AN: Thank you to:
jennymar, sashahailee, Kimmy123, trini12180, Ember1313, Mommyzilla, Krissy07, sweetgirl23, and all my guests for their reviews!
Ember1313 for following my story!
3-left-turns and shariebery for adding my story to their favorites!
And thank you to everyone for their help on the Carly thing! It was greatly appreciated!
Disclaimer: I do not own GH.
Something New
Chapter 9: Conversations
It was as Carly was getting ready to sign the last page that Jax couldn't take it anymore. There was something wrong. He could see Carly was upset, but she wasn't saying anything. She hadn't said one word the entire time.
He reached over and grabbed the page from her.
"Stop."
Alexis and Diane stared at him as if he had grown an extra head.
Alexis grabbed his arm.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He shook her off.
Carly was leaning back in her chair; still refusing to look in his direction. What bothered him was that she was clearly angry with him. He knew what it probably was too and he wasn't going to wait for hurricane that was Carly to hit.
"I thought this is what you wanted. Us happily signing divorce papers."
Carly now turned to face him and the rage he saw there caught him off guard, but it only reinforced what he thought the problem was. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep Carly from knowing about his and Elizabeth's friendship, but he had hoped it would be later when she had finally accepted the divorce. Looking at her now he couldn't think of anything else she would be so angry over, and knew that her keeping it to herself meant she was planning something, and he wasn't going to have it.
"You're angry. Why?"
Carly's glared intensified and she sat forward.
"Do I have something to be angry about?"
Jax knew she thought she did.
"No."
She lost it.
"You don't think I have the right to be upset that you brought my children around that man stealing bitch."
Fury rose at her words, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from responding in a harsh manner.
"Elizabeth is just a friend, Carly. She's been through a lot in the last month. I'm…"
Carly shook her head, her look only becoming more venomous, and stood up.
"Yes, poor, poor Elizabeth. In case you haven't noticed she always has a crisis that she needs to have fixed right then! She's a manipulative bitch he who isn't above using her children to get what she wants. Look at Lucky! That poor man…"
The mention of Lucky made him see red.
"Don't you dare defend that man to me, Carly. You have no idea what he's done to Elizabeth and those boys. Lucky has put Elizabeth through more grief than she has ever deserved."
Carly laughed in disbelief.
"You are such a hypocrite! You're divorcing me for cheating on you; Elizabeth slept with her fiancés brother! Tell me why it's ok for Elizabeth to do whatever the hell she wants, but I…"
"But what? When you feel like sleeping with Sonny and I'm not ok with that? Key word of that last sentence was fiancé Carly. Elizabeth and Lucky hadn't made vows yet."
Carly had a look of disbelief on her face and was opening her mouth to interrupt, but he wasn't done yet.
"And at least she's actually sorry for the pain she caused. When I ran into her at the park, she was torturing herself over the mistakes she had made. For the first time in years I met someone who was actually sorry for how their actions affected those around them. She was genuinely sorry for hurting Lucky, Nikolas, and her boys. She didn't just focus on how it affected her. You want to talk about someone who puts on a poor pitiful me façade, go look in a mirror Carly."
"I told you I was sorry, Jax! I didn't mean to hurt you! I…"
He had already made the mistake of letting some of the anger, betrayal, and pain that had built up over the years out, and now he was lost in the wave of it.
"You were only thinking about you, Carly! It's the only thing you ever think of. Hell sometimes…"
And he made himself stop. He had been about to cross a line that couldn't be uncrossed. The moment he questioned Carly's mothering he would lose everything. She would never let him see his children.
"Sometimes what, Jax!? I know you weren't about to tell me that I ever put my kids second to anything. I love my kids. I'm not like Elizabeth who uses her kids to get the men in her life to fall all over her, and I never expected you to be one of those men!"
They were both standing and the entire restaurant was staring at them at this point, and it only seem to further enrage him that she was saying these things about Elizabeth in front of strangers; where she couldn't even defend herself.
"If anyone used those kids it was Lucky! He knew Elizabeth would always be willing to forgive him and keep him in their lives as long as he was the father of those children. Elizabeth took Lucky back and became engaged to him because she knew exactly what kind of man he was. She knew that if she had said no then Lucky would've gone off and had a pity party and she would've been left all alone to look after those boys. She did everything she could to keep her family together but she didn't want to be with him, and I don't blame her. His actions after everything came out proved what kind of man he was!"
