Strong Enough To Break
This takes place on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, May 18, 19, 20, and 21 respectively. Remember that Tuesday the 18th was the day that Sonny attacked Jason.
The house was empty when Jason shuffled in. AJ was at one of his friends' house probably playing video games and eating PB&J sandwiches, and his parents were at the hospital as always.
And that meant that Jason had the house to himself. He dropped the keys on the counter and ran a hand through his hair, wondering what to do next.
The first thing was to turn on the television – the noise from the tube helped drown out the noise in his head.
But even Topher Grace's energetic babbling didn't put an end to the whirlwind of thoughts tumbling through Jason's head. They were racing – each one trying to arrive at the forefront of his consciousness before the next. Anger, guilt, remorse, pain, all jumbled together in a mesh of emotion, each trying to outdo the other but at the same time enhancing the other.
His jaw still stung from where Sonny had punched him, and he was sure he'd have bruises tomorrow where his best friend had kicked him.
He put the volume up, but it didn't seem to do the trick. His grandmother had an appointment at the hospital and naturally his grandfather was with her, so he could actually put it up as high as he wanted. It was just too bad that it didn't matter.
Jason slumped down at the kitchen table. He hadn't used his crutches since after school and although his legs didn't hurt, he still felt weary. His ear met the table and he skimmed his fingers lightly over the polished wood.
He wouldn't soon forget the look on Sonny's face when he had stopped him. But even more indelible was the sound of pained disbelief he had heard escape from Elizabeth's mouth a moment after he passed her by.
Jason groaned loudly and stood up from the table, wrenching the refrigerator door open in search of something to eat. The only thing he found was leftover ravioli, so he popped the container in the microwave and set it for two minutes.
The phone rang and Jason sighed, trying to decide whether or not to get it. It might be Elizabeth – he just wasn't ready to face her yet.
But granted, after what had happened earlier, he doubted she'd call. And so with heavy heart and furrowed brow, Jason shuffled slowly toward the cordless phone holder and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Jason! You're home!"
"Yeah, Mom."
"Just called to say that an emergency meeting came up, so your father and I will be late. Don't wait up for us, dear – there's food in the fridge so just warm up dinner for yourself, okay? We'll pick up AJ on our way home."
"OK, Mom."
"And Jason?"
"Yeah?"
"In case we don't see you until tomorrow, good luck on Chemistry and Calculus, sweetheart."
"Thanks, Mom."
"All right. Bye, now."
"Bye."
He hung up and sighed. The microwave beeped and Jason grabbed his Chemistry book from his backpack and set it on the kitchen table before pulling out the ravioli and a fork. For the next couple hours, he sat at the kitchen table and pored over his notes for the AP the next day. After a while of not using his crutches, it felt good to put his feet up again.
Night came before he knew it and when he glanced at the clock and say that it was almost ten, Jason finally put his books away. He felt he had a pretty good handle on everything they'd covered in Chemistry, and was glad to get the book out of his sight. Even after almost six hours of staring at the text, Jason still had to admit that it didn't hold his complete focus. Even as he brushed up on his stoichiometry and theory of equilibrium, his thoughts had been elsewhere.
It was just so hard to study about a bunch of minerals when there were so much more important things going on his life.
Jason Morgan did something the next morning that he didn't ever do – he ignored his alarm clock.
The beeper kept buzzing and buzzing, but it still failed to rouse him from his comatose stupor. Finally, his grandfather who always managed to be up with the birds banged on the door, and a drowsy Jason bolted in horror when he saw he was terribly late.
There was no time for a shower and he decided to go to school in his pajamas – it was the end of the year and he was a senior; nobody cared. They were all doing the same thing anyway.
Edward barely had time to call out a good morning and good luck to his oldest grandson as Jason poured himself a thermos of coffee and dashed out of the front door as fast as his crutches would allow him.
Since his legs were already healing exceptionally well, Alan had agreed to let Jason start taking his Jeep to school once again. Under normal circumstances, Jason would have opted for his motorcycle – the weather was warm and bright and perfect for riding. But the bike hadn't seen much action since before he had surgery. With the crutches and his weak legs, it was obviously impossible to drive, and added to the fact that riding it always brought memories of Elizabeth to him, squealing and clinging to him as they raced the wind, Jason was not terribly upset about leaving it in the garage.
He arrived at school in record time and hobbled in and to the elevator. Glancing at the clocks – which were always five minutes behind the real world – Jason saw that he had plenty of time to spare. OK, more like three minutes, but that was still something.
He stuffed his backpack into the locker and grabbed only his calculator and two mechanical pencils, not noticing how every other senior in the hallway glanced as he passed. They watched him with a mixture of awe and fear, far removed from their usually familiar and affectionate behavior in his company.
Brendan neared and was about to go to his locker but when he noticed that Jason was at his, the tall editor sidled over to his girlfriend's locker, content to while away a few minutes talking with her and a couple of her friends until Jason left. It wasn't that he himself was angry against his friend or had anything against him; it was just that Jason had really blown a fuse the day before and since Brendan didn't know what exactly had set him off, he didn't want to take any chances so soon.
Jason left his locker and limped down the stairs and onto the main level. The AP exams were always held in the basement, and he still had a way to go. The exam would be starting…now, actually. But that was okay since the first twenty minutes was just filling out the identification boxes, and he had already done that when he took his first AP the day before.
"Sorry! Excuse me! Beg pardon!"
Jason had only managed to turn slightly to see who was causing the commotion – however apologetic a commotion it was – when Elizabeth came bursting past him, her knee-length white skirt billowing as she ran. Her sky blue cardigan had slipped off her shoulders revealing a lacy pink tank top below, and her favorite pair of brown leather flip flops clapped against the tiles as she ran to her exam.
