Chapter 25
Caroline stepped out of the limo to find Shane standing in front of her,
waiting. He took her arm and pulled her close to kiss her. “You look… well I
can't… I can't even find the words to describe you,” he said softly, a small
smile playing on his lips. Caroline smiled and kissed him again.
Behind them, Robin cleared her throat nosily. “So, uh, are we going to sit
together?”
“NO!” Caroline and Jason both said at the same time. They looked at each other,
startled, then quickly looked away. Neither of them wanted to sit together
trying to prove to their dates that everything was fine.
Shane narrowed his eyes and looked between them. “Let's just go inside,” he said
finally to Caroline. Caroline nodded, took his hand, and they started walking
towards the entrance.
*******************
“Can I help you?” the bartender asked Shane.
“Yeah, I'll have a vodka on the rocks and a margarita.”
While Shane waited for the drinks, he looked over at his and Caroline's table.
Caroline was sitting there, just glaring across the room at Robin. “Thanks,” he
said as the bartender presented him with the drinks.
Shane walked slowly to the table, trying to dodge the many people who were
around the club. He eventually reached Caroline, and placed the margarita in
front of her. “Looks like the club will be doing good business,” he commented.
“Yeah,” she replied absently, still looking at Robin.
“Caroline honey, can't you just ignore her?”
“She's a witch. You know that, don't you?”
“So you've said,” Shane answered, taking a sip of his drink. “Why don't you just
put a stake in her heart and be armed with garlic?”
Caroline took a sip of her drink. “Shane, those things are for vampires.”
Shane grinned. “Well, maybe she's one of them.”
Caroline smiled wryly. “Nope. She's a witch. We'll probably have to hang her or
burn her at the stake. Besides, according to Luke, the only vampires in Port
Charles are the Cassadines.”
“Well, also according to Luke, Spencer women are dangerous, and they don't let
*anyone* get to them.”
“Okay, okay, okay. I'll try to ignore her.”
“Good. So let’s have a toast to Robin. She's not a vampire, and I don't really
want to call her a witch, because I'm sure that there are good witches. So… to
Robin the Goblin,” he said, holding up his glass.
Caroline burst out laughing, and raised her margarita. “I like that. To Robin
the Goblin.”
*******************
AJ sat at his bedroom desk, trying to get some work done for ELQ. He looked at
the clock, and was discouraged that only five minutes had passed since the last
time he had checked. He sighed, then got up and walked over to the window.
Outside, he saw the Quartermaine garden, lit up with lights. From the corner of
his eye, he saw Michael's stuffed animal. AJ walked over to it and smelled it. I
smelled like Michael did… like baby powder. It was really the closest to Michael
he had been in a long time.
“If Michael's mine, there's no way I'm going to let Jason, Caroline and her
macho boyfriend go near him again,” he said out loud, placing the toy down.
AJ looked at his clock again, them headed for his closet. He was going to make
an appearance at the club, which Robin had mentioned. Caroline and Jason were
putting him through hell, so the least he could do was return the favor. He
quickly changed his clothes, combed his hair, then grabbed his keys and wallet.
As AJ proceeded down the Quartermaine staircase, he groaned inwardly. Ned was in
the hall.
“Why hello junior. Why are you so dressed up? Are you going to an AA meeting?”
“No, Ned. As a matter of fact, I'm not. I'm going to a club.”
“A club? Which one? Drunken bastards R Us or the Corporation Klutz Clubhouse?”
AJ rolled his eyes and tried to side step his cousin. “Funny. I'm going to a
night club.”
“Oh, a *nightclub*. So… do you have a date?”
“No.”
“Didn't think so. Well junior, best wishes. Maybe you'll get lucky. But I'll
hide the liquor right now, ‘cause I'm pretty sure you won't.”
AJ opened the front door and went through it, without commenting.
********************
Caroline kissed Shane's cheek, as they slow danced. She inhaled the scent of his
cologne and smiled, feeling warm inside. Shane always made her feel safe,
comfortable and wanted. When they were together, she always knew that she was
the number one thing on his mind.
“Enjoying yourself,” Shane murmured into her ear, pulling her even closer.
“Mmm hmm,” Caroline replied looking up at his face. The night so far had been
wonderful. She had even almost forgotten that Robin and Jason were there.
Almost. She looked over at their table. Robin was glancing around watching
people dance, while Jason sat and drank, looking bored.
“I'm going to the ladies room,” Caroline said when the song had ended.
“Do you want me to get you another drink?”
“Um, sure. Another margarita.”
“Okay,” Shane said quickly kissing her.
Caroline opened to the door to the ladies room, and almost walked right back out
when she saw Robin there. Robin, who had seen Caroline in the mirror, stopped
applying her lipstick and waited for Caroline to say something. When she didn't,
Robin continued to her makeup. Caroline walked beside her and pulled out a comb
from her purse.
“So I see you and Shane are having a good time,” Robin commented, her eyebrows
raised.
“So I see you and Jason aren't,” Caroline replied, passing the comb through her
hair.
