Written in 110 minutes. The first scene was supposed to take 5-10 minutes. It took 40, and once I realized I was going to have to either make the ending really abrupt and terrible or go over, I decided to go over and take a little more time, lol. I’m sure you won’t complain.

Late June 2000

It was strange to think of Jason having a favorite restaurant anywhere, Elizabeth thought, but if she had to picture him out to eat somewhere other than Luke’s or Kelly’s, she supposed the nondescript wooden building set only a few dozen yards from the shore might fit that bill — except it was filled with people, lights, and music — three things she would never associate with Jason.

“Zaco’s Tacos?” Elizabeth asked, reading the words scrawled over the restaurant before looking at Jason with surprise. “Really?”

“It’s to throw off tourists from the casino,” Jason told her, taking her hand and winding around the crowded inside to a back deck where there were a few tables. “People mind their own business here.”

“Oh, well that explains everything,” Elizabeth said. She sat in the chair Jason pulled out for her, and let him order for the both of them when a man came over to the table, greeting Jason by name with a huge smile. “I forget sometimes that you probably know everyone on the island.”

“Yeah. I mean, they’ve heard of me,” Jason said. “Sonny started buying up land and property here a few years ago, as soon as he started to make real money,” he added. “Eventually, he owned enough to be the largest property owner on the island, and taking over the resort and casino meant that he was also the biggest employer.” He grimaced, reached for the water on the table.

“And you’re business partners now, so—”

“It’s still Sonny’s. But sometimes they don’t see it that way.” Jason shrugged a shoulder. “And it’s easier not to argue.”

“So Sonny doesn’t really own an island, he just controls one.”

“Most of it,  yeah. He just…likes to own things.” Jason shifted, a bit uncomfortable, and Elizabeth decided to change the subject. She didn’t really want to talk about Sonny anyway, though she was fascinated by how Jason had built such a strong and deep relationship with someone who seemed so different from him.

“You know, this is the most time I’ve ever spent near an ocean,” Elizabeth told him after their food had been delivered. She swirled her fork around her jerk chicken dish. “Colorado is land-locked, so the most I ever saw was lakes and rivers.”

“I didn’t—I never thanked you,” Jason said, and she frowned at him. “I know Bobbie’s a friend, and gave you a break on Kelly’s, but I’m sorry you had to put your life aside—”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Oh, yeah, I’m really being put out here. Spending two weeks in the Caribbean, not dealing with customers—spending time with you—the horror.”

Jason smiled slightly, but his expression remained a little tense. “You—you didn’t have to do any of this. I just want you to know I’m not taking it for granted. I know I wasn’t really—I’m not a good patient.”

“No, you’re really not,” Elizabeth agreed and his smile was a little wider now. “I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be,” she said a bit more softly, and Jason looked at her. “You got hurt because of me—”

“No—”

“We were standing next to each other, but not that close.” She looked down at her dinner, moved the food around on the plate. “You could have easily dived in the other direction to safety, but you didn’t. Your first thought was—was me—a-and I don’t know if I’d—I saw what that bullet did to you.” She lifted her eyes, saw his intense stare. “I was scared when I realized you’d been hurt, and so angry with myself for not seeing it before. The blood—” She looked down at her hand, pressed her fingers together. “I should have known—”

“You were upset and scared—and I’m glad it was me and not you—” Jason leaned forward. “I wouldn’t change anything. Except passing out in the parking garage,” he said with a wince.

“Well, yeah, that wasn’t particularly fun. You’re not exact the lightest thing I’ve had to drag around,” Elizabeth said, and she was relieved to see the smile back on his face. “But I got you upstairs, and thank God Sonny was there to take over. I don’t know where I else I might have gone.” She folded her arms on the table. “Um, we haven’t—I mean, I know what we talked about before we came down here. But I guess I wanted to—” She rubbed her finger across her lip. “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to ask if you’d changed your mind.”

“Changed my mind?” Jason echoed.

“That day in my studio, we—we talked about why you didn’t want—” She hesitated, struggling to find the words, then just sighed. She was edging around the subject, hoping Jason would fill in what she was trying to ask. “I wanted to know where we are. Figuratively, not literally,” she added. “What…what we’re doing.”

Jason exhaled slowly, looked out towards the ocean, the sun dipping below the horizon, the reflection rippling out over the water. “I think it’s too late to stop it,” he admitted, and she frowned. “Maybe if I’d realized it sooner, I could have.”

