Elizabeth sat at the large square table in Sonny's dining area in the penthouse with a goofy grin on her face. She was daydreaming and she knew it but she didn't give a damn. A little over an hour ago she returned home from Port Charles University with her grade report in her hand. She had managed four A's, which meant that she was now carrying a four point zero average. The biggest accomplishment for her was that 'A' in Accounting.
Originally her grade was a high B, which more than pleased her; however her professor told her that he admired her determination, and refusal to quit when it came to accounting, which is subject that always has to balance but never seemingly does so. He said that because of her perfect attendance combined with her willingness to face things head on, he was bumping her grade up to an A, so she got an A, in Accounting no less, and the first thing she did was go home to tell Jason Morgan
He was going out as she was coming in, but he still took the extra few minutes to listen to her, to become excited with her, and then to do something that was completely out of character: He actually picked her up and twirled her. She laughed so hard and hugged him so tightly that he felt the need to do it one more time.
Then he put her back down on solid ground, tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and told her that he was proud of her, that she was making something of herself, that she would one day be a great example to the daughter he knew she was going to have. He would be around to tell that little girl just how wonderful her mother really was.
And then the bastard left, he told her that he had a lunch date with Lily. Elizabeth was a blubbering mess, but it wasn't tears of sadness. No, they were tears of accomplishment. She had fought so hard for so long to prove to so many people that she could get out of the world of degradation in which she had merely existed in for so long. Even though she didn't attend a regular high school and her teenage years were spent in a strip club, she could still turn out to be a success. This perfect score of a grade report was her way there.
After she watched Jason disappear down into the elevator she gave Johnny a high five and had a chat with him about his flavor of the week. Her name was Tina, and she was short with blond hair and laughed a lot, basically at everything he said. He was going to end it tonight, before they went out, so he could make himself available for the re-opening of Lily's.
She came inside shortly thereafter and called Sonny, leaving him a message that she had received her grades and she thought he would be proud. She plopped down in the chair she was in now, propped her chin in her hands and started to gaze into space, thinking about what her life would be like four years from now when she graduated and what Jason Morgan's role would be in it.
"I'm glad I stopped and got the chocolate ice cream because you look like you need it."
Elizabeth smiled as she uncurled from the chair and stood up, "What are you doing home in the middle of the day?"
"I received a call from someone telling me that you got good grades," Sonny grinned as he walked into his penthouse suite with a gallon of Breyer's chocolate ice cream, "That was from you, then Jason called and told me that I should be home to congratulate my daughter and so here I am."
"You didn't have to come home early," Elizabeth laughed softly, "And bearing gifts at that."
"I have to keep ice cream in the house," Sonny grinned, "Ever since the midnight runs for Lily I'm always stocked up, just never with chocolate. I know it's your favorite so I had to get it. Make yourself comfortable again and I'll go put some in a bowl for you."
"Two scoops," she said holding up her fingers.
Sonny chucked her chin, "I'll make it three."
Elizabeth chose to sit on the couch this time and she buried herself among the pillows waiting for Sonny to return. She had a few short hours remaining before she had to be at the club to make sure that everything was in order for their grand re-opening tonight. She knew that in legal terms it was Jason's club but the success of it rested squarely on her tiny shoulders and she was thrilled with the opportunity that Sonny had handed her.
"I didn't mention it," Sonny said as he walked back into the living room, his dress shoes clicking against the hardwood floor, "This week anyway. I'm proud of you, Elizabeth. Lily is too, we all are. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if in four years from now you decide to leave all of this behind and go legal," he grinned.
"I'd never do that," Elizabeth smiled as she took the bowl from Sonny, "This is my life, right here, with you and your family and with Sly and the guards. I can't see myself separated from that and it's weird," she laughed softly as she took a small spoonful and tasted it, "Because since I was fourteen all I was trying to do was get away from it."
"You include me," Sonny said as he slid his arm along the back of the couch, "And Sly of course and the guards who have become quite attached to you but someone was missing from that group. You don't see Jason as a part of your life in four years?"
