Journeylove- I never liked Jax from the moment I saw him on the screen. I still don't. I liked the beginning of the Casper romance, only because Courtney was being cute and funny, but I always hoped she would just ditch his ass… alas, I didn't get what I wanted. I still like Courtney, always will, but I'm going on what I remember loving her for and am using that to keep on loving her. Reese and Sonny probably won't work… what with the whole wedging between the Holy Carson. Only Jason and Sonny can get away with wedging the Holy Carson. Hopefully they can make it worse, but I doubt it. Brook's part in the story will be slowly built up… or maybe not that slow, depends.

Kelly's-

He walked into the restaurant as he had done many times in the past. They really needed to find some other place that they could hang out at other than Kelly's. It wasn't that he didn't like the food, or the service, but eventually it would grate on him, of that he was almost completely certain.

Damian was still pleased, however, to know that at almost any time he walked into Kelly's there was at least one if not two friendly faces that would always be there to greet him. The first friend that he had ever made in Port Charles, or, in the case of that moment in time, his grandfather. "Morning, Grandpa."

"Good morning," Mike had returned to work after his single day off. It was all that he needed. He would still worry about Morgan, it was impossible not to. But Mike had seen his grandson in the crib at the house and that was all the assurance that Mike needed to believe that Michael would be fine for the time being. "Did you come to eat, or just to chat?"

"The second. I'm meeting Maxie here, too," he saw that his beloved girlfriend had yet to show up, which in some way was a good thing because it gave him some time to speak with his grandfather. "How are you doing?"

"Shouldn't I be asking the question of you?" Mike asked, his eyes gleaming with concern. "When I went to visit Morgan yesterday you weren't there. Neither was your father. Carly… she told me what happened."

"She shouldn't have."

"Would you rather I have never found out that you were in pain?" Mike was hurt, but he understood the need that people had to keep their pain in a way that was expressed only to themselves. He had a few instances where the same could be said for him.

"No, not at all… I just think that it should have come from my mouth, not hers." He was only slightly upset with Carly, but he understood her motives. He would have done the same if something had happened to her. "I'm going to assume that she told everyone… Uncle Jason, Aunt Courtney."

"Probably…"

"Maybe even Michael…"

"I don't think she would go that far," Mike tried his best to assure the young man of Carly and her highly eccentric methods. "Carly knows that there are some things that Michael can't handle, that he should be kept from. I think she would know that your mother's death was one of them."

"It's in the past now…"

"But it's going to be with you forever. You're never going to forget her."

"And I don't want to forget her," Damian leaned against the counter, "but I also don't want people constantly reminding me of the fact that I lost her. I can never forget that she's gone, Grandpa… it's always going to hurt, but at least I can dull it with friends and family, something I couldn't really do before. This is the first chance that I have to immerse myself in something else. Before, when I was with my grandparents in Los Angeles, I couldn't turn the corner and not see something that reminded me of her. Now… here, in Port Charles, I have a chance to be happier."

"I wouldn't try and take that away from you, Damian." Mike had been proud of the boy so many times in the past before, but he would always do something, show some part of his persona that Mike had never seen before that would make the old man even more proud.

"You need to know something else…"

The tone in Damian's voice made Mike worry. "Is everything all right? You're not going to leave, are you?"

"Well, I won't be around here as often…"

"Did I do something? Is it because of what happened with Ric last week?"

"No, no it's nothing like that." He still needed to do something about his interfamilial animosity. "I took the internship…"

"You did?"

"Yes, I did."

"That's great!" Mike gave him a pat on the back. "I think it calls for a celebration of some sort…"

"No celebrating, please. You're actually the first person that I've told about it, besides Monica. I think Bobbie might know… but I didn't get around to telling dad yet. Since you already did know about it I felt that… well, I should tell you."

"What made you change your mind?"

"Morgan…"

"What about him?"

"The fact that I was there, doing something that was helping him. If I was a doctor I couldn't have done it because I'm family, but it showed me that I needed to be responsible, especially if I intend on doing my dream. I couldn't keep pushing it back because I didn't think that I was ready. Even if I'm not ready for it, Grandpa, I have to do it, because eventually it's going to need to be done."

"When do you start?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I wish I knew. The start of the term is on Monday, maybe I'll start right away. They might have me wait a little while. Whenever they want me to start is pretty much when I'm going to start."

"And you'll be a doctor…"

"Intern. I won't do any of the really important stuff," he was very grateful for that. He'd done some minor surgery before, or at least if it could be called surgery. What would taking a bullet out of a man's knee technically be considered? All he knew was that he wasn't ready to have someone's life be on the line in his hands. Bloodstained hands.

