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DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All belongs to General Hospital creators and writers.

Author's Note: I am now aware, thanks to SweetPea36 and 96meimei that the laws in Nevada and New York are different from where I live. In Nevada, sexual consent is 16 and in New York it is 17. I do appreciate the information.

HOWever, this ruins the entire basis for the plot of the story. Therefore, in my alternate universe, the laws in both Nevada and New York are for sexual consent to be 18. Please consider this the reality in this story. Thank you.

Also, I know some of you are just dying for a flashback chapter. This is coming, I promise, but not yet.

I took the liberty of including Max Giambetti in Sonny and Jason's group of bodyguards.

Taking a steadying breath, Jason tore his gaze from Elizabeth and focused on the problem at hand. If the chapel didn't cancel their marriage, he would be stuck married to Emily's best friend, at least until she turned eighteen. He found that his thumb was fiddling with the silver band on his finger absently and glared daggers at the ring, as though he could blame the inanimate object for this problem.

Sonny had quieted down after he'd broken the news to him, allowing his enforcer to absorb while he tried to gain control of his giggles. He couldn't wait for the two to return to Port Charles, just so he could see what Carly would do about it and how Emily would react. Not to mention the Quartermaines and Audrey. What would they say about this? He bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing.

"Sonny…I-I have to go," Jason muttered after a long moment.

"Okay. When are you coming back?" Sonny asked, sobering.

He really did need him in Port Charles-Sorel was threatening to make a move.

"I don't know," he replied, voice empty of any emotion. "I'll call you later."

Before Sonny could say anything else, Jason had hung up and stared at his cell phone in shock. Elizabeth stood by the bay window, arms folded as she awaited his attention impatiently. On some level, it bothered her that he didn't seem to be affected by her in the least. When she entered the room in this outfit-the sexiest one she had-he'd only looked at her for a moment without any trace of a reaction, then went back to his conversation.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Elizabeth reminded herself that that wasn't the part she should've been focusing on.

"So…Las Vegas, huh?" she said when it became apparent he wasn't going to say anything.

Jason glanced at her, nodding mutely.

"What hotel?" she persisted, trying to fill the silence with something.

"I-I don't know," he answered at last, suddenly standing.

Startled to see that his chest was still hanging out there, Elizabeth blushed fiercely and stared hard at the floor. She tried to focus on something else, but all she could think was that she had probably touched those rock hard abs with more than her hands last night. She prayed silently for him to button up his shirt.

"You didn't go downstairs yet?" Elizabeth managed to squeak out.

"No, uh, Sonny called before I could," he said, sounding just as awkward as she did. "I was just getting dressed-"

She perked up, having found something to yell at him about.

"Wait. You told me you were leaving and then got dressed?" she snapped, finding the courage to meet his eyes at last.

Jason froze, uncertain. "Yeah…I-I didn't think you'd…I mean, I thought you'd take longer in the shower."

"Don't presume to know anything about me! Now are you gonna go downstairs and find out where we are or not?"

"I'm going," he said quickly, buttoning up his shirt at last. "I'll be back in a few."

"Don't take too long. And I'm hungry. So get me some food."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll see what I can do."

"Don't take that tone with me! This isn't my fault."

"It's not mine, either," Jason retorted, hand on the doorknob.

"Sure it isn't. Just hurry up, okay?"

"Fine."

Jason escaped the room at last, slamming the door behind him and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. He hadn't even gotten to tell her they were trapped in this ridiculous marriage. And just when he thought he couldn't have felt worse, he realized that two of his bodyguards were standing in the hallway, wearing tight smiles that contained gleeful laughter, he was sure.

"Good morning, sir," Johnny greeted him, holding back a grin. "How's the Missus?"

Max snorted next to him and Jason shot them both sharp glares.

"All right, why are you two here?" he demanded, looking between them.

"Someone had to fly the jet, didn't they, sir?" Max reasoned, beaming humorously at his boss.

"Wonderful," Jason groaned, shaking his head. "What hotel are we at?"

