Prompt - Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk

The Heart of the Problem

Not too long afterwards…

"I can't believe that dip shit got a teenager pregnant!" Johnny Zacchara could hardly keep from laughing as the men all congregated at Jake's once more. "He's a fricking officer of the law and he got a teenager pregnant! And not just any teenager, but the Commissioner's daughter!"

"Is Mac pressing statutory rape charges or anything like that?"

Jason shook his head. "Nope. Maxie's nineteen. Spencer's safe."

"Safe is a relative term," Patrick muttered, pouring himself some scotch before passing the bottle over to Jason. "I mean, the whole town knows now that he's a complete louse. He cheated on his childhood sweetheart, who he was engaged to marry, with a teenager. And he got her pregnant and only stepped up because Mac would have Robert kill him and dump his body in the back harbor if he refused to acknowledge Maxie and their child. Complete, unmitigated jackass."

"Thanks for the nut-shelling," Spinelli chuckled.

"I doubt you'll hear any argument from Jason, though, about that," Johnny smiled, mock-toasting his friend before he tossed his tequila back. "After all, things couldn't have worked out better for you."

He could have taken offence – after all, it sounded like the kid was insinuating that Jason was happy that Elizabeth had been hurt because it meant that he could swoop in and take advantage of the situation – but he knew Johnny better than to think he meant anything by it.

"I'm just glad Elizabeth saw what kind of man he was," he replied simply, gently shaking his scotch so that the ice tinkled. "…And that I wasn't involved in showing her."

Patrick let out a laugh and roughly elbowed his friend. "There's the perspective we all know and love. So, how goes it, old man? It's been two weeks since the shit hit the fan, and we haven't heard a thing from you."

"Yeah," Johnny agreed. "You're holding out on us. Everyone already knows that you and Elizabeth are together, but you've conveniently forgotten to say anything of it to us. Come on!"

Spinelli was reaching for his notebook and a pen. "Go ahead, Stone Cold. And speak slowly – sometimes I can't keep up."

But their friend only shrugged. "Sorry."

The men stared at him, dumbfounded, and a good minute passed before anyone spoke.

"What?"

Jason shrugged. "Not telling you idiots a thing. Worked out great for me last time."

Spinelli's jaw dropped at his mentor's sarcasm. "But – But – but the last time you told us about Elizabeth, it got you laid! We know for a fact it got you laid!"

"Elizabeth sent us a text, thanking us for keeping a close eye on you," Johnny agreed, holding up his phone for added emphasis. "Come on, man, tell us! Be cool."

"Nope." Jason finished off his scotch and reached for the bottle again. "I'm good, thanks. I can still manage without you guys, believe it or not."

"Fine," Johnny relented as Spinelli began to pout. "Just tell us this – any more drunken, sleepy proposals?"

Jason shook his head. "Thank God, no. I still wake up every morning expecting her to start talking about weddings and how 'romantic' my proposal was last night or shit like that, but thankfully…nothing. I think I got over that, whatever it was."

Thank freaking God.

Because after all, when he did ask Elizabeth to marry him, he would like to actually remember it.

One year later…

Her boyfriend was a complete, hopeless ass.

This was what Elizabeth decided after the following things happened.

(1) She woke up alone in bed and realized she'd slept through the alarm and that Jason was already up and ready but hadn't woken her
(2) He didn't make her a cup of coffee like he always did every single morning since they moved in together roughly a year ago, and they were running late so she had to do without
(3) He finished the last of the cereal and tossed the box, forcing her to grab breakfast from her emergency stash of icky granola bars
(4) He 'accidentally' – the jury was still out on that – trod over the pretty black shoes she was planning to wear with her new tan-and-purple trumpet skirt
(5) He barked at her to hurry the hell up even though he knew she had gotten a late start, no thanks to him

He had been deathly silent all through the drive to work and was out of the car not even a second after pulling the key from the ignition. And he even refused to open the door for her! Not that she needed him to – she was more than capable of getting out of a motor vehicle all by herself, thank you very much – but it was something he always did and something she had gotten used to.

Elizabeth trotted along after him, trying to catch up, and resisted the urge to swat his arm when she finally did but only because they were in full view of the building and she couldn't very well let anyone see her hit him.

"What the hell is the matter with you?"

