When Jason and Elizabeth came into view, Lila was delighted to see them hand in hand. She was even more pleased when she realized that they were both smiling. It was wonderful to see her grandson and the girl she loved as family finding their way back to one another.

“Elizabeth, darling,” Lila greeted, a gentle smile gracing her face. Elizabeth leaned to kiss her cheek before taking a seat across from her. Jason did the same and took a seat next to Elizabeth. “How have you been? I’ve been worried.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been by,” Elizabeth apologized. “Carly’s taking on new accounts at Deception and I’m working on a research project with Sonny. But it’s no excuse, I should have been by.”

“Don’t worry, darling. I understand that you’re busy,” Lila smiled. “But how have you been?”

“I’ve been better,” Elizabeth admitted. “But I’ll be okay.”

“You know I’ve always considered you an honorary member of this family,” Lila said gently. “And that hasn’t changed because you’re not ten years old. You’re still welcome any time.”

“That means a lot to me, Lila,” Elizabeth replied, softly. “Have you heard anything about my family returning from Europe?” she asked hesitantly.

Lila studied the young woman carefully. Poor girl must be worried out of her mind that she was going to see her father. “No, darling. But I no longer keep in touch with them. After Jason’s accident, your father disapproved with the way we handled the situation and Edward broke all business ties. Within time, personal ties were broken as well.”

“How did he want you to handle the situation?” Elizabeth asked curiously.

“He wanted us to have AJ arrested and thrown in jail and recommended we send Jason away to an institution until he remembered his past,” Lila said bluntly. “We, of course, disagreed.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “I am so sorry he said that.”

“Don’t apologize, darling. You’re nothing like your father,” Lila said. “Why, I can remember a good many conversations with you and Emily right here where you said that the way it ended up was for the best. AJ in rehab and Jason being left to find his own way.”

Elizabeth could feel Jason’s stare. “Well, I still believe that.” She turned to Jason. “I just thought it was better if no one pushed you. If you were going to remember anything, it’d happen in its own time.”

Jason squeezed her hand. “There are some things I wish I did remember,” he said quietly meeting her eyes.

Lila suddenly felt like a third wheel as she watched them share the stare. She was thrilled that their connection had survived five years of neglect—and it seemed stronger than ever. She noticed the circles under Elizabeth’s eyes and the general paleness of her complexion. She frowned. There had to be some way to put her fears to rest. Perhaps she could talk to Edward about buying out Webber Industries in Port Charles so Jeff Webber would never need a reason to be here.

“So, Lila, how are your roses this season?” Elizabeth asked, finally. She smiled brightly.

Lila warmed up to her favorite subject. “They’re better than ever. This garden is so full of life—it’s better than it’s been in years. I told Edward I believed it was because all my grandchildren were in the same area and happy, but he just patted my hand and said of course.” Lila frowned. “I think he was patronizing me, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“I think sometimes Edward doesn’t quite know what to say,” Elizabeth said. “You seem to surprise him a lot.”

Lila smiled. “After so many years of marriage, that’s quite a blessing. I know many people don’t understand why we’re still together, but I see the good in Edward. And he is a good man. He makes bad decisions,” she said, turning in Jason’s direction. “But he does it out of love.”

Jason looked away, “Yeah. Well, maybe one day. He hasn’t bothered me yet since I’ve been back.”

“He wanted to see you, but he held himself back,” Lila admitted. “He doesn’t want to push you any further away.”

Elizabeth smiled. “You know, I always loved you two more than my own grandparents. I used to pretend I was your granddaughter.”

Lila reached out and touched Elizabeth’s free hand. “Don’t you know, darling? You’ll always be my granddaughter. Blood doesn’t make a family. Love makes one.”

Elizabeth blinked back the sudden tears that sprang to her eyes. Why was it so easy for everyone but her family to love her? What had been so bad about her that they couldn’t love her?

—-

They left a little while later. On their way out of the garden, Jason pulled her to a corner.

“I found this yesterday and I was wondering if this is the same one you always talk about with Emily.” Jason gestured towards the decapitated statue of an angel that sat next to a fountain.

Elizabeth stared at it. “I wonder why it’s still here,” she said softly. She circled it and reached out to the touch the wings. “I always thought it was beautiful—I couldn’t understand why Edward said Lila didn’t like it.”

Jason furrowed his brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“We were playing tag,” Elizabeth said softly. “You were chasing me and when you caught up, you tackled me and we crashed into the statue. It hit the fountain and the head cracked. I was so upset…” she trailed off and looked at him, her eyes sad. “That was the first time you saved me from my father.”

“What happened?” Jason asked.

“My father had a meeting with Edward and for some reason he came into the garden looking for me. He saw the statue and grabbed my arm. I cried out…and you stepped in and took the blame,” Elizabeth said quietly. “AJ backed you right up and said that you’d been wrestling and knocked it over. I guess my father didn’t look convinced so Edward said that Lila didn’t even like the statue so there was no harm done. He had no choice but to back off. He still tried to take me home, but Emily asked if I could stay the night.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Looking back, I think Edward might have suspected. He was always kind to me—more than he was with any of your other friends. After the accident and the three of you had left home, Edward still stopped whenever he saw me. Asked me how I was. He’d ask how you all were. He never once said a bad word about Sonny—one of the few people who didn’t.” She met his eyes. “If he knew, Lila probably does, too, doesn’t she?”

Jason looked away. “She knows, but whether she heard it from Edward, I don’t know. I told her when I was younger.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth didn’t know how to take that. She’d trusted Jason Quartermaine not to tell anyone and he had anyway. For a moment, she wondered if he’d said anything to anyone else. “Do you know why?”

“Lila told me it was because I needed some to vent to. You’d only made me promise not to tell AJ or Emily.” Jason exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Elizabeth said quietly. “Jason Quartermaine did and I guess I can’t blame him. I guess he needed someone to talk to …and I wasn’t much help.” She smiled at him. “I wonder if they kept the head.”

“What?” Jason said.

“The angel’s head,” Elizabeth clarified. “I wonder if they kept it.”

Jason stared at the angel. Somehow he thought it looked better this way. Otherwise it’d be perfect—and nothing was supposed to be perfect. He looked back at Elizabeth. “She reminds me of you.”

She frowned. “A decapitated angel?”

Jason met her eyes. “She’d be perfect with the head—and I don’t think anything’s supposed to be perfect.”

“And how is she supposed to remind you of me?” Elizabeth asked, bewildered.

“You see your past as…” Jason struggled for the right way to explain it. “As a flaw. Like it’s your fault. You think if it hadn’t happened, you’d be…well not perfect…but closer to it.”

“Yeah?” Elizabeth said, trying to follow his logic.

“But you’re like the angel. It’s not her fault she’s not perfect. She didn’t ask to be knocked over. It just happened.” Jason reached for Elizabeth’s hand. “Don’t you think she looks better without it?”

Elizabeth flicked her eyes back to the statue and tilted her head. The wings still sprouted from the back, clearly marking it as an angel. The angel held a harp in her hands. It was perfect in every way—except for the missing head. Weather and time had warped the top of the statue so that it looked like it had always been headless. She smiled softly. “Yeah.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be who you are if it wasn’t for what happened,” Jason continued. “It’s made you stronger. It’s made you wary of people you don’t know. You don’t trust easily, and when you do, it’s easily broken. You take care of yourself; you make your own rules in life. No one controls you—because you’ve had that before and you know it doesn’t work.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she turned to look at him. Good lord, it was too late. Carly had been right. She did love Jason. “I-” she stopped. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to say what she wanted to say. No one ever took the time to say things like that. She had her friends—Emily, Nikolas, Carly. They all loved her and looked out for her, like Sonny. But Jason…took the time to consider the things she did and why. How had he managed to walk into her life after five years, turn it upside down and make her thrilled that it had happened?

Footsteps broke the spell and they both turned to see Edward enter the clearing. He cleared this throat.

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but Lila mentioned you might still be here.” He didn’t even look at Jason—was afraid Jason would leave if he did. “I wanted to see you, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth smiled and approached Edward. She gave him an impulsive hug—she was in a good mood. “It’s good to see you. It’s been far too long.”

Edward smiled. “You’re looking better than you have in a while. You getting more sleep?”

Elizabeth smiled. “I’m doing much better. How are you?”

Edward hesitated. “I could be better,” he admitted. “It’s been tense in the house lately.”

Jason took a deep breath and strode forward. He stuck his hand out. “Hello, Grandfather.”

Both Elizabeth and Edward turned startled eyes to him. Edward was the first to recover. “You’re looking good, Jason,” Edward said, shaking the hand quickly as if it would be retracted before he could. “Lila tells me you’ve moved back to Port Charles.”

Jason nodded. “Time to put some roots down,” he said.

Edward glanced over at Elizabeth and smiled. “Ah, I see. Well, I didn’t want to keep you. I just wanted to say hello to Elizabeth.” He turned back to her. “Will you tell Emily I said hello?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Sure thing.”

Edward hesitated again. “And AJ…he’s in town?”

Elizabeth and Jason traded glances. “Yes,” Elizabeth said warily.

Edward smiled. “It’s good to have the family in one town,” he said. “Tell him that I’ve forgiven him for blackmailing me,” he said, raising his chin.

Elizabeth laughed. “All right.”

“And that he’s welcome in the house any time,” Edward said. He seemed to be struggling with the words. He eyed Jason. “All of you, of course.”

Elizabeth softened. It seemed like the Quartermaine patriarch was finally ready to pull the fragmented family back together. “I will. See you later.”

She took Jason’s hand and led him out of the garden. Once they were off the Quartermaine property, she turned to him. “What was that about?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Jason shrugged. “I looked at him and suddenly the anger wasn’t there anymore.” He hesitated. “When you told me what he’d done…and how he’d treated you, and then I saw him talking with you…I don’t know. He doesn’t feel the same.”

“He had a heart attack two years ago,” Elizabeth said quietly. “It almost pulled the family back together, but AJ and Alan went at it again and things seemed worse. Edward nearly died and I guess the experience changed him.”

Jason nodded. “Makes sense.”

He led her to the spot where they’d left the bike. Just before they reached it, she stopped him. “I didn’t get a chance to say anything before Edward came.”

Jason turned. “You don’t have to.”

“Yeah, but I want to.” She took a deep breath. “I told you this morning that you were becoming important to me again and that it was uncomfortable.” She paused, searching for the right words. “That’s not true anymore. In the last hour, that stopped being true. I think that I’m okay with you being in my life again.” She rubbed her eyes and sighed. “And that’s a difficult thing to say, because not only do I trust you with my life…but I trust you not to leave. And I know that I can do that. Because you’ve proved that to me. You’re not just a friend, Jason.” She paused again, meeting his eyes. “You’ve held me while I’ve cried, comforted me during nightmares, listened when I talked…that’s more than a friend. I could try and tell you how I feel about you but I don’t know if I could find the right words.”

He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. “You’re more than a friend to me, too,” Jason said quietly.

She allowed herself a few moments of bliss in his arms before pulling away smiling. “Hey, how about teaching me to drive?” she asked, her eyes shining.

“You are not driving my bike…”

—-

A few hours later, Elizabeth had finally tracked AJ down at the hotel. He’d sent Courtney out shopping with the kids so that he and Elizabeth could have some time to talk. He’d wanted to tell her that he knew—but he didn’t know how to tell her without her thinking Emily had said something.

He and Elizabeth sat on the couch in the main room of the suite they were renting. She didn’t say anything at first—which made AJ suspect that she might know he knew.

Finally after a few minutes, Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I want you to know that after the accident, I was angry at you.”

AJ let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. “Oh.”

“I’m not now,” Elizabeth assured him. “But it took a while. And I want to tell you exactly why I was angry.”

“Because I took away Jason,” AJ said.

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah. AJ, there’s something I never told you…that I kept from everyone. The only person who knew was Jason-”

AJ shook his head. He didn’t want to put her through the explanation if he already knew. It would serve no purpose. “Liz, I already know.”

She stopped and stared at him. “What do you know?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“I know about your dad,” AJ said, softly.

Her lower lip trembled. Oh, god. Had Jason Quartermaine told AJ too? “How?” she demanded.

“No one told me,” he assured her quickly. “I was at the estate on Friday with Emily and we found the angel statue in the garden. We started talking about that day—and it hit me. I’m sorry.”

“You guessed?” Elizabeth said weakly. Oh, god. How many other people had?

“No one else knows,” AJ said quietly. “No one was around enough to even see the way he treated you. And Liz, I am so sorry. If I’d been a better friend, I would have seen it. I would have been there and I’ll never forgive myself-”

Elizabeth stood. “How did you figure it out?” she asked, hugging herself tightly.

“I was talking to Emily about that day. How scared you’d been. That I wished I’d thought of jumping in. I said I wondered what Jeff would have done if he’d gotten you home and suddenly the pieces fell together. The clothing, the time you spent with us, how close you and Jason were…” AJ trailed off. “Emily wasn’t going to say anything—she didn’t even want to confirm, but I knew it. And I just….I wish I’d seen it.”

Elizabeth turned to face him. “Do you know many times I’ve heard that over the past week?” she asked, quietly. “You didn’t see it because I didn’t want you to know. I wore long sleeved shirts to hide the bruises. You didn’t pay attention to what I wore—and by the time I was old enough to make a difference…”

“I’d already started drinking,” AJ finished quietly. “And Jason knew. Didn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said, weakly. “I used to sneak in his room when I couldn’t sleep.”

“And when he didn’t remember and couldn’t help…” AJ stood and looked at her. “You had nowhere to go.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “No.”

AJ swore softly and drove his fingers through his hair. “I guess this is the one mistake I’ll be paying for a long time.”

Elizabeth touched his arm. “No. Look, I lost him. And I was angry. But in the end, it was for the best. I would have leaned on him—and I never would have gotten out of that house by myself. I had to learn to deal with it myself.” She smiled. “And Jason came back to me, anyway. And, you know what? I’ll tell you a secret.”

