The ballroom oozed elegance and beauty, couples dancing as others ate.
Some even sitting down for simple conversation.
Elizabeth breaks away from Jason to find her friends while he goes to check on security.
The Corinthos group have just arrived and he wanted to make sure that nothing could happen while they were there.
Jason had been surprised when Sonny and his family was invited, but he didn't question it.
If he knew his grandmother, it was out of courtesy to him and he appreciated that enough to not ask.
Elizabeth found Emily and Zander off to the corner just hanging out.
Typical them.
She was almost certain that Emily was still upset about Nikolas and Elizabeth wanted to do something to help her forget the prince.
Just because he was a prince, it doesn't mean he's Emily's prince charming.
"Hey!" Elizabeth greeted them, gaining their attention.
"Hey yourself." Emily stood and looked at her. "What happened to the pink dress?"
"Changed my mind." Elizabeth shrugged, accepting the hug from Zander. "Why? You don't like it?"
"Its not that." Emily glanced around the room. "But I thought you wanted to wear something that Lucky wouldn't like."
"Lucky's Sarah's problem." Elizabeth said simply. "They're here together."
"You know he's just doing that to make you jealous." Emily pointed out, as if it was necessary.
"You make that dress look beautiful." Zander spun Elizabeth, subtly wanting to get off the topic of Lucky Spencer.
Zander made it a point to be cool with everyone, a live and let live kind of vibe, but Spencer just wasn't making that easy.
"Thanks." Elizabeth smiled at him, giving his hand a squeeze when she faced him again. "I love that suit...not formal but not casual either."
"A Zander original." he smirked, arching his eyebrow suggestively. "What you see is what you get."
"Pass." Elizabeth countered teasingly. "You're most definitely not my cup of tea."
"Hey, don't knock me till you try me." Zander smirked, pulling her into his arms. "I haven't gotten any complaints."
"Easy Casanova." Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm not that kind of lady."
"Eh, okay." Zander lets her go before pulling Emily over to him. "I got my cup of tea right here anyway."
"Cute." Emily punched his shoulder. "Think again."
"Aw, you're mad at me." Zander smirked, brushing a few strands of hair from her face. "Lets work it off on the dance floor."
Before Emily could object, Zander pulled her towards the dance floor and Elizabeth couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up in her.
Those two were just too much alike.
They knew exactly which buttons to push and how to get the other to relax.
Elizabeth just couldn't understand why they don't just drop the pretences and just start dating already.
Jason made his way around the room, staying to the outer parts of the crowds.
He must have circled it twice before he found Sonny.
"Hey man." Sonny greeted, shaking his hand. "I was about to track you down. How's the security?"
"Tight. Nothing's gonna happen tonight." Jason assured, glancing around the room. "Where's Carly?"
"Michael needed the bathroom." Sonny picked up his drink. "You gonna head out soon?"
"I would, but I have a date." Jason admitted, still looking around for her.
"You have a date?" Sonny's brows arched in a mixture of shock and question. "You don't date."
"Funny." Jason nudged him. "I can date if I want to."
"Fair enough." Sonny chuckled, smiling his dimpled smile. "So who's the lucky girl?"
"Elizabeth Webber." Jason watched for recognition to shine in Sonny's eyes and it did. "Yeah...that Elizabeth Webber."
Sonny looked at him curiously.
He's had a few encounters with Elizabeth and she was a feisty one.
"Huh." Sonny shook his head. "Carly know?"
"No." Jason groaned, scratching his temple. "I'll check you guys later."
Before Sonny could comment on anything, Jason walked away to find Elizabeth.
He wasn't looking forward to introducing Elizabeth to Carly.
Mostly because Carly tends to go overboard when getting to know the women that Jason dates.
Elizabeth is talking to Nikolas when Jason walks up to them.
"Hi." he says, ignoring Nikolas's presence.
"Hi." she smiles, wondering if she'll ever stop getting lost in his eyes. "Do you know Nikolas Cassadine?"
"No." Jason doesn't take his eyes off Elizabeth. "Nice to meet you."
"You too." Nikolas shakes his hand before walking off.
Neither Elizabeth or Jason really noticing.
He gently raises a hand and brushes back a few loose strands that fall over her face.
Elizabeth's breathing slows a little as his fingertips grace over her forehead.
"Would you like to dance?" Jason asks before he realizes it.
"You dance?" she looks at him questioningly. "I didn't peg you for a dancer."
"Depends on the woman, I guess." Jason steps back before holding out a hand to her. "Dance with me."
