Chapter 2

As they flirted, neither saw Robin Scorpio-Drake start to enter. She stopped dead and watched them flirt. She felt as if she had been transported to another time, only now she was seeing how they were firsthand instead through Carly's taunts. It was definitely hard on her equilibrium to watch him smile… It was a smile he hadn't shared with her in a long time. A time when Jason was a softer, gentler man and Carly was obviously a cheap, gold-digging tramp. Although she had never seen them together, she'd seen the fire & the electricity that seemed to bounce between when they carried their lie back in the beginning. She'd never understood why Jason would put up with her. Or how Carly could think she knew him so well. This was a Jason she'd thought was gone forever, if he'd ever really existed for her.

She'd always been so sure of him. Sure she knew him best. It had been easy to blame Carly for making Jason lie about them having sex, but seeing them together… like this. It made her question everything. Jason had never been like this with her. Sure, he'd been sweet and gentle, but there had never been this kind of heat. …Well… that wasn't quite true. That day at the boxcar when she'd been tempted to go farther with him, he'd been so on fire. Like he'd explode if he didn't have her. But there'd been Stone. And she had to stop. He never came to her with that kind of passion after that day. Not to say that making love with Jason hadn't been beautiful and special and incredible because it had. But seeing them together like this, it was like seeing clearly for the first time.

The rose-colored glasses began slipping. Maybe Carly wasn't the cause of Jason's lies. Maybe their whole relationship had been the lie. It had been sweet and wonderful, but she'd seen him be sweet and wonderful with Carly, but he'd never really been this person with her. Jason had never really shared his everything with her or any of his darkness. Those days on the bridge, at the boxcar, on his motorcycle… maybe they were never real. She'd gotten what she wanted from him without ever really wanting to know the rest. He'd only ever given her a glimpse of his other side the two times they'd broken up. She hadn't wanted that part of him to exist so she'd fought it.

As much as she might want to blame Carly, she didn't know Jason Quartermaine or even that the Jason Morgan she did know was a result of brain damage. He had wanted to keep Carly and have her too. Carly was the one who made it clear she would accept no less than everything. He didn't even necessarily understand the right and wrong of that first lie or the cheating. It was Carly who forced his honesty. SO. He chose me. But that didn't last.

In that moment, she had an epiphany. She walked to the bar to sit down… staggered by her thoughts. Maybe she really had been idealizing the men in her past. If she'd missed so much about Jason, maybe there was something she'd missed about Stone. Maybe Stone was right about her idealizing the past. Maybe it was true. Stone and Jason were who they were. Human. There was no point in trying to make them into these larger than life figures… figures that others could never live up to… others like Patrick. With one last glance at Jason, she smiled and said goodbye to the past.

A shot of tequila coming down on the bar brought her attention to Coleman standing behind the bar watching her with curiosity in their eyes.

"I was hoping I'd gone unnoticed," she smiled sheepishly up at the bartender.

"Well, if you mean Carly and Jason," he smirked, knowingly, "you have. They are completely oblivious to anyone else. They haven't had eyes for anyone but each other since they walked in here tonight. Carly said something about an anniversary. I figure since rumor has it they met here at Jake's, that's the cause for celebration."

"I guess that would make sense," Robin agrees, watching them. "You know what? I don't get it, Coleman. What do men see in her? I mean, she's attractive, I guess, but… What is it about Carly that just draws men in until they would do anything for her? Defend her… lie for her… Just anything."

"Well, Carly," he pauses to look at the woman in question. "Carly is one of those powerful women. See, there are two types of women that can inspire loyalty in a man. You've got your women who are needy & gentle and make a man feel strong & like he has to protect what is his. They're sweet and very much the good girls, but those are the types that need to be wined & dined & romanced & handled with care."

"That doesn't sound like Carly," Robin says in confusion. It sounds like me.

"That's 'cause it's not," he replies. "Carly is that other type of woman. She is the complete opposite of that softer woman. She's strong, powerful, and she exudes sex from every pore. She's aggressive and she knows she's hot enough to have any guy she wants. She's the kind of woman that makes guys fantasize about all of the dirty, naughty things she could do to you if she chose you."

"But that's just sex," Robin interjects. "That doesn't explain how she gets their respect or their loyalty."

"I wasn't finished." He tears his gaze from Carly to give Robin a slightly annoyed look for interrupting.

"Sorry, I won't interrupt again." She raises her hand as if in surrender.

"As I was saying, Carly's a different kind of woman." He pauses as if to collect his thoughts. "See, she's a different kind of challenge than a good girl. This kind of bad girl is powerful and addicting because you know there's potential for so much if you can tame her or at least keep her interest long enough. When you've dealing with that kind of woman, she almost never shows her weakness. Not unless she trusts you so that it becomes an honor to have earned that trust. And if that bad girl has a good heart… well, then you get to have all of the passion and fire and spontaneity of the bad girl with the loyalty and love of a good woman. Just look at Carly's track record."

"Yeah, she's the human torch! She burns people's lives to the ground."

"But look at her motives," Coleman asserts, cutting off the usual diatribe. "Behind all of that craziness, she loves deeply and she's loyal. How many cops has she threatened or gone after to protect someone she loves? How many lies has she told in the name of protecting someone she loved even if she ended up looking like the bad guy for it? How many times have the guys in her life betrayed her or left her when she needed them? Yet she holds on. She keeps fighting for them. Tries to protect them. Regardless of what they've done. Well, short of hurting the kids."

"Oh, please. Sonny, Jason, and Jax are WAY too good for Carly," Robin defends.

