The Girl Next Door, Chapter 12: “Returning the Favor, Pt. 1”

The moonlight danced through the windows, illuminating the darkened bedroom just enough for her to be able to make out the worry and frustration etched across his face. They’d been sitting there in silence for a while - he was propped up against the headboard of the bed with some pillows tucked behind his back, and she was leaning gently against his right side with her head resting comfortably on his shoulder - and the stillness had finally enveloped them, prompting her to say something…anything.

“Jason…what is it?” she asked in a tender whisper. She reached up and drew lazy circles on his shoulder with the tip of her finger, not being able to resist the urge to tell him with a simple touch that everything was eventually going to be fine…not knowing how much he really needed that kind of support.

He exhaled slowly, feeling the tenseness in his body relax instantly under her touch. But then he let his gaze drift back to the window, knowing that a colorful array of celebratory fireworks would be lighting up the night sky any minute, and the melancholy returned.

“It just…it doesn’t feel like New Year’s Eve.”

She paused for a moment and looked up at him with a shy smile. “Why? Because we aren’t in the middle of a big party, toasting with champagne to another year’s worth of unfulfilled resolutions? I’m right where I want to be for New Year’s…here with you.” She snuggled closer against him and reached down, taking one of his hands in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze, then laces her fingers through his.

He grasped her hand tightly, reciprocating the feelings she had just aired. He was so happy and so grateful to be with her, especially tonight. But part of him couldn’t help but to let his mind wander across the hall.

“No, I’m glad we’re alone, too,” he said quietly, his voice still a bit hoarse from his throat having been so dry when he was in the hospital. “I just keep thinking, though, that we should be with Sonny, Carly, and Michael tonight. It really hurts me, Courtney, that Sonny has shut me out. It should hurt you, too. You were just starting to get close to your brother.”

She sighed and pulled back from him, just far enough to get him to turn and look into her eyes. “It does hurt a little, at least for right now,” she admitted truthfully. “But in all honesty, I really think Sonny is going to come around soon. You’re his best friend, Jason, and I’m his sister. I know he’s just worried about me getting involved in your dangerous lifestyle, but he’s going to come to realize that both of us deserve this chance to be happy. And besides, it’s not like he’s completely shut us out. He’s still worried about your condition, Jason. I mean, how many times a day has he sent Carly over here to check on you since you’ve been home?”

He smiled a little and leaned over to drop a swift kiss on her forehead. “You’re right. I just can’t help but feel like I’m betraying him, though. I’ve never…I’ve never done anything against Sonny’s wishes. I owe him too much. And, it’s my job to look out for him. I can’t do that when I’m laying here in this bed, waiting for my wounds to heal. I also can’t put all of my concentration into protecting him when I’m worried about you. We’re going to have to find a balance somewhere in between, or…” He stopped talking and let his sentence dangle in mid-air.

“Or…what?” she asked softly, almost afraid to hear his answer. “Or else we just call it quits before we even get started? We never give us a real chance?”

He quickly shook his head and reached out to pull her closer, smoothing her hair at the back of her neck to calm her down. “No…that’s not what I meant. Courtney, this last week…having you here with me every day…it’s been the best time that I can remember. And I…I don’t want to give that up. I realize, however, that I can’t be in two places at once when I’m finally able to be up and around. I can’t do my job for Sonny and also make a promise to protect you. Because you know, he’d kill me if I ever let anything happen to you.”

**Flashback**

“Hey, Jason! Great news! I just talked to Bobbie, got her to sign some papers, and you’re good to go--” Sonny stated as he walked into the room. However, his happiness quickly turned to rage as he realized what he had interrupted. And as he watched Jason and Courtney guiltily break apart, all three of them realized that their whole world had just been turned upside down.

“Courtney, go out in the hall and wait for Carly and Michael,” he said with authority, looking his sister dead in the eye.

