She had just gotten comfortable in her bed when she got a call from Sonny that Jason missed their morning meeting. He knocked on the door at the penthouse across the hall, but received no answer. Deciding that it was best for her to check up on him instead of sleep, she pulls herself out of bed.
Taking a hot shower to wake herself up before getting dressed, she called his cellphone on the way over to the penthouse. Of course, it goes straight to voicemail, both irritating and worrying her. Part of her wished she had her own car. Johnny's truck wasn't exactly the best vehicle for her to use, but it got her there in one piece.
Walking onto the elevator, she rides it up to the top level before getting off once the bell dings and the doors open. Searching her purse for the key to his penthouse, Elizabeth pulls it out and unlocks the door - not at all ready for the sight that greets her.
She wasn't sure if she should be jealous or take a picture to send to everyone she knows. There on the couch, giving her the perfect memory to laugh at for years to come, Jason and Johnny are sitting together in an intimate moment - asleep in each other's arms.
Closing the door behind her, Elizabeth keeps her steps light as she pulls out her cellphone and takes a picture of the two. This was just too perfect to not document. Clearing her throat, she watched as Jason slowly came out of his unconscious state, her amused smirk greeting him when his eyes open.
"Must have been some night." she comments, laughing when he realizes who's on him, laughing harder when he shoves O'Brien off of him - sending him to the ground with a thud. "Wow...didn't know you like it like that."
"Shut up." Jason says, shuddering at the thought of sleeping in the arms of a man. "This never leaves this room."
"I don't know." Elizabeth chuckles. "This makes the perfect blackmail persuasion."
She holds up the picture of him and Johnny, making him curse at the fact he got so drunk that he was caught in such a disgusting position. Jason finds himself being attacked by a killer hangover and the stinging annoyance that he just gave her the perfect leverage to get what she wants.
"Get up!" Jason yanks Johnny up on his feet before shoving him out the door. "Never come here to drink again!"
"Dude!" Johnny exclaims as he rubs his eyes to remove the blur.
"Never again!" Jason snaps before slamming the door, turning to look at her. "Delete that picture."
"I don't think so." Elizabeth shakes her head, sliding her cellphone into her back pocket. "This is just too perfect."
"You must hate me." Jason groans, walking over to pop a couple pills into his mouth, flushing it down with some water. "Damn it all."
"Relax." Elizabeth walks over to him. "What happened last night? You never get that drunk."
"I had a lot on my mind." Jason says plainly, walking over to plop down on the club chair, making a mental note to torch the couch. "Why are you here anyway?"
"Sonny called, he was worried when you missed your meeting." Elizabeth says, sitting on the coffee table in front of him. "Why did you drink so much?"
"I had a lot..."
"On your mind, yeah, I got that." Elizabeth cuts him off. "That doesn't answer my question. Why did you drink so much?"
"I'll tell you if you delete that picture."
"Nice try." Elizabeth shakes her head. "The next time you want to drown in alcohol, make sure you're doing it alone...or, at the very least, a female."
"Shoot me now." he groans, the hangover slowly dissipating.
"Sorry." Elizabeth pats his leg. "I hate guns, remember."
"You're really not going to delete it?" Jason eyes her intently.
"Maybe." Elizabeth smirks, wiggling her eyebrows. "I can be persuaded."
"Just great." Jason stands up, walking over to the closet and grabbing his jacket. "Stay here. I'm gonna check in with Sonny."
"And after you do?"
"After I'm done with him, you can tell me what I have to do." Jason says firmly, yanking open the door. "You really know how to screw with me."
"Eh, I learnt from the best." Elizabeth laughs softly. "Christmas of '99."
"Touché." Jason closes the door walking over to Sonny's penthouse, knowing he was in for a hell of a begging session with Elizabeth.
Having nothing else to do, Elizabeth decides to clean up his apartment. Whatever had him on a drinking binge with Johnny, she was sure she'd have to find a way to get it out of him. Maybe leveraging the picture will get the truth out of him.
When the shot glasses and empty bottles were finally cleared out of the living room, Elizabeth fixes the couches before getting in the kitchen and starting up the stove. Might as well cook herself breakfast while she waits for Jason.
"Enough for two?" Jason asks as she's shutting off the stove.
"Of course." Elizabeth smiles slightly, handing him an empty plate while she gets one for herself. "Everything settled with you and Sonny?"
"Yeah." Jason confirms, fixing himself a plate to eat. "I'm all yours for the rest of the day."
"Good." Elizabeth hands him a spoon. "Maybe this fourth of July will be a little less eventful."
"So you keep saying." Jason counters, walking into the living room with her once she got their drinks from the fridge.
Elizabeth sits down on the couch while Jason takes a seat on the club chair. She couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped her lips when he refuses to sit on the couch. A comfortable silence falls onto them as they eat. She knows that he's thinking about the picture and ways to get her to delete it.
"Have you figured out where we're going to go watch the fireworks from?" Elizabeth asks, taking his plate from him. "I was thinking we could watch it in the park."
