Chapter One: Returning from the distant past...
She sighed and shook her arms; water droplets flung away from her and made a wet puddle trail as she made her way to the front desk of the hospital. Her long yellow raincoat clashed blatantly with her red hair and her jeans were soaked from the ongoing downpour. how she missed the beautiful Sun from home. She threw back the hood from her jacket and stared at the receptionist behind the desk. She silently thanked God that it wasn't Amy.
"Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what room Mr. Jasper Jax is in?" She asked brushing her soaking wet bangs away from her forehead.
"Let me check." The young girl replied stepping away from the desk and typing the name into a computer.
She waited patiently letting her eyes wander around the room aimlessly. She tapped her fingers on the countertop nervously. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She wondered what he would think when he saw her. She wondered what he would say. What would she say? She had already made the decision that she wouldn't cry. She refused to let there be tears at their first meeting. A moment later the woman came back with a floor and room number.
She made her way onto the elevator thinking of all the things that she should say when she first saw him. "Hi." "Hey!" She tried out different salutations on herself and nothing sounded less than idiotic. "Come on girl you can do this." She told herself silently as she stepped off the elevator and made her way down the corridor to his room. The door was ajar and he was sitting up his face hidden behind a newspaper. She leaned into the doorframe and smiled. "Who knew that you would take a bullet just so you could get in enough time to read the morning paper." {Note: If you have the Alicia Keys CD than from now on anytime you see the word instrumental play track 12 titled, Never Felt This Way It's going to be their instrumental music.}
There will never come a day That you will ever hear me say
He stopped in mid-sentence and peeked over his paper to stare into those doleful brown eyes of hers. She was standing there with a huge grin on her face and her arms folded across her chest. Her fire red hair slightly damp at the front edges from the rain stood out drastically against the canary yellow raincoat that she wore. In war the heroes are usually counted among the dead not the ones still standing. That I want Or Need to be Without you
He smiled. "Well you know I'll do anything to get in a few more minutes in the day to accommodate my schedule." He stared at her almost afraid to take his eyes away from hers. "V?" He asked almost unable to believe it. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"A million typhoons couldn't keep me away. Besides I was in the neighborhood so I thought that I might as well drop in. You know and maybe let you know how much I missed you." She remarked slightly laughing.
"Well then get over here and give me a hug and show me just how much you missed me." He said throwing the paper to the other side of the room and opening his arms wide. She took the steps that separated them in long strides until she was hugging him and letting herself be hugged.
I want to give my all.
"I missed you." She whispered into his shoulder as he hugged her tighter to his body burying his face in her tresses.
Baby just hold me Simply control me
She felt the tears seep into his hospital gown and she sighed. Seems there would be a few tears after all.
Because your arms They keep away the lonelies.
Jason stood on the threshold of the doorway wondering how the hell he got himself into this position. He had just been standing there in the pouring rain staring at her looking at him with so much concern. She cared so damn much and accepted everything that he threw at her. Yeah she got mad and she had a temper but she still accepted what he said. No he wasn't always in the right and she would call him on it and that infuriated him sometimes but at the same time it was refreshing. She didn't always just follow in his steps or try and understand by glossing over the lies that he told. She understood why he told them it was for protection and most people didn't get that but she did. She was the kind of girl that understood things like that. She was the kind of girl that he could get used to coming home to. She was the kind of girl that he could see himself waiting outside of Kelly's for her to get off of work. She was the kind of girl that he could be with. she was the kind of girl that he couldn't have.
That's partially the reason for him standing where he was now across from a woman that he almost hated that was now his newlywed wife.
Again: How the hell did he get himself into this position?
She stared at the small brunette in front of her half amused the other half irritated. What the hell were they trying to pull off here? I mean there had never been two people of the opposite sex who hated one another more than them and here they were standing in front of her and her husband trying to play the happy newlyweds! She turned to stare at Jason trying to figure out how he thought this was fixing anything. If nothing else this only made things worst. If that Heifer thought that she was moving in with Jason she had another thing coming. There was no way she was moving down the hall and right in on her marriage. She turned to her husband and watched him watch them his facial expression a blank.
