Chapter 20

Carly gaped at Jason before bursting out laughing.  "AJ?  Are you serious?"

"Dead serious.  Carly, I saw you two together in the Grill with Michael.  You 
guys looked like the perfect family."

Carly stopped laughing.  "Okay, really, Jase.  Did somebody slip something into 
your morning coffee or what?"

"Quit it with the jokes. Just tell me that you haven't decided that the someone 
you want in your life isn't AJ."

"He's not.  And is he was, shouldn't you be happy that I'd be out of your hair?"

But what if I like having you in my hair?  What if it's your excitement for life 
and your ability to get into one scrape after another is what I think is the 
best thing about you?  And that I like having to help you out?  "Never mind 
that.  I just don't think it's wise.  Your life has finally settled and it won't 
do you or Michael any good for you to get involved in a tug-of-war over AJ with 
Keesha."

"What makes you think I would have to fight for him? From what AJ has told me, 
Keesha doesn't seem to be the woman he thought she was.  And I know he's 
attractive to me.  He always has been and always will be."  Kinda like you, she 
thought. 

Jason spit out.  "He's just using you to get to Michael!"

"He already has Michael!"  Carly exploded.  "He'd be a fool to think I would 
give up any more rights than I have to, just because he might whisper a few 
sweet nothings in my ear and buy me a few trinkets.  But why is it so hard for 
you to realize that maybe, just maybe, there's a man out there that wants me for 
me, just me!  Not because I'm young and I can give him a child to replace the 
one he lost or because I'd have wild, slam me up against the wall, hair-pulling 
sex with him when his goody-two shoes HIV positive girlfriend couldn't!"

Jason didn't even bother to deny it because it had to admit that's how he viewed 
her in the beginning before he had gotten a chance to know her.  And he didn't 
even try to tell her not to talk about Robin because he knew she'd do whatever 
she pleased.

"But that man can't be AJ.  For god sakes, Carly, he's a Quartermaine!  They 
never want anything just to have it, there's always an ulterior reason."

Carly calmly said.  "You're a Quartermaine, Jase, and you're certainly not the 
most law abiding person I have ever met."

Jason started to open his mouth to defend himself but Carly cut him off.  "No, 
we are not going to do this.  I came here to see where we stood not to fight 
about AJ and me having a relationship that has nothing to do with Michael, which 
we are not! So now that I know what we are to each other, I'm gonna go before we 
get into an argument."  Carly started for the door.

"Carly, wait."  Jason called out.  She paused. He wanted to say he was sorry for 
even thinking she would have anything to do with AJ but he couldn't appear weak.  
"I want to see Michael again, can I?"

"You know you always can.  When?"

"Sometime soon.  Will you come with him?"

