Well, I finished that stupid paper. it's probably crappy, but it was more than likely going to be crappy anyway, so this here story (which I'm having so much fun doing) doesn't really have anything to do with that. Plus I can work on it more, which makes me happy and I hope makes you, the readers, happy. Or at least I hope it doesn't drive you insane.

Story-

Outside Kelly's-

"Hey!" Dillon Quartermaine's happy call to his girlfriend was met with no response. He got up in her face, "Georgie?"

Georgie Jones looked up at the boy she had fallen in love with, even if there were many things that she didn't accept about his life, and the path that he chose. She was a firm believer in true love, and in the belief that it could maintain itself over anything. It was a good thing that Dillon wasn't what was troubling her. "Hi," She said with a soft smile.

Dillon knew that look well, "What's wrong?" He wondered as he sat down in the chair across from her.

"I'm worried."

"Not about me, I hope." Dillon said. While he knew his contacts with Lorenzo were not something that Georgie favored, he did try and curb his involvement with the crime lord when at all possible. He cared too much about Georgie to purposely worry her.

"It's Maxie, Dillon. She came to work and I could just tell that something was wrong with her. She tried to play it off that everything was fine, but I know my sister too well. I know when something is worrying her."

"You can't be doing this to yourself every time you think your sister has a problem," Dillon stated. While she was the younger sister, Georgie was without a doubt the more mature and nurturing of the two. She looked out for Maxie in the areas that truly mattered. Without Felicia there to give them motherly love and advice they had to rely on each other more often than not. "She needs to learn how to deal with her problems herself."

"I know, Dillon. I know." Georgie muttered sadly, "But it really isn't that simple. I can't turn off how I care about my sister like she's a movie. I can't fast-forward through all the bad parts and get to the happy ending. I don't even know if Maxie will ever have a happy ending," She added with a heavy heart.

Dillon gave up on trying to get his girlfriend to stop worrying about her sister. In truth he was actually quite fond of Maxie himself, and it did pain him to a degree when he saw how she made all the wrong choices. Especially when it came to being around Kyle. They had never gotten along, and they likely never would. Dillon, while being from a family with considerable wealth (more than Kyle's family, not that it was ever openly stated), was a modest kid. He didn't flaunt his status, or ask for extravagant gifts in order to showcase who he was. He was part of that very rare line of Quartermaine's that didn't adhere to the snobbish-elitism that the name bore. "What happened?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't have this big cloud of worry over my head, Dillon. She won't talk about it with me. Whatever happened to her, she's hurting."

"You think it was Kyle?" Dillon wondered. Even if he didn't hate that boy he would probably still think that Kyle was the problem in a large number of Maxie's woes.

"Do you have to ask?" She wondered in a sarcastic tone, at least beginning to lighten up somewhat.

"No, but it was the only thing I could come up with." He put his hand on hers, "Are you really worried about her?"

"More than usual; and it drives me crazy because I don't know why!" She almost yelled.

"You want to go back to the hospital and just make sure she's okay?"

Georgie thought about it for a moment, "That sounds so morbid."

Dillon laughed, "It's not like we're waiting around for people to die, Georgie. We're going to make sure your sister isn't having a breakdown. And if she is we're going to make sure that we're there for her."

Georgie smiled, "What did I ever do that got me a guy as great as you?"

"You kissed me the moment you saw me at Kelly's without even telling me who you were, remember?"

She kissed him again, "I could never forget."

The teen couple walked back to General Hospital hand in hand.

Inside Kelly's-

Damian walked down the stairs from the apartments that were above the diner. Elizabeth saw him coming down, "Any luck with the job hunt?"

"Nothing that I could see, just a few odd jobs that I didn't feel much like taking up. It was so much easier in L.A., everything was just there. Even if there wasn't a job in the city, which was pretty rare, the suburbs almost always had something to offer."

"You didn't tell me you were from a big city like Los Angeles." Damian gave a polite smile, "You didn't ask. But I was born and raised there."

"You must have had a really good reason for coming all the way over here," Elizabeth guessed.

Damian's mind flashed to both the letter from his mother and his first encounter with Sonny Corinthos. "Yes," He said, "A very good reason."

The door opened as Ric Lansing walked into Kelly's. He instantly saw Elizabeth and almost ran over. "Your shift nearly done?"

"Almost. Why?"

"I thought I'd take you out to dinner," Ric said confidently, "Someplace nice, let you be served the food for a chance."

"Ric, you don't need to-"

"I want to, Elizabeth." Ric quickly interrupted. "Please, it would make my day perfect." He looked into her beautiful eyes. He could get lost in them even when they were filled with nothing but hatred for him. She was the best thing that ever happened to him, he wouldn't be able to live without her being in his life. "Think about it for a minute, my pen exploded on the way over here and I need to wash the ink off my hands."

Elizabeth was silent as she stared into nothing. Damian noticed it, "Not that it's my place to ask, but."

"My ex-husband."

Damian cocked an eyebrow, "Your ex-husband?"

"I know, it sounds incredibly strange and complicated." She laughed to herself, "Mostly because it IS incredibly strange and complicated."