"How was he supposed to act? He loved Elizabeth and then she went and slept with his brother! Was he just supposed to be ok with that!? He was just figuring out that his wife was nothing but a faithless slut. Who could be around someone after that?"
"Yeah reminds me of someone."
He really hadn't meant to say it. In any other situation he never would have. It was just that Carly had basically done the same thing and here she was crucifying Elizabeth for the same things.
Her face was shocked and covered in pain.
He covered his eyes with his hand and sighed. Regardless of what he had known, he had hoped the night would go differently.
Carly stalked up to him.
"You want to go be with that skank, be my guest Jax. But if I were you I'd keep an eye on her, Elizabeth has wondering eyes, and I wouldn't be surprised if she made someone else take care of a kid who isn't actually theirs."
With that she ripped the last page from his hand, signed it, threw it towards Diane, and then stalked off toward the elevator.
Alexis came up behind him and set her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. She looked so concerned.
"Jax, I'm sorry. I know you didn't really want this to happen like that."
He shook her off. Honestly he wasn't even all that upset. He felt guilty for saying what he said because it embarrassed her in front of everyone, but he unexpectedly felt great. It was as if with this last confrontation, whatever it was between Carly and him had finally broke.
He smiled at her and grabbed the paper to sign it. He signed them quickly and then handed them to her.
"Don't be. It wasn't like we didn't know this was going to happen. I didn't expect mine and Elizabeth's friendship to be an issue this early, but it's probably for the better. At least I can tell Elizabeth to be on alert."
He suddenly became a little panicked. What if that was where Carly was headed?
"You don't think she's go over there now do you? I left Morgan and Joss over there so they wouldn't have to be anywhere near this. I have to go. Thank you both for everything you've done!"
Molly looked down at the list. She had a feeling that their putting Elizabeth and Jax were going to be a little different from the usual attempts. She doesn't think it'll be as difficult as Mac and her mom, but also not like when they try and help Jason give Sam something romantic. If Kristina was right there was already something there, so they would just have to make them act on it. Whatever they planned would have to focus on the more romantic side of things, otherwise they would stay stuck in their friendship phase. It couldn't be anything too fancy though. They needed to make this a natural transition.
They should probably go with plan number 3 then. They had to implant the idea in their heads before they could go any further. Now all she had to do was find someone to invite Elizabeth and Jax to dinner together for some reason. Hmm…who could they get in on this that would play along?
Just then Kristina came through the door looking quite pleased.
"Hey, Kristina? Who do you think could get both Elizabeth and Jax to dinner together under the illusion of eating with them? I can't think of anyone that would invite both Jax and Elizabeth without it seeming odd."
Kristina tilted her head and thought.
"That's a good point. Actually it might seem less suspicious if we get someone to invite Elizabeth out and someone else to invite Jax out and just have it be in the same restaurant and then just have both parties call and cancel. That way it looks like it's just a coincidence and well get them to eat dinner together in a more grown up and fancier set up. It'll have to be somewhere where there will be couples but not overly romantic. Somewhere to just suggest the idea."
It was perfect! Molly could feel herself getting excited again. She just knew that these two were going to be the one for each other.
"Alright so who do we get to ask? Who can we trust?"
Kristina smiled.
"I know exactly what we're going to do."
Sam arrived at the Haunted Star to find Ethan sitting at the bar holding a drink. He seemed to be staring into it hoping to find answers at the bottom of it.
"Been a rough week?" she asked as she took a seat next to him. She didn't know much about the other man except that he occasionally did some leg work for Johnny when he needed the extra cash, but he didn't look too good and with her past with Lucky and everything he helped her with after the break up with Jason she figured the least she could do was help his brother if he needed it, and maybe he knew where Lucky was.
"More like a rough month. If you're here looking for Luke you're wasting your time. He just left. Him and Tracy just left to take some time away from Port Charles for a while. Most likely until the trial's over."
"Trial?"
Ethan looked up in surprise.
"You don't know? Well I guess that isn't too surprising. I'm sure Jax can pay off whoever he wants to keep this low-key. I'm sure he doesn't want to put Elizabeth and her boys through anything more than they've already been."
"Wait. What happened to Elizabeth?"
Were the boys ok? God if something had happened to them she didn't know what Jason would do.
She watched as he swallowed the rest of his drink and then lightly pushed the glass away and turned to face her.
"They will be. Jax has been amazing throughout the entire thing from what I can see and from what I've heard Morgan's been really helpful with Cameron, so yeah eventually I think everything will be ok. It'll just take a little time. You know, even with all I've learned I still can't believe Lucky could do something like this."
