Show: General Hospital
Title: Change is Godd: Chapter 5
Disclaimer: see Chapter 1
A/N: Thanks for all your wonderful comments. For all of you who love Em/Jas scenes, here is another....
*~*~*~*~*~*
Emily loosened her scarf from around her neck as Jason closed the door to his penthouse. After their divorce and Courtney's subsequent departure from Port Charles, all the furniture that she had chosen had been donated to charity. Gone were her silly rugs and throws and comforters and knickknacks. The room was almost as stark and impersonal as a hotel room. Even more so, considering Jason spent as little time there as possible – too many memories. The only things remaining were his beat-up leather Lay-Z boy and his pool table, which Johnny had resurrected from storage.
She shrugged off her coat and turned to her brother, who was watching her carefully.
"You ok?" he asked, his voice husky with concern. He didn't like to see her cry – ever. She'd been through so much pain already and she was such a good person, she didn't deserve any more. He felt like swimming out to Spoon Island and beating the Cassidine Prince to a pulp.
Emily smiled softly. He hadn't asked her in a patronizing tone – his voice had been filled with genuine concern. "I'll be fine," she replied softly. She strode over to the pool table, running her fingertips along the felt. "I'm sorry about having a major meltdown back there. What a way to welcome home my big brother, huh?" she asked, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"No, it's fine," he replied, shrugging it off and walking over to his sister. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked.
Emily paused, biting her lip as she considered whether or not she wanted to tell him what happened. As much as he loved her and respected her ability as an adult to make her own decisions, he *was* her older brother and she didn't want him angry with Nikolas who, even despite being such an idiot, was foremost in her mind. "No," she finally answered, shaking her head. "I'd rather not."
"Ok," he conceded defeat. Jason paused, his gaze looking deep into Emily's eyes. "Listen, if you wanna crash here instead of heading back to the Quartermaine Estate, the guest bedroom's yours, you know."
Emily smiled at her brother. Who ever had said Jason had no feeling or ability to pick up on what others felt didn't know what they were talking about. "Thanks, Jas."
*~*~*~*~*~*
From inside their room in Wyndemere, Nikolas Cassidine cursed himself and his ignorance. He never should have turned away from her after she'd poured her soul to him. She hadn't lied to him, hadn't sugar-coated the reality like so many had done for him all his life – she had been genuine, completely honest.
And he couldn't handle the truth.
He didn't want to handle the truth.
Maybe she was right, he was deluding himself thinking that he could right this colossal wrong Helena had committed. Everything couldn't be perfect.
Couldn't it?
The niggling voice was back.
The voice that had been drilled into him since the day he was born – he is a Cassidine Prince and he deserves *nothing* but perfection.
Why couldn't Emily see that?
*~*~*~*~*~*
If Elizabeth could see him now, she would know that something was wrong. He, Zander Smith, troublemaker extraordinaire, was cleaning his apartment from top to bottom. He had vacuumed the dark-blue carpet, dusted the blinds, wiped and bleached every counter-top and polished the few wooden tables they had. He had flipped his mattress, laundered all the sheets, organized his closet in terms of season then by colour then by dress-type – T-shirts, button-down, sweaters etc; he had then done the same for Elizabeth's. He only cleaned when he was angry or frustrated. And after the morning he'd had, he was experiencing plenty of both emotions.
Zander heaved a sigh of fatigue and paused in his latest enterprise – mopping the bathroom floor.
Why the hell did he let Emily affect him so? He should just have kept his mouth shut – told her 'You're welcome' when she thanked him for breakfast and be done with it. But no, he had to ask what she was doing there. And then, to make matters worse, the Cassidine Prince himself had answered the question.
But it didn't end there – he had to press the subject, only to have his heart ripped out yet again at her words.
Why the hell did he let one slip of a girl get so far under his skin and *stay* there?
