Written in 60 minutes.

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Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

PCPD RAID CORINTHOS-MORGAN WAREHOUSE NO ARRESTS MADE

“That’s the third day this thing has been in the headlines,” Courtney said as Jason came in from the kitchen, a cup of coffee in his hand. “Do they think they can change history or something if they keep mentioning that there’s been no arrests every day?”

Jason grunted, only half-listening. The PCPD always raided the warehouse this time of year, and they never found anything, but Courtney wasn’t used to that kind of thing, he thought. He pulled the desk chair, sat, and reached for invoices. “Something will happen and distract them.”

“I just hope it’s not stressing Carly out,” Courtney said, folding the paper over, then tossing it on the table, missing when Jason’s irritation at the mention of Carly’s name. He’d never noticed it before the last few weeks, but not a single conversation could be had without one or two mentions of either Sonny or Carly.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Jason said absently, skimming the customs notice from the vendor in Caracas. “She and Sonny aren’t even fighting this week.”

“You came in late last night. I didn’t tell you. It wasn’t a bad one, but Carly threatened to move out this time.”

“She always does that.”

“But—” Courtney made a face. “Anyway, Sonny seemed to calm down when she told him she’d make me manager of The Cellar and go on maternity leave as soon as I learn the ropes, so that’s cool, right?”

“Yeah, great.” Jason reached for a pencil, scratched out a note about the quantity on the invoice.

She narrowed her eyes. “I really love it there, you know. I think I could be good at it. And it’d make a great place for a reception. For the wedding.”

Jason exhaled slowly, looked over at her. “No.”

“You still don’t want to talk about it at all?” she scowled, folded her arms. “It’s been a month, Jason. You promised you’d try—”

He flinched, his fingers tightening around the pencil, then he stared down at the invoices. “I am trying,” he said, though the words felt like a lie even to him. “I told you I’d let you know when I was ready to talk about it.”

“Can you look away from your damn papers long enough to have a conversation with me? Because this is getting ridiculous, Jason. What was the point of you staying if you never talk to me? You don’t want to make plans, you don’t even—” Her lower lip jutted around and her eyes filled. “You don’t even touch me.”

Jason tossed the pencil aside, dragged a hand down the side of his face. “Courtney—”

“Do you know how it feels to know that the last woman you slept with, that you even kissed was her? We’re like roommates that share a bed,” she spat.

He pushed back from the desk, stood, then looked at her, wondering when he’d started to be irritated by how easy it was for her to cry, and how little it bothered him anymore. She could switch it off and on with little warning — and had that always bee true? “Do you want me to have to sex with you to prove a point?” he asked, more harshly than he meant, and her eyes widened. “That’s what you’re complaining about, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not—I mean, okay, it’s that, but it’s—” She swallowed hard. “It’s all the ways you’re not even here, okay? Why did you even say you’d stay or try if you weren’t going to do either of those things?”

“I—” He grimaced, then nodded. She was right. He hadn’t meant to withdraw or hold himself back — but all of that had always come naturally before it had all gone crazy.  She’d always been the affectionate one, grabbing his arm, hugging him, initiating things. And he’d just let her. He  hadn’t realized that until she’d stopped. How much of their relationship was  just him reacting? He didn’t like the way that felt — that he could be capable of just using someone because they were there. He thought he’d become better than that — better than those days at Jake’s with Carly and not caring about who she was or what she wanted outside of the ten-fifteen minutes in bed.  “I’m sorry,” Jason said finally. “You’re right, and I’m sorry. Maybe—”

“Maybe we just need to start small,” Courtney cut in a rush. “Okay? You probably need to go to the warehouse a-and I need to go see Carly. She’s going to start training me. We—we’ll just meet for lunch, right? At Kelly’s. Noon?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jason said with a sigh, knowing Elizabeth worked closing and that it would be safe enough to head over. He said nothing else as Courtney gathered her things and left in a hurry.

He’d promised Elizabeth three weeks ago at Kelly’s that he’d go home and he’d put everything into this. He’d chosen Courtney, hadn’t he? The life they’d had before Carly’s kidnapping had to mean something. He’d proposed to her—

But then that night, talking to Elizabeth, Jason hadn’t realized just how much had happened in his life in those few months — between Alcazar’s murder, being arrested and put on trial, all the problems Ric had caused — when had he made the decision to spend the rest of his life with Courtney? The more he tried to pinpoint that moment — the more he realized that…he hadn’t.

It made him feel a little sick inside that he’d done that because Carly had brought it up. Courtney fit, Carly said, and Jason agreed. She did fit and it was easy with her. She didn’t push or demand and she didn’t make him feel crazy or like he was a lunatic the way Elizabeth had. So that was love, wasn’t it? She understood and accepted his life. Elizabeth hadn’t—or maybe she would have if he’d trusted her—

Jason shook his head, reached for his coffee, then made a face. It had gone too cold while he’d argued with Courtney. She was right — it wasn’t exactly fair to her that the last woman Jason had shown any physical affection for had been Elizabeth. It had driven Jason crazy to know she’d slept with Zander instead of waiting for him—

His fingers curled around the handle of the cup, his glower would have made some cross the street to get away from him. It did no good to think about those times. All the mistakes. All the pain and turmoil. He’d told Elizabeth he didn’t want her to feel bad about any of those things anymore, but maybe Jason was the one who needed to stop thinking about it.

He didn’t know exactly what to do, but every day he was more and more certain that the answer couldn’t be Courtney. He just didn’t know to fix everything he’d broken by choosing her in the first place.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Elizabeth flashed a smile at one of her old regulars, then lifted a brow when she saw Nikolas seated at the counter. “Do you live here or something?”

“No, but Mrs. Lansbury retired,” he muttered. “Something about not wanting to cook for one person. Why are you here? Did you switch back?” he called as she headed into the kitchen to stow her purse and tie on her apron.

“I told Mike I wanted some extra shifts. I love my studio, but I think maybe it’s time to invest in a place with a bathroom. And a heating system that doesn’t require a boot to the radiator. I almost have enough for a deposit—” She pointed her pencil at Nikolas. “No.”

“I wasn’t—” He made a face. “You know, I just think that if you accepted a little help—”

“No.”

“Fine.” Nikolas sighed, pushed his chili around in the bowl. “How’s the closing shift?”

“For the first week, it was okay. But then—” she bit her lip, but she had to tell someone, and Nikolas was the only person she could burden with it. Emily was still too ill and…well, those were her options, she realized with a sigh. “Ric started coming in two weeks ago.”

“The hell—how did he know? Did someone tell him?” Nikolas demanded. His shoulders tensed. “It’s time to talk Cassadine. I know people. Let me call people. I am begging you—”

“He’s an ADA now, Nikolas. Why do you think he’s still breathing?” Elizabeth said. She shook her head. “He’s forcing the divorce to go to court, which is awful honestly. New York’s laws are terrible, did you know that?”

“He’s making you prove the grounds?”

“I filed for cruel and inhumane treatment because just a regular separation would take six months, but I can’t—” She rubbed her forehead. “I don’t know. I need evidence of what he did to me. Of what he did to Carly, and if he can’t be prosecuted—”

“Once again, I know people. Hey, you know people. Why don’t we get our people together and let them solve problems?”

“I have no people. Don’t say things like that.” Elizabeth disappeared to check on tables and take orders. When she had a minute she returned to Nikolas scooping up the rest of his chili. “How are you, anyway? Have you been to see Emily?”

“If this is your idea of changing the topic to a happier one, I gotta say, you suck at it.” When she just arched a brow, he sighed. “It’s going. I know they’re moving into Brenda’s old place. I hope things work out for them, I do.”

“You absolutely do not.”

“I don’t, and I hope he cuts himself on a rusty nail and trips into a table saw,” Nikolas muttered. She smiled at that, and he sighed. “I’m okay. I’m keeping busy. It’s just—she had this stupid idea to make us pretend to be something. I started pretending, only now it’s not pretending and there’s no where for it to go.”  He looked at her. “You know how it is.”

“Nope. Not talking about it.” She lifted a stack of utensils, then grimaced when she saw the door open again. “Speaking of people who always seem to know when I work, she’s early today.”

Nikolas twisted on the stool, saw Courtney taking a table near the front, choosing the seat with her back to the counter. “She’s still coming in during your shifts?”

“Dinner the last few weeks, and always in my section. This keeps up, I’m going to wish I did have people.” Elizabeth grabbed the pitcher of water.

“If you’re going to dump that on her, give me warning. I want to watch—”

“Stop it, I’m not in high school anymore. But if I feel the need to trip—”

She carried the pitcher to Courtney’s table, pasted the smile on her face as she reached for the empty water cup. “You’re early today. Do you still want your usual?”

“No, no, I want something lighter for lunch. You better pour two—” Courtney’s face lit up when she heard the door jingle behind her. Elizabeth straightened, then turned to look at Jason, standing less than two feet from her.

Because of course it was Jason.

—

Jason stared at Elizabeth for a long minute, her eyes wide, fingers gripping the handle of the plastic pitcher of water, before looking at Courtney who seemed preoccupied with a menu that hadn’t changed since Ruby had started running the place.

“You’re right on time. I love how punctual you are. I was just telling Elizabeth there’d be two of us, so—” Courtney looked at Elizabeth, her brows lifted expectantly.

Elizabeth squinted slightly, the water pitcher twitching just slightly in her  hand, and Jason could almost see her thinking if it was worth the effort. Then she smiled, one of her broad fake ones.

“Sure. No problem. Let me get your water, and then I’ll take your orders.” She flipped over the cup at the other place setting, filled it. “Courtney doesn’t want her usual, so I’ll come back when you’re ready—”

“I’m ready.” Courtney handed her the menu. “Just the fruit salad. You know, I’ve got to watch my weight.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth said sourly. “Wouldn’t want the wedding dress to split the wrong way when you’re walking down the aisle. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She headed behind the counter where Nikolas was watching them.

Jason sat down, glared hard at Courtney who just stared at him. “You knew she’d be here.”

“She’s always here,” Courtney said, avoiding his eyes, ripping off the end of her straw. “What’s your point?”

“You knew she’d be here so you made me come here—”

“I made you come here—”

“And I told you not to talk about—”

“I didn’t,” Courtney bit out. “That was your little—” She pressed her lips together, carefully arranged the utensils, her fingers slightly shaking. “You can’t even be in the same room with her, can you? I—”

“Stop talking,” Jason said flatly when Elizabeth approached, her order pad in hand. “I’m not having anything,” he said.

“Jason—”

“I have to get back to work soon. Change of plans. Sorry.”

Courtney glared at him, then looked at Elizabeth. “Then you might as well do the usual. And I’ll take it to go.”

“Sounds great.” Elizabeth shoved the order pad in her apron and stalked back to the counter.

“I forgave you, and this is how you treat me—” Courtney demanded.

“Did you?” Jason asked, leaning in. “Did you forgive me? Because this—” He gestured to the table between them. “Staging this? This isn’t someone who’s forgiven anything. And I didn’t—” He stopped himself before he said something he couldn’t take back.

Courtney’s lip quivered. “Didn’t what? No. Finish it. Say what you want to say.”

“What did you think was going to happen, Courtney? I’d show up, and she’d look miserable, and maybe you’d shove the ring in her face again—”

“Defending her. Of course. She gets to come out of this smelling like roses. You know, Carly always told me—”

Jason’s hand hit the table harder than he meant, and she jumped. The table behind them looked over with curiosity, but Jason didn’t care. “Do you ever talk about anything else?” he demanded.

Courtney’s eyes were wide and the hurt in them was genuine. He exhaled slowly, sat back. He hated every inch of this. Every minute he was in this room, in this situation. Was this what being happy was supposed to look like? Is this who he wanted to be?

“Oh my God!”

The shriek came from behind the counter, from a familiar voice, and Jason was on his feet, halfway across the diner before he even realized what he was doing. Elizabeth was on the phone, tears on her cheeks, but she was smiling.

“Oh my God! You’re kidding? Em, that’s—Oh, wait, wait—Jason’s here. Do you—” She held out the phone to him, her eyes shining. “She has the best news and you should get to hear it from her?”

Jason came around the counter, plucked the phone from Elizabeth’s hands. “Em?”

“Jason, hey! I’m sorry. I’d do this in person but you know I can’t be around crowds. Not yet anyway. But I just found out—I’m in remission!”

Remission. Was there a better word in the English language? “That’s amazing, Emily. The best news I’ve had all day.”

“I have to go, Mom’s here. I wanted you and Elizabeth to be the first to know, and aren’t I lucky to find you in the same place.”

Jason shook his head, but hung up the phone, looked over to see Elizabeth clinging to a relieved Nikolas. She was crying, but laughing, and he just wanted to be the one holding her. The one celebrating with her.

But he’d made that impossible. He’d done something unforgiveable, something unbelievably stupid, and he didn’t even know if he could take it back, if he could fix it.

Elizabeth pulled away from Nikolas, swiping the tears from her face. She just beamed at Jason. “This is literally the best thing that’s happened to me in weeks—remission! Can you believe it? Just a month ago—” She broke off as their eyes met. “A month ago, it was all so different, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” He looked across the diner. Courtney had stood up, was glaring at them, and the rest of the diners were just as interested. “You’d better cancel that order. We’re not staying.”

“O-Okay—”

“And I’m sorry. For all of it. For everything. Just—I’m sorry.”

Jason returned to the table, leaving Elizabeth and Nikolas behind him. “We’re leaving—”

“But—” She lifted her chin. “You have no right to act like wronged party,” she hissed. “I’m the one that got cheated on—”

“You’re right,” Jason said simply. He picked up her purse, put in her hands, and took her by the elbow. He led her into the courtyard, and she was too shocked to protest until they were outside. “I made promises to you, and I broke them. And you forgave me. But I never asked you to. That’s what I was going to say inside. I didn’t ask to be forgiven. Because I’m not sorry.”

Written in 68 minutes. Went over to finish the last scene but I don’t think you’ll argue.

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Kelly’s: Courtyard

I didn’t ask to be forgiven. Because I’m not sorry.

Courtney reeled back like she’d been slapped, her cheeks pale. “What did you just say to me?”

“I’m not sorry it happened.”

“You-you—” She swallowed hard. “No, no—you have to be sorry—” She put up her hands. “You have to be sorry because it was wrong. You hurt me, and you have to be sorry you did that—”

“That’s different,” Jason said. He took a careful breath. “I am sorry you’re hurt. And yeah, what I did was wrong because of the promises I’d made you. But that doesn’t mean I would change what happened or that I’m sorry I did it. And I’d be lying to you and myself if I said differently.” And he was done lying to himself. His phone rang before he could say anything else, and he tugged it from his pocket, making a face when he saw it was Carly. But she was nearly nine months pregnant, so he answered.

“Really, right now?” Courtney demanded as he flipped the phone open, lifted it to his ear.

“Carly—” Before he could even speak her name, he could hear her crying. “Carly, what happened—”

“S-Sonny—he’s lost his mind—he thinks he saw Lily, he thinks—” Carly was barely audible. “He thinks he saw her at the penthouse on the balcony. You need to  get here. Please. Please. I can’t do this. I can’t—”

“Where are you? Are you at the Towers?” Jason was already heading for the parking lot, dimly away of Courtney trying to keep up with him. With his free hand, he fished his keys from his pocket. “Go to my place—take Michael—”

“We’re—” She sucked in a heavy breath. “We’re already there. We’ll wait for you.”

“My car is over—” Courtney started, but Jason was already at the bike, swinging a leg over the seat. “Jason, wait—”

Her words were lost in the roar of the engine, and then Jason was gone.

She stared after him for a long moment, gritted her teeth, then swung her eyes back to the diner. She had some business to take care of.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

“So,” Nikolas drawled, “that was very interesting, wasn’t it?” He ate a spoonful of chili while Elizabeth just glared at him. “You sure there’s nothing to tell?”

“I have no idea what that was,” Elizabeth murmured, trying very hard not to look out the courtyard where Jason and Courtney spoke for half a second before he took a phone call, then left with Courtney chasing after him. She looked back at Nikolas. “And butt out.”

“No fun in that,” Nikolas said with a shrug.

The door swung open a minute later and Courtney charged back in, stopping at the counter. “Are you happy now?”

Elizabeth lifted her brows, looked behind her, then back at Courtney. “Who are you talking to?”

“You, you goddamn tramp—”

“Fantastic,” Elizabeth muttered coming around the counter, grabbing Courtney by the elbow. The blonde started to protest but Elizabeth wasn’t in the mood. She dragged Courtney through the kitchen and shoved her towards the back entrance. When they were in the alley, she finally released her. “You’re not coming to my place of work to scream at me, you lunatic.”

“How dare you talk to me this way after what you did to me—”

“I did nothing to you,” Elizabeth shot back. “I didn’t ask you to marry me. I didn’t tell you I loved you. I don’t even like you. A month ago, I let you sit there and get inside my head and make me feel bad, but I’m done with that now, do you get me, Courtney? No one is going to walk all over me. I’m sorry Jason hurt you, but that is a him and you problem, and it has nothing to do with me—”

“You did something, I know you did! Because he loved me! And he stayed for me!”

“I did nothing, Courtney. I just came to my job. You’re the one who kept coming to my job to talk about the wedding that isn’t happening. You’re the one who made sure Jason came here today. What did you think was going to happen? He’d feel so guilty when he saw me he’d agree to set the date?”

Courtney pressed her lips together, glared at her. “Shut up.”

“Oh, so that’s the plan. Guilt Jason into staying with you. Guilt him into marrying you. What a great love story. A real beautiful tear-jerker. I’m so sorry it didn’t work out. Maybe if you’d given me lines or something so I could have played my part—”

“Shut up! Just stop—”

“I have seen Jason three times since that night, Courtney, and each time, I told him to go be happy. If it was with you, fine. That’s what love is. Wanting someone to be happy, to be their best selves, even if it’s not with you. I told him to go be happy. Your job was to be the woman he loved. But I guess you couldn’t manage that, huh?”

Courtney’s hand flashed out, but Elizabeth caught her. “You don’t get to stand here like the wronged woman when everything that happened today is on you. I haven’t seen Jason in almost a month. Did you know that? He went out of his way to avoid me here, and I’ve made damn sure I don’t run into him when I see Emily. We did what we were supposed to. We stayed away. But that wasn’t enough for you, wasn’t it? You wanted to make him feel bad, so you dragged him to Kelly’s—” She stopped. “How did you know I’d be here? Are you—did you get my schedule from your dad?”

“You’re just mad because you got caught—”

“Caught doing what? Courtney, I did nothing but go to work. Maybe, and I’m just throwing this out there, the problem is that you put Jason in front of me, and instead of feeling guilty, he got pissed at you. You don’t get to take this out on me. Go yell at him.”

“I plan to, but you need to understand that—”

“You’re not going anywhere, yeah, yeah. I got that. Courtney, here’s something about me you don’t know. If I wanted Jason back last month, I could have had him. I could have cried, I could have begged. I could have done a lot of things. But I chose to look at the man that I loved and think about what he needed. What he wanted. I put him first. So when you go home and play this all back in your head, think about that.”

“You think he’s going to leave me now, that he’s going to come back to me—but he chose me, Elizabeth. He chose me first—”

“Yeah, I know.” Elizabeth tilted her head. “It’s called guilt, Courtney. It’s called obligations. Making promises and trying like hell to keep them even when you don’t want to. I’m sorry you’re unhappy. I’m sorry that Jason hurt you. But you’re the one that kept including me in this little triangle, not him.”

“You slept with my fiancee—”

“I did. And I’m not sorry. Anything else?” Elizabeth asked, arching a brow. “Because I would like to get back to work now.”

“This isn’t over—” Courtney threw her hair back and stalked down the alley, turning the car towards the parking lot.

“Of course not,” Elizabeth muttered. “I couldn’t be that lucky.” She yanked open the kitchen door.

Nikolas was still finishing his chili when she returned. “No idea what’s going on, you said?”

“Shut up and eat your food.”

Harborview Towers: Hallway

Max was waiting for him when the elevator doors slid open. “Thank God. It’s a goddamn mess, Jase. Mrs. C is hysterical, Michael’s not much better. I think I got Mr. C calmed down—”

“Take a deep breath,” Jason said, and the guard obeyed. “What happened?”

“I don’t know how any of it started, but I heard Mr. C. Shouting. I went inside and he was on the balcony, yelling the name Lily over and over again. Then he started to run towards the kitchen, then to the old maid’s room — he kept screaming the name. Mrs. C came downstairs, upset and Michael was with her. Sonny grabbed her arms—”

“He grabbed her?” Jason repeated. Damn it. Damn it. “Did he hurt her?”

“He shook her hard, demanding she tell him where Lily went. It was like he didn’t recognize her—I froze, man, I’m sorry, I froze—” Max dragged a hand through his hair. “But when he started to shake her, I got her away. I got her away,” he repeated. “And I picked Michael up, and I took them to your place.”

“Okay. Okay. Good. Good. I want you to come with me, and we’re going to deal with Sonny first, okay?” Jason started for the door. “There’s a medical kit in the bathroom downstairs. Go get it. It’s under the sink.”

“Got it.”

Jason pushed open the door, found Sonny pacing by the fireplace, his black hair disheveled, his eyes red. He looked over at the entrance, the pupils of his eyes so wide the black swallowed the brown. “Jase, Jase, you gotta help me—”

“That’s why I’m here.” Jason took Sonny by the arm, gently, and steered him towards the sofa. He still recognized Jason, that was good. But— “Tell me what’s going on, and I’ll fix it.”

“Lily, I can’t find her. I can’t find her.” Sonny seized Jason’s arms. “You gotta find her. She’s pregnant, okay? And I have to protect her. But I couldn’t find her. And Reinaldo—” He jerked up, twisted to look towards the door. “I don’t know who that guy is on the door, I need Reinaldo—”

The loyal guard who’d been Sonny’s personal body guard had died six years ago in a shooting at Luke’s. “He’s not here. I’ll go get him, but this is Max—” Jason gestured at the other man who had emerged from the hallway to the door way. “This is Max, and I trust him with my life, you know?”

“You trust him.” Slowly, Jason got Sonny to sit back down, though his pulse was racing. This was bad. This was worse than he’d ever seen him.

“I do. So take a deep breath. I’m going to get you some water, and I want you to tell me everything you remember about the last time you saw Lily. Then you can rest, and I’ll go find her.”

“You’ll find her.”

“I will. You know I will.”

Sonny closed his eyes. “Okay. Okay.”

Jason left him on the sofa, then poured him a glass of water. He took the kit from Max and found the sedative inside. He loaded the syringe, then took it and the water back to Sonny. “Okay. Tell me about Lily.”

“She was—she was on the balcony.” Sonny sipped his water. “I told her to come in. It’s getting cold. She turned, she smiled at me. She—she smiled. And then she was gone. I don’t know, did she fall?”

“No. No, she didn’t.” Jason took the water glass, set it aside. “I’m going to give you something to help you. Okay? It’ll help you remember.”

“Help me remember,” Sonny repeated, watching as Jason rolled back Sonny’s sleeve, and found a vein. “How soon?”

“Soon. Lily didn’t fall, Sonny. You know that. She turned, she smiled at you, and then she went to the car.”

“The car.” Sonny squinted, then nodded. “Yes. Yes. The car. We were…” His throat worked hard for a minute, and he swallowed. “She died. She and my son.”

“Yes. They died seven years ago,” Jason said. “You married Carly. Do you remember Carly?”

“Christ. Christ.” Sonny put his head in his hands. “Carly. She’s pregnant. That’s my son.”

“Yes.”

“What’s happening to me? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, Sonny. But we’re going to figure it out. Right now, I want you to relax. To rest. I gave you something to help, okay?” Jason stood, pulled Sonny to his feet. “Max is going to help you. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah. I can do that. Carly. Where is she?”

“Safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to her or the kids. I promise. Come on.” Jason gestured for Max to take his place, and the guard hurried forward. “Put him to bed, then come across the hall.”

He waited until Sonny and Max had cleared the first landing before leaving for his place.

Carly was pacing in front of the fireplace, a hand at the small of her back, her eyes bloodshot. “Jase.”

He ignored her for a minute, went straight for the little boy curled up in a ball on the sofa. “Hey, buddy.” He crouched in front of the sofa. “Hey—” he grunted when Michael launched himself at Jason. “Okay. It’s okay.”

“Daddy was hurting Mommy,” Michael said, his voice muffled, buried in Jason’s shoulder. Jason rose to his feet, bringing Michael with him, stroking the five-year-old’s back.

He met Carly’s eyes. “You’re not going back. Not tonight.”

“No. No I can’t do this again. I can’t keep—we were okay and then we weren’t, I can’t—I can’t keep hoping it—” Carly sucked in a shaky breath. “You can’t keep fixing him, Jason. You can’t keep this up. None of us can. I was so scared—” She pressed her hands to her mouth. “And Michael—he’s seen too much—”

“I know.” Jason went to the desk, and shifted Michael to one side, reaching for the phone. “I’m going to take care of everything. Okay? Wally, it’s me. Yeah, I need you to send someone up. Get a car ready, and send some guys over to the Forest Hill house. Open it up. Make it safe. Carly’s on her way in a bit. Michael will be with her—”

The door opened and Courtney came in. He looked at her for a minute, then turned his attention back to the phone. “And so is Courtney. Thanks.”

“What am I doing? What’s happening?” Courtney crossed over to her sister-in-law. “Are you okay?”

“I can’t go through it all again. Just—”

“Carly and Michael are going to one of the safe house for a few days. Maybe longer,” he said. “And you’ll go with them—”

“Oh, I don’t—” Courtney began. “I should be here with you, a-and Sonny—”

Jason looked over at her. “No. That’s not necessary. I’ve got Sonny handled. Carly needs you more than he does.”

She waited for him to say more, but he wouldn’t. There was nothing else to say. He didn’t know exactly what had happened — or why. But something had.

Maybe it had been standing at the counter, holding a phone in his hand, looking at Elizabeth, and knowing he couldn’t touch her. Knowing that she was hugging Nikolas because it couldn’t be him. And maybe it had been sitting across the hall, watching Sonny remember Lily had died, remembering the horror of it, dragging him back from wherever his mind had taken him — and all he wanted to do was talk to Elizabeth, because she would listen and when he was done, he’d know what to do next.

It was clear to him now what he had to do, but first — he had to make sure that things here were calm enough so that he could take a few hours and go see Elizabeth.

Because that’s all he wanted to do now. Was see her.

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Elizabeth stretched her arms over her head, then leaned on the counter to watch the last table finish their meal. A couple. Maybe on a date. They were sending little flirty signals back and forth. Their feet brushing one another. Hearts in their eyes. She wondered if she and Jason had ever looked like that.

What a strange day — from the unexpected encounter with Jason to the wonderful news of Emily going into remission — the way Jason had looked at her after he’d heard the news — and maybe they were both remembering the last time they’d received good news about Emily, and how they’d celebrated in each other’s arms.

And then the tension with Courtney — the insane confrontation in the alley. Elizabeth was  honestly a little surprised that she hadn’t crumbled under the pressure or the guilt, but she just…didn’t. She’d done everything she could to respect Courtney’s space since that night. She’d never pushed back, she’d never said a word to her. She’d been polite. Kind. And maybe that’s why Courtney had snapped. Because what happened today was no one’s fault but Courtney’s.

The bell above the door jingled, and Elizabeth slowly straightened, making a face when Ric sauntered towards her. What a great way to end the day.

“The grill is closed, but we still have the cold menu,” Elizabeth said, tossing the late night menu at him. “So make it quick—”

“You look so tired,” Ric said, with a sigh. He sat at the counter. “I wish you’d let me help. Financially. I could—”

“I’d rather choke.” Elizabeth shoved a utensil wrap at him, then poured him a glass of water. She was good at her job, damn it. And didn’t even give into the temptation to accidentally overfill and splash him.

“Elizabeth—”

“Give me your order or get out.”

Ric’s mouth settled in an unhappy line. “Fine. The Cobb salad.”

“Great.” Elizabeth went to the window, slapped the order down. “Don, would you mind bringing this last order to the customer? I’m going to clear down the courtyard.”

“Sure thing, Lizzie,” Don said, the cook sending Ric a dark look. “You take your time out there. I’ll take care of it in here.”

She busied herself folding chairs, and sliding them into stacks. A few more weeks and they’d be able to close the courtyard down for the season. She’d probably grow old working at Kelly’s, she thought with some derision.

The door behind her opened, and Ric stepped out. “I’m not going to make it easy for you to leave me—”

“No, I don’t imagine kidnapping a pregnant woman and keeping her locked in a panic room would be easy, but don’t worry, I still found the door.” Elizabeth folded up another chair.

“You made me promises—”

“You made a few yourself, Ric. And broke every one of them—”

“I would have thought you’d be more understanding. Don’t you have a soft spot for criminals?” Ric bit out.

Elizabeth set the last chair in the stack, then looked at him, her expression stone-faced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“How many crimes did you overlook for Jason?”

“There it is.” Elizabeth pointed at him. “I knew you’d get around to it eventually. You think I’m stupid, don’t you? You think I’m going to compare your crimes to whatever imaginary thing you think Jason’s done, and talk about how they’re worse. You should know by now. I’m not going to let you use me against Jason. Not ever again.” She started past him.

“I couldn’t use you the last time,” Ric retorted, and she whirled back. “Or don’t you remember how useless you were to me about Jason and Sonny? You didn’t know anything. But I stuck around because I fell in love with you—”

“Oh, how romantic. Can’t believe I’m divorcing you—” She rolled her eyes.

“Jason didn’t trust you, remember? You didn’t know anything. He didn’t trust you, didn’t confide in you, didn’t care about you—”

“None of that was true then or now. But you need it to be.” She tipped her head, saw him grit his teeth. “You, you need me to think the worst of Jason, and I was stupid. Gullible. Hurt. I let you manipulate me, Ric, and I’ll regret it every day of my life. You needed me to be low and sad and isolated because it was the only way I’d ever let you near me. But that’s done now.” She stepped towards him. “Because I see you for who you are now, and all I want is for you to go away.”

“I’m going to prove to you that I love you,” Ric said. He slapped his hand out to stop her from opening the door to Kelly’s. “I’m going to do what Jason never did — fight for you—”

“Do you have any arguments that aren’t about Jason? Still mad that Sonny chose him and not you?” Elizabeth demanded. “This isn’t even about me, is it? You just want to win. I’m never going to trust you again. So stop coming around, and leave me alone—”

“I’m not going anywhere—” Ric had barely managed to get the words out before he suddenly was yanked away from her, and in less than a breath, he was pinned against the brick wall on the other side of the courtyard, the chairs scattering with a clatter.

Jason had him by the neck, his hand squeezing. “Think again, Ric.”

Written in 59 minutes.

---

Kelly’s: Courtyard

It was with some pleasure that Jason watched Ric’s face flush, the raspy choked sound that only came from the desperate attempt to pull oxygen from somewhere. His fingers clawed uselessly at Jason’s hands, his feet dangling against the brick wall.

For every tear Carly had sobbed last spring, painfully admitting that she’d needed a paternity test because of what he’d done, for the nightmares Michael still suffered from watching his mother being carried off by a madman—for whatever Ric had done to land Elizabeth in that hospital bed, flatlining — dying in front of his eyes —

For every doubt and guilt Ric had introduced to Sonny’s fragile psyche already weighed by down by too many crimes —

There was nothing Jason wanted more than to watch the life slowly leave this man’s body. To be the reason he no longer walked around with that smug smile as if he’d done something special getting away with kidnapping and attempted murder.

“You know that feeling right now?” Jason asked. “Dizzy, right? Your brain is screaming for oxygen. I could crush your throat and put you out of your misery, make it quick. But we both know you don’t deserve that. Do you know how long it takes to choke a man? To suffocate him? Eleven pounds of pressure, and brain death is four minutes. Maybe five.” Jason squinted. “Maybe if I press a little harder—”

“Eliz—” The sound was barely audible, but Ric’s eyes were darting past Jason.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Elizabeth said, and Jason glanced behind him, watched her take a seat at one of the remaining tables. “Just clean up when you’re done.”

He knew she was only saying that because he’d never do this in front of her. Never make her part of it, but one day— Jason stepped back, slowly releasing Ric from his grasp. “The next time, you won’t be so lucky.”

Ric scowled, smoothed down his suit jacket. “Are you crazy?” he managed to push out his hoarse throat. “I’m a goddamn ADA—”

“Don’t remind me. Stay away from Elizabeth. That’s the only warning you get.”

“If Elizabeth didn’t want to see me,” Ric said, clearing his throat, “then she’d have called the cops. How many times have I been here? Eating breakfast, catching you at closing—”

Jason shifted so that he was standing between them, but could see Elizabeth’s unreadable expression.

