A/N: Thank you for sticking around, I know I haven't been very good with updating this story but time has been very scarce lately. I will try not to make you wait this long again... Enjoy the next chapter!

- Chapter 25 -

Elizabeth walked inside the penthouse followed closely by Jason as a quiet sigh of relief escaped her. She had only lived in this apartment for a few days and yet it couldn't feel more like home. She walked further in the room and dropped her handbag on the couch's arm, never turning to look at the man behind her.

"What are you thinking about?" Jason asked, finally breaking a silence he felt Elizabeth was too reluctant to interrupt.

"Um… I don't know how many times I moved this past month." The young woman said defeated, then turned to face Jason.

"I'm glad you're back." The man told her, looking straight in her eyes.

She smiled. "Each day I spent at Ric's house I tried to convince myself that it was for the best and I almost ended up believing it; but I know now that I was a complete fool for believing he could change."

"You're out of there now and that's all that matters."

"Until Ric comes back looking for me…" Elizabeth began to say.

"He can't get to you as long as you are here." Jason reassured her, hoping this time she would decide to stay.

"Maybe I shouldn't be here, this will only make things worse." The brunette let out, shaking her head.

Jason gently placed both hands on her shoulders. "Hey it's ok, everything will be ok."

"Jason… why are you still here, looking out for me?" Elizabeth unexpectedly raised. "When you said the things you said earlier at the hotel I realized just how much I had hurt you in all this and I am so sorry because that's the last thing I wanted to do."

"I didn't mean to blow out on you the way I did." Jason explained, rubbing his chin. "I thought you were buying into Ric's lies yet again and there was nothing I could do to stop you from making a huge mistake."

Elizabeth ran both hands in her silky soft hair before dropping on the nearby sofa. "It took me a while to see it, but now I know that wishing for something doesn't make it so. I wanted so bad to believe he was back to being the Ric I used to love and that we could make things work for this child's sake; but it's just not possible." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Me and this baby will be a family and I am fine with that now. I just need to figure out what to do next."

"You don't have to do this alone." Jason let out.

"It's about time I start taking care of myself and my baby don't you think?" The brunette added with a faint smile. "I let Ric in because I was terrified of having to do this on my own but now I know I'll have to figure out a way."

"You know I'm here for you."

"Thank you Jason. I know I can always count on a friend like you."

Jason uneasily ran a hand under his nose before speaking again. " Elizabeth." He said her name gravely, causing the woman's eyebrows to rise. "I know it might not be the right time to tell you this, or maybe it is… I don't know, but I need to come out and say it."

"Whatever it is you know you can tell me." The woman said, worry in her eyes.

"Alright, I get that you want to make it on your own now and I want to respect that but I also want you to know that I really want you to stick around."

Elizabeth opened her eyes wide. Wondering what Jason meant by this statement as she listened to him go on.

"You decided to move in with Ric and I let you go without hardly saying anything but I won't make the same mistake again…"

"Jason you tried, you warned me about him, I just didn't listen…" The brunette interjected. "But I'm not going back to Ric you can trust me on that."

"It's not just about Ric but about us." Jason added then allowed an awkward silence to fill the room before he went on. "I… I have feelings for you, I have ever since we met on the side of the road that day, but a friendship was all you were looking for so…"

"Jason…"

"No let me say this, I need to say this."

Elizabeth silently nodded, ready to listen to the man in front of her speak his mind.

"Okay… um… I don't think you realize how much you mean to me… how difficult it was for me to see you with Ric." The enforcer added, relieved to finally be able to let the words out.

Why didn't you say anything? She said without words. Jason reading the silent question in her eyes.

"I didn't know how to tell you, so much was going on… I probably should have told you before."

Elizabeth faced him with eyes opened wide, unable to find words to comeback with.

After a few never-ending quiet seconds, Jason spoke again. "Anyway… I'm going to let you sit on this; I have to head to work."