He snarled under his breath but ignored her otherwise, picking up the pace and leaving her behind once again. When they reached the building, he was through the doors in a flash and only barely held them open for her, his arm extended as far back as it would go lest he actually found himself sharing her personal space.

Elizabeth scowled as they both marched past the security guards in the lobby. What a great way to start the day.

"Morning, Mr. Morgan, Ms. Webber."

Jason ignored them but Elizabeth, even though her mood was most foul indeed thanks to her louse of a boyfriend, couldn't quite bring herself to be that rude.

"Morning, Max, Milo. Have a nice day."

"You, too."

They turned the corner and headed for the elevators, but Jason surprised her at the last moment by ducking into the stairwell. Elizabeth huffed under her breath and jabbed the button with two fingers, quickly stepping on and pressing the Doors Close button immediately.

He was on the floor before she was and already heading to his office, so Elizabeth took a minute to duck into the staff lounge to get some coffee and poke around in the fridge for some food before heading to her adjoining office. Sometimes, working so closely with Mister Jason Morgan just wasn't her cup of tea.

Exactly five minutes later, her assistant Amelia Joffe came trotting into the break room with a perplexed look on her face and tapped her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Is there something going on with Jason that I should know about?"

Elizabeth grabbed a muffin from the fridge and snagged a napkin, heading right back out. "Why?"

Amelia still looked distressed. "Because I just handed him the account records from Friday and he nearly bit my head off. I thought he was going to throw something at me."

She rolled her eyes and waved the redhead into her office. "He's just being difficult…that JERK!" The last part was added only after she had turned her face to the eastern wall of the room.

Amelia glanced at the wall that Elizabeth's office shared with Jason's. "On second thought? Whatever's going on between you two, you just go ahead and leave me out of it. I'm in my office if you need me. Please don't need me."

Elizabeth cracked a rueful smile as she watched her friend quickly leave the room. She didn't blame her for not wanting to be within a ten-foot pole of Jason and his temper. Whatever had crawled up his butt had clearly set up camp there and was hanging its clothes out to dry.

Half an hour later, Cooper Barrett poked his head into her office.

"Uh…Elizabeth?"

"Hey, Coop," she smiled brightly. "What do you need?"

"I'm just, uh, dropping by the expense reports," he replied, quickly walking up to her desk and handing her the file.

"Great, thanks for that. How's it going?"

"Fine," he replied, glancing nervously at the shared wall. "I gotta go. Please don't tell Mr. Morgan I was here. He told me ten minutes ago that if he saw my face in the hall he was going to fire my 'lazy ass.' If you ask me, he's the … never mind."

And an hour after that, a knock on her door announced the presence of Jagger Cates, a financier based in London that Morgan Enterprises had been courting as an investor for nearly three months. "Miss Elizabeth Webber?"

She quickly composed herself and hopped out of her seat, already sticking her hand out to the older man. "Mister Cates, a pleasure to see you again. What can I help you with?"

He glanced down the hall in the direction of Jason's office and frowned. "I had a meeting with Jason just now and he, uh, requested to cancel and postpone. At least, I think he requested it. It was hard to tell with all the extraneous language in there, and if I clean it up, I'm afraid it's not really a sentence anymore."

She closed her eyes, mentally kicking herself only because she couldn't kick that stupid, stupid man next door. "Mister Cates, I am so sorry. Please accept my apology on his behalf. Morgan Enterprises values you as an addition to our team of investors very much, and if Jason did request to postpone, I'm sure it's only because he's too…preoccupied at the moment to give you the attention and consideration you deserve."

"Hrm." The little grunt let her know in no uncertain terms that Jagger wasn't buying it. "Yes, well, normally I wouldn't do this, but I happen to like that kid, so I'll meet with him at his next convenience."

"I will call you personally with the date," Elizabeth replied immediately. "And thank you so much for understanding, Mister Cates."

Jagger looked as if he were about to walk away, but he stopped himself at the last minute and tapped his knuckles on the doorjamb, arching his brow just so. "You know, I don't know what's wrong with Jason, nor do I care to, but from what I hear and from what I've seen, you've always had a way with him."

He continued on, ignoring the way she blushed. "Miss Webber, if there was ever a time to walk in that office and deliver a swift kick to the rear, now would be it. And I think you're just the woman for the job."

