Emily Quartermaine hung up the phone and leaned back on the couch, a wide smile spread on her face. She couldn’t wait to share her amazing news.

She didn’t have to wait long. Elizabeth Webber flung their apartment door open a few minutes later. Her blue eyes were sparkling, her cheeks flushed and her curly hair all over the place. “Em, I have the best news!”

“I’m so glad you’re back, Beth!” Emily jumped to her feet. “I have amazing news!”

Elizabeth grinned. “Let me go first!” She dropped her book bag and closed the door. “I’ve passed my finals!” She twirled in a circle. “My summer can officially begin!”

Emily hugged her room mate tightly. “That’s great! You even passed Calculus?”

Elizabeth pulled away and wrinkled her nose. “Please don’t remind me.” She grinned again. “So what’s your news?”

“My brother’s coming to visit!” Emily blurted.

“Which one?” Elizabeth asked warily. Emily had two brothers, AJ and Jason. AJ was the elder of the two—and in Elizabeth’s opinion, the more likable. He was living in New York City with his wife Courtney and their two kids. AJ and Elizabeth had always gotten along.

Jason was a different story. The last time Elizabeth had seen him was four years ago before she’d graduated from high school. He was perfect – nice to everyone, perfect behavior and never been in an ounce of trouble. He’d been in a car accident two years ago and Emily had told her Jason was a changed man, but Jason Morgan disliked her as much as Jason Quartermaine had. It seemed the only person that ever got on Jason Q’s nerves was Elizabeth. All they ever did was bicker and argue. He was always traveling somewhere and Elizabeth rarely saw him.

Emily’s face fell a bit. “Oh…it’s Jason.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Well, I suppose I can…always… avoid…” Elizabeth trailed off. “What’s that look for?”

Emily shifted her feet. “I sorta told him he could…stay…here.”

“Emily!” Elizabeth wailed. “You know we don’t get along!”

“Honestly, Beth, it’s been two years. You’re not nearly as annoying as you used to be and I’m sure Jason isn’t interested in picking up your rivalry where you left off.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Em-”

“Come on! You know whenever Jason’s in town, I rarely see him. This way I get to spend time with him!” Emily pleaded. “Please!”

Elizabeth sighed. “Well, it’s your apartment too. Of course he can stay.” Her eyes hardened. “Just keep him away from me!”

Emily nodded eagerly. “Not a problem.” She flung her arms around her best friend. “Thank you, thank you!”

Elizabeth shook her head and smiled. “Don’t thank me yet. He’s not here, after all. You may regret this.”

—-

Emily settled on the couch late that night with a glass of soda and large photo album in her lap. Whenever she missed her brothers too much, she always dragged the album off the shelves. It happened more when she’d first moved out of the Quartermaine mansion last year but it had been almost two months since she’d looked at the pictures.

She opened the album and smiled. She and Elizabeth had been best friends since their first day of first grade. She grimaced remembering the first time Elizabeth had visited the mansion. She’d accidentally spilled an entire glass of red punch on Jason’s shirt. AJ had thought it was the funniest thing ever but the way Emily figured, Elizabeth and Jason had disliked each other ever since.

She giggled at the picture of the entire group on the first day of school. She and Elizabeth had been third-graders, Jason fifth grade and AJ had been starting seventh grade. Elizabeth’s sister Sarah had been in the same grade as AJ but she hadn’t been close to Elizabeth and therefore wasn’t in this picture. Elizabeth and Emily were hugging and laughing, AJ was scowling and Jason was glaring at the girls.

She sighed. Before Jason’s accident, the three Quartermaine siblings were closer than most families. AJ and Jason had been best friends and Emily hadn’t ever felt left out. Even though Elizabeth and Jason fought all the time, the four of them were still inseparable. She couldn’t begin to count the amount of times Edward had bellowed after them as they ran through the gardens.

AJ had begun drinking shortly after he graduated from high school and it had spiraled out of control quickly. Jason was seventeen when he’d tried to stop his brother from driving while drunk. They’d gotten into a car accident and Jason didn’t remember anything before the accident. He’d broken ties from the family and changed his name to Jason Morgan. The only people in the family he’d remained close to were Emily, their grandmother Lila and at times, Monica. The accident had forced AJ to see what was happening to him and he went into rehab. He’d been clean for five years and married for three to Courtney Matthews.

The only thing that had seemed to survive the accident was his apparent irritation for Emily’s best friend. Elizabeth and Jason were the most important people in her life and she knew there had to be a way for them to like one another. They weren’t the same people they’d been five years ago.

Emily was determined to make them friends.

—–

Elizabeth rolled over in her bed. She hated that the animosity between her and Emily’s brother brought on tension in her friendship with Emily. When she and Jason had been younger, it had always been teasing and pulling hair. She smiled as she remembered the way Lila Quartermaine had told her that the only reason Jason pulled her hair and called her names was that he liked her. Elizabeth had been eight at the time and didn’t really understand that. But as they’d grown older, the teasing had remained and she’d even developed a crush on him.

But it had changed after his accident. The teasing was gone and she believed it’d been replaced by genuine dislike. She’d tried to accept Jason as he was now and it hadn’t been going that badly. She’d been visiting him one day after school when it’d taken a turn for the worse.

“What was I like before?” Jason asked quietly. Elizabeth studied him for a few minutes. It’d been the first time he’d asked about the past. He’d been more concentrated on what was going on today– like he hadn’t wanted to remember.

“Well, most people think you walked on water,” Elizabeth said dryly. She hadn’t meant for it come out that way but she and Jason had always communicated using sarcasm.

“You didn’t?” Jason asked curiously.

She shrugged. “You always seemed a bit stuck-up, like you were too good for anyone.” She grinned. “Except me. I know what a jerk you were.” Usually Jason would have laughed with her but his jaw had just clenched and he looked away.

Since then they hadn’t spoken to each other unless the words were cutting or insulting. Thankfully, Jason had taken off from town shortly after high school graduation and Elizabeth hadn’t seen him in four years.

And now Jason was coming back and he was staying at their apartment. Elizabeth was planning on spending as much as possible with her sister-in-law, Carly Corinthos. If she could avoid Jason Morgan, maybe it would be that bad.

——

Carly Corinthos peered at herself in the mirror. “He can’t be that bad, Lizzie.”

Elizabeth grimaced and put the messages on Carly’s desk. “Don’t call me that and yes, he is. You hadn’t even moved here before Jason took off.”

Carly looked up. “You’re the best secretary I’ve ever had, but you also exaggerate more than normal people.”

Elizabeth plopped in the chair near Carly’s desk. “We can’t be in the same room with one another before someone tosses an insult. It’s like when he irritates me by just being in the same area.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I know how that works. Had the same problem with this guy I know.” She jotted something on a pad. “He was an arrogant son of a bitch who thought he knew everything.”

“So what did you do?” Elizabeth asked curiously. Carly raised and met her eyes. She grinned.

“Well, Lizzie, I married him.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That’s not a lot of help. I’ll be the first to tell you my brother is an annoying and irritating son of a bitch.”

Carly shrugged. “Yeah, well, people who can’t do anything but fight generally end up attracted to each other.”

“Carly, you’re full of shit.”

Carly shrugged. “Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”

“Whatever. Your three o’clock will be here soon. I’m back to my desk before you try to give me more advice.” Elizabeth stood up and exited Carly’s office.

——-

“Em!” Elizabeth called entering their apartment. She dropped the folders and keys on the table in the entry. “Hey, I’m home!”

“She went out,” was the gruff answer she received. Elizabeth turned to see Jason Morgan leaving the kitchen. She paused. He looked completely different than he had four years ago. He seemed taller, his hair was short and spiky and he… definitely had a better body.

She blinked. “When did you get here?” she asked. She could be civil. After all, she’d known Jason since she was seven. Just because he didn’t remember didn’t mean Elizabeth had forgotten.

“About an hour ago. Emily went out with Nikolas.” Jason crossed his arms. “She told me not to fight with you.”

The corners of her mouth twitched. “She did, huh?” Elizabeth grinned. “Well, we’ve already made it five minutes.” She clasped her hands in front of her and they stood in silence for a few minutes. “Did Em mention when she’d be back?”

“No. I didn’t ask,” Jason replied, tersely.

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t have say it like that. I was just asking a question,” she snapped.

“Still the same kid.”

“Kid?” Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. “I’m twenty years old. I stopped being a kid when I was fourteen.”

His eyes swept up and down her body. “All right, still the same brat,” he drawled. She flushed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“And you’re still the same jerk,” Elizabeth bit out. She took a deep breath. “I’m going to my room. Let me know when you decide to remove that stick from your ass.” She grabbed the folders she’d just dropped and stalked towards her room.

Jason heard her door slam and winced. He really hadn’t meant to fight – he usually didn’t let anyone get to him. But put Elizabeth Webber in the same room with him for five minutes and he couldn’t help it. Something about her just grated his nerves.

His cell phone started to ring. Jason dug it out of his jeans pocket and flicked it on. “Morgan?”

“It’s Sonny. You in town?”

“Yeah.”

“Where you staying?”

“My sister’s apartment.”

“Good. Come by in the morning and we can discuss my offer.”

“Okay.” Jason hung up. He’d started working for Sonny Corinthos shortly before he’d left town and had quickly moved up the ranks. He’d spent a good part of the previous four years doing odd job for him. Now Sonny had called him to Port Charles. Wanted to offer him a partnership. Jason had come to town intending on turning him down—but after seeing his sister, he was thinking of taking Sonny up on it. He’d like to be around Emily more.

A few hours later, Emily entered the apartment. She noticed Jason sitting on the couch reading one of his travel books. Her eyes flew to the entry table where she saw Elizabeth’s keys. She groaned making Jason look up.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She closed the door and put her hands on her hips. “You did it, didn’t you?”

“Did what?” Jason asked, immediately on the defensive.

“You fought with Beth.” Emily rolled her eyes. “Jesus, Jason. How long were the two of you in the same room before one you started it?”

“It wasn’t my fault,” Jason said.

“No, it never is.” Emily shook her head and sat next to him on the couch. “You know, Jase, sometimes I wonder about this whole dislike thing you have with her. You never let anyone else get to you. I’ve seen that police detective—what’s his name…? Anyway, he goads you and goads and you never give in. Beth makes one remark and you dive right in.” She pulled her boots off. “I will never understand you.”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. It comes naturally.”

Emily smiled sadly. “It always did,” she said softly. She looked away, tears suddenly springing to her eyes.

Jason caught the tone in her voice. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

Emily shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Nothing. Sometimes I just miss the way things used to be. We used to have so much fun, Jase. You, me, Beth and AJ.”

“I find it hard to believe that I ever got along with Elizabeth,” Jason replied.

“You didn’t. But…it wasn’t fighting,” Emily said. “It was teasing.” She sighed. “Jason Quartermaine liked her.”

“What?” Jason asked, startled. No had ever told him that.

“He was going to ask her to his senior prom,” Emily told him. “But the accident happened and…well…” she shrugged. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like to talk about that.”

“He liked her?” Jason repeated. “I just can’t believe that.”

“I know.” Emily sighed. “He was working up the courage for months and I just know she would have said yes.” She shook her head. “I’m going to bed.”

Jason put a hand on her arm. “I swear, Em, I’ll make more of an effort.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Emily said, avoiding his eyes. “You won’t be in town long and Beth said she was going to spend time with her sister-in-law, Carly-”

“Who?” Jason said, dreading the answer.

Emily paused, confused. “Her sister-in-law, Carly Corinthos. Sonny’s Beth’s half-brother…” she trailed off. “I never mentioned this to you?”

Jason shook his head, speechless.

“About two years ago, Beth’s dad basically told her that now that she was eighteen, he wasn’t financially responsible for her anymore. She was just his wife’s bastard daughter.” Emily watched his jaw clench. “Her father was Mike Corbin, Sonny’s dad. Beth was depressed for weeks, but she and Sonny are close… oh my God,” Emily breathed. “You work for Sonny.”

Jason nodded. “He offered me a partnership in the coffee ware house.”

Emily shook her head. “Sonny never mentioned his sister?”

Jason shifted uncomfortably. “Well, he mentioned his sister, Liz. But I guess I never made the connection.”

“Are you going to take it?” Emily asked.

Jason nodded. “I’m going to be sticking around for a while. So really, I’m only staying with you long enough to find a place to stay.”

“I guess Beth won’t be able to avoid you after all,” Emily said, a small smile spreading on her face. “She doesn’t know you work for Sonny, I guess.”

Jason shrugged. “I guess it never came up.”

Emily giggled. “This is gonna be fun.”

Sonny Corinthos looked up as his body guard, Johnny, announced Jason. “You’re early.”

Jason shrugged. “Didn’t feel like waiting.”

Sonny gestured towards the breakfast table. “Feel free to grab something. Carly isn’t down yet.”

“I don’t do breakfast,” Jason replied.

Sonny paused. “Are you gonna tell me what you decided?”

“Yeah.” Jason stuck his hands on jean pockets. “I’ll take it.”

“Good.” Sonny grinned and sat down. “You don’t want any coffee? Alexis will be here shortly with the contracts.”

Jason sat and poured himself a cup of coffee. “Alexis, huh? You were pretty sure of yourself weren’t you?”

Sonny shrugged. “I like to be prepared.”

“So, why didn’t you tell me your sister was Elizabeth Webber?” Jason asked, sipping the coffee.

“Didn’t know it mattered,” Sonny served himself some scrambled eggs.

“She lives with Emily,” Jason pointed out.

“So?” Sonny shrugged and put two pieces off toast on his plate.

“Sonny, we can’t stand each other.”

Sonny looked at him skeptically. “You don’t like someone? You?” Sonny shook his head. “That’s impossible.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t like plenty of people,” Jason said defensively.

Sonny grinned. “No. You have two categories. People you like and people you don’t care about. Liz is the only person you’ve ever said you didn’t like.” He shrugged. “It’s just weird. Why don’t you like her?”

“She’s irritating and she’s a pain in the ass.”

“Watch it-” Sonny pointed his fork at him. “That’s my baby sister you’re talking about.”

“You asked.”

Sonny frowned. “True. Anyway, you’ve been in town less than a day. How irritating could she possibly be?”

Jason frowned. “I knew her before I left town. I’m told I knew her before the accident.”

Sonny nodded. “Right. Of course. I remember. You, Emily, Liz and your brother…you were close as kids, right?”

“Yeah. That’s what Emily tells me. I basically have the same relationships with them as I did before. AJ and I are friends – I saw him in New York before I came here, I love Emily and Elizabeth and I fight. I don’t know why everyone thinks it’s so different.”

“You know, it’s strange,” Sonny said thoughtfully. “You usually separate yourself from Jason Quartermaine unless you’re talking about of the three of them. And then it’s like…you’re sorry you can’t remember.”

Jason shrugged. “I am sorry. I’ve seen the photos and Emily and AJ are always talking about how much fun we used to have. I know they miss him.”

“They love you, too,” Sonny said.

“I know. But it’s hard to compete with a ten-year-old breaking statues in the gardens.”

“Breaking statues?” Sonny repeated.

“Jason!” Carly shrieked from the stairs.

“Was she always this loud?” Jason asked, wincing. Carly flew down the steps and hurtled herself in Jason’s arms.

“It’s so good to see you!” Carly said, pulling away. She sat down at the table and Jason resumed his seat. “Did Sonny tell you that I run my own company now?”

“With Laura,” Sonny reminded. “Carly runs Deception, the cosmetics company.”

“Oh, and I have this great secretary. She’d be good for you,” Carly said, helpfully.

“Carly-” Sonny tried to cut in.

“She’s gorgeous, she’s funny, she’s smart,” Carly said, ticking the traits off on her fingers, “and she doesn’t mind the job because Sonny’s-”

“Carly-” Sonny tried again.”

“-her brother!” Carly finished triumphantly.

“Thanks, but no thanks,” Jason said shortly. He stood. “I’ve got to go see if Jake’s got a room open.”

“Hey, wait for-” Sonny stopped as Jason left. “Good job.”

“What’s your problem? What’s his problem?” Carly asked irritated. She spread some jelly on a piece of toast.

“He already knows Liz,” Sonny said.

“How does he know Lizzie-” Carly broke. “Holy hell, Emily’s his sister? That’s the Jason she’s been complaining about the last week?”

“How many Jasons do you think there are in Port Charles?” Sonny asked.

Carly shrugged. “At least two. I never made the connection.” She grinned. “But this just makes it better.”

Sonny grimaced. “Carly, this is my sister you’re talking about.”

Carly grinned. “And Jase is like your brother. You know we want them both happy.”

“Carly, don’t get that look.” Sonny winced. “That’s your ‘I’m gonna help and nobody can stop me look.’ I don’t like that look, Carly.”

She shrugged. “Deal. I think Jason and Liz would be perfect for each other.”

“Carly-”

“Let’s see. I can enlist Emily—because I know she wants them to be happy. Oh, and I can have a party for Deception that way they can both get dressed up-”

Sonny buried his head in his hands. Carly was off and running. God help his sister and Jason.

—–

Elizabeth stepped off the bus and turned the corner, intent on heading for Sonny’s warehouse. Just as she reached the docks, she groaned.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the mafia princess.” Lt. Taggart crossed his arms and grinned. “Here to see your brother?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Taggart, in order for me to be a mafia princess, my brother would have to be in the mafia and I’d have to be his daughter. And since that’s illegal in most states, I guess you’re going to have to let me pass.”

“I hear your brother has a new partner,” Taggart said. Elizabeth brushed past him. “Word on the street says it’s his former enforcer.”

Elizabeth turned and smiled sweetly. “My brother’s business is none of my—or your—concern. If you’ll excuse me-”

“It’s a shame. Such a fine boy, corrupted by Corinthos.”

“What are you talking about?” Elizabeth asked. “Stop talking in circles and get to the point. I’m busy.”

“From a fine upstanding family…” Taggart shook his head sadly. “Jason Quartermaine could have gone places.”

Elizabeth froze. Sonny’s new partner? Jason? She took a deep breath. “Jason Quartermaine is dead. The sooner everyone realizes that, the happier everyone will be.”

“You never learn.” Sonny emerged from a car that had pulled up. “You want something Taggart?”

“Nope. Just informing the mafia princess what her former friend has been up to,” Taggart. He smirked at Jason who had gotten out of the passenger seat. “Morgan. No surprise there. Welcome back to town.” Taggart strode away, still smirking.

“Twisted little…” Elizabeth muttered. She shook her head. “Hey.”

“Was he bothering you?” Sonny asked.

“No.” Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Why didn’t you tell me Jason was your new partner?”

“Because I just found out this morning that he agreed.” Sonny motioned for Jason to join them. “Jason, I take it you know Liz.”

“Yeah,” Jason said shortly.

Sonny scratched his head. “Well, there’s something else you need to know about her.”

“Sonny!” Elizabeth shook her vehemently. “No.”

“Liz, sweetheart, he has to know.”

“What’s going on?” Jason demanded. He eyed the petite brunette suspiciously.

Elizabeth sighed. “Fine.”

“Liz isn’t just Carly’s secretary and Emily’s roommate.” Sonny hesitated. “You know that, uh, other partner…”

“Sonny, you’ve got to be kidding,” Jason said, stunned. “She’s just a kid.”

“Hey!” Elizabeth snapped. “You’re only two years older than I am!” She glared at Sonny. “You never told me that Jason worked for you.”

“Yes, I did,” Sonny reminded her. “I just never mentioned his last name. Seems everyone was under the impression that there are a lot of Jasons in Port Charles. It’s not my fault if you didn’t make the connection.”

“I can’t work with him,” Elizabeth fumed.