"I won't ask for anything further, but if you want to take the advice of some kid who's barely a few steps above a stranger. if you have to think about it you're more than likely thinking of reasons to not go than you are thinking of reasons to go."

"What are you, a psychologist?"

At that he chuckled, "No, but I did take it in school. I just read a lot of books. I like to read."

Elizabeth had to admit that he was right. She was contemplating lies that she could use to get Ric to back off, but it was more of her mind telling her to do it than her heart. Ric had done so much to her in the past, used her as a pawn in his twisted vendetta against Sonny, drugged her, lied to her more times than she would care to count. But he was also there for her when she was momentarily blinded, and he was trying to change. It was hard for him to admit that he was wrong, that he had been selfish. Yet he would do that for her, he would tell her that he didn't deserve the love that she gave him. Through this painful amount of self-pity and loathing he was becoming a better man. One that she wanted to spend time with. Ric came out of the bathroom and leaned against the counter, "Have you made up your mind? And please, I don't want you to feel that you were pressured in any way. But it would make me so happy if you would just spend the evening with me."

She looked at Damian, he gave her a quick wink that made her laugh and shake her head. "Okay, Ric, you win. Let's start with a walk. I don't think I could take being cooped up in another restaurant after spending so many hours working in one. The fresh air will do me some good."

"Whatever you want," Ric said as he and Elizabeth walked out.

She turned her head back and waved goodbye to Damian.

"Who was that kid?" Ric asked as he closed the door.

"One of Bobbie's new tenants. We've talked a few times, he seems really nice."

"Does he remind you of anyone?" Ric wondered.

She looked at him, "You know he does. I don't know why, but something about him feels so familiar." The two walked away.

Carly had Michael in hand. She had heard Ric's voice and stopped. She hoped that Michael didn't see him. He had seen her kidnapped at the hands of his own uncle, and knew from the beginning that Ric had her in that horrid room. No one believed him, and the memories haunted him until Carly returned home. She wasn't sure they still happened, but she wasn't going to take that chance.

"Mommy?"

She looked down at her son, "Yeah, baby?"

"Why did you stop?"

She made up a quick lie to spare her child, "Because you needed your shoe tied. I'd hate for you to run around and trip." She got on her knees and moved around Michael's lace, not really tying it but hoping that the boy would believe her.

"You think Grandma's really at Kelly's?" The boy asked.

Carly smiled as she rubbed her hand through Michael's hair, "I don't really know for sure. Even if she isn't we'll still have some ice cream and we'll make sure to catch her another time. That sound good?"

"I'll go see if she's in there!" Michael said, again seeming like he would never run out of energy.

He ran inside and began calling out for Bobbie, "Grandma?" He saw that she wasn't sitting at any of the tables, so he continued his search in the back, "Grandma?"

Carly walked in and looked for her child. She saw him come in, and knew he couldn't be far, but still, a mother's mind would worry about her child in even the most perfect of situations. She walked up to the person that was sitting at the counter, since he was the only one alone. "Excuse me, did you see a little boy running around here?"

Damian turned around and looked at Carly. She too was stricken by that odd feeling of resemblance that she couldn't pinpoint. "He ran in here looking for his grandma."

Michael came back. "Michael Corinthos, you know better than to run around like that!"

Michael was sad, "I don't see grandma anywhere."

"That's not the point, sweetie. If you get to where I can't find you I start to worry. Please don't do that again, okay?"

He hugged his mother, "I'm sorry, mommy. I didn't mean to scare you like that. I just thought she might be here."

"I know."

"Can we still have ice cream?" He asked, his eyes showing how much he was pleading.

Carly grinned, even though she was disappointed in her child, she couldn't help but melt when he gave her that look. "I promised you that I'd get you some ice cream, didn't I?" She turned to the young man, "Thank you for your help."

Damian smiled, the shock of hearing the boy's last name wiped from his face, "Yeah, no problem."

Corinthos Household-

The door opened as Jason Morgan, former right hand man of Sonny and acting honcho of his empire, walked in. He saw Sonny sitting on the couch. While Sonny claimed to be out of the business, and Jason truly believed that he was, he would still take any advice that Sonny gave him into consideration. His respect for his mentor, the only one who allowed him to be the person he felt most comfortable with after his personality altering accident, was one of the strongest things in his life. He'd walk across hot coals for Sonny and his family, because they were his family as well. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked as he shut the door behind him, away from prying ears.

"I had an interesting conversation with the widow today."

"Faith? About what?"

He turned his eyes up to Jason, "She wants it all, Jason. She wants control of my territory, and she swears that she'll do anything to get it."

"Sonny, Faith's always said that she wanted your territory. She wouldn't be Faith if she wasn't going around left and right talking big, making claims that she has no hope of ever going through with." Jason spoke low, not knowing that Michael was gone and not wanting to take the chance that the impressionable boy would hear something and get the ideas in his head.

"I don't know, Jason," Sonny responded, "Something about her makes me think that maybe, just maybe, she might have something up her sleeve."