Oh-So-Charming
This takes place during the school week of May 24th. Remember, prom is on Saturday the 29th of May. Ooooh. Ok, I'll shut up.
With her fingers laced through Jason's, Elizabeth Webber was doing her best not to burst out laughing as they walked down the senior hallway toward his locker. As soon as they had stepped onto the third floor, all eyes had been turned toward them. A palpable sigh of relief had followed them as their friends saw their linked hands, and although she could feel Jason's irritation radiate off of him, Elizabeth was kind of amused.
He was muttering something under his breath about people not having anything interesting going on in their lives, and Elizabeth elbowed him lightly because she didn't want anyone to be offended. She understood why he was slightly annoyed with the unwanted attention, but she also knew that these were their friends, and they were like this. They always had been and she had a feeling they always would be. Sure, they were meddlesome; sure, they were practically little spies, but they were also just a bunch of high school seniors trying to get through the third-to-last week of high school while holding on to it as well.
They reached his locker and Jason let go of her hand, allowing Elizabeth to lean up against the adjacent one as she always did. He was stuffing his Psychology book into his locker when he caught her gaze, and the mirth sparkling in her sapphire orbs finally brought a smile to his lips as well. Elizabeth giggled when he shook his head in disbelief, and when Carol and Brenda made their way to the drinking fountain, they were amazed to see the two of them chuckling quietly and talking softly, leaning into each other as if nothing had ever been wrong.
That sight, of course, caused Carol to immediately convene an emergency meeting of the Busybodies Association. Brenda rolled her eyes as Felicia, Jenny, Emily and Lexi gathered around the blonde like a blood clot in the middle of the hallway, but was soon sucked into it when everyone wanted to know if she had any prior knowledge of this and if she did, shame on her for not leaking it into the network.
Brendan walked down the hallway and glanced at his girlfriend in confusion as she jabbered away with a bunch of her friends. Sometimes, he just didn't get that – Jenny had to be one of the smartest, most conscientious people he knew but occasionally she turned into the typical gossiping little ninny that she ridiculed. Still confused about what to make of that strange gathering, Brendan sauntered over to his locker and it was only when he was a pace away from it that he noticed Elizabeth. With Jason. Standing together and talking. By the lockers.
His surprise was only momentary – after all, he was not like Jenny and certainly would not spend all day pondering the implications of said occurrence as well as the possible circumstances that could have led up to it – and resumed undoing his combination lock. When Elizabeth and Jason looked his way, Brendan smiled at his fellow editor and tipped his head at Jason, which the tall blonde rightfully took as a sign that all uncharacteristic behavior from the past was to be overlooked and forgiven. After all, that was just how it was with guys.
Girls were not such an easy matter, however. The congregation centered around Carol and Brenda had grown in number, with Johnny O'Brien even shoving Lexi out of the way to get some information. But before any official Busybodies-Association-approved action could be taken, the bell rang. All heads instantly craned over to where the allegedly reunited couple stood, on the lookout for the telltale sign. And they got what they were looking for – Jason slammed his locker shut and kissed Elizabeth on the lips before they split for class. He blew right by them on his way for the stairs, his physics notebook in one hand and a calculator in the other, and Elizabeth strolled three yards into her Spanish class where Mr. Lewis stood waiting at the door, wearing a smug little smirk that irked her for some unexplainable reason.
Sonny made his entrance just then and was about to head into the same room for su clase de español when Brenda grabbed his arm. Mr. Lewis, still standing like a silent sentinel at the door while the kids scurried around like ants, watched the two of them engage in hushed conversation before Brenda kissed Sonny and they split as well. The Cuban boy ducked quickly into the classroom and made a beeline for his assigned seat next to a certain brunette, and Mr. Lewis shook his head with amusement.
Kids. It was so funny to think that they all only had three weeks left before they were out, and only four weeks left until they graduated. And then they were on their own – thrown to the mercy of a cruel world. Some of them had the skills to succeed and excel beyond their wildest dreams; others would have to struggle for their goals. They would have to call on every nugget of information, every shred of critical thinking power if they wanted to survive and make it out there on their own, but for now? They were all wrapped up in their own episode of Beverly Hills 90210. It was downright laughable – almost adults, yet still just a bunch of kids.