"Stratosphere," Johnny reported automatically. "On the Strip."

"They have complimentary breakfasts?" he inquired, remembering his wife's order for food.

Max and Johnny exchanged glances.

"Yes, sir," Max said dutifully. "Do you want me to go get-"

Jason waved his hand to deflect any more offers for their services. He had a desperate need to get out of that room and away from Elizabeth.

"No, that's all right," he said with a deep sigh. "I'll get it myself. Just don't go in the room."

"Yes, sir," the bodyguards replied in unison.

He was about to step to the elevator, then paused. If his bodyguards had flown them to Vegas, then they probably knew what had happened the previous night. Including what chapel he and Elizabeth had gotten married in.

"Wh-what chapel did we go to?" Jason asked hesitantly.

He could see the two controlling the strong urge to laugh.

"The Little White Chapel," Johnny blurted amongst a wave of chuckles.

Realizing that Elizabeth would want to be present for the rest of their answers, Jason merely nodded and stepped into the elevator, taking deep, steadying breaths. Everything would be all right, he attempted to reassure himself. The chapel would probably allow them to cancel it or they would tell them it wasn't legal since they were that drunk, anyway. Maybe.

---

Since Elizabeth was stuck in the hotel suite alone, she decided to do some exploring. The first thing she found was her wedding dress, in the closet. She was surprised that they'd been able to get it in there, having been as drunk as they were. But Jason's tux hung right next to it, both perfectly ironed and wrinkle-free. She had to admit that the dress was gorgeous. Not lacy or frilly, just a simple and neat design that somehow only increased its beauty.

Jason's tux was nice as well. He even had a vest to go along with the jacket and bow tie. She loved vests with suits-they made them seem so much more complete. Bored, she dug through the pockets of his jackets and found their marriage license. Oh, goody.

Elizabeth wondered briefly how they had gotten a tuxedo, dress, rings, and license drawn up on the spot, but soon realized that she was now married to a mobster. Mobsters needed to be able to have automatic weddings in case they shot someone in front of a witness they didn't want to kill. Of course he would have these things easily available, then.

She tucked the marriage license back in its pocket and shut the door to the closet, finding herself looking through the drawers of the nightstand. She found nothing of interest, but she didn't need to entertain herself much longer. Jason came striding in with an entire of tray of breakfast delights for her to choose from. She spied two figures outside the door, but didn't get much of a chance to see who they were because he quickly shut the door behind him.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad you're back," Elizabeth taunted him, flopping onto her stomach on the bed.

He winced heavily and set the tray down in front of her.

"I didn't know what you'd want," he explained as she looked over the huge array of foods. "I'm having Max run to the store and get us some aspirin."

She shot him a questioning look.

"We took a jet here and my guards, Max and Johnny, came with us."

"Oh."

Elizabeth was starving, so she wasted no time in starting in on the pancakes. When Jason went to snatch a muffin, she dragged the tray away from him and glared up at her husband.

"Get your own plate," she snipped, holding her plate possessively.

Jason rolled his eyes heavenward and marched off toward the window, sidestepping the hot tub easily. She couldn't help but watch as he rested his hands on his hips, shaking his head while gazing off into the horizon. There was a heaviness about the way he stood and a sour look on his face that told her he'd rather be anywhere but right there with her. She'd have been insulted, except the feeling was mutual.

"When are we going to get this marriage cancelled?" she blurted, surprised at her own question.

She hadn't been planning to ask that.

"As soon as you're done, we'll go to the chapel," he assured her, sighing. "Max and Johnny know where we went."

"Where are we now?"

"Stratosphere Hotel," he said automatically. "We were…married at the Little White Chapel."

"How do we know they're going to cancel it?" she couldn't help but ask.

"We don't."

Jason and Elizabeth stared at one another. There were no words that could've passed between them at that moment. None that wouldn't have made the situation worse, that is. So he decided it was time to tell her that awful truth.

