This is being cross-posted from Ao3. It was originally posted on 13 July 2021.
Where to begin? I absolutely grew up on Guiding Light and have wanted to write a short piece for the fandom for quite some time now. My heart still aches knowing that it's been off the air for over a decade. There was still so much story left to tell... Anyway, here is a short piece about one of my favorite couples (even if they didn't end up together on the show). I've obvious taken some creative liberty with the plot, but I hope that doesn't hurt anything. I hope you still enjoy it nevertheless! Thank you to the Admin at Melting Pot Fanfiction for running this event again this year! Happy reading! Much love, xxDustNight
A HUGE thank you goes to starrnobella for reading this over for me! I also have to thank GaeilgeRua for letting me use her Grammarly subscription to beta this. Any other mistakes are definitely my own.
Disclaimer: All non-original characters, plot points, quotes, and information belongs to Procter & Gamble Productions (1952–2008), TeleNext Media, Inc. (2008–09), and anyone else that may own any part of it. The story plot and dialogue belong to me. I do not write for profit.
Prompt: Jonathan Randall/Lizzy Spaulding - Paro Valley, Bhutan - Sangria
Sitting at a table by the window, Lizzie sipped her sangria and grimaced. It was far more sugar than wine, leading to a headache tomorrow, but that didn't matter. She was in Bhutan for one specific reason and needed a bit of liquid courage to help get her going. This would do.
Summer in Paro Valley wasn't nearly as hot as some of the hottest summers in Springfield, but without air conditioning, Lizzie was still sweating a bit. The temperature was the least of her worries today, though. After weeks of tracking and talking to countless people, Lizzie was confident that she would find Jonathan today. If not, she would have to go back to Springfield empty-handed and reach out to Reva for assistance.
It was time he stopped running and came home to his daughter.
After nearly an hour of sitting and waiting, the door to the small bar opened and in walked a man from her past. Jonathan Randall. Sitting up a bit straighter in her seat, she was unsurprised when he immediately noticed her and made a beeline right toward the table.
"Go home, Lizzie," he said, a bit of a growl in his voice. "I don't know how you found me here, but you need to leave. Now."
"Can you please sit down so we can have a civil conversation? You haven't answered or returned any of my calls for weeks now," she explained, hoping he wouldn't rush out the door.
"Did you ever think that I just don't want to talk to you," he replied, narrowing his eyes at the mother of his daughter. "I don't want to talk to anyone. Let me be." Turning away, Jonathan began to head towards the door.
"Please."
Something in her voice must have alerted him to her desperation, and he stopped. She could see the rise and fall of his shoulders as he took a deep breath to calm his anger. Thankfully, Lizzie didn't have to ask again because Jonathan turned around and returned to the table, taking a seat across from her. Thankful that she'd thought ahead, she pushed the tumbler of whiskey she'd bought for him his way and waited for him to take a sip before beginning to speak.
"I know this isn't an ideal visit for either of us, but I'm here to ask you to come home," Lizzie began, observing him for signs that he would flee. "Please, come home to Springfield and be with Sarah and me."
Jonathan pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "You know I can't do that, Lizzie. Springfield and I do not mix well. We're like water and oil." He drank more of his whiskey, twirling the cup, so the liquid formed a little whirlpool inside.
"You're missing everything, Jonathan," Lizzie said, sighing and running a hand through her hair in frustration. "Sarah is growing up without her father. I know you can't stand Springfield, but if you could just give it a chance. Sarah misses you." I miss you… She left that part unsaid because of their tumultuous past, but it was true. He was the father of their daughter and meant a lot to her whether they were together or not.
"Don't you dare throw that in my face," Jonathan seethed, slapping both hands down on the tabletop. It caused Lizzie to flinch, and he instantly regretted the action. Then, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he tried again. "Springfield was never kind to me. I was always seen as the bad boy, the ruffian that was there to make trouble. I can't go back and live a life there. The people won't allow it, especially now that Reva and Josh have moved on."
Lizzie closed her eyes. It was clear that Jonathan wasn't seeing her side of things as usual. "You know that Alan is dead? You do know that, right?"
"Of course I know that," he groused, reaching for his half-empty tumbler of whiskey. "That's why I brought Sarah back for you. While I'm still not sure about Phillip and his ways, I trust him far more than Alan to be around our daughter."
"How can you just act so nonchalant about all of this?" Lizzie asked, her eyes boring into his. "How do you find it okay to just not be a part of Sarah's life every single day?" Here, she struggled to hold tears back. But, unfortunately, crying wouldn't help the situation. "When I thought she was dead... When I thought both of you were dead, my world was a mess. How can you live day to day knowing your daughter is out there without you?"
"I know that she's alive and well, Lizzie," Jonathan snapped, growing irritated. "She's with her mother and her grandparents. I don't want to mess any of that up. She deserves a life that I couldn't give her if I was there."
"Oh…"
It all became clear to Lizzie then, and she stared down into her empty glass of sangria. Her heart ached for this man sitting across from her in a way that was hard to describe. Their childhood hadn't been easy, but Jonathan? His life had been worse in ways that no one would ever imagine. Taking a steadying breath, Lizzie decided to make something clear to him; after all, his happiness and Sarah's were on the line.
"Listen, I know that life hasn't always been easiest for you, and that's putting it mildly," Lizzie began carefully. When Jonathan opened his mouth to speak, she held up a hand, silently asking him to let her continue. He obliged. "I was given everything on a silver platter, and still, it wasn't what I wanted. When Sarah was born, I was the happiest I'd ever been. Losing her was the worst experience of my life, so when you returned and revealed she was alive and well, it was like a new lease on life for me."
"I hated doing that," Jonathan admitted quietly, running a hand through his long hair and not quite meeting her eyes. "I shouldn't have done that."
"I understand why you did, and it allowed you to have a relationship with Sarah without my grandfather breathing down your neck." Steadying herself again, she said, "But, he's gone now, and Springfield is a better place for it. There are no more hoops to jump through, Jonathan. If you come back, you can be with Sarah and me without people asking too many questions."
"It's Springfield," he said with that wry grin of his. "There's always going to be drama."
Lizzie had to laugh. "That may be true, but we can weather it together, okay? I want to be there for you. I…" She paused again, swallowing back emotions. "You know how I feel about you. I don't have to say it aloud, and I know you don't want to be with me right now. That's… That's fine, but can you at least come home and be with Sarah? That's all I am asking. She misses you desperately."
Jonathan had set his tumbler aside to stare deeply into Lizzie's eyes as if looking for a lie, a trick even. She knew, however, that he would find none. Coming back to Springfield wasn't a death sentence for him any longer. And the people there? They had grown much over the years to the point that hardly anyone held grudges from the past. It was a new town in a sense, a town where people could live their lives and not worry like they had once.
Coming to some sort of conclusion, Jonathan nodded. Then, taking her hand, he squeezed and attempted a smile. "Fine. I'll do my best to give it a try."
"That's all I'm asking," Lizzie replied, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. Whatever came next would either be a grand adventure or a grave mistake. This time, for some reason, she suspected it was the former and not the latter. Jonathan was coming home to Springfield to be with her and Sarah, and that's all that really mattered.