Second Changes: The Ride
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth heard Jason before she ever saw him. The howl his motorcycle made as it wound its way through the streets of Port Charles was unmistakable. As he took the sharp curve she saw him lean deeply into it. Elizabeth immediately felt exhilarated. It would be only moments before she'd be perched behind him with her arms tightly encircling his waist.
She had debated on calling him. Carly's words from days before still haunted her. Elizabeth toyed with the idea that the two of them were just clinging to one another as a way to remain close to Emily. Yet there was a niggling in the back of her mind saying that that wasn't the case at all. The feelings she had for Jason were as strong as they ever were. She had tried on numerous occasions to replace what she felt for Jason with others but there was still of sense of emptiness in her heart. It was a void only he could seem to fill.
For a while she had deluded herself into believing that Ric had done just that, filled the nothingness left in her heart the day she walked out of Jason's penthouse and he made no move to stop her. She jumped headfirst into things with Ric without even seeing what was right in front of her. That was her biggest regret, but for once she had wanted Jason to fight for them as hard as she had always done. When he didn't Elizabeth just didn't see the point, until now.
"Hey." He smiled at her.
"Take me for a ride."
"Hop on."
Jason handed her his helmet and easily she slipped into her position behind him. It felt familiar. It felt comfortable. It felt right.
"You ready?" he asked. She only nodded as he revved up the engine and took off screaming into the wind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sensation of Elizabeth's arms firmly wrapped around him made Jason smile. The first smile that passed his lips in he couldn't remember how long. If he really thought hard about it, smiles - genuine smiles - only came when he was with her. His life with Sonny and Carly was always filled with one crisis after another. That left very little time for pleasure. Yes, Carly and Sonny's life had pleasure but somehow that meant that he was the one picking up after them all the time.
Jason knew what his job for Sonny was. He had taken it on willingly and it was now the only life he knew, but something inside of him understood there had to be more for him. The chasm created by Elizabeth's walking out of his life had been heighten by Emily's death and he didn't want to lose another person that he loved if he could help it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth noticed that he picked up speed as she secured her grasp on him more firmly. She smiled. He hadn't forgotten how much she loved to go fast. How the wind rushing passed them both made it difficult, if not impossible to think, to concentrate on anything but the deafening sound.
She had so many regrets when it came to Jason. The dance that they did around one another for so long, they had wasted so much time. Emily's death and the shattered look in Zander's eyes this afternoon for what he lost proved to Elizabeth that time wasn't a given and that a person shouldn't waste a millisecond if it. That's what prompted her to phone Jason. As she listened to Zander at Kelly's, she knew that it was time for her to take that leap of faith she hadn't been able to before with Jason. She couldn't face the regrets if she didn't.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason slowed the pace a bit suddenly not wanting the ride - the feeling that pulsed through his body to end too soon. He could have rode on forever if that meant that Elizabeth would be at his back always.
He slowed even further bringing his motorcycle to a stop at the stone bridge - their bridge. He rested both feet on the ground to steady the bike. He was taking a big chance bringing her there but it had felt right to him. Evening was just about to die into night and sharing a sunset with her was what he had wanted to do.
Elizabeth removed her helmet but she knew where they were before ever doing so. She could just feel it. She had gone there so many times during the periods when Jason had left Port Charles for one reason or another. She did it to feel closer to him.
"It's beautiful." She said as she leaned her arms against the stone railing. The sun had just begun its decent into the horizon eliciting golden hues tipped in purple and crimson. Her eyes traveled over the colors as she imagined capturing the scene before her on canvas. It would be like her painting of the wind. It would another experience that she seemed to only be able to share with Jason.
"It is." He said, as he faced her never even looking at the sunset.
"Thanks for the ride. It was exactly what I needed."
"For me too." He concurred.
Jason joined her in leaning against the cool gray stone. A comfortable silence fell between them. At the moment there was no need for words. They both stared straight ahead as the sun slowly went to sleep for the evening.
"Do you miss her?" Elizabeth was the first to speak.
"Emily?"
"Uh-huh."
"Yes."
"I still can't believe that I'll never see her again." Elizabeth rested her chin in the palm of her hands. "It's so unfair. Finally when she was just getting her life back it was taken from her, and Zander." She added. "It just doesn't seem right."
"Maybe there is no right or wrong. It just is what it is."
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh as she turned to face him. "Jason Morgan, Mr. Simplistic." Jason gave her a quizzical glance. "You just have a way of making everything seem so simple," she continued, "where I on the other hand complicate everything."
"That's just who you are Elizabeth."
"Great." She frowned casting her face downward feeling forever destined to repeat her mistakes.
