Chapter 6
----------------------------------------------------
Yet, taught by time, my heart has learned to glow for other's good, and melt at other's woe.
----------------------------------------------------
Carly Spencer's mother always told her it was rude to listen in on other people's conversations. Bobbie had caught her daughter listening on the other line to a phone call she was having with her husband and immediately berated her for doing it. She had told Carly that you should never listen in because you might not like what you hear.
Right about now, as she drove down the deserted streets of Port Charles in the direction of Kelly's Dinner, Carly didn't think truer words had ever been spoken. She was never really the type to eavesdrop, she hated it when people did it to her, but there had just been something inside her that told her she should stay, that something important was going to be said that she needed to hear.
Even though some very important stuff had been said, she didn't feel right hearing it. When Brenda and Elizabeth were talking about was something so special, so personal that nobody should have been able to hear it, but yet she did. And at this moment, if she could, Carly would erase everything she had heard from her brain.
The things that Liz had said, about what their father did to them, Carly couldn't believe her ears. She didn't understand what kind of person could possibly do that to their own daughter, especially a daughter that seems as nice as Liz did. The knowledge that their were actual people out there that did that sort of thing made Carly want to lock herself in her house and never come back out.
Carly's adopted mother had died when she was eight, in a car accident in Florida. Virginia Benson was on her way to pick her daughter up at school when she ran a red light and died in a brutal crash. Carly didn't really remember everything that went on, just images of a lot of people coming in and out of her house, hugging her and her father a lot. That first week had been the hardest on her father, with the planning and funeral and everything else that went along with the death of a loved one.
But for Carly, the hardest was the next week, when she was shipped off back to her real mother Bobbie Spencer and then finally went back to school. Everyone was so nice to her, even Shanna Jackson, the girl that used to tease Carly relentlessly because of her height. Everyone would get quite as soon as she walked into the room and they would stare at her like she had two heads. People were always extra nice to her, going out of their way to make sure that she was comfortable.
When she asked her step-dad about it, he had called it sympathy. They all felt sorry for her, having to lose her mother at such a young age. Carly hated it. She wished that things would just go back to normal. She wished that Shanna would go back to trying to push her in the mud. She wished Jason Morgan would go back to pretending that she didn't exist and she wished that her mother was alive. She wished she wasn't stuck back here with her "Mother" she had one already.
She wasn't anything special, she was still the same girl she had been the week before. The only difference being that she didn't have a mom anymore. She wasn't going to break and she wished people would stop treating her like she would. It was then, the day that Jason had asked her to go to Shanna's roller skating party, that she swear she was never going to feel sorry for another person.
She never wanted to make someone feel the way she felt. She felt useless and like she was causing people trouble. It made her feel fake and lonely. She hated it. And until this day, this very hour, she had kept that promise. She had never treated anybody differently when they were hurt or upset. Sure, she was a little nicer to them, she didn't want to be known as the class bitch, but she never did anything to make someone feel the way she felt when her mom died, pitied.
As she sat there on the floor of Brenda's house, for the first time she felt sorry and pity for someone. As she listened to all the things that Liz had to deal with, all the things that were wrong with Liz's life, she couldn't help but feel an overflow of sympathy for the poor girl. She tried to tell herself that it wasn't a bad thing, it was natural to feel this way over something as tragic as what happened to Liz, but she knew that she was only going to piss Liz off further if she showed it.
So in a form of repayment sort of, Carly was going back to the Kelly's to report back to the gang. She wasn't going to tell them about everything she knew, that was up to Brenda and Elizabeth to tell them, but she was going to tell them what was discussed in her presence, when they knew she was there. She figured that was a safe bet.
She rounded the corner and spotted her destination, the diner. She looked inside to find it pretty much as she left it. The older couple had gone and the gang was in the same place as they were before. She knew they would be. They were the nosiest bunch of teens ever, but great friends. She parked her car in the same place it had been in before and turned it off. She grabbed her coat and stepped out, closing the door.
The bell over the door jingled as she walked in like it always did when someone entered the building. At the sound of the bell, five heads wiped around and looked at her. She looked back at them strangely for a moment before walking over to the booth. She slipped into the seat Brenda had occupied earlier, across from her boyfriend Jax.