"If…we can't get it cancelled at the chapel," he ventured, not meeting her eyes and stuffing his hands in his pockets, "then we…um, we have to stay married until you're…eighteen. Otherwise you'll be sent to juvy and I'll go to jail for statutory rape."

Elizabeth gaped at him. And prayed that the Little White Chapel would save them from this joke of a marriage.

---

"I didn't know they had a sign," Jason defended himself as he, his wife, and his bodyguards exited the chapel.

"Well, maybe you should've been looking when you decided we should get married!" she yelled at him, smacking his arm for what felt like the fiftieth time that day.

"I didn't decide we should get married!" he snapped back. "Or at least I don't think I did."

They both stopped and stared at Max and Johnny, who were chuckling over this argument that had repeated since they left the hotel. Neither knew whose fault it was that they were married, yet both seemed certain that it was the other. The guards were careful about staying quiet, simply enjoying their boss' humiliation and distress. It was nice to see Jason letting loose and being unsure of himself, since normally he was so collected and confident.

"You two were there," Elizabeth said suddenly, glaring at them sharply. "Which one of us decided we should get married?"

Max and Johnny exchanged glances and smirked.

"Well…Jason said you two should get married," Max announced, chuckling.

Elizabeth gave a triumphant laugh and hit Jason soundly across the arm-again. It seemed to be something that relieved her stress greatly, so she kept doing it.

"But Elizabeth asked you to make love to her," Johnny added.

"What?" she scoffed, wide-eyed.

Jason merely smirked smugly and started walking toward the limo, which was waiting in the parking lot. Max and Johnny flanked him and he heard his wife trotting to keep up as she interrogated them.

"You asked him to make love to you," the guard explained, grinning. "You said you'd never actually had real sex and you wanted him to be your first."

"And Jason said he would only make love to the woman he was married to," Max took over. "Which is so not true, because, well, look at Carly."

"I do not make love to her," Jason interjected sharply.

"So he proposed," Johnny said, ignoring his boss.

"And you squealed and jumped on him and said yes."

Elizabeth gaped at them. "And you didn't stop us because…?"

They glanced at each other.

"It was funny!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Oh, my God," she groaned, smacking her hand to her forehead.

Jason sighed, glancing down at the teen who had managed to find her way to his side, matching his pace with her short little legs. The teen he was married to. And he couldn't get a divorce. Not until she was eighteen. He had the sudden urge to ask her when her birthday was, so he could start counting down the days.

**previews for next week will be attached to Chapter 6 of Once Upon a Memory

Join my site for back-chapters and more stories: http://dericaatuliel.proboards.com/index.cgi

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. All belongs to General Hospital creators and writers.

A/N: The chapter after the next one will be a flashback chapter, so hang in there.

As Max pulled the rented limo out of the parking lot, Jason eyed the sign disclaiming the Little White Chapel's responsibility for drunken marriages. Or, as the kind lady in the office had told him, the stupid mistakes of rampant tourists and their checkbooks. Luckily, he wasn't one of those. Instead he was just an obtuse crime lord with too much money and an inebriated teenager attached to his hip.

Like that's a step up, a part of him retorted. He rubbed his throbbing temples in the hopes that it would ease some of the tension. This was the worst thing that could've happened the previous night. The absolute worst. Especially since torture and death were sure to result from it, so that was all taken care of.

Elizabeth sat far on the other side of the limo, huffing intermittently and glowering at him. Fortunately for him, that steely gaze was starting to lose some of its power since she practically hadn't stopped since they woke up that morning. It was only when, minutes later, she realized they weren't going back to the hotel that she broke the immensely uncomfortable silence. Although, with Max and Johnny's muffled giggling from the front seat, it wasn't all that quiet.

"Where are we going? Why aren't we going back to the hotel?" she demanded, glancing out the window briefly.

"We're going to the jet," he replied flatly, sighing. "Johnny grabbed everything from the hotel before we left."

"We're going back? Already?"

Elizabeth looked inexplicably disappointed about this. He simply nodded and turned back to the window.

