1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

disclaimer: i own nothing-abc/disney owns all characters or references of characters. i'm just using them and will put them back where i found them.

a/n: this is one of those 'what if' stories. if they had just

ought natalie back for one episode on gh i think this would have been the best moment. then we could have bypassed a lot of hurt and writing john out of style. though, i do believe he would have held off on telling her. hope you enjoy-this was a fun one. until next time-pcgirl.

natalie could kick herself right now for coming unannounced. after talking with kelly and gigi one night over drinks john had been

ought up. how he was acting different-focusing on a ghost that she never heard of-leaving for weeks at a time, with the promise that whatever he was doing would soon be over. it had felt good to finally get her feelings off her chest-so much so that when the two of them suggested she fly to see him she did what she normally did and went without thinking.

she had stopped by the station to see if he was in, but instead had met anna devane who had explained he had hit a roadblock today and was taking it pretty hard. natalie thought of what he would normally do when that happened and asked for either a rooftop to stew on or a waterfront.

natalie wasn't surprised to find him at the waterfront-it must have been a fall back to their days of growing up in ac. the water always calling to them to throw their problems into the tide and let them be pulled out to sea. what had surprised her was john in a kiss with another woman as fireworks shot off over the harbor.

she was frozen. she couldn't seem to move her feet no matter how hard she tried. this must be new, or at least not out for public knowledge. anna didn't seem to be the type to send her to where he might be knowing he was spending time with and kissing another woman in public.

it was the other woman who saw her first and nodded to john that they were being watched. as he turned around she could see the color drain from his face.

john had not been expecting to turn and see her standing there, and he had no clue how to explain the actions that had just occurred. "natalie," he said softly as he made his way to the steps. "hey-what are you doing here? where's liam?"

she shook her head at his words, as if he pretended she didn't just walk in on something, "who is she?" she asked as she nodded at the woman who was quickly giving them privacy.

"her name is sam morgan."

"morgan. as in the wife of sonny corinthos' enforcer," she asked, but more of a statement than a question. she'd done her research-she knew what john was doing was dangerous, but he'd sworn that nothing he was doing was going to put either her or liam in harm's way.

john just nodded, not saying a word. he wondered what she was thinking-had this had been going on the whole time he was here? was this why he kept coming back? "natalie-we need to talk about what you saw."

"it's pretty obvious what you are going to say, john," she said as she felt her strength to move come back and began to step away.

"no," he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into him. "it's not what you think."

"what is it exactly?"

he sighed, unsure how to explain it, "honestly? i don't know."

"what the hell does that mean, john?"

he shook his head as it dropped down, not able to look in her eyes.

"you know what," she said as she ripped her arm out of his grasp. "it doesn't matter. i can protect my son and myself-we don't need you in our lives. hell-you've barely been in liam's."

"you're going to keep me from my son?" he asked, his voice raising, despite knowing shouting would do no good. what he needed to do was for them to go to neutral corners and calm down. for him to figure out exactly why the hell he just did what he did, but he was scared that if he let her out of his sight he may never see her again.

"i'm not the one keeping you from having a relationship with him-you are doing that all on your own by continually being here instead of in llanview. and now to find out you are in a relationship with a mob princess."