Studio

She almost expected the knock at her door, but it still jolted her out of her thoughts. She’d been through so much that day – she’d seen a side of Carly Corinthos she never could have dreamed existed.

She knew what it was like to flounder in the dark, to beunsure of your next move, not understanding the thoughts running through your head.

Not feeling safe in your own skin.

So even though she expected the knock, it still jolted her.

It was a haunting familiar image as she swung her heavy door open to reveal Jason.

“Something’s wrong,” he said quietly. “Something happened to Carly. What?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I can’t tell you that.”

“Elizabeth–”

“Jason, there’s no arguments.” She sighed. “I’m not telling you.”

“Damn it!” He slammed his hand against the wall and glared at her. “How am I supposed to fix it if no one will tell me anything?”

“Maybe you need to remember that Carly is a big girl and she doesn’t always need you to ride to her rescue.”

“Somebody has to look out for her.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She bit her lip briefly before continuing. “Look, she’s not in trouble, I promise.”

“But there is something wrong.”

“Jason,” Elizabeth sighed, “you should know better than anyone that I don’t break my promises. What Carly says to me is her business unless she says otherwise.”

“I know how loyal you are,” Jason replied. “But Carly…she’s been different lately. Distant. Reflective. Quiet. And it has nothing to do with Sonny kissing Brenda.”

“How do you know?” Elizabeth challenged. “Maybe she is upset about her husband kissing his ex. Maybe her trust was shaken. Maybe she feels neglected. Maybe she resents being treated like a child who’s only there when it’s convenient–”

“Are we still talking about Carly?” Jason interrupted, curiously.

Elizabeth broke off, flushed and looked away. “I’m not telling you anything about Carly, so there’s no point in you sticking around.”

“Maybe I want to talk about something else.”

Elizabeth frowned. “Oh?”

“Why’d you walk out?” Jason asked, intently.

“Why’d you sleep with Courtney?” Elizabeth fired back.

He exhaled slowly. “That’s not fair.” Jason stared over her head. “And I’m not going to answer that.”

“Fine.” She looked away. “And I’m not going to answer you.” She stepped back and slammed the door in his face. She flicked the locks shut and walked away from the door.

“I’m going to find out what’s wrong with Carly!” Jason shouted. “It’ll just be easier if she’d tell me!”

She ignored him and picked up a sketch pad, intent on finishing an old drawing she’d been working on for a while.

“Elizabeth, please just tell me what’s wrong–”

She closed her eyes, ignoring the sound of his voice, the way desperation was beginning to break through.

“Elizabeth, please.”

She sighed and started to open the locks. When she pulled the door open, she sighed. “Jason, I am not going to break her confidence. Please stop asking me.”

“She always comes to me,” Jason said quietly. “When she was worried about Brenda, when she needed someone to take care of Michael, she came to me. And now something is wrong and she’s not telling me. Which means it’s not something I can fix or that I take care of and that scares me, Elizabeth.”

She bit her lip and stepped aside. “Come in.”

He took a deep breath and entered. When she shut the door, she kept her back to him. “I still can’t tell you what’s wrong. I promised her.”

“Can you give me a hint?” Jason asked. “Is it bad? Did someone hurt her?”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth admitted. “Someone hurt her very badly.” She sighed. “Jason, I know that you and Carly are close, but it took a lot for her to trust me and I…I can’t let her down. Please tell me you understand.”

“It’s not that I don’t understand,” Jason tried to explain. “It’s just…she’s different, Elizabeth. I know you see it. She’s been so quiet and it’s got Sonny worried she’s thinking about divorcing him.”

“Because of Brenda?” Elizabeth asked. “Because he kissed her?”

“Yeah. And other things, I guess. He hasn’t really told me a lot. Things have been…well…strained between us. We don’t talk about much else other than business.”

Elizabeth turned away and started shuffling some papers and sketch pads on the table. “Because of Courtney?”

“He doesn’t like that I didn’t tell him until after it was over,” Jason answered awkwardly. “Or that it happened at all.”

She nodded, shoved some random pencils into her pencil holder. “Well, she is his sister. Being kept in the dark never seemed to be something Sonny appreciated.”

“Courtney…she was a mistake, Elizabeth.”

She closed her eyes, sensing him standing behind her. If she moved back half a step, her back would brush against his chest. “A mistake,” she repeated quietly.

“Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “But once I make it, I usually don’t do it again.”

“What about Zander?” Jason asked pointedly.

“You’re saying that Courtney was your Zander?” Elizabeth asked. She slid out from in front of him and crossed the studio to stand by the window, facing him. “Is that how you’re going to justify this?”

He sighed. “Elizabeth, please don’t do this. We’re not together. I didn’t do anything wrong–”
“No of course not,” Elizabeth cut in swiftly. “But excuse me for being a little upset that barely a month after I left, you were married to Brenda, and sleeping with your brother’s wife.”

“Brenda was…there was nothing behind that,” Jason argued. “I told you that.”

“You married her two weeks after I left,” Elizabeth said. “How do you think it felt to find that out? Especially when I found out she was with Sonny at the safe house? Where you were most of the time?”

He stared at her in surprise. “You think something was going on then?”

“How else was I supposed to explain you marrying her two weeks after I walked out?” she demanded. “Or maybe I read too much into it. I mean, we said we wanted to be together, but we never defined it. Maybe I have no right to be angry. I mean, hey, we weren’t together.” Tears were glistening in the corner of her eyes and she turned way.

“Elizabeth–”

“Could you please leave?” she asked softly. “I can’t handle this right now.”

“Wait a second,” Jason argued. He stepped up behind her and turned her around. “You can’t just throw me out. How are we supposed to get past this?”

