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Author's note: Well lookie there, I have updated. I'm a procrastinator. I will admit it. So here's a shout out to all the peeps that oh, so politely questioned/hinted about when I was going to update this puppy. Well, hopefully this update will not disappoint because I would really hate that you guys waited so long just to be disappointed. I tried to interject just a little comedy in this because I realized that it has been a little while since the Gods laughed. Well, I'm done blabbing. Enjoy .

BTW: Remember Jason is just 25.

Johnny walked into the bar and looked around puzzled. He realized that this was the first time that he had been in Jake's early in the morning. Out of all the times and the many acts of debauchery that had taken place because of him in the bar, he wondered why that was.

"He's upstairs," Jake said, coming through the swinging door that led to the back of the bar carrying a crate in her hands.

"Do you want me to get that for you?" Johnny asked, making his way over to the bar to help Jake with her load.

"What you can do for me," Jake said, putting down the crate on the top of the bar, "is to go upstairs and talk some sense into your friend."

"What happened?" Johnny asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"He's not saying," Jake told Johnny, as she began to unpack the crate, restocking the bar, "but my guess is that he had some kind of falling out with that little spitfire that likes to start fights in my bar."

"Lizzie?" Johnny said, his mind whirling at the many scenarios that could have went wrong between the two of them.

"That's the one," Jake confirmed. "When a man comes into my bar to get drunk and to find a warm bedmate, it's for one or two reasons. Either he just lost his job or he has woman trouble. Since Sweet Cheeks own his own place, I'm going to deduce that a woman was his problem."

"What do you mean by a warm bedmate?" Johnny asked curiously, that line catching him off guard.

"What I mean is that Sweet Cheeks went upstairs with his last bedmate," Jake said, turning to look at Johnny as she took the now empty crate off the bar to start wiping the bar top down.

"Sam," Johnny hissed appalled, "Jake, why didn't you stop him?"

Jake put her rag down and planted both hands on the bar to look at Johnny, quirking an eyebrow at him sardonically.

"Because it's not my job to stop him Doll," she told him.

"But Jake…" Johnny began, flabbergasted at her nonchalance. He could have sworn that Jake disliked Sam as much as he did.

"And," Jake continued on as if Johnny had never spoken. "I wanted to know if he was really worth it."

"Jake," Johnny said stunned, "we're talking about Jason."

"I know who we are talking about," Jake said. "And I love Sweet Cheeks like he was my own son. But Honey, I'm not delusional about him. He's a boy that thinks he knows all the right answers and that little spitfire has come along and knocked him on his keister and has shown him that he doesn't. And right now he doesn't know how to handle what is happening to him. So, he decided that instead of becoming a man, admitting his feelings for that girl that he would rather revert back into being that little boy that he's comfortable with."

"And you don't mind that he's doing it?" Johnny asked befuddled.

"Of course I mind," Jake told Johnny, looking at him as if he had grown two heads.

"Then why did you let him go upstairs with Sam," Johnny asked, clearly confused by Jake's behavior.

"Because if I stopped him from going upstairs with Sam," Jake said, "that would have stopped him for one night from being a little boy. But if he has his mindset on being a little boy and live in that world, then no matter what we do, we can't stop him from being that no matter how much we don't want him to."

"But he and Lizzie was so perfect for each other," Johnny reasoned with Jake.

"I know that, you know that, hell, I even think that he knows that, and I think the fact that he knows that is what is scaring him to death. So instead of facing that fear, he's running and running fast to avoid those feelings that he feels when he's with her."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Johnny asked Jake as he glanced up toward the stairs to where Jason was probably still asleep.

"Well forcing him to see that he belongs with that girl is not going to work," Jake told him. "The boy is stubborn and all that's going to do if make him dig his heels in further."

"So, you suggest that we give up," he asked Jake.

"Of course not," Jake told him shaking her head. "You're just going to have to change your tactics where Sweet Cheeks see that it's time for him to grow up and become a man."

"And how do you suggest I do that?" Johnny asked nervously.

"You'll find a way," Jake told him. "If you make sure you're putting what's best for him first, then you'll find the words to say to him."

Johnny let out a pent up breath and started toward the staircase as if he was heading toward his death march.

"He's in room five," Jake called after him. "And just to ease your pain, Sam came back downstairs three minutes after he went up and I've never known Sweet Cheeks to be a one minute man."

Johnny looked back at Jake and she winked at him with a smile on her face. "Thanks Jake," he said sincerely

"No thanks necessary," Jake told him. "I want what's best for him too."

