Chapter 08

A week passed and Valentine's Day arrived. Elizabeth and Penny had decided long ago to decorate the diner for the special Hallmark-holiday and when Jason walked in to begin another long day at work, all the girls were dressed in their pajamas and stringing up streamers and balloons.

"Jason!" Elizabeth beamed as he walked in the door and stripped off his gloves. She was tying up pink balloons and handing them to Penny to be hung, and when she lifted her arms to hand a few to her friend, Jason got a nice peek at her toned tummy. "Morning! Happy Valentine's Day!"

"Happy Valentine's Day," the girls echoed, looking up from their work to flash him a quick smile. But Elizabeth wasn't worried – the girls knew the score, she had already made sure of it. They were all well-aware that if they so much as looked at Jason Morgan cross-eyed, there would be hell to pay.

"Yeah," he nodded, slightly confused as they all bustled around with various glittery decorations. "What's going on?"

"Jeez, Jason, what does it look like?" Elizabeth asked, pulling off equal-sized pieces of tape and sticking them on April's fingers as the girl tacked up the streamers. "We're making Kelly's Valentine-pretty."

"Ooh, the coffee should be done," Lisa announced, hopping off her stepstool and letting her twin sister Jen take over the ruffled hearts. "Everybody wants some, right?"

"Definitely," Elizabeth replied amidst a chorus of agreeing voices. "Lis? Can you do me a favor and pour Jason a cup, too? –He takes his black and with no sugar; Why, I don't know."

The girls giggled at him and Jason raised an eyebrow at the brunette beauty in front of him. She was dressed in blue plaid pajama bottoms that brought out her eyes and a matching blue tee-shirt that claimed that boys are stupid, throw rocks at them! and her curly brown hair was tied up in two cute little pigtails. In her small hand was a thick permanent marker as she wrote goofy expressions like Be Mine and Kiss Me on red and pink paper hearts for the windowpanes.

"How long have you guys been doing this?"

She dotted the i in Be Mine with a heart and handed it off to Penny. "For –what?- an hour and a half? Maybe?"

"Sounds about right," Lisa agreed, emerging from the kitchen with two cups of coffee and handing them to Jen and April. "Something like that. Do we have any more gluesticks? I want to make red snowflakes!"

"I've got one in my room – I'll go get it," April offered. "Lizbits, you wanna take over with the streamers?"

"Sure," Elizabeth chirped, setting down her marker and passing Jason's coffee to him. "You gonna start making breakfast now, Jason?"

"It can wait," he shrugged. "I got here a little earlier today than I planned. Plenty of time left."

"Great – you can help, then!" Elizabeth grinned, snagging three rolls of red, white, and pink streamers. "Let's get to it, Morgan!"

"Elizabeth, I don't think-"

"Here." She had already dropped the three rolls in his hands. "I'll pull out how much we need, and you cut where I tell you to."

It was a simple enough task, so Jason watched as she unraveled the tissue paper and once she was satisfied with the length, he snipped them free of the rolls. "I should go-"

"Can you pull out some tape?" She was making quick work of aligning the three ends and waiting for him to grab the dispenser. Once she had gotten what she wanted, Elizabeth taped the ends together and handed them to him. "Hold these."

"What are we doing?" Art had never come naturally to him, and the accident had destroyed what little competence he had in that field. Staring at the three ribbons of streamers in his hand, Jason Morgan had absolutely no idea what was going on.

"We're going to twist them," she replied, "into a chain. Just hold that there – right." He did as he was told, not catching the way the other waitresses giggled amongst themselves, and Elizabeth began to twist the streamers. "There. Hold it there, Jason." He watched as she climbed onto a small ladder they had set up and tacked the streamers to the wall with an abundance of tape.

"Elizabeth, that's dangerous-"

"Hand me some more tape, could you, Jason?" Snapping his mouth shut, he did as he was told and watched her arrange the chain in a downward arc and tape it up again. This process continued, with Elizabeth leaning farther and farther off the ladder as she lined the wall. Jason breathed a sigh of relief when the last bit of streamers left his hands and immediately moved forward to steady the ladder.

"Jesus, Elizabeth."

