectations.”

“You told me when we started this that I wasn’t thinking this through, and I…you were right.” Elizabeth blinked and turned to look at him. He scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t think any further than protecting you, and I thought this would be the best way—”

“We can still change our minds,” she said softly. She stared down at the magazine in her hands, wondering why she wasn’t just tossing it away. “Maybe Ric and Faith are cutting their losses. You can—”

“Elizabeth, we just have…” He was quiet for a long moment. “We have to figure out how to do this without…complicating things.”

Logically she understood that the heart was a muscle, and that emotions came from the brain, but Elizabeth could feel the weight settle on her chest, could literally feel the ache spreading to her limbs. “You mean how to make people think you’re the father of my child without actually having to be the father of my child.” She closed her eyes and willed the tears to stay away. How could she not be out of tears? Why couldn’t she be one of those women who had problems with tear production?

“I…” When Jason’s voice faltered, she looked up and sighed. He looked helpless, as if he hadn’t wanted to say that but that it had been exactly what he meant.

“Jason,” Elizabeth said, turning back towards him. “The only way this is going to work is if we’re honest with each other. We have to lie to the rest of the world, we shouldn’t lie to each other. I can’t…” She paused, swallowing hard. “I can’t blame you if you don’t actually want to be involved, but if we were still friends, you’d be…” Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t know, friends ask about health and how doctor’s appointments went and sometimes they go. For support.” When he said nothing to that, she bit her lip. “Or you just ask if I’m alive and once a year, we have lunch. I can’t help you with this, Jason, if you don’t talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right.” Jason lowered himself to the sofa. “I just…I don’t know how to do this. I know that Monica and Alan have been…overly interested in your case, so I talked to Monica about backing off.”

“Jason…” Elizabeth sighed. Trust Jason to warn away the only people remotely interested in her pregnancy, even if it was for the wrong reasons. “They weren’t really bothering me. They just…want to be connected to you.” She hesitated. “But I understand that you don’t want them to led on about a possible grandchild, so—”

“I told Monica that if they left you alone and stopped looking up your records, you’d be more likely to tell her what’s going on,” Jason interrupted.

“Oh my God.” Elizabeth sat next to him on the couch. “Jason, are you listening to yourself? You just promised your mother that I would keep her informed about a child you’re not raising!” She covered her face with her hands. “This is insane, Jason. It’s always been insane. And we cannot keep this up. We can’t.”

“We have to—”

She snapped her head up. “No, then I can’t. Do you understand this is so much worse than it was that December people thought we were sleeping together?” She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. “We are lying to everyone, and it’s just not going to work, because we don’t know how this is going to play out. Jason, what if we never find Ric?”

“That’s…” Jason shook his head. “We can’t think like that—”

“I have to think like that.” Elizabeth felt like wrapping her hands around his throat because he just wasn’t getting it. “Jason, I need you to listen to me. I am pregnant. No matter who people think the father of this child is, I am having one. She is going to be here in six months. Do you get that? I am dodging your ex-girlfriend, your sister, your parents, and your best friends who are all judging me, all making my life a living hell in their own special ways. I am trying like hell to keep my head on straight, and you are making this impossible.”

Jason got to his feet and if she thought he was irritated before, now he was simply angry. “I’m making this impossible? Are you serious, Elizabeth? I have done nothing but look for Ric for the last month. I’ve barely slept!” He jabbed a finger at her. “I didn’t get us in this situation—”

“The hell you didn’t!” Elizabeth launched up, her ears ringing. “You decided I needed rescuing and told him I was having your child. This was your goddamned idea. I begged you to tell people the truth! I told you this wouldn’t work and you kept telling me you wouldn’t end up hating me!” Her voice broke on the last word, but she struggled to continue. “And you’re so angry at me because I got myself pregnant by a psychotic freak that you can barely stand to look at me!”

“That’s not…” Frustrated, he groaned and slid his hands into his hair, actually pulling at it. “Damn it, Elizabeth.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I am drowning here. Everyone is angry at me, I get it. Everyone blames me. Well, I can’t change what happened. I don’t know what you want me to do. You won’t tell anyone the truth, and then you’re angry that people don’t think you’re stepping up.” She clenched her fists in front him. “And I am begging you to tell me what you want to do, because you’re not listening to me. Do you want to tell people the truth or do you just want to tell them that the baby is a mistake?” Tears slid down her cheeks. “You wouldn’t even be lying, because you do think that. You think my baby is a mistake, that maybe I’m too stupid to be a mother, that I don’t deserve to have a child—”

She stopped when he reached out and covered her clenched hands with his. “Just…just stop.” Jason lowered his head and took a deep breath. “You’re right. This isn’t going to work if we’re not honest with each other.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth nodded, taking a shaky breath.

“And Monica told me that your blood pressure has been high, that your doctor will want to put you on bed rest if it doesn’t come down, so let’s just…” He gently pushed her to sit down. “Let’s just stop arguing.”

“Okay.” Everything inside her ached, because she knew he was only being nice now because she’d been crying, because he was worried about her health. “Please, Jason, let’s just tell the truth, and try—”

“If Ric thinks this is my child, he may want to come after you as revenge, but he won’t be ruthless about it, not the way he would if he thought it was his own.” Jason hesitated. “He’d be relentless if he knew the truth, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take. Are you?”

“No,” Elizabeth admitted.

“Okay. So we have to…we have to figure a way forward.” He stared at their joined hands. “I do not think your child is a mistake, Elizabeth, and I am so sorry if for one minute, you think I am blaming you in this situation, okay?” He tilted her chin up to look at him. “We have been so worried about protecting you and keeping this lie that we haven’t…you haven’t even been allowed to be happy. To think about becoming a mother.”

“My nurse asked me if I was excited last week and I started to cry,” she confessed. “Because it was the first time anyone had asked, and I hadn’t…I hadn’t thought about it until then.” She took a deep breath. “I wish that this were happening any other way, but I want…I want my child.” She felt her lips curve and looked away. “I want this baby so much, so if you tell me that this is the best way to keep her safe, I’ll agree.”

Jason let their hands fall away and he was quiet for a moment. “Sonny has already told the Families that this is my child, and gained their cooperation in hunting Ric and Faith down, so at this point…”

“We can’t change our minds,” Elizabeth murmured. “Because he lied to them.” She sighed. “Okay, well, there’s an argument I can’t dismiss. Sonny went to bat for me, we’ll have to make this work.”

