Blind to Love: Friendship

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Welcome to my new story! This is going to go back to when Jason and Courtney were together, and Courtney had started taking drugs but no one knows about it yet. In case anyone has a perfect memory of the storyline at the time, Jason and Courtney were not going to have a baby, Carly did not get kidnapped that second time by Alcazar. Courtney started drugs as a way to cope with Jason's lifestyle, nothing more. Carly is still pregnant with Morgan. Ric was given a choice from Sonny to leave town or get killed. Ric chose to leave. Elizabeth is slowly remaking her life and she's realized that she was a fool for walking out on Jason and would like a friendship with him. Emily is back in town, but has no cancer. Alcazar number two is still around, but Faith isn't. I think that's it for now. Enjoy!


--- Kelly's

Elizabeth was beginning to feel the strain of her double shift. She and Penny had worked the first shift of the day and Penny was supposed to have worked with Courtney for the second one. Courtney, however, had called in sick. Sick, Elizabeth and the other waitresses had decided, was a euphemism for lazy that was wearing thin. They had called almost everyone on the emergency list, but couldn't find a replacement. Elizabeth kept the extra money in her mind as she dragged through her second shift. It was a slow night, luckily.

It gave her time to think. Usually she painted in the hopes of not thinking. Her life hadn't been perfect or even remotely close to it for a while now. Last month it had gone from sham to hell, but she would much rather live in hell than with Ric Lansing.

She'd thought he was kind and gentle; a sweet guitar playing lawyer. Yes, he had a mean streak, but it was only for those who deserved it, she had told herself. He loved her, and he wasn't going to run from the relationship. Honestly, she'd thought he would be the perfect man for her.

Reality had set in the moment she had seen Carly Corinthos standing in a panic room that she hadn't known existed in her own home. It had actually set in pretty fast.

Her husband was a monster. She wasn't overreacting or being unforgiving. No one would have accused her of that. If anything they'd accuse her of stupidity. How many people had warned her? Her grandmother, her best friend, Lucky, Sonny, Jason…

Elizabeth felt her eyes tear up at the thought of him. He was the reality she had missed. She'd let him run away and she'd run just as hard and fast. The moment she'd seen Carly, the full extent of her blind stupidity had hit her like a ton of bricks. Who was the girl who'd lived in that house with Ric? No one Elizabeth knew. Jason must have seen that, after all, he'd practically taught her how to be just herself.

Her eyes stung all the more as she remembered the look on his face when she'd pulled that gun on him and told him that he was the one being blind, that he was nothing more than Sonny's enforcer. How wrong could she have been?

Standing there, in the middle of her shift, she let herself be honest again. All she wanted was to have his friendship back. She wanted to be his friend. At the very least that was what she wanted. She knew that every time she thought about him, she was falling in love with him even faster.

"Elizabeth? Are you okay?" Elizabeth was startled out of her thoughts by the very star of them. Jason was standing in front of her looking concerned.

"I'm sorry. I can't believe I just zoned out like that." She said, slightly embarrassed. Her mind reminded her that he wouldn't care, wouldn't judge. It would take time to be as comfortable with him, and herself, as she had been years ago.

" I know the feeling." He answered, face expressionless when there once would have been a tight smile. "Are you here alone?" Jason asked, looking around.

"Oh, um, your fiancée called in sick." She said, trying her hardest to keep the snide tone in check. With Courtney, that was a tall order to fill, but she wouldn't unload her dislike for the blonde on him.

"Yeah, I know." Jason admitted, something off in his voice. Annoyance? "She told Carly that and Carly told her that she was taking advantage of Bobbie. She's in the car now. Pouting… I don't know. I don't really care." Jason said with a hint of a smile. This was the first time in weeks he had actually felt happy, or at least at ease. Going home to Courtney was becoming more and more difficult. Usually he worked late at the warehouse just to avoid her. He would come home each night after she had gone to bed. The books for the warehouse were in the best condition they had ever been in. He could tell that Sonny and Carly were worried, especially since Sonny had found him asleep at the warehouse a few days earlier.

He would rather sleep on the couch in Sonny's office than risk going back to his bed and starting an argument. The girl he lived with now wasn't the one that he had started to care about months ago. He wouldn't say it to Sonny or Courtney, but he wasn't even sure she was someone he liked. The car ride over, as short as it had been, had been torture. Courtney had complained about having to carry out her own commitments as if Jason was asking her to endure walking through fire. She acted as if she had no respect for anyone, something that grated on his nerves as much as the complaints did.

How was it that he could have been miserable five minutes ago in the car, and then felt better than he had in months after a few seconds talking with Elizabeth?

"Jason?" Elizabeth asked him.

His head snapped back to look at her. She was no longer behind the counter, but instead sitting next to him with a cup of hot chocolate and coffee for him. She smiled at him "Guess I'm not the only one who's getting lost in thought today."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." He apologized, eyes sweeping the empty diner. It was nice, to be alone to talk to Elizabeth.

"I know. So, would you care to wait with me for Courtney? I think we have a good half an hour before the dinner rush. Then you can just carry her in here." Elizabeth said with a grin. Jason smiled back at her. She suddenly realized she wasn't living in hell. Not anymore. She was in paradise.

"Of course," He conceded with a nod, "I'm sorry she keeps calling in sick." Jason admitted. It sounded wrong to Elizabeth's ears, that he should apologize for Courtney's actions.

"You don't have to say sorry for her, Jason. It's not you're fault." Then, without knowing why she was saying it, she leaned forward, "Bobbie's ready to fire her." The other waitresses had been complaining. At first Bobbie had let is slide. Courtney was the first girlfriend that Carly'd had in a long time. With Courtney and Carly's relationship getting more strained, however, Bobbie's reluctance was wearing off more and more each day.

"I can't say I blame her. It's her place. Sonny or I would fire anyone like that who worked in the warehouse." Jason assured her. "Though, if she doesn't work even those few times a week, that means she'll be home." Jason mused aloud. He then saw the look on Elizabeth's face and realized what he'd said. He didn't try to explain it or take it back though.

Elizabeth knew she must have a stricken look on her face. She had been under the idea that Jason and Courtney were happy. It was one of the only things keeping her from going to him and telling him everything. "You and Courtney are… having problems?" she asked. Then she quickly added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want."

Jason took a sip of his coffee and was slightly surprised to see that she had remembered that he liked it black. "No, I don't mind. She just… isn't the person I thought she was. Or Carly thought she was. I thought she could handle the buisness. she can't. She's clingy. She second guesses what I say to her. Everything I do seems to be wrong. I give her space, she accuses me of wanting to leave her. I stay close, she says I'm pressuring her. I tell her that maybe we should keep postponing the wedding, she breaks down in tears and says I don't love her anymore. I try to move the wedding up, she gets second thoughts. I touch her, she shys away." He sighed. "I can't figure out what do to."

Elizabeth felt her heart break for him. She knew first hand that he wasn't too good with relationships. This must be torture for him. "Carly can't help you?" she asked curiously.

Jason shook his head. "She does, and she doesn't know what to say anymore either. Courtney runs to them at day, to ask them to talk to me, or to help her. to complain." Jason stopped short, going silent.

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump this all on you." He answered.

Elizabeth smiled. "Friends help friends."

Jason smiled back at her. He leaned forward and hugged her, before he'd even thought it through. "I…I appreciate it." He told her quietly as he pulled away. She felt right in his arms, he realized, and then he firmly pushed that away. It wouldn't help anyone.

--- Outside Kelly's

Courtney had come armed with an excuse - working with Bitch Webber wasn't something she was going to do tonight. If she told Jason that they needed to talk, he would take her home. She knew that he wasn't as happy as he had been before, even though he said he loved her. He would try to fix things, if she asked, even though she had no intention talking out their problems tonight or any night. Why risk losing him?

She glanced through the windows, looking for Jason. Instead of being in the corner, nursing a coffee and waiting patiently for her, he was sitting at the counter with Elizabeth, talking. She felt her stomach clench at the sight of them sitting so close.

How dare Elizabeth make a move on him? She'd been the one to throw him away, and Courtney had fixed what Elizabeth had broken. For that self-important little painter to try to slide back in…

Jason hugged her. All the air left Courtney's lungs, her angry tirade from a moment before stopped short. It wasn't Elizabeth flirting, or at least not just her.

She should have known. Jason did want to leave her. She had been stupid to believe him when he said that he didn't. She had been amazing to him. She had gotten him away from Elizabeth and instead of being grateful and trying to change to make their relationship work, what was he doing? He was planning on leaving her for Elizabeth Webber.

She would make him regret it, she decided, nearly out of nowhere. The plan formed in her mind and she smiled.

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