Journey Online

Jason turned from talking to Michael and followed Carly’s direction. His jaw dropped as he stared at the woman in front of him.

“Courtney!!!” Jason said.

Courtney stared in shock at Jason.

Carly looked back and forth between the two of them. “Wait, do you guys know each other?” Carly looked rapidly back and forth between the two shell-shocked people. Jason looked at Carly then back at Courtney. He didn't know what to say.

"Um, we, uh ..." He began.

"We met yesterday at Kelly's. He came in for lunch and then AJ showed up. AJ made quite a scene." Courtney covered. It was the truth but not the whole truth. No one needed to know that truth ... not ever.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jason said looking very relieved. Courtney had covered well. Both of them breathed a silent sigh of relief as Carly seemed to accept their tale.

“So, A.J. made a scene. What a surprise!!” Carly smirked. Carly knew there was more to it than that. She could feel the attraction between them but there was more. There was this undercurrent of something else. An ease with each other that was barely noticeable from their surprised reactions.

“Don’t start.” Courtney said.

“Start what?” Carly innocently asked. “Don’t start telling you what a loser you married. Don’t start telling you that you deserve better than that slug. Don’t start telling you that you are a beautiful young woman who shouldn’t be involved with that cretin.”

“Carly, just stop! We are never going to see eye to eye on A.J. He’s my husband and even though you and Sonny don’t approve, we’ve gotten past the point where we have to ruin our evenings together by bickering about it.” Courtney said. It was Courtney's normal reaction to a slight against A.J. but Carly was pleased to note it was just an automatic response now. 'Maybe ...' she thought, ‘just maybe…’

“Ok, sorry Court, let’s not ruin our pleasant evening.” Carly said while her mind was whirling with endless possible scenarios, dinner was going to be fun.

Just then, Sonny poked his head out of the kitchen door and intoned, “Dinner is served. Carly, can you come help me with the food please?”

As Carly moved to help Sonny, she couldn’t help but notice the tension grow thicker in the air as Jason and Courtney made their way to the dining room table. As soon as Carly had cleared the kitchen doors, Jason risked a glance at Courtney, she was standing there staring at the floor, clasping and unclasping her hands.

“Court, thanks for covering. We both know that our past can’t come to light, at least not now.” Jason said.

“Yeah, I know,” Courtney whispered softly. “Let’s just try and get through dinner and have some fun with Sonny and Carly.”

“Yes ma’am!” Jason said cheekily as he walked towards Courtney and grabbed her hand leading her towards her spot at the table.

“Listen up Morgan! I am not a ma’am and don’t you ever forget it.” Courtney glared laughingly as they reached the table.

Jason looked at Courtney, giving her the slow, melting gaze that had once won her heart. “Trust me, I know. I may not remember some things, but I haven’t forgotten that.” Their eyes locked and they just stared at each other, lost in their memories of the past.

At that moment, Carly walked out of the kitchen carrying the dish of Sonny’s famous mashed potatoes and stopped dead. She watched as Courtney and Jason laughed together and then got suddenly quiet. She couldn’t hear what had been said, but the tension was swirling even higher than before.

As Carly watched from a distance, Jason reached out to touch Courtney’s hand but she jerked out of the way. A wry look of knowledge appeared on Jason’s face as he nodded slightly, acknowledging Courtney’s need for separation. Instead, he pulled a chair out with a flourish, motioning for Courtney to sit down. Courtney sat down with a heavy heart, thinking about what might have been, what could have been.

Jason sat down across from Courtney. He knew that the next few hours might be interminable but that if they focused on the here and now, they could get through it. Jason and Courtney both looked up as Carly approached potatoes in hand. Sonny was right behind her carrying in the rest of the dishes.

As wine was poured and dishes passed, the tension in the air seemed to dissipate as the four people sat down to enjoy a meal and good friendship. The first few minutes of dinner was filled with the sounds of contented eating and the passing of food around the table.

“So Courtney,” Carly said. “Have you given anymore thought to becoming hostess at ‘The Cellar’?”

“Awww, Carly. Don’t start…we’ve been over this already. There is no way that I’m going to be able to work there. A.J. wouldn’t stand for it.”

“A.J. can go sit on a fence post and rotate. Who cares what he thinks. Besides, the hostess job would give you a great job, you’d get to spend lots of time with “me”, plus you’d get to make a lot more money. God knows you need it, living with A.J. in that shitty apartment. Oh, oh….” Carly said raising a finger in the air, “and best of all, you would get to quit that job at Kelly’s and working with bitch Elizabeth!”

“Carly!” all three of them said in unison.

“Sorry,” Carly muttered. “But it’s the truth. Courtney, I really think that you should give some thought about this job. Why wouldn’t you want to work there? You are a gorgeous, sexy, young woman with a sparkling, bubbly personality. People fall all over themselves trying to impress you and you’d be the perfect person to greet people as they walk through the doors to start their evening!”

“Thanks Carly,” Courtney said, a rosy hue creeping up her neck. “That was a nice thing to say.”

“Well, it’s the truth and I bet you aren’t told enough just how wonderful you really are. You are a gorgeous woman, isn’t that right Jason?”

Jerked out of his reverie of the food on his plate, Jason stared at first Carly, then Courtney. He had been trying to steadily ignore the conversation that was going on around him. He didn’t want to hear about Courtney’s attributes, he knew them all and then some.

Jason’s eyes locked onto Courtney’s and said, “Yes, she is a gorgeous woman.”

The rosy hue that had bloomed on Courtney’s face turned into a deep red as Jason’s eyebrows wiggled at his statement. The electricity and chemistry passing through the looks was so palpable that Carly wanted to reach out and touch it but she feared electrocution.

