Staring at herself in the mirror, Elizabeth could literally feel an aching pain spread through her as the time slowly ticked on, bringing her that much closer to her dinner with one of the most deceiving men she has ever met. Normally, if someone was bad, there was a sign, a vivid sign that they weren't all good.

Ric had many signs, but she chose to believe that she could change him. Regardless of how it started or ended, she had known that he wasn't all good. She had known that there was a real chance it wouldn't work. She had known the truth, just like all her other relationships. Every man that has entered her life, she had read them easily, seeing both good and bad.

For the life of her, she just never truly saw any bad in Ewen. To her, he was something unusual, a kind of man that you just didn't meet every day in the small town of Port Charles. Looking back now, she couldn't believe what a fool she had been, to believe that he was something special, that he was something different. Something real.

Glancing down at her bedside table, Elizabeth reaches out her hand for the pepper spray that Jason had given her, taking it into her trembling grasp. The mere thought of what Jason had wanted her to carry with her instead of the pepper spray had her feeling sick to her stomach. No. Guns are Jason's thing, not hers, she just couldn't do it. A gun in her possession didn't bode well for Ewen at all.

Sliding the pepper spray into her purse, she turns away from the mirror, making her way out of her bedroom and down the stairs to her living room. Taking in a deep breath, she continues her venture to her car, finding the courage to start it up and endure the drive to the Haunted Star. As much as she wants to believe that Ewen would never hurt her, there was just no telling what will happen tonight.

"H..hello?" Elizabeth answers her cellphone as she sits in the parking lot of the Haunted Star.

"Its me." his voice causes her to breathe a breath of relief, having feared it was Ewen. "I'm picking up Michael and then we'll head over there."

"Okay."

"How're you holding up?"

"Better than I thought." she mutters, shutting her eyes tightly. "But not by much."

"Just breathe." he says softly, hating that she had to do this at all. "I won't let him do anything to you, I promise."

"I hate this." she whispers, taking in a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes. "Just...just get here, okay? The faster, the better."

Ending the call, she taking a few more deep breathes before, doing her best to gather whatever strength she had to get through this, before stepping out of her car and making her way into the casino. No matter how terrifying this is, no matter how much she wished she didn't have to do this, Elizabeth knows that she has to keep up the facade that Ewen's trying so desperately to preserve.

When she thought about it, she didn't really know Ewen all the much, which didn't sit well with her in that moment. Not knowing him meant that she didn't know what he was or wasn't capable of. For all she knows, he could fly completely off the handle if she didn't pretend to be oblivious to his schemes and partnership with Jerry. No. She can't let him be the wiser. She just can't.

Before long, Elizabeth found herself being seated at a table with Ewen, breathing a breath of relief when Jason comes walking through the door with Michael moments later. Right away she could see that Jason's presence had Ewen more than a little nervous, making her wonder what exactly prompted this sudden dinner date. He acts like he's fine, but she could see the nerves as clear as day written all over his face.

Subtly turning her gaze to Jason's table, her eyes meet a pair of reassuring blue orbs, causing a slight smile to touch her lips. Just knowing that he was there, watching over her, made having dinner with Ewen a little easier to bear, but not by much. As much as she knows that Jason would do whatever it took to protect her, there was just too many variables to consider, which frightened her to her core.

Jason could almost see her reserve crumbling, knowing that she was getting closer and closer to unraveling, but also knowing that she would do whatever it took to get through tonight. No matter what threat that Ewen posed, she would do whatever it took to ensure that none of this touched her boys. With Ewen still a mystery to the lot of them, there was just no way that they could risk underestimating him.

"Jason." Michael gains his uncle's attention, directing him to the bar where Ewen now stood. "Do you see that?"

"Yeah." Jason's fists began to clench at the sight of Ewen dumping something into one of the glasses. "I see it."

"How do you wanna do this?" Michael questions, looking at his uncle for some kind of plan.

"Go tell Elizabeth its time for her to head home." Jason says seriously, rising to his feet. "I'm going to cut Dr. Keenan off and find a way to keep this lie in place until I know what's really going on."

"Got it."

While Michael rushes over to Elizabeth, Jason accidentally bumps into Ewen, causing him to drop both glasses to a shattering end. Quickly apologizing to the doctor, he offers to buy another round of drinks, only for the doctor to decline, a look in his eyes that had Jason more than curious about his true intentions with the drugged drink.

"Are you sure you must leave now?" Ewen questions Elizabeth when he gets back to the table. "We have yet to have dessert."

"I'm so sorry, but Cameron's come down with a fever and he's asking for me." Elizabeth lies as she gathers her things. "Thank you for dinner, but I really have to go."

Barely waiting for a response, Elizabeth makes her exit as fast as possible without setting off any suspicions, speeding off as fast as possible once she's in the safety of her vehicle. Her heart had nearly imploded within her when Michael told her that Ewen was planning to drug her. The apology in his voice as he told her to end the dinner made it all that much worse. For a boy like Michael to feel sorry for her, it was just too much.

Rushing through her door, Elizabeth slams it shut behind her before making her way up the stairs to her bedroom, locking the door behind her. Like a waterfall, her tears fall down her cheek as she slumps down the door and onto the floor, her body vibrating with the heartache she was suffering through.

She could hear Jason's voice talking to her through the door, but she doesn't open it, she doesn't even bother to move. Hugging her legs to her chest, she allows herself to cry, to feel all the pain that she felt because of the trust she had placed on a yet another man that didn't deserve it. When will she ever learn?

Pained by the sound of Elizabeth's crying, he slowly slumps down the wall, laying his head back against the wall, listening to her as she cries her heart out. Never in all his life did he ever want this, to hear her in pain, to literally listen as she cries over a man that didn't deserve her, much less her tears.

Shutting his eyes tightly against his own tears, Jason sits there and waits, hoping that she would open her door to him soon, allowing him to wrap his arms around her and hold her close as she tries her best to get over the doctor. Elizabeth deserved so much more than this world has offered and it hurt him deeply that she had to suffer like this again. It was fair. It wasn't right.

"I'm sorry." he whispers, turning his head to the side to look at the door, placing one hand atop of it. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth."