Previously On General Hospital…

“The immediate downtown and waterfront area is experiencing a brownout. Authorities are unsure when power will be back in those areas. Residents are advised to stay where they are as the streetlights and traffic lights are also out. This is Neena Stevens with WKPC.”

PART ONE

Let’s rearrange
I wish you were a stranger I could disengage
Just say that we agree and then never change
Soften a bit until we all just get along
But that’s disregard
Find another friend and you discard
As you lose the argument in a cable car
Hanging above as the canyon comes between
— Over My Head, The Fray

August 14, 2006

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 7:54 P.M.

Elizabeth Spencer paced the area in front of the window restless, every once in a while staring out as if trying to will the power back on herself. She’d come for support, for a shoulder to cry on, for something to distract her from what she’d seen only an hour ago and instead, she’d found Jason, reeling from an unpleasant sight all his own.

And now with this brownout, Elizabeth was stuck here. With a silent and brooding mob enforcer making a lot of clacking noise with the pool table. The elevators were out and so were the emergency lights in the stairwell. She was not about to risk thirty flights of stairs in pitch black darkness.

Ready to jump out of her skin, she whirled around. “Are blondes really sexier?” she demanded.

Jason’s pool cue slipped and one of the balls went flying, smacking the side of the table loudly. “What?” he asked, bewildered.

“Blondes,” Elizabeth repeated. “Are blondes all that much better in bed?”

“Ah…” Jason furrowed his brow and she realized he was actually thinking the question over.

“No, I don’t really want to know.” She tossed her hands up in surrender. “I’m afraid of the answer.”

“Okay,” Jason nodded, glad not to have to answer a question that seemed ripe with traps. “I might regret this but what makes you ask in the first place?”

“Well, Lucky slept with Sarah, you left me for Courtney, Ric pretended to sleep with Carly and actually slept with Faith and then Lucky sleeps with Maxie and you know what all these women have in common?” Elizabeth demanded, her voice rising. “They’re all blonde! So tell me, why do men always leave the brunette for the blonde?”

“There’s no way to answer that, Elizabeth,” Jason replied. He set his pool cue down. “But–”

“Maybe it’s not blondes, maybe it’s just me,” she said glumly dropping onto the arm of the couch. “I’m probably bad in bed and don’t even know it.”

Jason frowned. “You weren’t drinking before you came over here, were you?”

“I should have stuck with Zander. Sure, he was a criminal but at least he liked brunettes.”

“Maybe you should drink some coffee.”

Elizabeth raised her eyes. “But you know, you didn’t sleep with me, so you wouldn’t know. And you left me anyway so maybe it’s not the bedroom.”

Jason hesitated. “Elizabeth–you left me.”

“Maybe I just suck as a girlfriend and a wife,” Elizabeth sighed, ignoring Jason’s commentary.

“Maybe your taste in men is what sucks,” Jason said, irritated with hearing her put herself down. “You did everything you could do with Lucky. You stuck by him and you supported him when he needed you. And Ric–you gave him more chances than he needed. More than he deserved.” He stepped towards her. “Elizabeth, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

“So how come you didn’t want me?” she demanded. She got to her feet and planted her fists on her hips. “You would rather have guarded Brenda and Courtney than be in the same room with me, so really–you have no room to disparage the men in my life.” She huffed and walked towards the fireplace where she studied photos of Carly, Sonny, Emily and the boys.

“You deserved better than that,” Jason said, honestly at a loss for words. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel like I didn’t want you here, with me.”

“Well, it’s four years too late for apologies,” Elizabeth muttered. “You know, I almost wish I hadbeen having some sort of wild affair with Patrick Drake. At least he brings me flowers.”

General Hospital: Elevator Shaft B – 8:02 P.M.

Patrick Drake was not having a wild affair with anyone and that would be the way of things until January. He’d decided that it was irresponsible to expose anyone else to what could possibly be end-stage AIDS. If January came and he was still negative, well then he’d celebrate. He’d take whatever woman looked appealing to the nearest room with a bed and have his way with her.

But he was going to do the responsible and grown-up thing and that meant turning Robin Scorpio down for elevator sex. It didn’t matter if they were stuck in here for the next eight hours or that she kept removing clothes because the air conditioning was out or that other women couldn’t make sweaty look half as sexy as she did. None of that mattered, he was going to do the right thing.

However, if he didn’t get out of here soon or find some clothe to wrap her in, other parts of his body might take over the decision making. That would be wrong. No matter right it was suddenly starting to feel.

He tapped his fingers restless against the denim of his jeans and kept his eyes on the ceiling of the elevator car. And ignored the woman in the tank top across from him.

“I think I’m going to take stairs from now on,” Patrick decided. “Stairs are reliable. Stairs do not get stuck between the seventh and eighth floors. They never let you down.”

Robin smirked. “Except for those emergency lights which are currently off, so if you’d been on the stairs, you might have tripped and scarred that pretty face.” She chewed her lip. “I hope there weren’t any patients on the elevators.”

“This is why we need solar power,” Patrick said, eager to keep the mindless conversation going. If they were silent, he would think of other ways he’d seen Robin silent before and almost all of those ways ended with them in a bed, and her writhing–

God damn it.

“Yeah, solar power’s great except–what’re you going to do at night?” Robin shifted, the movement causing her short flowery skirt to move up her thigh.

He thought he might have actually whimpered but he fought the urge to slide his fingers up the newly revealed skin. It was a hard battle and he nearly lost in the end, but somehow he kept his fingers at his sides.

Clenched tightly in fists, but they were still behaving themselves. He was beginning to think this business of being mature and responsible was overrated.

He was acting like a horny teenager, he berated himself. And being a teenager was not something he wanted to revert to right now. So he cleared his throat. “So, ah, how’s your cousin doing?” he asked.

Robin smiled faintly. “Which one? The one consorting with a convicted sex offender or the one who’s committing adultery with Elizabeth’s husband?”

Patrick frowned. “Ah. Both. Either. I don’t care. Just talk.”

“And to think you used to tell me to shut up,” Robin sighed, somewhat amused and very aware of Patrick fighting his inner urges. It was sweet, if not somewhat frustrating. “I must be losing my touch.” She shifted again and he glared at her.

She was doing it on purpose.

General Hospital: Roof – 8:15 P.M.

“I cannot believe we’re stuck up here,” Dillon Quartermaine muttered, yanking at the door that remained firmly locked. “Did you do this on purpose?”

Lulu Spencer sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yes, because every thing bad that happens to you is my fault,” she muttered. She picked at a loose thread in the hem of her hot pink tank top. She’d have to put clothing like this away, she thought idly. Mothers did not wear revealing or funky clothes, they wore pastels and shopped at the Gap.

She wrinkled her nose. She really hated the Gap.

“Well, you tricked me up here,” Dillon pointed out. He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “I was supposed to meet Georgie for dinner but now here I am, stuck with you.”

“Well, don’t worry–you won’t have to be stuck with me forever,” Lulu snarled. She’d decided that she was going to take a page from her father’s book. She was going to take the money she’d saved and take off. She didn’t need Port Charles, she didn’t need her screwed up family or her useless excuses for friends. She didn’t anyone, she never had.