She ignored him. "Done!" With a proud grin, she surveyed her work, not noticing how Jason outstretched his hand in case she should tip off the ladder she was so precariously perched on.

"Yeah, yeah, great – get down from there." Frowning when she didn't listen, Jason reached up and wrapped his hands around her narrow waist. Her t-shirt had lifted and so his fingers found her warm, soft skin underneath. Ignoring the urge to prolong the moment, as enticing as it was, Jason pulled her down from the ladder despite her protests and set her safely on the floor. "You could have fallen and broken your neck, Elizabeth."

"Jeez, you sound like my mother," the brunette huffed, but her anger dissipated as soon as her eyes landed on the stack of paper hearts she had finished earlier. "Ooh, now you can help me hang these. Grab the ribbon and the tape!"

Muttering under his breath, Jason finally shrugged out of his leather jacket and snatched the supplies off the table. He thought he heard muted giggles behind him, but when he turned, the girls were all soberly involved in their own work.

"OK, I figure we can tape some to the doors and windows, and hang some from ribbons off of the lamps and stuff. That'd be cute, don't you think?" Elizabeth was walking briskly in front of him, the fuzzy cotton of her blue pajama bottoms cupping her rear like a lover, and Jason had to make a conscious effort to raise his gaze. "OK, you take those windows, Mister, and I'll handle the door."

Left standing alone by the windows in question, Jason looked down at the glittery paper hearts he held. Be Mine. I Love You. Kiss Me. Eat Me. His brow furrowed. Eat me? What the hell did that mean? Looking over, Jason saw that Elizabeth had already tacked up two hearts to the panes on the door, and made quick work of hanging up his own, no matter how ridiculous he felt. He set down the tape on a nearby table and walked over to Elizabeth, who was standing on her toes and trying to tack a heart onto the top of the doorframe and failing miserably.

She glared at him when he leaned his shoulder casually against the frame and just watched her, smirking. "A little help here, Morgan?"

He quirked a sandy brow at her for a moment, as if debating whether to expend the energy or not, and finally pushed himself away from the door with his shoulder. Fixing the roll of tape on the back, he reached up to the spot he saw her aiming at and was about to press it on when her hands found his arm and tugged to the right.

"Not there, Jason – here." He made the mistake of looking down at her and was surprised to see how close she was as she directed his hand. Studying the heart and nibbling on her lower lip, she didn't even notice how he was concentrating on her and had yet to look away. Christ, if he just leaned forward an inch, he could brush his lips against hers- "Perfect. Don't you think so, Jason?"

Caught off guard when she turned to look at him with a bright smile, it was all Jason could do to nod. "Uh, yeah, great."

"Wonderful!" Spinning around on her bare heel, Elizabeth made her way back to the rest of her friends. "How's it going? Anything I can do?"

"We're almost done," April replied, cocking her head to the side as she helped Lisa finish the red and pink snowflakes. "We should be getting dressed, anyway – we open soon."

Movement in the corner of her eye caught Elizabeth's attention and she turned to see Jason retreat into the kitchen to start breakfast. Poor guy, she smirked to herself. He had to come in to a diner full of girls putting up all sorts of glittery pink crap. But the Valentine's fun was just beginning.

"No."

"Yes!"

"NO."

"YES!"

"Elizabeth, I'm not doing it!" Clearly agitated, Jason spun away from the stove but Elizabeth anticipated his movement and quickly raced around to face him.

"Jason-"

"There is no way in hell that I'm making heart-shaped pancakes!" He tried to escape her again but she stopped his advance cold by placing two hands on his meaty biceps and pouting up at him, looking way too adorable for her own good in those bouncy pigtails and chauvinistically defiant t-shirt.

"Please, Jason?"

A muscle in his jaw ticked. "No."

She moved closer, her eyes twinkling as her pout grew and smoothed her hands from his biceps up to his shoulders until her fingers were linked behind his neck. Jason tried his hardest not to shiver when her thumb swept through the golden hair at his nape, and failed. "For me? Please?"

The seconds ticked by and Jason didn't reply, which Elizabeth took as a yes. "Oh, thank you, Jason!" she cried, hopping up and down before pulling away and making a bee-line for the drawer by the sink. "And I found the coolest cookie cutters in the world, too – we can use them for the heart shape."

