Jason was surprised at how quiet Carly was on the ride back. She didn't look upset. She just looked…indifferent. Like she could less about what was going on around her. He was even more surprised when they had arrived at the brownstone and Carly didn't bolt out of the truck running for freedom. Instead she had helped Morgan out of the truck and calmly walked him into the brownstone. Jason stayed close by waiting for Carly to make her great escape, but she never did. She simply lifted up her son gave him a hug and a kiss and told him she would see him tomorrow.

Morgan responded by asking Carly in a child like innocence, "Are we going back home when Jax gets back?" Before Carly could answer Morgan followed up with another question, "When is Jax coming home?" He asked. Jason could tell that Carly was caught off guard by the questions, but she recovered quickly. She placed Morgan back down on to the floor and then bent down till she was eye to eye with the little man. "We'll be going home soon." She answered, deliberately dodging the question about Jax since she wasn't sure if when Jax came back he would be returning home. "And I'm not too sure when Jax will be back. He's away on important business. Hopefully he'll be back soon." She said in voice that she hoped hid her own fear that he would never return and then messed up his hair and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

Just then Bobbie entered the room. "Grandma!" Morgan yelled and then flew across the room to Bobbie his mouth going 100 miles per hour. "You missed it grandma! You missed it! We had a picnic and played in the playground and then Jason made fireworks and it's not even a holiday or my birthday or nothing!" Bobbie interrupted Morgan's montage. "Wow! I missed all that." She said and gave Jason an eye wink of approval. "I wish I would have been there to see it." "Maybe Jason can do it again just for you." Morgan told her. Bobbie laughed, "That would be nice, but I'm okay with it. As long as you and your mom had a good time." Morgan nodded his head in agreement. "Mom had fun too." He announced. Bobbie smiled at her daughter. She held Morgan close to her and then sniffed. "Oh you smell." She said and turned up her nose. "No I don't grandma." Morgan rebutted "Yes you do." Bobbie said and then placed her grandson on the ground while waving her hand in front of her face. "You go upstairs and get ready and I'll be up in a second to start your bath." She told Morgan. Morgan kissed his mom one last time and ran up the stairs of the brownstone.

Jason waited for Carly to make her move, but she simply thanked her mom, kissed her on the check and walked out to the truck. Again, they rode in silence to the penthouse. He studied her face as he was driving. She didn't seem upset. She still looked unconcerned with the goings on around her.

She stared straight ahead the whole ride home. When they reached home Carly greeted the doorman and went directly to the elevator. When they got in the elevator she pushed the button for the penthouse and stood still. Jason reached for her hand. He was waiting for her to pull away, but instead she allowed him to place her hand in his and she gave him a faint smile. They entered the penthouse and Jason took the picnic gear into the kitchen, and then came back out with two beers in hand. He opened one and passed to Carly.

"Thank-you." She said.

"Anytime." Jason replied.

"No, I mean thank-you for tonight. Thank-you for the picnic and the fireworks." Jason shrugged as if to say it was nothing and went to move past her to his desk. She grabbed his forearm. "You didn't have to do it. Not after all the horrible things I've said and done to you last night. I can't believe you still did this for me after all that. I thought you'd run away like Jax."

Jason turned to her and firmly placed his hands onto her shoulders. He wanted to shake some sense into her. How dare she compare him to Jax, but instead he gentled his voice. "Carly, I'm nothing like Jax." He looked into her eyes for the recognition that she was hearing him. "I'm not like Sonny either. I'm not like any of the men that have passed through your life, because there is nothing you can do that would ever push me away from you. I will always" He emphasized the word "always" be here for you. You are my family."

He took her into his arms and held her. He knew she felt abandoned by Jax and God help him Jax was going to answer to him when he came back. This was going to be the last time Jax made Carly feel abandoned and alone.

Carly pulled back from him, beer bottle in hand and took a long swig from the bottle. She looked at her watch. It was almost ten thirty. She yawned. "I'm going to go upstairs and do some work before bed. I have to check in with things at the hotel. Someone needs to keep on top of things while Jax runs around with Kate." She said it jokingly, but Jason knew it hurt her. Jason walked over to the desk. "I have some work I need to do also." He told her and then sat down in front of the papers strewn all over the desk and he watched Carly as she made her way up the stairs. He smiled inwardly. She was coming back to him.

