Summary: Only happy when it rains, only happy when it's complicated. Will a simple rainstorm bring these two lovers back together?
Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital or its characters, but you know what? Kissing scenes in the rain belong to Journey. That's all I'm saying.
Author's Note: So I know I should be updating one of my other stories, but after watching the 3-30-05 episode and being slapped in the face by having to watch Jason and Sam have a scene in the rain, I decided this needed to be written. A one-shot that proves that Jason and Courtney own the rain and gets rid of the bad taste in my mouth for having to entertain any other possible ideas. (Not that I'm bitter or anything. Really.)
Title is taken from the song of the same name by Garbage.
I hope you enjoy, and as always, feedback is appreciated!
Only Happy When It Rains
The entire day had led up to this moment. The sky, which had shone bright blue for most of the day, had turned into a mixture of blue, purple and gray, as the clouds swirled in, casting a hazy glow over the entire town. The kind of glow that made everything look slightly green and six shades brighter than usual. The temperature had cooled off slightly and the wind was picking up. There was no question about it, rain was about to hit Port Charles and while most of the town's people were rushing for cover, there were a few that were anticipating the shower, one blonde in particular.
Courtney had waited all day long, knowing that it was just a matter of time until the skies opened up and the rain fell and now that it was mere minutes from happening, her fiancé was trying to ruin the moment.
"Come on Courtney," Jax whined as he practically dragged her through the park. They could hear the low rumble of thunder still a few miles away as they walked. "It's going to rain and second and we're still six blocks from my apartment."
"Jax, stop," she protested, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "It's just a little rain, it's not going to hurt you." She tilted her head towards the sky and smiled. "It feels great out here, doesn't it?"
"Not really," Jax said, trying to get her to move. "It's hot and muggy and if we don't hurry we're going to get soaked."
"Its just rain Jax!" She rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. "You're sweet and all, but you're not so sweet that you're going to melt." Maybe a little teasing would calm him down.
No such luck. "This is a four thousand dollar suit," he said, gesturing to his clothing. "I'm not going to ruin it."
"I don't see why you're so worked up." Courtney shook her head. "I love the rain. I love being outside in the rain. Jason and I used to—" She stopped at the look on Jax's face. She should have known better than to bring up Jason, as things had been tense between her and Jax since the massacre at the Metro-Court. Reminding him that she still thought about Jason occasionally probably wasn't a good idea and by the way his face was slowly turning red, she knew she had stepped over the line.
"Jason and you used to what?" he asked. She just shook her head mutely and he sighed. "Come on, we'll be lucky to make it back to my place before the rain hits if we go now."
"Jax, please," she pleaded. "Can't you give me just five minutes to share with you one of my favorite things?"
"So we can relive some moment you had with Jason?" Jax asked coldly. "I don't think so. I'll be at home, when you're done playing in the rain you can come find me." He walked away, leaving her standing alone openmouthed.
She sighed and sat down on the steps of the gazebo and grinned as drops of water fell softly on her shoulders. "Better hurry home Jax," she said to herself. "Wouldn't want you to get your precious suit all wet." It was an ugly suit anyways, she decided.
She pulled a lavender umbrella from her purse and opened it as she stood up and began walking. She loved this umbrella, as petty as that sounded. It matched her coat perfectly and she rarely left home without it. The rain was still falling gently, but the dull roar of thunder told her that a storm was fast approaching.
Leaving the park, Courtney couldn't help but laugh as she saw people running for cover, trying to get out of the rain. She kept walking, twirling the umbrella in her hand occasionally, and then laughing at her self because she knew it was a silly thing to do.
Jax was probably home now. And more than likely waiting for her with a glass of super-expensive champagne and a smile. While she knew she should head over that way, the thought of smiles and champagne, and even Jax just didn't appeal to her at all.
Courtney passed the street to his apartment without even looking.
The rain was falling a little bit harder now, but the sky was still only teasing her with raindrops and promises of a storm she knew was soon coming.
