Chapter 29 “Here you go.” Nikolas poured another glass of juice for Emily. Then he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small wrapped package. “I have something for you.” Emily almost choked on her juice. “What? We were supposed to get gifts for each other?” “No.” Nikolas shook his head and smiled. “I just wanted to get you something. Here, open it.” He passed the package to her. Emily put down her drink and eagerly took the gift in her hands. She held it up to her ear and like a child at Christmas, shook to see what was in it. “What did you get me?” “Open it and you'll find out.” Emily tore into the box and gasped at the sight of the object in it. She held up the wide silver bracelet and stared at it in wonder. “This is the…” “The bracelet we saw in Wyndhams.” Nikolas finished for her. He took it out of her hands and fastened it on her wrist for her, covering the scar from where she had tried to slice her wrist. “I had said it would cover my scar perfectly and it does.” Emily touched the bracelet lightly with one finger. “I didn't mean to imply that I wanted you to buy it, I could have gotten it myself.” Nikolas shrugged. “I wanted to buy it for you and that's what I did. Now say thank you.” “Thank you!” Emily hugged him with such force; Nikolas ended up on his back and Emily on top of him. “Oh, um.” Emily reddened as she remembered that this was the way they ended up having their first kiss. She immediately sprang back up. “Sorry.” She mumbled. “It's okay.” He muttered then folded his arms behind his head. He then changed the subject. “There are so many stars out tonight.” Emily, glad that they weren't going to deal with another embarrassing moment, leaned back on her elbow. “Yeah. Can you see the Big Dipper? I can never find it.” “There it is.” Nikolas pointed out. “Oh yeah.” Emily laid back, her head coming very close to Nikolas'. “Thank you again for the gift and I'm glad that we stopped arguing. This was good idea after all, Nicky.” Nikolas smiled. He thought she would never call him Nicky again. He rolled on his side and propped himself up on his elbow. “Back to calling me Nicky again, eh?” He grinned down at her. Emily shrugged. “Well, you've said it yourself, you don't mind it. You're just lucky I haven’t called you…” she trailed off teasing him. “Don't say it! Don't say it!” He laughed. “What are you going to do *if* I do say it? Huh, Prince Nicky?” Emily grinned wickedly. It had been so long since she had laughed with Nikolas. Nikolas pretended to think it over and then grinned evilly. “I seriously doubt that you would want to know.” Emily giggled. “Oh, yeah, I'm so scared. Prince Nicky.” “Keep calling me and you'll live to regret it.” Nikolas said, trying to be threatening but the big smile on his face ruined it. “Oh, yeah? Prince Nicky, Prince Nicky, Prince Nicky.” Emily repeated over and over. “Now you've done it!” Giving into an impulse that he wasn't even aware of, Nik cupped Emily's face in his hands and lowered his lips for a heart-stopping kiss. Emily, ignoring the fact that he would probably go back to his 'just friends' theory, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer to her. She thrust her fingers into his hair, while he ran his hands up and down the sides of her body. “I tell you, Sarah, I see Christmas lights out here.” Deenie's voice rang out, immediately killing the mood. Nikolas and Emily froze where they were, neither making a sound, waiting to hear Sarah's reply. “Look, Deenie, the park is creepy and dangerous after dark.” Sarah whined. “I am not going to go tramping through the woods just so you can completely ruin some couple's night. It's probably some guy trying impress his girl, okay?” “All right, all right.” They heard Deenie say. They could hear the two of them walking away. Nikolas sat up and pushed his hand through his hair. “Wow, that was close.” Emily sat up also. “Yeah, you wouldn't want anyone seeing you kiss me, now would you?” She said sarcastically. “What?” Nikolas asked, confused. Emily stood up. “Isn't it time for the 'We're just friends' talk? How about you change it to, 'We're just friends who happen to kiss a lot but that's all'?” Nikolas stood up. “What are you talking about Emily?” “I'm talking about you messing around with my feelings all the time. I'm talking about you thinking it's okay to kiss me until I'm crazy, then push me away, and then get jealous when I decide that it's better we're friends and I start dating some one. Make up