“What?” AJ asked.

“I think I’d rather have Jason Morgan over Jason Quartermaine any day,” Elizabeth said. “You and Emily and everyone knew exactly what you were doing—even if I figured it out by myself.”

AJ smiled weakly. “The plan took on a different purpose after Friday. I thought if I could help you and Jase get together…I could help ease my own guilt.”

“I am so glad you pulled your life together,” Elizabeth said softly. “We both had a difficult childhood and we’ve both come out of it—stronger. I’ll probably have nightmares for a long while yet and for you, the urge to drink will never disappear, but in the end, we’ve taken ourselves out of those situations. And neither one of us have anything to feel guilty about.”

For the first time since Jason woke up five years previous, AJ finally believed the words. He didn’t have to feel guilty. The only people that still blamed him were his family—and they blamed anyone and everybody as long as it didn’t have to be themselves. But the important people—Emily, Liz and Jason—had forgiven him. And that made all the difference.

He drew her in a hug. “Thank you,” he said gratefully.

She hugged him back. “You know, other than telling Jason, this was the easiest.” She pulled away and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re my best friend in the world, AJ. You’re the brother I wish Steven had been.”

“Steven was a fool,” AJ said forcefully. “And so was the rest of your family. But, hey, you lucked out. My family has adopted you and Sonny and his wife seem to adore you.” AJ wiggled his eyebrows. “And Jason is crazy about you.”

Elizabeth flushed and pulled away. “Well, the feeling is mutual,” she said softly.

AJ grinned dopily. “Good to hear, Lizzie, my dear, good to hear. All I want is for you to be happy.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I think I’m finally headed in that direction,” she said.

Elizabeth flicked the light on in her room and stared at the bed. She hadn’t stayed much longer at Jason’s. She’d wanted to – but she was afraid she’d be depending on him too much and that was the very thing she was trying to avoid. She was telling Carly and AJ so that she wouldn’t just have Jason to run to. Unfortunately, even now that Carly knew, she still wanted Jason.

After leaving Jason’s apartment, she’d looked for AJ, but he’d taken Courtney and the kids to dinner. He seemed to be having a good day, so she’d just told she’d see him tomorrow. She’d taken her laptop and gone to Vista Point to start reediting her novel. After an hour of struggling, she’d given in to temptation and she’d started a new story. After three more hours, she’d had eight chapters written.

So, here she was. Late evening. When most people were either sleeping or getting ready to, Elizabeth was trying to come up with an excuse not to. She shook her head. The only way to get rid of these nightmares was to face them head on. She closed her door and headed to her dresser to get a tank top and shorts to sleep in. After changing, she slipped between the sheets and closed her eyes. She had every intention of sleeping through the night. The promise she’d made to Carly was still in the forefront of her mind and she didn’t want to have to fulfill it this soon.

She tossed and turned for an hour before finally succumbing to a restless sleep. And like always, the nightmares came.

“You’re no good, Lizzie. No one will ever love you.”

“I guess I’ll just have to remind you not to raise your voice.”

“You never learn, Lizzie.”

“You should let me end it. Because where you’re going? You’ll be dead anyway.”

“Stupid whore…”

“Your rich little boyfriend can’t help you.”

“He doesn’t even remember you.”

“Jeff Webber is coming home? Hasn’t he been living in Europe? Well, I suppose one can’t spend forever there.”

Elizabeth woke up, gasping. And for the first time since the nightmares had gotten worse, Elizabeth realized why.

She’d been walking back to the building when she’d stopped in Kelly’s for some coffee. Bobbie Spencer had been there and she’d been talking to her ex—husband, Tony Jones. Bobbie and Tony had been talking about Jeff. Elizabeth hadn’t really been listening – but she must have been. The nightmares had come back.

She lay back in the bed and stared at the ceiling. She willed herself to go back to sleep. She wouldn’t call Jason. He’d be sleeping. He wouldn’t want to be woken up.

“Tonight, if you should wake up again…call Jason. I know he offered to take you for a ride the next time you couldn’t sleep. And when he accepts, you’ll know he’s not just feeling sorry for you.”

Elizabeth sighed. She’d promised Carly. And truly, part of her wanted to know if he’d been serious. She rolled onto her side and stared at the clock on her nightstand. 3:45 a.m. She smiled sadly. Nearly four in the morning. Her eyes darted to the phone next to the clock. Maybe she should just call him—maybe he’d say no and then she’d have a reason to stop running to him.

She sat up and stared at the phone for another few minutes. “Suck it up, Webber.” She reached out for the phone and dialed his cell number. She’d had it memorized from the second he’d written down at the warehouse.

“Morgan.” His voice was alert and awake. He was probably expecting Sonny, Elizabeth thought bitterly.

“Jason? It’s Elizabeth,” she said softly.

“Hey. You okay?”

She bit her lip. “Not really. I wasn’t gonna call, but-”

“I’m glad you did. Another nightmare?”

“Yeah.”

“You want to go for a ride?”

She pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it. He had been serious. Moving it back to her ear, “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I just…I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to. And you didn’t wake me. Someone called a few minutes ago – trying to sell me something…Do you want to go?”

“If it’s not too much trouble,” she said.

“Fifteen minutes, the parking garage?”

“Okay.” Elizabeth hung up. She sat few a few minutes more and then tossed the covers off. She changed into another shirt and a pair of jeans. She made sure to leave Emily a note in case she woke up before Elizabeth got back.

—-

She stepped off the elevator, her hands shoved in her back pockets and an apprehensive expression written across her features. Jason was leaning against the wall next to the motorcycle. He straightened as she approached. “Hey.”

“Hi,” she said softly. “I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Do I look annoyed?” he asked, tucking a stray curl behind her ear.

“No,” she said, her eyes surprised. “You don’t. Why?”

“I offered.” Jason shrugged.

She shook her head. How did he do that? How was everything so simple in his life?

“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason asked, mistaking her silence.

“Yeah. But not here.”

“Well, let’s go.” Jason handed her the helmet which she snapped on. He got on the bike, started and waited for her to get on. When he felt her arms wrap around him, he took off.

—-

She half thought he’d take her back to the bridge, but he drove towards Vista Point. It was more than likely her favorite place in all of Port Charles other than the Quartermaine’s rose garden. Vista Point was the highest point in the city and you could see the whole town from there, from General Hospital to Spoon Island, Nikolas Cassadine’s family estate.

Jason brought the bike to a stop and turned it off. She got off and put the helmet away herself. She wandered towards the edge of the bluff and looked at the view. It was just after four in the morning on a Saturday night, so there were a few clubs still open. She wished she could be like normal twenty-year-olds sometime—going out and partying every weekend, but she supposed having been a born a Webber, she hadn’t been normal her whole life.

“It’s nice up here,” Jason said, coming up behind her.

“I come here sometimes to write,” Elizabeth confessed. “It feels like you’re apart from the rest of the world, like no one can touch you. I like that feeling.” She put her hands in her pockets and turned around. “I know why the nightmares started again.”

“Why?” Jason asked, hoping she wouldn’t say it was his arrival in town.

“I guess it really didn’t register consciously at the time. That day we fought in the hallway, I was at Kelly’s. Bobbie Spencer and Tony Jones were there and they said something about Jeff Webber coming home. I wasn’t really paying attention, but I guess I must have been because it was Bobbie’s voice I heard tonight in my dream.”

“He’s coming home?” Jason said, barely able to conceal the rage in his voice.

“Yeah. Kind of explains a lot,” Elizabeth replied. “I told myself that I was going to sleep through the night—that I wasn’t going to let him have this hold over me.” She chuckled bitterly. “It was only a few hours later that I woke up, just barely able to hold in a scream.” She looked at the ground. “It wasn’t even a normal one. Usually, it’s one specific incident, but tonight, it was just his words. The things he used to say over and over again. That I never learned, that no one would ever love me, that I wasn’t any good…” Elizabeth trailed off. “He had been telling me that since I was nine years old. I guess once it’s ingrained in your mind, it never leaves. Personally, I think the happiest day of his life was when he realized you had no memory of before. He knew you were the only one I’d told and now that you didn’t’ anymore, no one would know his secret. He hadn’t touched me since that day when you broke his nose. For almost a month—he seemed to be avoiding me. But when the accident happened, I guess he couldn’t restrain himself.” She sighed. “I wish I didn’t see his face when I closed my eyes at night. That I didn’t hear his voice all the time. When I first wake up after a nightmare, I can still feel the pain sometimes. Because…” Elizabeth stopped abruptly and turned to shield her falling tears. “Because sometimes the memory is too real and I feel like I’m back in that time, in that house, in that room and he’s hitting me. With the belt, his hands…anything he could find. It feels like I’ll never get out, that I’ll never let go.”

Jason pulled her to him, so that her back was against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her chin. “He will never touch you again. He’ll never get the chance to be in a hundred feet of you. I can’t promise you much else, but I can promise you that.”

“Port Charles is much too small for that to be reality,” Elizabeth said softly. “I can’t avoid him—it would be impossible.”

“We’ll make it clear to the men who guard you and Sonny—any one who sees Jeff Webber within fifty feet of you, he’s to be removed. It can be done without them knowing details. That’s their job, after all.”

“They can protect me while I’m awake,” she said, leaning her head against him. “I trust them. But they can’t keep me from hearing his voice or feeling…” she broke off and closed her eyes. “I hate this. I hate that I’m weak. That I can’t depend on myself for support—that it feels like I’m always running to someone.”

“These past five years…who did you count on to keep you going?” Jason asked.

She paused. “I guess…myself.”

“That’s right. No one kept you going but you. You stayed alive, you got out of that house and you’ve made a new start for yourself. You’ve done it all by yourself—even while you were dealing with the memories. Don’t ever feel weak because you go to someone else for comfort. That’s what friends are for—to help when they’re needed.” He turned her around and lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “And I promise, Elizabeth. I’ll be there whenever you needed me.”

She gave him a weak smile. “I know it’s not worth much, but I’ll be there whenever you need me.” She wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his embrace. “Thank you.”

“I haven’t done anything,” he replied.

“That’s not true. If it weren’t for you, I’d be sitting in my bed, staring at the ceiling. Afraid to sleep. Instead, I’m here, in my favorite place in Port Charles with one of my best friends. And I’m not thinking about what’ll happen when I go back and try to close my eyes.”

He pulled away to look at her face closely. “How much sleep have you gotten these past few days?”

“Truthfully? Since that first nightmare, the only night that I’ve gotten any real sleep was that night I spent at your place,” she said quietly. “I’ve grabbed an hour here, two there but having the nightmare always drains me of whatever energy I might have had.”

He pulled away further and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her back to the bike.

“We’re going to my apartment, and you’re going to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s Sunday. Today, actually. You’re not due at Deception today and if Sonny needs either one of us, he’ll call. So, come on.”

“Jason, I can’t just curl up in a bed and sleep,” she argued, crossing her arms. “That’s not what made me sleep through the night.”

“Well, I still need some sleep,” Jason replied, smiling a little. “I suppose we could both catch up on sleep.” He straddled the bike and motioned with his head. “Come on.”

She flushed. Just the thought of spending the night with him again was enough to make her wide awake. How did she get lucky enough to have his support again? She smiled and got on behind him.

—-

Emily rolled over and fell off her bed. “This is becoming a nasty habit,” she muttered. Nikolas leaned over the edge of the bed to look at her.

“You okay?” he asked, trying to hide a smile.

“Yeah,” Emily grumbled, unwinding herself from the sheets. “Stupid bed. I’ve never fallen out of it before.”

“Why did you say it was becoming a habit?” Nikolas swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood. He held out a hand for Emily to pull herself up, which she did.

“Because I spent the night on Jason’s couch when AJ and Courtney stayed that first night and I woke up that way,” Emily explained. “You make the bed, I’ll make the coffee,” she called over her shoulder as she headed for the bedroom door. She walked down the hallway and was about to pass through the living room to go to the kitchen when a white sheet of paper on the table behind the couch caught her eye.

Em-
Had trouble sleeping. Jason took me for a ride. Didn’t want you to worry. I’ll be back later.
-Beth

Emily squealed. It was too bad Elizabeth had trouble sleeping—but she’d called Jason…in the middle of the night and she was with Jason now. Emily flicked her eyes to the VCR clock. It was also ten-thirty. Which meant she’d had to have been with Jason for a few hours. This was good. Very good. Progress was being made.

Nikolas entered and smirked. “What has you so excited?”

Emily grinned. “Guess where Beth is?” she asked in a singsong voice.

“From the way you’re acting, with Jason, I assume.”

Emily nodded eagerly. “She had trouble sleeping and she called Jason who took her for a ride. I bet she spent the night at his place!”

Nikolas shook his head. “You’re nuts.”

She glared at him. “I didn’t mean in the biblical sense. Beth has trouble sleeping and the last time I saw her sleeping soundly was in Jason’s arms. I’ll bet you anything that they just slept in the same bed—which makes it better because he’s being so sweet.”

“You have a twisted logic,” Nikolas said. He shrugged. “Then again, my grandmother is Helena Cassadine so who’s arguing?”

“Not me,” Emily declared, happily. “Come on – let’s make something to eat. Suddenly I’m starving.”

—-

Carly was sitting at the breakfast table, sipping some coffee. Sonny sat across from her, pushing some eggs around the plate. They’d been sitting in silence since they’d sat down an hour ago and neither one of them had eaten a thing.

Finally, Carly set her cup down. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”

Sonny put the fork down and looked up at her. He was half-grateful she’d brought it up. He hadn’t wanted to broach the subject—it was still a touchy thing for both of them.

