Prompt: A tragic case of feeling

Part Twenty

"I'm glad everything has been working out for you, and that Jason has been able to help you out."

"Well, I do have you to thank for that. Without you assigning Jason as my guard, I would probably be back home with my parents, miserable."

Looking away somewhat embarrassed at the praise, Sonny scratched his eyebrow with his thumb before he picked up his coffee cup, taking a sip. He had been sitting at the counter of Kelly's for most of the morning, talking with Elizabeth as she worked. The diner was empty that morning except for a lone customer who sat in the back corner by the jukebox. Aside from his occasional refill on coke, the customer kept to himself, allowing Sonny and Elizabeth to talk.

Sonny didn't really know Elizabeth. The only information he had on the young woman was what he had read from her file and what the guards had told him. Jason rarely talked about her, never being one to talk about such things. If Sonny asked, Jason would answer with as much information as he felt he needed to give.

Which wasn't much at all.

So Sonny had taken it upon himself to get to know Elizabeth better. From what the guards told him, Elizabeth had become something more to Jason other than his charge. Sonny knew that Jason was sexually attracted to her. He could tell from the very beginning when Jason first brought Elizabeth to Sonny's penthouse after she was almost kidnapped. His enforcer couldn't keep his eyes off of the small brunette. And later on when she moved into Jason's penthouse, Sonny saw that the attraction had only grown deeper, on both sides. Sonny wanted to get to know Elizabeth a little more, and maybe, during their talk, he could find out more about what was going on with her and Jason.

They had spent most of the morning talking about her past and what her dreams were for the future. It was easy to get side tracked when talking to her, Sonny thought. She had an energy about her that pulled him into the conversation. He could see why Jason was so bestowed with her—according to the guards. Not only was she a beautiful woman, but she was smart and interesting.

"But now I have a chance to start over again, thanks to the both of you. I'm hoping that I can get another interview with the art gallery. Not that I don't appreciate Bobbie for giving me this job, but being a waitress really isn't my thing."

"You seem to be doing a good job." He smiled, dimples out full force.

Elizabeth laughed. "That's because I only have two customers. You should have seen me yesterday."

They continued to talk for a while longer, their conversation finally turning to Jason. Sonny could see the change in Elizabeth when she spoke about how wonderful Jason was being with her. Her face softened, her smiles came more frequently.

"Like you mentioned before, Jason has helped me out a lot."

Sonny placed his elbows on the counter, leaned forward. "You care about Jason a lot?"

"O-of course I do. He's done so much…"

"It's more than that."

Elizabeth blushed as she stared into Sonny's knowing eyes. He had been trying to talk to her about Jason all morning but she had somehow changed the subject one way or another each time. She wasn't comfortable talking about Jason with Sonny. They were best friends and as nice and welcoming Sonny always was to her, she was afraid he might not approve of her.

Jason had told her that Sonny was like a brother to him. It was Sonny who helped him when he left his family, Sonny who made Jason apart of his own family. When Jason would open himself to her about his past, Elizabeth couldn't help but admire Sonny for how he helped Jason. In a way, Sonny played a part in shaping the man that Jason was now. Elizabeth guessed that she had Sonny to thank for how amazingly wonderful Jason was. She wouldn't out right thank him, that would be to mortifying. But she would find a way to show her appreciation without actually letting him know what she was doing and why. Maybe she could bake him a batch of brownies.

But as she looked into his black, yet warm eyes, Elizabeth knew that all of her worrying was for nothing. Sonny approved of her. The smile on his face, the warmness in his eyes told her that much.

Having Sonny's approval opened up so much that she had locked up when it came to Jason. She knew that she was falling for him. But she never really allowed herself to dwell on those feelings. She tried to live in the moment, knowing that her feelings for Jason were increasing every minute, but not wanting to think about it. If she thought about it then she might become scared. She had only loved one other man and Joshua had broken her heart, making her associate love with pain.

Sighing, she lowered her eyes, fiddled with the cloth in her hand. "Yes."

"Are you in love with him?" Sonny asked, never being one to skip around the issue.

Elizabeth's eyes snapped up to Sonny's. How could she admit that to Sonny when he hadn't even admitted it to Jason, when she hadn't even admitted it to herself? She cleared her throat, not meeting his eyes. "I don't know."

Sonny took that as a yes. If he learned one thing from his business it was that if someone couldn't look you in the eye...they were lying.

Not only could Elizabeth not look him in the eye, but she continued to clean the same spot over and over again with hard swipes. She was nibbling on her lower lip and her cheeks were stained red with embarrassment. She was in love with his best friend and Sonny couldn't help but think that Jason was one lucky son of a bitch.