"Yes." Finally, he added.

"What, no honeymoon?" There was a distinct lack of sarcasm to that statement.

He stared at her uncertainly. She'd been yelling at him and slapping his arm for the better part of the day-there had to be some kind of catch here.

"No. This isn't a real marriage," Jason insisted firmly.

"Well, it's a legal marriage," she retorted, only wavering when he gaped at her. "Sort of."

"It doesn't matter," he continued, shaking his head. "We're going back to Port Charles."

"What if I don't want to go back yet?" she snapped. "I mean, I've never been to Vegas. I want to check things out; you know, see the sights, go to the casinos." He arched a brow at her. "Well, not to play. Just to see them."

Jason heaved a sigh. "That's not how this is going to work."

"Oh, really? Then what's it going to be like, boss?" Elizabeth challenged, folding her arms.

He groaned through gritted teeth. "We're going back to Port Charles. We're going to go back to our normal lives for a few months until you turn eighteen in…."

"November," she supplied.

"November. And then we're going to get a divorce and go back to our normal lives again. That's it."

"So, what? We're just going to pretend none of this ever happened?"

He nodded.

"Well, that's no fun," she pouted. "I think if I'm gonna be stuck in this stupid marriage that I should at least get some benefits."

Jason rubbed his forehead again, heaving a long-suffering sigh and shifting in his seat before he was able to reply.

"What kind of benefits?" he inquired apprehensively, knowing there would be years to come in which he would regret asking that question.

"Well…I don't know. Like an allowance!" Elizabeth said excitedly, eyes lighting up in delight at her idea.

"…What?"

"An allowance. You make a lot of money and I think some of it should be mine," she explained with a contented smile.

He groaned inwardly. "…Why?"

"Because I'm your wife and it's only fair."

He was sure a little part of him died when she said this.

"This isn't a real marriage," he protested. "You are not my wife and I am-"

"Jason, whether you like it or not, for the next…oh, two months, you are stuck with me. We have a marriage contract which we both signed, which means that you are my husband." He winced. "And I am your wife. Deal with it."

He stared out the window, hoping beyond hope that this was some kind of horrible dream. Or a sick, twisted joke Carly or Sonny was playing on him. When she went on, he knew there was no chance of that.

"How much do you make?" she asked eagerly.

"Why do you need to know?"

"Because if I know how much you make, I can figure out how much I should get out of that," she reasoned cheerfully.

"Elizabeth-" he nearly choked on her name "-you are already going to get my insurance and health benefits. You don't need an allowance."

"Yes, I do. Now tell me." She practically bounced in her seat.

"I'm not going to tell you how much I make," he said resolutely, staring her down.

At her severe glare, Jason groaned and decided to give in. A little.

"How much do you want?" he asked, voice a sharp contrast from the former confidence it held.

"Hmm…two hundred should do," she replied at length.

"A week?!"

What teenager could possibly spend two hundred dollars a week?! The inevitable answer, Emily, popped into his head seconds later.

"Yes, a week. Why, is there a problem?" Elizabeth said sweetly, smiling at him.

"There shouldn't be," Johnny commented from the front, chuckling.

Jason glared at the back of his employee's head before turning back to the smug teenager beside him.

"Fine. Done. What else?"

"Oh! Oh!" She clapped, increasing the tightness in his gut. "I should move in with you!"

"What?!" he exclaimed, just as Max and Johnny burst out laughing.

Elizabeth grinned, ignoring the three men in favor of basking in the brilliance of her idea.

"Oh, it'll be great. I can move out of Grams' house like I've been wanting to do for months, I won't have a curfew, and, best of all, I won't have to have tea as the solution to every problem I have." She squeaked with joy. "I'm so glad I thought of this!"

Jason nearly choked on his own spit, he was so shocked.

"Y-y-you are not moving in with me," he managed after about the fifth try.

"Why not?" she demanded, her delight deflating momentarily to address what he was sure she thought of as a minor obstacle in the path of getting what she wanted.