“I did call the police, Ric.” She uncrossed her legs, then rose to her feet. “Last summer. When I woke up from the coma that you put me in. I can’t prove it, no, but we both know you did something. I called the police, Ric. I told them what you’d done. What I found in our walls. I saw Carly, I heard her screaming for help. But she wasn’t there when they went to look, so I guess—” Elizabeth tipped her head. “I called the police, Ric, and now you’re an ADA instead of waiting for trial. You work in the system now. What good would it do to report you for stalking—”

“Stalking—” Ric’s eyes darted to Jason who kept his hands fisted at his sides. Just give him a reason. Just one. “Don’t be ridiculous—”

“Every morning I opened, there you were. And as soon as I switched to the closing shift to get away from you, there were you were again. I’ve asked, Ric. You don’t come in on any other shifts. Just mine. I think I know where you’re getting my schedule,” she said, and Ric’s nostrils flared. “I suggest you tell your source that I’m done being pushed around.”

Jason frowned. “What source? Who’s telling him information about—” He swallowed hard, looked at Ric, who straightened his tie.

“I think you’d better go while you’re still able to walk,” Elizabeth said. “Because in thirty seconds, I’m going to go back inside and tell Don he can head out.” She flicked her eyes to Jason. “That work for you?”

“Sounds perfect,” Jason said, half-convinced she meant it this time.

Ric scowled. “You wouldn’t—” But Elizabeth was already turning towards the door, pulling the handle. “Fine. Fine. But this isn’t over.” He stalked out of the courtyard on that line, and Elizabeth sighed, rubbed her chest before looking at Jason.

“Can you—would you finish stacking these chairs? I need to go wash my face and tell Don he can go home.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

“Come inside when you’re done, and you can ask me that question.”

He’d have to, Jason thought, though it was the last thing he wanted to talk about. He folded up the last of the chairs, set the table to the side, then went inside the diner.

Elizabeth emerged from the kitchen a minute later with her coat and purse. She set them on a table, then pulled out a chair. She dragged a hand through her hair, then looked up at him expectantly. “Well?”

He sat across from her. “Courtney. That’s how Ric knew when you were working. That’s his source.”

“I don’t know for sure, but yeah.” Elizabeth plucked a napkin from the dispenser, kept her eyes down. “She’s been coming in pretty steadily on my shifts. And today? She planned that, but it’s not my regular shift. I only picked it up a few days ago. I can’t think of anyone else who might have a reason to want to cause trouble for me.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t apologize. What we did, that’s on us.” She looked at him now. “You went home, you didn’t lie to her about it, and she told you she wanted to try to work things out. And I didn’t do anything to stop you. I tried really hard to just step out of that because I wanted you to…to make the choice that was right for you.” Her voice faltered just a touch, but then she swallowed. Pulled it back. “We didn’t see each other for three weeks, Jason. I’m not blaming her for being angry. For hating me. I get that. But I do blame her for telling you that you could work things out and then dragging you here to make us both uncomfortable. To make you feel bad. And I sure as hell blame her for telling that psychopath my work schedule if that’s what she did.”

“I—I don’t know how to handle that. What Ric did to Carly, to Michael, I mean he kidnapped Courtney, too—” He shook his head. “But you’re right. He had to know you changed shifts. Mike never would have told him.”

“He wanted me to call you and Sonny when he found out Ric was coming in,” Elizabeth said, a half smile. “I can’t see him telling anyone, no. Look, it is what it is, and if you’re here to apologize for this afternoon, don’t. I know it wasn’t your idea. I just—” She made a face. “Don’t let her keep making you feel guilty, okay? I know—I know how easy it is to take on that kind of guilt and let it drown you—”

“I couldn’t understand why you’d choose something that made you unhappy over…anything else,” Jason admitted. “I do now. I stayed because…”

“Because you made her a promise, Jason. I know you take those seriously. And you loved her—”

“I—” Jason leaned back. “I don’t know. I thought I did. It felt like I did for a while, but maybe—” He looked past Elizabeth, squinting. “Maybe I was just lying to myself. I wanted to love her. To be happy. So I told myself I was.” He focused on her again. “And I’ve known her a year. I don’t think I ever let myself understand how hard it would have been for you to turn your back on Lucky at that point. I just—I thought you were unhappy, there was a chance maybe you could be happy with me, why wouldn’t you…” He trailed off.

“How do you reject a miracle? When he’s telling you he loved you all along, and he thought about you all the time, and that’s how he knew he’d make it—that our love kept him alive. Even when he was being brainwashed—” Her smile was wry. “A piece of him still knew I was out there waiting for him. And you know, I think he was telling me the truth. I really think that’s how it was for him. But me?” She made a face, looked away. “I thought he was dead, so I moved on. I let him go. And then when he came home, he didn’t want me. You know when he really started to get angry about it? When you came home. When he saw how I was around you.”

“I’m sorry—”

“It doesn’t really do any good to think about any of that now, I guess. Only that, yeah, it was hard to say no to a miracle. I kept him alive, he says. So how do I say, well, that’s great but I really think I want to kiss this other guy and see if maybe that’s better, so—” Elizabeth raised a shoulder. “Anyway. I get it. You make promises, and you care about people. And that’s how obligations and guilt start pushing you down until you’re drowning and you forget who you are. What you want to be. You don’t even exist anymore. Not as individual.”

Jason nodded, looked down at his hands. “I’m sorry. That I didn’t see it then. That I made that harder on you. I know I was angry and frustrated with you at the end—”

“You always do this,” Elizabeth interrupted, and he broke off, looked at her. She was leaning forward, resting her chin on her fist, her eyes soft. “Twist and turn the subject until somehow you’re reassuring me, apologizing to me.”

“I don’t like when you’re down on yourself,” Jason said after a moment. “You’re always taking on the blame for what other people do. Even now — you think there’s a chance Courtney is the reason your ex-husband is stalking you, and you can’t even hold that against me—”

“Because she’d have done that whether you stayed or not, Jason. It’s not about you. It’s about me. She thinks I’m trying to steal you, trying to tempt you away, and instead of focusing on you, she’s focused on me. Siccing Ric on me, coming in here to flash that ring, talking about the wedding—”

Jason grimaced, muttered under his breath. “I told her over and over again that I didn’t want to talk about that—” He dragged a hand down his face. “And if she’s doing this, I don’t even know how I can look at her. You and Carly don’t get along, but you didn’t even hesitate to report the panic room. Carly said you were trying to get the phone, trying to get her out when you collapsed. It would never occur to you do something like this—” He cleared his throat. “I came here to apologize for all of that, and now there’s just more I have to deal with—”

“I can respect if you want to deal with Courtney on that because Ric isn’t exactly just my ex-husband, but don’t take it on, Jason. I know you’re dealing with so much. With Carly, Michael, and Sonny. I don’t know if things are better — I hope they are. But I don’t want to be someone you worry about —”

“You’re not. I mean, I worry about you,” Jason added quickly, with a wince. “I think about you too much,” he confessed.

Elizabeth scooted her chair back. “We should—we should probably go. Before we start talking about things we promised we wouldn’t. Thank you for getting rid of Ric for me—”

Jason stood, stopped her from picking up her purse. “I came here to apologize, yeah, but also because something else happened today.”

“Jason—” she looked at him, and her eyes glimmered. “I’m tired. I want to be there for you, the way you’ve always been for me, I really do. A-nd I’ll be mad at myself later, but I don’t know if I can do this tonight and then have you go back to her—”

“I’m not,” Jason said. He caught her hand as it reached for the purse, held it. Her skin was so soft. He hadn’t touched her in nearly a month, and now he stared down at her fingers, so soft, paler against his darker skin, roughened from being outside and the warehouse. “I realized today when she told me she forgave me that I never asked her to. I’m not sorry about that night. Any of it.”

“Jason—” His name was barely audible, just really an exhale of breath between her parted lips. “Don’t—”

“I’m not sorry,” he repeated. “The only mistake I made was going home and not keeping my promise to you. I kept the wrong promise, and for that, I am sorry.”

She squeezed her eyes closed, her dark lashes against her cheeks. “I tried to do the right thing, you know. To send you away with my good wishes. Be happy, I told you, and I didn’t want to do that. You know that, right?” Her lashes fluttered again and her eyes locked on his, a little desperate. “I know I’m awful at telling you how I feel and where you stand, and I’m never clear or I’m too clear at the wrong times and we keep messing that up. I’m sorry for that. I didn’t want to use that. I didn’t want to use the regret and the maybes but I knew I could have. I did the right thing. We both did.”

“The right thing for who?” Jason wanted to know. He pressed their joined hands against his chest, tugging her forward just an inch. “It wasn’t the right thing for me.”

“You thought it was—a-nd I wanted to be what you needed — the way you always were for me, you never fought me—”

“I fought you all the time,” Jason said, with an almost exasperated laugh, and she looked at him, startled. “You’re remembering some martyr that never existed. I got angry with you, Elizabeth, didn’t I?”

“You—” She licked her lips. “Yeah. But—”

“Because I could feel this—” He cupped her jaw with his other hand, caught one of her tears with the pad of his thumb. “I knew what this was, what it could be, and I knew you felt it, too, and it drove me crazy that you couldn’t admit it. It was all I could do not to take you by the shoulders and shake you.”

“God, I wish you had,” she muttered, then bit her lip, looked at him. “Okay. So maybe I took the wrong lessons from two years ago—”

“Why are either of us thinking about the mistakes we made? I should have kissed you.”

“I should have taken your hand and never looked back.” Elizabeth looked at the joined hands still against his chest, traced the back of his hand with her index finger. “We did the right thing back then, too. I stayed and you went away. Why didn’t I think of that? Why—” She laughed, looked up at him now with bewildered amusement in her beautiful eyes. “Why didn’t I remember how it all turned out? Because here we are. Exactly where we always end up.”

“This time,” Jason promised her, “it’ll be different.” He slid his hand from her jaw to the nape of her neck, then kissed her.

---

*cackles* see you friday. 

Written in 60 minutes.

---

Kelly’s: Dining Room

This was not a good idea.

Somewhere in Elizabeth’s fevered brain, those words were surely being screamed, but she couldn’t hear them over the pounding of her heart, the sensation of Jason’s hands in her hair, the feeling of his skin beneath her hands as she slid them beneath his t-shirt, stumbling backwards as she felt herself being lifted onto the table, heard the crash of the napkin dispenser hitting the ground—

“Wait, wait—” With willpower she didn’t know existed, Elizabeth turned her mouth away from Jason’s, drawing in much needed oxygen, but he never missed a beat, his lips nibbling down the line of her throat, to her collarbone— “Wait—” she said again—covering his mouth with her hands, and then got his attention.

They stared at each other for a long moment, and Elizabeth nearly forgot everything all over again except how right it felt to be in his arms, to have her legs wrapped around his waist—

If they’d been anywhere else—

“Anyone can see us,” Elizabeth said, because at least that much would get through to both of them. Jason closed his eyes for a moment, rested his forehead against hers, then stepped back, carefully tugging her back to her feet, keeping one arm around her waist. “The, um, windows—”

“Yeah,” he managed, his voice rough. He looked at all the glass, giving them an excellent view of the courtyard which was thankfully empty. But anyone could have walked past and watched Jason Morgan ravishing a woman other than his fiancee on the tables inside.

“What are we doing?” Elizabeth whispered. “What are we doing, Jason? Didn’t we decide we weren’t these people?”

“What kind of people are we then?” Jason stepped back, reluctantly letting his arms fall to his side.

“I don’t know, are you still engaged?” she asked pointedly, and he sighed, looked away. “We have heat, sure. And we’re good on our own. We’ve always known that. When it’s just the two of us, it’s perfect. No surprise that the sex is good. Amazing,” she corrected when he just looked at her. “But as much as I want to be here for you, to be your friend, I’m not going to be the one you turn to when your real life gets too hard. Because if you go home to her this time, I might lose my mind—”

“I haven’t told her yet,” Jason cut in. He stooped down, picked up the napkin dispenser, set it back on the table. “I was going to. Maybe right there in the courtyard. But then something happened, and I had to take care of it. When it was over, all I wanted to do was find you. See you. Maybe I should have waited. No, I know I should have, it’s just…” He shook his head. “Never mind. Never mind. You’re right. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and then—”

“What happened?” Elizabeth asked and he fell silent. “I don’t know, am I allowed to ask that?”

“You can always ask. I just…I just can’t always answer. But—” He dragged a hand down his face. “Sonny’s having issues. I’ve never told you how bad they are, but right now, it’s as bad as it’s ever been and I don’t think what I’m doing is enough. That’s why I can’t talk to Courtney tonight. She’s with Carly at a safehouse.”

Elizabeth sat down, dread flooding her veins. “Is she all right?”

“Yeah. Mostly.” He returned to his seat across from her. “Sonny thought he saw Lily. On the balcony. He didn’t recognize Carly. When Max got inside, he had her by the wrists, was shaking her. Michael saw it all.”

She reached across the table, found his hand, covered it with her own. He turned her hand in his own, rubbed his thumb across her palm. “Max got her across the hall, and he called me. He didn’t know Lily was dead. Couldn’t remember it. He knew me, though. So…that’s something. I sedated him. He’s sleeping. And I just…I wanted to get on the bike and keep going,” he admitted in a quiet voice, so low that she could scarcely hear him. “I calmed Carly down. Courtney got home. She didn’t want to go, but I told her to. I couldn’t deal with her just then. I didn’t know what I’d say or do. I didn’t even want to look at her,” Jason bit out. “I just wanted them all to go away. They did. But they never stay away.”

He exhaled slowly, stared down at their joined hands. “So I got on the bike, and I came here. I thought if I just saw you, even if I just looked at you, I’d…I don’t know. Feel something different. And I know that’s not fair to you—”

“Don’t make me break out the line again,” Elizabeth said, and he looked at her, startled by the interruption, by what she’d said, and his laugh was short, almost a bitter sound that he immediately stifled by releasing her hand and putting both hands over his face.

“I’m going to tell her. I know how that sounds,” he added when she said nothing. “I’ve spent the last month trying to get back something I don’t think existed in the first place, and I just—I don’t want to pretend anymore. I just want something that’s mine. Instead of—” Jason stopped, swallowed hard.

“No, go ahead, finish it. There’s nothing you can say to me that’s going to change how I feel, Jason.” Elizabeth tipped her head.

“You said it, last year. Sonny’s enforcer. First, last, always,” he muttered with a bitterness that she didn’t know he had inside of him. “I told you, that stayed with me. Don’t apologize for it—” he added when she opened her mouth. “You were right. That’s all I am. I live and breath Sonny’s life. His wife, his son, his sister, that’s my entire world, and I did it to myself. I did it willingly. Courtney fits, that’s what I told you,” Jason said, and she bit her lip. “She fits because she’s made Sonny and Carly her whole life. That’s all we talk about. Is Sonny okay today? Is Carly too stressed? What should we do to make sure Michael isn’t affected? How do I handle it if it’s a bad day? Or today’s a good day, so let’s make sure we don’t do or say anything that throws it off because it doesn’t take much—I didn’t even know my sister was dying until she had to tell me.”

“She wasn’t telling anyone, Jason,” Elizabeth said, reaching for his hand, but he avoided it this time. “But I know what you mean. She wasn’t telling anyone. But if either of us had been paying attention—we know her better than anyone. Between the two of us, we’d have wrestled her to the ground and dragged the truth out. You’re not the only one who feels like let her down.”

“I just don’t want it to be like this anymore. It’s not enough. It shouldn’t have taken a year for me to figure that out, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry it did. I should have ran after you that night. Stopped you. Never lied in the first place—”

“We’re not going to do that, remember? Think about the ways we hurt each other. You told me that, and now I’m telling you. I didn’t hold on when I should have. We both made mistakes. Let’s just…let’s leave that in the past where it belongs.” She cleared her throat. “And we don’t have to get into the rest of it. I really do understand why you haven’t…why you haven’t told Courtney. I can understand you wanting to wait until this is—until Sonny’s through this—”

“I’m not—that’s not what I’m going to do.” Jason frowned, his eyes sharp, focused on her, some of the misery burned away. “I told you. I realized what was important, and I came here to tell you that. I just—I got distracted by Ric, and then—everything else. I know—I know we can’t — you need me to end things and I’m going to. But I told you. I want my life to be my own again. And I want you in it.”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“You don’t believe me—”

“I do. I do,” she repeated when he just shook his head. “It’s just—you’ve—there’s been a lot today. Emily’s news, and that scene with Courtney. Everything with Sonny and Carly, and then Ric—I just think maybe—if you’re ready to end your engagement, your relationship with Courtney, okay. I don’t know if…” She bit her lip. “This is going to sound insane, and it’s not what I want, so believe me, I hate what I’m about to say. But maybe you need time on your own. Just you. I mean, I’ll be here. Friends,” she added. “But it’s been a lot this last year. You came home, and there was Alcazar, Brenda, Ric, and—it’s just been so much. For both of us.”

