Chapter 26 

Emily tried to smother her yawn but Tino noticed.  "Tired?"  He asked as he 
threw an arm around her shoulder and brought her close to him. They along with 
Liz and Lucky were sitting at one of the tables that were scattered around the 
club.

Emily nodded and snuggled into him.  "It's kinda late."

"Maybe we should get going?  Looks like the party's winding down." The club was 
slowly emptying.

"Yeah.  I just need to visit the ladies' room." She stood.

"Me too."  Liz stood up also.

"Tino! Hey Tino!" Just then a trio of girls came up to their table with two guys 
following behind slowly. Tino spotted them and groaned.  Emily heard him and 
looked over.

"Tino!  You came!"  Squealed one of the girls.  She threw her arms around him 
and gave him a huge hug.

Emily cleared her throat.  "Ahem?  Tino?"

The girl heard her and turned around.  She smiled, "Oh don't worry. I'm Tino's 
sister, Marisa."

"You never told me you had a sister." Emily frowned.

"Actually, I'm his twin.  Gawd, Tino, you'd think you'd tell your girl that 
you'd have a twin sister!"  Marisa punched him in the arm.

"Risa!"  Tino rubbed his arm.  

"What?  Introduce me, Tino."  Marisa said.  "And everybody else too."

"Uh, Em, you met my sister Marisa, with her are Rosanna and Callie. Those two 
guys in the back acting like they wish they didn't know them are Andres and 
Dominic. Everybody this is Emily."

"Hi."  Emily smiled a little.

"Hi, Emily." Marisa cleared her throat.  "And what about them?" She gestured to 
Liz and Lucky.

Lucky continued the introductions.  "I'm Lucky and this is my girlfriend Liz."

Marisa looked at Liz closely.  "You look familiar.  Are you ever go by Kelly's 
Diner?"

Liz nodded.  "I work there."

"I knew I saw you before.  I'm there all the time.  Best chili in the world!"

"She eats there so much," began the guy named Dominic, "it's a wonder she 
doesn't end up…"

"Can it, Dom!"  Marisa said sharply.

"Uh, We were just heading to the ladies room."  Emily said.

"So were we."  Marisa said immediately. "You guys stay here."  She told Dominic 
and Andres.  "Talk whatever it is that guys talk about."

She started to walk in the direction of the bathroom.  She stopped when she 
noticed that they weren't following.  "Come on!"  

Emily looked at Liz who shrugged and they followed her and Rosanna and Callie.

Dominic and Andres sat down at the table and looked at Tino.  He shrugged 
helplessly, "I can't control my sister."

"You should try sometimes."  Dominic told him.

"You should.  You're her boyfriend!"  Tino said.

"And get her mad at me?"  Dominic asked.

"My sister can get a little overbearing at times."  He said to Lucky.

"A little."  Andres snorted. 
 
