Carly ran her tongue over her lips and took a deep breath. She was slightly shocked that Jason would want to hear anything about Sonny and Elizabeth but she knew living in the sleepy town of Port Charles word would get back to him eventually. It would be easier to hear things from a best friend than a stranger.

So with his eyes trained on his son, Carly began to tell the story of Elizabeth Webber and Sonny Corinthos.

"She was so angry when you left, well I don't know if angry is the right word, she was something when you left," she said, barely noticing the small wince that flashed across Jason's face before it quickly disappeared. "She came banging on the penthouse door at the ungodly hour of nine a.m. demanding to know what Sonny did with you. Needless to say we were all shocked that you had disappeared," she ended quietly.

Jason just continued to look on, watching as JJ tried unsuccessfully to make a grab at the monkey bars. With a puffed out lower lip, his son stamped away from the metal contraption and took interest in a wooden sandbox a few feet from the slide.

Carly couldn't tell if her words were having any affect on him so she just continued to ramble on.

"She made it clear that morning that she hated Sonny," Carly said, "That she wanted nothing to do with this life or this world and that she never wanted to speak to him again. I knew Sonny took it hard, he acted like he didn't but I knew he did. For some reason he always took care of that little twit, always thought she needed special handling, always…"

Carly noticed that Jason was looking at her, his eyes stating more than his lips. He didn't want to hear her complain about Elizabeth, he wanted to know about his onetime lover and best friend. She took another deep breath and pushed her hatred aside so she could continue.

"I came home one day and Elizabeth was on the couch, it looked like she had been crying," Carly said. "I asked what she was doing here and Sonny came out of the kitchen with a glass of milk explaining that she was here for a visit. This was about two and a half months after you left. I had no idea they were on speaking terms again, let alone visiting each other. Of course I demanded that she leave, Sonny wanted her to stay and that started another argument with Elizabeth slipping out before either of us realized it. She must've tracked my schedule down after that because I didn't see her for another month and a half which meant that her and Sonny were meeting in secret," she sighed as she ran her hands over her face, "Next thing I know she's got her suitcases and is moving in, art boxes and all," Carly scoffed, "And Sonny didn't bother to notify me."

The right side of Jason's mouth curved upwards as he looked at Carly, "You wouldn't have agreed."

"Damn straight!" Carly said, "That was my home, what right did she have…"

"She was pregnant and I'm sure Sonny was looking out for her," Jason said quietly.

"He should've called you as soon as he found out," she said placing her arm on his shoulder, "He should've never stepped into the role of father to that boy, Jason. I asked him repeatedly what was going on, for weeks he just kept saying that Elizabeth was sick and that she needed help. The girl was five months pregnant before her stomach popped out," she grumbled, "stupid twit."

Jason rolled his eyes and sighed. Leave it to Carly to find a reason to be mad at Elizabeth even while she was pregnant. He couldn't really blame her though. Sonny did move the woman in without word. Although knowing Carly she probably saw it coming and fought him the entire way.

"I assumed it was his baby, Jase," Carly said quietly, "So I gave him an ultimatum."

Jason looked over at her startled, his eyes flashing away from JJ for a second before turning back to his son, "Carly, no."

Carly nodded, even though Jason's eyes weren't on her. She knew he could tell what she was thinking, even before she did, "I couldn't handle it Jase. I asked him, I begged him to tell me that the baby Liz was carrying was not his and he didn't say a word."

Her hands started to sweat as she rubbed them on her jeans, "Not a damn word."

"I'm asking you Sonny for the last time," Carly seethed, "Tell me that is not your child. Tell me that you didn't move this tramp into our house, start having an affair with her under our roof and knock her up."

"Hey!" Sonny exclaimed, "You have no right…"

"I have every right," Carly said as she tried to fight back the tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Sonny and Elizabeth, she didn't want to give them that much. "You moved her into my home without so much as a clue."

