How you gonna ever find your place
Runnin’ at artificial pace?
Are they gonna find us lying face down in the sand?
So what the hell now, we’ve already been forever damned
Anywhere you go, I’ll follow you down
Anyplace, but those I know by heart
Anywhere you go, I’ll follow you down
I’ll follow you down, but not that far
– Follow You Down, Gin Blossoms

---

Saturday, January 8, 2000

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

As much as Elizabeth had wanted to try to stay in bed all day, eventually her stomach had growled, and Jason had insisted on feeding her. She’d thought about trying out his suggestion about the shower, but when she’d finally slid out of the bed, her muscles protested —

And it turned out you really couldn’t make love all day when you were new to the whole thing, but how absolutely amazing to know she could do it again tonight—

“You have to stop doing that,” Jason said, jerking her out of her thoughts, and handing her a slice of the pizza he’d just pulled from the box they’d had delivered. Elizabeth frowned. “You know what you were doing.”

“I do not.” Elizabeth bit her lip, and he scowled. “Oh. That? I always do that—”

“And I told you—” Jason kissed her quickly, but thoroughly before releasing her. “What it makes me think about.”

Her cheeks flushed but she forced herself not to bite her lip again. She took her pizza and went over to the sofa. “I’ll try to remember, but I’m not gonna lie — I’m not going to try very hard.”

Jason just sighed and came to sit next to her, “You’re a menace, you know that?”

“No. But you can tell me again.” She beamed at him. It was so lovely to realize just how much Jason wanted to be with her. Sure, he’d said it, and sometimes she’d gotten hints. But since this morning, he’d stopped hiding it. And she liked it. It made her feel beautiful and desirable—and all the things she’d never thought possible.

Jason Morgan was sexually attracted to her, and almost everything she did made him hot for her. She grinned at him, and he just narrowed his eyes. “Eat your pizza.”

“That’s right. Fuel for later.” Elizabeth sat crossed legged. “You know, there are probably lots of things we can do that—”

The phone on the desk rang, and Jason sprang up, almost looking relieved. She just shrugged and bit into her pizza. She had done a lot of reading in her life, and she had a lot of ideas just waiting to try out, and now that she knew she could, she wanted to do everything—

“Can it wait?” Jason grimaced, looked over at her. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be over.”  He set the phone back on the base. “I have to go over to Sonny’s. He said it wouldn’t take long.”

“Okay.” Elizabeth lifted her pizza. “I’ll be here—refueling.”

This time he laughed, and came back to the sofa to kiss her. “Mmm. You taste like pizza.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good thing—”

“It is when you’re hungry.” Jason kissed her again, lingering. “I don’t want to go, you know that, right?”

“Yeah. I know. But we had all morning and part of the afternoon.” She touched his face, trailing her fingers along his jaw. “The rest of the world isn’t going to stop for us. So go get dressed, and then hurry back.”

“I will.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

Sonny grimaced as Max opened the door for Jason. He was not looking forward to this conversation, and from the way Jason had spoken on the phone, Sonny had interrupted something at the penthouse.  “Hey. Sorry if you had plans today.”

Jason just raised his brows. “You said it wasn’t going to take long. What’s going on?”

“I got a call to meet Vega and Tagliatti at the No Name this morning.” Sonny paused. “Vega wants something from us.”

Jason tensed. “What?”

“He wants,” Sonny said slowly, “to throw you and Elizabeth a wedding reception at the No Name, and before you say no—” he put up a hand as Jason opened his mouth. “It’s not something we can refuse.”

“Why the hell not? It’s personal—” Jason began, then shook his head. “No. It’s not, is it?”

“They’re gonna use the party as a cover to take out Sorel. They didn’t say what the hurry was, but I figure Tagliatti and Vega have their eye on Moreno’s territory, and they’re not interested in letting Sorel solidify his hold. Better to act now while things are up in the air.”

“Then they can throw their own party,” Jason retorted. “I’m not taking Elizabeth anywhere near an assassination attempt—”

“I get it, but—” Sonny paused. Jason, in so many ways, wasn’t a good fit for this world and this was more evidence of it. “Let me lay out their plan—”

“Wait. Wait—” Jason shook his head. “There’s already a plan? Damn it, Sonny, you’re in on this—”

“Tagliatti and Vega have nothing against you or Elizabeth. In fact, they’re on our side. None of us want Sorel in charge of a parking meter, much less Courtland Street and the rest of that area. Moreno was a boil on our ass, and I’d be happier if we divided things up—”

“I’m not—”

“The plan is to make sure you and Elizabeth are long gone before any of this goes down,” Sonny interrupted. “We’ll have the party. Other guys will bring wives and mistresses. Whatever. You’ll do a few dances. Dinner. And you’ll retire early and the party will go on. Just like any other reception,” he added. “Elizabeth will be safe at home before anything happens—”

“That’s if it goes right,” Jason snapped. “What makes you think Sorel will play along? What if he—”

“That’s a risk,” Sonny said slowly, “but Sorel’s already gone after Elizabeth once. You and I both know he was behind that bomb on New Year’s. Sorel needs to go, Jase. This might be our one chance—”

“No—” Jason shook his head. “Absolutely not. You can find someone else—”

“It’s not a request.” Sonny got to his feet. “This is how it’s going to be—”

“You don’t get order me around—”

“No?” his boss raised a brow. “We could call Elizabeth over and ask if she’d be willing to do this—”

“You leave Elizabeth out of this,” Jason growled, stepping towards Sonny. “She’s already done enough.”