Tino and Dominic shot Andres dirty looks.  "Shut up Andres."

~~~~~~~

Marisa Rodriguez turned to Emily as soon as they got into the bathroom. "So you 
dating my brother or what?"

The girl named Rosanna laughed.  "Jeez, Risa!"

"Hey, I just want to know.  I like to look out for my brother.  I don't like him 
getting hurt. He's been through enough."

Liz stepped forward.  "And Emily hasn't?  You don't know her so don't start 
talking about some one you don't know."

Emily sighed.  "Liz, don't.  I can take care of myself.  Look, Marisa, what your 
brother and me do are none of your business okay?  You want to know what's going 
on? Ask him. I don't have to deal with this."  Emily turned and walked out.

Marisa watched her and then looked at Liz.  Liz shrugged.  Marisa walked out and 
caught up with Emily.  "Emily, I'm…I would like to get to know you better.  Ever 
since Tino tried to…" Marisa trailed off.

"Tried to kill himself?"  Emily finished.

"He told you?"

"No, we met in this teen suicide group."

"Oh.  Well, ever since then I've worried about him all the time."

Emily nodded.  "I can see your point."

"So you understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good.  Maybe we can get together and do a girl's night out or something." 
Marisa suggested.

"That would be cool."

"Great. Maybe we should go and tell the others that we aren't gonna kill each 
other."  She nodded in the direction of the bathroom where Liz, Rosanna, and 
Callie still were. 

~*~*~

Tino, Lucky, Dominic, and Andres sat at the table waiting for the girls to 
return. Sarah and Deenie strolled by, Sarah giving Lucky and Tino close looks as 
she went by.  Andres sat straight up at the sight of her.

"Who was that?"  He asked, watching as she walked away. 

"Sarah Webber, my girlfriend's sister."  Lucky answered in a bored tone.

"Could she introduce me?" Andres asked.

Lucky shook his head.  "Don't try it, man, she's nothing but trouble."

"I like trouble."  Andres said with a grin.

"Not this trouble."  Lucky insisted.  "Where are the girls?" He looked around.

"Missed us?"  Liz said behind him.

"A little."  Lucky smiled. He leaned back to receive Liz's kiss.

Tino checked his watch. "It's late. We should probably get going."

Emily nodded.  "Yeah."

"Hey, Emily, don't forget what we talked about."  Marisa reminded her.

"Sure, just get my number from Tino and we'll set it all up."

"What's that all about?"  Tino asked.

"None of your business."  Emily said with a smile.

~*~*~

Emily and Tino sat in his car outside of the Q mansion.  Emily turned to Tino.  
"I had a great time tonight."

Tino smiled, flashing his dimples.  "Good.  So did I."

Emily nodded.  Then she pulled out the Nikolas' medallion and began to twist it.  
Tino watched her do it for a while before saying, "I've been meaning to ask you 
about that all night."

"About what?"

"Thank necklace you keep twisting.  What is it?"

"Oh this?"  Emily stopped twisting it and held it up for Tino to see. "Nikolas 
gave it to me.  It's a Cassadine medallion.  It's important for every Cassadine 
to have one."

Tino nodded not really understanding what she meant.  Emily could tell he 
didn't.  "It's just a really big deal type thing and Nikolas lent me his so I 
wouldn't…" She trailed off.  It wasn't really any of Tino's business why Nikolas 
had given her his medallion.

"It's means a lot to you, huh?"

Emily nodded.  She knew it was time to change the subject. She wasn't sure of 
what to say so she brought up the question that had been bugging her for awhile.  
"Um, Marisa mentioned that ever since you tried to commit suicide that she's 
been looking out for you.  That she worries about you."

Tino groaned.  "Risa has been looking out for me and worrying about me since the 
day we were born.  She's older by a couple of minutes."

"Oh.  Well, I was just wondering about that.  You seem like the kind of guy who 
enjoys life.  Why would you try to kill yourself?"

Tino looked out the window.  "I don't want to talk about that now, Em."

Emily nodded.  She understood.  After she tried to commit suicide the last thing 
she wanted to do was talk about it with anyone.  

Again they sat alone in silence for a few minutes. Then Emily said, "It's late 
and I should get in the house before someone comes out to see what's up."

"I'll walk you to your door."  Tino offered.

"Thanks."

They walked to the door and Tino waited as Emily fished out her keys.  She 
unlocked the door and paused.  "I really did have a great time tonight. Maybe we 
can do it again?"

Tino nodded.  "Without my sister barging in."

Emily laughed.  "Well, goodnight." Emily started to open the door when Tino said 
quietly, "You forgot something."

Emily turned to Tino with a questioning look on her face.  "What did I forget?"

"Your goodnight kiss."

Emily swallowed.  She was nervous, naturally and had been expecting it ever 
since he mentioned it on the dance floor.  She decided to play it cool. She 
tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.  "My goodnight kiss?"

Tino smiled slightly and stepped closer.  He leaned in and softly brushed his 
lips against hers.

"That's all?"  Emily was slightly disappointed.  She expected much more.

Tino shook his head.  "Impatient, aren't you?"  Then he drew her into his arms 
and kissed her, really kissed her.

Emily let herself fall into the kiss.  However, she couldn't help but notice 
that even though Tino was a great kisser and all, this was nothing like kissing 
Nikolas.  Emily sighed over the fact that she even dared to compare them and 
Tino took this as a signal to end the kiss.

He licked his lips and grinned, once again flashing those dimples. "I'll see 
you."  He said before turning and walking away.  Emily watched him and then went 
in the house to call up Liz and Carly.