“Liz-” Sonny turned to Jason. “Listen, let’s take this inside. We can discuss it in my office.”
—

Elizabeth stalked in the office and fumed as Sonny and Jason entered.

“Liz, I trust Jason with my life-”

“Save it,” Elizabeth snapped. “You told me you had a perfect partner in mind and all you would tell me was his name was Jason. You knew I was living with his sister and you knew that we didn’t get along but you chose to offer him the position without even informing me that I already knew him.”

“Liz, I was hoping you’d give him a chance,” Sonny said. “You’re right. I should have told you but I was afraid you’d shoot the idea down.”

“Damn right,” Elizabeth said, glaring at her brother.

“Look, I haven’t signed anything-” Jason broke off. “I don’t have to take it.”

“No, Jason,” Sonny said. “This is just a family disagreement-”

“The hell it is,” Elizabeth hissed. “I have to be able to trust him. I don’t care if you do, but I don’t. I have to know that I’m not in danger and I can’t because I do not trust him-”

“Doesn’t my judgment mean anything?” Sonny demanded. “I’ve been in this business my whole life; you’ve only been involved for two years. I think I can make a judgment call. Jason has worked for me for five years. He is the only person qualified to take do this.”

Elizabeth took a deep breath. “You’re right. You have been in this business longer than I have. And you have more experience.” She sighed. “If you think you can trust him, then I’ll have to deal.”

“Liz-”

She shook her head, vehemently. “I don’t like it, but the problems between Jason and I … they don’t have to come to work with us.” She eyed him. “Right?”

Jason’s mind was still spinning. This petite brunette with the curly hair was the mafia princess Taggart called her. She was Sonny’s full and equal partner. He blinked. “Right. Strictly business.”

Elizabeth turned her eyes back to Sonny. “All right?”

“Thanks, Liz,” Sonny said, gratefully. “You won’t regret this.”

“Yeah, I better not,” Elizabeth muttered. She checked her watch. “I have to go. I’m meeting Em and Nik for lunch. I only came by to meet our new partner.” She kissed Sonny on the cheek. “Bye.”

“See ya kid.”

After she was gone, Sonny rolled his shoulders, trying to get rid of the tension that seemed to have knotted in his shoulders. “She’s a little-”

“Why didn’t you tell me this morning?” Jason demanded. He ran a hand through his hair and put his hands on his hips. “Jesus, Sonny. You knew we didn’t get along.”

“I didn’t tell you because Liz is a strictly silent partner. She comes in only when necessary. After she graduates college, she wants to take on a more active role. But I can’t wait another two years, so that’s where you come in.” Sonny shrugged. “Taggart doesn’t really think she’s involved, but he knows he can get a rise out of her.”

“I thought you hated women being involved,” Jason said.

Sonny rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, well, Liz isn’t a normal woman.” He grinned. “How did she put it…?”

Elizabeth flew past the secretary and straight into Sonny’s office. She closed the door behind her and crossed her arms.

Sonny grinned and stood. “Something I can do for you?”

“I found out you were my brother two weeks ago,” Elizabeth began, “and all I’ve done since then is think about that. You are the only family I’ve have in the world and I would really like to develop a relationship with you.”

“I want the same, Liz-”

“But I am completely terrified that I will lose you before that happens,” Elizabeth continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “I’m not stupid. I know what you do, and I know that it’s not limited to coffee or the hotel.” She strode forward and put her hands on his desk and leaned towards him. “I can’t lose you.”

Sonny sighed. “What do you want me to do about it?” he asked quietly. “I know how you feel and trust me, there’s not a day that goes by that Carly doesn’t hug me with all the strength in her body because she’s afraid that I might not come back. You have-”

“I want to be involved.”

Sonny blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I have a quick mind and good instincts,” Elizabeth said. “I want to help. I want to be a part of this.”

Sonny shook his head quickly. “No. No women.”

Elizabeth smirked. “I’m not just any woman. I’m your sister.”

“Liz, my answer is no.”

“And it’s the wrong answer,” she said glaring at him. “It doesn’t have to be an active role. I understand that. But I want to help. You get to take risks every day. You take the chance that you won’t come home. Why is that okay for you? Why don’t I get to make that same choice?”

“Liz, getting involved in this business…there’s no turning back. Once you’re in, you’re in. And choosing to get involved because you’re scared, that’s not a good enough reason.”

Elizabeth stood up and re-crossed her arms. She bit her lip and looked down. Her curly hair fell forward, hiding her face. After a few tense moments of silence, she looked up. She pulled her hair out of her face and took a deep breath. Her eyes were full of determination. “I want to protect the people I care about. And right now, the only people I care about are you, Em, AJ and Carly. I can’t lose you and if I think I can help, you know I will. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve given me that okay. I’ll do it anyway. Now wouldn’t you rather that you were guiding me and making sure I didn’t do the wrong things?”

He sighed and looked away. “Liz-”

“Don’t protect me because I’m a woman. Because that’s not fair. I’m just as good as any man, damn it. Just because I’m female does not mean I can’t handle this.”

He rubbed his eyes. “You know there’s no going back.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“All right. Here’s the deal.” Sonny looked up and clasped his hands under his chin. “You take a silent partnership. We’re equals, we make our decisions together. But no one knows you’re involved. The cover story is that you’re my sister and you visit me here from time to time. You do not get involved unless there is no other choice. You will limit it to research, but you will train just like any of the others. If, once you’ve graduated from college, you still want to do this, we can discuss a more active role.”

Elizabeth smiled. “That’s perfect.”

“Don’t make me regret this, Liz.”

She shook her head. “You’ll never have a reason,” she promised. She rounded the desk and threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”

He hugged her back. “You’re welcome.”

“Still can’t believe you gave in,” Jason muttered.

“She had a point. I might not like women being involved but I’ve also never had one waltz in here and ask. I’d like you to say no to Liz and get away with it.” Sonny smirked. “I can’t believe she agreed so quickly.”

“I don’t understand, Sonny. What do you need an active partner for?” Jason asked.

Sonny shrugged. “I have a kid named Zander who’d be next in line if something were to happen to me before Liz graduates. He’s a good kid with a lot of potential and he’s earned the position.” Sonny sighed. “But he’s not ready to take over. So, instead of replacing him, I’m bringing someone in who can take over.”

“So what happens when Elizabeth takes the active role in two years? You send me on my way?” Jason asked.

Sonny shook his head. “No. You stay on. If something happens to me even after the Liz graduates, I want you to take over my spot.”

“So Zander stays where he is?”

“Yeah. He’s expressed the opinion that he’s not really interested in running the territory. He likes where he is.” Sonny sat in his chair. “I know you’re the same way, which why you’ll be doing the same things you were doing before, only you’ll be in Port Charles. Liz might like to think she can handle this job as well as anyone and she probably can, but you know as well as I do that a woman in charge…she won’t get the same respect that you or I do.”

Jason nodded. “Makes sense. You think Elizabeth will take the active role?”

Sonny nodded. “Yeah. I had my doubts early on, but she’s proved herself. She’s as well trained as any of the men and she’s one of the most intelligent people on the staff. It’s like she was born to do this. She’ll definitely get more involved.”

“All right. Well, I’m gonna head over to Jake’s and see if she has a room I can use.”

“Use the other penthouse,” Sonny suggested. “It’s been empty for a few months since Alexis moved out. Which reminds me.” Sonny reached into his desk drawer. “Here’s those contracts.”

Jason took a pen from the desk and quickly signed and initialed his name in the right places. “Here.”

“I’ll drop them off at Alexis’s place.” Sonny grinned. “Any reason to annoy Jax.” He put the contracts aside and pulled some keys from his pocket. “Here’s the keys to the penthouse.”

“Thanks.”

—–

Emily knocked on Carly’s half open office door. “Hey. You called?”

Carly gestured for her to enter. “Come in.”

Emily entered and sat in the chair in front of Carly’s desk. “What’s up? What was so urgent it couldn’t wait?”

Carly grinned. “I’ve been thinking about Lizzie.”

“She hates that name and what about her?”

“I think I have the perfect guy for her.” Carly grinned. “And she already hates him.”

Emily grinned. “Jason right?” She squealed. “Oh, you are right!”

“I am?” Carly said, warily. “Because Sonny seemed to think it was a bad idea.”

“No, no, seriously. Before the accident, Jason had a big crush on Beth and he’d just worked up the courage to ask her to the senior prom. Of course, they both say they despise each other, but I think that they would be really good for each other.”

Carly nodded. “Definitely. So,” she said her eyes full of mischief. “How do we get them together?”

“Well, first we have to make them friends,” Emily pointed out. “And maybe once that happens, they can take the initiative.”

“Uh uh, this is Jason we’re talking about. He doesn’t know what that means,” Carly said.

Emily laughed. “Let’s not worry about that. We have our work cut out for us with keeping them from killing each other!”

Emily was sitting on the couch with her boyfriend of two years, Nikolas Cassadine. They were watching a rerun of Law and Order and arguing over it as usual. Emily was a pre-law student studying at Port Charles University and she intended to be a defense attorney once she graduated. Nikolas had just finished his first year of law school in New York City and had his heart set on being Port Charles’s district attorney one day.

“They never should have gotten rid of Stone,” Emily muttered. “He would have spotted that loophole in a second.”

“No way,” Nikolas argued. “McCoy is so much better. Didn’t you see the episode where he twisted the larceny law to convict that councilman…what was his name…he’s on Boston Public…”

“Anthony Heald,” Emily supplied helpfully. She took an Oreo out of the package and twisted it apart. “He’s the vice principal that went out with the hook lady.”

“Yeah, him, anyway, Stone never would have thought of that. He would have lost the rape case.”

Emily shrugged. “That’s because Stone had morals. You never saw an episode where he was reported to the ethics committee. McCoy doesn’t care if the witness is lying. Like that time he put Briscoe on the stand in the episode where that chick threw herself down the stairs. McCoy knew he was lying and did it anyway.” Emily licked the crème filling off both sides of the cookie.

“Don’t do that,” Nikolas groaned. “McCoy did what he had to do to get the guy convicted.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Please tell me you’re not going to be that way. That’s how the last DA got fired.”

“That’s different. Scott didn’t twist the laws – he broke them.” Nikolas grinned. “And Luke still got off the hook.”

“Luke was also innocent,” Emily pointed out. She took out another cookie.

“Yeah, well, he had my aunt defending him.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “This is ridiculous. We’re college students on summer vacation and the only thing we can find to do is argue about Law and Order.”

“Well, we live in Port Charles. We don’t do drugs or drink. We’re law abiding citizens and we’ve already see all the movies playing. What else is left?”

“Just because there’s nothing to do doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.”

Nikolas raised an eyebrow. “I’m sure we can find something else to do.”

Emily giggled and reached for him. “That’s the best idea you’ve had all day.”

Before their kissing grew serious, Jason entered causing the couple to spring apart.

“Jason,” Emily said, her face flushed. She ran a hand nervously through her hair. “Um, this is Nikolas Cassadine. Nik, you remember my brother Jason?”

Nikolas straightened his shirt and stood. He stuck his hand out. “Em talks about you all the time.”

Jason shook it. “She talks about you, too.” He looked at the television screen. “You still watch this?”

“Oh, yeah,” Emily said, “It’s great practice.”

“Yeah. All we ever seem to do is argue about it.” Nikolas tossed Emily a look. “God help a judge who gets the two of us in the same courtroom.”

“Whatever.” Jason shrugged. “I just came to grab my bag.”

Emily’s face fell. “I thought you were taking that job!”

Jason smiled. “I am. Sonny offered me the penthouse.”

Emily grinned and clapped her hands. “So you’ll only be a few floors up?” she asked eagerly.

“Yes. You can bug me whenever you want.”

Emily rolled her eyes. “I do not bug you.” She frowned. “Does Beth know you’re working for Sonny?”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, she wasn’t happy.”

Nikolas looked at the siblings curiously, “Why not?”

Emily sighed. “Beth and Jason basically despise each other,” she explained.

“Why?”

Emily threw her brother an irritated look. “I have no idea.”

“Look,” Jason said, “I promised you last night that I’d make an effort to be civil.”

Emily shrugged. “There’s no use. I believe you’d try, but Beth can be…” she trailed off looking for the right way to describe her friend.

“Stubborn?” Jason suggested.

“Pig-headed, obstinate-” Nikolas cut his list off with one glare from Emily.

“Difficult,” Emily finished.

Nikolas snorted. “That’s the best you can do? Come on, you know I love Liz like a sister, but you have to admit that once she makes up her mind, that’s it.”

Emily sighed. “Well, yeah- but I happen to know Beth probably won’t make the first move.”

Nikolas nodded. “Which means for a civil conversation, you’d have to start it,” he said to Jason.

“I try but she jumps down my throat anyway. I could ask her how the weather is and she’d think I was insulting her.”

Emily shrugged. “Just pretend you’re talking to Taggart.”

Nikolas, having seen Taggart in action, eyed Emily skeptically. “That’s-”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Jason interrupted. “I just won’t answer her.”

“Good,” Emily said, pleased with the way the conversation had turned out.

“I’m just going to grab my bag,” Jason said. He reached behind the couch and grabbed the duffle bag. “See ya.” He left.

Once the door was shut, Nikolas turned to Emily. “Pretend she’s Taggart?”

Emily shrugged. “Taggart is always after him and Jason never gives in. If he doesn’t snap back at Beth, she won’t have a reason to keep going.”

Nikolas shook his head, exasperated. “How is he supposed to fall for her if the only thing he thinks about around her is a tall black guy with a bad attitude?”

Emily frowned. “You’ve got a point.”

Nikolas threw his hands up. “I don’t know why I let you and Carly talk me into this.”

Emily grinned and pulled him back on the couch. “You don’t remember?” she asked. “Chocolate sauce, whipped cream…”

Nikolas grinned. “I think I need a refresher course.”

Emily grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled him close. “I think that can be arranged.”

—

Jason hit the elevator button to open the doors. When they opened, Elizabeth was inside. Her hair was all over the place, her eyes were red and puffy and her face was tearstained. She was hugging herself, clutching an envelope in her right hand.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

She glared at him. “What do you care?” she snapped brushing past him.

‘I don’t,” he replied. She whirled around.

“That’s right. You don’t. No one does. No wants to know what’s wrong because it might stop them from living their happy little lives-” Elizabeth broke off and shook her head. “Never mind, you haven’t cared since the accident.”

He shot an arm out to hold her place. “That’s not fair. What’s your problem? All I did was ask if you were okay and you jumped down my throat!”

“Because you should butt out when it’s clearly none of your business!”

“I was just showing a little concern,” he snapped. “I guess I’ll think twice next time.”

She jerked her arm out of his grasp. “See that you do.” Shooting one last glare in his direction, she stalked towards her apartment.

Jason turned back to the elevator and stabbed the button viciously. So much for being civil.

—

Elizabeth slammed into the apartment and stormed past Emily and Nikolas who were in various stages of undress. She slammed her bedroom door shut.

Emily and Nikolas traded glances. “I’ll call you tonight,” he said. He kissed her cheek and pulled his shirt on. He left.

Emily buttoned her shirt and hurried to Elizabeth’s door. She gently knocked. “Beth?”

“Go away,” came the reply. Emily sighed. Elizabeth was clearly crying.

“Beth, please tell me what’s wrong.” She heard a sniffle. “Please.”

“Not right now. I just wanna be alone.”

Emily sighed again. “All right. Hey, I’ll go order some Chinese and when you’re ready we’ll talk.” She moved away from the door.

Inside, Elizabeth was curled up on her bed, clutching a pillow and the envelope. She didn’t need to read it again – she’d already memorized it.

Dear Ms. Webber—
We regret to inform you that we do not wish to publish your work at this time. After careful consideration, we’ve decided that this particular work is not appropriate for our image…

It was the third novel that had been rejected and this particular one was on its twelfth rejection.

It had been a bad day to begin with she’d been late for work at Deception, the research she was working on for Sonny was hitting dead end after dead end, she’d missed the bus twice and she’d gotten this latest rejection. To top it all off, she’d run into Jason and they’d argued.

She still couldn’t believe he’d been concerned. It was almost as though he cared. The way he’d asked reminded her so much of Jason Quartermaine she’d wanted to scream. How fair was it that she’d had to mourn her best friend and yet part of him was still alive? Jason had forged relationships with Emily and AJ, but why was it so difficult for the two of them to even be civil to one another?

She rolled over and stared at a picture on her nightstand. She wondered why it was still there. It’d been taken five years ago. The Christmas before AJ’s drinking had spiraled out of control, before the accident, before Emily broke ties with most of her family and before Elizabeth found out she was a bastard child that nobody wanted. It was of the four of them, standing in front of the Christmas tree at the Quartermaine mansion. Emily and Elizabeth were in front of the guys and had their arms around each other. They were both smiling brightly. AJ had his arm around Jason’s neck, pretending to choke him.

She and Emily had tons of pictures of all of them growing up at the mansion. Their grandmother, Lila, had followed them around with a camera as they played in the rose garden. After she broke her hip and was confined to a wheelchair, Reginald and Monica had taken over. Even after they were too old to play tag, they’d hung out in the garden, doing homework or just messing around.

She traced their faces in the picture. Jason and AJ had always looked out for her and Emily. Taking the blame when their schemes would go wrong, looking out for them at school and protecting them from…whatever came along.

Elizabeth sighed and looked at the ceiling. It was her fault she and Jason didn’t get along now. He didn’t understand that they hadn’t really fought in the past – just teasing. Everyone outside of their little foursome assumed that they couldn’t stand each other and Jason had gotten that idea after the accident. Jason Quartermaine had a sense of humor that Jason Morgan didn’t seem to possess. Elizabeth knew Jason Quartermaine was long gone and that she should just forget him and move on. He was never coming back – and Jason Morgan would never be what Jason Q had once been.

She’d wanted to tell him so badly today. He’d asked and all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him and cry. She’d used to do that, growing up. When things got too bad at home, she’d go the mansion and Jason would listen to her. He was the only one that knew what had gone on with her parents – Emily didn’t know. And after the accident, she’d lost the only support she’d had. She’d held some hope that maybe she and Jason could be friends again, but he’d moved out after high school and then left town a year later. Elizabeth spent three years with her parents and no one to turn to.

But instead of telling him, she’d put up her usual guard. She knew he wouldn’t understand why she was snapping out. When she was younger, Jason would have understood and kept pushing until she confessed. This Jason didn’t understand that. All he could see was an angry girl who appeared to loathe the ground he walked on.

She didn’t want to work with him. She didn’t want him to be a partner. When Jason was off traveling, she didn’t have to remember anything. So she’d made up a lie. She didn’t trust him and she hated him. Neither of which was really true. He might not be Jason Quartermaine anymore, but for some incredibly insane reason, she still trusted him and liked him.

Elizabeth sat up and brought her knees to her chest. She rested her chin on her knees and stared straight ahead. The past few years had been a roller coaster. She’d lost her family, gained a new one, lost her best friend, moved, started a new school…she wondered when the world would stop spinning.

A few hours later, Elizabeth emerged from her bedroom. Her eyes were still red, but she looked better.

Emily was sitting on the couch, the Chinese food set up. “Hey.”

Elizabeth sat and picked up one of the cartons and a plastic fork. She didn’t care what she was eating – she needed to eat something. After a few minutes of silently eating, Elizabeth set the carton aside, took a sip of iced tea and cleared her throat. “I, uh, have a lot to tell you.”

Emily tucked her hair behind her ears. “We have all night and tomorrow if need be.”

Elizabeth nodded and put her feet on the couch. She hugged her knees to her chest and sighed. “I suppose I should start at the beginning.” Her voice was hoarse from crying for hours. “Do you remember that day when we broke that statue in Lila’s garden?”