The answer was so simple: he was just a glutton for punishment.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jason called Sonny at the warehouse to tell him he was taking the rest of the day off. Things had been going pretty slow and his friend hadn't pushed to find out why, but had promised to call him if anything important popped up.
Emily had crawled upstairs to the proffered bedroom and had conked out. For the second time, someone other than herself had to remove her boots and cover her while she settled into a deep necessary sleep.
From the doorway, Jason watched his little sister in her slumber. Even now, she was not totally relaxed, a slight frown between her brows indicating she was dreaming about something. If he stepped closer, he could see the salty tracks her tears had made on her cheeks and the spider legs from her smudged mascara.
Jason felt an insurgence of anger so swift and fiery that it surprised even him. Somehow, Nikolas Cassidine was responsible for this – for making Emily lose control of herself in public – had made her cry so bad it seemed she would drown in her tears.
He clenched his fists, barely able to keep from striding out the door and over to Wyndemere.
Just then, there was a knock on the door from downstairs and Max, the guard stationed outside, stuck his head in and called: "Jason, you have a visitor."
Jason frowned, not really in the mood for visitors, but curious nonetheless as to whom would be visiting him.
Turning away from the threshold of the bedroom, he closed the door quietly and headed downstairs. "Who is it?" he asked, striding into the living room.
Max caught his boss's eye, curious himself to see what his reaction would be. "It's Elizabeth Webber."
Jason paused, a part of him exhilarated that she was here. But, of course, his features displayed only disinterest and indifference. "Send her in." Jason watched, hands across his chest as Max swung open the door with a smile and indicated that she should enter.
Elizabeth accepted the invitation with a reluctant smile and a mannerly, "Thank you, Max," clutching her package to her chest even as Max closed the door behind her and she lifted her eyes to meet the intensity of Jason's blue-eyed gaze.
Almost struck dumb by the awareness of his masculine beauty, Elizabeth held out the package to him, the barrage of memories at being in his apartment again making her forget about the reason she was angry with him *now* and think about what had made her angry with him in the first place. She tried not to look at the picture window that looked out to the city, the site where they'd had the fight before he let her walk out of his life. "I brought you some lunch since I didn't think you'd want to leave to get it. It's not much – just sandwiches and some vegetable soup."
Jason kept his eyes on hers as he approached her. Stopping less than three feet away, he took the package from her proffered hand. "Thank you."
Try as she might, Liz couldn't help looking around. She was a little surprised to see how bare his apartment was, but her eyes fell on the beat up Lay-Z boy and his pool table with fondness. Mentally, she shook her head, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to the numerous pool games they'd played, the numerous small makeout sessions they'd had in the chair during the few hours he had carved out for her in the week or so she had stayed in his penthouse with Zander. She brought her thoughts back to the matter at hand, trying to grasp the fact that she was still angry about his assumptions about Zander. Unwinding her scarf from her neck and folding it in her hands she asked, "How is she?"
Still holding the package he replied, "She's fine. Sleeping upstairs."
Elizabeth nodded in satisfaction. "Did you two talk about what got her so upset?"
Jason shook his head. "No. Do you know?" he asked pointedly.
Elizabeth hesitated. "It's not my business to say…" she trailed off pointedly.
Jason nodded in understanding.
Before things could get more awkward, Liz fumbled for an excuse. "Listen, Jason, I better get going. Tell Em that I stopped by, will you?"
Before he could even reply, she turned her back on him and headed for the door.
"Elizabeth, wait!"
Reluctantly, she turned around to face him.
"I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday," he spoke quickly. Liz lifted a perfectly arched brow pointedly. "I had no right to just butt in your life like that and I'm sorry." Blue eyes met blue. He knew that he should probably shut up now, but some invisible force was doing all the talking. "I just worry about you, Elizabeth. I was looking out for you."
