Tempest
Sorry it took so long. Between school, work, and not feeling like writing I haven't been writing much lately. Hope you like! Characters aren't mine. Dead people are alive (AJ, Georgie, Alan, Lila, Emily, etc.) Enjoy! Follows 'Control' in College!Verse.
It's just another cold, cold day in November, just a week before Thanksgiving. It looks like snow, but the weather forecast is in some sort of over-zealous denial over such a fact, it seems, and Jason and Spinelli are contentedly camped out in the apartment fully stocked with orange soda and beer respectively, and sufficient amounts of pizza to hold them over for a while.
"What's your word count up to now?" Spinelli inquires, flopped on the living room floor with his Fundamentals of Chemistry book open in front of him.
Jason, on the couch with his laptop open, sighs and drags a hand down his face. "4,608." He grabs one of several heavy history texts off of the coffee table between them - the one that a half-devoured pizza sits on, as well - and flips to a marked page. "More than halfway done."
Spinelli hums in appreciation for such progress and chews absently on the end of his highlighter.
"You doing anything on Thursday?" Jason asks, his eyes on his computer as he speaks.
"Nope. I'll be here, most likely pilfering away my time on the internet and enjoying the break from school." The younger man is already aware that Jason has plans with his own family. He's not mad or anything - just because Spinelli doesn't have anyone to celebrate with doesn't mean everyone else should suffer the same.
The blue-eyed man shifts to another history book, another marked page. "Would you be interested in meeting my family?"
"Pardon?" Spinelli inquires, highlighter paused in mid-stroke of text.
"You know, for Thanksgiving. Come with me." Jason elaborates, looking quite hopefully at his lover.
Spinelli beams up at him. "Of course!" He declares, quite enthusiastically, even though he'd been totally caught off guard by the impromptu question. "I would most assuredly enjoy joining you for your families Thanksgiving festivities."
The elder grins back at him. "Great."
***
"You're going where?" Maxie asks, when he tells her of Jason's question the next morning.
Spinelli is still basking in the knowledge that Jason would want to introduce him to his family. He knows very little of them, and he should probably remedy that before he actually meets them. But then again, Jason also knows next to nothing at all about Spinelli's own family; he should probably amend that as well. "To see the infamous Morgan family - whom I need to hastily learn more about."
Maxie shakes her head, and continues filing her already perfect nails. "I got that part. Jason asked if you wanted to meet his family. But, his family doesn't use the name Morgan. They use Quartermaine. Like Jason used to."
Spinelli may not have been in town for very long, just a few years, but he does know that name, as does everybody. "Quartermaine. As in... The Quartermaines?" He stares at the blond as if she has grown an extra extremity. Surely he would know if the Jason Morgan he has so thoroughly fallen in love with were someone else entirely.
"Yes?" She responds, detecting the confusion and alarm in his voice. "You... you didn't know?"
"Know what?" Spinelli demands.
"Jason changed his name to Morgan a few years before you came to town. He and the rest of the Quartermaines had a falling out a while back. They've made up since then, but he still won't change his name back or take part in the family business." Maxie explains to him, and Spinelli finds that he really, really needs to sit down or else gravity might just do it for him. "He was a med student before the fight, but he dropped out to pick up the history stuff."
"Wow." Spinelli blinks, taking in the shocking information.
Maxie nods, and pats him on the back. "You really didn't know?"
He shakes his head, still stunned into silence by the shocking information provided him.
***
Jason taps his pen impatiently against the desk and wills the words he needs for this essay to come to him. He's had no luck thus far, and the pile of balled up papers tossed in the general direction of the trash can prove that. For some reason, the details of the chaos, confusion, conflict, change, and opportunity surrounding the roaring 1920's in America is not at the forefront of his mind as it should be. One essay this weekend was enough.
He scribbles down a sentence or two and then tosses that paper aside as well.
He needs a break, he decides, and is just closing the notebook when the phone rings. "Fantastic." He glares at the offending device because he knows it's not Spinelli and picks it up. "Hello?"
"Jason?" Comes the familiar voice of his own mother. "Hey, honey."
"Hi, Monica."
"I was just calling to see if you were coming home for Thanksgiving this year." She says by way of explanation for her call. He's already told Emily that he would, but evidently Emily had not passed that message along just yet.
He sighs. "Yeah, I'll be there."
"I'm glad to hear that, Jason." Monica says, and Jason can hear the smile in her voice. "Are you bringing anyone with you? So we'll know how many people we'll be ordering takeout for once something happens to the food."