your mind, Nikolas!” “I, uh, I…” Nikolas was at a lost for words. “You know what, Nikolas? Take me home. Now.” Emily knelt down and started packing up the basket. “Emily,” Nikolas began. “No. You decide what's going on and *then* you talk to me.” Emily said, then reached up and unclasped the necklace holding the medallion. “Here.” She thrust it at him. “No, Emily, I gave this to you.” He tried to give it back but Emily shook her head. “Keep it and take me home.” *~*~*~* The Next Day Carly rang the doorbell of the Quartermaine mansion for the fourth time. “Don't they have some one to answer this door?” She muttered. Emily who was on her way out finally opened the door. “Oh, hey Carly. Hi, Mikey. You here to spend time with your daddy?” Michael nodded. He ran into the house to search out his father. “Jeez, Carly, you don't look so good.” Carly, who had a sleepless night, just sighed. “Tell me about. But you look pretty chipper for a girl who was out all night.” Emily frowned. “No I wasn't. Nikolas brought me home early and I was in all night.” “But Nikolas didn't get back until late last night.” Emily shrugged. “Maybe he had some thinking he needed to do. I don't know.” “So how was the reunion? Nikolas was so anxious about it, he wanted everything to be *just* right.” “Well, everything turned out *just* wrong.” Emily folded her arms. “Things were fine until we saw Tino, then they started acting like jerks. We had a fight and then he gave me this bracelet.” Emily held out her arm to show Carly. “I know, he told me all about it the day he brought it. What else happened?” “He kissed me again!” “And this upset you how? Oh, don't tell me he pulled out the old 'let's be friends' routine again. Stupid, stupid.” “I didn't give him a chance to. I told him to make up his mind on what he thought we were and to let me know.” “Well, good for you, Em. Sometimes you just have to put your foot down. So were are you off to?” “I promised Tino I would meet him at Kelly's and,” Emily checked her watch, “I'm late! Gotta go. Later, Carly.” “Bye.” Carly waved her off and closed the door behind her. She looked around for Michael but he wasn't in the foyer. “Michael?” she called. “Where are you?” “He's right here.” AJ came out of the living room carrying Michael. “He went exploring.” “He's doing that a lot nowadays.” Carly smiled a little. AJ put Michael back down on the floor and walked towards Carly. “Hey, are you okay? You don't look so hot.” He reached up and gently touched her cheek. Carly moved her head back. “Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I just…I had a bad night, okay?” “Yeah, sure it's fine with me.” AJ shrugged. Just then the front door was flung open and in walked Keesha. “Keesha! I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow.” AJ went over to give her a kiss. Keesha turned her head and it ended up on her cheek. “Yeah, I can see that.” Keesha's eyes were shooting daggers at Carly. “Look, I have to go. I promised my mother I would meet her at Luke's.” Carly handed AJ, Michael's overnight bag and crouched down to Michael's level. “You be good this weekend, okay, Mikey?” Michael nodded. “I will, Mommy.” “Good boy.” Carly stood. “I'll be back for him tomorrow. Later, AJ. Keesha.” *~*~*~* Bobbie was just on her way out of Wyndemere when she saw Stefan sitting on the couch alone. She walked up behind him and draped her arms around his neck. “Brooding again?” She asked. Stefan reached up and rubbed her arm lightly. “Barbara. No, I was just pondering what misfortunes are disturbing Nikolas.” “English, please.” Bobbie grinned. Stefan smiled lightly. Bobbie always kidded him about his expansive vocabulary. “I was…” Bobbie stopped him. “I got what you were saying. There is something bothering him. I noticed how he didn't come home until very late last night and he was gone very early this morning.” “He has not come to me with his problems. I have noticed that he has been spending a lot of time talking with Caroline.” “I've noticed that also. Maybe whatever it is, is something that only a young person can help him with? You know how teens can be. 