If memory served, Jason reflected, she had English today. So did Sonny.
As if on cue, Sonny came up on his left at that exact instant. His best friend didn't even spare him a second glance as he pushed roughly by, a pencil in one hand and a photocopy of Chiver's The Swimmer in the other.
Jason sighed and continued his journey down the hall as Sonny disappeared from view. One elevator ride took him down to the basement and to his Chemistry exam. He was still a little jittery from the lack of breakfast and a gut full of coffee, and as Jason cracked open the booklet and began the multiple choice, the knowledge that Elizabeth was just one room down did little to calm his already frayed nerves.
"Aren't you coming to Calc, Beth?"
Elizabeth pulled her dark locks into a messy ponytail and picked up her folder, avoiding his gaze. "Not today, Sonny."
"What?" He stood waiting by the door, his hands on his hips and his pencil perched above his ear. "You're ditching?"
"Yup," she nodded, sweeping her baby pink purse up from the floor. "I'm going home."
He knew better than to argue with her, so he let it go. Going home would probably have been more beneficial anyway – Elizabeth looked haggard and drawn, and in desperate need of a nap. "I'll walk you out?"
"Won't you be late for Calc?"
He shrugged. "Czar won't care. He knows I'm ready for tomorrow, anyway."
"Sure you don't want to come with me?" she smiled, half-knowing he wouldn't take her up on it. "We could have lunch together…"
Sonny smiled. "As tempting as that sounds, I should go to class. One of us has to, I guess."
Elizabeth nodded and shot him a smile when he held the door open for her. She stepped into the bright sunlight and let it envelop her body, seeping deep within to warm her to the bone.
"Gorgeous day," Sonny stated as they walked for her car, noticing the reverent look on her face.
"Gorgeous day for a nap," she smirked. "I am so beat."
They neared her Acura and Elizabeth pulled the keys from her purse. Sonny waited as she sat down and then shut the door for her. She pulled down the window and started the car, smiling up against the sun at him.
"See you tomorrow, Corinthos."
"Want me to stop by after school?" he asked. "Me, you, Bren – we could do something."
"Not study, I hope," Elizabeth laughed. "I'm so done with that."
Sonny grinned. "Me too. I'm not even going to touch my book today. Maybe we can watch a movie or go to the park or something."
"OK," Elizabeth nodded, shifting into reverse. "Call me."
"Where's Beth?" Mr. Alcazar demanded, glancing around the classroom. "Is she not here today?"
"She went home," Sonny replied bluntly as he walked for his usual seat next to Jason. But one look at his best friend had him stopping in his tracks. The blonde looked up directly at him, his face stoic and his mouth set and firm. Sonny frowned and glanced at Elizabeth's seat before taking it, putting one seat between him and Jason.
"She wasn't feeling too great." Seeing the look on his teacher's face, he immediately hurried on to reassure him. "Don't worry, Czar – she's totally ready for tomorrow. If you want my honest opinion, being in class today wouldn't have helped her at all."
Mr. Alcazar shrugged. "Well, it's up to her." He opened his book and lifted it off the desk, ready to put up an example on the board. But as he glanced around the classroom at each of his students in turn, he thought better of it and set the book down for a moment.
"Kids, we're going to go off on a tangent for a minute," he said. "And no pun intended, either."
Luke smirked and leaned back wearily in his chair, waiting for his teacher to continue.
"Is there anything left that you're having trouble with? I mean, honestly?"
The students glanced around at each other, and Marcus was the first to speak up.
"Not really…"
"Anything you want me to go over? Reimann? Rolle? Mean Value Theorem? What about related rates – everyone hates those."
Sonny thought then shook his head. "I don't think so…"
Mr. Alcazar smiled softly. "I didn't either." He glanced down at his open book and flipped it shut. "Guys, I don't think I have anything left to teach you."
His eyes were smiling as he raked a gaze over his pupils. Luke was grinning and Sonny was chuckling, and even Ryan was having a hard time suppressing a smile.
"Weird, isn't it – to hear me say that?" Lorenzo grinned. "But it's true – after a whole year of lectures and theorems and exercises, there's nothing left. We've gone through it all."
He folded his thumbs into the pockets of his black dress pants and walked to the front of his desk, remaining still for a moment before leaning down on a corner of it. "Do you remember when you came in at the beginning of the year and I gave you those texts?"
"Do I!" Charlie muttered. "Worst day of the year, man."
Lorenzo smiled. "Do you all remember how you complained about how thick the book was – Taggert, weren't you the one that said you could forego your whole weight-lifting routine and get the same workout just lugging that brick to class?"
Marcus smiled. "I did."
"And now we're done with that book," Lorenzo finished. "We've gone through it from cover to cover. What once seemed daunting – even impossible – to you guys is now done and over with. That's all I wanted to say: Congratulations, gang – you did it!"
He clapped his hands together slowly, and the kids glanced around at each other hesitantly before joining in. Luke let out a whistle and pretty soon the room erupted in cheers.
"No lesson today," Mr. Alcazar called out over the din. "Study, work on something else, talk amongst yourselves – whatever."
He took his seat at his desk as the kids put their books away and watched them get out the math puzzles and brain twisters he kept in the room for them, some of them chattering excitedly and others bent over their notebooks. A soft smile claimed the Spaniard's lips. There was just something so satisfying about knowing that this was a group of students he had nurtured and guided from the beginning, only to leave them now on the final intellectual frontier where they would evaluate their own knowledge. That was what made being a teacher worth it every minute of every day.