She leaned against the wall of the hospital and stared out over the landscape–the dark landscape and anyone with half a brain could see that the town was experiencing another brownout, though this one seemed much larger and longer than the rest. But as soon as it was over, she was going back to the mansion, she was packing her things and lighting out. Screw doing the right thing and telling the father of her baby. Because then Dillon would be stuck with her forever and she’d be damned if anyone else was going to feel that way. Her family already did but she would slit her wrists before the guy she loved felt that way for longer than the period of time they were locked out on this hospital roof.

She didn’t deserve that. And her baby didn’t deserve that either. Lulu braced a hand on her still flat tummy and reminded herself that soon she’d have someone to love and someone who would love her and never leave her.

Besides, even if she did tell Dillon, he’d just accuse her of lying and she didn’t think she could take that. She did feel bad for what she’d done, for how she’d lied to him about Georgie and Diego but she’d tried to tell him the truth, right? She’d tried to tell him she was selfish but he wouldn’t listen to her.

But now that he knew for sure that she was lying, he’d never believe another word out of her mouth. He’d call her a liar and he’d probably come up with a few other mean things to say because he’d watched enough movies to store up some good zingers. But then he’d find out it was true (in a few more months it would be unavoidable) and he’d feel bad and he’d apologize but she’d always know how he really felt.

Besides, there was no point in ruining both their lives. He was going to get Georgie back, that was all he wanted and she could handle this on her own.

She was getting really good at doing things on her own.

“What did you want to tell me anyway?” Dillon said finally. “What was so important?”

“Nothing,” Lulu replied quietly. “Nothing at all.” She wondered what Carly would say if she found out. Probably that hey–at least Lulu knew who the father was. Not every mother in Port Charles could claim that.

Port Charles Courthouse: Elevator – 8:20 P.M.

“This is just insane,” Alexis Davis muttered, jabbing the lobby button again. “Why isn’t this–” a spasm stole her breath and she braced a hand against the wall.

Carly Corinthos, leaning against the back wall, straightened and narrowed her eyes in confusion at the sight of Alexis Davis, gasping for air. “You can’t be claustrophobic; we’ve already done this before.”

“I’m–” Alexis coughed. “I’m fine.”

“Uh huh,” Carly nodded, unconvinced. “Well, I’d just as soon not catch your cold so can you just breathe the air over in that corner for a while?”

Alexis shot her a dirty look and fumbled in her bag for a bottle of water, which she gulped. Nothing in her life was going right, nothing was going the way she’d planned. Death sentences, husband sleeping with his stepdaughter, getting stuck in hot, stuffy elevator with the AntiChrist.

Was she ever going to get a break?

Feeling slightly dizzy, Alexis slowly lowered herself to the floor the of elevator, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. She could feel the migraine coming and it was going to be a doozy. Of course, she’d left her pills in her office.

Carly studied her for a long time and shook her head. “It’s not a cold. You’re sick, Alexis. What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Alexis would have laughed if she’d remembered how it sounded. “What’s wrong, she asks? What’s right is the better question.” She slid a hand over her face, exhausted with the conversation, with the situation, with life in general. If she was going to die, why couldn’t she just die right now and get the misery over with?

Carly hesitated and tapped her fingers against the floor of the elevator car. She wasn’t a nice person, she would never claim to be one and generally, she enjoyed manipulating and scheming. It was her one of her…quirks. But there were moments where she wished she were a nice person, because she had a feeling Alexis needed a friend right now and well, the woman had lost a few recently, considering how Jax had left town and Nikolas was so busy with his own life.

So she took a bracing breath and dived in. “Kids are great, you know? I mean, I love my boys and I’d do anything for them. But there are days when you want to close the door and pretend they don’t exist.”

Alexis opened her eyes and looked at Carly oddly. “I’m sorry?”

“And husbands,” Carly continued. “I don’t have any use for them. They don’t tend to stick around and when they do, they drive you to nervous breakdown.” When Alexis’s expression only grew more baffled, Carly huffed. “When a woman looks as miserable as you do, it’s usually because a man or her kids are driving her crazy.”

“Hmph.” Alexis paused for a moment and finally, she felt the need to say it out loud. She hadn’t said, hadn’t really thought it past the moment but if she told Carly, well then, she wouldn’t be the only one who knew. And it definitely felt like one of those things that if one person had to know, someone else had to share in the misery.

“I found Ric in bed with another woman,” Alexis said, slowly. “I might have been able to get past it, I have before. I know that I’m not the easiest woman to live with, to be married to, I can accept that and maybe I could have lived with this. We could have seen a therapist, we have a daughter. We have a family, you can get past these things if you really want to.”

“And you don’t?” Carly asked, not at all surprised by the news. Ric had always been and would always be a slime ball.

“I could have dealt with it,” Alexis said. “But the woman was Sam.”

Carly stared at her for a long moment, waiting for the punch line. For the rest of it. For her to say it was Sam from Ric’s work, some unknown Sam that she’d never met. “Alexis…I am so…” she shook her head. “I don’t think sorry covers it.”

“I’ve been arguing with them a lot,” Alexis continued, realizing how fabulous it felt to shove this on someone else. “I’ve been cranky and I’ve been rude and I’ve been unreasonable.” She met Carly’s eyes. “I did this. I caused this, it’s my fault.”

“Unless you unzipped Ric’s pants for him, and arranged it so he’d trip and fall on that slut, then no, you didn’t cause it.” Carly exhaled impatiently. “People fight. Husbands and wives, they fight. Mothers and daughters, they fight. And Sam could have actually tried to seduce Ric, but you’re not to be blamed for what they chose to do with it.” She shook her head. “My mother and Tony. There was a crack in their marriage; it’d been there since BJ died. But my mother isn’t to blame for me seducing Tony or for him giving in. She’s the only person who is blameless and you are, too. I don’t care if you told them to go screw each other, Alexis. They didn’t have to do it.”

Alexis did laugh then, a long hysterical laugh and Carly recognized it as the laughter of someone who only laughed because she was afraid to cry. “Well, Carly, it gets worse.”

“I really can’t imagine now at this point,” Carly sighed. “Man, Sam’s been passed around this town almost as much as I have. But you know, I’ve lived here longer, so I have a better excuse.” She paused and attempted to count all the men she’d slept with since arriving in Port Charles. There was Jason, Tony, AJ, Sonny, Lorenzo, Jax and–well, she couldn’t count Patrick though she’d certainly given it her best shot. Only six. She laughed. “Well, damn if Sam isn’t catching up to me.”

“Carly, I’m dying,” Alexis blurted out, achieving something that few had. Rendering Carly Corinthos speechless.

+4

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
— How to Save A Life, The Fray

Port Charles Courthouse: Elevator – 8:40 P.M

Carly was the queen of dramatic statements–though she’d admit that more than half of those statements had been lies or at least partial truths. Life was simpler when you lied to yourself or someone else. Because then at least, you could make up the way you wanted it to be. But theI’m dying line was one Carly hadn’t really had the occasion to use and now she wished she’d had because maybe she’d be able to remember how a person reacted to such a line or how that person looked because she was pretty sure she was doing it wrong.

She laughed nervously. “That’s not–I know I said–that’s not funny.”

“It feels like such a relief to tell someone that,” Alexis said, ignoring her. “I mean, I’ve told Mayor Floyd because he ought to know that he’ll need a new DA soon but I hadn’t really figured out how to tell Ric or the girls.”

Carly blinked. “So dying is….what do you mean by that?”