'Adults just don't understand.’” Stefan nodded. “Maybe. There is something bothering Caroline also.” “I know. I'm on my way to go talk to her about it, though I may have a feeling on what it is or should I say, who it is.” *~*~*~* Elizabeth was wiping down the counters at Kelly's and chatting with Lucky when Emily came bouncing in. Liz looked up with a smile. “Hey, Em, you look happy today, how'd everything go last night?” Emily sat down at the counter with a groan. “Don't even ask.” Lucky looked surprised. “It went bad? What'd the prince do?” “Well, we fought a little about… Tino. And then he gave me a bracelet and then we fought again. So right now we're not talking to each other. “Aw, Em, what'd you guys fight about?” Emily just shook her head. “I don't want to go into it.” “So what are you doing here? Came to watch as Ruby works Lizzie to death?” Lucky grinned. Liz made a face. “She's on the warpath today. Bad mood, very bad.” “No, I told Tino I would meet him here. We were supposed to do something today.” “Too bad, it's going to be fun.” Lucky laughed and ducked as Liz threw the dishtowel at him. Just then Tino came strolling in followed by his sister Marisa, Dominic, Andres, Rosanna, and Callie. “Hey, hey, hey, the gangs all here.” Lucky muttered. “Hey, chica.” Tino said and leaned in to give Emily a kiss on the cheek. “Hi… everybody.” Emily frowned. “I thought it was going to be just us.” “Oh, it is, they were all ready on their way here.” “Marisa had a craving for some chili and she decided to drag us all out here to watch her stuff her face.” Dominic informed them. Marisa punched him in the arm. “I did not drag you all out here. We all decided we wanted to get chili. Right?” The look in Marisa's eyes dared them all to disagree. Deciding it was time to change the subject, Andres slid over to Emily's side and threw his arm around her. “So you don't worry about us coming to crap your style. You'll have the ever so lovely Tino Rodriguez all to yourself, though why you'd want to bother with a guy like him when *I'm* available is a mystery to me.” Andres grinned. Emily had to laugh. “I'll think about it.” Tino then said through clenched teeth, “Get your hands off of her.” Andres and Emily looked at him in shock. “What? I'm just playing around.” “Yeah and I don't like it, so get your hands off of her.” They could tell that he was dead serious. The whole group got very quiet as Andres removed his arm and stepped away from Emily. “Tino? What's your problem?” Emily demanded. “What? There's nothing wrong.” Tino smiled. “Hey, how about we go? I told you we'd spend today together. C'mon.” *~*~*~* Jason was putting on his jacket and was just about to leave when Robin came down the stairs. She looked at him for a few seconds but didn't say a word. Jason just sighed. So she's still giving me the silent treatment? He thought. All last night she wouldn't say a word to him and he ended up on the couch. He hadn't slept at all and spent all night thinking. Which was a good thing because he had come to an important decision. Jason was halfway out the door when Robin finally spoke. “Where are you going?” She asked quietly. “I have to go to Luke's and pick up the books. I'll be back soon and when I get back we need to talk.” “About what?” Robin was afraid to wait for his answer. “We'll talk when I get back.” Jason said firmly. “Send one of the men to get the paperwork. If you have something to say to me, say it to me now!” Robin demanded. “I have some important business to discuss with Luke.” Jason told her. “More important than me?” Robin asked pitifully but Jason didn't answer her and just walked out the door. *~*~*~* Luke's. Carly walked into Luke's club and hopped up on a barstool. Luke saw her and walked over to her with a huge smile. “Well, if it isn't my favorite niece.” “I'm your only niece.” Carly corrected him. She and Luke had formed a pretty good relationship now that she wasn't sleeping with his sister's husband. Luke just waved his hand. “I don't bother worrying about the particulars. So why do you look so bad?” “Do you really need to know?” Carly sighed. She had spent all last night agonizing over the decision she had made to cut Jason completely out of her life. She couldn't believe she had done something that stupid. Luke just shrugged and pulled out a shot glass and bottle of liquor. “No but you looked like you really need to talk about it. And you look like you need a drink too.” He poured her a shot. Carly pushed it away. “No thanks, it's too early in the morning.” “It's never to early.” Luke drank it instead. “So you don't want to talk it out with your old uncle?” Carly shook her head. “Sorry, I'm here to meet Bobbie and pour my heart out to her.” “So you won't tell me your troubles, okay. Tell me how it's going with the living dead? The Cassadines aren't giving you any trouble