"No," Elizabeth laughed and then broke out hysterically, "That is the saddest pout I have ever seen."

Jason rolled his eyes and pulled his bottom lip back in, "I'm not going either and JJ was looking forward to it so you can just disappoint your son."

"Don't you pull that," Elizabeth said glaring at him from the couch, "You told Bobbie that you would come and that you would bring JJ. I told Bobbie that I wasn't coming."

"Had I known that you were throwing me to the wolves…"

"You threw yourself to the wolves getting involved with those two women," she giggled, "You can't pin that one on me. I'm the sane one of the bunch," she laughed, "Well not that sane."

"I don't see why you can't do me this one little favor," Jason asked as he sat down in the chair across from her.

"This isn't a favor," Elizabeth said, "This is inviting me into World War 3. You are crazy to ask me to go have Thanksgiving dinner with not only your new girlfriend but your ex as well. Besides, you'll be so busy playing referee between those two you won't even notice that I'm not there," she grinned.

"Okay, fine," Jason said shrugging, "You leave me no choice. If you don't come to dinner with us at the Brownstone I'll be forced to take JJ to the Quartermaine's."

"Jason…"

"Do you really want your son to have pizza for his Thanksgiving dinner, Elizabeth?"

"You wouldn't dare," she said with narrowed eyes.

"The way I look at it you have to come with me," he said, "I don't know what I'm capable of if I'm going to have to fend off the both of them. I don't want to loose my temper in front of the children Elizabeth and I'm afraid the only way to prevent that is by you going or taking JJ to the…"

"That is blackmail," Elizabeth said, "That's just wrong, Jason."

"You'll go?"

"Yes," she said picking up a couch pillow and throwing it at him, "But you owe me."

He grabbed the pillow and looked at her with raised eyebrows, "Did you just throw this at me?"

Elizabeth laughed, "What are you going to do about it?"

Jason picked up the square cushion and winged it at her, nearly missing her head. She was laughing and looking over the side of the couch when he picked up one that was in his chair and threw it at her, hitting her in the shoulder.

She turned around and looked at him, a mischievous smile on her face, "Oh it's on now."

Elizabeth grabbed two pillows and started throwing them at Jason who was dodging easily and then throwing them back. She laughed as she ran around the side of the couch and picked up the one that missed her head, sailing it across the room and hitting Jason in the side of his face. She was laughing so hard she was holding onto her stomach until she saw the look on his face and the way his eyes darkened.

Then he was advancing towards her.

"I give up, I give up!" she squealed as she ran around the couch, picking up the seat cushion and throwing them in his way. She laughed as he dove over the furniture and they both crashed on the floor, his one hand holding her down as he gently hit her over and over with the pillow, telling her to surrender.

"I do! I do!" she laughed but then he started to tickle her, "Jason...damn…you…" she gasped between laughs.

Neither of them seemed to notice the tiny little feet that started treading down the stairs, "Daddy, is this what you meant by fighting with Mommy?"

"Pass the potatoes," Carly huffed.

Elizabeth looked up, her eyes gleaming as she stared across the table at Jason, who was sitting with Sam on his right side and Carly on his left. She was much happier sitting between the two young children with Bobbie at the head of the table, who was reprimanding her daughter for not saying please.

"Please, damn't," Carly said as Jason started to lift the bowl of potatoes from the table.

"Carly, not in front of the children," Bobbie chided, "Sam, how are you enjoying Port Charles so far?"

"It's a little quiet," Sam smiled, "But I'm enjoying it and Jason has been wonderful. He keeps an eye on me and makes sure that no one bothers me while I'm working at Jake's."

Elizabeth's eyes met Jason's again, memories of him grabbing that strangers arm, forcing it back, threatening him to stay away from Elizabeth, flooded through her mind. She couldn't imagine him coming to another woman's rescue like that.

"Sam can handle herself," Jason said as his eyes slid from Elizabeth to Sam's smiling face, "She's pretty good with a beer bottle."

"I think that's a good thing," Bobbie laughed as she picked up her plate and Michael's, "Whose ready for dessert? I made a chocolate cake for my two favorite guys."

"Chocolate!" JJ squealed, "Oh Mama can I have a piece?"

