Chapter 15

She was hiding in her own house. Once she had gotten to her room, she closed the door but it didn't seem like enough. She crossed her bedroom and entered the master bathroom, closing that door behind her as well. Sitting on the side of the tub, she wondered if he was gone or if he was waiting for her to come back downstairs to talk out what had just happened. Neither possibility seemed to be the one that would make her happy. She didn't want him to leave but she also didn't want to hear that he was with Sam or that she shouldn't feel bad… because she did. She was guilty, she wanted to kiss him and if it weren't for the instant of awareness, she would not have stopped.

On the other hand, he, too, was sending her signals. Any man knows that one of the easiest ways into a woman's pants is through massage. He'd initiated the massage, his hands held her hips against him, not to mention he'd kissed her back, eagerly. So it was not her that seduced him, he actually had seduced her but made it seem otherwise. He was good, she thought as she finally stood up and left her bathroom. As she moved through her bedroom, she could heard voices that were muffled through the door.

She slowly opened the door and could hear Jason practically growl, "You don't know what you are talking about."

When he got a reply, the voice was unmistakable. "Jason, you really have a soft spot for her, she knows it and is taking advantage of it. She is using children to get her hooks into you!"

Elizabeth hurried down the hallway toward the voices. "Carly!" he growled again.

"Carly, I don't think this is any of your business." Elizabeth spat as she made her way down the steps. Her eyes were red from crying but she refused to appear weak in front of Carly.

Carly's eyes narrowed, obviously taking in Elizabeth's state of disarray. "What happened to you muffin?"

Jason looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth and his heart ached when he saw her puffy eyes. It was all his doing, he should have told her about Sam, it just hadn't come up. Perhaps he felt that the omission was a sign of how little the break-up really meant to him. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before turning back to Carly. "Carly, I know that you care about me but you need to respect my decisions and choices."

"But she is manipulating you Jason!" Carly howled and pointed at Elizabeth who was standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Elizabeth is not the one doing the manipulating right now Carly… and keep your voice down, Cameron is sleeping upstairs."

Carly looked around Jason and spoke to Elizabeth, "This is what you wanted right, Jason to take care of you and your children. Sure that baby you are carrying is his but that little boy upstairs is not his… something you corrected quickly."

Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak but Jason cut in, narrowing his eyes, "Carly, do you think I am incapable of making a decision for myself, that I am so weak that Elizabeth can manipulate me?"

"Jason, it's ok… give me and Carly a minute to speak."

"No." he firmly replied, surprising her with his response. "This is about me… only me… and the dependency that Carly has on me. You see, Carly needs to top my priorities and with both Courtney and Sam, they both accepted that… but with children involved now…"

"That's not true." Carly interrupted.

Jason crossed his arms over his chest, "Then why do you care?"

"Cause you are my best friend Jason and I want you to be happy!"

"What makes you think that I'm not?"

"Because it is me having your child Jason, not her." Elizabeth answered for Carly.

"Oh, can it Lizzie, I could have him if I wanted him."

Jason's eyes widened, "What!"

"Oh come on, we have this bond… even Sam sees it."

He rolled his eyes and decided that now was the perfect time to set the record straight. He turned and looked at Elizabeth straight in the eyes when he spoke, "Well Sam moved out yesterday so she is out of the picture." He saw relief flash in her eyes and he turned back to Carly, "And yes, Carly, we do have a bond. We have been through a lot together and are friends, that is all we are… and all I EVER want." He firmly explained.

Carly quickly back-pedaled, "I'm not saying that I want a relationship with you Jason! I just married Jax for heaven's sake." She pointed at Elizabeth, "I'm saying that I know you and she is not what you want."

"How do you know what I want when you never listen to what I say… especially if it is not what you want to hear."

"Carly…" Elizabeth started but Carly quickly cut her off.

"This is between me and Jason, I'll get to you next!" Carly spat.

Elizabeth took a few steps closer to Carly, "That is bullshit Carly. You are in my damn house…"

"The house that Jason bought you!" Carly added smugly.

"Fuck you." Elizabeth growled. Jason looked at her shocked to hear those words from her mouth.

"Oh, it looks like I hit a nerve." Carly howled.

"Carly, you haven't worked an honest day in your life. What do you own that you truly worked for?"

"Mamaaaa" Cameron called from upstairs.

Elizabeth quickly moved back to the steps, "Carly, I think you should leave."

Jason met Elizabeth's eyes, "We'll go and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

She paused on the bottom step because she really wanted him to stay but if him staying meant Carly stayed, it was too much for her to deal with this late at night with her son trying to sleep upstairs. "Ok."

Jason roughly tossed his keys on the desk as Carly followed him into the Penthouse. "Don't ever show up at her house again unannounced!"

"It's your house Jason."

Jason shook his head, "It is not my house. It is her house!"

"Jason, she is manipulating you! If you ask me, she needs to pay for that."

"Carly don't do anything stupid."

She rolled her eyes, "I'll get this all worked out for you."

"Stay out of it!"

"Oh come on Jason, she is afraid of your life, always has been… now all of a sudden she is going to let you raise her children with her… don't you think that's a little convenient, Jason?" Carly waved around the room. "Think about it, her life was a mess, she was broke, her husband was cheating on her and where did she go? To her grandmothers? To her best friend, Emily? No Jason, she came to you… why do you think that she did that?"

"Because I was the only person that wasn't telling her to work things out with Lucky. I wasn't telling her to stick by him like Audrey and Emily… look where that got her!"

"No, you helped her in other ways." Carly hissed. "She is a slut and is going to pay for what she is doing to you."

Jason sighed and rubbed his fingertips on his eyelids, "Stop badmouthing her. She is the mother of my children."

Carly rolled her eyes when she heard Jason refer to himself having children with Elizabeth. "Everyone in this town thinks Elizabeth is this perfect angel… I'm going to make sure that everyone finds out what a devious bitch she is." Carly added with a smirk.

"Leave her alone, Carly! Don't you dare do anything… stay the hell away from her." Jason firmly ordered.

"Don't worry Jason, I'll take care of it, you'll see." She tossed her designer purse over her shoulder and opened the door.

"Carly!" Jason yelled but Carly ignored him and continued out the door.