Emily nodded. “Yeah, Jason was chasing you…”

“You can’t catch me!” Elizabeth laughed. She dashed through some bushes and ducked under a hedge.

“Yes I can!” Jason had longer legs and eventually tackled her. She fell back and knocked a status over. “Uh oh.”

Elizabeth’s eyes welled up with tears. “Oh, no. I broke it.”

AJ and Emily entered the clearing. “What happened?” Emily asked her voice low.

“I didn’t mean to,” Elizabeth cried.

“Lizzie!”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “Oh no! My dad’s here!” She looked around, alarmed. “He’s gonna be really mad!”

“Why? It was an accident,” Jason said.

Elizabeth shook her head. “No, I broke it. That’s all Daddy’s gonna say.”

“Elizabeth Webber-” Jeff Webber entered the clearing, Edward Quartermaine on his heels.

“What happened here?” Edward demanded. Jeff’s face darkened into a fiery red.

“Did you do this Lizzie?” he barked, approaching her. As he got closer, Elizabeth backed up until she backed into Jason. “Well?”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Elizabeth cried. Jeff grabbed her arm. “Ow!”

“We’re going home and-”

“She didn’t do it, Mr. Webber,” Jason spoke up. “It was me.”

“Yeah,” AJ agreed quickly. “Me and Jase were wrestlin’ and we knocked into the statue. We’re sorry, Grandfather.”

Edward looked at the two boys suspiciously. “Well…” he turned to Jeff. “There’s no harm done. Lila didn’t really like that particular statue.”

Jeff released Elizabeth’s arm. “All right.” He looked at Elizabeth. “You ready to go home?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. Emily spoke up then. “Grandfather, can Beth stay over tonight? Please!”

“If it’s all right with her father,” Edward replied, never able to deny Emily anything.

“It’s fine.” Jeff left the garden without another word.

“I’m really sorry, Mr. Quartermaine,” Elizabeth said softly.

“It’s all right, Lizzie,” Edward said, kindly. “You’ve done Lila a great service.” He patted her on the head and followed Jeff…

“I remember that,” Emily said. “Your dad really scared me. I thought he was gonna drag you out of the garden and we’d never see you again.”

Elizabeth sighed. “Yeah, I was scared for a different reason.” She looked down. “For as long as I could remember…my father hit me.”

Emily bit her lip. She didn’t know what to say. “Beth, I’m-”

“It wasn’t that bad when I was really young. He never did it unless I did something wrong. He’d smack me upside the head when I mouthed off.” Elizabeth took a deep breath, her voice shaky. “But, um, when I was seven, he started hitting me with a belt. That’s why I always wore sweaters and long pants – even in the summer.”

“Oh, Beth, why didn’t you tell anyone?” Emily asked, reaching her hand out and covering Elizabeth’s.

“I did,” Elizabeth whispered. “Jason found out when I was eleven. I didn’t want to tell anyone but Jason saw a bruise on my arm one day. It was middle of the summer and we were playing hide and seek in the garden. It was just the three of us because AJ had gotten too old remember?”

Emily nodded.

“Anyway, he asked me how I got it and I gave him the usual smart ass answer. None of his business and all that, you know?” Elizabeth bit her lip. “But Jason knew I was lying and he kept pushing until it just came out. After that, Jason and I were really close.”

“I remember around that time you started spending even more time at the mansion,” Emily said softly.

Elizabeth nodded. “It was getting worse. Knowing what I know now, I can see why I was the only one who got punished like that. Sarah and Steven…they were perfect. Because they were really my father’s children. I was just a reminder that my mother had been unfaithful.” Elizabeth blinked the tears back. “I know that didn’t give him the excuse to take his anger out on me, but it doesn’t change anything.”

“What happened?”

“Well, the nights I didn’t spend with you, I’d sit in my room terrified that my father would find a reason to come in.” She smiled a little. “Jason told me that if it got too bad that I couldn’t sleep, I could sneak out and knock on his window.”

“That sounds like something Jason would say,” Emily said. “Did you?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Yeah, after a while, I wasn’t sleeping at all. My grades were dropping and I was getting sick a lot. So one night, I snuck out of my room.” She shook her head. “I climbed down the trellis in my nightgown. It was nights like that I was glad you guys lived across the lake and not across town. I ran across the grounds and I knocked at Jason’s window. I must have been twelve or thirteen at the time. I felt really stupid doing it, but I just couldn’t do stay in my room anymore. Jason opened the window and he let me sleep in his room. He’d sleep on the floor.” The tears started streaming down her face. “I’d never felt so safe in my life,” she said in a hushed voice.

Emily sniffled. “Oh, god, Beth, I wish I’d known-”

Elizabeth shook her head. “It was my choice not to tell you. Jason always wanted me to say something to you or AJ. But anyway, it continued like that until I was about fifteen. It got to the point that I wasn’t even staying in my room any night. If I wasn’t spending the night with you, I was with Jason.” A little smile appeared on her face. “I even kept extra clothes in his room.” She frowned. “But then Jason had his accident.”

“You guys were always fighting, even during that time…I just can’t believe I didn’t notice how close you were,” Emily said, shaking her head.

Elizabeth shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone to know what was going on, so Jason and I kept teasing and arguing in public. I felt better, my grades went up, you know?” She sighed. “After the accident, when Jason didn’t remember…I thought my life was over. I tried to talk to him, but it’d been so long since we were just friends. Jason had become so much more, Em. I felt like he was the only person I could really trust and I felt so safe around him. I didn’t know how to relate to him anymore, so I tried to revert back to the teasing and arguing we’d always known. But, um, I guess Jason had changed too much.” Elizabeth wiped her eyes. “He wasn’t interested in that type of friendship.”

“What did you do when you didn’t have Jason?” Emily asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Elizabeth looked away. “I hid in the closet. I didn’t sleep for three years. And I barely graduated from high school.”

“Oh, Beth.” Emily sighed. “I wish I could have helped.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “I was afraid if I told anyone else, I’d lose them, too. Anyway, you know the rest. On my eighteenth birthday, they dropped the bomb and I moved out.” She sat back and let her head lean on the arm rest. “I still have nightmares some times, but it’s getting better and I’m sleeping more.”

“What happened today that set you off?” Emily asked cautiously. “I’d love to believe that this something you wanted to get off your chest, but I know something had to happen.”

“Well, you know I’m studying business administration at college,” Elizabeth said. “I’ve also been taking creative writing courses. I love writing and I’ve been writing for a long time. I’ve even written three novels.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Emily asked a little hurt.

“I was afraid that they weren’t any good. No one knew. Sonny didn’t know, and neither did Carly. I kept it from everyone.” Elizabeth tucked her hair behind her ears. “Anyway, the first novel was rejected from eight publishers. The second from six. And today, I got the twelfth rejection for the third novel.”

“Oh, God, Beth. I am so sorry.” Emily leaned forward and pulled Elizabeth into a tight hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Elizabeth hugged Emily back, grateful that she wasn’t mad at her for keeping so many secrets. After a few minutes, she pulled away and took another shaky breath. “It’s all right. I’m used to it. And I probably wouldn’t have cried for so long unless…” she trailed off. She grabbed the carton of Chinese food and began eating again. Emily waited patiently. Finally Elizabeth couldn’t avoid it. “I saw Jason in the hallway.”

Emily groaned, “So much for his promise to me.”

“Promise?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah, he said he was going to make an effort to be civil,” Emily said. “Oooh, just wait until I get my hands on him-”

“He did make an effort,” Elizabeth assured her.

“Oh.” Emily frowned. “Then what happened?”

Elizabeth sighed. “He asked me if I was all right, because I was crying on the elevator. And, God, Em, when he asked, all I could see was a fifteen year old Jason Quartermaine opening his window one night and asking me if I was all right. It sounded so much the same and I just wanted to scream because he doesn’t remember that he was the only reason I survived, that he was only saying it because he couldn’t just ignore me.” She angrily brushed away tears. “And God help me, I wanted to break down and tell him.”

“What happened, Beth?” Emily asked softly.

“I did what I used to do when Jason would ask me what was going on. I snapped at him. I don’t know why. I know he’s not the same and that he wouldn’t know it’s something I do to avoid talking about something. I know that the Jason that was my entire world is gone and that the Jason that’s here now will never come close to being that. But part of me…” Elizabeth sighed. “Part of me wanted him to try and get it out of me. I don’t know why.” She looked down. “Sometimes I just want to scream.”

Emily sighed. “Beth, I don’t know what I should say.”

Elizabeth looked away. “There’s nothing to say.”

“I think you should talk to Jason.”

Elizabeth’s startled eyes met Emily’s. “No.”

Emily bit her lip. “I don’t mean you should tell him everything. I know what that would take.” She sighed. “But you need to sit down and at least tell him something. He’s walking around wondering why the hell you always jump down his throat. I’ve tried to tell Jason that it’s not that you really hate him or anything.” She chuckled. “I think it’s kind of weird. You are the only person that gets to him. That’s always been true, Beth.”

Elizabeth sighed. “You’re right. I need to tell him something. I can’t avoid him. He’s your brother. He’s AJ’s brother. Sonny and Carly adore him. He’s friends with everyone I am.” She took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to him.”

Emily smiled. “Good.”

Elizabeth stood. “I’m gonna wash my face and do it now.” She checked her watch. “Do you think he’ll still be up?”

Emily nodded, “Do it now before you lose your nerve.”

She nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. Emily leaned against the back of the couch and sighed. How had she missed what was going on? How had Elizabeth been in so much pain without her noticing? How self-absorbed did she have to be?

The phone broke her out of her bout of self-loathing. Sighing, she rubbed her eyes and leaned behind the couch to grab the phone.

“Hello?”

“Baby sis, what’s up?”

“AJ!” Emily squealed. “Hey! How are the kids?”

“Oh, they’re great. Kyle took his first steps the other day and we think Melanie’s going to start talking soon.”

“Oh, that’s great. How’s Courtney?”

“She’s good. We’re still happy, nutty girl, putting up with me for this long.” He laughed. “So, listen, how are things in Port Charles?”

Emily sighed and twisted the phone cord around her finger, “Oh, AJ, Jason’s back in town and he and Beth are already at it.”

“Really? They’re still fighting? I’d figured they would have kissed and made up by now.”

“Hold on.” Emily pulled the phone away as Elizabeth reentered the room. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth said. She gave her a tired smile and disappeared into the hallway.

“I’m back. If Jason were still Jason Quartermaine, I know they’d probably be together.” Emily sighed. “But he’s not and they’re not.”

“Yeah,” AJ’s voice was quiet. “Well, there’s one mistake I can’t ever take back.”

“That’s not what I meant, AJ.”

“Yeah, I know. But that doesn’t make me regret it. Listen, kid, I think it’s time the fearsome foursome was back together. What do you say, I take that vacation Courtney’s been begging me to take and I come home for the summer?”

Emily grinned. “That would be amazing. I know that having the four of us in the same town again…I just know it would be what they need. I know Jason doesn’t remember, but when it comes to us, he’s always willing to listen about the past. And you have to admit, we still get along the same way.”

“Yeah. I’m glad I didn’t destroy everything.” There was pause. “Listen, let me make the arrangements and I’ll get back to you with times. Don’t tell anyone until I know the exact details.”

“All right.”

“I gotta go. Good talking to you. Love ya.”

“Love ya.”

Emily hung up the phone and grinned. She knew she could probably enlist AJ in her campaign, which would bring the total of Jason and Beth supporters to…er, well four. But it was a start.

—-

Elizabeth took a deep breath and tucked her hair behind her ears. She knocked on the penthouse.

It opened a few seconds later. Jason rubbed his eyes. “What, did you forget an insult?”

She looked down. “I deserve that,” she said softly.

He sighed. Her eyes were still red and puffy. She’d been crying. “What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you.” She looked away for a moment and met his eyes. “I think we both need to talk.”

“All right.” He moved aside to let her enter. “I’m sorry about before-”

“No, I’m sorry.” Elizabeth took a shaky breath. “Um, I had no right to snap at you like that. You were just being nice.” She hugged herself and looked away. “The reason we don’t get along…it’s my fault. Not yours.”

“How do you figure?” He shrugged. “It’s not like I don’t fight back.”

“No, what I mean…” Elizabeth exhaled slowly, frustrated. “You know that we were friends before the accident. You, me, Emily and AJ?”

“Yeah. I know that even then we didn’t get along,” Jason replied.

“That’s not really true.” She started wandering around doing her best to avoid his eyes. “We were always teasing each other, but it was pretty good natured. People who didn’t really know us thought we hated each other, but we were actually close.” She cracked her knuckles. “After Emily, you were my best friend. Actually, um, for a few years, we were closer than I was to Emily. You helped me through a really difficult time.” She felt the tears again and blinked them back. “We used to communicate through sarcasm, but you don’t have the same sense of humor so that’s not really possible anymore.”

“Wait, wait.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “We were good friends.”

Elizabeth nodded, “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter? You wouldn’t have remembered it.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t fair.” She met his eyes. “I came here to apologize and I want to know if we can call a truce. We have to be able to trust each other, especially now that you’re working with Sonny and me.” She bit her lip. “I know that asking us to be friends is too presumptuous, especially since we can’t relate on the level that we used to, but I just think we need a cease fire.”

“Yeah, I think that it’s definitely called for,” Jason agreed.

“Good.” Elizabeth hesitated. “I suppose you want to know why I snapped at you today.”

“Hey, you’re right. It was your personal business,” Jason replied.

“No, what I mean…Jason Quartermaine used to know when something was wrong. He’d ask and I’d shoot off my mouth hoping to make him mad enough to go away. It never worked and he’d keep pushing until I confessed.” She ran a hand nervously through her hair. “I guess part of me still wanted that to be true.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. He didn’t know what else to say. He wished he could find out exactly what he’d done for her before. What difficult time he’d helped her through and why they’d been so close. But it obvious that Elizabeth wasn’t going to tell him any of those things any time soon.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I thought I had let go of him, but I guess I still need work.” Elizabeth smiled a little. “Well, I’d better go. I have work tomorrow and I have to put extra time in on that research for Sonny.”

Jason opened the door. “Thanks for…thanks for coming,” he said, lamely.

“I just hope this is a turning point,” Elizabeth said quietly. She left the penthouse and headed for the elevator.

—-

“You’ve been bad, Lizzie.”

Elizabeth stared up from her bed as her father came closer. He was snapping the belt in his hands. Her terror grew as she realized that she was in her room back home.

“You’ve gone and told our little secret, Lizzie.” Jeff’s face came into view and Elizabeth whimpered.

“But Jason can’t help you now. And he doesn’t want to.” He raised the belt and she screamed….

Elizabeth sat straight up in bed, the gasps exploding from her throat. She tried to control her breathing, but it was impossible. She felt like her lungs were on fire. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think. She began flailing on her bed.

Emily must have heard the struggle and the door flew open. “Oh my God, Beth!” She rushed to kneel beside Elizabeth’s bed. “What do you need?”

Elizabeth started to cry. She couldn’t get her breathing under control. It was coming in short little erratic breaths and now it felt like her lungs were clamping shut. She started gesturing with her hands.

“You can’t breathe?” Emily cried. She grabbed the phone next to the bed and called 911. She gave the necessary information and hung up. “They told me to keep you calm. Do you want me to call Sonny?”

Elizabeth finally felt the pressure lessening and she began to take some shallow breaths. She nodded her head anyway. Emily grabbed the phone again and dialed the penthouse.

Emily jumped up from her seat as Sonny, Carly and Jason rushed into the ER.

“What happened?” Sonny demanded.

Emily was in tears. “I don’t know. I was going to get a drink of water and I heard weird sounds coming from her r-room.” Emily swiped at her eyes. “I went into the room and God, Sonny, her eyes were bulging practically out of her and she couldn’t breathe. She looked so scared.”

“What would cause her to do that?” Carly asked. She looked between her husband and Emily frantically.

Emily shook her head. “I don’t know.”

A doctor came out then. “Elizabeth Webber’s family?”

“That’s us, Doctor,” Sonny said, striding forward.

“I’m Dr. Scanlon. Your sister?” Sonny nodded and Dr. Scanlon continued. “Elizabeth was having a panic attack. We’ve been able to stabilize her breathing, but she’s still very tense. The paramedics said she was calling for Jason. Is that you?”

Sonny seems stunned. He turned to look at Jason who looked confused. Emily gasped.

“Of course,” she whispered. Elizabeth had been talking about her father and the nightmares…she must have had one. Of course she’d call out for Jason. She probably always had. Emily’s eyes filled with tears.

“No,” Sonny said finally, his voice quiet. “Does she want to see Jason?”

Dr. Scanlon’s confused eyes swept the group, “Actually, yes, if he can calm her down.”

“Sonny,” Jason said. “I don’t know…”

“Jase,” Emily said quietly. She put a hand on his arm. “Please.”

Jason took a deep breath, “All right.”

—

Elizabeth was sleeping when Jason was shown into the section where they were keeping her. Her face was tense and it looked like she was having a bad dream. Jason felt kind of stupid, but sighed and took her hand.

“Hey, Elizabeth.”

“Jason?” she whispered. Her eyes were still closed and he could tell she was still sleeping. “He’s coming.”

Jason frowned. “Who’s coming?”

“He’s gonna hurt me.” Her voice was small and sounded scared. Jason was confused. “Stop him, Jason.”

“It’s okay,” he said, feeling more and more bewildered. Did this have anything to do with the difficult time he’d helped her with? “No one’s going to hurt you.”

“He said you weren’t going to help me anymore.” She whimpered. “He’s coming closer…”

Jason stroked her hair. “Shhh, I’m here. He can’t hurt you.”

Finally, Elizabeth’s forehead smoothed and she seemed to fall into a more relaxing sleep. Jason sighed and looked up. Sonny was standing at the edge.

“Who is she talking about?” Sonny asked tensely.

Jason shrugged. He tried to remove his hand from her grasp but she just tightened her grip. “I have no idea. She told me tonight that before the accident I’d helped her through something. I think this has something to do with it.”

“She’s holding to you like there’s no tomorrow,” Sonny observed.

“I just wish I knew how to help her. I mean, we just called a truce earlier and now…” Jason sighed, “I don’t know what to do, Sonny.”

“Well, until she lets go, you can’t do anything.” Sonny looked around. “I’ll go find some chairs. I think Liz owes us some explanations.”

Emily appeared behind the curtain. “Don’t push her, Sonny.”

Sonny turned. “You know what’s going on?”

Emily nodded miserably, “Yeah. And she doesn’t owe anyone anything. Don’t push her, Sonny. You wouldn’t want someone doing that to you.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sonny replied. “I’m just worried. I didn’t know anything was wrong.”

“Neither did I until today,” Emily replied quietly. “She’s good at hiding things. The only person who ever saw through her was…” Emily trailed off, her gaze landing on Jason.

“Jason Quartermaine,” Jason finished. “I didn’t realize they were that close.”

“They were,” Emily said looking away. “Closer than I thought.”

“I’m going to find some chairs,” Sonny said. He turned to Emily, “Why don’t you take Carly back to the Towers?”

Emily sighed, “Yeah, I probably should.” She disappeared with Sonny, leaving Jason and Elizabeth alone.

He covered her hand with his other one. “I don’t know what’s going on, Elizabeth. But I wish you’d tell me. I want to help.”

—-

“….want to help…”

—-

“You know better than to talk back to your mother…you know what that means, Lizzie.”

—-

“Your mother seems to think you’re sneaking out. Where are you going, Lizzie?”

“Hey, Elizabeth. What’s wrong?”

“You t-told me if it got to be too much…”

“Come in. You’ll catch a cold sitting on the roof.”

