Jax, holding Chloe's hand, led her into the hotel room. "Sweetie, you must be tired. Why don't you get some rest?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, I can't sleep. My mind is just racing with a swirl of emotions."

Jax looked into her eyes. They were sad eyes. Even though he knew she was incredibly happy at the moment, he hated the fact that the sad in her eyes from the past month was still there. The sadness of being separated. Jax held her close, kissing her head. "Hey, I've know of something that will bring a smile to your face." With that, he led Chloe over to the balcony. Together, they stepped out and took in the view. "Do you see anything you like?"

A smile finally came to Chloe's face. "Mmm-hmm. I see Trevi Fountain."

"We'll go there tomorrow if you like."

Chloe simply shook her head. Jax smiled and held her face in his hands. "I've missed you like crazy, Chloe." He then leaned forward and placed his lips on hers.

Chloe felt her knees buckle. Jax's kisses always made her weak in the knees, but oh, it had been so long since she had felt his sweet tasting lips against hers! All of the pent-up feelings she was forced to hold inside for the past month suddenly came rushing back to the surface.

Jax kissed Chloe with fire and passion. He had waited long enough to kiss this girl! Jax slowly ran his tongue across Chloe's lip and she opened her mouth, willing to let him explore her mouth as much as he wanted to.

After about a minute of kissing, Jax pulled away. He looked into Chloe's beautiful eyes. Her sparkling eyes. But the sadness was still there. "I'm so sorry, Chloe."

Chloe looked at Jax with a confused expression. "For the kiss??"

Jax laughed softly. "No, I could never be sorry for kissing you. Come sit down." Jax led her back into the room and they sat down on the bed together. Jax held her hands. "This is my fault, Chloe."

"What? No, Jax. This is Stefan's fault. He set you up."

"Yes, he did, but some of it is my fault. I fell for it. It was a trap and I fell for it. I should have never tried to find Brenda. I should have listened to you when you told me it wasn't her."

"Don't blame yourself, Jax."

"But I do blame myself, Chloe. I shouldn't have left you. I shouldn't have made you doubt my love for you. And if I hadn't have left, then you wouldn't have been on kidnapped."

"Jax, I don't blame you. You had to know the truth."

"I was so scared for you that night, Chloe."

"What happened that night, Jax?"

"Well, I saw Brenda, I mean the woman who looked like her, get into this car, so I grabbed a cab and followed them. We lost them though, so I went back to the hotel. When I got to the room, I thought it was odd that the door was slightly ajar. You weren't there, so I figured that maybe you had just stepped out for a few minutes, but after waiting for a while, you still didn't come. Then, I started to get worried, and I suddenly had a very bad feeling. I didn't see a note anywhere around, so I called the front desk and asked if you had left a message. The concierge informed me that you had made plans to catch a late night flight to Rome, but when I called the airlines, they said that you had never even arrived to the plane and that it had taken off fifteen minutes ago. I started to panic, but then I figured that maybe you had changed your mind, so I started to head out the door to make it to the airport to find you, but then…"

"Then what, Jax?"

"Someone hit me from behind and I don't remember what happened after that. The next thing I knew, I was on some island under the watch of guards. I was so scared for you. I knew that you must have been taken too."

"It was scary, Jax. As soon as I opened the door, someone grabbed me and put something over my face to knock me out. And when I woke up, I was in this strange room. That was when I found Stefan, and he told me that Helena had brought me there. How did you find out about Stefan?"

"I snooped around a lot, listened to far too many conversations that I wasn't supposed to. Eventually, I put all of the pieces together and figured it out."

"Why did this have to happen, Jax, why?" Chloe started sobbing again.

Jax took Chloe into his arms and comforted her. "I don't know sweetie. Maybe this is just another one of fate's crazy obstacles that are supposed to make us stronger."

"I mis-missed being wi-with you." Chloe said, choking on her tears. "We-we were supposed to sta-start our life together and this happens…"

"It's okay, sweetie. We're together now, and that's all that matters."

The sound of someone pounding on the door made Chloe jump. Jax got up from the bed to get it. Chloe had a fearful expression on her face. "Jax, no, what if-"

"It's okay, I know who it is." Jax assured her. Jax opened the door and started talking Italian to some man. The man gave him a small package and a couple of suitcases. Jax thanked him with a tip and closed the door.

"Who was that? What did he give you?"

"Well, the suitcases I had a friend of mine send over. I had him get us some clothes, toothbrushes, that sort of thing. "This," Jax said, holding the small package, "I had sent by messenger." Jax opened the box. "It's your medicine." Jax took out the bottle and then went to get Chloe some water. "You need to take this, Chloe, you've been without it far too long, and you need to get better."