"Right now?" Elizabeth let out, still in shock of what Jason had just told her.

"Yes… sorry I have to leave now but we can talk when I get back or tomorrow."

"Alright." The woman said. And just like that Jason had dropped a bombshell on Elizabeth and then disappeared as fast as he could.

"Cody!" Jason yelled out as soon as he spotted the young man down on the pier.

"Hey man! How is it going? How is Elizabeth?" The guard asked once Jason arrived by his side.

"She's good now, thanks for calling me." Jason said realizing the evening could have ended on a completely different note if Cody hadn't intervened.

"Of course, so does that mean you'll finally give me Emily's phone number?" Cody daringly asked.

"No." Jason dourly replied.

"Oh come on…" Cody insisted without much conviction.

"You know this is not going to happen." Although Cody was his friend, Jason knew too well of his womanizing ways to trust him with his sister's heart.

"Whatever… I had to try." Cody let out with a shrug. "Elizabeth's at the penthouse?"

"Yeah, I convinced her to move back in." Jason said burying both hands in his pockets.

"Good. I'm glad to hear that she's done with that creep, you should have seen him in that lobby, I was this close of sending him back to the hospital." Cody said then fisted his hand in reaction.

"Yeah… he has that effect on people." Jason remarked, remembering the countless times he felt like hurting Ric Lansing.

"Well good thing she is safe now, he can't get to her there."

"Yeah." Jason said with a weighty sigh.

"Wait, why do you sound so worried? Elizabeth is back, no more Ric, you should be ecstatic right now… at least as much as you can be."

"Very funny Cody… no I'm just afraid she won't be there when I get back." Jason said, then enigmatically looked down at the moving dark water.

"What? Why?" Cody asked not understanding what Jason meant.

"I may have told her I had feelings for her." The enforcer warily admitted.

"You did what?"

Jason turned to face his friend. "I just had to tell her… we've had so many misses already… I wanted her to know that I was there for her and that I wasn't going anywhere."

"Was about damn time!" Cody snarkily remarked. "How did she react to that?"

"I don't know… She kind of stood there without saying anything, and then I came here."

"You just walked out?" Cody asked surprised.

"What was I supposed to do?"

"You should go and talk to her that's what you should do."

"The shipment is going to be here any minute, I can't leave now." Jason added.

"Sure you can. Me and the guys are here, the situation is under control."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes… go!" Cody urged his friend.

"I can't believe this! I can't believe this!" Ric madly yelled at himself. "How dare she refuse my proposal? Not once but twice… twice!"

The lawyer furiously stormed across his living room. "I won't allow anyone to disrespect me this way… oh no… You're not going to get away with this Beth I can guarantee you that!"

"Ric?" Ian interrupted the other man's enraged rant, taken aback by the lawyer's agitated state.

"What are you doing here?" Ric threw back at his uninvited guest.

"I called but you never answered… I was worried about Elizabeth and the last analgesic pills I gave you. I don't think it is a good idea after all… they could have very bad consequences and…" The doctor explained before being interrupted.

"Elizabeth is gone… she left, she is pregnant with our child but she left anyway! She turned down my marriage proposal…" Ric said, fury in his eyes.

"Ric there is no baby you know that?" Ian said, speaking carefully.

"It doesn't matter that it was all fake!" He burst out. "She doesn't know that, she still thinks she is carrying my baby but she left anyway… and is probably with no one else than Jason Morgan." Ric spit out with disgust.

The doctor entered a mild state of panic. "Ok, so she left? What does that mean? If she stops taking the hormones she'll figure out she was never pregnant and then we're in big trouble… Ric you told me there was no risk that I would help you out with this for a few weeks then it would all be over. I can't lose my license over this…"

"It's not going to happen!" Ric interrupted Ian worried rant.

"How do you know that? What makes you so sure?"

"Because she will be back here before you know it." Ric said with a smirk then turned to fill a glass of scotch.

