This begins when Sam and Jason are on the run. Around November 2006. Here, Ric is not psycho – he just hates Jason. Sam & Ric did sleep together as did Jason and Liz, but it's all out in the open and they've tried to all move past it.
Chapter One
"Hello my beautiful girls!" Ric said with a huge grin walking through the front door.
"Dada!!" Molly cried out gleefully from the floor. Kristina smiled up at her 'daddy Ric' from beside her.
Alexis swung the kitchen doors open, greeting her ex with a smile, then looked to the girls.
"Okay sweeties, you ready?"
Kristina bent down to Molly, "Are we ready?"
Molly just stared with that smile. Kristina leaned closer and whispered something into her ear.
"Yay!" Yelled Molly, looking to her mother.
Alexis smiled back up to Ric, "Thank you for taking them. Viola had a family function, Sonny's got the boys, and I'm just tired."
"You okay? You went to the doctor?"
Alexis rolled her eyes, "I'm fine. I need no doctor."
Ric, concerned, walked closer to the once love of his life. "Alexis..."
"Ric, stop. I know." She held her hands up in defense, "I just need a night of relaxation...time to myself...time to sleep."
Ric eyed her warily but accepted her reasoning, "Okay. If you need anything..."
"You'll be the first I call." Alexis smiled once more and watched Ric gather up the girls. They didn't need luggage or toys, seeing that Ric bought them both entire new wardrobes and a whole new assortment of toys to keep at the lake house. Molly had it good, but Kristina...a little better...she had three houses with more than enough stuff. Alexis didn't like it. She knew that they were spoiling these girls by giving them everything they ever wanted, but she kept them grounded. That was what she did best, which also made her the 'bad guy' in most instances. If Kristina misbehaved, the toys disappeared. If she left clothes on the floor, they too, disappeared until her punishment was up. That was the worst for Kristina. More than anything, she loved her clothes. Alexis figured law was out of the question for that little one. Fashion would be her calling. She smiled every time Kristina walked in with a new extravagant outfit carefully put together from three different sets. Kristina was her little Chloe.
Alexis kissed the girls goodbye and returned to her briefcase, sifting through the days paperwork. She closed her eyes and breathed in. After a long needed exhale, she threw the papers back into the briefcase and shut it. "No work tonight...wine..." she smiled to herself and walked quickly into the kitchen, excited, although she missed her girls, to be able to drink before their bedtime. She looked at her watch: 5:03 p.m. She smiled, 'it's after five...I'm good' she thought to herself and poured the red wine carefully into the wine glass. After drawing her hot bubble bath and locking the door, walking through the kitchen and living room once more, dimming all the lights, she heard a quick rapping at the door. 'No' she ordered herself. 'No visitors'. The knock at the door increased in rhythm and in volume. 'If it's important, they'll say something'.
"Alexis?" the man on the other side yelled out.
'Damnit!' she screamed in her head, placing the wine glass down carefully, turning up the lamp. "Coming..." she called out to the door. Before opening it, she looked through the peephole. She saw him. There he was. The man her ex-husband had been looking for for months. The man her daughter was hiding with for months. The man who...was covered in blood. Alexis hadn't planned on opening the door. She wanted him to go away. She couldn't deal with this tonight, but when she saw the blood soaking on his usual gray t-shirt, she had flashes of Sam lying dead somewhere from a gunshot wound or an explosion. She then couldn't open the door quick enough.
"Jason!?" Alexis pulled him in the apartment, quickly walking out to see if he was accompanied by anyone...namely her daughter.
"She's not here." Jason walked over to the couch, contemplating taking a seat, but being that he was covered in blood, decided against it. By the time he turned around, Alexis' door was locked and she was an arm's length away.
"Well..." Alexis impatiently questioned.
"What?"
"WHERE IS SHE, JASON?! This isn't..." she pointed to his shirt.
"No, no, Alexis, this isn't hers. She's fine."
Alexis let out another much needed breath as she ran her hands over her face, then quickly returned her glare at the bloody man in front of her.
"You can start explaining at any time." She was not in the mood for this.
"Do you have a shirt...some clean clothes..."
"No."
"Nothing I can wear?" Jason pleaded with his eyes.
"Jason, no man lives here, would you like one of my suits?"
He actually smiled at that. "No, that's funny, I guess I'm okay."
