I know you guys are going to hate me after this but I had to do it. If you want to know what I'm talking about read. Please review and tell what you think.

Chapter 14: Happy Freaking Birthday to Me

It was almost 10 am when Jason and Elizabeth made their way into the Webber's driveway. Elizabeth was wearing one of Jason's tee shirts and a pair of shorts. Her hair was a mass of windblown curls around her face and contrary to how she looked the day before, she had a huge smile on her face.

Taking her helmet of, she stepped down with the help of Jason.

"I'll never get tire of ridding on the back of your bike!"

"That's what you say now, but last night you weren't too eager to move back to your place when I let you drive."

"Well it was your mistake. You told me once that I had the bug, why on Earth did you let me drive if you knew I was becoming addicted to you…"

As the words came out her mouth his smile faltered and she turned crimson with embarrassment.

"…to your bike. I'm becoming addicted to your bike and the wind and the velocity and then you go and let me drive and who would've thought I was going to be so good at it. I mean besides nearly running over an old lady and several trashcans I did pretty well didn't I?"

"Riiiight… let's not forget you nearly ran us of the road, twice."

"That wasn't my fault. There was a little chicken in the road. Besides, you had more control over the bike than me. All we did was change positions. We drove around with your arms around me instead of the usual."

"This bike is way too big for you, Elizabeth. You have to manage your weight, the force of the wind…

The door to the house opened and the Webber herd came out with exaggerated demonstrations of worry.

"Oh Elizabeth, thank God you are alright!" Sarah was the first to walk over and give her a hug. Elizabeth just stood there all signs of happiness erasing from her face.

"Young lady you have some explaining to do."

"Are you OK, Lizzie?"

"Where were you? Did this hooligan do something to you? I swear that if you put your dirty hands on my daughter you are going to rot in jail for the rest of your life."

Jeff Webber was on Jason's face. All the while Jason was leaning on his bike, his arms crossed over his chest and a not so amused look on his face.

"You are not going to say anything. You are just going to stand there and mock me while you've just taken my still underage girl's innocence."

"What are you babbling about Jeff?" Elizabeth couldn't hold it any longer. She walked toward Jason and gave him her helmet which he took without a word. She stood in front of her father and put her hands on her hips.

"This man kidnaps you and you are still defending him. It figures, you always were a little…"

"No, you have me confused with your wife. She was the one banging the help while you were out saving lives."

Caroline's face turned red at her daughter's words. "How dare you say that about your own mother?"

"No. How dare you even suggest that Jason could take advantage of me? You don't know him. Hell, if you even thought that I would do something like that you don't even know me; the girl you claim to own."

"But, Lizzie. You spent the night with him, you are wearing his clothes. What else would you want us to think?" Sarah said with her angelic face, all the while thinking that if her little sis did spent the night with Jason 'the hunk' Morgan she was the luckiest witch ever.

"I did spend the night, but not in Jason's bed. I slept in his spare room, the one he let me stay in when he took care of me after I was almost raped and none of you bother to show up. Yes, I'm wearing his shirt, big freaking deal. He's seen more of me than any of you would ever see. And I'm not talking about my body, but about my soul."

Elizabeth turned around and found Jason staring at her with admiration shinning in his bright blue orbs. Seeing his face made her even stronger than she ever thought she was. Expelling a breath she walked a couple of feet towards him.

"Thank you for everything, Jason. I think you should go now. The Webber's and I have a little chat we need to have and there's no better time than the present."

"Are you sure you want to stay?"

"No. But I have to."

"OK. I'll talk to you later then."

"That would be great. I'm sure I'll need some venting to do."

"I'll call you later. Here."

He stood up and gave her the helmet but she didn't take it. "No, you keep it. It'll be easier that way."

"What if you want to go riding with someone else?" The words left a sour after taste on his mouth. He didn't want her to go riding with someone else.

Elizabeth frowned and then smiled. "Sorry Mr. Morgan, but you are stuck with me. I only feel safe on that bike right there. So unless you don't want me in it…"

"That is never going to happen."

"OK its settle then. You keep the helmet."

"Bye, Elizabeth."

"See you later Jason."

