Chapter One:

August 2004

The day Courtney had been dreading finally arrived. It was time for Jason to leave Port Charles and head to school. She missed him already even though they hadn't even parted yet. At the moment, they were standing in Jason's room as he checked around making sure that everything he wanted was in the suitcases downstairs. As far as Courtney was concerned, the room looked radically different since it now lacked most of Jason's belongings; granted the furniture and some other effects were still there, but almost all of his personal effects had been removed.

Thinking about the status of Jason's room was too much for Courtney, as it was a reminder that in a few minutes the man she loved was going to be leaving for months. Instead she decided to focus on her memories of the past twenty four hours. Ever since the previous morning, she and Jason had been joined at the hip; although they had had to spend some time with their friends, Jason's mother, and his father's family, they spent as much time as possible by themselves, talking, kissing, cuddling, making love, just being together as boyfriend and girlfriend. They went out to the alcove on the beach where they had first given themselves to each other and spent hours together. No one had ever interrupted them there and they weren't sure that anyone else even knew it existed. Then suddenly the reason they had spent so much time together pushed its way to the front of Courtney's brain. Jason was leaving. She had to struggle to keep hold back the tears. The last thing she wanted was for him to feel guilty that his leaving was doing this to her; if he did, she doubted that he would be able to enjoy college knowing that she was miserable, and she wouldn't be able to live with herself for doing that to him.

When Jason was sure that everything he needed or wanted for college was downstairs, he turned to Courtney and asked, "You ready to go downstairs?"

"Yeah," Courtney said weakly. Every fiber in her being was screaming no. All she wanted was to spend a little more time with him but keeping him up in his room with her seemed selfish.

In his heart he had hoped that she would say no. The sooner they went downstairs, the sooner they would have to say goodbye, and as excited as he was about going to Boston and Harvard, he didn't want to leave her. Shortly after he and his mother first moved into the house they were currently standing in because of his parents' divorce, he met Courtney on the elementary school playground and fell in love for the first and only time. Ever since then they hadn't been apart for more than the eight weeks they spent at different overnight camps. After they started dating, they hadn't been apart for more than two weeks and that was three years ago. He knew he couldn't last for months on end without being able to touch her. Silently, Jason vowed that he would make as many weekend trips back to Port Charles as possible.

After answering Jason's question, Courtney started heading towards the door. Unaware that after hearing her words, Jason had taken a seat at the foot of the bed, she expected him to follow. She was startled when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waste and pull her back towards the bed. As she fell into Jason, she let out a half scream half giggle. Before she had the chance to compose herself, Jason's lips were on the back of her neck. Courtney pulled away and turned around so that she was facing Jason. She brought her lips to his, and soon the couple was making out. After a few minutes they heard a knock on the door and regretfully pulled apart.

"It's open," Jason said with a hint of irritation in his voice. He would have much rather been kissing Courtney than talking to someone on the other side of the door, which opened to reveal his mother.

"I was wondering if everything you're bringing was downstairs?" she asked.

"That depends," was Jason's response. When both women gave him a confused look he continued, "On whether or not I can bring Courtney."

"I think Courtney's parents would object," his mother replied.

The couple silently followed Jason's mother down the stairs while holding hands. When they reached the kitchen, they sorrowfully let each other go and joined Jason's family and step-family in loading the suitcases and boxes into the back of Jason's mother's black SUV. When the loading was done, Jason went to say goodbye to everyone who wasn't going to drop him off. He hugged his step-mother, Emily, and his ten-year-old half brother Billy before turning his attention to Courtney.

Aside from the fact that he loved her, there was no rhyme or reason to it, but he wanted his and Courtney's goodbye to be more private than the rest. He took her hand and led her to a secluded spot in the yard. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tighter than ever before while kissing her. After several minutes, he removed his lips from hers so that he could speak.

"I don't want to leave you," he said. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'm going to miss you too," she said. "I'm going to miss you because I love you."

"Not as much I love you," he responded.

"I doubt it," she retorted as a small smile formed on her lips. They always seemed to be declaring their love like this.

"I'll call you tonight," Jason's voice brought Courtney back to reality.

"You better," she managed to get out before Jason's lips were on hers. They kissed a few more times before heading back to everyone else. Jason hugged Courtney one last time before getting into the car with oddly enough both of his parents.

Courtney couldn't help but stare at the car as it pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street, fully aware of the fact that her heart was in it. As the car rounded a corner and escaped from view, Courtney stopped trying to hold back the tears. Emily wrapped an arm around her best friend in an attempt to comfort her. What Courtney didn't know was that the entire time she was staring at the car, Jason was looking through one of its windows staring at her, attempting to catch every last glimpse of her he possibly could, and fully aware of the fact that he was leaving his heart in Port Charles with her.