Grumbling obscenities under his breath, Jason set to work starting up the stove as he did every morning. Whereas he expected the brunette to give him instructions and then skip off to help her friends, he was surprised when she stayed and mixed up the batter for him, telling him it was the least she could do since he was being so "awesome", as she put it. Awesome or not, Jason definitely would have preferred she hadn't offered to help when she stood next to him at the stove and poured the batter into the cutter shape, standing very close to his side and making him feel a warmth originating from somewhere other than the hot stove he was standing over.

Before long, the pancakes were all done and all the girls were dressed and either behind the counter or off at school. Glancing out into the empty diner, Jason was able to make out the forms of his aunt Bobbie and Stefan outside the diner. Elizabeth noticed him fixing two plates and helped out by pouring two cups of tea for the couple. By the time his relatives were seated at a table, Jason already had their breakfast ready.

"Morning, Jason," Bobbie cooed, smiling happily up at him and Elizabeth. "The diner looks great, Elizabeth."

"Thanks," the brunette grinned, resting one elbow casually on Jason's shoulder although she had to stretch to accommodate his height. "Jason really helped us girls out, didn't ya, Jase?"

He frowned down at her, used to her teasing and not really mindful, but then again, he couldn't let her know that. Stefan was smirking to himself, not quite sure what to make of the exchange and thus deciding to forge on. "Good day, Jason, my boy. How's your health? This weather can be so devastating to the immune system."

Jason crossed his arms over his chest, feeling it acutely when Elizabeth's fingers played with the folds of his shirt. "I'm good. Do you guys need anything else?"

"Oh, are these heart-shaped pancakes?" Bobbie asked, looking up at him incredulously. "Jason, what an inspired idea! Stefan, look, he made us heart-shaped pancakes!"

"I see, I see," Stefan nodded appreciatively. "Quite considerate. Goodness, I almost don't want to eat them – they look so wonderfully made."

"And made with love, too," Elizabeth crowed, her blue eyes twinkling when Jason groaned and Bobbie laughed. "You wouldn't believe it, Bobbie – I come downstairs to the kitchen this morning, and your nephew here is pulling all the drawers in the kitchen apart. When I ask him what's going on, he tells me that he just can't find the heart cookie cutters, and damn it, he needs to make special pancakes to commemorate la dia de los enamorados. Isn't that right, Jase-y?"

He scowled in disbelief, the expression turning into an audible groan when she tickled the shell of his ear playfully with her index finger. Laughing, Elizabeth smacked his shoulder lightly and excused herself to go get dressed, hopping up the stairs two at a time. Bobbie smiled slyly to herself as she watched her nephew glance back at Elizabeth's retreating form, almost certain that she knew what had him so interested. Next to her, Stefan was cluelessly enjoying his special pancakes.

"Em, you can come sit at the counter, you know," Elizabeth told her patiently as she poured two sodas for the young couple enjoying their meal by the jukebox.

"No way," Emily refused hastily, cowering even more in her seat wayyyy by the door. "The counter is only a stone's throw away from the kitchen. You know, where Grouchy McGrouchster lives." She shuddered visibly, pulling the sleeves of her royal blue wool sweater over her manicured nails. "He still hates me. I'll take my chances freezing here by the door."

"Emily, Jason doesn't hate you."

"Oh, yes, he does," Emily nodded vehemently. "After that little conversation we had last week? You know, where I barged into the kitchen and demanded what the hell had crawled up his ass and set up permanent residence-"

"Because you're a meddling busybody," Elizabeth finished helpfully, refilling her water glass.

"-Who only wants the absolute best for her bestest friend," Emily clarified pointedly. "Anyway…he hates me."

"He barely thinks about you, Em, I'm sure. He's probably totally forgotten about that conversation. Jason's not like other people – he doesn't hold grudges. He doesn't think in the past."

"Do you think he spit in my hamburger?" Emily asked, poking at the bun of her uneaten sandwich. "I mean, if he had, I could see it, right? But then again, spit is clear, so…"

"Em, just eat the damn sandwich."

"No! What if he spit in it?"

