Show: General Hospital
Title: Change is Good: Chapter 9
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: I hope you enjoy.
*~*~*~*~*~*
A beatific smile graced Elizabeth's face as Jason's words washed over her. Jason found his hand lifting to her wind-chilled cheeks to stroke their rosy softness. "How do you do that?" she mused softly, unable to tear her eyes away from his.
"Do what?" he asked softly.
Her cobalt eyes darkened and she looked away briefly before meeting his gaze once more. "After more than a year of fighting and hating… we're right back where we started."
"And where's that?"
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. "At the point where we start dancing around the issue of what's between us."
"You think?"
Confusion furrowed her brow. "Don't you?" she asked.
Jason shrugged. "What do you think is between us, Elizabeth?"
Liz took her time answering the question. "Something that never got a chance to flourish," she answered truthfully.
"And now?" he asked softly.
"Now…. I dunno, Jason…. I get this fluttery feeling every time I know you're around…. I know I should be angry with you, but that all seems to disappear when I look into your eyes…. Now… I'm just waiting for something bad to happen."
Jason frowned.
Elizabeth hurried on. "Something bad always happens right when things are getting good between us. First it was Sonny and you letting me walk away, then there was Courtney and the catastrophe that was my marriage to Ric…" she trailed off. "Catch my drift?"
"Never took you for the superstitious type, Webber," Jason teased mildly.
"Superstitious… never; just forward-thinking."
Jason gifted her with one of his rare half-smiles. "So what does this mean, Elizabeth?" he asked, taken her mittened hand in his leather-enclosed one.
"Maybe this isn't such a great idea you and I –"
Jason pressed a finger to her lips, effectively cutting her off. "Don't try to analyse this, Elizabeth; our friendship never made sense – it just worked. You're right, some obstacle has always been in our way and we've been through so much in past year," he continued, thinking about their failed marriages, his exodus from Port Charles, her pregnancy, "but think of this as a second chance… a chance to start over. We'll take things slow; I won't push you, I promise."
The sparkle returned to her cobalt-blue eyes. She caught his hand and started them on their way. "Define 'slow', Morgan," she invited. "It's such a relative term. Besides, if this 'thing' we have between us moved any slower, I would recommend that we water it twice a day."
Jason grinned.
Some things never changed….
*~*~*~*~*~*
Call her psychic but, somehow, Emily knew it was Nikolas when she opened the door. In the two days she hadn't seen him his face had become paler and drawn, grooves lined the side of his mouth and he looked exhausted. Wordlessly, she stepped aside and let him in, closing the door quietly behind her.
Nikolas had not been in this apartment after Alexis had moved out. The decidedly sparse masculine décor didn't surprise him – Jason was above all a minimalist - and he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. He turned to face Emily, who had wrapped her arms around herself, indicating she was in self-protection mode.
For a while neither said a word until Emily bit the bullet and spoke first. "I assume since you put yourself through the bother that you have something to say," she said, proud of her fact that her voice was unwavering.
"I'm sorry," was all he managed.
Emily grit her teeth and nodded. "I suppose that's a start," she said shortly.
Nikolas's jaw clenched. "I don't know what else to say, Emily."
Emily could feel her frustration building already and they had been at it for less than two minutes. "Do you even have any idea what you're sorry for, Nikolas?"
"Of course -!" he paused and tried to control his temper. "Of course, I do, Emily," he continued in a much more sedate tone.
"Enlighten me," she invited.
His mouth opened and closed on many occasion but try as he might, the words would not form. He took one look into the sinking disappointment in her brown eyes to know he was on his way to losing this battle with the woman he loved. "Talk to me, Emily," he finally pleaded.
Emily could feel imminent tears pricking at the back of her eyes, burning her nose, but she held them in check. "What's the point, Nikolas?" Her arms tightened around her body, telegraphing her anxiety.
"Us, Emily. *We* are the point."
For the second time that day, she asked: "Why'd you come here?"
"To fix this," he automatically replied.
Wrong answer.
Emily caught her bottom lip between her teeth. "That's the thing, Nikolas. There's nothing to fix."
"How can you say this? You give me this whole speech about how I don't listen to you, that I've *never* listened to you… well, I'm here *now* Emily. I'm here and I'm *begging* you to help me fix this."