“Makes me sound like a fungus,” Elizabeth said, trying to force some humor into the pit that curled in her stomach. “As inevitable as the chicken pox—”

Jason winced. “That’s not how I meant it.” He dragged a hand through his hair, then slid into the chair next to her so that they were closer and he was no longer directly across her. He looped his arm over the back of her chair. “By the time I realized what I was feeling,” he told her, his voice low, “it was too late to stop it. I’m not going to apologize for thinking you deserve better. For knowing it,” he added, and she wrinkled her nose. “But you’re the one that decides if that matters. So if this—if I’m the choice you want to make—then I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure you never regret that.”

Elizabeth reached for his other hand, taking it between both of hers. “You said my name,” she murmured. “That day in our dorm room. Do you remember?”

Jason frowned, shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

“You said my name, and I stopped for a moment, because I couldn’t remember if I’d ever heard you say it before. I must have, but maybe you’d never said it that way before that day. And our hands brushed when I tried to move the desk. I felt your touch.” She licked her lips, met his blue eyes. “And it startled me. The way it felt against my skin—” Her fingertips danced down the line of his index finger to his palm, then up again. “I’m not going to say that I started falling that day, but I noticed you in a way I hadn’t before.”

Jason swallowed hard, looked down at their joined hands. “Elizabeth—”

“That’s what I mean—right there—the way you say it. It’s softer than the rest of your words.” Her lips curved into a smile. “I felt safe with you from the moment I met you, and that wasn’t true of most men. I could talk to you, tell you things I hadn’t even said to Lucky—or maybe I had, and he hadn’t heard me. You always listened. Even when you couldn’t have cared less.” Their eyes met again. “That night you came to the dorm, and we went up to Vista Point. You told me I was letting myself down, that what I thought was love wasn’t good enough. That I should never settle for less than I deserve. I heard you, and I’ve spent the last few months learning to believe that.” She touched his jaw. “I did deserve better than what I had, and I’ve found it. I found you. So I hope you know when I make this choice, I’m choosing it with my eyes wide open. I’m choosing you, and I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure you never regret it either.”

He leaned forward, captured her lips in a brief, searing kiss, but drew back almost before she could really sink in. Then he sat back, and she looked around, remembered that they were in a crowded restaurant. She bit her lip, looked back at her dinner. “We should probably finish eating.”

“Yeah.” Jason returned to his chair. “Do—we can take a walk on the beach if you want, when we’re done.”

Elizabeth looked out over the nearby shoreline, then smiled, looked back him. “I’d rather walk on our beach. Just us.”

—

It had been hours since his conversation with Luke, and Sonny still couldn’t shake the sensation that he’d missed something. That there was a detail he couldn’t make fit. He mulled over it the rest of the day, and continued to roll it around in his head when he went home, poured himself a drink.

What was bothering him? Sonny paced over to the windows. It was a simple set of facts. Someone—probably Anthony Moreno—had put out a contract using David Reece as their middle man. They’d shot at Jason and missed. So why hadn’t there been any issues since that night? If it was Moreno, why wasn’t he trying to get Jason out of hiding? Why didn’t he go after Sonny now with the momentum on his side?

It was that detail, Sonny thought. Something about the way it had all gone quiet and he’d never found any of the hint of the contract on the street. Only the shooter had known, and Reece wasn’t responding to any of the usual outreaches. The contract was unfilled, but even if it was personal, why not go for the jugular? Why not force Jason to come out? A few attacks on Sonny would have done that.

Sonny went over to the desk, reached for the phone. He needed more information, and there was only one person he could ask.

—

The house was quiet, cloaked in shadows, with only a few exterior lights to illuminate the driveway when they returned. Night fell quickly when there was little civilization to hold it back. The moon was tucked behind some shadows, so that even the water was black against the dark sky.

But Elizabeth didn’t care that there wasn’t enough moonlight to walk the beach. Somewhere between the restaurant and the house, she’d made a decision.

As soon as they were inside, when Jason had, by force of habit, flipped the lock, Elizabeth slid her hands up his chest. “I was thinking,” she said, “of the beach.”

Jason’s hand curled over her shoulders, his fingers rough against the skin left bare by the thin straps of her tank top. “I could get a flashlight if you really want that walk—”

“No, I mean—” Her fingers drifted down his torso, played with the hem of his shirt. “Earlier. On the beach. Today.”

“What about it?” Jason murmured, tucking an errant curl behind her ear, then trailing his fingertip down her cheek.

“And tonight at the restaurant—I keep coming back to this one thing. When you touch me—” She slid her hands beneath the shirt, careful to keep away from his injury, only touching the tight muscles of his abdomen. “I stop thinking.”

“You—” Jason swallowed hard. “You said that earlier.”

“I think I want to test that theory—” She leaned up on her toes to kiss him lightly. “See how long I can stop thinking. If you’re…I mean if you’re not too tired. Or hurt.”

