"I have no interest in talking to you." Alexia mumbled, her eyes sternly avoiding Ryan's. They were standing in her dorm room, Jason's light snoring the only sound.

Alexia's heart strings pulled violently at the sight of Jason's vulnerability, something he only showed when he was asleep. Seeing him like this, his lips slightly parted and a calm expression on his face, was something she wasn't used to see anywhere other than when he was asleep. Especially these last few weeks, with him being the only one who had drastic consequences after the fire, he never showed any weakness.

It was his birthday. This was the first birthday Jason spent without his parents, and that was the first thing he had said as he appeared in front of her door step, his shoulders slumped.

"I have never spent a birthday without my parents. My birthday is tomorrow." Jason whispered, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as if he was trying to make sense of this situation. Alexia nodded breathlessly, surprised by his sudden appearance. All she wanted to do was hold him and tell him how much she had missed him and that he had to visit more often, but it seemed that Jason needed her rational talking.

"I know." She just murmured, opening the door further so he could walk in. He did, stopping in the middle of her room. She carefully closed and locked the door and turned around, looking at him.

Despite the fact that the last time he'd come here, he had been angry, Jason now seemed sad. Lost.

His eyes were dull and his body was hanging, looking at her desperately.

"If you'd just explain to me why you can't come back..." she whispered, stepping closer to him. Jason groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"I told you—it's better if you don't know."

She grabbed his hands, leading him to her bed. "I don't care about what's better and what's not. I want to know." Gently pushing him flat on his back, she laid down as well, wrapping her arms around him. He gratefully pulled her closer to him, burying his head in her skin. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I want to know, Jase. I need to know."

"All you need to do is make me forget, Alexia." He snapped, and she rolled her eyes at the words. It seemed like angry Jason was back.

"Is that really what you want?"

"Yes. Just..." he sighed, pressing a small kiss on her shoulder, "just help me. Please just help me."

"Okay," she whispered, shocked by his pleading words.

Once again, they had sex all night. Only this time, he wasn't gone when she woke up in the morning. As she admired him while he was sleeping, someone had knocked on the door and when it turned out to be Ryan, she let him in, no matter how angry she was with him.

Ryan seated himself on her chair and she unwillingly walked back to her bed, making sure she didn't wake Jason up by sitting down. Ryan looked at Jason shortly before turning his full attention back to Alexia, an apologetic look taking over his face.

"I'm sorry." He breathed. She believed his apology was sincere so she nodded, knowing that Ryan wouldn't apologize if he wasn't honest. The past week and a half were tough with her still getting used to Jason being gone, but they were even tougher since she wasn't talking to her three only friends in all of college.

"It's okay." She murmured.

"No it's not. I was stupid, I can't believe I accused you of something you would never do. And the worst part is that it took Jason, out of all people, to knock some sense into me." Ryan continued, disbelief drawn in his eyes. Alexia waved her hand dismissively. Jason had told her about his and Chaz visit last night when they had taken a break from having sex.

"It's okay Ryan, I guess you were just a little paranoid. It happens. I'm glad we're good again," she stood up and Ryan eagerly pulled her into a tight hug, pecking her cheek before letting her go. "Me too Lex."

Sitting back down, it was silent. They both stared at Jason, who's bare chest rose softly with every breath. His legs were tangled into the sheets and he only wore his underwear. He looked peaceful.

"I can't believe he's going through all of this." Ryan remarked, his eyes never leaving Jason's figure. Alexia swallowed, a lump in her throat forming as she brushed her hand along his back, her mouth twitching when she felt the rubbery mark that the fire left on his skin.

"He won't tell me anything." She stated. Ryan didn't seem surprised, "Yeah I guessed that. It's probably a lot to take in for you."

"But I want to know..."

"And you should know. It's not my place to tell you, it should be him. Otherwise I would've done so already."

"Ryan... You guys can't leave me out of this. I am a part of this team!"

Ryan bowed his head, an indecipherable sphere swarming around the room. Shaking his head, he laced his fingers together, not facing Alexia. "No one is a part of this team, Alexia. He's on his own."

"What? I'm sure you guys are helping him." She uttered in bewilderment. During all of this time, it hadn't crossed her mind once that Ryan and Chaz weren't helping Jason. That is, after they found out about him and visited him. In her head, they were both actively helping him, his dispute almost over. For how long was he going to keep this up?

Ryan licked his lips dolefully, "We're not helping him. There are people helping him, yes, very powerful people. Me and Chaz, we have nothing that could be of use."

