AN - some explanation is needed. This is set in the past, I'm thinking 98-99. definitely before the Sonny/Carly hate sex, a little AU (I've cobbled together both Carly new (the incident with the 'real' Carly's dad and the old (i.e. Virginia) pasts - as best as I could remember) and it's sort of Jason/Carly - my first, last & always OTP (one true pairing), but only slightly.


Chapter 7 – A Little Push

Sitting on a park bench, the two women watched Lucky playing with the children, after a moment, Laura broke the silence.

"I'm not sure what you expect me to say. I'm not a psychologist, I took some classes, but I'm by no means an expert." When Emily opened her mouth to reply, Laura held up a hand and continued. "In my personal and professional opinion, you need to advise Carly to seek a licensed, professional's help."

At Emily's look of surprise, Laura laughed softly.

"No, no this isn't about Carly – "

Laura raised an eyebrow in reproof and the younger woman fell quiet.

"Despite what my son and his father may believe, I am not oblivious. To tell you the truth, I've always suspected that Carly has had a history of mental problems. I'd even said as much to both her mother and Luke. Bobbie certainly didn't want to hear it, and Luke . . . my ex-husband has always maintained a certain degree of affection for the girl and would prefer to see her as more of a bad seed than troubled. It's the Spencer party line, if you haven't noticed it yet, then just wait."

"Con artist, troublemaker, borderline criminal are all labels that most of them will gladly embrace – Luke, Carly, Ruby and Bobbie in their younger years and even Lucky. However mention consulting a therapist, psychologist or worse psychiatrist and there is zero tolerance. Collectively or single handedly, they will shut you down so fast that your head will spin. It's practically a taboo with them."

Laura sighed, remembering years of history. "Good luck, you've set a difficult task for yourself."

"You won't help?" Emily's face fell.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid not. I don't have the credentials to help her, nor do I have any desire to get caught up once again into Spencer drama. I can't do it, I won't." She turned to Emily. "You have to understand that I spent the last twenty something years of my life caught up in one scheme or another and now, I'm finally out. I love my son and I'll always love Luke, but I have Lulu to worry about now and if I let myself get drawn back in . . . "

Laura shook her head. "You don't know what you're asking me. Lucky is your friend now, but can you imagine being with him even ten years from now? And now you're getting involved in Carly Spencer's drama, complete with the mob influence. I know Jason is your brother, but still . . . I say this with the utmost respect for you, but you are asking for trouble, Emily. I'm not going to tell you to walk away, I know you won't, god knows I wouldn't have listened when I first met Luke, but you just don't know what you're getting yourself into."

Listening to her, Emily found herself unconsciously leaning farther away, a growing sense of outrage mixing with an angered disgust. This was Lucky's mother and she respected her for that fact alone, but who the hell did she think she was passing such blanket judgments? Lucky was right, talking to Laura was a bad idea, but now that she had started this, she couldn't just walk away. If Laura told the wrong people, it would be absolutely disastrous.

"Ummm, I appreciate what you're saying. Personally, I disagree, but hey, I'm just a kid, what do I know?" The hint of sarcasm in her voice was stupid, she knew that as soon as she said and when Laura's eyes narrowed slightly, she mentally cursed herself. "Carly isn't so bad when you get to know her and despite everything going on, she's doing well. Maybe, I'm just overreacting, you know? Ummm, I do need to ask you to just keep this between us, sort of like the patient-doctor confidentiality that we agreed on in the beginning, you know?"

Emily's heart sank when she saw that familiar repressive and patronizing expression on Laura's face that so reminiscent of Monica and Edward and she knew that she had made a terrible mistake.

"I don't think that I can keep that promise, Emily. I've lived that life before, not exactly like Carly's, of course," she laughed sadly but with enough smugness to grate on Emily's nerves, "but enough to know the pressures of it and after all, look at how Lucky turned out."

A sharply drawn inhale was Emily's only visible response. Under other circumstances, she would have reacted much more violently, but was just able to stifle herself. "You never would have known if I hadn't betrayed her trust and Carly's past is just that the past, it has nothing to do with her being a mother."

"It goes to evaluating her mental state and ability to be a good mother. As a social worker, ethically I am duty bound to report this information to the court." Laura's shrug struck Emily as an empty gesture, a passing off of responsibility that pissed her off even more.

"Can you give me some time to warn Carly, a week at least?" Please, please, please ran through Emily's mind as she pasted a concerned yet contrite expression that she had mastered over years spent with the Q's on her face.

