Epilogue

Alexis had returned from a long day in court and had just taken a hot bath. Sonny was preparing dinner across the hall and they were going to have a quiet night at home. Alexis sighed with contentment as she dressed; she was blissfully happy. The phone rang and she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Alexis, it's Ned."

"Hi."

"I don't know if you heard, but Jax is in the hospital."

Alexis grimaced, then asked "is he OK? What happened?"

"He was beaten up...badly. He's got several broken ribs and internal bleeding. His face is a mess."

"Oh no!"

"Yeah. He was able to speak to me though. He says Sonny did it."

"Personally?"

"No, a couple of his goons. He also told me that you two were a couple now. Alexis, have you totally lost your mind?"

"No Ned, I haven't. I know you're not capable of seeing it, but Sonny is a wonderful man. I...I love him Ned."

Ned was silent.

"And as for Jax, I feel awful that he was hurt, and I don't know if Sonny had anything to do with it, but you should know...Jax attacked him two nights ago, in the Port Charles Hotel, in front of a lot of people."

"So you're telling me to tell him to drop it, right?"

"I'm just saying, he has no proof that Sonny had him beaten up, but there are several witnesses that he tried to kill Sonny. I think it'd be better if the whole thing was dropped."

"I'll talk to him. Alexis..."

"Yes Ned?"

"You know I don't approve, but what am I saying? I don't get to approve I guess. I just hope you know what you're doing and that he doesn't hurt you. And I hope you'll be happy."

"Thanks Ned, that means so much. I want you to be happy too."

She hung up, her emotions all tangled up. She finished dressing and went across the hall to face Sonny, not knowing how to deal with the whole situation. Johnny smiled as she approached the door, "good evening Ms. Davis." "Good evening Johnny, Sonny's expecting me." "He sure is," Johnny replied and opened the door for her. She was greeted with the sight of a beautifully set table, aglow with candles, and soft music playing in the background. She walked into the kitchen to find Sonny. "So this is what a kitchen in action looks like?" she joked. "Hey!" Sonny exclaimed, looking up from the vegetables he was chopping. "Come here you," he told her. She walked around the island to join him, and he leaned over and kissed her. "Mmmm, hello!" Alexis said. "How was your day?" Sonny asked. "Oh, really busy. I was in court all day." "Want to talk about it?" "No, it wasn't anything exciting." "OK," Sonny cheerfully replied as he pushed the cut-up vegetables off the board and into a salad bowl. "Well, dinner's almost ready...let's go have some wine in the dining room." Alexis nodded her head and let him take her by the hand. They walked into the dining room, and Sonny poured the wine that he had already de-corked. After she took a few sips, Alexis brought up a dangerous subject. "Ned called me." Sonny raised his eyebrows, "oh yeah? What did he want?" "He told me that Jax is in the hospital, somebody beat him up pretty badly." Sonny paused. Normally, he would say "really?" and pretend he didn't know. But he didn't want to do that with Alexis; he wanted to be as honest with her as he could. And after all, she already knew he was behind it, so why lie? So instead he answered, "I know." Alexis nodded her head, "yeah. Is that your idea of a 'proportional response'?" "You were there Alexis, the guy tried to choke me. Besides, he's had it coming for a long time." "Yes, I was there, I know what he did. Ned also said that Jax is claiming you were behind it." "Oh really?" Sonny replied, thinking "shit, now I'm going to have to whack his ass." "Yeah, but I told him that Jax had attacked you earlier, in front of a lot of witnesses, and he should convince Jax to just drop the whole thing." 

Sonny was stunned. "You did?" "Yes. Now, that's not to say I condone violence Sonny, but, I understand now why you do some of the things you do." "You do?" "I seriously doubt there's ever been a time when you hurt someone for no reason. It's always as a reaction, right?" "Absolutely. Of course, there are different reasons for different people. A business associate doesn't have to do something as extreme as try to choke me to have something happen to him. But a regular citizen? Trust me, I've put up with a lot of insults and a lot of crap over the years from a lot of people, and I've never gone after them. But Jax needed to be taught a lesson. Like I said, he had it coming." "OK." "OK? Just like that?" "No Sonny, not just like that, but this time, I understand." "Oh, but next time you might not?" "I think I will...I'll try." Sonny stood looking at her, his face full of challenge and pride, but his eyes wounded and scared. "Alexis, this is who I am. Can you accept it, or not? Can you be with me, or not?" Alexis looked into his eyes and saw the pain there. It was the same pain she saw in her own eyes every time she looked in the mirror. The pain of being a survivor; of not knowing if there was a place for you in the "normal" world, of wondering if you'd ever be truly accepted by anyone. She reached out and took his hand in hers. "It's not a question of 'can' Sonny, I am with you. And that's where I'm going to stay, for the rest of my life."

THE END