When someone saves your life. When they find you in the snow and they drag you up. And make you walk. And bring you help when you told them not to. They make you drink gallons of soup. And when they lie to everyone they know. That's more than friends. There's no word for what I feel for you.

Sitting at the bar, Elizabeth takes a deep breath before a soft smile touches her lips, eager for the reopening of the newly redecorated Jake's. It had taken a great deal of work, but she couldn't regret it now as she looks upon the finished work. The new pool table is still taking some getting used to, but she's certain she'll eventually grow accustomed to it. As long as she's allowed visitations rights to the old one, that is.

"Everything looks great." Jason voices as he walks into the bar from upstairs. "Looks like we'll be ready to open up tomorrow night."

"Looks like it." she agrees. "The shipments just arrived last night. Francis is locking it up in the storage unit as we speak."

"Good." Jason says with a shake of his head. "What's that?"

"Oh, that..." she sighs, turning in the stool to face the bar. "My divorce papers."

"Ah." he voices as he moves to sit beside her. "You okay?"

"Not really." she admits, lifting her gaze to look at him. "I really thought we'd have forever this time. How stupid must I have been to believe that after all we've been through?"

"I can't speak on why you went back to him." Jason says firmly, stopping her before she could say anything. "But I can say that you are one of the smartest people I know. Whatever reason you had for going back to him, I'm sure you had a good reason for it."

"Thanks." she smiles gratefully before sliding the paperwork back into the manila envelope. "I guess I'll deal with these later. Right now, we need to go over everything and make sure that we have everything set for tomorrow night."

"Okay." he agrees, knowing she would come to him if she needed to. "Lets get started."

Making their way around the bar, the two double check everything on their check-list to make sure that everything goes according to plan for the reopening of the bar. Passing by the storage unit, Jason checks to see if Francis needs any help before they move on once he assures them that he has it covered. Johnny's currently checking the setup outside, making sure that everything Jason wants for the security outside will be met, all three men knowing the kind of problems they'll face with the reopening.

Marco and Cody won't be joining them at the bar until the reopening takes place. While Francis and Johnny will be handling security over the people from their world that will be attending the reopening, the other two guys will be taking up the role of bouncers, ensuring that everyone else in attendance has a safe night.

Jason doesn't give a damn how much alcohol is consumed as long as everyone is responsible with it. He will not condone anyone taking advantage of another person the way he has seen men do to women time and time again in that place. It has happened to Elizabeth and, for as long as he owns the place, he won't condone it happening to her or anyone else ever again.

"Where's Liz?" Johnny questions when he walks into the bar a few hours later.

"Upstairs in her apartment." Jason says simply as he sets up the glasses on the bar. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. Just curious." Johnny replies as he plops down onto one of the bar stools. "Out of curiosity, are you going to tell her about what you're planning?"

"To an extent." Jason assures. "The announcement won't be made until the meeting. I'll speak to her about it before then."

"Well, okay then." Johnny snatches up the beer that's set in front of him. "As long as you've got a handle on it."

"Got a handle on what?" Francis questions as he walks over to them, finally finished stocking the storage unit to his liking.

"On why I never kept in touch with this blockhead." Jason smirks, popping off the top of a beer bottle before handing it to Francis.

"Ah." Francis shakes his head. "Don't take much to figure that one out."

"Ha, ha." Johnny voices sarcastically. "We all got jokes now, huh?"

"As entertaining as jokes about Johnny are, what were you really going on about?" Francis questions, not wanting to be the odd man out.

"Just wanted to know if Jason plans on telling Liz about his plans." Johnny informs before downing the rest of his beer. "He said he will before the meeting."

"Good." Francis approves as he rises to his feet. "It'll make things a lot easier when you have to put guards on her."

"Not the place and time for this conversation." Jason states, knowing they were inching closer to a full on discussion and he wasn't ready for that particular conversation with Elizabeth. "You guys should head out. Make sure that Cody and Marco are set for tomorrow."

"You are planning on hiring more people eventually, right?" Johnny questions as he hops off the stool. "The five of us can only take this so far."

"Eventually." Jason says firmly before tossing the empty bottles into the trash. "Not now."

