Note: Somehow, I forgot to post this chapter! I went straight from chapter 12 to the epilogue. My apologies.
Safe Haven - part 13
Audrey Webber looked at her youngest granddaughter with tears visible in her pale blue eyes. Her hands were trembling so much that she finally gave up and set the teacup and saucer down on the coffee table, bringing her fidgeting hands back into her lap to smooth imaginary wrinkles out of her pale pink skirt.
"You're sure about this, darling?" Her voice was tremulous, and her doe-like eyes begged the young woman in front of her to reconsider. But she knew her youngest granddaughter well – when she had her heart and mind set on something, she didn't back down.
Elizabeth slowly placed her own teacup and saucer onto the coffee table, but unlike her Gram, she didn't fidget or seek for something to occupy her hands. Instead, the young woman was composed and resolute. "Yes, Gram, I'm sure. I'm…very sure."
There was no mistaking the heartfelt conviction in her voice and Audrey tried furiously to blink away her tears. "I…I feel as if I just got you back, Elizabeth, and now I have to lose you all over again."
The brunette's sapphire orbs instantly filled with love and compassion for the stately woman on the couch in front of her. Her soft, smooth hand sought the rough, wrinkled one and she twined their fingers, squeezing the old hand in reassurance. "You'll never lose me, Gram. Never." The old woman hesitantly brought her tired eyes to meet Elizabeth's once more. "I just can't stay in Port Charles any longer. I can't."
"I understand why," Audrey admitted slowly, reluctantly. "I wish this wasn't how things were going to be, but I have to admit that I do understand why you feel the need to…leave. To just get out and leave all these things behind you."
"Not all things," Elizabeth clarified, quirking a sympathetic and bittersweet half-smile at her beloved grandmother. "Not you. Never you. And not forever, either, Gram."
The old woman nodded weakly, swallowing around the large lump in her throat. Her fingers squeezed Elizabeth's now with the same tenacity the young woman had shown to her previously. "I don't want you to go, dear, but I don't want to be your reason for staying here, either. You need to leave for a while. I understand. And I hope you know that I will always support you, no matter what you decide."
A relieved smile broke across Elizabeth's face and she wrapped her arms around her Gram's delicate frame. "Oh, thank you, Gram," she sighed softly into the old woman's gray hair. "I love you so much."
"I love you, too, my dear heart," Audrey sighed, pulling back to frame Elizabeth's face in her gnarled fingers as she stared seriously into the sapphire eyes. "But I must question you once more: are you sure – about everything?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, her Gram's mistrust coming as no surprise. A smirk claimed her lips as she raised a brow at the old woman and tilted her chin up a notch. "Yes, Gram, I'm sure about Jason."
The old woman sighed, not liking it but knowing better than to protest. That never did her any good. "I'll never know why."
"You don't have to like him, Gram," Elizabeth reminded her with a soft smile before her face turned serious. "Just please don't hate him."
Audrey's eyes softened and she tenderly stroked the young woman's silky chestnut locks. "My darling, you love him. And that alone is reason enough for me not to hate him. If he makes you happy, then he must not be as reprehensible as I'm prone to believing."
Elizabeth shook her head the veiled dig, unable to suppress a grin. "Gram…"
"Oh, hush," Audrey chided teasingly. "I'll never say it to his face – that's the best you'll get out of me." The two women shared a laugh at that before Elizabeth fidgeted and Audrey recognized her impatience to return to the arms of the man she loved. "I'll miss you, my darling. I was…I was so lonely after your grandfather passed on, before you or Sarah came into my life." Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. "You and your sister brought me more happiness and joy than I thought I'd be able to feel after Steve. I was always so proud of you, Elizabeth. I'm so proud of the young woman you've become."
Elizabeth rose from the couch and stepped into her Gram's warm hug. "I love you so much, Gram," she whispered, holding the old woman tightly. "You made me feel wanted here in Port Charles – you made me feel like I always had a home with you. That was more than my own parents did." A lone tear slid from the outside corner of one glistening sapphire orb. "I'll call you every day, okay? You'll hear from me so much you'll get sick of me!"
The old woman laughed and linked her hands with those of her granddaughter's. "I want you to enjoy yourself, Elizabeth. You deserve so much happiness, my darling. Even if it is with him."
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Elizabeth smirked, narrowing her eyes playfully at the smiling woman.