Courtney quickly averted her eyes from Jason and returned them to her lap. Carly stifled a laugh has she watched Jason gaze at the top of Courtney’s head. ‘There’s something here’ she thought. ‘There’s definitely something going on here.’

“Carly,” Sonny said. “You’ve got to stop harassing Courtney. Just leave her alone on this subject.” Sonny looked over at Jason who was back to studying his plate of rapidly dwindling food. “So Jase,” Sonny said in a mock threatening voice, “you think my little sister is hot. Maybe, I better start locking her up at night.”

Jason started to choke when he heard the words ‘little sister’. The bite of chicken that he had just taken became lodged in his throat. His eyes locked with Courtney’s as he began to cough profusely. Carly started to slap her hand on Jason’s back trying to dislodge the bite. Finally, after what seemed like interminable moments of coughing, the chicken came up and flew out of his mouth and onto the table.

Carly started laughing as she saw the piece of chicken. “Did the food go down the wrong hole, Jase?”

“Yeah, definitely the wrong hole.” Jason said, wiping his eyes and taking a drink of water. Looking back and forth between Sonny and Courtney, Jason asked, “What do you mean ‘little sister’?”

Sonny smiled as he looked fondly on Courtney. “That’s right Jason. I haven’t told you that. Courtney is my sister.”

“Whaa what?” Jason asked stunned. He turned towards Courtney, who shrugged as if to say that she was sorry.

“Yeah,” Sonny said excitedly. “Isn’t it great? Courtney is my half-sister.”

Jason just sat in his chair, shell-shocked. His mind was swirling with endless thoughts, questions and problems. Wow, he thought, things were going to get a hell of a lot harder before they got easier. Jason’s eyes glazed over as he gazed unseeingly around the table. Holy shit, he thought, Courtney is Sonny’s sister. I’ve had SEX with Sonny’s sister. Lots of sex. Mind-blowing, earth-shattering, really great sex like that time…

“Jason! Is there anybody home,” Carly said, waving her hand in front of his face. Jason thoughts were rudely interrupted as he was brought back to the present. Carly and Sonny were staring at Jason like he had two heads. Courtney was trying hard to hide her smile at the look of utter confusion on Jason’s face.

“Oh, sorry” Jason said. “My mind wandered for a minute.”

“Jason, are you sure your okay tonight? You don’t seem to be yourself.” Sonny asked, looking a little concerned.

“No, I’m fine. It’s just been a long couple of days since I got back. Lots of new information to process and people to meet.” He looked up at Courtney knowing that she understood what he meant. Jason smiled wryly as he thought about all that had happened in the last two days.

As Sonny and Carly excused themselves to go get dessert, Courtney looked apprehensively at Jason. Once the other couple was out of earshot, Jason leaned forward and said, “Later.”

At that moment, Sonny and Carly reappeared with dessert. Sonny and Carly sat down and Sonny began dishing up the cherry cheesecake that he had prepared earlier in the day. Courtney stared at the dessert wondering how she was going to gently turn down it down.

Sonny started passing out the cake, “Here you go Court,” he said. Courtney accepted the cake warily, looking at it like she was going to be ill.

“Wait a minute,” Jason said, “Courtney, why are you eating that, you hate….”

“Ow!!!” Sonny exclaimed, grabbing his shin and glaring at the table. “Damn it, Carly. Why the hell did you just kick me?”

Carly looked at Sonny in confusion and then looked at Courtney and Jason who were trying hard not to laugh. Courtney was mortified; she had meant to kick Jason before he had slipped up and given them away. She hadn’t meant to kick Sonny. Courtney started to say something when Carly piped up,

“Sorry baby. I didn’t mean to kick you…I was just moving my foot. Are you okay?”

“God,” Sonny growled, “Those shoes should be classed as lethal weapons. Damn it, woman that hurt! You’ll be kissing it better tonight.”

“That’s okay…it will be my pleasure,” she said as she leaned across and kissed his cheek. Courtney let out a sigh of relief as Sonny seemed to accept Carly’s answer. Carly looked at Courtney and winked, letting her know that she wasn’t off the hook yet.

Sonny looked at Jason as he finished scraping the last bit of cheesecake from his plate. He really wanted to have another piece but he knew that he would get grief from Carly about watching his weight.

“Jason,” he said, “we need to discuss some business, why don’t you join me in the kitchen for a minute?”

“Okay,” The men excused themselves and Carly pounced on the opportunity to interrogate Courtney.

“Spill it,” she said. “What the hell is going on with you and Jason?”

“Carly, there’s nothing going on.”

“Oh, don’t give me that line of bull shit. Just tell me the truth.”

“Carly, for now that is the truth. If and when I can tell you the real truth, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Wait, you can’t just leave me hanging with that Courtney -“Carly broke off as the men returned from the kitchen. Courtney and Carly stood up to meet the men as they reached the table. Jason looked at Courtney and gave her the LOOK. Courtney nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement.

“Wow…look at the time!” Courtney exclaimed. “I really should be getting home. A.J. will be getting a little worried about me, I’m sure.”

“Courtney, do you need me to get a car for you?” Sonny asked.

“I can take her home,” Jason interjected swiftly. “I have to go out anyway.”

“Thanks, Jason” Courtney said brightly, gathering up her coat before Sonny could protest. She walked over and kissed Sonny on the cheek, “Thanks for dinner, big brother.” Courtney walked over to Carly and gave her a hug.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook,” Carly said. “We will finish our conversation.”

Jason grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the chair, said his goodbyes and ushered Courtney out the door.

