Journeylove- I do have an open mind. I'm more than willing to accept 'other' couples, so long as they are handled in a way that does not make a character go out of character, which is why when people write about Jason/Sonny I don't scoff, because, well… it's easy to see why they would get that. I'm just really not a big reader of other people's work. I read it when it looks like I should, but other than that, I shy away from it. Odd, since I write fanfiction, I know, but that's how I work. Yeah, the Courtney/Sonny connection has pretty much gone away, and it sucks, but that's why I'm here, to keep up the connections that people want, but the show doesn't have. They did show Max yesterday, and there was that time he got shot. I screamed out his name, I did. If they killed Max, I would have been very, very sad.

Story-

Kelly's-

The restaurant wasn't a very far walk from her place, and she knew that if Damian was doing what he said he was doing and trying to help cheer Brook up there was no way that they would already be at Kelly's. A part of herself was angry with the way that she was handling the situation. Maxie knew better. Deep down she knew that Damian would never let anything happen that would put the relationship that he had with Maxie in danger. Again, it didn't irk her because of Damian, she believed in him and trusted him more than she trusted anyone else, it was Brook. With her needy little alternative rocker attitude, the tortured artist who just wanted her parents to get back together. Damian would do something to help someone like that no matter what, it was just who he was. If Maxie believed that everything was just an act she would be fine, but she knew that Brook wanted to take Damian away from her, Dillon had even told her that his niece had taken more than a casual interest in her boyfriend. If Brook was another person, Maxie would have handled it personally, but Brook was a Quartermaine. Maxie was upset that someone had taken a liking to her man, but she wasn't suicidal. If she did anything that harmed even the smallest thread on Brook's little head, Edward would have her in jail for assault, and that wouldn't be fun.

Elizabeth continued to toil away at Kelly's. She saw a more familiar face when Maxie walked inside. Elizabeth half expected Damian to come in with her, they were usually together, but she waited a few seconds to see if maybe he was just trailing behind her and then she realized that Maxie was going stag. In a way it was a good thing. Elizabeth wasn't sure that she could handle seeing Damian, not after she had learned that his own uncle was second guessing his motives and intentions. She could tell him, but she knew that it would kill the boy. He cared about Ric a lot, and hearing something like that could really hurt him.

Maxie breathed a short sigh of relief when she saw that Elizabeth was working. She could trust Elizabeth. Everyone could trust Elizabeth. That was part of the burden of being Elizabeth, always trustworthy, always the person who people went to whenever there was a problem. Maxie smiled as she walked over to the counter, moving a few strands of her golden hair out of her face as she leaned against the counter. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure," Elizabeth nodded softly, "but I can't make any guarantees that I'll be able to do what you want me to do."

"How long are you going to be working here?"

"A few more hours, I close tonight," a double shift, but that was because Penny needed to take care of something that had been troubling her family. A sick relative or something. Elizabeth wouldn't be able to keep the poor girl from such a crisis. It was immoral and unethical.

"Damian's probably going to be coming inside in a few minutes, Elizabeth… just, don't tell him that I'm here, all right?"

"It's a small place, Maxie, it's not like you'll be able to hide."

"Trust me, I'll find a way."

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at Maxie. "Is there a reason why you're doing this? Did you two have a fight?"

"No… I just want to make sure about something. Please, please say that you'll be able to do this."

"All right, but if this blows up in your face it won't be my fault, agreed?"

Maxie nodded, "I'll go and find a seat in the corner. Thanks, Elizabeth, this is a big help."

Corinthos Household-

Courtney couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sonny was doubting his abilities as a father, one of the few things that Sonny was so confident about. She knew that it couldn't have been Michael, whenever he said something about not wanting Sonny around it was usually because Sonny actually denied Michael something that he wanted. A childish tantrum, easily fixed with a bowl of ice cream or just a simple hug. Sonny wouldn't take much weight with those situations. No, it was because of Damian, and Courtney knew it. Her nephew and Sonny would always have a complicated relationship, but it wasn't a bad one. They just didn't see eye to eye on everything. For Sonny it was difficult, because Michael was, in essence, a clone of him, an extension of his spirit. Damian was another matter entirely.

She studied her big brother, trying to see how much it was bothering him. A moment later she realized that it was really bothering him. Sonny wasn't on the verge of tears, but his eyes were so intense. They rarely got like that. "Sonny, you need to tell me what happened so I can try and help you get through this. Both of you. I know that you two sometimes don't agree on everything, but… I've been the middleman before, I don't mind doing it again…"

"I don't want to drag you into my problems, Courtney."

"You're my brother, he's my nephew. I love you both so much. If you guys are having a problem then it's going to impact me and everyone else in the family. I don't want that. Everything was just starting to work again…"

"He wanted me to keep my distance from the hospital…"

Courtney was waiting for something else. Something bigger. But it didn't seem like it was coming. That was it? Sonny was upset because Damian wanted him to stay away from the hospital? "Sonny…"

"What?"

