All right, the messiness begins. We are now changing my original pick up date for the show and moving it back to September, so ignore pretty much everything. My version is how it really is.

Written in about 62 minutes and this sucker is loooong for one scene. No editing, so excuse the typos.

Webber House: Living Room

It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes before she heard a familiar roar of a motorcycle approaching. She darted towards the door, threw back the dead bolt and pulled the door open just as Jason pulled to a stop behind her battered Honda Accord in the driveway.

“Is he gone?” Jason asked, swinging a leg over the bike and moving towards her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She exhaled slowly as he walked up the path between the driveway and her front step. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you, I just…I thought he might…not want to deal with you. I threatened with the cops first but—”

“It’s okay.” Jason gestured towards the front door and they went inside. “I asked Sonny who we’re using for locks now, and he said he’d send someone over.” He grimaced. “I didn’t even…”

She closed the door behind them and waited until he’d handed her his jacket to hang up. “It must be so hard,” she murmured. “So much has changed. I’m sure there’s so many people working for Sonny now that you don’t know.”

“It’s…” Jason hesitated. “I don’t know. It’s fine.” He waited a moment. “I’m going to wait here until they change the locks. Are you sure you’re okay? What did he do?”

Elizabeth frowned, folded her arms. “Look, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s your life. But don’t do that. Don’t brush me off and then ask me about my problems. I’m not doing that again.”

He squinted and followed her into the kitchen. “Elizabeth—”

“Because we don’t have to be friends to co-parent Jake. And I don’t blame you—” She paused. “The last time I saw you before you were shot…was the day I told you I had lied about Danny’s DNA test.”

She put a kettle on the stove to boil and took a mug from the cabinet. “That was worse than losing you. Knowing that you were angry with me when it happened—”

“I wasn’t.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Of course you were. I was angry with me. It was such a stupid, petty thing to do. I just—I knew it even when I did it.” She grimaced. “I do a lot of stupid things.”

“Elizabeth.” He waited until she looked at him. “Was I angry the day you told me? Yeah. Of course I was. Sam was grieving for her son, and I—I was blaming myself. But I know you have issues with Sam. That—it’s more complicated than that.”

“I just put off the inevitable,” she murmured as she busied herself selecting a bag of tea from a variety box as if it were an important decision. “You were always going to go back to Sam. I knew that. I guess…I don’t know. Part of me wanted some payback.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “For Jake.”

“Three weeks, five days, six hours, and fifteen minutes. That’s how long I was without my son.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. “And for every minute I was terrified, when people were accusing me of hurting my son—when my own husband, my friends…thought I had done something…Sam knew where Jake was.”

“I know—”

“She could have told us at any time, but instead, you broke your bail conditions. You ended up going to jail for months—” She shook her head. “I didn’t know Heather was involved. I just thought Danny was with Tea—I never would have done that if I’d thought he was in danger. It kills me that it’s my fault—”

“It worked out—”

“But I kept your son from you. I didn’t know I was doing that, but that’s what it was. That was weeks you didn’t get with Danny—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason waited a moment. “It’s not your fault. What Heather Webber did—that wasn’t on you. No one knew she was involved. You didn’t switch—” he stopped. “Wait—what did happen?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth shrugged, scratched her head. “God. Um. Todd Manning, do you remember him?”

“Yeah. Did he—”

“Yeah. He switched the babies…I guess he wanted to help Tea or something. I don’t know. He also switched the paternity test. Or at least that’s what we think. I don’t know. I wasn’t involved. I think—Spinelli told me that a copy of it was slipped under Sam’s door. And it makes sense, I guess. Danny looks like you did at that age. Like Jake.” The pot whistled and Elizabeth poured her tea.

“Anyway, it all came out after you…were shot. And Todd moved about six months later. Out of nowhere, really. Michael was dating his daughter, Starr. God, I wish she’d been around when everything happened with AJ. He only had Kiki, and she turned out to be lying to him, too—” She paused. “You….know about AJ.”

“Monica told me he was alive, and then Carly gave me her version,” Jason said. He lifted an eyebrow. “Which means it was probably a lot worse.”

“Morgan and Kiki found out that Sonny…” Elizabeth shook her head. “That Sonny had killed AJ. And they kept it from Michael for months. Kiki only came clean after Michael already knew—” She grimaced. “Anyway. Michael’s been through a lot.”

The doorbell rang, and Elizabeth went to answer it. Two guys entered with tool boxes, and she set them up at her front door first to change that lock.

“I was thinking about the memory mapping yesterday,” Elizabeth said as she rejoined Jason in the kitchen. “Do you know when Drew got your memories?”

“Before he came to Port Charles,” Jason said. “According to Robin, he knew her in the lab, and she brought him to Port Charles. He was going to see Sonny when he got hit by the car. Why?”

“Well, it’s just…weird. The car accident messed up his face so he had to have cosmetic surgery, and then no memories. Which…defeated the purpose of giving him your memories. What were they doing that first year until he got them back?”

Jason hesitated. “I haven’t really talked to Drew or Sam about that year—Sonny said he didn’t really know Drew that well—” He tilted his head. “But you did. Nikolas told you he was supposed to be me months later—”

“The Nurse’s Ball that May, yeah. After they found a chip in his head that Helena was using to control him. I guess they’ve upgraded the technology since brainwashing Lucky and screwing with his memories. That’s what makes me think that the Cassadines are more involved—they’ve been experimenting with memories for decades.”