Alexis felt bad for poking fun at the situation she knew nothing about, "Wait, okay, I think I might have an old Yale sweatshirt or one of Sonny's shirts."
Jason did a double-take, "Sonny's?"
Alexis' mouth dropped, "Um...yeah, he was um...he was here one night spending time with the girls. He cooked us dinner, Molly splattered spagetti on his shirt, and I demanded that he let me clean it...um..." Alexis looked around nervously, "where is Sam?"
"I'll explain...may I have the shirt first please?"
"Yes, oh, of course, I forgot...I'll be right back." Alexis practically ran to her room, scolding herself for reverting back to her nervous ways. She and Sonny were friends. Friends only, with a few benefits on the side. 'Stupid, stupid...think Alexis...it's his best friend!' Alexis lectured herself as she searched her drawers for one of the three shirts that she knew Sonny had left over. She found one, his black button up shirt. She smiled, feeling it through her fingers, remembering all it took that night for her not to rip it off of him. He came over to drop off Kristina from the movies, helped Alexis get her into bed, then shared a glass of champagne to celebrate her two months of remission. They talked on the couch for an hour...then many glasses of champagne later, one thing led to another, and Alexis found herself in the arms of 'the one who got away' as Ric still described him to that day. The next morning, her memory was blurry, but she knew what had happened and a smile formed. Sonny had left her a note on the pillow to her side.
A,
Don't regret last night, please. I sure as hell don't.
S
"Here ya go, I couldn't find his shirt, I hope you don't mind Yale." Alexis smiled and handed the gray sweatshirt to Jason, "And I know you like that color."
Jason smiled again. She was getting more than she expected from the man who was suppose to have no emotion. When the bloody shirt came off, Alexis quickly turned her body to face the opposite wall. 'He has no shirt on. Oh my god, that body' she kicked herself. This was her daughter's...boyfriend...fiance...something? Jason chuckled when he saw her turn. He quickly pulled the sweatshirt over his head.
"Okay, Alexis, I'm decent." he smiled in her direction as she turned around, face red.
"I'm sorry, that was ..."
"… uncomfortable?" He finished for her.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, you're Sam's ..."
"I'm Sam's ..."
Alexis shrugged her shoulders, looking to him for the correct wording.
Jason picked the bloody t-shirt off the floor, "I'm Sam's ex-fiance. We aren't together."
"What? Okay, look, start from the beginning ... where have you guys been and where is she now ... and why aren't you together?"
Jason placed the bloody shirt back to it's original spot on the floor and sat on the couch, looking around the room, "All right, well, I'll explain the blood first. Sam shot a cop."
Stunned ... shocked ... what was the word to describe her face. Jason quickly continued, "Sam and I were putting flowers on Lila's grave, a few cops showed up, they shot at us, we ran. One caught up with us on fifth street and Sam shot him." Noticing Alexis beginning to panic, he explained further, "She didn't mean to. It was my fault. I spun her around to get her out of the line of fire and her gun went off. It hit him in the neck, and, he didn't have a chance."
"How ... how did you know? YOU left him there?!" Alexis paced the room.
"I went to medical school...I mean...I don't really remember it, but the instinct kicked in. I ran to him, put pressure on his neck...Alexis, I tried all I could. He was dead in a few seconds."
Alexis remembered her wine. She downed the glass with a few gulps, walked briskly into the kitchen, and returned out...not with a glass, but with the bottle. She took a seat beside him on the couch, ever so often gulpind the wine down.
Jason watched her, clearly amused, but obviously trying to hided it. "So, Sam and I ran, I called for an ambulance anonymously for the guy...and...well, we booked her a flight out of the country."
"Out of the country?! Where is she?"
"I told her not to tell me."
"So they can't beat it out of you."
Jason nodded, looking down to his hands. "What are we going to do, Alexis?" he looked to her with such worried eyes. Alexis was already drunk.
"We? Oh, there is no WE here, Jason, why did you come here? I'm a LAWYER!!"
"I meant we as in me and Sam. I came here because I knew that no matter what happened in the past, you'd fight tooth and nail for her!"
Alexis took another swig.
Jason stood up, walking to the door.
"No! Jason, come back! Don't leave..." Alexis stood to stop him from unlocking the door. "Did you call Sonny?"