“I know what you mean,” Sonny said. “She’s always been pale and there has always been circles under her eyes—but I just assumed she was up late studying. She doesn’t go out in the sun much, so she wouldn’t have a lot of color. It never occurred to me…”

“Two years, I’ve been like family with her and I never saw it. What kind of friend does that make me?” Carly asked, the tears shining in her eyes. She shook her head. “I’ll tell you. A self-absorbed-”

“Beating ourselves up is not going to help,” Sonny cut in. “We didn’t see it because it didn’t occur to us. She seemed happy, she was from a good family and she never said a word. We didn’t know and neither did Emily. She kept it from everyone. When you keep something a secret that long…you get good at hiding it.” He looked away. “You and I know that better than anyone.”

“We of all people should have known,” Carly argued. “I feel so horrible. All this time…she’s been struggling. I could have helped, I could have been there and I wasn’t. But I’ll tell you something Sonny, I don’t care. He is not going to get away with it. He can’t. I wasn’t in the position to take care of my own father, but I can take care of Jeff. I can make it so that she never has to see him on the streets or at parties or see his face in the paper. She deserves better—and I want to make it happen.”

“I wanted to do the same thing, but Jason stopped me. He said this wasn’t about his anger or mine and it’s not about yours. This wasn’t done to us—it happened to Elizabeth. And she has to deal with it. We have to take our cues from her.” Sonny met her eyes. “We suffered similar experiences…but when it comes down to it, this is not the same thing. If she walks through that door and tells me she wants Jeff gone, it’ll be done, but not until then. I want her to trust me.”

Carly nodded. “I know. But can we rough him up or something?” She sighed. “I just want to help her.”

“Me, too, baby.”

—-

Elizabeth shifted and opened her eyes sleepily. She wasn’t in her room—that much was apparent. Flicking her eyes around, she realized exactly where she was.

Content with being in Jason’s arms, she closed her eyes again. She was too comfortable to move. She’d gotten more sleep in the last few hours than she had in nearly a week.

“I know you’re awake.”

She frowned and opened her eyes. She raised her head off his chest to glare at him. “How long have you been awake?”

Jason glanced at the clock on the nightstand, “About an hour.”

She sat up. “Why didn’t you wake me?” Elizabeth suddenly felt self-conscious and pulled the shirt she’d borrowed from Jason down so it reached her knees.

“You needed to sleep.” Jason propped himself up. “You didn’t even wake up once you’d fallen asleep.”

“Not even one nightmare?” Elizabeth asked surprised. “You’re sure?”

“Nothing I heard,” Jason replied. “Do you feel any better?”

“A lot more rested actually,” Elizabeth replied. She smiled at him. “Thanks. I know I’m annoying-”

“You’re not,” Jason interrupted. “I told you I’d take you the next time you couldn’t sleep. Did you think I didn’t mean it?”

She shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “I’d better go. Emily’s probably worried about me.” She swung her legs over the side.

Jason grabbed her arm. “I thought you trusted me.”

Elizabeth turned her body back the other way and tucked her legs underneath her. “It’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said softly. “I just wanted to prepare myself in case…”

“You couldn’t,” Jason finished with a sigh.

“I didn’t want to get my hopes up.” She chewed on her lip. “I’m sorry. It’s just…I guess I was looking for a reason to push you away. I told Carly and I’m going to tell AJ because I thought…if I had more people to support me…that I wouldn’t keep running to you. But it’s like I can’t stop. You’re becoming important to me—more than I’m comfortable with.” She looked away. “And the way I feel about you….” Elizabeth trailed off. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

He shook his head. “Don’t be sorry.” He sat up more. “I knew I was pushing you but-”

“You’re not pushing me,” Elizabeth cut in forcefully. She scooted closer to him. “The way I feel…it’s my insecurities…my problems causing it. You’re just supporting me and you’re doing a good job because I just slept through the night without a single nightmare. I can’t remember a night that didn’t happen. Once I was asleep here, I didn’t even dream about him—at least not that I can remember.” She paused and searched his eyes. “You make feel safe, Jason. You make me feel like my father was wrong—that I’m better than what he told me I was. That someone does lo-” she stopped. “That someone does care about me. You’ve done more for me in the last week than I’ve done for myself in five years.”

He reached out and drew her hands into his. “You’re doing this yourself,” he said quietly. “Because you’re ready to believe that what he said wasn’t true. I’m just showing you how I feel; you’ve made the choice to believe me.” He locked eyes with her. “And that’s because you’re strong.”

“How do you always know what to say?” Elizabeth asked softly.

Jason shrugged. “I say what I think.”

She smiled. “Don’t ever stop, all right?” she asked.

“I won’t.” Jason glanced at the clock again. “What’re you doing today?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Why?”

“My grandmother wanted to see you –she’s worried about you and she made me promise I’d bring you by.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll just go to my apartment and change.”

“Yeah. I need a shower.”

Neither one of them moved. Elizabeth stared at their hands and smiled a little. Her hands fit so neatly in his. She shook her head. “I have to go.” She raised her eyes to meet his.

“Yeah,” he said, staring at her, still not letting go of her hands. He leaned forward to give her a chaste kiss on the lips. Before he could pull away properly, one of Elizabeth hand’s darted up to the back of his head and deepened the kiss.

After a few moments, they separated, locking eyes. “I’d really better go,” she said. She removed her hand from his hair and pulled her other one out of his hand. “I’ll meet you back here in an hour?”

He nodded. “See ya then” She got off the bed and closed the door behind her. Jason let his head fall back to the pillow and sighed. Yeah, a shower was definitely in order.

A nice, long, cold shower.

Sonny sat in his office long after Elizabeth left – long after sun had gone down. He hadn’t turned on the lights. He preferred sitting in the dark – matched his mood.

Two years, his sister had suffered in silence. Battled the nightmares, the memories and the demons. His fists clenched as he remembered her tears. He should have known – should have seen it. Hadn’t he recognized it in Carly? How had he missed the signs? The circles under her eyes, the pale skin – the jumpiness. Elizabeth had been there for him every step of the way since she found out they were siblings and Sonny couldn’t even comfort her now.

His blood boiled as he thought of the son of a bitch who passed himself as off as her father. What kind of weak man preys on a young girl? A small child who couldn’t defend herself—didn’t have the courage to tell anyone, had no one to turn to. He may not have taken care of his own stepfather, but he could make Webber pay.

It was nearly midnight when Jason entered the office. Carly had been worried sick that Sonny hadn’t come home and that he hadn’t called. A quick call to Elizabeth saying she’d seen Sonny at the warehouse and that she’d told him truth told Jason what he needed to know.

Jason flipped the lights on. “You should have called Carly.”

Sonny didn’t look up. “She told me what happened, Jason.”

Jason sighed and closed the door. “You okay?”

“No. She was crying, saying sometimes she wished he had pushed her out the window.” Sonny stood up and drove his fingers through his hair. “Why didn’t I see it, Jason? How did I miss it?”

“Elizabeth is very good at hiding things,” Jason explained. “She hid from Emily and AJ as a kid and she would have probably hid it forever had I not come back.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have known,” Sonny argued. “Christ, I went through it. Carly went through it. And now that I know … I realize I should have seen it.” Sonny slammed his fist into the wall. “It makes me angry. She is the last person that deserved this. She should have had a happy childhood – she shouldn’t have had to live in fear.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Jason said. “And the second I found out, I wanted to head right to the house and beat his face.”

Sonny headed for the door. “I’ll drive.”

“You can’t take care of this for her,” Jason called as Sonny opened the door.

“No. But I can make sure she never has to see his face on the streets,” Sonny replied.

“You think I didn’t want to do the same thing?” Jason asked. “Do you know horrible I felt when I realized that I’m the one that turned his back on her when she needed me? She told me that I was the only reason she got through it and when I think of how I treated her after the accident, I want to throw myself off a cliff. But this isn’t about me. This isn’t about my anger, and it’s not about you or your anger either. This is about Elizabeth and her feelings.”

Sonny shut the door. “You’re right.” He took a deep breath. “So how do I handle this?”

“I have no idea,” Jason said. “I’m still working that out for myself. She has a lot of bad memories that seem to keep coming back and the most I can do is comfort her when she wakes up from a nightmare—but I can’t do that like I did before the accident. She’s two floors down. I can take her for rides when she can’t sleep but when we come back, those memories are waiting for her. I don’t know how to help her.”

Sonny swore. “I still hate closets,” he muttered. “I’m thirty-three and I still can’t stand closets. It’s been years since it stopped and it still haunts me. She’s been out of that house for two years. There’s something inside of her that is still broken and still pleading with her father to stop. And I don’t know how to deal with this. Carly – her problems are like mine. A few nightmares here and there, a little bit of jumpiness. But her experience has faded. Elizabeth’s terror will continue. So how do I help her?”

“I guess just be there for her. Listen when she needs it, comfort her.” Jason shook his head. “I don’t know what else there is to do.”

“Thanks,” Sonny said. “For being there for her when I couldn’t. That night in the hospital – before the accident. I know you don’t remember it, but she does. And that’s all that matters.”

Jason shrugged uncomfortably. “Not much else I could do. She’s important to me and I want to help. But I guess she has to go through this on her own.”

“You think I could ask her if we could take care of Webber?” Sonny asked hopefully.

“She wouldn’t let you,” Jason replied. “She’d want to do it herself.”

Sonny studied Jason who shifted under the gaze. “You know her very well.”

“Well, she’s kind of like me,” Jason said. “She doesn’t like asking for help—especially if she thinks she doesn’t need it.”

Sonny sighed. “I just wish I’d known earlier that she was my sister. I would have taken her out of that house and treated her like a princess.”

“She got out by herself and somehow … I think that matters more,” Jason said. “She only depended on me and then I was gone. She made herself strong and she got out without anyone’s help. I think that’s better somehow.”

“I know. But that doesn’t change how guilty I feel,” Sonny muttered. He breathed deeply. “I’d better get home before Carly goes insane.”

Jason smiled weakly. “Too late. Who you do you think sent me?”

—-

Carly set some ground rules the second Sonny walked in the door that night. Any later than seven, he had to call her. And she demanded to know what was going on. Sonny agreed to the new rule and asked if he could beg off explanations until the morning.

By the time Carly woke up, Sonny had already left the apartment. Irritated, she knew he was avoiding her. It was Saturday – and he almost never went to the warehouse on Saturday. Well, when he got home, she was just going to lock him in the penthouse until he told her what the hell was up with everyone. Elizabeth was pulling away, Jason was spending a lot of time with her (not that Carly complained – that was the plan after all), but Emily wasn’t talking to her either. She could even sort of understand that – AJ was back in town. But hell, everyone was leaving her out!

And Caroline Benson Corinthos did not like being left out.

It was nearly lunch time when Johnny announced Elizabeth. Carly stood and crossed her arms, glaring at her sister-in-law. “Oh, have you got some explaining to do,” she snapped the second Johnny had closed the door. She was about to continue when she realized how pale she looked. “Are you okay? Are you hungry? Do you need to sit down?”

Elizabeth smiled weakly and lowered herself onto the couch. “I’m fine. We need to talk.”

Carly sat down. She knew this was going to be one of those conversations that you really didn’t want to have but couldn’t possibly avoid. “Lizzie, what’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

Elizabeth hugged herself. “I’m making the rounds today, telling the people that are left what’s going on. It’s basically just you and AJ,” she said. “I can’t hide the truth anymore. I’ve done nothing but try, but it quite apparent it’s not going to work anymore. I told Sonny yesterday, so if he’s acting weird, that might be it.”

Carly begin to feel a little more than worried. Something was off in Elizabeth’s tone of voice. There was an element that usually wasn’t there and the fact that she recognized it scared the shit out of her. Elizabeth Webber, one of the funniest, wittiest, intelligent, beautiful and strongest people she knew … sounded broken.

“Looking back, I should have trusted you a long time ago with this.” Elizabeth stared at her hands. Her voice was soft, “Because you trusted me. But I guess I wasn’t ready to let someone help me. And that’s what you would have done. You, my brother, Emily – you all would have wanted to help. And I wasn’t ready to accept that help. I did once and it worked out very badly.”

“Elizabeth, whatever it is … we can get through this together. You know you’re more than just Sonny’s sister. You are my sister, my best friend…please, sweetheart, just tell me.”

“Every time I’ve told it, I’ve done it differently. I have Em the bare backbones…I just told Sonny a few things and I told Jason almost everything. But I don’t know how to tell you.”

Carly reached out and pulled Elizabeth’s hands into her own. “Honey, you’re scaring me.”

“Do you remember when you told me what your father had done?” Elizabeth asked softly. “You just said it outright, didn’t try to sugarcoat it, didn’t try to spare my feelings. Do you remember how worried and upset I was?”

Carly’s stomach lurched. Oh, please, no. This was not happening. Not Elizabeth. Not her sweet friend. Jesus. “Oh, god, Lizzie-”

“My father was … he used to…” Elizabeth stopped. She raised her eyes to Carly. Her watery blue eyes said more than Carly ever wanted to know. “He beat me.”

Carly’s arms were around her in an instant. She did it to comfort Elizabeth, but more selfishly – she didn’t want Elizabeth to see her crying. She knew what it was like – and this was all the more reason why this shouldn’t be happening to her friend. Elizabeth had been raised in a family that had money, respectability. Every Port Charles resident knew the Webber name and respected it. Things like this shouldn’t happen to people like Elizabeth.

Carly pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Oh, Lizzie-”

“I keep thinking it should get easier as I tell it but it’s not,” Elizabeth whispered. “Telling Emily was difficult, telling Sonny and you was a terrifying prospect because you would know exactly what I went through, you’d understand. But … the only thing that was easy about this was telling Jason.”

“You finally let him in,” Carly smiled through her tears. “He wanted to help so badly but you were only giving him pieces. He loves you, you know.”

Elizabeth stared at her, the idea of Jason being in love with her shoved everything else out. “What?”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s realized it,” Carly said quietly. “And you’re in love with him, too. You don’t see it either. But it’s there. And its not wishful thinking. I’m glad you let him in.”