Her eyes widened at his admission, but she set her jaw and replied. "You're right, you don't have any right to butt into my life anymore, Jason Morgan. And, I don't need you to 'look' out for me – I'm a grown woman and I can look out for myself." She paused, before her blue eyes started to twinkle at him. "But, apology accepted nonetheless."
Jason could feel the rare beginnings of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth as Elizabeth smiled at him.
"See you later, Morgan," she said finally, wondering if he would remember the significance of her statement, before winding her scarf back around her neck and exiting the apartment, unable to keep the smile off her face and the hop from her step as she passed an all-too-knowing Max stationed in the hallway.
"See you later, Webber," Jason whispered in reply. Of course he had never forgotten.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The moment Elizabeth stepped through the door and saw the spotless apartment, she knew something was wrong and with her heart beating rapidly with trepidation she closed the door behind her and called out, "Zander?"
When her roommate didn't answer her, she ventured further into the apartment, following the blaring music emanating from his bedroom. "Zander!"
What she found gave her pause. Zander was stripped from head to toe, still clad in his low-slung pajama bottoms from this morning, but a sweat-logged grey T-shirt was carelessly thrown on the neatly made bed, and he was pounding the life out of heavy Everlast bag he'd hung from a hook in the ceiling. He showed no sign that he'd either seen or heard her and his head whipped around in surprise as Elizabeth crossed to the stereo and switched the angry rock music off.
Zander blatantly chose to ignore the curiosity in her eyes and instead, wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to catch his breath.
Elizabeth smiled, trying to break the tension. "Why do I have a feeling that whoever you beating the crap outta has a huge resemblance to Nikolas Cassidine?"
Zander smiled ruefully but all he said was: "Don't push it, Elizabeth. I don't wanna talk about it."
She knew she should follow his advice but she ignored it and pressed on. "Don't wanna talk about what, Zander? Did something happen today that shouldn't have?"
Zander looked at her incredulously.
"Well?" she prodded impatiently. "I want to know what the hell happened today that had Emily crying a river and you cleaning the house from top to bottom like you're Rosie the Robot."
Immediately, against his wish, Zander was concerned. "Emily was crying?"
Elizabeth was struck with the realization that indeed, Zander did still care for Emily, indeed might still love her. She paused and surveyed him practically chomping at the bit and was convinced. "You still love her, don't you?" she blurted before she could stop herself.
"Stop it."
"You don't even have to say anything, because now I know the answer."
"Can't you just leave it alone?"
Elizabeth's hands rose to her hips, "No, Zander Smith, I cannot just leave it alone."
"What do you want me to say, Elizabeth? What the hell is my admitting that I still love her going to do? Nothing! The fact of the matter is that Emily is with someone else. She *left* me for him. She's not coming back! And there's nothing that I *can* or *will* do to make it otherwise!" he sat at the foot of the bed and held his face in his hands in frustration.
Not able to just stand and see him hurt, Elizabeth crossed to him and put her arms around his head, clasping it to her rounded stomach and running her hands through the sweat-dampened strands of hair at the nape of his neck. Trying to keep hold of his emotions, Zander wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face to her belly, seeking comfort from his family.
Elizabeth couldn't help but think if Emily were there, she would make some wisecrack about her mothering instincts. But for now, she used them to give Zander comfort as well. He'd really been given the short end of the stick recently – first, the woman to whom he'd pledged his undying love and devotion had left him for his enemy, then his jealousy and distrust had thrust him into an alliance with Faith Roscoe sending him further into Sonny and Jason's bad books, not to mention the bad books of the PCPD, and to make matters worse, when he was set to pull off one of the greatest disappearing acts in Port Charles History, she bursts his bubble by telling him he was to be a father. Of course, her motives had been purely selfish. She'd had her Ric Blinders on, and was incapable of seeing past what he'd wanted for *them* to see that Zander was in desperate need of a saviour. She and their unborn child had been that saviour, but apparently their wings had not deposited him in a safe enough place and it seemed as if he were set for yet another Fall.
"I'm sorry, Zander," she apologized, hugging him tighter.
"Don't. The last thing I need from you, Webber, is pity."
"The last thing I feel for you right now is pity. I'm angry with myself for not recognizing it earlier. For constantly forcing you to somehow stomach her presence –"
"No… it's always a joy to be in Emily's presence," he reluctantly admitted mumbling against her stomach. "Even if she does hate me."
"She doesn't hate you, Zander."
"Well, if she didn't hate me yesterday, she certainly does today?" he replied.
Elizabeth's fingers under his chin forced him to look up. "What's that supposed to mean? What happened between you two after I left for work this morning?"
Reluctantly, Elizabeth listened as Zander gave a brief summary of his argument with Emily. "I was so angry and so pissed off that she could still make me feel this way; that she could still be so deep under my skin that I would even bother, 'cause she sure as hell doesn't seem to want to bother with me."
Elizabeth stepped away from him and joined him at the edge of the bed, slowly digesting all he'd just told her. "Emily had a fight with Nikolas," she said softly.
"I know. That's why she came over in the first place."
"No, another one," she clarified; not sure telling Zander was the wisest thing to do. "She came into Kelly's with Jason, crying buckets. She didn't tell me exactly what happened, but she thinks the engagement's off."
Despite the pain he knew it was causing Emily, he couldn't help but feel a soaring sense of jubilation. "That's too bad," he said sarcastically. "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked as an afterthought.
Liz shrugged. "I have no idea. Listen Zander, I love all three of you. I can't stand to see any of you unhappy. I can't tell you what to do with what I just told you, but please, don't go seeking either Nik or Em out if all you want to do is make things worse."
"Can't promise you anything," he answered, swallowing a knot of hurt in his throat. "I'm always the one who ends up messing up no matter how hard I try not to," he continued sadly before leaving Elizabeth alone in his room and heading for the shower.
TBC...
A/N: Don't forget to review!
Title: Change is Godd: Chapter 5
Disclaimer: see Chapter 1
A/N: Thanks for all your wonderful comments. For all of you who love Em/Jas scenes, here is another....
*~*~*~*~*~*
Emily loosened her scarf from around her neck as Jason closed the door to his penthouse. After their divorce and Courtney's subsequent departure from Port Charles, all the furniture that she had chosen had been donated to charity. Gone were her silly rugs and throws and comforters and knickknacks. The room was almost as stark and impersonal as a hotel room. Even more so, considering Jason spent as little time there as possible – too many memories. The only things remaining were his beat-up leather Lay-Z boy and his pool table, which Johnny had resurrected from storage.
She shrugged off her coat and turned to her brother, who was watching her carefully.
"You ok?" he asked, his voice husky with concern. He didn't like to see her cry – ever. She'd been through so much pain already and she was such a good person, she didn't deserve any more. He felt like swimming out to Spoon Island and beating the Cassidine Prince to a pulp.
Emily smiled softly. He hadn't asked her in a patronizing tone – his voice had been filled with genuine concern. "I'll be fine," she replied softly. She strode over to the pool table, running her fingertips along the felt. "I'm sorry about having a major meltdown back there. What a way to welcome home my big brother, huh?" she asked, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"No, it's fine," he replied, shrugging it off and walking over to his sister. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked.
Emily paused, biting her lip as she considered whether or not she wanted to tell him what happened. As much as he loved her and respected her ability as an adult to make her own decisions, he *was* her older brother and she didn't want him angry with Nikolas who, even despite being such an idiot, was foremost in her mind. "No," she finally answered, shaking her head. "I'd rather not."
"Ok," he conceded defeat. Jason paused, his gaze looking deep into Emily's eyes. "Listen, if you wanna crash here instead of heading back to the Quartermaine Estate, the guest bedroom's yours, you know."
Emily smiled at her brother. Who ever had said Jason had no feeling or ability to pick up on what others felt didn't know what they were talking about. "Thanks, Jas."
