FF # 178 Double Take

Part Twelve

When he told her that he was taking her nowhere, she hadn't the slightest clue as to what he was talking about. But the farther they drove away from Port Charles, the more she understood what he meant when he said nowhere.

They really were in the middle of nowhere. She didn't see any buildings or homes, just miles and miles of large trees surrounding both sides of the narrow road. The windows were rolled down, blowing her hair in her face and allowing the sun to shine through, baking her skin with its soft heat.

She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life and believed that nothing could possibly be more magical than the sight of the trees combining together as one lush streak of green as they sped by. The artist in her ached for a blank canvas and a paintbrush so that she could capture the magic she was witnessing.

Nothing could compare to the beauty she experienced on the secluded road.

Until he stopped.

Jason pulled the car to the side of the abandoned road and stepped outside without a single glance or word to Elizabeth. Following his lead, Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders and opened her door as Jason rounded the front of the car.

He still said nothing to her as he grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers.

Elizabeth remained silent because she was speechless. The further they walked into the abyss of lush trees, the more captivated she became. Rays of sunlight streamed through leafy openings from above while the two of them continued their silent walk, only hearing the slight crunch their feet made as they took each step.

She was beginning to wonder where he was taking her. Tilting her head to look up at Jason, she frowned up at him to let him see her confusion. But when he didn't look down at her, Elizabeth squeezed his hand to gain his attention. Jason glanced down at her, saw her confusion, and looked away with a grin on his face.

She was just going to have to wait and see.

They finally broke through an opening in the trees and what she saw left her breathless.

She couldn't take her eyes off of the large shimmering lake that was surrounded by trees, lush green grass, and a rocky ledge. She was captivated by the beautiful sight before her and couldn't think long enough to realize that she needed to take in a breath.

Jason stared down at her as she took in the beauty before her. He had been there several times, and although he had thought that it was a beautiful sight, nothing was more beautiful to him than the pure look of admiration that crossed over Elizabeth's face when she first gasped when they stopped before the lake.

His chest suddenly felt tight as he continued to look down at her, admiring her sheer beauty in about the same way she admired their surroundings. Taking in a deep breath, Jason looked away from her to recompose himself.

She was still taking everything in when Jason tugged on her hand. When she looked up at him, Jason had to suck in another large breath.

She literally took his breath away.

"This is… wow, Jason, this is so beautiful. How did you find this?"

They began to walk towards the lake, their hands still intertwined. "I was ridding one day, and I realized that I was being followed so I turned into the woods, knowing that they couldn't follow me." When her eyes opened wide, he berated himself, knowing that he could have left that part of the story out. "And then I found this."

"Did they catch you?"

"What?"

"The people that were following you, did they catch up to you?"

Shaking his head slightly, Jason answered. "No." It wasn't a complete lie. The men never did catch him, but both of them did get a nasty gunshot wound when they tried. That, he figured, she didn't need to know.

They stopped when they reached the edge of the lake. Elizabeth sat down, tugging on Jason's hand when he didn't immediately follow. He sat down next to her with his legs drawn up, resting his elbows on his knees. Elizabeth bumped his side with her shoulder when he was finally settled, causing him to look down at her.

"Thank you for taking me here."

He gave her a lopsided smile before he looked away. "I wanted to take you here on the bike, but it still isn't ready yet and you looked like you needed to get away."

"I did." Sighing, Elizabeth let her gaze wander over the beauty that was before her. "I have never seen something so beautiful before in my life."

"I have." At his gruff whisper, Elizabeth looked up at him only to find him staring down at her.

Her voice was whisper soft. "What?"

"You."

Her breathing grew heavy as a blush appeared across her cheeks. She needed so badly to look away but she couldn't. They both moved towards the other until their lips touched. It was a slight touch, almost non-existent and both of them were left needing more. Jason curled his hand around the back of her neck, tugging her forward as he added pressure to her lips. When she sighed, his tongue swept inside her mouth, exploring heaven.

Every time the other tried to pull away, the other leaned forward, not wanting the hungry kiss to end. Jason finally pulled away and the only reason Elizabeth allowed it was because she was becoming light headed with the lack of oxygen.

She was never going to get used to his kisses. They always left her breathless and wanting more. She had never felt like that before. When he was kissing her, it was like the both of them couldn't bare the thought of their lips not touching. There was always a hungry need that built up with the two of them and neither one of them ever wanted it to end.

Jason gazed down at her as she stared at him with a bemused expression. He loved that he could make her speechless with just one kiss. But he had to admit that she did the same to him. Running his knuckle down the side of her face, Jason kissed her once more, letting his lips linger for a moment longer than he attended before he pulled back.

When she finally opened her starry eyes, a smug smile crossed his lips before he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She rested her head on his chest as she snuggled closer, staring at the scenery before her in comfortable silence.

His hand was stroking her arm when she finally broke the silence. "Tell me something about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

"Something more than the fact that you like to ride."

He chuckled slightly as he moved his hand higher up her arm until he felt her silky hair running through his fingers. "There really isn't much to tell."

