Disclaimer: I don't own General Hospital or its characters.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the feedback I really appreciate it! Again, in this chapter I'm going to use some actual dialogue from the show, and I got the transcripts from Journey Online

A lot of this chapter sets things up for upcoming chapters, so pay attention, lol… even the littlest details will come into play later on. Anyways, let me know what you think!

Love, Daisies, and Troubadours – Chapter 4

Jason was sitting at his desk, looking over some payroll spreadsheets from one of the casinos and trying to figure out who was embezzling money from the company when he heard the unmistakable less-than-dulcet tones of his best friend coming from the hallway. Sure enough, not 5 seconds passed before the door opened and she came into the living room.

"Hey Jase, is Courtney around?"

"No." Jason shook his head and looked up from the desk. "She moved into her new place yesterday, but I think she's at Kelly's until 3 if you want to talk to her."

"That's okay, it wasn't anything important." Carly sat down on the couch. "So what's going on?"

"I'm working," Jason said, looking back down at the papers.

"Casino stuff?"

"Yes." He hoped she knew at least how important his work was, and would leave, but no such luck on his part. Carly was bored and had nothing else to do.

"Yeah, Sonny mentioned that the other day." She stared at Jason until he looked up and over at her.

"Was there something else?" he asked pointedly.

"Yeah, actually. How are things going?" she asked casually.

"Things are fine."

"Just fine?"

"What kind of things are you talking about?"

Carly shrugged. "I don't know. How are things going with Courtney?"

"I'm sure Courtney keeps you filled in.".

"She does for the most part," Carly agreed.

"Right." Jason sighed and set his papers down so he could turn and face Carly completely. "Spit it out Carly, what's going on?"

"Well, you care for Courtney a lot, don't you? I mean, obviously you do, because you're trying to keep this all from Sonny and I mean, I've seen the way you look at her, and yeah, you care about her right?"

"Yeah, I do," Jason admitted. "But why are you asking? Does Courtney think I don't or something?" He wished Carly would just get to the point.

"It's just, well, she told me about the other night when she made you dinner, and then what happened last night when you helped her move into her new place."

"What do you mean, what happened last night?" Jason tried to think of anything that happened the night before and couldn't come up with anything. "I helped her unpack all of her stuff, made sure she was settled, and then I came home."

"Exactly." Carly stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Look, if you think Courtney's not ready to sleep with you, or anything like that, trust me, she is."

"What?" Jason was taken aback by the turn their talk had taken. "Carly, look—"

"No, it's just that, you know, Courtney really cares about you too," Carly rushed on. "And she might be a little confused by the signals you're sending her, and then I thought, well, maybe you're the one that's confused, so that's why I'm saying, if you think she isn't ready, or doesn't want to sleep with you, well, that's just not the case."

Jason stared at her as she caught her breath. "Does Courtney know you're here?" he asked finally.

"No, absolutely not, she'd be mortified if she knew I was talking to you."

"Then why are you?"

"Because I'm your best friend," Carly said plainly.

"So what are you hoping to accomplish here? Are you trying to let me know that Courtney's ready to move forward, because you know what, I'm the one in the relationship with her; I know that already, I just think it's a little too soon for that. We really haven't even been together a week and I don't want to rush things." Jason's brain was telling him to stop talking about this but he didn't listen, and sure enough, Carly pounced on him.

"No, Jason, I am trying to let you know that, you know, you can love a girl and actually sleep with her. You don't have to prove your devotion to her by not touching her. Actually, if you shut Courtney out, I think that she might get her feelings hurt, and I know you don't want to do that, so I'm trying to give you a little help, a little advice. So, you know, some girls they actually like it if a guy puts out." She leaned back and then saw the look on his face. "What?"

"Are you drunk?"

"Jason!"

"Are you?"

Carly sighed dramatically and stretched out a slender arm and bent it to touch her nose. "See, I can touch my nose, and jeez, it's only eleven in the morning." She saw he was still looking at her suspiciously. "Would you like me to walk a straight line for you? I'm not drunk!"

"What other reason could you possibly have for saying that?" Jason shook his head. "You're really close to crossing a line here, and you don't want to do that."

"Sorry." Carly held her hands up. "Jason, I get what you're saying, and I think its great that you want to make things work with Courtney. Just remember, you might only have been together a few days, but you already know her a lot better than her own husband did. Maybe you shouldn't waste any more time." She stood up and smiled. "I'll let you get back to work I've got some stuff I could be doing anyways. Oh hey, remember that my club's opening in two weeks. I expect you to be there."

"I will be," Jason promised. He couldn't help but laugh as Carly shook her head at him and walked out the door to her own place.

After a few minutes of reading the same line over and over, Jason finally pushed the papers aside and leaned back in his chair. She may be abrasive, but Carly definitely had her way of getting a point across.

And now he couldn't think of anything but Courtney, and he couldn't help but wonder if Carly had a point.