Unbidden, the tears started to stream down her face and it took all of Nikolas not to drag her close and try to dash those tears away.
Emily wiped them away herself. "I bet you wish we never had that conversation, don't you."
He didn't even have to answer – she already knew what he thought.
"But you see, if we hadn't, I wouldn't have been forced to think – *we* wouldn't have been forced to think. I would've still been wrapped in this bubble in this idealistic world I'd imagined and you would still be holding out on this dream that a solution to your problems would just drop into your lap…."
"That's not true –"
"Yes it is, Nikolas," she didn't even have to raise her voice.
"There're so many issues lying between us, I don't even remember what we were arguing about. But the universal feeling is, I don't like where I am now, Nikolas and I know you don't like where you are, either."
"What does this mean?" he asked, disgusted by the desperation he could hear in the edges of his voice.
For indeterminable seconds Emily stared at the enormous diamond winking on her left ring finger. Time seemed to slow down as she slowly slid the ring off her finger and held it out to him. "I want to like myself again, Nikolas…. I can't do it if I'm with you."
Nikolas didn't say a word. A barrage of emotions was flitting across his face. He couldn't speak, the pain of her words weighing heavily on his heart. Somehow, he made it out of the apartment, but just managed not to hurl the ring in his fist as far away from him as humanly possible.
**Crap!** he thought suddenly.
He forgot to tell her about the divorce.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was too early to be drinking, and he needed to be sober to get others drunk that night anyway, but Zander was suddenly craving something a helluva lot more potent than the light beer in the fridge when the telephone rang.
Before the machine could cut in, he lifted it from the cradle. "Hello?"
The person on the line took a deep breath before they began: "This afternoon, you told me to choose…."
Upon recognizing the voice, Zander's chest tightened, expecting the worst.
"I just wanted you to know I chose *myself*."
Zander's eyes widened as her words registered. A soft understanding smile graced his face.
Emily obviously couldn't see his smile, but somehow she knew it was there and couldn't help smile even as the phone registered an electronic click as Zander replaced it on the cradle.
She was starting to like herself better already.
TBC...
A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Drop me a line.
Title: Change is Good: Chapter 9
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: I hope you enjoy.
*~*~*~*~*~*
A beatific smile graced Elizabeth's face as Jason's words washed over her. Jason found his hand lifting to her wind-chilled cheeks to stroke their rosy softness. "How do you do that?" she mused softly, unable to tear her eyes away from his.
"Do what?" he asked softly.
Her cobalt eyes darkened and she looked away briefly before meeting his gaze once more. "After more than a year of fighting and hating… we're right back where we started."
"And where's that?"
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. "At the point where we start dancing around the issue of what's between us."
"You think?"
Confusion furrowed her brow. "Don't you?" she asked.
Jason shrugged. "What do you think is between us, Elizabeth?"
Liz took her time answering the question. "Something that never got a chance to flourish," she answered truthfully.
"And now?" he asked softly.
"Now…. I dunno, Jason…. I get this fluttery feeling every time I know you're around…. I know I should be angry with you, but that all seems to disappear when I look into your eyes…. Now… I'm just waiting for something bad to happen."
Jason frowned.
Elizabeth hurried on. "Something bad always happens right when things are getting good between us. First it was Sonny and you letting me walk away, then there was Courtney and the catastrophe that was my marriage to Ric…" she trailed off. "Catch my drift?"
"Never took you for the superstitious type, Webber," Jason teased mildly.
"Superstitious… never; just forward-thinking."
Jason gifted her with one of his rare half-smiles. "So what does this mean, Elizabeth?" he asked, taken her mittened hand in his leather-enclosed one.
"Maybe this isn't such a great idea you and I –"
Jason pressed a finger to her lips, effectively cutting her off. "Don't try to analyse this, Elizabeth; our friendship never made sense – it just worked. You're right, some obstacle has always been in our way and we've been through so much in past year," he continued, thinking about their failed marriages, his exodus from Port Charles, her pregnancy, "but think of this as a second chance… a chance to start over. We'll take things slow; I won't push you, I promise."
The sparkle returned to her cobalt-blue eyes. She caught his hand and started them on their way. "Define 'slow', Morgan," she invited. "It's such a relative term. Besides, if this 'thing' we have between us moved any slower, I would recommend that we water it twice a day."
