February 13, 2014

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the Rivalry

Courtney Matthews slid onto the stool and called to the bartender, Jake, whom the bar was named after.

“Hey, Jake,” Courtney called. “Have you seen the squirt?”

Jake, a pretty woman who always thought that Courtney and her younger half sister Elizabeth Webber didn’t belong in her bar, nodded. “She’s in the back, hustling some of my regulars at pool.”

Courtney grinned. “Give me a bottle of Killians.” Jake set the bottle in front of her.

“You should take her to go hang out at Club 101 more,” Jake told her. “You know if anything happened to her here, Sonny would have my head.”

“Sonny doesn’t even know we come here,” Courtney confided in the other woman with a smirk. She grabbed the bottle and walked away.

Elizabeth was surrounded by men as she played the game. Though she was the youngest person by far in the bar at only nineteen, Jake let her in anyway and would only serve her club soda.

Elizabeth and Courtney didn’t look alike in the slightest due to their different mothers. Courtney took after her blonde mother Janine while Elizabeth resembled her dark-haired mother Adela. Adela had put Elizabeth up for adoption shortly after her birth, fearing her abusive husband and Elizabeth hadn’t found her brother or sister until about a year ago.

She’d settled into Port Charles just fine and she was now a regular at the dive near the docks, despite Jake’s irritation at the idea.

“You’re late,” Elizabeth murmured, leaning over the table. The second she leaned over in her short leather skirt, every guy’s gaze either dropped to her ass or to the cleavage she was showing in the tight low cut tank top.

“Traffic,” Courtney replied. “Stealing their money again?”

“I’m winning fair and square,” Elizabeth complained, making her last shot and sinking it. She straightened and smiled brightly at the men around her. “I believe that’s the game gentlemen. Pay up.”

Later after Elizabeth had collected her generous winning, the sisters congregated at a table in the back. “So guess who came home just as I left,” Courtney told her sister.

“Who?” Elizabeth asked, her blue eyes scanning the bar for another sucker to take money from.

“Jason Morgan.”

Elizabeth tilted her head to the site. “Jason Morgan. As in Michael’s right hand man?”

“That’s right,” Courtney replied. “He left town about a year before you showed up so you’ve never met. Well, he’s only the sexiest man I’ve ever met in my life.”

“Tell me more,” Elizabeth replied, immediately interested.

“He’s tall–would probably tower over you,” Courtney began, “and he always wears jeans and t-shirts with this awesome leather jacket. Totally the stereotypical bad boy.”

“And let me guess, you’ve slept with him.”

Courtney pouted. “Not yet, but it’s not for lack of trying.” She grinned. “But this is the first time he’s been home in over two years. I think it’s time I finally landed him.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Not before I do.”

“Oh? What makes you think he’d go for you?” Courtney asked. “You’re just as much Sonny’s sister as I am.”

“Well, yeah, but Jason has known you as Sonny’s sister. He’s never met me.” Elizabeth grinned. “You know most guys can’t resist me.”

“You mean my leftovers,” Courtney remarked scornfully. “Jason’s not one of the losers you meet here. He’s a real man and he needs a real woman.”

“And he’s already turned you down more than once,” Elizabeth reminded her. “What makes you think this time is going to be different?”

“Fine, if you think you can get him before I can, then let’s make it interesting. I bet you five hundred bucks that I sleep with him first.”

“You’re on,” Elizabeth accepted.

“Be prepared to lose, Lizzie, dear,” Courtney smirked.

“Haven’t you learned yet…I never lose,” Elizabeth replied saucily.

—

“So, she’s your half-sister?”

Sonny Corinthos nodded and poured his friend a drink. “Here. Yeah, she showed up about a year. She’d just turned eighteen and was released from the foster system so she dug around a little, found out that Adela was her mother and from there, she found me.”

Jason Morgan tipped back the drink. “How do she and Courtney get along?”

“Better than you might think. They’re always getting into some type of trouble. I swear, neither one of them has any taste in men.”

“So, what’s the reason you called me home?” Jason asked, getting down to the heart of the matter.

“It’s Elizabeth,” Sonny told him. “She accidentally met up with Sorel’s son, Joey, Jr. a few weeks ago and she broke up with him almost immediately. He’s been calling her and following her around. The little shit isn’t taking no for an answer.”

“And you can’t knock him off because of the deal you made with Sorel last year,” Jason said.

“Yeah. And Joey ain’t listening to any of the regular men so I figured you could just keep an eye on her. Your reputation is a bit more extreme then her usual guards, so…” he sighed. “I know it’s not one of your regular things and I really didn’t want to ask you but–”

“It’s no big deal, Sonny,” Jason replied. “She’s your sister. Some jerk is bothering her–of course you’re gonna pull out all the stops to keep her safe.”

“Well…Elizabeth doesn’t know some of the stuff he’s been doing either,” Sonny admitted. “I didn’t want her to get scared but Joey’s stepped it up. He’s calling more, hanging around the building, send her letters and flowers. I just don’t want to take any chances.”

“I understand,” Jason relied. “So, where does she usually hang out?”

“Usually, she’s at Jake’s even though she thinks I don’t know about it.

“Jake’s?” Jason repeated, surprised. “Isn’t she only nineteen?”

“Jake lets her in–she keeps an eye on her. Only serves club soda. Sometimes Courtney drops in, but that’s not really her scene. She’s more interested in Club 101.”

“So you don’t want her to know I’m keeping tabs on her right?” Jason asked.

“Yeah, I don’t want her to get alarmed about the kid.”

The door opened then and Jason turned to look. He recognized the tall blonde that entered–it’d been two years since he’d seen Courtney but she still looked the same. The petite brunette next to her must be the new addition to the family.

“Elizabeth…” Sonny frowned. “Courtney, I didn’t realize you were coming over tonight.”

“Well, I knew Jason was in town, so I just had to come and see him.” She kissed him on the cheek. “You should come home more often,” she purred.

“Yeah,” Jason remarked, discreetly stepping away from her.

“I’m Elizabeth Webber,” the brunette told him. She smiled and extended her hand. “You’re Courtney’s new favorite subject.”

He shook her hand. “Jason Morgan and tonight is the first time I’ve heard about you.”

Courtney scowled and folded her arms. “So, how long are you home for? Is it permanent?” she cooed.

“Well, that depends,” Jason replied. He met Sonny’s eyes before glancing at Elizabeth. “On a lot of things.”

—

Elizabeth sighed and hung up her leather jacket. “Michael, do you we have to have this discussion again?”

Sonny scowled from his position in her doorway. “You shouldn’t go out dressed like that,” he told her.

“What, you don’t think I look good?” Elizabeth asked, glancing at her outfit.

“You know you’re beautiful but you should wear more clothing.”

“Michael, you’re overreacting. Besides, I can take care of myself.” Elizabeth’s cell phone rang and she fished it out of her leather jacket. “Hello?”

“Hey, beautiful. You haven’t returned my calls,” Joseph Sorel, Jr’s smooth voice slowed over the line.

“Joey, don’t you have someone else to harass?” Elizabeth asked, irritated. She motioned for a glowering Sonny to leave.

“Harass? Baby, I like to think of what we do as something else.”

She sighed impatiently. “Joey, we don’t do anything. It’s over, remember?” She crossed to her door and closed it, forcing Sonny into the hallway.

“Just because your brother is Sonny–“

“This has nothing to do with Michael,” Elizabeth snapped. “It was over the second you hit me.”

“Aww….baby, I apologized for that–“

“Go away, Joey,” Elizabeth sighed. She hung up the phone and sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh.

—-

Sonny jogged down the steps and immediately headed for the mini bar. “Did Courtney go home?”

“Yeah, she said she had a shift early tomorrow.” Jason studied Sonny closely. “What’s wrong?”

“He called her again while I was upstairs,” Sonny muttered. “She shoved me out of her room and I overheard her say that he hit her.”

“What?” Jason demanded.

“I swear, if I thought I could do it without some sort of war starting with Sorel…I’d make that kid disappear,” Sonny said quietly.

“Look, he’s not going to touch her,” Jason promised him. “I’m not going to let him. And I’m sure even Sorel would understand if it eventually came to more drastic action.”

“I just wish she’d use some common sense. She knows he hangs out at Jake’s and yet she goes there anyway dressed in skimpy outfits.” Sonny shook his head. “She looks so much like my mother, you know? Why do you think she acts the way she does?”

“Who knows why anyone does what they do?” Jason asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Listen, I’ll get a room at Jake’s. I’ll be able to keep an eye on her better.”

“Thanks, Jason. I really appreciate this.”

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the What Would Happen

When she heard the key in the door, Brenda set aside the magazine she’d been staring at since about eleven the previous night. She stood and crossed her arms.

Elizabeth pushed the door open and stopped in her tracks at the sight of her sister-in-law. “Brenda.”

“If you hadn’t shown up in about ten more minutes, I would have told Sonny you never came home,” Brenda said, quietly. “Where were you?”

“How long have you been here?” Elizabeth asked numbly, frozen in the doorway.

“Since I got a call from Bobbie saying you never showed up for your shift,” Brenda replied simply. “I called the seamstress and she said you left around six–nearly in tears. Where were you?”

“Brenda–”

Brenda took in her sister-in-law’s rumpled clothes, the buttons in the wrong holes and her messy hair. “Or maybe I should ask who you were with.”

She flushed then and looked away. “Brenda–”

“Are you insane?” Brenda asked stepping towards her. “You’re getting married next week–and I know you weren’t with Nikolas.”

“That’s right, I am getting married next week so why don’t you let me live my life the way I want to?” Elizabeth snapped suddenly. She shut the door and tossed her bag to the floor.

“God, Elizabeth, if anyone found out–”

“No one’s going to find out,” Elizabeth remarked acidly. She stalked into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

“But if they did, do you know what would happen?” Brenda demanded.

Elizabeth turned to face her, her skin suddenly pale, her eyes wide. “I can’t stop,” she whispered. Her hands were shaking and she brought them up to grip the counter. “I tried. But I can’t.”

Alarmed, Brenda pushed Elizabeth into a nearby chair and kneeled in front of her. “Can’t stop what?”

“I told myself I wasn’t going to go back,” Elizabeth said softly. “After the first night, it was just out of principle. Because I am engaged and it felt wrong. But when I found out who he was–”

“Who is it?” Brenda asked stricken.

“Jason,” Elizabeth whispered fearfully.

