Page One:
Goodbyes

Strange. For as long as she can remember, Elizabeth has had conflicting feelings concerning this small, wayward town. When things were bad, she wished to see it would burn to the ground, but when they were good - when they were really good - there was truly nowhere in this entire godforsaken world that she'd rather be. For better or worse, Port Charles became her home, making it bittersweet to say goodbye to it now.

It's the town where she found herself. A town where she found her worth and her ability to truly accept the person she always was but never could love. It's the town where the "bad" boy next door, Lucky Spencer, took claim to her heart and showed her parts of herself that she never even knew existed. The town where she finally understood what unconditional love truly meant. The very same town she lost that boy and must now find a way to move forward in a world without him.

Now that town is filled with nothing but painful memories of what was and what will never be. Every corner she turns, every building she enters, everything is nothing more than a reminder of her pain. Of her loss. Of him. The people don't help any. Constantly looking at her with pity. Constantly reassuring her that she will find the strength to move forward. That she'll always carry him with her but she'll heal.

Of course, she doesn't think anyone was ready for how she chose to go about jump-starting that healing process, least of all the two people closest to her and her deceased boyfriend. His brother, Nikolas Cassadine, was taken aback, mostly due to his noble heritage, but he understood in the end. Their mutual friend, Emily Quartermaine, however, well, chose to go in the opposite direction. Making Elizabeth realize just where she stood with the other girl.

Emily, like many others in that town, believes that she's sleeping around with multiple men in order to overcome the pain of losing Lucky so suddenly and tragically. Not true. It's really only one man. One very capable, well-endowed man, who leaves her more than satisfied that adding another man to the roster would simply be an injustice.

Knock.

Knock. Knock.

Knock.

A soft smile touched her lips as she rose to her feet, the familiar knock of the man that has helped her forget her pain and live moment to moment. As much as she was never one to make casual something like this, she's a woman living in grief and she's doing the best she can to find the strength to move forward. Something this man understands and accepts, making it easy to just hold a physical connection without getting her heart involved.

Pulling open the door, the weight of what waits ahead of this moment dissipates as he quickly lifts her up off her feet, his lips taking claim to hers in a heat of passion. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she clings to him as his lips trail down the side of her neck, using what's left of her senses to reach out one hand to slam the door shut before he carries her to the bedroom, his lips never leaving her body.

Getting to the bedroom, he gently sets her down on the edge of the bed, his eyes devouring her as she slowly slides back onto the bed, her eyes never leaving his. There was something in his eyes, something she couldn't place, something she couldn't afford to even try to decipher. Thankfully the look only lasted for a moment before he fell right back into their usual song and dance.

Tonight was different though, in almost every aspect, familiar yet completely different. They've done it before, once or twice, but he insists on leaving the light on. At times he'd usually close his eyes, his eyes were fixed on hers, his body moving in sync with hers all the while. Did he know, she wondered, that this would be their last time together?

Where they'd only go a couple of rounds in the bedroom before calling it a night, he took his time, he made each movement with such deep intention. When their time in the bedroom ended, they moved to the bathroom where he took her to a new height of ecstasy that she didn't think her body was capable of. What was he trying to do to her?

And, just when she thought that they were at an end, just when she thought that he'd leave as he always did, he held her in the tub as they came down from the height of the heavens. That was something he never did. It was something neither of them ever did. In spite of the rules they both put in place, he stayed in that tub of warm water and he held her until their breathing returned to normal and the water started to go cold. Stranger even, she let him.

"Elizabeth," he voices just above a whisper after he buttons his pants, something else he never does, saying her full name. Not Liz. Not Elle. Elizabeth.

"Jason," she returns in kind, using his full name, something they swore they'd never do. It made it too personal. Too real. Keeping her back to him as she gets dressed.

"We need to talk."

Those words. Those aren't words you say to someone that you're sleeping with. Those aren't words that need voicing when it's nothing but a physical connection. Fear hits her first. He can't want more. Can he? She chose him specifically because he wanted exactly what she wanted. Something physical. That's it. Nothing more. So, why now, why when she has chosen to leave this town behind her, could he want more?

"Okay," she breathes out, sliding into her t-shirt before turning to face him, finding him standing just a few feet away.

