Chapter 4

Elizabeth sat there; staring at the empty canvas that was set up in the downstairs room at The Brownstone. After her night out on the town with Sebastian ended sooner than she expected, she suddenly had a burst of inspiration. She quickly changed from her dress into her painting clothes. A pair of faded jeans with a hole in the right leg leaving her knee exposed, and a flannel shirt that she tied into a knot just above her belly button. She scrubbed the light make-up she wore from her face, and hurriedly set up her substitute studio. But once everything was done, once the easel was unfolded and a blank canvas was placed on it, she couldn't think of anything to paint.

Although she had a wonderful evening, nothing really stood out from their night together that made her want to paint. There was no one moment of completeness that called out to her to paint. No emotion that was so overwhelming that she had to paint it. She couldn't understand what had made her want to paint when she said goodnight to Sebastian and walked into the front door of The Brownstone. After he had lifted her hand to his lips for a sweet chaste kiss and said goodnight, she just had a sudden urge to paint. Elizabeth knew it wasn't the kiss he placed upon her hand that caused the feeling. When his warm lips touched her skin, she felt nothing.

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Elizabeth felt almost guilty for that feeling. How could she have such a wonderful night with such a wonderful man and feel nothing when he kissed her hand? She truly wanted to give Sebastian a chance. He was new to town and he seemed to take a genuine interest in her. But she couldn't help but think that no matter how many more dates they went on together, she would have no feelings for him other than as a friend.

Rolling her eyes at her own reluctance to give him a chance, Elizabeth raised her hand to make the first stroke against the canvas. Hesitating, she chewed harder on her lip, not able to visualize anything. Her hands itched to paint something, anything, yet her mind would not cooperate. It was an odd feeling for her to not know what to paint. It was never a problem for her to know what to paint; the problem was always translating the picture she had in her head and making it into a painting on the canvas.

She dropped her arm back down to her side and blew out a frustrated breath, causing the hair that spilled in front of her face to move slightly. Tilting her head to the side slightly, Elizabeth starred at the blank canvas. Hard. As a thought passed through her, she couldn't help but let a huge smile play across her lips, maybe she didn't need to start a new painting, maybe she needed to finish an old one.

Silently thanking Taggert for letting her go into her studio that was still under police investigation for some supplies earlier that week, Elizabeth ran upstairs to her room, threw open her closet and pulled out the painting she knew she wanted to finish. She quickly made her way back downstairs and replaced the blank canvas that tortured her for a good thirty minutes with the almost complete painting of The Wind.

Within minutes, Elizabeth's hand was moving with quick strong strokes as she sunk deep within herself and remembered the feeling of being on the back of Jason's bike. The feeling of not having a care in the world mixed in with freedom. Nothing in the world could touch her when she was on the back of his bike, nothing but the wind in her face and the feeling of completeness.

There wasn't much left with the painting that she needed to finish. But when she showed Jason the painting, there was something missing with it. It didn't feel right to give it to him yet. After their bike ride the night before, she felt a surge of energy, but she had to get up early so she forced herself to go to bed instead of painting. As she leaned back on her stool and surveyed the painting, Elizabeth knew that the feeling she felt earlier was the left over feeling from the night before. She had an urge to paint, and that urge was to finish her, no, Jason's painting of The Wind.

She was about to go back to painting when the phone rang. She quickly made her way to the telephone so that Bobbie would not wake up. It wasn't too late in the night, but Bobbie had an early morning at the hospital.

"Hello?"

"Elizabeth?"

Frowning at the phone, Elizabeth wrapped the cord around her finger, "Sebastian?"

"Hey, it's not too late to call you is it?"

"No, no it's fine." She licked her lips, "Is everything ok?"

She heard him let out a slight chuckle on the other end of the line before he spoke. "Yeah, everything is fine. You're probably wondering why I'm calling you, huh?"

Shaking her head once, her forehead creased into another frown, "Pretty much."

He sighed into the phone and Elizabeth could tell he was trying to figure out what to say. It took her a moment, but she realized that he must have been nervous about calling her. She could bet money that he was either rubbing his chin or licking his lips several times as he contemplated what to say. Those were both nervous habits of his, something she had learned from their night together.

"I, um, I know this is kind of sudden." She heard his lips smack together when he paused and smiled to herself, he was defiantly licking his lips. "But, my family, we're, uh, we're kind of having this house warming party tomorrow night, and I was, um, see, I was wondering…"

When he paused, Elizabeth let the cord fall from her finger before she twisted it again. A crocked smile appeared across her lips. "Sebastian, do you want me to come to your party?"

