Authors Note: This story will likely be updated on Sundays going forward... That way I'll update LIBF, TTS, and GTTPS... Thanks as ALWAYS for reading and the AMZEBALLS reviews...

MyOtherRidesAnImpala -I know I already responded, but for others who are curious- Firstly, thanks for the awesome review... In regards to the Carly I write, I DO try to just keep her in character in GENERAL, BUT as I am a MAJOR SJB fan, for me, it often is VERY heavily colored by Sarah Brown's Carly. For me, she GOT the CORE of Carly... She inspires my muse and is the ONLY Carly I invision when writing for Carly/Jarly, however I have been known to snag aspects of the OTHER protrayers of Carly as well-even JB, who I think was an EXCELLENT actress, but ill-suited for the role of the chemistry-riddled femme fatale that is Carlybabes... One thing that is a CONSTANT, no matter how ubiquitously and ambiguously I try to write the character, she will ALWAYS have brown eyes so if YOU are seeing LW... add contacts! :D

Story #4: Time to Say Goodbye

Sam came bouncing into the penthouse with arms full of binders. She was so excited because very soon she would live there and be Mrs. Jason Morgan. Well, she would if she could ever manage to get through all of the decisions Maxie had left her. She didn't even notice her fiancé standing by the window in the darkened dining room at first. Then he turned around and she felt the smile splitting her face.

Look we gotta talk
Dang I know
I know it's just
It's just...
Some things I gotta get off my chest alright...
Yeahhhh... Whoa... Listen…

"Jason!" she chirped excited to see him until she noticed he didn't return her excitement. "Jason, what's wrong?"

Sam noticed his hesitation as he came toward her and had to fight the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Sam, we need to talk," he said quietly.

"Jason, just—" Sam couldn't finish over the lump growing in her throat. She cleared her throat, and continued, "Just tell me what is wrong? And we'll figure out how to fix it."

He stared at her for a moment and her fear grew. "I'm not sure how to say this. But I need you to know I do love you."

Baby come here and sit down, let's talk
I got a lot to say so I guess I'll start by
Saying that I love you,
But you know, this thing ain't been
No walk in the park for us
I swear it'll only take a minute
You'll understand when I finish, yeah
And I don't wanna see you cry
But I don't wanna be the one to tell you a lie so

"I know you do," she rushed to reassure him. "And you know I love you more than anything, Jason."

"Sam," Jason sighed a little nervous and frustrated. "Just let me say what I need to say. Ok?"

She was quick to nod her agreement. "Sure," she said. "You know you can tell me anything. You can trust me with anything, Jason."

He took a deep breath and told her, "I was with Carly last night."

Sam sucked in a breath as her mind processed. "That's all?" She chuckled in confusion. "I know you said you were gonna be with Spinelli last night, but you didn't have to lie to spend time with Carly. I know you guys are friends. She never lets anyone forget that you guys are best friends." She snorted.

"No, Sam," he cut her off in annoyance. "That isn't what I meant."

How do you let it go? When you,
You just don't know? What's on,
The other side of the door
When you're walking out, talk about it
Everything I tried to remember to say
Just went out my head
So I'ma do the best I can to get you to understand
'cause I know

"Then what did you mean?" Sam asked her nerves returning. "You said that you were with Carly last night."

"We had sex, Sam," he admitted, sadly. "I cheated on you with Carly."

"How?" she whispered brokenly her eyes fixed on the stack of binders full of details for their wedding.

"Spinelli had planned to rent out Jake's for the night," Jason explained. "But there was some confusion about the night so Carly was already there and she was getting pretty drunk. She was upset about some things and we talked and drank a lot. She—I told her I would take her home, but she refused to leave. She wanted to stay in my old room one last time. We ended up talking some more and—"

"And you fucked her," Sam finished in disgust. When a nod was his only response, she snapped. "That whore got you drunk and lured you upstairs at Jake's so you'd screw her and dump me. That sneaky bitch! I knew she wasn't gonna let this go."

"Sam, no!" Jason asserted. "Carly was as drunk as I was—actually she was way more drunk than I was. It wasn't supposed to happen, but it was my fault. I cheated on you. Not Carly."