“Maybe we’re not supposed to,” she whispered. She reached up to wipe her eyes, but Jason got there first. He smoothed his thumbs over her cheeks, grasping her face with his hands.

“I don’t accept that,” he said, shaking his head. “I miss you, Elizabeth Doesn’t that count?”

“Of course it does, but it’s not enough,” she replied, peering up at him, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze. “It can’t. Not without trust.”

“I do trust you, Elizabeth.”

“Then I want you to be honest with me,” she pleaded. “When did this thing with Courtney start? How soon after I left?”

He swallowed hard and searched her eyes. “She kissed me. The day before I married Brenda.”

Her breathing hitched. “Two weeks after I was gone? You didn’t…you didn’t even wait a month?”

“She kissed me,” Jason assured her. “I didn’t kiss her back and nothing happened after that. Not until December.”

She looked down. “It doesn’t matter,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Don’t… don’t say that.” He moved his thumbs over her cheek bones. “It does matter, Elizabeth.”

“No,” she said, her voice almost a sob. “Not anymore.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

Carly stepped off the elevator and found Jason waiting for her. She frowned when she saw his face. He was upset about something, she could tell.

“Jason, what’s wrong?”

“Come over to my place. I want to talk to you,” Jason said.

“What about?” she asked warily. Had he talked to Elizabeth? Had she told him too much? “Jason?”

“It’s not about what’s going on with you,” Jason said after a moment. “I promise.”

She nodded and followed him into his penthouse. He closed the door and she set her purse on his desk, still with a guarded look in her eyes.

“I went to talk to Elizabeth today,” Jason began. “I thought I could convince her to tell me what was going on–if you had told her anything.”

Carly nodded. “And?”

“She’s loyal. She didn’t tell me anything, and I think I figured out why you’re not telling me.”

“Oh?” Carly said. She tucked a piece of hair behind her ears.

“Yeah. See, you usually come to me when you need me to fix it and I thought at first that you were trying to do it by yourself but that’s not it, is it?”

“Jason, I thought this wasn’t about me,” Carly protested. “Did you lie just to corner me?”

“It’s because I can’t fix it. Because someone hurt you.”

She held her breath. “I thought Elizabeth didn’t tell you anything.”

“She didn’t,” Jason assured her. “But I know Elizabeth well enough to read between the lines. You can trust me, Carly.”

“I know…” Carly sighed. “But Jase…”

“I’m not going to push you anymore. I just wanted to tell you that. That you can trust me, that you’re not just Sonny’s wife to me, you’re my friend. We were friends before your marriage and I’m not obligated to tell him everything all the time.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “So, if this isn’t an interrogation, then what is it?”

“I need your help,” Jason said. “You and Elizabeth…you’re on at least…better terms right?”

Carly nodded warily. “She’s a good person. I’m finally beginning to see it.”

“I want her back.”

A smile crossed Carly’s face then, the first genuine one in days. “Really?” she asked softly. “And what does she think about this?”

“She’s still angry with me about Courtney and Brenda and the reasons she left,” Jason admitted. “I don’t know how to convince that I’m sorry.”

“And you want my help?” Carly asked skeptically. “You just said that my plans always backfire.”

“Because your plans are just that…plans. I don’t need a plan, Carly. I just need your advice.”

“Wow. I wish I had a camera or a tape recorder for this,” Carly said, feeling like someone had lifted a weight from her shoulders. Once again, Jason had saved her without even knowing it. “Because the day may never come again when you ask for my advice.”

“It probably won’t,” Jason admitted. “So?”

“My advice is simple.” She smiled. “Don’t give up. Believe me, I think that’s the last thing she’d want right now.”

“So, just keep…talking to her? Keep trying to work this out?”

“Yeah. Persistence. It might just work.” Her eyes lit up. “And if not, I know a guy who’ll lock you two up in a room, no questions asked.”

“Yeah…how about we not do that, okay?”

“You know, you never know, it could work.”

He surprised her by grabbing her arm and pulling her into a tight hug. “You’re my best friend, you know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Yeah, I know that.”

+11

The Cellar

Elizabeth and Carly had been working together for a week and not once had she said one disparaging thing about the brunette to her husband and to tell the truth, Sonny was truly starting to worry. He’d never known the two women to be in each other’s space without fighting or Carly whining about her at home.

Of course, for Carly to whine about Elizabeth at home…Carly would have to be speaking to him and she hadn’t spoken to him unless it was necessary in a long time. Three weeks, if Sonny thought back. And he didn’t really need to ask why. He’d kissed Brenda. He’d cheated on his wife and that didn’t sit well with him. He’d caused her to stop trusting him and that was a definite switch in positions.

To make matters worse, when he’d questioned Jason on his wife’s strange behavior, his friend had been silent, refusing to divulge anything. For the first time, Sonny was on the other end of Jason’s loyalty. Jason had just said that anything Carly might have said to him was between himself and Carly and that if Sonny had a problem with that, he might want to take it up with his wife.

Not that it had really surprised Sonny that matters between himself and his enforcer were strained to say the least. He’d been an ass–he had no trouble admitting that to himself. He’d apologized for the Courtney incident already and Jason had said it was in the past but Sonny was beginning to wonder if his friend’s disdain for him stemmed from something else–from something that Sonny had thought was long over.

Every time he’d been at the club this past week, Jason had been there. Trying to talk to Elizabeth. The brunette had brushed him off at every turn but Jason was resolute. He seemed determined to gain his former girlfriend’s trust back. Sonny thought that Elizabeth might eventually give in–that she was only refusing now to make a point. She was fine without Jason Morgan in her life–she didn’t need him to make her happy now. She had a life. And Sonny thought once Jason understood that fact and demonstrated it, she might break the walls down a little.

