A/N: I wrote this story as a one shot a while ago and I decided to continue it. I hope you'll enjoy it!
~ Finding Your Way ~
Prologue
FNF#14: How lucky I am to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye to.
For the second time in her short existence, Elizabeth Webber was packing her bags and skipping town. The first time had been eight years ago when at sixteen she had, on a whim, decided to leave the pretty mountains of Colorado for the darker streets of Port Charles, New York. The constant squabbling in the Webber household had forced her adventurous self to jump on a plane and join her Grandmother in what was supposed to be her freedom land; with no overbearing mother to control her every move and no neglecting father for whom to fight for attention.
Her first years in Port Charles had gone exactly the way she had envisioned them before leaving home; she had finally been free. Yes Audrey had been her parent's eyes and ears but it had never been very difficult to escape the woman's microscope. And as soon as Elizabeth was old enough, she had distanced herself from her grandmother and rented a small studio, against the older woman's wishes; but the youngest Webber was then an adult and the last thing she would wait for was anybody's permission.
Port Charles had been great to Elizabeth, she had been able to spread her wings and grow into a successful young lady with a promising career in the arts field. And she had found love, or at least what she thought love was supposed to be. A young handsome man she had met while waitressing in a small diner two years back, a man who had been able to make her feel special and loved for the first time in her life. Unfortunately the same man would become the reason why she decided to pack her bags; as he turned Port Charles into a place she couldn't wait to leave behind.
** Flashback **
Elizabeth finished recording the order she had just received for a new painting exposed in the Howard art gallery. She had started as the great Mrs. Howard's assistant fresh out of college but her hard work and devotion had quickly earned her a well deserved promotion as an art dealer for the renowned gallery.
The young woman finished entering the required information in the computer and pressed save when her boyfriend's unexpected voice startled her. "Hey Beth!"
She took a couple of seconds to regain her composure. "You scared me! And you know I hate when you call me that."
"Oh, come on… it's my little name for you! The same way you call me Ric." The man walked in the room to stand by her cluttered desk.
"Everyone calls you Ric." She reminded him.
"Not true, I'm Richard for everyone at the law firm, or simply Mr. Lansing for others." He said, grinning profusely.
"Yeah… Um... what are you doing here anyway? I didn't know you were stopping by." She asked wondering if it was normal that she had forgotten about the man's existence until he had shown up.
"I just wanted to let you know that we are having dinner tonight at the Metro Court with my father."
"Your father? You could have told me that earlier!"
"Now, earlier… what difference does it make?" He quickly interjected. "I just want to give him the good news."
"Wait… What good news?" She suspiciously inquired, having an idea of where her boyfriend was going with his statement.
"Well… about the engagement of course."
"I told you I need more time to think about it." She added, standing up from her desk to place a folder back in a drawer.
"What is there to think about? I asked you to marry me and really there is only one answer I need to hear from you and you don't need more than three freaking weeks to make up your mind!" He burst out, with the same patronizing grin placarded on his face.
Elizabeth stared him down, trying to remember exactly what she had fallen in love with so many months ago. Ric was extremely arrogant and deeply possessive; traits she hated but had for very long excused and mistaken for love and care. He had started off as the dream boyfriend, always there when she needed him and always supportive of her but his performance had gone from wonderful to truly deplorable.
When Elizabeth had decided to move to Port Charles, she had no idea she was running away from one prison to fall right back into another. Ric had completely isolated her from the outside world, he was barely available to her anymore but yet continuously made decisions in her name; from what he thought she should wear to where she should place her money, and of course always wanted to be informed of her every move while she was never privy of his coming and goings. Elizabeth had expressed her concerns about his changing behavior and he had in response asked her to marry him explaining that it would fix all of their problems, but Elizabeth saw it more as him trying to build thicker walls around her.
"Elizabeth look at me." He said in a less aggressive tone, hands moving up to cradle the brunette's face. "I love you and I want you to be my wife but for some reason I am starting to think that it's not what you want."
She remained quiet, she didn't know what she wanted anymore; Ric had been her everything for a long time but maybe she wanted more than what he had to offer.
The young man filled in the words for her, his thumbs caressing her jaw line. "We are going to have a gigantic wedding, with no limits as of how much you can spend. I'll get you the country's best wedding planner, the best location anything you want."
