A/N Okay, sorry it took so long to update. FYI There is a little bit of explaining in this chapter, but I played around a little bit with the timelines and changed the history too. So don't be surprised if some of the information is different from the show.

Chapter 5

"It's time to fasten your seatbelts. The plane will be landing in approximately half an hour," the intercom announced.

The hijackers were still tied up, and different people took turns guarding them and making sure they didn't try anything. Zander still hadn't said anything, and frankly, Courtney was afraid to until the plane was safely on the ground and the hijackers were under arrest.

Soon, the plane started its downhill climb and Courtney felt this was even worse then take-off. This time, however, she didn't grab Zander's hand. She just held on tightly to the arm rests and told herself over and over that she would be fine. Finally, the wheels of the plane hit the ground, and they slowly halted to a stop. The police came in almost immediately and took the hijackers. Courtney let out her breath only when she saw the police car disappear out of the view of her window.

She curled and uncurled her toes, not realizing how cramped she had been through the whole flight. As she dragged her suitcase off the plane, to the small airport, she let out a gasp. The sight before her was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen. She had lived in Atlantic City most of her life, but it was nothing compared to this.

The sky was a shade of sapphire blue, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. A slight breeze ruffled her soft blonde hair, and a few palm trees waved gently in tune to the wind. She could see the smooth white sand a little bit away. She could already imagine running her toes through the silky feel of it, and dipping her feet in the clear, emerald water that seemed to be calling out to her.

All of a sudden, her worrying seemed silly. She was sure Zander had a perfectly good reason for acting the way he did. Who knows, maybe it was just pure, raw adrenaline.

She looked up at Zander for the first time since he sat down and gently smiled. When he caught her glance, he reluctantly smiled back. "Why don't we find some place to stay?" he asked her, taking her tiny hand in his. The action surprised her a little, but her hand seemed to fit perfectly in his, and she didn't want to pull it away.

He led her to the airport, and they called a few hotels, finally finding one where they could spend the night. They called a cab from there, with Zander paying since Courtney had run out of money a long time ago. When they went to register, they found out that the hotel had only one room left. The next nearest hotel was 7 miles away, and neither Zander nor Courtney wanted to get into another cab and then go to another hotel. They decided to be mature adults and just have Zander sleep on the floor.

After taking a warm shower, Courtney felt clean and refreshed. When she came out of the shower, she found Zander sprawled on the bed watching the television. She looked out the window and thought again of the beautiful scenery. They had been lucky enough to get a beach side room, and she couldn't wait to go swimming later that day. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, and pulling a brush through her wet hair, Courtney finally thought it was the right time.

"Zander?" she paused, waiting. He turned the TV off, and lifted himself up so he was facing Courtney. "Zander, why did you…how did you know exactly what to do with those hijackers? I saw you and you just seemed so professional, so at ease."

Zander sighed as he ran his fingers through his thick black hair. "I knew you'd be asking this sooner or later," he said. "Long story short, my mother was an alcoholic, father left not long after I was born. I fell into some bad company as a teenager and got into the whole drugs thing. I was just digging myself deeper and deeper into this huge hole, and with each day, it was getting harder to climb out. One day, this guy offers me an out. It seems almost too good to be true. He paid me a lot of money, treated me good. Almost like a big brother. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Turns out he's a huge mob boss, weapons dealer, drugs, the works. He gave me all this training, how to strangle someone without leaving a trace of evidence, how to break in to a high security place. At first I made myself forget about it, saying "I'm used to it, this is what my entire life has been like." But one day, I just couldn't anymore. I looked at myself in the mirror and didn't recognize the person I saw there, the cold, feelingless person I had become. I couldn't take it anymore, but you can't exactly leave that kind of life, you know? So I ran, to Atlantic City. I'd been hiding out there for a while until things cooled down, and I finally decided that maybe it was time to come back again."

He looked at the small face before him. Courtney's eyes were wide, and she stared at him, unblinking, as if she was afraid that if she did, he would disappear. He laughed a little, a dry laugh. "Sorry, I know you didn't ask for my life history. I probably scared you, didn't I? I completely understand if you want to get a separate hotel room, or maybe leave my wonderful presence all together…" He was cut off by Courtney placing her index finger over his lips. He stared at her, as she slowly brought her face closer to him. He noticed a light dusting of freckles over her little nose, and it made his heart thud even harder in his chest. She came even closer, and finally closed the little remaining gap between them, as she pressed her soft pink lips to his.