"Carly…"

"Tell me the baby isn't yours," Carly said in a shaky voice, "Tell me the bastard isn't yours. Tell me!"

Sonny didn't say anything, just rubbed his hand on the side of his face as Elizabeth stood behind him, pale, with one hand protectively rubbing her stomach.

He wasn't sure how he got into this mess, wasn't sure how a tiny gesture turned into something this big but he was here and he had to deal with it.

"I hate you," Carly murmured as she glared at Elizabeth. The young woman felt as if she were burning on the spot.

"And you…" Carly said as she turned to Sonny. She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.

That was when Elizabeth had enough.

"Johnny, get in here!"

She would've handled Carly herself, taken the woman who thought she knew it all down a peg but her baby was her top priority, so for the time being, Johnny had to step in and take care of things. The bodyguard opened the door, waiting for word from any one of the occupants in the room.

Sonny moved away from his wife, Carly's eyes followed him and Elizabeth stepped forward.

"You made your point, you packed your bags, your throwing everything that Sonny has ever given you in his face," Elizabeth said quietly, "Get out."

"Don't you dare…"

"Get out!"

Johnny picked up Carly's suitcase with one hand and grabbed her elbow with his palm, ushering her out of the penthouse as quietly as she would go. A few curses were shouted on the way out and even when the door was closed behind her but Elizabeth only concentrated on one thing; Sonny.

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug, "I'm so sorry. Sonny you didn't have to…"

"You told me this was just between you and me," he said quietly against her ear before he pulled away from her, "If Carly knew, Jason would know too."

Jason felt a tug in his heart for the way Carly was thrown out of her own house. He knew that Johnny must've been torn too. The bodyguard was taught to protect Carly and Elizabeth at all costs. He wondered when the man decided that Elizabeth the mistress came before Carly the wife.

"I tried to avoid them after that," Carly said as she wiped at the tears that were now damp upon her cheeks, "Sonny came over to see Michael and once in a while I saw Elizabeth helping out at Kelly's but I never saw them together, not until a year later at the nurses ball but even then…"

She hesitated, unsure whether or not to present Jason with this little bit of info.

Jason looked at her, his eyes intense and penetrating, "Why stop now, Carly?"

She swallowed and nodded, "Even at the nurse's ball it still seemed as if they were hiding things, like they didn't want anyone to know they were together. It was almost a year ago when I saw them out on a date and I blasted them for it. At the No Name no less."

To Jason it sounded like Elizabeth did have to hide her relationship with Sonny. He had memorized almost everything she had said the night of the viewing, felt the hatred and anger in her heart. She didn't lie when she stated that she hid things, felt guilty about them. Obviously her and Sonny were together before Carly moved out, she was indeed his true mistress.

He just didn't understand why. The Elizabeth he knew would never do that to a person's marriage, she would never hide things from people or deny a relationship that she truly wanted. The Elizabeth he knew also wouldn't keep something from him.

Something like a child.

He stood up abruptly and looked down at Carly, "Thank you, thank you for telling me what I needed to know. I think it's time that I brought JJ back home. Elizabeth hasn't seen him very much in the past few days."

"It's amazing to me that you still care for her," Carly said standing up next to him, "After all that she had done to you."

Jason sighed as he ran his hand through his spikes, "Why should it be so amazing, Carly? You're still in love with Sonny."

"Thank you, this is the best meal I've had in weeks," Johnny said standing up from the table and buttoning his suit coat.

"That's because I didn't cook it," Elizabeth smiled, "Sonny always made sure there were plenty of leftovers and I didn't want them to go bad."

"Your great at microwaving then," Johnny said, "I have to get back to my post."

"I don't see what the rush is," Elizabeth said.

"Liz," Johnny said as he placed his hand on her shoulders, "If Jason came home and found me…"

"Uncle Johnny!" JJ made a beeline for the large guard and reached up for him with two chubby arms. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Hey kiddo," Johnny smiled as he bent down and picked up the little boy, "How was school today?"

