Prompt: No Matter How Dark the Sunglasses, I Still See You

Part 6

She had done it again.

She had gotten so drunk that she couldn't remember a damn thing that happened from the moment she took her second shot. She had only been like that one other time in her life, and after that horrible night, Elizabeth had promised herself that she would never drink again in her life.

She couldn't handle alcohol.

It was plain and simple. One drink was enough to make her act like a giddy drunk. Someone who could still stand without swaying, but the alcohol was enough of an influence to make her let her guard down and act… giddy. But that was it, that was about as much alcohol as Elizabeth Imogene Webber could handle. Anything more and her memory practically went out the window, along with her self constraint and conscience. That little voice in her head that would tell her she was being unreasonable, stupid, and silly.

Before she even cracked an eye open, something she knew was going to be near impossible, Elizabeth knew she had overdone her drinking last night. The first and only time-until now-that she had gotten drunk, she had made such a fool out of herself and her family. They were attending the Sinclair's yearly gala when her brother dared her to drink a full glass of Jeffery Sinclair's most expensive bourbon, something that was put aside for the men of the party to drink while they retired to the cigar room.

Her brother was always daring her to do stupid things, and Elizabeth was just as stupid as his dares, for she went along with them. Elizabeth was the youngest of three siblings, and while Sarah and Steven were best of friends, only being a year apart, they always made Elizabeth feel left out. She had wanted nothing more than to be accepted by her older siblings, and whenever Steven would dare her to do something, Elizabeth wanted nothing more than to achieve the dare and become wanted by her brother and sister.

So at the tender age of sixteen, Elizabeth had not only downed one glass of the Sinclair's bourbon, but she drank two, hoping that going that extra mile would make her look cool to her older brother. Instead, she became so intoxicated that she started dancing around the living room, requesting the hired pianist to play "Shout" claiming that people needed to "throw their head's back and shout!" From Elizabeth's hazy memory of that night, she remembered her mother's horrified expression, her father shouting at her to put an end to her ridiculous behavior, and her brother and sister laughing at her, not with her. She honestly could not remember anything else from that night, but her mother had been more than happy to let Elizabeth know that she had made a mockery of their name, and was no better than a middle class juvenile with absolutely no class.

After her mother and father berated her behavior, Elizabeth had made a vow to herself that she would never drink again in her life. But she did have that glass of wine on her twenty-first birthday, allowing her to come to the conclusion that with one drink she became the giddy drunk.

Her head was pounding, making the task of opening her eyes something that Elizabeth never wanted to do again in her life, or at least, until the pain ended. Taking in a deep breath, something to calm her turning stomach, Elizabeth cracked one eye open. Automatically, light filtered through her vision straight into her aching eyes making her want to close her eye. After a moment, she finally opened her other eye and what she saw made her close her eyes again.

Her turning stomach clenched and Elizabeth could feel the color draining from her face with dread.

"Elizabeth."

If she kept her eyes closed, he would think she went back to sleep. People blinked in their sleep all the time. All she had to do was keep her eyes closed, breathing calm, and he would just think she feel right back to sleep.

"Elizabeth."

Do not open your eyes. Do not open your eyes. Do not open your eyes.

"I know you're awake." He was closer now. He wasn't sitting in his chair anymore, watching her like he was when she first woke up. His voice was closer and she could almost feel his body heat as he hovered near her. When she felt the slight dip in the bed, Elizabeth eyes snapped open, something she admittedly regretted.

Damn it, she shouldn't have opened her eyes.

There sat Jason on the edge of his bed, well, she assumed it was his bed because she didn't have the slightest clue where she was. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. His normally spiky hair was damp and slicked back. He wore a black shirt that complimented the golden hue of his skin, and light blue pants that she knew molded to his well defined backside. Elizabeth was beginning to realize that Jason was very simple in not only his clothes, but also in his life.

As he looked down on her while she was sprawled out on her back, Elizabeth could not help but think that although he was very simple, he was still sexy as hell.

Jason's expression was unchanging, he just looked down on her while she studied him, and once Elizabeth was through with her visual examination of the way his shirt pulled across his muscular chest just right, a sick feeling crept up low in her belly, something that had nothing to do with the alcohol she drank the night before.