Elizabeth eyed him curiously before smiling and taking hold of his hand.
They didn't move to join the others on the dance floor.
Jason simply pulled her into his arms, securing his hands at the small of her back.
He found pleasure in making her gasp with unexpected movements.
Jason knew that she wouldn't expect him to hold her so closely.
To hold her so firmly against him and in response, he received a soft gasp as she looked up at him.
He merely smirked before giving her a single nod.
Elizabeth was surprised by his confidence in the way he held her, but melded into him regardless.
She interlocked her fingers at his nape before laying her head against his chest.
As they slowly swayed to the music, they were oblivious to the audience they gained.
"Wha...are you seeing this?" Emily turned Zander to Elizabeth and Jason's direction. "Did you know about them?"
"I'm not the gossip reel." Zander arched an eyebrow. "What's the big deal?"
"Are you kidding me?" Emily smacked him. "She's my best friend and he's my older brother! If that's not a cliche I don't know what is."
Before Emily could walk over to them, Zander wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her further away.
"There's nothing you can do to stop it." Zander whispered in her ear. "Just relax and have fun Quartermaine."
A little further to the right, a certain blonde wasn't liking the scene at all.
It was one thing for Jason to not ride with them in the limo, but to find that he had a date...that was just rude.
"Where do you think you're going?" Sonny asked his wife as she stood up.
"To talk to him." Carly spat, glaring at the couple across the room.
"And say what exactly?" Sonny countered, arching his eyebrow. "What can you possibly say that'll have him ending his date and staying here?"
Carly eyed her husband intently before glancing back at her best friend.
With a groan, she plopped down onto the chair.
"He's going to answer my questions in the morning." Carly stated, taking a long drink of champagne. "This is not right."
"Whatever you say." Sonny kissed her cheek before watching his partner.
Sonny doubts he's ever seen Jason look at a woman so intently.
Not to mention dance at a party...a Quartermaine party no less.
"I wonder what that's all about." Skye Quartermaine-Alcazar comments to her father as they sit together. "Are they together?"
"There's no way to know with Jason." Alan sadly admits. "But your grandmother seems to think they're headed that way."
"I guess that would be a nice pairing." Skye watches the two together. "I mean, look at how he looks at her. I doubt he looked at little Robin Scorpio that way."
"What do you mean?" Alan questioned, turning his attention to his son.
"How can you not see it?" Monica found her way to sit beside her husband, joining in on the conversation at hand. "He's absolutely captivated by the young Webber woman."
"Whether he knows it or not, he has the look of a man falling hard and fast." Skye assured, taking a drink of her water. "For a man who should be incapable of love...he sure looks very adept to it."
Alan watched as Jason and Elizabeth swayed to the music and found that he really wouldn't mind if they really did get together.
If she can bring out things in Jason that his son didn't think possible, Alan couldn't help but hope for their relationship to flourish.
Just then Lorenzo Alcazar walks over to his wife, holding out his hand.
"Shall we dance, my love?" Lorenzo speaks softly, bringing a smile to his wife's face. "Live while we're young after all."
"Precisely." Skye laughs softly, taking her husband's hand. "Lead the way, my love."
As Skye and Lorenzo took the floor, Alan and Monica decided to join the others.
Lila Quartermaine sits off to the side, feeling immense love for every member of her family.
With Jason slowly connecting with the young Elizabeth, there was little she really had to do to help that relationship blossom.
He was the last of her grandchildren that needed to find love.
Though AJ's choice in relationships left something to be desired, she had to accept that there had to be more to Courtney Matthews than she could see.
Lila didn't think there was, but hope that she was wrong.
"You do know that everyone's staring, right?" Elizabeth questioned when her senses returned to her. "Maybe we should stop dancing."
"Let them stare." Jason whispered to her, not removing his arms from around her. "Unless that's just an excuse to get away from me."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes before slapping him softly.
"I didn't say that." she eyed him intently. "Just thought you might."
"Want to get away from you?" Jason arched his eyebrow questioningly.
"Wha...no." Elizabeth groaned, her cheeks turning so red as she looked away. "Stop dancing. I thought you might want to stop dancing."
"Oh." Jason chuckled, using on hand to lift her gaze to his. "In that case, sure. You thirsty?"
"A little." Elizabeth admitted. "Do you mind?"
Jason shook his head before kissing her forehead softly, leaning in so that only she could hear him.
"I'll be right back." Jason whispered, sliding his hand to the small of her back. "Don't go pulling a Cinderella and leaving nothing but a glass slipper."
