Hi all, sorry about the delay. Some intense parts in this one; more humor and more Jarly in the next.
Without Hate – Chapter 16
Alexis thought her heart would beat through her blouse. Of the six and a half billion people in the world, Ned was in the top five of those she didn't want to see.
"Alexis, are you pregnant? Is this why you couldn't wait to move across the hall from Sonny? Were you sleeping with him all along?"
"Back off, Ned." Sonny could have punched Ned for ruining their tender moment.
Alexis began to hyperventilate. Instinctively, Sonny reached in her purse and removed a paper bag. He stroked her back gently as she breathed into the bag. "Breathe Alexis."
After a minute or so, she caught her breath.
"You okay?" Sonny continued to watch her, worry etched on his brow. He held her gaze until she nodded.
As Ned watched the two, he felt almost intrusive. In his mind, he found himself wondering how he had lost the most important person in his world, in such a short time, to Sonny Corinthos, no less. Still, he couldn't help but wonder about the baby's parentage. Was it possible this baby could be his? Maybe Alexis just wasn't showing. "Alexis, is there any possibility?"
Alexis knew where he was headed and she felt overcome by guilt. She owed him the truth. Even if they were no longer lovers, they were still friends; at least she hoped they could be. "Sonny, can you give us a minute?"
Sonny thought of the irony of the situation. Ned had been the one to convince Brenda to betray him and wear a wire. And now, he was with Alexis, the woman Ned loved. To make matters worse, Ned was about to learn his best friend had betrayed him. Much to Sonny's own surprise, he felt nothing but empathy for the man. "Yeah, I'll be back in a few."
Alexis watched Ned's face crumble as she told him the truth; the whole truth about her pregnancy: the night with Jax, when she learned she was pregnant and the fact that Jax didn't know. She found herself apologizing more than she intended.
"I never suspected."
"I'm sorry. I know it sounds cliché, but we didn't mean for this to happen."
Ned shrugged. He searched for words that didn't come. Finally, he managed, "I don't understand, if the baby is Jax's, why are you here with Sonny?"
"Sonny and I are together…sort of."
Somehow Ned was able to see past his own anger and think about her safety. "Have you lost your mind? You're pregnant and you're with Sonny? You do know what happened to his pregnant wife, don't you? A car bomb exploded, Alexis. Is that what you want for you and your baby?"
"Of course not."
"Did I mention he and Jax hate each other? What happens when Jax knows the truth? Have you thought about any of this?"
"I haven't thought about anything else for the last month."
"Then why is Sonny playing daddy and Jax has no idea about the baby? Are you trying to wreck your life? If he doesn't get you killed, how long do you think this thing can last? Two years? Six years? Ten? Are you really going to keep this child surrounded by bodyguards its entire life?"
Alexis began to fight back the tears, which landed Sonny at her side in no time flat. Soon, Alexis found herself outside and ushered into a waiting limo. Sonny couldn't help but notice the way she moved away from him in the car. "Alexis, are you okay?"
"Sonny, I think maybe we're moving too fast. Maybe we should rethink things."
"Is this because of Ned?"
"No, it's because of me."
"Fine."
They continued their ride in silence.
Back at Harborview Towers, Sonny insisted on walking Alexis back to her apartment. He hoped they could talk; fate had other plans. As Alexis opened the door, they were greeted by the sight of Carly making out with AJ.
"Carly, what the he!! are you doing?" Alexis asked in a tone so stern it made Sonny fear for the first time the baby broke curfew.
AJ answered first. "Carly and I were working a few things out, for Michael's sake."
"Well you're done now. I want you out of here." Alexis wondered what was going on with Carly. When she left for her doctor's appointment, Carly was totally in love with Jason. Now, just scant hours later, she was making out with AJ. Something had her scared.
"I don't want him to go." Even though Carly hated him, AJ was her guest. Plus, thanks to Jason, Alexis was going to be seeing a lot more of him.
"Well, my name is on the lease, so you're overruled."
"Hey Carly lives here, too." AJ stood tall before Alexis, all 5 foot 6 inches of him.
"Well, I own the place. Looks like you're out of here, Junior." Sonny escorted AJ to the door.
Carly began to pace. When the door closed, she yelled, "You guys had no right. AJ was my guest."
"As your friend who cares so much about you, I have every right. I will look out for you even when you won't look out for yourself. AJ is not what you want. Jason and Michael are the life you want; so, tell me what happened to make you ready give it all up?"
Something about the way Alexis looked at her made Carly crumble. Within seconds, Alexis had her enveloped in her arms. "What happened?"
After she cried for a few moments, she began. "I decided to surprise Jase at the warehouse. I thought we could have lunch and well, you know."
"And?"
"And I saw him there with Elizabeth. He was holding her in his arms, talking to her really soft like he does with me." Immediately, she toughened. "I told you he was going to want to be with her. The case hasn't even been dismissed yet and he's already thrown me and Michael aside."
Alexis kept waiting for the whole story until she realized she'd just heard it. "Did you talk to him about it?"
"No, I figured if he was going to toss me aside, I'd better go find an option for me and Michael."
"AJ?" Alexis took a deep breath. In minutes, Carly had come close to destroying everything they all had worked for. Still, she understood the fear behind her actions. "Carly, if you are going to be with Jason, you can't just run in the opposite direction when something scares you. You can't let outside forces pull you apart. You have to trust what the two of you have together."
Suddenly, Sonny began coughing as though he was about to vomit a lung.
She touched Carly's hair. "Excuse me for a second."
Alexis grabbed Sonny by the arm and pulled him to the door. In a loud whisper she told him, "Fine, you've made your point. Yes, Ned scared me about us or about what might become an us, but you have to understand this is scary to me. I don't trust easily and sometimes you overwhelm me."
Alexis took a breath and laughed awkwardly. "Okay, sometimes is an understatement. Actually, you overwhelm me most of the time. And it's not even about your occupation; well at least it's not only about your occupation. It's about you and how you make me feel. But we don't have time to go into this right now because Carly needs me. So, why don't you go next door and make me dinner like you promised Dr. Meadows you would. Because if you don't I'm going to take it as a violation of your precious code. Now, if you don't have any questions, I'll be over in an hour or so."
Sonny wondered how one woman could say so many words without taking a breath. He continued to stare at her with a blank expression.
"What?!" She demanded. His stare always unnerved her.
A dimpled smile appeared before he began to speak slowly and methodically. "I was just wondering if we were going to have a lot of these conversations where you are actually the only one talking."
She fought back a smile. "Probably."
He shrugged. "Cool."
He surprised her with a kiss on the cheek, which unleashed the smile she'd been fighting.
When he left, Carly rushed to her nearly knocking her over. "Alexis, I think I messed up. I gotta fix this. If Jason finds out I was kissing AJ, he's going to dump me. I'll die if he leaves me. You gotta promise me you won't tell him." She began to pace. "Oh no, there's Sonny." She stopped in front of Alexis. "You have to help me convince Sonny not to tell Jason what happened."
Alexis took a deep breath. "Sonny's not going to tell Jason anything. You are."
Carly's whole frame began to shake as the tears fell down her face. "But what if I've ruined everything?"
Alexis wrapped Carly in her arms. "Then we'll get through it until Jason realizes he can't live without you."
