Only the Beginning

Chapters 2 and 3

by Lena

Chapter Two

The next morning Jason awoke to the soft sound of feet padding down the stairs. He sat up and looked over to see Courtney coming down in her bathrobe and slippers, her eyes still sleepy.

"Good morning," he said to her, amazed at how she managed to still look so beautiful so early in the morning.

"Hey," she said. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Oh, no," he said. "I was up already. You want breakfast? I'm not sure what I have, but we can look. If you don't find anything we can always run next door to see what Sonny's got."

"Thanks, that'd be great,” she said, smiling at him. He felt his stomach do little flips as he looked at her smiling face.

"It's good to see you smile," he said.

They had no luck finding anything decent to eat in Jason's kitchen, so after Courtney got dressed they headed over to Sonny's to find something to eat.

They walked in just as Sonny was coming down the stairs. "Courtney," he said, walking over to them. "Are you ok? How are you feeling?"

Courtney walked over to him and hugged him. "I'm ok, really. I'll be fine."

"What are you going to do next? Did Jason talk to you about that?" Sonny asked, pulling away and looking his sister in the eye.

"Yeah, we had that conversation this morning while searching for something to eat. He didn't have much, so can we talk over some breakfast?" she asked, smiling at her brother.

Sonny nodded. "Jase, you're welcome to join us."

"No, thanks. I've got some stuff to take care of. I'll see you guys later." He answered, nodding goodbye and leaving.

AJ's Apartment

AJ groaned, rolling over holding his head. He had a hell of a headache. "Courtney?" he called softly, wondering where she was.

"She's not here," a soft but cold voice said from across the apartment.

"Oh if it isn't Wonder boy, trying again to steal my wife." AJ snapped, getting up and walking towards his 'brother.'

"I'm not trying to steal anything. I'm here to warn you. You hurt her again, you come near her, you even SPEAK to her...I'll kill you." Jason stated, staring coldly at his so called brother. His crystal blue eyes showed no emotion except hatred and disgust.

"You're trying to keep me from my own wife? We're MARRIED, Jase. I'm her husband. She's my WIFE. What kind of a person tries to break that up, huh Jase?"

"What kind of a husband hits his wife, AJ? You think you're good for her? How is she going to be safe when her own husband is the one hurting her?" Jason responded.

AJ didn't say anything for a moment. With one last cold stare, Jason left the apartment.

Sonny's PH

Jason walked in to find Sonny, Courtney and Carly sitting in the living room, talking.

"Hey Jason," Carly greeted him, looking up when he entered the room. "We were just talking about you."

"Oh really?" he asked. "What about?"

Sonny looked up at Jason. "We were talking about what Courtney's going to do next. She decided that she's going to leave AJ..." Jason felt his heart leap as Sonny continued. "And Carly and I want her to move in here. She says she doesn't want to impose and that she'll find her own place."

Courtney interrupted him. "Sonny, you know I appreciate your offer, but come on. I can't move in here. I'd just be in the way. And God knows I'd probably walk in on something business related that I shouldn't be hearing, or something personal that no sister needs to see." They all laughed as she said this last part. Everyone knew that Sonny and Carly wanted to have a baby and had been trying for a while to get pregnant.

"Well, Sonny, she does have a point," Carly said laughing. She looked over at Jason just in time to see the way he was looking at Courtney. "Maybe she could move in with Jason. It's not like he doesn't have the space, and she'd be right next door so you can still be overprotective. And when you can't be there, Jason can."

Sonny considered. "Well I guess that's up to Jason. What do you say, Jase? Got room for my little sister?"

Jason was startled at Sonny's response. He hadn't been expecting him to support Carly's idea. "Uh, yeah, of course. She can stay as long as she likes."

"Great. It's settled then." Sonny declared. "Courtney, take Marco and go over to your apartment to get your stuff. I'll have Carly get stuff set up over at Jason's and then she can help you settle in."

Courtney looked over at Jason and smiled. He felt his stomach do flips at the thought of her living with him. And Sonny agreed. This was too good to be true.

Chapter Three

Jason returned home to find boxes all over the living room and Carly ordering a small group of men around.

"Hey Jason, I'm glad you're here," Carly greeted Jason upon noticing his presence.

"Hey, uh, what's- what's going on here?" he said, smiling slightly.

"Well, you know, Max and Marco helped move Courtney out of the apartment and so here's all her stuff. Carly answered him, waving her arm around the room. “Anyway, I have to go get Michael. I'll see you later, ok?" Carly said as she picked up her coat and maneuvered around the boxes on the floor.

"Yeah, thanks for helping Courtney out today. Where is she, by the way?" Jason asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh yeah, she just jumped in the shower real quick, she should be out soon," Carly answered. "You can send the guys out whenever. They've been really helpful."

After Carly left, Jason called over Marco, Max, and the other men that were helping out. "I appreciate all your help. You guys don't have to stick around."

The men nodded and left. Jason glanced around at his living room, shaking his head at the boxes. He sat down at the desk to try and get some work done. A few minutes later, he heard someone coming down the stairs, singing softly. He turned around and his mouth almost dropped at the sight of Courtney, her hair dripping wet, wrapped in a towel.

"Oh god, Jason. I didn't know you were home. I can't find some of my clothes, I just came to get them," she stammered nervously as red started creeping up her cheeks.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry," Jason mumbled, turning back towards the desk, deeply embarrassed.

He heard Courtney grab some clothes out of a box and go back upstairs. He turned back around in time to see her reach the top step and turn the corner. God, she was beautiful. To see her standing there in a towel, in one of HIS towels, made him feel uncomfortable. He had never felt this way about anyone before. Why are you even wasting your time? he asked himself. She would never love someone like you. Love? Is that what he wanted? Did he want Courtney to love him? Could he love her? Did he love her?

His thoughts were interrupted by Courtney coming back down, fully dressed this time in jeans and a fuzzy blue sweater that hugged her in all the right places. He felt himself staring and looked away.

"Hey, um, if you're not too busy, do you think you could help me bring up some of these boxes?" She asked him, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

"Oh yeah, sure." Jason answered, getting up and grabbing a box. Courtney picked one up too and he followed her up the stairs.

They brought up the all the boxes together and he stayed with her to help her unpack. They carried on casual conversation that was full of awkward pauses. Both were aware of the sexual tension between them but didn't think the other person felt it.

"So did you and Carly have fun today, ordering everyone around like that?" Jason asked her jokingly as he reached for another box to unpack.

"Oh I think Carly had a little more fun than I did. It was so funny to see her standing in the middle of the apartment, yelling at Marco because he 'wasn't packing right.'" Courtney answered laughing.

"Yeah that sounds a lot like Carly," Jason responded laughing. His smile soon turned into a blush as he realized what was in the box he opened. "Oh, jeeze."

"What is it?" Courtney asked, turning around. "Ohhhh. Um, yeah, I’ll deal with that one later."

"Um yeah good idea," Jason answered as he closed the box with her bras and underwear and leaving that for her.

Courtney looked at him, smiling. "Well, I'm going to be living with you...it was bound to happen sometime. And look at that. We got two of the top embarrassing moments out of the way in one day."

He stared into her eyes, still amazed at how lucky he was to have her around. He just wished their relationship was more.