The final bell rang and Mr. Cameron Lewis sauntered into his room, a soft smile on his lips. Just a bunch of kids. A bunch of good kids. God bless 'em, he thought to himself as he swept a calm gaze around the room as if it were his last.
Elizabeth was dutifully copying down notes from the board as Mr. Lewis blathered on and on in Spanish, and next to her, Sonny was doing the same. They were halfway into the period and yet her friend had been noticeably silent the whole time and truth be told, it was beginning to annoy her. He hadn't said a word about anything, much less her and Jason, even though Elizabeth knew that he had to have heard the news by now. After all, it traveled through PC High like a bad case of mono. Mr. Lewis was shuffling through one of his books and Elizabeth took advantage of the lull in conversation to lean over to Sonny as he doodled his name in the margin of his notebook.
"You can ask, you know."
He ducked his head and Elizabeth smirked. When he looked back up at her, she saw that his eyes were dancing with amusement as well. "That obvious, huh?"
"Let's just say the silence was deafening," she grinned.
Sonny set his pencil down and leaned back in his chair, studying her for a good moment before speaking softly. "You and Jason – you're good, right?"
Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we're good."
Sonny's smile grew and his charming dimples – the same ones that had the girls fairly swooning as he walked down the hallway, much to Brenda's displeasure – peeked out. Mr. Lewis happened to glance over at the two of them at that moment and when he saw both Sonny and Elizabeth grinning at each other, there was little doubt in his mind as to what they were talking about.
Sonny's nod was almost imperceptible but his smile was sincere. "Good."
The bell rang and Jason picked up his notebook and calculator as Mr. Baier shouted out a reminder to check the syllabus for homework. His Physics class had been interminable – a first for him since he really liked Physics. And to make matters worse, he felt everyone sneaking glances at him throughout the period. He had been annoyed in the morning at the same thing, but Elizabeth had convinced him to take some amusement from it. After all, it was pretty funny that their friends were so invested in their relationship. And if he really thought about it, it was nice of them. He was just so used to not receiving much from other people in those terms that their outpouring of concern and even involvement threw him for a loop before Elizabeth forced him to look at it another way.
Roni Peterson fell into step with him as they walked down the hallway toward the stairs where everyone was already migrating, creating a sardines-in-a-can kind of environment. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled up in one of those fancy buns that were meant to look careless, and she kept her gaze glued before her as they walked. Still, Jason saw the corner of her mouth hook up. She glanced at him then and must have caught the tail end of his smirk because she chuckled quietly to herself.
"Jason."
"Roni."
"You look happy today."
Jason grinned ahead, not meeting her gaze, and nodded once. "Sure. Today's a good day."
"Good," Roni beamed, unable to keep her own grin from stretching ear-to-ear as they squeezed through the mess of their fellow sardines. "I'm sure Beth thinks so, too."
And with that she was gone, maneuvering her way past a group of gabbing sophomores and heading toward the art wing without so much as a wave. Jason just smirked and shook his head. He knew better than to think that he had gotten through the worst of the "well-meaning concern" of their friends. And he didn't even want to think of what Carol would do to him once she got within shouting distance.
The rest of the periods passed slowly and with several more intrusive comments and interrogations, and eventually Jason found himself in Calculus with Sonny on his right and Elizabeth one seat over. It was their first day together after the AP, and it was obvious that Mr. Alcazar was in no mood to teach. And that was a good thing because if he had attempted to do so, there would have been mass rioting in the small classroom. Charlie and Ryan were already getting ready to nap in their own little corner, and Elizabeth was playing with one of the Czar's Rubik cubes.
It took their teacher ten minutes to find his gradebook, much to everyone's amusement, and he finally managed to get attendance taken care of. Setting down the book, Mr. Alcazar stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled out to stand in front of his desk. He spent a good deal of the class period asking them how they felt about the AP and what sort of questions they thought they botched. The discussion was easy and relaxed, complete with the good-natured ribbing that typified that class. Sonny was more at ease, Jason noticed. He smiled and talked and even looked in his direction a couple of times, meaning that it wouldn't be too hard to mend the bridges between them.