Elizabeth took another spoonful of her decadent ice cream before she answered, "I want to see him as part of my life four years from now but I can't decide for Jason. He might not want to be with me in four years."
"You've been through a lot together," Sonny said, "I know you care about him and I know that Jason cares about you too."
"Jason is the one who decided that things should be platonic between us," she said quietly, "And I'm not fighting him on that, not any longer. You have enough trouble with the law, my relationship with him does not need to be added to the heap of things," she sighed as she swirled her ice cream around, "And he's ten years older than me, Sonny, ten years. Don't you think that Jason is going to want to be with a woman instead of a little girl?"
"I don't like to get inside Jason's head," Sonny smiled, "But I can assure you, Elizabeth, that you are far from being a little girl. You have been through more than any woman should have to experience in a lifetime, let alone someone during their teenager years. Legally, you are still a child, but in all other aspects, Jason doesn't view you that way."
"Sonny, even you can't know that," she laughed softly.
"I am your father," Sonny said, "And I can tell you that on more than one occasion Jason and I almost had to step outside because the way he was looking at you was not the way you look at someone in whom you are uninterested."
"Really?" she asked with raised eyebrows then she sighed as she finished her ice cream, "Can I ask what the point of this conversation is? It's early June and I don't become an adult, legally that is, until November. You're trying to get my hopes up over something that isn't guaranteed to happen."
Sonny reached over and took Elizabeth's hand, "I see the way you look at him and I saw the way you were when I walked into this suite a few minutes ago. You're in love with him, Elizabeth, any person can tell that and I'm sure that Jason is well aware of it."
Elizabeth nodded slowly, "He says he was in love with me too, at least he was in April."
"Jason doesn't love very easily," Sonny said, "There was one woman he let into his heart. She told him that she accepted him for the man that he was and come to find out she couldn't so she left him to put the pieces of his life back together. It was hard because she was with him since the time of his accident. I never saw him look twice at another woman…until you," he smiled.
"I was annoying as hell," Elizabeth laughed softly as she rolled her eyes, "I was playing with fire and I had no idea how dangerous it was."
"I enjoyed every minute of you two," Sonny grinned, "I enjoyed watching you fall in love with him. I enjoyed watching you take care of him. As much as you are my daughter, Jason is my brother and I want nothing but the best for you both."
"What is the best for us, Sonny?"
Sonny leaned closer to her and pressed a kiss to her forehead, "Jason told me that your professor said you were determined, that you didn't give up on those damn figures. Be determined Elizabeth, don't give up on Jason, continue to love him until November comes around. Your seventeenth birthday was hell and if you stick it out long enough, I'm sure you'll be surprised with what your eighteenth birthday will bring."
Jason pulled out a chair across from Lily, ready to sit down and apologize for the delay. He hated that he had to leave Elizabeth, but if Lily found out he was canceling on her to be with the younger woman, she would have teased him endlessly. He figured he'd spend a couple of hours with his good friend and then meet back up with Elizabeth. That decision was nearly regretted when he saw what she was eating.
"Is that peanut butter?"
"I couldn't wait," Lily said as she stuffed another nacho in her mouth, "I had to order something to hold me over until lunch."
"You're eating peanut butter on nachos?" Jason grimaced, "Lily that's…"
"I know," Lily laughed, "But it's what I'm craving and if Sonny finds out he'll kill me so promise that you won't tell him, Jason."
Jason wrinkled his nose, "I don't think he'd believe me anyway."
Lily laughed as she finished up the last of her nachos and pushed the empty plate away, placing her hands on her rounded belly, rubbing it slowly. Her smile started to fade as her brown eyes searched Jason's.
"It's not so bad anymore," she said quietly, "Your eyes. They use to dim a little when you saw me. I hated it Jason."
Jason shook his head slowly as he slid off his leather jacket and placed it around the back of his chair. He then turned and gave Lily a small smile.
"It wasn't anyone's fault," he said quietly, "You know that Elizabeth and I are happy for you and Sonny."