Letting out a frustrated huff, Elizabeth turned around to face the kitchen and dropped her hands to her hips. "Jason? Did you or did you not spit in Emily's hamburger?"

"Elizabeth! No! What are you doing-" Emily let out a terrified yelp at the loud clatter that suddenly sounded in the kitchen. In an instant, Jason's spiked head poked out over the doors and the angry scowl dominating his handsome features made Emily cover her eyes with fear.

"What the hell? No, I didn't spit in her goddamn sandwich-"

"Thank you," Elizabeth replied with a bright smile before turning around to her friend. "Hear that, John Nash? Jason did not, in fact, spit in your sandwich and he is not waging a holy crusade to ruin your lunch, so just eat it."

"Now he really hates me," Emily mumbled glumly as she lifted the burger to her lips.

Jason sat back on the counter behind the register, eating his sandwich – a number seven, no onions, of course – and looking out at the diner. It was practically empty – just a young couple in the corner and Emily and Elizabeth by the door. Jason frowned as his eyes lingered on Elizabeth's slender form. She was dressed only in her faded blue jeans – the ones he liked, with the ripped knees – and a t-shirt that loudly proclaimed in big bold letters, All Flash, No Cash. She had to be freezing.

He scowled and bit into his sandwich, watching Emily lean forward with excitement and said something that threw both of them into a fit of girlish giggles. Stupid woman. Sitting by the door, freezing her butt off. Offhandedly, he wondered what had them both so excited. They looked as thick as thieves in their little corner, like they were plotting world domination or something equally sinister.

Without his permission, Jason found his gaze dropping to the small of Elizabeth's back as she leaned forward in her chair, causing her shirt to rise in the back. She had a very narrow waist, her skin creamy and soft, and his eyes followed the light trail of her spine lower and lower to that little pocket of air as her skin disappeared under her jeans. And was that-yes, yes it was: bright red underwear.

"Excuse me? Excuse me? Sir?" Jason snapped himself out of his perverted musings, glaring darkly at the yuppie that was leaning over the counter.

"What do you want?"

The man opened his mouth and then abruptly snapped it shut, looking much like a fish out of water. Taking in the dark gleam in Jason's eyes, he quickly thought better of ordering dessert and quickly replied that all he wanted was to settle his tab. It only took a few minutes and as soon as it was done, he grabbed his date's hand and they quickly left the diner.

Jason frowned, his eyes turning back to Elizabeth again. Emily happened to glance up and caught him watching, and Jason wasn't pleased at the cat-ate-the-canary glitter in her green eyes. Sighing to himself, he crammed the last of his sandwich into his mouth and disappeared into the safety of the kitchen.

Elizabeth had left out an oven mitt – a white one with little green flowers – from when she was making the muffins earlier. He picked it up and fingered it before slipping it into the appropriate drawer. In all his time here, he had never worn oven mitts or used tongs – he wasn't afraid of getting a little burned. Lord knew that he had worse injuries to worry about when he was a mechanic.

But Elizabeth – she was different. He thought of her small hands, smooth and soft, and was suddenly very thankful that she took such great precautions. She had gotten burned once about two months ago, and it was the biggest commotion he'd ever heard. Apparently, the girl had a ridiculously low threshold for pain.

Not knowing what else to do to keep himself occupied and not ogling Elizabeth, Jason poured out a cup of coffee and pulled himself up onto the counter. The day had been passing slowly – very slowly. And it was very agonizing.

From the minute he had walked in to see Elizabeth in her pigtails and cute little pajamas, he should have known that there would be a slim chance of making it out of Valentine's Day alive. He honestly wouldn't have minded the whole situation if they were…an item; her innocent touches and cute teasing would have been perfectly bearable then.

But the damn woman was so set on being friends and was so clueless about what she was doing to him with the gentlest brush of her fingers, the smallest of smiles, that Jason wanted to scream. This was what he got for leaving Lizzie Webber high and dry – he got a friend. A friend that was utterly unaffected by the fact that he was a man – damn straight, he was! – and working in such close proximity of her day in and day out. A friend that thought nothing of wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her chin on his head in order to read over his shoulder as he caught up on current events. A friend that thought nothing of pulling him away from the coffee maker by the belt loop of his jeans when the caffeine-monkey on her back was going ape. A friend that thought nothing of pulling her chair up to his and leaning against him as she tried to wade her way through her latest reading assignment. That's what he got.