Laura's stern expression seemingly melted away. "That I can do, for you Emily, but afterwards, all bets are off." She warned in what Emily guessed was supposed to be a motherly tone. "Listen, I need to run a few errands, on your way back from the park can you and Lucky drop Lulu off at my mothers?"

The younger woman scarcely had time to agree or not, before Laura rushed out of sight. Her head fell and she ran a hand through hair.

"Shit"


From behind the slide, Lucky kept one eye on his cousin and little sister and the other focused on his mother and girlfriend. That ugly feeling he had only grew the longer they talked and even from away as far as he was standing, he could see Emily's growing agitation. This was not good . . .

By the time, she reached him he had his phone in hand.

"What happened?"

Emily winced under the impact of his demand. "You were right; I shouldn't have said a word to her."

"Oh, fuck!" Lucky broke free from her eyes to stare blankly past her shoulder. "How bad are we talking about here?" His voice had changed into a hollow and distant one that hurt worse than his earlier anger.

"I never mentioned Carly's name, but she guessed and now feels "duty bound" to make it public when AJ takes this to court. She promised she would wait a week, but no longer and I had to beg her for that much. . ." Not to mention what she said about you, but Emily had no intention of repeating that to Lucky on top of everything else.

"Sonovabitch!" Lucky abruptly turned and viciously kicked the metal ladder of the slide, the impact reverberating loudly.

She flinched.

"I'm so sorry, Lucky. I didn't expect her to react that way." In retrospect, the words sounded so weak, but she didn't know what else to offer. Emily reached out one tentative hand to touch his shoulder, steeling herself when he moved just before she could make contact.

"It's not your fault." He said finally, still not looking at her. "I knew what you were planning and I didn't stop you. Some part of me, hoped that you were right, that maybe she could help. I should've known better. This isn't really on you." Lucky paused again. "I need to call my dad and give him the heads-up on this, ok? I'll be right back."

Feeling helpless, Emily watched him walked away.

"Emmy . . . Emmy . . ." A little voice and a tugging on her jeans caught her attention.

"What's up Michael?" She bent down to his level, Lesley Lu on her other side and looked over to where a pudgy finger pointed and saw Nikolas and Robin and she groaned. That was really all she today needed. Standing as they approached, she glanced over her shoulder to see Lucky on his way back and silently thanked god. She wasn't in the mood to deal with this with two toddlers watching her every move.

Lulu wobbled over to Nikolas, chattering excitedly about spending the day with her cousin Mikey, while Michael carefully moved behind Emily's leg as if trying to hide from Robin.

"Oh Emily . . . reduced to baby-sitting already? You see, Nikolas, this is exactly what I was talking about. It's a shame, really. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have children, but that should be resolved soon enough."

Robin shook her head sadly and Emily's eyes narrowed.

"You're not a mother, so you wouldn't understand, but having been Michael's mother while the psycho was locked up in Ferncliffe, no offense Lucky, of course, it is unconscionable."

"Watch it, Scorpio that's my cousin and Michael's real mother, you're talking about." Lucky spat out with a tauntingly hard edge to his voice that had an uncomfortable Nikolas taking a hesitant half-step forward.

Lucky was about to do the same, when Emily lightly rested her hand on his arm, shaking her head slightly. She couldn't slap Lucky's mother, for obvious reasons, but she had no such compunctions whatsoever when it came to this bitch.

"Lucky, do me a favor. Lulu and Michael wanted to play on the swings, but I'm a little too tired to push, will you do it?"

Her sickeningly sweet tone was his tip-off that she was spoiling for a fight and despite the riot act that he'd just been read over the phone, he figured a few minutes wasn't going to hurt. "Sure," he answered carefully. "Just remember, we're almost running late," he warned.

"Oh, don't worry. This won't take too long at all." She smiled at him and his eyes widened, even as he took both children in hand. Once they were out of range, Emily spun on her heel.

"See, you wouldn't be tired if you were back home with your family, where you belonged, doing the sorts of things teenagers should be doing. When I was Michael's mother, I would have never – "

"When you were Michael's mother?" Emily stared at her in complete amazement for a moment, before choking back startled laughter. "Oh my god, you really are delusional, aren't you? I mean, sure, Carly told me, and I always knew that you were a bit neurotic, but come on . . . Then again, I guess it makes sense, considering that you were able to rationalize testifying on behalf of kidnapper."

