AN: I wrote this short one week ago. I've used the mirror plot device before.
Nikolas scrapes the razor angst his cream covered cheek. He catches sight of his own eyes and distracted cries out in pain. Drops of red drip down onto his chest from a cut cheek.
"Damn it," he curses and frustrated he grabs a hand towel and wipes off the rest of the shaving cream.
He leans forward to inspect the cut.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asks his reflection.
He's glad that he and Lucky have mended their relationship but he's pissed at himself for begging Lucky's forgiveness, again. He thinks back on Elizabeth saying that she missed him. He could have swept her into his arms and carried her away into passion, but he didn't. He just responded to her a with lame, I miss you too. Then he went to Lucky's house with his tail between his legs.
Maybe he did it more to find out if Lucky still had feelings for Elizabeth more than for his approval. "You're an emotional coward," he says to himself before he rinses his face with cold water.
He's afraid to be hurt by Elizabeth again. If they became more and Lucky wanted her back, he fears that she would run back to his brother. He's tired of being second best. Second best with Laura, hell even Helena who still pines for Stavros.
"So you hide behind Brook Lyn. You're a bloody prince with a heart of glass, easily shattered, like in some silly fairy story you'd tell Spencer."
He went after Elizabeth regardless of the outcome last year and lost. This time the battle is hers.
Elizabeth scrapes the brush through her hair roughly. The bristles catch on a knot pulling her hair. She winces and looks at herself in the mirror.
"I miss you too," she says to herself. That's how Nikolas responded to her telling him that she misses him. There was no declaration of love, not even a hug, just an I miss you too and he takes Aiden and off they go to see Spencer and Nippet.
Perhaps she has left it too late. He seems happier now and part of that is due to Brook Lyn. "I only seem to make him miserable," she says working at the knot. In frustration she pulls to hard and winces in pain.
"Damn it. What's wrong with you?" she asks her reflection.
She doesn't trust her relationships, not since Lucky's death. She protects her heart like its a fragile peace of glass, guarding against heart by never fully giving her heart to one man. She remembers what she did to Nikolas last year. They were starting something good, something fun and so very sexy and it scared her. She jumped into bed with Nikolas and then accepts Lucky's proposal. She didn't do that to protect Lucky but to protect herself.
"You thought you were being assertive and adult telling Nikolas that you wanted him but loved Lucky, but you were playing with both of them," she chastizes herself. Nikolas made it clear he wanted her, that he loved her and she couldn't offer him the same amount of feeling. She blamed it on Emily but really it's her own fault, her own fears.
She can accept that it's over with Nikolas and watch as he and Brook Lyn become more or she can go after Nikolas with the same intensity he used going after her last year. She gives herself a long hard look in the mirror, "This time the battle is yours."