“Carly-”

“Don’t push him away either,” Carly warned. “It won’t work. I let Sonny in and then I tried to keep him out. Jason’s like Sonny. Once they’re in, they’re in.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m not going to ask for details because more than anyone, I know that giving those … it just drags up things you’d rather forget. And I’m not going to pry,” Carly said. “Because whatever you’re feeling, that’s your right. Unless you volunteer, I’ll never ask a single question.”

“I thought I was getting past it,” Elizabeth said softly. “I was starting to sleep at night, my life was going my way. But something happened this week … I don’t know what … something made me tell Emily. And then I had the nightmare. And I haven’t stopped having them. The only night I slept soundly was a few days ago when I spent the night at Jason’s.” She bit her lip. “I’m scared to sleep, Carly. I know he can’t touch me. I know that I’ve never been more protected in my life than living here – but I’ve never been so scared to sleep. I know that he’s waiting for me – in my dreams. He tells me that no one loves me – that everyone leaves.” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around her waist and closed her eyes. “He tells me that Jason only feels sorry for me, that he’ll leave me again. It’s never been like this, Carly.”

Carly swore under her breath and drew Elizabeth back in her arms. “Son of bitch. Just say the word and you know Sonny and Jason will take care of him.” She smiled a little. “I know. That doesn’t help. But it sure as hell would help the people who love you.”

Elizabeth started to cry. “Sometimes I wish I could be that vindictive.” She clung to her. “How do I make his voice stop?”

Carly stroked Elizabeth’s hair. “It’s not easy and it doesn’t always work. But the next time he’s telling you that Jason will leave you, try and let your faith in Jason win.” She pulled away. “And honey, the next time you wake up with a nightmare that you can’t deal with, call someone. Jason, me, Sonny, Emily-I don’t care. Please don’t do this on your own. Because it never works. You just … you have to accept help. I know something happened with Jason a long time ago – but you can’t let that rule your life. And you know what? He’s still here. A little late, but he’s here. And it’s not because he feels sorry for you.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and pulled away. “The other night, I was at Jason’s penthouse. We were having a major conversation – I was telling him everything. Something happened between us…we made this connection or maybe the connection woke up, I don’t know. But I kissed him. Or he kissed me. It doesn’t matter.”

“You kissed?” Carly asked. Her plan was going better than they hoped. And they hadn’t done anything yet!

Elizabeth nodded. “And you know what, Carly? I wish my life weren’t so crazy right now. If things had been just a little more normal, I probably would have gone further. But Jason stopped it – said he didn’t know who I thought he was, Jason Quartermaine or Jason Morgan. I don’t blame him – I would wonder too. But even after all that … as I was leaving, he wanted to know if I was going to be all right sleeping and when I told him probably not – he asked me to stay.”

“Jason’s like that,” Carly agreed. “So what happened?”

Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ears. “We slept in the same bed and I think I only had one nightmare. But I never woke up from it. And when I did wake up the next morning, I was curled up against him and Carly…I’d never felt better in my life. It’s the only night in the last week that I didn’t wake up, a scream ready to burst out.”

“Oh, Liz. As much I’d like to tell you to just move in with Jason, that’s not a solution.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, I know. So how I do fix this, Carly? How do I make the voices stop without running to Jason?”

“The voices never stop,” Carly said gently. “They fade and it gets really hard to hear them and if you’re lucky, you become immune to them. But it’s always there waiting just on the edge.” She sighed. “I know I’m being depressing but I refuse to tell you what people told me. That time heals all wounds, that the pain will go away. There are some wounds that never close and being abused is one of them. Because we learned at a fundamental age that we couldn’t trust the people who were supposed to love us. And getting past that….there’s nothing more difficult. But you, me and Sonny, we’re the lucky ones. We had people who loved us enough to keep pushing.”

“Thanks.” Elizabeth gave a little smile. “You know…I tell it a different way every time – and each person gets a different part of the story. You all should get together sometime—you might get the whole story.”

“Do me a favor,” Carly said. “Tonight, if you should wake up again…call Jason. I know he offered to take you for a ride the next time you couldn’t sleep. And when he accepts, you’ll know he’s not just feeling sorry for you.”

Elizabeth hesitated. “I won’t be a burden,” she said.

Carly smiled weakly. “And he would never see you that way. He wants to help – and right now all he can do is listen and take you for rides. There’s nothing wrong with letting people help when they want to.”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “I think I’m falling in love with him,” she said quietly.

“I told you, Liz, I already knew that,” Carly replied. “Have you said anything to him regarding your feelings?”

She nodded. “We’ve agreed to take it slowly. Get to know each other again.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Carly agreed. “Are you okay with how you feel?”

“Sometimes. But I’m afraid I’ll let myself depend on him too much and that he’ll leave,” she said quietly.

“Jason isn’t leaving. He’s given Sonny’s his word, I know he’s promised you and he’s told me. The only way Jason leaving town is if Sonny sends him and he won’t if he knows what’s good for him,” Carly replied. “And some advice … if being around Jason helps, go to him. It’s never wrong to stick to what works.”

“And at the same time, your little plan succeeds,” Elizabeth remarked wryly.

“Yeah, ah, well,” Carly shrugged.

“You want to know a secret?” Elizabeth asked. “I hope it does.”

Carly hugged her gently, all the while thinking of the irony of Jason and Elizabeth both approving the scheme to get them together.

—-

Jason decided it wasn’t fair that his favorite person in the world lived in a house full of the only people in Port Charles he’d rather not see. He hated that their visits were always short and restricted to the rose garden.

He entered the estate from the back of the property and walked through the garden to meet Lila on the terrace. He stopped short when he saw a decapitated statue. Frowning, he wondered if it was the same one Elizabeth and Emily always referred to. Shrugging he continued to the terrace.

Lila’s face lit up at the sight of her youngest grandson. He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Oh, Jason, it’s so wonderful to see you!”

“It’s good to see you, too, Grandmother,” Jason said, taking a seat across from him. “How is everyone?”

Lila sighed. “Tense. Alan and Monica are fighting again and Edward isn’t joining in. You know that’s never a good sign if Edward isn’t butting into other people’s business.” Lila touched Jason’s hand. “We miss you all around here.”

“I’m not ready to reconcile,” Jason admitted. “I’m still angry with the way they treated AJ, and myself after the accident. I don’t know if that will go away.”

Lila nodded. “Well, how are you, my dear? I’ve heard some things about Elizabeth whenever AJ or Emily speaks of you.”

Jason smiled. “You don’t have to hide, Grandmother. I know you’re in on it, too.”

Lila returned the smile. “Well, how are things progressing?”

Jason looked away, “Slowly. And I think that’s for the best. She’s going through a difficult time and the last thing she needs is for me to push her.”

Lila studied him. “Has she told you anything about this difficult time?”

Jason looked up to meet Lila’s eyes. “You know, don’t you?”

Lila nodded. “You came to me when you were helping her before. You had promised not to tell AJ or Emily, but you needed someone to vent to.”

Jason slowly exhaled. “How did I help then?” he asked. “Because I can’t remember and all I want to do is help.”

“You always asked me how to help her. That all you wanted to do was make her smile and help her to sleep. You wanted to take all her demons away. But you were only one boy and you’re still only one man. You can’t rid her of the demons, but you can do what you did then.”

“What would that be?” Jason asked.

“You just listened,” Lila replied. “You’d let her in the room at night and listen to her. Held her when she had nightmares. Kept her company – you made her feel safe.”

“That’s it?” Jason asked doubtfully. “She makes it sound as though I saved her life.”

“To Elizabeth, you did. There was no one else who could help then. She only confided in you – she didn’t and still doesn’t know that I knew.” Lila looked troubled. “I often worried about her the last years she spent in the house. She spent more time here than ever. Always so withdrawn and pale. I tried to offer her an ear, hoping she’d confide but she wasn’t interested.”

“I wish I could be been there,” Jason said quietly. “I wish I could go and kill him. He’d better hope that I never see him face to face because I think might not be able to control myself.”

“Oh, darling, don’t worry. The Webber family spends most of the year in Europe and we no longer socialize with them. I doubt you’d see him,” Lila assured him. “And that’s a good thing, because Elizabeth needs you here. How is she?”

“The nightmares are back and they’re bad. I’m glad she told Emily – she’ll need someone with her when she wakes up. She told Sonny yesterday – and he’s just disgusted with himself. I don’t blame him. I don’t think very much of myself either.”

“Anyone who wasn’t looking would never know. Elizabeth is very good at hiding the way she feels,” Lila said. “You really do care about her.”

“Yeah,” Jason admitted. “I hope she doesn’t shut me out.”

“She won’t,” Lila said. “Oh, she’ll try of course, of that I have no doubt, but I don’t think she’ll be able to. You’ve always meant so much to her.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Jason said. “She told me that she’s not using me a substitute for Jason Quartermaine-”

“And she’s not. I’m talking about after the accident,” Lila said. “We used to have tea once a week and she’d ask about you. How you were doing, where you were. She tried so very hard to hate you, Jason, but it wasn’t possible. She knew you weren’t the same person and she knew you were going through a tough time afterwards. She’d wanted to be there for you – but the two of you kept butting heads.”

“She asked about me?” Jason said, surprised.

“I never had much to tell her but it didn’t stop her from asking. Jason, you must bring her by. She hasn’t been here to see me in almost two weeks and I’m worried about her. I need to see her for myself,” Lila said.

“I’ll bring her,” Jason promised.

—-

Elizabeth left Carly’s and headed for the elevator. She reached for the button but the doors opened before she could. She came face to face with Jason. A smile spread on her face.

“Well, this is a case of déjà vu,” she said.

Jason exited the elevator and held it open. “Hey, did you want to go down?”

Elizabeth hesitated. “Actually, can we talk?”

“Sure.” Jason let go of the elevator and dug his keys out of his pocket. He headed for the penthouse. “You okay? You look like you’ve been crying.”

She shrugged as he opened the door and let her in. When they were both inside, she sighed. “I told Carly.”

Jason tossed the keys on the desk. “How did she take it?”

Elizabeth looked down. “She was upset for me. I think it’s strange. Every time I tell someone, I tell them something different. Emily got the backbones, you got details…” she trailed off.

Jason leaned against the desk. “Sonny told me what you said about wishing he’d pushed you out the window.”

She hugged herself. “Sometimes that’s true,” she said quietly. “I don’t know why I told him that.”

“Is that true?” Jason asked quietly.

She hesitated but finally nodded, “Yeah. Sometimes when the nightmares are bad and I’m lying in the bed scared to sleep, I wish he had.” She looked at the ceiling trying not to cry. It seemed that she’d cried enough to fill the oceans seven times over.

Jason straightened and pulled her into a hug. “So what did you tell Carly?” he asked, rubbing her back in slow circles.

“That I couldn’t make his voice stop,” Elizabeth whispered, closing her eyes. “It’s always there, no matter what. Telling me that no one cares, that everyone leaves…that I’m a whore, that you’ll leave me-” she broke off. “I just want it to go away.”

“I’m not leaving you and neither is anyone else,” Jason promised. “And he’s a bastard for ever calling you a whore. You’re not and there’s no way that can be true. Ever.”

“Why is it whenever someone else tells me that, I don’t believe them, but the second you say it, I do?” Elizabeth asked quietly.

“I don’t know,” Jason replied, resting his chin on her head. “But as long as you believe it.”

Elizabeth was already waiting when Jason arrived at Kelly’s the next day. Truth be told he was a little anxious about the meeting – it didn’t seem likely she’d made up her mind in only one day. Last night’s dinner had given him some hope, but he wasn’t exactly a hopeful man.

He stood just outside the courtyard staring at her. She was sitting at one of the outside tables, sipping an iced tea waiting patiently for him. She looked a bit more rested than she had in the past few days – still a little pale for his liking, but maybe the nightmares would begin to fade again He was in no hurry to see her have another one. Her curly hair was tied back in a high pony tail and she wore a pair of flared jeans with a light blue tank top. He smirked. She looked more like a high school student than Sonny Corinthos’ silent partner.

Elizabeth seemed to sense his presence somehow and she looked up. She smiled and motioned for him to come over. He did so without hesitation and took the seat across from her.

“I didn’t order yet. I keep sending her back,” Elizabeth said smiling. “Have you been by the warehouse yet?”

Jason nodded. “Sonny wants me to bring you by this afternoon. It seems Chosky has taken a liking to you and will only talk to you.” He glanced around. “Carly give you the afternoon off?”

Elizabeth nodded. “I’m only going to work mornings at Deception until this problem is over. Carly doesn’t really need me there anyway.”

The waitress returned then and they gave her their orders. Once she was back inside, Elizabeth put her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “So I guess you want to hear why I asked you here.”

“I am a little curious,” Jason admitted.

She took a deep breath. “I’m not substituting Jason Quartermaine for you. I don’t pretend you’re him when I’m with you and I don’t want you to be him. I want to make that clear.”

Jason nodded, clearly relieved at her revelation. Before he could say anything, she continued.

“And I do care about you – a lot. But like I said the other night, a lot is happening in my life and I think that we need time before we start anything.” She paused, “If you want to start anything, that is. We’ve barely been talking civilly for a week – and I think any relationship we might have might be better served if we got to know each other better first.” She folded her hands and looked at him.

“You’re right. I’ve been back a week. And I’m not going anywhere…” Jason paused. “I’m back in Port Charles to stay. There’s a lot here for me. I see no reason to rush things.”

She smiled. “Good.”

“So, I’ve got a question for you.” Jason folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Just what do you know about Emily’s boyfriend?”

Elizabeth laughed. “Nikolas? He’s one of the best guys, I know. Seriously, I’ve known him since he moved to PC ten years ago. He moved here with his uncle, Stefan Cassadine. Shortly after moving here, Stefan revealed that Laura Spencer was his mother.”

“Now, she’s married to Luke Spencer, the owner of blues bar who’s never around, right?” Jason asked for confirmation.