Carly smiled slightly as she watched them leave. She turned towards Sonny who was busily clearing off the table. “So what do you think about Jason and Courtney?”

“What about them?” Sonny asked.

The night wind howled as the bike raced through the streets of Port Charles. The wind was chilly and biting but Courtney didn’t mind as she wrapped her arms tighter around his waist. She knew that he wasn’t taking her home, at least not yet. They had to talk, figure out what to do. She was Sonny’s sister, he was Sonny’s enforcer. She was married to his brother; he was married to his job. They shared a past that neither could forget, a past that could ruin the future if they weren’t careful.

As they rounded a curve, Jason slowly pulled the bike to a stop. Jason cut the engine, as Courtney got off the bike and slowly looked around. Jason had taken her up into the mountains, and they were on a bit of a precipice. Over the cliff’s edge she could see the bright lights of Port Charles winking up at them. She turned back towards Jason as she heard him curse softly in the dark.

“Jason, what are you doing? Where are you?” she asked, trying to make his form out in the darkness.

“Damn it, I know it’s here somewhere.” Jason muttered. He moved his hand along the wood planks until it hit the switch. Ahhhh, there it is he thought, as light illuminated the small cabin.

Courtney stared in disbelief at the small log cabin that appeared from the darkness. She slowly approached it, watching as Jason unlocked the door and motioned for her to go in.

“Jason, what is this place?”

“It’s a cabin.”

“Thank you for pointing that out, Mr. Obvious. Why are we here? Whose cabin is it?”

Jason laughed slightly as he moved around the cabin turning on the lights to bathe the room in a wash of soft light. “It’s my cabin Court. I had it built when I knew that I was coming back. It’s my safe haven; only you know that this exists and that’s the way it’s going to remain. I brought you here because we need to discuss some things and at least here, we are safe from interruptions.” Jason turned around from lighting the fireplace when he heard her approach him softly. She looked like an angel, he thought. Her blond hair was tousled from the ride up and eyes sparkled softly in the dim light. Courtney shivered slightly as the cold started to set in. Jason noticed and reached up to pull her down towards the fire.

“Stay here and warm up,” he whispered. “I’ll be right back.” Jason got up and walked towards the tiny kitchen. Jason reached into the cupboard and brought down the fixings for hot chocolate. Moving gracefully, he boiled the water and added the water to the contents in the mugs. Voila…hot chocolate. Jason reached into the refrigerator and brought out a can of whipped cream. Squirting the last of the whipped cream from the can and onto the hot chocolate, he threw the can in the garbage.

Picking up the two mugs, Jason made his way back to where Courtney was sitting; stopping long enough to grab the navy blue chenille blanket off the back of the couch. Reaching Courtney, he dropped the blanket down beside her and passed her the mugs.

“Yummy,” Courtney said, looking at Jason as he stoked the fire and then sat down. Jason spread his legs and made a space for Courtney to lie, pulling her so that her back was flush with his chest. Wrapping the blanket around them, he took his mug from her and drank deeply. Setting his mug aside, Jason pulled Courtney against him more firmly and rested his chin on her head. Sighing deeply, he started,

“Court, we have some serious problems to discuss.”

“I know. What are we going to do?” Court asked, looking at fire unseeingly.

“We can’t tell anyone about our past, at least not some of the stuff,” he replied. “Damn, I can’t believe that you are related to Sonny. How the hell did we not know this before?”

“I have no idea…remember when I told you that I thought my dad was dead and then I found out he wasn’t when I chased after my mom in Port Charles. That’s when I found out about Dad’s other family and his other life. I was extremely pissed off.”

“I can just imagine that,” Jason said, laughing softly as he thought back to other times that she had been extremely pissed.

“But, I got to meet Sonny and Carly and Michael. That’s made it all worthwhile.” Courtney tilted her head up to look and Jason and saw the happiness and the sadness that the memories invoked. “Jason, no one can know about some of the aspects of our past together, it’s too dangerous. But if people talk, we’ll be in big trouble.”

“No one will talk or the wrath of Jason Morgan will come down on them and they know it. It is too dangerous for all people involved.”

With that said, Courtney looked down at her lap, seeing his hands there, holding her. Staring at his hands, she slowly raised her fingertips and began tracing them. The pads of her fingers became very sensitive to the feel and texture of his skin. Over the bumps of his knuckles, the fine hair that dusted to the short fingernails. Turning his hands over, she traced the smooth skin of his palms, relishing in the ability to be touching him again. She stopped her ministrations slowly and laced her fingers within his, gathering the comfort from just being able to be close to him as he pulled her closer.

Still looking at his hands, Courtney noticed a faded inch-length scar that ran along the palm of his left palm. Lightly tracing the scar, Courtney faded backwards in time as she remembered how he has gotten it…

******Flash-back*******

The sultry night air wafted through the streets of New Orleans as dusk started to gently settle and neon lights buzzed and crackled inviting people to the charms of the crescent city. Music flowed out of every bar and strip club on Bourbon street. The smell of Cajun food permeated the air as the hundreds of tourists wandered the streets. Laughter rang out through the night air as the magic of the city that care forgot graced its guests and the more adventuresome of its visitors rushed off to more ghoulish pursuits.

In the midst of the garish good times a young woman sat alone at the bar of the Blue Moon Tap Room fending off men and a few women. She was looking to meet someone but she had a specific someone in mind and He hadn’t arrived yet. She’d know Him when he came into the joint.

