Written in 60 minutes.

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Sunday, September 14, 2024

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam rose to her feet when the door opened and Rocco came in first, with his father’s hand firmly on his shoulder — not precisely shoving him, but also not giving the teenager much choice in his direction.

Rocco’s shirt was grimy, stained with soil and grass, and there was a new rip in his jeans. His curly hair disheveled, falling over his eyes. “Can I get a shower? Or is sleeping in filth part of the punishment?”

Dante closed the door, flipped the lock. “No point in punishing all of us with that smell. Upstairs. And stay there.”

“No worries. I’m gonna sleep until I’m dead,” Rocco muttered, trudging up the steps.

“Scout’s all good with her dad, no idea any thing happened,” Dante told Sam, tossing his eyes on the desk. He folded his arms. “I, uh, got a text from Elizabeth. She wants to pick up some of Danny’s clothes after she drops Cameron off at the airport.” He lifted his brows. “I’m guessing it didn’t go well with Jason.”

Sam pressed her lips together in a thin, unhappy line. “It started okay, I guess. But we just…we can’t seem to talk to each other anymore.” She rubbed her shoulder. “I just get so frustrated with him pretending this isn’t at least partly his fault because he wasn’t here. How do we know Jason being gone isn’t what screwed Danny up in the first place?”

Dante didn’t answer her right away, and Sam fidgeted. “What, you think this is my fault?” she demanded. “You know how hard we’ve been trying to reach Danny this last year, and we had no idea they were up to this—”

“I know that. I just don’t know if laying blame at anyone’s feet is going to help things.” Dante kicked off his sneakers. “It is what it is. We just gotta fix it. I don’t know if keeping Rocco too tired to drink or lie to me is the answer, but it’s what I got right now. And maybe—” He walked past her towards the sofa. “Maybe Danny staying with his dad for a little while is his answer.”

“So it is my fault.”

“Sam.” Dante turned back to face her. “I get it. I do. I wanna know what I did wrong with Rocco, too. We trusted them too much, I guess. We should have checked with Liz the nights they said they were with Aiden. She should have checked with us. But Rocco had never pulled anything like this, and Danny might have been giving us attitude with terrible grades, but that’s anything like this.”

“But if I’m not the problem—”

“Maybe you are. Maybe Danny is. Maybe Jason is—” Dante threw up his hands. “Maybe Danny builds up his dad in his head to be this perfect guy, and he measures you against that, and now he’ll realize Jason’s not the guy in his head. I don’t know, Sam. None of us do. I don’t even think Danny knows. But if you’re looking for someone to reassure you that you’re not a terrible mom, okay, fine. You’re not a terrible mom.”

Her eyes glimmered and she looked away, biting her lip. “Jason said that. He said that he wasn’t going to hold my  hand and reassure me. He wanted to fix the problem. And you’re doing the same thing. Neither of you understand, okay—”

“Sam—”

“Because you’re both judging me because I walked out last night. Aren’t you?” Sam challenged when Dante just shook his head. “You think I’m a terrible mother for leaving him—”

“It’s not like you left him without anyone. His dad was there, and I just told you I think it’ll be good for Danny to spend time there. Look — Sam — I’m not the guy who’s gonna hold that against you. I left my family, didn’t I? I walked away from Lulu and Rocco because I wanted to protect them, because I thought it was the right thing to do. And I came home as a broken mess that could barely keep my head up. Maybe Rocco’s reacting to that. A delayed reaction, you know. I was gone, then Lulu was gone, and then we moved in here, and he’s a teen—” Dante paused. “I left my family, too, Sam, so if you’re looking for me to tell you what’s wrong with Danny is all on Jason, I’m not gonna do that. I’m not gonna tell you Jason was wrong for what he did. Because I did the same thing.”

“You’re not answering the question,” Sam bit out. “Which means you think I’m the problem, and that I’m ruining Danny’s life—”

“Not what I said—” But Sam had already snatched up the keys, flipped back the lock, and stormed out.

Dante sighed, then went to pack a bag for Danny.

Port Charles Airport: Departures

Cameron looped the strap of his backpack over his shoulder and turned back to face his mother. “I’ll be back in two weeks. We’re not arguing about that, are we?”

“No.” Elizabeth reached up to hug him, sighing when he had to bend down slightly to return the embrace. When did her baby get so tall? “No arguing from me at all. I hate why you came home, but I’m always happy to see you.” He drew back, and she brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You should get a trim.”

“Nah, the girls dig it.” He tipped his head to the side. “Listen, I want to tell you that if you’re trying to hide that you and Jason are dating, you’re not doing a good job. Well, with me. Aiden and Jake were clueless.”