“Let’s just…” Jason hesitated. “Let’s just take it one day at a time. I’ll go to some doctor’s appointments, and we’ll have lunch together in public a couple of times. You can tell Monica what’s going on, and I’ll try to keep Emily from arguing with you in public. Can that….can that be enough for now?”

The weight on her chest only grew heavier. If they had still been friends, truly friends, she would not have had to convince Jason to offer this type of support. He would have seen her struggling alone and done what he could to alleviate the stress. If he’d known being alone at the appointments would be difficult, he would have volunteered. He would met her for coffee without looking as though his arm was twisted.

She didn’t think he was going through all this trouble due to a sense of obligation or pity, but she also knew that they were never going to truly be friends again, and somehow, the loss of that was so much more difficult than accepting that they were never going to be together romantically.

But he looked so tired that Elizabeth finally nodded. “I think that will help the rumors,” she replied quietly. “One day at a time.”

April 10, 2014

Inspiration & Timeline

Set in December 2002 after Jason slept with Courtney. I wrote this in December 2002, using the song Come Away With Me by Norah Jones before it became LiRic’s theme song. YouTube video embedded below.

Banner

Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song

Brownies. What made him think of that? What had made him tell Brenda to make brownies.

The only food Elizabeth could cook without burning them. He’d found a box of the mix in one of the cabinets after she’d walked out. He’d tried to make them, but they hadn’t tasted like hers.

He was running on autopilot now. After leaving Brenda at the penthouse, he’d just had to be by himself for a while. So many of his actions seemed strange and peculiar to him.

He’d slept with Courtney. With Sonny’s little sister. With Elizabeth’s friend. He’d slept with her.

He was no better than Lucky.

Come away with me on a bus
Come away where they can’t tempt us
With their lies

She knew she should turn around the second she saw him sitting on the bench. She remembered sitting there with him, three years ago, when he told her he was leaving. She’d cried for days and missed, but now she wished he’d never come back.

At least then she’d have their perfect friendship instead of the broken relationship.

There was something about him right now—something lost and vulnerable. Something she couldn’t turn her back on, no matter how much she wanted to.

“Hey.”

I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high
So won’t you try to come

He looked up at the sound of her voice to find her standing a few feet from him. Her eyes were concerned, caring. He frowned, wondering why she was talking to him. Why she hadn’t walked away.

“Hey,” he replied.

“You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders,” Elizabeth said quietly, taking a seat next to him.

He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. How could he explain to her that he had to stay married to a woman he hated, that she had to stay in the penthouse where Jason resented her presence, because as far as he was concerned, the only woman who belonged there was Elizabeth.

How was he supposed to explain that he’d made a mistake and slept with Courtney and somehow managed to lead her on, thinking they had a chance. He’d let himself believe he could be with Courtney, and be happy.

He’d been lying to himself, he could see that now. That the only person he’d ever be happy with was sitting next to him and she wanted nothing to do with him.

He sat back on the bench and looked at her. Her gaze was unwavering and strong. Like she’d finally made a decision.

And he decided to trust her. “Have you ever done something you wished you could take back as soon as it happened, but somehow you ended up making it worse?”

The question startled Elizabeth, but she nodded. “Yeah. I have…” She looked down at her hands. “When I slept with Zander.”

Come away with me and we’ll kiss
On a mountaintop
Come away with me
And I’ll never stop loving you

“I did that yesterday,” Jason told her. “And you’ll probably never forgive me for it.”

She bit her lip and looked away. She’d seen Courtney today—she already had a pretty good idea what he’d done.

She’d been hurt at first, but she’d put it into perspective. He hadn’t done anything that she hadn’t. She’d slept with Zander, let him believe he had a chance. And Jason had slept with Courtney, and she obviously believed that they had a chance.

“Try me,” she said quietly.

He looked up. “I slept with Courtney.”

And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof

“I know.” She shifted on the bench and stared out over water. “She told me.”

He frowned. “And you…still sat down and talked to me. I thought—”

Elizabeth looked back at him. “You never turned me away after Zander. I made a lot of mistakes, Jason. But the biggest one was walking away from our friendship.” Her eyes softened. “We were friends before we were anything else, and that friendship has always meant the world to me.”

He reached for her hand. “It’s meant the world to me, too,” he admitted.

While I’m safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you

“I miss it,” she confessed. “I miss talking with you, and going for rides and…just being around you. I understand that you’re married to Brenda and with what’s happening with the Alcazar murder, I’m guessing that’s going to last a little longer than you thought, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jason admitted. “We have to stay married so we can’t testify against each other.”

“And what about Courtney?” Elizabeth asked quietly. She looked down at their hands, watched his thumb move in small circles across her skin.

To come away with me in the night

“I’m going to have to explain that I’m in love with the most wonderful woman in the world,” he said softly.

She looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I love you, too,” she breathed.

He stood up, using their joined hands to pull her up with him. Suddenly not caring who was watching, whether it was the PCPD or Scott Baldwin or Courtney, he pulled her to him and kissed her.

He’d waited too long to care about anyone else.

When he pulled away, she smiled up at him. “So, speaking of rides…”

Come away with me

Inspiration
In late January of 2003, they aired a scene in which Elizabeth followed Courtney to the loft where she discovered the relationship with Jason. Then we got a horrid confrontation scene. I either rewrote that scene or wrote this as a tag to the original episode. I have a second version of this that takes a different tone.

I used a song in here that I know I never heard before. Back in 2003, it was so much harder to get songs and I liked the lyrics of this. I have, uh, since listened to it and while the lyrics still fit — the mood doesn’t, lol.

Timeline
This story is set in January of 2003 and written at that time. Jason and Elizabeth had broken up in October of 2002, sharing very few scenes after that point. Jason and Courtney started dating in December, and he arranged for a loft where they could see each other privately while Elizabeth tentatively started seeing Ric Lansing. When Elizabeth learned that AJ (Courtney’s estranged husband) had hired a PI to follow her, Elizabeth was worried and followed Courtney to warn her. Instead, she saw Jason meeting Courtney there. This story is set directly after that.

Banner

I wanted your love, but look what its done to me
All my dreams have come to nothing

“If you’ve got a question, ask me.”

