Chapter 11 

Caroline looked at the clock on her nightstand. It read 3:00 AM. Caroline looked 
at the phone and wondered if it was too late to call Shane. After a small inner 
battle, she picked up the phone, and dialed the number for the Port Charles 
Hotel. While she waited to be connected to Shane's room, she looked at her 
engagement ring and smiled. 

“Hello,” Shane said, sounding very awake. 

“Hi. Good morning,” Caroline said softly. 

“Caroline?” 

“Yeah. You don't sound as if you were sleeping.” 

“I had trouble sleeping. I keep thinking about you. I'm sorry about the way I 
acted at the park. I shouldn't have asked you to choose between Jason and me. I 
just love you so much, and it's hard for me to accept that you have feelings for 
another man.” 

“Shane, you didn't do or say anything that you should apologize for. You spoke 
honestly, and that's great because sometimes I can't even do that.” 

After a brief silence, Shane spoke up. “Caroline? Are you okay? It's 3 AM so it 
must be important. Not that I don't love talking to you, but I know that you 
didn't call just to say hi.” 

“Yeah, it is. I realized that I still love you. I never really stopped, I just 
put my feelings for you on hold. These past few years, I think that I was 
searching for something. I guess now I realize that I was searching for what we 
once had. You asked me to pick, and I pick you.” 

Caroline waited for a response, but got none. “Shane, are you there?” she asked, 
frightened that he didn't want her anymore. 

“Yeah, I'm here,” he said, his voice filled with emotion. “I'm speechless. I 
don't know… I though for sure that you were going to pick Jason, and that I'd 
lost you. And now… now you no idea how relieved, excited and happy I feel.” 

Caroline smiled. “It's weird huh? Us getting back together after all this time?” 

“Yeah, but… Um… What about Jason?” 

Caroline took a deep breath, and thought about how she was going to answer. “I 
love Jason. My feelings for him didn't suddenly vanish, and they are not going 
to go away, just like that. Jason is amazing, but he doesn't love me. In all 
honesty, I guess I wish he did. But I want to give us anther chance. I know that 
we can't continue from where we left off, but we don't have to start over 
completely either. We just have to go into this relationship with open eyes, 
honesty, and caution.” 

“I know. We can't go back to what we had right away… and that's fine. We're 
going to have to work towards it, and I'm all for that. All I want is to be with 
you. That's all.” He was quiet for a moment. “I know your decision wasn't easy, 
and if I'm out of line just say so but… why did you pick me?” 

“Because of Michael, or maybe because of Eleyna. You see, Eleyna was born into a 
world with two loving parents who love each other. Michael doesn't have that, 
but he does have the love of both Jason and I. I'm NOT saying that parents have 
to be in love. I mean look at you and Carly. Your parents got divorced when you 
guys were three, and the two of you turned out fine. I grew up in a single 
parent family, and I had a pretty good childhood. I just looked at Michael, and 
realized that he deserved something more. His parents may never be together, but 
that doesn't mean that his life won't be great. I think that the best thing that 
I could do for Michael, is to be happy. If I'm happy, then maybe I'll be a 
better mother to Michael. Jason can't make me happy right now. He's in love with 
Robin, but you're in love with me.” 

“Yeah, and I promise you that I'll make you happy.” 

“I know. I have to move on. Its funny how I'm moving on back to you, but yeah. I 
can't spend the rest of my life wanting Jason and hating Robin for it. I'm not 
going to start liking her for it, but maybe I won't hate her as much. Maybe.” 

“You're not only going back to me because you want to be happy for Michael are 
you?” 

“No. I'm also coming back, because I want to be happy for ME. I may not deserve 
happiness, but you have made me the happiest that I have ever felt in my life. I 
want to get back to that feeling. When I'm with you, I feel good about myself. 
You make me feel good about myself.” 

Shane twisted the telephone cord around his finger. “You make me feel good about 
myself too.” He looked at the clock. “Okay, how about I come over later this 
morning? It's getting late, and I think that we should go back to sleep.” 

“What? You have to get you beauty sleep for me? How sweet!” Caroline teased. 

Shane laughed. “Well I can't go over there with dark circles and bags underneath 
my eyes, can I?” 

“I could lend you some concealer if you want,” Caroline offered with a giggle. 

“Well you know, I only use MAC,” Shane said remembering that how Caroline's 
dresser used to be covered with make up products. “It's the best for my skin, 
and it really blends well”, he said playing along.

Caroline laughed, remembering that she would often say that. “Okay, okay, okay. 
I'll let you go to sleep. I love you Shane. Thank you for coming to Port 
Charles. You're what I really needed.” She knew she wasn't really IN love with 
him anymore, but maybe that would change soon. 

“I love you too. And don't thank me. I wouldn't stay away from you forever. I 
just couldn't keep away. Why don't we do something today? Are there stables 
around here? Maybe we can go riding.” 

“Um, yeah, there's one about half an hour out of Port Charles. Horseback riding 
would be great. Goodnight,” she said softly. 

“Goodnight Caroline. Sweet dreams.” 