Looking at the woman next to him, the girl he'd had a crush on for what seemed like forever and over to his friend, who also happened to be his brother's girlfriend and felt the pull of conflicting loyalties. "Emily . . . "

She looked up at him and seeing the dilemma in his eyes, decided to let him off the hook. "Nikolas, you're my friend and I love you, but you need to stay out of this one," before turning her attention back to Robin. "And you need to stay away from me, Michael, my brother and Carly. Luckily for you, I've got somewhere that I've got to be, otherwise . . . " She left her threat dangling. "I'll talk to you later, Nik," Emily smiled slightly at him before she turned away to find Lucky and the kids.

"Do you believe that girl? She is just running absolutely wild; I am going to have to talk to Monica. She was talking about sending her off to boarding school and under the circumstances; it might not be a bad idea. I mean, did you hear how she spoke to me?" Robin shook her head, wrapping her arm around Nikolas's.

Watching Emily walk off, Robin's words took a moment to register and when they did, he pulled his arm and turned to face her. "What about was that about Emily?"

"Bordering school. I think I could suggest a few strict ones for Monica to consider."

"Robin, that wasn't Emily's fault, you provoked her." Nikolas frowned at her, his eyebrows drawing together.

"No, no, no. Nikolas, you don't understand. Emily is spending most of time hanging out with Lucky, Jason and Carly. Obviously they are unduly influencing her behavior." Robin shrugged her shoulders.

He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Robin, I have to get back to the hospital. I'll see you . . . later, ok?" He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, before backing away. As he turned around to walk away, all he could think of was his conversation yesterday with Lucky and Robin's hour long tirade on Carly. Whatever was going on, he decided to take Emily up on her suggestion and stay out of it.


Getting off the phone, Jason wanted to punch a wall or two. Emily had opened her mouth to Laura of all people. Yeah, ok, so she was sorry about it and Lucky was quick to shift the blame onto himself, but Jason knew the score. He loved his sister, but goddammit!

He shook his head wearily.

Emily was sorry, he got that. Between Luke raking her over the coals and his unspoken anger, he knew she was sorry, but that didn't help now. All he could do was damage control and he'd have to work fast, one week was a short window . . . too short, really, but it was all he had to work with. And he'd already down what he could.

The appointment for the DNA test was made, all they had to do was show up at the hospital in the morning, and their lab technician knew what results test had better reveal. Alexis had set up a meeting with AJ and his lawyer for later on tomorrow – hopefully the arson evidence combined with the ridiculous sum of money he'd spent acquiring a significant portion of ELQ would be enough to convince his brother that it was in his best interests to let this go for now. And once he'd had the test results in hand, they'd be safer. It wasn't going to be as final as a court decree, but it would buy some time until he could lock up the matter of Michael's paternity beyond the long reach of the Quatermaines.

The only thing left was to break the news to Carly, which he absolutely refused to let Luke, Emily or even Lucky anywhere near, despite their protests. Something he definitely wasn't looking forward to, but it had to be done. Jason took a deep breath, before he slowly began walking upstairs.

When he got to the landing, he heard Carly's voice and followed it into Michael's bedroom.

"I think he's asleep now." Jason's voice was low enough not to startle her or to wake the sleeping child.

A small smile broke out across her face, as she looked up, placing the book on the nearby table. "Yeah, finishing it was more for me than him anyway, seeing that you were still busy with work." Her smile faded away as she looked at him more closely. "And now, you've got bad news, don't you?"

He shrugged as she stood up.

"Great, now what?" she asked, walking past him into her room.

Jason quietly shut the door behind him, before following her.

"So what it is? No, actually, lemme guess . . . an asteroid crashing down to earth with my name on it? Tony's lurking outside? Robin get Sonny to put out a hit on me? What happened now?" Carly's hands waved in erratically wild gestures as she spoke.

Jason wanted to walk up to her and gather her in his arms, but knew that in this mood, she'd only reject him. There was nothing he could do that let her get it out.

She turned to him – checks pale, arms wrapped defensively around her stomach, a brighter than normal gleam in her eyes. "Just tell me, Jason, just fucking tell me! "

"Fine. Emily told Laura everything about what happened when you fourteen," he answered tightly, waiting for the fallout.

He didn't have long to wait.