Elizabeth’s entire body tensed up and she glanced to the right. Damn, forgot to lock the back entrance, she thought idly.

“Jason, I’m so glad you’re here,” Courtney jumped in. “She—”

“Courtney, could you give us a minute?” Jason asked. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“But—”

He looked at her. “Please.”

Courtney sighed and went to unlock the door. She left, but made sure to stand outside and look in.

“Elizabeth—”

“You are either the biggest liar in the world or I am more naïve than I thought possible,” Elizabeth broke in, glaring at him.

Who would have believed
All the laughter that we shared would be a memory

He frowned and shook his head a little. “I’m sorry if I hurt you—”

“How dare you tell me over and over again that it was too dangerous—that it wasn’t safe for us to be together and the second I leave the penthouse, go and shack up with Courtney!” Elizabeth cried. “How could you lie to me like that?”

“I wasn’t lying,” Jason said, defensively. “It was too dangerous. You’d been shot at—kidnapped—”

“But suddenly it’s not?” Elizabeth replied. She arched her eyebrows. “I thought it never really over. I thought that even meeting in secret wouldn’t work. So, you want to explain how that works with Courtney?”

“You walked out on me!” Jason said, exasperated.

“You walked out first,” Elizabeth retorted. “You walked out that door in September and you let me sit in that penthouse alone. You were there for everyone but me. You never called. You never came home. And you lied to me.”

“You told me you could handle my job!” Jason accused.

I cannot count the tears you’ve cost me
If I could have seen

“And your job was to avoid me?” Elizabeth snapped. “To never come home but have time to spend at Courtney’s place?”

“Elizabeth, I was guarding her—”

“Yeah. I know. But you couldn’t even pick up a phone to tell me that, either. For all I know—you could have been lying somewhere, bleeding or dying. God, do you have any idea how many nights I lay awake, scared to death because yet another day had gone by without you even coming home to change.”

Jason took a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry—”

“No you’re not,” Elizabeth replied. “You’re not sorry at all. Because it was your job. And in your mind that makes it okay. So, yes, I walked out. But tell me, Jason. What did I have to stay for? To come last? To come after Sonny and Carly and Courtney and everyone else in your life? To not even make the list of your priorities?”

“That’s not fair,” Jason argued. “You know how I felt about you—”

“No, I don’t,” Elizabeth cut in. “Because you never told me. You pushed me away for months. And because you promised to try and then you lied at me—I was supposed to stick around and be treated like dirt?”

And do you ever think of me
And how we used to be?

“You slept with Zander,” Jason replied, crossing his arms.

“Oh, no. You do not get to throw that in my face anymore. I told you I was sorry. I told you that it was a mistake. I tried to make you understand why it happened—but you never wanted to hear it. So you do not get to throw that in my face.” Her eyes darkened. “And that is no excuse for the way I was treated.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Elizabeth, look things didn’t work. You said that they couldn’t. And I believed you.”

“Because it’s exactly what you wanted to hear.” Elizabeth took a step towards him and tilted her head to the side. “Tell me, Jason. How long before you and Courtney got together? A day? Two?”

“It was a lot longer than that,” Jason replied, a little irritated. “Nothing even happened until—” he stopped and looked away. “I’m not going to do this with you, Elizabeth.”

“Why not? Because you’ll have to tell me the truth for once in your life?” Elizabeth accused. “I’m right. It didn’t take long for you to hop into her bed.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Jason said. “That’s not the way it happened. So, what, I’m not allowed to be with anyone else? I’m not allowed to move on?”

Oh, I know you’re somewhere else right now
And loving someone else no doubt

Elizabeth just shook her head and looked away. “That’s not what this is about. This is about me being lied to by someone I thought was my friend. I covered for her with AJ. I went out of my way to help her—support her. And she lied to me.”

“We couldn’t tell anyone,” Jason tried to explain. “It would hurt me at trial.”

“And what…you think I’d go run and tell everyone I see?” Elizabeth asked, a little hurt. “You think that I am that vindictive?”

“No…” Jason sighed. “No, I don’t think that. I’m sorry, Elizabeth—”

“Can you answer me something?” Elizabeth cut in. “Is there something about me? Something that I do or say that just screams lie to her? Betray her? She doesn’t need anyone?”

“No,” Jason said, confused. “I—”

“Because all anyone does to me. Everyone lies to me. It’s like a disease and I’m sick of trusting people. I trusted Nikolas and Gia to be my friends and they used it against me. Did Courtney ever tell you that I stuck up for last year when they were trying to blame the accident on her? That I went against my best friend to tell the truth and set her free?”

“No,” Jason admitted. “She didn’t—”

“I thought Sarah was my friend but she slept with Lucky. And I thought Courtney was my friend. God, I confided in her and I trusted her. And look where that got me,” Elizabeth said. She shook her head. “Everyone lies to me.”

Well I’m one for sorrow
Ain’t it too too bad

“And you,” she continued in an almost broken whisper. “You were supposed to be one person in my life that I didn’t have to worry about lying to me—that I didn’t have to ponder every word you said and wonder if it was the truth. And once again—you lied to me. And I think that’s what hurts the most of all. You, who promised to listen to me and respect me and be honest with me…you who promised to try…you broke those promises, Jason. Do you realize that?” Her eyes teared. “Every time you walked out of that penthouse without so much as looking at me or saying a single word to me…you broke those promises. When you let everyone and everything come before me…you broke those promises. And I left because I couldn’t recognize you anymore.”

Jason took a breath. “Elizabeth—”

“I want you to leave,” Elizabeth said softly. “All right? Just go outside. I’m sure Courtney’s waiting in the courtyard for you.”

“I can’t leave…” Jason shook his head. “Elizabeth—”

“Go,” she said, more forcefully. “There’s nothing left to say. We tried. We failed. You moved on.”

Are you breaking someone else’s heart
‘Cause you’re taking my love where you are

“What’s going on in there?” Courtney muttered, trying to hear the hushed conversation.

Zander pulled her away from the window. “Hey, give them some privacy, okay? This is the first she’s had to really lay into him and he deserves every word of it.”

“She can’t blame Jason for everything,” Courtney retorted. “Elizabeth left him.”

