Elizabeth smiled as set down three empty bowls on the table. This was her first attempt at making dinner in a very, very long time. Granted she was only making boxed Macaroni and Cheese but at least it was something.

Something other than lying on the couch and grieving for Sonny.

After nearly interrupting Jason's visit with his grandmother earlier Elizabeth came back to the penthouse and hit the books once again, studying court cases until the lines blurred together and the headaches came on, then she took a long, hot shower and now she was placing a sippy cup of milk beside JJ's bowl and a bottle of beer next to Jason's.

Everything looked perfect.

"Mommy!"

Elizabeth turned around just in time to catch her son in her arms, hugging him fiercely.

"Hello big guy, did you have a fun day with Daddy?"

"Uh huh," JJ nodded in his mother's arms, "He even let me park my bike right next to his, said that Uncle Francis will watch it for me."

"Well I'm sure Uncle Francis will take extra special care of your bike for you," she smiled as she placed him down in front of her and started to unzip his coat, "What else did you and Daddy do today?"

"We went to the park; I rode my bike all the way over to Grammy Lila's. She gave me cookies Mama." JJ said beamed.

"Did she?" Elizabeth gasped as she tried the work the zipper free from his jacket, "Hold still, baby."

"Uh huh," JJ said as he rattled on, "And Daddy and I then went to Kelly's and we bought you something," he said with a concentrated look on his face then he smiled, "Then Daddy spilled soda all over the pretty lady."

"What?" she asked looking up at her son.

"What?" Jason asked, stepping into the penthouse with a small brown bag in his hands.

"What?" JJ asked looking between both his parents.

Elizabeth bit her lip as she tried to tug on JJ's zipper, "Pretty lady at Kelly's hmm?"

"Fudge!" JJ proclaimed, finally remembering, "We bought you fudge! Daddy said you liked it."

"Did this pretty lady have a name?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sam," JJ groaned and started to pull away from his mother, "Mama…"

"I almost have it, JJ." Elizabeth said as she gave the zipper a final pull, "Da…" The zipper finally came loose on her fingers, the metal teeth scrapping along her sensitive skin.

Jason was beside her in an instant, asking her if she was okay and taking her fingers in his hand to examine them.

"I'm fine," she said pulling away from him, "Just…I'm fine. I'm going to check on dinner."

Jason sighed as he watched Elizabeth retreat to the kitchen, sucking on her finger lightly along the way. They were so close to having some sense of normalcy around here when something else popped up to remind him that he and Elizabeth were on different sides of the playing field.

He was beginning to think that something or someone was trying to tell him that things were difficult between them for a reason.

"What's wrong with Mama?" JJ asked as he tried to pull his coat off.

Jason knelt down in front of his son and pulled the leather jacket from his little arms, ruffling his hair before he stood back up, "I think she's tired from all that studying she did."

He handed the bag of fudge to JJ, "Why don't you give her this and go wash up? That might make her feel a little better."

"Ok," JJ shrugged and headed off to the kitchen after his mother.

So that was lying, Jason thought, making something up to make someone else feel better.

He didn't like it and he didn't want to get into the habit of lying to his son. He just wasn't sure how you explained to a three year old that even though his Mommy just lost the love of her life she seemed to be jealous of a woman his Daddy spilled soda all over.

Hell, Jason didn't even understand it himself.

Jason sighed as he placed one hand on the railing and hesitated at the top of the steps. He could hear Elizabeth clearing up the dinner dishes and heading into the kitchen.

Dinner was a tense affair at best, at least for him and the mother of his child.

JJ did not stop chattering since he sat back down. He described his day in detail to Elizabeth and then repeated it over again for all their benefits. When his eyes were drifting shut his lips were still moving albeit a little bit slower.

He was definitely Elizabeth's child.

And the only one who ate the fudge.

As he took one step down the stairs and then another, Jason's eyes fell on the couch and remembered how JJ clamored up between him and Elizabeth, snuggling up against the both of them, reliving his joy over the Harley Davidson bike his daddy bought him. Then the tiny toddler passed out and the last time Jason remembered being so happy, so content was the moment JJ was conceived.

For that reason alone he was hurrying over to the desk to pick up his jacket and pull it on. He had to get out of this house; he had to start doing what he came to this town to do. He had to find out what happened to the warehouse and who would want to kill Sonny.

Mostly he had to get away from her.