Carly paused in the middle of the staircase and turned back to Jason. "By the way, I don't want you sleeping on that chaise lounge chair it looks really hard and really uncomfortable."

"I'll be fine." Jason told her. "I'll sleep down here on the couch. The only reason I stayed on the chair is because I wanted to be near you."

She smirked. "You thought I would sneak by you in the middle of the night and escape."

"Something like that." He told her. He didn't want to tell her that the real reason was that he didn't trust that she wouldn't intentionally hurt herself.

"Well, you're not sleeping on the couch either." She told him.

Jason gave her a puzzled look. "He sure as hell was not going to be sleeping in Spinelli's room." He thought to himself.

"Your bed is big enough for three people. We're both adults. We can sleep in the same bed together."

"I'm fine on the couch" Jason told her.

"No you're not. Besides I sleep better when you're near me." She sheepishly admitted.

"ding..ding..ding" Jason heard the bell ringing in his head. She had landed the knock out blow and he was down for the count. "Fine. Just remember to keep your hands to yourself" He told her.

Carly took another step up the stairs then stopped. "I'm a married woman." She told him.

"Like that's ever stopped you before." Jason teased.

Carly gave him a sharp look. "I guess it's a good thing we're only friends or I could be tempted." She quirked her head to the side at him and then made her way up the rest of the stair.

Jason watched her as she sashayed her hips up the stairs. He slunk down in the chair as wanton thoughts found their way into his mind. He vigorously shook his head and then focused on the disaster of papers in front of him.

An hour or so later Jason made his way up to bed. His bedroom door was cracked and he slowly pushed it open unsure if Carly was still working or asleep. When the door opened all the way he got his answer. Carly was sitting upright in the bed with her laptop in her lap, fingers still across the keyboard. Her head tilted to the side and her eyes shut. At least she had changed clothes. Jason thought to himself as he noticed his white T-shirt swallowing her up.

He went over to the bed and slowly slipped the laptop off of her and placed it on the lounge chair next to the bed. The he tried to maneuver Carly into a lying position. He pulled back the covers to maneuver her better and then froze. She was wearing his shirt and nothing else.

Her long bare legs were in front of him and the shirt was tucked underneath her and barely covered her bottom. Jason felt his body tense when he placed a hand on her upper thigh and the other on her back and then gently coaxed her down into a lying position. He took in a deep breath. His body was so tight and he felt, "oh no..no..no..no." He told himself as he realized it was desire that he felt coursing through his veins. He quickly flipped the covers back on to her body and went into the bathroom for a cold cold shower.

Jason came out the shower feeling a little better. He wasn't quite sure what had come over him. Every since he had found her in Michael's room alone and in need. He had the strange urge to wrap her up in his arms and protect her from the world. He had grown so accustomed to Carly being his warrior princess. Ready to do battle with anyone and everyone. Willing to put her neck on the line over and over again for the ones she loved. That he forgot how fragile she could be. The Carly he found in that room was vulnerable and in pain. The fight was gone from her and she needed someone to fight for her. He would always fight for her. He thought.

He looked at her in the bed as he pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms. He usually didn't wear these. He normally just slept in his boxers, but there was no way he was going to lie next to Carly with nothing more than his boxers between them, especially after the feeling he had felt a few minutes ago. She was sleeping so peacefully. A far cry from the way she had slept last night. The color was coming back to her face and the dark circles under her eyes were not as visible. A couple more nights of good sleep and they could be gone all together. She still looked thin, but she had eaten today at the picnic and he was pretty sure he could coax her into eating more. "Maybe everything would be okay." He thought as he got into the bed next to her.

He reached over and brushed away the wayward strands of hair out of her face. Carly made a low breathy moan when his hand brushed her face and then she rolled over and placed her head on his bare chest. She wrapped her bare legs around his and Jason started to pant with desire. He could feel her breath on his chest as he fingered his hand through her hair. She made another sound and Jason's entire body went ridged. He took his arm and wrapped it around her waist. She snuggled on to him, fitting her body into his. Her bare legs were now intertwined with his. Jason closed his eyes took a deep breath and silently said "We're only friends" over and over again in his head until he finally fell asleep.