Without another word he placed her helmet in the small compartment in the back and straddled the bike. He didn't look back at the Webber's who were still standing there. He revved the bike and smiled back at Elizabeth after taking of.

Turning around her eyes instantly went cold. "I'm going to change and then we are all going to have a long overdue family talk. Excuse me."

"Wait a minute. You can't summon us just like that." Caroline protested with a whinny voice.

"I guess I just did." Without another word Elizabeth disappeared inside the house.

An hour later the whole family was sitting in the library waiting for Elizabeth.

"I told you, you were going the wrong way about her." Steven said as he leaned against the desk.

Sarah was idly turning the pages of a magazine as she sat on one end of the love seat. "I think I've been playing my role very well. I mean come on how many more hugs do I have to give her before she thinks I missed her?"

"I can't stand being around the little brat much longer. I want to go back to Moscow." Caroline was sitting in the other end of the love seat.

"You are just mad that she had the courage to yell at the top of her lungs what a slut you are." Jeff said as he took a seat in one of the leather chairs in front of the desk.

"Come on Jeff, what else you wanted me to do? Your little soldier has been out of commission for decades."

"Ew, too much information." Sarah yelled as she covered her ears.

"Look we need to listened to what she has to say. We have to act like we actually care. I was making progress before you came here but all that has gone to hell. I'm going to apologize, and you Sarah keep with the good sister act. Befriend her, talk to her about her art and try to get information about her friendship with Morgan. You two start acting like loving parents that missed their young girl. She hates people telling her what to do, so just tell her you are worried and apologize for your behavior so far."

Steven was standing now. "I've gotten to know a bit about her and…

The door to the library opened and Elizabeth was standing there. She closed the door and walked into the room. "Keep going. Don't let me interrupt. You've gotten to know a bit about me and what?"

"Elizabeth, we were just talking about…"

"Me. I know. This is going to be really interesting, the guide to Elizabeth Webber."

"Look Lizzie…"

"Don't call her that." Steven answered before Elizabeth could. She looked at him surprised. He went on. "She hates to be called that way. She's not the same little girl we sent away all those years ago. I couldn't understand her at first, but now I think I get her."

Elizabeth sat at the edge of the desk and dangled her feet. "Go ahead Steven enlighten us."

"You were abandoned like a little animal." The words stung Elizabeth but she blinked the tears fast before they fell. "You were so young and you were so scared. Just like a little puppy. After Grandmother Audrey passed away, you were left alone and you had to learn to fend for yourself; first back in Colorado and then here in a completely strange place. You were shipped here to a different weather and different language and different culture. It was hard at first, but you found people who cared enough to break you out of that hard exterior. You found your painting again and you found a new family."

Elizabeth was willing her tears away but she wasn't doing a good job. Everyone in the room could see them about to fall. The rest of the Webber's were impressed at Steven's insight on the girls mind. He knew which buttons to push. Hearing his son, Jeff got an idea as to what his son was trying to do.

"I'm so sorry my little child. I didn't know how much hurt I had caused you, when all I wanted to do was to help you." Jeff locked eyes with Elizabeth and her bottom lip started to tremble, her eyes bright with unshed tears. He smiled inwardly. This was going to be easier than he thought.

"After my mother died, I was also destroyed. But I was jealous of you. She had spent her last days with you. She was mad at me and I couldn't tell her I was sorry for all the things I've done to her. She died thinking I didn't love her and giving you everything... all her love and care."

"That's not true. She wanted to see you, but it was too hard to get to where you were in Europe."

"I know that now, baby. But I didn't know it back then. I was blinded with hurt. And then you started to act out. You started to go out late at night and smoking and partying… it was worst. I thought that all the love my mother had given you had been wasted. I thought you didn't care."

"How could you think that? She practically raced me when you left me." The tears were now falling freely. "All I needed was my family."

Sarah and Caroline were amazed at Jeff, he was about to do the impossible. He was about to break down Elizabeth's shell.

"I was too far gone. I was frustrated and enraged and sad all at once. So I did the only thing I knew could actually work. I took you away and I sent you here. We've come here once on a family vacation and you loved it. Steven had lived here for a couple years and we knew about the Catholic school. It was our last resort."