Oh god, what had she done?

She quickly looked away from his piercing gaze and, with as much strength and courage as she could accomplish, Elizabeth moved just her eyes and took a peak at her attire. Good, she still had her shirt on. But that didn't mean… Moving her legs slightly, Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief when she discovered that her jeans were still on.

"What are you doing?"

Almost forgetting that Jason was in the room with her, let alone, on the same bed as her, Elizabeth was a bit startled at his gruff question. Her eyes flew back to his. "Huh?"

"Never mind." Even after waking up with what Jason could tell was one hell of a hangover, Elizabeth still looked strikingly beautiful lying on his bed. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were a bit puffy, but Jason could not deny how beautiful Elizabeth was. It was a damn shame she couldn't look him straight in the eye. She was probably completely embarrassed about last night.

Taking pity on her, and not wanting to bring up what happened last night, especially the part where he was about to kiss her, Jason decided to break the silence. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hell."

He laughed slightly at her blunt answer and let the twinkle in his eye grow with even more amusement when she glared up at him for finding humor in her discomfort. She would have said a snide remark to him, but she had more things to worry about than her pounding head and turning stomach. She was still too afraid to move, not knowing if it would cause her even more pain.

After what seemed like a lifetime, she finally gained the courage to ask him what was on her mind. But with all the courage she had to voice her question, there was no way in hell she was going to look at him when she asked it. "I wasn't… I mean… I didn't…" she huffed, "I didn't go around singing "Shout" did I?"

"What?"

She spared him a glance and the look of pure confusion on his face made her question a little easier to ask. "What I am trying to ask is… Did I do anything stupid last night?"

"You don't remember anything?"

The way he asked it-the slight shock in his voice-that was all she needed to know that she had made a complete ass out of her self. "Oh, god, I did do something stupid." Looking up at Jason, Elizabeth placed her hand over her heart as if trying to push it back into her chest. "Ok, just tell me. What did I do that is probably going to make me hide away forever and never show my face to the public again?"

Jason continued to look at her as if she were speaking a different language.

"Please, Jason, I am a big girl. Just tell me how much of an ass I made out of my self. What? Did I go on top of the bar and start dancing? Did I throw myself at another guy? I did something that much I know. There is no way that I could have drunk all that I did and not have done something stupid. It's just another Lizzie moment. Ugh! I hated it when my mother used to say that to me, but damn it, she was right. I would always have a Lizzie moment at the wrong time."

"Would you just breathe?"

Her eyes were wide when she stared up at him, but she finally took in a breath and prayed that she wouldn't have to make a mad dash to the bathroom. Her stomach was really starting to turn more and more.

Jason never lied. It was something that he couldn't do, didn't want to do, didn't know how to do. Someone asked him something, he told them the truth. He never benefited from lying to someone. But as much as he didn't like to lie, there were also times that he didn't want to tell the truth either. So he just didn't say anything at all.

When he had pretended to be Michael's father over five years ago, Carly had assured him that he wouldn't have to lie, she could handle that all on her own. But he did warn her that if anyone directly asked him if he was Michael's father, he wouldn't be able to lie. Of course, through the year that he raised the boy, he had grown to love him so much that he felt like his father, he was his father. So when he was asked, he didn't feel like he was lying.

That was a long time ago, and it was a lesson for Jason. He had the best year of his life, raising Michael, loving Robin, being a friend to Carly even though she wanted more. But then it all fell apart on him. Robin told A.J. the truth about him being Michael's real father, ending their relationship. Carly had been so desperate to keep Michael that she had ended up marrying A.J., and that had been the last straw for Jason. He had left Port Charles shortly after realizing that he had nothing left for him there. He came back every once in a while, but it wasn't until a few months ago that he had returned to Port Charles for good, and that had ended up with him here. Having one of the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, lying in his bed, hung over from a night of drinking and trying to seduce him, and how could he forget the most important part, he was guarding her and trying to protect her life.