“I didn’t think about Lucky—”

“That’s why I knew Drew wasn’t really guilty when he was accused of helping Faison escape and setting a bomb on the Haunted Star. I knew something wasn’t right. And Helena Cassadine was lurking around—” She shrugged. “Anyway. He had some memory flashes, but really—that first nine months or so—he really only—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “He remembered Jake’s name. And me.”

Jason frowned. “What?”

“Yeah. When he woke up from the coma, he said he felt like he knew me. And he said the name Jake felt familiar, so he chose that. I thought it was because of the emergency room—I was the nurse on duty when he came in.” Elizabeth sipped her cooling tea. “But for a long time, even though he was surrounded by pictures of you and the people from your life—nothing clicked. In fact, he didn’t get along with almost anyone from your life. Just me, Michael, and Carly.”

“I guess I didn’t really think about why they would let him go for a year without the memories,” Jason admitted. “When did the doctor show up?”

“Not until Jake came home. Around—” Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “Around the time the flashes really started coming. Drew started to remember Sam more. And everything hit the fan with what we thought was Drew’s real identity.” She sighed, rubbed her forehead. “I’m…I was kind of out of loop after that. Drew didn’t really talk to me again…for months. Which is…understandable.”

“Elizabeth—”

“Anyway, I don’t know if any of that is even important.” She shrugged. “I was just thinking about the timeline and then I was thinking about the Cassadines. Victor was involved with the WSB so he could have been funding the research. It just—I never bought the reason Helena said Victor kidnapped you.” When Jason gestured for her to go on, she did. “Helena told Drew it was to act as a personal bodyguard. Someone with your skills—but that never felt right. The Cassadines never had problems finding henchmen. Why you? And…”

She chewed on her lip. “Helena kidnapped Jake. But Drew said she never talked about him. The first time she told him the truth, she just threatened me. And then she made him forget the conversation ever happened. He remembered later. She told him he was Jason Morgan, that he had to do things for her. But she never once used Jake as leverage. Drew knew who Jake was.”

“There was never any hint that Helena had Jake?” Jason said with a scowl. “I don’t understand how any of that—”

“Lucky found him—and he and Luke brought him home. They just said they’d picked up his trail, but I don’t know. I mean, he’s Jake. The story was that Helena thought he was Lucky’s son—she’d planned to raise him to hate the Spencers and do vengeance or something.” She sighed. “But it…it’s just weird. Helena kidnaps Jake, and then Victor takes you a year later?”

“Could they have known Jake was my son?” Jason said. “I thought we were careful—”

“Jason—” Elizabeth said with a wry smile. “No one believed he was Lucky’s. Not after Ric made me admit in open court that we’d slept together and I’d had a paternity test. The test was on file at General Hospital. The truth was there if anyone wanted to look for it. So, yeah, she could have known. And since she had to take him from the hospital the night of accident—”

“There would be no way she wouldn’t know. She would have been in his files.” Jason scowled. “Damn it. Every time I think I’ve wrapped my mind around all of this, there’s something else.”

“Ms. Webber?”

One of the men stepped up to the doorway, a shoebox in his hands. “This was by the door—it fell over when we were taking out the old lock—and I stepped on one of the ornaments.”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose and came around the island to take the box from him. “Franco had this with him when he came in this morning,” she murmured. “He must have left it. Thanks.”

“Ornaments?” Jason said. “For Christmas? It’s February—” He stopped, looked at the open box in her hands. “Can I—Can I see that?”

“Sure—” She handed him the box and he set it on the kitchen table. He sorted out the broken pieces, and then lifted up a round ornament shaped like a disco ball. “That’s not one of ours. What—”

Jason swallowed hard and then twisted the top. The ball split into two in his hands, revealing a USB drive hidden within. “Franco had this with him?”

“Yeah. He put it down when he got back, and he was in a hurry when he left. I guess he—” Elizabeth shook her head. “What is it?”

“Andre destroyed all his records when he left town,” Jason said quietly. “But he gave something to Anna Devane. A disco ball with a USB drive.”

They both stored at the small electronic device nestled within the ornament. “With his files?” Elizabeth said faintly.

“And Drew’s memories.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Do you know what else happened between the time we lost Jake and I was shot?”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth pressed her fingers to her lips and forced herself to continue. “You shot Franco and left him for dead.”

“And then he showed up when?”

“Maybe…eight months after the pier—”

“And when did you start…” Jason hesitated. “When did you change your mind about him?”

“After…Andre came to town. After the truth—” Elizabeth folded her arms tightly across her chest, her throat tight. “Right about the time everyone in the town decided I was the worst person alive for lying. But after Andre came back. Around the time Drew started to remember more.” She nodded at the drive. “Those are Drew’s memories. And Franco had them.”

“Yeah.” He put the top back on the ornament. “The boys are at school?”

“Yes.” Elizabeth forced herself to breathe. “And no, Franco is not…he’s not allowed to take them out—only I’m authorized. Well, me and you. Well, technically, Drew—but we thought he—Never mind. That’s not important. Jason, how long do you think we have until Franco realizes he left that here?”

And oh, God, how much of her life over the last two years had been a lie? Had she been manipulated, lied to…even more than she feared?

“Not long enough. They’ll be done with your locks soon. We’ll change your security codes. And then we should probably go see Drew.” Jason looked at her. “We’ll get the boys from school—they can’t go on the bus. And we’ll make sure they’re somewhere safe. What did you tell Franco about breaking the engagement?”