—-

“You’re the only person who understands, Jason. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Well, you’ll never have to find out.”

—

“You promise you won’t leave me?”

“I’ll never leave you.”

—

“Beth…Jason’s been in an accident.”

“Is he…is he okay?”

“He’s in a coma.”

—–

“What do you mean he doesn’t remember anything?”

“He doesn’t remember anything, Liz.”

“You’re joking, AJ. That’s so cruel. Tell me the truth.”

“He doesn’t remember us, Liz.”

—

“Hey, Jason.”

“Who are you?”

—

“You got another F, Lizzie. Why won’t you learn?”

Elizabeth jerked straight up and started gasping for air. Jason sat on the edge of the bed.

“Hey, Elizabeth., hey, it’s me, Jason. Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. It’s just me.” Jason gripped her hands trying to make her focus on him. Her breathing started to even out and her eyes lost that glazed look.

“Jason?” she whispered. She looked around. “What’s going on?”

“Shhh, calm down, you’re at the hospital. You had a panic attack and they brought you here.”

Elizabeth flushed. “What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Jason hesitated. “You asked for me.”

“Oh.” She was mortified. She tried to take her hands from him. “Sorry.”

He kept a tight grip. “What’s going on Elizabeth?” He locked eyes with her. “Why did I know how to calm you down?”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“I knew just what to say. I didn’t even think about it. It just came out,” Jason said, mystified.

Elizabeth’s eyes teared, “You always did,” she whispered. She looked away.

“Have I done this before?” he asked.

She nodded. “I used to have nightmares every night,” she said softly. “They got so bad I was afraid to go sleep so I used to climb out my window and go to your house. You’d let me in and I’d stay with you.”

“What are the nightmares about?” Jason asked.

Elizabeth let out a little cry. “I can’t tell you,” she said, shaking her head. “I told you once, but you went away and you never came back. I know I’m gonna blink and this will all be over.”

“I’m not going to leave.”

She kept shaking her head. “You said that before and you left.” She started to cry and Jason wrapped his arms around her. “You left anyway and you never came back. This is all just a dream. You’re not back.” She hugged him anyway. She didn’t know the next time she’d dream about Jason Quartermaine being back and saving her from a nightmare and have it feel so real.

“Listen, Elizabeth. I helped you once and I want to again. Please, let me,” he whispered into her ear.

“I let you once, but when you left there was no one to protect me from the nightmares,” she whispered, clutching at the back of his shirt. “I’m not gonna do it again.”

“Hey, you know, you’re awake,” he said, pulling away to look in her eyes. “I’m not Jason Quartermaine, you know that?”

She clamped her lips together. “I know. You’re Jason Morgan and you hate me.”

“I think you’re getting yourself worked out,” Jason said gently. “I don’t hate you.”

“Yes you do.” She let go of him and hugged herself. “You love Emily and AJ. You let them back in but you kept me out. ”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “Please. You can trust me.”

She hugged her knees to her chest. “I only trusted one person and you don’t remember him, so-”

“I got the chairs,” Sonny said, reentering. “Hey, Liz you’re awake. Are you okay?”

Elizabeth curled up in a ball and kept crying. Sonny shot a look at Jason.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know. She woke up and I think she’s confused. She’s going between reality and the past right now. She can’t seem to decide if I’m Jason Quartermaine or Jason Morgan. Either way, I just want to help.”

“Well,” Sonny said, putting the chair down. “Sit. And we’ll wait for her to wake up.”

—

The next morning dawned. Elizabeth was expected to come home that afternoon. She’d slept the rest of the night peacefully and had woken up early that morning, feeling a little embarrassed. She’d apologized to Jason for her outburst and had refused to tell Jason or Sonny anything.

Emily showered and left the apartment after getting a call from Sonny. She headed for the Quartermaine mansion and didn’t even bother with the front door. She went straight to the rose garden where she knew Lila had breakfast every morning.

“Emily!” Lila said as Emily came into view.

“Grandmother,” Emily said, kissing her cheek. “How are you?”

“It’s lonely here, darling.” Lila sighed. “How I miss seeing you and Elizabeth sitting in the garden doing your homework.”

Emily’s eyes swept the garden. “Some of my best memories are out here with Beth, AJ and Jason,” she smiled, “and you or Reginald chasing after us with a camera.”

Lila laughed. “Darling, I have so many lovely memories myself. And Elizabeth is like family.”

Emily sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

“What’s wrong, dear?” Lila asked.

Emily smiled, “Can’t get anything past you.” She hesitated. “Do you remember when Beth was young…did her father seem….a little um…” Emily trailed off.

“Are you talking about the times when Elizabeth snuck in Jason’s window?” Lila asked.

Emily’s eyes widened. “How did you know about that?”

“Jason needed someone to talk to. He was so angry, darling, and he couldn’t let Elizabeth see that. He’d promised not to tell you or your brother. So he’d talk to me.”

“Beth told me yesterday,” Emily said. “And last night she had a panic attack and the only person that could calm her down was Jason.” She shook head. “How did I miss seeing Beth was in pain? I don’t understand how I didn’t see it.”

“She didn’t want you to, dear. And our Elizabeth is very good at hiding what she feels.” Lila sighed. “I’m only grateful she at least let Jason in.”

“And then she lost him,” Emily whispered. “I can’t imagine what’s been like these past few years, watching the person who’d been there for her forming new relationships with everyone but her.” She sighed. “Grandmother, I feel so helpless. Jason knew exactly what to say to her last night. Sonny told me on the phone that she woke up again last night, barely able to breathe and that Jason calmed her down in no time. Why couldn’t I do that?” Emily said, crossed her arms.

“Darling, I know that Jason doesn’t consciously remember helping Elizabeth, but I suppose part of him still does.”

Emily sighed. “I guess he did have a lot of practice. It must be second nature.”

“You know, there was a time when I thought that Elizabeth might fall for our Jason.”

Emily smiled. “Oh, Grandmother, that time is still very much in the present.”

Lila grinned, “Really, darling. Have you got a plan?”

Emily wanted to jump and down in excitement. “Does that mean you’d want to help?”

Lila took Emily’s hand, “Anything to make Elizabeth and Jason happy.”

—-

Emily stepped off the elevator, elated from her visit with her grandmother. That brought the total of supporters to five. As she neared her apartment, she paused. Jason was waiting out front – and he didn’t look happy.

“Hey,” she said. She noted the fact he was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday. “Did you spend the night at the hospital?”

“Yeah.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “Em, I need some answers.”

Emily shook her head. “I can’t tell you anything, you know that.”

“Emily, she had a nightmare right there in the hospital and when she woke up, I knew exactly how to calm her down. Why? What happened that makes her so terrified to sleep?” Jason demanded.

Emily crossed her arms and looked away. “I can’t tell you, Jason. She doesn’t want you to know and she is the only person that can tell you.”

“She told me she used to sneak into my room at night,” Jason said. “That when it got too bad, she came to me. Now, I don’t remember that and I know that hurts her, but I can’t help if no one tells me what’s going on.”

Emily shook her head. “No. I won’t break her trust. It took her years to tell me. I want to tell you, believe me. But Jason, Beth-”

“Will never tell me,” Jason finished. He exhaled slowly, frustrated. “All right. Will you tell her that Sonny wants to her to come by the warehouse today?”

“He’s not gonna push her, is he?” Emily asked, warily.

Jason shook his head. “No. I think he wanted to talk about some project she’s doing. He’s going to wait for Elizabeth to come to him.”

“All right,” Emily agreed. “I’ll tell her. Go home, get a shower, all right?”

“Are you trying to tell me I smell?” Jason asked.

Emily grinned. “Can you take the hint?” she teased.

—

Carly flipped through her calendar. She was tired—she’d didn’t get any sleep after she and Emily had returned from the hospital. She’d tossed and turned all night trying to understand what was wrong with Elizabeth. She wished that Elizabeth had come to her.

It was obvious that there was something between Elizabeth and Jason. Carly wasn’t sure if it happened before the accident or after, but something was there. Elizabeth had asked for Jason – someone that she’d told Carly over and over that she couldn’t stand.

Carly rubbed her eyes. Well, the plan to make them be friends was more important now than ever. Elizabeth obviously needed Jason in her life and Carly loved Elizabeth like a sister and she’d do anything for her.

“Mrs. Corinthos, the Port Charles Hotel has called back. They’d like to set a date for the launch party,” her assistant Elton’s voice came through the intercom.

Carly took a deep breath and pressed the button. “Elton, tell them I need the next available day.”

“They said they have an opening in three weeks, on June 20.”

“Can we be ready in that amount of time?” Carly asked, the wheels in her head already turning.

“With me planning it? Of course, Mrs. Corinthos, shall I tell them to book us?”

“Yes, Elton. Tell them.” Carly sat back in her chair. The company was launching the new Face of Deception and Carly had a feeling the party could be the first step in making Elizabeth and Jason see each other as more than friends.

Which meant she, Emily and Nikolas had three weeks to help Jason and Elizabeth become friends.

It was late afternoon when Elizabeth entered the warehouse. She stopped just inside Sonny’s office, seeing Jason and Sonny sitting inside. She felt her face flush and she looked at her hands.

She didn’t remember a lot of the previous night, only waking up at the hospital this morning. She’d gotten the idea that it’d been a bad nightmare and she couldn’t calm herself down afterwards. That she’d asked for Jason. And she remembered Jason being there, comforting her, but she’d imagined that a lot after waking from the nightmares. Sometimes, pretending Jason was there was the only way she could go back to sleep.

“Hi,” she said softly catching their attention. They both sprang from their chairs.

“Liz,” Sonny said, coming from behind his desk. “Hey, how are you?”

She tucked her hair behind her ears and smiled. “I’m feeling better. I’m sorry if I worried you last night.” She glanced at Jason, “Any of you. I just had a nightmare and I guess it was really bad.”

Sonny sighed. “You know you can trust me right?”

Elizabeth nodded, “Of course.”

Sonny looked up at the ceiling and then back at her. “I won’t push you for answers because I know that I wouldn’t get them. But, if you need to talk, I’ll be here.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I know.”

Sonny checked his watch. “I have to go. A shipment’s coming in and it needs my personal attention. Jason can let you know what I need.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.

Elizabeth walked forward. “So, what’s up?”

Jason stared at her. “You know that I was at the hospital last night, right?”

She flushed. “Oh.” Oh, lord, how mortifying! She hadn’t been pretending last night – Jason had calmed her down. “Um, I hope I didn’t worry you.”

“Elizabeth…” He lowered his voice, the tone gentle. “You told me that I’d once helped you through a difficult time. Did that have anything to do with last night?”

She sighed. He sounded so much like Jason Quartermaine. She closed her eyes and blinked back the tears. He’s not Jason Quartermaine anymore. He’s Jason Morgan now, and the only reason he’s asking is because you confused the hell out of him last night.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “I don’t know. I can never remember my dreams.”

He took a step back. She was lying to him. He could tell it just from the tears in her eyes and the way she was standing. He narrowed his eyes. “Then what about what you told me last night? That you used to climb in my window.”

Elizabeth bit her lip, “Um, yeah. That’s true.”

“Why?” He crossed his arms. He could hear her words in his head about Jason Quartermaine and how he’d keep pushing until she confessed. Well, maybe the guy had a point. “Why couldn’t you stay at home?”

She rubbed her arms. “Uh, I couldn’t sleep and when I would, I’d have horrible nightmares. You knew and you told me that when it got to be too much, I could knock on your window and one night, I did.”

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Jason demanded.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to do this right now okay?” Her voice was thick and she was on the verge of hysteria. She couldn’t deal with this again. She’d already bared her soul yesterday. Doing it again would more than likely cause another night like the previous one. She didn’t think she could do that again and she wouldn’t go through that terror again just to satisfy his damn curiosity. She’d trusted him once and he’d left her. It may not have been his fault but he still left. “What did Sonny need me to do?”

Jason exhaled slowly. He’d gotten some information and he could see she was getting upset again. He turned his attention to the subject he and Sonny had been discussing before she’d arrived. “Uh, someone’s trying to move in on the territory.”

Elizabeth’s eyes hardened and she took a deep breath. “What’s been happening?”

“Sonny doesn’t have any concrete proof, but someone’s moving some men in and there’s evidence that there are few dealers in the area.” Jason grabbed a folder on the desk. “Sonny wanted to you run these names and get full background checks.”

She took the folder and headed to the desk across the room where she worked while at the warehouse. It had a high-speed computer and printer and a couple of picture frames. Other than that, it was completely bare. She sat down and booted the computer. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to check on some of the informants’ information. Sonny wants the dealers out of the territory before they can cause any real damage.” Jason watched her start keying some things into the computer. “So once you know anything you think can help, just call me.” He grabbed a piece of paper from Sonny’s desk and jotted his cell phone number. “Here.”

She took it from him, not looking up. “Not a problem. I’ll probably be here all night, so expect a call at any time.”

“I’ll be waiting.” He glanced at her again and left.

Once he was safely out of the room, she sighed and leaned back. Staying up all night to concentrate on background checks seemed like a good idea at that point. It would keep the nightmares at bay.

For one night at least.

—

Carly ushered Emily into the penthouse. “So have you seen her today?”

Emily nodded, “Yeah. She seems really tired but she’s not talking about last night at all. It’s like she’s trying to pretend it didn’t happen.”

Carly eyed her. “What did happen?”

“Just what I said,” Emily replied. “Look, let’s not get into that. I wouldn’t tell Jason and I’m not telling you.”

Carly nodded, “Fair enough. Um, I scheduled the launch party for June 20^th, which gives us about three weeks.”

Emily nodded. “They seem to be getting along better.”

Carly tapped her chin thoughtfully. “How does Liz feel about motorcycles?”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t think she has an opinion. Why?”

“Because Jason’s perfect woman needs to be able to handle a ride on his bike. He takes that thing everywhere. So we need to arrange a ride.”

Emily nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. And Beth would have to hold on to him.”

Carly grinned, “Definitely.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And you’ve seen him. After feeling those muscles, she won’t be able to resist him.”

“You have a good point. So what else can we do?”

Carly bit her lip. “Well, we have to make sure they’re in situations together. We can’t let them avoid each other.”

Emily sat back and leaned her head against the back of the chair. “Beth is coming into Deception tomorrow right?”

Carly nodded. “She’s got a half day because she’s helping Sonny with something. I think she’s leaving for the warehouse around lunch.”

“So, I’ll tell Jason something like I need to see and I’ll ask for a ride there just as she’s leaving. And I’ll stop to talk to Beth, and she’ll mention she’s leaving and hopefully Jason will offer her a ride.”

Carly grinned. “Jason’s a white knight type of person. You know he will.”

Emily rubbed her hands together. “Oh, I forgot to mention. We have two new supporters, my brother and my grandmother.”

“Lila?” Carly clapped her hands together. “Oh, you know if you have her approval, we’re on the right track. She’s the one who introduced me to Sonny and she’s the reason AJ and Courtney are together…she has a knack for this. And you know Jason and Liz love her. And AJ can really help on the Jason end. He’s a guy. He knows how to relate to other guys.”

Emily nodded. “Looks like our little plan is going exactly the way we want.” She sighed. “And I hope we can help her out with what’s going on.”

Carly frowned. “You said Jason wants to know. Sonny came home today and all he would tell me is that she’d asked for Jason and he seemed able to calm her down.” She studied Emily carefully. “Did Jason Quartermaine help the same way?”

Emily bit her lip. “Let’s just say that Jason has always been good to her and getting them together can only help.”

—

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and leaned back to take a quick break. It was nearly midnight and she barely had anything that would help. Personally, she’d rather be out doing some of the legwork.

She sipped the coffee and immediately made a face. It was disgusting. She tossed into the trash.

“Getting frustrated?”

Elizabeth looked up, startled. Jason was at the doorway. He had a bag and two cups of coffee.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I checked with everyone, didn’t get anything useful.” He dropped the bag on her desk and handed her a cup. “So I stopped by Kelly’s. I figured you wouldn’t have eaten.”

“Thanks,” Elizabeth replied.

He grabbed a chair and put it in front of her desk. “Find anything?”

She shook her head. “But I’m only a quarter of the way through the list. Something will come up.” She sipped the coffee. “This was just what I needed.”

Jason took a Styrofoam box out of the bag and handed it to her. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I just got a bacon cheeseburger.”

She took the box. “It’s my favorite actually,” she said softly. “I always order it when I go there.”

Jason took another box out and opened it. “Did the four of us go there a lot?” he asked.

Elizabeth nodded, “Every day after school. The limo used to pick us up there. From the time I was seven until I graduated, I ate dinner at Kelly’s every school day. I hated eating with my family. It was always such a huge ordeal.” She wrinkled her nose and bit into the burger. “I preferred being at your house. Your family was great until…” she trailed off.

Jason’s face darkened, “Until they blamed AJ for the accident and threatened to have him arrested.” He shook his head. “I still don’t see them. I’m only close to Lila.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Lila’s great. I still go to see her all the time.” She sighed. “I remember all the fighting that went on when you were in the hospital. Edward and Alan were threatening to have AJ arrested, Ned was trying to get him off the hook by saying he was in the car and Monica wanted to put him in rehab.” She frowned. “I just think they handled the entire situation badly. And I’m glad you didn’t let what happened effect your relationship with AJ.”

Jason shrugged. “It’s not like he woke up one day and decided that he going to destroy my life. I’m sure I thought I was doing the right thing by getting in the car with him. He was drunk and I obviously knew that. Personally, I see it as my fault. I should have yanked him out of the car. Anyway, AJ went to rehab and got help. It’s not like he kept drinking. He’s been clean for four years now and he leads a good life. I’ve got no hard feelings.”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything and concentrated on eating her dinner. She would prefer not to think about before the accident anymore. The night Jason had had the accident was one of the nights that she’d snuck into his room. She’d waited for hours before hearing the screams downstairs. She’d snuck into the hallway and all she could make out were the words “AJ, Jason” and “hospital.” She went back into his room and climbed back down and went back to her house. She’d gotten dressed and called a cab to the hospital. Emily had been so thankful to see her that she hadn’t thought to ask how she knew. AJ had been in the hospital for three days with his injuries, but Jason had been in the coma for a week before waking up. Elizabeth and Emily had practically lived at the hospital. They’d taken turns visiting the brothers. Lila had visited early on, but was too upset to return. Edward, Alan, Monica and Ned were too busy arguing about AJ to visit. She and Emily hadn’t even gone to school.

Once AJ had gone home, he’d locked himself in his room to avoid the family. Emily and Elizabeth spent all their time waiting for Jason to wake up. Emily had gone to the cafeteria to get them something to eat when Jason had awakened. He’d been groggy and hadn’t known where he was. Elizabeth had left to get a nurse, but before she could go back in, her father had shown up and dragged her home. She couldn’t leave her room for nearly a week. For the first time, he’d hit in her the face and it was six days before makeup would hide it enough. The first chance she’d gotten, she’d returned to the hospital. AJ had agreed to go to rehab at that point and was saying goodbye to Jason. He was the first person Elizabeth had seen and told her the news. She hadn’t believed him and gone into the room. Jason vaguely recalled that she’d been in the room when he’d woken up, but other than he didn’t know her.

“You okay?”

Jason’s questions startled Elizabeth back to the present. She’d finished her burger by that point. She met his eyes and weakly smiled. “Sorry, I must have zoned out.”

“If you’re tired-”

She shook her head. “No. I don’t need a lot of sleep anyway.” She tossed the Styrofoam box into the trash. “I’d better get back to this.”

Jason frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”

“What?” she asked, tilting her head to the side, “Why?”