Elizabeth shook her head from side to side, freeing herself from his hands; the man who wanted to marry her clearly didn't know her and probably didn't realize he was pushing her in the opposite direction with each additional word. "Ric…"
"Seriously, anything you want. And I've been looking at a few houses, there is one by the lake that I think would be perfect for us. It has plenty of bedrooms, a large garden, just enough room for us and our future family."
A family… Elizabeth hadn't even thought that far ahead. "Listen Ric, all this sounds wonderful but I'm afraid you're going a little too fast here. I just need a little more time to figure out what it is that I really want because getting married is a big deal and I really don't want to make a mistake."
"You are calling marrying me a mistake?" He asked not taking her remark likely, the woman's inflexibility was slowly grating his nerves.
Ric's accusing tone caused Elizabeth to take a few steps away. "It's not what I meant and you know it."
"A mistake huh?" he repeated; now visibly bowling with anger on the inside. "I am offering you to become Mrs. Lansing, I am offering you the world and you can stand here and be indecisive. Elizabeth you wouldn't be anything if it wasn't for me. If you work here it is thanks to me, I introduced you to everyone that is anyone in this city and got you out of your little diner. Do you know how many women would kill to be in your shoes?"
She faced him, revolted that he would say these things. "Then why don't you ask one of them to marry you? Because you know what, I just made up my mind and my answer is no!" She assertively uttered then picked up her handbag from her desk and tried walking past Ric.
The heated man grabbed her arm firmly, preventing her from making another step. "This conversation is not over." His unyielding voice resounded loudly in Elizabeth's ears.
"Ric, let go of my arm right now or I promise you I will scream as loud as my lungs will let me." She said eyes fixed on the nearest exit.
The man didn't let go, his fingers still digging deep in her flesh. "You don't know what you are turning your back on, you have the chance of becoming someone important, someone whose existence actually matters but you choose to walk away?"
"Ric, let go of me! You're hurting me." She said trying to get out of his hold.
His tone went from aggressive to soft. "Elizabeth, please… one last time, let's forget about all this, just come for dinner at eight at the Metro Court, make yourself nice, you can wear that pretty Valentino number I got you last week. We'll just have a nice dinner with my father and we'll discuss this marriage thing later ok?"
"No, I am not going to sit there and pretend like everything is fine. I am not going to dinner and… I don't think I can marry you either."
"You don't mean that."
"Yes I do, it's over Ric. And now please let go of my arm."
"Why do you always have to be so stubborn?" He told her, still trying to assert his dominant position by holding her immobile.
"Ric, let go of my arm right now… or I promise you I will scream."
He didn't let go and without delay, Elizabeth followed through on her warning and started screaming as stridently as she could.
"Shut up! Stop yelling!" The man pleaded, panicked that someone would walk by putting a dent in his flawless reputation.
"Let me go!" She threw out one last time. He did and Elizabeth could hear the man's threatening words in the background as she hurried out of the room.
"Fine, walk away from me… but it's only a matter of time until you come back begging for another chance. Mark my words! I'm going to make your life hell Elizabeth… You're nothing without me! You'll be back and I'll be here when you realize I am the only man for you Beth! Hear that? I am the only man for you!"
Less than a month after Ric's threats, Elizabeth was out... of a job, of her apartment and of Port Charles. He had managed to push her out of a place she had been calling home for many years now; but her decision was made, and there was no turning back, definitely no going back to him but instead looking forward and getting a fresh start.
Needless to say she became enraged when a conveniently timed flat tire delayed the beginning of her new life. The brunette jumped out of her car and didn't even try to pretend as if she knew anything about changing a tire; she had never been taught neither by her father nor by her ex-boyfriend who wasn't the kind to get his designer shirts dirty. She fiercely kicked the deflated tire with the tip of her boot, cursing the crappy car that after only a couple of miles wanted to stop her from leaving town. "If it is a sign well I don't care, I'm not staying!" She yelled at herself.
Elizabeth called for help on her cell phone, but was told it would take at least two hours before they got to her car as all the mechanics where busy at the moment. She tried stopping another car, but unfortunately not many people were passing by the side road she had decided to undertake to avoid traffic. So she sat behind the wheel and waited, with nothing to do to occupy her time but sulk about her desperate situation.