Lucky? He hurt Cameron and Elizabeth? No, surely not. Lucky had always…and then she remembered moments. Moments where Lucky would be so angry and she thought it was always an understandable rage, but it seemed like it was always just underneath the surface.
"What did he do exactly? I mean even if he hated Elizabeth, the Lucky I know would never hurt his children. Even when he found out Jake wasn't his he still stuck around and promised to take care of them and loved them and he did."
Ethan's fingers twitched closer to the glass, as if wanting to take a drink right then.
"Yeah, well apparently that was the problem. Lucky decided he didn't want to play daddy anymore. Not that he was apparently going to tell anyone about this. Hell if Jax hadn't come over to confront him, Elizabeth still wouldn't have an answer for her children as to why their father isn't around."
Jax? So there was something to what Carly was saying then. Not that it made the woman any less crazy. At this point it was none of her business who Jax chose to spend his time with, and if he wanted to spend it with Elizabeth, well there were worse people he could choose.
"But that's where it all went to hell anyway. Jax confronted him about how he was treating the boys and I can honestly say I've never seen the man so angry before. Not that I blame him. Did you know Lucky was going to say that Cameron and Jake were mistakes? Like the world was worse off because they were in it. It makes me sick."
This Jax/Elizabeth thing seemed to be coming from nowhere, but if it gave the woman someone to lean on after the whole Nikolas thing then she was all for it. Again she understood what it felt like having slept with Ric who had been married to her mom at the time. She had eventually found that person in Lucky for a while. She just hoped it ended better with Jax.
"What did Jax do?"
Ethan chuckled darkly.
"He slammed his fist into Lucky's face. I couldn't believe it and I don't think he meant to either."
His voice immediately became more serious.
"It was the only reason Lucky was able to recover and fight back. He ended up hitting him over the head with a vase. God he could've killed him! My own brother could've killed the man that was just trying to help someone who everyone turned their back on. After everything Lucky has put Elizabeth through the years, none of them would even give her the time of day when she came in here and begged for their help. And the worse part! I just stood there and watched it all happen. I sat here and watch them destroy her and did nothing and I sat here and saw what Lucky was going to do and I just watched!"
By this point he was standing up and pacing and Sam was still trying to understand everything that had happened.
"Ethan, you couldn't have known that things were going to turn out this way; in fact out of everyone here you would be the last one to know. You did nothing wrong by staying out of a situation you already admitted you didn't know anything about. Now what exactly happened with Jax?"
He just seemed defeated.
"They were fighting and Lucky found a vase that had fallen to the floor and smashed against Jax's head. The doctors were afraid that he might be deaf in his right ear, but everything turned out all right in the end, I think. And Luke can still only barely look at me when he sees me because I turned Lucky into the cops."
Of course Luke wouldn't want the cops involved. He was always about doing things outside the law.
"He didn't take into consideration the fact that Lucky was still out there and could've hurt someone else if you hadn't? I mean what if he had gone to Elizabeth after he found out why Jax was there?"
Ethan avoided her eyes.
"He did."
Sam felt her eyes widen. Oh my god.
"He showed up at her place and started yelling at her and then he grabbed her and threatened her. She managed to escape, and thank god Luke had been there. At least he realized that Elizabeth could be in danger. Then Mac arrived and arrested Lucky and Luke said he was so pissed off at Lucky. He said Jax arrived shortly after and he was able to calm Elizabeth down and get her to go to the hospital."
Ethan was quiet for a minute, a minute she hardly noticed due to her own shock. She had been in relationships like that before, where she had feared for her life, about what the other person could do to her, and to know that Lucky, a man she had trusted, was capable of something like that…it was too much.
"You know I saw her when they brought her in. She already had bruises on her arms where Lucky had grabbed her. They were so dark and ugly and it was the perfect impression of his hand."
"What about the kids? Where they there when this was happening?"
If he hurt Cam or Jake there wouldn't be anything she could do when Jason found out. Jason wouldn't stand for someone to hurt them, but especially not someone he had trusted to protect and love his son. This was already going to hit him hard.
"It is a miracle that Elizabeth had happened to call Nikolas the day before and managed to arrange a play date for them and Spencer together, and that Nikolas had decided to hold it a Wyndemere so Elizabeth could have a day off. It almost didn't do much. Cameron ended up finding out what had really happened when he heard Mac talking in the park."