Carly flinched as if he'd hit her. Her arms fell to the side as she fell to sit on the bed. "Well, that was . . . brutal. She sounded numb and out of focus." I mean don't sugarcoat it or anything there. So dear old ex-aunt Laura . . . " She shook her head in disbelief.

"Is she over at the Quatermaines already, helping to douse the torches in gasoline for the witch-hunt later tonight?" She laughed slightly, gasping for air. "Or did they just decide on an old fashioned burning at the stake?"

Leaning against the wall, Jason could only watch. He knew what Carly was doing, he'd seen this countless times before, but until she had worked this through, she wouldn't let it go. Better to let her vent it aloud than to play catch up later, guessing what was in her head and trying to anticipate how she'd react.

"I mean, I figured with my luck that it was going to get out eventually. This is fucking Port Charles, after all. No secret stays one for long in this damn town, especially not mine, but I was hoping for more time. Just a little bit. I mean is that really so much to ask for?" Her voice took on a tired, almost little girl like tone that made something in his chest ache.

"Carly . . . it's not that bad." He began, walking slowly towards her as if he were approaching an injured, wild creature ready to take flight at the merest hint of a threat.

"Not that bad!" Her voice rose, a thin and high note that made him wince, hearing the fear and panic behind it. "How long is it going to take Miss Perfect to tell everyone in town? She hates me, Jason. I've never even said or did anything to her and she still hates me. You know that she's over at Quatermaines right now!"

He continued to cautiously move closer, his voice as soothing as he could manage at the moment, in contrast her rising anxiety. "No, she's not the guards watching at the Q's would have told me. We've got time. Emily managed to convince her to wait a week before saying anything to anyone. Tomorrow, we'll go down to GH and take the DNA test that will prove I'm Michael's father, then we have a meeting with AJ that should put a stop to his case. I promised you I wouldn't let him take Michael and I won't. Laura knowing is bad, I know, but it is not disastrous."

"And so what if she hates you? Who the fuck cares? She hates me and she probably hates Luke too. And it's not like you're friends with her, anyway. Fuck her, she is nothing to us and she has no power over us."

"Are you sure?" She asked, looking down at the floor. "I mean absolutely sure?"

Reaching the bed, he slowly sat down next to her, watching her carefully. "Carly, I never have and never will lie to you. Never." He tilted her head to face him, one thumb reaching out to brush away a stray tear.

Carly nodded at him seriously, before leaning her head against his shoulder. "Okay." He sighed, feeling her warmth against him as one hand slipped around her side, pulling her closer to him.

After a few minutes, she sat up and leaned back against the pillows to the side, pulling Jason along with her, so they both lay together on the bed. One hand drifted across his chest as they relaxed in the silence.


Walking through the halls of General Hospital, Laura felt ill at ease, especially when she saw Bobbie at the nurse's station and later when she passed Monica and Alan talking quietly between the two of them. While one part of her wished she could erase Emily's request from her mind, at the same time she was tempted to divulge what she knew to someone. It was a terrible impulse she knew, but one she couldn't quite quash either. If she were Catholic, she would have fled directly to the nearest confessional, but, of course, she wasn't

Carly Spencer . . . not exactly the bane of her existence, but closely related enough that she had might as well be. In the back of her mind, she remembered when that terror first came to town. From the first moment, Laura, decided that she hadn't liked her. Oh she never said anything to anyone, of course, but something about that girl – her personality, manner or maybe it was that eternally flippant attitude, that just put up her back.

It was just all too familiar and not just from Luke either.

Learning about her former niece's childhood did little to change her view. And maybe it was horrible to admit, but she firmly believed that bad things happen to some people because subconsciously, they asked for it. Considering what she knew of Carly's behavior, drinking wine with an older man was practically an invitation for trouble. Then, of course, there was Michael and the Quartermaines to consider, Jason Morgan was little more than an afterthought. What did a brain-damaged mob enforcer know about or would even want a child?

Bobbie would be disappointed, of course, but some things just couldn't be helped. In time, she might even come to understand, because she was letting her guilt get the better of her, Laura was sure. The Quatermaines, for the most part, were reasonable people and considering the decades long friendship between Bobbie and Monica, she was sure they would eventually come to an agreement over limited visitation. Besides, considering Bobbie's life, it might be for the best. After all, no one in their right mind would believe that Carly Spenser was a fit mother.

The insidious thought that this information might be an opportunity to settle some old grudges, honestly never crossed her conscious mind, well . . . at least not that Laura Spencer, nee Webber, ever admit to, anyway.