Elizabeth smiled as she bent down and kissed her son's hair, "It's Thanksgiving you can eat as much as you want. In fact, I heard that when your Dad was little, that's all he did was eat and eat and eat at Thanksgiving. He gained ten whole pounds the next day," she said tickling JJ's belly.

"That's not true," Jason smiled, "Your Mom is fibbing."

"Mama doesn't fib," JJ laughed as he snuggled up to Elizabeth.

"See, I taught him well," Elizabeth laughed as she stood up and handed JJ to his father. She then reached over and collected Jason's plate along with her own.

"We're going to have to retrain you," Jason said settling his son on his lap, "I never fib, ask Aunt Carly, I do eat lot, just not your Mama's cooking."

"Hey," Elizabeth said coming back in from the kitchen and taking Sam and Carly's plates, "No more brownies for you."

Jason laughed, "You can get her to make them for me right buddy?"

"Sure thing, Daddy," JJ giggled, "Mommy and Daddy like to tickle each other too, he was tickling Mommy on the floor before we left and hitting her with a pillow. They sure fight funny."

"Really?" Carly asked with an amused smile on her face as Elizabeth came back in to collect more plates, "Tickling each other with pillows, is that what you said JJ?"

"I think I'm going to get some fresh air," Sam said standing up, her chair scrapping across the floor noisily.

"No, you know what, stay," Elizabeth asked, "Bobbie is cutting the cake for the boys and Carly is going to go help with the dishes."

"I am not doing dishes," Carly said.

"That you have to take up with Bobbie," Elizabeth smiled softly, "I actually was going to take a walk around the block, get some fresh air, start burning off some of this turkey. Will you be okay with Daddy for a little bit?" Elizabeth asked as she leaned over and kissed her son.

JJ nodded, "I want to stay with Daddy."

"I knew you would," Elizabeth smiled softly, "I'll be back soon."

"Hey," Jason said twisting in the chair to look at her while she slipped on her coat, "Take Francis with you."

She started to protest then smiled softly, "I will."

Then she headed out of the Brownstone, taking a deep breath of the chilly fresh air. It felt like it was going to snow any minute but she knew that was rare as it was only late November. Still, winter was her favorite time of year, no matter how cold it was. She took the steps that led to the pavement, nodding at Francis and then pulling out her cell phone. She dialed the number and headed down the block, hoping the man on the corner was still selling those flowers that she saw earlier.

"Hey it's me," she said softly into the phone, "Are you busy? I know it's Thanksgiving and all but I was wondering if you could meet me somewhere."

"Thank you for coming," Elizabeth smiled softly as she came to a stop, a dozen white roses in one hand, a single red rose and a single yellow one in another.

"Your request had me curious," Lorenzo said as he nodded politely to the guard who was hovering a few yards behind Elizabeth, "I take it that your Thanksgiving is going well."

"As well as can be expected," she smiled, "JJ is having a wonderful time and Jason had a hard time swallowing his dinner with both Carly and Sam glaring at him."

Lorenzo laughed softly, "And this was your means of escape."

Elizabeth shook her head as she turned into the cemetery, walking a few rows up until she came to a stop and smiled sadly, "This is something that I had to do, for Sonny, and I just…I didn't feel that I could do it alone and I don't know if Jason's been here before or not and I didn't want to ask him to leave Sam to help me."

She walked a few paces down the row and came to stand in front of a stone, adjusting her skirt and then kneeling down on the cold ground she placed the bouquet of white roses in front of the grave, running her hand over it, removing any pieces of grass or dirt.

"Was she a relative of Sonny's?" Lorenzo asked, taking note of the name.

"She was Sonny's first wife," Elizabeth said quietly, "He loved her very much and he considered her his guardian angel. He used to come here for advice, for help and to give her flowers. He told me how beautiful she was, how innocent and angelic, so I thought white roses would be appropriate for Lily Corinthos. I never knew her but with the way Sonny talked about her I know she had to be one amazing woman."

She smiled sadly up at him and watched him as he crouched down next to her, in front of Sonny's grave, watched her hands reach out and lay down the two roses, the yellow and the red, in front of his shiny headstone.

"This is the first time that I've been here," she whispered, her fingers tracing over his name, "I'm sorry that I asked you to come with me. I couldn't do it alone and Francis…" she gazed over her shoulder, "He would want to give me privacy and I feel as if I need…"

"A friend," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, "I think that Sonny means to you what Lily meant to him."

