His life was beyond complicated and now he had to marry someone he wasn't in love with. Jason tried to see the bright side of this, that doing this would mean his family would be safe. They broke up because they wanted the heat kept off his children, but the truth was slowly starting to come out and they had to act fast. The people that are digging deeper into his life was soon to find out that his heart didn't lie with Sam, but with Elizabeth and their children. Standing in her studio, Jason's heart was aching, but he knew that they had to have this conversation.

"Jason?" Elizabeth calls out, walking into the studio and turning on the light. "Jason?"

"Over here." Jason says, standing in front of the painting of the Wind. "Did you notice if anyone followed you?"

"No. I took the roads you said to." Elizabeth looks at him curiously. "What's going on?"

"Remember that problem I said that might get out of a hand?" Jason waited for a reply, but continued when she just stared at him. "Its getting out of hand."

"I figured as much." Elizabeth says seriously. "That doesn't tell me what's going on."

"I have to marry Sam." he says bluntly, seeing her eyes darken. "Its the only way to keep you and kids out of the spotlight."

"Is that the only reason?" Elizabeth counters, fighting off the tears. "Or is Carly right? Do you still love her? I mean, you have been pretending to date her for a few months now."

"No!" Jason takes her hands in his. "I love you! I'll always love you."

"So this is just because of that threat?" Elizabeth eyes him intently. "Because of the possible war that's brewing?"

"Yes. That's it." Jason says with conviction. "Between the possible war between the five families and that idiot Franco...this is the best option right now."

"Was this Sonny's idea?" Elizabeth questions, eyeing him intently. "It was, wasn't it?"

"He feels that, if I marry Sam, the five families will end their search into my life because Sam will be the main target as my weakness." Jason explains. "Sam's okay with that."

"Of course she is." Elizabeth scoffed, letting go his hands. "Why wouldn't she? She gets to marry you and I can't."

"It'll only be in name." Jason says, making her turn back to look at him. "I swore to you that I'd do whatever it took to keep our family safe...even if it means marrying Sam."

"I get it." Elizabeth sighs, staring into his eyes. "I hate it, but I get it."

"You know I love you, right?"

"I know." Elizabeth wraps her arms around him, laying her head against his chest. "I love you!"

"I'm going to keep our family safe." Jason promises, placing a kiss atop her head. "Or die trying."

Jason paced back and forth in his office, trying to keep the memories at bay. So much has gone wrong since that night and he knew that it wouldn't get any better until he fixed it himself. Elizabeth had put so much faith in him, still does, and he just wanted to measure up to her idea of him. She always seems to see the best in him, even though he doesn't believe its there, and it looked like their daughter took that trait because she's starting to warm up to him again. There was still this edge to her, a defense, but she's letting it drop little by little. Thinking of his daughter brought up the memory of when he told Elizabeth about Sam being pregnant.

They are back in the studio and he could see that she wasn't happy. It wasn't like he thought it was possible for Sam to even get pregnant, so it was a surprise to him too. There was really only one explanation since he has never had sex with her since he's been with Elizabeth, which put the blame on one person. He could see that she wasn't happy, but she felt understanding for Sam. Being raped when she was young, it gave Elizabeth the ability to feel slight compassion for Sam.

"You're staying married to her, aren't you?" Elizabeth looks at him intently. "Even after the danger is handled...you're staying married to her, right?"

"The danger's not handled." Jason counters. "It won't be for a while."

"But you're staying married to her even after its handled, aren't you?"

"I don't know." Jason sighs, running his hand through his hair. "This happened because I was selfish. In protecting you, I failed to protect her."

"And now you feel responsible for her." Elizabeth didn't fight the tears this time, she let them fall hard and fast. "What does that mean for us?"

"I don't know."

"What will this mean for our children?" Elizabeth says seriously. "Assuming you're going to claim her child as yours, what does this mean for Jake and Lily?"

"I wish I had all the answers you need." Jason takes a deep breath. "I just don't know what happens next."

"Until you figure it out, stay away from us." Elizabeth snatches up her things. "That includes your late night visits while their asleep."

"Elizabeth..."

"No, Jason." Elizabeth snaps. "I've been waiting for you and I'm done waiting. Your life will always be complicated and dangerous. This just proves that what we have isn't meant to be."

"I love you." Jason says, causing her to stop in the doorway. "I'll always love you."

"I'll always love you too." Elizabeth swears, unable to look at him. "But sometimes love just isn't enough."

And she was right. He knew that then and he knows that now. Love isn't enough on its own. It can only get you so far before you have to take it on yourself to get the rest of the way. His lunch with Lily was a pleasant surprise. They talked about her letters and all the important things happening in her life at the moment. They talked about her wanting to be a singer and how she hopes to be known world wide for her voice. She really is wiser than her years and Jason could now see what Elizabeth had meant.

"Yeah?" Jason answers his phone.

"We need to talk." Elizabeth's voice takes him by surprise. "Can you meet me?"

"Where?"

"The studio?" Elizabeth suggests. "I have to pick up some stuff there."

"Okay. I'm on my way."

Jason rushed out of the office, walking the distance since he wasn't that far from the studio, and letting himself in to wait for her. He wasn't sure if that would be okay, but from the tone in her voice, Jason was worried about her. It didn't take too long for her to get there. She didn't even question him on why he was inside instead of waiting outside for her, which made him feel even more worried.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it." Elizabeth says as she drops her things onto the desk. "The treatment they've started me on seems to be doing the trick. The cancer is slowly shrinking and Robin thinks that I'll be able to undergo surgery the day after Christmas if the chemo keeps on track."

"Why do I feel a but coming on?"

"But...if I have the surgery in the condition I'm in...I could die on the table." Elizabeth explains. "If there was another way, we'd try it, but surgery is my best bet right now and that's saying a lot."

"You could die?" Jason drops onto the couch, not really able to stand in that moment.

"Yes." Elizabeth shakes her head. "And the only reason I'm telling you this is because the kids will need you. Cameron will gain custody of them, but they're going to need you to lean on."

"I...I just...this isn't for sure, right?" Jason eyes her intently. "Tell me you can survive this."

"I can...but if I don't...I need to know I can count on you." Elizabeth says seriously. "I need to know that you're going to be there for them."

"I will." Jason says without hesitation. "But you're not going to die."

"Lets hope so." Elizabeth takes a deep breath. "And I hope that I can be here to see you fix things with the kids because I know you will."

"You're going to survive the surgery." Jason says as he stands in front of her. "You have to."

"I'm going to fight as hard as I can to beat this." Elizabeth says firmly. "Or die trying."

"Not funny."

A/N: Thanks for reviews.

Let me know what you think.

-ROCkER