A/N: The song in the beginning of this part is The Shoop Shoop Song by Cher. Just wanted to give proper credit for that. smile
I Dare You – Part 5/5
"Does he love me? I want to know." Elizabeth belted out into the microphone. "How can I tell, if he loves me so?"
"Is it in his eyes?" Emily and Carly's voices sang along as backup.
"Oh no, you'll be deceived." Elizabeth turned and smiled at her two friends. The three of them always sang together whenever they had the opportunity. And even though she was kind of biased since the group consisted of herself and her two best friends, she still maintained that they sang well. They weren't excellent or at the professional level, but they were at least decent.
"Is it in his signs?" Her two backups sang.
"Oh no, he'll make believe." Elizabeth looked out into the crowd, searching for him. "If you want to know if he loves you so..." She winked at him once she had found him. He smiled back and waved. "It's in his kiss."
"That's where it is."
Elizabeth, knowing it wasn't her turn to sing again yet, searched the crowd for Jason once more. She made sure he was focused on her before she blew him a kiss. In return he gave her yet another of his rare smiles and mouthed an 'I love you'.
"Is it in his face?"
"Oh no, that's just his charms." Elizabeth sang out, not missing a beat as she wiggled her hips slightly – adding dancing to their little act as she showed off her petite frame.
"In his warm embrace?" Emily smiled at her as she and Carly sang into the microphone. The two of them also began dance but unlike Elizabeth's, theirs was a lot less subtle.
"Oh no, that's just his arms." She twisted her body more towards her friends as she danced, catching the end of Emily's smirk and she smiled back at her. "If you want to know if he loves you so" She turned back to the crowd, wiggling her hips once more for their benefit. "It's in his kiss."
"That's where it is."
They sang the rest of the song and took a bow before rushing back to their seats…and their boyfriends.
Elizabeth, foregoing sitting in her own seat, sat on Jason's lap and gave him a sloppy kiss on the lips before pulling back to meet his gaze. "So, how'd we do?"
He leaned in for another kiss. "You guys were wonderful."
"Yeah, great job guys." Lucky clapped his hands at the three girls.
"Thanks Lucky." Elizabeth smiled at him before blushing and cuddling closer to Jason, lazily wrapping her arms around his neck and laying her head down on her arms with her face in his neck as she breathed in the scent that was only Jason.
"Good job, everyone." Nikolas nodded his appreciation at them. "I've always told you what excellent singers you are."
Elizabeth took the time to look around their table at all the familiar faces. Somehow she, Jason, Sonny, Carly, Emily, Nikolas and Lucky had all ended up at the same college. Whether it was fate or a pay-off she didn't know. But, she was still glad she had all of her friends with her.
"So, what are you guys going to do for Christmas?" She asked. It was after all the reason they were all back in Port Charles. Instead of going by themselves or flying home, they all decided to rent a motor home and enjoy a nice road trip home just as they had done the first year they came back. They stopped frequently to take on the role of tourist for a while, but they never stayed too long…each of them secretly couldn't wait to get home since they hadn't seen their families in a while.
Even though they had all come home for Christmas that first year, they hadn't been back since and had only kept in contact with their families by telephone. The last year was a hard year for all of them and they decided to just stay home and work on their grades and hang out, having their own informal Christmas.
"I'm probably just going to stay home long enough to make an appearance before slipping out to head over to either your place or Nikolas's." Emily laughed.
"Hey! What about me?" Lucky pouted. "Am I not special enough?"
"I never said that." Emily turned to look at Lucky. "I just usually go to Liz's for the holidays anyway and I promised Nikolas I'd stop by this Christmas so he won't have to spend the entire day with his family."
"That's still not nice…making me feel all left out."
"Lucky, shut up." Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "How old are you? Five?"
"Morgan." Lucky addressed him. "You need to keep your girl on a tighter leash, dude."
"She's not a dog, Lucky." Jason shook his head. He tolerated him for Elizabeth's sake but sometimes he just wanted to wrap his hands around his throat and…
"Thanks, Jason." Elizabeth lifted her head from her arms and rewarded him with a kiss before returning to her previous position.
