April 12, 2014

Inspiration

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

Timeline

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

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

Banner

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

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

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

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

“It’s not Ric.”

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

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

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

“She didn’t”

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

“What do you mean?” Jason asked.

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

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

And then he lied.

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

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

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

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

“We are”

“Then why lie?” she asked coldly.

“I’m not lying.”

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

“Three what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She frowned, her expression wary. “What?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Any time.”

In 2003, the ABC writers decided to let fans play with the storylines. That’s all I remember about the idea for this story. I think I decided to switch roles or just…I don’t know…go insane, because there’s a Sonny/Skye pairing in here that makes no damn sense to me, but eh, such is life. I can’t really explain what this is about.

Segment One: Scene One

Jason Morgan stands at the window and looks out over the harbor. His hands are in the pockets of his black dress pants and his expression is thoughtful, bordering on the distracted.

He hears a sound behind him and glances towards it. He allows a small smile to cross his face as his wife slides an arm around his waist and leans into his side. “You know you’re overreacting,” she murmurs. Her other hand traces the lines of his abdomen through his black button down shirt.

He wraps an arm around her shoulders and shakes his head. “Maybe,” he allows. “But it doesn’t change anything.”

She sighs and tilts her head up to look at him. “He’s your best friend, Jason. And she’s your sister. You don’t want them happy?”

“It’s not that,” Jason denies. “It’s–” he stops and shakes his head. “I can’t explain it. You’ll just have to trust me.”

She shakes her head and pulls away from him, wrapping her arms around her upper body. “How would you like it if my brother had said it to you?” she asks softly. She stares out the window. “Would you have listened?”

“You don’t have a brother,” Jason reminds her. She rolls her eyes.

“Don’t be so literal,” she snaps. Her blue eyes meet his. “Do you know how many people told me that you were too dangerous, that you would only hurt me?”

Jason closes his eyes and shakes his head. “Elizabeth, please don’t.”

“I lost count of people warning me about you,” Elizabeth continues. “And I didn’t list to one of them. Because nobody tells me how to live and who to love.”

“You don’t get it–”

“No. You’re right. I don’t,” Elizabeth replies. She shakes her head again and heads for the doorway. “I’m going out.”

“Wait.” Jason turns and watches her pull her coat and flip her hair over the black collar. “Elizabeth”

Elizabeth bites her lip and looks away, pulling the lapels of her jacket tight around her. “I love you, Jason. I am always going to love you. But right now–I don’t like you very much.”

She pulls the door open and it clicks softly shut behind her, but the sound is like a gunshot in the suddenly empty and cold penthouse.

Segment One: Scene Two

Skye Chandler paces the docks nervously, her eyes darting to the left set of the stairs and when finding them empty, she turned her attention to the right set. Where was he?

It’d been a hellish few days. Since her brother had found out about her relationship with his enforcer, he’d been giving her the silent treatment. Elizabeth had been sympathetic and promised to talk to Jason, but their marriage was troubled enough these days, Skye knew that. She didn’t want to add to the trouble.

Not to mention that she was almost positive she was about to get her heart broken. She knew her brotherknew him almost better than he knew himself. And Jason had double standards. It was fine and dandy for him to have Elizabeth in his life, but the second Sonny wanted someone for himself, problems came up.

Okay, that wasn’t being fair to Jason. After all, Sonny wasn’t involved with just anyone. He was involved with the boss’s sister. A major no-no. She knew in other organizations, men could be shot for less. If anything, Sonny was extremely lucky to still be breathing, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept.

She hears footsteps behind her and turns to face Sonny Corinthos as he comes down the stairs.

He stops a few feet from her. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She hates the way her voice sounds. Low and breathy with just a hint of tears. “Did-did you talk to Jason?”

Sonny exhales slowly and looks away. “Yeah. I did.”

“Oh.” Skye looks away. “It didn’t go well, I guess.”

“No.” Sonny chuckles a little, bitterly. “No, it didn’t at all.”

She blinks away the sudden tears. “What happened?” she asks softly. She knows how difficult it was for Sonny to even go against Jason in the slightest.

“He’s right,” Sonny says suddenly. “You don’t belong with me. You’d be better off with someone else.”

“No,” Skye says firmly. She shakes her head. “No,” she repeats. “That’s not true and even if it were, it is not your decision to make. It is not my brother’s either. It ismy decision.” She takes a deep breath and meets Sonny’s eyes. “Now, if you want to end this because your feelings have changed, if you don’t love me anymore, that’s fine. But do not hide behind your job or my brother.”

“Skye,” Sonny begins. “You know how much I love you.” He steps towards her and touches her face. She closes her eyes and leans into his touch. She jerks her eyes open when he pulls away abruptly. “But it’s over.”

Skye glared at him. She took a step back. “Fine,” she said in a short, clipped tone. “If that’s what you want.” She stares at him for a beat before turning on her heel and stalking away.

Sonny stares after her as she walks up the stairs and turns a corner, walking out of his life.

Segment One: Scene Three

Emily Quartermaine-Smith sips her hot chocolate and eyes her sister-in-law across the table at Kelly’s.

Elizabeth keeps her eyes trained on the wooden grain of the table, but she can feel her friend’s eyes on her.

“You need to talk to him,” Emily says finally.

Elizabeth shrugs and looks away. “I try,” she replies. “But he doesn’t listen to me anymore.”

“He loves you.”

“And I love him,” Elizabeth says. She twists her small gold wedding band around her finger. “But it doesn’t seem to be enough anymore.” She takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders and looks up. “How are you feeling?”

Emily smiles, absently rubbing her growing tummy. “I’m feeling great right now,” she replies. “Zander is being over protective as always. I was lucky he even let me come here alone.”

“I can’t believe you’ll be a mother in three months,” Elizabeth mused. “I’m so excited for you.”

“You’ll do a mural for the nursery, right?” Emily asked.

“Sure,” Elizabeth agreed, her eyes sparkling at the opportunity to do some painting. “I’ll start some sketches and–”

“When was the last time you painted?” Emily cut in. Elizabeth sighed and looked away.

“Em–can we just not talk about this anymore?” she asks. “Let’s just accept that I’m miserable, okay?”

“Why?” Emily presses. “You have exactly what you always wanted. You’re married to Jason, the person you told me you couldn’t live without. You told me that you loved him more than anyone else in your life and that as long as you were with him, you would be happy.”

“I was young and I was nave,” Elizabeth replies bitterly. Her eyes are distant and cold. “He’s shut me out. He doesn’t talk to me anymore. He tells me to trust him–that as long as I trust him, he doesn’t need to explain the things he does.”

“Is this about his job?” Emily asks hesitantly.

“No. This has nothing to do with the way he’s chosen to live his life. It has to do with the way Jason treats me. Like I’m a fragile doll that needs to be set on a shelf. Never played with, never touched. Just there for show.”

Segment One: Scene Four

Carly Quartermaine enters the kitchen of their cottage and stops just inside the room as she observes her husband and their six-year-old son eating breakfast. AJ is reading the newspaper and is in the process of explaining the finer points of the Dilbert comic strip to Michael.

Michael is giggling, his round face messy from eating scrambled eggs dipped in ketchup. She smiles softly and wonders how they managed to get to this place in their lives.

AJ glances up and catches her eye. “Hey.”

Michael looks up and grins. “Mommy!”

“Hey,” Carly greets them. She crosses the room and leans over to kiss Michael on the forehead. She wipes his face with a napkin and tousles his red hair. She moves to kiss her husband good morning but AJ surprises her by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into his lap.

“Morning,” he says quietly, smiling at her.

His smile is infectious and she can her own spreading across her face. “Morning,” she repeats softly. She leans forward and brushes her lips across his.

“Ewww…Mommy and Daddy are kissing!” Michael squeals. Carly breaks away and laughs.

“That’s because I love Mommy,” AJ explained to Michael. “You’ll find out what that means when you meet a girl as great as her.”

“Ick, girls suck,” Michael said grimacing. He pushes his chair away from the table and starts to run towards the living room. “I’m watchin’ Scooby Doo!” he calls back to them.

Carly wraps her arms around AJ’s neck. “So what are your plans for today?”

“Other than watching a large cartoon dog?” AJ asks, grinning. “I’ve got to go into work for a few hours. After that?” he shrugs.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” Carly says hesitantly. She searches his eyes for a second.

“What is it?” AJ asks, curiously. He tightens his hands at her waist.

Carly bites her lip, trying to contain her smile. “It’s good news,” she tells him. “Really good news.”

“Well, tell me,” AJ urges.

“I’m pregnant!” she announces gleefully.

Segment Two: Scene One

Skye stalks into the penthouse to find her brother standing at the window. “Are you happy?” she demands harshly.

Jason sighs and shakes his head without turning in her direction. “I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

She laughs bitterly. “You could have fooled me. You’ve got a great lapdog in Sonny, I hope you know that.”

His shoulders slump and he sighs. Against her better judgment, Skye comes closer to him. Her voice is a little softer when she speaks. “Where’s Elizabeth?”

“She went out,” Jason replies. He turns then and meets his sister’s eyes. “She’s not happy about this.”

“Please. She hasn’t been happy in a long time,” Skye replies stiffly.

“Yeah. I know that.” Jason shakes his head again. “Do you love him, Skye?”

“More than anything in this world,” Skye replies quietly. “Make me understand, Jason. Why is it not okay for me and Sonny?”

He pulls out a chair and motions for her to sit. Skye does so and he takes a seat across from her.

“We’ve been taking care of each other for a long time,” Jason begins, clasping his hands and keeping his eyes trained on them. “You’ve seen me through a lot of bad times and I like to think I’ve been good to you.”

“You have,” Skye assures him. She reaches across the table and covers his hands with one of her own. “You’ve done everything in the world possible to make sure I have everything I want. That’s why I don’t understand.”

“You helped me to see that I loved Elizabeth and that I needed her. She’s in my life because you wouldn’t let me kick her out. I don’t know if I ever told you, but–”

“Jason, I know of all of this,” Skye cuts in.

“These last few months…things have changed around here,” Jason continues. “Ever since Alcazar–”

“You’ve been shut inside yourself, I know,” Skye replies. “Elizabeth knows it, too.”

“And I haven’t been treating Sonny like the brother he’s always been,” Jason tells her. “Skye, the reason I am opposed to the two of you together…it’s a selfish one. It’s irrational and it’s not fair to you. Either of you.”

“Then tell me,” Skye pleaded. “Tell me and we’ll fix it.”

Segment Two: Scene Two

Sonny sits in Jake’s, sipping a beer and staring into space. He hears footsteps behind him and turns.

Elizabeth Morgan is standing there, her hands deep in her pockets. “Hey,” she greets him.

“Liz,” Sonny states. She slides onto the stool next to him and orders a beer. “Are you here to give me the lecture?”

“No,” Elizabeth replies. She sips her beer and sighs. “I’m here to commiserate. I think Skye’s at the penthouse pleading your case again.”

Sonny shakes his head. “I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Elizabeth says. “If anyone can change his mind, it’s Skye. He loves her.”

“After everything I’ve done–” Sonny sighs.

“This has been hard on Jason,” Elizabeth says, trying to defend her husband. “He–”

“Save it, Liz,” Sonny cut in. “He got what he wanted. I broke up with Skye and now she hates me. So why don’t you go home to your happy life and leave me the hell alone?”

Stung, Elizabeth pulls out a few bills and lays them on the counter. She stands, and hesitates for a moment before turning around and walking away.

Segment Two: Scene Three

Emily enters her apartment and smiles when she sees the door to the guest room. She can see Zander making a vain attempt to put the crib together.

“Hey you,” she says, grinning. “How goes it?”

“Damn thing sucks,” Zander grumbles, consulting the instructions again. “They say Leg B goes into Slot C and I’ll be damned if I can get it anywhere near Slot C.”

She giggles. “I could always call AJ,” she offers.