~XOXOXOXOXOXOXO~

Jason moaned, his head throbbing like someone was playing a drum solo on his brain as he splashed cold water on his face to get the fog to clear. He had one major hangover which was surprising for him considering on previous occasions he had drunk far more than what he drunk last night. But then again, he had never drunk alcohol on an empty stomach before. Jason took a glance in the mirror above the sink and grimaced. His eyes were blood shot and he looked like he hadn't slept in days instead of just having one bad night.

There was a knock on the door before Jason heard Johnny's voice calling out for him.

"I'm in the bathroom," he called out. "Be out in a moment."

Jason took one more look at himself in the mirror before he shuffled out the bathroom back into the bedroom to find Johnny looking around the room.

"I'm alone," he told Johnny as he lay down on the bed and pulled a pillow over his head.

"I know," Johnny said, finally looking at Jason sprawled on the bed, "Jake told me that Sam left last night. You didn't become a minute man did you?"

Jason pulled the pillow from his face and as much as it pained him frowned in confusion.

"What?" he asked, bewildered at Johnny's question.

"Jake told me that Sam came down three minutes after you came up," Johnny explained, curiosity on his face. "So, you didn't knock that one out of the park in a minute did you?"

"No!" Jason scolded at the ridiculousness of Johnny's question. "Just because I'm drunk doesn't mean that I lose my stamina."

"Hey," Johnny said jokingly. "A guy has to ask especially if his friend looks like he has been ridden hard and hung up to dry."

"Jeez," Jason said looking at Johnny in confusion, "where in the hell did you get that saying from?"

"Nadine bought me paper towels that have sayings on them," Johnny admitted sheepishly.

"Your girlfriend is so weird," Jason said, laying back on the bed and pulling the pillow back over his face.

"She's trying to cultivate me," Johnny told Jason. "And speaking of girlfriends, why are you here instead of with Lizzie."

"First off," Jason told Johnny pulling the pillow from his face again, "Elizabeth is not my girlfriend and I can sleep wherever I want to sleep."

"Oookay," Johnny said, sitting down on one of the chairs in the room, "but do you mind telling me what made you get sauced out of your mind?"

"Let's just that I found out that someone wasn't exactly the person I thought them to be," Jason said, sitting up in the bed, knowing that Johnny was not going to let him suffer in silence.

"And I'm assuming this someone is Lizzie," Johnny said. "Or am I being too presumptuous?"

"Ding, ding, ding," Jason said sarcastically, tapping his fore finger on his nose, "Tell the man what he's won."

"Come on Jay," Johnny said good-naturedly, "what could she have possibly done to make you this way?"

"She used me," Jason told Johnny. "In order to get in good with her mother she used me and my connection to the Quartermaines."

"That doesn't sound like something that Lizzie would do."

Jason scoffed and looked at Johnny like he was insane. "For crying out loud Johnny," he said condescendingly. "You've been around her for all of 10 minutes to the most. What the hell do you know about what Elizabeth would and would not do?"

"She just doesn't look like the type of girl that would use people," Johnny clarified, not wanting to get on Jason's bad side.

"Well," Jason said, rubbing his face in frustration, "looks can be deceiving."

Johnny remained quiet looking as his friend bent over and began pulling on his dress shoes.

"But I've learned my lesson," Jason continued, grabbing his dress shirt and grimacing at the fact that he had actually worn a dress shirt for her and her family.

"And what lesson is that," Johnny asked curiously.

"That women like Sam are safer than women like Elizabeth," Jason told Johnny as he buttoned his shirt. "Women like Elizabeth are lethal. They hide their ulterior motives behind big beautiful doe eyes and those innocent smiles that way you're blindsided when their motives come to light. Women like Sam you can see them coming a mile away. So when their ulterior motives come to surface, there is nothing to be blindsided about. You knew the proverbial shoe was going to drop eventually. It only was a matter of time."

"Women like Sam," Johnny said, "would make a life boring, it seems to me."

"No my man," Jason said looking at Johnny as he grabbed his keys from the nightstand, "women like Sam come and go like the breeze. Once they show their motives, you move on to the next one."

"It sounds lonely," Johnny said.

"It's not," Jason told him. "Remember, I live the life before Elizabeth became my roommate. Hell, technically, I'm not really out of that life considering that I only broke up with Sam just a few days ago…"

"But you were considering Lizzie," Johnny interrupted Jason.

Jason took a deep breath and then let it out.

"Maybe for a brief second I had a lapse in judgment when it came to Elizabeth and wondered what if I tried something new," Jason admitted. "But Elizabeth cleared that right up for me."

"Jay…"

"Elizabeth lied to me," Jason continued on. "She was using me to get into her mother's good graces. She's just like Sam or maybe she's worse than Sam. I know she has her game down way better than Sam does."