“What?” Elizabeth blinked, then laughed a bit nervously, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Oh. Well, that’s—I mean, I guess that’s true. But it’s new. I mean—” She blew out a huff. “But yes. We are.”

“See? I always know. I want you to know I’m good with it. Really. I never thought Finn was good enough for you, and I’m not sure Jason is either, but he’s always treated you well. That’s all I want for you, Mom. You deserve the best. And make sure Danny knows I’m cool with him crashing in my room when I’m not here. I don’t know what he’s dealing with,” Cameron continued, “but I figure it’s a lot, and he might need some space of his own. He’s in good hands now.”

“I hope so. And I appreciate that.” Elizabeth touched his face, just  briefly. “Sometimes I think about how much I miss my little demon with the grimy hands and messy curls—” Cameron grinned, “— but then I’m reminded of what an amazing man you’ve grown into, and I couldn’t be more proud of you. I don’t want you to worry about me, or your brothers. I trust Diane and Spinelli to handle this.”

“So do I. But I’m still coming back to make sure.” He kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too.”

Webber Home: Jake’s Room

Jake flicked the shavings from his colored pencil, and barely glanced up at Danny standing hesitantly just outside his room. “You gonna stare at me all night, or…?”

“I don’t wanna bug you if you’re, like, in the zone.”

“You won’t. I’m just layering and shading.”

Danny came more into the room, trying to peer at the sketch bad across Jake’s desk. “What is it? Or, like, is that rude?”

“Only if you’re gonna be an asshole and be like, why don’t you make things I can understand?” Jake lifted the sketchpad, aimed it towards his brother. “It’s my mom. Coming home.”

“Oh.” Danny furrowed his brow. “I don’t get it. It looks like blobs. Sorry.”

“No, it’s like—” Jake paused. “It’s the way I saw it, it you know, because I’m—I’m standing there, and I gave her the phone—” He gestured. “This is the door. It’s still open. I don’t know if it was, but it is when I remember it. It makes me feel like it happened all that fast. ”

“Oh. The room’s tilted.” Danny craned his head. “Okay, yeah, I sort of see it now. And the people are like—in motion.”

“Yeah.” Jake stared at the sketch. “Mom got home, and we were so happy to see her, we didn’t even—I don’t even know if me and Aiden even saw her, you know? We just hugged her, and then I went to call Cam, and then I gave her the phone, and she just—she just saw my brother and she started to fall, to cry, and I took the phone before it fell—Dad caught her.”

Danny sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m really sorry if I messed up her bail. I promise I didn’t want to do that.”

Jake set the sketch aside, twisted on his stool to look at his brother. “I get that. You’re an asshole, but you’re not a dick, you know? You just don’t think.”

“Not until it’s too late,” Danny muttered. He stared down at his hands. “My mom walked out. She just…I said something awful to her, I don’t even remember what, and she left. I guess I deserved that.”

Jake slid his colored pencils back into their case, said nothing. Danny’s smile was grim. “You never did like my mom much, so I guess you don’t agree.”

“I don’t know. I mean, you’ve said some pretty awful things to her when I’ve been there, and I know she was pretty much at the end of the rope. I guess—” Jake squinted. “I don’t know. I guess I can’t think of much me or my brothers could do that would make my mom leave us in a police station to fend for ourselves. Even if my dad were there,” he added. “I mean, Cam got arrested a few times. Shoplifting, the weed thing, just being an idiot. Mom was ticked, but she handled it.”

“She doesn’t want me back. Dad went to talk to her, and he was just like — you’re staying here. He won’t tell me what happened, but—”

“He’s never gonna tell you anything that might make you think bad about your mom,” Jake cut in. “But maybe your mom thinks it’s a good idea for you to hang out with Dad for a few days.”

“I guess. Are…are you okay with it? I mean, until Dad gets a place with a bedroom or something—”

“I—” Jake leaned back in his chair. “What if he didn’t?”

Danny furrowed his brow. “What?”

“What if he didn’t? What if he…and you just…stayed here.” Jake paused. “Cam thinks Dad and my mom are back together. He’s already here all the time because of her case. Maybe you guys could just stay here.”

“Oh.” Danny let that sink in, considered the new information. “I like your mom. Even when I was an ass to her, she was really nice to me. And, like, I could talk to Dad because she was  there. I—I’d be okay staying here.” He paused. “Are you okay with it? You and Dad were fighting so much.”

“It’s…better now,” Jake admitted. “I don’t know if I think it’s fixed, but when Mom—when this all went down, Dad stepped up. He didn’t have to. I mean, yeah, I’d go with him, but Grandma Laura could have taken Aiden. But Dad knew Mom wanted us to stay together. So he moved in. It’s—I don’t know if I’m ever gonna forget about those two years, but…I don’t know. It’s stupid to let that ruin the rest of our lives, right?”

