Morgan Household-
Even though there was still a lot on his head, Dillon could feel a little better because of the fact that he knew he could depend on the people around him. At least some of them. There were still things that he kept from Georgie, which was not something that he wanted to admit, but it was something that he couldn't deny. Maybe it was true, maybe he could depend on Georgie for everything, in his heart, he believed it. He truly believed that no matter what the problem was, Georgie would find a way to help him get through his problems. But, that didn't mean that he would depend on her all the time. Dillon refused to be the type of person who placed so much weight on the people that he cared about. There were so very few of them, and, unlike the rest of his family, Dillon refused to be the type of person who would throw them all to the curb, would use them until there was nothing left inside of them, and then cast them aside like they didn't mean anything to him. Dillon wasn't that person. Quartermaine by birth, he may have shared the last name, only because his mother refused to let him keep his father's name, but he wasn't like them. That was why he enjoyed being around the people that he was around so much, that was why he cared about Jason so much, because Jason was so much like him that Dillon couldn't help but admire the fact that his cousin was such an individual. But, Dillon realized that there was only so much that Jason was willing to tolerate. It didn't matter that Dillon shared only the last name and the blood with his family, to Jason, that was more than enough. Emily had only one of those, and that was probably why Jason cared about her, the same with Michael, and to a lesser extent, Justus. Even Monica, on some level. But Dillon and the rest of them? Cast aside, like they didn't mean anything.
Dillon played around with the camera that they had gotten him for Christmas, both Jason and Courtney. He thought that, by getting him something that was so important to him, Jason accepted and understood him. Dillon had fooled himself into believing that Jason might have cared, because Dillon wanted Jason to care. But that wasn't the truth. Courtney was the one who cared, and Dillon appreciated that so much, but Courtney wasn't the person that Dillon felt that he needed to prove himself to. No, Courtney was not capable of being the type of person who would condemn a person so much with the smallest of blank stares. It was funny, because Dillon had managed to somehow show himself to be a person of great character to Sonny and, even on some level, Carly, which should have endeared him to Jason… but it didn't work that way.
"Hey…" Courtney walked in from across the hall and saw the boy on the couch, looking at his video camera. It made her very happy that she had gotten him something that he could cherish so much. Dillon had to give up a lot when he decided to move into the penthouse with her and Jason. There were still many items that Dillon had at the mansion that he didn't get. She didn't know why he kept them there, why he felt like he couldn't get them back, but she knew that it was not her place to ask, so she didn't.
"Oh, Courtney, hi," Dillon smiled, or at least forced one on his face. It was harder and harder to smile around them, to fake the fact that he might have felt like he was happy, that he could have felt welcome. Courtney never made him feel like he was outside of the loop, but she could only do so much. It was like he was a foster-child, and Courtney was the only one who actually accepted him for the part of the family that he should have been. Nice to know that there was one, but he wanted it to be more than one.
"How was school today?"
Dillon was silenced. He could have lied to her, said that it was fine. How would she know? When he was absent from school they never called the penthouse. They would always call the mansion. But, then he remembered what his best friend had told him, that Courtney felt that Dillon was important, that she cared about him. And he couldn't betray her, he couldn't lie to someone who welcomed him like that. "I… I didn't go to school today…"
"I saw you leave the house with your backpack, Dillon, I know you didn't just stay at home. Did you turn around? Were you feeling sick?"
"It's not that…"
"Then what is it?" Courtney asked, more concerned than angry, although it was impossible to deny that there was some anger inside of her because she felt betrayed, at least on some level. It would be kept internally, at least until she found the real reason why he was skipping out on school. She wanted to believe that it was a good reason. God help the boy if he ditched school to attend one of those movie festivals.
"I just couldn't go today, all right?" There was anger in his voice, as if he felt like he was being grilled for something that she didn't understand, and he hated it when he felt like he was being attacked. The first thing he always did when he felt that way was lash out at the person who was attacking him. Not exactly the best thing to do, but that was the Quartermaine in him coming out.
"No, Dillon, it isn't all right!" Courtney replied, no longer able to curb her own anger. "I just want you to tell me what happened, why you skipped school. You're never going to get into film school if you ditch school like this. Stuff like that can screw your chances of getting into college up…"
"You just can't wait to get rid of me, can you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't think I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Courtney. You want me to go to school so that I can get into a good college, far away from here, and finally get out of your hair, don't you?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Is it true?"
Courtney looked at Dillon and saw the look in his eyes, a mix of anger and fear as well as hurt. He felt like she wanted him gone. Any of the anger inside of her was quickly transferred into sympathy as she realized what he must have been going through. "Dillon… that isn't true."
"And I'm just supposed to believe that?" Dillon asked, not buying it for one second. He'd been lied to by so many people, and Courtney may have looked like a person who wouldn't lie, she may have even told people that she hated lying, but it didn't mean that he truly believed it.
