Chapter 22- I Love You

Jason bounced into Sonny and Carly's penthouse. The two were surprised to see him so happy. Jason usually didn't show his happiness, and he especially wouldn't be happy after Serena broke up with him.

"What happened to you?" asked Sonny.

"She loves me" he said with his old lovesick smile plastered to his face.

"Well duh" said Carly with a roll of her eyes.

"I thought she broke up with you" said Sonny.

"She did. But it was Dalila. She was blackmailing Serena into it" said Jason as he told his two best friends all about Shelby.

Sonny knew what it was like to feel responsible for your child's death, and he immediately understood what Serena was going through, and why she felt trapped. Jason continued to tell them about the proposal, and how she was going to warn her mother and then leave. The two would be back together.

Unfortunately, Jason didn't know that Serena had neglected to mention the Sandoval's involvement. He had no idea that she was trapped.

Serena had been locked in her room by the Sandoval's to prevent her from escaping. She was literally being held prisoner. Sighing, she got to work on the task before her. She picked at the lock on the door, her eyes wandering to her left ring finger, where her engagement ring should have been. Serena refused to allow herself to not concentrate. Finally, she got the lock opened. After a silent thank you to god, she raced from the room, careful to keep quiet. Serena went down the first flight of stairs without running into anyone. However, the second she hit the second flight leading to the ground floor, the place was swarming with the Sandoval's guards. Serena held back, creeping up the stairs and into the first room she came to. It was a study of some sort. Rooting through the drawers, Serena desperately searched for a gun or weapon of some sort. She didn't find the gun, but she did find something else valuable. Her engagement ring. Slipping it back on to her finger, she set to looking through the other cabinets and closets in the room for a gun. She was so into her search that she hardly noticed as the door to the study opened. The man crept in quietly until he was directly behind Serena. Leaning down, he grabbed her with his arms and she started screaming.

"You can keep screaming Serena, but no one is going to help you" whispered Adriano in her ear as she began to cry.

He dragged her body out of the room and motioned to some of the guards to take her. They grabbed her and picked her up, leading her from the house and putting her in the limousine waiting for them. Dalila watched them take her baby girl away as the guilt consumed her. She realized she could no longer let them hurt her. She needed to get help.

Jason paced around the living room, waiting for Serena to come to him. It had been hours and she still hadn't come home. Jason was sure something had gone wrong, and he couldn't believe that he had been stupid enough to leave her alone with Dalila. Deciding that he couldn't wait any more, he grabbed his gun and leather jacket, closing the door behind him as he left. He had just made it outside when he heard someone calling his name. Turning around, he saw an out of breath Dalila running to him.

"Jason!" she called.

"What the hell do you want? And where's Serena" he demanded gruffly.

"Serena's gone. They took her. He led her away screaming" said Dalila as she broke down.

"What? Who led her away screaming?" asked Jason as panic suddenly seized his heart.

"Adriano Sandoval" Dalila answered as she continued to sob.

Serena had been trying to work her way off of the boat she was on for about an hour. The Sandoval luxury yacht was planning on taking off, and she would be on it. Adriano was going to take her away and force her to remarry him. And then of course, the cake needed its icing. Jason was to be killed so that the knife in Serena's heart was twisted some more. It was something Serena didn't even want to think about as she fought to get off. Finally, she was able to pick the lock and get the door opened. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the hallway and looked around. There were no guards in sight. She continued down the hallway until she found one. Grabbing a vase that stood as decoration in the hallway, she hit him over the head and watched as he collapsed before running up the stairs on to the main deck of the ship. Seeing that all of the other ways were blocked, Serena peeled off her shoes and then threw the evidence in the water below. She took another deep breath and dove off the side of the boat. As soon as she hit the water, she started to swim. She was on the far side of the boat, but it was still docked, so she was able to make it to the dock with relative ease. All she had to do was wait there until Adriano set sail, and then she could run to her Jason.
Jason made it to the pier in record time, his gun out and ready. His plan was to shoot first and ask questions later. He finally found the yacht and was about to attack when Adriano stepped off the boat, his gun trained on Jason.

"Looks like you found us Morgan" he sneered. "But your fiancé is now my fiancé, which is only fair because she was my wife first"

"Release Serena now! You can't force her to marry you"

"Watch me" said Adriano with a smirk.

"How do you plan on doing that?" asked Jason as he attempted to buy himself time.

"Well, I plan to refuse to give you any medical attention after I shoot you until she becomes my wife" said Adrian as he pulled the trigger.

Serena had heard the whole thing from her hiding spot and she quickly darted from the water, throwing herself in front of Jason. Before he had a chance to react, the bullet reached where he and Serena were standing.

"No!" he yelled as she crumbled in his arms into a bloody mess.

Adriano stared at them in shock. He couldn't believe he just shot the woman that he loved. Jason felt the hot tears running down his cheeks as he shot Adriano three times, killing him with the first bullet, but using the other two for good measure. He scooped her in his arms and brought her wet, bloody body to safety as he called 911, praying that the ambulance would be quick about getting there. He started to put pressure on the wound but his shaking hands were making it difficult.

"Is this how you felt when I was shot?" he asked her unconscious body through his tears. "Please, you need to hang on Serena. I love you, and I can't imagine my life without you. Please, please hold on. I love you so much" he repeated as the sounds of sirens took over the air.