Chloe smiled and took the medicine from Jax. "Thank you, Jax."

"I just want you to get well, sweetie."

"Oh, Jax! Ned, Alexis, the Quartermaines! They must be worried sick about us!"

"You're right. I was just thinking that we should call them."

"What are we going to tell Alexis, Jax?"

"Nothing right now, at least not over the phone. Let's just let them know that we are alright and that we will be back in Port Charles in a couple of days."

"Okay."

Jax picked up the phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?" Alexis asked.

"Alexis, it's Jax."

"JAX! Ned, it's Jax! Where the hell have you and Chloe been? We are worried sick about you!"

"I know, I know. Look, it's a really long story that I can't get into on the phone, but we just wanted to let you know that we are doing okay and that we'll be back in a couple of days."

Ned took the phone from Alexis. "Jax, where are you two?"

"We're in Rome."

"Where are they?" Alexis asked.

"They're in Rome."

"Ned, we've been through a lot so we are going to take a few days off before we return. We'll be back soon."

"Okay, I'm glad that you are doing good. Is Chloe okay? Is her health good?"

"Chloe's fine."

Chloe took the phone from Jax. "Ned, hey."

"Chloe, it is so good to hear your voice. Are you okay, really? I know how you don't always like to tell Jax if you are not doing okay, but you can tell me."

"I'm just fine, Ned."

"I want to talk to her!" Alexis begged.

"Here's Alexis." Ned said.

"Chloe! I am so glad that you and Jax are okay! I was worried sick!"

"I'm so sorry, Alexis! The last thing I wanted to do was to worry you."

"What happened with the Brenda situation? Did you find her?"

"It wasn't her, Alexis. Look, it's really a long story."

"Oh, it must be late there. Well okay, why don't you and Jax get some rest and call us when you leave so that we will know when to expect you."

"Okay."

"Alright. I'm so happy you are okay! I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Alexis." Chloe then gave the phone to Jax and he hung it up. "Alexis was really worried."

"I know."

"I just feel so bad, Jax! Does Stefan even realize how much this whole faking his death thing has affected Alexis? A part of me wants to tell Alexis all about her brother being alive to make her happy, but then, what will happen when she hears about what he did to us?"

Jax took Chloe's hand. "Let's not think about that tonight. We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Chloe nodded in agreement. "Tonight, the only thing I want to think about is you, back in my arms."

Chloe admired Jax with a lover's gaze as she watched Jax stand up to remove the final barrier between them. Jax gazed into her eyes. He no longer saw the sadness that they had held before. Both were so happy to be back together, and yet, both were afraid that without a moment's notice, this happiness that they had finally gotten back would be gone again if they so much as blinked. They made love slowly, but every blissful moment of it was filled with fire and passion.

Afterwards, Chloe rested her head on Jax's chest, listening to his heartbeat. That was the must beautiful sound to her at the moment.

"Do you remember the last time we were together?" Chloe asked.

Jax chuckled. "Yeah. That was some roll in the hay."

Chloe laughed. "Good choice of words."

"We'll have to do that again."

Chloe looked up and smiled. "We'll definitely do that again." She tilted her head up and met her lips to Jax's. "I love you."

"I love you too, Chloe."

Chloe then rested her head back on Jax's chest and slowly drifted off to sleep, still listening to the beat of his heart. Jax couldn't sleep though. He was too busy watching Chloe. His beautiful Chloe. His beautiful angel. Finally, she was back in his arms, and this is the way it would be from here on out. She was so precious to him, and getting her healthy was the one thing that he was determined to do. He carefully reached over to grab the phone, being very quiet as to not wake up Chloe.

"Tony, hi, it's Jax." Jax said softly.

"Jax, it's good to hear from you. I've been trying to get in contact with Chloe."

"I know. We've been away, and it is not something I can get into over the phone, but I just wanted to let you know that we will be back in Port Charles in a few days and Chloe will be ready to start her treatment."

"Okay, great. This is good. She needs this treatment, and I don't want her to hold it off too much longer."

"Great, we'll see you in a few days."

"Bye, Jax."

After hanging up the phone, Jax looked at Chloe again. She was still fast asleep in his arms. He knew that he had to get some sleep soon because they had had a very long night, but it was just so hard to tear his eyes away from her. He could hardly believe that he had got her back. He prayed that he would not wake up to find that this had all been a dream. Then slowly, Jax drifted off to sleep.

To be continued...

*song credit-"There You Are" by Martina McBride