“I—” Her throat was dry. “I told him it—I said the boys weren’t…Oh, God.” She closed her eyes. “He favors Jake. The signs were all there. He’s always been obsessed with you. Of course, he singled out your son—Oh, my God, what have I done?”

“Hey.” Jason put one hand on her shoulder, gripped it. “Hey. We don’t know how this all fits together yet. But we’ll find out, okay?”

“Okay.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s…get my locks changed and then go see Drew. Maybe there’ll be answers on the drive.”

+4

You know, it didn’t hurt as much I thought it would to write Franco. Written in 28 minutes.

Webber Home: Living Room

Elizabeth had shuffled the boys off to the bus stop, letting Cameron walk his brothers by himself. She’d given all three of them extra hugs, though Jake was still annoyed with her about the previous night.

Well, being a mother wasn’t supposed to be about winning a popularity contest.

She was relieved when Franco had called earlier that morning to tell her he’d be home around ten—that the boys would be safely in school, and she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this with them in the house.

It had been less than twenty-four hours since she had made the decision to break off her engagement, but with every minute that passed, her confidence built that she was making the right decision. Not just for her boys, but for herself. She hadn’t allowed herself to admit that her own happiness had been ebbing.

It wasn’t just that Griffin had given her reasons to doubt Franco’s brain tumor and the clean slate the world had given him after the surgery. Franco had, in many ways, proved himself at least capable of being better, and she could truly tell herself that he was not the same man that had committed the crimes against them all those years ago. But he was still capable of violence, and her memories of Manny Ruiz and his eventual return to the same sadistic man he’d been once lingered now.

And the lies, the constant jealousy and suspicion he had shown her since the truth about Jason and Drew had emerged—it wore on her, and Elizabeth had realized the previous evening that she hadn’t even reached out to Jason since he’d been home. Hadn’t been a friend to him.

Hadn’t stood by him. Because it would have made Franco upset.

Really—there were just so many reasons that Elizabeth should walk away from him now and not compound the problem by planning a wedding that she didn’t even want anymore that she wasn’t even sure which one to use when he came home today.

She twisted the slim gold band between her fingers as she waited for him to return. Rehearsed and prepared the reasons. She couldn’t mention Jason and Franco’s jealousy. That would just make it worse—and she wasn’t sure bringing up the tumor would be good.

When the door finally opened shortly after ten that morning, Elizabeth still wasn’t entirely sure what she would say—only determined to say something.

“Hey.” Franco’s smile was wide as he set down a duffel bag and crossed the room to kiss her. Elizabeth took an involuntary step back, and that smile faded. His dark eyes narrowed. “What’s wrong? Are you mad about something?”

“No.” Elizabeth took a deep breath. Held out the ring. “I just—I can’t marry you.”

He stared at the ring. Didn’t lift a finger to take it. “Why?” His voice was low, tight. “I left yesterday morning, and everything was perfect—”

“It hasn’t been perfect for months,” Elizabeth said. “And yesterday, I faced it. I’m sorry, Franco. It’s just—I need to do this for me. For my boys—”

“I love those boys,” Franco interrupted, his eyes snapping back up, lit with irritation. “You know how important Jake is to me. And Cam and Aiden—”

“And that’s the problem right there.” Elizabeth set the ring on the side table, resolute now. Convinced. “You always set Jake apart. And they’ve noticed it. I can’t raise my boys in a home where one of them is favored above the others—”

“That’s not—” Franco hissed. “Jake and I just have a special relationship—I should make more of an effort—”

“It shouldn’t be an effort,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. “And it’s too late. They already feel as though I favor Jake. And with everything that’s happened—with all the focus on Jake for the last two years—I can’t let another day pass where my boys feel less. I grew up in a home like that.”

“Give me a chance to make it better,” he pleaded, stepping towards her. But she took another step back, and he scowled. “Is that the only reason? Or is it Jason? That’s what it is, isn’t it? It was his day with Jake, and he’s been poisoning you against me—”

“Jason doesn’t bring you up unless I do,” Elizabeth said, with a roll of her eyes. “He’s always let me make my own choices. Even when he knows they’re mistakes—”

“Oh, because he’s so goddamn perfect!” Franco said, throwing his hands up in the air. “I knew this would happen! I knew you’d leave me for him—”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” she said flatly. “I’m leaving you because my boys don’t like you. Because I’m tired of always having to reassure you. Every time you question me—every time you try to make me doubt myself—” She took a deep breath. “I let Lucky get away with that for years. He accused me of having affairs, of settling, of not loving him—not trusting him—and every time I let it go, he chipped away at my self-respect. At my esteem.”

“I’m not Lucky—”

“But you’re doing the same thing.” She held up her hands to ward him off when Franco stepped towards her again. “You have lied constantly to me since Jason came home—since we found out about Drew and the memory mapping. You kept the truth about their identity from them—from Jake. You made it worse—”

“You said you forgave me—”

“I let it go because I wanted to make it better for you.” Elizabeth’s mouth twisted as she grimaced. “And I didn’t even know I was doing it. I have spent my life trying to make everything better for the people around me. For Lucky. For Ric, for Jason. For you. Well, I’m done with it. I am done being accused—”

“Elizabeth, just give me a chance—”

“I’ve given you chance after chance after chance. And you continued to lie.” She tipped her head. “And we both know there’s still things you’re keeping from me. I know there’s more to Betsy’s story than you’ve told me. And I’ve ignored it. But I’m just tired of it. I’m putting myself first. And I’m puttting my boys first. So I’m sorry. But this is over. And I want you to go.”