“You know—” Zander shook his head. “You weren’t there, Courtney. You don’t know how many nights she stayed up and paced waiting for him to come home. She worried herself sick over him and to find out that it was for no reason…that she’d comforted Carly in her grieving and worried about Jason losing Sonny…and Sonny wasn’t even dead…I don’t blame Elizabeth one iota for how she’s handled the situation. Jason deserves whatever he gets.”

Well I’m one for sorrow
Ain’t it too bad about us

“What about you?” Jason asked. “You haven’t moved on?”

Elizabeth snorted. “You have to ask? I just attacked your new girlfriend.” She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’ve really moved on.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Jason said. “At any time.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. Please go.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?” Jason asked. “Why didn’t—”

“Because it wouldn’t have made any difference,” Elizabeth replied softly.

“Why not?” Jason demanded.

I wanted your love, but I got uncertainty
I tried so hard to understand you

“Because I actually meant what I told that night. You’re Sonny’s enforcer. First. Last. Always. And anything else…it just doesn’t rate all that high on your priorities.” Elizabeth shrugged and looked down. “I’ve been in a relationship where I came last. Where a family feud, poison, brainwashing and everything else came before me. I turned myself inside out to make it work and it didn’t. I still didn’t matter enough.”

“You mattered to me, Elizabeth. You always did,” Jason tried to insist.

“You’d never know it,” she replied. “Because I felt like I was with Lucky all over again. Like I wasn’t needed or wanted. Like I didn’t matter enough to warrant a simple phone call to let me know you were still breathing.”

All the good it did me
Now the places that we knew remind of how we were

“I never meant to make you feel that way,” Jason said. “I’m sorry.”

“I accept your apology.” Elizabeth tilted her head towards the door. “Now. Please, go.”

“Elizabeth.”

“Your girlfriend’s waiting.” Without another word, Elizabeth turned and walked quickly towards the back of diner. Jason stared after her for a moment.

Then he turned and walked out of the diner. He walked right past Courtney and out of the courtyard.

“So,” Zander said, looking at the stunned blonde. “Tell me again how much he loves you.”

Courtney started sputtering and started to chase after Jason. Zander shook his head and went into the diner.

Everything is just the same
But all I feel is hurt

“Elizabeth?” Zander called. “Are you still here?”

Elizabeth appeared at the entrance of the kitchen. “Zander…what are you doing here?”

“I was outside with Courtney,” Zander said. “It was the funniest thing—Jason walked out of here and right past her. Like she didn’t even exist.”

Elizabeth gave him a weak smile. “I know that feels.”

“You okay?” Zander asked.

She shrugged. “I’ll have to get back you on that.” She sighed and reached under the counter for her purse. “Come on. I need to lock up.”

“You know…he’s an idiot,” Zander said as she pulled her coat on.

“Yeah…well…aren’t we all?” Elizabeth murmured.

And do you ever think of me
And how we used to be?

Timeline & Inspiration

Back in November 2002, General Hospital decided to devote the entire Thanksgiving episode to a series of Courtney dreams that actually ended up being Jason’s dream. Yes. It sounds as insane as it you think. At this point, Courtney had been on the show less than a year, and the execs were obsessed with her. She is one of the worst characters in this show’s history, possibly only matched by Peter August.

I decided to rewrite this an Elizabeth standalone episode. You don’t need to know much other than it’s set post penthouse walk out in October 2002, but pre-Jason/Courtney sleeping together in December of that year.

Banner

Lizzie Does Thanksgiving

— Studio —

BEEP BEEP BEEP BE—

Elizabeth Webber’s small pale hand snaked out from underneath a pile of covers and blindly reached out for her alarm clock. A few seconds of groping and she managed to turn it off.

She pushed the covers off of her and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Thanksgiving—and she had to work.

She stumbled towards her bathroom and took a shower, hoping the hot water would wake her up. Audrey was away, spending the holiday with her parents and Sarah, leaving Elizabeth in Port Charles all alone to spend the day.

When Bobbie had asked if anyone would work on Thanksgiving, she and Courtney had volunteered. While Elizabeth wasn’t looking forward to dealing with the insipid blonde, at least she had the knowledge that someone else in Port Charles wouldn’t be enjoying a dinner their loved ones.

She dressed mechanically, pulling on a worn pair of jeans and red turtleneck. She ran a brush through her hair, not even bothering to dry it. She knew she’d be paying for the decision later when it was curly and impossible to deal with.

For now, she just grabbed a red scrunchie and put it. She grabbed her leather jacket and her purse and set off for another wonderful day at Kelly’s.

— Kelly’s —

“Don’t you wish you were anywhere but here?” Courtney Quartermaine asked, resting her elbow on the counter. Elizabeth tossed her a bored look before returning back to her magazine.

The diner was absolutely dead—staying open for Thanksgiving had been Bobbie’s idea and not one of her brightest. She and Courtney had no customers and since the cook for the day had gone upstairs to his room to take a nap—they had only each other for company.

She stared at the door, willing someone to come in. Anyone, actually. At this point, she’d be glad to see Carly Corinthos.

When a customer finally did walk in, she grimaced and pushed herself off the stool. “Why don’t you take this one?” she asked Courtney, passing the customer in question and heading for the door.

Jason Morgan stared after her for a minute before turning back to Courtney to order a cup of coffee.

Elizabeth grabbed her coat off the coat rack, intent on heading out for some fresh air. The last thing she needed was to be in a room—alone with Jason and Courtney. She might be sick if she had to do that.

Before she could pull it open, a man rushed in, shoving her back. “Hey!” she cried, irritated. “Watch—”

“All right, no one move!” the man said, pulling a gun from his side. He grabbed Elizabeth’s arm and pulled to him roughly. “Just give me all the cash in the place and no one gets hurt!”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and counted to ten, hoping Courtney understood that this was serious and not to argue with the man.

“Um, there’s no money,” Courtney said. “We only had the one customer today.”

Jason threw her dirty look before looking to the man who had Elizabeth. “I’ll give you whatever you want…just…let go of her.”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel smugly satisfied at Jason’s words.

“But Jason,” Courtney wailed, “I thought you loved me!”

“I don’t love you,” Jason said, giving the blonde a confused look before looking back to Elizabeth. “Please let her go.”

“What’ll you give me?” the man demanded.

Jason pulled out his wallet, and Elizabeth could feel the grip on her arm loosening as the man took in the large wad of cash that was visible. “You can have all of this,” Jason told him.

