A/N – Thanks for the comments! I thought I'd give you an extra chapter before you lost your mind and smashed your computers. There is no guarantee that you won't do that in the near future, but here's a little hope.

Chapter 4

Carly cut off Jason in the lobby. "Where are you going?"

"To the hospital."

"To her?'

Jason started to step around her, but she moved with him. "Carly…"

"I need you to help me understand what the hell you're doing."

"I don't think I can walk away from her."

"Why Elizabeth? I thought you loved Sam."

"I did at one point, but a lot of that was centered around pain and grief." He sighed thinking about how easily he had slipped into savior mode. "Walk with me."

They went to his truck and got in. He is not even sure why he wants to explain how he feels about Liz to her, but he feels he needs to set the record straight.

"Elizabeth—God, I've loved her for so long that it hurts. She gets me and she was my escape from the choices I made to be in the mob and all the violence. She is my light and I don't ever see that changing. I just wanted what was best for her, so I shoved my feelings down and tried to go on with my life, thinking she was better off without me. My life—I know how dangerous it is and I just could never risk losing her, even if that meant I had to watch her be with someone else just to know she is safe."

Carly swallowed hard, not realizing before the extent Liz had gotten her hooks into him.

"I just can't accept that she doesn't want me in her life."

"Jason, it's her choice. What did she say to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"So you want to go back there and rehash everything? You are such a sucker for punishment, my friend."

"I'll make her understand."

"Are you in love with her?"

"I love her and I don't think falling will be a far jump."

That was certainly not what she wanted to hear. "I guess I'll just have to be there for you when this is over. Will you call me if you need me?"

He nodded.

"I love you, Jase," she said before easing out of the car. Elizabeth better give Jason the performance of a life time because Carly is even more determined to exterminate her from Jason's life before she can do too much damage.

IiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiIiI

Audrey slipped into Elizabeth's room and watched her sleep. The situation is getting worse and she wasn't sure how her granddaughter was going to get out of this unscathed. Her fingers lightly stroked Liz's hair.

"Cam," Liz muttered as she slightly shifted.

She isn't the only one worried about Cam. Audrey is desperate to find out where her great grandson is being held. Lucky will pay for this and she is quite sure that Jason will help make that happen. The fact that Lucky is still missing in action is really pissing her off.

Emily entered the room and Audrey motioned for her to go back into the hallway.

"How is she?"

"Do you really care?"

Emily frowned. "What kind of question is that? Of course I care about her."

Audrey studied her for a moment. "I'm telling you right now, if you try to convince Elizabeth to give Lucky another chance, I will make sure that you have no access to her at all. That ship has sailed and he has done so much damage to her life that I don't know if she'll ever recover."

"But—"

"Are you serious right now? He left drugs out and Cam ingested them. He could have been killed. He left that apartment probably to score some more and now Elizabeth has lost her child and is taking the fall for it. She so stressed that they are worried about the baby."

"She's pregnant?" They hadn't talked in a while because Emily and Nikolas were spending a lot of time in Greece.

"And it might not be Lucky's. If it is, then we'll make sure she has full custody and he will not be allowed around that child after what he did."

Emily swallowed hard. "Lucky has struggled so much. He's trying—"

"Lucky has had chance after chance to get clean and he has failed every single time. That is not trying. He lashes out and accuses her of cheating and didn't give a damn about how his behavior affected my grandson."

"Well apparently, she didn't either."

Audrey momentarily pursed her lips. "My granddaughter only turned to your brother when she found Lucky screwing Maxie in her bed." If there is one thing Audrey is good at, it's eavesdropping. Liz had no idea that she knew about her dalliance with Jason. The pregnancy came as a big surprise, but they will deal with it.

"Wait. What? Jason?"

"That's right Emily. This baby may be Jason's and there is no way in hell that he'll want Lucky around his kid."

Emily was floored. "Lucky is going to be so hurt."