Zander snorts. “AJ wouldn’t know a crib from a table. He wasn’t around when Michael was born.”

“AJ’s always been good at putting things together,” Emily replies. She sighs. “I could call Jason.”

“No, no. I’ll get this figured out if it kills me,” he replies. He stands and crosses to her, kissing her cheek. “How was breakfast with Liz?”

“It was fine. She’s going to do the mural for the nursery.” Emily hesitates, her hand making slow circles around her abdomen.

“That’s great. You know, the last few times I’ve stopped by the gallery, her wall is kind of bare.”

“Yeah, she hasn’t been painting a lot lately,” Emily tells him. “It’s too bad. Pretty much everything else is going well. She’s got this great art gallery, she’s going to be an aunt–” Emily stops. “Okay, so those are really the only things going well.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Zander asks.

“Nothing substantial, I don’t think. I think it’s just this whole Skye and Sonny thing,” Emily replies. “I think it’s wearing on Jason and in turn, not helping Elizabeth. I’m going to try and keep her mind off it.”

Zander leans forward and brushes a kiss on her nose. “You’re such good friend. That’s why I love you.”

Emily raises her eyebrows. “That’s the only reason?” she asks.

He grins. “Okay. So it’s not the only reason.”

Segment Two: Scene Four

AJ grins. “You’re pregnant?” he repeats. “Seriously?”

Carly nods, excitedly. “Completely and totally serious.” She laughs as AJ pulls them both to their feet and spins her in a circle

Michael, hearing the commotion, runs into the kitchen and starts jumping up and down, excited. “What’s going on?” he asks, happily.

“You’re going to have a little brother or sister!” AJ announces swooping Michael up into his arms and hugging him.

Michael’s face creases. “This is good news?” he asks.

Carly tousles Michael’s hair. “This is extremely good news,” she tells her son.

Michael shakes his head. “Uh uh. I’m the baby,” he states clearly.

“No, you’re a big boy,” AJ corrects.

“No, I’m the baby.”

“Big boy.”

“Baby.”

“Big boy.”

Michael squirms out of his father’s hold and takes off down the hall towards the stairs, screaming. “I don’t want another baby!”

Carly looks at AJ, stricken. “What are we going to do?” she asks.

AJ sighs and presses a kiss to Carly’s forehead before heading towards the stairs. “I’ll talk to him,” he promises.

Segment Three: Scene One

Jason sighs and looks away. “I’ve seen what living this life has done to Elizabeth,” he tells his sister. “I know that you’ve grown up with it and that you can handle it,” he assures Skye before she can rip into him. “But it’s one thing to be my sister and another to be with Sonny.”

“I don’t understand,” Skye replies. “Jason–”

“In the past three years that we’ve been married, Elizabeth has become withdrawn and quiet. I know you see it.”

“Yeah,” Skye admits. “But I’m not Elizabeth and Sonny isn’t you. We’re not like you. We don’t hide from our problems. We scream and yell at each other until we’re done. We don’t pretend everything’s great.”

“Is that what you think Elizabeth and I do?” Jason asks, stung.

“Jase, you and Elizabeth are the masters of hiding behind walls and that’s what you’ve been doing since the day you got married.” Skye sighs and pushes her hair behind her shoulders. “She’s terrified of losing you and you’re terrified she’ll leave you. So you both have erected these high walls to keep the other out and neither of you can see it’s killing the other person.”

Jason sits back and stares ahead. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I know I’m right.” She shifts in her seat. “Is that why you don’t want me with Sonny? Because you think what’s happened to Elizabeth will happen to me?”

“I just don’t want to see someone else I love destroyed by this life.”

“You haven’t destroyed Elizabeth,” Skye says firmly. “She loves you. She wants nothing more than to be with you. You just have to let her, Jason.”

“I want you to be happy,” Jason tells his sister. “And I know you’re going to do what you want anyway.”

“So, me and Sonny?” Skye asks, hopefully.

“If that’s what you want,” Jason replies. “I can talk to Sonny about it.”

Skye throws her arms around her brother and hugs him fiercely. “It means so much to me that you approve,” she says softly.

Jason hugs her back. “And I’m glad you found someone who can make you happy.”

Skye pulls away and studies him. “Are you going to talk to Elizabeth about this?”

Segment Three: Scene Two

Elizabeth sits on the bench at Vista Point and pulls her knees into her chest. When did her life get soout of control? It seemed like just yesterday she’d been happy. She closes her eyes and sighs.

When winter comes in summer
When there’s no more forever
That’s when I’ll stop loving you

“I love you,” Elizabeth whispers, touching Jason’s face. He stares at her for a moment, swallows hard and gives her tremulous smile.

“I love you, too,” he replies.

That’s when I’ll stop loving you
I’m sure you’ve heard these words before
And I know it’s hard for you to trust them once more
You’re afraid it all might end

“Oh, you two are ridiculous,” Skye says, rolling her eyes. She puts her hands on her hips and glares at the two of them who’d just come in from a ride. “It’s so obvious!”

Elizabeth frowns. “I’m sorry–you’ve lost me.”

“You’re in love with each other. Now stop making the rest of us sick and get it over with,” Skye replies, waving her hands. She pushes past them and walks out of the penthouse.

In a broken heart it’s scared of breaking again
Cause you gotta believe me
I’ll never leave you
You’ll never cry as long as I’m am there
And I will always be there
You will never be without, no

Elizabeth folds her arms across her chest and takes a deep breath. “Okay.”

“Okay, what?” Jason asks, amused.

“Okay–kiss me,” she tells him.

“Kiss you,” he repeats slowly. He frowns. “Are you sure?”

“Jason,” Elizabeth says rolling her eyes. “Don’t be so difficult. If I wasn’t sure, then I–”

He grasps her elbows and pulls her toward him to kiss her.

When winter comes in summer
When there’s no more forever
When lies become the truth
Well you’ll know then baby
That’s when I’ll stop loving
That’s when I’ll stop loving you

She opens the velvet box and her eyes dart up to meet his. “Jason. You–this is–” She takes a deep breath. “Oh…wow…”

He takes the box from her and pulls out a small gold ring with an average-sized diamond in it. “I love you,” he tells her. “More than I thought I could ever love anyone. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He swallows hard. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” she says the second he’s finished speaking. “Yes, yes, yes–” She stops abruptly and kisses him hard.

That’s when I’ll stop loving you, yeah
As long as sunlight lights the sky
The light of love will be found in these eyes of mine
(These eyes of mine)
And I will shine that light for you
You’re the only one I’ll ever give this heart to
What I’m trying to say is nothing will change this
Loving on time you will find there
Cause I will always be there
You will always have all my love

“I, Elizabeth Webber, take you, Jason Morgan, to be my lawfully wedded husband,” she says in a trembling voice. “To love and to cherish, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer, forsaking all others, all the days of my life.”

Jason clears his throat and stares into her glossy sapphire eyes. “I, Jason Morgan, take you, Elizabeth Webber, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To love and to cherish, to have and to hold, in sickness and in healthy, for richer and for poorer, forsaking all others, all the days of my life.”

When winter comes in summer
When there’s no more forever
When lies become the truth
Well you’ll know then baby
That’s when I’ll stop loving
That’s when I’ll stop loving you

Segment Three: Scene Three

Emily twirls the phone cord around her fingers. “Yes, Mom,” she replies. “Uh huh. Yeah. I’ve been going to–right, Mom. Okay–definitely–I’m eating well–tell Grandfather over my dead body. Right. Okay. Bye–Okay, yeah. Right. Bye.” She hangs it up and leans back to let out a loud frustrated groan. “What is it with my family?” she asks.

Zander enters the room with a plate of salad. He hands it to his wife, before taking a seat next to her. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

Emily sighs. “Well, Mom wanted to know if I was seeing a doctor and to let me know that any time I wanted to come home I could.”

Zander frowns. “They do realize that we’re married, right?”

“I sure hope so. Who paid for the wedding otherwise?” Emily asks. “Not to mention that Grandfather is pushing for me to drop the Smith entirely so that the baby will be the Quartermaine heir.”

“What happened to Michael?” Zander asks.

Emily shrugs. “I think AJ finally made them realize he’s a grown man and will do whatever he pleases with his children. Including keeping Michael away from Grandfather.”

“How long do you think it will be before they realize you have that right, too?” Zander asks.

“A good ten years,” she says dryly. She gasps suddenly. “Oh!”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, leaning forward. He studies her. “Em?”

“The baby kicked,” she breathes. She takes one of his hands and presses it against her abdomen. “Can you feel it?”

Zander waits and then a grin breaks out on his face. “Oh my God. I can feel it! We’ve got one hell of a soccer player here!”

“Oh my God, I’m so excited!” Emily squeals. “The baby is kicking!”

He brings his other hand up to brush hair away from her face. “I love you,” he murmurs, leaning in for a kiss.

Segment Three: Scene Four

AJ pushes Michael’s bedroom open. “Hey, buddy,” he murmurs, taking in the sight of his small son sitting on his bed, his arms tightly crossed and his mouth set in a firm scowl.

“Go away.”

AJ sits next to him and is amused when Michael moves down the bed. He certainly had Carly’s stubborn streak.

“You know how much I love you,” AJ begins. “Your mother and I both love you.”

“Then what do you need another baby for?” Michael demands gruffly. Or as gruff as a six-year-old could be.

“Because your mother and I love each other. And we want more children,” AJ tries to explain. “We aren’t trying to replace you with another baby.”

“I’m the baby,” Michael tells him, seriously.

“You’re a big boy,” AJ corrected him. “Big boys get to go to the park and swing on the swings. Big boys get to go to work with me and help Mommy cook.”

Michael eyes him. “And big boys get to visit Uncle Jason?” he asks hopefully.

AJ tries to control his instinct to scowl. “Sure. But babies don’t get to do those things. Babies have to sleep in cribs and lay around all day. They can’t watch television or walk around.”

Michael’s noses wrinkles up. “Being a baby sucks.”

“Well, it doesn’t suck,” AJ says, grinning. “It’s just not a lot of fun. Besides, you get to be a big brother.”

“What does a big brother do?” Michael asks, intrigued.

“Well, a big brother looks out for their little brother or sister. They take care of them, make sure no one else messes with them.”

“Can I order them around?” Michael asks eagerly.

AJ grins. “Within reason, I guess. Hell, what’s the fun of having siblings if you can’t mess with them a little.” He reaches over and tousles Michael’s hair. “So, you read to go back downstairs and congratulate your mother?”

Michael heaves a big sigh. “Yeah. I guess.”

Segment Four: Scene One

Elizabeth opens the door to the penthouse to find Jason still in the same place as when she’d left. She closes the door quietly and clears her throat.

He turns and a look of relief crosses his face. “Elizabeth.”

“We need to talk,” she says softly. She makes no move to cross to him and he stays where he is. “We can’t go on like this.”

“I know,” he admits. “I talked to Skye earlier. I gave her my blessing.”

“You did?” she asks, surprised. “But I thought you–”

“It comes to mind that I was doing it for the wrong reasons,” he replies. “I wasn’t happy about it because I didn’t want Skye hurt. And even though I knew Sonny would cut off his right hand before he hurt her–I didn’t want them to be like us.”

“Us,” Elizabeth repeats.

Jason shoves his hands in pockets and sighs. “We’ve been walking around here these past few monthsthe last year or so especiallylike strangers. And I hate it.”

“I hate it, too,” Elizabeth tells him.

He holds his hand out to her and she crosses the room to take it. The second her hand is in his, he pulls her to him and wraps his arms around her. She slides her arms around his waist and looks up at him.

“I love you,” he says. “But I still think you’re going to see me for who I am–and your face will change and you’ll leave.”

“Don’t you get it?” she asks. “I love you, Jason. I’m not leaving. Ever. I know who you are and I love you. I know what you do…my face isn’t going to change,” she swears.

“I know that most of the time. But–” he stops and shrugs a little. “Sometimes I think about it. And I think about what my life would be like if you did…leave.”

“When you walk out that door,” she begins in a quiet voice, “some days, I am so terrified that you won’t come back. I try not to show it because I want to be better than that, I want to be the strong wife that you need, but some days it’s worse than others and I can’t…I can’t deal with the idea.”

He rests his forehead against hers and sighs. “We’re a mess,” he murmurs. “Skye was right. We’re both so scared the other is going to leave….that we’re not even seeing what our fears are doing to the other person.”

“I don’t want to be like that anymore,” she tells him, closing her eyes. “I don’t want to be scared that you’re going to leave and I don’t want you to think that there’s ever a day that’s going to come when I’m not going to love you and that I’m not going to be here.”

“I guess we’re just going to have to trust each other.” He moves his face and presses it into her soft brown curls.

“I can do that,” she replies, tightening her arms. “How about you?”

“I can try.”

Segment Four: Scene Two

Skye takes a deep breath and knocks on Sonny’s door at Jake’s briskly. She waits a few minutes, hearing some shuffling noises from inside. When it becomes apparent that he isn’t going to answer, she pushes the door open.

Sonny is slumped in a chair, a beer bottle in his hand. He frowns. “Skye.”

She enters the room and closes the door behind her. “Sonny.”

He takes a sip of the beer. “What’re you doing here?” he asks bluntly.

“I talked to my brother,” Skye replies. “And I know why he was against us.”

Sonny shakes his head. “I know why. Because I’m nothing but a killer–”

“No!” Skye stalks towards him and takes the bottle from him. “That’s not it, and you’re not a killer!”

“We’ve had this discussion,” Sonny says, sighing. “You know what I do for your brother–”

“Yes, I know that!” Skye snaps. “But to say that you are nothing but one is just ridiculous. I would never have fallen in love with you otherwise!”

“Skye, the point is–”

“The point is that Jason never had a problem with you!” Skye retorts. He stares at her for a second.

“Then what?”

Skye sighs and sits down on the bed. “It’s no secret that Jason and Elizabeth haven’t been…wellthat they’ve been having problems these last few months.”

“Yeah” Sonny sighs. “I saw her, today. Snapped at her pretty badly.”

“I think it hit an all-time low today. She walked out of the penthouse and I know Jason was worried she wouldn’t come back. See, he’s always been worried that she’s going to leave him. So scared he’ll lose her…he shut her out. And Elizabeth has been withdrawn and quiet…she shut him out, too.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Sonny demands. “Was he taking his frustrations out on us?”

“No directly. He was worried about me,” Skye confides. “Worried that what happened to Elizabeth–would happen to me.”

“That’s stupid,” Sonny cuts in. “I’m not Jason and you’re not Liz.”

Skye sighs. “I know. But he was worried about me. I talked to him about it–and it’s done. He’s finished with it. He’s going to talk to Liz.” Skye stands. “And he’s stopped objecting to our relationship.”

Sonny eyes her warily. “Are you sure?”

Skye nods. “He wants me to be happy.” She smiles tremulously. “And you make me happy.”

Sonny stands and crosses her to her. “I know you were disappointed when I chose to end our relationship instead of losing my job–”

“I was,” Skye interrupts. “But I understood. Jason’s not just a job to you. He’s your best friend.” She takes his hands in hers. “I love you, Sonny. And I don’t want to go through life without you.”

He pulls a hand free and touches her face. “I love you, too,” he tells her softly.

Segment Four: Scene Three

Emily giggles. “Come on. Just give me the ice cream already!”

Zander shakes his head and holds it away from her. “Nope. You’ve had enough.”

“Maybe,” Emily allows. She smiles. “But little Zander, Jr. doesn’t think so.”

He glares at her mockingly. “Not fair, bringing the tyke into this.” He hands the carton back to her.

“You can’t refuse me anything,” Emily teases, digging into the Rocky Road.

Zander studies her for a moment. “Em?”

“Yeah?” Emily asks, her words muffled by the ice cream.

“We haven’t really discussed names,” he says, “but I was wondering…if maybe for a boy, we could” he shrugs. “Peter?” he suggests.

Emily’s eyes soften and she sets the carton down on the coffee table. She touches Zander’s cheek. “I think that would be a great name,” she tells him. “And what about Paige for a girl?”

Zander covers her hand with his own, holding it to his face. “You’ve got it,” he promises, leaning over to kiss his wife.

Segment Four: Scene Four

Carly is sitting on the couch. She stands up quickly hearing her husband and son’s footsteps on the stairs. “Hey,” she says.

“Now, Michael,” AJ says, shoving the boy forward. “Don’t you have something to say to Mommy?”

Michael sighs. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

“And?” AJ prompts.

“And I’m happy about the baby.”

Carly kneels in front of him. “You know that this baby could neverever replace you in my heart,” she tells him softly. Michael shrugs and looks away. Carly grips his chin her fingers and forces him to look at her. “You are my first baby, the love of my life.”

“Hey,” AJ grumbles from behind them.

“What if it’s a girl?” Michael asks stubbornly.

“Then you’ll have a big job ahead of you,” Carly says firmly. “Because it’s going to be your job to make sure that she’s safe and happy. That no one hurts her.”

“But you’ll still love me?” he asks, hopefully.

Carly pulls him into a tight embrace. “Nothing could ever change how I feel about you,” she swears. “I love you so much.”

Segment Five

When the road gets dark
And you can no longer see
Just let my love throw a spark baby
And have a little faith in me
And when the tears you cry
Are all you can believe
Just give these lovin’ arms a try baby
And have a little faith in me

Jason and Elizabeth are sitting on the couch in the penthouse, his arms tightly wrapped around her. She leans against his chest, her eyes closed.

“Maybe we need to move,” she murmurs.

“Move?” he echoes.

“Yeah. We could pretend we’re almost normal. Like with a house or something. With a backyard.” She shifts, snuggling deeper into his embrace. “And a front lawn where we can have a mailbox.”

“A mailbox,” Jason repeats, highly amused.

“Mmm-hmmm…I can plant a garden and the yard would have to be big enough for a swing set.”

Curious, “A swing set?”

She opens her eyes and tilts her head to the side so that she can look at him. “Oh. Right. I didn’t tell you.”

A smile begins to tug at the corners of his mouth. “No, I guess you didn’t.”

“Well…about six months after Emily’s kid is bornhe or she is gonna have a cousin,” Elizabeth reports.

Instead of answering her, he tilts her face further and leans down to kiss her.

Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me
Have a little faith in me

Skye opens her eyes, and rests her chin on Sonny’s chest. “I love you,” she tells him again.

“I love you, too,” Sonny replies. He runs his fingers through her dark red hair. “Marry me,” he says suddenly.

She raises her eyebrows. “Marry you.”

He nods. “See, I love you, you love me-why not?”

“Why not, indeed,” Skye smirks. “That’s the most romantic proposal I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“So I’m not the hearts and flowers type,” Sonny shrugs. “I can deal with it if you can.”

“I suppose if I must,” Skye replies, sighing. “Sure, why not?”

He grins. “That’s the most half-hearted acceptance of a proposal I’ve heard,” he teases.

When your secret heart
Cannot speak so easily
Come here darlin’
From a whisper start
Have a little faith in me When your back’s against the wall
Just turn around, you will see
I will catch you, I will catch your fall
Just have a little faith in me

“Okay, we’ve decided,” Emily declares. “Paige Lila for a girl and Peter Alexander for a boy.”

Zander wrinkles his nose. “Not to be picky, but Lila Paige kind of flows better.”

Emily repeats both names. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Hey, what if we have twins?”

Zander shudders. “Lord, don’t even joke about that. I barely survived one crib!”

Emily grins evilly. “Or triplets.”

“I can’t hear this!” Zander cries, clamping his hands over his ears. “We’re having one kid at a time.”

“Must be nice to think you have a choice,” Emily cracks. “But I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way.”

“It will,” he says fiercely. “I just won’t accept anything else.”

Emily rolls her eyes. “Honestly, sometimes you’re such a baby.”

Well, I’ve been loving you for such a long, long time baby
Expecting nothing in return
Just for you to have a little faith in me
You see time, time is our friend
For you and me there is no end
And all you gotta do is have a little faith in me

Carly shuts off Michael’s light and closes the door. “I think that went rather well,” she remarks to AJ as they head for their bed room.

AJ groans. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that had to explain where babies come from. You’re taking the next kid.”

Carly opens her dresser and pulls out a nightgown. “It wasn’t that bad.”

AJ heads for the bathroom. “Uh huh. So when Michael asked you why boys were different from girls, you didn’t pretend to have morning sickness?”

Carly scowls. “I was not pretending,” she said indignantly. She pulls the nightgown over her head. “I did have morning sickness.”

“Pretty convenient timing,” he teases. He stares at his face in the mirror of the bathroom. “Maybe I should grow a beard.”

“Maybe you can sleep in the guest room.”

AJ digs out his shaving cream. “Too hot for a beard,” he grumbles.

She appears in the doorway and leans against the door jamb. “I love you,” she says. “I just wanted you to know that.”

He sets the shaving cream aside and pulls her into his arms. “I love you, too.”

I said I will hold you up, I will hold you up
Your strength is enough
So have a little faith in me
I said hey baby oh baby
All you gotta do is have a little faith in me
All you gotta do is have a little faith in me

Song: Have A Little Faith In Me by Jewel

I’ll be home for Christmas

Elizabeth Morgan set the last present under the tree and shifted the telephone to her other ear. “You’ve never missed Christmas before,” she sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry,” her husband Jason apologized. “I thought I was gonna be home but the planes are all grounded–“

“I just…it’s her first Christmas, Jason. We should be together.” Elizabeth pushed her hair out of her face. “I’ll see you when you do manage to get home.”

You can plan on me

Jason hung up his cell phone and slid it back into the pocket of his leather jacket. He should have refused this assignment but the chance to finally nail mob kingpin Sonny Corinthos had been too tempting and he’d flown off after Thanksgiving.

The job had been done but now Jason would miss his daughter’s very first Christmas. He glanced at the clock on the wall and then to the car rental counter. Maybe not.

Please have snow and mistletoe

Elizabeth tucked their six-month-old daughter Noelle into her crib and set her stuffed teddy bear next to her. She smoothed her hand over the soft blonde downy hair and sighed. “Don’t worry, honey, next year you won’t even remember that Daddy wasn’t home,” she promised.

And presents on the tree

“You’ll be home in time for Christmas right?” Elizabeth asked as she watched Jason pack to for the South America trip from her seated position on the edge of the bed.

He nodded. “They don’t think it’ll take more than two weeks to get this case wrapped up.” He zipped his duffle bag and kneeled in front of her. “I know I promised I’d be on vacation this month but I’ve been working the Corinthos file for three years.”

“You don’t have to explain it to me–just promise me you’ll be here.”

He kissed her forehead. “I promise.”

Christmas Eve will find me

Jason leaned towards the windowshield, eyeing the thickly falling snow. The roads were dark and he was almost worried he’d get lost.

He was almost three hours from home–his last plane had gotten held up in Delaware. But he’d never missed a Christmas with his wife since the day they’d met and he wasn’t going to start now.

Where the love light gleams

“Oh…was I supposed to get you a present?” Jason laughed as she looked at him with a glare in her eyes. “You didn’t mention that.”

“Oh–dont be such a guy,” Elizabeth huffed. “You know very well that it’s Christmas and it’s also our four month anniversary so just…stop playing around and give me my present.”

“I’m serious, Elizabeth, I don’t have anything.”

She slugged him in the arm. “After I went through God knows how many applications to get approved so I could buy you that stupid gun you were always drooling…” her tirade was cut off abruptly when he finally handed her the department store wrapped jewelry case. “Well, then…that’s better.”

I’ll be home for Christmas

Elizabeth stood on their sun porch–safely glassed in and climate controlled–and watched the snow falling. God this didn’t seem fair. His stupid job had disappointed her again.