"I'm just teasing, darling," Audrey murmured, lowering her chin. "If you see the good in him, then I believe it's there. I know he'll take care of you, Elizabeth, and I pray he's always able to make you happy."
Elizabeth smiled and hugged the old woman one last time. "You don't know how much that means coming from you."
Jason Morgan stood in the park, his hands stuffed deep in the pockets of his leather jacket as he stared down at the black bench less than a foot away from him. This was where it had happened. This was where they had been during their last time together in Port Charles. She had been wearing a red coat, and it had been a breezy day because her hair had been fluttering in her eyes…
He closed his eyes as a cool breeze brushed past him, playing across his cheeks like a gleeful child. This was where she had refused him in the name of Lucky Spencer. This was where she had sentenced herself to the life of a caged bird that would never know the true freedom of life outside its own domain. This was where he had stood and watched the woman he loved walk away from him.
It still hurt like hell.
"I don't want you hurt, and I don't want you sorry. Don't…Don't you know what you mean to me?"
His heart throbbed in his chest and Jason had to shake himself out of it. This wasn't that time; he wasn't back there again. This time, she would be coming to him. She'd be here. She'd be with him. Neither of them would be hurt and neither one of them would be sorry.
His heart was still racing as Jason told himself these things, assured himself that she'd be coming for him as soon as she finished up whatever she needed to. He had received a cryptic phone call from Francis twenty minutes earlier, telling him that Elizabeth was at her last stop and wanted him to wait in the park for her – and that he'd know where. Naturally, Jason's legs had led him to this very spot.
Footsteps clicked down the concrete pathway and Jason pivoted instantly, thinking it was her. But as the clicks grew nearer, he knew it wasn't. He could feel it – he could feel her presence and this wasn't her. Within seconds, a tall, shapely figure came into view and then a sharp, overjoyed cry pierced the warm summer air.
"Jason!" Carly Corinthos' face was alight with joy as the blonde raced into his arms, holding him to her in a fierce hug. "You're home! Sonny told me you might be coming soon but I didn't know when. I wanted to bring Michael, but he's sleeping now – you can stop by and see him tonight, right? At the penthouse-"
"Carly," Jason interrupted her softly, shaking his head once. "I can't."
The blonde stopped abruptly, peering up at him skeptically. "Why not?" Her best friend shifted his weight from one scuffed motorcycle boot to the other and suddenly it dawned on her. "Wait a minute – this is because of the Muffin, right?"
Jason rolled his eyes. "Carly…"
But the blonde was still staring back at him with a hard glint in her light hazel eyes. "No, no, Jason, for once, don't defend her. Just tell me what's going on."
The enforcer rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm taking her away. If she wants to go, I mean," he added hesitantly.
Carly crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head at her best friend. "Damn. Something must have really happened on that island, huh, Jase?"
Her irritation grew when he blushed. Now the little Twit had Jason blushing? Unbelievable. "Well?"
"I'm not telling you anything, Carly," Jason replied firmly, his twinkling eyes belying his amusement as her usual meddlesome antics.
"Oh, no!" The tall blonde's face was contorted in horror. "You slept with her, didn't you? Ew! Oh, I can't touch you now! Gross, Jason – what were you thinking?"
The enforcer pinched the bridge of his nose. "No, Carly, I haven't."
That calmed her down instantly. "Oh. Well. Okay. That's good." There was a brief pause in which another thought occurred to her, and the next thing Jason knew, his best friend was angrily smacking his arm. "Why do I have the feeling there was an unspoken 'yet' at the end of that statement, Jase? Huh?"
"Carly!" He had to give the infuriating blonde credit – she was at least managing to keep his mind off his troubles with her borderline-hysterical antics. "Give it a rest, okay? Elizabeth-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Carly interrupted, waving him off. "Trust me, I already got the Miracles of Virgin Muffin lecture from Sonny. What is it with you two and that little Twit?"
"Carly, I'm warning you-"
"Fine, fine," she relented. "Jeez, Jase – touchy. She doesn't walk on water, you know."
The enforcer's blue eyes glittered as he changed the subject. "I told her you said thanks, by the way."
The blonde groaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "In a brief fit of insanity – and with my luck, you probably talked it up, too. Damn, Jason!" She peeked out at him and was met only with his humorless stare. "Fine. Fine, okay? You want to hear me admit it out loud?"