“Go?” Franco snapped. “Where? This is where I live—”

“You can live somewhere else. Back at the studio. At a hotel. I don’t really care.” Elizabeth felt something in her chest relax at that. She didn’t care where this man went. She just wanted him gone.

“I’m not leaving.” He shook his head. “You just need to listen to me. To let me fix this—”

“There’s no fixing this.” She edged around him, moving towards the table where she had left her cell phone. There was a light in his eyes, a clenching of his fists—and she felt…not scared.

Just…concerned. That he might not go without a fight. That he might—

She didn’t know. She just knew she had to get him out of here.

“You can come back for your things. I’ll have them packed.” Elizabeth picked up her cell phone, and hissed as he grabbed her arm and swung her around, his fingers digging into the soft sweater she wore. “Let me go!”

“Not until you listen to me! You can’t walk away from me! You said you loved me!”

“Let me go now.” Elizabeth wrenched her arm away and held out the phone. “Get out. Or I’m calling the police.”

Franco snorted with derision. “The police can’t make me go. I have rights, you know. Tenants rights. I’ve lived here long enough—you can’t just kick me out—”

Something exploded in her chest, her heart started pounding. Was this the face Carly had seen? Was this the side of the man she’d been warned about?

God, how many times did she have to give her trust to a monster before she learned?

Elizabeth looked down at her phone and pressed home button. “Siri,” she said. “Call Jason.”

“Calling Jason…Morgan…mobile—”

“Don’t you dare—” Franco snarled, his nostrils flaring as he stepped towards her. “I knew it. I knew you’d throw him in my face—”

“Elizabeth?” Jason’s voice came through the speaker. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m breaking up with Franco, and he refuses to leave. I don’t know that the police would make him go—” Elizabeth continued to back away, towards the front door.

“Get out of the house—I’ll be right—”

“I’m going,” Franco growled. He stalked past her, yanked up the duffel bag and shoved the door back open. “You’ll be sorry.”

The door slammed, the frame shaking in his wake.

Elizabeth closed her eyes, took a deep breath. “Jason, I think I need someone to change my locks.”

“I’ll be right there,” Jason said. “Lock all the doors. I can be there in ten minutes.”

+4

I wrote this in about 65 minutes. I had sent my timer for 90 minutes just to make sure I had enough time to get to everything I hoped to cover. No time for spellchecks or edits. Enjoy.

Webber Home: Living Room

About fifteen minutes after Cameron had gone upstairs to do work on his homework, Elizabeth had received a call from her youngest son. He had decided not to stay at Andy’s house for dinner—would she pick him up? Clearly, Cameron had informed his little brother that the house would be Franco free for the night, and it was safe to come home.

It shamed Elizabeth to know that her sons had developed ways of avoiding the man she had agreed to marry—more than any decision she’d made in her life, this would be the one to haunt her.

She watched while Aiden labored over his spelling homework and whizzed through the math worksheet. She fed both of her boys the Hamburger Helper—which did not taste good and she appreciated their lack of grimace as they ate.

They went back upstairs because it was finally time to play video games—their favorite hour of the day, she was sure—and she sat back to wait until Jason brought home her middle son.

Around six-thirty, the door opened and Jake trudged through, dropping his bookbag, coat and boots by the door—his father following with the usual white plastic bag filled with the food Jason had paid for, but Jake refused to eat with him.

Elizabeth stood up and intercepted that bag before Jason could hand it to Jake. “Hang up your coat, Jake,” she said firmly. “And there’s leftover Hamburger Helper warming in the oven.”

Jake scowled at her, his ski cap still tugged over his blonde hair. “What? I have dinner—”

Elizabeth held up the bag. “This? No. This is going in the trash.”

Jake gaped. “You can’t do that—”

“Elizabeth,” Jason said quietly. “It’s okay—”

“It’s not.” Elizabeth looked at him, saw the weariness and resignation in his eyes. “We had ground rules for this, Jake. You said you’d spend time with Jason. Give him a chance. You didn’t have to call him dad, but you were going to respect him. Sitting at dinner and not eating so he can bring the food home is not respecting him.”

Jake’s lip trembled. His eyes filled with tears. “Mom—”

“That’s not going to work,” Elizabeth said, even as her stomach rolled. She had let her son play her one too many times in the two months since he’d learned the truth. In the two and a half years since she’d had her miracle come home. “I invented that look.”

And her suspicions were confirmed when the tears quickly dried and the scowl only deepened. “Fine! Then I won’t eat! I’ll just starve!”

He started past them, but Elizabeth grabbed the fabric of his sweater and jerked him to a stop. “Hang up your coat. Put away your things. I’m not your maid.”

“What is your deal?” Jake said, shrugging her hands off. “Where’s Franco? He understands—”

“He’s not your father,” Elizabeth said. “Jason is. You don’t have to like it, but this stops today, Jake.”

“You made her do this!” Jake said, turning his anger on the very uncomfortable man standing by the door.

“Jake—”

“Jason is probably trying really hard not to tell him me to back off,” Elizabeth retorted, cutting off Jason’s protest. “He’s willing to let you get away with murder. I’ve let you get away with it too. I’m sorry, Jake, that the last two years have been hard. And I know it’s hard for you to accept the truth about Drew and Jason. But we have all bent over backwards trying to make this okay for you. And you haven’t given an inch—”

“He’s not my father!” Jake shouted, the tears streaming down his face this time real. “He never wanted me! My dad is supposed to love me and he didn’t!”

