Standing by the back porch, Elizabeth had to admit that it would be hard to go back to the silence, but knowing it was inevitable. They couldn't stay there forever. They had their own homes and lives to get back to. As much as she loves being around them, the silence will return and the loneliness soon after, once they are gone. Watching them, she forces herself to not go there, knowing it would do her no good to feel the pain of the past.

"Hey." he says softly, gaining her attention immediately. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." she assures, smiling softly. "Thank you for talking me into this."

"Sure." he replies. "If you want, you can host the next one. The guys really love it here. So do most of the women."

"I'd like that." she admits. "I've forgotten how good it feels to host a party."

"I'll take your word for that."

"Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you want to stay here tonight?" Elizabeth finds herself asking. "I just don't think I can take being alone after all this."

"Sure." he smiles slightly. "I was actually going to ask you if I could stay."

"You were?"

"Yeah." he admits. "Thank you for asking."

"Anytime."

"The guys are going to be taking down the shooting range soon." Jason voices after a moment. "Once that happens, they'll start heading out."

"Oh, okay." she shakes her head. "I saw Emily and Johnny talking earlier. Do you think they'll fix things between them?"

"I hope so." Jason admits. "He really loves her."

"I can see that." she agrees. "Must be nice to have someone love you as much as he loves her."

"It can be." he replies. "Would you like to dance?"

"I really would."

Slipping her hand into Jason's, she found it hard not to notice the butterflies that have begun to flutter within her, knowing how difficult it was for him to offer up a dance when he didn't particularly like dancing, especially around other people. As his arms move to wrap around her body, she could have sworn it was almost in a possessive manner, as if explicitly informing all in attendance that she undoubtedly his.

Jason, while not that thrilled about dancing, couldn't help asking her to do so. When they had danced together at Francis's birthday, he found that he enjoyed having her in his arms, knowing the amount of trust it takes to relax into someone else's arms. As he held her close, he could feel her melting into him and that made him hold her that much closer. It was the most intimate he's been with a woman in a long time and he found that it didn't frighten him half as much as he thought it would.

Sonny wasn't sure how or why this is happening, but he had to find a way to squelch it before the truth can make its way into the light. After all these years, this wasn't about to fall apart, he couldn't let it. Not after all the work they put into ensuring that this stayed hidden.

"This better be important." the voice speaks over the line. "I don't have to tell you how pertinent it is that we have no contact."

"She's back in town." Sonny says firmly. "And she's starting to dig."

"That can't happen!" the voice snaps. "None of this will mean anything if she finds out the truth!"

"Don't you think I know that?!" Sonny snaps right back. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to fix this." the voice states firmly. "Or I'll find someone else to put in charge that can!"

Anger flooding through him, he slams the phone back down onto the receiver, finding no help from making the call. How the hell was he supposed to stop a woman from seeking justice for her fallen family? Now that her grandmother has passed away, there really wasn't anyone to keep a hold on the young woman.

He has already shown too much of his hand to Jason that asking him to back her down wouldn't do any good for him. It would only prove to raise suspicion in his friend, resulting in him working even harder to find the truth. No. He has to find a way to lead them down a different path, as far away from the truth as possible.

Johnny hated himself in that moment, but the words still fall from him lips. He just couldn't handle it anymore. Emily is one of the few people in his life that have the power to break him and lately it seems to be that she's growing closer and closer to doing just that. He loves her more than life itself and he couldn't imagine ever losing that. He couldn't imagine ever losing her.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Emily could barely bring herself to ask the question, but she had to know.

"Of course not." Johnny sighs, shaking his head. "I love you, Emily, you know that."

"Then what are you saying?" Emily pushes further. "I'm trying to understand."

"I want to take a break." Johnny says firmly. "No. I need to take a break."

"For how long?"

"For however long it takes for you to figure out just what you want from me." Johnny takes her hands in his. "You are my entire world. Everything I have and everything I am is yours, but I will never be Nikolas or Lucky. I will never be the kind of guy that thrives in your world."

"I never asked you to be anything other than who you are."

"You didn't have to." Johnny sighs. "Love shouldn't be this hard, Emily. Being with me shouldn't be this hard for you."

"Johnny..."

"I love you and I probably always will." he says softly, placing a soft lingering kiss upon her forehead. "Now its up to you to decide if who I am is enough for you."

