Chapter 31

Wyndemere

Nikolas walked in just as Carly was on her way out to meet Jason. Carly had 
gotten the call she had been waiting for.  He told her that he had straightened 
things out with Robin, she was out of the penthouse and out of his life. He 
asked to see her and she agreed to meet him at Jake's.

But one quick look at Nikolas' face and Carly knew that something was up and no 
doubt, it had to do with Emily.  "Okay, Nicky out with it. What happened?"

Nikolas sighed and sat down on the couch. He tossed the Cassadine Medallion onto 
the coffee table in front of him.  He stared at the medallion as he spoke to 
Carly.  "She choose him."

"What?"  Carly frowned.

"I said, she choose Tino.  I spent all day today looking for her and when I find 
her, what do I see?  I see her…in Tino's arms.  So, it's done, it's over, she 
wants Tino.  I am to remain her 'friend'.  I guess I have to live with that."

Carly gaped at him.  "And you call yourself a Cassadine?  If you want something, 
you're supposed to go for it.  No matter what." 

Carly sat down next to him.  It was obvious that Jason would have to wait.  
Carly had some big sister duties to take care of. "Tell me about what you saw.  
You said Em was in his arms, right?  Well, that can mean anything."

Nikolas gave her a look that said, 'Are you kidding me?' "They were kissing."

Carly shrugged.  "That could mean anything also."

"How on earth could it mean anything but what it is?"

"Look, just because she kissed him doesn't mean a thing.  It was probably just a 
harmless kiss."

Nikolas leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes.  "Emily doesn't do 
harmless kisses."

Carly rubbed her temples.  Nikolas was giving her a headache.  "You know, you 
are not helping any.  I'm trying to make you feel *better* and all you can do is 
try and feel worse."

Nikolas opened his eyes and looked over at her.  "Thank you anyway Carly, I know 
you mean well but…"

Carly stood up.  It was time to lay down the law. "You are seriously not going 
to let a kiss stand between you and Emily are you?  You obviously feel strongly 
for the girl. Why else did you mope around here for two weeks when you couldn't 
see her? Now stop acting like a fool and be the Cassadine man you are and take 
what's not yours!"

Carly marched over to the door.  "Now, that's all the inspirational talk you're 
going to get tonight.  I've got to go reel in a man."

"Carly?"  Nikolas said hesitantly.  "Thanks for listening."

Carly tossed a smile over her shoulder.  "Anytime." She walked out of the house 
anxious to meet up with Jason.

"Take what's not mine."  Nikolas repeated. "It's not a bad idea. Take what's not 
mine."  He smiled to himself. "It just might work."

~*~*~

Carly walked into Jake's and discovered that she was a bit early. She hopped up 
on a barstool and smiled at Jake.

Jake groaned.  "Oh boy, not you again."

Carly just kept on smiling.  "Don't worry.  I'm not here to get drunk and 
threaten the boys with The Wrath of Jason Morgan.  See I came in sober this 
time. I even dressed appropriately." Carly stood and twirled around showing off 
her tight black jeans, dark green T-shirt, and black leather jacket. "Things are 
different now."

Jake nodded, disbelieving. "Right."

Carly stripped off her jacket and tapped the bar.  "Could I get a hard cider? 
Cider Jack's?"

Jake reluctantly slid a bottle over to her.  "Here you go."

Just as Carly was about to take a sip a good-looking guy sidled up to her.  
"Hey, my name's Gary, haven't I seen you around here before?"

Carly looked him up and down.  He's cute, she thought, but he's no Jason. 
"Probably.  I can't talk right now, I'm waiting for someone." Suddenly she felt 
a tingle go up her spine as she realized that the bar had gone quiet.  It had to 
be Jason, she thought.  She turned around on her barstool. "And there he is."

Carly watched as Jason, flanked by two of his men, walked straight into the bar, 
like he owned the joint.  Carly loved the way Jason could just walk into a place 
and have all eyes on him.  He did this thing where he just radiated power.  It 
was very cool, very macho, and very sexy.

Carly placed her bottle back onto the bar and waited for Jason to come over to 
her.  Jason gave her a quick half-smile and walked over. He was leaning down to 
give her a kiss when he noticed Gary sitting next to her.  He said one word.  
"Move."