Thursday dawned early and Jason didn't make the mistake of sleeping in again. He was showered, dressed, and at school in plenty of time for the Calculus exam. This time it was to be held in the library, and Jason limped down there ten minutes early to find his seat. He had left his crutches in Mr. Alcazar's room for the first time, determined to try to spend the entire day walking about school without them despite his teacher's protests.
He found his seat, marked alphabetically, and sat down. Sonny marched in a moment later and glanced neutrally in Jason's direction before finding his own seat on the far side of the room. There was no hatred in his glance, just indifference.
The rest of the students filtered in and Jason managed to figure out the alphabetical scheme. Dividing the alphabet in half, the proctors had arranged for the kids whose surnames began with a letter from the beginning to sit at the four-person table with one partner whose surname began with a letter somewhere in the middle of the alphabet. A with N, B with O, C with P and so on.
That was how he amused himself until the proctors filed in and announced that they'd be ready to start in a few minutes. The librarians went to close the doors before leaving when all of them heard a yell.
"Hold on!"
Lisa Kelling, who was sitting at a table near Jason with Ryan across from her and a tall piece of cardboard between them as a barrier, craned her neck toward the door. "Oh, god," she laughed, her black eyes twinkling. "It's Beth – who else?"
Sonny snickered as Elizabeth ran in, her shoulder-length hair fluttering about her shoulders and her purse clenched in one hand, her calculator and pencils in the other.
"Oversleep again, Beth?" he teased from across the room as she walked up to the proctor. She spared him a quick glare as she fixed the strap of her lacy crimson tank top and pulled her white sweater in place. She wore the same white skirt from the day before, as well as her omni-present brown leather flip-flops and an ankle bracelet made of seashells.
The proctor smiled and pointed in the direction of her seat, and Elizabeth smiled gratefully back and slipped her baby pink purse on correctly, fingering the strap as she walked. Charlie said something to her under his breath as she passed, and Jason watched as she gasped, trying her best to suppress a grin, and punched him on the shoulder. The boy chuckled and turned around in his chair and Elizabeth rolled her eyes and continued looking for her seat.
Her eyes fell on Jason and he could read the "Oh, crap" written on her face when she saw that she was, in fact, sitting directly across from him. M with W. Of course.
She licked her lips and cleared her throat once before sliding into her seat. Jason glanced discreetly at her but she kept her gaze glued down and pretended to fiddle with her pencils. When that went on too long to be plausible, she fiddled with her fingernails instead, picking at the Heartbeat Frost polish.
The tension in the room had skyrocketed as soon as Elizabeth laid eyes on Jason – everyone felt it. Charlie shuffled in his seat, Ryan and Lisa wiggled their eyebrows apprehensively at each other, and Sonny frowned darkly at a certain light-haired boy seated across the room.
But the proctors didn't notice the mounting teenage drama and passed out the booklets, and the test was on. Elizabeth's fingers flew furiously over her calculator as she graphed and sketched, sketched and solved. Jason didn't need his calculator as much as she did – he relied heavily on quick mental math and acute graphing skills.
There were times when he would pause during the multiple choice, and at those times he always found himself watching her. The way she nibbled religiously on her bottom lip, the cute way she crinkled her nose when a problem wasn't working out right. Her hair would tumble over her shoulders and she'd employ a sexy little toss of her head to throw it back.
And then Jason would drag his eyes away from her and back to his test, only to have his hormones shoot into hyperactivity when her ankle accidentally brushed against his calf under the table, seashell bracelet and all.
There was a five-minute break after the multiple choice and Elizabeth couldn't seem to leave her table fast enough. She stood immediately and dragged Lisa and Lexi off to the bathroom, not emerging until twenty seconds before test time.
Jason finished the essay portion of the test while facing the same perils he had during the multiple choice, and when the exam was over, Elizabeth waved to Sonny and practically dashed out of the room. Jason frowned when his best friend picked up his calculator and dashed after her, meeting her at the doors where she was waiting for him.
They left together with several other kids from the other Calculus class. All of Mr. Alcazar's six-seven hour students had decided that they'd take an extra long lunch today by skipping math altogether, and although their teacher knew, he didn't protest. He even suggested that they have their parents call in and excuse them, just in case – after all, Mr. Alcazar didn't blame any of them for not wanting to come to math right after the AP test.
Jason walked to the parking lot by himself and drove home, immediately going down to his permanent camp in the basement and collapsing on the sofa that had been his bed for two weeks. He didn't move from the basement until the next morning when his alarm went off.
He was at school on time and trudged to all of his classes, again leaving his crutches in Mr. Alcazar's room for the whole day. He ate lunch with Luke and Taggert and a couple of their other friends, and the boys mentioned plans to hit a Blues' bar that Luke had just discovered after school. They called it an after-AP party, and Jason was surprised to find out that it was to be a pretty big affair – Brendan, Michael, Charlie, and a few other "straight-arrow" kids planned to attend as well.
He didn't know if he would attend or not. The last time he had gotten wasted with Luke and Marcus was on Sunday, and he didn't like how he felt on Monday.
Truth be told, it was beginning to hit him that maybe partying with those two boys was not the best course of action. For one, all of their activities involved alcohol, and while Jason appreciated the liquor's ability to transport him out of his depression, he always felt guilty about it later.
And that, he knew, was all the fault of a certain petite brunette. Elizabeth hadn't spoken to him for a week, nor he her, and if he forced himself to admit it, that was contributing to the funk he was in.