Sonny was seated at the bar, nursing a club soda. He’d realized in the last three weeks that every time he’d an unsuccessful talk with either Carly or Jason, he’d headed for the mini-bar. He’d never wanted that for himself–to rely on alcohol to make himself feel better. And it worried him that he’d fallen into that pattern.

Michael didn’t seem to notice the distance between his parents–he might notice that Carly was at the club more or that Sonny wasn’t at home for dinner a lot either. But Michael was just thrilled his parents were still living together since for so much of his young life, they’d been apart.

He watched his wife circle the room, talking to just the right people, smiling in all the right places, even laughing a little. He started to notice little things about her. The way her smile or laughter never reached her eyes. The tension in her shoulders, the stiff line of her spine. The circles under her eyes and the weight she could ill afford to lose.

The first night he’d noticed these things, he’d thought it was due to his presence in the club so he’d left. The next time he’d come, he’d hung out in the foyer and he’d thought she didn’t know he was there, but it was still there. She was still tense, still looked tired and still looked slightly miserable.

She was so different from the woman he’d known as Jason’s friend, as Michael’s mother. She was different than the woman he’d fought bitterly with–shared that terrible night with that had shattered Jason’s trust in him. She’d grown so much in these last three years, changed so much that Sonny wondered for the first time if he were more in love with that woman than the carefully poised and controlled one in front of him.

She never truly fought with him anymore. Not really. They’d argue–but she’d give in. She never stuck to her guns anymore. She’d just come around to his view and apologize. He hadn’t minded it at first–he’d thought they were entering a new phase in their relationship–one of trust and understanding.

But now he wondered if she’d given up too much of herself to be with him. He moved to an empty table in the back of the room in order to study her more discreetly. Where was the woman he’d married? Was she still in there somewhere? Or had she gone away?

Elizabeth approached him after a few moments and sat across from him. “I’ve been watching you all week,” she began hesitantly. “And I’ve noticed that your attention never wavers. You’re always staring at Carly.”

“She’s my wife,” Sonny replied noncommittally. “Is there something wrong with watching my wife?”

“No.” Elizabeth reached absently for a curl that had fallen from the carefully styled curls piled on her head. She twirled it for a moment before tucking it behind her ear. “Is there a reason why you don’t take your eyes off her for one second?”

“Is there a reason you’re asking?” Sonny turned the tables.

She sighed. “Look, it’s no secret that Carly and I didn’t used to get along and truth be told, sometimes our old problems still interfere. But we’re making an effort and I’m trying to look out for her.” She paused. “I know you’re having problems, but I don’t think coming to her place of employment night after night and staring at her is going to make a difference.”

“And what do you suggest I do?” Sonny asked pointedly. “Walk out on her? Take a page from your book?”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “If I were Carly, I would have left you. You kissed another woman. Don’t you think she has the right to be upset? Do stop and think about whether or not what you have is worth her dignity and self-respect? About why she should stay with you, trust you when it’s clear that she means next to nothing to you? That you’d rather lie to her than trust her?” she demanded.

“Did you ever notice that when people get upset, they tend to stray from the topic?” Sonny asked, sipping his drink.

“What does that mean?” Elizabeth asked, irritated.

“I’m just wondering how long you plan on making Jason pay for his mistakes.”

Elizabeth hesitated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sonny leaned forward. “I think you do. I think that you came over here in defense of Carly, but that you ended up being angry with me because of what he did.”

“What he did has everything to do with you,” Elizabeth snapped. “Because loyalty to you is above anything else in his life.”

“Not everything,” Sonny said. “He refuses to talk about Carly with me anymore. And you…he’s never chosen me over you.”

Elizabeth stood abruptly. “I have to get back to work.”

After closing, Carly sat down in the now empty club and started to massage her aching feet. “Oh…I think I need to sit down more.”

Elizabeth busied herself, bussing tables and getting rid of dirty glasses. She was silent as she went about this task and when she came back from the kitchen, she pulled her coat on. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I can’t stop him from coming,” Carly said quietly. She sighed. “And he just sits there and stares at me.”

Elizabeth hesitated and then dropped into the opposite chair. “I tried talking to him tonight but it turned into a conversation about Jason and I had to get away from it.”

“It’s not your problem,” Carly sighed. “You know…I think this is the first night since you started that Jason didn’t stop in.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth remarked, her eyes distant. “I guess he’s getting the point.” She cleared her throat. “I think you should tell Sonny.”

Carly shook her head. “No. I can’t. I–I’m not ready.”

They heard the door from Kelly’s open and then footsteps started coming down the steps. Ric appeared in the doorway. “Elizabeth, I need to speak with you.”

“We have nothing to discuss,” Elizabeth said coolly. She stood and turned away from him to face Carly. “Paul and Johnny are still outside right?”

“Yeah,” Carly said. She stood and slipped her feet into her heels. “I’m going to go okay?”

Without another word, the blonde all but fled the room through the back entrance. Elizabeth buttoned her jacket and started for the other entrance.

“Look, it’s obvious you’ve chosen to believe Carly’s lies–”

Elizabeth whirled around at the base of the stairs and glared at him. “How dare you come into her club and call her liar!” she seethed. “Stay away from me!”

“Look, she was all over me,” Ric attempted to defend himself. “What was I supposed to do?”

“You pig!” Elizabeth spat out. “You raped her!”

The door to Kelly’s slammed shut and someone thundered down the steps. “What?” Jason demanded.

“J-Jason,” Elizabeth stammered. She stepped back. “I…What are you doing here?”

“He raped her?” Jason snarled, taking a menacing step towards Ric who had the common sense to take two large steps back.