Jason has to laugh at that. "I will be bringing someone."
She sounds surprised. Somewhat reluctant, but surprised, when she reacts. "Oh, really?"
"Yes." He says, and offers no further information. He knows his family has had a hard time dealing with his choices in both career and sexuality, and he tries not to press either one on them too much, but some members of his family are more accepting than others and those that he never did turn his back on would want to see him happy, he imagines. Which is the reasoning behind bringing Spinelli along, even if one or two people might not particularly enjoy it.
"Alright, then. I'll be sure to let everyone know." She assures him, and then there is uproarious background noise. It sound suspiciously like his brother is yelling - possibly drunk - and their father is yelling back at him - also possibly drunk. "I've got to go referee another father-son wrestling match. I'll call you later about next week. Bye."
"Bye." He hangs up, and returns to his desk and troublesome paper.
***
It's not until Tuesday night that Spinelli finally gets up enough nerve to confront Jason about what Maxie has told him. Jason knows that something is up before that, though. The younger man is acting weird, staring at Jason like he doesn't know who he is. Finally, Jason calls him on it.
"You okay?" He asks simply, and raises an eyebrow as Spinelli spell-check's his finally finished paper.
"Were you going to tell me before I walked in and called your parents Mr. and Mrs. Morgan?" Spinelli asks, and while Jason never said anything to the effect of lying about his name, the omission does prove important in relation to the current situation.
Jason blinks. "You didn't know?" He says, confusion evident in his blue eyes. Everyone in port Charles knew at least something of the situation between he and the rest of the crazy Quartermaine clan. If only rumors and speculation. All knew of Jason's previous surname. He had thought everyone knew enough.
Spinelli frowns. "I had no reason to doubt who you said you were. Nor did I have any reason to believe that you weren't." He explains, and his logic is unflappable.
Jason pulls the laptop from Spinelli's grip and sets it aside before taking his place beside the younger man on the couch. "Hi." He says, and Spinelli stares at him in his own confusion when Jason offers a hand. "My name's Jason. Jason Morgan. Formerly Quartermaine."
"I... I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to imply that you were actively trying to hide it from me." Spinelli says, looking a bit distressingly ashamed for his doubt toward the man he loves. "I know that's not what you were doing."
"I know." Jason answers, and his arm curls around Spinelli's shoulders. "I don't talk about them a lot. And I only see them a few times a year."
"Why?" Spinelli asks. "I mean, the fair Maximista told me the basic idea, but the biggest liar in all the word is 'they say', so I figure I should ask you for the truth."
Jason sighs. "It was a few years ago. I was in med school and in training for the family business, ELQ, and I got caught with some guy at some public event. Not like... caught, but someone figured it out. My parents and my Grandfather didn't take it well. They were ready to kick me out and cut me off, so I left on my own." He explains, looking not at all broken up about doing so. "My sister, Emily, and my Grandmother, Lila, stayed on my side the whole time. Morgan was Lila's name before she married my Grandfather."
Spinelli listens intently and moves to rest his head against his lover's shoulder, his own arms curling around Jason's frame. He knows what it's like to be rejected by your own family, but there's a difference between he and Jason. "They... you made up with them eventually, though, right?"
"Yeah. I don't force anything I do on them, but they're... okay with me bringing you with me on Thursday."
"Would it be easier on you if I were to stay away?" Spinelli asks, very much hoping that the answer to that does not leave him home all alone.
"No." Jason replies quickly. "I want you there, as long as you want to be there. Emily and Lila want to meet you and what Emily and Lila want usually goes. And, Quartermaine holidays have the very helpful quality of being cursed - and, as a result, very short. We'll be back here eating takeout before you can say 'Thanksgiving'."
Spinelli gives him a decidedly befuddled look in response. "What?"
"You'll see." He laughs.
***
Jason stops to adjust his crisp, clean, black dress shirt once more before he prepares to head out to fetch Spinelli on his way to the his family's mansion. With a deep sigh, he once again finds himself wondering if subjecting Spinelli to the insane group of people who make up his family is really the wisest decision he's ever made. Sure, it's customary to introduce the person whom you've fallen in love with to your family, but the Quartermaines - as all of Port Charles well knows - are anything but customary in their obscure ways.
But, there's not much he can do to avoid it. He's already promised Emily and Lila, and Monica, too, that he'd be there. And he wants them to meet Spinelli. Edward, Alan, and AJ he could do without seeing. All he can do is hope that nothing too crazy happens.