She wasn't at school today, and as he walked through the crowded halls, he found himself wondering why. Not being able to see her made him want to see her more – maybe by some miraculous stroke of luck, he'd work up the nerve to talk to her.
School ended for the weekend and Jason made his way to his Jeep. Sitting down, he started the car and was instantly assaulted with the loud notes of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life". Coincidentally, it was the same song that had been playing when he had shut the car off this morning.
"Paradox," he muttered to himself as he put the Jeep in gear and sped out of the parking lot.
The wind whipped through his hair and Jason had to squint to see the road. It was a bright day – sunny and warm and perfect for running. A frown twisted his lips and he pressed harder on the gas.
He was home before he knew it and immediately went back down to his grotto in the basement to fix himself a peanut butter and honey sandwich.
"Honey?"
"Yes, dear?"
"Seriously, Jason."
The sweet taste of the golden honey did little to counter the sour frown on Jason's face. That weekend had been fun – even though he was unable to move on his own two feet, he hadn't even minded. And Elizabeth hadn't even complained; even though she could easily have been rollerblading with Brenda or playing wiffle ball in the park with her editor friends, or doing any of the million things that occupied a normal teenager's life, she chose to stay with him.
It was hard to explain how that made him feel. Important. Cared for. Loved.
Jason snorted. Loved.
"So, you two are a couple, right?"
"So that means she's your girlfriend and he's your boyfriend, right?"
"So, then, does that mean you guys are in love?"
Yeah, he was in love. He had been in love with her for a while. But that didn't matter anymore – not when he had completely #$ it all up.
He didn't know how it got this far out of control – he certainly hadn't meant for it to. It had all started innocently enough – he was depressed after his appointment and just brooded for the rest of the day. And when Luke and Taggert made him join them, it seemed so easy.
What were a few beers, anyway? So what? Who cared? Everyone in high school did it.
But you never did, a voice in his head reminded him.
Jason scowled and flung himself down on the green sofa that had become his second bed. It didn't matter anymore. The beer had felt good that Friday night – it totally took him away from his problems. For once in his life, there was nothing. Nothing to worry about, nothing at all. And he liked it that way.
But when he got up the next morning with a hangover, regret had set in. And guilt came soon after. Embarrassment settled in like a fog – he was regretful that the circumstances had turned him toward alcohol. He was guilty about disobeying the rules his parents had set and getting wasted. And he was embarrassed that he had blown off his own girlfriend, one of the most important people in the world to him – when had that happened? – to hang with the boys and Mr. Booze.
But the weekend wasn't much better – he just couldn't get himself out of the funk he had fallen in. So when Luke had called him up on Sunday to see if he wanted to hang out, Jason went – even though he knew exactly what "hang out" meant.
And that was why he was the lowest of all scum.
He was weak and selfish and handicapped, and Elizabeth deserved better.
But as much as he tried to convince himself of that, Jason couldn't. He just couldn't. Because he was right when he said that he was selfish – he was. He was selfish when it came to Elizabeth. He wanted her for himself; he didn't want to be without her.
And that was exactly what had happened. He had #$ up and she had backed off. Staring at the ceiling, Jason knew he didn't blame her. Not one bit.
He knew what Elizabeth was like. If he had told her at the beginning what had happened, she would have been there for him totally. But at the time, he just couldn't handle that thought, and despite everything that had gone down, he still couldn't.
He had liked it when she had mothered him while he was on bedrest – it was selfish and self-indulgent, but he had loved it all. But that was when she had a choice. She chose to stay with him and he loved it.
But this time, she wouldn't have a choice. If he had told her what had happened, she would have been obligated to pity him. To sympathize with him. And Jason didn't want that – no, he couldn't stand that. He didn't want her to feel like she had to do anything with him – ever.
So that day, he had pushed it away as if it would go away if he tried hard enough. But it didn't go away – it got bigger and bigger until he was a speck in comparison.
It had snowballed so fast, and Jason knew he had messed up the minute he blew her off after school. He should have stopped. He should have waited for her. He should have let her talk to him. If he had told her that he didn't really want to talk about it just yet, she would have respected that and not have pushed until he was ready.
But hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
All the woulda, coulda, shoulda's in the world couldn't have helped him now. He created the monster, and it had ruined everything. So now, instead of taking Elizabeth to prom – something he didn't really care for but wanted to do because he knew how much it meant to her – or kissing her after graduation or spending the entire summer making a lifetime of memories for them to take with them to college, he would be going it solo.
Jason rolled over on his stomach and buried his face in a pillow. It wasn't supposed to turn out this way. He wasn't supposed to piss her off. He wasn't supposed to hurt her, as he knew it had. And that was what really killed him – he had hurt her. Bad. And he didn't even know how it happened or how to take it back. After taking it slow and spending months convincing her that she could trust him and that he really cared about her, he had spun around and dashed it all with one bone-headed move. Or maybe it had been a combination of bone-headed moves. He didn't altogether know. And, he reflected, it didn't even matter.
Because after this, she probably wouldn't waste another breath or thought on him. And he didn't blame her at all.
The phone rang and Jason didn't move. He didn't want to. He just wanted to sit and wallow in his self-pity and self-loathing. But the ringing persisted and Jason realized it was his cell phone, not the home phone.
He grabbed it off the table and stared at the screen before turning it on.
"Morgan."
"Yo, Jason – Taggert. Hey, everyone's here at…wait. Luke, what's this joint called? Oh. Really? Just that? OK. Yeah, well, everyone's here at Jake's on Elm, and they've been asking where you were." There was noise in the background and Jason could hear Brendan yelling something. "Brend-o and Michael are here, too – I'm thinking me, you and Luke could hustle them in a game of pool." Michael Quartermaine must have heard because he said something to Taggert and the boy laughed.