Flashback:

"That's the last box," Courtney said, throwing herself down on the sofa. "I think we did a pretty good job, don't you?"

Jason nodded and sat down next to her. "Not bad," he agreed, looking around. "Court, there's still that whole pile of boxed to unpack," he said as he pointed over to the corner.

She shook her head. "That's just little stuff I don't know what I want to do with yet," she said. "I can finish it later, I'm so tired." She yawned, to demonstrate her point.

"Yeah it is getting a little late," Jason said as he glanced at the newly hung wall clock. He looked back at the disheveled blonde next to him. "Are you going to be okay tonight? I mean, it's been awhile since you've been alone at night, if you want, I can stay and—"

"I'll be fine," Courtney assured him. She stretched and yawned again. "I'm so tired, I'm just going to take a quick shower and go straight to bed."

"Are you sure?" Jason asked.

Courtney laughed. "Jason, I'll be okay," she insisted. "If you want to stay, then that would be great, but I don't need you to, I've got Rosie to keep me company and besides, I don't have the guest bedroom set up yet and I know how uncomfortable it is sleeping on that couch, I still can't believe you did it for that whole time."

End Flashback.

Jason sighed. Had her tone of voice been sarcastic? Was he supposed to have stayed with her last night and since he hadn't was she mad at him this morning? Maybe she had told Carly that and that's why Carly had paid her little visit.

No, Jason decided, Carly definitely would have said if Courtney was mad or not.

He sighed again and shook his head to clear his thoughts. All of this would have to wait, he realized as he looked at his watch. It was almost noon and he had to take a trip into Atlantic City to check out a few of the office managers at the Golden Towers Casino. He decided that he would go see Courtney as soon as he got in back to town.

Apparently, they had a few of things to discuss. Well, one pretty big thing in any case.

It had been a quiet evening for Courtney, she had gotten home from work, finished unpacking and hung some pictures and after dinner she had curled up on the sofa and read quietly. She knew Jason was out of town on business and wasn't sure when he'd be back.

The fact that she wasn't completely sure what sort of business he was doing bothered her more than she liked to admit. She wasn't an idiot, she grew up in Atlantic City, she knew what mobsters did, but she just couldn't see Jason or her brother for that matter, doing any of those things. She had a million questions and while she wanted to ask them, she knew just how useless that would be. Jason had practically shut down the other night when she had asked him about what supplies they ran through the docks.

Sonny and Jason didn't handle drugs, did they? She chewed on her lower lip as her eyes roamed from the book over to the window, and she stared out at the moon as more questions formed quickly in her head.

Mobsters killed people. She knew Jason was Sonny's right-hand man, did that mean he was the one that did that? She shuddered as she tried to focus on her book again.

As much as she wanted to ask these questions, she didn't want to know the answers.

A few minutes later she was startled out of the silence by a knock on the door. "Just a second," she called, uncurling her legs and standing up. "Jason, hi!" she said when she opened the door. "I thought you were in Atlantic City."

"I was, I didn't have to stay for very long." As soon as he had gotten there, Jason realized who was the one embezzling and it was going to be more of a problem than he and Sonny had anticipated so he had decided to come back home and wait until they could form a plan before taking care of the employer.

"Well come on in." She closed the door behind him. "What brings you buy so late?"

He shrugged. "Well, I just got back, and was walking by and saw that your lights were on so I figured I'd stop by and see you. I'm sorry if I woke you," he said, seeing the afghan lying on the sofa where she left it.

"Oh no," she said, kissing him quickly. "I was just reading." She smiled. "I'm happy you came though," she added. "I had forgotten how quiet and lonely it is living by myself."

"I know what you mean." They sat down and this time he was the one to kiss her.

"So how was Atlantic City?" she asked, settling back against the cushions.

"Busy," he replied. "It's good to see the casino making such a great profit." Even if half of it was being stolen, he added silently.

"Did you do whatever it was you had to do?"

"I was only there to check up on things," Jason hated lying, but he didn't know what else to do. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good," she answered. "Carly was in the diner around nine, and pumping me for details about us," she said with a laugh. Jason rolled his eyes remembering how Carly had showed up looking for Courtney in the first place this morning. He loved her to death, but she really needed to stop manipulating things.

"Yeah, she tried the same thing with me," he said casually. "I didn't bite though, and she got frustrated and left me alone finally."

Courtney laughed. "I need to learn how to do that," she said.

"You will," he promised. "So, what are you reading?" he asked, leaning over to pick up her discarded book. "Of Mice and Men," he said, tapping the cover. "I've got this."

"Actually, this is yours," she said. "I found it on the bookshelf and had never read it, so I was reading it at night, and I guess it got put with my stuff when I packed."

"What do you think so far?" he asked, opening it to the page she had book-marked and pulling her against him.

"I like it," Courtney said, resting her head on his chest. "Some of it is a little confusing, but I really like it."