Alexia glanced at Jason shortly, "What do you mean 'powerful people'? Like, the police or something?" Much to her dismay, a worrisome feeling settled itself in the pits of her stomach, not liking the direction this conversation was taking.

"The police?" he snorted, "No. Much, much more powerful people. You know that kind of power, you have it."

"You're not telling me people from the business are helping him, are you?" she hissed in nihilism, her eyes narrowing. Ryan looked at her meaningfully and got up, walking towards the door. "Like I said, it's not my place to tell. Tell him I said happy birthday," he looked at Jason, sorrow filling his eyes, before exiting the room.

Alexia was left puzzlement, trying to put the pieces together. Her eyes examined Jason, who was still sleeping.

It was beyond her how anybody could harm him. The poor guy only wanted to be with her, something he wasn't doing against her will either. It ceased to amaze her how in such a short time, his life could be taking this fucked up turn, and he was still here, trying to make sure she was okay.

Jason growled in his sleep and Alexia's heart leapt in her chest, gently stroking his cheeks. She loved him so much and she just wished she didn't. This entire thing they had going on was so much harder than she had expected. In the end, she was the one who had to break it off with Damian, and she was too frightened to do that.

"Are you staring at me in my sleep?" Jason groggily rasped, his eyes still closed. Alexia reluctantly smiled and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. He gladly returned the kiss, deepening it.

She pulled away, grabbing his hand. "Happy birthday, baby."

"Why'd you pull away?" he ignored her felicitation, his voice deep and husky. God, morning voices were the sexiest thing in the world.

Alexia rolled her eyes and smirked, "You've got morning breath."

"I do not!" Jason exclaimed aggravated, but he got up and squeezed Alexia's hand before letting go and disappearing into the bathroom. She took a deep breath, covering her face with her hands. It was his birthday, this was not the time to be demanding answers.

Yet, she felt like she had to know. Now.

When he returned, he enticed her lips with his again, his arms wrapped around her waist tightly. She made out with him until they were both breathless, ending up on the bed with their eyes connected and their hands attached to each other's.

"Something's bothering you." Jason stated, firmly looking at her. Alexia shrugged, planting a fake smile on her face. "No, I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not!"

"Alexia," he urged, furrowing his eyebrows, "I said—don't lie to me."

"What is happening to you Jason?" she promptly uttered, incapable of keeping it in any longer. She wanted answers and she was going to get them now, whether Jason was willing to cooperate or not.

"Nothing? What is supposed to happen to me?" he asked, earning a shove from Alexia. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You know what I mean!" she snapped, "Why are you hiding? When are you coming back?"

He sighed, realizing what she meant and unattached their hands, leaning his back against the wall. Alexia crossed her arms in front of her chest, a solemn expression on her face.

"This is the millionth time I'm telling you this Alexia. I can't say anything, it's too dangerous. It's my birthday! Are you really going to fuck up my day?" he puffed out a deep breath. Alexia shrugged, "If this is fucking up your day, then yes, I am going to. I want answers and I'm getting them now."

"You're so fucking stubborn," he said, looking away from her. Alexia dismissively waved her hand, not offended or insulted by his remark. She knew that he knew that there was no way out this time.

"Maybe. Start talking, brother."

"I can't stand you," Jason hissed, his eyebrows knitting together and his eyes turning dark, something that unnerved her. It was unusual to see him get that mad when it was to her, but she decided to ignore the glare he was shooting her way. "You always need to know everything." He continued.

This time she pulled up her eyebrows, pique rooming through her veins. "Maybe I need to know everything because I love you?"

He didn't react. "I don't want you to get involved in this."

"I do! I am sick of not knowing anything."

"Alexia," Jason growled, his eyes flickering to the ceiling before looking at her vigorously, "Listen to me. I do not want you in this mess. This is my mess and I'm trying my hardest to keep you out of it, but you're making it really damn difficult. For once, just listen to me."

Taking a hold of his hands, Alexia sedately squeezed them, trying to smile, "It doesn't matter who's mess it is, Jason. Your mess is my mess and my mess is your mess. I love you, I would do anything for you. Please, tell me." A dismal vibe filled the atmosphere.

Jason chuckled humourlessly, "Anything? How about you break off that engagement of yours?"

Letting his hands go, Alexia took a deep breath, ignoring the anguish in her abdomen. It was like he brought this up every time they argued. "Mature." She snapped, fiddling with the sheets. Jason shrugged.