She sniffled slightly as she pulled back and looked at her best friend's grave, "Sonny told him that Lily gave him a little bit of peace and he carried that around in his heart. He did that for me too, I was so restless after Jason left and Sonny took care of me, like Lily did after Sonny lost his first passionate love. I didn't realize what he did for me, I didn't realize that I was in love with him until he was too late," she smiled sadly, "That's how he was with Lily, realizing what he had after it was too late, but he moved on," she ran her hand over the headstone again, "And I will too, that's why I brought a red and yellow rose."

"One for friendship, one for love," Lorenzo smiled sadly.

"When you told me about Sophie, I knew that you felt it," she whispered, "I knew that you would understand."

He pushed some of her curls from her face, "I just wish there was some way that I could ease the pain, Elizabeth."

"Just…let me lean on your shoulder, Ren," she whispered, "As you will lean on mine."

He pulled her back into his embrace, her arms coming around him naturally, easily as he buried his face in her hair. She was young and innocent like his Sophie and he was strong and brave like her Sonny.

Neither was aware of whose tears started first.

"You didn't have to join me," Sam said quietly as Jason settled down on the step beside her.

Jason, at first, didn't have any intention of joining Sam. He knew that she was probably out here hoping that he would follow but he was inside, watching JJ doze off to some cartoons and he was content, simply wishing that Elizabeth would return from her walk soon so he could take his family home.

Then his cell phone rang and he answered it, listening to Francis as the guard explained that Elizabeth just arrived at the cemetery, meeting up with Alcazar.

So Jason shut his cell phone and went after Sam. He knew that Carly couldn't possibly be right about Elizabeth, not after he saw her embrace with Lorenzo a few evenings ago when he stopped by the cottage after his talk with Sam, she couldn't feel anything if she were meeting him tonight, going to visit Sonny's grave.

He blinked and looked at Sam, "I'm sorry?"

Sam smiled sadly, "Aren't you cold?"

"I don't get cold," Jason shrugged, "JJ lasted about an hour after that chocolate cake and now he's passed out on the couch," he smiled softly, "I didn't want to move him."

"Are you worried about Elizabeth?" Sam asked, "Do you want to go find her?"

Jason shook his head, "Elizabeth needed some time today. This was her first Thanksgiving without Sonny in four years. She needs her space and I trust Francis. He won't let anything happen to her," he looked down at Sam who was staring at the cars that were driving slowly down the street, some looking for parking places, "I told you about trust and I'm getting the feeling…"

"I don't know what to feel, Jason," she said as she turned back towards him, "I haven't done anything to not earn your trust and you are the one who has been living with your ex-girlfriend, you're the one who convinced her to come to dinner and you're the one who was tickling her in her living room this morning; a fight you called it?"

"JJ called it a fight because that was the reasoning I gave my son for not living with him," Jason said, "I told him that Elizabeth and I would start fighting and I wouldn't want that. He's a little boy, Sam."

"Jason," she sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, "It's not him that I'm questioning it's you. Is this relationship going anywhere? Do you trust me enough to take it to the next level? I feel as if we're stuck in neutral, trying to figure out which way to go. If you want to end this…"

"Do you want to end this?" Jason asked, "Patience is something that you need to have in this business and if you lack it…"

"I'm not trying to become a part of your business Jason I'm trying to become a part of your life," Sam snapped then looked away, "I'm sorry, I just…I know how difficult tit is to be in your shoes right now. I know that you are not only reeling from the fact that your best friend died in an explosion but you came home to a three year old child that you knew nothing about. You're also trying to get along with Elizabeth for JJ's sake…."

"Sam, Sam," Jason said taking her hand and squeezing it, "You're not adding to the pressure, you're actually helping relieve some of it," he looked down at their joined hands and smiled, "It's difficult for me to trust someone and I have to take it slow, for JJ, for Elizabeth, for the world that I'm living in now. If you want to move forward you have to accept Elizabeth, she isn't going anywhere and she's more than JJ's mother, she's my friend. That is not going to change, neither is Carly being around."

"So you're telling me to look forward to tense holiday dinners," Sam said with a small smile.