She should have known better after he missed Noelle’s birth.

If only in my dreams

“I’ll be there for the next one.”

Elizabeth sniffled, her hormones still out of whack. “But she’s our first born, Jason. You knew the labor was near–and you took the assignment anyway.”

“We had a lead about Corinthos–”

“Oh screw Sonny Corinthos.”

I’ll be home for Christmas

The car ran out of gas an hour away. A mere hour. He slammed his fist on the steering wheel and sat back in the seat, defeated. He’d done all he could to get home.

Except stay home like he’d promised in the first place. Now that the Corinthos case was closed, he get promoted to a desk job and he’d never have to leave home again.

Not that it would really help his case tonight.

You can plan on me

It was almost four in the morning when the phone roused her from her sleep. She came out from a pile of covers and grabbed it. “Yeah?” she asked sleepily.

“I’m outside the state line. I tried–I tried to get there, I really did, but the car–“

“Jason?” Elizabeth sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “Where are you now?”

Please have snow and mistletoe

“About an hour from home. I rented a car and now I’m stuck just outside of the state line in Jersey. I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I tried to get there but the car ran out of gas and I can’t see four feet in front of my face in this snow.”

She curled up in her bed and brought his pillow to her face, breathing in his scent. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.”

And presents on the tree

“It really is,” she assured him. “I know how important this case was to you–”

“You and Noelle are more important and I should have sent someone else in–“

“But you closed the case and after three years, you deserved to be the one to arrest him. It’s okay, Jason. I mean–yes, I’m angry but I forgave you six months ago, this is no big deal.”

Christmas Eve will find me

“They’re promoting me.” He stared down at the bracelet hed bought her in Brazil. In the sunlight, light streamed through the prism-like stones and reflected all kinds of colors. Exactly the type of gift she’d adore.

“Thats great news,” she smiled.

“A desk job. In PC.”

Elizabeth hesitated. The part Jason had loved most about his job was the investigations, the intrigue, the places he’d go. Depending on the type of case, she used to go with him sometimes.

He’d hate being chained to a desk.

Where the love light gleams

“You don’t have to take it though, right?” she asked.

“Elizabeth, I’ll be home all the time–we can spend more time together, I won’t miss anymore of Noelle’s major milestones or any holidays–“

“But you’ll be miserable at your job and I don’t want that either.” She fingered the edge of the comforter. “I understand it takes a lot of time and patience to do what you do and it might not always seem like it, but I’m proud of you Jason, and I want you to be happy.”

I’ll be home for Christmas

Marveling at the wonderful woman he’d married, Jason shook his head. “God, I wish I were there right now.”

“I do, too,” she sighed. She closed her eyes. “But you’re here when it counts so its okay.”

“I love you, Elizabeth. I’ll be home tomorrow.”

“I love you, too.”

If only in my dream

Inspiration

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

Timeline

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

Banner

April 23, 2003

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thank you.” Jason left without another word.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Carly frowned. “Excuse me?”

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

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

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

“Take what?” Carly asked.

“The…thing about Ric.”

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

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

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

“Six years,” Elizabeth murmured.

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

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

“Feels like what?” Carly asked softly.

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

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

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

“Does it happen often?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elizabeth frowned and looked at her. “What?”

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

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

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

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

“What?” Carly asked.

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

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

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

“Yeah, why?”

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

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

“You either.” Elizabeth smiled weakly at her.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 10, 2014

Inspiration

I wrote a lot of episode tags and shorts back in 2003, so for a lot of these stories, I don’t have any inspiration that’s deeper than the show ended and I wanted to see what would happen next. This is the first of a few Jason/Brenda stories (one of which has been lost to the sands of time) in which I’ve written it as a script rather than a traditional short story.

Timeline

This is set in February of 2003. On the eve of Jax and Brenda’s wedding, Sonny and Brenda kissed. I know that Jax saw it, and I think Carly became aware of it at some point. Brenda and Sonny both realized they were happier with their current partners and that their time had passed, but they didn’t tell Jax or Carly. Jax decided to wait until Brenda got all the way down the aisle, then humiliated her by refusing to marry her and confronting her. In case anyone missed it, Jax had always been trash considering he knew what Brenda had gone through after the humiliation of Sonny standing her up.

Anyway. This is set after that.

Banner

After Brenda left the hotel and after Sonny left Jason at Carly’s.

(Brenda is sitting on the docks, staring into space. Jason comes down the steps.)

Jason: (frowns) I thought you were getting married.

Brenda: (faintly) So did I.

Jason: (sighs and sits next to her) What happened?

Brenda: Please…don’t act like you care. I can’t handle someone else pretending they care.

Jason: I never liked that idiot.

Brenda: You were never his favorite person either. (softly) You know…they say once you find love, you’re supposed to hold to it. Cherish it. Protect it. (she wipes her eyes and looks at him) They lied.

Jason: (quietly, now concerned) What happened?

Brenda: He waited for me to come down the aisle. He waited for me to say my vows—he even said his own. He waited for me to promise my life to him. And then he said no.

Jason: (stunned) He said what?

Brenda: He said no. He left me at the altar. (shakes head) I should have known. You know, the only wedding I ever had that was both legal and actually happened…was to you. Can you believe the irony?

Jason: Do you know why he did it?

Brenda: He found out that I made a mistake. A mistake that I can’t take back—one that I didn’t tell him about. He found out I kissed Sonny.

Jason: Yeah…I already knew about that. Carly found out. She thought Sonny was leaving her.

Brenda: It was a goodbye kiss…a kind of test to make sure you know, that I was ready to let go. Ready to move on. And you know what? I was. I was right. I love Jax, he’s who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. And he left me at the altar.

Jason: I’m sorry it had to happen that way, Brenda.

Brenda: I’m not. Because I could have spent my life with him and never saw him for who he was. I’m glad it happened this way. I saw who he really was and I realized that I can’t be with someone like him.

Jason: (sits back and stares into space for a few moments) At least you saw it before it was too late.

Brenda: Have you ever loved someone so much…that losing them just…it just breaks you? It makes it impossible for you to breathe, to function, to make rational decisions?

Jason: (after a beat) Yeah.

Brenda: (surprised) Oh. Wow. Really? (sniffles) Did you fix it? Did you learn how to live without them?

Jason: No. I…I’m still working on that.

Brenda: (disappointed) Oh. Does the pain go way, though? I mean, do you eventually…can you breathe without wanting to cry? Can you go somewhere where you used to go with them…and not want to destroy the place?

Jason: There’s almost no where I can go…that I didn’t with her.

Brenda: (softly) Who are you talking about? Is it Robin?

Jason: No. It’s not Robin.

Brenda: You know…this is the first real conversation we ever had. Too bad I’m leaving.

Jason: You’re leaving?

Brenda: I can’t stay here. Something needs to change in my life. And nothing’s going to change if I stay.

Jason: Sometimes it doesn’t change if you go, either.

Brenda: Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.

Jason: I left once. Tried to sort out my life. Didn’t really work. I came back when I thought I was ready and found out that I’d messed up. I’d waited too long to make up my mind.

Brenda: If I stay, I have to see Jax. And the thought of seeing him…I can’t handle it, Jason. I can’t do it. I have to go.

Jason: If you need anything…

Brenda: Be careful. I might take you up on that.

Jason: I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it.

Brenda: Yeah. I know. That’s one of your good points. Goodbye, Jason. (stands)

Jason: (stands) Goodbye.

Brenda: You’ll give me a call if you ever figure it out? How to make the pain go away?

Jason: Yeah.

Brenda: Good. I think I’m gonna need it. (impulsively she hugs him) Good luck, Jason. And find a way to be happy. You’re the only person I think I really want to be happy in this godforsaken town.

Jason: (lightly hugs her back) Yeah, okay. I’ll try.

Brenda: (pulling away) Don’t try. Do it. Find out what makes you happy and go for it. I did that. Kind of back fired on me, but at least I went after what I wanted. You’ll never have any regrets that way.

(She smiles at him and walks away. Jason watches her climb the stairs for a moment and stares after her even when she’s gone. He hears sounds from behind him. He turns, it’s Elizabeth.)

Elizabeth: (hesitantly) Hi.

Brenda: (Voiceover) Find what out what makes you happy and go for it.

Jason: Hey. (pause) You want to go for a ride?

Elizabeth: (surprised) Really?

Jason: Yeah.

Elizabeth: Sure.

Inspiration

Back in 2002/03, there were a lot of Jason and Courtney scenes that easily could have been Elizabeth if the writing had been different. I collected these into a group of rewrites that I called Replacing the Twit (aren’t I clever?). Some of them have been lost, and I honestly don’t remember much about any of them because they were so short and I turned out many of them.

Timeline

This is set in February of 2003. After Jason and Brenda were acquitted of Alcazar’s murder, they filed for divorce and went their separate ways. Jason and Courtney were still hiding their relationship from Sonny, however. They get into a car accident on the way to a weekend trip (I think), and their relationship is exposed. Sonny goes to General Hospital to see Jason and tells him he doesn’t want Jason with his sister because Jason is a killer. (I shit you fucking not. I WAS LIVID AND I AM ANGRY ALL OVER AGAIN–)

Obviously, Jason/Emily/Sonny revisited a lot of these same beats, but it was a better told story with Jason being the aggrieved brother because we all knoew Sonny was trash. Anyway. Elizabeth was also at GH — she actually did try to see Jason, but Carly turned her away. (Blocking my goal as always for her agenda.)

This story supposes that Elizabeth doesn’t listen to Carly.

Banner

Elizabeth scanned the hallways as she hurried towards ICU. Carly Corinthos was not going to stop her this time. She was determined to see for herself that Jason was okay.

She didn’t necessarily need to talk to him—or even have a conversation with him. She just…she need to make sure he was okay.

Elizabeth stopped outside of his door and was about to knock when Sonny’s voice drifted out.

“You’re a killer, Jason. And as much as I love you…I can’t let you be around my sister.”

Elizabeth stared at the door in shock, her hand raised. Had Sonny…had he really just…said that?

Jason’s reply was too low for Elizabeth to hear but whatever it was, it was propelling Sonny towards the door. Elizabeth realized she needed to move but she couldn’t propel her body to do anything.

Sonny had just called Jason a killer. Sonny. Jason’s best friend. Jason’s brother. The man Jason would lay his life down for…had just…he’d just…

The door swung open before Elizabeth’s brain could communicate to her body that she needed to step away.

And she came to face to face with Sonny Corinthos.

Sonny was taken aback. “Elizabeth. W-what are you doing here?”

Elizabeth’s hand fell to her side and she glared at the older man. “Dr. Quartermaine told me I could see Jason.”

“Jason isn’t up for any visitors,” Sonny told her, firmly.

“Yeah, that’s what Carly told me,” Elizabeth replied. She raised her eyebrows. “And as you can see, I didn’t listen to her either.”

Sonny hesitated. “All right. Just don’t stay long.” He brushed past her and Elizabeth entered the room.

“Elizabeth?” Jason asked, surprised. He tried to shift higher on the bed and winced.

“Ooh, don’t move too much,” Elizabeth said, grimacing at the pain on his face. “How do you feel?”

“Why are you here?” Jason asked, ignoring her question.

She looked down. “Oh. I—I didn’t…I’m sorry. I guess I should have listened to Carly.” She turned to go.

“What did Carly say?” Jason asked before she could leave.

Elizabeth turned and flashed him an embarrassed smile. “That you didn’t want to see me. I thought she was just being her usual self, but—”

“It’s not that,” Jason assured her. “I’m just…surprised.”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” Elizabeth told him. “Are you?”

“I’ve been better,” Jason admitted.

“I actually…I came to apologize,” Elizabeth said hesitantly. “I…” She sighed and looked away. “I don’t even know where to start.” She draped her coat over the back of one of the chairs and ran her hands through her hair. “First of all, I’m going to start with the smallest apology and just work my way up.”

