Jason kissed the top of Michael's sleeping head and walked toward the front door of Carly's cozy cottage. Slipping out into the coolness of the evening, he turned to smile at his best friend. The amber porch light shone over her honey blonde hair, casting a halo around her angelic face. Jason had long known that Carly was a hard woman to love, but he always had. Even when he hated her, he had cared about her more than anyone else in the world. She had once told Jason that he was blessed because he got to choose the family he wanted to have. Years later, with an entirely different life, he had chosen Carly, the boys and his son.

"Thanks for coming over, Jase," she smiled, reaching out to smooth a wrinkle from the collar of his faded grey tee. "I know that you have a lot going on right now, but I appreciate you taking the time out for the boys and me. We were missing out on our quality family time."

Family. There was that word again. Since running into Sam earlier in the day, it was the only thing he could think about. After the breakup, he knew that the chance to have a family with Elizabeth was there. So easily, he could have fallen into a relationship with her, complete with two sons. However, every time he looked at her, he saw a friend. He saw an amazing mother and a kind woman that he spent an amazing night with. Jason valued Liz's place in his life, but she wasn't who he wanted to be with.

Jason opened his mouth to speak as his cell phone started to vibrate from the pocket of his jeans. Automatically, he pulled the small device out, half expecting a call from Sonny for some job that he would never be able to talk about. Instead, he was surprised to see Sam's name flashing on the lit screen. "What's up?" he asked, clearly shocked. "Is everything okay?"

"I know that you were supposed to go see Carly and the boys, but I really need to see you," she told him. "You know that I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important. I promise that it won't be too long. Can you just meet me at the docks in ten minutes?"

He glanced down at his watch and then up at Carly. She had turned away to give him privacy, clearly a first for her. She was wrapped up in the velvet blanket of stars spread overhead. In the quiet moment, he felt something even more. Still, something was going on with Sam, and he owed her this much. "I'll be there," he promised before hanging up the phone. Looking apologetically at Carly, he shrugged. "I have to go meet Sam. She needs to talk to me about something."

"Then you should go," Carly replied airily. "If you thin it's something you need to do, I know that you will do it. You always do the right thing when it comes to the people you care about, Jase. I know that better than anyone."

"Okay, wait, where is my best friend?" Jason chuckled. Carly shot him a sarcastically dirty look before erupting into a fit of giggles. He had always loved the sound of her laugh. "I'm going to go over to the docks to talk to her, and then, I am going to come back over here. It's been a long time since you and I stayed up late and talked all night, just the two of us. I'll pick up a case of beer, and we can just drink the night away. With the boys asleep, I think we both deserve a few hours of innocent fun."

Across town, Sam paced the entire length of the dock nervously. After Lucky had reluctantly left her at her new loft, she had sat on the balcony alone for hours. Their goodbye had been long and drawn out, full of those searching kisses that always come at the beginning of a relationship. Part of her had wanted to take it to the next level right away, but she knew that it would be a mistake. While she couldn't choose how she felt, she could choose how she handled it. She wanted to give Lucky the chance to get to know her, but more importantly, she wanted to give herself the chance to get to know Sam. It had been a long time since she had been on her own, and this time, she wanted to be sure before she jumped into a relationship. With Lucky's patience and kindness, she knew that she would have time in her life for both.

Seeing Lucky with Cameron tonight had shifted something in her. Every ounce of inhibition that she had had prior to dinner melted away when she got to see father and son interacting. Their flow was so natural when they were together. The entire meal had been filled with laughter and inside jokes between the three siblings and Emily. Alexis and Nikolas had told different stories about growing up around Europe while Lucky and Lulu had shared tales of their parents' time on the run. Every once in awhile, Sam would interject with her own quips about living on the open seas. Maybe it wasn't as glamorous as her counterparts' stories, but that was her life. It was time that she stopped apologizing for it.

Her favorite part of the evening had been glancing at Lucky as she told a story. She could tell by the way he was looking at her that he was really listening to her. His eyes never left her, almost as though he was hanging onto her every word. No one had ever made her feel so at ease with the life she had led before Port Charles. To him, her life story was an adventure worth boasting about. Bold and courageous, he admired the things in her she had long tried to hide.

"Hey," a familiar voice greeted her, drawing her attention immediately. "Sorry it took me so long, there was a train near the park. I got here as soon as I could."