Gesturing for Luwella to come over to them, he asks her to make sure Emily gets home safely before making his way back into the house, needing to put as much space between them as possible. It had warmed his heart some that she stayed instead of leaving like he believed she would, but he knows that there was still so much for them to work through. Until she can decide if he's enough for her, Johnny just doesn't see them fixing things.

"Where's Emily?" Jason asks him when he steps into the backyard.

"Luwella and Cody are dropping her home." Johnny says simply. "I'm gonna help Francis break down the shooting range before I head out."

"You okay?"

"Not at all." Johnny admits. "But I'll deal."

Breaking down the shooting range had been the stress reliever that he needed, finding that he was a little more relaxed after having practically destroyed the setup. He could see that Francis wanted to ask him what was going on, but his friend thought better of it and that made him grateful. He just didn't have the energy to speak of his relationship problems. Especially now that it seemed he was the only one having them.

Elizabeth makes her way through the house, turning on the lights in the hallway, ensuring that her house guests don't run into any walls or fall down the stairs. Occupying both guest rooms on the top floor are Johnny and Francis. Both who had been just a tad too wasted to drive anywhere.

After breaking down the shooting range, they had challenged Jason to a drinking game before they were supposed to head out. Bad idea on their part since alcohol doesn't really affect Jason, something she had learnt after Johnny literally fell off the stool. Yeah, drinking games against Jason are a really bad idea.

"Hey." she says softly when she gets to the living room and finds Jason sitting by the fire. "Did you find everything okay?"

"Yeah." he assures, making room for her on the blanket. "Thanks for letting them stay over."

"The least I could do after you practically drank them into an alcohol induced coma." she laughs softly. "I don't think they were prepared for that at all."

"They knew they wouldn't win." Jason assures. "Johnny just wanted a reason to drink."

"Why?"

"Not sure." he replies. "If I had to guess, I'd say that it has something to do with Emily."

"Ah. Okay." she says after a moment. "Anyway, I should get to bed if I'm going to be up early to clean."

"You don't have to do that." he says, taking hold of her hand to stop her from getting up. "The clean up crew will have it done by morning."

"Clean up crew?" she looks at him curiously. "You have a team just for cleaning up parties?"

"Something like that." he says simply. "Don't worry so much about it, okay?"

"Okay." she glances down at their hands before meeting his eyes. "I guess I can stay up for a little while longer."

"Sounds good to me."

A little while turns into all night as they talk about pretty much anything that comes to mind. Throughout their conversation, Elizabeth has learnt more about Jason than she ever thought possible, especially things she had no idea were even possible with him. Like the fact that he can actually cook. Not barbecue or whatever, but cooking show kind of cooking. Who would have thought? Or that he collects the matchbooks from every bar he's ever been in.

Downing his usual hangover pick-me-up, Johnny makes his way out of the room and downstairs, tasked with making sure the clean up crew returned Elizabeth's backyard back to normal. As he's making his way downstairs, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks at the sight that greeted him in the living room. Apparently Francis was equally surprised because he wasn't sure whether he should take the path through the living room to the kitchen or take the long way through the laundry room.

"Take the long way." Johnny says as he pulls open the door that leads to the backyard. "Safest choice."

"Right." Francis shakes his head. "Wouldn't want to wake them up."

"Only at your own risk." Johnny counters. "Make a cup while you're in there, huh?"

Continuing his way out to the backyard, Johnny pushes the image of Elizabeth in Jason's arms out of his mind, having his own relationship to think of that he didn't have time to wonder what those two were becoming to each other. Walking around the yard, checking up on the shooting range sight, he's not at all surprised to find that everything was cleaned up without a single trace of the party in sight. With that taken care of, he takes the path around the house to the outside entrance to the kitchen, not at all in the mood to witness his boss's intimacy again.

The smell of coffee brewing wakes Elizabeth up from her deep slumber, causing a soft smile to touch her lips as she remembers what had transpired last night. Johnny and Francis had stayed over along with Jason...as the thought of Jason comes to mind, the feeling of being held breaks through the fog as she realizes just whose arms she had fallen asleep in last night.

"Good morning." she whispers softly, a blush creeping over her cheeks as Jason's eyes open to meet hers.

"Good morning." he replies, a soft smile touching his lips. "You okay?"

"Yeah." she assures. "You?"

"Sure."

"Okay." she says softly. "Smells like the guys are up."

"Right." Jason glances at the kitchen doorway before giving her a soft squeeze. "Guess we should get up then."

"Guess so." she says, laying her head against his chest.

"Later?"

"Later."