After forty five minutes of infuriating boredom, a young blond man came knocking on her window. She hastily pulled it down wondering if God had sent an angel to her rescue.
"Hey, need some help with that tire?" He casually asked her.
It seemed as if her prayers had been answered.
Elizabeth opened the door and came out of her scratched up Ford Focus to speak with the newly arrived man. He was tall, way taller than her and her three inch high boots. He had a very attractive visage she had never seen before but somehow inspired trust with eyes as blue as the ocean in those destination brochures. He stood firmly, his demeanor reading total confidence that only helped reassure the brunette who had melodramatically started to believe she would end up dying alone on the side of this abandoned road.
Elizabeth noticed his parked motorcycle behind him and noted how it fitted perfectly with the shiny leather jacket he was sporting. "Yes! I've been stuck here for half an hour. I don't know anything about changing a tire and I would really appreciate it if you could help me with that."
The young man nodded and ran a hand under his nose before answering. "Sure, do you have a spare?"
She probably did, but wasn't sure where. "Um… I don't know, I should, in the trunk maybe." Elizabeth walked to the back of her car. "Excuse the mess but I'm moving." She said, popping the trunk opened.
The man noticed a multitude of bags and boxes of different sizes and shapes messily piled up in the back of her car. "No problem, we'll just have to move all this though, to get to the spare."
"Ok…" Elizabeth trailed out thinking about how much time it had taken her to fit years of accumulated stuff in her small car. "By the way I'm Elizabeth."
"Jason." The man told her taking out a good armful of boxes that he laid on the side of the road. Elizabeth imitated him and started unloading her car as well. The two finished emptying the trunk and Jason reached the spare and a jack. He retrieved a few additional tools from the back of his bike then quickly came back to work on the damaged tire.
Elizabeth stood close, observing the man in action. Her sight was particularly drawn to the perfect shape his sturdy arms formed each time he tightened his muscles up. The young woman was almost hypnotized by his flexing limbs as he operated the jack with such dexterity.
To Elizabeth's chagrin, the man interrupted her entertained stare by asking her for some help. "Could you hand me the wrench please?"
"Sure." The brunette said clearing her throat. She gave him the tool and leaned closer towards the gorgeous man who had come to her rescue, getting a better view. Maybe instead of a curse that flat tire had been a farewell gift from the city of Port Charles she thought.
"You said you're moving out, where are you going?" Jason asked her, diverting her gaze away from his muscles in action.
"Oh, that's the interesting part… I don't know." She declared, one of her hand traveling through her thick brown hair. Elizabeth noticed Jason's eyes following her moving hand assiduously.
The young man then gave his attention back to the damaged tire that he detached from the car. "So you just decided to get on the road with a car full of stuff without any destination in mind?" He asked, no judging in his tone, and then picked up the spare tire to fit it on the car.
"Yeah… that's pretty much it. I first planned on going nowhere, but I couldn't find the right way." She said sarcastically. "So I decided to drive south and maybe I would end up somewhere nice; but if you have a map on how to get there I would really appreciate it."
"Better yet, I can take you if you have a minute."
"Where, nowhere?"
"Yep." He simply said, a faint grin harbored by his lips.
"You are serious? I was joking you know."
"But I'm not." He continued; his deep blue eyes fixed on hers.
His intense stare brought a smile to her face and a light blush to her cheeks. "Well… It's the first day of my new life and for some reason I am feeling adventurous. I'd love to see how nowhere looks like."
The man finished changing the damaged tire, carried all her things back safely inside her car and helped her on the back of his bike. Elizabeth didn't know what she was doing and thought it would probably be against every rational thought to jump on the back of such a powerful machine with a total stranger, but she didn't care; Jason seemed like a very sympathetic guy and without a care she was on her way to nowhere with him.
"So this is what nowhere looks like?" Elizabeth said as soon as they lay foot on ground.
The young man simply nodded.
"Ok, sorry to break it to you but we are somewhere… it's just that there isn't much."
"You just broke my heart." He said, faking disheartenment.
Elizabeth smiled, taking a better look at her surroundings. "How did you find this place anyway?"
"I ride my motorcycle, sometimes for hours and I can end up in the most interesting places… It's really peaceful here; I straight up fell in love with the place and kind of think of it as mine. No one comes out here anymore and well I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist on a city map… anyway that's my rationale for calling it nowhere."