“Jason Morgan?” Brenda repeated. She sat back on her heels. “How the hell did that happen? He’s only been back for three days.”

“We didn’t know each other the first time–it was just supposed to be sex,” Elizabeth tried to explain. “And when I found out who he was, I knew I couldn’t go back.”

“But you did.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Brenda, I’ve never felt like this before–not with anyone. I don’t know how to explain it. When he touches me, the rest of the world fades away. I can’t even concentrate on anything else when he’s in the room.”

“It’s lust,” Brenda told her. “That’s all.”

“That’s what I thought until last night. I went to his room after the fitting. He wasn’t here but I just curled up on his bed and started to cry. And when he came home, he wasn’t angry or even put off.”

“What did he do?” Brenda asked resignedly.

“He pulled me into his arms and let me cry on him until I fell asleep,” Elizabeth remarked wistfully. “And when I woke up in the middle of the night…something was different. I was different.”

“What do you mean?” Brenda asked carefully.

“We made love,” Elizabeth confessed. “It wasn’t sex. It was…”

“Are you saying you’re in love with him?” Brenda hissed. This was worse than she thought. She needed to pay an immediate visit to Jason.

“No!” Elizabeth denied quickly. She faltered. “But I think…if we’d met at a different time, under different circumstances…I could have been.”

Which meant, given some more time–she could fall completely and Brenda had to put an immediate stop to this. Marriage to a man she didn’t love was going to be hard enough but if Elizabeth was going to be pining after Jason, it could only end badly for everyone.

“Listen to me, you need to end this. Now. You can’t see him again,” Brenda advised her. “Jesus, if Sonny found out Jason was sleeping with his sister…he could send him back to Puerto Rico…” she gulped. “Or worse.”

“I know.” Elizabeth clenched her fists. “I won’t go back tonight.”

“Good.”

The phone rang then and Elizabeth reached for the cordless sitting on her table. “Hello?”

“It’s me.”

“Jason,” Elizabeth breathed, glancing at Brenda. “Is something wrong? I just left there.”

“I need to see you again,” he said immediately. “Today.”

“Jason, I don’t think–”

“Meet me on the docks at two. Don’t be late–we can’t risk being seen.”

“Jason–”

His voice dropped to almost a whisper then. “It’s important. Please.”

She closed her eyes. “Okay. I’ll be there.” Elizabeth hung up the phone and stared at Brenda with apprehension. “He wants to see me again.”

“You can’t go.”

Elizabeth stood and started for her bedroom. “He said it was important.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t go.”

She turned to face her, tears in her eyes. “He said please.”

Brenda’s hands fell to her side. “Elizabeth–”

“He said it was important and he said please.” Elizabeth shook her head. “I have to go.” She went into her bedroom then and Brenda sighed.

Time to reason with the less passionate one.

When Jason got to his temporary office at the warehouse that morning, he found Brenda waiting for him. “What’s going on?” he asked.

She sighed. “You have to stop this Jason.”

He frowned. “Stop what?”

Brenda shook her head and leaned against his desk. “I know about Elizabeth.”

He blanched and closed the door immediately. “How did you find out?” he asked quietly.

“She never showed up for her shift at Kelly’s last night so I went over to her apartment to find her. She didn’t come home until about eight this morning.”

“Brenda, I can explain–”

“I sure hope so. Because do you have any idea what Sonny would do to you if he found out?”

“I know what could happen and–”

“You can’t see her again,” Brenda interrupted. “Not later today, not tonight, not again. Jesus, Jason–”

“I can’t. I have to see her today,” Jason replied.

“Oh, son of a…” Brenda swore under her breath. “What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Neither of you can seem to stop this. Don’t you get it? If you get caught now, Sonny will send you to Puerto Rico but if you continue this after her wedding–”

“Look, I know what would happen and I’m willing to accept the consequences,” Jason muttered.

“What…is she that good in bed?” Brenda snapped.

He glared at her. “Don’t speak about her like she’s a whore. That’s not what this is.”

“Oh, it didn’t start out as a one night stand?” she demanded shrilly.

“It did,” Jason admitted. “It’s…it’s more than that. She’s…I’ve never felt this way before.”

“Why? Because you made love last night instead of just fucking?”

Jason frowned. “How…” he couldn’t help the hopeful look in his eyes. “Did she say it was like that?”

Brenda threw up her in hands in exasperation. “Jesus Christ, you’re hopeless. Look, if neither of you are going to stop this…then please be careful.” She touched his arm. “For what it’s worth, Jason, I’m glad it’s you. And I wish you guys could have met in a better time.”

“Yeah. Yeah, me too.”

She was on the docks at two and he was there a second later, guiding her around the corner and onto his bike. Within moments, he had started the motorcycle and they were on their way out of town.

They drove for nearly twenty minutes before he pulled off onto an old road off the highway. After another twenty minutes of riding along a bumpy dirt road, he pulled to a stop near an old bridge.

She took the helmet off and shook her hair out. “Where are we?”

He turned off the motorcycle and swung his leg over the seat. “An old estate that burned down–this is the road that connected it to the highway.”

She followed him onto the bridge and leaned against the side. “What did you need to talk to me about?”

“Brenda came to see me this morning,” Jason told her. “To talk me out of seeing you again.”

Elizabeth sighed and stared at the ground. “It would be for the best,” she told him softly. “This won’t end well.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I told her I wouldn’t see you. But then you called and I couldn’t say no.” Elizabeth peered up at him. “I can’t…I can’t seem stay away.”

“The reason I wanted to see you today was to talk about last night,” Jason told her. “It was different. We were different.”

“Jason…” Elizabeth protested. “We can’t…”

“I know you told Brenda something along the same lines,” Jason argued. “Why can’t you admit it?”

“What good would it do to say it out loud?” she asked tearfully. “We need to stop this. Because if anyone else ever found out–”

“I’m going to go back to Puerto Rico after the wedding,” Jason cut in. “Because if we’re in the same city, I don’t know that I could stay away from you.” He moved in front of her and brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. She closed her eyes, reveling in the sensation. “Just give me until then. Please.”

Her eyelids fluttered opened, revealing her eyes–their blue surface darkened with desire. “Every time you touch me,” she breathed, “I just want you more.”

He cupped her smooth cheek in his large hand and lowered his face to kiss her gently, his tongue sweeping through her mouth as if trying to memorize every recess. She moaned and stepped closer to him, curling her hand in the flap of his jacket.

If he didn’t stop this right now, he’d make love to her right on the bridge. He started to ease the kiss back but she wanted more. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and dragged her nails down his shirt-clad chest, feeling the muscles underneath ripple.

Jason fisted a hand in her long dark locks, tilting her head back so that he could nibble his way down her throat.

“Make love to me,” she whispered, tugging his shirt from inside his jeans. She met his eyes. “Please.”

He pulled away from her then and spread his jacket out over the surface of the bridge before gently pulling her down to next to him so that she could sit on it. “You’re so beautiful,” he breathed. He pulled her t-shirt over her head and laid her back on the jacket.

Later, while she was cradled in his arms, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You know…you said it.”

She frowned and looked up at him. “What’s that?”

“You asked me to make love to you.”

She flushed. “Jason–”

“Because that’s what it is.” He smoothed her hair from her face. “I’m falling in love with you.”

She sat up then and shook her head. “No. It’s only been three days. It’s impossible–”

“I don’t care,” Jason remarked stubbornly. “I know how I feel and I think you feel the same–”

“It’s too soon,” she said. She snapped her bra back on and reached for jeans and panties. “We should get back before someone misses us.”

He slid his jeans on. “Elizabeth–”

“Jason, this has been so wonderful…” she hesitated and pressed two fingers to his soft lips. “Can we not argue about this right now?”

He sighed. “Yeah. We’ll talk about this later.”

They didn’t talk about it later. The next five days flew by. Elizabeth spent every night at Jake’s–she’d leave her house around nine at night and she’d be back by seven every morning. They didn’t always make love–sometimes she’d just curl up next to him and talk. She’d tell him about growing up with Sonny, her friendship with Brenda, how much she missed her parents. He’d talk about growing up in Miami never knowing his parents, about being grateful to Sonny for giving him this opportunity to prove himself.

The changes in their behavior didn’t go unnoticed. Jason wasn’t looking Sonny in the eye and Elizabeth was always ducking her brother’s phone calls. To top it off whenever Sonny would talk to Brenda about this, she’d change the subject or leave.

He was beginning to become slightly paranoid. He wondered if something he’d said or done had caused this.

And he wanted to clear the air between him and Jason as soon as possible.

Elizabeth giggled and leaned down to kiss him again from her position straddling his hips. She was using her arms to keep his at his side and alternating between biting and licking his chest as she worked her way down to his erection.

She was somewhere down near his abdomen when the knock came and they were both too lost in their actions to hear it or the second one. Jason groaned when Elizabeth’s lips closed over his tip and as soon as the sound left his mouth, the door swung open.

“What the fuck–?”

At the sound of her brother’s voice, Elizabeth squealed and ducked under the covers as soon as possible while Jason brought a sheet up to cover him. “Jesus, Sonny–”

Sonny stared at his right-hand man and the lump next to him that he was almost sure had been his sister. He closed his eyes. “Tell me that wasn’t Elizabeth I saw when I came in.”

“Sonny–”

“Tell me that wasn’t my sister I saw when I walked in!” Sonny ordered.

Not wanting to put Jason in the position to lie, Elizabeth poked her head out, careful to keep the blanket clutched to her chest. “Michael–”

“Son of a bitch.” Sonny punched the wall, leaving a hole in the plaster. He smoothed a hand over his head. “I’m going outside and the two of you are going to get dressed, do you understand?”

“Michael–” Elizabeth pleaded. Her brother just shook his head and closed the door behind him.

Elizabeth was frozen where she sat even as Jason got out of the bed and pulled his jeans on. She started to tremble and tears started to slide down her cheeks. Jason sat in front of her on the bed and pulled her into his arms. “Oh, God, Jason, what are we going to do?”

“You’re going to get dressed and he’s probably going to send you home while he deals with me,” Jason told her quietly.

“I’m not going to leave here like that,” she said, a desperate edge to her voice. “Jason, what if–”

“Listen to me, I can take care of myself. Please just promise me that when he tells you to go, you’ll go. Don’t argue with him, don’t try to explain–”

She shook her head. “No, Jason, I have to–”

He cut her off with a hard and brutal kiss. “Promise me,” he whispered against her lips.

“I love you,” she whispered back. She hugged him tightly. “I love you, Jason.”