Waiting long enough for the two to leave the bar, Jason gets started on filling the bar cooler with ice to prep for dinner, thankful that they still had the bar to themselves for one more night. Once he has the beers chilling in the cooler, Jason makes his way upstairs to ask Elizabeth what she'd like for dinner. He was thinking he'd make some pasta, but he'll leave the choice to her. He has learnt to not have much preference in regard to food, so, anything will suffice.

"Hey." Jason voices softly, standing in the doorway of her apartment. "You okay?"

"Um, yeah." she says with a soft smile. "Just about to...you know."

"Ah." he shakes his head thoughtfully. "Need some company?"

"No, that's okay." she assures. "It won't take long. I'll be down soon."

"Okay." he accepts. "Any thoughts on dinner?"

"Well..." she smiles slightly, walking over to stand in front of him. "I've heard your pasta is to die for."

"I wouldn't go that far..."

"I guess I'll be the judge of that." she tilts her head as a smirk plays across her lips. "Will you make it for me?"

"Sure." he smiles slightly before leaning in and placing a soft kiss upon her forehead. "I'll see you downstairs."

"Okay."

Shutting the door, Elizabeth makes her way over the documents, knowing it would do no one any good to put off signing them. The longer she takes with them, the more likely it'll be that Lucky will take it as hesitance, and she couldn't allow that to happen. Its not that she hesitant to divorce him, but hesitant for what awaits her once she does. With all the time that she has been spending with Jason, thoughts from the past have started to bubble to the surface and she's not sure she's quite ready for that.

Sonny's starting to notice the subtle changes in the way things have been running lately and the two start to wonder how long it'll take before Sonny figures it out. Francis believes that he won't be the wiser until the meeting with the five families, but Johnny dares to give him the benefit of the doubt and decides that Sonny will learn before then. It was too much credit in Francis's opinion, but he could use a new flat screen so he won't voice his opinions on the matter.

"According to Elizabeth, the boss and his family have RSVP'd to the reopening of the bar." Johnny voices as they get ready to accept the latest shipment, noting that it was smaller than the previous shipments, the first step in Jason's plans. "From the way Mrs. Corinthos was talking it didn't seem as if she knew that she was talking to Liz."

"Probably didn't." Francis says simply. "No reason why she would connect Liz to the bar."

"I was all for working the event, but now I'm actually itching to be there." Johnny admits. "If only to see her face when she realizes who owns the place and the person standing by his side...its gonna be priceless."

"I'll remind you of that when we end up having to remove them from the bar." Francis counters, thankful that his time under Corinthos management will soon come to an end, a sentiment he knows his partner can agree with.

"Eh, it'll still be worth it." he smirks, letting the conversation drop as the men start unloading the shipment. "Time to get to work."

Neither of them had seen this coming, but they also couldn't deny that it was exactly what they wanted to happen. For years they have been hoping that Jason would return and take claim to what has become rightfully his, but they learnt to not get their hopes up as the years began to tick on by. When they had learnt of Sonny's true betrayal, neither could muster up any respect for the man. If they never work for the man again for as long as they live, they swear it'll be too soon.

Setting the plates down on the table he had cleared, Jason glances at the doorway that leads to the apartments upstairs, silently wondering if she will be down soon. He wasn't as stern in regard to his cooking growing cold, but she had told him that she would come down soon and it worried him that she hasn't.

Shaking the thought from his head, he continues to set the table, needing to place the utensils before he grabs the beer from the chiller. If she's not downstairs by the time he's done, he'll make the venture back upstairs to check on her, but not a second before. As much as he wants to be there for her, he knows how frustrating it is to have some hovering over you and he wouldn't be that person.

"Mm...food smells great." she voices as he sets down the beers, causing a smile to touch his lips as he lifts his gaze to meet hers. "Just from the smell, I know its going to be delicious."

"Wait until you try it before you dish out compliments." Jason counters, moving to pull out her chair for her. "What?"

"Nothing." she chuckles before sitting down on the chair. "Its just that no one has ever pulled out my chair for me before."

"Get used to it." Jason says simply, placing a soft kiss upon her head before making his way over to his chair. "You okay?"

"More than okay." she admits, settling the napkin onto her lap. "I finished signing it. Ms. Miller said she'll send one of her people to pick it up in the morning."