"So you coming or what?"
Jason sighed. Coming involved moving. "I don't think so."
"Oh, come on," Taggert insisted. "This is a great place, man, let me tell you. Come on – just for a little while."
Jason looked at the clock. It was seven o'clock. His parents were out of town for some convention in Chicago, and AJ was sleeping over at Chloe's since the kids had a long weekend. Even his grandparents were away for the weekend at their house on Cape Cod.
Thinking of Elizabeth had brought all the pain and anger and guilt rushing back, and Jason found himself rationalizing a beer or two. Maybe he'd just swing by for a little while…
"I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"I'll talk to you later, Sonny," Brenda smiled into the phone. "I have to go."
"Yeah? Where to?" Sonny drawled, leaning back on the armchair in his basement and putting his feet up on the ottoman.
"Beth and I are going to have one of our infamous ice cream socials and talk about how much we hate your kind."
He could hear the smile in her voice. "Yowch. That again, huh?"
"Yup," Brenda laughed. "Come over tomorrow?"
"Sure," he nodded immediately. "See you then."
"Bye, Sonny."
"Goodnight, Bren. Have fun – say hey to Beth for me."
"Done deal. Later."
With that, she hung up and Sonny dropped the phone back in its cradle. For the first time in a long time, he found himself with nothing to do on a Friday night. He had rushed home after school because it was his mother's birthday today, and normally he and his father cooked her dinner.
But that wasn't the case tonight. When Sonny came home, his parents were on the phone with Ric and Sam in Texas, and after talking to the baby and telling their son and daughter-in-law that they had better bring little Kristina up to New York before she started driving, they hung up. That's when he learned that his father was taking Adela to New York for an opera and dinner, and that they may be gone for the weekend.
That meant that Sonny had the entire house to himself, but nothing to do with it. So he had retired to the basement with some lemonade and Moose and switched on his Dance! Dance! Revolution video game and spent the next hour dancing on a video game pad to Japanese techno. His dog had just sat calmly and watched, and after a while, the curly lab took a nap. Then Brenda had called and Sonny had spent the next two hours on the phone with her.
He had just selected a new song for DDR when his cell rang.
"Hello?"
"Sonny? Hey, this is Luke. Listen, we've…um, got a problem."
Sonny heard yelling in the background and squeezed his eyes shut. "Do I even want to know?"
"No," the boy responded truthfully. "But that won't stop me from telling you."
"Wait – stop." Sonny paused, listening intently to the yelling in the background. "Is that Jason?"
"That obvious, huh?"
"Oh, shit." Sonny ran a hand through his dark curls, his Japanese techno instantly forgotten. "What happened? Where are you guys? What's going on?"
"Well, a whole bunch of us are at Jake's on Elm. You know the place?"
"That dive?" Sonny placed a hand on his hip after turning down the volume of the television. "Yeah, I know it."
"Yeah, well, we were just playing pool and, um, drinking," Luke explained hesitantly. It was no secret that Sonny felt very strongly about underage drinking, and just saying that to the Don had him feeling guilty. "And, yeah, well, Jason showed up…"
Sonny sighed. He was still very angry with his best friend, but the note in Luke's voice had him worried. Despite everything, he'd never want anything bad to happen to Jason. "And?"
"And everything was cool," Luke explained hurriedly. "But then this one guy came in and got wasted and picked a fight with Brendan, and you know how squirrelly that kid is. So Jason – who's also, um, yeah, drunk – took him on and now they're really going at it and…"
"And you called me because you can't break it up, you can't calm him down, you don't want to ask Elizabeth to come down to that rathole and you don't think she would even if you did, and I was the only other person you could think of," Sonny finished. Even though he and Luke rarely hung out together, they had been good friends in junior high and Sonny still knew how his old friend thought.
"Pretty much."
The dark-haired boy grabbed his keys and ran up the stairs to put on his shoes and shut off the lights. "Give me ten minutes."
"See you then, Don Corinthos."
"Man, Beth, I'm so sorry," Brenda apologized as she hurriedly pulled on her coat and searched her pocket for her keys. "I know we planned to hang out tonight but-"
"Hey, hey," Elizabeth cut her off, reaching for the switch to the porch light. "No problem. Go, go – your mom wouldn't have called if it wasn't important. Go, hurry."
"Thanks," Brenda smiled. "I'll call you later, okay?"
"Sure," Elizabeth smiled back. She pulled the front door open and gave her best friend a quick hug. "Go now – get out of here. I hope your mom feels better soon."
"She will," Brenda nodded confidently, but Elizabeth could see the worry in her eyes. "She just gets these killer migraines sometimes, and it's like she can't move. I usually just make her some tea and she takes her vitamins and sleeps it off. But I should run – I'll call you."
With that, she took off down the front steps and to Pat the Porsche sitting in the driveway. Elizabeth waved and stayed at the door until Brenda had disappeared down the street. Then she shut the door and locked it.
"Pappy!" she called up the stairs. "Bren left, just to let you know."
Her grandfather hurried down the stairs, his finger on his lips. "Shh, Bethie – your Gram just fell asleep."
"Oh." Elizabeth immediately felt guilty. "Geez, I'm sorry." Her grandmother had been suffering from insomnia recently, so it was an understandable relief to her grandfather that she finally got to sleep.
"It's okay," he assured her, draping an arm around her shoulders and walking with her to the kitchen. "Now, why did Brenda leave?"