He closed his eyes. “I love you, too. Promise me.”

“I promise,” she choked out. She let him go and stood to reach for her clothes. When Elizabeth was ready and he’d pulled on a shirt, Jason opened the door.

Sonny entered and cleared his throat. “Elizabeth. Go wait in the car.”

She opened her mouth to protest but then she caught Jason’s eye and shut it. She passed by Sonny and stopped, touching his arm. “Michael, I want you to promise me something.”

“Elizabeth–”

“I love him,” she whispered. “Please…don’t do anything you’ll regret. Please.”

He exhaled slowly. “Go wait in the car.”

Casting one last lingering look at Jason, Elizabeth obeyed and when they heard her footsteps on the staircase, Sonny cleared his throat again. “Is there anything you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m in love with her,” Jason said bluntly. “But it was never going to go past her wedding. I was going to go back to Puerto Rico.” He squared his shoulders. “I knew the possible consequences and I don’t regret a single moment I spent with her.”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah. Okay. If I did anything to hurt you, I could never look my sister in the eye again, so here is what’s going to happen. You’re going to leave for Puerto Rico tonight and you’re not going to see my sister again. Ever.”

Jason swallowed hard. “Okay.”

“She’s going to get married at the end of the week and eventually, you’ll both forget about each other. Understood?”

“Yeah.”

“Goodbye, Jason.”

“Goodbye, Sonny.”

Brenda drew a brush through her long dark hair and met Sonny’s eyes in the mirror. “You did the right thing by just letting them end it and sending him back to the island.”

Sonny shook his head. “I can’t believe this was going on under my nose and you couldn’t even tell me.”

She sighed. “Baby, Elizabeth was going insane with this wedding–she needed Jason to distract her, to keep her together. And I couldn’t tell you because I was scared of what would happen.”

“If Nikolas Cassadine ever found out–”

“Oh, screw Nikolas Cassadine!” Brenda exploded. She stood up from the vanity and whirled to glare at him. “Screw the whole thing. Jesus, Jason stood up to you tonight. He told you he loved your sister and didn’t regret one moment they’d been together and I bet your ass she feels the same way. I could see it that day I confronted her. She was scared of what was happening but underneath it all, she was happy. Because he made her feel good–he made her feel different and I am so sorry she had to give that kind of love up so that you could have your precious territory,” she spat out.

Sonny blinked. “You always did think I was wrong when I asked Elizabeth to do this for me.”

“I didn’t think it–I knew it. She is twenty-four years old and she is going to marry a man she doesn’t know, doesn’t love and probably doesn’t respect. While I–at that same age–got to marry someone that I loved deeply and until this moment, I respected.” Brenda chuckled harshly. “You know, I briefly entertained the idea that the moment they confessed their love to you, you’d tell Elizabeth that Nikolas and the territory could go to hell–you were going to do what made her happy.”

“You think I should call off the wedding, chance a bloody street war so that my sister can go and sleep with Jason Morgan?” Sonny demanded.

“I think you should call off the wedding so your sister can be happy with the man that she loves,” Brenda challenged.

Jason slid his hands inside his pockets and sat down on the white sandy beach of Sonny’s private island. Instead of going straight to Puerto Rico, he’d detoured here for some time to himself.

He’d left Port Charles with only the memory of Elizabeth to keep him sane. The memory of her face, of her touch, her taste, her scent, her smile, her laugh. God…if only he’d gone to Port Charles a year ago. He could have been with her.

She was due to marry Nikolas Cassadine the next day. He’d even tortured himself by picturing her in a wedding gown, walking down the aisle towards a faceless man. If he ever found out he’d hurt her, there’d be no place on Earth Nikolas Cassadine could hide.

“I haven’t been down here in years.”

Jason snapped his head up at the sound of her voice. Was he hallucinating now?

“I’ve forgotten how beautiful it is.”

When he heard her again, he got to his feet and turned to see her standing a few yards away, dressed in a bikini, a sarong around her waist. She was smiling tentatively. “Hi.”

“What…how?”

“Brenda threatened to leave Michael if he didn’t call off the wedding and send me to you,” Elizabeth reported. She twisted her fingers and bit her lip. “So, he did and here I am.”

He stepped towards her hesitantly and reached out to touch her cheek. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

Elizabeth smiled a little and stepped closer to him. “I missed you so much,” she whispered. She slid a hand up his chest to curl around his neck. Her eyes searched his. “When I found out you were gone, I felt like someone had ripped out my heart.”

He moved an arm around her waist and tugged her closer before kissing her hard–letting out the built up ache and passion. She moaned and threaded her fingers in his hair. “I missed you too,” he told her.

“Can we do something?” she asked, smiling now.

“Anything you want,” Jason replied.

“Can we be happy for a while?” Elizabeth asked. “We’ve spent the past two weeks suspended in this world where it could all end at any moment and I just want to be happy for a while.”

“I think we can handle that,” Jason replied. He kissed her again. “I definitely think we can handle that.”

The End

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the What Would Happen

1
It started out as a one night stand. No names–just incredible sex. So incredible that they’d agreed to meet again–same place, same time the next night. She’d never had a lover like him before–he had a voice that dripped with sensual promise and a body to fulfill it.

During the three incredible hours they’d spent together, she’d never once thought about what her brother might think or what her fiancé would think. All she could think about was his mouth on her body, the way the skin on his chest rippled and tensed when she touched him.

Afterwards, they laid next to each other–the only sound in the room was their breathing. Heavy at first but then even. It was a long time before they spoke. And even then there was no conversation. She told him that it had been incredible–she’d never felt like that before. He agreed and that’s when they made the pact to meet again. She dressed quickly and quietly without looking at him.

If she looked at him, she might not get out of the room without jumping him again. Once she was in the hallway of the second floor of her favorite bar, she slumped heavily against the door, the diamond on her engagement glinting even the dim lighting.

When she’d been inside Room 4, she’d just been a woman who’d had an itch that sorely needed scratching. It’d been months–actually closer to a year–since she’d slept with anyone.

But now, outside the room, she wasn’t that woman anymore. Inside, she could say it was the hypnotic spell that seemed to be weaved the moment she’d laid eyes on him across the room downstairs. But outside…she was herself again.

Elizabeth Corinthos, sister to Mafioso Michael “Sonny” Corinthos. Sister-in-law to former model Brenda Barrett-Corinthos.

Future wife of Nikolas Cassadine, the number one rival to Sonny Corinthos’s empire.

She pulled her jacket over her rumpled tank top and left it unzipped. If she was going to leave at all tonight, now would be a good time.

She told herself she wasn’t going to come back. No matter how good she’d felt during the last three hours, she couldn’t do this again.

But even as she went down the stairs and left through the back alley…she knew she was lying to herself.

The first surprise came not the next night but the next afternoon. Elizabeth and Brenda had come into her brother’s penthouse after a morning of wedding errands and shopping. Her brother was standing by the mini-bar with a shot of whiskey in his hand and the man he was sharing the shot with had his back to the door.

“Elizabeth,” Sonny called. He beckoned them closer. “I want you to meet the infamous Jason Morgan.”

He turned then and it felt like life stood still for a moment as Elizabeth came face to face with the one night stand.

She knew who Jason Morgan was–everyone around Sonny knew about the guy he’d met in Miami five years ago. He’d put the younger man in charge of the Puerto Rico operation–entrusting him with more territory than men who’d been working longer for Sonny could believe.

Brenda had met Jason a few times–trips to the island with Sonny had ensured that. But Elizabeth never had.

The bag in her hand slipped through her fingers and hit the floor as she drank in his face–hoping that the saying that everyone had a twin in the world was true.

But there was shock on his face as well and she knew that it was him. That she’d slept with her brother’s business partner in a night of nameless sex.

And worst of all, she’d planned on doing it again.

He recovered quickly and stuck his hand out. Elizabeth shook the hand that stroked her into oblivion the night before and let it go immediately.

“Nice to meet you. Michael talks about you a lot,” Elizabeth mumbled. She gathered her bag from the floor. “I have to go.”

She bolted from the penthouse and it only once she was across the hall in her own apartment that she was able to breathe again.

She’d known all along that she’d go back that night. Even now–knowing who he was–she paused in front of his door and knocked softly. They could straighten out this whole thing and agree to put it behind them.

It made complete and rational sense to her as she drove the six miles from Harborview Towers to Jake’s on the outskirts of town. It made even more sense as she gave the owner of the bar a sheepish smile and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

But once she knocked and he opened the door, she couldn’t even remember what’d she come to tell him.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said quietly.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she confessed. “I should go.”

“Probably,” he agreed. But he opened the door further and she stepped inside. She heard the door click shut behind her but she forced herself to keep her back to him. If she looked at him, she’d jump him.

And that wasn’t what she’d come here to do. Right?

“I saw the ring last night but I didn’t ask.” His voice broke the thick silence and she stared down at the object in question. “I’m asking now–even though I know the answer.”

“It’s part of a merger,” she revealed so softly he stepped closer to hear her. She could feel his body heat against her back and it almost had her dizzy. She closed her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. “They’re merging the territory and a marriage is the easiest way.”

“You don’t love your fiancé?”

She turned then and met his intense gaze. If she’d felt dizzy before, she wasn’t sure how she was still conscious now. Everything was spinning and cloudy now. “Does it matter?” she asked, her voice husky now.

“Does it matter to you?”

Oh dear God, how was she supposed to concentrate on his words when he had the edge to his voice? That deep, gravelly edge? She blinked, trying to clear her vision and keep her mind clear. “No,” she whispered. She pulled the ring from her finger and slipped it into the pocket of her denim blue jeans. “It doesn’t matter to me at all.”

“You’re Sonny’s sister,” he said.

“It didn’t matter last night.”

“I didn’t know that last night.”

Her heart was pounding–she was having a hard time trying to breathe. “Does it matter tonight?”

He stepped closer to her, his scent overwhelming her then. She blinked again. She’d come here to tell him something…what was it again?

“It should,” he answered finally. He lifted a hand and brushed it against the skin just underneath her cheekbone. When the thick calloused skin made contact with the softness of her own, she moaned and her eyes fluttered shut. God, just a touch could undo her. The power this man had over her–she’d never known desire like this–or was it just plain old lust? Did she even care? “But it doesn’t,” he replied.

“Oh, God, I want you,” she breathed or even half moaned, she wasn’t sure. Didn’t even matter.