The question was asked with a lightness that put him at ease. "Yes, if you don't have previous plans that is."

When he was acting so nervous, Elizabeth had found it cute and endearing. But now that the question was out in the open she hesitated. She had just met Sebastian, only spent one night with him, and he was already asking her to meet his family.

Her slight hesitation didn't go unnoticed by Sebastian, "You already have plans don't you."

"I, um…I do kind of have plans with a friend actually." She wasn't lying. She did have plans to go on a bike ride with Jason the next night. "What time does the party start?"

"Around seven, it won't be that long of a party."

She could hear the disappointment in his voice. Jason would probably have to work late and they never did go out on rides until later in the night. Sighing, Elizabeth twisted the telephone cord around her finger once more. "You know what, my plans are for later in the evening, so I…I could make it to your party."

He took another shot.

It was his third one that night, and just like the previous two, it did nothing to calm his nerves. He couldn't believe it.

Couldn't fucking believe it.

It was one thing for there to be another threat to his and Sonny's business. They dealt with threats everyday. Threats were such a common thing in their business, that it would scare them if they went a day without one. But this was different. This wasn't about the business or the new family that messed with them that morning.

This was about Elizabeth.

Jason had never wanted his life to touch her. They started their friendship because she needed a friend. Someone who would listen to her and help her move on from the nothingness in her life and he happened to be that someone. He didn't mind taking her on bike rides; he actually enjoyed them more when she was with him. He didn't mind listening to her talk; he always thought it was interesting to listen to her think. Their friendship worked out. He would listen to her, take her for rides, and somewhere during their talks, she started to listen to him. He could talk to her about losing Michael and being betrayed by Robin. The only thing that he still couldn't talk to her about was Carly and Sonny sleeping together.

But their friendship had turned into more when she saved his life. They no longer considered each other as just friends. They were more than friends, more than just two people who would meet on the docks and talk for hours. He couldn't pin point the exact moment that it happened, but Elizabeth began to mean a great deal to him. Like he said earlier that night to Sonny before they went out to the No Name, he liked being around Elizabeth. He liked spending time with her beyond bike rides and talks. Elizabeth became a major part of his life, and even though he knew he should walk away from her, even though he tried it before and failed, he couldn't walk away from her. He didn't want to walk away from her.

Sighing, Jason reached for the timber filled with Sonny's best liquor and poured himself another shot. Even though this was his life, even though fucking Sebastian McGinley was a part of the business that defined Jason's life, it wasn't him that was putting Elizabeth in danger.

As much as he knew she shouldn't be anywhere near the life that Sonny and he lived, for once, he had nothing to do with her closeness to it. And for some reason, that pissed him off.

Tipping the shot back, Jason felt nothing as the burning liquid left a fiery trail down his throat. He didn't even flinch as he felt the alcohol settle low in his stomach. Before he even knew who Sebastian was, he didn't like the guy. He didn't know what caused his hatred for the other man, but now that he knew who the guy was; he brushed his earlier feelings off as instinct.

Jason had always been a great judge of character. He knew when someone was lying, knew who he could and could not trust with just one look. And that was what happened earlier when Elizabeth had told him about her…date. He didn't know at the time who the guy was, but it was his instincts that told him he was no good, and he was right.

Shaking his head at his own arrogance, Jason reached for the timber again before Sonny's voice stopped him.

"Maybe you should slow down."

Jason turned away from the wet bar and looked at Sonny with a blank expression. Without a word, Jason walked towards the couch his friend sat on and plopped down. Johnny, Francis, and Benny had left earlier when they found out about Sebastian. Sonny took one look at Jason's face and quietly suggested that the other men go home until they heard from either him or Jason. None of the three men hesitated from standing up quickly from their seats and leaving the penthouse without taking a second look at Jason.

After the other men left, Sonny had made his way to the couch and watched on as Jason poured himself shot after shot. Between each pour, Sonny could tell that Jason was thinking. His face would grow tight and a muscle in his neck would pop out before he would reach for his shot glass again. He had no problem with letting the younger man work thorough his thoughts, but they needed to figure out what they were going to do about the McGinley's, Sebastian, and Elizabeth. He wasn't sure how much more Jason would drink, but Sonny needed him to have a straight head on when they discussed their newest problem.

"What do you want to do?"