"They had related rates on there," Luke announced. "Would you believe it?"
"I do believe it," Mr. Alcazar replied. "Now, is that a good thing or bad thing?"
"Both," Luke answered, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back. "See, I practiced related rates for a whole day – I literally went to the Studio, got a cup of coffee and sat there for eight hours doing those practice sheets you gave us – and I was still having some trouble with the funnel ones. And so that totally freaked me out because I thought that I'd be screwed on the test."
"But…?" Mr. Alcazar prompted him. "Come on, boy, don't leave me in a lurch – what happened?"
"The one on the test was so freaking easy!" the slender blonde burst out. "It was almost ridiculous – one simple u-substitution and the whole thing might as well have been Pre-Calc. I was like, 'well, what the hell was I doing spending all day on this crap?' It was really weird, and it kinda pissed me off."
Mr. Alcazar laughed. "Only you would get angry over an easy problem, Spence. What else?"
"They had a lot of area under the curve questions," Elizabeth piped up, still twisting the Rubik's cube. Her eyes didn't meet her teacher's as she continued concentrating on the infuriating hunk of plastic. Damn it, she was going to solve it before the bell rang and that was that. "Those were pretty easy."
Sonny nodded. "Yeah – we went over those in one of our study groups at Jason's. That was no sweat at all."
Jason perked up at the mention of his own name from his somewhat estranged best friend's mouth and nodded when Mr. Alcazar looked to him for agreement.
"So, how do you guys feel? Did your studying pay off? Did you think you could have done better? Is there anything you'd like to recommend to me or students in the upcoming school year?"
Elizabeth shrugged thoughtfully and then swore at the cube in her hands, much to the amazement and amusement of everyone in the room. "You did fine, Czar. I liked that you spent so much time on the beginning stuff – that was really helpful. And I personally think my studying habits were fine."
"Me, too," Sonny agreed. "I'm glad I didn't cram right before the test because that would have killed me."
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "I think that's key – to work at a consistent pace and not overdo it in the homestretch." He and Elizabeth both cringed at the inadvertent running metaphor but it went unnoticed by their teacher.
"So how did you guys study?" he asked curiously. "As in, what do you recommend in that area? Were the sheets helpful? Do you think study groups were helpful, like the ones Jason and er, who was it, Beth organized?"
From the back of the room, Lisa Kelling laughed. "Well, I don't know what sort of study groups you're talking about Czar, because I've seen those two studying at the Studio." Elizabeth blushed and Jason ducked his head with a grin. "And they looked way too cozy to be doing Calculus."
Mr. Alcazar stared at her for a second before turning his gaze to a very pink Elizabeth and a suddenly brazen Jason, and then burst out laughing. "Ok, so study groups work as long as they're not just Jason and Beth. Got it." The rest of the room was already laughing along. "So, anything else?"
The discussion continued until Marcus announced that it was "that time again", and although Mr. Alcazar tried to stop him, the tall basketball player was out the door in three seconds flat. The rest of the students followed him out, shooting sympathetic smiles at their teacher as he gave up and tried to straighten out his desk. Jason followed Elizabeth up to his locker and waited for her as she exchanged her books. Having not brought any of his own, Jason held only one notebook and a calculator in his hand with a mechanical pencil shoved into the pocket of his jeans.
Elizabeth eyed him with amusement as he shifted his weight from foot to foot, growing more antsy as the seconds went by. "Anything wrong, Jason?"
He wasn't looking at her but at the clock mounted above the lockers. "Hurry up, Elizabeth, come on."
She took her time sliding her lock back in place and locking it, and no sooner had her fingers twisted the little blue knob than Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Jason-"
He grabbed her backpack from the floor and slung it over one shoulder, darting another nervous glance at the clock. The bell would ring any minute, and he wanted to get out of there.
"Woah, woah," Elizabeth sputtered as he practically dragged her away down the hallway. "What's your hurry, Jason? It's just lunch!"
