Disclaimer: I don't own anything…
A/N 2: Alright, here we go…This fic is AU and set in the future. It contains an OC, which I've never used before, but is necessary for the story. Everything that has happened with Journey has occurred in this fic right up to the anniversary of the miscarriage.
Summary: Things aren't always what they appear to be. Sometimes, the "perfect" marriage isn't perfect. Who do you turn to when the world collapses around you?
She Will Be Loved Ch. 3:
Cast your judgment, cast all your stones. Holding my hand, holding on to everything I have because its slipping away so fast and its all I have...
The resounding clickety-clack of high heels informed Jason and Courtney that they were no longer alone and both looked up to find Carly entering from the back stairwell. Her face immediately turned red as she tried in vain to turn around, but her presence had already been detected.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt…"she offered before heading back upstairs. Courtney watched in slight surprise of the demeanor her usually boisterous friend portrayed.
"Carly it's fine. Would you like a cup of coffee?" Jason motioned to the still half full pot on the counter.
"Are you sure? Because I can totally find something to busy myself with upstairs. You know away from you guys, so you can talk and stuff." Carly's eyes remained trained on the floor and Courtney immediately realized what was going on. Leave it to Carly to try and set her and Jason up the morning after she showed up broken and bruised.
"It's your house, Carly. Have a cup of coffee and take a seat. I was just going to take Hannah for a walk anyways." Courtney didn't mean for her voice to come out as hot as it did, but she needed to get her point across. She didn't need her over zealous sister-in-law trying to set her up with her ex husband a few hours after she left her present husband. "It was nice talking to you, Jase." She offered over her shoulder before sauntering out of the kitchen and into the parlor where Hannah remained fixated by her stuffed animal.
"Hey baby girl!" Courtney greeted easily plucking her daughter of the sleek leather couch. She watched in amusement as her youngest daughter giggled for no apparent reason. She just about had Hannah's jacket on when the door swung open and Michael and Morgan raced in, Olivia was hot on their tracks.
"Hi mom!" She called before following the boys upstairs. Courtney watched somewhat perplexed, Via normally didn't interact well with her peers. She liked to be alone a lot and never showed much interest in horsing around. Maybe it was just because Doug made her feel so alienated. She tried her best to protect her eldest daughter, but somehow her husband always seemed to make the poor girl feel like shit without saying a word.
"Where are you going?" Courtney looked up to find her brother standing in the doorway like a living roadblock.
"I'm taking Hannah for a walk."
"Absolutely not. Max shift isn't going to start for another two hours and you're not going anywhere unguarded." Sonny's voice remained firm and it flustered his baby sister.
"Michael Corinthos…"
"That's the rule, Courtney. I don't think it's asking to much," he held up his hand to cut off anymore argument and the young blonde could feel her face turning red in anger.
"I'm not going to hide out…" she tried but could see the look of resolution on her brother's face.
"You're not hiding. You are playing it safe." Sonny reasoned just as Carly and Jason entered the room. Carly eyed her sister-in-law in somewhat annoyance, but quickly hid her glare from Sonny.
"What's going on?" She asked softly and watched her husband shake his head dismissively. "I thought you two were leaving?"
"I was trying to…"
"Great! I'll go with you, guys. I've got some errands to run anyways." Carly informed brightly. Courtney watched her older brother ease up slightly at the thought of his very capable wife going with the duo. "That is if you don't mind."
"No of course not," Courtney replied with gritted teeth. Anything to get me out of this house.
"Good! I'm just going to grab my keys." Carly exited only to return a few moments later, the jingling metal signaling her arrival. "Love you, dear." She kissed Sonny on the cheek.
"Be careful." He whispered and was met with a sly smile.
"We'll be fine," she assured before ushering Courtney and Hannah out the penthouse door.
Sonny watched the three females depart before turning his attention to Jason. Neither man said anything for a few moments as each was trying to file away the thoughts that Courtney had left them with. Jason noticed the looked of intense worry on his boss's face and waited patiently for him to speak.
"Doug…" the older man growled. Jason immediately knew what he was referring to and realized that his instincts were indeed correct. Courtney's so called "perfect" husband had inflicted the bruise that Courtney sported so casually. He wanted to fly over to California and tear the smarmy tycoon apart and wondered how long it would take for Sonny to order him to do so. "We can't go after him." He informed the younger man as if reading his thoughts.