*~*~*~*~*~*
From inside their room in Wyndemere, Nikolas Cassidine cursed himself and his ignorance. He never should have turned away from her after she'd poured her soul to him. She hadn't lied to him, hadn't sugar-coated the reality like so many had done for him all his life – she had been genuine, completely honest.
And he couldn't handle the truth.
He didn't want to handle the truth.
Maybe she was right, he was deluding himself thinking that he could right this colossal wrong Helena had committed. Everything couldn't be perfect.
Couldn't it?
The niggling voice was back.
The voice that had been drilled into him since the day he was born – he is a Cassidine Prince and he deserves *nothing* but perfection.
Why couldn't Emily see that?
*~*~*~*~*~*
If Elizabeth could see him now, she would know that something was wrong. He, Zander Smith, troublemaker extraordinaire, was cleaning his apartment from top to bottom. He had vacuumed the dark-blue carpet, dusted the blinds, wiped and bleached every counter-top and polished the few wooden tables they had. He had flipped his mattress, laundered all the sheets, organized his closet in terms of season then by colour then by dress-type – T-shirts, button-down, sweaters etc; he had then done the same for Elizabeth's. He only cleaned when he was angry or frustrated. And after the morning he'd had, he was experiencing plenty of both emotions.
Zander heaved a sigh of fatigue and paused in his latest enterprise – mopping the bathroom floor.
Why the hell did he let Emily affect him so? He should just have kept his mouth shut – told her 'You're welcome' when she thanked him for breakfast and be done with it. But no, he had to ask what she was doing there. And then, to make matters worse, the Cassidine Prince himself had answered the question.
But it didn't end there – he had to press the subject, only to have his heart ripped out yet again at her words.
Why the hell did he let one slip of a girl get so far under his skin and *stay* there?
The answer was so simple: he was just a glutton for punishment.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Jason called Sonny at the warehouse to tell him he was taking the rest of the day off. Things had been going pretty slow and his friend hadn't pushed to find out why, but had promised to call him if anything important popped up.
Emily had crawled upstairs to the proffered bedroom and had conked out. For the second time, someone other than herself had to remove her boots and cover her while she settled into a deep necessary sleep.
From the doorway, Jason watched his little sister in her slumber. Even now, she was not totally relaxed, a slight frown between her brows indicating she was dreaming about something. If he stepped closer, he could see the salty tracks her tears had made on her cheeks and the spider legs from her smudged mascara.
Jason felt an insurgence of anger so swift and fiery that it surprised even him. Somehow, Nikolas Cassidine was responsible for this – for making Emily lose control of herself in public – had made her cry so bad it seemed she would drown in her tears.
He clenched his fists, barely able to keep from striding out the door and over to Wyndemere.
Just then, there was a knock on the door from downstairs and Max, the guard stationed outside, stuck his head in and called: "Jason, you have a visitor."
Jason frowned, not really in the mood for visitors, but curious nonetheless as to whom would be visiting him.
Turning away from the threshold of the bedroom, he closed the door quietly and headed downstairs. "Who is it?" he asked, striding into the living room.
Max caught his boss's eye, curious himself to see what his reaction would be. "It's Elizabeth Webber."
Jason paused, a part of him exhilarated that she was here. But, of course, his features displayed only disinterest and indifference. "Send her in." Jason watched, hands across his chest as Max swung open the door with a smile and indicated that she should enter.
Elizabeth accepted the invitation with a reluctant smile and a mannerly, "Thank you, Max," clutching her package to her chest even as Max closed the door behind her and she lifted her eyes to meet the intensity of Jason's blue-eyed gaze.
Almost struck dumb by the awareness of his masculine beauty, Elizabeth held out the package to him, the barrage of memories at being in his apartment again making her forget about the reason she was angry with him *now* and think about what had made her angry with him in the first place. She tried not to look at the picture window that looked out to the city, the site where they'd had the fight before he let her walk out of his life. "I brought you some lunch since I didn't think you'd want to leave to get it. It's not much – just sandwiches and some vegetable soup."