She was annoyed, angry, upset over some female she never even met and part of him was glad, happy that she finally felt a little of the pain he was feeling when she was playing tug of war with him and Lucky and him and Zander.

And yet he hated when Elizabeth was in pain, he hated to see her cry, hated to see that lost look in her eyes.

He hated this moment, when there was a war going on inside his head, one part telling him to stay; the other part telling him to run hard and fast.

Damn't he had never been so indecisive before.

Damn that Elizabeth.

He could feel her presence before he even turned around. She was wiping down the table with a soft cloth, removing any marks of JJ's mixture of Mac & Fudge. Her chestnut hair, with a curly bounce to it, was dangling in her face as she scrubbed furiously at a piece of fudge that didn't want to be removed.

His hand was on the door knob before he looked at her, "I don't…I don't know when I'll be home." The door was opened; one foot was on the other side when she made her reply.

"Tell Sam I said hello."

Elizabeth jumped when she heard the door slam shut, "Jason, JJ…"

"We are not doing this, Elizabeth."

"Doing what?" she asked walking over towards him, "Please keep it down…"

"This, us," Jason said and kept on going when she opened her mouth, "For three very long years we did nothing but dance around each other. We started off as friends, became better friends, more than friends and you…neither of us handled it very well."

"I don't see what that has to do with…"

"We tried Elizabeth, we tried and we just couldn't make it work," he sighed as he ran both his hands over his face and moved away from her, "Elizabeth, I just…I want to fix what's wrong. I want to make you stop hurting but I can't. I can't bring Sonny back and I can't disappear from your life again."

"Jason, I would hurt without you," she said quietly.

"That!" he said turning to face her again, "I thought we agreed that we couldn't go back there. That's over and done with. You're getting jealous…"

"I am not jealous," she said firmly.

"You ignoring me throughout dinner and making a tense situation around our son because I spilled soda on a woman I don't even know is not what I call a happy person," he let out a small laugh, "There's nothing to be jealous about, Elizabeth. After all this time, you, you finally have a definition in my life. You're the mother of my child, you were Sonny's…lover and for that, you will always, always, have my protection."

"Protection," Elizabeth said quietly as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I'll always have your protection. That goes for JJ, without saying, I'm sure Carly has your protection and of course Bobbie and Monica and your darling sister. Let's see, anyone else?'

"Why are you doing this?" he asked advancing towards her, "Why do you always do this? I mean, is this your thing? Carly, Carly always goes a little crazy and I'm there to calm her down but Elizabeth, this 'can't decide' thing, I don't know what to do with it. It tore me apart before but I can't let it now, I have a son to worry about."

"At least I know that JJ is your top priority," Elizabeth said moving back to the table.

"And you're upset that your not?" Jason asked, "I told you…"

"That I have your protection," Elizabeth said as she slammed the towel on the table, "I get that but I already have enough protection. I have Johnny and Francis and Max…"

"In this business you could never…"

"No you don't," Elizabeth said fighting back the tears, "I'm…I'm adjusting to this, to all of it, living without Sonny, learning to be on my own again after all these years, trying to be so damn strong through all of this, for my son, for you, for everyone and I don't…I don't want protection Jason, I just want…I want a friend."

Jason sighed as he stared at her, his piercing blue eyes meeting hers. It would be so easy to reach out and take her into his arms, to comfort her and tell her that he would make everything okay but as much as his brain told him to move, to walk towards her, to make her pain go away his heart wouldn't listen. He couldn't go through that, not again, neither of them could.

A friendship with Elizabeth was always more.

"I have to go," he said quietly, "I think that you should sleep in the spare room tonight."

"What?" Elizabeth asked as she wiped at her eyes with her fingertips, "You aren't…"

"I'll be…I'll be home," he said, "I'm not sure when but I'll be here when JJ wakes up. I…" he sighed and scratched his head, "I don't want you sleeping on the couch again so please, sleep in the spare room."

"O…okay," Elizabeth said quietly, "Be careful."

He nodded and moved towards the door again.

"Jason…"

He turned back; saw her approaching him hesitantly, "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything."

She smiled softly, "Thank you. And please," she added, "Please have Max sent over and take Johnny with you."

Jason looked at her, his eyebrows drawn together and his mouth about to open when she smiled again and shook her head.

"No guard is better than the other in protecting me," she said waving her hand at the door, "I love them all like my brothers but Johnny has been around this business, has been around you and Sonny the longest, I think if you're going…somewhere, you should take Johnny."