"Why not?"
"I promised her we wouldn't."
"I don't understand." Sonny let out a sigh before collapsing on to the couch. His hand reached to rub his temples in an effort to try and explain to Jason exactly what had occurred the night before.
"She's afraid that he's going to be our downfall or something…" he offered and his counterpart nodded, but was still not completely happy with the idea of doing nothing. A crash came from the top of the stairs and both men's heads jacked up only to find Michael with a huge grin on his face.
"Everything's fine. Don't worry," the young boy called before racing away.
"Great. I don't even want to know what they broke." Sonny whispered as he let his eyes slide close. The Penthouse was congested enough with just Carly and the boys. Now throw Courtney and her daughters into the mix and there was barely going to be breathing room.
"You alright?" Jason's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked up to find the young man's bright blue eyes tinged with concern.
"Yeah, there's just a lot going on right now." Sonny replied and was met with a nod in response. "I'm not sure how we are all going to coexist together. I mean I thought the boys were a handful. Hannah's in her terrible two's and Olivia is still very guarded. Not too mention the fact that Carly and Courtney are still quite tense around one another." The younger man didn't say anything for awhile, just listened to his older friend's concerns.
"Why don't Courtney and the girls get their own place?" He asked logically.
"I know guys like Brady. He's not going to give up that easily and when he comes around, I want to make sure I'm here. I don't like the idea of those girls being to far away." Even down the street seemed to far away from his watchful eye. The idea of them being alone in an apartment made him extremely jittery. He refused to allow his sister to be hurt any longer.
"Why don't they just move in with me?" Jason seemed a little shock the idea even left his lips and was met with a shake of the head from his boss.
"I couldn't ask you to do that. You have your own concerns to deal with right now." His comment referred to the bitter divorce that his young friend had been caught up in for well over two months. Penny was holding on for dear life, no matter how hard Jason tried to shake her off.
"I could actually use the distraction." He replied quietly and saw his boss wavering slightly. "Just think about it, Sonny. They would be right across the hall and I can keep my eye on them when you can't."
"I don't know if Courtney would go for it." Sonny reasoned.
"I'll talk to her about it. I mean it might be for the best. I do have all the extra space now that Penny's moved out." He said the last part quietly. Jason truly did love his wife and at one point he was sure that their marriage was good. Then he walked in on her on top of Marco and everything they had went down the toilet. No woman beside Courtney had ever hurt him so badly and there was no fixing that. If there was one thing he couldn't stomach it was betrayal.
"Penny still clinging on?" Sonny's voice was soft and met with a quiet nod.
"It's like she thinks that not signing the papers is going to make me fall back in love with her."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault…" He mumbled before turning to head towards the door. "Ask Courtney to stop by my place when she gets home."
Courtney watched in slight amusement as Carly sang along to the radio. Her long auburn hair flying about as she bobbed her head to the beat of some catchy pop song. The off key tune had been the only noise in the car since they pulled away from Harborview Towers about twenty minutes ago. Hannah sat quietly in the backseat her tiny eyelids drooping close.
"I'm sorry if I offended you somehow this morning," Carly whispered and caught Courtney off guard.
"I just don't appreciate you trying to push me and Jason together. I mean God Carly, I haven't been home twenty-four hours yet."
"That wasn't my intention, Court." Carly replied firmly and was met with a look of disbelief and roll of the younger woman's baby blues. "I'm serious. You are going through a rough time right now and so isn't Jase. I just figured that maybe you could lean on one another for support."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but I would rather deal with this by myself." The blonde assured softly.
"You can't keep this all to yourself, sweetheart. What Doug has done to you is wrong and it's only going to make it worse if you keep it bottled up."
"I don't want your advice on how I should handle my life, Carly! Believe it or not, I'm perfectly capable of making my own choices." Her voice came out as a strangled yell and she immediately checked to make sure Hannah was still sleeping in the backseat. Luckily, the little girl slept like a rock and only stirred slightly at the sound of her mother's anxious outburst.
"Fine. I'm sorry." Carly held up her hands in mock surrender before turning into the Port Charles Mall parking lot.
"Can we just not talk about it anymore." Courtney tried to smooth over the rift that was quickly forming between her and her sister-in-law.
"Sure. I feel the need to go on a major shopping spree, how about you?" Carly asked with much enthusiasm before turning off the car and reaching back to unbuckle her niece.
