Prompt:Fear of Fire
Part 7
Elizabeth had never felt so horrible in her life. Her head was pounding, her stomach was churning, and she was doing everything possible not to cry. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for at least a week. That was all she wanted, and of course, she couldn't even get that one wish.
She didn't even have a bed.
Terrific.
Her life had gone from bad to worse since the day she was born. She didn't even care about everything that turned out completely wrong in her past, the only thing she cared about at the moment was not crying in front of the movers who were now taking her nice comfy bed that she ached to stretch out on away from her.
She also had to hold back the urge to kick the big men for treating her bed so poorly. She was sure that because of the way they were pulling it along, bumping into every piece of furniture, that if she were to ever get her bed back—or anything for that matter—it would be ruined. The movers were about as gentle with her mattress as a giant would be with a piece of delicate glass. The bastards were going to rip a hole in it.
She caught Max's curious gaze once again and had to hold back her tears even more. Than man looked like he felt sorry for her. She really wished Jason was there instead.
Why, out of the entire time that he was her guard, did Sonny have to call him away on business now? They were on their way to her apartment after she had been sure that her stomach was settled when Sonny called Jason and told him that he needed him for a few hours. It was important and no one else could handle the situation but Jason.
At the time, neither Jason nor Elizabeth cared that they would be spending their first afternoon apart since they met and Jason started guarding her. Both were sure that Elizabeth would be spending the entire afternoon sleeping. Jason had been relieved to have something to do, and Elizabeth was just as relieved to have some time away from him, some time to get over her embarrassment.
Max was already standing in front of her apartment building when the two of them showed up and Elizabeth all but jumped out of the car before it stopped calling out a goodbye to Jason over her shoulder. He didn't leave until both Elizabeth and Max walked into the lobby of her apartment building. That fact was something that made Elizabeth smile a little despite her queasy stomach.
Max and Elizabeth didn't even get a chance to walk through her door fully when her landlord came rushing towards her needing to discuss important matters.
Immediately.
Elizabeth didn't care for his sneer when she dared to tell him that she really couldn't talk at the moment, but when he didn't move an inch, not even when Max stepped behind her with a hard expression on his face, she finally let up and decided to talk to the snippy man. She thought that she would get it over with so she could take her week long nap. She didn't even know what the uptight man wanted to talk to her about anyway. She figured it had something to do with her extra house guest she had for the past two days. And if that were the case, then she was going to let him know that he had no right sniffing into her business, and he could leave her apartment immediately.
Watching the bulky movers nick the side of her antique dresser, something her grandmother had given her, Elizabeth could only wish that her nosy landlord wanted to talk about Jason. But no, oh no, what he had to say to her was much worse.
She lost her apartment because she no longer had the appropriate funds in her account.
Running her hands through her hair, Elizabeth cursed Joshua. She was sure that this was his doing. It didn't matter that she was twenty-three and the money she had in her account was her rightful inheritance from her passing grandmother. No, that little butthead probably went running to her mother and father, telling them everything that he knew, which was nothing. Elizabeth could only imagine the bull her told her parents about what he saw when he ran into her and Jason yesterday at the restaurant.
She wanted to slap her ex-fiancé for showing up and ruining everything she was working for.
Elizabeth knew that it was a matter of time before her parents found out a way to freeze her account. That was why she was trying to find a job when she ended up being kidnapped and then protected by the same man. She had plenty of money; her grandmother had made sure of that when she put a trust aside for Elizabeth, knowing that her youngest—and most favorite—grandchild might separate from the family one day. She had always told Elizabeth that she was meant to be free; she didn't need to follow in her siblings footsteps or try to make her parents proud. She was a free-spirit and needed to find a way to live.
Elizabeth had always loved her grandmother and yearned to be the woman her grams told her she could be, but her parents and her siblings had always made her feel like a fool when she tried. Her grandmother had died when she was seventeen and had made out her will leaving a trust aside to Elizabeth to collect on her eighteenth birthday. Of course, Elizabeth had been with Joshua at the time, and didn't know that five years later she would finally be granting her grandmothers wishes, and her own, to leave her family's home and find her own life.
