Chapter 2

Jason and Courtney stepped off the elevator. Jason's jacket was still draped over her small frame and all but engulfed her. As they came to their door, Jason nodded to Max and Marco, who stood guard outside. "Hey guys, this is Courtney. She's going to be staying with me. Courtney this is Max and Marco," he said.

"It's nice to meet you miss…?" Marco asked. The woman was the image of broken beauty. A beautiful face accompanied by a bruised cheek.

"Courtney, just call me Courtney," she said shaking hands with the two men. If they had any disgust or demeaning thoughts for her they hid it well. They even smiled at her and it wasn't at all the smiles she got from men on the street, men who only wanted sex.

"If you need anything and I'm not around just tell them and they'll help you okay?" Jason said.

"Okay," she smiled at the two men and they nodded, their friendly smiles still in place. Jason motioned forward and she started to follow him towards the door.

The door to penthouse 4 opened; "Max, Marco, is that Jason?" a blonde woman came out and asked.

Jason and Courtney turned around, "Hey, Carly," Jason said. He knew this wasn't going to be pretty. Carly can be very judgmental at times, especially when it came to him.

Carly Corinthos looked Courtney up and down and she immediately knew what she was. Courtney saw the same disgust she sees with everyone else and lowered her head in shame.

"Jason…what's going on?" Carly questioned him, never taking her eyes off the woman.

Jason could see Courtney's shame and wanted to throttle Carly for it. He laid a gentle, comforting hand on Courtney's shoulder, "Carly this is Courtney. She's going to be staying with me," Jason explained bluntly.

"What?" Carly thought she heard wrong. "You're letting a whore into your house?" she asked.

"Carly-," Jason was cut off.

"Jason, are you out of your mind? No one knows who this slut is. She could rob you blind," Carly, said, her voice full of disgust. She wasn't going to let this happen.

"Carly shut up," Jason stunned Carly into silence, "Courtney needs help and I'm going to help her. Come on," he said to Courtney and he slid his hand down to the small of her back and started to lead her away.

"Jason, she's playing you," She said and grabbed Jason's arm to turn him around. She turned to Courtney, her eyes shooting fire, "You better stay the hell away from Jason," she yelled.

"Carly, stop it, right now. If you can't be nice to her then stay the hell away from her…and me," Jason added, his voice rising to a yell. He pulled Courtney away from a shocked Carly and into his penthouse.

Courtney stood in the middle of Jason's living room, hugging her arms around herself. She shouldn't let things like that get to her. She's been through it so many times; she should be used to it by now, she told herself. But she wasn't. She never will be.

Jason laid a hand on Courtney's rigid shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

She tried to swallow back the tears but when she looked up at Jason, saw the compassion and worry in his eyes, she broke.

Jason's arms came around her and she clung to him. She pressed her face into his chest and sobbed. He rocked her back and forth, "Shhh, its okay," he whispered.

Courtney pushed away from him, "No, Jason. No, it's not okay. She's right, I am a whore and you shouldn't let me into your home," she sobbed and turned to leave.

The door was halfway open when Jason came up behind her and shut it again. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and felt the sobs rock through her whole body.

"It is okay, Courtney. You'll never have to do it again," he said gently.

Courtney turned in his arms and held on to him. Burying her face into his neck. Jason held her a minute before speaking again, "Never again," he said.

"Aren't you going to…ask why I do it?" she mumbled the question into his chest.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want me to know, not if you're not ready. When you are ready, people say I'm a good listener," he smiled down at her. "Come on let's sit down," he led her to the couch and they sat down.

They sat there on the couch for a moment, Jason's arm around Courtney's shoulders and her head on his. "What time is it?" she asked pulling away.

Jason looked at the clock on the wall, "It's ten thirty," he answered.

"I want to tell you. I want to tell you every, I owe you that—."

"No, Courtney, you don't owe me—."

"Yes I do. Look!" she motioned around the penthouse, "I'm not sleeping on the street tonight or on the bench in the park. I want to tell you but I need to use your phone first," she said.

"Okay, okay. It's right on the desk. Next time you don't have to ask," he said. He stood and went into the kitchen to give her privacy.

Courtney brought the phone back to the couch and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me," Courtney said.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just called to tell you I'm okay. How's he doing?"

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"No, no don't wake him up. Just tell him I love him and I'll talk to him tomorrow," she said.

"Court, he misses you, I miss you."

"I miss you guys, too."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm…I'll explain everything tomorrow, okay? All you have to know is that I'm safe and warm tonight. I love you," she said tears starting to fall down her cheeks.

"I love you, too, Courtney. Please be careful. We can't lose you."

"I will, bye," Courtney said and hung up the phone.

Courtney rubbed her hands over her face. It was always emotional to talk to them. She missed them so much. Courtney felt a hand on her shoulder and turned as Jason sat beside her.

Jason smiled at her, "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Courtney paused to collect her thoughts. Jason waited patiently, knowing that it must be hard for her to talk about.