She turned to look at Jason, desperate to find some sign in his eyes of what she should do. But, she couldn’t read any kind emotion there. His _expression had suddenly gone blank. There was no fear, or anger, or resentment. There was…nothing. She wasn’t even sure if he saw her when she looked at him.

“Sonny, I--”

“GO,” he ordered, slightly raising his voice but still keeping it chillingly calm.

Defeated, she slid off of the bed and allowed her suddenly weak legs to carry her across the room and to the door. But before she opened it, for some reason, she turned back toward Sonny. She didn’t want to, but for an instant, she saw the same person standing there who had tried to control her when she was with AJ. Someone who didn’t want to let her make her choices for herself. And as much as she loved Sonny, she absolutely hated that side of him. She hated whatever it was in him that made him feel like he always had to hold the control.

“Just don’t take this out on Jason. We’re both responsible,” she said before she walked out the door, leaving the two men alone.

Sonny waited until he heard the door fully close before he walked closer to the bed, his gaze never wavering from Jason’s.

“So, do you want to tell me…how long this has been goin’ on? How long you been messin’ around with my sister? A few months…a few days…a few weeks? Which is it, Jase?”

Jason nearly flinched at the cold tone in Sonny’s voice, but he didn’t. He didn’t blink…not once. He calmly looked up at him, not really feeling a need to defend himself.
“About sixty seconds,” he answered flatly.

Sonny loosened the scarf from around his neck and slowly let it wrap around one of his hands, never breaking the intense stare-down. “Oh, is that all? It took you all this time to snag her, Jase? So, uh…which one of ya was playing hard to get? After all, you wanted her months ago, didn’t you? You were just, uh….waitin for AJ to be out of the way before you moved in on her.”

Jason could feel his fists clenching tighter, but struggled to keep his temper under control. He had to remind himself that it wasn’t like that at all.

“You’re not being fair, Sonny. I walked in front of a bullet for Courtney. I saved her from AJ…I saved her life. And I’d do it again if I had to, the same as I’d do for you,” he said calmly.

Sonny rubbed his hand across his eyes in frustration. “Jason, what you do for me and what you did for Courtney….it’s…it’s completely different, okay? You work for me. You’re my right hand. What you did for Courtney--”

“Sonny, she’s your sister! Would you rather I have let her take that bullet from AJ? Would you rather have been attending her funeral?” He stopped and looked down, wincing at the thought. “No, you know what? Let’s not even go there…I don’t even want to think about it. My world without her in it…”

“Don’t say it, Jason,” Sonny threatened.

“What? Don’t I deserve to be happy? Doesn’t SHE deserve to be happy?” Jason sat up in bed a little straighter, and Sonny could see the sporadic levels on his stress monitor going up and down. “Look, for what it’s worth to you, Courtney makes me a better person. The first time she found out who I was…that I was AJ’s big, bad, brother, and she looked at me, do you know what I saw in her eyes?”

Sonny shook his head and threw his hands up in the air, clearly out of patience. “What…what did you see, Jase? My sister looking up at you with these big, adoring eyes? Did you see the innocence there? Did you see a woman who had NO idea that she had been tricked into a loveless sham of a marriage? Was she uh…was she calling out to you for help?”

Jason looked up into his boss’s eyes…the eyes of a friend he had known for so many years…and didn’t know what else to say. How many ways could he try to defend himself? He thought Sonny would trust him with everything and anything in his life, but maybe he was wrong.

“No…do you know what I saw, Sonny?” he asked quietly. “I saw someone looking at me…at ME…with acceptance, with inspiration, and without judging me. It took me months to realize it, but I found my salvation in just that one glance. And then what did I do? I ran off and married Brenda…not for me, but for YOU. I put myself into one of the worst possible situations that I could be in for YOUR benefit. And when Alcazar took off on a jet with both of you on it, I left Port Charles knowing that AJ could have been Courtney’s stalker. I walked away from her when she was in danger to save you and Brenda when YOU were in danger. And then we came back, and when you had Courtney living across the hall from me, I didn’t make a move on her. I let her know about my feelings, but I kept my space and didn’t pressure her. I let her make this decision on her own, and guess what? She wants ME. For the first time in a long time, somebody wants me who accepts me for the whole damn, messed up package. So, I’m not asking for your permission, Sonny. I’m asking for your acceptance.”

