Elizabeth watched as Jason fiddled with his keys and tried to open the door to his penthouse. She never knew that silence could be so deafening. He had pulled up in front of General Hospital and she had climbed in the car giving him a small smile. For the first time in her life she had to actually deal with small talk, him asking her how things went, her stating fine, him saying good, her responding with okay, then the rest of the ride home was filled with the sound of cars driving past them on the main roads.

She didn't know if she should apologize, she didn't know if she should explain, she wasn't even sure where to begin the conversation she just knew that when she stepped outside and breathed in the fresh winter air she was happy to be alive and she wanted to spend those happy, vital moments with Jason Morgan.

Elizabeth smiled softly when he held open the door and allowed her to enter his home first. She was impressed with the upscale masculine furniture that covered his apartment. It wasn't cluttered like usual female homes and she was sure that his partner, Sonny Corinthos, had more furniture items in his living room than Jason did in his whole house but she enjoyed it, it made him that much more unique.

When she stepped inside and turned towards the left a little, she gasped, shocked and then dropped her purse on the couch before walking towards it and running her fingers along the cherry wood, "You have a pool table."

"Yeah," Jason said slowly as he slid off his leather coat.

"You have a pool table in your living room?" Elizabeth asked, "This is…this is…" she looked up at him smiling, "This is so you. Am I going to find a motorcycle in the kitchen?"

"No, but you will find a lot of beer," he laughed softly as he walked towards her, "A lot of people think it's odd."

"Well I think it's fantastic," she said, "And in case we haven't gone over this yet, my view is the only one that really matters."

"Ah, okay," Jason smiled as he leaned onto the side of the pool table, watching her as she ran her fingers over each ball and then started to fiddle with the blue cubed chalk, "Do you play?"

Elizabeth laughed, "No, never. I was always there watching, you know one of the ornaments?" she smiled as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I always wanted to learn though. It takes some skill to be able to get this little ball," she said picking up a red one and holding it out to him, "And putting it all the way across the table in that hole."

Jason took the ball from her, "It's not that hard and if you want, I can show you."

"Really?" she asked with raised eyebrows, "You'd teach me? Now? Tonight?"

"You said something about a date," he said laughing softly as he placed the ball back into the table and pulled the rack from underneath.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "But I just assumed that once I gave you the okay that…"

Jason cleared his throat, "I'm going to get a beer. Would you like one?"

Elizabeth opened her mouth and then closed it quickly. Beers, how long had she been drinking those? At least two years, at least once a night, if not something stronger. It was her drink; it was the first thing she had in the morning to chase away whatever was remaining from last night. Would she like a beer?

She nibbled on her bottom lip, "You wouldn't happen to have any chocolate milk would you?"

Jason looked at her curiously. In the past week and a half that he had known Elizabeth Webber had never saw her drink anything other than alcohol. He was sure that she had some other fluids during the day when he wasn't around but chocolate milk?

"That was a dumb question," she said as she grabbed a pool stick from the holder on the wall, "I'll just have a beer."

"No," Jason said, "No, I can get you chocolate milk."

"Jason, no, I don't want you going out to…"

Jason leaved over and kissed her softly, gently, quickly, his lips barely brushing against her own, "You grab my beer from the fridge and rack them," he motioned to the balls, "I'll be right back with your chocolate milk."

"Okay," Elizabeth said smiling softly. She placed the triangle rack on the table and adjusted the balls before placing it back underneath where Jason had taken it. She then disappeared into the kitchen to grab Jason's beer and by the time she was back he was coming through the door with a gallon of chocolate milk in his hand.

"I don't know how you did it," Jason said as he pointed it out to her, "But once I told Sonny who the chocolate milk was for he handed me the whole gallon."

Elizabeth laughed softly, "I met his wife today. She's as wonderful as he is."

"Lily, yeah," Jason said and smiled softly, "She's done a lot for Sonny. They're good for each other."

"You going to stand there and hold my milk all night long or you going to get me something to drink it in?" she asked as she held two sticks in her hand, "Already got your beer."

Jason grinned as he took the chocolate milk into the kitchen and pulled out a big glass for Elizabeth, filing it to the brim before he put the milk away in the refrigerator that was mostly dominated by beer and leftovers from Kelly's.

He handed it to her and received a stick in return, her face lighting up when she took a big gulp from the glass.

"Thank you," she said, "I haven't had this in…quite a few years."

"Your Mom use to make it for you."