When he finally kissed her, it was even more intoxicating than the night before but now it had a sense of desperation because it was even more forbidden tonight. Because tonight, he knew who she was–what the penalty could be if her brother ever found out.

The knowledge that she was the sister of Sonny Corinthos should have stopped him but it only made him kiss her harder, pull her closer and he was even more eager to strip of her jeans and t-shirt. He wanted her in his bed again–immediately.

He backed her towards the bed even as he was peeling her jeans off her body. Jason slid his hands to her upper thighs and tugged so that she let him lift her into his arms, instinctively wrapping her legs tightly around his waist.

“Take this off,” she grumbled, tugging at the hem of his black t-shirt. He set her down on the bed and climbed over her, on all fours. She nearly ripped the shirt in her haste to get it off. She ran her fingers over the warm skin of chest, brushing against his nipples.

He was just as anxious to have her shirt off, only he did rip it at the seams in his rush. His hands cupped her firm breasts and she moaned into his mouth. “Please,” she murmured, not even knowing what she was asking for.

He slid down her body, his mouth roving over her porcelain skin, leaving a trail of red marks. His fingers slid under the straps of her panties and slid them down her legs, nipping at the tender skin of her inner thighs.

“Please,” she begged, threading her fingers in his hair and trying to pull him back up. “I need you now!”

He nibbled his way back to her lips before thrusting his tongue past her lips and devouring her mouth greedily. She blindly unsnapped his jeans and started to shove them over his hips, sending his boxers with him.

Jason reached towards the nightstand and found the condom on top–where he’d put it that morning before leaving. He was anticipating that tonight would be as incredible as the night before and he wanted to have it at hand. Now he was glad he hadn’t put it away after meeting Elizabeth.

She took it from him. “You concentrate on getting the rest of your clothes off,” Elizabeth told him breathlessly. He grinned then and kicked off his pants and boxers. Once he was fully nude, she braced her legs around his waist again and rolled them over.

“I think this was the one position we didn’t try last night,” Elizabeth remarked with a saucy smile. She nibbled and licked her way down his chest before reaching his hard shaft. Before he could stop her, she gave it a few licks–almost like she was licking a lollipop. Jason groaned when she swirled her tongue around his tip a few times before rolling the condom over him. She smiled at him mischievously. “Maybe we can try that in full force later,” she suggested as she let him pull her back up his body.

He adjusted her over his shaft and thrust his hips up, impaling her in one smooth motion. Elizabeth arched her back and fisted her hands in her hair. “Oh, God, this feels so good,” she murmured, closing her eyes. His hands slid over breasts and strummed her nipples as she started to lift herself up and down.

After a few minutes of the slow rhythm, he slid his hands down to grip her hips and he quickened the pace and she rode him harder. At first she was chanting his name but as she got closer to the edge, they just merged into one long moan. When he felt her tighten around him, he came to his own climax.

Sweating and shaking a little, Elizabeth collapsed on top of him. They were still connected and she could feel that every time she moved a little. He wrapped his arms around her, stroking her hair.

“I’ve never felt like this before,” she admitted softly. “Even as I drove over here, I knew I shouldn’t.”

“I didn’t think you would come,” Jason admitted. “I hoped…but I knew why you might not.”

“You asked me before if I loved Nikolas,” Elizabeth began. “I don’t. I barely know him.”

Sensing the conversation was taking a sharp and serious turn, Jason slid out of her body and disposed of the condom. He slid back into the bed and pulled Elizabeth close to him, covering them with the thin sheet at the end of the bed.

“I wasn’t really paying attention before,” he admitted. “You said something about territories.”

“You know that Michael’s wanted the Cassadine territory for years,” Elizabeth reported. “Helena is getting old and Nikolas isn’t in a position to run it to its full potential so he agreed to merge the territories.”

“And the simplest way to do that through marriage,” Jason sighed.

“I didn’t want to agree at first but Michael’s done so much for me, how could I not do something for him?”

“Marriage is a pretty big favor,” Jason remarked.

“It didn’t bother me until now,” Elizabeth replied softly. She turned more into his embrace. “I know this is just sex but I’m supposed to get married in two weeks and…”

“If this was just sex, Elizabeth, you wouldn’t have come back tonight,” Jason told her gently.

“It’s really great sex,” she corrected. She propped herself up on her elbow. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not like this usually–I don’t let my hormones make my decisions.”

“If Sonny found out I was sleeping with his baby sister…” Jason trailed off and shook his head.

“Maybe I should just go home and we forget all about this,” Elizabeth suggested quietly.

“We’re going to have to eventually,” he replied. He touched her face. “Because I know it’s even more forbidden when you’re the wife of Nikolas Cassadine.”

“What do you want me to do?” Elizabeth asked. She pushed her hair out of her face and sighed. “Because the longer we do this, the harder it’ll be to walk away.”

“We couldn’t even walk away after one night. You tried and I even made up my mind to turn you away if you did come.”

“Why didn’t you?” she asked curiously.

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Because the second I opened the door and saw you…I couldn’t.”

Elizabeth exhaled slowly and laid on her back next to him. “So this is going to be a thing huh?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

It was definitely going to be a thing.

She stayed over that night, falling asleep in his arms. When he stirred the next morning and saw her curled up next to him, he groaned. How would he get her out of here without being seen? Because all it would take would be the wrong person seeing her leave his room and it would get to Sonny before the day was over.

And once Sonny knew that Jason was sleeping with his engaged baby sister…there were really only two options. He’d be sent back to Puerto Rico or…

He woke up her up quickly and she dressed in a hurry, understand the ramifications it got too late and someone saw her. She left, not making any plans to see him there again but they both knew that they’d be meeting again that night.

When he came home around eight, she was already in his room, curled up on his bed. She was on her side, her shoulders shaking. He quickly pulled his jacket off and kicked his boots to the floor before climbing into bed behind her and pulling Elizabeth into his arms.

She turned to him and he realized that she’d been crying. Within minutes, his shoulder was soaked.

She wouldn’t speak–wouldn’t tell him what had happened to upset her and Jason found himself cradling her as her sobs quieted and she eventually slipped into sleep.

He didn’t pull away or try to wake her. He just held her more tightly and within an hour or so, he fell asleep too.

She woke up around four in the morning and found herself still in his arms. Elizabeth smiled, her face tearstained and she touched his cheek, moved that he’d comfort her like this.

He felt her moving and opened his eyes. “Hey,” he said, his voice a little hoarse. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I just…I needed to get it out.” She laid on her back and sighed. “I was at my dress fitting this afternoon and I guess it really hit me. I’m getting married to a man I barely know…” Her voice caught and she swallowed hard. “Oh, God, Jason, I don’t want to marry him.”

Jason drew her close him again and kissed her forehead. “I don’t know what I can tell you.”

“There’s nothing to say,” she said mournfully. “I have to see this through.” She sat up suddenly and pulled her shirt off–tossing it to the floor. Elizabeth slid on top of him and started to kiss him.

He held her away for a moment. “Elizabeth, we don’t have to do anything. I can just hold you.”

Elizabeth’s eyes were soft and she could feel the tears coming again. “I want to,” she whispered. She leaned down and kissed him again. This time he responded.

Their clothes were shed quickly and in lieu of foreplay and different positions, he just slid in between her thighs and entered her slowly.

The whole act was different this time and they both felt it. Where it’d once been hard and fast, it was gently and slow. She locked eyes with him as he thrust and they kept the connection. He never went any faster and she didn’t beg him this time. Instead, they made love for nearly an hour before either of them found release.

And making love was the right phrase, Jason decided as he fell into another sleep with her in his arms. Before, it really had been sex. But this time…they’d made love.

And somehow, that made all the difference.

January 29, 2014

Inspiration

Inspired by the sappy Christmas song.

Timeline

This is an alternate universe, so forget everything you know.

Sir I wanna buy these shoes, for my momma please
It’s Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry sir?
Daddy says there’s not much time
You see she’s been sick for quite a while
And I know these shoes will make her smile
And I want her to look beautiful
If Momma meets Jesus tonight
— Bob Carlisle, Christmas Shoes

Nicole shifted her weight from one foot to the other and rolled her neck. How long did it take to get from Fifth Street to Forty-Eighth anyway? She was tired of standing on this bus.

Her parents had always told her not to go on buses–but she couldn’t ask them for a ride today. Besides, they thought she was at Cathy’s house and Cathy had been instructed to make an excuse in case her father called.

But he wouldn’t. Her father hadn’t left the bedroom in a few days. See, her mother had been kind of sick and he was worried about her.

But it was Christmas Eve and seven-year-old Nicole was braving the Port Charles streets all by herself. She’d saved for weeks and weeks to buy her mother a pretty pair of earrings and she thought she had enough so she’d climbed the bus to head to Wyndham’s.

The bus lurched to a sudden stop, sending Nicole flying forward. She landed in the lap of a young blonde woman sitting with a little boy. “I’m sorry,” she said, righting herself.

“It’s all right.” The woman studied her and cast her eyes to the direction Nicole had come from. “Where’s your mother, honey?”

“She’s at home,” Nicole said. “She got some kind of…” she hesitated, “lou-kem-cem…she’s sick.”

“Leukemia?” the woman supplied.

Nicole nodded. “Yeah. My daddy’s with her but I hope this bus gets to Wyndham’s soon because I wanna buy these earrings for her. I saw them in a catalog a-and I’ve been saving for weeks. I think I have enough but I had to come today because Daddy says she’s gonna be an angel soon and I think angels need pretty jewelry.”

The woman’s eyes softened and she looked at her soon. “Scoot over, Kyle.”

The brown-haired boy scowled but obeyed his mother and she moved over to create a small space for Nicole. “Thank you,” Nicole said gratefully.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” the woman asked.

“Nicole Maria Emilia Morgan,” Nicole told her proudly. “The Emilia is for my aunt Emily.”

“I’m Maxie and this is my son, Kyle.” The woman tipped her head towards her son. “Honey, say hello.”

Not wanting to be outdone, Kyle sat up and puffed his chest out. “My name is Kyle Andrew Radcliffe, Jr.,” he said. “My daddy is police man.”

“My daddy works with coffee and he always smells like it,” Nicole wrinkled her nose. “I’m seven and three-quarters.”

“I’m eight,” Kyle boasted. He frowned. “What did you mean when you said your mommy was gonna be angel?”

“That’s what my Daddy says,” Nicole told him. “He says that sometimes people get really sick and then they go to be angels and that way, my mommy can take care of me forever but I won’t be able to see her.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I want her to stay with me but Daddy says Mommy is too good and pure for this world and that’s why she’s his angel.”