17

"Don't you dare defend her to me!" Sam screamed, picking up one of her binders and throwing it at him.

Girl I know your heart is breaking
And a thousand times I
Found myself asking, "Why? Why?"
Why am I taking so long to say this?
But trust me, girl I never
Meant to crush your world and I never
Thought I would see the day we grew apart
And I wanna know

"Look, Sam," Jason tried to continue reasonably. "I know you're hurt and angry. And I deserve it, but Carly did not do this intentionally. It's not her fault I'm still—"

"It's not her fault you're still what?" she asked her voice hoarse with fear.

"It's not her fault you're still what, Jason?!"

"It's not her fault I'm still in love with her," he whispered.

How do you let it go? When you,
You just don't know? What's on,
The other side of the door
When you're walking out, talk about it
Girl I hope you understand
What I'm tryna say.
We just can't go on
Pretending that we get along
Girl how you not gonna see it?

"No!" she yelled in tears shaking her head. "She has somehow convinced you that you guys have some great love story and you're meant to be, but I know the truth. You love me, Jason. You asked me to marry you. You want to spend your life with me, Jason."

"I did," Jason hurried to respond. "I mean, I do. I mean—"

"What do you mean?" Sam whimpered as she finally tried to make eye contact.

"Are you saying you don't love me anymore? After one night with her?"

"Ye—no—I don't know," Jason answered giving her his confused gaze.

Listen to your heart
Girl you know,
We should be apart, baby I
I just can't do it
I, I just can't do it

Listen to your heart
Girl you know,
We should be apart, baby I
I just can't do it
And sometimes it makes me wanna cry

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh [4x]

Do you hear me crying?

Oh, oh, oh [4x]

"You don't know!" she exclaimed in rage and pain. Jason reached out to comfort her, but she slapped his hands away. "No! Don't touch me!"

"I'm sorry, Sam," he rasped desperately. "I never meant for this to happen."

"For what to happen, Jason?" Sam snapped. "For you to cheat on me? For you to fall into bed with the whore you call your best friend? For you to think you're suddenly in love with her? What?"

"Look, Sam," he attempted. "I do love you. I know that I feel that, but I love her too. I thought I made myself stop because we could never work that way. I thought I had pushed it down far enough."

"What do you mean you love us both?" she cried. "You know what I don't care. I love you and you love me. I can forgive this because I love you, but considering her lack of respect for simple boundaries, I need to know you aren't going see her again. I understand you have people in common, but that friendship has to end or we do."

There's never a right time to say goodbye
But I gotta make the first move
'Cause if I don't you gonna start hating me
Cause I really don't feel the way I once felt about you
Girl, it's not you, it's me
I kinda gotta figure out what I need (oh)
There's never a right time to say goodbye
But we know that we gotta go
Our separate ways
And I know it's hard but I gotta do it,
And it's killing me
Cause there's never a right time
Right time to say goodbye
~Say Goodbye, Chris Brown

Jason stared at her in shock. "You want me to—?"

"You heard me, Jason," she said again becoming calmer. Jason would never choose her over me. Never choose that needy tramp over our future. "I can't trust you with my whole heart around her. She has this way of manipulating you into doing anything for her. I mean, you cheated on me and slept with her! She got you drunk and lured you to bed, and you're still defending her!"

"That's not how it happened, Sam," he groaned in frustration. "She didn't seduce me or get me drunk. She was more drunk than I was. I took advantage of her, Sam. And I won't cut her out my life."

Sam stared at the stranger in front of her. This was the man she was supposed to marry. She had thought she finally found the love of her life. The man she could love with everything she had and would love her just the same. However, in that moment, she realized the man she wanted had already given his heart away long before she had ever come along and had never bothered to get it back.

As she stared into his blue eyes, she felt the part of her heart that loved him break off and die. She nodded her acceptance and turned to leave.

She grabbed her jacket and hesitated at the door.

"She doesn't deserve you, but I hope you can finally be happy and stop dragging the rest of us into your epic love story. Because we don't deserve this," she said softly without turning to look at him. Having spoken her piece, she opened the door and fled the penthouse for the last time.