"I see… but not very smart bringing me to your secret location. You are very trusting Jason, because I could very well steal your modern paradise and decide to build a three story home down here."
"Didn't you say you were leaving town?"
"You actually pay attention to what I say, that's refreshing." She answered with a charming grimace then kept looking around the deserted place. "The colors are just perfect here, and this rusty bridge over there… this scene would make a beautiful painting."
"You paint?" He asked the brunette intrigued.
"I do… I haven't produced any chef d'oeuvre yet but I am working on it and who knows, maybe I will become a famous tortured soul one day and people will be fighting to get a piece of my life's work." She explained letting herself get carried away.
"I'm not really into art, can't quite understand it." He let out, digging his hands deep in his jeans pockets.
"Art is not calculus, there isn't much to understand really… it is just a form of expression, a way to capture moments and feelings in the same way a poet would, just that you use images, colors, shapes to do it." She noticed the lack of connection in the man's eyes. "Well I see art really isn't your thing."
"Sorry, I really can't understand paintings… it's because of a condition. I was in an accident a few years ago and well I was told that my brain got damaged and that I would have a hard time looking at photographs, paintings and things like that."
"Oh… sorry I didn't know, I didn't mean to make fun of you or anything."
"You didn't."
"Good… but that must be weird though. You mean you don't see things the way I do for example?"
"Yeah, kind of… but I'm used to it, it's not really a problem."
"You know, I still stand by the fact that there isn't much to understand anyway. You should try someday, just look at any piece of art and instead of trying to get what's going on, just think about what you feel when you look at it."
Jason listened to her, definitely impressed by her passion for art. "I'll have to try that some time."
A bright smile appeared on Elizabeth's face. "Sorry I can get a little overboard whenever I start talking art."
"No worries, and well you'll probably enjoy New York then."
"Wait… I never said I was going to New York." She eyed him suspiciously.
"I don't know, I just figured because you were driving south…"
The young woman dropped on the grass, legs crossed Indian style. "Well you figured right… Yeah, that's the plan. At least for now, I'll see if New York is the place for me otherwise I'll just pack my bags again and keep driving."
"New York's a great city; you'll probably like it over there."
"Yeah… a large city where I can get lost, start over and avoid the dumb mistakes I've made in my life."
"Mistakes?"
"Notably one… I trusted the wrong person and well now I have to deal with the consequences."
"At a point when you have to leave town?"
"There is nothing left for me in Port Charles… nothing but sour memories and people; actually no, a person I do not ever want to see again."
"Ok… but town's not that small, if you want to avoid someone it's pretty easy. I barely see my folks and they only live a few miles away."
"You have to teach me how to do that… but it wouldn't even work because the person I am trying to avoid will not simply step back and let me do my thing. He has made it clear that he will make my life a living hell if I don't play by his rules."
"Ok… that's a little extreme."
"Tell me about it!"
"This person… is he your boyfriend or something?"
"Used to be… but I wised up and decided to leave him. Actually he proposed but I realized that I did not want to be married to a man like him."
Elizabeth looked down at the grass she found particularly green then kept talking. "Why I am telling my life to a total stranger I don't know… but I have to admit it feels so much better to simply let everything out." She was probably never going to see Jason again so felt free to express everything that was on her heart. "But please whenever I become too boring or whiny just stop me ok?"
"Don't worry I'm not bored… just yet. But you said he threatened you because you turned down his proposal?"
"Pretty much yeah… Let's say he couldn't take no for an answer. When I told him I wouldn't marry him he said he would make sure to make my life a nightmare until I don't have a choice but to come back to him crawling and begging. Damn it, those words motivated me so much to prove him wrong."
"I can understand why. Did he…did he ever hurt you?" Jason cautiously asked, afraid he was crossing a line with his question.
"Oh no never… he has issues but he wouldn't go that far and risk ruining his career. Appearances are way too important to my ex and that's, I think, mainly why he was so hell bent on us getting married. He knew it would win him points towards making partner at his law firm. I knew he had his moments and that he wouldn't take rejection well but I never could have imagined he would go that far."
"What did he do?"