"This was the last time," he voices, unknowingly putting her at ease, this was his goodbye, too. Okay. That she can work with. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she voices, finding this was easier than her having to be the one to tell him. "It's better this way."

"How do you mean?"

"I'm leaving town. I was going to end things earlier," Elizabeth explains, gesturing to the bags in the corner of the room. "I just didn't want to leave until we had one last time together."

"Oh," was all he could manage as it sunk in that she was really doing it. She was leaving town.

"Yeah," she smiles slightly. "I'm guessing things have taken a turn with her."

"Yeah," he confirms. "She wants to try again."

"That's good," she says wholeheartedly. "If you can have it all again, you deserve to try...I would if I had the chance."

"You gonna be okay?"

"One way or another," Elizabeth assures, glancing at her watch before meeting his gaze again. "You should get going. Don't want to miss my bus."

"Need a ride?" he questions, not wanting to part ways just yet if this is truly the last time he'll see her.

"Sure," she accepts. "Let me just finish packing. I'll meet you outside."

"Okay," he replies before grabbing his jacket and walking out of her apartment, leaving her to her thoughts.

Zipping up the last of her bags, Elizabeth plops down on the edge of her bed, a myriad of emotions flooding her body as the realization hits that this would be the last night spent in this town. Though he hadn't known it at the time, Jason has made this the exact kind of last night she had been hoping for. A good memory to carry with her as she heads out of town and away from her one true home in this world.

Thankfully, she'll have a starting point, her older brother having extended the invitation when he found out what she was planning to do. Nothing better than having a place to start. With her packing done, Elizabeth grabs her jacket, taking one last look at the place for closing the door on it and her past for good.

Handing her bags to Jason as he loads them into his SUV, she waits long enough for him to shut the trunk before climbing in with him and settling into the silence as they head to the bus station. Staring out the passenger side window, she takes in as much of the town as she can on the way there. Goodbyes. Man do they suck.

Arriving at the train station, he stays with her as she finds her bus and loads her bags, standing with her by the doors as she gets ready to head out. Their eyes fixed on each other's, she sees it again, that look that she couldn't quite place and still can't afford to decipher. Before she could say think to say anything, Jason pulls her in close and takes claim to her lips in one final kiss goodbye.

As she pulls away, he takes the moment to place a gentle kiss on her forehead before fully pulling away, their eyes meeting for what felt like an eternity. Words. Words should be said at moments like this, right? So, why could she not think of a single word to say to him at that moment? With no words forming, the silence remains between them and she finds that it was strangely perfect for the moment. No words needed. No words at all.

Climbing the steps of the bus, she settles into the first seat available for the long ride ahead, pulling out her ringing cell phone to silence it, knowing exactly who is calling and exactly what they mean to say to her. Her decision has been made. There's nothing left to be said. Lifting her gaze to look outside, her eyes find Jason's, who was surprisingly still standing outside.

Of all the people in that town that she would have predicted would be standing outside the bus that's meant to take her from that town, she never would have guessed it'd be him. Never would have crossed her mind. Yet there he was. Jason Morgan. Unpredictable till the last second.

How long had he been standing there long after the bus had taken off? He isn't sure. It's better this way. Her words echo in his mind as he makes his way back to the SUV, a part of him thankful that he had gone straight to Elizabeth's apartment from the meeting instead of heading back home for his bike first. He wouldn't have been able to have that last moment with her if he had. Goodbyes. Man do they suck.

"Jason..." Robin Scorpio voices when he shows up on her front steps. "Does this mean..."

"If you want to try again...I'll do it," Jason says with conviction.

"What about..."

"It's over," Jason assures her. "She left town."

"Not because..."

"No," he replies. "She had her own reasons."

"Oh, okay," she smiles softly. "I have to admit, it'll be easier this way..."

"Yeah," he agrees but doesn't elaborate. "As much as I want this, Robin, I hope you know that everything else still stands. My life...my choices...they're still the same."

"I know," she replies with conviction. "I love you, Jason...I'm not running away again."

"Okay," he accepts, pulling her in for a hug. "I believe you."