"Hey," she greeted them all in an uneasy tone. She was a pretty girl and a very popular girl so she was used to the staring, but at the intense level it was at now, she was starting to get uncomfortable.
"That's all you have to say?" Jason snapped from his spot against the wall. It was him, Sonny and Carly - respectively on one side, with Jax, Robin and Stone on the other. Carly looked past Sonny at Jason and had to smile at the anxiousness in his voice. He was definitely worried.
"Well, I thought that was pretty good, greeting wise," She answered back, trying to play it cool. Since she couldn't tell them about everything that she knew, she had to try and act as anti-dramatic as possible. The others were not amused. They continued to drill a hole in her. "What?"
"Who was that?"
"Who was what?" She asked kind of enjoying the torture she was putting her friends through. She couldn't blame them for being curious though, she knew that if she had gone with them then she would be dying to know as well.
"That girl that came in," Robin clarified for the entire group. Carly looked up at her and could tell that Robin knew she was hiding something. When she had lost her mom, Robin was the first person that actually treated her like she was a normal kid. She didn't care that Carly's mom died. She just genuinely wanted to play Barbie's with her. Of course, Carly didn't want to play Barbie's; she wanted to listen to music. But ever since then, they had sort of been best friends.
"Oh, you mean Elizabeth?" She tried to think of what she was allowed to tell them and what she should keep secret. She knew they were going to ask who she was and telling them that she was Brenda's twin sister didn't seem like it would be any problem. But when they asked what happened to her, she wasn't so sure what to say.
"Was she the girl that came stumbling in here like she was crazy?" Stone asked, getting quite annoyed with Carly at the moment. He was not the most patient person in the world; hell he was probably the least patient person at that table well except Sonny.
"Ignoring that very rude description about a girl you don't even know," Carly began as she glared at Stone from across the booth. "Yes, that was Elizabeth." She glanced over at Jason to see if she could tell what he was thinking, but his face was unreadable as usual.
Jason rolled the name around in his head, trying to decide whether he liked it or not. Elizabeth. Eliz-a-beth. Eliza-beth. Elizabeth. He liked it. It had a nice ring to it. And he couldn't help but notice that it seemed to fit perfectly with his name. Jason and Elizabeth. Yeah, he defiantly liked the sound of that. He was brought out of his thoughts by the voice of his brother.
"How does Brenda know her?" Sonny asked. The entire time that the girls had been gone he had been trying to figure out who it was. He thought back over all the stories that Brenda had ever told him and he couldn't ever remember her mention someone like that girl. Elizabeth, he now knew.
"Yeah," Stone added in, curious about that too. He ran the possibilities through his mind and his eyes lit up at the last one. "Are they like, lesbians or something?" Carly sent Robin a glance. Knowing exactly what she meant by it, Robin smacked Stone in the back of the head.
"Shut up, Stone you idiot," She snapped, bringing her hand back to rest on the table. By the way they acted you never would have guessed that they had been going out of the past year and a half. Stone's mouth hung open and he brought a hand to the back of his head.
"Ow," he exclaimed. Talk about a delayed reaction. After looking at all the guys for help and finding none, he decided on pouting as his best bet. Everyone shook their heads, used to his childish behavior and turned back to Carly.
"What?" She hadn't been paying much attention after Stone's commented and was lost in her thoughts about the night. She could feel all the eyes on her and looked up to find that everyone was staring at her again.
"Who was she?" Jax asked again. He was looking in her eyes, trying to tell if she was okay. She was acting kind of weird and Jax knew that it had to have something to do with the mystery girl.
"I already told you," Carly sighed, finding the chip in her nail polish suddenly very interesting. "Her name's Elizabeth." Jason had enough of this. He hated when she started beating around the bush. Why couldn't people ever just answer a question with a straight answer?
"How does Brenda know her?" Jason snapped, getting sick of one of Carly's games. Carly jumped at the volume in his voice and rolled her eyes. Most girls found it either scary or attractive, but Carly was used to it and it mostly just annoyed her now.
"Oh," She said as if just getting it. She loved playing the dumb blonde card. It drove people crazy and it was fun. "They're sisters."
"Elizabeth is Brenda's sister?" Robin asked. Always a beat behind.