"Maybe she's not running a game," Johnny tried to reason with him.

"All I know is that she reaffirmed with me why I don't do commitments and why I never should," Jason said looking around the room to make sure that he didn't leave anything behind.

"Jay," Johnny tried again, "I really think that you should just give yourself a few days and think about…"

"There is nothing to think about," Jason said as he headed toward the door. "Commitments are for fools. And women that want the picket fences and women that don't want the picket fences are all the same. The only difference is that women that want the picket fences put the man through the wringer much worse than women who don't."

"And how do you reason that," Johnny said, not believing the idiocy that was coming out of his friend's mouth.

"Because the guy knows all that he is getting into with women that don't want the picket fences and knows what to expect. Women with picket fences want it all and make the guy run around in circles using and abusing him until she gets it all."

Johnny scratch his brow in confusion at Jason's reasoning.

"Look Jay," he began to talk reason into his best friend.

"Look Johnny," Jason interrupted him as he made his way to the door looking at his watch, "I got to go back to the apartment to freshen up before heading over to the shop. Hopefully, Elizabeth is at work right now so that I won't bump into her."

"So, you're just going to avoid her," Johnny said. "You do realize that you live with this woman."

"Not anymore," Jason said. "I'll pack a few of my things and stay at the gatehouse on the Q estate until I can find me an apartment on my own."

"Are you sure about this," Johnny asked him.

"Yea," Jason said, turning to look at him. "I lost myself for a second in thinking that maybe it was time for something different and Elizabeth was that something different, but I'm back."

"Fun times, no-commitment Jason right?" Johnny said, with a forced smile on his face.

"That's me," Jason said, leaving the room with Johnny following behind him.

Chapter 71

"Burning on just like a

Match you strike to incinerate

The lives of everyone you know

And what's the worst you take

From every heart you break

And like the blade you stain

Well I'll be holding on tonight"

Elizabeth's head came up off her pillow as she bolted up from a restless sleep to hear Robin singing off-key loudly in her bathroom. She slowly climbed out of the bed and made her way over to the bathroom to find Robin with headphones in her ears singing in her hairbrush as she whipped around her hair to the beat of the song.

"What's the worst that I can say?
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
And if you carry on this way
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight"

Robin whipped her head one more time and caught Elizabeth looking at her. She whipped off the headphones and put down the hairbrush not the least bit embarrassed.

"Did I wake you?" she asked apologetically.

"A little," Elizabeth told her with a small forgiving smile on her face. "But that's okay. What's up with the heavy music this early in the morning?"

"Oh," Robin said. "Just something to get me ready for what I have to do today."

"Is working as Edward's secretary that bad?" Elizabeth asked jokingly.

"No," Robin said, making her way past Elizabeth out the bathroom, "working for Eddie Q is a dream."

"Then what exactly do you have to get ready for that you need the heavy music for?" Elizabeth asked curiously, sitting on the edge of the bed as she watched Robin slip on her high heel pumps for the office.

"Umm," Robin said, concentrating hard on buckling the Mary Jane's trying to come up with a suitable reply. "Taking over your job for today."

"What?" Elizabeth said shocked, standing up from the bed. "Robin, I'm going to work today."

"You're kidding right," Robin asked, looking at her best friend. "Elizabeth, you just had your heart broken last night. You honestly want to go to work for Jason's grandfather this morning?"

"Robin," Elizabeth said as she began making up the bed, "it's not Edward's fault that his grandson broke my heart."

"Well," Robin said with a placating smile on her face. "I kind of called into the office and told Eddie boy that you weren't feeling well and that you needed the day off."

"Robin," Elizabeth said shocked, halting making up the bed to look at her. "You shouldn't have done that."

"Sorry," Robin said, not the least apologetic. "But I just thought that you wouldn't be in the mood to work today what with all that happened yesterday between you and your mother and sister as well as Jason."

"So what do you suggest I do besides working today?" Elizabeth asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Mope around about Jason."

"I was thinking more on the line of celebrating the demise of your masochistic relationship with your mother and sister and spending some real quality time with your dad and brother," Robin told her, starting to apply lipstick to her mouth. "That asshat Jason doesn't deserve you moping over him."

"Robin," Elizabeth began only to be erupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," Robin said before Elizabeth could say anything.

The door opened and Jeff Webber poked his head in the door.

"Good morning girls," he said cheerfully, a smile on his face, his eyes sparkling. "I made some breakfast. So try to find your way downstairs in about five minutes."

"Okay Dad," Elizabeth said, shocked at how youthful and exuberate her father was since he had given the Great Lady the boot. "We'll be down in a moment."

"Good," Jeff said, before he closed the door to leave them to their conversation.