Lily nodded, "She tries to hide the pain, but we still see it. We don't push her. I don't want to, and I think that Sonny's too afraid to talk about the baby with her. He doesn't want to be the cause of anymore pain. The first time our baby kicked," she smiled softly, "Elizabeth was there and she placed her hand on my stomach and I just saw the tears in her eyes Jason and then she backed away, gracefully, the way that Elizabeth does and she went to you."
Jason nodded remembering that moment and remembering the way his heart ached for his child and Elizabeth, "That was when she spent the night and Sonny came over the next morning with barely contained rage."
Lily laughed quietly, "I reminded him that this was you. He's been very protective of Elizabeth and sometimes it's hard for him to remember that you have no intention of crossing that line."
"I won't," Jason said firmly.
"We know that," she said, "But the way you two look at one another," she smiled when she watched Jason turn away as his cheeks started to redden, "It's like you are the only two people in the room, like no one else exists in that moment but you and Elizabeth."
Jason was grateful for the break in the conversation when a bottle of cold beer was placed down in front of him. Lily ignored her closed menu and proceeded to order the left side of it while he chose a well done burger with fries. As soon as the waiter was out of ear shot Lily jumped right back in…with both feet.
"You love her very much."
Jason looked over at her while he took another long swig of his beer.
"Even if you would have tried to get that past Sonny, which you haven't, you would never be able to get it past me, Jason," Lily said, "I was there when Robin decided that your business was too dangerous and flew off to Paris. I was the one Sonny had to stop from going after her myself. I watched you fall in love with her and I watched you fall apart without her, those emotions, what happened back then, is nothing compared to what you are feeling right now."
Lily smiled softly as she reached over and squeezed his hand, "Be careful. I know that you and Elizabeth want to wait until she turns legal age in November but with the amount of time that you're spending with her things could start to happen and…"
Jason cleared his throat as he placed his bottle back down on the table, "Elizabeth thinks that I did this for me. She's under the impression that I'm avoiding her, relationship wise, because I'm afraid that the cops are going to lock me up. They could do it Lily, I'd go to jail for her, I'd die for her but…" he shook his head, "If someone were to find out, if hard evidence of me having a sexual relationship with Elizabeth were found, I would be arrested and I would go to trial and that means that Elizabeth would have to testify. She has been through too damn much to be put on the stand to explain that she fell in love with some man while she was trying to escape from her husband. I will not let anyone else harm her, including me."
"She's lucky to have you," Lily said, "She's lucky that you're standing there by her side through everything."
Jason's eyes flickered as he looked over at his beer and the sweat droplets that were falling form the bottle onto the crisp white tablecloth, "When you have your baby it's going to be hard for her. She's going to find it difficult to deal with it, the birth, the fussing over the baby, people coming over to congratulate you, living with the child that should have been hers. She's…" he stopped and cleared his throat, "We're going to have a hard time for a while. If she needs to stay with me…"
"Than she does," Lily said and found herself wiping at silently tears that were falling from her eyes, "I remember watching her walk out my door all those months ago, telling me that she was going to fix whatever she wronged. I thought, she can't do this alone and she is not letting me help her, but I knew that you could Jason. I knew that once she was finally able to get you to listen that you would take care of everything. You did so much more than that, you took care of it together and now Sonny and I no longer worry about what's going to happen with Elizabeth when she grows old and moves out of the penthouse," she smiled softly, "She'll always have you, Jason."
"She'll always have me," Jason said as he took another sip of his beer, "But that doesn't mean that she'll always want me."
Elizabeth stood in a small corner at the club and watched the crowd around her. Tonight had been a success, it was packed. Bodies were crammed together as the over twenty one crowd danced to the latest musical tunes provided by the disc jockey. With an okay given by Jason, Johnny was providing bouncer duty at the door, which Elizabeth knew was a cover for meeting more women. Sly was around here somewhere as was the person who made this all possible; Jason Morgan.