His hand cupped the back of her neck, and then he was kissing her the way he had earlier, hungrily, backing her up until she was against the wall, the heat sliding through her like a lava flow, scorching everything in its path. She dragged his shirt over his head, desperate to feel him against her. Then her top was gone, thrown somewhere behind them.

Panting slightly, Jason broke away, his hand at the base of her neck, his fingers curved around her throat. “Are you sure? You have to tell me if you want me to stop—”

“I will, I will—” Greedily, Elizabeth dragged him back to her, worried that this feeling would go away, that she’d start thinking again and lose her nerve. “Just don’t stop touching me.”

——

Sonny grimaced, paced the length of Luke’s office. “I know it’s here. I know it’s in the contract from Reece. That’s the key to this whole thing—”

“Yeah, yeah, but you’ve been over it a thousand times with Benny.” Luke offered him a cigar and Sonny shook his head, turned it away. “So what’s different today?”

“Today, you’re going to listen to him talk about the conversation he had with the shooter before we, uh, arranged for his exit,” Sonny said. Luke smirked, and went to let in Benny Abrams, Sonny’s business manager.

“Luke, Sonny. I hope nothing’s wrong,” the older man said. He closed the door. “You said you wanted to talk about the shooter, but I told you everything—”

“Start from the top for Luke,” Sonny directed, and Benny just shrugged.

“Shooter wasn’t that forthcoming, mostly because I think he know who hired him. That’s the beauty of going through some like David Reece. You get to have some deniability.” Benny paused. “He gave us Reece’s name and said his only directive was to make sure that Emily Quartermaine wasn’t hit in the crossfire.”

Luke pursed his lips, considered the words. “That’s it? You got Reece and lay off when Emily Q isn’t around?”

“Yeah.”

“You know, I never understood why they went after Jason here,” Luke said. “On that night. Jason’s at the damn garage all of the damn time. Why not take him out there?”

“We thought it was the message to you—”

“Maybe.” Luke squinted. “How long did he have the contract?”

“A day, he said. Why?” Benny asked.

“Something I’m just—” Luke tipped his squinted. “He named Jason as his target? He said that? He had orders to get rid of Jason Morgan.”

Benny opened his mouth, then closed it. “Well, no, not in those specific words. He just said he picked up the contract the day before from David Reece, that the target spent a lot of time with Emily, and to keep her and the family out of the crossfire—what, what?” he demanded when saw Sonny’s grimace and Luke whipped the cigar from his mouth.

“Shit, shit, shit—” Sonny muttered, snatching up the phone on Luke’s desk.

“What am I missing?”

“Elizabeth didn’t work on that Friday. She wouldn’t have been out in public until the concert.” Luke hissed. “Damn it—she lives on the Quartermaine estate—”

With the phone in the crook of his shoulder, Sonny’s scowl had only deepened. “Jason was shot shoving Elizabeth to the ground. He aimed for her! God damn it—Jason’s not picking up.”

—

Jason lifted Elizabeth, ignoring the pinch in his side when her legs wrapped around her waist, kept kissing her. He carried her down the hall, by passing her bedroom and heading for his, backing in, knocking the already ajar door wide open, then kicking it closed, never breaking contact or concentration.

Elizabeth was the focus, the center of everything, and for as long as she as she’d let him, he was going to spend every second making sure she never regretted it. He planted one leg on the bed, then gently laid her down, his fingers reaching for the button of her jeans. Her hands covered his for just a minute, and he froze, his eyes going towards his. Did she want him to stop—

“I can do that faster,” she breathed. She leaned up kissed the underside of his jaw. “You worry about your pants, and I’ll take care of mine.”

He cupped her face in his, kissed her again, then leaned his forehead against hers. “Best deal I’ve ever heard.”

—

“There’s not a storm on the island, is there?” Luke wanted to know. “I mean, we can call up to your resort, leave a message—”

“No, no, you don’t understand—damn it, I was so stupid. So goddamn stupid. We all were. We were so sure Jason was the target, that Moreno was behind it or hell, your stupid kid, that I didn’t even think to ask myself what if it was Elizabeth—”

“Okay, but other than my kid who didn’t do this,” Luke bit out, “who the hell would hate Elizabeth enough to do this—”

Sonny pressed his fingers to the phone, hung up the current call, then dialed again. “I sent her right into the lion’s den, God damn it—Marco?” he bit out. “Yeah. Yeah. I need you to find Dario Colon and shove him in a jail cell until I get there. Tell Armando I’ll handle it. Then get up to Jason’s. The phone must be out.” He hung up the phone, took a deep breath.

“Who the hell is Dario Colon?”

