A/N: Wow, so first of all, thank you guys so much for all of your amazing reviews! I've never gotten that many for one chapter before, and I appreciate each one immensely. I'm so glad you guys are liking it so far! So, here's the next chapter!
As they walked back into the house, Elizabeth let out a sigh. She had no idea what she was going to do. She couldn't keep harboring Jason here, keeping him a secret from the whole town. And he was steadily asking questions that she didn't know how to answer. How do you explain to someone what has happened over years of their life that they can't remember? It would take her days to recount all of that.
"Elizabeth?", Jason said softly.
She turned to face him. "What?"
"We aren't together anymore, are we?"
She shook her head in an almost sad manner. "No. I told you, Jason. You're married to Sam now."
She had mentioned that before, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that. He wasn't sure of many things, but he did know that he loved Elizabeth. Getting involved with Sam, however, was the worst mistake he ever made. He just had trouble accepting that he could have screwed his life up so badly. That he could've married a woman that he didn't love, and let the one that he did go.
He lowered himself down onto the couch, and clasped his hands together. "I don't understand how that can be true. It can't be."
Slowly, Elizabeth sat down beside him. "It is true. You...love her. You married her because you love her."
It hurt her immensely to utter those words. But they were true. Jason did love Sam. He put a wedding ring on her finger. He would've never done that if he didn't love her. Would he?
"I love you", he said quietly, tears glistening in his eyes. "What did I do to screw everything up, Elizabeth? What did I do to lose you?"
She sighed. "Jason, you didn't do anything. You just wanted to protect me and the boys. You didn't want us to get hurt. So...you walked away. But we both agreed that it was for the best."
He walked away? That was his family! That was the woman that he loved! How could he have done that? God, he hated himself.
"So, you mean to tell me that I walked away from you because I wanted to protect you...and then, I married Sam? That doesn't make any sense!", Jason lamented as he stood up, and began to pace the floor.
"Well, it's a little bit more complicated than that. There was a lot of time between those two events. And I guess you felt like Sam knew the risks of being with you, and she didn't have kids to protect at the time like I did so...", Elizabeth trailed off, noticing the very disturbed look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Before...you said that me and Sam had a kid."
She slowly nodded. "His name's Danny."
Jason felt like he was the one who was about to faint. All of a sudden, he wasn't sure he wanted to know any more of his past. He didn't know if he could take learning about any more ill-advised things that he had done.
"Okay, I think I've had enough history lessons for today", he said, sitting back down on the couch beside her.
"You know you're going to have to go home eventually", she reminded him. "I can't just hide you here. If Cameron sees you, the jig's up. We'll be lucky if Aiden didn't tell anyone. But I don't think he recognized you, so maybe it'll be okay."
"What about Jake?", he wondered, mildly curious as to why she hadn't mentioned him with her other two children.
Her heart was breaking for him. He was going to have to find out that his son was dead for the second time. She barely survived it once. And he was still reeling from all of the other stuff that he had just found out. She had real concerns of whether he would be able to handle the truth. But he had to be told sooner or later.
Elizabeth took a shaky breath. "Jason, there's something that you need to know."
The sudden noise of her phone ringing spared him the anguish for a moment. She debated whether or not she should pick it up.
"You gonna get that?", he asked. He could tell that something heavy was weighing on her, and he couldn't deny that it was making him nervous.
"Yeah", she reluctantly replied, picking it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Elizabeth?" She could recognize the woman's voice as Sam's. Crap. What was she supposed to do now?
"It's Sam!", she whispered to Jason, whose face reflected his horror. "What am I supposed to do?"
"You can't tell her I'm here!", he whispered back. He had gotten himself into so much trouble. He didn't want anything to do with that woman, and here he was married to her. If she found out that he was alive, she would never leave him alone. He buried his head in his hands.
"Elizabeth?"
"Yeah, I'm here", she responded, clutching her phone to her ear.
"Uh, yeah. Did you call me earlier?"