Carly shrugged.  "Maybe.  We'll see."

~~~~~~~~~~

At The Pool

Nikolas and Emily quickly sprang apart at the sound of Liz's voice.  Nik sat 
down on another chair and drew his discarded towel over his lap.  Emily didn't 
know what to do with herself so she just stood around blushing.  Liz and Lucky 
wandered over to the pool.

"Hey, how's it going, man?"  Lucky said to Nik, who could only manage an 
answering nod.

Liz looked from Emily, who kept shifting from foot to foot and to Nikolas who 
kept trying to keep from making eye contact with anyone.  The tension between 
the two of them was incredibly thick.  Liz could tell they were both embarrassed 
and needed time away from each other.

"Um, Em, I'm kinda thirsty.  Let's get something to drink, huh?"  Liz gently 
pushed Emily into the direction of the house.  She turned and mouthed "Talk to 
him" at Lucky.

Lucky made a face to tell her that he didn't want to butt into their business 
but Liz mouthed  "Do it!" and he shrugged to say okay.

Liz hustled Emily into the house.

"Okay, spill it!  How was it?"  Liz gushed.

Emily blushed and looked away.  "How was what?'

"Em, don't even try it.  I *saw* you two and from where I was standing it looked 
pretty hot!"  Liz wiggled her eyebrows.  "So tell me, was it everything you ever 
dreamed it would be?  I remember my first kiss with Lucky.  I don't think I 
moved from that spot by my window for about 2 hours.  Lucky was long gone but I 
could still feel it. So?"

Emily closed her eyes as she relived the kiss.  "It was… it was like nothing I 
ever imagined. It just took my breath away."

Liz sighed.  "What brought it on?  Cause I could have sworn you said he didn't 
feel like that about you."

"That's what I thought! Today was so weird.  Nik was acting all strange about 
Tino…"

"Hold on, who's Tino?" 

"This incredibly cute guy that I met in my group today.  I bumped into him and 
he started flirting with me.  He called me "pretty girl" and didn't make a big 
deal out of me being a Quartermaine.  I loved it so I flirted back some.  Then 
he offered me a ride home but Nikolas showed up.  So Nik brought me home.  We 
were chilling out by the pool and Nik was putting some sunscreen on my back when 
he started talking about Tino out of the blue.  He kept going on and on about 
how Tino was flirting with me and I was flirting back and then he asked me if I 
wanted to go out with Tino."

"He did?"

"Yeah, and when I said sure, cause hey, I'd like to start dating again, he got 
all mad.  So I joked around and called him jealous and he flipped out!  So I 
tried to lighten the mood and I called him Nicky cause he hates that.  That got 
him and then I called him Prince Nicky, which he hates even more.  So to get me 
back, he pushed me in the pool.  I jumped out and jumped at him.  We landed on 
the chair.  Then *he* kissed me, not once but twice!  And that's when you guys 
came in."

"Em, I didn't want to interrupt you two but Lucky was gonna say something silly 
to embarrass you guys so…"

"Thanks."  Emily smiled a little.  She was still embarrassed, though.

"You're welcome. So?  Are you two moving from the friends stage into the couples 
stage or what?"

"Couples stage?"  Emily repeated to buy time.  She used to daydream about Nik 
and her being together but that's only what it was, a dream.  She shook her 
head.  "No, I don't think so.  Nik's probably so embarrassed that he kissed me 
at all.  The whole thing was an accident.  He didn't mean it."

"What!  He kissed you.  Twice.  Maybe the first time was an accident but I 
seriously doubt that the second time was."

Emily thought back and lost herself in the memory of how he looked at her after 
that first kiss, of how he kissed her like he really meant it the second time.  
She sighed.  "Maybe they weren't accidents but he probably regrets them."

"Do you?"  Liz asked softly.

"No, not at all.  I will never ever regret it but I do know that he just wants 
to be my friend.  I'm not his type.  He likes girls like your sister and Robin, 
so I know he'll never look at me in that way."

"Emily, you're just as good as Robin Scorpio and Sarah has nothing on you."

She shrugged.  "Thanks but hey, I can live with it.  It's not the end of the 
world."

"Right.  Let's really get something to drink so that they won't know we're 
talking about him and The Kiss. And tell me more about this Tino guy."

~~~

"They're in there talking about you."  Lucky gazed up at the house.  Then he 
turned to Nikolas.  "So, you kissed Em."

Nik groaned.  "You saw?"

"Not everything but we could tell. We could tell."

Nik buried his face in his hands.  "Oh, great."

"It's not that bad.  So you're interested in little Emily?"  Lucky grinned.

"She's not so little anymore."  Nikolas murmured as he thought of the way she 
filled out her bikini.  And the way her body had felt on his.  And the taste of 
her lips. He licked his lips thinking he could still taste her. He groaned 
again.

"Okay, snap out of it, man.  So really, what's going on with you two?"  At the 
look Nikolas shot him, Lucky quickly said, "Lizzie's gonna wanna know."

"Yeah. `Lizzie'.  Well, it was unreal.  We're hanging out here and I all of a 
sudden bring up this guy that was flirting with her today.  And she was going on 
and on about how she was single and she would like to date him and I just 
couldn't take it.  I got so jealous at the thought of Emily, *my* Emily going 
out with some guy."

"But you guys aren't dating."

"Yes, so?"  Nik sighed.  "Still I didn't like it.  I hate the idea of him 
anywhere near her and I don't even know the guy!  Anyway, I pushed her into the 
pool and she jumped on top of me and the next thing I know, we're kissing.  I 
kissed her.  And the kiss was intense.  I had no idea that kissing Em would be 
like that."

"I fell like such a shrink but how do you feel about her?"

