Written in 21 minutes. No time for rereading or typos.

Jason wasn’t entirely sure what was happening with Elizabeth.

A few months ago, it had seemed clearer. His marriage was breaking up, and he was reconnecting with her—remembering the son they’d shared, regretting how he’d handled things with Sam.

Then he’d kissed her that day on the bridge, starting stopping by her house, spending time with her and her boys. He’d saved her from Ewan Keenan, the crazy doctor who had helped Jerry Jacks poison the town through the water system. Since then—it was different.

And standing in front of her, in his penthouse, the place where they’d reconnected six years ago and created a little life that hadn’t survived—where he’d proposed to her twice—Jason knew she was calling his bluff.

Elizabeth fully expected him to step back again—like he had after the bridge, like he had a thousand other times in their long history. For too many years, he’d stepped back.

Run away.

“I am the Queen of Regrets,” she’d said with a smirk the night he’d saved her life. “And you can be the King.”

He didn’t want that anymore.

So Jason did what he knew she didn’t expect. He stepped forward, took the strap of her purse between two fingers and slid it off her bare shoulder. “You know where the stereo is.”

Elizabeth blinked at him, her breath caught in her throat, and then she searched his eyes for a moment—as if trying to figure out what he was thinking.

“Or did you change your mind?” Jason asked. He set the purse on the desk, next to his keys. He lifted a brow.

“No.” She bit her lip. “That’s what you do.” Elizabeth wandered over to the shelf by the stairs and glanced at the old stereo that had been sitting for years. She didn’t even wait for his reaction—

Because he knew what she was thinking. What she was remembering. He’d never had any trouble remembering their history or the moments that should have changed his life.

They were standing nearly in the same spot where he’d asked her to marry him the last time. And she’d looked so scared, so excited—and she’d said yes.

And then he’d promised not back out.

He swallowed hard as she finally found a station and turned it on low. Then Elizabeth came back to stand in front of him.

Making him choose. Leaving it up to him.

So Jason stepped forward, took her arms and slid them around his neck, his fingers trailing down her bare skin as he settled them around her waist. He didn’t hear the lyrics, didn’t even really register the music.

Only the way she looked up at him, at her eyes, and the way it felt to have her back in his arms—wondering why he’d ever let her go.

They swayed there, barely even dancing, barely even breathing. He couldn’t have said how long it was until the song she’d found drifted from a slow ballad to something more upbeat and rock.

Elizabeth started to pull away, started to break eye contact, but Jason tugged her back and bent his head to brush his lips against hers. Her mouth parted beneath his, and then she kissed him back.

For only a moment before she jerked back, then nearly flew away from him, standing by the sofa, her eyes large on her face.

“Should I apologize?” Jason asked roughly, his stomach rolling with worry. Had he ruined everything? Should he have just let her go home?”

“N-No.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, closed her eyes, then shook her head. “No. But I can’t— Ican’t do this again.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I love—I love being around you,” she told him. “But you—” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked away. “You just finalized your divorce. And the last time—” She straightened and seemed to find her strength. “The last time we were here, in this position, you walked away from me. And the family you told me you wanted.”

“I know—it was a mistake—”

“You didn’t want it with me,” she continued, her eyes glimmering with tears. Tears that felt like a punch to his stomach. “You chose them with Sam. Less than a year later. You always—you go back to her. So I can’t—” Her voice quavered slightly. “I can’t be the second choice.”

“You’re not—” Jason took a step towards her, but Elizabeth lifted her hand to stop him from coming any closer.

“I am. Right now. Because we’re spending a lot of time together, you know? And it’s great. I don’t want to lose that. Every time we do this, and we fail, I lose you again. And I’m—” A tear slid down her cheek. “I’m not strong enough to do it again. Please.”

He let his hands fall to his side. “You’re stronger than you think,” Jason said softly. “But okay. I won’t—we’ll just—we’ll just put this away.” Again.

“Okay.” She wrapped her arms aroud herself. “And I’m sorry—I know I was probably sending you mixed signals—”

“You weren’t—”

“I was,” she insisted. Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “The truth is that I am always going to be in love with you. And I’m sure—I’m sure that, in some way, it’s the same for you. I’m willing to accept that. I just—I’m not sure it’s enough. Not after the last time we went through with this.”

“I know.”

“And I also know—I can even accept that it was circumstances—you know, the world around us. We let it ruin things. What happened with Michael, then the Zaccharas, and the Russians—we let it mess things up. You walked away, and I let you go.” Elizabeth walked past him to pick up her purse.

He turned to face her as she walked towards the door. “You walked away from me once, too,” he reminded her. “I let you go.”

“Twice.” A hint of a smile. “We’ve both walked away twice. You left town, then I wouldn’t leave Lucky.”

“And you left after Sonny—”

“And then you left after Russians.” Elizabeth exhaled. “I’m not walking away, this time, Jason. We’re not going down this road. Not again. Not now.”

“And I’m not letting you go. Not again. Not now,” he repeated softly. “I’ll walk you out.”

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