Ch. 25 Tear It Open

Jason woke with a gasp and found himself lying on the couch in his penthouse. So much for being comfortable. But that wasn't important, what was important was that it was morning. He promised he'd be back to see Courtney in the morning. Quickly as he could, Jason showered and dressed. He was nearly out the door when Carly seemed to appear out of no where.

"You saw Courtney didn't you?" she asked.

"Not now." he stated and tried to walk past her, but was unable to.

"How is she?" Jason sighed at the question. There were so many things to say in response, but for the moment only one word seemed to fit right.

"Hurting."

"What happened? While you were away, I mean." she asked.

"We…talked."

"Talked? Or declared your undying love for each other and admitted what a huge mistake splitting up was?" she questioned anxiously, unable to help the small smile. Though she knew it probably wasn't the most important piece of information she should care about at the time, Carly couldn't help it.

"That isn't the issue right now." he protested.

"Wrong, it's the most important one." she stated. "Jason, Justus told me that Courtney's been unwilling to help herself. She was basically putting the sentence on her own head. She saw no reason to save herself; convinced that no one cared. But, Jason, if she knows there's something to fight for; something as tremendous as love, she will fight to get to it. She would fight with everything she has."

"You're right." he said. "But she knows now that I still love her; that I'll do anything I can for her."

"And that's why you're going to get married as soon as possible." Carly blurted out.

Sonny walked across the wall, his mind was everywhere. His sister was arrested for his brother's murder, his wife was barely looking at him, and he had the paternity test that day. Only a few hours and his life would be decided. He shook his head slightly at the thought and opened the door to his friends home and immediately heard the heated argument taking place.

"…just a bad idea." Jason finished as Sonny walked in.

"But, Jase-"

"Whoa!" Sonny interrupted them. "What's going on? What's a bad idea?"

"Another one of Carly's places." Jason informed, and Sonny only sighed.

"What's this one about?" he asked.

"It's not a crazy plan!" she defended at Jason, ignoring her husband.

"Carly thinks me and Courtney should get married again." he informed, waiting for Sonny's disapproval.

"She's right."

"What?" Jason asked.

"Carly's right." he repeated, casting a glance at his wife, who looked away from his chocolate eyes.

"Sonny, you can't be serious about this."

"Just listen to me, hear me out. On the island, she told you things, yeah?" He asked and Jason nodded. "Things that could be used against her in a trial?"

Once again, the younger man nodded. He knew where was going with this. Jason would most likely be called to testify for and against her. Legally, as her husband, he was excused from the situation of incriminating her.

"I understand, Sonny." he said. "But I doubt she'll go for it. It's too soon."

"Try. Run it by her when you see her, explain the entire situation and reasoning."

Jason nodded, promising to do so. Not that he would mind being married to Courtney once again, in fact it was the one thing that he knew he absolutely wanted. But they had both been through a lot, and he knew that as much as she said she wanted to give them another shot, her wounds weren't healed. Not completely. It didn't seem fair to ask her to chance those pains again. But it wouldn't be like that, he promised himself and her that this time would be different. But were they ready to put his promise to the test?

Ready or not, it was the best option at the moment for him to help her.

She was up. She had been for all but maybe two hours of the night. When she heard the footsteps, she was sure it was Jason making good on his promise. But when Courtney looked, she saw the last person in the world she expected, much less wanted, to see.

"You."