“I mean that I have lung cancer,” Alexis informed her. “I don’t know why as I don’t smoke and I’m arranging for treatment but the doctors are not optimistic.”

Your kids will be a lot better off when you do everyone a favor and just drop dead. Sometimes, Carly wanted to hit herself.

“Oh, God….” She slapped a hand to her forehead. “You knew–you knew when I said–Jesus, Alexis, if I’d known, I never–” she scowled. “Oh my God, I suck as human being.”

“You didn’t know, you were just being your usual annoying and harsh self,” Alexis looked away. “Not that I believe you would have acted any differently if you had known.”

“Probably not,” Carly admitted. And she hated that about herself, she really did. She pursed her lips. “So…how long?”

“A year,” Alexis sighed. She closed her eyes and let her head thump back against the wall. “At the most, two. Which means Kristina and Molly won’t remember and my only other child…” her face twisted. “I don’t want to think about that.” She hesitated. “I changed my will to leave primary custody of Kristina to Nikolas. With Sonny’s illness, I worried–”

“No, that’s good, that’s right that you did that,” Carly said unexpectedly. She twisted a ring on her finger. “Sonny’s sessions aren’t–they’re not going as smoothly as Lainey would prefer and she’s not sure if he’s going to stay on the medication. I thought–” her voice faltered but only for a moment. “I thought he wanted to stay strong and set a good example for the kids but he’d rather have it his way.”

Alexis exhaled slowly. “I thought he wanted help.” An altogether new fear gripped her and she worried that Sonny might have another breakdown, in front of her daughter. Oh, God, how could she leave Kristina? How could she leave Molly?

“So did I,” Carly murmured. “And now I don’t really know what to do. I can’t keep the boys from their father but I’m scared that he’s going to have another breakdown, and I don’t want Michael and Morgan to see that.” Her eyes connected with Alexis, the only woman in the world that might understand. “I know that Sonny loves his kids and that they love him, but I am terrified that he’ll hurt them without even meaning to.”

General Hospital: Roof – 8:45 P.M.

Dillon paced for ten minutes. He tugged on the door handle for another five and after ten minutes of peering down the ten stories to the sidewalk, hoping to see someone who could help them, he’d spent the last five minutes sprawled out on the ground, his head banging gently against the door.

He directed his attention to Lulu, seated fifteen feet away, her knees tucked under her body, her hand absently rubbing her stomach. Probably hungry, he thought absently remembering the aborted dinner plans with Georgie. She’d never forgive him now after finding out that he’d spent the blackout with Lulu.

Which led him back to something that kept bugging him. Lulu had gone to a lot of trouble to trick him up here. She’d forged notes and snuck around so he wouldn’t see her plant them. And once they were up here, she’d started to talk, to apologize again for what she’d done. He was tired of hearing it, tired of remembering that she had, in fact, told him the truth and he’d chosen not to believe her. It was much easier to just hold her entirely at fault.

But then he’d been angry at being tricked up here, he’d cut her explanations off and tugged on the door to find it locked. Lulu kept going, kept trying to talk to him to tell him something but then he’d told her what was probably the meanest thing he’d said to anyone in a long time, excluding the venom he’d spewed at Georgie. He’d told her to shut up, that he’d never believe another word that came out of her lying mouth.

It was easier to blame Lulu for what had happened and it was simpler to pretend that he’d been an innocent victim but the truth was that he’d believed Lulu because he’d only seen her words as confirmation of what he’d already felt. And he’d slept with Lulu because he wanted to, not because he wanted to get back at Georgie or because Lulu was convenient, but because he’d thought about the way she tasted since the islands and of course, that was wrong, right? He was a married man and over the moon about Georgie.

But Lulu would smile and she’d clap her hands together in excitement about something and he liked that, he liked watching her smile, liked being the one to make her smile and he really liked making her laugh because she’d had such a crappy life, she deserved someone who made her laugh and smile and be okay. And for a little while, he’d thought he could be that person. But then she’d lied and she reminded him of his mother, not caring who she hurt as long as she got her way. And he’d watched them together, Lulu and Tracy, watched them, listened to them and it had made his skin crawl to know that there were such similarities, that he could have thought for one second he’d fall for a girl like his mother, his cold conniving mother that he loved because she was his mother, his family and you couldn’t not love your family. It was written somewhere, he was sure.

And he’d told her they were nothing, because he was terrified that the cliché was true. A boy always fell in love with someone who reminded him of mother, the way girls fell in love with men who were like their fathers and he’d been so sure he’d escaped that with Georgie.

He’d been immersed his own pain, his own betrayal and his own fears before he’d even thought it through and remembered that she’d tried to tell him about Georgie, tried to tell him that she was selfish and not a good person. She’d told him the truth and he’d told her she didn’t have to lie to him. And then he felt guilty and the more guilty he felt, the more he took it out on her because he wouldn’t feel this torn up and twisted around if she had just stayed out of his life entirely. He’d be in love with Georgie without complications and he wouldn’t be thinking about Lulu Spencer, and the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled or how her nose would twitch right before she laughed.

He was terrified now that he loved them both. That he loved Georgie’s compassion and her generosity. That he loved Lulu’s smile, her laugh and her voice and her devotion and loyalty to a father that didn’t deserve it. He understood what it was to crave a family, he’d grown up like that.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. She turned her head to frown at him and he continued, “I’m sorry I’m an ass and I’m sorry that I said we were nothing because we weren’t and that was a lie and I think there have been enough lies.”

Her eyes filled and then he really panicked because tears were not his thing. He never knew what to say, what to do and he was pretty sure that tears led to crying and then he’d really be in deep shit. Her lower lip trembled but she bit down on it and he was relieved because maybe she wouldn’t cry after all.

“No, you were right,” Lulu said quietly. “We are nothing and it’s better that way.” She turned her gaze back over the dark city. She closed her eyes and without thinking about it, rubbed her hand over her belly in a way that reminded Dillon of something, he just couldn’t figure out what.

General Hospital: Elevator Shaft B – 8:50 P.M.

An hour, they’d sat in here. And Robin was sure he would have cracked by now. She didn’t know what that said about her as a woman, but he hadn’t even moved an inch her way. In fact, except for the tense expression on his face and the clenching of his fists, one might suspect he didn’t have any interest in elevator sex.

Which confirmed what she’d expected since he’d turned her down a few days ago. He’d lost his appetite for her, for sex between them and he couldn’t find a nice way to tell her. She couldn’t blame him. The risk when they’d slept together had been minimal, but it’d also been an abstract thing, nothing tangible he could wrap his hands around.

But now, with an actual exposure, it was probably more real to him. That he risked his life every time he took her to bed. And he’d probably decided it wasn’t worth it. It was understandable–he had a brilliant career in front of him and it would be a shame if it was cut short in anyway.

So Robin tugged her skirt down and folded her arms across her chest. She was done trying to tempt him. If he’d wanted her, he would have had her by now and she had more self-respect than that.

“You could have just said something.”

Her voice startled him, they hadn’t spoken in nearly a half hour. He blinked at her. “Tell you what?” he demanded, grateful that she’d opened her mouth. But with his luck, she’d say something that either pissed him off or turned him on (and truth be told, the former usually led to the latter anyway) and the battle to control himself would begin all over again. He really couldn’t win tonight.