~~~~~~~

Sunday

Carly was in the living room, on the phone with Marcus when Nikolas wandered in.  
She nodded a hello and continued the conversation. "I understand, Marcus.  We 
can do the picnic thing another time… I hope your aunt gets better. Are you free 
for lunch sometime this week? Great… We'll talk soon, bye."  She hung up.

She turned to Nikolas.  "Where are you off to Nicky?"

"Sarah called and asked me to come 'hang out' with Deenie and her."

"Sarah?"

"My ex-girlfriend.  We're trying to be friends."  Nikolas frowned.

"You don't look too happy about going."  Carly noticed.

"I'm really not.  Sarah sort of insisted I come today. She can be quite forceful 
when she puts her mind to it."

"Well, at least it will get you out of Wyndemere, you've been moping around here 
for the past two days. Maybe you'll even stop thinking about Emily."

At the mention of Emily, Nikolas perked up.  "Speaking of Emily, did you get a 
chance to find out how the club opening went?  Lucky wasn't home when I called."

"Yeah, Emily called me last night.  Everything went fine. She met Tino's sister 
and some of his friends.  She had a great time."

"A great time?"  Nikolas repeated.  "That's it?"

Carly nodded. She was sure he didn't need to know about Tino's kissing Emily.  
"That's it.  Were you expecting something else?" She couldn't help but ask.

Nikolas shook his head furiously.  "No, I wasn't expecting anything."

~~~~~~

Wednesday

Emily was in the middle of her teen session but she couldn't concentrate. She 
couldn't help but think of Nikolas.  It was almost Friday and the wait was 
killing her.  She started to twirl her medallion without even thinking about it.  
In a few days she would finally get to see Nikolas again.  She wondered if he 
even missed her.  She had to laugh at herself.  Of course he missed her.  He 
wouldn't be calling Liz and Lucky about her all the time if he didn't.  She was 
just being silly.

Then she started thinking about how he would take Tino.  Ever since the 
experiment, Tino had become a large part of her life.  And since that kiss 
Saturday, they had been seeing even more of each other, if that was possible. 
They hadn't kissed again since but Emily knew it would be happening again soon. 
She liked Tino and would love to keep seeing him again.  However after the 
experiment she knew Nikolas wanted to go back to the old routine.  How could she 
and Tino see each other if she and Nikolas were going to spend all their free 
time together again?  

She knew that Nikolas didn't like Tino and that meant any hopes of the three of 
them hanging out were out.  She remembered how jealous Nik got about Tino.  That 
jealously lead to their first kiss, she recalled. She didn't know what to do.

Tino leaned over and whispered in her ear.  "Where are you, chica?"

Emily blinked and then frowned.  "Huh?"

Tino explained.  "It's obvious you're not here. You're off in your own far away 
world."

Emily blushed.  "I, uh, I was…"

Tino noticed that she was still holding the medallion and frowned. "You were 
thinking about the non-boyfriend again?"

Emily nodded.  "My mind was wandering and…" she trailed off again.

"It's cool.  Hey, do you want to go to the movies after your Friday session with 
Baldwin?"

Emily hesitated before answering.  "I can't.  I get to see Nikolas on Friday and 
I'm sure he has something planned for the whole day."

Tino nodded.  "I understand.  We'll hang on Saturday, okay?"

Emily smiled. "I won't make plans."

"You better not." Tino grinned.

~~~~~~

Nikolas was walking out of the Hardy house for the umpteenth time that week. 
Sarah was driving him crazy.  He was seeing more of Sarah than he had back when 
they were dating. Every day she was calling him and suggesting they do 
something.  He didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't want to see her 
at all.  That was his problem, he was too nice.  

However being around Sarah kept him from thinking about Emily too much. Although 
whenever she got a chance, she delighted in telling him about all the times she 
saw Emily and Tino together.  He remember their conversation on Saturday:

’I'm glad you and Emily aren't really a couple.’  Sarah had said out of the 
blue.

