Elizabeth took one last look around the penthouse, making sure that anything she had brought with her was gone. The hefty black bag that rested on her shoulder seemed somehow heavier than when she had first arrive in Port Charles. There was nothing extra in the bag, the new clothes that she had purchased to continue her life, her charade as a stripper now lay shredded and burned in the bottom of Jason's fireplace. There were no mementos to keep, no souvenirs to take, and yet the weight of the bag was still a burden but it wasn't as heavy as the weight she carried on her shoulders.

She loved him, deeply, fully, more than she had ever thought possible and she watched him disintegrate in front of her eyes, the love that she thought he felt for her was now turned into a burning hatred mixed with disgust.

She had taken the one good thing that God had handed her and destroyed it until there was nothing left but her lies.

Elizabeth wanted nothing more to do than apologize for her actions. She wanted nothing more to do than get down on her knees and beg for Jason's forgiveness, beg for just one more chance to be with him. The truth was she didn't know how to be without him, he made her happy, he made her want to wake up and face another day, made her want to be so much more than what she was. He made her fall in love with him with that first steamy glance.

That was the reason she couldn't apologize, because she loved him, would always love him. She knew that she brought a danger to Jason and she knew that being underage wasn't helping the situation. He was much older than she and while it didn't mean a damn thing to her it would mean something to the authorities and her being with Jason meant something to the ones that were chasing her.

So she adjusted the strap on her shoulder and stared down at the two packages that lay before her, the results of both her and Jason's HIV test. She picked hers up, tearing it open, and pulling the papers out, her eyes skimming it quickly.

Fighting back tears she laid it back down, her results now revealed, settled on top of Jason's still sealed envelope, and next to them she placed the silver key that he had given her the day after she moved in. Giving the room one last sweep with her eyes Elizabeth found the pool table, the bare floor, the coffee table, the entryway to the kitchen and the glorious stairs where he simply had to have her because she was too beautiful to wait for.

The fairy tale was over, the clock had struck midnight and Jason wouldn't be chasing after her with a glass slipper. She was a result of the chaos around her and she would deal with that, she always did, took whatever life handed to her. She only hoped that money she saved was enough to get her out of the country or else she would have to find another job, in another city, with another set of lies.

Pulling the penthouse door closed behind her she headed for the elevator, her thumb pressing the down button. She would miss this place, the security she felt around the guards and the friends that she had made. She couldn't remember the last time she looked over her shoulder, questioning whether or not they had found her. Jason made her feel like she was wrapped up in a warm cocoon, protecting her from whatever mob war waged outside them.

As the door opened before her, Elizabeth turned to her left and saw him standing there, a new guard that Jason recently hired. She knew that meant that someone was home and it was most likely Lily, the quiet gentle wife of Sonny Corinthos.

She knew that Jason would tell them eventually, once he had calmed down and his head was somewhat clear he would make sure that Sonny was aware of the lies, of the betrayal and she was sure that Lily would be told right after that. She didn't want it to be that way, she wanted Lily, the one real friend she ever had, to hear the story, the whole story from her. She owed the woman that much.

Ignoring the elevator Elizabeth walked over towards the door and nodded to the guard, "Miss Elizabeth…"

He smiled softly, "Mrs. Corinthos has told me that you always have a standing invitation." He opened the door with one beefy hand and stepped aside, allowing Elizabeth to enter before he closed it quietly behind her.

She saw Lily on the couch, reading from a book, smiling up at her, "Hi Elizabeth, I wasn't expecting you over although I don't mind the company at all. Adella was just put down for her nap and Sonny won't be home with Morgan for another hour or two."

Elizabeth loved this about Lily. The woman beside her had finally gotten a free minute to herself and she didn't want to spend it alone, she wanted it to be shared with her best friend. It made Elizabeth's heart twist a little tighter.

"Lily, I can't stay," she said quietly, "There's just….there's something I have to tell you."

Elizabeth gnawed on her lip, rubbing it between her teeth as she followed Lily's eyes. They moved from Elizabeth's pained face to her shoulder where the strap began, to her side where the bag rested. Then the brown eyes moved back up to Elizabeth's face and the smile was gone from Lily's.

"What happened?" Lily asked moving towards her, "Did you and Jason have an argument?"

Elizabeth laughed as she felt the tears hit her eyes, "You could call it that."

"Elizabeth, I'm sure…"

"Can I sit?" Elizabeth asked motioning towards the couch, "Can you sit with me?"

"Sure," Lily nodded and moved her latest romance novel out of the way, placing it on the coffee table in front of her. When Elizabeth sat down next to her, removing the bag from her shoulder and placing it at the floor by her feet, Lily took her hands, squeezing them gently, "Tell me about it. What did that big oaf do?"

Elizabeth couldn't resist it. She just threw her arms around Lily and hugged her tightly, squeezing her until she thought she herself couldn't breath. Lily couldn't possibly know that she was the sister Elizabeth never had. She was always there to listen to her, she wasn't fond of the idea of Elizabeth stripping but she still encouraged her to do what she needed, she was ecstatic when she found out that she was taking over the manager's position at the club. Lily said it was about time a woman was running things.