It was silent. They both avoided each other's eyes and continued sitting on her bed in laconism. Alexia was gradually losing her patience and started getting more and more worked up by the minute. Despite his wide sedentary, the bitter and enraged look on his face and the scowl lacing his lips, his shoulders were slumped and Alexia knew he was secretly dying to tell her, but his vigilant and possessive behaviour kept him from it. She saw the creases forming in between his eyebrows, meaning that he was thinking. His hands were positioned in his lap calmly and she suppressed the urge to grab them, keeping her own hands by her side.

"Remember Dubai?" Jason was the first to break the silence. Alexia serenely nodded, glancing at him. His eyes were fixated on his lap.

"I got a call... Whoever it was told me to get away from you, so I did," now looking at her, his eyes seemed desperate. She nodded again, finding the courage to grab his hands. He squeezed hers shortly before continuing, "It was Damian. He told me I had to stay away from you and that he knew all about us having sex," Jason rolled his eyes, "and then I told him to fuck off. I said that as long as I was alive, he was not going to marry you,"

"Oh no.." Alexia widened her eyes, realizing where this was going. It was like she subconsciously already knew this, everything started to click and make sense in her head all at once. Her heart sunk into her stomach as she tried hard to contain her self-composure.

"Yeah," Jason pushed his tongue against the insides of his cheeks, his neck vein nearly popping, "He then said, 'that can be arranged'. I hung up, because he is a son of a bitch and I had no interest in talking to him. That's when I punched the wall, remember?"

She nodded, "How could I forget?"

"Right. So, we arrived home, all was well until I got attacked by that random dude. I went to the hospital, told everyone I had no idea who it was when I was almost completely sure it had been Damian's doing. I guess I wasn't scared—the attack was weak. A few weeks after that, there was another, um, let's call it a thing. Me and Ryan were just driving and there was someone following us. By then, I was already sick of it so we went straight to your house and I barged in, threatening Damian. I was ready to fucking kill that scumbag," the fury seeped through with every word he spat, his hatred for Damian growing.

Alexia swallowed, unable to move. How was it possible that this was all happening without her noticing anything?

"But Cat was there," he added, "and she saw it. I felt stupid, I mean, I should've watched out you know? I'm surprised she didn't tell you." Jason looked at her.

"She didn't tell me anything." She muttered.

He nodded solemnly, "Damian killed Bumper. It was like a warning. Then there was the fire, which was the third time he tried to get rid of me. You weren't supposed to be there too. I, fuck, I almost died in there, Lex. If you weren't there, I wouldn't have forced myself to get up and drag you towards the exit. You could've died." his head bowed and Alexia frowned, "But I didn't?"

"But you could've! And it would've been my fault."

"How? I'm pretty sure you were not the one lighting the fire, were you?" she snapped. Jason ignored her comment and continued his story.

"Damian brought me to God knows where. He had me tied to a chair and talked shit the entire time, trying to piss me the fuck off, which worked by the way. He tortured me, he stabbed me, cut me, hell I don't even remember because I passed out really quick. When I woke up again, I was alone, so I untied myself and tried to get out," He didn't look at her. His jaw was clenched and Alexia took deep breaths, trying to process everything he just said.

"Stefano found me." He husked, now finally looking at her. She puffed out a loud breath, antagonism mixing itself with all of the feelings she was getting. Stefano? Her brother knew?

"He patched me up and made sure every wound I had got treated. Without him I would've bled to death—"

"Don't say that!" Alexia interrupted him. All Jason did was blink. "It's true though. Stefano said that as long as I stayed, he would come after me.."

"So you left."

"So I left."

"Where are you staying now?" She questioned, tears whelming up. Clenching her teeth together, she forced herself to not cry.

"In Boston. I'm staying with Felix and Claudia Alarcon, you probably know them. They know you."

"The Alarcon's..." Alexia spoke numbly. He nodded, looking at her in a way in which he tried to fathom what she was feeling, but she displayed no such thing. Instead, she looked away, her heart beat accelerating.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.

"He's crazy, Alexia. I didn't want to tell you, because once I did you'd be in just as much danger as I am."

Fuck staying calm.

Gasping for air, Alexia widened her eyes, "Has it ever occurred to you that I could help? I am Emilio Valdez' daughter, for God's sake, do you realize how important my family is? If you just would've told me sooner, I could've helped you, you dumb, stupid piece of c—"

Jason grabbed her waist harshly, pulling her as close as possible. Their lips merely touched and electricity jolted through her body, losing track of what she was saying.

