The lay in bed. Her head rested on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her. He awoke as the early morning light began to peek through the curtains and he watched her. He gently pushed the hair away from her face and she stirred, slowly waking. "Good morning, beautiful."
She kissed his chest. "I like the way we fell asleep."
"Me too." He replied, kissing the top of her head. "So, what do you want to do today?" He asked as she readjusted, and sat up, before leaning back against him. He ran his fingers slowly up and down her arm.
"Anything, really." They laid there silently. Enjoying the peace that had seemed to have settled over them as they had both vowed to stay committed to their marriage last night.
"Stop thinking," He said quietly, kissing the top of her head.
"I can't help it." She said as she shifted onto her side and he did the same. "I was just thinking…" she paused and brought her hand to his cheek, "how nice this is, to just lie here with you." He leaned in and kissed her softly. She gazed in his eyes before continuing with all that was running through her mind.
"I love you Ned Ashton." She paused, and he brushed the hair out of her face. "There's something else. Something I think can only help us start to fix what's broken between us."
"Ok…lay it on me." He said pensively, not entirely sure where she was going with her train of thought, but open to anything if it would help them untangle the mess they had made of their marriage.
"In fact, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes." She said, rationalizing even more. "It's actually something you've wanted for years." She said more convinced it was the right time to finally make this decision.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" He asked, perplexed and intrigued.
"I think we should move out of the penthouse. We need the space, especially if we ever do have another child and honestly living at Sonny's beck and call isn't going to help us get back on track. I want you to know that this marriage means more to me than an apartment."
He had waited years to hear those words leave her lips. Living across the hall from Sonny was something he loathed, but tolerated because she was happy there. He was relieved to finally hear her realize their living situation was only hurting their marriage. "I'll call the realtor today." He said as he leaned in and their lips met once again and things escalated quickly and they soon fell back to sleep in each other's arms.
A few hours later he got out of bed and called for room service. He let her sleep and walked out into the living area and opened the doors to the patio. The warm spring air filled his lungs as he stood there and reflected on the past forty-eight hours. They had covered a lot. More than he thought they would if he was being honest and he couldn't help but feel hopeful that this was a real turning point for them. A few moments later he let the room service in and then poured himself a cup of coffee.
She suddenly emerged from the bedroom, tying the robe around her waist as she approached him and kissed him lightly on the lips before pouring herself coffee and joining him on the sofa, pulling her legs underneath her. "Promise me something?" She said as she reached for his hand along the top of the sofa. He nodded and squeezed her hand. "Promise me we won't wait for things to get this bad between us before we do this again?"
"I promise." He whispered, but paused before he continued, putting his coffee down on the table in front of them.. "Alexis, I feel like I owe you an apology."
"For what?" She asked surprised. "Where is this coming from?"
"You've spent the last two days apologizing for everything that happened and I haven't owned my part in any of this."
"Honey, you don't have to do this."
"If I'm being honest with myself, and with you, it's that I realize what happened was only because we were broken and I.."
"We both were afraid to face that." She said adamantly. "My actions are not your fault…" She said putting her coffee down on the table in front of them and moving closer to him.
"What happened between you and Sonny, happened because I wasn't there. And over the last several weeks you've alluded to the fact that my tours with L&B were..or are part of the reason we've been growing apart. I don't want us to leave here, not having talked about what broke us. It wasn't just your work hours and Sonny. I put distance in this relationship, too."
She sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you. When you're away it's hard and I wish I could catch a flight and be there more, but we both know that isn't always practical." She paused. " I think we both tried to hide our feelings in our work and we let resentment get the better of us."
"We can't let that happen again. I want this to work and maybe for me that means I need to stop touring."
"I would never ask you to give that up. I know how much you love to perform, Ned."
"I know, but I can still run L&B, and we have enough talent now that I don't have to be out on the road for weeks at a time. And besides I can always do a local gig here and there."
She brought her palm to his cheek. "Are you sure? I don't want this to come back at us a year from now. Don't make this decision because of me."
"It's not just about us. I've given this a lot of thought. There's also grandfather and the situation Junior has created for my family."
"You're thinking about going back to ELQ?" She asked seriously.
He sighed. "Yes." She pulled him closer and wrapped her arms around him, knowing how much this had to be weighing on him. Knowing he needed his refuge. She backed out of the embrace and took his hands. "I can't just ignore the mess Junior's made there, as much as I'm tempted."
"They're your family. Sometimes they need their gatekeeper. Has Edward made you a serious offer?"
"Not yet, but it's coming. Based on what I know about the situation with Trainor Industries it's only a matter of time. What do you think?"
"You know I understand. You've seen this play out with Stefan and me more than once. I also know how hurt you were when Edward replaced you with AJ. You love that company, and I know that whether you want to admit it or not, there's a part of you that misses being CEO." She wrapped her arms around him again. "Do what you need to do to be happy, Ned. I'll be here for you regardless."
