Game Day
by Cowgirl

chapter 31 - Settling the Score

Sonny and Alexis arrived at the hotel close to eleven o'clock. Alexis unlocked the room and was startled by what she saw inside. The candles, which she had set out and paid a member of housekeeping handsomely to come in and light the previous evening, were lit, only this time she hadn't asked anyone to light them. Soft music played from the stereo in the main salon of the room, and the balcony doors stood open. Alexis could see the table out on the balcony was set with two long, tapered candles and a covered silver-serving tray sitting between them. An ice bucket sat in its perch beside the table with a bottle of champagne chilling inside of it.

She turned to Sonny and raised an eyebrow in question.

Sonny smiled at her obvious surprise. "You think you're the only one with elves?" he said quietly. He walked further into the room, removing his jacket and tie, throwing them over the back of a chair. Alexis kicked off her heels and walked out onto the balcony, resting her hands on the railing. "It's a beautiful night."

Sonny joined her and began to uncork the champagne. Alexis turned toward the table and gestured to the serving tray. "Don't tell me that after that meal you ordered more food."

Sonny chuckled. "Why don't you lift it up and see what's under it?" he said nonchalantly as he poured them each a glass of champagne.

Alexis reached out and removed the cover from the tray revealing a stuffed white elephant. She looked up at Sonny and laughed. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

Sonny nodded and handed her a glass, then reached down, fingering the toy. "I think it's time we talk about this little guy. I mean . . . he's been following us around for like . . . what . . . five or six months now."

Alexis breathed deep and let it out slowly. "Where ever did you find a stuffed white elephant?"

"The errand I ran the other day. I had to go to three toy stores around New York before I found him." He sat down at the table and motioned for Alexis to join him. "Now quit changing the subject."

Alexis sat down and sipped her champagne. "I'm not . . . changing the subject." She fiddled with the stem of her champagne flute. "I . . . I just don't know quite where to begin."

Sonny nodded and set his glass down on the table, folding his hands in front of him. "Let's start by agreeing to be completely honest with one another."

Alexis breathed deep, her heart rate increasing rapidly. "Aren't we always honest with one another?"

"Yeah and I want to keep it that way," he responded. "I want us to promise each other that once we begin this conversation that we don't hold anything back. No matter what we think the other person might feel."

Alexis nodded.

Sonny nodded as well. "Lex, I think we both know there's something going on between us . . . I think we need to identify it so we can . . . " He wagged his head from side to side trying to come up with the right phrasing.

"Act accordingly?" Alexis finished his thought.

"Yeah, act accordingly." He shifted in his chair, spreading his hands over the table. "I mean we've been sleeping together Alexis . . . and . . . and I know that neither one of us takes sleeping with someone lightly." He held his hands up. "So what does it mean?" He scratched his chin. "I think we both realize that things lately have become . . . intense between us and if we keep going the way we are right now . . . I think someone is going to get hurt."

Alexis bit her lip and sighed, not sure what to say.

Sonny looked at her and continued. "We need to resolve this before we go back to Port Charles. We need to know exactly what it is that's going on here and if we should keep it up."

Alexis nodded nervously and stood up, walking to the railing of the balcony, staring out at the lights of New York for a few seconds while she collected her thoughts. She turned around. "Let me start with . . . " She took a deep breath. "Let me start with the reason I did all this." She gestured with her hands. "This whole weekend . . . I wanted, like I said, to do something nice for you . . . but . . . I also needed to be with you . . . alone with you . . . without any distractions." She moved around the small area of the balcony, clenching and unclenching her hands. "I needed to see how you and I would be with one another away from everything and everyone that we know . . . I mean I know that we've been away together before, but that was different." She stopped her pacing. "We weren't sleeping together all those times before." She brought her hands up, struggling to say the right words, but let out a large sigh instead. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit down on her lip. "At some point in our history together . . . after you got shot I think . . . I realized that you weren't just my client. I cared for you as a person and somewhere along the way you became my best friend." She cast a glance in his direction, trying to gauge his reactions. Sonny nodded to her and she continued. "I certainly wasn't looking for anything . . . more between us . . . but when we were in Puerto Rico I think that if Zander hadn't called to tell us about Carly's latest trauma . . . I think something might have happened between us. It was certainly headed that way."

Sonny cleared his throat. "I agree."

"I'm glad it didn't," she said, tugging at the hem of her dress. "I don't think it would have turned out very well at that time . . . it wouldn't have been right."

Sonny stood and moved to the railing leaning his back against it. "I think you're right. We weren't at that point in our relationship."

"Yeah. Well, that trip made me realize that my feelings for you ran a little deeper than I thought." She looked up towards the sky and then back to Sonny. "Am I making sense?"

Sonny laughed softly. "So far."