"Yeah." This new information seemed to surprise the gang, but Carly understood that, she was surprised when she found how too. "According to Brenda, they're twins."
Jason's face fell. Brenda's twin? He cringed at the thought of going out with someone exactly the same as Brenda. He had nothing against Brenda, she was hot and dating his brother so he kind of had to like her, but she wasn't his type. He couldn't imagine being with someone that…perky or always giggling and plus she annoyed the hell out of him. He liked them calm and low key in all honesty, that's why he had been attracted to Carly all those years ago.
"Oh, God," Jax sighed, holding his head in his hands. "Two Brenda's? I don't think I can handle that." Carly smiled weakly at him, knowing he was only joking around. Brenda was one of his closest friends, and despite what he may say, she knew he loved her.
"Wait," Sonny jumped in, after he was done processing the information. He thought he knew Brenda really well, at least better than anyone at this table, and after all the things she had told him about her family, never once did she mention anything about a sister. "Brenda doesn't have a sister."
"Well, apparently she does," Carly answered, rolling her eyes. That was her first reaction too, but after she really looked at Elizabeth, once she was cleaned up, she could really see the resemblance. "She lived with their father."
----------------------------------------------------
Ideas pull the trigger, but instinct loads the gun.
----------------------------------------------------
"Father?" Jason asked. Something about that didn't sit right with him. He remembered back to the way she looked when she first came into Kelly's. She was all beaten up and her clothes were torn. Someone had definitely hurt her in a bad way.
Carly's head immediately wiped around and her eyes locked with his. She had been trying to play it cool when she mentioned their father, and she thought she managed to do a pretty good job at it, but apparently not good enough. She had found it hard to keep the venom out of her voice when she talked about him, but she must have let some slip through, because Jason obviously caught it.
"Yeah," She answered, trying her best to sound cool. "He lives in New York or something I think." Her eyes never left Jason's as she spoke and she knew that the other people at the table were probably thinking something was wrong. Well, maybe not Stone.
"Oh," Was all Jason said. He didn't need Carly to say anything else, he could see it in her eyes, and he had all the answers he needed. He could see all the hatred and pain in her eyes and he knew that it was directed at the man. He knew that it would do them no good if they announced it to the whole table so he let it drop for now.
"So, what happened to her?" Robin asked, not picking up on the strangeness between Carly and Jason. Carly looked around and it appeared that no one had seen it. Carly's gaze rested on Robin.
"What do you mean?"
"She was all beat up and stuff," she explained, motioning to her face and arms. "And her clothes were all torn." Robin fingered the material of her shirt as she spoke. "What happened?"
"I, uh, I…don't know." Carly cursed herself for stuttering. She never, ever stuttered, so it would be a dead giveaway that something was wrong. "They never told me and I didn't think it was my place to ask, it was personal I guess."
Now, Jason knew for sure what was going on. He liked to think that he knew Carly pretty well. They did go out for an entire year and had been friends since they were eight. Maybe he wasn't always the most perceptive guy, but he always paid attention to the important stuff. Like what Carly's eyes looked like when she was in pain, or the way she played with the sleeve of her shirt when she was nervous. Two things that he saw she was doing right now.
"I think I need some air," Jason said suddenly. Everyone looked over at him in confusion. The sudden change in subject threw them off. "Yeah, I'm just gonna go for a walk or something." He got up and jumping over the back of the booth so Sonny and Carly wouldn't have to get out.
"Jason, wait…" Carly tried, knowing what he was going to do. Jason obviously knew what was going on and he seemed to have a crush on Elizabeth. There was only one place he could be going and he wouldn't be wanted there not now.
"I'll see you later guys," He called over his shoulder, completely ignoring the call Carly sent at him. He pushed the door open and stepped into the fresh air. He looked back and was surprised that Carly hadn't come after him. Shrugging it off, he shoved his hands into his pockets and started walking in the direction of Brenda's house.
He didn't know how he knew it, but there was definitely something wrong with Elizabeth. He could tell by the way Carly talked, that Liz and Brenda's father had something to do with it. And there was that strange feeling again, the one that told him he would be needed soon. There was just something about the situation that told him that he could help. He didn't know how yet, but in some way, he would play an important role in helping Elizabeth.