“Your daddy sounds like he loves your mother very much,” Maxie said. “He’s lucky to have such a beautiful and caring daughter.”

“He says I’m an angel too,” Nicole said. She sighed. “I hope Mommy doesn’t become an angel until after tomorrow. She loves Christmas. She let me put the angel on top of the tree this year and I made paper chains. She calls my dad a paper chain expert but he’s really bad at it so I think she’s just being nice.”

Maxie smiled. “I hope you get Christmas with your mommy. Hey, we’re coming up to Wyndham’s stop.”

Nicole smiled brightly. “I’m kind of excited. I’ve never been there by myself.”

Maxie matched her smile and took Kyle’s hand. “Tell you what. Why don’t Kyle and I walk you to the jewelry counter? And then we’re meeting his dad at the police station so maybe we can give you a ride home.”

“Wow, really?” Nicole clapped her hands together. “That’s great! I don’t know which bus to take home anyway.”

—

Nicole pressed her face up against the glass case of the jewelry counter and her face crumbled. “I don’t have enough.”

Maxie crouched next to her. “Didn’t you say you saw it in a catalogue?”

Nicole nodded, her lip trembling. “But that’s the one I saw and it wasn’t that much then.”

Maxie followed Nicole’s finger and saw a tiny pair of sapphire earrings in a silver settings with a price of three hundred dollars. She felt a pang in her heart. There was no way that the angelic girl had saved that much.

She straightened and looked at the sympathetic salesgirl. “Were these earrings on sale at any time?”

The girl nodded. “Yeah, they were on sale for fifty bucks back at the end of the summer but it’s Christmas, everything’s inflated.” The pretty redhead looked at the tiny girl staring forlornly at the jewelry. “Look, I have about twenty bucks on me. I can go ask my friend Joy if she can offer anything. Maybe between the three of us, we can make up the difference. She looks so sad.”

Maxie nodded and lowered her voice. “Her mother’s very sick and I get the impression she’s not supposed to last much longer.”

“Wait here and I’ll go talk to Joy.” The girl moved to find her friend at the other end of the counter waiting on an elderly woman.

Maxie looked back Nicole. “Honey, how much money do you have?”

Nicole reached into her pocket and took out a plastic bag full of bills and it jingled with change. Maxie took it from her and started to count.

By the time the salesgirl and her friend Joy had rejoined them, Maxie had counted out forty dollars. For a seven-year-old girl to save that much money…

“Between us, we have sixty dollars,” the salesgirl said.

“Yeah, when Lea explained what was going on, I couldn’t help but give some money,” Joy told her. “Does it help?”

Maxie bit the inside of her cheek. Nicole was still short two hundred dollars. The little girl saw the hesitation on her new friend’s face and smiled. “It’s okay, Maxie. I don’t have to have the earrings. My mommy is pretty without them and I guess angels don’t really need jewelry.”

Maxie felt Kyle tugging at her jacket and she turned to look at him. “Yes, honey?”

He reached into his pocket and took out the envelope full of his own money. Maxie’s eyes filled with tears. Kyle had saved over a year to get a new Xbox and he had a hundred and fifty dollars with him.

She kneeled in front of him and kissed his cheek. “Oh, baby, I am so proud of you.”

Kyle shrugged. “She just wants her mommy to look pretty when she becomes an angel and I think it’s sad that she won’t get to see her every day because I would miss you.”

She took the envelope from him and gave him a tight hug. When he woke up the next morning, that Xbox he’d saved for would be waiting for him. She’d make sure of that. “I have never been more proud to be your mother than right this second.”

She stood, set the envelope on the counter and reached into her own wallet to take out the remaining money.

Lea smiled brightly, rung up the purchase and then even wrapped the velvet jewelry box herself. “Here you go, honey.”

“Thank you!” Nicole said. She smiled again and looked up at Maxie. “Can you take me home now? I want to make sure my mommy didn’t become an angel while I was gone.”

When the trio had exited, Joy sniffled and reached for a tissue. “Man, times like this, I’m glad I waited to quit until after the holidays.”

—

Kyle Radcliffe, Sr. frowned that night when he saw the credit card purchase receipt for the video game system. He looked at his wife who was arranging their son’s presents under their tree. “I thought we agreed Ky was going to buy this on his own?”

“We did.” Maxie stood and sat down on her husband’s lap. “Your son gave the money away.”

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“You remember the little girl who we gave a ride home?”

Kyle nodded. “Jason Morgan’s daughter. I know him–he used to work for Sonny Corinthos before he got married and left the business. I heard his wife was sick.”

“Leukemia and it’s bad. Nicole said her father told that her mother was going to be angel soon.” Maxie sighed. “She wanted to buy he mother a pair of earrings for Christmas but she didn’t have enough. Kyle, she saved forty dollars. Do you know how wonderful that is?”

“How much were the earrings?” Kyle asked.

“Three hundred dollars. So the salesgirl threw in a twenty and her friend put in forty and then Ky put in his entire hundred and fifty dollars.”

“He’s been saving that money for over a year,” Kyle said, surprised. “Birthday, allowance, report card grades…he wouldn’t even buy baseball cards. He gave it to a little girl he never met before?”

“He said that he felt sorry for her because she wouldn’t see her mother anymore and that he’d miss me if that happened.” Maxie rested her forehead against her husband’s. “How can I not buy him that game system after that?”

“I guess he earned it.” Kyle smiled at him. “And you were worried we’d screw him up.”

—

Nicole climbed up on her mother’s bed and rested her head on her mother’s chest. “I love you, Mommy.”

Elizabeth Morgan’s hand slowly came up to stroke her daughter’s long blonde hair. “I love you, too,” she said softly before looking at her exhausted husband sitting at her side. “How was Cathy’s?”

Nicole sat up and reached into her jeans pocket. “Mommy, I…I didn’t go to Cathy’s. I went and got your Christmas present.”

“Aww, honey…” Elizabeth started to struggle into a sitting position. Jason quickly sat on the bed and helped her. “You know you didn’t…”

Nicole sniffled. “Daddy says you’re gonna be an angel and I thought you needed pretty earrings. I saw them in a catalogue and I went on the bus to get them. I didn’t have enough but a pretty lady and her son helped me.” She held the neatly wrapped present out to her mother. “Here. You can open it tonight.”

Elizabeth hesitated but saw the hesitant and excited look in her daughter’s eyes. She was so proud of herself for doing this–for apparently not asking her father for the money even though Jason could have taken care of it. She took it from her and pulled the wrapping off as fast as her exhausted body could handle.

She tilted the box open and the sparkle of the sapphire stones took her breath away. Her vision blurred with tears and she looked at her daughter. “Oh, baby…”

“I wanted you to look pretty,” Nicole said. She wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist and started to cry. “Please stay here. I know Daddy says you’re too good for this world but you’re my mommy and I need you. Someone else can be an angel.”

“I don’t want to go,” Elizabeth said. She closed her eyes and held her tightly. “I love you so much and don’t listen to your daddy, he’s always thought I was too good for things. Too good to love him, too good to marry him. He’s very biased and I think he labors under the impression that I’m perfect or something.”

She looked at him with a soft smile. “But I love him for it and I love you.” She kissed Nicole’s head. “No matter what happens, I will always be your mother and I will always love you. Please remember that.”

“Okay.” Nicole kissed her cheek. “Will you wear the earrings tomorrow?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Sure, baby.” She looked at Jason. “Why don’t you put her to bed? It’s getting late.”

Jason nodded and picked their daughter up off the bed. He kissed his wife’s forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

—

The next morning, Nicole woke up to see her father kneeling next to her bed, with tears in his eyes. “Hey, baby,” he greeted hoarsely.

She sat up and her lip trembled. “Is Mommy an angel now?”

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. “Mommy’s an angel now and she wore your pretty earrings to heaven.”

“I wish she’d stayed here but you’re right, Mommy’s so good and sweet and pretty that everyone should get her to look out for them and not just us.” Nicole kissed her father on the cheek. “Now she’s your angel forever.”

“Yeah.” Jason managed a smile. “But she already was anyway.”

It seems so wrong that something so beautiful should be hidden. Whether it’s a blood-red tulip covered in a surprise snow storm in April or a beautiful memory of a friendship forgotten in grief.

My mother used to tell me a story about a woman she’d known in her own youth. She died at an early age, this woman. But she’d been my mother’s best friend and closer than a sister.

It pained my mother to speak of her, but I could never get enough of the story. I once found an old faded picture in an album. My father cautioned me never to show it my mother, for it would only serve to make her cry.

She was beautiful, with soft dark hair and porcelain skin. She stood in a garden, laughing with a younger version of my mother and a man I’d seen in other pictures. My mother’s brother, an uncle whom I’d never met.

The story my mother told was always the same, about how the woman had convinced my mother to tell the truth. My mother had breast cancer as a young woman and she’d been ready to die. Her friend had discovered the truth by accident and had convinced my mother to tell the truth. Eventually, she’d received treatment, thanks to her friend and she’d been able to marry my father.

I once begged my father to tell me the story about her death and why it made my mother sad to think about her. He’d been reluctant to tell me since the woman had been a good friend of his as well.

But he’d wanted me to know more about her and why she’d mattered so much. So he told me. The woman had found herself in a situation where she knew of a man who wanted to kill my mother’s brother. My father told me that the woman and my uncle had once been together, and that they loved each other despite their differences.

She went to my uncle to tell him of the threat, but he had his pride and he turned her away. She followed him and begged for him to believe her. He gave in and told her that she needed to leave, that she needed to be safe.

She agreed, only because she was frightened of the man who wanted to kill my uncle. He put her on a plane for a private island, and she told him that she loved him before she left.

The plane had been piloted by someone who worked for the man and he shot the woman just after the plane took off. My uncle was devastated and once the threat had been taken care of, he left town.

My father says my mother gets letters from him still. He says that he will never return home until he is ready to be buried beside the woman who’d lost her life for him.

My father and mother loved her dearly and still grieve for her now. Which is why I suppose they named me for her.

I often wonder why my mother does not speak of her more. One would think she’d be desperate to pass on her memory to the daughter she’d named her for. But the only words I hear of her are the one story and what I can beg from my father.

It seems so wrong that a woman such as her should be forgotten and lost in my mother’s memories. She was beautiful, both in body and in spirit. Why should her memory be hidden like the tulips in my great-grandmother’s garden during a snowstorm?

