Song credit: "All By Myself" by Celion Dion

All By Myself

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And making love was just for fun
Those days are gone
Livin' alone
I think of all the friends I've known
When I dial the telephone
Nobody's home

Hmm.....A goat? No, maybe a pony, not a horse, it's too little. Yeah, a pony.
Definetly a pony........a duck? Could that be a duck? No. A pony. What
about that one? Hmm....honestly? An elephant with a monkey on it's back.

Carly Roberts, A.K.A Caroline Benson, was sprawled out on the grass,
staring at the clouds. This was a game she'd been playing since she was a
child, trying to make images out of the clouds. She was happy that they let
her wander outside. Ferncliffs ground were actually pretty nice, if you could
ignore the high metal fence with barbed wire surronding it that is. There was
a lake with ducks and stuff, and lots of grass and trees.

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore

She was scheduled to go back to Shady Brooke any day now. It was odd,
Ferncliff was suppose to be a mental institution for the really mentally insane.
Shady Brooke was suppose to be much better. But Carly had to disagree.
At least here she could go outside, but she did miss visitors, not that too
many people wanted to visit her.....but that's OK. In a couple of days she'd
be back at Shady Brooke and she was positive that Jason would be there
with Michael.

Mmmm. She took a deep breath of the fresh autumn air and shut her eyes.
Michael. God, how she missed him. She could imagine him, but she knew
that he must have changed since the last time she saw him. She squeezed her
eyes tighter and shook her head, trying to banish those thoughts from her
head. Concentrate on the good stuff, she coached herself, and let out a slight
laugh.

Hard to be sure
Sometimes I feel so insecure
And loves so distant and obscure
Remains the cure

Those were her shrinks words. She was surprised, he was actually very nice
and often said things that made sense to her, things she actually applied to
every day life. Not only that, but she had changed a little. Matured. That's
what Dr. Grey, the phycologist, said anyway. She felt confident that once she
was out of this institution she'd be able to deal with life better.

She opened her eyes and began to stare at the sky again. She began to
imagine seeing Michael again, and a smile appeared on her face. Slowly her
thoughts drifted to Jason. She had begun to realize that he would never love
her. She was 'out of denial.' as Dr. Grey had announced after she told him
she'd given up in her fantasys of Jason, a few weeks ago in thearpy. That's
when she gained the 'privilege' of wandeing the great outdoors.

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live
All by myself
Anymore

But just because she'd given up on him loving her, didn't mean she'd stopped
loving him. Far from it, but she had accepted it, and just kept hoping for the
day when she met her true love.

Mmmm... her true love. She often imagined him. she shut her eyes, and tried
to get a visual. Dark hair, brown. Yeah, short dark brown hair.Tall.....and
muscular. It was odd, but she never could really see his face.

When I was young
I never needed anyone
Making love was just for fun
Those days are gone

Carly felt her body growing weak. Yup, the sun was taking it's toll on her.
She tried to open her eyes, but it was too difficult, and she didn't really put
up a fight. "I'll just sleep the day away." she reasoned "This way, I'll be one
day closer to being with my son."

With visions of Michael, and her one true love, Carly fell into a peaceful
slumber.

All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore
All by myself
Don't wanna live
Oh
Don't wanna live
By myself, by myself
Anymore
By myself
Anymore
Oh
All by myself
Don't wanna live
I never, never, never
Needed anyone

'Till Death Do Us Part - Chapter 2

Song Credit: "Angel" Madonna

Angel

Why am I standing on a cloud
Every time you're around
And my sadness disappears
Every time you are near

You must be an angel
I can see it in your eyes
Full of wonder and surprise
And just now I realize

"She's doing quite well." Dr. Grey told the two men, as he led them out the
doors and onto the grounds. "I think she's more than ready to go home. I
know she'll be extremley pleased."

Jason nodded his head. His face was grim. He hated having to ruin her
homecoming with such bad news, but there was no other choice. He made
eye contact with Justus, and knew they were both thinking the same thing.
He was interrupted from his thoughts by the doctors voice. "She likes it out
here. She spends nearly all day out here, a few weeks ago she requested that
we hold our sessions out here too." He gave a slight chuckle. "First time I
ever did that, and I must say I found it quite enjoyable, Ahh. There she is."