"The park?" he looks at her curiously. "Since when do we ever watch it from the park?"
"Exactly." Elizabeth says, walking into the kitchen with him following behind. "We've never watched the fireworks in the park together. This year we can."
"You want to watch it from the park?" Jason really couldn't understand it. "Why?"
"I just said why." Elizabeth says plainly, loading the dishwasher. "We agreed this year would be different and hanging out in the park will be different."
"I really wanted to hangout with you alone." Jason says seriously. "Its been a long time since we just hung out by ourselves."
"Fine. Where do you want to watch the fireworks from?"
"The roof." Jason says simply, following her back into the living room.
"The roof?" Elizabeth looks at him skeptically. "This roof?"
"Yeah." Jason looks at her questioningly. "You okay with that?"
"Sure." Elizabeth shrugs. "Sounds good."
"Okay."
"I have to finish up some stuff at the gallery, but I'll back here tonight." Elizabeth says, walking over to the door. "Try not to drink anymore, okay?"
"I'm done for now." Jason says seriously. "I will get you to delete that, you know that, right?"
"Uh-huh." Elizabeth opens the door. "Sure."
Jason thought about nothing else but that picture for the rest of the day. He didn't even have time to be disgusted by seeing Johnny and his sister attempting at a first kiss when he made the mistake of getting coffee at Kelly's. Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder how the night would end. For some reason, holidays spent together are cursed to end in very intimate positions. Of course, if she kept that image of Jason and Johnny in her mind, she'd be too busy laughing to think of anything remotely intimate in regard to Jason.
"Hey." Jason greets her as she walks across the roof to him. "You're beautiful."
"Thank you." Elizabeth smiles, hugging him briefly before walking over to the picnic he set up. "You clean up nicely too."
"Thanks." Jason smirks, taking the container of brownies from her to set it down on the blanket. "Can I ask you something?"
"If you're going to ask me to delete the picture..."
"No, its not that." Jason shakes his head, knowing she'd think he was going to ask about that. "This thing with you and Francis..."
"What thing?"
"Are you guys dating again?"
"Again?" Elizabeth looks at him like he's lost it. "You still believe I dated him before?"
"You didn't?"
"No!" Elizabeth laughs, unable to believe that he still thinks she dated Francis. "We've always been just friends."
"Like us?"
"No, not like us." Elizabeth shakes her head. "I've never kissed him."
"But before, when I thought you two were dating, you never said you weren't."
"That's because you were crazy to believe it." Elizabeth says simply. "You should have known better than to listen to anything Carly tells you."
"Touché."
"You seem relieved." Elizabeth comments, looking at him intently. "Did you really think that I was dating Francis?"
"You asked him to take you to Rochester instead of asking me." Jason points out. "You used to ask me for stuff when you needed it."
"I didn't ask you because I knew that we wouldn't be in town when Sam was leaving to visit her brother." Elizabeth says seriously. "Your priority is her. Not me."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that you're getting married." Elizabeth stands up. "I can't count on you to be there anymore."
"Yes you can."
"No! I can't!" Elizabeth groans, shaking her head. "Once you say "I do", she'll be your main focus and that's how it should be. Francis will be the one I'll have to turn to when I need help."
"That's not true." Jason says firmly. "You can still count on me."
"No." Elizabeth sighs. "I really can't."
Elizabeth walks away from him, storming into the building and making her way to his penthouse. She forgot her purse in there when she left earlier that morning. After he put everything on the blanket and pulled the four corners together, Jason carried it down to his apartment, hoping that she'd be there. Getting inside, he's glad that she's there - most likely searching for the purse she forgot.
"Do you really believe you can't count on me?" Jason asks, setting the stuff down on the desk.
"I believe that once you're married, the only person I can call in the spur of the moment will be Francis." Elizabeth says firmly. "I'll just see you later."
"No." Jason stops her, making her face him. "In spite of everything, we're still best friends, you'll always be able to count on me."
"Not when you're married."
"Even then." Jason states with conviction. "You can always count on me."
"If you say so."
"Don't do that." Jason says, suddenly aware of how close they are, reminding him of her birthday in '99. "You'll always be important to me. Married or not, you can always count on me to be there."
"Jason." she whispers, the closeness becoming too much for her to bear.
"So much for this not being like old times." Jason whispers, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear - the same strands that just won't stay off her face.
"Jason." she whispers again, trying to protest. "Don't do this."
"Are you sure?" Jason questions, backing her up against the door. "Tell me to stop. Tell me you don't want this."
She wants to say it, but she knows it wouldn't be true. So much for this not being like the past, the curse must still be in full swing because before she could voice an objection, his lips are on hers in a heated passion. Anything that would have been uttered from her lips to stop him from doing this fell away, she couldn't think past his body against hers.
Jason pours his heart into the kiss, claiming her lips as if she was his, knowing that she wasn't. He knows the regret that will swallow him by morning, but he doesn't care. He kisses her with all he has in him, leaving regrets for the morning light, drowning in her essence for the rest of the night.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, we hope you keep up with them.
-ROCkER & The Jackal's Vixen-