Elizabeth cleaned her eyes with the back of her hands. "It still doesn't explain why you stayed away and what are you doing here now."

"Isn't it obvious?" Sarah's voice came from the back of the room. "We missed you. We wanted to be here for you. After we learned about what almost happened to you we couldn't stay away."

"That was months ago, Sarah."

"It took a while to fix things in Moscow so we could take the time off. When Steven called us about your graduation we had to be here." Caroline added softly.

They were all serene and with hopeful glints in their eyes. Who were this people and what have they done to her family?

"You can stay here all the time you want. But it doesn't mean I have to obey your rules or tell you anything about my life. I see Jason whenever I want to and you stay out of his face."

"Elizabeth, we are not your enemies. We are your family."

"Yeah, well that's still up for debate." Elizabeth stood up and moved closer to the door. "One more thing, don't ever disrespect Grace or Manuel. They are not the help, they are my family. And if you have a problem with that, there are plenty of hotels in Old San Juan where you could stay."

Two weeks passed and the Webber's were still there. Elizabeth was feeling weird like for the first time they had been telling her the truth. Steven was working on his research and Jeff was helping out with the Department of Health in some paperwork. Caroline and Sarah were always shopping, going to the theater and the Country Club they've managed to get into.

They have left her alone, almost. Sarah was always trying to talk to her and asking her to the movies and so called 'girls night out'. So far she had gone twice and been bored out of her mind of the mindless chatter that her sister insisted on babbling about.

Besides her father insisting on them eating dinner together every night, she was mostly alone and concentrating on her painting. Three days after her graduation Jason had gone out of town again and she was still waiting to hear from him. He usually called her at least to let her know he was alright, but so far nothing.

Elizabeth had taken to calling his house and talking to Eva. The girl had seemed bitchy the first time they met, but after they started talking they found that they had a couple of things in common. The girl was hilarious and really smart. She would go on and on about how Jason had the "Fad four", as she calls them, over and they'll leave the house a mess. But she also complained about how everything is so quiet when they are away on business. Eva will talk about Marcos, Johnny, Quincy and Jason often but when it comes to Francis she's a bit more reserved which gave Elizabeth the impression that the young girl was falling for the older bodyguard.

Elizabeth could only imagine how hard it could be to live alone in a house filled with young and attractive men. Aside from Marcos all the rest were single and not bad on the eyes. Not bad at all. She had met all of them, and aside from Johnny who still made her nervous sometimes, she liked all of them.

One morning, she was deep in her sleep when the phone decided to ring, and ring and ring…

She sat up reluctantly noticing it was still dark outside. With her sleep filled voice and muffling a yawn she answered.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Elizabeth, Happy Birthday to you!!!"

Elizabeth smiled at the familiar voice. "You are crazy you know, calling this early in the morning."

"Sorry, I didn't know it was that early. I'm still not sure about this time zone thing. Did I wake you up?"

"Hell yeah, and from a really good dream too."

"Really? What where you dreaming about? Or should I say who?"

"I was riding Jason's bike and we were going so fast that the road was a blur and the wind was rushing by… his arms were wrapped around me and I was free."

There was a long silence in the line and Elizabeth thought she had gotten disconnected. "Robin? Are you there?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm here. I just got distracted there for a while. I'm on my way to school and I thought this was my stop, but it wasn't. So, you and Jason have become really close friends, ha."

"Yes we have. He's been so good to me Robin. You have no idea. He listens to me and sometimes he even speaks back." Elizabeth laughed a bit. "He takes me on his bike or we just hang around his place with Eva, Francis, Marcos and Barbara. He's good and respectful and caring… we get along great considering that I hated him back when we met. He was such a controlling as…"

"Well, people change."

"I'm sorry Robin. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm such a blabbermouth."

"It's okay Elizabeth. What happened between Jason and me it's dead and buried. I'm happy that you guys became friends. I know what you mean, he's a great person just not boyfriend material."

Elizabeth frowned at her friend's tone. "Are you really OK with me hanging out with him? I mean we became friendsafter you guys broke up and I hadn't told him anything about the things we've talk about if that's what you are worried about."

"Elizabeth I know you wouldn't say anything. It's just… you have to be careful. He's not what he seems."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he's mixed up in some really bad things."