Elizabeth looked at him surprised, sadness filling her blue eyes, "How did you know?"

"You got this look on your face," Jason said, "My mother gets it she's remembering her son."

"Her son?" Elizabeth asked, "Your brother?"

"No," Jason said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I'll tell you while I teach you to break. This could take all night."

She smiled as she took another sip of his chocolate milk, "Luckily, my boss told me I have all the time in the world."

"Come here," Jason said pulling her closer by the loop hole on her jeans. He handed her a stick, "Lean over slightly," he said, "About ten years ago there was an accident that I was involved in. Here," he said as he came to stand behind her, both of his arms on either side of her, her thigh nestled between his legs as he showed her the correct position, "Just eye the ball," he said quietly as he inhaled the scent of her hair, "A.J. Quartermaine was driving the car, drunk, and we hit a tree and I suffered some brain damage."

Elizabeth felt him hovering behind her and while she heard every word that was coming out of his mouth she was finding it very difficult to concentrate when his body was pressed that tightly against hers. Still, she reminded herself that tonight was a date, so she focused, and listened and followed his fingers as she lined up her shot.

"You don't seem like you have any brain damage," she said quietly as his rough hands guided along hers.

"I see things differently, easy now." he said, "It's kind of hard to see pictures and maps. I really don't feel the cold weather and the biggest thing is that I was no longer the son the Quartermaine's raised," his one hand rested on her hip while his other slid up her arm, feeling her smooth creamy skin, "When you're ready."

"Who was their son?" she asked as she bit her lip, slide the stick back and then took her shot, watching the balls broke apart on the table and the one in the back slide easily into a corner pocket. "I made a shot!" she squealed.

Jason wrapped his arms around her easily when she turned towards him and threw hers around his neck. She was pressed against him, laughing, smiling and it sounded wonderful. He was having a hard time trying to maintain his self control but he wanted tonight to be different, he just wanted to be with her and enjoy her company. Elizabeth Webber was a fun girl to be around.

"I was supposed to be a doctor," he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Elizabeth laughed, "I can understand why your mother would want to remember," she smiled. "This job is far from a doctor."

"Yeah but its me," Jason said, "Jason Quartermaine use to live in a fancy mansion and drive nice cars and date the right kind of girl. I felt like I was suffocating there, being someone that I couldn't be. So one day I just lost it, bought a motorcycle and drove it right into the living room."

"No," she said laughing as she leaned against the table and watched him take a shot, "What happened?"

"My grandfather lost it, I actually enjoyed that part," he said, "I hated leaving my grandmother. She was such a beautiful woman."

Elizabeth frowned when she watched him sink one ball and then another. She looked over at him with a question in her blue eyes, "Was?"

"She passed away recently," Jason said, "I haven't been back to the house since."

She ran her fingers along the polished wood and picked up her glass, taking a long sip from it. She had been there; she had felt that pain, losing the one person who made your whole world just a little bit brighter, who always could pull you back from the dark side. When she lost that person, she lost her whole purpose.

"Your shot," he said quietly and watched her walk towards the other end of the table, eyeing up the white ball.

"I was fourteen when my mother passed away," she said as she leaned over and lined up her shot, growling when the white ball slide across the green felt, missing everything in its way, "I'm horrible at this game."

"No, you just need lots of practice," he said as he took a sip from his beer and eyed her, "The pool table is open twenty four-seven." He loved the way she was smiling at him, "As is my door."

"She was my sanity," Elizabeth said quietly, "She was a mother, she was everything that I needed and then suddenly, when I needed her the most, she was gone," she placed the pool stick down on the table and walked away, "I think I need a break."

"We don't have too…"

"She was found by the pier, in California," she said as she wrapped her arms around her waist and started walking around the room, eyeing the few pictures that Jason did have set up in his home, "The police told my father that she must have tripped, hit her head on a piece of wood and just fell in the murky water. Cause of death, accidental." She smiled when she saw a picture of what had to be Sonny's two children. She ran her fingers over their faces, outlining them, wishing silently that they could keep the innocence that rested in their eyes, "It wasn't accidental."

"Elizabeth," Jason whispered from behind her, his fingers on her shoulder, massaging slightly, "You don't have to talk about it."

