Shot in an Alley: Truth

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Thanks for the reviews!

--------- Corinthos Penthouse

Carly and Sonny walked into the living room after hearing someone who sounded a lot like Courtney cry out Jason's name. And sure enough there she was. Kissing Jason like they had been apart for years. Sonny immediately saw Elizabeth, who was standing there looking half disgusted and half upset. Carly only saw Jason, though. He wasn't kissing back. In fact his face was scrunched up as though he was in pain.

After a second all three figured out why. Courtney's body was crushing up against Jason's stomach.

"Get off of him!" Carly called out. Courtney was hurting Jason, there was no excuse for it. Even though Carly herself had been happy to see him she had still had the smarts to keep away from his wound. Courtney also knew that he had been shot and she knew where. Her respect for Courtney dropped considerably, while Elizabeth was lapping it up - at least she hadn't hurt Jason further.

Courtney broke away after hearing Carly's yell. "What are you talking about Carly?"

Once the blonde's body lifted from Jason's, Elizabeth rushed to him. She wasn't mad at him. It wasn't his fault Courtney had come in during their important conversation. Jason was leaned back against the couch with his eyes closed. He had a hand to his stomach, as if to protect it.
"Jason, are you okay?" she asked, worried.

Jason nodded slowly and then opened his eyes to look at her. He didn't need to say anything. His eyes explained it all. He loved her back.

When Courtney heard this she whipped around to face Elizabeth. "What are you talking about?"

Elizabeth tried hard to keep her calm, "You practically crushed his stomach, you know. Where he was shot?"

Before Courtney could say anything Michael rushed into the room "Mommy!"

Carly turned around and kneeled down so she could hug Michael on his level. Jason smiled at the sight of the little boy so happy and Sonny couldn't have been more relived that Michael seemed to be fine now that he was with his mom again.

"Oh Mister Man! I missed you." Carly told him, holding back tears.

Michael said something but it was muffled by Carly's shoulder, where his head was buried.

Carly and Sonny laughed. "Come on Michael. Why don't we go get you unpacked?" Carly told her son as Johnny brought his bag into his room. Sonny kissed the little boy on the head and watched the two go up the stairs.

Sonny turned back to Courtney, "Where's Mike?"

"He said to tell you that he'll be by tomorrow to see Carly. He thought she would want to spend the rest of the day with Michael." Courtney answered.

Sonny nodded and then spoke to Jason. "You okay, man?"

Jason opened his mouth but instead Courtney spoke for him. "He's fine. I didn't hurt him, Elizabeth was just exaggerating, but right now I think we need to be alone."

Jason's eyes widened behind Courtney. He looked up at Sonny as if to say, "What am I supposed to do?"

Elizabeth turned to Jason and spoke as though Courtney had said nothing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now."

Courtney, however, took this the wrong way. She thought that her presence was what was making him better, not that the pain she had caused had subsided. "See? Jason's fine now that I'm here to take care of him. But I really do want to thank you Elizabeth."

Elizabeth tried hard not to gag. "Well, Jason means a lot to me Courtney. I would do anything for him."

Courtney wasn't listening though; she had busied herself with stroking Jason's hair. He was trying hard not to tell her to go away. "Can Jason and I have some time alone now?"

Elizabeth and Sonny both looked to Jason, silently asking if that was what he wanted. Jason nodded to them and spoke, "Yeah, I have something I need to tell Courtney."

Sonny put his hands up in mock surrender. He was smiling at his baby sister even though he had the feeling her whole world was going to explode in a minute. He walked out of the room to go talk with Michael.

Elizabeth also understood the hidden meaning of his sentence. "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

Once Elizabeth was out of sight up the stairs she turned around to hear what Jason had to say. She hoped Carly didn't come out of Michael's room, otherwise she wouldn't hear the end of it.

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"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you Jason but I am now so you don't have to worry about Elizabeth." Courtney told him.

Jason closed his eyes. He didn't want to hurt her. "Courtney, I need to tell you something."

Courtney leaned closer to Jason. "What's that?"

Jason looked her dead in the eyes, "I want Elizabeth to stay."

Courtney looked confused at that. "What do you mean Jason?"

"I want Elizabeth to help me, I want her to stay here so she'll be safe, I want to help her keep away from Ric." Jason explained, keeping his voice level.

Courtney's confused look didn't go away. "I don't get it Jason. I thought you hated her."

"I never hated her. In fact, I love her, Courtney." Jason said. The truth was out.

Courtney's face went from confused to angry in a second. "No, you love me. You told me so."

Jason shook his head. "I thought I did. I do care about you, Courtney, but I never loved you." He was hurting her and he knew it. Jason felt awful because of it but it needed to be said. He would rather hurt her than lie to her about his feelings anymore.

Courtney looked at him with anger in her eyes. "So what, you lied to me again and again? Is that it?"

Jason nodded. "I guess I was lying to a lot of people. Elizabeth most of all."

"So tell me Jason." Courtney said, sounding spiteful, "If I were the one who had found you, this wouldn't be happening right? Carly escapes from the panic room and comes across you. You're telling me you'd 'fall' in love with her?"

Jason closed his eyes; this was going to be harder than he thought. "I didn't fall in love with her. I realized I already was in love with her. And she realized it too. We were lying to ourselves."

Courtney shook her head. "And where does that leave me Jason?"

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Elizabeth was smiling. He said it. He loved her.

"And where does that leave me Jason?" Courtney's voice questioned.

Elizabeth heard Jason sigh. "Where ever you want to be. But it's not with me."

Courtney's voice rose a bit. "She is only going to hurt you Jason."

"It's going to hurt me to be away from her."

Elizabeth beamed from her hidden spot. If she had anything to do with it Jason would never hurt again and if being away from her hurt him, then she wasn't going anywhere.

"You don't know what you're saying." Courtney said, her voice going tight.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Apparently Courtney had no intention to get out of the conversation with any of her dignity intact.

"I do, finally." Jason responded, sounding completely sure of himself in a way that Elizabeth had missed before.

"If I leave now you can't come back to me." Courtney said. Her voice was probably meant to be threatening, but since she was using the oldest line in the book it was more comical than anything.

"I won't be."

"I won't wait for you like before Jason. I'll be with someone else." Courtney threatened.

Jason's voice got gentle, "I don't want you to wait. I want you to be as happy as I am now. If you wait for me you'll be waiting the rest of your life."

Elizabeth smiled. He wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

Courtney walked to the door; she could hear the door open. "This is it Jason."

"Goodbye."

Elizabeth heard the door slam. After a second she came down the stairs. "Was that Courtney?"

Jason looked at her. "Don't pretend. I knew you were there."

Elizabeth blushed a bit. She hadn't meant to be caught. "Sorry."

Jason smiled at her. A real smile, not one of the tiny ones he did normally. It was a big happy one, a rarity for him. She was trying to hold on to the image.

"I didn't get to say it to you."

Elizabeth looked at him slightly confused. "Say what?"

"I love you too."

Elizabeth smiled as big as his smile was. She sat down next to him on the couch. Jason leaned in next to her. And Elizabeth got what she had wanted for years. He kissed her.

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At the top of the stairs two other people were smiling. Sonny and Carly stood listening to their best friend declare his love for Elizabeth.

Man, those stairs are getting a lot of traffic these days. I hope you all liked the demise of Journey! Please review!