Jason turned only his head as he peered up at Sonny from his position on the couch. While Sonny sat tall, one leg bent at the knee with his foot resting on the opposite knee and his drink propped on the arm of the chair. Jason sat slumped against the couch with his legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked defeated, Sonny noted. It was a look he was not used to seeing on the younger man.

Jason shook his head, sighed and squinted at the fireplace, "I'm not sure."

"We have to tell Elizabeth." Sonny knew he was stating the obvious, but he needed to get Jason thinking. The other man always knew what to do within seconds of being put in front of a new situation. To see Jason slouching against his couch and not knowing what to do was something that Sonny wasn't used to. He realized that he didn't like it.

"I know." The words passed through Jason's lips like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. "I don't know how she is going to take it though."

"What do you mean?" Not letting the other man answer, Sonny scratched his eyebrow with his thumbnail as he continued. "We tell Elizabeth about Sebastian and how he is a threat, and that she needs to stay away from him."

Jason looked at his mentor as he spoke and actually laughed at him. It was a short laugh that softened his features for a moment and caused his lips to spread into a crocked smile. "You don't know Elizabeth."

Jason could tell that he surprised Sonny, and before the older man could comment, he went on. Sitting up straight and placing his elbows on his knees, Jason's gaze flickered to the fireplace and watched as the flames danced, looking like one big red blur to him. "She doesn't like people telling her what to do. And if she likes Sebastian…" He let out a long, tired sigh, "Really likes him, nothing will make her stay away from him."

"Not even knowing that he is an enemy of yours?"

Never being one to sit for to long, Jason stood from the couch and walked back towards the wet bar. "She might stay away from him because of that." Reaching for a glass, Jason poured himself a glass of water. "But I don't know how she feels about this guy. She said that he was new to town and she was just showing him around. But...I, uh…" Sighing, Jason placed his hand over his mouth and rubbed his jaw.

"Jason, Elizabeth has shown many times that she wouldn't turn her back on you." At first, Sonny was talking to Jason's profile, but once he went on, the other man turned to face him, crossing his arms over his chest. "She hid you from everyone man. She stood in front of the entire hospital and let them believe that she was sleeping with you just to protect you. Do you honestly think that Elizabeth would let this guy Sebastian come between your… your friendship?"

"No I don't." After placing his drink back on the wet bar, Jason placed his hands on his hips, "I honestly don't know how she is going to take this." Laughing at the thought, Jason voiced it anyway, "She might even want to help."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. She might look at this as a way to help us with the McGinley's. She knows Sebastian, so that gives us an in into the family."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"What?" The question was asked as more of a demand. Jason knew that he couldn't be hearing Sonny right. The other man could not be suggesting that they let Elizabeth into this situation.

"Just listen to me." He dropped his leg down, placing both feet on the floor as he sat on the couch at looked up into Jason's confused face. "I'm not saying that we let her help out in the business part of things. But having her close to Sebastian might benefit us."

"How? How would putting her life in danger benefit us Sonny?" He didn't let the other man answer as he continued to fume. "What happened to never letting women get involved in this life?" He continued to look at Sonny with angry eyes as he lifted his eyebrows in question.

"We wouldn't be letting her get involved with the business. All I'm saying is that if Elizabeth is just friends with Sebastian then-"

"Then what?" interrupting Sonny, Jason stood taller as his cold blue eyes stared at the other man, "Nothing good could come out of Elizabeth being around Sebastian. How would you feel if this were Lily or even Brenda in this? Would you want their lives to be put in danger because it might help us out?"

Nodding his head, Sonny broke eye contact and looked down at his untouched drink that he held between his legs, wanting nothing more than to drink it in that moment. "No."

"Then why are you so willing to put Elizabeth's life in danger?"

Sonny turned his head and looked at Jason, really looked at the man. He stood tall with his hands hanging down at his sides as his hands pumped into fists. Anger rolled off of him in waves. "Your right." Standing up, Sonny placed his still untouched drink on the coffee table. "Your right, I don't know why I even suggested it."

His shoulders relaxed and his hands loosened at Sonny's reply. "I'm going to go talk to her."

When he turned to walk away, Sonny's voice stopped him. "Now?"

"Yes."

"Alright, just, good luck I guess."

Jason didn't smile or reply in return. He just nodded his head once, turned back around, and walked out. Leaving Sonny to look at the closed door and listen to his thoughts about Jason and Elizabeth.

