Journeylove- Relationships between the characters is basically the core focus of the story, and that's not something that I think is going to change. Carly and Damian's relationship took a long time to actually cement itself, but ultimately it was more rewarding for me to see them come together despite their differences. Sonny and Damian's relationship is unique, but there are plenty of barriers that both of them have and quite possibly will always have. I've seen some of the fanfiction that people write… and while I respect creative freedom I can't help but smack my head at some of the stuff they put out. Dillon being gay is quite popular in some circles. They like to pair him up with Lucas. I just shake my head and walk away. As for the virginity thing… I can almost assure you that Damian will remain a virgin for the long haul. Even if he was to break his vow I wouldn't write it, what with the smut being illegal on It's a point that will be addressed soon enough.

Story-

Evening, Corinthos Household-

He was on his bed, feet dangling over the edge as he looked up at the ceiling. He thought about all the things that could have possibly gone wrong with the idea, every single moment that he spent thinking about it made him wonder if he was making the right decision. All he needed to think about to ensure himself of the fact that he was doing the right thing was Morgan… he saved his baby brother's life, but Michael probably wouldn't have had the same luck. The risks were worth taking, and if Carly knew what he was trying to do she would probably let him do it. Maybe he shouldn't have promised Bobbie that he wouldn't tell anyone, because it was eating up inside at him and he'd only been given the idea a few hours prior.

Hearing a knock at the bedroom door, Damian sat up, "Come in."

The door opened, the person on the other side walking in. "Hey…"

"Dillon?" Although they were best friends it was made very obvious to everyone that Dillon rarely came into the Corinthos home, despite being scant few feet away. Damian, of course, didn't hold it against Dillon in the least. His father, and his step-mother, were intimidating. It was a momentous occasion for Dillon to brave the chances of being berated or scorned at.

"Were you busy?" The younger man asked, still standing in the doorway, "Because if you were… I could just leave…"

"You're making your last visit to my room for the year, it wouldn't be very nice of me to just throw you out, now would it?" He tried to make Dillon feel comfortable, feel welcome, but while Dillon probably knew that nothing would happen to him there was always the 'what if' factor, and it was a very strong factor, especially to him.

"I just came…"

"You just came to make sure that I was doing all right…"

"Yeah."

"I'm fine, Dillon," he was really getting tired of people trying to find ways to make him feel better. It wasn't like anyone could come and kiss his wound, making it go away. He knew that their intentions were good, but sometimes it was better to just let a person deal with their problems alone. Besides, he was as over it as he could possibly be. "For what it's worth… I didn't mean to worry you or anyone else. I apologize for that."

"You don't need to apologize. You have a reason for wanting to be left alone, and it's a pretty good reason, too."

"You claim to understand this… yet you come over and ask…"

"Do you want me to leave?" Dillon wasn't sure what the comment meant. Was there hostility involved? Had he done something wrong?

"No, it's fine. I guess I'm just not used to people… you know, caring… back home I didn't have a friend like you… or a friend, period, really."

"I know how that goes," Dillon nodded. "When I was in Europe with my mom we would always move around so often that I didn't have a chance to really make any friends, let alone the fact that every single time we moved to a different country there was probably a different language that was spoken. By the time I was even able to have a semi-intellectual conversation in French we were gone… went to Germany or something."

"You had the language barrier… I didn't. Everyone around me spoke English, or Spanish, and since I'm fluent in one and pretty decent in the other I should have done better… but I didn't."

"I don't see why you weren't able to make friends in Los Angeles… I mean, you came here and you made friends pretty quickly."

"I had to make friends here… because I didn't have the safety net that I did back in Los Angeles. I came here to find my family, my paternal family, but when I came they didn't know that I was a member of their family, I didn't even know if I would really want to be a part of their lives… so I had to make sure that I did something differently about myself to make it easier for me to get people who I could talk to. Or maybe I just never met anyone like Elizabeth in Los Angeles…"

"Elizabeth is pretty unique," Dillon agreed. She had a genuineness that made her seem like she was from another world.

"Los Angeles is… different from Port Charles, Dillon. I know that you want to go to USC for school, and I won't ever try and tell you that you shouldn't go because I know that the school is good for people like you… but you need to be prepared for what you could be facing. Over there… people are selfish and don't care about others. Everyone is in a rush, nobody takes their time… people die because they think that getting from point A to point B two seconds sooner is so important."

"I'm used to being around rude people… remember? France? The French?"

"I always thought that stereotype wasn't true…"

Dillon laughed, "It's true enough. Of course there are a few people who aren't rude, who are kind… but if you go to the places where there are a bunch of tourists running around all year long you'll see why we think of the French like we do."

"I'm sorry…"

"About what?"