"Thanks for coming, Jason," Sam retorted, making her way across the old wooden planks to where he stood. She had chosen a place near the warehouse, a place where they would both feel comfortable. "I wanted to talk to you about earlier. I know that I don't owe you an explanation, but I would like to give you one. Whether we like it or not, we are going to be in each other's lives. We're going to see each other. I don't want to keep this from you."

"You have always been able to tell me anything," he offered.

Sam nodded with a wry smile, wondering how she had forgotten that in the last year of their relationship. Their biggest problem toward the end was their inability to communicate when they needed it most. It didn't matter how much they loved each other if they couldn't be upfront about things. "I care a lot about Lucky," she admitted slowly, trying to find the right words for how she felt. "Things between us are starting to get more and more intense every day. I don't know where our relationship is headed, but I know that there is definitely something between us. Tonight, we decided that we were going to start seeing each other. It's nothing serious yet, but I wanted you to be the first person to know. If you were going to be with Elizabeth, I wouldn't want to find out from anyone else."

Jason was quiet for a few moments. While he had known that the likeliness of a relationship between Sam and Lucky was relatively strong after seeing them together this afternoon, it hadn't really hit him until then. Everyone has their own moment when they realize that it is over for good, and Jason had thought that he had his when he mentally acknowledged that they were likely falling in love. Now that she had vocalized his prior thoughts to him, that last glimmer of hope was finally extinguished.

"Lucky and I have had our differences, and no one knows that more than you," Jason told her. "But I know that despite all his mistakes, Lucky is a good man. He values the importance of family, and he cares greatly for his son. With Lucky, you have the opportunity for a family, stability and safety that I could never offer. I loved you for a long time, Sam, but I don't know that I could ever love you the way that you needed. I'm glad that you have found a beginning in Lucky."

"There is the man I fell in love with," Sam grinned. "I haven't seen him in a really long time, but he's standing right here in front of me. I'm glad that we can stand here and have this conversation after everything that happened. No matter what has happened between us, I still want you in my life as a friend, Jason."

"Then, I should probably tell you something," he admitted softly, dreading his impending confession. "As you may or may not know, I am not going to be with Elizabeth. I care about her greatly as a friend, and she will always be apart of my life. I couldn't have asked for a better mother for my son, but I can't be with her in any way that is romantic. It's just not where my heart lies."

Sam bit her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from giggling again. She already knew what was coming and decided to give him an easy out. "If you are in love with her, you should let her know," she replied. "You don't even have to say that you can't be with Elizabeth because of Carly. We both already know it. Every day that you and I were together, I feared that it would be the day you realized how much you loved her. I could never figure out how Sonny and Jax could deal with being second place. It was hard for me, and we were never even married."

"I'm sorry if I made you feel like that," Jason apologized. "I truly did love you, Sam. In fact, I loved you a lot. I just never…"

"It's okay, Jason," she assured him. "I finally understand how it's possible to care so deeply for two people. I think there are a million different ways to love people, and Carly and I exemplify two of those ways for you. I think that you and Lucky will come to be that for me."

Jason reached out and caressed her hand affectionately, one last touch for the ghost of a really good relationship that has come to pass. This goodbye held no sadness; this truly was a new beginning. Jason and Sam had made the best comeback possible – they had become friends again. Eventually, the two said their goodnights and drifted back to their own respective lives. Alone in the car, Sam allowed herself to reflect on how far she'd come in the span of one evening. As she turned onto her tree-lined street, she was happy to see a squad car parked at her curb.

Slamming the door, she gathered the train of her gown and jogged to where Lucky was leaning against his car. "I wasn't ready to say goodnight," he said breathlessly before crashing his mouth against hers. Sam smiled against his lips in response, quickly losing herself in the passionate embrace that only he could possess.

Sam pulled back and smiled up into his eyes. "Let's go up to my balcony," she decided aloud. "We can make hot chocolate, look at the stars and talk until the sun comes up. You wanted the chance to get to know me, and now, I am going to bore you with every single mundane detail of my life."

"As long as I don't have to say goodnight…"

"You can't say goodnight if the sun is up," Sam taunted.

"So, I'll just say good morning."

"It certainly will be," she murmured to herself as Lucky encircled her waist and guided her upstairs toward her loft. "It certainly will."