"Lucky that was uncalled for." Emily stood from her seat and slugged him before turning back around and situating herself on Nikolas' lap. "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. I don't know anyone that wants to go out with someone as sexist as you, Lucky."
"I'm not sexist." He frowned. "I was only kidding. God, you guys really need to lighten up."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him once again. Why was she always the target of his jokes?
"So…" Emily grinned at her friend. "How long did your parents hold you for once you walked into the door?"
"You mean after I got the lecture for not coming home right away?" Elizabeth shook her head. "They were so mad that we didn't head straight home. Well sorry mom and dad…but we wanted to recuperate first. And there was nothing wrong with going to a bar to hang out and throw back a couple of loose ones before coming home. At least I don't see a problem with it."
"They were the same the first year we came back." Emily shrugged. "Remember? We were supposed to be home at noon and we didn't show up until after dinner cause we stopped at that nice amusement park?"
"That's right." Elizabeth smiled. "I forgot all about that."
"And the only problem they have with the bar thing," Emily moved around on the couch, trying to get comfortable. "Is that we are still underage."
"Yeah, I know." Elizabeth agreed. "But, the bartender didn't seem to care. He probably didn't even know we weren't twenty-one yet."
Even though she spoke the words, she still couldn't believe it herself. In just a few short months she would be able to buy or consume alcohol whenever she pleased. Not that she planned to exercise that right frequently – if at all – but, it was still nice to have the option. It was yet another celebration she'd be sharing with Jason.
Jason, she smiled to herself. She loved his name for some reason. She just loved to say it, it made her smile whenever she heard it. And she loved him with all of her heart and there was no way anyone could ever dispute that.
Her smile turned into a mischievous grin as she remembered the only time anyone had ever questioned her feelings for Jason. Some slut named Sam accused her of only being with Jason because he was popular and because of his good looks. Apparently Sam had gone to high school with them and knew Jason's reputation well. It was a real pity she'd never seen the girl before, she sarcasm oozed from her words and she choked back a laugh at her own thoughts. Sam just wanted Jason for herself, she wasn't stupid – she knew what a catch he was. And it didn't matter what Sam said or did anyway because the end result of her accusations had been her and Jason making love for the first time after their fight since their emotions had been on a major overload.
The next day neither had regretted the previous night, but the vote was unanimous that they still could have waited.
A little over a year and a half ago when she and Jason had celebrated their one year anniversary, they had talked things over and decided to wait before consummating their relationship. Little did they know that a mere six months later they would have done the deed for the first time. She had never planned to be that intimate with him before being Mrs. Jason Morgan, but things change...
Since their first time they had continued to make love whenever they could, fulfilling a healthy sexual appetite while taking the usual precautions of course. She'd love to have children with him someday, but she just wasn't ready yet. Of course it wouldn't matter so much now because she was almost done with college and she and Jason had been going steady for years, but she still wanted to be married and try being a wife for a while before she was a mother. Plus, she secretly wanted it to just be her and Jason for at least a little bit longer. She didn't want to share him, she wasn't ready to yet.
Jason, she sighed – her wonderful boyfriend that she planned to spend the rest of her life with. Although they hadn't discussed it, she was under the impression that he felt the same. She blushed as she remembered his reaction upon waking up with her in his bed after their first time sleeping together. It took him a moment to process the fact that they were both no longer virgins.
"Jason." Why was he staring at her like that? "What's the matter?"
Just a few moments ago she had woken up from the best night's sleep she had ever had, only to find herself draped over Jason's body. Strike that, make that Jason's naked body and she was lying on his bare chest to be exact. She sat up just far enough to admire him while he slept. He looked so peaceful, so at ease. She didn't dare to let her eyes wander any further from his face for fear that he might wake up and catch her. And she was right.
It hadn't been five minutes later when his eyes, still filled with sleep, opened. He hadn't said a word since then, he had only stared at her. His reaction was what had prompted her to make the first move and speak to him first – which she had not more than two seconds ago.