“Well, we were having a civil conversation and you zoned out.” He hesitated, “Everything all right?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “I was just thinking about the accident. The two weeks following it were crazy, you know. Emily and I skipped a week of school, AJ went to rehab, your family went to hell…” she trailed off and shrugged. “It was just a really bad time.”

Jason tossed his own box out. “You were the first person I saw when I woke up. I still remember that.”

“Emily and I spent that first week in the hospital,” Elizabeth replied quietly, “Literally. AJ was there the first three days, so we’d switch off. I’d spend an hour with AJ, she’d be with you. Then we’d trade.” She rubbed her eyes. “I don’t remember sleeping that much. A few hours a night, mainly on one of those really uncomfortable hospital chairs. The nurses kept telling us to go home, but if we had, you two would have been alone. Lila was too upset to come to hospital and Ned was spending a lot time trying to make sure AJ wasn’t going to get arrested. Edward, Alan and Monica were fighting constantly. They were barely at the hospital. So Em and I stayed.” She sighed. “AJ left and locked himself in his room. He promised us he wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He just needed to think. I guess it was good because he ended up deciding to go to rehab. Once he was gone, Emily tried to convince me to go home at night, saying if I went one night, she’d go the next. I didn’t want to go home.” She looked away.

“She went to the cafeteria to grab some lunch and I stayed with you. I was reading something and I felt your hand move.” Elizabeth smiled. “I’d never been so happy in my life than when you opened your eyes. I left to get a nurse but my father came to take me home before I could come back in.” She looked away. She hadn’t talked that much about the accident with anyone else but Emily.

“You didn’t come back for a long time,” Jason said. She met his eyes. “I kept asking where you were. Well, not you specifically. But the girl who’d been in the room when I woke up.”

She bit her lip. “I was being grounded. I had skipped school, hadn’t told my parents where I was and I hadn’t come home in a week. It was six days before I could come back.” She sighed. “Look, I really should try and get more done.”

“You look tired,” Jason observed. “Maybe you should head home.”

“I wouldn’t get much sleep,” Elizabeth said. “I’m better off trying to get work done.”

“You don’t want to go to sleep, do you?”

She looked at the desk and closed her eyes. “Jason-” Elizabeth shook her head. “You’re right. I don’t. I haven’t had a panic attack like that since I was thirteen and I’m not in any hurry to experience it again.”

He hesitated but forced himself to ask. “How did you calm down the first time?”

She opened her eyes and blinked back the tears. “You woke me up and calmed me down,” she admitted.

“You’re not going to tell me what happened are you?” he asked.

She shook her head and wiped her eyes with a napkin. “No. I can’t.”

He nodded, trying to hide his frustration. “You know I just want to help, right?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer at first. She started shutting down her computer. When the screen went black, she finally turned and met his eyes. “I know. But I can’t let you.”

“Why?” Jason asked. “You said you trusted me.”

“I do trust you.” She grabbed the printouts and put them into a folder. “I just can’t let you take care of this again. Because I would depend on you too much and I can’t do that again.” Elizabeth stood. “I’m going home.”

“I’ll give you a ride,” he said, standing. He put the chair back.

“On your bike?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah, is that a problem?” Jason replied.

She shrugged. “I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”

“Come on. There’s a first time for everything.”

Elizabeth smiled. “All right. Let’s go.”

Jason pulled the bike to a stop in the Harborview Towers parking garage. Elizabeth got off the back of the bike and pulled the helmet off.

“Wow, that was amazing!” she said, grinning. He turned the engine off and turned to smile at her.

“You think so?”

She nodded. “Everything was going so fast, I could hardly think.” She tucked her wild hair behind her ears. “That’s something I really needed.”

He got off the bike. “You think that was great?” Jason shook his head. “I like the cliff road. It’s got a lot of twisting turns.”

“Could you take me sometime?” she asked, eagerly.

“Sure.” He shrugged. “Any time. Tell you what, the next time you have trouble sleeping, call me and we’ll go.”

“Really?” Elizabeth asked, unsure. “What if it’s 4 in the morning?”

“I’m a light sleeper. I always keep the cell phone nearby in case Sonny calls.”

She had a sudden flash of a fifteen year old Jason telling her that if she couldn’t sleep, she should just knock his window – at any time of night. He was a light sleeper. She bit her lip and looked down.

“Did I say something wrong again?” Jason asked.

She looked up. “No…I just remembered something.” Elizabeth shrugged. “Well, I’d better get upstairs. Thanks for the ride.” She turned towards the elevators and then turned back, “And for everything else.”

“Anytime.”

Elizabeth gave him a weak smile and headed for the elevators. Jason put the helmet on the back of the bike and leaned against it. Was it only yesterday that they’d still been arguing? It was strange how she’d start to confide in him about the nightmares and then pull back before he learned anything new. The only thing he’d been able to discover was that he’d let her sleep in his room when things were bad at home. But what could that mean? Did her parents fight a lot? Did she hate her siblings?

Jason frowned. He felt like it was right in the forefront of his memory – like if he just pushed enough, he might even remember little bits and pieces. That happened a lot. He’d gotten memory flashes a lot at first. Mainly of the gardens and of his family, but they had faded over the years. It was obvious he had remembered all that he was capable of, but that didn’t stop him from thinking that somewhere inside his brain he held the answers he was seeking. He had a feeling it was bad – and he didn’t want her to go through it alone. Which she would if he didn’t find out.

—-

Elizabeth crept quietly into the apartment, not wanting to wake Emily. She opened her bedroom door and closed it behind her. She dropped the file on her bureau and changed for bed.

It had felt odd to talk to Jason like she had tonight. It’d been years since they’d related on any level other than arguing and for the accident to be the first topic – it was just strange. Every time he’d brought up the nightmares, she’d tried to change the topic. She’d meant what she said – she had no intention of telling him. Elizabeth had told him once before and ended up depending on him to get through the day. Her world revolved around him and it had destroyed her when he didn’t remember. She wasn’t willing to let him in again only to have it destroyed a second time when he took off.

Which he would. Elizabeth was well aware of his arrangement with Sonny. Jason was the active partner that she couldn’t be until she graduated. Once she stepped up, Jason would more than likely become restless. There just wasn’t enough for three equal partners to do. He’d take off and she’d be left alone again.

She wasn’t going to take that chance. She’d meant what she said when she told Jason she wanted to be friends. She did – he’d once been one of the best friends she’d ever had and Elizabeth wouldn’t mind having him in her life again. But she had to face reality.

Jason Quartermaine was long gone and he wasn’t ever coming back. No matter how much he wanted to help, Jason Morgan could never understand what she’d gone through. Jason Q had lived through some the horrors. He’d been there when her father grabbed her arm that day in the garden, when he’d showed up at the mansion one night that Elizabeth was staying over and practically dragged her away… or the morning she’d been caught sneaking back into her bedroom.

She’d overslept one morning after sneaking into Jason’s room. They both had. By the time she’d woken up, there was no way her parents wouldn’t realize she’d been gone. Jason insisted on walking her back – he was worried her father would catch her. She’d been fifteen at the time and it was maybe a month or so before the accident. It had been getting more and more tense when she was in his room. She knew she was falling for him and he’d admitted that he was attracted to her. He’d been seventeen at the time, and if they weren’t careful their hormones would get the best of them. They hadn’t even kissed at the time, but it was apparent to both of them that it was only a matter of time.

She’d tried to talk Jason out of it—convince him to stay home. If they were both caught, it would only make the situation worse. But he was adamant. He wasn’t going to let her face the firing squad alone.

They’d managed to get across the Quartermaine grounds without problems, but it was as Elizabeth was climbing the trellis that it happened…

She was halfway up the trellis when she heard her father’s voice.

“Elizabeth Webber, get down here now.”

She froze. She’d rather throw herself off the trellis and be injured than climb down and face her father of her own free will. But Elizabeth remembered – Jason was down there. He’d protect her. He always did.

She took a deep breath and began climbing down. The second she was firmly on the ground, Jeff grabbed her arm and backhanded across the face.

“Hey!” Jason said, stepping forward.

“You little whore. Only fifteen and already sleeping around,” Jeff growled. He glared at Jason. “You’d better get home before I call Alan or Monica.”

“I don’t care,” Jason stated defiantly. “Let her go.”

Jeff threw Elizabeth against the side of the house. “It’s none of your damn business how I punish Lizzie. Now get off my property.”

“Jason, just go,” Elizabeth pleaded.

Jason stepped right up to Jeff’s face. He’d shot up in the past year and had a good two inches on Jeff. He glared at him. “If you ever lay a hand on her again, I swear you won’t live to regret it.”

Jeff didn’t even flinch. He reached out and jerked Elizabeth to her feet. He twisted her wrist and she cried out. He smirked in Jason’s direction. “You think he can really protect you, Lizzie? He’s just a boy and once you stop putting out, he won’t care anymore.”

Jason grabbed Jeff’s arm. “Let her go,” he repeated. Jeff just twisted her wrist further. Elizabeth heard the bones pop and winced. She didn’t want to make any sound. She was afraid Jason might do something crazy and she’d never be able to see him again.

Jason noticed her look of pain and with his free hand, he hauled off and punched Jeff in the jaw. Jeff was stunned and stepped back, releasing Elizabeth’s wrist. “I told you not to touch her.”

Jeff lunged for the younger man, but Jason stepped out of the way easily, and Jeff crashed into the trellis. Blood spurted from his nose. “You little son of a bitch-”

Jason grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the trellis. “How does it feel?” he demanded. “Do you like being beaten?”

“Jason, please,” Elizabeth put a hand on his forearm. “Let him go. He’s not worth it.”

Jason glanced at her and gritted his teeth. He pushed Jeff’s head into the trellis again and then let him fall to the ground. “If I find out you’ve laid even a finger on her, I won’t stop next time,” he warned. He turned to Elizabeth. “Come on. We might as well go through the front door now.”

He took her by the other hand and led her through the house. Sarah and Steven were nowhere in sight and neither was her mother. Elizabeth felt some small relief – but she was still mortified. It was one thing to confide in Jason about her father. It was quite another for him to witness the humiliation first hand.

He led her into her room and sat her on the bed. “Is your wrist okay?” he asked, sitting next to her. He took the swollen wrist in his hands.

She nodded. “He just sprained it probably. It should be all right in a few days. It usually is.” Elizabeth pulled her hand out of his grasp and leaned over to open her bottom nightstand drawer. She took out an Ace bandage and started to wrap it.

“Here,” he said. “Let me. It’ll be easier for me with two hands.” He started winding the cloth around her wrist. “I wish you’d go to someone.”

“I am,” Elizabeth said softly. “I go to you.”

Jason shook his head not taking his attention from the wrist. “No. I mean someone who can stop him for good. I only knocked him out.”

She shook her head. “And you shouldn’t have done that. What if he tells your parents you were here?” She bit her lip. “They might get the wrong idea.”

“So what?” Jason asked. He tucked the end of the bandage underneath to keep it wrapped. He looked up and met her eyes. “You know I care about you, Elizabeth. So what if my parents know?” His jaw clenched. “Besides, what was I supposed to do? Sit there and watch him hit you?”

She looked down. “I don’t know.”

“Let me take you to the police, someone who can help,” Jason pleaded. He took her chin in his hand and lifted it so he could see her eyes. “Please. I can’t stand seeing you like this.”

“They won’t believe me,” Elizabeth said, quietly. “It’ll be my word against Jeff Webber and you know how this town sees him. He’s this great guy who gives to charities, has a perfect family. They’ll never believe me.”

Jason smirked. “They’ll believe me. Edward Quartermaine’s my grandfather and you know that name carries more weight than Webber.”

She rolled her eyes. “There you go, being full of yourself again,” she cracked. She gave him a tiny smile. “It’s only three more years. I’ll be eighteen and I’ll never have to see them again.”

“It’s getting worse, Elizabeth. When was the last time you spent the night in your room?”

She looked away. “If you don’t want me to sneaking into your room anymore, all you have to do is tell me,” she said, stiffly.

“That’s not it. You know I don’t mind that. But you have to admit, he’s getting worse. I hate to think of what would have happened if I hadn’t been with you today. You’re having nightmares more and more frequently. And your grades are going back down. What happens when he gets that angry again and I’m not here to protect you?” Jason demanded. “He could really hurt you or worse-”

“Don’t say it,” Elizabeth cut in. “As long I don’t have to think about that, I can still survive in this house. I can’t go to the police. Don’t you see? That will make him go off. And no one will stop him then. He could buy a dozen judges and get me sent off to some school and I’ll never see you again.” She shook her head. “You’re the only thing that keeps me going. If I lose you, I’d probably go insane.”

“You won’t lose me, I promise,” Jason said. He stroked her hair. “Let’s compromise. I turn eighteen in August. Let me take you away then. We’ll leave Port Charles. I get control of my trust fund. We’ll leave the country and go somewhere where Jeff Webber can’t find us.”

She stared at him, stunned. “You’d really leave Port Charles to protect me?” she asked.

“I’d do anything to protect you,” he said quietly.

“What about your family or Emily and AJ?” Elizabeth asked. “They need us here. AJ’s drinking’s getting worse and I’d hate to leave Emily dealing with that.”

“We’ll take them with us,” Jason shrugged. “Drop AJ off at rehab center.”

She smiled. “It’s not that easy, Jason.”

“Look, let’s not worry about them right now. Maybe AJ won’t be drinking in August. All I’m asking is for you to let me to take you out of this house. Please.”

She sighed. “All right, in August, if we haven’t come up with a better solution.”

“I’d better go before my parents start to worry,” Jason said. He stood up and went over to the window. “Your dad’s gone.”

She sprang up from the bed and rushed over to the window. “Oh, no. He’s probably on his way up here!”

Jason crossed his arms. “I’m not leaving then.”

“No, you have to go,” she said desperately. “He’ll hurt you!”

“Elizabeth-“

“Please.”

He exhaled slowly. “All right.” He put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down. She thought at first he was going to kiss on the cheek like he always had. But instead he brushed her lips. It was over before Elizabeth had a chance to respond. He pulled away. “Call me, all right? Otherwise I’ll worry all day.”

She nodded wordlessly and watched as he climbed down the trellis…

That was the only time Jason had seen Jeff lay a hand on her. Luckily, Jeff hadn’t been on his way up after all. In fact, he’d avoided her for a few days. It didn’t change the fact that she still couldn’t sleep at night, but he hadn’t hit her until he’d dragged her home from the hospital a month later.

No matter how much Jason wanted to help now, he could never really understand. Elizabeth sighed and curled up on her bed. The last month before his accident was ironically the happiest of her life. Jeff was staying away and she and Jason were unofficially together. He’d wanted to tell people, but Elizabeth convinced him that they couldn’t. That Jeff would only send her away – especially after that morning beneath her window. She was looking forward to the end of the summer when Jason turned eighteen. She was beginning to think that running away was her only option.

But in the middle of April, Jason had had his accident and all of their plans were forgotten and she was alone. She couldn’t do that again.

Because she was still in love with Jason Quartermaine and she was beginning to think that he and Jason Morgan weren’t as different as people thought.

—-

Emily had called Jason five times and he wasn’t answering. She didn’t have his cell number or she would have tried that. She glanced at the clock. She was going to miss Elizabeth. She sighed. Well, it wasn’t really Jason’s fault. He couldn’t help if he’d messed up their plan.

Emily grabbed the phone and dialed Carly’s private office line so that Elizabeth wouldn’t have to transfer her in.

“Hello?”

“It’s me. I can’t get a hold of Jason.”

“Shit. Well, we’ll have to come up with something else.” Carly sighed. “All right, we need to find out how they’re getting along now. We’re working from the last time we were in the same room with them and they were arguing at that time. Maybe they’re already friends again. Oooh, wait. Hold on a second.”

Emily waited a few minutes impatiently. Honestly, Carly could get distracted so easily. Finally, Carly came back to the line.

“You still there, Em?”

“Yep.”

“You’re never going to believe this. Elizabeth was getting ready to leave for the warehouse when Jason showed up. He offered her a ride!” There was pause. “I didn’t think he’d show.”

“What are you talking about?” Emily asked.

“Well, I figured it was possible you wouldn’t get a hold of him, so I called him and dropped the hint that Liz was walking to the warehouse by herself. I guess he took the bait.”

“Seriously?” Emily squealed. “Did she take it?”

“Hold on…Yes! She’s walking down the hall with him!”

“You’re not leaning out your office door are you Carly?”

“Um….”

“Nevermind. How do they look? ”

“They’re talking…oooh, she just laughed.”

“They’re not fighting? How far apart are they?” Emily demanded.

“A few inches…”

“This is good. All right, get in your office. We have some serious planning to do.”

“I’m in. So, it looks like they’re getting closer. Do you think they still need our help?”

“We’re not helping, per se. We’re ….uh, nudging them slightly. Listen, I’ll try to talk to her about Jason tonight and you pry some information from Jason. You’re good at that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Let me know when AJ gets in.”

“All right.”

“Later.”

—-

Elizabeth slipped the helmet off her head and handed it to Jason. “Thanks again for the ride.”

Jason got off the bike and put the helmet on the back. “It’s not a problem. I was heading here anyway.”

Elizabeth nodded. “What brought you to Deception anyway?” she asked as they headed towards the warehouse.

“Actually…Carly called and told me you were leaving. She didn’t want you walking to warehouse.”

“In broad daylight?” Elizabeth asked, skeptically. She stopped. “Oh, don’t tell me…”

Jason stopped walking and turned around. “What?”

She rubbed her eyes. “I’m going to murder her.” Elizabeth shook her head. “You do see what Carly’s trying to do?”

“What?” He looked at her confused.

“She’s trying to fix us up,” Elizabeth explained. “See, most people would just send their friends on a date. No, I get the psychotic sister-in-law who bends over backwards trying to make us like each other.” She swore under her breath.

“I’m sure Carly didn’t mean any harm,” Jason said, uncomfortably. He should have known Carly wouldn’t have given up just because she found out that he and Elizabeth didn’t get along. That fact alone was enough reason for Carly to try and get them together. He stared at the petite brunette and for some insane reason…he wondered if it would be a bad idea.

“I know,” Elizabeth said quietly. She sighed and looked away. Carly’s heart was in the right place, but Elizabeth couldn’t do this to herself. To let Jason in again would only serve to hurt her in the end. She bit her lip and looked down. “Look, Jason, don’t take this the wrong way, but it….it would never work.”

Jason wanted to agree – probably would have made it easier on the both of them. He didn’t think that Elizabeth’s reasons were all that concrete. He suspected it had more to do with the fact that she’d felt abandoned after he’d lost his memory and was in no hurry to do that again. Well, they’d already made incredible progress as friends in the past day and a half. He was going to be around for a while. Maybe he’d even get the truth from her.

“If that’s the way you feel,” he said finally.

“It is,” Elizabeth stated firmly. She hesitated and an awkward silence descended. Finally, she said, “We’d better get inside.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Liz, Jason,” Sonny said, looking up. “How did it go last night?”

Elizabeth sighed and headed straight for her desk. Pushing the start button, she said, “Not well. I got a quarter of the way through the list and didn’t come up with anything, but I’m going to keep trying.”

“I checked with the informants,” Jason said. “None of them have any names for us. But I made it clear that any information they get comes straight to me.”

Sonny nodded. “Good. I want the word spread. Dealers will not be tolerated. I’ve got a meeting with some of the other bosses. See if they’re having any of the same trouble. Liz, I want you to keep researching. Jason, keep your ears open.”

Jason nodded. “Do you need anything else?”

Sonny closed some folders. “I’m going home for lunch. Keep Liz company until I get back. Maybe she’ll find something you can use.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “I don’t need baby-sitting.”

