Love, Daisies, and Troubadours -- Chapter 8
"You'll be free to go as soon as the paperwork is done," Alexis said, entering the room Jason was being held in. "There were enough eyewitnesses to support that you came into the room after the shooting began, you didn't start it."
Jason nodded. "And Sonny?" he asked.
"Sonny is being released as well. He gave the names of the gunmen to the authorities. He'll be in here shortly, and you two will be able to leave within the next hour. Is there anything else I can do?"
"No." Jason shook his head. "Thanks," he said, lifting his eyes to meet Alexis' briefly.
"You're welcome. Oh, and don't think I won't be filing a complaint against the PCPD for bringing you here instead of the hospital." Alexis half-smiled before leaving the room again.
Jason sighed and rested his hand in his heads. His arm was hurting, but the pain was tolerable. Luckily the bullet had only grazed his upper arm so no real damage had been done.
Unless he counted Sonny actually seeing him and Courtney together, which in his opinion would cause a lot more damage than a bullet ever could.
The door opened again, but Jason didn't need to look up to tell who it was. "Alexis says it'll be about an hour," he said.
"You want to explain what I saw tonight?" Sonny demanded.
"No," Jason answered honestly, shaking his head to further emphasize. He didn't think right now was the best time to get into this, not while they were being held at the PCPD and not while he was nursing a gunshot wound, no matter how slight it was.
"No?" Sonny echoed. "I don't think no is going to work this time. I want to know what exactly went through your head how did you think it would be okay to sleep with my sister?"
"We're not sleeping together."
Sonny shook his head. "You know better than this Jason," he said as he began pacing. "I told you I didn't want Courtney becoming a part of this lifestyle, I didn't want the ugliness to reach her. I told you all of this and you agreed with me! You offered to help me convince her to leave town for school and—"
"I never offered," Jason protested, rising from his own chair. "You told me that I would help you. You're the one that started this Sonny. You're the one that made me guard her at the Oasis, made me spend all of my time with her. You're the one responsible for me falling in love with her!"
"Love!" Sonny shook his head angrily. "When are you going to love her the most Jason? When she's being held hostage as ransom by our enemies? Or when you're lying in a hospital bed after being shot?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Jason said as he shook his own head. Sonny's voice kept rising with his anger, but Jason managed to keep his tone low and even. "You and Carly make things work just fine. There's no reason I couldn't, no reason I shouldn't try to make things work with Courtney."
"Courtney isn't Carly!"
Carly and Courtney arrived at the police station and from where they were standing, they could see into the interrogation room. While they couldn't hear anything, they could both tell from their movements that it wasn't exactly a pleasant conversation.
"They can't do this, I'm going in there," Courtney said. She was surprised when Carly grabbed her hand and held her back. "Carly, we can't just sit here and let the-"
"Just give them a minute," Carly reasoned. "Let them work some of this out on their own, and we'll step in if it gets out of hand. Right now though, they need to do this themselves." She offered the blonde a comforting smile as she slipped an arm around her waist and leaned her head against hers as they watched the two men argue.
"Exactly. Courtney is a hell of a lot more levelheaded than Carly. She won't get in the way, and she's not stupid enough to try and get in the way of business like Carly seems to do whenever she feels like it."
"Look around Jason," Sonny said, switching tactics. "We're at the PCPD because we were shot at because of what we do. Do you really want Courtney to be a part of that? Do you want her to spend days, weeks, months, the rest of her life worrying and looking over her shoulder because she's afraid it'll happen again?"
"That's going to happen no matter what Sonny!" Jason sighed. "Courtney's already become a target because she's your sister. Jackson Parelli already made that clear, and he had no idea that she anything but your sister."
"How long has this been going on?" Sonny asked.
"I am not going to discuss Courtney with you anymore," Jason said. He couldn't let Sonny see that he was getting to him. That maybe he was right and letting Courtney go would be the best thing for everybody involved. He opened the door to leave the room.
"Fine, we don't have to discuss it." Sonny's voice bellowed throughout the department as he followed Jason out into the main area. "But I will tell you for damn sure that I will do everything I can to make sure you never see my sister again!"
"Sonny enough!" Both men looked up at the voice and were surprised to see Carly and Courtney standing there.
"Courtney, I thought I asked you and Carly to go home," Jason said before she cut him off.
"You were shot, and both of you were brought here in handcuffs and you expected me to go home and wait patiently by the phone?" Courtney became visibly upset as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I couldn't do that, I needed to make sure you were okay."
"You hear that Jason? Yeah, she's real different than Carly, isn't she?" Sonny asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Carly asked, whirling to face her husband.
"I told you, I'm not discussing this anymore tonight!" Jason said.
"You don't have to," Sonny said. "You don't have to talk about it ever again." He turned and faced Courtney. "You however," he said pointing a finger at her. "You are going home and packing your things because I'm sending you and Carly to the island for a few days until things calm down and then." He paused to take a deep breath. "You are leaving Port Charles. I'm arranging for you to enroll in college in California."
"Excuse me?" Courtney stared at him in disbelief. "You're not seriously banishing me from Port Charles."