"Is that it?"

"What do you mean, is that it? My kid asked me to stay away from the hospital…"

"Because that's where he works, Sonny!" Courtney shook her head. "I know that you're worried about him because he's just starting, I know that you want to be there in case he needs someone to tell him that he's strong enough to do the job… but, think about it, would you want our father to be looming over you if you were starting a new job?"

"Mike would never do that, it would require that he care…"

"Sonny…"

"Sorry," Sonny shook his head. Mike and he would have a relationship that would always be strained, far more strained that the relationship that Sonny had with Damian, or so he hoped. "But my point remains."

"Just imagine it…"

"You're right, I would hate it."

"And he hates it, too. I guess we went a little overboard. There's a lot of us, and we might be a little overzealous. I'm sure if we were all there he would have asked each and every one of us to keep our distance."

"I just… I feel like this is the first step in him tossing me out of his life. He's done it before…"

"That was because he didn't know you as well as he does now. Sonny, he was hurt and he was upset. Right now he's neither of those. He just wants his space. He's not asking you to stay out of his life completely, he's just asking that you have some faith in him. And you should, because he's your son and he's smart enough to do the job that he's destined to do."

"I guess…"

"Sonny…"

Sonny looked at his little sister, "You're right, Courtney. I took it to heart when I shouldn't have. I just… I care about him so much, and I want to make up for all the time I missed."

"You will, I promise."

Sonny smiled and hugged his sister gently. Whenever Courtney said something, a part of Sonny believed that it would come true, because she was so honest and had a glow about her, like she could make the improbable probable.

The Docks-

Brook waited for Damian on the bench right by the spot where there had once been Christmas decorations. To think that it had only been that short amount of time she had arrived in Port Charles. It seemed like it was so much longer. A lot of things had happened, but maybe it was just because she was stuck at the Quartermaine mansion, where time stood still.

"Brook?"

She turned around at the sound of his voice. She would have smiled, but she wasn't in the mood. "Hey…"

"Hey," Damian walked down the small flight of stairs onto the main part of the docks before making his way to the bench and sitting beside her. "You doing okay?"

"I wouldn't have called you if I was doing okay…"

"Well, I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere until you tell me that you're doing okay… and you tell me what's wrong."

"Why can't they love each other?"

Damian didn't need there to be any specifics. Brook had the problem that plenty of people who had divorced parents also had. They wondered why their parents couldn't get back together. He had wondered it himself, when he was younger. Not why they couldn't get back together, but why his father was never around. Although it wasn't exactly the same, Damian could relate. "It's not about loving each other, Brook, it's about expecting things from the other person that Lois and Ned don't believe that they can get from each other."

"They believed it before…"

"Yes, and look what happened. They ended up getting divorced and you went to live with your mom. It doesn't change the fact that they care about you, and they probably do care about each other, too. But when you get married you're essentially saying that you'll always provide for a person when they need to be provided for. They managed to survive drifting apart, they managed to stay friends, but if it happened a second time who can say that it would be like that again?"

Brook hadn't thought about it like that. She had seen some of the other people who had divorced parents. They only talked to each other when they needed to talk with each other, and even then the conversations weren't pretty. Her parents were able to be civil with each other, more than civil, they could go out, talk, have fun. It didn't solve her problems, though. "I hate that place…"

"The mansion?"

"Yeah…"

"What's there to hate?" Damian asked. "You've got a cook, a maid, and you've got family there all the time."

"That last part is the problem… the part I hate."

"Brook…"

"I know, I know," she said with regret in her voice. "They're my family, and I should love them… but we're so different."

"Everyone's different, Brook. Look at me and my dad. We're nearly polar opposites in every way that matters, but I love my father, and he loves me. If we can make it work…"

"Then I can make it work with Tracy?"

"Well, nobody's expecting a miracle…" he commented dryly. Getting along with Tracy Quartermaine was something that was, at best, impossible. "But you can accept that your parents are always going to care about each other, and about you. If that caring doesn't result in them getting married again, then so be it, it doesn't mean that they're bad people, or that you failed them in any way."

"Thanks," Brook said, looking down at her lap. "I needed to hear that."

"That's why I'm here… and, since you look like you could use a bite to eat, come on. Kelly's, on me."

"But…"

"I'm not taking no for an answer. You look like you're starving, at least order a salad or something. Don't go Kate Moss on me, it's highly unattractive, and I would hate to see a girl as pretty as you do something that could hurt herself in the end."

Brook turned her blue eyes over to him, staring. He thought she was pretty? She blushed, albeit only slightly. "All right, let's go…"