As she walked, Courtney's thoughts returned back to Jax and their relationship. She looked at the huge rock on her left hand and chewed her lower lip. It almost felt strange to be wearing it; it was almost as though she wasn't comfortable with such a public display of their engagement. It wasn't that she didn't care for Jax, she definitely still did, but their relationship right now wasn't by any means what you would call stable. How could it be with everything that was going on right now? The whole Rachel disaster was definitely taking its toll on them, and that coupled with Jax's insecurities, well, it just wasn't a good situation at all anymore.
It was ironic, Courtney thought with a half-grin as she twirled the umbrella once more. From the beginning she had been so sure that Jax really didn't like her. She was only a means to an end with his vendetta against Sonny. She could never comprehend why he would even like her. He was Jasper Jax, one of the most sought-after playboys on more than one continent, and what was she? A former stripper and ex-wife of local mobster. She realized now just how scared Jax was of her relationship with Jason, and she was more than partly responsible for that. She had barely done anything as of late to dissuade him of that idea.
She found herself passing Harborview Towers on her walk and she glanced up to the place she once called home. No lights were on and she briefly wondered where he was.
Of course, she knew where he was. She found herself involuntarily turn down another road and continue on her walk.
Yes, Jax was insecure of her past with Jason, and even now at this very moment she couldn't say that he was worried about nothing.
Not when she would still lay down her life for that man. Not when she lied to not only Jax, but to the police to once again protect him.
How could she not protect him though? The question ran through her mind as the sky finally opened with a roar of thunder and a streak of blue lightning flashing in her eyes. Instead of turning and heading to her own apartment, she kept going.
Jason had risked everything to save her, and she couldn't let that go unnoticed. They hadn't spoken of it yet and they would talk about it now, now while she still had not only the courage to say what was in her heart, but the storm on her side as well.
The wind picked up, causing Courtney to stumble backwards several steps, but she kept walking. She was almost there; it would be silly to turn back now.
Sure enough, he was there. A smile tugged at her lips as she saw him come into eyesight. Where else would Jason Morgan be in a thunderstorm but the docks? Was it practical? Of course not, but when was anything he ever did considered to be practical?
She stood at the top of the steps and looked at him, his back turned to her. Was she really about to do this? she asked her self. Was she really going to put everything out into the open and just hope for the best?
Damn right she was.
Taking a deep breath, she prepared herself, and was about to walk down the steps to him when something else caught her eye and she stopped mid-step.
He wasn't alone.
Jason wasn't alone. She was with him. Courtney didn't know what to do as she watched the petite brunette throw herself into his arms and assault him with her mouth.
It was horrifying. Courtney stared, open-mouthed and aghast at the sight in front of her. She quickly backed up against a stonewall out of their view and pressed a hand to her own mouth to either quell the cry she could feel in her throat, or the bile she could feel rising from the pit of her stomach.
She had seen Jason and Sam kiss before; she wasn't blind. But how could he do this? How could he kiss someone else on the docks, in the middle of a storm? How could he do that to her?
She watched as finally, finally, they pulled apart and on Jason's nod, Marco stepped forward and escorted Sam back to the waiting car and drove away.
Courtney wasn't going to move. Her new plan was just to stand there in the shadows and wait for Jason to go wherever it was he was going, and then she would race home and wait for the storm to end.
Apparently the storm had switched sides and was no longer in her favor because at that moment, the wind picked up again and snatched the umbrella out of her hands. She watched in disbelief as it landed, broken, at Jason's feet.
He looked down at it and then in the direction it had come from. He knew the umbrella well, even in it's mangled state, and Jason could tell whom it belonged to. "Courtney?" he called, waiting for her to show herself.
Courtney sighed, knowing she had to step forward now.
Had she mentioned how much she hated the rain?
"Hey," she said reluctantly. She walked down to him and stood in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest. She couldn't look him in the eye.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked. "It's dark and it's raining and you know better than to be out on the docks by yourself."
"Just walking," she said, still not meeting his gaze. She pushed a strand of wet hair out of her face and kept her eyes on the ground.
"Courtney, you look upset. What's wrong?" Jason stepped closer and she found herself taking a step back.
"I'm fine," she muttered. "I just, I should get going, I was on my way home." She turned to leave but he wasn't going to let her go that easily.
"Courtney, come on, what's going on? Are you crying? Did something happen?" He reached out and grabbed her elbow, forcing her to face him again. He wasn't prepared for what she was about to say and it definitely took him by surprise.
