Sweet tea in the summer
Cross my heart, won’t tell no other
And though I can’t recall your face
I still got love for you
Pack your dolls and a sweater
We’ll move to India forever
Passed down like folk songs
Our love lasts so long

---

July 1987

Steven Lars Webber was mortified to the bone, his cheeks flaming red, his brow scrunched up, fists clenched at his side. “You’re a no good liar, Lizzie,” he bit out with every ounce of rage the twelve-year-old could summon. “And Gram’s going to be so mad you followed me!”

All he’d wanted to do was play with his summer best friend, running through the patch of woods, pretending to be Rambo, running from the bad guys. But then there’d been a sharp cry, a crack of wood, and now here he stood, in the middle of a clearing, with his youngest sister a crumbled, sobbing mess, and embarrassing him in front of his friend.

He jabbed a finger at her. “And stop crying! That doesn’t work on me!”

His baby sister inhaled sharply, pressing her lips together, holding back the choked sobs because she idolized her brother and he wanted her to stop crying, and maybe if she did, he wouldn’t tell their mother, but oh, it hurt so bad—

“S-sorry, I just—” The words were stuttered out between huge gulps of air as the six-year-old sat crumbled on the ground, her knee bleeding.  Her hands were scraped, dirt packed underneath her fingernails. Her brown hair had begun the day tied back into twin braids dangling down her back, but one of the bands had fallen out. Half her hair was tangled, and the other braid wasn’t in much better condition, curly tendrils poking out.

Steven sighed, looked at the boy next to him with derision. “You’re so lucky you don’t have sisters, man. They’re the worst.”

“You’re lucky you’re the oldest,” the boy said, but he knelt down in front of the crying girl. “Lizzie, right?”

Elizabeth nodded, then swiped her arm across her face to wipe away her tears. “T-That’s w-what they c-call me but I don’t like it—”

“Oh, cripes, Lizzie, this isn’t the time—” Steven rolled his eyes. “No one cares—”

She dipped her head, the sobs she tried to hold in trembling her tiny frame.

“Dude, chill out. You keep making her cry,” his friend said, whacking him in the leg. “Go find  my brother. Tell him to get the first aid kit. And water.”

“What if he tells on us?” Steven demanded.

“He won’t. AJ’s my brother,” the boy told Elizabeth. “My older brother. He won’t say anything if I tell him not to.”

“Sisters,” Steven said, but jogged off back towards the house.

“I-I’m s-sorry,” Elizabeth said. “I ruined your fun.”

The boy shrugged and grinned. “Blood is cool, and I’m going to be a doctor, so I can fix this.” He looked at her knee, made a face. “It’s not that bad. This is your first summer with your grandparents, right?”

“Y-Yes. I’m old enough, Mom said.” She sniffled again. “Because she and Dad have more important things to do so I can be a pain to my grandparents for a change.”

“I’m Jason.” He stuck out his hand and she frowned at it, confused. “You shake it,” he added, with a grin that wasn’t mean or snide. Not like Steven and Sarah.

“I know.” Her lips pressed together in a mutinous line. “I’m not a baby.” She shook it. “I’m Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth,” Jason repeated. “Do you like Port Charles?”

“I like my Grampy,” she said in a small voice. “He’s nice. But—” she shrugged. “Steven and Sarah don’t like me. I’m only one year younger than Sarah, but they act like I’m a baby.”

“I wish I had a little sister,” Jason said, but she didn’t believe him. He was nice enough to lie.

“I wish I was the oldest,” she muttered. “Being the youngest sucks. No one lets me do anything.”

Steven ran back into the clearing, then dumped the water bottle and first aid at Jason’s feet, before dropping to the ground, sitting cross-legged. “AJ said you owe him.”

“Yeah, I bet.” Jason twisted the cap from the water, then poured it over Elizabeth’s knee. She hissed when it stung, tears welling up again.

“Oh, you’re going to cry again.” Steven sighed as if weighed down by the burden of her. “You always ruin everything, Lizzie. If you weren’t such a pain, maybe Mom and Dad wouldn’t have made you come with us this year. But they don’t want you either.”

Her lip trembled and she lowered her head, tucking her chin against her chest. The truth stung more than the water against her banged up knee.