—

She clung Jason, her legs wrapped tightly around Jason, her heart pounding so hard that it drowned out the sound of everything, even the roar of the ocean waves just beyond the house.

He pressed his forehead against hers, his own chest still rising and falling rapidly. “Are you all right?” he managed to say.

“I am….” Elizabeth finally opened her eyes, saw his face above hers. She touched his cheek. “If there something better than perfect because that’s where I am.”

He nuzzled her neck, rolling off her, but pulling her against him. She curled into his side, enjoying even the way the sweat rolling down his chest felt against her fingers. She’d done that to him, they’d done that together, she marveled. This gorgeous man had been out of breath from making love to her.

“Are you—” Jason frowned. “Are you laughing?”

“No—” She giggled, pressed her fingers to her lips. “No.”

“I might not pick up on all the cues—” Jason shifted and now she was on her back again, and he was looking at her, his elbow planted in the mattress. “But I know what laughing sounds like.”

“I just—I can’t help it. I laugh when I’m happy.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “And I’m happy right now.” She bit her lip. “Are you?”

“That is definitely one of the things I’m feeling.” He leaned down, kissed her lazily. “Relieved. Grateful that you didn’t decide to go with your third date idea.”

Elizabeth drew her brows together for a moment, then laughed again. “I forgot about that. Well, if you count correctly, this is our third date.”

Jason arched a brow. “How do you figure that?”

“Well—” She touched his chest, tracing the hollow of his collarbone. “If you count the beach in March, then the club a few weeks ago—I mean you did give me the ticket and drive me home, so—that would make this our third date.”

He just shook his head, but kissed her again. She sighed, contented—and thirsty.

“Mmm, I could drink a gallon of water.” Elizabeth sat up. “I’m going to grab some from the kitchen. Do you want any?”

“I’ll get it—” Jason started to get up, but she shook her head.

“No, I’ve got it.” She saw her jeans, then wrinkled her nose. “Can I just borrow one of your shirts? I don’t feel like putting those back on—and don’t say I don’t need something to wear—” she said when he opened his mouth.

“I wasn’t—yeah. Top drawer.”

Elizabeth shimmied into a dark blue t-shirt,  then kissed him one more time. “I’ll be right back.”

She left the door partially ajar and headed down the hallway towards the rest of house, all her body cells practically humming. She was practically dancing on air, she thought. All the pieces of her had been stitched back together, and she was alive in ways she hadn’t even been before that night—

So distracted in her own happiness, Elizabeth didn’t notice that her bedroom door had been opened sometime between their arriving home and her trek towards the kitchen. She always kept it closed, worried that Jason or anyone who came to the house might see what she was working on before she was ready.

But the partially ajar door didn’t register to her—until she was just past it. She paused, frowned, and started to turn—

Not fast enough. The hand clamped down on her math, an arm jerked her off her feet and yanked her back, into the room, kicking the door closed.

+39

Written in 64 minutes.

Late June 2000

He nearly didn’t go after her, but after a moment of indecision and ignoring the pain in his side, Jason moved as quickly towards the house as he could, only stopping to rinse the sand from his feet just by the terrace.

He expected to find her in her room, the door closed, but instead she was sitting on one of the loungers, a towel clutched to in front of her. Jason stopped just at the top of the stairs, unsure what to do now that he’d caught her.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and her head snapped up, her brow furrowed. Jason swallowed hard. “I wasn’t thinking, and I went too fast, didn’t I? Or I-I made you uncomfortable and I’m sorry for that. It’s just—” It was just that he’d tried very hard not to think about her that way, especially after she’d told him about Lucky, about what that little son of a bitch had said to her. But then he’d seen her, walking towards him out of the water, water sliding down her bare skin, with nothing more than scraps of cloth covering— “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“You didn’t—” Elizabeth slowly got to her feet, still holding the towel in front of her, her eyes averted, on the ground. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me—”

“But—”

Her gaze flickered to him briefly before dropping again. “I just—um, I forgot. You’re hurt—”

“I’m fine—” Jason stepped towards her. “Is…is that why—”

“Why I ran away like a little girl? The kid that I keep promising I’m not?” She finally met his eyes head on and his throat tightened when he saw the shimmer of tears. “It’s really not you. I promise. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want.”

“Okay,” Jason said slowly, taking another step towards her, relieved when she didn’t back up. “Then what’s wrong?”

“I—” She closed her eyes, took a long, deep breath, then looked at him. “I don’t know. I just—I had a moment to think, and it was—it was just so fast—the way I just completely forgot where I was and—” She sat back on the lounger, pressed her forehead to the towel. “Can it just be enough that you didn’t do anything wrong? Do we have to talk about it?”