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh softly at his reference to the Disney princess.
She also couldn't help but wonder how he knows about Cinderella.
Jason smirked at her curious look and simply walked away from her to get them something to drink.
"Jason Morgan, really Lizzie?" the annoying sound of her sister's voice spoke from behind her.
Putting her ironic smile on, Elizabeth turned to look at Sarah.
"Jealous?" Elizabeth countered, knowing that Sarah knew all there was to know about Jason by now.
"He's in the mob." Sarah scoffed. "What's there to be jealous about?"
"Well the fact that he's a real man compared to your date." Elizabeth offered, still smiling at her sister. "Or the fact that regardless how he makes his money, Jason's worth more than Lucky could ever dream of making."
"Always the reckless child." Sarah tsked. "Just wait until Grams hears about this."
"Go ahead and tell her." Elizabeth scoffed folding her arms over her chest. "I'm eighteen years old. Unlike you Sarah, I make my choices based on what I want...not who I can suck up to and who's got the deeper pockets."
Sarah was about to grab Elizabeth's arm to stop her from walking away when someone else inserted themselves into the argument.
"Back off blondie!" a voice snapped from behind Sarah, causing both women to look at who joined their argument. "There's only room for one feisty blonde and that role has been filled. Buzz off before I make your bottle blonde ass meet my fifty dollar pedicure."
Sarah nearly stumbled back, but held her ground as Carly stepped between her and Elizabeth.
"This is between sisters Carly." Sarah stated as firmly as she could manage. "It has nothing to do with you."
"She's my best friend's date." Carly shrugged, stepping up into Sarah's personal space. "You mess with her, you mess me with me. Now buzz the hell off before Lila's birthday ball becomes a birthday brawl!"
Sarah glared at Elizabeth before walking away.
Elizabeth had never seen her sister so frightened by another person before in her life.
Carly then turned to look at Elizabeth, sizing her up in a way.
"Look, if I'm gonna be stuck with you muffin face, you need to learn two things." Carly crossed her arms over her chest. "One, just because you share the same blood, it doesn't mean you should be weak. Stand your ground and fight back. If you plan on dating Jason and, god help me, marry him some day, this is just the start of the crap this town will spew about your relationship."
"And two?" Elizabeth dared to ask.
"Two, it takes a lot of patience and tolerance to be in this life. Not to mention perseverance, resilience and a damn strong back bone." Carly stated seriously. "Don't make anyone talk down to you and act superior to you. All these people's money is just as dirty as my husband's and Jason's."
"Okay." Elizabeth was a little curious about Carly. Everyone says that she only looks out for number one, but here she was defending her.
"Oh and one more thing." Carly stepped into Elizabeth's personal space, lowering her voice so only she could hear and no one could make out her lips moving. "Never, under any circumstances, ever hurt Jason because, trust me when I say this, you don't want me as an enemy."
Carly waited long enough for Elizabeth to nod her agreement before walking off to Jason.
"Happy?" Carly arched her eyebrow.
"Thank you for playing nice." Jason kissed her temple before walking over to Elizabeth. "How about a walk?"
"Sure." Elizabeth accepted her drink before linking arms with him.
As they walked out into the garden, Elizabeth cast a last glance at the blonde that now joined her husband and son.
A part of her at awe of Carly, being in the life for as long as she has, lord only knows the kinds of things people have said about her.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth realized that she would be willing to take that scrutiny for Jason.
She'll take her grandmother's wrath and the town's disapproval for him.
Carly waited long enough for Jason and Elizabeth to walk out the door before walking over to Lila.
Sitting down beside the woman, Carly looked at her questioningly.
"Are you sure about them?" Carly asked, needing to know for sure.
"She'll be good for him." Lila assures, taking Carly's hand in hers. "Its time for him to have happiness, my dear."
"I know." Carly clasped her other hand over Lila's. "I just hope she's up for the crap this town will throw her way."
"Elizabeth's spirit is strong." Lila smiles, shaking her head. "She's the one for him. I know it."
"If you believe it..." Carly let out a deep breath. "I guess I do too."
"I'm right." Lila glances over to the door they had walked out of. "You'll see."
Author's Note: The Skye and Lorenzo add was for Hellzz-on-Earth. My friend ROCkER told me you're a fan of that couple and asked if I'd slip that in. I think it blended fairly well.
Thank you to all who have continued to review. More is appreciated.
I hope you've enjoyed the update.
More to come as soon as I can manage.