"That sounds like the best idea I've heard in a while." Courtney agreed exiting the car.
Olivia watched carefully as the boys fell asleep on the floor. They had spent the better part of the afternoon chasing each other around and it seemed to exhaust both of her male cousins. She, on the other hand, was still bursting with energy and had yet to find something to entertain herself with. She treaded downstairs quietly as so not too disturb her Uncle who was also asleep on the couch. Does the whole family fall asleep simultaneously? Olivia thought to herself before setting eyes on the half opened door.
She looked back once more to make sure that her Uncle was still passed out before venturing out into the elaborately decorated hallway. Under normal circumstances, she would never let her curiosity get the best of her, but these weren't normal circumstances. She was in a new place and needed to find out more about her surroundings. The ding of the elevator caught hold of her attention and she waited patiently for the door to open. Maybe it would be someone she could hang out with until her mother and Hannah arrived home. She felt all the blood leave her face when she locked eyes with the man exiting the elevator. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound would leave her throat. It was like a bad movie, she wanted to run but felt cemented in her place.
"Hello Olivia. Where is your mother?" Her father's voice was cold as he advanced toward her. The young girl twisted her head in an effort to find some form of protection but nothing came to view. He was getting closer and clenching her fist was all she could do to keep herself somewhat calm. This wasn't suppose to happen. He was suppose to be out of their lives for good. She felt his strong hand grab gruffly at her wrist as she planted her feet in a weak attempt to withstand his strength.
Jason stalked out of his Penthouse. Penny had called yet another emergency meeting with their lawyers and Justice advised him to be there "just in case". He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed an unfamiliar hulking frame in the hallway just before the elevator. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed a extremely frightened young girl in his grasp. It didn't take long to deduce the fact that it was Olivia and upon further inspection he recognized Doug Brady.
"Get your hands off her!" His long strides placed him between the father and daughter and allowed him to break the hold that Brady had. He felt Olivia's tiny hands grab hold of the back of his leg, he quickly turned towards her and motioned for her to go back to Sonny's.
"Don't you move Olivia!" Doug's voice boomed and stopped the little girl in her path. She seemed so torn and Jason felt his heart break a little. Terror was evident on her cherubic face and he wondered how long the girl had been living in fear of her father.
"It's alright, sweetie. Just go get Uncle Sonny for me, ok?" Jason made his voice came out as soft as possible and he watched as she obeyed and rushed away.
"This is none of your concern, Morgan." Doug's breath was peppered with the scent of vodka and his dark eyes were blood shot. "This is my family and they are coming home with me."
"Like hell they are." Jason spat out and the comment elicited a look of rage of the other man's face. "This is private property and if you don't exit the premises then I will have to exercise my right to defend my home."
"Oh yeah? What are you going to do tough guy? Shoot me? I know all about you and your boss and if you know what's good for you then you will quit trying to keep my family from me." An air of arrogance filled his threat, which Jason easily brushed off.
"I want you off my property now. And so help me if you ever come near Courtney or her daughters again, I'll make you wish you were never born." The light haired man's tone was dangerously low and for a brief moment fear flashed in Brady's eyes.
"Is that a threat?"
"It's a promise." Jason assured just as Sonny came barreling out into the hallway.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"He was just leaving."
"He better be." Sonny lowered his gaze in disgust and was met with a cocky grin from his brother-in-law.
"I'm on my way out. Make sure to give Courtney my love." He finished with a wink. It took almost of all of Jason's strength to stop Sonny from lunging at Doug Brady.
"That rat bastard…"Sonny muttered as he paced back and forth in the small carpeted area.
"How's Olivia?"
"She's a little shaken up, but she's ok. Thank god that you came out when you did."
"Yeah. I'll double up security." Jason offered and a nod was his reply. "Nothing happened. Everything is going to be ok." He did his best to assure his boss before exiting on to the elevator.
A/N: Lyric credit goes to E-Town Concrete and their song So Many Nights. This chapter was most transistional, because I need a base for some of the events in the near future. I'm leaning towards having Courtney and the girls move in with Jason, but if you don't think it's a good idea let me know. I'm open to advice on the plot. Also on a happy note, the Red Sox are in the playoffs! That's going to keep me occupied so please don't expect many more updates until the post season is over. Thanks for reading