She nodded. “Yeah, apparently, Laura was kidnapped by Nikolas’s family years ago and forced to marry Stefan’s older brother. Laura escaped and returned home. Anyway, Nikolas got along well enough with Laura and Luke even got used to him after a while. But he and Lucky were vicious enemies for at least two years.” Elizabeth smirked. “Lucky was going through the bully phase when we were ten because of that, at least that’s the theory. Emily’s right – Lucky’s not so bad. As long as he stays out of the country.”

“So, how did they become close enough for Lucky to introduce Nikolas and Emily?” Jason asked.

“Luke kidnapped them both and locked them in a cabin. He figured that when he went back to get them, they’d either be brothers or one would be dead. Simple. Luke would do anything for Laura – and Laura, more than anything, wanted the two of them to get along.”

“I guess it worked.”

“Yeah. Lucky and Emily were friends – but they never clicked as a couple. Nik was getting ready to graduate and we were sophomores. You and Nikolas were actually friends, too. You approved of him. They didn’t start dating until the summer after your accident, though.”

“And he treats her right?”

Elizabeth nodded firmly. “They’re perfect for each other, trust me.”

The waitress brought their food and they spent the next few minutes eating silently before Elizabeth spoke again.

“So, how did you manage to meet Carly? She’s only been in PC for three years, and she and Sonny have been married for only two.”

Jason took a sip of his iced tea. “Well, remember when he sent Carly to the island shortly after their marriage, because of Sorel?”

Elizabeth nodded. She smeared some ketchup on her burger. “Yeah. I remember. He wanted to send me, too.”

“Well, I was the guard that he sent with Carly. Told me there was no one he trusted more. I got to know Carly pretty well the two months she spent there.”

“She told me she told you about Florida,” Elizabeth said. “That’s part of the reason I knew I could trust you. She doesn’t tell a lot of people about that.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah, I know. She said as much then. She was having a few problems – because the island’s so close to Florida, I guess. She’d get really pale or really jumpy. I’m the one who convinced her to tell Sonny.”

“Which was a good idea. They’ve never been closer. I think Sonny has finally found the right woman.”

“I’d hope so. They’re married and all,” Jason remarked.

“Like being married has ever stopped Sonny’s search,” Elizabeth cracked. She sobered. “I feel bad. You know, because Carly told me about her childhood and I know all about Sonny. I haven’t told them.”

“You shouldn’t feel bad. Their experiences were a little bit more behind them,” Jason said. “Doesn’t make them any worse – but they’ve had longer to deal with them. You’ve only been out of your house for two years. If you ever tell them — they won’t be angry.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I think Sonny’s upset that I haven’t trusted him yet. He knows something wrong – and he knows that I’ve trusted you with it. Being family, I know that’s difficult.” She nibbled on a French fry. “I’m just not ready to keep telling it. Every time I do, the nightmares come back and I’m just getting back to normal.”

Jason nodded. “Then wait until you’re ready.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Elizabeth sighed.

“Some things are,” Jason replied.

“I wish I could think like that. I have a tendency to overanalyze a situation or make it worse than it is.” Elizabeth smirked. “I think that’s why Carly and I get along so well.”

“I think I should warn you,” Jason began, “that Emily and AJ aren’t the only ones out to, um, help.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “You mean other than them and Carly, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Who else?” Elizabeth asked, resigned.

“Well, AJ figures Courtney. I know Emily recruited Nikolas and my grandmother and I had the strangest conversation with Sonny the other day.”

“Consider yourself lucky that you got approval,” Elizabeth replied. “The last guy I dated, well, let’s just say he left town shortly after our relationship ended. Sonny scared the shit out of him.” She smiled “It’s all right. Didn’t like him anyway.”

Jason smiled slowly. “Sonny’s got good instincts.”

Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled. “You only say that because you got his approval.”

Jason shrugged. “So?”

—-

Reginald had Lila waiting in the garden when AJ and Emily arrived. She smiled widely at the sight of her two grandchildren. “It’s so wonderful to see you.”

AJ leaned over to kiss his grandmother and so did Emily. “It’s good to see you, too,” AJ said, taking a seat.

“I’m so glad to see you, darling. How are Courtney and the children?” Lila asked.

AJ pulled his wallet out. “I brought pictures.” He looked around. “The rest of the family isn’t around right?”

Lila shook her head. “No, your parents are at the hospital and Edward is at the office.” She accepted the wallets that AJ gave her. “Oh, AJ, they’re so adorable. You must bring them by.”

AJ nodded. “Not a problem.”

“Now, Emily, how goes your little plan?” Lila asked, setting the pictures aside. “Are you making any progress?”

Emily nodded, grinning. “Jason and Beth are much closer – they haven’t fought since that first day and I’ve got it on good authority that they’ve kissed.”

AJ looked at Emily. “What? Says who?”

“Beth!” Emily squealed. “Isn’t that great?”

Lila smiled gently. “It’s wonderful. I would love to see him happy – and Elizabeth as well. She’s like my own granddaughter.”

“We get our way and she will be,” AJ said. “We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeve but we’re mainly leaving it up to them. They seem to be doing well on their own.”

Emily nodded, “Which means you know it’s meant to be. We’re just giving them…a slight push.”

Lila laughed. “A slight push never hurt anyone. After all, I did arrange for Courtney to work in New York City.”

AJ grinned. “And I couldn’t thank you enough. How did you know she was the right one?”

“When you’ve lived as long as I have, darling, it’s just something you can recognize. There’s certain energy in the air. I saw it between yourself and Courtney the night you brought her home and I knew I had to make sure it wouldn’t be lost. So, I called in a few favors and arranged it.” Lila smiled. “And I’m very glad it worked out.”

“Wait, when did you bring Courtney to PC?” Emily asked curiously.

“It was just after rehab,” AJ explained. “I came home to see if the family had forgiven me. I didn’t want to do it alone, so I asked a few other people who were getting out the same time I was. Courtney was the only one available.”

Emily nodded. “Grandmother…” she asked hesitantly. “Do you see that with Nikolas and me?”

Lila gently patted her granddaughter’s hand, “Yes, darling. I do. He loves you very much.”

Emily beamed. “He’s the best.”

AJ grinned. “We are just a bunch of hopeless romantics, aren’t we?”

Lila laughed. “There are worse things to be, darling.” She sighed. “I do wish you could come more often. I miss the four of you being around.”

Emily nodded. “We miss it, too, believe me. Especially lately. I miss how simple and innocent everything used to be. When we were really young…when the worst problems we had to face was whether or not Beth and Jason would have a fight that day.”

AJ put an arm around his sister’s shoulder. “Problems come with the territory. You can’t be twenty-one and not have a few problems.”

Emily still looked troubled. “I miss the happy times with the family. I wish I hadn’t been forced to walk away. If only they would have been more understanding…” she shook her head. “I guess it’s useless to think of that.”

Lila sighed. “I wish I could have talked some sense into Alan, Monica and Edward. Things aren’t much better. Your parents are having problems – especially since they’re estranged from all three of their children and Edward…he does miss having you all around. I know it.”

Emily exchanged a look with her brother. “Maybe one day, we can mend the bridges. After all, what can they still be angry about? AJ is sober, has been for over four years. I’m in college, and Jason’s back in town and he’s happy, too. Or he will be.”

“I could never claim to know they’re thinking,” Lila replied. “When you see Jason and Elizabeth, please tell them to stop by. I miss them both.”

Emily nodded. “I know Jason would like to talk to you.”

“I get tired so easily these days, darlings,” Lila said. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Emily said. “Go inside and rest. AJ and I will just take a walk and let ourselves out.” She and AJ kissed their grandmother goodbye and Reginald took her back inside.

Once she was gone, AJ sighed. “She’s getting older, Em. One day, she’ll be gone. What happens then?”

Emily shrugged sadly. “I think maybe we should think about approaching at least Mom and Dad.”

AJ nodded. “Let’s take a walk down memory lane.” He held his arm and Emily took it.

They walked through the vast garden before coming to a statue that seemed to be decapitated. Frowning, AJ stared at it. “This can’t be the one Liz knocked over.”

Emily smiled. “It is. I wonder why they didn’t get a new one.” Her eyes darkened as she remembered the day it broke.

“Liz’s father was so mad at her,” AJ said quietly. He circled the statue. “She looked so scared – I can’t say I don’t blame Jason for jumping in. I only wished I’d thought of it.” He met her eyes. “And when Edward tried to calm Jeff down by saying it wasn’t Lila’s favorite statue – I’d never seen him do anything like that before.” AJ looked at the statue again. “I wonder what Jeff would have done if he’d gotten Liz home…” AJ trailed off as Emily became uncomfortable. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

“What’s it?” Emily asked. AJ was too close to the truth for her taste.

“I always thought Jeff was a bastard – he and Katherine. They treated Sarah and Steven like gold and Liz like crap. Do you remember how jealous Sarah always was? She once told me that she would be better suited to be a friend to the Quartermaines…” AJ shook his head. “Jeff hit her, didn’t he?”

Emily sucked in a breath. She’d forgotten how observant AJ could be when he wanted to be. He was better at putting pieces together than anyone else she knew – which was why he did so well at ELQ. “AJ-”

“Don’t. I know Liz has probably sworn you to secrecy. But…it makes sense now. Why she was always here – early in the morning to late at night. Why she wore heavy clothing even in summer.” AJ looked away. “Jason knew. He probably was the only one who did – probably why they seemed closer after a while. That’s why the accident destroyed Liz.” He looked at her. “You don’t have to say anything. I think I’ve got it.”

“Oh, AJ,” Emily sighed. “She kept it a secret for so long – I feel so guilty. How could I have missed it?”

AJ kept staring at the statue. “You weren’t the only one, Em. I missed it, too. Even when I was sober… I was her friend and I was so busy drinking away whatever insignificant problems I had…I totally missed my best friend’s pain.” He took a deep breath and looked at her with sad eyes. “The mistakes…some mistakes you never stop paying for, huh?”

Emily hugged herself. “Maybe I didn’t want to see it,” she whispered. “Things were bad enough at home … and even when they weren’t… I guess I wanted to believe that since we had the perfect family, that Beth must have the same thing too. I guess I just couldn’t see it – I couldn’t fathom someone wanting to hurt another person like that.” Her eyes became angry, “How could he do that to her? She trusted him, trusted him to love her, protect her and keep her safe. How could he be so cruel and make her pay for something that wasn’t her fault?” Emily raged.

AJ reached out to touch the statue, “Because some men are weak. It’s easier to hurt a small child than it is to face what your wife’s done. He’s lucky he’s not standing in front of me – I might strangle him.”

“AJ, she can’t know that you know,” Emily said desperately. “She’ll think I told you.”

AJ shook his head. “Don’t worry, Em. I won’t tell her. But you know what? Her comment last night makes sense now. When you compare what I did to her father…I guess I didn’t ruin her childhood after all.” His eyes darkened. “But I took Jason away – and I get the feeling she needed him those last three years she was at home.” He gave Emily a small smile. “But maybe if … maybe if we can get them together … I’ll feel like I’m not such a bastard anyway.”

Emily reached out and hugged her brother tightly. “Believe it or not, AJ, we were very lucky. Our parents might not have shown it, but at least we know we were loved.”

AJ sighed, “Yeah, Em. And maybe it’s time to let the past go.”

—-

Sonny looked up as his sister and Jason entered the office. He grinned a little, thinking that while Carly’s idea had seemed crazy at first … maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. “About time, you two.”

Elizabeth smirked and put her purse on her desk. “Sonny, its 12:30. We were at Kelly’s for like a half an hour, tops.”

Jason closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Sonny took the hint and stood up. “Don’t worry about it. Listen, we got a call from Chosky. He seems to like you – thinks you have a good voice and a good head on your shoulders. He told me that anything we needed, he’d be more than happy to help. I, of course, told him that it was returned.”

Elizabeth nodded, all business now. “Good. He’s a good ally to have.”

“I got information that seems a little disturbing,” Sonny said. “One of our informants reported he’s been seeing working girls around Courtland Street. So, Jason, I want you to go track down Jack Gregg and get any other information he might be keeping from us.”

Jason nodded. “I’ll go now.” He glanced at Elizabeth before leaving. “See you later.”

“See ya,” Elizabeth replied, not able to hide her smile. Once Jason was gone, she shook her head and turned to Sonny. “What do you need me to do?”

“I need you to be on your toes,” Sonny said. “You’ve proved yourself to me, Liz. And it would usually take someone more than two years of research to do so.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Good. I worked hard enough.”

“So, if you want, you can take a more active role, starting with Verruchio.”

Elizabeth’s smile fell a little. “What about Jason?”

Sonny grinned and leaned against his desk. “Oh, you’re worried if you take on more that we won’t need Jason anymore.”

“No,” Elizabeth said, crossing her arms, “Not at all. It’s just that he’s moved back here, expecting to be a partner… I’d hate to see him go…” she trailed off and looked away.

“Oh, Liz,” Sonny said, amused. “You don’t lie very well.”

“I do, too,” Elizabeth said, defensively.

“I’m sorry, I take it back. You’re an excellent liar,” Sonny replied. “Anyway, you know my reasons for wanting to keep Jason as a partner even after you graduate – it takes a long time for a woman to get respected in this business and should something happen to me, I don’t want to have to worry about you.” He grinned. “And there’s the added benefit that you and Jason will run the business together one day.”

“Together…” Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not suggesting…” she rolled her eyes. “Gosh, Sonny, not you, too.”

“What?” Sonny asked innocently. “I just happen to agree with the majority.” He sighed. “You know how much I love you right?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said, grudgingly.

“And all I want is for you to be happy. And seeing you with Jason … You’re happy with him. And the people around you can see that. He’s happy with you, too. And trust me, you couldn’t ask for someone better.”

Elizabeth smiled a little and looked down. “He is great, isn’t he?” she asked shyly.