They stood a few feet away from Carly. She layed on a large patch of grass,
that was kinda secluded from the rest of the grounds, or as secluded as you
can get. She was wearing faded blue jeans, a light pink T-shirt and some
white sneakers. Her hair was pulled into a soft ponytail, and lots of wispy
strands framed her face.

She was laying on her back, with one hand behind her head. Her chest rose
with every breath she took, and the look on her face. It was slightly dreamy
and peaceful. In any other setting she would have looked like an innocent
young woman, sleeping in the park.

The sight of her lightened all three men's faces. "She often falls asleep in the
sun." Dr. Grey said, half for the men's benefit and half to his amusement.

"Is she being taken care of OK.?" Justus asked, his voice full of concern.
"She looks so thin."

"Ah yes." Dr. Grey said with a sigh, with an amused look on his face. "The
weight issue. She constantly complains about the food. It's not gourmet, that
I'm not arguing, but it's not that bad, but she hates it. That, on top of her
sudden enthusiasm towards the aerobics classes has caused her to drop
quite a large amount of weight. Don't worry about it, after a few days of
home cooking she'll be back to normal."

"Aerobics classes?" Jason asked confused "Carly hates to exercise."

"Ah, well I think it has something to do with our new teacher, John." The
doctor said with a smile. "Ms. Benson refers to him as 'Fabio'."

All three slightly chuckled, causing Carly to lightly stir. She let out a light
moan before her eyes fluttered open. She leaned up a drop, and looked
around, and as her surronding became familar, she flopped back onto the
grass, before she saw the men. "Nope, not Disneyland." she murmured and
shut her eyes, trying to fall back asleep.

"Morining Ms.Benson." The doctor said with a smile.

"Morning Doc." She replied smiling without opening her eyes. She knew Dr.
Greys voice well enough, especially with her eyes closed. He had made a
habit out of catching her sleeping in the sun.

"You have some visitors." he slightly teased her.

At the words visitors, Carly sat up in a flash. Her eyes widened when she
saw Jason and Justus. Once the inital shock had passed a huge smile spread
across her face and her eyes lit up."Jason!" she cried out, her voice filled with
joy, as she jumped to her feet and ran into his arms.

Oooh you're an angel
Oooh you're an angel
Oooh you're an angel
In disguise, I can see it in your eyes

Walking down a crowded avenue
Other faces seem like nothing next to you
And I can't hear the traffic rushing by
Just the pounding of my heart and that's why

He was surprised at how forcefully she had come at him, and stumbled a
little. After he got his balance back, he enveloped her in his arms and smile.
He felt her hook her legs around his back, and realized he was completley
holding her, damn she was light. He made a mental note to make sure she ate
a lot the next couple of days.

He looked over her shoulder and saw Justus and Dr. Grey smiling and
laughing at the happy reunion. "Carly, I think you're suffocating him." Dr.
Grey said jokingly.

Carly pulled away and said "I'm just so happy to see you, Jason." she turned
to Justus and gave him a hug. "You too, Justus."

"It's nice to see you, Carly" Justus said smiling.

She pulled away and turned toward Jason. "I know my visitation rights start
today, but I figured the 6 hour trip wasn't worth it. I thought you'd wait untill
Thursday, when I was at Shady Brooke, you know? I wouldn't have
minded. I would have completly understood, but I'm so happy you're here."
she rambled on to him.

Jason grinned at her and said "You're not going to Shady Brooke on
Thursday, Carly." he said with a smile.

A bewlidered expression came across her face as she looked toward
Dr.Grey. "But...you said.... I don't understand."

"You're going home.....today, Carly." Jason told her happily

She turned to him and excitedly said "If you're joking...."

"No joke Carly." Justus said holding up some papers. "You're a free
woman."

"AHHH!!!!!!" Carly shrieked and jumped into Jasons arms. She grabbed
him and gave him a kiss, before embracing him and jumping up and down in
his arms. "Oh..Jason, I owe you, big time."

