Chapter 21

Sam was worried. Jason had insisted on going to Sonny's to check on his little sister. She had tried to reassure him that everything was alright but it didn't help when he had called there earlier and Max had told him that Sonny was with her in the guesthouse and that it looked like she was leaving. Things only went from bad to worse when the guard said he had to go because Carly was there. Hearing the knock at the door she went to see who it was hoping that maybe it was Jason and that he had forgotten his key or something. Looking through the peephole she was surprised instead to see her future sister-in-law standing on the other side and hurriedly opened the door.

Emily tried to smile. "Hi Sam. Did I come at a bad time? I kind of need a place to stay tonight and I didn't want to go to mom and dads. I promise I'll find something tomorrow."

Sam smiled back. "No Em. It's ok. Come on in and you know you are always welcome here. I'm actually glad to see you. Jason's been worried sick. He's…"

Emily shook her head and looked at Sam. "Let me guess he's gone to Sonny's." She didn't wait for Sam to confirm it before going on. "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean for that to happen today at the hospital. I had no idea that Nikolas and Sonny would tie up like that and I definitely didn't want Jason in the middle of it."

Sam reached for the suitcase and put her arm around Emily's shoulders. "You know that when it comes to the people he loves he's always going to be in the midst of it no matter what especially when it concerns you. He loves you Em."

"I know."

"Hey why don't you let me put this in the extra room upstairs and brew us up some coffee and we can talk."

"It shows that much huh?"

"Uh yeah." They laughed together. "I'll be right back."

"Ok." Emily started to unbutton her coat and walked over to the window overlooking the lights of the city below and she wondered how he was.

……………………………

Sonny looked out the double paned glass watching the snow falling lightly to the ground as he lifted the glass of bourbon to his lips and swallowed it quickly, his eyes squinting shut as he felt the warm liquid travel down his throat. He turned to fix himself another one as Jason came in.

His voice was calm as he greeted his friend and mentor. "You better hope she was gone before you trashed the guesthouse."

"Long gone." Sonny lifted the newly filled glass making sure one single drop of it didn't go to waste.

He lifted the bottle to Jason. "You want one?"

"No and you should slow it down. You need to keep your head on straight. This isn't you Sonny and we both know it."

He put the bottle down and looked up at his best friend. "Do you know what she told me?" Sonny waved his hand in front of his face trying to make his point. "The reason she was leaving I mean?"

Jason just continued to watch him.

"She said she would only hurt me if she stayed. That she," he pointed his finger and dropped it back down again for emphasis, "Emily, was no good for me. Can you believe that? And all this time I'm the one everybody, including myself, knows will never be good enough for her." Sonny couldn't help but laugh at the irony of it. "Hell man I couldn't even protect her if I tried. I don't even know where she went."

"Em's at my place. Sam just called to tell me."

Sonny nodded. "That's good. At least you know she's safe."

If Jason had been unsure of his best friends feelings for his sister before he was now. He vowed from this moment on to support them in whatever would be between them.

"She'd be just as safe with you."

"Yeah well you don't have to worry about that now do you?"

"Sonny I love my sister and I love you. You're like a brother to me. All I want is Em's happiness and if she's happy with you then so be it and vice versa. What that means for all of our futures I don't know but I've always lived my life on my terms and I've watched the two of you come through hell and back from different situations trying to rebuild your lives after they were ripped apart. Who am I to deny either of you a shot at happiness?"

"I appreciate that Jason. I really do but I don't think there's going to be any happiness when it comes to Emily and me. Just memories of what might have been. Do you know that I never really knew the kind of hold she had on my heart till today? I mean all these months she's been my friend and like a second mother to my kids and I never really noticed the how important she was becoming to me." Sonny sat down on the couch and looked ahead of him. "Instead I just took her for granted because after all she was just Emily being Emily."

Jason walked over and put his hand on his friends shoulder. "It's alright man. We all do that sometimes. Look at how long it took me and Sam to notice each other?"

Sonny looked up at his friend and laughed. "Yeah I still can't believe the two of you are actually going to get married."

Jason laughed. "Sometimes we can't either."

Just then Max knocked on the door. "Detective Spencer boss. He says it's important."

Sonny's mood was suddenly back to business as usual as he and Jason exchanged looks. He motioned to Max. "Send him in."

Lucky walked in noticing that Jason was there too. "Good both of you are here."

"This isn't a social visit detective so why don't you just get to the point and tell us why you're here."

"Ok. Are either of you familiar with a fence named Leonard Parks or Lenny as he's known on the streets?"