Gary picked up his drink and moved down to the end of the bar. Carly held in her 
laughter and raised her lips to receive Jason's kiss.  

"Hey."  She said huskily after it was over. She lightly fingered the collar of 
his leather jacket.

"Hey yourself."  He smiled at her.

Jake looked from Carly to Jason and back again.  "So things *are* different 
now."  She muttered to herself.

Carly tossed her long hair back and took a quick sip of her cider. "So things 
are cool now, right?"

Jason leaned against the bar.  "Carly, I told you.  It's over, we're through, 
and she's gone. Okay?"

Carly shrugged.  "I just want to make sure she understands that there is no hope 
for you two."

Jason remembered the way Robin had reacted to the news, the accusations she 
flung at him, and the way she talked about Carly and Michael. There was no need 
to tell her about that because knowing Carly, she'll fly off the handle and go 
after Robin.  That was the last thing he wanted. He nodded.  "She understands."

Carly smiled.  "Good, because I don't want her acting like you didn't break up."

Jason brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked into them.  "You don't have to 
worry about anything."

"Oh, I'm not worried."  Carly said truthfully.  "I just don't want to have to be 
the one to remind her. Though you know I might enjoy that." 

Jason just shook his head.  "Do you want to shoot some pool?"

"Sure but the table occupied."  Carly gestured to two guys using the pool table.

Jason just looked over to Renaldo.  "I want the table."

Renaldo nodded and then he and Vinnie went over and quietly talked to the guys. 
They looked over at Jason and then walked away.  Jason took hold of Carly's hand 
and led her over to the table.  Carly just grinned.  She loved it when Jason 
showed off his power. What a turn-on.

Renaldo racked up the balls as Jason and Carly chalked up their cue sticks.  
Carly glanced over at Jason.  "You wanna break?"

Jason nodded.  "You go ahead."

Carly moved into place and bent over the table.  She was aware of how her shirt 
crept up a little and revealed her stomach.  She flipped her hair back and 
smiled seductively at Jason.  The image she presented was not lost on him. 

He patted her on the behind and smiled. Carly giggled and wiggled around a bit. 
He laughed. "Now shoot already."

*Click*. Carly watched in satisfaction as two striped balls went right in.  
"You're solids."  She announced as she walked around the table looking for a new 
angle. "I've got a feeling, I'm going to win this one."

"Right."  Jason smirked as she completely missed her next shot. Carly moved out 
the way.

"I'm just letting you have a chance before I completely take over." Carly 
laughed and took a sip of her cider.

Jason set himself up and knocked in three balls at once.  He looked over at 
Carly and smirked again.  "Now, watch the master at work."

Carly just shook her head.  "Master."  Jason got in another ball but the shot 
after that ended up missing.  "Some master."

Jason leaned against his stick as Carly lined up her next shot. "So when are you 
moving back in with me?"  He asked casually.

Carly ended up blowing her shot. She whirled around to face Jason. "I get to do 
that over!"

"Why?  You missed the shot."  

"Because you distracted me!" Carly waved her stick around.  "And I'm not moving 
back in with you anytime soon!"

Jason put his stick on the table and walked up to her.  "Why not? Because I can 
kick your butt at pool?" He joked.

Carly pursed her lips and looked away.  Jason placed his hands on her hips and 
pulled her closer to him. "Okay, you can do it over."

"It's not that, Jason.  It's the fact that you don't take me seriously."

Jason frowned.  "I take you seriously."

"Not about us.  I told you that you aren't going to get me back that easily.  
Just because you kicked Robin out and because we play pool doesn't mean that I'm 
packing up Michael and moving into the penthouse right away."

Jason sighed.  "What does it mean then?"

Carly draped her arms around his neck. "It means that we are slowly working our 
way to my moving back in with you."

Jason squeezed her side slightly.  "I don't like taking things slowly."

"There are some good things about taking it slow."  Carly murmured and pressed a 
soft kiss to his lips. Jason immediately tried to deepen the kiss but Carly 
leaned back.  "Ah, ah, ah.  Not so fast, we're taking things slow, remember?"

