Elizabeth looked over at Jason out of the corner of her eye. They were sitting on the plush red couch at General Hospital waiting to be called on by the doctor. Elizabeth had specifically made the appointment for a day when Lily wasn't working. She loved the woman that was now appointed her legal mother but this was something that she had to do on her own.

On her own with Jason.

He smiled at her and then went back to flipping through a stale dated issue of Parents magazine. His eyes were merely skimming the page, desperately trying to find something that would keep him distracted from the woman beside him, the woman that had invaded his mind, his body since the moment she walked into his life; the woman who he spent all of Christmas night simply staring at. Of course she didn't know that and Jason had no intention of sharing that with her. He just remembered waking up sometime in the middle of the night to find her curled up in his arms, the television screen a snowy vision and a VHS tape sticking out of the video cassette player. He had picked up the remote, pressed a button and the room plunged into darkness, leaving his bright blue eyes focused solely on her as she sighed and snuggled further into his side, sleeping peacefully for the next few hours before Lily had finally come to retrieve her.

He felt something stir inside of him that night, something other than his loins, and it scared the hell out of him. The more time he spent with her the more she seemed to become a part of him. He could not picture a day without her in it. He actually went to bed wondering whether or not he was going to see her the next day, hell sometimes he planned meetings around it. It humored Sonny and annoyed the hell out of the Eckert kid.

Sonny had to pull Jason aside a few times and ask him to ease up on Sly. Jason didn't know what it was about the kid that annoyed the hell out of him but he was always rubbing him the wrong way and Jason found numerous projects and tasks to keep him busy and working overtime. Sly just mumbled and did what he was told because he was trying to impress Sonny. Jason, on the other hand, was trying to fight down the emotion that he wasn't even aware that he had; jealousy.

He saw the times that she was with Sly. He didn't miss the look that passed between them; one of understanding and sympathy. Sly knew where she came from, he helped her survive the horrid ordeal that she went through while she was married to Luis Alcazar, he could sympathize with the loss of both of her parents, of her innocence and Jason stood on the sidelines wondering what the hell he could to make her feel better.

That was why he didn't question her when she showed up at his door this morning with breakfast in a brown bag from Kelly's. He invited her in and they talked for a bit, discussing things with her business and how the first few weeks of school was going. Somewhere between his promise of tutoring her with accounting, and her vow to give him a tour of the under construction warehouse, they started a game of pool, with Elizabeth breaking. After the first round she got the nerve to ask him to come to her check up appointment with her and Jason couldn't refuse. Here they were, Elizabeth's nervous foot tapping the floor beneath her, him stretching out and tossing the barely read magazine back on the table in front of him. She followed his movements and then her eyes shot to his. He smiled and he could feel the warmth fill his body when she returned it with one of her own. He reached out and took her small hand, squeezing it tightly.

"You'll be okay," he said with a slight nod of his head.

"I'm just" she laughed softly as she reached up with her free hand and tucked an errant curl behind her ear, "I've been to these things so many times in the last few years you think I'd get use to it by now."

"No, how can you Elizabeth?" he asked with a small smile as he shook his head, "I mean I don't think I'd ever be able to get use to someone, you know, prodding. Well, I mean by a doctor. Some people can prod, I don't mind that."

Elizabeth laughed, "You're trying to make me feel better."

"I'm not," he said, "I'm here because you asked me to be and because there's no place else I'd rather be."

"Does that include when we're in the examination room?" Elizabeth asked with raised eyebrows.

Jason shifted uncomfortable in his seat, "Yes."

She laughed as she reached over and playfully punched his chest, "I'll be okay in there. I have to be. I know at one time we were close but I really," she shook her head, "I'd like for you to sit in on the consultation with me. I mean, this affected both of us."

He cleared his throat, "This happened to you."

"This happened to us," she said firmly as she leaned towards him, "And I'm a little unsure as to why you don't consider our child yours as well as my own. Is it because you think there's a possibility that the child I lost wasn't yours Jason?"

"No, no, Elizabeth," he said as he sat up on the couch and leaned towards her, "I never thought that. I know that you and I, granted we didn't specifically say monogamous, I knew, I hope you did too that there was."

"I knew," she said quietly, "After being married for nearly a year to a husband that passed me and himself off, it was hard getting use to but I knew that we were only coming home to each other. I miss that."