Sonny tipped his head. “You think she wouldn’t want a chance to get rid of Sorel? She’ll probably understand this better than you do—”

“I don’t care. It’s not on the table. You can go to hell.”

Jason slammed the door behind him, and Sonny sat down, troubled. He’d known Jason would take this badly, but that was the problem with friendships in this business. Sometimes you had to put them aside for the greater good.

Whether Jason liked it or not, this was how it had to be.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Elizabeth had just set her plate on the desk by the half-empty pizza box when Jason stormed back in, the door slamming so hard behind him that it vibrated. He stalked right past her, towards the fireplace and windows. Her smile faded. The sweet, sexy, frustrated man who’d left her less than ten minutes ago had been replaced by a furious one, and she wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it. Was she even allowed to ask?

“Is everything okay?”

Jason turned, his eyes softening even as the tension remained in his face. “If Sonny tries to talk to you, don’t listen.”

“Uh—” Elizabeth blinked. “Don’t listen?” she echoed. She’d thought things were better with Sonny and Jason, but—

“He thinks he can convince you when I already told him no, so I need you—” Jason exhaled in a huff. “You need to trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

Mystified, she took a step towards him. “I do trust you, and I won’t talk to Sonny if that’s what you want.” She hesitated. “Can I least know what’s going on or—”

Jason fisted his hands at his waist, dipped his head to look at the floor. “I’ll tell you, but you won’t change my mind.”

This didn’t sound good, but Elizabeth trusted Jason. “Okay.”

“Two of the other families want to use us to get rid of Sorel,” Jason bit out. “They want to throw us a wedding reception so Sorel will come and they’ll take care of things. They promise we’ll be out of there before it happens, but there’s no way I’m putting you in that position.”

That was the absolute last thing Elizabeth had expected to hear and she simply stared at him. “Why does Sonny think I’ll say yes when you already said no?”

“It’s—” Jason grimaced. He glared window overlooking the terrace. “Because it’s how things are done,” he muttered. “Sonny thinks I’m an idiot, and I don’t know that.”

“I—” Which meant it was a good idea? She didn’t understand what was going on. “Do you think they’re lying when they say we won’t be there?”

“No.”

“Okay.” So if the risk to her was minimal and this was how things were done— “Do you think I’ll mess something up or I’ll—”

“No. It’s not about any of that.” Jason turned to face her. “Sonny has no right to tell me what to do. This isn’t business—”

“It sounds like it is,” Elizabeth said gently and he flinched. “I’m not pretending I know a lot, but I’ve lived in Port Charles long enough. There’s not really a clear line between personal and the business, is there? I mean, look at us right now. I didn’t want to be mixed up in any of this, but I am. We haven’t been able to separate any of it since you were shot.”

“I don’t want this to touch you—”

“It’s too late for that.” He flinched, and her stomach twisted. “Look, I’m not saying I’ll agree or anything. You’ve said no, and that’s enough for me. This is your life, Jason, and you get to make the decisions. Okay? Please don’t think I’m saying anything differently.”

“Then what—”

“If this is about Sonny telling you what to do—” Elizabeth tipped her head. “Is it maybe about the delivery and not the idea itself? He made it sound like an order, didn’t he?”

Jason was quiet, but she could see some of tension easing in his shoulders. “I don’t like the idea,” he said. “But maybe it is. He’s in charge, that’s fine. But he’s not going to tell me what’s right for me. Not again.”

Elizabeth knew something terrible had happened with Sonny and Jason, but he’d never told her what it was. She just knew it was the night of the shooting and it was why he’d been bleeding to death in the middle of nowhere, and that it involved Carly, who Jason thought he’d been in love with a month ago.

And this was not a conversation she wanted to have today, not after what they’d shared. She wanted to hold onto the dream little longer.

“Okay. So we won’t do it and Sonny will have to figure out something else.” She turned back to the pizza box. “Do you need more food or are we good with that now?”

“I’m fine.” There was another pause. “You’re not going to ask any other questions?”

“About Sonny? Do I need to?” She shrugged. “You know why you’re saying no, and you asked me not to take Sonny’s side.”