Perhaps I should seek out the uncle who loved her so deeply, that nearly twenty years after her death, he has yet to return to the place she once lived.

But if it pains my mother to speak of it, then I would think it would be twice as painful for him. Or maybe it would help to speak of her?

My father says that it is foolish. That my mother doesn’t talk about her because it hurts to remember what could have been. That she might have had a sister, and that they might have raised a family together. He warns me to leave my uncle alone, that his memories are not to be used to serve my curiosity.

And I’m left to wonder why Elizabeth Webber touched my family so deeply in the time they knew her and how she would have changed my life if she’d lived.

Rated NC-17

When Gia Campbell had suggested the game, Elizabeth had been slightly intoxicated. All right–she’d been smashed. Otherwise, she never would have agreed.

Well she might have–just not in front of her best friends.

Find a guy. Sleep with him. No names.

It couldn’t be that hard, right? Elizabeth had known a lot of guys in her life–they were almost always horny. Always looking for sex.

All she’d have to do is dress up, head into a bar and the guys should take care of the rest of it.

Gia, anticipating the fact that they’d probably pull out once they were sober, had made them sign contracts. Basically, they’d had to sign their name stating they’d do it on a napkin. Damn Gia–she’d have to be a law student.

Gia had assigned them separate places to look. She’d given herself Club 101, Carly had gotten Luke’s, Brenda the Outback and Elizabeth…?

Elizabeth had gotten Jake’s, a bar on the docks that all the dockworkers went to after work. Gia had thought she was making Elizabeth’s job difficult–but Gia also didn’t know that Elizabeth was a regular there and good friends with the woman who owned it.

Elizabeth tightened the robe around her waist and pursed her lips as she perused her closet. Skirts–you never wore those to a bar. Even if you were looking for a one-night stand. It was easy access for guys who didn’t know better.

And she’d met a lot of guys who didn’t know better.

See, Elizabeth liked sex. She knew that in most circles, that probably made her slut, but she didn’t really care. She was twenty-one, in college, on her own and carried at least three condoms everywhere she went. She was responsible about it and as long as no one got hurt–

Well, what were a few one-night stands?

Elizabeth’s best friends had no idea about this little hobby of hers. She wasn’t sure why she’d never told them. It wasn’t like they were saints. Carly Benson alone had probably beaten her in the number of guys they’d slept with. Gia had just broken up with her boyfriend and was going a little wild. Brenda was usually restrained, but you get enough tequila in her–watch out.

Elizabeth was the youngest in the group and considered the little sister. Maybe that’s why she never confided in them.

But after tonight? Maybe she could prove she wasn’t as innocent as they liked to believe.

She pushed aside a pair of jeans and pulled the leather pants she’d bought on a whim a few months ago. She grinned and headed to the other side of the closet where she flipped through her tank tops and dug out the black one she’d stopped wearing when it’d shrunk a size too small in the washer.

The phone rang as Elizabeth was arranging her brown curls in a casual disarray. She reached out with one hand and clicked the speaker phone.

“Hello?” she asked, picking up the cover up and applying a light coat to her face.

“Webber, it’s me,” Gia’s voice wafted through the room. “Just making sure you’re not chickening out.”

Elizabeth smirked as she applied the smoky gray eye shadow. “Not a chance. Since when I have I backed down from something I’d said I do?”

“Well–”

“Don’t bring up that again,” Elizabeth groaned. She closed the eye shadow and picked up the eye liner. “Lucky Spencer was an idiot. There was no way I was going to date him.”

“All right, fair enough. So, you’re going to go through with this?” Gia asked, her voice a little doubtful.

Elizabeth just shook her head. “I’m not a virgin, Gia. I can handle a one-night stand, you know.”

“You know…” Gia hesitated. “About safety and all that.”

Elizabeth almost burst out laughing. They really did think she was an innocent little girl. “Of course, Gia.”

“Well, it’s just Brenda was making a big stink about dragging you into this plan and I was feeling a little bad. I mean, you haven’t been with a lot of guys–”

“What makes you say that?” Elizabeth asked, leaning forward to apply the mascara. She set it back on the dresser and studied her reflection in the mirror.

Gia didn’t reply right away–seemed a little stunned actually. “Elizabeth. What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked finally.

“Exactly what I meant to say,” Elizabeth reply, digging through a pile of make up to retrieve just the right shade of red. “I’m not some innocent little girl the three of you need to lead around because you feel sorry for me.”

“We…We never–ever–thought of you like that,” Gia said, firmly.

Elizabeth snorted. “Could have fooled me.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Gia told her. “You don’t have to do this to prove yourself.”

“I’m not doing this to prove myself,” Elizabeth retorted. She capped the lipstick and fluffed her hair out once more. She studied her reflection again and seemed satisfied with what she saw. “I’m doing this because it’s Saturday night.” She paused and then went into for the kill. “And I do this every Saturday night.”

Before Gia could manage a reply, Elizabeth swiftly hit the disconnect button and jerked her leather jacket off the back of a chair. She pulled it on and flipped her hair out from underneath the collar. She was pissed now–she’d never had confirmation of her friends’ pity for her–but Gia had just validated her thoughts.

—————-

“Hey, Liz,” Jake said as Elizabeth slipped onto a bar stool in front of her. “Can’t say I’m surprised you’re back again.”

Elizabeth smiled. “You know I love this place. I’d much rather go here than some stuffy old club like the Outback or Club 101.”

Jake smiled proudly. “I do have a unique establishment, don’t I?”

“You do,” Elizabeth agreed. She looked around and frowned. The bar was usually packed by this time of night. Instead, there were a few men at the bar and a couple at the pool table. “Where is everyone?”

“Oh, the Quartermaines gave their workers the day off,” Jake supplied. “I don’t know why–but they’re not coming in here to work off steam.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth shrugged. Just made her job a little more challenging. She gave the bartender and owner a bright smile. “The usual.”

Jake slid a bottle of beer across the counter and sighed. “You know, a bright and intelligent girl could be doing so much more with her life.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said, defensively. “I’m going to school and I’ve got a job. I just like to blow off steam every once in a while.” She slid off the barstool and perused the bar again looking for a likely candidate. A smile crossed her face as she found her prey. He was familiar–like she’d seen him somewhere outside the bar. He was in the back, playing pool at a table by himself.

Elizabeth licked her lips as she studied his form leaning over the table, lining up another shot. Short spiky dark blonde hair, muscular forearms. She’d be willing to bet any amount of money that the rest of him looked just as yummy.

Jake shook her head in amusement as Elizabeth Webber took her jacket off, slung it over her left arm and headed over to Jason Morgan’s pool table, beer in hand.

She’d seen Elizabeth’s look of determination and knew that when Elizabeth decided she wanted something–

She almost always got it.

—————-

Elizabeth set the beer on a nearby table and put the jacket over the back of one of the chairs. “I don’t suppose there’s room for one more,” she said.

Jason Morgan looked, ready to say no when his eyes connected first with the black leather pants. His gaze seemed locked on the waist of the woman and the tight as a second skin pants. He finally drug his eyes past her breasts encased in a small–very–small black tank top and looked her face. The expectant look in her smoky blue eyes, the generous lips painted a dark red that just begged to be kissed off.

“Sure,” he found himself saying. He grinned quickly, indicating the rack of pool cues. “I’m always in the mood to win.”

She raised one dark slim eyebrow and put a hand on her hips. “Are you?” she asked. “Well, I hate losing,” she remarked as she selected one of the cues. She took out of the rack and picked up the chalk to rub it on top. She met his eyes. “And I never lose.”

Jason broke away from her eyes to rack the balls. There was just something incredible about this woman who had just showed up at his table. Most patrons knew who he was and didn’t come near him. He was Jason Morgan, Sonny Corinthos’ right hand man. The hitman and enforcer for the mob.

Whether this woman didn’t recognize him or didn’t care who he was–it was something different, that’s for sure.

“You can break,” he said after a few moments. She smirked and slid past him, relishing in the sharp intake of breath she heard as her bottom brushed the front of his jeans for a few minutes.

This was almost too easy.

They played in silence for the most part. Elizabeth made sure to brush past him a few more times, slid her fingers suggestively up and down the pool cue. She could hear him swallowing almost every time it was her turn.

But then he turned the tables. After one of her turns, he brushed in front of her–his back coming in contact with her breasts and she’d had to struggle not to gasp in pleasure. The mere sight of this man had aroused her, but she needed to downplay it.

She wanted to be the one in charge and it just wouldn’t work if he knew just how much he was affecting her.

As the game neared its end–they were both competing heavily, at this point either one of them could win–Elizabeth leaned against the table and watched him line up another shot. “You know,” she said, “what would make this more fun?”

Jason made his shot and looked up at the vixen who’d been driving him insane the entire night. “And what would that be?” he asked.

“Raising the stakes,” Elizabeth replied. He lined up another shot, having sunk a ball in the previous turn.

Jason missed the shot and straightened. She didn’t say anything at first as she studied the table to make her next shot. She found it and started to move past him. Jason gripped the left hip, stilling her movement and planting her right in front of him, pressed up against him. Her eyes flared a little as she realized exactly how much the stakes were raised already. “What did you have in mind?” he murmured.

She licked her lips, drawing his eyes to her mouth again. “If I win,” she began, tilting her head back to look up at him, “I get a ride.”

“A ride?” Jason repeated, knowing exactly what she meant and loving the idea. An idea sparked in him and he smirked. “All right. And if I win, I get to take you for a ride.”

The corners of her mouth quirked up in a little smile and she nodded. “Sounds fair.”

Ten minutes later, Jason sank the winning shot and straightened up. “I guess I win.”

Elizabeth glared at the table. “I can’t believe this. I’ve never lost at pool before.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Jason teased. “So, you want that ride?”

Elizabeth finished her beer and grabbed her jacket. “Definitely.”

He took her hand and Elizabeth frowned when he led her past the stairs and towards the front doors. He pushed open the door and suddenly Elizabeth narrowed her eyes.

The man had a motorcycle. That was his big “ride.”

Shit. She should have tried harder. She should have known it wasn’t going to be easy. She’d taken it for granted that he’d be a pushover.

Shit shit shit.

He pulled a helmet off the back and handed it to her. “Here.” When Elizabeth reached out for it, he held it back. “Wait.”

Elizabeth sighed impatiently. She was already going to lose this game–that’s what she got for letting for hormones lead the way. “What?”

“I never got your name,” Jason said.

