Chapter 4 Robin stared at the scene which played out in front of her. Loud music was blaring out from the stereo, but that wasn't what was bothering her. What was making her absolutely livid was the fact that Caroline was dancing around in that skimpy thing she called a nightgown, with Michael. "It should have been ME feeding Michael, and ME playing with Michael. That little witch hasn't been much of a mother to Michael. I'M the one who can't sleep without hearing Michael on the monitor. I should be Michael's mother," Robin thought, not realizing that she had spoken her last thought out loud. Caroline stopped dancing. "What the hell did you just say?" Robin, realizing her mistake looked surprised, but then quickly regained her composure, and switched into bitch mode. "I think that I would make a better mother than you. I'm sure that everyone would agree with me, even Jason. I'm sure if I told him to sue for custody he would…" Jason, returning from Justus' starts to open the door, but stops when he hears Caroline angry voice. "You shut your damn mouth! You don't know what you're talking about. Jason loves Michael and he would do whatever is better for OUR son. He would never, ever, take my son away from me. You know why? Because he promised, and we both know that Jason keeps his promises". "Well I'm sure that if I told Jason to keep Michael away from you…" "HE would do it? Is that how you think it works? You want something, so you tell Jason, and you get it? Why do you treat Jason as if he were a child? WHY? Do you honestly believe that Jason is helpless? DO you? Robin he's different. He doesn't think like the rest of us, BUT, it doesn't mean that he doesn't think! Robin he has thoughts and feelings and dreams, just like the rest of us. Just because he doesn't express them, doesn't mean that they're not there," Caroline said, with tears springing to her eyes. Caroline didn't know why she was getting so emotional in front of Robin. She didn't want Robin to see how much she was hurting over the fact that Jason had gone back to her. "Robin, I don't get it. You say you love Jason, but you treat him as if he was a dog, a dog who must obey his master! Why does he love you? You DUMPED HIM! YOU couldn't handle his lifestyle, so you dropped him! Do you have any idea how much that hurt him? He loves you. I don't know why, but he does. I want JASON to be happy. I do. I just wish…" "You just wish that you were the one to make him happy? Carly… I mean Caroline, I love Jason. And he loves me. He will ALWAYS love me. I treat JASON with respect. I KNOW him, and I know him better than anyone else. If you don't like our relationship, fine. BUT, you don't know me, so don't try to question what I do, and how I do it. Just remember this: I'm always right, especially when it comes to Jason. And as for me getting what I want, You always go after your own needs and wants, so don't you DARE lecture ME!" Robin finished with a smirk. "Yes, Robin, I do go after what I want, but I fight for it. I may fight dirty, but I have never gotten anything handed down to me" Jason closed the door, and decided to go back to Justus'. Robin got her jacket and put it over her little blue top, grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "Tell Jason I'll spend the night at my Uncle's". Caroline sighed, picked up Michael and went upstairs to get dressed. ****************** A.J. couldn't believe his back luck. He had just found out that there was a possibility that he could be Michael's father, but instead of finding out the truth, he was stuck in a traffic jam. As a police officer was trying to re-direct traffic, A.J. rolled down his window to talk to the cop. "What seems to be the problem officer? What's holding up the traffic?" "Well, there was a six car crash up ahead, and we're trying to hold back the traffic for the ambulance and tow-trucks. Unfortunately, it was a fatal car crash, so it may take awhile". "Why the hell couldn't this have happened another day! I really need to get somewhere!" "I'm sure you do! Everyone has somewhere to go! Those people who died had somewhere to go too! Don't you have any respect at all?" "I'm sorry. I'm just having a bad day". "I'm not the one who needs your apology, or really cares about it." With that, the officer continued re-routing the traffic. A.J. sat in his car and watched the road. He really did feel bad about acting the way he did, but he just had to confront Jason and Carly. *************** Shane sat in the waiting room of the airport waiting for his flight. After spontaneously deciding to go to Port Charles to see Caroline, he had quickly called the airlines and had gotten a flight for later that afternoon. As he sat down, he looked at the object that he was clutching in his hand. It was a thin band of gold, with a diamond in the center. It had been Caroline's engagement ring, and he thought back to the night he had proposed: It had been Caroline's 21st birthday, and he had asked his fraternity brothers and Caroline's sorority sisters to help plan a surprise party. (NOTE: I don't think that GH ever mentioned Caroline going to college or to university, but I wanted to show that Caroline actually had a life before coming to PC). They had all agreed and helped out with everything. "Shane, I thought we were going out for dinner. Why are we back at your frat house?" "SURPRISE!" all the guests shouted as soon as Caroline and Shane entered. "Omigod Shane! You did this?" Caroline said in awe. "Yeah. I always take you out to dinner or to a club to celebrate your birthday. I just wanted to do something different for you," Shane said before kissing his girlfriend. "Shane, stop it! This is a party for Caroline, so let her have some fun! You two will have the rest of your lives to kiss and make out," said Jack, one of Shane's frat brothers. Shane looked at Caroline and was relieved to observe that she hadn't heard the last part of what Jack had said. Later that night, the lights were turned off, and the room was filled with lit candles. "Shane what's…" Caroline started to say. "Shh, it's a surprise". Shane walked over to the piano, which someone had brought over and sat down. He looked at Caroline and began to play the piano and sing "Lady In Red". At the end of the song, Shane got up and walked over to Caroline. "So that's why all my sorority sisters insisted that I wear red," Caroline said while wiping away tears. "Yeah, well red always looks amazing on you. I wouldn't even mind if you wore red to the wedding," Shane said reaching for Caroline's hand. "Wedding? Whose wedding?' "Ours. I hope." Caroline just stared at him. "Caroline Benson, I've loved you forever. I loved you as a child, as a teenager, and as an adult. I want to be able to love you for the rest of my life as your husband. Will you marry me?" Caroline started to cry harder. "Yes, I will marry you. I'd love to be our wife," she said as everyone started to whistle, clap and should their congratulations. Shane placed the ring on Caroline's finger, then kissed it. "Don't ever take it off". "I won't," Caroline whispered. BUT she did. A year later, his mistake had cost him a life of happiness with the woman he loved. He had tried to work things out, but his mistake, along with Eleyna's death had been too much for her to handle. Caroline had wanted to leave Florida, and try to start over. Although Shane didn't want her to leave, he loved her enough to let her go. At the airport, she kissed him, one last time. One beautiful, bittersweet kiss. "I love you. I always have, and I always will, but I have to leave. I have to do something. Losing Carly was hard, but losing Eleyna was unbearable. And now I've lost you too," Caroline said. "No you haven't," Shane started to say. "Yes, I have. I love you so much, but I can't be with you. Here's my engagement ring. It will hurt too much if I keep it. Goodbye," Caroline whispered, as she placed her ring in Shane's hand. She then turned around, and left to catch her flight.