"Look at me." He requested and when she didn't immediately comply he placed his hand under her chin and brought her cobalt blue eyes to meet his own. Even that faintest touch sent shivers through both of their bodies. "I like who you are Elizabeth Webber. I like to watch your eyes light up when we've just finished a ride. I like how you bite your lower lip when you are thinking or how you sing when you paint when you think no one is watching." Jason knew he was rambling - something he never did but he couldn't stop himself.
"I do not sing!" she protested with a laugh.
"Yes you do and off key I might add." Jason laughed too.
Elizabeth reached out and playfully punched him in the arm. The memory of the day they had come there and he had her showing him her fighting skills jumped out at her. She smiled inwardly at that thought. Where had times like that gone she thought and could they get them back?
She rubbed her hands against her shoulders. The fall night air was crisp. Without asking Jason removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "You want to go back?"
"No yet," she replied. Elizabeth wasn't quite ready to relinquish this private time with him. She wanted to get lost in the memories of days gone by. She wanted to capture this one as well just in case there were no others to come. "Hey look," she said pointing up toward the sky. "A shooting star. Make a wish Jason."
"I don't make wishes. You make one."
"Okay." Elizabeth closed her eyes and wished for a second change with her soul mate. What she didn't know was while she had her eyes closed Jason did as well making the very same wish.
"We better head back. It's getting pretty cold."
"Here." She removed his jacket and handed it back to him.
"You keep it." Elizabeth did as he said and hugged the supple black leather closer to her body. She drank in his scent - a mixture of clean and musk at the same time. That was a smell she hadn't expected to experience again but was so elated to be doing so.
"Thanks."
Elizabeth climbed behind him as he started the engine. She was looking forward to the ride back into town. She felt more contented at that very minute than she had in months. It astounded her how Jason had the ability to center her without even realizing he was doing anything at all. She hoped that he took the long way back since she wasn't ready for this sensation to end.
Jason guided his bike to a stop at the curb in front of Elizabeth's building.
"Thanks again for the ride."
"Anytime, you know that." He looked at her with flushed pink cheeks and that twinkle in her eye that came after every one of their rides and he so badly wanted to lean in and kiss her.
"You want to come up for some hot chocolate.or coffee?" She corrected knowing that hot chocolate was her drink of choice not his.
Jason hesitated for only a second. "Yeah that'd be good." He too wasn't ready for their time together to end.
"Okay then let's go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric watched from his roost across the street as Jason and Elizabeth made their way inside of her building. He saw them laughing. He saw her smiling at him. He saw her loving him.
"Damn you Morgan! Damn you!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth heard Jason before she ever saw him. The howl his motorcycle made as it wound its way through the streets of Port Charles was unmistakable. As he took the sharp curve she saw him lean deeply into it. Elizabeth immediately felt exhilarated. It would be only moments before she'd be perched behind him with her arms tightly encircling his waist.
She had debated on calling him. Carly's words from days before still haunted her. Elizabeth toyed with the idea that the two of them were just clinging to one another as a way to remain close to Emily. Yet there was a niggling in the back of her mind saying that that wasn't the case at all. The feelings she had for Jason were as strong as they ever were. She had tried on numerous occasions to replace what she felt for Jason with others but there was still of sense of emptiness in her heart. It was a void only he could seem to fill.
For a while she had deluded herself into believing that Ric had done just that, filled the nothingness left in her heart the day she walked out of Jason's penthouse and he made no move to stop her. She jumped headfirst into things with Ric without even seeing what was right in front of her. That was her biggest regret, but for once she had wanted Jason to fight for them as hard as she had always done. When he didn't Elizabeth just didn't see the point, until now.
"Hey." He smiled at her.
"Take me for a ride."
"Hop on."
Jason handed her his helmet and easily she slipped into her position behind him. It felt familiar. It felt comfortable. It felt right.
"You ready?" he asked. She only nodded as he revved up the engine and took off screaming into the wind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sensation of Elizabeth's arms firmly wrapped around him made Jason smile. The first smile that passed his lips in he couldn't remember how long. If he really thought hard about it, smiles - genuine smiles - only came when he was with her. His life with Sonny and Carly was always filled with one crisis after another. That left very little time for pleasure. Yes, Carly and Sonny's life had pleasure but somehow that meant that he was the one picking up after them all the time.
Jason knew what his job for Sonny was. He had taken it on willingly and it was now the only life he knew, but something inside of him understood there had to be more for him. The chasm created by Elizabeth's walking out of his life had been heighten by Emily's death and he didn't want to lose another person that he loved if he could help it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elizabeth noticed that he picked up speed as she secured her grasp on him more firmly. She smiled. He hadn't forgotten how much she loved to go fast. How the wind rushing passed them both made it difficult, if not impossible to think, to concentrate on anything but the deafening sound.