“You’re probably right.” Jason grimaced, looked at his hands. “I’ve screwed this up,” he muttered. “From the beginning.”

“You did the best you could. I know you did, Jason. That’s just who you are. You tried so hard not to hurt anyone that you ended up hurting yourself the most. Everyone expects so much from you, and you’re just—you’re human, okay? Remember that. You’re not responsible for Sonny and Carly. For Courtney. For Emily. Or for me. We all make our own choices and mistakes.”

He nodded, then sighed again. He got to his feet, held out his hand and pulled her up. “I’ve missed you,” Jason said. He reached for her other hand, held them both in his, looked down at them. “This—right here—this is the most right I’ve felt in weeks. Maybe longer. That night, you know what I think about the most?” When she shook her head, he continued, “when we were just talking. Laying in bed, with you in my arms. I think about that all the time.”

Damn it. Her eyes filled. She leaned up, pressed her lips to his in a short, sweet kiss, cupping the line of his jaw. “I think about that, too. The rest of the night — that was amazing, and sure, that’s in there. But mostly, just being with you. It’s all I’ve ever needed.”

He nodded, his forehead against hers. “I have to go. Or I won’t be able to,” he admitted. “Can I—can I call you or come see you tomorrow?”

“Sure. I’d like that.”

“I’ll walk you to your building…and stay outside when you go up,” Jason said, and she laughed lightly. She scooped up her purse and the light jacket she’d grabbed.

“That’s probably a good idea.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Jason sighed, dropped his keys on the desk, then just looked at the woman sitting on the sofa. “I told you to stay with Carly tonight.”

“She called her mother.” Courtney got to her feet. “I told her that we needed to talk. And we do. First, I need to apologize for today—”

“You knew her schedule, didn’t you?” Jason asked, staring at the wooden surface of the desk. “She switched to closing, but you knew she was on the lunch shift today, didn’t you?”‘

“Yes,” Courtney said, a bit hesitantly. “I did it on purpose. I guess I wanted to know what would happen—”

“You thought I’d be reminded of how guilty I’m supposed to feel and let you set a date for the wedding.” And now he looked at her, saw the irritation in her eyes before dropping them to the ground. “Did Mike give you the schedule?”

“No. I know where he keeps it. Jason—”

He nodded, rubbed his mouth. “And then you gave a copy of it to Ric.” When her mouth just tightened, and she didn’t deny it, Jason felt sick to his stomach. “You gave him everything he needed to stalk her. That’s what he’s been doing. Every night. Did you know that?”

“I guess I don’t need to ask where you were tonight. Did you get a quickie in before coming home?” Courtney demanded, folding her arms.

“You’re not going to turn this around on me. What I did — I did. And you know, it was technically wrong because of this, but I didn’t do it to hurt you. I didn’t,” he added, when she just scoffed. “Because I just wasn’t thinking about you at all.”

“What? What does that mean?”

“It means exactly what you think it does,” he retorted. “I was with Elizabeth, and I didn’t think about you until I answered my phone the next morning. Not once. Does that bother you?” he asked.

“You’re just being cruel now to get back at me for telling Ric—”

“No, I just stopped caring what you think or feel,” Jason interrupted, and she snapped her mouth shut. “Just like you stopped caring what I thought. What I felt. I told you I didn’t want to talk about the wedding. That I wasn’t even sure I wanted to get to married. That didn’t matter to you. You set today up to hurt me, to manipulate me into doing what you wanted.”

Tears glimmered in her eyes, but Courtney just lifted her chin. “I see the gloves are off. Okay, good. Good. Now that you’re not worried about protecting my feelings, why don’t you tell me why you did it? What changed if it wasn’t the miscarriage I had?”

Jason shook his head. “You don’t want to hear this, so let’s just end it here. You can have the ring. You can have this place, I don’t care. But this is done—”

“If this is done, then I deserve to know why after everything we’d been through, after everything this last year, why did you jump into bed with Elizabeth? Why did you nearly leave me over it? Why don’t you feel guilty?” she demanded.

“Because I didn’t know there was a chance,” Jason said, and she simply stared at him.

“What? What does that mean?”

“Elizabeth told me I’d ruined any chance for us the night she walked out,” he said, the memory searing like acid. “And I believed her. But that night, I realized she was wrong. I slept with her because I wanted to. Because I’d wanted to for years, and for the first time, I realized she still gave a damn about me. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Written in 55 minutes.

---

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

I slept with her because I wanted to. Because I’d wanted to for years, and for the first time, I realized she still gave a damn about me. Is that what you wanted to hear?

Courtney fisted her hands at her side, her face a bright cherry red. “Does it make you feel good to hurt me this way? Because I told Ric Elizabeth switched her shifts? That means I deserve this—”

“Ric isn’t just her ex-husband,” Jason bit out, taking a step towards her and she flinched. “He’s the man who locked your so-called best friend in a goddamn panic room for three weeks. He knocked her out in front of her five-year-old son and kidnapped her, threatening to murder her and take her baby. Or doesn’t that matter to you anymore?”

“I notice he’s still breathing,” Courtney retorted. “And you sure as hell had no problem using him in Venezuela—”

“Because we needed to rescue Carly!” The words exploded louder than he’d meant them to, and she turned away from them, from the bitter anger lacing through every word. “I would have worked with anyone if it meant bringing her home safely! What don’t you get about that? And after that, he was in the goddamn system—an ADA connected to Sonny disappears right now, they’ll be crawling all over us—you care so goddamn much about Sonny and Carly, why can’t you get that? Why does any of this have to be explained to you?” he demanded. “Ric Lansing is a psychopath who was so desperate to  get revenge on Sonny he didn’t care who he mowed down in his path to get to Sonny — he went after Carly, went after you—”

“And I can’t wait to see how you excuse your precious china doll, Elizabeth, from what she did,” Courtney said scathingly. “She argued with you every step of the way, refused to believe what was in front of her face—she didn’t believe Michael—”

“She didn’t want to believe it. And I had no proof,” Jason cut in. And he’d lost Elizabeth’s trust by that point — fair or not. “She’s never backed away from it once the truth was obvious. She’s divorcing him. Trying to get him out of her life, and you handed her schedule over to him like it was nothing—because she’s nothing to you, right? Just an obstacle.”

“If you’re waiting for me to apologize, you’ll be disappointed. She deserves whatever happens to her for not believing us about Ric until the last minute. She gets to waltz around being cruel and oblivious, and you’re going to reward her for that? You’re going to leave me after everything she put you through? That’s the deal breaker?” Courtney demanded. “After this last year, you’re going to leave me for some bitch who never believes you when she should. Or are you too brain damaged to remember Zander and Lucky Spencer?”

She snapped her mouth shut the moment the words had left her mouth, and Jason took a step back, swallowed hard. “I didn’t mean that,” Courtney said. “I’m sorry. That was a low blow. I’m angry, I’m hurt, but that’s—”

“I’m leaving you because I don’t love you,” Jason interrupted. “And I’m not sure I ever did. Whatever you think Elizabeth did, you pointed the same man who terrorized Carly and Michael in her direction. How am I supposed to look at you any other way? Elizabeth—whatever happens with her or doesn’t happen—that’s none of your business. Because she isn’t the reason this is done.”

Her eyes burned with fury, tears clinging to her lashes. “One mistake. I make one mistake, she makes a million, and we’re just done. I don’t even get a second chance—you’re just cutting me out—”

“One mistake,” Jason repeated. “So all the conversations you keep having with Carly about the wedding—the ones you swear you stopped—those weren’t mistakes? Bringing it up to me when I asked you not to, telling Michael he can be in the ceremony—you’re planning for something I told you I didn’t even want. You don’t think each time I had to hear it from someone else, I didn’t see what you were doing? But I can’t blame you can, you? You just watched Carly do the same thing to me. Keep repeating something until I stopped fighting it.”

“That is not what I was doing—I needed to believe it was still happening, okay? I needed to believe you still loved me—”

“And that’s why you brought up fitting into a wedding dress in front of Elizabeth. Because you needed me to love you?” Jason repeated, and her mouth settled into a mutinous line. “No, that was vindictive—”

“Protecting the whore that ruined everything—”

“I kissed her first,” Jason interrupted, and Courtney stumbled to a stop, just blinked at him. “How does that fit into the story you’re writing for yourself? I took her to Jake’s after closing,  and I stopped her from leaving, and I kissed her first. What’s your next excuse, Courtney?”

“I can see there’s nothing I can say that’s going to change your mind. Not tonight. But you’ll see. She’ll show you who she is, she always does, doesn’t she? But this time, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself because I’m not to wait around for you to get yourself together. I loved you! I was trying to protect the life we built—”

“And you did it by using Ric Lansing. What do you think Carly’s going to think if she finds out you were talking to him? That you were trying to help him?” Jason lifted his brows again. “What about Sonny? You think that’s going to help?”

“What if I tell them what you did?” Courtney retorted. “You cheated on me with the woman that protected Ric while Carly was in a panic room—you think she’s going to make a place in your life the way I did? You think they’re just  going to roll over and let you bring her back here?”

Jason picked up his keys. “I don’t really give a damn what any of you think. I told you. Keep the ring. Keep the damn penthouse. I just don’t want to look at your face again.”

“I don’t want anything from you—” Courtney whirled around, snatched up her purse. “I’ll just go back to the safe house and make sure Carly knows exactly what you did to me—”

“Good. Go ahead. Tell Carly on the same day her husband had a mental break from reality and put his hands on her.” Jason yanked open the door when she just stopped to look at him with a scowl. “Was Carly even really your friend or did you use her to get to me?”

“You think an awful lot of yourself, don’t you? You think I’m trying to manipulate you into marrying me, that I used my brother and my best friend—”

“A year ago you hated them both. You didn’t like me much either. So, yeah, maybe Courtney, I’m asking myself a few questions I should have a long time ago.”

“I hope you die alone and miserable.” She stalked past him, and he slammed the door behind her, flattening both hands against the surface, taking a deep breath.

He didn’t know where any of that had come from, only that every word had been the truth. For the first time in months—in years—he hadn’t calculated every word he spoke, trying to protect the people around him. And when the hell had he started doing that in the first place? Hadn’t he once prided himself on being better than the Quartermaines, on speaking honestly and openly, even when it hurt?

Maybe Courtney hadn’t deserved every ounce of anger he’d flown at her tonight, but the more she’d tried to defend herself — to justify using Ric Lansing’s obsession with Elizabeth as a weapon in the war between them — the more Jason wondered just how much of the last year had been real — if either of them had loved each other at all.

He dragged his hands over his face, took a deep breath. But he’d done what he couldn’t five weeks ago. He’d made a promise to Elizabeth that he was ending his engagement, and he’d finally done it.

Now, he had to face the consequences. He had no doubt Courtney would hurry to Carly and tell her side of the whole affair, casting Jason and Elizabeth in the worst light. And maybe she’d even scurry over to Sonny at some point. He could get to Sonny first, but maybe—

Maybe Jason wondered what his so-called best friends would do when asked to choose between Jason, who’d never done anything but put them first — and Courtney, the woman who had barely been around a year.

The fact that he didn’t know — that he wasn’t sure if they’d show him the same loyalty he’d given them— it reminded him why he’d gone to Elizabeth tonight in the first place, and why leaving Courtney was just the first step in the changes he needed to make.

Studio

The weak morning sun peeked around the thick shade Elizabeth had thrown up over the sole window, hitting her right in the face. She slapped a hand over her eyes, groaned, and rolled over, hoping that the universe might grant her just five more minutes of sleep.

The movement didn’t sit right, and her stomach lurched. Elizabeth grimaced, then sat up. After leaving Jason at the entrance to the building the night before, she’d come upstairs and finished off a bag of Doritos she’d found in her small food cabinet. That, and the last of a Mountain Dew from the mini fridge, was not sitting well this morning.

“Oh, choices were made and none of them were good,” she muttered, sliding her legs from beneath the light blanket on the sofa. Her head whirled, and she had the dizzying feeling of vertigo where the world was spinning but she was staying still. Actually, it felt she was still, the world was spinning, and so was her brain, so her skull was trapped in a twisted tilt-a-whirl—

“Okay, maybe we need to think seriously about eating better.” Elizabeth got to her feet. “Because if this is a preview of what it’s going to be like waking up in my fifties, I don’t like it. We’ve got to stop late night snacking.” She braced a hand against the brick wall. “Oh, but that doesn’t explain how my head feels—what the hell—”

And then something lurched upward abruptly and violently—that tell-tale awful feeling of her esophagus being used as a cannon in the wrong direction—Elizabeth clapped a hand over her mouth, stumbled to the door, then frantically lid back the deadbolt, twisted the bottom lock, threw open the door—

And managed to make it down the hall and over the toilet just in time.

A few minutes later, after shakily brushing her teeth and rinsing out her mouth, Elizabeth made her way back into the studio, intent on heading straight for the sofa and curling up into a fetal ball of misery.

“That’s it. Vegetables forever,” she told the universe. “I’ll even learn to cook them—” As she passed her answering machine, she saw the light flickering. Curious, she pressed play, then went back to the sofa. She wrapped the blanket around herself, climbed back on the sofa and leaned her head against the back, closing her eyes.

There was a message from her grandmother, left yesterday morning. “I know you’re avoiding me, Elizabeth, but really, I wish you’d call. I want to understand what’s going. How am I to make heads or tails of any of this if you won’t explain it? You get married and then you nearly die, and then you’re getting divorced—oh, Elizabeth. I just wish you’d call.”

“Keep wishing, Gram,” Elizabeth murmured. Her grandmother would never believe the panic room story. Not about such a fine upstanding man who was working with Scotty at the DA’s office. Scotty was the son of her best friends, Lee and Gail Baldwin, and well, Scotty wouldn’t hire a madman, would he?

“Miss Webber, it’s Dr. Meadows’ office. You’re due for a follow-up, just to make sure everything is all right after….after what happened last May. You can all us at…” Elizabeth tuned out the receptionist reeling off the phone number, and had nearly dozed off to sleep, wondering why she needed a follow up.

She’d had the clean bill of health in May, hadn’t she? The miscarriage had been a tragedy, but Elizabeth had decided to look at it as the universe giving her a break. If she’d been pregnant, Ric might have hid his true nature even longer—she’d be trapped with him. Not that it was the baby’s fault, but—

And she certainly didn’t need a follow up to confirm nothing was wrong after July. She knew she couldn’t take hormonal birth control anymore, not after the embolism. She’d figure out how Ric had managed it — an overdose of estrogen was really the only explanation, the doctors had said. Maybe she’d messed up her birth control pills?

She hadn’t even been on birth control—

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up, her head protesting the movement. “Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit—” She threw off the blanket and stumbled across the room to look through the papers, trying to find the copy of the Port Charles Herald she’d carelessly tossed aside the day before. October 10.

Shit, shit, shit. Something should have happened two weeks after that night at Jake’s, and she’d just…she’d lost track of it. So much had been happening, and she’d never been that regular, not with all the stress she’d always been under—

But now—now, something was supposed to happen this week—three days ago, Elizabeth noted on the calendar where she kept track of such things.

And for the second time in a row—nothing.

That night—they hadn’t exactly been careful, had they? Elizabeth exhaled on a careful breath, pressed a hand to her abdomen, looked down. “Are you some kind of magnet?” she muttered. “Because I swear to everything if you’re knocked up again, I will be—”

Excited? Happy? Terrified?

“This,” she told her belly, “would be terrible timing, and since your possible father and I are always bad at that, I am almost definitely pregnant.”

She’d just told Jason the night before he needed some time on his own, hadn’t she? He’d talked about being exhausted by the pressure and stress of always being needed, of always having to center his life around Sonny and Carly—and of course, he’d never look at a baby that way. That just wasn’t how he was built—

But this really was not the plan.

“Okay, time to stop spiraling and be an adult. I can do this. I can do this.” She’d take a shower, she’d get dressed, she’d buy a test, and everything could wait until she found out if there was even a reason to be worried or freaking out in the first place.

Written in 58 minutes.

---

Harborview Towers: Hallway

Jason approached Sonny’s door with an air of caution. “Hey. Is he up?” he asked Max.