She quickly pulled away from himand turned to Justus, giving him a long hard
hug. He felt tears streaming down her face as she whispered "You're a
god-sent Justus. A true god sent. Thank you."

As she pulled away again, she turned to Dr. Grey and said "I would've never
made it without you."

He gave her a hug and said "Yes you would've."

She puled away and began wiping the tears from her face. "OK, let's go. I'm
ready."

Jason exchanged a glance toward Justus, as both remembered the bad news
they had to tell her. "Carly, there's some things we need to discuss first." he
turned to the doctor and said. "Can we have some privacy?"

You're an angel
You're an angel, baby
You're an angel
You must be an angel

Now I believe that dreams come true
'Cause you came when I wished for you
This just can't be coincidence
The only way that this makes sense is that

"Of course." he replied and walked away

Carly turned to Jason, fear was evident on her face. "Jason? What's wrong?
I'm going home, right? Jason?" When she got nothing but his poker face she
turned to Justus "Justus? Please, what's wrong?"

"Carly, let's go sit down on that bench." He sid nodding towards a bench a
few feet away.

"Michael." Carly cried out as horrible thoughts began to race through her
mind. Her 'think positive thoughts' theory quickly escaped her mind. She
grabbed Jason by the shoulders and frantically asked "Michael. Is Michael
alright?"

Jason looked past her, at Justus,the look in his eyes told Jason that Carly
better play it calm. "Carly, come on. We'll sit down and I'll explain
everything." he said calmly as he tried to steer Carly toward the bench.

But Carly would have none of that. She tightened her grip on Jason
shoulders and yelled "Answer me, is Michael alright?"

"Yeah, yeah Carly." Jason answered, as she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Michael's just fine."

"Oh thank god." she said softly, as she sat on the bench between Jason and
Justus "You two scared me half to death. Now what can be so bad?"

"Carly, Robin told A.J. he's Michaels father." Jason told her straightly

You're an angel
You're an angel, baby
You're an angel
You must be an angel, baby

Clouds just disappear

Till Death Do Us Part - Chapter 3

Song Credit: "Will You Marry Me?" Paula Abdul

Will You Marry Me?

Just girl to boy
I'd like to share this thought with you
Our love's a joy
Two one's have made inseparable two
Last night my heart spoke to me
And it said
You've found that lover-friend
So now I've finally got the courage
Just ask You Baby ooh

Will you, will you
Will you marry me boy
Will you, will you
Will you marry me
Will you, will you
Will you marry me boy
Will you, will
Will you, will you, will you
Come on baby now

She was looking at him. Yup, she was definetly looking at him. She had been
looking at him for quite some time now. She showed no signs that she would
stop looking at him anytime soon.

Jason watched her carefully. As that one sentence seemed to take its toll on
her. As soon as he had finished saying it, she had inhaled a quick deep
breath.......come to think of it, he hadn't seen her exhale yet. Her whole body
had tensed.

One thought kept flashing through Carlys mind. "I'm never going to see my
baby again." She saw the words in her head and heared them too. They just
kept growing louder, and louder, and louder, and the words got bigger and
bigger and bigger. She felt every muscle in her body tighten.

The worst was her stomache though. She felt her quickly nodded his head
and mouthed 'Tell her' and motioned for Jason to continue.

"Carly, it's OK, we know how to keep Michael. We're not going to lose
him, alright? Carly breathe."

She looked into his eyes and saw the security she needed, and she let out a
shakey breath."We're not gonna lose him?" She finally choked outanything,
just as long as I get to keep my son." She stated determindley and looked
directly into Jasons eyes and picked up his hands. "I'll do anything for my
son, anything. Just tell me what to do, and it's done. Tell me Jase, tell me
what to do!"

Jason looked deep into her eyes. He saw fear, desperation and
determination.

"Marry me."