“That is not what happened!” Ric protested hotly. “She was drugged, I tried to take her home but she didn’t want to go–”

“She told you to call Jason and you told her you were going to but you never did!” Elizabeth cut in angrily.

“There has been a huge misunderstanding here,” Ric said, chucking nervously. “And you know what? I’m not going to stand here and listen to these ridiculous accusations anymore.” He turned on his heel and walked out the back entrance as quickly as he could without actually running.

Jason attempted to go after him but Elizabeth leapt in front of him and held him off. “Whoa, wait a second!”

“I’m going to kill him,” Jason fumed. He attempted to push past her, but she grabbed his arm and planted her feet down. He actually pulled her a few feet forward before he stopped.

“Jason, just take five seconds and think about this, okay?”

“I want to know exactly what happened,” he said shortly turning to look at her. “And this is definitely something I can fix because I am going to tear his fucking head off and–” He broke off, muttering under his breath before he started across the club again. She hurried after him and managed to block the entrance.

“Will you just stop?”

“Get out of my way,” Jason said angrily. “Right now, Elizabeth.”

“You are not going anywhere until you calm down,” Elizabeth retorted. She braced her hands on either side of the doorway. “This is exactly why Carly didn’t want to tell you. You’re taking off and not giving a damn about what she wants.”

“You want me to let the jackass who raped her just walk free?” Jason demanded.

“Because it won’t do Carly any good,” Elizabeth replied. “Because no matter what happens to Ric, it won’t fix her.”

“It’ll make me feel better,” he muttered.

“This isn’t about you, it’s not about me, it’s about Carly,” she snapped.

He took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, you’re right.”

She slowly slid her arms to her side. “You okay now? Or am I going to have jump on your back to keep you from going after him?”

“I’m fine.” He stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall, staring into space. “I can’t…I just can’t believe this happened.”

Elizabeth folded her arms and stepped towards him. “She was afraid you’d be ashamed of her.”

Jason looked up sharply. “What?” he asked incredulously. “That’s…I could never…” He exhaled slowly and shook his head. “No. I don’t feel that way at all.”

“I told her that but it had to be in her own time.” Elizabeth sighed and looked at her feet. “I feel so bad about how you found out.”

“When did she tell you?” Jason asked.

“Last week…the day you came into the club and I was leaving. She told me then,” Elizabeth replied, “Ric came in not long after she told me and basically called her a liar.”

“Is that when you broke up with him?” he asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No. That was two weeks before then. He was lying to me…and…” she shrugged. “He’s been trying to convince me to go back to him pretty much since but there’s no hope of that.” She cleared her throat. “You should go talk to Carly. I think…I think she could use your support.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I will.” Jason stepped towards her. “I’m glad Carly confided in you–that you’ve been there for her.”

“I’m glad she could trust me,” Elizabeth replied. She tilted her head towards the door. “Go talk to her.”

He moved as if to go through the back entrance, but he stopped abruptly and took hold of her elbow, tugging her towards him. Her protests were silenced when he captured her lips beneath his own for a short but intense kiss.

After a moment, he pulled away. “Okay, I’m going to go see her now.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth breathed, slightly dazed.

Corinthos Penthouse

“Jason?” Carly asked sleepily, tying her robe. “It’s after one. What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk,” Jason told her.

Carly hesitated. “About what?”

“I know what happened.”

+11

Corinthos Penthouse

Carly stared at him for a moment. She blinked and cleared her throat. “Know what?” she asked innocently.

He shook his head. “No, Carly, I know.”

Her face paled and she stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind her. “How?” she asked. Carly crossed her arms tightly. “I don’t…I can’t believe that Elizabeth would tell you so…”

“She didn’t,” Jason assured her. He took her by the elbow and steered her across the hall. “I’ll explain but first we’re going to my penthouse and you’re going to tell me what happened.”

Once he closed the door behind him, Carly sank onto his leather couch and blew out a pensive breath. “So how did you find out?” she asked softly.

“Ric cornered Elizabeth in the club and they were arguing. She didn’t know I was there,” he explained.

Carly looked up at him. “Was she okay though? I mean…she got away from him?”

Jason nodded. “He left when I showed up.”

“I didn’t…I left when he got there,” Carly admitted. “I didn’t…I didn’t want to leave her alone but I couldn’t…he makes my skin crawl,” she admitted in a soft voice.

He sat on the edge of the coffee table and took her hands in his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Carly blinked and swallowed hard. “At first…I thought if I didn’t tell anyone, if I didn’t even say it out loud to myself, it wouldn’t be real you know? And then…I realized that Elizabeth was dating him and I was worried because…” she trailed off and took a deep breath. “I didn’t want her to be the next one to wake up with no memory of the night before.”

“And that’s why you asked me all those questions about her?” Jason questioned. “You were trying to find if it had happened before?”

“I was scared that she wouldn’t believe me, you know? Because well…God knows, we’ve never got along but I just…I had to warn her.”

“Even if it meant she’d tell me or Sonny?” Jason asked.

“Yeah. I guess I was willing to take the chance. But I guess…it didn’t occur to me that she might say it to someone else. I just thought she’d think I was lying.” Carly sighed. “So…what did Elizabeth tell you?”

“She didn’t tell me anything. Truthfully…she was too busy keeping me from going after Ric,” Jason admitted.

Carly managed a small smile. “But she’s so small–how could she stop you?”

“She’s stronger than she looks.” He moved his thumb over her hand in a smooth circle. “Carly, I want to know what happened. I understand if you don’t want to tell me and I’m not going to push you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“It was the night of the club opening.” Carly closed her eyes. “A-and I was so angry with Sonny. So very angry. I only had one drink but I wasn’t feeling well and I remember that Ric seemed a little concerned. I told him to call you–I wanted you to take me home. But…” she searched her memory. “He…he took me to his room and I don’t…there’s nothing after that until the next morning.” Her breathing hitched and tears started to slide down her cheeks.