Later that afternoon, they had decided to go for a walk along the beach. The weather was unseasonably warm for early May and she had always loved the ocean. They were relaxed with each other for what seemed like the first time in months. Forgetting about the seriousness of why they had come, they laughed and held hands. They both reveled in how nice it was to just enjoy the other's company and they vowed that they needed to take more time for one another. Somewhere along the way they had forgotten that.
"You ok?" He asked, concerned that she had gotten quiet.
"I'm ok, just feel a headache coming on." She smiled at him and leaned her head against his shoulder as they continued to walk.
"Why don't we head back then? We haven't really eaten. We can order room service and you can rest."
"That sounds like a good plan."
The next morning came quickly and neither of them were ready to return to the normalcy of their everyday lives. They had hoped that the closeness they had recaptured over the last few days would be enough, but knew that real life pressures would put that to the test. He let her sleep, knowing that she hadn't been feeling well and went out into the living room to let in the breakfast he had ordered and to confirm an appointment he had set up for them later that afternoon. He brought her coffee and leaned in to kiss her softly before sitting on the edge of the bed. She stirred and smiled at the sight of him. "Good Morning." She said, taking the coffee from him and sitting up.
"Feeling better?"
"Much, thank you." She replied as she took his hand. "And thank you for arranging this weekend. I think it was exactly what we needed."
He kissed her hand. "We're coming out of this stronger. I'm certain of that."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
It had been hard to leave and they spent the morning in each other's arms. They had flown back to Port Charles feeling secure and they both knew that they needed to follow through on the changes they had promised each other to get back to where they were both happy. They were almost back into town when he turned off the main road. She looked at him puzzled. "Ned, honey, this isn't the way home."
"Humor me." He flashed his dimples and continued to drive.
"What are you up to?"
"You'll see."
A few minutes later he was turning onto a long driveway leading towards the moderately sized two story house with a wrap around porch. "Ned, what did you do?"
"All I did was make a phone call. If you don't like it we can keep looking."
"I can't believe you did this." She said, amazed as he parked the car. "When did you arrange this?"
"While you were sleeping I made a phone call. This house is about to go on the market and Lisa was able to arrange a showing for us first."
"You're incredible. Come on, let's go inside." She said excitedly as she got out of the car.
They walked through the front door and were greeted by the realtor. "Thanks for arranging this on such short notice. Lisa, this is my wife, Alexis."
"Nice to meet you," Alexis said as she extended her hand.
"It's my pleasure. The house has five bedrooms and three baths. Feel free to walk around and explore. I'll be here if you have any questions."
They explored everyroom and he watched her as her excitement built. As they entered the kitchen, he led them out the french doors that led to a yard, overlooking the lake. "Ned, this place is perfect."
"I think so, too."
"Let's go make an offer," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him back inside.
Later that evening, they slept peacefully, her head resting on his chest, his arms wrapped around her. Neither of them could remember the last time they had spent, so much time just being together. They awoke the next morning to the sound of the phone. She was relieved it wasn't her cell, which limited the chances it was Sonny. "I'm not answering," she mumbled as they both stirred and she rolled onto her back.
He sighed and reached over her, picking up the phone off the nightstand. "Ashton." He sat up at the sound of his grandfather's voice on the phone.
"I need you to come to ELQ immediately."
"What do you mean you need me? I don't work there anymore. In fact I distinctly remember being relieved of my duties, by you. "
"Ned, the company needs you. AJ just lost one of our biggest European subsidiaries."
Hearing his side of the conversation she sat up and put her arms around him, kissed his shoulder and watched the conversation intently.
"That didn't seem to matter when you replaced me as CEO with Junior. I told you he would screw it up and now you expect me to go there and save the day."
"This is your family's future, Ned. Only you can fix this. I need you to go to the European office in London and meet with Jillian Trainor the head of Trainor Industries. She specifically requested a meeting with you."
"I can't go to Europe, grandfather. Not now." Alexis looked at him curious as to what was going on. She ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and knew that he was feeling the call to pick his keys back up.
"What's going on Ned? Why not now? This family needs you and all you can say is not now? It's that Cassadine you married isn't it. Trouble in paradise?"
"Grandfather, listen..." He said exasperated.
She interrupted and caught his attention. "You should go."
He looked at her shocked, not understanding why she would say he should go back, hell even leave the country right now. He looked at her for an explanation.
"Go. I know better than anyone they won't leave you alone until you agree."
He nodded and returned to the phone conversation. "I can be there in a few hours."
"Ned– that's not–"
"Listen, you're getting what you want, now be patient. I'll be there, soon." He hung up the phone and looked at her. "Why do I do this to myself over and over again?"
"Because despite how they treat you, you love them and they need their family gatekeeper and because they love you too even if they don't show it."
"I'm going to try and avoid having to travel to London. We don't need to come out of this only to be thrown into more long distance trips. " He said, kissing her lightly on the lips.
"It's ok. I actually think we're coming out of this stronger than we've been in a long time." She said as she placed her palm on his cheek and leaned in and kissed him more urgently as they connected once more before he rushed off to manage the crisis ELQ.