********************* 

Caroline opened her eyes, and felt the sunshine on her face, which was streaming 
down from the window. She rolled over, and saw her clock say 9:00AM. She got up, 
stretched, then went to the bathroom. After showering and brushing her teeth, 
she stood in front of her closet looking for something to wear. She finally 
settled on a pair of tight black jeans, and a soft ivory sweater. She then went 
over to her dresser, brushed her hair, and put on a little makeup. She smiled at 
her reflection. Gone was the unhappy girl, who was lonely and depressed. She was 
know excited and looking forward to resuming her relationship with Shane. Her 
feelings for Jason were still there, but she pushed them away, knowing her love 
for Jason was useless.

When Caroline got downstairs, she saw Robin talking on the phone, and Jason 
playing with Michael. She went over to Jason and Michael, and gave them each a 
kiss. She then picked up her son, and cuddled him. “Good morning baby. How's my 
little man? She cooed. Michael squealed, and pulled his mother's hair, which was 
becoming one of Michael's favorite things to do. 

Jason looked at Caroline, with a thoughtful expression. Somehow, she looked 
different today. She was wearing jeans, an article of clothing he hadn't seen 
her in for quite a while. But it wasn't her outfit, it was her face and her 
eyes. Her normally sulky expression was replaced with of one joy. But what 
caught Jason's attention were her eyes. Her brown eyes, which were normally dim, 
and held longing, were now bright and alive. Jason turned away from her, feeling 
sick. He knew that she had decided to go back to Shane. 

Robin got off the phone, and looked at Caroline. She too, noticed the change in 
her. “Well Caroline, you're looking awfully perky this morning. What's going 
on?” 

Caroline rolled her eyes. “There's no way I'm letting that little brown-nosing 
bitch destroy my good mood,” she thought. “Well Robin, if you must know… Shane 
and I are back together. He's coming here to pick me up,” Caroline replied 
turning around. 

Robin's eyes lit up. “Really? That's great! But why are you wearing jeans? I 
think that you should wear one of those revealing numbers you like to show off. 
I'm sure Shane would appreciate it.” 

Caroline gave her a look. “Listen to me closely, little girl. First, don't start 
celebrating, ‘cause I'm not moving out. Second, I'm going horseback riding, so 
I'm dressed appropriately. Third, Shane appreciates me in everything I wear, 
because I fill out my clothes… without the need for shrinking or stuffing 
anything.” 

Robin scrunched up her face, and looked at Jason for support. To her surprise, 
he didn't lash out at Caroline. She then turned around, and marched upstairs. 

Jason cleared his throat. “So you're going horseback riding. That's great, I 
know you've told me it used to be your passion in Florida.” 

“Yeah, I love riding. I'm good at it too. I haven't been riding in ages, so this 
will bring back a lot of memories.” 

Jason picked up one of Michael's toys and stared at it. Somehow the thought of 
Caroline remembering and reliving her happy moments in Florida made him uneasy. 
“So when did you and Shane decide to go? I only ask because Robin was on the 
phone all morning, and you didn't mention it yesterday.” 

“I didn't know that I had to clear my schedule with you,” she said. Jason was 
never really interested in her plans before. 

“You don't. I'm sorry. I just…” Jason said quickly, looking hurt. 

Caroline noticed his hurt expression, and went towards him. “Oh Jase, I'm sorry. 
I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just a bit edgy - nerves I guess. I know 
you're just worried about me,” she said taking his hand. 

“It was none of my business, don't worry about it,” Jason said, still feeling a 
bit hurt. 

Caroline gave a little smile. “I couldn't sleep last night. I kept waking up, 
and having dreams about Shane. I ended up calling him in the middle of the 
night, telling him that I wanted to start over.” 

Jason looked at Caroline, and started to feel the same way, when Robin had broke 
up with him. “Are you sure you want to do this? Just because you and Shane had a 
great relationship before, doesn't mean that it'll be like that the second time, 
he said staring into her eyes. 

Caroline looked away. “I know that. Shane and I are going into this with our 
eyes open. We're not going to reach what we had immediately. Too much time has 
past. The aftermath of our daughter's death was hard, and I ran away. I ran away 
from everything, and I can't do that anymore. I just want to be happy again.” 
Caroline sighed. “I thought you said you would support me.” 

Jason brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes. He no longer wanted to be 
supportive. He was about to ask her to hold off making a commitment to Shane, 
then decided against it. “Of course I support you. I just don't want you to get 
hurt. I also want you to know that if things don't go well with Shane, I'll be 
there for you.” 

Caroline hugged him. “I know, and I love you for it. You're the best friend I 
could ever ask for.” 

Jason returned the hug, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. “I love you 
too,” he said softly. 

The door to the Penthouse opened. Over Jason's shoulder, Caroline saw Bobbie 
walk in. She separated herself from Jason, and fixed her sweater, which had 
bunched up during the embrace. 

“Bobbie! Hi!” Caroline said nervously. 

“Hi,” Bobbie said, looking back and forth between her daughter and Jason. “What 
is going on here?” she thought to herself.