Jason grinned.
Some things never changed….
*~*~*~*~*~*
Call her psychic but, somehow, Emily knew it was Nikolas when she opened the door. In the two days she hadn't seen him his face had become paler and drawn, grooves lined the side of his mouth and he looked exhausted. Wordlessly, she stepped aside and let him in, closing the door quietly behind her.
Nikolas had not been in this apartment after Alexis had moved out. The decidedly sparse masculine décor didn't surprise him – Jason was above all a minimalist - and he couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. He turned to face Emily, who had wrapped her arms around herself, indicating she was in self-protection mode.
For a while neither said a word until Emily bit the bullet and spoke first. "I assume since you put yourself through the bother that you have something to say," she said, proud of her fact that her voice was unwavering.
"I'm sorry," was all he managed.
Emily grit her teeth and nodded. "I suppose that's a start," she said shortly.
Nikolas's jaw clenched. "I don't know what else to say, Emily."
Emily could feel her frustration building already and they had been at it for less than two minutes. "Do you even have any idea what you're sorry for, Nikolas?"
"Of course -!" he paused and tried to control his temper. "Of course, I do, Emily," he continued in a much more sedate tone.
"Enlighten me," she invited.
His mouth opened and closed on many occasion but try as he might, the words would not form. He took one look into the sinking disappointment in her brown eyes to know he was on his way to losing this battle with the woman he loved. "Talk to me, Emily," he finally pleaded.
Emily could feel imminent tears pricking at the back of her eyes, burning her nose, but she held them in check. "What's the point, Nikolas?" Her arms tightened around her body, telegraphing her anxiety.
"Us, Emily. *We* are the point."
For the second time that day, she asked: "Why'd you come here?"
"To fix this," he automatically replied.
Wrong answer.
Emily caught her bottom lip between her teeth. "That's the thing, Nikolas. There's nothing to fix."
"How can you say this? You give me this whole speech about how I don't listen to you, that I've *never* listened to you… well, I'm here *now* Emily. I'm here and I'm *begging* you to help me fix this."
Unbidden, the tears started to stream down her face and it took all of Nikolas not to drag her close and try to dash those tears away.
Emily wiped them away herself. "I bet you wish we never had that conversation, don't you."
He didn't even have to answer – she already knew what he thought.
"But you see, if we hadn't, I wouldn't have been forced to think – *we* wouldn't have been forced to think. I would've still been wrapped in this bubble in this idealistic world I'd imagined and you would still be holding out on this dream that a solution to your problems would just drop into your lap…."
"That's not true –"
"Yes it is, Nikolas," she didn't even have to raise her voice.
"There're so many issues lying between us, I don't even remember what we were arguing about. But the universal feeling is, I don't like where I am now, Nikolas and I know you don't like where you are, either."
"What does this mean?" he asked, disgusted by the desperation he could hear in the edges of his voice.
For indeterminable seconds Emily stared at the enormous diamond winking on her left ring finger. Time seemed to slow down as she slowly slid the ring off her finger and held it out to him. "I want to like myself again, Nikolas…. I can't do it if I'm with you."
Nikolas didn't say a word. A barrage of emotions was flitting across his face. He couldn't speak, the pain of her words weighing heavily on his heart. Somehow, he made it out of the apartment, but just managed not to hurl the ring in his fist as far away from him as humanly possible.
**Crap!** he thought suddenly.
He forgot to tell her about the divorce.
*~*~*~*~*~*
It was too early to be drinking, and he needed to be sober to get others drunk that night anyway, but Zander was suddenly craving something a helluva lot more potent than the light beer in the fridge when the telephone rang.
Before the machine could cut in, he lifted it from the cradle. "Hello?"
The person on the line took a deep breath before they began: "This afternoon, you told me to choose…."
Upon recognizing the voice, Zander's chest tightened, expecting the worst.
"I just wanted you to know I chose *myself*."
Zander's eyes widened as her words registered. A soft understanding smile graced his face.
Emily obviously couldn't see his smile, but somehow she knew it was there and couldn't help smile even as the phone registered an electronic click as Zander replaced it on the cradle.
She was starting to like herself better already.
TBC...
A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Drop me a line.