“No,” Jason said, carefully sitting on the lounger across from hers. “We don’t have to talk about anything if that’s what you want.”

Elizabeth sighed, sat up, rested the towel on her lap, her fingers plucking at the rough cloth. “But you’ll never touch me again because maybe I’ll go crazy on you—”

“Elizabeth—”

“I don’t want that. I don’t,” she said, shaking her head as if he’d protested. “I just—I want to be normal, you know? You—” She looked at him again. “You looked at me, and I could see what you wanted, and I liked it. And you’ll stop because you don’t want to scare me or pressure me—and then you’ll bottle it up and—”

“I’ll get irritated, and resentful and make it your fault,” Jason finished. Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, but didn’t argue with him. “You think what happened with Lucky is your fault.”

“A little, maybe. I could—I could have done more, I guess—I know he’s the one that said it, and that’s on him, but I know the lack of—that it was affecting us. I could feel it happening, and I wanted to fix it—but it was already too far gone—” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes.”

“You’re not. Elizabeth—”

“I just—I was so young when it happened,” Elizabeth confessed in a quiet voice. “I didn’t even know how much that night stole from me until I started to get it back—I’d never had a boyfriend. Never been kissed. I’d had crushes, but I’d never felt—” Her mouth tightened, and he hated to see the misery shimmering in her eyes. “The way I feel about you. It’s like pieces of me are waking up and coming back to life, and I s-should be glad. Okay? I sh-should be happy that I’m not scared and that maybe I can do and have all the things that I thought were gone.”

He hated this, he hated every minute of being on this side of the terrace and not right next to her, not holding her as the tears spilled down her cheeks. But he was—

Jason exhaled slowly. He was afraid to touch her. Just like she’d worried.

Bracing one hand against his side, he moved across the small space separating them and sat next to her, leaving a few inches between them. “You get to feel whatever you’re feeling, Elizabeth. There’s no right or wrong here.”

She shifted slightly to angle herself towards him, he was relieved to note, tears spilling from the corners of her beautiful eyes. “I shouldn’t be angry.”

“Why not? Why wouldn’t you be angry?” Jason wanted to know. “Something was taken from you. You had to take it back, piece by piece, and you never should have had to do any of that work.”

She pressed her hands to her mouth, closing her eyes, her shoulders shaking, but when he pulled her against him, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, she didn’t flinch, but leaned in. He kissed the top of her head, and held her for a long moment, before she pulled back, swiping at her eyes.

“I should, um, go take a shower. The salt water is going to make my hair a complete mess.” She nervously ran a hand through the tangled, damp strands, already curling madly in the humidity. “Um, are you—I didn’t—hurt you, did I?” Elizabeth gestured at the wound in his side. He’d stopped wearing a dressing a day or two earlier, and the sides of the wound had started to close, but it would lead a visible scar.

“No, no. I just—” He got to his feet, held out his hand. She let him pull her up. Jason kept her hand in his. “I forgot, too,” he said, echoing her words. Going on instinct, he added, “I saw you—” Then he swept his eyes down her body, before meeting her eyes. “And I wasn’t thinking about it anymore.”

Elizabeth’s smile widened and he saw that light come back in her eyes. “I know the feeling.” She stepped closer to him, their bodies brushing. “Do you remember the night we were out here? A few months ago?”

“I do.”

Elizabeth raised her hand, lightly touched his chest with her fingertips the way she had that night. “You must have thought I’d lost my mind that night, but I couldn’t stop myself.” She licked her lips. “I told myself I was imagining it. But I wasn’t, was I?”

“No. And let me finish what I was started that night.” Jason cupped the back of her head, drew her against him, and kissed her. She relaxed against him, and he held her with his other hand splayed against her back, skin to skin. He’d meant to just kiss her lightly, just to reassure her, but he lost himself in the way she tasted, the feel of her beneath his hands, everything he’d been trying to pretend he didn’t want for weeks and weeks.

When they broke apart, they were both breathing heavily, their hearts pounding—he could feel hers against his chest, the flutter of her pulse under his fingers when he cupped her jaw. Her eyes were slightly glazed when they finally opened. She was so beautiful.

When her lips curved again, he realized he’d spoken the words out loud, and that he didn’t remember saying it before. He hadn’t given her anything she really deserved, and that was going to change, Jason decided right now.

“Tonight, I want to take you somewhere.”

“Oh yeah?” She wound her arms around his neck. “Where?”

“Out to dinner. There’s a place I go when I’m here, and you’d like it.” He kissed her again, stroked his fingers along her cheek. “We’ll go out on the bike.”

“Are you asking me on a date?” Elizabeth asked, her fingers combing through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah.” He caressed her bottom lip with his thumb, the way he’d done that night on the sofa. “What do you say?”