"I'm sure you'll do the best that you can do, Damian. I have nothing but faith in you."

"Don't use that word… please…"

"Oh, right." Mike knew why he would have trouble with the word 'faith.' Why wouldn't he? The woman had almost ended his life and the lives of so many other people. "I hate to change the subject on you, but it appears that your girlfriend has arrived."

"Really?" He looked over his shoulder to see her standing outside, as if she was hesitating, looking for some reason not to go in. When she saw him look at her she tried to make it seem like she didn't see him. "I think she wants me to go outside…"

"I'll be in here if you need me, and even if you don't need me right now, you know I'm only a phone call away, right?"

"Yeah," he pushed himself from the counter and headed for the door, "I've always known that."

"Dammit," Maxie mumbled as she saw him coming. She wasn't angry at him. She was just afraid that he was going to be upset at her for doing something. Or maybe he was still hurt from what happened the day before. It wasn't like he could just turn off his grief like it was a water hose.

"Is there a reason why you didn't come inside?" Damian wondered as he pushed open the door. "Because I can assure you that Grandpa didn't burn anything if you're worried about the smell."

"Stop it…"

"Stop what?"

"Stop trying to make it seem like everything is all right when we both know that it isn't!" Maxie sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But I'm worried about you. I've been worried about you since yesterday."

"I know you were worried about me…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked, hurt that he had kept it from her. "You told me about what happened around Christmas. Why couldn't you tell me that yesterday was the day that your mother died? I thought you trusted me enough to tell me anything!"

"I should have told you."

"You're damn right you should have!"

"And I'm sorry that I didn't."

"You are?" She was surprised that the battle had been won and that she was the victor. It seemed too easy.

"Maxie, I love you more than I've loved any other woman aside from my mother, and I love you in ways that I never loved her. It's because of how much I love you that I told you about what happened when she died… but I guess it was my love for her that kept me from telling you about the day that she did die. It was my day where I could just remember her alone. I didn't want to take that away from her."

"I wouldn't ask you to take anything away from your mother. I know how much you love her."

"I need to thank you…"

"For what?"

"For telling my father about where I was. I didn't know how much he was going to help me until he came there and just sat with me. I needed a parent more than I realized, and you gave me that. I can never repay you for it."

"It didn't seem like it was my place," Maxie said softly. "I knew about what had happened because of what your grandmother told me, but aside from that I didn't know anything else. I called your father because it was his right to know, and I didn't insist that I go with him because that was something that you needed to deal with… I just told Sonny to have you call me."

"Sorry I waited so long."

"It's okay. I'm just glad that you did call. I was afraid that you wouldn't… or if you did, and you asked me to meet you somewhere, it would be to end everything."

"Why would I do something like that?" He couldn't fathom ever desiring a moment to break it off with Maxie anymore. There were a few times at the start of their relationship where he felt that he couldn't give her what she deserved and what she needed, but he had smothered those doubts and had committed himself to her as much as he possibly could.

"Because I was afraid that you would be mad at me for getting into your life…"

"At the beginning, I was." He wasn't going to lie to her. "When dad told me that you told him where I was I didn't like it. But I got over it, because I understood what it meant to you and I know how much you mean to me. You did that because you thought it was the best thing for me, and it might have been. It probably was."

"How are you doing with it? You seem better…"

"I'm good at masking my pain at times. Yesterday wasn't one of them. I didn't really want anyone to see me because I didn't want them pitying me. I hate feeling pitied. I'm still hurt. I'm always going to be hurt, but you know what? I'm okay with that now. I shouldn't be afraid of showing my vulnerability around you or my friends and my family… but especially you, because I know that we can only build on what we have by being honest with one another."

"We will…"

"It's going to be harder now than ever, you know?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I won't have as much free time to be around you as I have. I'll be busy with school… and my internship."

"You took it?" She said as she smiled. "I'm so happy for you!"

"I'm sure we'll be together a lot more, since we'll both be at the hospital… but I don't think we'll have the time to be together. Kissing in the hallway closets seems a little unprofessional, doesn't it?"

"I don't care if we can't do anything together… just as long as I know you're all right and you're happy. That's all I've wanted."

"It's all I've wanted for you, too. Come here." The young couple embraced, their problems not fading away in some magical expression of love, but becoming much lessened because of their unified passion. They were stronger when they were together, that was what made them who they were.