Glancing down at her beeper, quietly making its presence known, she saw recognized the number as Luke's and shaking her head ruefully, turned abruptly. She found herself standing in front of a closed door and slipping her beeper still unanswered back into her pocket, pushed open the door.

"I have to tell someone and since I promised not to tell the person who needs to know, I couldn't think of anyone who'd play devil's advocate best," the words spilled free, like water cascading free over the lip of a dam.

Giving her a faintly ironic gesture, Stefan raised one eyebrow, before granting her entrance with an elegant nod and with a secret smile, Laura looked back into the empty hallway, before closing the door behind her.


"So Emily, huh? That I did not expect. I mean Luke maybe, but Em? Didn't see that one coming."

Despite what she said, he heard the insecurity buried beneath the subtext.

"Yeah, Luke wanted to be the one who told you, but then it would have turned into this big thing," when he heard her chuckle, he smiled slightly, picking up a strand to play with, "which you might have enjoyed, but would have been counterproductive, at best." The low familiar rumble of his chest had a calming effect on her, as she moved her head to rest just above his heart.

"You just know me too well." Her voice had normalized and for the first time that day, she felt like things might actually work out. "I hope he wasn't too rough on her. She just a kid and kids make stupid mistakes, believe me, I know."

Jason laughed slightly. "Between her and Lucky fighting to take the blame, I think he went off a little more on Lucky, but," he shrugged underneath her, "now they know what did and the possible repercussions. A little reinforcement never hurt anyone, besides far as I'm concerned they got off lighter than if I had been there."

"Right . . . So then my cousin would've gotten all the blame." She laughed with him for a bit, before asking in a more somber tone. "She meant well, right? I mean . . . she really didn't mean to . . . "

"No, no, no." Jason wrapped his arms tightly around Carly, dropping a kiss on her head. "It was nothing like that. Em just has this idea in her head and can't let it go despite the fact that I told her to and well, she thought that Laura could help. That's all, I swear. You can ask her yourself, I'm sure she'll around tomorrow to apologize."

Jason felt her sigh and took a deep breath himself.

"She thinks I need to see a head shrink." Carly's voice grew quiet enough that he had to strain to hear. "And you Jason? Do you think I'm crazy too?" Her fingers dug into his shirt, tightening into a fist.

"No crazier than usual, I guess." His lips curved into a smile as one hand reached over to cup around hers, taking the sting out of his words. "You're not crazy, Carly. Not now, not even when you were living with the crazies at Ferncliffe and no one, not me or even Emily believes that you are. She just thinks that you need to talk about what happened that's what happens when you live in a house full of doctors, I guess. Personally, I don't think talking is necessarily a bad idea either, but unlike my sister, I think it's your call. And no, I don't think it has to be with a shrink. I know you, Carly, when you're ready, I'm going to be right here to listen."

She propped up on an elbow, rolling over slightly to face him. "Don't tell me that it doesn't bother you, Jase. Not even you're that good of a liar."

"Of course it bothers me, Carly." His hand slide down to wrap around her wrist, raising her hand to his lips before he continued. "Someone took advantage of you, hurt you and there's not much I can do about it. If he was still alive, I'd be able to track him down and make him pay. You have no idea how satisfying that would be for me, but I can't and I didn't know you all those years ago to have stopped him. I'm used to fixing or preventing things from happening to you and I can't fix this."

"But what happened wasn't your fault and, yeah, I know that you don't believe me yet, but you will, Carly. Before this is over, if nothing else, you will believe it and if I have to tell you that everyday for the rest of your life, then I will. It's as simple as that"

She shook her head, breaking eye contact with him. "And just because you say so, it suddenly becomes the truth? Neat trick there, Jase."

"Nope." He tilted her face up to him. "No tricks, no lies. Not between us. Not now, not ever. The first promise, I ever made, remember?"

"And no names?" A smile crossed her face. "Things have changed a lot since Jake's and your old room, Jason. Robin, Tony . . . Michael. We're not the same people who made that promise."

"Maybe, maybe not." He shrugged carelessly, the intricacies lost upon him. "I don't think we've changed that much and what we promised then, as far as I'm concerned, still stands now."

Her smile widened. "Sometimes, Jason Morgan, you really do amaze me."

"Really? I'm not sure what's more disturbing that it takes so little to make you smile or that it took me so long to figure it out." He mused aloud, one eyebrow arched.