Jason stopped and cringed noticeably as the bell rang, and as soon as the students began flooding the hall, he pulled her hand more insistently. "Elizabeth, we have to get out of here-"
"What? Why?"
"Because Carol has class in that room over there," he answered quickly, pointing over the heads of several short sophomores. "And if we don't get out of here-"
"JASON MORGAN!"
Elizabeth was the one to cringe when Carol's indignant shriek echoed through the hallway, grabbing everyone's attention and scaring the little sophomores. Familiar faces turned to look at her, and she gripped Jason's large hand tightly when she spied Carol squeezing her way through the traffic and making a beeline for them. "OK, I get your point – let's move."
Jason didn't need any more encouragement and was practically flying down the stairs as Elizabeth matched him step for step. They pushed out of the double doors at the same time and hit the pavement running, aiming straight for Jason's Jeep in the parking lot until something occurred to Elizabeth and she immediately slowed her steps, pulling Jason back with her.
"What's wrong?" His piercing blue eyes, laced with worry and concern, quickly scanned her for any signs of injury or pain. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," she answered quickly, moving her hand up to his forearm and rubbing the bulging muscle underneath soothingly. "But Jason…you can't run."
His concern for her, so evident in his expressive eyes, bled away as he regarded her softly. Every so often, her instincts to take care of him completely floored Jason. "Elizabeth, I can run," he reminded her gently. "I just can't do it for long stretches of distance or time. But I can run to the parking lot."
Jason could see the uncertainty in her pacific blue eyes, and his gaze unconsciously gravitated to where she was mangling her full bottom lip with her teeth. "Are you sure? But what if you hurt yourself-"
His chuckle was soft and he adjusted her backpack over his shoulder before snaking one arm around her waist and pulling her along as they walked to the lot. "I won't – I may not be able to compete, but the doctors did say that I should have no problem otherwise. I can still play basketball and soccer, you know. Don't worry."
She nodded unsurely and nibbled on her lower lip all the way to Jason's Jeep. Lunch was a simple affair, as it always was, but both of them nevertheless took comfort in that familiar little ritual of theirs. They returned to school two minutes after the five minute bell rang and after a quick kiss flew off to their separate classrooms.
And before anyone knew it, the day was over. Elizabeth walked out of her tenth period Psychology class with Petey, both of them quickly covering the six feet to their lockers. The softball captain had been shooting her sly smiles all through the period and now that they were finally free, she wasn't holding back.
"So?" Forgotten was their daily after-school sing-along; instead of the tunes, Lauren obviously wanted the dirt. "Damn it, Webber, you're going to have to talk eventually! We'll get it out of you – you know we will!"
Elizabeth just laughed, opening her messy locker just enough to slip the thick textbook inside. Petey's brown eyes narrowed, watching the girl as she quickly slammed the door shut and tried to wedge her combination lock in despite the locker's obvious will to open and spill its contents all over the tiles.
Petey sighed, waiting for her friend to get up from the floor. When she did, the taller brunette effectively barred her escape route. Elizabeth tried to dodge but Lauren anticipated her move and quickly twisted around accordingly.
"Oh, no, Beth," she growled, shaking her head menacingly. "You're not getting away that easily."
"Don't even think about it," came another voice from down the hall. The two brunettes looked up just in time to see Carol Benson hobble her way toward them atop sky blue stiletto sandals. "We're long overdue for a chat, Beth."
"I almost hate to agree, but I have to." Elizabeth's dark blue eyes glittered treacherously when her best friend sauntered gracefully toward them, her own brown eyes sparkling with mirth. She stopped right next to Petey, her slender arms crossed over her chest and quirked a mischievous smile at her. "You've been avoiding us all day, Beth."
"Bren-"
The girl just shook her head with a wicked smirk. "Nope. Sorry, babe – now you spill."
"That, or we can beat it out of you."
Elizabeth spun around and groaned when she spotted her co-editor Jenny sporting her trademark pink feather boa and a Cheshire cat grin. She was just about to reply when Lexi Cassidine trudged out of Mrs. Hornsby's classroom and instantly made a beeline for the little group.
"I vote we beat her anyway," the slender brunette announced. "You know – on sheer principle."
