"So, I take it back."

It was two days since his grandfather had driven into the midway at the fair, a mere forty-eight hours since Jason Morgan had found his son buried in rubble, too many minutes since he had last seen his best friend. The weekend had passed in a blur as he had stood vigil outside Jake's room and then in the beside Edward's door. Sam had been there most of the time, but some time between hearing that Morgan was okay and finding Michael in the corridor checking on Kristina, he had pretty much quit paying attention to the petite brunette. He hadn't really been thinking about much of anything other than what could have happened.

His grandfather could have died if he had just had a little more of the drug from the mayor's wife. His son could have died if he had been hit just a little harder on the head. His godson could have died if Dominic had been just a few seconds later pushing Morgan out of the way. Kristina could have died if she had been in the next car over. So many things could have gone wrong, but somehow, all the people that he loved had been spared. And now, as life slowly started to return to normal, he was only left holding open his penthouse door and gazing up at Carly in the hallway.

"Take what back?" he asked as he moved aside and let her into the apartment. He thanked God silently that Spinelli was out with Maxie for the afternoon working on wedding plans rather than camped out on the couch watching him carefully like he had the past two nights. Jason lifted Carly's coat from her shoulders and draped it over the desk chair before guiding her toward the sofa. He could see the concern written all over her face, even felt the tension as she held his hand tightly. "Carly, what's wrong? Is it Michael? Is the baby okay?"

"He's fine, we're fine," she promised him as she settled back onto the sofa next to him. Jason wrapped his arm around her body automatically and allowed her to snuggle into the crook of his neck. Her soft, steady breath tickled his warm skin, sending unexpected sensations all over his body. "I feel like I haven't seen you for months."

Jason laughed softly. "It's only been three days, Carly, but I know what you mean," he murmured softly as his eyes fell shut. He was exhausted, too tired to deal with whatever Carly had shown up at his door with but had immediately forgotten about as soon as she was in his arms. He was glad that she had abandoned her frantic tone and elected for this calm moment. He just needed to hold her right now and feel tethered to some sense of normalcy. "How's Morgan? I know that he was pretty upset with Dominic in the hospital."

"He's doing better, I think, since we know that Dominic is going to be fine now. He's over at Sonny's spending the day with Michael and Kristina," she explained. She didn't offer up any explanation as to where her husband was and Jason didn't care. He had never been a huge fan of Jax, and his opinion of the blond Aussie had only dropped the longer he stayed married to Carly. He wasn't good enough for his best friend, didn't have the staying power that she deserved. "How are you doing? I talked to Monica when I was at the hospital earlier for my appointment. She said that Edward was doing better."

"Jake is fine, and my grandfather is doing better. That's all I can really ask for."

Carly rolled her eyes slightly at Jason's willingness to compromise. He was likely the most selfless person she was ever going to meet, never taking what he wanted as his own if he thought someone else would be better off. She was the first and one of the biggest examples of that, secondly only to his son. "Jase, I need to talk to you."

Jason growled beneath his breath, earning a sharp look from Carly. "Those words just never mean anything good, Carly," he replied tiredly before turning to face her properly. The seriousness in her eyes stopped him immediately from complaining further. He reached up and brushed his fingertips over her cheek softly. "What is it?" The silence almost scared him. "C'mon, Carly, you know that you can tell me anything. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out, I promise. You just have to tell me so I know what we're dealing with."

She pressed her forehead to his and shook her head slightly. "I'm not in trouble, Jase, I promise," she told him so that he could stop worrying. She had been dreading having this conversation all day and for much of the past ten years before that. "It's just that I was wrong the other day, what I said. I want to take it back."

He shook his head confusedly, both surprised that she was admitting that she was wrong about something and unsure what she was even talking about. "Back up and start at the beginning," he told her, rubbing his hand down her back soothingly. She always did this, worked herself up to the point that she wasn't making sense. "What are you taking back?"

"The other day when I showed up here and found you with Sam, I started freaking out. I didn't want to see you go through that again and end up with the same result. And then I thought, what right do I have to be jealous? I'm married and having another man's baby. I thought that I could make myself be okay with it, you know? She could be good for you, in theory. It's just that..."

"She's not you," Jason finished knowingly before daring to meet her eyes. That had always been the problem – with Courtney, with Sam, with Elizabeth. They all should have worked in theory, but in the end, none of those relationships would endure because they weren't Carly. They weren't his best friend, the one woman in this world who loved him no matter what and the only person that he had never once given up on. "Carly, Sam and I are just...I don't know."