"Why wouldn't you? Dillon, I don't know what's going on inside of your head, but I want to help you. I want to help you feel like you belong here, that you're not just being tolerated…"
"You can't…"
"Why can't I?"
"Because Dillon isn't upset at you, Courtney," Jason replied as he walked through the door.
Courtney looked over her shoulder, "Jason?" She then looked at Dillon, who could only turn his eyes away from both of them. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you later, Courtney," Jason said as he walked into the house, throwing his jacket on the desk. "Right now I think I need to have a conversation with my cousin, alone."
"Jason…" Courtney didn't like the idea of them being alone together, especially with Dillon acting as erratically as he was.
"Courtney, everything is going to be all right, I promise," Jason knew that he would find a way to make that promise come true, which was why he said it. "Just let the two of us talk… please."
Courtney didn't want to go, but if there was one thing she knew about Jason it was that when he asked to be alone he almost always had a good reason for it. Who was she to deny him the desire to talk with someone without anyone else, in his own house? "I'll be upstairs… and don't worry, I won't try and listen in."
Jason waited for Courtney to be alone and he stared at Dillon, who was looking as far away from Jason as possible. "You got something you want to say to me? If you do, you need to say it right now."
Outside the Scorpio Household-
Georgie didn't know what it as, but she still didn't feel particularly comfortable with the way that Dillon was when he talked to her. There was so much that he seemed to be hiding, even though he said that he wasn't holding anything. Maybe it was because he was spending so much time around Jason and Sonny. Maybe they were teaching him how to be the person that they were. Maybe they were crushing Dillon's dreams the same way that Tracy and the rest of the Quartermaine's threatened to go for his whole life. Georgie didn't know how she was going to help him get through that, especially if he didn't let her help him. All she wanted to do was help him get through his problems.
"Georgie?"
The girl turned around, the focus on her boyfriend making her think, only for a moment, that it could have been Dillon who was coming back to be with her and tell her that he was sorry for making her feel the way that she felt. Sadly, that dream was nothing more than a dream, because the person that she saw was not Dillon, it was Damian. "What are you doing here?"
"I haven't talked to your sister all day… have you?"
"No, I haven't. But that still doesn't explain why you're here."
"I just want to see if she's home, I really need to talk with her, it's important."
"My dad isn't home, he wouldn't want you here…"
"That never stopped you from bringing Dillon to the house when Mac was gone, did it?"
"Don't talk to me like that…"
"Hey, I came here asking you a simple question, Georgie. I didn't try and take off your head, I asked if you had talked to your sister and you're the one who started giving me attitude. I don't know why you're upset at me, but I'm pretty sure that I didn't do anything to deserve it."
Georgie looked down at the ground, trying to understand what she had said, why she had said it. She was mad, yes, but was she mad at him? Maybe, in some small way. "Do you know what's wrong with Dillon?"
"Excuse me?"
"Dillon, my boyfriend, your best friend," Georgie pointed out. "I know what happened to Lois last night, Damian. I know how much it hurt Dillon, I know that he didn't even think for a minute that it would have such an impact on him, but it did. But that isn't the only thing that is wrong with him, I can sense it. I know when Dillon is having problems, and I know when he needs help. He won't let me help him, I don't know why, but I think that you might…"
"Why do you think that I might know what's going on with Dillon when you don't? You're his girlfriend, Georgie. He loves you, he trusts you more than he trusts anyone else in the world, he would go to you for help way before me…"
"The funny part is that you actually believe that."
"I don't think it's funny. I think it's the truth. I think that he cares about you enough to tell you anything…"
"Answer the question."
"It isn't my question to answer," he replied simply. "You want to find out what's going on with your boyfriend, I suggest that you ask Dillon yourself."
"But you know, don't you?"
"I have an idea of what is going on with him, yes…"
"See, that's what I'm talking about. He thinks that he should talk to you before he talks to me… and I don't like that."
"I'm not going to turn Dillon away when he comes to me with a problem just to appease your wounded pride, Georgie. He's my best friend, I wouldn't be a good person if I did that. You're my friend, too. You might not think that right now, but I do, and I want to help you."
"He listens to you… I think it's because of the fact that you're his friend, not his girlfriend, and that you're a guy, and you're older… please… I've told him that I love him, that he can trust me, depend on me… but I don't know if he's listening to me…"
"I'll do what I can…"
"If I let you inside my house to see if my sister is home, right?"
"No, Georgie, but I would appreciate it if you did let me inside."
Georgie opened the door, and they both walked in, Georgie walking in front of Damian as they headed up the stairs towards Maxie's room. There was music on inside, which made them both assume that she was in there. But, when Georgie opened the door, she gasped.
Damian peered in through the door and saw her… saw them… together… under the sheets… the faintest glimpse of her naked body, and of his. And he knew… knew what was going on. He tried to say her name, he tried to find some reason why it was a lie, why he wouldn't believe it… but he couldn't.