Sam closed her eyes. She felt her heart constrict in pain for the other woman. She was sure it had to be hard enough to deal with her own emotions on the situation, but then having to deal with that with Cameron…it was a wonder the woman hadn't collapsed.
"I think the only good thing that's come out of this is that Jake doesn't remember Lucky since he was too little when Lucky stopped coming around and that Elizabeth and Jax seemed to have established a friendship."
Sam couldn't help but think that if Carly had known all this had happened and still come to Jason to bitch, she was going to kick her ass.
"Well then I guess it's like you said, everything looks like it's going to turn out ok and that at least that answers my questions. But I think Elizabeth isn't the only one who needs someone to talk to. You sound as if you could use a sounding board. If I were you I'd find one because if you keep using the alcohol the way you are, well you don't want to end up like your brother."
She would have stayed longer, but she didn't know Ethan that well and didn't think she would be all that much help to him. Besides she did have a client that she had to meet for her and Spenillie's P.I. business.
"You did see how mad he became when Carly insulted her, right?"
Alexis rolled her eyes.
"Yes, but that's the kind of person that Jax is. He's very defensive of his friends, and obviously he and Elizabeth are friends now, which really isn't all that surprising."
Diane felt her eyebrows rise. She happened to think two people who had never really spent any time together becoming close friends so quickly was odd. Besides she thought that anger ran a little too deep and was felt too strongly for there not be any extra feelings there, regardless of whether Jax noticed them or not.
"And why is that?"
Alexis sighed.
"I don't even know why I bother trying to argue with you people. You're only going to use whatever you have at your disposal to prove a point. Jax and Elizabeth do have a history together, though in retrospect it is very sad."
Diane suddenly felt her confident feelings for these two fly out the window. She just didn't want to be back three years from now filing new divorce papers.
"Well? What happened?"
Alexis's eyes had a shade of sadness in them.
"Jax was married to Courtney and they wanted to have a child but found out they couldn't because her eggs were infertile. So they started looking for a surrogate. Simultaneously, Elizabeth needed to find a way to pay for Lucky's medical bills because Lucky didn't want to ask Nikolas if they could borrow the money, and Elizabeth heard about what Courtney and Jax wanted. Eventually it was decided that Jax would pay off their debts in return for Elizabeth to have and carry a child that him and Courtney could have. Courtney and Jax ended up getting divorced and after some debate Elizabeth and Jax decided to share custody of their child. It didn't matter though. One night Jax and Elizabeth were in a car and Jax was driving and some lunatic just jumped out in front of the road. Elizabeth ended up losing the child."
Diane drew in a breath. That was some heavy history even if it had only been a few months, but it would make their friendship make even more sense.
"That's a strong connection. Is that why you're so against the two of them together? You think something tragic already happened once that it's bound to happen again?"
Alexis shook her head.
"I don't really have a problem with them being together. I just don't want Jax jumping into a relationship just as he's getting out of one. It won't do either of them any good. I like Elizabeth and Jax is my best friend. I don't want them hurting each other, and I don't believe in other people meddling in other's affairs."
Dian smirked.
"We'll see."
Something told her that by the end of all of this she would be their biggest supporter and meddler.
Elizabeth was just putting Josslyn back down when Jax came to the door. She was surprised to see that he actually seemed pretty ok, if not a little worried.
"Hey! How did it go? Everything ok?"
She watched as his eyes swept the room and then as he relaxed and his eyes came back to her and he smiled.
"About as well as we expected."
She smiled back.
"So were the casualties severe?"
"Nah. Just our pride and dignity, but I find that I don't care what other people think if I don't know any of them. Besides half that hotel's mine so if I want to hold my divorce conversation there then I will."
She was surprised at how well he looked. It seemed as if with the signing a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He seemed a lot more carefree. Then again if she had been chained to Carly for five years she'd probably feel the same.
"That's good. You just looked concerned when you walked in so I thought maybe something had happened."
She went sat down and the couch and motioned for him to follow.
"Yeah, well I was afraid that maybe Carly was going to show up. I guess she saw us at the park or something and she decided to bring it up."
Jax eyes had taken on a harder edge. Carly must have said something that had really made him mad, she hadn't seen that look since the whole…Lucky thing.
"I've heard the same things from Carly multiple times. Whatever it is she said I wouldn't even waste time on it. She is going to think what she's going to think. I've just learned to ignore her."
Jax smiled but she could tell this time it was distracted. She could tell he was wanting to ask something, but that he wasn't sure how.