Her shell-pink tipped fingers tapped on the rim of her bottle of beer. She had purposely left her blonde tresses down and was now regretting it. The blond strands she had so carefully curled were starting to fall. She lifted her hair off her neck and managed to cool off a little. Even in the air conditioning of the bar it was well over 90 degrees … after dusk. Luckily, her makeup was light just a touch of blusher and lip gloss. And her eyes, her best feature, were striking.

A little mascara was all she needed to make them sparkle like the bits of broken glass dangling from the ceiling. Poor man’s wind chimes made out of the antique bottles so readily dug up in the area they were mostly made out of cobalt blue pharmacy bottles. The light danced off them and she gave a soft laugh as she realized the significance of the bar’s name. Taking a long pull off the bottle she hoped the eye makeup didn’t melt off. The right guy would be here soon. She could feel Him coming.

Subtly shifting on the barstool, she toyed with the bottle while leaning over to get a better look at the doorway. Ahhh, there he was she thought. She stared at the man who had just graced the threshold. Broad-shouldered and lean-hipped, he was the stuff that dreams were made of. But, she had to remember, she wasn’t here for that. She was a professional.

As she watched the man make his way to the bar, she readied her mind and her hands. Looking down at the end of the bar past the man, she flipped her long hair over her shoulder. It was time, she thought.

Jason Morgan stood at the bar, waiting patiently for his beer. Glancing around the bar, he noticed a blonde woman sitting at the other end of the bar. She seemed to be waiting for someone. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he paid for his beer and took a long pull. Just then, he watched as a man approached the blonde.

The man appeared eager to make the woman’s acquaintance but she was having none of it. Jason watched as she shook her head in apparent refusal of the man’s requests. She seemed to be handling the situation to the best of her ability but when the man’s passes began to get amorous and more obvious, Jason knew it was time to step.

Making his way over to the couple, Jason arrived just in time to see the man grab the woman’s arm hard and growl drunkenly. Reaching out to grab the man, Jason was unprepared for the woman’s attack. In a blur of motion, she had grabbed her beer bottle and broken it over top of the man’s head. The drunken lout slumped to the floor, bleeding like a stuck pig and falling unconscious.

Caught in the cross-fire of flying glass shards, Jason was stuck. Somehow he had avoided being directly hit from the glass. Thanking his good fortune, he bent down to check the man on the floor after surreptitiously checking on the woman. The man was okay, he would live to see another day but as Jason got ready to rise to his feet, his boot caught on the edge of a shard and he went flying flat on his ass. Reaching out to steady himself, his hand landed straight on a sharp shard of glass.

Fuck he thought, there goes my good night. Looking at his hand, the blood started running out of the cut. Not deep enough for stitches. Rubbing his hand onto his shirt, he slowly levered himself off the barroom floor. Getting up slowly, he looked at the blonde. She was staring in abject horror at the mess that had just happened.

“Miss,” he said, trying to get her attention. “Are you okay?”

The woman snapped herself out of her reverie and looked at him. Crystal blue eyes met crystal blue eyes. Time seemed to stand still.

Breaking the eye contact first, the woman surveyed the scene. “Yes, thank you. I’m just fine, now that the man has been taken care of.” For the first time, she fully looked at Jason. Everything is going according to plan, she thought. Looking up and down his body, she focused in on his bleeding hand. Rushing towards him, she grabbed his hand.

“Let me see your hand.” Turning his hand over, she saw the gash with the blood that was slowly seeping out of it. “Well, you don’t need stitches. But, I must thank you for trying to defend my honour.”

“Yeah, it was a little unnecessary though. I didn’t even get the chance, you handled him quite fine,” Jason said as he gestured to the man on the floor.

“Yes, self-defence training comes in handy sometimes. Look, I really want to thank you for your time and effort here, but I think you need to get your hand checked out.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve had worse.”

“Fine then, be Mr. Tough Guy. But, I still want to repay you for your trouble. So, let’s go out for dinner. Oysters and beer, my treat.”

Jason looked at the blonde and knew he wanted to see where this might lead. Smiling slightly down at her, he said, “I don’t know. I was taught never to go out with people that I don’t know.”

The woman smiled at his response. Sticking her hand out, she said, “Courtney Matthews, at your service, sir.”

“Jason Morgan, the pleasure is all mine” he said, shaking her hand. With sparks flying between them and both of them wondering where the night might lead them, the ventured off into the sultry night.

****End Flash-back****

“Courtney,” Jason said, shaking her out of the memory. “Where did you go?”

Courtney looked up at him from underneath her lashes. Still holding his hand, she lightly traced the scar again. “I was just remembering how you got this scar,” she whispered, smiling softly.

Jason glanced down, smiling ruefully. “Yeah, you really had me there, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I guess I did. You know, I -“ Courtney’s next comments were cut off by the chimes of the grandfather clock tolling the hour. Courtney listened in horror as the bells reached twelve signalling the arrival of the new day.

“Holy shit, Jason!!” Courtney scrambled out of his loose embrace and started rushing around the cabin, trying to put things back in order. “We have to get going, it’s after midnight. A.J. is going to be wondering where I am.”

“Courtney! Calm down…everything is going to be all right. A.J. will be okay.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she said a little frantically. “You don’t have to live with him. He’s going to be doubly pissed when he finds out that I was with you.”

Courtney started to walk around Jason as she returned from washing out the mugs, but he reached out and grabbed her shoulders, stopping her.

“Listen, we have nothing to be ashamed of here…but we need to discuss what we are going to say to people about our past.” Jason searched Courtney’s eyes, looking for the feelings that she kept hidden deep inside herself.

Jerking out of his grasp, Courtney ran her fingers through her hair. “We don’t tell them anything. All we say is that we met at Kelly’s, I was your waitress and then A.J. showed up and introduced us. The rest is all coincidental.”