Quartermaine Thanksgiving's, however, have a statistically ridiculous tendency to be short affairs, because something drastic and fatal always happens to the food. So, Jason has already made plans for take-out and a movie-night for the apartment once they are free from the awkward occasion.
The phone rings just when he moves to walk out the door. "Hello," He greets.
"Jason, are you still coming over?" It's Monica.
"Yeah, I'll be there soon." He answers, checking his watch. He should be on his way to pick up Spinelli already, really.
"Still bringing your friend?"
"Yeah. He'll be there, too. I have to go pick him up now, so I can't really talk." Jason tells her.
"I understand. Be careful, though, Jason. It's supposed to start snowing soon." She warns him. The snow that had been threatening to fall since last week finally seemed to be ready to make an appearance.
He sighs, and looks out the window. Nothing yet. "I will." He promises, and from there the call is promptly ended.
He grabs his leather jacket off the back of the couch and heads out the door.
***
"You look fine." Maxie insists for what has to be the eleventh time in ten minutes from where she sits on the edge of Spinelli's rarely used bed in his dorm room on campus. "Stop messing with your hair. Stop messing with your shirt. And, stop freaking out; Jason wouldn't have suggested this if he thought it was a bad idea, so just relax, okay?"
Spinelli has worked himself into quite the panic in his process of getting ready for Jason to pick him up. "What if they don't like me? Why would they like me? They own ... approximately half of the town! They'll probably just think I'm after Jason for his money."
"The money you didn't know he had?" Maxie prompts. "Dillon and Georgie will be there, too." She reminds him. "So, you'll know some of them. And Jason will keep them from doing anything too insane, I'm sure." She hopes, anyway, she has met several of the Quartermaines herself. Some of them are great, other's... not so much.
Spinelli sits down beside her on his bed, then stands again and begins pacing intently instead. "They won't like me." He laments, utterly convinced of that much.
"Nonsense."
***
They walk out of the snow that's just beginning to fall and into the outrageously extravagant and equally as outlandishly expensive mansion that Jason's family resides in. They also appear to be arriving just in time to witness the beginning of what seems to be World War III. At least that is how it looks to Spinelli.
An older portlier man with stark white hair is shouting at a younger man who looks approximately Jason's age, swearing quite colorfully in the process of said argument.
"Is this a bad time for us to be arriving?" Spinelli whispers, leaning quite close to Jason to be overheard over the shouting match.
Jason shrugs. "It's as good a time as any." He's not at all surprised about there being an argument in full swing already. "There's still time to run, if you'd like. I don't think we've been spotted yet."
But, they have. An elderly woman with equally as white hair approaches them in a wheelchair pushed by someone Spinelli recognizes as Dillon's older brother, Ned.
"Jason, dear." The woman - Lila, this must be, Spinelli assumes - says with a smile, and outstretches her arms for a hug, which Jason easily complies with, adding in a quick kiss on the cheek. "And whom might this dapper young gentleman be?" She asks, assessing the boy her favorite grandson is so intently watching.
"Lila, this is Damian Spinelli, my boyfriend." Jason introduces, with his hand on Spinelli's shoulder. "Spinelli, this is my grandmother, Lila."
Spinelli smiles and offers a polite hand. "And it is with great delight that I make your acquaintance."
Lila knocks away his hand, having none of such polite pleasantries. "Nonsense, Damian. Any companion of my darling Jason's is more than worthy of a hug."
Spinelli laughs softly and complies, glad that at least one person in Jason's family is readily accepting of both Jason's lifestyle and of him, as well.
Before Spinelli could say anything else to the kind-hearted woman, a significantly less pleasant factor entered the picture.
"Why, if it isn't the prodigal son, come home to remind us of what a failure he is." The young man who'd been arguing in the other room sauntered toward them, glaring quite intently at Jason.
"AJ, good to see you, too." Jason replies, dryly. "Tell me, I lose track being out of the loop as I am. Are you in or out of rehab this month?"
"Very funny, baby brother." AJ says, and then sets his sights on the kid standing beside Jason. "And who's this? Your brand new boy-toy?"
Jason blocks Spinelli from AJ's sight and practically growls in response. Luckily, several other Quartermaine family members step in before it escalates any further. Dillon arrives with Georgie, which at least gives Spinelli some comfort.