"Because this is not a real marriage, all right? We're not going to tell anyone it's happen-"

"You told Sonny," she reminded him.

He hesitated. "We're not going to tell anyone besides Sonny, we are not going to act like a married couple, and we're certainly not going to live together."

"I'm going to tell Emily, we aren't going to act like a married couple, but I'm going to live with you."

"Whydoyouwanttolivewithme?" he pushed out in one breath, jaw flapping as though he were a fish on land.

"Because Grams is so…well, old-fashioned, for one thing," she explained thoughtfully. "Besides, I'm going to college soon and I don't think I want to tell people I still live with my grandmother."

Jason couldn't think of a way this conversation could get much worse. Without bloodshed, of course.

"Instead you want to tell them you live with me?"

She paused. "Well…I think it's more about the penthouse than you."

At his glare, she grinned and doubled her efforts.

"Please! It's not like I'm gonna be in your way," she begged, even leaning across the seat to tug on his leather jacket.

He glowered at her with a near-pout and rubbed his forehead again. He was definitely going to need a bottle of aspirin when they arrived home. And apparently for the next two months.

"Fine, fine! You can live with me," Jason broke into her constant string of excuses.

"Yay!" she cheered, practically bouncing in her seat.

"What are you going to tell your grandmother?" he asked, cutting off a squeal.

Elizabeth became so still he had to lean forward to see if she was still breathing. Clearly, needing an explanation for suddenly moving out of Audrey's house and into a mobster's hadn't occurred to her. She slowly sank back into her seat, brow furrowed in deep thought. If the situation hadn't been as it was, he might've thought her consternation cute. As it was, he was just annoyed.

At length, she said, "I'll tell her…that I'm moving in with Emily."

He scowled at her and she shrugged uncomfortably.

"Fine, I won't lie. Um…I'll just tell her that…er…."

Jason decided to take pity on her-before she hurt herself.

"Just tell her the truth," he said with a sigh.

"What?!" she squawked. "No! I can't tell her the truth. The truth is bad. The truth gets me grounded."

Jason sighed. "If you move in with me, she can't ground you."

"Well…." He could see her struggling for an excuse. "I'm still not telling her."

"Then what reason are you going to give her for moving out?" he demanded.

Elizabeth clenched her fist in her lap and scrunched up her nose, letting out a defeated cry. Jason smirked, cheered up at having won at least one argument.

"Fine! I'll tell her the truth," she submitted, plopping her chin unhappily on her fist.

He breathed out in relief, glad that she was finally agreeing to something he said. Honestly, she was the most stubborn, irritating, ill-behaved child he had ever met. It had been a non-stop argument since they'd woken up that morning. He winced at remembering that horrifying experience. Although, he had to admit, she had quite a nice body. Or what he had seen of it looked nice. Mostly he only recalled the head-splitting screams she had been bellowing.

"Unless…." She perked up. "Unless you tell her!"

Jason blinked at her. "…What?"

"You can tell her," Elizabeth repeated, nodding sagely.

"I'm not telling her," he said firmly, turning to face the front again. "You can tell her when we get back. I'll send a few men with you to get you moved out, so you'll have protection, if that's what you're worried about."

"Y-you're not gonna come with me?" she asked, suddenly wide-eyed and alarmed.

He offered her an arched brow. "No."

"Why not?!"

"Sonny needs me for some business," he replied vaguely.

"No, he doesn't."

Jason stared at her, waiting for the sharp laughter to spill past her lips. Oddly, it didn't. The teenager looked completely serious.

He looked away again. "Yes, he does."

"No, he doesn't."

"Yes, he does."

"Nope."

"Yes."

"No, he doesn't. You know he just wants to get all the juicy details about last night."

"No," he said, dragging out each syllable. "He needs me to finish conducting business on a private matter."

"That's just a front. Emily and I have this theory that he became mob boss so he could get all the best gossip in town. I mean, seriously, he can get people beat up who won't squeal! And no one wants to tick off a mob boss, so of course they're gonna tell him if he asks."