“I didn’t say that, Liz,” Sonny said. “It’ll be easier if Jason’s here when you come up with something. He’ll be able to get the information instantly and use it.”

“But what if I don’t find anything?” Elizabeth asked, irritated.

“Then his afternoon will have been wasted,” Sonny said, shrugging. “Unless you have somewhere you need to be?” he asked Jason.

Jason shook his head, “Nope.”

“Figures,” Elizabeth muttered. She pulled up a program and began working. She heard Sonny leave and vaguely realized Jason had pulled a chair up in front of her desk. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him pick up one of the frames.

“When was this taken?” he asked. She rolled her eyes, another trip down memory lane.

“Which one is it?” Elizabeth asked. He turned the picture so she could see it. She sat back and sighed. It was a homecoming picture. “That’s the two of us, your senior Homecoming dance, my sophomore one.”

“We went together?” Jason asked, surprised. Emily had told him that Jason Quartermaine had tried to get the courage up for months to ask her to the senior prom, but the accident happened before he could. Why go through all that if they’d already gone to a dance together?

Elizabeth sighed. That dance was one of her more memorable evenings. They’d planned to go together all along, but since they pretended that nothing had changed between them in public, they needed a plausible cover story. Jason asked Karen Wexler the day before the dance, knowing she was dating Jagger Cates and embarrassed himself further by admitting to her that he’d waited that long because he’d been nervous. Therefore, the reason he’d gone with Elizabeth appeared to be that she was his last resort.

She took the picture from him and looked at it more closely. She and Emily had shopped forever for the perfect dresses. Emily had scored a date with a friend of theirs, Lucky Spencer, Nikolas’s half-brother. That date led to her meeting Nikolas in the first place. Elizabeth had ended up buying a lavender halter dress made of silk that came to her knees. She’d loved the dress. Jason had looked amazing in his black dress pants and white dress shirt. She bit her lip. At that time, she’d thought he looked amazing in anything.

The dance had been perfect. Jason, of course, was named Homecoming King while Brenda Barrett won Homecoming Queen. Emily had been elected the Sophomore Spirit Princess. They’d danced all night and went bowling afterwards. They’d been having so much fun they lost track of time. Elizabeth had gotten home an hour late. She frowned. She’d had to throw the dress out after that. It had ended up ripped and a little bloody.

She looked up to find Jason staring at her intently. Flushing, Elizabeth put the picture back in place. “Yeah, you got turned down by the only girl you wanted to go with and by the time you’d asked her, everyone else had dates. So I was your last resort,” Elizabeth said. She returned to the computer screen.

“Did I actually say that?” Jason asked, surprised.

Elizabeth bit her lip. If she confirmed it, she’d be lying. If she denied it, she’d have to make up something anyway. Go for the easy lie. “Um, yeah, I guess. Why?”

“I must have been a bastard. Why would you go with me?” Jason asked, suspiciously. Last resort? If what Emily said was accurate, he must have at least been attracted to Elizabeth at that time. Something wasn’t right.

Elizabeth shrugged. “You were popular, and most girls would have pulled their teeth out to go with you. Trust me, it wasn’t a hard decision. I wasn’t going to have a date otherwise.”

Jason shrugged. “I would have punched me,” he said simply.

Elizabeth shook her head and kept scrolling through the information on the screen. Something caught her eye and she scrolled back up. Her eyes gleamed as she read the information. “I think I’ve got something.”

Jason leaned forward, all business now. “What?”

“Up until two years ago, Frank Verruchio was Albert Chosky’s right hand man in South Florida. He and Chosky had a falling out and Verruchio disappeared from the area. Most people assumed he was dead.” Elizabeth scrolled down. “I knew I’d seen his name before. He was working under Sorel before Sorel was executed.”

“Do you think it’s him?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Possible. I’ll talk to some of our contacts in South Florida. We’ve got a shipping contract with Chosky and we’re on good terms, so information should be relatively easy.”

“All right, so, we’ve got a lead. I’m gonna go tell Sonny.” Jason stood. “You staying here?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna keep going through this in case something else turns up.”

Once he was gone, she sat back in her seat and rubbed her eyes. Not telling Jason the truth was one thing, but lying to him was something else different. She hated it.

She also didn’t see any other way.

—-

Emily paced her apartment, biting her nails. AJ, Courtney and the kids were supposed to show up any second. She eyed the apartment. She didn’t know if all four of them would fit. Maybe Sonny would arrange some rooms at the Port Charles Hotel.

A knock on the door broke Emily’s thoughts. She opened the door and threw herself into her brother’s arms.

“Hey, baby sis!” AJ laughed. “Let me through the door!”

Emily giggled and moved back. AJ entered, along with his pretty blonde wife, Courtney. Courtney had Kyle in her arms and was leading Melanie by the hand. They were pretty young, only about ten months apart.

Emily gave Courtney a hug – well as best as she could. “Hey!”

“Hey,” Courtney greeted. She set Kyle on the couch and pulled Melanie up to sit next to her. She turned and gave her sister-in-law a better hug, “How are things?”

“Better now that you’re all here,” Emily said.

“What’s up, Em?” AJ asked concerned.

“I just think the fearsome foursome needs a reunion in the worst way,” Emily said honestly.

“That’s just I had in mind,” AJ grinned.

Carly stood in the hallway glaring at Johnny. “Let me in.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Corinthos. Sonny said no one was coming in.” Johnny shifted. Staring down the boss’s wife was almost as dangerous as guarding the boss.

“I’m not just anyone,” Carly gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed. “I am his wife. That is my home.”

“Please, Mrs. Corinthos. He said it wouldn’t be long.” Johnny fidgeted. Carly heard the elevator ding and a few moments later, Elizabeth appeared around the corner.

“Hey, Johnny. I’ve got some information for Sonny,” she said. Johnny stepped aside to open the door. Carly smacked him in the arm.

“If I don’t go in, she doesn’t.”

Elizabeth smirked. “Johnny, open the door.”

Johnny stared between the two women. The boss’s wife. The boss’s sister. Good lord. He’d rather take a bullet.

“Johnny, let me in,” Elizabeth repeated. “Sonny needs this information.”

“I need to go in and take a long bath. I am exhausted,” Carly whined. “You let her in; you won’t be able to keep me out. ”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and knocked on the door. “You could have knocked, Johnny.” She turned to Carly. “How long have you been waiting?”

“Too long,” Carly muttered.

“Oh, and you and me need to have a serious talk,” Elizabeth said. “But it’ll have to wait.”

Sonny jerked the door open. “Damn it, Johnny-” He stopped. “Oh, Liz. Come in.”

Carly barged in before Elizabeth. “Don’t mind me, just going upstairs. See ya later.”

Elizabeth moved past Sonny and waited until he closed the door. She took a deep breath. “The contacts in Florida agree with me. It’s more than likely Verruchio moving in.”

Sonny nodded. “Why?”

“Well, I found out that that Chosky wanted Verruchio taken care of because he tried to take over the territory there. He moved in the dealers first, then prostitutes. He got as far as trying to plant drugs in one of their warehouses before Chosky put out the hit. But it went wrong and Verruchio went underground. He showed up here before Sorel was arrested and he was running the territory there briefly, but after Sorel went to Death Row, we took over the territory. Which is probably why Verruchio’s back.”

Sonny nodded. “Makes sense. So we can expect prostitution next?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Oh, and just before I left the warehouse, Chosky called personally. He says if we get a hold of Verruchio, he’d like to fly up and witness whatever happens.”

“Not a problem,” Sonny agreed. “Chosky’s been good to us, keeps the island safe.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll call him back and let him know.” She hesitated. “What else do you need?”

“I want to you get all of Verruchio’s financial records. Find out where he might be vulnerable. I want to eliminate him before he makes any real trouble.”

“I’ll head back to the warehouse now,” Elizabeth said. “Could you tell Carly to call me later? We have something we need to discuss.”

“I’ll give you a ride back.” Jason took a step forward.

“No, I’m fine, really,” Elizabeth said, smiling. “Thanks. I’ll call you if I find anything.” She walked out of the penthouse.

Sonny eyed Jason strangely. “Things certainly have changed.”

Jason immediately went on the defensive. “What? I don’t want her walking around the docks.”

Sonny nodded. “Mmm-hmm…just remember…she’s my sister.”

“I know that.”

“And I want her to be happy.”

“Of course you do,” Jason replied, a little unsure where this conversation was heading.

“And you know I think the world of you.”

“All right.” Suddenly, Jason had a pretty good idea.

“And I want you to be happy too.”

“Okay, Sonny, stop right-”

“And I think Liz is just the girl to make that happen.”

Jason just shook his head. “Well, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“Why? Did you already make a move on her?” Sonny demanded, switching into big brother mode. “What did you do?”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything. Carly’s trying to set us up and we figured it out at the warehouse today. She’s the one who told me it wouldn’t work.”

“Oh.” Sonny nodded. “Well, all right then.”

“Okay,” Jason said, slightly confused. “I think I’m going to go now. I’m going to go check in with Emily.”

Before he reached the door, Carly flew down the steps, “Oh, Jason! You’re still here!” she said, grinning. “I need to talk to you.” She eyed Sonny, “Privately.”

Jason and Sonny exchanged looks before Jason shrugged, “All right. Come over to my apartment.”

She followed him across the hall and into the penthouse. Once the door was closed, she pounced. “How do you feel about Liz?”

Jason groaned, “Carly-”

“No avoiding the question. We’re friends. I love Sonny. So, you know how I feel about him. How do you feel about Liz?” Carly repeated.

Jason shook his head. “I knew how you felt about Sonny and I’m not telling you anything.”

Carly crossed her arms. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are.”

“Then why don’t you trust me?” Carly asked, carefully injecting a note of hurt into her voice. “I always tell you everything. I just want to help.”

Jason sighed and sat on the couch. “Do you really want to know?”

She grinned and flopped on the couch next to him. “Yes.”

He leaned in. “None of your business.”

Carly swore and smacked him with a pillow. “Come on, Jason.”

He let his head fall against the couch. “Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?”

Carly bit her lip. That didn’t bode well for the plan – but hell, she was curious! “Yes.”

Jason was silent for a few minutes. Carly knew this was typical Jason behavior and did her best not to fidget. She’d keep the details to herself—of course. But she would let Emily know if their plan had a pray of working. She had a sneaking suspicion Liz may be on them.

“I care about her,” Jason said finally. “It’s not that I feel sorry for her – because of what happened at the hospital. I mean, I do feel sorry for her. Whatever she’s going through has got to be difficult, but that’s not it either. She came to me the night she had the panic attack and apologized for the way we’d been acting towards each other. She just blamed herself, said it was her fault. I disagree. Yeah, she’d shoot the first remark out, but I gave as good as I got.”

Carly cracked her knuckles. “Liz apologized?” she asked, skeptical.

“She said it was because before the accident, she and Jason Quartermaine related on a sarcastic level and that she’d been doing the same with me. That apparently I didn’t have the sense of humor – and she’s right. I don’t. So we agreed to try and be friends the normal way.”

“And then she had the attack,” Carly said, prompting him to continue.

“Yeah, I still don’t know what’s going on and she says she doesn’t want me to help like I did before. That she couldn’t handle losing me again. I don’t know how to tell her that I’m not leaving. That I want her to trust me and I want to help.”

Carly covered his hand with hers. “You can’t make her believe that. You helped her once, right, before the accident?”

“Yeah. But she won’t tell me why. I mean, I know she used to sneak into my room, but I just feel like there’s something I’m missing. She’ll tell me bits and pieces but I’m missing the thing that connects them.”

“I think – and I’m only speculating because I know less than you do – that she let herself depend on you a lot. I mean, the fact that she asked for you at the hospital tells you that you were her support system. I also don’t think Emily knew anything and I know for a fact Sonny has no clue, which means you were the only person she trusted. And when you didn’t remember after the accident, she had to learn to deal with it by herself.” Carly sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “And she probably just tried to pretend nothing was happening. I know Liz. She’s good at hiding things. She also probably got used to pretending by herself.”

“And here I come, offering to help again,” Jason said. He eyed Carly. “I’m going about this all wrong. I know it. But I know that somewhere inside my mind, I have the answers. I can feel it like it’s just there, within reach but I’ll never get it. Do you have an idea how frustrating that is?”

Carly frowned. “No. But I’ll try to imagine for your sake. I know you’re frustrated. But be patient with her. Maybe she’ll keep telling you little things and one day, the truth will hit you.”

Jason shook his head. “I just feel like something’s wrong. You know, Emily told me that Jason Quartermaine liked her – had worked up the courage for months to ask her to the senior prom.”

Carly smiled. “That’s so sweet.” Her eyes gleamed. “Do you think you still have those feelings?”

Jason shook his head. “Not the same ones. It’s all weird, you know? Two days ago, we were fighting in the hallway and now I’m trying to get her to confide in me. I’m probably rushing it and I know I shouldn’t.”

“Jason,” Carly began carefully, “do you think you could care about her again that way?”

Jason didn’t answer at first. He stared straight ahead the wall for a long time. Carly did begin to fidget this time – this was the answer she’d needed all night. This was the answer that was going to make or break their plan. And damn it, after all the people she and Emily had recruited, it better make the plan.

“Yeah,” he said finally. He turned to look at her. “I think I’m probably already on my way. But it wouldn’t work.”

Carly’s moment of elation conked out almost as soon as it started. “Why?” she asked disappointed.

“Well, because I don’t think she sees me that way,” Jason replied. “She said so tonight, which reminds me, she knows what you’re trying to do.”

Carly gulped. “You know, sometimes I think Liz scares me more than half the guys Sonny goes up against. I think he’s making a mistake not letting her into the business. She’s got some good intimidation techniques.”

Jason looked at her oddly. “Why do you say he won’t let her in?”

Carly shrugged. “I’m only assuming. Personally, I think she’d do a great job. Anyway, you think you could try to explain to her that I love her very dearly and I only want the best for her and that right now I think you’re the best?” she asked weakly.

Jason just shook his head. “Uh uh. You’re dealing with her, not me. I just got on her good side. You think I’m in any hurry to get my head bitten off?”

“Wussy,” Carly muttered. She brightened. “But you did say you cared about her.”

“Yeah,” Jason said, warily.

“What do you like about her?” Carly asked.

Jason shook his head. “You’d better not use this conversation against me at a later date.”

Carly pretended to be hurt. “Who, me?”

“Yeah, you.” Jason took a deep breath. “You’re lucky I’m in a mood to talk – and you know that’s rare.”

Carly nodded. “The last time that happened…” she paused. “I can’t remember. Anyway, you were saying?”

“She’s not afraid of the bike,” Jason stated. She grinned. “I’m serious. She loves to go fast. I told her if she was trouble sleeping, just to call me and I’ll take her on the cliff roads.”

“That’s why you like her?” Carly said, disappointed. “You have some low standards.”

“She’s also strong,” Jason said quietly. “She could have broken down at any time and told me the truth. But she’s determined to do this on her own and I have to respect that even if I don’t agree. She cares about people. You should see the desk at the warehouse – it’s covered with pictures of her and her friends. ”

Desk at the warehouse? Carly frowned slightly. “What kinds of pictures?”

“Mostly of all of us growing up…she has this one of the two of going to Homecoming my senior year.” Jason shook his head. “She gave me some story for why we went together…but didn’t sound right. If I had been waiting for months to ask her and the accident happened in April, I must have at least been attracted to her. So why wouldn’t I just ask her?”

Carly mentally cheered herself and Emily. They had struck gold – at least with Jason. The boy he’d been had been in love with her and the man he was now was falling for her. Now if only Emily could get some similar information. She concentrated on the conversation. For some reason, Jason completely trusted her with his feelings. It had never happened before – but she liked it.

“Maybe she’s afraid if she tells what you really happened, you won’t let it go.” She shrugged. “I love Liz, but I can’t claim to know what she’s thinking. You need to ask her.”

“She wouldn’t tell me. I know that. She says she trusts me, but I doubt she really does.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think she trusts you – but I also think she doesn’t want to.” Carly bit her lip. My, she was sounding philosophical tonight.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Jason asked, bewildered.

“Well, the more she trusts you, the more she wants to let you in. See, that I do understand. See, four years ago I knew this arrogant son of bitch who thought he knew everything – especially about me. You remember me at the time. Loud, obnoxious, manipulative…” Carly trailed off.

“You had your reasons, Carly,” Jason said quietly.

“Well, a bad childhood doesn’t give me the excuse for the way I treated you, but Sonny seemed to understand. God, I thought he was being condescending until he told me about him. See, he wanted me to trust him too, to tell him everything. I thought he just wanted me to spill my guts and satisfy his curiosity when all he really wanted to do is help.”

“You think Elizabeth doesn’t want to tell me because she thinks I just want to know?” Jason asked.

Carly shrugged. “I also remember it took me a year to tell Sonny.”

Jason swore and she tried to hide her smile. Oh, yeah, he had it bad.

“But, in the end, I trusted him,” Carly reminded him. “And you’ve got an easier fight on your hands then Sonny did.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, she already trusts you. She wants to tell you – she begins to tell you and stops herself. A person can only fight themselves for so long. She’s giving you bits and pieces right now. And maybe part of her is hoping you just connect the dots.” Carly sighed. “But, Jase, if and when she does let you in, don’t ever make her regret it.”

—-

“All right,” AJ straightened his shoulders. “Wish me luck.”

“Where are you going?” Courtney asked, amused.

“To see Jason,” AJ checked himself in the mirror next to the door. “Do I look okay?”

Courtney and Emily traded looks. “For a guy going to see his brother,” Courtney replied.

“What’s wrong with you, AJ?” Emily asked curiously.

AJ took a deep breath. “Look, every time I see him, I wonder if he’s changed his mind, if he hates me and especially so this time. Because that accident didn’t only hurt him, he just found out it somehow destroyed Liz. I can’t help if it I always feel apprehensive about it.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Courtney stood and handed Kyle to Emily. She wrapped her arms loosely around AJ’s neck. “We just saw Jason two weeks ago at home, remember?”

“Yeah,” AJ replied.

“And didn’t you guys sit out in the backyard, barbecuing? You made chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and we all sat out there and talked for hours. I went inside and four hours later, the two of you were still out there talking. Jason does not hate you.”

“And he never will,” Emily said firmly.

Courtney gave AJ a light kiss on the lips. “Now, go see your brother.”

“I’m going,” AJ said. He pulled out of Courtney’s embrace and opened the door. He closed it behind him.

“You’re good to him,” Emily said.

“You say that every time you see me,” Courtney said. “But it means a lot to me anyway. You are not only his sister, you’re one of his closest friends. Your opinion means a lot to me.” She smiled at her sister-in-law. “I think the kids need a nap.”

“We can put them in my room. I want to try and get a hold of Sonny so he can get some rooms at the hotel. The four of you will never last with me and Beth. We keep odd hours.”

“Plus, there’s your boyfriend,” Courtney replied. She picked up Melanie and Emily got Kyle.

“Oh, crap. I forgot to call him today. I’ve been so caught up in this thing with Beth and Jase that I completely forgot.” They entered Emily’s and got the kids settled. After leaving, Emily headed right for the phone. She dialed Nikolas. “Hey…I’m sorry. Things have been crazy here…All right…I’ll meet you at Kelly’s in ten minutes. Love you.” She put the phone down and turned to Courtney. “If Carly calls, tell her that I had to put my love life in front of Beth’s for an evening. I’ll call her at Deception tomorrow.”

“Not a problem.”

“And I’ll stop by Sonny’s before I come home,” Emily said. She grabbed her purse, and left.

—-

Emily slid into the seat across from Nikolas. “I’m sorry about not calling. It’s been crazy.”