"How could you?" she cried out angrily as she finally looked him in the eye. "Please, tell me how the hell you could do that and then actually stand here and ask me if everything's okay?"
"What are you talking about?" Jason asked, his face full of confusion. He looked up just in time to see another flash of pink and purple lightning. "It's getting bad out here, come on Courtney, let me take you home and—"
"How could you?" she repeated, though this time much softer. She said a few more things to him, but with tears thickening her throat and the continuous rolls of thunder, Jason couldn't hear her.
"I don't understand," he protested.
"This," she said, gesturing around them, at the dock, the rain, gesturing between the two of them. "This is all us! It always has been! It's the one thing I thought we'd always have that would never be broken and I actually was using it to come to you and tell you, but instead, I come here and I see you and her," she spat out the last pronoun bitterly, "and even though I don't believe it, you're actually kissing her. You are! You're kissing her in the rain, and that kills me Jason! I hate it, and I hate that I know I have no reason to be so angry and I hate that I feel like I've been kicked in the stomach and I really hate that I don't hate you nearly as much as I should." She stopped long enough to push another wayward strand of hair out of her eyes and to take a deep breath.
Jason sighed. "You saw me and Sam," he said heavily.
"Kind of hard not to," she spit back at him. She shook her head again. "You kissed her in the rain," she whispered brokenly.
He sighed, running a hand through his own wet hair. "If I had known you were here I wouldn't have," he said.
"But it's still okay when I'm not?" She looked away again. "Do you love her?" she asked quietly.
Jason sighed again, and he too, looked away. "She loves me," he said finally.
"That's not what I asked," she said, still not looking at him.
"Well, do you love Jax?" he challenged.
She raised her eyes to meet his then. "No," she said clearly. "I don't."
And with that, she took off down the pier in the opposite direction than which she came before he could say another word.
She sighed and leaned against the railing at the edge of Pier 32. The storm was still directly overhead and the water was dark, even in the glow of the street lamp, she could see the normally calm waters were an angry blue.
"Courtney!" She heard Jason come after her, and part of her had to admit she knew he would.
It didn't stop her from yelling at him to "go away" but again, the chance of him listening to that command wasn't likely.
"Courtney come on," he protested. "You need to get in out of the rain. Just come with me, and I'll have a car take you home."
She whirled around, her back to the rail now. "I don't want to go home. I want to stay here," she said, knowing full well she sounded like a three year old. "Go ahead though, I'm sure Sam is waiting for you."
"I'm not leaving you here," he said, advancing further down the pier to her. "This is pointless Courtney, you're going to get sick if you stay out here any longer."
"Then I guess we'll get sick together," she said, crossing her arms in front of her again. "Jason, really, I'm fine. I don't need you to baby-sit me."
"Courtney, don't be like this," Jason said. "Just come with me, we'll at least get out of the rain."
"No," she said stubbornly. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
And that's when the railing gave way.
Courtney heard the wood splintering as the railing crack but she didn't have time to react, and she was too bewildered by what was happening to even cry out as she lost her footing and tumbled over backwards. She was surprisingly calm, she realized as she fell, knowing the whole time that Jason would save her.
Striking her head against the dock, everything went black before she broke through the cold surface.
Jason hit the water not two seconds after she did, but it still took some time to locate her and pull her back up onto the pier. "Come on Courtney," he said as he lay her down on the pier and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "Open your eyes, come on." He swore under his breath when she didn't stir. "Courtney!" he said, louder this time, shaking her slightly. Still, she lay there, not moving. Looking around, he decided to move her into one of the warehouses, at least there he could see better as to whether or not she needed a doctor, and for the time being, she'd be out of the rain.
Once in the warehouse, he turned on the lights and again, focused on the unconscious blonde. She wasn't bleeding anywhere, so that was definitely a good thing. His biggest concern was that her lips were turning a pale purple and that he needed to warm her up somehow, and fast. Not an easy feat; seeing as how they were both soaked through and had been for some time already.
Without wasting anymore time he quickly rid himself of his leather jacket and peeled off his t-shirt. He tried to get her out of her purple coat carefully and then held her as close to his body as possible, rubbing his hands vigorously up and down her bare arms.