"I'm asking if you want to look forward to them," Jason said, "You haven't done anything for me to not trust you but you haven't exactly earned my trust either. Elizabeth and Carly are in my life and I've spoken to them about their conversations with you and I think it's fair that I should tell you as well, all sides are hurting and I'm just asking you to ease up. Carly, she lashes out at everyone, but Elizabeth…"

"Didn't deserve my jealous anger," Sam said quietly, "And I'm sorry that I upset her Jason. I don't want to see you get hurt. You're always putting other people first, it's part of why I like you so much," she smiled as she playfully bumped into him, "But I think you need to put yourself first sometimes. You need to decide what makes you happy. If it is me, I'm glad, but if it's not, just tell me so we can both move on."

"I like spending time with you," Jason said as he pulled her closer, "That makes me happy."

Sam smiled as she titled her face up and received Jason's kiss, his warm lips pressing against hers. When she heard him groan she wrapped her arms around him and deepened it.

Jason had closed his eyes when she moved forward, had slid his fingers into her dark hair, molded her petite body against his own and hated the fact that the other woman he saw was the woman who was in the arms of Lorenzo Alcazar the other night.

He could do nothing more than groan in agony.

"You didn't have to walk me back," Elizabeth smiled, "I do have an escort."

"A gentleman would never allow a lady to walk the streets alone," he said, "Escort or not you invited me to spend time with you this evening and I feel it's only necessary that I deposit you back off at the Brownstone."

"Then you have to walk all the way back to your car," Elizabeth said as they turned the corner onto Bobbie's street, "I hate to think that…" her words stopped when she saw Jason and Sam on the steps of the Brownstone in a heated embrace.

Lorenzo's eyes followed hers and he moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view, "I take it that it still hurts?"

"I've never…" she looked down at her hands, worrying her lip between her teeth before she raised her eyes to meet his again, "I've never admitted this out loud, to myself, or anyone else," her eyes looked passed Lorenzo, looked to where Jason was caressing another woman's face, "I still care about him. I always will. He gave me JJ."

"This goes beyond JJ, Elizabeth," he said quietly, "You're in love with the man."

"I'll admit that it hurts to see him with someone else," Elizabeth said, her eyes moving back to Lorenzo, "But I want him to be happy and if she makes him happy," she took a deep breath and let it out in a huff, "Than okay, she makes him happy and I will accept it, kicking and screaming, but I will accept it."

"You're a braver woman that I gave you credit for," Lorenzo said as he moved to stand beside her, "I don't think I would be that generous to the person I was in love with. I fight until my last breath and make sure everyone heard every word I had to say."

"I said I cared about him, I didn't say I was in love with him," she said as they continued their walk towards Bobbie's, "And as for being loud and fighting, you need to meet Carly."

"I've heard things about Mrs. Corinthos," he said with a small laugh.

"All of them are true," Elizabeth grinned.

"Let's go inside," Sam whispered as she pulled back from Jason, "Let's take JJ home, wait for Elizabeth and then, let's go back to my place, Jase," she breathed.

Jason stood up and then held his hand out for her, watching her take it with a smile as she stood up from the cold, cement stairs. He would go back to her place, he would seek solace in her arms but he wasn't sure if that would cure the ache inside of him.

He still had to try, he had to move on from Elizabeth.

"Oh shoot," Sam said as she heard something clatter onto the ground and looked at her wrist, "My bracelet broke, let me get it," she moved away from Jason, pulling her hand from his, and bent down to retrieve her broken jewelry.

Elizabeth was laughing with Lorenzo when she heard the car screech, looked up to see it coming around the corner and she felt it, her heart stop. She saw Sam back away from Jason, saw her bend down in front of him and she screamed, breaking out into a run, swallowing up the distance between her and the Brownstone.

"Jason! No!"

Jason's eyebrows knitted together as he turned slightly and looked down the street, saw Elizabeth running towards him, yelling at him, yelling for him and then he felt it, searing into his chest and he turned back, towards the car that was speeding down the street.

He didn't know why he didn't hear it first, maybe it was because Elizabeth was crying out to him, but the sounds of the gunfire were now echoing in his ears.

Once, twice, three, four, five times.

Blood oozing out from where the bullets had found the marks and suddenly he was falling, tumbling down the stairs, his head banging along the way. He felt like his brain was being pushed around in one of those pinball machines, felt the sky dipping down further towards him, swallowing him up with its inky blackness. He felt his life draining out of him when his body came to rest in front of the beautiful oak tree outside Bobbie's house.

He felt that fate was a bitch.