AN: Someone had emailed me about the updates here being different (proofing wise) than the updates on my website. As far as I know these updates should be the same, well edited versions unless it's some glitch when I upload from Word. For some reason, never lets me put a space between sections. I never figured out why, so that is probably confusing for some people too. I don't really take the time to read over what I post here, so there may be some kind of issues, and if it that's big of a deal to readers, I have the stories posted on my site too.

Anyway, thanks for all the feedback and everything. I'm having a hard time updating this and This Bitter Pill at the same time, but I'm trying. Enjoy!

Chapter 25

Proposing was going to be the death of Jason Morgan.

It would haunt his obituaries, his tombstone, and every man who worked beneath him would make jokes for years and years to come. Of course, the loudest laugh would belong to none other than Elizabeth Webber (maybe one day Morgan if he actually survived). She would mock him, probably do verywith good imitations, and giggle about how she was the reason for it all.

Damn women.

Why did they have to make everything so difficult?

The way Jason saw it, Johnny got off easy with his proposal to Lulu; bad timing in the middle of a fancy restaurant while your ex-fling watched on didn't seem so bad. Only Johnny had already used that, so Jason would have to find another route. He wasn't a romantic man by any means, but he'd be damned if his proposal wasn't memorable and cherished by Elizabeth for the rest of their lives.

He had already attempted the basics; a bouquet of roses, a perfectly cooked meal, and a candlelit dinner. Hours spent slaving over the stove as he tried to copy Elizabeth's favorite pasta dish from the Metro Court Hotel. Sure, he could have gotten takeout, but he wanted it to be special for her. And really, what else was that Couple's Cooking class for?

Except in Couple's Cooking they don't didn't explain the possible outcomes for making a romantic meal. Or maybe they did. Elizabeth had set the stove on fire so neither of them would never know exactly what happened that day in class.

Honestly, Jason thought it would be easy enough.

Elizabeth would spend a nice Saturday afternoon at her studio and come home to a dimly lit penthouse and perfectly set table. He never counted on her coming home with Lulu and Johnny in tow, and before he even had the table set for two, there were four people sitting down at the table, and he couldn't rightly tell them to leave. Most of the dinner was spent with him seething as everyone else drank wine and laughed, completely oblivious to what Jason had been trying to doup to.

Thankfully, his attempts hadn't gone completely unnoticed, and when Elizabeth climbed into bed beside him that night, she didn't just tell him how impressed she was with his meal, she showed him.

She showed him damn well.

If he knew all it took to get Elizabeth Webber down on her knees was to cook her aa fancy meal every once and while, even if it meant putting up with Lulu and Johnny without a any notice, he'd have been doing it a long time ago.

So when he'd gone to sleep that night, his naked girlfriend curled up against his side, he told himself he would ask her in the morning. If cooking dinner worked, breakfast in bed had to have a similar affect, except he woke up to an empty space beside him, and Elizabeth bringing him in breakfast in bed.

With a deep breath, he'd pulled himself up against the headboard, forced a grin, and ate her burnt toast and very crispy bacon, after which he thanked her the very same way she had him. She'd curled up in his arms, murmuring about some painting she'd been working on, and just when he thought there was no better moment to give in and ask her, she started snoring. And by the time she woke up, Lulu was calling to go shopping and she was gone before he even had the chance.

Obviously, he was doing something very wrong, so he took her absence as the opportunity to plan.

Planning was hard.

So hard in fact that it required him to drink a beer and relax, and before he knew it, he was halfway through a twelve-pack of beer, and Elizabeth was beside him on the couch, moaning about all the money she'd spent. He may have been wrong, but something told him he couldn't exactly propose and face the embarrassment of slurring.

Fuck.

He was never going to get it right and trying was killing him with every passing day.

All week long he had been spent trying to find the exact moment, spending his lunch breaks avoiding her phone calls so he could sit at his desk and focus.

Focusing was harder than planning.