Ian took a couple step closer to the man who had begged him to carry such a devious masquerade. Ian had first refused, citing his Hippocratic oath never to do harm but his long time friend had brashly threatened to terminate his career by revealing the doctor's not so blameless past. "Why am I worried about this? Ric what are you planning to do next?"

"Nothing that concerns you. I got all I need from you, now I just need you to disappear and never to open your mouth ever about what you helped me with."

"What are you going to do?" Ian insisted.

"Just get what's mine."

Feelings… he had feelings for her. Feelings can mean so many things… Elizabeth kept repeating to herself. A friendship? More? Jason had been there for her like no one ever was when she truly needed help and she had repaid him by walking out at the first lie Ric had told her. Elizabeth thought half way between sleep and alertness. She let out a heavy sigh, her hand pressed against her forehead before she heard the front door.

"You're awake?" Jason asked closing the door behind him.

Elizabeth nodded as she sat up on the couch where she was lounging.

"I finished earlier than I thought." Jason said then joined her on the sofa. "I don't think that this sofa is the most comfortable to sleep on."

"Yeah… I noticed... but I was just waiting for you to come home... Jason I've been thinking about what you told me before you left."

"And…"

"That day you kissed me after I jumped on the back of your motorcycle and we went nowhere… I wasn't expecting it at all but I felt… I felt something. I didn't know what it was because you were just a stranger." She let out a chuckle. "But I felt so close to you already then, after just a couple hours, and I've never felt like this about anyone before."

Jason joined both hands together in front of him as he listened to her go on.

"And then I moved in here and things were getting a little uncomfortable because my situation was so complicated…"

"That you told me we should stay friends." Jason finished for her.

"Yes I did that." Elizabeth said wondering what she was thinking. "And the day you kissed me again when we came back from Carly's party at the Metro Court, I think that's when I knew I had more than a simple crush on you… I wasn't sure if you were feeling the same…"

How could she not notice when every time he looked at her he struggled to keep his cool the man thought then looked at Elizabeth straight in the eyes.

"But everything went downhill from there… there was Ric on one side and I found out about the baby and I just didn't know what it would mean for us so I decided to put these feelings on hold… the feelings I had for you… but I realized I couldn't."

Jason's eyes grew bigger as he carefully listened to Elizabeth tell him she returned his feelings. He battled with himself to resist the urge to kiss her inviting lips as she continued talking.

"You were so good to me, from the moment we met… but I was so determined to see a changed Ric and to give him a second chance that I left without even seeing that there could be something real between the two of us." Elizabeth added and placed a few flying curls behind her ears.

Jason hadn't been able to tear his sight from her since she began talking. "So what happens now?" He asked.

"Now… I don't know because Ric is not going away, I am carrying his child and he will always be in our lives… and you don't deserve this."

"I don't care about Ric, Elizabeth all that matters to me is you. So let's not worry about him right now."

"You're right, I don't want to think about Ric right now." Elizabeth said then raised her arms to gently frame Jason's face. Very slowly she let her mouth approach his, eyes closed and ready to immerse in the imminent kiss. A sharp chill ran through their bodies as their lips came in contact, savoring the other's unique taste.

They enjoyed each other's touch for a few pleasurable seconds in the bliss of the words they had just shared. Then, lips still entangled, Jason suddenly scooped Elizabeth off her feet, holding her close to his body as she closed both arms behind his solid neck.

"Let's take you to bed, you look exhausted." He told her.

Elizabeth nodded and without delay Jason carried her to the pink room, that he called her room, and delicately dropped her on the bed after placing a peck on her forehead.

"Have a good night."

"Wait Jason. Would you stay with me?"

"Of course." The young man said with a smile. He removed his shoes and jumped in bed with her, enveloping her petite frame with his sturdy body. Elizabeth linked her hands to his and repositioned her body slightly to be closer to his.