Title: Back At One
Author: Tasha
Feedback: lilbrattygirl13@hotmail.com
Rating: PG-R
Category: WIP
Type: Alternate Reality/Slight Angst/Romance
Summary: Courtney returns to Port Charles after being away for two years. What happens? Circumstances? What happened before?

Prologue

One... you're like a dream come true
Two... just wanna be with you
Three... girl its plain to see
That you're the only one for me
And four... repeat steps one through three
Five... make you fall in love with me
If ever I believe my work is done
Then I start Back at One
~ “Back at One”, Brian McKnight

~*~

Two years. It had been that long since she’d left Port Charles for business. Well, maybe that wasn’t quite right, since that was what it only looked like to the people outside of her close circle. She couldn’t say that it was the only reason, business, but it also wasn’t strictly personal, either. It was a calm, soothing mixture of both.

The personal reasons hadn’t even been bitter ones, to get away from hurt or pain that haunted her. No, that was far from the truth, she was please to say.

But, she couldn’t say the same about her reasons for returning. And, she couldn’t tell someone that she was coming back home because of a bad experience, either. It was all so complex, since she didn’t even know if that was part of the excuse, or if she was driven to come back because she felt it was time to. Things had happened in Greece, yes, and they might have hurt some people, but Courtney Matthews-Corinthos couldn’t determine if they had her or not.

As she sat behind the wheel of the blue Jeep Grand Cherokee she’d left behind, which Sonny must have had dropped off by one of the men, the faces of her older brother and sister-in-law flashed through the eye of her mind. She could see every feature of their faces perfectly, as if they were standing right in front of her. The only difference, she knew, was in Carly’s hair. She pictured it as darker blonde, several shades darker than her own, but it was brown now. As far as she knew, that was the only thing that had changed about any of them.

Even Jason. But, she didn’t expect him to change; he never did, besides the time after the accident. That had been the one time he had, and it was a drastic one. Ever since then, he’d grown, but not changed.

She hoped he hadn’t now.

~*~

He placed the key in the lock of the loft door, the place that had been her home ever since she’d move out at the age of twenty one, shortly before his accident. Turning the key slowly, he waited to hear it softly and solidly click, and then pushed it open gently.

It was early morning, so the sun was shining in the windows of the small apartment, giving it a soft flow that gave it a nostalgic look and aura. The soft clutter of keys and a cell phone interrupted the nearly sacred silence that flowed through the atmosphere of the rooms, and the aqua eyed man removed his leather jacket, setting it on the back of a nearby chair.

He licked his lips, and began to walk around, making sure that his feet barely made a sound. His fingertips grazed the back of the couch tenderly, remembering the feel of it. Jason hadn’t been here since before she left. He’d missed it, but the place was essentially hers, so he didn’t stay after her decision had been made. He moved through the loft quietly, carefully touching everything; the bookcases, the comforter on the bed, the fireplace, even the wall, so softly it seemed though they were as fragile as thin glass. Finally, he reached the counter, and his fingers flew across the top of it as he walked, gliding towards the keys and phone. His hands wrapped around both objects as he turned, taking it all in again.

It had been empty for two years. But, it wouldn’t be anymore

Because she was coming home

What that meant, he didn’t know. There was no doubt in his mind he would find out, eventually.

Chapter One- it's like a dream come true....

Jason let out a gentle sigh as he looked at the inside of the loft for one last time. He was sure that she would be there soon, she wouldn't come back and live somewhere else, and he didn't think that he should be waiting for her when she did. It wouldn't actually be -waiting- for her in the sense of his whole reason for being there was so she would see him. It wasn't. It was for the memory and because she was going to be home again. It would always be her home.

No, when he saw her for the first time since the day she left for Greece, Jason wanted it to be because she wanted to see him, because she sought him out. She'd left on a good note, no harbored bitterness or anger, even sadness, but still, it would be her choice, not his. And, Courtney was here to stay, as far as he knew, so there would be time.

He hadn't even talked to her in two years, and anything he knew about her life and what she did there had been relayed to him through Sonny, who talked to his baby sister often. He knew the circumstances of her return, both business and personal, and her attitude towards it, which was strangely calm and positive, even nonchalant. But, this knowledge wasn't his own.