"Yeah, its one of my favorites," Jason said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. He flipped through the pages, looking for something specific. "I read this book right after the car accident, and there was this one part... Here it is." He pointed to a passage on the page and began reading.

"If I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an no trouble. No mess at all, and when the end of the month come I could take my fifty bucks and go into town and get whatever I want" He tapped the page with his index finger. "That's when I left the Quartermaines' and decided to start my life over."

"Is that when you started working for Sonny?" she asked quietly. She felt him nod his head. "Are you happier now than you think you would have been?"

"Yeah, I am." He lifted her head up so he could reach her mouth with his. Soon, the book was forgotten and the two of them were stretched out, entwined on the couch.

"Will you stay the night?" Courtney asked awhile later. Jason opened his eyes and looked down to see her big hopeful eyes staring back at him. He swallowed and was surprised to find the next words coming from his mouth.

"I can't," he said, running his hand up and down her back.

"Oh." He saw the look of hurt and disappointment flash through her eyes before she could hide it.

He sighed. "Courtney, it's not that I don't want to," he began. "I just don't think it would be right yet."

"I don't understand."

He took a deep breath. He was about to have an in-depth conversation about his feelings, something he never did, and was surprised to find that he didn't mind.

"I like you Courtney, I like you a lot," he said. "More than I should probably, and well, I don't have a lot of experience with these kinds of things. I've never really been good at relationships. I always seem to screw them up. And I don't want to do that this time."

"Jase—"

"No, let me finish," he interrupted gently. "I know we just started this, but I think we both want the same thing, for this to work out. And I just don't think that rushing into anything would be a great idea right now. We've got a lot to deal with as it is, Sonny, for example. And I think we should wait until we don't have to hide things from everyone before we move any further." He watched her carefully, trying to read the expression on her face. "You don't agree?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No, you're right," she said softly. She smiled. "You're right about everything, and if this is going to go any farther, we do need to tell my brother."

"He's not going to like it," Jason said, thinking back to several conversations he had had with Sonny regarding Courtney.

"I know." Courtney sighed. "I think we should wait until Carly's club is opened," she said. "Sonny's probably going to be angry and I don't want anything to happen that will cause tension with Carly before that."

"You're right," Jason said. "But after the club's open, we need to tell him."

"Absolutely." She reached over and picked up the discarded book. "So how many times have you read this?" she asked.

"A few," he replied.

She laughed softly. "I think I've read my favorite book close to a hundred times," she said. "I've had to buy 4 different copies of it, they always fell apart from being handled too much."

"What book was it?" he asked.

"Little Women," she said with a smile. "My mom would read it to me when I was little, and as soon as I could read, it was the first one I read on my own. I've never gotten tired of it."

"Little Women," he repeated. "Which character did you like the best?"

She smiled again. "Meg, the oldest," she answered. "I always wanted to be her, she was the good daughter, the pretty one, the one that did everything expected of her, she was going to be the perfect little housewife, and despite what everyone wanted, she managed to marry for love, and not money."

"Meg was kind of prissy though," Jason said with a laugh. "I think I see you more like Jo actually."

"You've read it?" she asked, lifting her head off his chest again in surprise.

"I've read a lot of things," he said casually. "But yes, you remind me of the other sister, Jo. She was a little more temperamental sure, but she put everyone else's happiness before her own, and still managed to have the perfect life she always wanted."

"I guess I never thought of it that way," she said. She sighed. "I don't remember where I packed that book, I hope it didn't get lost in the moving."

"You'll find it," he said. "But until then, you've got to finish reading this one," Jason said, gesturing to the book she still held in her hands.

"You're right." She rested her head on his chest, suddenly feeling sleepy. "Why don't you read some of it to me?" she suggested, trying to stifle her yawn.

"Sure." He took the book from her hands and opened it back up to her bookmark. He held the book in one hand and stroked her hair with the other.

"A guy sets alone out here at night, maybe readin' books or thinkin' or stuff like that," he recited in his low tone. He smiled to himself as Courtney snuggled closer and sighed contentedly. He knew she'd be asleep soon but kept reading. "Sometimes he gets thinkin', an' he got nothing to tell him what's so an' what ain't so. Maybe if he sees somethin', he don't know whether it's right or not. He can't turn to some other guy and ast him if he sees it too. He can't tell. He got nothing to measure by. I seen things out here. I wasn't drunk. I don't know if I was asleep. If some guy was with me, he could tell me I was asleep, an' then it would be all right. But I jus' don't know."

He stopped for a moment and listened to her light breathing. Craning his neck to look down at her he saw that sure enough, she was sound asleep. Instead of waking her, he set the book down on the table and grabbed the afghan that had ended up on the floor and pulled it over the two of them. He listened to her breathing still, and found that soon they were breathing in tandem, and that he could feel her heart beating in rhythm with his. He closed his eyes and lay there, completely taken with her until he too, fell asleep.

A.N/2: John Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men and Lousia May Alcott wrote Little Women. Any quotes or characters mentioned belong to them and not me!