He brushed them away with his thumbs. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “You’re safe here. With me.”

“He was…he was touching me–his fingers down my spine.” She shivered. “I can still feel it, Jason. I’ve taken so many showers, scrubbed my body but I can still feel his fingers.”

He pressed his lips together and fought to keep his anger in check. Carly didn’t need his anger–she just needed his support. They would deal with Ric later.

“He told me…he said that I was all over him.” Carly opened her eyes and they were pleading with him. “I can’t believe that, Jason. I love Sonny. We’re having some problems right now but I really do love him and–”

“I know,” he told her softly. “I don’t believe it either.”

“I was angry right then–angry and still a little in shock. I just…I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom.” She sucked in a deep breath. “That’s when I heard Elizabeth come in. She was talking about putting off a date and I just…I remember thinking that no matter how much I didn’t like her…she deserved better than Ric Lansing. After she left, I finished getting dress a-and I went back out there and told him he was fired and if he came near me again or told Sonny, I’d tell Elizabeth.”

“I’m so proud of you,” he told her in a soft voice. “You got out of there and you kept it together. You’re so strong, Carly.”

“I think if he had touched me before I left, I would have lost it,” Carly admitted. “But it stayed with me. I tried to forget about it but I think everyone knew something was wrong. You did and Sonny did but Sonny just thought it was because of Brenda.”

“I’m sorry that you felt like you couldn’t tell me,” Jason told her. “You can always come to me, Carly. No matter what. You matter to me.”

She hugged him then–tightly and he could feel her warm tears seeping down his neck. “I’m so scared to sleep,” she admitted in a choked voice. “Every time, I close my eyes he’s there. I can still—I can still feel his hands on me, his breath on my neck.”

He smoothed her hair down and closed his eyes. “You’re safe, Carly. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

His cell phone rang then. He pulled away and took it out of his pocket. Without looking at the id screen, he turned it off and set it aside. Whatever it was, it could wait.

Elm Street Pier

“Shoot,” Elizabeth muttered. She shoved her phone back in her purse and glanced around nervously. She shouldn’t have called Jason anyway. He was with Carly and just because she was walking home so late and might have heard some noises–

There it was again. Almost sounded like footsteps. She swallowed hard and started up the stairs. She pulled the phone out and put Jason’s number back up so that with one push of the green button, the number would be dialed.

Hands wrapped around her upper torso then and yanked her off the steps. She yelped and pressed the button.

“You stupid bitch,” Ric swore tossing her to the ground, the cell phone sliding across the wooden planks.

Elizabeth kneed him quickly and started to crawl towards the phone but he grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back. She tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand. She bit down on his finger and he yelped in pain but didn’t move his hand.

Her eyes trained on the phone, hoping that call had gone through–hoping that Jason had answered this time.

Morgan Penthouse

“The phone is lighting up again,” Carly whispered. She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. “Maybe it’s important.”

“Carly–” Jason protested.

“Did you leave Elizabeth at the club?” Carly asked suddenly.

He nodded and he winced. “I should have taken her home. It’s late–” he reached for the phone and cursed under his breath. “It’s her number.”

He turned the phone on then. He had one missed call and one message. Both calls were from her, two minutes apart. Jason frowned and hit the button to the listen to the message.

“You stupid bitch.”

“He–!”

And those were the only two words on the message. After that it was just whimpers and moans and some scuffling. Jason shot to a standing position, his face pale. Carly lunged to her feet.

“What happened?” she asked quickly. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” Jason admitted helplessly. He listened to the message again but concentrated on the background sounds. She was on the docks. He hung up the phone. “I have to go.”

He was out the door before Carly could argue or even find out what was going on.

 Elm Street Pier

His footsteps thundered down the stairs and he immediately scanned the area for any sign of Elizabeth. He was berating himself for not having taken her home first before going to see Carly. It was two in the morning–and she didn’t have a car. He’d never ignored her safety so completely before.

A whimper from underneath dock stairs stopped him dead in his tracks and he turned to see Elizabeth crawling slowly into view. “Elizabeth?”

“J-Jason?” she managed to choke out. Her arms wobbled but she kept herself upright. He kneeled in front of her and helped her to her feet. Once she was standing, her knees buckled a little but held.

He pushed her hair out of her eyes to see some cuts and red marks that would turn into bruises eventually. But her clothes didn’t seem torn beyond a few rips in the silk blouse she wore.

“What happened?” he asked cautiously. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders tightly.

“R-Ric…he w-was…he…heard you c-coming I think a-and he left.” She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. “He w-was angry b-because y-you found out a-and I think…”

“I’m going to take you to the hospital,” he told her intently. “Can you walk?”

“I’m okay, really,” she promised him. “He just…he threw me on the g-ground and hit me a f-few times. I just…I want to go home.”

“Carly’s back at my penthouse,” he told her. “I’m going to take you there.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth agreed. She didn’t even protest when he crouched down and lifted her off the ground. She was so tired.

Morgan Penthouse

Carly gasped when Jason carried an unconscious Elizabeth into the penthouse. “Jason, what happened?”

“Ric got her on the docks,” Jason told her before gently laying the brunette on the couch. “He didn’t…he didn’t, I mean–she’s okay. Just some cuts and bruises and maybe a concussion.”

“I’ll get some…” Carly hesitated. “What do you need?”

“There’s a first aid kit under the sink,” Jason told her. He crouched next to Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, you need to stay awake.”

Elizabeth moaned a little but didn’t open her eyes. “I’m so tired, Jason.”

“Yeah, but if you have a concussion, you need to be awake.”