"No," Elizabeth said turning towards him, her lips smiling, her eyes shining with tears, "For the first time in a very long time someone actually wants to listen, you want to know Jason and you don't know what that means to me," she placed her hands on his stomach, was tugging at his shirt, "I don't know how long I'm going to be here and I don't even know why we're here, right now, doing this when I thought, I tried to keep things purely physically between us but…" she laughed softly and shook her head, "I want to tell you this and I want to wake up tomorrow in your bed with you by my side. Do you have any idea how much that scares me?"

He nodded, "The last time I brought someone back to my home was over six years ago." He looked away from her while he brought her into his arms, his chin fitting comfortable against her head, "I'm glad that I waited."

Elizabeth sighed as she rested her cheek comfortably against his chest and listened to the soothing sound of his heartbeat, "She was murdered."

Jason didn't say anything; he rubbed his hands up and down her back soothingly, letting her continue to talk, letting her get everything out into the open.

"I want to take it all back," she whispered squeezing her eyes shut, "The day that I came home from school and found my father in the living room, two men standing over him and him saying that he just needed a little more time. They threatened him, told him that what happened to his wife could also happen to his daughter. My father," she bit her lip trying to prevent the tears that were now soaking through Jason's tee shirt, "My father said," she choked out, "That he didn't want me to die because I was such a pretty little thing, that I wouldn't mind working in one of the clubs to pay off his debt. I walked into the room, I yelled that I didn't want to work anywhere; I wanted those people out of our house. He told me to shut up, to go to my room, to do what he said, that my mother was no longer here to baby me, that I had to grow up," she sighed shakily as she sniffled, "And I did Jason, I grew up that next night, when I showed up as a waitress in a strip club and six months later I was up on stage, I was Lizzie Webber." She pushed herself away from him, running her hands over her face and then through her hair, trying to push aside the images, trying not to remember that first time someone reached out and stuck a dollar bill between her thigh and the string on her thongs. It still made her want to vomit, "And you know what the ironic thing is? He sold me out and one year later he joined my mother."

"Elizabeth," he said softly as he reached for her and stopped when she held her hand up, "Who did you work for? Who did this to you?"

She laughed softly and rolled her eyes, wiping away the remaining tears before she walked back to the pool table, "I wish I could tell you. I wish that I could hand out names and let you and Sonny do what you do best, make it all disappear."

He looked at her with raised eyebrows as he tried approaching her again.

"You hear things when you're changing with nine other girls," she said with a shrug of one shoulder, "It doesn't bother me."

"We're not going to get into that now," he said standing next to her, his shoulder gently brushing up against hers, "I might be able to fix this for you."

"You can't, Jason," she said quietly.

"Elizabeth, I can try to…"

"No, you don't get it," Elizabeth said, "I have to do this myself; I have to fix this myself. This is how it started and this is how it's going to end. I'm going to be a good dancer and I'm going to make my own money and I'm going to retire in a sunny place where no man will ever be able to touch me again unless I give the say so. This something that I have to do, part of me hates it and part of me…" she sighed as she closed her eyes, "Part of me enjoys the power and I hate that."

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying power," he said quietly as he leaned over and kissed her hair, his arm sliding around her waist, "There's nothing wrong with accepting help."

She turned her face slightly to look at him, her eyes turning a little darker blue, "You have helped, starting with today and then tonight," her fingers were playing with one of the solid colored balls on the table, "Today's test, it was just a precaution. It's something I do, every six months, because of what I had to do, for some people," she shuddered slightly, "The last time I could've been at risk for anything was over six…"

"We were careful," Jason said quietly as he leaned down and placed a kiss on her shoulder, "I wanted to be with you, Elizabeth. I still do."

"Why?" she whispered looking up at him, "What could I possibly offer you, Jason Morgan?"

"You," he said as he leaned down and kissed her, his warm lips pressing full against hers before he took her face in his hands. When he felt her tongue flip against his lips, he pulled back, smiling, "Sometimes that's enough."

Elizabeth reached up and took his face in her hands, bringing it down to hers so she could kiss him, thoroughly, letting her tongue slide over his, slowly, deliciously, until she felt the need to breath then she pulled back, before she kissed him again, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him against her. She felt her backside hit the edge of the pool table and she lifted herself up, feeling Jason's hand coming around her waist.

He pulled back panting, "Elizabeth, I didn't bring you here to…"

"I know," she nodded before she kissed him again, "I know but Jason resisting this," she said as her fingers curled in his tee shirt, damp from her tears, "resisting us would be like trying to resist your next breath."

Jason couldn't agree more, so he slid his fingers into her hair as she kissed him again while he lowered her body onto the pool table.