Nik shrugged.  "She's my best friend.  She makes me happy.  She helps me take 
time to enjoy life.  She keeps me from being boring and stuffy."  Nikolas 
smiled.  "Sometimes I can't imagine getting through the day without hearing her 
voice at least once.  I feel carefree around her.  All my problems just seem to 
go away when I see her."

Lucky shook his head.  "Geez, man, you got it bad."

He quickly looked at him.  "Got what?"

"If you don't know, I'm not going to be the one who tells you.  It's always 
better to discover it on your own."

Nik looked at Lucky in confusion and was going to ask him what on earth he was 
talking about but just then the girls came back with a tray of drinks and 
snacks.

Lucky greeted Liz with a kiss and reached for a tray. He whispered into her ear.  
"Nik's in love with Em.  Do *not* tell her.  He doesn't even know yet."

Liz's eyes widened in shock but she nodded.

Emily didn't know what was going on in Nik's mind so she stood off to the side 
and tried not to look at him.  But every now and then she sneaked a peek.

Lucky looked at Emily trying not to look at Nik and Nik trying not to look at 
Emily. They were just too silly, he thought.  Clapping his hands together, which 
shocked them out of their "Don't Catch Me Looking" contest, he said,  "I thought 
this was a pool party?  Well let's party in the pool!"

~~~~~~~

Later

Nikolas, Emily, Lucky, and Liz walked out to where Nik and Lucky had parked 
their cars.  Lucky went over to his and opened the driver's side.  Nik stood off 
to the side waiting for Lucky and Liz to leave.

Liz turned to Emily and said.  "Don't let him leave before talking to him about 
the kiss."

"There's nothing to talk about, Liz.  You saw how he acted this afternoon.  Like 
it didn't even happen."

After Lucky had suggested they the party started, everyone suddenly got busy 
doing things.  Nikolas turned up the boombox, Lucky did a cannonball into the 
pool, and Liz and Emily set up the refreshments.  The mood had lightened and 
everybody acted normal, or at least tried to.  Nik even joked around with Em and 
dunked her in the pool a few times.

"Well duh!  Lucky and I were here but we're going so talk to him."  Liz 
insisted.

"Okay, okay."

"Elizabeth! Are you ready?"  Lucky called out, letting her know he had long 
since been ready to go.

"Coming!"  Liz flashed Em a thumbs up sign when she noticed Nik was still 
standing around.  "Later Em.  Bye Nikolas."  She climbed into Lucky's car and 
the two drove off.

Nik and Em watched them go in silence.  Emily glanced at Nik waiting for him to 
say something but he didn't.  She sighed in disappointment.

"See ya Nik." She started up to the house.

"Emily wait."  

She turned around.  "Yes?"

"About…this afternoon.  I am…sorry for what I did."

"You are?"  Great, just what I thought he would say.  Why can he never surprise 
me?

"Yes.  I didn't mean to kiss you.  It was a mistake and I promise it will never 
happen again."

"Never?"  Emily swallowed.  Then she smiled weakly.  "Hey, that's okay.  I 
wasn't going to hold it against you."

"Great."  Nikolas smiled in relief.  "Because I don't want anything to ever ruin 
our friendship.  You're the best friend I've ever had."  Friends, I only want to 
be friends with Emily, he thought.  If I keep telling myself that then maybe 
I'll believe it.

Best friend role again, she thought, yippee. "Thanks."

"I'll see you Friday afternoon okay?"

"Yeah, sure, see you then."

"I'll call you sometime tomorrow."

"Sure, okay, whatever."  Emily couldn't wait for him to go so she could figure 
out just what exactly had happened that afternoon.  If things had gone her way, 
the two of them would be talking about having a new type of relationship, not 
settling back into their old one.  How did it go from outstanding kisses to 
you're my best friend?

Nik stepped towards her intending to give her his usual goodbye kiss on the 
cheek but then he hesitated.  After what had happened at the pool, it seemed to 
weird for him to go and kiss her now. Especially after kissing her and getting 
the taste of her, a taste he was sure he would never forget. 

But if he didn't want things to change between them then he would have to do 
what was normal for them.

So he came forward and drew her into his arms for a quick hug.  Though he wanted 
to linger, he pulled back and gave a quick peck on the cheek.

"Later, Em."  He whispered.  

She watched him as he got into his car and drove off.  Emily touched her cheek 
slightly and thought, well, that was better than nothing.