are they? The Prince and Stiff aren't on their best behavior?” Carly shook her head. “Things are fine and please no cracks on them. Old Step- Vlad is pretty nice to me and I consider Nicky my little brother.” Luke sighed. “I've lost another.” Carly grinned. “Don't worry. We're not one big happy family yet but things are cool. I've even given Nik advice.” Luke cocked an eyebrow. “Advice from you? Are we all going to end up on TV because of this?” Carly laughed. “I'm not that bad.” “No you're worse.” Luke laughed also. He looked up and nodded at someone who just walked in through the door. Suddenly a shiver ran down Carly's spine and she knew instantly what it meant. “Hi, Jason, fancy running into you here.” She said without turning around. He walked over to her and Carly turned to face him. “How did…” “I know you were there?” Carly finished for him. He nodded and she just shrugged. “I just knew.” She turned to Luke. “When Bobbie comes tell her I'll be in a booth.” Carly went to stand up when Jason caught her by the arm. “No, we need to talk.” “We have nothing to say to each other anymore. Remember? *This* shouldn't even be happening.” Carly glared at Jason. Luke looked from Carly's angry face to Jason's angry face and said, “Look, if you're going to fight, take it to the back. The afternoon drunks don't need a show.” “Come with me.” Jason dragged her into the back room. Carly went to lean on the pool table. She ran her fingers lightly over it. “Funny, isn't it? We started this 'relationship' over a pool table and here's where we're going to end it.” Jason folded his arms across his chest. “We're not ending anything.” Carly sighed. “Jase, if this is about you seeing Michael, don't worry. Every now and then I'll send him over with Leticia, okay?” Jason came to stand in front of her. “This is not about Michael, all right! This is about you and me. I've come to a decision.” Carly cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, you have? What's this decision?” Jason raised his hand and tangled his fingers in her hair. He gently played with the strands and said softly. “Do you remember that night in the limo? When you got drunk and you were crawling all over me, teasing me?” “Jason?” Carly asked. “Do you know what I wanted to do to you? Do you know how badly I wanted to kiss you?” Jason whispered. He brought his face in very close to Carly's, his lips almost touching hers. “I was fighting myself and I was just about to give in when you 'changed' your mind.” “Jason, what…” Carly tried again. “Shhh.” Jason's lips lightly touched hers as he spoke. “The things I wanted to do to you that night… I still think about it. I had it all planned out. I would kiss you here…” Jason brushed his lips across her cheek trailing his way down to her neck. Carly arched her neck giving him better accessing. “And touch you here…” Jason's hands worked their way down her body, squeezing, touching, and fondling. “Mmmm.” She purred and raised her arms to wrap them around Jason. Jason grinned wickedly. He then moved his way back up her neck and captured her lips in devouring kiss. Suddenly he broke off leaving Carly panting and wanting more. “What?” She slumped against the pool table. Jason moved away from her, licking his lips. “Now that I've gotten your attention, I…” “Wait a minute!” Carly held up her hand. “That wasn't just so I would continue to be your 'friend' because if it was…” “Shut up.” Jason said crisply. “If you would listen I would tell you that I've decided it's time that I face the truth. And the truth is, I want to be with you Carly, not Robin. Robin and I aren't… well we don't suit each other anymore.” “What? You're trying to tell me that you woke up this morning and decided, Robin's no fun, so now I'll shack up with good old Carly?” “Carly, you know it's not like that.” Jason walked up to her and took her hands in his. “I've been feeling like this for a while but I tried to ignore it but I can't. Not anymore. Having you tell me you can't be in my life showed me that.” “Jason, you love Robin.” Carly said sadly. “This 'decision' of yours is just your way of trying to fix this situation but I know… you're going to be miserable without Robin.” “No I won't!” Jason told her earnestly. “Robin may have been my first love but she taught me that all though first loves are special, sometimes you have to move on and that's what I'm doing.” “Moving on to me. And I suppose you love me also.” Carly smiled bitterly. “I do. I love you, Carly.”