She smiled as her eyes drifted toward the stage that no longer held up silver poles and gaudy lights. The disc jockey was perched in the middle of it with his speakers covering every available inch. That was one rule that she had insisted upon. She didn't care that the most clubs today allowed women up on the stage to dance. She didn't want that and Jason backed her up. No one wanted to relive the memories that took place in this club.
Well, not all the memories. Elizabeth wanted to remember every moment she spent in the back office with Jason. She wanted to always remember the time she blew in with the snow and convinced him to give her a job. She would never forget the time he swooped her off the stage and carried her away from the madness that surrounded them and she knew there was no forgetting that night, out in the parking lot, in the limo.
No, Elizabeth didn't want to forget a moment she spent with the man who had helped shape her be the woman that she was today. He took her from her world of horror and made things a little bit better. He believed in her, he gave her a second chance and he loved her, torrid history and all. She had run away from Luis Alcazar looking for the one thing she never had and Jason had given her that. Because of him she was free.
"You did a wonderful job tonight."
She smiled as she reached up and wiped at the tears that had gathered in the corner of her eyes. He was behind her, his lips near her ear, wanting to make sure that his words would seep through over the blaring music. She turned around to face him and watched his smile turn to a frown.
"Thank you," she whispered and then cleared her throat, raising her voice, "Thank you, Jason."
"Elizabeth, are you alright?"
He reached out to touch her but she nodded her head and pressed two of her fingers towards his lips. She wanted to speak now. She wanted to say these words before she forgot again and took advantage of the man who had handed her the world on a silver platter.
"You believed in me," she said, "You gave me your position as manager for the strip club without even seeing my credentials. You told me the first day that I came home from Accounting that I was going to pass that class. You knew that I would make this club a success with or without your name attached to it. You gave me the one thing I had been searching for. Thank you," she said stepping closer to him, "Thank you for giving me my freedom, for showing me what it was like to live my life my way and no one else's."
Jason was more surprised when she removed her fingers from his lips and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close against her. He couldn't help but settle his arms around hers and bury his nose in her vanilla scented hair. He only wished that he could tell her how much he missed holding her.
She stepped back with a smile and looked down at him, "And thank you for wearing dress pants tonight although you know you didn't have to."
"I did," he said with a nod, "For you."
She laughed softly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"And you did it for me too," he said quietly placing his fingers under her chin and tipping it up so her eyes would meet his own, "I never thought anyone would love me because of the life that I led. I thought Sonny had just gotten lucky with Lily but you…you showed me that some people don't care about what you do during the day, just that you come home at night."
"All those months ago when I walked through that door," she said, "I never imagined that I would be here Jason and I'm so glad that I am."
Jason placed his hand on her cheek and drew her closer, "I just wish that…"
"I know," she nodded as she felt his face lean towards her, "I wish it too and I'm tired as well. I'm tired of fighting it."
"Maybe," he whispered, his breath fanning against her cheek, "Maybe we should stop all this fighting."
"Jason!"
Elizabeth jumped away from him and pressed her hand against her chest when she heard the loud scream ring through the club again. She was practically pushed aside when a woman rushed towards them and threw her arms around Jason's neck, hugging him tightly. She watched as joy came over Jason's face and then Elizabeth crossed her arms across her chest, waiting for an explanation. When Jason noticed the fire in her eyes, it didn't take long to get one.
"This is my sister, Emily," Jason said managing to step out of Emily's grasp, "I told you about her."
"Right," Elizabeth smiled, relived and held out her hand, "Emily Quartermaine."
Emily looked at her curiously and then laughed softly as she shook Elizabeth's hand, "I wish I could say the same but Jason really doesn't talk much about his personal life. Except for that one time in January, before Grandfather decided to ship me off to Europe, he told me about this…Elizabeth!"
"Yes," Elizabeth laughed and nodded, "I'm still around."
"I'm so sorry," Emily said stepping away from her brother, "I really hope that I wasn't interrupting anything but Jason said that you were my age and…"
Elizabeth felt her face redden as Emily's eyes moved between the two of them. Thankfully Jason decided to step up to the plate and take that unasked question.
