A/N Okay, I got some explaining to do for those of you who are confused. Basically, there are two stories going on at the same time, one for when Courtney took the cab and one for when she didn't. It's basically how there are two completely different outcomes that branched off from one single decision.

Also, I know the whole Zander-Courtney thing seems really random, but I recently was watching some clips when Courtney first came to town, and she had a bunch of scenes together, and this sort of got me thinking, what if she had never met Jason, where would this have gone. Anyways, I thought it would be an interesting idea. Feedback is always appreciated, and criticism too, as long as it's not too harsh.

Oh yeah, and if this storyline seems vaguely familiar, its because it's loosely based off of Sliding Doors.

Chapter 2

The Beetle pulled into the parking lot of the desolate airport. There were three minutes left till Courtney's plane took off, so almost before Zander had parked the car, Courtney jumped out, taking her suitcase with her. She started running towards the entrance. After a couple of seconds, she realized that Zander was following her.

"You know," she huffed in between breaths as she continued running, "You really don't need to accompany me to the airport. I'm a big girl, I can find my flight myself."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I have a flight of my own to catch," Zander said. It was then that Courtney saw that he had his own suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, it's this little city in New York. Port Charles, you've probably never heard of it, have you?"

"Wow, this is truly weird. That's where I'm going too! Flight 12B?"

"Yup, Flight 12B."

As they dashed past the entrance and towards the gates, Courtney managed to get a glimpse of the clock. One minute. There is no way in hell we are going to make it all the way to the other end of the airport in one minute, Courtney thought, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. At least we didn't have any baggage that had to be checked in. They finally reached the gate….just in time to see Flight 12B take off through the window.

Courtney dropped her suitcase with a thud. She just slumped down onto the floor, in the middle of the airport. Great, what am I going to do now? I spent my last few dollars on that ticket. I can't even afford the bus. She felt tears pricking painfully at her eyes. People started giving her weird glimpses as they whizzed by. Everyone seemed in a hurry today. She looked around for Zander. Where did he disappear to, she thought. She looked around and finally found him motioning to her, from the airport check in.

"Zander, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to get our tickets reimbursed."

"There is no way that they are going to give us our money back because we missed the flight!"

"You never know until you try," Zander said with a smile.

"Well, you're the one who is going to be trying, because I, for one, am all out of energy."

Zander shrugged and then walked over the counter, leaning his elbow on it, and putting his face up close to the woman behind the desk. She was an old lady, with bright pick lipstick, huge earrings, and these typical granny glasses with the beaded chain attached to keep them from falling off. Courtney saw Zander motion to her, and then the old lady lower her glasses to look at her too. What is going on, Courtney wondered.

In a couple of minutes, Zander walked towards her with the biggest grin she had ever seen. He stuck out two tickets.

"I couldn't get our money back, but I did manage to get us on the next flight to Port Charles. It's in an hour, so we have plenty of time"

Courtney was amazed. She really was on a lucky roll today. "How did you manage to do that?"

Zander's grin only got wider. "Oh, I might have told a little white lie… that you were pregnant and needed to get home as soon as possible so you could tell your parents for the holidays."

Courtney nearly choked from laughing so hard. "Oh my god, I can't believe you did that!" It was weird. She had only known Zander for a few hours, and already it felt like she had known him forever.

Chapter 2

After what seemed like forever, Courtney finally heard the magic words. "All passengers wishing to board the plane may now check in."

She rushed to hand her ticket to the ticket collector, and then nearly ran to find her seat. She loaded her suitcase and then closed her eyes, ready to relax.

"Hey there st

ranger," a voice called out to her. Courtney's eyes fluttered open. It was that guy, the one who had helped her with the vending machine, smiling down at her with a slightly amused look in his eye.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" She loved the way his name rolled off her tongue, like he was a close friend or something. Her hand automatically went to her hair, trying to fix any stray hairs. Oh god, I hope I don't look too bad, she thought.

"I don't know, I thought you would be happier to see me. I'm going to Port Charles, and I guess you are too."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as indignant. I was just surprised. You like the kind of guy who would be riding first class, or on a chartered plane."

"Yeah, my pilot couldn't make it at the last minute, so I was forced to ride domestic," he replied.

"Ha ha, very funny. Well, it looks like we're going to be each other's plane mates for the rest of the ride, so you might as well make yourself comfortable."

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself, Courtney. What brings you to the little town of Port Charles, New York. Family, vacation, what?"

"Okay, this is going to sound a little weird, but I'm looking for my mom. She said that she was going to Port Charles on business and that she would be back in a week. It's been two months and she isn't back yet." She knew she really shouldn't be telling all this stuff to a stranger, but once again, there was just something about his eyes that made her trust him. She felt like he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. It was the first time in her life that she had felt safe, that she felt like she could actually trust someone. And it turns out to be a complete stranger. The irony of life never failed to amuse her sometimes. It was true that she loved her mom, and she knew in her own way that Janine loved her back. But somehow, she never felt safe with her. Maybe it was because Janine sometimes left without telling Courtney where she was going or when she was going to be back. Or maybe it was because in her heart she knew that she couldn't depend on Janine, ever. She pushed these thoughts out of her mind, and focused on Jason, smiling.

"So, Mr. Nice Guy, I've told you the inner workings of my life. Now you tell me a little about yours. What do you do for a living?"

And then, bam, that wall, that solid wall, was up. The one she had caught a glimpse of at the vending machines. She could no longer read his feelings, see into his heart. She could tell that this was a subject he did not want to discuss. So she changed the subject.

"Or are you so rich that you just don't have to work?" she teased.

She could practically see the wall lift. He was once again the light Jason, the one she felt she could trust to keep her most intimate secrets. He chuckled and replied, "Yeah, something like that."

After that, she made sure to keep the conversation light and not pry too deeply into his life. But of course, she made sure to guard her secrets too. There was something off with Jason Morgan, and until she found out what it was, she was not going to let him go.

Okay, I know that not that much happened in this chapter, but I promise that if you hang in there, the next one will be filled with much more stuff.