Damn it all to hell.

"So it's all been going good, right?" Emily had finished her lunch long ago and should have been at home working on her book, but certain things took precedence to actual responsibilities. "You've been using every available opportunity, right?"

"Oh, definitely," Elizabeth scoffed, waving a hand at her. "Em, I've so got this covered. From the decorating bit in the morning to the pancakes and having breakfast together again – it's going great. We're totally buddy-buddy, and it's almost scary. This is going to be excellent."

"I'm amazed at how quickly this happened, though, to tell you the truth," the redhead mused, propping her chin in her hands. "Just two weeks ago, you guys were…yeah, I don't think I need to go into great detail seeing as how I'm the one that screwed it up, but…Gosh, now you're actually friends." Her smile was wide and pleased. "Amazing. You've actually forged a friendly connection with Jason Morgan. Who'da thunk it?"

"Oh, I know," Elizabeth answered, lowering her voice. "I feel so much more confident about this whole thing now, Em. I mean, we did become friends pretty fast, which one could interpret as meaning that he doesn't find me completely repulsive. Maybe this whole seduction business isn't going to be a train wreck."

"You used the word seduction!" Emily squealed happily. "Eee! I knew it! Oh, this is going to be awesome. What a great Valentine's Day."

"Ooh, yes! Finally, they're done!" Clearly excited, Elizabeth slipped her hand into the oven mitt she had placed on the counter earlier and pulled a tray out of the oven. Jason, who was manning the dinnertime chili, glanced down curiously.

"What's that?"

"A special Valentine's Day dessert," she answered happily. "Hugs cookies. See?" She held up a cookie that appeared to have a Hershey's Hug in it somewhere under all the nuts and powdered sugar.

"You're actually planning to eat that?" Jason asked, his voice conveying his disapproval. "That's pure sugar, and it's going to rot your teeth."

"You got coal for Christmas a lot as a young boy, didn't you, Jason?" she asked after a pause, sprinkling even more powdered sugar on her cookies. "I don't care what you say – they're awesome. Call them a special Valentine's present for everyone at Kelly's." She finished scraping them off the tray and held one up to him. "Try one?"

He frowned at her. "Elizabeth-"

"Oh, come on, Jason, it's a little one," she coaxed, brushing the cookie against his lips. "See? It's yummmmmmy."

Rolling his eyes, Jason opened his mouth and allowed her to feed him the cookie. His lips closed over her fingertips as well, and Jason could taste that they were covered in powdered sugar.

"S-So?" Elizabeth asked, doing her best to cover up the fact that her heart rate had sped up the minute Jason's tongue had flicked her fingers. "What do you think?"

"Not bad," he got out around a mouthful of chocolate and nuts. "Pretty good."

"See?" She flashed him a saucy smile as she picked up her tray and prepared to leave the kitchen. "I told you so. And remember to brush your teeth, Morgan."

He shook his head at her patronizing tone. Damn that woman.

"I am so freaking exhausted," Penny wheezed, slumping in her chair at the counter. "It's like the whole town decided to get out for a Valentine's dinner. Jesus."

"Oh, I know," April frowned, taking off her shoe and rubbing the arch of her socked foot. "That was insane."

Jason marched out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dish towel. "Look, the radio said there's supposed to be a snow storm tonight, and it's already starting. Whoever has to go should leave now."

Cyndi's brows furrowed. "Jason, we have to close up – we can't just stick you with it-"

"It's fine," he cut her off. "We're supposed to get about six inches before midnight, so unless you want to end up in a ditch tonight, you'd better leave now."

Jen and Lisa exchanged nervous glances. They were supposed to be house-sitting for their step-mom who lived about half an hour away, and they both felt quite guilty accepting Jason's generous offer. "Are you sure, Jason?"

"Yeah. Go."

Lisa let out a relieved sigh as she grabbed her winter coat along with her sister's. "Jeez, thanks, Jason – we owe you big time. Next week, closing's on us."

