He's early. Ethan had forgotten the etiquette of the somewhat elite of Port Charles, only the stuffy old people with the old money and the hosts arrive on time. Everyone else was within the hour fashionably late. He could only attribute it to his eagerness. It was strange, being around her again. It was nothing like before. Before she had been a blinding kind of girl in her happiness around him, a first crush. Then he'd been cruel, pushing her away. The memory twisted fresh in his stomach even now. After all that she'd been girl buried under the weight of what that… monster had done to her. She'd been detached, that blinding glittering light tempered to an ember of a dying fire. He'd loved her all the same.

Now, he wasn't sure. She seemed happy but maybe still looking for something. Still waiting for someone, maybe him. Ethan shakes his head, black hair curling against his temples. He'd been gone for years, he knew he had no right to really hope or think he still knew her enough to tell how she showed what she was feeling.

But at the diner, he remembered it so clearly. She had blushed when she told him not to look at her like that. He'd played the fool but he knew what she meant, he'd been out of practice at keeping himself in check where she was concerned. Ethan wouldn't have been surprised is every time she saw him looking at her he was sporting a dropped jaw and wide cartoon eyes.

And then, as if the universe were playing the world to his very thoughts, she appeared in the grandiose carved doorway. It wasn't like in the movies where every eye in the room turned to her in envy. A spotlight did not shower her from above. And her eyes were not fixed on him as if he were the only she could see.

But still, Ethan couldn't look away. Everything fell away his mind and he could only see her, in a dress that made him think to himself that she was too good for anything in this world. Including him. She was beautiful, but then again the other day she'd merely worn a plain t-shirt and jeans and still she had managed to take his breath away. He's too nervous and lost in his own thoughts to go up and say hello first, he might have blurted out a marriage proposal for all he knew, but it doesn't matter.

As if feeling his eyes on her she finds him and comes to him almost immediately, her gown twinkling with her every move. "Ethan, you look so handsome." She says with ease and a soft smile.

"You look…" He begins, unable to find the right word.

"Nice?" she offers hopefully after an awkward silence.

"Like stars." He says without thinking. And even when she seems taken aback he doesn't regret it, she needed to be told how beautiful she was more often.

"I… um… thank you." She stumbles, unable to fight the blush the floods her cheeks. The band begins melds nearly seamlessly into another song. It's a waltz, she knows, and so is surprised when Ethan offers her his hand. Kristina looks up at him for moment, lost in his dark eyes and dark hair. In the strong line of his jaw and the mischievous charm that lingers in every angle of him except- ironically- in an actual smile. It's just that characteristic tilt of his mouth that beckons her forward, has her placing her hand in his as if it belonged there.

She can't suppress the laugh that seems to tickle her stomach as he spins her expertly across the ballroom, and she doesn't fail to notice that now he's smiling too. She wonders if she's ever seen him smile like that- genuine and almost entirely unburdened. Yes, and it flashes before her minds eyes with startling clarity. The day he'd spent at Kelly's teaching her poker as she had shamelessly flirted with him.

"Where did you learn to dance so well?" She asks, as he keeps up almost expertly with the quicker paces.

"Big prison guard lady named, Hilde." He jokes.

Kristina laughs nervously, not sure if she likes him making light of his imprisonment. She decides ultimately not to say anything, sensing it was not only well intentioned but also probably true.

"I'm glad you came back to Port Charles." She says when the song melds into a slower more contemporary tune, Ethan's grip still firmly in place. She doesn't know if it's because he still wants to dance with her or if he had simply missed the change in songs.

"Where else would I go?"

"I don't know, your father is kind of famous around here for that sort of thing."

She can feel his laugh reverberate through her skin and she tries to ignore the way it makes her heart race. Even more so as his hands slide from stiff position of a waltz to encircle her waist. "If we were all like our fathers…" His large hand moves to settle low on her back, the heat of his skin seeming to burn through the thin fabric of her gown. "I might be tempted to ask you to show me where exactly on your person you're hiding your gun."

She doesn't mean to blush, again, or even smile a bit- but she does anyway in a trend of behavior she had sought to avoid in his presence. Normally jokes about Sonny's profession made her uncomfortable and were almost never well received. Though, in the past few months she'd grown to accept that her father was who he was and if he wouldn't change for her or her siblings… it simply wasn't going to happen. Coming from Ethan though, it hadn't sparked even the slightest hint of resentment. Ethan knew better than most what her father could do, he'd seen it in other much less forgiving men who ran an illegal business. In a side thought, she wondered, how many of them had daughters and how many of those daughters had managed to grow unscathed…

"I've lost you again." He says softly, and she shakes her head.

"I-uh… I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." He pulls her closer, speaking in a low sort of voice. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't disappear into your own mind every now and then."

"Is that a good thing?" She asks skeptically, attempting to tease.

"It's a wonderful thing." He was doing it again. Taking her breath away, she wondered sometimes in his constant observance if he noticed that as well. "Kris, all joking and charity casing aside, I hope you know you can still come to me." When she turns away like she's preparing herself to argue he gently presses a warm hand to her cheek, turning eyes back to him in unblinking awareness. "I want you to come to me."

She isn't sure why she blushes so fiercely, or maybe she is and she just can't admit it to herself. Nothing had changed. She was as in love with him as she'd ever been. And she still wasn't sure of him, the difference between what he said and what he meant.

"Kiss me." She says without thinking, in an almost daring tone, suddenly more tired than anything. Tired of not being where she wanted to be. Tired of these games and of keeping herself from what she wanted because she was afraid. She knew now that if he walked away again she would be devastated, and she might hate him. But wouldn't be forever, she knew she had time. All the time in the world to get past it if this was mistake.

She's lost in his dark eyes and they've stopped moving. He's frozen almost solid, his gaze flickering across her face as if trying to find something there. She frowns, again daring him "Kiss me."

Slowly but surely Ethan leans down to her and for a moment she thinks he's going to kiss her cheek. It surprises her when his mouth is on hers, the salted taste of his lips. Though its pure shock when that small touch seems to light her skin on fire, the small touch sending her heart racing so that she already feels out of breath. Her mouth yields under his and she can feel his tongue against her own and shivers run down her spine and her hands clutch into fists at the sleeves of his coat.

Kristina isn't aware of anything but him. It's never been like this for her with anyone else and secretly she doesn't want to stop. She can feel her body yearning for him, begging to be closer. Though Ethan seemed to be more aware of their surroundings than she was because he is the first to pull away. His breathing is as labored as her own and that knowledge sends another equally thrilling flare of electricity through her. He wanted her too…