“Elizabeth—you don’t—”

“I need to do this for my own sanity, okay?” Elizabeth cut in. “I’m sorry about the way I left the penthouse. I wasn’t clear enough on my reasons and it led to a lot of misunderstandings.”

He frowned. “Why did you leave then?”

She braced her hands on the back of the chair and looked down. “It wasn’t all because you lied to me about Sonny. I mean—it had something to do with it, but that wasn’t it. I…I guess I just got tired of coming last in your life, of feeling like I didn’t matter…” she trailed off. “Jason, I just don’t understand. I hid you in my studio twice. I’d had a bomb in my studio, been locked in a crypt, gotten shot at…and I wasn’t trusted. But Carly turned Sonny into the feds and…” Elizabeth stopped and shook her head. “I’m not going to rehash all of that. It doesn’t matter anymore. I just wanted to apologize for how I went about it.”

“Elizabeth—”

“I’m also sorry for slapping Courtney and that entire scene in Kelly’s. Just because I was hurt…I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.” She tried to smile but failed. “I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy. I just didn’t handle it well.”

Jason shifted again. “Elizabeth—” he tried again.

“And I’m sorry that I accidentally heard what Sonny just said to you,” Elizabeth said softly. Her eyes fell on his face. “I wish I hadn’t.”

Jason’s jaw clenched and he averted his eyes to look down. “What exactly did you hear?”

“I heard Sonny tell you that you were a killer and that as much as he loved you, you couldn’t be around Courtney,” Elizabeth admitted.

“He’s right,” Jason said, stiffly. “I have no business being with anyone.”

Elizabeth just shook her head. “He’s wrong, Jason.”

“No, he’s not,” Jason argued. “I am what I am, Elizabeth. I should have known it was going to be like this. I—” he stopped.

“So, Sonny gets to have the perfect family and you don’t?” Elizabeth asked. She put her hands on her hips. “I’d say that was a bit unfair, don’t you think?”

“Courtney would hate me if she found out who I really am,” Jason said, ignoring her question. “Her face would change and I can’t deal with that happening to me. Again.”

Elizabeth winced and looked away. Direct hit. “My face didn’t change because of what you do,” she told him. “I know what you do, Jason. I always have. I know that you have a gun, that you’ve used it and that you do more than work in a warehouse. I know that. My face changed because of the way I was treated and I’m sorry I didn’t make you realize that before.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that it happened,” Jason said shortly. “I’m tired of watching the people I love bleed. I did it with Robin…” he stopped and looked away. “I did it with you and I just…I wanted it to be different.”

Elizabeth’s chest tightened. “I know. But you’re forgetting something, Jason. I’ve watched you bleed and I hated it. But I never let it change my feelings.” She took a deep breath and forced herself to say the words. “If you love Courtney, if you really do…be honest with her. Do not push her away because of what you think might happen. Let her make her own decisions.”

Jason stared at her for a moment. “Why…why are you telling me this?”

“Because I speak from experience. I have spent my whole life letting people make decisions for me…I’ve said what was expected…I’ve let other people control me and it’s no way to live. And nothing…nothing hurts more…cuts more deeply…when the person you love does it to you. When they treat you like a small child who doesn’t deserve respect and doesn’t deserve the chance to decide for herself who she wants to be with.” Elizabeth sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “It sucks, Jason and I don’t want you to do it to someone else.”

“I did that to you?” Jason asked, a little wide-eyed. “I made you feel like that?”

“Every single time you told me it was too dangerous,” Elizabeth told him firmly. She looked away. “I should go. I’ve probably been here too long.” She reached for her jacket. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jason. I—I know we haven’t been close for the last few months, but I’ll always care about you.”

Her hand was on the door handle when his voice stopped her. “I’m breaking up with her.”

Elizabeth turned around and cleared her throat. “Why?”

“Because she doesn’t know who I am,” Jason said simply. “If anything, the conversation with Sonny made me realize it.”

“Sonny’s a jackass,” Elizabeth remarked shortly. “I wouldn’t listen to a damn word that came out of his mouth. You’re his best friend—how can he not want you to be with Courtney? Doesn’t he realize that’s the safest place for her? That you would die before you let anything happen to her—”

“I told her I loved her,” Jason cut her off. Elizabeth’s face paled and she swallowed. Hard.

“Oh. That’s…I’m…I’m glad.” Elizabeth looked away. At least I think I am.

“But I don’t think I was talking to her,” Jason continued. Elizabeth’s eyes darted back to his face. “I don’t…I don’t remember a lot of what happened while we were waiting for someone to find us. I was drifting in and out a lot…but I thought I saw you. And I thought I saw your face and heard your voice.”

Elizabeth blinked. “I don’t understand. Jason, I—”

“I told Sonny I loved her because she’s his sister and it seemed like the right thing to do. I lied to him,” Jason went on. “And I realize I’ve been doing a lot of that these past few months.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Jason, I—”

“When I get out of here…will you go for a ride with me?” Jason asked.

“Can I drive?” Elizabeth asked softly.

“I don’t know—aren’t you a little out of practice?” Jason teased.

She smiled, her eyes full of tears. “Probably. I guess that means we’ll have to go on a lot of rides.”

“I guess so,” Jason replied.

“I’d better go. You need to rest,” Elizabeth told him.

“Will you come back?” Jason asked.

“I’ll come back,” she promised.

It started out that way. When Jason got out of the hospital, he took Elizabeth’s advice. He was honest with Courtney.

Completely honest.

It didn’t go well.

He told Sonny that it was over between him and Courtney—not because it was what Sonny had wanted, but because it wasn’t right for Jason.

Jason and Brenda got their annulment. And Brenda left town in the middle of the night. She left no trace of where she could be found—but Elizabeth had a feeling that Jason knew exactly where she was.

And Jason and Elizabeth finally went on that ride.

+10

Inspiration

As with What Makes You Happy, this is another Jason/Brenda story that is in written in script form. There was definitely a first part of this story that I can’t find anywhere in which Jason and Brenda went to the Dominican Republic to get a quick divorce. On the show, they went through with it, and in my first story, I had them deciding not to. Either someone asked for a follow-up or I just decided to write one on my own.

Timeline

This is set in either late January or early February 2003. After Jason and Brenda were cleared of Luis Alcazar’s murder (thanks to learning Alexis had carried out the deed), they flew to the Dominican Republic to end their marriage. They had married earlier that fall for unrelated reasons and had remained married to avoid testifying against one another. On the show, they went through with it and returned to Port Charles. In the first part of this story (that’s lost to time), they decided to remain married and return to Port Charles to pursue a traditional divorce. They talked over their issues and decided to help each other out.

Banner

Scene One
(The Morgan Penthouse. Brenda drops her suitcase and collapses on the sofa. Jason sets his bag on the desk and stares at her.)

Brenda: (her eyes closed) Stop it.

Jason: Stop what?

Brenda: Looking at me.

Jason: I’m not.

Brenda: Ha. (groans) I hate planes.

Jason: I’ve changed my mind.

Brenda: About what?

Jason: This whole thing. This is a bad idea.

Brenda: (opens her eyes and sits up) It is not. It’s a good idea. I know what I’m doing. I can help, Jason. Honest. Come on, let me help.

Jason: I just don’t want this getting screwed up more than it already is.

Brenda: (smirks) I don’t think that’s possible. All right, take a seat.

Jason: I’ll stand.

Brenda: Suit yourself. All right, first part of the plan. Extricate yourself from Snow White.

Jason: Brenda.

Brenda: Right, right. No name calling. Okay, well, the simplest way to do this is to make seem like her idea.

Jason: How in the hell am I supposed to do that?

Brenda: I forgot who I’m talking to. Okay, you need to not be a good boyfriend. Shouldn’t be too hard. Start avoiding her, find excuses not to be around her. You know, the same way you got Elizabeth to walk out.

Jason: Brenda—

Brenda: I’m sorry, I forgot—that’s a sensitive subject, but you get my drift? Don’t act so damn interested in her.

Jason: And that’s not going to hurt her?

Brenda: No. It’ll probably sting a little, but you could always say you’ve got to work or something. Use your job.

Jason: And all you’re going to be doing is giving me advice right?

Brenda: (grins) Are you kidding? I am going to be totally hands on!

Jason: I was afraid of that.

Brenda: You go…do whatever it is you need to do. Just don’t see the little—er, Courtney. Leave her a message or something. No, wait don’t even do that. I’m going to do some reconnaissance.

Jason: Reconnaissance?

Brenda: I’ll be paying a visit to your little girlfriend. The other one.

Jason: (suspiciously) Why?

Brenda: (rolls eyes) Duh. I have to see how much groveling you’re going to need to do. Plus, I need to drop some hints.

Jason: I don’t grovel.

Brenda: Whatever. (stands) Let’s get this started.

Jason: (muttering) I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Scene Two
(Kelly’s. Elizabeth is working. Brenda slides into stool in front of her)

Brenda: (brightly) Hi!

Elizabeth: Hello. What can I get you?

Brenda: A soda and some conversation if you’ve got time.

Elizabeth: (eyes her warily) All right.

Brenda: (accepts the soda Elizabeth hands her) So, Elizabeth Webber.

Elizabeth: (amused) Brenda Barrett—or should I say Brenda Morgan?

Brenda: Oooh…I detect a note of jealousy in your voice. Could you be the mystery woman my darling husband refuses to talk about?

Elizabeth: (shortly) No.

Brenda: No? Not even a little bit? Because I know something’s up with him. I can get him to talk about Snow White, but he just totally shuts down when I bring up the chick he’s really in love with.

Elizabeth: Who’s Snow White?

Brenda: (leans forward and whispers conspiratorially) Well, it’s kind of confidential. Can I trust you?

Elizabeth: Sure.

Brenda: Sonny’s sister.

Elizabeth: Oh. Well, I already knew that.

Brenda: Oh. So, any ideas who the mystery woman is?

Elizabeth: How do you know it’s not Snow White?

Brenda: Well, you see, there’s this look Jase gets on his face when he discusses the blonde one and it ain’t the look he gets when he discusses the mystery woman.

Elizabeth: (curiously) What kind of look?

Brenda: (with a small triumphant smile) Oh, when he talks about the other girl, his eyes kind of light up, he sort of smiles and looks away like he’s thinking of something really really great.

Elizabeth: And when it’s the blonde one?

Brenda: He looks like a little kid being forced to eat vegetables.

Elizabeth: (laughs) Okay, so who do you think the mystery woman is?

Brenda: I don’t know. See, I thought it might be you since the only other woman ever associated with Jason other than Robin, Carly or me…is you.

Elizabeth: Me?

Brenda: Yup. A couple of people were under the assumption the two of you were an item.

Elizabeth: They’re mistaken.

Brenda: But are you two friends?

Elizabeth: (hesitantly) We were.

Brenda: What happened?

Elizabeth: It doesn’t matter.

Brenda: Oh…you’ve got to be the mystery woman.

Elizabeth: Why do you say that?

Brenda: Because the only person I’ve ever heard say that is Jason.

Elizabeth: So?

Brenda: He says that when I ask what happened between him and the mystery woman.

Elizabeth: It’s not me.

Brenda: How can you be so sure?

Elizabeth: Look, Brenda. You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me or what happened with Jason—

Brenda: Methinks you protest too much.

Elizabeth: Jason’s moved on, I’m working on it. Why don’t you just let things be?

Brenda: Not in my nature.

Elizabeth: I need to get back to work.

Scene Three
(Morgan Penthouse. That evening. Jason comes in to see Brenda sitting on the couch eating pizza.)

Brenda: There’s more in the kitchen if you’re hungry.

Jason: Okay. (heads for the kitchen)

Brenda: Good news. She’s still in love with you.

Jason: (stops and turns to look at her) What?

Brenda: Elizabeth. She’s still in love with you.

Jason: (after a beat) H-How do you know that?

Brenda: Just the way she looked during the entire conversation and the way she answered my questions. I told her that there was a mystery woman you were in love with and kept trying to get her to admit it was her. You’ve got her trained.