She stared around the room bubbling with joy it seemed while meanwhile inside she waited. She waited for the explosion that she knew was coming from him. She could practically feel it in her bones and although she was ready for it she was scared to death. But things had to be done. She had to move quickly and it took all the convincing in the world on her part to prove to him this was the right thing to do and now there was no getting out of it. She refused to. So maybe he would scream and yell and throw things at her but this was a plan that she was sticking to.
He stared at the couple, then at his wife and then back at the couple well aware that everyone was waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to do something. He smiled slightly and raised his glass.
"Congratulations." He replied and then took a long swallow of his brandy the burning inside his throat was nothing compared to the sensation that he felt in his heart.
She sat on the edge of the bed smiling down at him her hands clasped between her legs her head cocked to one side. "So are you going to tell me what's going on in Port Charles?" She asked her raincoat now discarded on a nearby chair in the corner of the room.
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you are going to tell me why you're trying so hard to hide that ring on your finger?" He inquired reaching down and pulling out her left hand and holding it by the wrist. The green sapphire gleamed in the hospital room light. She smiled warily.
"Always the negotiator. You know, maybe you should have gone into the detective business. You always notice the smaller things don't you?" She shook her head.
"That isn't exactly small. And it's the important things that I notice." He looked up into her eyes and they held a stare.
"You were always good at that." She whispered mainly to herself.
"What?"
"Knowing the right thing to say to take the focus off of you. I came here to talk to you. I want to know what's going on with you. When I walked into your room I half expected to find Ms. Barret here by your bedside. Which raises another question: Brenda Barrette is alive?" She asked raising her eyebrows waiting for an answer.
He scratched his head and laughed slightly. "Yeah.. She is. Seems that a lot has happened since you've been gone. to both of us."
She nodded unable to say anything at first reflecting back on the last three years of her life without him in it. "Yeah." She whispered with an air of remembrance and regret. "But nothing compared to you. Why don't you start from the beginning and then we'll take it from there." She offered settling herself in for a quite a story.
Sonny handed everyone a drink as they watched him carefully. He raised his glass in the air and with a smile he said, "To the newlyweds." He nodded and then took a drink. No one else moved. "Don't worry it's not hemlock, just Brandy." He remarked with a laugh. Still no one moved. His eyes turned and stared at Brenda. "That's right you don't drink this stuff right?" He reached out for the glass ready to offer her something else when she pulled the glass away.
"This. this is fine." She stammered. "Okay what the hell is going on with you?"
"What are my manners not up to your standards?"
She shook her head. "No. Don't give me that gentleman crap. I know you Sonny and this is not you. I just married Jason. I just married your best friend and you're standing there like it's okay. When are you going to start screaming? When are you going to start throwing things?" She asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You wanted something and you went for it. If that's what you want than who am I to get in the way?" He asked.
She nodded her head slowly as if just getting it. "Okay, see now I get what this is. You're going to wait until I'm gone before you go off the deep end. You don't want to blow up while I'm here because you don't think that I can handle it. That's it right?" It was more of a statement than a question.
He hid how right she was by smiling and taking another gulp of his Brandy. He wouldn't admit to that. He would never admit to that. She didn't deserve the truth from him not when she couldn't be honest with him. "Believe what you want Brenda you always do."
Carly stood off to the sidelines listening to their banter and not being able to take it anymore. Jason may not see it but this was just a little too close for comfort for her. She heard the subtext and saw it in both pair of eyes and she shook her head. "Okay you know what? This little conversation is over. You're married and that's great so why don't you two go on your honeymoon and get out of my house!" She said opening the door wide.
"Jason are you really going to let her talk to your wife that way?" Brenda asked mockingly hurt and surprised.
"Brenda would you just shut-up." He muttered rubbing his temples.
Brenda ignored him and turned to stare at Carly. "It looks like we'll be neighbors really soon. Maybe we can throw a Halloween party together or something. You know I could dress up and you could come as you are." She trailed off sarcastically.
"Okay that's it. Jason get her out of here right now before I break her in two!" Carly shouted ready to throw Brenda through a window.
"Oh please you couldn't handle me if you wanted to." Brenda shot back not backing down ready to go toe to toe with Carly. Jason grabbed her arms and pulled her back.
"Brenda let's go. You've caused enough trouble." He said leading her out the penthouse. He turned to look back at Sonny and saw that there would be explaining done mainly on his part. He nodded telling him silently that he understood. "I'll be back soon." He replied and then was gone dragging Brenda by her arms while she fought with him.