“Right…it’s all coincidental.” Jason sighed, knowing that this wouldn’t be the end of it but he decided not to push her. Grabbing his jacket and her coat, he ushered her out the cabin door and towards the bike. After locking the door, he walked down the steps and met her at the bike. Grabbing his helmet, he started to get on the bike, motioning for her to get on behind him. But then he remembered and got off the bike again.

“Jason, what are you doing?” Courtney asked.

“Don’t you remember? I said that you could drive the bike the other night. So, go ahead and drive us home.”

“Are you serious, Jase? I haven’t driven a bike in forever.”

“Don’t worry; it will come back to you. It’s like sex; you never forget how to do it, once you’ve done it.”

Courtney smiled broadly at his comparison. Getting on the bike, she motioned for him to join her. As he settled himself behind her, she felt his strong arms wrap around her waist, his hands resting just below her chest.

“Hang on,” she said as she turned the key, revved the engine and took them off into the black night towards the bright lights of Port Charles.

Fifteen minutes later, Courtney brought the bike to a standstill outside her apartment building. Cutting the engine and the lights, she slowly slid of the bike and stood beside Jason. Taking off her helmet, she shook out her hair and stared at him.

“Thanks for letting me drive,” she told him.

Jason pulled his helmet off and stared at her in a mixture of frustration and amusement. “The pleasure was all mine,” he said winking.

Courtney leaned in and hugged him. “I’m glad we found each other again. I’ve missed you,” she whispered in his ear. And with that said, Courtney left him once again, sitting on his bike…staring at her in contemplation of what might have been.

Growling in frustrating, he slammed his helmet back on his head and took of for his penthouse.

Meanwhile at Penthouse #4

Carly watched from the couch as Sonny paced in front of the window.

“Where the hell could Jason be? Why isn’t he answering his phone?” Sonny asked her.

“Don’t worry about it sweetie, Jason is a big boy. He can handle himself.” Carly said, smirking slightly as she thought about the events that had transpired at dinner.

“Yes, you are right,” Sonny said, coming towards the couch and sitting down beside her. “I thought dinner went really well tonight. Jason and Courtney seemed to get along well.”

Carly laughed at the thought of them getting along well. “Babe, they did more than get along well.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Sonny, are you that oblivious to the things that go on around you? Sparks were flying between them.”

“Carly, you must be imagining things again. There were no sparks.”

“I can’t believe that you didn’t see them Sonny.”

“Carly, every time a new woman arrives in Jason’s life, you see sparks or you hate them. Courtney is married to A.J., there were no sparks between them. Just give it a rest.”

“Fine, Sonny. But don’t come whining to me when the truth slaps you in the face.”

Courtney’s Apartment

Courtney moved around her small bedroom, pulling back the covers and getting ready for bed. She had come into the apartment expecting to have to face a deranged and angry A.J. But, instead she had found him, sprawled face down on the couch - passed out with an empty vodka bottle dangling from his fingers.

She had covered him lightly with the afghan and left him there. Now, she was alone. Sliding in between the cold sheets, Courtney thought about the ways things could have been. Raising her hand up to her neck, she touched the silver chain around her neck. Pulling it out from under her shirt, Courtney grasped the ring that the chain held. Tracing it lightly, she ran her thumb over it. Her thumb ran over the small clusters of sapphires that he had said matched her eyes. Then, she reached the inside of the band. Feeling the inscription, tears pricked her eyes as she remembered what it said…

Courtney: I love you ~ always, no matter what. J

Courtney raised her hand to wipe the tears that trickled down her cheek. Kissing the ring, she wrapped her fist around it and closed her eyes, fading off into sleep, where dreams of another man and another time overtook her.

Jason sat on the edge of his king size bed. Frustrated over his conflicting emotions, he scrubbed his hands over his face and sighed deeply. He knew that he would have to sort through his feelings and figure out what he wanted to do in his life. Jason moved next to the mirror and pulled his t-shirt off, stretching and flexing the soreness out of his muscles. Catching a glimpse of his shoulder in the mirror, Jason raised a hand and rubbed it over the marking there.

A black motorcycle with the letters C and J intertwined around the handlebars rested on the blade of his shoulder. Small in size, the tattoo carried a wealth of symbolism. Jason remembered back to the time that he had gotten the tattoo; they had been so much in love. But now, that was over with. She had moved on and he was caught on the edge of what was right and what was wrong.

Undressing the rest of the way, Jason slipped between the sheets of his bed, and with one last shoulder rub, he faded off into sleep dreaming of a blonde woman in a different time and a different place where their love had been all that mattered.

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Chapter VI - What Do You Say

Courtney sighed heavily as she moved around the tables at Kelly’s. Clearing off dishes, taking orders, putting up with Elizabeth, she couldn’t help but think of where she had been at this time in her life, a couple of years earlier. She hadn’t imagined then that she would be married to an alcoholic or that she would have found her father and a half brother. She hadn’t imagined that she would be without Jason. No she hadn’t imagined that at all.

Walking back towards the kitchen, Courtney thought about her life. It had been a week since she had seen Jason; a week since their talk at the cabin. She couldn’t believe how much she had missed him in that week but she knew that she had to move on. As she moved around the end of the bar, her thoughts turned to her relationship with A.J. They had slowly been recovering the remains of their tattered marriage and started to rebuild. Her eyes had been opened wide in light of recent events and she knew that she couldn’t allow herself to be taken advantage of again.

Elizabeth walked out from around the corner of the restaurant, muttering under her breath. Reaching Courtney’s side, she started to bitch.