Jason growled.  "Too damn slow."

"And remember, we are in the middle of a bar."

Jason shrugged.  "It never bothered you before."

Carly resisted the urge to smack him on the back of his head. "Things have 
changed.  And about this bar, this is okay for a nice low-rent first date but 
you have money and I don't want all our dates to be beer and pool."  Carly 
grimaced.

"Dates?" Jason winced.

Carly sighed.  "Yes, dates.  Baby, you are going to be taking me on a lot of 
dates. A few of them had better be the you pick me up at Spook Island, take me 
out for dinner and dancing, yes dancing, variety."

"Okay, okay, we'll go on dates.  Now, can I get a kiss already?" Jason was ready 
to agree to whatever she wanted to get what he wanted.

Carly nodded. "Sure, whatever you want."

~*~*~

Robin knocked on Mac and Felicia's door and calmly waited for someone to answer 
it. Mac opened the door.  "Robin?  What are you doing here so late?"

Robin immediately let loose a stream of fake tears.  "J… Jason and I… we broke 
up!  Uncle Mac, can I stay here?"

Mac hugged her.  "Of course you can!"

Robin turned to the man Jason had sent to help her take her things over to Mac's 
place.  "You can put those inside."

The guy, aware of the mean looks Mac was given him, rushed in and dropped 
Robin's bags in the foyer.  He nodded to Robin. "Goodbye, Miss Scorpio."  He 
then hurried out.

Mac turned to Robin.  "What happened?"  He demanded.

Robin wiped at her tears.  "He's been having an affair with Carly all this 
time!"  She lied. "I just found out.  He didn't even try to hide it from me."

"That bastard."  Mac swore.  "I'll kill him."

Robin shook her head.  "Oh, don't do that Uncle Mac.  Jason will get what's 
coming to him."  And so will Carly and Michael, she thought.

~*~*~

Monday Afternoon

"Hey Em! Wait up!" Liz called out as she hurried to meet up with Emily who was 
walking out of Port Charles High. 

Emily stopped and waited for her to catch up.  Liz rushed over. "Don't you love 
being seniors?  Getting to leave early and all that?"

Emily shrugged.  "Eh, it's alright."

"So what happened this weekend?  Did Nikolas keep you occupied the whole time?"

Emily brushed a strand of hair away from her face.  "Nikolas?  I haven't seen 
Nikolas since Friday. I was with Tino all this weekend."

Liz's jaw dropped down.  "What?  Didn't Nikolas show up at your place on 
Saturday night?"

Emily shook her head.  "No, I told you the last time I saw Nikolas was on Friday 
when I gave him my ultimatum. I just assume he never made up his mind and I got 
tired of waiting."

Liz blew out a quick breath of air, exasperated. "Em!  Lucky and I saw Nikolas 
on Saturday; he was going crazy trying to find you all day. He showed up at 
Kelly's with flowers and everything."

"Flowers?" Emily placed her hand over her heart.  "Nikolas had flowers?  For 
me?"

Liz nodded.  "Yup and he kept calling the Qs all day.  Ask your butler, Nikolas 
was driving him crazy. You should have seen the look on his face when he found 
out your were at home. He shot right out of Kelly's."

Emily's eyes widened. "He came to the house?  I didn't see him."

Now Liz was confused. "Wait, Nikolas was told you were home because he went 
rushing out but he never got there?"

"Maybe he did but Tino and I were, ah, busy."  Emily couldn't believe she was 
blushing.

Liz smacked her forehead.  "Oh, Em!  Maybe Nikolas saw you two and got the wrong 
or right idea and backed off. But why would you give Nikolas an ultimatum if 
you're interested in Tino?"

Emily chewed the inside of her cheek.  She began to ramble. "I don't know what 
I'm doing anymore. I've had this huge crush on Nikolas for the longest and he 
helped through a really tough part of my life.  I mean, I would have *died* if 
it wasn't for him. But then Nikolas didn't return my feelings and got over it, 
at least I thought I did but I really didn't you know?  Anyway, I meet Tino and 
he was cute, he flirted with me and he made feel special but then Nikolas had to 
go and get jealous and kiss me.  He totally screwed things up between us! And 
then Tino starts wigging out on me and…I am so confused!"