“You’re such a dick,” Jason said, flatly, all the friendliness gone from his tone. Steven frowned at him, and Elizabeth’s head snapped back up, her blue eyes wide at the bad word. She’d only ever heard her dad say that word, when he’d talked about someone at work.

“Dude,” Steven said, offended. “What did I do?”

“She’s your little sister, man. She’s hurt.” Jason unwrapped a bandage and pressed it against the wound. “You’re supposed to take care of her.”

“Oh, you know so much,” Steven retorted. “You don’t have a sister—”

“So?” Jason challenged. “I know a dick when I see one.”

Steven scowled, scrambled to his feet. “Yeah, well, you’re—you’re an asshole!”

Oh, no. She’d ruined everything — now Steven was fighting with his best friend and he’d be so mad at her.

“Don’t fight.” Elizabeth climbed to her feet. “Don’t fight. I’m going. I’m sorry. I’ll go and I’ll never follow you again. It was my fault.” She sniffled, wiped her dirty hands against her denim pants. “I’m sorry. Don’t fight. I just wanted to play. I didn’t mean to ruin it.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Jason assured her, then he looked at her brother. “Did she?”

Steven clearly wanted to disagree, but he made a face, looked at Elizabeth. “No,” he muttered. “It’s fine, Lizzie. I just don’t want to get in trouble for you getting hurt. Gram will be mad. You look like you lost a fight.”

“I’ll go home and sneak in the back way,” Elizabeth promised. “A-and I’ll clean up. No one ever has to know.”

“IF you tell—” Steven threatened.

“Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye,” Elizabeth said solemnly, crossing her chest. “I promise.” She looked at Jason, smiling shyly. “Thank you for helping me. Bye!”

And then she bolted, running towards the edge of the woods, and was gone after another minute.

“Sisters,” Steven muttered, but his ire had faded. He looked back at Jason, calmly cleaning up his first aid kit, not leaving any trash behind. “You’re still an asshole,” he said with a wrinkle of his nose. “But you don’t got sisters, so you don’t know how they are. Everything is always your fault because you’re supposed to know when they’re being dumb and stop them. It’s annoying.”

“And you’re still a dick who made her cry,” Jason said, getting to his feet. “Some brother.”

“Oh, whatever. I hope you get a sister one day, and you see how much they ruin everything.” Furious, Steven stomped in the same direction his sister had gone.

Steven and his sisters went back to Colorado a month later, and when they came back the next summer, Steven didn’t tell Jason he was coming. And they never hung out again. Which was awful because Jason was rich and had a pool and tennis courts and woods and so many cool things to play with. But Steven had his pride. And he never forgave his stupid sister for ruining his friendship with the wealthier boy.

But Elizabeth went home that day, snuck into her grandparents’ house, and managed to clean herself up. No one ever found out she’d left. She went into her room—it was so nice in Port Charles, she didn’t have to share with her stupid sister—and she found a notepad from her grandfather’s office.

She doodled Jason’s name in hearts on most of the pages, practiced writing her name as Mrs. Jason Quartermaine, and Elizabeth Quartermaine.  But then she got so embarrassed, she tore all the pages to shreds and dumped them in the trash, shoving them all to the bottom.

By the time she moved to Port Charles with her sister, and befriended Emily Quartermaine, she’d forgotten most of that day in the woods. She’d only been six that day, of course, and sometimes you forgot your first crush.

Jason never gave much thought to Steven Webber or his little sister after that summer. His parents were divorcing again, and they were sending him to boarding school, along with his older brother. And then, of course, there was the accident that made him into Jason Morgan, so he never gave any thought to the girl his sister was friends with.

But then one day in August, he went to the boxcar to let Lucky Spencer to let him know he was out of a job unless he wanted to work at the garage Jason was opening. And Lucky introduced him to his girlfriend, Elizabeth Webber with big blue eyes and hair that curled at the ends.

She’d been so nervous meeting him, and her cheeks had flushed when she’d asked about whether Lucky was safe with Jason changing jobs. He’d smiled at her, with reassurance, and she’d smiled back, and it was the strangest feeling for both of them—

Had they met before?

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