“I…” The guard cleared his throat. “I’m not sure to be honest. I haven’t heard anything, and usually it’s…Mrs. C who lets me know. I didn’t know if I should go in or—” Max paused. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine.” Jason twisted the knob, then pushed the door open. The living room didn’t look that much different than when he’d last left it — except Sonny was sitting on the sofa, his head in his hands, each fist clutching pieces of his disheveled dark curls. Jason exhaled slowly, then closed the door behind him.

“Sonny?”

His friend looked over at him, a bit blindly, then slowly got to his feet. “Carly. She’s…she’s not here.”

“No, she’s not.” Jason came around the sofa. “Let’s sit down. We’ll talk about where she is.”

“Is she—I don’t—” Sonny’s eyes were bloodshot, his mouth pinched. But he sat down, stared down at his hands. They were trembling. “Is she okay?”

“She’s all right. She went to stay at one of our safe houses. You don’t remember yesterday?” Jason carefully lowered himself to the coffee table.

“I—” He squinted, looked at Jason. “No. No. I came home. We had a meeting, didn’t we? At the warehouse?”

“Yeah. You came here, and I went to Kelly’s. What happened then?”

“I—” Sonny licked his lips. “I—I don’t know. Why is she at a safehouse? What happened? Did someone hurt her? Did someone get in—”

“You thought you saw Lily on the terrace.”

Sonny’s head whipped around, stared at the terrace. “No. No. Lily’s dead. I know she’s dead. She’s been gone a long time. I know that.” He focused on Jason again. “Don’t I?”

“Yes. You do. But sometimes you forget. Yesterday was one of those days. And you didn’t recognize Carly.” Jason paused. “You tried to find out what she’d done to Lily.”

Sonny pressed the heels of both palms against his eyes. “I hurt her.”

“You shook her. Had her by the wrists. She was upset. Scared. Sonny. Michael was here. With her. He saw it.”

“M-Michael—” Sonny swallowed hard, leaned back against the sofa, rubbing his forehead. “I put my hands on Carly. Michael it. I’m seeing Lily. How is—I don’t understand. Carly’s home. Carly’s home. She’s safe. Why can’t I make that enough?”

Because Ric Lansing had given Sonny one more horror story of a pregnant woman Sonny had failed to keep safe, Jason thought with some bitterness. If not for Ric, none of this would be happening. Sonny wouldn’t be losing touch with reality, Carly wouldn’t have been terrified enough to leave him, Michael wouldn’t spend so much time crying — and Jason could have a life without worrying about the next phone call.

But that wasn’t something Jason could say. Not right now. Ric wasn’t a problem they’d be able to solve overnight, but one way or another, Jason was going to end the psycho’s reign of terror.

“I don’t know,” Jason said finally. “But it has to change. We can’t keep going like this, can we?”

“No. No, we can’t. Tell me what to do.” Sonny sat up, looked at him. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

General Hospital: Hospital Room

Emily was sitting in a chair by the window when Elizabeth peeked around the door. “Hey. The nurse at the desk said you’d been cleared for visitors.”

Emily beamed. “I’m being discharged tomorrow. Can you believe it?”

“No, I really can’t.” Elizabeth crossed the room, hugged her lightly, then sat on the edge of the love seat beneath the windows. “You’re in remission. Why can’t you go home today?”

“Oh. Something about my immune system. I can live with another day, especially since I didn’t expect to have any, much less five more weeks. I can finally get on with my life, you know? This has taken over everything, swallowed me whole.” She crossed her hands in her lap, then tipped her head. “You look good. Better than the last time I saw you.”

“Oh, well, the power of makeup, I guess. And a shower. I slept horrible, and I looked it this morning.” Elizabeth twisted her fingers in her lap. “But enough about me—”

“We’ve been talking about me for weeks, babe. It’s your turn. Come on. Are things okay? The divorce? Is there finally movement and that’s why you’re so happy?”

“Oh. I—no.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “No. Ric is fighting it. I filed, um, almost three months ago, but he’s just…using all the tricks. Alexis says it’ll be another three months unless he gives up.” She twisted the silver ring around her finger. “You think I look happy?”

“Well, happy might be pushing it. But there’s something, right? Tell me. Please. All I’ve talked about for weeks and months is doom and gloom cancer, you know. Let me have some good news if there’s any to be had.”

Elizabeth hesitated. “Well, I don’t know if it’s good news. Especially with the way the story starts. The night…the night we almost lost you, Jason and I ran into each other in the chapel.”

“I knew it! I knew something was up between you! Jason was all squirrelly and refused to talk about you, and you were all weird—” Emily coughed. “Please continue.”

Elizabeth pursed her lips. “All right. Well, we, um, we spent the night together. And yes, I mean it the way you think.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “Oh. Oh. But—but Jason’s still with Courtney. I don’t—what happened?”

“It’s a long story, and most of it is sad and ridiculous. Jason thought—well, he’d proposed. That was supposed to mean something. So he decided to stay and try with Courtney.” Elizabeth bit her lip. “And I told him it was okay, and wished him happiness.”

“And he was being all weird about the wedding. I guess this is why he was pissed when she was telling me wedding plans about this month, huh?”

“Yeah, I think—and this is speculation—maybe she thought if she went ahead with planning it, she could just…sort of guilt him into it. You know? Maybe I don’t know. Either way, that was a month ago. Jason and I avoided each other. Until yesterday. When Courtney set me up to see them having lunch. He was really unhappy she did that. And then you called, and they argued, and I don’t know — there’s so much that happened.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Jason came back to Kelly’s last nigh, and we talked. He told me he’s  breaking up with Courtney. That he means it this time.”

“And you said awesome, I love you, let’s be happy?” Emily said hopefully. “Because any other ending is stupid.”

“I said he’s been doing with a lot, and that I believe he means it this time, but maybe he needs some time on his own to really think about what he wants. Away from Courtney. And me.”

Emily slumped again in her chair. “You’re no fun at all.”

“I told him I loved him,” Elizabeth added. “If that helps.”

“A little.” Emily squinted. “So you’re just happy because you think Jason’s going to be single? No. There’s more. There has to be. I refuse to believe this is the ending.”

“Well—there was one more thing. I realized this morning that I was…late.” Elizabeth met Emily’s eyes. “So I went to a drug store and bought a test.” Her best friend’s eyes widened like saucers.

“Shut up. Shut up right now. Except tell me everything. Right now.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Across town, Courtney was twirling a spoon in her coffee, half-listening to Bobbie Spencer wheedle and whine to Carly, wanting Carly to leave the safe house and move into the Brownstone.

After leaving Jason the night before, Courtney had intended to pour her heart out to Carly, making sure the other woman knew exactly how Elizabeth Webber had manipulated Jason into leaving her, but then Carly had looked so tired when Courtney arrived that she stopped —

Jason’s words had cut deep, and Courtney was a little ashamed that she had thought first about how miserable Carly was going to make Jason if he broke up with Courtney instead of thinking of how much Carly probably needed Jason right now. She hadn’t used Sonny or Carly to get to Jason, and she was going to prove it by keeping her mouth shut.

“I just think that you’d be so much more comfortable me to look after you. I could take care of Michael.” Bobbie reached for Carly’s hand, squeezed it. “Come home with me, honey. Courtney can…she can stay a few nights,” the redhead said, sending Courtney a hesitant look. “I just—”

“It would be like admitting surrender, Mama. Like really leaving Sonny instead of just taking a break which is all I’m doing right now. He’s sick, you know? He doesn’t mean any of this. He really doesn’t. I love him, and we were so happy last spring. Those last few weeks before—” Carly looked at Courtney. “Remember how happy we were planning the wedding?”

I’m leaving you because I don’t love you, and I’m not sure I ever did.

“Yeah.” Courtney cleared her throat. “Yeah, we were happy.” They had been, and if Jason could just stop thinking about Elizabeth Webber, they could be again. She paused. “I’m sure Jason already has a plan for all of this.” If he’d even bothered to think about Sonny last night, she thought bitterly.

“I’m sure he does,” Bobbie said. “But—” She pressed her fist to her mouth. “Oh, I’m just so angry at Scott. For not immediately arresting Ric Lansing. For hiring him! They had everything they needed — your testimony, Michael and Elizabeth as witnesses—” She let her fist fall to the table with a thud that rattled the silverware and utensils. “Damn it. How could he work with that psycho? Who would ever work with him?”

“Maybe Scott had a good reason,” Courtney said, and Carly looked at her sharply. “Well, you know, maybe there’s something Ric can get him—”

“Sonny,” Carly said. “That’s what Scotty wants. He wants Sonny’s head on a stick, he always has. He thinks Ric is the key. But putting him in power—letting him out in the world—how could anyone think he can be trusted? Much less working in the system? It’s not like it’s his word against mine. It’s his own wife’s—”

Elizabeth again. She was everywhere damn it. Courtney tensed. “Well, maybe that’s the problem. You weren’t there to interview. Michael’s just a traumatized child. And Elizabeth, well, you know, it’s not she’s the most reliable witness.”

Carly stared at Courtney as if she’d grown as second head. “What are you talking about? She’s his wife. She found me. She knew exactly how to get into the panic room. No, Scott had everything he needed, but getting revenge was more important. It makes me sick, Mama,” she said to her mother, her voice thick now. “To think him out in the world, just walking around like he isn’t evil. Everything he put me through, what he’s done to Sonny—”

“Scott’s done a lot of underhanded things in his life, but I made it clear to him that anyone who works with Ric Lansing, anyone who treats him like a human being and not a vile monster — they’re dead to me.” Bobbie touched Carly’s shoulder. “Honey—”

“You know—” Courtney started, then narrowed her eyes when Elizabeth emerged from the back of the kitchen, tying an apron around her waist. Their eyes met, and Elizabeth arched one brow before heading over to the register.

Carly followed Courtney’s hot eyes, then turned back to her. “Did you and Elizabeth have a fight or something?”

“I’ve lost my appetite,” Courtney muttered, tossing the napkin on the table. She shoved the chair back, and headed for the door.

Kelly’s: Parking Lot

No sooner had Courtney’s car turned the corner from Elm Street to Central Avenue than a motorcycle came around the other corner and pulled in the lot. Jason switched off the engine, headed for the courtyard, eager to find Elizabeth—

But he hesitated when he saw Carly and Bobbie at the table inside. He nearly stepped back, thinking he’d come return later, but then Carly caught his eye, smiled. He tugged on the handle.

“Hey.” Jason noted the third table setting. “Is—Is Courtney here?”

“Oh, you just missed her. She left maybe a minute or two ago. You probably passed her on the road.” Carly missed Jason’s relieved look when she looked back at her plate, but Bobbie didn’t. He sat in the seat Courtney had vacated.

“How are you doing?” Jason wanted to know.

“I’m okay. I’ve got my mother.” Carly squeezed Bobbie’s hand, exchanging a smile with her, before she refocused on Jason. “Have you seen Sonny?”

“I talked to him before I came here. He doesn’t remember anything, but I told him what happened. He’s…upset. Sorry for what he did. And he agreed with me that we can’t keep going on like this. Michael can’t keep doing it, and you—” He nodded at her rounded belly. “Neither you or the baby can either.”

“And you can’t either. I know Sonny and I have been a lot to deal with lately. You and Courtney seem so unhappy, and I hate that I’ve done this to you.” Carly’s eyes watered, and Jason realized Courtney hadn’t carried out her threat. Small favors. “I’m sorry. We were just talking about Ric working at the DA’s office, and how awful it is.”

“I’ll campaign for anyone who runs again Scott in the next election,” Bobbie said caustically. “I’m so furious.”

“But Ric’s not the problem right now. Sonny wants to get help?” Carly asked. “I’m so glad. I’m relieved.”

“It was a rock bottom moment for him. But maybe if I’d pushed earlier—” Jason shook his head. No point in wondering that. “I’m looking into a few options, but for right now, Sonny and I both agreed—and I hope you do, too,  that you should stay away.”

“With me,” Bobbie argued. “She should be with me.”

“No, the house is fine. It’s temporary.” Carly nodded. “It’s temporary. I’m going home to Sonny, and everything will be just like it was before. We’ll all be happy again.”

“Let’s just get through the first part,” Jason told her. He saw Elizabeth behind the counter, caught her eye. “I’m going to get some coffee and head back to the warehouse, okay?”

“Okay. I love you, Jason. I know I’m a giant pain in the ass, but I couldn’t live without you, you know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah. I know.” He touched Bobbie’s shoulder, then went to the counter. He lowered his voice. “Hey.”

Elizabeth smiled, a bit cautiously. “Hey.”

“I need a coffee to go, and to know when your break is. If we could talk.” Jason paused. “Because I ended it. Like I said I would.”

Her lips parted. “Oh. You—you. My break is right now. Penny will cover for me. She owes me. I’ll get the coffee and meet you in the alley.”

Kelly’s: Alley

A few minutes later, Elizabeth pushed the metal door open and stepped out into the alley just as Jason came around the corner. They stared at each other for a long moment, before she stepped forward. “A little different than the last time we stood out here, I guess, huh?”

“Yeah. Yeah.” He reached for her hand, his thumb stroking along her knuckles. “I wanted to come back after closing. Tonight. To talk. To just…see you. I know you said we needed time, and I get it, but—”

“No, after closing is good.” Elizabeth looked up, met his eyes with a little trepidation, then smiled. “We should talk. We have to.”

Jason tipped his eyed, squinting slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing,” she repeated when he tugged her forward another inch. “I promise. We can talk about it later. I shouldn’t have said anything, except we—”  She broke off when he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. “Oh, I can’t think when you do that.”

“Tell me what’s going on. Why do we have to talk? Did something happen?”

She shouldn’t do this now. Not like this, not here. Not on a ten minutes break. But he was looking at her with those eyes, his voice low and soft, and he’d broken up with Courtney — she couldn’t stop herself.

“I’m pregnant.”

Written in 65 minutes.

---

Kelly’s: Alley

I’m pregnant.

He couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even form a single word. His mind had emptied and his entire world had narrowed down to Elizabeth standing in front of him and those words on repeat. Pregnant. She was pregnant.

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it, then shook his head on a quick, short release of air. “What?” He had to hear it again. Had to be sure that there wasn’t a mistake—

Elizabeth tried to tug her hand back, but he held firm. Her eyes were a bit too wide, and her lips trembled. “I’m pregnant. I—I took a test this morning. Three of them, actually, and they all—oh—” She gasped when he suddenly jerked her forward and kissed her. He framed her face, his thumbs stroking the line of her jaw.

“I just needed to hear it again,” he said when he drew back, then rested his forehead against hers. “We’re having a baby?”

“Y-yes. Yes.” Her trembling fingers touched his shirt near the collar and she licked her lips, smiling tremulously. “You’re not mad?”

“Mad? Mad?” Jason shook his head. “No. No. I could never be—” He kissed her again, and she slid her hands into his hair, clinging to him as he backed her against the brick wall of the diner. When they broke apart, he cleared his throat. “I know the timing isn’t great—”

“Story of our lives,” she said, but she was smiling.

“—but this—all of it’s temporary. The problems with Sonny—I’m fixing them. I’m going to fix them,” Jason said, more confident than he’d been this morning. “A-and Courtney—” he hesitated now, because whatever she’d done, she’d still had a miscarriage and had been told she couldn’t have children. “But all of that—it’s temporary,” he repeated. “And this…this baby—” He couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he said the word. “That’s what matters.”

“I—I just didn’t expect—I don’t know what I expected,” Elizabeth admitted, her fingers stroking the side of his neck. “Maybe mixed feelings—”

“I love you,” Jason said, and she closed her mouth, her eyes flying to his. “I meant that. The woman I love just told me we’re having a baby. There’s nothing mixed about that for me. Is—I mean, for you—” He paused. “Maybe it’s different—”

“No. No. It’s not. Which is what’s insane to me. I mean, God, it’s all such a mess. You were engaged until last night, and I’m still not divorced—but when I realized this morning the possibility — I was so happy.” Her eyes were soft, the hint of tears in the way her voice thickened. “I thought I was crazy to feel that way, but I love you. I spent so long messing it up, but I do, I love you, and this wasn’t the plan, but, oh, as soon as it was real, it was all I could think about, and you feel the same? Is it this real life? Are we both crazy?”

“If we are, then I’m okay with that.” He slid his hand down to cover her abdomen. She was carrying their child. Right now. How could he wrap his mind around all of that? “It’s going to be okay. Whatever happens next, we’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

He tucked her hair behind her ears, kissed her again, then slid his hand down her shoulders to take her hands. “But you need to get back to work, and I have to start solving those problems I talked about. I’ll come back after closing.”