Sonny just stood there and stared at Jason in disbelief, not being able to remember ever hearing him speak so bluntly before. Hell, Jason had never expressed so many emotions in one long tirade. Honestly, he didn’t think that he’d had it in him. But, he couldn’t give Jason and Courtney his acceptance. They’d both come to understand one day that Courtney being in the middle of their business would only prove to be dangerous for all of them.

“No…I can’t give you my acceptance, Jason. I’m sorry,” Sonny said as he made his way toward the door. “I’m going to give this some time and hope it blows over, and then when it does, come talk to me.”

**End Flashback**

Courtney breathed a sigh of relief, glad to hear Jason say that he wouldn’t just give up on their relationship. However, they still needed a solution to their problem. Jason was right; he couldn’t be worried about both her and Sonny at once, because his job would eventually take precedence - it always did.

“Jason, I have an idea,” she announced as she pulled away from him again. “Let me go over to Sonny’s right now…let me go talk to him, just to feel him out and see if he’s softened his feelings at all in the past few days. I mean, maybe we can propose that he hires someone else to sort of look out for him, that way you don’t have to be there all the time. You can’t just jump right back into working full-time, anyway. You need to make sure you’re fully recovered.”

Jason shook his head. “Courtney, he doesn’t trust anyone else. At this point, I’m not sure he even trusts me. Besides, you don’t just put an ad out to hire an assistant to a….ah, never mind.”

Courtney reached up and softly stroked the side of his face. “Okay…okay. Well, then, how about this? Why don’t you let me go over there, just for a few minutes? I’m sure if I tried to spend some time with Sonny and let him see that I’m okay with this, and you’re okay, then maybe he’ll slowly start to accept it. Maybe we need to let him know that we aren’t just shutting him out, you know?”

He smiled at her willingness to try. She was just as stubborn as Sonny could be, even if neither one of them would admit the similarities. It was just another on the long list of things he admired about her. How could he deny her anything?

He let his left hand slowly trail up and encircle her wrist, pulling her hand to his lips and placing a gentle kiss against her palm. “Fine…go ahead…go,” he said, knowing she’d probably go whether or not he told her to, anyway. “Just hurry back, okay?”

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him gently, careful not to put too much pressure on him since he was still sore in certain spots. “Thank you, Jason! I’ll just be a few minutes, I promise. I won’t stay gone long enough for you to even miss me.”

He looked into her gleaming blue eyes, which were dancing with happiness, and couldn’t help but grow serious for a moment. “Not miss you? I always miss you when you’re not here.” He leaned forward and captured her lips in a gentle kiss, being careful not to get carried away. He teased her by slowly suckling on her bottom lip, feeling her smile into the kiss before he reluctantly pulled away.

“You better hurry up and go,” he said as he nodded toward the door. “Because if you aren’t out of here in the next minute or so, I might not let you leave at all.”

“Alright! I’m going, I’m going!” she laughed as she got up. “I promise you, I’ll be back in a few minutes, with a full report! And then…well, I’ll be yours all night.” She winked at him and scampered out of the room, feeling his eyes on her retreating form the whole time.

“Just make sure you’re back here by midnight!!” he yelled, and then leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes, sighing with contentment. That woman was amazing; she brought out feelings in him all the time that he didn’t even know existed.

Courtney heard him bellow from the steps and quickly pulled her shoes on to run next door. Just as she was about to flip on the lights so that they would be on in case Jason had to come downstairs, however, she heard the sound of his balcony door slowly opening and then closing with a soft thud. Quietly, she got down and slid across the floor to hide in front of the couch, craning her neck to see who the intruder was as her heart beat wildly in her chest. She suddenly had a very bad feeling.