But now he felt the need to not lie but not tell the truth either. He didn't want to tell her about the embarrassment, on both parts, from the night before. So, almost like he had done with the Michael situation, Jason explained her actions the night before and left things out, only planning on telling her if she asked him directly.

"You didn't dance on the bar," something he wouldn't have minded seeing though, he added silently. "You did dance with a guy, but you couldn't hold yourself up, so I brought you up here where you feel asleep." And then woke up and tried to have sex with me, only to fall asleep once more, again he added the last part silently to himself. He just hoped she didn't ask what happened when he brought her upstairs.

"Why did I dance with another guy?"

"Because I wouldn't dance with you."

"Why?"

"I don't dance."

"Oh." Eyeing him, Elizabeth nibbled on her lower lip. "That's all I did downstairs? Nothing else?"

"You did tell me about your relationship with Josh."

She wanted to laugh at his constant need to call Joshua Josh. She really didn't care either way, it was just normal for her to call him Joshua since he had drilled it into her that he preferred the more sophisticated version of his name. She made the mistake of calling him Josh once, and she sure as hell didn't want to go through that lecture again.

But she did remember telling Jason about her history with Joshua. She also remembered that she didn't tell him the entire story.

Suddenly, the room started to tip to the side and Elizabeth had to close her eyes, something that didn't help that much. She squeezed her eyes tighter to ward off the sickness, and when she felt Jason's gentle hand caress her forehead, she wanted to melt into his touch. But the rising sensation that grew from her stomach to her throat didn't allow that.

"You don't look to good, maybe you should-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Elizabeth was throwing back the covers and running towards his bathroom doorway. She threw up his toilet seat and began to empty her stomach. Tears welled up in her eyes at the nauseating feeling that washed over her. She thought that she was alone in Jason's bathroom, but once she felt a hand rub her back, she didn't know whether to die from embarrassment or feel relief at his soothing caress.

Jason continued to rub her back gently as she heaved into the toilet. He pulled her hair back and tried his best to soothe her. Elizabeth finally relaxed and slumped against the toilet, too embarrassed to look at him.

"Feel better?"

"A little."

Jason let go of her hair and walked toward his sink, running a hand towel under the running water of his sink. "I should have given you aspirin, a glass of water, and a piece of bread."

When he walked back to her and crouched down, she finally lifted her face to him and smiled slightly. "A piece of bread?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "It helps with the next morning after drinking so much. I never had to try it, but Sonny swears that taking aspirin, drinking at least one full glass of water and eating a slice of bread will make the next morning more bearable."

"Well, gee, why didn't you think to do that last night?" She teased. "Sure would have helped this morning."

He was still crouched next to her, running the cool cloth over her face and neck. He couldn't help but think that he never really had the chance to even think about Sonny's own recipe that would take away a hang over. He was too busy being seduced. "I forgot." That wasn't a lie.

He let go of her face and took in her pale appearance. "Why don't I take you home so that you can take a shower, and then maybe we'll go to lunch?"

She grimaced as her stomach turned again. "The shower I can do, but I'm not to sure about lunch."

She stood up at the same time Jason did and had to squeeze by him as she walked towards his sink. She washed out her mouth with water, and then used Jason's mouth wash as he spoke to her.

"The shower might make you feel better. If not, then we won't go out to eat."

She turned to face him once she was finished with cleaning her mouth. "You can drop me off at home Jason, you don't have to stay with me."

"Yes I do. I'm guarding you Elizabeth, so where ever you go, I go." Her expression fell once she realized that Jason was only with her because he had to be. But as quickly as her heart began to dull, it began to beat fast and hard against her chest as Jason gently cupped her cheek in one hand and ran his thumb back and forth. "And, I want to make sure that you're going to be ok."

Elizabeth just stared at him in bewilderment for a while, realizing that Jason Moran was one of the most amazing men she had ever met. He was truly a wonderful man.

She didn't understand why he was single. But after that thought ran through Elizabeth's mind, a frown appeared across her face. She had no idea whether or not he was single, she never asked him and he never mentioned it.

A light dimmed in Elizabeth's eyes at the thought that Jason could be attached to someone else.

Someone she hated already and couldn't figure out why.