"Elizabeth"

"I'm not going there," she said as she pulled her legs under her body and then tucked their joined hands in her lap, "I know that we can't go back there, not now, maybe not'" she shrugged, "I just mean that I missed someone being there for me, someone caring enough to greet me at the end of the day. You use to pick me up from work and when you couldn't dinner was home before I was. The late night games of pool, just listening to one another, falling asleep on the couch because we were too damn tired to make it to bed. It was nice to finally feel like I was a part of something, like I was wanted for something other than my body." She smiled as she felt her cheeks burn, "I know that it started out that way but"

"You are still a part of something," Jason said softly, "And you are still wanted."

Elizabeth could feel the heat from Jason's gaze and suddenly her palms began to sweat. She tried to pull away but he would have none of that and she could feel his eyes burning a hole into her. He said that he wanted to be noble and the way his eyes were firing up he was doing anything but that. She had fallen in love with Jason Morgan for many reasons, his morals being one of them and she was about to tell him to throw them out the damn window because she wanted him right here, right now but he blinked and the fire was gone. She watched him stand up and she turned, seeing a nurse's aid approaching them.

"Hi Miss Webber, the doctor is waiting in her office for you," she smiled.

Elizabeth turned towards Jason and no longer cared about her sweaty hands. She reached out for his and he took it, clasping it tightly. She then turned back towards the nurse and nodded, following her down the hallway with Jason Morgan in tow.

Jason looked up from the books he was working on when he heard laughter in the hallway. It was a soft feminine laughter that caused his heart to skip a beat. Elizabeth was here and he was hoping it was for an impromptu Accounting lesson.

Putting his pencil down Jason pushed himself away from his desk and made his way to the door. He then halted when he noticed Elizabeth disappearing into Sonny's office with Sly Eckert on her heels. The door was shut behind them.

He turned and sighed, running his fingers through his spiky hair before returning to his desk. He thought he had given Sly enough work to last him through the day but apparently he would have to tack on more. Eckert was spending way too much time with Elizabeth. Jason couldn't think of anything he hated more.

His personal opinion was that Elizabeth allowed the young man back into her life too quickly. He would have rather seen Eckert down on his knees begging and then thrown into the river but that wasn't his decision to make. Elizabeth still clung to Sly for some unknown reason and it irked the hell out of him. He wished her grip on him was that tight.

He knew he could never allow that and he fought the urge to drag her into his arms and kiss her senseless nearly every waking hour. He tried to bury himself in his work but he somehow always found ways to be with her. He was always offering to help her with Accounting, a round of pool if her classes were too difficult and he was eating dinner with the Corinthos' at least four days a week. He was pushing himself to the breaking point where she was concerned and he didn't know how to end it.

Hell, he didn't want to.

Trying to push the laughter from his mind Jason settled back down in his desk chair only to be interrupted when his office door was shut and there before him stood his best friend's wife, hands on her hips and a determined look on her face.

"You're husband's office is that way," he motioned with his pencil.

"Surprisingly, after quite a few years of marriage, I'm aware of where my husband's office is," she smiled as she brushed off the chair in front of his desk and then sat down, "I'm not here to see Sonny. I'm here to see you."

"Lily, I'm really busy…"

"You're always busy, Jason," Lily frowned. "I've tried to talk to you after dinner, I've tried to talk to you when you drop Elizabeth off after a ride, I've tried to talk to you on the phone and nothing seems to work. I don't understand why you seem to be avoiding me. Have I done something to offend you? I thought we were good enough friends that you could come to me and tell me what I…"

"It's not that." he said as he slammed the pencil down on his desk.

"That what is it?" she asked slamming one heel against the cement flooring.

There was, aside from the laughing woman down the hall, no one else who was able to see him as clearly as Lily Corinthos. She had the motherly instinct that picked up on the things you were trying to hide the most. It was an annoying habit that brought him through the most difficult times of his life.

He was afraid that if he spent too much time with the woman sitting across from him she would start chipping away at the façade that he had strategically placed. He knew that she would figure out that things weren't really okay, that he had this ache inside of him that didn't seem to want to go away.

Watching her brown eyes soften, he knew they were headed down that path.

"Lily, please," he said standing up.

"You know that anything you say to me stays between you and me," Lily said as she leaned forward, "You know that I would never share anything with Elizabeth or Sonny or anyone else unless you asked me to do so Jason."