"Yeah. Um...I just wanted to check on Danny. He's still doing good, right?"
"Oh. Yeah, he's doing fine."
"Okay, that's good to hear", she remarked. "Well, I hate to sound rude, but I really need to go. I have company right now."
"Uh, okay. Bye."
She hung up the phone, and ran her fingers through her hair. "This is such a mess."
"You just randomly call to check up on people's kids?", Jason asked, unsure if that explanation was going to fly with Sam. She wasn't stupid.
"That's all I could think of", Elizabeth said defensively. "And it wasn't all too long ago that he was sick, so I don't think it's that out-of-the-ordinary."
"What do you mean he was sick?"
She sighed. "He had leukemia."
"Oh my God."
"He's fine now", she assured him, holding onto his hand. He couldn't take any more right now, and she knew it. "I think maybe you should go lie down. I know this is all a lot to process."
Normally, he would've brushed the suggestion off. But he knew that she was right. So, he headed up to the guest room, and fell fast asleep.
He awoke a few hours later to a clanging noise, and his eyes immediately opened to see Elizabeth setting a tray of food on the nightstand.
"Sorry", she apologized.
"It's fine. What time is it?", he wondered, noticing that the sky had turned dark outside the window. He sat up, and she sat down next to him.
"A little after six. I thought I'd bring you dinner since I'm kind of trying to keep the kids from seeing you until we figure out what you're going to do."
"Aiden already saw me", he pointed out.
"I know. But I'm hoping that he's forgotten all about that", she sighed. "I really don't think that this is a good idea, Jason. There are a lot of people that should know you're alive. Sam, Monica, Sonny, Carly, Michael, Spinelli...heck even A.J."
"A.J.?", he repeated in surprise. Surely she couldn't be referring to his dead brother. Then again, this was Port Charles. The town where no one stayed dead.
Elizabeth nodded, confirming his thoughts. "It turns out that he's alive after all."
And Jason thought that he was feeling better after his nap. He just let out a deep sigh. He wanted his memory back. He wanted to remember. Because it was getting harder and harder to absorb all of this information.
He thought he was coming home to the woman he loved, but he was beginning to realize that he was going to have to clean up messes that he didn't even remember making before he could have even a sliver of happiness.
"Can I see the boys?", he asked quietly, but in an almost desperate tone. He didn't just want to see them. He needed to see them.
"Jason, they can't see you. You really have to..."
"I'll wait until they're asleep", Jason offered, cutting her off. "They won't see me. I just want to see them. Please."
Elizabeth's glance was diverted to the floor. She couldn't look him in the eye. "Cameron will be in bed by nine. He's usually out in about fifteen minutes."
At her permission, he allowed himself to smile. "Thank you. What about Jake?"
She shook her head, unable to fight back her tears. They streamed down her cheeks, and she made no effort to stop them. Jason looked at her in concern, feeling a sense of dread build up inside him.
"Elizabeth? Where's Jake?", he asked again, terrified of the reason behind her tears. She was scaring him to death.
"I'm so sorry, Jason", she cried as he put his arm around her in an attempt to calm her down.
"Hey, what are you sorry about?", Jason asked gently. "Is Jake okay? Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth tried to collect herself. She had to be the strong one. He was going to need her to be, because even Jason wouldn't be able to be strong when she told him the truth. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and turned to him.
"There was an accident", she said quietly. "A car accident. It was dark. Jake was outside, and I didn't know...until it was too late."
As she trailed off, he began to realize what she was trying to say. He shook his head, as if that would somehow make her words untrue. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He couldn't speak. The gut-wrenching pain pierced through him with no mercy. It hurt worse than any knife or bullet. He knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
"Jake didn't make it", she whimpered.
And with that, Jason felt his whole world fall apart.
So, I was crying at the end of this. Like I really really hate that they killed Jake off. And I just know I'm going to need some ice cream to get through this next chapter because it's going to be very sad. But anyway, I'd love to hear what you guys think.