I lay awake
So full with hope of things to come
For heaven's sake
I pray I'm not the only one
I never dreamed I'd be so bold
I'm standing here, my heart's been sold
So now I've finally got the courage
Just ask you baby ooh

Think of love as wings
Not a ball and chain
And Your fear of things
Unnecessary
I only want to share your name
Share your name
Last night my heart spoke to me
And it said
You've found that lover-friend
So now I've finally got the courage
Just ask You Baby ooh

Maybe sunday
Come on monday
Baby any time this week
Get an old house
Find a back Yard
Buy some flowers down street
Tell your mother
Tell your mother

"No, not if you agree to our plan, Carly." Justus said slowly

"Agree? Agree? Are you crazy? I'll agree to

Don't tell anyone at all
All we need is
Just the two of us
and ooh...

Till Death Do Us Part - Chapter 4

Song Credit: "Friends & Lovers" Carl Anderson and Gloria Loring

Friends & Lovers

What would you think if I told you
I've always wanted to hold you?
I don't know what we're afraid of
Nothing would change if we made love.

So I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
'Cause I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other
Oh, no, we could be both to each other.

Did he just ask me to marry him? No. He couldn't have. I've been in the sun
too long. Or maybe I'm realy going crazy. I'm losing my mind. That's it, I've
lost it.

She looked up at the sky. Hmmmmm..... no laughing smiley face. Nope God
wasn't playing a trick on her.....at the moment anyway. Hmm... Ok, I know.
I'll just repeat what he said and see his reaction. "Marry you?"

He looked her in the eyes and nodded his head. OK, she thought, he did ask
me to marry him, now for the next important question. "Why?"

"Carly," Justus began. "If you marry Jason, and pretend to be madly in love,
you'll appear to be able to provide a more stabile home than the
Quatermaines can. I'll lay all the cards on the table and offer every two
weeks, Michael spends the weekend with AJ and his family. If not, We'll go
after full custody, with only supervised visitation rights. I'm sure he'll agree to
settle out of court."

Carly turned to Jason and whispered "We need to......."

"Get married." He finished.

"Jase, I'm tottaly willing and ready to do whatever I can to keep Michael, but
are you? Robin's not going to like this, and I can't live in the Penthouse with
her, knowing that....."

"Carly, you're missing the point." Jason interrupted her. "Me and Robin are
through. I'll never forgive her for trying to take Michael from me. She went
back to Paris, and I'm just as ready and willing as you. Anything to hold onto
Michael."

"And," Justus began . "You have to act really in love, no matter what. Carly,
if the Quatermaines getting any proof, a recordered tape, pictures, whatever,
that proves you two don't really love each other, you can lose Michael. If
you're willing to do this, you have to walk out of this place hugging and
kissing and cuddiling, wearing the biggest grin on your face and positivley
beaming. From now on, you're Carly madly in love with Jason Morgan.
Jason will do the same thing. He's ready and preapared to do so. The
question is...are you?"

Carly turned back to Jason and stared at him. Nearly 6 months of therapy
and all she got out of it was the realization that she and Jason would never be
together and here he comes.....proposing!! This was going to kill her. Just
because he agreed to act madly in love with her and marry her, didn't mean
he had actually began to love her.

But this was for Michael. Her son. She had to do this for him, because she
loved him. Because he was her everything. She took a deep breath and
raised her chin as she strongly replied "Yes. Yes I'm ready to do whatever I
need to do for my son."

Yes it's a chance that we're taking
And somebody's heart may be breaking
Oooh, but we can't stop what's inside us
Our love for each other will guide us.

So I'll be your friend
And I'll be your lover
'Cause I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other

~Later in the limo~

Carly was staring out the window trying not to cry. It was all too much. She
was outside. She was free for the first time in months. She was going to see
her baby. She hadn't seen him for such a long time. And she was getting
married, to the man she loved.

But she couldn't take 10 giant steps back. She was moving foward. If
anything, from this whole ordeal, she'd learned one thing. She and Jason
were not meant to be. He was only doing this for Michael, and so was she.
She vowed that she wouldn't begin to fantasize about them, together. She
wouldn't allow it. She's just have to be strong.

Jason stared at her. She had seemed so un-enthusiastic. He hadn't expected
that. Oh well, he was only doing this for Michael. He had no emotinal ties to
her, it was all about Michael. His thoughts and feeling were only dominated
by Michael. God, she was beautiful.