Elizabeth shrugged. This night was a loss–might as well as toss it completely down the drain. “Elizabeth.”

“Just Elizabeth?” Jason asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Elizabeth replied. She waited for a few seconds before she sighed again, “What’s your name?”

Jason hesitated. There was every possibility that the second he gave his first name, it might connect in her mind.

And he’d lose whatever leverage he had.

He was never one to lie to anyone so he said it. “Jason.”

Elizabeth nodded and understanding dawned in her eyes. “Now I know where I know you.”

He frowned. “Oh, really.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth replied. “You were at Emily Quartermaine’s graduation party this spring. She’s a year a head of me in school, but we had a class together.”

Shit. This girl was only twenty-one. And a friend of his baby sister’s to boot. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

“We didn’t really know each other all that well,” Elizabeth continued. “But she knew Brenda and Brenda drug me along for the ride.”

And she knew Brenda Barrett. This just didn’t seem to be Jason’s night.

Elizabeth frowned. “So, you reneging on your offer?” she asked.

“What?” Jason asked, tuning back in to her. “What do you mean?”

She held her hand out for the helmet. “Aren’t we supposed to be going somewhere?” she asked pointedly. “I mean, I don’t especially know where, but you seemed to have a destination in mind.”

He had. His penthouse. But he was beginning to reconsider the idea. He hesitated another moment and looked down at her.

Wait–why should he? She’d made it blatantly obvious what she wanted. The whole ride wager–well, if that hadn’t convinced him, the way she’d been looking or the way she’d been holding the pool cue all night definitely tipped him off.

She was over eighteen–over twenty-one. She appeared to know what she was doing and it wasn’t like he was going to force her to do anything. They were both adults.

He handed her the helmet. “I think I have a way to make both of us happy,” he told her.

Elizabeth smirked and took the helmet from him. “Oh, really?” she asked, looking up at him.

In one swift movement, his hand snaked around her waist and pulled her against him. He searched her eyes for any sign that she didn’t want him this close or for any sign of hesitancy. When he didn’t find one, he grinned and leaned down.

She tilted her head up even further to meet his lips. It crossed her mind just before their lips made contacts that she’d already broke two of Gia’s rules. They’d exchanged names.

And she was definitely emotionally involved now.

They kissed with a fierce intensity, exploring each other’s mouths, fighting for control. The helmet dropped to the ground as Elizabeth threaded her fingers through his dark blonde hair. His mouth devoured hers greedily, his hands at the small of her back, holding her close.

When the need for oxygen became too much to ignore, they broke away, each sucking in air.

When Elizabeth felt calm enough to speak, she asked, “So…your place or mine?”

He swept the helmet from the ground, and handed it to her. “My place.”

She hooked the chin strap and swung her leg over the seat and scooted up behind him, letting her hands trail of the muscles of his chest.

“Hey, watch where you’re putting those,” he chastised, turning the engine on. “We want to make it there in one piece, don’t we?”

—————-

Jason closed the door behind them as Elizabeth looked around his apartment–or penthouse, as it clearly was. It was nearly bare–a few pieces of furniture and a pool table.

She frowned. Jason lived in Harborview Towers. Sonny Corinthos lived here, too. It was always in the papers–

Oh.

She turned to look at him. “You’re Jason Morgan, aren’t you?” she asked.

He looked away for a second before meeting her gaze and holding it. “Yeah.”

She bit her lip and only hesitated for a second. “Webber.”

“What?” Jason asked, confused.

“That’s my last name,” Elizabeth replied. “Elizabeth Webber.”

“Oh.” Jason searched his mind for the name. Now that he thought about it, Brenda Barrett had mentioned her a few times. Mainly as a girl she’d met through Gia Campbell. The girl was supposed to be young and kind of innocent. Brenda had often remarked that she was taking her under her wing.

He found himself wondering how her friends had ever got the idea that Elizabeth was innocent.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by the feeling of her small hands on his chest. “So,” she asked, “Are you going to stand there staring into space all night or–”

She never finished her thought as he took her arms and held them at her sides while he devoured her mouth again. She kissed him back just as hard–eradicating any thoughts that might be lingering in his mind about what Elizabeth had wanted to do tonight.

He let go of her arms and they wound tightly around his neck, trying to pull him even closer to her body. He broke away from her mouth and trailed his mouth down her jaw line to her neck and finally her collarbone. She tilted back to give him better access and when she got frustrated by the clothing between them, she pushed him away.

“What–” Jason was cut off when Elizabeth reached for the hem of his shirt and jerked it over his head. She let it fall to the floor as she leaned forward to kiss his chest. Her lips closed over his nipple and he tensed, threading her fingers in her curls.

After a few moments of that delicious torture, Elizabeth pulled away again and crossed her arms to pull off her tank top. It was Jason’s turn to have a little fun and he pulled towards the couch, going slowly so that she could change her mind if she wanted to.

She didn’t and let him lay her gently on the leather couch. He was over her in a second, adjusting himself so he wasn’t crushing her. When he was comfortable, he leaned down and took one of her nipples in his mouth. She almost bucked right off the couch, but he held her down with one of his hands as he suckled.

“Oh, god,” Elizabeth moaned, squirming a little under his ministrations. Jason switched sides and lavished the same amount of attention to her other breast.

After a few more minutes, Jason raised himself up and captured her mouth in a soft kiss before pulling away. “You’re so beautiful,” he breathed, kissing the side of her neck.

Elizabeth would have said something but he was pulling her pants off and she was too interested in what came next. She was getting a little antsy. Foreplay was nice and all, but she was becoming way too hot to concentrate anything else but the thought of—

Jason’s finger pushed inside of her, effectively breaking into Elizabeth’s thoughts. He stroked her—soft at first but as her moans got louder and she got closer, he slipped another finger in and kept his eyes on her as she closed her eyes and cried out. “Oh–J–Jason!”

He watched her orgasm wash over her and withdrew her fingers. She whimpered and opened her eyes, her breathing still heavy. “Jason–”

“Hold on,” he told her. “I just have to go upstairs–”

“No, no,” Elizabeth argued. She sat up a little and searched the room desperately. “My purse,” she told him.

He was back in a matter of seconds, but had taken the time to shed his jeans and boxers. The condom was in place when he slid back between her legs. Her legs raised instinctively to cradle him. “Are you sure?” he asked for the first time, meeting her eyes.

She nodded. “Definitely,” she promised. One of her arms was around his neck, the other on his back and Elizabeth moaned as he slid inside of her. “Oh, good lord,” she breathed, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. He thrust inside her again and she raised her hips to meet him. They eventually found a rhythm and she clutched at his back as her second orgasm of the night drew closer.

“Oh, my god,” she moaned. Elizabeth bit her lip and closed her eyes again.

She tried to hold back, tried to wait for him, but it proved impossible. “Sweet leaping Je–sus,” Elizabeth cried out.

He chuckled and thrust once more before finding his release as well. Spent, he collapsed on top of her for a few seconds. He raised his head and brought one of his hands up to push her sweaty hair off her forehead. “So.”

Elizabeth gave him a tired smile. “So.”

“I figure we could go upstairs,” he told her. She frowned when he pulled out of her. He stood and disposed of the condom before holding his hand out to her. Elizabeth stood, a little self-conscious. “Because, you know, you still have two more condoms,” he continued. “And the bed’s a little more comfortable.”

Elizabeth grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

She grabbed her purse and laughed as Jason hooked an arm under knees and swept her into his arms. “Swept right off my feet,” she drawled as he headed for the stairs.

“I knew you were trouble the second I laid eyes on you,” he mused.

Elizabeth sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck, thinking she could spend the rest of her life contently wrapped in his arms. “Yeah, well, I don’t think you quite mind the kind of trouble I’m going to cause you.”

The promise in her voice made him grin. “Oh, I think I think we’re going to cause a lot of trouble together.”

“Sounds good to me,” she laughed as he kicked his bedroom door open.

Prompt: Stay

When he’d first followed the tiny VW Bug, Officer Jason Morgan had no idea that he was about to pull over the very irate pregnant wife of the police commissioner, Ric Lansing.

And now her car had quit and Mrs–Miss Webber, he automatically corrected, was very much in labor.

“Okay, just–just stay right there,” Jason told her. He ripped his radio off his belt. “Dispatch, I need bus at my location. Now.”

“What’s the emergency officer?” a crackling voice came back over the static.

“I’ve got a female in labor,” Jason replied. He stepped towards Elizabeth Webber and kneeled in front of her. “How far along are you, ma’am?”

“Eight months,” Elizabeth bit her lip and tightened her hand around her steering wheel. “Oh man, oh man, this really hurts.”

“Keep her calm, officer. Bus is en route. ETA twenty minutes.”

He hooked the radio back on his belt and took a deep breath. “I–I, uh, never been in this situation before Miss Webber. Do–do you know how close you are to delivery?”

“Do I look like a doctor?” she screeched.

“Okay, maybe I should just get you in my car and get you to the hospital myself,” Jason said hesitantly. He reached for her hand. “Miss Webber?”

She took his hand and just as he started to pull her to her feet, another contraction slammed into her and she nearly hit the ground. Jason braced her weight in his arms and kept her standing. “Keep a hold on me, okay?”

Elizabeth nodded fervently and bit her lip as they started to move towards his police car. Jason took his radio back out. “Dispatch, cancel that bus. The female seems to be in advanced labor and I am transporting her to the hospital.”

“Ten-four.”

He settled her in the passenger side of his car just as another contraction ripped through her. “Oh God, they’re coming so fast, that’s not good!” In her pain, she gripped his arm so tightly he nearly yelped. “I don’t think I’m going to make it to the hospital,” Elizabeth whimpered.

“Y-you have to, Miss Webber. I’m not equipped to deliver a baby,” Jason said, panicked.

“M-maybe you should see if the baby’s coming,” Elizabeth suggested.

Jason paled. “Are you kidding me?”

“Do I look like I’m in a position to kid?” Elizabeth demanded. “You’re a cop, you’re supposed to…like help me aren’t you?”

“Uh yeah.” Jason swore under his breath and made a promise to never pull over another female driver for the rest of his career. He reached for her legs and maneuvered them out of the car. “So…I just look right?”

“I don’t know, this is my first kid,” Elizabeth retorted.

“Right, right.” Jason hooked his fingers on the buttons of her jeans and slid the zipper down. “This feels so wrong,” he muttered. He tugged the jeans over her hips.