"Can you fucking blame me?" he hissed, his eyes trained on her lips as their noses touched. "I love you, Alex. I know I don't say it often, but I do, and I don't want you to worry or get entangled in this shit. Damian is insane, he won't hesitate to hurt you," his voice cracked and he frowned, "I can't have you getting hurt. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And I won't, babe." Alexia whispered, cupping his cheeks, "He won't hurt me. I have Teo, Stefano, Dominic and dad to look after me. I am safe. You, on the other hand..."

"I'm fine with Felix and Claudia." He closed his eyes upon feeling the touch of her hands against his cheeks. "They're keeping me safe."

"But, for how long are you planning on staying with them?" the desperation in her voice was easy to spot. Jason clenched his jaw and immediately unclenched, realizing that Alexia could feel it, "I don't know. Until this is all over."

"When is this over?"

"I don't know."

"The wedding is in August... It's March. We've got five months left to deal with Damian."

Jason opened his eyes and narrowed them. "We? I have got five months left to deal with that dick. You are staying the fuck out of this, you hear me?"

Alexia opened her mouth to protest, "But—"

"No. You have nothing to do with it, keep yourself out of it." His muscles flexed and she put her hands on his shoulders, softly rubbing circles into his skin. "It's kind of stupid to say that I have nothing to do with it... Not trying to be arrogant here but he's kind of going after you because of me.."

Jason stared at her with wide eyes, succumbing to the anger he was feeling. She giggled, rolling her eyes, "Relax! I'll stay out of it, okay?"

He eased into her touch, his hard gaze slowly disappearing to make place for adoration. "You promise, baby girl?"

"Yeah, yeah I promise, you don't have to call me that, you know that turns me on." She dismissively murmured, her cheeks heating up. Jason chuckled, linking his fingers into the hoops of her jeans, a smirk curling his lips as he tugged at them. "It does get you turned on? I didn't know..." he breathed, his plump lips slightly parting as he kissed her.

"Jason, my vagina will fall off if we keep this up," Alexia complained against his lips, but continued running her hands through his hair and bucking her hips against his crotch. Jason snickered, licking her bottom lip. "It's my birthday baby, don't you want to celebrate with me?"

Their lips meshed together again, the kiss long and acute, leaving both of them unable to respire normally. As they lowered themselves on the bed, Alexia smiled against his lips, "Happy birthday babe."

-

As Alexia raided the entire house trying to find any clues that tied Damian to the fire, Stefano was brought into the kitchen by Teodoro. The house was completely empty besides the two brothers and Alexia, who seemed to be in a frenzy. She searched under the couches, invaded every room and every inch of the house, not wanting to miss a single thing. Stefano and Teo made sure she was still busy with probing when they decided to have a little chat.

"She knows." Teo declared without hesitation, looking at his older brother in what seemed to be melancholy. Stefano kept his expression glum. "You're kidding."

"Stefano, this is not the time to start being sarcastic!" Teo roared, wanting nothing more than to go over to his sister and hug her. They still weren't talking to each other and it was driving him insane.

Stefano exhaled, running a hand through his hair. His eyes stayed sealed, not showcasing any emotion whatsoever. "I honestly don't know what to do, she'll go crazy."

"She will go crazy?" Teo gawked, his panic and consternation evident on his face, "She's already going crazy! Look at her—looking for whatever it is. We did this, Stefano, it's our fault. You didn't tell her about sending him away and I didn't tell her about me helping him to defend himself, she'll never forgive us! We both knew that Damian was after Jason, she just found out. She'll kill me, Stefano."

"Teo, relax," Stefano alleged, "She's our little sister. I doubt she'll stay mad for over a week."

"I haven't spoken to her in two weeks, Stefano!" Teo cried. He, in no way, had tried to get on her bad side. Alexia was his little sister and his best friend and he was timid to say the least for when it came down to confrontation. Teo knew he was in the wrong, he wasn't ready to deal with whatever tantrum his little sister was going to display.

"You and Lex will work things out, you always do." Stefano simply said, shrugging. Teo frowned. "How can you be this calm?"

"I did nothing wrong."

In that moment, the door burst open and revealed a very chaotic Alexia, her hair jumbled in all kind of directions and her facial appearance defeated, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Alex..." Teo whispered, his heart plummeting. He hated seeing her upset, let alone crying.

"Don't," she sneered, blinking the tears away that had threatened to fall. "Don't."

There was an eerie silence, one that didn't stay for long.

"I am fed up with the two of you hiding shit from me! You've known about this all along, yet you kept me suffering? What kind of brothers are you?" her voice echoed through the empty house.