"Come on Court," he repeated.
Courtney however, wasn't ready to wake up. Not just yet. Not while she was remembering.
"Jason!" Courtney quietly nudged her husband of just three days, trying to wake him up. "Jase, wake up." Still no movement came from his side of the bed and she rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that the man who was such a light sleeper was totally oblivious to her.
"Jason!" she sing-songed, louder this time, while pulling the blankets back from him. She smiled happily as she saw his eyes slowly blink open.
"Court? What time is it?" he asked. He glanced at the clock and bolted up in bed when he saw that it was just after three in the morning. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong silly," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of bed. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" he asked, his voice still slightly raspy with sleep. "Can I at least get dressed?" he protested, looking down at his boxers as she opened the door to the balcony outside of their bedroom.
"Absolutely not," she said with a giggle, as she pulled him out onto the terrace.
"What are we doing out here?" Jason asked as she led him over to the railing. Despite the earliness of the morning and the slight rain that was falling, it was unusually warm this particular night in Paris.
"Come here." Courtney grabbed his hand again and drew him close to her, reaching up to kiss him. His arms went around her waist, leaving no amount of space between them as the kiss deepened.
Sighing happily, Courtney pulled back and turned around so that she was facing the view that was in front of them. Lights twinkled through the darkness that swept over Paris, and even though it was late, they could still hear faint music being played in the streets.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, reaching behind her to wrap an arm around his neck.
"Yeah," he answered, not looking at the city. He dropped his head down to place a kiss on her bare shoulder, causing one pink strap of her slip to fall. "So you woke me up in the middle of the night so I could see Paris at night?" he whispered, tickling her ear.
"No." She twisted around again stuck her tongue out at him. "I woke you up so that you could kiss me in the rain in Paris." She smiled when he obliged, his lips settling on hers again, gently and firmly.
Jason's hands were still at her waist and he edged her slightly against the ledge. He picked her up easily, settling her on the low wall, never once breaking their kiss. As he moved her, the other strap had fallen down her shoulder, not going unnoticed. He felt, rather than heard, her soft moan as her own hands traveled from playing with his wet hair to run up and down the broad expanse of his chest, her nails scraping lightly against his abs. He heard her gasp softly and smiled as he left her mouth and kissed down her neck and across her collarbone. Despite her slight protests, he stopped as his mouth reached the spot where pale pink silk met tanned skin. "We should go inside," he murmured, his teeth pulling the silk back just enough to allow his tongue to catch a raindrop that had fallen just then. He was pleasantly surprised to find that despite the rain, she still smelled like violets.
She sat back slightly, moving her hands to cradle either side of his face as she brought it back up so their eyes were level on each other. She imitated his own actions, kissing several raindrops on his cheeks before bringing his face close enough to whisper in his ear.
"Make love to me out here," she pleaded softly, casting her eyes across the terrace to where several overstuffed pillows and blanket were on the ground, never brought inside after a picnic the night before.
He didn't have a chance to answer before her lips were against his again and he felt what little willpower he had disappear altogether as she maneuvered herself into his arms and he lifted her up from the ledge. He obliged her request, as she knew he would, and carried her over to the blanket, neither caring that it was still raining. He knelt down and then placed her against the pillows. She looked up and smiled at him before reaching her arms out once more to pull him over her.
Jason closed his eyes at the memory, a sigh slipping from his mouth as he remembered how magical that night had been, and how Courtney had teased him mercilessly for the first 2 months of their marriage for even admitting to her that it had been just as special for him as it was for her. He opened his eyes and looked down at his ex-wife, still cradled in his arms. Her lips weren't as purple, and he thought he saw some color returning to her cheeks, but her eyes were still closed. "Come on, Court," he whispered, his lips lingering on her forehead longer than he should. He was still thinking back to that night in Paris, and subsequently, every rainy night after that, for the duration of their marriage.
She was right, how could he have kissed Sam like that? He thought back to the kiss, just minutes ago, and realized all he thought about it was that it was completely ordinary. Like every other kiss they'd ever had, only this time they happened to be wet. There was nothing romantic or magical or even just different about it, and the memory of it certainly didn't leave him shaken as the memory of Courtney just had. Thinking about that night three years ago still affected him, and as he looked down at Courtney and begged her to wake up once more, he knew that from now on, there would be only one woman he would dare kiss in the rain.
