In the morning light, Elizabeth awoken with a killer hangover from drinking the rest of the night away with Emily. With that thought in mind, she walked out into her living room, finding her friend crashed out on her couch. Smiling slightly to herself, she pulls the afghan from the back of the couch and covers Emily with it before returning to her bedroom.
She wanted to get to work before the sun came up, avoiding any chances of seeing Jason during her unfortunate tequila hangover. After taking a long hot shower, Elizabeth gets dressed and heads to work after leaving a note for Emily.
"Johnny?" Elizabeth questions, looking at the guard as he sat on the front steps of her gallery. "What are you doing here?"
"I need your advice." he says nervously, having her wondering if he and Emily were connected or something. "You don't mind that I'm here, do you?"
"Not at all." she assures, unlocking the door to let him in. "But be forewarned, I'm suffering from a killer hangover so my advice may be a little straightforward."
"That works for me." Johnny says without hesitation, walking into the building with her following behind. "I kind of need it right now."
"Don't say I didn't warn you." she counters, starting up a pot of coffee. "Do you want to wait until after my first cup of coffee or would you like to start now?"
"I'll wait." Johnny plops down into one of the chairs. He wants straightforward answers, but not for her to bite his head off.
"Wise choice." Elizabeth chuckles, sitting down behind her desk as the coffee is brewing.
Emily wakes up to the persistent knocking on the door. The major hangover making her a little crankier than she's used to. She takes refuge, though, in the fact that anyone knocking at this time of day deserves whatever mood she's in.
Reluctantly pulling herself up off the couch, Emily trudges towards the door, yanking it open and groaning at the sight of her brother. It just had to be him. Whatever angry burst that was about to escape her lips were frustratingly swallowed back down her throat.
"You look...interesting." Jason says, eyeing her intently. "Is Liz here?"
"No." Emily says firmly. "That it? Great! Goodbye."
"Whoa." Jason stops her from closing the door. "What are you doing here?"
"I slept over." Emily sighs, looking at him intently. "Anymore stupid questions or are we done here?"
"Great." Jason groans. "You're hungover."
"Oh really?" Emily says sarcastically. "What gave it away?"
"Love you." Jason kisses her forehead. "I'll see you later."
"Love you too." Emily says before shutting the door and making her way to the guest room to return to a peaceful slumber.
Jason could only imagine how plastered Elizabeth got after she left his place last night if Emily was that hungover. He tries to think of where she'd be, but is sidelined in his venture by his cellphone ringing. Sonny needs him to handle a situation down by the docks, putting his search for Elizabeth on hold.
"Now?" Johnny watches as she finishes her first cup of coffee.
"Sure." Elizabeth refills her cup before sitting back down. "I'm all ears."
"Emily and I hung out yesterday in the park to watch the fireworks." Johnny says, tapping his foot nervously - not really the one to ask for advice from anyone. "I know that I made her mad because I ended the night abruptly, but I'm afraid of hurting her."
"That's what I told her." Elizabeth concedes. "You really did a number on her last night."
"I hate doing it, but I can't help it." Johnny sighs, running one hand through his hair. "I'm scared if she gets close enough, she won't like what she sees...or I'll hurt her in a way I can't even imagine."
"You love her, don't you?" Elizabeth questions bluntly, eyeing him intently. "If today was your last day, who would you want to spend it with?"
"Em." Johnny admits, a slight smile on his face.
"So don't waste your time with the what ifs." Elizabeth says seriously. "You don't know how lucky you are to love someone that loves you back. Stop being a dick and just go for what you want."
"You weren't kidding, I've never heard you talk like that." Johnny chuckles, standing from his seat. "I kind of like it."
"Sure, sure." Elizabeth walks with him to the front door. "If you leave now, you can probably make it to my place before she leaves."
"Thanks." Johnny kisses her cheek. "You're truly the best."
"I know." Elizabeth smiles as she dashes for his truck and speeds off to get to Emily. "Good luck."