“Okay. Okay.” Elizabeth kissed him one more time, then went towards the door, looking back to smile at him. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“I’ll be here.”

She disappeared through the back door, and Jason let out of a rush of breath, scrubbed his hands over his face. Okay. Okay. He had to focus. He had to get his life together because he was going to be a father again. First, he had to fix Sonny, and that was easier said than done.

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

Courtney dragged the suitcase down the stairs, the bottom thudding against each and every step. She looked around the living that she’d decorated so carefully and lovingly, her chest tight at the thought of Elizabeth coming in here and taking it apart. Making it her home. She didn’t care what Jason thought, Courtney knew she’d loved him, and damn him for making her feel too guilty to even lean on her best friend right now.

She twisted the ring from her finger and flung it towards the sofa, hearing the plink as it hit the hardwood floor. Good. Let him find it one day and think about her — think about what he’d thrown away.

Courtney lifted her suitcase and headed for the hallway, taking a step back when she saw her brother on the other side of the door, his hand poised to knock. “S-sonny.”

“Hey, I was coming to see Jason—” Sonny squinted at the suitcase in her hand. “What’s this? You going on a trip?”

“I’m—I’m going to stay with Carly.” Courtney edged around him, headed for the elevator. Sonny followed.

“That’s a lot of clothes, though. Jason’s okay with you moving in with Carly for a few days? I mean, I appreciate it, but I don’t—” He scratched his chest. “I don’t want you to mess up your life because of me. I—I’m going to get this sorted. Yesterday — it’s not going to happen again.”

“For Carly’s sake, I hope not,” Courtney muttered. She jabbed the elevator button. “And don’t worry about Jason. He won’t be lonely.”

Sonny tipped his head, his mouth pinched. “What does that mean?”

She pursed her lips, then looked at her brother. To hell with it. “Jason broke up with me and told me he never loved me.”

“What? What the hell happened—”

Courtney stepped onto the elevator and pressed the buttons to close the doors. As they slid together, she said, “Ask Elizabeth Webber.”

Warehouse: Office

Wanting to get the problems fixed didn’t exactly mean Jason knew how, and he’d been a little uncertain of that even before the distraction that was currently taking over his brain. Instead of thinking of ways to get Sonny help, Jason was thinking about the state of his will, and that it would need to be updated. And what he and and Elizabeth would discuss later — she’d spoken of taking space and time — that he’d needed more time before they could talk about their future, and he’d seen the wisdom in that. But now things were different — weren’t they? And she’d kissed him back—

Every time he tried to haul himself back into the current reality, he drifted again. There would be doctor’s visits, and Elizabeth definitely didn’t get health insurance from Kelly’s. There was her divorce to consider — how to get rid of Ric would have to be on the list of priorities —

Jason glanced up when one of the guards knocked on the open door. “Yeah?”

“Bobbie Spencer is here to see you.”

Bobbie. Bobbie would know what to do about Sonny, wouldn’t she? She’d have ideas. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Carly’s mother came in a moment later and the guard closed the door behind her. “I’m sorry to interrupt—”

“No, I wasn’t—I wasn’t getting much done.” Jason got to his feet, gestured for her take a seat. “Is Carly okay?”

“She’s at the house, resting.” Bobbie set her purse on the chair instead of sitting down, and studied him. “You’ve been under so much stress  this last year. The trial, Carly’s kidnapping, and how close we came to losing Emily — now all of this with Sonny. I wanted you to know that I’m here. Whatever you need to do to help Sonny, I want to help where I can.”

“Yeah. Yeah, maybe you might be able give me some advice. Some discreet doctors I could talk to or something. Because I can’t—I have to get this settled.” He didn’t want to be called across the hall in the middle of the night when he had a newborn—and would Elizabeth want to live in the penthouse? He didn’t think he wanted to be there, but maybe he was already six steps ahead, because what if she didn’t want to live together at all— He realized Bobbie had said something and he missed it. “Sorry. Sorry. Can you—can you repeat that?”

“I could. But you might just tune me out again which isn’t like you.” She tilted her head. “Are you getting enough sleep, Jason?”

“Probably not. I’m sorry. I’ve just got a lot on on my mind.”

“You know, it’s been a long time since you and I were close, but not that long. You’re part of my family, too, Jason. I hope you know that. What you’ve done for my daughter, and it goes without saying, you’re the best uncle Michael could have.” She paused. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seemed…a little relieved that Courtney had already left earlier. Are you two fighting?”

“We—” Jason rubbed his mouth. “No. We broke up. Last night. But it should have been weeks ago. Carly—she doesn’t know. About any of it. And I don’t want to upset her or—”

“Trigger her into helping, I’m sure. Well, I’d say I’m sorry to hear it, but now that it’s over, I have to say, I never liked the two of you together,” Bobbie said. “I hope you don’t mind me saying that.”

“I don’t.”

“I won’t tell Carly, though she probably wouldn’t be surprised. She mentioned things seemed a bit off. That you’d basically called off the wedding. I did…” Bobbie pursed her lips, hesitated, then continued. “I did notice you talking to Elizabeth at the counter. And she disappeared not long after you left. It’s none of my business—”

“She’s pregnant,” Jason found himself saying, because he wanted to say it out loud and he thought, of all the people in his life, maybe Bobbie would understand. “We’re having a baby.”

Bobbie opened her mouth, then closed it. She pressed two fingers to her lips. “Okay, so that wasn’t in my top five, but okay. Okay. Is she—how long have you known?”

“She told me this morning. In the alley. After I ended the engagement. It’s not an affair, not like that, Bobbie. I love her.”

“I know.” Bobbie cleared her throat. “Are you happy?”

“I am. Maybe I shouldn’t be—” And Elizabeth had seemed a little overwhelmed by his reaction, too, but Jason couldn’t help the way he felt, and he didn’t want to. “I know all the reasons why this shouldn’t be good news, but I can’t pretend to feel something I don’t. I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“Then don’t.” She reached for his hand, squeezed it. “Congratulations. I suppose we need to get Sonny and Carly sorted out so you can focus on your family. Let’s get started.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

The rest of her shift flew by, and Elizabeth barely felt her feet touch the ground the rest of the evening, moving through the dinner rush almost entirely through muscle memory. She’d never expected Jason to be angry about but the baby, but the joy and excitement — she hadn’t wanted to hope for it, and she hadn’t let herself feel either until she’d seen it in his eyes.

But he was happy. Ridiculously so, she thought, and couldn’t ifght her own smile, sorting through her receipts and tips. It was absolutely insane for all the reasons she’d listed, and all the rest of the ones they hadn’t talked about yet. Jason’s job, his problems with Sonny, Carly’s innate dislike of her, the drama that Courtney would almost certainly cause when she found out—and that didn’t even begin to describe Elizabeth’s worry for Ric’s reaction. He’d completely lost the plot when Elizabeth had miscarried their child, kidnapping Sonny in retaliation. How would he handle Elizabeth being pregnant by Jason, the man Ric loathed nearly as much as his brother?

All of that was on her mind, but it wasn’t at the top of the list. Not after the way Jason had reacted. Temporary problems he’d called them, and he was right. None of that had to last forever, and at the end of it—they’d have a baby. Their baby.

What would Jason want to talk about tonight? Her studio definitely featured, she thought, and she knew she’d have to bend on that. She needed an actual bathroom. A bed. A kitchen—

So absorbed was Elizabeth in her imaginary argument with Jason about moving to a new apartment that she didn’t hear the jingle of the bell over the door, but she recognized the man who walked through it, passing the handful of tables still remaining an hour before closing.

Elizabeth set her receipts down as the man approached. “Sonny. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

“It sure has.” Sonny stopped at the counter, flicked his eyes around. “I thought you’d left this job.”

“I did, but that was when—when I thought I’d have a different life. Fortunately, Mike had a spot for me. Can I get you some coffee?” Elizabeth asked, half-turning towards the row of hotplates behind her.

“You can tell me why my sister says Jason broke up with her. Why you’re the reason.”

Elizabeth’s fingers twitched on the handle of a carafe, then released it, turning back to Sonny. “That’s a question for Jason. Not me. I don’t owe you any answers,” she said carefully, noting that the guard who had come in behind him was slowly stepping towards the courtyard, his hand going for the inside of his jacket. Calling Jason? She hoped.

“You don’t owe me any answers?” Sonny lifted his brows. “You lived in that house for three weeks while my wife was being held hostage in your walls. You defended that scum while she screamed her throat hoarse.” His tone softened, adopting an edge she’d never heard directed at her. “We both know you owe me at least a few answers.”

“I owe you apologies. You and Carly. Which you don’t have to accept,” Elizabeth said, her heart pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. “Whatever anger you have for me, the disgust I feel for myself is worse. I was a gullible, stupid girl who could have done so much more to stop it.”

Sonny squinted, took in those words, nodded. “All right. So if you want to make it right, you tell me right now what my sister was talking about.”

“I think Jason—”

“I think Jason isn’t here and you are. You’re so sorry, Elizabeth, then you can do this favor me, can’t you? After all, haven’t I always been there for you?”

She licked her lips, saw the guard was in the courtyard now, the phone at his ear. She’d never be able to distract Sonny long enough for Jason to arrive. She flicked her gaze back to Sonny. “Emily. The night she almost died, Jason and I were there for each other. You now how much she means to us both. It helped us remember that we were friends once. All of us. You, me, and Jason. I could always go to you, Sonny, and you were there for me. I’m so sorry that you came to me last spring—that Jason came to me— and I didn’t do that for you. I wasn’t a very good friend. And I’m sorry.”

“You slept together,” Sonny said flatly. “That’s why my sister left. Why Jason told her he never loved her. That’s what happened that night.”

“I—” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked at the other customers who weren’t even pretending not to be listening. “I think this isn’t a conversation we should be having right now. We can call Jason—”

“If the answer was no, you’d say that. So it’s yes.”

“It’s—I don’t know what Jason told Courtney or why. That’s why you should talk to him.” She reached for the phone. “Why don’t we call him and ask him to come down?”

“I’ll get to him. But I’m not finished with you yet.”

Written in 60 minutes.

---

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Jason had been on Elm Street Pier, crossing over towards the street when the call came. And at Max’s words — “Sonny’s at Kelly’s and he’s pretty ticked off at Miss Webber. Something your sister said, I think. You should get over here.” — he’d been off and running, his heart pounding at the thought that Elizabeth might end up like Carly—

He’d jerked open the door to the diner so hard that the jingle of the bells sounded harsh and strangled. Sonny was at the counter, Elizabeth standing behind it, her eyes wide, her cheeks pale. Max hovered by nervously.

And three or four tables listening to every word. Jason swallowed hard, released the door, then stepped forward.

Sonny turned, his eyes hard and dark. “Good. She said she wouldn’t answer any damn questions until you got here. Maybe we can get somewhere.” He shot Elizabeth a look so filled with loathing and disgust that she swallowed hard, looked down. “She keeps talking in circles.”

He wanted to drag Sonny away from her — wanted to take him by the arm and shove him through the door, into the car, and just tell Max to keep driving. And maybe if it had just been the three of them, Jason would have done that—

But there were witnesses, and not only could Sonny not be seen as irrational or unstable, but there couldn’t be any hint of issues between them.

Jason crossed the room, putting himself between Sonny and Elizabeth. “I’ll answer any questions you want,” he told Sonny. “But we should go somewhere and talk. These people—” He gestured around them, and Sonny looked now, squinting then blinking rapidly. He hadn’t even noticed them, Jason realized. “These people just want to eat. So let’s go talk. You and me, I’ll—”

“No, I don’t want to talk to you. I want her—” Sonny jabbed his finger past Jason. “Courtney said it was because of her, so that’s what I want—”

“Elizabeth will come with us then.” Jason shifted, turning slightly so that he could see them both, met her eyes, hoping she could see the plea. Just let me get him out of here. I’ll take care of it.

She nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’m done in twenty minutes,” she said. “I—”

Mike appeared from behind her, emerging from the kitchen, his own eyes dark and worried. He set a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. “You go on ahead, sweetheart. I’ll take care of it. Go get your things. Michael and Jason, you should wait in the courtyard, all right?”

Jason looked at the other man, at Courtney’s father, knowing he’d heard whatever Sonny had said. He didn’t want Mike to find out this way — he’d always been there for Jason, especially when Sonny had been gone. “Yeah. We’ll wait out there. Sonny?”

“Don’t try to sneak out the back,” Sonny warned her, and Elizabeth nodded, then disappeared into the kitchen. He turned to Jason, those eyes still flat, hard, and furious. “Let’s go.”

Kelly’s: Kitchen

“You okay, Lizzie?” DJ asked as Elizabeth came in, tried to open her employee locker with shaking fingers. “I called Mike as soon as—”

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” She exhaled slowly. Jason had told her Sonny wasn’t doing well — that he’d been having issues, but he’d never really gone into the detail. And the Sonny she’d always known would never have started that kind of confrontation with witnesses.

“You sure you’re okay to go with them?” Mike asked from the doorway. He came over, brushed her fingers aside and used his master key to unlock it. “Say the word, and I’ll make them leave—”

“Mike—” Elizabeth hesitated. “It’s not what you think—”

“I don’t think anything right now other than my son doesn’t look well, Jason looks a little panicked, and you?” He handed her purse she’d stowed inside. “You look worried. So if you don’t want to go, then I’ll make Jason deal with it. Sonny’s out of the diner now. That’s the important thing.”

She didn’t want to go, no, but Jason had made the suggestion, not Sonny. He wouldn’t have done that unless he’d felt like he had to. “No, it’s okay. Thank you.” She met her manager’s concerned gaze. “Thank you.”

“I like Jason, I always have. He’s been like a son to me, you know. Whatever’s going on, I trust him to do his best by everyone. Including my daughter, I suppose. You’d better get out of there if you’re going.”

Kelly’s: Courtyard

“You can go ahead to the penthouse,” Jason told Sonny. “I’ll bring Elizabeth—”

“We go in the same car so you can’t get your stories straight,” Sonny retorted. “Max, call back the car.”

“We came in the limo. Dougie is circling the block,” Max told Jason as he moved aside to take out the phone, but he sent Jason an apologetic look. “I’ll get him back here right now.”

“Where the hell is she?” Sonny demanded, craning his neck, looking through the courtyard. “If she’s trying to get out of this—”

“Trying to get out of what?” Jason snapped before he could think better of it, and Sonny scowled at him. “She said she’d come with us. She’s coming. What else do you want, Sonny?”

“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” Sonny retorted, stepping towards him. “You don’t make the rules, I do—”

Jason opened his mouth, but then Elizabeth stepped out, her purse clutched her arm. “Sorry, I had trouble with the combination on my locker. Um, where—where are we going?”

Sonny reached for her, as if to grab her arm, but Jason stepped in front of him. He didn’t care if they were in public, if people were still watching from inside the courtyard. He didn’t care if Lorenzo Alcazar himself strolled into the courtyard — Sonny wasn’t going to lay a hand on Elizabeth.  “You don’t touch her. She’s coming with us, but you don’t come near her. That’s the deal.”

Sonny furrowed his brow, uncertain now. “I—” He looked at his hands, then at Elizabeth just past Jason’s shoulder. “I wasn’t going to.” His tone had changed. There was less edge now. “We’re—we’re just going to talk, aren’t we?”

“Yes. We’re going to talk,” Jason said. He nodded when Max stepped back towards them. “The car here?”

“Yeah. Yeah. We’re all set.”

Corinthos Penthouse: Living Room

The ride back to Harborview Towers was short, tense. For a moment, Sonny had seemed to shift back into his old self, and Elizabeth wondered if that meant the danger had passed — but Jason didn’t seem to think so. She’d sat next to him in the limo, on the side seat along the windows while Sonny had sat alone in the back, looking pensively out the window. She’d wanted to take Jason’s hand, to just reassure him she was here, but she was afraid it would have set Sonny off.

Max hurriedly opened the door in front of them, and Sonny strode in first then whirled around to confront them when Jason closed the door, but kept himself between Sonny and Elizabeth.

“So start talking.”

“I—” Elizabeth began, but Jason held out his hand. It was different now. They were at home, and Jason didn’t have to be as careful. He wasn’t going to put her at Sonny’s mercy.

“I want to know what the question was,” Jason said. “I wasn’t there. I don’t know what the problem is, Sonny, or why you think Elizabeth owes you any answers. So before you start interrogate her, start with me.”