“The best offer I’ve had in months. Just tell me when and where so I know what to wear.”

“About six,” he decided, because he needed to make a few calls. “And we’re on the bike, so—” He sighed. “None of those skirts you like.”

“You look a little disappointed when you say that, so maybe I’m not the only one that likes them.” She kissed him again, but then backed away. “But I really need to wash my hair so it’s half decent. And grab our things from the beach—”

“I’ll get them.” He didn’t want to let her hand go, but didn’t have a choice when she headed for the doors. She turned back and smiled back at him, then went inside. Her eyes were sparkling, her cheeks pink, and he felt his own smile in response, stretching across his face.

Oh man, he was in real trouble.

—

More than a thousand miles away, another man was in a little trouble but Sonny Corinthos wasn’t one to admit that easily. Which is how he found himself sitting across from Luke in the back office of the club with a bad feeling swirling and no way to explain it.

“You just like being dramatic,” Luke said, looking at the end of his cigar before putting it back in his mouth and reaching for the lighter.

“Coming from you, that’s funny.” Sonny rubbed one finger along his bottom lip. “He made the meeting too easy. That’s what it is.”

“He was supposed to play hard to get?” Luke smirked. “Sorry, but you’re just making up reasons to be worried. Get Jason home, set up the alibi, and you’ll be all set.

“Yeah, yeah. I just—” Sonny got to his feet. “I feel like there’s something I missed. You know? Like a piece of this puzzle I’m missing. I can’t stop thinking that it’s all…simple. We still don’t even know for sure that Moreno set up the hit—”

“You’re not back to thinking my boy did it—” Luke scowled. “Even if he did, he wouldn’t know how to contact David Reece—”

“But other people do. I just don’t—”

“No one else has a reason to hate Jason the way Moreno does. And we’ve been over this. Elizabeth was just an accident — the shooter waited for Emily to be gone. End of story. No one even knew Morgan and Liz were really an item. They do now, but—”

Sonny sighed. “I know. I know. Lucky was the only one saying that bullshit, and no one believed him. They wouldn’t have waited so long if they did.”

“See? What’s what I’m saying. Make the meeting, finish this.”

“Yeah. Maybe when it’s over, I’ll be able to shake this feeling—I just hate feeling like I missed a detail.”

“You missed nothing,” Luke said again. “We went over it and over it. Relax, it’s all good.”

Later, Sonny would wish that he’d paid attention to his feeling, that he’d really gone over every detail because, well, he had missed something.

Something very important.

And it was too late to fix it.

——

On the island, he watched from the protection of the palm streets clustered around the house. Watched as the puta pranced down the steps in skin-tight jeans and a tight black top, strapped on her helmet, climbed on the bike, and the duo roared off down the road.

When they came back, he’d be waiting. He could be patient. He’d waited months, hadn’t he?

But it was going to end tonight.

+36

Written in 64 minutes. Got a late start thanks to the cat napping in front of the keyboard.

Late June 2000

By the beginning of their second week on the island, Jason was up and moving around on his own schedule. He woke early and went for walks on the beach while Elizabeth slept in, enjoying her break from not opening Kelly’s at the crack of dawn. By the time she finally shuffled out of her room, Jason would have returned, showered, and made coffee.

This morning, she was still stifling a yawn when she emerged from her room, wearing a long pink wrap over her bikini, the top peeking out from where the wrap dipped down over her shoulder.

She slid onto the stool, accepting the coffee he handed her with a wrinkle of her nose. “Does the sun have to be so bright all the time?” she muttered. “It’s so aggressive.”

“How late were you up?” Jason asked, leaving the kitchen area and heading into the living room proper. He picked up one of his heavier travel books, then did a few reps with it, wincing slightly at the pull on his wound. It had mostly healed, but he’d yet to regain his full strength on his left and he couldn’t sprint for more than a few steps without losing his breath.

“Just until three,” Elizabeth said. She spun on the stool, watched him lift the book a few more times, and he waited for her to make a protest about pushing himself. But she just sipped her coffee. “I hit a groove with the canvas last night, and didn’t want to lose it. I don’t know if it’s good enough for the exhibition, but at least it’s progress.”

“Whatever you finish down here—” Jason set the book down, looked at her. “I’ll make sure it gets back to Port Charles safely. Just tell me what you need to ship it.”

“Did Sonny say something? Do we know when we’re going back?” Elizabeth slid off the stool, went into the kitchen to set her empty cup in the sink.

“No.” And that grated at Jason — he knew why he’d had to recuperate somewhere far away from Port Charles, but someone had tried to kill him—had nearly killed Elizabeth—and he was too far away to do anything about it. Relying on Sonny wasn’t nearly good enough. Maybe if he continued to recover at this rate, he could talk Elizabeth into staying on the island while he went home to finish this.