"Lizzie," Robin said, "your dad's gotten hot every since he dropped that battle axe of a wife of his."

"Robin!" Elizabeth exclaimed shocked, "Eww. That's my father you're talking about! And he just got rid of my mother last night."

"I know, right," Robin said with a smile on her face, turning toward Elizabeth. "It's amazing how good a man can look when he drops dead weight."

"I'm not having this conversation with you," Elizabeth said, running her hands through her hair flustered. "I don't want to hear you talking about my father in that way."

"What?" Robin said teasingly with a wicked smile on her face. "Afraid I'll pursue him then you'll have to start calling me step mommy."

"That is so not funny," Elizabeth said throwing a pillow at her.

"It is too," Robin said, catching the pillow in mid-flight. "Can you picture us in a family photo?"

"Yea," Elizabeth said sarcastically, "it'll look like a man with his three kids."

"No it won't," Robin told her. "I'll make sure I'm sitting on his lap planting a big wet one on him when they say cheese."

"Robin," Elizabeth said resignedly as she flopped down on the bed. "What part of eww do you not get? It's sickening to even fathom you and my dad together."

"Okay," Robin said, sitting down on the bed next to Elizabeth sprawled body, "Then how about your brother? Can I have a shot at him?"

"No," Elizabeth said, looking over at her.

"Why not?" Robin asked, slightly offended.

"Because you'll use him as a sex toy until you suck him dry," Elizabeth told her.

"True," Robin admitted ruefully. "And don't think that I didn't pick up that double entendre. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Robin," Elizabeth said. "I'm your best friend and you are that kind of girl."

"It hurts me that you think so little of me," Robin said jokingly causing Elizabeth to laugh.

"Robin," Elizabeth said moments later after sobering up from her laughter. "Thank you for last night. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You would have had your brother and your father coming in every five minutes saying 'are you okay' in that man way they do where they are hoping that you never say no so they don't have to look deep down to channel their inner woman."

"True," Elizabeth giggled.

"So, what are you going to do about Jason?" Robin asked curiously.

"I don't know," Elizabeth said. "Eventually we'll have to sit down and talk. Hopefully he'll be more open-minded and listen to me."

"And if not," Robin asked.

"Then we figure out the living arrangements," Elizabeth said, "at least the living arrangements for the rest of the month that he has on the apartment. Then I'll become like your Uncle Mac and become an old spinster."

"Hmm," Robin said. "I was meaning to mention this to you, but I kind of got caught up in the whole Jason thing last night."

"What?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"My Uncle Mac is getting married," Robin said.

"Your Uncle Mac," Elizabeth said shocked, her eyes bulging. "Your gay Uncle Mac is getting married."

"Color me shock," Robin said nonchalantly, "Uncle Mac met a producer on that show that he's been consulting on for the last five months by the name of Amelia Joffe. They decided to get married. So, I guess Uncle Mac is not gay after all."

"You're horrible at this," Elizabeth told her. "You can't tell a gay man when you see one."

"That's not true," Robin objected defensively.

"Robin," Elizabeth interjected. "You're 0 for 2. First with Jason then with your Uncle Mac."

"Hey," Robin said, "you know what. Jason was a simple fluke because I had never met him and I didn't have all the info and as for my Uncle Mac, all the statistics added up for him to be gay."

"Statistics?" Elizabeth asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yea," Robin said. "The fact that he's in his forties and still single and never been married. He likes to clean. He knows the latest celebrity gossip. Need I go on?"

"That's what you were basing your uncle being gay on. The fact that he's in his forties and single and he likes to clean."

"And the celebrity gossip," Robin said. "Don't forget the celebrity gossip."

"He consults for a TV show," Elizabeth said sardonically. "Of course he would be up on celebrity gossip considering he works around celebrities."

"Oh," Robin said in forethought. "I never thought about it like that."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and shook her head. Robin was sometimes hopeless.

"So I guess I won't be like your Uncle Mac and I'll be my very own spinster," Elizabeth said.

"And I'll be married to your father," Robin told her cheekily.

"Robin," Elizabeth said with a warning tone.

"Okay," Robin said. "Then it'll be your brother."

"What about Patrick," Elizabeth asked curiously.

"Patrick's moving too slow," Robin whined. "I think your brother would move much faster."

"Hey guys," Steven said, opening the door to look in at them. "Breakfast now."

"We're coming," Elizabeth said.

"Well hurry up," Steven said, looking as Robin stood up from the bed and Elizabeth rolled off the bed to stand up. "I'm hungry and it feels like I've been waiting forever for you to come."

And with that, Steven's head disappeared from the doorway.

"See what I mean," Robin said saucily with a wink as she made her way toward the bedroom door.