Jason kept his eyes on hers as he approached her. Stopping less than three feet away, he took the package from her proffered hand. "Thank you."
Try as she might, Liz couldn't help looking around. She was a little surprised to see how bare his apartment was, but her eyes fell on the beat up Lay-Z boy and his pool table with fondness. Mentally, she shook her head, trying to keep her thoughts from straying to the numerous pool games they'd played, the numerous small makeout sessions they'd had in the chair during the few hours he had carved out for her in the week or so she had stayed in his penthouse with Zander. She brought her thoughts back to the matter at hand, trying to grasp the fact that she was still angry about his assumptions about Zander. Unwinding her scarf from her neck and folding it in her hands she asked, "How is she?"
Still holding the package he replied, "She's fine. Sleeping upstairs."
Elizabeth nodded in satisfaction. "Did you two talk about what got her so upset?"
Jason shook his head. "No. Do you know?" he asked pointedly.
Elizabeth hesitated. "It's not my business to say…" she trailed off pointedly.
Jason nodded in understanding.
Before things could get more awkward, Liz fumbled for an excuse. "Listen, Jason, I better get going. Tell Em that I stopped by, will you?"
Before he could even reply, she turned her back on him and headed for the door.
"Elizabeth, wait!"
Reluctantly, she turned around to face him.
"I want to apologise for my behaviour yesterday," he spoke quickly. Liz lifted a perfectly arched brow pointedly. "I had no right to just butt in your life like that and I'm sorry." Blue eyes met blue. He knew that he should probably shut up now, but some invisible force was doing all the talking. "I just worry about you, Elizabeth. I was looking out for you."
Her eyes widened at his admission, but she set her jaw and replied. "You're right, you don't have any right to butt into my life anymore, Jason Morgan. And, I don't need you to 'look' out for me – I'm a grown woman and I can look out for myself." She paused, before her blue eyes started to twinkle at him. "But, apology accepted nonetheless."
Jason could feel the rare beginnings of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth as Elizabeth smiled at him.
"See you later, Morgan," she said finally, wondering if he would remember the significance of her statement, before winding her scarf back around her neck and exiting the apartment, unable to keep the smile off her face and the hop from her step as she passed an all-too-knowing Max stationed in the hallway.
"See you later, Webber," Jason whispered in reply. Of course he had never forgotten.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The moment Elizabeth stepped through the door and saw the spotless apartment, she knew something was wrong and with her heart beating rapidly with trepidation she closed the door behind her and called out, "Zander?"
When her roommate didn't answer her, she ventured further into the apartment, following the blaring music emanating from his bedroom. "Zander!"
What she found gave her pause. Zander was stripped from head to toe, still clad in his low-slung pajama bottoms from this morning, but a sweat-logged grey T-shirt was carelessly thrown on the neatly made bed, and he was pounding the life out of heavy Everlast bag he'd hung from a hook in the ceiling. He showed no sign that he'd either seen or heard her and his head whipped around in surprise as Elizabeth crossed to the stereo and switched the angry rock music off.
Zander blatantly chose to ignore the curiosity in her eyes and instead, wiped the sweat from his brow and tried to catch his breath.
Elizabeth smiled, trying to break the tension. "Why do I have a feeling that whoever you beating the crap outta has a huge resemblance to Nikolas Cassidine?"
Zander smiled ruefully but all he said was: "Don't push it, Elizabeth. I don't wanna talk about it."
She knew she should follow his advice but she ignored it and pressed on. "Don't wanna talk about what, Zander? Did something happen today that shouldn't have?"
Zander looked at her incredulously.
"Well?" she prodded impatiently. "I want to know what the hell happened today that had Emily crying a river and you cleaning the house from top to bottom like you're Rosie the Robot."