"Calling me every minute, getting in my face wherever I went, showing up at my work and apartment trying to convince me I should take him back. When I wouldn't change my mind he got furious and I suspect he got me fired from my job at the Howard art gallery, and then I got kicked out from my apartment… my lovely apartment with this huge closet."
"Did you try getting a restraining order or something like that?"
"Of course I did… but Ric's a lawyer, and a damn good one with that, with lots of connections. So of course he managed to get around that and my request was rejected."
Jason kept listening to the brunette's story assiduously. "I used to be so much in love with him… I don't know what happened, how we got to this point." Elizabeth lay down on the grass, head resting on her crossed arms as Jason sat next to her. "It was all like a fairytale when we met. I was this lost little waitress who met a handsome hot shot lawyer, son of a senator. At first I couldn't get what he saw in me and now I am sickened by the simple idea that I could have very well been on my way to becoming Mrs. Richard Lansing."
"Ric?" The man threw out with a hint of repugnance.
"Yes, you know him?" Elizabeth asked shooting her head up in surprise.
"Unfortunately I do."
"Well… small world. And I sense some animosity."
"Yeah… we've had our differences. I work with his brother who he hates so of course he hates me by association."
"Well that definitely sounds like him. I've never met his brother… but I surely have heard a lot of not very nice things about Sonny, right?"
Jason nodded. "Ric is all talk, you don't have to worry about him, I can take care of him for you if you want." He politely offered, but with every intention of putting the man back in his place no matter her answer.
She chuckled, thinking Jason was joking. "Ric is way too powerful; there is not much anyone can do to stop him when he is that determined."
"I'm serious, just say the words and you can consider the problem fixed."
"Well, look at you!" Elizabeth teased Jason's boldness. "No but seriously I'm leaving anyway so it doesn't matter anymore. I am never going back to Ric, this is a given, but for some sick reason he thought that I would change my mind if he made me feel miserable enough. Unfortunately he was my life for these past two years, we would do everything together and I kind of got lost in the relationship with no one on the outside to turn to, and he knows that. So because I am not about to ask him for any help, I've simply decided to leave and start over. I've done it before… I can do it again."
"It's pretty courageous to just pick up and leave."
"Have you done that before? Just get up one day and decide to leave town, go somewhere unexpected?"
"Matter of fact I have. One day I just felt like my life was falling apart, nothing was working out so I just had to get away."
"Where did you go?" Elizabeth asked with excitement in her tone.
"I started by crossing the country, spent a few months on the road… then I went to Europe. Started in Paris then made my way to Italy, visiting as many cities as I could on the way."
"I've always dreamed of going to Europe, visiting all these rich cities. Is it true that the light is special in Italy?" She asked, particularly eager to find out.
"I don't know if it was the light but everything just seemed beautiful down there."
"Well, who knows, maybe my next destination after New York will be Europe… maybe the further I go the better."
"You know, going away doesn't fix anything. I've learned that from experience. One advice, go only if you know that's what you want; don't leave because you feel like you're being pushed out. If you are running away you'll end up resenting whatever trouble made you run even more because it made you change your whole life."
"Is that what happened to you? Is it why you came back?" She asked, trying to understand Jason better.
"I realized that my life was here and as much as I wanted to simply avoid all the problems I first decided to leave behind, I had to come back and face whatever was waiting for me home."
Their eyes met, each reflecting the other's conflicted feelings and Elizabeth realized just how much she had in common with the man in front of her. "I just don't know if there is anything worth staying for here, in this town. There used to be my Grams… but she is gone now so really I am not that attached."
"Not even friends?"
"Well not really, Ric always thought my friends were too immature so I slowly stopped hanging out with all of them. And you know how life gets; everybody is too busy dealing with their own problems to care about yours… apart from you maybe… so I should thank you for listening."
Elizabeth suddenly stood to her feet again and was promptly imitated by Jason. "You were right, nowhere is peaceful, and great for thinking. Nice discovery Mr.…" She paused, realizing she hadn't caught his last name.
"Morgan."
"Mr. Morgan." She repeated, not knowing she was talking to one of the most powerful man in Port Charles.
"I should maybe get going, it's getting late and I don't really want to drive at night… and you're looking at me really weirdly right now… do I have something on the face? Between my teeth?"
"No… nothing like that." the man said accompanied by a chuckle.