"We uh…" He cleared his throat as he partially sat up in the bed. "We…"
"What?" She placed her hands on his cheeks, gazing into his gorgeous eyes.
"We spent the night together last night, didn't we?" Her blush was the only confirmation he needed. "And by the looks of things we didn't do much sleeping." His eyes wandered around the room for a moment before he shook his head and groaned, his head hitting the pillow once again.
It had taken her ten minutes to get him to open up to her. He wasn't worried about his own reaction, he was worried about hers. He didn't want her thinking this is what he expected of her from now on nor did he want her to think he had meant to take advantage of her. She had calmly explained that she didn't feel taken advantage of and that she loved him. And while she hadn't planned on sleeping with him at that particular time, that now that they had…well, she wanted to again.
After being reassured that she was fine, he had then proceeded to make love to her for the second time that very same day. Or at least, they both thought it was the second time. The previous night was still a little bit hazy for them. And Elizabeth just knew that alcohol had been involved, especially since they had engaged in that huge fight right before making love. She wouldn't mind if all of their fights ended the same way. And she had told him so too that very same day. Jason had laughed and agreed with her.
"That's because the bartender had a major thing for you, Elizabeth."
Had she been talking the entire time? Or had it taken her until now to figure out what to say? "Has it taken you all this time to think of what to say, Em?" She laughed at her own words. "If that's the best you can think of…"
"Well, yeah." She blushed, ashamed that it had taken her the entire time Elizabeth was lost in her own thoughts to think of a good comeback. "But it is true. Tell me you didn't notice the way he was staring at you all night." She should have said something about the fact that Elizabeth had been in a daze for the past five minutes, but she decided to let her off the hook for now. She'd get it out of her later anyway.
"He was not."
"Yes he was!" Emily nodded her head in affirmation. "Even Jason noticed and he didn't seem too happy about it either."
Elizabeth frowned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm one hundred percent sure." Emily assured her. "It was the really tall bartender that actually worked. He kept staring at you."
"I don't remember that."
"That's because you are head over heels in love with Jason." Emily winked at her. "You wouldn't notice."
Elizabeth tilted her head to the side slightly as she pondered Emily's words for a moment. She found herself nodding her head in agreement. Emily was right. She hadn't noticed because not only was she not looking to meet other men, she wasn't interested either. There was only one man she was interested in and that was Jason. "I guess you're right."
"So how are things going with Elizabeth?"
"Things are going okay." Jason took a long gulp of his drink. He loved this stuff. Orange Crush. It came packaged in a glass bottle and you could only get it at certain places. So far he hadn't been able to find a place that did carry it, and yet Sonny's refrigerator always seemed to be full of it. "You never told me, where does your mom buy this? I can never find it."
"You're avoiding my question." Sonny gave him a pointed look. "And I don't know where she gets it, she just always shows up at home with cases of it."
"Okay…" Jason avoided his gaze and took another swallow of the chilled beverage.
"Jason." Sonny stood from the chair and walked around the coffee table to sit beside his friend on the couch. "You've been really quiet the past few days. Well, more quiet than usual I should say. Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm just nervous."
"What are you nervous about?" Sonny placed his hand on his chin, looking down at the floor before raising his eyes to look at Jason. "Is this about finals again? Jason we have two weeks before finals start, don't worry. Its Christmas break, you need to relax." Sonny grinned, showing off his dimples. "Besides, being that we are now juniors, we know our way around the college and how to get past the system, right?"
"No…" Jason glanced up at Sonny before staring at the floor that had once again captivated his interest. "It's not about that."
"Well, what is it about then?"
"I'm just nervous about tonight and…" He took a deep breath. "And tomorrow night."
"Tonight…" Sonny's brows scrunched it confusion. "Oh!" The realization of what he was talking about his him like a ton of bricks. "I almost forgot."
"It's okay."
"I'm sorry I forgot." Sonny sighed and took a long gulp of his own drink. "Are you sure you want to do this?" How had he forgotten? Jason hadn't even told his own parents about his plans yet and had entrusted him to keep it a secret until the right time. And what did he do? He forgot!