“Damn it,” Liz whined as she grabbed the empty coffee pot off the burner. “I just want to have some time alone with Jason. He’s been back in town for like a week and a half and I haven’t had any time alone with him at all. He doesn’t want to have dinner with me, but he’ll eat with Sonny and Carly.”

“Uh, Liz…I don’t really care about your problems,” Courtney said, trying to extract herself gracefully from the conversation before she said something she’d regret. Courtney walked out from behind the counter and started to go clear off another table but not before Liz started in again.

“I just want Jason to be with me,” she whined. “I mean, I thought we had something. But he won’t answer my calls and he says that he’s too busy with business to be able to spend time with me. He’s too busy with BUSINESS to spend time with me!!!” Liz screeched brandishing the coffee pot wildly with her hands. “What the hell is that, he’s supposed to want to be with me, he’s supposed to LOVE ME!!”

“Get over it all ready!!” Courtney said, raising her voice slightly. She didn’t want to start a scene but Elizabeth was starting to grate on her nerves, plus she didn’t want to have to deal with Liz’s whinings about her semi-relationship with Jason.

“I can’t believe how bitchy you are being towards Jason. I mean, look at yourself; whining over the fact that your so-called boyfriend can’t see you right now. So, he’s busy. Get over it!! At least you have a decent man. A man who is caring, honest, unselfish, loyal, sexy and generally seems to be nice. You have a man seems to take his obligations and responsibilities seriously and right now he can’t be with you. Grow up and deal with life. Things don’t always happen the way you want them to.” Courtney finished off her rant on a huge breath knowing that what she had said was true.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Elizabeth said. “I never thought about it that way.” Liz started to smirk as she saw Jason through Courtney’s eyes. “I guess you wouldn’t know about those things, though. You’re married to that deadbeat A.J. and we all know that he isn’t any of those things. He’s an alcoholic, suck-up, ass wiping, pansy-faced wuss.”

Courtney couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She saw red and went to tell the bitch exactly what she thought of her. Balling her right hand into a hard fist, Courtney prepared herself to wipe that smirk right off of Liz’s face. Pulling her arm back, she put her all her might into the punch only to have herself come up short by the hand that was gently and inexorably forcing her arm back down to her side.

“Oh, Jason!!” Liz proclaimed as she turned on the waterworks and ran into his chest. Crocodile tears started coursing down her cheeks as she lamented over Courtney. “Thank you for saving me. Courtney was going to hit me and all because I told her the truth. I guess she just can’t handle what I know to be the truth.”

Courtney turned around and met Jason’s eyes wryly. She raised her eyebrow in silent recognition and he gave her the look that said he understood. Laughing shortly, Courtney said “Elizabeth, you really need to get over yourself and your ability to twist everything you hear into being about you. It’s getting pretty tiresome.”

“Why you little bitch,” Liz spat. “I could take you right here and now.” Liz was feeling pretty confident standing in Jason’s arms, although truth be told, his arms were at his sides and they weren’t touching at all.

“Knock it off, Liz!” Jason told her. “Courtney’s right, you’re starting to act like a teenager. Whatever happened between the two of you is over and done with. You need to grow up and act like a woman. Now, apologize or say whatever it is you have to say and let’s be done with it.”

Liz turned around and glared at Jason. “So, what now? You believe ‘Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes’ over me!!?? Over me….your GIRLFRIEND??”

“Get a grip, Elizabeth.” Jason said, “Just apologize to Court for your part in this misunderstanding and all of us will go on our merry way.”

Elizabeth became enraged when she heard Jason use the shortened version of Courtney’s name. She knew that there was something going here but she wasn’t sure what. But she knew that she wasn’t going to lose Jason especially to Courtney. Turning to Jason she started to yell nonsensical things at him. Courtney took this as her opportunity to get out while she still could.

Passing the couple, she looked amusedly at the picture they made - a sexy, exasperated man with a bitchy shrew on his arm. Deciding to get one last parting shot in, Courtney looked back at Jason.

“Hey Jase, maybe you should think about giving up the juvenile teenager and go and find a real woman.”

“Very funny,” he told Courtney, turning back to focus his attention on Liz. As Courtney grabbed her coat and walked outside she could hear Jason asking Liz, exactly how old she was supposed to be today.

As she walked towards her apartment, Courtney breathed in the scents of spring. All around her, Port Charles was awakening from the deep freeze of winter. The birds were singing; people were out walking their dogs; the grass was growing and turning greener with every passing moment. The sun was high in the sky and the buds that had formed on the trees were slowly turned into the leaves that would eventually grace the ground as the seasons changed once again.

Reaching the corner that led to her apartment building, Courtney braced herself for what could become a confrontation with A.J. Everything that happened between them recently had both of them walking on eggshells. She didn’t want to start him off, although she could defend herself. She just wanted them to rebuild their relationship on their past mistakes and not continue into this downwards spiral.

Unlocking her door and stepping into the apartment, Courtney looked around and found A.J. sitting on the couch watching television. A.J. looked up as she walked in and smiled slightly at her.

“Hey,” he said. “Come over and sit by me, I think it’s time that we discuss some things.”

Warily, Courtney dropped her purse on the coffee table, shrugged off her jacket and sat down beside A.J. Curling her knees up and wrapping her arms around her knees, Courtney sat in a defensive position. Only a few people would recognize what Courtney was doing.

Hesitantly, A.J. started to talk to her. “I know that I haven’t been the easiest man in the world to live with, but I really want our relationship to work. I love you. I have loved you since the moment I met you.” A.J. felt no compunction in lying to Courtney. He knew that he had to say what she expected to hear, he had to keep her with him. “Your beautiful blue eyes sucked me in and your light-up the world smile captured me. I know that we have had our share of problems and that we don’t always see eye-to-eye on everything but I love you.”