Jagger winked and pulled away, and was gone before Elizabeth could close her mouth. Okay, really, this was just pathetic: being told by a potential investor and partner that Jason needed to get his act together. And what if Jagger hadn't been so understanding and reluctantly swayed by his genuine fondness for Jason? What then? They would have lost a valuable investor and a sound entrepreneurial voice just because her idiot boyfriend couldn't pull his head from his ass long enough to be useful.

Damn, he really must have been mad.

She gazed down the hall at his closed door, troubling her lip, then withdrew into her office before people could catch her staring. Maybe she'd go figure this out with him a bit later.

A bit later…QUITE a bit later…

That was it.

That was freaking IT.

She had no problem being the understanding girlfriend that got when her guy was in a bad mood and stayed out of his way until he felt better. She had absolutely no problem doing that. But when said guy-turned-ape skipped lunch to go on an extremely long bike ride (yeah, he had gone home in his car, picked up his bike, and come back in that, meaning that she would have to hike up her skirt and ride along with him if she wanted a ride home) and came back with his suit pants ripped, his knee bloodied, and bits of gravel stuck to his cheek, she had a problem.

And the best solution?

To freaking find out what his damn hissy fit was about and then smack him and tell him to get over it.

Not very sympathetic of her, no, but she was kind of tired of being sympathetic especially when it seemed that his anger and resentment were directed at her, and she hadn't even done anything wrong. They had fought before in the past six years, only one of which they spent together, and she knew how to handle his anger and get through to him, but this was completely different and just threw her for a loop.

He hadn't been like this last night – not at all. In fact, he had behaved in just the opposite manner. They spent the whole day out on his bike and when they came home she decided to take a bath and he joined her, and then he had cooked her dinner. She'd picked out a movie for them to watch and they'd just hung out together for hours, and then he made love to her before they fell asleep. It had been a perfect day, just relaxing with Jason, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd been so happy. But obviously, something had changed between then and now that put him in such a bad mood.

He was coming back from seeing Amy Vining, the one in charge of the First Aid kit and all those things, and appeared to have a white bandage wrapped around his knee. It stood out almost painfully from his black trousers.

Jason saw her coming and his scowl didn't lift. Elizabeth lifted her chin in the air and kept walking right for him, refusing to change course, duck into someone else's office, or turn around. Jason did the same.

And when their pathetic game of chicken was about to come to a head, Elizabeth grabbed his lapel in one hand and a doorknob in the other, and effectively pulled her stunned boyfriend into a supply closet. She pulled the door securely shut behind her back and looked defiantly up at him.

"Hey."

Jason scowled and felt around for the light. A cord hung from the ceiling just by his right shoulder and he grabbed it and yanked, and a single light bulb lit up their cramped surroundings.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm standing here talking to you," Elizabeth replied simply. "And I'm not backing down, so you can stop looking at me with your crazy eyes."

Jason scowled again and tried to push past her. "I have a meeting to get to."

She slammed her back against the door, making it clear that neither one of them was going anywhere. "So do I, but you don't see me crying about it."

"Elizabeth-"

"Jason." Her lips settled into a thin red line. "We have to talk."

His frown remained perfectly in place. "There's nothing to talk about."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, exasperated. "My God, will you stop being such a baby and just tell me what happened?"

Jason stared at her, his jaw clenched and his hands balled into fists. "What?"

But she refused to be cowed. "Just tell me what happened. You've been so mad all day and it feels like you're mad at me but I have no idea what I did! So tell me – what happened? You were in such a good mood yesterday; what changed?"

If possible, his complexion turned just a shade paler. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

The corner of her mouth pinched downward. "There's no need for that kind of language. And no, I'm not. What changed?"

He prowled closer, moving slowly and deliberately until he positively loomed above her. "You want to know what changed?"

She tipped her chin back to look up at him and resisted the urge to gulp. "Yes. What did I do?"

He let out a disbelieving bark of laughter and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I don't believe this. I don't fucking believe this."

"Jason-"

"You reject my proposal, and you want to know what changed?" He threw his hands up in the air, unable to believe any of it. "Everything changed!"

Elizabeth's lips parted in surprise. "What?"