"We are equal-opportunity assailants, after all," Sydney Morse quipped, popping out of the computer lab and skipping up next to Jenny. "Out with it, Beth."
The petite brunette just shook her head, laughing to herself. She should have known that she wouldn't be able to get out of this conversation today, no matter how scarce she and Jason made themselves. After all, her friends were resourceful and merciless when it came to good gossip. And whether they liked it or not, she and Jason had been big news ever since that first morning that they walked in together.
"Fine," she sighed heavily, her back slamming against the lockers as she flung her backpack to the tiles. "What do you want to know?"
Brenda and Carol's grins stretched from ear to ear. "Why Beth," the tall blonde cooed, batting her heavily made-up eyelashes. "We thought you'd never ask."
At the other end of the senior hallway, Jason was soon to have a similar conversation with his friends. But unlike Elizabeth's gal pals, the boys didn't believe in ambush tactics. They didn't have to; after all, it wasn't them that Jason had been trying to avoid all day. It had mainly been Petey and Carol. The former was most likely to punch him hard in the arm for being such a loser and the latter was most likely to rupture his eardrums with her high-pitched shrieks. He just couldn't win.
But the boys were different.
"Yo, Morgan!" Jason and Brendan, standing in front of their adjacent lockers, both looked up to see Marcus and Luke striding jauntily toward them. "Got a minute?"
"Sure," he nodded slowly, gripping his backpack and waiting curiously until they were closer. "What do you need?"
Luke grasped the back of his neck with one hand, rubbing away at a stubborn knot and looking up when Sonny approached. The Cuban tugged at the straps of his green backpack, pulling it higher up on his back and stood nearby silently. He and Jason had yet to say anything about the events of the past week, but the sight of Taggert and Luke singling him out in the hall made the President of the student body rather curious – and suspicious.
Jason waited patiently as Luke began. "Look, man, we're, uh, sorry if we messed things up between you and Beth."
Sonny expelled a breath of air through his nose, his shoulders relaxing. Taggert and Luke were his friends, no doubt about that, but he was still a bit skeptical when it came to them and Jason. He didn't want his best friend caught up in something bigger than he was – again. Not when he had worked so hard to get out of it and obviously succeeded, if Beth's remark that they were "good" was any indication.
"We really are, Morgan," Taggert repeated. "We just wanted to help you loosen up – it looked like you needed it. We're sorry if we kinda fucked things up for ya."
"You didn't fuck anything up for me," Jason replied, closing his locker and twisting the knob of his lock. "I did a good enough job of that on my own."
"Still, we just wanted to let you know that we didn't mean for all this shit to get started," Luke shrugged. "And…from the look of things, I'm glad that you and Beth patched things up."
Jason flashed him a wry grin. "That makes two of us."
"No, that's where you're wrong," Sonny disagreed, his dimples peeking out. "Apparently, the whole damn school is glad."
Brendan laughed. "Tell me about it. Man, have you seen those girls? I haven't seen anyone that fired up – positively or not – since my parents when they cancelled MASH."
Johnny O'Brien had appeared halfway through Brendan's statement and roughly pushed Sonny to the side, hopping away when the older boy tried to retaliate with a swift punch. "No joke, dude – they're totally clotting around Beth right now. I can't even see her – they're like those piranhas on the Discovery Channel."
Jason cringed, making Luke laugh. "Don't worry, Morgan – Beth can handle herself," he assured him. A shrill shriek echoed from the far end of the hallway and Michael Quartermaine, with his baseball duffel on one shoulder and backpack on the other, winced as he passed the boys.
"Don't be so sure," he warned, tipping his red head toward the other side of the building. "That was Carol."
Sonny laughed. "Actually, I think it might have been Brenda."
"It's just so damn hard to tell sometimes," Jason teased, shaking his head with mock disgust. Sonny muttered something discouraging under his breath, causing his best friend to laugh.
"Anyway, yeah, that's all I wanted to say," Taggert cut in, glancing at his watch. "I'll catch you guys later – Coach is going to bust a cap in my ass if I'm late again."