Jason: Trained?

Brenda: Yup. Told me it didn’t matter. (giggles) Thought I was talking to you for a minute.

Jason: That’s not funny.

Brenda: Honestly, Jason—the situation doesn’t look that bad. She hasn’t moved on. She said she was working on it, but if it hasn’t happened yet, it won’t for a little while, giving us just enough time to fix this.

Jason: Maybe…maybe we should just leave it alone. Elizabeth is better off without me.

Brenda: If that’s the kind of attitude you had around her, no wonder she walked out.

Jason: Knock it off.

Brenda: No, I’m serious. Jesus, stop being such wuss.

Jason: A what?

Brenda: A wuss. Be a man. Stand up for yourself. You want Elizabeth, you need to admit that to yourself. Stop hiding behind your job, and everything else. The only person who gets decide that Elizabeth is better off without you is Elizabeth, don’t forget that. (stands and pokes Jason in the chest) Don’t make me waste my time trying to help you if you’re just to screw it all up in the end.

Jason: I—

Brenda: Because, I swear to God, if I get you what you want and you screw it up, I’ll kill you myself. (puts her hands on her hips) So, what’s it going to be? Snow White or Elizabeth?

Jason: What the hell has crawled up your ass?

Brenda: You didn’t answer my question. You want to stay with Courtney because it’s easy for you or do you want me to help you get Elizabeth back?

Jason: I knew this was a bad idea. Let’s just forget the whole thing. We’ll file for an annulment tomorrow.

Brenda: Are you scared? Is that it? You afraid that you might really love someone?

Jason: I’m going out. (he turns to leave but Brenda grabs his arm)

Brenda: Why is it so hard for you to just go after what you want?

Jason: You’re living in a dream world, Brenda. Things don’t work out like that in reality. You don’t always get what you want.

Brenda: Yeah, well if you can’t even admit what you want, of course you’re not going to get it! You can’t even say it.

Jason: (defensive) Just stop it.

Brenda: Is it so hard for you to just say it? You haven’t once said out loud that you love her or that you want her back—

Jason: What good would that do?

Brenda: Once you say it, it becomes real and I think that’s what scares you.

Jason: (he just stares at her)

FLASHBACK

(Jason and Elizabeth are at the park.)

Elizabeth: Why do even like me? I mean, I give you mixed signals for months, I jerk you around, I make you say things that I’m sure you didn’t even want to say—

Jason: I, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t want to. I mean, until now I wasn’t sure that you wanted to know how I feel.

Elizabeth: I think I was afraid to hear it. You know, when you say it, it becomes real. You can’t hide from it anymore or pretend it doesn’t exist. Believe me, I know, I’ve tried. I’ve come up with a million excuses for the way you make me feel. But excuses can’t change the truth. I want more than a friendship too.

Jason: It’s not wrong to trust what you feel.

END FLASHBACK

Brenda: (frowning) Jason? Jason?

Jason: (shaking his head) What did you say?

Brenda: Where’d you go?

Jason: I…

Brenda: (curiously) Are you okay?

Jason: Elizabeth said that to me once. (He sits on the couch and runs his hands through his hair) It was about two years ago. She was still dating Lucky…but I don’t know—they were having problems and she started…I’d been attracted to her for a while and we were kind of dancing around each other.

Brenda: (completely absorbed) What happened?

Jason: She and Lucky had this complicated history—she’s got an incredible sense of loyalty. She was really torn up about it—Lucky wasn’t the same, she was miserable and I just seemed to making it worse. She finally came out and asked me if I wanted more.

(We can hear the following dialogue over the scene)

Jason: What do you want me to do?

Elizabeth: Tell me how you feel. I, I think I know. I could be wrong. Are we just friends, or do you want something more from me?

Jason: Yeah I do.

Jason: (continuing) I told her yeah and then she said she was afraid to hear it. Because when you say it, it becomes real. You can’t hide from it or pretend it doesn’t exist. And then she told me she felt the same.

Brenda: But she wouldn’t leave Lucky.

Jason: He was her first love—and I don’t think she was at a point where she was ready to give up on him.

Brenda: She’s young, Jase. It can be hard to admit when something’s not working.

Jason: It’s…just…it’s like we’ve come full circle. Two years ago, she didn’t want admit what was happening between us. And now…I can’t admit how I feel about her.

Brenda: You guys have been dancing around each other for too long. Isn’t it time to knock it off and just do something already?

Jason: Yeah. You’re right. It is time to stop. (he looks at her)I need her. I need her in my life.

Brenda: That’s a start. So, are we done with this running and let’s forget about it crap? Are you ready to fix this?

(As if on cue, the phone in the penthouse starts to ring.)

Brenda: Let the machine get it.

Jason: Machine?

Brenda: Yeah, I got an answering machine when I decided to avoid calls from the press.

Jason: I thought this was a private line.

Brenda: (snorts) Since when does that bother the press?

Courtney: (over the machine) Jason? I probably shouldn’t be calling, but…well…Elizabeth was talking to Penny about how Brenda came in to see her and I guess since Brenda’s back…you are, too. You haven’t been by to see me. Is anything wrong? (waits a beat) All right. Call me when you get this.

(The machine clicks off. Jason and Brenda stare at it)

Brenda: Is that the kind of person you want to spend the rest of your life with? Someone who seems…so clingy?

Jason: Brenda—

Brenda: For once, I’m really not trying to insult the girl. I just…look, I’m sure she’d make some other unsuspecting person happy, but she is definitely not the girl for you. Plus, she’s too tall for you.

Jason: Too tall for me.

Brenda: Right. See, you need a small petite kind of girl.

Jason: That’s an awfully shallow observation.

Brenda: (shrugs) Whatever. You didn’t answer my question.

Jason: What was the question?

Brenda: Are you still willing to fix this?

Jason: (after a beat) Yeah. But—

Brenda: (groaning) But what?

Jason: I need to do this my way.

Brenda: Your way. (a beat) You have a way?

Jason: I’m going to be honest with Courtney.

Brenda: You do realize that honesty might backfire.

Jason: If Sonny finds out, then…oh, well. He’ll just have to deal with the fact that he can’t control everyone.

Brenda: (stunned) Wow. When you grow a backbone, you really go all the way.

Jason: Very funny.

Brenda: No, no. I’m serious. This is good. This is the Jason Morgan I remember. Okay, honesty with Courtney. What else?

Jason: I need to sit down with Elizabeth and talk to her. Really talk to her. We haven’t…we haven’t done that for so long.

Brenda: What if she lashes out again? Are you going to walk away?

Jason: No. I’m going to actually listen to what she’s saying and find out what she really means. Elizabeth is good at pretending—at putting on an act. I used…I used to know when she was lying or saying things to deliberately hurt people.

Brenda: But it’s different when she’s doing all those things to you, huh?

Jason: Yeah. It is.

Brenda: Good. I’m proud of you, Jason. You’re making the right decision. Is there anything I can do?

Jason: (standing) If Courtney calls before I get back, tell her I’m on my way to see her.

(He leaves. Brenda stares after him)

Brenda: Huh. Well, I’ll be damned. He’s not Sonny’s bitch after all.

Scene Four
(The Loft. Courtney is sitting on the couch when Jason enters. She jumps up to go hug him, but he holds up a hand, warding her off.)

Courtney: Jason? (confused) What’s wrong?

Jason: We need to talk.

Courtney: About what?

Jason: Us. And why this isn’t going to work.

Courtney: What do you mean? I don’t understand.

Jason: (takes a deep breath) I’m not in love with you Courtney. And I never could be. I’m sorry.

Courtney: Hold on, I don’t understand. Before you left, things were fine. What happened? What’s going on?

Jason: Just what I said. It’s not fair to you for me to be with you and not be in this relationship completely. I’m not.

Courtney: Is it Brenda?

Jason: No.

Courtney: (eyes suddenly narrow) Is it Elizabeth?

Jason: Courtney this has nothing to do with anyone else. It’s me.

Courtney: It’s Elizabeth. I should have known—what was I thinking? That stupid—

Jason: Stop it. You can’t blame this on anyone but me. I’m the one who thought this would work and I was the one who was wrong.

Courtney: Get out.

Jason: I’m sorry—

Courtney: (yelling) Get out!

(Jason leaves.)

Scene Five
(The Morgan penthouse. Brenda looks up as Jason enters.)

Brenda: How’d it go?

Jason: As expected.

Brenda: Now don’t you feel better?

Jason: Not especially. I hurt her.

Brenda: Think about how much it hurt Elizabeth to see you two together.

Jason: I’m going to bed.

Brenda: What about Elizabeth?

Jason: I’m going to see her tomorrow. I think I deserve a little break, don’t you?

Brenda: Fine, fine. You want me to visit her first, prep her?

Jason: No. I can handle this myself.

Brenda: (pleased) Nice to know you still have a backbone.

Jason: Are you done?

Brenda: Do you listen to me any way?

Jason: No.

Brenda: Then what’s the difference if I’m done or not?

Jason: (shakes his head) Sometimes I just want to throttle you.

Brenda: (giggles) You know you love me.

Jason: I’d rather take a gun to my head.

Brenda: That’s so mean, I can’t believe after everything I’ve done for you…I gave you advice, a shoulder to cry on—

Jason: (speaking over her) A shoulder to cry on? Are you nuts?

Brenda: (continuing) I helped you with Snow White, with Elizabeth and this is the thanks I get?

Jason: Yeah, okay.

Brenda: You’re so mean to me, Jason. I mean would a thank you kill you?

Jason: Probably.

Brenda: You’re infuriating.

Jason: So are you.

Brenda: Go to sleep.

Jason: I don’t need your permission.

Brenda: Nope. You don’t need anyone’s permission to do anything. Except maybe Sonny.

Jason: Sonny doesn’t run my life.

Brenda: I don’t know—for a while it felt like he was.

Jason: Good night.

Brenda: (as he goes up the stairs) Was that a pleasantry from the big bad Jason Morgan?

Jason: (calls back to her) Shut up.

Brenda: (grinning) I think I’m growing on him.

Scene Six
(Elizabeth’s studio. Early the next morning. There’s knocking at the door. Elizabeth goes to answer it.)

Elizabeth: (sleepily) Hold on. I’m coming. (unlocks the door and pulls it open) Jason?

Jason: Can we talk?

Elizabeth: That depends. What’s the subject?

Jason: Us.

Elizabeth: (rolls eyes) Ha. You’ve made it abundantly clear that us doesn’t exist anymore. Go back to Courtney.

Jason: Elizabeth—

Elizabeth: You know what? This is my day off and I was planning on catching up on some sleep, so just walk away. You can do that, Jase. You’re good at it.

Jason: You either talk to me now or I’ll sit outside your door until you do.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Until Sonny calls, you mean.

Jason: I turned my phone off.

Elizabeth: I wasn’t even aware you knew how to do that.

Jason: Are you done being sarcastic? Because I really would like to talk to you.

Elizabeth: (shrugs) Fine. Whatever. Come on in if you must.

(Jason enters and Elizabeth shuts the door.)

Jason: I went to the Dominican Republic to get an annulment with Brenda and somehow she got me talking about you.

Elizabeth: (surprised) Me?

Jason: Yeah. I still don’t know how she managed to pry it out of me, but she did. And she kind of forced me to see where you were coming from with the whole Sonny thing.

Elizabeth: Somehow I doubt Brenda had any clue what was going through my head.

Jason: Well, she said that you must have felt kind of foolish when you found he was alive. She figured you might have been worried about me and she knew that I rarely went home or called anyone while I was guarding her.

Elizabeth: Well, I’ve got to hand it to your wife. She does have part of it.

Jason: Part of it?

Elizabeth: Oh, what? Now you want to know what I was thinking? Sorry. You’re a little late for that.

Jason: Damn it. Why can’t we just talk about this?

Elizabeth: Because that won’t solve anything.