He watched Elizabeth as she rifled through her tote bag—they always went down to the beach after coffee. She liked to sit out and sketch and he’d do another walk. Tomorrow, he decided, tomorrow he’d be able to jog the full length of the beach, and then Sonny would have to let him come back.

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Elizabeth said, looping the strap over her shoulder. She slid a pair of sunglasses over her eyes.

“I’ll grab the towels,” Jason started to say, but the phone on the counter rang. He scooped it up. “Sonny?”

“Hey, is this a bad time?” his partner asked, the line a bit crackly.

“No, it’s good—” Jason made eye contact with Elizabeth and she nodded. She grabbed the second bag with the beach towels and gestured towards the beach. “It’s good,” he repeated after she’d stepped out on the terrace.

“Elizabeth around?”

“Just went down to the beach. I’m glad you called. Can we set up a flight for Friday?” Jason wanted to know. “I’m ready—or I will be by then—”

“Let’s hold off on that,” Sonny said. “I was actually calling to let you know that Taggert came sniffing again, looking for you. Mentioned making a stop to talk to Audrey who said Liz was on vacation and that’s all she knew. Liz is talking to her grandmother, isn’t she?”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, we said that’d be fine, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, yeah, I just didn’t expect Audrey Hardy not to be throwing a bigger fit over her granddaughter disappearing the night she was shot at. Taggert seemed perturbed at it, too. Wants to know if you’re dead.”

“All the more reason for me to come home on Friday, but it it’s not safe yet, maybe Elizabeth—”

“No, no, I wanna wait until at least this weekend. The longer you’re both gone with Liz still still keeping in touch, it lends weight to the cover story. You know, that you’re off somewhere together.”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t care what people said about him, but he didn’t much like people speculating about Elizabeth behind her back. “Okay, but—”

“I also—I gotta work out a few things on my end, you know, so I’ll let you know what’s a good day. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

—

Emily pushed her fries around her plate, wondering why she always ordered extra when she never had the appetite to finish them.

“If you’re not going to eat them—” Nikolas reached across the table, tugged on her plate. He set aside his burger, then dumped ketchup on what was left. Emily watched him with her chin propped on her first.

“Remember when you were an elegant prince who’d never seen ketchup?”

“What can I say? America has corrupted me.” Nikolas popped a fry in his mouth. “What’s bugging you?”

“Nothing I can talk about with you—” Emily started, then made a face when she saw a familiar face heading their way from the parking lot. “I’m not in the mood for this.”

Nikolas twisted in his seat, saw his brother, and sighed. “Em—”

“I know, you’ve forgiven him, and that’s fine, but—”

“Hey.” Lucky stopped by their table, one of his hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans. “I was hoping to run into you here today.”

Emily wrinkled her nose. “I wasn’t.”

Lucky ignored the comment, took a seat. “I’m not here to apologize again or whatever. I just—” He looked down at his hands. “I know I acted like an idiot a few months ago, but I’ve been worried since the shooting at my dad’s place. I know Elizabeth was there that night, and I know she’s been gone since. I’m not stupid, Em. Jason and Elizabeth are both gone. One of them is hurt. I just—I wanted to know if she was okay.”

Emily lifted a brow. “I saw her the next day and she was fine. A few scratches from the gravel—Jason pushed her down in time.”

“Yeah, he’s got some experience in that area,” Nikolas said dryly. When Emily shot him a dirty look, he shrugged. “I got shot in the throat because of him, I get to have an opinion.”

“Anyway,” Emily said, rolling her eyes, “like I said, she’s fine. She’s just taking some time to work on her exhibition for next month—”

“She’s with Jason, you mean. So he  got hurt—”

“I’m not answering any other questions—”

“It’s my fault. All of this.” Lucky sat back. “If I hadn’t have introduced Elizabeth to him, or gone to work for Jason, then she wouldn’t be in danger now—”

“Jason’s my brother, so Elizabeth was always going to be around him,” Emily said without thinking and Lucky scowled. “Not that she’s with him now, I’m just saying—”

“You know, maybe I was off base about Elizabeth being into her before we broke up, but we both know I wasn’t wrong about him—”

“Maybe you were off base?” Nikolas said. Lucky ignored him, focused on Emily.

“He was into Liz for months—”

“Whatever Jason thought or felt isn’t the point. The only person who screwed up your relationship is you. Jason could have paraded naked in front of her, and Elizabeth wouldn’t have looked at him. She loved you.” Emily rolled her eyes. “Is that why you’re still talking trash about him? Because you want him to admit that he had the hots for your girlfriend? Big freaking deal. I had the hots for Nikolas when he was dating Sarah. Didn’t matter at all.”