And this time, Elizabeth let Jake run past her and stomp up the stairs. She turned back to the stricken Jason and exhaled slowly. “I’m sorry. I probably—I should have given you a heads up that I wasn’t going to let him keep—”

Jason just shook his head, looked at the floor. “I don’t know what to do with him,” he admitted, his voice pained. Tight. “Maybe we shouldn’t be forcing this—”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Let’s—do you have a couple of minutes? We haven’t…we haven’t sat and talked about Jake. Not really. And we should.” She gestured towards the kitchen. “They have a have a habit of listening at the stairs, so—”

Jason followed her into the kitchen and sat at the small dining table tucked in the corner, removing his leather jacket, leaving it in his lap. “I didn’t realize he felt that way,” he admitted.

“I thought…” Elizabeth sat in the chair next to him, a mug of tea in her hands and sighed. “I thought there were something else going on. I just…” She bit her lip. “I feel like I’ve been blind to a lot of things lately.” She set the tea on the table. “When he agreed to go with you and Danny twice a week, I really thought that was a good sign, you know? He’d get to see you often, and he’d see…” She bit her lip. “He’d see how amazing you are, and it would…just get easier. But it isn’t working.”

“No.” Jason sat back. “It’s not. Should we be forcing it?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. She closed her eyes. “I just…you deserve to have a relationship with him, Jason. I took that from you—”

“You didn’t take anything from me, Elizabeth.” He leaned forward, and she opened her eyes to look at him. “We both made that decision—”

“No. No, we never made that decision at the same time.” Tired of choosing her words, exhausted from trying to protect herself and everyone else, Elizabeth just spoke. “I lied to you. And asked you to give him up. And then you walked away. Twice. But we never decided together.”

He exhaled slowly. “Elizabeth—”

“But none of that would have happened if I hadn’t been so worried about everyone else when I was pregnant. I lied to you because I thought it would mess things up for you and Sam. And because of Lucky. I should have been thinking about Jake.” She shook her head. “I lie a lot for stupid reasons.”

He tilted his head. “What changed today?” he asked. “You…look…upset.”

“I—” She closed her mouth. “No. You’ve got enough to deal with. You don’t need my nonsense—”

“Hey.” Jason’s mouth was tight at the corners. “Don’t tell me what I need. I’m sick of—” He stopped. Shook his head.

She looked at him carefully, squinting. And for the first time—she could actually see his unhappiness. “Do you remember when we first became friends?”

Confused by the change in conversation, Jason nodded. “Yeah. That night at Jake’s. You—” And at the memory, he smiled a bit. “You were pissed at me because I stepped in with that guy.”

“What I think I miss the most about those days,” she said quietly, “is the trust I felt like we had. I could say anything to you, Jason, and it just—you never judged me. Never made me feel like I was saying the wrong, feeling the wrong—I could just be whoever I wanted to be with you. And…I think…I maybe….it was like that for you.”

“Yeah.” Jason relaxed a bit his shoulders seeming less tight. “We talked about Michael. I couldn’t really do that before you. Elizabeth—”

“I don’t have anyone like that in my life anymore,” she said. “And…maybe I’m out of line for saying so, but I don’t think you do, either. I mean, I know Sonny and Carly love you, but—”

“No. I get what you mean.” He sighed, tracing his fingers on the table, an uncharacteristic restless movement for him. “They keep telling me to take my life back. I don’t even know what that means. And Carly just kept—I know she meant well. She always does. But—” He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“I wanted to apologize—for that day at the jail when I came to see you,” Elizabeth said. He frowned slightly, so she went one. “I lied—no surprise—when I said I still believed Drew was…you. I knew the truth. And I’m sorry I pretended I didn’t.”

He lifted a shoulder. “It’s fine—”

“It’s really not. I did that because it made my life easier. I blew up my entire life when I lied about Drew’s identity. And if it wasn’t true—if I destroyed my life for something that didn’t exist—I don’t know. And I knew that Jake would struggle with it all—” She sighed. “I just…I don’t know. You don’t have to let me off the hook. You always do.”

Jason paused. “It didn’t bother me because I knew you didn’t believe it even when you said it,” he admitted. “I know you, Elizabeth. It’s not about letting you off the hook. It’s just—I know you,” he repeated. “You lie to protect yourself. And to protect other people—”

“Who never seem to deserve it,” she muttered, but a slight weight lifted off her shoulders. “I want to do better, Jason. I’m trying.” She cleared her throat. “About Jake. I would say we could keep things going the way they are—or maybe we could talk to him about why things were the way they were then, but—I’m—I’m basically going to be blowing Jake’s life up again tomorrow. And you need to be part of that decision.”

Jason arched his brows. “What does that mean?”

Elizabeth stared down at her hand, at the diamond on the fourth finger…and slowly removed the ring. She set it down in front of him. “Franco is in New York for the night, but when he comes home, I’m asking him to move out. And giving him back this ring.”

The only change in his facial expression was a slight muscle tick near the eyes. “I…I thought you said you were happy—”

“I thought I was,” she admitted. “But…today—” Elizabeth tilted her head back, looked up for a long moment. “I’ve been ignoring all the red flags. Franco makes Cameron and Aiden uncomfortable to the point that they sleep over their friends a lot or don’t come home after school until its almost time to go to bed. And they think—” She looked away, her eyes burning. “They think I love Jake more than them. And I can’t stand that. And I’ve been—there are other reasons. Franco lies to me a lot. About everything. And it’s been worse since you—since all of this with you and Drew. And I started to think about the tumor again. Because Griffin—” She cut off the ramble. “I don’t know. There are a lot of reasons. The important thing is that Jake is going to struggle with this. And he’s probably going to take it out on you. And I’m sorry for that—”

“Don’t be sorry,” Jason interrupted. “Look, I don’t think I’ve hid the fact that I don’t like him—”

“You hate him,” Elizabeth corrected with a wry smile. “Judgement free zone, right?”