Jason could not believe he was hearing this.

"Like, last week, we bumped into him at Kelly's and you and Carly were talking in the other room, so he asked us what you guys were talking about," Elizabeth rambled on a seemingly endless supply of air. "But we totally didn't know, cause…you know, you don't talk to us, and we didn't want him to think we were holding anything back so we told him you were arguing over where to eat."

He stared at her incredulously. He had absolutely no idea what to say to this. Sonny's secret business was gossip? What?

He cleared his throat at length. "Anyway…I'll be going to work with him. You'll be heading to Audrey's with a few of the men. They'll meet us with a van when we get back and I'll meet you at the penthouse later to discuss some things."

"Do we really have to go back today?" she whined, pouting.

"Yes." On top of everything else, I may as well have kidnapped you, he added mentally.

"But I want to stay; I want to look at the sights."

"What haven't you seen?"

"Pretty much everything. And, ooh! I want to buy that jacket!" she said excitedly.

He peered out the window past her. There was a leather jacket hanging in the window of a store across the road. He had to admit that he thought it would look good hanging on her slender frame.

"Please?" She was pouting again.

"No."

"We don't have time to stop and buy one teensy thing?"

"No."

"Nice," she sneered. "So we don't get to hang around and have a nice honeymoon, I have to tell my grams that I used a fake ID and got married in Vegas-to a mobster, who also happens to be my best friend's brother-, and you won't buy me a jacket? What kind of husband are you?"

Johnny and Max snorted, and Jason repressed the urge to kick the back of their seats.

"The kind that isn't real," he retorted. "And I can have the jacket bought and shipped to Port Charles, if you want."

"Really?!" She looked absolutely delighted.

He swallowed. "Yes."

"Awesome!"

She smiled contentedly and leaned back in her seat. Jason shook his head and pulled out his cell phone to call Sonny in order to get the men at the airport so he could get this child off his hands as soon as possible. She was acting like she was getting nothing out of this and that irritated him. She was getting an allowance, a nice penthouse-what was he getting? A handful of trouble.

The only consolation was that she was nice to look at. He slapped himself mentally and brought his thoughts back to what he was doing. The phone beeped onto the machine, so he left a message and hung up.

"How long before we get to the jet, Max?" he called to the goofballs in front.

"Should be only fifteen minutes, boss," Max replied, honking as someone cut them off. "Traffic's pretty heavy, so it could be more."

Jason nodded and turned to Elizabeth once more, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"All right, you can tell Emily and you can tell Audrey," he told her firmly, "but that's it, all right? No one else needs to know."

"But what about Nikolas? I have to tell Nikolas," she replied lightly. "And Emily's going to want to tell Juan. You know she is."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. Let me put it this way: you can tell people who have a reason not to tell the cops. In other words, if they hate me but like you, or vice versa, they have a reason to keep this a secret. If they hate both of us, or are a cop, don't let it slip. I'd like to keep this as quiet as possible."

"Well, duh," she shot back with a glower. "I'm not stupid."

Jason sighed and faced forward again, enjoying the following silence in spite of the fact that she was still glaring daggers at him. Just as he was about to take a deep breath and relax, she gasped indignantly. Here we go again, he thought miserably.

"You think I'm stupid!" she exclaimed, offended.

"What? I do-I didn't-"

She folded her arms. "You didn't have to. You think I'm dumb."

"That's not.... I…. What?!"

How the hell had she come to that conclusion?!

Max and Johnny were unsuccessfully stifling giggles in the front seat. He wanted to smack them upside their thick heads.

"I didn't say you were stupid," he said defensively.

"Like I said, you didn't have to." She tossed her hair. "You probably don't think I'm pretty, either."

He stared at her, flabbergasted. What the hell? Why was she bringing all this up? What did it matter?

Elizabeth gasped in that same, high-pitched way.