“You said so on the phone,” Nikolas replied. He gestured for the waitress. “It’s okay. I understand.”

Emily smiled, relieved. “Good. Then we’re on for the show tomorrow?” she asked, hopefully. As important as Elizabeth was to her, Nikolas was too. And their routine was important to her, too. She’d missed arguing with him the past two days.

“Of course,” Nikolas replied, grinning. The waitress appeared. “I’ll have a number three.”

“Number seven,” Emily said. “Thanks.”

“So, how’s Liz been?” Nikolas asked, “You and Carly still scheming?”

Emily sighed. “I don’t know how Beth is. She opened up to me that day before the panic attack, but she’s closed back down. She’s not letting anyone in.”

“Well, you just have to keep trying,” Nikolas replied quietly. “She’s in a rough place. I can see that much without knowing any details.”

Emily nodded. “As for me and Carly, it seems Beth and Jason are doing the job by themselves. Carly hinted that Beth was going to walk to the warehouse by herself today and Jason showed up to ride her there on his bike. And Beth accepted. They’re getting along better. Whatever’s happened between them has obviously helped their relationship.”

“Any signs that you’re succeeding?” Nikolas asked.

Emily nodded. “Jason’s worried about her. And he wants to help. I’ve told you about Jason liking Beth before the accident right?”

He nodded. “Something about the senior prom.”

“Well…the way Jason was talking about her yesterday…it reminded me of the way he used to talk about her.”

“So you think you’re succeeding where he’s concerned.”

“Honestly? I really think he’s doing it by himself.” Emily smiled. “I don’t care how they get together, as long as they’re happy. And I think they could be happy together.” She shook her head. “I’m a hopeless romantic.”

Nikolas reached across the table and took her hand in his. “Nah. You just want everyone to be as insanely happy as we are.”

She sighed happily. “You really are the best, Nik. I’ll always be grateful to Lucky for introducing us.”

“The best thing my brother ever did for me,” Nikolas replied.

“How is he?” Emily asked. “Have you heard anything?”

Nikolas shrugged. “He’s still on some mission for the WSB. I swear, he’s not happy if he’s not undercover.”

“I miss him,” Emily said. “But at least he’s got Luke with him. Laura’s the most understanding person I know. To have her husband and her son on these adventures all the time, doing god knows what. Never knowing if they’re coming back…” she sighed. “Nutty.”

“Well, my mother’s strong. She’s also used to it where they’re concerned,” Nikolas reminded her. “Not only that, but I think Carly keeps her occupied. Those two always fight.”

Emily grinned. “Yeah, I know. Carly’s always complaining to me or Beth. The only thing they’ve agreed on is Gia Campbell for the Face of Deception.” She wrinkled her nose. “She’s beautiful but she’s also snobby as hell. She’ll make a perfect model.”

The waitress brought their food and they dug in. Emily was grateful Nikolas understood why she hadn’t called. The fact that he trusted her and that he was that understanding were only two of the reasons she loved him. Was it wrong to want the same thing for Elizabeth and Jason?

AJ took a deep breath. Courtney’s reassurances had worked two floors down, but now that he was standing in front of Jason’s door he wasn’t so sure. It was true – after over five years, it was unlikely Jason would hold the accident against him. But after what Emily had told him about Elizabeth, AJ wasn’t ready to believe the accident was truly behind them both.

He raised his hand to knock on the door when it was pulled open and AJ came face to face with Carly Corinthos. He didn’t know her well – but Emily and Elizabeth, as well as Jason, spoke highly of her and their opinion was enough for AJ.

“Hey, AJ!” Carly said, surprised. “I didn’t know you’d be in town so soon!” She turned around. “Hey, Jason, get your butt down here. AJ’s here!”

“Hey, Carly. How are you?” AJ said.

“I’m good.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Did Emily tell you about our plan?”

AJ nodded and grinned. “And I’m more than happy to help.”

“Good.” Carly turned again to see Jason heading towards the door. “Well, it was good to see you. How are the wife and kids?”

AJ’s favorite subject, “Oh, they’re great. Kyle’s took his first steps and Mel’s talking. Oh, and Courtney just opened her own restaurant.”

“That’s good to hear.” Carly patted him on the arm. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone.” She gave Jason a quick hug and left. Jason gestured for AJ to enter.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were coming,” Jason said.

AJ shrugged. “Courtney’s been begging me to take a vacation. So, I figured that since you were living here again, we could all get together, like old times. Especially since Em tells me you and Liz are finally getting along again.”

“Yeah. But the truce has only lasted a few days,” Jason said. They sat on the couch. “Every time I open my mouth, I think she’s going to snap my head off, so I’m treading carefully.”

AJ shrugged. “You’ll get the hang of it and before you know it, the two of you will be right where you were before the accident.”

Jason frowned. “Trouble is, I have no idea where that was. I thought we didn’t get along. Then, it was we just teased each other. And now I find out that we were really close – but only when no one else was around. I’m worried that I’ll find out we were dating or something.”

AJ laughed. “I don’t see that happening. Take it from me; the two of you were nowhere near that.” He frowned. “Well…then again…I was sort of drunk most of the time.”

Jason shrugged. “Anyway, has Em told you anything else?”

AJ nodded. “That Liz is going through a rough time and you’re trying help and she won’t let you.”

“Oh.” Jason sat back. “How long did you know Courtney before you figured out you wanted to spend the rest of your life with her?”

AJ mentally noted that Jason was obviously falling for Elizabeth since this was the first time Jason had ever asked a question like this. “A few months, I guess. We met in rehab, and it was that long before we had the chance to really get to know one another. I mean, we saw each other in support group and passed in the halls, but when we got out, I didn’t see her for almost a month. Then I ran into her outside this bar. She hadn’t gone in – but she really wanted to. I was, of course, still craving alcohol at that point and I knew that it would be extremely easy for the both of us to relapse. So I took the initiative and asked her to dinner. We left the bar and went out. After about a month, I realized I was in love with her. Two weeks later, I decided that she was it.” He eyed Jason. “Why?”

“I never knew Courtney was in rehab too,” Jason said, avoiding the question.

AJ shrugged. “Well, it’s not something we volunteer. Most of our friends don’t know it either. ”

Jason frowned, “I never asked about how you met her before, either. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

AJ raised an eyebrow. “You feeling okay, Jase?”

“I’m fine. It’s been a rough week,” Jason replied.

AJ shrugged again. “The reason I don’t talk about meeting Courtney is because we met in rehab. Thinking about rehab makes me remember the accident. And I prefer not to do that.” He looked away. “So you like Liz.”

Jason sat up. “I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to. We’re brothers. I know what’s going on in your head.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “Tell me it’s not that obvious.”

AJ shook his head. “Don’t worry. Liz will never see it. So you gonna make a move?”

Jason stared at him. “Are you insane?”

“What? You like Liz. Ask her out. It’s not that difficult,” AJ said.

Jason shook his head. “She doesn’t want a relationship. I’m lucky we’re friends at this point.”

AJ tried a different tactic. “Look, you’re good at reading people. Do you really think that’s the way Liz feels?”

Jason hesitated. He pictured in his mind the way that Elizabeth had looked when they’d had the conversation earlier that day about Carly’s scheme. She definitely didn’t look like she believed what she was saying when she said it wouldn’t work. He hadn’t thought so then, either. “No. But I think she’d rather feel that way.”

“Well, tough for her. Now you gotta decide – is what could be with Liz worth risking the friendship for?” AJ asked. “If it works and you end up together, great. If it doesn’t, you could lose what progress you’ve made. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?”

Jason didn’t hesitate this time. “No. Not right now. Right now, I just want to help her.”

AJ nodded. “Good choice. Now, we just gotta figure out how to convince Liz to let you help.”

Jason thought about it for a few minutes. “I think she wants to let me. But she keeps resisting at the last minute. But when I offered to take her riding on the cliff roads the next time she couldn’t sleep, she seemed to be okay with accepting that.”

AJ grinned. “You know what Jase? I think you and Liz will be fine. She’s letting you in whether she wants to or not. You don’t even need Carly’s help. You just have to give Liz some time. Prove to her that you’ll be around – that she can trust you. Don’t push it.”

Jason nodded. “When did you become so smart?” he asked, a teasing glint entering his eyes.

AJ shrugged. “It’s Courtney’s influence.” He stood. “It’s late. I’d better get back to the apartment before Emily converts my wife.”

Jason stood as well, raising his eyebrows. “Converts?”

AJ hesitated, “Um-”
“AJ.”
“The hell with it. You know Carly’s plan? Well, she’s not exactly alone.”

Jason narrowed his eyes. “How ‘not alone’ is she?”

AJ thought for a moment. “Well, ten to one, it was her idea. But I know she’s recruited Emily which means Nikolas is in on it. Em got to me and she’s probably working on Court as we speak, I’m willing to bet Sonny at least approves and I’ll bet you five bucks Emily’s gone to Grandmother.”

Jason stared at him. “You’re all insane.”

AJ shrugged. “We want you two to be happy. We figure who else will put up with the two of you except each other? Hell, Jase, will you be disappointed if we succeed?”

Jason felt the corners of his mouth twitching. “AJ-”

“Look, I promise I’ll try to keep them in line. No crazy schemes.”

“Carly’s involved. Not possible to avoid a crazy scheme.”

“Well, crazy schemes also have a tendency to work,” AJ pointed out. “Anyway, listen, what are you doing tomorrow night?”

“Nothing, why?”

“Good, Em and Liz’s apartment at seven. Don’t be late. We’re having dinner and it’s just going to be the four of us.”

“Courtney’s okay with that?” Jason asked.

“She’s fine with that. Man, I got lucky the day she agreed to marry me. She seems to understand the crazy relationship we all have.” AJ’s face grew serious. “Look, you know I just want you to be as happy as me and Court. If you really have a problem with this whole idea…tell me and I’ll make sure everyone backs off.”

Jason ran a hand through his short hair. “It’s too late. I already told Carly that I care about Elizabeth. In her mind, she’s already planning her dress for the wedding. I’d like you to even try to call her off.”

AJ shook his head. “Not what I asked, little brother.”

Jason looked away. “Yeah, I know.” After a few minutes he met his brother’s eyes. “To tell you the truth, as long as the schemes don’t get too crazy…no, I don’t have a problem with it.”

AJ grinned. “Good. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

—-

Emily rubbed her eyes as she entered the apartment. Courtney was lying on the couch, her legs propped on AJ’s lap. Her breathing was even and deep. “Hey, Beth back?” she said softly trying not to awaken Courtney.

AJ looked at his younger sister, “Nope. She called. She’s at the warehouse.”

Emily frowned. “She spends a lot of time at a place she doesn’t work at.” She checked her watch. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Maybe she works for Sonny,” AJ joked. The second the words left his mouth, he clenched his jaw. “You don’t think-”

Emily exhaled slowly. She put her purse and keys down and turned to bolt the door shut. Turning back to her brother, she said, “To tell you the truth, I’ve had my suspicions. Beth is good with computers. She probably does work for Sonny.”

AJ sighed. “It’s not that I don’t like Sonny and that I’m blind to the fact that Jason is now partners with him – but Liz being involved…it just feels different…”

Emily nodded. “I know what you mean. But, in the end, it’s her choice.” She sighed, “The kids still in my room?”

AJ nodded apologetically, “Yeah. I’m sorry, Em.”

Emily waved it away. “I was going to stop by and see Sonny about getting you guys a room or two at the hotel but it was too late tonight. I’ll just crash at Jason’s place.” Her eyes gleamed. “Maybe I can convince him to bring Beth home.”

“Speaking of which…” AJ grinned. “We got his approval.”

Emily arched an eyebrow. “His approval?” she repeated.

“Yeah, he knew exactly what Carly was up to, but once he found out that so many people were involved…he thinks we’re insane, but he does care about her. He told Carly so tonight. She called. She wants you to stop by her office if you have time tomorrow.”

“But he said it was okay if we try to get them together?” Emily asked, skeptically.

AJ shrugged. “He said as long as the schemes didn’t get too crazy.”

Emily nodded. “Well, I’m going up to see if I can crash. I’ll see you in the morning.”

—-

Thirty minutes later, Jason entered the empty warehouse. He’d barely hesitated when Emily told him Elizabeth was still at the warehouse – alone. He’d missed the grin of satisfaction on his sister’s lips as he’d shrugged into his jacket and grabbed his keys before heading out of the penthouse.

He headed towards the office and opened the door quietly. He peeked in and saw Elizabeth at her desk. The computer screen was brightly lit – some information scrawled across it. His eyes softened as he saw Elizabeth’s head on the desk. Her curly hair was in its usual disarray, shielding her face from view.

He stepped in and closed the door softly behind him. He crouched in front of her and gently tapped her shoulder. She murmured something and shifted slightly – but didn’t wake up. He frowned, wondering if this was the first time she’d slept since the hospital. If so, he didn’t want to wake her up. He straightened and pulled a chair over. Jason turned it around backwards and straddled it, resting his hands along the back and his chin on his hands.

—-

“What did you think were doing? Not coming home for a week?” Jeff raged. He dragged her up the stairs of the Webber home. Elizabeth caught a glimpse of her mother in the livingroom silently crying.

“I was with Jason and AJ-” Elizabeth’s frantic explanation was cut off as Jeff threw against the wall. She cried out as pain exploded along her lower back.

Her brother, Steven, came out of his room. “Dad, what’s going on-”

“Nothing!” Jeff shouted. “Get back in your room?”

Steven frowned, noticing his little sister on the floor. “Dad, Lizzie’s hurt. Shouldn’t-”

“Now, Steven.” Jeff jerked Elizabeth to her feet. “I’ll take Lizzie to her room.”

Elizabeth’s eyes silently pleaded with her brother to help her, but Steven sighed and returned to his room. She whimpered.

“You stupid little whore,” Jeff swore. He gripped her arm tightly and threw the door to her room open. “Skipping school, do you really expect me to believe you were at the hospital the whole time?”

“I was,” Elizabeth said. “I-”

Jeff slammed the door shut and let go of her arm with such force that Elizabeth went spinning across the room. She crashed into her bureau and slumped to the floor. The pain in her back was now overshadowed by the feeling in her skull. It felt like her skin was two sizes too small and her skull just wanted to explode out of her head. She winced and brought her fingers up to her head. When she removed them, they were wet and sticky with blood.

“You just never learn, do you?” Jeff demanded, approaching her. Elizabeth cowered and tried to crawl away towards the window, the bed, the door – anywhere but there. She got halfway to the window before Jeff grabbed her hair and yanked her to her feet. “You think that because you’re little rich boyfriend protected you once that you were never going to pay? Well, now he’s in the hospital and he can’t save you!” He pushed her violently and Elizabeth slammed against the wall. Her vision was starting to get black around the edges – but she pushed the darkness away. She had to survive this. Jason was awake – if she could just get back to hospital – he could help her, she knew he could.

Jeff’s face was crimson with fury. Elizabeth had never seen him so out of control – she had a bad feeling that this was going to be worse than ever. That she was going to pay not only for not coming home – but for Jason’s actions a month ago. This might be the time Jason had spoke of that morning – the time when Jason couldn’t protect her and Jeff’s anger might go too far.

“Daddy, please,” Elizabeth whimpered as Jeff came after her again. “Please! Don’t hurt me! I’m sorry-”

Elizabeth’s head jerked off the desk with such force, she propelled back on the chair and it hit the wall. Her head bounced off the concrete with a snap and she swore.

“Are you okay?” Jason had barely had enough time to get out of the chair before she’d been thrown back to the wall. He crouched in front of her. “Elizabeth-”

Elizabeth’s vision cleared and sharpened. “Jason?” she whispered, not wanting to believe her eyes. Was he really here this time? Was he really sitting in front of her, his blue eyes warm, caring and concerned? Tears pricked her eyes. Or was she just dreaming it again?

“Hey,” Jason said, softly. “How’s your head?”

She bit her lip and rubbed it. “Sore. What are you doing here?”

“Em said you were still here. I didn’t want you walking alone. You okay?”

She nodded. “A little embarrassed,” she laughed weakly, “And not exactly sure if you’re really here at all.” Her laughter turned to tears. “I have this tendency to wake up from the nightmares and pretend you’re here. It’s the only way I can sleep again.”

Jason took her hands in his. “I’m definitely here. You want to talk about it?”

She sniffled and pulled one of her hands free to wipe her eyes. “Yes.” She looked down. Her other hand was sandwiched between his much larger ones. “But I can’t,” she whispered.

“You sure?” Jason asked quietly. “I want to help, believe me, Elizabeth. But I can’t if you won’t let me.”

She took a deep breath. “God, Jason. You don’t know much I want to tell you,” she whispered. Her voice was broken as if tonight’s dream had been particularly bad.

He shifted. “I know you want to be strong,” he said. “And I don’t blame you. I can’t imagine what it must have been like after the accident and you didn’t have me anymore. But you can’t do this alone. It’s not working, Elizabeth…and I know you can see that. You’re falling apart and it’s hurting me to see you like this.”

She raised her watery eyes to meet his. “I-” she took a shaky breath. “I don’t know if I can,” she whispered.

Jason sighed. “You don’t have to. I won’t push you. Listen; let me take you for that ride I promised.”

“The cliff roads?” Elizabeth asked, unable to keep the eagerness from creeping into her voice.

Jason nodded. “And once we get to where we’re going, I’m going to ask you again. And if you won’t tell me…” he gripped her hands tightly. “I’ll never ask again unless you want me too. Sound good?”

Elizabeth bit her lip. “Yeah,” she breathed, “Sounds good to me.”

Jason stood. “Okay then.” He moved out of the way so she could push her chair forward. He waited as Elizabeth shut the computer down and grabbed her purse.

—-

Jason coasted the bike to a stop and turned off the engine. Instead of getting off the bike, Elizabeth just tightened her arms around him and rested her head against his back. She hadn’t wanted the helmet tonight – and he didn’t argue.

He put his hands on her clasped ones. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she whispered, her breath warm against his back. “That was amazing – but I wish you could have gone faster.”

He chuckled, “Maybe on the way back.”

Elizabeth lifted her head and looked around. They were in a clearing in the forest – and just a head was a bridge that spanned a small creek. “Where are we?”

Jason shrugged. “Not sure if it has a name. I used to come here after the accident – to get away from the fighting at the mansion. It always helped me to calm down – put things into perspective. I thought it might help you.”

She got off the bike and ran her fingers through her wild curls. Jason got off as well and he took her hand. He pulled her onto the bridge and into the middle. Elizabeth looked down at the creek. It was small, but the creek was fast-moving. She stared at for a while. Jason leaned against the far side of the bridge and crossed his arms.

Finally, Elizabeth turned to face him. “Are you going to ask me?”

Jason looked away. “I don’t know. I don’t want to push the issue.” He looked back. “I want you to trust me, Elizabeth.”

She sighed and hugged herself. “I do trust you, Jason. And I have told you some things – things I didn’t even tell Emily the other day. Like when I wake up, I pretend you’re there so I can sleep. Do you know how easy it would be for me to tell you – to let you help?” She bit her lip. “I just don’t know if I could handle trusting you with that and having to watch you walk away all over again.”

He straightened and closed the distance between them. “I’m sure I promised that I would never leave you once and I’m sorry that I had to break that promise.” He reached his hand up to cup her cheek. “And I can’t promise that I won’t leave you again.”

She raised her eyes to meet his. “So you understand why I can’t tell you?”

Jason continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I can’t promise you that because of the life I lead—the life we both lead. You know as well as I do that there are no guarantees in life – that tomorrow, I could get shot or you could. But that’s the life we’ve chosen to live.” He brought his other hand up so that both his hands were framing her face. “But, Elizabeth, I can promise that I will never willingly walk away again. Not from you.”