“He’s the best person I know,” Sonny answered plainly. “And he’s the only person good enough for my baby sister.”

Elizabeth crossed the office and wrapped her arms around her brother. “You know I love you right?”

Sonny hugged her back, “Yeah.”

“And that I do trust you.” Elizabeth pulled away. “I know that you’re worried – but I’m okay. I really am. And I know you’re hurt that I’m keeping something from you.”

“Liz-”

“And I want to thank you for not pushing me,” Elizabeth said quietly. She pulled away and stepped away a little. “And I want you to believe me that I will tell you. It’s just … it hurts a lot to tell and I’ve already done it twice in the last week.” She took a deep breath. “But, I guess you could say … that you, me and Carly…we all have something in common. And it’s not that we’re related. It’s something that happened to us.”

Sonny stared at her. “Liz-”

“I know there are people in my life that I’ve kept this from for too long,” she said quietly. “It’s just … I only trusted one person in my life and he was taken from me. I didn’t want to chance that again.”

Sonny crossed the office and crouched before her. “Your father abused you, didn’t he?”

Elizabeth was taken aback by the bluntness of the question, but she finally nodded, “Yeah.”

Sonny took her hand—he was almost afraid to ask. “Physically or…” he swallowed hard. “Sexually.”

Elizabeth’s eyes welled up with tears as she watched her brother’s reaction. “Just physically,” she promised. “He never touched me any other way.”

Sonny stood and pulled her into a tight hug, “Oh, god, Liz. I never…I wish I’d known then—I wish I could have taken you away from him.”

“It’s okay,” she whispered, burying her face in his chest. “I had Jason and when I didn’t have him, I had a memory of him telling me to stay strong. I made it Sonny, I got through it and here I am.”

“But this never ends, Liz,” Sonny said, sadly. “It’s something you never really let go of. It stays with you. I know that’s a horrible thing to say, but I know. And Carly knows. You can get past it, you can move on. But part of you will always be that little child.”

Elizabeth brushed at her tears. “I know,” she said, brokenly. “I know part of me will always be screaming at him to stop. But I can’t let that rule my life, which is why I can’t hide from it anymore.”

“You come to me,” Sonny said forcefully, stroking her hair. “Nightmare, anything, you come to me and Carly and we’ll get you through it. No matter what, kid, you always have us. That will never change.”

Elizabeth started to cry harder. “Thank you,” she whispered through her tears. “You have no idea how much it means to me that I have a family that cares.”

“Yeah, I do, Liz. I do get it and believe me, no one will ever take that from you again,” Sonny promised. He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve had the luck to be blessed twice, first with my beautiful and incredible wife and now my beautiful and incredible sister. You two are the strongest people I know. And it’s people like you, me and Carly that take action to make sure we’re never hurt like that again.”

She wrapped her arms around him more tightly. “I just don’t understand, Sonny. I don’t know what I did to make him so angry all the time,” she whispered, broken.

“It’s not your fault. He didn’t need a reason to be angry,” Sonny said quietly. “Some people are weak. It’s easier for them to take their anger out on a defenseless child than the people they’re angry with.”

“But it wasn’t my fault that my mother had an affair,” Elizabeth whispered. “I’ll never understand why he just didn’t kill me. He could have. The day he told me he wasn’t my father, he nearly pushed me out a window. Sometimes…I wish he had.”

Sonny held Elizabeth while she cried and decided that Jeff Webber had to pay. No one hurt his family and got away with it.

While Emily and Elizabeth were finishing up in the kitchen, AJ and Jason sat at the dining room table waiting. AJ leaned over to the table and said, “Do they look like they’ve been crying?”

“Yeah. But they’re smiling,” Jason said.

AJ shook his head. “Women. They cry over anything. Now, men, we save it for the important things, like when the Giants lose or the Yankees have a bad game.” He smirked, “Or when their wife finds their porno collection.”

Jason raised an eyebrow. “Personal experience?”

“Nah, I got friends,” AJ said, shrugging.

Emily came out with the pot of sauce, and Elizabeth followed with the strainer of pasta. “We still have to get the iced tea and garlic bread,” Emily said, “so hold on before you dig in.”

AJ and Jason both started to rise. “We said we’d help,” Jason said.

Elizabeth pushed him down. “Our apartment, our dinner. Sit.” They returned to the kitchen.

AJ smiled in relief. “Good. For a minute, I thought they’d take us up on it. I’ve learned not to offer at home. Courtney always takes me up on it.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

AJ shrugged. “Hey, I work hard. ELQ sucks, but it pays for that nice brick home in the suburbs.”

“How in the world did you talk Edward into giving you a job at the New York headquarters?” Jason asked. “The last I heard, you broke ties when Emily did.”

“I’ve only been back a year, but it was actually easy,” AJ explained. “See, I took a page from his book. I blackmailed him.”

“Was it worth it?”

“Hell, yes,” AJ replied. “I never see the family there, the vacation time is great, so Court and I always have time to spend with the kids, and let’s face it, Jase, money is always nice.”

“Do I want to know what you blackmailed with?” Jason asked warily.

AJ grinned. “The usual, another illegitimate child.”

Emily and Elizabeth reentered again, each carrying something. They sat the iced tea and garlic bread down and took their seats. “Dig in.”

There was only the sound of clinking silverware and eating as they served themselves. Finally, Elizabeth cleared her throat. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

Jason and Emily looked at her oddly, but AJ rubbed his hands together. “Ooh, I hope its gossip.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if you were a woman in a past life,” Emily said, shaking her head.

“I think I’ll forget you said that,” AJ replied. “What is it, Liz?”

“Um, I’ve written three novels…” Elizabeth took a deep breath, “And submitted them to publishers. All three have been rejected by numerous places. The last one just being a few days ago.”

AJ frowned, “Stupid sons of bitches. Don’t they know talent when they see it?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “AJ, you’ve never read her stuff.” She looked at Elizabeth. “Not that I think it’s bad, it’s just-”

Elizabeth cut her off with a smile. “It’s fine. Thanks, AJ.”

“Good. Now, who can I beat up?” AJ asked honestly.

“I’m twenty, AJ. Not ten,” Elizabeth said. “I can handle myself now.”

AJ frowned. “But I saved you from Lucky.”

Emily and Elizabeth exchanged amused glances. “I guess AJ has forgotten,” Elizabeth said, giggling, “Considering he’s the one that ran away.”

Emily laughed, “While Jason saved the day.”

“Ran away?” AJ repeated. “I don’t remember that.”

“Well, it’s not like the situation called for both of you anyway,” Emily said. “It was just Lucky, after all. Scrawny little Lucky.”

Jason frowned. “What are you talking about?”

AJ groaned. “No, no. Don’t tell him. Not if I don’t look good.”

“Actually, if that’s true, I think I would like to hear it,” Jason said.

AJ threw a napkin at his brother, “Traitor.”

Emily rubbed her hands together. “It’s a great story. You want to tell it, Liz, or should I?”

“You’d better. I’m afraid I might be too harsh on Lucky,” Elizabeth replied.

Emily wrinkled his nose. “Come on, Liz. We were only ten. I think you can let it go.”

“Let it go?” Elizabeth echoed. “Are you nuts? He ripped my poster and pushed me on the ground. I still have a scar.”

“You know Lucky was only trying to be a bully. Jason nipped that in the bud,” Emily reminded her.

Elizabeth shifted, “Doesn’t matter.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Anyway, we were ten, right and I think we were in the park on the fourth of July. The family had the tent set up…”

“That sucks,” Lucky Spencer said. Elizabeth turned around and glared at the slightly taller brunette. He was pointing at the big poster she was coloring of the fireworks.

“You suck,” Elizabeth replied.

Lucky smirked and kicked some dirt onto the poster.

“Hey!” Elizabeth cried. She kicked him hard in the leg. He pushed her aside and stepped on the poster and twisted his foot so that the paper ripped. Elizabeth started kicking and pushing him, but Lucky shoved her to the ground – hard. Elizabeth rolled onto her back and pulled up her jeans to see the wound on her knee. She started to cry.

“You’re such a girl, Webber,” Lucky spat.

“Hey, Spencer!” AJ said, spinning the boy around. AJ hadn’t hit his growth spurt, so even at fourteen, Lucky still had a good two inches on him.

“What are you gonna do about it, Quartermaine?” Lucky said, smirking. He pushed the older boy, who went sprawling on the ground. AJ jumped to his feet and without another glance took off. “Don’t worry, Lizzie, I’ll get Jason!”

“Get up Webber,” Lucky said. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“What’s going on here?” Jason asked, entering the clearing. He crossed his arms. Even at twelve, he was taller than AJ. Taller than Lucky, too. “What are you doing, Spencer?”

“Get away, Quartermaine. Ain’t your affair. Get up, Webber. You want to hit me?”

Elizabeth climbed to her feet. “You’re a horrible mean little boy has no friends,” she said, clenching her fists. “I heard my mother say that even your own brother won’t talk to you!”

Lucky’s face turned purple. “I don’t talk to him. And he’s not my brother!” He gave Elizabeth another push, sending her face first into the dirt.

Jason grabbed Lucky’s collar. “Don’t touch her!” He threw Lucky to the ground – a bit harder than Elizabeth had gone. Lucky jumped back up, blood smeared on his face. He went straight for Jason, but someone pulled him away.

“Hey, Cowboy, knock it off,” Luke Spencer said, holding the back of Lucky’s shirt. “What’s going on here?”

“Lucky was picking on Lizzie,” Jason said. He held a hand to Elizabeth who pointedly ignored it and stood up.

“He ripped my poster,” Elizabeth said in a small voice. “And he pushed me?”

“What?” Luke shook Lucky. “You don’t hit girls, you get me Cowboy?

“Yeah, I get you,” Lucky muttered, shrugging out of Luke’s grasp. “But she ain’t no girl!”

Elizabeth gasped and went for him. Jason grabbed her by the waist to hold her back. “Remember the last time you tried that?” he said.

She whirled around. “You keep out of this!” she cried.

Luke smirked. “All right. That’s enough. Lucky, apologize to Elizabeth.”

“I ain’t apologizing to nothing!” Lucky yelped. Luke smacked him upside the head.

“Apologize or I’ll tell your mother you hit a girl.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucky muttered. He glared at the two and stalked away. Luke followed him…

AJ glared at his sister. “You weren’t even there. You can’t trust Elizabeth’s version of what happened. She was being traumatized by that little…little…” AJ trailed off.

Elizabeth reached over and smacked him in the arm. “I resent that! I could have handled Lucky!”

“And I didn’t hear it from Beth,” Emily replied. She gestured towards Jason with her fork. “I got it from Jason.”

“And he made himself out to be a hero,” AJ grumbled. “I bet you anything I took Spencer down.”

Elizabeth laughed. “No. You were the one who was running. I definitely remember that.”

AJ shrugged. “Well, you didn’t want Jason’s help either.”

“That’s because I didn’t like Jason,” Elizabeth replied. She shot a glance at Jason who seemed amused by the whole situation. “It’s not my fault he was bigger than you.”

“Yeah, well, you always liked Jason better.” AJ sat back in his chair and sulked.

Emily giggled. “AJ, you’re twenty-four. Grow up. It was ten years ago.”

“Doesn’t matter,” AJ whined.

“Aww, it’s okay, AJ, you have a special place in my heart,” Elizabeth assured him. She kissed him on the cheek. Emily shot a look at Jason – his eyes did seem to narrow a bit and jaw clenched. But she might have been imagining that.

“So, did AJ ever do anything remotely heroic?” Jason asked, finally. “Or was that always me?”

AJ threw a small piece of garlic bread at him. “Traitor,” he said again.

“Well, there was that time he took blame for breaking that statue,” Emily said.

“Yeah, but that was only after Jason,” Elizabeth reminded her.

“True. Ooh, what about that time Sly Eckert was picking on me?”

“No. That was Nikolas.”

Emily frowned. “Did you do anything AJ?”

AJ glared at her. “You know,” he drawled, “my talents were not geared towards the white knight side. That was always the golden boy. I was entertaining.”

“Entertaining,” Emily snorted. “That’s way to put it.”

AJ clutched his heart. “I’m hurt, Em, really.”

“Oooh, I remember something. Remember when Foster was-” Elizabeth paused. “No. That wasn’t you either.”

AJ turned his glare towards her. “You know, it’s not my fault. Jason was taller than me until I was seventeen. People were more intimidated.” He turned to his brother. “Come on, Jase. Help me out.”

Jason shook his head and spread some spaghetti on a piece of garlic bread. “Hey, I don’t play the white knight anymore.”

AJ glared at him. “You’re all against me.”

“Oh, AJ. It’s just so much fun messing with you,” Emily laughed. She helped herself to some more pasta. “Besides, you had your good points. Remember my eleventh birthday party when you dumped that whole bowl of ice cream on Grandfather? I mean, how great was that?”

“I remember that!” Elizabeth said, laughing. “I thought Edward was going to kill you.”

“Well,” AJ scratched his ear. “He shouldn’t have said what he said.”

Jason leaned forward. “What’d he say?”

AJ shrugged, “Nothing important.”

Emily burst out hysterically laughing. “AJ was dating Keesha Ward at the time and Grandfather offered her a position at ELQ – if she’d break it off with AJ. Keesha responded by throwing her punch on him.”

“Which AJ followed up with the ice cream.” Elizabeth laughed. “And then there was your fifteenth birthday, AJ.”

“No need to share that,” AJ said firmly. “That was nine years ago. Water under the bridge.”

Emily wiggled her eyebrows. “What? Ashamed Ned found you in the stables with Keesha – and Brenda Barrett?”

“Brenda?” Jason said. “Wasn’t she like thirteen at the time?”

“We weren’t doing anything,” AJ said, lamely. “Keesha wanted to, er, see the new stallion. Brenda had a crush on me. She was following me around.”

“Poor girl ran screaming from the stables,” Emily said, tears starting to stream down her face.