Since the day she'd left, and over the time that had passed since, he had never been sure, or even known, if she would be coming back. She hadn't been either, and was honest with him about it when she first told him about her decision. Neither knew, and since that was the case, he knew better than to expect her to. He didn't want to be disappointed, and she'd made him promise that he wouldn't spend his life pining for her, and he didn't. He went on living, in a way.

And she wouldn't be pining for him. It was complex, and calming. No anger, no sadness, not a hint of bitterness. Just a knowing.

An existing.

A learning and experiencing. More for her than him.

A life. With no expectations, wishing or hoping. No looking back, no attachments.

Jason licked his lips before he turned and closed the door, locking it for her, so she wouldn't know he'd been there.

But, she would.

~*~

It had been an experience for her, living halfway around the world. One she was grateful for, and everything that she'd done and what had happened. She wasn't upset about it, and anyone else would be. Maybe. She couldn't really say, since she wasn't anyone else, she was Courtney.

It was taken gracefully and in stride, not even unsettling her. There was a possibility that it was strangely calming. Any way you wanted to say it, all it did was make her decide to go back to New York. It didn't make her, though, either. It helped. She could have easily stayed in Greece, as well. Courtney wasn't even sure that she would be staying in Port Charles for long, either.

She wasn't deciding anything.

She chose not to go straight to her loft before going to Harborview Towers. If she went to the loft first, she knew she'd settle in and get busy, which would result in her not making it to Sonny's until the next day. But, her big brother wanted to see her once she got back in town. It had been too long, he'd said. So, that would be first, and everything else would fall into place.

Chapter Two

The blonde pulled into the parking garage and locked the vehicle once she had it parked. Looking around quickly to see if anything had changed, she saw a couple of guards just inside the lobby. Nothing had changed, and that gave Port Charles and additional feeling of familiarity and hominess.

It would always be one of her homes. Greece was one, too.

And any other place she wound up in her life.

She walked through the large, thick glass doors and saw that one of the guards was Marco, dressed in an expensive gray suit, looking as he hadn't changed a bit since she’d seen him last. He recognized her immediately and smiled, nodding his greeting. She returned the sentiment, and headed towards the elevator.

~*~

He wasn't that uninformed. He knew the time of her arrival, and that his partner had asked her to come see him after she landed. And knowing their relationship, she would. She might even be there for a couple of hours, playing catch up and talking about why she was back. Sonny would pick her brain like the older brother he was.

The best friend he was.

And the business partner.

It probably would have been okay for him to stay at her loft longer than he had, but he wasn't willing to take a chance at it. A surprise 'meeting' was not what he wanted.

So, instead, he'd taken himself up to Vista Point. She knew that this was his place, that it had been since the accident, but he was sure that she wouldn't come here looking for him, at least not on the first day back. Now, he stood near the railing, looking out. The atmosphere was so peaceful, and he could feel the light wind roll over his face, moving fluidly over the features of it.

It reminded him of now.

And then. They weren't so drastically different as someone might think. Just changed slightly.

Even though the coolness of the air and the smell of the trees seeped into his senses, it was nothing compared to the strong effect the loft had on him. The texture of the wood the book cases were made out of was burned into the pads of his fingers, and the scent of the air within the small apartment, fresh linen and citrus, was deeply embedded into every physical memorization process he had. It had always been that way, not one change had been made since the day Courtney brought him there. He'd never forget it.

Jason had just gotten into an argument with Edward and Alan, he couldn't even remember what it was about now, and he just assumed that it was because he couldn't fit with them and his old life.

Whatever that was.

He remembered going to his room, and Courtney's words coming to his mind as soon as he entered the temporary and weak sanctuary. So, he called her, and had gone to get him. Even though he hadn't remembered her or Sonny, and he still couldn't from before.

~*~

Courtney rode in the small metal cubicle to the penthouse floor of Harborview Towers, a ride that screamed familiarity at her. A good thing. Few things familiar to her were bad here. And even if they were? She didn't care. But, she couldn't think of any right off the top of her head.

Finally, the ting of the machine told her that her destination had been reached. The doors slid open, and she stepped out, making her way to her brother's home. Max stood outside the door, of course, something else to add to the growing list of familiar things. He, too, nodded at her, and she opened the door to let herself in.

Once she did, she saw her brother, who pulled her into a hug instantly.