The grip tightened as the man became suspicious. “Why would you give all that for some waitress you don’t even know?”

“Because she matters more to me than any amount of money in the world,” Jason answered.

Elizabeth smiled—despite the situation. Maybe there was still hope.

He held out the wallet and the man shoved Elizabeth away. Jason caught her and the guy ran out of the diner.

“Are you okay?” Jason asked, looking her over for any injuries.

“I’m—I’m fine.” Elizabeth blinked. “Did you—did you mean that?”

“Of course,” Jason replied. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth. For everything. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course,” Elizabeth breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “All you had to was ask.”

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her—

BEEP BEEP BEE—

Elizabeth sprang out of her bed and glared at her alarm clock. “You suck,” she muttered.

After glaring at her alarm clock for a few minutes, Elizabeth shoved the blanket back and stood up. Just when the dream was starting to get good—

“I should not be dreaming about Jason,” she muttered to herself as she headed to the shower. “I should be dreaming about a cute guy who—who doesn’t shut me out or spends more time with a blonde than me.”

Still grumbling to herself, Elizabeth stepped under the hot spray and tried to down all thoughts of a certain spiky blonde mob enforcer.

She pulled her lavender colored robe around her and routed around in her dresser for clothes. She pulled on a pair of worn blue jeans and a red turtleneck. She ran a brush through her hair and pulled it up, stuffed her feet into a pair of chunky black boots and grabbed her purse and leather jacket as she headed out the door.

— Docks —

She stopped on the docks for a few minutes. Some people might she think was crazy—but she loved the water during the winter. It was icy and more blue.

She frowned. They reminded her of Jason’s eyes.

That unsettling thought lurking in her brain, she turned and headed for the stairs, intent on shoving all thoughts of Jason out of her brain.

“Hey, darlin’,” Luke Spencer said from his position on a bench in front of the stairs. “How are you this morning?”

Elizabeth stopped – the last time she’d seen Luke had been while he was digging a fake grave for Laura. “Hey…you seem better.”

“Got a new lease on life,” Luke said. “You headed to that dump?”

“Kelly’s?” Elizabeth asked. “Yep. Do you want me to bring you anything?”

“Nah,” Luke said. “Hey, you know what?”

“What?” Elizabeth asked, shifting on her feet. She was going to be late if she stayed any longer.

“I just saw your boyfriend walking past here—he was looking for ya.”

Elizabeth frowned. “My boyfriend?” she repeated, hoping Luke wasn’t drunk and meant Lucky. The thought was just too disgusting to bear.

“Yeah, Morgan. Said he really needed to find ya.”

“That’s weird,” Elizabeth murmured. She shrugged and said goodbye to Luke before heading into Kelly’s.

— Kelly’s —

The diner was completely dead except for Courtney and AJ arguing. Elizabeth sighed in irritation before going to punch her time clock and making herself a cup of hot chocolate.

“I love you,” AJ said as Elizabeth sat down at the counter and made no attempt to pretend she wasn’t watching the married couple. “Doesn’t love count for anything?”

“I can’t forget what you did,” Courtney said. “You hurt me, AJ. How am I supposed to forget that?”

“Don’t,” AJ said. “I know I hurt you, but I hurt myself too. I’d rather die than hurt you, Courtney. I made a mistake—I should have trusted you, trusted in us, but…” he leaned over and took her hand. “I was scared. You were everything to me and I just…” He looked down at her hand. “I couldn’t handle it. I talked myself into believing I didn’t deserve it and screwed it up.”

Courtney leaned towards him, her eyes soft. Elizabeth could tell the blonde might actually forgive him. “I love you so much, AJ. We’re so different. How can it work?”

Elizabeth frowned. This sounded really strange—it definitely a different argument between the two. It sounded like an argument between…

No. No Jason thoughts.

“We love each other,” AJ told her. “There has to be a way.”

This is ridiculous, Elizabeth thought. If she kept listening to this conversation, she’d be tempted to seek out Jason and tell him she loved him and have the same conversation Courtney and AJ were having.

“All right,” Courtney said finally. “I can’t forgive you…not right now. But…we can try again.”

Try. Elizabeth hated that word almost as much as she hated the word safe. Or dangerous. Or the phrase it doesn’t matter.

Ugh.

Courtney finally looked over. “Oh, hey, Elizabeth. I didn’t see you there.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I’ve only been here a few minutes.”

“You just missed Jason,” Courtney told her. “He was looking for you, wasn’t he AJ?”

AJ grimaced. “Yeah.” He looked over at her. “He seemed really desperate.”

Jason was looking for her. Three people had heard him say this.

This was really weird.

Elizabeth frowned. “Did he say what he wanted?”

Courtney gave her a teasing smile—like the ones she’d given her before the whole stalking thing where Courtney had been a friend encouraging her to be with Jason.

Those days were long gone.

Right?

“No, but I’ll bet I know.” Courtney grinned. “He wants you back, it’s so clear.”

“It is?” Elizabeth asked skeptically. “I must have missed it.”

AJ wrinkled his nose, obviously hating the subject. “I don’t know, Elizabeth. I think he likes you.”

Courtney rolled her eyes. “He totally loves her, AJ. Didn’t you see how disappointed he was when she wasn’t here?”

“Wait, wait, back up for a second,” Elizabeth said. “I think I’ve just stepped into the Twilight Zone. The two of you have made up, you’re shoving me towards Jason and AJ’s even talking about him without the words criminal or dangerous mixed in.” Elizabeth’s eyes darted between them. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Thanksgiving,” Courtney said. “Everyone gets a second chance.”

“Really,” Elizabeth said. “What fortune cookie did you read that one in?”

“Hey, there’s Jason now,” Courtney said, gesturing toward the window. Elizabeth whirled around – and there he was, looking in from the courtyard. It was like old times. He’d look in just before the end of her shift and they’d go for a ride.

“What am I supposed to do?” Elizabeth demanded.

“Uh, duh,” Courtney laughed. “Go out and talk to him.”

Elizabeth gave the couple another strange look before heading into the courtyard.

— Courtyard —

“Hey, I hear you were looking for me,” she said hesitantly.

“Yeah, I need to talk to you,” Jason said. “I needed to tell you that I’m sorry.”