"I love her Sonny." He glanced up at Sonny, holding his gaze. "Tonight I'm going to talk to her dad. And then tomorrow we are going out to dinner and I'll either do it there or wait until we get back."
"Are you sure this is what you want to do Jason? This is a big decision."
"I'm positive."
"Hey." Jason shut the door to his car and jogged his way up her driveway to meet her on the porch.
"Hey." She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?" Emily had just left and she was about to walk back into the house. He had just caught her at the right time.
"Do I have to have a reason to see you now?" He walked up the steps and pulled her into a hug.
"No." She pulled back to look at him. "I was just curious."
He nodded his head. "Okay."
"I haven't seen or heard from you all day. How did you sleep? Was it strange being home again?"
"It was different, yeah." He grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the bench that was in the middle of her porch. As he sat down he pulled her along with him, pulling her into his lap. "It was strange waking up there and then having breakfast with everyone at the table. I'm so used to eating breakfast with you and Emily, Sonny, and just everyone… it was definitely a change."
"Yeah." Elizabeth slung her arm around Jason's neck. "But it wasn't that bad, right?"
"Well, things were going good," He started as he craned his neck to look at her. "Until Jesse started in on me about us at the breakfast table this morning."
"Oh God." Elizabeth groaned. "What did he say now?"
"He was just making fun of me, that's all. You know how Jesse is." Jason shrugged it off. "He is my brother, so isn't it his job to annoy me anyway?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Elizabeth smiled as she pulled herself closer to him, hugging him as best as she could. Upon pulling back she placed her lips beside his ear so she could whisper. "I missed you last night."
Jason waited until she pulled back completely so he could link their eyes. "I missed you too."
"Did you?"
"Of course." He placed a hand on her cheek. "When I woke up this morning I was scared since you weren't beside me. I didn't know what to think until I realized where I was."
"I felt the same way when I woke up this morning and our bodies weren't all tangled up." She laughed quietly, her eyes expressing her amusement more so then her voice. "It was a change for me to actually find my head on a pillow for once."
"I'll bet it was." He let out a low chuckle himself. "I'm used to waking up with your hair in my face. It was nice to be able to breathe first thing in the morning."
"Hey." She glared at him. "You said you liked waking up next to me."
"I don't think waking up next to someone and waking up to have them hanging all over you is the same thing."
Elizabeth shook her head and let out another laugh. As much as she wanted to reprimand him for his comments, she couldn't. She knew he was right and the tone in which he said his words made it funny. She leaned down, placing her head into his shoulder as she forced herself to stop laughing. She knew it wasn't as funny as she was making it out to be, but she couldn't help herself.
Jason stared at her with a big smile on his face as she laughed again.
He and Elizabeth had been together for two and half years and they still only had eyes for each other. He loved her with all his heart and there was no doubt in his mind that she felt the same. His smile deepened as Elizabeth burrowed her head into his shoulder further while trying to repress yet another giggle.
He could love this woman for the rest of his life.
He had to talk to Mr. Webber tonight; he reminded himself as he pat his right pocket gently. This week would be an important one in the Morgan and Webber households, especially after tomorrow night. And it was all because tomorrow night was the night.
Tomorrow night – he glanced down at his already sweaty palms – tomorrow night he was going to ask Elizabeth Webber to be his wife.
The End
End Note: Thank you all so much for your wonderful feedback to this fic! I know that alot of you have enjoyed it as much as I have. And to think, it all started because my BETA is stubborn and demanding! (Thanks Jilly Bean!)
I'd like to take this time to send a huge shout out to Jill who convinced me to make this fic longer than the two parts I had planned. Thank you so much! And thank you to all of the people that replied and gave me such wonderful feedback. Thank you all for your kind words! And to anyone that lurked, thank you for taking the time to read it at all!
I know that I enjoyed writing this fic as much as you guys enjoyed reading it. It was so much fun to write since I've never really written anything about high school before. Once again, thank you to everyone! You guys are the best!