Immediately, against his wish, Zander was concerned. "Emily was crying?"
Elizabeth was struck with the realization that indeed, Zander did still care for Emily, indeed might still love her. She paused and surveyed him practically chomping at the bit and was convinced. "You still love her, don't you?" she blurted before she could stop herself.
"Stop it."
"You don't even have to say anything, because now I know the answer."
"Can't you just leave it alone?"
Elizabeth's hands rose to her hips, "No, Zander Smith, I cannot just leave it alone."
"What do you want me to say, Elizabeth? What the hell is my admitting that I still love her going to do? Nothing! The fact of the matter is that Emily is with someone else. She *left* me for him. She's not coming back! And there's nothing that I *can* or *will* do to make it otherwise!" he sat at the foot of the bed and held his face in his hands in frustration.
Not able to just stand and see him hurt, Elizabeth crossed to him and put her arms around his head, clasping it to her rounded stomach and running her hands through the sweat-dampened strands of hair at the nape of his neck. Trying to keep hold of his emotions, Zander wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his face to her belly, seeking comfort from his family.
Elizabeth couldn't help but think if Emily were there, she would make some wisecrack about her mothering instincts. But for now, she used them to give Zander comfort as well. He'd really been given the short end of the stick recently – first, the woman to whom he'd pledged his undying love and devotion had left him for his enemy, then his jealousy and distrust had thrust him into an alliance with Faith Roscoe sending him further into Sonny and Jason's bad books, not to mention the bad books of the PCPD, and to make matters worse, when he was set to pull off one of the greatest disappearing acts in Port Charles History, she bursts his bubble by telling him he was to be a father. Of course, her motives had been purely selfish. She'd had her Ric Blinders on, and was incapable of seeing past what he'd wanted for *them* to see that Zander was in desperate need of a saviour. She and their unborn child had been that saviour, but apparently their wings had not deposited him in a safe enough place and it seemed as if he were set for yet another Fall.
"I'm sorry, Zander," she apologized, hugging him tighter.
"Don't. The last thing I need from you, Webber, is pity."
"The last thing I feel for you right now is pity. I'm angry with myself for not recognizing it earlier. For constantly forcing you to somehow stomach her presence –"
"No… it's always a joy to be in Emily's presence," he reluctantly admitted mumbling against her stomach. "Even if she does hate me."
"She doesn't hate you, Zander."
"Well, if she didn't hate me yesterday, she certainly does today?" he replied.
Elizabeth's fingers under his chin forced him to look up. "What's that supposed to mean? What happened between you two after I left for work this morning?"
Reluctantly, Elizabeth listened as Zander gave a brief summary of his argument with Emily. "I was so angry and so pissed off that she could still make me feel this way; that she could still be so deep under my skin that I would even bother, 'cause she sure as hell doesn't seem to want to bother with me."
Elizabeth stepped away from him and joined him at the edge of the bed, slowly digesting all he'd just told her. "Emily had a fight with Nikolas," she said softly.
"I know. That's why she came over in the first place."
"No, another one," she clarified; not sure telling Zander was the wisest thing to do. "She came into Kelly's with Jason, crying buckets. She didn't tell me exactly what happened, but she thinks the engagement's off."
Despite the pain he knew it was causing Emily, he couldn't help but feel a soaring sense of jubilation. "That's too bad," he said sarcastically. "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked as an afterthought.
Liz shrugged. "I have no idea. Listen Zander, I love all three of you. I can't stand to see any of you unhappy. I can't tell you what to do with what I just told you, but please, don't go seeking either Nik or Em out if all you want to do is make things worse."
"Can't promise you anything," he answered, swallowing a knot of hurt in his throat. "I'm always the one who ends up messing up no matter how hard I try not to," he continued sadly before leaving Elizabeth alone in his room and heading for the shower.
TBC...
A/N: Don't forget to review!