"Yes."
She huffed indignantly. "Fine, Jason – only for you, though. Even Sonny couldn't get me to say this out loud again." Carly had to take a deep breath before she could continue. "She helped save my family, and for that I'm grateful. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to Mama or Lucas."
A thin smile stretched Jason's lips. "Thank you. I'm sure she'd like to hear that."
The blonde stamped one foot against the concrete. "And you're going to tell her, aren't you? Damn you, Jason."
They stood together in silence for a moment before Jason's brows furrowed. "Carly – what are you doing out here anyway?"
She shrugged. "I had a craving for a deep-fried-candy-bar-ice-cream sundae from Kelly's."
Jason didn't even bother trying to decipher any meaning from the string of seemingly unrelated words the blonde had managed to wrangle together in only a somewhat-rational sentence. "I can't believe you and Sonny are still married."
Carly grinned cheekily, but Jason's next words wiped the smile off her face. "And I thought Sonny asked you to be nice to Elizabeth. What happened to that, Carly?"
"You're really going to hold me to that, Jase?" She shook her head with disbelief. "Everyone knows that half the stuff that comes out of Sonny's mouth is meant to be ignored anyway."
"Like 'Carly, go upstairs'?" Jason teased, smirking when she scowled at him.
"You are going to hold me to that, aren't you?" She was answered with a nod. "I don't like it, but okay. If you want me to do that, Jason, I will. Just please don't tell me you're in love with her or anything, and I think we'll be just fine."
She waited but heard only silence, and then her face contorted in horror again. "Jason! That's where you're supposed to tell me you're not in love with her!" Again, only silence. "Oh, damn it, Jason!"
The enforcer watched, amused, as she threw a tantrum right in front of him. "She sucked you in, that little twit, didn't she? She's got you wrapped around her finger just like Robin and now you're already planning to run away with her and it's only a matter of time before she holds you at gunpoint and forces you to put a ring around her finger, and then all of a sudden I've got a bunch of spiky haired little kids calling me 'Aunt Carly'. Oh, way to go, Jase!"
Jason couldn't help it – he grinned. The sudden shift in his mood made Carly stop, and the blonde just watched him for a minute. She hated to admit it, but her best friend looked…happy. And that was good, because no one deserved to be happy more than Jason. And if the little Goody-Goody Muffin Face had a hand in that…oh, sh!t.
"I'll be nice to her, Jase," she whispered softly, inwardly pleased when his eyes shined with gratitude. "To her face, I mean."
He rolled his eyes. "Carly-"
The sound of soft footsteps interrupted him and both the enforcer and the blonde whipped around to stare in the direction that the sound was coming from. "Oh, crap," Carly hissed. "That could be her – then I'll have to be nice to her."
She quickly threw her arms around Jason's neck and pressed a kiss to his cheek, getting a smudge of lipstick on the rough skin. "I love you, Jase, and I want you to be happy. If it's with her, then I guess I'll have to suck it up." Her arms squeezed him tight and Jason hugged her back. "Take care – have fun, wherever you two go. Bye, Jason."
"Bye, Carly," he replied, smiling down at her as she looked at him one last time before taking off.
The footsteps coming from a distance were closer now, and Jason felt his breath hitch in his throat. In a few moments, a slender brunette appeared from behind the lush bushes and he was at ease again.
She stood there, staring at him, and Jason could only stare back. Elizabeth looked different than she did this morning on the jet. She had been tired then, holding herself rigidly as if bracing her body for the events of the day. Now, she looked…content. Her eyes were shining in the sunlight and her hair fluttered easily in the breeze, and she just stared straight into his eyes.
A slow smile crept across her lips and Jason watched as her eyes began to glow. He held out his arms and her smile turned into a grin as she ran for him, launching herself into his embrace. His arms wrapped tightly around her, his broad hand possessively claiming the small of her back and holding him firmly against her as he buried his face in the silky chocolate hair. His stubble rasped against the smooth porcelain of her cheek but she only pressed closer.
He shifted, turning his face, and kissed her cheek, her temple, her ear – every bit of creamy skin within his reach before pulling back and looking squarely into her eyes. "I love you, too," he whispered, remembering the last words she said to him. Those words had been playing over and over in his mind since she had left, and a feeling of tremendous relief flooded through his body at the moment that he was finally able to tell her he felt the same.
Her lashes fluttered and without a word, Elizabeth pressed her lips to his. Their mouths met and fused, lips locking together in a firm embrace. She flowered underneath him, inviting him in and responding beautifully when he plundered her mouth. And Jason took all he wanted from her – for this time she was actually his to kiss, his to want, his to need. His to take. She mewed softly, raking her nails against his scalp as he folded her up in his arms, forcing her to rise up onto her toes to meet him.
When he pulled back, Jason was very satisfied with the result. Her eyes were heavy, the lids half-drooping over the rich, fiery cobalt underneath and her lips were red and bee-stung from the work of his own. Her breathing came in shallow pants as she leaned heavily into his body, her forehead resting against his chin. Jason pressed his lips to her hairline and let his fingers get tangled up in her silky hair.
When he spoke, his voice was rusty and hoarse. "How did it go?"
She looked up at him and there was no missing the tranquil gleam in her content sapphire orbs. "It all went just fine."
Jason pulled her close again, pressing his lips hard against her forehead once more. "Good." He didn't want the details and she didn't offer them; they just stood like that, holding each other, for a long moment.
Her eyes darted around them as she turned her face against his chest. "You knew to come here."
He nodded slowly. "Yeah. You just said I'd know where and…I did."
Jason's intense cerulean eyes followed hers to the black bench and then to the gate that stood a few paces away from them, and he knew she was remembering exactly what he had been thinking of earlier.
She pulled away a little and Jason let her, combing his fingers languidly through her hair as Elizabeth peered up at him. "I want to say that I made a big mistake the last time we were both here," she whispered. Jason's gaze dropped to her eyes and he remained silent. "But I can't. I know that as much as it hurt, I had to do it. I had to stay. I couldn't run away with you and leave them all behind." Jason pursed his lips, closing his eyes as she gently stroked the soft golden hair at his temple. "I'm just so sorry I sacrificed you to do it. That, Jason, was the biggest mistake I ever made."
He pressed her forehead to hers, his eyes still closed, and felt her warm hand on his cheek once more, compelling him to look at her. "That's why I want to do it right this time." That did the trick – Jason's eyes flew open. "Jason, I…I want to leave Port Charles. With you." Her thumb stroked his jaw in a single stroke. "I'll go wherever you want; I just…I just want to be with you, wherever you go."
She expected him to talk her out of it, to say that she was making a rash, impulsive decision and that besides all that, he had to stay in town and spend time with Michael and Carly and do some work for Sonny. Instead, Jason stepped out of her embrace and reached into the breast pocket of his worn leather jacket, his blue eyes twinkling as he extended a white envelope towards her.
Elizabeth could feel her lips twitching into a smile as her fingers closed around the edges of the packet. "What is it?"
The sparkle in his eyes rivaled the brightest gemstones. "Open it."
She undid the clasp and folded the flap of white paper back, tentatively reaching two fingers inside to pull out the contents. Two pieces of paper slid out and her eyes widened upon recognition. Tickets to Italy. One way. Her eyes instantly filled with tears and the neat print on the tickets blurred. Jason's bright eyes dimmed when he saw her shoulders shake on a sob and in one step he had her back in his arms and was rubbing her back soothingly.
"Elizabeth?" She could hear the worry in his voice and it only made her sob again. "What's wrong? Elizabeth, please-"
She stuffed the tickets back in the envelope and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, holding on for dear life and burying her face in the warm cavern of his neck. Still confused, it was all Jason could do to return her embrace with equal strength, anchoring her firmly against him. "Elizabeth-"
"They're perfect," she whispered brokenly. "Perfect."
Relief flooded through him and he rested his chin on top of her soft hair. "I'm just glad you like it."
Her soft fingers cupped his chin after she pulled back. "I love it," she whispered, using her hold to bring him down into another searing kiss. "And I love you."
They were breathing heavily again by the time their lips broke apart, and something suddenly occurred to Jason. He reached for the envelope that held the tickets and backed away a step, running a hand through his wild spikes.
"Jason?"
He gazed directly into her confused eyes. "Like you said – we're going to do it right this time."
Elizabeth could feel new tears prick her eyes when he extended one arm, his palm outstretched and waiting. She had to swallow hard before she lifted her own trembling hand and placed it softly on top of his, letting Jason pull her toward him and press another kiss to her forehead.
"Let's go."