“Good to know I kept you all happy,” AJ grumbled.

“You did say you were the entertainer,” Elizabeth reminded him.

“Traitor.”

—-

Later after dinner, they sat sprawled out in the living room. Emily and Elizabeth appropriated the couch, Jason stretched out in the armchair and AJ lounged on the floor.

“So, Em….” AJ drawled staring at the ceiling. “Is Nikky ever going to make an honest woman out of you?”

Emily propped herself up on the couch and glared at her brother. “We’re not living together,” she said, “So that statement is totally irrelevant.”

“Already talking like a lawyer,” Jason said.

“Hey, watch it or I won’t be your lawyer,” Emily warned.

“Oh, come on, Em.” AJ sat up and leaned on his elbows. “How do you feel about the kid?”

“Kid?” Emily raised an eyebrow. “He’s a year younger than you are.”

“Which makes it a scary prospect,” AJ replied. “You’re avoiding the question.”

“And doing it quite spectacularly, I might add,” Elizabeth said.

“Thank you,” Emily replied. “As for Nikolas, we’re in love and we’re content to stay that way. We’re not at the point in our lives where we need anything more. We’re both in college, we both have dysfunctional families, and neither one of us are pushing for a commitment.”
“Happy?”

AJ nodded, “As long as he treats you right.”

“Don’t worry,” Elizabeth said. “Nikolas treats Emily like a princess.”

AJ grinned. “And what about you, my lovely Liz, anyone special in your life?”

Without even intending to do so, Elizabeth glanced at Jason who seemed to be watching her intently. Emily and AJ both noted the glance and mentally filed it away for later use.

“Well, Beth?” Emily asked, evilly. Elizabeth glared at her.

“Yes,” Elizabeth said, glaring at both her friends. “And that’s all I’m saying about it.”

“Oh, come on, Elizabeth,” Jason said, a slight smile on his face.

Elizabeth eyed him. “What about you, Jase?” she asked suddenly. “You’re awfully quiet on the subject.”

AJ liked the way this conversation was going and he turned his head to face his brother. “Yeah, Jase, how about you?”

Jason glared at AJ much the way Elizabeth had glared at Emily earlier, “None of your business.”
“Oh, you get to question Beth, but we can’t do the same to you?” Emily asked crossing her arms. “Come on, Jase. Someone special…?”

There was no mistake about it this time – much to AJ and Emily’s delight. Jason stared straight at Elizabeth as he said, “Yes. There is.”

AJ grinned. “Want to tell us anything?” he asked.

Jason seemed to struggle with it for a second – but he finally spoke. “She’s the strongest person I know. She always wants to do things on her own – no matter how difficult that might be.”

Emily sneaked a look at Elizabeth who had a tiny smile on her face. Victory!

AJ cleared this throat. “That’s very romantic, Jase. So, Liz,” he said, turning his attention back to his other friend. “Want to tell us anything about your mystery man?”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. She had a feeling AJ knew exactly what he was doing. Gritting her teeth, “Not especially.”

“Come on, Beth,” Emily said quietly. “Jason found something to tell us.” She eyed her friend and smiled at her.

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “He respects the way I feel and gives me a chance to sort things out my own no matter how much he doesn’t agree. He understands that it’s important for me to handle my life on my terms, but I know that if I needed him, he’d be there.”

Anyone with half a brain would know that they were talking about each other, Emily thought happily. She had a feeling Elizabeth was on her way to making a solid decision about what she wanted. “He sounds wonderful, Beth,” Emily said. She knew he was wonderful – after all, he was her brother.

Elizabeth smiled. “He is wonderful, Em.” And again, there was no mistake. Elizabeth was looking straight at Jason when she said it. She wanted to high-five AJ but she thought that might be too much.

Elizabeth suddenly realized what she was doing and flushed. She grabbed her glass and stood quickly. “I’m going to get some more iced tea.” She headed for the kitchen. She had the pitcher out and was pouring it when she felt Jason enter.

“Hey,” he said coming to stand next to her. “I meant what I said out there.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked up at him. “You never say things you don’t mean,” she said. “So I knew that. And I meant what I said out there, too.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I knew that, too.”

She put the pitcher on the counter. “I’ve been doing some thinking and Emily’s been helping. But I don’t want to talk about it tonight. Tonight’s about all of us, our friendship. I don’t want to think about bad memories, or the territory problems which will be more than likely waiting for us at work tomorrow. So,” she paused. She stepped back and looked up at him with a genuine smile. “Let’s meet for lunch tomorrow. There are some things we need to discuss.”

“All right,” Jason agreed. He reached past for her the pitcher. “Might as well fill my own glass so that I can stick to my cover story.”

Elizabeth grinned. “You know it’s almost full any way. And we’re not fooling the two of them you know? Because Emily knows what happened. She saw us this morning.”

Jason sighed. “Yeah. And I had a talk with AJ last night. So they’re both working at it.” Along with everyone else we know, he finished silently.

“I wish AJ lived closer,” Elizabeth said sadly. “I wish we could do this more often.”

Jason returned the pitcher to the fridge. “Even if I sometimes get lost with the conversation…” he trailed off, “I’m glad that we’re all still friends.”

She nodded. “I’ve missed this. That first year, we couldn’t be in the same room without fighting. I know it was hard for them. We’d been so close up until then.” She smiled. “I’m glad that’s changed.”

“Me, too,” He grinned. “Let’s get back before they think we’re up to something other than talking.

—-

Emily watched Jason leave the room. She leaned to talk to AJ. “They are so far gone.”

He grinned. “It’s a triumphant victory, isn’t it?”

“I wish you and Courtney lived closer,” Emily said. She sighed. “I miss seeing you whenever I felt like bugging you.”

“I know, Em. And believe me, I miss you, too. Port Charles has some bad memories.” AJ shrugged. “Maybe one day Court and I will come home – maybe we’ll mend the bridges with the family. But until I’m ready to face that, we’re better off where we are.”

Emily nodded. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

“I’m glad we’re all happy,” AJ replied. “I’m glad you and Nikolas are together. He’s a good kid, I’ve always felt that way. And Liz and Jase? They’re getting there all by themselves. A little push never hurt, though.”

Emily grinned. “Hey, you want to go see Grandmother tomorrow? She might be able to give us some pointers.”

AJ nodded. “Yep. Besides, I have pictures of the kids for her.”

Elizabeth and Jason returned then and they returned to their seats. “Hey,” Emily said, excitedly. “Let’s break out the album!”

“No!” Elizabeth begged. “Not the album.” But Emily was already up and dragging a photo album off the shelf. She plopped back on the couch, smiling widely.

“Em, I’m pleading,” AJ said. Emily stuck her tongue out at him.

“Remember this one?” she asked, opening it the middle and showing it to Elizabeth. “My eighth birthday party.”

Elizabeth giggled. “AJ, I forgot about the great shrimp incident of 1991.”

“The great what?” Jason asked. “I have to hear this one.”

Elizabeth traded looks with Emily. “I’ll tell this one. It was May, and for some reason, Monica had a great idea to have seafood at Emily’s party…”

Emily stared at the fish. “This sucks.”

Elizabeth smiled sympathetically at her friend. “Yeah, it does. But don’t worry. AJ and Jason already promised that we’re gonna ditch the party later and order pizza.”

“Why didn’t Mom just listen to me?” Emily asked miserably. “I just wanted some balloons, a cake and a barbecue.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Where are the rest of your friends?” she asked curiously. “Didn’t you invite the rest of the class?”

“Mom said they weren’t appropriate guests,” Emily said. She flopped down and sighed. “I hate fish.”

AJ came up and rubbed Emily’s head affectionately. “How’s my favorite sister?”

“She’s not happy,” Elizabeth reported.

AJ grinned. “Maybe I should cheer you up.” He reached forward and grabbed a crab leg off Emily’s plate. He started dangling it front of Emily.

“Ewww! Get ’em away from me!” Emily screeched. Elizabeth was giggling until AJ swung the leg in her direction. Elizabeth yelped and leaned back to get away and succeeded in falling off the chair.

“Smooth move, Lizzie,” Jason smirked. “I ordered the pizza. When it gets here, Reginald’s gonna come find me.”

Elizabeth looked up at Jason from her position on the ground. “You know what, Jason? Blow it out your ear,” she said.

Jason shook his head and held a hand out to help her up. “You’ve got to stop listening to Lois.”

Elizabeth ignored his hand and stood up. “What kind of pizza did you order?”

“Pepperoni and sausage,” Jason repeated. She grimaced.

“They suck. You shoulda gotten cheese.”

“If the two of you are done,” Emily said, “tell AJ to get the crab away from me.” She was leaning as far as she could without falling off the chair, but AJ was dangling the leg closer and closer.

“AJ, stop it,” Elizabeth ordered.

“Make me, Lizzie,” AJ replied, dangling it back her direction. Elizabeth took another step back and crashed into Jason.

“Knock it off,” Jason said. “Some people eat that stuff.”

Emily wrinkled her nose. “Why?”

Jason shrugged. “Some people are dumb.”

AJ opened his mouth to respond but a waiter knocked into him from behind and spilled his whole tray on him. AJ was covered in dipping sauces off all kinds, and shrimp was hanging from the pockets of his shirt.

Jason continued his statement without missing a beat. “And some people just look dumb.”

“Kids! Pictures!” Monica called.

“We must have snapped a dozen pictures before she realized AJ was a mess,” Elizabeth laughed.

“Served you right for scaring us,” Emily grumbled throwing her brother a dirty look. She turned a few pages. “Oh, hey…Beth, do you remember this Christmas…?”

Elizabeth took the album from her and looked at it. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “I have a copy of it in my room. It’s the Christmas before the accident.” She bit her lip.

“That was my favorite Christmas,” Emily said fondly. She smiled at Elizabeth. “Remember? You spent Christmas Day with us. You were over really early and we opened our presents together.”

Elizabeth smiled, but the smile never quite reached her eyes. “That was a good Christmas.”

She’d been over early because she’d spent the night with Jason – and she’d spent the day because she’d been afraid to go home. It was the first Christmas she hadn’t woken up to her parents fighting and her siblings getting presents while Elizabeth was handed a few gift certificates. At the Quartermaines, Monica and Alan had bought her a few things, and so had Lila. Jason had gotten her a charm bracelet that she didn’t wear anymore.

She hadn’t gone home for three days, and by the time she did, her parents had been so busy with parties they hadn’t noticed she was gone.

“You okay, Liz?” AJ asked curiously having seen the sad look enter her eyes.

Elizabeth flashed another smile at him. “I’m fine. It’s just…I miss the family sometimes. Before everything…I was closer to them than to my own family.” She shifted uncomfortably. Pasting a smile on her face, she flipped past that page. But the pictures after that day were few and far between. There were no longer any pictures of the four of them…mostly just Emily and Elizabeth, or AJ and Emily, or Jason and Emily. There were a few of she and Jason, and maybe one of the she, Emily and Jason. As AJ’s drinking had gotten worse, they’d stopped spending time together. And towards the end of March, she’d stopped seeing AJ altogether. He was either drinking all the time or locked in his room with a hangover.

AJ seemed to understand where her thoughts had drifted. “I remember that last Christmas as the end of era,” he said quietly. “I’d give anything to go back and do it over again.” He took a deep breath. “But I know that’s highly unlikely. I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it a dozen times, but it won’t change any time soon. I’ll always be sorry.”

“AJ…” Emily sighed. “You made a bad judgment call. The family … they let all three of us walk away. And the only person who’s made any overtures is Grandmother. Everyone else is still too angry. This is not your fault. I made the decision to walk away. Jason made the decision. You didn’t influence our decision. I hated the way they treated you and the way Jason got treated. I didn’t want to ever give them the chance to do the same to me. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Jason nodded “Same here, AJ. I don’t blame you for my choices or theirs. Don’t worry about it.”

AJ swung his eyes to Elizabeth. “What about you, Liz?”

Elizabeth furrowed her brow in confusion. “What about me?”

“Do you forgive me?” AJ asked.

She raised her eyebrows. “For what?” she asked. “AJ, you didn’t do anything to me.”

AJ stared at her. “You’re kidding me.” He sat up more and leaned towards her. “I took Jason away, I ruined our childhood-”

“You didn’t do those things to me,” Elizabeth said quietly. “And you didn’t take Jason away, AJ. He’s right here. And believe me, AJ; you had nothing to do with ruining my childhood.”

AJ gave her a strange look and shrugged, “All right. Well…” he grinned. “As much as fun as this walk down memory lane was, I better head to the hotel. I want to tuck Mel and Kyle in before they’re too tired to remember.” He stood and stretched. “Can I help clean up or anything?”

Emily shook her head as she stood. “No. Beth and I got it.” She hugged her brother tightly.

“I’ll walk with you to the elevator,” Jason said standing. AJ hugged Elizabeth as Jason hugged Emily.

Both AJ and Emily watched closely as Jason and Elizabeth hugged each other. AJ noted that Jason practically swallowed her tiny body while Emily sighed happily at the fact that they held each other for almost a full minute.

They exchanged glances – it seemed that whatever mistakes had been made in the past … were finally being righted now.

Emily knocked Carly’s office door at Deception. She heard Carly yell for her to come in and she opened the door the rest of the way.

Laura Spencer, the other owner, was arguing with Carly. Between them stood a beautiful girl with mocha colored skin and braided hair—along with the snobbiest face Emily had ever seen. Gia Campbell was the new Face of Deception and Emily hadn’t liked her since the moment she’d met her.

“Hey, Em,” Laura greeted warmly. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. How is the family?” Emily asked, hoping Laura would drop some mention of Lucky and Luke. She hadn’t seen either for almost a year and she was beginning to miss her surrogate father and brother.

“Luke and Lucky are still overseas,” Laura said sadly. Her face brightened. “But Lulu’s headed for the second grade next year.”