“Sorry,” Elizabeth repeated. This was too good to be true.

“I’m sorry I hurt you—there’s nothing I wanted to do less,” Jason told her. “I miss you Elizabeth.”

She bit her lip. Stay strong, stay strong, she chanted. Tell him that’s nice and go back and finish your shift. She opened her mouth and made the mistake of meeting his eyes.

Oh, the hell with it.

“I miss you, too,” she admitted.

He moved closer. “Can we try again?”

She found herself nodding. “Definitely.”

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEEE—

Elizabeth grabbed her pillow and started whacking the clock radio with it. “You couldn’t wait five more seconds? All I wanted was one kiss!” she yelled into between whacks.

She took a five minute shower, pulled on the same outfit she’d been wearing in her dream and put her hair up quickly. It was time to get realistic – Courtney and AJ weren’t going to work things out, therefore keeping Courtney from Jason and Jason was not going to come looking for her to work this out.

The only thing that was going to happen was she was going to work the breakfast shift on Thanksgiving. She was going to serve about five customers the entire day—that was it.

She walked leisurely to work – and didn’t stop to talk to anyone she saw. She passed Felicia Jones, Bobbie Spencer and even Carly Corinthos—but she didn’t even give into the dirty look and the nasty taunt the older woman threw at her.

Courtney and AJ were arguing when Elizabeth entered. The fight was more vicious than the one she’d dreamed about. She hung up her jacket and completely ignored the two at the counter.

“Why won’t you just admit that you want Jason?” AJ demanded.

“Why can’t you let this go?” Courtney countered.

“Why don’t the two of you shut up?” Elizabeth muttered, making herself a cup of hot chocolate.

“What did you say?” Courtney demanded.

Elizabeth looked up, unaware that anyone had actually heard her. “What?”

Courtney glared at her. “What did you say?”

Elizabeth sighed and shrugged. “I just think you two need to shut up. You keep having the same argument and I’m just really tired of hearing it.”

“Why don’t you stop listening?” Courtney said, snidely.

“I would if you’d stop having this conversation where I work,” Elizabeth snapped.

“Courtney, knock it off,” AJ said.

“No, Elizabeth has no idea what’s going on and I’m sick acting all perfect just because she thinks so.”

“You know what, Skipper?” Elizabeth slammed her mug down and pointed at her. “Why don’t you tell AJ he’s right? That all you ever want to talk about is Jason, hell that’s all you talked about before you found out AJ did the stalking.”

“I knew it,” AJ muttered.

“And you,” Elizabeth said, glaring at Jason’s brother. “Stop making everything so dramatic. She never turned to Jason until you started screwing up. Jason’s not in competition with you, so stop trying to win. It’s irritating and the rest of us are sick of hearing about how your brother takes everything from you. He doesn’t have anything that you didn’t give up.”

“Here we go, someone else defending the golden boy!”

“She used to defend you,” Elizabeth retorted, gesturing towards Courtney. “But you screwed it up.” She grimaced. “I am so sick of listening to the both of you whine. Christ. Grow up. Your marriage failed. It happens every day.” Elizabeth headed for the door, grabbing her jacket and purse on the way out.

“God, those two are so irritating,” Elizabeth muttered, tugging her gloves on. She had her head down and didn’t even see Jason until she crashed into him. She groaned. “Here we go.”

“Are you okay?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I’m just peachy,” Elizabeth muttered. The temptation just to kiss him was really too much—after two near misses that morning, she was getting irritated by the whole day.

She looked up at him suddenly and was trying to remember why she was mad at him. Her scrutiny made him shift a little. “Elizabeth?”

“That day at Jake’s last week,” she said. “Why were you really there?”

“Elizabeth—” he began. But for some reason, he stopped and started again. “I wanted to know if you’d forgiven me.”

“And if we still had a chance?” Elizabeth pressed.

“I guess,” he admitted.

She looked away. Well, maybe they could say the things she wanted to say then. “Well, I was angry when I said we didn’t. And last week, I asked you and your answer kind of led me to believe that you didn’t think so, so I back tracked.” She looked back up at him. “Well, I lied. In my mind, we’ll always have a chance.” She shrugged. “I don’t know—maybe it’s because I’m pathetic or I just don’t want to end up whining like Courtney or AJ, but—”

“Elizabeth.”

She stopped babbling and took a deep breath. “Sorry. So, I’m going to ask you again. Do you think we still have a chance?”

He smiled at her and leaned down—

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEEE—

The alarm cut off abruptly as Elizabeth grabbed the clock from the night stand and hurled it across the room.

Irritated with the way the morning was going, Elizabeth decided to just give in. She pulled on the same outfit for the fourth time in a row, threw her hair up and left.

Once again, Courtney and AJ were arguing behind the counter. Elizabeth hung up her jacket and took her time getting to the couple.

“Just admit that you want my brother!” AJ yelled.

Does he ever find something new to whine about? She wondered, approaching the counter. She tied her apron on and surveyed the empty room. She’d have to listen to the whining brothers.

“Who wouldn’t?” Courtney finally said.

Elizabeth’s head snapped up. That wasn’t what Courtney normally said. She normally avoided the question.

But hey, since this was her dream, she figured Courtney would be saying what Elizabeth thought she would.

AJ narrowed his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

If I have to tell you, I’m gonna hit you, Elizabeth thought.

Courtney gestured towards herself and Elizabeth. “Well, both the women in this room have been attracted to him.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” Elizabeth said. “I don’t want any part of this conversation.”

“Well, at least Elizabeth wasn’t married,” AJ threw back.

“He’s got you there, Corky,” Elizabeth said.

“Corky?” Courtney said, momentarily distracted.

“Yeah…well, I’m tired of saying Courtney,” Elizabeth muttered. She leaned on her elbow and stared at the door.

“It doesn’t matter, because our marriage is going to over soon,” Courtney said, getting back on track. “And maybe I will date Jason.”

Date. Elizabeth snorted.

“What is your problem?” Courtney asked, irritated.

“Jason doesn’t date,” Elizabeth replied. “So if you’re looking for the hearts and flowers, take you to the movies type boyfriend, you ought to stick with Spanky over here,” she said, indicating AJ.

“Hey!” AJ said, insulted.

“Oh, so what does he do?” Courtney asked, a little snidely.

Elizabeth smirked. “How do you feel about motorcycles?”