"I don't know that I'd agree," Coleman hedges. "As a bartender & proprietor of various businesses w/ liquor licenses, I've heard my fair share of dirty details… from both sides of the fence. How many times has Sonny cheated on or humiliated Carly? How many times has Jax skipped out on her for business or whatever else catches his fancy never bothering to call or text or email? From the number of times she's come to Jake's to play pool and drown her sorrows, I got a pretty good idea. He left her alone quite a bit. He wants her, but he vanishes into thin air and pops up whenever he feels like it, always expecting her to be waiting. She gets lied to, but she better not tell lie. I swear there are so many double standards in this town that get applied to Carly."

"Oh, come on," Robin shakes her head, trying not to see Carly's side.

"Hey. You're gonna believe whatever you want, but I told you I hear things. Not that I'm Carly's confidante or anything. We know who holds that title."

"OH!" Both heads spin to watch as Carly does a happy dance around Jason.

"Lucky shot!" Jason asserts with a smirk.

"Not luck, SKILL!" Carly laughs and pokes Jason, still dancing around both oblivious of the onlookers by the door.

"Uh-huh. Do it again, then," he says, smile growing. "I got twenty says you can't."

"Oh-ho-ho! You are ON!" she giggles snatching up the pool cue. "Prepare to lose that twenty, Jase! Watch me!"

"Never gonna happen," he promises with a grin and a shake of his head.

"See, Carly is a pretty hot topic of conversation. Everyone has their two cents," Coleman says from behind Robin's ear as they watch the oblivious couple. "They complain that she's too possessive of Sonny, Jason, and Jax. She had no self-respect to stay with Sonny. She's a slut for sleeping so many different guys. Although, if you think about it, she was in a committed relationship or married to most of them at some point. And if you think about it, she has a better track record than some, including Sonny. But people expect her to bow and scrape to be with Jax, while he treats her as an afterthought. She's no saint, but she ain't the only sinner. I always figured an honest sinner was more fun anyway." They continue to watch as Jason & Carly flirt & laugh their way through their game of pool.

"It's different with Jason, though," Robin asserts. "She came in and wrecked his life with all her lies and drama and chaos. Jason never lied or had secrets before he met her. He kept his first secret with her. He told his first lies to protect her."

"Yeah. It's funny," Coleman picks up a glass and starts cleaning it.

"What?" Robin says in confusion, never taking her eyes of the couple so happy at play in front of her.

"Well, if you look at it, Jason respects and protects Carly as if she were his wife."

Robin whips around to stare at the bartender. "But—"

"Everyone seems very confused about Jason Morgan, the man, the myth, the legend. They either imply he's as infallible as a God or he's stupid. I mean, how many times can you hear about the Legend of Jason Morgan? Although, he does seem to live up to most of it. It's like one second, he can do know wrong, and the next, he is so dumb that he lets Carly manipulate him & use him & wrap him around her little finger. I mean, this guy is a major crime figure, the top Enforcer possibly in the country, and people talk about him like he's naïve. They say he never does ANYTHING he doesn't WANT to do. Then, they complain about him taking care of Carly and her kids as if she forces him to." He shakes his head and glances at Robin before refocusing his attention.

"Everyone says she's crazy possessive of him and doesn't deserve his loyalty. I don't see why not. I've seen her fight by his side against any and everyone. She's protected people she can't stand for him. She got in a bar fight once. Thought she was protecting him. He yelled at her and she took it. I mean, she fought back and stormed out, but here they are thick as thieves. Awhile back, he comes rushing in here looking for Carly. I heard later Sonny was in a bad way and he wanted her to take care of him. She'd only been out of the loony bin a few weeks, a month or so. But she took care of him for Jason. She coulda relapsed because word is, your boy Sonny can get pretty cruel. Heard it ain't pretty."

"Look, Coleman," Robin hedges.

"I'm just gonna tell you what I see. He needs her to go home. She goes. He needs bail; she gives it to him. He needs support, a lie, a witness… She'll be it or she'll get it. He needs to lighten up."

"Stop it, Carly! It won't work!" Jason chuckles as Carly tries everything from tickles to nudges to distract his shot.

"No! No! No!" she laughs as she runs around the table to try and cheat some more by blocking his shot. "Double or nothing!" She laughs as he sinks the shot.

"As you can see, she drags him here for some beer, a game of pool, and a dance or two," he continues. "Before you know it, the man emerges from the myth."

You can see a certain sadness fall over Robin as the last of her illusions begin to fall away.

"The only other woman I've seen to have half that effect on him is Sam or maybe Courtney," Coleman concludes. "I find myself wondering when they'll give up the smoke screens they spend all their time dating and marrying and figure it out. I mean, I'm still holding out hope for just one night with Carly, but even I know they're soulmates."

He walks away as the scales fall from her eyes for the last time. Slowly, she lets herself finally acknowledge that there was more to Carly than she'd ever given her credit for. She couldn't continue to delude herself when it had been laid out so clearly. The evidence was right in front of her in the couple ensconced in their own world. She may never like Carly, but finally she was coming to understand how unfair she'd been. It made Carly a lot more honest in a lot of ways than Robin herself had been. Say what you want for Carly, but she knew how to accept the mistakes of the past and move on. Maybe she wasn't particularly forgiving, but she knew how to move forward. She had already learned something from and about Carly during her own PPD. Maybe it was time she took a lesson in moving on and fighting for what really mattered: LOVE. She slammed back the tequila shot Coleman had left her and whispered, "I gotta go."