Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as soon as Lucky's angry voice rang out. Elizabeth turned, pulling out of Jason's arms, her eyes widening slightly when she saw Lucky's angry glare.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lucky asked, moving closer to his girlfriend and Jason. He shook his head in disbelief as he fixed his gaze on Elizabeth. "What happened to staying away from him?"
Elizabeth took a step away from Jason. "Lucky, I can explain. We ran into each other…"
Lucky ignored her, turned his attention to Jason. "You need to stop, Jason. Elizabeth is MINE."
Jason's gaze was unreadable. "Elizabeth is her own person. No one owns her."
Lucky snorted, shaking his head. "I should have guessed you'd say something like that. You'd say anything to make yourself look better in front of her."
"Lucky," Elizabeth interjected.
"I'm sick of this," Lucky continued, taking a step closer to Jason. "You want Elizabeth, I know you do. Well, I'm here to tell you, right here, right now, that you can't have her."
Elizabeth tried again, this time pulling on Lucky's arm. "Please, Lucky. Don't do this."
Again, Lucky ignored her. "Stay away from her, Jason. I don't want you anywhere near her."
Jason crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't get to tell me who I can spend time with. You may think you can do that to Elizabeth, but not to me."
Lucky's eyes narrowed in anger. "You…"
"LUCKY!" Elizabeth called out, pulling on his arm until he stepped away from Jason.
"Stop protecting him!" Lucky yelled, jerking his arm out of her grasp. "He's after you, Elizabeth. Why can't you see that?"
Elizabeth turned towards Jason in desperation. As long as he was there, it would be impossible for her to talk to Lucky. "Jason, thank you for making sure I got home safely."
Nodding, Jason took a step backwards, knowing that what she just said was her way of asking him to leave. He held her gaze for a second, letting her know that he understood what she was saying.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth watched Jason until he disappeared before turning her attention back to Lucky. Pulling out a chair on one of the outside tables, she took a seat.
"It's cold out here, Elizabeth," Lucky said, his voice tight as he took a step towards the door to Kelly's. "Let's going inside."
Elizabeth took a deep breath, pulling out the chair next to her. "I need to talk to you Lucky. Now."
Lucky frowned. "Out here?"
"Please, Lucky?"
Sighing, Lucky stepped away from the door and slid into the seat next to Elizabeth, waiting for her to speak.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth began talking. "Jason and I ran into each other on the docks on accident."
"Nothing dealing with Jason happens on accident," Lucky cut in harshly.
Elizabeth looked up at him. "Lucky please…"
Shaking his head, Lucky snorted. "Why is it so hard for you to stay away from him?"
Brushing a piece of her hair out of her face, Elizabeth looked down at her hands. "After the fire… I was… I didn't know how to move on. Everyone around me tried to help, tried to make me feel better." Her voice wavered as her emotions threatened to overflow. "They were so worried about me… Grams, Nikolas, Emily, Bobbie… they were upset with themselves because they didn't know how to make me feel better."
Wiping at her eyes, Elizabeth silently urged herself to continue. She needed to be honest with Lucky. They had never talked about the fire like this and she needed to tell him everything if he was ever going to understand how her and Jason had become friends.
"I was broken, Lucky," she whispered. She cleared her throat, forcing more strength into her voice. "I didn't know how to fix it. But Jason helped me. He listened to me. He didn't tell me that everything was going to be ok like everyone else did. I was broken, and Jason… Jason helped me put myself back together again."
By the time Elizabeth had finished speaking, Lucky's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I used to be the one who did that for you," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "So, you're saying… you're saying Jason took over my role in your life."
Elizabeth shook her head fiercely. "No. Jason was my friend. He IS my friend. You were dead, Lucky. I needed a friend."
"I wasn't dead. Faison and Helena had me…"
Elizabeth bit her lip as more tears fell from her eyes. "You were dead to me."
Lucky flinched, standing up so quickly that his chair fell over. "So you moved on," he said, his voice distant. "With Jason."