"You don't think I'm pretty!" she cried, clearly upset. "I can't believe this. My husband doesn't think I'm sexy."

"Wha-? I'm not…I didn't say…I-"

Max and Johnny were practically in hysterics. Jason now wanted to kill them.

"Well, he thought you were last night," Johnny assured her, grinning. "But he was drunk."

Jason looked quickly between Johnny and Elizabeth, highly alarmed. What was Johnny trying to do? Get fired?

"Oh, so I'm only sexy enough for you when you're drunk?" she demanded with a deep scowl.

"I-but…I didn't-what…what does it even matter?!" he finally sputtered. "You're my temporary wife, not my permanent…it doesn't matter what I think!"

A flash of anger went through her eyes.

"You really don't think I'm sexy! You're avoiding it."

"I didn't mean that you weren't sexy…I just-"

"Is there a phone in here?" she asked, scanning the limo for it.

He reached between them and handed her the car phone, against his better judgment.

"Who are you c-?"

She held up her hand, not looking at him.

"I'm not speaking to you," she told him resolutely.

The car was silent for a moment, except for the deep chuckles Johnny and Max no longer bothered trying to muffle.

"Hello?" the person on the other end greeted.

"Hello, Em? It's Elizabeth," she answered with an edge of annoyance to her voice.

Jason stared at her, wide-eyed. What was she doing?

"Where have you been?! Everyone's worried sick about you!" Emily reproached.

"Okay, you can't tell anyone, but I'm in Vegas," she answered, hesitating before each word.

There was a pause.

"Vegas?! What are you doing there?"

"Jason's here, too."

"What? What are you guys doing? What's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, except for your brother being mean to me," Elizabeth replied with a pout.

Jason could do nothing but gape.

"What? How is he being mean?"

"He thinks I'm stupid and not sexy, and he won't let me stay here for some fun, and he won't buy me a jacket I want."

Emily gasped indignantly. "What's wrong with him? That doesn't sound like Jason at all. Is he drunk?"

Elizabeth glanced at Jason. "Not anymore."

"Anymore? What does that mean?"

She had the decency to blush, at this.

"Well…that's kind of how we ended up here," she explained slowly. "See, he got drunk an-and I…." She mumbled incoherently.

"You what?"

"I used my fake ID and got drunk, too."

"What?! Elizabeth!" she scolded. "I thought those days were behind you. What were you thinking?"

"I don't know, I…." She paused, looking at Jason with a lingering frown. "I think I was sad."

"About…?"

"Lucky," she said at length, surprise creeping over her features as though she'd just remembered.

Jason arched a brow at her, curious.

"Oh, honey," her friend said sympathetically. "You know you could've come to me."

"I know, I'm sorry…I just needed to…get away." She sighed. "Anyway, Jason and I ended up getting drunk and we took his jet to Vegas. And…yeah."

"What else?"

Elizabeth chuckled. "You know me too well. Let me just tell you when we get back, cause it'll be better if I can explain in person. Plus, it's just like…the worst thing that could've happened."

"You married him!" Emily squealed from the other end.

Both Jason and Elizabeth jumped in surprise. How had she guessed?

"Wait, how did you know?" she asked suspiciously.

"I know you. And almost all of your 'the worst thing that could've happened' scenarios end up with marriage. How did you guys let this happen? What were you thinking?"

"Well…I'm kind of assuming we weren't thinking, considering how wasted we were and how big my headache was when I woke up."

"Wait…did you…sleep with him?"

Elizabeth reddened severely. "No! No!"

"Oh, my God, you did!" she exclaimed in both shock and disgust.

"I didn't mean to!" She couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough. "It was an accident!"

"An accident? What were you trying to do?" Emily shot back.

"I…er…I don't know. I don't remember anything. I'm sorry!"

There was a long silence and Jason waited, cowering in his seat as though Emily were yelling at him, instead of at Elizabeth.

"Okay…you better explain this really, really well when you get back," Emily snapped at length.

"I promise," she said hastily.