Audrey took a step back like Emily had just struck her. "I don't think you even care about Elizabeth. That is your first concern after Lucky screwed Maxie and trashed his life? You're only worried about him?"

"He doesn't have anyone."

"You need to take a long hard look in the mirror, Emily. If you don't want to be a real friend to Elizabeth, which includes having her back and wanting to steer her and Cam away from dangerous situations rather than encourage her to run towards them, then you need to stay away from her. Lucky Spencer is the worst thing that has ever happened to my granddaughter and I've realized that for quite a while and regret that in the past I pushed her to stay with him. He has never cared about what she wanted and I'm tired of watching her sacrifice her sanity and self-esteem for the likes of him. You have a choice to make. It's either Lucky or Liz. I advise you to choose wisely, because siding with Lucky will always come back to bite you in the ass." With that, Audrey walked away, leaving an exasperated Emily standing there.

Jason watched from the shadows and waited until his sister was far away before venturing to Liz's door. He knew now that he couldn't trust Emily, not after what he had just heard. After nodding at Johnny, he stealthily moved into the dark room and sat down beside the bed, taking her limp hand and placing it in his. He is tempted to just grab Elizabeth and then Cam and run, but then that would be taking away her choice.

Elizabeth's eyes blinked open as the moonlight permeated the room. Jason appears as just a silhouette, but she knows it's him. "Jason."

His eyes snapped to hers. "Elizabeth, we need to talk."

"I think we said everything we had to earlier."

"No. You're not taking away my choice. You had your say, now it's my turn."

She swallowed thickly. "Okay."

"I can't walk away from this. It hurt what you said, but in my heart, I know that you didn't mean it. We've always had this push and pull and it led to the night when we possibly conceived a child. I can't ignore or pretend that didn't happen and if am I honest with myself, I don't want to. I'm tired of running from you. I think you know that you've always had a special place in my heart and I want this baby to be mine."

She gasped.

"I have always wanted to be a father. You know that. I just—the danger overshadowed it, but I'm not willing to walk away. Even if this baby is Lucky's, I will be there for you in any way you see fit."

Her lower lip quivered as she started to cry and he clasped her hand tighter.

"It's not because of the baby. It's because of how I feel when I'm with you, our friendship, and because you have always been my light."

A low wail escaped from her lips and Jason jumped up and held her. "Shhh. It's okay."

Jason giving his unconditional offer of support just broke her after so many people had been putting her down. "No, it's not. I'm so sorry for what I said before. I'm in so much trouble Jason, but the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you. I thought that Sam was good for you and that she made you happy. So, I encouraged you to be with her, even though I know she hurt you when she slept with Ric. I went back to Lucky because it was what was expected of me, not because it was what I truly wanted. I'm just so sorry that I'm so weak."

"You're not weak. You just put everyone else's needs ahead of yours."

Carly and the blackmail came to mind and she felt her stomach turn. "There's something I need to tell you and you're going to be really mad, but I felt like I had no choice and I don't want there to be secrets between us."

"What is it?"

"Someone is blackmailing me. They have a recording that proves that Maxie is the one that called in the anonymous tip. They are willing to take it to the police tomorrow and testify on my behalf, as long as I do one thing."

He let out the breath he was holding. "And what's that?"

"I have to stay away from you."

He growled and then stood abruptly. "Tell me it wasn't Sam."

"It wasn't."

His chest is heaving."Then who?"

"If I tell you this, you have to go along with it. I need Cam back and he has to be my first priority. It's the only reason that I was willing to do it."

He tried to let go of some of the tension for her sake. "I promise."

"It was Carly."

Jason cursed under his breath. After all of this is over, there is no way in hell he'll ever have a relationship with her again. The fact that she would use Elizabeth in this way to get what she wanted when so much is at stake is beyond betrayal. She had just crapped on their friendship for the last time.

"She came in here and I guess she overheard Maxie and also thinks she's with Lucky."

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. I baby her and never call her on her shit."

"Carly is a grown woman and you're not responsible for her actions."

Jason sat down again. "So, you want to pretend to go along with it?"