"You're damn right I am! Courtney, it's too dangerous for you to be here. What happened tonight is just a glimpse into what my life is like, and I should have done this as soon as you came to town. I will not forgive myself if anything happens to you." He softened his voice. "Court please, just trust me. This is for the best."
"The best," she repeated. She folded her arms across her chest and stared at him defiantly. "I'm not leaving town."
"You don't have a choice!" Sonny's voice roared again. "Courtney, not only are you not safe here, but by you being here, you're jeopardizing not only my job, but Jason's as well!"
"Oh come on Sonny, that's low," Carly spoke up, seeing the look on Courtney's face. The girl couldn't hide her feelings very well, and right now she looked absolutely crushed so Carly felt the need to step in for her.
"You stay out of this," Sonny ordered, looking at Carly. "Did you know about this? Of course you did. You probably helped them be together instead of doing what you should have and pushed them apart. "
"Okay, enough!" Carly snapped. "I get that you're really stressed out tonight, I do. Who wouldn't be after being shot at or whatever, but do not for one second think that that means you can talk to me like that! I won't accept it and further more, I won't listen to it. Now either you calm the hell down so we can discuss this rationally like adults or I'm leaving and you can find your own way home because I'm not going to stand here and watch you power trip everyone."
"Carly, take Courtney, go home and pack your bags. You're both leaving for the island in four hours," Sonny said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not going anywhere!" Courtney protested. "Sonny, you might be able to tell all of your men what to do, but you're not the boss of me, and you will not force me to go anywhere!"
"How do you think I know you want to go to school out of state?" Sonny asked icily. "How could I possibly know that you've dreamt of going to college ever since you graduated high school or what courses you'd like to study?" He paused, watching satisfactorily as Courtney looked at Jason, who couldn't look her in the eye. "Why do you think that conversation even came up in the first place?" He asked, watching her face fall further.
"Jason?" She waited for him to look at her, but he wouldn't.
"That's right. I'm not the only one who thinks it would be better for you to leave town Courtney," Sonny went on as he kept an eye on the two figures standing in front of him.
"Jason look at me," she commanded quietly. She stepped closer and grabbed his chin with her hand and forced him to meet her gaze.
"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "Sonny asked me to find out what you thought about school."
She shook her head as she backed away. "Do you only do what Sonny asks you to?" she asked. "Did he also ask you to pretend to care about me this entire time? I mean, this all started because he asked you to watch me while I worked at the club, has this all been some plan of Sonny's so that he could ultimately get rid of me?"
"Courtney, no, that's not it," Jason said. He reached for her but she slapped his hand away. "Please, just—"
"No," she said with a shake of her head. She swallowed hard and ignored the tears that stung her eyes. "You could have told me what Sonny wanted, and you didn't. How can I be so sure it was just that one conversation? We've had so many where I've spilled my soul to you, I've told you things I'd never tell anyone else. How can I be sure now that you weren't running back to Sonny to tell him everything?"
"I wasn't," he said honestly. "Court-"
"No," she repeated. She turned and faced Sonny. "Do you know the only reason I came to town in the first place was so that I could meet you? You, the big brother I always dreamed of having and then one day found out I actually had. I wanted you to be proud of me, to love me, to let me become a part of your family, but from the moment I came into your life, you've been trying to come up with ways to get rid of me." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again.
"You want me gone? Fine. I'll make it easy on you. I'm gone." She turned on her heel and walked out of the police department without looking at either man again.
"Great Sonny." Carly threw her hands up in the air as she glared at her husband. "Now she's taking off for God knows where and she's angry at the both of you, so that makes her a great target now."
Carly was right. Courtney was primed for anyone to just grab her off the streets now and they still weren't sure where Parelli or his men were for the night.
"Go find her," Sonny said. "Explain to her that I need you to at the island until things are taken care of here. Tell her that after that, she can do whatever she wants."
"Including staying Port Charles?" Carly asked, her eyebrow raised suspiciously.
"Except that," Sonny said.
Carly shot an apologetic look at Jason before turning to Sonny again. "I really hope you're happy," she said with a shake of her head. "You better hope I can find her and that she'll listen to me." She shook her head again and left the station herself, not sure of where she was going to find Courtney, or where even to look for her.
It was at this moment that Scott Baldwin walked up to them with a smirk on his face. "You two are free to go now," he said handing them some paperwork. "And thanks for the show, my men really enjoyed watching your lives played out like that."
Sonny eyed Jason as they walked silently out of the building. "It's best that she leaves," he said finally. "You know it as well as I do, and once you start thinking with your head again instead of your heart, you'll realize that I'm right. That she'll be better off away from us."
Jason stared at him wordlessly before shaking his head and walking away. He was right, under any other circumstances he would wholeheartedly agree with Sonny on this.
The only problem was, this was the first time he had ever thought with his heart first. He sighed, reaching for his cell phone to see if Carly had found Courtney yet. If not, he would comb the street of Port Charles himself trying to find her. Sonny may have had a few good points in his rant, but Jason wasn't hearing it. This was the first time he ever allowed anything but common sense and logic run his life and he wasn't about to let reason back in, not if it was only going to ruin everything that had been brought into his life. Now that he knew what he had been missing out on, he wasn't going to lose any of it, especially Courtney.