"You sure you're ready to end things permanently?"

"I am." she says with conviction. "I did everything I could to make my relationship with Lucky work. It just wasn't meant to be and I see that now."

"Okay." he smiles slightly. "As long as you're sure. I don't want you to live with regrets."

"I have no regrets." she replies firmly. "I lived six years of my life trying to save the relationship I had with Lucky. In the end, my relationship with him was toxic, at best, and its time I stop trying to save him and start saving myself."

"Okay."

"Okay?" she looks at him curiously. "That's it?"

"You know I feel about your relationship with Lucky." Jason says simply. "I'm just glad you got out before it killed you."

"Me, too." she admits sadly before shaking her head and putting a smile on her face. "Okay, so, about the reopening, we should talk about how the night will go."

"Right." he agrees. "Before we get started, though, there's something I need to tell you."

"Ah, man, I knew it." she says teasingly. "You're secretly married to a Puerto Rican beauty queen."

"What? No." he blurts out before shaking his head as she laughs. "I'm not married."

"Good to know."

"If you're done making fun of my hopeless love life, I really need to go over some stuff with you."

"Okay." she replies, seeing that he was serious and that made her nervous, for some reason. "I'm listening."

Elizabeth listens to him intently as he tells her about the other reason why he returned to Port Charles. She wanted to argue the fact that he couldn't escape the life even if he wanted to, but she listened to explain his reasoning and understood that it would always be his life and that she was okay with that. Sure, the danger would always make her fear that one day he would get shot and she wouldn't be there to save him, but that wasn't a reality solely attached to his line of work. Many careers come with that level of danger.

"Okay." she voices once he's done.

"Okay?" it was his turn to be confused by her one word response. "That's it?"

"I hate Sonny for what he did to you and, if I was the kind of person to do so, I'd gladly shoot him in the face for it." Elizabeth elaborates, needing him to understand where she stands. "But that's not me. So, yes, I understand why you're doing what you're doing. If this is how you say it has to be, then okay, but only on one condition."

"This should be good."

"Dance with me." she says simply, moving to the jukebox to put a song on, smiling slightly when he moves to stand behind her as she chooses the song.

"Dance with you?" he voices, his voice thick with anticipation, unsure of where this was going. "That's your condition?"

"The last time we danced, it was about Lucky." she says plainly, selecting a song before turning to face him. "This time its about us. Can you handle that?"

"Elizabeth..." seeing something in her eyes that gave him more than a little pause. "I just told you that I'm going to take on Sonny..."

"I know." she says simply. "I found you in the snow, on the brink of death, Jason, I'm pretty sure I've got a handle on how dangerous your life can get."

"You just signed your divorce papers..." Jason continues on, uncertain of why he was talking her out of it by this point when the look in her eyes was practically drowning him in her essence.

"I told you I have no regrets." she says firmly, unsure of what had her admitting her deepest desires, but she doesn't stop. "I'm ready to start my life and I'd like to start it with you, if that's what you want."

"Its what I want." he admits, his breath caught in his throat when she reaches out to take hold of his hands in hers. "I just don't want you to regret it."

"I won't." she says with conviction. "I'm not asking for promises, Jason. Just a dance."

"Just a dance?"

"If we find our way to something more, great." she says simply. "If not, we'll always have our friendship. Okay?"

"Okay." he voices as he slowly pulls her into his embrace, staring deeply into her beautiful blue orbs. "If this is what you want..."

"It is."

"Its what I want, too." he promises, reaching up one hand to caress her cheek before whispering, "Its all I have wanted for years now."

Before she could question him on his admission, Jason closes the distance between them by taking claim of her lips with his, needing to show her just what he's feeling in that moment. Confusion overcame him as she switched things up on him, but he wasn't about to deny her when she's willingly stepping into a relationship with him.

From the moment he laid his eyes on her, Jason had started to feel things that he had tried his best to talk himself out of when it came to her, but he just couldn't hold it back right then. Elizabeth has always been the dream he never believed he deserved and he still doesn't. To think that he could really have something with her, to think that she could be his from here on out, however, Jason couldn't resist the temptation. He just couldn't.