Jason watched as Courtney coughed a little, clearing a bit of water from her lungs, as her eyelids fluttered open and he didn't even try to hide his smile as he finally saw her sapphire eyes looking up at him.
"Hey, welcome back," he said, helping her sit up a little.
"What happened?" she asked, looking around. "Where are we?"
"One of the warehouses," he said, smoothing strands of damp hair off of her forehead. "You took a little dive off the pier."
"Oh," she nodded at the memory, reaching up to touch the side of her head. She winced slightly and knew she'd have a nasty bruise in the morning. "You saved me?" she asked, looking up at him again.
"Yeah." He shrugged. "I've gotten pretty good at it by now, don't you think?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "I had a dream while I was out," she said before she could stop herself.
"What about?" he asked. She was still in his arms and he was still stroking her hair, two things the both of them were acutely aware of.
"Paris," she said wistfully, looking away. "Jase, I'm sorry about earlier, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I was—"
"Right," he interrupted. "You were right about everything." He sighed, not knowing what else to say. "Do you feel okay? Should I take you to the hospital?"
"No," she said, with a shake of her head, still reeling from the fact he had just told her she had been right. "I'd like to go home though, get into some warm clothes." Despite being held by Jason, she was still freezing and she was almost positive her teeth were chattering.
"Okay," he said with a nod. He looked around to see if there was a phone nearby, and there was, so he called for one of the guards to get them.
"A car will be here in five minutes," he said, coming back over to her.
"Good." She looked at him for a moment, chewing on her lower lip. "What did you mean just now?" she asked.
"That a car will be here in five minutes?"
"No," she looked at him pointedly. "About me being right about everything."
"You were," he said simply. "I shouldn't have kissed Sam out there."
"She's your girlfriend now," Courtney said reluctantly. "I had no right to tell you what you can and can't do with her."
"I don't love her," Jason blurted out, his mind going back to the question she had asked him earlier. "I shouldn't have kissed her at all."
"Oh." She was unsure of how to respond to that, and she felt her cheeks redden as his gaze fell over her once again. "Does that mean—"
"Yes," he said, interrupting her once again. "It does."
She smiled slowly then, looking up into the clear gray eyes she had missed. She was about to say more but the moment was broken by the sound of a car horn honking outside.
Jason smiled at her, and helped her stand up. "You okay to walk?" he asked, securing an arm around her waist. She nodded and they left the warehouse.
It was still raining outside, but the storm had ended, leaving just a misting falling over Port Charles. The thunder and lightning had stopped and they could see a full moon struggling to peek out of the dissipating clouds.
Courtney giggled then and Jason looked down at her with a puzzled look on his face. "What's so funny?" he asked, halting their walk to the car.
She giggled again. "I'm going to need a new umbrella," she said, pointing to the disjointed one that lay a few feet away from them.
Jason shook his head and chuckled along, but mostly at the sound of her giggles, something he had missed for so long. He used the hand around her waist to pull her flush with his body and raised his other one to cup the side of her face, causing her to stop mid giggle.
"I'll buy you a new one," he promised, inching his face closer to his. At the last second, Courtney ducked her head and winked at him.
"Max," she called to the tall man who stood patiently under his own black umbrella. "Thanks for coming out here, but Jason and I are going to walk home instead," she said. Jason nodded and Max did the same before getting back into the dark Sedan and driving off.
"I thought you were cold," Jason protested as Courtney pulled him along the cobblestone path.
"I am, so hurry," she teased, sending another dazzling smile at him. A lot of women were gorgeous, Jason thought to himself as she winked at him and took off in a sprint. But he was certain there was only one who looked absolutely breathtaking after spending an hour in the rain, not to mention falling into the river. He let her gain a few yards on him before breaking into a run of his own. He caught up to her in no time and this time, she wasn't getting away so easily.
"Come here," he said, capturing her wrist and guiding her back into his embrace. She only smiled at him innocently as his hand held the back of her neck. She still smelled of violets he noticed as he leaned in and gave her what may not have been the first, but definitely was not the last, kiss on a rainy night.