Jason's sister, Emily, accepts him with a smile and a hug not unlike Lila had done. Monica greets him warmly as well, and Alice, one of the family's hired help declares him one of the best things to happen to this crazy family. He even wins over Edward, the cranky old man who'd been arguing with AJ when they'd arrived. Edward is telling him about ELQ and jumps eagerly on the fact that Spinelli is good with computers.
"The Ace of Cyberspace." Jason corrects, with a grin, as he ushers Spinelli along to the next group of family members.
Alan, Jason's father does not seem overly thrilled with his presence, but with forced politeness greets his youngest son's boyfriend, presumably on the example of not starting another fight. Ned politely says hello, but again, he's already met Spinelli several times through Dillon and Georgie and Maxie. Ned and Dillon's mother however is a different story altogether.
"Spumoni?" She repeats after Jason's initial introduction. "What kind of a name is that?"
"Spinelli." Jason corrects with a pointed glare.
"Spumoni, Spaghetti, whatever. Doesn't matter." She waves him off dismissively, mumbling something about gold-digging kids in this town and walks away with an equally pointed glare in the direction of her youngest son and Georgie Jones.
"At least now I know that my mom doesn't just not like Georgie. It extends to the rest of the family, too." Dillon says, sympathetically. "Don't feel bad. She's... a lot to take." He assures Spinelli, with a pat on the shoulder.
"The food will be ready soon." Alice declares, and shuffles them all along into the grand dining hall, as extravagant and beautifully decorated as the rest of the large house.
Spinelli takes a seat between Jason and another of his adoptive sisters - Skye. She seems rather indifferent to his presence, but she offers a quick hello and a small smile before she returns to her conversation with Emily.
"You've been warned about the curse, haven't you?" Dillon asks from across the table. "I hope you don't mind pizza as the main course here."
Spinelli laughs and answers. "I've been warned."
Jason's hand finds Spinelli's under the table and he squeezes lightly, glad that everything is going pretty well thus far.
And then the power goes out.
Drenched in total darkness, the first thing Spinelli clearly hears is from Dillon. "I told you so." The teenager laments, once the chorus of protests and curses ends.
Edward's is the next distinguishable voice in the chaos. "Alright, if there is nothing salvageable of yet another fine Thanksgiving meal..."
"Green bean casserole is our only potential survivor. Even that is an iffy prospect." Alice reports, bearing news from the kitchen. "Shall I find the takeout menus?"
With a quite disgruntled sigh, Edward agrees. "Yes, very well. Yet another year is ruined."
Jason stands, and with him, Spinelli does the same. "Monica." The elder calls to his mother at the opposite end of the table. "Spinelli and I are going to get out of here. We need to get home before the storm gets too bad."
Monica nods, they think, it's still quite difficult to see, even though several candles have been lit. The two boys say their goodbyes to everyone interested in saying them, and promptly make for the door themselves.
But, as soon as they open the door, it becomes abundantly clear that there will be no takeout food getting to the Quartermaine mansion tonight. It is also quite clear that Jason and Spinelli, nor anyone else will be leaving, either.
They return to the dining room to tell of the news - that blizzard like quantities of snow have already fallen and it doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon.
Upon hearing such a devastating piece of information, the Quartermaine home descends into even further chaos. Alan and AJ start in on yet another argument. Edward is pacing and cursing. Emily and Lila, and everyone else stand around shaking their heads at such foolishness.
"We're staying the night, then?" Spinelli asks, as he and Jason approach Dillon and Georgie, two other neutral, sidelined guests.
"Looks like." Jason agrees. This just couldn't have gone as planned, could it?
Eventually, as in by the time there are enough candles to actually see, everyone has calmed down, and they all gather in the living room again. Cook found supplies for sandwiches and a few other non-power required food sources, so they're all milling about with their oh-so-extravagant Thanksgiving meal in hand now.
Jason and Spinelli end up chatting with Lila. She regales the young computer hacker with tales of her younger days and Spinelli absorbs it all as if she is telling him the secret to brand new computer coding discoveries. Jason has to agree, he's interviewed her for history projects before, her stories are quite enthralling.
But, alas, Lila excuses herself not too long after.
And AJ can only go so long without tormenting his baby brother when they're so helpfully in the same room. So, when Jason walks away to ask Monica about the availability of his old room, AJ pounces.
"So, Spinelli, is it?" He asks, and doesn't bother waiting for an answer. "Where did Golden Boy find you?"
Spinelli's not sure whether he should answer or not. He glances over his shoulder at Jason who has his back to them. That's kind of unhelpful.