When had Jason fallen for Elizabeth?

After she hung up the phone with Sebastian, Elizabeth went back to her painting. Before she started again, she sat there and looked at the painting, but not really seeing it. Sebastian had told her that he would pick her up at The Brownstone at seven o'clock. He refused her attempts to tell him that she could get there on her own and told her that it wouldn't be proper for him to allow her to find her own way to his party.

When she said goodbye to him, she waited for that feeling to come. A warm sensation low in her belly at the excitement of seeing Sebastian again the next night, but it never came. The thought of seeing Sebastian again barely caused any excitement in her, not like the thought of seeing Jason usually caused.

Even before she found him in the snow that day, she looked forward to seeing him. It wasn't just the bike rides or the talks that she looked forward to; it was just being around him. When she saved his life, that feeling grew deeper and stronger. She had a connection with Jason and, sadly, she didn't think she would have anything close to that connection with Sebastian.

Just as she was about to attack her canvas again, there was a knock at the front door. Confused, Elizabeth placed her paintbrush down and walked to the front door, looking through the peephole.

Smiling, Elizabeth unlocked the deadbolt and the doorknob before throwing the door open and giving her visitor a bright smile.

"Jason, hey."

"Hey." Before he could ask her if he could come in, she opened the door wider and ushered him in. He walked into the living room and turned around.

"What brings you by?"

He noticed that she was in her painting clothes. Her hair was pulled to the top of her head with curls spilling free, and there were splashes of paint on her bare stomach, a blue splash right above her belly button. She looked the complete opposite from what she looked liked earlier that night at the No Name. This, he realized, was the real Elizabeth. "I'm not interrupting you am I?"

"What?" Looking down at her ensemble, Elizabeth took in her rugged appearance and didn't feel at all embarrassed. "No, your not interrupting anything, I was at a stand still anyway." She waved her hand in the air as she made her way towards him. Careful that the paint on her clothing was still not wet, Elizabeth sat on Bobbie's couch, prompting Jason to follow.

When he sat down, Elizabeth noticed the tightness of his shoulders once he stripped his leather jacket off. His face even appeared tight as he looked at her, "Is everything ok?"

She was looking at him with wide eyes, and concern was shining through. Sighing, he realized, it was concern for him. "Everything is fine. I-I'm here because I needed to talk to you about your...your date."

"My date?" A little taken back by his reason, Elizabeth turned her body on the couch to face him fully, tucking her leg underneath her. "Um, well, it went good I guess. Sebastian is a nice guy and I had fun with him, and that's about it. But I have a feeling that you didn't come all the way here to ask me how my date was. What's really going on Jason?"

He was sitting straight, not really looking at her. But at her question he turned his body to face her, placing his arm along the back of the couch. "That guy that you went out with, Sebastian, he's not who you think he is."

"I don't understand."

"Elizabeth, Sebastian's dad is the head of a major organization in Philadelphia." She continued to look at him with a confused expression. Sighing, Jason tilted his head down and peered at her as he tried to make her understand. "His family is the most powerful crime family in Philadelphia and they just moved here to Port Charles to expand their operation."

When she straightened on the couch and her eyes opened wider, Jason knew she understood what he was saying. She looked away from him and down at her hands that she began to twist together in her lap. She didn't say anything for the longest time making Jason worry. Placing his hand over hers his words were laced with concern, "Are you ok?"

"How did you find out about Sebastian?" She didn't look up at him, just continued to stare at her hands that were now covered by one of his. "Did you do some type of background check or whatever it is you guys do?"

When she did look up at him, her eyes held a simmering fire. A part of her found the notion of Jason checking up on her date as sweet, but the other part of her, the one that was shining through at that moment, was angry. Jason respected her and he let her make her own decisions, with the exception of the couple of days he called off their friendship. He understood her need to be independent, so it confused her that he would do something like that. She didn't want to think of it that way, but she couldn't help but think that that was something Nicolas would do.

"No," Jason shook his head and relaxed when the slight fire in her eyes dimmed. "I can't tell you too much about it, but the McGinley's caused trouble for us this morning, and we looked into it. That's how I found out about Sebastian."

She tilted her head to the side, "Ok, that explains how you found out about who Sebastian was, but that doesn't explain how you knew he was the one I went out with tonight."

She held her smile in when she actually witnessed Jason Morgan, man of steel, squirm. "Johnny was at the No Name tonight, and when he came over, he identified Sebastian as the guy you were out with."