“Why I’m here and you’re all the way over there,” Robin said. “I mean, I’m a big girl, I can handle it.”

“I did tell you,” Patrick said, confused. “The other night–”

“No, I mean you could have told me the real reason,” she interrupted. “And I wouldn’t have blamed you or held it against you.”

Women. You could always count on them to start at Point A and go directly to Point F without bothering with any of the stops in between. “I’m not exactly sure what you’re talking about,” he said, spacing the words out.

“You’re not attracted to me anymore,” Robin shrugged, trying to pretend that it didn’t cut deep because no one–not even Jason–had looked at her the way Patrick had, not since she’d been diagnosed. He’d looked at her like he was hungry and she was the meal and while it had irritated her in the beginning, she found that she liked being considered desirable and being wanted so fiercely by someone so….well experienced was probably the best word.

“Not attracted to you anymore,” Patrick echoed, wondering how someone so smart could be so completely stupid. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The fact that he was still attracted to her after eight months of knowing her, two months after sleeping with her–well that was a worrisome fact that he didn’t really want to address right now.

“Well, what else am I supposed to think?” Robin demanded. “I throw myself after you the other night, you throw me back. And I’m practically naked over here and you won’t budge, so what exactly am I supposed to think?”

He opened his mouth and shut again, irritated beyond hell. Why did she have to complicate things and why the hell had the word naked have to spill from her lips? Damn her.

When he didn’t say anything, she nodded. “That’s what I thought–”

“Don’t take my silence as some sort of agreement,” he retorted. “I’m just trying to figure out how someone who’s so smart can be so absolutely stupid. I’ve been exposed to AIDS, you idiot. End-stage AIDS. If you get exposed to that–” his breath caught just thinking about it and he shook his head. “I’m not taking that risk. I refuse to. And if that means celibacy, well that’s fine. I don’t really care.”

“Oh, so it’s just me you’re being noble with, huh?” Robin demanded. “What about the other women?”

Other women! Other women! He was going to wring her neck before this over, he was sure of it. “When the hell do I have time for other women?” he spat out. “I’m working or I’m with you. When am I supposed to find the time?”

She closed her mouth and digested the fact that Patrick wasn’t seeing anyone else. “Okay, so you’re not sleeping with anyone for six months because you might be sick.” She nodded. “Well, I am actually sick and I didn’t sleep with you for months because I didn’t want to expose you.” She glowered at him. “Who’s hiding behind their illness now, you bastard?”

He opened his mouth but shut it abruptly. He cursed under his breath. “I don’t care for the fact that you have a point.”

She nodded. “Damn right. You accused me of using my HIV as an excuse, as a way to hide from the world, well now you have an idea of why.” She glared at him. “Do you think it was easy knowing that every time we were together, I could have killed you?”

“No, no, I don’t,” Patrick admitted. He’d handled this wrong, of course but wasn’t the first time he’d done so regarding Robin and it definitely not going to be the last. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize–”

“And I’m sorry,” Robin sighed. “I didn’t–I didn’t think you were really serious about the celibacy thing. But you are and I don’t have the right to try and change your mind.” She shifted restlessly, wanting this elevator to move, wanting to get away from this. Six months. In six months, without sex to hold him, her tenuous grip on Patrick would be gone and he’d be off chasing someone else by the time he was tested again.

But that was okay, because she might have almost been in love with him, but she’d caught herself before the final plunge and it was okay now. They’d be friends and she really did value that–

“I can’t believe you’d be so thick as to think I wasn’t attracted to you anymore,” Patrick said, still stuck on that. “You’re as dumb as a brick, you know that?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Keep calling me stupid, jackass, and find out what it’s like to be in an enclosed space with the daughter of two government agents.”

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 9:00 P.M.

Elizabeth wished she had charcoal or a decent pencil to go with this pad of paper she’d unearth from Jason’s desk, but all he’d had was an assortment of pens and a dull number two yellow pencil with no sharpener in sight.

When she’d arrived earlier, he’d been in a weird mood–he’d been his usual silent and brooding self but there was an agitation was that unnatural, and it worried her. Jason was rarely agitated and it always with a good reason. He’d alluded to having seen something he wished he hadn’t but beyond that he hadn’t been all that good for details.

And if she didn’t know what happened, she couldn’t help. And Elizabeth liked to help Jason, she liked thinking that someone besides her toddler needed her. So she sketched and listened to him play pool and she wondered why he couldn’t be like normal people and just have a breaking point.

It had to do with Sam, Elizabeth decided. Because he would be too used to anything Carly could do to him and Sonny, she knew was safely tucked away in his mansion. Emily was away with Monica at a spa and she didn’t think that really left anyone.

So he’d seen Sam doing something or heard her saying something to disturb him. He’d been somewhat restless after Carly and Sonny had slept together, Elizabeth remembered. And the look in his eyes had been the same too. So maybe that was it. Maybe he’d seen Sam with another man. Maybe it was sinking in that he’d tossed her away and had lost his chance to get her back.

But who could Sam have been with? She wasn’t a blonde, so she definitely wasn’t with Lucky, Elizabeth thought bitterly. And if it had been Sonny, Jason would look worse, she decided. Nikolas was family, so that ruled him out.

She tried to think of all the people that she’d seen Sam around lately. There was Detective Rodriguez from the PCPD, Ric–well that was really it. She and Ric had seemed close when they’d been on the docks the other day, Elizabeth remembered. But Ric was happily married, right?

But he’d cheated on Alexis before. With Reese Marshall. And Elizabeth’s pencil dropped to pad of paper. What better way to get back at Alexis for her part in breaking Jason and Sam up than to seduce her mother’s husband?

She felt really sick.

She peered over the back of the sofa and watched Jason line up another shot, the muscles in his shoulders bunching up. “Jason,” she said quietly. She set her pad aside and stood to round the sofa.

He didn’t reply, didn’t acknowledge her voice but Elizabeth slid in between him and the pool table, stopping him in his tracks. “What?” he asked roughly. He was glad she was going to talk again. Because when she talked, he could focus on her and not on what he’d seen. It was easier to listen to Elizabeth, to fix her life than examine his own.

“I am so sorry,” she said in a soft tone. “It’s awful when you see someone you love doing something so reprehensible and so unthinkable.”

He frowned down at her–how could she have possibly known?

She must have seen the question in his eyes and she shrugged. “I know that look; you’ve had it before–when Carly slept with Sonny. I didn’t know why then, but it makes sense. And it just makes sense to me that was Sam you saw.” She touched his chest, her small hand braced over his heart, her warmth bleeding through the gray of his shirt. “I am so sorry,” she repeated.

She felt empty inside, knowing that all the while Lucky had been accusing her of infidelity, that he’d only done it throw her off and keep her from discovering his secret. She was empty and she was cold and she wanted that to go away.

And so it seemed perfectly natural to lean up on the tips of her toes and press her mouth to his. It seemed natural and in a way, it seemed inevitable. Because Jason had always been able to make her feel safe and secure and more importantly, he’d always made her feel okay in her own skin. And she wanted to give that back to him at the same time.

As if her soft kiss was the key that unlocked something inside him, his arm slid around her waist and he crushed her mouth to his, accepting the comfort she wanted so desperately to give.

+6

It’s all right to make mistakes
You’re only human
Inside everybody’s hiding something
Take time to catch your breathe and choose your moment
Don’t slide
– Slide, Dido

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 9:07 P.M.