Her mother had called her a fool when she announced that she was leaving home and moving out on her own, knowing full well that Elizabeth wouldn't be able to make it. She told Elizabeth to get over her stupid pride and marry Joshua.
After her mother's tirade, Elizabeth had turned around and walked out of her only home with her head held high. She didn't want to depend on her grandmother's money, but until she had made a life for herself in Port Charles she needed to use the money.
The second she left her home, her parents had closed all of her accounts they had power over, thinking that they could force her back home. As Elizabeth watched the movers take out her last piece of furniture, she knew that her parents realized she didn't need their money and found out a way to close the account she opened with her grandmother's money. She didn't know how they did it and she didn't know if she was going to be able to find out either.
Her parents were sneaky sons-of-a-bitches.
Elizabeth was forced out of her thoughts by her ex-landlord's squeaky-I'm-better-than-you-because-you-have-no-money-voice. "You really need to leave now Ms. Webber, you no longer live her and this is now private property. We really need to…" His speech was cut off when Max stepped in front of Elizabeth, blocking the man from her view. Her ex-landlord stepped back and visibly paled.
"We'll leave when we are ready."
"But-"
All Max had to do was hold up one hand and shake his head to get the other man to shut up.
"Fine, just don't be long." The last bit of his sentence was rushed out as he ran towards the front door, leaving Elizabeth and Max standing alone in the empty apartment living-room.
"I-I can't believe this."
Max turned around once Elizabeth spoke. He noticed the cloudy look her big eyes took and prayed she wasn't going to cry. The big man visibly cringed once he saw a tear spill down her cheek. He was no good with woman who cried, he had no idea what to do with them once they started blubbering. Thankfully, Max thought, he never had to deal with an emotional woman before. He rarely had time for a woman, unless it was for an eventful night warming his sheets, so he really had no experience with them. His scowl became even darker once he saw another tear spill down her cheek.
He couldn't help but feel bad for Elizabeth. She had been through quite an ordeal with almost being kidnapped and now having her life threatened with the possible threat of retaliation. But now she was being kicked out of her apartment and all of her possessions were being taken away from her. The beautiful woman standing in front of him really did have bad luck. But despite her luck, Max couldn't help but notice that she really was a very beautiful woman. He also realized that he didn't like seeing her cry and for the first time, he wished that he knew some way to soothe her.
Clearing his throat, Max tried to talk to her. "It's not that bad."
"Not that bad?" Her voice sounded astonished at his statement. How could he think that losing everything wasn't that bad? "I have nothing left Max. I…damn it, my parents won!" Elizabeth felt bad that she shouted at the large man, but she had no idea what the hell she was going to do. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to… I just…"
Suddenly Elizabeth covered her face and let the tears fall. Her parents had actually won, she was going to have to go back home and face their I-told-you-so faces. She hated each and every one of her family members. Why couldn't they just leave her alone to live her own life?
She suddenly felt a very strong hand on her shoulder and looked into Max's uncomfortable eyes. He was standing rigid and his grip on her shoulder was awkward. But at that moment Elizabeth didn't care, she took the "comfort" Max was giving her and flew into his arms.
Max hesitantly put his muscular arms around Elizabeth's slight frame. It took him several attempts to figure out where to put his hands before he finally started to pat her back in what he hoped was comfort. She stared to rub her face against his suit jacket, attempting to dry her tears when Max felt the wetness on the front of his shirt.
He really hoped that tears didn't stain; he was wearing his favorite shirt damn it.
Elizabeth wasn't making any sense to him when she tried to talk through her tears. In her mind, she was explaining how crappy her parents where and what they had done to her, but all Max could hear was her blubbering. He really had no freaking clue how to get her to stop either. His pats on her back became more forceful when she began to hiccup, causing her to crash into his strong chest every time his hand made contact with her back.
Elizabeth was sure she was going to have a bruise on her back if he didn't stop and when she tried to back away from him, he didn't catch on and only hit her harder.
"What the hell happened?"
"Thank God." Max wasn't a very religious man, but once he heard Jason's voice, he turned around with Elizabeth in his arms and thanked the mighty man above. Walking over to Jason, the bigger man all but threw Elizabeth's tiny body into Jason's arms before walking out of the door. "Good luck man, I had no idea how to make her stop. I'm going to wait out here." As he walked past Jason and Elizabeth, Max glanced down at his wet shirt and muttered.
Both Jason and Elizabeth stared at Max as he walked out to the hallway. Neither one seemed to notice that Jason was still holding her until Elizabeth let out another pitiful hiccup, focusing the attention back on her. Jason took in her misery filled eyes and her wet cheeks and immediately forgot about the anger he first felt when he saw Elizabeth in Max's arms. "What happened?"
Jason's voice was soothing and just down right caring when he asked his question, and for a moment Elizabeth forgot about everything while she looked into his piercing blue eyes. When he gently squeezed her waist with his hands, she finally remembered all about losing everything, and most important, still being in his arms. She quickly removed herself from his embrace and walked towards the center of her now empty living room. She ran her hands through her hair as she whispered her answer. "I lost everything."
Elizabeth didn't continue and Jason was having a hard time understanding what she meant. He couldn't help but notice that he apartment was now bare. She was standing exactly where the couch he slept on used to be. "How did you lose everything?"
"My parents that's how!" She whirled around to stare at him with angry filled eyes for asking such a stupid question. But when she saw his confusion, she knew she was being unreasonable and just a little childish. "I'm sorry." Taking in a deep breath, Elizabeth willed her tears away, and for once, her emotions let her win. "When I moved to Port Charles, I was basically running away from everything."
Jason continued to look at her with confusion but Elizabeth didn't let her impatience get to her. Instead, she walked towards the wall that her television used to be and sat down on the floor, leaning her back against the wall. "After I found Joshua with my best friend, I had made a vow to myself to finally follow my grandmother's wishes."
Jason didn't know why, but he felt very intrigued by what she was telling him and decided to sit down next to her. His legs stretched out before him and his arm brushed up against hers. When he settled down, Elizabeth began to tell him about her grandmother's wish for her to be free and away from the family. "But since I was with Joshua, I didn't listen to her. She accepted my decision even though I was still so young, but when she died she made sure to let me know that she still believed that I should make it on my own. And when I finally realized she was right, that all along my grandmother was the only family member that loved me unconditionally, I decided to leave and come here. Well, I actually didn't have a place picked out, but when I stopped in Port Charles I admittedly fell in love." She smiled. "I obviously didn't know at the time that I would be almost kidnapped." Her laughter made Jason smile.
"Boy was my parents upset." A bitter laugh replaced her joyful one. "My mom told me that I wouldn't be able to make it out on my own. My father just looked at me like I was the disappointment that he always knew I was, and my brother, he made me feel the worse. He told me that I could never be anything and that I would just go crawling home, begging my parents to take me back in. I wanted to kick him"
Elizabeth's tear filled eyes met Jason's sympathetic ones when she continued. "I tried so hard to prove them wrong. The only money that I had was the money my grams put aside for me in her will, and it was more than enough. I could probably live off of what she gave me for the rest of my life, but I didn't want to." She paused to wipe a tear from her cheek, continuing when Jason's thumb beat her to it. "I wanted to get a job and become something. But you know how that turned out; I never made it to my interview." She finished miserably.
"You could still find a way to make it here."
Jason voice was still soothing causing the urge to crawl into his arms and let him hold her. She suppressed that urge and stayed put. "They won Jason. They found a way to freeze my account, take away everything that I own, and make me lose my apartment. I have nothing."
Jason didn't like the empty look that entered her eyes. Since he began to know Elizabeth, she had always been so full of fire and life. Even when she was afraid, she had a fire in her that he admired. Even though he didn't know her all that well, he didn't like to see her so upset and distant. "I'll help you figure out a way to-"
"It's too late Jason. I have no other choice but to go home and listen to them gloat about how useless I am."
"You have another choice." His voice had taken on a harder edge than he meant it to. He didn't know her family, but he knew that if he ever had to meet her father or brother, he was going to kick their ass.
"No I don't."
"Yes you do."
It was like being two, fighting back and forth like they were. Elizabeth let out an unladylike grunt and turned towards Jason, resting her shoulder against the wall. "How Jason? I have nothing. No money, no job, no place to live. How am I supposed to make it here if I don't even have a place to live?"
"You have a place to live."
"Where?"
"Move in with me."