Two Weeks Later

"Sonny, this is not the time to be slow" snapped Carly as she rushed around, her hair flying around, and her eyes wild with excitement. "This is the day that your best friend is getting married! We need to be ready NOW!" she demanded.

"Carly, they're getting married in the hospital chapel. They are inviting you, me, the boys, Emily and Kemen. This is more of a Justus of Peace type thing than real wedding"

"That is no excuse" she said. "Now come on, we need to get to the church and convince Jason to wear this" she said, brandishing a silk tie.

"He's never going to go for it" demanded Sonny.

"It's his wedding day. He's wearing a tie" said Carly as she grabbed Morgan in her arms. "Morgan's wearing a tie"

"Morgan is 2. And you are his mother. He wears whatever you put on him"

"Jason will wear whatever I put on him" maintained Carly.

"Yeah, maybe a week ago he would have. When he was in that funk"

"Sonny, the love of his life was lying in a hospital bed in a coma. I think he's allowed to be in a funk"

"I was worried about him" Sonny confessed.

"Me too" Carly admitted. "I don't think I have ever seen him like that. He was so emotional. He was a completely different Jason"

"But he's ok now. And so is she. And they're getting married" said Sonny as he snapped back into taking-charge mode. "Now come on, we have that wedding to attend to"

"Now you want to rush. Figures. MICHAEL! LET'S GO!" Carly yelled up the stairs.

"Jason Morgan! Back away from that door!" Carly demanded as she walked into the hospital only to find Jason's hand on the doorknob of Serena's hospital room.

"Carly, where did you come from?" he asked as he almost jumped out of his skin. "Look, I just need to see her. I'm really worried about her"

"She's fine Jason. And you know the rules. You can't see the bride before the wedding day"

"I still don't believe in the rule that says the groom can't sleep in the bride's hospital room the night before" Jason grumbled.

"Well you better believe it" said Carly. "Where did you sleep last night, just out of curiosity?" she asked.

"Here" he said as he pointed to the door.

"You slept in the room with her? That is not allowed!" said Carly as she began to hit him.

"Hey, hey, hey, enough with the hitting" said Jason as he moved away from her. "Calm down. I slept right here. On the floor" he said.

"You slept in the doorway"

"I leaned up against the door" he said sheepishly as he looked down. "I just needed to be near her"

"Aww, Jason you are so cute" she said, her demeanor changing and her voice becoming higher pitched.

"Funny, I've never been described as 'cute' like that" said Jason.

"Well you are. Now, go put this suit AND TIE on, and then meet us at the chapel. Got it? Go" she ordered.

"A tie?" asked Jason.

"Go" Carly ordered again, pointing this time.

"Fine" he grumbled as he stalked off.

"Some people" Carly sighed as she walked into Serena's room.

"Hey" she said brightly as Carly walked in.

Emily was already with her and she was in the process of getting her hair and makeup done. Emily put the finishing touches on her, covering up any lingering bruises from Adriano and then Carly pulled out the dress. The dress was perfect. It was a pale white, with two thin spaghetti straps. It stopped just below her knees, and although it was plain, it clung to her every curve. She looked perfect, and they all knew Jason was going to melt at the sight of her.

"Here is your bouquet" said Carly as she handed her the flowers and helped her to put on her shoes.

Serena got into the wheelchair and Carly started to wheel her down the hallway and into the elevator. They reached the chapel and found Kemen waiting outside for them.

"How is he? Is he ok?" asked Serena with worry.

"He's fine. But he's going crazy with worry about you" said Kemen with a laugh.

"Assure him that I'm ok" ordered Serena to Carly as she and Emily walked into the chapel.

"We will" said Emily.

Once Carly made sure Jason was wearing the tie and the music was ready, Serena rose from the wheel chair and took Kemen's arm. She was still shaky on her feet and the heels didn't help, but she was hell bent on walking down the aisle, and hell bent on becoming Jason's wife immediately. Kemen and Serena started the long walk down the aisle. Jason's breath caught in his throat when he saw her. She was beautiful and he felt so blessed to have her. She smiled at the sight of him fidgeting in his tie as Kemen kissed her and gave her hand to Jason. He gently led her to the altar, partially holding her up so that she didn't have to put too much pressure on her legs. Before they began though, Serena reached up and gently undid his tie, removing it and passing it to Carly. She undid the top buttons of his crisp white shirt and then gently massaged his neck a little.

"Much better" she said with a wide smile.

"Much" he agreed as the guest's smiled.

Finally it was time for the ceremony to begin. The two said their vows and promised to love each other forever. They slipped matching engraved rings on each other's fingers and finally, were pronounced man and wife. The two kissed and Jason picked her up and held her in his arms, walking down the aisle with her like that. They exited the chapel and looked into each others eyes. Neither could wait to embark on their future with the other. They were so in love, and nothing would ever change that. Jason looked into Serena's eyes again and gently kissed her.

"I love you" he whispered.

"And I love you" she whispered back as the two kissed again.

A/N: Ta-dah. After like, 3 months, I finished. I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the ending. I may write a sequel if I get the time, or maybe just add more to this, but don't look for it for a long time. I have a lot on my plate right now. I hope you all liked it, and thank you to my most loyal readers:

5432Run (My only reviewer sometimes)

GHER45

Also thanks to:

Serena

Abc123

And

GHgirl15

Thanks for reading!

-Leanna Ross