Carly came back out and handed the kit to Jason. “Are you okay?” she asked her.

Elizabeth blinked a little. “I’m okay,” she said faintly. “I just…I hit my head when he pulled me off the stairs.” She looked at Jason. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” she asked softly.

“I was talking to Carly…I didn’t know it was you…” He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She closed her eyes. “Let me sleep, please?”

“Okay, but I’m going to move you to your old room upstairs okay?” Jason told her. He looked at Carly. “Can you go get something from your place for her to change into?”

“Sure. I’ll be right back.” Carly left the penthouse and Elizabeth kept blinking her eyes.

“Is the light bothering you?” he asked. “I can turn it down.”

“It’s just a little bright.” She licked her lips. “Thanks…thank you coming to get me.”

He took her hand in his and kissed the palm. “I’m just sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”

“What are you going to do…” Elizabeth hesitated. “About Ric?”

He kissed her forehead. “We’re not going to worry about it right now. I just want to get you cleaned up and into some clean clothes. Tomorrow. We’ll talk about it then.”

She nodded. “Okay. Tomorrow.”

+10

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

“I’m gonna have to sit with her tonight so you might as well go back to the penthouse,” Jason told Carly. “I have to wake her up every so often.”

Carly nodded. “Okay. What…what are you going to do…tomorrow?” She wrapped her arms around herself and studied him.

“I know what I want to do,” Jason said. “But it doesn’t matter until I talk to her about it. And Carly, we will find a way to take care of this.”

Carly nodded. “I’d better get back before Sonny realizes I’m not home–”

“Carly…” he grasped her elbow. “I’m not saying you have to tell Sonny–that’s your choice. But you two can’t go on the way you have been.”

“I know,” Carly sighed. “I just…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I do appreciate how you’ve been there for me, even when you didn’t know. It means a lot to me.” She squeezed his hand. “Now, go take care of Elizabeth.”

Corinthos Penthouse

When Carly slipped back inside the penthouse, the room was dark. She closed the door and the lamp by the sofa switched on.

She jumped. “Sonny, what the hell–”

“I think that’s my line.” He stood and folded his arms across his chest. “I heard you leave, come back and then leave again. So what’s wrong? Where did you go?” His eyes went flat. “Who were you with?”

Carly reached towards the wall and snapped the overhead light on, bringing light to the entire room. “Oh, yeah. Right. What about you? Brenda sleeping upstairs?”

“Damn it, Carly, that’s not what this is about and you know that!” He stalked towards her. “How long are you going to hold that against me? I would have expected you to be more mature–”

“Mature?” Carly gaped. “You self-centered son of a bitch! You kissed another woman–your former fiancé–I might add and I’m the immature one because maybe it upsets me? Go to hell, Sonny.” She stalked past him but he grabbed her arm.

“No more of this!” he roared. “You’re my wife, Carly, not Brenda–I kissed her to make sure I was over her–”

“You shouldn’t have needed that assurance,” Carly hissed, yanking her arm from his grasp. “Let me tell you something–this isn’t about Brenda. This is about you. You think that I’ve been avoiding you because of her? No. Because I can’t talk to you. Because you needed to a kiss to make sure you could still be with me and you don’t see a problem with that. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you–that’s why I moved to the guest room!”

Sonny snorted. “Right. So that’s it. That’s the only thing that’s bothering me. I wasn’t born yesterday, Carly. So you’ve been walking around like a little girl who hasn’t gotten her way because I kissed another woman–how mature you are,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Leave me alone,” she hissed. “Just leave me–”

“You know, you’re nothing like the woman I fell in love with,” Sonny shot at her. “She would have fought with me–she wouldn’t have let this fester–”

“I was raped!” Carly shrieked at the top of her lungs.

Morgan Penthouse: Guest Room

Jason checked the clock on the nightstand and reached over to gently shake her away. “Hey. It’s been an hour.”

She moaned a little. “Five more minutes, Gram.” She pressed her face into the pillow.

“Just open your eyes and look at me and I’ll let you go back to sleep,” Jason told her. He slid off his chair and kneeled next to the bed. “Elizabeth–”

She rolled away and opened her eyes–cloudy from sleep. “Hey. How long are you gonna do this? All night?”

“Just to make sure you don’t have a concussion.” He pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Do you feel okay?”

“I’m fine,” she told him. “How about you go to bed already? You need to sleep too.”

“Elizabeth–”

She sat up a little and rubbed her eyes. “How did it go with Carly?”

He sighed and moved to the side of the bed. “She told me what happened. About the night of the club opening, the next morning…” Jason shifted. “When you stopped by his room that morning, she was in the bathroom. And she threatened to tell you if he told anyone.”

“I’m glad…I’m glad she told you. I mean, I don’t like how you find out but…” She shrugged. “I think she trusts you more. I think she needs the kind of support you can give her.”

“She asked me about you a lot–before she told you. Because she’d heard that it had happened to you. And she asked about…about us.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “Why would she care? Just because we’re on better terms…it doesn’t make us friends, Jason. She still doesn’t think I’m good enough for you.”

“She wanted to know if I missed you,” Jason told her. “And she told me that you thought I’d been cheating on you.”

“I know…I know you weren’t,” Elizabeth explained quickly. “But you have to understand how it…how it looked. You were never here. And every time–every single time I saw you, you were with Courtney. And then the lipstick…and you just…” she sucked in a deep breath. “You just let me walk away.” Her eyes glistened with tears. “How could you do that?”

Corinthos Penthouse 

Sonny took a step back out of instinct. “What?” he demanded flatly.

“Never mind. I’m just…I’m just going to get dressed and go to Jason’s. I can’t deal with this right now.”

“You can’t just drop this on me and walk away. What do you mean raped?” Sonny took her arm, his touch gentle.