Jason wanted to tell her to stay out of it, wanted to tell her that she shouldn't even be thinking about these things, but he couldn't, not when the past four years of her life revolved around this business, this lifestyle.

He simply nodded again and headed out the door, closing it tightly behind him. As he made his way to the elevator and pressed the down button, one thought continuously drifted through his mind.

Damn you to hell Sonny Corinthos.

Elizabeth smiled at Max as she handed him a slice of the remaining fudge that Jason had brought home earlier. She saved herself some for later, even some for Jason, but the size that he had for her was enough to feet them twice over.

"He'll never know," she said, "Thank you for coming over."

"Francis was a little jealous," Max winked, "But that's because I think he has a crush on Alexis."

Elizabeth laughed, "I'm sure that's it. I'm going to clean up the dishes and then head to bed, an actual bed," she emphasized, "So you can tell relay the message to the other two when you speak to them."

Max frowned slightly as he took a bite of his fudge, "We're just worried about you."

"I know," she said standing up on her toes to kiss his cheek, "I'll see you in the morning. Don't eat that too fast."

Max rolled his eyes before she closed the door on him, "Such a mother hen."

Mother hen, Elizabeth mused as she grabbed the towel from the table and headed into the kitchen. She loved being a mother.

She had to admit that she was afraid at first. Who wouldn't be? Impending motherhood was something that scared her at the young age of twenty. She hated her dependence on Sonny but was grateful he was there as his support helped her raise her son and become the best mother that she could be.

JJ was her entire life. She wanted to be able to give him everything that she could. She wanted to be at home with him as much as she could and with the accelerated courses she had been taking over the past few years, including while she was pregnant, it made it all possible. She was going to finally be able to make her son proud of her.

Now with Jason back in JJ's, she couldn't see her son's world getting any better than this.

Placing the last bowl in the dishwasher Elizabeth sighed and flipped off the lights in the kitchen. He stilled missed his Uncle Sonny, he stilled prayed for him before he went to bed, it was a wound that was starting to scar and that was thanks to Jason.

Sonny thought Jason could help her as well but that wasn't possible. Jason would never want to go back to the way they were before and Elizabeth wasn't sure if what she felt for him was anything more than pure physical attraction.

She sighed as she leaned against the dark marble counter, "Sonny, what were you thinking?"

"That someone needed to take care of you when I couldn't," he replied quietly, "That he was the best person for the job. I trust Jason, with my life. I trust Jason with you."

Elizabeth blinked her eyes as she stared at the hazy vision in front of her. It was him, Sonny Corinthos, the man who left her all alone on the docks a little more than a week ago.

She blinked, then blinked again, and there he stood but when she moved towards him he only smiled, shoving his hands in his pants pockets and revealing those infamous dimples.

"I'm here for you, Elizabeth," he said softly, "When you need me, I'm here."

"I need you," Elizabeth begged as she moved away from the counter, "Sonny why did you leave? What possible reason could you have had to…"

"I didn't leave," Sonny said as he placed his hand over his heart, "I'm right here. You said you trusted me, Elizabeth. Trust me that this is right."

"No," she said shaking her head vigorously, "Jason and I are not right Sonny. You don't know, you have no idea."

"He's in pain," Sonny said with a stricken look on his face, "I know, I see it. I am the cause of that pain. I hate myself for doing that but this…this is my way of saying sorry."

Elizabeth felt the hot tears spill from her eyes and down to her cheek, "You think that by making him my trustee is going to get him to forget everything, to forget us? I don't even want to forget us, Sonny. What we had…"

"Will never compare to me and Carly," Sonny said quietly, "It will never compare to you and Jason, Elizabeth."

"Sonny, no."

Vaguely, in the back of her mind she heard the ringing.

"Elizabeth…"

Then she blinked and he was gone, the gray moon filtering through the open blinds onto the black marble floor. She blinked again and she was still in the kitchen, alone, with the phone ringing beside her.

"No, Sonny, no!" Elizabeth shouted, trying to ignore the persistent ringing. She turned around and made a grab for the phone. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth?" he whispered.

Elizabeth's hands shook as the phone slipped from her grasp, crashing to the floor and breaking into three different pieces. She collapsed with it, her knees colliding with the floor as she tried to put the pieces back together.

"Elizabeth?"

She looked up, saw the stock shadow of a man in the doorway.

The suit, the black hair, the dark eyes.

"Sonny," she moaned softly before her head met with the floor, fingers still grasping the broken phone.