"Look if Carly brought up something from the past that you aren't sure about just ask. I'm not intentionally keeping anything from you; just ask."
He hesitated for a second longer before beginning.
"I'm only asking because Lucky had said something similar to what Carly had implied, and when Lucky had said it I thought he was just being paranoid but now I think perhaps there's something I've missed. Lucky said that he didn't want to play daddy to two children that weren't his. What did he mean? Is Jake not Lucky's?"
Of course that spiteful bitch would bring it up. She had always been pissed that Jason and her had a child together.
She stood up suddenly, realizing what Carly may have done.
"Jax did Carly say that? I mean out there in front of everyone?"
Confusion crossed his face but he shook his head.
"She didn't even outright say he wasn't, but like I said it more reminded me of what Lucky had said."
She felt her heartbeat start to slow. Thank god. She thought after all this time…well it wasn't like most of the people she knew didn't know, but Jason's enemies didn't and that was what mattered.
She sat back down on the couch and she found it hard to look at Jax.
"You remember when we talked about Lucky cheating on me with Maxie and I said that what I did was just as bad? Well that one night stand I had with Jason that night is what made me pregnant with Jake. Jason is technically Jake's biological father."
He was shocked. She remembered being as shocked when she found out she was pregnant.
"Does Jason know?"
She nodded.
"Well not at first. Lucky had found out I was pregnant and he was getting back into rehab and just starting his recovery and I was afraid that if I told him the child wasn't his that he would go right back to taking the pain pills; the baby had given him hope and I hadn't wanted to take that away from. I didn't even tell Jason until the Hostage Crisis and that was because he had literally just saved our lives. I had to tell him. He actually proposed, he wanted to raise this child together. He thought it would be for the best, but we talked more and we decided to keep it a secret to protect Lucky and Sam. It only blew up in our faces later. Sam and Jason's relationship ended and Lucky and Sam got together. Jason and I tried a relationship again and he proposed for real and I said yes."
She looked up at him.
It was a lot of information to absorb. Of course looking at Jake and then looking at Jason it was actually kind of obvious, but still…wow. He wondered how Jason would take the news about Lucky when he found out.
He decided to ignore the feeling he had when Elizabeth said she said yes to Jason's proposal.
"What happened?"
A look of guilt crossed her face.
"The day he proposed was the day Michael was shot. He came back here after you had made it to the hospital and we broke it off. It had just shown us what we had already known; not that it made it any easier at the time."
Jax would never forget that day. It was easily one of the worst days of his life.
He remembered suddenly that he had come to see her that day.
"So wait, when I came to see you that day you had just ended your engagement to Jason?"
She nodded.
"I'm sorry."
And he was. Regardless of what he felt for Jason he knew that had to have been difficult.
"Don't because even after all of that it hadn't really sunken in. The delusional part of my brain thought I could still have a relationship with Jason if I just kept it a secret and kept him away from my children (he hated that self-deprecation in her voice). It took Jake being kidnapped before I learned my lesson."
"At least you learned though. It takes time to fall out of love with someone, Elizabeth. And you both did what you knew was best for your child. Jason at least showed that he truly cared about Jake by letting him go because he knew it would be the only way he could be safe."
Unlike Sonny who had only let Morgan and Michael go because he knew it was just a move to pacify Carly until she was no longer mad at him. At least Jason could prove that he truly cared about his child.
He saw something flash behind Elizabeth's eyes. It was just a flicker of some emotion before it was gone.
"I'm surprised you didn't know. It felt like everyone in Port Charles had already learned the truth somehow. I guess Carly didn't want to mention it because she knew you would be on different sides."
Of course Carly had known. Carly had to know everything that was going on in Jason's life, regardless of whether or not it had anything to do with her.
"You know what? It doesn't even really matter anymore. It's all over with now. You and your children are finally safe and I'm divorced and in an oddly good mood. I think we should take this moment to forget the past and just look forward to the future and whatever it holds for us."
He gives her the warmest and brightest smile he was capable of, and can't help the feeling that comes over him when she smiled back.
AN: Sorry this update took a little longer. I had bio lab until two on Friday and then I had to watch GH real quick before I had to go to Haltom City and baby sit my niece for the three-day weekend and she just went to be a few hours ago. I'm about to start writing my first essay in English 112 on Wednesday so I'm not sure if when the updates will be during that time. Whatever they are will probably remain like that until December when the semester is over.
Thank you to everyone for reading and have a safe weekend!