Jason: I think it will. I think if we’re honest with each other, it might solve a lot.

Elizabeth: (surprised) Where is this coming from?

Jason: You can thank Brenda. She forced me to remember something you said to me once. That when you say it, it becomes real. And I’ve been avoiding that since you left.

Elizabeth: Avoiding what?

Jason: Telling you how I feel.

Elizabeth: And I suppose you’re going to tell me now.

Jason: If you want to know right now, I will tell you. But I’d rather we talk first.

Elizabeth: Well, I’m not talking until I know what you want from me.

Jason: (after a beat) I want to be able to walk into Kelly’s and have you smile at me like you used to. I want to be able to ask you to go for a ride. I want to be able to watch you paint or listen to you talk. How’s that?

Elizabeth: (slightly stunned) I…I suppose that’s a start.

Jason: Will you please talk to me, Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: (takes a deep breath) I left because I didn’t feel like I fit in your life. That your loyalty to Sonny and Carly would always take precedence over me and that was a possibility I wasn’t ready to handle. I left because I didn’t think I mattered to you.

Jason: And I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way. It wasn’t my intention—I never wanted to hurt you.

Elizabeth: Then why didn’t you come home or even call? Why did you ignore me when you did come to the penthouse?

Jason: Because I knew the more I heard your voice and saw your face, the less likely I was going to be able to keep the secret. Because I knew you’d know in an instant that something was off.

Elizabeth: So you avoided me so you wouldn’t want to tell me the truth

Jason: I know it sounds bad and in retrospect, it wasn’t one of my more intelligent decisions. I’m sorry, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Okay, so, why didn’t you come after me? Why did you start dating Courtney and making all these sacrifices for her?

Jason: Because with Courtney, there wasn’t anything at stake. I didn’t have to worry about her face changing because she didn’t know me to begin with. The only thing Courtney ever needed me for was to rescue her. And you never needed me like that. Not really.

Elizabeth: So what you want is a girl you can spend your entire life rescuing. (sarcastically) Well, that’s wonderful.

Jason: It gets old after a while, Elizabeth. I don’t want to be depended on to fix people’s messes or bail them out of trouble or rescue them from situations they get themselves into. I get enough of that with Carly and Sonny, and I realized that’s not what I want from a relationship.

Elizabeth: Then what do you want?

Jason: I want you. Like we used to be. When we would sit in Kelly’s after closing and talk or go for rides or you would explain your paintings to me. I don’t want someone who only needs me when they’re in trouble. I want someone who wants me around even in the good times.

Elizabeth: (hesitates) So you’re kind of here to ask for another chance.

Jason: I guess I am.

Elizabeth: What about Courtney?

Jason: I already broke up with her. Yesterday.

Elizabeth: (slowly) Okay, so are you going to tell me how you feel now?

Jason: All right. (after a moment) I love you.

Elizabeth: (finally) Could you…would you please repeat that?

Jason: I love you.

Elizabeth: (faintly) That’s what I thought you said. (pause)Um….I’m not…I don’t… (she shakes her head) I can’t believe this.

Jason: I just…I guess I thought you should know. I know I didn’t fight you before—I know that I just let you walk away and I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that.

Elizabeth: (mutters) Damn right.

Jason: Look…I know I can’t…that I shouldn’t expect anything from you. I’ve done nothing but hurt you these last few months. But—

Elizabeth: You know, most normal people would remind me that I’m not completely innocent.

Jason: What do you mean?

Elizabeth: I mean that I spent most of the entire summer hurting you. Not to mention the last time you were in town—and I guess telling you to go to hell wasn’t fun to hear.

Jason: No. I never held any of that against you. You dealt with the situation the best you could.

Elizabeth: I know. It’s not easy being in love with two men at the same time. I was nineteen—I didn’t know how not to hurt anyone and I did my best not to…but it happened anyway.(takes a deep breath) You didn’t want to hurt me. I know you that much.

Jason: Where does that leave us?

Elizabeth: Honestly? I don’t know. I’m not…I’m not ready to jump right back in, okay? I’ve been burned twice this last year and I’m not in any hurry to have it happen again.

Jason: I understand. I—

Elizabeth: I know you wouldn’t mean to, but right now…I am not ready for a relationship. I need time. Time to just be by myself, y’know? Figure out what I want from life.

Jason: If you need time, that’s fine.

Elizabeth: I still want you around. Maybe…maybe we could be friends again. (hopefully) Like we used to be. We could go for rides, hang out at Kelly’s after closing…all the things we used to do.

Jason: I’d like that.

Elizabeth: Besides….we’ve both changed these last few months. I think we need to get to know each other again.

Jason: That sounds fine. Do you…want to go for a ride?

Elizabeth: (smiles) I thought you’d never ask.

Scene Seven
(The Morgan Penthouse. Brenda is stuffing things into a bag when Jason enters.)

Brenda: Hey. It’s been hours since you left. (grins) I guess you got lucky.

Jason: You better not mean what I think you mean.

Brenda: (wiggling her eyebrows) Oh, I do mean that.

Jason: (gestures towards her bag) What’s that?

Brenda: Oh. (guiltily) I’m fleeing the country.

Jason: (resigned) What did you do this time?

Brenda: (defensively) Nothing. I…just…I’m trying to avoid Jax and he’s kind of on his way over here. See, I haven’t exactly told him you and I are still married.

Jason: Why not?

Brenda: Because you know him. He’ll assume it means I want to be married to you because I need to be connected to Sonny or because I’m actually in love with you. And since we both know the second’s not true and I’m pretty sure the first one isn’t either, I’m just not in the mood to explain to him again why I want to take this slow. He never listens to me—he always get jealous right away…you know, it’s almost like he’s Sonny.

Jason: Why are you still with him?

Brenda: Force of habit, I suppose. No, look, I really do love him. Even if it can be exhausting.

Jason: It’s your life.

Brenda: Yep. So if you didn’t get lucky, where have you been all day?

Jason: I don’t really want to talk about this.

Brenda: Oh, come on. I’m the reason you made it this far. The least you can do is tell me if she threw you out or at least let you talk.

Jason: She let me talk.

Brenda: And?

Jason: (sighs) You’re not going to let this go are you?

Brenda: Damn right.

Jason: Fine. I talked to her. She listened. I told her I loved her, we agreed to start over as friends. She needs time…she’d just broken up with her ex-boyfriend when I got back in town. He’d slept with her sister. Adding on everything else that happened…

Brenda: She’s a little skittish about jumping back in the saddle.

Jason: Yeah, I guess.

Brenda: Smart girl.

Jason: I agreed with her. I want to make this right for her.

Brenda: Makes sense. You’re not half bad, Jase. (takes a deep breath) I called Alexis. We can start the annulment proceedings tomorrow if you want.

Jason: I thought you were fleeing the country.

Brenda: I’ve rethought my position. I’m going to calmly explain to Jax how I feel.

Jason: And when he doesn’t listen?

Brenda: He won’t have a choice. Think you can loan me a guard or two? I need to tie him up and tape his mouth shut.

Jason: (smirking) I can arrange that.

Brenda: Wow, really? I was just kidding, but now that I know it’s a possibility, it doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

(There’s a knock on the door.)

Jason: You worry me sometimes.

(He opens the door. It’s Elizabeth.)

Elizabeth: Um, hi. I just…I needed to tell you something I just realized that I didn’t before.

Jason: Sure. Come on in. (after the door is closed) You know my wife from hell.

Brenda: Hey! I thought you said no name calling!

Jason: I said you couldn’t call anyone names. I never said I couldn’t.

Brenda: Ugh. Men. Hello, Elizabeth. I suppose you’d like me to leave.

Elizabeth: Yes.

Brenda: (grinning) Oooh…I like this one. I’ll just go upstairs. If Jax comes by, tell him I’m having hot wild sex with one of the guards.

(She goes upstairs.)

Elizabeth: She’s…strange.

Jason: That’s one way to put it.

Elizabeth: Um, I guess I should tell you what I came here to tell you. (takes a deep breath) I want you to know that what I said originally is still true. I still need time.

Jason: Right.

Elizabeth: But you know…you were really good enough to tell me how you felt so I figured I should like return the favor. I love you.

Jason: (just stares at her for a minute before answering) Oh.

Elizabeth: (flushes) Yeah…so I thought you should know. I’m going to go. Bye.

(She’s gone before Jason can recover enough to say anything.)

Brenda: (from upstairs) I told you so!

Jason: Go away!

Brenda: You know you love me.

Jason: Let’s not start that again.

+11

Inspiration

If you follow my writing, you know the last time I was obsessed with the GH teen scene was back in 2003 when Scott Clifton joined Lindze Letherman (Georgie) and Robyn Richards (Maxie) as Dillon Quartermaine. I fell in immediate love with Dillon. He’s one of my four ride or die favs (AJ, Patrick, Dillon, and Elizabeth can do no wrong). I also had a huge crush on CJ Thomason and Andrew St. John who played Lucas Jones and Kyle Radcliffe.

I wrote quite a few GQ episode tags back then (Dillon & Georgie), but a lot of them were lost in when my computer crashed in July 2003. This story was meant to be part of a series, but the second story is lost. The title was retained, lol — It was going to be The Sweetest Thing with several stand alone stories. This was the first.

Timeline

This is set in the spring of 2003, probably late April, early May. Dillon has arrived in Port Charles, and Georgie has a huge crush on Lucas. Elizabeth is working at Kelly’s.

Banner

I can do this. I’m strong. I’m independent. I’m a woman.

Okay, I’m fourteen.

But I’m still all of the above.

With those thoughts in mind, Georgie Jones took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and reached for the door handle to Kelly’s.

She pulled the door open and entered the small diner. You can do this, she chanted mentally. It’s not like you’re asking for much. You just want a job application.

She spied Elizabeth Webber working quietly behind the counter and after glancing around the diner, she determined that the manager, Bobbie Spencer, was not there. So, she’d deal with the only waitress she saw.

Besides, the way Georgie figured, Elizabeth Webber practically ran the diner. She was always there, always keeping everything calm. If a fight broke out, Elizabeth solved it. If a waitress called out sick, Elizabeth covered the shift.

Elizabeth Webber, Georgie decided, was one of the best people she knew. Although technically Georgie didn’t know Elizabeth all that well…but hell, everyone knew Elizabeth in some way.

“Um, excuse me,” Georgie said. She nervously tugged at the sleeve of her soft pink button down sweater. Pink, Georgie had decided, looked good on her. It complimented her dark blonde hair and lightened her brown eyes. Pink made her feel professional.

“Hey, Georgie,” Elizabeth greeted. “Can I get you anything?”

Georgie chewed her lip and took a deep breath. “A job application?”

Elizabeth widened her eyes. “A job application? You want to work here?”

“Um, yeah,” Georgie replied. She smoothed a hand over her light brown cords. Light brown, Georgie had decided, went well with a pink sweater and by not wearing jeans, she’d shed her teenage image and hopefully looked older.

At least sixteen.

Elizabeth looked around, hunted underneath the counter. “That’s great!” she said. “You know, I started working here when I was fourteen. God, I was such a horrible waitress. Spent far too much time looking at Lucky Spencer and too little time paying attention to what people ordered.” Elizabeth pulled a piece of paper out and handed it to her. “If you want you can fill it out now and I can give it to Bobbie when I drop off the night’s receipts later.”

“Sure,” Georgie replied. She slid onto a stool and opened her small purse. Small purses, Georgie had decided, looked more professional than big clunky ones. She fished out a blue Bic pen and uncapped it. “So, are you guys hiring?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “We’re always losing someone to college or better jobs.” She smirked. “I’m personally hoping we lose someone soon.”

Georgie grinned. “Courtney?” She regretted her word almost immediately when she saw Elizabeth’s face close off. Great, she offended the best chance she had at getting this job. Damage control. “I only say that because…well…um, you know…you hear things.”

Elizabeth folded her arms. “What kind of things?” Her tone had gone as cold as ice and Georgie was now miserable. She set her pen down. There went this job.