Thankfully, he managed enough of it to realize that just maybe it didn't matter exactly how he asked, but that he was simply asking. Elizabeth was easy to please – well, sometimes – a, and she wanted to get married, so surely however he went about it would be just fine. He'd learned from Johnny's proposal she would never want anything that public, so he scratched ideas of restaurants and went what for what he knew.

Home.

So all week he planned a yet another simple, romantic evening at the penthouse, making sure that Johnny and Lulu were otherwise occupied, and he stressed his need for Elizabeth to come straight home from work several times that day. Of course, she chalked it up to him being horny, but at least it brought her home.

And just maybe, he was a little horny.

He had to get rid of all the stress somehow.

And by the time evening rolled around, Elizabeth came home to another candlelit meal, another bouquet of roses, and the best bottle of wine he had in the house. By a wine connoisseurs taste, it might not have been the best, but it was the last thing he remembered to getneeding, and there wasn't enough no time to run out and get another bottle.

Elizabeth was surprised, touched even by another nice evening, and when he presented her with the flowers (in which he'd nestled the small ring box), she grinned and breathed them in only to break into what had to be the worst sneezing fit of all time. Jason was seriously afraid that she was going to stop breathing. Her face turned red, her eyes watered, and she'd ended up tossing the bouquet onto the counter and hurrying out of the room, mumbling something about allergies.

Frustrated that another attempt was going awry, he thought quickly and pulled the ring box from the flowers, hurrying to slip the ring out before she caught him. And thennd he dropped the ring into a glass of wine and brought it to her in the living room where her sneezing was slowly subsiding. She apologized for her reaction to the flowers as she sipped her wine, her nose twitching as she breathed in the dark liquid.

He'd rolled his eyes and asked if she was allergic to wine too, and she'd jumped so fast that she'd sloshed some of it onto the couch, but barely paid attention as she made a beeline for the kitchen. Groaning, he followed behind her only to see her pouring the bottle of wine down the sink and grumbling about how awful it tasted. Against his better judgment he pointed out that she had only bought it about a week ago, and she snapped about having a bad day and said she just wanted to go to bed.

So much for proposing.

After she'd gone upstairs, he cleaned the kitchen, blew out the candles, and packed up the leftovers, shaking his head as he dipped his finger into the wine and pulled out the ring. Obviously, he was doing something wrong, or maybe this was a sign that they shouldn't be married at all.

Shoving all thoughts of wedded non-bliss aside, he finally followed his girlfriend up to bed where he found her crying into her pillow, immediately causing him to panic. Maybe the wine had actually been bad and somehow along with the roses had made her ill, and when he'd rushed to her side, she'd buried her face in her pillow, continuing to moan about what a bad day she'd had and how she messed everything up. Suddenly, the proposal didn't matter. In fact, it was the furthest thing on his mind as he pulled her into his arms and did his damnedest to comfort her.

Eventually they'd fallen asleep leaving Jason 0-3, which was precisely why on this very night he was more determined than ever to finally ask her to marry him. Johnny was helping things along too, by threatening to ask for him, and Jason knew he had to stop being such a damn girl and get it over with.

Tonight was most definitely going to be the night.

"What the fuck are you thinking about?" Johnny asked, elbowing Jason as he stepped up beside him at the bar in the Metro Court restaurant.

"Nothing," he muttered, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck as he looked through the crowd of people for Elizabeth.

Even though he understood why Johnny insisted on having parties to woo their clients, Jason hated it. He spent all night long talking to a bunch of stuffy old men about golf, grandkids, and the secretaries that they sometimes had affairs with, when all he really wanted to do was hide in the corner with his girlfriend.

"Liar," Johnny muttered, clucking his tongue as he stared at him. "I couldn't help but notice that Elizabeth still doesn't have a ring on her finger."

Jason scowled, ignoring his best friend as he surveyed the room. Normally, Elizabeth was so easy to spot thanks to her tendency to wear a particularly bright (and dirty) shade of red, saying that she liked how Jason looked at her when she was wearing something he couldn't wait to take off. Tonight, however, she'd shown up in a slinky black number, which was very similar to what most women in the room were wearing. Usually, that still wouldn't be such a problem because so many of the wealthy, old men they knew frequented blondes, but apparently curvy, petite brunettes were in this season.