"I asked you to marry me and you told me to go back to sleep," he accused, practically sneering the words in her face. "I set everything up to be perfect last night and you patronized me! And you want to know what changed?"

Her eyes began to glisten, and Elizabeth covered her mouth with her hand. "You asked me to marry you?"

Jason scowled at her ignorance. "And you fucking patronized me. Like I was joking. Why the hell would I joke about wanting to marry you?"

"Jason, I-" She swallowed roughly and tried to gather her thoughts. "I…Oh, Jason, I had no idea that you were serious. I thought…Oh, my God, you asked me to marry you. I didn't even think that you were…"

"Serious," he finished bitterly. "Yeah. Because I've proposed to how many women in my life? Don't answer that," he added gruffly when she opened her mouth to presumably remind him of the many drunken proposals to previous girlfriends.

"You didn't think I was serious," Jason repeated. He shook his head to himself and looked away. "Because I could never seriously propose to you, or because you could never seriously accept?"

Elizabeth shook her head furiously. "No, Jason, it's not what you-"

"So if you want to know what changed, or what happened, that's it. And if you want to pretend that it never happened, and if you want to go on like everything's fine and normal, you can do that. But I'm not built that way. Because when I ask a woman to marry me and I'm laughed at, I have a hard time going on like everything's fine and-"

"Jason." She pressed her finger to his lips because she honestly didn't know how to make him stop talking. "Oh, my gosh, I can't believe that you were actually serious this time."

"This time?" he sputtered, her fingertips still pressed against his lips and impeding his speech slightly. "What the hell do-"

She shook her head, her liquid eyes shining with both sympathy and love. "Jason, you've asked me to marry you every single night since we moved in together."

His eyes widened, and a long moment passed before he spoke. "…What do – What are you saying?"

A small, true smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You've asked me to marry you every single night. Every time we went to sleep, really."

Jason's eyes took on a look of sheer panic. "You mean I-"

Elizabeth nodded. "Every single night, you'd ask me right after you fell asleep. And remember when we went to Father Mateo's first sermon? You asked me to marry you when you dozed off in the pew. And remember when I made you watch The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with me? You asked me to marry you just when Alexis Bledel's character met up with that hot Greek boy on the boat. It was pretty romantic."

His cheeks burned a dull shade of red, and Jason could barely stand to look at her. "You mean…every single night?"

Her smile grew when he cringed visibly. "Afraid so. Sometimes I said to ask me in a year, sometimes I said yes, sometimes I recited quotes from the writings of Simone de Beauvoir about how marriage wrongfully imprisons women, and sometimes I told you to go back to sleep."

She stroked his cheek gently. "Jason, last night…Oh, Jason, I thought you were asleep. I-I had no idea that you were awake and that you were actually asking me to…"

Elizabeth trailed off, and now it was her turn to be shocked. "Oh, my God, you asked me to marry you."

His expression was far gentler now, and Jason actually managed a smirk despite the fact that he felt like the biggest idiot in the world. "Yeah, I did."

She covered her mouth with both her hands and her eyes began to glisten anew. "You really did."

He leaned closer and rested his forehead against hers. "Still wanna tell me to go back to sleep?"

Elizabeth shook her head frantically.

"You wanna tell me something else?"

She nodded her head frantically.

He tipped her chin up and gently brushed his thumb across her lip. "You want to say yes?"

She let out a laugh that half sounded like a sob and flung her arms around his neck. "Yes, Jason, yes!"

He rocked back on his heels when Elizabeth threw herself into his arms and wrapped his own tightly around her, savoring the moment. It felt so strange, knowing that this was the first time he really asked a woman to marry him (and she understood that it was for real) and that she said yes, but also knowing that he had literally popped the question hundreds of times before.

"I thought I had gotten past it," he got out as Elizabeth kissed his cheek, his jaw, his neck, his ear, and his mouth. "I thought I stopped randomly proposing in my sleep after we got together. This whole time – I thought I was doing it because for so long, I've wanted to ask you to be with me, and when you finally were, I just…snapped out of it. I can't believe…"

She shook her head and stopped him with a finger to his lips, and a bright grin that made her seem like she was lit from within tugged at her lips. "Jason? As far as I'm concerned, you can ask me to marry you every night for the rest of our lives, and I'll be absolutely, completely, perfectly happy."