“Fine. I hate him. And if I thought I could get away with it, he wouldn’t be breathing,” Jason said bluntly. “He’s a sociopath, Elizabeth. And I hate that he’s here. With any of the boys. With you.”

She sucked in a deep breath at the coldness radiating and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess that’s fair. And that would usually be my cue to tell you about the tumor and how different he is—but I can’t. Because it means ignoring everything know has happened since the surgery. He’s still violent. And he still…struggles with doing the right thing. And even when he manages to do it, it’s almost like an accident.” Elizabeth chewed on her lip. “The thing is, Jason, the tumor did change him—”

“Damn it—”

“It didn’t make him a different person,” Elizabeth said in a rush. “It just…it changed the nature of his violence. And he does have more control over himself than I think he did before.” She wrapped her fingers around the tea mug, stared into the dark liquid. “And I excused it because it’s not like it’s the first time I’ve had to talk myself around the violence in someone I loved.”

There were a long moment of silence before Jason spoke. “You mean me.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said. She raised her eyes to him, but she couldn’t see any expression on his face. Couldn’t read him. God, she hated that he could do that. “I am not comparing the two of you. Or even saying you’re the same, I’m just saying—I have some experience….explaining away the choices people make.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Elizabeth—”

“It’s how I made it work in my head, but it doesn’t work anymore. I’m not sure it really did. Maybe it was easier to lie to myself about Franco because I thought…” She pressed her lips together. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I know that I’m only punishing myself by staying with him. And I’m punishing my children. And you’ve been through enough. The last thing you should ever hear is your own son throwing out Franco’s name like Jake did tonight. I am so sorry for any of that, and I just—”

“Okay.” Jason exhaled slowly. “Okay. So you’re doing this tomorrow?”

“Yeah. And I’m telling the boys when they come home from school.” Elizabeth was relieved to have moved back to the topic at hand. “I wanted to know if—if you wanted to be here. Or if there was something you wanted me to say to Jake—or I don’t know. What do you think?”

“I don’t think I should be here,” Jason admitted. “But I think I do have to talk to Jake about…what he said tonight.” He shook his head. “You know…you were right earlier. We didn’t agree at the same time. You asked me, and I should have said no.”

“I never should have asked you to give him up,” Elizabeth said. “If we had just—I had just told you the truth the day I found out—it never would have been an option—”

“It doesn’t change the fact that I did walk away,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “I—” He swallowed. “I made promises to you. And I didn’t keep them. I understand why Jake would rather have the father who’s been here for the last two years.”

“But he deserves to have you—”

“I walked away before,” Jason said. “That was a mistake.” He met her eyes. “For a lot of reasons. I almost asked you tonight to stop taking Jake to dinner. Because I didn’t want to make it harder for him. But that’s the easy way to go. He thinks I don’t love him. That I didn’t love him then. He needs to know that I regret it.”

“Jason—”

“So we’ll talk to him about what happened. I don’t know if Drew did before—I know he has the memories, but—” Jason swallowed. “Jake should hear it from me.”

“He will come around,” Elizabeth said firmly. “We just…we have to try something new.”

“Yeah. Yeah, something has to change.” Jason got to his feet. “Listen, tomorrow…when you…give him the ring back…be careful.”

“He’s not going to hurt me,” Elizabeth said with a grimace as she also stood. “But—”

“For once, Elizabeth,” Jason said with an almost fond irritation, “don’t argue with me about this. This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation.”

“No, I guess it’s not.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “I should really listen to you before I make romantic choices. You’ve literally always been right. Lucky, Ric, Lucky again, Ewan—” She sighed. “I’m irritated with myself just thinking about it.”

Jason shook his head as he put on his coat. He opened the front door and looked at her. “You’ve always been able to find the good in people, Elizabeth. It’s just that sometimes…”

“It’s not there to find?” she asked with an arched brow. “That’s not even the first time I’ve heard that today.”

“Be careful,” he repeated. “And if you need me, call me.”

“I will,” she said with a sigh. She closed the door behind him and pressed her wood against the forehead. She hadn’t intended to dredge up so much of their history, but damn if she didn’t feel better.

Just like she always did when she and Jason dropped the bullshit and were just honest with one another.

+5

I went way over the original 30 minute mark but wrote it in about 54 minutes.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Jason shifted uncomfortably in his seat and focused on the stream of consciousness words spilling from his five-year-old son’s mouth. Danny, with his sunny blonde hair and dark brown eyes, chirped happily with news of everything he’d done in kindergarten that day, peppered with questions to his older brother, Jake, about his own day at school.

Jake sat sullenly across from him, his burger and fries untouched. The milkshake he’d grudgingly asked for had not been disturbed, the straw still in its wrapper next to the tall glass.

Twice a week for the last month, Jason had picked up the boys from school and taken them out for dinner. Jake had refused to come with them for the first week, but Danny had apparently begged him to start coming because three weeks ago, the fifth grader had been sitting with his brother on the stone steps outside of the school.