"About the fact that you had to grow up running around another country for most of your life. People are always saying how they want to do that, how they want to backpack around Europe before they get too old…"

"My mom doesn't even know how to use a backpack." The image of Tracy walking up a mountain with a sack filled with varied polyester clothing was enough to make Dillon want to roll over with laughter. "So it's not like I was suffering with walking around from country to country. No, we had the best hotels that were in the area, room service… you name it."

"But you didn't have friends… and you didn't let it get you down. Until I came here I managed to convince myself that I didn't need friends, you know? Maybe there were a few people in school who really did want to get to know me… I guess I should have tried to know them instead of pushing them away. In Los Angeles… I really was, at least in some way, a different person."

"We like the person you are now," Dillon wasn't sure if he wanted to believe that Damian could be someone other than the person that he was. "If it was so 'easy' for you to change personalities then it probably means that this is the person you've always wanted to be, which is why it was so easy for you to switch."

"You think so?"

"I know so," he finally took a seat on the bed. "I mean, look at me. I know you didn't know me when I first came to Port Charles… but at first I was angry at the world for everything. I know my mom isn't the best person that she can be, but she's still my mother and until the moment she dropped me off at the mansion she was the only person who I really knew… so I was stuck here, in Port Charles, without knowing anyone, not even my own family. I lashed out a lot… even when I knew Georgie, at least at first. Grandfather was always talking about how he wanted to send me away to military school because I was so troubled. Ned even tried to tell me what kind of a person our mom really was and I didn't want to believe him. I know better now."

"So?"

"So Georgie helped me. She pretty much saved me from being consumed with everything that I had inside of me. She showed me that what I had in Europe, whatever it was that I claimed to have, which I can't even remember anymore, wasn't nearly as good as what I had in Port Charles. Yeah, sure, there were plenty of things that weren't worth it… but I had her, and that was more than enough."

"And now look at you… the sarcastic, fun-loving goof who keeps plenty of hair product companies in business…"

"All I'm saying is that there's nothing wrong with being a different person now than you were when you got here… as long as the person that you are now is better than the person that you used to be."

"When did you start giving me advice?"

"Hey, being your friend as long as I have been… it's kind of hard not to have some of your innate wisdom rub off on a guy. You've taught me a lot… but you've taught Maxie way more. I used to worry about her… so did Georgie. Now we don't spend nearly as much time thinking about what mistake she's going to make next in her life that we're going to have to try and pull her out of, and it's all because of you."

"You're just trying to make me blush…"

"Is it working?"

"Probably not," he smirked. "But the effort is what counts, right?"

"So… you don't have any regrets?"

"I have plenty of them," Damian sighed. "But I've done what I can to make up for the regrets that I have inside of me. I've started a better relationship with everyone in my family, especially my dad… and Carly. I spent so long just being angry at them all, especially my father."

"Sonny lied to you about what he did. I'd be mad, too."

"But he had a good reason for it in the end. I didn't really want to see it that way. I was just mad that he lied to me. I should have known that he was doing it to protect me, like he tries to protect Michael and Morgan."

"You're not a little kid…"

"Doesn't matter how old you are, Dillon, a bullet is still a bullet… or a speeding vehicle, or a crazed psychopath…"

Dillon found himself quickly changing the subject, "So what are your plans for tomorrow? Going to take Maxie out to some fancy restaurant? Or just go back to Kelly's for the thousandth time?"

"I don't know if we'll go out to a fancy restaurant… but we're going to New York. Dad said I could take the jet."

"Why are you going to New York on New Years Eve?"

"I've got my reasons." He trusted Dillon, but a promise of silence was still a promise. Maxie needed to know because she was an intricate part of the plan, Dillon was, at best, a third-party. "I want to do something with Maxie before the end of the year. Yesterday… I worried her so much, and I wasn't really all that great of a person to her today."

"You're recovering from the pain…"

"That doesn't give me the right to treat the person, or persons, that I care about like they don't matter. I don't think I really did that with Maxie, but I was distant… something that I couldn't really help."

"She'll forgive you."

"Thanks."

"I guess we'll be spending New Years Eve alone…"

"You might want to see if Brook wants to do something with you and Georgie." He remembered the girl and the pain that she was feeling. It wasn't his right to tell Dillon about it, besides, she seemed to be doing better with whatever was bugging her by the end of their conversation. "I know that it would be kind of odd, her being the third wheel and all, but we're the only people around her age that know her in Port Charles. Unless you want her to spend New Years Eve with the Quartermaine's."

"No… that would be mean," Dillon shuddered at the thought. "They always make sure to bring in the New Year with a fight of some sort. Those crazy, crazy Quartermaine's…"

"Well, you have a camera… you could record their dysfunction."

"People know that my family is pretty much the most irregular family on the face of the Earth, what good would it do to have it on film?"

"Blackmailing possibilities?"

"Now you're starting to sound like a Corinthos…"

Although Damian knew that the comment was made tongue-in-cheek, he wasn't sure if it was true on some basic level. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to sound like a Corinthos.