"…you're such a fucking coward," Johnny finished, taking a deep breath after the long speech he'd just given that hadn't been heard.

"Why do you care so much?" Jason asked, tipping his head towards O'Brien as he sipped his scotch and set it back on the bar. He, lookeding at the other men in the room, and wondering if he was seeing himself in twenty or thirty years. He grinned, finallyWhen he finally spotteding Elizabeth near the chocolate fountain – he should have known to look their first, he grinned, and figuredfiguring if Elizabeth was looking that good in twenty or thirty years, he'd have no complaints.

And something told him she would be.

"Are you going to do it soon or not?" he pressed, falling into step beside Jason as he started in Elizabeth's direction. "The suspense is killing me."

"Killing you?" he huffed, glaring at Johnny from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah," he replied earnestly., sighing heavily. "YAnd you have no idea how hard it's been not to tell Lulu about that fucking ring."

"You didn't tell her?" Jason asked, surprised that his friend would keep something from his perfect wife, thus tainting the trust of their perfect marriage.

"If I would have told Lulu, she would have told Elizabeth," he explained, rolling his eyes. "Girl Code." Jason paused mid-step and looked at him. "It's just like when I told you about the dress, even though it was by accident, but had I known that she had bought a dress and you weren't going to get married-"

"That's enough," he interrupted, shaking his head and starting towards Elizabeth, nodding politely at his guests as he weaved through the crowd. He knew it was rude not to stop and shake hands or introduce himself to the facesto those he didn't recognize, but he didn't have time. Right now all that mattered was securing a ride home (and a brief stop along the way) with Elizabeth in the limo he'd rented with one brief stop along the way. "Fuck." He scrubbed a hand over his face when he got to the chocolate fountain and Elizabeth was suddenly gone.

"You're tense," Johnny observed, clapping him on the shoulder as he steered Jason in the direction of the terrace. "She just walked outside, you idiot."

"Do you have to keep following me?" Jason asked, glaring at O'Brien when he stayed in step with him.

"Unless you're proposing-"

"I can't propose if you don't go the fuck away," he interrupted, pinching the bridge of his nose. Taking a deep breath, he shot Johnny an apologetic look, and awkwardly explained that he had tried various times to propose several times, but it just wasn't working.

"You're trying too hard," Johnny replied, shaking his head smiling half-heartedly. "You're trying-"

"Oh, fuck you," Jason cut in hastily, slowing down as they neared the terrace doors.

Elizabeth was leaning against the railing as she, her head peeredpeering over the edge of the balcony. The material of her dress clung more beautifully than he remembered and her dark curls blew gently in the breeze that passed through. She looked so small and soft against the dimly lit city buildings and lights, and he really wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, except he couldn't.

Fucking Johnny.

And work.

And stupid old men.

Always in the fucking way.

"Whatever," O'Brien murmured quietly, his eyes drifting over to Elizabeth. "So, if you aren't asking her now-"

"Tonight," he answered, his chest tightening as he slipped his hand into the pocket of his tuxedo, and gently rolled the ring box around in his hand. "I hope."

"How?" he asked, his eyes lighting up in such a childish way that Jason couldn't help but give him the minor details. When he finished Johnny grinned, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. "You've learned well." Jason rolled his eyes and started to pull away, but O'Brien tightened his hold and pulled him back. "Except everyone knows that you don't put jewelry in red wine, you dipshit. Be glad the wine was bad; she could have choked or something."

Jason spun around, preparing to – well, he actually hadn't decided on that yet, but it wasn't going to be good. Fortunately for Johnny, he backed away in a hurry, calling out to someone on the edge of the dance floor.

Asshole.

Grumbling under his breath, Jason cautiously approached Elizabeth, taking his time to admire just how beautiful and peaceful she looked. He seemed to be doing that a lot these days; having strange moments where she would just smile at him the right way or say something exceptionally endearing, and his heart would feel so tight he couldn't breathe.