"I know it's not fair, Jase. I know that you and I have been over way longer than we were even together. I keep thinking that it will get easier, that I will stop being jealous. I just don't..." Jason could see the telltale sign of tears sparkling in the corners of her blue eyes as her bottom lip quivered. "I don't want you to love anyone the way that you love me."

"Not even possible," he assured her instantly, cradling her body close to him. It was all happening fast, coming on in an overwhelming rush of repressed emotions. "You might not be able to go on those adventures with me, Carly, but it doesn't mean that you're not still the one I want by my side. Maybe Sam and I are compatible on paper, but I've never really lived my life with the 'should be.' I don't know, maybe my idea of an adventure should change. Your life took a different direction. Who says mine can't follow?"

This was all Carly had ever dreamt about, hearing Jason open his heart and say the things that he was afraid to say to her at 24. "I gave you all that advice the other day."

"And I heard it," he assured her. He had heard every single word and taken them all into account. That was why he had asked Sam to the carnival after all. He had to know for sure, and after the accident, it had only become that much clearer to him. He could have lost so much that day, and even one of those losses would have wrecked him. Knowing that he could have been hurt even emotionally from that day would have destroyed Carly. He was still lying to her about being shot in Mexico, and the guilt from that was enough to deal with. "I really did, Carly. It was good advice, maybe the best you ever gave me. The thing is, the part that you got wrong, was that it wasn't Sam that I should be trying so hard to make happy. It's you."

She looked up at him with wide eyes mixed with disbelief and joy. He could find an entire world of wonder in those blue orbs and never get tired of discovering new life mysteries in her gaze. "Carly, I mean it," he emphasized. He had to make this time count. "The last three days have been crazy, and you know what the first thing I thought about when I saw that car heading toward the midway? I had to know where you were. Then, Jake got buried and I was distracted, but I didn't really breathe easy until Sonny told me that you had taken Morgan home. If something had happened to him, to you...I wasn't there."

"You were where you were supposed to be," she shook her head dismissively. "I am not going to let you feel guilty for that. I know that you think you have to always be the one to save us, but your son needed you. You weren't even there."

"That's the point."

"No, Jase, you are not to blame for this," she repeated. "That's ridiculous. What if you had been the one to get hit instead of Dominic? Do you know what that would have done to me? I would have been happy that Morgan was safe but devastated if I had to worry about you. I know you would have saved Morgan, but I'm really glad that you weren't there to get hit by the car. It would have been even worse for Edward, anyhow. Stop thinking like that."

He had promised her a long time ago that he would always be there to take care of her, to protect the boys, to be the one that kept them together. He liked that role, felt comfortable with being her hero. He couldn't stand the thought of anyone else taking his place and had secretly been overjoyed when he realized that Jax would never hold that spot for her. It was something that was only his, much like his heart only ever truly belonged to her.

"I love you, Carly."

It was brazen to say it so plainly, but it was really how he felt. How he had always felt and would always feel.

"Jase," she muttered as she turned her head and buried it in his shoulder. He rarely said it, only when something was seriously wrong. Now, that he was offering the words up so easily, it was harder for her to return the sentiment. She couldn't get it wrong this time. "You know that I've always..."

"I know," he retorted as he tucked his finger beneath her chin and lifted it slightly. "I know you. I know your sounds and your looks and your moods, and I love all of them. Even when you have that destructive glint in your eye that means you're going to hurt yourself more than anyone else."

A part of her wanted to be reasonable, tell Jason that her hormones were just running rampant and his emotions were just out of whack. It would make it all so much easier to process if could explain it off that way. However, there was no doing that when he was looking at her that way. "I'm married."

"I know, I know, I know," he sighed as he raked his free hand through his hair. He was very aware that Carly was still married to Jax. They had danced at their wedding. He had danced with Carly too many times at weddings that weren't theirs. "I know, and I don't care."

"And I'm having a baby in a month..."

"I'll love her just like I love Michael and Morgan," he vowed. "Just like I love Jake. C'mon, Carly, you're the one who came here today, and now I'm the one who is doing all the talking. I know that you feel the same way that I do, you always have. We were scared for so long. I don't want to be afraid anymore, not with you. Just tell me..."

Carly stopped him short with an insistent kiss, her pregnant belly the only wedge between him. His fingers tangled in her hair as she tilted her head to give him better access. "God, Jase, I love you so much," she whispered against his lips. "I love you."