"Robin," Elizabeth exclaimed, shocked at her audacity. "Eww."

Chapter 72

Jason zipped up his duffle bag containing a few of his clothes wondering once again if Elizabeth was alright. When he had drove up to the apartment and saw her car still parked in her parking space he had prepared himself for a confrontation as he made his way to the apartment door. He found himself a little despondent to find the apartment empty and Elizabeth not around. His first instinct had been to whip out his cell phone and call hers, but he stopped himself in mid dial when he told himself that Elizabeth was not his concern.

Grabbing his duffle bag of the bed, he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked out his room, looking around it to see if he had left anything of importance. His eyes landed on the Italy travel book that he had been reading and memories assaulted him of Elizabeth climbing into his bed and snuggling up to him as he read to her about the country.

He shook his head, deciding to leave the book behind. The least memories he had of his time with Elizabeth the better. Jason made his way into the living room to stop and stand by Big Walt.

"See you big fellow," he told the tree before turning to look at Biscuit.

Biscuit sat on the coffee table looking healthier because of Elizabeth constant care. His lips quirked up at the fact that the tree looked nothing like the scrawny tree they had found discarded in the tree lot just a few days ago. He reached out and touched a leaf on the tree when he heard a key twist in a lock and the door open to reveal Elizabeth.

"Jason," she exclaimed walking in the door, looking at him as he took in the same dress that she had on last night. "I'm happy to see you."

Jason took in her blue eyes as they peered at him with hope starting to glimmer in them. He felt himself tense up repeating to himself not to fall for the innocent look in her eyes. Not to cave in to her. She wasn't meant to be apart of his life and he wasn't meant to be apart of hers.

"Um," he said, scratching his forehead with his thumb, "I packed a couple of things to hold me over till I can move the rest of my stuff out. I'll probably be by sometime next week after Christmas to move the rest of it."

"Jason, wait," Elizabeth said, walking toward him, watching as his body tensed more. "We really need to talk."

"We have nothing to talk about," Jason told her, his voice stoic.

"Jason, I never lied to you," Elizabeth continued on as if he hadn't said anything, her eyes beginning to shimmer with unshed tears. "I never used you."

"So, I'll call you on the day that I come to get the rest of my things so that you won't be here," he told her, ignoring what she said. "And if its any bills that I'm forgetting to give my share too, just leave me a note, and I'll pay my part."

Jason knew he had to get out there before he broke and actually stopped and listened to what she had to say. He had to remind himself that he didn't want the feelings that she brought in him. He only wanted good times and to laugh. He didn't want the confusion that she brought or the jealousy she caused in him when he thought about Ric. And it was another emotion that was building inside him that he couldn't name but he knew that he didn't want it. None of it. Those were not good times emotions. Those were not emotions that he wanted to be familiar with.

Jason started walking toward the door to leave when Elizabeth stepped in his path.

"Jason," she asked softly, a tear slipping down her face as she looked up at him while he avoided eye contact with her, "could you just give me a moment to talk to you?"

"I'll leave the key with the super when I move the rest of my stuff out next week," he told her before stepping around her and walking out the door closing it behind him without ever glancing at her again.

~XOXOXOXOXOXOXO~

Elizabeth felt like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest as she took deep breaths trying to calm herself as she wiped away the tears from her cheek. He hadn't even bothered to really look at her and his eyes had been cold not showing any emotions. She had her answer. Jason didn't trust her and she could only deduce that he never cared for her the way that she cared for him.

Elizabeth bit her bottom lip in resignation, knowing that she had to close the door on being with Jason. It had been so easy when Lucky had left her at the altar and married her sister. She hadn't hurt nearly as much over Lucky's desertion as Jason. And it caused her to realize that she had never been in love with Lucky over the course of the two years they had been together. She had never given Lucky her heart, keeping it to herself and the one man that she finally did give it to didn't want it.

Elizabeth slowly made her way to her room to change out of her clothes from last night that she had donned to get home. Robin had volunteered to drive her back to the apartment after they had all sat down to breakfast; Steven, her father, and Robin making a significant effort not to bring up Jason during the meal. When Robin had pulled up to the apartment and saw Jason's truck parked in the assign parking lot that the building gave for each apartment renters, it had taken Elizabeth five minutes to convince Robin not to go inside the apartment and in her words "shove her foot so far up his ass that he had to take off his shirt to shit" and another five minutes to convince her not to use the heels of her Mary Jane's to scratch 'bastard' on the hood of his truck.

Finally when Elizabeth had gotten Robin to leave to go to work she had stood outside of the building contemplating how she was going to approach him. A scenario had run through her mind of her walking through the front door and Jason on the other side waiting for her with a smile on his face, swooping her up in his arms and apologizing profusely for ever doubting her and confessing how much he loved her.