The more he stared at her, the more he was taken back by her beauty. Her
golden hair was thick, and he loved how the light caught it. Her face every
feature was perfect and the whole effect was nothing short of striking. I'm
only doing this for Michael.

Justus stared at the two. Carly was carefully avoiding eye contact with him,
and he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. They seemed so uncomfortable. The
tottal opposite of how they'd seemed just a few short hours ago. He knew
this marriage was going to be a huge challenge of their friendship.

Carly was looking out the window when a thought struck her. She jumped
and quickly turned toward the men. "We can't do this!" she cried out

"Why not?" Justus asked confused

"Carly?" Jason asked, his voice full of concern, as he leaned foward towards
her. "What's wrong?"

"Jason, you can't lie." She cried out. "This whole plan is one big lie. You can't
act like you're in love with me because you can't lie!!!!"

"No, I don't usually lie, but I can. It's not so hard. Don't worry, everythings
changed."

He looked at her, expecting her to be relieved, but she seemed more sad
than before. She mearly nodded her head and leaned back.

"Oh." Jason said as he remembered something. Carly watched him as he
reached into his jacket and fumbled around with an inside pocket, untill he
finally produced a small red velevet box.

She looked at him with puzzlement. He opened the box and turned it toward
her. Her eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped.
Inside was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen. It was a thin gold band
with a huge diamond surronded by tiny Rubys. "Oh, wow....I don't know
what to say......you shouldn't have."

Jason let out a tiny shrug with a smile on his face. "Sure I should've. It's your
engagement ring." He handed her the box.

"Yeah, but it's not like we're really engaged, you know?" She said as she
took the ring out of the box and began to closley inspect it.

"Thst's just it Carly." Justus said taking a breath. "You really have to stop
thinking like that. You have to act like you're really engaged."

"Yeah, I guess." She said not looking up. She put the ring in her hand and
closed her fingers over it, as she lifted her hand up and down in the air, as
though she was trying to weigh it. "Wow, it's heavy. It must've cost you a
fortune. I feel bad."

"Don't feel bad." Jason said with a smile "So, you gonna put it on?"

"Oh, yeah." Carly said as she carefully slid the ring onto her left hand and
examined the effect.

Finally she lifted her head, but kept her eyes to the ground as she opened
and closed her mouth a few times. There was so much she wanted to say,
but every time she went to say something, she couldn't get the words out.

Jason and Justus exchanged amused smiles, as Jason teasingly said "Carly?
Speechless? What a historic event!"

Carly lifted her eyes to his and smiled. "HaHaHa!" she replied moving closer
to him and playfully punching his arm. "Jason actually made a funny! What a
historic event!"

"A funny?" Jason remarked and laughed. "I made a funny??? What the hell is
a funny?"

"Oh, so now we're making fun of my speech? That's rich, oh holy speech
giver. Don't you have a thing with saying more than two senteces really is
beautiful, Thank you."

Jason smiled and put his arm around her neck, allowing her to lay her head
on his shoulder more comfortably. "I'm just glad you like it."

"Yeah, I do." She shifted a little and yawned "I dont understand it. All I did
was sleep there, and I'm still so tired."

"Well, we woke you up when we came. And then there was all that
excitement. We still have 5 1/2 hours to go untill we're home. You should try
to sleep."

Her eyes were closed by the time he finished his thought. "Yeah....maybe"
she mumbled as her head began to tip foward. Seeing she was already
asleep, and uncomfortable, Jason gently lowered her head to his lap and she
pulled he legs under her. He began to absently stroke her hair as he looked
out the window.

Justus, who had been taking it all in, thought to himself, "Maybe their
friendship will be OK."

I've been through you
You've been through me
Sometimes a friend is the hardest to see
And we always know when it's laid on the line
Nobody else is as easy to find

So I'll be your friend
(I'll be)
And I'll be your lover
Cause I'll be your friend
(I'll be)
And I'll be your lover
'Cause I know in our hearts we agree
We don't have to be one or the other
Oh, no, we could be both to each other.

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