“Okay, what am I looking for?” Jason asked her, not wanting to look down there unless he absolutely had to.

“A baby’s head,” Elizabeth said with a glare. “Look, this isn’t exactly the my idea of the perfect delivery–you know–a strange man looking at my goodies so why don’t you just cut the shy act and help me, okay?”

“Right.” Jason glanced and closed his eyes. “So I think the kid’s gonna have your hair color.”

Elizabeth blinked. “What?”

“Dark hair I mean…I see the baby,” Jason told her. “Okay, okay…I can do this. I’ve seen it on television, you know?”

“Oh dear God,” Elizabeth wailed. Another contraction wracked her body and she started to cry. “Oh, I really wanted drugs. I want drugs!”

Realizing that he would have to deliver this baby, Jason took a deep breath and yanked her jeans and panties all the way down. He tugged off her sneakers and now she was nude from the waist down. “Okay, I think if you push with the contractions–that’s supposed to help, right?”

“I think so,” Elizabeth grunted.

“So…next one, you’re going to push,” Jason nodded decisively. He reached into his glove compartment and took out a bottle of water. “You want some of this?”

She nodded eagerly reached for it. She downed half the bottle in one thirsty gulp. “This isn’t fair,” she whimpered. “This was supposed to be a happy day with me and Ric and our families and instead I’m on the side of the road with a police officer I don’t even know…”

“Well, Miss Webber, this isn’t my idea of a good day either but I’m going to do my best for you and your baby,” Jason promised her.

“Oh…oh…ow, here it goes again,” Elizabeth moaned.

“Okay, now is a good time to push,” Jason told her. “Go!”

Elizabeth grunted and after a few more minutes, the head pulled through. Jason braced his hands on it, keeping it steady. “The head’s out,” he reported. “Keep pushing, Elizabeth, I hear once the shoulders are out, it’s all down hill from there.”

Her face red and sweaty, Elizabeth gritted her teeth and gave one more push, forcing the baby’s shoulders out. Jason easily slid the rest of the baby’s body out and cradled the slimy little body against his uniform. “It’s a boy,” he told her with a smile as Elizabeth’s son started to wail. “Reminds me of you already.”

Elizabeth’s tears started again in full force as she reached for her son. Jason hesitated. “The umbilical cord,” he told her. “We need to cut it and there’s placenta and stuff, right?”

“Right,” Elizabeth nodded. She sat up and took off her shirt, revealing a tank top underneath. “Here–he needs to stay warm.”

Jason took it from her and wrapped the baby in it. “I need the first aid kit from the glove compartment. “There are some scissors in there.”

A few moments later, he’d cut the cord and the placenta had been disposed off. He managed to get her jeans back on and handed her the baby. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

—

A few hours later, Jason knocked on her open hospital door. His uniform was gone–replaced by jeans and a t-shirt. “Miss Webber?”

“Officer Morgan,” Elizabeth said with a smile. She had her son in her arms and a pretty brunette was seated next to her. “Emily, this is the cop that delivered Steven.”

“Oh, thank God you were there,” the girl named Emily declared. “The doctors say that both Elizabeth and Steven are in great health.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t screw it up,” Jason remarked honestly. “But I think I’ve sworn off female drivers for the rest of my life.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Have you seen your husband yet, ma’am?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “If that jackass comes within five miles of this room, I’ll kill him. And…call me, Elizabeth?” Her blue eyes sparkled. “After all…you’ve seen me half-naked.”

Prompt: Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Furious, she pressed on the gas pedal, spurring her much abused car to leap ahead a little bit.

“No good son of a bitch,” she muttered. She ignored the stop sign and sped ahead, angry words hissing through her teeth like steam rising from a tea kettle. “When I find him, I’ll kill him.”

Ignoring the blares of the horns and the yells of outraged drivers, Elizabeth Webber breezed through a red light.

Predictably, she soon noticed the familiar red flashing lights behind her. “Is there no justice?” she screeched. Pulling the car to a sudden and abrupt halt, the police car behind her was forced to swerve off the road in order to avoid crashing into the back of her ancient hatchback.

She threw the car into park and launched herself out of the car, murder on her mind. “Do you have a problem?” she demanded, hotly.

The police officer threw open his door and stalked towards her, his blue eyes cold as ice. “Have you lost your mind lady?”

“Yes!” Elizabeth threw her hands up in the air. “Yes! Can’t you tell? I only broke a thousand traffic laws back there! Obviously I’m in a hurry!”

“You were going fifty in a twenty, you lunatic,” the officer growled. “You ran three stop signs and two red lights. Where the hell are you going in such a hurry?”

“To take a baseball bat to my husband’s knees,” Elizabeth hissed. She reached inside her car and withdrew the object in question. A good old fashioned wooden bat. The officer took a step back and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, the only person I’m going to be injuring is that fuck ass.”

He reached forward and grasped the bat. “Give me it,” he directed.

“No.” She yanked it back. “That son of a bitch is going to know pain when I’m done with him!”

“Okay, okay.” He set his notepad on the top of her car. “Look, I can see that you’re very angry but that’s no reason to put the lives of everyone else on road at risk.”

Elizabeth hesitated, her eyes darting back to the last intersection she’d just come through. “Sorry.”

“Well…sorry’s not going to be good enough.” The officer reached behind him and she paled, seeing he was going for his handcuffs.

“Look, okay maybe I was a little out of hand, you know? I was pissed–a-and just going on instinct.” Elizabeth set the baseball bat down on the road. “I’ll take the ticket, the fine whatever–”

“I’m sorry, Mrs.–”

“Miss Webber, I didn’t take his name,” she retorted. Taking a deep breath. “Okay, I know I’m probably guilty of reckless driving and all of that good stuff and you have every right to be mad at me because I’ve been acting like a serious madwoman but really–there’s no need to…” she swallowed hard, her eyes trained on the silver bracelet-shaped objects in his hands.

“It’s the law–”

“He’s been cheating on me,” Elizabeth said desperately, “And it’s with my sister, you know? I mean, that’s going to piss anyone off, right?”

“Well, yeah–”

“And it’s been going on since before we were married. And that’s like five years we’re talking about,” Elizabeth continued, her words coming quickly, her face becoming flushed from the strain. “Seriously, if you run my license and my name–I have no tickets, no record, really.”

With a sigh, the officer tucked the cuffs back into his pocket and pulled the cap off his head, wiping his forehead with his forearm. “Here’s what I’m going to do, Miss Webber. I’m going to take your word on it. You don’t seem like the type to do this kind of driving normally, okay? Just…do me a favor and go home.”

Elizabeth sighed and ran her hands through her hair, the sides of her bulk coat parting, revealing her to be in an advanced state of pregnancy. “I don’t have a home,” she muttered.

“I’m sorry–what?”

“I don’t have a home,” Elizabeth bit out, her eyes flashing. “He locked me out of the house.”

“Okay, we’ll just get a locksmith–”

“You obviously don’t know who my husband is–” her eyes flicked down to the little name tag beneath his badge, “–Officer Morgan.”

Officer Jason Morgan frowned. He knew from the moment she’d leapt out of the car that she’d looked familiar. “Oh, shit.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth agreed with a bemused smile. “You probably know him.”

“Commissioner Richard Lansing,” they said together.

“Okay…” Jason cocked his head to the side. “Okay, so what about a friend’s house?”

“The only friend I had in this godforsaken town was my sister–and if I go there, you’d better believe someone’s not coming out.”

“Well…we’ve got another problem.” He gestured to where her car had just conked out. She’d left it running but it had just…stopped. With a loud huff.

“Oh…no…” Elizabeth sat down, her legs dangling into the street. She turned the ignition off and then tried to start again. “Come on–ow!”

Concerned he started forward at her outcry of pain. “Are you okay?”

“Must be Murphy’s Law,” Elizabeth said through clenched teeth. She took a few deep breaths. “You know–where everything that can go wrong…will go wrong?”

“Yeah?”

“My water just broke.”

“Oh. Well…shit.”

Prompt: Coffee, tea, or me

Elizabeth Webber shoved the coffee pot into its place and glared at nothing in particular. After an entire day of working, she was more than ready to call it a night and sleep for a week. She hated this job and she hated Port Charles. She should have never moved here. What had she been thinking? Trying to connect to a sister and grandmother who quite clearly didn’t want her here?

She checked the clock. Ten minutes until closing. She could do this. The diner was nearly empty anyway. A couple in one corner and one man—drinking coffee in the courtyard.

She bypassed the couple–she was in no mood to deal with young love–and breezed out of the doors—in time to see the explosion.

The man drinking coffee in the courtyard had been alone when Elizabeth had served him. Now, a brunette was sitting across from him and a blonde was in the brunette’s face. Both were arguing bitterly and the man seemed to content to let them kill each other.

Elizabeth almost walked back in–but she found herself curious. The trio hadn’t noticed her appearance, so she crossed her arms and leaned back to enjoy the drama.

She learned the brunette was Robin, the blonde Carly and the man Jason. The blonde seemed to be blunt, bordering on the crude while Robin the brunette was sweetly cutting. Every word that came out of her mouth could be interpreted about a dozen ways. The man, Jason, wasn’t speaking at all. In fact, he seemed to be ignoring their presence.

Elizabeth discovered that Jason had been in relationships with both of them at one point or another. He had a son with Carly and had broken up with both of them–which meant he was single, Elizabeth decided, looking over the muscular blonde Adonis. Not a bad thing.

Robin accused Carly of wrecking her life and anyone else’s that came along while Carly accused her of betraying Jason. Robin said something along the lines of Carly being a slut which Carly laughed off.

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow as Robin called Carly insane and was pleasantly surprised when Robin brought up the son that apparently wasn’t Jason’s after all. Just as Robin finished telling Carly that she should take her son and leave town, Jason suddenly sat forward.

He told Robin in no certain terms that she was never to mention Michael’s name again. Carly smiled gleefully until Jason turned to her and told her to go home to Sonny. Robin stood and left, throwing a hurt glance towards Jason. Carly seemed to back off after the Sonny comment and left.

Amused, Elizabeth came forward with the coffee pot. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No.” Jason looked up. “How long were you standing there?”

“I came out just as Carly showed up,” Elizabeth replied. She pulled out her order pad and scribbled the amount. “Sounds like you have your hands full.” She put the check in the table. “You ever get them squared away? Give me a call.” She grinned at him and headed back into Kelly’s, her cell phone number in a circle underneath the amount of his check.

Category Archives: Alternate Universe

February 13, 2014

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