He blinked, then nodded. “Right. So, okay. We won’t do it.”

“Right. That’s what I said.” She went over to him, slid her arms around his waist. “Do you want to keep talking about Sonny?”

“Not even a little bit.” Jason cupped her face in his hands, kissed her. “But we also can’t do that.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not that sore—”

Jason just shook his head, kissed her again, and then swatted her butt. She jumped, then grinned. He’d never done that before. “Get dressed,” he told her. “We’ll take the bike out.”

“Can I drive—”

“No.”

Elizabeth grumbled and head for the stairs. “So much for the sexual favors I was gonna surprise you with—” She squealed as he scooped her up and carried her to the stairs. “You changed your mind?”

“What do you think?”

---

They never did make it out on the bike, and Jason had been a little regretful about that when he was called out for a last minute issue at the warehouse.

Since he didn’t know how long it would be, Elizabeth decided not to wait up in the bedroom. So far, they’d only been there, and she was thinking about branching out to other rooms.

She was pretty proud of herself, she thought as she curled up on the sofa and reached for the remote. She’d jumped head first into the whole sex thing, and it turned out she was pretty good at it — or at least, Jason thought she was good enough that she’d managed to distract him from whatever argument he was having with Sonny.

It was strange that Jason seemed so grateful that Elizabeth had taken his side with so little push back. This was Jason’s way of life, and he was the one calculating all the risks. What business was it of hers to say differently?

She flicked through the channels, restless, because there wasn’t really anything she wanted to watch but she needed a way to pass the time—

There was a knock at the door. “Mrs. Morgan?” Francis called through the door.

Elizabeth beamed the sound of the name that was almost legally hers. She’d forgotten to tell Jason she’d signed the forms — she’d do that when he got home. “It’s open,” she called back.

“Mr. C needs to talk to you.”

Elizabeth frowned, then scowled. Jason had left ten minutes ago, and here Sonny was, knocking on her door.

If Sonny tries to talk to you, don’t listen.

That little twerp. So much for a last-minute warehouse snafu. She got to her feet and went over to the door to pull it open, surprising Francis and Sonny. “What do you want?”

“Can we—” Sonny gestured, and Elizabeth stepped back, folding her arms. He came past her and she closed the door. “Sorry if I’m interrupting dinner—”

“You know you’re not interrupting anything. You’re the reason Jason had to go to the warehouse, aren’t you?”

Sonny blinked, then grinned ruefully. “You’re pretty quick—”

“And you’re a shitty friend.”

The grin faded. “Excuse me?”

“Whoever called Jason made it sound serious.” She folded her arms. “He left right away. You did it so you could get me alone to talk to you about something Jason already said no to. You didn’t care if we had plans. You just cared about yourself.”

“Look, I get why Jason is angry at me, and I hate that it has to be this way. But this life means doing the hard things—”

“And it means you trying to shove a wedge between me and Jason because you think you’re right,” Elizabeth cut in sharply. Sonny stared at her blankly. “What do you expect is going to happen if Jason tells you no, and then I tell him that I’m on your side? You think Jason isn’t going to be mad at me?”

“Elizabeth—”

“But maybe that doesn’t matter to you since you already told Jason he can divorce me tomorrow if he wants to,” Elizabeth retorted. “So what do you care if Jason and I are fighting?”

“I never said it—is that what he told you?” Sonny demanded. “I told him he should just let things go until you want to make a change. No expiration dates—”

“I want to know why it was your business to even offer an opinion. Do you think Jason and I are morons?”

“Okay, maybe—”

“Do you think we wouldn’t have noticed in a few weeks that the PCPD had stopped sniffing around or that Carly wasn’t really a threat anymore? Do you think we need you to tell us what to do?”

“That’s not—”

“You told Jason he could divorce me any time and he came home to tell me that I had options,” Elizabeth spat. “Because he wanted me to know if I wanted out, I could go. Because that’s who Jason is. He didn’t want me to feel tied down or forced to stay. But it took me longer than it should have to figure that out, and so we spent most of yesterday pretty sure the other person wanted to leave.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen—”

“I don’t care what your intentions were, okay? I care that you think you have a right to interfere in my life or Jason’s. We’re not your pawns to move around a chessboard.” Her chest burned. “And I don’t know what you did to hurt him and break his trust, but this sure as hell isn’t going to earn it back.”

“I’m not trying to earn it back,” Sonny said slowly. “If Jason’s in Port Charles and working for me, then he still needs to take orders from me. If he can’t handle it—”

“Then it’s your fault.” Elizabeth jerked the door open, once again startling Francis.  “You can get out. Jason speaks for both of us. If he tells you no, you don’t get to go around him.”

“This wedding reception is going to happen,” Sonny warned her as he went into the hall, turning back to face her. “I already told the others yes. So you tell Jason—”

She slammed the door before he could finish.

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