She had so many regrets when it came to Jason. The dance that they did around one another for so long, they had wasted so much time. Emily's death and the shattered look in Zander's eyes this afternoon for what he lost proved to Elizabeth that time wasn't a given and that a person shouldn't waste a millisecond if it. That's what prompted her to phone Jason. As she listened to Zander at Kelly's, she knew that it was time for her to take that leap of faith she hadn't been able to before with Jason. She couldn't face the regrets if she didn't.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jason slowed the pace a bit suddenly not wanting the ride - the feeling that pulsed through his body to end too soon. He could have rode on forever if that meant that Elizabeth would be at his back always.
He slowed even further bringing his motorcycle to a stop at the stone bridge - their bridge. He rested both feet on the ground to steady the bike. He was taking a big chance bringing her there but it had felt right to him. Evening was just about to die into night and sharing a sunset with her was what he had wanted to do.
Elizabeth removed her helmet but she knew where they were before ever doing so. She could just feel it. She had gone there so many times during the periods when Jason had left Port Charles for one reason or another. She did it to feel closer to him.
"It's beautiful." She said as she leaned her arms against the stone railing. The sun had just begun its decent into the horizon eliciting golden hues tipped in purple and crimson. Her eyes traveled over the colors as she imagined capturing the scene before her on canvas. It would be like her painting of the wind. It would another experience that she seemed to only be able to share with Jason.
"It is." He said, as he faced her never even looking at the sunset.
"Thanks for the ride. It was exactly what I needed."
"For me too." He concurred.
Jason joined her in leaning against the cool gray stone. A comfortable silence fell between them. At the moment there was no need for words. They both stared straight ahead as the sun slowly went to sleep for the evening.
"Do you miss her?" Elizabeth was the first to speak.
"Emily?"
"Uh-huh."
"Yes."
"I still can't believe that I'll never see her again." Elizabeth rested her chin in the palm of her hands. "It's so unfair. Finally when she was just getting her life back it was taken from her, and Zander." She added. "It just doesn't seem right."
"Maybe there is no right or wrong. It just is what it is."
Elizabeth let out a heavy sigh as she turned to face him. "Jason Morgan, Mr. Simplistic." Jason gave her a quizzical glance. "You just have a way of making everything seem so simple," she continued, "where I on the other hand complicate everything."
"That's just who you are Elizabeth."
"Great." She frowned casting her face downward feeling forever destined to repeat her mistakes.
"Look at me." He requested and when she didn't immediately comply he placed his hand under her chin and brought her cobalt blue eyes to meet his own. Even that faintest touch sent shivers through both of their bodies. "I like who you are Elizabeth Webber. I like to watch your eyes light up when we've just finished a ride. I like how you bite your lower lip when you are thinking or how you sing when you paint when you think no one is watching." Jason knew he was rambling - something he never did but he couldn't stop himself.
"I do not sing!" she protested with a laugh.
"Yes you do and off key I might add." Jason laughed too.
Elizabeth reached out and playfully punched him in the arm. The memory of the day they had come there and he had her showing him her fighting skills jumped out at her. She smiled inwardly at that thought. Where had times like that gone she thought and could they get them back?
She rubbed her hands against her shoulders. The fall night air was crisp. Without asking Jason removed his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "You want to go back?"
"No yet," she replied. Elizabeth wasn't quite ready to relinquish this private time with him. She wanted to get lost in the memories of days gone by. She wanted to capture this one as well just in case there were no others to come. "Hey look," she said pointing up toward the sky. "A shooting star. Make a wish Jason."
"I don't make wishes. You make one."
"Okay." Elizabeth closed her eyes and wished for a second change with her soul mate. What she didn't know was while she had her eyes closed Jason did as well making the very same wish.
"We better head back. It's getting pretty cold."
"Here." She removed his jacket and handed it back to him.
"You keep it." Elizabeth did as he said and hugged the supple black leather closer to her body. She drank in his scent - a mixture of clean and musk at the same time. That was a smell she hadn't expected to experience again but was so elated to be doing so.
"Thanks."
Elizabeth climbed behind him as he started the engine. She was looking forward to the ride back into town. She felt more contented at that very minute than she had in months. It astounded her how Jason had the ability to center her without even realizing he was doing anything at all. She hoped that he took the long way back since she wasn't ready for this sensation to end.
Jason guided his bike to a stop at the curb in front of Elizabeth's building.
"Thanks again for the ride."
"Anytime, you know that." He looked at her with flushed pink cheeks and that twinkle in her eye that came after every one of their rides and he so badly wanted to lean in and kiss her.
"You want to come up for some hot chocolate.or coffee?" She corrected knowing that hot chocolate was her drink of choice not his.
Jason hesitated for only a second. "Yeah that'd be good." He too wasn't ready for their time together to end.
"Okay then let's go."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ric watched from his roost across the street as Jason and Elizabeth made their way inside of her building. He saw them laughing. He saw her smiling at him. He saw her loving him.
"Damn you Morgan! Damn you!"