Jason usually waited until Elizabeth’s youngest son, Aidan, got on the bus, before taking the boys—and had wondered if it was fair that he rode home alone on the bus. If maybe Jason should have invited him. But then Cameron, who went to the middle school a few blocks away, would be left out.

So Jason hadn’t pressed it. One silent kid who barely knew him was probably enough for now.

“I told Rocco,” Danny said with a roll of his eyes, “that I didn’t want to climb the slide backwards, but he called me a big baby, so I had to—” He stopped and looked at his brother. “Hey, can I have your milkshake?”

“No,” Jake muttered.

“Okay.” Danny shrugged. “Jake, tell Dad what happened today.”

Jason could see his eldest son—his miracle—fight the urge to refute Danny’s statement. That Jason was not his father. Jason recognized the look because he knew the sentiment.

Every time someone had called the Quartermaines his family, Jason had recoiled in horror. He hadn’t known those people, those annoying people who forced him to live in their house, who forced a name and an identity on him. They weren’t his family.

Danny scowled when Jake remained silent. “Jake. You said you were gonna be nice. This is not nice.” He looked at Jason with irritation. “It’s not fair. He never has to follow the rules. He gets away with everything.”

“I do not,” Jake muttered. But he sat up and reluctantly picked up a French fry. “Cam and Aidan say that, too. It’s not true.”

“Yeah?” Danny challenged with all of the world-weariness a five-year-old could drudge up. “My mom says that your mom lets you get away with murder and it gives me ideas.”

“Well, your mom is an idiot,” Jake shot back. “My mom is awesome, so shut up—”

“Hey,” Jason said, sharply. “Jake—”

“Oh, good, defend her.” Jake folded his arms and scowled. “Why not? Everyone always does.” He stopped. Grimaced. “Never mind.”

Jason tilted his head in confusion, and Danny frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Jake muttered. “My art project got picked for the front hall,” he said reluctantly. “There was an assembly, that’s why Danny knows. It’s not a big deal.”

“No, that’s great. You got your mom’s love of art,” Jason said, without thinking. How many of his memories of Elizabeth were in that studio? He could still remember the first time she’d explained a painting to him—The Wind. He wondered what had ever happened to that painting. “Does she still pain?”

Jake frowned. “No. Franco taught me. Mom doesn’t have time for any of that. She’s always working. Probably because everyone always leaves her and she had all of us to take care of. At least that’s what Grandma Audrey used to say.” His eyes clouded over. “I miss Grandma Audrey.”

Jason’s mouth tightened at the mention of Franco sharing anything with his son—and Franco’s twisted approach to art, nonetheless. But Jake cared about the monster.

“She died last summer,” Danny told Jason when Jake stopped talking. “She was really nice.”

“Can we go home now?” Jake demanded. “I’m done eating.”

Jason looked at the plate in front of Jake with a raised brow. “Danny?”

“Yeah, I’m done.” Danny sighed. “I gotta go home anyway, because I gotta say good night to Scout before she goes to sleep.” He eyed the milkshake Jake hadn’t touched. “Can we get that to go?”

Webber Home: Kitchen

Elizabeth sighed as she listened to her voice mail message from Franco telling her that he’d had a call from an art dealer in New York and had gone down to the city. He’d be back in the morning.

That was probably for the best, she thought to herself as she took out the box of Hamburger Helper from the cabinet. Since her lunch with Griffin and her impromptu visit with Drew earlier that day, she’d been plagued by doubts and misgivings.

The small diamond on her finger flashed as she dumped the noodles into the pot and she stared at it for a long moment. It was not the first engagement ring she’d ever worn, and she couldn’t help but compare those other engagements.

She’d been engaged to Lucky Spencer three times in her life, and all of them had ended in disaster. Twice to Ric. And until a few months ago, twice to Jason.

But that second engagement hadn’t been to Jason. It had been to Drew.

The guilt those agonizing six months in which she had lied to a man she had truly loved still weighed on her. What would have happened if she’d told the truth that night at the Nurse’s Ball?

Drew hadn’t remembered Sam before that night. The memory flashes had come later. And Elizabeth found herself wondering for the first time at the chronology of it all — when exactly had Drew’s memory been replaced? And how had Jason’s memories been activated? How had Drew’s head injuries played into it?

So much of it didn’t make sense to her, and Elizabeth wished she could do more to help, but every time she’d brought the subject up to Franco, he’d seemed so worried that it meant she didn’t love him.

And then she would have reassure him.

Again.

Just like she had with Lucky in those days he’d been brainwashed by Helena Cassadine—that she loved him, not Jason. And then again, when he’d been addicted to drugs.

Of course, she thought bitterly, she’d been lying both times.

Was she lying now?

“Mom!”

Elizabeth turned at the sound of the door opening, and her eldest son dumping his stuff on the ground. She winced—Cameron and Aidan had definitely inherited her tendency to leave his things everywhere. Jake had his father’s neatness. Everything had its place and he made sure it went there.

“Hey, where’s Aidan?” she demanded, her tone sharp. Cameron had strict instructions to take both his brothers to the bus stop and to wait for them after school. She knew it was Jason’s night with Jake, but—

“He went to Andy’s house. He said he would text you.” Cameron rolled his eyes and went to the fridge to grab the pitcher of iced tea. “Relax, Mom. I waited until he got in the car with Andy’s mom, and I know Andy’s mom because his sister is in my grade and she’s a royal pain in my ass.”