"Later." Jason bent down and zipped up his backpack, reflecting that now was as good a time as any to say what he knew he would inevitably have to. "And, look, I'm sorry about the way I've been acting for the last couple days. I just…I was hit with some rough shit and didn't really handle it very well."
"It's okay," Brendan shrugged, pulling an ever-present pen from atop his ear and quickly jotting down his homework on his hand as it came to him. "Shit happens."
"Woah, don't be going all Forrest Gump on us, man," Johnny ribbed. "But seriously, Jase, it's cool. We all kinda figured that you weren't yourself."
"Yeah," Michael nodded, remembering how Jason had stood up for him and Brendan at Jake's that one night. He had gone after the barfly like a man possessed, something very uncharacteristic of his normally easy-going friend. "So…dude, what happened?"
Sonny was watching his best friend closely, waiting for any semblance of an answer. In all the years that they had known each other, Jason had very rarely lost his cool. That was his own job – Jason was usually the one that calmed him down when he got a little too…intense about something. But this time had been different, and Sonny was secretly dying to know what could have affected his friend so deeply.
"I, uh…Well, I went back to General Hospital about a week and a half ago and they checked up on my legs." Johnny nodded, still thinking back to that afternoon that Jason had collapsed on the track while asking Elizabeth to prom. "Basically, they said that something went wrong and I can't…I can't run again."
As a rule, teenage boys rarely let themselves be surprised about anything. Each liked to maintain that James Dean on-top-of-the-world attitude, letting others believe him immune to life's little trials and tribulations. But that rule was instantly forgotten as they gaped at their old friend.
Michael and Johnny's eyes were wide and Sonny's jaw was agape. Luke stroked his chin wistfully and was the first to speak.
"Dude, Morgan…I'm sorry, man. No wonder you went all apeshit on us."
Jason chuckled, the raspy sound lacking any humor. "Yeah, well…"
"Jason, that's…that's…" It was highly strange, surreal even, to see their brash, younger Irish friend struggling to find words. "That's terrible. You can't run at all?"
Michael's blue eyes were laced with sympathy as his friend shrugged. "Well, I can run when I play basketball or frisbee or sports and stuff, but I definitely can't compete. Otherwise, it's going to be the same as before."
"What happened?" Brendan wanted to know. "Did they mess up the operation?"
"No. They did exactly what they were supposed to." And that was the part that hurt the most. "It's just that my legs weren't healing the right way. There was nothing they could have done, really."
"That's rough, man," Michael sighed, rubbing his temples. "Damn. That sucks."
Jason rolled his eyes as if to say, you're telling me, and the five other boys stood around for a short while, shuffling their feet and talking quietly. And then Michael announced very apologetically that he really had to get to practice otherwise Coach would go postal on him. Jason waved him on, being very familiar himself with temperamental athletic coaches. Luke and Johnny had band practice to get to and Brendan was supposed to be setting up templates for the final issue of the senior paper, and that left only Sonny and Jason standing by the lockers.
His best friend had yet to say anything since Jason had divulged the cause of his problems. And Jason didn't really need for him to say anything. He had been a complete ass and done things to Sonny that he never would have done otherwise, and even though the boy had seemed to forgive him earlier, it was still understandable if he just wanted to keep things cool for a while.
But Sonny surprised him by not being the sort of friend Jason felt he deserved, but the sort of friend that Jason really needed.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
The hushed question only served to increase Jason's guilt and he shrugged lamely. "I couldn't. I couldn't tell anyone."
Sonny nodded to himself, staring down at the floor. "That's why you didn't tell Beth, even?"
Jason shrugged again. "Like I said, I couldn't. I was too busy just…shutting down, I guess." His best friend looked as if he was about to say something, but Jason didn't give him a chance. "Look, Sonny, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened. About fighting with you, about dragging you down to Jake's to clean up after me-"
"Woah, woah, cool it, Jase," Sonny ordered, holding his hands up. "It's okay. It's what friends do. And I'm…I'm really sorry, man. I don't even know what to say." Jason not running again was very hard for him to imagine. The two of them had been on the track team since junior high; it was what they did, it was who they were. And the thought of his best friend not being able to do it ever again… "You okay?"