Chapter 5

Courtney breathed in deeply, inhaling the slight spring scent of detergent coming from Jason's soft cotton shirt. All of a sudden, she became aware of where she was and what she was doing. As she withdrew her face from his shirt, she could already feel a warm blush starting to rise from the back of her neck up to her cheeks.

"Umm, sorry," she mumbled, looking down at the ground. She wasn't quite ready to look at him yet.

Jason put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up to meet his eyes. "Hey, it's okay, don't worry about it," he said as he brushed a stray strand of blonde hair from her eye with the base of his thumb. "I know the difference between when someone's just having a bad day and when they're trying to take advantage of me." The grin that was on his lips grew even wider, and his eyes seemed to twinkle a bit. Courtney could feel her face turning even redder. God, I must look like a tomato right now.

"Why don't I buy you a soda, and we can sit down and talk. You don't have to tell me anything, just hang out until you feel a little better." Right now, that seemed like a great idea. Her stomach rumbled in agreement, surprising her. She hadn't realized that she was that hungry.

"I guess that's a definite yes to the soda, and why don't I maybe get you some food to go with it?" Jason asked. She put aside her embarrassment. After all, she was starving and broke and homeless, all in a matter of seconds.

"That would be great," she replied, smiling back up at him. He guided her to a hot dog stand and got her a hot dog with all the works. "Mmmm…dis ish the besht hot dog I've ever tashted!" she said, her mouth stuffed. Then she realized she was probably grossing Jason out by acting like such a pig, and quickly swallowed and looked up to see his reaction. Instead of a look of disgust, he actually seemed pretty pleased.

"Now, you're my kind of girl," he said. It was his turn to blush now, having blurted out something before he had realized the implication of what he had just said: that Courtney was his girl. "Umm…I didn't mean..." Courtney cut him off, laughing.

After they had eaten, they walked around, just talking. It had been a long time since she had actually talked like this to anyone and they had actually listened. It turned out they had a lot in common. They both loved to read, although Jason admitted that not a lot of people knew that about him, because he had this certain "image" to keep up.

Courtney laughed at this. "Oh, I think I know what kind of image. The 'I'm a big tough guy that only watched football and drinks beer, right?" she asked. He chuckled a little bit when she said that. "Well, not exactly, but I guess close enough." They both couldn't really stand television that much, only watching it when they absolutely had nothing else to do. They even had the same taste in music, preferring the soft lull of classic rock over the head banging bands of today.

They would have kept on talking too, except they were interrupted by Jason's cell phone. He walked a few steps away, saying a few things, and then snapped it shut. "Courtney, I apologize for this, but I really have to go." Courtney felt a little sinking feeling in her stomach that surprised her a little. She couldn't believe she had already gotten so attached to someone she had known for a few minutes. It's just that it had been a really long time since she had met a genuinely nice guy, someone who actually listened to what she had to say instead of staring immediately at her "assets."

She watched Jason walk away, and finally took a good look around where she was. She had seen the playground before, but she hadn't realized just how pretty the rest of it was. The grass was a bright shade of green, and had little dew drops on it. It must have rained last night. She looked up at the sky and saw that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and that it was beautiful shade of blue.

And the more she thought about it, the more she thought, maybe she had overreacted just a little bit. She thought maybe she was ready to go back to Sonny's to maybe talk things over, if her parents were all still there. Wow, that talk with Jason had really put her in a good mood! Besides, she didn't really know any other places in Port Charles; she had stormed out before she could ask where her mom was staying. And she definitely couldn't continue to sit on this park bench much longer. It was starting to get dark, and she did not want to get caught, by herself, in some park that she wasn't even familiar with.

She ambled back to Sonny's, and rung the doorbell. Then she rang it again. And again. Come on, come on, why aren't you opening the door. Courtney started to panic a little bit. Where am I going to go if he's not here. She glanced at the guards. They seemed to actually flatten themselves against the walls when they saw here. They had all seen what she had done to that one guard who had tried to take her on. She rung the doorbell one more time, and was just about to give up and turn around, when she heard the door swing open.

She turned around eagerly, and her jaw dropped open at the person standing at the entrance.

Jason's face was a reflection of Courtney's.

"Courtney? What are you doing here?"

Ok guys, I promise a Journey kiss in the next chapter. A hot Journey kiss. So all you Journey fans, hang in there.