“Well, Jason isn't exactly the world's best dancer. He could dance, but he
doesn't want to.”
“Really? Because I think that Jason has great moves. He's absolutely amazing,
horizontal and vertically,” Caroline said with a smirk.
Robin felt her face get red and she searched for a reply. “Carly, you are such a
cold hearted bitch!”
“The name's Caroline, honey.”
“I don't care who you are! I just want you gone! Why don't you move out of the
penthouse and go find a place with Shane?”
Caroline raised her eyebrows and laughed. “I don't think so, little girl. Shane
lives in Florida, and I don't think that me taking Michael to Florida right now,
will go over well with Jason. I would expect *you* as a Yale acceptee, to know
that.”
“Oh, I wasn't suggesting that you take Michael.”
“My god Robin, you really are dumb if you think that I would actually leave my
son to be raised by *you* of all people.”
“Why not? I could take much better care of Michael. You would probably just end
up killing another child,” Robin said maliciously.
Caroline went white, and she felt her muscles freeze. She blinked and tried to
comprehend the words which had just been spoken. “What did you just say?” she
whispered.
“You heard exactly what I said. Jason told me all about your dead daughter. I
guess living inside you was too much for the poor thing,” Robin said, enjoying
the effect it was having on Caroline. “Look at Michael. He almost died due to
living in you. Coincidence, isn't it?”
“YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!” Caroline shrieked. She couldn't believe that Jason
told Robin. But Robin had said, “Jason told me about your dead daughter.”
Caroline clutched the counter in front of her and fought to gain her composure.
“SHUT UP? Well Caroline, now you're the one being dumb. You are a murderer! You
killed your daughter and you almost killed your son! You also shot Tony and
caused your mother to have a stroke!”
Caroline didn't wait to hear any more. She ran out of the ladies room and back
into the crowd. She looked desperately around for Shane, but he was nowhere to
be seen. “AIR! I need air,” she thought wildly. “I'm going to suffocate… I need
air.” She ran to the nearest exit, running into people on the way there. Once
she was outside, she crumpled to the pavement, crying hard, and trying to
breathe.
Jason, who had seen Caroline run out of the ladies room, had followed her,
calling her name. When he reached outside, he was shocked to see the condition
she was in. She was crying so hard that she was shaking violently. He rushed
toward her, and embraced her. Caroline jumped and gave a shout of surprise at
the strong arms which had encircled her.
“Caroline, Caroline, what's wrong? What's wrong?,” Jason asked urgently. “What
is it?”
At the sound of Jason's voice, Caroline scrambled to get away from him. HE was
the problem, him and Robin. But he had been the one who had told Robin. And
Robin had used that information to hurt her where no other pain could compare.
Caroline fought hard to get away, but Jason being stronger, wouldn't let her go.
“Caroline, please baby. Let me help, please let me help. What's wrong?,” he
asked, tears started to stream down his face. It hurt him so much, greater than
he expected, to see Caroline the way she was.
“YOU!” Caroline shouted. “YOU told Robin! How could you Jase? HOW COULD YOU?
Eleyna's death was sacred Jason! She was my daughter, my baby! And you told her!
I told YOU the truth, not Robin! It was none of her business, but you still went
ahead and told her! And what does she do? She torments me, about my baby's
death! And it’s all because of YOU!”
Jason let go of her, stunned at the venom in her voice. He started to say
something, but stopped when Caroline started to run into the ally. “Caroline,”
he shouted, chasing her. “Caroline!”
Caroline ran, and eventually stopped when she reached a wire fence at the end of
the ally. She leaned against the fence, and started crying again. Jason reached
her, and put his arms around her waist from behind. How could you tell her,
Jase? How could you?” she whispered.
“I'm sorry,” Jason said, crying. “I didn't mean to hurt you. What… what did
Robin say to you? Caroline look at me, please.”
Caroline turned around slowly, and was surprised at the look of passion and
regret in Jason's eyes. “It doesn't matter what she said,” Caroline whispered,
trying to take deep breaths.
“Caroline,” Jason said. “Caroline… I didn't mean to hurt you. You have no idea
how much I regret it. I wish I could take it back… I was just trying to prove a
point to Robin.” Jason used his hands to wipe his wet cheeks and moved closer to
her. “I never meant to hurt you. I love you. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry,” he said
kissing her forehead.
Caroline looked up at him, and felt all the energy drain out from her. She felt
tired and weak. Jason seemed to sense it, because he pulled her to him. She
buried her face in his chest; her resistance to him slowly diminishing. Jason
ran his fingers through her hair, and down her side. He backed her up completely
against the fence and kissed her. Caroline kissed him back, enjoying the need
not to think or to feel anything. They kissed each other more passionately by
the second, enjoying the taste, focusing on each other and trying to erase the
pain. Caroline leaned her head back and moaned as Jason started kissing her
neck. He started to move his hand up her thigh, and as Caroline opened her
mouth, Jason kissed her again, wanting her to surrender to their building
passion.
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