Chapter 21- Shelby

Jason awoke the next morning with a stiff back and a broken heart. He literally ached for Serena. He wanted to hold her in his arms so badly. It wasn't fair that he didn't get to. Getting off Kemen's uncomfortable couch, a comforting thought hit him when he realized that Serena had decorated this place. It reeked of her. Figures she would pick out an uncomfortable couch. She put beauty above comfort. He knew it, he had seen her shoes.

Walking over to the mantle, he caught a glimpse of a picture of her with Kemen. She had a bright smile on her face, and he wished he could see it live right at the moment, wherever she was.

But Serena wasn't smiling. She was standing there, her mouth open in shock as she stood in Dalila's front parlor.

"No, this isn't happening" she whispered as she looked at all of the faces looking at her.

"I've missed you" said Adriano, taking a step towards her.

"We got a divorce. You signed the papers and everything"

"I was heartbroken. I would have done anything at the time. But I've come to my senses. We need to get back together"

"You told her about Shelby. How could you Adrian?" she questioned. "Shelby was ours, and no one else's. No one else had the right to know about her" said Serena, crying and running back upstairs.

Jason had given up on staying in Kemen's apartment and had left before the man even woke up. He found himself walking on the docks, almost hoping that by chance she would be out there. He didn't even know where she was staying. Jason was about to walk down the stairs when he saw Dalila in deep conversation with some man whose face he couldn't see.

"Shelby was a low blow. We shouldn't have brought her into the equation" said Dalila.

"You know the plan, and you'll stick to it" said the man before walking off.

Jason ran back to Kemen's apartment and banged on the door again.

"I get it, you got dumped. But don't take it out on the rest of us" mumbled Kemen as he opened the door, yawning again.

"Who the hell is Shelby?" demanded Jason, and Kemen's eyes widened.

"How do you know about Shelby?" asked Kemen with a sad look on his face.

"I need to know everything about her" said Jason as Kemen opened the door wider and the two men went in and sat on the couch.

"Shelby was Serena's daughter" said Kemen, a faraway look on his face. "She got pregnant with Adrian's child, even before they were married. And she gave birth to the most beautiful little girl the world has ever seen. And they were happy. But you know how things are in the business. Enemies don't intend to let you live in bliss for long periods of time. Shelby was almost a year old when Serena took care of a pretty big hit. But it went wrong. The man whose family it was broke into her and Adrian's house. He was standing over Shelby's crib, about to take the life of this innocent baby when Serena walked into the room. Serena had her gun on hand and she shot at the man, but he had grabbed Shelby at the exact wrong moment, and the bullet grazed the baby. Serena rushed her to the hospital, but she was too young and fragile. Shelby didn't make it, and it was Serena's bullet that killed her own daughter. Serena blamed herself obviously. She claimed that she was the one who shot her own daughter. It didn't matter that the man would have killed her daughter anyway. That she did the right thing by taking the chance and trying to save her. But the guilt consumed her. She's felt guilty ever since" finished Kemen, tears spilling for his little niece whom he loved so dearly.

Jason couldn't believe the story he was just told. It all made sense now. Her mother must have been threatening to tell him about Shelby. Serena must have thought that he would blame her, and not want to be with her anymore. She wanted to cut out any pain by being the one to break up with him. Plus, he was sure that the Sandoval's were somehow linked to this. Slamming his fist down, Jason got up from the couch and hastily headed out. Kemen mistook his actions for anger at Serena and got up and followed him.

"You blame her, don't you?" he questioned.

"What?" asked Jason turning around in shock.

"You seem angry. You blame her for killing an innocent little girl"

"No, I don't. I blame your mother for using Serena's pain to blackmail her. And I fully intend to get Serena back and take care of Dalila. I just have to find them"

"Dalila's been renting a house. On Forrest Street. It's big and brown, it's hard to miss" said Kemen, only hoping that the information would help.

Jason nodded and ran off to get his motorcycle. He needed to go and save Serena. He needed to be her white knight again.

Jason made it to the house in record time. He was able to easily find it. Parking his motorcycle, he walked around the house, surveying the property. Looking at the windows above, he saw some movement, but not much. Finally, he saw the shadow of someone brushing their hair in one window on the third floor. The curtains were pulled back for a moment and a head was stuck out of the window. It was Serena. She went back inside, and Jason knew what he had to do. Going over to the side of the house, he grabbed hold of the vines that were growing on the side. Using the stone of the house to help his footing and the vines to grab on to, he climbed up the side of the house in the same fashion that Serena had climbed down the house in only the night before. When he finally reached the window, he tapped on it, willing her to open it quickly before he lost his footing and plummeted to the ground. She finally came over and opened it, shocked at the sight she saw.

"Jason?" she asked in shock before moving away so he could tumble into the room, landing on the plush carpet. "What are you doing here? Are you ok?" she questioned, grabbing at his hands that were bloodied from his climb.

"I'm fine, are you ok?" he asked.

"I don't know" she answered truthfully. "What are you doing here, how did you find me?" she asked.

"Kemen told me about the house"

"You shouldn't be here Jason. We're not together anymore"

"Yeah, and it's not because you don't love me. I know why you broke up with me. I know about Shelby" he said, watching her reaction closely.