"So why are you staring at me like that?"
"Do you really want to know?" He told her, the same natural grin carved on his face.
"Yeah… I want to know; of course I want to know."
"I just really want to kiss you… and if you don't object in the next two seconds I'm going for it." In the few minutes they shared talking about themselves, the young man had developed an unexpected crush for the woman he couldn't call a stranger anymore, and it was the moment or never to taste her beautifully pouting mouth. In a few hours she would be far away, but she was there at the moment so Jason went for it.
Exactly two seconds after his last word, his lips fiercely crashed on hers stealing a kiss from the stunned brunette, but her state of shock was quickly replaced by fervent desire to herself get a taste of his sensual mouth. She kissed him back, first playing with the man's thin and soft lips while she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her by the waist. He eagerly gripped the hem of her shirt on both side, causing a faint moan to escape Elizabeth who was now completely enthralled by the unexpected kiss. The young man took advantage of the opportunity and slid his very agile tongue in between her slightly parted lips and found her tongue that he playfully teased.
They enjoyed the ardent sensation a little longer, but the need for air forced their two mouths to break apart. It took Elizabeth a few seconds to come back to her senses and she opened her eyes to see the man she knew very little about but who had been able to accomplish in one kiss what no one had ever been able to. She had never been kissed breathless before and now understood the feeling she until then believed to be complete exaggeration.
"You… you just kissed me?" She asked making sure she hadn't imagine the whole moment they had just spent.
"Yes I did."
"And what did you do that for?"
"Just because I felt like it."
Great answer she thought. "Ok… Um… yeah… we… we better get back to my car." She struggled to say then started walking towards the man's bike.
"Alright." He followed her and they jumped on the bike where she held his body close to hers on the ride back to where they had first met.
Elizabeth placed her feet back on ground wondering why on earth she had to be logical and had asked the young man to bring her back to her car. He was beautiful to look at, he was gentle, he was patient, he was a great listener and he definitely was an incredibly skilled kisser; but she was leaving town and there was no reason to get attached to a man she would probably never see again.
"Jason thank you; and not just for the tire but for listening to me. I haven't had a good friend to talk to in a long time and well I forgot how good it felt."
"It was my pleasure really. It was really nice to get to know you and I hope you'll decide to come back down here one day. Remember that it is your life and no one is running it for you."
She simply nodded and reached up for a last taste of his soft lips. Elizabeth sent a sad lingering look towards him while getting in her car and began driving south as planned. Jason hopped on his motorcycle thinking about how much he loved this road because of the incredible discoveries he sometimes made. The man put his helmet on and pushed on the gas, driving fast in the opposite direction.
Elizabeth held on to the wheel tightly, replaying in her mind the last words Jason had spoken. "It is your life and no one is running it for you." He was right, she was in control of her life and that was the reason why she had decided to leave town. Although as much as she had repeated to herself that leaving was what she wanted, it wasn't. She loved Port Charles, the inspiring walks on the docks, the breathtaking view from the overlook, the delicious ribs from Eli, breakfast at Kelly's… So many places she simply wasn't ready to leave behind.
Jason was right, there was no point in running away because a zealous controlling man had decided to highjack her life. Going away meant giving up and letting him win and she wouldn't give Ric the satisfaction. The best decision she had made in a long time was breaking things off with him and the second best one was accepting to jump on the back of a motorcycle with a total stranger who in a few minutes had helped her figure out what she wanted to do with her life better than any shrink could have. Elizabeth sent a couple of glances up towards her rear mirror and suddenly made another great decision.
Jason steered his motorcycle towards Port Charles with in mind his special meeting with Elizabeth. He wished he could have met her before, in other circumstances, her adorable laugh stuck with him, her dazzling smile, her sarcastic comments and passion for art; so many things in her he was attracted to. A faint smile appeared on the man's lips right as he noticed blinding headlights in his mirror. The young man pulled to the side to let the car pass him but the driver came up to his level and lowered the window.
Jason noticed Elizabeth behind the wheel and a strong feeling of joy took over him. "I don't think New York is this way." He yelled towards her.
"I know, but I think I just found my way."
The man nodded and pushed his bike to ride faster, followed closely by Elizabeth who had decided that leaving wasn't necessarily the best solution; maybe there was something left for her in port Charles after all…