Elizabeth laughed at herself in deprecation as she peeled off her clothes to take a quick shower and putting on some more attire. That was not the scenario that greeted her however, and she was a fool for ever believing that her relationship would end with a happily ever after. But she had only herself to blame, she thought to herself as she toweled off after her shower. She had expected more from him then he was willing to give and that was on her. The fact that he labeled her a liar and chose her mother's word over hers was on him. And that was unforgiveable. But that didn't mean that she didn't still love the stupid lug.

Elizabeth finished dressing then slowly made her way to Jason's bedroom. She looked in the room and noticed the absence of his things in the room. It hit her again how much she was going to miss not having him around. Elizabeth made her way over to the bed and picked up his pillow bringing it to her nose and inhaling his scent.

She loved that scent. It defined him so well. She couldn't describe it and the attempt to describe it wouldn't do it justice, but the scent was all Jason.

"Pathetic Webber," she said to herself after she found herself still smelling the pillow a few minutes later. "The man wants nothing to do with you and you're sitting here smelling his pillow."

Elizabeth threw the pillow back on the bed and took a good cleansing breath. Today was a new day, she told herself. Her mother and sister were out of her life, her father and brother was back in her life, and Jason didn't want anything to do with her life. She was going to live for herself, she decided. She was going to set rules for her life and live them to the fullest. The Elizabeth of old that was a "yes woman" and that compromised her happiness for others was gone. Today was the day that the new Elizabeth was born.

"I just have to figure out who she is," Elizabeth said softly to herself.

Elizabeth turned from Jason's bed, knocking into the nightstand knocking a book on the floor. She picked up the book turning it over to see that it was Jason's travel book of Italy. She began to close the book when she found that the fall had caused one of the pages to bend in the book. Unfolding the page to smooth it back in place, some wording on the page caught her eyes. As she read, a smile formed on her face.

"Hello Elizabeth," she said softly.

Chapter 73

"You've been avoiding me since you came in," Diane said to Johnny as she caught him in the break room. "What gives?"

"Nothing," Johnny told Diane as he opened up a can of coke.

"Johnny," Diane said, looking him to the point where he started fidgeting underneath her gaze.

"It's nothing," Johnny said, sipping his can of coke. "Jake called me about Jason today."

"What happened to him?" Diane asked concerned, her brows furrowing.

"He got drunk last night," Johnny told her.

"Jason got drunk," Diane said, her reddish-brown eyebrows lifting in astonishment. "Our Jason got drunk. What happened to cause him to get drunk?"

"From what I understand," Johnny said as he took a seat at the break room table, "he and Lizzie had a falling out. Evidently she used him."

"Elizabeth," Diane said in disbelief as she sat down at the table across from Johnny. "The Elizabeth that I had to practically force into taking him to dinner at The Rose Princess. The Elizabeth that baked us brownies. That Elizabeth used Jason."

"From my understanding," Johnny told Diane, "yea."

Johnny watched in astonishment as Diane threw back her head and laughed sarcastically. She sobered a little and looked at Johnny, wiping tears from the corner of her eye as she tried to contain herself.

"Elizabeth wouldn't know how to use a person if someone gave her line by line instructions," Diane told Johnny.

"I know that," Johnny told Diane.

"Well, did you tell Jason that?" Diane asked him.

"Of course I did," Johnny said defensively, quickly losing his defensive stance, "In a way."

"What do you mean 'in a way'," Diane asked, her eyes narrowing to look at Johnny.

"I told him that Lizzie didn't sound like the type of person that would do that."

"That's it," Diane scoffed. "That's all. That was your defense of her." Diane lowered her voice to mimic Johnny. "'She doesn't sound like that type of person'. That was it for your defense of the girl. God Johnny, you're useless."

"What!" Johnny exclaimed angrily, getting out of his chair. "What the hell do you want from me Diane? When I tried to talk to him, you told me I was an idiot? Now that I say nothing, you're mad at me."

"That's because now was your time to speak," Diane said angrily coming out of her own chair. "And yet you said nothing!"

"I didn't want to say the wrong thing," Johnny told her. "Every time I open my mouth, you're all saying that I say the wrong things."

"So you decided to say nothing," Diane said disgusted. "God, I can see why you and Jason are good friends. You're both cowards at owning up to your feelings."

"I'm in a perfectly healthy relationship with Nadine," Johnny stated, defending himself to Diane.

"This has nothing to do with Nadine. You're in a relationship with Jason," Diane told him, "and you let him down because you were so afraid of the fallout."