He was surprised to look up and find that he was on Brenda's front steps, getting ready to knock on the door. He had been lost in his thoughts on the whole way and didn't even notice that he was there. It's like his feet were moving on their own. Without hesitation, he brought his hand up and knocked on the door. He heard voices inside and a few moments later, Brenda answered the door with a tear strained face and puffy eye's.
"Jason?" She asked, completely shocked to see him. As much as the thought scared her to death, she actually expected to find Jason on the other side of the door.
"Hey."
"What are you doing here?" She had never really been the best of friends with him. Out of the whole group, he was probably the person she was least close to. He looked past her, trying to see if he could spot Elizabeth.
"I just came to see if everything was alright," He replied, finding it hard to look at Brenda's sad face usually she was all smiles. It was clear that Brenda had just spent the last while crying and she was more than likely not doing it alone.
"That was nice of you," She smiled sadly at him. She was trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or not. As always, his face was unreadable. She hated people like that, ones that could hide their feelings. It kind of scared her really. Not knowing what people were thinking really creeped her out. "But really, everything's fine no need to worry."
"Are you sure?" he asked softly. It was clear that everything wasn't fine. She nodded her head. "Cause it looks like you've been crying." Brenda brought a hand to her face, wiping at her cheeks. She hated it when people saw her cry.
"I'm just happy that Elizabeth's here, that's all," she told him. He looked at her doubtfully and she knew he didn't believe a word she was saying. She really needed to work on that story for the next person that came by. Jason knew that Brenda wasn't going to tell him so he would have to make the first move.
"Do you mind if I come in?" He asked taking a step forward. He really needed to see Liz again. Just thinking about her was driving him insane. Brenda stayed in her spot, holding the door firmly in her hand.
"Yeah, actually, I do." Brenda felt really bad for turning him away as she saw the look of disappointment cross his face, but she couldn't let him inside. Liz wasn't ready to see people yet especially a guy. "I'm sorry, now's really not a good time."
"Oh," Jason sighed, stopping in his tracks. He backed up and looked down at his feet for a second before looking back up. "Okay." Brenda gave him an apologetic look. "I'll just go then." Brenda nodded. "Tell your sister I said hi."
Brenda didn't have a chance to reply as she watched his retreating back walk down her driveway. She could see him shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Brenda frowned and stepped back. Jason was always so hard to figure out, closing the door slowly and making her way back into the living room. When she entered, she found Liz sitting back down on the couch, sending her a sad smile.
"Who was at the door?" She asked, using one of the tissues that Brenda had given her to wipe her eyes. Brenda smiled and walked over to the couch, plopping down beside her sister. As soon as she sat down, Elizabeth leaned her head on her shoulder.
"Sonny's brother, Jason." Liz laughed and eyed Brenda out of the corner of her eye.
"My supposed soul mate?" She joked. Brenda laughed and nodded, dropping a kiss on Liz's head. She was glad to be talking about something other than their father. And if that topic happened to be Jason Morgan, than so be it.
"Yeah, that was him."
"He sounded pretty hot," Liz said, just trying to make conversation. She knew that you can't really tell what a person looked like by the sound of their voice, but there was just something about his that sent a shiver up her spine, but in a good way. She knew that he was at the Diner earlier and wished that she had looked up when she had come in, but she was in too much pain and was just so happy to finally be there that she hadn't bothered. "When can I meet him?"
"When you're ready," Brenda answered. She knew that Jason and Liz would hit it off, they were the perfect match, but Brenda wasn't willing to place Liz's sanity or her heart for that matter on Jason not now at least. In the state that Liz was in, she couldn't afford to be hurt right now. If one more thing went wrong in her life, Liz was sure to break apart.
--------------------------------------
Giving up is not and option you merely have to go on.
--------------------------------------
AN:Thank you so much for all the reveiws especially from JasonCourtneySonnyCarlyFan I know your not a fan of either pairings so thank you fo reading my story.
I will give shoutouts to each and everyone of you in the next chapter Im in a hurry right now so I can't but thank you all so much for reading.
Just a little warning for later chapters it will be a very hard story to read so please consider that before going further with this story.