“I know you love me A.J., but you’ve said that time and time before and we still seem to have all these problems.”

“I know,” he said. “But if we love each other, all our other problems should be secondary. We should be able to conquer everything in our paths as long as we have our love.”

“You’re right, A.J. Our love for one another should be enough to conquer anything. But we really need to communicate better. You can’t keep continuing to jump to conclusions like that day at Kelly’s. You need to stop and think before you say anything. I’m not a yo-yo who can be pulled in eighty different directions because you think that I am cheating on you or that I’m pulling one over on you. I can’t live like that, I WON’T live like that.”

“I understand. I know that I have to try harder and be better.”

“That’s right you do.”

“About the other night…I was drunk and….”

“Yeah, you were drunk. But that doesn’t give you any reason to grab or touch me like you did. Being drunk is NO excuse and although, I should be out the door with my bags packed, I decided to stay and give you another chance. But let me warn you…if you ever try to hurt me again, I’ll be out that door so fast, your head will spin…especially after you are locked up in a 2X2 cell in the Port Charles jail. Do you understand me?”

A.J. gulped and looked into Courtney’s eyes. Seemingly flat and emotionless, Courtney’s eyes were like ice-blue chips. A.J. had only seen eyes like that when he looked at Jason. It was definitely an odd experience looking at his wife while her eyes were like that. He knew that she was dead serious and that there had better be no more fuck-ups on his end or their relationship would be toast.

“Yeah, I understand,” he said softly, remorsefully. He really did feel sorry that he had hurt her but he knew that he couldn’t make it up to her anymore.

Leaning forward, A.J. gathered Courtney in a hard embrace and breathed a sigh of relief that he had won this round.

Opening the door to Sonny’s penthouse, Jason rubbed a hand over his face and sighed heavily. The scene in Kelly’s with Elizabeth was the last straw in what had been a terrible day. He felt bad that he couldn’t spend the time with her that she felt that she deserved but he had responsibilities to Sonny and what Sonny wanted, he got. No matter what the cost or who had to pay the price.

Taking off his coat, Jason yelled for Sonny. Sonny had called him and said he had a job for Jason to do. Jason was here, ready to do the job.

Sonny came out of the kitchen with some papers in his hand. Spying Jason, he said, “Good, you’re here. I have a job for you take care of.”

“Okay,” Jason said.

“I want you to look into Courtney’s marriage,” Sonny said forcefully.

“Yes, to A.J. There’s something fishy going on here. I can feel it.”

Jason winced, knowing that this was going to be a hard task for him to accomplish. A heavy sense of foreboding seemed to settle itself upon Jason’s shoulders. “What do you mean?”

“Well, when A.J. first started sniffing around Courtney, it was because he wanted Michael back. He even tried to trade me Courtney for Michael when he first proposed to Courtney.”

“That bastard!!”

“Yeah, well it gets worse. So, when I laughed A.J. back out into the gutter he belongs in, I tried to have a talk with Courtney. But she believed that A.J. really loved her and wanted to be with her, so she told me to go fuck myself. Courtney ran back to A.J. and he whisked her off to an island where a judge performed a quickie ceremony. Normally, that wouldn’t worry me but I was looking through my papers that investigated the marriage and it seems that there is no record of a marriage between Courtney Matthews and A.J. Quartermaine.

“You mean, they didn’t married?”

“I’m not sure…I know she filed all the papers and got her name changed for her credit cards and stuff. But there doesn’t seem to be a filed record of their marriage at City Hall or anything. I need you to check out this judge and see if these papers are legitimate.”

Sonny handed Jason the papers and showed him the marriage certificate. “You’ll have to go to this island and check into this judge. Spare no expense; I just want my sister safe. The plane is fuelled and waiting for you.”

Jason looked at Sonny and told him, “Don’t worry…whatever happened here, I’ll figure it out and we’ll get Courtney out of this marriage.”

“Good luck, Jason.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need it.” Jason left Sonny in the penthouse and made his way out to the limo. He couldn’t believe what had just transpired. He was off to the island to rescue Courtney from the sham that her marriage was, even if she didn’t know it.

Courtney’s Apartment

Curled up on a chair in the living room, Courtney thumbed through an old copy of Cosmopolitan while waiting for A.J. to return from the store. Licking her finger, she turned to the next page and stopped still, staring at the title that jumped out at her, “When The Old Love Returns…What Do You Do?” Hurriedly flipping past the rest of the article, Courtney breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she couldn’t read her thoughts on paper. She knew what she was supposed to do, she knew what she wanted to do but she knew that she couldn’t do anything but live her life and let the chips fall where they may.

Hearing the door open, Courtney looked up as A.J. returned from his shopping trip. Looking a little worse for wear, A.J. plopped down on the edge of the couch after removing his water spotted jacket. Courtney stifled a laugh as she watched him shake his hair like a dog

“Is it a little wet out there?” she asked teasingly.

“Yeah, it just started to rain a bit but the weather forecasters are calling for a large downfall today and into tonight,” he said.

“That’s good,” Courtney replied vaguely, turning her attention back to the magazine. She didn’t really care to talk about the rain. Sometimes, rain was good and sometimes it was bad.

A.J. looked thoughtfully at Courtney. He wondered if now was the time to bring up what he wanted to ask her. He knew that they had just gotten started back on track but he really wanted her to agree with him. If she agreed to this, he would get her away from Sonny and Carly AND get her away from golden boy.