Carly slammed the door behind them and put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I can't believe this! That little whore will do anything to get close to you."
Sonny didn't say anything as he stared at the closed door for a moment longer. He knew what this was about at least what it was partially about anyway. She was working some kind of plan for Candy Boy. He smirked, but there was more to it. HE could feel it and almost had an inclination of what it was but to admit it would open a world of chaos that he wasn't ready for. So he turned to Carly and sighed.
"Let it go Carly." He replied before finishing his drink and setting it on the wet bar before turning to head upstairs leaving her standing alone in the living room.
She watched him retreat upstairs. There was something happening she could see it in his eyes and it made her hurt. He was leaving her. She was foolish if she thought that she could stop it or that he would. There was no stopping a train once it left the station especially when there weren't any brakes.
Brenda yanked her arm out of Jason's vice like grip and clenched her teeth. "Don't touch me! Keep your hands off of me!" She spat out her hair in her eyes. She brushed the brown tendrils out of her face and sighed, trying to get her emotions back under control. God how she hated him.
"Shut-up!" He replied staring down at her.
She cut her eyes at him as he pushed the lobby floor for the elevator. "Don't snap at me because she couldn't offer up enough manners to congratulate us. She was rude to me first!"
"Yeah well you antagonize people just by being." He muttered watching the numbers light up as they descended.
"Because you're such a great wonder to be around." She shot back sarcastically. She rolled her eyes as he did the same.
"You know why did I ever listen to you?"
"Because you know that my plan is going to work out for everyone involved. If Jax thinks that I married you because I don't love him anymore than that will force him to leave me alone and focus on getting better for Skye." She said softly thinking on a life that she could have had. A life that she should have had with him. She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the tears to stay away.
"Please don't tell me that you're going to start feeling sorry for yourself. You brought this on yourself. You did this!" He said refusing to offer any pity to her.
"Go to hell Jason."
"Did you forget? I'm married to you." Was his last reply as the doors opened and they both went their separate ways.
To Be Continued
She sighed and shook her arms; water droplets flung away from her and made a wet puddle trail as she made her way to the front desk of the hospital. Her long yellow raincoat clashed blatantly with her red hair and her jeans were soaked from the ongoing downpour. how she missed the beautiful Sun from home. She threw back the hood from her jacket and stared at the receptionist behind the desk. She silently thanked God that it wasn't Amy.
"Hi. I was wondering if you could tell me what room Mr. Jasper Jax is in?" She asked brushing her soaking wet bangs away from her forehead.
"Let me check." The young girl replied stepping away from the desk and typing the name into a computer.
She waited patiently letting her eyes wander around the room aimlessly. She tapped her fingers on the countertop nervously. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. She wondered what he would think when he saw her. She wondered what he would say. What would she say? She had already made the decision that she wouldn't cry. She refused to let there be tears at their first meeting. A moment later the woman came back with a floor and room number.
She made her way onto the elevator thinking of all the things that she should say when she first saw him. "Hi." "Hey!" She tried out different salutations on herself and nothing sounded less than idiotic. "Come on girl you can do this." She told herself silently as she stepped off the elevator and made her way down the corridor to his room. The door was ajar and he was sitting up his face hidden behind a newspaper. She leaned into the doorframe and smiled. "Who knew that you would take a bullet just so you could get in enough time to read the morning paper." {Note: If you have the Alicia Keys CD than from now on anytime you see the word instrumental play track 12 titled, Never Felt This Way It's going to be their instrumental music.}
There will never come a day That you will ever hear me say
He stopped in mid-sentence and peeked over his paper to stare into those doleful brown eyes of hers. She was standing there with a huge grin on her face and her arms folded across her chest. Her fire red hair slightly damp at the front edges from the rain stood out drastically against the canary yellow raincoat that she wore. In war the heroes are usually counted among the dead not the ones still standing. That I want Or Need to be Without you
He smiled. "Well you know I'll do anything to get in a few more minutes in the day to accommodate my schedule." He stared at her almost afraid to take his eyes away from hers. "V?" He asked almost unable to believe it. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"A million typhoons couldn't keep me away. Besides I was in the neighborhood so I thought that I might as well drop in. You know and maybe let you know how much I missed you." She remarked slightly laughing.
"Well then get over here and give me a hug and show me just how much you missed me." He said throwing the paper to the other side of the room and opening his arms wide. She took the steps that separated them in long strides until she was hugging him and letting herself be hugged.
I want to give my all.
"I missed you." She whispered into his shoulder as he hugged her tighter to his body burying his face in her tresses.
Baby just hold me Simply control me
She felt the tears seep into his hospital gown and she sighed. Seems there would be a few tears after all.
Because your arms They keep away the lonelies.
Jason stood on the threshold of the doorway wondering how the hell he got himself into this position. He had just been standing there in the pouring rain staring at her looking at him with so much concern. She cared so damn much and accepted everything that he threw at her. Yeah she got mad and she had a temper but she still accepted what he said. No he wasn't always in the right and she would call him on it and that infuriated him sometimes but at the same time it was refreshing. She didn't always just follow in his steps or try and understand by glossing over the lies that he told. She understood why he told them it was for protection and most people didn't get that but she did. She was the kind of girl that understood things like that. She was the kind of girl that he could get used to coming home to. She was the kind of girl that he could see himself waiting outside of Kelly's for her to get off of work. She was the kind of girl that he could be with. she was the kind of girl that he couldn't have.
That's partially the reason for him standing where he was now across from a woman that he almost hated that was now his newlywed wife.
Again: How the hell did he get himself into this position?
She stared at the small brunette in front of her half amused the other half irritated. What the hell were they trying to pull off here? I mean there had never been two people of the opposite sex who hated one another more than them and here they were standing in front of her and her husband trying to play the happy newlyweds! She turned to stare at Jason trying to figure out how he thought this was fixing anything. If nothing else this only made things worst. If that Heifer thought that she was moving in with Jason she had another thing coming. There was no way she was moving down the hall and right in on her marriage. She turned to her husband and watched him watch them his facial expression a blank.
She stared around the room bubbling with joy it seemed while meanwhile inside she waited. She waited for the explosion that she knew was coming from him. She could practically feel it in her bones and although she was ready for it she was scared to death. But things had to be done. She had to move quickly and it took all the convincing in the world on her part to prove to him this was the right thing to do and now there was no getting out of it. She refused to. So maybe he would scream and yell and throw things at her but this was a plan that she was sticking to.
He stared at the couple, then at his wife and then back at the couple well aware that everyone was waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to do something. He smiled slightly and raised his glass.
"Congratulations." He replied and then took a long swallow of his brandy the burning inside his throat was nothing compared to the sensation that he felt in his heart.
She sat on the edge of the bed smiling down at him her hands clasped between her legs her head cocked to one side. "So are you going to tell me what's going on in Port Charles?" She asked her raincoat now discarded on a nearby chair in the corner of the room.
"That depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you are going to tell me why you're trying so hard to hide that ring on your finger?" He inquired reaching down and pulling out her left hand and holding it by the wrist. The green sapphire gleamed in the hospital room light. She smiled warily.
"Always the negotiator. You know, maybe you should have gone into the detective business. You always notice the smaller things don't you?" She shook her head.
"That isn't exactly small. And it's the important things that I notice." He looked up into her eyes and they held a stare.
"You were always good at that." She whispered mainly to herself.
"What?"
"Knowing the right thing to say to take the focus off of you. I came here to talk to you. I want to know what's going on with you. When I walked into your room I half expected to find Ms. Barret here by your bedside. Which raises another question: Brenda Barrette is alive?" She asked raising her eyebrows waiting for an answer.
He scratched his head and laughed slightly. "Yeah.. She is. Seems that a lot has happened since you've been gone. to both of us."
She nodded unable to say anything at first reflecting back on the last three years of her life without him in it. "Yeah." She whispered with an air of remembrance and regret. "But nothing compared to you. Why don't you start from the beginning and then we'll take it from there." She offered settling herself in for a quite a story.
Sonny handed everyone a drink as they watched him carefully. He raised his glass in the air and with a smile he said, "To the newlyweds." He nodded and then took a drink. No one else moved. "Don't worry it's not hemlock, just Brandy." He remarked with a laugh. Still no one moved. His eyes turned and stared at Brenda. "That's right you don't drink this stuff right?" He reached out for the glass ready to offer her something else when she pulled the glass away.
