Kelly's-

Ric couldn't believe how badly the day had turned out. It had gone from being one of the better days of his career, where nothing appeared to be going wrong, to the worst day that he had been through in recent memory. It appeared that any joy that Ric may have been feeling as a spillover from his marriage had long since been dissolved. But all was not full of darkness in Ric's world. As he walked inside the eatery he saw the one single bright thing that would always be there to make him feel better. His wife.

Elizabeth waved to her husband as she continued to take the order of the person who she was waiting on. Her shift would be over soon. Sometimes she stayed after, wanting a little extra money, wanting to show that she could be independent for just a few hours more. Ric made more than enough money, he had more than enough money, to keep her stable and happy for the rest of her life, but Elizabeth didn't want that. Her grandmother had remained strong and employed during her entire marriage, showing Elizabeth that just because there was a ring on her finger it didn't mean that she needed to drop everything and become a housewife.

Ric knew that Elizabeth's job was important to her. Even though he had attempted to get her to stop working so that she could focus on her true love he finally gave in and let her keep the job. Marriage was all about compromise. That was why their first attempt went so badly. Ric tried to do as much as he could to keep Elizabeth happy, but he never really asked what would make her happy. His biggest mistake, and it cost him his wife. Luckily, it didn't cost him Elizabeth forever. Knowing that she was busy, he walked over to the counter and sat at one of the stools, mulling over everything that had happened.

He didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to think that his nephew could have been putting on an act that would fool them all into believing that he was some good natured boy, only to show his true nature as some sort of sleeper agent for his father. If it was true then he deserved a lot of praise for his acting. Ric had seen the way he acted towards his father a few times. He truly believed that there was a time when Damian genuinely loathed Sonny for what he was, what he represented. And it wasn't unheard of… people getting passed Sonny and his defenses. Ric had done it when he first came to Port Charles as well. Maybe that was why it was so hard to just brush off, because it was something that Ric himself had done. Like uncle like nephew wasn't really a cliché, but there was a chance that history had repeated itself. Doubt was a lawyer's worst enemy. And Ric was battling that foe, and losing steadily.

Elizabeth finally finished taking the order and took the ticket to the back, putting it on the spike where the cook would eventually take it and begin to prepare the food that was ordered. Mike wasn't there, he had turned in, giving the other chef some overtime to help pay for some bills. Mike was like that, sacrificing his time, his money, for people if they needed it, even though he had troubles of his own. So selfless… Elizabeth saw that in Damian. In some strange way, she saw it in Sonny as well. But her newly anointed in-laws were not the core of her focus at that moment. No, it was on her husband. "Hey there, stranger… you don't look like you're from around these parts."

"Someone told me that I needed to see the most beautiful waitress in all of New York, in all of the east coast, in fact… you wouldn't happen to know where I could find this mysterious woman, would you?"

"I might be able to give you a hint or two… depending on what you have to offer me. I don't work cheap, you know."

"Maybe this will be enough," Ric got up and leaned over the counter, kissing Elizabeth tenderly before pulling away and smiling, "Or, I could just leave you a really nice tip."

"I wouldn't mind that second one…" Elizabeth laughed, but she was putting on an act. She knew when Ric was unnerved by something. "Honey, are you all right? You seem a bit distracted."

"I'm fine…"

"Ric… we agreed that we wouldn't make the mistakes that we made the last time we tried this marriage thing. And one of the biggest mistakes that we made was never talking to each other about our problems. We've been doing such a good job at not making that error… don't ruin it, please."

"I'm worried…"

"About what?"

"Is Mike here?"

"No, he went home early… why?"

"Just making sure that I didn't have to worry about him coming in here and yelling at me, telling me that I was trying to destroy the good name of his family." Mike's family happened to be Ric's family, for the most part. Damian was a member of that family. Ric didn't want Grandpa Mike coming and stirring up trouble. They would never see eye to eye, and that was Ric's fault, yet another mistake that he had made. One of many. "I got a visitor today in the office… John Durant…"

"That's who that guy was!"

"What are you talking about, Elizabeth?" Ric wasn't expecting that reaction from the name, but Elizabeth seemed to be interested in the man, and that made Ric interested in why Elizabeth was so invested in John Durant. As far as Ric was aware, they had never met.

"That guy, John Durant, he came into Kelly's today and got a coffee to go. I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. He asked me how to find the police station, and where to find you… and I asked him why he was looking for you and he never said anything, he just left. I didn't get a very comforting vibe from him."

"Nobody would," Ric said smugly. "John Durant doesn't exactly bring out the warm fuzzy feelings. Most of the time people feel like they need to take a long shower after they've encountered him to wash off the taint that he brings…"

"What did he say?"

Ric looked at his wife, proceeding with caution. It wasn't that Elizabeth loved Damian, because she did, it was that Elizabeth was his first friend and they had a very strong connection, one that went well beyond anything that Ric could hope to understand. But, he remembered the way that Elizabeth looked at him when she told him not to lie to her. He couldn't break that trust, not again, not so soon. "Apparently, Damian saw John Durant on New Years Eve when he went on that trip with Maxie. Durant swears that it was because Sonny wants to destroy Durant before Durant can destroy Sonny."