“Well…just that two of you don’t like each other,” she replied, dully. “I mean…she’s dating your ex-boyfriend and my sister told me that he broke up with you for her.” Georgie sighed and pushed the application away. “I’m sorry. I…I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Elizabeth sighed and the tension drained from her body. “No, look, don’t worry about it. You’re right, we don’t like each other but it’s not because she’s dating Jason.”

Georgie must have looked skeptical because Elizabeth continued. “I just don’t appreciate the way she constantly runs out on her shifts and calls out sick.”

“Oh.” Georgie shifted. “I still shouldn’t have said anything. I mean, I don’t want to remind of you…anything. Because, you know, I really admire you.”

That surprised Elizabeth and she smiled. “Really? Why?”

Georgie shrugged. “Everyone does,” she replied easily. “My sister thought you were great, the way you handle that Lucky thing last summer and I remember Roy DiLucca talking about how brave you were when Jason shot you last summer.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Jason did not shoot me. Zander did and it was a complete accident. Besides, the bullet didn’t really hit me.”

“It didn’t?” Georgie asked.

“No. Jason and Roy were fighting, and Zander, being the completely moronic hothead that he is, picked up a gun. Then Jason and Zander were fighting over the gun and the trigger was pulled.” Elizabeth slid the sleeve of her cornflower-blue shirt up to reveal a light pink scar on her upper left arm. “See? The bullet just grazed me.”

“Oh. Did it hurt?” Georgie asked, cringing as soon as she realized how stupid the question was.

“Well, I didn’t feel anything at first,” Elizabeth replied. “I think I was a little shocked. But it kicked in and I almost passed out. Jason caught me and he managed to bandage it.” She smiled and leaned forward a little bit, lowering her voice. “I’ll tell you a secret.”

Georgie, feeling much better about this right now, leaned forward eagerly. Being confided in by Elizabeth Webber! Take that, Maxie, she thought smugly.

“I didn’t feel anything until I got to the hospital because I was too busy looking at Jason,” Elizabeth told her, smiling.

“He is cute,” Georgie agreed.

“Uh huh. And it was just really easy to get lost in his eyes, you know?” Elizabeth said. “They’re an incredible shade of blue.” Her cheeks flushed and she leaned back. “But none of that really matters now. Anyway, go ahead and fill out that application. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

Georgie watched as Elizabeth headed onto the main floor to take care of a customer. She then turned in her attention back to her application.

“Whatcha doin’?”

Irritated, she looked up at the interruption. “I’m filling out a job application, Lucas,” she told him.

Lucas Jones frowned. “For Kelly’s?”

“Yeah. Why not?” Georgie asked, defensively.

Lucas smirked. “Why would you want to work here?”

“Because I like this place,” Georgie replied. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing. I just thought you had higher hopes than being another Elizabeth Webber.”

Georgie narrowed her eyes. She might like Lucas, but no one insulted her idol. “And what’s wrong with that?”

“Come on. She’s nice and all, but she’s twenty-one and still working in the same place as when we were kids.”

“Maybe she likes it here. Maybe she enjoys her job,” Georgie said hotly.

“And maybe she’s got no place else to go,” Lucas said pointedly.

“Can I get you anything Lucas?” Elizabeth asked from behind him. He spun on the stool to look at the unhappy waitress.

“Elizabeth.” Lucas swallowed. “I, uh…”

“For the record, I work here because I enjoy my job,” Elizabeth told him. “I like seeing the people I care about on a daily basis. It pays well and I have a flexible schedule so I can go to school and work on my art. I’m sorry if people think I’m pathetic because I have worked in the same place for the past five years, but I can’t be responsible for small-minded people. Now, I’ll ask you again. Can I get you anything?”

“I was just stopping by,” Lucas said quickly. He slid off the stool and passed her, his head ducked down.

“Sorry about him,” Georgie apologized as she signed her name and completed the application. “He thinks he knows what’s best for me and tries to tell me.”

“It’s fine,” Elizabeth replied, smiling briefly. “You get used to it after a while.” She took the application from the young girl and perused. “I’ll drop this off with Bobbie and I’ll call you when she makes a decision.”

“Thanks, Elizabeth,” Georgie said, sliding down from the stool. She put the pen away and smiled one last time at the waitress before leaving.

….

Elizabeth handed Bobbie the receipts and the day’s earnings so that Bobbie could drop it off at the bank on her way to the hospital the next morning.

“Georgie Jones dropped off a job application,” Elizabeth reported as Bobbie examined the receipts.

“Hmm…do we need another waitress?” Bobbie asked, making a note in the account book.

“We could use the help,” Elizabeth said honestly. “One of the waitresses tends to be slightly unreliable, so I’m sure Georgie will come in handy.”

“Which waitress?” Bobbie asked, even though she already knew.

“Courtney,” Elizabeth said. “But it has nothing to do with my personal feelings towards her, I just—”

“Elizabeth, it’s okay. I’ve had the other girls complain as well,” Bobbie interrupted. “Actually, there’s something I wanted to speak with you about.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked warily.

“I’m rarely at the diner these days between the hospital and Lucas, so I was wondering if you’d like to come on as assistant manager,” Bobbie suggested.

“Really?” Elizabeth asked. “Are you serious?”

“Definitely. So you can make decisions like this and not worry about me. I trust you, Elizabeth. You’ve been working there longer than anyone and you really understand the way it works.”

“Wow, I’d love to,” Elizabeth replied, smiling. “Thanks, Bobbie.”

“So, I’ll let you make the final decision concerning Georgie and Courtney. I’ll see you tomorrow, same time?”

“Sure,” Elizabeth replied. She picked up the receipts, intent on calling Georgie Jones first thing in the morning.

February 7, 2014

Inspiration

If you’ve been around me for a hot minute, you know that I have four ride or die characters: Elizabeth, Patrick, Dillon (only Scott Clifton), and AJ. They can do no wrong. I will worship them for life. When Emily was suffering from her cancer in August of 2003, AJ was completely absent from the story. From the second Bob Guza had taken over in 2002, Billy Warlock was systematically diminished on the show until he completely disappeared just before his ridiculous exit that fall when he embezzled from ELQ. (I have rage thoughts.)

Timeline

In August 2003, Emily’s breast cancer took a turn for the worse, and it appeared as if she was going to die from an infection.

He made it to the elevator almost a dozen times but he could never push the button for her floor. He knew she must wonder where he was—wondered if he even gave a damn.

His sister had always been so full of life, so vivacious and spunky. He couldn’t imagine what she’d look like in a hospital bed, connected to tubes. It wasn’t like that April when they’d thought it was a drug overdose. Drugs…they could fight that, change it. Cancer. He couldn’t even begin to think how to fight that.

But when his mother had told him about the bacterial meningitis…he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He couldn’t avoid it to make himself feel better.

It was dark when he slipped into her room—well past visiting hours. He wore the yellow scrubs over his clothes and sat at her bedside.

Her eyes were sunken, she had dark circles and her skin nearly blended in with her sheets. His eyes watered and he reached for her hand.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered brokenly. “I should—I should have been here for you. I should have…” He bowed his head and started to cry.

He felt her other hand in his hair and he lifted his head. “Emily…”

“AJ…” Emily breathed. She managed a weak smile. “Hey…”

He sat up and wiped his eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here, Em.”

She shook her head. “Don’t…don’t worry about it.”

“But I do,” he protested. “You’re my sister, Emily. God, I remember you when you were so young and you came into our family…God, you’re the best of us, Em. You really are.”

“AJ…you’re my favorite, you know that?” she breathed. Her eyes were closing—she was falling asleep.

“I thought that was Jason,” AJ replied.

She shook her head, her eyes closed again. “No. I mean…I love him…but you’re my favorite. The way you keep…fighting, keep living…you’re so strong. And you quit drinking, too. You’re doing so well…I’m proud of you AJ. I really am.”

“I love you so much, Em.” He kissed her forehead. “And I promise…if you think you’re proud of me now…just you wait.”

“You promise?” she said softly.

“Yeah. I promise.” He listened to her breathing even out and he knew she was asleep then. He smoothed her hair away from her face and sat back in his chair to wait for morning.

Inspiration

It was spring 2003 and nineteen-year-old me was OBSESSED with Dillon and Georgie. There’s nothing else to say.

Timeline

Set in May 2003. Dillon is crushing hard on Georgie who is, for some reason, lusting after her cousin-by-adoption, Lucas. (Tony and Frisco, their dads, are brothers). This was before Lucas came out as gay and when he was being played by the VERY pretty CJ Thomason.

Banner

May 2003

Dillon was shaking his head as he entered Kelly’s. Living in that house was enough to make a sane person go nuts. Every time he turned around, there was another family emergency or someone else was getting taken out in ambulance or God forbid a family meeting. They seemed to have meetings to announce everything, from Emily’s return from the trip to rehab to whether Alan and Monica were going to be home for dinner.

He spied Georgie sitting in the corner of the diner, a plate of fries in front of her and a book in her face. He smiled involuntarily and crossed the room. “Hey, I thought you were grounded.”

She glanced up at him, narrowed her eyes and then returned her attention to the book. She reached one of her hands out and gripped her iced tea and brought the straw to her lips, took a sip and put it back in its original position without ever taking her eyes off the page.

“So, you’re not speaking to me?” Dillon asked, raising his eyebrows. She didn’t answer and just turned the page instead. “You’re mad at me,” he concluded. He shrugged and pulled the chair out to sit down. “That’s fine. At least when you’re angry with me, you don’t pull me into a family meeting to discuss my behavior. I think that’s the worst thing about living with the Quartermaines—they think everything is their business.”

Georgie remained stubbornly silent and chewed slowly on a fry. A waitress came over and took Dillon’s order. He reached into his textbook and took the course selection catalog for Port Charles High. He flipped through it, looking for the right electives to take.

The waitress brought Dillon’s food and they ate in silence. Finally, Georgie sighed and set her book down. “You had no right to say what you did.”

He nodded. “You’re right. I was out of line. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know me that well and you don’t like Lucas anyway, so you—” she stopped. “What did you say?”

“I said that I’m sorry,” Dillon repeated. “Just because I think Lucas is an idiot and you could do better, it doesn’t mean you have to think so, too.”

She glared at him. “You don’t have to be so agreeable, either.”

“So you don’t want me to argue about Lucas but you don’t want me to stop either?” Dillon asked amused.

“I’m not trying to be funny,” Georgie fumed. “I’ve made up my mind to be mad at you and no amount of you apologizing is going to change that.”

“That’s fine,” Dillon replied. “Hey, what you recommend? Study hall or journalism?”

“You just don’t get it do you?” she demanded.

“Apparently there’s a lot of things I don’t get about you,” Dillon replied. He grinned. “But I’m looking forward to finding out.”

She smiled despite herself and flushed a little. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“You just…I don’t know.” Georgie shrugged and looked away. “I know Lucas is into Maxie, but that doesn’t mean I should give up on my dream, right?”

“Right,” Dillon replied. “But, hey dreams change all the time. When I was ten, all I wanted to do was meet the Quartermaines.”

Georgie laughed. “How’s that working out for you?”

He grimaced. “One more family meeting and I’m turning myself into the police.”

“What’d you do?”

“I’ll make something up.”

Tag Archives: 2003

April 12, 2014

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

April 10, 2014

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

Like this:

February 7, 2014

Like this:

Like this:

Navigate

Flash Fiction Schedule

November 2024

Recent Novels

Current Flash Fiction

Recent Flash Fiction Updates

Subscribe for Updates

Sort Stories

Support Crimson Glass!

Affiliates

Blog Stats

Most Liked Posts

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Navigate

Flash Fiction Schedule

November 2024

Recent Novels

Current Flash Fiction

Recent Flash Fiction Updates

Subscribe for Updates

Sort Stories

Support Crimson Glass!

Affiliates

Blog Stats

Most Liked Posts