"Her mom called," Elizabeth explained as her grandfather poured himself a glass of chilled water and pulled out his B6 vitamins. "She was feeling really sick, and since Bren's dad's in some board meeting right now, Bren was the only one she could call."
"Migraines," Steve repeated, swallowing his pills with a grimace. "Goodness, those are terrible. I hope she gets better soon."
Elizabeth nodded. "Me, too."
"Come on," her grandfather motioned her over to the table. "Your Gram made some brownies for you today."
"Ooh," Elizabeth smiled. "Awesome."
"I'll get them, you pour the milk," her grandfather directed. Elizabeth did as she was told and before long the two of them were seated at the kitchen table with a large brownie and two brimming glasses of milk.
"Bethie," her grandfather began slowly, pinching the corner of his brownie. He always observed and picked at his food before eating it – Elizabeth had already crammed half the confection down her throat and he was still playing with his. "Sweetheart, I don't mean to pry, but I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Sure, Pappy," she nodded, swallowing the last of her brownie and moving on to her milk. "Go ahead."
"It might not be something you want to talk about, but…" He glanced up at her, his pale blue eyes meeting her dark ones. "Why doesn't Jason come by anymore? And why don't you go over to the Morgan house anymore?"
Elizabeth sighed and set her glass down, unsure of how to answer. Her grandfather watched her movements and grimaced.
"Bad time, huh?"
She smiled. "Kinda. More like bad situation."
"Oh?" He pushed his half-eaten brownie forward, offering it to her. "You want to talk about it Bethie?"
"Not really," she admitted. "But to make a long story short, I think Jason and I broke up."
Her grandfather frowned. "You think you broke up? I wasn't aware that there was much confusion regarding the distinction to attached and unattached."
Elizabeth sighed with the weight of the world. "It's complicated, Pappy."
"You know what's complicated?" he asked her with a smirk. "Coming up with a war strategy two miles from the battlefield. And I did that – so I'm thinking that I could probably get this."
She smirked. "Well, it's weird. We haven't spoken for a week, he's totally ignoring me, and he's been drinking."
Steve's light-hearted mood disappeared. "Drinking? Alcohol?"
Elizabeth nodded sadly. "Yeah."
"But he was always so against that – that boy is careful about everything he puts in his body."
She shrugged. "Apparently not so much anymore." She tapped her red nails against the glass and looked up when her grandfather spoke.
"And he hasn't said anything at all?"
"Nope."
"Did you try to talk to him?"
Elizabeth cringed. "Not really."
Steve stared at his granddaughter. "And why not?"
"I don't know," Elizabeth shrugged helplessly. "I just couldn't. I guess I wanted him to come to me, because I didn't want to sound like a nag and end up pestering him about his feelings or his bad mood if it was only that he was tired or sick, you know? I didn't want to sound like I was making a big deal about nothing – that kind of annoys him."
"So instead you let it go on," her grandfather finished for her.
Elizabeth's blue eyes blazed. "Hey, Pappy, he's the one that blew me off and rejected my phone calls and-"
"I know, I know," Steve hurried to assure her. "I know, Bethie, honey, I know. But on the same token, you didn't seek him out. Sure, sometimes you don't want to because you don't know if someone's just having an off-day, in which they're usually fine if you leave them alone and let them clear things up. But when it becomes obvious that it's not just a one-time case of crankiness, you have to do something."
Elizabeth dropped her head on the tabletop, her hand curling into a fist by her empty glass of milk. "I know. I was too big a chicken and I messed up."
"Is it too late to fix all of this?" Steve asked hopefully. "Why don't you call him? Or drop by? Why not try to fix this?"
"I don't know…" Elizabeth hedged, peeking out at him from under a curtain of chocolate silk.
"Sweetheart," her grandfather sighed, leaning forward in his chair. "I know you're both young and have lots of growing up to do, but it's never too early to learn a lesson about love."
"Love?" Elizabeth repeated in surprise. "Pappy-"
He silenced her with one look. "When you love someone, there's no halfway mark. When you care about someone, there's no 'almost'. There's no limit, either. It's all or nothing, sweetheart. If that person is in trouble, you save them, right?"
"Right…"
"And if that person is hurt, you help them, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Don't you see, Bethie – there's no midway here. They either mean something to you or they don't. It's really as simple as that." He ran a hand through his soft white hair, all seriousness. "But it still took me a long time to figure that out. When you feel very strongly for one person, Bethie, and that person pulls away, it's up to you to fight to get them back. Don't rely on fate, don't rely on Love alone, and don't even rely on that person. It is your job to do what you can to win them back – if they really mean something to you."
"But, Pappy-"
"Sweetheart, your grandmother and I almost didn't get married," he admitted softly. "Did I tell you that?"
Elizabeth stared at him. "What?"
"I did something careless and she pulled back. I thought we were done, too, and I was going to leave it to that when my mother sat me down and told me what I'm telling you now. She said to me, 'Stevie, you go out there and don't you come back until you've got her back'. That's exactly what she said, Bethie, and that's exactly what I did. If I had walked away, if I had let her walk away, things would be very different for all of us today."
Elizabeth leaned back in her seat. "You think I should make the first move here?"
Steve licked his lips. "Well, that depends."
"On what?"
His pale blue eyes were shone with sincerity and honesty, and the look on his face told him that he expected the same from her. "How do you feel about the boy?"
Elizabeth looked at her clasped hands on the table. "I really care about him, Pappy."
But Steve wasn't satisfied. "Why?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me," he smiled softly. "Why? Why do you care about him? What makes this boy so wonderful that you would feel so about him?"