"What was I supposed to say?" Johnny asked frustrated. "What exactly was I supposed to say to him, Oh Wise One? What would you have said to him in that situation?"

"I would have told him that he was making a mistake to let that girl go," Diane told him tapping her finger on the table. "I would have told him that she was the best thing to ever happen to him. I would have told him that he was maturing because of her. I would have told him that I was looking into the eyes of a man now."

"I'm not eloquent like you Diane," Johnny said, resignedly, slumping down in the chair he had just vacated. "I'm not good at this type of stuff. Jason has always been the one to say the right thing at the right time. Jason has always been the one to get me out of pickles. Jason has always been the one that took care of situations like this."

"And now Jason's the one that needs your help," Diane told Johnny softly, reaching out to grasp his hand.

"I don't know what to do Diane," Johnny said. "I don't really know how to help him."

"Yes you do," Diane told him. "Deep down in your heart, you know what to do and what to say. You just have to believe that you can honestly help him."

Johnny nodded his head then offered a little smile to Diane that she returned.

"You're such a hard ass," he told her jokingly.

"And you're such a schmuck," she returned with a laugh in her voice.

"Well, I'm your…" Johnny began only to be interrupted by the front door slamming.

"JASON MORGAN," they heard a female voice bellow angrily from the outer office, "GET YOUR NON-COMMITMENT ASS OUT HERE!"

Johnny and Diane looked at each other in puzzlement before rushing out of the break room to find a petite brunette in a suit standing in the middle of the waiting room with her hands on her hip and a scowl on her face.

"May I help you," Diane asked tentatively, looking at the raging brunette.

"Is Jason Morgan here," she asked angrily, one of her Mary Jane's tapping rhythmically on the floor.

"Cute shoes," Diane told her, looking down at the shoes before turning her eyes back up to the irate face of the brunette. "Not at the moment."

"Are you expecting him to come in?" the brunette asked, the tapping of her shoes picking up pace.

"Anytime now," Johnny said, glancing out the front window to see Jason's truck pull up in the parking lot. He didn't know whether to run to warn Jason of what he was about to walk into or not.

"I'll wait," the brunette said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

They all stood there in tense silence as Diane walked slowly over to her desk taking a wide berth around the brunette and Johnny counted down the minute that Jason walked into the door. He closed his eyes as the bell above the door jangled signaling Jason's entrance.

"Robin," Jason said, surprise in his voice, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to kick a jackass's ass, JACKASS," Robin told him angrily.

Diane and Johnny turned their head to look at Jason in shock.

"Robin," Jason reasoned his eyes narrowing trying not to lose his temper, "now is not the time or the place."

Diane and Johnny turned their heads to look back at Robin who was nodding her head in agitation and looking at Jason with a 'go to hell' look.

"Well," Robin scoffed sarcastically, "when is it ever a perfect time or a perfect place for an ass kicking?"

Diane and Johnny volleyed their head back over to Jason to find him pinching the bridge of his nose, his frustration clearly showing.

"I'm not discussing this with you," he told her, barely holding on to his anger.

Diane and Johnny turned their head back to Robin to see what she would say.

"There is not going to be a discussion," Robin told him. "Only two things are going to happen. I'm going to kick your ass and you're going to eat shit and die."

Jason took a deep breath in anger, knowing that he wasn't going to be able to get rid of her until she got whatever she was feeling off her chest.

"Fine," he said, walking toward Robin and taking her by the elbow, "in my office."

Diane and Johnny watched as Jason ushered Robin to the back toward his office before looking at each other and then scrambling toward the back to follow.

Chapter 74

"Robin, what happened between Elizabeth and me is just between Elizabeth and me," Jason told her when they entered his office as she snatched her arm from grip.

"Bullshit," Robin said angrily as she turned around and struck him across the face, the sound echoing in the office.

"Fuck," Jason bellowed angrily, putting his hand up to his face, the taste of blood filling his mouth as he realized she had split his lip.

He swung around to look at Robin, his eyes blazing at her. She stood her ground, ready to haul off at him again.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" he asked her, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"Evidently you have," Robin sneered at him. "You told me that she was the picket fence type of girl and that wasn't your type of girl. You told me that you wouldn't make a play for her."

"And I didn't," Jason sneered back defending himself.

"Oh really," Robin said sardonically. "Well pardon me, I'm no prude, but last time I checked, having a woman half naked on a pool table sucking on her tit like you were a half starved baby sure as shit sounds like a play to me!"

"Whaaat?" Jason heard the shocked voices from the doorway say in unison.

He swung toward the door to find Johnny and Diane standing there with a shocked look on their faces.

"Diane, Johnny," he said, angrily, "get out!"