"Not yet."
"Why on earth not?"
"He doesn't need to be a part of this."
"And I DO??"
"You know people...cops...judges..."
"Oh my God."
Jason watched her finish the bottle and chunk it into the trash can by her desk. She swaggered back into the kitchen, he heard bumps, a few curses, and one very loud crash, then she finally returned about five minutes later with another bottle. The crash had obviously been the second bottle that she poured on her white shirt then dropped to the floor.
"Alexis?"
"I'm a little ..."
"Drunk?"
"I was going to say inebriated." She smiled a goofy smile at him, then looked down to her shirt, which felt wet, "Oh, dear."
Jason watched her swig another gulp from the bottle and set it down on the table.
"Alexis?"
"Can you go get me a shiffert?" She managed to say. He smiled, understanding completely.
"Sure. Here, have a seat." He led her over to the couch then ran to her room in the back, searching for something that she might like. He had no idea, so he picked anything...it just happened to be Sonny's. He walked back into the living room to see her standing in front of him with no shirt on, a black lace bra was the only thing from the waist up. 'Oh good Lord' Jason thought. Now he knew how she felt. He closed his eyes as he handed her the shirt. This was his ex-fiance's mother! This was his best friend's...what? Ex-lover?
Alexis threw the shirt on backwards at first, then had the mind to change it, as she took another gulp of wine. Jason's eyes were still closed.
"Jafon ... Jaton ... sh--, Jason?"
He looked to her, now clothed.
She pointed down to her shirt, which was lying on top of his, "This is now the dirty closssthss pile, k?" She nodded to him.
Jason bit his tongue, but let out a small laugh, "Okay, hey, why don't we get you to bed, okay? Come on..." This night had been way too bizarre for Jason's taste. He needed to get her into bed, call to check up on Sam, then sleep off his edge on the couch. He was very happy when Alexis agreed, taking his arm as he led her to her bed. She refused to change, so he helped her under the sheets and turned off the lights. He assumed she was asleep, since she made no noise, so he walked into her bathroom and washed his face, returning to the couch, eyeing the wine.
After deciding against finishing Alexis' wine, he looked to his watch: 7:03. He took out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number.
"I told you NOT to call me!!" Yelled the frightened woman on the other end.
"Sam?"
"No! Don't 'Sam' me!! You left me!!"
"Technically ..."
"Oh, shut up! You sent me away."
"You killed a cop!" Jason yelled, regretting raising his voice immediately.
"You swung me around, Jason! It was an accident!"
"Sam, look, I'm at Alexis' ..."
"Why the HELL did you go there?!"
"She knows people, Sam! She might be able to help us."
"Help me ... there is no US!"
"Sam ..."
"No, all these months, we weren't together ... tonight, we weren't together ... if we were, YOU would've come with me!!"
"I have a child ..."
"Oh ... throw THAT up in my face!"
"Sam ... please."
"No, you stay there, raise your child, see if I care...Jesus Jason!! I would never make you choose between me and your child, but Elizabeth is five months pregnant!! You could have come with me and we could have had four months to figure out..."
"Hey...look, Sam, I'm sorry I couldn't come with you. I'm so sick of being on the run for something we didn't do. I'm NOT going to do that anymore. I'm not missing out on one second of my child's life!"
"I'm not asking you to!!"
"Stop...just, go where you're going, call me when you get there, be careful."
"Have a good life Jason. I'm gone."
He heard the click and it rang through his head. It didn't go away until he finished his second bottle of wine.
The next morning...
Alexis moaned, turning over, pulling the covers over her face. The light blinding her, not helping her headache. 'Wine...and lots of it' but Alexis didn't feel relaxed, and that was the plan of last night. She felt his body move next to her, wrapping his arm around her waist. She smiled. No matter how bad she felt, no matter how much the headache pounded, Sonny's arm around her made it go away. He came over last night. She had told him not to, but he did. This had been their little ritual. Once a week...it was their deal, until they found someone else, then, only friendship. Alexis turned in his arms to face him, eyes still shutting out the light...memories surfacing...not of Sonny...his hands...not Sonny's...his lips on every inch of her body...not Sonny's...him pushing inside of her...physically and emotionally for hours and hours...once again, not Sonny. Her eyes snapped open and she was face to face with him...not Sonny.
"Oh God."