Elizabeth nibbled on her lip and forced herself to meet his gaze. After all, he was being honest and open with her, and he deserved the same in return. "It's the way he used to make me feel, Pappy."
"And how did he make you feel, Bethie?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. Important. Special. Pretty. Like I was the most amazing girl he'd ever met." She smiled at her fingernails, a blush creeping to her cheeks. "Sonny said that he'd do things like take the long way to class just so he'd pass me in the hallway. He always waited for me and carried my books if I let him and he just made me feel so…ladylike. Beautiful. Perfect, even."
Her eyes were soft when she met his again. "I've never felt that way about anyone else before, Pappy. Maybe that's because Jason's my first boyfriend – I don't know – but I just don't think it gets any better than what we had."
Steve tipped his chin at her. "Do you love him, Bethie?"
Her eyes widened and he knew that he'd surprised her with that word. He also knew that his granddaughter didn't like ascribing words to feelings – even if she did love him, it might take her a while to say that it was Love that she was feeling.
"I think so."
He smiled gently at her whispered answer and leaned forward until his nose was an inch from hers. "So do you really think that's worth giving up?"
She shook her head, and for the first time her lower lip trembled. "But I don't know how to make it better, Pappy. I don't know what to do."
"Keep an open mind," he advised her softly. "Don't pass up any chance – no matter how small it may seem – to let him know that you are still interested in making it work."
She was about to reply when the phone rang. Elizabeth frowned and reached back to retrieve it from the counter.
"Hello?"
"Beth?"
"Sonny?"
"Yeah. Look, I have a problem."
She looked at her grandfather who lifted an eyebrow in question. "What type of problem?"
"It's, um, involving Jason."
Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up. "What about Jason?" Across from her, Steve also leaned forward to listen.
"We're here at Jake's and…yeah, Jason's kind of drunk."
"Sonny-"
"And involved in one hell of a bar fight."
"What!"
"Look, you know that I would never call you, but I did everything I could. And I have afucking black eye to show for it, too."
Elizabeth grimaced and tightened her hold on the phone. "Sonny, what do-"
"I know it's a lot to ask and I wouldn't blame you if you said no, but do you think you could come down here? We got rid of the first guy, but now this other one started in on Jason, and we can't get them to split up and we can't get him to calm down and – oh, damn it all to Hell."
Elizabeth put a hand over the receiver and looked at her grandfather.
"What happened?" he asked immediately, not liking the look on his youngest granddaughter's face.
"Jason's in trouble."
Steve stared at her. "What kind of trouble?"
Elizabeth licked her lips before nibbling on the bottom one. "He got in a fight," she said slowly. She exhaled deeply before continuing. "Sonny's already there – he tried to calm him down, but it's not working. He asked me to come."
Steve glanced at the clock. "Where is it?"
"Jake's?" Elizabeth replied. "I think that's what he said. It's over on Elm."
"A bar?" Steve asked, frowning.
Elizabeth nodded.
"I don't want you going to a bar, Bethie," he said firmly. But after thinking about it for a minute, he spoke again. "Is Sonny there?"
"Yes."
"Has he been drinking?"
"No."
Steve stared at the kitchen tiles. "What do you think, Bethie? What do you want to do?"
"It's not really a matter of what I want to do," she replied with a humorless chuckle. "It's more along the lines of what I have to do. Pappy, I don't want Jason to get hurt. It doesn't matter what happened – I don't him to hurt anyone or end up hurt himself. That's the same reason why Sonny even showed up. If he says he needs my help, then I know he's serious. He'd never call me down there if he didn't already try everything else."
"Are you going to go?"
She nodded slowly. "I'll try to be in and out as quick as I can. I have to go, Pappy."
"I'll be there as soon as I can, Sonny," she spoke into the receiver. "Thanks. Bye."
He looked down at his hands. "I don't like it, but all right. Call me, and take some sort of…"
"Mace?" she smiled. "I've got a can in the dash of the Acura."
He nodded seriously. "All right. For God's sake, angel, be careful. Do you want me to come too?"
"No," she answered immediately. "There's no need for it, Pappy – I'll be fine."
"Oh, your father is going to kill me for this," her grandfather muttered. "But he'll just have to get in line behind your mother and grandmother."
Elizabeth smiled and grabbed her purse before kissing him on the cheek. "You're overreacting, Pappy. My other friends are there, too – nothing bad's going to happen. I'll call you."
With that, she pulled her leather jacket out of the closet and stepped outside, instantly glad that she had decided to cover up. Despite the fact that it was late May and very warm, the nights were still cool and she would be chilly in her black tank top.
She got into the Acura and waved to her grandfather who stood watch at the window and pulled out of the driveway, hoping she wasn't too late to run damage control.
Jason Morgan was in no mood to fight. He had already beaten one man enough for the drunk to stagger out of the dive, but now that guy's buddy wanted some. Currently, he was doing his best to rile Jason up – pushing him, threatening him, cursing at him.
Brendan and Michael – the two relatively most sober kids around – were doing a good job of holding him back and the others were trying to hold the guy off, but it just wasn't working.
Sonny was watching from the sidelines by the pay phone. His batteries had died shortly after he arrived at Jake's, just in time to see Jason engaged in a fearsome brawl with a man several inches taller than him. He had joined in immediately along with Taggert, and although the two of them got in Jason's way more than they helped him, the drunk finally got his comeuppance when Jason bloodied his nose and finished the job with a solid roundhouse kick that left the man wheezing for breath.