After her talk with Sonny, Elizabeth couldn't concentrate on anything. She didn't have many customers, but those that she did have; she messed up on almost every order. Not because she was a horrible waitress—which was a major part—but because she could think of nothing but Jason.

She was still no closer Sonny's question now than she was when he first asked her.

Are you in love with him?

Maybe, or maybe she was just confusing gratitude with love.

Even as she thought it, Elizabeth knew that wasn't true. She was extremely grateful for everything Jason had done for her but that wasn't why she felt the way she did.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Elizabeth closed the door to the penthouse, not acknowledging Max as he stopped on the outside after they exited the elevator. Max had to guard her again that morning because Jason was needed elsewhere. It was beginning to feel normal to her that Jason was rarely her guard. Where she was happy he was her guard at first—because she got to spend time with him—she didn't need that as an excuse any longer. She lived with him; they did things together because they wanted to and not because he had to accompany her because of his duty.

Elizabeth made her way upstairs, passing her room without a glance. She walked into Jason's room, not stopping until she entered his bathroom to take a shower. He had said that he was going to have someone come in and fix the guest shower, but Elizabeth didn't care, his shower worked just fine. It also made her feel that much closer to him. It was somewhat…intimate sharing a shower with him. Even if it was never at the same time.

Once her clothes were off, Elizabeth made to open to shower curtain when she remembered her soap was in her bedroom. She had bought her own soap and shampoo when she went shopping with Jason but every time she went to take a shower, she forgot to bring it in with her. Not that smelling like Jason was a bad thing, 'cause he did smell wonderful, but she missed her womanly fragrance. Grabbing a towel from the sink cabinet, Elizabeth wrapped it around herself before picking up her discarded clothes and bringing them into her room—might as well put them in her laundry basket now. When she entered her room, she closed her door to get to her basket that had been hidden behind the opened door.

Jason entered his penthouse quickly, not returning Max's greeting when the guard called out a hello. Max just rolled his eyes and mumbled something about not being appreciated by the people he worked for as Jason slammed the door and ran up the stairs.

He had been tracing yet another dead end in a lead he had gotten about Kristina and Elizabeth's attempted kidnapping. He followed the man through some of Port Charles's lowest places. He had been walking down an alley, following in the shadows when someone threw their trash out the window. He was forward enough that the trash didn't fall on him, but as it hit the floor, the bag tore open causing food to splatter all over his pants.

He had gagged at the smell when it first hit him but had to ignore it as he continued to follow his lead. An hour later and he was still no closer to finding out who was behind the kidnapping attempt. Knowing when to give it up, Jason called Milo to cover for him and left once the younger guard made it to his hiding place. He had rushed home, wanting to rid himself of the odor he received when the garbage splattered over him.

Jason passed by Elizabeth's door, saw it ajar but decided to pass by without making his presence known. The quicker he cleaned up, the quicker he could see her and kiss her like he wanted to. He was tempted to do just that but knew he wouldn't. If he couldn't stand to smell himself, he wasn't going to make Elizabeth suffer it as well.

He removed his clothes as he made his way to the bathroom, throwing them away in the wastebasket, not even wanting to see if he could clean them. It wasn't even worth it.

Jason pulled back the curtain and turned on the water. He didn't wait for the water to change to his preferable temperature before he stepped in the shower, just wanting to clean himself of that morning. It only took him a few minutes to lather up his entire body and rinse himself. He washed twice just to be safe. After his body was washed, Jason reached for his shampoo to begin washing his hair.

Before she grabbed her shampoo and soap, Elizabeth searched through her clothes to find something to wear that night. Before Jason left that morning he told her that they would be going out that night. When she tried to ask him questions, he only leaned down, kissed her, and then made his way to the door. She was able to ask him what she should wear but his response was to shrug his shoulders and say whatever, closing the door just before she let out an annoyed huff.

She pulled out four outfits to choose from once Jason gave her some information about what they were going to be doing.

Finding her shampoo and body soap, Elizabeth made her way back to Jason's bathroom. As she entered his room her nose wrinkled. She didn't know what it was, but something in his room smelt like it was spoiled. She looked around, but unless she went through his things, she couldn't see anything that would cause such a horrible smell.

Shrugging, Elizabeth walked into his bathroom. She frowned when she heard the water running in the shower. Funny, but she didn't remember turning it on.

Not thinking any more of it, Elizabeth placed her soap, shampoo, and conditioner on the sink to free her hands. She pulled at the knot that held her towel in place, letting it drop to her feet.

Her hand reached for the curtain.