Man, he fucking loved this girl even if she was trying to kill him.

"Hey," he murmured, shrugging off his jacket as he stepped up beside her and slid it over her shoulders.

"Hey yourself," she whispered, leaning back against his chest as he smoothed his hands up and down her arms. She sighed happily when his arms settled around her waist and he started to sway them to the music that was playing inside. "I was wondering if I was ever going to get your attention."

"Sorry," he murmured, brushing his lips against her temple, knowing he had a lot of making up to do in the date department.

Most of the evening had been busy with Johnny introducing him to the faces of the men he'd had conference calls and shared emails witheld many conference calls and shared emails with. Jason was never one for these kinds of things, but his partner insisted, so he gave in, which meant ignoring his date for most of the night. Elizabeth was usually good at these types of parties. She was loud and bubbly, knew all the right things to say, and she'd often accompanied Johnny just for fun in the early days of them running the business.

"What if I promise to make it up to you tonight?" he asked nervously, holding his breath until she turned around in his arms and looked up at him, her cerulean eyes dazzling with curiosity.

"Does this by chance involve a bed?" she asked, slipping her arms around his neck.

"Eventually," he grinned slyly, splaying a hand over the small of her back as he skimmed the other up her spine. His fingers found their way through her curls and gently wrapped around her neck as he lowered his mouth to hers, finally kissing her the way he'd been wanting to all night. "We just have to make a stop first."

She groaned against his lips and rocked back on her heels, grimacing as she looked up at him. "Do I even want to know what that's supposed to mean?" she asked exhaustedly, forcing a smile at him. "I'm just tired, Jason. I spent all day hanging and adjusting and then moving and re-hanging all this damn artwork…T. And the showing coming up upcoming showing has even more press than the last, which is either because I punched one of the featured artists or because her mob boyfriend snapped up every damn piece of hers, making it look like my place was the hot spot for art."

"I'm sorry," she grunted, slumping forward and burying her face in his chest. "I shouldn't be complaining to you on a night like this, but still…would you hate me if I went home early?"

Son of a bitch.

"I promise I'll stay up and wait for you," she added, stretching on her toes to brush her lips against the corner of his mouth. "Please. I know I'm being the whiney, dumb girl, but these heels are too high, and I'm exhausted, and you didn't pay any attention to me tonight anyway."

This was not happening.

"Jason," she sighed, her face filling with guilt. "Just forget about it. I'll st-"

"No," he interrupted, carefully tucking her loose curls behind her ears. "Go home."

She frowned. "Are you sure?" He nodded, and she continued to frown. "Really?" He nodded again, telling himself he wasn't going to shake her if she asked him one more time. "Are you really-"

"Yes, I am really sure," he interrupted hastily, leaning over to kiss her again before she realized how upset he'd sounded. When he pulled away she was either too breathless to ask or hadn't picked up on his tone. "I'll walk you to your car."

"It's okay," she said, pulling herself out of his arms. "You stay and mingle and as soon as you can…just come home."

"I will," he replied, his smiling fading once she was out of sight.

Second later, Johnny appeared in the doorway, a stupid grin on his face, and Jason fought the urge to just punch him.

One fucking time.

That was all he needed.

"So when are you two-"

"She's going home," he interrupted, stopping Johnny before he got ahead of the both of them.

"What the fuck, Jason?" he moaned, leaning against the doorway, his head in his hands.

"Fuck you," he spat, knowing how pathetic he was starting to look.

0-4?

That was sad, really sad, and Johnny would probably never let him live it down. Unless…, technically, there was still time for four, and 0-3 was better than 0-4, so he could do this.

He could really do this.

"Where are you going?" Johnny asked, grabbing him by the arm when he started inside.

"I have to mingle – your orders, remember?" he asked, jerking his arm away as he looked into the busy room. "And then I'm going – I'm going to ask Elizabeth to marry me, but…" Clearing his throat, he looked at Johnny, hating himself for what he was about to do, though he knew his friend would be overjoyed. "I'm going to need your help."