Pulling away, Jason follows her into the cottage to help her pack her things to move into his penthouse, wanting nothing more than for this to work out. It had shattered him beyond recognition when things ended between them. As much as people want to believe, love isn't always enough and it was made abundantly clear when she tried to end a part of his life that didn't fit her image of their future.

That was the state he was in when he found Elizabeth and found a mutual pain surging through her that had been surging through him. Though Robin was still alive, it was as if she were dead to him, the person he had thought her to be had essentially died when she did what she did. He can only hope that their love will be enough to heal the part of him that had broken through their separation.

It's as Elizabeth had said. He has a chance to have what he lost and - if there's even a sliver of a chance that he can get back what they had - he's willing to put in the work to fix things with Robin. Because, at the end of the day, he loves her. In spite of everything, he loves her and he has to fight while there's still fight in him to be fought.

"Elizabeth, it's Emily, again, seriously, you can't do this! You can't just up and leave with nothing more than a text," Emily Quartermain scolds into her cell phone when Elizabeth sends her call straight to voicemail yet again. "After everything we've been through, losing Lucky the way we did...this isn't right. You know this isn't right...Nikolas!"

"You're not going to do that," Nikolas says after he snatched the phone from her hands and ended the call. "You're not going to use my brother's death to sway her."

"I've tried every other way to get through to her," Emily throws back. "This is the last straw, Nikolas, she's actually leaving town this time! It was bad enough when she was sleeping around with anyone willing to, but this...this is where I draw the line. We already lost Lucky and now Elizabeth decides to leave without discussion...what else am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to let her," Nikolas counters, handing her back her phone. "She lost the love of her life, Emily...it's not easy to come back from that. Whatever she needs to do to come to terms with that, whether that be sleeping with every man in town or leaving this place behind her without a second thought, we as her friends have to let her."

"You may be okay with letting her leave her life behind but I'm not!"

"Elizabeth is my best friend. There's nothing I want more than to have her here, but it hurts her too much to do that," Nikolas says seriously. "So, no, I'm not okay with it, I hate it in fact, but I understand it and I will continue to support her through it. Even from afar because that's what being her friend entails."

"What would Lucky think?"

"He can't think because he's dead," Nikolas states angrily. "But if he had any say at all, he wouldn't want either of us telling Elizabeth how she should deal with losing him because - if the roles were reversed - he wouldn't give a single damn what either of us had to say in how he dealt with losing her any more than Elizabeth does because it's a loss incomprehensible! Lucky would be the first person to tell you to mind your own business. I may not have known my brother for as long as I wished to, but that much I'm certain of."

There were a few hiccups along the way, but she finally arrives in the good old city of Boston, Massachusetts, just before sunrise. Stepping off the bus, she allows a soft smile to touch her lips at the sight of her older brother, Steven Webber, standing with a small homemade sign that had her name on it. Walking into his arms, she hugs him tightly, knowing this was just the start.

"Was the travel okay?" Steven questions as he helps her get her bags.

"For the most part, yeah," she assures, walking with him to his car. "Thanks for letting me come. I wasn't sure where I was going to go when I decided to leave Port Charles."

"You don't have to thank me," Steven says seriously, putting the last of her bags into the trunk. "You're my little sister, I'm happy to have you here. Come on, you hungry? I know a great diner that's open twenty-four seven."

"I can eat," she smiles softly.

"That's what I thought," he replies, opening her door for her and waiting long enough for her to get in before doing the same. "This will be a great start, Liz, I can feel it."

"Yeah, I think so, too."

There's no real plan for what happens from this point on, but that'll come. She's already made the hardest and most necessary first step, leaving Port Charles, a step she never truly thought she'd ever be able to make. Sitting there in that car with her older brother, knowing she had made that step, the future doesn't look as daunting as it used to be. Whatever comes after this moment, wherever life takes her, the hardest step has been taken and it should only go up from her. That's her hope, at least, and boy was it good to finally have a sense of hope. It's better this way, her words echo through her mind as they head to the diner. Yeah. It truly was.

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Author's Note: This is just a little thing I put together in celebration of the holidays. A small gift to you all. Thank you for the peace you unknowingly bring to my life. Writing has become a source of comfort for me and I hope I can bring some of that to you as we enter a new year. Thank you. Take care.