Elizabeth loved her and she hated that she would be disappointing yet another person who had given her so much.

"You're scaring me," Lily said quietly when Elizabeth pulled back, a tear slipping down her face, Lily's gentle hands tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I've done something…I haven't done something," Elizabeth corrected, "I haven't told the truth, to you or Sonny or Jason or anyone and it's time that I start doing it now. I know that I can't possibly fix what I've broken but I'm going to try, at least with you Lily, because I know that you'll hear me out, you'll give me that chance."

"Sweetie, what happened?" Lily asked, squeezing her hands again, "Of course I'll listen to you, you know that. You always have a friend in me."

Elizabeth hoped that was true, she hoped that even after everything that was about to come tumbling out of her mouth Lily would still want to stand by her side. She wouldn't be around but she needed to know that someone actually gave a damn.

"When I came to town," she smiled softly, "I saw the ad and I just wanted to get a job for a couple of weeks, wait till the winter storms passed over, earn some more bucks and then get myself down to some tropical paradise. I didn't know you or Jason or Sonny or any of the guards. I didn't care about what was going on with your lives I just simply wanted to know where my next meal came from and I did whatever I had to do in order to get it," she bit her lip and looked away from Lily as a fresh wave of tears hit her eyes, "I was scared but I couldn't admit that, even to myself, because I knew that if I was scared I wouldn't be able to make it," she looked back at Lily, her eyes wide now, "And I had to make it Lily, I just had to."

"It's okay, Elizabeth," Lily said quietly as she pulled the younger woman into another hug, "It's okay, take your time with whatever it is you are trying to tell me, I'm not going anywhere."

Elizabeth sniffled and nodded, "Jason was a bit of an ass when I first met him, I was a bit of a bitch myself and I had no problem letting the lies roll of my tongue, it didn't even phase me, I was so use to it," she sighed and closed her eyes, "I hate that I'm so use to it. I told him, I provided him with documentation proving that I was an adult, that I could work in his club, in Sonny's club," she took a deep breath and tired to pull her hands away from Lily but the older woman clung to them, "When I found out about the Feds, about Sonny being caught before for hiring someone underage, I should've stepped forward, I should've opened my mouth then."

Lily swallowed slowly and looked at Elizabeth, her brown eyes still gentle and understanding, "You're not eighteen, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "I just turned seventeen, today. After you became my friend, after Sonny started looking out for me, after I started fal…I didn't say a damn thing and I put Sonny and Jason at risk. I let you believe that I could be trusted and did nothing more than continue to lie to you."

Lily let out a slow breath and gave Elizabeth a small smile, her hands still gripping the other woman's, "This is quite a shock, but to me and Sonny, I don't see where there is any harm done."

Elizabeth blinked, "What?"

Lily laughed softly and brushed some more hair out of Elizabeth's face, "No one knew your age while you were stripping, Elizabeth and even though I think you are the best person for the job because of your age we can't allow you to continue on as manager. We'll just tell everyone that you decided to do something else and no one will question it. You wouldn't have been hired if you hadn't been able to prove that you're an adult."

"Lily, I can't…"

"Do you have your GED? If not, then we'll work on that, then we'll talk about college," Lily smiled, "You're a smart young woman and I'm sure that once Jason gets over…"

"I love you," Elizabeth whispered pulling her hands from Lily's. "Thank you for being you. I don't deserve your kindness or forgiveness or you even wanting to help me. I deserve to be cut off, Lily."

"Like Jason did," Lily said and her smile saddened when Elizabeth looked away, "I know the kind of man Jason Morgan is and I have no doubt that he lost his temper. He does that a lot around you, I told Sonny it was the sexual tension," she laughed softly, "But he'll be able to forgive you and I know there is a big age difference but maybe if you slow down a little bit, wait until you're eighteen…"

"If Jason wanted me, Lily, I don't think I'd be able to wait," Elizabeth laughed bitterly, "He doesn't and I don't blame him and I won't blame you for turning me away after you hear the rest of it."

"There's more?"

Elizabeth nodded and she stood up from the couch, taking her bag strap and dragging the bag with her, bringing it closer to the door. She wanted to get through to Lily, to make this woman believe that she wasn't a good person, that she had deliberately brought danger upon her, upon her family.

Yes Elizabeth wanted Lily's friendship, yes she would treasure it like no other, but she would not put Lily or her family in danger, she loved all of them, Sonny for helping her, Lily for wanting to be her friend, Adella and Morgan for being the most beautiful children in the world. No, she had to make Lily see things as Jason saw him; unfixable.

Elizabeth wasn't sure she'd be able to turn down Lily if she offered to help.

"When I first met you, you told me that people didn't know what to say to a wife of an alleged mobster, told me that you don't make friends easily in this business, and I told you that I didn't care," Elizabeth looked down at her hands, her fingers twisting together, "I didn't care because that's me, that's who I am, I don't judge you by who you are married to and what you do for a living. I," she laughed sadly, "I have no right to judge anybody, but," she licked her dry lips, "There was another reason I didn't care Lily; it was because I understood."

