Chapter 6

Elizabeth stepped off the elevator and took a deep breath. Her head had been pounding since she woke up that morning. When she had finally peeled herself out of bed she swore she would never drink like that again. She closed her eyes and took one more deep breath before gently knocking on the door. Seconds later it flung open.

"Maternal one… come in." Spinelli said moving aside so Elizabeth could enter the Penthouse.

Elizabeth spoke in a soft voice, "Morning Spinelli. Is Jason home?"

"Oh, yes… yes… Stonecold is in the kitchen enjoying some warm caffeine refreshments. The Jackal will go announce your arrival."

Elizabeth stood in the Livingroom shaking her head. He was so not the type of roommate she pictured Jason having, although she knew Jason had a good heart for taking the kid in.

"Hey." Jason said walking around the corner from the kitchen.

Spinelli followed closely behind, "The Jackal will be in the regrettably pink bedroom." He mumbled before quickly disappearing up the steps.

Elizabeth smiled, "Spinelli is staying in Brenda's old room?" she asked. She was slightly jealous as she remembered the night she had spent with Jason in that bedroom.

Jason nodded. "How are you feeling?"

"A little hungover… ok… a lot hungover. I haven't drank like that in a while." She admitted then walked over to the couch and sat on the arm.

"Is everything ok, you really shouldn't be…"

"I just came over to thank you for last night. I think I yelled at you and was a mess… thank you for getting me home." She said bringing her eyes up to meet his.

He crossed the Livingroom and sat on the arm of the chair adjacent to the couch. His knee brushed against hers and he quickly shifted as though her touch stung him. "No need to thank me."

Elizabeth could feel the tension and frustration in the air, him pushing and both of them pulling. She looked down and took a deep breath but was distracted with what she saw on the coffee table. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

"Get what?" Jason asked before following her gaze.

She reached over to the table and picked it up, "This letter? Did you get it in the mail?" She read the familiar words and looked at the envelope under it.

Jason shook his head and opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off.

"This is mine, you got this from my house…" she stood from the arm of the couch and backed away putting a few feet between them. "When did you… last night?"

He nodded and she continued. "You went through my mail?" she asked arching her brows.

"No, I wasn't snooping or anything like that." She crossed her arms over her chest waiting for him to continue. He sucked in a deep breath before speaking again. "You dropped your purse when I picked you up to carry you up the steps. When I was leaving I picked it up off the floor and put it on your table. I just noticed the card on the table, I wasn't going through your things. I would never invade your privacy like that Elizabeth."

"What… why?"

Jason looked at the floor then back to Elizabeth, "This is a threatening letter Elizabeth. I took it for Spinelli to track it, we need to know who sent it."

She shook her head, "No, it's probably just a prank."

"A prank?" Jason questioned.

"Yea, some bored kids picking a name out of a phone book and messing with them." She explained.

"Your new address is not in a phone book, not to mention your legal name is still Elizabeth Spencer… whoever sent this knows you… knows you separated from Lucky, knows where you live… and I have to assume knows about Jake." Jason said.

The nausea she had felt when she woke up that morning was starting to return. She walked back to the couch and sat down. "I didn't think about all that."

"Which is why you should have called me."

She looked at him and angled her head, "But we are supposed to keep our distance." She shot back at him.

"Elizabeth, if there is ever any danger or a question of danger I want you to contact me."

"I wouldn't have to call you if you were already there." She admitted in a defeated voice.

Jason sighed. "I know but we have talked about this Elizabeth."

"We have, and I changed my mind." She shifted on the couch closer to him and took his hands in hers. "I would be safest with you, with us all together."

Jason's gaze was focused on their hands as he shook his head.

"STOP… Just stop doing that!" she insisted. "I have complete faith in your ability to protect our family. You would do anything in your power to make sure we were safe."

"Elizabeth, I would… I would do everything I could but what scares me the most is the danger that I don't even know about… it's out there. I chose this life years ago and whether I like it or not I am stuck with it now because of those choices."

Elizabeth sucked in her bottom lip and released his hands. "So you chose the life to protect Sonny and his family so now they you finally have one you can't be with them because of the danger."

"That's not fair." Jason mumbled.

She stood from the couch, "Neither is this Jason! Is it fair that Jake does not know his real father? Is it fair that you come home here every night alone? Is it fair that I cry myself to sleep every night, alone? Here's a good one, is it fair that I now have to fight to keep Lucky from taking my boys from me?"

Jason hung his shoulders defeated and shook his head. She stood in front of Jason waiting for him to speak and when he didn't she took his face in her palms and turned his head to face her. His eyes were sad and tired.

She shook her head and whispered, "No, it's not fair." She bent over and lowered her lips to his. Her lips slowly moved over his before her tongue traced along his bottom lip. "Jason" she whispered and his lips parted. Her tongue instantly meeting his causing her to let out a soft sigh. Elizabeth felt as though she was floating. Kissing Jason was heaven, like nothing she had experienced before. His hands gripped her waist as his lips passionately moved over hers. She finally pulled back for a breath and met his eyes.

"Elizabeth…" her lips found his one last time before he stood from the chair and took a few steps to put distance between them. "It will only be harder if we… if you…"

She stood shocked for a minute before her eyes quickly turned from desire to fury in a matter of seconds. Tears formed in them as she turned toward the door. "You know, if you spent as much energy fighting the danger to be together it might be easier then the fight you are putting up to keep us apart." She yelled then slammed the door behind her.

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Hours later Elizabeth was at work, attempting to distract herself with her work, without success. Leo was going through some patient instructions with her when Jason stepped off the elevator. Elizabeth looked at him and instantly turned her attention back to Leo.

Jason walked around to where they were, "Can we talk for a minute?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked at him and could see the apologetic look in his eyes. She nodded and looked to Leo whose pager was going off, "Give me a quick minute."

"That's fine, I need to answer this page." He said before turning toward the phone on the desk.

"What, have you come to make me feel worse Jason?"

"I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Well, I'm tired of hearing you apologize, I'm tired of fighting with you… I'm just tired." She said closing her eyes.

"I know, I am too."

"Well I don't know what else to say or do, Jason." She rolled her eyes, "I'm not very good with rejection."

He gave her a shocked look, "I didn't reject you."

"Sure seemed that way to me. I get it, we need to stay away, fine. Can you please stop making it hard by coming to see me and I will do the same… ok?"

Before he could reply she turned and saw Dr. Jullian was off his call. Jason stood there for a minute watching them and turned toward the elevator.

"You look like you need a drink." Leo said.

Elizabeth chuckled, "I think that is the last thing I need right now."

"Well, I get off shift in a bit, want to go grab a bite. I am a good listener." He said with a flirtatious smile.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Jason who was still clearly in listening distance standing by the elevator. Quickly she turned back and said, "Sure, that sounds good."

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Jason stood in the elevator feeling like he had just been punched in the gut. She obviously accepted his offer so Jason would be jealous but it did not make it hurt any less. He wondered to himself 'What the fuck am I doing?'

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Elizabeth completed her plans with Leo before turning back toward the elevator. Jason was gone. She wondered how much he heard. She had only accepted the date to make Jason jealous and she felt beyond guilty for hurting him like that. She was unable to figure out if it was anger or frustration that made her accept in front of him, maybe both.

Before her shift was over she told Leo that she could not go out tonight because she did not have a babysitter and maybe another time… although she knew there would be no other time. As much as it frustrated her she only wanted to be with Jason.

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Please don't get mad at me, I promise they are getting there!