When she moved away from him he wanted to pull her back against him. She sat on her knees as she faced him. "Of course there is a lot to tell. Come on Jason, you know so much about me. It's only fair that you tell me something about you."

"Ok." He looked across the lake, scrunching his forehead as he thought about something to tell her. Elizabeth, not being a very patient person, decided to help him out.

"How 'bout I ask you some questions." His nod was slight. "Ok," looking away like he had minutes before, Elizabeth quickly flung her gaze back towards him as a huge smile crossed her lips. "What is your family like?"

"I don't really have a family." Her smile faded and a frown appeared and for some reason, Jason felt the need to explain. "I have a sister, Emily. She's around your age. And then there's Sonny."

When he didn't go on, Elizabeth couldn't hide her confusion. Before she could ask, Jason felt the need to explain again, and this time, he didn't give her such a short answer. "It's kind of complicated."

She noticed that he seemed uncomfortable about the situation and decided to end the conversation. "Jason, you don't have—"

"About seven years ago, I was in an accident." Her startled eyes swung up to his face, but he wasn't looking at her. "My brother AJ was getting into his car after he had been drinking and I was told that I tried to stop him. He ended up crashing and I was thrown from the car. I hit my head on a tree and when I woke up weeks later, I couldn't remember anything. I had no memory of my life before."

When he finally looked at her, there were tears clouding her eyes. He had the sudden urge to comfort her. "I'm fine now. It was hard when I woke up and everyone was trying to make me into something that I wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

"The person that I was before the accident was the complete opposite of who I was when I woke up and who I am now. He was this perfect son and I couldn't be that son anymore. I ended up leaving and eventually working for Sonny."

She put her hand on his arm. "That must have been hard."

"Leaving?" When she nodded, he shook his head. "No, it was the best thing for me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't—"

"No, it's ok, you didn't," cupping her cheek, Jason ran his thumb back and forth. "You didn't know."

She sighed as leaned into his hand, loving being with him, feeling his hand against her cheek, listening to him talk about his past. He was just leaning in to steal yet another kiss from her when she stood up suddenly, walking closer to the edge of the lake. The water was so clear, Elizabeth could see all the way to the bottom. They were standing on a hill and Elizabeth was sure that if she jumped into the lake and stood at the bottom, the top of her head wouldn't surface.

Jason's arm slipped around her stomach, pulling her back against his chest. Everything felt so perfect at that moment. Suddenly, that small nagging voice in the back of her head that sounded an awful lot like her mother suddenly popped up, making her wonder when it would all end.

Everything good in her life always ended.

And she always got her heart broken.

"What are you thinking about?"

Jason's voice was deep and seductive as he whispered in her ear right before he began to nuzzle her neck, placing sweet kisses along the column of her throat. He really hoped that what he told her didn't change anything between them. He was having to good of a time with her to let his past ruin what was going on. But yet, he couldn't help but let that small insecurity pop up when she walked away from him and became so silent.

"Nothing." He could tell by how stiff she was that she was lying. Pulling away from her, Jason was about to turn her around to look at him until she turned herself.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jason looked to his right, before he tried to look back at her. She saw the slight vulnerability in his gaze before he looked down at the ground, unable to look at her. "If…if what I told—"

"Oh, Jason, no," She placed both of her hands on his forearms before she stepped closer to him with a soft smile. "I'm glad you told me. I hate to think of you going through something like that, but I am glad you felt like you could tell me."

Their eyes connected again and Jason was finally able to let the breath he was holding out. "Then what's wrong?"

Her smile faded, and though he hated to see her frown, he really wanted to know what was wrong. He tried to take her mind off of her family problems and the fact that she didn't have access to her money, but he knew that it would be better for her to talk about it.

"I just, I don't know I just got this feeling that all of this is too good to be true."

He wasn't expecting that.

She could tell she confused him. "Nothing about meeting you has been… normal. But when I am with you, I just… I don't know I can't quite explain it. But when I was looking out at the water I just felt like this was all going to end. You know what, it's just… this stupid insecurity of mine, and I'm being foolish. Every time I am the least bit happy, I always hear my mother's voice, telling me that it won't last. I'll never be happy, I'll…" She couldn't go on; Jason's lips on hers were preventing her from speaking. And when he ended the kiss, she forgot what they were talking about to begin with.

"Wha… what did you do that for."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I wanted to."

"Oh, ok." She really needed to snap out of it and stop staring at his lips.

Jason was running his hand through her hair as his other arm snaked around her waist, pulling her fully against him. "I don't know about the future, but we have right now. We don't have to worry about what is going to happen."

And just like that, he made it all seem better.

Her smile was dazzling. "You know, you should write a book."

"Oh?"

Laughter was evident in her eyes. "I'm serious. It could be like a self help book or something. It'll be really short of course, since everything is so simple with you, but really—" She was cut off when she squealed with laughter as he lifted her in his arms.

"What are you doing?" She was laughing so hard as she held on to him as tight as possible. He was moving closer and closer to the edge of the hill, closer and closer to the lake.

"I thought you could go for a swim."

Before she could protest, he tossed her in the water.