"Good. You and I have always been good for telling one another that we mean a lot to one another . . . but we never elaborate." She shook her head. "I don't know why that is . . . at least I didn't know why that was until my big mouth sister said it for me." She moved to where he was standing and stood next to him, her body turned towards him slightly. She looked into his eyes. "Sonny, I think . . . " She stopped and closed her eyes for a second, her breathing becoming labored. "You somehow, someway, became the person who knows me better than anyone else who's ever been in my life. You know my mind . . . you know how I think and that I think too much. You know my emotions . . . how I'm going to react to something . . . you know my ramblings and you listen to them and tell me to breathe. You know when I need your help and when to leave me alone." She stopped and looked directly into his eyes. "You don't know how that feels to know that someone like that is in my life. You accept me for what I am . . . you get me, and you make me feel . . . like . . . you make me feel like a woman. An intelligent, desirable woman, and that means the world to me." She turned so she was facing the city and placed both hands on the railing, gripping it as if it offered her some sort of emotional support. She closed her eyes and spoke quietly. "You know most everything there is to know about me." She stopped as the weight of what she was trying to say crushed down on her chest like a ton of bricks.

Sonny sensed her apprehension and moved closer to her. "What is it that I don't know Alexis?" he asked softly as one of his hands captured hers.

Alexis was breathing in heavy puffs now, her chest heaving, the tip of her tongue darted out and met with her upper lip, the fear in her eyes overwhelming. "You don't know . . . " she stammered.

Sonny tilted her face up to his. "Breathe Alexis," he said gently.

She gave him a tiny smile and took another breath. "I want you to know my heart too Sonny."

Sonny looked thoughtfully at her for a moment then moved forward and pulled her into a hug. She buried her face in his chest and fought the urge to run from the room. She could feel him let out a sigh against her. He stepped back ever so slightly, holding her upper arms. "You don't think I know your heart Lex?" He raised a finger and ran it along her jaw line. "I know your heart Alexis. I know that your heart has the capacity to help a young boy like Zander, who everyone wanted to write off as a punk kid from the streets. I know you gave him the courage to see himself as something else. I know your heart is big enough to marry a man to save a friend's company that meant a lot to her. I know that your heart is loving enough to help my ex-wife time and time again, even though she does nothing but torture your existence because you knew what it would mean to me." He cupped her face with his palm. "And I know your heart has the ability to care about a bitter, angry, sometimes unbearable man who people think of as a criminal. I know your heart is kind enough to care for a man like that and be the only one in the world that makes him feel safe and make him feel like he matters."

Alexis leaned her face into his hand, her eyes never breaking from his. "I fell in love with that man."

Sonny smiled tenderly and ran a finger over her lips. "And he fell in love with you." He looked at her beautiful face and saw a gamut of emotions cross over it. Her brows knitted together as tears filled her eyes, her teeth claiming her bottom lip.

She breathed deep and let it out in a staccato rhythm. "You love me?" she said in complete amazement.

Sonny closed his eyes. "Lex, I've been falling in love with you for such a long time. How could you not see that?" He stroked her face. "What did you think has been going on between us for the last year?"

"I thought . . . I mean, I knew that we flirted . . . I thought it was just . . . I thought you were being nice to me." She reached up and touched his face. "I was so afraid . . . "

He put a finger to her lips. "You were afraid? I thought for sure that a woman like you could never love a man like me. I was so afraid that if I didn't tell you how I felt this weekend that I would never . . . never know if you loved me too."

"I do Sonny. I love you more than I can say."

Sonny pulled her to him, his eyes searching her face. "Oh God Lex . . . I can't believe . . . I love you too."

He leaned his head down and brushed his lips against hers gently and pulled back. Neither one of them said a word as they walked back into their room, eyes never leaving one another, and into the bedroom. Sonny took hold of Alexis' hand and led her until they were standing in front of the bed. He moved around behind her placing his hands on her shoulders, kissing first her neck, and then moving down her back. "I've been dreaming about doing this all night," Sonny murmured as he moved his hands down her arms, grasping her hands as he continued his journey down her back.

Alexis craned her neck back and felt her hair brush against him. He straightened himself up and brought his hand to the clip in her hair, unfastening it, releasing her hair down around her shoulders. His hands snaked down, his fingers hooking under the straps of her dress slowly pulling them down her arms revealing the rest of the golden skin of her back. She reached her arms behind her and caught Sonny's face in her hands. "Sonny . . . " She moaned as she turned to him, their eyes locking for just a second before their mouths connected in the most passionate kiss either one of them had ever experienced. They stopped and looked at one another the intensity in their eyes unmistakable. Alexis reached up and ran a finger along Sonny's jaw line. "This weekend has been so incredibly intense for me. There were so many times this weekend when I almost couldn't stop myself from telling you how I felt."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wanted it to be the right time . . . the perfect time."

Sonny cupped her cheek. "It was perfect Lex." He kissed her lips. "Just like you." He pulled her against him and hugged her, a feeling swelling in his chest as they both clung to one another. "Can you feel my heart, Alexis?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation. "I feel it."

He leaned his head next to her ear and whispered, "That's because it's yours."

chapter 32