“Courtney, I’ve been thinking and I have an idea to run past you,” A.J. started out tentatively.

Courtney looked up at A.J. and put her magazine aside slowly. Looking at A.J., she could see that he was a bit a nervous to broach the subject. “What is it, A.J.?”

“Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we decided to patch things up and I think that we need to start our new life over in a fresh place. Port Charles holds so many demons for both you and I. Wherever we go, we’re always hearing bad stuff about each other. We need to get away from here and begin our new life in a spot where there are no ghosts or skeletons to haunt us.”

Although, A.J. had a really valid point, Courtney knew that she could never leave Port Charles. Not after all she had found there. She had found Sonny, the brother that she never knew she had. After endless searching, she had found Mike, her father. Things may not always be rosy between her and Mike but he was the only father that she had and she wanted things to work out between them. Then, there was Carly. Her best friend and true sister; she couldn’t leave her…she didn’t want to.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, she felt the slight tug of the chain around her neck and was reminded of a newer but the main reason she didn’t want to leave. Jason. Yes, they had just found each other again and yes, nothing was going on between them, but she needed him. And he needed her. Just like they always had. Beyond what they had felt for each other, they knew things about each other that no one else knew…Jason was her rock even when things were bad. Now that she had found him again, she wasn’t letting him go to far even if she had to stretch the truth a bit just to see him.

A.J. watched Courtney warily. Emotions flickered through her eyes but they went so fast that he couldn’t tell what she was thinking. It was one of the few times that he couldn’t read her face and he noticed that it had been happening a lot more often. “So, what do you think?”

“A.J., I can’t leave Port Charles. I just found my family here, I can’t leave them. “

“It’s not like we’d be moving far away, Court.”

Courtney flinched when she heard him use that nickname. It wasn’t his to use and it hurt to hear that name come from his lips. “A.J., we aren’t moving.”

“Why not? Give me one good reason why we can’t move away from here and start a fresh life.”

Feeling like her heart was being sat upon because she couldn’t give up her past to start her future, Courtney replied harshly, “I’ll give you three good reasons why we can’t move…Sonny and Carly, Mike and the Quartermaines. They are our family and I am not moving away from them after having just found them. I love my life in Port Charles and I will not give it up just because you have issues with the people that we are related to.”

Seeing a red haze slowly begin to appear in front of his eyes, A.J. tried to stay calm and focused. “We could move to Manhattan, Court. It’s just an hour or so away from here. Mike could come up to visit us and we could come down often and see everybody here. We could do it Court, just say the words.”

“The word is NO, A.J. We aren’t moving and that’s final.” Courtney hurriedly got up and rushed into the bedroom, while A.J. muttered pithy comments about Courtney’s “family”. Collapsing on the bed, Courtney pulled out the ring and held it tightly. Tears welled up in her eyes and started to slip down her cheeks unchecked. What am I going to do, she thought, I need to move on but I can’t seem to forget and leave well enough alone.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean

Jason sat in his chair on Sonny’s private jet, unclenching and clenching his fists. A.J. was going to be in for one hell of a shock when Jason returned. He had the information that Sonny had requested. Court’s marriage was a damn hoax.

Walking into Sonny’s penthouse, Jason felt a little calmer but he knew that he could blow at any time. Sonny looked up from the couch when he saw Jason come in. He was a little surprised that he was back so soon but he knew that Jason didn’t like to waste time and that he had obviously found what he was looking for.

“Well,” Sonny asked.

“I got the information. Courtney and A.J. are not married.”

“What?” Sonny asked forcefully.

“I went down to the island and managed to talk to the judge who had performed the ceremony. After a little persuasion he told me the truth about the whole marriage scam. Apparently, when A.J. took Courtney down there, he paid the judge off to perform the ceremony but all the papers that were signed are illegal.”

“How can they be illegal?”

“The judge is not a real judge who can perform marriages. See, the island has different laws than the States and what is considered their idea of a judge who can perform marriages is not the same as here. Money greases the wheels of everything on the planet.”

“Wow, well what do you have to back it up? We need proof before we can confront A.J. with this.”

Reaching into his pocket, Jason pulled out a tape recorder and a sheaf of papers. “I was able to record the judge talking, get signed affidavits and get copies of the island’s laws. Also, I have the States’ laws here…we have the proof we need, we just need to figure out how we are going to tell Courtney.”

“Oh, god, I hadn’t even thought about how to tell Courtney,” Sonny sighed heavily rubbing his forehead. “I can’t tell her.”

“What do you mean that you can’t tell her? You have to tell her.”

“Jason, I can’t tell her. You know how much I hate A.J., she won’t believe me even with all the proof. I need someone I can trust to tell her. Someone without an agenda, Jason, I need you to tell her.”

“Uh, Sonny, I’m not sure that it’s a good idea for me to tell her.”

“Well, um…” Jason rubbed his eyes hard and groaned inwardly at the thought of telling Courtney about this latest development.

“Jason, you have to tell her. I can’t do it, she wouldn’t believe me.”

“Fine, I’ll do it. But be prepared for backlash and A.J. putting up a fight.”

“Thank you,” Sonny said.

With that said, Jason gathered up his proof and walked out the door to his penthouse. Opening the door, he slumped heavily against the wall and groaned, knowing that the worse was yet to come. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, he dialled Courtney’s cell phone.

When he heard her pick up, he started in. “Hey Court, it’s me. I need you to meet me at Jake’s as soon as possible.”

“Yeah…that’s fine; see you in a couple of hours.”

Hanging up the phone, Jason walked over to the French doors and stared out into the rain wondering how he was going to handle telling Courtney the truth.