Disclaimer: The characters of GH, as well as General Hospital itself, don't belong to me.

Author's Note: Once again, a million thank yous to everyone who has taken the time to read and review this, you all rock. You really do. Here we are, chapter 10, only 2 more chapters after this… maybe an epilogue, or possibly, a sequel to this story, but I'm not sure yet. I'm really anxious to get back to my other story, so we'll see. Anyways, here we go. Oh, before that though, I know that my Jax portrayal in the last chapter might have been a little out of character, but I couldn't help that, I needed him to be a jerk to move my story along, don't get me wrong, I love Jax, but just not in this story.

Song credit goes to Vixen, and is Edge of a Broken Heart. Gotta love the 80's girl rock.

I've been living on the edge of a broken heart
I don't wanna fall, I don't wanna crawl…

"No way. Absolutely not." Carly stared at her best friend as though she were crazy.

"Carly please." Courtney sighed. "I need to do this. And I need you to help me."

"Help you run away?" Courtney was crazy of that Carly was convinced. "Right, because Jason and Sonny will be really happy with me then." She crossed her arms in front of her. "Not going to happen Court."

"I'm not running away," Courtney protested. "I'm going to New York to hold some meetings for the foundation." What she didn't tell Carly was that she could easily send her assistant in her place.

"Yeah okay. How long are you going to be there?"

Courtney cast her eyes downward. "I don't know," she said. "Carly, I just need some time."

"With Jason. Not without him."

"Time by myself," Courtney clarified. "I need to figure some things out, and this is the perfect opportunity for me to do that."

"I can't believe you're running away," Carly's rant continued as though she didn't even hear Courtney. "You guys are so close to getting back together, I thought you guys were back together, but here you are, planning on leaving town?" She shook her head. "I'm not helping you. Forget it."

"Could you shut up for a minute and listen to me?" Courtney asked impatiently. She softened her voice at the look on Carly's face. "I'm sorry."

"I'm listening."

Courtney found herself explaining what had happened with Jax; all the while praying that the information didn't ever get back to Jason, though she knew it wasn't likely.

"What a jackass," Carly said sympathetically. "I warned you about him from the beginning though, didn't I? I told you he wasn't after anything other than—"

"Carly!"

Carly stopped. "I still don't understand though. You love Jason, you said so yourself."

"I know. And I do. But right now, I'm so confused. What if Jax was right and I do think about him every time I'm with Jason? That's not fair to Jason or to me. I'll constantly be looking over my own shoulder, watching every little thing I say or do to make sure I don't say something about it, or something that Jason could take the wrong way. And how can I expect him to live with me acting like that when I don't even want to deal with it?"

Carly looked at her blankly. "Still not following Honey."

"I didn't expect you to understand, believe me, I knew better than that." Courtney sighed. "Just trust me when I say I need to get away for a few weeks at least so that I can clear my head and my conscience, and come back here to work on getting back together with Jason. If he'll still take me when I come back, that is."

"Oh he'll still take you. That doesn't mean I think you should leave or even understand why you think you should." It was Carly's turn to sigh. "But what do you need me to do?"

Courtney smiled gratefully. "I need you to clear a flight plan with Sonny's pilot for me. I need to leave as soon as possible because the meetings start tomorrow morning."

"You're not staying for Sam's funeral?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

She shook her head. "I know I should be, for the sake of both Sonny and Jason, but I can't."

"All right," Carly said as she reached for her cell phone. "I'll call the pilot right now and then call you as soon as I have the information."

"Thank you Carly."

"Don't thank me just yet. I still can't believe I'm helping you do this."

Courtney smiled. "I'll be back Carly, I promise. As soon as I can."

"Mmhmm." Carly just shook her head. "Go on home and pack. I'll call you in a few minutes. I love you."

"Love you too." She gave her best friend a hug and then left for the loft.

Two short hours later, Courtney was on Sonny's jet, waiting for them to take off. She sat down on the leather couch and picked up a magazine that was lying on it. She flipped through it absentmindedly, waiting.

"So were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

She grinned and tossed the magazine aside, thinking to herself, right on time. She stood up and shook her head. "Come on, I knew Carly would call you. I was just waiting for you to show up."

"Well here I am." Jason walked closer. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"I'm going to New York to meet with some prospective investors," Courtney explained. "I need to be prepared for the very likely chance that Jax is going to be severing all connections to the foundation."

"Yeah? It kinda looks like you're just skipping out on town. And me."

"Jason." Courtney just shook her head. "That's not what this is," she said, trying to sound reassuring.

He didn't look convinced. "Are you meeting Jax in New York?"

Courtney laughed before she could stop herself. "No, trust me. I don't think I'll be seeing him for a long time."

"Went that well?"

She nodded. "It's okay though, I told him everything he needed to hear."

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're ready to go whenever you are, Ms. Matthews," the pilot said, standing in the doorway.

"Thank you, I just need a few more minutes." The pilot disappeared.

"Court, don't do this," Jason said.

"I have to," she said walking over to him. "I'll be home soon," she promised, wrapping her arms around his waist. "And I'll call you as soon as I get there, and every night if it makes you feel any better."

Jason shook his head. "I don't think you should go," he said stubbornly. "Running away isn't going to solve anything."

"You sound like Carly, Jason I'm not running away!" Courtney pulled away. "How can I convince you of that?"

"Stay."

"I can't."

"Then tell me the truth, stop lying to me!"

"I'm not lying to you Jason, I swear."

"Yes you are, and if you don't think so, then you're lying to yourself!" Jason ran his hand through his hair. "Admit it Courtney, admit that part of the reason you're leaving is because you're too afraid to deal with any of this right now!"

"Fine! You're right Jason, I don't want to deal with any of this. I don't want to deal with the fact that part of you still holds me responsible for Sam, I don't want to deal with the fact that if we're together, inevitably, we're going to fight about your job, and I don't want to deal with the fact that I might be the one breaking your heart this time!"

Jason looked at her. "Do you feel better now?"

"What?"

"Now that you've told the truth, do you feel better?"

She felt a smile tug at her lips. "A little, maybe."

"Good. Now c'mere." He took her hand and pulled her back to him. "Listen to me. I don't blame you for what happened to Sam, I really don't. And I know we're going to fight about my job sooner or later, but Courtney, you're not going to break my heart."

"How do you know?"

"I just do. We're for real this time Courtney. I told you that on the docks the other night. That night when I held you I knew that I wasn't going to be without you ever again, okay? You felt it too I know you did. Right?" Courtney nodded. "Alright then. Go."

She looked up at him in surprise. "Go?"

He nodded. "Take whatever time you need, I understand. Just promise me you're coming back."

She smiled. "I promise," she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed the top of her head. "Carly's going to kill me for letting you go."

She laughed then, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. "Just tell her I knocked you out and had the pilot carry you off the plane."

"I'm going to have to." He kissed her once more. "Call me when you get settled in."

"I will," she promised. "Goodbye."

"Bye."

She watched as he left the plane. Then, taking a deep breath, she called to the pilot that she was ready to leave.

Don't you wonder why I gotta say goodbye?