"It's a long story," Jason said shoving his hands in his pockets, "And Elizabeth and I are just friends. I'm helping her run the club for Sonny. Emily," he said to Elizabeth, "Just turned eighteen in May."
"Happy belated birthday," Elizabeth smiled, "And make sure that your brother takes you out for your birthday dinner and not to Kelly's."
Emily laughed, "I like you already. We have to get together and chat. Someone needs to catch me up on everything that I missed while I was gone. My Grandfather insisted that I finish out my last senior term at a European school. Normally I would have pitched a fit but Lucky disappeared with his father and Lu was over there so I didn't mind," she shrugged before turning towards Jason with an innocent smile, "I know you said that it was over twenty one and that only I could come but I had to bring Lu. She won't cross any trouble, promise."
Jason rolled his eyes and then ran his fingers through his short cropped hair. Elizabeth laughed again, realizing that face. He didn't believe a word that his sister had said and obviously this Lu person was trouble.
"May I ask who Lu is?" Elizabeth asked.
Emily turned around, standing on her toes and craning her neck before she pointed out a dark haired woman that was engrossed in a conversation with Elizabeth's favorite bodyguard, Johnny. Johnny had that winning smile on that usually made a girl swoon. Elizabeth felt the need to warn Emily's friend.
"That's her. I don't know if we're going to see her for the rest of the night," Emily laughed, "She's had a crush on Johnny O'Brien since she first stepped foot in Port Charles about ten years ago. Now that she's legal she's actually going to make a go of it," she turned towards her brother again and winced, "I can't help that."
Jason grunted and Emily waved her hand at him before turning back to Elizabeth.
"Lu and Lucky are the Spencer's kids. They are the most infamous family in town," Emily smiled, "They're Aunt Bobbie runs Kelly's."
"Oh!" Elizabeth said, "Then that means that they're related to…"
"Emmy! Emmy Q!" Sly laughed as he pushed his way through the crowd and picked Emily up in his arms, twirling her around, "Emmy, look at you, my God," he put her down and took a step back, whistling at the woman before him, "The last time I saw you girl you were all skin and bones but now, my word, Edward must have gotten pit bulls to keep the boys away."
"Sly," she blushed as she hugged him again, "What are you doing here? The last time I spoke to Lucky he said he had a hard time getting a hold of you. I can't believe it. I mean, look at you!"
Sly laughed as he looped his arm around Emily's waist, "I found out that it really is a small world Emmy because I'm good friends with Lizzie over here."
"Really?" Emily asked, "I have to hear about that one."
"That's not really a good idea," Jason started.
"Turns out, I also work for your brother," Sly said as he grinned at Jason, "But I've been kept so busy that I haven't had anytime to make it over to the Quartermaine mansion to check up on you and make sure that they didn't have you locked away in some attic."
"Oh I've been in Europe," Emily smiled, "If Lu wasn't there I would have died of boredom."
"Lu?" Sly asked grinning, "How is my cousin?"
"She's here," Emily said, "Let's go find her. She'll be as excited as I am to see you. I'll catch up with you later Jason and Elizabeth, call me, we all have to get together sometime."
Elizabeth bit her lip as she watched Emily take a firm hold of Sly's hand and lead him through the crowd, towards the other end of the club where Lu Spencer was still engrossed in conversation with Johnny. Her dark sapphire eyes then shifted towards the man beside her who was now tense with a stormy look on his face.
She cleared her throat, "I don't think Sly would ever…"
"He better not," Jason said with gritted teeth, "Excuse me, I need a beer."
Elizabeth watched Jason make his way back across the dance floor towards the bar where he dug around for his favorite bottled beverage. She then looked back to where Sly, Emily, Lu and Johnny were now laughing and talking on the other side of the room. Sly had his arm back around Emily, this time slung around her shoulders. She made a mental note to have a conversation with her best friend very soon or else she was afraid that he might indeed be sleeping with the fishes.