"All right, when are you guys coming back?" she asked.

"Today. We keep getting stuck at red lights. The traffic is just ridiculous here."

"So are you guys still married, or…?"

"Yeah. The chapel wouldn't let us annul it, because they said they weren't responsible for our actions when drunk. And since I'm underage, we have to wait to get a divorce," she clarified glumly.

"Wow. Well, what are you gonna do till then?"

"Um…not tell the cops," she said brightly.

Emily managed a chuckle at that. "Well, it serves you both right for drinking. And you, using your fake ID again!"

"I know, I'm sorry." She looked at Jason. "Really, really sorry."

Jason simply stared at her, fighting off the urge to glower.

"I guess it's all right. Just don't ever do it again," she replied lightly. "Now then…Jason said he doesn't think you're sexy?"

"Well, he didn't have to. He just didn't say anything when I said he probably thought I wasn't pretty."

"What a doof! Let me talk to him!"

Elizabeth offered him the phone.

"She wants to talk to you," she said almost pleasantly.

Jason scowled and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"

"Jason, what is wrong with you?" Emily reprimanded him angrily. "You're just making a horrid situation even worse for Elizabeth. Lowering her self-esteem isn't very nice. She is very pretty and very smart and if you don't think so, then you're blind and stupid. Shame on you! And also? You should buy her that jacket! She should get something out of this."

He sighed. "I told her I would get it sent to Port Charles.

"You did? Oh, good."

"Yes, and I never said I thought she was stupid or that she was ugly."

"But you never said you thought she was pretty or sexy or smart, either," she pointed out.

He groaned, rolling his eyes. "Fine! I think she's gorgeous, okay?" He turned to a startled Elizabeth. "Happy now? You're incredibly sexy and very intelligent and I would think that'd be clear from the fact that I married and had sex with you."

Elizabeth smiled. "You think I'm pretty."

"Yes," he hissed, sighing.

Up front, Max plopped a twenty in Johnny's outstretched hand.

"Good job!" Emily praised him. "Now, I want to talk to Elizabeth again. Love you, though!"

"I love you, too," he muttered into the mouthpiece.

Elizabeth snatched the phone as he held it out.

"Hey again!"

"Hi. I've got to go; Juan's expecting me at Kelly's," she explained, her voice much lighter than it was a few minutes ago. "But when you get back, I want to hear everything."

"Okay."

"I still can't believe you slept with my brother," she said after a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we didn't enjoy it," Elizabeth reassured her hastily.

That's what she'd been comforting herself with the whole morning.

"Actually, it sounded like you were really enjoying yourself," Johnny commented with a roguish grin. "Either that or you just really passionately agreed with him on whatever he was saying."

Jason and Elizabeth gaped at him, went to exchange a glance, but winced and looked away. There was no way he was going to be able to look at her for the rest of the day, he was sure.

"Shut up," Elizabeth ordered, then went back to the phone hurriedly. "Okay, Em, I'll talk to you later."

"See you soon."

She hung up and shifted over toward the door on her side, avoiding all possible contact with Jason. He stared quite forcefully out the window, keeping himself focused on the stores outside. We're almost to the jet, he told himself, over and over.

---

"I can't believe he snapped," Max murmured to Johnny while the two in the back continued their awkward silence. "The boss has always been so…stubborn."

"You underestimated Elizabeth and the powers of the female," Johnny said with a grin. "And also the powers of the teenager."

"So when do you think she'll cave on the Sonny issue?" he asked, pulling into the landing strip where the jet remained.

"On the plane ride over," he replied after some thought. "Boss is pretty persuasive, too."

"I'm gonna have to go with when we land." He glanced at him. "Twenty on it again?"

"Let's go with ten. Save the big bucks for when we get the rest of them in on it," Johnny returned, chuckling.

"All right, you're on."

Max and Johnny glanced back at Jason (who has his arms folded and legs pressed together) and Elizabeth (who had her arms folded and legs crossed tightly), then looked across at each other and grinned knowingly.