He held her in an almost suffocating embrace, devouring her mouth like a desperate man who hadn’t had a drink in years. And even if she’d been unable to breath, Elizabeth didn’t think she’d have the strength to push him away. She would have gladly died in his arms, if it meant that she’d never have to give up this intoxicating warmth.

His breath was hot against her face as he pulled away to set his teeth into her neck. He nipped at the soft skin and a moan trapped itself in her throat. She couldn’t find the energy to force it out and she lost the opportunity when he brought his lips back to hers.

She was so caught up, so lost in the moment that she didn’t even register when he lifted her into the air and set her on the edge of the pool table. She could feel her feet dangling in thin air and the wood beneath her but she only let that sunk in quickly before sliding her hands underneath his shirt to find the skin beneath it. It was slick and hot but she wanted more and she tugged at the hem, wanting to see the chest she remembered so clearly and had often been the subject of many fantasies once upon a time.

He swept the shirt off his head and sent it sailing and she dimly wondered if they’d find it hanging from the desk chair the next morning but then his mouth met hers again and she felt herself falling until her back met the cool green felt.

She didn’t feel empty or cold anymore and that was the last conscious thought she had.

General Hospital: Elevator Shaft B – 9:07

The silence was thick and the air was beginning to feel heavy. Robin plucked at the damp tank top that sweat had sticking to her skin. She didn’t realize how much she valued air conditioning until it was gone.

Her watch beeped and Robin sighed, reaching into her purse for her medication. She tugged out a pouch and a very warm bottle of water and started to take each pill.

She could feel his eyes on her but he didn’t speak and she was grateful for that. He’d seen her take the medication so many times–during the epidemic, during the transplant crisis with his father, and during the brief weeks where they’d spent nearly ever night together. He’d watched her take all these pills and had never said a word about them.

But it was the first time she’d taken them in front of him since his exposure.

She finished the dose and set the pouch and bottle back into her purse and stared at the light pink nail polish on her toes.

“So you never told me about your cousins,” Patrick broke the silence again.

“You can’t possibly want to know how Maxie or Georgie are,” Robin said, suspiciously. “You don’t even know them.”

“I don’t know Georgie, I don’t like Maxie, there’s a difference,” Patrick corrected bluntly. “And don’t start on me about Maxie’s difficult time–”

“No, no…” Robin shook her head. “I wasn’t going to. I still–it’s hard to believe that she slept with him and then…” she exhaled slowly. “If Maxie hadn’t told me myself, I probably wouldn’t have believed it.” She eyed him for a moment. “So you did see them kissing on the docks.”

Patrick shrugged. “Yeah but I was hoping it was a mistake, a one time thing and there’s no reason to hurt Elizabeth over something like that.” He licked his lips. “But, you know, if I had told her, maybe she wouldn’t have had to walk in on her husband screwing someone else. Twice.”

“Or she wouldn’t have believed you either,” Robin pointed out. “And all you would have done was wreck your friendship.” She sighed and let her head fall back against the elevator wall. “I look at Maxie and I don’t even recognize her anymore. I know we all handle grief in different ways and maybe I could have been there for her more, spent more time with her–made time. But I just can’t reconcile the girl that’s so proud of herself for sleeping with a married man with the one that I watched grow up. And what’s worse? I think Maxie is the one that fed into Lucky’s suspicions about you and Elizabeth.”

“You know, I don’t care what people think of me, I never have but I wish…I could I could have figured out a way to convince Lucky that nothing was going on but how do you prove a negative right?”

“You can’t.” Robin shook her head. “And she told me that it didn’t matter what Lucky did with anyone else, because everyone knew that Elizabeth was sleeping with you. I told her–that’s not possible because for one thing, Elizabeth would never do that–even if she weren’t married because she’s my friend and number two, you and I were sleeping together most of the summer and even though we didn’t do the monogamy thing…I got the feeling that you really didn’t…” she shrugged. “Sleep with anyone else.”

“Well, I didn’t,” Patrick admitted. He wasn’t about to tell her why. That would just make the business of being stuck in this elevator all that much worse. “What did she say when you told her that?”

“She told that you’d probably lied to me about that, that you couldn’t be trusted to tell anyone the truth because you’d tried to lie about the kiss on the docks. And I just…” Robin closed her eyes. “I just stared at her because I couldn’t understand how she could lie to my face like that and try–” she licked her lips. “She had to know that it would hurt me. To think that you and Elizabeth were sleeping together. I mean, she knows–” she shook her head. ”

The words were unsaid, but they hung in the air. She knows how I feel about you and that, of course, made Patrick perk up. Everywhere, unfortunately. “She knows only what she wants,” Patrick corrected. “And she’s not really seeing past that right now, Robin. The truth is going to come out eventually and it’s only going to make your cousin look like the bitch that she is. I’m sorry but I can’t pretend I like her–”

“No, no, I wouldn’t expect you to. She’s running around town, telling anyone who’ll hear her about your wild affair with Elizabeth. You get to dislike her.” Robin bit her lip. “But I have to involve my uncle Mac now and I think that’s going to get her sent off to a nunnery unfortunately.” She tapped her fingers restlessly against the floor. “So you’re really going to go six months,” she remarked, changing the subject.

“I can do it,” Patrick said somewhat defensively, though his earlier resolve was being worn down by the way her clothing was now sticking to her skin. It was really getting hot in here. Where thehell was the power?

“Have you ever gone six months?” Robin asked pointedly. “Since you started having sex? Have you ever gone a month?”

“Yes,” Patrick said, somewhat smugly. In fact, he’d gone six months very recently and he was damn proud of that. Of course, he hadn’t yet slept with Robin and he was pretty sure that was going to be his breaking point. “Before you and I slept together, I hadn’t been with anyone since you caught me in the OR with that nurse.”

Robin stared at him and for the first time, he realized she was completely speechless. Of all the days for him not to have a video camera or some sort of recording device–because no one else was ever going to believe this.

“I don’t think that was quite six months,” Patrick continued, “but it was pretty close and let me tell you, I do appreciate you finally giving in and ending that particular dry spell.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You can’t possibly be serious. You were out all the time with women and what about Carly? Why did you go six months?”

“I’m not exactly sure if I like the fact that you think I was sleeping with other women the entire time I was trying to sleep with you,” he replied, a little offended. “And I told you, I only pretended with Carly to annoy you. And it worked, so–”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute–” Robin held up her hands and waved them in front of her, so he’d shut up. “So the second we make any progress, you give me that speech about how you’re only in it for casual sex and you spend the next two months telling me you’ll sleep with any woman you want when you want to and now you’re telling me that the only woman you’ve been with for the last eight months is me?”

He scowled. “You’re intentionally putting it together so that it sounds stupid. That’s not how it happened.” It was, but she didn’t understand and he really thought she would have. She understood him in every other way, and usually could tell him what he was thinking before he could tell himself–a fact that would probably always piss him off. How could she not see how it was? It would have been so simpler if she’d understood without his having to tell her.

But then again, things were rarely simple between them and he was getting tired of it. Maybe it was time to finally lay it on the line.

She glared at him and folded her arms tightly across her chest. “Oh, yeah, jackass? How’d it happen then?”

He crooked his finger at her. “Come here.”

“You don’t want me any closer, I might lose my mind and tear your clothes off,” Robin retorted sarcastically.