She took a deep breath. “The night I didn’t come home. The night of the club opening. I had a drink but I was feeling well so Ric said he’d take me home–”

Ric, the slimy son of bitch, he’d kill him.

“A-and he took me to his room instead–I asked him to call Jason but he didn’t and the next thing I remember…” Her breathing hitched. “It was morning and I was in his bed.” She choked down a sob. “I don’t remember anything, Sonny, I swear–”

“Come here.” Sonny drew her close and cradled her against him and she started to sob heavily. “Oh, God, baby…I’m so sorry…”

Morgan Penthouse: Guest Room

“I thought…” he cleared his throat roughly and stood. “I didn’t know that you thought any of those things. I didn’t…I didn’t realize what it looked like to you. Elizabeth…I thought you had decided you didn’t want this life and…I…that was your decision to make. I couldn’t force you to live this way.”

Elizabeth shoved her blanket aside and got to her feet. She was a little unsteady on her feet but gained her balance after a moment. She padded over to him in Carly’s borrowed nightgown. “Jason, if it had been that, I would have said so. I know your life. It was never that.”

“If I’d thought for one moment I had a right to, I would have gone after you,” Jason told her. He took a deep breath. “I guess it doesn’t matter since Sonny and I aren’t exactly getting along right now. I haven’t done any work in the past few weeks–not since he found out about…” he trailed off.

Elizabeth touched his arm. “He’s just upset,” she assured him. “Maybe he just needs time.”

“What about you?” he asked. He took her hands in his. “Will you forgive me?”

“I–” Elizabeth hesitated. “I don’t know. I just…I want to. I want to trust you like I did before but…” she bit her lip and looked away. “It’s hard,” she confessed. “Do you realize I was dating a rapist and I had no idea?”

“That must have been hard for you to find out,” he remarked.

She pulled away from him and sat back down on the bed, staring at one of the bruises beginning to form on her arm. “When I was in therapy after the rape…Gail–my therapist–she was always giving me these…articles and pamphlets about it and I read this study about women…rape survivors…and sometimes they’re attracted to men who…” she bit her lip. “Men who are capable of violence and…I didn’t think about it then because well…I wasn’t really thinking about it then because Lucky was the only guy I would even let near me…”

Elizabeth exhaled frustrated. “I’m kind of rambling and not even making a point. Never mind.”

“No, no…I can understand what you’re trying to say and…” Jason kneeled in front of her. “You think that’s why you were attracted to Ric?”

“Yeah.” She frowned a little. “And…maybe you.”

He frowned and reeled back a little. “I would never hurt you,” he told her quickly.

“No, I know that but…” Elizabeth bit her lip and looked at him. “You are…capable of violence.”

“Yeah.” He sighed and looked down. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“I’m sorry…none of this is coming out right,” Elizabeth said, irritated. “I’m not saying this to hurt you–”

“No, no…I know that.” He stood. “I should get some sleep. I think–I think you’re going to be okay. You know? No concussion.” He kissed her forehead.

“Jason,” Elizabeth protested. She stood and reached for him. “I–”

“We’ll…we’ll talk in the morning. Good night.”

He closed the door behind him and she laid back on the bed, feeling absolutely horrible for what she’d just said.

Corinthos Penthouse 

Carly pulled away from Sonny abruptly. “I should…I should get some sleep. You know…I just…I have–”

Sonny tugged on her hand and pulled her to the couch. “Where did you go earlier?” he asked, any of the earlier accusation gone from his voice.

She took a deep breath. “Jason’s. He found out what happened and he wanted to talk to me and then…then he got a call from Elizabeth…Ric…he, ah, attacked her on the docks–”

“Is she okay?” Sonny cut in.

“Yeah…Jason scared him off, but she’s gonna have some bruises…a headache. She knew what happened.”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah. I see that now. You told her because she was dating Ric.”

“I didn’t want her to go through that,” Carly said quietly. She let Sonny draw her to his side, grateful to have it out. She felt a thousand times lighter. “Sonny, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you–”

“No. Don’t be. I haven’t…” he exhaled slowly. “What I said earlier wasn’t true. About you being a little girl and…I just…I wanted to get a reaction. I was so worried, baby. You weren’t talking to me and every day that passed, I felt like I was losing you a little more and more. I just…I wanted to try and get this out. I didn’t mean any of it.”

“In a way, I’m glad you said it. I already feel better having told you. The more people I tell, the less…the less I feel like it was my fault.”

“It wasn’t,” Sonny told her. “It wasn’t. I don’t care if you had a hundred drinks or you went up to his room on purpose. He had no right to touch you and I want you to remember that.”

“I know it here,” Carly said, touching her temple. She pressed her other hand over her chest. “I’m having some problems realizing it here.”

He pulled her to him in a crushing hug and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “We’ll get through this. I promise.”

+9

Morgan Penthouse: Kitchen

When Jason walked into the kitchen the next morning, he was surprised to smell coffee and some eggs and bacon. “Should you be up and around?” he asked Elizabeth.

She turned to look at him. “I can’t sleep anymore. Are you hungry?”

He shook his head. “I don’t really eat breakfast.”

“Okay…well the coffee’s almost done.” She scooped some of the scrambled eggs onto a plate next to some bacon. She put the plate on the table next to a glass of orange juice. “I wanted–I wanted to apologize for what I said last night.”

He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down. “There’s nothing to apologize for you. You were right. I am capable of violence. You’ve seen…you’ve seen that. I can’t hide it from you.”

Elizabeth sat on one of her legs and brought the other one up to rest her chin on as she left her food untouched. “But I don’t want you to think that’s what made me…” her cheeks flushed. “That it’s what it attracted me to you. Because…it’s not.” She cleared her throat.