"You understood?" Lily asked as she stood up from the couch, her eyebrows knitting together.

"I understand what its like to have people look at you differently," Elizabeth said quietly as she watched Lily approach her, "I've seen the horror in their eyes when they realize that you are the husband of that man, the one who is an alleged mobster, an alleged murderer," she watched Lily stop a few feet from her and take a deep breath, "I know all about that world Lily because I'm a part of it. I lived with the organization for the past three years of my life. I'm one of you."

Lily shook her head, lost, confused. Elizabeth was standing across from her, telling her that she understood the world of the mafia, the way that things worked, the way the world ran around them. She described what Lily had encountered, the scorn, the disgust, as if she had encountered it first hand. Lily just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Elizabeth was seventeen now which meant that she was fourteen when she was first introduced to this horrible, wonderful world.

"Elizabeth," Lily said softly, "What happened? How? Did you meet some boy who just…"

Elizabeth laughed, "Him and my father, the two men I thought I loved me the most in this world wound up dragging me into something dark and sinister, something I wasn't prepared for. If I hadn't known any better I would've thought they were in on it together but no, my father just got in over his head and my boyfriend at the time," she shook her head sadly, "He thought it was all about the glitz and the glamour and he loved the power, he craved it, needed it," she turned away and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, "More than I do at times."

"The power?" Lily asked as she started to approach Elizabeth again, "Does that mean you were at the top of this organization?"

Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I was with them, I was along for the ride and I was dressed up, taken to pretty balls and charity functions. At first it started off as me being eye candy and then…" she shrugged, "I was passed around like a desert."

"God, Elizabeth…" Lily whispered, reaching out, wanting to comfort this young woman who experienced too much in her lifetime. She didn't know the whole story, was only trying to grasp the bits and pieces that Elizabeth was offering her and she couldn't imagine how Jason could turn his back on this woman, not after what she had been through.

Lily could imagine Jason getting the information, confronting Elizabeth and then not letting her get a word in edge wise.

"Don't, please," Elizabeth said turning away, presenting Lily with her back, "This is coming out all wrong. I am not the victim here."

"Elizabeth, I don't know how you can say that," Lily said, "You can't honestly tell me that at the age of fourteen you wanted to become a stripper. That couldn't have been your goal."

"Fourteen and a half," Elizabeth said quietly, "I started working in the club at fourteen but I wasn't asked to take my clothes off until I was fourteen and a half," she turned towards Lily, sadness in her eyes, bitterness, disappointment with the world, "And I remember when I turned twelve and went down to the California beaches with my parents how jealous I was of those girls, how I wanted to be an early developer," she felt the tears again but she refused to let them fall, she blinked them back until they disappeared, "You don't know how much I wish I could be twelve again."

"Elizabeth…" Lily said, her arms outstretched.

"No!" Elizabeth shouted, "Listen to me, you're letting me ramble, this isn't right. I brought myself into your world and I shouldn't have done that. He is after me."

"Who is after you?" Lily asked.

"The man who I left, the man who I am running from," Elizabeth replied panicked, "I wasn't packing my bags running from Jason's world, Lily, I was packing my bags, running from Jason to protect him from my world."

"If Jason only…"

"He knows!" Elizabeth shouted and then took a deep breath, calming herself, not wanting to wake up beautiful Adella, "He knows that I lied to him and Sonny and you and that I put your life in danger, the lives of your kids in danger. I have been running for almost three months now Lily and I shouldn't have stopped. I never planned on stopping but the moment I walked into that club and saw Jason…" she hurried back over to her bag, threw the strap over her shoulder, "I needed to tell you, I owed you that much and I wanted you to know that I'm deeply sorry. You have become more of a family to me than my own family ever was and I won't ever forget that."

"Where are you going to go, Elizabeth? You can't possibly have that much money."

"I have what I saved," Elizabeth said, "And I just need it to get me out of town, I'll go from there."

She pulled the door open and came face to face with the startled new bodyguard and Johnny who was speaking to him in hushed tones. The conversation ended when they both saw Elizabeth.

"I'm going," Elizabeth said quietly, "There's no reason for you to escort me out."

Johnny cleared his throat and looked slightly embarrassed, "Jason just asked me to…"

Elizabeth turned back towards Lily, "Jason will tell you the real story, he won't sugar coat it with my sad tale of woe, he'll let you know what I have done and it's the worst crime of all. I've put your children in danger by staying here, by coming here."

"I don't think…" Lily started but Elizabeth shook her head.

"You are so kind hearted, you are so good for Sonny and I hate that I did this to you," she turned towards Johnny, "All of you. I'm going to make it very clear that I'm not longer in town, I'm going to leave a trail so they'll come after me and steer clear of Port Charles."

"That's not safe, Elizabeth," Lily said, "What is going to happen to you when he finds you?"

"Lizzie Webber goes back to work."