“That’s great,” Emily said, grinning. “If you hear from Luke and Lucky, tell them to give me a call.

“Sure.” Laura turned back to Carly. “We’ll finish this later. Come on, Gia.” Laura and Gia left the office.

Carly wrinkled her nose. “God, I hate that girl.”

Emily sat down. “Well, she’s beautiful. That’s all that matters.”

Carly shrugged. “Whatever.” Her eyes brightened. “I talked to Jason last night.”

“I didn’t get a chance to check in with Beth.” Emily couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across her face. “But I did see her asleep in Jason’s room this morning. I think she finally opened up to him.”

Carly grinned. “They spent the night together?”

Emily nodded. “I think it was platonic, but that’s a far cry from where they were last week.”

Carly nodded. “But don’t worry, Jase has got it bad for Liz, no doubt.”

“I think Beth feels the same way,” Emily agreed. “I meant to talk to her, but my own love life set in. I’ve been ignoring Nik and I feel really bad. Of course, he understands but that’s just because he’s sweet.”

Carly nodded. “So what’s the plan for today?”

“Well, Nik’s coming over to watch Law and Order and then he’s leaving because I gotta order out and get the apartment set up. AJ and Jason are having dinner with me and Beth tonight. We’re going to catch up, reminisce and …. See exactly how close Jason and Beth really are,” Emily replied.

“Call me as soon as possible,” Carly ordered. “I want to know how it went.”

Emily nodded, “Will do. How’s the Deception launch party going?”

“Right on schedule. So, we’ve gotten the bike ride – which Jason tells me Liz absolutely adored. They’re friends enough to spend the night in same bed – which is saying quite a bi,t if you ask me,” Carly said. “And we all see the attraction. The thing is – do they?”

“I don’t know,” Emily said plainly. “But I’m going to try and find out tonight. If they’re attracted and they both know it, we might not want to do anything overt. We don’t want to do anything that will hurt our cause.”

Carly nodded, “Definitely. We don’t want to cause any miscommunications or problems. So, maybe once we know what’s going on, we can invite them out for dinner…make the reservations for two and not show up.”

“That’s a good idea. We can have roses or something waiting at the table. Ooh, and AJ and I have decided that Beth probably works for Sonny, so we can have flowers delivered there for her.”

Carly’s eyes were practically glowing with happiness. “I think this is one scheme that might actually.”

“There’s always a first time,” Emily replied. She checked her watch. “I’m going to head to the florist before going home. Beth likes lilies so I’ll have those delivered. With no card. Jason won’t take credit – but maybe he’ll just keep his mouth shut and let her give him credit.”

Carly shook her head. “No. Probably not. Maybe, we can convince him to deliver flowers to her.”

“Jason? Flowers?” Emily asked doubtfully. “I don’t know.”

“You never know,” Carly pointed out.

“That’s true. Last night, AJ and the family took over the apartment, so I went to Jason’s to crash. I hinted to Jason that Beth was working late and he was out the door. Flowers…might do the trick. Always made me feel good. One time, Nikolas had them delivered to me right before a final. Just made my whole day better – I passed the final, too,” Emily said, grinning. “All right. I’ll make a note to talk to Jason then. I’d better go.”

“See ya,” Carly said.

—-

Emily leaned against Nikolas on the couch and sighed with satisfaction. “I’ve missed this.”

Nikolas leaned over slightly to grab the bag of Doritos, “Me, too.”

She leaned her head back to give him a teasing glare. “I think you like coming over for the food,” she grumbled.

Nikolas crunched on a chip, “That, too.”

Emily shrugged, “S’okay. I like you because you’re cute, not because you’re smart.” She snuggled in deeper. “No talking, show’s on.”

They sat watching the show in silence until the first commercial – and then the arguing began. “He killed three people,” Emily said, shaking her head. “Throw the book at him.”

“You know McCoy’s gonna go nuts on him,” Nikolas said, reaching for a can of soda. “This was what…like a season after Claire was killed?”

Emily nodded. “He’s probably gonna cheat.” She frowned. “Haven’t I seen this episode before?”

Nikolas shrugged, “Probably. I think we had the same conversation last time.”

Emily grinned, “Yeah. But it’s still fun.” She leaned back to look at him adoringly. “No one else understands the obsession but you.”

“Hey, good to know I’m good for something,” Nikolas replied, trailing a finger down her cheek.

She closed her eyes and sighed happily. “You’re good for a lot of things.”

“Oh, really?” Nikolas asked, curiously. “Like what?”

“Oh, no. We’re not turning this into what Emily Loves about Nikolas.” Emily shook her head. “That would take too long.”

“Hey, just give me the top five,” Nikolas suggested. She propped herself up and giggled. “What? I’ll give you my top five.”

Emily considered this, “All right. Top five. Five,” Emily reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I like the way we fit together.”

“Five,” Nikolas said. “I love the way your eyes sparkle when you’re arguing with me.”

“Four,” Emily continued, “I love the fact we can sit around all afternoon and not have to do anything at all…and we’re still happy.”

“Four, I love waking up with you in my arms.”

Emily allowed herself to kiss him lightly, “Such a sweet guy. Four, I like the way you smile at me when I first open my eyes in the morning.”

“Three, I love the way your hair curls around your ears.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re insane. Three,” she took an arm from his neck and wrapped her hand in his. “I love that my hand fits so neatly in yours.”

“Two,” Nikolas said, his voice growing serious. “I love that even after two years of dating, you’re still the only girl I want to see when I wake up and when I sleep. I love that I can tell the second you enter or leave a room.”

“That’s two things,” Emily whispered. “Two, I love that my day isn’t complete until I hear your voice or see your face. I can’t sleep without that.”

Nikolas brushed her hair out of her eyes. “One,” he said, staring into her eyes, “I love that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Emily gasped. “Y-you w-what?” she asked, trembling.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Nikolas repeated. Suddenly he felt a little nervous. Maybe their relationship wasn’t ready for that.

“One,” Emily said, her voice suddenly firm. “I love that there’s no one else I want to be with. I love that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Nikolas grinned and pulled her face towards his. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you, too,” she whispered just before their lips met.

—-

Elizabeth smiled as she watched Emily humming her way across the kitchen. Elizabeth continued to stir the sauce. “Someone had a good day today,” she said, grinning.

Emily started sprinkling garlic on the rolls. “Nikolas told me he wants to spend the rest of his life with me,” she reported happily.

Elizabeth dropped the spoon and spun around, “Oh my God!”

Emily twirled in a circle. “Nothing can bring me down. My life is finally making sense. I’ve got the world’s most amazing boyfriend, you and Jason are getting close again, AJ’s in town, its summer…” she stopped, her eyes gleaming. “Tell me, Beth. Can it get any more perfect than this?”

Elizabeth hugged her friend. “That’s amazing!”

Emily pulled away. “I need you something, and you have to promise that you’ll tell me the truth.”

Elizabeth frowned, “Of course.”

Emily took a deep breath. “I saw you and Jason this morning, in his penthouse, in his room.” She watched the flush cover Elizabeth’s face. “Now, I know you didn’t sleep with him. Did you tell him…?”

Elizabeth nodded and returned to stirring the sauce. “I told him everything – more than what I told you.”

Emily flinched. “You didn’t tell me everything?” she asked, hurt.

“It’s not that,” Elizabeth assured her. “There were just parts of the story that it didn’t feel right that anyone but me and Jason would know.”

Emily bit her lip, “All right. Will you tell me one day?” she asked hesitantly.

Elizabeth nodded, smiling, “Definitely.”

Emily started putting the rolls in the oven. “So…how do you feel about my brother?” she asked not looking up.

Elizabeth sighed. “I have no idea.”

Emily shut the oven and straightened. “How can you not have an idea?”

“It’s confusing,” Elizabeth murmured. She stared into the red sauce. “I was crazy about him before the accident. And now…” She looked up and turned her face towards Emily. “And now I think I’m falling for him all over again. But I don’t know who I think he is. Jason Quartermaine, Jason Morgan or something in between. And I can’t make any decision because I’m so wrapped up in these damn memories that I don’t know what’s going on in my mind.”

Emily got the iced tea mix out of the cabinet and started scooping it into a pitcher. “All right, quick test.” She put the pitcher underneath the faucet and started filling it. Once she was satisfied, she turned off the water and pulled the pitcher out. Stirring it, she continued, “What did you like best about Jason Quartermaine? Don’t think too long. Just answer it.”

“The way he protected me,” Elizabeth said instantly, “And not just from my father, from everything. When my grandmother died, when the kids at school picked on me…” she trailed off. “He made me feel safe when no one else could.”

Emily smiled. She adored her brother, but part of her still missed the boy he’d been. “What do you like best about Jason Morgan?”

“He doesn’t push me,” Elizabeth replied. “I honestly think he would have been satisfied with me not telling him. He wouldn’t be happy – but he wouldn’t push. He’d wait until I was ready to tell him.” She smiled. “He’s also a good kisser.”

Emily dropped the spoon into the pitcher. “Shit.” She dug it out and laid it on the counter. “Did you just say…?”

Elizabeth bit her lip and looked away. “You see what I mean, Em? The things I like best about them are…things they did for me. How selfish is that?” She shook her head. “I’m better off staying away from him.”

Emily sighed. “You said that Jason made you feel safe when no one else could. That’s not selfish at all, Beth. It was the way he made you feel, and that’s important.” She went to the refrigerator and opened the freezer. “And you basically said that Jason gives you space…time to deal what’s going on without him demanding answers. That’s important, too. You know?” She grabbed a tray of ice cubs and shut the freezer. “So, it’s not cut and dry. Part of Jason is still who he used to be, there’s this whole other person inside of him now that’s nothing like the boy we grew up with.”

“How I do I figure out who I want?” Elizabeth asked. She filled another pot with water and set it on the stove to boil. “I knew the old Jason inside and out. I knew the arrogant parts he showed to everyone else, and the way he’d hold me after a nightmare. I remember him at parties where he lorded his popularity and I remember playing games in the garden.” She opened a cabinet and took out some boxes of pasta. “This Jason…I’m getting to know him. I never really gave him a chance before. But again, I’m getting two sides. The way he is around Sonny when he’s working and the way he was last night. He sat with me while I explained my terrible life and do you know what? He apologized for not being there. He blames himself.”

Emily put the pitcher into the fridge and opened another cabinet to grab some plates. “I knew he would. And he probably will for a long time.” She headed to the small dining room and started setting the table.

Elizabeth sighed, frustrated. “Why is it so hard to let him go?” she asked. “It’s been five years. I should be over him.”

Emily reentered the kitchen and opened the silverware drawer. “Maybe you have.”

Elizabeth looked up. “What?”

“Maybe you got over Jason Quartermaine and the reason you think you didn’t is because you’re confusing the feelings you have for Jason now with the ones you had then.” Emily frowned. “Did that make any sense?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, in a roundabout way.” She put the pasta in the water. “I care about Jason, I really do. But I’m scared to open up again like that. I lost him once – I don’t know that I could survive it again.”

Emily pulled some glasses out of the cabinet. “Jason Quartermaine was great,” she said. “And I’ll always miss him.” She eyed her friend. “But, Beth. Jason Quartermaine and Jason Morgan are two different people. Yeah, there are some similarities – that’s to be expected, but the sooner you realize that Jason Quartermaine is dead and that he’s never coming back, the happier you’ll be. Don’t use Jason as a substitute. He deserves more.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Is that what you think I’m doing?” she asked, tightly.

Emily paused for a few minutes. Finally, she shook her head slowly. “No. I know you didn’t want to open up to him again. I know how hard it was for you to trust that Jason wanted to help. And I know what it must have cost you to tell him the truth, but I know my brother very well. He won’t leave you on purpose. He’s going to be around for a long time.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I know.”

“If it’s any consolation, Beth,” Emily said, taking the glasses to the table. “I saw the two of you this morning. You were wrapped in each other’s arms and quite frankly, I’ve never seen either of you look that at peace. There’s something between you two, I can feel it. Anyone who’s in the same room with you can. And I’ve always felt it – even when you two were at each other’s throats. You just have to decide if you’re ready to put your memories in the past and look to the future.” Emily opened the oven and took out the finished garlic rolls.

“But, you know what, Beth? Tonight, let’s forget romance and forget the pain. They’ll be here soon and for the first time since the accident, I finally think…” Emily paused, searching for the right way to say it. She saw Elizabeth smiling at her gratefully. “I think it’s going be okay. We’re all going to find our way in life. AJ found his first. I’m getting there … and I think you and Jason might find your way together. We’ve been friends since forever, Beth. And nothing has ever changed that. Not AJ’s drinking, our family problems or even Jason’s accident. We’re still all here. We’re still friends – hell, we’re still family.” She put the garlic rolls on the counter and swept her friend into a tight hug. “And no matter, what Beth-”

“-we’ll always be family,” Elizabeth replied, softly returning the hug. “We have been since the day we dared Lucky Spencer to eat glue in the first grade. Since I spilled that juice on Jason and since AJ tackled me to the ground and ruined my favorite dress.” She pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “You’re my best friend in the entire world, Em, and all the boyfriends, sisters, brothers in the world can’t change that. You were my sister first. You were the first person to look past my sister and like me for me. You didn’t become Sarah’s friend and then invite me along out of pity.” She smiled. “We invited Sarah because we pitied her.”

“You are my best friend, too,” Emily said, her eyes watery. “And nothing can come between us. All the secrets in the world will never change that.” She laughed. “AJ and Jason will think we’ve lost our minds.”

“Nah,” Elizabeth said, reaching for the Kleenex. “They’ve seen us cry over silly things before. Remember Forrest Gump?”

“And Willow?” Emily said. “They’re good sports, though aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth grinned widely passing the box to Emily. “Man, I lucked out the day they put me in your first grade class.”

“Me, too,” Emily pulled a Kleenex from the box and blew her nose. “Come on. Let’s get dinner ready so we can clean up.”