Shutting off the bike in the parking lot of the local diner, Jason and Elizabeth make their way to meet up with O'Brien and Corelli just by the entrance. For a moment, Elizabeth can't seem to find move her feet, standing frozen by Jason's side a good distance away from them. It has been so long since she's spoken to either of them that she just couldn't seem to make her feet work.
"Hey, its okay." Jason says softly. "They understood why you couldn't keep in touch with them."
"Okay." she takes a deep breath before slipping her hand into his. "I'm ready."
Jason could feel her tense up beside him, but knew that she had no reason to worry. Francis had been the one to berate him when Elizabeth pulled away from them after Jason pulled away from her. He wasn't sorry about it, though, knowing that if he had fought for Elizabeth it wouldn't have ended well for any of them.
She taught him that everything that's meant to be will be and he had to believe it as he walked away. Seeing where they are today, he has to agree with the saying, thankful more than ever that they've found their way back to each other. They still have a long way to go as far as falling in love with each other is concerned, but, with fate in their corner this time around, they have time to make it there.
As soon as they reached the two, Francis pulled her for a warm embrace before pulling away and smiling softly. He had missed her over the years and was happy that the two were finally making their way back to what should have happened all those years ago. Voicing how much he missed her, Francis steps aside with Jason to fill him in on the business.
"Johnny..." she starts to say but is cut off when he just shakes his head and slowly wraps his arms around her, holding her close. "I missed you, too."
"Yeah." he whispers, taking in a deep breath before pulling away. "You have no idea."
"I'm sorry, you know?" she voices when he takes a few steps away from her. "It was just hard for me."
"I know." he assures. "I understood that."
"Do you think we can be friends again?"
"Wasn't aware we stopped." he counters. "In case I forget to say it later, its good to have you back."
"Thank you." she smiles softly. "You have no idea how much that means to me."
"Come on." he says as he holds out his arm to her. "How about we grab something to snack on while they talk."
"Sounds good." she replies as she links her arm with his. "Fries?"
"Still reading my mind."
While they make their way into the diner to have some fries, Francis catches Jason up on everything business related. Sonny has been having a lot of surprise visits since Jason left town. Apparently there are a good amount of people in the other organizations that weren't too happy to find out that Jason just up and left town. It took a whole lot of explaining on Sonny's part to get them to agree to give Jason the time that they had previously set to come back and get married.
"Speaking of which, I have to go find Robin." Jason voices, needing to get it over with sooner rather than later. "Thanks to Sonny I have some explaining to do."
"Can't even imagine." he replies with a shake of his head. "There was something else I should probably tell you..."
"Can it wait?" Jason questions. "I really want to get this conversation out of the way as soon as possible."
"Sure." Francis shrugs. "Nothing life or death."
"Okay." Jason says before making his way to Elizabeth as they walk out of the diner, waiting long enough for Johnny to walk over to Francis before speaking. "I hate leaving you right now, but I have to go talk to Robin."
"Of course." she says without hesitation. "She deserves to hear about our wedding from you."
"Thanks for understanding." he says gratefully. "I just hope she's as understanding when I tell her about it."
"I'm sure she will be." Elizabeth replies with confidence. "If she knows you half as well as I think she does, she'll understand exactly why you chose to not involve her in this."
"I hope so." he sighs before shaking his head. "Anyway, the guys are going to take you to your studio to help pack up your things before taking you to the penthouse."
"Sounds good." she agrees. "Getting the moving part out of the way will leave a lot more time to actually plan the wedding."
"I'll meet you at home." he says softly before kissing her soundly. "Be safe."
"Good luck with Robin."
Gesturing to the guys that he was leaving, Jason makes his way back to his bike before heading off to Robin's apartment, hoping that she'll be there and not at the hospital. This conversation isn't one he wants to have with any amount of nosy busy bodies hanging about. At GH there's any amount of those kind of women working there. Spill even a little secret to one person there and it'll be all around the hospital in less than an hour.
WNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNW
Arriving at the studio, Elizabeth's surprised to find her two best friends standing inside her studio waiting for her, a bottle of her favorite tequila and a few shot glasses in their hands. Letting the two guards know that she'll be out as soon as she's done, Elizabeth closes the door before looking at her two friends in disbelief.
"I can't believe you're both here right now." she shakes her head as she hugs them both at the same time. "I'll take that."
"Where else would we be, Elle?" Johnny counters. "So...I hear congratulations are in order?"
"Yeah." Elizabeth holds out her left hand before dropping it back to her side. "I'm sure you both know why I'm getting married to Jason."
"Because you love him?" Johnny guesses with a slight smirk.
"Because its fate?" Ethan suggests. "I mean, you both did end up in Vegas of all places, if that ain't fate..."
"Playing dumb doesn't suit either of you." Elizabeth counters. "I just want you both to understand that I know what I'm doing and that its not temporary."
"We know." Johnny assures her before helping her pour them all a shot. "To fate."
"No." she shakes her head. "To taking chances and doing whatever it takes to make your own dreams come true."
"Hear, hear!" Ethan exclaims with a chuckle before they clink their glasses and down the shots.
"Okay, okay." Elizabeth voices after the fifth shot. "I really should start packing."