"No, no. Jason's not here. I'm talking to you." AJ prods, leaning in closer.
"I, ugh, that is..." He swallows, and tries to think of how best to word his answer. "Jason and I met at the Prom he was chaperoning and that I was attending as alumni."
AJ finds that quite amusing. He throws his head back and laughs. "Cruised you at a high school Prom? Nice."
Spinelli glares. "Laugh all you would like, he saved me from some rather dedicated adversaries of mine who were quite intent on bashing me."
AJ quiets, frowning in obvious annoyance that Jason and Spinelli's meeting hadn't been less heroic and more clandestine in nature. "Golden Boy strikes again." He grumbles, and stalks off, seeking out a new target until he thinks of something else to get at Jason with.
"Spinelli," Jason calls, having spotted his brother's attempt to corner his lover.
The younger eagerly joins Jason on the other side of the room. He's kind of hoping that they can escape the chaos that is most of Jason's family for a little while. It's getting late, everyone has eaten, and some people have already ducked out - Dillon and Georgie included. "Yes?"
Jason drapes an arm around Spinelli's shoulder. "You wanna go upstairs for a while?" The elder offers, and upon Spinelli's nod of agreement, he leads them further into the house with a flashlight in hand, up to the second floor and down a maze of hallways until they finally arrive at what was once Jason's old room.
"Your room is as big as the apartment." Spinelli blinks and stares at the huge and grandiose bedroom in shock. It's not at all Jason's style. At least it isn't now.
Jason ducks into the closet - literally, into - it's a walk-in thing about the size of their room in the apartment, and emerges with a handful of clothes leftover from when he used to reside here, clearly he hadn't taken everything with him when he'd left, luckily enough for them. He offers Spinelli a plain t-shirt and what look to be maybe old high school sweats. They have the Port Charles High logo on them, anyway.
"Yeah, it is." Jason agrees quietly, changing into his own clothes as Spinelli does the same. "What'd AJ bug you about?"
Spinelli shrugs and gratefully removes his dressy pants and stark dress shirt, happy to have comfortable clothes - which, despite having not been recently worn by their owner, still smell faintly of Jason. "He asked how we met."
Jason closes his eyes and sighs. AJ's invasiveness knows no bounds.
"I told him that you saved me from getting bashed. He shut up and walked away."
That, though, that's surprising. It takes a lot to shut AJ up. "Guess he was hoping for something more scandalous to rub in Edward and Alan's faces." He crosses the few feet to Spinelli, finding him easily even in the near-dark of the room, and wraps his arms around the other's slighter frame.
"Most probably," Spinelli agrees. "I must say, though, that most of your quirky family are actually quite enjoyable company. Lila and Emily especially. The rest in, well, moderate quantities."
Jason nods, with a small laugh, and nudges Spinelli until they are lying together on the bed, Spinelli tucked securely in Jason's hold. Several moments pass in silence before Jason speaks again. "Can I ask you something?"
"Affirmative." He hums in reply, feeling very comfortable and sleepy, and his eyes are starting to grow heavy.
"Why... don't you... what about your family? Wouldn't they have wanted to see you today?"
Spinelli bites his lip. He hadn't been prepared for that question, though he had known it was bound to come eventually. He rolls over, his head resting on Jason's chest. "Um. Before the bashing. My parents didn't know that I was... But, when they found out why the guys on the football team attacked me... well, they flipped out. Kicked me out, didn't want to see me again." He explains, looking quite distraught over such facts even now. "I stayed with Maximista for the rest of the school year and the summer. My Granny, who lives in Tennessee, is the one who pays for college and the dorm."
Jason doesn't really understand how so many people can be so dismissive of the amazing guy currently wrapped up in his arms. He holds him a little tighter and doesn't quite know what to say to make what they've done to him better, though he does have an idea in mind for what could be an awesome Christmas surprise for his lover. "I'm sorry." He says, simply, petting Spinelli's hair softly. "I..."
Spinelli cuts him off with a quick kiss, preventing any and all awkward conversations. "It's, well, not okay. But it's been like this for a while now. I'm used to it."
"Okay." The elder answers, respecting Spinelli's decision to not want to talk about it. "If you ever do wanna talk about it or anything..." He offers, and this time he interrupts himself with another kiss. "And I hope you know that you're part of my family."
That makes Spinelli smile. "I know, and you're part of mine, too." He replies. "Thanks for bringing me here tonight."
Jason nods, a smile of his own on his face. "Happy Thanksgiving."