“I’m willing to take that chance. Come over here.”

“No,” Robin said stubbornly. “You can’t make me.”

“Listen, pain in the ass, I am bigger, I’m meaner than you and now I’m ticked off so get your ass over here or I will just drag you,” he threatened.

Robin huffed and rolled her eyes before sliding across the car and settling in a good foot from Patrick. He grabbed her hand and she smacked him with her free one. “I’m not going to touch that–” she began.

“You and that gutter mind of yours,” Patrick shook his head before bringing her hand to his chest. “I told you that I didn’t want anything more than casual because I thought if I said it out loud, it would be true.”

Her brow wrinkled with confusion. “What do you mean–”

“I mean, that I wanted to believe that I still wanted another woman, any other woman. All women. But, the truth is, Robin,” he hesitated. “The truth is that since the moment you barreled into that operating room, the thought of sleeping with another woman became a distant memory and you were all I could think about for months.”

“It’s really hot in here,” Robin said suddenly, “I think it’s gone to your head. It’s making you act really weird–”

He clapped his free hand over her mouth. “You talk too much. Be quiet for a second and let me finish.”

She glared at him mutinously and then with great relish bit his hand. But he’d expected that from her and had already braced himself for it. “You’re going to feel really stupid in about five seconds,” he warned her.

He took a deep breath and ignored all the voices in his head screaming at him to shut up. “Robin, I know you think that this exposure has changed things between us–and it has. Because now I understand you more. And I can understand what it’s like wanting to put someone else’s safety in front of your own and that terrifying feeling that you could hurt the one person you want to protect more than anything.”

He removed his hand from her mouth, not wanting to say these words for the first time while physically restraining him. He shifted it to her chin and touched her bottom lip with his thumb. “Robin, I love you.”

General Hospital: Roof – 9:15 P.M.

Lulu wondered what her baby would look like. If she (she really wanted a little girl to name Laura) would have her light blonde hair or maybe she’d have Dillon’s dark blonde hair. Maybe their baby would look more like their relatives–dark red hair like her aunt Bobbie or dark brown hair like Dillon’s brother Ned.

She thought their baby would probably have her eyes instead of Dillon’s but she wanted the baby to have his nose and his mouth. She really liked those features.

Lulu wanted her baby to feel wanted and loved from the first second she breathed, and to never be an afterthought or be told that her mother had wanted her but her father had tolerated her. And she was scared that if she did tell Dillon, he would look at her with horror before fulfilling his obligations. And to him, their daughter would be a mistake, a nice one, but a mistake nonetheless. And no matter what, that would always color their interaction, he would never able to look at their Laura and not wish she’d happened at a different time, with a different girl.

So, really, she was protecting Dillon and their baby by not telling him. She loved Dillon. She thought she had before, but now she knew what that meant and love meant protecting that person, even if it took them away from you. It meant wanting them to be happy, even if it wasn’t with you.

Her stomach rumbled and she wished she’d eaten something. It rumbled again, and then it lurched and suddenly, she knew she was going to be sick. Lulu stumbled to her feet and made her way out of Dillon’s sight, trying not to brace her hand against her stomach.

Dillon followed her, worried and when he realized she was throwing up, he stepped respectfully out of sight for a moment, feeling angry at himself for having yelled at her earlier now that he knew she was sick–

And then it all clicked for him. The arranged meeting, the need to tell him something, the touching of her stomach, the throwing up–his mouth felt dry and all the blood drained out of his head.

Oh, God. Oh, God.

He bit down on his fist to keep himself from speaking out loud. He was only going to get do this once, only get to give her a first reaction once and he didn’t want it be anything other than surprise. He didn’t want it be disappointment and terror, he wanted, for once, to do the right thing where Lulu was concerned.

Lulu finished and straightened, rubbing her hand over her mouth. She fished the mints she kept in her pockets for moments like this and popped one in her mouth and wished that she had water.

She went back to the main part of the roof and found Dillon standing there, his hand in his pockets, his gaze out on the darkened city. “No lights on yet,” he mused.

“I wonder what’s taking so long,” Lulu rubbed her arms, feeling goose bumps rise for some reason. She glanced at him nervously and found that he was looking at her now, in a manner that she didn’t recognize. “What?”

“You weren’t going to tell me, were you?” he asked. “Why?”

She widened her eyes in what she thought would be innocence. “Tell you what?”

He swallowed and hoped his voice and face were as level as he was striving for. “Lulu. How did you think I wouldn’t notice? I mean, you can’t hide that sort of thing.”

Her breath caught and shook her head. “No, I don’t know what you mean–”

“Lulu,” he repeated. “Come on. No more lies, remember? You promised me that before and I just told you a half hour ago that I didn’t want there to be any lies or secrets between us.” He stepped towards her. “You can tell me anything, Lu. You always could.”

“No,” Lulu shook her head. It was better this way, she told herself. It was better and it didn’t matter that he already knew. She had to keep lying, she had to protect herself and she had to protect their baby and he didn’t love her the way she loved him–

But he took her hand in his, and squeezed. “I know you have to be scared, Lu. I know it, because I’m scared, too. It’s a scary idea but hey…” he smiled weakly. “I have a history of doing things before most people our age. I’ve already been married and divorced, you know.”

“Dillon–” she began, but her voice broke and suddenly she couldn’t understand why she was protecting herself anymore. He was right in front of her, and he looked strong and she was tired of standing by herself anymore, tired of pretending she didn’t feel like breaking. “I didn’t mean for this to happen but I can’t–” she blinked back tears. “I can’t say it’s a mistake because it’s not fair–”

“It’s not a mistake,” he cut in. And then he folded her into his arms and she broke, clinging to him, pretending for a moment that he would always be there to hold her and protect her. “It’s a surprise,” he laughed weakly. “But it’s not a mistake. It’s okay, Lu–” he stroked her hair as he felt her warm tears on his shoulder. “It’s okay, we’ll get through this together.”

This must be what growing up was, Dillon thought, cradling the mother of his child in his arms and wishing he could have made this better for her somehow. It meant taking the bad and the good together and making something great out of it. It meant making things okay for someone when they were far from okay.

So he was gonna be a dad. That was okay, he’d figure it out as he went along. He’d never let the kid grow up in hotels with movies for best friends. And he’d never make him (or her) feel like an afterthought or run their life or make it miserable. He thought he’d be a pretty good dad and Lu would be a good mom and that’s what was important right now. Everything else could wait until they got off the roof but right now, the belief that he could make it work for her and make it okay again was enough.

Port Charles Courthouse: Elevator Shaft – 9:20 P.M.

Carly closed her eyes and prayed for the power to come back on, though she was surprised when she wasn’t struck down by lightening at the very idea of praying for something. After all the sins she’d committed and would likely commit before her time on this rock was finished, her room in hell was reserved and had been for some time.

But if there was ever a moment she wanted God to be listening to her, it was this one. She prayed for the power, she prayed for the air conditioning, because damn it was hot in here. She prayed for her children’s father, to give him the strength to do what was right and she prayed for her best friend, to find someone who wouldn’t sleep with his enemy. As long as he didn’t love that someone more than her, Carly qualified. And she prayed for the woman across from her, she prayed that she would have a miracle and that she would continue to live.