"I really can't talk right now," Jason said as he moved around to the front of his desk, "If these files aren't done Sonny will have my head and I…"

"You let me handle the don," Lily said as she stood up in front of him, "And you tell me the reason you are acting like an ass to me. I swear Jason the last time we had a decent conversation was the night that…"

She gasped and Jason closed his eyes. She had finally found what she had been looking for and like a pit bull Lily wasn't one to let go unless she made sure everything was normal again. Jason Morgan was never normal but he wasn't sure how to get back to the place he used to be before a bullet with his name on it killed Elizabeth's child.

"Does Elizabeth know about this?"

"About what?" Jason asked, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"About this guilt, this pain that you are carrying inside of you," Lily said, "I bet not. I bet the two of you are walking around with your heads up in the clouds; her pretending that school and business is helping and you burying yourself in those damn coffee beans. Jason this isn't something that you can just sweep under the rug, losing a child is…"

"I didn't lose a child," Jason snapped, "Elizabeth lost a child. I was just a witness."

Lily took a step back and looked at him startled, "Jason, it was your baby. You and Elizabeth created that baby."

"No," Jason said, "I slammed her up against a door and took her in anger and afterwards I walked out, leaving her curled up in a ball on the floor. The only thing I did was release some swimmers. Elizabeth cared enough to walk away, she cared enough to take care of herself and nurture herself and she cared enough to throw her body in front of a bullet that was mine. Elizabeth lost a child, I killed her baby."

Lily pressed her fingers against her temple, "Jason, no. No. Luis Alcazar pulled the trigger on that gun which killed your baby. Elizabeth has got to know that you…"

"She knows how I feel," Jason said quietly, "She knows how I've envisioned her daughter in her arms."

"It's not all about her Jason. This is about you too, why aren't you seeing that?"

"Because I can't see things clearly, Lily," Jason said. "I don't get why you and Elizabeth and everyone else want to label me a father to a child I didn't care about. A child I might have never known about because I couldn't get Elizabeth Webber out of this city fast enough." He laughed and looked away from her as he felt the tears cloud his eyes, "Do you know that if everything had gone as planned Sly Eckert would be watching Elizabeth's stomach round out, he would be picking out the baby clothes and helping put the room together. Eckert would eventually be raising my child because I was too stubborn to see that this girl, this woman, actually gave a damn about me."

"You didn't aim the gun, Jason," Lily whispered, "You can't blame yourself for something that someone else did. No one, not even Elizabeth, knew that she was carrying a child."

"And what if she did?" he asked quietly, "Would she have stayed and fought so hard or would she had gone off and made a better life for herself and her baby? I probably would have never laid eyes on my son or daughter so I'm not going to even pretend that I was a father. It's no one's fault but my own, Lily. You and I both know that. Elizabeth told me how she felt about me the day that you were ambushed in your home and you know what I did? I let her walk away."

He felt his hand tighten into a fist, "Biggest mistake of my life."

"Jason," Lily whispered as she approached him.

"Don't," he said holding his hands up, "Just don't."

He pushed himself away from the desk and made a quick stride to the door, pulling it open and letting it slam back against the wall, causing it to rattle on its hinges. Lily hurried after him calling his name and soon more heads poked out of their work stations, Sonny's being one of them.

"What happened?" Elizabeth asked as she elbowed her way past Sly and Sonny.

"I guess…" Lily looked at Elizabeth sadly, "I really don't know, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looked back at Sly and Sonny before she turned down the hall and started to run, wanting to catch up with Jason before he was gone. He was climbing on his motorcycle when she finally had him in her view and she shouted out his name before the roar of the engine would drown her out.

"Jason, please, wait," Elizabeth panted as she nearly skidded to a halt in her boots, "Do you know how hard it is to run in heels?"

Jason looked up at her, his blue eyes blazing as his hand held the small motorcycle helmet which she wore whenever she went on a ride with him. He was angry and he didn't look like he was willing to talk about it.

"Cliff roads?" she asked quietly as she took the helmet from him.

He nodded as he turned his stormy eyes from her, "With all the sharp corners."

"You're on," Elizabeth smiled as she climbed onto the back of his bike and wrapped her arms around his waist, clinging to him tightly as they sped off into the night.

She was unaware that Jason was clinging to her as well.