"This. this is fine." She stammered. "Okay what the hell is going on with you?"
"What are my manners not up to your standards?"
She shook her head. "No. Don't give me that gentleman crap. I know you Sonny and this is not you. I just married Jason. I just married your best friend and you're standing there like it's okay. When are you going to start screaming? When are you going to start throwing things?" She asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You wanted something and you went for it. If that's what you want than who am I to get in the way?" He asked.
She nodded her head slowly as if just getting it. "Okay, see now I get what this is. You're going to wait until I'm gone before you go off the deep end. You don't want to blow up while I'm here because you don't think that I can handle it. That's it right?" It was more of a statement than a question.
He hid how right she was by smiling and taking another gulp of his Brandy. He wouldn't admit to that. He would never admit to that. She didn't deserve the truth from him not when she couldn't be honest with him. "Believe what you want Brenda you always do."
Carly stood off to the sidelines listening to their banter and not being able to take it anymore. Jason may not see it but this was just a little too close for comfort for her. She heard the subtext and saw it in both pair of eyes and she shook her head. "Okay you know what? This little conversation is over. You're married and that's great so why don't you two go on your honeymoon and get out of my house!" She said opening the door wide.
"Jason are you really going to let her talk to your wife that way?" Brenda asked mockingly hurt and surprised.
"Brenda would you just shut-up." He muttered rubbing his temples.
Brenda ignored him and turned to stare at Carly. "It looks like we'll be neighbors really soon. Maybe we can throw a Halloween party together or something. You know I could dress up and you could come as you are." She trailed off sarcastically.
"Okay that's it. Jason get her out of here right now before I break her in two!" Carly shouted ready to throw Brenda through a window.
"Oh please you couldn't handle me if you wanted to." Brenda shot back not backing down ready to go toe to toe with Carly. Jason grabbed her arms and pulled her back.
"Brenda let's go. You've caused enough trouble." He said leading her out the penthouse. He turned to look back at Sonny and saw that there would be explaining done mainly on his part. He nodded telling him silently that he understood. "I'll be back soon." He replied and then was gone dragging Brenda by her arms while she fought with him.
Carly slammed the door behind them and put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I can't believe this! That little whore will do anything to get close to you."
Sonny didn't say anything as he stared at the closed door for a moment longer. He knew what this was about at least what it was partially about anyway. She was working some kind of plan for Candy Boy. He smirked, but there was more to it. HE could feel it and almost had an inclination of what it was but to admit it would open a world of chaos that he wasn't ready for. So he turned to Carly and sighed.
"Let it go Carly." He replied before finishing his drink and setting it on the wet bar before turning to head upstairs leaving her standing alone in the living room.
She watched him retreat upstairs. There was something happening she could see it in his eyes and it made her hurt. He was leaving her. She was foolish if she thought that she could stop it or that he would. There was no stopping a train once it left the station especially when there weren't any brakes.
Brenda yanked her arm out of Jason's vice like grip and clenched her teeth. "Don't touch me! Keep your hands off of me!" She spat out her hair in her eyes. She brushed the brown tendrils out of her face and sighed, trying to get her emotions back under control. God how she hated him.
"Shut-up!" He replied staring down at her.
She cut her eyes at him as he pushed the lobby floor for the elevator. "Don't snap at me because she couldn't offer up enough manners to congratulate us. She was rude to me first!"
"Yeah well you antagonize people just by being." He muttered watching the numbers light up as they descended.
"Because you're such a great wonder to be around." She shot back sarcastically. She rolled her eyes as he did the same.
"You know why did I ever listen to you?"
"Because you know that my plan is going to work out for everyone involved. If Jax thinks that I married you because I don't love him anymore than that will force him to leave me alone and focus on getting better for Skye." She said softly thinking on a life that she could have had. A life that she should have had with him. She swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the tears to stay away.
"Please don't tell me that you're going to start feeling sorry for yourself. You brought this on yourself. You did this!" He said refusing to offer any pity to her.
"Go to hell Jason."
"Did you forget? I'm married to you." Was his last reply as the doors opened and they both went their separate ways.
To Be Continued