She opened her eyes and looked at Alexis, concerned at the pallor of the woman’s skin and the labored breathing. The sweat was trickling down her face in small streams and the air felt thicker, hotter and it was like a layer of heavy cloth being wrapped around them, more and more tightly so that breathing became more and more of a chore.

Could you get heatstroke from being stuck in an elevator? Carly wondered.

She cleared her throat, it was so hoarse from the lack of liquid. She’d given her water bottle to Alexis when the lawyer had drained her own. “Alexis,” she said, coughing because the sweat felt like it was in her throat now, like it was clogging her airways. “If we get out of here alive–”

“This feels familiar,” Alexis murmured and Carly smiled faintly.

“We’ve made it out of worse, honey,” Carly replied. “But if we get out of here, I want you know to know that I don’t think it’s too late for me to be a good person, you know? I think I could still do it.”

Alexis cracked an eye and peered at the blonde, baffled. “Okay,” she said slowly.

“No, no, listen, this is how I’m going to be a good person–well better,” Carly clarified. “I might be too far gone to be a good one. Anyway…” she waved her hand weakly. “You and me…I don’t really remember why we don’t like each other, you know? Because I think it started when you slept with Sonny, but that doesn’t matter now. Because that was then, and I was a different person, you know? I still loved him and I wanted him and I don’t know.” She closed her eyes, feeling really tired. “But you and me, we’re different now. And you have the girls and I have my boys and we’re family, you know.”

Alexis laughed weakly. “Yeah, someone’s laughing about that somewhere. I bet it’s Stefan, he always had a perverse sense of humor.”

“Could be my mama Virginia, she always told me my bad karma would come back to bite me in the butt,” Carly countered. “Anyway, that’s not the point.” She frowned. “What was my point?”

“Something about you being a good person or a better one.”

“Right, right, so here’s how I’m going to do it.” Carly straightened. “You’re gonna need someone. A friend, if we can use that term loosely. And this next year is gonna be rough, you know? So I’m gonna be a better person by being a friend to you. There’s a reason we keep getting stuck in elevators, Alexis and I think it’s God way of telling us we should stick together.”

“The heat’s getting to you, Carly. I think you’re hallucinating,” Alexis mumbled.

“Or maybe it’s the devil, but either way, Alexis, you’re gonna need someone to help you out and seeing as how we’re family, there’s really no one else who understands what you’re going through with Ric and Sam more.” Carly reached out her hand. “So what to do you say to a truce? Pinky swear?” She arranged her hand so her pinky was out.

“What the hell?” Alexis shrugged and latched her own pinky to Carly’s. “Pinky swear.”

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 9:30 P.M.

Elizabeth reached under her back and retrieved the cue ball. She giggled and then stopped. “I can’t believe I want to laugh,” she said.

Jason leaned up on an elbow next to her and peered at her curiously. “You want to laugh?” he repeated. “That’s not usually the reaction I get.”

Now she did laugh, her shoulders shaking. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I have gone with, ‘Wow, that was the best I’ve ever had?'”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “I think I’m insulted now.”

It was wonderful, she thought, closing her eyes and stretching her hands over her head. It was wonderful to feel this loose and this warm and this peaceful inside. It appeared that she’d finally nailed the concept of comfort sex. She giggled again. Nailed, she repeated to herself.

“It’s nice to see you smile.” Jason toyed with a strand of her hair. She brought her fingers up to trace his mouth.

“You’re smiling too. It’s nice to see that again,” she told him. She slid her fingers in his hair and drew his face back down to hers. After a long moment during which she forgot her name, age and place of residence, she sighed. “This pool table looks a lot more comfortable than it actually is.”

Jason chuckled and rolled off the table, getting to his feet. She sat up and realized that they were both completely naked. And there were some things that only got better with age, she decided, taking a good look at him–or at least as good as the moonlight filtering through the windows would allow. The candles they’d lit earlier had long since flickered out.

“Why don’t I take you upstairs?” he suggested, scooping her up in his arms like she weighed less than a feather. “You can look for your clothes later.”

She frowned. “How did you know I was thinking about looking for them?”

He didn’t answer her but just started to the stairs. Halfway to the first landing, the lights in the penthouse flickered on, then off, on and then off again before finally staying on the third time around.

“Power’s back,” Elizabeth murmured.

+9

If you knew how lonely my life has been
And how long I’ve been so alone
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along
And change my life the way you’ve done
— Feels Like Home, Chantal Kreviazuk

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 9:35 P.M.

Jason glanced over at one of the lamps and a brief smile spread across his face. “Well, at least we’ll be able to find your clothes later.”

She bit her lip and cast her eyes towards the stairs. Somehow, in the dark, she hadn’t had to say it to herself–she’d just had wild, crazy, passionate sex with Jason on his pool table. She hadn’t really had to come clean with herself that her marriage was definitely over now.

But with the lights on, it didn’t seem so inevitable or so dream like. It was almost as if going upstairs, to his bedroom, with the lights shining and the power back on, reality had resurfaced and it would now be a conscious decision to continue their interlude.

And it was a decision that she decided she wanted to make. She tightened her arms around his neck and grinned. “So, we going upstairs or what?”

Port Charles Courthouse: Elevator – 9:36 P.M.

The emergency lights in the car flickered and Carly moaned–even their backup was going out. In moments, it would be pitch black.

But they only flickered and then the lights came on full force.

And so did the air conditioning. And then the elevator lurched and started to move. “Hallelujah, prayer works!” Carly raised her fists in the air. “We are getting out of here!”

“Fabulous,” Alexis sighed. “So I get to go back to my life with my adulterous husband, my tramp daughter and oh, yeah–my death sentence.” She pulled herself to her feet. “I almost preferred the idea of death by heat stroke.”

Carly bounced to her feet, the idea of getting out this elevator giving her an adrenaline rush. “The difference is, now you got me.”

Alexis peered at the blonde and sighed. “And I thought 2006 couldn’t get much worse. Now I have Carly on my side.”

General Hospital: Elevator Shaft B – 9:35 P.M.

As soon as the words had left Patrick’s lips, the flights flickered on and Robin blinked, pulling away from him. Thank God for interruptions, she decided. She’d always thought if those words left either of their mouths, it would be hers and then he’d be horrified, it would end badly so she was pretty glad she wasn’t stupid enough to say those words.

She’d never thought he would and now she didn’t know what to think–what to say–what to do. “I wonder why the elevator isn’t moving,” she mused, hoping enough time had passed that he’d realized that he’d made a mistake, that she didn’t need to hear those words, especially when she wasn’t sure what he meant or why he’d said them.

Patrick scrubbed a hand over his face and wanted to smack himself and her at the same time. Were they really going to do another round of this? “Robin–”

“I mean, the elevator must be stuck or something because with the power back on, I figured it would just start moving but it’s not and we’re still here and–”

“Robin,” Patrick cut in. “You don’t have anything to say to me?” he demanded.

Her eyes wide, she sputtered for a moment before coherent words emerged. “What do you want me to say?” she asked almost weakly.

This was exactly his worst nightmare, he realized. Why did they never do anything the easy way? Why did they always have to take one step forward and three back? “Well, reciprocation would have been nice,” he muttered.