“Yeah, probably. I’m not gonna do anything that screws Dad up with your mom either. I promise. I’m gonna be on my best behavior.”

“Should be interesting since you’ve never tried that before,” Jake said with a grin. “First time for everything.”

Webber House: Master Bedroom

 Elizabeth rubbed lotion into her hands, watching in her vanity mirror as Jason pulled back a comforter, and smiled. “By the way, not that we were keeping anything a secret, but Cameron figured out we were back together, and told his brothers, and I’m sure Danny knows by now.”

“Yeah?” Jason tipped his head. “What did he say?”

“That he was okay with it. He’s always liked you.” Elizabeth slid into her side of the bed, sat crossed legged. “And only some of that reason is how many times you got him out of trouble.”

Jason slid in next to her, his legs stretched out. “He’s an amazing kid. He always was, but you have every reason to be proud of them. All of them. It took a lot of guts for Aiden to open up like this morning. Even when he knew he’d messed up.”

“Well, I’m not sure how it happened, but I do feel kind of smug at how great they are.” Elizabeth’s smile dimmed slightly, and she looked at the comforter, picking at a loose thread. “I picked up Danny’s bag from Dante, and he thinks maybe communication should go between us. Me and him,” she clarified. “I told him I’d talk to you, but that I sort of agreed. I know you didn’t want to get into it with the boys around, but…I guess it didn’t go well?”

“I thought we started out okay, but—” Jason sighed. “I guess it was my fault. She’s blaming herself, and I just—I got impatient with her. I don’t care who’s fault it is. I mean, okay, we need to talk about how it got to this point because that’s how we help Danny. But am I supposed to say, no, Sam, you’re amazing, this is one hundred percent on me? Are we supposed to negotiate blame? She gets twenty, and I get eighty—what does that matter? But she needed me to reassure her and take the blame, and I don’t want to do that. I don’t know why I should have to.”

He looked at Elizabeth. “And look, it’s not her fault. Not one hundred percent. Because Danny’s not the only kid who ended up in trouble last night. Aiden’s been part of this, does it make it your fault? Rocco was there, too. All three of them were lying, drinking, and smoking, probably egging each other on because I know grown men who act that way.”

“I think that’s probably a big piece of it. Because, sure, mistakes were made. I definitely had blinders on — Aiden’s never been one to lie to me, so I don’t question him. I’m sure Dante and Sam felt that way, too. Aiden’s my sweet baby — who grew up into a teenager when I wasn’t looking. I absolutely think they thought — we’re getting away with this, what else can we do, and just kept pushing the line.” She sighed. “So you and Sam just couldn’t get any further than that?”

“No, not really. Because I said that, and she threw the last two years in my face, which, okay, she gets to do. But it doesn’t solve anything for us to take shots at each other. I got frustrated, told her I was keeping Danny, and left. And I guess she’s not arguing with me.”

“No, Dante said he thinks Danny and Rocco were feeding into each other a little, and right now, his only idea is to keep Rocco too tired with chores,” Elizabeth said. “But I mentioned counseling to him — but I made sure to tell him it’s happening. Maybe that’s—maybe that’s me overstepping. But I just—Danny absolutely seemed so into the idea, I didn’t want Sam to shoot it down. Maybe that was wrong—”

“It’s not. I—” Jason paused. “When he asked me, I had a moment where I thought — I can’t say yes. I need to talk to Sam. I thought I’d be overstepping to make a choice for my own son.” He exhaled slowly. “That’s the habit I need to break. Just because you and Sam have been handling the decisions for so long, that doesn’t mean you should have to do it forever. It never should have been entirely on your shoulders.”

Elizabeth smiled, her eyes a bit sad. “I’m glad you’re recognizing that — I appreciate the confidence you have in my abilities, but you’re a great father, Jason. I just don’t think you trust yourself to be one.”

“Maybe not. But that’s going to change.” He reached for her hand, traced a line in her palm. “I’m sorry your weekend with Cam got ruined like this—”

“Don’t be. I mean that,” she added when he sighed. “Those days I was gone — I was miserable. And when I got home, I couldn’t—it was so hard to get back to myself. But then Cam came home, and I got my boys in one room — but it was still about my case. But last night and today? I got to be a mom again. The boys got to be kids again. Idiots, in Danny and Aiden’s case,” she added and he smiled briefly. “And I got to be me. Not someone being framed for murder. But me. It reminds me of everything I have to fight for. Because no one is taking my family away from me again.”

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