“She hates them,” AJ supplied. “Always shudders when they ride past. Says they’re death traps.”

“Well…” Elizabeth hesitated. Then again, this was her dream. She could say whatever she wanted. “Well, you’re going to have to get over that fear pretty quick because he rides that thing everywhere.”

“He can walk,” Courtney said, but her voice wasn’t so smug.

“What about pool?” Elizabeth pressed. “Do you know how to play?”

“No, she thinks its stupid,” AJ cut in.

“Will you stop answering for me?” Courtney said, throwing a dirty glance at AJ. “I can speak for myself.”

“Okay, so answer for yourself. Do you like pool?” Elizabeth asked.

“I could learn to like it,” Courtney said hesitantly.

Hmmm….well, might as well go for the kill.

“And Jason’s job, can you handle it?” Elizabeth asked. “Can you handle the lack of phone calls, the nights he doesn’t come home and you don’t know if he’s okay…because he certainly wouldn’t tell you.”

“I can do it,” Courtney said, faintly.

Elizabeth smirked, and leaned towards the blonde. “How do you feel about blood?”

“B-blood?” Courtney stammered.

AJ’s brown eyes lit up. “Oh, yeah. Jason gets in a lot of fights, right Liz?”

“Uh huh,” Elizabeth replied. “Why, I even took care of him once when he was shot.”

“I could just take….I could take him to the hospital,” Courtney said, squaring her shoulders.

Elizabeth shook her head. “Nope. That’s a definite no-no with his job. No hospitals. It’ll more than likely be you having to change his dressing, check his stitches, feeding him. It’s a fulltime job, being Jason’s girlfriend.” Her blue eyes twinkled with amusement. “I just don’t think you’re cut out, Courtney.”

“Well, neither can you,” Courtney argued.

“Oh, I have no doubt I can handle more than you,” Elizabeth replied. “I’ve already handled most of it.”

“And you walked out,” Courtney accused her. “You hurt him.”

“Yeah, well, he hurt me,” Elizabeth argued. “I stayed cooped up in that stupid penthouse with Zander and some nameless guard while he ran around perpetuating a lie and hugging you and avoiding me, so you know what? I was completely justified in leaving.”

“But you refused to go back,” Courtney protested.

“Refused?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “I don’t remember Jason asking me to come back. I don’t remember him speaking up and saying one damn word.” She leaned forward. “See, that’s something else you’d have to get used to. He doesn’t talk a lot, and you have to practically pry words out of him sometimes. But hey, you love the sound of your own voice, so—”

Courtney suddenly straightened, her back stiff. “Hi, Jason.”

Elizabeth and AJ both looked at the same time to see Jason standing just inside the doors.

Well, here comes part two of the dream, Elizabeth thought. “Hey, Jason,” she said, waving at him.

He frowned. “You’re talking to me?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Well, a person can only hold a grudge for so long.”

“How long have you been standing there?” AJ asked.

“Long enough,” Jason replied. “Elizabeth, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure,” she chirped. Hey, maybe she could get that kiss after all and her dream could have a happy ending.

She came around the side of the counter and followed him to the courtyard, grabbing her jacket along the way.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “You’re acting differently.”

She shrugged. “I figure…you can’t beat ’em? Join ’em.”

Jason frowned. “All right.” He looked away for a second. “I heard what you said.”

“Which part?” Elizabeth asked. “Because I honestly didn’t mean to talk Corky out of liking you, it just happened.”

“Wait, what?” Jason asked, looking back at her.

Elizabeth smiled. “I just asked her how she felt about a few things, like motorcycles, pool, blood…you know the stuff that comes along with being in your life?” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “By the way, she’s not too fond of anyone of them.”

“I don’t care about Courtney and whether or not she likes me,” Jason said. “I was just looking out for her. It’s what Sonny wanted.”

Sonny. Here we go.

“And whatever Sonny wants, Sonny gets,” Elizabeth muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re not the same person you used to be,” Elizabeth explained. “You used to live to make yourself happy and now you’ve put everyone else in front of you. Don’t you know that’s the fastest way to make yourself miserable?”

“Yeah, well, I can’t have what makes me happy,” Jason replied.

See, now she knew it was a dream. Because the real Jason never would admit something like that. Not anymore.

“And what makes you happy?” Elizabeth asked, almost tiredly. She wanted this conversation over so she could get her kiss and wake up.

“You,” Jason told her after a few minutes.

What the hell, right?

“Well, you never told me you wanted me back,” Elizabeth said. “So how was I supposed to know?”

“You told me we didn’t have a chance.”

“Jason, Jason, Jason,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head. “You of all people should know when I’m lying.”

“Lying?” he echoed.

“Lying,” she confirmed. She shrugged. “I was angry and lashing out. By the time I was over that anger, you were hanging around Corky in there, so I figured my chance had passed.” She smiled up at him. “So, do you still want to be with me?”

“Elizabeth—” Jason stopped and shrugged a little. “I never stopped.”

“Well, then.” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head up. “Let’s try this again, shall we?”

He leaned down.

And she waited to wake up.

When his lips brushed hers, she jerked away suddenly.

“Elizabeth?” Jason asked, confused. “I thought you-”

She touched her lips. “Why—why didn’t I wake up?” she asked.

“Wake up?” Jason repeated. “What are you talking about?”

“All morning, I’ve been dreaming about this and every time you lean down to kiss me, my alarm clock goes off.” Her eyes widened and she peered up at him. “I’m not dreaming am I?”

Jason took a step back and frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Elizabeth just shook her head. “No, I have to be dreaming.” She pinched herself. Hard. “Ow.”

“Elizabeth—”

She did it again. “Damn it, wake up.”

Jason reached out grabbed her hand before she could do it a third time, “Hey, knock that off.”

“No, no. You don’t understand. See, I’m dreaming and I wanna wake up now,” she said, her voice taking on a desperate edge.

“Okay, what makes you think you’re dreaming?” Jason asked, proceeding cautiously.

“Well, first of all, you’re out here with me,” Elizabeth said. “And you’re not in there with Courtney.”

“Why would I want to be with Courtney?” Jason asked.

She groaned. “Come on, wake up, Elizabeth.” She pinched herself again. “Ow!”

“Stop it, you’re going to bruise yourself,” Jason said. “You’re not dreaming and I don’t want to be with Courtney.”

She moaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding. I’m really awake?”

“You’re really awake,” Jason told her.

“And I said all those things to Courtney?” Elizabeth whimpered. “Oh, man.”

“What, you didn’t mean any of them?” Jason asked, his heart sinking a little.

“That’s not the point,” Elizabeth said, irritated. “I thought I was dreaming—so I didn’t hold back. Oh, man, how am I gonna face her for the rest of the shift?”

“So, did you mean what you said to me?”

She peeked out from behind her hands. “That depends.”

He frowned. “On what?”

“Did you mean what you said?” she hesitantly.

He gave her small smile and took her hands away from her face, enveloping them in his larger ones. “Yes, Elizabeth, I meant what I said.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay.” She looked down at their hands and then back up at him. “Yeah, I meant what I said, too.”

“Good,” Jason replied. “So…?”

“I need a favor,” Elizabeth said abruptly.

“Okay.”

She tilted her face up to his. “Could you kiss me? Because I’ve been waiting all morning—actually, four different mornings, you know and I haven’t gotten—”

He grinned and cut her off, by tugging her to him and leaning down to capture her lips.

After few moments, she pulled away. “Well, that was certainly worth waiting for.”

He grinned and started to pull her out of the courtyard. “So, what exactly happened in your dreams this morning?”

She smiled. “I’ll never tell.”

THE END

Timeline & Inspiration

This was an episode tag for a show that aired in November 2002, after Elizabeth had moved out of the penthouse. I was doing a series where if Courtney was in a scene, I replaced her with Elizabeth. So at the beginning of this story, the line spoken by Carly was spoken on the show, and I think Courtney overheard it. Instead, it’s Elizabeth.

Song is The Rose by Bette Midler. I’ve embedded the YouTube video below.

Banner

The elevators were open before Carly finished her statement but she didn’t pay attention.

“Why can’t you just admit that you like Courtney?”

But Jason wasn’t looking at Carly anymore—he was looking over her shoulder. Carly frowned and turned around.

“What do you want?” Carly demanded.

Elizabeth pulled the strap of her purse higher on her shoulder and folded her arms across her chest. “I forgot one of my jackets here,” she said quietly.

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed.

Carly smirked and took a step towards her. “I hope that’s all you’re here for because that’s all you’re getting. Jason’s moved on, little girl—”

“Carly.”

Carly turned to glare at her friend. “What? Just because you won’t admit it—”

“Go home, Carly,” Jason said firmly.

“And leave you alone with this twit?” Carly said, her eyes wide. “Hell, no.”

“He’s a big boy now, Carly,” Elizabeth said, keeping her tone light and even. “He doesn’t need a babysitter.”

“You stay out of this.” Carly turned back to Jason. “Jase—”

“Go home,” Jason repeated. Carly glared at the brunette before stalking past her and slamming her door shut.

Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower, and you it’s only seed.

Elizabeth bit her lip and gestured towards the door. “Can I get my jacket?”

Jason nodded wordlessly and moved to open the door. Elizabeth passed him and entered. She stopped at seeing the suitcases in the living room. She turned to him. “You going somewhere?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. Had she heard about the marriage? “Um, no. Brenda’s moving out.”

She frowned. “You’re getting a divorce?”

“Yeah,” Jason replied.

“Oh.” Elizabeth looked away. “Well, I’d better get my jacket.” She headed up the stairs, leaving Jason standing in the entrance of the penthouse staring at the stack of the suitcases.

It’s the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance.
It’s the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a chance.

She reappeared on the landing a few minutes later, her leather jacket over her arm. “I think I’ve gotten everything,” she said quietly. She made her down the steps and started past him.

“Wait,” he said.

She turned, trying to keep her face from lighting up. “Yeah?”

“When I see you…am I supposed to pretend that I don’t…that I don’t know you?” he asked.

She bit her lip and looked down at the jacket. “I was very angry the day I said you were a stranger. I’ve been meaning to apologize for some of the things I said…but I haven’t seen you.”

“I’ve been busy,” Jason said. He put his hands in his back pockets.

“Yeah.” She looked up at him. “Not that it’s any of my business…but is what Carly said true?” She met his eyes. “Have you moved on?”

It’s the one who won’t be taken, who cannot seem to give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin’, that never learns to live.

“She thinks I’m interested in Courtney.” Slightly encouraged by her question, he went on, “I’m not.”

“I’ve missed you,” Elizabeth admitted. “The way we used to be before it all got complicated.”

“I’ve missed it, too,” Jason said. “It seems like all we do these days is fight or not talk at all.”

“I don’t like that.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I don’t like it all. And I don’t want to keep doing it.”

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong,

“Me either,” Jason agreed. He eyed the suitcases and then looked back up at her. “You wanna go somewhere?”

Her eyes lit up a little. “Sure.” She gave him a little smile. “Can we take the bike?”

“Is that what you want?” he asked, amused by the way she lit up at the thought.

“Definitely,” she agreed with a nod of her head. “But only if I get to drive.”

“You are not driving my bike.”

“Oh, why not?”

“Because it’s been too long,” Jason replied.

She took his hand and started leading him to the door. “Far too long,” she agreed.

Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun’s love, in the spring becomes The Rose.

Category Archives: Alternate History

April 12, 2014

Like this:

Like this:

Inspiration & Timeline

Left Behind

Like this:

Inspiration

Timeline

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

April 10, 2014

Inspiration & Timeline

Like this:

Like this:

Timeline & Inspiration

Like this:

Timeline & Inspiration

Like this:

Navigate

Flash Fiction Schedule

November 2024

Recent Novels

Current Flash Fiction

Recent Flash Fiction Updates

Subscribe for Updates

Sort Stories

Support Crimson Glass!

Affiliates

Blog Stats

Most Liked Posts

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Inspiration & Timeline

Left Behind

Share this:

Like this:

Inspiration

Timeline

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Inspiration & Timeline

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Timeline & Inspiration

Share this:

Like this:

Timeline & Inspiration

Share this:

Like this:

Navigate

Flash Fiction Schedule

November 2024

Recent Novels

Current Flash Fiction

Recent Flash Fiction Updates

Subscribe for Updates

Sort Stories

Support Crimson Glass!

Affiliates

Blog Stats

Most Liked Posts