"Oh that! You nearly gave me a heart attack. I know about his 'other business'."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I figured it out on my own. He didn't tell me specifics and I didn't ask. As long as he's careful and comes home safe I don't have a problem with that."

"Hum."

"What?"

"It's nothing, you just sounded like me when I started to fall for him."

"What?" Elizabeth touched her cheek thankful that Robin couldn't see her face turning red. "Don't be silly. I'm not falling for him. We are just friends."

"I hope so, honey. I loved Jason and I'll always care about him as a friend, but again the world his involved in is dangerous and I wouldn't want you to get caught up in it."

"So, you are over him? Just like that?"

"As I said, I'll always love him. But we never could've worked out. We had different believes. Look I have to go I'm almost at my stop. I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday. We have to talk again soon so you can tell me about your family. How is it going?"

"Good I guess... they are acting all caring and weird."

"Weird how?"

"Like they actually give a damn."

Robin laughed at Elizabeth's disgusted voice. "Maybe they do, give them a change. You never know."

"We'll see about that. Take care Robin. It was really nice talking to you."

"It was nice talking to you too, Elizabeth. Be careful."

"I will."

After her talk with Robin, Elizabeth couldn't go back to sleep she kept replaying the conversation in her mind. "It's nothing you just sounded like me when I started to fall for him."

Giving up on sleep Elizabeth brushed her teeth and went to her studio. She was concentrated on the canvas. It was a sunset overlooking the city from a mountain top. She lost herself in the painting forgetting what day it was. Soon her painting was done and she was exhausted. She went back to bed then.

It was almost two in the afternoon when Sarah came barging into her room and plopped down on her bed successfully waking her up from her nap.

"What the hell?" Elizabeth sat up and found the green eyes of her sister smiling at her.

"Goodafternoon sleepy head."

"What do you want?"

"I came to ask if you could accompany me to the mall."

"No."

"Come on Liz. I need a new outfit for tonight."

"What's tonight?"

"Your surprise birthday party."

"My what?"

"Oops. I wasn't supposed to say anything. Don't tell mom and dad, they'll be royally pissed."

"I don't want a birthday anything."

"Come on Liz. Mom has actually worked to make tonight perfect."

Arching a brow in surprise Elizabeth stood up. "She has?"

"Yup. And Grace is making your favorite double trouble chocolate cake."

Elizabeth was suspicious at her sister antics. If this was more of a party than a family dinner she'll give them a surprise of their own.

It was almost 8 o'clock when they made it back home. Sarah had bought a light blue silk dress and she had practically drag Elizabeth to the Beauty Salon to get their hair done. In contrast to her sister's angelic look, Elizabeth was wearing a black camisole, black leather pants and a black leather jacket. Her hair was made in tight curls and her make up was dark and smoky.

The house was quiet and the lights where off. She wasn't prepared to find half the school jumping out of the darkness and yelling 'Happy Birthday' as she walked through the door.

"What the…" She walked to the center of the living room and look around.

"Happy birthday, honey." Jeff exclaimed as he walked toward her and gave her a hug. "I can't believe my little girl is turning 18."

"Congratulations Elizabeth, you are finally of age." Steven hugged her next.

"Happy Birthday." Caroline said as she gave her a kiss in the cheek and stepped back.

Music started to blare from the speaker through the house and all of the people in the house started to dance. She recognize some of them other's she had never seen before. Running her hands over her face she shook her head. This couldn't be happening to her.

A couple of hours later, Elizabeth was sitting on a corner drinking from her flute of Champaign. "Happy Freaking Birthday to me." She said to herself. It was then that Jeff called her to the middle of the room. What the hell did he want now? She walked toward him.

"First I want everyone here to know how proud I am of my younger daughter. She has lived through difficult undertakings, but she had survived them all..."

The bell of the door rang and someone answered it. No one noticed as he made his way trough the crowd. Jeff kept giving his speech and urging everyone to race their glasses in a toast.

"Happy Birthday Elizabeth." The tick accent made her look up. Her glass fell to the floor and chattered into a million pieces. She closed her eyes and tried to will him away. When she opened her eyes she found him smiling back at her. Tony Morales was standing five feet away from her.