"No Jason," Robin spoke up, "they don't have to leave. Why don't you let them stay so that they can hear the type of person that they work for? A jerk, a phony, a coward…"

"At least I'm not a liar," Jason rebutted. "Unlike your friend."

"Who are you trying to fool," Robin laughed sarcastically. "Liz is no more a liar than a newborn baby. For crying out loud Jason, if Webster's Dictionary put out a picture for the word gullible, it would be hers. Elizabeth is a person that gets lied to not a person who lies. Something that you know oh so well."

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked her suspiciously.

"You told her that you would believe in her," Robin clarified. "And when she needed you the most, you sided against her."

"That's not how it happened," Jason defended herself. "She used me."

"Jason please," Robin said, "Sale that crap to someone who will believe you. I've known Elizabeth Webber since we were five years old. I've seen her degraded and used. She knows how that feels so she has made it her life mission to make sure that she never makes anyone else feel that way."

"Jeez," Robin scoffed at herself as she continued, "I'm such a moron because I encouraged her to actually give you a chance. I actually told her that you guys were perfect for each other. That's on me for encouraging her to pursue this…this…this whatever you want to label it. Relationship, friendship, more than friendship. That's on me. Breaking her heart. That's all on you Jason. So don't try to push that off on her as if your hands are clean."

Jason stood there looking at Robin, not knowing what to say to her or how to reply.

"Yea," Robin said, nodding her head, "Just what I thought. You have nothing to say now because you know I'm telling the truth."

"Robin," Jason began, only for her to cut him off by brushing by him to head toward the door.

"I'm going to leave you with this," Robin said, stopping in the doorway in front of Johnny and Diane waiting until Jason turn toward her. "Liz was with Lucky for two years and when he left her at the altar, she didn't cry not once. She's been dealing with her family's crap for almost her entire life and she didn't cry once. I held her last night as she sobbed in my arms over you. Congratulations Jason. You were able to accomplish something that no one has ever done before. You reduced her to tears. Now make sure you stay the hell away from her until you become a real man."

Robin turned toward the door and smiled at Johnny and Diane.

"Good day," she said as she walked past them out of the store with Diane and Johnny's eyes following her progress.

When they heard the outer door close, Johnny and Diane turned to look back at Jason who still stood in the same spot.

"I'm going to get you an ice pack for that lip," Johnny said still in shock that someone had actually gotten the best of Jason as he backed out of the doorway, "it's starting to swell."

Diane watched Johnny make an exit before turning to look at Jason.

"So," she said with a small uncomfortable smile on her face, "are you ready to talk now?"

~XOXOXOXOXOXOXO~

Edward Quartermaine sat behind his desk muttering over the contracts that sat before him. The holidays were a major crutch for him considering that no one wanted to do business when the holidays were near. Everyone's brain took a holiday when even a hint of a holiday break came sniffing around. But not him. If it was up to him he would do business 365 days of the year. Of course, his beautiful Lila would not allow it, the reason that today was officially the last day that ELQ workers were working even though it was just a Wednesday. Lila believed that ELQ employees should have a long holiday break to spend with their families, the reason that ELQ was shutting its door at five o'clock tonight, not to open again until eight o'clock next Tuesday morning. Edward could feel the lost of millions of ELQ money going down the drain with the doors closed that long, but what his wife wanted, he surely gave her. However, for some reason this year he didn't mind so much.

Edward looked up from his desk when he heard a tentative knock on his door and smiled as he saw the reason that he didn't mind ELQ shutting the doors this year for the holidays.

"Elizabeth," he said jovially, getting up from his desk, "Come in. Come in. Robin told me that you weren't feeling well my dear. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes Mr. Q," Elizabeth said with a small smile on her face as she advanced into the room.

Oh Dear, Edward thought to himself as he took in Elizabeth's pale appearance as well as the dark circles under her eyes. This can't possibly be good.

"Well," Edward said, now forcing his upbeat banter where just a minute before he wasn't, "I gave you the day off and you're supposed to be at home resting."

"I think I've rested long enough," Elizabeth said cryptically.

"So," Edward said, indicating that Elizabeth should take a seat before he sat back down behind his desk. "What brings you here instead of at home making yourself better?"

Elizabeth cleared her voice and looked at Edward. "Mr. Q, I told myself that I would never hold the fact that I saved your life over your head or the fact that you came to Kelly's and continuously ate food that your wife would not be happy about if she ever found out."

Edward furrowed his brow and looked at his assistant. "Are you getting ready to blackmail me Young Lady, "he said gruffly.

"No," Elizabeth told him sincerely. "I'm just here to call in some favors."

A/N: The song that Robin was rocking to is My Chemical Romance 'Helena'. Very good song.