'Why is that?' He asked.

'Because I couldn't help but notice the guy she was with at the club on 
Saturday.'

'Tino?  What about him?' 

Sarah smiled.  'He's out to get Emily and it looked to me that she's going to 
let him.'

Nikolas frowned.  'I don't understand.'

'Emily and Tino were all over each other! They looked like they should have been 
in a private room, not a dance floor.' Sarah waited for Nikolas' reaction.

Nikolas clenched his jaw.  'Emily's not like that.  You were wrong.'

Sarah shook her head.  'I know what I saw.  And that's what I saw.'"

Immediately afterward, Nikolas had to leave.  He couldn't bear to think about 
Emily and Tino wrapped in each other's arms. Nik stopped by his car. It was 
Wednesday and that meant it was only two more days before he and Emily would get 
to see each other again.  

Wow, he thought, it's been only two weeks and it feels like forever since I last 
saw her, last spoke to her.  I'm going to have to do something special for on 
Friday.

~~~~~

Marcus had called Carly up and asked to her if she still wanted to have lunch 
with him.  Carly told him of course and they arranged to meet at Kelly's.  They 
were in the middle of lunch when Marcus's beeper went off. Marcus frowned as he 
checked the number.

"I have to go and answer this."

Carly nodded.  "I understand.  Go ahead."

"Thanks."  Marcus smiled and got up and went over to the payphone. Carly dragged 
her fork through her bowl of chili and sighed.  Marcus was a nice guy and all 
but the spark wasn't there, she realized.  He didn't do anything for her the 
way…the way Jason did.  It was hopeless.  It was she supposed to go out and get 
herself a new life, if she kept comparing every guy to Jason?  She knew that 
they would never measure up no matter how hard she wished.

But maybe she shouldn't even compare Jason and Marcus.  They were totally 
different types.  For a nice guy, Marcus was top of the line and for a 
dangerous/bad boy type, Jason was the only one who could live up to that title.  
So maybe she was looking at this in the wrong way.  Maybe Marcus was the guy for 
her.  The dangerous/bad boy type weren't always the most reliable.  However 
Jason was.  The way he took care of Michael when she was suffering from PPD 
showed his tender, nice guy side.  Carly groaned.  This was so difficult.  

"Something wrong?"  Marcus came back to the table.

Carly looked up with a fake smile.  "No, nothing's wrong.  Is everything all 
right with you?"

"Actually, I have to get to GH."  Marcus smiled apologetically. 

Carly nodded.  "It's fine.  We were almost done anyway. I'll take care of the 
check."

Marcus reached for it.  "No, I will."

"I insist.  I asked you to go to lunch."  Carly took it away from him.

"My mother would die if she knew I let a woman pay for a meal. Carly, let me."

Carly shrugged.  If he wanted to do it so bad, why not let him? "If you
insist."

"Great.  So I'll call you and we'll get together again?"  Marcus asked 
hopefully.

Carly hesitated then decided to go for it.  "Sure, why not?"

"Wonderful. See you around."  Marcus laid down a bunch of bills, then gave her a 
quick peck on the cheek.  Right as he walked out the door, Robin walked in. 

Carly ignored her and took the money up to the counter to pay for the meal.  
Robin followed her and when Carly turned around said,  "Is that your new 
boyfriend?"

Carly walked by her. Robin followed again.  "Don't ignore me, when I'm talking 
to you."

Carly looked down her nose at her.  "Oh, Robin, I didn't see you there. You 
should start wearing heels to compensate for your lack of height."

Robin glared.  "Is that the guy that's going to get you to finally leave me and 
Jason alone?"

"Robin, I don't bother you.  I don't care about you.  You… Are… Nothing… To…  
Me…"  Carly said each word slowly so that Robin would understand. "And I don't 
have to leave Jason alone.  He doesn't mind. Actually I'm going to have to ask 
him to leave *me* alone soon."

"Really?"  Robin folded her arms.

"Yes, really.  Why, did you know that he had the guards follow me on my date the 
other night?  Wasn't that sweet of him to worry about my well-being?" Carly 
smirked.