Her lips separated at his answer, showing her surprise. "Oh." She licked her lips, "You know it's weird, I've been seeing a lot of Johnny lately."

It was now Jason's turn to show his surprise. But, thankfully for him, she wasn't looking at him for the second that his eyes portrayed his surprise before he quickly pushed the feeling down. Johnny was supposed to be her shadow; she wasn't supposed to know that he was around. "You saw Johnny at the No Name?"

"Yeah, he was sitting at the bar having a couple of drinks. I went to say hi to him, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him for to long. He looked a little stressed though. I think you and Sonny are working him to hard."

Sighing, Jason took a few moments to compose himself so he wouldn't let his frustration at the other man show. Deciding to move on from the subject of Johnny, Jason looked back at Elizabeth and his entire face softened. "I just wanted to tell you about Sebastian. I know how much you hate hearing this, but you should stay away from him."

Instead of seeing the annoyance appear on her face that he expected, she actually looked, guilty. "Actually, I can't stay away from him."

His eyes squinted, "Why?"

"He asked me to go to his family's party." She was looking everywhere but at him. "And I said yes."

He frowned. "You can't call him and cancel?"

"I, well, ugh," Standing up from the couch, Elizabeth began to walk back and forth in front of the couch, wringing her hands together the entire time. "It's not that simple Jason. Sebastian, he's…he's a really nice guy and I like hanging out with him. I realized during our date that our friendship would probably be nothing more than a friendship, but he seems like a really nice guy and I wanted to get to know him better. I would feel horrible if I called him up and canceled on him, especially after he seemed so relieved that I was going to go."

As she continued to ramble on, she didn't notice the different emotions that Jason went through. At first he was tense when she began to tell him about how she couldn't break her plans with the other man. But when she told him that she didn't feel anything for Sebastian, anything more than a friendship, Jason actually relaxed. But as she continued to go on, the tension found its way back into his posture, making him sit tall on the couch as he watched her pace.

"What if I just go to his party and then not make any more plans with him."

Standing up, Jason walked over to Elizabeth and stopped her movements by placing his hands over her shoulders, gripping her lightly. "Sebastian is dangerous Elizabeth."

She closed her eyes, and Jason felt her shoulders slump underneath his hands. "I know his family is dangerous," opening her eyes, she titled her head back so she could look into his eyes. "But I don't feel right with canceling on him."

Neither said a word as they continued to look at each other, it wasn't until Elizabeth tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes that she finally spoke again. "Do you…You think that Sebastian is using me to get to you don't you?"

Actually, that thought never occurred to him. Dropping his hands from her shoulders, Jason walked towards Bobbie's fireplace before he turned around to look at her again. "He might be. But I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders, "Just promise me that you will stay away from him?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." She placed both of her hands against her stomach and began to rub lightly, "For some reason, I don't think that Sebastian is using me in anyway. Jason…" When he sighed and shook his head, looking away from her, Elizabeth walked up to him and placed her hand on his forearm, "Jason, just trust me on this. I really believe that Sebastian just wants to get to know me."

He was looking down at her, and just by looking into her eyes, he knew that he wasn't going to be able to make her change her mind. Elizabeth was stubborn; it was one of the things that he liked most about her. It was also one of the things that frustrated him the most. "You're really going to go to this party?"

"I want to, yes."

He dropped his chin to his chest and let out a long, deep sigh that whispered across her arm. "Ok." Before she could step away from him and remove her hand from his arm, Jason grabbed her hand in his and stared at it for a moment before he looked into her deep blues, "But I am going to put a guard on you at the party." She opened her mouth to interrupt but he squeezed her hand, silencing her protest. "He won't be there to just watch you; I'm going to have him go to the party undercover, but he will also be there incase anything happens."

"Nothing is going to-"

"Please."

Her eyes softened at his request and Elizabeth found herself nodding in acceptance. "Ok."

"Thank you." Without thinking, Jason dropped her hand, placed his hand on her neck, bending forward to give her a kiss on her forehead. He let his lips linger a little longer than normal before he pulled back.

He walked passed her towards the front door and grabbed his jacket, in the midst of putting it on, her voice stopped him.

"I honestly don't think that anything bad is going to happen Jason. But you do know that I wouldn't let Sebastian come between our friendship, right?"

He stood there for a moment and just looked at her before he nodded his head and gave her a slight smile. "I know."

She took in a deep breath and smiled at him in return as she watched him turn around and leave.