"Same here," April agreed, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "I'll take over dishwashing duty for next week, too. Later, guys."

"I'll help you close up, Jason," Elizabeth smiled. "I'm not goin' anywhere."

"I will, too," Penny agreed. "It's the least I can do."

"Don't be silly, Penny," Elizabeth replied in a loud, sugary sweet voice. "I already said I'd take care of it."

"But-"

"I said I'd take care of it."

The Taiwanese girl studied Elizabeth's face, her tight smile and the quirked brow, and finally got it. "Oh, sure. Okay, thanks, Liz." Doing her best to contain her giggles, she quickly ran up the stairs to her room to start on her homework.

"You can go, too, if you want," Jason offered, setting the coffee pot in the sink. "It's late and you've been on your feet for the past three hours."

"It's no problem, Jason, honestly," Elizabeth replied. "With the both of us working, it won't take long."

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" her co-worker asked abruptly. "I didn't see you take your break."

"I didn't," Elizabeth confirmed, turning on the water and starting on the dishes. "Why?"

"I didn't either, so I think I'll heat something up for us," came the reply as Jason disappeared into the kitchen.

An hour and ten minutes later, the diner was spotless. Elizabeth had run the dishwasher twice and put away all the clean dishes and silverware. Together, she and Jason had stripped off all the decorations and put them away in a cardboard box for the next year, and then they put all the chairs up on the tables. Jason disappeared into the kitchen once more as Elizabeth swept up the floor.

Just as she had finished and was putting the broom and dustpan away in the closet, Jason emerged from behind the green double-doors carrying a pan of something and two plates. Elizabeth watched curiously as he set it on the counter, cleared the chairs off one of the tables, and set the food there. Slowly, she shut the door and followed him. "What's that?"

He spun around at the sound of her voice, looking deliciously flustered. "Uh…dinner?"

Elizabeth peeked over his shoulder, and a wide grin spread across her face when she spied the food. "Jason! That's a heart-shaped pizza!"

A faint blush bloomed on his cheeks. "Yeah, well…I thought you might like it."

She was laughing already, and had moved past him to inspect the pizza. "Oh, my gosh! It's incredible! It's a freaking heart!" She turned to face him, and he was taken aback by the brilliance of her deep sapphire eyes. "Have I told you yet how awesome you are?"

"About three times today."

"Oh, good." Her bottom lip found itself between her teeth as she looked down at the dinner he'd spontaneously made for them. "Wow."

Rolling his eyes, Jason grabbed two sodas and stalked toward the table. "Well? You gonna eat it or just stare at it?"

"I'd like to stare a little longer, please," she replied, sitting down and passing him a plate. Jason just smirked and reached for the pizza cutter, not prepared when her fingers wrapped around his wrist, shooting bolts of electricity up his arm. "Jason, no! You can't cut it!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's a heart!"

"And aren't we going to eat it, Elizabeth?"

She pouted at the rationality behind it all. "But it's a heart."

Jason sighed and sat back in his chair. "So you wanna just look at it all night long?"

Elizabeth was studying the pizza, squinting her eyes, and finally let go of his wrist. "Cut it in half."

"Half?"

"Yeah, right down the middle." She watched as he obliged, rolling the metal slicer smoothly through the cheese. "That way, we both get half of the heart."

"Here's yours, then," he muttered, sliding it onto her plate. He lifted his to his lips, stopping when he realized she had yet to touch hers. "What's the matter? You like pizza."

"I just don't want to ruin it," she sighed. "It's a heart, Jason."

"It's just half a heart."

"The idea is still there."

"Elizabeth, you weigh ten goddamn ounces. Eat the pizza."

She slid him a sidelong glance and reached for her food. "You're bossy."

"And you're annoying."

Her laughter was muffled by a mouthful of bread and cheese. "And that's why we make the perfect friends – you're the Martin to my Lewis, the Michael to my Fredo, the Mickey Rooney to my Judy Gar-"

"Elizabeth?"

"What?"

"Just eat."

She chewed slowly, just watching him eat next to her. The man had made her dinner. And a heart-shaped pizza no less. Jason was almost done when he looked up and saw her smiling softly at him.

"What?"

"Happy Valentine's Day, Jason."