"I learned to count to twenty!" JJ proclaimed and started his counting all over again.

Elizabeth moved away from Johnny and saw Jason standing in the doorway, his hand like a vise on the doorknob, "How was the park?"

"It was fine," Jason said. "What's going on?"

"I invited Johnny in for dinner," Elizabeth said. "I usually do when I'm by myself. JJ loves having dinner with Uncle Johnny."

"Yup," JJ said reaching for his mother.

Elizabeth eagerly took her son in her arms and held him tightly, kissing his slightly curly brown hair, "Mommy missed you. Can you count to twenty for me while I get you some spaghetti-o's?"

"Yeah!" JJ exclaimed. "1, 2, 3. 4…"

"Out like a light," Elizabeth smiled as she closed her son's door halfway, "You must've worn him out at the park."

She headed downstairs to finish doing the dishes that they used for dinner. Something felt so right about sitting down and having a meal with Jason and her son. Something she was starting to wish she did three years ago.

She shook her head and stopped herself from going there. She couldn't change the past and she didn't regret a moment of her life with Sonny. She had to start over with Jason where his son was concerned, let him be the father she knew he could be.

"I didn't get to play with him much at the park," Jason said stopping at the bottom of the stairs. He watched her fidget with the table cloth and pick up any extra napkins lying around, "Carly dropped by."

Elizabeth froze, napkin in her hand as her startled eyes met his. She read it there. Carly had told him something, something that might take them back to where they were a few days ago, to the fighting and the tears.

Damn you Carly, she thought, why couldn't you let go of the hate?

Elizabeth knew the answer before the question fully formed in her mind. It was the same reason that Jason couldn't. It had happened to them and Elizabeth wasn't in their shoes. She would probably feel the same torment if she was the wife left behind or the man that everyone seemed to have forgotten about.

She didn't know what happened between Jason and Carly this afternoon but she was going to fix it before it destroyed any shred they had of moving past her and Sonny.

Then she realized what they talked about, her and Sonny.

"Jason…"

"I heard her story," Jason said moving over to the chair that sat opposite the couch. He sat down, with his elbows resting on his thighs. He motioned for her to sit on the couch. "I think its time I heard yours."

Elizabeth swallowed loudly as she moved over towards the couch. She could feel his eyes burning into her back. How could she describe her relationship with Sonny? How does one go into detail that something that started out as friendship turned into something that neither of them had wanted, something that destroyed nearly all of them?

"I didn't….I didn't talk to him for a while after what happened," she said quietly. "Francis had to drag me here because I just kept avoiding Sonny." She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, brushing the curls from her face, "I don't know how he found out but he knew that I was…I was pregnant and he insisted that I come to him for help. I didn't have anyone," she almost pleaded, "Emily blamed me for you leaving again, my grandmother couldn't understand why I insisted on associating with mobsters, Bobbie was always so busy, Lucky was siding with Nikolas who sided with Emily." When she felt Jason's eyebrows rise questionably she hurried on quickly, "I'm not blaming my getting together with Sonny on anyone else but myself. I'm just letting you know that when you left everyone else seemed to go with you."

There it was, he thought, the directions leading back to him.

"Sonny told me he was sorry, told me he wanted to trust me, asked if he could help." She said quietly, "I was fine the first couple of months then I was getting sick all the time…"

"You were sick?" Jason asked sitting up straight, "You were sick with my child and you didn't…"

He ran his nails back against the arms of the chairs and settled back down. He couldn't go back there, he had to let it go, what's done was done. He just needed to know whatever information was possible so he wasn't blind sided later on.

"He moved me in, I thought Carly knew," she said. "But she came home one day and freaked out. Sonny was able to keep her calm for a few weeks but then she just exploded like a volcano. I threw her out, I'm sure she told you that, I don't know what got over me. I just saw what Sonny was going through. He was trying to hold onto her and help you all at the same time and it was about to blow up in his face…"

"Help me?" Jason asked, "How in the hell was Sonny helping me?"