"Well, I wish I could help but you just about confused the heck out of me also." 
Liz said helplessly.

Emily just shook his head.  "You can't help me.  I have to do this myself."

"Well then…" A car's screeching tires cut off Liz's reply. The car pulled up 
next to where Liz and Emily stood. Out of the driver's window popped Marisa's 
head.

"Hey, what's up!"  She called cheerfully.  "You guys doing anything important 
this afternoon?"

"Uh, hi Marisa.  I'm not doing anything other than some homework." Emily made a 
face.

"Homework?  Please!"  Marisa laughed. "I got the car today, for once, and the 
girls and I are going to hang out. Maybe cruise the mall." Rosanna and Callie 
waved at them.  "Wanna come? Liz too."

Emily looked at Liz, who shrugged.  "Lucky's tied up all afternoon. Sounds like 
fun."

"Oh, all right, sure.  Maybe an afternoon of shopping will take my mind off of 
things."

"Great!"  Marisa grinned.  "Callie, move over and give them some space.  
Actually, Rosanna, get in the back so Emily can sit up here with me." Marisa 
ordered.  "We can *bond*."

Emily tried not to grimace at the thought.  Marisa was certainly a strong-willed 
girl who liked to get things down her way and her way only.  Marisa patted the 
passenger seat.  "Come on, get in."

Marisa waited until Liz and Emily was settled in before peeling out.  Emily held 
onto the car door and frantically reached for her seatbelt. "And Nikolas thought 
my driving was bad."  She muttered.

Rosanna laughed as she watched Emily fumble with the seatbelt. "Risa has a 
unique driving skill." She joked.

Marisa frowned.  "Whatever. So Emily, tell me about yourself.  Everything."  
Marisa smiled at her just as she took a sharp left turn that left Emily gasping 
for air.

~*~*~

Monday Night

Emily swept into the Quartermaine living room laden down with shopping bags.  
Liz had convinced her to take her mind off of Nikolas and Tino by picking up a 
few things. So she bought a few things and a few more and a few more, etc. etc. 
And in-between her shopping binge Marisa kept asking more and more questions 
about her life.  Emily felt like Marisa knew more about her than she did.  But 
no matter how many times Emily had tried to ask Marisa about herself and Tino, 
Marisa would end up turning the question back on her.  It got worst when Emily 
asked about why Tino tried to commit suicide, Marisa just clamed up and started 
looking at clothes.

Emily flopped down on the couch and sighed. She felt completely drained. How was 
she going to tackle her homework? I'll just do it during homeroom like always, 
she thought. She knew she should be taking her things upstairs but she hated the 
thought of even moving.  Monica walked into the living room with a sober look on 
her face. Emily knew something was wrong.

"I see you went shopping.  Did you get yourself something nice?" Monica asked 
with false cheerfulness. 

Emily nodded.  "What happened?  Did something happen to Michael or…?"  Emily sat 
up. She was prepared for anything.

Monica shook her head.  "Nothing happened to Michael.  Emily, Alan is getting 
out of rehab this week."

"Are you sure about this?"  Emily asked doubtfully.  She remembered what 
happened the last time; Alan had got caught using again.

"I understand your disbelief but it's true.  He's clean, for real this time, 
though I have no idea how long it will last."  Monica wearily rubbed her 
temples.  "I can't give you any promises even though I wish I could. We will 
have to take this one step at a time."

"You said that the last time and the time before that and the time before that."  
Emily reminded her.

"Yes but it's all we can do."  Monica said sadly.

Emily looked down at her hands.  "I just wish Dad could just…"

Monica reached down and rubbed her shoulder.  "So do I."

Emily sighed just as Reginald walked in the room.  "Nikolas Cassadine here to 
see you, Emily."

Monica noticed the way Emily quickly stood up at Nikolas' name and started to 
fidget with her hair.  Monica smiled to herself and slipped out of the room just 
as Nikolas strode in. 

"Emily, I…" Nikolas trailed off.  He wasn't sure what he was going to say.  On 
the drive over he had it all planned out but now he forgot everything that had 
been in his head.

"Nikolas!"  Emily threw herself into his arms.