She wrapped her hands around his arms and closed her eyes. God how she wanted to believe him – and it would be so easy to do that. He was saying the right things and acknowledging he could never keep that type of a promise – and the way he was looking at her…for the first time, she stopped wishing he was Jason Quartermaine. Jason Quartermaine would have kept pushing that first night in the hospital until Elizabeth had broken down and told him the truth. But Jason Morgan was willing to give her space – to develop a trust between them. To let it be her decision. A fact that made her want to tell him all the more.

She closed her eyes, feeling a few tears sneak past the closed lids and streak down her cheeks. When she opened them a few moments later, she found him staring into her eyes intently. His eyes weren’t demanding – or curious. They were just concerned and caring. He really wanted to help her. She could finally see it.

“Tonight,” she began in a law voice—so low Jason could barely hear her, despite being only inches away. “Tonight, the nightmare was about the day you woke in the hospital. I told you I left to find a nurse. That I wanted to come back, but my father showed up and took me home before I could. That I was grounded for a while—and I couldn’t come to see you. Well, that’s not entirely true.” She took a deep, shaky breath before continuing. “My father dragged me out of the hospital. His grip on my arm was so tight that I had a bruise for nearly two weeks. When we got back to the house, he dragged me up the stairs. I saw my mother crying in the living room, but she didn’t make a move to help me.”

Jason closed his eyes and blinked back tears of his own. Oh, god. He knew where this was going. He needed to be strong for her – because he’d promised himself that much.

“He threw me against the wall in the hallway,” Elizabeth whispered, her voice thick with tears. “Steven came out of his room – and for a moment, I thought he was going to help. But my father just yelled at him and he went back inside.” She sucked in a breath. “He threw me into my room and I hit a bureau. And then he threw me into a wall. I had almost passed out at that point, but I wasn’t too far gone to realize that the day you’d been warning me about for years seemed to be there. The day he was too angry to stop and would go too far.” She stopped for a second and looked up at Jason. His eyes were closed, but he hadn’t removed his hands. The muscles in his jaw were so tight; she thought they’d feel like rock if she touched him. “He grabbed me by my hair and started smacking my head against the wall. I was so scared, Jason. I was right next to the window and I was scared he was going to throw me out the window and kill me – like he’d been threatening to do for years.”

Jason did remove his hands at that point – but only to pull her into a tight embrace. She rested her head against his chest and he put his chin on the top of her head. He wanted to tell her to stop. That she didn’t need to tell him anymore. But he sensed if he stopped her now, she might never talk about it again. He moved his hands in gentle circles on her back, trying to soothe her.

Elizabeth curled her hands in his shirt and sighed. “Eventually, I passed out. When I came to, I was in my room and it was two days later. Sarah was sitting by my bed, cleaning the blood off my face. It was the first and only time she’d ever acted like she cared. I couldn’t move for another four days, but the second I could stand, I headed straight to the hospital. I wanted to tell you that you’d been right. I’d had enough – I was going to the police.” She closed her eyes. “But you didn’t remember me and I had to return to my house by myself for three years.”

He flinched. “I am so sorry, Elizabeth.” He swore under his breath. “I wish I could have done something-”

She shook her head gently. “You didn’t know and we didn’t take to each other very well at first, remember?” she said softly. “Anyway, once I turned eighteen, I was gone. He’d told me by then I wasn’t his natural daughter and I was actually relieved. I wasn’t related to a cold son of bitch who beat his daughter. And suddenly his anger made sense.” She took a deep breath. “There’s a lot more, Jason. But if you don’t want to hear it, I’ll understand.”

Jason pulled away slightly to meet her eyes. “If you want to tell me, I’ll listen,” he assured her. “But I won’t push you.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “All right.” Elizabeth looked around. “Do we have to do it here?”

He shook his head. “No. We’ll go back to the penthouse. Or anywhere else you want to go.” He moved away and offered her his hand.

Elizabeth took it without hesitation. “Thank you, Jason,” she said quietly. “For giving me the space I needed.”

“No,” he said, taking her hand and putting it over his heart. He met her eyes and held her gaze intently. “Thank you for trusting me.”

Jason opened the door to the penthouse as quietly as possible. He let Elizabeth walk in front of him, but she stopped almost as soon as she was inside.

“Emily’s here?” she whispered. Jason peered over her head to see Emily passed out on the couch.

“AJ and Courtney and the kids are in town and took over your apartment. She came here to sleep.” He eyed her. “We can go upstairs if you still want to talk.”

Choice. Elizabeth closed her eyes and breathed in a sigh of relief. She could turn around right now and go back to her apartment, go to sleep and never tell him another thing. He’d let her, too. She was sure of it.

Instead, she nodded. “Let’s go upstairs,” she said softly. She slipped her hand in his and he led her up the stairs. He opened one of the doors in the hallway and led her inside. She perched on the edge of the bed and crossed her arms tightly. Jason flipped on the light and leaned against the dresser.

They sat in silence for a time. Elizabeth didn’t know where to start and Jason didn’t want to push it. Finally, she sighed. “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

Jason hesitated. “I don’t know. Do you really want to tell me anything?”

She peered up at him and smiled a little. He was really going to handle this any way she wanted to. He wouldn’t ask and he wouldn’t push. They’d go at her pace. Elizabeth relaxed a little and pushed herself further onto the bed. She curled her legs and sat Indian style. She patted the space in front of her. “Sit down.”

Jason moved to the bed and sat with his legs over the edge and half turned to see her. “Elizabeth, I’ll understand if you don’t want to say anything more.”

She took one of his hands and wrapped her smaller hands around it. Concentrating on that instead of looking up, she said, “I know you would. And that means a lot to me. But I want to tell you. And if I don’t do it now, I’ll probably never do it.” She took a deep breath. “I always had a big mouth and I guess you know I usually say what I think. Not a trait my father appreciated. He’d smack me upside the head. It wasn’t that bad at first.” She moved her fingers over the rough skin on the back of his hand. “When I was seven, he hit me with a belt. Even then, it was only when I did stupid things. I tried to behave more, but I was never very good at it. He began looking for reasons and it started getting worse. I always wore long shirts and long pants, even during the summer.”

She looked up then. He was staring at their hands as well. “That’s how you found out.”

He jerked his eyes up to meet hers. “What?”

“We were in the garden during the summer. I was eleven and you were thirteen. You, me, Emily and some of our friends from school were playing hide and seek. AJ was fifteen and too old to play it. I was hiding behind a hedge. It was a hot day and I’d pushed my sleeves up. You came up behind me – I guess you were going to surprise me—but you saw the bruise instead…”

“What’s on your arm, Lizzie?” Jason asked, confused. Elizabeth turned around so fast she fell against the bushes.

“What?” she asked, her eyes wide.

Jason pointed to the large, ugly purple bruise that covered the bottom half of Elizabeth’s left arm. “What happened?”

Elizabeth hastily pulled her sleeves down. “N-nothing.”

Jason grabbed her right arm and pulled her up. “What’s on your arm, Lizzie?” he asked again.

“I said it was nothing,” Elizabeth snapped, jerking her hand away. Jason pulled the sleeve up again and looked at the bruise. His blue eyes bore into hers.

“These look like finger marks,” Jason said. “Who hurt you, Lizzie?”

Elizabeth’s lower lip trembled and she tried to pull her hand away. “N-no one. Let me go.”

“You’re lying.”

“Leave me alone,” she said, her voice breaking. “No one hurt me. No one.”

“You can trust me, Lizzie. Who was it?”

Elizabeth’s eyes welled up with tears. “You promise not to tell Emily or AJ?”

Jason nodded. “I promise, Lizzie.”

“It was my dad…”

“You were so angry,” Elizabeth remembered softly. “You wanted to head right over and beat his face in and that was before you knew the whole story.”

“I guess things haven’t changed,” Jason said quietly. “I still want to head over and beat his face in.”

For some reason, his words brought tears to her eyes. She sniffled, trying to keep the tears at bay, but they came anyway. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck. Confused, Jason wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

After a while, she pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just…I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Jason assured her.

She smiled weakly. “It was all I could do to convince you to stay away and keep the secret. After that, I-I…it started getting harder to keep it to myself. You were always asking me if I was okay. You started getting more observant…started noticing the circles under my eyes … that I was trying too hard…” She closed her eyes and bit her lip. “That I was trying too hard to act happy. You kept asking me and asking me and I finally I blew up at you. I was maybe thirteen at the time. I completely freaked. I told you that I miserable, that it was getting worse, I wasn’t sleeping and that I was probably going to fail eighth grade because I couldn’t concentrate.” She tucked her hair behind her ears. “So, you came up with a solution. You told me that the next time I couldn’t sleep, just to come over to the house and knock on your window.” She chuckled softly. “I thought you were insane. But a few nights later, I was lying in my bed staring the ceiling. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I was so afraid that the minute I shut my eyes, my father would-” Elizabeth broke off and looked away. “So, I pulled on my robe and climbed down the trellis. Your house was only just across the lake.”

“How did you get up the third floor?” Jason asked curiously.

“That first night?” Elizabeth couldn’t help but grin. “I shimmied up the drain pipe.”

“You could have fallen-”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Hey, you forget. I’ve heard this lecture. You’re not as different as most people think.” Elizabeth shrugged. “You set up a ladder after that. Some nights you even waited at the bottom.”

“You showed up that often?” Jason asked.

She nodded. “After a few months, it was at the point where if I wasn’t already spending the night with Em, I was with you. By the time of the accident, I hadn’t spent the night in my room in a year and a half.” She smiled. “You weren’t even surprised to see me. Not really. Just said to come in, I’d catch cold sitting on the roof. You’d let me sleep in the bed and you’d sleep on the floor. I felt so guilty – I kept trying to sleep on the floor. I’d even doze off sitting on the floor, but I’d always wake up in the bed. Finally, a few months after I started coming, you got one of those cots that folded up. You’d put it in the closet during the day.”

“I found that cot after the accident,” Jason admitted. “I asked Emily what I used it for – she didn’t know.”

“Well, no, she wouldn’t,” Elizabeth said. “The first few weeks I was there, I still didn’t sleep much. I’d try, but I’d always wake up in nightmares. You always got to me before I’d make too much noise. I don’t know how you do it – you probably stayed up. I don’t think you got a lot sleep either. But eventually, I started sleeping more. My grades went back up, and I passed the year.”

“I can’t believe we never got caught,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“I never said that,” Elizabeth said. “We did…once.” Her face became troubled. “We overslept one morning. It was in March, a month before the accident. You insisted on walking me back and my father was waiting. He threw me against the house and ended up spraining my wrist. You stepped in and punched him.” She bit her lip. “You also slammed his head against the trellis. His nose never looked the same.”

“Good,” Jason said shortly.

She smiled. “We went up to my room and you wrapped my wrist.” She touched her wrist as if remembering. “You tried to make me go to the police, but I knew they’d never believe me. Webber was a name respected almost as much as Quartermaine. I just knew my father would either kill me or send me away and I knew I’d never see you again. You made a compromise…” Elizabeth trailed off. She hadn’t meant to tell him that part of the story. He already felt guilty enough.

“What kind of compromise?” Jason asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Elizabeth said quickly.

“Yes it does,” Jason pressed.

She took a deep breath. “You told me that when you turned eighteen in August, you’d come into your trust fund. You said we’d leave Port Charles and get away from my father.” She looked at him, into his eyes that were practically over flowing with self-loathing. “It’s not your fault, Jason. You didn’t know-”

Jason exhaled slowly. “What happened when you didn’t have me around?”

Elizabeth looked down. “I had to go back to my room. For three years. I barely slept, and I barely graduated. My father didn’t hit me as often but when he did…it would hurt for weeks. He broke my arm once and I ended up with a concussion twice,” she whispered. “On my eighteenth birthday, he woke me up early. He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me to the window. With his other hand, he opened it and shoved me out halfway. He told me that I was a bastard that he’d been forced to raise, that he hated me and wanted me out of the house. He offered to end my misery and throw me the rest of the way. That where I was going, it wouldn’t matter. I’d end up dead anyway. That’s how I found out Sonny was my brother. My father knew all along.” Elizabeth blinked back tears. “I didn’t tell Emily the truth when I told her about that morning. I just told her my father came in, told me the truth and left. I couldn’t tell her without having to tell her the whole story – and you were the only person who ever knew.”

“I wish…I wish I’d known. I’m sorry,” Jason said. “It’s not enough – and there are no words to tell you how-”

“I didn’t tell you to make you feel bad,” Elizabeth said quietly. “The nightmares never went away – they just stopped coming as often.”

They sat in silence for a while as Jason struggled with the story. He couldn’t believe what she’d gone through — both with and without him. He was now curious about the nature of their relationship and it’d gone any further than he was aware of.

“I only have one question and I want an honest answer,” Jason said, locking eyes with her. “Before the accident, did you know I was attracted to you?”

“How did you know that?” Elizabeth said, her hand darting up to her mouth in surprise. “How could you know…”

“Emily told me I was going to ask you to the senior prom,” Jason replied, studying her reaction very carefully. “You did know, didn’t you?”

Elizabeth nodded slowly. “We were together,” she whispered. “No one knew…I was scared that my father would send me away and I’d never see you again.”

“We were dating?” Jason asked, incredulously. His conversation with AJ earlier that night drifted back to him and he could only blink.

Elizabeth slipped off the bed and turned her back to him. “If that’s what you call it. We’d sit in your room and for the first time, we’d talk about more than my problems. We’d talk about the future – about the way we felt about our families and people we knew. We’d talk about everything. Sometimes, we’d kiss.” She wrapped her arms around herself. He stood up and approached her. “I was only fifteen but I had convinced myself I was in love with you.”

Jason put a hand on her shoulder and she turned. Tears were streaking down her cheeks again. “Why didn’t you tell me…after the accident?”

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “We didn’t get along. You weren’t the same person, you didn’t have the memories. What good would it have done?”

He brought his hands up to wipe the tears away. “God, I wish I could have known – I wish I’d been here for you,” he whispered.

Elizabeth reached up with her own hand and wiped a tear from his cheek. “That doesn’t matter anymore,” she said meeting his eyes. “You’re here now.” Her hand lingered on his cheek. As different as he really looked – Elizabeth was beginning to realize that maybe the only real difference between Jason and who’d once been were the absence of memories.

Blue eyes locked on blue – she felt like she was drowning. She knew she should pull away or leave – but she couldn’t move. He moved his head slightly in her direction and she lifted her chin and closed her eyes.

The first kiss was light, just a brushing of the lips. The second was a bit longer – but it was the third that made the difference. Their lips parted, tongues met and Elizabeth couldn’t think anymore. She moved her hands through his hair and arched her body against him. His hands drifted from her face, down past her shoulders to wrap around her waist and drag her closer.

It was the need for oxygen that finally drove them apart. Breathing heavily, Elizabeth put a hand over her racing heart. She leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. She kept her eyes closed.

Jason stood rooted to the same spot. He drove his fingers through his hair and cursed himself for pushing her. She’d never trust him now.

It was a few minutes before Elizabeth trusted herself to speak. “Jason-”

He jerked his eyes up to meet hers. She’d opened her eyes and was looking at him. “Elizabeth, I am so sorry. I never should-”

“Stop,” she whispered, moving away from the wall. “Do I look like I regret anything?” she asked, searching his eyes.

Jason closed his eyes. “No.” He opened them. “But I think I do.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I know who I’m falling for,” he said quietly. He tucked a curl behind her ear. “But I don’t know who you want me to be.”

Elizabeth sucked in a breath and moved away from him. She sat on the edge of the bed and covered her eyes with her hands. Who had she been kissing a few minutes? Jason Quartermaine, Jason Morgan or a cross between the two? She looked up. His back was to her. She stood up and went to him. “Jason.”

He turned to look at her, the mask of indifference in place. He looked down at her.

“I need time,” she told him. “Everything is happening so fast. The nightmares, you – the territory problems, the novel rejections, I just need time to think.”

Jason furrowed his brow in confusion. “The novel rejections?” he repeated.

“I’ll tell you about that some other time,” Elizabeth said. “But I wanted you to kiss me. I hope you believe me.”

He smoothed her hair down. “I believe you.”

She bit her lip. “I’d better go,” she said quietly. “It’s late and I have work tomorrow.”

As she put her hand on the door knob, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Will you be all right sleeping?”

Elizabeth turned her head towards him. “Probably not,” she admitted. “But I won’t be sleeping anyway.”

“Do you…” Jason hesitated. “Do you want to stay here?”

Elizabeth sighed and peered up at him. “Would you stay with me?” she asked softly. She flushed. “In case I wake up…I mean…”

“If you want me too,” Jason said. He gestured towards the bed. “I’ll take the floor.”

“No.” Elizabeth put a hand on his arm. “No,” she repeated firmly. “You’re not sleeping on the floor.”

“Well, the chair will be pretty uncomfortable,” Jason said, shifting his feet.

She shook her head. “It’s a king-size bed. We can share.”

Share a bed with her. Good god, this woman was going to kill him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth nodded. “All right, then I’ll take the floor, you have the bed.”

“Elizabeth-”

“Either we both sleep in the bed, or we’re both on the floor,” Elizabeth said firmly. “I’m not going to put you out because you’re being kind.” She smirked. “You’re not arguing with a thirteen year old.”

“All right,” Jason said. He shook his head. “Do you want to borrow something to sleep in?”

“If that’s okay,” Elizabeth said quietly. He headed to the dresser and opened one of the drawers. He removed a blue t-shirt and handed it to her. “The, uh, bathroom is over there,” he said pointing to a door on the far side of the room.

“Thanks.” Elizabeth headed to the bathroom.
—-

Some time, just before dawn, Jason’s eyes opened. He looked down to see a mass of curls ticking his chin. He raised his eyes to the ceiling and swore silently. They’d started the night out on opposite sides of the bed – he was sure of it. Somehow, they’d both ended up in center. He was lying on his back and she was curled into his side, her hair flung every which way on his chest and one of her arms slung just above his waist.

The first thing that he realized was that he didn’t mind waking up next to her like this. The second was that he could more than likely get used to it. And the third…she was muttering in her sleep.

“Don’t…don’t, daddy…”

Jason frowned. She must be having a nightmare, he guessed. He stroked her hair. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re all right,” he said softly. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

Elizabeth cowered in the corner of her room. “Don’t…Don’t Daddy!” she screamed as Jeff approached her, the belt snapping in his hands.

She shut her eyes, trying to block out the image before her and she waited for the first sting of the belt.

“Hey, it’s okay.”

At the sound of his voice, Elizabeth opened her eyes. Jason was crouched in front of her, holding his hand out. “You’re all right.”

She hesitantly took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. He pulled her into a hug. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

Jason kept stroking her hair as he felt her body relax. She was still asleep. He closed his eyes and decided to try to sleep a little more.

—-

Emily stretched and rolled over. She woke up with a start as she tumbled off of Jason’s couch. She banged her head against the coffee table and swore. She’d fallen asleep waiting for Jason. The sun was now streaming through the windows. She saw Jason’s keys and jacket on the desk.

Emily stood and headed up the stairs. She just wanted to satisfy her curiosity. She silently slid open the door to Jason’s room and had to struggle to keep a squeal from popping out.

Jason had made it home all right – with Elizabeth it would seem. They were both lying on their side in the center of the bed, both deeply asleep. Jason’s arm was slung across Elizabeth’s waist and his face in her hair. Elizabeth had her hands clasped over Jason’s.

Emily slipped back out and skipped down the stairs, humming. It didn’t matter that they probably had slept together in the biblical sense. They were getting closer – and the reunion dinner tonight was just the way for Emily to find out how close.