"By helping me," Elizabeth said quietly, "Sonny thought that he was the reason you left. He thought that he broke…that he came between us by not letting you tell me about his…" she almost choked on the word. "'death'."

"All of this was out of guilty?" Jason asked.

"No!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "No, Jason…" she sighed as she closed her eyes, feeling the tears that she hated spring to her eyes again. "I hate hurting you."

"It seems that's all we know how to do to each other, Elizabeth," he said quietly. "If you way our good moments with our bad…"

"I wasn't supposed to fall in love with him," she stated, "This didn't start out as some big love affair. Sonny and I didn't make…nothing happened until two years after you were gone Jason, two years. People can think what they want or, like Carly, tell you what they want…"

Jason stood up from the chair and walked a few feet away from the couch. He needed some air.

"Carly told me what happened," Jason said. "You moved in here, you came over to the city of Port Charles…"

"Who assume first, ask questions later," Elizabeth said looking up at him, "I'm not going to ask you to trust me, I'm not going to ask you to believe me because right now you think that everything I am telling you is lies," she stood up and walked closer to him. "But look at me, look at me like you use to when I told you that Lucky was the one I wanted to be with, that Zander was the one I wanted to be with, look at me and know that I am not lying to you Jason."

He did look at her and her eyes made his heart break.

"For two years, two long, lonely years," she whispered as she felt the tears slip past her lips, "I struggled to let you go. I put everything that I felt for you towards our son and I tried so hard to just…" she groaned as she threw her fists in the air and moved away from him, "You have no idea how painful it was."

"Yes, I do," Jason said walking towards her and turning her to face him, "I know Elizabeth, I can imagine. You had time, a chance to adjust before it was thrown in your face…"

"I had no idea he called you!" she said pulling away from him, "Jason as far as I knew Sonny could've told you during one of those rare phone conversations or he could've planned on us telling you together but you showing up at my doorstep was somewhat of a shock."

"You told me you were expecting me."

"Everyone expects you when Sonny's in trouble," Elizabeth said, "It's what you do, its who you are. After you left, Sonny wanted so much more for you."

"You mean he wanted you," Jason said with a hard laugh.

"No!" she growled in frustration as she plopped back down on the couch. "Sonny moved me in here and Sonny flew me down to his island when I had your baby and Sonny helped me raise your child. And he kissed me two months after JJ was born and a year later we…we started our relationship and thinks started to happen and feelings started to occur and even though we both knew that we still felt something for you and Carly we couldn't help it and we wanted to move on."

Jason rolled his eyes and turned away from her, not wanting to face any of it.

"I loved you," she said quietly. "I loved you for so long, Jason. I just…I couldn't wait for you to finally decide that you loved me too."

Jason looked at her, pure anguish, pure devastation in his blue eyes. "How could you not know, Elizabeth? How could you…"

He waved his hand, pushing it all aside, letting it all fall away. They couldn't go back there, it was four years ago, when they both loved one another, when they both wanted to walk away.

"It's done, it's over," he said softly, "I loved you too."

She stood up, wanting to walk towards him, wanting to fix this somehow, someway, but he held his hand up and she stopped, feeling frozen in her place.

"Seven years ago I walked into this same penthouse and got kicked in the gut," he said. "I told Carly that I could never forget what happened between her and Sonny, I told Sonny never to speak to me about it again. I also said that it would be different if she loved him because love…you just can't help it. I'd have gotten use to it."

He laughed as he ran his fingers through his spiky hair again. It was such a simple thing to say and something so hard to do.

"I'll get use to it, I just need some time," he said quietly, "Just some time."

And he moved towards the stairs, walking up them towards the dark hallway, without even looking back.

"Live through it real slow," she whispered to herself as she advanced towards the wet bar.

Jason took solace in his lonely bed that night, Elizabeth took solace in Sonny's bourbon.