Jason leaned back against his locker. The halls were empty now save the tight clot of girls at the extreme opposite end, still chattering away like no tomorrow. "I guess. It's just been really hard getting used to it. It was so much easier to shut it all off and hide away for a while."
"That's why you got drunk."
It wasn't a question, but Jason treated it as such. "Pretty much. It was the easy way out. And even though I always steered clear of the stuff, there just didn't seem to be a point anymore. I never drank because I knew it would fuck up my body and mess with my ability to run. After what happened, it didn't really matter."
Sonny nodded slowly. God, he didn't even know what he would do if he got the same news his best friend had. As much as he hated to admit it, probably the same thing. "Look, I don't…I don't think any less of you because of what happened. Everyone has…different ways of dealing with stuff, you know? I probably would have done the same."
Jason snorted. "No, you wouldn't have."
"I might have," Sonny insisted. "I held off from beer for the same reason as you – because of track. It's just as important to me as it is to you. And if I found out the same thing, boy…I don't know what I'd do."
Jason didn't reply, and Sonny shifted uncomfortably. Damn, this heart-to-heart stuff was just too damn hard. They really should just leave it to the girls and go watch a football game or something.
"Look, Jason, you're still…you're still my best friend. That won't change, dude."
The tall blonde eyed him warily, his brows furrowing. "After all the shit I pulled? After I kicked the crap out of you in front of everyone and-"
Sonny cut him off quickly. "First, yeah. So what? Friends fight all the time. Second, I think you're still being a little too hard on yourself, Jase. I mean, Beth's forgiven you; she was your toughest sell and she moved past it so why wouldn't I? Third, I like to think that fight was a draw."
Amusement kicked up the corner of Jason's mouth. "Think what you want, Corinthos. It was a total shut-down."
Sonny muttered something dark under his breath but shut up as soon as the girls approached from their end of the building. They were still chattering away, each one grabbing onto Elizabeth's ear with her own questions and comments and the poor little brunette's head looked as if it were about to explode.
Brenda lightly elbowed Carol away, shooting her a warning glance to obey the not-so-subtle hint, and looped one arm through Elizabeth's and the other through her boyfriend's. "So, we ready to head on out?"
"Yes, that we are," Sonny replied gallantly, smiling at Beth. Jason quickly grabbed his stuff and took up the other end, the four of them walking down the hall together as Elizabeth and Brenda's friends followed, still jabbering away. Lauren had managed to sneak unnoticed onto Jason's left and blindsided him with a quick punch to the shoulder.
"Hey! What the fu-"
The tall brunette's clenched fist shut Jason up. "You're lucky I don't trample you to the ground, Morgan," she warned him. "But since it's all cool now, I'm good. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Sydney and Lauren separated from the group and Carol turned to follow them but not before pointing a finger at Jason. "Yes, tomorrow," she repeated to her old friend. "That's when we're going to have a little talk of our own, Jason."
Elizabeth laughed when he groaned and allowed herself to be pulled along to the doors. The four of them stepped out into the warm afternoon and strolled over to the parking lot, and Jason and Elizabeth waved goodbye to Brenda and Sonny as they headed off for her car.
As soon as their friends were out of earshot, Jason turned around to face Elizabeth. "Well? How bad was it?"
She groaned, covering her face with her hands. "Terrible, Jason! Remind me again why I talk to any of those girls?"
He snickered, taking her backpack from her and tossing it into the Jeep. "Don't ask me. You know that I'm biased on the issue."
"They just wouldn't stop talking!" she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "They just wouldn't stop until they knew every single detail. Jason." Elizabeth's small hands fisted in his t-shirt and she pulled him close. "Carol made me script out dialogue."
He smiled sympathetically down at her and wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. "Poor baby."
"And Brenda almost throttled me."
"See, I've always told you that she was crazy."
"And Jenny actually drew out a list of what she called 'reparations' – things for you to give me to prove you were sorry. Number one on the list was chocolate."
"I already gave you chocolate."
"A girl can never have enough, you know."
"I'm beginning to see that."
"Wanna know what number two was?"
"Not really, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway."
"Chocolate."
"Of course."