Carly's mouth fell open in shock for a moment. She rose up to her knees, yanking the pillow out from under his head and smacking him in the face with it, before he could so much as react.

Eyes closed, Jason lay there for a moment. "You're going to regret that, you know this, right?"

"Oh please, bring it on," she laughed, inching backward on the bed, pillow still in hand. "I've got you so beat, it's not even funny."

Bracing on his hands now lying flat against the bed, carefully placed out of her sight, Jason opened his eyes and launched himself seamlessly forward into motion. One hand snatched the pillow out of her grasp, while the other swept around to rest in the small of her back, pulling her back from the perilously close edge of the bed. Twisting in mid-air, Carly landed on her back beneath him, even as he braced himself on his elbows to avoid crushing her with his weight, even as he held her down by her wrists.

"Now what was it you were saying?" He looked down at her, a smirk on his face.

Pulling up one leg, outside of his, she tried to buck him and failing out, stuck her tongue out at him.

"Fine, Jase, you win, but since you cheated, it's actually a forfeit."

"Cheated? How?"

Carly rolled her eyes, trying to ignore how close he was to her. "It was a pillow fight; you're supposed to fight with pillows, thus the name pillow fight. Tackling your opponent is against the rules."

"Right . . . 'cause you never play by the rules," he scoffed, leaning a little closer and molding his body against hers.

"Irrelevant. What I or do not do, isn't the point." She snapped back at him, still attempting to squirm out from under him.

The space between their bodies lessened as he rested his lower body more securely on hers. "Oh . . . I'm sorry, there's a point somewhere in this?"

"Ummm, yeah," she drew the word out in a breathy voice.

"And that would be . . . what, exactly?" His huskier than usual voice sent shivers down her spine.

Carly was having trouble trying to keep focused on the conversation and not the way, he was staring at her lips. "Namely that you cheated and broke the rules."

"Broke the rules, huh? Might as well break them some more then, I guess," although quiet, his voice lost none of its intensity.

Staring up at him, her tongue unconsciously slipped out to wet her lips, his eyes followed intently.

"What do you mean by th-"

The rest of her words were swallowed by his mouth. Brushing his lips delicately against hers, Jason took advantage of the moment in an impossibly deep kiss. Carly stared into his eyes, almost in disbelief, before they fell shut as she gave herself up to the moment and angled her head for better access. She was tired of fighting against what she wanted so badly and when it came to him, her self control always sucked anyway.

And that was the last coherent thought she had for awhile.


"I don't care to what lengths you must go to. Find out where my mother is and send me regular updates on her travels or Interpol and the WSB will be the least of your concerns!" Stefan's eyes narrowed fractionally as he stared in frustration at the open box in front on him.

"No, Mr. Williams, double cross me and you will learn at your own peril that Helena is not the Cassandine that you should fear!" He slammed the phone down, unsatisfied and unusually restless. From within the extravagantly wrapped box, he pulled out a single Cuban cigar, with a pink ribbon tightly knotted around it in a double noose.

Whatever intrigue his mother was plotting it could only bode ill. Although for the life of him, he did not understand the symbolism behind this 'gift,' he clearly recognized the threat it represented.

Helena Cassadine had made her first move, the board was now his, and he needed to discover her end goal.

TBC

Well, I've some dedicated reviewers & I love them dearly, lol. anyone else out there want to say something . . . anything . . . This story is on the brink of going very AU, but I can't say anything more for fear of ruining the surprise, but feel free to guess (although I'm sure it must be making a little more sense now, lol).

A few plot points - Some people may see Laura as being OC. shrugs I missed out on much of early 80's LukexLaura epic & never paid her much attention until the Deception sl came around, needless to say, she didn't endear herself to me there. I pretty much see her as being vapid and self-indulgent, you may disagree. I always saw tension between her & Bobbie, her & Carly, of course and I hated the way she treated Nikolas, Lucky and Luke, when the news of Nikolas's maternity/paternity was revealed. Also in this story Nikolas is Stefan's son, period. Starvos existed, obviously, but he is not the father although Nikolas was led to believe this until very recently.

The kiss wasn't what I had hoped for, but after two days of rewriting it, I'm done. The next lemon scene will be better, I promise, lol.

Poor Carly, things are going to get a lot more complicated & interesting pretty soon. I've got lots of ideas for this story so if you've gotten this far, leave me a review. It's good karma, you know :D