She walks back inside as the workers start to arrive. Hopefully she can go through the rest of the day without seeing Jason. Her hangover was slowly dissipating and she had a lot of work to get done. Once she got the workers started on what needed to be done, Elizabeth makes her way to her office to call up the transporters to see when they'd be ready to bring the paintings into town.
"Its handled." Jason says into his phone. "Anything else you need done?"
"No. That's it." Sonny concedes, signalling for the guard to walk into the penthouse. "I'll call you when I need you."
"Okay." Jason ends the call, checking the time before making his way to Kelly's. If she's not there then someone will know where she is - its her usual time for lunch and she's a sucker for Kelly's. "Hey, Tammy."
"Hey." Tammy smiles, looking at him expectantly. "You want your usual?"
"Sure, but first...has Liz come in yet?"
"Nope." Tammy shakes her head. "She called in her order. Mike's gonna deliver it once its done."
"How about you add it to my order and I'll take it to her?" Jason counters, pulling out his wallet. "I'm headed to her office anyway."
"Great." Tammy smiles, unknowingly confirming where Elizabeth is. "I'll put it as priority for cook."
It didn't take too long for his order to be done and for Tammy to put Elizabeth's order with his. Paying for both orders, Jason walked out of the diner and headed straight for her gallery. He had been a little put back when she wasn't beside him late last night, but he wasn't surprised that she wasn't.
"Jason?" she says in surprise, glancing around and cursing the fact that she gave the workers the rest of the day off. "What are you doing here?"
"Lunch." he says simply, holding up their orders. "I thought I'd save Mike the trip."
"How generous of you." she says skeptically, holding out her hand for her order. "Food, please."
"Not just yet." Jason holds it out of her reach. "Not until you agree to talk to me about last night."
"You never want to talk." Elizabeth points out. "Why do you choose now to change that?"
"Food's getting cold."
"Fine." Elizabeth turns around and walks back into her office. "Lets talk if you want to talk because I'm starving."
"Great." Jason follows her into the office, closing the door behind him. "Nice slip out last night. I didn't even hear you leave."
"Thanks." Elizabeth smirks. "Now lay out the food."
"Bossy much?"
"Slow much?" she counters. "I'm starving."
Jason sets the food down on the desk, smiling slightly as she tears into the bag to pull out her food to eat. She wasn't kidding. She must be hungry by the way she's tearing into her food. He decides to put off the talk while they're eating, his own stomach growling at him to get some food in it.
"I'm not saying any of this right." Johnny groans, really wishing he was better at this. "I suck at this."
"Suck at what?" Emily looks at him confusedly. "What are you getting at, John?"
"I'm trying to find the right words, but they all sound so damn cheesy!"
"Then be cheesy!" Emily snaps. "Just spit it out! Say something, anything, I don't care! You're starting to freak me out."
"Ugh!" Johnny groans, pulling her into his arms. "Fine. I'm so in love with you that I can't think straight...you're all I ever wanted...you're all I want! Happy?"
"Very." Emily whispers staring into his eyes. "Because I'm in love with you, too."
Johnny doesn't have a chance to initiate the kiss because her lips are already on his. A part of him, a very tiny part that's not focused on Emily, is mentally thanking Elizabeth for the advice. He wasn't sure about going to her, mostly because he didn't want to sound like an idiot, but he's glad he did.
"I know why last night shouldn't have happened." Jason says, kneeling in front of her, holding her hands in his. "But you're my best friend...I don't want this changing anything between us."
"It won't." Elizabeth says, hoping to god that he can't hear the way her heart is pounding in her chest. "I'll always be your best friend. Nothing can change that."
"Good to know." he whispers, gently reach up to caress her cheek. "I can't lose you, Liz."
"I can't lose you either." Elizabeth admits, cursing herself for leaning into him and allowing him to kiss her. "It can't happen again."
"I know." he whispers as he lays his forehead against hers. "It won't."
"Never again." Elizabeth stares into his eyes.
"Agreed." Jason says, claiming her lips in a heated passion, thrusting them back into the dance they shouldn't be a part of, yet couldn't get out of.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews, we hope you keep up with them.
-ROCkER & The Jackal's Vixen-