"The kind that try to keep their little sister safe." Stefano justified. Teo knew he tried to look like he didn't care, but he had noticed the twitch of his mouth when Stefano saw how upset Alexia was.

"Oh please, shut up, will you? You, especially you Stefano, know that as long as I am in this house with you guys all up my ass, there is no chance of anyone, including Damian, hurting me. So don't go all smartass on me, you're in the wrong here Stefano. You are! Not me!" she pointed at him accusingly.

Stefano clenched his jaw. "Don't talk to me like that."

"Oh wow, or you'll what, Stefano? What will you do? What can you possibly do that would hurt me more than you withholding information about the man I love, the one who just 'disappeared'—persuading me into thinking he is dead?"

Stefano didn't reply.

"That's not even all of it, you are the one who sent him away!" Alexia barked out a laugh, "And then there was me, thinking that I was crazy when I told you guys about him being in the fire as well. And what did you do? You just let me go fucking nuts about it, not telling me that I was right. Instead you told me that I must have fallen on my head."

Fixating her eyes on Teo, Alexia swiftly brushed the tear away that rolled down her cheek, trying to look as angry as she still could, "And you..."

"Alexia, I'm so fucking sorry, I know I should've told you. I don't know why I—"

"Stop it." She whispered, cutting him off. Teo knit his eyebrows together in frustration, guilt overtaking his body.

"You were supposed to be the one person that wouldn't let me down. You knew about this, you knew about Damian being after Jason after the first attack. I don't understand, how can you keep this from me? I could've helped him! I could've fucking helped him, God damned," her voice started to shake and she closed her eyes, leaning against the wall with her shoulder.

The boys looked at each other, not knowing what to do as their sister fell apart in front of them, the tears now freely streaming over her face. Her sobs filled the room, her shoulders shuddering. It was heartbreaking.

Teo cautiously stepped forwards, putting a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't push him away, he pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing the top of her head. "Everything will be fine Alex, shhh, Jason will be fine."

"Bullshit!" she cried against his chest, her fists balling. "I don't want to fucking marry Damian!"

Stefano cleared his throat, and much to Teo's surprise, it seemed like Stefano was fighting his own tears.

Never, in his entire life, had he seen Stefano cry. Stefano didn't care about things and usually kept to himself, satisfied with simple things like booze and women. Even when their grandfather died, a man Stefano was really close to, he didn't shed a single tear.

But now, seeing how his little sister was beating herself up and weeping over a marriage, one she was forced into at that, it hit him.

"Alexia... We thought you loved Damian."

Alexia pulled herself out of Teo's embrace, her eyes red and puffy. "I have never, never loved Damian. Nor will I ever love that sick son of a bitch." Her voice was trembling as she spoke, "I love Jason. Damian is trying to kill him. Get. Him. To. Stop."

"But we can't," Stefano reasoned, his eyes sad. The shimmer of tears that Teo had noticed a moment ago were gone, making place for anger.

"What do you mean, you can't? If you can't, then who can?" Alexia thwarted.

There was a meaningful silence, and she irritably wiped her tears away, a flicker of determination in her eyes. "If you won't, I will!"

The door opened again and Maya waltzed in, fully clueless to the scene that had been going on. She seemed to have her own dilemma as she firmly exclaimed, "Teo! I am sick and tired of you pushing me away! I told you—I've accepted your life style, now it's your turn to fucking accept that I'm here to stay!"

Alexia, Teo and Stefano stared at her in unison, not knowing what to do. It wasn't until a sniff came out of Alexia, that Maya noticed the tension. Upon seeing Alexia's bloodshot eyes, she instantly wrapped her arms around her soothingly. "Are you okay? Oh my God, what am I thinking? Just bursting in?"

"It's okay," Alexia whimpered, easing into Maya's comfortable touch. All she needed right now was someone to comfort her—someone who hadn't done her wrong. Alexia needed a feminine figure and since Cat wasn't around, Maya would do.

"It's not okay, what's going on here?" Maya kept her arms around Alexia as she looked at Teo, who sent an allusive glare back.

"Here, let's get you calmed down." She continued to soothe, pulling wailing Alexia away from the kitchen and most importantly, away from her brothers.

Teo and Stefano were left astounded.

"What..." Teo husked, not knowing what to do or say anymore. Stefano took a deep breath, "We have to help him."

"How?"

"I know someone." He responded, looking at the wall.

There were two ways of how this person would respond to the quest of whether he or she would help them. The person would either agree, or the person would disagree, and Jason would be dead.