Sonny pursed his lips, then stabbed a finger in Elizabeth’s direction. “Courtney told me to ask her why you’d broken up. Why you’d told my sister that you never loved her. You slept with her, didn’t you? You’re having an affair behind my sister’s back!” His voice began to rise, and Jason grimaced. He’d made a mistake — he’d tried to refocus the attention on him, but it had only pushed Sonny back to the edge—

And damn Courtney for unloading on her mental unstable brother who’d already put his hands on one woman, and sending him in the direction of another woman. A man who saw betrayal as the worst crime that could be committed against him—

“What happens with Courtney is my business—” Jason flattened a hand against his chest. “Mine. I’m the one to blame if there’s blame to be given. Elizabeth doesn’t answer for any of that, okay? She’s not part of this. You be angry with me.”

“You’re not even going to deny it?” Sonny demanded, his eyes burning. “You betrayed my sister and you’re not even going to try to lie—”

“No, I won’t. I made mistakes, and I hurt people that matter,” Jason said carefully. “I decided you were right. You remember, don’t you? Months ago, you told me Courtney wasn’t right for me. That we wouldn’t be happy. You were right. I’m sorry I didn’t see that sooner.”

Sonny squinted, confused by that. “I was…I was right?” He looked down at his hands. “I was right. You—I told you to leave my sister alone,” he said more to himself. “Why didn’t you listen?”

“I thought I knew better. Okay? But I didn’t.” Jason stepped towards Sonny, sensing that he was really starting to shift and dial back. “I didn’t. Why don’t you and I talk about it, and I’ll have someone take Elizabeth home?”

“Elizabeth.” Sonny lifted his eyes, looked at her for the first time. “She said it was your fault. But you—you were here first. I don’t understand. How does that make sense?” He turned in a slow circle. “Where’s Carly? She’ll know. Courtney’s her friend. When did that happen?” he asked Jason. “Where’s Carly? Where’s Michael?”

“They’re not here right now. Sonny—”

“I’m wearing my jacket—” Sonny looked down at his sleeve. “Did I go out?” He looked up, looked at Elizabeth again. “Elizabeth. You’re here. Good. Good. I told Jason it’s good that you’re here. That you’re safe here. Alcazar, you know—he’s ruthless. He shot at you in a hospital, he’ll keep trying to hurt you.”

Jason swallowed hard. Sonny had slipped into a different time, and that always made this harder.

“I’m glad to be here,” Elizabeth said softly. “I know you and Jason will keep me safe. You always have.”

“Have we?” Sonny squinted. “You were kidnapped. Weren’t you? Jason was looking for you.”

“He found me. I’m okay. Why don’t you let Jason take off your coat? You look warm,” Elizabeth suggested. She shot Jason a look, as if asking for permission to move towards Sonny. Jason started to shake his head, but she was already stepping around him. Reaching for his jacket.

Sonny let her remove it, staring at it with confusion. “Why am I wearing that? It’s too hot for that, isn’t it? Where’s Carly?” He took Elizabeth’s arm, and Jason jolted, but it was a gentle one. “It’s good that you’re here,” he repeated. “It’s good. Jason misses you when you’re away. But you’re going to be a doctor. We’re going to be so proud of you, Robin.”

Jason came to Sonny’s side, sent Elizabeth a look that had her stepping back. “She’s going to be a great doctor. Why don’t we go sit down?”

“Yeah, yeah, we should talk about Moreno. He’s a pain in the ass. Tell Lily—” Sonny’s eyes flicked to the terrace. “Tell Lily to come in. She’ll be cold. She’s too used to Puerto Rican winters. But that’s not how it is in New York. Tell her.”

“I’ll tell her. Come on, sit down—”

Sonny frowned, looked at Elizabeth. “You’re not Robin. Who are you?” The edge was back slightly, but it was panicked. “How did you get in here—”

“Sonny—” Jason blocked Elizabeth from his view, forced his friend to look at him. “You know me, don’t you? You know who I am.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Why are you asking stupid questions?” Sonny demanded, vaguely insulted.

“Then you know you trust me. Elizabeth is with me. You know her, too. Elizabeth. You knew what she meant to me before I did.”

Sonny squinted, then looked past Jason to Elizabeth, then back at him. “Elizabeth. You take her for rides.”

“That’s right.”

“You talk about her. You were happy. She was—” Sonny pressed his lips together. “She was kidnapped, and you found her. Then she came to stay here. Elizabeth.” He looked at Elizabeth. “You left. You left Jason. And he’s engaged to my sister.”

“Not anymore,” Jason said. “Sonny—”

“Right. Right.” Sonny backed away, dragged his hands over his face. “Courtney. She told me you broke up with her. Told me to ask Elizabeth. And I did. I went. I asked you. But I don’t know why. I don’t—what’s going on? How did we get back here?” He looked around the penthouse, and his eyes were clear now. “What’s going on? How did we get back here?”

“We came back because I wanted to tell you about Courtney without witnesses. It was none of their business,” Jason told him. “I’m sorry I hurt her. I never wanted that.”

“No. No. I told you it was a bad idea. I knew you couldn’t love her. But I let it go. I let it go.” Sonny let his hands fall away, falling to his side like a child might. “It’s—I can’t make it come into focus. Why isn’t it—why can’t I keep it in focus?”

“You need to sleep. Lay down, and it’ll be okay in the morning,” Jason told him. “Come on. Let’s go.”

“Yeah, okay. I can—I can do it myself,” Sonny said when Jason started for the stairs. “You should take Elizabeth home. It’s not safe out there for a woman. Not alone.”

Jason stood there in the middle of the living room until he heard the door close upstairs, then he looked at Elizabeth. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for doing this to you, for putting you in the middle. I’m sorry—”

Elizabeth just shook her head, closed the distance between them and slid her arms around his waist. “Is it always like that?” she asked softly. He sighed, rested his hands on her shoulders, then down to stroke her upper back. Just touching her, hearing her quiet breathing soothed him.

“Not always. But that was the worst. He was…between a few different times. And he usually remembers faster. I’m sorry. I should have left you at Kelly’s—”

“But he might not have left,” Elizabeth said, lifting her gaze to his. “And you needed him to go quickly and quietly. I know that, Jason. I tried not to say anything that would upset him, because you’d told me he was struggling. I just—I didn’t have any idea how bad it was. You’ve been managing this on your own?”

“Mostly. He didn’t used to lose time like this. The moods just—he’d get depressed. Paranoid. But he’s been seeing Lily and his mother. Forgetting who people are.”

“Does he ever forget you?” Elizabeth asked. She slid her hands up to his chest. “What if he forgets you?”

“I seem to be the one thing he doesn’t forget,” Jason said, and the bitterness startled him. “I told you, I’m going to fix this—”

“You can’t fix this alone, Jason. And you shouldn’t have to. It’s awful watching it happen, and it must be awful for him to live through it. To constantly question his own mind and memories. I’m so sorry. For all of you.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m fine—”

“You don’t have to say that to me, Jason. You know that. You don’t have to be strong for me. Or pretend to have all the answers. This is one of those temporary problems you were talking about, isn’t it?”

“You—and this baby—you come first, so I—”

“This baby and I are perfectly fine right now. And we will be tomorrow and the day after that. Why don’t we go take one of those rides you told Sonny about and we’ll talk about what happens next.”

Written in 53 minutes.

---

Vista Point

It had been a nightmare from beginning to start, and not even the ride up to the observation deck with Elizabeth on the bike with him was able to clear his head this time.

He’d asked her to come with them. He’d spent the entire day thinking about Elizabeth and the incredible, out of left field news that their night together had created a baby, and what had Jason done the first time he’d had to choose between her safety and the insanity of his life?

He’d chosen Sonny. He’d looked directly at Elizabeth, at her quiet, shaken expression, and asked her to go with them, making it clear to anyone who had been there — including Mike, Courtney’s father — that Sonny’s accusations were based, at least somewhat, in fact.

He coasted the bike to a stop, then switched off the engine and waited for Elizabeth to climb off. She removed the helmet, shaking her hair free, running her fingers  through it with one hand, handing the helmet to him with the other.

Jason stowed it on the back of the bike, then stood there an extra minute, his hands curling into fists, his chest still tight, his head aching.

“I sort of told Emily.”

He frowned, then turned to look at her. “What?”

“This morning.” Elizabeth reached for his hand, and bewildered, Jason let her draw him up the short of flight stairs to the observation deck where the lake lay below them, the lights of Spoon Island winking in the distance. “I woke up, and I felt absolutely terrible.” She leaned over the guard rail, wrinkled her nose. “I thought it was the Doritos and Mountain Dew until I came back and listened to my answering machine. Dr. Meadows’ office wanted to a follow-up, and it all popped into my head. Something that should have happened and hadn’t—” Elizabeth turned back to face him, leaned against the railing. “I bought the test, took it, and went straight to Emily. I wasn’t going to say anything, but she sort of thought I looked happy.”

He moved next to her, also leaning against the railing, looked down at the ground. “What did she say?”

“I just told her that I’d suspected it and took a test, but that you needed to be the first person to hear the results. I don’t think she missed my point.” Elizabeth bit her lip, but she was smiling slightly. “It’s crazy, I know, but I didn’t even know I was happy, you know? And then she said it, and it was like a light bulb was on in my head — like, oh, right, that’s what this feeling is. It’s been so long since I really felt truly happy, I couldn’t recognize. Even before…when I was…” Her smile slipped. “Before. I had moments, but I wasn’t happy. I wanted to be. This is so not what I was planning when I woke up this morning. Any of it. But then again, I never did plan for you.”

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You think I planned for you? All I did was go to Jake’s and think about starting a fight. You’re the one that yelled at me.”

“Well, you should have told me you wanted a fight. I’d have helped you with it.” Their eyes met, and his smile was a bit bigger now. “It’s insane. The timing is so wrong. I had a minute where I thought — maybe I should hold on to this. You’re dealing with so much, and I didn’t want to give you one more thing—”

“This isn’t—”

“That’s what I thought. This wouldn’t be one more thing to you. You’d take it seriously. No, that’s not—” She made a face. “That’s not the word I want. I don’t know how to describe, but as soon as I thought it, I knew I was wrong. You’d never see a baby that way. You’d…you’d see it like you see Michael. And I just—I knew I had to tell you. I wasn’t planning on the alley, but it just fell out.” Elizabeth reached out, traced a pattern on chest with the tips of her fingers. “And you were so happy.”

“I told Bobbie,” Jason admitted,” and her eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to, but we were talking about Sonny, and she asked about the tension she saw with Courtney, and I just—I don’t know. I wanted to say it out loud. You’re right. This is terrible timing, but I just don’t care.”

“Me either.” She leaned up, brushed her mouth against his in all too brief kiss, but was already walking down towards the next level and the bench. He followed. “That being said, I was hoping you’d understand if I say we should keep it to ourselves for a little while. You and I might see this as the blessing it actually is, but…”

“Not everyone will.” He sat next to her, took her hand in his, liking the way her soft skin felt against his. “Yeah, I get that.”

“It was…the miscarriage was harder maybe than it had to be. People knew, and I had to say it over and over again. And there’s—I mean, that happened because I fell, but there’s always a risk,” Elizabeth admitted. “I just…I don’t want to go through that again.”

“I—” Jason exhaled slowly. “Yeah. I agree. Courtney…she had a miscarriage in August.” He grimaced. “I didn’t know she was pregnant until it was over,” he added when she just blinked at him. “She found out, and she didn’t tell me. Then she came to Venezuela, and—something—it went wrong. The doctors told her she wouldn’t be able to have kids.”

“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry, Jason—”

“I feel guilty,” he admitted, “because…when she told me, I couldn’t—” He looked away, unable to face her as he continued. “I really don’t know. I didn’t feel the way I think I was supposed to. She was upset, and I understood that, but I don’t know. It was never real to me. And—since the accident,” he forced out, now looking at his own hands. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to connections to that kind of thing. It was over before I knew it existed, and I was sad for that. But I also—I didn’t grieve the way she was. And I think that bothered her.”

“I’m sorry. I know that must have weighed on you. People feel things differently. Of course you’d be sensitive to how this would feel for her.” Elizabeth reached his hand, but said nothing until he finally looked at her. “Did you think I would be upset that you wanted to keep this quiet for her sake?”

“I—no, but—”

“You’re a good man, Jason, who was in a difficult position, and I know you did the best you could—”

“Did I?” he muttered. “I took the easy way out — I stayed with her—”

“I stayed with Lucky, didn’t I? You never slammed the door in my face even when you should have. And I needed to know for sure. I needed to know that it wasn’t just the way I felt about you that was destroying that relationship. Lucky and I were broken before you came home, I just didn’t see it. I couldn’t. I don’t blame you for staying.”

“You should. I don’t know why you don’t. It’s different. I told you I loved you. We slept together. I told you I was leaving—”

“And I knew it would never be that simple. It couldn’t be. You went back, and only you know for sure if you tried. And maybe—” Elizabeth bit her lip. “Maybe I knew that it wasn’t going to last. Even with you keeping your distance, I knew if Courtney felt secure, she wouldn’t have come in so often talking about the wedding. She wanted me to feel threatened, but all I did was feel sorry for her. Which would probably piss her off.”

“You’re a better person than me,” Jason said. “If we’d…if we’d been together, and you’d gone—”

“Lucky took a knife to your throat, Jason, and I accused you of assaulting him. I believed him. I don’t blame you for any of this, Jason. Even if I had a doubt, it’s all gone now.” Elizabeth touched his face, her fingers brushing against his jaw, pressing gently so that he’d look at her. “Because you don’t lie. Not with your eyes. And I saw the way you felt when you looked at me today. When I told you I was pregnant. I know you’re excited about being a father again, but I could see you were happy that we were doing this, and it let me feel free to feel that way, too. But we’re both aware of the circumstances that exist outside all of this. I have no need to rub any of this in Courtney’s face, and that’s all it would be if we told anyone now.”

He nodded, then brought her hand to his lips. “Thank you.”

“And give yourself a break for how you’re feeling about the baby she lost. You don’t give yourself enough credit for the way you’re rebuilt your life since the accident. For what you’ve been through.”

He exhaled slowly. “Maybe I would have deserved that once, but I don’t feel that way now. If it wasn’t for you — or Michael,” he admitted, “after a night like this — I might just get on my bike and keep going.”

Her brows drew together, and the corners of her mouth dipped. “I don’t want to be the reason you stay—something that holds you down—”

“No. No, that’s not what I mean—” He shifted, turning towards her, taking both her hands in his. “You make me remember why this is my home. Why running would just be the coward’s way out. To run away from the problems I created for myself. But I don’t want to do that again. To leave you. I talked to Bobbie, and she’s going to get some doctors that can give us some ideas what to do next. It’s…it’s not all the way fixed,” he admitted, “but I have hope. Even as bad as tonight was, you know? I think maybe I can finally see an ending.”

“I’m glad. And you know Bobbie is solid. She won’t give up.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said after another moment. “We didn’t—I spent all day thinking about seeing you tonight. About what we’d talk about, what happens next. And that’s—we didn’t get to do that.”

“Sure we did. We decided we’re both deliriously happy about this,” Elizabeth said, and he smiled slightly. “We decided to keep it to yourselves for a lot of reasons. Maybe I’ll go to Mercy for my appointments just to be on the safe side. And you’re going to focus on getting Sonny better because you’ll feel better when he is. He looked so lost, Jason, when he came back to himself, and it broke my heart.”

“It’s hard to know,” Jason said slowly, “what’s Sonny and what’s not. Or if it’s all in there. He came to Kelly’s tonight because of what Courtney said. Did he mean to do that? Or was that whatever gets in his head? He accuses Carly of having an affair with Lorenzo Alcazar, you know that? Because after the panic room, she looked rested and healthy when we found her. Sunshine. Walking. Good food. He thought she was too happy.”

“Oh, oh, that’s awful—”

“He knows when he’s clear that it’s just his paranoia, his guilt over not finding her faster,” Jason admitted. “But he keeps forgetting. So did he do that tonight? Did he just come to talk to you, and forget? Did it start when we got back? I…I just don’t know.” He sighed, looked down at their hands. “I have to talk to Mike.”

“I figured. He’s always been so good to me, and I know you’re close to him, too. He’s Michael’s godfather, right?”

“He was…a good friend when Sonny was gone. I’ve always respected him. I just—I don’t want to lie to him—”

“Then don’t. Mike’s always struck me as a realist. He cares about you, Jason. Tell him the truth about what Sonny’s going through. And what…you and I are. Or about Courtney. You have my blessing to tell him whatever you need to. Even the baby. I hope he isn’t angry with you. Or me,” she admitted. “I’ve always liked him.”