"No," Elizabeth said, standing so that she could grab his hand. "I moved on to a life without you."
Facing her, Lucky put his hand to her cheek. "But I'm back now. You needed Jason when I was gone… but now you shouldn't need him, because you have me."
Elizabeth stepped away, looking at everything but her face. She had been saying that same thing to herself for a while. She shouldn't need Jason anymore. She said it to herself over and over in her head but it was hallow. It was hallow because it wasn't the truth. She still needed him, now more than ever.
"Lucky," she started, hugging herself as a gust of wind chilled her to the bone. "I changed that year… we both did. I stood up to people, I gained my independence, I learned that I could do things on my own." She paused and looked down. She could tell that she was hurting him but she needed to say all of this.
"I grew up. And I like what I became." She paused to look at him. "I love you Lucky. And when you came back, I wanted to be that girl you fell in love with again. I wanted to make you happy."
"What are you saying, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth frowned. "I'm not saying this very well. What I'm trying to tell you is that… I've lost sight of who I am. I've been trying to make you happy but the whole time, I was making myself miserable."
Lucky's jaw clenched. "You mean when I asked you to stay away from Jason."
Elizabeth took a deep breath, forcing herself to tell him the truth. "Yes… that's part of it. And also… I hate modeling. I hate being the Face of Deception."
Lucky's eyes widened. "That's our dream, Elizabeth. How can you hate it?"
"That's your dream. My dream is to paint. It makes me feel alive, Lucky. It's what I want. I look in the mirror and I don't recognize myself anymore. I don't see that girl who was with you in the church on Valentine's day, and I don't see that independent woman I became when you were gone."
With his chin trembling, Lucky turned away from her. "And that's my fault right? Because you were just trying to make me happy."
Elizabeth sniffled. "No. It's mine. I let everything spin out of control. I should have been honest with you from the start, Lucky. And I'm sorry for that, but I'm going to be honest now. I don't want to fight with you, and I don't want to be the Face… and my friendship with Jason-"
"Elizabeth, please." Lucky held his hand up. "You're throwing a lot on me right now. I knew you lied to me about knowing Jason was in town, but… I didn't know you had been lying about your feelings."
"I know, Lucky, and that was wrong of me." Elizabeth bit her lip and looked up at the night sky. "I just… I'm trying to make this right."
"What would be right would be for you not to see Jason anymore."
Elizabeth nearly growled with frustration. "This isn't about Jason. It's about US."
"He did something to you, Elizabeth. He changed you. Because the Elizabeth I know would never act like that."
Elizabeth shook her head sadly. "The Elizabeth you knew died the night of the fire. I can never be her again, Lucky. It's not who I am anymore." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Tomorrow, I'm going to go to Laura and tell her that I want to resign as the Face. I want to continue my classes at PCU. I'd like for you to come with me but… but I'll go, with or without your support."
Lucky stood silent for a long moment. Finally, he walked towards the door of Kelly's, opening it and holding out his hand to her.
"I'll go with you to see my mom tomorrow," he said quietly. "Let's go inside, Elizabeth. It's cold out here."
Nodding, Elizabeth grabbed his hand, letting him pull her into the diner. Before she walked inside, she turned, looking towards the direction that Jason had taken when he left, knowing that he was long gone but unable to stop herself from looking anyway.
Letting out the breath he hadn't known he been holding, Jason stepped out from behind the bushes around Kelly's. Stepping up to the door, he touched the glass near the spot where Elizabeth had been last standing.
Sighing, he dropped his hand to the side. He had heard everything she had said to Lucky. He knew he shouldn't have been listening, but he couldn't help it. He needed to know that she was going to be ok, and he had wanted to be there for her if her and Lucky had fought.
But she had gone upstairs… to be with Lucky.
From where he stood, things looked like they were only going to get better for Lucky and Elizabeth. Elizabeth was finally being honest with Lucky and that could only lead to good things for the two of them. Turning away from Kelly's Jason made a decision right there.
"Goodbye Elizabeth."