Elizabeth pursed her lips. “Cam—”

“I get it, we talked about all the times Aidan and Jake got kidnapped as kids, and you’re touchy.” He climbed onto the stool. “Um, since we’re talking about that—”

“I guess we are now,” Elizabeth said with a sigh as she stirred dinner. “Cam—”

“I couldn’t remember,” her son said with irritation. “I couldn’t remember what happened with Aidan. And it was annoying. Because I was old enough to remember, and I didn’t—”

“You were six, sweetheart—”

“I remembered when Jake was in his accident. Because everyone was crying and it was awful.” Cameron tightened his fingers around the glass. “So I looked it up.”

Elizabeth hesitated. Oh, God. “You did.”

“Franco gave him away to his mother.” Cameron’s dark eyes—eyes he had inherited from his father—looked at her. “I know…I know he was sick. I guess I sort of understand it. You told us that when he moved in. But, um, Mom, I kept reading.”

“Yeah.” Elizabeth twisted the ring on her finger. “He had a brain tumor, and it—” She stopped. Because she couldn’t quite finish that statement.

“I saw where he got the charges dropped,” Cameron continued. “I guess…” He cleared his throat. “The article talked about Manny Ruiz, Mom. And I do remember his name.”

“How?” Elizabeth demanded. “You were just a baby—”

“Because a few years ago was the tenth anniversary of his fall from the hospital,” Cam said. “The Port Charles Sun talked about it. And there was an interview with Alexis Davis about getting him released. He had a brain tumor, too, and he got released. But then he hurt you. And he kidnapped Danny’s mom. I think she shot her too—”

“Oh, God.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about him lately, too.” She chewed on her lip. “You don’t like Franco, do you?” It was suspicion she’d held in for several months—just the way Cam looked at her fiance.

“I don’t not like him,” Cam admitted after a long moment. “He just…I don’t know, Mom. I guess he just…doesn’t bother with us.” He shifted on his stool. “It doesn’t matter—”

“Hey—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No, baby. It matters. You are my son. Nothing matters more than you and your brothers.” She tilted her head. “What is it? Is it the tumor? The things he did before—”

“Well, now, I don’t like him more,” Cameron admitted. “But no, it’s mainly just the way he…ignores us.” He shrugged. “Aidan feels it, too. That’s why he always goes to Andy’s. Or Jack’s.”

“And why you go to Tommy’s. And Mark’s.” Elizabeth closed her eyes. Her boys didn’t feel comfortable in their own home. Jake did. Because Jake and Franco had a special relationship. “You think he favors Jake.”

“You do, too,” Cameron said after a long moment. “It doesn’t bother me, Mom,” he hastily added when her eyes flew open. “Jake coming home was like…it was everything. He was my little brother, and I missed him. And he’s had problems because of what that bitch did to him.” He shrugged. “Aidan doesn’t remember being kidnapped, and I never was. Jake needed you more—”

“Honey—”

“So, it’s fine. I guess…it’d just be nice if it stopped.” Cameron stared down at the counter. “Or if we had someone else who…liked us, too. Jake gets to have all the parents.”

“Oh my God—” The tears slid down her cheeks. “Cam—”

“Drew—when we called him Jake—he loved us. He was gonna adopt me.” Cameron grimaced. “But then he left. He only bothers with Jake now. A-And I remember Jason. From before.”

“Cam—”

“He came around a lot when Jake was a baby. And he played with me. I thought he was gonna be my dad, but he left. And he only bothers with Jake. And Franco likes Jake best—”

What the hell had she done to her boys? How could she have been so damned blind?

Elizabeth turned the burner off and rounded the island to face Cameron. “I am so—I didn’t realize—”

“Mom,” Cameron said with an exaggerated roll of his eyes as his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “I didn’t say any of that to hurt you. I know you love us—”

“I can be selfish,” Elizabeth told her son. “I grew up in a house where I constantly felt like my parents ignored me. I didn’t fit into their idea of what a Webber should be, and so they mostly threw up their hands. I actually—you’ve never even met your grandparents on my side because I broke ties with them a long time ago.”

“Mom—”

“When you grow up, constantly feeling like you have to do more, be something more just to earn someone’s love and respect—” She shook her head. “It messed me up, Cam. And I spent a lot of time being angry at the world. Is that how you feel? Do you feel like I love Jake more? That everyone loves Jake more?”

Cameron hesitated. “Sometimes—”

“Then I have to do better.” She pushed his dark hair out of his face as he sighed. “You are my baby—don’t roll your eyes at me, Cameron Hardy Webber. You are my son.” Elizabeth hesitated. “Before you were born, I didn’t know if I could be a mother. I didn’t know if I knew how to put someone else first. And then I was alone when you were born. I was terrified—”

“Mom—”

“Then the doctor handed you to me.” Elizabeth smiled through her years, combing her fingers through his hair that still had a tendency to curl when it grew too long—he was due for a trim. “And you looked at me, Cameron. And my God, the love just appeared. I didn’t know you could love someone like that so fast. So much. Everything I have in my life is from that moment. I became a nurse so I could take care of you. I know I worked too much, and yeah, I tried to find you a father. I sucked at that.”

“I don’t need a father,” Cameron said fiercely. “You always gave me everything I needed, Mom. I want you to be happy. And you were so sad all the time when I was a kid. So I thought if Franco made you happy, I could suck it up—”

“I am not happy,” Elizabeth said, and the words felt so true, so right that she wondered how she could have ever lied to herself that she felt otherwise. “So we need to make some changes.”

+4