"Need help?" Johnny questions as he sets his shot glass down. "I'm pretty sure we can handle packing up a few things."
"As long as they aren't breakable, of course." Ethan comments as he downs another shot before setting his glass down. "Wouldn't want to accidentally break anything important."
"Of course." Elizabeth laughs softly before gesturing to her dresser. "You can pack my clothes."
"Safe bet." Ethan replies before making his way over to the dresser.
Shaking her head, Elizabeth packs up her entire studio with the help of her two, not so sober, friends. It would take about an hour or so before they are all set and ready to make their way downstairs to the car. Once they have everything packed into Francis's SUV, she turns to her two best friends to say goodbye, only to be surprised further when Ethan hands her an envelope.
"What's this?" Elizabeth looks at them confusedly, knowing its not something from her studio.
"An invitation." Ethan says simply. "You should get going. I'm sure lover boy will be home soon."
"You're right." she says after a moment. "Before I go, I need you both to promise me you'll stop by the penthouse tomorrow. The sooner I start planning the wedding the better."
"We'll see you tomorrow." Johnny voices but doesn't comment further, wishing he could see her face when she opens the envelope. "Love you, Elle."
"I love you both, too."
Sliding into the SUV when O'Brien holds open her door for her, Elizabeth holds the envelope in her hands and relaxes into her seat as they take off to the penthouse. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of party Johnny was hosting that warranted an invitation. Usually they just told her about an event rather than handing her an invitation, so, it definitely peaked her interest.
WNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNWNW
Parking outside Robin's apartment building, Jason takes a deep breath before making his way to knock on her door, letting out a deep sigh of relief when she opens to door. As soon as she realizes its him, her eyes go wide before she shakes her head and gestures for him to come inside.
"Can I get you anything?" Robin questions, her words coming out a little more strangled than she had intended. "Water?"
"No, thanks." he gestures for them to sit down. "You okay?"
"Me? Yeah, of course." Robin shakes her head. "I'm fine. Just fine."
"Okay." he voices, deciding not to call her out on the obvious lie. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate that you were willing to marry me to help me out, but I already found someone else when Sonny approached you."
"Oh, thank god!" she practically exclaims before retracting at the confused look on Jason's face. "Oh, wow, no...I didn't mean it like that. Obviously, I would have helped you if you really needed me to..."
"Its okay." he assures. "You didn't want to marry me. You can say it."
"I really didn't." Robin admits. "I love you, of course, we both know I always will. Its just...you and I have finally come to a place where we can be friends again and I'd really hate to ruin that by getting married, you know?"
"I felt the same way."
"Good, good." Robin smiles brightly. "I even started seeing someone, you know? Its nothing serious yet, but its starting to head in that direction."
"I'm happy for you." he says wholeheartedly. "Do I know him?"
"No. He's a new doctor at the hospital." she admits. "His name is Patrick Drake."
"I hope you know that if he does anything to hurt you, he'll have me to answer to."
"I can definitely appreciate that." Robin replies with a soft laugh. "So...can I ask who the lucky lady is that gets to be your wife?"
"Elizabeth Webber."
"Oh, wow, I didn't expect that." she replies after a moment of thought. "From what I know about her, though, I can definitely see it. She's a very lucky girl."
"Nah, I'm the lucky one."
"I'm sensing there's a deep history between you two."
"Yeah." he admits. "I lost her once. I don't intend to let it happen again."
"You deserve everything good this world has to offer." Robin comments. "I'm really happy for you, Jason."
"Thanks." he replies. "Anyway, I should get going, she's probably already waiting for me at home."
"Of course." Robin walks him to door. "Tell her I said congratulations."
"I will." he assures. "And thanks again. Its nice to know you're still willing to help me."
"Eh, what are friends for right?"
Hugging her goodbye, Jason straddles his bike before making his way back to the penthouse. He wasn't entirely certain how telling her about Elizabeth would go, but he was pleasantly surprised that she was completely okay with not getting married. Finding out that she has started seeing someone else made him hopeful that they would soon find their way to being real friends. Hopefully better off than they had been as a couple. Getting to the penthouse, he finds Elizabeth unpacking her things in the bedroom.
"Hey." she greets him, leaning up as he leans down to kiss her softly. "How was your talk with Robin?"
"Surprisingly okay." he admits. "She didn't want to marry me."
"Good." she says simply. "Because I do."
"You better." he counters before sitting down beside her. "There's no bailing from here on out."
"Wouldn't dream of it." she smirks before kissing him once more. "Did she say why she didn't want to marry you?"
"Same reason I didn't." he replies. "That and she's seeing someone."
"Both good reasons." she agrees. "I'm glad she took it well."
"Just so you know, you can redecorate the place if you want." he says after a moment. "Once we're married, we'll start on finding a home for us and you can decorate that home as you please, as well."
"You'll help me, though, right?"
"Sure." he smiles softly. "If you want my input, you'll have it."
"I do." she assures before she pulls out the invitation that her friends had given her. "Seeing as neither of us had any input on the wedding."
"What do you mean?" he looks at her confusedly before taking the envelope from her. "What's this?"
"An invitation." she informs him. "To our own wedding."