Chapter 21

A/N: Can I get a 'hell yeah' for filler chapters? Alright, I'll admit it. I've had writer's block more times than Sam has yelled at Jason. This chapter doesn't give you MUCH but it moves us along. I hope you enjoy it –well, at least a sentence or two …

"Okay, hun, you are positively glowing," Carly said as she watched Courtney scurry throughout the kitchen. The two were in Carly's apartment for some much needed "gossip time" as the brunette put it. "What is going on with you?"

"You expect us to make dinner but you have nothing but Cheez-Its, Famous Amos Cookies, vanilla pudding, other crap and hard liquor," Courtney said swiftly ignoring the comment.

If Courtney had shown any resentment about her little rendezvous with Jason, such as, oh, crying in her car for a few hours –she was over it. In the weeks that passed since that night in the penthouse, Courtney had come to grips with what had happened –and accepted it.

She didn't care that she and Jason had talked on the phone every night into the wee morning or that she had gone over to the penthouse about 1,2 or 5 times.

Not that she felt it was right or even tried to justify her behavior –their behavior but it had happened and, to be honest, she was enjoying this "oh what the hell" stance.

"Ooh, sounds good to me!" Carly said blowing on her toes she had just painted a bright red. "Now, stop ignoring my comment and dish."

Courtney sighed as she poured herself a glass of water. Carly frowned at the choice, looking at her own tall glass of lemonade spiked with a few shots of Vodka. She picked it up and sipped it as Courtney walked over and sat in her leather chair.

She stared at Courtney who had had a smile plastered on her face since arriving –three hours ago.

"What?" she asked, catching Carly staring. She rolled her eyes. "Do we always have to talk about me and my love life?"

Carly shrugged. "Okay, we'll talk about mine –I haven't had sex in two years, four months and three days, how about you?"

"Uh … we're not discussing this," Courtney said, nervously picking up a magazine. She pretended to leaf through it as Carly got up and sat at her feet. She looked up into Courtney's eyes, a sly grin spreading over her face.

"Come on, Court. When was the last time you had sex?"

"We're not discussing this," Courtney repeated turning back to the magazine.

"It's just us girls, here. No one's around. Spill. We've talked about more personal things you know … like that time you and Jason were in that pool at that really nice hotel in Barbados and you decided that since it was his birthday you were gonna-"

"Carly, shut up!" Courtney screamed. "God, just stop, alright? You wanna know so badly then fine. You know that restaurant owner you tried to set me up with? I slept with him. Once and it was horrible. Happy now?"

Carly slowly got up and put her hands on her hips. "You're lying," she said simply. "I know you Courtney. You're definitely lying. You're seeing someone … and whoever it is, you don't want me to know about him."

Walking over to the kitchen, she added more liquor to her drink. She tasted it then smiled satisfactorily. "This mystery man … who could it be? I'm not buying Mr. Restaurant Owner. The guy with the Volvo? No, we both decided that men shouldn't wear lavender polo shirts. Is it …" Carly gasped then sat her drink down. "Tell me it isn't … you're not sleeping with …"

Courtney froze. She stopped herself from tapping her foot like she usually did when she felt uneasy. She nonchalantly flipped the page.

"You're not sleeping with Jax are you?" Carly said shaking her head with her eyes closed.

Courtney smiled to herself. "Nope," she said casually. She wanted to laugh at the mere thought of comparing the two. Jason … Jax. She turned to another page. "Definitely not Jax."

"Well, I know it's not Jason, Courtney, so who is it?" Carly asked walking back to her spot on the couch.

Courtney closed the magazine. "Has it ever occurred to you that I'm not sleeping with anyone? Maybe I'm just having a good day or week."

Her friend smirked. "Sure. Whatever. I'll find out sooner or later and get all the sordid details. Look, what are you cooking?"

Courtney laughed. "Have you seen your fridge? What am I supposed to whip up? Cheetos a la jelly donut? Your grocery skills are ridiculous."

"Hey now, don't make fun of my food. You sound like Sonny."

"Don't ever say that again," Courtney responded laughing. "We could get take out from Kelly's?"

"Um … uh-uh. I'd rather go sit down. I'm sick of this place," Carly replied. "But let my toes dry first."

As soon as Carly opened the door to Kelly's, Courtney tensed up. She tugged at Carly's jacket.

"On second thought, let's leave. We can go to Metro Court and get a free meal," Courtney said.

Carly followed Courtney's eyes and sighed loudly. Her eyes caught contact with Sam's who was sitting with Jason, who had his back turned to the door.

Sam waved them over. Carly groaned. "Just act like we don't see them," she said hurrying to turn back towards the door and walk out.

"Too late," Courtney said walking over and pulling Carly with her.

"Hey guys!" Sam said cheerfully. "Pull up some chairs."

Carly grabbed one and rushed to sit next to Jason but Courtney beat her to it. She stomped her foot and muttered a curse word as she sat down next to Sam.

Courtney rested her chin in her hands. "Hi Jason."

He looked up at her from his food and she smiled. "How are you?" she asked politely.

Sam stared at her then back at Jason waiting for his answer. "I'm good," he replied.

"That's great," Courtney said. She turned to Sam. "And you? Are you feeling any better?"

Sam looked at Jason before turning back to Courtney. "I'm good. And thank you so much. I never got a chance to express my gratitude towards you for driving me to the hospital that night. I don't know what would have happened to my baby and me if you hadn't been there."

"No problem," Courtney replied. She watched as Carly silently mocked Sam then smiling sweetly when Jason looked at her.

His phone rang. "I'm gonna take this outside," he said, getting up and walking out.

Courtney smirked as Carly shot a curious look at her.

"You know what?" said Courtney said standing up. "I'm gonna go say hi to my dad. I'll be back in a minute."

She then got up, walked towards the counter into the kitchen –and then straight out the back exit.

She looked around and smiled as she spotted Jason on his phone. Running up to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and grinned as he turned towards her, still on the phone.

Courtney patiently waited as he ended his conversation. When he slammed his phone shut, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, her lips smiling against his.

"Sorta surprised to see Sam in Kelly's," Courtney said laughing as she pulled back. "Didn't think she touched anything under $100.00."

Jason smiled. "What'd I tell you about talking about my wife?"

Courtney let out another laugh. "I was merely making an observation," she answered sweetly. "Anyways, I don't really want to talk about Sam, right now. I've been thinking. And, you know, Sam's not due anytime soon. I don't have any near future obligations so … what do you say about us going away for a little while? Just the two of us?"