Chapter 2
A week later, Jason was sitting on a bench by the docks, thinking, when the object of his thoughts just so happened to walk by.
Liz saw him and thought to herself, 'I'm just going to keep walking. I won't even say hi. I'll pretend I don't see him.'
Before she could be considered safely by him he spoke.
"Oh, hi, Elizabeth."
'Damn,' she thought.
"Uh, hi, Jason."
She was going to call it good and keep on walking. Unfortunately Jason had other plans.
"Are you doing anything?"
"Well, I'm meeting Em at Kelly's soon."
"I could walk there with you."
"I suppose."
Jason stood and joined her in heading for Kelly's.
They walked in silence for a minute until Jason said, "Can I ask you something?"
Liz looked at him, quizzically and said, "Okay."
"You ever feel like you're being pulled in all directions at once?"
She considered for a moment.
"On occasion. Though I try to keep expectations low," she joked, "It's safer."
Jason tried to give her a smile. There was just so much on his mind.
"I don't have that luxury. I'm being pressured to choose between being a doctor or being part of ELQ."
She gave him a 'duh' look.
"Well, just pick one."
He gave her a serious look.
"I don't want to do either."
She was only mildly surprised. They had a conversation a little while ago about… Well, it wasn't so much a conversation as she had been trying to ignore him and he kept talking.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
Jason stopped for a second and turned to Liz. She paused with him.
"You know how we were talking that time? About a week ago? I told you how I like working with my hands, building things. Well, that's what I'd really like to do."
She referred again to the 'duh' look.
"Then do it."
His eyes went a little large with amusement.
"Wow, you're one for the simple answer. I wish it could be that easy but my life isn't that simple. How can I disappoint my family?"
"If they love you, they'll want you to be happy. They may not like it at first, but eventually they'll get over it," she said, feeling supportive because she did actually have a point of reference for this particular problem. "My parents were on the whole 'Doctor Webber' track for a long time, but I've always liked Drama and Literature and History better. So we had a long talk and, you know, it's my life, so…"
Jason heard every word Liz said... But he was also a fully functioning, red blooded, teenage male. So, he was thinking about how her lips would feel if he were to press his against them. How her hair would feel between his fingers. He wondered if she'd press against him…
Jason locked eyes with Liz. All he could think of was kissing her. He did the impulsive thing. He leaned into her space, put his hands on her arms and did it. And it was amazing. It was like a thousand first times. She let him pull her closer and deepen the kiss.
And then Liz startled him out of his fantasy.
"Hello, Earth to Jason. You in there?"
Jason returned to the conversation, wishing he had actually done it. Wished he had kissed her. But he wasn't sure how she'd react. Even if she did… He was getting ahead of himself. There were things other than that in their way.
"I'm glad your parents are that supportive. But mine… They're just not like that."
Liz gifted Jason with one of her more cheerful smiles.
"Well, then, Jason, you're going to have decide if you'd rather be miserable as a doctor or a corporate suit type. The other choice is you could just tell them and do what makes you happy. It's just like my Grams says, 'You've got to follow your bliss'.
They stopped just outside the entrance of Kelly's.
"Your Grams sounds like a smart woman."
He opened the door for her.
"Yeah, she is."
Immediately Emily set upon them.
"So, you guys going for long walks with out me? Won't people talk?"
Liz gave her friend an exasperated look.
"It's hardly a long walk. We just happened to meet and Jason walked with me the rest of the way here."
"Suuuure," Emily said, giving her big brother a sly wink. "You just happened along."
Jason looked a tad uncomfortable at his sister's words.
"Yeah, great seeing you, Em. I'll just be heading out."
"But Jase, you just got here," Emily had an uber-cheerful moment, "Stay. Have a malt with us."
Liz looked at her friend as if to say, "Malt?" with an incredibly curious look.
"Sorry, Em, I can't. Things to do. People to..."
Jason turned to leave.
"'Kay, Jason, but if you get the urge, let me know."
"Bye, Emily," he said, a tad sharper than he intended as he turned to leave.
"Buh-bye," Emily said to him.
Just then Jason turned back.
"See you later, Elizabeth."
Just then Liz felt a little shy.
"Bye, Jason."
After he was gone Emily turned to Liz.
"So… You and my bro… Walking… Talking…"
"He saw me walking to Kelly's, wanted to talk a second."
"About what, dare I ask?"
"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready."
"Did he tell you it was a secret?"
"No, but he also didn't say I could tell you and you could blab to Port Charles."
"I'm hurt, Lizzy."
"Right. You better have a chocolate shake in front of me in 2.5 seconds…"
"Okay, okay."