"Yes, at least until she testifies and I get my little boy back."

"And then what?"

"I don't know. I just—I need to find Cam before I can think about what I'm going to do."

"I understand."

There was so much to process and while she was grateful for his friendship, she couldn't promise what the future would hold even though he had given her a glimmer of hope. "Are you going to break up with Sam?"She doesn't trust the woman who seems likes she's ready to completely snap and Liz didn't need another enemy right now.

His shoulders dropped. "We've been fighting, but I found something out today and I'm not sure what do now."

"What?"

"This morning she found out that she can't have kids because of the gunshot wound."

Liz visibly recoiled. "That is unbearable."

"I know I can't stay with her out of guilt, but I just—it was hard letting go today of all days."

"Jason, I know this is asking a lot, but could just hold on a little longer. Sam is probably just hanging on and will go crazy if you break it off."

He understood. "I won't break up with her totally, but I can't be with her physically and we haven't been for quite a while. If she walks away, I'm not going to stop her."

"There will be lots of people who won't want us around each other."

"I know, but I don't care. We'll make it work. I'll have to tell Johnny. He's been helping me." Jason didn't have many friends and usually kept the guards at a distance, mainly because he wanted them to be focused and he has always been kind of a loner. Anyone around him knew that he was socially awkward. It wasn't that he couldn't interact with people, but more that he just had no desire too. Usually, he spoke when he needed to, not to hear himself talk. Out of all the guards, he is probably the most friendly with Johnny and Francis, mainly because they went out of their way to try and draw him out of his shell. None of the other guards had the balls to approach him in that manner and were intimidated to an extent and Jason liked it that way.

"Okay and by the way, you mean a lot to me too. There were a lot of times that I wish I hadn't pushed you away. I just need time to sort this out emotionally and deal with everything going on."

He relished her words for a moment, glad that she seemed willing to consider something more when the time is right. "Of course, I need to deal with Sam and Carly, so I agree we need to take care of our baggage so we can be happy, but always remember we've never been just friends."

The corner of her mouth quirked up. "How could I ever forget?"

A rare smile lit up his face and she cherished it. "Where are you going once you leave here?" He suddenly felt like he had something really good to look forward too.

Audrey walked into the room. "She's coming home with me."

"Grams. Were you standing there the whole time?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I won't tell. In fact, I want to help."

"I heard what you said to Emily," Jason said.

"I meant every word of it. If she is going to defend Lucky or not have Elizabeth's back, then she should walk away. I hope you're not mad at me for saying that."

Liz licked her lips. "I don't even know what to say. I mean, I'm not mad. I'm just shocked." Her relationship with Audrey had been strained at times and she had been very vocal about Liz's marriage.

"It's time that I do right by you, Elizabeth. You have my blessing regarding your friendship with Jason as long as he does everything he can to provide a loving and safe environment for you, Cam, and this baby. And by the way, when it's time for a paternity test, we'll do one here at the hospital, but we will also use an independent lab. I don't trust Maxie or anyone else for that matter."

"Thank you," Liz said as she brushed a tear away. Audrey gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I love you and together, we're going to fight."

Jason felt relieved that Elizabeth would at least have a sounding board and support from family, although he was surprised that Audrey would be okay if they were together more permanently. "I need to go. I'll come by the house tomorrow night and I'll come from the woods so don't be scared when I come through your back door. It will probably be around 9:00. Leave it open. There will be guards hidden around the property too. I don't trust Lucky."

"Okay."

He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Get some rest."

She nodded and then watched him leave.

"I'm going to sit with her until she falls asleep," Audrey said. She wasn't sure who they were trying to kid with this friends crap. Anyone with eyes can see their connection is deeper than that.

Jason turned at the last minute. "There is a guard in the hallway watching out for you. It's Johnny."

Feeling a sense of relief, Elizabeth's eyes slowly shut and she gave into her exhaustion, knowing that there are no lies between her and Jason. Somehow, everything just needed to be okay.