They thought that was the end of it and Jason had just turned to say something to him when another man, presumably a friend of the beaten drunk's, had stepped up. That was when Jason's temper flared again, and none of the boys could get him to calm down and leave. The other man was clearly enjoying it, and took the opportunity to taunt Jason relentlessly.
That was when Sonny had run to the pay phones to call Elizabeth, and as he glanced back at the scene, he watched in horror as Michael and Brendan lost their hold on his best friend and Jason launched himself at the man, a murderous look on his face.
The tussle that ensued was worse than the first, and Sonny abandoned his post and joined in to help. Taggert and Michael did the same, but Taggert was a little too inebriated to match the older man's agility. Jason, too, was beginning to show the effects of his drinking and had begun to wobble slightly on his feet.
Sonny and Michael finally managed to wrench the man off a very unsteady Jason and were trying to show him the door when he broke free. At that exact moment, Elizabeth walked into the bar.
Perfect timing as always, she mused when she took in the mess around her.
The man took one glance at her and was about to turn back to pummel Sonny and Michael when Elizabeth spoke up.
"I called the cops on the way over here, so that may not be such a good idea."
The man stared at her, and it didn't take long for him to become convinced that he really should leave. When he had left, Taggert approached the brunette timidly.
"You didn't really call the cops, did you?" he asked, naturally thinking of the fact that there was a whole bunch of underage kids with fake IDs getting drunk at the local dive.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Is everyone okay?"
Brendan nodded. He was nursing a black eye, as were Sonny, Michael and Luke. Taggert's nose was bleeding before but had stopped.
Jason however, was the biggest wreck out of everyone. All of Elizabeth's feelings of anger and resentment toward him fled the moment she laid eyes on him. A huge shiner, a bloodied nose, and several bruises under the sleeves of his brown tee-shirt instantly brought out her more maternal side.
"Jason!" He was surprised, just like every other guy in the room except Sonny, when she flew to his side and began inspecting his injuries. The nose wasn't serious – just a thin trickle of blood – but the eye would be turning some mighty interesting colors before it healed.
"Don't you think you've all had enough fun for one night?" she asked sternly, her hands still on Jason's face but her eyes boring into each one of her friends in turn.
Taggert shuffled his feet in embarrassment and Luke looked away, knowing she was right.
"And don't you think all of you should go home now?" she prodded, tipping her head toward the door.
The boys nodded and lingered for a few minutes before everyone shuffled out the door. Elizabeth took the time to call her grandfather and tell him that everything was fine and that she was going to drop Jason home.
"You don't have to do that," he sputtered. It was the first thing he'd said to her in nearly a week. "Really, I-"
"What?" she challenged. "You'll drive yourself home? Drunk?" He looked away in embarrassment and she shook her head. "Hardly."
"Listen, Beth," Sonny spoke up at her side. "It's no problem – I can drop him home. Maybe you should get home yourself…"
"It's fine, Sonny," she insisted, keeping one hand on Jason's arm. "Really. But can we do one thing?"
Both boys looked at her, but Sonny was the only one to speak. "What?"
"Can we just get out of here?"
Sonny nodded once and led the way, grabbing Jason's jacket on the way. The blonde followed with Elizabeth still flanking him and her arm still looped protectively through his.
They split up in the parking lot, but not before standing under the lights for a moment to take inventory.
"Now, you're sure you're okay?" Elizabeth asked Sonny again. "I don't like the look of that eye."
"Actually, it was black since Tuesday," he reminded her, but not without sparing a quick glance at his best friend, the same one who had given him the shiner to begin with.
Jason rubbed the back of his neck, which Sonny took for the apology it was meant to be.
"Here." He held out his arm, across which was draped Jason's leather jacket.
Jason accepted it slowly. "Thanks."
Sonny knew what he meant by that one word – Thanks for the jacket, and thanks for having my back. He nodded once. "Sure. Anytime."
Jason held the jacket a moment before gingerly trying to pull it on. His forearm tingled and the muscles around his rotator cuffs screamed. Damn. His arm was going to be stiff tomorrow.
Elizabeth watched him for a brief moment before reaching out to help him. She held the jacket and pulled it close enough for him to ease one arm into, then another. She smoothed down the front and zipped it up halfway, every bit the protective mother hen.
Sonny was squinting at his best friend. "Dude, you sure you're going to make it home okay?"
Jason shrugged. "Whatever. I'm fine, really." The alcohol was still clogging up his brain, and just maintaining his balance seemed a chore.
"Yeah, well." Elizabeth wasn't so convinced. "Better make sure your car's locked – you can come pick it up tomorrow."
Jason locked the black Jeep with his key chain and turned around to face his friends. Sonny was the first to speak, and backed away to his own car as he did so.
"You sure you'll be okay, Beth?"
She waved him on and grabbed Jason's elbow to steer him to the Acura. "I'm fine, Sonny – go home already."
The dark-haired boy relented and, waving, he got into his own car. Elizabeth helped Jason into the passenger seat and got in herself, and it was only when she started her car and pulled onto the main road that Sonny left the parking lot.
Jason opened the window as soon as they picked up speed and let the cold night air blast him in the face. Elizabeth glanced at him a couple times before turning her complete focus on the road.
"Jeepers creepers, Morgan, you sure know how to find yourself some trouble."
His voice was soft and hazy from the liquor when he replied. "I didn't find any trouble."
She smirked. "No, of course not – it found you." Elizabeth shook her head, the cool air inundating her car causing her to tighten her grip on the wheel. "But geez, Jason – a bar fight?"
It was his turn to smirk in the moonlight. "Tell you what – next time I decide to pick a bar fight, I'll bring you as back up."