“Thank you.” He sighed. “We should get back.”

“I know, but hey, you know—” Elizabeth followed him back towards the parking lot. “I’m not fragile. Maybe we can take the turns a little faster. You know it kills you to go slow.”

He grinned, handed her the helmet. “You sure?”

“I’ll let you know when I can’t handle it.” She fastened the strap beneath her chin, her eyes sparkling. “And hey, when we have that conversation about my studio I know you’re itching to get into, I promise to be reasonable.”

Jason laughed, got on the bike, waited for her slide on behind him, her arms sliding around his waist. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Studio: Hallway

Jason stopped Elizabeth as she fit her key into the lock, wrapping his hand around her wrist. “I know…I know you said we should take some time before…before we decided anything about us, but—”

“I think we’ve sort of skipped that step again,” Elizabeth said, smiling as she turned back, leaned against the door. “But I still want us to be careful. To be thoughtful about what comes next. I don’t want us to just crash into each other when things go wrong. You know?”

“I do, it’s just—” He rested his arm above her head. “When I’m with you, everything is in focus. I can see clearly, and I know what has to be done. I know I can do it. It’s hard to watch you go inside and not be with you.”

“I don’t love it either,” she admitted. “But I meant it. I don’t want to rush into this. We have months before we have to be parents. I want to get it right this time. That being said…not rushing doesn’t have to mean we don’t get to have our fun…” Elizabeth gripped his shirt, pulled him towards, and he sank into her embrace, drawing out the kiss until their breathing was shallow. “I’m just a phone call away,” she murmured, placing her hands on both his cheeks. “We’ll be okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

Written in 58 minutes.

---

The Recovery Room: Storage Room

Jason hesitated in the doorway of the storage room, and watched Mike check off items on his clipboard. How many times had Jason watched Mike count inventory at Luke’s back in the early days? How many times had Jason sought Mike out in this very bar, looking for guidance and advice once Sonny had left? He’d been so grateful he’d named Mike as Michael’s godfather.

And now Jason had to face him, knowing that Mike, at the very least, suspected that Jason had hurt Mike’s daughter in the worst way possible. It wouldn’t be an easy conversation, but it was a necessary one.

“Been a long time since you came around here,” Mike said, not glancing up. His blue eyes looked at another shelf. “Not since Michael came home that last time. You didn’t have much need of me then.”

“Didn’t want to hear what you’d say to me,” Jason said, his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “You never liked Carly much. Always said she’d get me into trouble. Easier to avoid you.”

Mike looked at him then. “I wasn’t wrong.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Which of my children are you here to talk to me about?” Mike set the clipboard on the shelf, turned to face Jason more fully, his arms folded. “My son who’s clearly troubled and sliding out of control, or my daughter — who isn’t the woman you walked out with last night.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Wherever you want to start, Mike, is fine with me. I don’t know if Courtney’s told you anything—”

“She’s avoiding me, too, so the news isn’t good, is it?” Mike walked past him, and Jason followed the older man back out through the hall to the small kitchen. He poured himself a cup of coffee, then handed another to Jason.”

“No, it’s not.”

Mike nodded, leaned against the counter, sipped the coffee. “You know, when I first found out about all of that—you and Courtney—I thought—well, that won’t last.” The corner of his mouth curved up in a half-smile. “She’s not for you. But I didn’t say anything. I don’t have a lot of power where my kids are concerned — or authority. My fault,” he added. “But then you were engaged, and I was okay with it. I wanted you to be a good match. Because I like the idea of you being my son-in-law.” He lifted his brows. “That’s not going to happen, is it?”

“No, I—I’m sorry. I won’t lie to you. I respect you too much for that.” Jason paused. “What Sonny said last night—about Elizabeth—it’s—it’s not the way he made it sound. But maybe it is. I don’t—” He stared down into the untouched cup of coffee. “We slept together,” he admitted. “And I know it was wrong because I’d made promises, but it didn’t feel that way. And…I wasn’t sorry.”

The words hung between them for a long moment, the silence lingering. Mike absorbed that. “I wondered,” he said, finally, “at how fast it was all happening. But I was just getting to know her, you know? I didn’t think I could say to this woman I didn’t raise and didn’t know — don’t you think it’s all too fast? Marrying one man, divorcing him six months later, going to his brother, getting engaged in a few months — it all seemed so rushed. And knowing you the way I do, having been around you since almost the beginning…it didn’t seem like you.”

“Mike—”

“If you’re waiting for me to castigate you, to judge you, to throw you out, well, you’re not going to find that here. Jason—” Mike paused until Jason reluctantly met his eyes. “I like Elizabeth, you know that. I always have, even when she was the young woman with the sad eyes, bringing Sonny brownies so he knew she didn’t blame him for that fire. Tammy liked her, too. Worried about her with that Lucky business. If she makes you happy, if that’s where you think you belong, then okay. But I’m not going to throw a punch. A man with my history, whose walked out on both his kids? Who I am to judge another man’s actions?”

Some of the tightness in Jason’s chest eased, and he cleared his throat. “I appreciate that.”

“Good. Now that we’ve cleared the air there—let’s talk about what really matters right now.” Mike set his coffee aside. “Tell me about my son.”

Port Charles Park

Courtney checked her watch, then sighed, leaning back on the bench and staring at the sky. She might not have had anything better to do, but Carly didn’t know that. Was Courtney supposed to waste her entire day waiting for her sister-in-law to show up?

“Hot date?”

Courtney lurched off the bench, whirling around at the sound of Ric’s voice. He stepped onto the path from behind a set of bushes. “What are you doing here?”

“Taking a walk. Just like you.” Ric tipped his head. “Waiting for Jason?”

“Carly. So you better not stay long,” she bit out. “She wants to do a lap around the walking track to stay active, and if she sees you, she’ll lose it—”

“That’s fine. This won’t take long. I feel like I owe you a slight warning—” Ric paused. “Elizabeth knows someone was slipping me information about her shifts. And she said as much in front of Jason, so—”

“Oh, I see you’re behind on the times—” Courtney raised her hand, wiggled her fingers with a bitter smile. “Turns out just telling you what time Elizabeth worked was the dealbreaker.”

His slight smile faded. “What?”

“Oh, yeah, marrying you, having a child with you, choosing you over and over again—” Courtney huffed. “None of that seems to register with him, but I’m the devil and she’s the perfect angel. I’m out, and she’s definitely back in—”

“You had one job, damn it—”

“So did you!” Courtney cut in, slicing her hand through her hair. “You were supposed to keep her distracted so I could get Jason focused back on me and our future—I did everything right, okay? I forgave him for sleeping with her. I accepted it, and just because I wanted to rub her snotty little face in it, I’m out in the cold, you’re out of luck, and they get to ride off into the sunset together—”

“Damn it,” Ric muttered. He dragged a hand through his hair. “And Jason definitely knows you told me her schedule?”

“I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t assured me you’d get rid of her! I don’t know why I thought you’d be able to do it, not when she had Jason back on the hook. God, it’s just like AJ said, you know? He loves a damsel in distress, and I guess I wasn’t needy enough,” she retorted. Hot tears stung her eyes, and she squeezed them shut. “I didn’t know what a conniving, manipulative bitch she is—She managed to make me the unreasonable one, can you believe that—”

“Hey, watch it—” Ric snapped, jabbing his finger at her. “I’m not the one who just had to drag Jason to Kelly’s — that was all you, sweetheart. You watch how you talk to me—”

“Oh, what are you going to do?” Courtney said with a roll of her eyes. “Lock me in the panic room, too? You can’t lay a finger on me, and you know it. So go do what you were supposed to do and get rid of that little bitch. As long as she’s in the picture, Jason will never remember that he loves me.”

“I’m working on it, but maybe you keep your head in the game and focus on what’s important. Has her schedule changed?”

“No. She’s still on closings, but just be careful,” Courtney muttered. She folded her arms, looked away. “Jason knows, and she might get it changed. You better get out of here. Carly will be here any minute.”

Recovery Room: Kitchen

“Sonny,” Jason said slowly, “isn’t well. He’s…had issues for a long time, you know that. But it’s worse now than it’s ever been.”

“I’ve seen him talk to people like that before, but never Elizabeth. Not even when all that was going on with Ric last spring.” Mike furrowed his brow. “I know he feels strongly about loyalty, but there was something in his eyes—”

“I don’t know how much of that is Sonny or his paranoia. By the time we got back to the penthouse, he had started to lose time. He didn’t know what year it was. He thought it was last year, a few years ago—he thought Elizabeth was Robin—sometimes he forgets Carly,” Jason added. “And…he’s been seeing Lily.”

“Lily,” Mike repeated. He closed his years. “God help us. He’s seeing Lily because of Carly, isn’t he? Another pregnant woman he couldn’t protect.”

“Yeah. Yeah. I think Ric telling him about his mother—the story that Sonny pushed his mother when she was pregnant — that his mother left Ric with his father and went back to Deke—blaming himself all over again for that.” Jason’s mouth was tight. “With the kidnapping—it’s brought it all back. It was too much for him. He’ll be fine for days, even weeks, but then he slips and this last time, he didn’t recognize Carly. He was shaking her.”

“Jesus. What—”

“She’s all right. Max was there, and she’s staying somewhere else. He still—he never forgets me. That’s—that’s a relief, I guess. I can always bring him back.”

“That’s not fair to you,” Mike said. “It’s not,” he continued when Jason just shook his head. “And you must know that, Jason. It’s too much pressure on you to keep him anchored to reality.”

“I—” Jason didn’t know what to say. How to even think about it. “I know.”

“Do you? You’ve always taken the weight of the world on your shoulders, Jason, and sometimes I think you don’t realize it until it’s too late. It can’t be your job to keep my son sane. Not alone.”

“I—” His throat was tight, so Jason looked away. “It’s frustrating. Courtney knew what happened with Carly. Knew that Sonny was in this mood, and maybe she was hurt and she lashed out, but she set him off. And he went to Kelly’s. He did that in front of witnesses, Mike. What if I hadn’t shown up? What—” Jason cleared his throat. “It’s just…exhausting,” he admitted, “to feel like I’m the only one who can’t make mistakes. I’ve made a mess of my life, and I’m trying to dig it out, but I can’t do that alone.”

“No, you can’t. And you won’t. Do you have any plans? Or do we need to brainstorm—”

“Bobbie’s—she’s putting together list. Of doctors. Maybe someone can talk to him, or look at him, and tell us what to do. I don’t know, Mike. It’s all I’ve got right now.”

“Okay. Okay.” Mike stroked his jaw. “Okay. I like that. Bobbie will give you good recommendations, and we can take it from there. I’ll talk to Courtney. She gets to be angry with you, Jason, I think that’s fair to say. But you’re right. If she wants to vent — she can’t do something that makes Sonny’s situation worse.”

“I don’t expect her to forgive me, and I’m not looking for it. So if you could—thanks. And thank you for not…for not being angry about the rest of it.”

“The heart doesn’t listen to logic or common sense,” Mike said. “You love who you love, and we both know that life can be too brutally short to waste a moment. You say you’ve made a mess of your life. Let’s get you back on track, too. Just like my kids, Jason, you deserve to be happy, too. And I’m not going to let you forget that.”

When Jason got back into the parking lot, he felt lighter, and bit more determined. He wasn’t handling Sonny alone anymore, and after talking to Bobbie, to Elizabeth, to Mike, he realized he hadn’t needed to be alone at all. He should have brought Mike in sooner or talked to Bobbie. Or anyone.

But he was doing it now, and as soon as Sonny was on the road to recovery, Jason could get back to focus on what mattered most—

The phone in his pocket vibrated, and Jason pulled it out, wincing when he saw Carly’s name on the notification screen. He nearly ignored the call — but he already knew Elizabeth was at Kelly’s, and he’d made plans to see her later, and of course, Carly was near her due date.

“Hey. What’s up?”

Corinthos & Morgan Warehouse: Office

Jason’s heart began to beat faster when he came into the office, saw Carly’s tear-stained cheeks. “What happened—did you see Sonny?”

“It’s—” She pressed a hand to the small of her back and closed her eyes, wincing. “No. No. I—I was in the park. I was supposed to walk, and Courtney was going to meet me there but I was late—” She sucked in a sob. “Jason, when I got there, she was talking to Ric.”

Jason’s hands fell limply to his side, and he exhaled in a rush. “Talking to him how?”

“They—they were talking like they’d made a deal—” The words were halting, forced out, punctuated by sobs. “She told him Elizabeth’s s-schedule, and she was angry because-because Ric hadn’t gotten rid of her.”

Jason pressed his lips together, the rage crawling up his throat again at the thought of Courtney throwing Elizabeth to the wolves. “She said those exact words?”

“You had one job,” Carly said softly. “And he was angry, too, because I guess Elizabeth—I guess she figured it out, and Courtney was acting like you’d confronted her, so you know about this, don’t you?”

“I knew the basics. Not the rest of it. Elizabeth said Ric was always showing up when she opened, so she shifted to the closing shift. And he knew. Courtney admitted it to me the other night.”

Carly closed her eyes. “Why? Why would she do that? It—it sounded like Courtney thinks you’re sleeping with Elizabeth, but she’s wrong. You wouldn’t do that.” When Jason said nothing, she looked at him. “Jason?”

“The night we thought we were losing Emily, she and I—it just happened.” Jason shook his head. “No. No, I’m not going to act like it was an accident. I kissed her, and I wanted it to happen. We spent the night together, and I had made up my mind to break up with Courtney.”

“Oh.” Carly’s eyes were wide and she backed up a few steps until the back of her knees hit the sofa. She rested a hand on the arm of it and slowly sat down. “But you—you didn’t. I knew something was off, but I guess—” She rubbed her cheeks, pushing some color back into them. “I suppose that explains a few things,” she murmured. “Courtney did want to go to Kelly’s a lot these last few weeks. She knew.”

“I didn’t want to hurt, and I thought—I thought I owed it to her to try to fix things. I asked her to marry me. I thought that was supposed to mean something. But I already knew it wasn’t working when I found out what she’d done. That she’d told Ric Elizabeth’s schedule. She can be angry with me, but—”

“Giving Ric that kind of ammunition—and she must have told him about you two. He didn’t sound surprised when she said something.” Carly’s breath was shaky. “She wasn’t even scared of him. You know? She was…taunting him. Like they were actually—like she actually felt like they were on the same side. I don’t—that’s what I don’t understand. She’s…” Her eyes found him, and Jason swallowed hard at the shattered expression. “She said we were best friends. Like sisters. I wanted that to be true. I wanted to believe it. But how can she hold my hand through all of this—when she knows—she knows what he did to me.” She pressed two fingers to her lips. “She knows everything,” she murmured again.

Jason crouched in front of her. “I’m sorry. I know this has to hurt. On top of everything else.”

“Was she…was it a lie?” Carly asked. “Why didn’t I see it then? I—I should know when someone’s using me. I should know when I’m being played, don’t you think? I used to know that.”

“You’re a little off your game right now. It’s okay—” Jason scowled when his phone rang. “It’s—It’s Bobbie. She said she’d call when—” He answered it. “Hey. Yeah, yeah, I’ll come by and get it. Thank you.”

“What did my mother want?” Carly held out her hand, and Jason hauled her back to her feet.

“She’s going to get us a list of doctors. Sonny needs more help than I can give him. I don’t want you to worry about Ric, okay? He’s in the ADA’s office, and it’d be suicide for him to do anything to screw with that. Right now, anyway. As soon as I’ve got Sonny sorted, believe me, Ric’s the top priority.”

“Good. Good. You go ahead, get that list from my mother. I’ll call Rocco and get the car brought around.”

“Are—are you sure?”

“Sonny’s a danger to himself, and God knows who else like this. For all our sake’s, we need to figure that out. And I really want you to focus on getting rid of Ric. Especially when it seems like he’s focusing on Elizabeth again. He’s obsessed with her, Jason. No, I don’t mean like he loves her. I mean, obsessed. He won’t stop at anything to get her back.” Carly’s mouth trembled. “And I’m afraid of what he might to do to you if he thinks you’re a threat. Or even to her if she refuses to go back.”

“I’m handling it,” Jason promised. He kissed her cheek. “Call Rocco. And I’ll let you know what Bobbie says.”

Carly watched him go, then, still troubled, she reached into her purse and removed her phone. She punched in a few numbers, then waited. When the other phone went to voicemail she said, “It’s Carly. I think you and I should have a conversation. I have some information that you should know.”