Nikolas frowned. “What?”

“Oh, don’t be stupid. We both know I had a huge crush on you before I actually got to know you,” Emily said, waving her hand at him. “I kissed you.”

“Yeah, but you were high—”

“Which is why I had the courage—never mind.” Emily dismissed him, focused on Lucky. “Jason doesn’t owe you answers. So if that’s why you’re still aggravating him, I’d stop if I were you. It’s starting to look desperate and pathetic. I should know, that’s where I was two years ago over this one.”

“I really don’t think I like this conversation,” Nikolas decided.

“All I want to do was see if Elizabeth was okay,” Lucky said stiffly. “So thanks for that.” He got to his feet. “Sorry to bother you.”

Emily watched him go, then shook her head. “He’s so dramatic. It’s honestly annoying.”

—

Elizabeth wasn’t sure how long Jason would be with Sonny, but the last few times they’d talked, it had been at least ten or fifteen minutes. She decided to take advantage of his absence to get in the water and cool off.

This time on the island, she’d been a little self-conscious about stripping off her cover-up and going in the ocean when he was around. Her red bikini wasn’t too revealing, but after things had changed between them, it suddenly felt like being naked around him.

And while Elizabeth thought maybe she was almost ready for that step, she knew it wasn’t definitely.

She dumped her bags near their usual spot, laid out her beach towel, then tugged her cover-up over her head. She’d do a quick dip, get her hair wet and cool, then towel off and cover up again. No problem.

Except she was in the water, covered to her chin when she saw Jason on the terrace, then crossing the sand towards the shoreline. Damn it. And of course, Jason wasn’t the least bit self-conscious trudging towards her with a pair of shorts hit just above his knee and the rest of his body completely bare—

Maybe she could just live in the water from now on. This could be her home. She might get wrinkled like a prune or starve to death, but at least she didn’t have to walk in front of Jason in nothing more than a wet bikini.

Okay, she was definitely overreacting, and she wasn’t actually naked as long as the straps didn’t come undone and humiliate her on the way back to the shore.

If she wanted to be an adult in a real relationship with the hope of physical intimacy in her future, she was gonna have to take the first step.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and stared to walk towards to the shore, emerging from the water, droplets streaming down her skin. The hot air hit her cooled skin, and she shivered slightly as she came towards the edge of the water.

Jason had stopped by their towels, and he was watching her. When she drew closer she saw that his eyes dip down, then slowly drag their way back up to meet her gaze. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Elizabeth reached him, her foot sinking into the hot sand. She fought the urge to fold her arms because that would only draw attention to that area. “I thought—you usually talk to Sonny, um, longer.” The towel she wanted to use to dry off was behind him on the ground.

“You—you could keep swimming.” Jason swallowed hard, his eyes dropping again briefly before lifting again. “You don’t have to stop.”

“I just wanted to, um, cool off a little. It’s…hotter today.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “I, um, need my—” She gestured behind him. “My towel. It’s, um—”

Jason blinked, then cleared his throat, jumping as if he’d been put on fire. “Yeah, yeah, right. Okay.” He scooped up the towel, then held it out to her.

Elizabeth touched the rough fabric, curling her fingers around a piece of it, but he didn’t let go, and he was looking at her with something different in his eyes—something she didn’t really know what to do with or hadn’t seen before, but somehow, instinctively, she knew what it was. Desire. Physical. He was looking at her, and he wanted her.

She understood that feeling—hadn’t she felt the same way that night on the terrace when he’d been dripping wet, and those drops had slid down that smooth, golden chest—

She didn’t know who moved first or if they’d moved together, but the towel was tossed aside, and she was in his arms, her hands in his hair, and he was kissing her, devouring, and all that heat she’d seen in his eyes was pouring off him now, radiating through her until she was  burning, too.

They fell to the ground, and she was beneath him, panting as his lips left hers, cruised down her neck to the hollow of  her throat, and she jolted when he nipped at the soft sensitive skin,  his hands gliding up and down her body, hooking her leg over his waist. His mouth came back to hers, and a hurricane could have rained down on them, and Elizabeth wouldn’t have known the difference. She’d waited her whole life to feel like this, to be touched like this—

And then she moved her other leg, and Jason drew back with a wince, pain flashing across his face. “Damn it,” he muttered, sitting up, holding one hand to his side.

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. Trembling, Elizabeth sat up. “Are—are you—I’m sorry. I didn’t—” She snatched up the towel she’d wanted earlier, held it against her chest. “I’m sorry.” She leapt to her feet and took off for the house.

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