Serena tried to act aloof, but the pain was too much. Giving in to the grief she had been feeling lately, she broke down sobbing, falling back so that she was sitting on the bed. He came over to her and kneeled down in front of her. Taking her hands in his, he kissed them over and over again. He reached up and tried to wipe her flowing tears away, and he pushed her hair back from her face. Getting up, he moved over to the bed and sat next to her. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her as she finished her crying.

"How could you think that I would blame you for what happened?" he asked her.

"Because it's all my fault" she said.

"No, its not. You were protecting your daughter. It was an accident. And I love you, no matter what. Nothing would ever change my opinion about that. Not even that" said Jason, holding her tightly to his body.

He was so glad to be holding her to himself. He just wanted to hold her forever and ever in his arms. He wanted to kiss her, and love her, and tell her that everything would always be alright. He never wanted to let her go.

"I can't help but feel guilty" she said.

"I know" he said, his heart breaking into a million pieces as he looked at her sad face. "But this is nothing to feel guilty about. And this is nothing to let your mother blackmail you about. Come on, we're getting out of here" he said, standing up.

"Jason, I can't. I can't just sneak out the window. I need to break away from my mother. A clean break" she said.

"Let me take care of her" said Jason, clenching his hand into a fist.

"Jason, no" she said, standing up and walking over to him to place one hand on his arm. "I'm going to tell her to run. I'm going to tell her to get herself out of the state, the country, the continent. I'm going to tell her that if she doesn't, you and I and Sonny will hunt her down, and we will kill her. She is still my mother, and I don't want her dead. I need to talk to her" said Serena.

"Alright" said Jason, nodding in understanding. "But there's something I need to do first. I meant to do it last night on the docks, and now isn't the greatest time to do this, but I have to get it out" he said, taking her hands in his. Bending down one knee, he reached into his jacket pocket and watched as she stood there in shock. "Serena Martinez, I love you with all of my heart. I will never stop loving you until the end of time. Despite the obstacles that we have faced, we have pulled through, and we always will. You have given me hope, and you have made me happy. You have made me a better man, and I have nearly everything a man can ask for. All I need now is to make you my wife. So, Serena, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the ring box to reveal the diamond.

"Yes" she said, breathlessly as she started to cry again, but this time her tears were laced with happiness.

He slipped the ring on to her finger and she flung her arms around his neck as he spun her around in a hug. He put her down and the two leaned in and kissed each other for the first time since their 'breakup'. The kiss was sweet and passionate, and neither ever wanted to let go. Finally, they broke away from each other.

"I'm going to go" he whispered, still holding her in his arms. "Are you sure you can handle this?" he asked.

"I'll be fine" she answered softly, never wanting him to let her go.

"I love you" he said as he climbed out the window.

"I love you too" she called out as she watched him go.

Once he was gone, Serena walked out of the bedroom and downstairs to the kitchen, where she found her mother.

"Serena, darling, glad to see you joined me downstairs" said Dalila with a smile.

"I'm not here for long Mother. I'm just here to tell you to run. Run for your life. If you don't, you'll be dead. Jason knows all about Shelby, and he doesn't care. He loves me anyway, and he wants to be with me" said Serena coldly.

"I don't think so" said Dalila. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you"

'That's where you're wrong" said Serena, her eyes brimming with hate. "I already told you that he doesn't care about what happened with Shelby. He doesn't blame me and he will always love me"

"Serena, we're in too deep" said Dalila, her face changing from spiteful to frightened. Grabbing at the counter next to her, she found her glass of pure vodka and took a swig, cringing as she did.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? There is no 'we'"

"That's where you're wrong. This Sandoval guy seems deadest on keeping you in the family. There is no way in hell that you can go back to Jason" said Dalila.

"Stop beating around the bush. Get to the heart of the matter" said Serena.

"If you leave, Sandoval will have Jason killed" said Dalila.

"Jason can take care of himself. He won't get hurt" said Serena determinedly, but deep down inside she knew that it wasn't true.

"He will go to whatever lengths are necessary Serena. He will have Jason killed, no matter what it takes. No matter how many other people have to die as well" said Dalila, taking another gulp of the alcohol.

"What did you do?" whispered Serena as the tears sprung to her eyes. "Dalila, he found me. He climbed up a wall to get into my bedroom. He got down on one knee and he proposed to me! He wants to marry me" said a heartbroken Serena as she continued to cry.

"This is all my fault" said Dalila, looking down at her feet.

"Your damn right it is" said Serena. "And now, you're going to help me"

"How?" asked Dalila.

"You're going to cover for me so that I can sneak out and warn Jason. I need to get to him" said Serena, trying to stop her tears.

"I don't think so" said Adrian as he walked into the room.

Walking over to Serena, he roughly grabbed her hand and yanked the engagement ring off of her finger.

"You won't be needing this anymore" he hissed at her.

"Jason knows that I love him and want to marry him. He'll find you, and he'll kill you"

"I'll be well guarded. So will you. Morgan won't get within a five foot radius of you. He'll be dead first" said Adrian with a broad smile. "You and I will be married. Tonight" he said, grabbing her by the face and pressing a hard, painful kiss to her lips.

Serena struggled from his grasp and he looked at her in anger, pulling his hand back to hit her. She crumbled to the floor, holding her cheek which she could feel was beginning to bruise. Dalila tried to walk over to her to comfort her, but she pushed her away. Serena was stuck. She was in a rut, with nothing to do about it.