“Because I’m not saying it just because you said it,” Robin began. “And I’m not even sure why you said it, I mean, you don’t want to feel that way and I can’t believe you said it–”

To stop her from babbling and for his own sanity, he again clapped a hand over her mouth. Her panicked expression quickly morphed into irritation and she tried to jerk away. “No, no, Scorpio. I’m done. Listen, you’re going to say because you’ve already said it and now that I’ve said it, you–” He glared at her. “Don’t shake your head at me, you did so say it.”

Robin jerked away and got to her feet. “I did not,” she denied. “A-and you can’t prove differently.”

“See, you know how I know when you lie? You get that little twitch right here by your nose–” he gestured. “You said it when we were in bed–”

“Oh, well you can’t believe what people say in the heat of the moment,” Robin cut in. “That’s just—you’re really good in bed,” she finished lamely.

He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and really wished for the strength not to just reach out and wring her neck. Why was it so difficult for her to just admit it? She was supposed to be the mature one in this duo, not him. “I didn’t need confirmation, I already knew that, but thanks. No, you thought I was asleep.”

Her eyes widened at this and he smirked. “Coming back to you now, isn’t it?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Robin folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Clearly, you just want to believe that I said it first so you can pretend you’re reciprocating and not actually having to say it–”

“For the love of–” Patrick raised his eyes to the ceiling and muttered some unkind thoughts under his breath. “Okay, fine. Have it your way. You never said it, but I am saying it so will just give me a break here?”

“You’re…you’re really saying it?” she asked hesitantly. She bit her lip and peered up at him. “Like you mean it?”

“Robin, I love you, though only God knows why at this point.” He gripped her elbows and drew her closer to him. “So can we just skip the portion of the program where we bicker over it and just go to the part where you say it back?”

“Fine, but you know, if I say it, I’m going to want strings,” she warned. “Strings and commitments and exclusivity–”

“No problem,” Patrick cut in. “Just say it, damn it.”

“You’re really cute when you’re mad, you know that?” Robin teased, something settling inside of her. She grinned. “Man, if someone had told me you’d be begging to hear this, I would have told them they were nuts–”

He actually growled and she giggled. “Fine, fine, I’ll do it right this time.” She sobered. “Do it again.”

It might have been the only declaration of love she’d ever receive in which the man declaring it would be staring daggers at her and clenching his teeth. But this one meant the most. She’d really fought for this one, had given up hoping for this one and most of all, she thought this might be last one.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, stood up on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. “I love you, too.”

The elevator lurched then and they went flying back against the wall. Before they could right themselves, the doors slid open and half the hospital staff–including Patrick’s father Noah, the Chief of Staff Alan Quartermaine and Robin’s parents, Robert and Anna, were standing in front of the doors.

“Your father never could pass up the opportunity to neck in the elevator with a pretty girl either,” Alan said to Patrick.

General Hospital: Roof – 10:00 P.M.

“Do you have service yet?” Lulu asked as Dillon sat back down at her side and slid his arm back around her shoulders. “My cell’s dead.”

“Mine, too.” Dillon glanced at the door. “Well, with the power back on, it still doesn’t solve our problem of being locked out here. Let’s just hope someone comes up here soon.”

They were quiet for a while but then Lulu spoke. “So, you took this better than I thought you would.”

“Me, too,” Dillon admitted. “I panicked at first, Lu, I’m not going to lie. Because this is….” he exhaled shakily. “It’s almost too terrifying to really think about just yet. But I wanted to do better, I wanted to be what you needed.”

She glanced up at him. “So what happens next?” she asked quietly.

“Well, next, we’re going to hope someone lets us off this roof,” Dillon remarked. “But as to after that…I hope you’re okay with the fact that…I have no clue.” He met her eyes. “But you know what? I do know that whatever happens, it’s gonna be okay. You know? Because you and me, we are amazing together. And you know, things happen for a reason. I don’t believe in accidents. You’re going to be a good mom and I’m going to be a good dad, and we’ll figure it out as we go along.”

“You’re going to love her right?” Lulu asked. “I mean, you’re not going to look at her and wish she were Georgie’s or that she’d come along like ten years later, right?”

Scary questions. He wanted his answers to be the right ones, he honestly did. So he took a deep breath and just went with it. “It’s okay that she’s ours and not mine and Georgie’s. I’m okay with that. But it’s hard not to wish that it had happened even a year from now, you know? Because this is going to be so hard for you.” He brushed his lips over the top of her head. “You’re going through all this crap with your family and now you factor in that my mother is probably going to kill us both–but you don’t have to worry about me not loving her. She’s part of you, she’s part of us. And my family, and your family. And I just…” he shook his head. “We’re going to do better for our baby than our parents did for us. And I just have this feeling–” He paused. “I just have this feeling inside that she’s going to be the best of both us. Of our families. Lulu, I already love her. Or him. Either way.”

“You’re coming up with really good answers,” Lulu said after a moment. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, glad for once she wasn’t standing alone. “I’m glad you know. I thought I’d be okay with you not knowing and me leaving, to be on my own but I’m glad that didn’t happen.”

“Me, too,” Dillon said. “However, if we don’t get off this roof soon, I might cry. I’m just saying. Because I’m starving.” He looked down at her. “And you should eat. And we should get you to a doctor. And then find some sort of way to tie my mother up for the next nine months.”

August 15, 2006

Harborview Towers: Jason Morgan’s Penthouse – 7:34 A.M.

The sunlight peeked in through the cracks in the shades. Elizabeth blinked and rolled over to shade her eyes. But they flew open when she couldn’t move. Something was pinning her down. A strong something. A warm something. She peeked over and grinned. It wasn’t a dream.

“There you go, smiling again.” Jason’s voice didn’t sound the least bit sleepy but she was sure he’d only just woken up. He must be one of those annoying people that could go to from sleeping to be awake without that icky stage in between. Bastard. “You keep doing that and I’m going to get used to it,” he continued.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to,” she admitted. She closed her eyes and snuggled into his arms, feeling safe and warm and completely at peace. That would change when she left this penthouse, she knew that. The real world filter in and she’d have to deal with it. But for now, she wanted to bask in being in the arms of someone who never let her down and had never treated her badly–even though she’d probably deserved it.

“So, what next?” Jason asked, idly stroking a hand down her bare back.

“I go home, I kick Lucky out long enough to pack mine and Cam’s things and then I go to my grandmother’s.” Elizabeth hesitated. “And then I just…breathe for a while, you know?” She glanced up at him. “What about you?”

“Breathing sounds good,” Jason answered. “I could go for that.” He paused for a moment. “I could drive you home.”

Elizabeth sat up and peered at him. “When you say drive, does that mean–”

He chuckled. “I guess some things never change. Yeah, we can take the bike.”

“Excellent. Can I drive?” Elizabeth asked.

“No,” he answered, good-naturedly. He crossed to his dresser and tossed her a t-shirt to wear since her clothes were strewn down stairs.

“Okay,” she accepted that. She was out of practice. “Can we take the cliff road then?”

“That’s not on the way to your place,” he pointed out, pulling on a pair of black briefs.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and huffed. “So? We’ll take the long way.” She grinned brightly. “C’mon, Jason, it’ll be like old times. And then, you can let me drive.”

“Cliff roads, yes, driving no.”

“You’re such a killjoy,” Elizabeth sighed. But her smile didn’t fade. “Jason?”

“Yeah?” he moved towards the bathroom to run the shower.

“Thank you,” she said simply.

He shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You always say that, but it’s never true.”

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