"Even if that were true, why would Damian be involved?"

"Because, according to Durant, Damian has been fooling all of us into thinking that the way that he presents himself, the long lost son of Sonny, looking for a place in his father's world, is just that, an act. John Durant believes that Damian is really more involved with Sonny and the organization than we're led to believe…"

"That's just stupid," Elizabeth said, trying to hold back her laughter. "Damian would never involve himself in Sonny's operations. He loves his father, but he hates what Sonny and Jason do, I know he does, he's told me about it…"

"I know…"

"I don't believe John Durant would come into town just to destroy the reputation of someone who has such a wonderful future. I knew that some people could be evil, but that's just…" she shook her head, "It's not like anyone who's ever spent time with Damian would believe Durant…" Elizabeth saw Ric's eyes look away. It took a second for her to understand why he did it, and when she did realize it, she couldn't believe herself. "Ric…"

"What?"

"No, Ric," she said, stunned. "Not you… you can't…"

"Elizabeth…"

"You know him, Ric. Tell me that you don't believe what John Durant was telling you… tell me that you know that it's all just a lie."

"I don't know what to believe, Elizabeth!" Ric said, frustrated. "I want to believe my gut feeling… I want to believe that anything that I'm thinking, any question of Damian's motives are just in my head… but it wouldn't be the first time that something like this has happened to Sonny, to us. It's my job to protect the people here…"

"And Damian is one of the people that you should protect. He loves you, Ric. He's the only one in your family who will always stand up for you, no matter what you do… he doesn't do it because he's putting on an act, he does it because he believes that you deserve a chance to be a member of the family. For you to just throw that back in his face… it's very disappointing."

"I didn't say that I believed John!"

"No, but you didn't say that you didn't, either…"

"Elizabeth…"

She shrugged him off, "I need to take care of the group that just walked in, Ric. But, you should know that I choose to believe Damian over whatever that man is trying to make you believe… and I'm not the one who is blood related to him. I know him, Ric, I thought you did as well."

Corinthos Household-

Michael had bested him, as expected, but Damian did do better than he expected at the video game of his brother's choice. Michael, of course, claimed that he let Damian score that many points, but Damian chose to believe that he was improving in his skills as a gamer, albeit only slightly.

The fun time with Michael proved an ample distraction, but he couldn't act like it was the only thing that mattered to him. It wasn't. He still had a test to study for, and medical school tests weren't nearly as easy as the high school tests that Dillon and Georgie had to contend with. They really needed to appreciate those days while they still had them.

There was a knock at his door that made him turn his head up from the book, legs crossed on his bed. "Come in."

Sonny walked inside the room, looking around. He'd been in the room dozens of times before, but everything still seemed so fresh and new. He never thought that he would use the room that Damian was staying in, never thought that he would be blessed with that much happiness in his life, but he was wrong. "Hey…"

"Dad, hi…"

"Sorry I wasn't here when you got home, I had to take care of something."

"Don't worry about it. I know that you're busy. Is everything all right? I'm allowed to ask that, right? Make sure that you're not in trouble without getting into the painful details?" He knew the rules, don't ask about anything in specific, make only the most generic of statements. No muss, no fuss.

"Everything's fine, I just… I wanted to be here when you got home. I didn't know that having you be gone for days at a time would be so hard on me."

"You miss me?"

"Of course I miss you," Sonny walked over and sat on the bed. "I'm your father, Damian, I care about you and I want to make sure that, when you need me, I'm here for you."

"You are here for me when I need you, dad, but I don't need you all the time… besides, it isn't like you don't check up on me at least once during my shift…"

"I'm paying for your education, I think I deserve to see if my money is going to waste…"

"Do you think that you have a chance at wasting your money on me?" Damian wasn't sure how to feel about Sonny's words.

"Of course not, I want you to succeed at this, and I think you will…"

"Then have some faith in me, dad, please…"

"I do have faith in you."

"I mean… stop having everyone check up on me so often. You, Carly, Grandpa, Aunt Courtney, Uncle Jason… Bobbie works at the hospital, she should check up on me… but the rest of you… I just feel like you're watching over me, and it makes me nervous."

"You're saying you don't want me to care…"

"No, I want you to care, I just want you give me some space. I want to know that you trust me enough to let me do this on my own, pass or fail, good or bad… I need to know…"

Sonny looked away. A part of him felt like his son was pushing him away, but another part of him could understand where Damian was coming from. It wasn't so much that Sonny was 'watching over' him, at least not in Sonny's eyes… he just wanted to make sure that everything was going well. Was that so hard? Still, Sonny could only wonder what it felt like, having an overbearing father. Maybe too overbearing. "All right, you win… but if you need me…"

"You'll know," Damian nodded. "Thanks, dad, this means a lot to me." Maxie was right, all it took was simple talking. Nothing more, nothing less.