“Okay,” Jason replied.

“Do you believe me?” she asked softly.

“Do you believe you?” he asked instead.

She picked up her fork and pushed at the rapidly cooling food. “I can’t make you believe me, I guess. I don’t look at you and see that side of you. That’s not who you are to me.”

“Then who am I?” Jason challenged.

Without blinking, without hesitation, she answered. “You’re Jason. And that’s enough for me.”

“Is it?” he asked pointedly. “You walked out on me.”

“Because I did everything to prove that that I deserved your trust and you lied to me,” Elizabeth said bluntly. “Carly–who turned Sonny into the feds, I might add–she was told. But me…the girl who found you bleeding in the snow, who hid you in her studio, who had a bomb in that studio, who’s been accosted by God knows how many people–who was kidnapped–” She cut herself off and looked away. “Was it Zander? Is that why you didn’t trust me?”

“Elizabeth, I was just…I trying to protect you,” Jason said lamely. “Plausible deniability.”

“Carly lied to the police. Planned a funeral.” Her lips curved into a smirk. “Didn’t forget to use Sonny’s death as a way to get pity from me. I guess I’m just confused. What were you trying to protect me from?”

“Elizabeth…” Jason sighed.

“But it’s okay, I guess. I mean, Carly’s his wife. She obviously couldn’t be expected to grieve for him. What was I supposed to be?” She shoved her plate away, obviously a little frustrated by the whole conversation.

“I think that I was wrong,” Jason admitted. “I think that I should have told you. And if I could do it again…I would.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“Because I don’t want to lose you,” he said simply. “Elizabeth, I want you back in my life. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

She sighed and looked away. “I want that, too,” she admitted. He reached across the table and took her hand in his.

“There’s something else we need to talk about,” Jason told her. “Ric.”

Her face paled and she looked away. “I…I don’t want to know,” Elizabeth replied. “Whatever Carly wants to do or you want to do, it’s fine with me. I just…I don’t want to know, okay?”

“Okay,” Jason agreed. “Are we…are we okay now?”

Elizabeth hesitate and looked down at their joined hands. “Yeah,” she said, finally. “We are.”

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “I have to go…take care of some things,” he told her. “Will you stay here until I get back? So I know you’re safe?”

She nodded. “Okay.” Elizabeth lifted herself onto the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek. “Be careful, okay?”

“I will.”

Corinthos Penthouse

Carly watched from the couch as Sonny pulled his suit jacket on. “I spoke with Jason,” he told her. “And Elizabeth has no preferences for how we deal with this–only that she’ll go along with what you want. But she doesn’t want to know.”

Carly nodded. “Do whatever you want to do…but I don’t want to know either,” she told him. She wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed. “Now that you know…I thought I would feel different–better.” Her dark eyes met him. “But I don’t.”

He sat on the couch and pulled her into his arms. “There’s no hurry to heal,” he told her. “You take as long as you need and you do whatever you need. I love you, Carly. And I hate that you felt like you couldn’t tell me this–but it’s my fault you felt that way. I made you doubt our relationship–doubt me.” He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “And I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Carly told him. “This is just…another one of those things that we need to get through.” She managed a weak smile. “What doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger, right?”

“Right.” He kissed her forehead and stood. “Please don’t leave this floor until we get back. I want to be sure you’re safe.”

Carly nodded. “Okay.”

With one last glance in her direction, Sonny left. He met Jason in the hallway and they got onto the elevator.

A few moments after being left alone, Carly stood and went over to the other penthouse where Elizabeth was seated on the couch, holding an ice pack to her bruised jaw. “Hey,” Elizabeth said. “You okay?”

“I told Sonny,” Carly murmured. She curled up in the armchair. “He doesn’t blame me. And he says he’ll let me have all the time I need to be okay.” She eyed the younger woman apprehensively. “Am…am I going to be okay?”

“If you mean will you forget about it…get past it…” Elizabeth shook her head. “You never forget. And part of you will always feel like you’re lying in that bed. But you have to find a way to get up in the morning. A reason to breathe, to move, to live. And every day that you do that–that part of you gets smaller and smaller.” She sighed. “But it doesn’t go away. And I can only speak for myself–but I’m still not okay. All these years–three boyfriends and a one-night stand later and I still don’t feel safe walking through the park alone or being alone in a crowd.”

“I guess the trick is to find a way to live and not think about it,” Carly sighed, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms.

“The trick is to live your life in spite of it,” Elizabeth corrected. “Tom Baker tried to break me and he almost did. But I fought back. Ric tried to gain leverage over you–over Sonny and everyone else. But he chose the wrong person to do it, Carly. Because you’re strong. You’re better than he is. And you will survive this. And you will be happy again and you will make love to your husband and not think about Ric’s hands on your spine.”

“You sure about that?” Carly asked. “Because it sounds nice.”

“I’m sure,” Elizabeth replied. She moved the ice pack to her other cheek. “It’s okay…not to be okay, though. No one says that in order to be a normal person, you have to be okay.”

“Maybe one day I’ll believe that,” Carly sighed. “But for now…I’ll settle for being able to tolerate my husband’s touch without cringing.”

“You will, Carly,” Elizabeth said. “I have faith.”

After that day, Ric Lansing disappeared from Port Charles, never to be heard of again.

On the one year anniversary of the club opening, Carly went back up to the room of Kelly’s. It was empty–it had been since Ric had left. No one wanted the room–consider it cursed.

She flipped the light on and stood just inside the door, her dark eyes looking over the room. And after a moment, she smiled a little.

“You didn’t break me, Ric,” she said softly. “You never even had a chance.”

She turned off the light and went back downstairs to her family.

+11